The Woman Who Had Two Navels Symbols, Allegory and Motifs

Two Navels (Symbol)

The supposed condition Connie diagnoses herself with is a symbolic manifestation of her feeling of dual forces operating within her. In one interpretation, the two navels she longs to rid herself of represent how she is torn between a familial allegiance to the high-society world of her cold, wealthy mother and the morally and spiritually virtuous world she escapes to in the Chinese quarter as a teenager. Connie's inner turmoil emerges again when she marries Macho, a man she eventually is drawn away from by her fascination with Paco. Connie's two bellybuttons also symbolize the split identity she inherits from the American and Spanish colonial cultures that have informed her idea of herself as Filipino. Now severed, the umbilical cords of the two nations have withered, leaving the bellybutton scars of their formative connection. Lastly, Pepe suggests to Paco that Connie's story about having two navels is her way of saying that she believes a "guardian angel" is watching over her, an interpretation that contextualizes why she gives dolls as offerings to the idol with two navels in the Chinese-quarter temple.

Short-Wave Radio (Symbol)

The short-wave radio Paco uses to listen to Filipino jazz from Hong Kong is a symbol for transmission between cultures. Although Paco never travels to Manila as a child or young man, he listens to the radio so often that he develops a sophisticated understanding of Filipino musicians' unique interpretation of American jazz; he also becomes familiar with all the local jazz clubs in Manila. That he receives this education through the radio is symbolic of how cultural influences travel around the world, particularly in colonized territories like the Philippines and Hong Kong, and become reinterpreted by locals.

Concha's Mansion (Symbol)

The lavish Manila mansion in which Concha lives is a symbol of elevated social status. Constantly surrounding herself with guests in her grand home, Connie's mother reifies her social position as a powerful and wealthy woman. Her home contrasts with the neighboring slums to which most citizens of Manila are confined. Initially enamored with Vidal and her environment, Paco later finds himself disgusted by the indifference people of her class seem to have for the impoverished people in the rest of the city.

Crabs (Symbol)

The crabs Pepe's father hallucinates as crawling all around him are a symbol of his soul being lost somewhere between fantasy and reality. Having dreamed of returning to the Philippines his entire adult life, Doctor Monson visits for a month after the Philippines becomes an independent republic in 1946. However, the experience he has there shakes him to his core, and he returns to Hong Kong taciturn and mentally unwell. He disturbs Pepe by referring to the crabs he hallucinates as being on the ground all around him, even when they are inside their apartment. The ominous crabs haunt Pepe, who later remembers the line while reflecting on how his father, having gone through the "mirror," is now a "ghost" of himself.

Fur Coats (Symbol)

The fur coats Connie and her mother wear are symbols of wealth and class disparity. A humble horse doctor who lives in a cramped apartment with his aging father, Pepe is repeatedly distracted by the dazzling outfits Connie and her mother wear when they visit him. The luxurious fur coats, in particular, denote their affluence and the de facto power that comes with belonging to a high social class—power with which they can enchant the once-honest Paco.