SAT Example Essay: Is there such as thing as too many choices?

Henry Ford said that customers could order his Model T in any colour as long as it was black. There were no complaints about this limitation because color had no bearing on the function of the vehicle. The Model T was transportation first and foremost, but today people choose from hundreds of vehicles and thousands of options to find the optimal car and the deciding factor for 80% of buyers is colour. This decision prevails over others like V6 or V8, manual or auto transmission, cloth or leather interior because it is a simple decision. Do I want a red car or a blue car? People like having choices but limited choices are better than unlimited choices, which is why cars come in a limited number of colours even though we now have the technology to paint the car any color imaginable. The same is true with marriage. Having a limited number of possible partners is better than an unlimited choice, as can been seen in the lives of Scarlett O’Hara and Charlotte Lucas.

Scarlet O’Hara is the object of every man’s desire in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, but this vast choice of husbands makes Scarlett miserable. Scarlett has many suitors and throughout the novel 3 husbands, but she is dissatisfied with them all. She only wants the one man who she cannot have, Ashley Wilkinson. Had Scarlett been a little more limited in her options she would have been able to be satisfied with any one of her husbands, all of whom loved her deeply. Instead, she waits too longs and ends up losing her best match, Rhett Butler because she cannot focus on the good aspects of their marriage and so he leaves her. Scarlett would have been better off with a more limited set of men like Charlotte Lucas has.

Charlotte Lucas in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is realistic about her marriage prospects and this limitation allows her to be happy with her decision to marry Mr. Collins. Charlotte’s family is not wealthy and Charlotte herself is plain and simple. Consequently, she does not set her hopes too high, but instead limits herself to marrying someone from her social sphere who will treat her well. She is not looking for the love of her life, but rather a compatible match. When Mr. Collins proposes, she readily accepts because he has a steady position and is a good man who will treat her well. Charlotte has a happy marriage even though her choices were limited.

Unlimited choice demands more thought and careful decision which ultimately leads to regrets over the choice not chosen. Whether choosing a husband, a car, a cell phone or an ice cream flavour, limited choices lead to simpler and more satisfactory decisions than unlimited choices. More does not equal better, just more time, more headaches and more regrets.