The Girls of Good Fortune

The tunnels under Portland become a symbol of mainstream society’s conflicted attitudes toward Chinese people and other immigrant populations in the novel. Just as the tunnels can function for benefit or harm, the attitudes held by white people towards those not considered white is multifaceted and often contradictory. The tunnels were reportedly built by Chinese laborers for the purpose of moving goods. The use of Chinese laborers for this difficult and demanding work reflects the historical reality that immigrant laborers—particularly those who are not considered to be white—are often relegated to the most difficult tasks. When Celia sees a Chinese family in the tunnels, she presumes that these spaces provide sanctuary. Later, the tunnels between businesses also provide Owen and Celia with an escape route when they want to avoid the attack on the gambling den.

In this scene, the tunnels also represent the covert work in which Owen and Celia are involved. Specifically, Owen is attempting to carry out a plan of intimidation on behalf of Gordon Humphrey, while Celia is trying to gather information that she believes might see justice done in the case of her father’s murder. Later, however the tunnels become the staging area for socially condoned injustices when the two are shanghaied and imprisoned there before being delivered aboard ship. Finally, the meaning of the tunnels shifts once again when the room formerly housing the Chinese family is used for the scene in which Celia discovers Pearl and reconciles with Stephen. Ultimately, the tunnels represent (and facilitate) the criminal underworld that exists alongside the legal businesses of the city, but their paradoxical use as both a form of refuge and a means of oppression mirrors the varied attitudes that white employers and residents have toward the nonwhite residents of their town.