'A Rhetorical Analysis Of Ellen Golding's The Company Man'

On its foremost level “The Company Man” is a newspaper article describing the life and death of a hardworking man named Phil. This is not truly what the article is about. Ellen Golding, in her article, writes about Phil as a representative of the typical corporate man. Phil works long, hard hours. He proceeds through his days mechanically, searching indefinitely for a sense of success or fulfillment. And with his eyes ever focused on his work and future Phil loses site of the things of the present, such as his family. All of these things eventually lead to his death. In her article “The Company Man” Ellen Goodman makes clear her attitude towards Phil is one of condemnation and blame; however, she also expresses her feelings of sympathy towards the family and Phil’s work through descriptions of the two.

In her article Goodman makes it known that she feels nothing but condemnation towards Phil and the way he lived. Goodman begins to reveal her negative view of Phil beginning in the first lines of the article. She does making it seem as though it was Phil who condemned himself to death. In her repetition of the phrase “he worked himself to death” Goodman stress the idea that it is solely Phil’s fault that he ended up like this, he brought himself to this fate. It is plainly stated as if it were fact, not sparing Phil any emotion. Is almost as if Goodman is saying that this is just what happened, no need to feel bad, this all his fault. And while the official cause of death may have been “coronary thrombosis” this is stated as a sort of side note in the article. Thus further emphasizing the fact that

Of course Phil does not exist in a literal sense, but he is alive and well as he embodies the form (?) of corporate America. This article perhaps serves as a warning to the many corporate leaders and drones, as to no become pitiful, condemned