“Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works and greed will save the USA.” (Wall Street) “Cause we are living in a material world and I am a material girl” a theme in one of Madonna’s most famous songs.

Greed and materialism stand in apposition to any manifestation of true happiness. People are under a false perception that money will solve all of their problems and as a result bring them their utmost joy and happiness. Many psychologists, philosophers, and religious figures throughout the ages have refuted this assertion.

Materialism is such a worldwide problem today that many authors use this as a theme and a character trait in their literary work. Guy de Maupassant represents in “The Necklace”, his central character Madame Moisel as a poor, greedy, envious woman, who wants nothing more in life than material wealth. In “If You Touched my Heart” by Isabelle Allende, you see Amadeo, the protagonist who has all the money that he needs and still he chooses to corrupt a young woman’s life for his own sick desires. Like wise, Gustave Flaubert gives Emma an essence of helpless romanticism. It is as if her initial choice into marrying a good rich man wasn�

His data showed that people are no longer happy when they acquire great wealth. Rather happiness typically comes from spending quality time with loved ones and from good health.

Madame Bovary tries to escape the dullness of her life through an affair with young Leon. When Emma first meets Leon she becomes fascinated with Leon's mind. They share the same romanticized views and read the same sentimental novels. However, Leon deserts Emma to attend law school. She later, after having an affair with Rodolphe, encounters Leon in Rouen and has an adulterous affair with him. Emma uses Leon to in place of Rodolphe. Emma's affair with Leon does not last because she poisons herself. Her imagination and dreams is what leads her to a path of infidelity. Though she aspires to a life of romance, she is rooted in middle-class materialism and surrounds herself with "objects." I think that the struggle between the two is what finally kills Emma Bovary.

�t enough, she still dreamed of others.

She began to work as stripper/dancer in Houston’s topless bars. Even though she was discovered by a photographer, she still wasn’t good looking enough to become a well known person. Therefore Anna decided to get breast implants and several face operations. This would only begin her stardom. She launched a career in Playboy and starred in Naked Gun in 1993. Anna was fortunate enough to meet J. Howard Marshall, an “89-year-old wheel chair bound billionaire.” (CelebrityCD.com) Anna was the talk of the town. She became this degrading woman who only sought after prominence and wealth. She obviously didn’t care that her child would grow up knowing that his mother took off her tops in strip bars or posed for playboy and marrying a man four times her age just to inherit his fortune and name.

Therefore when he didn’t long for her, he locked her up to be alone and she could not be with anyone else but with him. Amadeo is a sadist. He took away a young girls innocence, locked her up, and failed to take care of her. Later when hortensia is saved, Amadeo’s enemies gathered to finally attack against him. He was discarded by his family and friends. Just like he left Hortensia alone so to was he punished by spending the rest of his life in prison alone, not being able to talk to any of the other inmates. Although he had so much fortune and success he was caught in his lies. He was no longer on top; rather “he forgot the whole world of light and lost himself in his own misfortune.” (Barnet 256)

“All the while, Amadeo Peralta, rich and feared, cast the net of his power across the region. Every Sunday he sat at the head of a long table occupied by his sons and nephews, cronies, and accomplices, and special guests such as politicians and generals whom he treated with sufficient arrogance to remind everyone who was master here.” (Barnet 254)

We can also relate to the concept of greed and personal dissatisfaction despite the financial security in our media. Anna Nicole Smith is a familiar face to the Americans. Anna Nicole Smith was raised in a small place in Texas. Her real name was Vickie Lynn Hogan. At seventeen Smith had married and got pregnant with her boy, Daniel. As a high school drop out, she worked at a local fried chicken restaurant where she barely made money. She soon realized that she can do bigger and better things therefore she abandoned her newly wed husband and went on to Houston in search for a new life. As a young child she sang to tunes to Marilyn Monroe and was imitating her. Both Marilyn and Anna grew up with out a father thus “Anna Nicole Smith was obsessed with the idea that it was her destiny to be like Marilyn.” (CelebrityCD.com)

Some topics in this essay:
Mme Loisel, Easterlin USC, Street Amadeo, Amadeo Peralta, CelebrityCDcom Anna, Wall Street, Hollywoodcom Anna, Madame Bovary's, Star Airlines, Flaubert Emma, nicole smith, true happiness, affair rodolphe, wall street, anna nicole smith, petite bourgeois, “if touched, bourgeois society, dullness life, adulterous affair emma, “the necklace”, petite bourgeois society, dr bovary, money can’t buy, can’t buy happiness,