Comparing Stories 'Goodfellows ', Cakes And' The Hard
Work is an important part of life. Most of us need to do it in order to make a living. Sometimes, going to work is more complicated, however, and there are things you gain besides money. There are also things you lose besides the time you spend in your job. Though the stories “The Smell of Fatigue,” “Cakes,” “The Jungle” and “Goodfellows” are all about work, they are quite different from each other. Part of what makes them different is what each protagonist sacrifices for their job. For example, what Jurgis sacrifices in “The Jungle” is very different from what Jane sacrifices in “Goodfellows.” What is interesting still is that all these protagonists are also gaining something similar to each other, which is a way to have a family. Having a
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Jane is the protagonist. The summer before she starts college, she works at a pizzeria called Goodfellows. Unlike Melida’s father, Giovanni and Jurgis, she does not have to sacrifice much because of her job. The main thing is that, she might prefer to spend this summer having fun with friends, so working at Goodfellows means she is giving that up. What is interesting, however, is Jane working shows she values family, like the other three protagonists, but in a different way. In “Goodfellows,” she values her work family, and spending time with them seems to be the main thing she gains in this job. So that makes her job have something in common with the other protagonists’ jobs. In the beginning of the story, she says that in many workplaces, there is a Mom, a Dad, people who are like siblings and people who are like aunts and uncles (citation 41). She describes Marvin as a Dad figure who reminds her of her own dad (citation 42). She compares Steve One to her uncle and also says she “was the tattletale sister. Or maybe the family baby, as I was the youngest employee” (citation 43). The theme of family is throughout “Goodfellows,” and it is obvious that Jane learns to appreciate the importance of family because of this job. At the end of the story, she says this summer job was “the proving ground for my next job, my next little family, and the next one, and the next, and all the others that were to come” (citatio
Jane is the protagonist. The summer before she starts college, she works at a pizzeria called Goodfellows. Unlike Melida’s father, Giovanni and Jurgis, she does not have to sacrifice much because of her job. The main thing is that, she might prefer to spend this summer having fun with friends, so working at Goodfellows means she is giving that up. What is interesting, however, is Jane working shows she values family, like the other three protagonists, but in a different way. In “Goodfellows,” she values her work family, and spending time with them seems to be the main thing she gains in this job. So that makes her job have something in common with the other protagonists’ jobs. In the beginning of the story, she says that in many workplaces, there is a Mom, a Dad, people who are like siblings and people who are like aunts and uncles (citation 41). She describes Marvin as a Dad figure who reminds her of her own dad (citation 42). She compares Steve One to her uncle and also says she “was the tattletale sister. Or maybe the family baby, as I was the youngest employee” (citation 43). The theme of family is throughout “Goodfellows,” and it is obvious that Jane learns to appreciate the importance of family because of this job. At the end of the story, she says this summer job was “the proving ground for my next job, my next little family, and the next one, and the next, and all the others that were to come” (citatio