Searching for Sylvie Lee

The motif of Buddhism in this text speaks to the novel’s interest in how characters maintain (or lose) their connection to Chinese culture after immigrating to both the United States and the Netherlands. Buddhism is the religion of the older generation: Ma and Pa, Grandma, and Helena and Willem. They raised their children, the first generation in the family born outside of China, to be Buddhist. However, though Buddhism permeates all the characters’ experiences and shapes their beliefs, values, and practices, its presence is somewhat fractured.

The younger generation, represented by Sylvie, Amy, and Lukas, embodies Buddhist philosophy in their kindness toward all living creatures. This kindness often contrasts with how society treats them and with how they choose to view themselves; all three often exercise an empathy toward non-humans that they fail to exercise for their own benefit. Amy rescues a tiny snail from a bag of purchased loquats in the beginning of the novel. Sylvie, as a child, saves an injured bird in the Netherlands. Lukas rescues a starving cat in Turkey, even recruiting Helena, who is otherwise a cold and severe character, to the cause. However, Amy makes explicit reference to how her father’s work at the fish market has worn down the man’s gentleness in this regard.