Coin

The coin in the narrator's back is symbolic of trauma. Unable to confront the tragedies she has lived through, the narrator becomes convinced that a coin she swallowed as a girl is stuck in her back. She wants to remove the coin but cannot reach it. The coin thus symbolizes the personal and generational trauma that the narrator carries in her body.

Dirt

The dirt the narrator despises in New York is symbolic of anxiety and shame. She obsessively tries to remove the dirt from her apartment and body because she is afraid of others discovering who she really is. She has learned to feel ashamed of herself because of global stigmas about Arab and Palestinian peoples. Once she stops cleaning herself, she is letting go of this shame and anxiety.

CVS Retreats

The narrator's CVS Retreats are symbolic of order and control. When the narrator...