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Marx Alienation In The Office

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The American hit television show, The Office, expands upon the background of a group of individuals working for a paper company. It gives details of how their sales work, their work ethic, motivation, as well as their personal lives. For this narrative I want to focus on one of the workers, Jim Halpert, and his unhappiness in this capitalistic position. As the television show continues, we see how Marx's theory of alienation of the worker affects this character in various ways.
As mentioned before, this show focus around an office made up of around 25 individuals and side characters that rotate in appearance. Jim Halpert is first introduced to the show as a temporary worker in the first episode, "Pilot". He states, "Right now, this is just a job. If I advance any higher, this would be my career and if this were my career I would have to throw myself in front of a train". As the seasons progress, Jim interviews for positions within the company and eventually becomes regional co-manager only to demote himself later for financial gain. In fact, Jim is so concentrated on his financial gains that he tells the camera in an interview that, "Some people aren't in [the job] for the money, well I am". …show more content…

Weber expands upon this idea that the wage earners do not use work as simply means to an end. It is essential for maintaining your identity as well as being a cog in a machine. These concepts are what I believe lead Jim Halpert to continue his work at a company that he hates for so long, and eventually rise to the top. He is a larger part of what drives the company and becomes stuck in a position that he figured was temporary over a decade

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