Brooding Bennie

Dear Diary,

I am so excited! This is my very first diary entry! Hot dog! I decided to start this because it seems like a lot of fun! I plan to fill this notebook up with pages and pages of entries so that when I become a renowned doctor, it will be worth a lot!

While I am this excited, today, Asagai came over and gave me “some records and the colorful robes of a Nigerian woman”. They are so beautiful! Asaigai even had them brought all the way from Africa! Isn’t that just the most thoughtful thing ever? Even George has never done anything like this, though he has enough money to buy all the robes in Nigeria probably. Anyway, Asagai helped me put a robe on and said that I look like a “queen of the Nile”! But then he had to mention that I have “mutilated hair”. It’s only because I have my hair fixed to look more presentable. I mean, I can’t have my hair looking like a rat’s nest! Though now that I think about it, this is a form of assimilation. Oh no! I can’t have him thinking I’m an assimilationist; that would be horrible! Maybe later I’ll cut my hair to look more natural. Then Asagai will have to approve of me! I can’t stand it when he makes fun of me. I really want to impress him and connect with my African roots. In fact, I’m going to go cut my hair right now! I will talk to you later, Diary!

Sincerely,

Bennie

Corruption as Big as the Ritz

The Diamond as Big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a very unrealistic story about a family whose undeniable corruption is brought on by materialism. The Washington family comes from a long line of depraved people that goes back almost as far as Moses (or rather, George Washington) as a result of their accidental immense wealth. In fact, Braddock Washington claims that “Water is not good for certain races-except as a beverage” (Fitzgerald 93). Clearly, he believes that he is from a much superior race than other people. This story, much like most other “once upon a time” fairytales, portrays an improbable situation to convey its theme: everyone has a perverted perspective on life when it’s all about the money and wealth. The reality of having a diamond as large as the Ritz hotel is very unlikely, much like pink elephants, but it serves as a hyperbole to today’s corrupted wealth. Even though this story was published in 1922, it is still relevant today. Fitzgerald’s use of rhetoric like allusion allows us to point out the flaws of society; people may be able to obtain luxury, but their demoralization will ultimately lead to their demise. In this case, Kismine and Jasmine, who have lived their whole lives in a home where men are kept in a “large cavity in the earth” (93), are doomed to live in the city of Hades, which alludes to the underworld where everything is bleak and poor. Instead of the usual diamonds and servants, they will have to succumb to rhinestones and working.

This is the Ritz. Imagine a diamond as big as it.