Tay Soon's Greed In Paper By Catherine Lim

731 Words3 Pages
In the short story “Paper” by Catherine Lim, Tay Soon’s greed is a major component in his fall from euphoria to his inescapable termination. Tay Soon and his wife, Yee Lain, developed an obsession to obtain a “big beautiful house” (Lim 1) to replace the terrace house that they shared with Tay Soon’s mother. Tay soon let the notion of this dream home become “the consuming passion of his life” (Lim 1), and devoted all of his savings to financing it. After realizing the potential capital gain Tay Soon could acquire from investing in the stock market, he devotes his entire sum of saved money into stocks, with tremendous initial prosperity. Tay Soon soon becomes transfixed on his growing fortune and is unable to comprehend the risks involved…show more content…
His overwhelming desire to obtain more money nearly entirely disengages him from his dream of possessing an extravagant house. Ergo, his investments evolve from a mode to fund his dream, to a method to fulfill his overpowering greed for affluence. When Tay Soon’s stocks reach their culmination and begin to decline, Tay Soon refuses to sell and claim his profit. Instead, he decides to have his stocks remain where they are, thus marking the beginning of his downfall. This decision stems from his reluctance to accept the cessation of his sudden prosperities and his excessively avaricious nature. As the value of his stocks continue to decline—so much so that they value lower than the procuration price—Tay Soon still refuses to sell, arguing that selling stocks at a fraction at which he bought them can not be tolerated. Tay Soon quickly falls into a deep depression, sucumbing to the overwhelming anxiety that he is experiencing as a result of his rapid loss of fortune. Eventually, Tay Soon reaches his tragic demise after being hospitalized by his wife. Ultimately, Tay Soon’s death came as a result of his covetous nature and his failure to realize the possibly disastrous effects of buying into the unpredictable…show more content…
Victor, being well-educated and eager to apply his plethora of knowledge, set out to begin his creation. Despite Professor Waldman’s indisputable discouragement and opposition to Victor’s ideas, Victor continues to plan his creation out of arrogance and a desire for power. Throughout the movie, it is evident that Victor is concerned with the legacy that he will leave for future generations after his death. Consequently, his creation is a result of his yearning for power and eagerness to be idolized in society. Upon completion of his masterpiece, Victor believes that he will be seen as a god-like figure by his creation and it will look to him for guidance and direction. He assumes that society and the scientific community will venerate him and admire him for his intelligence and intellectual aspiration. After acquiring Professor Waldman’s research notes, Victor secludes himself from the rest of humanity to dedicate the entirety of his days to his creation. This demonstrates how Victor’s tragic flaws of overambition, greed for power, and excessive curiosity to explore the limitations of science drove him toward his ultimate goal, and eventually led to his tragic downfall. Victor consumed his mind on obtaining his dream, and was unable to realize the disastrous consequences that the burden

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