Reginald Watts's Analysis

Happiness. Happiness is a state of well-being expounded by enjoyable or pleasant emotions ranging from fulfillment to immense amounts of uncontrollable delight. Happiness can be achieved in contrasting approaches depending on the type of person you are. Despite this, happiness is an extremely difficult jewel to find if you don’t look hard enough in a cave of complications in life. In Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol, the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, faces grueling memories and future experiences that will help determine if he, a crotchety, unkind man, will attain true ecstasy or not. Before the help of spirits, Scrooge thought the only possible way to reached his euphoria was all the wealth and riches he could accumulate. It is soon

As human beings we are naturally wired to seek happiness wherever we can find it. When we don’t, we may enter a stage of anger, anxiety, or distress. That’s why it is our personal goal to look for happiness and preserve it once we acquire it. Many have explored ways to find what triggers this feeling of “happiness” and what we can do to keep it; nonetheless, the evidence found is hardly sufficient to make a public statement on how to find happiness. For this reason, most of the time we speculate what might provoke this feeling of contentment. “Happiness is a glass half empty,” an essay written by Oliver Burkeman, highlights the importance of happiness and discloses how we can find delight through unorthodox methods. The prime objective of this piece of writing is to inform the audience about the effect of happiness on their lives and how their usual attempts of becoming happier can sabotage achieving this feeling. Furthermore, he wants to promote the benefits of pessimism and describe how it can help us in the long run. The author utilizes pronouns, logos, and pathos in order to prove his point and draw the audience into his essay, in an attempt of making them reconsider the way they live their lives and adopt this new pessimistic way that would greatly boost their level of happiness.

The saying “money can’t make you happy” is a popular and controversial statement. For someone with money it is almost unfair of them to comment, for someone without money this can be used as a comfort and a way to look past financial issues. But in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun we take an indepth look on how money can really affect a family that prior to the death of a father and husband, had no money. Hansberry begins her play with Langston Hughes's poem Harlem (Dream Deferred). The poem begins with a lofty question, “What happens to a dream deferred (line one)?” And it continues as so:

In Voltaire’s novella Candide, the main character’s newly found wealth from an idealized Eldorado is exploited by the world’s fixation of greed that ultimately effects himself and others as he learns that money cannot buy happiness.

Although money does bring happiness, it also has the power to take it all away. Parents have arguments everyday. Usually, money is the root of the altercation. In the memoir, Walls’s parents argued whose fault it was that they were living in impoverished conditions. The argument got so intense that Rose Mary almost fell from the second floor window of their house. The lack of money was a big contributing factor that resulted in the Walls’ unhappiness. Franklin’s philosophy that the more money an individual possessed the more he or she will want is inarguable because the human nature is governed by greed and selfishness. Rose Mary could have had a teaching job to support her family, but she would rather “[sit] around on her butt all day painting pictures no one would ever buy” (70). Walls’s father, Rex, was an alcoholic who spends all his hard-earned money on booze. Their parents’ selfishness got in the way of the children’s happiness several times. Lori and Jeannette wanted to get out of Welch, but their father stood in the way when he stole their

What is true happiness? I have chosen four texts which relate to my topic of how money can’t buy happiness. Macbeth and The Great Gatsby show how being the most powerful and wealthiest person can’t make you happy. Macbeth is set in in Scotland during the 11th century while The Great Gatsby is set in 1925 on Long Island. These two texts have many similarities and comparisons that i will cover throughout my piece. My other two texts; Money doesn’t buy happiness, neither does poverty and The Pursuit of Happyness are set in more current time and show how money can’t buy happiness and that to be happy you don’t need to be rich and famous.

JJ Watt never slacks in practice according to the coaches and players. He has a mission to be the best football player ever. No matter what JJ never takes a day off even if he is hurt he will do something to improve. JJ Watt lives by dream big work hard which he shows when he plays football.JJ Watt has been playing defensive end for the Houston Texans but he has worked so hard that he has been able to play offencive tight end for his team and has even scored many touchdowns that has helped his team in many tight situations.I believe this is a man who has worked so hard for his team and it has shown

John Dupont grew up with an immeasurable amount of wealth. The story of his life justifies the fact that happiness doesn’t reside in fortune. After analyzing his behavior, the best way to explain it would be through the psychodynamic perspective. When John was very young his parents divorced and his father left, leaving him and his siblings to live with their mother. His father made it very known that he didn’t want to be apart of his son's life when he would require John to make appointments to see him. It is said that John never really had a childhood. He wasn’t good socially and ate his meals alone in his room until he was 13 years old, completely isolating himself from the world.

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.

Stephen Douglas was the senator that introduced the Kansas Nebraska bill. He personally was not a huge fan of slavery but, he felt that it was necessary that the issue should be addressed by the public rather than the government. He also invoked popular sovereignty, “is the principle that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives (Rule by the People), who are the source of all political power” (wikipedia.com). He also received deals from southern leaders that they would promote his central route if he would allow slavery in new territories (history.com). Another fun fact about senator Douglas is that he was the democratic nominee for president; but lost to Abraham Lincoln (wikipedia.com).

“Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness”. (qtd. in Barnet and Hugo 775).

The short story “The Happy Man” by Naguib Mahfouz centers around a man haunted by his own happiness, something that would initially seem desirable but as the reader begins to discover; is anything but that. A similar example of something along the lines of this can be found in the TV-series by Justin Roiland; “Rick and Morty”, where main character Rick bears the burden of his vast intellect, further reinforcing the statement, “too much of something, is anything but a good thing”. Whether it be the shared themes of underlying depression, as well as the theme of absolute happiness, it is impossible to deny that both attempt to convey the message that the Goldilocks principle is applicable to human characteristics, and that the two respective

As the main character, Chris Gardner, went through tough obstacles throughout the movie he discovered that happiness wasn’t guaranteed. He used evidence from the constitution “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” giving him the credibility of saying happiness is only something we can pursue. As working class we all fantasize about a life with no stress. Despite what all we have achieved, a life that seems better than our own grabs our eyes. Chris Gardner saw the stock brokers looking so happy, he felt that the money could help put him in that place.

Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions. In Somerset Maugham’s novel The Razor’s Edge, some characters think that wealth, social status, and material possessions will bring them happiness. Larry Darrell is the only character that doesn’t care for any of these things, and he is the only character that Maugham says is happy. Through these differing ideas of happiness, Maugham creates the argument that happiness is not achieved through materialism. Materialism is a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.

Everyone wants to know one questions: What is the source of happiness? Authors often use themes of discontentment to contrast the need for contentment. D. H. Lawrence, in his short story “The Rocking Horse Winner”, shows that the financial discontentment of the mother drives her son to pursue a path to gain fortune, but leads to his madness and eventual demise. Similarly, Guy de Maupassant in his short story, “The Necklace”, introduces Mathilde, who despises her social and economic standing to the detriment of both herself and her husband. Finally, in the short story “The Monkey’s Paw, W.W. Jacobs shows how a relatively happy family can be ruined when they wish for more. These authors are trying to illuminate to the reader that discontentment leads to misery.