Money And Happiness In Richard Carrie, By Zora Neale Hurston

Is having an abundance of material things and wealth the answer in achieving happiness?

Are material things really that important? Is being rich really going to solve all your problems?

Why do most people believe material things and wealth will make their lives better as if rich people have no flaws? As if rich people are perfect. As if material things are not temporary. As if money will buy your problems away. As if wealth is unconditional. For example, one-day a certain style of clothing may be in but then the next day it will be out of style welcoming a new style of clothing. I will discuss three authors whose short stories involve the admiration of material things and wealth and the consequences. Zora Neale Hurston’s “The Gilded

Theodore Dreiser’s “Sister Carrie” is about a young girl who faces reality when moving to Chicago to find a job. She realizes material things are not as easy to obtain. Her new job will not allow her to afford the material things she wants. Edwin Arlington

Robinson’s Richard Cory is about a man who is looked upon as perfect and rich. The people observing him wanted to be him because they thought his life of richness and happiness was the answer to their problems. I will start discussing and examining Zora Neale Hurston’s short story.

The short story called “The Gilded Six-Bits” by Zora Neale Hurston is centered on a young couple’s admiration for money. The couple’s names are Joe and Missie May. When Joe gets home on a Saturday, the first thing he and Missie May does is welcome each other with a play fight as per usual. As they are sitting down to have a meal, Joe mentions a supposedly

“rich” man named Otis D. Slemmons. He says to Missie May that Slemmons “got a five-dollar gold piece for a stick-pin and he got a ten-dollar gold piece on his watch chain and his mouf is jes’ crammed full of gold teethes” (Hurston 946). Soon after this, Joe finds Missie May in

It turns out that “it was no gold piece. It was a gilded half dollar” (Hurston 949). Hurston uses the gilded six-bits as a symbol of deceit. The author also uses allegory to send a message that first impressions may not be what it seems. Joe and Missie May believed that money lead to happiness but that was not the case for them. Missie

May committed an adulterous action against her husband, which turned out to be a horrible mistake to have committed since Slemmons was not what they expected. In fact, money nearly split them up. Material things hardly ever last. The only thing that can be unconditional is love.

Toward the end of the story, what keeps them together is their baby and their love for each other.

The baby symbolizes revival and forgiveness. Adding on, the baby gave the parents a new beginning and encouragement for the future. Joe was able to forgive Missie May and move on.

Both the baby and their love for each other, which are non-material things, led them to happiness. In “Sister Carrie” by Theodore Dreiser, Carrie moves to Chicago with the pursuit of material things. First off, the story is read in third person omniscient. The narrator