43 pages • 1 hour read
Kelly Yang, Illustr. Maike PlenzkeThree Keys
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Proposition 187
Three Keys is based on an actual event in California in 1994 when Proposition 187 was passed. While this legislation would only limit opportunities for those who are undocumented/unauthorized, the immigrants in the novel are all affected by the attitude toward newcomers that the bill conveys. Mentions of Prop 187 are sprinkled throughout the text. The bill symbolizes intolerance and xenophobia on the part of native-born Californians. It relates to the theme of contrasting immigrant experiences.
The author tries to help the reader understand the legislation from the standpoint of white Californians by making Mrs. Welch the representative of their viewpoint. At the beginning of the novel, she explains to her class that taxpayers are bearing the cost of educating unauthorized immigrants to the tune of 1.5 billion dollars. Her words are given further weight by the school cutbacks that affect Mia and her classmates. They are housed in a trailer instead of a classroom, and Mrs. Welch needs to pay for school supplies out of pocket.
Mentions of Prop 187 are used to reveal character as the people surrounding Mia react to the bill positively, negatively, or indifferently. As might be expected, Mr. Yao is hostile to undocumented immigrants and votes for the proposition because he is a businessman. His son is indifferent because the problem doesn’t affect him. Lupe is paralyzed with fear every time she hears the words uttered. Prop 187 makes her feel guilty and ashamed that her family snuck into the country even though they worked hard after arriving.
Prop 187 becomes the means to drive a wedge into the immigrant community as a whole, dividing those who are legal from immigrants without authorization. As Mr. Tang wisely tells everyone, “‘We immigrants are all in the same boat,’ my dad reminded his friends. ‘Don’t let them divide and conquer us. If this law passes, it’s bad for all of us’” (33).
Groups
While Mia seems to be an army of one in both novels, she also learns the value of organizing groups of people to help achieve whatever goal she has in mind. She first mobilizes the power of the collective to help her parents buy the Calivista in Front Desk. She expands on this practice in Three Keys. Groups symbolize unity of purpose and emphasize the theme of the power of determination. The book shows how groups can be utilized for good or bad effects.
At the story’s beginning, Governor Wilson hopes to mobilize a large bloc of voters by scapegoating immigrants. His ploy succeeds in getting him reelected. The negative power of groupthink is again demonstrated in the three Chinese ladies at the mall who briefly befriend Mrs. Tang. They are initially impressed by her success, and she buys an expensive dress to keep their high opinion of her. Later, they go one step too far by suggesting that Mia should only be allowed to associate with other Chinese children. Luckily, Mrs. Tang rejects this act of peer pressure and severs her ties with the mall ladies.
Mia uses the collective for more positive purposes. First, she helps organize a class for immigrants called How to Navigate America. Later, she organizes a school group called Kids for Kids, where her classmates can talk about their challenges and worries in a safe environment. Mia is trying to foster unity, and she succeeds.
The Tangs themselves also see the value in uniting groups rather than dividing them. They see all immigrants as belonging in the same boat and try to help those struggling to stay afloat in America. This pattern began in the earlier book when they let immigrant travelers stay at the motel for free, and it continues as they open their doors to immigrants who are regarded with suspicion by everyone else.
Signs
Because Mia aspires to be a writer one day, words are important to her. However, written signs also function as symbols of exclusion and inclusion in the novel and underscore the theme of the power of the pen. Hank gets the idea of adding a message to the motel marquee indicating that the Calivista has been featured on TV. Purely as a marketing ploy, this message succeeds. The sign draws the curious to the motel, and many bookings result. However, his next addition to the sign backfires when he adds “Immigrants Welcome” to the message.
This sign antagonizes a particular segment of the population who favor Prop 187, and they retaliate with signs of their own. Hate messages are spray-painted on the motel walls. Flyers are slipped under guests’ doors, implying that immigrants are overrunning the Calivista and the entire country. Hank’s welcome message even worries some of the motel’s investors and makes them consider withdrawing their money.
Everyone is tempted to remove the offending sign, but Mia stands firm. Eventually, the same sign that alienates hate groups will draw more immigrant customers to the motel. The disfavor of other lodging owners ironically generates more income for the Tangs because theirs is the only motel that welcomes immigrants.
When Mia is frightened by the threatening messages she sees all around her, she receives a simple thank you note from a guest whose parents were once immigrants. This action again demonstrates the power of signs and short messages to destroy confidence or reawaken it.
Other kinds of lettering have an equally powerful effect. Mia starts a petition to free Jose. The simple act of people writing their names on a piece of paper will become instrumental in freeing a man from jail. None of the signs in the book are lengthy or necessarily eloquent, but all seem to have the power to spur people to take action for better or worse.
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