Food
Food is a ubiquitous image and the meaning changes with the type of food used giving credence to the old adage “you are what you eat.” Meat for example, specifically beef, is used to symbolize the stereotypical idea of macho-masculinity in the early parts of the novel, then it becomes a symbol for the duplicity and greed of the agriculture industry as the beef sickens those who consume it regularly in the hopes of boosting their strength and virility. Grains, vegetables, and non-beef meats on the other hand were symbolic of wholeness and health, both of body and mind as illustrated by those unorthodox families who raise other meats or are outright vegetarians whose relationships with their families are healthy, loyal, and emotionally supportive.
TV
TV and TV shows are images that are also prevalent in the novel as another critiqued form of consumerist behavior. Whereas food is consumed through the mouth where both poisons and nutrition is assimilated into the body, in a similar manner people consume both useful information and meaningless, brain-numbing entertainment.
Cows/Women
Cows/Cattle/Women, tragically, all share the same shelf space at least as far as many of the male characters in the novel are concerned. Women are treated like property and/or commodities, their worth measured in reproductive capacity and domestic skill--cooking and housekeeping mostly. Women’s bodies, like the steaks featured in the show, treated as little more than meat--fleshy, sexualized, and to be enjoyed by a predatory male. Most tragic similarity between the two images is this: both women and cattle are subjected to growth hormones, against their will, and these hormones wreak havoc on their health.
Men
Men are featured in the novel but only as either predatory and/or villainous capacity or as indifferent or distant--virtually part of the background--hence joining the ranks of imagery. Joichi Ueno and John Dunn and Sloane and Gale Dunn are examples, respectively, of predatory and unconcerned men.
Family
The image of family is an often-discussed matter in the novel and central to its plot development. It is also interesting to note that the image of the family as being primarily heterosexual and blood-related is constantly challenged and many various iterations of the image of family, such as adoptees and a lesbian couple, are also featured as the story progresses.
