Publisher's Synopsis
Have you noticed how terribly the real estate market in Northern California is and has been advancing for profit-seeking Realtors these past few years? As we all know, the turbulence that rears its ugly head in poor economic times can, and frequently does, get inconceivably ugly. Capitalism can breed pure spite out of greedy individuals who praise the almighty dollar as a sanctified power. But how far can this craving for wealth push a person? Where is the true distinction between greed and need? Between plush cravings and dire necessities for survival? In fact, how far can an entire Real Estate firm--with the bulk of the staff upholding complete reverence and devotion toward financial gain--be pushed? And what ultimately drives such obsessive, narrow-minded malice? Sure, we've all seen news reports or otherwise heard of "those people." This covers the elaborate yet dismal psychology of an array of these salespeople once pushed just past the brink - and what a push this book displays! In Synthetic Savior, a contrast of the irrational motivations and desperate yearnings of a few pioneers, a couple self-proclaimed hot shots, and a few followers in the real estate profession "hold the floor" at this fictitious agency, Brentwood-Douglas Realtors. These fictionalized Realtors serve either as complements or dynamic symbols to illustrate the varying depictions of greed. THEMES: The thematic overtures and strengthened persuasions exist outside of both the plot and the subplot to fully embellish the themes. Chapter six, the only chapter with a single act that summarizes the themes of this piece, re-embellishes and strengthens them; the conclusion, chapter nine, re-embellishes these same themes after the weighted action of chapters seven and eight. Chapter six, the "Professor Carlton" (Jesop E. Carlton) speech, the Infallible Divine Authority, highlights every theme presented throughout the novel. This can be compared to many literary and cinematic works which expand on the entanglement of capitalism. Main Themes: Capitalism (capitalist society): Main theme - many emotions and bizarre actions or reactions that defy any primal human need or individual desire, that are established socially, presented stem out of the capitalist mind set. Greed: in many obscure forms, greed consumes the common mercantile drive of Brentwood-Douglas Realty, the core setting of this novel. Greed is expressed through many different psychological flaws are illustrated. Religion / Idolatry: chapter six is titled "Holy Scripture: The Infallible Divine Authority." Earlier chapters demonstrate how other realtors idolize and try to imitate Professor Carlton (Jesop E. Carlton), who delivers his sermon here. The high-roller is upheld as the false god; religion - rather, a character's ignorance due to blind religious faith that serves as a safeguard is discussed. Biblical words he can switch around in order to put him "in the right" and everybody else "in the wrong" symbolizes a parallel to the arcane blindness, closed-mindedness, hypocrisy, and the ultimate self-destruction that stems out of capitalist greed; many words related to sanctified "Holiness" or "Holy Worship" are employed to assist the parallels or analogies and counterparts. The chapter section directly preceding chapter six, 5.4, directly confronts blind idol worship. Humor: Throughout the subplot to the defining themes of the story (Custodians), the humor employed displays the relaxed atmosphere that cannot be gained by the self-absorption of greed, praising the almighty dollar; the "laugh-out-loud" humor occurs in the masturbation inferences, though these two masturbatory references set by these custodians shed much more an inference than humor alone. Humor and its importance sets the complement to the main thematic. However, the humor of many shades illuminates or directly contrasts with major themes.
