The Importance of Work :: essays research papers

The Importance of WorkDuring the birth of this country, Puritans had to guide hard to ensurethe supremacy of the new state. In order to make work more appealing, thePuritans emphasized the fruits of labor. This attitude, reflected in modern dayby the act of "working for a living," is considered as a "badge of pride."Puritan attitudes toward work and the attitudes of two modern day writers towardwork all agree that the act of working has virtuous effects, an attitude that Ishare because of my working experience (Clee and Clee 233-234).     Three different attitudes toward work, expressed by several writers whomI have recently studied agree that hard work yields positive rewards. Henry F.Bedford, a history teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy, and Trevor Colbourne, ateacher at the University of New Hampshire, examine the Puritan attitude towardwork in their book The Americans A Brief History. Puritans stress the goodnessof working by relating it to r eligious beliefs. Sloth is sinful, but thePuritans also pointed out that it was self-defeating. Leisure is evenconsidered an " deplorable temptation" (Bedford and Colbourne 235-238). Marge Piercy,a modern day poet, essayist, and novelist, attempts to explain why work isdesirable on contemporary terms in her poem "To Be of Use." To Piercy, hardworkers who really persevere are admirable because of the fact that the world isfull of temptations to stop working, or to not work altogether. This admirationfor determination is unmixed because work is as "common as mud," and it must bedone sometime (Piercy 242-243). Wendell Berry, an English teacher at theUniversity of Kentucky, explains the basis of the desire to work in his essay"The Joy of Work." In response to the prediction that there will be no work inthe future, Berry emphasizes the importance of work to human race nature.