Chapter 2

The No-Daddy-Blues

This second chapter of the novel “The Pursuit of Happyness” written by Christopher Gardner is about how he had to struggle through difficulties. Chris has to grow up with a gruesome stepfather and his mother is unfit to fight against this sheer brutality. For the first the author describes his familiar situation: Chris has to live in bad conditions. His mother can not help him and his stepfather Freddie is always drunk. He is not able to change this hopeless situation. The author uses often cusses when he talks about Freddie. The young Chris needs a real father and wants to be beloved. Chris has only one possibility to run rings around Freddie because compared with Freddie he has the ability to read and write.

Chris feels alone and Freddie continues beating up his mom. No one helps Chris in this horrible situation not even the police show interest. He begins to hate Freddie and wants to take revenge. Eventually Chris learns by this experience that he never wants to be like Freddie to his children. He wants to be a nice dad and wants to give love to his own kids in the future so that they will have a happy childhood. There is a ray of hope when the family tries to separate from Freddie.  At the end Freddie accomplishes that the whole family has to turn back to Freddie’s house.  The reason for the return among others is that Chris’s mother is financial dependent.

Due to the situation Chris made mistakes. One time he stole and was caught. Chris has to live constantly in injustice.  In addiction he tries early to become self-employed. He gains money with the so called ‘junking’.  There are some older teenagers who help him and so he does not need to take the money from his mother.

Chris’s rage against Freddie grows faster and faster but on the other hand he knows that it would be too dangerous to take action. Furthermore Chris can not stop searching for his fatherly origin.

Concluding the author describes in this chapter how he learns to handle the situation and his mother looms large at that point.

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.

“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-

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”.

Chapter 1

In the first chapter the narrator, Chris, talks about this childhood. The first thing he remembers is the aroma of a pancake syrum transforing into a candy. He talks about this life-situation. When he was three years old this sister Ophelia was seven. They lived with Mr. and Mrs. Robinson instead of their parents. This was very mysterious for them. There was another woman Chris liked very much. She was more than beautiful for him because she was his mom.

Chris hardly knows anything about his father but his name Thomas Turner. The next man his mother Bettye Jean became entangled was Freddie Triplet who turned out to be violent and not helpful to his family. Chris mother was being prosecuted and imprisoned for three years since Freddie Triples claimed she had earned money besides receiving welfare aid. These three years Chris and his sister spent in foster care or with various family members.

Another curiousity that Chris keeps wondering about is that his mom but also the Gardner family almost always shrugged off serious questions about the past.

His first two years Chris crew up in an enviorment with just black people around him. The only white people he ever saw were on television and in police cars.

Chris describes his three uncles as hard-working people who lived the american way of life in Milwaukee which they considered as “their land of milk and honey, of golden opportunities”.

While Chris lived with his oncle Archie and his aunt TT he experienced a peaceful athmosphere without too many rules. His aunt seems to be very generous iwth buying books for him. Later he learned that there was a public library where he could pursue his hobby. Reading books allowed Chris to travel in his imagination and could see the world of he unknown without being afraid.

The other window into the world was black-and-white TV and the “Spiegel-cataloque” that showed him that there was something else beyond the ghetto, for example black boxers becoming famous and rich.

Chapter 3- Where’s Momma?

The third chapter of the book   „The Persuit of Happyness” is about the life after his mother left him again.

After his mother Betty Jean left Chris in the age of aight, he lived by his uncle Willie and his aunt Ella Mae for the next three years. This time Chris lived without his sister. He often remembered the time together. Chris did not know where she was, or if she died while she was in a detention home. He often felt lonely. In the first time at they uncle, he argue with his wife Ella Mae, because he should helped her managing the household. Chris never learned things like washing or cleaning. The three Uncles from Chris Gardner are very important for him. Uncle Willie often told him stories of his adventures, which Chris cannot believe. Uncle Archie taught him how hard life is and how hard you must work. The most important uncle for Chris was uncle Willie. Uncle Willie treated Chris like his own son. In the first time of his life he felt be loved. With him Chris hear Jazz music from Miles Davis and rule him living life with philosophy. A hard accident of his uncle Henry shocked Chris very much. Henry was fishing and has drowned. At the funeral of him, Chris saw his mother and her friend Freddy again, but she did not let him to her and speak to her. Chris knows that his mother would not be in prison without Freddy. After this meeting Chris do not want to think about mother and took in hand to enjoy the rest of his childhood. Two years later, as Chris visited Baby, the sister of Freddy he must cried. Baby is very friendly to Chris because she knows how Freddy treated Chris. Chris tried to call his mother because he smelled her and found her clothes in the basement of baby’s house. But his mother was not there at the moment.

Prologue

The prologue “Go Forward”, of the book “The Pursuit of Happyness”, deals with the events that have shaped the life of Chris Gardner sustainable.

 

The first event takes place in the early 80’s in San Francisco. The 27-year-old Chris Gardner meets Bob Bridges, the owner of a red Ferrari 308. For Chris, the car symbolizes freedom, escape and a lot of options. This is why he wants to know how Bob got so successful. For Chris, this man seems to be living a very successful life, which is why he had to meet him. He learned a lot about the stock exchange and now wants to create with this knowledge his breakthrough on the stock market. Furthermore, he tells about the birth of his son Christopher, who encouraged him to think about his past. Even though this event represented a happy situation for him, this was followed by a hard time for him and his son. They were homeless and had to fight through the critical period of San Francisco. Through these difficult circumstances the future of Chris Gardner was uncertain, however, this was never a reason for him to give up his life! In that time he met the reverend Cecil Williams, who became his mentor. Williams taught him to always think forward, even if the prospects are not so good.(“… do’nt just talk that talk, walk that walk”, p.7) Chris made this wisdom to his mantra and that helped him in many difficult situations. But the most important event in his life, which has given him the strength to stand up again and to strive for something better, occurred in March 1970. At that time, Chris was 16 years old and watched the quarter-finals of the basketball. He was fascinated by the prospects of professional basketballers. But his mother assured him that it was possible for him to be successful, too. His role should be to live his own story and to realize what he wants. At 16, when he sat in front of the television and admired the basketballer, he could not believe his mother’s words. But today he is aware that this revelation of his mother have kindled in him the fire and motivation to achieve this success he has today.

 

He dedicates his story to his mother, because she has made him what he is today.

Chapter 12: Sphere of Influence

Chapter 12: Sphere of Influence

 

In the last chapter of the book the American Dream is coming true for Chris Gardner.

The development begins when Chris is chosen to work for a big firm by a scout. The name of this scout is Gary Shemano. He is the managing general partner of “Bear and Stears“, one of the most profitable private partnerships in the history of Wall Street.

He observes Chris for some time while he is working. Chris does not have a clue that this time is going to change his life.

After he observing him for quite a time he tells Chris who he is and what he’s doing. And he lets him know that “Bear and Stears” is interested in hiring Chris.

When Chris enters the building of “Bears and Stears“for the first time to meet Gary he is kind of shocked by the atmosphere and intensity of work. He feels that he belongs to this place. Chris gets hired and his salary is increasing to a multiple of his old one.

The CEO welcomes Chris on the phone and tells him that his firm was built by PSD’s (Poor, Smart, with a deep Desire to become wealthy). Now Chris is sure that he is in the right place.

He is moving to a beautiful second floor apartment in a large Victorian building. Later he buys a new suit and spends more time with his son. For him this is the American Dream.

The following years Chris is working very hard. One of Chris’s clients always tells him jokes about “niggers“speaking on the phone not knowing he is speaking with a black guy. But Chris stays cool and does his job. When this client realizes in a later meeting what he was doing all the time he investigates his whole asset and lets Chris do all the business.

With and for this client Chris makes a lot of money.

After some years Chris makes one of his dreams come true and moves to New York.

He gets a daughter with his ex-wife so he is father of 2 children now.

Until he gets fired by his moody boss everything at his work goes perfect.

That is when Chris decides to open an own firm and enter a completely new market. The market of the black people (black institutions, black banks, black insurance companies, black entrepreneurs and executives and black foundations).

He and his ex-wife move to Chicago because it is a good place to raise the 2 children.

Because of his growing firm Chris now has much time to spend with his 2 children.

This is how the American Dream comes true for him

Chapter 1: “Candy”

Chapter one is composed of three different paragraphs.
The first four pages Gardner tells about his early childhood. He talks about the pretty woman, who took care of him, his sister Ophelia and the other two children, Rufus and Pookie. Her smell, her beauty, her expressive eyes and her amazing smile were awesome for Chris. He also tells about how kind they were treated by Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, the adults whose house they lived in. He also mentions their situation, their fear of those who lived two doors down, the familiar feeling, they had at the Robinson’s house and especially his extraordinary relation to the pretty woman.

Then Gardner fades to his family of secrets and his mother’s saga. He tells about the birth of his mother Bettye Jean Gardner and about her childhood with her parents Archie and Ophelia Gardner and her three younger brothers Archie Junior, Willie and Henry, who adored her.In addition Gardner reports about his mothers good high-school graduation and her following problems after the sudden death of her mother. She needs to cope with a domineering stepmother, she named Little Mama, and after the refusal to get financial help from her father she found work as a substitute teacher. Then her father put her out and that’s the reason, why she went to her brothers in Milwaukee. Gardner also talks about the different men Bettye has children with. First Samuel Salter, Ophelia’s father, then Thomas Turner, Chris’s father and finaly Freddie Triplett, the father of Sharon and Kimberly. The last was Bettye’s longest but the hardest relation because of to much problems, Chris refers about detailed.

In the third paragraph Gardner writes about the area, where he grew up. He calls it the black „Happy Days“. His hole neigbourhood consists of black people who worked in the factories. The area had a strong economy and many jobs, due to the good location at Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River. In addition, Gardner talks about the time when he lives by his uncle Archie and his aunt TT with his sister Ophelia. They did not replace Gardners parents but the fact that he had no father and that Archie had no son let them come closer. Finaly, Ophelia and Chris adored each other and Gardner writes about the hard winters when they played a game called this-page-that-page.

Niklas Z. / Maximilian J.