Recently I finished the book by Ellery Queen (those were actually two male co-authors, not one person) called Losers, Weepers. It came out in 1966 and it's a story about a guy called Jim Morgan who works for an engineering company and has severe financial issues. Then one day he goes to a bar, and while he is using the restroom someone exchanges his bag for the one with 100 000$ in it. Cash. And that's how all his problems begin...
You see, Jim Morgan is married to a very beautiful woman called Anita who is a shopaholic, to use a modern term. She keeps buying things on credit, and as a result, they are deeply in debt. When she learns about the money, she sees is as their only chance to get out of poverty. And Jim is too weak-willed to say, "no'' to her.
The book was written before the American (and Western society in general) radically changed. The woman's place is still in the home. People marry young. Anita is 25 and has been married for several years. She and Jim have no children, but the idea of sending her to work never crosses his mind. He is the breadwinner and has to solve this problem himself. He tries to make her stick to the budget, but unlike modern ''loud and proud'' females, instead of starting to scream about oppression, she uses her feminine charms on him and he falls for it every time.
The story unravels in a rather unpredictable way, but several people will lose their lives and Jim knows that he is partly responsible for it. After I finished reading it, I thought it over. In 1966 America, a breadwinner husband had quite a number of ways to lay down his will on his household, yet he failed multiple times, choosing the way of the least resistance. Apart from this, he also knew what his duty was very well, but failed to act because of the fear of his wife's emotions. The story could have ended quite differently, had he behaved like the man in his position was supposed to, namely told his wife to shut up, stop wasting money like an idiot and start listening to him.
That is something which Western men have failed to do ever since, with predictable results. To sum it up, it was an entertaining book, and if you ever stumble upon it, I highly recommend it.
What comes in mind is that if men chose women of virtue over just a pretty face, they wouldn't need to tell their wifes to shut up and stop wasting money... So another lesson there.
ReplyDeleteWell, "women of virtue" used to mean "chaste", which she was. And the leader is supposed to, you know, lead, something which Western men have consistently failed to do. The overwhelming majority of modern Western men are weak-willed, passive-aggressive and afraid of any confrontation. In fact, if by some magic such guy would be transported to a different civilisation, one where women had no rights at all, akin to slavery, and he chose the most submissive of them, in a short period of time she'd totally dominate him. Because you can't submit to non-existent dominance/leadership.
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