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The_Diamond_as_Big_as_the_Ritz

Main Characters
JOHN T. UNGER

John T Unger was descended from a family that has a long history in the Mississippi River town of Hades. In the novel John Is a “Unger” his father tells him that he is “ an Unger from Hades”. (Page 1 ). John is mesmerized by wealth he says “ I like very rich people” (page 2). “The richer a fella is, the better I like him. John is in love with Kismine “ John and Kismine were in love” (p.15) love He is the protagonist of the novel.

Beginning the narrative, John T. Unger is just as guilty as everyone else of worshipping money. He confesses to Percy, “ I like very rich people” (page 2). "“The richer a fella is, the better I like him (p.3). John hails from a community whose "simple piety pervasive [...] has the earnest worship of and regard for money as its first article of belief," and he appears to have internalised this creed (p 4). When he gets to the Washington mansion, all he can do is stand there in awe and worship his friend's family's excessive wealth. In fact, the sensory overload of the magnificent ch_teau overwhelms him to the point where he simply drifts off throughout supper.” John was “enchanted by the wonders of ch_teau”. (p.16)

It's unclear at times whether John is a guest or a prisoner at the Washingtons' house, which makes his stay there intriguing. Given the lengths Braddock has gone to keep his stone a mystery, we know from the beginning that he won't be permitted to go, but John isn't aware of this until Kismine gives the game away, which is almost at the conclusion of his stay. While he is there, he is treated like royalty on the one hand, but the shadowy fear of death or confinement weighs over him the entire time on the other.

Kismine Washington

Our protagonist's love interest is Kismine Washington, the youngest sister of Percy. She is immaculate, much like her father's diamond. Kismine’s development of her first love is John had negative opinions of women. A single defect—a thick ankle, a hoarse voice, a glass eye—was enough to make him utterly indifferent. And here for the first time in his life he was beside a girl who seemed to him the incarnation of physical perfection. (page 10)

The stunning, nearly faultless Washington ch_teau extends to Kismine. A darker secret, however, is concealed beneath, similar to the prison that is located beneath the estate. John will be killed at the conclusion because Kismine is only using him for the summer. Despite being aware of this, she takes no action to prevent it. She is upset. She is merely sad that thinking about the issue would ruin her vacation because she doesn't see anything profoundly or unethical with the picture. She says John, "It's only natural for us to get all the pleasure out of them that we can first," she tells John (page 204). She claims that she's "honestly sorry" about the whole mess, though admits that she would rather see John "put away than ever kiss another girl" (page 205).

Kismine's lack of appreciation for the value of human life, or death, is the issue here. She says to John, "We can't allow such an unpleasant thing as death stand in the way of enjoying life while we have it."Think how lonesome it'd be out here if we never had any one. Why, father and mother have sacrificed some of their best friends just as we have" (page 205).

The plot is plagued by this valuation issue throughout. She complains afterwards, after the bombing has destroyed the slave quarters ""There go fifty thousand dollars' worth of slaves, at pre war prices. So few Americans have any respect for property" (page 205)." As a result of her upbringing, Kismine is unable to comprehend the true value of anything, beyond its monetary value. She's accustomed to having access to virtually everything, so it's understandable why she doesn't appreciate things that don't have a monetary equivalent.

At the end of " The_Diamond_as_Big_as_the_Ritz " when Kismine brings rhinestones in her pockets rather than diamonds, she is made the victim of her own shortcomings, much like her father was. She claims, "I think I like these better.","I'm a little tired of diamonds" (page 205). Indeed, Kismine is fed up with her life of comfort and luxury, proving once more that money can't buy happiness. She is so dissatisfied with her life that the idea of going without money excites her. She exclaims to John with childish excitement, "We'll be poor, won't we? Free and poor. What fun!" (page 209).

PERCY WASHINGTON

We learn later that Percy purposefully invited John to his house where he would kill him because he is fully aware that his father murders all of the visitors to the household. Once Kismine enters the picture, Percy leaves the tale, so we never get to hear his thoughts or his attempts to defend his actions. But we suppose he feels the same shallow way about it as his sister. John does come to the conclusion that " Percy and Kismine seemed to have inherited the arrogant attitude in all its harsh magnificence from their father. A chaste and consistent selfishness ran like a pattern through their every idea.” (page 16). When Percy informs John of the history of the Washington family, he assumes a new important role.. The text begins to make a connection between the history of the Washington family and that of the US in this section. The satirical element of the story begins to emerge at this point . Percy gives John and the reader all the background information required as the unrecognized narrator of his family's history.

The spectacular bombing sequence doesn't give us any glimpses of Percy, but we are told that he travels into the mountain to perish with his family. We're unsure about Percy's thoughts on what he thinks about everything, or how he responds to the assault. But it appears that, like his father, he will perish with theship.

Braddock Washington

Braddock, is the father of Percy and Kismine. We discover that Braddock Washington is the owner of a diamond that is as large as the Ritz-Carlton. We find out that Braddock received the diamond from his father and decided he had enough money to lock it off from future mining when Percy Washington shares his family history with John. Since then, he has done all in his power to keep the public from knowing about it. When John first meets Braddock, he discovers that he is just concerned with his own views. John is given a tour around the estate by Braddock as he describes the numerous ways he hides his mountain. Shooting down planes in the sky and afterwards imprisoning the pilots Pilots}] turns out to be one of these techniques. Braddock takes John to the [[prison, where they engage in back-and-forth conversation prisoners. If they could just promise their silence, he claims he would be pleased to release them. He argues that he has no bad intentions for them.

Kismine informs us that Braddock always murders any visitors to the estate. Furthermore, John discovers Braddock in the elevator in the hallway and is terrified for his life. Therefore, Braddock offers God a diamond bribe after the aviators raid his estate establishing Braddock takes his family into the mountain to die after God rejects them. Braddock references slavery “the slaves' quarters are there."(Page 12)