The Small Bachelor · Theme
Money and Financial Anxiety
How The Small Bachelor develops Money and Financial Anxiety.
Financial schemes and worries drive the plot, from Sigsbee's disastrous stock investment and fake necklace to Mullett's reformed criminal past, underscoring how money (or the lack of it) influences relationships and social standing.
Where it surfaces
- II
Mr. Waddington's loss of wealth and dependence on his second wife, along with his speculative investment in a motion picture company, underscore financial insecurity.
- IV
The pearl necklace represents financial desperation and the lengths characters go to for wealth.
- VI
George's engagement brings immediate financial concerns, as he worries about the cost of the wedding and supporting a wife, while Sigsbee's scheme offers a dangerous solution.
- I
Waddington's panic over worthless stock and his desperate need to recover the value of the necklace to avoid financial ruin and his wife's wrath.
- II
The transaction of $300 for stock certificates reflects the financial anxieties and get-rich-quick mentality of the era.
- III
Fanny worries about their financial security, suggesting they cannot afford to ignore lucrative opportunities, even if illegal.
- IV
The offer of $300 for a 'nice, easy, simple job' underscores the financial temptations and anxieties faced by the characters.
- V
Waddington offers three hundred dollars, all he has, and Fanny accepts despite finding it meager, highlighting financial pressures.
- IX
Fanny's theft attempt is motivated by the desire to keep the valuable pearl necklace for herself, reflecting financial desperation.
- XI
The sudden news of the oil strike and the potential fortune from the stock drives Mr. Waddington's anxiety and desperate actions.
- XIII
Sigsbee's relief at being three hundred dollars in hand after the necklace's disappearance highlights the financial motivations behind the theft and the characters' concerns over valuable possessions.
- II
Mrs. Waddington's use of a ten-dollar bill as a bribe and her retrieval of it underscore financial anxiety and transactional relationships.
- III
The mention of a lost ten-dollar bill and Mrs. Waddington's cautious behavior reflect financial concerns and the value placed on money.
- II
Garroway's desire to recover his three hundred dollars and Waddington's financial schemes highlight the anxiety surrounding money and investment.
- III
The negotiation over a bribe highlights the characters' reliance on money to solve problems.
- XVIII
The necklace's recovery and Mr. Waddington's plans to sell or reset it reflect ongoing financial concerns.
