William Hazlitt

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In William Hazlitt’s essay “On The Want of Money” he argues that money is an essential component of an enjoyable life. Hazlitt argues that a lack of money will cause someone nothing but sorrow and cause them to be merely disregarded. Hazlitt is, in part due to his own experience, convinced that life without money, is hardly any life at all. To start, Hazlitt immediately begins bombarding the reader with all of his examples of the misery caused by lack of finance which creates an overbearing and pessimistic tone. His first words are “Literally and truly” followed up by saying that a lack of money will cause “life with little credit or pleasure”, in doing this Hazlitt is stating that anyone who may be in need of money will simply be disregarded …show more content…
Next, Hazlitt adds to his previous claims by adding that all those who may be in lack of money, will be “an exile in their own country”. This is important for Hazlitt to mention because it allows him to appeal to those reading by making them both feel sympathy for the poor, and making them fear the consequences of them falling so far. Keep in mind, most people reading this would’ve been at a higher level of education at the time, and would’ve likely had no natural sympathy for the poor; it is because of this that Hazlitt writes his essay trying to appeal to those people and make them care, if even just a bit, about those societally below them. Hazlitt’s audience will likely differ from him, and it is because of this he chooses to create an overbearing tone to almost force sympathy from his audience. Continuing, Hazlitt addresses how one can become stuck in their financial situation, even if they try to escape …show more content…
This grounds Hazlitt's claim into reality, as it connects the claim to the world around the essay, and the essay’s reader, which allows for further emotional appeal. Towards the end of his essay, Hazlitt also effectively says that being poor simply means that your life won't matter, which is a soul crushing thing to think about; creating even more emotional appeal, and darkening the already overbearing tone. Hazlitt gives an example of someone going through a depressing life, failing their dreams, and then dying alone, horrid ideas such as this are what allow Hazlitt to bring such weight into his essay, which may be what is required to get his reader to care. Hazlitt goes as far to say that poor people will be “full of enthusiasm and extravagance in youth” and “full
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