Fallacy Of Success
G.K. Chesterton english poet, writer, philosopher, and critic in his excerpt “The
Fallacy of Success” (All Good Things, 1915) attacks the current perception of success.
Chesterton develops his argument through the use of Greek mythology as well as various references to modern selfhelp books and repetition. He writes to abolish the idea that success is purely based upon wealth in order to reshape society’s current perception into one of true success, where everything and everyone can be successful. Chesterton writes for an audience of individuals who desire success, evidenced by his sophisticated yet simplistic subject matter and diction. Beginning the excerpt, Chesterton makes multiple comparisons that utter the same outcome. Success is …show more content…
By remembering Chesterton’s perception of success, the audience is deterred away from the current concept of success. This leaves an imprinting idea of the author’s notion of success, which in turn favors the argument of
Chesterton.
Nguyen 2
The author then continues on to reference to a historical Greek myth, King Midas.
Chesterton uses King Midas to establish a piece of evidence that the audience inherently knows, whether it was from being taught it or discovered elsewhere. To some, King Midas was seen as successful, especially because of the wealth he acquired when he turned ordinary objects into pure gold. However, he was “a failure of the unusually painful kind”, which was supported by his inability to eat anything as well as the tragic transformation of his daughter to gold. The example paved a connecting path from Chesterton to the audience. As he used this memorable myth, Chesterton is able to develop a relationship with the audience that leads to the overall agreement to the author’s argument.
Ultimately, Chesterton is persuasive in his justification of success. He manages to relate with the audience as well as ingrain his view of success, which opens the possibility of
Fallacy of Success” (All Good Things, 1915) attacks the current perception of success.
Chesterton develops his argument through the use of Greek mythology as well as various references to modern selfhelp books and repetition. He writes to abolish the idea that success is purely based upon wealth in order to reshape society’s current perception into one of true success, where everything and everyone can be successful. Chesterton writes for an audience of individuals who desire success, evidenced by his sophisticated yet simplistic subject matter and diction. Beginning the excerpt, Chesterton makes multiple comparisons that utter the same outcome. Success is …show more content…
By remembering Chesterton’s perception of success, the audience is deterred away from the current concept of success. This leaves an imprinting idea of the author’s notion of success, which in turn favors the argument of
Chesterton.
Nguyen 2
The author then continues on to reference to a historical Greek myth, King Midas.
Chesterton uses King Midas to establish a piece of evidence that the audience inherently knows, whether it was from being taught it or discovered elsewhere. To some, King Midas was seen as successful, especially because of the wealth he acquired when he turned ordinary objects into pure gold. However, he was “a failure of the unusually painful kind”, which was supported by his inability to eat anything as well as the tragic transformation of his daughter to gold. The example paved a connecting path from Chesterton to the audience. As he used this memorable myth, Chesterton is able to develop a relationship with the audience that leads to the overall agreement to the author’s argument.
Ultimately, Chesterton is persuasive in his justification of success. He manages to relate with the audience as well as ingrain his view of success, which opens the possibility of