What Makes Sammy Run, The Moral Compass, and My Life What Makes Sammy Run? by
Budd Schulberg is a brilliant book that shows the savagery, the insensitiveness,
and cruelty caused by the drive for money, which characterized the general
attitude of most people in America during the end of 1930s and the beginning of
the 1940s. Sammy Glick, the main character in the book, is a poor Jewish boy who
grows into an adult and spends all his life trying to get to the top of the
hierarchy by knocking other people down. It is money, prestige, and power, which
are most important for him. His mind is constantly occupied with thoughts of how
to manipulate people and benefit from their hard work. To understand why Sammy
is always hostile and always cynical towards people’s good manners, one should
probably look at Sammy’s childhood. Brought up in poverty, running without
shoes on the streets, working from early age to help his father to pay the rent,
and beaten every time he goes to school, Sammy quickly understands that to
escape this miserable living, he has to work hard. Soon he learns how to play
tricks on people to make more money. “There is a guy on the opposite corner
doin’ pretty good ‘cause he’s yellin’ ‘U.S. may enter war. So I asks a
customer if there’s anything in the paper about that. So when he says no, I
figure I can pull a fast one too. So I starts hollerin’ ‘U.S. enters war,’
and jeez shoulda seen the rush!”(Schulberg 213). Sammy doesn’t show any
respect towards his closest relatives. It is natural for him to knock his
brother down to get the messenger job. Working many hours and getting more
money, Sammy “was beginning to understand the secret of power”(220). He is
not afraid of Sheik who used to beat him up every day at school. Close to the
age of thirteen, Sammy is already devoid of human feeling even towards his
parents. The only thing he thinks about is money. Sammy does not respect the
Jewish tradition any more. He will not be the “bar mitzvah” his father wants
him to be because, according to Sammy’s understanding, he has already become
one. He does not visit the “cheder” because there are more important things
to do in life like making money, for example. It is difficult for “Papa” to
understand his own son. “That’s all you think about, money, money...”(222)
says his father. Sammy, however, already knows that “It’s money in the
pocket – that’s what makes you fell like a man (222). He does not even cry
when his father passes away. His only reaction “Is it over” (223) speaks of
something not human. “Sammy was thirteen, but he was a veteran; he had learned
something that took the place of tears”(223). Sammy has formed a hard shell
that protects him from all human feelings. His drive for money, control and
annihilation of everything human is unsurpassable. Sammy has an enormous amount
of confidence. There is nothing that can stop him. Even the first day, when he
goes to work for Al Manheim as an office boy at The Record, he boastfully
declares: “I’m the new office boy, but I ain’t going to be an office boy
long”(3). Al Manheim is the other major character in the book. Compared to
Sammy, he is much more considerable of other people and tries to teach Sammy of
respect and compassion to others. All his words and bits of advice, however,
come to a brick wall because it is difficult to change the path Sammy has chosen
for himself. Later, on the day of his birthday at The Algonquin, when he makes
the big strike towards publicity, it is not uncommon for him to say: “Okay, I
stink, …but someday you’ll cut an arm for one little whiff”(27). Sammy is
not afraid to speak openly to established writers in Hollywood. He is confident
and selfish, fighting for every opportunity, obsessed by the one idea of
self-promotion. “I was just thinking about me. I just kept thinking nothing
but me. I just kept saying Sammyglicksammyglick over and inside my head and it
kept growing louder SAMMYGLICKSAMMYGLICK (33). Insincerity in human
relationship, unfairness in competition, disloyalty, disregard of others, these
are some of the typical characteristics of Sammy Glick and of all the other
people that try to imitate Sammy Glick. Sammy is fighter for money and
publicity, a ruthless careerist. His constant drive to capture every opportunity
that emerges on the horizon has absorbed everything human Sammy has ever
possessed. He is unable to build a family or maintain a relationship. “You are
physically incapable of having friends…All you can ever have are enemies and
stooges”(26). Doing favors is also not one of his best characteristics. “I
found out long ago that was a sucker’s trick. It leaves you wide open”(13).
He is an individualist, relying on his own strengths and capabilities, and not
letting anybody else in his realm. This is why he never allows Rosalie to come
too close to him, and then, when he finally finds his love, it is hard for him
understand that Laurette has her own private world and he is not to be let in
it. The romantic and the sentimental cannot find a place in Sammy’s life. It
is simply not natural for him. Sammy Glick is a “frantic marathoner’ of
life, ‘springing out of his mother’s womb, turning life into a race in which
the only rules are fight for the rail, and elbow on the turn, and the only
finish-line is death”(xvii) And the finish line soon comes to Sammy. He
destroyed by all the characteristics he possesses. Alone, crying for friends,
and people he can laugh with. “My mind skipped from conquest to conquest, like
the scrapbook on his exploits I had been keeping ever since that memorable
birthday party at the Algonquin,” writes Al Manheim remembering of Sammy’s
life. “It was a terrifying and wonderful document, the record of where Sammy
ran, and if you looked behind the picture and between the lines you might even
discover what made him run. And some day I would like to see it published, as a
blue print of a way of life that was paying dividends in America in the first
half of the twentieth century”(276). Sammy Glick is a “victim of cultural
conditions”(xvii) and poor living standards. I think it is the Western
civilization that created the Sammy Glicks. All the numerous opportunities for
advancement and personal fulfillment make people forget what their life is
really about. It is all image that counts. Other people judge how successful one
is, by all the “dead possessions” one has. People waste their lives sitting
behind heavy wooden desks and watch cheap, “crappy” movies from Hollywood,
but forget about the simple pleasures in life. I would not imagine life without
going to the mountain, feeling the breeze hit my forehead, and smelling the
pleasant aroma of flowers and pines. The Sammy-drive is still to be found
everywhere in America, in every field of endeavor and among every racial group.
It will survive as long as money and prestige and power are ends in themselves,
running wild, unharnessed from usefulness (xiv). The Moral Compass serves as a
moral education. The different chapters and the stories they contain teach young
people of hard work, perseverance, courage, compassion, responsibility,
discipline, and many other virtues that a person should have, when he leaves his
home-place in the search for self-fulfillment. Most of the stories included in
the book constitute a journey. Each story is a “moral compass” that guides
humans through their lives. The book can also be used to build one’s
character. Young children are susceptible to these teachings. Those stories
create a model that children follow until they grow up. The first chapter
teaches that home is the most beloved place. A well built family, which is based
on mutual respect and understanding between the spouses, enables the creative
atmosphere that children need. Some stories like What Bradley Owed and The Boy
Who Kissed His Mother reveal the altruistic love between a son and his mother. I
heard a footstep behind me, And the sound of a merry laugh, And I knew the heart
it came from Would be like a comforting staff In the time and the hour of
trouble, Hopeful and brave and strong; One of the hearts to lean on When we
think that things go wrong. (The Moral Compass 72) Mother is always the one who
takes care of her child. She is the one that has given life to him and he is
part of her. Sometimes I have evidenced my own contempt towards my mother’s
reproaches, but in the end I realize that everything she does, she does it for
me. I love my mother, because she has always been the one help me and to give
solace in my saddest and loneliest moments. I owe my mother most of my
accomplishments, because she has been the one to encourage me and help me
through the difficulties of life. “And after that, he helped his mother for
love”(22). The following chapters in the book relate greediness and
selfishness. The Miser, The Dog in the Manger, The Mouse Tower, and The Man Who
Loved Money More Than Life are all witty stories about people’s affection with
money. “Bury a stone in the hole and fancy it is the gold. It will serve you
just as well, for when the gold was there you made use of it”(176). Most of
them try to teach the same lesson that Budd Schulberg tries to convey in What
Makes Sammy Run. The lost pleasure of life, the constant drive for money
deprives humans of their feelings. He raised taxes on the people over and over
again. He built a tall tower of stone on an island in the river Rhine and would
let no boat pass by without stopping and paying a toll in silver or
gold”(424). It is hard for ordinary people to get their hands out of the
money, once they have it. Often those die in loneliness, with no friends, and
nobody who cares about them. It is funny how most of the people say, “Having
lots of money is a guarantee for better life”. I don’t believe in it,
because many rich people have problems with their friends. The world is full of
people with broken relationships and broken hearts. And this, in my opinion, is
only because they chose money and popularity instead of what is dearest to them
– love. Other stories teach readers of loyalty, confidence in one’s own
strength, and honesty. A Truth Speaker teaches people to defend their principles
even with the cost of their lives. “He knew that by expressing his view
honestly he would incur certain punishment”(324). The honest farmer is another
story that talks about a man’s respect and sacrifice for his neighbors. “The
first field of barley was better than this one’. ‘That is true, sir’,
answered the honest old man, ‘but it was not mine”(262). It is integrity
that helps people survive through the hard times of life. Both What Makes Sammy
Run and The Moral Compass are great books that will probably be read by many
generations. Budd Schulberg tells readers what they must not turn into. Sammy,
although admired by some, is an example of money-machine. No feelings, no
emotions whatsoever. Only money. The Moral Compass, on the other hand, with its
hundreds of beautifully narrated stories tells humans what qualities they should
acquire through their journey in life. I, personally, cannot completely identify
myself with any of these books. I like Sammy’s ambition, but only to a certain
extent. I need the ambition that will help me use my hidden qualities. In the
pursuit of my goals, I will stick close to my friends. I will respect every word
and every meaning that The Moral Compass tries to convey. Although these stories
may seem naďve and stupid to many people, they certainly have power. It is we,
our modern society that has made us cynical and defensive against the calls of
The Moral Compass. It is, perhaps, our fault that we are corrupt and unable to
understand these stories. Each of us has to look within himself, because most of
the times guilt lies in ourselves.