ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 discusses “ethical choice,” one of the key terms in ethical literary criticism (ELC), and the legitimacy of her choices. The terms “legitimacy” and illegitimacy were thus suggested for inclusion in the corpus of ELC’s key terms. Legitimacy is one of the benchmarks of man’s rationality in the ordering of society. Han Suyin’s autobiography reveals the interpretation of legitimacy by the local Chinese community during her time. Her magnanimity shines through her autobiography in her forgiving those who had committed gross injustice to her in the name of “legitimacy,” as they defined it. Her justification for her choices throughout the changing scenarios, especially her choice of China as her legitimate homeland and “fatherland,” was altogether revealing. This disposition determines that all the men in her life had to be her conduit of love for China. Her extensive six-volume autobiography and the corpus of her other works altogether reflect her determination to promote the goodwill of the emerging Red China in the eyes of the world during the Cold War period. As “a daughter of China” in the diaspora, Han Suyin went the second mile in her service to China, her beloved country of origin.
