Samantha (Symbol)
As much as Samantha is a character in the film, she also serves as a kind of symbol for companionship, an image of the ideal partner and confidant. The closer that Theodore gets to Samantha, the more she comes to stand in for the missing love that he feels in his personal life. Because she can understand him and listen to him non-judgmentally in a way that no one else has ever been able to, Samantha becomes a representation of an ideal, a kind of constructed perfect listener and good girlfriend. While she ultimately ends up disappointing Theodore in a way he never could have imagined, for much of the movie, Samantha represents technology and the ways that the technologies that "belong" to us can bring us a special kind of satisfaction.
Tea Kettle (Symbol)
On vacation with Samantha, Theodore learns that Samantha is communicating with other operating systems, including a computerized manifestation of the philosopher Alan Watts. When he meets Alan Watts and talks to Samantha about the ways she is evolving quickly, a tea kettle on his stove begins to boil, whistling in a high-pitched squeal. The antiquated technology of the tea kettle in a mountainside cabin contrasts with the much more advanced technology of the operating system, Samantha, and symbolizes the ways that Theodore feels tense and upset about the fact that Samantha is growing without him. He looks distraught as the kettle whistles louder and louder, a sonic representation of his emotional state.
A Different Direction (Symbol)
As Theodore walks across large thoroughfares throughout the film, we often see that he is walking in opposition to the rest of the people around him. The ways that he is walking "against the current" represents the fact that the world is moving one way and he is moving in another. It highlights his alienation from the rest of the world and other people. This image is a visible representation of the ways Theodore is out of step with the rest of the world, or at least feels like it.
Letters (Motif)
Theodore works as a letter writer. He writes letters on behalf of other people. Throughout the film, we see him writing a number of heartfelt letters. This becomes a kind of motif in the film, a reminder that Theodore lives his life by becoming subsumed in the lives of others, and simulating their emotions. The letter writing represents the ways that Theodore doesn't have a strong self and the ways that he lives his life for other people. It takes Samantha sending his letters to a publisher for him to believe in himself enough to get his letters published.
Video Game (Symbol)
During the film we see Theodore playing a video game. The video game is more experiential than competitive, and his avatar wanders around and absorbs its surroundings, without many goals or accomplishments. Thus the game serves as a representation of Theodore's existential rut. While he wants to move on and make progress, he contemplates past memories and cannot seem to move forward with his life, "advance to the next level." The video game is a symbol for Theodore's aimless progress through life, a manifestation of his greatest fear: that he has felt all of the feelings he will ever feel and there's nothing to look forward to.
