Ladybugs

Ladybugs are symbolic of Terese's childhood poverty and struggles. As a child, her home was infested with ladybugs which bit painfully and reminded her of her family's poverty. For this reason, as an adult, she kills every ladybug she sees. Because Casey, like most white people, sees ladybugs as beautiful good luck symbols, ladybugs also become symbolic of the emotional and cultural disconnect between the couple.

Terese's Teddy Bear

On recommendation of her therapist, Terese purchases a teddy bear to hold during the process of dealing with her repressed childhood memories. The teddy bear is a way for her to bring forth her inner child and to connect and deal with those memories. As such, this therapeutic method appears to use a psychodynamic approach which includes regression techniques. While this form of therapy, as Mailhot describes it, is associated with particular psychological schools and theories, the act...