Final answer:
The author's description of a young worker in 1945 underscores the economic, social, and technological transformations that occurred in the U.S., indicating a move from industrial labor to intellectual and digital engagement in the Information Age.
Step-by-step explanation:
The author's description of a young worker in 1945 connects to the article's central idea by highlighting the dramatic economic, social, and technological changes that the United States experienced since the mid-20th century. This transitional period saw the rise of new media, the penetration of science, and technology into daily life, and the increasing complexity of work that requires more education and decision-making. The young worker represents a past era of industrial labor that contrasts sharply with the modern Information Age, where workers seek more than just wages; they seek autonomy, fulfillment, and the necessity to navigate a plethora of information and digital media, as seen in the lives of Americans depicted by postmodernist authors.
From industrial laborers to modern employees, there's been a shift towards jobs requiring more education and critical thinking. The Industrial Revolution's impact on children, like the young worker described, was significant, leading to stringent labor in factories at the expense of attending school or experiencing childhood as suggested by historical descriptions and the anti-child labor movement. The modern society, influenced by the information age, necessitates a new kind of workforce and the education that postmodernist literature explores through various experimental techniques.
The contrast between the past and present workforce, accentuated by the young worker's depiction, serves as a strong commentary on the evolution of the American workforce and society at large. This change reflects in the changing nature of employment - where once rigid conformity to the machine-like environment of factories was the norm, now critical thinking, autonomy, and digital literacy define the modern working-class narrative shared by low-wage workers, as evidenced by the observed experiences of workers in the narrative.