Analyze of “The Standard of Living” by Dorothy Parker

 Ni'matul Azizah (1032012)

Analyze of “The Standard of Living” by Dorothy Parker

Summary

            This story tells about two girls who are born to be friends. Two girls are Annabel and Midge. They live in the same milieu and like to eat the same kind of foods. Both of them live with their family and they have the same hope. Had any one of them changed the way of her living she would have became different in manner. Once Annabel had invented and evolved a new game Midge became not Annabel in manner, behavior, and hope. Annabel played new game, she asked a question. “What you would do if you had a million dollars?” Annabel and Midge asked this question to Sylvia. Sylvia is a girl working in the same office.

Sylvia answered the question that she wants to hire somebody to shoot Mrs. Gary Cooper. The two girls laughed at her. They like to use these million dollars for good purposes. When Midge asked Annabel the same question Annabel answered that she would like to buy a silver- fox coat. Midge did not agree with her answer. Because of that they have no dreams, no money, and no change in the standard of living.   It makes Annabel getting angry with her. But, view minutes later, Midge asks Annabel to forgive her. They are going to a shop and looking for a pearl. They cancel their aim to buy a pearl, because the price is too expensive. Midge said to the Annabel let go girl, and we start to dream again.

1.      Character

Characters of the story are major and minor character.

Annabel and Midge are major character because Annabel and Midge always appear in the beginning until the end of the story. Sylvia is a minor character, because she rather appears in the story, for example: Sylvia rather appear when Annabel asked the question to her.

2.      Setting

There are many kind settings of the story

Settings of place, time and condition:

·         Shop window: Together they went over to the shop window and stood pressed against it. (setting of place) “I think that’s a kind of a good idea. And it would make sense, too. Because, you can use pearls with anything.” (setting of condition) They were in a good mood.

·         Store: “Why, a store like this wouldn’t even be open this afternoon,” Midge said. (setting of place) Afternoon (setting of time)

·         Tea room (setting of place): Annabel and Midge came out of the tea room with the arrogant slow gait of the leisured at Saturday afternoon (setting of time), they were happy (setting of condition).

·         Home (setting of time): each girl lived at home with her family and paid half her salary to its support. They lunched together every noon (time); together they set out for home at the end of the day’s work.

·         Office (setting of time): Annabel and Midge did, and completely, all that young office workers are besought not to do.

·         Hot wind (No setting of condition): as they walked across to Fifth Avenue with their skirts swirled by the hot wind.

·         Fun (setting of condition): The devil nudged Annabel in the ribs. “Dare you to go in and price them,” Annabel said.

·         Dare (setting of condition) “Yes, it is so, too,” Annabel said. “People just came out. And there’s a doorman on. Dare you.”

·         Cool, quiet (setting of condition): It was cool and quiet, a broad, gracious room with paneled walls and soft carpet.

3.      Plot:

Plot of this story use kind of open plot, because the end of the story is abstract. There is no significant resolution in the story.

§  Beginning of the story:

Annabel and Midge came out of the tea room with the arrogant slow gait of the leisured, for their Saturday afternoon stretched ahead of them. They had lunched, as was their wont, on sugar, starches, oils, and butter-fats. Usually they ate sandwiches of spongy new white bread greased with butter and mayonnaise; they ate thick wedges of cake lying wet beneath ice cream and whipped cream and melted chocolate gritty with nuts.

§  Rising action:

Annabel had invented the game; or rather she had evolved it from an old one. Basically, it was no more than the ancient sport of what-would-you-do-if-you-had-a-million-dollars? But Annabel had drawn a new set of rules for it, had narrowed it, pointed it, and made it stricter. Like all games, it was the more absorbing for being more difficult.

§  Climax:

Midge played with a seriousness that was not only proper but extreme. The single strain on the girls’ friendship had followed an announcement once made by Annabel that the first thing she would buy with her million dollars would be a silver-fox coat. It was as if she had struck Midge across the mouth. When Midge recovered her breath, she cried that she couldn’t imagine how Annabel could do such a thing—silver-fox coats were so common! Annabel defended her taste with the retort that they were not common, either. Midge then said that they were so. She added that everybody had a silver-fox coat. She went on, with perhaps a slight toss of head, to declare that she herself wouldn’t be caught dead in silver fox.

§  Falling action:

They stepped along in silence for a while. Then Midge’s eye was caught by a shop window. Cool, lovely gleaming were there set off by chaste and elegant darkness “No,” Midge said, “I take it back. I wouldn’t get a mink coat the first thing. Know what I’d do? I’d get a string of pearls. Real pearl. ”Annabel’s eyes turned to follow Midge’s. “Yes,” she said, slowly. “I think that’s a kind of a good idea. And it would make sense, too. Because, you were can use pearls with anything.” Together they went over to the shop window and stood pressed against it.

4.      Conflict:

Person versus fate:

They walked on. Slowly the disdain went, slowly and completely as if drained from them, and with it went the regal carriage and tread. Their shoulders dropped and they dragged their feet; they bumped against each other, without notice or apology, and caromed away again. They were silent and their eyes were cloudy.

The explanation of this quote is they were give up for their dream to buy pearls.

5.      Point of view:

The kind of point of view is third person point of view (omniscient). Because the Author did not appears in the story.