In both the short story Through the Tunnel, by Doris Lessing, and the article The Right to Fail, by William Zinsser, the theme of failure and success is explored through the character of Jerry, and Zinsser’s viewpoint on the flaws of America’s social system on failure and success. The short coming-of-age story follows a young boy named Jerry who is driven by a group of teenagers to be able to go through an underwater tunnel. American critic and writer, Zinsser, provides his readers with his own definition on what it means to fail, and the value of failing versus success. In Through the Tunnel, Jerry, and his actions resemble the definition and characteristics of failure and/or success, as described by Zinsser in the article. Throughout the …show more content…
Much like Zinsser's own description of success and its setbacks, Jerry is blinded by his goal and only comes to the realization of the setbacks of success when he is met with success itself. "...failure isn't bad in itself, or success automatically good" (Zinsser 1) Zinsser gives his readers a new perspective on failure by showing it in a positive light, and how it helps a person learn and grow from their mistakes. However, he also brings the drawbacks of success onto the table, placing the idea of success sometimes being a bad thing onto the reader's plate. “He could see the local boys diving and playing half a mile away. He did not want them. He wanted nothing but to get back home and lie down.” (Lessing 4) In the beginning of the story Jerry wanted nothing more but to see himself surrounded by the local boys, and being able to play with them and dive through the underwater tunnel. Now as Jerry lies in bed, he realizes that although he finally successfully dove through the tunnel, he is unhappy because he had almost died trying to achieve it. Therefore, Jerry became so immersed by his goal he didn’t think twice about the downsides to the outcomes, and expected to be immediately happy once he reached the end of the tunnel, thus proving that success is not always good. However, it is not AUTOMATICALLY good, meaning …show more content…
In Through the Tunnel, Jerry, and his actions resemble the definition and characteristics of failure and/or success, as described by Zinsser in the article. During the short story, Jerry is determined to find the end of the tunnel, and swim through it, however the process is not so easy. Met with many drawbacks, and successes which will later lead to his own success, Jerry’s actions resembles Zinsser’s words in his essay, The Right to Fail. In The Right to Fail, Zinsser describes success and failure in a brand new perspective to his readers, showing their benefits, and downsides, in his own definition. Zinsser also discusses what the road to success actually looks like and relates it to to the youth generation. However, in both the short story Through the Tunnel, by Doris Lessing, and the article The Right to Fail, by William Zinsser, success and failure is met shown through Jerry’s struggles and the steps he takes in order to reach his success, and also in Zinsser’s viewpoint between the old and new generations perspective on failing and
The “American Dream” becomes an “American Nightmare for the boy telling the story and his community because things didn’t go for them as they expect they would. One of the stories, “It’s That It Hurts”, discusses how a young boy who is scared of attending school because of how he is treated differently by the children and adults, gets kicked out of school for fighting and they have no compassion for getting rid of him. The boy is frightened of what he will tell his parents, especially his father, it reads, “What hurt me the most is that now I won’t be able to be a telephone operator like Dad wants me to. You need to finish school for that” (95). When the young boy is kicked out, all he can think of is how his father had high expectations, hopes and dreams for him, so that he wouldn't have to be a field worker. Another story that highlights how the “American Dream” is destroyed for the people of the community is, “…And
"The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure" - Sven Goran Eriksson. Success is an achievement in life which most people would be appreciative towards, but failure is looked upon in a disgraceful manner. People in society tend to face many challenges that occur in their daily lives. Some of these challenges can affect their lives dramatically in a positive or negative way. If one decides not to surmount their challenges they will suffer within themselves for a long period of time. Having confidence within is considered the greatest way to overcome suffering in life. In the novel, The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx, Quoyle deals with many difficult challenges along his life journey by suffering from bad childhood experiences which led him to have a low self confidence, which later on affected him in adulthood as well. All of Quoyle?s life decisions at first were base on him listening to others and continuing life suffering through it day by day but afterwards in the novel near the end, he experiences happiness for the first time. If someone is unable to overcome their bad experiences and fears in the past then they cannot be successful in the future. Also, a person should be strong and have faith in themselves to overcome their fears to fain the joy and happiness in their life. The modern day hero is distinguished as a hero with both successes and failures. A hero?s successes are determined by the hero?s power within themselves to overcome fears and obstacles and failures are determined by the hero?s weak point or flaw which leads to their predicted downfall and portrays them as an atypical hero. A hero can be depicted as an atypical hero at first but can still gain the success and happiness they longed for in the end.
ventures in his life, whether he succeeds or fails during his obstacles, the reader will gain
“The Right to Fail” is a short essay written by William Zinsser, an accomplished film critic and author. In Zinsser’s essay he describes how failure is not inherently bad and success is not inherently good. He supports himself with various real life and fictional examples. In his essay he discusses his beliefs on materialism and the corruption of the American dream. He continues with how having a goal oriented society is not suited for everyone; however, that failing just to fail is also bad. I agree with Zinsser in regards to his beliefs on the American Dream and materialism and his belief that not everyone is suited for the society set up today; however, I do not agree that having a goal oriented society is necessarily a bad thing and that telling
Success is the chance to go out there and use the resources available to take advantage of opportunities that most people do not. Usually, things happen in life and it can prevent the process of obtaining success. In the readings, “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and “Horatio Alger” by Harlon L. Dalton conveys the message that success is not always an everyday thing and it takes opportunities for it to become part of life. In “The Lesson”, an angered girl named Sylvia is taken on a field trip to a toy store with Miss Moore to learn a valuable lesson. The lesson is to become successful in society because it is the only way to make it to the top. On the other hand, “Horatio Alger” shows more of a realistic viewpoint where success is not as easy
Through many creative forms of literature one can see how authors such as John Cheever, Louise Erdrich, and John Updike present a variety of views on American Life. It is through short stories like “The Swimmer”, “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” and “A&P” that authors put forth examples of how the American Dream means different things to different people. American politician Bernie Sanders once said, “For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.” Thanks to these stories it is possible to see how the American Dream is viewed and how the idea of freedom in this country affect people from all sorts of backgrounds. It could be argued that each story shows a struggle either while being at the pinnacle of success in terms of reaching the American Dream or while attempting to feel a sense of freedom within such a promising country. This is seen through Neddy’s struggle to get his life together after being hyper focused on artificial possessions that the American Dream often romanticizes, through the Native American narrator in “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” struggling to accommodate and resist his displeasure with society via reckless behavior, and the group of girls in the A&P store who are displeased with Lengel’s remark on their attire or lack thereof.
On one level, each scenario is of an American archetype of success. For a country that prides itself on its immigrant history, hard-work ethic, and financial success stories, it seems strange to make these folks look like the villains. This is what Eric Schlosser is getting at: that these people would be heroes if the American ideal were anything more than a myth. Forgotten in that ideal, rationalized somehow, is the fact that our national heritage also includes a strong grounding in Puritanical morality somewhat. This is perhaps one of the most dissatisfying aspects of Schlosser's book, that the exploration of our moral grounding is never explored all that deeply, even though it is criticized. However, it is indisputable that the author, Schlosser, feels that the American ideal has a dangerous and powerful hold on the public co...
The American dream is the ideal that every U.S. citizen should be able to achieve success and prosperity through equal opportunities such as hard work, patience, determination, initiative. In William Zinsser’s essay “The Right to Fail,” the readers are presented with the idea that failure is a part of the pathway to life to be able to achieve the American dream. Like most people, this complicates what we see as the American dream. Do we all face failure at some point in life? Will we be able to pick ourselves back up after this point? Is there any way to avoid failure? What does failure even consist of? Zinsser provides his readers with the truths about this derogatory word known as failure.
Life does not always work out the way it should. Sometimes good loses, and the better man is the one begging. The Water is Wide is the story of injustice abounding. While the story may have been more appealing if Pat were able to stay on at Yamacraw Island, and I would certainly have enjoyed it more if the superintendent had been beaten, that story would have been a false picture of reality, worthy only of a children's bedtime collection. I...
The end result of both these novels shows the tragedy that can occur to everyday people, even if they didn’t do anything wrong. The American Dream made the fantasies of the men of the novels strive to attain it, but in the end the dreams of both the men ultimately destroyed them. Both Fitzgerald and Hansberry wrote these books not only for the intention to merely entertain people, but also to entice the reader into a thought, and question how things happen in the world. Both Realist authors embarked a rapid departure from the Romantic Movement, writing a novel that conveys to the reader what truly happens to people, and try to show the true pragmatism of the real world. Both authors write in tangent about the American dream, and both put forth the question of if it actually exists, and concluding from their very cynical novels, it truly does not.
Maturity can be seen through one’s personality traits. This is contrary to the belief that maturity comes with age. Experiences throughout life teach new attributes that one needs to be successfully mature. In Through the Tunnel, by Doris Lessing, Jerry has his life experience as he makes it through the
That exact statement makes me or any reader feel that failure doesn’t always have to be perceived to be negative. Failure can improve personal growth. We are always scared out the outcome failure will bring, but that is the silver lining for our personal growth. If we concentrate more on the effort we put into a certain task, we can grow by the steps we take along the way. Anyone can succeed, no matter their
Herb Clutter, a man of described virtue, was blessed with respect from his peers and financial stability. Within the concept of the “American dream” virtuous people are always rewarded with financial stability. Conversely, Dick and Perry, who Capote depicts as the embodiment of the “American nightmare,” do not exhibit virtuous behavior and therefore, never experience the stability and respect that the Clutter’s experience. The distinction between the “American nightmare” and the “American dream” is easy to see. Capote argues, however, that these concepts do not hold true all of the time and that tragedy strikes even those who are the most virtuous. Thus, we must understand that life is fragile and no one is impregnable to tragedy.
In Isaiah Berlin’s Agnelli Prize winning essay, “The Pursuit of the Ideal,” the British philosopher claims that, “we are doomed to choose, and every choice may entail an irreparable loss.” Berlin’s statement is proven true in The Way the Crow Flies by award winning author Ann-Marie MacDonald. Set in a post-war era, The Way the Crow Flies tells a captivating story of a wing commander, named Jack McCarthy, and his family after they move to a close-knit community called Centralia. Jack’s choices in Centralia eventually place him in a compromising position. His daughter, Madeleine, falls victim to her fourth grade teacher’s horrible abuse after school. These two main plots are then intertwined with the death of a little girl, and an innocent boy named Ricky Froelich is placed on trial for her murder. Now, both Madeleine and her father Jack find themselves doomed to choose secrecy or exposure and find that every choice they make has great consequences. Over the course of The Way the Crow Flies, the theme of choice and its consequences is developed by Cold War chicanery, sexual abuse, and confrontation.
He went home, locked himself in his room and cried. But now he owns six MBA champions, and 5 MBA MVPs; that moment of getting cut from his high school basketball team become nothing. Walt Disney was fired from his first job because people said he is lacked of imagination and had no original idea; this man is now the creator of the biggest company on producing cartoon and children entertainment, Disney. This man failed in business twice and was defeated in eight elections. With all of his effort and never giving up when things get hard he became the tenth president of the United States; this name named is Abraham Lincoln. Those people are examples of overcoming failure and become successful. They did not let the pain of failure stop them from being successful. They keep fighting and thrive for victory. Those are examples of failure is only help people to reach their goal sooner or later. What matter is how hard you try and how bad you want to be success.