TER 6 : corrigé text How my father lost his job

HOW MY FATHER LOST HIS JOB
INTRODUCTION :
the text we are going to peruse is entitled HOW MY FATHER LOST HIS JOB .
From that very title we might infer that this text is the account by one loving son of the circumstances that led his father to be made redundant.But As we will see this story goes far beyond these basic deductions.
First of all this text is indeed a true story written by Fred Muratori who lives in NY in the state of Dryden.Fred is in no way a professional writer but just an amateur who sent his narrative to Paul Auster the best-selling author who decided after a workshop to collect all of the true stories that he had heard during his trainings.This has given birth to a book entitled True Tales of American Life published in 1999 from which this text was extracted.
Moreover the scope (la portée)of this text goes far beyond the mere unemployment of a beloved father.Indeed it might be definitly viewed as a tale since it details the circumstances and the reasons why he lost his job but more importantly the impact it had on his personal life.
And thus that is the plan we intend to follow.So let's get cracking.

THE CIRCUMSTANCES :
- the new owner of the plant
- the arsonery
-no pension because of the trial

THE FATHER :
- worked in the printing department
- his personality : proud ( hated collecting pension benefit),experienced (and working from a very early age), demanding towards himself, brutally honest , courageous ( ready to do anything and to take any job)
- physical description : aged 60 but not looking the part, still fit for his age.
All this information given by the narrator are meant to make us understand that it should be easy for such a man to find a new job because any business would be lucky to have someone of his quality and with his record.

THE INTERVIEW
- a promising beginning
- why he was sure to be hired
-the problem of the age : - why he had not specified his age because of previous bad eperience and why he decided to be honest this time.
- the consequences = he did nt get the job based only on the fact that he was 60.
- why it seems particularly unfair considering that he was the best suited for the job " he was by far the most qualified applicant ...."
- so we understand that senior unemployment is the topic at stake here.But also its impact on the unemployed.

THE IMPACT:
- he was forced to acept a job far below his abilities.
- he had to face direct competition from newly-arrived immigrants.
- he had to perform a job that required far more physical strength than the previous one.So if he was able to perform that type of task why was his age a problem for the less physical job.That sounds illogical and revealing as to the ways our society is dealing with the seniors.

PURPOSE OF THE AUTHOR:
1) to tackle the issue of senior unemployment and to show us the absurdity of it all .Indeed experience is discarded for more younger and less adequate candidates .
- To underline the fact that our society refuses to consider that experience is an asset .As in the fields of fashion or technology what is new is necessarily better and more valuable.
2) Moreover the narrator wanted to provide us with an inside view of unemployment.Talking about his own father , he obviously was better equiped to show us the impact that unemployment has on people and not only on the elderly.
The Unemployed are often regarded as lazy and keen on taking advantage of the system.But here it is nt at all the case.On the contrary, the author presents us with a brave man who even with "6 months of unemployment benefit left "was eager to find a new job.
- he rather portrays a man who is physically suffering from a feeling of uselessness.
Moreover the " indelible dye " underlined in the end is the sign of a much more traumatic and permanent pain that might lead to a social and psychological death.

MY OPINION :We are presented here with a dramatic example of a person who views work as a means to happiness? So let's see If I share the same view.(give your opinion)



CONCLUSION :
What i found indeed fascinating in this text is not the narration but rather the hidden trauma behind the words.We understand that if this son felt the need to tell that story it is because he suffered along with his father.Seeing his father's grey hair must have given rise to a feeling of injustice and bitterness, that the narrator cleverly enough has just hinted at but never clearly mentioned.
As we are facing the impact of the credit crunch and a gloomy future as far as jobs are concerned , let's not forget those feelings to be able to forget the worker and see more of the individual