Comparative Essay Sample: Button, Button by Richard Matheson and Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl

In life,we receive many desires to do good or bad. For example in button,button by Richard Matheson,the female lead Norma had received desires of greed and a better life which resulted in the death of her husband. Meanwhile in Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl,the main character Mary had felt the desires of vengeance when her husband had cheated on her and had a affair during her pregnancy, which eventually lead to the death of him.In the two text,it showed at least a one desire like vengeance and greed.

In the book, Button Button,it has shown an example of greed because Norma desired for a better life and thus chose money over a human life. During the story the had a argument during 90-116,the argument shown that arthur was a very moral person unlike  the immoral norma who was ruthless and had became engulfed by greed and tried to keep convincing arthur that pressing the button wouldn't affect them because it could be a random person from china or a diseased natyive from the congo but without arthur’s consent she pressed it anyways.But her decision bit her in the back in the end because it ended up killing arthur,the one who was probably one of her motivations on pressing it.In the end greed could lead to bad whenever it was a good purpose at the start or had a bad one.

Another desire which would motivate you to do wrong is vengeance like the main character of Lamb to the slaughter, who killed her husband out of vengeance. At 34,mary’s husband told her very shocking stuff that left her with a face of horror and with a educated guess, he either cheated on herb or is filing a divorce.So the once bliss Mary,out of anger and vengeance acquired a frozen lamb she planned to cook and hit him and killed him. She later saw she messed up and put the act of a wife who had just lost her husband to the colleagues of her husband that were consoling her. Even though vengeance can seem right at the time, it may be wrong like Mary’s vengeance which seemed right because she got cheated on but she found it was wrong later because she could now go to prison and not be eligible to take care of her child.

Greed and vengeance are big desires that make people do the wrong choice.In Button Button,Norma got greedy and thought there would be nothing wrong if a random nobody died like a dieseased man in congo or a peasant from china. THen in Lamb to the slaughter, Mary killed her husband out of vengeance.So overall desire can lead people to do bad things.