The Opium Den represent?

The Opium Den in Canton represents poverty and the cruelty of the English merchants. While Robin was aware of the dangers of opium because of his childhood, the reality never quite clicked until he saw that his own had been replaced by the same den that had claimed his family’s fortune. Not only does it show how foreign influence is degrading Canton (and China’s) culture, but it also displays how willing British merchants are to ruin people’s lives if it means they can make more money. If the Chinese people remain addicted to opium, then they have no choice but to buy more, keeping them in a cycle of poverty that prevents them from reaching their true potential, inadvertently justifying England’s belief that they will never be a progressive nation. The den is the first step down that path of cruelty.