Materialism

979 Words2 Pages

Throughout the years, society has become superficial, harsh, and mostly concerned with materialistic items. This transformation has caused emotional changes within people themselves, causing a lack of engagement, anxiety, and depression. Individuals have not realized the amount of change American society has gone through and the negative effects it has placed on many individuals basic outlook on life. One exceptional book, Nine Stories, written by J.D. Salinger, portrays the effects of living in a phony society from the characters Eloise, Mary Hudson, and the McArdles, who Salinger depicts as superficial and acquisitive. Salinger reveals through the stories “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut”, “The Laughing Man”, and “Teddy”, that society’s obsession with materialistic objects has blinded individuals from the truly important values in life, by making their attitudes uncaring and judgmental.
In the story “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut”, Salinger reveals through the superficial, cold-hearted mother Eloise, that living in a phony world can transform an individual from loving to bitter. Eloise’s only concern with valuable possessions is shown as she gossips with her friend, as she exclaims “God, I don’t have one damn thing holy to wear. If Lew’s mother ever dies-ha, ha-she’ll probably leave me some old monogrammed icepick or something” (21). Eloise’s experience in the artificial world causes her to become so cruel, that she chooses materialistic possessions over a human being. What she does not realize is the harsh, prejudiced person she has become, as a result of living in the shallow world she always despised. Eloise is only concerned with the objects she gets in life, without feeling any emotion towards her family. From once being a ge...

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... due to the rise of materialism in American society.
Through Salinger’s numerous stories relating to materialism, he portrays how society has become blinded from the genuinely important possessions in life such as family and emotion. Through his snobby characters, Salinger reveals that instead of enhancing our well being, the rise of materialism has been doing exactly the opposite. These short stories reveal the ridiculous aspects of what American society has come to value, and the influence it has had on individuals. This desire for more expensive objects has created a mass unhappiness, detachment in relationships, and isolation in all the individuals it has impacted. In all, Salinger reveals through these three significant stories that materialistic individuals are more prone to depression and alienation, and they do not see things for what they genuinely are.

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