Starry River of the Sky

Rendi is the primary protagonist of Starry River of the Sky. At the beginning of the novel, Rendi’s face is described as being as “friendly as an angry tiger” (8), and this line reflects his demeanor even as it provides links to his “tigerlike” father and to the transforming tiger in Madam Chang’s stories. Rendi’s character arc also embodies the themes The Destructive Power of Anger and The Importance of Forgiveness. Prior to the point at which the story opens, Rendi left home in a rage after he realized that his father loved his possessions more than his children. In the weeks since, Rendi has made no progress toward controlling his anger or forgiving his father, and he only begins to change once he arrives at the inn and learns important lessons from the people there. Struggling to build a new life far from home in a place where no one recognizes him, Rendi can easily hide his past and let his bitterness consume him, but even as he wants to stay angry and keep his guard up, he begins to feel badly for Peiyi as he learns that her own brother has left and her mother has died.