Our Golden Touch, Money, And Avarice

Many are rich many are poor many have money many don’t. Have you ever had a moment where you did something selfish for desperation of money and karma hit you right back with a right hook?. And felt regret towards yourself. In the short story “Why, You Reckon” the author uses irony and dialogue, to show the audience that money can't buy happiness.

The texts, “High incomes don’t bring you Happiness” and “You can buy Happiness, if it’s an Experience”, completes the idea that monetary value does not bring true joy. In the passage, “High incomes don’t bring you Happiness”, the author states that bringing in an over excessive amount of money will not make one happy. The author said that an overall income of around $75,000 will complete one’s emotional well being, while anything over that will complete a life evaluation. Life evaluation is the idea that if one was to look at themselves while they’re in their deathbed, how would they rate their lifestyle. This is also supported through different statements within the passage, “You can buy Happiness, if it’s an Experience”. Within this study, it was proven that people enjoyed money, but often spent it on materialistic items which leaves them with a temporary feeling of satisfaction, while when they are given a fully paid trip to the Bahamas, the feeling of peace and joy lasts far longer than when they were to purchase an item of materialistic value. This

Money is the supreme power of the world. Its immeasurable power and limitless influence has hacked into our society today, ruining our political democracy, our capitalistic economy, and our chances at achieving the American Dream. Money is handled differently between the rich and the poor. Money in the hands of the poor is spent on essential items necessary for survival, and since money is not abundant in the hands of the poor, every single penny is cherished as a gift from God. However in the hands of the rich, money is used to acquire more money. The urge to succumb to greed influences the rich to use any and all means necessary to grow their wealth, to grow their power, to grow their long lasting influence. We look up to the rich with awe for their ability to achieve the American Dream, but what we are blindfolded from seeing is the true rise to stardom, their true pathway to success. Not all, but some have achieved the American Dream through immoral acts and satanic deeds, swindling the desired ones from their exit of poverty or their chance to enter into reality. In the end of The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald revealed to us the true Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald teaches us that not all people achieve the American Dream immorally, giving the example of Jay Gatsby

Throughout the modern era, society’s views on money’s effect on a person’s emotions have drastically changed. Many people believed that the more money a person has, the more satisfied he or she will be. However, due to recent conclusions made by writers and case studies, money has proven to not be responsible for a person’s contentment. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Daisy and Gatsby’s wealth ultimately shows the reader that money does not equal happiness.

She always tried to get more wealthier so she married Tom, an East Egg with old family money.” ”Her voice is full of money,” he said suddenly. That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money – that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it… high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl…” (p.99). She is a “gold-digger” She moved on and gained highest class position and a lot of wealth. She is not the best person. She has a good amount of bad qualities, however because she didn't lived in the past she ended up

Novelists such as Willa Cather and F. Scott Fitzgerald used themes of desire of wealth as a fundamental element to motivate their characters. In their novels, the theme is reflected by the rich Americans who primal desire is to obtain more and more wealth. These characters are so infatuated with and blinded by money that they no longer regard the more noble qualities of life. In each of their works, these authors present intricate, self-conscious characters that desire wealth in order to attain their dreams. In reality, wealth cannot buy people, ideas or even time.

Author William Hazlitt in his essay “On the Want of Money” describes his feelings on the topic of money. Hazlitt employs stylistic devices to illustrate the deception and illusions that come with having or working for money. He explains that money is sought for by everyone, yet few have it, and the ones who do, usually do not enjoy it because they are worried about losing it. Through lengthy syntax, scholarly diction, and repetition, Hazlitt creates a negative mood for the reader to discover the raw truth about money and the horrible things that it can do to people.

For my fifth literary work I chose the short story, The Pardoner’s Tale, which was written by Geoffrey Chaucer. One of the major themes in this short story is greed and how the characters display this trait. I chose to use this picture in particular since it shows Mr. Krabs (a character from the famous kid’s T.V. show, Spongebob Squarepants) and his immense greed for money. This is similar to The Pardoner’s Tale because the three rioters show signs of being greedy when they all see the gold underneath the tree. The three men vow to die for each other, but yet when they all see how much gold there really, is they get greedy and want to kill each other so they can have more gold for themselves.

Throughout history greedy people become unsatisfied with what they have and end up wanting more. Hitler had all his needs fulfilled and gave into his greed, this became the start of world war two. Storytellers and writers also use this theme, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the story of King Midas and his newfound ability of the golden touch. King Midas was a man who loved gold, he had everything he needed and when all of his necessities were

This example shows that money can buy you happiness because she was feeling upset because she had nothing to where so her husband gave her money, it made her

A great example of that money can’t buy happiness is how Kino became so greedy with just the promise of money. At this point in the story when Kino is at the pearl buyers. Kino says coldly to the pearl buyer, “ It is worth 50,000,” “You know it. You want to cheat me” (50) In this quote, Kino shows his greed by refusing the pearl buyers offer.

In the myth “The Golden Curse”, it has a lot to do with the story about Hannah, called “Money Cannot Buy Happiness”. They both have to do with money and being grateful with what you have, because money cannot happiness. Both of these are very similar in this way even though they have different build.

The classic tale of King Midas is a great example of what happens when a person prioritizes want over need. In the story King Midas has a thirst for gold,(Golden Touch,Nathaniel hawthorne pg 443) that it can be seen by everyone he meets.

Throughout history, many people struggle with greed. Greed is defined as a selfish desire for something. Throughout the story each character faces there own form of greed, whether they know it or not each action impacts each other and leads to the death of the mother’s son. In the short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner”, the author D.H lawrence uses a rocking horse, wealth, and lack of family intimacy to illustrate to the reader the disastrous problems with greed.

“There are people who have money and people who are rich” (Chanel, C) There is a difference between people who have money and people who are rich. People who have money are able to do what they want whenever they want but are very dependent on it for that they become desperate if they do not have it. For people who are rich, understand the true value of an object or person or are able to give without receiving. They are able to comprehend that money is an object for the greedy and that they are not controlled by it. Money is only an object that possesses people and controls them. We are being restricted by our wealth. Our wealth depends on how we enjoy life. Now, if money were no object to the common person, we all could live and enjoy our lives the way we wish. There are endless possibilities if money had no worth. We would spend our lives with joy, freedom and a peace of mind. There would be no restrictions to what we can do. Since we are being controlled by money, we are limited to the desires that we want. Therefore, the best way to enjoy one’s life if money were no object is to travel the world to explore new lands, to help those in need of help, and to learn new skills; languages, religions, cultural, and learn about people.