Money Hungry

Momma is Raspberry’s mother. She is a dreamer who envisions a better life for herself and her daughter and is a survivor of domestic violence. Throughout the text, Raspberry and Momma struggle to understand one another as they each try to deal with the trauma they experienced from living on the streets. While Raspberry throws herself into one money-making scheme after the next, Momma enrolls in college classes and takes on additional part-time jobs to try and improve their economic status.

One particularly telling moment that illustrates Momma’s convictions and values is when she throws Raspberry’s money away in Chapter 19. Despite their struggles with money, when she mistakenly believes that Raspberry stole money from Ja’nae’s grandfather, she yells, “I would rather throw it all away, than for you to think it’s okay to steal” (113). This statement illustrates that Momma wants Raspberry to have strong morals that aren’t driven by monetary concerns.

Momma’s desire for upward mobility, her determination, and her work ethic are all admirable and yield results but at times prevent her from asking for help, even from those whom she could depend on. This is most evident in her immediate response to the robbery, in which she tells Raspberry that they are going back on the streets. Momma remembers the sting of feeling like a burden: “Don’t you remember what it was like before?... People getting mad ’cause we ate too much of their food. Dropping hints that they wanted us out their place” (138). This lingering insecurity causes Momma to insist on doing everything on her own as she struggles to depend on others for help or support.

Despite the hardships they experience, Momma is consistent in her desire to give Raspberry a better life. Even in their darkest moments of homelessness, Momma always alludes to a brighter future that she believes is just one step away from becoming a reality and consistently encourages Raspberry not to “forget that even bad times is sprinkled with a little good” (20). At the end of the text, it seems that this dream is closer than ever and that Momma’s persistence and optimism will finally pay off as they plan for their future in Pecan Landings.

Of Raspberry’s group of friends, Zora is by far the most privileged. Her desire to join Raspberry in money-making endeavors is driven by the pursuit of material goods (jeans, a new pair of sneakers). Like her friends, though, she has family issues that she grapples with. Zora’s parents are recently divorced but remain on good terms, and she struggles with the obvious chemistry between her father and Momma. She says to Raspberry during a disagreement: “My mom and dad, they could get back together, you know” (80). Zora goes on to admit that she knows her parents are no longer in love but that they are “used to” each other. These comments suggest that Zora is torn between wanting her parents to be together and knowing that it isn’t necessarily the best thing for them or their family.

At times Zora fails to have empathy and understanding for others, making her an inconsistent friend to Raspberry. Zora goes along with Raspberry’s money-making schemes but ends up resenting Raspberry when a plan does not turn a profit. Her reasons for taking part in these jobs are purposefully contrasted with her friends’ reasons. Whereas Raspberry has her financial struggles and Mai now has to make her own money after quitting her family food truck business, Zora has “her eye on some sixty dollar jeans” (98), and she brags about the volume of sneakers and jeans she has. Zora often calls Raspberry greedy and yet does not recognize the advantages she has from her financial privilege.

It is unclear at the end of the text whether Zora has fully reckoned with her behavior. She apologizes to Raspberry for turning on her after the girls were underpaid for the cleaning job at the boardinghouse by saying, “We girls…We gotta stick together no matter what” (165). Still, Zora’s apology lacks introspection that indicates an understanding of how her own position and privilege in life affect her ability to fully empathize with her friends’ struggles.

Dr. Mitchell is Zora’s father and Momma’s potential romantic partner. Throughout the text, Raspberry feels resentment towards Dr. Mitchell because Momma keeps the nature of their relationship a secret from her. As she and Momma spend more time with Dr. Mitchell, Raspberry softens as she sees the way that Dr. Mitchell treats Momma with consistent kindness: “But then I see Dr. Mitchell handing her the creamer for her coffee…looking at her like she’s special. Beautiful” (82). After so much inconsistency in their lives, and the abuse Momma suffered at the hands of Raspberry’s father, Dr. Mitchell’s dependability and kindness represent a welcome change.

Dr. Mitchell is a man of values and morals. Raspberry and Momma were first introduced to him while working at the local soup kitchen. Having grown up in the projects himself, he worries that Zora is too spoiled. He brings her to the soup kitchen to give her perspective on the hardships others face. His marriage to Zora’s mother is over, and yet there is a decided lack of animosity and drama between them. Despite Dr. Mitchell’s wealth and privilege in his job as a doctor, he holds Momma in high regard: “We have the same values, you know…We love our families, work hard, and try to do what’s right” (120). Raspberry and Momma are used to being treated with dismissal and resentment in their times of need, and Dr. Mitchell challenges their expectations and shows them that they do not need to do everything alone.

Mai Kim is a close friend of Raspberry’s. Mai’s character is marked by her struggles with her family and her biracial identity. The daughter of a Black mother and a Korean father, Mai identifies with her Black identity. Unlike her brother, Ming, who feels comfortable enough in his identity to emphasize that he is biracial and to frequently speak Korean around his parents, Mai feels embarrassed by her heritage because it makes her stick out in her community.

The way others react to her biracial identity isolates her and makes her feel disconnected from those around her. Raspberry describes the way that people look at Mai: “they’re always telling her how exotic she looks, like she’s some kind of bird or plant that somebody shipped here from halfway ‘cross the world” (32). These microaggressions that people lob at Mai are dehumanizing. By describing Mai’s appearance as “exotic” and looking at her as if she isn’t human but some kind of bird or plant, they make her feel as if she is less than or doesn’t fit in fully with either half of her identity.

Mai is forced to deal with overt racism against both her and her family, which contributes to her resentment towards her parents. There is evidence that Mai has internalized the racist beliefs that others leverage at her. In Chapter 15, Mai’s anger reaches a breaking point. She yells at her parents: “Everybody’s laughing at me ’cause of you two with your Afro-Asian, collard-green, black-eyed-peas, fortune cookie truck, and your mixed-up kids. Why can’t didn’t you two each marry your own kind?” (87). Her statements echo the comments she receives from her classmates, who refer to her as a “half-breed” and accuse her of not being Black because she is biracial.

Of all the characters, Mai’s narrative and conflict do not come to closure. When Raspberry chases Mai to her house after her outburst at the food truck, Raspberry comments that in childhood photos Mai looks a lot like her dad. Mai’s last statement regarding her identity is definitive: “I look like myself…Nobody else. Just me” (91). This statement suggests that Mai’s identity will continue to develop long after this episode and that as it does she will become more confident in her identity.