This is especially evident in Sylvia when she asks "What did you bring us here for, Miss Moore?" (511), as if to say we can't afford any of the toys anyway. The logic he uses to compare the price of a clown in the toy store and apply it to his daily reality is mature, bunk beds for Junior and Gretchen's son, a family trip to the country to visit Grandpa Nelson or pay the piano rent and bills. (511). Sylvia, a very bright young woman, asks all the right questions, such as: who are these people who spend so much on performing clowns and $1,000 on toy sailboats, what kind of work do they do and how do they live and why aren't we? involved? (511). Her comments throughout the story lead me to believe that she is a strong-willed young woman and will do whatever it takes to succeed in life: "But no one will beat me at anything".