In the Kindergarten

In the Kindergarten Summary | Detailed Summary

This well-known short story is set in a rural school in Communist China, where the children live for the term. Our attention is focused on the class of five and six-year-olds beginning the second week of school. Shaona, the young protagonist of the story, is homesick. Her mother gave birth to a baby boy shortly before Shaona was sent to school and she is confused by the sequence of events.

The story opens as the children nap on cots. It has been difficult for Shaona to adjust to sleeping alone, having shared a bed with her entire family for her whole life. Shaona overhears Teacher Shen talking on the telephone. Teacher Shen is trying to get a doctor to wait one more month for payment. The reader learns quickly that Teacher Shen has an elderly mother at home, little money and has recently had an abortion. Shaona is confused by the conversation, lacking the vocabulary and a context in which to understand this personal information about her teacher.

The school is a two-story building with a yard for the children to play in, surrounded by a stone wall topped with shards of broken glass. Beyond the wall lies a field of turnips and purlsanes, a succulent, flowering plant that may be eaten raw or steamed. The weather is very warm. Shaona sees jet fighters in the sky and planes spraying dichlorvos, an chemical used to eliminate insects (particularly mosquitoes and fleas) that has been found to have a negative affect on the nervous system when inhaled or ingested in large quantities.

Teacher Shen leads the class out to the field and instructs them on the difference between the turnip seedlings and the purlsanes. She promises to have the cook prepare them for dinner if the children assist with the harvest, reminding them, "Many hands provide great strength."

Shaona points a finger at Dabin, a rambunctious young boy, as the instigator of a fight. He is punished by being locked in a cabinet in the second-floor kitchen. Before they head back inside, Teacher Shen hands over a sizeable portion of the children's harvest to Uncle Chan, the old man hired to care for the fields and the pump house.

That night at dinner the children are all disappointed by the absence of the purlsanes, though not one mentions it to the teacher. Dabin newly released from punishment, glares at Shaona. She fears his retaliation, so that evening, while playing in the yard, she offers him part of a special treat given to her by her father: two long peanuts, which he swallows quickly before demanding more. She refuses and Dabin warns her to always be nice to him and provide him with special treats in order to spare herself his revenge.

During the night, Shaona is feeling particularly homesick and to comfort herself, eats one of her father's peanuts, hiding the shells under her pillow. The next morning, while the kids are playing in the muddy yard, Shaona occupies herself with a group of girls. She is elected 'queen,' she and discovers that she does not like having to obey the young 'king,' referring to him as 'your majesty'.

When the children return for lunch, Teacher Shen is upset about the muddy clothes. "None of you is a good child." She declares, unhappy about having to clean up after them. Shaona is devastated to find that the peanuts she had hidden in her sweater pocket are missing after being washed. She is equally dismayed to find the shells gone from under her pillow.

The children return to the field to harvest more purlsanes that afternoon. Teacher Shen again promises that they will be served for dinner. A wild rabbit with an injured hind leg becomes the object of a hunt as the class, including Teacher Shen, chases it through the field, destroying the crops in the process. While everyone else is distracted, Shaona squats over the duffel bag of purlsanes and pees a little bit. Then, heart racing, she runs to join the rest of the class. The rabbit manages to escape, and Teacher Shen hurries the children out of the field before they can be scolded by Uncle Chan for destroying the crops.

At dinner, Teacher Shen's promise is once again unfulfilled. Shaona is secretly relieved, her revenge not having backfired, and she eats a good dinner. Feeling like a big girl, she dares to play with the boys after dinner and resolves not to cry anymore at night.