“The Standard of Living” is a short story by Dorothy Parker that focuses on two stenographers

“The Standard of Living” is a short story by Dorothy Parker that focuses on two stenographers, Annabel and Midge. The author uses language to show the carelessness of the two women and make vivid images of the girls afternoon together. Dorothy Parker also uses language to prove that both, Annabel and Midge, try to ignore their reality of being poor. During the story, the author unveils how the women are stubborn and are in denial of reality through the discussions between the two incredibly greedy women.
In the first paragraph Annabel and Midge’s description of their tea room lunch gives one an ill feeling, “Usually they ate sandwiches of spongy new white bread greased with butter and mayonnaise; they ate thick wedges of cake lying wet beneath ice cream and whipped cream and melted chocolate gritty with nuts.” It sounds incredibly unappetizing fattening. This is an example of the author revealed that the women are poor and need to be thicker. Later on, in that very paragraph, it states,