From Riches to Rags in the Documentary, The Queen of Versailles

In the story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” everything that happened in that family was based on money. They lived in a nice home with servants, something they could not afford. They were always trying to keep up with the Jones. There was always a voice in the house saying “There must be more money! There must be more money!” (101), and when there was money it was never enough.

Castles, palaces, and cathedrals are scattered across Europe. Each one possesses unique characteristics and architecture bearing resemblance of their time. Some castles incorporate Greek influence, roman or gothic influence in design. Other castles and palaces are surrounded by sculptures outside in the courtyard or include sculptures worshiped as an altarpiece. While any one of these things would serve to make an ordinary castle more elaborate there is one palace that possesses all of these: The Palace of Versailles in France. The Palace of Versailles has managed to incorporate classic architecture, exquisite sculptures, and amalgamated the old design with the newer design trends of the day.

Throughout the book, her nomadic family lived in extreme poverty where the children had to scramble for survival. Walls describes her family’s eating habits similar to those of cacti because “we ate irregularly, and when we did, we’d gorge ourselves” (22). Money would provide food for the Walls as rain would provide cacti their nutrients to survive. Jeannette assumed the responsibilities of head of the household when she was at the mere age of thirteen because her parents abandoned their roles as guardians. Looking from Wall’s perspective, money could solve several of the family’s problems such as their perilous living conditions and the constant need to feed their hunger. In addition, Walls’s mother Rose Mary was an artist. Every time the Walls received a paycheck, Rose Mary would sneak some of the funds to fuel her passion for arts. When Rose Mary received her inheritance from her deceased mother, she wanted to forget her responsibilities and spend the money to create more paintings. Abraham Lincoln said, “People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Rose Mary could use money to bring her happiness indirectly by purchasing art supplies. Thus, if money can fuel their passion and needs, then it can indirectly bring the individual

“Money is a mechanism for control,” a quote by American author David Korten that thoroughly describes how the many characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby used their wealth to stabilize the control of their lives. This wealth played an important role during its time, the early 20th century, by making a point of dividing certain social classes, putting the false belief that money brings one an absolute happiness, and aiding in the rise and fall of people’s legacy.

In, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the characters in the story are shown to have enormous wealth and live in the areas of East and West Egg. Jay Gatsby lives in West Egg, while the Buchanan 's live in East Egg. Although both are rich beyond belief, (the Buchanan 's from old money. Gatsby from new money), both Gatsby and Tom Buchanan reach for more and more from life. This appetite to gain and gain could and did have tremendous repercussions. Not only repercussions to their reputations, but also repercussions to their life with loved ones. By examining Gatsby and Tom in, "The Great Gatsby," and their inability to be content with what they have, one can determine how being unappreciative can lead to consequences such as death, love lost and soiling of reputation

Wealth has often consumed the lives people in the past, corrupting them and causing people to make bad decisions due to this greed. Wealth and greed will continue to take over others’ lives for as long as the human race still exists. The desire for wealth and greed as shown in the The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald by some characters’ intense obsession with money, lavish lifestyles, and their sense of entitlement, ultimately putting other characters in harm’s way.

Throughout the movie, life in the 1920s is portrayed as a moral wasteland. Specifically the lives of the “Old Money” and “New Money” wealthy individuals are the ones creating this moral wasteland. However, being

! Parker ́s essay was targeted to an audience that is wealthy like the middle-class. Parker knows what people that are somewhat wealthy think and in her essay she writes down what goes on in there lives and compares it to her own. For

Money plays a huge part in this story. Hester, the mother, is obsessed with having more and more money. She lives the life of a woman with money, never allowing anyone to see past the family's small income, "The mother had a small income, and the father had a

In the documentary "Queen of Versailles," Jackie and David Siegal show the hardships of being one of the most wealthy people in the country. In the beginning of the documentary, everything in their life is close to perfect. They are a wealthy couple, have children and are building their dream house also the largest house in America. Everything was going well for them until the 2008 financial crisis occurred in which the real estate market collapsed. Although the weeks reading were hard to interpret, some of the things in them were clearly seen in the documentary.

As human beings, what takes priority in life? Is it money? Money often drives people’s behavior. People don’t realize that it’s not necessary to be wealthy to enjoy life and live happily. Many of the characters portrayed in The Great Gatsby, displayed their desire for money throughout the book. Each character had a different outlook on money, but they each had something in common, they all wanted to acquire more. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the characters’ and community’s obsession, perception, and attitude toward money was prevalent.

In his song “All Falls Down,” mildly talented musician Kanye West emotionally raps, “We buy our way out of jail, but we can’t buy freedom.” Criticizing how those that are wealthy are able to control the world around them with their money, able to use it to get even “out of jail,” West asserts that such a reliance on wealth is ultimately restricting, as it cannot buy intangible things such as “freedom.” In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the titular character, Jay Gatsby surrounds himself with wealth and extravagance in order to leave his previous life of dullness and banality and pursue an unrealistic and fragile love with Daisy. Though he is able to assume a new, affluent identity, he is ultimately unsuccessful in love, as his wealth disconnects him from reality, preventing him from realizing the impossibility of his goal. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, maintains a sort of obsession with Gatsby, becoming sucked into his extravagant and wealthy lifestyle. However, by doing so, he begins to see the world in a new yet almost fantastical light, where even he is unable to comprehend the consequences of his actions and mannerisms. Under this, Fitzgerald contends that wealth and materialism are crutches that ultimately serve to skew and misrepresent surrounding reality.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of The Great Gatsby, he creates an artificial world where each character’s sole purpose in life is money, and the essence of desire is wealth. It is clear within the text that the characters feel as if they are totally limited by the amount of money they make, therefore, their view of being satisfied and achieving in life is depicted against their financial status. Poverty limits decision and action. The novel is set in the 1920’s when the newly founded ‘American Dream’ was being strived for, the idea that if one worked hard, they would ‘reap’ the rewards, no matter their

Title- The road from Versailles: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the fall of the French Monarchy

Contrary to what society thinks, a wealthy lifestyle doesn’t constitute unlimited happiness. Within F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novella, The Diamond As Big As The Ritz, we witness a fairy tale that recounts the life of those bathing in wealth and the consequences of prosperity. Fitzgerald describes the world of an extremely prosperous family and the horrid habits that are entailed. The author enumerates how an exceptional avidity towards fortune alters the Washington family’s life and leads to their defeat. Overall, this novella includes various themes revolving around greed that ultimately lead to the family’s destruction, that are well-developed by literary techniques such as personification, imagery, and characterization.