Why (Button Button)

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Why? What leads ordinary people to commit murder? This is the challenging question explored in Richard Matheson’s short story “Button, Button”. The story is a about a married couple, Norma and Arthur, who live in New York City and struggle to make ends meet. One day a mysterious package is delivered to them contains a machine with a button on it. When the button is pressed, a random person is killed, and, in exchange, the individual who pressed the button receives $50,000. Norma eventually makes the choice to press the button, which results in the death of her beloved husband, Arthur. In the short story “Button, Button”, Richard Matheson uses setting and characterization to show why the main character makes the decision that leads to her unsuccessful journey. First, Richard Matheson uses setting, specifically Norma’s social situation, to show why she makes the choice that leads to her unsuccessful journey. Richard Matheson depicts Norma as having a hardworking and repetitive life. The author describes Norma cooking and performing other mundane household tasks daily continuously throughout the story, “[She] went back into the kitchen to turn the cutlets in the broiler.”; “She got up earlier to make pancakes, eggs, and bacon for Arthur’s breakfast.”; “[Dried her hands after] stacking dishes.”; “She had just turned over the supper steaks that night.”; “She put the lamb chops in the broiler.” (Matheson 1-4) Norma is dissatisfied with her life and wants something better. She believes that the money she will receive from pressing the button will allow her to escape from her current situation. Thus, Richard Matheson uses the setting to show the reader why Norma’s social situation has led her to make a choice that leads to her negative journey. Second, Richard Matheson uses characterization to show why Norma makes the decision resulting in her unsuccessful journey.

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