Swift Essay, Research Paper
A comparison of the major changes in American enterprise
indicated in the writings of
Jonathan Swift (pre-20th Century) and Herman Melville (20th Century).
Abstract
The authors of the selected works, Jonathan Swift’s essay "A Modest
Proposal" and Herman Melville’s "Case: Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story
of Wall Street", the reader can imagine the poor working conditions in the
early time of our industrial growth. In Swift’s proposal it was apparent that
the poverty of Ireland was of major concern during the 1700’s. Swift, in his
satire reflects on the class distinctions of the very wealthy and the extremely
poor. In Herman Melville’s essay it is apparent that life on Wall Street,
although the character Bartleby was apparently bankrupt in more than financial
ways, business life has considerably change for that time era to the typical
businesses of our modern time.
Assessment of Jonathan Swift’s essay, "A Modest Proposal"
Jonathan Swift was a satirist writer and at first when reading this proposal,
the reader is appalled by the perverse and cruel idea that he was proposing. The
reader would have to know that this was a satire to understand that he has taken
the proposal to an extreme. Swift was considered to be an intellectual and
philosopher and attempts to enlighten the reader of the problem of the poor and
desolate of Ireland. Swift criticizes the false values of society of that time
by exaggerating his possible solution of the problem in his perverse proposal.
The criticism of the rich was the suggestion that they would enjoy the delicacy
of eating yearling children as food. He infers the extremely wealthy would
rather eat the problem than solve the problem by coming up with another feasible
and acceptable solution. Swift brings to light the fact that the poor was
society’s problem and not the unfortunate state, an accident of being born to
the wrong side of humanity, or the unfit for life people in Ireland. His satire
makes you wonder how ignored by the wealthy and people of status were this
problem. He sees the wealthy as the consumers of life and resources and their
prosperity makes them responsible to find ways to help this social problem. The
suggestion that the wealthy would raise, market and eat human kind was an insult
and enlightenment to the wealthy. I believe his intent was to bring awareness of
the lack of the prosperous to address this problem. The sad part is that there
were probably many who actually thought it would be a good way to alleviate the
problem.
Assessment of Herman Melville’s essay,
"Case: Bartleby the Scrivener: A story of Wall Street"
Melville’s essay "Bartleby the Scrivener" dramatizes the mechanical
and inhumanity of the business world was. Symbolism to convey the feeling of the
mechanization and demoralizing atmosphere of big business was used. Bartleby was
like a robot and although he was doing his work at first lacked any social
graces. He does his work like a machine, pushing on until it was turned off. The
employer was perplexed in how to deal with this person. His compassion or his
inability to lead allows Bartleby to rebel against authority. Bartleby becomes a
mindless shell and demonstrates mental illness either cause by his life
situation or the business. Bartleby stares at a brick wall outside the window
for long periods of time and again while in prison. The walls represent big
business and paint a dull, dark, dreary, lifeless, cold and incapable to
feeling. Bartleby seems helpless to change his plight in business. His other
job, we learn was dealing with dead letters suggest that Bartleby was dead
inside already. There was no mention of family or friends, just the job. The
frequent use of the word "prefer" becomes a joke to co-workers. Most
people would prefer not to do things requested in business but do them anyway.
Bartleby completely shuts down mentally, eventually physically and dies. Did big
business kill him or was it suicide cause by a deeper mental problem? That is up
to the reader to decide.
Comparison
Historically, Swift’s essay shows how the culture in Ireland was of the
"have and have not". Prosperity in the 1700’s in Ireland was of
extreme wealth or extreme poverty. The wealthy were people of means and likely
to be the businessman and socialites of Ireland. Business was not available to
the poor. Jobs were not plentiful and wages, if you had a job was meager. Those
who could not support themselves resorted to begging, stealing and other
dishonest means of survival. The wealthy regarded them with disgust and wish
them away rather than deal with this social problem. Swift’s essay brings to
light the inhumanity of regarding the poor as less than human, a common faulty
social value of that era.
Melville’s essay was about American business in the early 1800’s. The
American office was depicted as a not so harmonious place to work. Business as
told by the author was good for him. He was not one to make waves or confront
challenges but rather to just make a living as a lawyer. He was accepting of his
workers and their limits and was more than lacks in dealing with them. The
author demonstrates that the big business of Wall Street was not always to be
envied. Industry has its drawbacks and in the 1900’s, long hours, meager pay and
poor office space was a factor in the discontentment of many workers. The
employer shared his office, which is not done today, by a screen divider with an
employee. The employer would rather accept the problems in his office staff
rather than take control. Instead of taking control of the situation, he moves
his office to escape the problem, but the reader learns the problem followed
him. The characters are used to convey the robotic and discontentment of the
workplace. The character Nipper was discontented with his work area. He was not
comfortable and struggles with back pain and numb hands. Turkey, another
character sounds to be a drinking man and after lunch was red faced and has
difficulty performing his job. This was another problem that was not addressed
by the employer. The main character, Bartleby, demonstrates to the reader the
dehumanizing effects office life in the early stages of American business can
cause. Poor productivity and resistance to work was a major cause of these
problems.
Conclusion
From these writing it is easy to see that industry and the workplace has
change dramatically from the 17 – 1800’s to today’s businesses. In these works
of Melville and Swift we can easily see that the workplace and work
relationships was barbaric in comparison to today’s American industrial business
style. In today’s modern industrial age we see such changes as time-share,
ergonomics, wages, advancements, time off and acceptable work hours. Other
advancements have been in supplemented health care, stock options, performance
rewards, and investment plans such as the 401K for retirement. Spending accounts
and childcare facilities on premises are other offers of choice by some
employers. Some companies have on site health facilities and exercise rooms.
As for the industry itself, we have government laws to eliminate
establishments from controlling the market or unsavory financial practices.
Granted we still have such companies using unfair labor practices, such as the
"sweat shop" and illegal immigrant employment, but the industry has
improved and labor practices have improved. In America we still have a problem
with the poor and homeless. Charitable people both wealthy and poor try to help
those less fortunate. Soup kitchens, shelters and people give of their time and
energy to address the social problem of the poor and homeless. Instead of
wishing they would disappear, there is genuine caring and working to find a
solution. Free medical, childcare and educations is the main focus of our
government to address the population of the homeless, abused and mentally
incompetent people of America. More people get involved yearly in these
endeavors. Our rich and famous people donate time and money to good causes.
America still has some unsavory people who deal in what we call slavery and
the selling of offspring. We have what is referred to as the black market and
racketeering practices, which are hidden from the masses, but these are still
problems to be addressed.
References
Melville, Herman. (1853). "Case: Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall
Street". Perspectives on Literature and Work. The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc.
Swift, Jonathan. (1729). "A Modest Proposal". Perspectives on
Literature and Work. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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