Symbolic Meaning of Edna’s Arms and Teeth in Chopin’s The Awakening :: Chopin Awakening

Symbolic Meaning of Edna’s Arms and Teeth in Chopin’s The Awakening Although characters’ personalities are described vividly in The Awakening through action, dialogue, and descriptions of clothing, little is presented of the characters physically. While Edna is alone in Madame Antoine’s house, resting, two moments occur in which specific aspects of her body are highlighted. Prior to this scene, it is known only that she is considered pretty and that her hair and eyes are a similar yellow-brown color. At Madame Antoine’s house, however, where Edna loses sense of time while resting, first her arms and then her teeth demonstrate her peculiar strengths. It is problematic to consider Edna as strong so soon after having nearly swooned in the small island church. Although we know that she had slept little the night before and that her invitation to Robert was her first conscious move into a new sort of consciousness, her apparent moment of epiphany is accompanied by an all too typical display of feminine weakness. Moments later, lying in Madame Antoine’s bed, Edna is revealed as contradictorily strong. While stretching her â€Å"strong limbs that ached a little† Edna pauses and notices her arms. â€Å"She looked at her round arms as she held them straight up and rubbed them one after the other, observing closely, as if it were something she saw for the first time, the fine, firm quality and texture of her flesh† (58). In this description, her arms appear detached from the rest of her body. She discovers that she has strength—not of spirit or mind, which is what the rest of the narrative focuses on, but of bo dy. After she awakens, her attention is drawn away from her self personally, but the description of her returns to this physical strength when she finds the snack Madame Antoine had left for her. â€Å"Edna bit a piece from the brown loaf, tearing it with her strong, white teeth† (59). Because there is no other description in the paragraph, her teeth here stand out as odd. The action of biting the loaf rather than cutting or tearing it with her hands exhibits her characteristic carelessness, but also a bit of viciousness that is surprising. The teeth represent her latent strength here, in action rather than in rest, as she had seen her arms. It is unclear to me what significance, if any, there might be to these images of her arms and her teeth.

Explain why Act 2. Scene 2. is a turning point in the play for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Essay

Explain why Act 2. Scene 2. Is a turning point in the play for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. How should the actors playing these characters behave to show the audience what they are feeling? In the First Act we learn that Macbeth is thought of as a very noble, loyal, brave man. â€Å"For brave Macbeth †¦ O valiant cousin, worthy gentlemen!† Macbeth was victorious in a battle on behalf of the kingdom and gets lots of praise from the king, and the other soldiers, and unknown to him is soon be given the title, ‘Thane Of Cawdor’. Banquo and Macbeth are travelling home and they came across 3 witches. These witches prophisize that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and that soon after he will become king. â€Å"All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! †¦All hail Macbeth! Thalt shalt be King hereafter.† Macbeth doesn’t pay to much attention to them and continues on with his journey, when he returns home, he finds out that the King is coming to stay with him and Lady Macbeth in their castle. Macbeth then finds out of the title and tells Lady Macbeth of the three witches prophesies, and then Lady Macbeth starts to hatch a plan. Macbeth was so horrified of the idea of killing Duncan because in those days, people believed in something, which was called the divine right of kings. Which meant that they believed the king to have been chosen by god. So an attack on King Duncan would have been considered sacrilege. In Act one, Macbeth comes across as brave and loyal, but if he goes through with the murder, he will be forever looking over his shoulder, he will have to watch what he says and does, because he could be found out. This would change his character entirely. Macbeth has to realise that there can be no going back once the murder has been committed. James 1 would have understood and believed in the divine right of kings, so when the play was being written, including it would have been more interesting as the play was originally wrote for James 1, who was king at the time. Scene 2 has to be the most violent part of the play although we don’t actually see the murder in the written play, it is only included in the film version, which we recently watched, directed by Roman Polantski. It is interesting that Macbeth kills King Duncan offstage, the scene could be written this way because Shakespeare wanted us to concentrate on Macbeth’s reaction to the murder, rather than the murder itself. It’s a crucial part in the play as it the first of many murders. The murder takes place on the night of the King’s stay. Everything that happens in the play now is revolved around this scene. This scene is important because it not only features the murder scene. It is also the start of the falling apart of the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. There is a lot of tension when we see Lady Macbeth pacing about nervously, waiting for Macbeth to come back. We also see Lady Macbeth’s softer side too when she says â€Å"Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t† meaning if the King had not looked like her father she would have gone through with the murder herself. I imagine her to be looking quite sad at this point, yet nervous, for fear of still being caught. It reminds us that lady Macbeth still has some humanity because it might help the audience to understand why she does what she does at the end of the play. Lady Macbeth hears an owl screech while she is waiting for Macbeth and jumps, as she is clearly quite nervous even though earlier on in the play she says â€Å"That, which hath made them drunk, hath made me bold.† This is obviously not the case. Lady Macbeth may say this half-jokingly and holding the cup up near to her face, which she drinks it. When Macbeth comes to meet his wife they are both nervous, yet they seem excited to, as they don’t speak in full sentences, it’s a short, sharp exchange of words. â€Å"When† , â€Å"Now† , â€Å"as, I descended† , â€Å"Aye†. His shows the audience that they are worried, nervous etc. They will at this maybe looking around them to see if there is anyone coming, or looking at each other trying to see what the other is thinking. Macbeth also still has hold of the daggers, which makes the tension in the scene increase. Macbeth can’t seem to believe he has committed such a crime as he says, â€Å"This is a sorry sight†. He is also referring to his hands, which are covered in blood, Macbeth must have been putting his head in his hands at this point for him not to notice, therefore holding them up in fr ont of his face. He can’t seem to forget about the murder after this point. He seems obsessed with what he has done and almost in a hypnotising state of mind. Lady Macbeth, although in a way mocks him, she stays calm and says to him â€Å"Go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hands.† Lady Macbeth is probably pushing him to the fountain and is keeping an eye on him, as so, they won’t get caught. Macbeth knows that he might be able to get rid of the stain from his hands but not from his conscience. He says â€Å"Not all Neptune’s ocean can wash me clean†. Lady Macbeth makes fun of Macbeth for dwelling on the murder and has a go at him for being a coward. Macbeth and his wife seem to lose a connection with each other and Shakespeare has made it obvious that Macbeth is the weaker of the two characters and his and Lady Macbeth’s relationship isn’t going very well. He shows this by having Macbeth ramble on, and say long speeches. But Lady Macbeth stays in control, she acts almost evil and without a conscience. The play seems to build up more tension by Macbeth saying that he thought he had heard a voice saying â€Å"Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more.† This could be Macbeth’s imagination, or him hearing another of the witches prophesies. The knocking on the door startles Macbeth, as he knows now, this could tell whether his crime is about to be found out or not. Lady Macbeth again keeps her head amongst all of this, although nervous they will be discovered. Lady Macbeth quickly returns the bloodstained daggers to Duncan’s grooms, and goes one further and says, â€Å"If he do bleed, I’ll guild the grooms with Duncan’s blood, for it must seem their guilt.† Shakespeare has her do this to make the audience aware of how much more confident than Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is. Whereas Macbeth is still in shock of the crime he had committed. Shakespeare conveys that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s relationship is slowly deteriorating, as Macbeth seems to be acting crazily and Lady Macbeth seems evil and calculating and in control of the situation. The knocking still carrying on, lady Macbeth appears annoyed and urges her husband, to his chamber, where they can hide and come across as innocent to the murder if it is discovered. Shakespeare has once again let Lady Macbeth take control. Shakespeare has cleverly used language and structure of sentences manages to create a lot of tension and excitement in this scene. He uses the right language in the right places to make the characters and the play really believable. Towards the end of the play Macbeth becomes overwhelmed by guilt and fear, he murders anyone he suspects might know. Eventually the heir to crown kills Macbeth, after Lady Macbeth has taken her own life as she is overcome by the guilt. King James and the rest of the Shakespearean audience would have wanted the murders and lies and drama, this is probably what they would have expected. Sacrilege was believed to have been punished by God. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were the murderers so this would have added excitement; the witches added some eerieness and supernatural theme to the play. These are good choices for the play at that particular time, and it still makes it good today.

Economic inequality Essay

According to Douglass Massey, what makes America so exceptional? Explain globalization’s effects on inequality in the United States. According to Douglass Massey, what makes America so exceptional is â€Å"among developed nations for the amount of inequality it tolerates† (Massey 22). Globalization happens all around the world but, only in the United States inequality is getting out of hand. Globalization’s effects on inequality in United States is after the end of the New Deal coalition the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. The new realignment favored the rich in the expense of middle and lower classes. The poor was taxed more and the rich were taxed less. Tarry Hum’s article (â€Å"Persistent Polarization..†) provides a profile of the city’s current labor force. What does Hum mean by â€Å"persistent polarization†? Compare per capita income and rates of unemployment among different racial and ethnic groups in New York City. – In Tarry Hum’s article â€Å"Persistent Polarization† means the large gap of employment in terms of race, gender, and nativity. For instance, language, proficiency, and education. In terms of race, African Americans, Latinos, and Asians (minorities) were making up 70-75% of the workforce. I’m not really understanding the second part of the question but, I’ll take a go at it. – According to the data, Immigrants aren’t happy about their working condition and wages. The data shows that immigrants works most insecure jobs such as construction and transportation. Some of these jobs are also very high risk yet they get paid below average wages. Does Katherine Newman (author of â€Å"Working Lives†) subscribe to the â€Å"poverty as pathology† idea that people are poor because they are lazy/have no work ethic/don’t try to get a job? Support your answer with evidence from her article. Katherine Newman thinks that if people work hard they should be rewarded. This also doesn’t mean that people in poverty deserves their low standard of living. This means if you work hard you should be rewarded and if you don’t you don’t deserve anything from the goverment. Individuals that lacks work ethics should not be compensated by the states. Not only do they not deserve it they didn’t even try. She thinks that personal failure they are resistaing the econmic and social program. An individual, if you’re not smart and poor and whatever it means it only mean you’re failing yourself and not because the states didn’t do anything for you.

Premium Beer Market in Thailand Essay

There were various kinds of determinants influencing the enlargement of the beer market; especially the cause from gas price has risen up high like never before. Deriving the consumer products price had to be adjusted to avoid suffering from higher cost of production and transportation. On the other end, consumer’s purchasing power had become lower due to the higher cost of living; driving them to adapt to the economic situation they were facing. From the observation in the beer market, we could notice there were obvious changes in consumer’s behavior; consumers or drinkers tended to shift from having large size of beer 640ml. to the smaller size 330ml. in the form of small bottle or can. Moreover, there was a slightly drop in the frequency of buying beer also. (Source: B&A CO. ,LTD/Daily Manager Newspaper: May 1st 2005) In addition, government sectors also had plan in process to leverage IRS tax on alcohol beverage as the European Union had implemented it before in order to improve the social overall status and also eliminate beer industry pitfalls. Year 2006 In this year, there were many interesting movements occurring in the premium beer market. Beer manufacturers in the premium segment had planned an expansion in their production base to penetrate in other potential segments which were most likely to be the offering in light beer; providing more choices for consumers, containing less amount of alcohol or to be exact, lower than 5%. From the total amount of alcohol contained, although light beers were obviously positioned separately from the premium segment, still, they had become the new face of drinking premium beer which targeting on consumer who loves to drink healthier responded to the healthy concerning issues and rend in nowadays. Most importantly was light beers were actually sold in the cheaper price than premium beers. Plus with the facts that light beer market was still in the introduction stage, holding only 35 million liters in total production quantity or only 2% of the market shares in beer industry; therefore, showed that the light beers market still had more potential growth along the way (Source: Thai Beverage Marketing CO. LTD/Prachachat Newspaper: March 13th 2006) For the entrepreneur in light beers segment, San Miguel, the first brand penetrated into this market, was using the ‘Push Strategy’ in the early stage, implementing the intensive distribution to cover all convenience stores and on-premise market like pubs, bars, and restaurant in order to take advantages of being the first offering in the market. After the intensive distribution was taken place to cover all potential areas in the market, San Miguel immediately continued with the follow-up plan by using the ‘Pull Strategy’ in order to create more brand awareness through mass media; TV commercials, radio spots, and also held promotional events at particular on-premise restaurants, pubs. Moreover, San Miguel had collaborated with 104. 5FM FAT RADIO holding â€Å"San Miguel Music Fest Volume 2† which counted as the latest marketing activities of San Miguel. On the other hand, Chang Beer, who had been testing the light beer market since year 2005, decided to officially commercialize Chang Light into the premium market in March 2006; at a price of 45 baht per bottle which contains 4. 2% of alcohol volume; also implementing ‘sport marketing’ or ‘event sponsorship’ through golf and related activities. By March 2006, Singha Light was introduced to the premium market in Thailand. Although Singha was planning to focus on exporting their light beers to penetrate in Europe and America continents, but because of the high volume of alcohol up to 6% containing Singha Beer, it caused them to face with higher tax than the competitors. Plus, most drinkers in those markets preferred drinking beers with low degree of alcohol. Apart from that, Singha Light also put more focuses on driving the local market. Singha spent its marketing budget up to 150 million baht to present â€Å"Singha Light: The North Pole Challenge† in order to seek for 4 Thai persons getting once in a life time chance to travel up to the North Pole. Moreover, in this year, the government sectors had pushed through the new legislative law to be the mandatory for all alcoholic beverages. The law basically consisted of the regulations on selling and having to specific age of buyers, time and place of distribution. In addition, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or ORYOR) had come up with the restriction of having any kind of advertisements relating to alcoholic beverages except print advertorial section in non-Thai magazines and other media. These regulations were officially brought to used on December 3, 2006 and immediately caused all the billboards, logos, brand related signs to be taken down and prohibited. Pubs, bars, restaurants, and also convenience stores were forced not to put any signs or logos of alcoholic beverage which could be seen clearly from outside the facilities. However, there were some exceptions were allowed in the case of social responsibility or tourism related activities. For example, the regulation stated that the facilities providing alcoholic beverages must also provide other non-alcoholic beverages like drinking water or sparkling/soda water etc. The company name must not be the same or rhyme with the name of the alcoholic drinks brand; and marketing strategy like ‘corporate brand image’ was prohibited like naming the company ‘Beer Thai’. For other marketing promotional tools like using pretty girls, the regulation still allowed them to dress in color to indicate the brand but the logos of the brand on the clothes including umbrella were prohibited; and for the issue of specialties or free giveaways that contained any logos indicating brand was postponed to be reconsider for the appropriateness. Year 2007 With the continuation of rapidly gas price rising situation, it was bad influencing the consumers to construct the negative perspective towards the stability spending and earning in the upcoming future and also directly affected the consumer’s behavior. As observed from the quantity of total beers sold in the early April, which usually the most profitable season of the beer industry; 143. 5 million liters comparing to the average sales from other months 140. 6 million liters or 2. 1%. These numbers obviously reflected the stagnant sales reached as low as 2-3%; dropped from 4-5%; mostly because of the pressure on the purchasing power of consumer due to the government regulation trying to decrease the alcoholic drinks consumption. On the tax regulation issue on beers, The Excise Department had organized into 3 groups and assigned different tax fees depending on each segment. The premium beer will be paying tax at 37 baht/liter; 36 baht/liter for standard market and 28 baht/liter for the economy segment respectively. For the controversial advertising issue since last year was finally settled down in this year with the revised regulations allowing the product image to be on print media but without persuasive messages or any presenter. Also print media was required to put 25% caution message of the total area of the advertisement. And for the mass media especially on television, they had divided into 2 phrases. First phrase, the TV commercials during the 10pm were allowed to put up any logo of the brand to be shown for approximately 5 seconds, and for the second phrase, 30 seconds mark shots were allowed. These changes made had tremendous positive effects to the beer market. However, those regulations were not major obstruction for the beer market. Marketers tried to adjust and improve their strategies and tactics to come up with new way of advertising. Event Marketing was one of their strategies which effectively doubled up the frequency of use. In this year, the expansion of the total beer industry had constructed the 6% growth of both quantity and value. But if we carefully looked through the segments, we would found that the premium beer market had surprisingly decreased by 8%. These were caused by the psychological factors driven consumers’ behavior to decline; plus with the government regulation had made impacts on many brands to seeking for new ways to market their products since back in August 2006 which eventually projected the decline in many firms’ total sales volume. Year 2008 Nowadays, the beer market in Thailand is still holding the attractive market for the imported brands. From the current market condition, we can notice there are many international brands which are trying to penetrate into Thailand’s beer industry to capture their potential market shares; starts off with re-entering of Carlsberg S/A Company, Denmark with the brand ‘Carlsberg’ into Thai beer market; after they had left the Thai market for the last 4-5 years. This comeback of Carlsberg is driven by the their main company in the foreign country; by starting from having the San Miguel’s breweries factory in Pathumthani as their production site. In the meantime, their marketing team has already been put in place and been planning to start their first comeback marketing event in March; and follow with the officially introduction in June. Carlsberg is mainly focusing all their efforts in distribution channel and strategies more than any other aspects. Carlsberg will initiate into the hypermarket and position itself in the same level as Heineken. Apart from that, in March, Thai Beverage Marketing CO. ,LTD. lso has plan preparing the expansion the beer portfolio to cover all the potential markets. From having only Chang Beer and Archa Beer in the economy segment; Chang Light and Chang Draught in standard segment, therefore they have plan in launching Federbrau to penetrate in premium market. Asahi Asahi Super Dry was first introduce to beer market in Thailand in September 2002 by B&A Distribution Company Limited, one of the brands under Boon Rawd Brewery CO. ,LTD. Asahi was and still is the leader brand in Japan by having the most market shares in the beer market in Japan; by implementing the intensive distribution as their strategy, available to be purchased everywhere setting the price in the average range. Moreover, there has been improvement in the production procedure and logistics process in order to maintain the freshness and quality of the products and has tried to adjust the taste to be more preferable by Thai drinkers. They started out by focusing mainly on Japanese restaurants in order to construct the new customer base. By the year 2003, they have expanded more of their products into the common market including modern types of distribution channels like supermarkets, hypermarkets, and convenience stores etc. After some recession from the marketing strategies they had been implementing since the end of the year 2003; focusing on the taste of drought beer and plus with the innovative and futuristic of the products under the concept ‘Platinum Beer’ which derived from the sparkle silver-colored wrapped around the bottles and cans. But the selling point is somehow overestimated the perception of Thai drinkers. Therefore, in the year 2004, Asahi had decided to turn the other way around, back to its own origin which was Japan as the selling point along with the message of the bestselling beer in Japan by hoping the J Trend would eventually improve the Asahi Super Dry’s image. The result was quite successful; Asahi had captured the wider market share. By using J Trend, Asahi had effectively reached into the office workers which were employed in the Japanese firm or the group of people who have passionate in Japanese style including college students. Although there was not that large group of buyers, but most of them were likely to be identify as the middle class people, educated and have enough purchasing power. Year 2005 Asahi had decided to renovate the whole marketing strategy by turning to focus mainly on the concept â€Å"Think Difference† with â€Å"Color Marketing Strategy : Universally Communication†. They tried to emphasize on the silver strip on their products to create brand awareness, recognition and recall; distinguished from other brands in premium market. Source : B&A Distribution CO. ,LTD. /Prachachat : July 17, 2005) Later on, Asahi had captured more market shares especially the increasing in rural markets; 40% from the eastern and northern part and the rest 60% from Bangkok and Metropolitan. During the second semiannual, Asahi had set the marketing budget up to 120 million baht from the total 180 million baht in order to emphasize on below-the-line 70% and above-the-line 30%. Year 2006 Organizational management structure was rearranged; the management team from Boon Rawd Brewery had come in and totally taken places in all positions in Asahi by deviding the works into two major departments under 4 CEOs; 2 from Japan and 2 from Boon Rawd. Sales department was under the Boon Rawd management team and B&A would be taking care all of the marketing activities. Although there was major change in the management team, still they had not changed the positioning of Asahi and maintained its brand as international brand. San Miguel San Miguel first initiated into the beer industry by sponsoring in many golf competition; holding beer booths in many golf courses started from the middle of November and so on. Moreover, San Miguel had distributed their beers through many channels possible. However, San Miguel had the advantages over other competitors in terms of strong financial capability; therefore, San Miguel could use the turnkey operation; letting the 3rd party management team, which specialized in the particular kind of managing, to come in and run the business for them. Year 2005 San Miguel had decided to spend large amount of budget up to 375 million baht to settle down the contract with Pat-Kol Co. ,Ltd. in order to construct 95 rai of ‘Multi-Beverage Production Site’, which could be utilized to manufacture many kinds of beverage like fruit juice, drinking water, ready-to-drink tea/bottled tea, and also soft drinks in Amata City Industrial Park, Rayong. And debut its first brand of beer â€Å"Kirin† 2nd market leader from Japan. Year 2007 San Miguel had specified the marketing policies into major brands like San Miguel’s Low Calories Beer, San Mig Light as followed mandatory from the main headquarter. On the local market, San Miguel offered Blue Ice Beer as a standard brand and Red Horse Beer as an economy brand. These brands were already introduced to the Thai beer market for 2 years but they were intended just to test the market, and will be taken out of the market eventually. In this year, San Miguel had planned to emphasize more in below-the-line marketing; increasing from 60% to 70-80% mainly through pubs, bars, and restaurants in order to directly reach the right group of target; and decreased the above-the-line from 40% down to 20-30%. Moreover, they had planned to join with ‘Sugar Beet Restaurant’ in order to boost sales and build more brand awareness. Federbrau Thai Beverage Public Company Limited has just decided to introduce Federbrau into the premium beer market in order to fill up their beer portfolio. They have started off by distributing through on-premise channel like night clubs, pubs, bars since March by offering three sizes of products which are 630ml large bottle, 330ml small bottle, and 330ml can. These products will be further on distributing into another channel like supermarkets and hypermarkets. Feberbrau Beer is the imported brand from Germany; containing 4. 7% of alcohol volume which is the lightest taste provided nowadays like the word ‘Federbrau’ itself means ‘feather’. It is the first brand in Thailand which keeps practicing ‘Reinheitsgebot’, the law legislated in Germany allowing only 4 ingredients in brewing beer; water, malts, barley hops, and yeasts. Although the law has not passed the qualification of the EU, many breweries has still produced beer following this law in order to project higher standard than other manufacturer. Feberbrau Beer is being brewed by COSMOS Brewery (Thailand) Co. Ltd. , Wangnoi, Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya. Federbrau has planned to position its product as the genuine German beer; offering new choices for consumers though Thai drinkers might not know the story behind their recipe; therefore, it is focusing on sending messages indicating the German-style and creating the adventurous sensation by using blu e color. They are mainly targeting the ages between the ranges of 22-35 who have self confidence, freedom lovers, and have their own lifestyles. For the regulation issues, there are many strict regulations on alcoholic beverages to be complied. But since Federbrau has clearly stated its position, it would not create any conflicts between the brands like Chang Light under Thai Beverage itself unlike the previous conflict between Chang and Archa. The marketing plan of Federbrau for the first 9 months will be mostly focusing on emphasizing on above-the-line rather than below-the-line; all kinds of media including billboard will be used to promote the brand awareness and brand recall by started off in the Bangkok area and then move on to nationwide through TV, radio, newspaper, shop decoration and also holding event to cover all potential market opportunities.

Stephen J. Dubner’s novel Turbulent Souls Analysis

According to Soren Kierkergaard, a prominent existentialist, in Stephen J. Dubner's novel, Turbulent Souls, the protagonists, Stephen, Veronica, and Paul Dubner, are the quintessential â€Å"Knights of Faith†. A † Knight of Faith† is the existentially perfect man or woman who could grasp his own freedom and create his own destiny. Despite the disconnectedness of the world, the â€Å"Knight of Faith† finds the courage to unify his or her world through an act of determination. Through much searching, the â€Å"Knight of Faith† discovers that man is entrapped in absolute isolation. Prior to becoming a † Knight of Faith† he or she must take a † leap of faith† into something higher and beyond the self such as into belief in G-d. The only way authentically to take a † leap of faith† and to escape the anxiety and despair that is the quintessence of the universal human condition is to choose despair, and to sink so deep into despair that one loses all commitment of family, friends, and community. When these are all lost, with absolutely nothing left, in a complete crisis, and at the edge of the abyss, he or she will be prepared for faith in G-d, he or she will chose G-d, and make the â€Å"leap of faith† to G-d. Therefore, he or she has created a unique connection with G-d and has conquered his or her fears, and the hypocrisies and tribulations in the world. Propelled by psychological despair and existential emptiness, each of the three principal characters embarks upon a quest for spiritual enlightenment and/or emotional healing. The novel begins by discussing the childhood of Stephen's parents, Sol and Florence, and after their conversion, Paul and Veronica. Florence's basis of her conversion and her quest for spiritual bliss began even as a little girl in her parent's, Esther and Harry, small apartment in Brooklyn, New York, above Harry's candy store. Every night, when Florence's mother would come up the stairs from the candy store she would say to Florence, â€Å"Your father, he works so hard he must be made from iron. And Florence in her singsong voice, always gave the same retort: Well then, he better not go out in the rain or he'll get all rusty†(3). Florence had a special connection with her father, and it was only her mother who she ridiculed. Both Florence and her father did not appreciate how â€Å"Esther would prattle on about her brother the big fabric man, who just bought a new house, and how his wife always has new hats and how their children were smarter and healthier that their own children, how little Irving could eat a whole head of lettuce and drink a whole quart of milk at one meal†(4). In addition, † Every year Florence asked her mother to teach her the Four Questions so she could ask them at the Seder. What's the use, her mother would say. Your cousin Irving's the boy, and he's the smarter one anyway, so Irving gets to ask the questions†(7). This had a tremendous impact on her because her mother instilled in her the notion that she is not worthy, which could possibly be a reason for her conversion to Catholicism, which she felt to be more accepting. Florence and her sister Della did not get along very well, so â€Å"Florence's favorite playmate was her grandmother Sarah-Ruhkel†¦ they would giggle and cuddle like friends†¦. At night she sat on the edge of Florence's bed and told stories of Queen Esther. She taught Florence how to thank G-d for the good day and ask him for a good husband when the time came†(6). Unfortunately, â€Å"When her grandmother wasn't around she was lonely†(7). One afternoon, Florence was playing outside with another friend, they both needed to go to the bathroom but her friend lost her house key, so they waited by the stoop. Her friend said a prayer and a few minutes later a man came home and let them in. Florence thought about what happen and she â€Å"knew it wasn't magic, quite; it was certainly a different way of looking at things. She didn't mention it to anyone. Who would listen? â€Å"(8). In this moment, she sees her friend's prayer answered and concludes that it was more then luck that caused it. It was the will of G-d. One spring when Florence was sick in bed and she heard her friends playing outside, she experienced her first existential thoughts in her life. She thought, â€Å"Boy oh boy, life goes on all by itself whether I'm there or not†(8). The one thing she feared the most was death, and when her grandfather died, She wonder[ed] what had become of him. Not his corpse-that she understood-but the rest of him. Was there more of him. She wasn't sure. She could not forget the realization she'd had lying in bed that day, hearing her friends playing with out her. If things didn't change when she wasn't here, what did it matter if she was here or not? But she was here. What for then? To think of herself as merely a random collection of muscle and teeth and curls was unspeakably sad. And yet the other possibility-that there was some sort of purpose to life that she must fathom and follow-made her dizzy (20). The first time Florence introduced anti-Semitism was when † a girl named Ann Ross, with blond hair and very blue eyes, had stood up and declared: My father says that Hitler has the right idea about the Jews†(21). Again, she encountered anti-Semitism when an older boy from her neighborhood said, â€Å"What do you want little Jew? He said, and spat in her face†(22). She did not mention either incident to her parents because her father did not have the time for it and her mother already had to many worries. A few years later Florence went to ballet classes with a friend who invited her. The teacher's name was Asta Souvorina, but every one called her Madame Souvorina, and Florence felt that â€Å"there was an intensity spilling from her, and it attracted Florence like a magnet†(22). Florence became Madame Souvorina's best student and went to class everyday, and sometimes when Madame was sick she taught the class instead. Florence imitated everything that Madame did, and just like Madame was a vegetarian, she became a vegetarian. Florence also knew that Madame was Catholic, but all she ever knew about Catholicism seemed unbelievable, such as the virgin birth or the Resurrection. Madame was not interested in arguing with Florence about the eternal verities of Christendom, so she told Florence, â€Å"If you are so curious, †¦ you should read about it yourself†(25). Florence went ahead and read the Epistles, which were the letter from St. Paul, and she Was astounded to discover that a living, breathing person-a Jew, no less-had left behind such testimony. Everything she ever heard about Jesus seemed so far away, like a fairy tale. But Paul had been there. No, he hadn't actually met Jesus, but his letters, she felt had the ring of truth. After all, Paul was an educated Jew who had traveled widely. Why would he write of being struck down blind on the road to Damascus, hearing Jesus calling to him from the clouds, had it not happened that way (25). Florence never had done much thinking about God, and wondered what he looked like. She thought maybe he looked like, old Moishe, [her grandfather who past away], with a long, dusty beard; perhaps he had the face of a cloud. Or, Florence thought, perhaps the face of God was the face of Jesus, the young, loving, tortured face she had seen on the wall of Madame's bedroom†(25). By now Florence was approaching stardom, and was going dance at Radio City Music Hall, but Florence's mind still constantly swirled with distressing questions: â€Å"Why had she been born and where would she go afterward? And might Jesus have anything to do with it? (26). Her one fear, death, according to Catholicism was not something to be afraid of, but was something to look forward to, which brought her a lot of comfort. She remembers, â€Å"† as a young girl she always was bemused when her Catholic friends talked about Heaven, as if they were sure of it. But St. Paul, in his Epistles, was sure of it to: † Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air†Ã¢â‚¬ (26). Madame directed her to the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, where she spoke with a Catholic priest, Father Conroy, who taught her a little prayer that he promised would help. The prayer was, â€Å"Give me the grace to know Your truth and the strength to follow it†(27). Over time, her curiosity became a need, and when Madame told her she â€Å"did not need to be Catholic to taste the Sacraments of the Church, and so she did†(28). She began attending mass and even went to confession. One morning at mass she listened absorbedly to the priest's sermon, and â€Å"he cited the Gospel of John: God said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased; hear him†(29). Florence took this to heart and realized the â€Å"instructions could not have been simpler, or more welcome. Florence, having exposed her heart, was now rewarded with the kiss of God upon her ear. The shadows of her soul were flooded with sunlight; a sublime peace settled over her. She understood that she had received the gift of faith, and she would be eternally grateful†(29). Finally, through much searching she found spiritual enlightenment and has become a true â€Å"Knight of Faith†. Solly Dubner grew up in an orthodox family in Brownsville, New York. His parents' names are Shepsel and Gittel. Unlike Florence, he loved his mother more then anything in the world. Also, he loved to whistle all the time. Unfortunately, â€Å"whistling was forbidden in his father's house. You might as well invite the Angel of Death. That, at least, is what his father believed†(9). Although his father kept a strict house, Solly obeyed his father because Any disobedience, however slight, made his father angry. And when is father was angry for whatever reason, he took it out on Solly's mother, Gittel, rarely shouting but unfailing choosing the half dozen words that would conjure up the bitterest tears. Solly, who loved his mother dearly, would have rather taken the strap any day. But Shepsel would never strike his children, for it is written. And if one were to ask him, Where is it written? It is written, it is written, he would say impatiently. The where is not important (10). Solly was never satisfied with his father's answers. Nat, Solly's older brother, always came home on Shabbat because he felt bad the others had to suffer Shepsel alone. Nat was particularly worried about Solly because â€Å"Shepsel seemed to have a particularly hard heart for him. Solly, was different; he wanted more out of life, and Nat knew that more was the one thing that could not be found in their father's house. As he walked home from school one Friday afternoon, † from the second floor window, a man in his undershirt shouted down to him: Hey, Solly, what the hell are you whistling for-don't you know your mother's dead†(12). His father always said whistling was forbidden and you might as well invite the angel of death; therefore, after his mother's death, Solly felt partially responsible because he always whistled. This guilt lead to the beginning of his bottomless depression. According to Jewish law, one should bury the deceased as soon as possible, but since out of town relatives would not be able to attend to the funeral, they were forced to wait until they arrived. Shepsel gathered all of his children to watch their mother's body until it was time to burial. The ice that was packed in her casket was melting; therefore, â€Å"a metal bucket was placed beneath the leaking casket. The dripping, the rising stench, the stab of his mother's death-it was all to much for Solly, and he stood up to get some fresh air, but his father pressed him back into his seat†(17). Solly had a lot of questions regarding Jewry, but sadly, † concerning their religion, there was no question Solly could ask his father for which he received an answer that was remotely satisfying†(17). He kept falling deeper and deeper into depression and â€Å"everyone who knew Solly Dubner in the late 1930's could see that a blanket of despair had befallen him. Though he was only in his early twenties, the courage of his youth had melted away and his optimism had withered†(31). In 1942, â€Å"the war at last came to America, Solly immediately enlisted in the Army. Finally he could escape his father's house†(33). It seems as if he is looking forward to the war coming to America, but since war is unpleasant, violent, and awful. After, the reader realized the reason he is jubilant is because the war is his savior from his father. After, serving in the Army for quite a while he came home for six weeks, and when he arrived home he went to the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. He met Father Conroy and asked him, â€Å"Have you ever heard of a creature like me, Father, a Jew who wants to be Catholic? As a matter of fact, Father Conroy answered, I have. He told Sol about the group of young Catholic Activists he met with every Monday night. Two of the women, he explained were Jewish converts†(42), who were Florence and her friend, who was also a ballerina. At the end of his first meeting he told his story: He felt as if he'd been walking around in the dark, and†¦ While he was station overseas, someone finally turned on the light, and that light was Jesus. She saw that there was a natural kindness about this soldier, and earnestness. He mentioned his father, a traditional Jew named Shepsel, who sounded an awful lot like Florence's grandfather Moishe. He hated what his decision would do to his father, the soldier was saying now, but there seemed no way around it-didn't Jesus say that he had come to set a man against his father? (43). He told them that he had already had been baptized as a Christian, but he was not sure which denomination of Christianity to settle on. He wanted to become a Catholic, but did not understand the role of Virgin Mary in Catholicism. He asked the group, â€Å"Since she isn't a member of the Holy Trinity, why would you worship her? Why would you pray to the Virgin Mary when you can pray directly to G-d? Florence answered, â€Å"You don't worship the Blessed Mother, you ask her to intercede†¦ This is part of the beauty of Catholicism that you have all these wonderful saints you can pray to. Who better to Petition G-d than His mother, the Queen of Heaven? â€Å"(43). This was the first answer in his life that he was satisfied with. When he went to visit Nat and his wife, Dottie, † They could see there was something different about him; it seemed as if the spark of his youth had returned, as if once again he had something at stake†(44). He was once again sent out to war. Florence soon received a letter from Sol, which he wrote, † I have been baptized and received my first communion. Needless to say, it was a most wonderful experience and I hope to strengthen my faith in Christ each single day†(47). At last, Sol has climbed out of his emotional despair, and not only has he gone through an almost complete emotional healing, but he has become spiritually enlightened through Catholicism. Stephen grew up in upstate New York on Gallupville Road, where his family was a safe distance from the true world, which is based on a materialistic and inauthentic way of life. He is the youngest of Paul and Veronica's eight children. His had no complaints about his isolated Catholic upbringing until his father died when he was ten. He only remembered a few things about his father. Such as every night at dinner he said, â€Å"You get a little food in your belly and you get rambunctious†(107), and once his father took him to a baseball game without any other siblings. After his father's death he put his yearn for spiritual enlightenment to the side for a little while. When he went to College, he and a few of the other students created a band called â€Å"The Right Profile†. When he had a little time off from school he caught a ride down to Florida with a friend, who was going down for his grandfather's birthday, to visit his mom, who moved there about the same time he began college. On the way down to Florida he met an elderly Jewish woman at the birthday party and was attracted to her. He thought to himself, â€Å"I had never felt so instantly attracted to another person. But the feeling went beyond attraction. It was as if I were a piece of her somehow, or as if within her dwelled a piece of me that I had been searching for†(161). He was attracted to her Neshama, her Jewish soul, and as a result of this attraction he began to question his ways of life and search for the truth. One day while fixing up a song that he was going to record the next day, â€Å"[his] hand without any instruction [he] was aware of, printed on the page: What do I want? â€Å"(166). He knew he did not want to continue this life of being a rock star, and on the other hand he said to himself, † The band is all I [have]; the band is all I [am]†(167). His life contained no depth to it, and he needed to find his meaning of life. He did not know at the time, that he was the same age as his mother when she quit ballet. AS he later learned, they both had removed themselves from one pursuit they cared about; they both felt, momentarily at least, that their lives were over. They had both asked themselves an unanswerable question and, hearing nothing but a still, small voice from within, a feathery voice of encouragement, had taken the leap. She leaped into the arms of Jesus, and he wound up leaping into the arms of Abigail Seymour. He could hardly have known that Abigail would lead him into a reckoning with his Jewish blood. Abigail studied to become an actress with a Jewish man named Ivan Kronenfeld, who she introduced to Stephen. He was an inspiration to Stephen life Madame Souvorina had been to his mother. He gave a lot of things for Stephen to ponder like when he told him, â€Å"you'd have been plenty Jewish for Hitler. You've got the map of Poland written all over your face. You could have worn a crucifix down to your knees, and they still would have thrown you in the ovens†(174). Also he informed Stephen that according to Jewish law he was still Jewish because his mother was Jewish. He attended Synagogue one Saturday with Ivan and when he saw all of the Jews kiss the Torah as if it contained everything that they would ever need and everything that could ever be known. And on that day hope rested on his soul. He did not know anything about his father and mother, or why they had converted, and what it meant to him. This unawareness Was beginning to gnaw at [him]. Spending time with Ivan had awakened in [him] the idea of a father. It wasn't that [he] wanted him as a father. [He] had his own;[he] just didn't know him yet. But Ivan had awakened something else in [him]† an appetite for the Jewish wisdom he dispensed. It was kaleidoscopic, baffling, thrilling; it spoke to [him] as nothing ever had. Did it speak to [him], though, on its own merit? Or because [his] long-lost father had been nourished on the same wisdom? Or perhaps it was because curling around somewhere inside [him] was a Jewish neshama, a Jewish soul? †¦ The time had come to find [his] own [family] (183). So he followed the noise inside his soul, he searched for his parent's roots. He became consumed with the desire to know how his mother and father decided to become Catholic. He wanted to know why they stopped being Jews. He met a few of his long lost relatives from his father's side, and began to reveal his father as a Jew. He broke up with Abigail because her Jewish quest was over, and also he was more focused on writing anyway. He went to Poland to the shtetl his family lived in to understand more about his family but he still was not satisfied. While his search for his parent's past continues he continues studying Judaism fervently. Stephen's leap of faith and spiritual enlightenment is not as immediate as his parents, but through much pain and toiling he has discover himself and has untangled his family's roots. According to Rabbi Eric Bram, Turbulent Souls is not only the story of a son's individuation and journey; it is also the story of American Jewishness in the twentieth century. The connection between the country of American and its Jews has transformed significantly in the past century, Turbulent Souls is a proof of that transformation, as observed through the generations of Stephen Dubner's family. Jewishness has been both a basis of triumphant pride and of bottomless shame, and something to flee from as well as to embrace. Along side Stephen Dubner, Jews today walk the tightrope of the American- Jewish.

European Empires motives for expansion and colonization in the New Essay

European Empires motives for expansion and colonization in the New World - Essay Example Developments in shipping and navigation technologies, which enabled sailors to move across the wider seas with increased success, together with developments in mathematics, writing, space science and printing, which facilitated advanced knowledge to be distributed, gave Europe the motive to expand across the world. Tensions on the land or territories from the intruding Ottoman Kingdom and the need to acquire new trade mean through the famous markets in Asia – the former routes under Venetian and Ottoman control- accelerated the European motives to explore. A number of sailors attempted moving around the southern parts of African and up beyond India, while other moved across the famous Atlantic Ocean. 1a. Motives for European empires exploration and colonization Advanced technology European gained from trade contact with China, which had created gunpowder, as well as magnetic compass. In addition, from Arabia, European nations acquired the skills of inventing advanced sails. Th ey also invented mobile rudder, which enabled them to steer bigger ships without difficulty. These technological advancements in navigation enabled Europeans to navigate in many areas. European travelers started to utilize the angle of the sun to position their location, enabling them to monitor distances, (Bartlett 34). The renaissance determination spirit accelerated exploration, and curiosity to locate all water means to the East. In addition, in Portugal, the navigator, Henry, funded the Portuguese sailors to explore the Atlantic coastal parts of Africa. He invented a modern lighter ship highly enabled for long distance exploration through the ocean, (Musiker and Reuben 45). This played a fundamental role in accelerating European expansion and maritime business with neighboring regions. Emergence of influential rulers in Europe Since 15th century, European countries aspired to expand their impact via exploration. Influential leaders had extended their control over unruly nations . These leaders created large armies and accumulated large riches through tax collection. Desire for trade and profits City states in Italy had once benefited from shipping products through the Mediterranean Sea, but roads in Asia was terminated by annexation of Constantinople by Turkey in 1453. In addition, the industrialist financial autonomy was developing and people viewed wealth in terms of money. They desired to use those resources to make wealth, (Mommsen 123). Religious enthusiasm Missionaries in European countries such as Portugal and Spain wanted to spread their Christian doctrines. Some missionaries travelled overseas to make more converts, for instance, transform heathens to Christians in their destination areas. Christian missionaries aspired to spread both the superior religion and superior culture in new territories. 1b. Different Colonial transplantations in Maryland, Virginia and Massachusetts Bay The enormous variations in transplantation approaches in Maryland, Vi rginia and Massachusetts, colonies had an immense effect on the initial development and prosperity of these regions. The heroes in these regions were London or Virginia Firms, Massachusetts firms and Lord Baltimore. Each hero experienced unique challenges, and the results are the key consequences of the decided course of action of colonial leadership, (Mommsen and Jaap 52). Virginia territory was ruled by James King 1. The company engaged on a strong colonization move with the aim of exploitation and faster resource return. Jamestown region was poorly chosen, and imperialists experienced diseases and hunger. Experts agree that

Congo Conflict Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Congo Conflict - Research Paper Example Lack of resources and labor and strategic planning prevented the country from effectively controlling mining areas, which could have starved off funding for numerous illegal groups. The country has historically been at conflict since independence from Belgium in 1960. The United Nations has been present in the country from that time although its activities were restarted after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The Congo conflict has created many security and economic complications in the great lakes region. The United Nations has played and continues to play a crucial role in peace building and development in the democratic republic of Congo, with the major aim of creating a stable government and ensuring basic human rights are maintained in the country. The conflict in the DRC is complex and has many actors with very many historical injustices mostly a legacy of colonialism. Colonial injustice forms the root cause of the conflict. This paper will argue that the international response to the Congo conflict has not been successful. The paper will highlight the successes and failures MONUC and show that the United Nations and the International Community have not understood the underlying causes of the conflict. Addressing the root causes will help solve the crisis. Introduction Violence experienced in the Eastern Parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo is due to various ethnic and political differences. Peace has been elusive in the DRC and the United Nations is still running missions to maintain peace and stability to a region that has experienced more than one war with violence still flaring up even today. The country has lost over millions of lives to various wars with millions more people having being internally displaced and over thousands of citizens seeking refuge in other countries due to consistent violence in volatile areas including North and South Kivu, Katanga and Itori1. Sexual violence in the region is the most prevalent problem in the country with th ousands of rapes having being documented from 2005 to 20072. The country circumstances are unique because it is landlocked and surrounded by nine other nations. Intermittent violent conflict in the DRC causes regional instability in the region due to a weakened government. The country runs in an over stretched budgets due to constant military activity. Rwanda and Uganda constantly stir violence in Congo due to their constant forays into the DRC for economic reasons. The United Nations influence became critical in 1999 when many of the democratic republic of Congo neighbors became embroiled in the conflict. The United Nation Peacekeepers were tasked with enforcing the Lusaka Accord. The United Nation created the United States Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo commonly known as MONUC in 2000. The major responsibilities of MONUC were to implement and monitor the ceasefire agreement. MONUC was also mandated to collectively facilitate the recognition and observation basic of hu man rights in conjunction with other Non-Governmental Organizations. Despite the presence of the peace keeping forces, the conflict in the region never ended and consequently MONUC mandate has been extended several times with their mandate being constantly reviewed. The peacekeeping force is now required to protect Congo citizens from violence and maintain arms embargoes placed in the region.