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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

Distance

A pattern of physical distance appears between the characters as their relationship strains. In the beginning, Jing-mei and her mother sit next to each other watching Shirley Temple as Jing-mei’s mother pokes her arm and instructs her to watch. After Jing-mei’s haircut, her mother’s criticisms provoke anxiety in Jing-mei as she imagines her inner prodigy running out of time. In the next scenes, the two characters are slightly farther apart as they sit at the kitchen table while Jing-mei’s mother administers aptitude tests. After Jing-mei breaks down in tears before the mirror, she stops indulging her mother in these tests. Though she still sits at the kitchen table, her mind is distant as she counts foghorns out on the bay. When the Chinese piano player appears on TV, Jing-mei’s mother beckons her to come closer and watch. Their physical distance becomes a daily occurrence when Jing-mei’s mother sends her to Old Chong’s apartment to take piano lessons. After church, Jing-mei describes standing against the wall while hearing her mother’s disembodied voice talk loudly. Then, after the talent show, Jing-mei’s mother closes herself off in her bedroom. By the time the two characters are shown in the same room again, there is a wide chasm between them. When Jing-mei’s mother makes physical contact and drags her to the piano, Jing-mei reinforces her need for distance when she states that she wishes she were dead, and her mother backs away. When Jing-mei’s mother dies, Jing-mei can only touch her dresses and the piano, and search for her in memories.

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