Hedonism in George Saunder’s The Semplica-Girl Diaries.

George Saunders is an American short story writer. His writings include moral sting and stints of realism. This article is an analysis of one of his famous stories The Semplica-Girl Diaries . The story is a fine example of hedonism which means favouring pleasure and avoiding pain. This article speculates the idea of hedonism in the characters of this story and brings forth the theme of moral myopia. Hedonistic treadmill was at multiple times was being operated by those characters who try to own pleasure in spite of biting bullets. The other elements like American dream and consumerism have been analysed through the lens of narrator.

He claims joy is something which is advantageous and sorrow disadvantageous. There are other contributors who have joined shoulders in contributing to hedonistic philosophy which is broadly categorised into psychological and ethical. However, the basic idea which permeates around is pleasure and pain.
Pleasure is hēdonē and the opposite is algos which personifies pain. There are many contradictory theories and practices which have risen against hedonism which says that it is baleful. Paradox hedonism is one such hinge which stresses that if one broods on pleasure for a long time they might meet with distaste and displeasure.
Gradually hedonistic thoughts took opposite linear action contrary to base form of hedonism. According to Christian belief pleasure seeking is idolatry in the view of God so Christians have asserted against it. Philosophy of hedonism according to Christians argue that, ". . . Adam and Eve lived pleasurable lives in Eden, but because of their Original Sin, we all must suffer; and therefore, it is blasphemous to seek pleasure at the expense of our responsibility to God" (philosophy). In the aftermath the view of hedonism has been under different continuous transformation. Christian beliefs took a new turn from negativity to positivity with regard to hedonism. They believed it is not something sinful but glorifying God. The idea of Christian hedonism is laid by John Piper who said, "Christian Hedonism is the conviction that God's ultimate goal in the world (his glory) and our deepest desire (to be happy) are one and the same, because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." ("ChristianHedonism.") As years passed on hedonism took shape of consumerism which turned out to be hedonistic consumerism.
Consumerism in economic terms can be defined such as chasing after the desires and leading to the excessive consumption beyond one's affordability. Migone has put in his words saying, "Hedonistic consumerism, the highly wasteful and discriminatory pattern of we'd kind of forgotten about, and who, as usual, had circled round and round the tree until nearly strangling to death on his gradually shortening leash and was looking up at us with begging eyes in which desperation was combined with a sort of low-boiling anger (The

Semplica-Girl Diaries 118).
The story takes a turn when the narrator plans to throw a party for Lilly's birthday.
Eva has a sad look on her face as she feels SGs are sad. He convinces her saying that this something natural with SGs which doesn't harm them. As he tries on meeting both the ends, he wins a lottery. He tells of his fortune to Pam and she is joyous on learning about the sudden fortune. The narrator ponders over the balance sheet and the budget he has to spend on Lilly's birthday. Finally, they execute their plan in throwing the party having SGs in their yard. Lilly makes the guests envious of her party by holding it grandly. Eva being so sensitive to the SGs, lets them go off the yard by removing the microline. The narrator and his family are left devastated as they need to pay a huge debt. Pam tries to obtain help from her father to save them from this sudden grab of poverty but he denies saying: "Let us now speak of what you intend to do with the requested money. Will you be The other question which Saunders poses is the congruity of the concept American dream which is unrealistic in comparison with past. The famous historian James Truslow who coined the term "American dream" elaborated it saying: "The American dream that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of merely material plenty though that has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been much more than that. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which has slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the Semplica Girls are in the social hierarchy. We get a sense of their worth simply through the fact that all these girls as a whole better fit the definition of a symbol in the story rather than individual characters"( www.montclair.edu) The first impulse of hedonistic idea is plausible in the narrator who does away with pain in seeking the pleasure. The narrator drives his intuitions in having a wealthy life but fumbles in acquiring it. He desires after a promising life and becomes wealth conscious and does not know how to be satisfied with limited means. This is obvious in his stream of consciousness, "When will I have sufficient leisure/wealth to sit on hay-bale watching moon rise, while in luxurious mansion family sleeps? At that time, will have chance to reflect deeply on meaning of life etc., etc. Have a feeling and have always had a feeling that this and other good things will happen for us!" (The Semplica-Girl Diaries 112).
Man by nature is a breed of grave greediness as he never settles himself for anything less. The ultimate end of every person is desire. If desire is hollow a man is nothing in his self. A new end erupts when the old end is fulfilled. Though the ends are satiated happiness doesn't get obtained hence it is named as hedonistic adaptation or hedonistic treadmill. Jean Jacques Rousseau has rightly defined hedonistic treadmill saying, "Since these conveniences by becoming habitual had almost entirely ceased to be enjoyable, and at the same time degenerated into true needs, it became much crueller to be deprived of them than to possess them was sweet, and men were unhappy to lose them without being happy to possess them." It is so apt to the narrator of The Semplica-Girl Dairies who wins a lottery yet he doesn't get on with what he has but he alters his wishes trying to make more ends wishing for more pleasure. Even his wife stands by his side accepting his decision take a run on treadmill. After winning lottery the initial thought that flares up is to clear their credit card dues but Pam and narrator think otherwise by scheming a financial plan for throwing party for Lilly's birthday.
They scheme: Pam: Let's go look. Let's see do they look sad.
(Do not look sad. Are in fact quietly chatting in moonlight.)" (135).
In fact, we can discern that SGs act opposite to the narrator's hedonistic perspective.
They are all altruistic in saving or bringing their families up above the poverty line. SGs have placed their family needs above their needs by sacrificing themselves to the cruel world.
The lives of SGs are horrific as they struggle a lot to provide for the family unlike the The themes that run through this story are quite disturbing to the reader because Saunders doesn't justify the story because it's a perspective of realism. Class conflict in America is highly stressed throughout the story which is modern example of dystopia where middle class fantasizes about owning comforts and luxuries. He also made a comment on system of slavery which took a new turn in owning human like that of objects or commodities. He asks the future reader to understand his America which is under the clutches of false belief in American dream and where uncertainty still persists.
The Semplica-Girl Diaries is actually a dream based story which occurred to Saunders in 1998. The dream was later turned into story bringing the moral myopia of the wealthy who doesn't regret in imploring hard labour on third world immigrants who migrate for the menial jobs. Saunders postulates the idea of SGs in the real life SGs in interview with Debora Treisman saying: "Then, in 2003, I got sent to Dubai for a writing assignment, and it was like being surrounded by real-life SGs. The whole city was built and run by people who were contracted to be away from home for years at a time, were very low-paid, and were housed in horrific conditions (or, at least, the most poorly paid laborers were). I went into that non-fiction assignment imagining I'd write that story-the story of the rich crapping down on the poor in the name of luxury-and I sort of did, but, once there, also found that (1) yes, this was true,