Alcohol as a metaphor for depression
Hopelessness appears very clearly through alcoholism, and it exacerbates the problems of loneliness and confusion, because as Judy demonstrates, drunken stupors are often traumatic and humiliating, and they're certainly inviting judgment. Judy needs people to show her love, but no one will, and her depression and her alcoholism work against her.
The jewelry as a symbol for cognitive dissonance
When Madden accepts Judy's strange forwardness, he does it because he thinks she's rich. She showed an image to her community that seemed like she had more than she did, because it's important for her to pretend she has more than she does. This means that her jewelry is a metaphor for her inability to be honest about the fact that she is not well and she needs help.
Singleness as a metaphor for loneliness
Sexual isolation is a great metaphor for loneliness, because it often causes the same desperation, and after all, to have a husband and kids would be to have community in a sense. So for Judy, her need for community support (her dependence, even) is symbolized to her as her sexual desire for a man.
The church as a symbol for cruelty
Ironically, the church represents judgment to Judy, even though she is in a desperate state of confusion and need. To Father Quigley, she is an alcoholic sinner who brought her judgment on herself.
