The symbolism of this story reinforces the theme of appearance and reality. Lena appears to be happy, but she is miserable. Ying-ying appears to be a frail old lady, but she is really a tiger. The tiger itself is a symbol of duality. The gold and black creature has two sides. The gold side represents its fierce heart; the black side, its cunning and stealth. Like a tiger, Ying-ying appears to be asleep when she is awake. She "has one eye asleep, the other open and watching." Notice how the clever naming of Ying-ying's second husband also emphasizes duality. The "St." appears to be a martyr, rescuing his poor wife from a wretched life of misery. Yet it was Ying-ying who decided that it was time to marry — not St. Clair.
Even the symbol of the knife and watermelon suggests duality. Ying-ying's first husband plunged the knife into the watermelon to make a crass joke about her virginity. Later, the same symbol represents her abortion.
The other primary theme of this section is that strength lies in confronting the past. That is what Lena has begun to do in "Rice Husband," as she evaluates her life with Harold. She realizes that she has sold herself short, that she deserves far better than she has gotten. Here, Ying-ying determines to gather the threads of her past and use them as tools to cut her spirit loose. When she has once again regained her chi, her spirit, she can penetrate her daughter's hide and cut her tiger spirit loose. Ying-ying is aware that there will be a struggle, but she is confident that she can win. Freeing her daughter's strength will be her legacy.
Tan uses humor to relieve the seriousness of these themes. For example, Ying-ying calls her son-in-law "Arty-tecky" for "architect." Lena laughs at the mispronunciation; the reader laughs because we know that Lena and Harold are indeed "arty." They are shallow people taken in by trends. They pay far too much money for "hand-bleached floors" and "marbleized walls." Ying-ying's comments about "so-so security" are also humorous. The social security payments are really "so-so," for they do not provide enough money for her security.
