Burning
Many objects are burned throughout the novel, and broader imagery of fire is also frequent. Burning seems to be the only way to transfer money and other goods from the physical world to the spirit world, so it is an image often repeated.
The Invisible
Ironically, one of the strongest images that Choo deals with is the image of what can't be seen. Often, characters fail to see others as they are, whether that is because they are disguised in human forms, like Er Lang, or because they are spirits that cannot be perceived by the human eye, like Fan following her old lover around. Nevertheless, these things that are unseen are very much present, as we learn from Li Lan's inability to shake off the effects of the spirit world.
Hungry Mouths
Much of the spirit world is described as gaping and open—from the dark tunnel that leads into the Plains of the Dead to the gaping mouths of the hungry ghosts, it seems that everything in the spirit world is portrayed as a hungry mouth, ready to devour Li Lan at a moment's notice.
Non-human Beauty
One of the biggest lessons Li Lan learns in this novel is that humans can be monstrous too, but accompanying this lesson is the image of how beautiful non-human things can be. Even though Er Lang is not human, Li Lan still finds him beautiful. In addition, Choo emphasizes the nonhuman beauty in the world—like the land of Malacca, the festivals, or even the animals—over the human beauty in the world, which the book portrays as fleeting and not necessarily reflective of the truth of a person's soul.
