My Diary?!

Dear Diary,

Today, I went to the Younger household to pick up Beneatha for a play, but I didn't enjoy the play at all because my time at her house put me in a bad mood. When I got to her house, Beneatha and her brother were going crazy over some dumb African ritual; they were jumping up on the tables and saying some weird words. In fact, Walter even called me "Black Brother" (Hansberry 79), which I found disgusting. After that, Beneatha decided to monologue to me about "our Great West African Heritage" (Hansberry 81). I don't at all understand why she finds that subject so interesting--I mean, she even cut off her hair to model their style! Sometimes, I don't understand that girl at all. Can't she see that the only way to do well in this world is to adapt to it and follow its customs? She calls me an "assimilationist Negro" (Hansberry 81), someone who's submerging themselves in "the dominant, and...oppressive culture" (Hansberry 81), but I don't see what she's talking about. I'm not 'submerging' myself; I'm just adjusting to the common way of life here, and if she can't understand that, then that's her problem.

After all of this, I had to talk with Walter Lee. That man thinks that he's going to become something in this world, but just one look at him tells otherwise. He has no class at all; he called the shoes I was wearing "faggoty-looking white shoes" (Hansberry 83), when in reality those shoes are what's in fashion currently. He tried to propose some weird idea to me, saying that he had some ideas about possible future investments, but it was easy to see that business like that was way out of Walter's league. The worst part, though, is that he doesn't realize it at all. He's calling himself "a giant...surrounded by ants...who can't even understand what the giant is talking about " (Hansberry 85). For some reason, he doesn't realize that he's not special; everyone feels like he does occasionally, he's just a lot more vocal about it. Walter Lee should just stick to chauffeuring, because that's what he does best. Besides, he couldn't become anything better than a chauffeur even if he tried.

Sincerely,
George Murchison

Diamonds?!

Once upon a time, there was a family that got very lucky and found a giant, mountain-sized diamond. Because of this, they lived happily ever after. The end.

Does that story seem slightly wrong to you? Though it never explicitly states it, the story implies that money leads to happiness. Though this idea is widely scorned today, in the 1920's, this concept of materialism was very prevalent; basically everyone in America thought that if he/she got rich, he/she would be happy. In Fitzgerald's The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, he mocks this philosophy by creating a family like the one above, except without the happy ending. The Washingtons' ownership of the "large and perfect" (Fitzgerald 86) diamond--Fitzgerald uses rhetoric when describing the diamond in order to emphasize its importance-- results in their belief that they are so much better than everyone else: they invite guests over to their house for their pleasure, and then murder them afterwards. However, this attitude actually shows the Washingtons' sadness, not their happiness; despite their immense wealth, they still lack friends. In fact, their immense wealth has actually desensitized them towards items--you could give them a pink elephant and it would barely amuse them, due to their many other possessions.

In addition, the Washingtons' wealth has made them view only other wealthy people as important. This attitude is replicated in John--he says that the most important thing in Hades was "the earnest worship of and respect for riches" (Fitzgerald 80). This importance also makes them think of themselves as gods; they make their own rules, and expect everyone to obey them, similar to the way in which Moses transcribed the rules God gave him for the Israelites, except Moses's authority came from God, but the Washingtons think their authority comes from their wealth. The attitude the diamond gives the Washingtons shows how misguided the materialistic society of the 1920s was; in the end, money cannot buy one happiness.

I wish...