Egg Yolks

Egg yolks are symbolic of potential. They serve as a reminder of June’s struggles with a disease that threatens to destroy her reproductive potential, as well as Ji-soo, the baby that Jayne and June’s mother lost. Jayne’s self-destructive tendencies manifest in her wasting of yolks, which are both part of a possible new life and a source of nourishment. While at June’s apartment early in the novel, Jayne throws out two yolks, intending only to eat the egg whites. Later, she pops the yolks on her fried eggs while she and Patrick are eating breakfast at a diner for the purpose of making it look like she has eaten more than she has: “Fried eggs are a cinch because once you pop the yolks, no one checks how much you’ve eaten” (179). As the yolks appear in pairs, they are also...