Love
George's love for Netta blinded him to everything in his life. He stopped thinking about any ambitions, goals, or jobs—only how to get Netta and make her love him. Although Netta treated him disrespectfully and used him all the time, he didn't care and persisted in getting her. George knew very well that he was being fooled and blinded by her love, but he never changed. When he stayed away from her, he felt at peace with his mind and decided to permanently stay away from Netta because she was the source of his discomfort and misery in life. Yet as soon as he saw her, he knelt down and begged her to respect him a little, love him back, and move with him somewhere away from Earl's Court. Throughout the novel, he is an example that love can change someone's life, for he was doing nothing but thinking about Netta in both of his states: normal and dead. The normal state thinks about claiming Netta to himself, and the dead state thinks about killing Netta who ruined his life by loving her.
Money
Throughout the story, Netta was very materialistic. She was like a prostitute who went to any man with money. She was attracted to men who were rich and had high reputations and power like Eddie Carstairs. The only times when she looked at George and talked to him, leaving him to beg for her love and replying back to him politely, was when she needed money from him to pay for her bills. Also, Netta's group (Peter, Mickey, and Netta) despised George and thought he was a fool but used him as a source of money when they needed to go to a pub, buy gin, and reserve rooms in a hotel in Brighton.
