Theme

[Michael]

What is the theme of this book?

[Josh]

I'm not sure if this is the main theme of the book, but at the end it would seem that the man who seemed to have everything actually had nothing/very little.

Side note: Did Wilson commit suicide? I thought it was a bit unclear.

[Josh]

It reminds me of this:

WHENEVER Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed, 5
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace: 10
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, 15
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

[Michael]

Yes on the Wilson thing. Yes on the theme thing, too. I personally consider the book a commentary on desire (as a philosophical subject), but the idea of going from "riches to rags," so to speak, seems to fit nicely within that concept.

Thanks for CPR-ing this delightful forum, by the way!