The Ways to Become Successful - Literature review Example

The first case is emotional blackmail, which appears to be the most effective means of making it to the top without investing oneself heavily on the issues that matter. This occurs through establishing an emotional connection and using it to one’s own advantage, where it is applied at the right time to exert the most pressure on the subject to give in to one’s demands. As such, the story depicts this with clarity, where the persona of the story uses tears to will the parents into submission, as there is no desire whatsoever to have lunch at school.

The second use of tears as a form of blackmail is portrayed in the nuns’ cases, where tears are the only thing that comes out of the persona in the story when the nuns want the persona to engage in an activity (Cisneros). Consequently, emotional blackmail is an effective way to be successful by wooing people to avoid emotional pain or even sympathize with one’s emotional pain, where crying is now the means of blackmail against subjects in power. This also acts as a form of manipulation, where there are several incidences in the story showing how manipulation serves to achieve success.

This leads to the second form of blackmail, which involves having damaging information on someone and using it to one’s advantage as is seen in the case of the nuns against the persona. The nuns ask the persona, where they live, where the persona points to dilapidated apartments, leading to shame and embarrassment, this proves the use of information to exert power against other people and to have one’s way with rebuttal or consequences. The consequences are borne by the person, on whom compromising information exists, leading to their full cooperation and even fulfillment of one’s wishes.

The above two-mentioned form of blackmail is also mentioned in "The Circus" by William Saroyan, as means of getting being successful, where information is applied to manipulate individuals to achieve their potential. "The Circus" by William Saroyan portrays information as a way t success, where individuals use information as a motivating factor to work hard or harder in order to ensure that they are successful. Louis Dagget uses information as to his path to success, where he takes to heart the words of his superiors in ensuring that he gets to be a lion tamer (Beckhoff 20).

Consequently, information becomes as a means of success, where he now seeks to work in a circus irrespective of the position, but as part of the circus crew altogether; furthermore, means of achieving success are through undermining one’s confidence, which is different from blackmail. Undermining confidence serves as a means of being successful by demeaning one’s sense of self-worth leading in a person giving up his or her standing or position. Undermining one’s confidence dwells on the weaknesses that one has and knows about himself or herself.

As such, “A Rice Sandwich” portrays this way of achieving success, where the nuns through public humiliation undermine the persona’s confidence and sense of self-worth. This leads to the persona relinquishing their quest for school food and future serving of canteen food as the entire school population in the canteen knows about her poverty.