# Search for Meaning and Identity in On a Chinese Screen

> Theme guide for On a Chinese Screen by W. Somerset Maugham.

Individuals like the Englishwoman married to a Chinese man, the vice-consul, and the sinologue grapple with displacement and the search for purpose, often finding only emptiness or a retreat into narrow specializations, as seen in the scholar who lives entirely through books.

## Where it surfaces

- [IV: The Rolling Stone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/iv-the-rolling-stone): The protagonist's restless wandering and collection of experiences suggest a search for meaning, yet the narrator concludes that his adventures never translated into soul-deep experiences, leaving him with an insignificant identity.
- [VII: The Altar of Heaven](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/vii-the-altar-of-heaven): Untermeyer's desire to be remembered reflects a search for personal significance, but his crude method and its swift erasure suggest the emptiness of such efforts.
- [VIII: The Servants of God](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/viii-the-servants-of-god): Both missionaries have dedicated their lives to a higher calling, yet their identities are shaped by their pasts—the Englishman's soldiering and the Frenchman's asceticism—revealing a search for purpose.
- [XXIV: Romance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxiv-romance): The narrator's quest to understand and capture the essence of romance mirrors a deeper search for meaning and identity in his experiences.
- [XXV: The Grand Style](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxv-the-grand-style): The doctor's plans to retire and visit the West Indies, his reflections on England and Ireland, and his embodiment of a bygone 'grand style' suggest a search for meaning and identity in a changing world, clinging to the values and manners of his youth.
- [XXXI: The Stripling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xxxi-the-stripling): The stripling's journey to the city to seek his fortune embodies a youthful quest for purpose and self-definition.
- [A Game of Billiards](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xl-a-game-of-billiards): The stranger's abrupt question about fate hints at a deeper search for meaning or purpose, contrasting with the mundane setting of a billiard game.
- [Nightfall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xliii-nightfall): The traveler's recollection of vanished youth, high hopes, and lost love underscores a quest for personal significance amid the passage of time.
- [XLIV: The Normal Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xliv-the-normal-man): The narrator's quest to find a 'normal man' and Webb's own struggle with his identity as a father and husband separated from his family underscore the search for meaning in a fragmented life.
- [The Old Timer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlv-the-old-timer): In his old age, he reflects on his past and finds meaning in the river and his memories, asserting a sense of fulfillment despite external failures.
- [XLVI: The Plain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/xlvi-the-plain): The narrator's sudden vision of the Rhine plain triggers a deep personal reflection on his youth and the formation of his identity through beauty, knowledge, and conversation.
- [L: Metempsychosis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/l-metempsychosis): The concept of metempsychosis and the old man's expiation through a mundane task reflect a search for meaning and the consequences of past actions.
- [LIII: The Sea-Dog](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/liii-the-sea-dog): Boots' restless career and indecision reflect a search for purpose, as he moves from sea to land and back, never fully settling.
- [LV: The Sinologue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/chapters/lv-the-sinologue): The sinologue's dedication to his dictionary and Chinese poetry reflects a search for meaning through scholarship, yet the narrator questions if he has missed the essence of life.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/themes/the_search_for_meaning_and_identity
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_chinese_screen_se/themes