Skip to main content

What is the multi-layered significance of the 3-card monte hustle in "Topdog/Underdog"?

The 3-card monte hustle is significant because it reinforces the concepts of chance/ risk and the volatility of life.

The card game is central to the story; it highlights how Booth and Lincoln choose to live their lives. Both gamble on more than a superficial level; they also pit their wits against each other in the game of life. The card game reinforces the concept of life as a game, where one must "hustle" in order to get ahead. In the play, risk-taking behavior is seen to be a multi-generational practice. Years ago, Booth and Lincoln's mother had a risky, adulterous relationship with the "Thursday" man and gambled that she would never be discovered.


When Booth caught her in flagrante delicto (or in the midst of a tryst with the "Thursday" man), she paid him off with five hundred dollars. At least, this is how Booth sees it; he suggests that his inheritance from his mother is actually "hush" money. Not to be bested, Lincoln proclaims that their father also gave him ten fifty dollar notes, which amounts to five hundred dollars.


Both brothers are willing to risk their reputations and lives for different things. While Booth wants to use 3-card monte to "rake in the money," Lincoln gambles on doing Abraham Lincoln impersonations to earn an honest living. Additionally, Booth steals from different shops in order to procure alcohol, new suits, and pornographic magazines. He looks at Lincoln as his ticket to greater wealth. Because Lincoln is a gifted 3-card monte player and has the skills to make an obscene amount of money, Booth pressures him to work together as a team.


Lincoln refuses. Booth is willing to risk everything to bring in more money; his object is to make sure he wins Grace. In the end, Grace resists returning to Booth because of her dissatisfaction with his ability to make a decent living. Discouraged by this development, Booth kills her and later challenges Lincoln to a high-stakes game. Each bets his individual inheritance against the other. As the superior player, Lincoln wins, and Booth is distraught by this. In a last act of desperation, he kills his brother in order to save his inheritance.


So, the 3-card monte hustle is significant in that it highlights the tragedy of multi-generational risk-taking, reinforces the volatile nature of life, and emphasizes the intrinsically risky nature of the game.

Popular posts from this blog

In chapter one of The Great Gatsby, what advice does Nick's father give him? How does this make him a good person to tell this story?

Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches... Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches into a discussion of how pe...

How did the United States become an imperial power?

"Imperial power" is a bit of a vague label. It tends to mean several things at once, so let's unpack it. In the sense of "this country was built on conquest by force," the "imperial power" part of America actually predates the United States proper. The territories that would become the United States were imperial colonies, established by the great European empires of the 17th and 18th centuries. Much of the US Constitution and American governance generally goes back to England, history's largest and most successful imperial power, but vital aspects of American culture come from other imperial powers, such as France and Spain. Much of American culture comes from sources other than the old empires, but they were key influences on what the United States became. In the sense of "this country treats conquest by force as a fundamental component of its culture, economy and politics," the United States has always been an imperial power. Even earl...

How and why does James Gatz become Jay Gatsby? Describe the young Gatsby/Gatz.

James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune,... James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune, whereas they arose from well-to-do families. Gatz became Gatsby through determination and discipline. At the end of the novel, the narr...