Portrait of a Thief

Characters and relationships continue to be developed in Chapters 12-21. Conflict between Alex and Irene increases tension, especially their heated argument in the hotel room, calling into question what it means to work as a team. Their conflict serves as a source of motivation for Alex, as she desires to prove Irene wrong by hacking Drottningholm Palace’s security. The idea of teamwork also takes center stage in Daniel’s interview at Stanford, when he’s asked to describe a moment of teamwork. He uses his experience planning the first heist with the crew to paint a picture of dedication and triumph over obstacles. He changes the details, making the story about an ambitious experiment in a research lab. The important details, the “lingering uncertainty, the fear of failure” (92), are all true. At this point, Daniel doesn’t know what the outcome of this “experiment” will be. His observation of the difficulties inherent in teamwork, especially when working on a project with high stakes, adds tension and speaks to the five main characters’ perseverance.

Li’s use of irony contributes to complex characterization, like Daniel’s ambivalence toward China and America. He remembers “the sharp slope of his mother’s decline, lives transplanted from Beijing to this foreign country for the sake of experimental treatments and Stanford doctors, everything that China could not give” (89). However, his mother died anyway; the United States’ experimental treatments did not provide anything more than China could. Such hope and disappointment contribute to Daniel’s inability to feel like an American, even after changing his citizenship. His father, Yaoxian, emerges as a prominent secondary character. Daniel tells Alex that his father is “the sole expert on Chinese art theft in the Western world” (101), showing his admiration for him. The complications in their relationship, and their influence on Daniel’s decisions, become more apparent as well. For example, his dragon tattoo is described as “recklessness for the sake of recklessness, to chase away the despair of not being enough” (89). Reckless decisions like stealing from a museum at the age of 18 and agreeing to the heist can be seen as a form of rebellion against his father. Daniel resents his father for embracing America and letting go of China after his mother died, and for drifting away from him when he needed a parent.

Chinese culture, ideas, and language permeate Li’s writing. They shape Daniel’s worldview, as demonstrated when he says of his father, “Ever since my mom died he would always, like 拔苗助长. […] ‘Bá—miáo—zhù—zhaˇng’” (96). He explains, “It’s a metaphor. Something about raising kids, something about gardening. Imagine pulling up a plant by its shoots to try and force it to grow” (96). His understanding of relationships through Chinese concepts falls on a spectrum of relating to China and Chinese American identity, an idea tied to the themes of Diaspora and Belonging and The Weight of the American Dream on the Children of Immigrants. Will’s characterization also illustrates these themes, as they relate to pressure. He tells Daniel that he fears getting everything he wants because “what I want is not what my parents want. Because this is not the American Dream I was told I should chase” (123). He assumes his parents are disappointed by his study of art history, which informs his resentment toward Irene, who chose a career path that has their approval.

Will’s conflict on an individual level is equally poignant: “How could he explain, he wonders, how it felt to know, with a terrible and unflinching certainty, that you were not enough for your dreams” (106). This statement is one example of how Li adapts each character’s perspective. Rather than choosing a narrative voice with the benefit of hindsight, she portrays characters’ experiences in the moment, using their subjective perceptions and expectations to mimic the way life is experienced. In another example, she writes Daniel thinking, “[I]t was easy to see where their own heist would go wrong” (81). Using “would” instead of “could” adds tension by revealing his certainty of the uncertainty of the heist, the same uncertainty that dictates his fractured relationship with his father.