To Work or Not to Work

In a port on the western coast of Europe, a man, wearing shabby clothes, lies in his fishing boat and dozes. (…)

Source: Böll, Heinrich “To Work or not to Work.” Translated from the German by Hansjörg Bittner. In: Essays in Translation. Edited by Emma Louise Oram and Laura Serratrice. School of Modern Languages and European Studies, University of East Anglia in Norwich. Norwich Papers, 5, 1997.

Available at [🔗].

current affairs

In “How millennials became the burnout generation, ” Anne Helen Peterson examines what makes the demands on millennials different from the demands on previous generations and why it leads to such widespread burnout.

links

Anne Helen Peterson “How Millennials became the burnout generation.” Buzzfeed, 5 January 2019. [🔗]

questions

1. This story has the feel of a parable. What is the moral of the story? Who wins the argument? What is Heinrich Böll trying to tell us through this short story?

2. On the other hand, one can’t deny that the tourist is passionate about something in life. Might it not be the case that we need some passion to lead happy lives.

3. What makes the demands on millennials different from the demands on earlier generations?

4. Might there be some wisdom in this short story that could aid millennials facing burnout?