Goodbye to Berlin
Money In Berlin
Money plays an interesting role in the novel, Goodbye to Berlin. The 1930’s Berlin society places a large emphasis on social standing based on money, though, ironically, the people who have it don’t deserve it and the pursuit of money tears people apart. Isherwood gives us a closer look on just how significant money is by peering into the lives of several different people, all of different social situations and showing how each of them is affected by the pursuit of it. The large emphasis on money in the novel is prominently brought up due to the copious amount of debt Germany was in post-WWI. The German economy was slow and the thirst for money was great. Lots of people were shamelessly willing to do anything to acquire money, and the only shame in the society came from being poor. In the novel, when Christopher’s financial situation becomes tight, he moves in with the Nowaks and is embarrassed of his financial situation. He says, “I was careful, however, not to say that I lived there: it would have been bad for my business to admit that I was really poor” (112). Another instance of how people, Sally Bowles in particular are ashamed from nothing else except being poor. She gloats, “That’s the man I slept with last night. He makes love marvelously and he’s an absolute genius and he’s terribly rich” (25). This shows that in Berlin at the time, and especially to Sally, the only thing to be ashamed of was being poor. In the novel, the notable characters who have money are, Sally Bowles, Bernard and Natalia Landauer and Fraulein Schroeder. From how Isherwood describes these people and their lifestyles, none of them make an honest living. Sally Bowles’ revenue comes in part from her parents, and partially from the men she sleeps with. Sally is a gold-digging actress who is financially supported from her parents. Bernard and Natalia Landauer are the children of a wealthy Jewish business owner. Unlike Sally, the Laudauer children are
Money plays an interesting role in the novel, Goodbye to Berlin. The 1930’s Berlin society places a large emphasis on social standing based on money, though, ironically, the people who have it don’t deserve it and the pursuit of money tears people apart. Isherwood gives us a closer look on just how significant money is by peering into the lives of several different people, all of different social situations and showing how each of them is affected by the pursuit of it. The large emphasis on money in the novel is prominently brought up due to the copious amount of debt Germany was in post-WWI. The German economy was slow and the thirst for money was great. Lots of people were shamelessly willing to do anything to acquire money, and the only shame in the society came from being poor. In the novel, when Christopher’s financial situation becomes tight, he moves in with the Nowaks and is embarrassed of his financial situation. He says, “I was careful, however, not to say that I lived there: it would have been bad for my business to admit that I was really poor” (112). Another instance of how people, Sally Bowles in particular are ashamed from nothing else except being poor. She gloats, “That’s the man I slept with last night. He makes love marvelously and he’s an absolute genius and he’s terribly rich” (25). This shows that in Berlin at the time, and especially to Sally, the only thing to be ashamed of was being poor. In the novel, the notable characters who have money are, Sally Bowles, Bernard and Natalia Landauer and Fraulein Schroeder. From how Isherwood describes these people and their lifestyles, none of them make an honest living. Sally Bowles’ revenue comes in part from her parents, and partially from the men she sleeps with. Sally is a gold-digging actress who is financially supported from her parents. Bernard and Natalia Landauer are the children of a wealthy Jewish business owner. Unlike Sally, the Laudauer children are