Sherman McCoy is a Wall Street bond trader. He comes from a privileged background. He is well educated and lives a luxurious lifestyle. His privileged and luxurious lifestyle makes him greedy, self-centered, gives him a false sense of entitlement, and makes him think of people with less racial, social and economic privilege as below him. Despite these negative parts of his personality one can’t help but sympathise with him because he is deluded about the importance of his job, his place in society, and his view of himself as a master of the universe. When he picks up Maria and accidentally drives into the Bronx there is debris blocking the road. He is approached by two black men offering to help. He assumes they are trying to rob him and Maria …show more content…
He was not merely a master of the universe; he was more; he was a man”. This shows his delusional view of himself and his view on those of less privileged than himself. Despite what he thinks they never tried to rob him and Henry Lamb is only hit by the car because Sherman assumes that because they live with fewer privileges and are black they are trying to rob him. This shows that despite his claims that he is a master of the universe in his office on Wall Street he has lived a sheltered lifestyle away from other types of people in society and it shows just how deluded he is about his importance to assume that he is above those living in the Bronx and had fought bravely despite putting Henry Lamb a normal but underprivileged person in a coma When Campbell asks about his job, Judy uses a metaphor of his job being like collecting crumbs falling off a cake. Sherman views himself on Wall Street as a really important person, but Judy’s explanation of his job shows that it means nothing to her and the rest of society. This again shows Sherman McCoy’s sense of false worth. His view of himself all stems from his work on Wall Street. At the end of the story Sherman McCoy has