Examine the use of Penang as both a setting and symbol in the text. How is the city described? How is it used to illustrate some of the text’s key themes and ideas?

Philip spends much of the novel trying to navigate his identity. How does the text examine the different facets of identity—personal, familial, national, and/or colonial? How do different characters conceive of their identity and how does it shape their values and experiences?

Endo and Philip believe that they are caught in a cycle of rebirth. How does the novel use these ideas of rebirth to explore the tensions between fate and agency more generally?