Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The Incredible, In-edible Egg
After the sausage fest of spoons, worms, wind instruments, and hot dogs (go poke around the rest of this section to see what those are about if you haven't already), it's nice to have a feminine symbol step in: the red eggs. We see the same scene with the eggs twice—they're red eggs and part of an Easter game. In case you didn't know, eggs don't just make a delicious breakfast—they also symbolize ovulation. It's during the Easter red egg game that Tessie gets pregnant with Cal.
When Cal revisits the egg as part of his chronological timeline, there's something new in the picture: sperm. See kids, when a man loves a woman...
Anyway, when Cal revisits Tessie getting knocked up by Milt, we see almost everything that leads up to this moment. As Cal says, "Everything comes out of an egg" (2.7.6). When you think about all the tiny details that come together in order to fertilize an egg, it makes the whole process seem all the more miraculous.