Brenda and her mother have issues about money, and Brenda’s apparent laziness over having maids leads her to believe she can do whatever she wants. They fight over Brenda’s view on her not appreciating the value of money, since her mother tells her “You ought to earn some money and buy your own clothes”, but Brenda always thinks she doesn’t have to earn her money and “daddy” should buy her clothes and nose jobs for her. Not only that, they fight about work ethic because Brenda thinks the maid should do everything and her mother think she is lazy for it was said by Brenda’s mother “You ought to learn what a day’s work means.” (64). Brenda however doesn’t think that way, in fact she think she thinks she’s “…not a slave...I’m a daughter” which gives readers the impression that she is a brat, and that she does not appreciate the value of hard work or money. Brenda’s mother also believes Brenda is lazy, and Brenda thinks the maids can do all the dishes and housework: “When’s the last time you washed the dishes…’Jesus Christ!’…’Carlotta washes the dishes!” this shows Brenda has a mindset that because she is rich she doesn’t have to do anything. Therefore, Brenda and her mother’s constant fighting show that they have plenty of tension between them to prove that money never has led to personal happiness.
While Brenda and her mother have personal issues that lead to money not giving them happiness, Brenda’s personal decisions & her lifestyle have dictated her way on not being happy with money. Brenda always has a mindset that her maids Carlotta and Jenny do everything when in reality, she is the one that needs to be doing work, as this was stated during her fight with her mother: “My god, mother you’d think we didn’t have Carlota and Jenny” (64). She because of her monetary status (being wealthy) she assumes that she doesn’t have any chores to do, however her mother thinks Brenda should help more around the house (and in a way calls her spoiled): “When is the last time you lifted a finger to help around here?”, therefore in a way their social and economic status had led to money being a problem because of their fighting. Brenda’s lifestyle choices also dictate why money doesn’t always bring happiness, for example Brenda wanted a nose job to smooth out the bumps in it, but in reality she wanted to look prettier: “I’m pretty. Now I’m prettier.” If someone wanted to look prettier, they could have spent less money on her, but instead Brenda spent a thousand dollars on the nose job just to be prettier.
The generation gap between the Patimkin parent’s and children could also explain why money doesn’t always lead to happiness. Mr. Patimkin explains that he wasn’t as wealthy as his was now, instead he “…had (to buy) forks and knives for the five and ten.”(95) Which means he bought his things from nickel and dime “discount” stores (like the Dollar Store) when he was a kid. However he then goes on to say that his kids “…need gold to eat off of”(95) which implies that they are spoiled, however he isn’t angry at his kids instead he is happy he can pass on his current wealth to them “but here was no anger far from it. However, his kids (the next generation) are exactly the opposite, instead of buying thinks from discount stores and working hard they are getting nose jobs, relying on their maids, and going to country clubs which are all things upper class people do. There defiantly is a generation gap between the working class Mr. and Mrs. Patimkin, and the spoiled Brenda, Ron, and even Julie Patimkin.
The Patimkins are not a dysfunctional family by any means, in fact they are a loving family by many aspects, they respect each other, and in the end it is money that implodes the family. It is unknown if the family’s generation gap is filled, but judging by the attitude of the children it seems that they may never be happy in their spirits. And while it seems that money is keeping them happy on the surface, maybe it is money that is driving them apart. Just ask anyone that ever won the lottery and you will know that their lives have change drastically, much like the Patimkins live have changed once they realized that.
