an is upset and refuses to pay Haesu what she has earned. Haesu may be a servant, but she refuses to be treated in such a degrading way. She takes only a dime from the change the woman has given her, which is what she needs for transportation home. The bigotry of the woman emerges full-blown: "Mrs. Randolph glared at Haesu. She began to fume. 'Why you insolent yellow . . . '" (6).
Haesu has maintained her dignity in a difficult situation. She needed the money, but there was something more important than money at stake---her humanity and self-respect. This is the key to the book and to the immigrant characters who carve their new lives out of the American landscape. They succeed in keeping their cultural and historical ties alive while assimilating enough to survive and grow as individuals, as families, and as a people.
This theme of survival-with-dignity is maintained through
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