&&Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket

Title: Contents of a Dead Man's Pockets
Author: Jack Finney
Date Read: October 8, 2008

Pre-reading: 5 Top Priorities in My Life

1. Family
2. Schoolwork
3. Friends
4. Practice
5. Personal Happiness/Free Time

Plot: Tom Benecke is very hardworking man, trying to gain status in the company he works for. As a result of this, Tom starts a project in order to prove the effectiveness of a display that he would create for the company. He recorded a lot of information on a certain piece of paper that took many months to out together. One night, when his wife goes out to see a movie, he stays in to continue his work on the project. Unfortunately, the paper that he had been working on flew out the window and was stuck on a ledge outside. There was nothing he could do to get his paper, except climb out on the ledge and retrieve it. As he is on the ledge, he sees how far above the ground he is and he panics. His legs start to shake and it is hard for him to stay on the ledge. While he is up there, he realizes that he has been working so hard and ignoring his family; he has accomplished nothing. After debating with himself, he moves toward the window of his apartment. When he reaches the window, he bumped it and it shut, making it impossible to open without falling. He tries several ways to catch peoples' attention, but all fail. Finally he punches the window, breaking the glass, and goes inside to place his paper down on the desk with a pencil on top, using it as a weight. The pencil fell off the paper, the paper flew out the window, and he laughed.

Questions:

1. What if we work so hard towards something, such as a goal, only to never succeed? Will our life be worthless because we cannot reach our expectations? Will our work be for nothing?
2. Why would Tom work for months writing all of his information, but only have one piece of paper to show for it? Wouldn't he have many sheets because he had been working so extensively on his project?

Significant Quotes:

"Contents of a dead man's pockets, he thought with sudden fierce anger, a wasted life."

"As he saw the yellow paper, the pencil flying, scooped off the desk and, unimpeded by the glassless window, sail out into the night and out of his life, Tom Benecke burst into laughter and then closed the door behind him."