1. The Standard of Living by Dorothy Parker
The Standard of Living was written by Dorothy Parker in 1941, the story first published
in The New Yorker. This story describes in detail the way of living of two friends. This story
uses third person point of view. The narrator is the third person that knows everything in this
story which known as omniscient. The narrator is all knowing about each character and tell
thoughts and feeling for all character in The Standard of Living.
Introduction of this story describes about two girls who are close friends. They are
Annabel and Midge. Both of them live with their family and work in the same office in America
as the stenographer. They have many similarities life such as they have same favorite foods, they
have same skin like the petals of wood anemones and they have same styles in movement. They
also have same fat bellies and lean flanks. According to the narrator, those two girls are alike in
shape for they are living. They have the same hope.
The rising action happened when Annabel had created or invented a new game. Midge
became not as Annabel in manner, behavior, or hope. Annabel played a new game, she asked a
question: “What you would do if you had a million dollars?”
Midge answered that she wants to buy mink coat, then Annabel was disagree because of
their ultimate dream is they want to buy pearls. Because such different desired they did not speak
each other. Here where the climax is started in this short stories.
Falling action occurred on one fine day when Midge change her mind and she want to get
a string of pearls. They walked on Fifth Avenue and entered the shop to buy the string of pearls.
The cost of the pearls was too expensive. The price of the pearls was two hundred and fifty
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2. thousand dollars around a quarter of a million dollars. Finally, they threw away their ultimate
desire and began to make a new dream again. There is no resolution in this short story, because
the narrator never gives a definite ending and let it to the reader in deciding what will happen
next. This is called open plot.
The first paragraph of this short story shows a vivid image of foods painted through
words. This can be noted on how Parker use words to portray clear character of Annabel and
Midge. There are four characters in this story which are Annabel, Midge, Sylvia, the door man
and a clerk from the pearl shops. Annabel and Midge represent round character because the
author developed their role in the whole of story. Sylvia and a clerk from the jewelry shops fall
under flat character because their roles are not expanding. A door man and Mrs. Gary Cooper are
absent character in this short story.
This story happened in some places. There are happened in tea room, office, in front of
shop window, Fifth Avenue and jewelry shop. The situation occurred mostly on afternoon when
Annabel and Midge have their lunched together. The author mentioned it happened on
September by phrase, “It was one of those days with which September is repeatedly cursed;
hot and glaring, with slivers of dust in the wind”.
The condition of Annabel and Midge shows that they are happy, fun, dare and tightness
in this story line. Happy, fun and dare are proven by their desire to dream something beyond
their capabilities. Tightness arises when Annabel and Midge have different opinion in spending a
millions of dollar and Annabel feel disappointed.
There are some conflicts arise in this short story. First conflict is between Annabel and
Midge. It’s happened when Midge disagree with Annabel idea to buy silver fox-coat. Second
conflict is arising in Annabel herself because she creates her problem by arranging the
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3. imagination question and makes herself confuse. The next conflict is Midge versus herself.
Midge is like Annabel believing in imagination and glamour lifestyle.
The theme appeared from this short stories are friendship, dream’s of the future,
comparison between illusion and reality and social classes. The bond ties between Annabel and
Midge through their similar interest in lifestyle shows the friendship value in this short stories.
The relationship are bound strongly even there are some disagreement arise. Both of them still
dependence on each other and spend most of the time during afternoon and evening together.
From the strong relationship, Annabel and Midge share the same dream for the future. Their
dream not only to have large amount of money when Annabel invented the game, but also to
prepare themselves in climbing up to one new level of their social classes. Once entering the
jewelry shop and asking the question about the prices of doubled robed pearls, both of them
realised the prices costly quarters of millions which means in reality one millions of dollar are
still not enough in making them rich person. This situation of Annabel and Midge provide the
concept of social class. Pearls can be seen as a symbol of confidence and a superior social class.
The make-ups, the coats, the dresses and places such Fifth Avenue may represent classes of
society with an atmosphere filled with rich, glitz and glamour.
Julie Duffy (2011) describes The Standard of Living by Dorothy Parker is a fabulous
example of a author can flesh out a story whose plot is basically a build up to a simple phrase
with humor effects and turn it into something that stays with the reader. Parker uses descriptive
writing method in her short story. For example in the below phrases is a first paragraph of the
short story, Parker starts with an ordinary word to describe sweetness and luscious of the food:
“They 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
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4. wedges of cake lying wet beneath ice cream and whipped cream and melted chocolate,
gritty with nuts. As alternates, they ate patties, sweating beats of inferior oil, containing
bits of bland meat bogged in pale stiffening sauce…”
In books of The Critical Waltz: Essays on The Work of Dorothy Parker explains the short
story of The Standard of Living as an innocent young girl which represented by Annabel and
Midge. Both of them are young working girl who fancies themselves as a glamorous beauty.
Annabel and Midge play role as naive young women in this short story, they are perceived as
laughable by glamour set. Readers are laughing not only at their innocent in admiration of one’s
appearance but also at the value system influence them.
The lifestyles explain in this short story are exist until now even this short stories have
been written almost 71 years. The ideas of materialism, hedonism, glamour of life and self
indulgence are developed in Annabel and Midge role. Hedonism and materialism allows humans
to enjoy in their own life without thinking others. The women are vain and superficial and what
makes this story so great is when the same value system is in place today. Annabel and Midge
are more concerned with their status in society than the people surround them.
The main ideas for level hierarchy society are evolves and expanding within decades and
valid till today represent by Parker a way of life for millionaires is better compare to middle class
peoples. It’s influence the lower level of society in climbing up the stage to the superior level of
society. The Standard of Living generates emotions of desired lifestyles and attitudes together
with the beauty emotion from perfect daydream. It’s obvious they're only wishing and
pretending behind their fine clothes and manners. Using Annabel and Midge, Parker shows us
that greedy, if allowed to develop, never ceases but grows. Dorothy Parker describes the values,
dreams, and aspirations in today's materialistic society. Annabel and Midge are full obsessed
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5. with money. The girls spend so many hours imagine about being millionaires. Their love of
money is not only fueled by the materialistic products they can buy with it but they pretend to be
in high class society and act like them.
Humans are trapped in their lifestyles, backgrounds and professions. The Standard of
Living being read is actual a sort of paradox, satire and logic in a reality. Everyone in society has
an opportunity to be wealthy, but is the cost of a high salary and the responsibilities something
most all people are willing to pay? In a real life, every career and the way of earn living has its
own challenging. For Annabel and Midge, they desire jobs with prestige, power, and wealth.
Being rich doesn’t mean the burden of their tasks are less but, in actuality superior society need
to maintain their wealth and stressful for them. The story to be very humorous and the narrator
have a very sly wit about herself. It is amazing in the final paragraph the character consistently
stayed hopeful and positive even up to the end of the story even the characters are unable to
achieve what they want out of life.
Finally, pretending to be someone else is difficult. Climbing up to other class of society
never be wrong, but must be in a realistic way and through the right path. It’s not working if only
imagine and act like high class society. There are no efforts in changing their life to better way of
life. The result will be disappointed and there are no movement and still stand where they
belong. The Standard of Living might be used as a motivation for middle class society to have a
better life in a future.
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6. References
Crane, Milton. (Eds.). (1971). Fifty Great Short Stories. United States of America, USA:
Bantam Dell.
Duffy, Julie. (2011). Tuesday Reading Room – The Standard Of Living by
Dorothy Parker. Retrieved from http://storyaday.org/tuesday-reading-room-the-
standard-of-living-by-dorothy-parker/
S. Pettit, Rhonda. (Eds.). (2010).
The Critical Waltz: Essays on The Work of Dorothy Parker United States, US:
Rosemont Publishing & Printing Corp.
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