Does cultural economics affect country’s competitiveness?

Abstract

This research paper aims to investigate George Saunders’ short stories Pastoralia and Sea Oak, rages against the bland cruelty of corporate America and speaks up for the upliftment of the middle class or the working class. George Saunders is truly considered to be one of the most wonderful American writers of the twenty first century, mostly the protagonists in the writings of George Saunders were individuals who were referred as the failures of American history, the downtrodden, the oppressed. His writings might be dark but it still permits his characters a humanity and a relentless in pursuit which gives them a glimmer of hope to move forward and achieve their goals. The main characters in the two short stories depict a clear and vivid picture about the sufferings of the working-class community, they were forced to withhold their jobs, understanding their situation their owners kept their workers as mere slaves and asked them to behave as per their order and did not give them job permanence, the workers were also ready to fulfil the demands of their owners because the job was very important for them to come out of their family’s financial crisis. This narrative also portrays the anguish and absurdity of the American service sector, while also honouring the dignity of those who work in it.

Keyword : working-class, sacrifice, humiliation, sufferings, consumeristic culture.