Soda (Symbol)
When Maman first finds Jamal, Salim, and Latika at the dump, he offers them soda. This is the first instance in which we have seen an adult be kind to the children. Previously they have only been scolded or neglected, but Maman hands them soda, a symbol of sweetness and pleasure, refreshing on a terribly hot day. While the soda is initially a symbol for the care Maman takes in interacting with the children, as we realize that Maman is not a good man after all, and is exploiting the children for his own profit, the soda becomes a symbol for his deceitful nature, something sweet that turns out to be very bad for the orphans.
"It is written" (Motif)
At the very start of the film, a subtitle suggests that the reason Jamal is doing so well at Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is because "it is written." This is a way of suggesting that his victory is part of his destiny, not exclusively a result of his merit or his luck. Throughout the film, this phrase comes up at various points to justify the fact that a slumdog is doing so well at a competitive trivia game show. By the end, it seems pretty certain that destiny has a hand in Jamal's journey, as he beats the odds to win the whole game, but we never know for sure. This simple phrase, suggesting some kind of connection to the spiritual or the divine, is a motif in the film.
Money (Symbol)
After Jamal is beaten by a driver, the American tourists give him cash, guiltily thinking they are to blame for the outcome of a prank Jamal played. The bills represent a particularly American condescension that is lampooned in the film, the tourists' sense that they can buy anything, even peace of mind over their economic privilege. The bill, the memory of which will serve Jamal in the game show, represents the tourists' quick-fix mentality about global inequality, their ignorance of the actual problems facing the inhabitants of the country they are visiting.
Latika's scar (Symbol)
After Latika tries to escape from Javed Khan and meet Jamal at the train station, she is kidnapped once again by Salim and Javed's other thugs. They pull her into the car and slash her cheek with a knife, and Jamal's last image of her is her screaming in pain in the back of the car. She has the scar for the rest of the film, still visible when she is finally reunited with Jamal at the end, and it represents all the hardship she has had to endure throughout her life in order to finally find escape and happiness with Jamal. The scar is a symbol for the wrongs done to her as a vulnerable woman, and when Jamal touches it at the end, this represents his desire to help her heal.
The Three Musketeers (Motif)
Alexandre Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers is referenced throughout the film. First, it is a book that Salim and Jamal are studying in school, and the book is used to beat the boys over the head when they are late to class and do not know anything about the characters. Even though the two boys are ignorant about the plot of the book, the teacher suggests that they are the class' very own musketeers. As a result, the boys adopt this as part of their identity, and when Latika joins their ranks, they call her the third musketeer, even though they do not know anything about the book. The novel comes back to haunt Jamal at the end, when the last question standing between him and unimaginable wealth on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is "what is the name of the third musketeer?" He does not know, and when he calls Latika, she does not know either, but he still manages to get the answer right with a wild, intuitive guess.
