Ni 1 Nelson Ni Prof.

Adam Padgett ENGL 1102 13 March 2013 Sticking it to the Man Every day we wake up, we do our mundane task of showering, brushing, and going to our monotonous task of a job. In that job, though varies from person to person, the thought always comes up, Fuck the Man. This man, this boss creature has dominion over us, either by politics, money or just by social class. We can always see him smiling and grinning; while were suffering either in the heat sweating our butts off or sitting in the office droning over some TPS report. It seems like theyre constantly taking joy over our miseries. In the story of Steel Bridge Stolen in Mason County North Carolina, it is the ultimate expression of a disgruntled drone just like anyone of us, who has finally decided that its his turn to rise up to the man in charge and dismantling their power over us. Like any job theres the introduction, the grace period. Where you will find everything working out fine, the boss is neutral or nice toward you, assuring that everything is going to be alright and that theres this big reward for all your hard work and labor. Well thats just the type of man Oscar is, throughout the meeting of him, as he describe to our main character the detail of their illegal affair and that it bears minor consequences while packing a hefty reward. Though all was smooth sailing the author give us a hint Winnings was the word Oscar would use. He sold [...] wed get paid once the bridge had been stripped clean. I thought this sounded like bullshit, but Calvin told me that Oscars word was as good as his own [] I wouldntve put much stock in Calvins word as it was. (Padgett, 92) This passage dwell into the actual weight

Ni 2 of what the Protagonist feel about his new employer and his promise of this reward; but nevertheless he drives on despite the doubts. This could be interpreted as the lead characters obedience into this authority, and to take thing as it is. As the story progress with our Trios illegal venture, our Protagonist also has a legitimate source of income from his job as a mover, while waiting for Oscar to pay up. In the passages he talks in detail of how he despises the job for its lack of sufficient paid towards his backbreaking labors. They always use the word we. We need to do this or we need to do that. It was his goddamned company. (Padgett, 92) Here we can see his bitterness towards his employer. Then I thought to myself, Ill just bend over and let him give it to me directly (Padgett, 92) From this sentence we have a low-point in the Protagonist view. As he feels down and out and completely defeated, that hes willing to just slumber into a deeper hole and just letting his boss take whatever is left of his meager amount of manhood. Here we have more supporting theme of this oppressive authoritative-man, who is making a mockery of the lead character with the usage of the word we, while not having to suffer any of the actual burden of the Protagonist. As the Protagonist continues on his illegal endeavor with Oscar and Calvin, the arduous process of stealing the bridge start taking its toll on their already fatigue and stress-out bodies, soon sparks flew some verbal insults were thrown and the thought of being cross by Oscar comes up again in the passage, You sell that steel from last weekend? I asked. Yeah, Oscar said. Blood rose in me, pressing against my skin hot and angry, but I tried not to stir up a fight. (Padgett, 94) This tension of money is adding more fuel to the flame of our Protagonist, because this money a symbol of power that Oscar has over the Protagonist and the promise of it, is causing him to go crazy and spiteful of Oscar. This money also represents the chain of authority which the Protagonist has to constantly deal with.

Ni 3 As their crime comes nears an end with the dismantling of the bridge, problem arise. The falling of that huge chunk of metal which kill Calvin and the fight with Oscar will set off the Protagonists rage like an atomic bomb. No longer will he be the silent, obedient employee thats going to let his boss walk all over his pride as a man, no longer will he have to bear the grunt of his labor and not tasted the fruit of his harvest. Instead hes going to take it all. First by killing Oscar, the process of killing Oscar became a manifestation of the hatred that has been building up throughout the story by the author, his constant mocking by his boss at work; Oscars constant promise of a reward, but now trying to beat him up or worst; his daughter, and his desire to make her life better than his. All of these events just all came crushing down to the one conclusion, that it was his time to finally revolt and usurp the authority. This time the man just happened to be Oscar, who he will club with that torch till he was exhausted from swinging it so many times. In the end this story might had been about a man and his crew stealing a bridge, but it really tackle onto a much bigger issue of standing up to authority. It took an already mentallybeaten up man from our lives and gave him a series of event to mold him into a man that will finally say I will take no more. This revolt to the Man and the symbolism of his dominance that were meant to rule and boss over him in this case money; starts with the bridge that he plans on stealing and breaking this government rule; the boss at work his constant daily tormentor, which he couldnt openly revolt to; Oscar, the poor fellow who just happened to try to beat him up thinking that he mightve been a pushover, but instead he met a guy who finally had took all the shit he can handle in life. A man who will no longer bend-over and just take it, instead he will be the one to finally unshackle this social chain that has bound him for his whole entire life and thus freeing himself from the authority.

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