The Road Home: Symbolism

In The Road Home, the bowl was a significant symbol. Di used this bowl to try to get Changyu's attention; she cooked meals and tried to get him to eat them from this specific bowl. There was a scene in the film that involved Di running after Changyu to give him the dumplings before he left for the city. While running, she dropped the bowl and it broke. Di was devastated. This particular scene is particularly symbolic because the bowl broke while Changyu was forced to leave. In some way, this described their relationship because we didn't know if Changyu and Di would end up together. A happy outcome of this symbol is that Di's mother was kind enough to get the bowl fixed because she knew how much this bowl meant to her.


Another important symbol was the barrette that Changyu gave to Di before he was forced to leave to the city. He gave her the barrette to match her red jacket; the barrette also had shades of red in it. The color red symbolizes good luck or happiness. This gift made Di happy; it would remind her of Changyu while he was gone in the city.