Food Symbol Analysis

Throughout Motherless Brooklyn, food symbolizes the futility of searching for comfort and simple pleasures in a world marred by violence and corruption. Lionel Essrog, the novel’s narrator and protagonist, has Tourette’s syndrome—a neurological disorder characterized by the presence of repetitive and compulsive physical and verbal tics. The only times Lionel experiences even a degree of relief from his nearly incessant performing tics is when he is sexually aroused or eating food. “Food really mellows me out,” Lionel observes early on in the novel as he focuses intently on methodically eating a sack of six White Castle sliders—and for a large portion of the novel, food does seem to have a calming effect on Lionel, allowing him to surrender to his compulsions yet enjoy their fruits.

Eventually, however, as Lionel finds himself compelled to overeat in the name of ritual—such as when he compulsively orders a giant collection of sandwiches from his neighborhood deli or when he wolfs five hot dogs in a row at a restaurant—Lionel comes to see that there is little real, lasting comfort to be found in fleeting pleasures like food. The symbol of food is even further complicated when Lionel discovers that the trade of valuable but overfished uni (sea urchin) eggs lies at the heart of the complicated mystery which ties together Frank and Gerard Minna, the shadowy Fujisaki Corporation, and the intimidating New Jersey mobsters Matricardi and Rockaforte. The fact that a singular and highly-sought delicacy has become the impetus for a vast and lucrative criminal enterprise confirms for Lionel and the reader alike the futility of taking comfort in things which simply create the illusion of safety and control.