"How to feel good" by Nick Hornby

Résumé du document

This text is an extract from a novel entitled "How to be good". It was written by Nick Hornby, a British novelist and essayist, known for having written the famous book "About a boy". It dates back to two thousand and one. It deals with a British couple having an argument in the street, over giving a huge amount of money to a rough sleeper. We can notice that the title of the passage which is "How to feel good" echoes the title of the novel which is "How to be good".

After having watched a theatre play, David and his wife were walking on the street looking for a cab. While passing by a homeless boy, David looked for some money in his pockets, which were empty. So he asked his wife for her purse, took the eighty pounds that were in it, and gave it all to the homeless boy. This triggered an argument between his wife and him about this gift of money, while passers-by were attending the scene.
We could agree with the wife, who thinks that it is totally crazy, but we can also see that David's act could be quite logically explained.

Extraits

[...] What do you think may have been Nick Hornby's message in this excerpt? Conclusion: I found this text very interesting. It makes the reader think about generosity, and how to be, or not to be generous. It makes each one of us wonder, and tell itself: would I have reacted?” “Would I give so much money to a homeless?” “Would I get angry if one of my relatives gave so much money to a rough sleeper?” Personnally, I wouldn't have reacted as David, or as his wife did. [...]

[...] Usually, David has a set opinion on everything. But this time, he has no ready-made solutions on homelessness even though, to her mind, David has always felt concerned about the homeless. According to her, David just gave the money away spontaneously. It neither came from his “introspection” nor from his self-will. He acted without thinking, in a thoughtless way. It was not premeditated. So there we can see that David's wife totally disagrees with her husband. But this latter explains somehow or other his act. [...]

[...] Actually, she wanted to take a cab so as to go back home. When David gave all their cash away, she got mad at him because they didn't even have enough money to take a cab. She got angry because she didn't want to take the underground. She explains that there are a lot of drunkards that use the underground station as a shelter for the night. She feared she might get harassed. Moreover, he gave away the eighty quids she had in her purse, without even asking for her permisson. [...]

[...] First of all, the rough sleeper was not begging for money, YET, David gave him some. So we can wonder why David chose this destitute person (hobo, bum, tramp) in particular and not another one . Moreover, we can see that David didn't even pay attention to his wife while giving away money, though it was hers, which is quite selfish and not done: isn't it paradoxical? (And it's so easy to be generous with somebody else's money ) Besides, he paid no attention to his wife's need to take a cab, nor to her fear about taking the underground by night. [...]

[...] "How to feel good" by Nick Hornby Introduction: This text is an extract from a novel entitled to be good”. It was written by Nick Hornby, a British novelist and essayist, known for having written the famous book “About a boy”. It dates back to two thousand and one. It deals with a British couple having an argument in the street, over giving a huge amount of money to a rough sleeper. We can notice that the title of the passage which is to feel good” echoes the title of the novel which is to be good”. [...]