The Men We Carry In Our Minds

3 Pages 785 Words

“The Men We Carry in Our Minds”
By: Scott Russel Sanders

Sanders’ vision of early manhood mainly focused on two twin poles: “toilers” and “bosses,” along with “warriors,” which was the third category, which also had a great impact on the formation of his ideas. Sanders’ was a poor boy and was granted the opportunity to experience the differences between two societies. The first society was full of men who aspired to careers he only dreamt of and read in novels, and the second was one limited to the fate of becoming “toilers” and “warriors.” Apart from these three classes of men the only other image he had was that of his father. Sanders’ father was an exception to society, having worked his way up the ladder. He escaped the fate of slaving over red dirt farms to eventually working in a front desk sporting a white shirt and tie. Seeing how his father excelled, he too yearned for a position in the thinking world: for they had a say in the future.

Like most of his friends’ fathers, their occupation was that of a “toiler.” A “toiler,” is described as a twisted and maimed animal. Toilers worked under conditions and environments so ghastly that one would flee just at the thought. They were men pertaining to the lower class, who knew only of manual labor, rising before the light, and working a 24 hour, 7 day a week shift. Their positions mainly consisted of farmers, tire builders, construction workers, coal miners, oil diggers and many other strenuous occupations that jeopardized their health. They mainly suffered from hearing impairment, lost fingers, finicky backs, hernias, scarred hands, and deep coughs. They were a class of men Sanders dreaded to become, who at the end of the day turned to cigarettes and cheap wine or whisky to drown their sorrows.

The other category of men Sanders knew of was that of “warriors.” As he describes, they were a class of men who did not...