Examples Of Greed In The Hound Of The Baskervilles

Greed is an “Intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food” (Oxford Dictionary). In The Maltese Falcon, everyone has the aspirations of finding the falcon for themselves. This is the driving force behind the murders, and betrayals many of the characters commit. Brigid, Cairo, Wilmer, and Gutman all seek the falcon for the same reason, the unimaginable wealth it will bring them. Possessing this rare object seems to consume them and they will do anything to get their hands on it.

“Radix malorum est cupiditas” translated from Latin into “Greed is the root of all evil.” (Chaucer 125) Throughout the Pardoner’s Tale, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, this is the story of three men that treat people lower than them and they end up finding a whole pile of gold, but they end up killing each other to get the gold to themselves. The entirety of the three men end up dead and not even one gets the gold. There are many topics involving greed, this essay will involve what it is about, the dangers, and the benefits of controlling the desire to gain.

Lastly, in Beowulf, he showed greed when he went into the cave to defeat Grendel’s mothers by stealing from her cave. Beowulf shows signs of an epic hero but he let greed get the best of him. He had his mind set on just killing Grendel and being done with his work. But once he killed Grendel, he had to defeat Grendel’s mother. When he went into the cave to defeat Grendel’s mother, he saw treasures everywhere.

Greed is an excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions (dictionary.com). The word “greedy” perfectly describes Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge in the movie and play of A Christmas Carol, written by Charles Dickens. Greed can be caused by a countless amount of things. It can be called almost a disease. It is terrible thing that can corrupt even the best of people.

Greed is one of the most destructive forces known to mankind and it can ruin our lives. We can all learn from stories when people were greedy and had to deal with the potentially deadly consequences. This theory is displayed in the short story “The Pardoner’s” Tale written by Geoffrey Chaucer when greed literally caused the main characters to die. The Pardoner’s Tale was the better story in my opinion because the story’s plot had a nice flow to it and kept the story moving, the theme hit me harder because that’s what the focus of the story was, and the author gave some interesting ways of making inanimate objects come to life and have an effect on the plot.

For instance, The Huntsman made a deal with the Evil Queen that she'll bring back his dead wife back if he brings back the prisoner that escaped into the dark forest back to her. This shows greed because he just wants his wife's live with him because to him it doesn't matter who he has to kill or capture to get his wife back. Secondly, In Washington Irving's “ The Devil and Tom Walker” Tom Walker's wife displays her greed by hiding useless things that are mostly used by the husband and the wife lie eggs but she hides it. For instance, “At length she determined to drive the bargain on her own account… to keep all the gain to herself .”

Humans do not share the traits of empathy or hostility, but the trait of greed instead. Greed is at the core of all humans on earth. Greed is the reason behind the acts of evil that are shown in the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Before launching the boulder at piggy, Golding describes him as, Roger with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever” (Golding 181). Roger isn’t evil to please others or to follow orders.

Greed for power has always been evil and even made a saint turn into a demon. As the quote goes “All power tends to corrupt and an absolute power corrupts absolutely” (unquote), which is true not only in the fictitious stories but also in real life and Shakespeare, th9e greatest writer ever known, has always been in habit of making fictitious character come alive and Macbeth is no exception to the rule. The character of Macbeth has two sides, one which is wholesome while other been dubious. He symbolized great ambition but went overboard and in the process not only became corrupt but also became a killer. Macbeth reflects great strength but within he has his own weakness and thus good over took evil resulting in its downfall and finally his own death.

Greed Expressed in the Maltese Falcon Crime. Secrets. These words are often associated with the mystery genre. What often comes to mind is the common detective story, where a crime and a detective are introduced. Then, the heroic detective apprehends the culprit by deduction from clues.

The Crucible by Author Miller is a historical fiction based of of the Salem witch trails. During this period people where filled with greed, pride and authority. With the time being so tense made people greed and thirst for power a dangerous thing. The first ways greed was shown was through Abigail. Abigail’s greed came from the love for John Procter.

Mason Cooley once said, “Lust and greed are more gullible than innocence”. By this he meant that people are willing to believe the most ludicrous utterances if it means they can benefit from it. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates the power of one motivated by lust and greed. Abigail Williams is the antagonist who becomes driven by her libido for the protagonist, John Proctor, and results to drastic measures, with severe consequences regarding the lives of innocent people, in order to win him over. As the side chick, she feels compelled to compete with John’s wife, Elizabeth, and do whatever it takes to rid of her.

In great literature there are often characters who are deceitful to others to carry out a greater purpose. By doing so the character often compromises relationships with friends and family but it can also compromise the safety of the character and others around them. In the play Hamlet Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s character to elaborate on this situation, Claudius is deceiving his family and friends for a greater purpose which at times seems to do more bad than good. Claudius deceives many people in the tragedy Hamlet.

Killing someone for the throne? Is this Envy? Pride? Greed? Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain.

Suspicion can be fascinating but haunting. Since Victorian times, the suspicious death case of Sir Charles Baskerville in The Hound of the Baskerville has intrigued/compelled vast amounts of readers. However, recent audiences are more compelled to stories with a modern twist of horror and gruesomeness. Because of less main characters, a fast-paced plot, and the differing point of view of Atwood’s The Hound of the Baskervilles film adaptation, the film has a frightening, intriguing mood with a new perspective compared to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original novel.

Would you dare to walk with the beast on the dark side of the moon "(Demetri Daskova). this is a quote by Demetri daskova from the novel Blood of the Beast. The quote arises questions for the such as what he means by the "dark side of the moon", and it creates suspense because the readers want to know what the "beast" he is talking about is. Narration from people in the novels creates suspense for the readers while giving them questions to wonder about. Watson's first person narration of the novel hound of the baskerville does not just create suspense in the novel but also raises questions for the readers to consider.