Pictures and videos related to work

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Through these cartoon pictures, an important fact is being pointed out. For some persons, work is so important that it dominates their life. Unfortunately such priority given to their job, make them forget that they have a family and that spending time with their wife/husband and children might be more beneficial than earning a lot of money. As shown in the first cartoon, a balance between the family and work must be found. Some employers also tend to forget that the workers might have a family at home waiting for them. As mentioned in the second picture, some people completely forget their private life and this may make the job extremely tedious and boring. The importance of realizing such a fact before it is too late is highlighted in the third cartoon.

This video reflects the difficult and unfair lifestyles workers had before in the past like low wages and very bad working conditions. As they state themselves, they worked very hard to get some rights. Even though they talk about a specific country; Australia, many other people from all over the world passed through similar experiences. Listening to individuals talking about their own personal experience would make us more aware of how fortunate we are now-a-days that things have changed. Unfortunately there are other people who are still suffering a lot to earn a living.






In this clip, one can understand better how it feels to be maltreated and that no rights are put in practice. These domestic workers show us the reality that many workers till the present day are getting tormented to be able to fulfill their basic human needs like eating. Raising awareness of such conditions may help improve the condition worldwide.

How did work change society after the Industrial Revolution?

By reading Chapter 2 of Grint’s book The Sociology of Work (2005) regarding the history of work, Chris, Antonella, Katya and I noticed certain features of change in society brought by the Industrial Revolution.

In the Pre-Industrial Society the only method of earning a living was through agriculture. Families used to live in villages working at cottage industry. In Britain, their property consisted of their home as well as their agricultural land. Thus, work was done within reach of home and had no specific time or rituals when they start their work. All members of the family participated in work for their financial necessities. Therefore the work of this Agrarian Society depended on all elements such as the seasons. The number of children within the family also had a large impact on the production. In such a patriarchal society, men dominated the family’s economical system. It was a common issue that when the husband died only the first male offspring inherited major possessions and even the dominant role.

“In the second half of the eighteenth century, and the beginnings of Industrial Revolution proper, the occupational structure alters quite markedly: manufacturing, or rather textile manufacturing, mushrooms in size, with the numbers of men engaged tripling in fifty years, while the number of weavers doubles. Relatedly, building, mining, the professions and the armed forces all expand rapidly, while the numbers of unskilled rose only marginally and agricultural employment drops to the point where, very approximately, just over a third of the population were engaged in agriculture in some form by the beginning of the nineteenth century.”
Grint, 2005; 57

As proved by this quotation, there were radical changes by this revolution. This was surely reflected in society especially regarding the world of work.

During the Industrial Period, capitalists invested in their land by building factories where they installed machinery to change raw materials into products sold to the consumer market. The problem was that machines needed to be handled by man. Therefore man had to abandon his village life and family for a number of hours a day to work in a factory. Stevenson denotes how the industrial revolution has also brought about the decline of the family as a collective work unit (Grint, 2005). Distance prohibited families to settle in small house creating industrial towns.

However, we must note that in Pre-Industrial Society “As Mathias notes, it was not just economic need which maintained the family-based industry but also ‘the cohension of family employment [and]… the values of a whole way of life’.” (Grint, 2005; 56)

Such changes brought by this revolution affected people in several ways. In Pre-Industrial Society people depended on agriculture, so they were more environmental friendly. On the other hand, after this transition people became detached from natural environment living in urban areas that by time started to get polluted because of factories. As a consequence this lead to a lot of health problems.

This type of work in the industrial area used to create alienation, exploitation and individualism. Women were not on equal terms as males. Women’s job was not considered as valuable because the men perceived it as a role. In fact, when trade unions were created, even though they were supposed to stand up for all workers, women were discriminated from this right. The actual aim of trade unionism was “to bring about a condition…where wives and daughters would be in their proper sphere at home, instead of being dragged into competition for livelihood against the great and strong men of the world” (Grint, 2005;72). Even though they tried to protect women from being abused of employers like for example over working and under paying them for all the hard work, only men were considered as workers.

To sum it up, the history of work was always focused on men. Several changes occurred both in society and its environment due to the advent of the Industrial Revolution.

Work Poems

1. Toads by Philip Larkin
(1922-1985), 1955

Why should I let the toad work
Squat on my life?
Can't I use my wit as a pitchfork
And drive the brute off?

Six days of the week it soils
With its sickening poison -
Just for paying a few bills!
That's out of proportion.

Lots of folk live on their wits:
Lecturers, lispers,
Losers, loblolly-men, louts-
They don't end as paupers;

Lots of folk live up lanes
With fires in a bucket,
Eat windfalls and tinned sardines-
They seem to like it.

Their nippers have got bare feet,
Their unspeakable wives
Are skinny as whippets - and yet
No one actually starves.

Ah, were I courageous enough
To shout, Stuff your pension!
But I know, all too well, that's the stuff
That dreams are made on:

For something sufficiently toad-like
Squats in me, too;
Its hunkers are heavy as hard luck,
And cold as snow,

And will never allow me to blarney
My way of getting
The fame and the girl and the money
All at one sitting.

I don't say, one bodies the other
One's spiritual truth;
But I do say it's hard to lose either,
When you have both.




2. You will be Hearing from us Shortly by U. A. Fanthorpe
(1929-)1982

You feel adequate to the demands of this position?
What qualities do you feel you
Personally have to offer?

Ah.

Let us consider your application form.
Your qualifications, though impressive, are
Not, we must admit, precisely what
We had in mind. Would you care
To defend their relevance?

Indeed.

Now your age. Perhaps you feel able
To make your own comment about that,
Too? We are conscious ourselves
Of the need for a candidate with precisely
The right degree of immaturity.

So glad we agree.

And now a delicate matter: your looks.
You do appreciate this work involves
Contact with the actual public? Might they,
Perhaps, find your appearance
Disturbing?

Quite so.

And your accent. That is the way
You have always spoken, is it? What
Of your education? We mean, of course,
Where were you educated?
And how
Much of a handicap is that to you,
Would you say?

Married, children,
We see. The usual dubious
Desire to perpetuate what had better
Not have happened at all. We do not
Ask what domestic desires shimmer
Behind that vaguely unsuitable address.

And you were born -?
Yes. Pity.

So glad we agree.



3. The Chimney-Sweeper's Complaint by Mary Alcock
(c.1742-1798)

A chimney-sweeper's boy am I:
Pity my wretched fate!
Ah, turn your eyes; 'twould draw a tear.
Knew you my helpless state.

Far from my home, no parents I
Am ever doom'd to see;
My master, should I sue to him,
He'd flog the skin from me.

Ah, dearest Madam, dearest Sir,
Have pity on my youth:
Though black, and covered o'er with rags.
I tell you naught but truth.

My feeble limbs, benumb'd with cold,
Totter beneath the sack,
Which ere the morning dawn appears
Is loaded on my back.

My legs you see are burnt and bruis'd, My feet are galled by stones,
My flesh for lack of food is gone,
I'm little else but bones.

Yet still my master makes me work,
Nor spares me day or night:
His 'prentice boy he says I am,
And he will have his right.

‘Up to the highest top,’ he cries,
‘There call out chimney-sweep!’
With panting heart and weeping eyes
Trembling I upwards creep.

But stop! no more — I see him come;
Kind Sir, remember me!
Oh, could I hide me under ground,
How thankful should I be!



4. Work by D. H. Lawrence
(1885-1930), 1929

There is no point in work
unless it absorbs you
like an absorbing game.

If it doesn't absorb you
if it's never any fun,
don't do it.

When a man goes out into his work
he is alive like a tree in spring,
he is living, not merely working.

When the Hindus weave thin wool into long, long
lengths of stuff
With their thin dark hands and their wide dark eyes
and their still souls absorbed
they are like slender trees putting forth leaves, a long
white web of living leaf,
the tissue they weave,
and they clothe themselves in white as a tree clothes
itself in its own foliage.
As with cloth, so with houses, ships, shoes, wagons or
cups or loaves.
Men might put them forth as a snail its shell, as a bird
that leans
its breast against its nest, to make it round,

as the turnip models his round root, as the bush makes
flowers or gooseberries,
putting them forth, not manufacturing them,
and cities might be as once they were, bowers grown out
from the busy bodies of people.
And so it will be again, men will smash the machines.

At last, for the sake of clothing himself in his own leaflike
cloth
tissued from his life,
and dwelling in his own bowery house, like a beaver's
nibbled mansion
and drinking from cups that came off his fingers
like flowers off their five-fold stem
he will cancel the machines we have got.



5. What The Chairman Told Tom by Basil Banting
(1900-1985), 1965

Poetry? It's a hobby.
I run model trains.
Mr Shaw there breeds pigeons.

It's not work. You dont sweat.
Nobody pays for it.
You could advertise soap.

Art, that's opera; or repertory -
The Desert Song.
Nancy was in the chorus.

But to ask for twelve pounds a week -
married, aren't you? -
you've got a nerve.

How could I look a bus conductor
in the face
if I paid you twelve pounds?

Who says it's poetry, anyhow?
My ten year old
an do it and rhyme.

I get three thousand and expenses,
a car, vouchers,
but I'm an accountant.

They do what I tell them,
my company.
What do you do?

Nasty little words, nasty long words,
it's unhealthy.
I want to wash when I meet a poet.

They're Reds, addicts,
all delinquents.
What you write is rot.

Mr Hines says so, and he's a schoolteacher,
he ought to know.
Go and find work.

Critical Analysis of Work Poems through Grint (2005)

Through this critical review, Elaine, Antonella and I are going to analyse five different poems written in the past few centuries. The central theme of these poems is mainly related with work. However, every poem tackles out different aspects regarding work, which are still concerned issues nowadays such as gender and class discrimination.

Philip Larkin, in the poem called Toads, highlights the theme of work in relation to a dull, negative picture. In fact, though Grint (2005) argues that “no unambiguous or objective definition of work is possible”, he included authors who emphasised this necessary activity in their writings often perceiving it as a negative issue; such as Marx. The title in itself ‘Toads’ describes broadly the physical bodies of the workers which get rougher and drier due to the hard work; and which are ultimately compared with those of toads. Larkin seems to deliberate the protagonist as being a repulsive person. Throughout the poem, he emphasized that work has ruined his life and is eventually related with acquiring money and “Just for paying a few bills!” Therefore, he shows a lack of interest towards work. Also as Marx points out, the significance of work is “as a means to an end” in one’s life. The protagonist also claims that, compared with the work he is working, the amount of money he gains is ultimately “…out of proportion”. This is also highlighted by Grint (2005) when he mentioned the ideology of Marx in which he claimed that the bourgeoisie exploit the workers by paying them miserable wages. On the other hand, Larkin notes a positive attainment in being courageous more than others in doing this work. The poet focused more on the so-called ‘males’ work’ which at those times, was often associated with hard and dirty work. During the early twentieth century, people’s mentality about success usually involved status, family and money: “The fame and the girl and the money”.

The poem You will be Hearing from us Shortly by U. A. Fanthorpe also refers to the theme of work. However, it highlights the issue of discrimination against women. This was considered as typical at that time, also as Grint (2005) stated that “employment opportunities for women have historically been restricted in the main to analogous domestic activities”. From the title itself, we think that like in every interview where the employers are not sure if the person is adequate for that job, the woman is told that she will be informed later on if she is eligible for that work. In fact, this poem regards an interview which is carried out with a woman who is applying for a job. From the first verse one can imagine how the woman is underestimated, regarding if she is sure in applying for this job. The questions asked during the interview are regarding age, physical appearance, level of education and family. This feminist poet wanted to emphasize the stereotypes on females at that time which are still considered typical nowadays. The fact that they asked her if she was married, had children and her level of education shows that they considered these issues whether to employ her or not: “We see. The usual dubious”. Grint (2005) claimed that though women’s negative attitudes towards domestic work are very recent, research since the 1950s has suggested that such attitudes were relatively common even then. Therefore, one could suggest that the protagonist in this poem could be a typical woman in the 20th century that wanted to find a job rather than doing domestic work only. Grint (2005) argued that “gender-based inequalities are not inevitable” and that “it should be remembered, however, that gender tends to interact with, rather than override, the significance of class”. That is, gender discrimination can also be related with social class inequalities.

The Chimney-Sweeper’s Complaint by Alcock illustrates a complaint regarding the experiences that a young chimney-sweeper faces during his work which is quite dirty and tough. The chimney-sweeper feels abandoned as he is “Far from my home, no parents I/Am ever doom’d to see;” considering the fact that he is just a boy. He also tries to touch the reader’s heart regarding his harsh lifestyle based on his work:

“Ah, turn your eyes;’twould draw a tear.
Knew you my helpless state.”

Indeed we can also see the form of hierarchy which the poet mostly emphasizes in the last part of the poem. The concept of hierarchy is often associated with that of work, as Giddens (1979) “argued that too many conceptualizations of power take a position in which the default category is one of zero sum: the more A gains the more B loses”. This is also highlighted by Marx’s ideology, when he stated that the bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat; and it is this idea that leads him to suggest and urge the workers to revolutionise and bring about communism. Alcock reveals to us how the work leaves him bodily devastated. He also refers to the discrimination he faces on his work: “Yet still my master makes me work, / Nor spares me day or night:” However the chimney-sweeper ignores all these factors when his is at work because the only reason for his effort is done in order to survive and to gain extrinsic rewards.

The theme of work is also stressed out in the title and through the poem Work by D. H. Lawrence. The poet has a negative perception regarding work which ultimately results in a lack of interest. This is shown already in the first few verses:

“There is no point in work
unless it absorbs you
like an absorbing game.”

This negative attitude towards work is also laid emphasis upon by Grint (2005), when he mentioned the “late nineteenth-century music-hall songs revealed, work was an evil but there was no escape from it nor from the class system”. The approaches highlighted by Grint (2005) and D. H. Lawrence portrait work as a negative issue, where there is ultimately no room for leisure or interest towards one’s occupation. D. H. Lawrence suggests that if you don’t feel fascinated vis-à-vis your job, you might as well “don’t do it.” He compares people with nature. This is shown in various similies throughout the poem such as:

“they are like slender trees putting forth leaves, a long
White web of living leaf,”

The type of work that Lawrence spoke about is the typical work of the early 20th century which involved manufacturing in factories. In fact, when Grint (2005) referred to the writings of Allen Clarke (1899) regarding the Lancashire factory workers he pointed out that “some few seek recreation in Sunday school work and prayer meetings, but there the minority; the majority want stirring amusements, lively and intoxication – something to make them forget”.

The theme of work is questioned in the poem What the chairman told Tom by Basil Banting. He points out such attitudes that people show towards poetry and being a poet. We noticed that this poem is an autobiography of Banting. People used to undervalue this work as they compare it with work which was more manual and hard at those times. Indeed, Grint (2005) said that ultimately “what counts as work cannot be served from the context within which it exists, and the context necessarily changes through space and time”. That is, at that time being a poet was not considered as work; however this idea changed over time. Thus, the value of work must be analysed and understood within a particular time and space. They sought a difference between ‘manual work’ and ‘mental work’. As Banting pointed out, they didn’t even consider this type of profession as work:

“It’s not work. You don’t sweat.
Nobody pays for it.
You could advertise soap.”

In the 20th century poets were considered with little significance towards their status as anybody could do their work:

“My ten year old
can do it and rhyme.”

As highlighted in the other poems, the idea of hierarchy is also portrayed in this poem. He discussed the issue of wages and says that poets are less paid then in other jobs. He talks as well about the subordination that is seen in the other jobs whereas the poet does not have. Banting concludes the poem by an intervention of Mr. Hines telling the protagonist: “Go and find work”, making him more conscious that his ‘work’ is not considered as such.

Through these poems several factors that Grint points out in his text were highlighted. We noticed that the idea that manual work is better than any other type of job came out in ‘Toads’ and in ‘What The Chairman Told Tom’ the job of a poet is not given any status at all. Such a lack of importance is also given to the job of the chimney-sweeper in the ‘The Chimney-Sweeper’s Complaint’ where he emphasis the harsh conditions he is in. Dominance is also seen in other ways, most of all by the employer with his workers like in ‘What the chairman told Tom’ and ‘You will be Hearing from us Shortly’. In the latter, discrimination based on gender and social background was also observed. On the other hand only in the poem ‘Work’, where a comparison to nature and fun is done, this is seen in a bit of a positive view.