The contrast between rich and poor is immediately apparent in the story, as it opens with a scene of Rosa and Clara opening empty cupboards and realizing once again that they have nothing to eat. Rosa describes the natural world with vivid sensory detail, observing the difference in how it’s perceived by those who have privilege:

It’s still strange to see the birds. They fill the sky with sound and color, rattling roofs and branches. All around us evergreens spiral skyward, never surrendering to the seasons. It’s always damp here; viridescent; cold. Lakes shimmer unprovoked. Distant mountain ranges seem painted in watercolors, layers of teeth made translucent by fog. The warm and well-fed have been known to call this land beautiful (3).

Rosabelle’s reflection makes it clear that being able to appreciate beauty is a luxury afforded to those with enough food, warmth, and safety. With this juxtaposition, Mafi highlights the idea of a hierarchy of needs, in which a person’s basic needs must be met in order for them to engage with aesthetics and other forms of beauty. Rosabelle has lived in “the pit” with other sanctioned people, struggling to survive, and has learned from a young age that the world is harsh, cruel, and dark. Rosa and Clara originally came from a position of privilege, but their father was a traitor, and they were punished with poverty in his stead. Their rations are never enough, and Clara never has the medicine she needs. This is the Reestablishment’s way of deterring rebellion. The motif of rich versus poor is one of the ways in which Redefining Survival as Resistance is explored in the novel, through Rosa’s strength and will to survive despite her circumstances.

Candy, particularly gummy bears and a chocolate bar, serves as a deeply personal symbol of love and hope to both protagonists. For James, candy becomes associated with memories of Rosa, because he met her just after consuming a packet of gummy bears. After the incident, in which she attempts to kill him, he reflects, “I realize then that I’ll never be able to look at gummy bears without remembering Rosabelle” (156). The taste and texture of the candy become inseparable from his memories and feelings for her.

For Rosa, the chocolate bar she receives at the New Republic is such a rare and unbelievable privilege that she does not eat it. Instead, she saves it for her sister Clara, using it to remind herself that seeing her sister again is a real possibility. Despite everything Rosa has endured, she hopes that she might one day reunite with her sister and gift her a simple joy. Rosa does not express emotion often, so actions like this are some of the story’s major indicators of her concern and care. Because candy is also associated with childhood and innocence, it creates a direct and powerful contrast with the brutal and dark world that Rosa lives in.