The Search for Marvin Gardens by John McPhee

         A card reading 'Go to Jail' turns into a vision of "the windowless interior of the basement of city hall" (McPhee 364).  In The Search for Marvin Gardens, John McPhee is able to turn a narrative story into a descriptive vision just by the transition of a paragraph.  While retelling his experience at the Monopoly singles championship, McPhee also shares what he really imagines as he plays the game.  Monopoly, the board game of property buying and developing, is brought to life by his writing.  Through his descriptions, he shows how the popular pastime actually represents something much more significant than a set of cards and dice.  Invented in the 1930s, Monopoly is originally based off of different blocks in Atlantic City, surrounding railroads, and nearby companies.  However, in McPhee's opinion the area was not as glorified as many players may think.  

        Through McPhee's strong use of the rhetorical device, imagery, he is able to convey the message that the once-overdeveloped setting of Monopoly is not as wealthy as it seems.  By describing scenes of "boarded-up window[s]" (McPhee 366), "unemployment lines" (McPhee 366), and "deep and complex decay" (McPhee 365), the author is able visualize the negative effect of urbanization on Atlantic City.

        Alternating between paragraphs, John McPhee switches from his present self to his imagination where he wanders the 1930's Atlantic City streets in search for Marvin Gardens.  Trying to reach Marvin Gardens on the game board means that McPhee is also trying to find it in his imagination.  As he explains how he is quickly losing the championship game, he comes to the conclusion that his "only hope is Marvin Gardens" (McPhee 371).  When he reaches the boardwalk he comes across Charles Darrow, inventor of Monopoly, and asks, "Mr. Darrow, please, where is Marvin Gardens?" (McPhee 371).  His desperation to find Marvin Gardens finally sends him there; to "the one color-block Monopoly property that is not in Atlantic City" (McPhee 371).  By being secluded from the rest of the city, Marvin Gardens is considered a metaphor for purity.  It is the one place on the game board that has been left uncorrupted by Atlantic City's damaging development.  

       Through his imagery and overall metaphoric tone, I found McPhee to be very successful in his efforts to express what Monopoly means to him.  He reveals that Monopoly is not just a board game, but a symbol for Atlantic City's past. 

The Untouched Marvin Gardens
http://www.oocities.org/monopoly_tycoon2003/