Chapter 27 Summary: Sutro's Museum, Miss Chinatown, and a Friendship Tested
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Lily and Shirley spend a day away from Chinatown, visiting Sutro’s Museum and Sutro Heights Park. At the museum they encounter a racist display of a Japanese woman mannequin; children mistake them for Japanese, and Shirley uses a fake accent to escape. They eat lunch overlooking the ocean, joking about American food and reading fortune cookies. Shirley then announces her plan to enter the Miss Chinatown pageant and asks Lily to head her support committee. The two discuss their futures: Shirley fears Lily will leave for college, but they commit to supporting each other during this last year together. They begin planning Shirley’s entry, and Lily reflects on a construction project for a “sky tram” that goes nowhere.
Key Events
- Lily and Shirley explore Sutro’s Museum, including a degrading mannequin of a Japanese woman.
- Children point at them and a mother asks if they are Japanese; Shirley pretends not to speak English.
- They flee to the Marine Deck, use telescopes to view seals, then go to Sutro Heights Park for lunch.
- Over steamed buns and Cokes, they mock American food as bland and creamy.
- Shirley reveals she will enter the Miss Chinatown pageant, hoping to give gossips something to talk about.
- She explains Mr. Choy suggested it; the contest brings publicity and she thinks she can win.
- Shirley asks Lily to head her “support committee” for selling raffle tickets.
- Lily feels a pang of guilt as Shirley assumes Lily will leave for college after their last year together.
- Shirley admits she will likely work at the family restaurant; this is her “last year of freedom.”
- They plan over the bus ride: sponsors, cheongsam, evening dress, raffle ticket sales strategy.
- Lily notices a newspaper article about a sky tram under construction at Cliff House, a useless round trip.
Character Development
Lily: Her discomfort with the racist exhibit shows her growing awareness of racial prejudice. She feels torn between loyalty to Shirley and her own ambition for college. Her guilt about possibly leaving Shirley reveals a deepening bond and a sense of responsibility. She becomes a supportive friend, willing to help with the pageant despite her misgivings.
Shirley: She is torn between wanting to escape Chinatown gossip and embracing a visible role there. Her decision to enter the pageant is both defiant and pragmatic. She shows vulnerability when she admits this is their last year together and that she depends on Lily’s friendship, not just on other girls. Her resilience is evident as she pushes forward despite sadness.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Racism and Stereotypes: The Mrs. Ito mannequin and the children’s assumption that Lily and Shirley are Japanese illustrate how Asian Americans are often misidentified and dehumanized. Shirley’s fake accent is a survival tactic.
- Food as Identity: The lunch conversation contrasts Chinese food (steamed buns, faat ko) with American food (creamed spinach, tuna casserole), reinforcing cultural differences and shared heritage.
- Fortune Cookies and Contradictions: The fortunes “Perseverance brings good fortune” and “To know when you have enough is to be rich” suggest the tension between striving for more and accepting one’s current life. Lily sees them as possibly contradictory or complementary, mirroring her own indecision.
- The Sky Tram: The proposed tram that takes passengers on a round trip to the same view symbolizes going in circles—an apt metaphor for the characters’ fears of being stuck or of moving but not progressing. Lily wonders why anyone would pay for such a pointless ride.
- Liminal Spaces: The ocean view from Sutro Heights represents a brief escape from Chinatown, a border between worlds. Shirley’s pageant plan is another way of negotiating her place in the community.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter deepens the friendship between Lily and Shirley while introducing a major plot point: Shirley’s decision to enter the Miss Chinatown pageant. It also highlights the racial prejudice Chinese Americans faced in the 1950s, both from outsiders and from within their community. Shirley’s confession about their last year together adds emotional stakes, foreshadowing that Lily’s future (perhaps with Kath) may pull her away. The chapter’s closing image of the sky tram—a journey that ends up back where it started—subtly questions whether Shirley’s pageant participation or Lily’s college ambitions will lead anywhere real.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Shirley choose to enter the Miss Chinatown pageant, and what does this reveal about her character?
Shirley enters partly because Mr. Choy suggested it, but also to take control of the gossip in Chinatown. Instead of being talked about passively, she wants to give them something real to discuss. This reveals her defiant side, her pragmatism (the Eastern Pearl will get advertising), and a hidden sadness about her limited future. She admits she is “not the college type” and that this is her last year before marriage and work.
2. How does the encounter at Sutro’s Museum affect Lily and Shirley?
The racist treatment—being mistaken for Japanese and asked to “talk” for white children—is humiliating and frightening. Lily freezes; Shirley takes charge by pretending not to speak English. They run away physically and emotionally, but the incident bonds them. Later, they joke about it, showing how they cope with prejudice through humor. It also sharpens Lily’s awareness of how Chinese Americans are seen as interchangeable or exotic.
3. What does the fortune cookie exchange suggest about the characters’ mindsets?
Lily’s fortune (“Perseverance brings good fortune”) aligns with her academic ambition and her willingness to help Shirley. Shirley’s fortune (“To know when you have enough is to be rich”) could apply to her acceptance of her path—she decides to make the most of where she is rather than try to leave. Lily questions whether they conflict, hinting at her internal conflict. Shirley dismisses them as tourist nonsense, but she keeps her fortune, letting it blow away, as if letting go of the need for answers.