The Views of Modern Man By: Tyler Smith The various short stories of the age of analysis and anxiety do not depict man in a heroic guise, nor do they reflect any deep abiding faith in his destiny. This is especially true in the short stories “Gooseberries”, “The Jewels”, “The Rocking Horse Winner”, and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” In each, theme is used to give a dim view of the future of mankind, and common themes help tie together a picture of what the authors of this age saw as a plague on mankind. In “Gooseberries” Chekhov conveys through the actions of his characters the theme that success comes at a price, and that the ends don’t always justify the means. In the story Nikolay dreams of having a farm and an estate of his own. Throughout his entire life he scrimped and saved every penny he could find. He married a widower for her money and starved her to death, all the while not realizing that it was through his actions that she died.
Nikolay did eventually obtain his estate, but at what price? He had been so blinded by his hunger for money that he did not realize that his wife died because he refused to feed her properly? “And, of course, it never for a moment occurred to my brother that he was to blame for her death. Money, like vodka can do queer things to a man.” In this quote Chekhov is showing the reader what powerful effect money has on a man. The pursuit of material wealth becomes all-important to a man, and anything else can be shrugged off. Chekhov is conveying yet another theme through this quote, that of materialism. He feels that when a man becomes obsessed with money his mind becomes shaded, his vision impaired.
It is interesting that he compared money to vodka, as though man becomes impaired against all other ideas but those of increasing his wealth. Chekhov sees money and the pursuit of material gain as an all-important goal in the society that surrounds him. He shows what can happen when someone becomes so obsessed with money that they become blinded to the world around them. Chekhov does this through Nikolay. Sure Nikolay does finally get the estate, but it is not quite the one he dreamed of. There is no orchard or duck pond, just a stream with coffee coloured water that had been tainted by a nearby glue factory.
But Nikolay is blind to this fact, just as he was blind to his responsibility about his wife, and he is still happy. Chekhov seems to feel that materialism, the pursuit of monetary gain is a big problem in society, and so in “Gooseberries” he doesn’t portray Nikolay in a great or heroic manner, and the fact that Nikolay cannot see that his success comes at a price, as symbolized by the gooseberries does not give us hope for the future of mankind, if it stays possessed with the materialistic views which possessed Nikolay. In “The Jewels” the same idea of materialism is conveyed by the author. In the story, Mr. Lantin the main character makes a fairly respectable wage, enough to live comfortably, and he and his wife seem happy enough. Mr.
Lantin cannot understand where his wife, who handles the money, comes up with the funds to purchase all the exquisite food that he eats, and the fine wines that he drinks. He is equally baffled by his wife’s tacky taste in jewellery, and he cannot understand why she purchases, and wears the gaudy items. In due course in the story Madame Lantin grows ill and dies. Mr.
Lantin now finds it difficult to subsist on his wages with only himself to support. He could not understand how his wife had managed the money so. He finds out that the “tacky jewellery” his wife had adorned herself with was in fact real. He sells all of it, without remorse it seems, and in the beginning of his newfound wealth seems happy. He brags to his co-workers, and people on the street about just how much money he had inherited.
He began living the good life again, and partaking in the expensive vices he had grown accustomed to. However in the end he was no longer content. He remarried and his new wife it seems is more than he can stand, and ultimately he becomes unhappy. As Chekhov did in “Gooseberries” Maupassant is making a statement about materialism in his story.
One of Madame Lantin’s main reasons for marrying was for money. She married Mr. Lantin so she, and perhaps her mother could be taken care of. She soon found that she enjoyed going to the theatre, and enjoying good food, and fine wines as Mr. Lantin did.
However she become almost dependent on this life of luxury, and when Mr. Lantin could not provide it, she went somewhere else to seek it. She was possessed by materialism to first marry, and then cheat on Mr. Lantin. When she died Mr.
Lantin was having a hard time managing his money. When he found out that the jewels she wore were in fact real, he was elated, and reveled in his newfound wealth. He hardly seemed that disturbed about how his wife had come to own such precious items, as he was too busy bragging to his colleagues about his riches, and busying himself with living the good life. Both Mr. and Madame.
Lantin were punished in some way for their materialistic ways. Madame. Lantin died from a chill caught at the theatre, and Mr. Lantin was doomed to a long miserable life in the arms of a new and more “respectable” wife. Mr. Lantin was much happier when he did not know about his wife’s misbegotten wealth, proving that ignorance is bliss.
Maupassant shows his reader, much as Chekhov did that when man becomes obsessed with money, he sinks down to a lower level, and it becomes impossible to portray him in a heroic manner. Maupassant is also expressing that if man does not get past materialism, if he only embraces the pursuit of monetary gain in the end he will be punished and his future would seem very dark indeed. Similarly in “The Rocking Horse Winner” materialism once again seems to be a central theme, and by showing what materialism does to man D. H. Lawrence is showing that he has no faith in the future of mankind. Paul’s mother has everything that one could possibly want.
She married for love; she had three children, a large house and seemingly all the luxuries of life. But upon closer inspection it is apparent that this life she leads is not as though it seems. Paul’s mother is no longer in love with her husband, she also has no great love for her children, and she looks at them with cold eyes. Also her luxurious lifestyle is just a guise, as her husband feels it is necessary to sell the house as the can no longer afford to keep it, and instead of paying bills, Paul’s mother spend their money on luxuries instead of their basic needs. Paul who seems unusually perceptive can hear voices which tell him that his family needs money. Constantly he is hearing “There must be more money, Now-w-w there must be more money.” This alludes to a possible sixth sense, or powerful subconscious control which Paul possess’.
He begins to bet on horse races, and he wins five thousand dollars, and gives it all to his mother. But instead of paying bills she just buys luxuries, and the voices in Paul’s head become worse than ever. He goes into fits to try and predict the outcome of races, to win more money for his mother. Money becomes so important that he begins to associate it with other things.
At one point he asks his uncle whether luck and money are the same thing. During one of his fits his mother walks in and startles him, he falls of his horse and severely injures himself. Paul soon passes on, but not before he wins another eighty thousand dollars for his mother. When the plot is finally revealed to her by Basset and her brother, she finally realizes what Paul has done for her.
Paul’s mother was so blinded by her materialism, by her want of a life of luxury that she could not see her own son vying desperately for her love and affection. He would do anything for her, and in the end he gave his life to indulge her opulent tastes. This is a depiction of mankind at its lowest. A woman who had abandoned all of her maternal instincts, who looks coldly down at her children, and cannot see that her own son would do anything to please her.
She is so obsessed with living well that she isn’t able to see that her child would hive his sanity and indeed his life to please her. Lawrence displays mankind at its lowest ebb here. He shows that materialism can make a mother treat her children so coldly that they would give their lives, just to earn her affections. Lawrence portrays Paul’s mother as a disgusting, self-indulgent creature, who could be no farther from a hero, and by doing this, by portraying a theme of materialism at its worst he removes any hope for the future of man if the persist on continuing down the path of materialistic practices.
In Benet’s “The Devil and Daniel Webster” materialism once again stands out as a central theme. Jabez Stone becomes so frustrated with his seemingly endless string of bad luck that he resorts to striking a deal with the devil so that he would become prophitable. He has so little faith in himself, and his need of monetary gain is so great that he would sink as low as to sell his to make a little money. Benet uses the dialogue of Satan to help enrich the theme, and show how materialism can be evil. “When the first wrong was done to the first Indian, I was there.
When the first slaver set out for the Congo, I stood on her deck.” When man first exploited the American Indians, or when he went to Africa to take slaves, evil, all encompassing evil was present. Maybe not in a corporal form, but it was there. And what was the ultimate purpose of these two ventures? To make money. So one again it becomes apparent that it is felt that materialism is evil, that it is mankind’s downfall.
Perhaps it is more apparent in this story then in the others because it deals with eh topic more directly than the other stories. A man would sell himself to the devil for a little money. He is wiling to give his everlasting soul away to the pinnacle of all evil in universe, and for what, a little money. This is man portrayed at his lowest ebb, doing anything for the pursuit of mere possessions. Jabez Stone is a mirror of all mankind in Benet’s eyes. Willing to do anything, to go to the limit because of his materialistic views.
Benet portrays Stone like in the other stories in an unheroic manner, who like man, had no faith in his own destiny and had to resort to selling his soul to the devil to ensure just for a few fleeting years he would be happy. In the stories “Gooseberries”, “The Jewels”, “The Rocking Horse Winner”, and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” a common theme of materialism can be seen. In each the materialistic, characters are portrayed in an unheroic manner. They are self-indulgent beings, whose every effort is placed into the goal of owning property, or possessions, or wealth, and all other concerns are tossed aside.
These individual writers have come together collectively to convey the message that if mankind proceeds along a materialistic, money driven existence, then life itself will lose all values, despite the wealth accumulated. Nikolay killed his wife; Mr. Lantin became miserable and unhappy. Paul’s mothers so blinded by her materialism lost her son.
And Jabez stone sold his soul to the devil just for a few prosperous years. What good is the luxury and wealth that they sought after when each of their lives lost most of their value through this pursuit? By showing man as a materialistic creature, and the consequences of the obsessions of such a creature, each author has shown no faith in the future of mankind as long as materialistic views, and people such as these existed.