Chapter 3: Shopping at Macy’s – Respectability and Desire
⚠️ 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 her mother take the elevator at Macy’s, operated by a young Chinese woman from Sacramento. Lily’s mother offers her services as a nurse at the Chinese Hospital. On the junior miss floor, Lily notices a tuxedo jerkin and an advertisement showing three confident girls. A salesgirl, Miss Stevens, encourages her to try it, but her mother dismisses the outfit as inappropriate. In the fitting room, Lily tries on conservative clothes her mother selected. She recalls a childhood memory of wanting a chemistry set, but her mother pushed her toward a doll instead. Eventually her mother approves a fitted gray suit, and Lily sees herself as “respectable” and boring. The chapter ends with her mother satisfied and the salesgirl ready to ring up the purchase.
Key Events
- Lily and her mother encounter a Chinese elevator girl from Sacramento, highlighting limited opportunities for young Chinese women.
- Lily’s mother offers her professional help as a nurse, revealing her sense of community duty.
- Lily is drawn to a navy tuxedo jerkin and a magazine ad featuring three confident girls.
- Her mother rejects the jerkin and steers Lily toward plain, school-appropriate clothes.
- In the fitting room, Lily remembers a childhood trip to Macy’s where she wanted a chemistry set but was told to want a doll.
- Her mother approves a gray suit that fits neatly, and Lily internalizes the pressure to be respectable.
Character Development
- Lily Hu: Feels self-conscious about her ethnicity and class in the department store. She desires independence but defers to her mother’s judgment. The memory of the chemistry set reveals a long‑suppressed interest that does not fit her mother’s vision of a proper daughter.
- Grace Hu (Lily’s mother): Enforces a code of respectability, both in her own dowdy church suit and in the clothes she selects for Lily. She is caring—offering help to the elevator girl—but rigid in her expectations.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Respectability versus authenticity: The elevator girl’s cheongsam marks her as exotic and low‑status, while Mrs. Hu’s brown suit declares her a “real American wife and mother.” Lily’s eventual gray suit makes her feel blank and contained.
- Fashion as performance: Every item of clothing in this chapter signals class, conformity, or rebellion. The tuxedo jerkin represents the daring, modern world Lily glimpses but cannot yet enter.
- Memory and lost dreams: The chemistry set from Lily’s childhood stands for her intellectual curiosity. Her mother’s redirection—“Don’t you want a doll?”—shows how gender expectations cut off those ambitions.
- The elevator as a cage: Lily imagines the elevator girl trapped in the moving box, a metaphor for the way all the female characters are confined by their roles.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter establishes the central conflict between Lily’s inner desires and her mother’s expectations. It introduces the theme of respectability as a form of armor that the Hu women must wear in public. The chemistry set memory foreshadows Lily’s interest in science and space, which will later connect to the Telegraph Club. By contrasting the elevator girl, the ad’s confident models, and her mother’s choices, the chapter sets the stage for Lily’s struggle to define herself.
Study Questions and Answers
1. What does Lily’s mother’s interaction with the elevator girl reveal about her character?
It shows her concern for young Chinese women alone in the city and her sense of community duty—she offers her services as a nurse. At the same time, her tone suggests disapproval of the girl’s living situation, revealing a judgmental side that values respectability and family oversight.
2. Why does Lily think the tuxedo jerkin is “outlandish” after trying on her mother’s choices?
After a succession of brown, gray, and pink garments, the jerkin feels extravagant. Her mother’s criticism reinforces Lily’s belief that she is not the kind of girl who causes sensations. She internalizes the idea that wearing something fashionable would be inappropriate for someone of her background.
3. How does the memory of the chemistry set contribute to Lily’s understanding of her mother?
It shows a pattern: her mother redirects Lily’s interests toward traditionally feminine pursuits. The memory also surfaces Lily’s suppressed anger and sadness at not being allowed to follow her own desires. This moment deepens the reader’s sense of the quiet conflict between mother and daughter.