Marshall works to portray materialism in excess as corrupting and demoralizing to an individual’s sense of self through the transformations—and ultimate unhappiness—of Avey and Jerome. By emphasizing Avey’s preoccupation with her belongings and demonstrating how their economic advancement meant the forfeiture of their cultural and individual identities, Marshall suggests that Avey and Jerome’s success came at such a great cost. The novel also accomplishes this by establishing a tone of excess and waste on the cruise ship, particularly in the description of the ship itself: “Of the three dining rooms on board, the Versailles with its Louis XIV decor and wealth of silver and crystal on the damask-covered tables was the most formal” (46). The opulence is shown to be ultimately empty and meaningless because while Avey, Thomasina, and Clarice join their white passengers in these great rooms, they are still treated as though they do not belong.

Aside from representing how pursuing financial success causes Avey to neglect the things she loved and her sense of self, the novel emphasizes Avey’s corruption through her dream of her great-aunt. During the dream, her great-aunt Cuney attempts to drag Avey to Ibo Landing, but Avey resists, not wanting to get her

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