Bamboo People

The comparison between a gun and bamboo is pivotal in Bamboo People. As Peh points out, a rifle has only one purpose—killing—but bamboo can be used for many things. Perkins thus introduces bamboo as a symbol of resilience, adaptability, and open-mindedness.

Bamboo can be many things: As Tu Reh notes, bamboo can be food. It can be made into construction materials, a stretcher, provide support, or even be used as a weapon. It can also—as demonstrated by Peh’s conversation with Tu Reh—be a bridge, both figuratively and literally. Technically a species of grass, bamboo is light, flexible, and sturdy. It’s a resilient plant that, though stiff, can still move with the wind. Its commonality in Asia and its various functions in the story mirror Tu Reh’s growth as a character and his fluctuating states of mind.

Tu Reh’s bamboo pole is one of his few possessions from his former village. Cut from his grandfather’s property, it literally connects him to his roots. He snatches it away from Chiko’s wound to keep it free from blood, putting it in opposition to the gun, a killing tool. Tu Reh uses the pole to scare off a rampaging elephant, proving that even something as slender and innocuous as bamboo can still stave off catastrophe. (Similarly, Tu Reh later stands up to his community to defend and protect Chiko, a task that is just as daunting as the staving off the elephant.)

By choosing the bamboo pole over the gun during his conversation with Peh, Tu Reh chooses life over death, but also open-mindedness and mercy over hatred. Although initially reluctant, Tu Reh gradually opens up to Chiko and moves past his hatred and trauma to befriend Chiko, proving that, like bamboo, he’s strong, flexible, and adaptable. Bamboo also plays a part in Tu Reh’s reconnection with Sa Reh, who helps him construct a bamboo house for the sisters. Additionally, Tu Reh creates a bamboo pole for Chiko to stabilize him on his journey out of camp, mirroring Tu Reh’s own treasures: his pole and his mule. By giving/loaning Chiko these things, Tu Reh not only grants Chiko friendship but creates a bridge between them, reflecting that their friendship spans class, ethnicity, and cultures.

Throughout the novel, modern Burma is described as a fractured, unstable country. It’s under martial law and was once colonized by the British, recently enough that elders, like the grandfather, may still remember those times. Now an independent country, Burma attacks the various ethnic groups (such as the Karenni) within it, fracturing the country’s stability further. Thus, the novel uses language to symbolize identity and body to represent Burma.

In the first half of the novel, this symbolism isn’t as obvious: All the characters—except one—are fully Burmese, from the majority Bamar ethnicity. They share a common (dominant) language and culture. Chiko’s family knows Karenni people, so he rejects the demonizing propaganda about them, but it remains a relatively distant concern. However, hints at the problematic nature of this thinking are in the details: The Burmese military training center once belonged to the Karenni people and is marked with their language, which Chiko can’t read. Other conscripts support the military propaganda because they don’t know any better. Although he’s often beaten, Chiko’s body is whole—and wholly Burmese.

However, fractures soon occur when a conscripted boy is discovered to have Shan heritage and is nearly killed for it. This introduces the idea of a fractured Burma through the concept of an injured body, as the boy’s physical condition speaks to Burma’s chaos and instability. The duality of the healer’s hut/weapons cache also mirrors the facade of a “healthy” Burma for the Burmese and the unrealistic nature of that concept. This symbolism becomes even more apparent in Chiko’s leg injury. The Burmese landmine that destroys his leg symbolizes the war between the Burmese and the Karenni, and Chiko’s amputation reveals how fractured Burma has become because of its internal conflicts and ethnic cleansing. The wounded, rampaging elephant likewise serves as a reminder of the volatile and destructive danger of such a situation.

During this fractured period, language symbolizes an important form of identity: Chiko, who knows only Burmese, is isolated and considered a suspicious, unwanted outsider. Tu Reh and Sa Reh originally insist on speaking only Karenni until they’re free, both as a form of Karenni pride and as resistance to the Burmese military. Tu Reh enforces this when he refuses to speak Burmese in front of Chiko; only later, after their friendship begins to form, does he use Karenni to shield Chiko rather than excluding him. In contrast, Ree Meh and Nya Meh’s choice to use Burmese from the beginning represents their understanding that peace and unification come from compromise and communication—from having empathy despite enmity. While Tu Reh eventually understands this, Chiko grasps it first and commits to learning Karenni, his first steps to the peace process. While his circumstances differ in that Chiko learns Karenni by choice rather than necessity (like the Karenni people must learn the Burmese language), his efforts are significant in that he wants to bridge the gap and make amends, when many of his counterparts don’t. By the time he leaves the camp, he can put together basic sentences, something Tu Reh treasures.

Chiko’s prosthetic—his “Karenni leg”—doesn’t just represent his healing and gratitude to Karenni kindness. It also symbolizes the importance of a democratic and representative reunification of Burma. Although the new leg isn’t originally part of him (i.e., not Burmese), it functions just as well. Chiko is initially insecure about it (given the Burmese propaganda about non-Burmese ethnicities), but his loved ones don’t mind it—the prosthetic is part of him and makes him whole. In this way, the message is clear: Groups like the Karenni may not be ethnically Burmese, but they’re still part of Burma, the country. Making reparations with them will create a stronger, more diverse country.