The Gift of Rain

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2007

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-7

Part 1, Chapters 8-14

Part 1, Chapters 15-22

Part 2, Chapters 1-11

Part 2, Chapters 12-23

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Architecture and Buildings

Architecture and buildings form an important motif in the text, reflecting The Complexity of Identity and Philip’s relationship with his past. The architecture of Penang reflects the multiculturalism of the island, speaking to the mixture of identities that also forms Philip’s family history. With his grandfather, Philip visits a Chinese neighborhood that is new to him and a family temple. In discovering different parts of Penang, Philip discovers different parts of his own identity.

As an older man, Philip is beholden to the past, even 50 years later. His entrapment in the past is embodied in his relationship with Penang’s architecture. He still lives in his childhood home and uses his wealth to start a conservation society to preserve the many old buildings of Penang which, he fears, will fall into disrepair. He eventually realizes that his attempts to preserve the architecture of old Penang are really just attempts to cling to the past as it was, not preservation for its historical or cultural importance. He wants to live in the Penang he once knew, not Penang as it has become. With Michiko’s help, his growing self-awareness enables him to start letting go and come to terms with why the past has haunted him so much. He no longer feels captured by the past and feels ready to embrace his life and home as it now is.

Swords and Weapons

Swords and weapons are central symbols of identity and connection in the text. Even before Philip learns martial arts from Endo, the Hutton family has ties to weaponry. Noel Hutton is a collector of keris swords, a type of distinctive, traditional blade originating from Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and the southern Philippines. Noel’s collection symbolizes his connection to the local culture. When the Japanese threaten to take over Penang, he buries the swords in a symbolic act of defiance and resistance, signaling his allegiance to the island. Endo gives Philip a Japanese katana in a deeply symbolic exchange. Much like Noel’s collection, the gift of the katana—and Philip’s use of the katana—represent a sincere respect for the culture that produced the weapon. Furthermore, the katana is one of a pair: Endo holds the other sword, which binds him and Philip together, with both believing that they are linked together across time by fate.

Michiko brings Endo’s katana with her when she visits Philip. She does not know that the sword was used to execute Philip’s father, or that Philip’s sword was used to execute Endo. The violence enacted by the swords reflects the emotional significance and devastation they are tied to. Furthermore, Michiko helps Philip find his father’s long-lost collection of keris swords. The katana and the keris are then both given to the local historical society in a deeply symbolic act, representing a moment of catharsis in Philip’s life. Through telling Michiko his story, Philip has reached an emotional resolution. He can put the swords and everything that they represent behind him and close, at last, the most painful chapter of his life.

Hutton & Sons

Hutton & Sons is another important symbol in the text that reflects the novel’s interest in identity. On one level, it functions as a symbol of national identity for some of the characters. Philip’s great-grandfather founded Hutton & Sons as a colonial enterprise, emerging from the East India Company and British efforts to colonize Asia. Noel Hutton regards the company as symbolizing his family’s connections to Penang, believing himself to be a son of the island.

The company also symbolizes familial identity, as Noel hopes that his sons will inherit the company from him, as he did from his father. When William wishes to enlist in the military, Noel urges him to spend at least a year in the family business as a way to understand the relationship between the family and the island. Through the company, Noel believes, his children will better understand their own identities. When Philip announces his plan to work with Hutton & Sons, Noel is delighted and regards the move as signaling Philip's willingness to be closer to the other family members.

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The war changes everything. Not only does Hutton & Sons suffer from a business perspective, but generations of the Hutton family are decimated. Noel is killed, along with Edward, William, and Isabel. Only one Hutton remains to inherit the family business, and, after the war, Philip is treated with suspicion by many of the residents of Penang. Nevertheless, Philip’s first instinct after the Japanese surrender is to start up the family business once again. His actions suggest that he understands the symbolism of the company.

At the end of the novel, Philip is an old man with no children of his own. He sells the business to a local man whom he believes will honor the traditions of his family. This itself is a symbolic act, with Philip relinquishing control of his family business and family name, passing down the historic mantle to a new generation that is not burdened by his traumatic past.