The Value of Wealth and Power A prominent theme illustrated in Vilas Manivat’s “Who Needs It?” is that the acquisition of money and power cannot buy all happiness. To begin, we observe how the members of the protagonist, Nai Phan’s community are envious and jealous of him; who does not chase money unlike them. They think to themselves, “How happy they look, free from hankering after wealth. They are better off than us.” (Manivat 2) We see how Nai Phan leads a balanced life, where he takes time to earn a sufficient amount of money, as well as spend time with his family and get rest. His friends often tell him “You should start serving at night; business is good then, and you will get rich quicker.” (2)To this, Nai Phan simply replies, “It’s better to go to bed than to get rich quick.” (2) Nai Phan believes a better health and composure is more essential than obtaining wealth. He knows that the true happiness you acquire in contentedly spending time with your closed ones cannot be bought by money. Moreover, one should not spend his or her life with a sole purpose of earning money, but should take time to embrace and appreciate the non-materialistic things that bring greater joy. Furthermore, we see how the robber does not take the money that he comes for, because he realises that even after attaining all that money, he would still be miserable. He also realizes that the gun that he carries around; which symbolizes power and superiority, will make him “A man who…cannot know peace, whose heart is tortured with fear and doubt, and the scent of danger.”(3) Communicating with Nai Phan, allows the robber to cogitate and get a better perspective of life and start anew. He recognizes that “…there is still goodness…” (4) He assimilates that “Any man who carries a gun has no compassion or respect for others, he only respects the gun.”(4-5)Through these lessons, the robber establishes that money or power will not fix his problems or attract joy, but a newer perspective of life will. He regains a sense of pure life and ways of happiness within his family. Overall, one of the main themes in Manivat’s story provides the reader with hope, that happiness does not have to be chased with money, but can be found in other unworldly things.