Lunch (Symbol)
At one point in the film, Gekko tells Bud, "Lunch is for wimps," suggesting that a hard worker on Wall Street works straight through lunch and doesn't need to take a break. Thus, lunch becomes a symbol for what separates people who simply get by in finance to the people who thrive. Lunch is a symbol for being too casual about work and not working hard enough in the shark-like world of finance. It's a symbol of being a "wimp" in the logic of Gordon Gekko.
Steak Tartare (Symbol)
When Bud meets Gekko for dinner, early on in their business relationship, they go to a fancy restaurant, and Gekko orders the steak tartare for Bud to eat. After giving Bud some pointers on how he can elevate himself to fit in better in the finance world—getting a new suit, abandoning his "cheap salesman talk"—Gekko leaves, just as the steak tartare is arriving. Bud stares at the pile of raw meat and contemplates the fact that his life is about the change. The meal becomes a symbol of the corporate competition and elevated social status that Bud is about to enter.
Bud's table without a top (Symbol)
When Gekko comes to Bud's apartment to meet with Carl and make a deal to buy Bluestar, he puts his cup on one of Bud's tables, an item purchased for him by Darien. When he puts it down, the cup falls to the floor and it becomes clear that the table doesn't have a top, and the glass on top is just an illusion. The table is in fact merely decorative rather than utilitarian. In this way, the table symbolizes the superficial trappings of wealth and status; as we learn in the course of the movie, often the appearance of wealth, with all its impracticalities and ornamentation, is more important than the truth behind it.
Greed (Motif)
While Bud's initial aspirations are ambitious, he soon becomes an exceedingly greedy person, seeking to win over the world's wealth. His greed is pushed into overdrive by Gordon Gekko, who is the quintessential greedy businessman. Throughout the film, we see how greed motivates everything the characters do in the film, driving them to achieve success and cause damage to others along the way. Many of the props and settings—the house in the Hamptons, the art, the sushi, the homemade pasta—represent these trappings of greed, the payoff for looking out for oneself.
Sexism (Motif)
While it is never explicitly addressed, sexism and sexist attitudes are a recurring trope in the film. While the way the men treat Darien is perhaps the most obvious example of sexism in the film—she is a prop and a status symbol more than anything else—the sexism is most baldly displayed in the treatment of the secretaries. In his attempts to get in to see Gordon Gekko, Bud makes relentless jokes to Gekko's secretary about whether or not she wants to marry him. She is clearly nonplussed, but he continues all the same. Then, later, when Bud gets the coveted corner office, it comes with a beautiful secretary, and her beauty is remarked upon—in her presence—as part of the perks of the promotion.
