“Obsession is the single most human activity, because with an obsession you keep coming back and back to the same question and never get an answer.” This quote was said by Norman Mailer, a famous write, and is very relevant in today’s society. These types of obsessions can vary vastly from love obsession to monetary obsessions. These obsessions can often cause addictions to various other things, such as drinking or drugs. These two motifs and themes are clearly found in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, and Sam Polk’s, For The Love Of Money. These obsessions can lead to downfall as evident in The Great Gatsby or can teach some lifelong lessons as seen in For The Love Of Money. Obsessions and addictions often cause the loss of a person’s
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As we see in For The Love Of Money Sam started spending his money on very unnecessary things. “I started dating a pretty blonde and rented a loft apartment on Bond Street for $6,000 a month.” (Polk 2) As seen Sam has a lot of extra money caused due to his money obsession which he spends on unnecessary wants such as, drugs, loft apartments and drinks. “I could be second row at the Knicks-Lakers game just by hinting to a broker that I might be interested in going.” (Polk 2) Not only was he obsessed with wealth but now he was starting to use his power for these unnecessary and expensive trips. These foolish decisions really shaped his character in a negative way and lead his girlfriend to wisely dump him. Similarly in The Great Gatsby many foolish decisions were taken by Gatsby which cause him to lose not only but also his life too. Gatsby lost his life because he didn’t tell anyone that Daisy was the one who killed Myrtle. This all happened because of Gatsby’s obsession to Daisy. He was so obsessed with Daisy that he spent large amounts of money on lavish parties to try and impress her. “He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free.” (Fitzgerald 141) Even after the death of Myrtle when Gatsby knew that he would be in trouble with the police he …show more content…
As evident in For The Love Of Money the overcoming of obsession in fact enhances Sam’s character. Sam was able to learn from his obsessions or mistakes and created helpful resources which he wouldn’t have imagined otherwise. “My experience with drugs and alcohol allowed me to recognize my pursuit of wealth as an addiction.” (Polk 4) As evident Sam realized that what he is doing is a waste of time and he should be helping other people who don’t have access to this kind of wealth and resources. But, if Sam wasn’t obsessed with money in the first place then he wouldn’t be able to see the suffering of the people without money and thus wouldn’t start Grocery ships or talking in jails. In contrast however Gatsby didn’t realize his mistake and wasn’t able to overcome his obsessions. This lead to the very sad and disastrous end of his life and also his loss of character. If he had somehow overcome his obsessions he would have survived. He dies to false and harmful actions of other human beings when he wasn’t at fault. “I can’t describe to you how surprised I was to find out I loved her, old sport. I even hoped for a while that she’d throw me over, but she didn’t, because she was in love with me too.” (Fitzgerald 142) Gatsby could’ve done anything to save his own life. He could have fled the city, talked to Wilson or even tell Daisy to admit the truth
As we see in For The Love Of Money Sam started spending his money on very unnecessary things. “I started dating a pretty blonde and rented a loft apartment on Bond Street for $6,000 a month.” (Polk 2) As seen Sam has a lot of extra money caused due to his money obsession which he spends on unnecessary wants such as, drugs, loft apartments and drinks. “I could be second row at the Knicks-Lakers game just by hinting to a broker that I might be interested in going.” (Polk 2) Not only was he obsessed with wealth but now he was starting to use his power for these unnecessary and expensive trips. These foolish decisions really shaped his character in a negative way and lead his girlfriend to wisely dump him. Similarly in The Great Gatsby many foolish decisions were taken by Gatsby which cause him to lose not only but also his life too. Gatsby lost his life because he didn’t tell anyone that Daisy was the one who killed Myrtle. This all happened because of Gatsby’s obsession to Daisy. He was so obsessed with Daisy that he spent large amounts of money on lavish parties to try and impress her. “He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free.” (Fitzgerald 141) Even after the death of Myrtle when Gatsby knew that he would be in trouble with the police he …show more content…
As evident in For The Love Of Money the overcoming of obsession in fact enhances Sam’s character. Sam was able to learn from his obsessions or mistakes and created helpful resources which he wouldn’t have imagined otherwise. “My experience with drugs and alcohol allowed me to recognize my pursuit of wealth as an addiction.” (Polk 4) As evident Sam realized that what he is doing is a waste of time and he should be helping other people who don’t have access to this kind of wealth and resources. But, if Sam wasn’t obsessed with money in the first place then he wouldn’t be able to see the suffering of the people without money and thus wouldn’t start Grocery ships or talking in jails. In contrast however Gatsby didn’t realize his mistake and wasn’t able to overcome his obsessions. This lead to the very sad and disastrous end of his life and also his loss of character. If he had somehow overcome his obsessions he would have survived. He dies to false and harmful actions of other human beings when he wasn’t at fault. “I can’t describe to you how surprised I was to find out I loved her, old sport. I even hoped for a while that she’d throw me over, but she didn’t, because she was in love with me too.” (Fitzgerald 142) Gatsby could’ve done anything to save his own life. He could have fled the city, talked to Wilson or even tell Daisy to admit the truth