Work and Happiness in Death of a Salesman and Remains of the Day

Work and Happiness in Death of a Salesman and Remains of the Day

What a person does to make a living often defines who that person is. Because so much time and energy is invested into work, work is often seen as an extension of oneself. One of the first questions that someone asks after meeting you for the first time is about what you do for a living. The belief is that by knowing what you do, one should be able to tell something about who you are. People almost never ask the more telling question of whether or not you are happy. They rely on the nature of the occupation to tell them something about your happiness. If you are a doctor, lawyer, or celebrity, it is assumed you are happy because of the money associated with those occupations. For some, income is a determinate of happiness. Granted, money is a major determinant, but not the only determinant of happiness. Happiness on the job is better determined by the support to values that a job provides.

Happiness seems to be one of those words that can only be defined in general terms, like love. It is easy to know when you are not happy, but determining happiness is a little harder. People often say that they feel happy or that something makes them happy. Greeting cards are filled with one-liners defining happiness saying things like,"Happiness is…" and then going on to compare it to a kiss from your child or a puppy dog. If achieving happiness was really that trite then no one would have much trouble achieving happiness. Happiness at work is really a more complexed recipe where many personal ingredients are needed to make it turn out as you hoped.

The ingredients or factors that determine happiness on the job are universal in that all workers need a combina...

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...f money could bring happiness, then more money could bring him more happiness. Again, when money is the highest value used in determining happiness at work, other values become over shadowed or ignored. Unsatisfied values eventually reveal themselves when the money value is met. Without being content in all values, happiness at work cannot be attained. Richard Cory probably did not know how to satisfy those once hidden values and found his life very unhappy. Thinking that hard work will lead to financial success and happiness is not wrong as a value, but as Richard Cory finds out, happiness based on only money is not possible unless that value is your only value.

Works Cited and Consulted

Hayman, Ronald. Arthur Miller. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1972.

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Vintage Books, New York NY: 1988.