“The Lost Beautifulness” & “Soap and Water” shows us that greed will get you no where. You see this mainly in the actions of Hannah Hayyeh. Hannah was a middle-lower class household mother who wanted to do something nice for her son who was returning from doing service in the United States Army. Hannah decided to paint her kitchen entirely white. During this time period, having a kitchen painted completely white meant that you were well off financially. This is where greed came into play. Rather than just doing something nice for her son, she decided to show off her newly painted kitchen to the neighbors and the landlord. Hannah’s landlord saw the newly painted kitchen as an opportunity to raise the rent of Hannah’s apartment.
This story is definitely applicable in modern day society. You have people who line up around the corner in the cold just to buy the latest pair of Jordans that come out. I bet if you were to take a survey, most of the people who are in line probably come from a middle to lower income household and already own more than 10 pairs of sneakers. They don’t really need to be standing in line for those sneakers, but they choose to because they don’t want to be the only ones in the neighborhood or class without them. Society has become obsessed with the way we appear to others. I’ve met a few people in my life who were covered from head to toe in designer brand clothes and not a dollar in their pocket.
I’m not perfect either. I have gone through that stage in my life as well where I wanted designer everything. I have also learned the value of a dollar and come to a realization that the newest pair of Jordans are not worth as much as paying my bills and having money in my pocket for the week. Greed used to get the best of me, now it just gets the best of the people who surround me.
