The setting of "The Jade Peony" (group blog )

Story “The Jade Peony” by wayson Choy, is about a Chinese family that has just immigrated to Vancouver, British-Columbia, and is experiencing trouble adjusting to the new lifestyle.  The novel takes place during the 1930s and 1940s and among other events, explores the ways in which the Chinese and majority of Canadians once viewed the Japanese, especially during Japan's occupation of China during the Second World War and in the events following Pearl Harbor. The narrator gives vivid descriptions of the setting around her and takes the reader on a journey through her unhappy childhood as "useless" girl. One aspect regarding the setting that shows up through the novel is the superstition and feudalism. Through the three sections in the novel, the narrator use the setting to illustrate her interior mind about how Chinese families in a strange land, struggling to adapt to the new society and get rid of the old Chinese feudalism.

In Chapter one, the grandmother insisted the whole family simplify their kinship terms in Canada, so the narrator’s mother became “Stepmother”. Nobody protested, however, this showed superiors and inferiors of “the older you are, the honored you are”. The narrator stated “that was the order of things in China”. The order revealed the class among the old Chinese family, the narrator felt the powerfulness of the Old One: her grandmother because of her age.

Later on, the narrator mentioned a game that they played named “Enemies of free China” which made in Hong Kong. It illustrated that when the narrator was a child. Besides, the narrator described “One enemy head swooped up and clacked onto the linoleum floor.” This revealed the detestation inside the Chinese people’s mind. This special setting showed how resentful people were during the wars, all they felt is that without the war, they did not have to leave their home country. For example, Old Wong, during all their hard time in British Columbia, still hoped to return to China.

In conclusion, there are many descriptions of the superstitious setting in this novel. This novel include the sense of belonging to a nation, and how young children of immigrants felt at this time, trying to find their identity when they were alien residents in Canada. The setting in this novel fully illustrates the depressive lives of Chinese people in Canada and the  struggles of Canada-born Chinese children of having a brand new identity.