Larry Kramer and Sherman McCoy mirror each other in money, relationships, power changes. Larry Kramer and Sherman McCoy represent two opposite ends of a spectrum when it comes to economic circumstances. They lead very different lives in the jungle that is New York. Larry Kramer is a simple Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx. He struggles to make enough for his family to live in a small, dingy apartment. It is 3½ room apartment made out of a bedroom of an old townhouse. After Kramer and his wife have a baby, it becomes much more apparent to Kramer at how inferior he feels to other people because of his economic problems. He even feel inferior to the baby nurse, Glenda. Kramer believes, "Everything is upside down. Glenda was the very …show more content…
He is embarrassed, as he thinks the baby nurse, who Rhoda's mother pays for, is judging him. In Sherman's mind, she is the superior one in the household, as she has worked on Park Avenue, Fifth Avenue, and Sutton Place, while Kramer is in a dead end job in the Bronx. He believes everything is backwards. Not only is he not in a good position currently, but he has no where to go up. He realizes that even if he becomes 'successful,' he won't get far. In his career path, even the top positions encounter difficulties in earning money. On the other end of the spectrum, Sherman McCoy can make $50,000 in one day; something Kramer can't do in one year. Sherman is bond dealer at Pierce & Pierce or a 'master of the universe' as he calls himself. Sherman is everything Kramer wants to be. Sherman lives in a lavish $8 million Park Avenue apartment, has a house in the country, and drives a Mercedes Benz. Sherman's apartment is the opposite of Kramer's. Sherman describes, "He was taking in the entry gallery, like a tourist...the marble, the yew-wood glove chest, the apricot-silk on the walls, the Thomas Hope chairs, …show more content…
They live in New York with a wife and one child. They are both considerably dissatisfied with their lives and marriages. Both are vain and obsessed with appearances. Sherman deals with his displeasure of an 'aging' wife by having an affair with the young, beautiful Maria Ruskin. Sherman describes Judy as, "Today good looking...Tomorrow they'll be talking about what a handsome woman she is...Not her fault....But not mine either" (Wolfe 11). Sherman is so concerned about keeping up his image that although his wife is beautiful now, he must be prepared for when she is no longer young. His vanities lead him make selfish and childish decisions. While Sherman is actually having an affair, in the beginning Kramer only dreams of it. Kramer dreams of what his life could be, he envisions a beautiful woman with brown lipstick. He dreams of being with this mystery woman, "He wants to! He wants nothing more in this world! Then why doesn't he? What holds him back from pressing his lips upon those lips with brown lipstick? His wife, that's what" (Wolfe 28). Kramer hesitates in his affair, something Sherman does not do. Both envision of this exciting hidden relationship with women younger, and more beautiful than their wives. While Kramer dreams of this appealing option, Sherman is off living it. Maria even has a second, secret apartment where she and Sherman can meet.