Food is used as a motif to represent Alva’s relationship to Using One’s Privilege to Support Progressive Politics. At the beginning of the novel, Alva is starving. Her family is forced to cut back on food expenses, and “they were subsisting mainly on potatoes, cheese, eggs, and bread” (56). She is so hungry that she begins to lose weight. When she considers marriage to William, she thinks that it would mean “she could have not only butter but raspberry jam, too” (25). Alva learns from this experience to never take the fine meals for granted, and her hunger provides her with a concrete reason to become engaged to William despite their lack of feeling. This connection continues well into her marriage; when considering divorce, she reflects, “Roasted duck, with stuffed figs and sliced carrots and a lovely frisée surround. If she failed with William, she would dearly miss eating so well” (426-27). For her, access to food is an essential part of her sense of security.

When Alva becomes one of the wealthiest women in the world, she never forgets this time of deprivation. She uses it to guide her charity work, recognizing that had she not married into a wealthy family, she would’ve been in the position of those she wants to help, reflecting her understanding of the importance of using one’s privilege to support progressive politics. She resolves to “look into ways to improve the everyday lives of those who had no prospects of ever being rescued from their poverty by millionaire husbands” (154). Alva never accepts the conventional wisdom of her class that the poor deserve to be poor. Rather, she feels they are the victims of circumstance, much as she once was.