These gloves, which have importance to Therese although she never mentions them again, recall the quote about the same faces day after day. Therese has a habit of ignoring things in order to preserve them, but it ends up having the opposite effect—she loses things without being able to enjoy them.

Here is when Therese looks at herself in the mirror and catches a glimpse of a person she wants to be. She could treat this identity like the gloves and never do anything, or she could move and try to get it, risking losing it in the process. That loss could be temporary or permanent. Whatever it is, Therese is dissatisfied with how she is now, and she wants to change.

This is a discouraging thought. According to Therese, she's simply going from being trapped in one place to being trapped in another.