Money Hungry

Raspberry is consumed by her desire to accrue money in the pursuit of financial security. She is willing to pursue money at any cost—even to the detriment of her relationships. It is only through losing much of the cash stores she has collected that Raspberry realizes what her greed has cost her and that money is not more important than her relationships with those she loves.

Raspberry’s preoccupation with money is understandable given her past. Raspberry establishes early on that her father’s struggle with addiction led her and Momma to live on the streets. Now, after that difficult period, Raspberry holds firm to the belief that “if you got money, people can’t take stuff from you—not your house, or your ride, not your family. They can’t do nothing much to you, if you got a bankroll backing you up” (21). This quote informs Raspberry’s thinking that money is a way to insulate yourself and those you love from harm, challenge, or strife. Raspberry desires money, but what she’s pursuing is a more stable life, one in which she and Momma don’t have to worry so much about money or ever live on the streets again.