The Company Man Ellen Goodman Summary

In the article “ The Busy Trap” Kreider tries to convince readers to chose time over money. He makes numerous points including how boasting about busyness takes the form of a complaint. He insults those who voluntarily take on obligations by remarking that they are obsessed with always being occupied. However, the basis for such a conclusion is founded on only a few examples of individuals who were negatively affected by the burden of work. In Kreider’s opinion it is wasteful to be busy all the time because life is too short to work more than 5 hours per day and not spend enough time in one’s happy place. What is your happy place? Picture it and stay there for a while letting your thoughts flow. Notice that your thinking becomes more positive and somewhat out of reach. Next, imagine a life with minimal stress that includes little to no work and much enjoyment; now you 're floating back to reality because that type of life is not in the grasps of most. Similarly, Kreider writes his article as if most people have plenty of time to waste, and to enjoy themselves, as he has. Kreider’s overall point that people keep themselves busy to escape the feelings of emptiness is both ignorant and a reflection of his narrow perspective of the world. His opinion that people feel apprehensive when not working, along with the fact that most people wouldn’t be content living the lifestyle Kreider is promoting, plus his support towards the propositions of full unemployment and a

The typical business man involved in corporate America works anywhere from six to ten hours per day. Phil, “the Company Man” worked six days a week sometimes until eight or nine at night, making himself a true workaholic. Using his life story before he died Goodman is able to convey her liking toward Phil but her dislike of what the business world has turned him into. Not only does Goodman use a number of rhetorical devices but she also uses Phil’s past as well as the people who were once in Phil’s life to get her message across to her reader. Ellen Goodman sarcastically creates the obituary of a man who dedicated his life to his job and the company he worked for. Goodman uses anaphora, satire, diction,

Everyone in the world needs a successful in their life in both work and family. We can see that some people have very success in their work, but not so great in their family, and some of them have separation spouse, living alone, having misbehavior children. In the article, ‘How Will You Measure Your Life?’ by Clayton Christensen from the Harvard Business Reading, explains and guides us how you can make your life happy and successful. The three topics in the article that I think they will be benefit to our life are allocating choice, creating a culture, and importance of humility.

We cannot let our work and living conditions limit our success, we must take control of the situations in our lives. As much as we have all heard it, we need to keep a positive attitude and mindset, or at least try to. This is probably the easiest way to take control of the situations you are in; keeping a positive attitude has been known to increase your physical and mental health, which can really only benefit you. In a study performed by the University of California, Riverside, in which productivity, happiness, and overall physical and mental well-being were analyzed in working individuals, it was concluded that a positive attitude and outlook has a great effect on one’s life. Generally positive, or “happy people,” were found to be more satisfied with their jobs, to perform tasks better, and less likely to be unemployed and more likely to be physically healthier and live longer than their less happy peers (Joy). Positive people being less likely to be unemployed allows these individuals to accumulate more money, which makes the general public happier nowadays, and this ultimately makes the dream of having success more easily attainable. Happy individuals being found to be healthier and to therefore live longer than less happy individuals gives these happy individuals more time to attain the “American Dream” as well. Keeping

Roszak makes a point in his essay about jobs being our salvation, where he describe there is no end to a working life. Roszak describes the waste of time in people’s jobs and that most employees don’t even put all of their effort into them. He figures

This summer my workplace was nannying for two kids that live down the street. It was not a life-changing experience like Jesse Bent had, but it did impact my life in many ways. I started making money which caused me to not fully rely on my parents for everything. In the article Jesse Bent says, "The job gives me a paycheck. A purpose. A chance to buy things for himself, which recently is a 1999 Honda Civic." He says he is feeling like more of a man than he used to and he is more proud of himself. I can relate to this because with the job I am able to go out with my friends or pay for gas and not have to ask my parents for money. With the job, I have to be more responsible and I gain a lot of independence. Bent and I relate in this way because he also has to be more responsible and he has to use the money he earns for things he needs, not drugs. He has gained more control over his illness by working at Hyvee. The workplace is a place in the society where people are learning traits that they would only learn in this agent of

Money is a powerful possesion in society, espsecially in the working class. Money and wealth soon over shadow and take over a workers life, leaving only the thought of doing something for their family. This concept is represented in the charactor Phil and how his death is insignificant. It is shown through the numerical diction, making the death feel minor and the people involved. The people, such as family and co-workers, are mentioned in the simplist form.

American entrepreneur, Steve Jobs, once said: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Some people may take a job out of necessity rather than being passionate about their work. You have to love what you do as you spend more time working than being with loved ones. In Studs Terkel’s Working, adapted by Harvey Pekar, the reader is presented with visual adaptations of the lives of ordinary Americans that show how they feel about what they do for a living ranging from farmers, miners, barbers, box boys, and a hooker are some of the jobs mentioned in the novels. The author gives the

Goodman uses sarcasm towards Phil’s family to help display that he wasn’t present much in his family’s lives and spent too much time at the office. Goodman labels Phil’s family as “survivors” to portray that even before the death of Phil, the family already was fractured. This is shown even more clearly through

An inscription taken from his father’s grave “To know him is to Love Him” became a #1 hit song. At the age of 21 he became a millionaire. In 1966 Phil went into seclusion after what he believed was the greatest hit of

Throughout the piece, Goodman paints a picture of the eventual obituary of Phil and the average American. This is done through the use of repetition of the phrase “...worked himself to death at precisely 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning…,” This was used to show how Phil will only be remembered by his sudden death circumstances, not his life that is left behind. While the obituary mentions his family, the main idea is how he was taken unexpectedly, through a stress related attack. This could happen to anybody, especially a worried, working middle class American who is trying to provide a better life for their family. Goodman’s distaste in shown in the lack of variety and the formal saying of these words, as if she is reading off a cue card and has nothing to

Many people in today’s society find themselves guilty of believing the common misconception that money can buy happiness. They go to school to become a doctor, lawyer, or other high paying job, with money and social status as their only incentives. Many will find that they have fallen into a trap, when they start earning their large salary, but still are not happy. While there were many messages present throughout Studs Terkels Working: a graphic adaptation, the most important reoccurring message seemed to be that having pride and dignity as well as working at a job that fulfills one’s life passion or is simply enjoyable are more important qualities than earning a large salary and having a high rank on the social ladder. The interaction of

Many people today find themselves in “dead-end” jobs, or they feel like work is purposeless and frustrating. At the same time, some people figured out that work is a blessing to them. People who suffer their lives in a slavery for many years in another country, think that work is a curse because they were ruled by people. They work because they are forced by other people. Work is a blessing for most people, but for some people work is a curse because of the lack of opportunity. Work is a blessing for those who understand it. To understand that work is a blessing was one of true understanding the purpose of life. It is important because not knowing the purpose of life brought people depressed. As Honore said “I'm retired from the Army, but

In the writing “The Company Man”, the author, Ellen Goodman, gives us a brief, yet, fulfilling summery of a big company man’s attributes, life, and death. In this work, the author uses referential writing as her primary purpose of writing, while she also uses narration as her primary pattern for the analysis of the writing. She begins, opening up with “He worked himself to death, finally and precisely, at 3:00 AM Sunday Morning.” in order to grab our attention. She then goes into the different aspects of his life, starting with his devotion to his company and some of the different characteristics about him. Next, she lists, in chronological order, the different people in his family, and analyzes what he meant to each person listed. Finally, in closing, the author repeats some of her work, reflecting her writing in her introduction, closing with more elements about him and his work ethic, but also reminding us of how he sacrificed work for family. She then finishes her writing with “So when he finally worked himself to death, at precisely 3:00 AM Sunday morning, no one was really surprised”

Why did I choose to write about workaholics? The main reason is that the general picture about these people is bad, but there are a lot of them around us and very often we admire them. They are doing exactly what they love – work – and they can never have enough of it. Although they spend most of their time working, surprisingly they are happy. They show so good results in what they do. But the consequences are great. Family life is disrupted, intellectual horizons narrow and the consequences to the workaholic's health are severe: fat, lack of exercise and stress. Why do people become workaholics? When a person becomes workaholic is there a way back? How should people around him act in order to keep both him and themselves