Heart of the Matter

[StillILearn]

In Graham Greene's novel, he desperately needed two hundred pounds in order to pay for Louise's passage to South Africa. Now, that was back during WWII. How much do you think the equivalent would be in dollars today?

Any guesses? Approximately? It seems to have been enough to send her packing with no worries about her immediate financial future...

 

[honeydevil]

In Graham Greene's novel, he desperately needed two hundred pounds in order to pay for Louise's passage to South Africa. Now, that was back during WWII. How much do you think the equivalent would be in dollars today?

Any guesses? Approximately? It seems to have been enough to send her packing with no worries about her immediate financial future...

i guess... around $10.000 to $20.000 at least!! i would even go to 50!!

 

[StillILearn]

I was guessing maybe around $20K, too.

I did a little research, and in 1943 the average American income was about $2,000.00 a year, but that was in U. S. dollars... Rent was about $40.00 a month and a new car was about $900.00.

Tuition to Harvard University was $420.00 a year!

This book is so interesting to me (second reading); I have an almost ninety year-old stepmother who might have actually been Louise. She looked like Betty Grable back then, and her daughter died as a child --never mind the fact that my stepmother is British and has all the same exact mannerisms that Louise has in the novel -- right down to the racial prejudices prevalent back then.

Needless to say, the Louise character is very real to me!