Expand Mini Essays

April 23

I just finished reading Semplica-Girl Diaries by George Saunders for my English 103 class, and I am surprised with what I just read. The story takes place in a world not like ours, where humans can buy other humans to put on display. I know that this class was based on scifi, but this is the first one where humans are subdued by other humans. Overall, I was caught up in the moral decisions made by the main character. Whether it was how he spent his lottery money, or what specifically he spent it on, his decisions could have been different.

The main character lives with his family of five, two daughters and a son. They are not the richest family, but they are not dirt poor. They have a house and a car, but do not live an extravagant lifestyle. When the father, or the main character hit the lottery for 10 grand, I can not imagine how excited, as well as relieved he felt. I sympathized with him because I felt like this was a reward the world was giving him for all the hard work he has been putting in to keep his family afloat. He was behind on his bills, and this money would have helped him. Unfortunately, he chose to use that money for something else. He decided to put the money towards a surprise birthday party and a yard renovation for his oldest daughter, Lilly, who has recently been depressed. Trying to make his daughter happy is not a bad thing, but he did not have to spend such a large amount on a party and gifts. Instead, he could have still made her happy with the gifts she initially wanted. If he really felt necessary, he could have arranged a small get together.

Not only did he spend the money on the surprise, he also used it to purchase SG’s, which are poor humans who are being payed to be suspended in the air, as lawn ornaments. This was another of his gifts towards his daughter. I knew that this purchase would cause future problems. Early in the story, when the audience is first exposed to SG’s, Eva clearly expressed her discomfort with them. This should have clicked in the main characters head when he first thought about purchasing the SG’s. He should never put his daughter in such an uncomfortable position. In turn, she released them in the middle of the night, which caused further problems for the family. If they were not found it would cost almost 9 grand to repay the company. This is ironic because the father initially won about that amount. Now, he is right back where he started, all because he was being greedy.

Note to self: do not ever purchase human scarecrows. Also, try to reason with future children, make sure they understand and appreciate everything that we have as a family, and not to take anything for granted

I am confused as to why people resorted to SG’s in the first place. I understand that SG’s are immigrants who want a better life for their families, but there are many other jobs than that with much better job descriptions, and no surgeries required! It is troubling, because who in the right mind would voluntarily do that job. Also, it is so immoral that someone actually owns and operates a company that distributes SG’s. It is human trafficking, and slavery. The most unsettling fact is that despite all this, the main character still purchased SG’s. Sadly, I thought he was a genuine family man, judging by his early diary additions. It is clear that he is easily swayed by those around him and the social norm. At the end of the day, he did not deserve the lottery money if he was going spend it on slaves. The world granted him this opportunity and he spit it in the face. When he purchased SG’s, he cursed himself and his family, and he should have known what he was getting himself into. His father in law knew that SG’s are no good, that’s why he decided to not assist them with their debt. An alarming fact is that the youngest child, Eva, is the only one to really see the SG’s as a crazy thing in the whole family.