Self Serving Examples

There are two types of motives that self-serving people use; for personal gain and for self-preservation. Self-serving people only think about themselves and they rarely ever concern themselves with the thoughts or feelings of others. Generally, the majority of people share the self-serving characteristic in one way or another, and most people are often self-serving without even realizing they are doing so. In the stories “A story of an Hour,” “A Rose for Emily,” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” all three protagonists, Mrs. Mallard, Emily Grierson, and the grandmother all share the self-serving characteristic. Upon learning of her husband’s untimely passing, Mrs. Mallard takes the news, she weeps for a moment and retires to her room. While …show more content…
“The druggist looked down at her. She looked back at him, erect, her face like a strained flag. ‘Why of course,’ the druggist said. ‘If that is what you want. But the law requires you to tell what you are going to be using it for.’” Despite the fact that the law requires her to tell the druggist what she is wanting the arsenic for, she simply omits the fact and refuses to comply; even though, the druggist can also get into trouble for not recording why. She uses her social status to intimidate him to get what she wants and how she wants it. “It was as if she demanded more than ever the recognition of her dignity as the last Grierson; as if it had wanted that touch of earthiness to reaffirm her imperviousness.” In this passage, we see again that Emily is portraying the self-preservation side of being self-serving. She wants to be recognized as the last Grierson. No one’s thoughts of her matter, because of who she is. Poor Miss Emily also is self-seving because she wants to love and to be loved so bad that she puts her own needs before Homer; the only man she has ever loved besides her father. “The man himself lay in the bed.” Emily wants love. She wants love so badly that she kills Homer Barron so that he cannot leave her and he would forever be hers. It does not seem to matter to her that Homer Barron has a family, friends, and his own life. She also does not seem …show more content…
“’Now look here, Bailey,’ she said, ‘see here, read this,’ and she stood with one hand on her thin hip and the other rattling the newspaper at his bald head. ‘Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed towards Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people.’” The grandmother does not care that The Misfit has escaped and is in Florida. She is only using this news article to persuade Bailey to go to Tennessee instead of Florida because so that she can go to Tennessee to visit some old connects and instead. She sees that The Misfit is not changing her son’s mind so she tries this same tactic with the daughter-in-law. “’The children have been to Florida before,’ the old lady said. ‘You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad.’” Now, keep in mind that is the very definition of self-serving. Later on during the day, as they are on the way to Florida, the grandmother wants to go by and see an old house she remembers visiting when she was a young. “’ There was a secret panel in this house,’ she said craftily, not telling the truth but wishing that she were, ‘and the story went that all the family silver was hidden in it when Sherman came through but it was never found. . .