In the poems “What Work Is” by Philip Levine, “Singapore” by Mary Oliver and “The Lady in the Pink Mustang” by Louise Erdrich, all of them described situations about working. The common thing about the jobs mentioned in all three poems is that these jobs are widely considered as ‘low-level’ jobs, which have a low salary and are not respected by the society. However, in the poems we can see that these people who are having a low-level job still love their lives. Having the attitude to appreciate yourself and what you have achieved at the moment, and not valuing yourself with the opinions of others, self-esteem and self-actualization can be built even for people who are having a low-level job. This attitude is the key leading to a happy life.
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However, the character we are digging deep into is not the speaker himself, but another character mentioned in the poem, the speaker’s brother. From the poem we can see that the speaker’s brother is working at Cadillac really hard in order to achieve some goals. The author mentions that his brother is not there with him because “he’s home trying to sleep off a miserable night shift at the Cadillac so he can get up before noon to study his German” (26-29). While working at the Cadillac is generally not respected by the rest of the public, from the hard-working attitude we see on the speaker’s brother, we can assume he still loves his life and is passionate to keep improving and learning. Other than learning German, the speaker also mentions that his brother “works eight hours a night so he can sing Wagner” (30-31). You probably wouldn’t expect a nightshift worker from Cadillac knows how to speak German, nor to sing an opera, however, unbind by the social status as a Cadillac worker, the speaker’s brother enjoys his life as much one possibility can. Witnessing this attitude of his brother, the speaker himself is is touched and influenced by this positive attitude, which motivates the speaker to look for a job, and even wait in rain in order to get one. The speaker ends the poem by saying “just because you don’t know what work is” (42), at first, it may sound …show more content…
However, this poem clearly showed that the prostitute not only loves her life, she is even feeling proud about herself. From the way that the speaker describes how she lives, which is travelling light, don’t keep things that have no immediate uses, we can see that this prostitute is a pragmatic person. And one very important thing about how she lives is that “the road thinks ahead”(12) and “it think for her”(13). It may sounds strange as how can a “road” think, and of course, it is not talking about the road “thinking” by itself, instead, it is talking about our inability to know about the future. In order words, it is impossible for us to predict and expect how the future looks like, so there is no need for us to think too ahead, and settle things one by one as we encounter it. This is a smart living philosophy of the prostitute, if a person worries too much about the future, life will sure be hard for him, as it is impossible for him to know the future. Another important clue about the way the prostitute live is where the speaker describes her “to live , instead of turn, on a dime”.(27) The speaker clarifies that the prostitute “lives” on a dime instead of “turns” on a dime. Meaning that the prostitute chooses when to earn it for life, and not earn it whenever she can, she is in control of the money, and not being controlled by
However, the character we are digging deep into is not the speaker himself, but another character mentioned in the poem, the speaker’s brother. From the poem we can see that the speaker’s brother is working at Cadillac really hard in order to achieve some goals. The author mentions that his brother is not there with him because “he’s home trying to sleep off a miserable night shift at the Cadillac so he can get up before noon to study his German” (26-29). While working at the Cadillac is generally not respected by the rest of the public, from the hard-working attitude we see on the speaker’s brother, we can assume he still loves his life and is passionate to keep improving and learning. Other than learning German, the speaker also mentions that his brother “works eight hours a night so he can sing Wagner” (30-31). You probably wouldn’t expect a nightshift worker from Cadillac knows how to speak German, nor to sing an opera, however, unbind by the social status as a Cadillac worker, the speaker’s brother enjoys his life as much one possibility can. Witnessing this attitude of his brother, the speaker himself is is touched and influenced by this positive attitude, which motivates the speaker to look for a job, and even wait in rain in order to get one. The speaker ends the poem by saying “just because you don’t know what work is” (42), at first, it may sound …show more content…
However, this poem clearly showed that the prostitute not only loves her life, she is even feeling proud about herself. From the way that the speaker describes how she lives, which is travelling light, don’t keep things that have no immediate uses, we can see that this prostitute is a pragmatic person. And one very important thing about how she lives is that “the road thinks ahead”(12) and “it think for her”(13). It may sounds strange as how can a “road” think, and of course, it is not talking about the road “thinking” by itself, instead, it is talking about our inability to know about the future. In order words, it is impossible for us to predict and expect how the future looks like, so there is no need for us to think too ahead, and settle things one by one as we encounter it. This is a smart living philosophy of the prostitute, if a person worries too much about the future, life will sure be hard for him, as it is impossible for him to know the future. Another important clue about the way the prostitute live is where the speaker describes her “to live , instead of turn, on a dime”.(27) The speaker clarifies that the prostitute “lives” on a dime instead of “turns” on a dime. Meaning that the prostitute chooses when to earn it for life, and not earn it whenever she can, she is in control of the money, and not being controlled by