Nickel and Dimed Book Essay

In the course of her book, Ehrenreich takes on a series of minimum wage jobs in an effort to see for herself what it is like to work at such a job. In your essay discuss what she has to say about:

-The process / difficulties of getting the job (steps and indignities she has to go through)

-What it’s like (doing all the work) physically

-What it’s like mentally ( i.e. what it does to her self image)- include here a discussion of the loss of basic rights that workers of minimum wage jobs experience.

-Wether or not she is able to pay all her bills at the end of the month

-Corporations (like Walmart, Denny’s) and how they treat / how they consider their employees

Part two asks you to consider the question Ehrenreich continues to ask throughout the book- which is why the employees put with all the indignities they put up with. Why don’t they find better jobs? Why don’t they complain more? Why do they even claim to feel loyalty to their boss / employer / company even though that boss / employer / company is exploiting them? Why don’t they demand go join unions?

Finally in the afterword, Ehrenreich talks about how matters have changed in the ten years since she first wrote the book. She concludes that if anything, matters have grown worse for the minimum wage worker with their having even less buying power despite the minimum wage increasing and receiving even less help from the government. In your evaluation, I want you to take a look around the world you corporate America set up in such a way that workers will always get the short end of the stick? Is the America a dream a reality for most Americans, or is that just a pipe dream for most workers who start at the bottom ( who if truth be told have NO CHANCE OF MAKING IT)? Should we go back to Gladwell for a way out and his endorsement on education as the only way out of the working class? What part does social class have to do with all this? Was Karl Marx right in the early 1900’s that In a capitalistic system the working man is doomed? If so, what is the solution? As you go out into the world after high school, what are the chances of you and your fellow classmates succeeding and achieving your dreams and hopes

"Looking for a Similar Assignment? Order now and Get 10% Discount! Use Code "GET10" in your order"