Dominic Sadeghi

Mr. Parker

English II, Block D

4 December 2014

The Benevolent Triad

When reading Timothy Mo’s Sour Sweet, the Triad is mainly depicted as a dark family, full of violence and crime and the death of Chen worsens the idea of the Triad and leaves the reader saddened. He has left his son fatherless and wife without a husband. Though when you look into detail you can see that Chen joining the Triad and the death of Chen was actually beneficial to his family.
Throughout the book you can find many reasons to why this is true. The first reason is money. The Triad allowed Chen to earn more money in an easier, less strenuous way. This money eased life in the new city and made their transition to western culture easier as Chen and his family didn’t have to work the long weeks and worry about having enough money to keep their flat. With this money Chen also opened up the new restaurant. If it wasn’t for the fear of the Triad, Chen wouldn’t have had opened this restaurant as well. The restaurant allowed Mankee to work and have experience with the business. This experience at such a young age will help Mankee become the great restaurant owner that his dad wants him to become. Also the newly earned money paid for the car. The car is a huge benefit as it allows the family to escape their small bubble in which they live in and also the car is long lasting and will effect there lives for years. On top of this, the car allows Mankee to go to school. This education is extremely valuable as it enables Mankee to learn the English culture and also get an education.
On top of money being a huge factor, the Triad also brought the family closer together and helped transition the family to English culture by taking away their Chinese roots. Throughout the book Chen’s family is struggling with getting affiliated with Western Culture as their Chinese roots won’t let them. This is apparent when Lily and Chen debate whether to send Mankee to Chinese school or not. “She was, though, unable to persuade Husband to send Son to one of the Chinese schools near the Street. Chen couldn’t find it in him to deny his son his heritage. He would have made any financial sacrifice for this: had that been the sacrifice required” (Mo 174). The Triad helped this problem by saving Chen’s dad’s life and bringing him to London. By bringing him to London the Triad took away the families roots and gave them a sense of belonging in the new city. With a sense of belonging and with lots of the family now in London, they can finally adapt to English culture and find a balance between it and Chinese culture. Also bringing Chen’s dad