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Working for a Purpose, not Money as seen in The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit

In The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, our main character, Tom Rath, struggles with work after coming back from World War II. Originally, Tom returns to work for a company that his wealthy grandmother arranges for him. The job helps him provide for his wife and family but Tom soon finds a better job in public relations. Tom believes he just has to tell his boss what he wants to hear and that will be enough to keep him in good standing. His wife, despises the mindset of Tom and is eventually able to convince him to be honest. This new way of discussion with his boss works better than expected and Tom learns it is better to work with purpose than for money.

In an article from Harvard Business Review titled How Great Companies Think Differently, the author Rosabeth Moss Kanter shares the secret behind all great businesses. No longer can companies only be judged on the profits they make. Customers and investors are interested in what companies are doing to give back to the community and the world.

When Tom came back from the war he was working for the money. He had no real interest for the job arranged by his grandmother and only did it because it helped him provide for his family. Luckily, a new job opportunity presented itself and showed Tom working for a purpose is more rewarding. This can be seen as an optimistic change in our world. Companies and individuals are beginning to look at more than just the bottom line of their work. Ethics is playing a bigger and bigger role in our world which is a change we need to see.

Kanter, Rosabeth M. "How Great Companies Think Differently." Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Publishing, 01 Nov. 2011. Web. 9 May 2015.

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Using the Past to Imagining a Future as seen in The Gernsback Continuum

It is hard to imagine a future without the present having some influence on that imagination. In dark times, it is common to imagine a dark future just as in pleasant times, it is easy to imagine a pleasant future.

This effect is seen in The Gernsback Continuum as we see the protagonist travel to California to photograph architecture of the 1930’s. Our narrator talks about the hopes and dreams our nation had during the early twentieth century and how that was reflected in the architecture of that time. However, roughly fifty years later the hopes and dreams had changed and society had lost those hopes and dreams after seeing the devastating outcome of two world wars and being in the midst of the Cold War. Our protagonist of the short story notices the failure of our country being able to make our dreams a reality and assumes our real world is destined for more failure. After decades of war, it seems inevitable that humanity will end in destruction of each other.

This idea of imagining our future is also seen in the book Building a Bridge to the 18th Century: How the Past can Improve our Future, written by Neil Postman. Postman explains in his introduction when we predict our futures we are really saying more about our past than our future. This is not a bad thing because we must never forget where we came from but I believe Postman is explaining we can never fully escape our past and our future will always be a reflection of our past.

I chose to discuss the point made by Postman because this is something I have noticed a lot with the other pieces of literature and film we have studied this past semester. It seems that authors such as William Gibson and director of Blade Runner, Ridley Scott, project their current time period into their visions of the future. This leads me to wonder if people are really pessimistic or optimistic or maybe they are just thinking the only way they know how. Looking at the case of the protagonist of The Gernsback Continuum, he saw forgotten hopes and dreams in his country’s past and currently lives in a world where nuclear threats are a regular occurrence. When thinking about it this way, it seems hard that our main character could ever be optimistic about our future.

Postman, Neil. "Introduction." Building a Bridge to the 18th Century: How the past Can Improve Our Future. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999. N. pag. Print.

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Distinctions between Class and Worth as seen in Don Quixote

The connection of social class and individual worth was very prevalent in the time period Don Quixote was written. It was assumed that if someone was in a high social class they were important and wise. On the other hand, if someone was in a low class they were assumed to be worthless and a burden to society.

The novel, Don Quixote, plays with this assumption as the author, Cervantes, reverses the roles with his characters. Contrary to the belief of that time the characters from the high social class, such as the Duke and Duchess, are seen as foolish and superficial and the members of the lower social classes, such as Sancho, are wise and thoughtful. Before this novel, social class and worth went hand and hand without much questioning so this idea that not every member of royalty was wise and not every peasant was ignorant was a completely new concept.

Fast forwarding today, the importance of social classes are not nearly as relevant as they were in the time Don Quixote was published. In fact, in a journal titled The Declining Political Significance of Social Class, the authors explain this trend away from the importance of social classes. They include several reasons for this shift including the rise of the welfare state in an attempt to create equal opportunity for all as well as political parties shifting their focus to non-economic issues such as the environment.

Looking at our society as a whole, we have come a long way from the times of Don Quixote. Cervantes really opened the doors and started the conversation about the long held assumptions of our society. Since, then the doors have remained open and more and more of humanity has begun to realize the correlation between social class and worth. This is a step in the right direction because no longer are we worried about individuals and where they sit in relation to us but we are concerned with the bigger issues we face today and realize that we are all facing the same problems together, not as a social class.

Clark, T. N., S. M. Lipset, and M. Rempel. "The Declining Political Significance Of Social Class." International Sociology 8.3 (1993): 293-316. Sage Journals. Web. 6 Feb. 2015.

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The Need to Find Happiness in Dark Times as seen in Singing in the Rain

Our society is surrounded by unhappiness and tragedies. It seems impossible that anyone would be able to remain optimistic in our world. Regardless, we are able to find happy stories buried in the tragedies that allow us to cling to hope and reassure us that everything will be okay. We need these happy stories. Our society needs these stories to keep us moving forward with some sense of hope. Our history is filled with highs and lows and our hope for the future rises and falls with these highs and lows.

The film Singing in the Rain highlights the above ideas. Produced in 1952, during the Cold War, our nation was paralyzed with fear, and this film taught us the need to find happiness in the sadness. On the surface, a film production company struggles to keep up with its competitors when the industry switches to films with sound. But underneath lies the message to persevere through struggles and find happiness. The main characters must overcome the societal pressures place upon them in order to find true happiness. The idea of singing in the rain and its literal meaning says something in itself. Signing often connotes happiness and bliss while rain symbolizes the opposite, sadness. Being able to sing in the rain and find happiness within the sadness is what our society should strive to do. In the film, the main characters Don Lockwood and Kathy Selden are unable to be seen together in public because of societal pressures. The couple goes through great lengths to keep their relationship a secret and are successful in doing so. However, they eventually reach a point where they must make a decision on whether they should let the public know or end the relationship all together. Once they make the decision to share their relationship with the public and are able to freely express their love for one another, they experience true happiness.

In The Utility of Happiness, written by Ruut Veenhoven, explains the importance of maintaining happiness in life. Staying happy leads to a healthier life in several ways. A happy lifestyle acts a buffer to stress and disease and increases the average life span. Not only do humans want happiness but we require it. All of these positive side effects of happiness make sense but finding this happiness is easier said than done.

When humanity goes through dark times it can be easy to take this negativity and project it onto our future. We have to resist this urge and realize that just because times are dark in the current moment, they will not always be this way. Times can easily change and each of us has to play a part in that change in order to better the world and ourselves.

Veenhoven, Ruut. "The Utility of Happiness." Social Indicators Research 20.4 (1988): 333-54. Springer Link. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.

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Boosting Happiness by Remembering the Past as seen in The Death of a Salesman

In The Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, Willy finds himself at the end of his life very unhappy with his current position and the outcome of his decisions. He is an unsuccessful salesman, his children have made nothing of themselves, and it seems he never has enough money to pay bills and live the life he has always dreamt of.

Throughout the play, Willy is confronted with the reality of his current situation which drives him into anger and frustration. Whenever Willy becomes overwhelmed with his inability to meet the high expectations he has set for himself he quickly starts to imagine his past. Whether the memory is of his two sons or his brother, Willy finds himself in a much happier mood.  Remembering the past is Willy’s way of coping with the realities of the present.

The past is often seen as a time when everything was simpler and problems were smaller or nonexistent. Today’s generation often looks back into various decades of the twentieth century and dreams of being alive in that time. Those individuals were never actually part of that generation but through the photos and stories those days can seem much more enjoyable compared to some of the realities of today. This belief seems to be an extension of the saying “the grass is always greener on the other side.” No one knows for a fact which side is better but our memories have a way of forgetting the dark moments of our past as a way of protecting our current selves.  

The Journal of Happiness Studies, written by Fred B. Bryant, Colette M. Smart, and Scott P. King, explores the idea behind why people, specifically elders, reminisce about the past as way of boosting happiness. The authors explore several outside studies in order to come to their conclusion and found several reasons for this behavior. Some theorists argue remembering the past can work to increase self-esteem, for pure happiness, or to cope with a negative experience. Other theorists claim that remembering the past can reduce a negative effect of a current situation or help resolve current conflicts or problems occurring in the individual’s life.

The audience doesn’t know for a fact that Willy’s life was that great in the past but through his flashbacks, Willy’s past does seem much better than the present. His flashbacks come to him when he becomes too overwhelmed with his present life. Willy retreats into his past life in order to protect himself with his present troubles. This falls in line with the findings of Bryant, Smart, and King.

Regardless of whether or not the grass is actually greener on the other side, looking into our past or past generations helps us cope with our current problems. Willy arguably spends too much time reminiscing about his past in order to avoid his problem, yet his way of coping is not unusual.

Works Cited

Bryant, Fred B., Colette M. Smart, and Scott P. King. Journal of Happiness Studies. Utrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2014. Print.

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Freudian Theories Across Cultures

When Freud developed his theories, most of his audience and critics were much like himself, European and white. This is not to say he was not challenged by his colleagues, however, when he was challenged, it came from another European white male. The field of psychoanalysis was not diverse at all in Freud’s era. It is not his fault, but changes were made once the diversity of the field became a factor, particularly when looking into one of Freud’s most popular discoveries, the Oedipus Complex.

Freud explains the Oedipus Complex through the Greek story of Oedipus who kills his father and marries his mother. The psychologist explains in his theory that all children experience this desire beginning somewhere around age five.

Freud’s theory seemed to go somewhat untested until after Freud’s death once psychologists began looking at the Oedipus Complex outside of the European culture. An Indian psychoanalyst noticed some patterns in the Indian culture but the Oedipus stage was slightly different. The child began to be more envious of political or social power rather than a sexual power. This was largely because the cultures of Europe and India are slightly different. The culture in India places a greater importance on social power and political power. The similarities between cultures fall in the pre-Oedipal stage of development between mother and child. As the child becomes more adapted to cultural norms, those desires change to conform with the norms.

Therefore, Freud was never wrong about the Oedipus Complex, but his theories are still being looked into by his successors and more information is being added to them. I find it interesting that five year old children are able to subconsciously understand societal norms and conform to fit into those demands. I also found it interesting to see knowledge coming from the Orient influencing these theories and slightly challenging them as well. I would think by the early 1900’s information would be flowing seamlessly through the two continents but apparently it did not work this way in Freud’s time. Nonetheless, the great minds of the Orient eventually made their way West to share their ideas and to create a melting pot of knowledge which we still add to each day.

Works Cited

LeVine, Robert A. "Psychological Anthropology." Google Books. Wiley-Blackwell, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2015.

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A Deeper Exploration of the works of Dali and Magritte 

Over the week that we studied this section I found several paintings, mostly surrealist, that caught my eye and encouraged me to study the paintings a little deeper.

The first painting I took interest in was “Swans Reflecting Elephants” by Salvador Dali. Right at face value I appreciate the dream-like qualities this painting holds. This quality may be common throughout all surrealist paintings but this one just seems to stand above the rest for feel as if I am trying to make sense of my world within a dream. With everything going on the photo it is difficult for me to focus on one particular aspect of the photo without a different aspect stealing my attention. Of course the first thing I focus on are the swans and the elephants reflection in the water. The swans, and elephants, look very calm in the scene. Everything for that matter seems very calm, quiet, and peaceful. However there is not much life within the photo. The trees behind the swans are dead and there is no shrubbery around the lake which just seems abnormal to me. Looking into the symbolism of the animals portrayed in this painting, I see the symbol of love within the swans and wisdom within the elephants. So even the symbols of the animals portray this relaxing feeling which is contradicted by the background. I didn’t even notice until reading an analysis of the painting but there is a self portrait of Dali on the left of the painting. The author of the analysis points out Dali is mostly turned away from his viewers to symbolize he “was getting frustrated because the surrealism movement was not getting enough attention as it was supposed to” (Iadsai). This serves as a fairly simple symbol but I find it interesting that this was Dali’s thoughts on the issue. He was creating all these wonderful surrealist paintings yet the public kept their backs turned and were unable to recognize the hidden beauty.

The second painting I decided to look into was by Rene Magritte titled, “The Son of Man.” This caught my eye mostly because of how frustrated it made me. The painting is perfect. I love the colors and the simplicity but the apple just irritates me every time I see it. I desperately want to move the apple aside to reveal the man’s face.  Not only is the apple blocking the man’s face, but it is totally out of place. There is no tree or branch and the apple is just floating. The man is clearly on the ground with gravity holding him in place, but this apple is just there. I don’t know how else to explain it. The apple doesn’t even cover the man’s face completely. You can partially see the man’s left eye which is personally just a tease. When I looked online for some critiques I couldn’t find much regarding symbolism or hidden meanings but when asked about the painting, it was clear that Magritte understood the desire for humans to see what is hidden from them (The Son of Man).

Works Cited

Iadsai, Rose. "Swans Reflecting Elephants Painting Review and Analysis." Samui Art Gallery. N.p., June 2012. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

The Son of Man, 1946 by Rene Magritte. Rene Magritte, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

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Human Compassion from the Classroom to the World

At the beginning of Darwin’s writing he talks about his early life and the state of the world he grew up in. It is easy to draw connections from his early life to the writings of Marat and Shakespeare. Darwin was around in a time period where science was still very much active where theories were coming from every corner of the world and colonization was very common among the world powers. These happenings greatly influenced Darwin’s thoughts and theories which is evident as he brings them up in his introduction. While explaining his theory of evolution, he explains the positive direction in which is going. Eventually, we will love everyone. This will start with our immediate family and expand to our town and eventually to the world. Darwin makes it a point to show the spread of Christianity within the colonies is helping his theory because we are spreading religion and order to a dark and uncivilized world. If this is the direction in which we are heading, we will inevitably reach a point where our shared goal is to look out and care for one another.

This ties in quite well with the communist manifesto written by Marx and Engels. Their manifesto spends a great deal of time explaining the social classes of their time and how it is only brewing trouble for their future. As the bourgeoisie continues to work at faster and faster rates thanks to the assistance of technology, men, women, and children are selling themselves at a faster rate. According to Marx, humans are not designed to work. The concept of working for a salary was something created by the leaders to keep us in line. If humans were to eliminate this assumption and stop working and eliminate competition between one another, we could spend more time participating in leisure and change the culture back to the way it should be.

If we combine the ideas of the scientist and philosopher we can see the domino effect. When we start with Darwin’s idea that through religion and colonization we can evolve to spread love to essentially a world-wide scale then we can move into Marx and Engels’ belief. Once humans feel an innate duty to care for one another there will be no need to compete and fight for resources. Humans will be able to enjoy a lifestyle of only working when needed, never taking an excess of resources, and helping one another.

The Department of Education published a report at the end of the 20th century explaining the efficiency of students working together to accomplish a common goal, learning specific material. This report begins by explaining how shocking the discovery was, much like Darwin explains how obvious his discovery was once he had actually discovered it, “…teachers and administrators are discovering an untapped resource for acceleration students’ achievement: the students themselves” (11). The studies by the government show that when students work in small groups, they are able to learn and develop an understanding for the material much quicker and on a deeper level. Connecting this back to Marx and Engels’ theories, these students are no longer working against each other to become the best in the class. Instead the students are working together to help each other understand the material and work through the problems together. This collaborative learning allows the students to teach their peers, which helps their peers learn the material, and helps the student who may already have a strong grasp on the material, get an even deeper understanding of it. Not only does this way of learning help the students learn in a more effective and efficient way but the students also learn how to work together and support each other at a young age which can be transferred into a societal change as they grow older and become a valued member of society.

Picture Sources: http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/DAR_140.4.._9.jpg http://fineartamerica.com/featured/teamwork-bryan-camilleri.html

Works Cited

United States. Department of Education. Cooperative Learning and the Collaborative School. Ed. Ronald S. Brandt. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1991. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

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First steps into the Ansel Adams wilderness to raft the lakes. #backpacking #camping #campinca #camptrend #wilderness #wildernessquest #wildernessculture #sierras #sierranevada #neverstopexploring #rei1440project #anseladamswilderness #mammoth #rei #alpacaraft #nofilter #mountain #spring #nature #outdoors #mammothmountain

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