For the Love of Wealth
There is a common household saying that "money is the root of all evil". This idea is derived from the Bible, and this principle goes back centuries. It is true that people have let money control, motivate, and change them. However, I would like to amend this statement and specify that the love of money is the root of all evil. Money cannot be blamed for the power that people give it. Simple inanimate coins and pieces of paper, or even solid gold are worth nothing without the demand people have for them. They alone hold no power.
So why do people chase riches? Humans want to feel important, to find stability, increase their social rank, impress, and treat themselves with treasures. Many let this desire and love of riches destroy lives; for the love of wealth, people have lost their morals and sacrificed relationships. Ethical values and empathetic feelings are destroyed, while self-images are distorted. F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays this universal theme in multiple pieces of his writing. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is one of the richest men in town, but when he dies he is left with only one friend at his funeral. In The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, the rich family loses all sense of empathy and kills each of their guests just to protect their wealth.
Braddock Washington is the wealthy father in The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, and with one quote he reveals the twisted mindset of the rich. When talking to his prisoners he states that "cruelty doesn't exist where self-preservation is involved"(Fitzgerald 95). He then continues to admit that what he just said is stupid. This callous attitude and self-contradicting dialogue reveal that he feels, as an extremely rich man, he does not need to concern himself with morals or feelings of these less fortunate people. The rich prey on the poor, and the love of money leads them to this belief that they are superior. Readers know that his statement is completely false, and that self-preservation often leads to the most cruelty. The love of money either blinds him to that truth, or leads him to ignore it.
So why do people chase riches? Humans want to feel important, to find stability, increase their social rank, impress, and treat themselves with treasures. Many let this desire and love of riches destroy lives; for the love of wealth, people have lost their morals and sacrificed relationships. Ethical values and empathetic feelings are destroyed, while self-images are distorted. F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays this universal theme in multiple pieces of his writing. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is one of the richest men in town, but when he dies he is left with only one friend at his funeral. In The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, the rich family loses all sense of empathy and kills each of their guests just to protect their wealth.
Braddock Washington is the wealthy father in The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, and with one quote he reveals the twisted mindset of the rich. When talking to his prisoners he states that "cruelty doesn't exist where self-preservation is involved"(Fitzgerald 95). He then continues to admit that what he just said is stupid. This callous attitude and self-contradicting dialogue reveal that he feels, as an extremely rich man, he does not need to concern himself with morals or feelings of these less fortunate people. The rich prey on the poor, and the love of money leads them to this belief that they are superior. Readers know that his statement is completely false, and that self-preservation often leads to the most cruelty. The love of money either blinds him to that truth, or leads him to ignore it.
Wow very insightful Mady! I really enjoyed the detail of your opening paragraph, and your analysis of the saying "money is the root off all evil". Very well written!
ReplyDeleteVery well written analysis on greed.
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