The different symbolic terms imply different meanings, these are as follows :
Window- The world outside represents perception. We learn through the narrative that the outside world is totally new and unfamiliar to her. She is comfortable being with people whom she has known for a long time. She has accepted her life of misery so well that she doesn’t consider her to be a part of the outside world. She believes the world won’t accept her.
Gathering dust- Dust is a sign of lifelessness and end. Eveline lived a life of duty. She worked and paid the salary to her father and every day makes an effort to fulfill the promise she made to her mother. Eveline was leading a hopeless and paralyzed life and has surrendered herself to the dust. Dust gives a sense of familiarity as it always returned like her memories did, about home and her mother. She dusts it away and the next moment it comes back again.
Dusty cretonne and its odour- Cretonne is a heavy cotton fabric with a floral pattern on it. In the opening scene readers are told, “Her head was leaned against the window curtains and in her nostrils was the odour of dusty cretonne”.The curtains were dusty for a long time as she was the sole caretaker of the house and could not pay much attention to clean every aspect of the house. In the same way, she was a lifeless being only surviving to make the life of her family easy and ignoring herself like the dusty cretonne.