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 th...