The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 3

Orange Fire Enters My Skull Yes, I really do believe in silver linings, mostly because I've been seeing them almost every day when I emerge from the basement, push my head and arms through a trash bag – so my torso will be wrapped in plastic and I will sweat more – and then go running. I always try to coordinate the ten-mile running portion of my ten-hour exercise routine with sunset, so I can finish by running west past the playing fields of Knight's Park, where, as a kid, I played baseball and soccer. As I run through the park, I look up and see what the day has to offer in the way of divination. If clouds are blocking the sun, there will always be a silver lining that reminds me to keep on trying, because I know that while things might seem dark now, my wife is coming back to me soon. Seeing the light outline those fluffy puffs of white and gray is electrifying. (And you can even re-create the effect by holding your hand a few inches away from a naked lightbulb and tracing your handprint with your eyes until you go temporarily blind.) It hurts to look at the clouds, but it also helps, like most things that cause pain. So I need to run, and as my lungs burn and my back rebels with that stabbing knife feeling and my leg muscles harden and the half inch of loose skin around my waist jiggles, I feel as though my penance for the day is being done and that maybe God will be pleased enough to lend me some help, which I think is why He has been showing me interesting clouds for the past week. Since my wife asked for some time apart, I've lost more than fifty pounds, and my mother says that soon I'll be at the weight I was when I played varsity soccer in high school, which is also the weight I was when I met Nikki, and I'm thinking maybe she was upset by the weight I gained during the five years we were married. Won't she be surprised to see me looking so muscular when apart time is over! If there are no clouds at sunset – which happened yesterday – when I look up toward the sky, orange fire enters my skull, blinds me, and that's almost as good, because it burns too and makes everything look divine. When I run, I always pretend I am running toward Nikki, and it makes me feel like I am decreasing the amount of time I have to wait until I see her again.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 21

Chapter 21 â€Å"You make a very attractive woman,† Rumi said from the comfort of his pit. â€Å"Did I tell you that my wife has passed on to her next incarnation and that I am alone?† â€Å"Yeah, you mentioned that.† He seemed to have given up on us getting his daughter back. â€Å"What happened to the rest of your family, anyway?† â€Å"They drowned.† â€Å"I'm sorry. In the Ganges?† â€Å"No, at home. It was the monsoon season. Little Vitra and I had gone to the market to buy some swill, and there was a sudden downpour. When we returned†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shrugged. â€Å"I don't mean to sound insensitive, Rumi, but there is a chance that your loss could have been caused by – oh, I don't know – perhaps the fact that you LIVE IN A FUCKING PIT!† â€Å"That's not helping, Biff,† Joshua said. â€Å"You said you had a plan?† â€Å"Right. Rumi, am I correct in assuming that these pits, when someone is not living in them, are used for tanning hides?† â€Å"Yes, it is work that only Untouchables may do.† â€Å"That would account for the lovely smell. I assume you use urine in the tanning process, right?† â€Å"Yes, urine, mashed brains, and tea are the main ingredients.† â€Å"Show me the pit where the urine is condensed.† â€Å"The Rajneesh family is living there.† â€Å"That's okay, we'll bring them a present. Josh, do you have any lint in the bottom of your satchel?† â€Å"What are you up to?† â€Å"Alchemy,† I said. â€Å"The subtle manipulation of the elements. Watch and learn.† When it was not being used, the urine pit was the home of the Rajneesh family, and they were more than happy to give us loads of the white crystals that covered the floor of their home. There were six in the family, father, mother, an almost grown daughter, and three little ones. Another little son had been taken for sacrifice at the festival of Kali. Like Rumi, and all the other Untouchables, the Rajneesh family looked more like skeletons mummified in brown leather than people. The Untouchable men went about the pits naked or wearing only a loincloth, and even the women were dressed in tatters that barely covered them – nothing as nice as the stylish sari that I had purchased in the marketplace. Mr. Rajneesh commented that I was a very attractive woman and encouraged me to drop by after the next monsoon. Joshua pounded chunks of the crystallized mineral into a fine white powder while Rumi and I collected charcoal from under the heated dying pit (a firebox had been gouged out of the stone under the pit) which the Untouchables used to render the flowers from the indigo shrub into fabric dye. â€Å"I need brimstone, Rumi. Do you know what that is? A yellow stone that burns with a blue flame and gives off a smoke that smells like rotten eggs?† â€Å"Oh yes, they sell it in the market as some sort of medicine.† I handed the Untouchable a silver coin. Go buy as much of it as you can carry.† â€Å"Oh my, this will be more than enough money. May I buy some salt with what is left?† â€Å"Buy what you need with what's left over, just go.† Rumi skulked away and I went to help Joshua process the saltpeter. The concept of abundance was an abstract one to the Untouchables, except as it pertained to two categories, suffering and animal parts. If you wanted decent food, shelter, or clean water, you would be sorely disappointed among the Untouchables, but if you were in the market for beaks, bones, teeth, hides, sinew, hooves, hair, gallstones, fins, feathers, ears, antlers, eyeballs, bladders, lips, nostrils, poop chutes, or any other inedible part of virtually any creature that walked on, swam under, or flew over the subcontinent of India, then the Untouchables were likely to have what you wanted lying around, conveniently stored beneath a thick blanket of black flies. In order to fashion the equipment I needed for my plan, I had to think in terms of animal parts. Fine unless you need, say, a dozen short swords, bows and arrows, and chain mail for thirty soldiers and all you have to work with is a stack of nostrils and three mismatched poop chutes. It was a challenge, but I made do. As Jo shua moved among the Untouchables, surreptitiously healing their maladies, I barked out my orders. â€Å"I need eight sheep bladders – fairly dry – two handfuls of crocodile teeth, two pieces of rawhide as long as my arms and half again as wide. No, I don't care what kind of animal, just not too ripe, if you can manage it. I need hair from an elephant's tail. I need firewood, or dried dung if you must, eight oxtails, a basket of wool, and a bucket of rendered fat.† And a hundred scrawny Untouchables stood there, eyes as big as saucers, just staring at me while Joshua moved among them, healing their wounds, sicknesses, and insanities, without any of them suspecting what was happening. (We'd agreed that this was the wisest tack to take, as we didn't want a bunch of healthy Untouchables athletically bounding through Kalighat proclaiming that they had been cured of all ills by a strange foreigner, thus attracting attention to us and spoiling my plan. On the other hand, neither could we stand there and watch these people suffer, knowing that we – well, Joshua – had the power to help them.) He'd also taken to poking one of them in the arm with his finger anytime anyone said the word â€Å"Untouchable.† Later he told me that he just hated passing up the opportunity for palpable irony. I cringed when I saw Joshua touching the lepers among them, as if after all these years away from Israel a tiny Pharisee stood on my shoulder and sc reamed, â€Å"Unclean!† â€Å"Well?† I said after I'd finished my orders. â€Å"Do you want your children back or not?† â€Å"We don't have a bucket,† said one woman. â€Å"Or a basket,† said another. â€Å"Okay, fill some of the sheep bladders with rendered fat, and bundle the wool in some kind of hide. Now go, we don't have a lot of time.† And they all stood and looked at me. Big eyes. Sores healed. Parasites purged. They just looked at me. â€Å"Look, I know my Sanskrit isn't great, but you do know what I am asking?† A young man stepped forward. â€Å"We do not want to anger Kali by depriving her of her sacrifices.† â€Å"You're kidding, right?† â€Å"Kali is the bringer of destruction, without which there can be no rebirth. She is the remover of the bondage that ties us to the material world. If we anger her, she will deprive us of her divine destruction.† I looked at Joshua across the crowd. â€Å"Do you understand this?† â€Å"Fear?† he said. â€Å"Can you help?† I asked in Aramaic. â€Å"I'm not good at fear,† Joshua said in Hebrew. I thought for a second as two hundred eyes pinned me to the sandstone on which I stood. I remembered the red-stained gashes on the wooden elephant statues at the altar of Kali. Death was their deliverance, was it? â€Å"What is your name?† I asked the man who had stepped out of the crowd. â€Å"Nagesh,† he said. â€Å"Stick out your tongue, Nagesh.† He did, and I threw back the cloth that covered my head and loosened it around my neck. Then I touched his tongue. â€Å"Destruction is a gift you value?† â€Å"Yes,† said Nagesh. â€Å"Then I shall be the instrument of the goddess's gift.† With that I pulled the black glass dagger from the sheath in my sash, held it up before the crowd. While Nagesh stood, passive, wide-eyed, I drove my thumb under his jaw, pushed his head back, and brought the dagger down across his throat. I lowered him to the ground as the red liquid spurted over the sandstone. I stood and faced the crowd again, holding the dripping blade over my head. â€Å"You owe me, you ungrateful fucks! I have brought to your people the gift of Kali, now bring me what I ask for.† They moved really quickly for people who were on the edge of starvation. After the Untouchables scattered to do my bidding, Joshua and I stood over the bloodstained body of Nagesh. â€Å"That was fantastic,† Joshua said. â€Å"Absolutely perfect.† â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"Had you been practicing all that time we were in the monastery?† â€Å"You didn't see me push the pressure point in his neck then?† â€Å"No, not at all.† â€Å"Gaspar's kung fu training. The rest, of course, was from Joy and Balthasar.† I bent over and opened Nagesh's mouth, then took the ying-yang vial from around my neck and put a drop of the antidote on the Untouchable's tongue. â€Å"So he can hear us now, like when Joy poisoned you?† Joshua asked. I pulled back one of Nagesh's eyelids and watched the pupil contract slowly in the sunlight. â€Å"No, I think he's still unconscious from me holding the pressure point. I didn't think the poison would work quickly enough. I could only get a drop of poison on my finger when I loosened my sari. I knew it would keep him down, I just wasn't sure it would put him down.† â€Å"Well, you are truly a magus, now, Biff. I'm impressed.† â€Å"Joshua, you healed a hundred people today. Half of them were probably dying. I did some sleight of hand.† My friend's enthusiasm was undeterred. â€Å"What's the red stuff, pomegranate juice? I can't figure out where you concealed it.† â€Å"No, actually I was going to ask you about that.† â€Å"What?† I held my arm up and showed Joshua where I had slashed my own wrist (the source of blood for the show). I had been holding it against my leg and as soon as I removed the pressure the blood started spurting again. I sat down hard on the sandstone and my vision began to tunnel down to a pinpoint. â€Å"I was hoping you could help me out with this,† I said before I fainted. â€Å"You need to work on that part of the trick,† Joshua said when I came to. â€Å"I might not always be around to fix your wrist.† He was speaking Hebrew – that meant for my ears only. I saw Joshua kneeling above me, then beyond him the sky was blotted out by curious brown faces. The recently murdered Nagesh was in the front of the crowd. â€Å"Hey, Nagesh, how'd the rebirth go?† I asked in Sanskrit. â€Å"I must have strayed from my dharma in my last life,† Nagesh said. â€Å"I have been reincarnated, once again, as an Untouchable. And I have the same ugly wife.† â€Å"You challenged master Levi who is called Biff,† I said, â€Å"of course you didn't move up. You're lucky you're not a stink bug or something. See, destruction isn't the big favor you all thought it was.† â€Å"We brought the things you asked for.† I hopped to my feet feeling incredibly rested and energized. â€Å"Nice,† I said to Joshua. â€Å"I feel like I just had one of those strong coffees you used to make at Balthasar's.† â€Å"I miss coffee,† said Josh. I looked at Nagesh, â€Å"I don't suppose you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"We have swill.† â€Å"Never mind,† I said. Then I said one of those things that as a boy growing up in Galilee, you never think you'll hear yourself say: â€Å"Okay, Untouchables, bring me the sheep bladders!† Rumi said that the goddess Kali was served by a host of black-skinned female demons, who sometimes during the feast would bring men to corners of the altar and copulate with them as blood rained down from the goddess's saw-tooth maw above. â€Å"Okay, Josh, you're one of them,† I said. â€Å"What are you gonna be?† â€Å"The goddess Kali, of course. You got to be God last time.† â€Å"What last time?† â€Å"All of the last times.† I turned to my intrepid minions. â€Å"Untouchables, paint him up!† â€Å"They're not going to buy that a burr-headed Jewish kid is their goddess of destruction.† â€Å"O ye of little faith,† I said. Three hours later we were again crouched beneath a tree near the temple of Kali. We were both dressed as women, covered from head to toe by our saris, but I was looking much lumpier under mine due to Kali's extra arms and garland of severed heads, played tonight by painted sheep bladders filled with explosives and suspended around my neck by long strands of elephant tail hair. Any observers who might get close enough to notice my protrusions were quickly deterred by the smell coming off of Joshua and me. We had used the goo from the bottom of Rumi's pit to paint our bodies black. I didn't have the courage to ask what the substance had been in life, but if there was a place where they allowed vultures to ripen in the sun before pounding them into a smooth paste and mixing it with just the right amount of buffalo squat, then Rumi called it home. The Untouchables had also painted huge red rings around Joshua's eyes, fitted him with a ropey wig of oxtails, and affixed to his torso six pe rt little breasts fashioned from pitch. â€Å"Stay away from any open flame. Your tits will go up like volcanos.† â€Å"Why did I have to have six and you only had to have two.† â€Å"Because I am the goddess and have to wear the garland of skulls and the extra arms.† We'd made my arms from rawhide, using my primary arms as models, then drying the molded arms in place over the fire. The women made a harness that held the extra arms in place under my own, then we painted the arms black with the same black goo. They were a little wobbly, but they were light and would look realistic enough in the dark. It was still hours from the height of the ceremony at midnight, when the children would be hacked to death, but we wanted to be there in time to stop the revelers from cutting off the children's fingers if we could. Now, the wooden elephants were empty on their turntables, but the altar of Kali was already filling with gruesome tribute. The heads of a thousand goats had been laid on the altar before the goddess, and the blood ran slick over the stones and in the grooves that channeled it into large brass pots at the corners of the altar. Female acolytes carried the pots up a narrow ladder at the back of the great statue of Kali, then dumped them through some sort of reservoir that fed it through the goddess's jaws. Below, by torchlight, worshipers danced in the sticky shower as the blood flowed down upon them. â€Å"Look, those women are dressed like me,† Joshua said. â€Å"Except they only have two breasts each.† â€Å"Technically, they're not dressed, they're painted. You make a very attractive female demon, Josh. Did I tell you that?† â€Å"This isn't going to work.† â€Å"Of course it's going to work.† I guessed that there were already ten thousand worshipers in the temple square, dancing, chanting, and beating drums. A procession of thirty men came down the main boulevard, each carrying a basket under his arm. As they reached the altar, each man dumped the contents of the basket over the rows of bloody goat heads. â€Å"What are those?† Joshua asked. â€Å"Those are exactly what you think they are.† â€Å"They're not the heads of the children?† â€Å"No, I think those are the heads of strangers who happened down the road we were on before Rumi came along to pull us into the grass.† After the severed heads were dispersed across the altar, the female acolytes came out of the crowd dragging the headless corpse of a man, which they laid on the steps leading to the altar. Each one mimed having intercourse with the corpse, then rubbed their genitalia against the bloody stump of its neck before dancing away, blood and ochre dripping down the insides of their thighs. â€Å"There's sort of a theme developing here,† I said. â€Å"I think I'm going to be sick,† Joshua said. â€Å"Mindful breath,† I said, using one of the phrases that Gaspar was always barking at us when we were learning meditation. I knew that if Joshua could stay with the yeti for days at a time without freezing to death, he could certainly conjure up the bodily control to keep from throwing up. The sheer magnitude of the carnage was all that was keeping me from vomiting. It was as if the atrocity of the whole scene couldn't fit in my mind all at once, so I could only see just enough for my sanity and my stomach to remain intact. A shout went up in the crowd now and I could see a torch-lit sedan chair being carried above the heads of the worshipers. On it reclined a half-naked man with a tiger skin wrapped around his hips, his skin painted light gray with ashes. His hair was plaited with grease and he wore the bones of a human hand as a skullcap. Around his neck hung a necklace of human skulls. â€Å"High priest,† I said. â€Å"They aren't even going to notice you, Biff. How can you even get their attention after they've seen all this?† â€Å"They haven't seen what I'm going to show them.† As the sedan chair emerged from the crowd in front of the altar, we could see a procession following it: tied to the back of the sedan chair was a line of naked children, most of them not more than five or six, their hands tied together, a less ornately dressed priest on either side of them to steady them. The priests began to untie the children and take them to the great wooden elephants lining the boulevard. Here and there in the crowd I could see people beginning to brandish edged weapons: short swords, axes, and the long-bladed spears Joshua and I had seen over the elephant grass. The high priest was sitting on the headless corpse, shouting a poem about the divine release of Kali's destruction or something. â€Å"Here we go,† I said, pulling the black glass dagger from under my sari. â€Å"Take this.† Joshua looked at the blade shimmering in the torchlight. â€Å"I won't kill anyone,† he said. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, drawing long red lines through the black and if anything making him look more fierce. â€Å"That's fine, but you'll need to cut them loose.† â€Å"Right.† He took the knife from me. â€Å"Josh, you know what's coming. You've seen it before. Nobody else here has, especially those kids. You can't carry all of them, so they have to have enough of their wits about them to follow you. I know you can keep them from being afraid. Put your teeth in.† Joshua nodded and slipped the row of crocodile teeth attached to a piece of rawhide under his upper lip, leaving the teeth to protrude like fangs. I put in my own false fangs, then ran into the dark to circle the crowd. As I approached the rear of the altar I pulled the special torch I'd made from under my girdle of human hands. (Actually my girdle of human hands was made of dried goat's udders stuffed with straw, but the Untouchable women had done a pretty good job as long as no one bothered to count fingers.) Through Kali's stone legs I could see the priests tying each of the children on the trunk of a wooden elephant. As soon as the bonds were tight, each priest drew a bronze blade and held it aloft, ready to strike off a finger as soon as the high priest gave the signal. I struck the tip of my torch on the edge of the altar, screamed for all I was worth, then threw my sari off and ran up the steps as the torch burst into dazzling blue flame that trailed sparks behind me as I ran. I hopped across the array of goat heads and stood between the legs of the statue of Kali, my torch held aloft in one hand, one of my severed heads swinging by the hair in the other. â€Å"I am Kali,† I screamed. â€Å"Fear me!† It came out sort of mumbled through my fake teeth. Some of the drums stopped and the high priest turned around and looked at me, more because of the bright light of the torch than my fierce proclamation. â€Å"I am Kali,† I shouted again. â€Å"Goddess of destruction and all this disgusting crap you have here!† They weren't getting it. The priest signaled for the other priests to come around me from the sides. Some of the female acolytes were already trying to make their way across the dance floor of decapitations toward me. â€Å"I mean it. Bow down to me!† The priests charged on. I did have the crowd's attention, though unfortunately they weren't cowering in fear at my angry goddessness. I could see Joshua moving around the wooden elephants, the guarding priests having left their posts to come after me. â€Å"Really! I mean it!† Maybe it was the teeth. I spit them out toward the nearest of my attackers. Running across a sea of slick, bloody heads is evidently a pretty difficult task. Not if you've spent the last six years of your life hopping from the top of one post to another, even in ice and snow, but for the run-of-the-mill homicidal priest, it's a tough row to hoe. The priests and acolytes were slipping and sliding among the goat and human heads, falling over each other, smacking into the feet of the statue, one even impaling himself on a goat's horn when he fell. One of the priests was only a few feet away from me now, trying not to fall on his own blade as he crawled over the mess. â€Å"I will bring destruction†¦oh, fuck it,† I said. I lit the fuse on the severed head I held in my hand, then swung it between my legs and tossed it in a steep arch over my head. It trailed sparks on its way into the black goddess's open maw, then disappeared. I kicked the approaching priest in the jaw, then danced across the goat heads, leapt over the head of the high priest, and was halfway to Joshua at the first wooden elephant when Kali, with a deafening report, breathed fire out over the crowd and the top of her head blew off. Finally, I had the crowd's attention. They were trampling each other to get away, but I had their attention. I stood in the middle of the boulevard, swinging my second severed head in a circle, waiting for the fuse to burn down before I let it sail over the heads of the receding crowd. It exploded in the air, sending a circle of flame across the sky and no doubt deafening some of the worshipers who were close. Joshua had seven of the children around him, clinging to his legs as he moved to the next elephant. Several of the priests had recovered and were storming down the steps of the altar toward me, knives in hand. I pulled another head from my garland, lit the fuse, and held it out to them. â€Å"Ah, ah, ah,† I cautioned. â€Å"Kali. Goddess of destruction. Wrath et cetera.† At the sight of the sparking fuse they stopped and began to backpedal. â€Å"Now that's the sort of respect you should have shown before.† I started whirling the head by the hair and the priests lost all semblance of courage and turned and ran. I hurled the head back up the boulevard onto the altar, where it exploded, sending a spray of real severed goat heads in all directions. â€Å"Josh! Duck! Goat heads!† Joshua pushed the children to the ground and fell over them until the pieces settled. He glared at me a second, then went on to free the other children. I hurled three more heads into different directions and now the entire temple square was nearly deserted but for Joshua, the children, a few injured worshipers, and the dead. I had built the bombs without any shrapnel in them, so those who had been injured had been trampled in the panic and the dead were those who had already been sacrificed to Kali. I think we pulled it off without killing anyone. As Joshua led the children down the wide boulevard and out of the temple square, I covered our exit, backing down the boulevard, my last explosive head swinging in one hand, my torch in the other. Once I saw that Joshua and the children were safely away, I lit the fuse, whirled the head around and let it fly toward the black goddess. â€Å"Bitch,† I said. I was out of sight when it exploded. Joshua and I got as far as a limestone cliff overlooking the Ganges before we had to stop to let the children rest. They were tired and hungry, but mostly they were hungry, and we had brought nothing for them to eat. At least, after Joshua's touch, they weren't afraid, and that gave them some peace. Josh and I were too jangled to sleep, so we sat up as the children lay down on the rocks around us and snored like kittens. Joshua held Rumi's little daughter, Vitra, and before long her face was smeared with black paint from nuzzling his shoulder. All through the night, as he rocked the child, all I heard Joshua say was, â€Å"No more blood. No more blood.† At first light we could see thousands, no, tens of thousands of people gathering at the banks of the river, all dressed in white, except for a few old men who were naked. They moved into the water and stood facing east, heads raised in anticipation, dotting the river as far as the eye could see. As the sun became a molten fingernail of light on the horizon, the muddy surface of the river turned golden. The gold light reflected off its surface onto the buildings, the shanties, the trees, the palaces, making everything in sight, including the worshipers, appear to have been gilded. And worshipers they were, for we could hear their songs from where we sat, and although we could not discern the words, we could hear that these were the songs of God. â€Å"Are those the same people from last night?† I said. â€Å"They would have to be, wouldn't they?† â€Å"I don't understand these people. I don't understand their religion. I don't understand how they think.† Joshua stood and watched the Indians bowing and singing to the dawn, looking occasionally to the face of the child that slept on his shoulder. â€Å"This is testament to the glory of God's creation, whether these people know it or not.† â€Å"How can you say that? The sacrifices to Kali, the way the Untouchables are treated. Whatever they might believe, in practice their religion is hideous.† â€Å"You're right. It's not right to condemn this child because she was not born a Brahman?† â€Å"Of course not.† â€Å"Then is it right to condemn her because she is not born a Jew?† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"A man who is born a gentile may not see the kingdom of God. Are we, as Hebrews, any different from them? The lambs at the temple on Passover? The wealth and power of the Sadducees while others go hungry? At least the Untouchables can reach their reward eventually, through karma and rebirth. We don't allow any gentile to do so.† â€Å"You can't compare what they do to God's law. We don't sacrifice human beings. We feed our poor, we take care of the sick.† â€Å"Unless the sick are unclean,† Joshua said. â€Å"But, Josh, we're the chosen. It's God's will.† â€Å"But is it right? He won't tell me what to do. So I'll say. And I say, no more.† â€Å"You're not just talking about eating bacon, are you?† â€Å"Gautama the Buddha gave the way to people of all births to find the hand of God. With no blood sacrifice. Our doors have been marked with blood for too long, Biff.† â€Å"So that's what you think you're going to do? Bring God to everyone?† â€Å"Yes. After a nap.† â€Å"Of course, I meant after a nap.† Joshua held the little girl so I could see her face as she slept on his shoulder. When the children awoke we led them back to their families at the pits, handing them into the arms of their mothers, who snatched each child away from us as if we were devils incarnate; they glared over their shoulders as they carried the babies back to their pits. â€Å"Grateful bunch,† I said. â€Å"They are afraid that we've angered Kali. And we've brought them another hungry mouth.† â€Å"Still. Why did they help us if they didn't want their children back?† â€Å"Because we told them what to do. That's what they do. What they are told. That's how the Brahmans keep them in line. If they do what they are told, then perhaps they will not be Untouchables next life.† â€Å"That's depressing.† Joshua nodded. We only had little Vitra to return to her father now, and I was sure that Rumi would be happy to see his daughter. His distress over losing her had basically been the reason he had saved our lives. As we came over the sandstone rise we could see that Rumi was not alone in his pit. Rumi stood on his sitting rock, stark naked, sprinkling salt on his erect member as a large humpbacked cow, which nearly filled the rest of the pit, licked at the salt. Joshua held Vitra so she faced away from the pit, then backed away, as if he didn't want to disturb the moment of beefy intimacy. â€Å"A cow, Rumi?† I exclaimed. â€Å"I thought you people had beliefs.† â€Å"That's not a cow, that's a bull,† Joshua said. â€Å"Oh, that's got to be your super-bonus abomination there. Where we come from whole cities get destroyed for that kind of thing, Rumi.† I reached over and put my hand over Vitra's eyes. â€Å"Stay away from Daddy, honey, or you'll turn into a pillar of salt.† â€Å"But this is my wife, reincarnated.† â€Å"Oh, don't try that one on me, Rumi. For six years I lived in a Buddhist monastery where the only female company was a wild yak. I know from desperate.† Joshua grabbed my arm. â€Å"You didn't?† â€Å"Relax, I'm just making a point. You're the Messiah here, Josh. What do you think?† â€Å"I think we need to go to Tamil and find the third magus.† He set Vitra down and Rumi quickly pulled up his loincloth as the child ran to him. â€Å"Go with God, Rumi,† Joshua said. â€Å"May Shiva watch over you, you heretics. Thank you for returning my daughter.† Joshua and I gathered up our clothes and satchels, then bought some rice in the market and set out for Tamil. We followed the Ganges south until we came to the sea, where Joshua and I washed the gore of Kali from our bodies. We sat on the beach, letting the sun dry our skin as we picked pitch out of our chest hairs. â€Å"You know, Josh,† I said, as I fought a particularly stubborn gob of tar that had stuck in my armpit, â€Å"when you were leading those kids out of the temple square, and they were so little and weak, but none of them seemed afraid†¦well, it was sort of heartwarming.† â€Å"Yep, I love all the little children of the world, you know?† â€Å"Really?† He nodded. â€Å"Green and yellow, black and white.† â€Å"Good to know – Wait, green?† â€Å"No, not green. I was just fuckin' with you.†

“Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White Essay

1.In paragraphs two, ten, and twelve of â€Å"Once More to the Lake,† White’s brilliant use of metaphors, similes, and personification illustrates a lucid image of the speaker’s intertwining past and present for the reader. White starts paragraph ten with a fragment, â€Å"Peace and goodness and jollity,† and creates a great emphasis on his past and current feelings. He continues to illustrate his past memories with a personification of the vocal senses as he explains the sound of the motorboats; â€Å"the one-lungers throbbed and fluttered, and the twin-cylinder ones purred and purred, and that was a quiet sound too.† He then compares this beautiful memory of the past to his current experience of the outboard powerboats, and exclaims, â€Å"These motors †¦ whined about one’s ears like mosquitoes.† This contrasting simile outlines the speaker’s transition from one point of time to another within his illusion. He continues to use a metaphor to describe the behavior of the old boats, and explains, â€Å"The boat would leap ahead, charging bull-fashion at the dock.† After a thunderstorm passes, White describes his son as he is entering the water; â€Å"As he buckled the swollen belt suddenly my groin felt the chill of death.† The â€Å"chill of death† is a metaphor for the truth White finds himself a part of, even though he is experiencing both his past and present. He realizes that the life course that leads to death starts with birth, and that his son’s maturity also means that the end of White is approaching. This, along with his allusion between past and present, allow White to develop his universal truth within his text. At first, while his illusion from the similar shape of the outdoors gives the false perception that time has not past, his pinpointing of the different identities of the son and father serves as testimony that the cycle from birth to death is universal. 2.In â€Å"Once More to the Lake,† White utilizes connotative words and phrases to establish the illusion that is the connection between childhood and adulthood. In his return to the lake, many years after his childhood, White confronts multiple changes as he struggles with the illusion that the peaceful world of his childhood, and his present existence within it, remain the same. In paragraph one, White describes the things that remind him of past memories with the words, â€Å"Restlessness of the tides and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind.† These words all have negative  connotations, and let the reader know that the speaker’s present experiences make him wish to go back â€Å"to revisit old haunts.† These words and their negative connotations are crucial to the nature of the illusion the speaker is describing. It provides the pretext of why he wishes for memories of his past. White says, while fishing with his son; â€Å"I looked at the boy who was silently watching his fly, and it was my hands that held his rod, my eyes watching. I felt dizzy and didn’t know which rod I was at the end of.† These connotative words allow White to establish a connection between young and old, past and present, then and now. These linked ideas blur the line between birth and death, and serve to establish the truth that the cycle from creation and mortality is universal. 3.White employs many descriptive details throughout his story. He creates contrasting symbols, almost placed as an antithesis, to illustrate his realization of age, and the universality of life to death. Taking his son fishing is the event that convinces him â€Å"beyond any doubt that everything was as it always had been, that the years were a mirage and that there had been no years.† A dragonfly that lands on the tip of his son’s fishing rod ignites this feeling that the two, both son and father, are the same individual. When he lowered the tip of his rod â€Å"into the water, tentatively, pensively dislodging the fly, which darted two feet away, poised, darted two feet back, and came to rest again a little farther up the rod,† he asserts that â€Å"there had been no years between the ducking of this dragonfly and the other one – the one that was part of memory.† Here, White’s language has bulls-eye precision, and the dragon fly is transformed into a representation of the continuous cycle of life and death. The present mixing with his past experience is again validated with details of the lake that â€Å"had never been what you would call a wild lake.† It is a calm, tranquil, and bounded place where youth is apparent. Here, the lake represents the familiarity of one’s past. This description is contrasted with the sea, as it comes right after the description of the endless body of water. The sea has the remnant memories of â€Å"restlessness of the tides and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind.† The sea symbolizes the harshness of aging, while the lake symbolizes the familiarity and safety of youth and the past.

EXTENDING NUMERACY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

EXTENDING NUMERACY - Essay Example It is believed that mathematical thinking is the process of logical thought, as highlighted by DFES (1999) is a process of ‘Logical reasoning, problem solving and the ability to think in abstract ways (DFES, 1999, p.60-61).’ Development of this method of thought can be aided through the art of speaking and listening, alongside group and collaborative work. Children using and applying their skills equates into mathematical thinking, as agreed by the National Curriculum (1999) which states that ‘mathematics trains children with a ‘uniquely powerful set of tools’ to understand and develop the world (Directgov, 2010).’ The National Numeracy Strategy, introduced by the Department of Education and employment, lays down a framework for the curriculum to be followed in all schools while teaching mathematics for children attending Reception to Year 6 (National Numeracy Strategy, 1999). Compiled in 1999, The National Numeracy Strategy set out four main ap proaches to the teaching of mathematics, viz.: Dedicated mathematics lessons every day Direct teaching and interactive oral work with the whole class and groups An emphasis on mental calculation Controlled differentiation, with all pupils engaged in mathematics relating to a common theme (National Numeracy Strategy, 1999). The National Numeracy Strategy has outlined guidelines for numeracy to be taught nationwide which has to be utilised by teachers within the classroom (National Numeracy Strategy, 1999). ... In order to calculate either cognitively or use written algorithms, it is necessary to have basic numeracy skills. These include: remembering and recalling number facts, relationships of numbers, and problem solving using mental visualization and/or previously learned strategies. Mental mathematics is the foundation to all mathematical methodologies. The ability to count or at least know place value is all cognitive during which memory is used to recall numerical facts or obtain new ones, therefore this skill should be nurtured and emphasised. There are several educationalists who are proponents of encouraging children to engage in more mental calculations rather than just solving problems on paper. In this regard, Askew (1998) states that, ‘Ultimately, mathematics is a mental activity. While practical mathematics can help children develop mental images, written work on its own is not sufficient (Askew, 1998)’. This statement agrees with the principle laid down in the Na tional Numeracy Strategy, which states that â€Å"an ability to calculate mentally lies at the heart of numeracy (National Numeracy Strategy, 1999)’ It is of truth, and it is of little use if a child can complete a page of sums, but does not know how to tackle a problem that has not been written down. The National Numeracy Strategy emphasizes that pupils need to be given opportunities to develop flexible methods of working with numbers mentally that enables them to use known information to derive facts that they cannot recall (National Numeracy Strategy, 1999).   Differentiation within education largely relates to the differences between comparable things, for example, building a picture for the children that

Mid-term Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mid-term - Assignment Example speed, he uses his mind to trick the tiger with a glass ball, which the tiger after seeing its image on the mirror believes it is the cub and even cuddles it, allowing the hunter to escape with the real cub (White 7). a. Portals with subtle and twisted columns that seem to be strained by the weight. The portals have been criticized that they might give in to the heavy weight that they support though they have stood the test of time. The Donation of Constantine is the interpretation of the Holy Trinity. The holy trinity refers to three God in one, described as the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. It was important in the Middle Ages since it helped to explain the development of the Roman faith. It explains the shift from the period of worshipping idols to the realization of the modern faith. Sylvester, the universal pontiff, has helped in spreading the modern gospel. Sylvester changed the perception that the author had about the gods Peter and Paul, and told them that they were apostles (Halsall 1). The theme of this passage is love. It clearly brings out the various aspects of two people who love and treasure each other. The lady confesses that his only fear is losing him. The man who is the king treats the beautiful creature like a marvel of nature which he had never seen before. He orders that the creature should be fed well and given drink. Every other man admires the beautiful creature who is depicted by the king as a very special one. The theme of love is cemented by the statement that the couple would always visit places together, and none of them would allow to be separated from the other. The passage relates to the course in that it contributes to the effectiveness of use of figurative language, commonly used during the medieval period. The passage was written by Marie de France and translated by Judith P. Shoaf in 1996 (France, para 12). The theme of the text is religion. It describes the faith and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The

Delegation of Tasks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Delegation of Tasks - Essay Example This will not only decrease the workload on a particular individual, but also help develop decision-making abilities and a more responsible outlook, amongst one's team of subordinates. Delegating workloads is a prime authority that comes with position. When one delegates a particular task, one needs to keep in mind, the capacity of your subordinate who would be delegating the task assigned by you. Analysing whether or not he is capable of doing justice to the piece of work, will help avoid workload mismanagement. In addition to this, a clear line of communication must prevail, since your subordinates need to comprehend what exactly you expect out of them and how the particular task needs to be handled. A combination of capability and communication transforms delegation of work into an easy task. Here is an analysis on what could be the varied criteria, requisites and guidelines one has to keep in mind, before delegating tasks: It is but obvious that one needs to share control over the tasks delegated, with the subordinate assigned to perform the tasks. One may feel insecure about one's authority getting diluted or worried if the task delegated will be completed as perfectly as one would deal with it. In such cases, one needs to ensure that one spells out each and every step one would adopt, in completing the task, to one's subordinate. This way, they would utilise the same knowledge in future tasks. You can still retain your hold by supervising their work processes at regular stages. Catering Information: Delegation translates into meaning that one trusts one's subordinate to make effective usage of his decision-making abilities. It signifies that their decision- making abilities must be of a superior quality and therefore, access to information is the key here. Only factual, error-free and clear information can aid rightful decision-making. This information can be in the form of interpersonal exchanges, company information or even information obtained from the computer and the web. This way, communication is not hurdled and tasks are carried out with equal managerial expertise. Pragmatic Approach: As an employee occupying an authoritative position, one needs to realise that not all employees at varied levels have the same level of knowledge or for that matter, the technical know-how. You need to explain how exactly a particular procedure needs to be followed, along with the detailed explanation of the steps. This way, there will be no miscommunication or miscomprehension. Therefore, making allowance for those with lack of knowledge about your own specialisations or work processes is integral to raise the confidence levels of those involved with carrying out your delegations. Involvement: As the delegating authority, one tends to get too involved with the project you delegate and thus, appear readily

Module 4 - Case Training and Appraisals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Module 4 - Case Training and Appraisals - Essay Example and development of skills eventually creating business leaders possessing exceptional business acumen with the ability to inspire people and prepare them for future challenges. The discipline of Human Resource Management introduced various methodologies for managing employee performance, these tools ranged from performance appraisals based on rating scales to objective setting and later on performance surveys were introduced. An essential element of these appraisals was the performance feedback given to the employee after the actual appraisal based on which development efforts were planned by the incumbent supported by the Human Resource department (Greenhaus et al., 2009). The distribution of rewards after the performance appraisal or resulting promotions made this area an important aspect for the employee hence the human element of biasness diluted the traditional appraisal process. To avoid the evils of biasness mostly exhibited by the supervisor and resulting disagreements from the subordinates, performance feedback was taken from multiple sources and 360 degree feedback technique was adopted by numerous organizations. The 360 feedback process reveals the blind spots in behavioral characteristics of the subject by collecting anonymous feedback from multiple sources usually termed as supervisor (s), subordinate(s), peers and customers. The process gives an effective account of one’s performance, highlighting the development areas without much biasness and since the feedback is coming from multiple sources there is a lesser probability that the subject would disagree with the results. The process itself is composed of three stages, preparation and initiation, collection of feedback and development stage. The first stage includes identification of working relationships within the organization determining the important factor of ‘who would rate who’, behavioral clusters are identified with each having a set of probing questions along with rating criteria;

African-American history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

African-American history - Essay Example Many differences exist between finding a political solution as compared to finding a social solution to the vexed problem of color.Racism is a sensitive issue about the color of the skin as it is popularly believed.It,in reality,is also the issue of the heart. Emotions are like the recurring storms and every storm leaves behind it, devastation in different degrees. Is it possible to find an authentic solution, viewed from all angles, to the problem of racism in America? The pages of American history daubed in bloodshed in the name of ethnicity and color asks the crying question. Can this continent be converted into a haven on this Planet Earth? The answer is simple and straightforward .To achieve that objective, the necessary prerequisites are, eyes full of understanding, hearts full of love and the life that refuses conflicts—enough, these alone can contribute to the permanent solution to the problem. Some aspects of historical injustice against the black community by the Ame rican whites are impossible to forget and forgive. Being intensely aware of the undeniable resentment of the blacks, W.E.B. Du Bois (2005, p.7) writes, â€Å"With the other black boys the strife was not fiercely sunny; their youth shrunk into tasteless sycophancy, or into silent hatred of the pale world about them and mocking distrust of everything white; or wasted itself in a bitter cry, why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house?† ... It deals with the rise of the black middle class with the spread of education amongst them. Du Bois explains how the blacks find it difficult to get assimilated in the mainstream of American society and live a confident life, though constitutionally they are equal to the white race on all counts. The barrier that separates the two races is several centuries old and is made up of several complicated layers. A black individual has to live the life of a split personality and Du Bois (p.7)writes, â€Å"One ever feels his twoness—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two un-reconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.† Du Bois has vividly explains what a tough task it is for the black race to live with double consciousness. Is this expression the other name for inferiority complex? Perhaps double consciousness would be a better expression than the inferiority complex. It is not possible for the enlightened world that swears by democracy, equality and dignity of the individual to accept the African†¦.4 racial divide. If the divide philosophy is accepted, a dangerous trend is set before the world. The world already has many dividing factors to contend with like the political philosophies of communism vs. capitalism and religious conflicts. This book is the cornerstone of the literature relating to sociology. The spiritual aspects are evident throughout the contents of the book as Du Bois investigates the inner world of the entire humanity, the souls of men and women. His work, therefore, retains the permanent place in the history of black relations, not only in America, but also the entire world, wherever this problem exists. Mending

Windows Server 2012 Deployment Proposal Research

Windows Server 2012 Deployment - Research Proposal Example â€Å"Windows Server 2012† is an updated operational tool, which is mainly employed for conducting various tasks with dynamic recovery options. Apparently noted, there lay numerous features of Windows Server 2012 through which WAI can reap significant advantages in the context of getting its internal IT services configured. In this regard, the new facets of Windows Server 2012 can be apparently observed as improved storage, better networking facility, wider remote access, developed server administration, enhanced efficiency, along with fostering innovation and broader flexibility and agility among others (Microsoft, n.d.). It is anticipated that with better execution and incorporation of the aforementioned features, WAI can be able to get its internal IT related services configured with utmost efficacy. Deployment and Server Editions Based on the scenario provided, it can be ascertained that WAI will have two sites particularly in Los Angeles and New York. Since the company will start with 90 employees, the employment of two servers will be sufficient for getting its internal IT services configured. It is worth mentioning that the roles, which will be combined within the requisite two servers, include â€Å"Active Directory Certificate Services†, â€Å"Hyper-V† and â€Å"Active Directory Domain Services† (ADDS) among others. In this similar concern, the role of ADCS will involve in facilitating the servers towards offering certificates to the clients. On the other hand, â€Å"Hyper-V† will play the role of installing as well as configuring the support services within the two servers.

The Golden Mean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Golden Mean - Essay Example May sound surprising, yet it is true that the Golden Mean have always been an essential element of the natural world (Lamb 2011). The appearance of Fibonacci numbers on which the concept of Golden Mean is based, on a regular basis in the works of nature do corroborates the ancient conclusion and belief that nature is based on some predetermined and reoccurring patterns (Lamb 2011). Many ancient monuments like the Pyramids of Giza, the Greek temple in the Acropolis in Athens and many medieval churches had been designed in conformation with the Golden Mean (Knott 2010). In a contemporary context, the United Nations Headquarters building located at New York had been designed in consonance with the concept of Golden Mean (Knott 2010). It was an international committee of architects comprising of influential and renowned architects like Wallace K Harrison, Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier that finalized the design of the United Nations Headquarters building at New York (A View on Cities 20 11). Eventually it was a plan laid out by Le Corbusier, called 23A that was chosen to be the basis for the new building (A View on Cities 2011). In 1950, Le Corbussier published a book named Le modulator, in which he recognized the relevance of the Golden Mean in the contemporary architecture (Knott 2010).

What should Troy do Essay Example for Free

What should Troy do Essay If troy has to work overtime on a business project then his boss, Mr Hunt has to compensate Troy with an overtime pay, if not then he will be exploiting Troy for his own gain. Troy does not have to pressure and exhaust himself over the projects since he is not a senior executive or a big shot at the firm making the big bucks. If that does not work, Troy can go to Mr. Hunt’s superiors and nd tell them about the situation. If that doesnt do anything, threaten legal action. I guarantee theyll change their tune real quick. One thing Troy can do is to take the work home and convince his boss that he will be working form home. Describe one process through which Troy might attempt to resolve his dilemma. One way Troy might attempt to resolve his dilemma is to confront his superior and explain to him that the project requires more time and that Troy will have to put some overtime in order to complete the project. Although Mr. Hunt and the customer may not be pleased about it, Troy on the other hand will not be so stressed out to make the deadline. Troy can find a way to and figure out a way to work with his boss to design the job to fit Troy’s life as well as meet the customers’ requirements, but Troy faces the problem of raising on the corporate ladder. On the other hand, Troy can work â€Å"off the clock† and accomplish the project just on time and have a chance to be promoted, however he will be sacrificing his family and personal life. Consider the impact of this company’s approach on young editors. How could working long hours be an ethical problem? Working long hours is a classic manager’s dilemma. On the one hand, if a subordinate is working long hours, it can reflect dedication and commitment to the job. It can also mean the person has no work-life balance, which could come back and bite the company down the line. It can also mean that the employee cannot effectively manage his time or people.

How to respond to complaints Essay Example for Free

How to respond to complaints Essay Always follow the settings procedure policy when dealing with complaints. Complaints may be telephoned in, emailed or in person and there will be a different protocol and timescale to follow. When dealing with a complaint face to face keep calm and listen. The person complaining may be angry and I need to stay calm ensure they can see I’m listening and never raise my voice and avoid it escalating. If the discussion is infront of others try to move it somewhere that is more confidential, trying to move the discussion may also help if the person is very angry or upset. Gives them a couple of minutes to calm down while you re-locate. Always show that you’re listening and giving them your whole attention, never look dismissive. Reflect back on what they’ve said repeating back key points so they can hear you’ve understood and listened to what they’ve said. It also helps highlight if I’ve misunderstood a point so they can correct me. Always apologise if I am in in the wrong, misunderstood or forgotten an instruction. Explain what actions I can take to correct the situation. For example a parent asked me to not give their child any sweet foods. Another child had brought in a cake for their birthday and I had forgot to write the parents wish on the board, leading to the child eating some cake. I could apologise, admit fault and ensure the parent that the notice would instantly be placed on the appropriate board. The next day when they dropped the child off I could have a private talk with the parent/carer and show that it is now on the board and I did follow up and correct the mistake. In some cases an explanation or apology will not resolve the situation. Discuss a compromise that suits everybody to bring out a win/win solution. The main thing when dealing with complaints is to stay calm, listen and to be tactful, don’t make any personal comments that may cause the situation to escalate. Choose my words wisely and think before I speak.

Induction Process Of Food Manufacturing Company Management Essay

Induction Process Of Food Manufacturing Company Management Essay This Research proposal focuses on the induction process of food manufacturing company that require changes in existing induction programme to improve the work quality, company performance, ethics and new academic  staff and the role of their head of department  . The research also focuses on the view of the staffs on the existing arrangements of induction. So the appropriate research chosen is survey based. Respondents reflected on personal  experiences and their narratives from existing employees would give a fine-grained  account of the same event. This proposal would observe the factors which affect staff motivation and job satisfaction and also explores previous theories of motivation. Open minded structured questionnaires were formed in the proposal to understand how to improve the quality of induction programme. Results may emphasise the importance of the management style of the manger particularly when it comes to factors such as lack of appreciation, poor communication and training. To complete this proposal I have make assumptions from the articles that related to my questions. This proposal provides clear information about the importance of induction to get better performance from the staffs in the particular food manufacturing company. Contextualisation The orientation programme should be forced to bring up to date with respect to a noticeable modification in various internal and external environment of the organisation. There are a few significant changes in the organisation, recently expanded 2 new units in addition with the existing one and also planning to put new changes as per the current trends in the market. The change in companys structure is one of the reasons to reassess the present induction method. The organisation plans to employ more staffs to work in recently developed, 2 new units such as technology based unit and recycling unit while the other functions of the firms remains same. To get expected results the induction program should be adapted to modern ways. It is expected to bring new employee training programmes includes general information about technology, recycling process, the new job descriptions, company culture, and company history. Literature review This research brings out important basic processes and approaches for the firms induction procedures with a guide for official induction course. Employee induction and socializations programs are a key aspect of ensure employees are successful in accomplishing their goals. The HR department or other persons who is supervise over new employees should run through the most important points with each individual or, when larger numbers are being taken on, with groups of people. The new requirements of professional, other individuals, agreed upon that some of the old fashion methods of management are clearly not adequate in modern world The orientation program would benefit the new employees to settle down into the organisation very quickly and become more inventive and competent members of staff within a short period of time. Induction would help the employees to restructure the workload and it will boost the competence of the work  and would be time saving.  Similarly the employees would have fewer liabilities on them after the training programme and they would be able to accomplish their objectives in time. The work rate and competence of the employees will be increased (Human Resource Solutions, Online). All organisations are legally liable for health and safety of their workforce. A high standard health and safety induction for all employees including newcomers will help to meet organisations responsibility. Organisation must inform their employees preferably on the first day about fire and safety procedures and what to do if the fire alarm goes up. If there are particular hazards, in the factory or on the building site, organisation must ensure that new workers are made aware of them and what precautions need to be taken (Anon, Online). This study has explained the conceptual area of new employee orientation programs. Researchers say that the employee orientation programs are distinguished from socialization, psychological contracts, induction, and pragmatic job previews (Wanous Reichers, 2000). Three somewhat diverse areas of academic research are used to develop a framework for the design and study of new employee orientation programs: (a) stress theory/coping methods, (b) attitude theory/change methods, (c) realistic job previews theory/methods (Wanous Reichers, 2000). The new study on newcomer orientation program should be helped by a clear definition of the conceptual domain, borrow liberally from related areas of inquiry, be conducted in field settings, and use experimental designs (Wanous Reichers, 2000). It is a legal requirement for organisations to provide their employees  a printed declaration of terms and conditions of work excluding for those employees who will be working for less than one month. During the induction process organisation should give information of issues such as hours of work that includes breaks, procedures of holidays and sick, grievance and disciplinary formalities (Business Link, Online). Proposed Methodology The study is mainly based on both Primary research methods and empirical research methods; the term empiricism is used in a number of different ways, but two stand out. First, it is used to denote a general approach to the study of reality that suggests that only knowledge gained through experience and the senses is acceptable. In other words, this position means that ideas must be subjected to the rigours of testing before they can be considered knowledge. The second meaning of the term is related to this and refers to a belief that the accumulation of facts is a legitimate goal in its own right. It is the second meaning that is sometimes referred to as naÃÆ' ¯ve empiricism. (Bryman A and Bell E, p-9 2003) The primary research has been planned to conduct through structured interview from the basis of the secondary research literature review analysis on data available from the records in organisation. An important phase in the collection of data is the selection of units to which the data relate.(Bryman, 1989). Data will be collected through interviews and questioners. All employees including top level and bottom line and HRM will be selected to this process. Structured Questionnaires will be provided to the related subject matter. Secondary sources of informations relating to induction process will be collected through online, like government published details and surveys will be looked. Details of the current changes in HRM and induction process will be taken from latest news paper articles and journals published. The primary data will be collected through interviews with all the employees in the organisation and passing on the questionnaires to them. The questionnaire is prepared with help of Business research methods by Bryman A and Bell E, (pp-155-174, 2003) one of the most significant considerations for many researchers is whether to ask a question in an open or closed format. With an open question respondents are asked a question and can reply however they wish. With a closed question they are presented with a set of fixed alternatives from which they have to choose an appropriate answer (Bryman A and Bell E, pp-156, 2003) Pilot Method Some of the sample questionnaires are given below Objectives of Orientation Rating For the organisation Organisations induction process gives an understanding about the history of the company and its products Strongly disagree Disagree unsure Strongly agree Agree Part of induction contains communicating and accumulating guidance on policies and procedures such as health safety, holidays, sick, performance, sales etc Strongly disagree Disagree unsure Strongly agree Agree It involves set up work goals: department and company objectives Strongly disagree Disagree unsure Strongly agree Agree For the job Let the beginners to meet up colleagues with whom they will be working together Strongly disagree Disagree unsure Strongly agree Agree Induction provides appropriate guidance to facilitate the post holder to perform their duties Strongly disagree Disagree unsure Strongly agree Agree Induction allows the post holder to realize their job details and how they suit within the frame work of the company Strongly disagree Disagree unsure Strongly agree Agree Source: Scribd, A questionnaire on new employee induction The motives behind above mentioned questions are because these questionnaires should help to find out the views of the employees about their job and company as well. It will also help to find out what changes has to be implement in the induction process of newcomers and existing employees To shape the plan of the research to be carried out, most important is to heap up some qualitative data on the company, the human resource department and the functions of it. This initial data collection can make able to collect information on the existing recruitment and training on various departments. It brings out a clear cut idea about the employees and the functions. As a part of research it is very essential to get in touch with the HRM to discuss about the research. To collect the secondary datas a meeting should be arranged with the top level managers and interview them and collect details about the employees. It is necessary to meet up the employees individually as much as I can and conduct a one to one discussion with them. Its the difficult part of the research because this may take a long and the employees should be at work or may be their break. The questionnaire is prepared and circulated among the employees randomly. Final part of the research is to distribute the questionnaires among the employees with the help of HRM and the line mangers and ask the employees to record their opinion that asked in the questionnaire and no need to mention their identity. Time Table Prepare proposal by 22 January Complete literature review by 25 January Complete fieldwork by 18 Feb Complete analysis by 21 Feb Complete final Proposal by 26 Feb Discussion of Limitations and improvements: The structured interview is the most accessible process for this research but the important thing is it has to be reached to a very large group. To get through a large group it is very vital to follow survey questionnaire, which has no possibility of getting senior employees valuable suggestions. This structured interview can be better to be printed and distributed to the large numbers. It is very hard to sample the qualitative data. Managing these feedback and analysing, will be a gigantic and tricky task. It will be a mass data as per the number of interview increases. But a questioner survey can cut down this effort By being in the organization for only 2-3 hours a week for 5 6 weeks, there are some hurdles to overcome such as it would be very difficult to meet various department employees they are working in different shifts. Being a visitor may also have some limits as well. The time to fill the questionnaires and sending back to me by employer and managers might take some time. Another possible limitation would be time consuming for the interviewers to administrator. Interviewers are likely to talk for longer than is usually the case with a comparable closed question and the organisation contains around 500 employees to meet all employees within six week is not possible because they are all work in different shifts some employees may be in their holidays. The possible improvement would be a wider literature review is needed. More and more articles and journals related to the topic should be found out for the research and always kept updated.

industrial revolution :: essays research papers

The Industrial revolution was a time of drastic change and transformation from hand tools, and hand made items to machine manufactured and mass produced goods. This change helped life, but also hindered it as well. Pollution, such as CO2 levels in the atmosphere, rose, working conditions declined, and the number of women and children working increased. The government, the arts, literature, music and architecture and man's way of looking at life all changed during the period. Two revolutions took place, both resulting in productive but also dire consequences. Before the first industrial revolution, England's economy was based on its cottage industry. Workers would buy raw materials from merchants, take it back to their cottages, hence the name, and produce the goods at their home. It was usually was owned and managed by one or more people, who were generally close to the workers. There was a good worker/boss relationship, which was demolished and destroyed by capitalism. This industry was efficient but the workers productivity was low, making costs higher. The longer it took one person to manufacture a product, the higher the price. Subsequently, goods were high in price and exclusive only to the wealthy people. The year was 1733, the demand for cotton cloth was high, but production was low. This crisis had to be solved or England's economy would be hindered. The answer came from a British weaver, John Kay, who invented and fashioned the flying shuttle, which cut weaving time in half. John Kay was a pioneer and his invention paved the way for numerous inventors. Although at first, many workers didn't accept machines, in fact, many inventions were destroyed, but what was inevitable, couldn't be stopped. The machines had made their way to England, and nothing could stop them. By the 1750's, the industrial Revolution had begun. At first, inventions were strictly limited to cotton weaving. Inventions such as the spinning jenny and the water-powered frame, both of which provided spinning yarn faster, the spinning mule, the power loom and the cotton gin, all helped the manufacture of cotton goods by speeding up the process. Mass production had begun, along with capitalism. Capitalist, people who have their own materials, money and space, bought many machines and stored them in a factory, where hired people worked the whole day manufacturing goods. The factory system had replaced the cottage industry. Mass production made usually expensive items, such as shoes, less expensive and easily affordable by lower class and less wealthy people.

Harry Forster Chapin: Musician, Song Writer, Film Editor and Political

In the short thirty-nine years of the life of Harry Forster Chapin (1942-1981), he managed to distinguish himself as a creative genius in multiple fields, ultimately leaving a distinct mark on this world, though he received only moderate public recognition. Professionally, he was a musical performer and songwriter, a film editor, and a political activist and lobbyist, able to reach remarkable heights in all three fields. In the field of music, Chapin rose to stardom as a rock and roll performer and songwriter during the 1970's, introducing the world to a new style of music he created and popularized, the story-song. Within this new framework, Chapin was able to use his interest and proficiency in poetry to create song lyrics which told the story of a character or group of characters. He was able to weave wonderfully powerful tales of the lives of his characters in a few short stanzas, applying many traditional story-line techniques; a rising action which lead to a climax, followed by a falling action which usually revealed an unexpected twist, offering a recognizable message in the last few lyrics of the song. The subjects of these songs were generally based on Chapin's real life experiences and moods, and in this sense, he was able to express more honestly the feeling associated with the stories. Furthermore, Chapin went a step further by adding music to his stories, accentuating the changes in tone of the stories with musical accompaniments. His musical style contained many folk, rock and roll, jazz and blues elements, revealing his diverse musical background and familiarity with a variety of styles. The result was a remarkably popular style, which granted Chapin the ability to generate a strong connection to his audience during... ...o Gardner, another major milestone taking place around 1976, with the completion of perhaps his most comprehensive piece, an autobiographical song called "There Only Was One Choice". In it, Chapin mysteriously foretold of his tragic death at a young age: When I started this song I was still thirty-three. The age that Mozart died and Sweet Jesus was set free, Keats and Shelly, too soon finished, Charlie Parker would be And I fanaticized a tragedy be soon curtailing me. He also included in the song, the lyrics which have come to define his life more than any other: Inexperience - it once accursed me, but your youth is no handicap, it's what makes you thirsty. (From "Danceband on the Titanic" 1977) Bibliography: Coan, Peter M. Taxi: The Harry Chapin Story. New York:Carol Publishing Group. C. 1990. Http://www.littlejason.com/chapin/longbio.html

Bandura & Rotter, Molly Ringwald Character from Breakfast Club Essay

Bandura & Rotter, Molly Ringwald Character from Breakfast Club The reinforcement for Clair’s behavior was mainly dependent on the approval she received from her popular peer group. She has a notion that she needs to be â€Å"popular† or approved in order to be seen as better in her school. Reinforcement would also be abiding by her parents so she is able to shop with her families wealth. After she had bought something materialistic, it makes her feel good. There was a battle of the reinforcement values in this movie. One was, as stated above, to seek approval of her older known peers known to be stuck-up, condescending, and popular. The other is reinforcement of a more positive virtue. This virtue is as stated, thinking independently and making choices in one’s life for oneself instead of seeking approval from her snobbish peer group. This would help he correct her choices of behavior so they do not become repetitive. At the beginning of the film Clair wasn’t to open to the later reinforcement but then discovered it v ia introspection through group discussion. They discussed peer groups, virginity, suicide attempts, and assaults. Although many of the ways they talked about each other had been derogatory in some way. Clair still introspected. When Clair was confronted about negative evaluations and opinions about herself, she became upset. Her expectancies had been almost the same throughout the movie until her introspection. She would either get upset, denial, switches the blame to person discussing the problem, or rationalized her behavior. An example of rationalizing would be her assuming that Andrew would say â€Å"Hi.† To Brain in the halls, then Andrew would bash Brian in front of his sporty peers. This means possibility of being categorized as a defensive external. If Clair is a defensive external, then the Social Cognitive Learning Theory would be in hot water. This is because the theory states that people who indicate that they are controlled by the outside are not suppose to be competitive. This is a hypocritical theory in comparison to the external locus of control. Clair needs to be approved by groups immediately or she feels left out. Therefore, her expectancy in this situation is to be approved by others. This would also be known as social desirability. Clair also jumps in on bashing another person verbally when her peer does it. Thus, her exp... ...ce and a very new love in John Bender. The Defensive behaviors would line up with Rotter’s defensive external definition associated with Clair’s expectancies. The idea of social comparison had been used by Clair and the new group during their circle discussion. They compared each other socially via peer groups and attitudes. Clair did use dehumanization as a tactic in conversation as well. Clair proclaimed herself better then the others solely because of her group and monetary status while calling Brian an academic nerd and John a criminalistic drug burner. The â€Å"burner† remark was a little hypocritical after she had smoked it herself. She used the advantageous comparison method to explain how each of them would treat each other on the Monday after the detention they would be back in school. She discussed how she would do the same thing to Allison as Andrew would hypothetically do to Brian. Use this as an example: (Andrew [Clair] would say â€Å"Hi.† To Brain [Allison] in the halls, then An drew would bash Brian in front of his sporty peers [stuck-up popular girls].) Lastly, Clair was using displacement, blaming her condescending peer group and parents for her condescending behavior.

Case Critique: Black Fly Beverage Company Inc Essay

Black fly is enjoying a comfortable growth, their product has been well received by consumers and they have also benefited from positive feedback from the media. Now would then be a very good time to undertake an expansion as the company would take advantage of the momentum and exposure it currently has to introduce new products or features to the market. Let’s evaluate the different options available to Black fly. First Alternative: Launching a new Flavour: Launching a new flavour of an existing product has been the most common expansion initiative taken by companies in the food and beverage industry. It is a conservative approach as it usually does no require a significant investment mostly because it benefits from economies of scale and often does not require any new equipment for the production as it is the case with Black fly beverages. Furthermore the company currently has enough capacity from a production perspective to support the expansion. However the main risk, as it was assessed by the company, is that the new flavour may â€Å"cannibalize the original recipe† and will not result in an increase of market share but rather split sales between the products. The flavour is less likely to attract consumers and could only be an additional option to existing customers allowing them to choose or switch between flavours which does not increase revenues but rather keeps them steady. Also, if we take in consideration the psychological buying process of consumers it has not been proven that consumers are more likely to purchase a product because it offers more than one flavour nor does it help a consumer revisit his choice if he did not like the product in the first place. Second Initiative: Creating a new product line ‘Spiked Ice† The spiked ice is an innovative idea, a first in its kind to be introduced to the wine and spirit marketplace and like any new idea it is important to establish that it is also an opportunity. The LCBO being the largest retailer of alcoholic beverages in the world, it is safe to assume that it has the best knowledge of trends in the industry as it is almost the only channel of distribution of alcoholic beverages in Ontario. The LCBO is then the best resource a company can use when it comes to product/industry feasibility as it carries out a stringent assessment of quality, price and market potential for each new product. Therefore there is an opportunity and a market potential for this new product since the LCBO is willing to provide shelf space for the Spiked Ice, furthermore it has a provided a firm commitment for a 4 months order. The â€Å"Spiked Ice† also has the potential â€Å"real† additional revenues since it is a different product and can also target consumers who are not typically fond of vodka coolers (i.e. consumers that prefer drinking beer but whom during the summer month would quench their thirst on a freezee with a vodka twist) Allowing the company to increase and diversify its customer base. This initiative however does require a significant capital investment to upgrade the production facilities and the company would be facing a significant loss should the product not generate enough sales however the company has commitment from LCBO for a large quantity which will also help them boost the roll out of the new product. Also from a managerial/organizational perspective the company has proven that it is capable of successfully undertaking similar projects. I would recommend the company to launch the â€Å"Spiked Ice† as it is the only option that has the potential to generate additional revenues allowing the company to truly expand by penetrating a different segment of the market share. Introducing a new flavour has a low potential as it does not target a new segment or customer base and will most likely not generate additional revenues however it is a good initiative that could be launched for retention purposes to increase customer satisfaction.

Does the Environment matter to Sociology?

Sociology is described as ‘the systematic study of human society' (Macionis and Plummer 2005:4). Because of this, it is unlikely that ‘the environment' is one of the key topics that sociologists naturally think of as part of their studies. Indeed environmental issues seem far removed from what is still largely the staple fare of sociology courses. ‘What have species loss, acid rain or ozone depletion to do with the mainstream social theory or key disciplinary concepts such as class, power and inequality? (Alan Irwin 2001:8) Until recently a sociologist would answer ‘nothing' but since the emergence of modernity there has been a shift in sociological thinking towards globalisation. According to David Held, this is ‘the widening, deepening and speeding up of global interconnectedness'. More generally, it is known as a recent cultural and economical era that centres on universalism, homogeneity and progress. Undoubtedly globalisation is having a profound effect on the world but its specific effect on the environment has become a major topic across all of the social sciences. Until now sociology never included the environment but as environmental degradation increases affecting world population, cultures and lifestyles, awareness of the environment has now become necessary. ‘Environmental degradation is no longer a peripheral concern of the social sciences†¦. it is an unavoidable and pressing reality. ‘ (David Goldblatt, 1996:5) Substantial references to the environment are generally limited within classical sociology. Primarily, sociologists have focused on the evolution of social interaction and cultural change. In the first half of the 19th century both Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer considered sociology to be epistemologically and ontologically dependent on, or subordinate to, biology. Comte drew on biological analogies and metaphors of form and function and to explore the interrelationship of individuals and institutions in modern society (David Goldblatt, 1996:2). Spencer's work was the first of many attempts to marry Darwinian models of evolution, selection and change to social development. The work of the classical political economists, also directly examined the relationship between the natural environment and the human economic prospect. Classically, Thomas Malthus inquired into the social consequences of rapid population growth in the context of limited environmental resources with which to feed that population. By the end of the 19th century however, the pace of western industrialisation exploded and population growth continued unabated. All sociological and economical predictions were proved redundant. From this point of view it is perhaps no surprise that social thinkers bypassed further attempts to engage with the social and economic origins and consequences of environmental change, they didn't want to be proved wrong. When looking at the classical trinity of Weber, Durkheim and Marx there is no marked difference. According to Goldblatt (1996:3), ‘Weber's work conducts the most limited engagement with the natural world. There are some reflections on the environmental origins and implications of nomadism in his study of Judaism. Yet his historical investigations†¦ ielded little direct study of the historical impact and social implications of differing natural environments. ‘ Throughout his work Weber's theoretical reflections on the environment go little further than a few brief paragraphs in ‘Economy and Society', ‘in all the sciences of human action, account must be taken of processes and phenomena which are devoid of subjective meaning†¦. favou ring or hindering circumstances. ‘ In other words non-human, unintended processes, such as climate or water-levels, are of significance if they affect human action. However, Marx and Durkheim are more appropriate. In taking population density and its relationship with material resources to be the driving force behind the evolution of human societies, Durkheim made the natural world a decisive causal factor in human history. Similarly Marx placed the economic interface of human societies and the natural world at the centre of historical change. By contrast, Weber never gave demographics a central causal role in history, he defined action by reference to the ideal type of purposive rational action. In his opinion, the relationship between means and ends was more significant than the ontological relation between human subject and natural object. (Goldblatt 1996:4) Yet clearly, the works of Marx and Durkheim are of limited use to environmental sociology. The primary ecological issue for classical social theory was not the origins of contemporary environmental degradation, but how premodern societies had been held in check by their natural environments, and how it was that modern societies had come to surpass those limits or had separated themselves in some sense from their ‘natural' origins. Yet it is possible to defend the classical thinkers, modern societies were unconstrained by natural limits and at the height of capitalism and industrialisation, it did not seem that economic growth would prove to be environmentally problematic in any way. From this point of view it is only since the advent of the modern era and particularly the onset of globalisation, that the environment has begun to be examined in a sociological sense. This is done in two main ways. Most obviously, social life is increasingly generating environmental problems leading to degradation. The levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have dramatically risen since the invention of industry. Natural resources such as the fossil fuels are burnt in gigantic quantities releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which in turn contributes to global warming and climatic change. Similarly the use of CFCs in refrigerators and aerosols has resulted in the depletion of the ozone layer which allows harmful UV rays from the sun to enter our atmosphere. Deforestation has also resulted in soil degradation and a loss of rainforest habitat which in turn has caused a global loss of natural animal habitat resulting in the extinction of over 10,000 different animal species. However, these environmental problems are not universally distributed and many sociologists argue that the serious environmental consequences flow from the global disparity of wealth and power, exasperated by globalisation. For example, the richest 20% of the world's population account for around 90% of the world's motor vehicles which are the primary cause of carbon emissions. Yet the world as a whole will suffer from global climate change. Similarly ‘the members of all high-income societies represent 20% of humanity but utilise 80% of all energy produced. ‘ (Connet, 1991) The causes of environmental degradation are distinctly uneven but the effects look to be even more so. As shown, the richest, most developed countries have contributed most to environmental degradation but studies have shown that the poor developing countries will be most affected. Global warming and climate change will result in the increase of floods, storms and harvest failures, and these will always most affect those living closest to their means of subsistence. One study predicts a decline in harvests of 30% in India and Pakistan by 2050. Similarly over 90% of global deaths from air pollution occur in the developing world where medical advances are far behind those of the developed world. As the world has become more aware of the effects that technology has had on the environment, rich, developed nations have had the capital to find alternative resources or to find cures to treat the medical conditions caused by environmental degradation but the poorer countries will have to suffer. Agricultural degradation and desertification is currently severest in Asia and Africa who rely most upon this primary industry and will become unable to diversify from lack of capital. Sociologists look to examine this highly uneven social stratification. Population is also an environmental matter that sociologists have begun to look closely at. Since 1960 the world's population has increased by over 75% to around 6 billion and most of the current increases derive from the less-developed countries. The problem lies with the question of consumption. By 2050 the global population is expected to have reached 8. 5 billion people, all living with ‘western-style' consumption. This is unsustainable, and this raises the question of social lifestyles. To curb the growth rate people will have to change their lifestyles. However, it is unrealistic to assume that people will conform to legislation that changes the way they live. Until now, social and political thought never included the environment, it was always assumed that it would continue to be able to sustain human lifestyles but this has changed. It looks to sociologists to suggest solutions Traditionally the environment did not matter to sociology, it was barely spoken about by the classical thinkers but the degradation of the environment has become a sociological issue, indirectly because of globalisation. The global homogeneity of western style industrialisation and production resulted in large-scale pollution which is now out of control. It has reached a stage where consumption outweighs production and humans are unable to look to the traditional optimistic views supported by all the classical, modernist thinkers. This believed that human technological innovations would always be able to be relied upon to support population growth. This is now impossible, the answer is no longer down to ‘science' but down to values that people must choose. Sociologically this now raises questions of inequality. Both the causes and solutions of environmental degradation were initiated by western policies and the particular solutions do not suit everyone. Recently many less developed nations have refused to curb industrial emissions as they feel it is their turn to develop according to the pattern that the western world first started. At the same time, the existing developed countries fear the suggested environmental solutions as they fear the economical repercussions that a reduction of emissions, and therefore industry, will cause. Sociologists now look to examine the possibilities of adhering to the lifestyle change that environmental policy will now cause.

Review and Critical Thinking Questions Essay

What is a family? What is family composition? Family is a group of people tied together by blood, co-residence, or affection. Family composition is the makeup of the family including the numbers of members, their ages, and their relationship with each other What is cultural bias? What is an example of this? Cultural bias is the interpretation or judgement of practices by the standards of ones own culture. Looking at a different culture wrong because its not the way we deal with a particular concern in our nature. What are stereotypes? How are they different from prejudice? Stereotypes are assumed beliefs of a group of people. The difference between prejudice and stereotypes is is that stereotypes are based off of a a characteristic of a person from some members in the group and prejudice is an assumption before getting to know people. What is the difference between a nuclear family and an extended family? A nuclear family will be just the two parents and their children living in one home, as to an extended family is a family where the grandparents or maybe grand kids are living in the home too. Critical Thinking Questions How can families assimilate to a new culture? They can do things like learn the language, they can try to join the culture by eating their foods, listening to their music. What are some of the problems with stereotypes or cultural bias when looking at families? Sometimes your assumptions are wrong or you close your thoughts up to other people because they aren’t like you. And you should always be open to new people or new things because not everyone in the world is like you. Adversity affects today’s family, just as Black Death affected families from earlier times. What kinds of adverse challenges do today’s families face and how can they manage the situations? Families today face adverse challenges like financial, emotional, and health. The easiest way to deal with any family challenges is to talk as a family and find ways to better or eliminate the situation.

Satire in Jane Austen’s Pride in Prejudice

Jane Austen’s Satirical Writing: Analyzing the Satire of Social Class Within Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice delves into the issue of why social standing in a society based solely on class should not be the most important thing when evaluating the worth of a person. Through several different literary techniques – such as letters and abundant focalizers – Austen conveys important information about key issues she has with the significance placed on social standing. The theme of class and social standing is echoed constantly throughout Austen’s novel in numerous ways, highlighting several aspects of the gentry that she distrusts. The entirety of the novel focuses mainly on the distances placed between characters due to their social standing in a class based society. Regardless of how fit a person may be in either mind or capabilities, if a high sum of money is not contained within their personhood (or their estate), they are considered menial. Jane Austen uses the social relationships between her characters to satirize the importance placed on the hierarchy of class in society. Austen wrote the novel in order to define and satirize the problems that she saw in the hierarchy of class in the society of her time. Throughout the entire novel â€Å"there isn’t a character†¦who’s introduced without his income being mentioned in the next sentence† (Selznick 92). The ridiculousness of the value placed upon money – of which the middle class has very little – is evident as Austen progresses the story and the relationships between her characters – namely between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. The fact that, in Austen’s time, the society revolved around the gentry – whose entire idea of class and power involved money – makes it easier for the audience reading Pride and Prejudice to understand why she has satirized this issue. She does this quite flawlessly throughout the novel, relying on her knowledge of the increasing adamancy of the middle class to gain social status and power through more than just land, money and relations. The significance of social standing and the desire of the characters aspire to it can be seen in different instances throughout the novel. However, there are a few characters for which the idea of wealth and power mean very little, who strive to better themselves through their own wit and charm, rather than through the advantages of money. Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the novel, is one such character. It is difficult for her to adjust to the sense of reality in which the novel exists due to the fact that the society has been permanently established and there is very little she can do to earn the credit she deserves. Yet it is due to Elizabeth’s unique personality that the audience is able to understand why her interest for the things at Pemberley and the positive change in heart she has for Mr. Darcy’s character show the dual nature of how Austen thought of the personal attainment of identity and morality balanced with her begrudged acknowledgement of a limited and restrained society (Hamilton). There are several other characters that believe the importance placed on monetary gain to be superfluous and still others that also come to realize this. It is through both the understanding and ignorance of these characters that it becomes evident just how deeply Austen distrusted the idea of an individual requiring social power in order to be recognized as an accomplished individual. Austen paid especially close attention to economic and social standing when it came to her characters for the express purpose of satirizing why their superior class was not necessarily more agreeable or accomplished than those in the lower classes. She wrote her novels with the idea that â€Å"the quality of humanity is to be judged by moral and human standards†¦not by social status; but like her own temporary snobs†¦she pays full attention to their social status first† (Copeland 121). As seen with Austen’s character Mr. Darcy, she concentrates fully on his attachments to his reputation before she delves into who he becomes and how much better off he is when he realizes the error in his way of thinking. In assessing the weight that social standing has on the progression of the story in Pride and Prejudice, one can attain a great bit of insight into why specific characters act the way they do throughout the novel. The infamous Bingley sisters, for instance, are so attached to the idea of material wealth that they fail to realize when their comments are unacceptable. Ms. Bingley herself, who is so attached to the idea that she is superior to Elizabeth in every way, cannot understand why Mr. Darcy could possibly find Elizabeth attractive in any sort of manner. It is her status-hungry and conceited personality that allows the audience to see the sheer difference between her and her brother, Mr. Charles Bingley. Unlike his sisters, he is not trying to climb up the social hierarchy to gain status and power; instead, he shows a gentler, more levelheaded side to the gentry as he falls in love with Elizabeth’s older sister, Jane. It is characters with personalities and ideals like Mr. Bingley’s that Austen revered and trusted above all others. Curiously enough, however, the hardheaded Mr. Darcy, who is very aware of his social standing, is the one character in the novel who goes through the most drastic personality change. Though Elizabeth Bennet had the positive, clever and levelheaded personality that Austen herself may have had when dealing with the social mobility of her time, it is instead the incredible change of heart that Mr. Darcy undergoes that shows how someone who is socially superior can realize the importance of wit, charm and beauty of those around him instead of being concerned only with their social status. This is how Austen is able to satirize these problems so efficiently that a modern audience does not realize that she is poking fun at the societal importance of class in her time and instead sees nothing but a charming romance. Yet Austen was doing much more than writing a simple love story. The novel was written in a transitional period when peoples’ way of thinking was shifting from a romantic look at life to a more enlightened view of living. The ideals of the eighteenth century – where people saw society as organized and divinely structured – were quickly lost to the thinkers of the more modernistic views of society in the nineteenth century, in which there was a significant loss of faith in any spiritualistic based society. Instead, nineteenth century thought turned towards the idea of the individual as the only path towards order. This new idea of placing emphasis on the self was especially important to Austen, yet she realized that the tendency of an organized and structured society was to value a person by their material wealth, rather than who the individual really was. She was able to take both ideas and mold them into her ideal situation, which can be seen in the last few lines of the novel when Elizabeth is at last accepted into Pemberley and its heritage. It is here that the individual â€Å"remains exactly where Austen would have it, in the center of a stable eighteenth-century world† (Hamilton 36). Class and social standing is a very evident and important issue for Austen and she satirizes it with the utmost diligence throughout the novel using intricate, yet simplistic designs for her characters’ relationships. For instance, instead of being forced to marry Mr. Collins for the express purpose of making a new connection on their own, Elizabeth refuses to be controlled by society’s standards and defies Mrs. Bennet’s wishes in order to â€Å"demonstrate that it is still possible for individuals to make new connections in defiance of society† (Austen 395). Tony Tanner, a British literary critic, who wrote the original introduction to Pride and Prejudice conveyed that Austen wrote about â€Å"a society which stresses social control over individual ecstasy, formality over informality, sartorial neatness over bodily abandon, and alert consciousnesses over the more Romantic states of revery and trance† and yet it is also â€Å"a society in which the individual can experience freedom as well as commitment† (Austen 395). The unfathomable amount of thought that Jane Austen put into writing Pride and Prejudice show how deeply she cared for the freedom of the individual and the ability to stand proudly in a society that overlooked individual assets for material ones. Tanner also credited Austen with the ability to create a character around the central idea of attempting to prove their individual worth within a society bound entirely by the ordinance of class. He is able to demonstrate the importance Austen placed on her characters – especially Elizabeth and Jane Bennet – finding themselves in a gentry-based society by drawing on William Blake’s In the Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Tanner argues – with Blake’s ideals in mind – that Austen takes two completely different aspects of life, energy and reason, and instead of reconciling these opposite attractions, there is a mutual coming together of complementary characteristics. He puts it plainly when he states that â€Å"she makes it seem as if it is possible for playfulness and regulation – energy and boundaries – to be united in fruitful harmony, without the one being sacrificed to the other† (Austen 106). This ability to take two unlike ideas and mesh them together without either losing its significance is exactly how Austen takes society’s emphasis on social standing and class and reverses it into something that now benefits a character where before it could only hinder (i. e. Elizabeth’s transformation from a meager middle-class girl, to the Mistress of Pemberley). However, not all critics have been kind to the way in which Austen portrays this transformational miracle of a young girl suddenly coming into great sums of money, merely by the tact and wit she shows in the way she lives. These critics find Austen’s dealing with social standing and class to be abhorrent. In fact, one such critic happens to be a famous authoress who, in writing a letter to G. H. Lewes in 1848, stated that she disliked the novel due to its frivolous dealings with the common life of both the upper and the middle-class. In her writing to the British literary and theatre critic, the authoress stated that she â€Å"should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined houses† (Austen 368). It was, in fact, Currer Bell – more widely known as Charlotte Bronte – who wrote this letter, in which the reader can clearly sense the contempt she had for Austen’s writing and the way she portrayed her characters. Though perhaps more of an criticism towards the way Austen wrote in general, Bronte was still very serious with her concern about the way in which Austen depicted her characters and their lives. She had, in Bronte’s view, â€Å"no sense of the outward world – either scenery or personal appearance† (Mazzeno 558). It is obvious that Austen’s portrayal of social standing, class, romance, money, marriage and many other themes throughout Pride and Prejudice were not held in high regard with Bronte. Though the majority of critical analyses both praising and condemning the way in which Austen depicts social standing in her novel have been done by literary thinkers, there have been other mediums through which the novel has been adapted, such that even criticism of someone as famous as Charlotte Bronte is outshined. For example, in their book Authority, State and National Character, professors Kuzmics of the University of Graz and Axtmann of the University of Wales, when addressing the problems that both Britain and Austria have seen in relation to social class when examining the issues that arose in several literary novels and dramas of the time, state that when they first studied Pride and Prejudice, they thought it had very little to do with such issues. They believed that â€Å"the fate of the Bennet sisters in rural gentry-based England just after the turn of the century revolved around such harmless matters as a ball at Netherfield† (Kuzmics 223). It is apparent that both professors believe – at least upon their first reading of it – that Austen’s novel had very little to do with the very real problems that are satirized throughout the story. Their criticism of the novel, however, in relation to how both Austrian and English society has evolved during the civilizing process is perhaps accurate without an in depth reading of Pride and Prejudice, as it seems to merely have a â€Å"relaxed air of cheerfulness and ironic, detached art of people watching† (Kuzmics 223). Conversely, after one looks past all the pleasantries that the story has to offer, one realizes that, as the professors correctly stated, it only appears to have nothing to do with issues of class. This is why the novel must be read carefully, to push past the obvious romance of the story and dig into the satirical tone in which Austen addresses such important matters. As the professors continue their research into the heart of the novel, they revealed very important aspects of Austen’s writing about social class and how it is a perfect example of English society, even to this day. She defined so clearly how England was a â€Å"face-to-face† or â€Å"shame society† in which â€Å"the opposite of social respectability is social disgrace† which was â€Å"to be avoided at all costs† (Kuzmics 227). This meant that for those families that were unable to depend on an inheritance or their relations in order to live comfortably in society, they could only rely upon prospective marriage partners for a comfortable life. It is because of this importance placed upon society’s standards of what makes a family valuable that â€Å"the social value and respectability of the potential future spouse is ascertained and made visible† (Southam 113). This, in turn, makes it difficult for someone such as Elizabeth – who is very accomplished in her wit and charm – unable to stoop so low as to accept a marriage proposal from someone she has no tender feelings toward. The idea of marrying only for money, power or social stability is part of the reason why Elizabeth Bennet is thought of as impertinent by other characters in the novel such as Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine, and at times even her own mother. Yet it is because of Elizabeth’s character and the audacity she is capable of showing to such renowned individuals that proves Austen meant her novel to be much more than a romantic story between two characters. She wanted a stab at the problems of the gentry, to affirm her belief that basing the worth of an individual merely by their material wealth was hardly the best way of assessing someone’s value (Wilhelm). She was able to do a fantastic job of satirizing the gentry throughout her novel by using several different aspects of what made a renowned person so important: money, connections and property. In the general notes of the Penguin Classic version of Pride and Prejudice, David Spring, author of Interpreters of Jane Austen’s Social World, used historian Alan Everitt’s coined term ‘pseudo-gentry’ to describe a group of individuals that were comprised mostly of those involved with the trade, who aspired to attain the lifestyle of the landed gentry. It is because of this idea that in order to be worth something, a person must own land, that several of the characters from Austen’s novel seek ‘land-based wealth,’ which is an obvious sign of â€Å"a class intensely interested in income as means to, and a sign of, status† (Austen 413). This shows that Austen’s novel is written from a point of view that sees upward mobility as a bleak, corrupt hierarchy and is much more interested in the professional middle class – the class which, in Pride and Prejudice is represented quite adeptly by the Gardiners. This idea of attempting to identify oneself in a strict society based on social class has taken on numerous different forms: books, critical essays, movies and television series. Innumerable amounts of professional critics have delved deeply into Austen’s novel’s representation of class, manners and even the social status of women in British society. In the incredibly faithful six hour long A&E/BBC adaptation of the book, Sue Britwistle – the program’s producer – wanted to include â€Å"many clear illustrations of the way that class and gender are governed by proper British manners†¦and highlight the importance of economic status in Regency England† (Selznick 92). The fact that women could only gain social standing through marriage is very apparent through all of Austen’s writing, not just Pride and Prejudice. It is incredible to think that a woman was worth nothing unless she had a substantial inheritance, as seen with Georgiana and Mr. Wickham. He cared nothing for her abilities, her looks, her personality – the only thing he desired was the hefty sum of money she would receive through inheritance. The type of relationship is seen numerous times throughout the novel and only contravened when Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy marry the two Bennet sisters. It is, as professors Kuzmics and Axtmann so rightly called it, a marriage market. The worth of an individual could only be seen through the instance of marriage, when a person’s monetary value was ascertained and brought into light. There are several different instances throughout the novel in which social standing and class are satirized, though none so much as the motif of carriages. Austen placed importance upon how many and of what kind carriage a person owned; it signaled wealth, status and power – which, to Austen, was not a feasible way to judge the worth of a person. The aspect of carriages even flows into the marriage market, where the prospective bride (because the groom always seemed to be worthy regardless) is critiqued and either approved or denied. Part of this process is inquiry into how many and what kind of carriages the bride owns – if any. Their chances of finding a suitable match dwindles if they do not own an acceptable carriage (Walder). This is seen when Lady Catherine tracks down Elizabeth at Longbourn, wondering how her nephew could have possibly proposed to one such as her – someone who walks places without the aide of a carriage to take her anywhere. One of the most noteworthy characters that Austen uses to satirize social standing in her novel is Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Austen utilizes Lady Catherine for the primary function of criticizing the aristocratic society in which she places her character, as Lady Catherine is one of the most prideful and overbearing personalities in the novel. Jane Austen mercilessly ridicules the hierarchal society she was raised in by using Catherine as a means to convey how prominent figures (who were only important because of their wealth) thought themselves to be experts on almost every topic, even if they had no prior knowledge of the subject of which they were speaking on. For example, when Elizabeth visits Lady Catherine at Rosings, she is not only terribly inquisitive about how the girl had been raised, but when she asks Elizabeth if she plays the piano, Catherine admits that she herself could not. Though, as she states soon afterward, if she had practiced, there was no doubt that she would have been incredible. Ironically enough, it is due to Lady Catherine’s sudden visitation with Elizabeth near the end of the novel that Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are married. By telling her nephew of the interview that she had with Elizabeth, Catherine allows the seed of hope to appear in Mr. Darcy. Lady Catherine’s attempt at interference between her nephew and Elizabeth is ultimately the reason that the two marry – not to mention that it is a means by which Austen can convey the strong personality she bequeathed upon Elizabeth to show that one’s social station should not limit her, but help her to hold her own in what most people saw as polite-society. Through many instances of dark humor, tragedy and even comedic aspects, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice takes a critical look at the issue of social standing in society and severely reprimands its ideals. Austen distrusted several aspects of the society in which she lived and tried to right its wrongs by satirizing the importance that the gentry placed on social standing and class. Though this may not have worked quite as well as she would have hoped – as most people view Pride and Prejudice as a mere romance story – with her cut and dry, black and white views of what a person should be judged by, Austen clearly wanted her society to realize that a person could only be considered accomplished if they truly had the talents to be – not whether or not they could afford to buy their name. Works Cited Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Penguin, 2003. Print. Copeland, Edward, and Juliet McMaster. The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997. Print. Hamilton, Sylvia N. Constructing Mr. Darcy: Tradition, Gender, and Silent Spaces in Jane Austen. Thesis. University of Central Oklahoma, 2007. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2008. Print. Kuzmics, Helmut, and Roland Axtmann. Authority, State and National Character: the Civilizing Process in Austria and England, 1700-1900. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2007. Print. Mazzeno, Laurence W. Jane Austen: Two Centuries of Criticism. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2011. Print. Selznick, Barbara J. Global Television Co-producing Culture. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2008. Print. Southam, B. C. Jane Austen: the Critical Heritage. London: Routledge, 1999. Print. Walder, Dennis. The Realist Novel. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print. Wilhelm, Julia. Appropriations of Jane Austen's â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† in Contemporary British Fiction. Thesis. Johannes Gutenberg University, 2007. Mainz, Germany: Grin Verlag, 2008. Print.