‘Homer Simpson is not the fool that the world thinks he is’ How far do you agree with this statement? Homer Simpson is world-renowned for being a fool, through his inadequacies as a father figure, from his turbulent career working for Mr Burns and through his many well- documented failures. However, a man who can boast having gone to space on a NASA space programme, owned an NFL team and fronted one of the most successful television programmes of all time is unlikely to also be a fool by normal human convention and his achievements must be taken into account. ‘Homer Simpson is not the fool that the world thinks he is’ How far do you agree with this statement? Homer Simpson is world-renowned for being a fool, through his inadequacies as a father figure, from his turbulent career working for Mr Burns and through his many well- documented failures. However, a man who can boast having gone to space on a NASA space programme, owned an NFL team and fronted one of the most successful television programmes of all time is unlikely to also be a fool by normal human convention and his achievements must be taken into account.

Paragraph 1 Homer Simpson has regular employment as a nuclear power plant safety inspector, a job held in high esteem but also one that he has been observed performing badly at. It must also be noted that Homer has had more occupations than an average person could possibly do in their lifetime, including starting several businesses from scratch; all indicating that the man is not a fool. Of course critics of Homer would argue that all of his own business ventures have ended in failure yet it is not insignificant that Homer has always been accepted back at the nuclear power plant and thus it must be assumed that he has grown a positive reputation with his long-term employers. Some of Homer Simpsons jobs could not possibly have been done by a fool - such as astronaut, detective or television producer – but the very fact that each job almost always ends in failure and as a result of the many times that he has been fired from his regular job, it must be assumed that, in terms of his career, Homer has been a fool.

Paragraph 2 The Simpsons family, like most families, have had their trials and elations though they seem to face tests to their family unit on a more regular basis than most, sometimes as a result of Homer’s foolishness. As head of the family Homer must take credit for the achievements of the family such as providing care and love for Grandpa, the success of his daughter Lisa and the fact that, no matter what disaster befalls the family, they always end as a strong family unit. However, Homer must also bear some responsibility for the various difficulties that the family have experienced over the years. For example, Homer cannot be praised for running an illegal alcohol distillery in his basement, nor for the violence he inflicts on his son Bart and he must also take responsibility for the danger he often puts his family in through his negligence, such as when he brings uranium rod home from work – which also points to his ineptitude at work. Homer has many faults as a father and arguably creates far more problems for his family than he solves, but nobody can argue that the Simpson family is not a strong family unit. Though far from the best father in the world, Homer is no fool when it comes to love and thus his actions around his family indicate that, though sometimes foolish, he is no fool.

Paragraph 3 Homer is largely judged a fool due to the numerous, frequent and idiotic mistakes he makes, but the incredibly achievements of his lifetime must also be considered and the weight of such achievements might well overshadow his mistakes. Most people in the developed world are aware that Homer is seen as a fool primarily because of his mistakes, for example the very fact that his catchphrase is ‘Doh!’ indicates that this is a man prone to mistakes. Homer has been know to hit his head over one hundred times on camera, he has walked outside to confront a crowd and showed his genitals to them all when a gust of wind caught him by surprise and he has also needlessly upset every single member of his family on more than one occasion. However, he has been to space, he has owned an NFL team, he has hosted a talk show, he has solved an ancient Egyptian puzzle and he has won a Grammy with a barbershop quartet; there is unlikely to be another man that will replicate such achievements. Homer’s distractors will point to the fact that he only got into space ‘by default’ according to the selection panel, he lost the NFL team, was fired from the talk show and solved the ancient Egyptian puzzle purely by chance, and though the Grammy cannot be taken as anything other than an outstanding achievement, it was due to his musical ability and not his intelligence. Homer has undoubtedly done things that most of us could only dream of, but, like his employment record, all of his achievements are short-term and as many of them fall to him purely by chance, it can be conceded that his achievements lead to more foolishness, rather than cancelling it out.