Spoon River Anthology · Chapter
Yee Bow explained
Yee Bow recounts being forced into Sunday school in Spoon River, where they tried to convert him from Confucianism to Christianity.
What happens
Yee Bow recounts being forced into Sunday school in Spoon River, where they tried to convert him from Confucianism to Christianity. He reflects that the attempt was as futile as the reverse would have been. Without warning, Harry Wiley, the minister's son, fatally attacked him from behind, crushing his ribs into his lungs. Yee Bow laments that he will never be buried with his ancestors in Peking and that no children will worship at his grave.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Corruption
The minister's son, representing Christian authority, commits a murderous act of violence, exposing the hypocrisy of the religious community.
Death and Legacy
Yee Bow's death prevents him from being buried with his ancestors, severing his connection to his cultural and familial legacy.
Illusion vs. Reality
The Sunday school's promise of salvation is contrasted with the brutal reality of violence and death.
Characters to notice
- Yee Bow
The speaker, a Chinese immigrant forced into Sunday school, who is killed by the minister's son.
Key passages
“They got me into the Sunday school in Spoon River And tried to get me to drop Confucius for Jesus.”
They enrolled me in Sunday school and attempted to convert me from Confucianism to Christianity.
Yee Bow describes the forced religious instruction.
“I could have been no worse off If I had tried to get them to drop Jesus for Confucius.”
It would have been equally futile for me to try to convert them from Christianity to Confucianism.
He highlights the absurdity and one-sidedness of the conversion attempt.
“Now I shall never sleep with my ancestors in Pekin, And no children shall worship at my grave.”
I will never be buried with my ancestors in Beijing, and no descendants will honor my grave.
Yee Bow mourns the loss of his cultural and familial burial traditions.