Resume

A Resume for George Wilson, from the valley of ashes
Please see the discussion tab for an online version.

Reflection: Creating a resume for a minor character really allowed me to be creative. A major character’s resume would need to have very specific details from the text, yet a minor character allowed for greater freedom. So I chose to make it for George Wilson, the owner of the auto repair shop in the valley of ashes. For George, his entire life has culminated in his auto shop and his marriage. For him, both are failures. Tom remarks that George is never doing well and hopes for him to have more customers. And George’s world is comprised of his wife, whom is not even completely devoted to him. His entire life is very hopeless, which is part of the reason he is located in the valley of ashes. For the resume, I tried to make it as pitiful as possible. George’s street is Dead-end Drive; to represent not only the fact that it is the road on which his wife is killed, but it is also the road on which George’s life can go no further. He is stuck and cannot move forward. Although he appears to be applying for a position with the Ford Motor Company, it is obvious he will not get the job. In the Army, he was only a specialist, working in the armory and filing papers. At Wells Fargo Bank, he did research and handled only the branch’s transactions, not the company’s. He did important work for both, but it was on the lower levels of the business hierarchy. Yet Wilson does attempt to sound experienced by saying he owns his business, servicing both West and East Egg customers, who are really anyone that drives by. And unfortunately, he only has a high school degree, because someone like him from Valley of Ashes would not be expected to attend college. His only glimmer of hope worth mentioning is an award from his second year at Wells Fargo, for showing the most promise. Yet it was not an award that he won again, showing his true potential. George is the type of person that simply does the work, and nothing more. He never has the drive to do anything more, yet he does attempt to make his life better by creating this new resume. The resume truly displays George’s inability to achieve greatness, and his lack of noticing problems. Just as he could not see the affair going on between Tom and his wife Myrtle, he cannot see how pitiful his resume truly is.

Notes Reference: I used general knowledge plus information from this site: http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade20.html about the nineteen twenties. It included topics such as businesses, art, fads, and many others. I wanted to create a genuine feel for the resume that included realistic occupations for the time period. Since it was the time when Ford was in it’s prime, I thought it proper that George was applying for a position with the company. Another bank that I know has been around for a long time is the Wells Fargo bank, which is one of George’s previous employers.