Patrick Dewitt The Sisters Brothers Analysis

The fascinating story written by Patrick deWitt called The Sisters Brothers is a western styled novel about two well-known, deadly bounty hunters. This story illustrates the irritation that can be encountered when someone is frustrated by the lack of happiness that is brought upon by money. People are so drawn by money and are fed the idea that successful people are rich and happy, The Sisters Brothers so clever and illustrates the presence of this illusion.

In the very first page of Patrick deWitt’s novel money is already mentioned. “I felt we should have been given money to purchase horses of our own choosing, horses without histories and habits and names they expected to be addressed by” (deWitt 5). As it turns out, the used horse -who expected to be addressed as Tub- became a sort of pet to Elie and when a newer, better horse came along he turned it down and keep an injured Tub around. Therefore, it can be seen in this example that although the horse was not worth much

The man attempts to make a stoic retreat, planning to seek revenge upon an old enemy of his and earn his living that way. After realizing the immense amount of money that he has obtained from this transaction Elie reflects that he was happy but also felt “an emptiness that [he] did not feel more glad” and was concerned that his feeling of joy was false (deWitt 162). He spends a ludicrous amount of money on a meal he bitterly deems below average.

Journalist Jennifer Horton would validate this anticlimactically feeling that Elie experiences. In her article Can Money Buy Happiness she states that achievement in a person’s workplace such as a raise or the completion of a piece of work is the culprit behind happiness, not the extra money it drags in. Horton would explain that Elie did not feel as though he had earned the money and therefore did not feel accomplished or proud for obtaining it