Analysis Of Who Moved My Cheese By Spencer Johnson

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The Parable of Change
Change is an inevitable fact of life. Every day new ideas, technologies, and simple changes of circumstance catalyze major repercussions on society and the lives of individuals. With a world that is ever changing the ability to see and adapt to changes is critical in life. Spencer Johnson’s book, Who Moved My Cheese?, explores the concept of constant and inevitable change and humans reactions to that change. Johnson, nicknamed “the king of parables,” is the author numerous number one bestsellers including, The One Minute Manager, and other short books for self improvement. Who Moved My Cheese? Is a simple yet incredibly effective parable that gives simple truths on how to deal with change in life.
The book begins an old …show more content…

Hubbard, in her article, “Who Moved my cheese”, analyzes the book, Who moved my cheese?. She believes that the book is entertaining and thought provoking way for people to contemplate their own behavior toward change and establishes Johnsons credit by pointing out the numerous best selling ‘self-improvement’ books he has written . Hubbard begins by using rhetorical questions to analyze why humans are so reluctant to change, weather it be the fear of the unknown or complacency and reluctance to leave one's comfort zone. She then alludes the the fact that this short story is reminiscent of Aesop's fables, as both Who Moved My Cheese? and Aesop’s fables are short stories that reveal truths about life and culture. The authors are similar as well; both Johnson and Aesop are credited with writing multiple popular short fables alluding to real life facts. Hubbard relates this fact to reveal the main purpose of the book. Who Moved my Cheese? can be used to help its readers identify changes in their lives and react quicker to those changes in a positive manner. Hubbard finishes her analysis by pointing out that the stories short length and simplistic reading level creates a book that is relevant to a much broader audience, going beyond: age, gender, circumstance, and even time in order to be relevant in anyone’s …show more content…

In the book the Littlepeople and the mice both “spent time in the maze looking for their own special cheese”(39). Cheese in the book is a metaphor for whatever someone wants in their lives at that time. Because “cheese was the Littlepeople’s way of getting what they thought they needed to be happy”(49), they were devastated when their supply had run out. When they discover the cheese is gone “Haw shut his eyes as tight as he could and… just wanted to block everything out”(51). This is a metaphor for how humans deal with change sometimes. Instead of taking action and being productive, Haw refuses to accept the fact their cheese is gone, this is like humans who, lots of the time, initial reaction is to deny change when it occurs. The Littlepeople believed that that losing their cheese “should not happen to [them]. Or if it does [they] at least get benefits”(53). This is an example of entitlement and pride among the Littlepeople and of humans themselves. People become accustomed to things in their lives and become entitled to those things; when those things change, much like the Littlepeople, humans feel a sense of injustice done to them instead of acting on the change positively. Johnson uses irony in the fact that the Littlepeople, far “smarter than mice. [Who] should be able to figure [the situation] out”(52), are stuck without cheese, yet Sniff and Scurry had

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