Jealousy In John Steinbeck's The New You

Everyone has felt jealousy at one point in their lives, but the real concern is if you’re going to let that feeling take over you. I “The New You”, Martha lets jealousy take over her, which lets her achieve what she wants, but at the same time, she loses something very important from her life. The author of “The New You” uses revealing actions to show that Martha/Marnie will always lack something, and that she will never be satisfied because she always wants to be perfect. In the beginning of the story, Martha wants to have beauty like Marnie (her ideal self), without realizing that she already has a husband who loves her for who she is. When Martha first sees the advertisement that shows a list of promises that “The New You” could bring
While Marnie spends more time as her gorgeous, beloved self, she discovers that Howard is avoiding her, For example at one part, Marnie finds Howard waving to a dark figure, which she soon finds out, is Martha. When Marnie asks Howard what he was doing, he only answers as “’Mmmmmmm?’” This can reveal that Howard doesn’t want to admit to Marnie that he’s cheating on her, but at the same time, reveals that he is cheating on Marnie. And soon, Howard tells Marnie his feeling, and tells her that he’s in love with the girl he married. At the same time, he tells Marnie that she deserves someone better looking; which gives Marnie the idea to create her ideal version of Howard. However, after she creates the new Howard, he goes to Martha, not Marnie. “Marnie watched, openmouthed.” This expression is often used to show that a person is surprised and in Marnie’s case, it clearly shows her state of shock. Afterwards, Marnie says “’Get up – darling,’ she spat.” Although she is spitting the words out, Marnie says darling. This shows that Marnie has realized that no one is perfect, and so she will start appreciating what she already