Bureaucracy and the Pacific Way In Mike Judge's film Office Space, the main character Peter is a cog in the bureaucratic wheel. He does mediocre work for several bosses, none of whom care about him on a personal or emotional level. The system runs smoothly, allowing the business to operate efficiently and effectively. These societies, like a government bureaucracy, are compartmentalized, impersonal, and utilitarian. Each component of each department works towards the objective of efficiency and development. Consequently, bureaucracy represents the culmination and manifestation of the Western business ideal. Ultimately, bureaucracy succeeds when its members give up their personal identity in favor of the bureaucratic ideal. While these organizations have significant importance in a society that values ​​efficiency, punctuality, and materialism, the reality is that these values ​​of Western progress are not embodied throughout the world. Other cultures have and maintain beliefs independent of this mentality. In the novel Tales of the Tikong by Epeli Hau'ofa, the island of Tiko is a uniquely Pacific land that is the subject of a new development effort by the United Kingdom. In the name of progress, imperialists attempt to modernize a culture they consider "native" (5). Although Western imperialists claim that these efforts are for the benefit of the Tikong, through an analysis of bureaucratic institutions in the stories “The Seventh and Other Days” and “The Glorious Pacific Way,” the true purpose of development is revealed to be culture pacification of the Pacific. The story collection's opening, "The Seventh and Other Days" provides the contextual backdrop for understanding...... middle of paper ...... turning Tiko into a submissive participant in their international financing games. The Tikong have lost their tradition and identity due to the premeditated actions of the bureaucracy. Furthermore, as evidenced by Pasifikiwei's symbolic change, self-respect has also disappeared. Like Peter in Office Space, the residents of Tiko have become the faceless, nameless workers in a government-induced pipe dream of achieving real progress. Although the bureaucracy never managed to truly incorporate its policies into Tiko, dehumanizing the Tikong, undermining their culture, and convincing the population to work for “progress,” the bureaucracy pacified the Tikong. Development has not improved their way of life; instead it transformed them into another victim of colonialism, a cultureless people continually struggling towards a non-existent goal..