Continental Drift

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of course, and sexy and good-humored; he’s not rich, not yet, {…} he’s kind and gentle, tender to women, children and animals, without being sentimental, however, because after all, he’s a "man’s man" as well; he’s a stern yet jocular father to his children, and he can take care of his wife too, can assume a custodial role in her life, honoring and attending to all her needs," (Banks, 133). Odysseus represents the benchmark in Bob’s quest to rise above the multitudes, his level of excellence in every aspect, what Bob hopes to attain by emulating the men he respects, while trying to avoid the example of those that he does not. The fact that Bob fails in his quest only adds to the idea that like Odysseus, who is a mythical figure whose traits are nearly impossible to mimic, the men that Bob sees are mythical, they exist only in Bob’s perception of them. That Bob fails is to be expected. He is trying to become the perfect image of a man, the kind of image he sees in ...

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he feels that there is nothing left for him to do, and so he focuses on the success he perceives in other people and resents the fact that he will never have it living the same safe as his ancestors in New Hampshire have lived. Eddie is the very picture of the success that Bob wishes to obtain. Eddie has it all, a beautiful wife, an impressive house, an expensive car, two boats, Eddie is his own boss, and most importantly, Eddie has a seemingly endless line of prospects that offer him a limitless future. Eddie made his own way as an entrepreneur, living his life according to a ‘truth’ that he learned as an 18 year old shoe salesman, "the most important fact is that the guys with ...

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