The Man In The Grey Flannel Suit Essay

In the movie, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, we are introduced to a hardworking man named Tom Rath. Tom’s story demonstrates the struggles of a middle-class family in the 1950s. He also struggles with PTSD from serving in World War II. Tom’s true dilemma is expressed when he accepts a new job at a public relations company and is faced with making ethical business decisions, demonstrating his strong leadership capabilities, and providing for his family. The different characters that surround Tom in this movie offer different points of wisdom for him to consider when solving his dilemma. Tom is asked to write speeches and help launch a campaign for mental health care, which in the 1950s was a rising issue in America because of World War II. With the feeling of personal connection to this topic Tom begins to write several presentations but they are all turned down by Bill Ogden who he worked underneath. While also having a relationship with the President of the company, Mr. Hopkins, this became extremely …show more content…
We also witness a sense of appreciation of Betsy’s opinion in Tom because she is very honest and truthful. She expresses to Tom that she finds Mr. Ogden’s presentation to be rather “boring”. The conversation then eventually turns to an argument and we eventually see why Tom is having a difficulty in forming his own opinion. Tom realized that this was a successful company before he began to work there. He forms the argument “if this is the way they succeeded before then why wouldn’t it work again?” but, he also believes the presentation is boring himself and has confidence in his own work. Betsy believes he should express to Mr. Hopkins the truth in hopes that Tom will fight for something he believes in. She has become his voice of truth and it is a turning point in the story. We see Tom’s dilemma shift to become more complex and now involving his family