47 pages • 1 hour read
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 12-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3: Rice-and-Salt Days
Chapter 12 Summary: Sons
Snow Flower and Lily both give birth to sons, who are born one month apart. With the birth of her baby, Lily becomes first daughter-in-law in the Lu household. Lily’s mother-in-law forbids her from visiting with Snow Flower, saying, “Your son’s mother cannot associate with a butcher’s wife” (153). Snow Flower informs Lily that, after her marriage, her parents sold the last of their belongings, became beggars, and have run away to avoid their debts.
The correspondence between the two lautongs has become somewhat generic, but Lily observes that this is understandable, as they are both busy with their lives and obligations as new wives. Furthermore, Lily realizes that her nu shu correspondence is not as secret as she had imagined it would be, as the other women in the family know it, and even the men have some understanding of it, even if it the sentiments expressed in the women’s writing is irrelevant to them. Snow Flower’s letters become less formal and more desperate as her unhappiness grow.
Covertly, Lily arranges for Snow Flower to come to her natal home for the “Expel Birds” Festival. When they meet, they see each other’s sons for the first time. Lily observes that Snow Flower’s son, although older than her own, is much thinner and sickly looking. When Snow Flower tells Lily that she’s already pregnant again, Lily is troubled because the timing indicates that Snow Flower and her husband did not observe the laws about celibacy during the “childbearing pollution days” (149). In their quiet times in the upstairs chamber, Snow Flower tells Lily that she enjoys sexual relations with her husband, explaining that it is the only pleasure she has in her married life. Lily chastises her for breaking the rules regarding chastity after childbirth. Inwardly, Lily finds she cannot relate to Snow Flower’s pleasure, saying of her husband, “by night, when he ascended the bed, I was happy for his enjoyment but relieved when he was finished with me” (165). Lily expects bad luck for Snow Flower, because “you cannot break the pollution laws without paying a heavy toll” (165).
Snow Flower writes to Lily to lament that her second pregnancy resulted in a stillborn girl. Lily does not understand Snow Flower’s dismay, because “no one needed another worthless mouth to feed” (166). Lily wants to be sympathetic in her reply, but instead, she writes back in a formal style, telling her to be positive, and to hope for a son next time. When their sons are three years old, Lily gives birth to a second son. Snow Flower gives birth to a second stillborn daughter.
Chapter 13 Summary: Joy and Sorrow
When Lily’s first son turns five, the family hires a tutor for him and he moves out of the ladies’ chamber. Soon thereafter, Lily becomes pregnant for a third time. Lily finds that she now longs to have a baby girl, because daughters “did not leave their mothers until they married out” (170).
Lily continues to see Snow Flower in defiance of her mother-in-law, who does not object if the visits are conducted discreetly. In their intimate moments one night, Snow Flower and Lily commit to having a female child each so that their daughters will become lautongs. The two girls both conceive and bear daughters in less than a year. Although the babies do not correspond for any of the eight characters required for a lautong relationship, Lily and Snow Flower are determined to make the match in spite of the taboo.
The death of the Emperor Daoguang leads to disquiet across the country. Uncle Lu, the jinshi whose wealth is responsible for Lily’s in-law family’s status, loses his position and returns to the family. He immediately takes Lily’s eldest son under his wing. Two years later, Lily gives birth to a third son.
Snow Flower, whose husband has now become master of the household, gives birth to a second son, who is much more robust than her first. Although her status is low, she pays attention to the news coming from the world of men, and is able to tell Lily about the Taiping rebels who are seeking to control the country by imposing strict religious and moral observances, and want to impose crippling taxes on landlords. When Lily asks her husband about the Taipings, he threatens to forbid her from ever visiting her family again, because of the information she receives there. Soon after, Lily’s husband leaves for Guilin province to buy salt to bring back and sell in the village. The trek is expected to take about a year.
In the wake of a heat wave, typhoid spreads through the land, infecting and killing whole families. Lily’s in-law family retreats and attempts to stay out of contact with other people. Third Sister-in-law returns to Lily’s family after the death of her entire household. Lily’s mother-in-law spits on the girl, saying “You are destroying the Lu clan, you polluted, filthy pig” (179). That night, Third Sister-in-law commits suicide by drinking lye. The next day, Lily’s mother-in-law falls ill. She dies soon afterwards.
As the epidemic begins to wane, they Lu family learns of the extent of its devastation. Both of Lily’s parents have died. Lily’s husband returns home, and the sales of the salt he acquired generate a new wealth for their family. The harvest that year is bountiful. Lily’s father-in-law dies while at work in the fields, and his death is observed in keeping with the family’s status. Lily and her husband become “the new Master and Lady Lu” (183).
Chapter 12 – Chapter 13 Analysis
Lily’s observations about nu shu writing reveal the changes in her relationship with Snow Flower. Because Lily is becoming more aware of the differences in their situations, she is reluctant to share her own personal experiences with Snow Flower. As a result, their friendship grows distant. We know from earlier chapters that Snow Flower’s in-laws are not literate in nu shu, and so we can infer that her writing is candid and honest. Lily, on the other hand, begins to believe that the “secret women’s writing wasn’t much of a secret” (153) in her household. As a result, Lily’s writing becomes more formal and less spontaneous. The difference in their attitudes towards the writing—and their relationship—is made evident in the presentation of the writing on the page. As Snow Flower becomes unhappier, her writing becomes less structured and more prose-like in appearance.
As Madame Wang noted in earlier chapters, the lautong relationship between two women is more significant than that of a man and his wife. We see the depth of this relationship when Lily and Snow Flower promise to make their daughters lautongs. The description of their conversation, as they lie in bed together, , suggests a form of conception achieved by the two women, with Snow Flower asserting that their daughters “could carry our love for each other even after we go to the afterworld” (171). This idea is further emphasized when both Lily and Snow Flower become pregnant soon afterwards and do in fact give birth to daughters. Lily has already admitted that she “did not understand” (165) her Aunt’s enjoyment of sex with a man. With the narrative, the power of the male in conception and giving birth is subverted, and the ability of women to express desire is highlighted instead.
Unlock all 47 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Lisa See
