Mr Venable Character Analysis

Monetary wealth can have a positive as well as negative effects on a family. In Suddenly Last Summer, wealth is used as means to control people and achieve power. Mrs. Venable tries to force Mrs. Holly and George to let her lobotomize Catherine by preventing them from receiving the inheritance from Sebastian’s will. Furthermore, the wealth that Mrs. Venable possessed was not earned but inherited. There is a remarkable difference between the two. The wealth that is earned is spent more wisely. The wealth that is inherited often leads to frictions among family members as to how to split the pie. Stories of super wealthy are littered by lawsuits about wills and inheritance sharing. Furthermore, many times inherited wealth leads to leisure and
Large inheritance is sort of like food stamps for life, but expensive food stamps. The wealth of Mrs. Venable and Sebastian would not have had a negative impact on them and people around them if they had a positive and healthy attitude regarding it. According to Oxford Dictionaries, attitude is a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person’s behavior. If Mrs. Venable viewed wealth not as a tool to control and coerce people and as a privilege and blessing that she could help others out, her wealth would have a favorable impact on her family and on her in-laws. If Sebastian was not financed by his family, he might have worked and appreciated value of hard work and hardships. This would have changed his outlook on homeless kids that he abused: “Don’t look at those little monsters. Beggars are a social disease in this country” (Williams 40). Moreover, Sebastian acted childish as Catharine describes his behavior: “...you know Sebastian, he always preferred to do what no one else wanted to do, and I always tried to give the impression that I was agreeing reluctantly to his wishes … it was a game…” (Williams