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Since people are prepared to do anything for money, the poet says that money has a fearful cruel power.

The fear that if one has no money, he has to eat dirt can become a delirium.

Mankind says with one voice, “How much is he worth?” The poet means to say that mankind values an individual according to the amount of money he has.

(d) It has made us its slaves

Bread, shelter and fire. By this D.H. Lawrence means the basic necessities of life without which man cannot survive.

(c) it has a fearful cruel power on us.

The craze for money.

People without money are treated with disdain. They are made to eat dirt which means made to accept criticism and blame without complaint.

To change our attitude towards money, and not go mad after money. If we don’t, we will perish by killing one another.

Everyone is obsessed with money and that is why all other virtues of an individual are overlooked if he is unfortunate enough not to possess wealth. The only question asked is how much an individual is worth. The expected answer is in terms of material possessions. Even if a person possesses the knowledge and various other talents, none of that would get reckoned with. That is why the speaker says that money has got us down to the position of slaves because we are all slaves of money or slaves of people with money. It has made us forget our self-worth and selfdignity.

People with no money are treated with contempt. Since the only worth is the worth of money, even if poor people possess other talents and virtues, they earn no respect. However, in the world full of hypocrisy, they cannot be let to die. Hence bread is thrown at them. But the poor know that along with bread they have to eat the mud of humiliation. This worries them so much that they become victims of delirium.

The poet suggests that man has lost his sanity about money because he has been demoralized and enslaved by money. He seems to believe that his worth is going to be judged by the amount of money he possesses. Secondly, he seems to be terrorized by the cruel power of money which is seen in the way mankind treats those who do not have any money. Mankind gives them food and helps them to survive but at the same time, it humiliates them for not possessing any money. Consequently, the man seems to firmly believe that he will be able to secure food, shelter and fire essential for his survival if only he has money. Naturally, he develops an insatiable craving for money. The poet believes that food, shelter and fire should be made available free to everyone all over the world irrespective of whether he or she has money or not.

The phrase ‘get us down’ means make somebody ‘depressed’ or ‘demoralized’. In the poem ‘Money Madness’, according to the poet, ‘money’ has demoralized mankind. Mankind treats those people, who have money, with a lot of respect and dignity. It judges the worth of a man by the amount of money he or she possesses. Mankind usually asks the question, “How much is he worth? Has he no money?”

But, if he or she has no money, society condemns them to humiliation and eventually death. However, mankind does not deprive such people of food. It gives them food but along with food it also gives them suffering, humiliation and cruelty. This fear of getting humiliated and subjected to cruelty if they do not earn enough money makes people mad about money. That is why people crave for money so that they are not made to eat dirt. The poet remarks that such an attitude of mankind towards those who do not have money is wrong. The poet suggests that we should regain our sanity in this regard.

Otherwise, this collective madness for money will make us kill one another. He asserts that ‘bread, shelter and fire’ which are essential for survival, should be made available free of cost and without humiliation to anyone and everyone all over the world irrespective of whether a person has money or not.

In ‘Money Madness’, D.H. Lawrence shows how, in the modern world, man’s only worth seems to spring from the wealth he possesses. People who have no money are treated with contempt.

Since the only worth is the worth of money, even if poor people possess other talents and virtues, they earn no respect. However, in the world full of hypocrisy, they cannot be let to die. Hence bread is thrown at them. But the poor know that along with bread they have to eat the mud of humiliation. This worries them so much that they become victims of delirium. If the only yardstick to measure people is the wealth that they possess, naturally, such an existence has no scope for human relationships. Even before the hand is stretched for a handshake, the hand might have started searching the pockets of the person to know his material worth.

Since the moneyed people would forge relationships only with the wealthy, society would have a great divide between the have’s and the have-nots. Such a society would be a stratified society and human relations would suffer.

a ten-pound note.

We grovel before money in strange terror.

We are really very terrified of the collective money-madness of mankind.

When he has no money, and others give a little bread to keep him alive.

a little bread.

The fear of having no money and being forced to eat dirt can become a delirium.

(b) avoid eating dirt.