When I was younger, I started playing an online game called Runescape in my spare time. It was quite addictive, and soon began to take up more and more time in my life. I stopped going outside and doing physical activities, until my parents had to step in. They helped me realize the absurd amount of time the game was taking up, and brought me down to a rational amount of gameplay. If I hadn't had anyone to help me overcome my obsession, it could have become a big problem and had a much more negative effect on my life. Oftentimes, individuals with obsessions become oblivious to the adverse effect it can have on his or her personal life. .
Obsessions are not only harmful to oneself, but they can also affect the relationships an individual has with other people. In the story, "Gooseberries," Nicholai marries, "an elderly, ugly widow, not out of any feeling for her, but because she has money" (4). This shows how his obsession has become so powerful that he is willing to deceive people and use them for his gains. Not only is Nicholai taking advantage of someone, but that someone is a weak old woman, which further shows how fixated on his dreams he has become. It is later revealed that, despite the money that he has gained through his wife, Nicholai still "lived stingily, kept his wife half-starved, and put her money into the bank in his own name" (4). Nicholai's wife, who had lived a comfortable lifestyle with her previous husband, was unaccustomed to what she had to deal with due to her new husband. Over three years she grew frailer until she died. So, not only did he take advantage of a weak old woman, but in a way he, and his obsession, caused her death. Furthermore, he does not demonstrate any signs of grief, suggesting that his greed has caused him to be desensitized to the suffering of others. When I was obsessed with Runescape, I was unknowingly causing harm to the people I cared about.
