Too Much Of Nothing Analysis

At the end of the day, the affluent are still not satisfied with their wealth or material items. Source D provides a great example. Even though the couple has purchased everything they could possibly want, they still feel “something is missing.” What they are missing is not a tangible object. It is not something one could go to a store and buy. They cannot obtain happiness in a nice little box on a store shelf. There is no price on happiness. Source A believes “happiness is desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else.” Nothing can supplement happiness. True happiness is “something final and self-sufficient.” People with affluenza can never find this happiness through the constant purchasing of more stuff. Happiness is achieved in many different ways for different individuals but not through wealth. For example, the mother in Source I begins to understand this when she becomes older one Christmas. She realizes no matter how many gifts she may receive,

“Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has, the more one wants,” quoted by Benjamin Franklin. Money can’t buy happiness because materials are short lived, human connection is more important, and wealth undermines people’s ability to savor positive events from the sheer abundance. Money will accumulate but it is easy to chase more and more until you realize you’re not actually living. Happiness that is based off of product is fugitive.

If you were to ask the average person if they believed whether or not money can buy one’s happiness, many would likely say no; but if you were to take a closer look at how they choose to spend their money, their purchases would say otherwise. Their purchases would likely say that money can instead buy you many things that make you happy, or at least temporarily. Our society condones the American dream to follow one’s desires because anyone who obtains any level of power, pleasure, and wealth is likely to also achieve a satisfying and successful life. “In a capitalist economy and a culture of consumerism and materialism, are we not bombarded with messages promising happiness through wealth and possessions? Aren’t we every day indoctrinated by advertisements promising bliss through the clothes we wear, the cell phones we buy, and even the beer we drink?”

Greed is one of the main reasons people feel the need to have material objects, and “The Necklace,” by Guy de Maupassant is an example of just that. Mathilde, the main character, valued luxurious items so that she could seem wealthy to others. When her and her husband get invited to a formal event for work, she wishes to look as elegant as she can. Although Mathilde didn’t have a bad life, she still wanted more. “She had no proper wardrobe, no jewels, nothing. And those were the only things that she loved-she felt she was made for them. She would have so loved to charm, to be envied, to be admired and sought after” (Maupassant 374). This quote relates to how even though Mathilde probably did have a dress that would have been

“Not one of these symbols of prosperity and taste has any use at all.” (Lockhart 45). This quote from We Were Liars is very true. Basically what it is saying is this: in the end, all of these pretty things and expensive brands is not going to mean anything. “My Liars, my darlings. I killed them.” (Lockhart 209). It is like here in the book. Cadence finds out her best friends are dead, and all the other things her family worried about means nothing. The reason that people are attached to materialistic things because they feel it makes them better and boosts their status. People want to

possessions bring happiness, but only for a short amount of time. Studies by Ryan Howell,

People get so worried about how people see them that it ends up leading them to live a fantasy life. In the story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant shows two types of people: Mathilde Loisel who is very selfish and oblivious to wealth she cannot have; her husband M. Loisel who accepts his life being unfortunate but will do anything to keep his wife happy. Mathilde never becomes satisfied with the life she has. Mathilde is so obsessed with living the fantasy of being wealthy. In the beginning of the story Mathilde’s husband hands her an invitation to a ball that the wealthy attend but instead of being delighted as he’d hoped, she grieved because she said she had nothing to wear for this event, “I have no dress and therefore I can’t go to

your success as Clark says in his essay, “They find that private materialism has risen

“Tell me what you think about me, I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings.” This is how Destiny’s Child’s landmark 00s song ‘Independent Women’ begins. But isn’t it interesting how being a strong, “independent woman” is, more often than not, equated with having lots of money and spending it on material things?

Peter Singer states that “our ordinary patterns of spending money on ourselves are immoral.”; but my response to this is that, as human beings we don’t know any better. Consumerism is the trap that holds us dear and truthfully never lets go. If we see something we enjoy, if it adds a level of comfortability, or gives us the slightly rush of adrenaline; we must acquire it. We thrive off materialism items, although most aren’t necessary needed to live a wholesome life. I believe all you ultimately need is food, water, shelter, and clothing. I’m not including education, healthcare, or anything that follows along these lines. I’m not saying that spending money on materialism items such as makeup is a terrible thing, but it shouldn’t be the first

Materialism explains the extent to which an individual is preoccupied with purchasing and showing off physical possessions that are mostly non essential.

So in conclusion, I think that money isn’t necessarily the source of happiness, because true happiness in my opinion is enjoying the things that we already have, and having lots of money will not guarantee happiness, like in the story. Though the girl longs for more Barbie dolls, she is already happy with what she has. The more you appreciate the things that you have, the happier you’ll

   The idea of conspicuous consumption, or buying unnecessary items to show one's wealth, can be seen in Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis.  Lewis describes the main character of the book, George F. Babbitt, as a person who has his values and priorities all mixed up.  Babbitt buys the most expensive and modern material goods just to make himself happy and make people around his aware of his status.  He is more concerned about these items than about his wife or children and to him, "god was Modern Appliances" (Lewis 5).  Through Babbitt, Lewis is attempting to show how the average American person will do or buy anything, even if  unnecessary, only to show off and make peers think

It seems a desire in human nature to want more and more things for the sake of having them and for treasuring them. No matter the amount or cost some people have the tendency to obtain as much as they can get, because they can never have enough stuff. The character of Madame Mithilde Loisel from the short story, “The Necklace,” without a doubt has this trait. Monsieur and Madame (M. and Mme.) Loisel are a couple living in Paris. Mme. Loisel, although beautiful, is very unhappy with the life she has been given. One day, M. Loisel receives an invite to a nighttime ball, but Mme. Loisel refuses to go unless she has something marvelous to showcase herself with. Her husband manages to obtain a dress for her, and she manages to get a necklace from an old friend, Mme. Forestier. Once M. and Mme. Loisel return from their amazing night at the ball, Mithilde realizes that she has

Whoever said money can’t buy happiness? Today, the argument can be made that happiness and consumerism are directly linked. It is fair to say that happiness is a relative term for different people. However, the obtaining of new and shiny things has become such a part of everyday life, that it provides happiness when people are purchasing something new, and causes sadness when no buying is taking place. For many, it seems to be a protective coating against the harsh realities of everyday stresses from a job, or family life.