Materialism - Lakeside by Tom Baker

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The picture Lakeside by Tom Baker depicts an empty shopping centre. In the foreground of the picture, we can see 4 green palm trees which surround a fountain and two escalators which connects the first floor and the ground floor. In the middle distance there are two shops and we are also able to observe a circular railing on the first floor, which surrounds the fountain on the ground floor. The background consists of the endlessly long row of shops that keep stretching into the horizon. The architecture of the mall is indescribable, a sight for sore eyes. If we for example take a look at the roof of the shopping centre, we can see it’s a hybrid between glass, metal and wood, in the form of windows. The colors of the interior decorations are mainly white with some deviations. The white in the shopping centre symbolizes simplicity and also makes the shopping centre seem much bigger than it already is. The “lack” of interior decorations also gives the shopping centre the feeling of simplicity. The palm trees create an exotic atmosphere in the shopping centre, which gives us the feeling of walking on a beach in Hawaii. First of all the shopping centre already in its entirety symbolizes materialism, and it is also in shopping centre the syndrome called compulsive shopping occurs. Materialistic people tend to buy new stuff to satisfy their needs, but after a while they will get tired of their new “toy” and will want to move on to a “bigger and better” toy. An example could be the couple from the short story “To Feed the Night”, which keep buying and moving into new houses, with different excuses as to why they move. Even though they do not need the space and the only reason for expanding is to satisfy their need for “materials”. A lot of people are materialistic, but from my point of view Materialism is a disease that eats a hole in your purse until every penny

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