Summer in the City

In Summer in the City, money is more than a resource or symbol of success. According to Elle, it can be a psychological weapon, a barrier to real connection, and a tool of control. Having endured a tough childhood where she watched her mother suffer to get by because of the effect Elle’s wealthy, controlling father had on her life, Elle has a complicated relationship with money where she views it as a tool of control. While she views providing for herself financially as the ultimate freedom, she is judgmental of the wealthy and closed-off to certain romantic prospects, fearing they might use their wealth to control her. The novel interrogates how financial power can both enable and distort relationships, particularly within familial and romantic dynamics. Through the strained ties between Elle and her father and the evolving romance between Elle and Parker, Aster explores how money can be used to assert dominance, erase autonomy, or even mask emotional absence. This theme functions as both personal and cultural critique, especially of the assumptions made about women who date powerful men. Elle’s rejection of wealth is about resisting the narrative that her success must be tied to a man’s.