Reality of Living among Schmucks
Well established writer A.J. Jacobs challenges the norms of society in his book “My Life as an Experiment” by undergoing radical lifestyle tests in order to improve various aspects of his life and to better understand the world around him. In his experiment titled “240 Minutes of Fame”, he unearths the truth about what it means to be famous. A snobbish, yet humorous, tone is upheld throughout the chapter which helps the readers reflect on their own lives and experiences. Through the use of syntax, metaphor, and paradox he crafts attention grabbing anecdotes to describe the effects of his experience. Jacobs begins his experience by describing how regal he felt in comparison to average people through the use of syntax. He announces that “With all…show more content… He tells us that “Fame makes people role models, whether they like it or not” (87). This statement is contradictory in itself because Jacobs is saying that even though fame makes certain people role models, they aren't the role models that everyone should look up to because of their thoughts and actions. Jacobs has discovered the truth about celebrities and has found they aren't a group to praise. This notion can be common sense through the logic that hardly all celebrities are people we should look up to. Jacobs goes on to say that if society continues to look up to and follow trends of celebrity drama that the world will have raised a new generation of immature schmucks (87), which also tells us that society is downgrading itself. All this thinking has come from his experience being famous which achieves his overall purpose of the book, which is that he is opening up his mind to gain a better view about the world around him. This experiment has taught him that celebrities aren't all they’re cracked up to be, and how the fact that the world looks up to famous people is rather
