60 pages • 2 hours read
The Ghost Bride
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Symbols & Motifs
Clocks
Clocks (as well as watches and time in general) are a frequent symbol that mark the connection between past and present throughout The Ghost Bride. They also represent order and fate, things over which humans have little or no control.
Clocks are most commonly seen in connection with the Lim family; it is one of the first things that Li Lan notices upon entering their household for the first time. “Such clocks! The walls were covered with dozens of clocks in every style imaginable … Time, it seemed, could scarcely go unmarked in this house” (12). Clocks and watches also become connected to Tian Bai specifically, as Li Lan first meets Tian Bai when he is engaged in repairing a watch. Tian Bai, it seems, is the one tasked with fixing the time pieces and ensuring that time marches predictably forward.
According to Chinese superstition, clocks are very unlucky, especially when given as a gift, as they are thought to symbolize one’s limited time on Earth. As such, clocks in The Ghost Bride symbolize Li Lan’s own life and the limited amount of time she has before she must either pass on or return to her body. Later in the novel, however, Li Lan visits Tian Bai in a dream, in which he is engaged in frantically winding many clocks. He bids her to help him, and when she asks him what will happen if time stops, he simply responds that it won’t. Time is dependable and sure, just like Tian Bai. It is an accurate and predictable way to measure the progress of one’s life, so in Tian Bai’s mind, if the clocks stop, life also stops, which is something he will not allow to happen.
Food
Food is a motif in the novel. In many cases, it represents life-giving sustenance, such as when Li Lan seeks out offerings of rice and other food to sate her growing hunger in the realm of the dead. Without food from these offerings, a spirit may become a “hungry ghost,” a wraith-like entity who has started to lose any semblance of who they were when they were alive. In spite of the need for food on a physical and spiritual level, Li Lan is told over and over to avoid eating the food in the land of the dead. Doing so will tie her too strongly to the spiritual plan, making it difficult for her to return to her body. Thus, food in The Ghost Bride can support life or bring death.
On the other hand, food also at times represents decadence and temptation. Lim Tian Ching tries to sway Li Lan toward being his bride by offering her a sumptuous feast, which Li Lan can see looks “uncomfortably like funeral offerings” (25). The Lim family in the afterlife also serves a multicourse feast to their guests, the ox-headed demons, though Li Lan notes that the food in the Plains of the Dead no longer has any flavor. It is, however, artfully plated and heavily spiced, to ensure it is impressive and appetizing to all the honored spirits. In this way, food in The Ghost Bride can serve as a reminder of the charade of self-importance that is performed by those in power while being empty of substance.
Dreams
In The Ghost Bride, dreams symbolize the connection between opposites: the real and the imagined, the natural and supernatural, and the living and the dead. Dreams often also signify the overarching theme of The Unknown and Unseen. For the first couple of dreams that Li Lan has featuring Lim Tian Ching, for example, she is not sure if she is dreaming or having a supernatural experience. She quickly learns that it is both, and that dreams are a liminal space, in which the living and the dead are more easily able to communicate. Indeed, ghosts and spirits are able to exercise their control over dreams to an even greater extent than in the material plane. Importantly, dreams are also a space where the dead can manipulate the living, such as when Fan makes her lover appear young in the dream and drains his life force. Thus, dreams are not always a space of solace and comfort; they can also very easily become nightmares, as Li Lan’s case shows.
Dreams can also be deceptive or at least show an incomplete picture of events. When Li Lan visits Tian Bai’s dream the first time, she gazes upon his memory of his time in Hong Kong and the beautiful Isabel. Although Li Lan senses a connection between the Tian Bai and Isabel, the dream does not show her all that their relationship entailed. It is up to Li Lan to seek the truth directly, and in this way, dreams can point the characters in the correct direction or provide helpful clues, but they cannot be relied on to provide complete and accurate answers on their own.
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