Philosophy of life Essay

NAGAPPAN SETHURAMAN Existentialism as a philosophy is historically and culturally of European origin. Ever since it was recognised as the dominating philosophy of the West in the midtwentieth century, it has left â€Å"its impact on literature [which] has both been substantial and significant† (Chatterji 10). Existentialism does not offer a set of doctrines or a single philosophy system. It has been diversely defined and interpreted by various thinkers over the years. As a result, â€Å"as a philosophy, existentialism by its very nature defies and abhors systematisation† (Ahmad 10). Nevertheless, it is possible to identify certain traits of this school of thought. All the existentialists â€Å"emphasise the importance of the individual as well as his freedom and responsibility for being what he is† (Das 423). In their attempt to describe man’s â€Å"existence and its conflicts, the origin of its conflicts, and the anticipation of overcoming them† (Ahmad 13), existentialists focus their attention on certain aspects of human existence. Srivastava enumerates them as follows: b) it is never safe and ever at the mercy of chance, c) it is full of suffering, of one variety or other, d) it is full of conflict, e) it is rotted in guilt, f) it cannot escape from the final situation of death (185). These tenets of existentialism have been widely reflected in the literature of the world since the advent of Sartre who established an interaction between literature and philosophy in his writings. John Macquarrie sums up the essence of existentialism as, â€Å"On the whole, it has been the tragic sense of life†¦ that has been prevalent among the existentialists† (Macquarrie 164). Almost all great writers of the present generation have handled the doctrines of existentialism in their works. This is the main reason why â€Å"man’s alienation, dread, absurdity, bad faith, responsibility, commitment to freedom, anguish are the very hallmarks of 20th century literature† (Ahmad 5). As a novelist, Anita Desai exhibits a strong inclination towards the existentialist interpretation of the human predicament. In particular, she voices â€Å"the mute miseries and helplessness of married women tormented by existentialist problems and predicaments† (Prasad 139). A woman novelist, Desai has won a niche by exploring the emotional world of women, bringing to light the various deeper forces at work in feminine sensibility as well as psychology. This predilection leads her to examine the psyche of her women protagonists when they are confronted with the absurdity of life. This draws her attention to the darker side of life. She projects a tragic vision in her novels by placing her female protagonists in hostile situations. Desai further examines her women protagonists as individuals who find themselves forced into uncongenial environments, fighting against the odds. This problem of the The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 tragic tension between the individual and their unfavourable environment acquires the dimensions of existential angst. Starting from her first novel Cry the Peacock to the latest Baumgartner’s Bombay, all her novels highlight the existentialist’s predilection for portraying the predicament of man. Many critics have traced shades of existentialist thought in the novel of Anita Desai. Time and again her themes and characters have been interpreted in the light of existential philosophy. In this regard it has been pointed out: Desai’s chief concern is human relationship. Her central theme is she existential predicament of an individual, which she projects through incompatible couples- very sensitive wives and ill matched husbands. She is a minute observer and perceives everything mutely, minutely and delicately. Whenever she creates a poetical situation, she gives it a perfect poetic treatment to every detail (Singh 12) Anita Desai’s characters are self-conscious of the reality around them and they carry a sense of loneliness, alienation and pessimism. She adds a new dimension turning inward into the realities of life and plunges into the deep-depths of the human psyche to score out its mysteries and chaos in the minds of characters. Particularly Fire on the Mountain has been identified as â€Å"the lyrical fictionalization of the quintessence of existentialism† (Gupta 185). A close study of the texture and theme of the novel in relation to the tenets of existentialism justifies the above observation. It has been noted that â€Å"Fire on the Mountain displays skillful dramatisation of experiences of certain women embroiled by the cross way of life† (Choudhury 77). This novel deals with the existential angst experienced by the female protagonist Nanda Kaul, an old lady living in isolation. It also projects the inner turmoil of a small girl, Raka, who is haunted by a sense of futility. Thirdly, it presents the plight of a helpless woman, Ila Das who is in conflict with forces that are too powerful to be encountered, resulting in her tragic death. Thus, the existential themes of solitude, alienation, the futility of human existence and struggle for survival form the major themes of the novel. Fire on the Mountain falls into three sections, each further divided into several short chapters of unequal length. The first section titled â€Å"Nand Kaul at Carignano† runs into ten chapters. This section deals with Nanda Kaul, the main protagonist’s lonely life in Kasauli. â€Å"Raka comes to Carignano† forms the second section and it contains twenty one chapters. It portrays Nanda Kaul’s change of attitude towards Raka, her great granddaughter. The final section â€Å"Ila Das leaves Carignano† is divided into thirteen chapters. This section presents the tragic end of Ila Da, Nanda Kaul’s childhood friend. In all, the book runs to 145 pages. The structural unity, as suggested by the section captions is offered by Carignano, Nanda Kaul and Raka, running counter to one another complemented by that of Ila Das also provide unity of structure. Like the other works of Anita Desai, the present novel contains neither any story value nor events that are interesting by themselves. The entire novel revolves round the existential angst experienced by the women protagonists. In this novel, â€Å"the story element is very thin and there is practically no action except for the tragic end† (Indira 96). The story revolves round the inner lives of the two female protagonists, Nand Kaul and Raka. Nanda Kaul is the wife of Mr. Kaul, the Vice-Chancellor of the Punjab University. When the novel begins, Nanda The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 Kaul is living in Carignano, far from the madding crowd. She is leading a life of isolation and introspection. She shuns all human company. Even the postman’s arrival to deliver the letter is frowned upon by her. But this seeming quietude does not last long. Raka arrives at Carignano to convalesce after her typhoid attack. The old woman and the young girl live in double singleness. But as days pass by, Nanda Kaul finds herself drawn towards Raka, something she had not expected. But the little girl refuses to be befriended and escapes into the hills looking for company in solitude. Ila Das, Nanda Kaul’s childhood friend visits Carignano to meet Raka. A one time lecture in the Punjab University, Ila Das had lost her job subsequent to Mr. Kaul’s retirement. She has come to Kasauli now in her new capacity as an officer in the social welfare department. She fights against child marriage by enlightening the local people about the evils of this practice. This invites the wrath of many of the villagers of whom Preet Singh is one. His attempts to barter his little daughter for a tiny piece of land and a few goats have been successfully thwarted by Ila Das. He is lying in wait to settle his score with her. One evening, when Ila Das returns late from Carignano to her humble house in the valleys, he waylays her, rapes and murders her. When the news of Ila Das’s death is conveyed to Nand Kaul over the phone, she is rudely shocked and falls dead. Raka unaware of her great grandmother’s death, rushes into the house proclaiming wildly that she has set the forest of fire. Nanda Kaul, Raka and to some extent Ila Das, are embodiments of the existential predicament experienced by the individual in an un-understanding and even hostile universe. A detailed examination of the characters of these protagonists brings to light how Anita Desai has succeeded in giving expression to her existentialist world-view through these characters and by a subtle use of imagery and symbols. When the novel begins, Nand Kaul is presented as a recluse. Living all alone, except for the company of the servants who dare not disturb her privacy, she brooks no human presence. â€Å"She wanted no one and nothing else. Whatever else came, or happened here, would be unwelcome intrusion and distraction†(FM 3). She spends her days in isolation, musing about her past and experiencing the existential ennui. â€Å"From the musings of her agitated mind it appears that as the wife of the vicechancellor for the Punjab University and the mother of several children, she has lived a very busy and tiring life â€Å"(Raizada 44). Anita Desai unfurls her past in the form of long interior monologues punctuated by authorial interruptions, Nanda Kaul had witnessed only betrayals and demands in life before her retirement to Kasauli. She had lived a monotonous life receiving and treating the endless stream of visitors who used to call on her vice-chancellor husband. Her husband had carried on a life-long affair with his mathematics mistress Miss David, whom he would have married, had she not been a Christian. Again, the memories of her children make Nanda Kaul shudder at the very thought of her past. As a mother of several children, all demanding and unaccommodative, she had been given too many anxious moments. Now all alone in Carignano, a house associated with many weird stories, Nanda Kaul feels that loneliness is the only essential condition of human life. Whenever she looks at the tall pine trees that stand out from among the underwood, she is reminded of her own alienation. Not exactly conscious of what she is waiting for, nonetheless, she is awaiting the inevitable end to all human existence: death. She is haunted by the existential angst which has led her to conclude that human life is basically a lonely struggle against the odds of life. In her case the odds have manifested themselves in the form of an adulterous husband and cantankerous children. Strongly convinced The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 that life and dealt a raw deal to her, she has resolved to find the meaning, if any, of her existence in isolation. â€Å"She treasures her freedom, her privacy, glad her responsibilities towards her family are over, glad she needs nobody and nobody now needs her† (Krishnaswamy 260). This has coloured her outlook on life to a large extent. Her reaction to the arrival of the postman and Raka, her invalid great granddaughter, makes it appear that she has become a misanthrope. But the truth seems to be that she is a sensitive person preoccupied with the real nature of her existence as opposed to the illusory life of her past as a vice-chancellor’s wife and mother to children. â€Å"If Nanda Kaul was a recluse out of vengeance for a long life of duty and obligation, her great grand daughter was a recluse by nature, by instinct. She had not arrived at this condition by a long route of rejection and sacrifice [like Nanda Kaul], she was born to it, simply â€Å"(FM 48). Desai’s above observation about Raka’s character at once brings out the similarity and difference with that of Nanda Kaul’s in their mental make up. Raks’s characters has been introduced by the novelist as a foil to Nanda Kaul’s. If Nanda Kaul symbolises a particular aspect of existentialism, which is examined elsewhere in this chapter, Raka epitomises another aspect of the existential predicament: the influence of her parents on her life. Anita Desai makes Raka both young temperamentally and solitude-loving. When Raka is first introduced, the reader is informed that she is the granddaughter of Asha, the most problematic of Nanda Kaul’s daughters. That she is an unwelcome intruder into Nanda Kaul’s life is suggested by an image. As Nanda Kaul first looks at her greatgrand daughter who is walking towards her, she reminds the old lady of an insect: Raka slowed down, dragged her foot, then came towards her great grandmother with something despairing in her attitude.. She turned a pair of extravagantly large and somewhat bulging eyes about in a way that made the old lady feel more than ever her resemblance to an insect. (FM 39). However, the old lady is shocked to see the pale and gaunt little girl and is moved to pity. But â€Å"to Nanda Kaul she was still an intruder, an outsider, a mosquito flown up from the plains to tease and worry† (FM 40). Raka herself does not bother much about the â€Å"blatant lack of warmth†(FM 40) exhibited by her great grandmother. She prefers to stay away from company. Like a wild animal newly caged, she keeps prowling barefoot in her room, looking at the stone heaps. She is not interested in flowers or playing as children of her age normally tend to do. By using two reptile images successively in a span of two pages, and by a suggestive hint about Raka’s lack of interest in play and flowers, Desai impliedly establishes that there is something weird about her. Soon through several interior monologues enacted in Raka’s subconscious mind, the reason for the abnormality in her is unfolded. The daughter of an ill-matched couple, Raka has been witness to the brutality and futility of human existence. She is haunted by the recollections of the nightmarish nights that have made her almost a child-stoic. Somewhere behind them, behind it all was her father, home from a party, stumbling and crashing through the curtains of the night, his mouth opening to let out a flood of rotten stench, beating at her mother with hammers and fists of abuse-harsh, filthy abuse that made Raka cower under her bedclothes and wet her mattress in fright, feeling the stream of urine warm and weakening between her legs like a stream of blood, and her mother lay down on the floor and shut her eyes and wept. Under her The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 feet, in the dark, Raka felt that flat, wet jelly of her mother’s being squelching and quivering, so that she didn’t know where to put her feet and wept as she tried to get free of it. Ahead of her,no longer on the ground but at some distance now, her mother was crying. Then it was a jackal crying. (FM 72) The sudden shift from the interior monologue about her bitter past to the present observation of the jackal crying, the latter superimposed on the former brings out Raka’s predicament. By doing this, the novelist likens the haunting memories to the crying jackals. So Raka’s life is a close encounter with things that are wild and frightful- be it the memories of her mother beaten to pulp by a drunkard father or the chilling cry of the jackals. Instead of trying to escape from this harsh and unnerving experiences and memories, Raka goes farther and deeper into them as if to fathom the bottom of such wild realities. After some initial hesitation, she ventures deep down the ravine to the Monkey Point- a place not frequented by others and from where the cries of the jackals are heard: No one ever came here but Raka and the cuckoos that sand invisibly. These [the cuckoos]were not the dutiful domestic birds that called Nanda Kaul to attention at Carignano. They were the demented birds that raved and beckoned Raka on to a land where there was no sound, only silence, no light, only shade, and skeletons kept in beds of ash on which the footprints of jackals flowered in gray. (FM 90) This passage effectively coveys Raka’s plight and significance. She is at once a little girl with a splintered psyche and an unmistakable symbol of the individual’s quest for meaning. The jackals are symbols of the mystery of life and Raka’s walk to the Monkey Point is symbolic of her search for something unknown, yet inevitable and indispensable. Not all children would dare to brave the rough terrains of the ravines and impending menace of the jackals. Similarly, not all human beings are conscious of the futility of human existence nor are they in search of newer values. The existential theme of quest for meaning undertaken by those who refuse to remain merely as members of the multitude is well brought out in the lonely and mystified wanderings of Raka. In this respect it has been pointed out by Shantha Krishnaswamy: Her [Raka’s] childhood has hardened her into a little core of solitary self-sufficiency and now, a young girl up here in the mountains.. her spirit is defiant enough to go chanting ‘I don’t care, I don’t care, I can’t care of anything’ (FM 73). The conventional sweet smells and sounds of girlhood are ignored, she feels drawn by scenes of devastation and failure. The forest fires tingle her and she bursts from the shell of Carignano like a sharp, keen edged explosive to set fire to the mountainside. (Krishnaswamy 261, 262) The concluding part of the foregoing observation concerning Raka’s predilection for the forest fires needs elaborate analysis for it has symbolic overtones. Ever since her arrival at Carignano, Raka evinces a keen interest in wild fire. This obsession with the forest fire provides yet another dimension with the forest fire provides to her existentialist preoccupations. Immediately after her arrival at Carignano, on witnessing a fire in the forest she becomes obsessed with forest fires for they seem to her the empirical manifestation of her inner conflict: whether to continue with her mediocre and painful and aimless existence imposed upon her by heredity and environment or to revolt against their dictates and attempt to create her own values. The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 By an elaborate expression of her free will and demonstration of her ability to choose and act, she sets the forest on fire towards the end of the novel. The fire created by her is the result and manifestation of her existential angst to destroy the old and meaningless to make room for the new and significant. It is an affirmation of her search for values in an otherwise futile existence. Ila Das is the third female protagonist of the novel. Unlike Nanda Kaul and Raka who are central to the story, her role is only marginal. Nonetheless, Anita Desai has projected yet another aspect of the existentialist philosophy through her character. â€Å"Her life suggests another dimension of misery and meaningless existence† (Jena 30). She is first introduced to the readers, when she calls Nanda Kaul on the phone and informs her of her intended visit to Kasauli to meet Raka. She speaks in a â€Å"hideous voice† (FM 21) and is rather plain in her looks. Through a long interior monologue in Nanda Kaul’s mind, the readers are informed of her past. She was Nanda Kaul’s childhood friend. She had also served in the university as a lecturer, thanks to Nanda Kaul’s good offices. But soon after the death of Mr. Kaul she had been ousted and had struggled a lot before finding the present employment as a social welfare officer. A poverty stricken loner of aristocratic of child marriage, a practice rampant among the tribals. This lands her in an unenviable situation. She finds herself fighting a lonely battle against a mindless multitude. But she is not cowed down by adversity. She remains steadfast in her conviction and refuses to make any compromises. Though she is aware of the dire consequences that she might be forced to encounter, she remains faithful to her cause. She succeeds in stooping several such child-marriage, the prominent one being the marriage of Preet Singh’s seven year old daughter. Sustaining herself on a meagre pay and putting up with the inevitable condition of loneliness, she wages a valiant battle against the dictates of the society. Finally, she pays a dear price for her convictions and refusal to compromise. She is raped and murdered by Preet Singh who has been dying for revenge. Though Ila Das plays a minor role in the novel, she is also an allegorical figure. She not only lives in isolation but also braves the brute majority with conviction and commitment as her tools. True, she meets with a tragic end but has made her existence significant in exhibiting courage and determination in the face of stiff resistance and threat to life. †Her real involvement in people’s welfare assumes tremendous symbolic significance â€Å"(Jena 30). She epitomises the existentialist concept of struggle against the odds of life. â€Å"For the existentialist, man is never just part of the cosmos but always stands to it in a relationship of tension with possibilities of tragic conflict† (Macquarrie 17). She stands for the thinking individual who dares to exercise her free will and act according to her choice rather than submit meekly to the odds of life. The mindless tribal society in general, and Preet Singh in particular, represent the malevolent aspect to human existence-forces that are bent upon thwarting the individual’s purpose and undoing her. â€Å"One of the many ways of defining tragedy sees it as a clash between the aspiration of human freedom and creativity with a cosmic order that is stronger and defeats man â€Å"(Macquarrie 189). Though Ila Das loses her chastity and life in the process of her struggle with such brute forces, her life has nonetheless become meaningful by virtue of the fact that she chooses a cause, fights for it and sacrifices herself in trying to accomplish her task. An examination of the use of symbolism and imagery in the novel proves beyond doubt the novelist’s existential concern. She portrays a tragic world where no compromises are made, no epiphanies are exploded, to be totally destroyed, as the The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 sensitive, the visionary suffer nothing but suffocation and oppression. So, the content of the novel is sheer violence. The lives of the principal characters are ‘unloved’ and ‘unlived’. (Indira 95,96). In keeping with this concept, Anita Desai resorts to the effective employment of imagery and symbolism in Fire on the Mountain. Her predilection for prey-predator imagery abounds in this novel also. Images of ugliness, loneliness, destruction and annihilation are consistently used in order to reflect the existential tone of the novel. An atmosphere of solitary introspection is created with the help of several images. For example, when she receives a call from Ila Das, Nanda Kual â€Å"turned her head this way and that in an escape. She watched the white hen drag out a worm inch by resisting inch from the ground till it snapped in two. She felt like the worm herself, she winced at its mutilation â€Å"(FM 21). The same is continued in the next page also: â€Å"Still starting at the hen which was greedily gulping down bits of worm, she thought of her husband’s face and the way he would plait his fingers across his stomach†¦ â€Å"(FM 22). This prey-predator image of hen pecking at a worm is suggestive of Nanda Kaul’s present inner turmoil. Her past suffering at the hands of the adulterous husband and her present awareness about the harsh realities of life are both successfully established by this image. Another important image employed recurrently is that of the pine tree that stands burnt and alone, which is often an object of attraction for Nanda Kaul: â€Å"She was grey, tall and thin †¦ she fancied she could merge with the pine tree and be mistaken for one. To be a tree, no more and no less, was prepared to undertake†(FM 4). Again, this image also contributes to the existentialist theme of the novel. â€Å"Nanda’s sense of identification with the pine trees suggests her desire for absolute stillness and withdrawal from life†(Indra 97). The image of the charred pine tree is repeatedly employed in the novel. Raka is reminded of the futility of existence while she looks at the lonely hills and charred pine trees: â€Å"This hill, with its one destroyed house and one unbuilt one, on the ridge under the fire-singed pines, appealed to Raka†¦ There was something about it- illegitimate, uncompromising and lawless†¦. The sense of devastation and failure drew her, inspired her â€Å" (FM 90). Images of insects like lizards, birds like eagles and parrots, and â€Å"the thematic image of the ‘fire’ with its connotations of violence and urgency occur at regular intervals, warning the reader of the impending tragedy† (Indira 96). The critic S. Indira sums up the significance of imagery in Fire on the Mountain quoting D. H. Lawrence and the novelist herself:It is the charming mosaic of imagery woven so skillfully by the novelist that makes the Novel a work of art. Quoting D. H. Lawrence who said ‘If I eat an apple, I like to eat it with my senses,’ Anita Desai herself stated that the novel in which she attempted this closeness of man and beast, earth and vegetable was Fire on the Mountain. Imagery alone makes it possible and, in the process, the novel gains a richer texture and greater depth. As a critic says, â€Å"this novel deprived of its imagery, would be an ugly skeleton, chilling the reader† †¦ The significant house imagery, the images of plants, colour, atmosphere and moon- all contribute to the textual density and symbolic centrality of the novel. (Indira 96) Another important aspect of this novel’s narrative technique is its symbolism. There are several symbols that deepen the philosophic implications of The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 the novel. To start with, Carignano, Nanda Kaul’s present abode, is symbolic of the loneliness and barrenness of human life in general and Nanda Kual in particular: What pleased and satisfied her so, here at Carignano, was its barrenness. This was the chief virtue of Kasauli, of course- its starkness†¦Occasionally an eagle swam through this clear undoubted mass of light and air . (FM 4) The lonely house is symbolic of the lonely life of Nanda Kual and Raka. The barrenness and starkness associated with its symbolise an essential human condition –alienation which is the key note of all existential philosophy. The eagle symbol, like the house symbol, is repeatedly used in the course of the novel to highlight another aspect of existential philosophy, namely quest. The sight of the eagle flying high, makes Nanda long to be able to soar like the bird: â€Å"An eagle swept over†¦. its wings outspread, gliding on currents of air without once moving its great muscular wings which remained in repose, in control, She [Nanda Kaul]. had wished, it occurred to her, to imitate the eagle-gliding, with eyes closed† (FM 19). This longing for soaring above the reach of deterministic confines is the hall mark of Raks’s characters. To emphasise this aspect, the novelist employs the eagle symbol while describing Raka’s walk to the Monkey Point. â€Å"She was higher than the eagles, higher than Kasauli and Sanwar and all the other hills†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (FM 61). Thus Nanda Kaul’s wish and Raka’s attempt merge in the eagle-symbol, which denoted their existential angst and quest for values. The forest fire scene has symbolic overtones. Like the â€Å"The Fire Sermon† in T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, the fire in Fire on the Mountain â€Å" †¦ is a destroyer. It is also a purifier† (Brown 557). By making use of the universal fire symbol. Anita Desai endows Raka’s character with allegorical implications. Raka, the invalid restless little girl who is the product of a broken home, becomes the symbol of the existentialist’s perception of the individual who finds herself in this hostile and futile world. Yet out of compulsion, she strives to find or create values and significance for her existence. In this regard it has been observed that the symbolic implication of the forest fire is reinforced by the title of the novel, Fire on the Mountain is highly significant from the thematic point of view. The mountain symbolises Nanda Kaul and the fire is symbolic of Raka’s wild nature. â€Å"Nanda is the ‘rocky belt’, dry, hardened by time and age. Raka is silent, swift and threatening like forest fire†¦ The novel, thus [sic] may be noted as a story of inabilities of human beings to ignore the world, to place oneself in another’s position†(Choudhury 79). Another factor that adds to the philosophical implications of the novel is the frequent allusions to books and poems. As in other novels in Fire on the Mountain too Anita Desai uses poetry, and this time it is a poem by Hopkins: I have desired to go Where springs not fail To fields where files no sharp and sided hail And a few lilies below And I have asked to be The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 Where no storms come, Where the green swell is in the havens dumb, And out of the swing to the sea. (FM 87). This poem has some connection with he character of Nanda Kaul who quotes it and the poem signifies her desire to be away from the humdrum of life, to a heaven of nature far from the madding crowd. By introducing this poignant stanza from Hopkin’s poem, Anita Desai highlights the theme of alienation which is the central theme of the novel. The same effect is achieved by introducing an allusion to a passage from The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon which begins with a title ‘When a Woman lives Alone’ and through the image of a dilapidated house â€Å"with a poignantly desolate look â€Å"(FM 27). This image has symbolic overtones as it suggests the lonely and desolate life of Nanda Kaul herself. Again, when Nanda Kaul is in the company of Raka, there is an allusion to The Travels of Macro Polo (FM 87). The reference to this book reminds the ‘Cape of Good Hope’. This also adds to the symbolism of the novel. This is miniature adventure like the one Marco Polo undertook in search of something new and promising. Thus, the characters of Nanda Kaul, Raka and Ila Das are studies of women in isolation. Essentially a writer of existential inclinations, Anita Desai examines three important aspects of this school of thought through her protagonists. The predominant traits of existentialism are alienation, quest and conflict. These three aspects are epitomised in the lives of three female protagonists. Nanda Kaul is a study in alienation and existential angst. Raka symbolises the individual’s quest for meaning in an otherwise futile life. Ila Das stands for the eternal conflict enacted in the human drama between the individual and the forces of determinism. One common ground for these three characters is that they are women who live in isolation both out if choice and compulsion. Desai has examined the predicament of women in wilderness by placing these three characters Kasauli, a place surrounded by hills and valleys, for removed from civilisation. She has consciously done it to examine the predicament and psyche of women in isolation. By placing her female protagonists with nature herself as the backdrop, Anita Desai has endowed a symbolic and universal significance to the plight of her protagonists. In this regard it has been pointed out: Essentially, Desai is a novelist of existentialist concerns, chiefly considering what F. H. Heinaman described as ‘the enduring human condition. ’ In her novels, she has ably dwelt upon such existentialist themes as maladjustment, alienation, absurdity of human existence, quest for the ultimate meaning in life, decision, detachment, isolation and time as the fourth dimension, focussing on how women in the contemporary urban milieu are bravely struggling against or helplessly submitting to the relentless forces of absurd life (Prasad 140). To sum up, Fire on the Mountain invites comparison with Shakespeare’s King Lear. In this great tragedy, when he dramatises the agony of betrayed father, Shakespeare removes Lear from the palace and places him in the wild heath- a hostile place- to suggest that the plight of Lear is identical with the suffering of every wronged father. Shakespeare employs animal imagery to indicate the rotten and corrupt world of the dramatis personae of King Lear. Images of ugly and evil animals like jackals and wolves are recurrently used creating an animal imagery that reinforces the thematic concern of the play, namely the tragedy of human life, The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 personified in the life of Lear, a victim of indifference in old age. Anita Desai’s use of imagery of King Lea.

The Hospitality in the Odyssey

In the epic, by Homer, â€Å"The Odyssey†, hospitality is demonstrated at various points. It is never really genuine, but forced upon due to circumstance. Throughout the entire epic Odysseus finds himself stranded on many islands and is greeted by a being that either dwells or has control over the island, and at one point or another they display some form of hospitality. Kyklops, Aiolos, and Kirke have self-motivated reason for showing hospitality, but never the less they are hospitable. Kyklops, a one-eyed giant that consumes humans, showed very little hospitality. The only time that he was hospitable to Odysseus is when he was drunk, and asked Odysseus for more wine. In return for the wine, the Kyklops promised him a gift. The gift was that he would eat Odysseus last. Even though it does not seem like much of a gift, Kyklops felt like it was a great honor. The only reason that Kyklops was sociable at all was because he desired the wine and Odysseus was the only one that could bring him the wine. The act of kindness had absolutely nothing to do with the idea of being kind, it was all to gain something greater in return. The Aiolia Island belonged to Aiolos Hippotades, the King of the wind. When Odysseus arrived he welcomed him with great hospitality, but made him stay for one month and tell him the story of his journey in great detail. Odysseus then requested that he be granted leave so that he could sail home. Aiolos Hippotades granted his leave, and upon Odysseus requests was allowed to replenish his supplies. Hippotades was extremely generous and added a bull's hide and bottled storm winds to guide his ship to Ithaca swiftly and safely. Hippotadoes actions not out of generosity, but rather Odysseus had brought him news from Troy and entrained him with a great journey from the world beyond his island. The wind king enjoyed such things because he did not have access to them, and he felt he had to be extremely hospitable to Odysseus in order to repay him for the great gift that he had brought, which he could not receive any where else. They made the departure, but the bottle was accidentally opened, and they were forced back to the island. Hippotades turned them away telling them that the gods cursed their journey. The wind king was using Odysseus as a form of a newsletter. He had no other way of knowing what was going on in the world. Once Odysseus was unable to give him what he wanted, his hospitality quickly faded. After exploring the island, and some of Odysseus' men were eaten by giants, his men came across Kirke's house. All of the men entered the house except one, Eurylochus, and Kirke turned them into pigs. Eurylochus returned to Odysseus and told him what had happened. While Odysseus traveled to Kirke's house he was visited by Hermes who gave him an amulet and had him consume a flower that would make him immune to her potion that turned men into pigs. Upon meeting Kirke she was so impressed with Odysseus because he was immune to her poison, that she assumed he was a man of the gods, and she invited him into her bed. In return Odysseus made her swear that if he would go to bed with her that she would not be able to harm him. Kirke transformed the pigs back into men and kept Odysseus as her mate for one year. She was fixated on a more superficial way of thinking, Kirke was only hospitable to Odysseus because of the fact that he was immune to her potion and he was man of the gods. She was attempting to improve her status and how she felt about herself. Throughout the epic there are numerous acts of hospitality, but they all derive from an alternative motive. During this time people did not have a conventional way of knowing about other lands, so they would use the new comers as newspapers in order to know what's going on. No one does anything for anyone out of the kindness of their heart. Perhaps there is no such thing as genuine acts of hospitality.

Assyrian Crisis Essay Research Paper THE ASSYRIAN

Assyrian Crisis Essay, Research Paper THE ASSYRIAN CRISIS, A TIME OF GROWTH The Assyrian Crisis in Judah appears, from the surface, as a clip of great fortune for the people of Jerusalem. However, by analyzing the state of affairs with a more powerful lens, one can see the powerful spiritual infuence such an event could hold on a resident s divinity. If I were a Judean during this clip, my religion would hold faced the toughest trial of my life. Traveling into such a struggle with a state every bit strong as Assyria, I could non assist but be afraid. My castanetss would tremble at the idea of devastation of the Holy City of Jerusalem, of the people of Judah, and of my ain being. Although I would hold believed in God, I would still be filled with fright. This fright would intensify when I heard a courier for the male monarch of Assyria, as stated in Isaiah 36, mocking God, dissing His power and doubting His salvaging grace on Jerusalem. He goes on to seek and convice us, the people of Jerusalem, that Hezekiah is non trusty, and that we will non happen aid in Egypt because they are non dependable. Finally, cognizing the way of devastation that Assyria has already created, and their hungriness for more, in add-on to the courier s statement that the Lord has commanded Assyria to travel and destruct Jerusalem, my feelings of fright and uncertainty would uncontrollably well up inside me. We are, after all, merely human, and fright is a common feeling, despite where we stand with God. No adult male lives without fright, but though fear our religion is tested and strengthened. Upon hearing and sing the truth of Isaiah s claim that God will save Jerusalem and coerce the Assyrians back place, my religion in God would be fortified. In the times of fright, I would hold realized how weak, how immature, and how far I must travel in my religion and trust in God. But one time I heard Isaiah s prognostication, I would utilize it as a manner to make off with my fright. Knowing that God was traveling to salvage His Holy City, and that He was traveling to go on with His perfect program for world that dated back every bit far as the times of Abraham and held a hereafter for the reaching of the Messiah, I would cognize that my God follows His programs and maintain His promises. Through this, I would hold peace. I would shortly larn that I can swear Him in everything because as it says in Scripture, if God is for us, who can be against us? Bing a occupant of His Holy City, I would cognize that God was on my side everlastingly, and whatever uncertainty I of all time had i n God s promises or programs for my life would be washed off. Sing God spare my life, along with my metropolis, I could non assist but reconstruct all assurance that was lost in my Father. I would be able to follow Psalms 46:10, and be still, cognizing that He is God. What a comfort! What a sense of utter religion, arrant dependance, and arrant submission! Harmonizing to Isaiah 37:25-29, God had given Assyria the power that it had and allowed them to suppress who they did. But, upon recognizing the attiude and jeers of the Assyrians towards Himself, God sent them place and allowed their male monarch to be murdered. This transition would hold taught me, as a Judean, the other side of God: His choler. I had already experienced His grace and fidelity in salvaging my life and metropolis, but I now would larn that God s penalty is existent, that what we do against God will non travel unaccounted for. And sometimes, as with the male monarch of Assyria, the penalty is every bit dearly-won as one s life. This would learn me how nescient I would be if I were to mock my Father. Because of what He has so gracefully saved me from and due to the grounds of His power in penalty, I would larn to so grateful and so in debt to God, that there is no room or ground to diss Him. Furthermore, the grounds of God s grace as a lesson to my religion could be seen in two more instances. The first involves God promise to Hezekiah that the state of Judah will one time once more return the luxury it existed in. This involved an addition in harvests over the undermentioned old ages and a repopulation of the land. God s promise was fulfilled, and Judah shortly returned to their normacy. Associating this to my life, I could be assured that whatever tests I encounter, that God is ever in complete and entire control, and that He will reconstruct me. The 2nd grounds of His grace is seen in Hezekiah s unwellness. When Hezekiah turned to God in ardent supplication for healing, God responded to his supplication by leting him to populate for 15 more old ages. By God s response, I would hold learned that God has the power to alter the full class of our lives through our supplication life, and that I should neer waver to inquire God for extremist alterations, every bit long as I honor Him with those alterations. Hezekiah went on to talk of the significance of go throughing the joy of the Lord from coevals to coevals in Isaiah 38:19. As a lesson to me, I would hold used this to understand that the heritage of our religion has come to us because of faithful work forces and adult females who have carried God s message throughout the centuries. Recognizing this, I would see myself as the following torchbearer. The writers of 2 Kings write about the history of Israel, halfway between the decease of David and the decease of the state. Israel has been divided, and the two lands have begun to skid ito devotion and corruptness toward prostration and imprisonment. 2 Kings relates the seamy narratives of the 12 male monarchs of the Northern Kingdom ( Israel ) and the 16 male monarchs of the Southern Kingdom ( Judah ) . For 130 old ages, Israel endures the sequence of evil swayers, until the are conquere vitamin D by Assyrian and led into imprisonment. The evil male monarchs were short-sighted, and they thought they could command their states fates by importing other faiths with their graven images, organizing confederations with pagan states, and cenriching themselves. Of all the male monarchs in both the North and South, merely two are called good. The good male monarchs had to pass most of their clip undoing the evil done by their predecessors. Because of their obeisance to God and the religious resurgences during their reigns, Judah stands for an extra 136 old ages. By composing about such events in the history of Israel and Judah, the writers of 2 Kings would hold been influenced by what happened in the Assyrian crisis with Hezekiah. Through much of the book of 2 Kings, the writers understood the convulsion and the effects of holding evil and good male monarchs in a state. With an evil male monarch, came evil workss of blasphemy and devotion, and wickedness perculated through the state. With a good male monarch, nevertheless, God was kept in the foresight, and He would bless the state with protection and endurance. The writers besides caught a glance of God s forbearance and the manner He speaks to His people through Prophetss. God told his people that if they obeyed him, they would populate successfully ; if they disobeyed, they would be judged and destroyed. Had had been patient with the people for 100s of old ages. He sent many Prophetss to steer them and warn them, but even His forbearance has bounds, as the writers wrote about. The writers of 2 Kings would respond to the Assyrian crisis with a great sense of apprehension and readying, because they wrote about so many incidents like it, and knew how a good and evil male monarch could impact the hereafter of his state. They would see the state of affairs as fundamentally an evil male monarch from Assyria vs a good, Devout male monarch from Jerusalem, and therefore the writers could easy think that those with God in head would be the masters, in this instance, the metropolis of Jerusalem. After seeing the crisis semen to cloture as they suspected, the writers of 2 Kings would hold their religion supported. They would be more confident in cognizing that God does, in fact, take favourites when it comes to esteeming or mocking Him. They would besides go on to see how He can be really gracious, or really barbarous, depending on how people treat Him. To the male monarchs that followed Hezekiah, the Assyrian crisis would render utile as a lesson on how to populate in God s eyes. They would be able to look back on the state of affairs and see non merely how Jerusalem was saved from such incredible odds, but besides blessed afterwards. They could besides look back and see the subplot of how Hezekiah overcame the odds of decease. By analysing such scenarios, the future male monarchs must inquire themselves why the metropolis of Jerusalem and Hezekiah lucky, and how they can acquire lucky excessively. The lesson they will larn, nevertheless, will surprise them when they discover that fortune was non involved. It was the mere fact that the metropolis of Jerusalem and Hezekiah s life were both saved because Hezekiah had his eyes fixed on God, and prayed fierily to Him. God, through His limitless power, turned away the mighty Assyrian ground forces, and through His grace and clemency gave Jerusalem back the luxury it one time had in the old ages after the crisis. Out of love, He besides gave Hezekiah 15 extra old ages to populate, despite being deathlike ailment. The power of supplication proved to be true. At the same clip, nevertheless, the future male monarchs would see the choler of God when He is blasphemied through the slaying of the male monarch of Assyria. At a glimpse, this may all look to be luck, but looking nearer would learn the male monarchs after Hezekiah to esteem God and maintain Him foremost in their lives and their state if they wish to be successful and safe. From the position of the apostle Paul, the Assyrian crisis would function as a contemplation of his life. Many similarites can be seen between Paul, the Assyrians, and Hezekiah, and through these, Paul would understand what it means to be with God or without Him. By reflecting on the Assyrian crisis, Paul would experience a great sense of peace and gratitude for God s salvaging grace. The male monarch of Assyria was a adult male who blasphemied God. He was a adult male who was on a mission of bid and conquer, and nil was traveling to acquire in his manner. Once he reached the metropolis of Jerusalem, he persecuted Christians at that place, including Hezekiah, the male monarch, with words of jeer and abuses directed towards God. By assailing the Christian religion in this manner, the male monarch of Assyria was seeking to turn out the Christian s God was merely like all other Gods, powerless. Similarly, Paul persecuted Christians by traveling to Damascus to capture them and convey the m back to Jerusalem. He hated the Christian religion and persecuted it without clemency. He, nevertheless, converted to Christianity subsequently and became an amazing tool of God s for distributing the Gospel. Populating such a life against God in his yesteryear, Paul could hold easy compare himself with the male monarch of Assyria. Paul would derive great peace and thankfulneess when he realized God s penalty to the male monarch of Assyria was decease, and that he escaped such penalty and was saved by God. Additionally, seeing the successes of Hezekiah, like returning Judah to the luxury it one time experienced, being saved from the Assyrians, and being given 15 excess old ages to populate after his unwellness, Paul would shortly recognize that the lone ground God was so gracious and merciful with Hezekiah was because he kept his eyes on Him. This would learn Paul that, if he were to be successful, he must maintain his focal point in life on God.

The Welfare State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Welfare State - Essay Example The government realized that the state’s duty is to look after its citizens from birth to death. After its implementation, the government tried to facilitate whatever conditions favourable for the citizens. The present essay tries to analyse the meaning of welfare state in Britain. Further the essay shows how the government had tried to eliminate the ‘five giants’, as stated by Beveridge, for the development of welfare state. Moreover an evaluation is made on the strengths and weaknesses of the welfare state in Britain. Thus the essay is an attempt to throw light on the various aspects of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. The meaning of welfare state in UK: The idea of welfare state began in the year 1942. William Beveridge proposed the suggestions for making the country a welfare state. The Clement Attlee government was favourable for implementing the project of William Beveridge. The period of the government from 1945-1951 witnessed many of the welfare pr ogrammes for the people. It aimed to reduce the social inequalities and bring up social justice to all in the British society. The Attlee government was in support of the common people and so the implementation of welfare state made many people friendly programmes for the total developments of the people. ... 2-3). As stated above the nation has a great role to play for the wellbeing of the people. It should make programmes for the security and future of the citizens. It is the duty of the state to provide maximum programmes for child developments and health care. The educational requirements of the citizens are the duty of a welfare government. The concept of welfare state in relied upon the report of Beveridge. The report demands the destruction of five giants. Ken Browne in his Introduction to Sociology pinpoints that the development of welfare services aimed at the destruction of the five giants-â€Å"of Want (poverty), Disease (ill-health and lack of healthcare), Squalor (poor housing), Ignorance (lack of educational opportunity) and Idleness (unemployment), and the creation of a society in which each individual would have the right to be cared by the state from womb to tomb† (Browne 2011, p.383). When these five giants are reduced by the government to the lowest level, the so ciety is said to be in favour of the people. In analysing the implementation of the welfare state, it can be seen that the government had tried its level best to eliminate these five giants from the land. Thus in the history of Britain anyone can understand that the government is worth enough to be called a welfare state. UK as a welfare state and the analysis of five giants: To analyse the welfare state in Great Britain, it is worthwhile to make an evaluation of the five giants and the governmental policies to eradicate the giants from the society. In the UK, the government headed by the Labour party was ready to implement some of the suggestions of Beveridge and implemented a series of laws to protect it. It had many up and downs. It remained up to Margaret

Consent of the govern Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Consent of the govern - Essay Example However, consent should be adequate in order that individuals will honor their obligations. What then is an adequate form of consent? An adequate form of consent should be one that was given voluntarily by a person. It must not be given out of coercion. It should be stated explicitly and expressly. In order for consent to be adequate, the person giving it should have complete knowledge of the consequences of his decision. The state of mind and the maturity of the person must be considered (Mclean, 112). As an example, contracts entered into under duress do not constitute an adequate form of consent simply because it was not given freely and would not have been given had there been no pressure applied on the person. In fact, the contract could be considered voidable in those cases. Further the practice of giving consent should be legitimate in itself, that is, it should be acceptable to the existing political authority (Mclean, 112). Work Cited Dunn, John. â€Å"Consent in the Politi cal Theory of John Locke†. The Historical Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, 153-182. 1967. Web. 22 March 2011.

Smoking in public Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Smoking in public - Essay Example Pope Urban vii banned tobacco consumption in porch ways and church, where he did not allow any form of consumption of the said drug. This was through chewing, sniffing, and most importantly smoking, which is the main concern here (Trex). To end public smoking, the penalty was excommunication from the church, and this is the first and earliest documented instance of concern over public smoking. King James, who looked to establish a smoke-free England due to what he labeled as an uncouth practice, raised further concerns in England. King James labeled smoking as a custom of slavish Indians that was loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose and dangerous to the lungs, as well as harmful to the brain (Trex). The king further went on to raise taxes and tariffs on tobacco to achieve his dream of a tobacco-free England. In most recent times, concerns have been raised over smoking in public, which has led to the ban of tobacco use, in public, in many cities across the globe. There are two op posing sides on the ban of smoking in public, where there are those who agree with the ban and those that are against it. Those that do not agree with banning of smoking in public places have a number of beliefs that are backed by solid evidence. To those who are opposed to the ban, denying smokers the right to smoke in public is a form of discrimination against a minority. This is considering that those that smoke are a minority of the global population, whereas non-smokers make the bulk of the population. By not allowing public smoking, smokers are deprived equal rights to engage in their pleasurable activities at will and freely. They also view as a form of discrimination considering that it is a very small number of people that make decisions on the ban on public smoking. In addition, they are of the opinion that there are worse conditions out there in the world than smoking. As a result, they view it as a waste of time banning smoking rather than handling other conditions, that research describes as dangerous and as an epidemic, such as obesity and alcohol abuse. Banning smoking in public is viewed as a decline in democracy and tolerance in the society, where the two are supposed to work hand in hand for the good of the society (Mallon). As such, the rights of the minority smokers are infringed due to propaganda that smoking is bad for one’s health while it is one’s choice to either smoke or not smoke. Those opposed against smoking in public argue that banning smoking in public bears numerous health benefits. Arguments are that it reduces risks of heart attacks in younger individuals and those that do not engage in smoking activities. This is because coming into contact with smoke raises the chances of heart attacks by 26% as researchers say. For non-smokers, banning smoking in public is said to improve their health as exposure to secondary smoke tends to make the blood sticky; thus, increasing the chances of suffering a heart attack ( "Banning Smoking In Public Places†). In addition, for those that would like to quit smoking, the ban is welcome. This is because the ban prevents the temptation to smoke, which results in their ceasing of the smoking habit. The consequences of smoking in public, especially following the ban are high; thus act as a deterrent against smoking, which makes it easy for smokers to

Human resource Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Human resource - Assignment Example This need is more significant than ever, as Human Resource Development is a process for budding and setting free human expertise progress with the rationale of improving performance. This performance can be improved through organizational development and personnel training and development and profession development. Arguably, in this rapidly changing business environment, organizations have increasingly implemented the organizational strategies to address these changes in the external environment by integrating functional Human resource management strategies. This paper delineates the activities involved in strategic Human Resources Development in reference to Fly Airline Dubai. Training and Developmental Activities In reference to Wilson (1999), Human Resource training and Development is concerned with undertaking identification of the training requirements, planning and designing training, implementing and evaluating training activities (p. 34). Fly Airline Dubai’s Human res ource department carries out activities designed to teach and advance company personnel, address performance challenges and assist in preparing the employees for high management positions and roles. Debatably, Fly Airline Dubai offers lithe alternatives which include coaching, job rotation experiences and mentoring. i. Needs assessment and Analysis activity Leigh et al (2000) emphasizes on the significance of assessing and analyzing needs in human resource development and training (p.89). Assessment of the needs in human resource development and training is a corner stone in identifying Human Resource Development interventions required for effective efforts. Fly Airline Dubai assess the requirements of the organization, the individual worker proficiencies, understanding and attitudes, and the functional obligations and department requirements. ii. Planning and Design Activity Just like Delahaye (2000, p. 24)) suggests, Fly Airline Dubai identifies the learning stratagems to be emplo yed, the training results and the individuals who experience the training. Alzabani (2002) asserts that after the needs analysis is complete and clear objectives set, Human Resource Development professionals consequently plan in choosing the suitable training provider in order to organize internal proficiency (p. 124-125). Fly Airline Dubai outsources for external training providers who provide training to its staff members. Developing lesson plans and choosing the effective techniques of training as described by Desimone et al (2002, p. 37) is an imperative aspect of Fly Airline Dubai’s Human resource development. In reference to Nadler and Nadler (1994), the lesson plans serve as an essential pointer for the trainer during the delivery of the training substance (p. 87). iii. Implementation Activity Fly Airline Dubai’s Human Resource Development and training considers several questions in its training. First, the department considers â€Å"when the employees will be provided with the training?† Secondly, it considers â€Å"who will receive the training?† Thirdly, it considers where the training will take place and who will conduct the training and the techniques to be used by the trainer. Arguably, these reviews by Fly Airline assist it on the implementation of the Human Resource Developments and Training program within the company. iv. Evaluation Activity Evaluation is a significant activity in training and

Public and private spaces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Public and private spaces - Essay Example However, this also meant that some people who were unaware on the streets took him literally. In fact, it was not shocking that one of the captured individual has sued him. In one instance, Borat, using a voice heavy with accent, greets a man and introduces himself, to which the man runs off, scared and, apparently, showing that he is xenophobic (Stowe & Stump, 2007: p55). While Borat did not obtain his consent to put him in the film or trailer, he could claim that he was investigating the manner in which Americans behave towards foreigners, which is guaranteed under freedom of the press. Since the reaction by the man is newsworthy, as well as in public interest, Borat is able to exploit the First Amendment to the benefit of his film. This part is especially shocking due to the total disgust on the man’s face at being approached by a foreign man who is shabbily dressed. The film, while embarrassing to those captured showing the worst in them, is socially responsible, at least compared to what really happens in the real world. The freedom of speech is also humiliated in some ways; for example, the designer Jean Paul Gaultier in his Brooklyn Museum exhibition. The exhibition is shocking to say the least and sometimes seems like a scene one would expect to see in a strip club or, at best, in the bedroom. Latching onto the notion of the First Amendment, the designer decided to exhibit articles of clothing that border on the subversive, especially when it comes to his depictions of sex. In fact, the infamous Madonna cone bra seems mild compared to some of the revealing clothing on show (Murphy, 2013: p1). The brochure accompanying the exhibition claims that humans have an intimate relationship with what they wear and that clothes are with us in private and public (Murphy, 2013: p1). While this is a logical view, what he goes on to exhibit blurs the line between what should be shown in public and what he should show in private exhibitions. In seeking to bring what people normally associate with intimacy and privacy into a public exhibition, Jean Paul Gaultier exploits and humiliates the freedoms under the First Amendment. While he does have protection under the first amendment, what the exhibition stands for should be a private affair not a public one in a public institution. At some point, it almost seems that, instead of exploring the theme of sex, which is not a bad thing in itself, he is moving towards an exhibition of how prostitution looks like. Social responsibility is totally lacking in this exhibition. Finally, there are also some instances in which the freedom of speech is celebrated, such as in the film â€Å"The Yes Men Fix the World†. In this film, the filmmakers make mock advertisements and press releases. A particularly striking one, which was quite hilarious and revealing, was the one about the US Chamber of Commerce. They were the subject of a mock press conference captured in the film, which claimed that they had altered their stance on the legislation regarding global warming and climate change (Russell & Cohn, 2013: p32). In addition, they also posted what seemed like the media center page on the website run by the Chamber of Commerc

Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Law - Essay Example Actions or activities that law pronounces legal in one state may be pronounced illegal in another state and vice versa. In this regard, the UAE laws and especially public laws are the case point of this paper. This paper has addressed different types of laws and how they apply in the real world phenomenon. The primary discussion has been based on the UAE context in the view of public decency laws. The UAE observes unique laws in comparison to many other states around the world. The specific laws that are considered in the paper are laws that relate to alcohol, clothing, drugs, homosexuality, Ramadan rules and public debt laws. While all the others except drugs are freely observed around the world, the UAE imposes strict restrictions to them. That is, in most other countries, they are deemed legal, rightful and freedoms. This is not the case in the UAE. While in many other countries alcohol is restricted by age, in UAE age restriction is just but one of the restriction variables. Under the UAE law context therefore, it is viable to conclude that UAE laws are culturally influenced and independent of the contemporary world

Describe the worst team experience you have ever had. What did you do Essay

Describe the worst team experience you have ever had. What did you do - Essay Example He asked me to fill in as head of our unit until they found an officer whos free and ready to take on. I gave him my worries of being a temporary superior to my team mates. The head promised me his full support in case of any insubordination. This was not a solution, I would still have to go back and work with these people once the new officer arrives. I decided I had to do my job as head of the unit, and still keep strong ties with my colleagues. I remembered Jim Collin’s level five leadership styles and was ready to undertake the challenging role (Collins, 2001). My colleagues became jealous of my new appointment. One of them swore not to take any orders from me, and stormed out of the room. The first 2 weeks in my position were a nightmare. People refused to due their work, or take any new assignments from me. But as tough as it was, I could not report them for that meant losing them. I felt like a juggler, trying not to drop a ball. As time passed, I realized all my team mates needed was equality. I decided to restructure our unit temporarily while I’m heading it. I gave each member a field where only he was responsible. They still had to report back to me, but I think it made them feel as if my appointment was just and administrative one, while in fact not much had changed. Not only did this strategy work for work relations, but our unit was doing better work than before. This worked right because my colleagues treated me well after I left the

A Passage to India Essay Example for Free

A Passage to India Essay Books are truly among the best things ever invented. With thousands of books out there, there are plenty of connections to be made. Here is an example of a connection made when reading this two novels. A Passage to India is a story that takes place in India during the reign of the British Empire. It is truly wonderful when you read a book and manage to make a connection between two different novels. While reading A Passage to India, a connection was made between this book and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In A Passage to India ,There are constant clashes between cultures, races, religion, and even politics. This story depicts India as a world of only two types of people; the British, and everyone else that isn’t British. The British are shown as Superior authority to the Indians. They are very rude and disrespectful. They are very racist towards the Indians. In A Passage to India, the British don’t usually mix and mingle with the Indians because they are both very different groups of people, and the British are seen as racist in this novel. Their cultures are really different, and there religions are by far different. Basically, the Indians and British are segregated. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, whites and blacks are segregated in the southern states due to the era in which the story takes place. Most, if not all, of the blacks are slaves. The whites don’t like the blacks because they are considered lower standard people, slaves. There are only two types of people in this story; whites, and non-whites. Racism is a very common obstacle in our world and is used in many stories to depict and portray certain hardships and time periods of our world. Both of these stories use racism to help portray these two very different settings. In A Passage to India, the British are very harsh and cruel towards the Indians, just like how the whites treat the blacks in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.â€Å"You’re superior to them, anyway. Don’t forget that. You’re superior to everyone in India except one or two of the Ranis, and they’re on equality.†(Forester 42). Mrs. Turton’s statement gives us an example of the racism of a typical Englishwomen. Here she tells Adela that they are superior to Indians in any way possible, even the higher politicians. The authors use statements like these to help the reader be able to imagine how things must be in the particular setting. Here, is a passage from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which shows us how racism is used to help build up the setting by Mark Twain. â€Å" It was lection day, and I was just  about to go and vote myself if I warnt too drunk to get there; but when they told me there was a State in this country where theyd let that nigger vote, I drawed out. I says Ill never vote agin.†(Sawyer 28). Just because a black man was free to vote in the election, Pap would never vote again because he didn’t believe blacks were good enough to be able to vote in the Election of the President of the USA. He didn’t want to be held to the same standards as blacks, he wanted to be able to be distinguished from blacks and have superiority. In his eyes, blacks were just property. They weren’t meant to be anything other than slaves. This passage helps the reader understand and imagine the harsh setting of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. These novels have very different settings but still have one thing in common. These two authors take a risky and sensitive subject like racism to help portray their stories and how they impact the reader. This connection also shows us that there is racism all around the world, even if these are fictional stories. A Passage to India and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn both are stating messages that show how harsh and cruel racism can be, and how it affects people. Racism a very common theme in many stories and there are many connections to be made amongst them. Forster, E. M. A Passage to India, New York: Harcourt, Brace and, 1924. Print. Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Random House, 1996. Print.

On Distance Learning Essay Example for Free

On Distance Learning Essay Distance education represents a way of teaching with geographically dispersed individuals and groups. Moore related that as early as 1978, regular mail service was used to aid distance education, but the advent of the internet brought new and exceptional dimensions to the world of distance education (10). It offered access to geographically and physically separated individuals to courses and instruction in a more interactive manner through increased education, interactivity among participants, and incorporation of collaborative pedagogical models. But even with the increasing number of courses and degrees delivered entirely online, and the number of supporters this type of education has gained, many still express opposition to it as against the traditional classroom education. Former college teacher James Barszcz’s is one well-known critic of distance education. He strongly asserts in his essay that distance learning cannot fulfill the true purpose of education. The diffusion of the Internet worldwide has literally changed the traditional structure of the school, and, as it can be noticed from the previous examples, it is doing in many different ways that are more and more interesting. It must not be forgotten, of course, that parents keep on worrying about the fact their children’s opinions are circulating all over the world and that this could mean danger and repression for them. These anxieties, however, cannot erase the advantages coming from the introduction of this new technology into the educational are, most importantly, of bringing education to everyone. But what is the true purpose of education, really? In its most basic sense, I strongly believe that the essence of education is to instill in an individual the capability to make out at the world for oneself, to generate one’s own choices, to declare what is black or what is white. In whatever manner this education may come from, it is still learning and discovering about new things that help shape a person into what he is. Distance learning has brought a remarkable means of delivering this education to students in rural or remote areas, so that they make take advantage of continuing learning and give them the ability to schedule learning at times convenient to them. Not only that, a great number of distance education programs cater to the requirements of a lot of diverse people of all ages, sexes, occupations, learning backgrounds and health conditions. Granted that personal contact which is very important in effective education is missing with this kind of education, but as is the situation with all new technologies, there are negative and positive aspects to distance learning. Many instructors, as well as students of distance education miss this. Distance learning can admittedly be lonely sometimes. There is always a price to pay, whether it be big or small. Although this is the case, steps could be done to assuage this drawback. Encouraging students to share something about themselves is one activity that can at least give all participants the feeling that they know something about their colleague and the professor. Additionally, many courses are well supported and, for students who are unable to attend residential events, there are usually opportunities for students to participate in online discussion groups, clubs and societies. It would be noteworthy to point out that for distance learning to be effective, a conducive learning environment needs to be created and maintained. Considerable thought and effort should go into the criteria required for setting-up learning centers and how these criteria would be put into practice and monitored. If this would be followed, distance education, with an extensive record of providing learning to out-of-the-way and distant learners, will become the effective, mainstream method of education and training that advocates claim it to be. In a world where continuous learning is a must, distance education has paved the way for everyone to have access to the educational system without having to physically go to school. Discipline is needed, of course, but it is one value that even traditional schooling teaches students to have. In the end, distance education can only provide a win-win situation for everyone involved in it.

The Owner Of E Commerce Website

The Owner Of E Commerce Website Assume you are the owner of an e-commerce website. What are some of the signs that your site has been hacked. Discuss the major types of attacks you could expect to experience and the resulting damage on your site. Prepare a brief report based on your finding. Question 2: You are required to propose website development to one of the IT entrepreneurs in your area. Consider there are two options for building the site in-house with existing staff or outsourcing the entire operation. Discuss which options are in the company best interest and the reason for choosing that option. Provide pros and cons for each option. Prepare a report based on your finding. Introduction E-commerce (electronic commerce), an online business verses the real world trade. E-commerce, including retail shopping, online banking, stock and bond trading, auctions, real estate transactions, airline booking, movie rentals, almost anything you can imagine in the real world. Such as hair, nail salons can benefit from providing e-commerce-related health and beauty product sales, often from local customers is a personal website or service. E-commerce allow consumers to exchange time or accessibility of electronic products and services in the distance. E-commerce, the rapid expansion in the pastfive years, is expected to continue at this rate, or even accelerate. With the traditionaland electronic in the near future, electronic commerce will become in creasingly blurred boundaries, more and more enterprises to embark on a part of Internet business. Willing to create a successful online store can be a difficult path, if not aware of the principles of e-commerce, e-commerce what should be done for your online business. Research and understand the need to properly plan the implementation of guidelines for e-commerce, is a vital part of the online store into and success. However, the network has its limitations, such as trade brought no guarantee of security, the question is who caused the problems, loss of credit card hackers worry about anything. To solve this problem need to rely on web sites and web production design is correct, make a better model, such as security. Web design can be used in two ways through outsourcing or in house to do so. Define Question 1 Computer hacking always involves some infringement of or damage to computer-based, such as documents, Web pages or software privacy attribute level. The impact of computer hackers is simply not the same as the illegal invasion and angry. Surrounded by a mysterious halo, hackers, and prestige, is a relatively elite individual who has knowledge, and willing to take part as a high-risk groups, need to become a true hacker accompanied. An interesting alternative view, however positive, such as hackers and hacker software development ideas, in science and technology. Hackers have a strong interest in computers and persistent pursuit, they continue to study computer and network knowledge, to find a computer and network vulnerability. They are difficult challenge high-level network of interest to find vulnerabilities and attack our networks. We need to know that their criminal acts in order to prevent our site or any invasion. In fact, hackers or computer on our website the number of symbols. Signs that we know what will happen, as long as we can to avoid being hacked. Here are some websites have become a hacker attack signatures. Answer Question 1 There are several different computer virus symptoms, can help us identify the computer from being infected, the virus is one of the potential dangers harmful. These viruses have many different forms and ways, it becomes very difficult for us to adjust the application of each machine. Therefore, all our machines are very easy to attack from computer viruses or other time, sometimes even the best anti-virus software can ignore the harmful viruses. Computer virus symptoms of some common understanding allows us to battle our anti-virus to a good start. A computer virus is a very small program, have the ability to spread from one computer to another, and then destruction of the work and the function of the infected machine. It is important to determine in some cases, even a system crash or virus as soon as it could lead to important data loss situation. There are many computer virus remove program that can help eliminate the risk of computer viruses. In addition, the symptoms of computer viruses possess some distinct characteristics, if your machine has been infected, most likely you will immediately see the results. The computers basic work will be greatly affected, due to the performance of computer failure, you will not run, I assure you, the use of early implementation of many functions. Such as computer running than normal, more slowly for no apparent reason. The exception of certain types of files does not run the file or the Task Manager. File is a spyware and viruses, such as different forms of the symptoms of abnormalities that may affect the background files on your computer suddenly slow down the busy work and the speed of the computer. They tend to hackers hijack your bandwidth, so the eyes of your system for their own purposes. Internet activities are not add-remove any programs used to access the Internet, it will suddenly slow Internet access. When you return to the desktop wallpaper and icons. Major types of attacks Virus In a computer, computer virus is a program or programming code that is copied or start by copying to another program, computer boot sector or file. Virus can be transmitted, such as file attachments in e-mail to download the instructions, or on or floppy disk or CD-ROM. Direct source of the e-mail note, downloaded file, you have received or floppy disk usually does not know it contains a virus. Some viruses wreak their effect, because once their code enforcement; other viruses lie dormant until circumstances cause their code, by the computer to perform. Some viruses are benign or playful in intent and effect (Happy Birthday, Ludwig!) And some can be quite harmful, delete data or cause the need to reformat the hard disk. Worm In the computer, the worm is a self-replicating virus file, but will not change in the active memory-resident and a copy of itself. Worm uses the operating system is automatic, users do not usually visible. It is common for worms to be noticed only when they can not control replication consumes system resources, slow down or stop other tasks. If your computer is experiencing performance issues, most recently, you might want to know if your computer has been infected with a worm or virus. Self-education is a great way to start when troubleshooting your computer. Once you understand your possible causes of performance problems, you are so much better equipped to repair things, and can calculate your life. DOS Denial of Service (DoS) attack is one in which the user or organization is a resource service, they will usually expect to be deprived of the event. In a distributed denial of service, a lot of damage to the system (sometimes referred to as a botnet) attack a target. Although DoS attacks are usually not lead to information or other security, the loss of security, which can cost the target person or company the time and a lot of money. Typically, loss of service is a specific network services, such as email, can not provide all network connections and services, or temporary loss. A denial of service attack can also destroy the affected computer programming systems and documentation. In some cases, denial of service attacks, forcing millions of people visit the corporate Web site suspension. Trojan horse In the computer, the Trojan horse is a malicious or harmful code is harmless on the inner surface of the program or in such a way that it can be controlled and damage in the form of their choice, including procedures, such as data on the hard drive destruction File Allocation Table disk. In one famous example of a Trojan horse is that this would have to find and destroy computer virus program. Trojan horses can be widely redistributed as part of computer viruses. Marco virus Macro viruses requires the user to take action to implement once they are downloaded to your computer, or to systems approach. The virus is usually written in a scripting language commonly used to create applications for use in the macro. Some of these macro viruses on the computer system failure than a security threat. One example is the text in Microsoft Word macro virus to generate a popular, specific key combination is pressed. Define Question 2 Outsourcing is often used when a company needs as part of the business, this part of the conditions to another company. Recently, the relevant provisions have been widely used in technology-related initiatives, such as transfer to a third party IT service desk. But it also refers to non-technical services, such as customer service by phone deal. Outsourcing activities are generally in the same country. When the companys involvement in another continent, such as India, use the correct term is offshore outsourcing. Nearshore outsourcing is the outsourcing of other national projects, but as a U.S. company outsourcing activities in Canada, with the mainland, the company will be called nearshore outsourcing. Although the main objective of outsourcing is often lower costs, many companies are not cost-effective. In particular, Gartner predicts that by 2007 80% of companies that outsource customer service, the main objective of cost-cutting plan, will not try. This statistical data is one of the reasons behind the outsourcing companys staff turnover rate is high, and sometimes 80-100%. This will combine the loss of customers, from frustration because the hidden costs and consumer costs are obvious, outsourcing of contact, if not carefully monitored, can easily fail. Answer Question 2 Advantages of outsourcing When you evaluate your choices and your outsourcing various components of the decision, you need to consider the advantages of outsourcing. When done for the right reasons, outsourcing will actually help your company grow and save money. Some outsourcing services, beyond the money, and so on. Here are the top seven of the outsourcing advantage. Focus On Core Activities In the period of rapid growth, the companys back-office operations will also be expanded. This expansion may begin in the consumption of the core that have made your company successful event cost resources (human and financial). Outsourcing these activities will allow these commercial activities is not sacrificing quality or service office in the background, an important re-positioning. For example: A company land a major contract will significantly increase in a very short period of time purchases; outsourcing of procurement. Operational Control Operating cost, we must consider outsourcing. Departments may have evolved over time into out of control, poor management field is the main motive for outsourcing. In addition, the outsourcing company can bring better management skills, your company than the original. For example: information technology, there are too many projects, not enough people contribute far beyond the budget of the organization. Based management contract for the outsourcing agreement will force the priority of its request, control returns to the area. Cost And Efficiency Savings Back to the office of the complexity, but the size of your company is unable to perform in a consistent and reasonable cost is your function is another advantage of outsourcing. For example: A small doctors office, a variety of insurance plans. Part-time people cant keep up with all the different suppliers and rules. Outsourced to a company specializing in medical costs. Develop Internal Staff For large projects that require the necessary skills, your employees do not. Site outsourcing skills, you will bring your companys needs. The work you love, they can acquire new skills. For example: Companies need to embark on a replacement / upgrade of various items of custom equipment. You did not ask the engineers to design new skills and upgrade equipment. Outsourcing outsourcing project engineers, field engineers and requirements, will help you gain new skills. Reduced Overhead Back-office functions to perform specific administrative costs are very high. Considering outsourcing, you can easily move. For example: economic growth, thereby increasing the demand for office space. The current location is very expensive, no room to expand. Outsourcing some simple operations, reduce office space needs. For example, make phone calls or data entry. Continuity Risk Management High employee turnover will increase during the uncertainty and contradictory actions. The level of outsourcing will provide continuity, while reducing the risk of the company will bring the operation of substandard level of the company. For example: Human Resources Manager is a long-term sick leave and two new executive assistant position in a very short period of time remains. Outsourcing human resource functions to reduce risk and allow the company to continue to operate. Staffing Flexibility Outsourcing will allow operators to bring in seasonal or cyclical demand more resources, when you need them, release them when youre done. For example: whether the accounting department of tax season is short, the transfer audit. Outsourcing these functions to provide more time and resources a lot of fixed costs of long-term agreement. Disadvantages of outsourcing When you assess your outsourcing options, remember, there are advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing outsourcing. Outsourcing listed below to see one of the weaknesses of each, and decided how the project will impact on your business. If the advantages outweigh its disadvantages outsourcing outsourcing, you should avoid outsourcing. Loss of Managerial Control Whether you sign with another companys contract to perform a single task to the entire department or function, you move to another companys management and control functions. In fact, you will have a contract, but management will belong to another company. Your outsourcing company will not be driven by the same standards and tasks to promote your company. They will be forced from their service to you and your other business profits. Bad Publicity The word outsourcing reminds me of different things to different people. If you live in a community with outsourcing companies, they use your friends and neighbors, outsourcing is good. If your friends and neighbors lost their jobs because they were shipped across the state, country or world, outsourcing will bring bad publicity. If you outsource part of your actions may affect the morale of the remaining workforce. Hidden Costs You will work with the companys outsourcing contract will cover the services they will provide detailed information. In you will not need to pay any additional contract basis. In addition, you will experience the legal fees, hire a lawyer to review your. Remember, this is the outsourcing companys business. They do, they are the ones in the contract. Therefore, you will start at a disadvantage in negotiations. Tied to the Financial Well-Being of Another Company Since you more than you as part of its operations to another company, you are linked to the welfare of the companys financial stability. This will not be the first time, an outsourcing company might go bankrupt, so you hold the bag. Threat to Security and Confidentiality In any life-blood of businesses with information to maintain its operation. If you have wages, medical records or any other confidential information, the information transmitted to the outsourcing companies have their own privacy risks may be affected. If the holding company, data sharing and knowledge (such as product drawings, recipes, etc.) outsourcing, it must consider the function. Outsourcing company carefully evaluated to ensure that your data protection and unexpected situations in the contract penalties. Quality Problems Outsourcing companies take the profit motive. Since the contract will determine the prices, the only way they will reduce costs to increase profits. They meet the conditions of the contract, you will pay. In addition, you will lose the rapid response capability, in the business environment changes. The contract will be very specific, you will have to pay the extra change. Advantages of in-house link building Due to internal (internal) search engine optimization team has many benefits, link building is a way to use them. You will find a spread to other search engine optimization efforts and factors. A warning, I would like to mention is that this in itself has the following advantages will not make the internal search engine optimization search engine optimization outsourcing and beyond, unless the company has a search engine optimization and search a solid foundation for understanding. Understanding of the Business An internal staff more likely to have your business and industry, a deeper understanding. This knowledge and insight to choose the right keywords in recognition to optimize come in handy. Has an internal search engine optimization involves a familiar brand and product line and language. Link Longevity In addition to voice and choice of absolute anchor text link from which sites, internal link building also provides greater management control of the reverse. Update web pages anchor text and links to fewer calls and e-mail much faster. Link in the development and construction activities, and easier for our fiction link longevity. Streamlined Concurrent Workflow Since almost all internal, link building also has a streamlined, concurrent workflow affinity. Whether it is search engine optimization team, is a formal marketing department or not, marketing objectives for rapid communication and understanding. Networking and Accessibility A way to get through from your suppliers, manufacturers, vendors, and the high correlation between everyone back to the relevant business. In the network of relationships is a fantastic place to start building to the existing connections and business relationships Contact lend their contact to obtain low cost. Broadening the Scope of a Partnership Apart from a general business with the acquisition of contact, internal SEO team can be acquired, especially the link to the publisher. People who learn quickly that you have purchased, the traditional advertising and urge to have a own web pages or more than your link. Disadvantages of in-hourse Lead generation Process of collecting names and contact information about qualified prospects which will be contacted by the salespeople for generating orders. It usually involves direct response advertising and telemarketing. What is best for our organization In my opinion, I would choose outsourcing to be my construction website, because I know outsourcing expertise and level. They can complete the work in the short term, so we can save a lot of resources and time. In addition, the in-house opportunity to learn from their expertise. Subsequently, the in-house expertise they also can create it yourself. Two birds with one stone. Although, outsourcing a few risks, but everything has to get his risk, we also need to overcome these risks, as long as we overcome the risk of succes Conclusion In a conclusion, e-commerce is undeniably the best one in this world of things. Although it is risky, but in a period of rapid growth, we really need it to help us. Therefore, we let E be my domestic and international well-known. Therefore, there are many hackers want to destroy and steal information e-commerce. But today, e-commerce is very dangerous. In my opinion, I think we should pay more attention and increase our security, and now the latest anti-virus software is the possibility ofcracking is to reduce a lot of contrast. In addition, we should not inadvertently reveal personal information and conditions. Appendix

Smoking in Films Essay -- Tobacco Cigarettes Movies

Smoking in Films Your soda and popcorn are empty and the end credits are running on the newest blockbuster to hit theaters. What is on your mind when you leave the movies? Is it the number of times the actors lit up cigarettes during the two-hour flick? While you probably did not consciously notice all the smoke, the fact is that there were teenagers watching the movie that may now take up the habit because of what they saw on the screen. More and more, smoking in movies is being identified as a leading cause of teen smoking. Many filmmakers are using smoking in movies to make actors look more desirable or rebellious. This tactic used by filmmakers is imprinting the wrong image in the minds of impressionable teenagers. Tobacco use in film and in television is identified as one of the influential causes for teenage smoking (Sargent). Tobacco use in movies and in television is portrayed as fun, exciting, sexy, and rebellious and connected to wealth and power, it reinforces common advertising themes of the tobacco industry. While glamorizing tobacco may not be the intent of the entertainment industry, the result is that such portrayal encourages tobacco use among young people. Studies undertaken found that youth had a higher risk of smoking initiation as their exposure to movie smoking increased. In addition the youth that were exposed the most to movie smoking were at a higher risk (Increasing Evidence). Conversely, when anti-tobacco messages are included in movies or on television, it has just the opposite impact and may discourage young people from starting to smoke (Pechmann). Extensive tobacco use in movies and television suggests that smoking is more common in society then it actually is. When tobacco use is viewed as a s... ... Lowry, Brian. â€Å"POLS KICK BIZ IN THE BUTTS.† Daily Variety. Nov. 2005: O’Keefe, Timothy M. â€Å"The Anti-Smoking Commercials: A Study of Television’s Impact on Behavior.† The Public Opinion Quarterly. 35 1981:242-248 Peechmann, Cornelia, S. Ratneshwar. â€Å"The effect of Anismoking and Cigarette Advertising on Young Adolescents’ Perceptions of Peers Who Smoke.† The Journal of Consumer Research. 21 1994:236-251 Sargent, James D. â€Å"Dartmouth Researchers Find that Teens are Influenced by Movie Star Smokers.† Dartmouth News. 2001 Sargent, James D. â€Å"Dartmouth Researchers Link Movies to Teen Smoking.† Dartmouth News. 2001 Tickle, Jennifer J., James D Sargent, Madeline A Dalton, Michael L Beach, and Todd F Heatherton. â€Å"Favourite Movie Starts, their Tobacco Use in Contemporary Movies, and its Association with Adolescent Smoking.† Tob. Control. March 2001; 10:16-22

How Thomas Hardy Presents Women in His Short Stories Essay -- essays r

How Hardy Presents Women in His Short Stories Thomas Hardy wrote about society in the mid 1800's and his tales have rural settings in the fictional name he gave to the South-West of England, Wessex. The short stories reflect this time and the author also demonstrates the class division in rural society - rich and poor - and the closeness of the communities. Almost everyone belonged to the 'labouring classes' and worked on the land. People of around 150 years ago were very superstitious and marriage was important. If a woman did not marry by a certain age she was thought of as a witch, or 'spinster'. Her only roles were to be faithful to her husband and to bear a son to become heir. The role of women was very different from today's society - it was world dominated and run by men. In the first of the three short stories, ?The Withered Arm?, Hardy writes of two women of different classes who are joined by one man. The first of the women is Rhoda Brook. She is a milking maid who is not within the milking circle. She is physically and metaphorically outside because she had an illegitimate son. Rhoda ?milked somewhat apart from the rest?. Having a child out of ?wedlock? was frowned upon, some people were publicly condemned in the 1800?s. She is the occasional subject of gossip and with being a single mum back then she would have been in a very difficult position. Hardy presents this well in his tales, as he shows Rhoda?s predicament. The father of Rhoda?s son, Farmer Lodge, was of a much higher status than herself. He would never have married a milk maid and does not face the same condemnation as Rhoda does. Rhoda?s previous lover, Farmer Lodge, is to marry a young woman as during a conversation between the mil... ... Milly is the most foolish of the girls as she believes every word Tony says to her, however this shows that she will do anything to gain a husband. In ?The Son?s Veto? Sophy is shown to be dominated by both her husband and her son. Decisions are mostly made for her giving Sophy little freedom in her own home. Her son denied her the opportunity to marry and be happy again as the man she was in love with was not a gentleman of class, which was all too embarrassing for him. Sophy is weak and feeble and dies a lonely and unhappy woman. In Thomas Hardy?s three short tales, the presentation of women is negative, however typical of the 1800?s. His stories show just how women lived in these times and how it was difficult. They received few opportunities and choices as most were made for them. Their main role in life was to be a good mother and a devoted wife.