Sybil’s Kimono,
denounces the idea of the upper-class. It illustrates how this woman, who
appeared to have every material thing she wanted, and is wealthy, isn’t happy
because she lacks relationship and meaning in her life. The text denounces the
idealistic view of the ‘upper-class’ as it shows how lonely it can be … ‘She sat with her chin in her hands and
wondered why one with so many pleasures should not enjoy them,’.
The text never
explicitly states whether Sybil was born into her material circumstances, or
worked/happened upon them, although it does give the impression that she was
born into a fortune.
Sybil doesn’t
necessarily care more about material possessions or relationships respectively.
She describes her friends as ‘[people] who
liked to entertain her’. She does, however, care for the kimono more than
most … ‘follows the water-green silken
paths with her finger, and is happy’. The way she ‘traces its patterns with her
fingers’ shows a feeling attachment.
Sybil does not
have to compromise her ethical value to achieve a comfortable standard of
living, but rather the opposite. Her comfortable standard of living is making
her struggle between her ethical value. She only felt ‘happy’ when she was
surrounded by the ‘silken world’, whether it was the sedan chair that carried
her from party to party, or the kimono.
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