2006-11-20 07:21:57 · 6 answers · asked by rach3968 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you. ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 5
2006-11-20 07:29:58 · answer #1 · answered by DanE 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means that most or all of your actions are spent taking care of or maintaining something. An example: You have a house in the suburbs, and you spend all your free time mowing the lawn, fertilizing it, trimming shrubs, pruning trees, planting flower beds, painting the house, shoveling the driveway in the winter, and in general working on the house so much that you have little or no social life. If you enjoy this, great. If you do this because you're afraid the neighbors will think that you're a slob, then the house owns you. It controls you, because your every free minute is devoted to keeping the neighbors from thinking you're a slob.
2006-11-20 07:34:19 · answer #2 · answered by Ralfcoder 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It means that the responsibility of posessions ends up restricting your freedom. If you get a copy of "Walden" by H.D. Thorou(forgive spellling of last name) he gives a great example that has to do with farming and all the equipment.
Example: You buy a wonderful old house that you enjoy, but with the constant need for maint. and repair, the yard, etc, you can never get away from it... it's like you've submitted yourself to an ever hungry god that is never satisfied. YOU are now the owned one, in a way.
2006-11-20 07:36:00 · answer #3 · answered by beinggood 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
simple answer:
You buy a new car with a 5 year payment plan. Your car payment owns you for the next five years because you are forced to pay for it.
2006-11-20 07:24:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I like Grumpy Dufus's answer because it is simple, but it does get more complicated than that. Think about rent, to put a roof over your possessions "heads", think about maintenance, think about electricity (TV, computer, any appliance), think about insurance, think about lack of freedom, think about concern of theft, the list goes on and on...
2006-11-20 07:33:04 · answer #5 · answered by purplepartygirrl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Anything you 'buy' and have to 'take care of' or 'provide insurance for' or 'look after' or 'maintain' or 'make payments on' really does own you--you're responsible for 'it'.
2006-11-20 07:30:44 · answer #6 · answered by fiddlesticks9 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋