The Rich Brother, Pete Exposed
Pete is the older brother of Donald, and works in real estate, where he earns a fairly large sum of money. He cares for two beautiful daughters, and enjoys sailing on a nice sunny day on the ocean which he sees every morning from his bedroom window. He drives to work in his brand new luxury car with the window open, the wind blowing through his hair, smiling with delight at the people whom he calls his friends. Pete has everything going for him, and some might even describe him as a man who fulfilled the American dream. However, as the slogan of the movie American Beauty would say, "Look closer," and when one does, excessive brotherly competition and Pete's deep inner conflicts begin to surface. While Pete seemed to live a normal, gratifying life at home, his excursion to pick up his brother Donald leads to some thought about Pete's inner-self. When Pete comes to get Donald, he learns that Donald owes money to some people for sandwiches and coffee. He quickly thrusts his hand into his pocket to throw one hundred dollars in Donald's hand. Donald, acting as if appalled by the money, tried to give some of it back to his brother, yet Pete shoves it right back at him calling the money, "nickels and dimes." While he k
The story takes another turn when Donald hops out of the car to get bags, and spills the orange soda all over the expensive leather seats in Pete's brand new car. Pete instantaneously enters a state of fury and screams at his brother to wipe off the seats with his valued Try God T-shirt. It is as if the self-centered Pete does not care at all about Donald's faith, and instead uses the symbol of his faith, the T-shirt, to wipe the soda from his prized possession, a car. This symbolic action can be taken even further to show that Pete has no regard for religion, which is Donald's one passion. Pete's materialistic outlook on life is once again portrayed when Donald discovers that this is Pete's new car, and so he asks, " What was wrong with the other car?" and Pete simply responds, "I just happened to like this one better." Although he does not deserve to be criticized for having money, Pete should not place such an emphasis on his high-priced, precious car in the presence of his destitute brother. There is very little reason for him to do so, and it is around this point in the story where the narrator begins to hint on Pete's superiority complex and his delight in seeing his brother fail. In conclusion, Pete is not the man which he appears to be, especially to his brother. Perhaps it takes the
Some common words found in the essay are:
God T-shirt, American Beauty, Earth Looking, Pete Donald, Donald Pete, Donald Donald, Furthermore Pete, american dream, orange soda, superiority complex, car pete, pete enjoys,
Approximate Word count = 889
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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