A Killing Cold

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

Dragonflies serve as the novel’s most potent symbol of The Reclamation of Identity Through Memory, guiding Theo toward her buried truth. This symbol manifests in multiple forms throughout the narrative: as the tattoo on Theo’s wrist, the brass ornament she discovers in the abandoned Dragonfly cabin, and the nameplate that once marked the door. Dragonflies represent how memory, even when suppressed, finds ways to surface and lead the traumatized toward recovery. When Theo examines the brass ornament, she recognizes it as the inspiration for her tattoo, though she cannot consciously remember why she chose that particular design. The dragonfly represents transformation and the persistence of memory, appearing both as the cabin’s nameplate and in the form of Theo’s tattoo to symbolize how unconscious memory guides her journey back to her true identity and past. This connection demonstrates how the psyche preserves what consciousness cannot bear to hold, encoding trauma in symbols that resurface when the individual is ready to confront the truth. The dragonfly’s life cycle, though not described in the book, involves a metamorphosis from vulnerable water-dwelling nymph to consummate aerial predator. This metamorphosis mirrors Theo’s own transformation from the silenced child “Teddy” into the woman reclaiming her identity.