Question

Barry liked playing board games, but he hated losing. He hated losing so much that he would do whatever it took to win, even bending or breaking the rules. He'd steal money from the bank and hide it under the couch cushions. He'd skip spaces while he was moving around the board. He'd shortchange others money that they were owed and argue with them about it. Barry's techniques were effective. He did win most of the games that he played, but the people whom he played with were his friends and family, and it didn't take too long until they caught on to Barry's tricks. They tried to tell Barry to stop cheating. They said that the game wasn't any fun when he cheated, but he didn't listen. He continued with his treacherous style of gameplay, until nobody would play with him anymore. Barry may have won a lot of games, but at what cost?

Answer 1

Answer:

At the cost of the friendship with his friends and family

Explanation:

A proper theme of the story from the excerpt is that winning is not everything. Barry resorted to dubious ways to win the board games. His love for winning made him do many bad things just to win. These included stealing from the bank, cheating in the game by skipping spaces when moving around the board, and shortchanging others of their money.

He was warned by his friends to desist from such acts but he simply refused. In time they all stopped playing with him. So, Barry's love for winning overshadowed him and made him sacrifice his friendship with his friends and family.