Despite their ubiquity as childhood pets, multiple cultures have historically interpreted goldfish as symbols of affluence and good fortune. The Chinese people domesticated goldfish approximately 2,000 years ago for exclusive use by the Song Dynasty in their ornamental ponds and tanks (Mohr, Kylie. “Goldfish Aren't the Ho-Hum Fish You Thought They Were.” National Geographic, The National Geographic Partners, LLC). Goldfish continued to represent material wealth after the breed’s introduction to the United States in 1876 (Waycott, Laurel J. “Reflective Creatures: Goldfish, Affluence, and Affect in Gilded Age New York.” Winterthur Portfolio, vol. 54, no. 2-3, 2020). Many New Yorkers and other Americans collected the breed at this time, appreciating its rarity and its scale color.

Goldfish began to lose its luster as the Glided Age wore on and into the early 20th Century, and the goldfish is Chua’s poem appear as unremarkable creatures confined to a mere fishbowl. Goldfish are a socially neutral species, able to thrive both in schools and alone. The relationship between the goldfish in Chua’s poem results from this proximity as they are “bounded by round walls” (Line 7) with “nowhere else to go” (Line 3).

Although the gold-colored scales of the goldfish present an image full of symbolic richness, the male goldfish still dreams of chasing after “pearls” (Line 16), another symbol of wealth.