How Starbucks Saved My Life Analysis

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Michael Gates Gill was a man who had everything: a wealthy childhood, great education, a loving family, and a wonderful job. However, fate began to catch up with him and soon he lost everything. After twenty-five years of working as a creative director at J. Walter Thompson Advertising, Gill was fired. Not long after, Gill's wife divorced him after learning about a secret child from an affair. Soon he discovered that he had a rare brain tumor. While in the midst of wallowing in his sorrows, women- named Crystal Thompson- asked if he wanted a job at a local Starbucks. That day led Gill to discover self-worth and happiness- two things he has never experienced before. How Starbucks Saved My Life is a memoir by Michael Gates Gill that uses a plethora of rhetorical devices such as anecdotes, symbols, and themes to show how working at Starbucks saved him from his past life and taught him how to value work. Gill used multiple anecdotes in his memoir to introduce himself and to show how different his past life was from his life now. Gill writes, "I was struck by the incongruity of my life- ten years earlier, as a busy executive, at five …show more content…
He compares spending his time with his young son and elder children: "As I nurtured him, he nurtured me. It was a peaceful renewing zone to be with Jonathan. . . I called them [elder four children], and we talked, but it was often awkward and painful despite their efforts and my attempt to keep things as positive as possible" (203). Gill regrets not being there for his elder children as they were growing up- he was always working and did not even seem to notice that they had grown. So as retribution he decided that he would be with Jonathan and use the second chance to become a better father toward all his children. In this case, his elder four children was a symbol of Gill's regrets while Jonathan represented his future hopes and