Stocks

The stock market symbolizes Sidra’s struggle for personal agency. Sidra feels that she has lost control of her identity and agency in Hollywood, so after she moves to Chicago, she spends some of her free time buying and selling stocks in order to pass the time and make money. Unfortunately, she usually loses money in this activity.

Hollywood

Hollywood symbolizes the division between Sidra’s internal life and her public perception. Sidra’s career in Hollywood is fueled by her reflexive willingness to go to extremes for attention. However, she begins to desire a quieter life of simple pleasures. Unfortunately, as she pursues such a life, she still fixates on her former life in Hollywood.

Illinois

Illinois symbolizes the tensions between Sidra’s desire for a life of domestic simplicity and the inimical forces fostered by others’ perceptions of her. In Chicago, she repeatedly fails...