Kiana Cornish
I Pencil is a great example of how many individuals take for granted the little necessities in life, and the labor put into to producing the products. When first hearing the title of the story I thought “What kinda **** is this,” but then as I read I began to see the message that the story conveyed. It explained all of the natural resources that are used from land, and all of that hard work that people do in order to make a pencil. When thinking about what a pencil is made of, most people will automatically say “wood, eraser, lead, and metal,” not knowing that its components also include cedar, lacquer, graphite, ferrule, factice, pumice, wax, and glue. We as people have to understand that we benefit off of small things that are often taken for granted, such as a pencil. In the making of any product, everyone plays a role in society, from the person who owns the company, to the workers who put together a product. Without the person who many of us think doesn’t play an important role in the process of producing a product, then that product probably wouldn’t exist today. To me, the message of this story is to acknowledge those who work so hard to provide everyday materials in order to make a pencil, and to show others the importance and dedication many people put into making a pencil.
Quotes supporting the message:
"Think of all the persons and the numberless skills that went into their fabrication..."
“Pick me up and look me over. What do you see? Not much meets the eye—there’s some wood, lacquer, the printed labeling, graphite lead, a bit of metal, and an eraser” This is representing how individuals only see the obvious.
“Sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a mere incident and without background. This supercilious attitude relegates me to the level of the commonplace. This is a species of the grievous error in which mankind cannot too long persist without peril.”
The idea of the pencil in this story, can also be related or used when discussing many other products. Working on the product, and in the factories will be considered the laboring aspect of capitalism. The natural resources used to produce the product is represented by the land and the capital, the factories that sell the product. I also believe that it is important to realize when reading stories such as this one, or even when going about your everyday life, that the labor put into making a pencil isn’t due to the fact that people love to make pencils, but due to the fact that they need to make a living for themselves and also to provide necessities for people. The negative part about this situation is that the all the labor put into making a pencil, doesn’t always mean that the laborers get rewarded for the work they do. This can represent a dark method in which people work for less than minimum wage.
