Kingston and her mother were both born in the year of the dragon in the Chinese zodiac, and they associate themselves with this mythic creature.

Dragons, in the Chinese tradition, are vast, powerful, wise, and temperamental. To be a dragon is to be in contact with “dragon ways,” the paradoxical understanding that can incorporate what is tangible with what is beyond human understanding. Dragons thus symbolize Kingston’s paradoxical identity, her connection to her mother, and the power that stems from her internal conflicts.

Food appears in the book as a symbol of belonging, survival, love, and integration. Food rituals and table manners are a potent symbol of Chinese family culture. Kingston describes a prescribed silence while eating and the use of round tables as images of secrecy and group loyalty. To eat together is to be part of a united group.

In its ability to delineate boundaries, food also has a protective role: a new baby is rubbed with an egg to keep him safe, and a gift of candy can neutralize a curse. Eating is also symbolically linked with the ability to live with the past, as one can defeat a ghost by eating and digesting it.