The Symbolism of the Purse in Theft by Katherine Anne Porter

1) Prescribed Text – The Book Thief a. Compose a summary/synopsis of the text (plot/themes/characters/key concerns). (100 words only)

when she picks him up from the police. How does this quote show us how she

We realize that Mrs. Moore is trying to open their eyes to the world around them, when she takes them on a trip around the expensive shopping complexes of the city. As Mrs. Moore takes them through these areas, we get the distinct impression that Sylvia gets angry. She discovers a fiber glass boat that is worth a thousand dollars. Sugar touches the boat, at which she gets jealous. She does not realize at first the reason for her anger, and almost directs it at her cousin, Sugar. Yet she stops herself and realizes that she is not angry with Sugar, rather that something else is wrong.

This story was about a boy named Roger who stole the purse of a woman named Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Jones catches Roger and takes him to her house where she cleaned and fed him. As she does this, she does this, she figures out why Roger stole her purse in the first place. It was because Roger turned out to be poor, and he wanted money to buy a pair of blue suede shoes. Afterwards, Mrs. Jones let Roger leave her home, but not before she gave him $10 for the blue suede’s and told him to promise that he will never steal purses again.

She realises that she has been living with a stranger, since the whole marriage is a charade to fulfil the expectations of Victorian society.

     During her spree, she is lost in her own world and purchases items for herself instead of her children. Her purchases included a new pair of silk stockings, fitted gloves, new boots and two high priced magazines. Next, she is drawn to a restaurant that she has only dreamily strolled by admiring everything about it, only to go inside for a quick bite, which is typically out of the question for her. After her snack, she attends a play with other “well to do” women who are only there to kill time, eat candy and display their gaudy attire. She now, stands waiting for a cable car hoping that her dream will never come to an end. Almost lost in the moment, she stares at the man sitting opposite her on the cable car hoping that this ride would never end. Quite possibly, she was thinking of how life would be with the stranger who sat across from her. She relived the years that have all but passed her.

This leads to her idea of selling her most prized possession: her hair, to get Jim his present. Meanwhile, Jim decides to sell his most prized possession which was a pocket-watch that was passed down from his grandfather to his father and then to him. He sells that watch and buys Della a set of beautiful tortoise shell combs for her hair. Thus leading to the use of situational irony in which they both receive gifts for something they gave up in order to give the other a gift.

“The mother removes her purse from her shoulder and rummages through its contents: lipstick, a lace handkerchief, an address book. She finds what she’s looking for and passes a folded dollar over her child’s head to the man who stands and stares even though the light has changed and traffic navigates around his hips… He does not know his part. He does not know that acceptance of the gift and gratitude are what makes this transaction complete… The mother grows impatient and pushes the stroller before her, bearing the dollar like a cross. Finally, a black hand rises and closes around green” (paragraphs 3-5).

She brings the children into a nice toy store and they are shocked by what they see. Soon, Sylvia and the others begin to realize the prices of some of these toys, and how they could never afford any of them. She says, “Who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns and $1000 for toy sailboats? What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain't in on it?” This quote indicates Sylvia’s realization that while she is struggling to afford necessary basics to survive, some people in the city are so rich that they can spend excessive amounts of money on just toys.

Once inside the store, Sylvia can no longer ignore the blinding imparity between the rich and the poor. Her discovery of an overly priced toy clown prompts her to consider what could be bought for its price: "Thirty-five dollars could buy new bunk beds for Junior and Gretchen’s boy. Thirty-five dollars and the whole household could go visit Granddaddy Nelson in the country. Thirty-five dollars would pay for the rent and the piano bill too" (605). Sylvia is forced to finally address the socioeconomic inequality that works against her while simultaneously conferring certain luxuries on the rich: "Who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns and $1000 for toy sailboats? What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on it?" (605).

The fact that she is not only able to pour her heart out to the beggar but also make note of something like the jewelry he is wearing makes this conversation a bit more interesting. She recognizes the jewelry as resembling something belonging to Odysseus and finds it a little strange that this beggar could own such a

Collectively, these literary images go to describe a young ethnic man, probably of Latin descent, who lives with his mother in a poverty stricken area. The careful recitation of instruction given to the younger man seems to demonstrate an intricate knowledge the narrators has accrued from both predecessors and experience. Singularly, this part of the story is very powerful in that it shows a young man having to hide who he is and where he comes from in an effort to seem appealing to women, and speaks volumes about the deception that both genders go through all in name of the chase.

The next interesting item that the kids find is a very expensive paperweight. While discussing it, Miss Moore is sure to convey that while the object is very expensive, it’s purpose is very trivial. “”This here costs $480 dollars,” say Rosie Giraffe. So we pile up all over her to see what she pointing out. My eyes tell me it’s a chunk of glass cracked with something heavy, and different-color inks dripped into the splits,

Even though she is married to Tom, his wealth is not enough to satisfy her. When she sees the shirts she is sad because Tom does not have the luxury of owning such a large collection of clothing. She is blinded by wealth and always seeks more than she has. She cannot fully appreciate what she has because her dream is to always have more, and she will only be happy once she has the best, an unattainable goal that is there to tantalize.

She is so naïve and adolescent that she leaves her worldly activities and gets ready to go out and spend time with her boyfriend. She gives him her possessions: her “labor” and “leisure” too (l. 7) for his politeness.