Something Fishy

When Daisy accuses Hoke of stealing a can of salmon, the scene is played up for comic effect to distract the audience from how racist her accusation is. The camera zooms in on the empty can of salmon and insanely dramatic music plays as if Miss Daisy just found a dead body. The film pokes fun at her here, making a joke of her overly suspicious nature.

If we peer deeper into the can of salmon, though, we can find a bit more symbolism along with those little bones that a person could choke to death on. Miss Daisy stocking up on canned food suggest she's still got some food insecurity from her days of growing up poor.

Also, salmon is fancy and expensive, although we're sure Daisy waited for a sale. She seems to make the assumption that Hoke is after her little luxuries. You've got to watch out for the help, you know. This scene nicely points out the "soft" racism of people who might see themselves as liberal but are still making prejudiced assumptions.