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The Good Life, Stephanie Black, Life and Debt, Color Key: Bluish Purple:…

- - - - Despite beginning anew, their room is described in such a way because nothing can beat time. It grows with you and piles on, remaining steady while things turn deteriorate. What can prosper in the battle with time?
    - - Concept that a women's worth is based purely on superficial ideals: looks and age. This promotes the concept that age wears down on women and how once they reach a certain age, they are nothing new to society.
    - - Walter Lee wants to use the money to curate a liquor store, believing that his life would thrive if he were the boss instead of the employee.
        
        Walter Lee changes his lifestyle into sometime destructive because he was not able to get his way. Not only is it a rather manipulative move, but it also makes him an unreliable character.
        
        Willy Harris skips town with Walter Lee and Bobo's investment money, Mama still supports her son through this mess because her definition of a wealthy life is a happy life.
      - Mama wants a home to keep her family together, solely hoping to make her children happy and be able to provide for them.
        
        Mama successfully puts a down payment for a house and she gives Walter the remainder of the money as a result of his perceived deterioration even though she despises the idea of owning a liquor store. For her, family and dreams are more important than money, but she knows that her son does not feel the same way. He believes that money will fix everything and bring happiness.
      - Beneatha wants the money for medical school, which can elevate both her financial status and social status. Unlike Walter Lee, her goals are beyond only monetary gains; she wants higher education.
    - - Lorraine Hansberry uses stage directions to depict each characters' conflicting personalities and to exemplify their inner thoughts.
        
        BENEATHA (Turning on him with a sharpness all her own) That money belongs to Mama, Walter, and it’s for her to decide how she wants to use it. I don’t care if she wants to buy a house or a rocket ship or just nail it up somewhere and look at it. It’s hers. Not ours—hers.
        WALTER (Bitterly) Now ain’t that fine! You just got your mother’s interest at heart, ain’t you, girl? You such a nice girl—but if Mama got that money she can always take a few thousand and help you through school too—can’t she?
        
        Walter Lee attempts to push blame and guilt upon those around him to achieve his own personal goals. Ultimately, his pessimism on his own life leads to his rather racist and misogynistic comments/beliefs.
  - - - Rich vs. Poor: Park vs. Kim
      - Poor vs. Poor: Kim vs Moon-gwang and Geun-sae
      - Does one group have to suffer in order for the other to thrive?
    - - Author creates a stark contrast between the differences between the poor and the rich by showcasing their lifestyles.
      - The Lighting Difference: Kim vs. Park
  - - - The poor will inevitably suffer under the hands of the rich because that is how their wealth builds.
- - - - Emma is soon bored, blaming Charles' looks and personality on her inability to feel the love described in her romance novels. Yet, he is described as a caring husband with a rewarding career. Her desire for more grows after attending a ball, affecting her body as she becomes too thin.
    - - Charles' incompetence as a doctor prevents him from progressing up the social ladder, which can satisfy some of Emma’s yearnings.
      - Rodolphe has the financial capability to change Emma's life, but he abandons her and as a woman, she is cannot leave her marriage on her own.
      - Leon and Emma are both unsatisfied with country life. But, as a man, Leon can fulfill his dream of moving out of town into the city and Emma can only remain tied to her husband.
      - Wed to Charles, Emma's only control of power over own destiny is her body. Her choice of committing adultery is completely her own, and it is her only way of trying to change her life while men own their wealth and land. Towards the end of the book, this concept manifests when her body is used as a system of exchange. Pleading for money to pay off her growing debts, Emma is subject to shame when the men only offer money in exchange for sexual acts.
  - - - Creon is fearful of lawlessness, but he is also very tense about the idea of heeding to females. Confirming to patriarchal standards, he assumes that women are all seductresses.
      - Creon: "Lead me away. I have been rash and foolish. I have killed my son and my wife. I look for comfort; my comfort lies here dead. Whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing. Fate has brought all my pride to a thought of dust."
  - - - Beneatha's motivations and personality are stark contrasts to Walter Lee's. Representing the new generation African-Americans, her character embarks on hope-- different from Mama's, who remains static from start to finish.
      - Connecting with their homeland in hopes for support
  - - - Romanticism
- - - - "Confronted with this reality, one has two choices: pretend all is well or work hard to restore things to what they were. I chose both. At Princeton, I conducted myself in public like a young prince, generous and carefree. But I also, as quietly as I could, held down three on-campus jobs—in infrequently visited locations, such as the library of the Program in Near Eastern Studies—and prepared for my classes throughout the night."
        
        Changez is ashamed of his financial status, which motivates him to work for a large company: Underwood Samson. He believes that the salary will change his life, but as he realizes his values don't align with them, he looks towards his homeland for meaning.
        
        Changez exhibits strong traits of jealousy and it ultimately boils down to one thing: competitiveness. He looks upon other people's success with "envy" and thinks of himself highly. While abroad, Chuck does impressions of all their classmates and Changez believes that they were skillfully accurate besides his, which he sees as a much greater exaggeration than the truth.
        
        Author incorporates an insecure, yet contemptuous character to exemplify human flaws and selfishness.
        
        Changez heavily preaches against poor qualities and values, believing that it compensates for his similar, if not the same, actions. For example, he scolds Stranger for staring at a women, but he ends up doing the same thing when Stranger uses his phone for a moment.
        
        Walter Lee brings down his wife and sister as a result of his insecurities as a man with failed ambitions, making himself feel better through asserting dominance first.
        
        Changez feels powerful as his financial literacy improves under the guide of Underwood Samson. Theme: Wealth is power.
        
        Despite suffering from the aftermath of 9/11 at the airport, he believes that he is safe from hate crimes because he is now wealthy, exhibiting a form of idiocrasy that results from his new financial status.
        
        Changez tries to receive the benefits of being a "foreigner" in America and being an "American" abroad, but he still feels othered in both cases despite going as far as picking up the negative mannerisms he sees in Americans during his travels.
  - - - Corruption is prevalent in everyday life in Antigua and even though everyone is aware of it, no one knows what to do. Government workers embezzle public funds and even operate brothels, yet there is an absence of anger in the public. This lack of action is correlated to their education: the British claim to be contributing to civilization while exploiting the people and their land. So, they accept their government ministers' corruption under their promises of a brighter future.
  - - - Both Antigone and Creon are "deaf to reason" and they both stand by their morals, unrelenting in their ideology.