The image of the drab, everyday office space conjures different thoughts from different people; some consider it a prison, others a monument to the lack of productivity characteristic of bureaucracy. This such “typical” office setting becomes a playground of deep psychological study in Daniel Orozco's short story Orientation. Through the author's meticulous implementation of tone, irony, and plot structure, he paints a dark and vivid portrait of the underlying truth that looks can be deceiving. While many people maintain a subconscious mindset that their lives are inherently interesting and all other people that they associate with throughout the day are static characters in the story of life, Orientation reminds us that this is most certainly not the case. The tone of the story is crucial to developing the idea of unremarkable people leading interesting lives. The narrator leads the reader through what appears to be an ordinary office by using dull, uninterested language, however interesting the information he or she is relating may be. The same dismissive tone is used to refer to the functionality of the copier machine as well as the serial killer that works in …show more content…
This irony is also an overarching example of the duality of the theme itself. One would not expect people that have an ordinary job and static dispositions to have such intriguing and personal glimpses into their lives revealed to a complete stranger by a neutral party, such as when the narrator describes Amanda Peirce's deeply personal concerns to the reader and insists to “not let on” even though the entire office is already aware of this information. The ironic idiosyncrasies of Gwendolyn Stitch also reinforce this such mindset. While Stitch outwardly appears to be content with the expectations that are placed on her by others, she is internally a nervous wreck that constantly succumbs to the pressure she faces every
Through Orozco short story “Orientation,” he describes humorous, uncomfortable, and unprofessional situations in which the readers gets an insight on what he is about to experience in his new work place. Orozco bounces between,
The movie does a good job of presenting the average workplace – boring and political. There is especially interesting scene about the TPC report, where some obscure paper report employees need to complete becomes so important that everybody just wants to talk about it. Not only about its contents, but the proper way to complete it. Having worked in a few places myself and seen how documentation takes a life of its own, I can see why a creative, hard working, and innovative employee would feel bored and useless.
The quirky show “The Office” shadows office workers of “Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company”, a fictional paper distributor in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Occasional one v. one discussions with the employee's, “raw” footage, and many humorously bizarre yet relatable plots that have made this series enormously popular. The show portrays some of life’s most awkward situations and not only does it make the audience laugh, but also delivers small dosages of life lessons.
In this brief encounter we can sense the rudeness of the clerk as he interact with Gittes. The young man reluctantly and with apparent agitation looks up at Gittes, clearly signaling his utter disapproval of Gittes interruption. The lack of customer service is a relatable frustration that came across in this scene as making Gittes one of us, a normal person dealing with the antics of others. Gittes frustration is perpetuated by the lack of effort displayed by the young man in simply doing his job. The young man’s complete lack of enthusiasm for his job or in helping Gittes is uncomfortable to watch, and yet we see Gittes taking the impolite attitude of the Hall of Records worker with a heroic calmness. Once the worker gives Gittes the directions to the plat books he is seeking Gittes allows his tempered frustration to come alive, as he walks away from the childlike, spoiled worker. An exasperated Gittes mumbles “Weasel!” in reference to the help given him by the younger man, as he walks to off from the records desk. (Evans &Polanski, 1974).
In the novel, Stonewall’s Gold written by Robert J. Mrazek, Mrs. Lockhart or Jamie’s mother, a minor character, affects the life of Jamie, the protagonist and the overall outcome of his Journey to find the gold. Mrs. Lockhart was originally from New York but had been living in the south for 16 years. She was only in her mid- 30s and was a former school teacher. Mrs. Lockhart was also very opinionated, she liked to tell everyone everything she had to offer, along with her views on slavery. Her husband, Jamie’s father, left on Donna’s birthday, leaving no clue to where he could be.
In Avi’s novel, The Man Who Was Poe, the reader learns all about the story’s focal antagonist, Edgar Allan Poe, under the alias of Dupin. Poe was a real man, who is one of the best-known American authors, with one of the most distinctive styles of writing. He is mostly recognized for is short stories that possess a gruesome plot and a hair-raising theme. In the novel, the style of Avi’s writing can easily be identified as an emulated version of the way Poe wrote. The way Avi used his writing to make the reader feel is also very similar to Poe. Both authors used descriptions and selective vocabulary in attempt to set the mood of the story and make the audience, who reads the story, feel a certain way. The elements of fiction play a big role in the style of the authors’ writing. The strategy, of usage, of setting, character, theme, plot, and mood, in Poe’s stories, and Avi’s novel, correspond to one another in many ways. Descriptions of Poe and the way he is depicted in the story also duplicated many of Poe’s real life characteristics. Poe’s style of writing is clearly a substantial influence on Avi, and is projected throughout the duration of his book with the usage of theme, setting and mood, along with the physical and mental characteristics of Poe himself.
William Gay’s short story, “The Paperhanger” does an excellent job illustrating the theme that, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” Today’s society is so focused on outward appearances, that they tend to forget this popular idiom. This expression can be interpreted in many ways, both literally, and abstractly. While a book may appear fun and adventurous on the outside cover, the inside context may lack excitement and adventure. On the other hand, those that look sweet and innocent on the outside may be manipulative and evil at the core. Moreover, those that seem rough around the edges may be the sweetest, most kindhearted individuals on the inside. The main character in “The Paperhanger” is a great example of a man whose outward appearances and actions do not match his inner personality traits. While the paperhanger appears honorable to the outside world, deep down he is devious and spiteful.
A typical day for a grocery store cashier consists of scanning items, bagging items, and dealing with snobby customers every once in a while. So it is no wonder that Sammy, the grocery store cashier, has a sudden mood change that exhibits his personality when his day deviates from the normal. In the first two paragraphs of the narrative “A&P” by John Updike, Updike uses word choice, tone of voice, and detail to show that the narrator, Sammy, has a lot of good/bad qualities, like straightforwardness, wittiness, perceptiveness, and eloquence. Depending on the situation in which these traits are revealed, Sammy can either be perceived as an innocent teenager or a chauvinist in the making.
In the story, verbal and dramatic irony are used to show the woman’s superiority in analyzing the crime scene over the men’s analysis. The two women in the story, Mrs. Peters and Martha Hale, analyze the crime scene much better than the men because they see the struggle of Minnie’s rebellion from her husband. In the story, “Wives themselves, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are able to determine Mrs. Wright’s frame of mind from
Her attractive persona and florid speech resulted in an initial impression of kindness and candor, though what lies beneath is hardly approachable. The one part of Cathy’s outwardly appearance that exposed her was the coldness in her eyes. Samuel Hamilton describes this phenomenon, saying, “There was nothing recognizable behind them,” and that “They were not human eyes,” (C). Cathy’s eyes are the window to her soul and represent her cold, haughty view of the world. Her soul is the the embodiment of whom Cathy really is thus, the real Cathy controls her environment, this controlling comes from the fear of being exposed. Charles recognized and saw through Cathy’s persona and therefore did not trust her blatantly stating to Adam, “I wouldn’t trust her with a bit piece,” (B). Charles saw the dangers of trusting Cathy due to her deceptive and manipulative ways that he easily recognized. He was able to see past her beguiling appearance and saw her as the inveigler she truly was. Although Samuel and Charles were able to see past Cathy, others such as Adam were not able to see her carefully crafted
Glaspell develops the theme of gender roles by what Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters fret about at the crime scene. For instance, the first concern that Mrs. Peters voices revolves around Mrs. Wright’s fruit preserves and implies that the women are housekeepers. Both the Sheriff and Mr. Hale remark about how the women are “worryin’ about her preserves” and “worrying over trifles” (Glaspell 3). Later, when the men go upstairs to look for evidence, the women decide to bring Mrs. Wright’s apron, fruit, shawl, and quilt for her in prison. To further establish Mrs. Wright as a domesticated housewife, Mrs. Peters suggests that Mrs. Wright wants her apron “to make her feel more natural” (Glaspell 5). Because of what Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discuss at the crime scene, Glaspell verifies that the women play the role of housekeeper and cook.
This theme of social facade and hypocrisy is seen throughout The Jilting of Granny Weatherall in the character of the grandmother. For example, the grandmother had an illegitimate child,
In the story, Orientation, wrote by Daniel Orozco, he captures the true spirit of the stereotypical workplace, by using the lack of dialogue, humor, and repetition. The story conveys a sense of workplace alienation. This story is all about the tension between people’s essential identity, crucial interconnectedness, and collaboration required of workers. He shows a new employee the ropes. It features a deadpan mix of senseless instructions. Orozco describes the absurd work environment, and he shows the readers to see the wide variety of social absurdities that employees can find in the workplace. Orozco gives a lot information about the work expectations and his co-workers’ private life; he also implies some perspectives about bullying in his workplace. He brings out the typical office affair to reflect human relationships.
4. Mr. Erwin Martin, the protagonist of the story, was a small, intelligent, neat and precise man, who followed a rigid daily routine. He never drank or smoked and because of this it made him an exemplary employee at his firm. His boss even stated that “Man is fallible but Martin isn’t”. In terms of characters Martin is considered a round character. He is considered this because he is well developed and has many character traits. As the story progresses Erwin does some things out of character. One of these being, the plotting of the murder of his fellow co-worker. It does not coincide with his character traits and we can also infer that he is going through a change which might make him a dynamic character as well. Instead of murdering Mrs. Barrows with brute force, he “kills” her career by using his knowledge of his perceived personality against her. He does all these things in order to rid himself of Mrs. Barrows and continue his routine life.