The best things in life aren´t things, but it is easy to lose yourself in a world where values such as capitalism and materialism is paramount. In the short story “The Decline of the West” which is written by Hanif Kureishi and published in 2010, in Kureishis collection of short stories; “Collected stories”.
In the short story we meet Mike, Mike comes home after a terrible day, he worked in the financial industry, but he has just been fired. He has been used to work twelve hours a day, and therefor he has a difficult relationship with his family, because he has spent more time working than paying attention to his family. “The au pair saw more of his house and family than he did”. The story is in the upper class society in London, they live …show more content…
During the short amount of time the story is lasting, Mike becomes wiser, there is a point in the story where he looks at a £ 20 note, and for the first he notices Queen Elizabeth the seconds smile, and he know realizes that the greed from his sons, the capitalism and materialism is combined. Even though he realizes that they can’t keep on living like this, with a big debt and no income. But Mike somehow denies it, he knows the consequences of this life style, but he is living in a denial and tries to escape from the problems rather than trying to solve them. I think that the title “The Decline of the West” might refer to the Wall Stress crash in 2008. People all over the world lost their jobs and their family and financial situations took a sharp turn. Mike was fired because they had to cut some of at his office, and unfortunately he was one of them. This short story is a perfect example of how quick everything can change, when you’re in the financial industry, the stocks can take a turn “just like that”, and everything is changed, therefor it is a very risky business. The themes of the story is that you have to be careful about your money, think before you spend, you never know what is going to happen tomorrow, Mike has lived his life there is no tomorrow and bought everything, and that has left him with a big debt, which he can’t pay off because he no longer has a job. Another theme is also that you need to take care of your family and give them the love and care they need and
In the short story we meet Mike, Mike comes home after a terrible day, he worked in the financial industry, but he has just been fired. He has been used to work twelve hours a day, and therefor he has a difficult relationship with his family, because he has spent more time working than paying attention to his family. “The au pair saw more of his house and family than he did”. The story is in the upper class society in London, they live …show more content…
During the short amount of time the story is lasting, Mike becomes wiser, there is a point in the story where he looks at a £ 20 note, and for the first he notices Queen Elizabeth the seconds smile, and he know realizes that the greed from his sons, the capitalism and materialism is combined. Even though he realizes that they can’t keep on living like this, with a big debt and no income. But Mike somehow denies it, he knows the consequences of this life style, but he is living in a denial and tries to escape from the problems rather than trying to solve them. I think that the title “The Decline of the West” might refer to the Wall Stress crash in 2008. People all over the world lost their jobs and their family and financial situations took a sharp turn. Mike was fired because they had to cut some of at his office, and unfortunately he was one of them. This short story is a perfect example of how quick everything can change, when you’re in the financial industry, the stocks can take a turn “just like that”, and everything is changed, therefor it is a very risky business. The themes of the story is that you have to be careful about your money, think before you spend, you never know what is going to happen tomorrow, Mike has lived his life there is no tomorrow and bought everything, and that has left him with a big debt, which he can’t pay off because he no longer has a job. Another theme is also that you need to take care of your family and give them the love and care they need and