Comparative Essay on the Characterization of Windows and A Devoted Son

Leah and the old man found happiness emotionally, not materialistically. The window itself did not make Leah happy, but what the window represented did. The window represented her youth, which made her remember her happiness as a child. The window reminded her of happy she was, and reminiscing about her past made her feel that happiness again. The old man had everything from great wealth to great healthcare to prolong his life, but he could not find happiness through these things. His idea of happiness was living life to the fullest until the end, but he did not get to. It reached a point where he could not do anything that made him happy because it was all bad for his health. He was so miserable that the only thing that could make him happy was death, and it did. He did not need money or nice things to reach happiness.

Leah’s family was very materialistic. They lived in poverty and believed that if they had nice things and a nice house they would be happy. That’s why Leah’s daughter in law constantly went shopping and is also why she kept listening to the stories on the radio. The stories on the radio would obviously be about rich, or anyone who is not poor, and the stories would most likely be the classic Hollywood style, where everyone is happy and everything ends up nicely. She believes that anyone who isn’t poor lives like that, so she believes she would also be happy in the same way. The old man’s family was also very materialistic. The son had lived in poverty, and had the idea that if he got a nice job that paid a lot of money, he could buy nice things which would make him happy in life. To achieve this goal he had to fight very hard. So hard that once he got what he wanted, he realized that the reward was not worth the fight. This is true because not once in the story when he was rich did t say he was happy, the only happiness he experienced was when he was poor.

Having nice things and a lot of money does not provide true happiness. Leah was happy when she was poor and the old man was unhappy when he was rich. Leah and the old man became happy emotionally not materialistically, and both of their families were very materialistic but the old man’s rich family was just as unhappy as Leah’s poor family.