53 pages • 1-hour read
Free Food for Millionaires
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Symbols & Motifs
Casey’s Watch
Casey’s watch, an expensive gift from Sabine, symbolizes external expectations and pressure to succeed early in life. Sabine only gives Casey the watch because Casey concedes and does what Sabine thinks she should do, that is, apply to business schools. Sabine has a clear vision of what Casey’s life should look like: Casey should graduate from business school, work hard, and eventually take over Sabine’s business. While the watch is a generous gift, it calls attention to how other people have high-pressure expectations as to how Casey should live her life—that is, how she should spend her time. Watches are also constant reminders of the passage of time, and are associated with urgency, productivity, and external expectations such as meetings or appointments. Sabine wants the best for Casey, but she also imposes a strong sense of urgency onto the younger woman, telling her that “every minute matters. Every damn second” (168). The watch symbolizes how other people impose their own values onto their expectations for Casey; ultimately, she needs to navigate around these expectations in order to find out what she truly wants for herself.
The watch, given its high quality and brand status, also symbolizes conventional notions of success. The watch is visually striking: it’s “streamlined and tough and possessed tremendous style” (189). It is something a wealthy and successful individual might wear. It is also a men’s watch, suggesting how Sabine sees Casey as capable of following in her footsteps and pursuing her ambitions with an aggression and intensity that might traditionally be considered masculine.
Herpes
Late in Ella’s pregnancy, she learns that she has genital herpes; since Ted is the only man Ella has ever slept with, she infers that Ted has passed the virus on to her, and this discovery leads to her learning that Ted has been having an affair. The virus that Ella contracts symbolizes the insidious nature of shame and lies, especially when applied to sexuality. Ted has hidden his affair from Ella, even though his experiences with Delia have opened his eyes as to what a sexual relationship can be like when both partners are unabashed and share similar desires: “making love to Delia had made him feel complete” (185). Ella is particularly furious with Ted because she only learns about his infidelity second-hand; Ted also recommits to secrecy when he later recommences his affair, only to get caught a second time, leading to him being fired for having sex with Delia in the office where they both work.
While Ted and Ella’s marriage is the only relationship directly affected by a sexually transmitted infection, many other individuals face similar consequences due to the secrets and lies that their shame prompts them to generate. Leah does not tell anyone that Charles assaulted her because she blames herself, and she is so ignorant about sexual and reproductive health that she doesn’t realize she is pregnant until she experiences a miscarriage. Casey initially hides her flirtations with Hugh because she feels conflicted about utilizing sexuality to advance her career; she also conceals the fact that she had an abortion while in college. In all of these cases, individuals experience shame about their sexuality and desire, striving to hide their experiences and reactions. Significantly, the resulting lies create more problems. Herpes is a useful symbol for this cycle. When viewed pragmatically, it has relatively little impact if someone does not feel ashamed. The doctor who diagnoses Ella has herpes herself and is nonchalant about it, hinting at the role of shame in the characters’ lives. The doctor herself references her husband’s “theory about the patient’s predictable hysteria: Americans are ashamed of all things relating to sex” (178).
Golf
Golf is a reoccurring motif in the novel. Casey is a talented golf player who regularly plays in college, often with her boyfriend Jay. Later, when she works at Kearns Davis, Casey’s skill leads to an invitation to golf with clients and partners. Casey first meets Unu on a golfing trip, and she later begins her affair with Hugh when she joins him on another golfing trip. The motif reflects how Casey occupies an ambivalent class position, as golf is typically an expensive sport to access and associated with exclusive clubs and memberships. Casey herself muses that golf is outside her reach: Golf “was especially useless and ironic since she could neither afford to be a member of a club nor have the leisure to play” (217). Casey can pass as wealthy, but she doesn’t have the resources to sustain that lifestyle.
In additional to acting as a class signifier, the motif of golf also has gendered connotations. When Casey golfs, she is typically playing with men, and often white men. Casey’s skill as a golfer reflects her ability to successfully navigate a male-dominated field; at the same time, the golfing trips also coincide with episodes wherein she either seduces or is seduced by a man. Casey can be granted access to a primarily masculine world, but no one ever truly treats her as an equal, and the men around her often have ulterior motives. Golf reveals how, despite Casey’s best effort to fit in, she is never fully accepted into cultures dominated by wealthy white men.
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