Tragedy always makes people sigh. Hearstwood, the manager of the bar, ended up as a beggar
, died in a snowy slum. The reason for this is that servile thoughts have created his miserable life.
There is no doubt that for the rest of his life, in the second half of his life without exposure to tragedy, Hurstwood was a veritable canary.
He is the manager of the Hanna-Hogg Bar in Chicago. To describe Hanna-Hogg's Bar in the words of the book, "this is part of the luxurious life—and it must be a good model for the whole of high society." ”
As the manager of the bar, he can also be regarded as the second in command of the company. Hearstwood's life was rather arbitrary. Money naturally does not need to be said, in his case, it is just a number. The most important thing is to give him a proud position, that is, the rich and nobles of high society must also give him some face. He not only received the admission ticket to high society, but also enjoyed the glory and honor brought to him by his status like a fish, so that he often recalled the ruyi life of the first half of his life when he was not satisfied.
Hurstwood's rise to prominence in Chicago is a glimpse from the charity performances at Avery Auditorium.
The charity performance at Avery Auditorium was just a small event organized by the Elk Club Branch. In the past, this kind of performance would not be noticed by too many people, let alone too many people to watch. But on the day of the official charity performance, almost all of Chicago's aristocratic gentry came to the venue to watch the show, and some did not even grab tickets.
This in itself is an incredible thing. But it's not hard to understand if it's Hirstwood behind the scenes.
This show has his lover Carrie, and he must hope that Carrie's performance will be touted by many people and make Carrie famous in Chicago.
So Hirstwood began his own action. In fact, he didn't do anything. He just chatted to his friends in the newsroom, "accidentally revealing" that Avery Hall was about to host a grand show, when Chicago's wealthy gentry would be there. If the people in the editorial office have received the treasure, Hurst Wooddo said, they have already scrambled to publish the news. Then he chatted with the rich gentleman at the Hanna-Hogg bar, informed him of the news he had seen in the newspaper, and invited them to go and watch it together when they arrived.
It's simple and doesn't take much effort, but the effect is obvious.
Then, the greater the gap, the more difficult it is for people to withdraw from their memories.
Later, Hurstwood fled to New York with Carrie, stealing and cutting off his upper class life in Chicago.
New York, where millionaires gather, multi-millionaires gather, how many rich people make their fortunes in this city full of opportunities, and achieve class leaps in one fell swoop. Here, it is the dream capital reserved for ambitious and powerful people.
Hurstwood and Carrie embark on a new life.
Here, Hurstwood funded the next bar, jumping from manager to bar owner. Or a bar in New York. Everything is moving towards the good.
However, Hearstwood soon discovered the difference. His bar is not at all conspicuous, and in New York, a city full of high-end bars, the rich and nobles do not know about Hurstwood's bar, let alone walk in front of the Testwood bar. It's just ordinary wages.
This time, he didn't even have an admission ticket. He had no access to the life of high society at all, and he could not enjoy the praise and praise of the rich and noble gentry in the past.
Slowly, Hearstwood's decline became increasingly debilitating, which became the beginning of his tragic life.
Once a person has gone downhill, there is no stop in the middle. When the cliff at the end arrives, it stops.
2. A fragile mindset is the second step to crushing the canary.
There is no distinction between high and low, but only the labels that the world places on the world in order to distinguish their own status, either with money or status. But this label bound Hurstwood and became the second turning point in his tragic life.
Hurstwood, a canary who had lived in a comfortable and wealthy country for the first half of his life, after escaping from the comfort of Chicago, the second problem he faced was finding a job.
Due to its own decline, the bar, like its own mood, decayed day by day until it closed.
At this time, Hurstwood only had more than 700 yuan on his body. In New York, where prices are extremely high, this little money is nothing at all, not to mention, Hurstwood, who is accustomed to a lavish life, has no way to save money, and every aspect of life, dress, housing, clothing, etc., needs to spend money.
Not looking for a job is tantamount to sitting still.
He was carrying more than $700, hoping to find a new bar to invest in as the owner, and he didn't want to start with a small clerk, after all, he used to be the manager of Hanna-Hogg Bar, and even the nobles had to give three faces. Other jobs do not have to be considered, he has never been exposed to it, he is more than half a hundred years old, and he does not have the energy of a young age, starting from scratch, not to mention that he does not have to be so aggrieved at all.
Come to think of it, there is only one way in front of Hurstwood - invest in the bar to be the owner.
With that in mind, Hirstwood began looking for a job. He looked for information on the recruitment of a joint venture in the information bar, hoping to invest in a popular bar. Anyway, he can't look at the too poor and sour bar, not to mention the high-end bar, he doesn't have enough money to invest at all, and asking is also touching the ash of the nose.
After searching for a long time, Hurstwood finally found a bar that was not bad, went to discuss the joint venture with the boss, and talked in just half an hour. There was no doubt that Hurstwood had failed. As soon as the boss saw the poor sour look on his body, he knew that he could not invest in the people of his own bar. Since then, Hearstwood has suffered rejection without exception.
I didn't think that Hurstwood would never be able to go out again to find a job. Instead, he found another way in a desperate situation - to cut back on food and clothing. He moved out of the apartment with modern machinery and re-rented an old small apartment. He also no longer requires exquisite and neat clothing, and lies at home with his beard pulled all day. The ingredients purchased at home need to be compared with the prices of several stores, and finally bargained to be successful. In general, it is like an old mother, cutting and searching, only throttling and not open source.
He also thought about open source, but not looking for a job to make money. He had already suffered a loss and was rejected every time. He didn't want to be rejected again. After all, in the past, the rich and noble gentry had to sell him a few points of face, and now these people had no eyesight, and he didn't want to go out to find a job and be rejected.
The open source he had in mind was gambling. This is a game that used to be played well in Chicago. However, gambling this game, really pay attention to the mentality, in Chicago, is to play with the mentality of the game, win or lose is not important, but easier to win. In New York, it is to play with the mentality of winning money, focusing on winning money, but it is easier to lose. What's more, in Chicago, people sell you face will deliberately lose to you, in New York, who knows you? There is no doubt that the ending was tragic. There are only more than 700 yuan, and there is very little left after playing a few times.
The money on my body is also about to disappear, and now it seems that going out to find a job is the best way out. His previous failures had taught him enough lessons, and his strong self-esteem had caused him to cut off the road with his own hands.
Later, unable to withstand Carrie's repeated urgings, Hearstwood even began to make up lies, saying that his friend would soon open a bar in New York, hire himself as a manager, and then have money. But now we need Carrie to go out and find a job to cope with the current situation.
A refusal made the first half of his life smooth, and Hurstwood, who had never suffered defeat, suffered an unprecedented blow and never recovered. I'd rather shrink my clothes and diet at home than go out looking for a job.
The glass heart was shattered. However, in a world where the weak prey on the strong, they are doomed to be crushed to the point of slag.
3. Good and bad work become the last straw that crushes the canary.
Believing Hearstwood's lies, Carrie goes out looking for a job, and based on her only stage experience, she hopes to find a job as an acting artist. She wasn't as selective as Hirstwood. In her search, she was not smooth sailing, and she was rejected more often. And there are not many positions that can be given to her, just a no-name pawn on the stage. But Carrie still did not pick and choose, and finally found a job, and used her salary to provide for her and Hurstwood's home, as well as Herstwood's idle home.
And so, months passed, and Hearstwood postponed the lie again and again, trying again and again to deceive the simple-minded Carrie. At this time, he stayed at home every day, holding the face of his former nobleman, waiting for Carrie to come back after work to cook for himself.
However, Carrie is getting better and better and succeeds on stage. Hurstwood remained so. In the end, Carrie chose to leave him. Only $20 was left for the penniless Hearstwood. Even so, Hearstwood still didn't want to go out and look for work. He sold all the furniture in the house for 50 yuan, and with only 70 yuan, he resolutely went to the slums of New York.
At first, he still had 70 yuan in his pocket, lived in a hotel of 70 cents a day, drank inferior wine, read the newspaper every day, and lived like this. Only expenses have no income, making his wallet more and more deflated. The hotel he stayed in was getting cheaper and cheaper, more and more rudimentary, and even eating was a problem in the end.
Hungry on his chest and back, he finally managed to force Hurstwood to let go of his former identity and face, and he found a handyman job in a hotel in the center of New York, with a low salary, but some of which he ate. Unfortunately, within a short time of the job, Hirstwood was fired from pneumonia and completely lost his financial resources.
He returned to the slums, where there were a large number of beggars. Begging for pedestrians every day, it only costs a few tens of cents, and their day will have land, food, and shelter.
Hurstwood was more noble than they were, he still had some money in his pocket, and every day he was muddy, barely had a place to live, and he ate a little, and the day passed. But at this time, Hurstwood had broken the idea of finding a job to make money, and the work was too tiring to be done by people.
Slowly, Hearstwood grew thinner and thinner, his body fat eroded away, and he walked on the road like a skeleton wrapped in skin and wearing tattered clothes. Haven't eaten in a long time.
There is no difference between Hirstwood and the beggars of the slums. Not to mention, Hurstwood ran out of money. He had to find a way to get money to eat a little, or he would really be hungry.
He saw the beggar next to him and singled out the rich man for money. If you don't want much, just a dozen cents, or many people are willing to give.
Regardless of his dignity, he now solved the need to eat, and he also wanted to beg passers-by to give him a little food like other beggars. Soon, he will reach more than ten cents, and with just one more ten cent coin, his day's food will fall.
Later, like the poor, Hurstwood went around looking for charity clubs and free labor, but he never thought about going out to work again.
On a snowy day in winter, Hirstwood wore tattered clothes, begged for a day and no one was willing to give him a part, and he didn't ask for food at the charity.
He used the few coins he had to live in a hotel and ended his miserable life in the snow-capped New York slums.
When his self-esteem and face are crushed by reality, Hearstwood, who is accustomed to a comfortable and comfortable life, would rather beg than do the "work that is not done by people" again. Ridiculous, pathetic. He personally forced himself into a dead end.
4. Summary
The second half of Herstwood's life is not lamented, and the canary who lived in the rich and gentle countryside for half of his life finally died tragically after returning to nature.
In fact, his tragedy was nothing more than his own doing. He used the first half of his life to cut off his wings to fly, and in the second half of his life, when he really encountered difficulties, he was naturally trapped in them.
However, everything can start from scratch, but he lacks the courage to start from scratch, and he uses the achievements of the first half of his life to shackle himself to the dilemma, unwilling to solve.