Death Exposed In Ellen Goodman's The Company Man

In “The Company Man”, Ellen Goodman narrates the death of her character Phil and the aftermath of the event. As a metaphor for the typical, non-descript “company man” of the 20th century, Goodman conveys her indifferent sentiments for Phil, who worked himself to death, through a variety of rhetorical devices. Throughout the piece, Goodman reveals details about Phil’s life in a clinical manner to reveal her heartfelt indifference towards him. When the wife answers with “I already have” to how much she will miss her husband in lines 39 to 41, her answer shows the brutal truth in their almost nonexistent marriage, in which she had long given up on loving him. Goodman also provides details about Phil’s relationship with his children in lines 45 to 56, who “had nothing
Goodman’s choice of simplistic words allow readers to identify the lifeless character and image of this company man. Lines 24 to 26 draws quite a deplorable picture of Phil, as she writes, “He was, of course, overweight, by 20 or 25 pounds. He thought it was okay, though, because he didn’t smoke.” And to consolidate this image further, she writes in line 75: “Phil was overweight and nervous and worked too hard.” The use of the word overweight in these contexts comes across to the readers with a negative connotation based on Phil’s image in the story. Through diction that lacks any sort of sympathy for Phil, Goodman implies her disregard for his lifestyle. In conclusion, Goodman reveals a general sense of indifference for Phil through the use of emotionally detached details, varying sentence lengths, and simplistic diction with a tinge of negative connotation to summarize Phil’s life. Not only does this story serve as a metaphor for the “company man” of that milieu, but it also shows the detriments of the “work first, family later” mindset that men often