Summary of “The Company Man” In this article, “The Company Man” by Ellen Goodman, the author’s objective is to give her audience a detailed encounter with a vice president of business, Phil, who is categorized as a “company man”. Ellen Goodman uses Phil as an example to imply her message that a “company man” is someone who puts their job or their company before anything else in their lives. Ms. Goodman begins the article stating Phil’s cause of death and the time of when the death took place. The author states that the cause of death was a heart attack, however Phil’s family and friends knew it was the result of Phil working himself to death. The article states that Phil was a top three candidate to become the top boss of the company. As a result, Phil was consumed by his work. Ellen Goodman states that Phil worked six days a week with most workdays finishing late at night. She goes on to describe Phil as a person who has no hobbies, and only cares about his work. His work consumed his time and his thoughts leaving him eating lunch at his desk and …show more content…
Goodman goes to describe Phil’s family and the impact his working habits had upon their lives and their memory of his name. Phil’s wife, Helen, is stated to be a loving woman who lost her husband to his job. Phil’s dedication to his occupation left Helen missing her husband company long before his death occurred. The article goes on to describe Phil’s eldest son as a successful executive who didn’t really know his father. It also states Phil’s eldest son trying to obtain details about his father through his neighbors, but to be disappointed when the neighbors had no information to give him. Ellen describes Phil’s, second child, daughter who was closer with her mother, and rarely talked to her deceased father. The author goes on to describe Phil’s favorite child, who was his youngest son that always attempted to keep his him home. Phil devotion to his job left his family with absent father and an absent