57 pages • 1-hour read
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussions of racism, graphic violence, animal cruelty, and death.
“Bat Eater”
The term “bat eater” is an important motif in the book, appearing in the title as well. The term is a racist slur that is often used against East Asian Americans, particularly Chinese people, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The term is rooted in one of the theories regarding the virus’s origin through zoonotic transmission from bats in a wet market in China. The use of the term in the title thus immediately foreshadows one of the central aspects of the book while also grounding it within a certain socio-historical context: The racism and violence faced by the East Asian community during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The slur appears in the very first chapter, with Delilah’s killer calling her this as he pushes her to her death. The man’s use of this term confirms Delilah’s murder as a hate crime, which is reiterated time and again through the use of bats at all the murders of East Asian women that take place in the book. The white supremacists who carry out the murders use the bats to clearly signal their hatred of East Asian people, marking the victims as having been targeted for their race and ethnicity. Despite the overwhelming presence of bats at these murders, however, the authorities refuse to consider or pursue the issue of a serial killer. The bats thus serve as a motif for The Invisibility and Erasure of Marginalized Victims—despite their use being a clear indication of xenophobic hate crimes, their presence at the crime scenes is trivialized, diminished, and downright ignored.
“Hungry Ghosts”
The “hungry ghosts” in the book are an important motif. The reader is first introduced to the idea through Auntie Zeng, who warns Cora to be careful during ghost month as “hungry ghosts” emerge. The idea of the “hungry ghost” stems from Chinese folklore, which believes that restless souls sometimes manifest as “hungry ghosts” who cannot be satiated because they have unfulfilled business in the realm of the living.
The supernatural elements in the book take the form of “hungry ghosts”—first, in the one that haunts Cora, whom she initially believes to be Delilah but who is actually Yuxi He; and second, in the hundreds that Cora eventually encounters, first in the park with Harvey, and later in the subway on the way to the mayor’s house. By using this specific kind of ghost in the book, Baker sets a specific cultural premise, which allows for the exploration of Folk Ritual as Pathway to Healing from Grief.
The “hungry ghosts” in the book can only exist in the darkness; they are banished the moment light falls on them. This is a nod to the invisibility and erasure they faced during their lifetimes, particularly because the ghosts Cora encounters are all from marginalized communities who died in hate crimes. The ghosts not only lurk in the shadows, but also remain unseen by most of the living. This echoes their ignored and trivialized existences during their lifetimes, where their experiences and suffering, as East Asian Americans, was inadvertently ignored or deliberately swept under the rug by mainstream society and those in power.
The Jade Bracelet
The jade bracelet is a key symbol throughout the book, which also works as a plot device. Auntie Zeng first instructs Cora to wear her jade bracelet for protection before the start of ghost month, which Cora explicitly ignores. This refusal showcases Cora’s adherence to ritual as merely surface-level and obligatory; she does not truly believe in or find solace in these cultural traditions just yet.
After her encounters with “hungry ghosts,” however, Cora does begin to wear her bracelet after Auntie Zeng reminds her to, thereby signaling Cora’s changing beliefs and growing reliance on folk rituals for solace and protection. The jade bracelet breaks when Cora and Yifei get into a car crash; however, while Yifei is the one who dies, Cora survives. The destruction of the bracelet reflects how Cora does not need protection from the supernatural anymore—she is meant to embrace and engage with the ghosts in her life, which symbolizes how she confronts and processes her trauma.
In parallel, the jade bracelet also works as a plot device. Cora first believes that the “hungry ghost” is Delilah based on the jade bracelet on the ghost’s wrist, as Cora and Delilah had matching bracelets exactly like this one. This illusion shatters when Auntie Zeng reveals that the Chinese character on Delilah’s bracelet is different from the one on the ghost’s.
The jade bracelet also becomes a symbol of community and a nod to the common experiences of violence and racist hatred experienced by women like Delilah and Yuxi He, the actual “hungry ghost,” because of their race and ethnicity. Thus, despite the fact that the “hungry ghost” is not Delilah after all, Cora does eventually avenge Yuxi He’s death, as well as the deaths of all the other East Asian women murdered in the city.
Unlock the meaning behind every key symbol & motif
See how recurring imagery, objects, and ideas shape the narrative.
- Explore how the author builds meaning through symbolism
- Understand what symbols & motifs represent in the text
- Connect recurring ideas to themes, characters, and events