The narrator in “The Surrogate” is a lonely, insecure person who is in pain all the time from a medical condition. To make herself more noticeable, she agrees to be the surrogate vice president of a company run by a man named Lao Ting. Her job was to basically pose and get American businessmen to sign papers and negotiate in favor of the business. By using her sex appeal and wearing a dress suited for business, she would be more likely to get American businessmen to cooperate rather than if Lao Ting did the negotiations himself. Not only does she go to the business meetings, but she also tends to hang around Lao Ting’s family where Lao Ting and his wife, Gigi, treat her like one of their own children. She revels in the attention that is given to her and she can temporarily forget her insecurities.
On the weekends, she likes to go out to the clubs to meet men and show off her body, but not having sex. However, she is insecure about her body, hence why she tapes pennies on her nipples and taping a photo of Charlie Chaplin to her pubis (hip bone). When looking up Charlie Chaplin on the internet you come across the character of the Tramp who is described as someone who tries to act like a gentleman despite social status. In a way, this could be the narrator’s way of flaunting to the men she meets that she makes more money than they do and that they are only worthy of seeing her body, not having sex with her.
Towards the end of the story, Lao Ting dies from a swimming accident, and her world is turned upside down. She can no longer work for the company as a surrogate so she is let go. She goes on about her life in misery, taking hormone medication to try and help her medical condition. She reaches her breaking point and feels suicidal so she calls up a magic man that one of her former colleagues gave her the number to. She ends up living with him, even though he cannot cure her because he accepts her and all her flaws. The narrator knows she has good looks but she is extremely lonely and wants any kind of validation she can get that she is pretty and enough for someone.