In my English Seminar course last semester we read a pastoral poem, a translation of one of Horace’s Epodes, about the desire to escape the continuous drive more wealth in exchange for a simple country life. The end of the poem was ironic, as the reader learns that it is actually spoken from the voice of a usurer, or money lender, who’s main objective is to continuously gain more wealth from the faulty payments, or inability to pay, of others. The usurer concludes that this will not and cannot occur, and every month he will continue to collect his payments:
“Gainst the ides, his money he gets in with pain,
At the calends, puts all out again.”
This poem becomes one highlighting desire. The usurer has no intentions of leaving the city life (the financial, economy life) for that of a simple country life, perhaps dreaming of it in his periphery but seeing that desire through.
I thought about this while reading “Money” because the narrative and dialogue in the novel is, obviously, so innately tied to money. Every action that John takes in his day to day life revolves around buying something, spending an exorbitant amount of money, and trying to fix everything with money. In addition, John makes side comments about settling down with Selina, escaping his world of absolute chaos, moving away and disappearing. The reader is very aware that this is not a realism for John, as he seems to thrive on the chaos that his money allows him to. He is caught on the financial treadmill, where there is always more to gan in front of him, always more to spend, and always a chance to get further ahead.
This might be an extreme example of being caught in the economic world, but I think it directly relates both to the world we live in, and the translation of Horace’s Epode. The economy is, and has to be, a part of our dialogue and life every single day.
(Also, if anyone was able to do a word search for the occurrence of “money” in the novel, please let me know, just for curiosity sake).