People all have their faults--it’s just human. And for humans, it’s hard not to get caught up in all the false dreams and fantasies of fame and success that come with everyday life. These illusions create a promising facade on what is actually there, and one must not get too lost in such fantasies, otherwise, the result can become too overwhelming to bear. It’s difficult to see past, but definitely not impossible. The solution is to just face reality, no matter how tough it may seem at first. Willy Loman is a perfect example of this. He sees himself as a highly successful man with a good job and a family with a bright future--living the American Dream. The only thing holding him back is his egotistical ideas of what a successful life should be like. He gets so entangled in this illusion that he lies, cheats, and doesn’t appreciate what he already has. …show more content…
But the reality of life is that success does not come from pure luck, status, or
Success is a concept that is constantly altered and has a different meaning from person to person. The stereotypical definition of success would be someone who has a high-paying job or is in the upper-class. Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers: The Story of Success, approaches the concept of success in a different and unique way. Gladwell discusses how opportunities, cultural legacy, and hard work all coincide with each other to produce real success. He uses mostly logic and multiple unrelated anecdotes to support and provide evidence for his statements. Gladwell's main argument is that although hard work and talent are essential for success, one’s given opportunities and cultural legacy is what really
Obviously success is usually defined by how much money you have. In this day in age if you don’t have money you’re a failure; so go get
We as human beings all strive for success. We use success as a measure of everyday life.
By definition, success is a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity. How an individual reaches the point of success is “not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky- but all critical to making them who they are” (285). Throughout the book, Outliers by Malcom Gladwell, the pieces of the secret to success are put together. Three parts of success include pure luck, the amount of time and effort put into working to achieve your goal and where you come from.
Is that success? What or who defines success? Different people have different interpretations of what success means to them.
The meaning of "success" has numerous interpretations, whether it is your own or society's definition. Within Outliers author Malcolm Gladwell explains that being successful has nothing to do with what kind of person you are, so whether you are intelligent and hardworking or lazy and aloof, it depends on your circumstances growing up. Whether your parents happen to be immigrants, you are one of the smartest men in the country or you make a habit of practicing an activity for a certain amount of hours a day, your own personal success, according to Gladwell is defined by the conditions you grew up in; the idea of being successful varies from culture to culture, therefore, there is no definite meaning of success other than one's interpretation.
Some people may hold the idealized vision that success and ones status in life are largely determined by ones work, efforts, and abilities. The same people also believe that through hard work, anyone with the drive to accomplish ones objectives will succeed. Unfortunately, the reality of the world does not operate in that fashion. Success and failure are both products of chance and opportunities, like particles moving randomly, obeying nothing but the elusive laws of chaos dynamics. In this mysterious and chaotic atmosphere some are given opportunities to accomplish great things, while others of equal personal merits are met with no chances and are therefore doomed to wallow in mediocrity.
Many people try and many people have failed. Everyone hopes to succeed in something, whether it be anything from sports to seminary, school, or just life. Every day there are people who invent things, they try over and over again until it works out. There are many successful people in this world and they didn’t get there easily. Success is something earned not given, and comes with trial and error.
Success comes from self-determination, motivation, and hard work – that was the message I received from reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell helped me understand that the outliers mentioned in the book didn’t gain their success easily. Some may have had lucky opportunities and where born in the right year, but they had to work hard, they were smart, and out of their achievements, they made an impact on society. Prior to reading Outliers, I was lost among the success of others because I thought these people came from wealthy families, which meant they had a head start, but I was wrong. Success has a different meaning to everyone, but the commonalities of success are the advantages and opportunities given to us.
Before success, there is always a process in which you first start with. Many people start after acknowledging a moment in their life that motivates them to do more. Many of these successful people come from a variety of unique backgrounds and a lot of them from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as poverty, a single-parents’ household, or even abusive parents. These causes, however do more than inspire themselves, but others who see their success story. This results in a way where it gives people a change of mindset to prove those people wrong and move on from that disadvantaged background. Another thing that can come from this is the support of others and being able to create new and healthy relationships with others who would help lead them to success. I see
The play, "Death of a Salesman", by Arthur Miller, is a tale about a man who is not able to accept the changes that are happing around him. The main character, Willy Loman, loses his identity when he is stuck in a dead-end job and is unable to provide for his family. He is not able to accept the changes that are happening around him and tries to escape into his memories and his messed-up sense of reality. The play is filled the struggles he faces with his family and himself. It explores how far a man's delusions can destroy his since of reality and does around him, as well as his inability to accept change.
The question of whether Willy Loman is completely responsible for what became of him and his keeping-up-with the Jones’ obsession or can we also blame his downfall on the social and cultural environment in which he lived is one that can be interpreted and answered in many ways, depending on each person’s opinion. It is my interpretation that Willy Loman is not completely responsible for what became of him but his obsession with keeping-up-with the Jones does play a big part in making him responsible. The social and cultural environment in which he lived also played a role in what became of him, because he is struggling to live up to the standards that are set by today's social environment, and like Willy said to his wife, “I couldn’t make
Charley once said to Willy, “When the hell are you going to grow up?” Willy spent his entire life will this false illusions and comcepts, he thought that he would die a rich and famous man. When he looked at himself, he saw a great man that was successful. One may think that having a positive outlook is good for ones self-esteem, but in Willy’s case it was detrimental.
Who here thinks success is pre-determined? Okay. And who here thinks someone born into a family of high economic status is more likely to be successful than the average? This is intriguing because all of you with your hands in the air are facing your biggest enemy. Yourself. The paradox of who society determines who will be successful has been embodied by society for as long as we have sojourned here on earth. Such mindset which was found throughout the middle ages where everyone was born into a social class is something I am present today to erase.
Success or failure in life is created by how you think. A mindset that is fixed in stone believing you either have talents and abilities or you don't leads to failure.