Assembly Line Summary

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Recommended: Good vs greed

Throughout human history, there have been many people who could not resist the jaws of greed. Even today, many wealthy businessmen just want to make more and more money, even if it affects other people. Assembly Line is a short story about a businessman's trip to the Republic of Mexico. This businessman, named Mr. Winthrop, intended to profiteer off of a poor Indian that he met on his travels. In this essay, I will be exposing one of the themes this short story displays.

The theme I devised was: When people engage in commerce, they often become greedy. For example, "Each basket cost him between twenty and thirty hours of constant work...the price he asked for each basket was fifty centavos. It seldom happened, however, that a buyer paid outright …show more content…

Furthermore, "The confectioner examined the baskets and found them extraordinarily well suited for a certain line in his business. Never before had there been anything like them for originality, prettiness, and good taste. He, however, avoided most carefully showing any sign of enthusiasm, for which there would be time enough once he knew the price and whether he could get a whole load exclusively." Upon noticing the baskets' magnificence, the confectioner found them to be perfect containers for his prized candies. However, he refrained from showing his true reaction to the product. He knows that Mr. Winthrop will most likely price them higher if he figures out that there is a high demand for the baskets. We can see that the confectioner is trying his best to find the lowest bidding point despite the sheer excellence of the product. Later in the story, "Ten thousand he ordered. Well, well, there we got a clean-cut profit of fifteen thousands four hundred and forty genuine dollars. Sweet smackers. Fifteen grand right into papa's pocket. Come to think of it, that Republic isn't so backward after all." At this point, Mr. Winthrop is calculating how much profit he's going to make by taking advantage of the Indian's baskets. When he notices he can make thousands of dollars in profit, he begins to show a bit of an ego by calling himself, "papa", and not acknowledging how much he is cheating the

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