Office Space Literary Elements

Office Space Literary Elements

Director

Mike Judge

Leading Actors/Actresses

Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston

Supporting Actors/Actresses

David Herman, Ajay Naidu, Diedrich Bader, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, John C. McGinley

Genre

Comedy

Language

English

Awards

n/a

Date of Release

1999

Producer

Daniel Rappaport, Michael Rotenberg

Setting and Context

Initech Offices and local Houston, Texas surroundings - 1999

Narrator and Point of View

POV is that of Peter

Tone and Mood

Dry, Comedic, Dramatic

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist is Peter. Antagonist is Lumbergh.

Major Conflict

Peter is sick of working at his dead-end job that is eating away at his soul. So, he decides to go in with his friends in slowly stealing fractions of pennies from the companies account. But, the scheme goes wrong when it turns out that the algorithm they used actually stole $300,000 in a few days.

Climax

Peter decides to turn himself in to his bosses, and leaves a note and a check for the money to be returned in his bosses office. But, Peter decides against going to jail and rushes to work to reclaim his letter. When he arrives, the Initech building he works at is burning down. Milton, a disgruntled employee, has burned it down and thus solving his problem of destroying his confession.

Foreshadowing

Milton's not being listened to nor considered foreshadows his burning the Initech building down.

Understatement

It is understated as to why exactly Milton continues to be moved around in the office.

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

N/A

Allusions

The film is an allusion to the middle-class torture of day to day life in a run of the mill corporation that has infected society with fake aspirations and rules to follow as a minion of middle managers who abuse their power.

Paradox

Peter doesn't care about his job, even tells his bosses to their faces. Paradoxically, Peter is promoted for this.

Parallelism

Peter's interview with the Bobs where he lets go of caring what anyone thinks and speaks his mind is paralleled by his speaking plainly to Joanna and asking her out on a date after divulging he wants to quit his job and never pay bills again, to which she accepts his offer to go on a date.

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