Task III

Joseph Ng

What is happiness? Peoples' goal in life is to be happy. For most people, they try to be happy by acquiring materialistic things, such as money and property. However, one must ask themselves, what is the relationship between wealth and happiness? It is a theme that is portrayed in literature. Books such as the "Great Gatsby", by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and short poems such as "Richard Cory", by Edwin Arlington Robinson portray the relationship. The authors of their respective books uses literary elements techniques to convey their ideas.

The "Great Gatsby" was written in the 1920's. It was a period of wealthiness. In the "Great Gatsby", the character Jay Gatsby was not always rich. Gatsby became rich to satisfy himself, to make himself better, happy and to impress the one love of his life Daisy. Daisy is happy because she is rich. The author uses the metaphor "her voice is full of money". She had knowledge of her husband cheating on her, however she didn’t mind much because Tom, and herself had money. Gatsby had the materialistic things that money could buy, however he couldn’t buy the affection of Daisy. His love for Daisy is what in turns kills him, as he takes the blame of Myrtle Wilson’s death. The author uses techniques such as metaphors, imagery and irony.

The poem "Richard Cory" was about a rich man. He would catch the eye of people wherever he went. The author uses the metaphor "richer than a king", to show how rich he was. People would envy him so much that they would want to be him. However, one night he shot himself in the head. It is evident that he was not happy, or else he wouldn’t have killed himself. He probably had problems that money couldn’t have solved, therefore his wealth did not bring him happiness. The author uses the technique of stanzas and couplets.

The two pieces of literature are common in the way that both discuss about rich characters. The main character is wealthy, however unhappy. There is an explanation for Gatsby’s melancholy. He had something that he wanted, but couldn’t get because money was not much of a factor. The two pieces are similar in the way that they use metaphors. The main difference is that one is a story and one is a poem.

There is a relationship between wealth and happiness. People can be happy without money, or miserable with money. Wealth can keep materialistic people happy, however for those who yearn for more, it is worthless. The happiest people in life would be those with someone who they can share their wealth with.