Chinese culture versus American culture. This conflict appears throughout the novel, from the struggles of the mothers and daughters to Lena St. Clair's Chinese eyes and American appearance and Lindo Jong's Chinese face and her American face. Food expresses love. June cooks a dish her father likes after her mother's death to comfort him. It also shows relationships, like the competition in cooking among the mothers.
Food also reveals character.
Food also affirms life, as the Joy Luck meals at Kweilin. An-mei almost dies after boiling soup spills on her neck. Clothing expresses cultural identity and clashes as well as hides identity. As an old lady, she dresses strangely and wears colors which clash. In a photograph taken when Ying-ying arrives in this country, she is wearing a Chinese dress with a Western jacket which is too big.