Analysis of 'China Coin' by Allan Baillie: A Cultural Perspective

This essay analyzes Allan Baillie's fictional work, 'China Coin,' focusing on the central theme of balancing 'holding on and letting go,' as illustrated through the experiences of the characters Leah and Joan. The essay explores the impact of cultural identity, particularly the challenges faced by Leah, a half-Chinese, half-English Australian, in navigating her sense of belonging within both her family and the broader community. It examines the mother-daughter relationship, highlighting the tensions and eventual reconciliation as Leah confronts the harsh realities of the world and her Eurasian roots. The essay discusses the use of literary devices such as symbolism and personification, and references key scholarly articles to support the analysis of the characters' journeys and the broader themes of identity, belonging, and the importance of creating balance in life. The narrative delves into Leah's journey to China, her struggle to connect with her heritage, and how her relationship with her mother evolves, ultimately emphasizing the significance of familial bonds and cultural understanding.

Running head: ENGLISH ESSAY
English Essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENGLISH ESSAY
Life is a balance of holding on and letting go-Rumi, is a very interesting phrase that sums
up the essence of life. In the fictional work China Coin, the author Allan Baillie has presented
his notable narrative skills to reflect on this phrase and emphasized on the engagement with
communities (Baillie 2009). This fictional work has depicted the impact of engagements with
places and communities for a better life in the future.
In this work, Allan Baillie has presented his views through the demonstration of his two
central characters Leah and Joan. Both the characters were the part of the similar family since
they shared the closest bond of mother and daughter. Leah was the half-Chinese and half-English
and she lived in Australia. She was not able to speak fluent Cantonese language like her mother
Joan. This is why she was not accepted whole heartedly by natives like Jade in the Good Field
Village. This is why she is quite upset and she does not feel belonging to the native land of that
particular village (Baillie 2009). In this scenario, it has been said that her mother was quite frank
with the Cantonese language and she had very good relations with her neighborhood.
Though there were many problems between the mother and daughter. There was a time
when Leah thought it would be better to let go and end all the relations with her mother. She was
quite frustrated with the events that were going on. In these circumstances, she was not that
much aware about the outside world and she was only concerned about the world she had created
around herself (Baillie 2009). This was the primary reason she felt very insecure about her life
and surroundings. She always wanted to have the family that she loved the most. However, she
had to learn new experiences in her life so she could know about the harsh realities of the world.
Couldn't the woman see? She was not Chinese, not even an ABC-Australian born Chinese.
Joan was Chinese, all right, but Dad...had been English. Didn't it show?

2ENGLISH ESSAY
As a matter of fact, it has been said several times that no person would be able to live
without the sense of belonging. During the early years, Leah did not have that sense of
belonging. Therefore, she was completely lost in the worldly affairs and she was utterly confused
(Baillie 2009). The sense of belonging must be there within all people so they could get the
influence from the identity of the individuals and their connections with the common people. It is
quite commonplace for all the characters of the fictional work that they had to make several
adjustments and create the balance that would help them to understand the individuals and share
the bonding to live peacefully (Shinn 2015). This fiction is one of the best ones in terms of
linguistic jugglery because the author Allan Baillie used several rhetorical figures like
symbolism, humor, personification, visual image and many others to create the feasibility within
the minds of common people.
“I wish to thank the many people in China and Australia who have helped me write and check
this book, often at risk to themselves.”
Life is definitely about creating the proper balance between the right and wrong. The
central protagonist of the fiction Leah was born in Australia so it is very evident that she did not
have strong connections with her Eurasian roots (Wise 2015). Therefore, she had to make the
choices about what she actually wanted. She was afraid of dealing with harsh realities of his
personal life since she did not have the previous experiences of doing so. It was actually the
responsibility of her mother that she could feel that sense of belonging (Baillie 2009). As Leah
completely felt the sense of not belonging to that Chinese culture, she had to face several
troubles in her life (Moritsugu et al. 2015). In the later times, she had to go to China with her
mother Joan so she could get one half of an ancient coin from China. Leah did not feel good at
all when she arrived there.

3ENGLISH ESSAY
“I have been kidnapped by an evil aunt”
Rather she could not relate herself to the culture and linguistic essence of the country. In
this context, she had to make the choices whether she wanted to hold on or let all the hope go.
Amidst these situations, her relations with her mother had deteriorated (Cohen and Sherman
2014). However, the situation slowly improved because she was making the attempts to make the
situation better and make the relation with her mother a strong one (Kagan et al. 2019). All these
factors were very much responsible for Leah and Joan to get reunited and share the strongest
bond that a mother and daughter should always share.
In the concluding section, it must be said that the balance in life should always be kept
because life is a mixture of several experiences and these human experiences will always shape
the life of human beings.

4ENGLISH ESSAY
References
Baillie, A., 2009. The China Coin. Fiction Gateway: Enriching the curriculum with childrens
lliterature, The, p.33.
Cohen, G.L. and Sherman, D.K., 2014. The psychology of change: Self-affirmation and social
psychological intervention. Annual review of psychology, 65, pp.333-371.
Kagan, C., Burton, M., Duckett, P., Lawthom, R. and Siddiquee, A., 2019. Critical community
psychology: Critical action and social change. Routledge.
Moritsugu, J., Vera, E., Wong, F.Y. and Duffy, K.G., 2015. Community psychology. Routledge.
Shinn, M., 2015. Community psychology and the capabilities approach. American journal of
community psychology, 55(3-4), pp.243-252.
Wise, N., 2015. Placing sense of community. Journal of Community Psychology, 43(7), pp.920-
929.