In Part 2, Tan deepens the novel’s exploration of how personal histories, cultural legacies, and unresolved emotional wounds shape the dynamics between Kwan, Olivia, and Simon. These chapters examine the foundation of Olivia and Simon’s relationship, framing it as an entity born from and perpetually haunted by unresolved grief and deception. Tan interlaces scenes from Olivia’s adult life—her unraveling marriage, her complicated bond with Kwan, and her enduring connection to the past—with Kwan’s stories of her past incarnation as Nunumu. 

These chapters emphasize how the past asserts itself in the present through both memory and relational patterns, contributing to the theme The Continuity of Past and Present. Olivia and Simon’s relationship is increasingly defined by what came before—particularly the spectral presence of Simon’s former partner, Elza. Her absence becomes a form of haunting, shaping Simon’s emotional responses and undermining Olivia’s attempts to forge a stable identity within the marriage. Olivia recalls that the first time they met, Simon spoke of Elza as though she were still alive and a part of his life, a detail that makes clear how Simon remains tethered to the past. His grief is not resolved but suspended, trapping him in the past. 

This emotional entanglement becomes particularly apparent in Olivia’s decision to stage a séance; though she rejects Kwan’s belief in communication with the dead, she is willing to deploy that belief for her own purposes. Although Olivia intends it as deception, the event blurs temporal boundaries. During the séance, Olivia unexpectedly sees Elza herself—challenging her assumption that the dead remain separate from the living. Whether the vision is supernatural or psychological, it reinforces the theme that the past continues to break into the present, demanding recognition.

Part 2 also contributes to the theme of Cultural Identity as Storytelling as the tension between Chinese and American identities continues to shape Olivia’s perspective, especially as she reflects on her strained relationship with Simon and the cultural framework Kwan brings into her life. For Olivia, belonging has always been fraught—she feels disconnected from her Chinese heritage yet struggles to fully assimilate into a purely American identity, particularly within her marriage. Simon’s preoccupation with the past, especially with Elza, reinforces Olivia’s sense of exclusion not just from his emotional life but from the normative American narrative of partnership, progress, and forward motion.

In contrast, Kwan’s understanding of belonging is rooted not in social acceptance but in continuity, ancestry, and spiritual connection. Her stories of Nunumu’s life during the Taiping Rebellion demonstrate a worldview shaped by communal responsibility and collective identity. When Kwan applies these principles to Olivia and Simon—insisting that they remain connected, encouraging reconciliation, and interpreting their relationship through the lens of past-life bonds—she exposes the cultural divide between her understanding of family and Olivia’s.

In one revealing moment, Kwan gently chastises Olivia for giving up on her marriage, expressing a belief that relationships persist across lifetimes. Her conviction that Olivia and Simon knew each other in a past life reflects the Chinese cosmology that shapes her identity, one that values continuity over rupture. These chapters show Olivia caught between Kwan’s expansive, spiritual conception of belonging and the more fractured, emotionally guarded approach she learned in her American upbringing.

The theme of The Emotional Inheritance of Trauma becomes more pronounced in these chapters as Tan juxtaposes the unresolved emotional wounds of Olivia, Simon, and Kwan. Simon’s grief for Elza is a central example: What begins as personal loss becomes a complicated dynamic within his marriage, transmitted to Olivia as insecurity, resentment, and self-doubt. Olivia internalizes Elza as a symbolic rival—an embodiment of everything she fears she is not. She even tries to mirror Elza, attempting to choose as thoughtful a birthday gift as Elza would have chosen. 

Kwan, too, carries the trauma of more than one lifetime. The brutality of Nunumu’s world reappears in Kwan’s heightened protectiveness and her fear of abandonment. In her past-life narrative, Nunumu sees loved ones die violently, experiences betrayal at the hands of those she trusted, and endures the chaos of political revolution. These experiences echo in Kwan’s present as emotional vigilance; she clings to relationships with a fierce loyalty that sometimes overwhelms Olivia. Emotional patterns from Nunumu’s life bleed into Kwan’s interactions, demonstrating the cyclical nature of trauma across time.

Even though Olivia often treats Kwan with cruelty, Kwan responds only with love. Olivia recounts the guilt that continues to haunt her from childhood: “I’ve done nothing to endear myself to her […] and she has always interpreted my outbursts as helpful advice” (22). The quote illustrates how trauma manifests not only in overt emotional wounds but also in misaligned perceptions of love, loyalty, and responsibility. Olivia’s inherited guilt and Kwan’s inherited resilience create a relationship shaped by asymmetrical emotional burdens—one always giving, the other always feeling insufficient.

These chapters also reveal how trauma shapes worldview. Simon’s grief, Olivia’s fear of inadequacy, and Kwan’s resilience inform their understandings of the world around them. The interplay of these emotional inheritances creates the central tension of Part 2.