Architecture and buildings form an important motif in the text, reflecting The Complexity of Identity and Philip’s relationship with his past. The architecture of Penang reflects the multiculturalism of the island, speaking to the mixture of identities that also forms Philip’s family history. With his grandfather, Philip visits a Chinese neighborhood that is new to him and a family temple. In discovering different parts of Penang, Philip discovers different parts of his own identity.

As an older man, Philip is beholden to the past, even 50 years later. His entrapment in the past is embodied in his relationship with Penang’s architecture. He still lives in his childhood home and uses his wealth to start a conservation society to preserve the many old buildings of Penang which, he fears, will fall into disrepair. He eventually realizes that his attempts to preserve the architecture of old Penang are really just attempts to cling to the past as it was, not preservation for its historical or cultural importance. He wants to live in the Penang he once knew, not Penang as it has become. With Michiko’s help, his growing self-awareness enables him to start letting go and come to terms with why the past has haunted him so much.