Bamboo People

The main theme this section highlights is Friendship Without Borders. During their training, Chiko and Tai’s relationship develops: Although Chiko still has misgivings and originally tries to keep his distance, he still helps Tai in small ways—writing a letter to his mother to save Tai’s sister, inadvertently assisting Tai’s escape attempt via truck, and checking on Tai during his solitary confinement. His relationship with Tai slowly brings Chiko out of his shell and teaches him not only how to interact with his peers but also how to help others in return for their assistance.

Tai, meanwhile, is more open with his overtures of friendship. He helps Chiko with basic survival, saving him supplies and teaching him strategies to ease their heavy workload—the buffalo and the sling are two examples of this. By now it’s clear that Chiko and Tai come from very different social classes—Chiko growing up with privilege and Tai living on the streets—so their friendship is more significant as it also crosses social hierarchies. The captain notices this and makes it a point to punish them whenever he can, mirroring both the British colonization strategy of dividing and conquering Burma and the junta’s tactic of dividing its citizens to maintain its control. However, Chiko and Tai prove the effectiveness of unification and alliance: Their bond strengthens because of their shared adversity and allows them to continue to resist the captain’s attempts at control. This hints at the symbolism of a diverse and united Burma.

The second theme this section emphasizes is that of Education Versus Propaganda/Hatred. As previously established, Chiko is educated and open-minded because of Father. Tai, though illiterate, is intelligent and street smart; his rough experiences and antagonistic relationship with the captain allow him to see through the captain’s manipulations and power plays. These qualities also help both of them resist the captain’s propagandistic speeches demonizing ethnic groups like the Karenni. These speeches are meant to unify and encourage the Burmese conscripts/child soldiers while simultaneously dividing the nation as a whole and allowing the military to maintain rigid control of the government and the people. The boys’ reactions to this speech differ—Chiko is more intellectual and idealistic, distantly supporting the rights of non-Burmese peoples, sympathizing but not yet truly empathizing with them. Tai, meanwhile, is more cynical and jaded, knowing from firsthand experience how war and the struggle to survive can influence human behavior. However, he doesn’t take an overt stance to defend the scapegoated minority groups; his focus is still on ensuring his own survival and looking after his own.

The deal between Chiko and Tai represents a crossover between both themes—Friendship Without Borders and Education Versus Propaganda/Hatred: Tai will help Chiko survive military training; in exchange, Chiko will teach Tai to read and write. Through this exchange, Tai can gain skills to ensure his upward social mobility after his conscription period ends; Chiko, in turn, augments his own education by building up his street smarts. He learns how to protect himself by secretly dodging attacks, how to use resources to make his work more efficient, and how to bargain with others to increase his resources. Harking back to Daw Widow’s point about literacy versus street smarts, Chiko learns firsthand how intelligence and education can take different forms; their usefulness depends on the circumstances.

Additionally, Chiko’s glasses symbolize literacy and power. He needs his glasses to read and write; without them, his skills are useless. At first, he still has some modicum of power when he writes the letter to Mother. However, the captain’s beating and subsequent damage to Chiko’s glasses removes that power through the captain’s rank and Chiko’s loss of the essential tool that allows him to read. The captain asserts his physical dominance literally through violence and uses his higher status to forbid Chiko from wearing his glasses in the captain’s presence. This marks the military’s emphasis on blind obedience rather than education—a strategy by which the military uses propaganda to maintain their political control over Burma.