The Last Rose of Shanghai

Ernest Reismann is the secondary protagonist of the novel and Aiyi’s love interest. He is 19 at the onset of the story, a Jewish refugee who has just arrived in Shanghai with his sister, Miriam. As a trained pianist, Ernest is intertwined with the motif of music in the text, which reflects his self-expression and his connection with Aiyi. Like Aiyi, he is caught between The Challenges and Rewards of Cross-Cultural Connection as he falls in love with her. Ernest’s injured hand (often gloved) and his blue eyes are his defining physical features, the former acting as a symbol of global violence during the war.

Ernest’s chief characteristic is his kindness. His empathy leads him to meet Aiyi, as he “rush[es] to help, memories of pogroms, violence, and pain fresh in his mind” (10). The generosity is a constant throughout the novel, culminating in Ernest building a business empire to “be able to provide for the [Jewish] refugees in the long run” (312). Yet, Ernest is a complex character, giving into his fears of being alone in a moment of selfishness that keeps Miriam in Shanghai. After Miriam’s death, he realizes his failure to protect her and slides into atonement, including cutting himself off from Aiyi and music.

Ernest sometimes upholds family hierarchies, commanding his little sister to stay home rather than finding the energy to “spend some time with her” (68). Nonetheless, Ernest offers an alternative to the more patriarchal models of masculinity found in the book since he appreciates women’s desires for freedom.

Yamazaki is the antagonist of the novel and a static character in that his motivations never change. As the antagonist, Yamazaki is a human representation of the Japanese Imperial Army, thereby making the army more immediate. He has “absolute loyalty to his emperor” in whose name he joins “his country’s bloody quest to expand their territory” (127). Throughout the novel, Yamazaki flips between a drunken “mad dog” (128) and “a man of civility” (318), reflecting a widespread perception during World War II of Japanese soldiers being orderly and restrained until overcome by battle rage. Randel’s characterization of Yamazaki reflects this stereotype.

Yamazaki’s main physical attribute is the “mole under his eye” (75, 283), which Randel deploys to identify the antagonist even when Ernest cannot, creating tension; for example, in Chapter 63, Ernest does not recognize him at first, which leads to Miriam’s death. Yamazaki also doesn’t like “this rubbish jazz” (128); jazz in the text underscores freedom and the theme of cross-cultural connection—things of which Yamazaki would never approve of.

Miriam is Ernest’s younger sister, 12 at the time of their arrival in Shanghai. She is reserved but also headstrong enough to go out into the city despite Ernest’s warnings. Initially, Miriam goes from innocent and hopeful to “scared about what to do with her new life” (99), reflecting The Psychological Effects of Wartime Violence. However, through school and living with the Blackstones, Miriam becomes “healthy, her cheeks filled out, her eyes flashing intelligently” (201). The arc of Miriam’s relationship with her brother is fraught. At the beginning, they generally get along, but soon Miriam’s refrain to Ernest becomes, “[y]ou don’t care about me” (69, 118). When Ernest denies Miriam’s adoption by the Blackstones, she hates him, an antagonism that lasts until Ernest buys the bakery, which he feels “give[s] him back his sister” (276). This renewal of love is confirmed when Miriam steps in front of Ernest during his fight with Yamazaki to save him, resulting in her death.

Cheng is one of the most dynamic secondary characters. In the first half of the novel, he functions as a foil to Ernest and represents the oppressive side of traditionally patriarchal roles. As “[a] man with a deep sense of privilege equipped with an explosive temper” (104), Cheng at times frightens Aiyi.

Cheng’s meticulous outfits are regularly described, and he often wears the purple tie that he is wearing at his death. Purple is the color of divinity in traditional Chinese symbolism, which aligns with Ernest thinking of Cheng as a “godlike youth” (389). Cheng’s own sense of his immortality is the catalyst for his death, leading him to tell Yamazaki to “[f]uck off” (323).

In later chapters, Cheng gains depth and begins to offer the safety possible through following tradition. When Sinmay hits Aiyi, Cheng stands in front of her, saying, “I would never hurt you. But I hate you” (232), showing that his hurt doesn’t change his moral compass. Aiyi’s fear of Cheng’s physicality dissolves after he finds her at the inn but simply leaves hurt. Eventually, he decides to take care of Aiyi despite her birth of another man’s baby, which is extremely unusual for the time. She at last understands him as “a loyal man” (315), aligning Cheng as much with the safe side of traditional roles as with the oppressive.

Ying is Aiyi’s youngest brother, close in age to her though still older. She describes him as “a walking firecracker filled with the dangerous gunpower of youth” (77); Randel uses this militaristic description to characterize his fighting nature, which comes to fruition when he fights the Japanese. He often borrows money from Aiyi, which she thinks he uses to play poker until she catches him “engaging in an illegal trade of guns” (220). These aspects of Ying set him up to play a central role in the culminating event of the novel as a spy, not as a collaborator with the Japanese (as Aiyi suspects, though he dies in a fighter plane explosion. Ying’s involvement in the Chinese resistance allows Randel to weave in the important role of Chinese rebels in liberating their own country from the Japanese.

American journalist Emily Hahn was a real person. She worked for the New Yorker from 1929 until the year before she died in 1997 and lived in Shanghai from 1935-41. The primary aspects of Hahn’s life in The Last Rose of Shanghai are historically accurate, including her relationship with Sinmay Shao. This romantic entanglement functions in the text as a foil to Ernest and Aiyi’s relationship and provides a cautionary look at how challenging cross-cultural intimacy can be for the individuals involved: “they were trapped. Emily was miserable in Shanghai, and Sinmay was miserable for her” (114). While he goes to be with her, their relationship is ambiguous in the novel since it is not clear whether it ends happily.

In the novel, Emily also plays the role of Aiyi’s confidant. Their friendship is crucial to Aiyi envisioning a life outside the traditional path expected of her. Visiting Emily, even when Emily is addicted to opium, Aiyi is impressed by the journalist being “free, open, independent, the owner of her body and soul” (147), and she has the desire to emulate her.

Sinmay Shao was a real person, the oldest son of a rich and aristocratic Shanghai family. As in the novel, he studied abroad and returned to Shanghai to be a poet and publisher. He was married to a woman named Peiyu and began an affair with Emily Hahn in 1937. Though their relationship did genuinely save Sinmay’s printing press, he was ostracized by his peers due to the affair. Note that the real Sinmay did not abandon his family for Emily in Hong Kong.

Aiyi is an invented sibling for Sinmay, and in the book, he represents familial pressure to conform to traditional expectations. Indeed, Aiyi describes him as “embod[ying] tradition” and expresses that she has “to be submissive to make him believe he [is] in charge” (74). In a violent action demonstrating the oppression of predetermined roles, he slaps Aiyi because she disobeys him. Yet Sinmay, too, struggles with his own path, as demonstrated by his about-face in giving Aiyi his blessing to be with Ernest, before he departs to find Emily.

British millionaire Sir Victor Sassoon was a real person. All prominent facts about Sassoon in the novel are historically accurate, including his interest in photography and tendency to take nudes, especially of his romantic partners. In the text, he is an example of the omnipresence of patriarchal gender roles which place men in controlling positions over women.

The fictional Sassoon also demonstrates the rewards of cross-cultural connection, though mostly due to his wealth. He remains impervious to the idea that nationalities should not mix and is thus a contact of Aiyi’s, allowing her to get alcohol for her club. When Sassoon proposes to Aiyi, his riches make the marriage “a tempting path […] worth risking Cheng’s and [her] family’s wrath” (139), demonstrating that under certain circumstances, cross-cultural relationships may be acceptable. Nevertheless, these financial benefits of mixing with Sassoon draw attention to the inequalities between cultures in their society.

Golda is a Jewish actress whom Ernest hires at the bakery and eventually marries. Her “striking beauty” and “flaming-red hair” are referred to several times (312), her physical characteristics gaining importance as she becomes a potential love interest for Ernest. Golda is the culturally accepted match for Ernest, paralleling Cheng for Aiyi; on their wedding day, Ernest sees Golda is the “good Jewish girl […] his mother would have liked” (353). Golda is also “true to herself, a mirror of veracity [Ernest] trusted” (373), rendering her unusual amidst the characters in that she goes after what she wants rather than allowing social norms and expectations to complicate her desires. For example, she subverts traditional gender roles by straightforwardly telling Ernest that she wants to marry him, rather than passively waiting for him.