“I Stand Here Ironing” Through the Feminist Approach Essay Example

â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing† Through the Feminist Approach Paper Tillie Olson’s â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing† is a story told from the perspective of a young mother during the Great Depression. The woman reflects on the hardships she faced while raising her first-born child, Emily. The mother’s experiences were common to many women. The 1930s was a time when patriarchy was prevalent. Women were expected to adhere to domestic duties and pass these practices on to their daughters. Women strove to find husbands to care for them and start families with. Few women obtained the satisfaction of fulfilling their personal ambitions. After years of striving to fit the socially constructed role of a â€Å"woman,† the mother in the story regrets the decisions she made and feels a lack of accomplishment. Emily shares this realization as she witnesses and learns from the mistakes of her mother. She refuses to conform to societal norms in the hopes of achieving a fulfilling life. From the feminist critical perspective, I interpret this story as a depiction of women in a male-dominated society who progress from blind subjugation to realization, resulting in the desire for their daughters to accomplish the things they could not. The mother’s husband abandoned her, leaving her alone at a time when being a young, single mother was unconventional in society. The difficult circumstances led her to unknowingly accept subjugation in an attempt to fit her role in the patriarchal society. Because males were so dominant in the society she grew up in, the mother discredits herself and capitulates her power to the men in her life: â€Å"I had to bring [Emily] to [her father’s] family and leave her† (925). Society instils in her the idea that women are powerless. Rather than fighting it, she succumbs to societal norms and victimizes herself through her femininity. She describes how her â€Å"breasts ached with swollenness† (925), suggesting womanhood is painful and vulnerable. Women were given little autonomy, which is evident as the mother continually allows people she

Another Match Lit essays

Another Match Lit essays These days the music business is a hard business to go into. Every year hundreds of thousands of hopeful artists are turned down because they simply arent good enough. But NY emo/punk foursome Matchbook Romance are a different story. Once known as The Getaway this emotional-hardcore band were so damn good that Epitaph Records plucked 'em right off the internet. The internet really played and plays a major part of our success as a band, says bassist Ryan Kienle, weeks before the band releases West for Wishing, their debut EP. West For Wishing is a sweet taste of their debut album scheduled for release later this year. "Lets start out by starting over, what did I expect, youre no good at lying and Im no good at comebacks." Lovers The band dates back to 1997, with Ryan Kienle (bassist) and Andrew Jordan (vocalist/guitarist) sitting in their lonesome bedrooms, playing their instruments and writing songs of hope for a better future. After belting out a few tunes, the two decided on starting a band and teamed up with Ryan "Judas" DePaolo (guitar) and Aaron Stern (drums) These four quickly scribbled down a few more emotionally sweat screamo tunes and started playing under the name The Getaway. "We experiment a lot when writing songs. We all work hard on making each note and word of our songs something to remember" Kienle says. "Its the best quality of our band. We bridge the gap, taking the best of pop-punk and emo and making something of our own. After writing their first ever songs the band, armed with instruments and a computer constructed a website and began a relentless word-of-mouth crusade, forming links and mailing emails to local kids about shows. "We were promoting all our shows over punk sites and mailing lists and other bands' guest books and message ...

Shaft design features Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Shaft design features - Lab Report Example There are different designs of shafts made each day for specific machines, but most of them will not lack the identified features (Shingley, 2006). Keyway: This is a part of a system in a shaft known as a keyed joint. It comprises of the key, the key seat and the keyway. The key is used for connecting the shaft to the rotating machine and preventing relative rotation between the two. For the key to function, the rotating machine and the shaft must have a key seat and a keyway, which are the pocket and the slot in which the key fits in. Designers argue that the keyway weakens the torsional strength of the shaft since it is mostly on one side of the shaft and has sharp corners. Retaining rings: These are used during the assembling of a machine in joining the elements. They are precision engineered components applied on shafts and bores to provide a shoulder for the positioning, locating and retaining the other parts of the machine to the shaft. The two major types of retaining rings are the internal and the external retaining rings. The internal retaining rings are the rings for bores since the ring fits inside of a hole or bore. The external retaining rings are the ones for shafts since they are installed on the outside part of the shaft. The rings could be installed in axial installation, which is along the axis of the shaft or radial installation, which offers quicker assembly processes and larger clearance diameters as compared to the former. Bearings: These machine elements allow the components of a certain machine to move with respect to each other. Bearings could be found in small machines like watches and also in big machines such as skyscrapers, allowing them to move in case of an earthquake. The bearings are very important elements as without them, all machines would grind to a halt. They could either be contact or non-contact. Contact type

Your choice Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Your choice - Term Paper Example Social security was introduced in the United States through the enactment of the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935.1 The Act was conscripted during President Franklin Roosevelt term as the President’s Committees on Economic Security that was under Frances Perkins. The Act attempted to limit what were seen at the time as the dangers in modern America life that include poverty, unemployment, old age, fatherless children and the encumbrance of widows (Levitan & Levitan, 2003). When President Roosevelt signed the Act into law, he became the first President to support for federal backing for the aged in the society. The Social Security Act if there would be benefits to the retirees and the unemployed as well as a lump-sum benefit when a person had died. The Act also provided money to states to give assistance to the ages under Title 1, unemployment insurance, Title III, public health services Title VI, Maternal and Child Welfare Title V and Aid to families with Dependent Children under Title IV. Various arguments were introduced as to the manner in which the programs benefit would be funded.2 Some of the people believed that the individuals should be funded by using contributions that the individuals had made over the course of employment or careers. While other indicated that using this method would be disadvantage to the people who had begun their career at the time when the program was being implements. This is because they would not have adequate time to accumulate their benefits. Additionally, Social Security was controversial because many of the opponents believed that if the Act was implemented them many people would lose their jobs. The opponents also indicated that the proposal to implement social security would amount to socialism this is because most women and minority groups were excluded from the benefits of old age pensions and unemployment insurance.3 The proponents of the Act or Social Security believed that

Phylosofi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Phylosofi - Essay Example There is a complex relation between the both. We live in a materialistic world but still possess a spiritual self. Despair in human beings are of two forms, willing to be one it is not or doesn’t wish to be one it is. Kierkegaard states that human beings who are immensely involved with the spiritual beliefs are the most affected with despair, hence they themselves are held responsible for pain and sufferings attained due to despair, as it is something faced internally by individuals. Despair brings about frustration and pain making it tough to be overcome. Providing a simple example of a girl who lost her lover Kierkegaard states that she has to overcome with the loss and lead her life on her own similarly Christians need to understand that physical death is un-avoidable and rather overcome their despair with Kierkegaard relates the Christianity and despair to state, that despair is universal in nature. People say that they are not in despair but they are unaware of being in despair except for a true Christian. Any personal illness can be cured by prescribing certain medication but despair can only be overcome by mere belief in â€Å"God†, the only way to reduce the psychological problems and gain eternity. Human self is composed of various components like finite and infiniteness, possibility/necessity, consciousness/lack of consciousness relating itself to itself. The willingness to become itself and overcome despair can only be possible by becoming concrete that is by establishing a relation between these elements. Kierkegaard explains the forms that strike the imbalance of self components: Despair based on the elements of Finitude/ Infinitude and Possibility/ Necessity: Despair due to infinitude, which is when an individual focuses on fantasies and forgetting his own self. Despair due to finitude, which is to just exist as any other person in the society. Life may

Development of a Retail Leader: Wal-Mart

Development of a Retail Leader: Wal-Mart One of the known industries all over the world is Wal-Mart. Wal-mart is considered as a retail giant due to the companys successful business over the years. With good management practices and unique marketing strategies, Wal-Mart was able to operate successfully not only in the United States but also in international market (Hayden et al, 2002). ÂÂ  Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. was first established and founded by Sam Walton at Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. The business growth of the retail store was momentous that within a span of seventeen years in operation, Wal-Mart had already topped annual sales at one billion US dollars. By the end of January in 2002, Wal-Mart has been recognized as the largest retailer in the world a sales record of 218 billion US dollars. With this huge and continuous development, it is no wonder the retail store was able to operate at the global level. The global operation of Wal-Mart was marked by the establishment of its first international store in 1991 at Mex ico City (Govindarajan Gupta, 2001). Through its international reach, an estimate of one hundred million customers are said to visit a Wal-Mart store found somewhere in the world. A total of 1.3 million associates worldwide are employed by the company and are distributed within its 3,200 stores in the United States as well at over a thousand other stores in Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Puerto Rico, China, Germany, Korea and in the United Kingdom (Govindarajan Gupta, 2001). The retail stores of Wal-Mart are operated in different formats worldwide. In general, the business is divided into three main segments: Wal-Mart Stores, Sams Club and International Stores. The Wal-Mart stores are further subdivided into Discount Stores, Supercenters and Neighbourhood Markets. Sams Club on the other hand, is a business segment that consists of membership warehouse clubs. According to the New York Stock Exchange (2005), Wal-Mart Stores operates about 1,478 Discount Stores, 1,471 Supercenters, 538 Sams Club and 64 Neighbourhood Markets within the United States as of January 31, 2004. In addition to this huge local operation, Wal-Mart and its international segment conducts retail operation within eight countries and Puerto Rico. Wal-Marts international segment is made into several formats, which include retail stores, restaurants, discount stores, Sams Club and Supercenters. Aside from these operations, Wal-Mart also owns a 37.8% unconsolidated minority interest in one of Japans retailers, The Seiyu, Ltd. (New York Stock Exchange, 2005). Strategic marketing Management Techniques of Walmart Wal-Mart dominates the American retailing industry due to number of factors like its business model which is still a mystery and its effectiveness in not letting the rivals let know about the weaknesses. Wal-Mart made strategic attempts in the its formulation to dominate the retail market where it has its presence, growth by expansion in the US and Internationally, create widespread name recognition and customer satisfaction in relation to brand name Wal-Mart and branching into new sectors of retailing. It is learnt that Wal-Mart strives on three generic strategies consisting of Focus Strategy, the Differentiation Strategy and overall cost leadership.ÂÂ  Managers strive hard to make their organizations unique, distinctive and identify key success factors that will drive the customers to buy their products.Thus, firm specific resources and capabilities are crucial in explaining the firms performance. The Resource Based View (RBV) explains competitive heterogeneity based on the premise that close competitors differ in their resources and capabilities in important and durable ways. The companys capability can be found through its functionality, reliable performance, like Wal-Mart superior logistics. (Helfat, 2002)ÂÂ  Wal-Mart has firm infrastructure, well equipped in human resource with management professionals and technologically too. Any organizations thrive hard to be successful for which it needs to have better resources and superior capabilities. Wal-Mart has strong RBV with economically and financially very strong enough to stand still in the time of crisis. Pereira states that dominating the retail market is its key strategy. Wal-Mart operates on low price strategy which is operated as every day low prices (EDLP) which builds trust among the customers.(Brunn, 2006)The strategy lies in purchasing the goods at lower prices and selling the goods to customer at much lower prices, cutting the price as far as possible and increasing the profit by increasing the number of sales. This ferociously increases the competition in the market and Wal-Mart competes with all its competitors till it is dominant it the market. Wal-Mart is expanding seriously and rapidly which is also its strategic goal. Wal-Mart employs over 1.3 associates, owns over 4000 stores out of which 3000 are in US and serves around 100 million customers weekly.ÂÂ  Wal-Mart has acquired many international stores and merged with some super stores like ASDA in UK. Wal-Mart far flung network of retail outlets has ensured that Wal-Mart interacts with and has impact on virtually every locality within US. (Helfat, 2002)ÂÂ  The expanded strategy has led the hunger of Wal-Mart to many European Countries. It is learnt that three countries with no Wal-Mart stores became part of corporations international presence wherein the domestic retail chains were taken over by Wal-Mart including 122 Woolco stores in Canada, 21 Wertkauf stores in Germany and 229 ASDA units in United Kingdom. The takeover strategy by Wal-Mart keeps the company at forefront when entering into the new market and the number of competitors is also minimized. The st rategies have helped the Wal-Mart to rein in number one position in international countries making it the largest retailer in the world. It is seen that Wal-Mart has significantly the Porters five force model wherein through proper strategic planning and strategic implementation has led to removal of barrier entry, rivalry from competitors and pricing norms. In regard to substitutes, Wal-Mart in order to achieve its aim of customer satisfaction has selling goods under its own legal brand. ÂÂ  Wal-Marts big box phenomenon has changed the retailing industry in the United States which is often considered as discount stores and makes profit through high volume of purchases and low markup on profits.(Parnell, 2008)Wal-Mart with its low cost and ever expanding strategy has made a dramatic impact since 1962 when Sam Walton first started his business. With this strategy, Wal-Mart has now over 4000 stores and outlets in US and other countries through acquisition and mergers. Marketing Performance management Marketing performance management (MPM) is a term used by marketing professionals to describe the analysis and improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing. This is accomplished by focus on the alignment of marketing activities, strategies, and metrics with business goals.[2] It involves the creation of a metrics framework to monitor marketing performance, and then develop and utilize marketing dashboards to manage marketing performance.[3] This strategy is used by several companies such as IBM, Intel, and Citrix.[3][4][5] Performance management is one of the key processes applied to business operations such as manufacturing, logistics, and product development. The goals of performance management are to achieve key outcomes and objectives to optimize individual, group, or organizational performance. MPM however, is more specific. It focuses on measuring, managing, and analyzing marketing performance to maximize effectiveness and optimize the return of investment (ROI) of marketing.[6] Three elements play a critical role in managing marketing performance-data, analytics, and metrics. Conclusion Walmart has done a lot in the past in order to secure its position as a retail market leader. These include offering low prices, offering good customer service and constant innovation. However, lately the company has grappled with low customer traffic. Market saturation in the middle income market segment, poor international performance and bad public relations as a result of their employee practices. The company should adopt the following strategies in order to ensure future growth; adopt penetrative strategies international markets, introduce good product packages for products favored by affluent clients and improve health insurance plans within the company. These will go a long way in sustaining the companys positions as the USs retail leader. And as the animosity against Wal-Mart becomes more widespread, here and in foreign countries, Wal-Mart is going to have to work harder to maintain their good reputation.Wal-Marts foundation will become increasingly more important for giving things back to the community. In order for Wal-Mart to stay at the top of their game and follow the company strategy and achieve their key policy goals, they are going to have deal better with their stakeholders and make sure they guard their reputation well.

How Love is Expressed in the Hunchback of Notre Dame Essays -- Victor H

Throughout the novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, many forms of love appear. There is true love that comes from the heart and is pure and on the other hand there is a lustful love which is not love at. Another love that is shown throughout the book, is love obsession, where one falls in love with someone and puts them before everything. In the Hunchback one can observe these loves and how they compare to one another as well as which one is best and why. In the end we will be able to see that even though there are many forms of love, many of them do not come from the right place and have the right intentions. As a result one will suffer from expressing the wrong types of love. The first love is a lustful love. This is where one is more attracted to the person’s body rather than the person themselves. Lust, according to the Webster dictionary, can be described as a very strong sexual desire. This is what Phoebus was feeling when he meets Esmeralda. He desires her looks, but not her heart. He was not really feeling love but just tricking her. As a result he was stabbed, almost died, and caused Esmeralda to be hopelessly in love with him even though he did not love her back. Another love that is presented in the Hunchback is a love that comes from desperation and/or frustration. It is when one falls in love with someone simply because they were the first person they ran into to get away from their problems. The problem with this love is that the person who expresses it is not truly feeling love. There are so many problems in their life that they think that by loving someone they will be able to escape their problems. That someone was Esmeralda for Claude Frollo. She happened to be there when he was frustrated and as a result became... ...er way and never betrayed her. He did all this even though he knew she would never love him back. That is true love. From the things written above one can see the different forms of that were taken from the book, the Hunchback of Notre Dame. It can be observed how much one can about love from the books we read. One can also learn the greatest form of love and how to express it. One has learned that it is impossible to love without showing it. Out of all the loves mentioned above, true love is the best and the only real love. If one truly loves he/she will find themselves having room to love even more. For one can never love too much. Love is something that one should do every day and continue to do for the rest of one’s life. One needs to do whatever it takes to keep on loving. For in the words of William Shakespeare "If music be the food of love, then play on."

Humanitarian Aid Essay

Grants are mainly used to help recipient countries to build hospitals, schools and low-cost houses, and support well-digging or water-supply projects, and other medium and small projects for social welfare. In addition, grants are used in projects in the fields of human resources development cooperation, technical cooperation, assistance in kind and emergency humanitarian aid. Interest-free Loans Interest-free loans are mainly used to help recipient countries to construct public facilities and launch projects to improve people’s livelihood. The tenure of such loans is usually 20 years, including five years of use, five years of grace and ten years of repayment. Currently, interest-free loans are mainly provided to developing countries with relatively good economic conditions. Concessional Loans Concessional loans are mainly used to help recipient countries to undertake productive projects generating both economic and social benefits and large and medium-sized infrastructure projects, or to provide complete plant, mechanical and electrical products, technical services and other materials. Concessional loans are raised by the Export-Import Bank of China on the market, and since the loan interest is lower than the benchmark interest of the People’s Bank of China, the difference is made up by the State as financial subsidies. At present, the annual interest rate of China’s concessional loans is between 2% and 3%, and the period of repayment is usually 15 to 20 years (including five to seven years of grace). By the end of 2009, China had provided concessional loans to 76 foreign countries, supporting 325 projects, of which 142 had been completed. Of China’s concessional loans, 61% are used to help developing countries to construct transportation, communications and electricity infrastructure, and 8. 9% are used to support the development of energy and resources such as oil and minerals. [Figure 1 Sectorial Distribution of Concessional Loans from China (by the end of 2009)] 1. BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhuanet) — China’s Tibet Autonomous Region received international aid gratis of 144 million U. S. dollars from the early 1980 to October 2009. Since 1980, Tibet has benifited from 158 such aid projects from international communities. These projects involve poverty relief, medical services, education and new energy development, with 90 percent implemented in rural areas. 2. Maharashtra seeks aid from abroad for infra projects rs. 4000 crore Education Aid : Education is a right. It’s the key to a better childhood, and a better future for children, their communities and their countries. When you hear someone say Educational Poverty it does not sound as bad as suffering from hunger and disease.

Importance of Education to Student

Importance of Education to Student Student athletes have numerous personal values and traits that have enabled them to exist athletically. These traits comprise of discipline, resilience, commitment, work ethics, as well as, the ability to handle pressure. However, most student athletes do not realize that these traits can be transferred to academics, as well.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Importance of Education to Student-Athletes specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Education enables student athletes to develop appropriate skills that they require to be independent and to succeed in academics. Although athletics forms a vital part of a student athletes’ life, it is vital to understand that they are students in the first place. Athletics may have contributed to their admission in schools they attend. However, the main reason is to be educated. Student athletes should understand that the moment they start high school, universities will enhance t heir scores in academics. It is up to them to decide whether to keep doors open or closed depending on their ability on what they do. They should understand that the fundamental things can be done as well in academics. Some schools or colleges let student athletes obtain inadequate school work. These student athletes are provided with favors that other students do not receive. This has made student athletes get discouraged, not caring about the advantages or disadvantages of education in their career. Student athletes spare a lot of time to prepare for success in their profession. In spite of this, athletics drain them of physical and mental energy; hence, making their levels of concentration in class to reduce. In addition, student athletes are accorded exceptional attention since some of them are given make-up tests or alternative. Most athlete departments only require student athletes to be eligible but are not concerned with their academic success. Student athletes should attend school with the purpose of obtaining an education. However, some student athletes have turned the opportunity to a profit making activity. They obtain scholarships in the form of tuition, accommodation, meals, as well as, fees. In addition, some of these student athletes also obtain grants and opportunity funds to meet their personal needs. Furthermore, they get the opportunity to travel and socialize with other people.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Most athlete students do not value education and the reason of becoming athletic students. Thus, education enables student athletes to develop and refine their skills. The major reason of participating in college athletics is to train a student athlete how to succeed in life. Furthermore, education helps in shaping the character and mental toughness. It allows student athletes to know how to manage time well, as well as, other valuable life experiences. Participating in athletic is an education tool but this fact is misunderstood by many people. In fact, the participation in athletics is an added advantage. Obtaining an education from a recognized institution make student athletes to interact with other people, hence develop friendships that are long-lasting. Education enables them to acquire personal and professional success through participating as student athletes. Furthermore, student athletes who understand the benefit of education will get lucrative jobs after graduation and will also value the benefits of scholarships, as well as, the value of student athletes’ experiences. In conclusion, education enables the student athletes to have knowledge in tackling society’s challenging demands during and after college life. Student athletes will have personal development academically, socially, emotionally, as well as, athletically and gain higher maturity levels, self responsibility, overal l success, and be responsible members in the society.

Free Essays on After The First Death

Book Notes Title: After The First Death Author: Robert Cormier Date Started: 02/06/00 Date Ended: 03/06/00 The Characters: a) Main Characters Miro: Miro is a teen-age terrorist that came from another country know, in the story, as their â€Å"Homeland†. Even Miro himself is uncertain of his age because during the training (Or as they call it, school) age is not important. Te training is preparing them for terrorism. Miro is feeling less and has learned not to give in to the call of nature. For example: Things such as hunger, Restroom needs and most important sleep and tiredness. In the story Miro is a doubtful teen looking for action. Artkin: Artkin is a very dark and dangerous man. He rescued Miro and his brother from the refugee camps and took them to the school. Artkin is very educated in the sense of terrorism. He taught Miro everything he knows and is the leader of that specific team of â€Å"Freedom Fighters†. His age and Identity is also unknown Kate: Kate is the victim of the hijacking of the bus. She thinks that all of the terrorists are monsters and don't deserve to live. Kate has red hair and has freckles. She also has a very weak bladder and often urinates uncontrollably. Miro thinks that most American boys would find her to be attractive. Ben: Be is the son of one of the head generals that are apart of the operation on stopping these terrorists. Later in the story Ben is the one who is chosen to deliver a message to the terrorist and doing so he barely escapes death. Because of that Ben and his father haven't spoken for months and maybe even years. Also because Ben told all the information to the terrorists he could no longer live with himself so he committed suicide. There was no real description of Ben because the story was told from his point of view. Mark: Mark is bens father who feels guilty for forcing Ben to deliver a message to the terrorists and as a result Ben kills him self. At the end Ben and his father has a very... Free Essays on After The First Death Free Essays on After The First Death Book Notes Title: After The First Death Author: Robert Cormier Date Started: 02/06/00 Date Ended: 03/06/00 The Characters: a) Main Characters Miro: Miro is a teen-age terrorist that came from another country know, in the story, as their â€Å"Homeland†. Even Miro himself is uncertain of his age because during the training (Or as they call it, school) age is not important. Te training is preparing them for terrorism. Miro is feeling less and has learned not to give in to the call of nature. For example: Things such as hunger, Restroom needs and most important sleep and tiredness. In the story Miro is a doubtful teen looking for action. Artkin: Artkin is a very dark and dangerous man. He rescued Miro and his brother from the refugee camps and took them to the school. Artkin is very educated in the sense of terrorism. He taught Miro everything he knows and is the leader of that specific team of â€Å"Freedom Fighters†. His age and Identity is also unknown Kate: Kate is the victim of the hijacking of the bus. She thinks that all of the terrorists are monsters and don't deserve to live. Kate has red hair and has freckles. She also has a very weak bladder and often urinates uncontrollably. Miro thinks that most American boys would find her to be attractive. Ben: Be is the son of one of the head generals that are apart of the operation on stopping these terrorists. Later in the story Ben is the one who is chosen to deliver a message to the terrorist and doing so he barely escapes death. Because of that Ben and his father haven't spoken for months and maybe even years. Also because Ben told all the information to the terrorists he could no longer live with himself so he committed suicide. There was no real description of Ben because the story was told from his point of view. Mark: Mark is bens father who feels guilty for forcing Ben to deliver a message to the terrorists and as a result Ben kills him self. At the end Ben and his father has a very...

United States Vs. India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

United States Vs. India - Essay Example The rate of unemployment according to the CIA Factbook was 9.5% in 2009 and 9.1% in 2008 in India. When compared to the USA, the unemployment rate is very similar for the year 2009 as the country had 9.4% unemployment but in 2008, the rate was 5.8%. The rise in unemployment in the recent years in US has been caused by the economic conditions and the sub-prime crisis. General Motors filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and many other companies which employed a large proportion of the population also closed down. Many companies made lay-offs to reduce costs as their products were not being sold in the market. Many economists say that the unemployment that the US faces is seasonal and will improve with time. The inflation rate in the US for consumer prices was -0.7% in 2009 and 3.8% in 2008 (CIA, 2010). In contrast, India had an inflation rate of 9.8% in 2009 and 8.3% in 2008 (CIA, 2010). The rate of inflation is very high in India as compared to the USA which was negative for the last year. This high inflation rate in India accounts for the high demand of products in the country and the low rate in US accounts for the low demand and higher production in the economy. The US is the largest hub of technology in the world with per capita GDP of US$ 46,900 where as the Indian economy has per capita GDP of US$ 3,100 as of 2009 (CIA, 2010). Both these countries derive most of the GDP from the services sector and have economic liberalization policies. India has become a well known exporter of software products and has an edge of low labor cost. Although more than half of the labor force is self-employed in the agricultural industry in India, but the sector only accounts for 17% of the net income of the country. The US only derives 1.2% of its total revenue from agricultural sector and 71 % of the revenue from the services sector (CIA, 2010). USA has been struck hard by the worldwide economic downturn and the country itself

Heart of Darkness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Heart of Darkness - Essay Example At this point the fact to be admitted is that when Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness, and even at the time presented in the story, the British colonial empire was at its zenith. It enjoyed colonies in Hong Kong, Malaya, India, and Africa. On the one hand, the work allows the reader to look into Congo through the eyes of an imperialist. For example, the very beginning of the novel points out that Thames is â€Å"a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth† (Conrad 6). Thus, some critics argue that this point itself reveals how racist Joseph Conrad is. However, the mere fact is that the novel puts forward the message that even the notion of civilization is an illusion. To illustrate: for Marlow, reaching Congo is a realization of the hollowness of his own notion of civilization. He fails to understand why the cannibals employed on his ship should not eat the other passengers (Conrad 57). Also, he feels that the cannibals possess no morality and conscience so that t hey can control their own basic animal desires. However, in the same situation, Marlow reaches the conclusion that the people along with him on the ship must not look so appetizing. It is ironic here to note that the same civilized Marlow who believes that the cannibals have no moral values proves that if he were in the position of the Africans, he would do the same, too. In other words, Conrad effectively portrays that the concept of civilization and enlightenment are rather superficial in nature. Despite the so-called civility, there is an underlying beast in humans that just comes out in the right circumstances. In other words, in the case of Marlow, the trip to Africa made him understand the basic animal-like tendencies in humans that thrive in the wild. Also, he realizes the fact that the civility the Europeans try to introduce in the wild is rather phony in nature because the cruelties of the wild are not crueler than the cruelties of imperialism. Admittedly, one cannot deny t he fact that Conrad was an imperialist. It becomes evident from the fact that Marlow is highly careful to ensure that he does not fall prey to the charms of the wild as happened to Kurtz. While Kurtz admitted the rules of the wild, Marlow is not ready to descend into that darkness. Thus, one gets the insight that instead of rejecting Western culture and ideals, the purpose of Conrad is to point out that most of the time; the Western society is not functioning in the way it is supposed to function. In other words, the Western ideals fail to perform in a more human way than the ideals of the savages. Another perfect example is the way the slaves are treated by the West. He says â€Å"they were dying slowly---it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now† (Conrad 42). Again, one has to remember the fact that Conrad resorted to such a statement at a time when imperialism was at the zenith of its power around the world. Though it is possible for critics to claim that one can find fragments of imperialist ideologies in the work of Conrad, they cannot forget the fact that Conrad expresses in clear terms as to how ones morality and conscience will condemn the savagery committed by European imperialism as much as one condemns the savagery of the wild. Here, one gains the insight that Marlow - the conscience of Conrad - is in constant conflict with the