These themes are: (1) multiculturalism had created a feeling of void or inappropriateness to feel empathy for the other for both Suyuan and June and (2) Suyuan and June's different cultures, while most of the time detrimental and results to conflicts, actually complement each other in that it allowed each to further understand the other's feelings and thoughts

            

             The first theme was explicated through a story in the novel's introduction. In it, Tan illustrated the experience of the Chinese woman who had been hopeful about her new life in the United States. Symbolically representing this hope, aspirations, and a part of herself through a swan feather, the Chinese woman resembled the life of the individual who had diminished, if not lost, her hopes of fully sharing with her daughter the life and experiences that she had in China. The diminishing of hopes furthered when she realized that she raised her daughter in a society radically different from her own, distancing the woman from her daughter: .

             Now the woman is old. And she had a daughter who grew up speaking only English and swallowing more Coca-Cola than sorrow. For a long time now the woman had wanted to give her daughter the single swan feather and tell her, "This feather may look worthless, but it comes from afar and carries with it all my good intentions." And she waited, year after year, for the day she could tell her daughter this in perfect American English.

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             This passage highlighted multiculturalism and its limits in creating a close relationship between mother and daughter. Evidently, a void was illustrated in the passage, where, through a language barrier, the Chinese woman was not able to express to her daughter her hopes, aspirations, and experiences in life. This void is specifically identified as the woman's feeling of being unable to share with her daughter and experience empathy to her experiences and everyday interactions in the hybrid American society.