Metaphor for modernity
The first thing Millie does before she moves to Manhattan, she cuts her hair into a short bob. The new haircut is used here as a metaphor and is used as a metaphor for modernity.
Metaphor for reality
As soon as Millie arrives in Manhattan, she is mugged and loses everything she has, inclusive some of her clothes. The mugging is an important action here and is used here as a metaphor for reality.
The room at Hotel Priscilla
After being robbed, Millie asks a wealthy man for help. Instead of offering to help her himself, he sends Millie to Hotel Priscilla, a place of ill repute. Millie accepts to go there and rents a room even though the conditions are not ideal. The room is later compared to reality and this comparison has the purpose of transmitting the idea that sometimes, what we imagine is far from being the truth.
Vanishing children
At some point in the play, the women discuss the children who vanished without a trace from the hotel. All the children were described as being black and from low-income families. These children are used here as a metaphor representing the idea of social inequality.
Bring their families to America
Millie meets many people who are immigrants and who live in the same hotel she does because it is the cheapest option. Some of these immigrants work tirelessly day and night to earn enough money so one day they have the possibility of bringing their family to America. Because of this, America becomes a metaphor here, representing an ideal and the hopes and dreams of the immigrants in the hotel.
