It is vital to know that every story
has some kind of theme, which drives its purpose in a certain direction. There
is a theme to this short story as well, and when it was read carefully, it is
evident that there are two basic themes of this story. One important theme is
about poverty, and the other theme is about desire. A young girl is narrating
this short story to give the viewpoint of its author and the only characters
included in the story with names are Barbie, Ken: her boyfriend, Skipper:
Barbie’s little sister, Todd and Tutti: Skipper and Barbie’s brother and twin
sister. The third theme of this story is very much relevant to the essence of
womanhood. Keeping a modern society in mind, it is evident that Barbie dolls
have a special place in the heart of females. So, when the author is describing
the story of two poor girls, they also have the same feeling about Barbie dolls
and having the desire to play with such dolls.
This short story is also having
another central idea, which is for people to remain as happy as possible in any
given circumstances. The story is also showing this essence of happiness from
both girls as both of them are not well off, and it is proved many times in
this story. But still, both girls are looking happy with their lives. Both
girls were showing the desire of having Barbie dolls, as a rich family can
afford but the sad part of the story is that girls don’t have this luxury to
buy Barbie dolls. In addition, it was explained in the story that a big
warehouse of toys threw dolls in the street, but those were smoked with fire.
So, when girls had a chance to finally have those Barbie dolls, but those dolls
were smelly and smoky. It is quite sad to see that girls are not able to
fulfill their desire as rich people can, but the best part is their happiness
in this harsh reality of life.