How does the author address the theme of addiction in the novel, The Talented Miss Farwell?

While the Activity begins as a seemingly harmless pastime for Becky, it soon becomes her obsession. The more money she steals without detection, the more art she can buy, and the less she wants to quit. Indeed, her seedy series of successes only succeeds in further empowering her endeavors. The author uses the Activity's evolution over the course of the novel to show the ways in which ambition can quickly become dangerous addiction.