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#7 The Semplica-Girl Diaries (George Saunders, 2012)

Rating: 9.8/10

  In this hyper-capitalistic society, rich people make the poor feel dopey and inadequate. Even the white-collard are resorted to feeling insecure about their economic status due to gold-collared people’s gruesome representation of wealth. The protagonist reveals envy or rather obsession with possessing semplica-girls while wistfully expressing his desire to compete more effectively in the materialistic society. Even as a middle-class worker, he couldn’t help but feel helpless for her daughter among other hyper-rich parents.

As an international student myself, I could completely engage in the story. First-generation students are less likely to be in the highest social echelon, and a broken immigration system and racist policies would render my life as a foreigner harder. I know from deep down myself that Eva’s morally right. However, I wouldn’t easily do what Eva did just to save myself in a cruel, materialistic society where every problem can be solved by complementing it with monetized values. Reaching this thought process, I realized once again that there’s nothing more unfair and biased than the world of ‘survival of the fittest and the strongest.’ 

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