Button, By Richard Matheson

The short story, “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson proposes the theme of always doing what is right because actions have consequences. The story starts when Mr Steward shows up at Arthur and Norma’s door with a button unit. If they press the button, they will receive $50,000, but someone will die that they do not know. ‘“Doesn’t [the button] intrigue you?’ ‘It offends me,’ Arthur said. ‘I know, but’ —Norma rolled another curler in her hair— ‘doesn’t it intrigue you, too?’” (Matheson 106). This shows that Arthur thinks it is wrong to press the button while Norma might be considering it. Furthermore, the next day she tries to show him how it is a good idea to press the button. “‘If [the person that dies is] some old Chinese peasant ten thousand