Page 182 - Demo

2705 Redefining AmericaYou know how, when you get a migraine, you regret how stupid you were for taking those sweet, painless days for granted? Although my days are hard, I understand that I%u2019m living in an era of painlessness, and that a time will come when I look back and wonder why I was such a stupid, whining fool. My mom%u2019s job 30involves hard manual labor, sometimes in the snow or the rain. I got her a real winter coat, her first, from Eddie Bauer. I got her a pair of Hunter boots. These were things she needed, things I had seen on women her age on the subway, their hands bearing bags from Whole Foods. My mom%u2019s hands are arthritic. She sends me pictures of them covered in bandages.My brother and I now have a pact: neither of us can die, because then the other would be stuck with our parents. My brother is twenty-two, still in college, and living with my mom. He, too, has some skills. He is gentle, kind, and excellent at de%u00ebscalating conflict. He mediated my parents%u2019 arguments for years. He has also never tried to change them, which I have, through a regimen of therapy, books, and cheesy Instagram quotes. So we%u2019ve decided that, in the long term, since his goal is to get a job, get married, have kids, and stay in Queens, he%u2019ll invite Mom to move in with him, to help take care of the grandkids. He%u2019ll handle the emotional labor, since it doesn%u2019t traumatize him. And I%u2019ll handle the financial support, since it doesn%u2019t traumatize me.This 1875 print shows traits like %u201cperseverance%u201d and %u201ccourage%u201d as rungs on the ladder to %u201criches%u201d and other rewards. Meanwhile, crowds in the background gamble, buy stocks, and strike.How does this artwork%u2019s message about success contrast with Villavicencio%u2019s message in this essay?The Ladder of Fortune, pub. by Currier and Ives, New York, 1875 (colour litho)/American School, (19th century)/Museum of the City of New York/Bridgeman ImagesCopyright %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.