William Hazlitt On The Want Of Money Essay

In an excerpt from the essay “On the Want of Money” (1827), author William Hazlitt depicts the burden of the necessity of money to have any form of pleasure in life. While developing an extended sentence, Hazlitt employs negative word choice and parallelism to juxtapose life in need of money alongside being wealthy. He adopts these tactics to evoke anger and pity for those who are thrust into life lacking money to promote societal change. Hazlitt addresses the wealthy in a direct manner to humanize and describe what life is like without money.

What is life like without money? Hazlitt develops a descriptive explanation of this life through the parallelism of each consecutive phrase beginning with “it is.” Life is “plagued,” “deprived,” and much like “exile” (45, 24, 12). Hazlitt’s negative diction depicts the horrific life those without money are forced to live – one comparable to that of a secluded, diseased individual. Poverty-stricken individuals don’t get “asked out to dinner or noticed” in society (5-6). They are

alienated due to the heavy burden that accompanies the necessity of money. Hazlitt’s negative portrayal of a life without money develops imagery and a sense of personal experience in order to illuminate the need for societal change. To a person living without monetary means, needing money is like living “out of the world” or being “despised if you come into it” (3-4). Wealthy individuals detest those without money no matter their attempts at being a part of society. Hazlitt’s juxtaposition of the need for money and society exemplifies Hazlitt’s position that money is necessary to be a part of society.
Yet Hazlitt continues to develop that, even if money was acquired, it would not bring happiness or acceptance into society. Money is a continuous cycle of stress and despair, as Hazlitt symbolizes through the extended second sentence. Even “if you succeed…undergoing constant distress,” society will later “[throw you] into the background” when a better choice comes (28-33). Those in need of monetary means will never fully be accepted and the lack of money is a burden for those who wish to be assimilated by society. At one moment, someone could be “full of enthusiasm and extravagance,” yet, once money begins to follow its course of fluctuation, they will be full of “chagrin and disappointment” (34-36). Hazlitt’s juxtaposition of a life with and without money develops his point that lacking money is an ongoing cycle of stress that runs people’s lives.
While it seems that Hazlitt constantly portrays the stress filled cycle of money in a serious manner, at times he presents life in need of money under a lightened tone.

Those forced into such life would find it ironic and humorous to have “to marry [their] landlady” in order to acquire wealth (18). Hazlitt sarcastically develops that the need for money can lead individuals to act ridiculously in order to lighten the mood of the subject to encourage societal change. Nevertheless, Hazlitt’s humor transitions back to a serious tone as the point of view switches to second person. Instead of addressing “one,” Hazlitt appeals to the audience directly. Now you struggle with the need for money and are “a burden to your relations” and “dissatisfied…with yourself” (39-40,44-45). This point of view represents personal experience. Pity and anger are aroused for those who need money. Hazlitt does so to promote societal change for those suffering without

money.
Hazlitt’s description of life without money can relate to both society from his time and today’s. Many of those who lack society’s acceptable amount of wealth are alienated and found unacceptable. They suffer in exile and are unable to live for anything worthwhile. Money is a burden to all and runs the lives of those in need of it. Society needs to alter their perspective of these individuals and aid in their acceptance.