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.
It is of no surprise to anyone that people in general, particularly Americans, tend to be overly-enticed by materialistic things and ridiculous ideals, placing more emphasis on them than things of sentiment. In “On Dumpster Diving,” author Lars Eighner develops on his experiences as a homeless man not in an attempt to defend the art of Dumpster diving, but instead to build upon the idea that a majority of people spend too much time and money on things that will not matter in a few years—they should instead focus on things that will never lose their value. Throughout the essay, he is attempting to persuade his audience that they should change their regular way of thinking and let go of materialistic things in order to live a better, more sound, and overall healthier life. To develop this purpose, Eighner utilizes juxtaposition, exemplification, and definition.
1. The main idea is not only that owning stuff is not the key to happiness, it’s also that consumers today own more than they need to thrive which directly impacts the environment. Hill illustrates the environmental impact by showing statistics of global warming today versus the past century, and how consumerism is leading to a hotter climate. Hill debunks claims of buying happiness by discussing a study where stress hormones spike to their highest when people are managing their personal belongings. Hill’s most prominent example that consumerism is not the answer is himself, as he discusses some of the most stressful times of his life being right after coming into a large sum of money and buying whatever he fancied. When Hill concludes his article, he states that “I have less—and enjoy more. My space is small. My life is big” (213).
The protagonist of "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut", Eloise, has experienced both the "phony" and the "nice" worlds. The "phony" world is the world into which we have the best view because Eloise is essentially living in a "phony" world. Eloise is stranded in a loveless marriage and uses alcohol to drink away her sorrows. Eloise's husband, Lew, is one of the Madison Avenue exurbanites and is a stark contrast to Eloise's first husband. Eloise is very critical of Lew and everything that he does. The phoniness of Connecticut has transformed Eloise from the nice woman she was to the cruel, pessimistic woman she is now. Eloise realizes how far she has fallen near the end of the story. Eloise has scolded her daughter and chastised the maid when she reaches her epiphany. Eloise asks her friend "I was a nice girl, wasn't I" (Nine Stories 38).
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man 's needs, but not every man 's greed.” As humans, we work countless hours in order to have a greater opportunity to succeed in life to fulfill our wants. F Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, utilizes effective language and punctuation in the text in order to accomplish his purpose: Illustrate what material goods does to a society. From a rhetorical standpoint, examining logos, ethos, and pathos, this novel serves as a social commentary on how pursuing the “The American Dream” causes people in society to transform into greedy and heartless individuals.
“Absence and lack of communication makes the heart idealize a person and subconsciously twist one’s perception of them into something greater than they really are.” (Peint, 2014). Some would argue that the highly acclaimed, widely known American novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a tragic love story revolving around an idealistic, predominantly white high-class society and its “burdensome” dilemmas. Others would argue the novel to be a satirical composition on the lives of the 1% population basking in luxury, their only complication being the pursuit of love and true happiness. Personally I, having read, analyzed, and discussed the text in depth and seeking out my own opinion on the subject matter, have come to categorize The Great Gatsby as another version of the American dream and the pursuit of happiness. What I believe makes the
The dawn of the 20th century was met with an unprecedented catastrophe: an international technological war. Such a horrible conflict perhaps threatened the roots of the American Dream! Yet, most do not realize how pivotal the following years were. Post war prosperity caused a fabulous age for America: the “roaring twenties”. But it also was an era where materialism took the nation by storm, rooting itself into daily life. Wealth became a measure of success and a facade for social status. This “Marxist materialism” threatened the traditional American Dream of self-reliance and individuality far even more than the war a decade before. As it morphed into materialistic visions (owning a beautiful house and car), victims of the change blindly chased the new aspiration; one such victim was Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. As his self-earned luxury and riches clashed with love, crippling consequences and disasters occur. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby delves into an era of materialism, exploring how capitalism can become the face of social life and ultimately cloud the American Dream.
The lives we lead and the type of character we possess are said to be individual decisions. Yet from early stages in our life, our character is shaped by the values, customs and mindsets of those who surround us. The characteristics of this environment affect the way we think and behave ultimately shaping us into a product of the environment we are raised in. Lily Bart, the protagonist in Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth, is an exceedingly beautiful bachelorette who grows up accustomed to living a life of luxury amongst New York City’s upper-class in the 20th century. When her family goes bankrupt, Lily is left searching for security and stability, both of which, she is taught can be only be attained through a wealthy marriage. Although, Lily is ashamed of her society’s tendencies, she is afraid that the values taught in her upbringing shaped her into “an organism so helpless outside of its narrow range” (Wharton 423). For Lily, it comes down to a choice between two antagonistic forces: the life she desires with a happiness, freedom and love and the life she was cut out to live with wealth, prestige and power. Although, Lily’s upbringing conditioned her to desire wealth and prestige, Lily’s more significant desires happiness, freedom and love ultimately allow her to break free.
In ‘The Great Gatsby’ Fitzgerald criticises the increase of consumerism in the 1920s and the abandonment of the original American Dream , highlighting that the increased focus on wealth and the social class associated with it has negative effects on relationships and the poorest sections of society. The concept of wealth being used as a measure of success and worth is also explored by Plath in ‘The Bell Jar’. Similarly, she draws attention to the superficial nature of this material American Dream which has extended into the 1960s, but highlights that gender determines people’s worth in society as well as class.
A.M. Holmes’ critique of the American dream’s malfunction in modern suburbia examines contemporary domestic life through a variety of socially realistic metaphors. No metaphor is a stronger critic of the dark domestic world she presents than the recurring theme of clothing as a mask which her characters use to hide their true identities. The novel focuses on the importance of “socially acceptable” clothing as an expression of each character’s overall desire to reach a state of normalcy, if not perfection. Yet irony arises out the representation of clothing as both filling its customary role as a cover-up, and simultaneously being used as a medium of exposure. This ironical situation of clothing as a literal and abstract costume to hide physical and mental disfigurement reinforces the assertion that the real desires of Homes’ characters are often shielded from themselves and from others, and yet are ultimately revealed through what they wear. The juxtaposition of the clothing motif is that clothing, or the lack thereof, serves as to conceal as well as reveal inner conflicts of sexuality, discontentment, or personal esteem.
The poem “America” by Tony Hoagland reflects on how peoples’ minds are clouded by small-scale items, money, and the unimportance of those items. Metaphors and imagery are utilized to emphasize the unimportance of materialistic items in America. How America is being flooded with unnecessary goods. The poem uses examples of people to create an example and connection to the overall meaning.
The American Dream seems almost non-existent to those who haven’t already achieved it. Every character in the novel has moments of feeling happy and endures a moment where they believe that they are about to achieve their dreams. Naturally everyone dreams of being a better person, having better things and in 1920’s America, the scheme of getting rich is quick. However, each character had their dreams crushed in the novel mainly because of social and economic situations and their dream of happiness becomes a ‘dead dream’ leading them back to their ‘shallow lives’ or no life at all.
If we take time and observe our surroundings, we see people are more concerned about the amount of Louis Vuttons or Michael Kors bags does one purchase than being aware of the person well being because this world today is all about objects than people. The author of the case of consumer society has presented the modern society in such a way that if we stop and think and look around how are generation today has become, making our world a world of materialism. According to karl marx, our world today is a world of objects as mentioned in the case that we have started given priotity more to our purchases than to people around us for example in a gathering of teens, half of them you will notice will be on their gadgets rather than communicating with the people around. This materialism according to marx is due to the rise of capitalism, where people are easily manipulated into making choices which benefit the economy and most of the time we do not even realize it. The whole concept of Shopping malls we see nowdays is a tool of manipulation, have been made the place of goods, acitivies and leisure for the consumers that they become entangled in the shadows of the capitalists.People nowdays go to shopping malls , hangout and do some window shopping and come back stating that it was an outing rather than having any interaction with other people , we chose to interaction with objects to fulfil our desire. Even the way producrts are arranged are not coincidental but a technique of manipulation for example if the product is arranged in a attractive way, consumers automatically get attracted to it rather then the product which is arranged in a disorganize way.This proves what Marx says that consumers in the capitalist society donot have any so...
The American dream has an inspiring connotation, often associated with the pursuit of happiness, to compel the average citizen to prosper. In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s infatuation for Daisy drives him towards wealth in order to respark his love. Due to Daisy’s rich background, the traditional idea of love becomes skewed because of the materialistic mindsets of people in the 1920s. In the novel the wealthy are further stratified into two social classes creating a barrier between the elite and the “dreamers”. Throughout the novel, the idea of the American dream as a fresh start fails. As Nick, the narrator, spends time in New York, he realizes the corruption pursuing goals. Characters such as Gatsby and Myrtle constantly strive toward an the American dream, which Nick realizes to be fruitless in the end.
Reflecting on this novel, It made me realize that what genuinely counts in life is the great memories I have made, the influential people I have met, and the experiences I have faced, not the desire for materialism. From my childhood, I vividly remember the time I captured a horde of hermit-crabs from the beach to keep as pets only to realize that they required a special diet, so they unfortunately all starved to death. Also, I recall the time one of my friends kindly brought me burnt snickerdoodles after I caught the flu. These are the experiences that material possessions and physical comfort can’t hold a straw against. My sentiment is shared with Chris McCandless. He didn’t care about his material possession because he believed that they were just illusions of happiness, and the things that truly made him happy was his journey through the land of the free. In fact, he burned all of his money to take a nonconformist stance against society and materialism. Perhaps my true destiny lies in the new experiences that manifests itself in an endlessly changing
Materialistic versus Non-Materialistic is a dimension that focuses on the hedonism of humans, for it compares the search of happiness through material items to the search of happiness internally, which these two are quite the opposites according to their definitions. Geert Hofstede proposed several other dimensions of culture and how the differed in their regards. Examples of cultures and services will be discussed within the assignment, for these two dimensions cover extreme levels of culture, while the information on these dimensions is robust, and the importance of each dimension will be discussed with the cultures and services.