Of all of Ferris’ characters Tom Mota expresses a willingness to break out of conformity and escape the corporate mindset he has adopted for so long. However serious the intention is, Tom finds himself compelled in this passage to make a mockery of the culture he has been a part of by returning to his old work place. This compulsion exposes Tom’s continued association with the environment, making clear that he finds it problematic to move on. As Ferris suggests, conformity in modern day America is all-pervading and once initiated rejecting your identity is not straightforward. Tom Mota remains concerned about his identity in relation to the advertising agency Ferris describes in the novel. The passage begins as the narrator explains Tom’s actual intentions to ‘take the piss’ out of his ex-colleagues; to him these actions are part of an absurd practical joke. The very real fears and anxieties of Tom’s targets come from their belief that Tom does in fact mean them harm and the weapon he is cradling contains actual bullets. As Tom’s main targets are individualised by the narrator a central quality of the office mentality emerges, a distinctive characteristic of each employee is used to differentiate them. These distinctions also communicate Tom’s motives for targeting each of the individuals, Jim Jackers is ‘an idiot’, Dan Wisdom is a ‘painter of fish’, and Marcia Dwyer is ‘the agency’s real ballbuster’. These synecdoches reaffirm the assertion later in the passage that states ‘how little’ these people ‘really [know each other]’, by engaging only superficially and for business related purposes they remain a mystery to one another. Frequently in this passage, as throughout the entire novel, Ferris adopts a first person plural narrati... ... middle of paper ... ...entre of the passage and represents a kind of breaking point. He is frustrated and resentful about the effect his time at the advertising agency has had on him. The more docile and balanced colleagues may not be capable of behaviour this extreme but are likely to be as spiritually damaged by the confines of their working lives. Tom, despite being exceptionally unsuited to corporate life, has serious trouble removing himself from the situation. Although he returns in opposition to the workings of the agency, intent on belittling its practices, he remains engaged with its influence and in many ways defeats his own purpose. Tom’s struggle in this passage is made absurd and darkly comical for literary effect. It concerns itself with the need to rebuild an identity outside of a framework that has been a part of the individual for long enough that it has become integral.
Throughout “Ethan Frome,” Edith Wharton renders the idea that freedom is just out of reach from the protagonist, Ethan Frome. The presence of a doomed love affair and an unforgiving love triangle forces Ethan to choose between his duty and his personal desire. Wharton’s use of archetypes in the novella emphasizes how Ethan will make choices that will ultimately lead to his downfall. In Edith Wharton’s, “Ethan Frome.” Ethan is wedged between his duty as a husband and his desire for happiness; however, rather than choosing one or the other, Ethan’s indecisiveness makes not only himself, but Mattie and Zeena miserable.
What is the message the author is trying to convey? How does (s)he convey this to the reader?
Edward Bloor takes on a challenge when he attempts to make the reader empathize with people that he had intentionally tried to make the reader dislike earlier in the story. This is a challenge because i...
...allows us to see how Tom is so influenced by his unearned wealth which leads to a bloated perception of his own importance. Tom had grown up unappreciative of his wealth and realized the powers it held which to him meant he could have affairs as he was this man of affluence. Yet, Tom later realizes how Myrtle and the affair he spawned out of arrogance stemming from his wealth was crumbling. Myrtle had a different life from hers with Tom and with his need for power, “the shock had made him physically sick.” This shock shows how Myrtle not being reliant or dependent on him was a shock to him and so much so that it made him physically sick showing that when an individual doesn’t earn his wealth that wealth plays a much larger part in their decisions compared to those who earned their wealth.
A.R. reading is the new choice of torture among teachers across the Issaquah School District (411). A.R. stands for Accelerated Reading.
... he still feels guilt for leaving Laura behind. Tom cannot ignore his feelings towards Laura and accept letting her go. Tom is physically able to flee from his past and reality, but is unable to escape emotionally. Also, even a new life, filled with opportunities and self goals has troubles. Tom says that he does anything to keep busy so he can forget what he left behind. He is still not fully content with his life.
...panic” as they slip “precipitously from his control”(125). He feels nothing constructive, but he feels panic, which is a typical reaction to being unable to cope with one's surroundings and situations. It is this moment which affords us most clearly a view of how Tom has been consumed by his ambitions.
Change is evident as an idea in the novel when Tom is reunited with his childhood preache...
Tom is a very ambitious person when it comes to his work. He is caught up in getting a promotion from work by doing a project. Tom just focuses on the “big picture,” which is his future, rather than the “small picture,” which is what his wife is doing. This trait changes at the end when he decides to go to the movies with his wife. When the paper flew out the window for the second time, he realized that he can do the paper over again but he can never take back that one specific night he could have spent with his wife.
Later approaching the tragedy of of the book, Tom displays another act of sub-human behavior, nonchalantly brushing off his affairs, “And what’s more I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time.”(201). Tom in a sense...
...was the hardness of his terms. He accumulated bonds and mortgages; gradually squeezed his customers closer and closer; and sent them at length, dry as a sponge from his door"( ).The local problem is a stepping stone to present the universal; one, which is the subject of greed, science everyone is tempted by greed. Moreover, the narrator remains in omniscient point of view to make readers know what others think about Tom: "Her voice was often heard in wordy warfare with her husband; and his face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words. No one ventured, however, to interfere between them; the lonely wayfarer shrunk within himself at the horrid clamor and clapper clawing; eyed the den of discord askance, and hurried on his way, rejoicing, if a bachelor, in his celibacy. After reading this passage, readers gain a bad impression of Tom.
Possibly the most recurring symbol to the story is the movies Tom retreats to at the end of the day. Tom has a strong desire to follow his father’s footsteps and leave his unsatisfying life behind,
Tom clearly does not believe that staying at home with his mother and sister is worth the unhappiness he feels. A common issue that arises in The Glass Menagerie is Tom’s nightly trips to the movies. When asked about his frequent trips to the movies, Tom describes that “adventure is something I [he]” doesn’t “have much of at work.” (4.Tom) Living vicariously through the movies he sees, remains one of Tom’s only true sources of happiness.
Tom is a character many people in this generation can relate to. Although the play was written many years ago Tom is just like any other millennial from this day and age. He basically hates his job because it’s not fun. He can’t cope with the fact that he has to pick up all the slack his father left behind. He even seems to think that running away will fix everything. All of these things are very common in society today.
Taking a close look at a text takes much more than looking at words or fining word and phrases to answer questions. Close reading is define as the mindful, disciplined reading of an object with a view to deeper understanding of its meaning (Cummins, 2013). According to Fisher & Frey (2012), the practice of close reading is not a new one, and in fact has existed for many decades as the practice of reading a text for a level of detail not used in everyday reading. Therefore, teachers need to foster this skill on students in early stages of literacy skill to become proficient in comprehension. In order for students to examine complex text, teachers need to model and guide them through various strategies that would support their understanding