Work Makes Life Sweet, And Malcom Gladwell's The Living Life Of A Waitress: Literary Analysis

Bell Hook’s “Work Makes Life Sweet” and Malcom Gladwell’s “The Physical Genius” both describe the characteristics that allow someone to do a job both proficiently and enjoyably. An underpaid, underrepresented black woman at the time of Hook’s writing would have virtually no chance of enjoying what they do; which is a prime component of what Gladwell describes as a characteristic of all physical geniuses. Hook’s examples of the women who were living the “right livelihood” weren’t doing conventional, low paying jobs that black women could work at the time. These women were working unconventional jobs like fishing or ironing, which may seem simple, but was their own choice and they loved what they did and performed it amazingly. Gladwell’s examples described a special feel about their profession, which is very …show more content…
In which, similarly to Gladwell, Rose describes the powerful thought process that enables a masterful waitress. While Gladwell’s physical geniuses were passion focused, Rose’s waitresses were money and goal oriented. It perhaps may not be a coincidence that Gladwell’s physical geniuses were primarily well paying jobs, by not having to focus on money they are enabled to follow true passion in their work. What the women Hooks wrote about needed to be truly happy was to have the opportunity for money and basic survival not be their main focus in life. Looking at Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, black women were trapped in the lower few levels, not being about to find conventional jobs that would give them either belonging or esteem. Rose and Hooks each wrote of people in a distinctly different social position than Gladwell that is not a coincidence. The sadness that so many of the woman Hooks grew up with goes down to a base human level, they were trapped struggling to feed their families over following their