57 pages • 1 hour read
Madeleine ThienDo Not Say We Have Nothing
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 0, Chapters 5-4
Part 0, Chapter 5 Summary
On Ai-Ming’s 18th birthday, she pedaled down the streets of Beijing, in love with its “dignified” and “hopeful” residents (338). She thought about the hidden love letters she had found from Jiang Kai, about how their presence ruptured the “dull” image she had always had of her father (339). To celebrate her birthday, she went out to dinner with her parents and they had their picture taken by a professional photographer.
While her parents were at work, Ai-Ming studied, listened to the radio, and slept. On the day General-Secretary Hu Yaobang died, her father came home soaked from the rain and they talked for a tense moment about the official’s death. She then looked out the window and grew jealous of her fashionable neighbor Yiwen. Ai-Ming “crawled into bed” and listened to her parents talking, wondering how two people so different could be together (342).
The following Monday, Ai-Ming decided to desert her studies for a bit and go into Tiananmen Square to see the city in mourning, and possibly find Yiwen. All around her, protestors were making banners that celebrated the once disgraced Hu Yaobang and questioned the government’s current policies. Ai-Ming felt guilty just being there so she quickly pedaled away.
Later that day, Ai-Ming and Yiwen washed dishes and talked about the political climate. Yiwen urged Ai-Ming to see the government’s failure to treat them like individuals, as well as its failure to properly employ people. She insisted that “reform” was coming and that Ai-Ming should join the cause (345). She invited her to come to Tiananmen Square that night, but Ai-Ming instead asked Yiwen to help her find a cassette player she could purchase for her father. Yiwen agreed to help Ai-Ming in the near future then headed off for Tiananmen Square. During the night, Ai-Ming heard Yiwen and her parents fighting. Her parents were scolding her for “[p]rotesting the government” and “[g]etting arrested” (347).
The next day, Ling left for Hu Yaobang’s funeral while Sparrow and Ai-Ming stayed behind. Ai-Ming had chosen to stay with her father, which did not appear to “hurt” Ling’s feelings (349). Though it wasn’t Ling’s fault, Ai-Ming could not feel close to Ling after so much time apart. With her mother gone, Ai-Ming and her father read and listened to the “lecturing” radio (349). She thought about Hu Yaobang’s desire for “economic freedom” and wondered if such a truth could ever exist for everybody (349). Next, she thought about how sexual she felt looking at Yiwen and how she wanted “to live” (350).
Sparrow announced he had changed his mind and was going to the funeral. Ai-Ming joined him and they bicycled into town, Ai-Ming constantly aware of his awkwardness. When they arrived at Tiananmen Square, it was full of students chanting and questioning the government. They found out that the night before, 100,000 students had slept in Tiananmen Square with the sole purpose of protesting for their rights in the morning. Sparrow expressed his disgust and they discussed Ai-Ming’s future. She wanted to go to school in Canada, but Sparrow didn’t want that. Ai-Ming told him it could be a fresh start for both of them, but Sparrow held his ground even as she went on to insult him and her mother. Ai-Ming saw how fearful he was, how much fear had always controlled him. She asked him why they settled for assigned jobs instead of fighting for the ones they wanted, but Sparrow insisted that their destiny was not merely the work of the government. She wished he had lived “a more honest life,” playing his own music (358). They sat down and ate together, the whole time Sparrow wanting to hold his daughter, but knowing he had to let her go.
A few days passed and Sparrow decided to make his own poster to bring to what was now a continuous protest in Tiananmen Square. Upon arriving in the Square, he had some younger people hang up his poster, which held a quote from the intellectual Kang Youwei condemning those who looked away when violence took place instead of aiding those in need. He finally let himself think about Zhuli and the fear he always felt.
The next day at work, his colleagues bickered about the younger generation’s rebellion. One woman named Fan pointed out that the students protesting clearly wanted more out of life than any of them had gotten, and that the Party limited their lives. After work, Sparrow went home and found that Ai-Ming had left a copy of the Collected Letters of Tchaikovsky lying about. In it, Tchaikovsky described his homoerotic endeavors; reading this made Sparrow search for his letters from Jiang Kai. Jiang Kai had recently moved to Canada and started a family, but his latest letters begged Sparrow to meet him in Hong Kong to rekindle their love. The letters were missing. When Ai-Ming entered the room, Sparrow told her he was trying to find a record, so she offered to help search. She got him a glass of alcohol and he was thankful for the reprieve. He took the moment to encourage her to keep studying. She responded by saying he also deserved to move on and do what he loved. He ignored her and she left him to the music she had put on for him. Filled with regret over Zhuli and over the way he had destroyed his own music, Sparrow found comfort in Big Mother Knife’s advice that “There is no way across the river but to feel for the stones” (368).
Part 0, Chapter 4 Summary
Yiwen invited Ai-Ming to another demonstration at Tiananmen Square; this time Ai-Ming was determined to attend. She bicycled to the Square, tied up her bike, searched for Yiwen, and watched as the students tried to use their “sheer mass” to separate the linked police (370). Yiwen put her arm around Ai-Ming and treated her like a “true friend” (374).
Back at home, Ling walked in to find Sparrow drunk, writing away. He was upset, so she tried to talk to him about the protests, but he only got angry, saying that the youth were taking an unnecessary “risk” (375). At that moment, Ai-Ming returned “elated” from the protest (376). In a rage, Sparrow shouted, “How can I protect you?” (376). Ai-Ming started crying, so Ling sent her to her room. Ling scolded Sparrow for his attitude and told him, “[t]hings are changing” (377). She then left, unable to bear his endless façade any longer.
Sparrow considered leaving Ling for a life with Jiang Kai. It seemed both impossible and inevitable to him. At night, he paced the streets, unable to sleep. Eventually Ai-Ming got him a Walkman and he was able to listen to music as he walked. One night, he walked onto the property of Beijing University unimpeded. While on the campus, he read the political posters hanging from every corner and listened to the students’ laughter. He left when a student yelled at him and accused him of being a “spy” (381).
In the days that followed, Sparrow began working on a new symphony. He also decided to accept Jiang Kai’s offer to meet in Hong Kong. He felt happier than he had in a long time because the government was apparently willing to work with the students’ demands, something Sparrow had not expected to happen. However, the government retracted this offer when the students held a hunger strike two days before the arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the USSR, saying that its only purpose was to “humiliate” government officials (383).
At work, Sparrow daydreamed about what it would be like living near Jiang Kai again. His exit visa had come through, putting him a step closer to his long-lost love. One day, Fan pointed out how ill he looked and asked their supervisor if he could go home. They both agreed he looked “dead” and, though he argued, they insisted he leave to rest (384). On his way home he took a wrong turn and ended up caught in the Tiananmen Square traffic. Banners and students were everywhere he looked.
Later that night, he walked by the hunger strikers again, but this time he was shooed away, which left him feeling very, very old. Back at work, Fan explained that the factory would be marching in support of the students soon. She had been going to the Square to help the students every night. For a while, they discussed what they wanted to do rather than what they had to be doing, as well as the struggle sessions of the past.
Sparrow stopped tormenting Ai-Ming about her participation in the protests. She often spent her time helping to clear paths for ambulances that needed to reach the starving students. While the current General Secretary verbally placated the students, the government enacted no real change. The visit from Gorbachev did not alter the government’s stance or policies, despite the thousands of children purposely starving in the streets.
Two weeks before Sparrow planned to leave for Hong Kong to meet Jiang Kai, he marched alongside his co-workers in support of the hunger strike. Tiananmen Square was more packed than he had ever seen it, filling him with hope that Ai-Ming might actually have the chance to grow up in a “new China” (392). He wished Zhuli could see this version of China. He tried not to think about the fact that he had not mentioned his trip to Hong Kong to Ling or Ai-Ming yet.
Six days into the hunger strike, Sparrow joined Ai-Ming and Ling on a trip into the square to deliver blankets. He told himself tonight would be the night he told them about his trip to Hong Kong. He wanted to include Ling in his future, he felt bad that, like so many people he knew, she had been “denied a basic freedom, the right to raise [her] own children” (394). When they arrived at Tiananmen Square, Sparrow watched as Ai-Ming and Yiwen held each other and cried. While he was standing there, someone announced that a “city-wide general strike” was on (395). Ling and Sparrow were unsure how to react to this news. General-Secretary Zhao then came on the radio and gave a speech saying that he was willing to talk about the students’ demands and that he hoped the students would stop striking. Ai-Ming started crying and Sparrow ushered his family home, only to find out that the army had installed “martial law” after having ousted General-Secretary Zhao (398).
Ai-Ming tried to study for her exams, but she was stuck on how to define “counter-revolutionary” (398). Sparrow told her she needed to study and do well so his friend would sponsor her education in Canada. He was planning to meet this friend in June. Curious about the mysterious friend, Ai-Ming agreed to “excel” on her exams (399). Sparrow left for work, reminding her not to go into the Square now that the military was involved, but as soon as he was out the door she went there anyway. On the way, she popped a tire, so she had to take the bus. Near the square, there was an endless line of military men and trucks. Some civilians shouted at them for not supporting the students, and they shouted back that they were only there to “keep the peace” (400). Ai-Ming was scared, sweaty, and desperately searching for Yiwen.
Much later that evening, Ai-Ming found Yiwen with two other girls. She got them all some noodles, then the other girls disappeared, leaving her and Yiwen alone. Ai-Ming was frightened by the girls’ talk of going up against the army and nervous to tell Yiwen her true feelings for her. They lay down on the concrete together and Ai-Ming started to tell Yiwen the story from The Book of Records.
That same evening, Sparrow headed home from the abandoned factory when he saw army trucks and human barricades ahead. His house was empty, so he drank some tea, listened to the broadcast about the presence of martial law, and “regretted all the radios he had ever built” (407).
He awoke later to find all his co-workers in his living room. They had decided to join the independent union and wanted to know if he would join in solidarity with them. He agreed, and, after telling Ai-Ming to remain indoors, they all headed to the headquarters to sign up. He sat with some other union workers atop a bus in order to protect Muxidi Bridge. Ling distributed illicit pamphlets and food to the strikers, reminding Sparrow why he had fallen in love with her. Not long after, the government went into talks with the students, who agreed to end their strike. Ai-Ming was so happy she agreed to cook dinner for the family, making Sparrow feel especially proud of his daughter.
Ling ran into Yiwen’s father that evening and though she expressed joy at their daughters’ safe return, he mostly expressed annoyance. The radio announced that the students had reneged on their agreement to leave the square before June 20, 1989, the day of the “Party conference” (412). This bothered Sparrow—he was supposed to leave for Hong Kong that same day. He finished the piece of music he had been composing, and mailed a copy to Jiang Kai, hoping Jiang Kai would play it for him upon arrival.
Part 0, Chapter 5-4 Analysis
Almost every character in this section is overwhelmed by regret. Sparrow’s regret is particularly sharp because he can’t seem to decide what it is he actually rues the most. He knows some of the choices he made were wrong, but he can’t tell which ones; though he stands on the cusp of change, he appears to be destined to make the same mistakes again. Ling regrets having allowed the government to take such complete control over her family’s lives. Like Sparrow, who turns his regret into action, Ling transforms regret into service work, helping the protestors. Regret also plagues Ai-Ming, who wishes she could live the life she wants to live. Outside of Sparrow’s immediate family, Sparrow’s whole generation suffers from a pervasive angst over allowing the Party to gain so much control. It remains to be seen whether the regret felt by Sparrow, his family, and his society will turn into something positive or whether it will stifle them all.
One important message in this section is that you can never really know your family. Even though Ling and Sparrow survived horror after horror together and have been married for years, there is still a great distance and many secrets between them. This recalls the distance that separates Marie and Jiang Kai as well. After he committed suicide, she came to realize how little she knew her own father and how many secrets he had kept. Ai-Ming also feels a distance between her and Sparrow when she discovers his love letters to Jiang Kai. Even though they have literally spent every single day of Ai-Ming’s life together, she still doesn’t know her father’s whole story. While the members of Big Mother Knife’s lineage rely on each other for survival, they often do so through surface connections, unable to fully know or trust the ones they love.
