WHY DOES THE NARRATOR OF "THE SEMPLICA-GIRL DIARIES" WANT TO BE RICH?
Why does the narrator of “The Semplica-Girl Diaries” want to be rich?
The narrator of “The Semplica-Girl Diaries” makes constant references as to his being rich. The title
of the story, after all, is based off of ornamental figures that are known to be owned by the wealthy.
The narrator often makes it seem that he wants to be rich so he can show off his wealth because that’s
the norm, but it also appears that he wants to improve his lifestyle and those of his family. When
reading the story, I was wondering what his true motive was -- did he want to become rich to help his family or because everyone else is rich?
Right from the start of the story, we see that the narrator, though nice enough, is materialistic. He sees love as defined by personal objects. When the bumper fell off his car, he wrote, “...then gave Eva extra ice cream, due to I had spoken harshly to her”, showing that he is providing his daughter with a materialistic apology rather than verbally apologizing to show his emotions. However, the narrator also thinks “Thought: Why sad? Don’t be sad. If sad, will make everyone sad”, showing that he wants his family to be happy, and puts them in front of his own feelings. Later on the page, he writes, “Have to do better! Be kinder. Start now”, showing that he has intentions to improve how he acts, then goes on to say, “When will I have sufficient leisure/wealth to sit on hay bale watching moon rise, while in luxurious mansion family sleeps? Have a feeling and have always had a feeling that this and other good things will happen for us!” Instead of fantasizing about himself sleeping in the luxurious mansion, he imagined his family inside with him on the hay outside, showing that he wants his family to have a good life more than him.
Later in the story, when the narrator finds out that what Lilly wants for her birthday are expensive, ornamental items, he is shocked by why a “young girl of thirteen want[s] such old-lady gift”, yet he does “not want to break Lilly’s heart of harshly remind her of our limitations”. Though he seems materialistic in nature, he is willing to do whatever it takes to give his family members what they want, even if it means losing money they need.
Semplica-Girls provide nothing but visual entertainment and are a symbol that one is rich. The narrator wants to look wealthy and rather than saving up the money he won from the lottery which he could save to actually become rich, he spent it on an SG arrangement. When he gets the arrangement, he finally says that “Happiness [is] possible”; he gets his happiness from wealth. Even though he knows of the dark background of the SGs, the narrator buys them because it’s what would make his daughter happy. Later, when the narrator realizes that Eva is unhappy they have SGs, he takes her on a drive to show her that so many other people have them to prove that it’s fine he has them too. Eva says to him “So, just because everyone is doing it, that makes it right”. He says that he wants Lilly to feel “her family [is] as good/affluent as any other family”, which is why they have SGs. This quote shows that he wants to fit in with others by being rich, while at the same time wants to make others happy.
Overall, the narrator’s intentions of being rich might either be because everyone else is, or because he wants his family to be happy, but I feel like it is a mixture of both.
The narrator of “The Semplica-Girl Diaries” makes constant references as to his being rich. The title
of the story, after all, is based off of ornamental figures that are known to be owned by the wealthy.
The narrator often makes it seem that he wants to be rich so he can show off his wealth because that’s
the norm, but it also appears that he wants to improve his lifestyle and those of his family. When
reading the story, I was wondering what his true motive was -- did he want to become rich to help his family or because everyone else is rich?
Right from the start of the story, we see that the narrator, though nice enough, is materialistic. He sees love as defined by personal objects. When the bumper fell off his car, he wrote, “...then gave Eva extra ice cream, due to I had spoken harshly to her”, showing that he is providing his daughter with a materialistic apology rather than verbally apologizing to show his emotions. However, the narrator also thinks “Thought: Why sad? Don’t be sad. If sad, will make everyone sad”, showing that he wants his family to be happy, and puts them in front of his own feelings. Later on the page, he writes, “Have to do better! Be kinder. Start now”, showing that he has intentions to improve how he acts, then goes on to say, “When will I have sufficient leisure/wealth to sit on hay bale watching moon rise, while in luxurious mansion family sleeps? Have a feeling and have always had a feeling that this and other good things will happen for us!” Instead of fantasizing about himself sleeping in the luxurious mansion, he imagined his family inside with him on the hay outside, showing that he wants his family to have a good life more than him.
Later in the story, when the narrator finds out that what Lilly wants for her birthday are expensive, ornamental items, he is shocked by why a “young girl of thirteen want[s] such old-lady gift”, yet he does “not want to break Lilly’s heart of harshly remind her of our limitations”. Though he seems materialistic in nature, he is willing to do whatever it takes to give his family members what they want, even if it means losing money they need.
Semplica-Girls provide nothing but visual entertainment and are a symbol that one is rich. The narrator wants to look wealthy and rather than saving up the money he won from the lottery which he could save to actually become rich, he spent it on an SG arrangement. When he gets the arrangement, he finally says that “Happiness [is] possible”; he gets his happiness from wealth. Even though he knows of the dark background of the SGs, the narrator buys them because it’s what would make his daughter happy. Later, when the narrator realizes that Eva is unhappy they have SGs, he takes her on a drive to show her that so many other people have them to prove that it’s fine he has them too. Eva says to him “So, just because everyone is doing it, that makes it right”. He says that he wants Lilly to feel “her family [is] as good/affluent as any other family”, which is why they have SGs. This quote shows that he wants to fit in with others by being rich, while at the same time wants to make others happy.
Overall, the narrator’s intentions of being rich might either be because everyone else is, or because he wants his family to be happy, but I feel like it is a mixture of both.
I agree with this interpretation, and the fact that his motives are a little mixed makes the narrator a very interesting character. It would be easy to say he's a bad father because he wastes his money on the materialistic visual things instead of investments, but the things he spends his money on is for his daughter's happiness. The main thing that I think is the problem is he assumes everyone's happiness will increase when they get more money or are able to appear more wealthy, which might not be true. Perhaps the children can understand and be happy as they are, but he just wants to protect them. An understandable instinct, but detrimental in the end.
ReplyDeleteI always realized that the narrator had a desire to be wealthy but I never considered some of the key details you presented. For example, the narrator compensating his daughter by buying things never crossed my mind. Your post really touched on the impact society can have on ones values and how it can alter what you perceive as your own desire. We as humans have this nature to follow the crowd even if we want to be different most don't want to be too different to attract unwanted attention. Your question got to the true meaning of the story.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. Happiness is equated with material goods pretty often I think, and I'd absolutely believe that the narrator doesn't even realize he's a victim of this materialism craze when he shows his daughter love by buying her expensive gifts/ etc. It's hard to separate the two in real life by this point, and that made the narrator much more compelling imo.
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