The Miser and his Diamond as Big as The Ritz
I wanted to talk about Aesop's fable "The Miser and His Gold" and the similarities with it and Fitzgerald's short story "The Diamond As Big As The Ritz". "The Miser and His Gold" is about this Miser who had a bunch of gold. He would put his gold under a tree in his garden. The Miser would never actually use the gold as currency or anything, he would simply just go to the hole and admire his wealth. Soon after, a robber would notice the Misers hole and its contents. So this robber went to the Misers house, dug up the gold, and stole it. The next day, the Miser goes to his hole in order to admire his wealth once again but finds nothing in the hole. Outraged, the Miser outcries and rips his hair out, attracting the attention of his neighbors. His neighbors go to his house, and he explained how he would go to his hole and admire his gold. One of the neighbors asked "Did you ever take any of it out" and the Miser would reply with "Nay, I only came to look at it." The neighbor then replies with "Then come again and look at the hole, it will do you just as much good." This final quote by the neighbor leads into the moral of the fable of "Wealth unused might as well not exist". I wanted to connect this to Braddock Washington and his giant diamond. This diamond is as large as a mountain as its "one cubic mile without a flaw". This would make Braddock Washington the richest man in the world, but he's never actually able to do anything with this diamond as it is so expensive, as it would flood the market. This renders the diamond basically useless and is nothing but for show, technically meaning Braddock isn't the richest man in the world. The moral of "The Miser and His Gold" of "Wealth unused might as well not exist" could also be used for Braddock as the diamond is being unused, so what would be the point of him owning it?
Ooh, interesting connection between two completely different stories! Now that I think about it, the two stories have very similar morals about the pointlessness of hoarding wealth without using it. Great job, Arush!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really cool that you were able to connect something as ancient as Aesop’s Fable to a work by Fitzgerald, and I think the way you connected the central themes of both were really cool!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting and well written piece Arush! I like how you've ended with a thought provoking question about unused wealth. It reminds me of brands and people's desire to acquire material goods like jewelry or expensive clothes that have little utility and are only used upon occasion. Logically, as you pointed out, it is pointless for us to keep possession of these items if they are of no utility but we do, because holding on to these valuable items just like the man who held on to his gold in the hole makes us feel content, even if we are not using them.
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