Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is a famous phrase from the Declaration of Independence. As time progresses, the meaning of “happiness” changes. Sometimes, this phrase can be taken too far. A major theme in The Postmortal is greed. The single concept of a selfish desire to have anything you want, drives the entire story. In a futuristic setting, citizens of the United States explore the idea of a cure for aging. The author, Drew Magary, constantly forces the reader to ask the magic question, “what if?”, followed by a series of events exploring the consequences of the character’s actions. Moreover, entire plot is centralized around what the character truly craves most at the present time. Consequently, with greed, characters are
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Couples are arguing that when they said forever, they only meant 60 years. Although no disclaimers of what “forever” really meant appeared in vows, with the lifestyle change, comes a marriage alteration. Now, people are entering into cycle marriages. But no one told me forever would be this long”(37)! With that said, this appears to mimic dating. You’re with someone for an extended period of time, without having any clue as to how long the relationship will actually last. The idea of only being able to love someone for “x amount of years” changes the course of all relationships permanently. There is no longer an intimacy between a couple. People go off and do whatever they please. This is rather rude and disrespectful. Generally, most people know “the golden rule”, however, this plot drifts far away from that concept. Society is no longer treating each other how they should. Society becomes a free for all, which, may seem like fun and games, but that’s all it is. People appear to be animals living in one crazy zoo. However, this all makes sense because in a fear driven world, it is every man for himself. John, Sonia, David, and Nate all share different views on marriage that shape the way the book plays out. If John wouldn’t have been so afraid to commit, Nate never would have come along to marry Sonia. David is very different because he is the character who is least selfish. …show more content…
Power can be gained now from having money because if you have money, you can hire an end specialist, or you can go extravagant places to avoid the grave overpopulation the United States is presently challenged with facing. In the end, everyone wants power. With power, comes great responsibility.
Nevertheless, there are some characters who are lazy. In most cases, however, we see that money is their only motivational factor. For example, Matt, an end specialist, states “That’s not your job. Your job is to prove that they are making a sober, rational decision that’s entirely their own”(184). “Because screw them--that’s why. That’s lost revenue, lost time...”(185). Matt doesn’t care about the lives of people. This is the worst example of greed - valuing money over a life. This part shows the true character Matt is and the way he lives his life. Power is a motivator of greed. Characters such as Matt see no other way to be content with life. In their eyes, money will get you everywhere. With John, we see how he let his circumstances get ahold of his life. John is no longer in control. John was a man who just went with the flow. Each individual must assess what is important to them. Sometimes we have to give up parts of what we want in order to get what we
Couples are arguing that when they said forever, they only meant 60 years. Although no disclaimers of what “forever” really meant appeared in vows, with the lifestyle change, comes a marriage alteration. Now, people are entering into cycle marriages. But no one told me forever would be this long”(37)! With that said, this appears to mimic dating. You’re with someone for an extended period of time, without having any clue as to how long the relationship will actually last. The idea of only being able to love someone for “x amount of years” changes the course of all relationships permanently. There is no longer an intimacy between a couple. People go off and do whatever they please. This is rather rude and disrespectful. Generally, most people know “the golden rule”, however, this plot drifts far away from that concept. Society is no longer treating each other how they should. Society becomes a free for all, which, may seem like fun and games, but that’s all it is. People appear to be animals living in one crazy zoo. However, this all makes sense because in a fear driven world, it is every man for himself. John, Sonia, David, and Nate all share different views on marriage that shape the way the book plays out. If John wouldn’t have been so afraid to commit, Nate never would have come along to marry Sonia. David is very different because he is the character who is least selfish. …show more content…
Power can be gained now from having money because if you have money, you can hire an end specialist, or you can go extravagant places to avoid the grave overpopulation the United States is presently challenged with facing. In the end, everyone wants power. With power, comes great responsibility.
Nevertheless, there are some characters who are lazy. In most cases, however, we see that money is their only motivational factor. For example, Matt, an end specialist, states “That’s not your job. Your job is to prove that they are making a sober, rational decision that’s entirely their own”(184). “Because screw them--that’s why. That’s lost revenue, lost time...”(185). Matt doesn’t care about the lives of people. This is the worst example of greed - valuing money over a life. This part shows the true character Matt is and the way he lives his life. Power is a motivator of greed. Characters such as Matt see no other way to be content with life. In their eyes, money will get you everywhere. With John, we see how he let his circumstances get ahold of his life. John is no longer in control. John was a man who just went with the flow. Each individual must assess what is important to them. Sometimes we have to give up parts of what we want in order to get what we