The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side: A Discourseanalysis Of Hedonism As Sweet Poison Inthe Winner Stands Alone

Abstract

It is quite natural that some individuals seem to be unhappy and unsatisfied with the things they have in life; they seem to look better in life.People sometimes do comparisons become envious, and want what the others have.Such kind of comparison and envy destroy an individual’s life. The current study is textual analysis of the novel The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho (2008). Paul Gee’s (2014) model of Discourse Analysis is used for textual interpretation. The paper has applied Sirgy et al., (2019) concept of materialism as a
theoretical perspective with a focus on the ideal life satisfaction which compels people to evaluate their life standards negatively; as soon as they compare their life with others, it causes them dissatisfaction. It was found that comparison is not a good thing and that living happily in one’s own means is a good way to live a satisfactory life. It was concluded that whenever, the characters compared themselves with others in the novel, others’ possessions seemed alluring for them and in getting those possessions, they lost many things in life.