Fourteen - Thinking

Oh goody, there's nothing like a chapter dedicated to a single character just thinking the night away. Seems like a soliloquy, except in a novel. It's even more fun when they're too drunk to walk. Anyway, I noticed pretty quickly that Jake's focus was primarily on money as he pondered in bed. Well, not exactly about money, but whenever he thought about things, he described them using money-esque terms. Saying things like "Enjoying living was getting your money's worth" (p. 152), or "The world was a good place to buy in" (p. 152), or saying that "the bill always came" (p. 152). It seemed odd to me that he was so fixated on money. It was like he had no way to describe relationships or life other than through money itself. In one paragraph alone, Jake says the word "pay" or some variation seven times in a single paragraph. So what's the reasoning behind this money-based fixation? I think it's supposed to mean that, to the Lost Generation, money has replaced their sense of values. Jake is unable to describe relationships and life with words like "love" and "friendship" because he just doesn't understand these things anymore; they have no meaning to him, now that he's simply wandering aimlessly through life. Money is the only thing that seems tangible and attainable to Jake and his friends. Jake's late-night powerthink seems to show that money has essentially replaced emotion.

This is money. Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today, but if you ask for a raise it's no surprise they're giving none away.