Chapter 7 – Pictures of a Life

Chapter seven of the autobiography “the pursuit of happyness” written by Chris Gardner is about the authors life in San Francisco and particularly about his new job as a research-assistant and his marriage with his long-distance friend Sherry Dyson.

In chapter seven Chris moves to San Francisco to work there for Dr. Ellis as a research-assistant which is a chance for him to be trained under one of the top doctors in the field. When Chris arrives at San Francisco he remembers the time after coming out of the military where everything had been about discipline, process, order and structure. He speaks about one day when some friends invited him to join them at some sort of lecture, which would be after Bill able to change his life. This seminar which was called EST ran by a man named Werner Erhard and was about self-determination. After some hours participating at the seminar Chris and his friends became frustrated because they realized that the only goal of this seminar was to gain a lot of money by telling the people how their lives were not working. However Bill, Chris friend, keeps on searching and became charismatic leader who died one day together with nine hundred other people in a mass suicide by Jim Jones.

Then Chris switches back to reality and talks about how he is seduced by the idea of a potential career in medicine and about Bob who is willing to place an incredible amount of trust in him and to open up a new world in medical research. This work as a research-assistant puts Chris right in his element. One day Dr. Ellis wants him to meet Rip Jackson who presents a medical scientist-technician genius for Chris. Because Rip sees that Chris wants to learn from him, he treats him with the utmost respect in spite of his racist kind of view.
Adding to the education Chris gets from Rip Jackson and Bob Ellis there is a third scientist in the medical laboratory. This third guy named Gary Campagna who does not have a medical degree either teaches Chris all about technique and the importance of finesse. Chris now realizes that it is not enough to know what you are doing because you also need a certain kind of talent.
Sometimes Chris feels his lack of education but he is so motivated that learning feels easy for him.

In opposition to his pleasure of his new job there are other things missing in Chris’ life: Money and a social contacts. After a while of loneliness Chris calls his long-distance fried Sherry Dyson and proposes to her spontaneous. The wedding which holds as planned on June 18, 1977 takes place in a park near Sherry’s parents’ home.
The Dysons’ way of life represents for Chris the ideal of a home. He wants to belong to Sherry’s world in which she had grown up without chaos or any kind of violence. They have a deep connection and Sherry opens Chris up to a new lifestyle that includes theater, comedy and social gatherings. However when reality settles in they are both wondering if they did the right thing.
First Chris tries to ignore the problem but after a while he begins to work more and more because he does not want to live this “picture of a life” Sherry wants him to live. Chris does not know how to shake up the routine so he starts a love affair with a “fairly hip woman”. However he realizes very quickly that this is one of his worst mistakes in his life and tells the woman that he does not want to see her anymore.

Chris goes through a bad spell full of uncertainty and as a result he decides not to become a doctor. Sherry who is very disappointed about his decision reproaches him for handing in his notice. One day at a party when Chris meets Jackie, an “exotic black goddess” he knows that their marriage is going to be over.

Alcohol

The following text is about the theme alcohol.

The word ´alcohol´ is derived from the Arabic and means ´something fine´.
The first alcoholic products were fruit which were overripe. So alcohol was made accidental.
With the introduction of farming starts the production of soft drinks.

It gives a lot of types of alcohol: beer, wine, booze, whisky,vodka … and others.

People drink soft drinks because of their taste and their effect. It makes a better mood and doesn´t miss on a party. But when you drink too much you get drunk and in the long term that is addictive.

Specially teenagers are affected. Under the law in Germany you have to wait until you are sixteen-year-old, in America until you are 21 . The Parents of children in the USA, who consume alcohol when they are under 21, commit an offence. But who observe this law?
The most of the teenagers find it is cool to drink and it gives them the feeling to be adult.
But there are more adults who are addicted. Teenagers get more in an intoxication.
Finally is is distressed that the number of young people in Germany who are taken drunken to a hospital is twice as much as in the year 1990 while in the USA the children get a good but severe education with regard to alcohol.

Review

The book “The Pursuit of Happyness” written by Chris Gardner and published in 2006 shows how you can recognize chances and use them to become successful.

When I started reading the book I was bored and didn‘t look forward to reading all those pages, but after a couple chapters I started really liking the way the story was written. I suddenly wanted to know more about the background of this whole book and the author itself.

While reading the book the main characters attitude really impressed me. I liked how he encouraged the reader to think more positively and to stay strong (even in hard times). Looking back, if I had to say what I learned and will try to apply in my own life, I would say: “If you really want something, you can reach it!” Sometimes a person becomes insecure due to the circumstances. It might seem as if nothing is working as planned and there is no way out, but Chris Gardner proves us different.

Furthermore I enjoy the way he describes the occurrences so close to reality. Chris Gardner private and very intimate matters, which is why the reader feels involved in his story or can identify with him. He talks about good and sad moments, the mistakes he has made and opens up about his fears and sorrows. All these aspects mentioned above make me think, that the author does not have any problem that the whole world knows private details about his life.

Similar to many other books, “The Pursuit of Happyness” addresses some deeper issues seen in your society nowadays. Unfortunately these problems still have not been solved, but I guess mentioning them is the first step of many to come. When I hear about some of the problems people are confronted with, I get very sad and realize how much I have myself. It is important to always be thankful, content and happy with what we have and I think it is also my responsibility to give back (to the others). For instance it is a shame that there are so many children who have to grow up without a father. I explained already that his writing style makes it easy for the reader to identify himself with the author or feel involved. Then it won‘t be surprising if I say that at some parts in the book I was astonished about the large amount of violence. Through his detailed description at some point I felt like getting up and fighting against this cruelty myself.

In conclusion this book really impressed me in a positive way. It has a profound message, and taught me to have a more positive view. Life is too short to be unhappy. Finally my advice to you is to take the time and read this book. It is really worth it and won‘t disappoint you.

Book Review

The novel ´The Pursuit of Happyness´, written by Chris Gardner together with Quincy Troupe, is an autobiography of Chris Gardner and his way from a poor and black boy to a rich and successful man.

He writes about his childhood by his aunt and his uncle and about the different relation to his stepfather Freddie.
Later Chris Gardner talks about his life as father and as stockbroker.
He had to bear some strokes of fate and some bad moments but he hasn´t never given up.

I liked the story because it was interesting to read her. The author has an easy and a fluent style but sometimes it was a bit confused to understand the different time shifts. So he talked about a theme and suddenly about something what he done earlier. Then he told and told and in the next moment he was in the present again and I noticed that was in the same passage like before. This was very fad but all in all I think the final message of the novel is very important for all people: Never give up when you are in troubles or when you have problems.
It is not important who or what you are because nobody have the right to condemn you.
You have to believe in your dreams and everyone can make them real.

Character file: Andy Cooper:

Andy Cooper:

 

 

Andy Cooper is a profit oriented business man and one of the top producers at “the brokerage

firm in which Chris is hired as a trainee”. He is selling tax shelters before the tax laws change

in this area.He is an idol in his firm , an guy other guys look up to.

This is why Chris Gardner hooks up with him and wants to learn from this man.

When Andy Cooper sees how disciplinated Chris is working at the phone he is giving him the

chance to arrange the meetings with prospective investors. Trough this it is possible to see he

is not a racist.

Donald Turners brother is a friend of Andy.

Later on Chris is dissociating oneself from Andy , he wants to do his own thing and not to

work for Cooper anymore.

 

written by Isabell Pfeiffer

Book Review: The Pursuit of Happyness

Book Review: The Pursuit of Happyness

The novel “The Pursuit of Happyness“, (published in 2006 and written by Chris Gardner and Quincy Troupe), is an autobiography of Chris Gardner and stresses the main topic of the gap between the rich and the poor. The story begins with Chris Gardner as he grows up in Milwaukee living with his aunt and uncle. His whole family is black and his mother has been imprisoned for a long time. Unfortunately Chris doesn’t know his father. Events take a turn for the worst, when Chris‘s mother gets a new boyfriend named Freddie. Freddie is always drunk and becomes violent whenever intoxicated. He is no father for Chris, and he and his family constantly live  in fear of Freddie.

As Chris grows up, his journey to become a successful stock broker begins. He never gives up his dream, the “American Dream“. The author intends to show this inspirational story to the audience, and to make the reader more self-confident. Even if the situation was as bad as Chris’s childhood, there is always a way to escape the negativity, and to reach something better. Chris experiences some really bad situations but he is relentless, and he remains strong and he continues to give everything to achieve his dream.

The reason I enjoyed the book is because of the Author’s intended message which is to never give up. Life isn’t always easy and Chris told us how he mastered these difficult times. Another part of the message is that first you have to work hard before you can relax. Chris has to work for years, sometimes under really bad conditions but after working for so long he is able to spend quality time with his family and to do everything he wants to do, both leisurely and business-wise. But it is important to remember that it had never been Chris’s goal to become rich or successful. His original goal and what he had wanted the entire time, was only to become happy first.

 

written by Isabell Pfeiffer

“The No-Daddy Blues”

The No-Daddy Blues

-Second chapter-

The second chapter “The No-Daddy Blues” from the novel “The Pursuit of Happyness” written by Christopher Gardner is about the author’s search of identity and the experience of the lack of a real father causing helplessness at young age.

He describes his familiar situation: His mother wants only the best for her children, but it seems that this makes Freddie, his stepfather, more and more aggressive. Freddie is always drunk, beats up his mother and treats Chris very bad. In this chapter Chris Gardner often calls his stepfather:”..motherfucker!” Chis feels helpless and cannot fight the situation, except: Freddie cannot read and write. So he has a tool to provoke Freddie with something he can but his stepfather cannot do, to strike back for all the injustice against himself. It is a mighty big weapon against humiliation to feel better. But sometimes young Chris also tries to make Freddie like him because he suffers missing the love of a father…again and again as always without success.
Sometimes Ophelia’s dad comes to visit the family. So some day he asks her dad if he could also be his dad, too. He agrees and gives him one more dollar pocket money, like he gives to Ophelia, his blood daughter. Again not a real father substitute, Chris Gardner feels like he is the only one without a father in his life.

Freddie does not stop to beat up his mom and the police does not show any interest to help. It seems to be so unfair. He feels helpless and there are repeating aspects of humiliation, racism and injustice.

Everything he has to experience, he wants to pay all back, he hates Freddie. He is sure, he never wants to ever turn out like this, instead he seeks to be a good daddy one day.

The short attempt of his family to move away from Freddie seems to be a new chance to win the battle against injustice and abuse and to win in the end.

Chris learns at very young age to become more independent, he earns some of his own money, for example with “junking”, which is helping to tear down households and sell the goods. He does the work with older teenagers to not having to ask his mother for money to spend.

But Chris is not only good, one day he was caught stealing. As a result the punishing of his mother stays in the back of his mind for a very long time to never do such thing again. It is injustice.
Over and over Chris fantasizes about Freddie being dissolved from his family’s life. But he realizes that even the thought is dangerous since Freddie’s upbringing in the country was full of hunting and gun-play. Freddie owns a weapon and this is a constant threat.

His continuous seek for his own identity makes him always curious where he is coming from. He is always searching for hints to his real father and looks for signs. But this does not turn the family situation to the better. Finally he develops fantasies to poison Freddie to solve the intolerable situation, but again he experiences failure and inability to change the situation.

Chris compares his mother’s reactions to Freddie’s out bursting aggressiveness often as being frozen. He observes her stillness defeating the storm as a defending weapon. So passively she is able to manipulate the situation to the better, a true lesson to Chris. So far he had to learn the fear of loosing life or a loved one or the fear of loosing everything. His mother shows him the way, with her stillness to sit out the situation. It may be helpless, but not hopeless to continue on.

-Eva-

Unemployment and Homelessness in America

In America, there is a high unemployment rate about 8 percent.
A report of the Department of Labor in 2010 published that there are 4,3 Million ’99ers’, those who are unemployed since more than 99 weeks and who are therefore out of the American unemployment pay system. Short, they do not have any financial income. Probably, America has more than 4.3 Million long-term unemployed because the Department of Labor does only count the number of those who are searching for a job. The others who already had given up are not mentioned. Some say that every fifth in America is unemployed.
After the mass redundancies due to the bad economic situation in 2008/9, most of the people did not find a new job. In spite of the actual economic growth, the heads of companies fear that another recession will return and consequently they do not reemploy the former workers. This is a vicious circle named ‘jobless growth’. That means for the 99ers to write countless applications without success. And this does not only relate to the unqualified people. Well educated people live on the subsistence level as well. You can find a homeless dish washer but also a homeless stockbroker in America. Even McDonalds do not give jobs to anyone.
But this is not the worst: The people lose not only their jobs, they lose their houses too and has to ask their parents or friends to join them in their houses and live with them. If this is not possible, they have to stay all nights in their cars or in hostels for homeless people which are mostly overcrowded. They are not able anymore to feed their families, they have to sell their properties in flea markets and have to wait for food on the ‘Food Bank’.

To minimize the homelessness in America, it would be an idea to extend the American unemployment pay system to more than 99 weeks and give the people more time to find a new job. Thus, the people and especially the families do not have to live in the streets or in hostels for homeless people. This would be important to encourage the children and to guarantee that they does continue to go to school, finish their education and realize the possibility to have a job on there own in the future. If they live on the streets and do not experience another daily routine they will not have the willpower to escape from the homelessness.

Obama, the President of the United States, proposed such an extension of the unemployment pay system to the House of Representatives which was excepted by the Democrats – the majority in the House of Representatives.
But in opposition to this, most participants of the senate are Republicans, who has to sign the law too. Their opinion about this topic is disadvantageous for the unemployed and homeless people. They are against an extension due to the shortage of money available to the state. Furthermore, the people will not continue to search a job if there is an financial income given by the state, proclaimed the Republican Senator of Texas John Kyl . Simultaneous, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch claimed that most of the unemployed are criminals and proposed drug testing for every unemployed on top of that.
That imbalance of opinions in the House of Representatives and in the Senate does and will make it very difficult to fight against the unemployment and homelessness in America.
A ray of hope could be President Obamas reelection. Even if the unemployment was at the maximum since 2009, in the weeks before his reelection in october 2012 surveys showed that there were created 873 000 new jobs.
Obama plans to reduce the taxes for the workers, modernize one-third of all schools in America,  give the people more job offers, support medium-sized companies, and relieve families financially etc.
Future will show, if it is enough to fight against unemployment and homelessness because it will not be easy for Obama with the opposition in the Senate which is convinced that America do not have enough resources to realize these propositions.

Personal Review of the story

The book ‘The Pursuit Of Happyness’ by Chris Gardner contains a autobiographic of a black man with a very strong energetic and optimistic character.

To understand my personal review, you have to know something about the content of the book.

The author describes diverse experiences in his childhood, growing up near to San Francisco in a ghetto. Those experiences deal with familial and social interaction, domestic violence, violence in general, but also love and  Chris’ know-how to have fun, enjoy his life and be happy, is discussed.
After having passed nine-teen years in San Francisco, he joins the marine to see the world, meet women and get an education.
One day, he returns to San Francisco but does not know yet what he wants. He marries, divorces and has sex with some woman until one of them gives birth to his son Christopher. Chris has to raise the child without assistance, but he loves him heartily.
Many difficulties, racism, homelessness, hunger and concurrence in his life and job, complicate the aim to reach the American Dream. But in the end, Chris Gardner achieves and is able to give a home and enough to eat to his son.

In my opinion there are negative and positive aspects concerning the book “The Pursuit Of Happyness”.

On the one hand, I have to mention that there is a lack of structure. The author digresses often from the main story and does not care if his explanation is essential for the main story or not. He only reflects everything that comes to his mind.
Besides, the story is very long and risks to become boring at some points. This is especially in the beginning of the story what de-motivates the reader, but this is also at later parts where for example his homelessness is described. He considers every place where he and his son has to sleep. That’s why.  he does not go on with the main story.
At the same time, he often repeats parts. For example, he mentions every time that his stepfather is violent or that his whole family has fear. Those statements are forceful enough, that it is not necessary to say it again and again.

On the other hand, the autobiographic is very authentic. For instance, this is where Chris talks about his son Christopher and shows his absolute love to him: ‘He had to be the most beautiful, the most brilliant, the most agile, (…) the most athletic infant in the hospital ward.’ (page 176).
Furthermore, Christopher becomes Chris’  focus of existence and he only works to satisfy the necessities of his son. These are very human, dedicative and emotional traits of character that make him sympathetic and let the reader feel with Chris.
Furthermore, the book is written in a comprehensible language even if there is some colloquial speech. The colloquial speech just does supports the authenticity.

All in all, I am convinced that reading “The Pursuit Of Happyness” makes the reader advance mentally by accompanying a strong, optimistic and positive man who tries to realize the American Dream. He achieves in spite of many difficulties. The story motivates the reader to pursuit satisfaction, love, his dreams, his beliefs and to find piece in himself. He is motivated to pursuit Happiness.

Chapter 2 – “The No-Daddy-Blues”

Chapter two “The No-Daddy-Blues” of Chris Gardners book “The Pursuit of Happyness” is separated in two parts.

Part one is about Chris’ constant fear towards Freddie, the man who lives with Chris’ family. Freddie could replace the absent father but just threatens them.

In comparison to Freddie, Chris’ mother Bettye Jean tries to protect the children and gives them all the love she has. Unfortunately, it does not prevent that Freddie beats them up all the time.
One day, seven years old Chris’ biggest fear becomes reality by finding his mother lying on the floor. Freddie attacked her from the back, knocking her out. Luckily, she survives but takes the decision to escape from Freddie. Thereupon, Bettye Jean and her children leave Freddie one night and move to a new place. The threat seems to be gone but Freddie finds them and takes them back to his “back house”. What Chris learns to a later time period is that his mother has to obey the brutal man because of financial dependences and the fear that he will send her back to prison. The terror returns and Chris swears to kill Freddie and save his family from this domestic violence.
Furthermore, Chris promises to himself in this part of chapter two that he will never leave his child if he had one, like his own father did. And he will never be like Freddie who took him a lot of self-esteem.
The second part describes Chris’ childhood in general.
He experiences “Happy days” (p. 42) in the neighbourhood with other black children by playing football, stealing popcorn or watching films.
Nevertheless, there is still the fear towards Freddie that Chris and his mother, brothers and sisters are trying to ignore. Due to the fear, Chris suffers more and more from the “No-Daddy-Blues”.