Capitalism, Greed, and Inheritance Theme Analysis

As the son of immigrants turned reclusive, multimillionaire owner of the fruitful Westing Paper Products Corporation, Sam Westing knows that money is a corruptive force. Westing, who grew from humble origins into a shadowy and greedy figurehead of a massive company, knows just how much wealth and power can change a person. In deciding to bestow his inheritance upon an unsuspecting heir drawn from a seemingly random assortment of individuals, Westing offers the freedom of financial security and social clout—yet he also uses the Westing game, a competition for a $200-million-dollar inheritance, to show his potential heirs the dark side of inheriting someone’s legacy. Ultimately, Raskin uses The Westing Game to argue that true inheritance is not about passing down wealth or social power—it is about passing along the wisdom, values, and practical tools the next generation needs to grow, succeed, and help others.

By first focusing on the heirs’ collective obsession with the idea of inheriting $200 million—and on the fact that not even money and power could insulate Westing from tragedy—Raskin demonstrates that true inheritance is about wisdom, knowledge, and insight rather than money, fame, or clout. From the start of the novel, it is clear that Westing is a complex and even hated figure in the community. A union-buster who has lived a reclusive, solitary life for many of his years, Westing’s name alone inspires suspicion in those who hear it. On Halloween night, the main characters in the novel—who are soon to become potential heirs to Westing’s estate—gleefully spread rumors that Westing has been rotting away alone in his mansion for years. This shows that they regard his legacy as one better off left for dead, untouched by future generations. However, when the heirs are called to the Westing manor and instructed to play the titular Westing game, they jump at the opportunity to claim Westing’s inheritance. Westing has engineered a game in which the inheritance itself is a red herring (a popular murder-mystery term for a clue, fact, or object that is meant to be misleading or distracting). The heirs ultimately find that in order to win the money, they must name one of their own as the murderer—even after they have come to realize that Westing was not actually murdered and is perhaps even still alive. They refuse to play Westing’s game any longer, unwilling to sacrifice one of their own for the cash prize. Westing’s whole game has sought to impart to his heirs the importance of teamwork, generosity, and acceptance. In the end, through the teamwork the Westing game has required of each of the heirs and the communal perspective it’s shown them, the heirs have learned that the values and wisdom one passes along are more important than the proliferation of empty generational wealth. While the heirs don’t get the millions they were promised, they each obtain a share of Sunset Towers, signifying that the legacy Westing wants to leave behind is one of community and growth rather than empty money. 

Toward the end of the novel, after Turtle wins the Westing game and goes to the home of Julian Eastman—Westing in disguise—to tell him she’s solved the mystery, Raskin employs a series of flash-forwards to demonstrate that the alternative “inheritances” the heirs received from Westing (in the form of lessons about solidarity, goodwill, and perseverance) are much more valuable than cash. Five years after the conclusion of the Westing game, Hoo is a successful inventor, Doug is an Olympic hero, Angela is in medical school, Grace is a restaurateur, and Turtle is becoming good enough at chess to beat the “master,” Sam Westing himself. This brief flash-forward shows how while only Turtle technically “won” the Westing game, the other heirs used the lessons they learned from one another and from Westing’s own mistakes—an inheritance in and of itself—to better not just their lives, but the lives of others. In pursuing knowledge, personal fulfillment, and helping others, the heirs create their own inheritances which they pass down to others in turn. Another several years later, Turtle—now known as T.R.—is a successful businesswoman. After solving the Westing game by deducing that Julian Eastman, president and CEO of the Westing Paper Products Corporation, is really Sam Westing in disguise, Eastman has taken Turtle on as a mentee in business, strategy, and the lessons of life.  Over the years, Turtle has learned the tools of the trade from her mentor. Eastman has paid to put T.R. through school, just as Judge Ford has financed Chris’s education and allowed him to become a noted ornithologist. In turn, T.R. now takes on her niece Alice (Angela and Denton’s daughter) as a chess apprentice. This second flash-forward shows how all of the characters have come to realize that true inheritance is the gift of passing on knowledge, privilege, and opportunity. Money, clout, and fame can only get one so far in life—but by facilitating another person’s education and self-motivated advancement, one can turn even the most complex of legacies into an endless chain of paying forward faith, goodwill, and wisdom.

Throughout The Westing Game, the eight pairs of Westing’s 16 potential heirs chase the promise of wealth and renown in the form of Westing’s estate. But ultimately, as all of the heirs come to learn, the true inheritance Westing stood to pass along was the lessons he learned from the ways in which the pursuit of wealth and fame corrupted his own life. By showing how Westing ultimately creates a legacy of goodwill, generosity, and community, Raskin suggests that capitalism and greed can be corruptive—there are other, more meaningful kinds of inheritances worth passing along.