A Comparison Of Stone Mattress And A Mistake

Consumed By The Power Of Money

Money is only thin, green pieces of paper yet it has such a chokehold on our contemporary society. It dictates what people do, where they go, whom they associate with, and in some cases how much they value their life. Margaret Atwood and Akhil Sharma comment on this idea through the characters in their short stories “Stone Mattress” and “A Mistake”. In “Stone Mattress”, Verna uses money as a blanket to try and prevent the feeling of vulnerability. Similarly, in “a Mistake” The narrator's parents show the connection they have between money and their identity. Although money can be a solution to problems these stories show a different perspective. As the story progresses, the characters seem to get dictated by the

In “Stone Mattress”, Atwood displays this through the protagonist, Verna, a widowed divorcee whose main aspiration is “to be protected by layer upon layer of kind, soft, insulating money, so that nobody and nothing could get close enough to harm her” (Atwood 2). The diction of “nobody” in this quote is suggesting that money can not just give financial security but can also, in some cases, protect someone physically. Atwood is suggesting that the additional security that money gives is the cause for it being so sought after and praised in our society. Sharma emphasizes this further, in “a Mistake”, through the narrator's dad who feels that if he were “somewhere where he was paid in dollars and thus was rich, he would be a different person and one whose life had meaning” (Sharma 2). The fact that he believes that material wealth dictates the value of life, reveals that money has a deeper power than what might be alluded to, showing how he equates a lack of money with a lack of identity. For this reason, he strives for money because he does not want his life to be purposeless. This reveals that people not only use money as a protection physically but take that protection as a control of their lives. When one does not have money they do not have protection, therefore their identity isn't

Verna's way to wealth is by marrying and killing older men in order to get a share of their will, in which “She has no regrets. She did those men a favor.” (Atwood 6) The idea that she has no regrets for what she does reveals how she feels no sympathy for committing murder. She is so consumed by the idea of wealth and money that she is blindsided by the gruesome acts that get her there. The idea that she did these “men a favor” further adds to the fact that she does not feel sympathy, but she almost feels she is being helpful to these men. This is also shown in “a Mistake” where the parents make the son, Birju, take a practice exam in which he is so overwhelmed that he says “Kill me. Go ahead, kill me. I know that’s what you want. “Do some work instead of showing drama,” my mother said contemptuously” (Sharma 9). The mom's first comment being that he should do some work shows the priority success and hard work have in their life. She prioritizes the privileges that come with hard work over her son's feelings since she believes it will give their life purpose and the ultimate glory of money and wealth. The diction usage of “contemptuously” shows that the mom did not feel any remorse for what the son was going through. She is so blindsided by achieving wealth and success that she feels it serves more weight than her son's