Free Essays on Generation X

Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. By Douglas Coupland. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991). Coupland illuminates the nineteen eighties by utilizing characters Andy, Clair, and Dag to construct a literary portrait of their generation. The job market, consumerism, and literary terms each contribute to identifying the 1980s generation that came of age. Generation X presents the post baby boomer generation who lost the â€Å"genetic lottery† causing job dissatisfaction, baby boomer resentment, and the search for something different. Dag’s story illustrates the X generation job market headed by those such as his boss, which Dag explains â€Å"Now, Martin, like most embittered ex-hippies, is a yuppie, and I have no idea how you’re supposed to relate to those people.† Dag furthers yuppie classification as, â€Å"Dickoids like Martin who snap like wolverines on speed when they can’t have a restaurant’s window seat in the nonsmoking section with cloth napkins† (21). As his story continues in the chapter titled â€Å"Quit Your Job† Dag reflects baby boomer resentment but first he explains to Dickoid Martin, â€Å"Well, if I’m going to quit anyway, might as well get a thing or two off my chest.† Following Dickoid’s (Martin) astonished response Dag asks, â€Å"do you really think we enjoy hearing about your brand new million-dollar home when we can barely afford to eat Kraft Dinner sandwiches in our own grimy little shoe boxes and we’re push ing thirty? A home you won in a genetic lottery, I might add, sheerly by dint of your having been born at the right time in history? You’d last about ten minutes if you were my age these days, Martin† (21). This story is especially important because it displays separation in occupational potential between the superior baby boomers vs. the inferior X generation. Most importantly Dag is unsatisfied with his job therefore providing an important aspect of his generation. A... Free Essays on Generation X Free Essays on Generation X Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. By Douglas Coupland. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991). Coupland illuminates the nineteen eighties by utilizing characters Andy, Clair, and Dag to construct a literary portrait of their generation. The job market, consumerism, and literary terms each contribute to identifying the 1980s generation that came of age. Generation X presents the post baby boomer generation who lost the â€Å"genetic lottery† causing job dissatisfaction, baby boomer resentment, and the search for something different. Dag’s story illustrates the X generation job market headed by those such as his boss, which Dag explains â€Å"Now, Martin, like most embittered ex-hippies, is a yuppie, and I have no idea how you’re supposed to relate to those people.† Dag furthers yuppie classification as, â€Å"Dickoids like Martin who snap like wolverines on speed when they can’t have a restaurant’s window seat in the nonsmoking section with cloth napkins† (21). As his story continues in the chapter titled â€Å"Quit Your Job† Dag reflects baby boomer resentment but first he explains to Dickoid Martin, â€Å"Well, if I’m going to quit anyway, might as well get a thing or two off my chest.† Following Dickoid’s (Martin) astonished response Dag asks, â€Å"do you really think we enjoy hearing about your brand new million-dollar home when we can barely afford to eat Kraft Dinner sandwiches in our own grimy little shoe boxes and we’re push ing thirty? A home you won in a genetic lottery, I might add, sheerly by dint of your having been born at the right time in history? You’d last about ten minutes if you were my age these days, Martin† (21). This story is especially important because it displays separation in occupational potential between the superior baby boomers vs. the inferior X generation. Most importantly Dag is unsatisfied with his job therefore providing an important aspect of his generation. A...