Homeseeking

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of suicidal ideation. 

In Homeseeking, the violin is a symbol of love and emotional expression. As a child, Haiwen is shy and introverted. He can best express his emotions through his violin playing. The first time Suchi sees him, she is drawn in by the way he plays a folk song, “Jasmine.” As a teenager, Haiwen’s playing reflects his turbulent emotions. For instance, he learns a caprice to perform for his conservatory audition. A caprice, or capriccio, is a fast, intense, technically difficult piece of music; it reflects Haiwen’s unhappiness and uncertainty about his family’s situation and connects to The Impact of Geopolitical Events on Individual Lives. His violin instructor, Mr. Reyes, recognizes that Haiwen is using the music “to express [his] anger” (438). Suchi recognizes this quality in him, stating, “[Y]ou were terrible at expressing your emotions directly, except when you played violin” (355).

When Haiwen leaves Shanghai to join the army, he symbolically leaves his emotions behind by giving his violin to Suchi for safekeeping. He needs to shut down his emotional expression to survive while in combat and afterward. The text represents this by the fact that after the war, he no longer has music in his head.