The Company Man Summary By Ellen Goodman
The company man summary, the company man theme, the company man questions and answers
The Company Man
Ellen Goodman
About Author Ellen Goodman :
The company man is an essay which is written by Ellen Goodman. She was a journalist who was born on 1941. 'Close to home' and 'At large' are collections of her essays. In the essay the company man she has described about a workaholic person 'Phil'.
Main Point Of the essay the company man :
- The company man describes about a man named Phil who worked himself to death at 3:00 am Sunday morning.
- The obituary (a news article that reports the recent death of a person) said that he died of a coronary thrombosis (a dangerous medical condition in which the flow of blood to the heart is blocked.
- He was a perfect type of person. A hardworking, ambitious, quick, competitive person, one of six vice presidents who dies at the age of 51.
- He spent much of his time at office avoiding every extracurricular activities.
- He was conscious of his health and many people worked for him.
- He had a wife and 3 children and he had fulfilled every responsibility towards them,
- Even though the youngest son was his father's favorite, they rarely spent time together.
- At the funeral, the 60 year old company president told everyone that Phil was a hard-working asset to the company.
- Phil used to be in his office all the time and it was a great loss to the company.
- After the funeral the president made queries for Phil's replacement asking everyone around "who has been working the hardest"?
Summary of the essay The Company Man by Ellen Goodman
In the essay, "the company man", a hard working business man named Phil eventually works himself to death. The writer uses the name 'company man' to show that the Phil was not just a man but he was an extension of his work. Phil spent so much time on his office that he rarely had time for his family, friends or himself as well to a point that even when he was alive his wife missed him. He lived wo work not work to live but even after showing such dedication, as soon as he died his boss started asking around for another hard working employee to replace him. This is a way of showing Goodman mocking the modern culture where there is no time to waste, but only time to work. The writer is trying to show her readers that the 'hustle and grind life' is not as meaningful as people pretend it to be. Goodman points that one should spend his life earning memories and gaining love from loved ones rather than living only for monetary gains.
The intention of the writer is to make readers understand the value of spending time wisely and spending their energy on things that mean something to them, A sarcastic and bitter tones is used in the story showing us that the writer looks down on Phil. She also uses pathos to evoke sympathy for the family. Goodman is displaying the argument that perfection in one side can create a pitiful imbalance in one person entire life.
1 comment