The office sad sack stereotype is often used as an unwilling cypher for the theme of the project, and none are more obvious than Milton Waddams in Office Space. Milton, an isolated man who mutters and mumbles his way through life, is uncomfortable with seemingly every form of social situation and continues to turn up to work without realising he's not being paid any more. Where main character Peter Gibbons' moment of clarity arrives after being hypnotised by his therapist, Milton's takes place when his boss confiscates his beloved red stapler. That stapler is what finally pushes Milton too far, having previously been moved to the cockroach-infested basement and spent the best part of the film being bullied by the boss. With Milton, it's not a case of a single bad day, but the culmination of a bad few years, as the man is finally sent into vengeful rage and burns the office down. While he is seen to be enjoying the high life on a beach at the film's culmination, he is still unsatisfied, this time with the quality of his drinks, and begins muttering again. Milton is the poster boy for broken office workers everywhere, showing that even though he has achieved what we've all fantastised about, his line of work has broken his ability to be happy.
