Not Vegetables or Meat

As a personality, cheapskates still exist in our life. When I was young, I liked to read books, so I learned what a cheapskate was. A cheapskate is a kind of selfish person who just cares about his benefit. Its meaning can be found through two famous stories and my experience.

"The Merchant of Venice" by Shakespeare tells us a story about Antonio and Shylock. Antonio borrowed money from Shylock in order to help his friends, but Shylock got angry with him. At the end, Shylock wanted Antonio to cut his meat instead of paying more money. Shylock was a cheapskate because he was unfeeling as any wild beast. He didn't have any sympathy.

In Eugenie Grandet, author Balzac created a cheapskate who only cared about money. He didn't buy meat or vegetables all year round. He treated his only daughter as a trap to collect more money. Even Grandet watched and stroked his gold coins at midnight. Grandet was a slave to money; he lost his emotions. Try to imagine a mad person who was miserable even though Grandet himself could not.

A selfish person would never care about other people's feelings. My neighbor is very rich, but actually he drives a very old car. Although he owns a big company, he is demanding of his workers. His workers live in an ugly house, and they have few benefits. What's more, he is mean to his family. I never see his wife dress in beautiful clothes. His daughter always walks to school. What only concerns him is money. He aims at money, and everything else is less important.

From my point of view, all cheapskates have a very poor quality of life. They have lots of money, but they don't enjoy their lives. Basking in family life is relaxing, but cheapskates lack the kind of happiness. In the end, they will lose everything but their money.