ipl-logo

Comparing Pete And The Rich In The Rich Brother By Tobias Wolff

699 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The rich brother by tobias wolff essays

The word “rich” can take on quite a few different meanings, depending both on one's interpretation of the word and the context in which it is used. Most people instinctively assume that its definition focuses solely on the possession of a great source of monetary wealth; however, the word can also represent an abundance, and, in having that abundance, obtaining a sense of fulfillment or wholeness with it. In “The Rich Brother,” a short story written by Tobias Wolff, two brothers named Pete and Donald are both portrayed as rich, but in completely different ways. Pete possesses a vast amount of money while Donald finds his richness through being kind, generous, and religious. In reading "The Rich Brother," a superficial reader might assume that …show more content…

As stated in “The Rich Brother,” Donald is always in pursuit of a religion: he is “obsessed with the fate of his soul" (324). In being persistent about religion, Donald finds a sense of completeness in his life from being “in the Lord” (325). Oppositely, Pete is not religious at all, and obtains no sense of wholeness. This is exemplified through Pete’s urgency to try new and exhilarating activities, such as skydiving (324). He also has an impulse to buy expensive items, including a brand new car, that aren’t a necessity to him (326-327). Donald, through his religious and generous nature, obtains a sense of fulfillment. As it is clearly stated in “The Rich Brother,” Donald believes that he has a “purpose in life” while Pete is not aware of his (328). Both Donald and Pete are considered “rich,” but the two brothers hold different definitions of the word. Pete is regarded as “rich” because he has great deal of money, and Donald is considered to be rich because of his kind, generous, and religious nature. As one can conclude from Donald and Pete’s contrasting personalities, Donald finds a sense of purpose, fulfillment, and wholeness, while Pete cannot. Although both of the brothers are deemed “rich,” the more significant definition of “rich” is found in Donald due to his sense of fulfillment and contentment of his

Show More
Related

Summary Of The Rich Brother By Tobias Wolf

1119 Words | 5 Pages

The way the author paints the image that Donald just let the soda sit there, running down his hands, until Pete yelled at him to wipe it up with his shirt, made it clear to the reader that, at times, Donald seems thoughtless. As if he was waiting for the soda to clean itself. To continue, whilst heading home, the brothers seem to get into multiple disputes about their childhood and the things that resided between them when they were younger. It would appear that Donald has many grudges against Pete, while Pete finds Donald immature and irresponsible. A statement that stuck out in paragraph five is, “Pete prospered and Donald did not prosper.”

Read More

Comparing The Market Revolution And The Second Great Awakening

571 Words | 3 Pages

He “struggled to stake out the social and emotional ground between the thoughtless rich and the vicious poor” (19).

Read More

Summary Of Rachel Sherman's A Very Expensive Ordinary Life: Conflicted Consumption

776 Words | 4 Pages

In Rachel Sherman’s “A Very Expensive Ordinary Life: Conflicted Consumption,” the argument centres around the “legitimization” of wealth by the New York’s upper class in order to be seen as not only rich, but morally worthy. The possession of great wealth alongside their less fortunate peers could be uncomfortable also for those that hold the city’s riches. Hence, New York’s affluent has “legitimized” their wealth and consumption, or on a more macro level, the inequality between the social classes in the city in order to feel more comfortable in their spending, and to manage the impression of the wealthy in the eyes of the greater public in the much morally contested behaviour of lavish spending in an unequal society. This is supported throughout the reading by the justification of excessive spending and consumption by the claim that the rich live an “ordinary” life. The need that they feel towards justifying their spending comes to show that their amount of spending is excessive in the eyes of the ordinary person, in which they also acknowledge themselves as well.

Read More

Examples Of Tom's Wealth In The Great Gatsby

510 Words | 3 Pages

What is a man without his wealth? Some will say nothing, others will say something. Some argue that people who inherit their money would be nothing. An example of this is the Kardashians or Tom Buchanan. Tom inherited all his money from his family and hasn't made a dime of it.

Read More

Comparing The Rich Brother And Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

564 Words | 3 Pages

The short story, “The Rich Brother” accounts the journey of two brothers with great different personalities. After Donald, the younger naive religious brother, is kicked out of a communal farm, Pete, the older wealthier brother, goes to pick him up. Pete feels that Donald is too carefree, and that he always has to help him out of his mistakes. The tensions between these siblings are evident--they both feel that they need to prove themselves to each other; they need to provide evidence of their “prosperity” (Wolff 324). Pete more than Donald tends to always try to impress others, such as buying expressive items.

Read More

Negative Effects Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby

854 Words | 4 Pages

The Negative Influence of Wealth Wealth and prosperity are the core of living a lavish lifestyle and having a successful life. However, money can influence people into debauchery. In the book, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces to us to some of the dangers of being rich. Most people in the Great Gatsby were very privileged, and they lived a lavish lifestyle.

Read More

Carnegie Conwell And Alger Advocates Of Wealth For All

1696 Words | 7 Pages

Carnegie, Conwell, and Alger Advocates of Wealth for All During the late nineteenth century, a form of Social Darwinism emerged called the Gospel of Wealth also known as the Success Gospel. Social Darwinism is “Herbert Spencer’s adaptation of Charles Darwin’s concepts of natural selection and “survival of the fittest” as it applies to human society” (Nash p. 417). Social Darwinists believed that the social order was the product of the natural selection of the individuals that were best suited for the existing living conditions. These individuals were white, Anglo-Saxon, wealthy men.

Read More

Theme Of Material Possessions In The Great Gatsby

133 Words | 1 Pages

How does having money lead to material gain? In the Roaring Twenties, people from all social classes suddenly became aware of the class differences. This awareness is a result of the jump on the Stock Market and the World War1. There were clear distinctions among social classes according to location, amount of material possessions and the way one acted. Fitzgerald explains these differences by giving the characters in his novel the Great Gatsby different social classes and he also shows these social divisions in the way the characters behave.

Read More

Analysis Of Andy Mulligan's Trash

780 Words | 4 Pages

Andy Mulligan has made a very clear and bold statement about the inequalities and injustices that exist in our world today through his novel Trash. He uses his novel to explore these issues by focusing on key themes such as Poverty/Wealth and Justice/Injustice. The theme Poverty/Wealth conveys Mulligan’s statement about the inequalities of our world by using real-world examples of poverty and prosperity situations in his novel. Additionally, by exploring justice/injustice we see that Mulligan elaborates on a distinct and definite line between fair and unfair actions and their outcomes throughout his novel Trash. Therefore, the injustices and inequalities of our world today are clearly communicated and observed through Andy Mulligan’s novel.

Read More

The Role Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby

747 Words | 3 Pages

Not only does the amount of wealth affect social class, but the type of wealth also affects it. It even affects where people live and who people marry as seen with Gatsby and Daisy. The characters social standing affect who they interact and how they are perceived by others. Fitzgerald highlights the different class structures like “New rich” and “Old rich” and the impact of wealth on the people’s lives in those classes. He also shows the superficial nature of the characters and highlights the value placed on wealth.

Read More

Wealth In The Great Gatsby

2065 Words | 9 Pages

In the story, the narrator describes the rich as “different from you and me. [The rich] possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand” (Fitzgerald, “The Rich Boy” 3). The narrator 's description is very accurate, which is shown especially in the main character, Anson, who was born into a wealthy family and exhibits many of these characteristics. Tate, a critical writer explains that “‘The Rich Boy’ is not so much about wealth itself as about the effect of wealth on character, and the primary effect on Anson is an over power sense of superiority” (1). This superiority that Anson feels directly correlates with his upbringing because he has more money than most people.

Read More

What Is The Pursuit Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby

1439 Words | 6 Pages

His story warns that the pursuit of wealth—even as a means to an end—causes loss, despite the seeming gain. In order to achieve fulfillment, we must abandon that pursuit in favour of the direct pursuit of the things that would do

Read More

The Great Gatsby Moral Corruption Analysis

1909 Words | 8 Pages

The wealthier one gets, it seems, the more one rationalizes their decisions and actions. The more one stains their morality little by little until they no longer need to choose what’s right and wrong but what benefits them. Whether it’s right or wrong is then irrelevant. From people to companies, wealth is the source of

Read More

How To Write An Analytical Essay On The Rocking Horse Winner

965 Words | 4 Pages

People can be rich only if they are lucky, Hester often said Paul. Her attitude became a reason the boy looked at horseracing and used his “blessing” so hard to predict winners. Capitalism, that forces majority of the population “to sell portions of their lives as labor-power in order to gain access to the means of life that have themselves been commodified” (Isaac at al. 9), and class structure focused on material signs of status affected Hester’s behavior and led to tragic events in Lawrence’s short

Read More

Yellow Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

507 Words | 3 Pages

Wealth, no matter how important an appearance it has, cannot fulfill a life and make a demeaning impact on lives until their

Read More

More about Comparing Pete And The Rich In The Rich Brother By Tobias Wolff

Related Topics

Open Document