Greed In Ernest Hemingway's Mrs. Sommers

Although she is used to supporting her children on a small amount of money, Mrs. Sommers was once very wealthy. Despite her subconscious dissatisfaction with her present life, she tries not to dwell on the past. When Mrs. Sommers finds herself with fifteen dollars, she plans to spend the money on new clothes from her children, but due to some subconscious urge, she treats herself to new accessories, a meal at a restaurant, and a movie. It might seem to readers that Mrs. Sommers is a selfish person, but she spent the money the way she did not out of greed but out of longing for the happier times of her past.

The narrator makes clear throughout the story that Mrs. Sommers and her family doesn’t have much in the way of money. Many of Mrs. Sommer’s

Sommers and her family have been poor in recent years, and she genuinely wants her children to be happy. Therefore, when she receives the money, her first impulse is to think of what clothes she will buy for her children; the narrator states that “The vision of her little brood looking fresh and dainty for once in their lives excited her and made her restless and wakeful with anticipation.” Therefore, we know that Mrs. Sommers does not only want to buy her children things out of a sense of duty, but because she truly loves them and feels guilty that they don’t always have nice clothes and other luxuries. Her self-indulgent shopping spree may make readers perceive her as selfish, but in reality, she is accustomed to serving others before she even thinks of herself.

Throughout A Pair of Silk Stockings, readers learn a lot about Mrs. Sommers and the life she leads. Mrs. Sommers is currently poor and used to supporting her children on a small amount of money, there was a time in her life where she lived in luxury and spent money with abandon. Mrs. Sommers is a practical-minded person who does not dwell on the past and genuinely doesn’t mind spending money on her children; her frivolous use of the fifteen dollars was not motivated by selfishness but by a subconscious longing for her old