Lord of the Flies Essay Example

Lord of the Flies Essay Civilization vs. Savagery What do symbols illustrate in novels? In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, symbols are illustrated through people, objects, and colors. In this novel, a group of children are faced with the difficulty of living isolated from society after their plane crashes on a deserted island. With no formal civilization, parents, or rules, the kids have the freedom to do as they choose. Throughout the novel, the boys find and use objects on the island that symbolize something of different importance. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses different objects to symbolize the difference between civilization and savagery. One of the first symbols presented in the Lord of the Flies is the conch shell. After the boys’ plane has crashed on the island, Ralph and Piggy, two of the main characters, find the conch lying in the sand on the beach. Ralph immediately recognizes the conch as being a possible way â€Å"to call the children to assemblies. † (Cox 170). The conch soon becomes one of the most powerful symbols of civilization in the novel. â€Å"He can hold it, when he’s speaking. † (Golding 33). This quote refers to the idea that, whoever has possession of the shell, may speak. It soon becomes a symbol of democratic power, proactively governing the boys. We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer With Ralph being the leader, and Piggy by his side, the conch shell serves as an equivalent to the executive branch of government. He who holds the shell is superior, at that time. When savagery begins to take control of the boys as the novel progresses, the conch shell begins to lose power. After innocent Ralph is involved with the murdering of Simon, he holds onto the conch tightly, remembering the sense of graciousness that he once had. The conch shell ends up getting smashed during the scene of Piggy’s death, when Roger kills him with ‘the rock,’ another symbol in the book. Another symbol presented in Lord of the Flies is the beast. The beast, representing horror, is the most intricate of all the symbols. It is unique because it is not an actual object, but instead it is the imagination of the boys. It shows the inclination toward evil that all human beings are faced with in a time of great disaster. Simon, a character of human goodness rather than savage, comes up with the conclusion that the beast was not actually an object or figure, but instead it was the boys themselves. â€Å"Maybe it’s only us. † (Golding 89). After Simon speaks of this, the boys erupt in anger. Jack and the rest of his savage boys fall into chaos. Jack promises that there is a beast and they will find and kill it. The boys’ strong will to kill shows their fear of the beast and it disables the connection that they once had with civilization. As the savagery of the boys continues, the beast becomes looked upon as a leader, and they begin to make sacrifices. The erratic behavior expressed by the boys is what brings the beast out of their imaginations and portrays it as something that actually exists. The more devilish the boys become, the more the beast seems to be real. Along with the conch, the next symbol, the signal fire, was also present at the beginning of the novel. This symbol, representing life, was one of the only chances the boys had for reconnecting with society. Two signal fires were made on the island. One was built on the mountain in hope that a plane would see it, and the other was built on the beach, in hope that a ship would see it. In the first few chapters, the boys strived hard to keep the fire going, except for Jack. Instead of focusing on the fire, Jack was more excited about hunting for pigs. â€Å"There was a ship. Out there. You said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out! † (Golding 70). This shows how much the fire meant. Knowing that the boys may only have one chance at being saved, Ralph was furious at Jack when he found out that he let the fire burn out. The fire was so important to the boys on the island because it represented the small amount of civilization still left inside of them. When the fire burnt out and the ship did not see them, the boys ultimately gave up. They recognized the fact that they weren’t going to be saved and they would have to live lives of savages. Oddly enough however, at the end of the story the boys are saved because a ship sees a fire on the island; not the signal fire, but a fire made from the destruction caused by the savage boys. Another symbol is presented through the disability of one of the characters, Piggy, whose vision is much below average. He has glasses and these glasses play an important role throughout the book. Piggy is the smartest and most intellectual out of all the boys. From the very beginning of the novel Piggy’s intellect is shown when he uses his glasses to start the first ignal fire. He uses the lenses to reflect the sun’s light on a piece of wood. Piggy’s glasses play a key role in keeping the boys’ minds focused on being rescued. As long as they had a signal fire lit, the chances of being rescued were still probable. The boys’ chances of being returned to society vanish after an altercation between Ralph and Jack, where Jack steals Piggy’s glasses from his face. Ralph and Piggy are now left abandoned after Jack, now with the glasses, moves to the other side of the island with a few of the other boys. Piggy, without his glasses, cannot see. This represents the change from civilization to savagery. At the start of the novel, when Piggy first has his glasses, the boys on the island remain civilized, making attempts to keep the signal fire strong. As the novel progresses, and Piggy looses his glasses, the decline of civilization toward savagery is present. The collapse of the boys is also revealed through the symbolic masks that the boys design. These masks, which are used by Jacks followers called ‘the hunters,’ are made of clay paint. The evilness of the boys is clearly shown when they wear the masks. It is almost as if an infectious disease is spread upon them; they lose all sense of civilization. After Jack paints the mask on his face for the first time, it is clear what it does to him. â€Å"He began to dance and his laughter became a blood thirsty snarling. â€Å"He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness. † (Golding 64). This not only shows the cruelty of the mask, but it also shows how it opens Jack into the world of being a savage. Also, Golding mentions the colors of Jack’s first mask as being Red, White, and Black. These colors symbolize â€Å"violence, terror, and evil. † (Golding). The darkest and most violent symbol on the island is the rock. Roger, one of the savage boys, uses the rock to kill Piggy. Comparable to the mask, the rock is red representing violence. â€Å"High overhead, Roger with a sense of delirium abandonment, leaned all of his weight on the lever. † (Golding 180). This describes the scene when Roger, standing on a cliff, pushes the rock down on Piggy. The scene in the story when Roger kills Piggy represents more than just the death of one of the protagonists. Not only does the rock smash Piggy, but it also shatters the conch. The conch and Piggy were a few of the only figures of civilization left on the island. At this point, almost all the boys become savages and feel no sympathy towards the death of Piggy. In Lord of the Flies, the main characters are used to signify important thoughts and concepts. Piggy represents â€Å"prudence, logic, science, and the process on thought, which he uses throughout the story to remain civilized. † (Taylor). Piggy is the thinker behind Ralph, the leader, who comes up with ideas such as starting the fire with his glasses. His intellect represents the world of civilization that the boys once lived in. Simon has been given the characteristic of a mystic, or someone that is supernatural. He signifies â€Å"the Christ-figure. † (Spitz). In an Interview, William Golding even refers to Simon as â€Å"a saint. † (Kermode 219). He is shy and incomplete, yet he uses the intellect that he has to help others. Ralph, who has been the leader from early in the novel, is the most important representation of civilization on the island. Even though he loses his best friend Piggy, his friend Simon, and the conch, he still remains civilized. Like Simon, he learns that savagery is present among all humans. Jack, being the first of two main antagonists, is the number one exemplary of savagery on the island. His lust for power and his rampant terror among the boys sets him far apart from the civilized. This is present at the very beginning of the novel when Jack becomes upset about loosing the top leadership position to Ralph. The second antagonist is Roger. Roger shows the cruelty and bloodthirstiness of the savages at their climax. Roger, being one of Jack’s main followers, ends up murdering Piggy with the rock. The most significant and most apparent symbol in the story is the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies, which gives the book its title, is a slaughtered pig’s head that is placed onto a spear. The head, seen by Simon, is described as gruesome and terrifying. When Simon stumbles upon it in the Jungle, it seems to talk to him, telling him about the evil that lies within all humans. The dead pig’s head also tells Simon that he is going to have some â€Å"fun† with him, which foreshadows Simon’s death. The Lord of the Flies is ultimately a symbol of terror, but more importantly a symbol of the devil. The evil shown through the pig’s head is the same evil that has been causing the civility of the boys to decline. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses different objects to symbolize the difference between civilization and savagery. From the beginning of the novel to the end, the decline of civilization toward savagery is present among the boys. At the start, the boys tried hard to remain civilized by using objects such as the signal fire and Piggy’s glasses. As the novel progressed, the turn from civilization to savagery began to take place after Jack lets his lust for savagery get the best of him when he steals Piggy’s glasses. Lastly, at the end of the novel, the domination of savagery is present with the masks, the Lord of the Flies, and the rock. Once all hope of returning to civilization is lost, the boys accept their lives as savages. The symbolism that Golding employs in Lord of the Flies shows the difference between the civilization that the boys’ once knew and the savagery that fell upon them. Works Cited Cox, C. B. A review of ‘Lord of the Flies. ’ † Critical Quarterly 2. 2 (Summer 1960): 112-17. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz. Vol. 58. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 170-72. Dunn, Daisy, â€Å"Book Blog| The Spectator. † Spectator Magazine| World Politics Current Events, News, and Discussion. The Spectator. 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2011. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print. Golding, William. â€Å"Lord of the Flies Themes| Gradesaver. † Study Guides Essay Editing| Gradesaver. Gradesaver LLC, 1999. Web. 9. Nov. 2011. Kermode, Frank. â€Å"The Meaning of It All. † Lord of the Flies: Casebook Edition. Ed. James R. Baker Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1988. Spitz, David. â€Å"Power And Authority: An Interpretation of Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies. ’ † The Antioch Review 30. 1 (Spring 1970): 21-33. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Sharon R. Gunton. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 1981. 172-73. Taylor H. Harry. Rev. of The Case Against William Golding’s Simon-Piggy. (2004): 65-67. Bloom, Harold. â€Å"Bloom’s Guides: Comprehensive Research Study Guides. † Print. Lord Of The Flies Essay Example Lord Of The Flies Paper I will now talk about the opening of Harry Hooks second screen adaptation of William Goldings cult novel about a group of British school children that revert to savagery when marooned on a deserted island. The new adaptation replaces British school children with a group of American military cadets. Harry Hook is also a very effective professional film director who employs a wide range of camera techniques. At the start of Harry Hooks version of Lord Of The Flies we see a blank screen for about 10 seconds, we also hear very strange electronic music, which gives a strange intriguing effect. This also gives the audience no idea about what is going on this is very similar to Peter Brooks first shot in his screen adaptation of Lord Of The Flies only Brook has a bell in the background. We see the foot descending. When we see the foot it gives a shocking effect, but as we then see the full male body descending it seems quite peaceful. While we see this there is no noise at all. This is also very similar to Peter Brookss version of The Lord Of The Flies because I think Brook uses Cricket and people clapping politely to represent peace, Harry Hook decides to use the silence to represent peace. We will write a custom essay sample on Lord Of The Flies specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Lord Of The Flies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Lord Of The Flies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer When we see the man slowly sinking past the camera we see he is wearing a pilots uniform. The audience can infer that this man is a pilot. The audience can also deduce that we are in the sea or underwater. We then see bubbles rising from his mouth we can now infer that he is drowning; we then see a blue screen this is confusing the audience are trying to guess what is happening. The camera then cuts to a shot of boys above the water, the water is splashing against the camera and making the camera move so we can not see exactly what is going on, we hear loud screaming there is a sense of panic and worry. Harry Hook has used the camera in a first person point of view so it seems like we are actually seeing the view that one of the boys would see. We then see an underwater shot looking upwards we see flailing legs and hear muffled shouting. I like this camera technique because it creates a sense of confusion and disorientation. This camera technique was used a lot in the film Jaws it created a sense of panic and distress because when ever we seen an underwater shot in Jaws we knew something bad was going to happen just like when we hear the drum in Peter Brooks version of The Lord Of The Flies we know something bad is going to happen. The camera then rotates 360 degrees looking upwards from under the water. This shows the vulnerability of the survivors. We then see another underwater shot of a boy swimming down again. The audience is confused wondering what is he after? Then see a mid shot of a life raft then exploding open this startles the audience and explains how they survive and also what the boy was so desperate to retrieve from the water. In the next shot we see the title credits Lord Of The Flies on a silver and black background. And just like the Peter Brook version the letters stand out from the black background. We hear jaunty music drums, violins and flutes it has a very Irish jig feel to it, which in my opinion creates a sense of adventure and excitement. The next shot we see an extreme long shot of the island where their destination is. The raft floats onto the screen from a distance showing the survivors, who there are about twenty children and one pilot, unconscious. The boys wade ashore to where their journey begins. Lord of the Flies Essay Example Lord of the Flies Paper Lord of the Flies was written in the 50s, a decade or so after the war. The war demonstrated the savagery of the human race most famously so with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The book is a reflection of Goldings pessimism of human nature. The island becomes a microcosm of the wider world where fallen human nature leads to a huge war. When all the boys meet together in chapter 2, there is initially some conflict between Ralph and Jack, but this is just a struggle of egos and not necessarily showing any kind of savagery. There is at first an agreement to order the island with a democratic system, and this is first represented by the conch, which is in effect the symbol for democracy on the island. Ill give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when hes speaking. Originally we see the boys as mildly presentable, most noticeably the choir who are introduced to us in a formation all in identical black clothing Each boy wore a square black cap with a silver badge in it. Their bodies from throat to ankle, were hidden with black cloaks. But soon all the boys except Piggy become far more scruffy and disorganised and eventually develop animalistic behaviour. These traits are most prominent in Jack. Here are some quotes showing his less civilised appearance Tattered shorts, hair is considerably longer, His bare back was a mass of dark freckles and peeling sunburn. He is described as dog like, flared nostrils hiss of indrawn breath, eyes are bolting and nearly mad. He speaks more aggressively now aswell as being offensive suddenly Jack shouted in rage Are you accusing? He and his now group of hunters which in itself is a descent into savagery turning a group of choir boys to hunters now discover bloodlust and have somewhat of an obsession with hunting. We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer On Jacks first hunting attempt we saw reluctance in killing the pig. Perhaps because his consience is trying to prevent him from crossing the line into savagery. The next time Jack sees the pig he attacks it with no hesitation at all. He swung back his right arm and hurled the spear with all his strength. compulsion to kill Not only does he not hesitate when hunting anymore but he actually enjoys it as stated by Ralph But you like it! You want to hunt. Which is not followed by a denial from Jack. Hunting is becoming a personal preoccupation for him. Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood. Is Jacks most emphatic statement concerning hunting, and cements the idea in the readers head Jack is now a savage. His attitude rubs of on the boys, they become more savage and are made into a tribe, with painted faces and a desire to kill. The boys sat down and panted like dogs. paint our faces so they wouldnt see-surround them and then.. An example of Jacks attitude rubbing of on the choir boys is when Roger and Maurice kick over the littluns sand castles kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones. Maurice followed, laughing, and added to the destruction. The fact that the small boys were known with the generic title of littluns and bullied about due to the social heirachy in place is explained by the fact there is no society where the boys are. No mothers watching their children the society is their own, and with those rules out of place Golding shows, this cruel nature is in all of us, but society restricts us from demonstrating it. Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand. Now there was no parent to let fall a heavy hand. The whole system of democracy begins to fail early on in the book, Jacks stubbornness to cooperate is a main cause of this, he hunts on his own and takes away many of the boys from democracy All at once the crowd swayed towards the island and were gone-following Jack. Most of the boys do not play their part in the democratic society Theyre off bathing, or eating, or playing Ralph makes meetings and everyone talks and makes decisions, but very rarely are these ideas actually into action Every day. Twice a day. We talk. Jack insists on dictatorship, he breaks the rules frequently and likes to control the group and not hear others views. Eventually he breaks away from the group and forms his own, who are complete savages and only seek to cause destruction upon the island. He becomes somewhat of a tribal chief, dressing himself up as an idol The move from democracy to dictatorship is shown through tribal dancing, chanting, feasting, disregard for the littluns. The tribe do not use names, they sacrifice a pigs head to the beast. The conch loses power throughout the book mainly because of Jack manipulating its purpose and rules. For instance he says the conch doesnt count at the top of the mountain and eventually it is destroyed in the fight between the two tribes. One can also detect the descend into savagery through the events of the boys using rocks and stones and making fires. The great rock of pink granite is the meeting place of the boys for meetings and could therefore be seen as the physical symbol of organisation, democracy and civilisation manifested on the island. Rocks and stones are soon items that aggression are taken out, for example there is a part of the book where Roger throws stones at Henry, even though he deliberately misses him because the way he acted in a civilised society is still fresh in his mind. here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. He is excited at the prospect of mastery over Henrys actions, an emotion showing fallen human nature. In Chapter 6 we see a party led by Ralph and Jack lead a party to hunt the beast on a previously unexplored part of the island. All but Ralph become restless with the challenge of being rescued and are instead compelled to tip over rocks, but this time it has a darker motive. The rocks are not just tipped for fun as they were with Jack, Simon and Ralph early on, but they are tools of losing aggression. The climax of rock tipping is met when Ralph and Piggy and the twins go to Jacks tribe on the fort. Roger finds a rock that would be suitable to crush the people down below a log had been jammed under the topmost rock and another lever under that a full effort would send the rock thundering down. Note that Roger no longer hesitates when it comes to using rocks to inflict pain, the invisible force that is his civilised self is now gone. Roger pushes the rock down and kills Piggy, the group have commited a deliberate act of murder and it completes the descendance of his tribe into evil, savage behaviour. The conch exploded into a thousand tiny fragments and ceased to exist this is a symbol of the complete and utter annhialation of democracy, order, and civilization. It holds the significance of Piggys glasses being broken (the breakdown of true vision) but on a grander scale. Also fire holds a role in the descent into savagery, originally fire is a good thing. It seems as though it is the boys escape from the island and perhaps their only hope, this would be done by sending up smoke which they hoped would be seen by a passing boat/ship If a ship comes near the island they may notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. This plan eventually turns into an assault on nature, the fire crawled through leaves and brushwood was savage with smoke and flame The fire spreads across the island and Golding suggests the death of the boy with the mulberry birthmark. Golding is perhaps demonstrating symbolically how all humans are born with the mark of original sin, and are destined to be evil and go to hell. This is suggested by the line Piggy looked nervously into hell. The task of keeping the rescue fire alight becomes increasingly difficult, Jacks group finds hunting a more desirable occupation and only Ralph, Piggy and Simon are left with the fire. A turning point in the book is when the fire goes out and a ship goes by without noticing the boys. The fire going out is symbolic of the hope of being rescued dying out, and the ship going away shows the boys going further and further from civilisation. The hunters later come back and look disappointed that the fire is gone, but a dead pig on the fire rises their spirits and it seems that eating the dead pig seems more important to them than the prospect of rescue, which is a demonstration of the group turning to savagery. At one point when Sam and Eric are guarding the fire, the flames illuminate the outline of the dead parachutist, this invokes fear them and they run away convinced they have seen the beast. Fear is then felt by all in the group at some point, even the rationally Piggy is swept away by supersticion. It is fear that is detrimental to the state of the group, sincere statements from Sam and Eric leave little room for doubt. Weve seen the beast with our own eyes-No we werent asleep they even give a detailed account of how the beast chased them through the forest. The groups response was a strong one The circle of boys shrank away in horror. Sam and Erics irrational fear has been passed to all other boys, even those who try to combat it feel fear, even Simon is fearful of it However Simon thought of the beast, there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human race once heroic and sick. Even though the boys descend from civilisation into savagery there are glimpses of their previous states of mind even in the light of their situation. Boys state their addresses and Jack flinches when describing how he killed a pig. Percival Wemys Madison, The Vicarage, Harcourt St. Anthony, Hants, telephone, telephone, telephone Civilisation is in the boys minds, but gradually savagery descends and we see all traces of society fade away, most noticeably in Jacks new found bloodlust and lack of hesitation when killing pigs. Lord of the Flies Essay Example Lord of the Flies Essay Argument 1: Civilization vs. Savagery Every human has a central instinct lying within them. It is not a question of how close to the actual surface it appears, but rather how well an individual controls and deals with it. In a state of increasing distress and panic, what is one truly capable of? Can one remain sophisticated or will the temptation of their dark inner most thoughts take over, bringing out the savage which exists in us all? William Golding’s Lord of the Flies explores this inquiry through an allegory represented by a group of boys who have been marooned on a deserted island, with no surviving adults. Lord of the Flies has been interpreted and analyzed in several different manners. It has been derived that the allegory of Civilization vs. Savagery is among the strongest interpretations based on considerable supporting evidence. William Goldings Lord of the Flies allegorically shows the good and evil that co-exists in every human being. Each character and symbol displays this possible by what it represents. Ralph and Jack allegorically represent opposing political forces: Jack as the dictator and Ralph as the prototype of a democratic leader. The disappearance of authority figures and the prospect of fun, however, also bring with them fear, for the boys are scared of the possibility of long-term abandonment on the island, a fear that is to be reinforced later by the monster. (Golding, note 1, p. 33) The island represents the archetypal garden and the conch shell which represents power. Golding uses British schoolboys to prove that a little bit of evil exists in all of us. Each of t hese symbols help in proving that we all have some evil in our hearts. â€Å"Everything is taken from the ship. Nothing is invented. We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It is all painstakingly applied on the island. Time is nothing but the time necessary for capital to produce a benefit as the outcome of work. And the providential function of God is to guarantee a return. God knows his people, the hardworking honest type, by their beautiful properties, and the evil doers, by their poorly maintained, shabby property. Robinsons companion is not Eve, but Friday, docile towards work, happy to be a slave, and too easily disgusted by cannibalism. Any healthy reader would dream of seeing him eat Robinson. † (Gilles Deleuze, p. 12) Ralph begins the story as a carefree boy who does not understand the tragedy amongst the boys. Ralph soon realizes a need for authority and becomes the true leader of the boys. He represents a democratic leader and a traditional form of government. To enforce a parliamentary procedure, he uses to conch shell. Weve got to talk about this fear and decide theres nothing in it. (Golding, note, 1, p. 88) This symbolizes power and authority. In the Civilization vs. Savagery allegory Ralph is part of civilization. He represents reason and leadership. While on the island it was Ralph who first gathered everyone on the beach. It was there that he was elected chief and he established their society. He runs a democracy where everyone votes on issues and he is willing to take everyone’s opinion into consideration. He believes that as long as they stay civilized they can easily survive, live in harmony, and eventually be rescued. â€Å"We’ve got to have rules and obey them,† (Golding, p. 42). Ralph insists on having rules on the island and at first Jack agrees with him although his jealousy for Ralph’s power drives him to constantly undermine and disobey Ralph and his requests. Argument 2: As a religious allegory The significance of Golding’s work is buried deep in his allegorical symbolism. The central focus of Golding’s allegory is the conflict between good and evil. Through his work, Golding attempts to define the nature of evil. He demonstrates the overwhelming presence of evil in every aspect of human life. He depicts evil in his story in many ways. Golding elaborates on the problems of moral choice as well as the inevitability of original sin and human fault. The blindness of self deception, as expressed by the boys, further aids in the development of Lord of the Flies as a religious allegory. During the time in which William Golding devised his allegory, the typical writing style of his contemporaries was centered about an uncertainty of human values. â€Å"The writers of the 1950’s exhibited a fundamental doubt whether life has any importance whatsoever† (Cox 49). Golding contrasted this typical point of view by describing friendship, guilt, pain, and horror with a full sense of how deeply meaningful these can be for the individual. Golding used young boys to show how religion and the teachings of the Bible remain present in every man’s life. Thus, Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, is a religious allegory with ties to both the new and Old Testament of the Bible. The success of Golding’s work is credited largely to his Christianity. His religion provides and intricate and symbolic plotline to many of his novels. His religious sense does not provoke him to give up all hope for human kind; instead, it provides him with insight to the dignity and importance of human action. The development of plot,descriptions of the island and sea, and treatment of character, he explores actual life to prove dramatically the authenticity of his own religious view point (Cox 48). Golding has been known to have a preoccupation with evil and original sin. Original sin is the Christian idea that all people are born with an inherent sin because of the actions of Adam and Eve. Golding once told a reporter, â€Å"Evil can look after itself. Evil is the problem† (qtd. in Green 173). Golding wishes to scrape off the labels and destroy artificial patterns. He represents himself as what used to be termed a Deist, yet the whole moral framework of his novels is conceived in terms of traditional Christian symbolism (Green 173). In the Lord of the Flies, the character Simon is presented as a Christ figure. There are many different interpretations of what Simon actually represents, however, Golding intended this character to be interpreted as a Christ-figure. As proven by this novel, along with his subsequent literary works, Golding is not to be labeled easily. His characters serve many purposes symbolically and in plot development. Lord of the Flies’ moral framework is conceived in terms of traditional Christian symbolism, however Golding does not fail to include several twists to further obfuscate the reader attempting to label his work. Golding has included a Christ-figure in several of his works. This Christ figure is always someone actively engaged in interpreting the human condition. The characters provide a sense of insight to the influence religion has had on William Golding’s life. The fact that so many of his works include such Christ-figures exhibits the prominent influence of religion in Golding’s life. Golding appears to be preoccupied with the problems that are the eternal questions of a religious man: the nature of good and evil, guilt and responsibility, the meaning of death and free will (Hynes, â€Å"Novels of a Religious Man† 70). His novels are preoccupied with these themes. The characters are challenged with the opportunity to do the right thing and the temptation to give in to the inherent evil within themselves. Golding’s strong intent to convey his message in made obvious in the way he communicates his central message. When Simon suggests that perhaps the beast is in only the boys themselves, it is very symbolic of this idea. This rather subtle interpretation of human nature from a small boy demonstrates further that Golding is so concentrated on his moral message that he will not hesitate to make the youngsters â€Å"dance to his tune† (Johnston 11). The fact that Golding will allow for his central message to be conveyed through the use of a young boy represented as the Christ-figure in the novel shows his intent and focus on religion as well as his concern for the human race. The allegorical symbolism of the novel is presented even more boldly in the content of the story. Even the title itself contains allegorical significance. The name, â€Å"Lord of the Flies,† was the Philistine Beelzebub or Satan. The Jews transmuted his name to mean Lord of the Dung or Filth (Green 176). This name is tied into the sodomy and brutal killing of the sow. It is also connected to the flies surrounding, seemingly engulfing the impaled pig’s head. By the time of the New Testament, â€Å"Lord of the Flies was translated to Lord of the Devils, a generalized Satan (Green 176). It seems utterly too coincidental for this title to have such a deep rooted-religious meaning without the intention of the author. Golding has purposely chosen such a title to lay the groundwork for his religious allegory. The title of the novel is not the only similarity between Golding’s work and the Old Testament. The approach of evil serves as another device to connect Golding’s work to the Bible. Literary critic E. M. Foster concurs with my observation about the approach of evil as an allegorical device. As in the Old Testament, when evil appears in the form of the â€Å"Lord of the Flies†, Beelzebub, he sends a messenger to prepare his way for him in another form. The name of his predecessor is Jack in the Old Testament (Foster 100). This is similar to the approach of evil in the Lord of the Flies. While some may interpret the odious Jack as the satanic figure, he can also be viewed as evil’s predecessor. His evil character and influence comes before the downfall of the island to the inherent evil of the boys. He is the first of all of the boys to have a bloodlust; Jack exhibits the first urge to hunt. Jack’s dictatorial character serves as a harbinger to the evil that will inhabit the island when it is unleashed in all the boys. Another connection to the Old Testament is found in the treatment of pigs throughout the course of the novel. Literary critic Kirsten Olsen notes that in the Old Testament the pig is a non-kosher food. The swine serves as a symbol of filth and forbiddenness (Olsen 130). In the story, the incidents associated with pigs are intertwined with the darkest aspects of human behavior. The hunting of the pigs for food turns into a joyous hunt for blood. The hunt of the female sow shows the true evil of the boys as they sodomize and torment the pig (Golding 135). The joy derived from the killing of the pigs exposes the true evil that is present in the boys. There is another strong association to the Old Testament found in the form of the murderous feast dance performed by the boys (Golding 135). Literary critic Kirsten Olsen observes that this ritualistic dance is strikingly similar to the dance of the Israelites depicted in the Old Testament. The boys dance ritualistically as they all fall victim to the mob mentality that surrounds them. The Israelites dance as they worship the golden calf: both ritualistic dances have an atmosphere of total abandon and revelry (Olsen 130). The last relationship to the Old Testament is present in the Christ-figure of the novel, Simon. While, Golding himself has referred to Simon as a Christ-figure, many literary critics interpret Simon as a derivative of Moses. The similarity between Moses and Simon is evident in their actions. Both Simon and Moses bring wisdom down from the mountain only to discover barbarous ignorance from their people (Olsen 130). The second portion of allegorical symbolism is connected with the New Testament. The first such symbolic intertwining is found in the setting of the island itself. The uninhabited island that serves as the setting for the Lord of the Flies is a mirror image of Eden when the boys first land there. The lush, remote island is full of fruit which hangs for the picking. As literary critic, Lawrence Friedman observes, the tropical climate prompts the boys to shed their clothes (Friedman 65). Literary critic L. L. Dickinson says the boys â€Å"accepted the pleasure of morning, the bright sun, the whelming sea and sweet air, as a time when play was good and life so full that hope was not necessary and therefore forgotten† (Dickinson 13). The boys are free to do what they wish, being restricted only by their own conscience. Just as Adam and Eve were at their own liberty do what they pleased, the boys unrestricted and free. They know however, that performing a morally wrong action will force them to suffer the consequences just as Adam and Eve. The perfection of the setting is placed in the boys’ hands. Just as Adam and Eve had their destiny placed at their fingertips, the boys are tempted with the same decisions. Golding illustrates that mankind is just like Adam and Eve: we can only suppress our greed and savagery for a short amount of time before it inevitably surfaces. Thus, the halcyon, â€Å"Edenic† setting slowly turns into a hell. The setting that resembles paradise is only ephemeral strictly because of the savagery within the boys. The irony is that boys create their own hell just as Adam and Eve were by their own fault exiled from Eden. The beginning of the transformation of the island is represented by the shattering of Piggy’s glasses (Friedman 68). Piggy represents reason in the microcosm of the island. Thus, when Jack strikes Piggy and consequently shatters one of his lenses, reason is symbolically half blind. Hence, without reason, the boys begin to express their inner savagery and slowly the island transforms. This incites the transformation of the innocuous little boys into cold hearted savages. The building of the first is a signal of resurgence of civilized values. However, the fire soon rages out of control. The boy with the birthmark is killed: the seed of fear has been planted (Friedman 68). Reason has failed to explain the darkness within and the island paradise begins its fatal transformation into hell. Golding’s story reflects his opinion on original sin and human nature. Golding demonstrates how evil is dormant in human nature even when the world appears sunny. He depicts how the corruption of darkness can arise from man himself and cast shadows over the sunny, seemingly pleasant setting (Hodson 22). The central Christian message of the novel that Golding attempts to convey is that we are all born in sin or will lapse into it (Foster 100). The boys’ behavior is inevitable because of man’s original sin. The growth of savagery in the boys demonstrates the overwhelming power of original sin (Cox 47). The boys are too evil to account for the evil within themselves. Thus, they project their irrational fears out into the outside world. The beast serves as the externalization of the inner darkness in the children’s nature and its ascendancy is inexorable, along with the path into savagery. This is symbolic of the evil instilled in man through original sin. Literary critic, Arnold Johnston, notes that this also depicts the challenge that the good or holy aspect of society must overcome (Johnston 10). Perhaps the most significant part of Golding’s allegorical puzzle is his Christ-figure, Simon. As well as being compared to Christ, Simon has also been interpreted by the literary critic Samuel Hynes as a saint. He is compared to his supposed namesake, Simon, from the New Testament (72). Simon is one of Christ’s apostles. Other than the name, the other similarity that Simon shares with Simon from the Bible is, as Golding himself puts it he â€Å"voluntarily embraces his fate† (qtd. n Hynes, â€Å"Novels of a Religious Man† 72). The first aspect in the development of Simon as the Christ-figure in the novel is his isolation. His lonely, voluntary quest for the beast is the symbolic core of the book. In his excursion away from the boys, Simon shows himself to be the one character who has an affinity with nature. His first act once the boys reach the island is to withdraw to a place of contemplation, a limpid, sunlit space in the midst of the forest (Hynes, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies19). There are strong religious overtones o the area that Simon finds which, with its candle-buds and serene stillness, resembles a place of worship. This withdrawal parallels Christ’s withdrawal to the temple as a young boy as described in the New Testament. Golding creates the character Simon with intentions for him to be the embodiment of moral understanding. Golding describes Simon to be â€Å"a lover of mankind, a visionary, who reaches commonsense attitudes not by reason but by intuition† and to be â€Å"a Christ-figure in my fable† (qtd. in Hodson 27). The whole story moves towards Simon’s view of reality. Simon helps the â€Å"littluns’ reach a high branch of fruit, indicating his kindness and sympathy; many of the older boys would rather torment the â€Å"littluns† than help them. Simon also sits alone in the jungle clearing while marveling at the beauty of nature. This indicates his basic connection with the natural world. Simon takes the responsibility to help Ralph with the shelter while the other boys enjoy the island or join Jack in the hunt (Golding 53). Simon is the sole exponent of fundamental, natural good. Through Simon’s pure goodness, he is ostracized form the rest of the boys on the island. Simon’s confrontation with the Lord of the Flies is the most complex of the whole novel. This scene is sublimated to its primary purpose: dramatizing the conflict between the civilizing and savage instincts in human beings. The scene also shows Simon’s innocence and sets the stage for the harsh contrast between him and the rest of the savage boys. While staring into the pig’s mouth he sees the infinite cynicism and evil of adult life. This scene serves to dramatize the clash between good and evil. Christ also has a confrontation with evil when he is tempted by Satan in the New Testament. The â€Å"Lord of the Flies† has invaded Simon’s forest sanctuary to preach an age old sermon: evil lies within man whose nature is inherently depraved. Simon cannot counter this lesson. He is engulfed by the spreading of the vast mouth, overwhelmed by Beelzebub’s power and thus he loses consciousness (Friedman 70). He later gathers the courage to face the evil; the inherent and inexorable evil that is in all the boys (Cox 53). He then climbs the hill to go spread the word to the rest of the boys and enlighten them. Golding paints his most startling and powerful scene shortly after the confrontation between good and evil. This scene is the brutal murder of Simon when he descends from the mountain to share the truths of life with the rest of the boys and free them from their fears. They eliminate the hope of Christ’s sacrifice by repeating the pattern of his crucifixion. Lawrence S. Friedman concurs that Simon’s fate underlines the most awful truths about human nature: its blindness, its irritability, and its blood lust (Friedman 71). Piggy and Ralph’s participation in Simon’s heinous murder help to further expose the hopeless human condition. The boys later console themselves and say that Simon’s death was an accident. Piggy’s desperate rationalizations of his ignominious action point to the inability of human reason to cope with the dark reality of nature. As literary critic Lawrence Friedman states, Piggy’s excuses are frantic attempts to explain basest human instincts and actions (Friedman 72). Another similarity between Simon and Christ is that both die for their society (Dickinson 24). Christ dies for the sins of the world; Simon dies as atonement for the evil in the boys. Simon’s dead corpse and the way it is carried out into the ocean is another way of tying him to Christ. He is seen in a holy light after his untimely death. The way Golding describes the corpse being carried out to sea suggests transcendence. â€Å"Softly surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon’s dead body moved out toward the open sea† (184). The other characters in Lord of the Flies become allegorical agents through Golding’s intricate plot development. All of the boys are both good and bad. Even Ralph and Piggy participate in Simon’s murder: this demonstrates the complexities of human nature. Jack’s name is symbolic in its ties to the New Testament. Jack was a disciple of Christ (Dickinson 14). Thus, the miscreant, Jack, serves as an ironic twist of the religious connotations of his name. Golding’s novel serves as a lesson for society. It teaches us that evil is inherent in all men due to original sin. The spiritual vacuum of Golding’s novel is completed within the tragedy of Lord of the Flies: the futility of Simon’s sacrificial death, the failure of adult morality, and the final absence of God. In this novel, God’s absence leads only to despair. Golding himself states that theme of his novel is â€Å"grief, sheer grief, grief, grief† (qtd. n Friedman 74). The novel is a meditation on the nature of human political society, dealing with such concerns as the development of political systems and the clash in human nature between savage and civilized behavior. Golding has composed a narrative that is essentially a myth or allegory. His elusive writing style has been the central focus of countless literary critics. This myth or allegory strikes through to the deepest roots of our existence- to fear, to hunger, and then to the will to survive. Because these roots are universal to men, he has managed to give fictional form to religious themes. For it is through myths and allegories that the substance of religious belief is most directly communicated. ?

Free Essays on Theory At Work Paper

Introduction Group interaction may not seem like a high priority of study for many people that work solely in one position, but for people who are forced to work with others and make decisions that affect a company or organization it is a very important attribute. This paper will integrate various theories discussed throughout the class. It will present positive consequences of functional groups on problem solving, changes in interpersonal relationships, improved information flow and organizational growth. This paper will also discuss the topic of background factors which include: sex, age, personality, health and values. I will not only define what background factors are but give an explanation of how these factors can affect a group positively and negatively. This paper will also hope to emphasize how these factors are used in group interaction. In order to show how these background factors can affect a group, I will give both personal and professional examples. Why Study Group Interaction When I first began this course I asked myself why we were studying about group interaction and wondered how it effected decisions. I learned through class discussions that there are many positive consequences that effect the group’s problem solving, interpersonal relationships, improved information flow and organizational growth. I will now discuss these positive consequences. A groups problem-solving skills are dependent on not only group interaction but how well the group accepts the solution. When a group interacts together everyone can gain from the event. In the book, The Fifth Discipline, it states that even the most talented person can benefit from teamwork. Solving problems in groups can also help eliminate poor solutions and solve complicated tasks with reason instead of intuition. The old saying â€Å"two heads are better than one† is also a factor to consider. When a group comes together to solve... Free Essays on Theory At Work Paper Free Essays on Theory At Work Paper Introduction Group interaction may not seem like a high priority of study for many people that work solely in one position, but for people who are forced to work with others and make decisions that affect a company or organization it is a very important attribute. This paper will integrate various theories discussed throughout the class. It will present positive consequences of functional groups on problem solving, changes in interpersonal relationships, improved information flow and organizational growth. This paper will also discuss the topic of background factors which include: sex, age, personality, health and values. I will not only define what background factors are but give an explanation of how these factors can affect a group positively and negatively. This paper will also hope to emphasize how these factors are used in group interaction. In order to show how these background factors can affect a group, I will give both personal and professional examples. Why Study Group Interaction When I first began this course I asked myself why we were studying about group interaction and wondered how it effected decisions. I learned through class discussions that there are many positive consequences that effect the group’s problem solving, interpersonal relationships, improved information flow and organizational growth. I will now discuss these positive consequences. A groups problem-solving skills are dependent on not only group interaction but how well the group accepts the solution. When a group interacts together everyone can gain from the event. In the book, The Fifth Discipline, it states that even the most talented person can benefit from teamwork. Solving problems in groups can also help eliminate poor solutions and solve complicated tasks with reason instead of intuition. The old saying â€Å"two heads are better than one† is also a factor to consider. When a group comes together to solve...

Empirical Research for female and management positions Paper

Empirical for female and management positions - Research Paper Example The research found that the aspects of stereotyping, lack of self confidence and family conflicts have to be addressed in a positive light given that they dissuade females from taking up leadership and managerial positions in different organisations. It has been recommended that there is need to build confidence in women. Stereotyping against women should be redressed and women should be given more responsibility in their tasks. Table of contents Introduction 3 Literature review 3 Research question 5 Theoretical framework 5 Hypothesis 6 Method section 7 Study design 7 Population sample 7 Variables and measures 7 Data collection method 8 Limitations of the study 9 Data analysis and results 9 Discussion of results 11 Recommendations and conclusion 13 References 14 Introduction The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has recently embarked on an exercise to promote women in this country to occupy leadership positions in different organisations after realising that they can play distinctive roles in the economy as a whole. The authorities have seen the need to advance women into managerial positions while retaining vital aspects of cultural values along with heritage as they adapt to new positions in the dispensation of their roles in the workplace. The women in the region constitute only 15% of the workforce in the public sector, and this is mainly in the government and the educational sector. About 5% only of women working for the government hold decision making positions (Al-Munajjed, 2012). Basically, Saudi laws are based on the Shari’a which however guarantees women the right to work in different organisations. However, this law posits to the effect that females should work in an appropriate environment where for example they are not allowed to mix with men in a suspicious manner and they should not be exposed to sexual harassment by their male counterparts. It can be observed that there are few studies related to the question of why there are few women occupying se nior leadership and management positions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, studies have shown that women in countries like the US show that women hold senior leadership and managerial positions and they are equally competent like their male counterparts. Against this background, it can be noted that it is important to carry out a study in order to establish the factors that discourage women from occupying leadership and managerial positions in organisations as well as to establish the distinctive role played by women to the economy. The study will also help in recommending measures that can be taken in order to promote women in the workplace in a bid to increase their recognition for leadership positions. Literature review The literature related to this research topic in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is limited and it can be seen that there is also limited information about this study in other countries. The major notable study related to this topic was carried out in the US bu t unfortunately, there is little comparison with other women managers from different parts of the globe (Moore, 2007). Therefore, there is  need for carrying out research in a bid to establish the distinctive roles that women can play in the economy. This has to be done so as to be in a position to conceptualise and validate the unique roles that can be played by women

How did Jesus compare and contrast with other miracle workers Essay

How did Jesus compare and contrast with other miracle workers - Essay Example In the above question, why not the same bad did not occur to others is an inherent pessimism. When that pessimism is absent, one can understand that the good happened for many as a miracle. Hence, a positive attitude with just a limited criticism is necessary to receive a happening as a miracle. Now the question comes about the nature of the miracle and the miracle workers. Before and after Jesus there are miracle workers and World recognizes Jesus as the most famous one. The most important miracle about Jesus is that he rose to life three days after crucifixion, which is extra-human in nature. This is the most contrasting thing that differentiates Jesus from other miracle workers. The comparison of Jesus with other miracle workers is that many of the miracle workers like Moses have lead the distressed and downtrodden to the path of light and created awareness in them. Another thing that is common about the miracles is the increase of faith of followers on the miracle workers (Sander s Theresa, 2000). The important aspect about Jesus that contrasts him with other miracle workers is his birth. Christians believe that he is son of God. This tag is not available with other miracle workers and they bore the title of prophets, servant of god or saints. No other miracle worker is named as son of the god and this is the important miracle (if it is so), that contrasts Jesus with other miracle workers. ... The incident and the miracle that made him disappear in person from the earth was a contrast as well. The resurgence of Jesus after crucifixion is also a contrast from other miracle workers' disappearance. In addition to that, the miracles of Jesus lead the Jews to rebel against the kings or the kings felt so (Bockmuehl, Markus Editor, 2002). In addition to above, another important aspect about Jesus is that the miracles and activities of him resulted in a divine identity. One of the most contrasting aspects about Jesus is that the followers of Jesus characterized him and historians did not condemn him as a messiah, which is absent in case of other miracle workers. Another contrast about Jesus and other miracle workers is that the miracles of Jesus have moral background and other miracle workers have shown miracles in the context of saving their followers from enemies or natural calamities. Miracles of Jesus also have that nature up to some extent, but his miracles possess a nature of inculcating morality in his subjects. Thus, he preached through his miracles, which is not present to that extent in other miracle workers (Bockmuehl, Markus Editor, 2002). Moreover, the miracles of Jesus healed the followers and thus gave an interpretation to the healings. Jews in the day of Jesus felt that the world is open and it is possible for God or an extra ordinary person like Jesus to perform extra ordinary events (miracles). The origin of the events is the ability of the extra ordinary person or the god. Thus, Jesus has contrast with other miracle workers, as his miracles are foundation for the notion that he has been sent by god. However, in case of miracles of other miracle workers after Jesus, the origin of miracles is Jesus or

The Impact Of Elvis Presley Film Studies Essay

The Impact Of Elvis Presley Film Studies Essay Before Elvis, there was nothing, John Lennon is alleged to have once said. When Elvis Presley recorded his first official single Thats All Right Mama on 5 July 1954, the world changed forever. Elvis was a significant and extraordinary catalyst for vast cultural transformation in 1950s America. Professor Stephen Hinerman sums this up as building the populist base of rock n roll by mixing black and white musics; articulating the sound of a youth rebellion; taking rock music into the world of traditional entertainment; showing that a rock career could sustain longevity with a confident fan base; practically inventing the idea of rock music selling out.  [1]  This demonstrates how Elvis impacted America in immeasurable ways. However author Greil Marcus believes that the enormity of his impact on culture, on millions of people, was never really clear when he was alive; it was mostly hidden.  [2]  Therefore in complete hindsight, this essay will evaluate a few of the foremost ways Elvis impacted on 1950s America looking at the impact on music, race and class, performance, gender, sex and teenagers, marketing and fashion and television and cinema. Firstly, it is fundamental to look at Elviss music style, his records and the radio. During the 1950s Elvis released sixty-six singles, nine albums, and spent fifty-nine weeks at Billboard number one.  [3]  His best-selling single was Dont Be Cruel/Hound Dog (1956) which sold six million copies by the end of the decade and was at number one for eleven weeks.  [4]  These overwhelming statistics portray the popularity of Elviss music and begin to highlight the impact his music had on 1950s America. Author Albert Goldman states that: Elviss phonograph records were crucial to his success but the public has first to discover these records. Almost invariably this crucial discovery was made through the radio.  [5]  Indeed, Elvis had a huge impact on the radio in terms of radio play, genre, and target audience. Elviss style was an unheard-of up-tempo combination of rockabilly, country, pop, gospel and rhythm and blues. This ground-breaking amalgamation combined with a strong back beat became the sound of rock n roll and the sound of a new generation. The initial reaction to Elviss music on the radio was racial. Hinerman says that Elvis was visibly lower class and symbolically blackhe represented an unassimilated white underclass that had been forgotten by mainstream suburban America more accurately, he represented a middle-class caricature of poor whites. He was sleazy.  [6]  In 1950s America, his racial and social impact was sudden. Elviss obituary in The Times states that period saw an irrevocable change in the balance of American society.  [7]  This balance became mainly racial as when Elvis was first played on the radio many listeners assumed that he must be black and had to ask the DJ. Elviss musical influences of typically African-American rhythm and blues sparked huge debates that occur to this day, as this was unheard-of for a white singer in the 1950s. On one hand Elvis popularized black culture to the masses, promoting equality and desegre gation, but on the other hand some people believe Elvis self-interestedly stole their music and sexualised performance style. Elvis even admitted: The colored folks been singing it and playing it just like Im doin now, man for more years that I knownobody paid it no mind til I goosed it up. I got it from them.  [8]  This impacted 1950s America as many prejudiced white adults strongly believed Elviss black musical style would corrupt the white youth with his vulgar dancing and crazy, animalistic rhythm. Many black performers credit Elvis with promoting their music to 1950s America allowing for future success. Singer Little Richard said He was an integrator. Elvis was a blessing. They wouldnt let black music through. He opened the door for black music.  [9]  Similarly singer Al Green agreed: He broke the ice for all of us.  [10]  Elviss astonishing musical impact is depicted in that he is the only artist in four Halls of Fame: Rock and Roll (1986), Country (1998), Gospel ( 2001) and Rockabilly (2007). Elviss radical performance style had an enormous impact on 1950s America, redefining gender, fan culture and instigating sexual liberation. In a decade of strong sexual repression, Elviss sweat, gyrating dance moves, and energetic, uninhibited performance style stirred the 1950s female audience. At one of his first performances in July 1954, Elviss nervousness and the strong back rhythm of his music, led him to shake his leg which was further emphasized by his wide cut pants. When females began uncontrollably screaming, Elvis became conscious of the reaction he was creating. He said my manager told me they were hollering because I was wiggling my legs. I went back out for an encore and I did little more, and the more I did, the wilder they went.  [11]  He had soon perfected this technique to fully affect the female audience. He learnt to slow down and speed up in anticipation and to wind them up until they were in such frenzy he would exit the building and with no encore leave th em wanting more. The hysterical, fainting, worshipping fan-girls were a relatively new concept in 1950s America, and Elviss all-consuming control he had over his fans transformed the music industry and the fan phenomenon. In 1956, Reporter Lionel Crane wrote: what a frenzy this boy can stir up. Ive never seen anything like it. When Elvis sings it isnt just a case of a few girls sighing and going swoony or stamping and shouting. I saw him send 5,000 of them into a mass fit of screaming hysterics.  [12]  Likewise Goldman describes five thousand shrill female voices come in on cue. The screeching reaches the intensity of a jet engine. When Elvis comes striding out on stage with his butchy walk, the screams suddenly escale. They switch to hyper-space.  [13]  There are thousands of these accounts of Elviss impact on the 1950s female audience; he had become a sex symbol. Hinerman believes the reason for this was that you would never marry him; the romance would never end in the te dium of marriage.  [14]  This makes sense in a society with rigid social norms and gender roles as Elvis was a safe, dream-like escape for many girls. Jealous teenage boys however, hated Elvis and he regularly received violent threats. Older males detested the effect Elviss pelvis was having. Critic George Melly said Elvis was the master of the sexual simile, treating his guitar as both phallus and girl.  [15]  Similarly, television host Ed Sullivan believed he was unfit viewing for 1950s families as hes got some kind of device hanging down below the crotch of his pants-so when he moves his legs back and forth you can see the outline of his cockI think its a Coke bottle.  [16]  Sullivan later paid him a record $50,000 to appear on his show, which was watched by an unprecedented sixty million people.  [17]  These colossal figures show Elviss impact on American mass society in the 1950s. Elvis opened the generation gap, impacting 1950s America by establishing the teenagers identity, choice, spending power and fashion. Marcus believes Elvis fitted the necessity existing in every culture that leads it to produce a perfect, all-inclusive metaphor for itselfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦freedom, limits, risk, authority, sex, repression, youth, age, tradition, novelty, guilt and the escape from guilt.  [18]  Therefore as he fitted the new generation metaphor he changed society. Journalist Maureen Orth remembers that my aunt told me how foolish I was to sit screaming with joy at the spectacle of that vulgar singer on TV. It was then I knew that she and I lived in different worlds, and it was then that kids bedroom doors slammed all over America.  [19]  Elvis reached an entire generation. In his obituary The Times said he was responsible, more than any other entertainer, for the manifestation of what has since come to be called the generation gap: a youth which spoke its own langu age had its own heroes, its own music and its own standards.  [20]  His music touched the youth with lyrics focusing on the teen world of fashion, all the emotions, love and oppression. Goldman highlights this stating that Heartbreak Hotels grotesquely exaggerated and histrionic quality matched perfectly the hysterically self-pitying mood of millions of teenagers, who responded by making the record an instant and immense success.  [21]  Elvis impacted America by becoming a spokesman for a generation and embodying and representing youth spirit. The establishing of a generation gap meant that teenagers began to create their own separate culture led by Elvis. An increase in spending money meant purchasing power and alongside buying his records, Elviss iconic look impacted the conservative and conformist 1950s America in terms of fashion and appearance. Goldman summarises: Elvis was the flip side of this clean-cut conventional male image. His fish-belly white complexion, so different from the healthy tan of the beach boys; his brooding Latin eyes, heaving shaded with mascara; the broad fleshly contours of his face, with the Greek nose and the thick, twisted lips; the long greasy hair, thrown forward in his face by his jerking motions.  [22]  His unusual looks and exotic mixed heritage meant he instantly became a style icon. He started a trend for black slacks, pegged pants, loose, open-necked shirts and brightly coloured sharp suits which were all extremely anti-parent and even had African-American influences. For males ha ir, the short and neat military-style crew cut was preferred by parents and adults. Elvis had the complete opposite. His dyed black, heavily-greased, pompadour-style D.A cut with heavy sideburns instantly became the symbol of a delinquent bad-boy. This soon resulted in hair length limitations in many schools as males across America wanted the same female attraction that Elvis received. Teenager spending power is also depicted in the sales of Elvis fan souvenirs. By 1956, his merchandise alone reached $22 million which was extraordinary at the time.  [23]  The 1950s collectables ranged from posters, lobby cards, bubble gum cards, lipsticks, perfume, jewellery (including a dog tag with his serial number on), sneakers, hats, scarves, record players, guitars and a pink range (autograph book, diary, scrapbook and photo album) to name but a few. This commercialisation was revolutionary and illustrates the impact Elvis had. 1950s America was undergoing conversion from the monopoly of cinema to substantial television growth and Elvis reined power over both; however I will focus on his extensive movie career. In 1956 Elvis signed a seven year contract with Paramount Pictures and initiated his impact on American cinema. His first film Love Me Tender added four musical numbers to capitalize on the one million advanced orders of the Love Me Tender single.  [24]  The film generated $540,000 in its first week and had made $4.5 million by the end of the year.  [25]  He continued on to release Loving You, Jailhouse Rock (grossing $4 million in the year) and King Creole.  [26]  Elvis strongly influenced film-making and revolutionised the genre of the musical. Goldman believes Elviss genius lies in combining the movie myth of the menacing teenager with rock n roll music so as to create a whole new performance idiom appropriate to that wild new form of entertainment, the rock concert.  [27]  Elviss films produced numerous iconic moments, showed the importance of star power and their impact is illustrated in their posthumous endurance. In conclusion it is clear to see a small part of the vast impact Elvis had on 1950s America. From his revolutionizing of music in terms of race and class, his radical and sexual performance style, his splitting of the generations and genders, his fan culture, influence and marketing, to his unique movie career establishing a whole new genre of filmmaking, this essay has attempted to show how Elvis changed American history. Composer Leonard Bernstein believes Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything and he changed everything music, language, clothes, its a whole new social revolution.  [28]  His impact is immeasurable and unequalled. Elvis Presley was the turning point, permanently transforming culture. He will continue to be of the greatest social significance for years to come because as Marcus said He changed history as such, and in doing so became history.  [29]   Word Count: 2,013

Ethnic Minority Prisoners in Britain Essay -- Race Relations in Prison

Prison can be a daunting and psychological challenge for anyone. Experiences can have lifelong effects and can often traumatise those incarcerated. However the experience minority ethnic prisoners face can be deemed diverse. They can become victims of discrimination, racism violence and harassment all on the basis of their race, skin colour, or nationality. Scott and Codd (2010, P. 70) note that ‘prisoners from certain believed culturally or biologically determined ‘racial groups’ are understood as being genetically, intellectually or socially inferior beings, thus contributing to their own poverty of life experiences and criminal identity'. Scott and Codd (2010) state that ‘the prison place racism is a key dimension of the expression of power, shaping prejudicial decisions, exclusionary practices and the physical manifestation of violence, bullying and intimidation’. Scott and Codd (2010, P.70) put forward that ‘this penal terror goes even further for some, such as foreign national prisoners, as it can exacerbate the structured pains of the prison itself. Jewkes and Johnston (2006, P.107) found that ‘prisoners from ethnic minority backgrounds have faced a long struggle in getting the Home Office and Prison Service to recognise their diverse cultural, religious and dietary needs’. Jewkes and Johnston (2006) put forward that the UK prison population has risen by 15,000 since New Labour came to power in 1997, and has doubled since Margaret Thatcher took office in 1979. Inmates from ethnic minority backgrounds account for a large percentage of this figure. For example the white population increased by 36 per cent, Black population grew by 196 per cent, south Asian populations grew by 120 per cent and Chinese/other Asian by 223 ... ...and Phillips, C. (2002) Racism, Crime and Justice. Pearson Educated Limited: England. Chigwada-Bailey, R. (2003) Black Women’s Experiences of Criminal Justice: Discourse on Disadvantages, 2nd edn. Winchester. Waterside Press. Jewkes, Y. And Johnston, H. (2006) Prison Readings: A Critical Introduction to Prisons and Punishment. Willan Publishing Devon. Wilson, D. and Moore, S. (2003) Playing the Game – The Experiences of Young Black Men in Custody. London: The Children’s Society. Ryan, M. (1996) Lobbying from Below. London: UCL Press. Burnett, R. and Farrell, G. (1994) Reported and Unreported Racial Incidents in Prisons, Occasional Paper, No.14. Oxford: University of Oxford Centre for Criminological Research. Gravett, S. (2007) Coping with Prison: A Guide to Practitioners on the Realities of Imprisonment. SAGE Publications Company. London Home Office (1986)

An Exit Strategy From Poverty: Sustainable Comprehensive Humanitarian Assistance and Planning in the developing and under-developed world

Humanitarian aid to the developing and under-developed world has been a hotly debated issue around the globe for decades, with the focus being on how these poor nations can be given aid and if the aid is only creating more barriers than it is breaking them down. The prevalent belief now is that previous models of humanitarian aid have been band-aid fixes for an enduring, wide-scale problem. There appears to be a sea change occurring with humanitarian aid, however, spurred by economic and social reforms to previous aid models. This change, examined at the most simple level is influenced by the proverb â€Å"give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. † An organization at the head of the tide of this sea change is Sustainable Comprehensive Humanitarian Assistance and Planning (SCHAP). SCHAP represents a movement away from aid from nation states and NGOs to more independent work by non-profit organizations – with a different economic sense than before. This new sense focuses aid not on the previous ‘head-above-water’ emergency temporary fixes, but rather on the development of the poor nations and their people, to get them out of the water altogether. It is the sustainable and comprehensive on which SCHAP endeavors itself, seeing it not just as part of the name of their organization, but as the name of a â€Å"new humanitarian ideology† (SCHAP 1) where assistance and planning are critical to the creation of a self empowering infrastructure based on the thinking and development of the suffering regions and communities (SCHAP 1). It is this focus on sustainability and providing aid in a comprehensive manner that SCHAP shares with the organizations it works with and takes inspiration from, like the revolutionary Grameen Bank. What SCHAP brings to poor nations is a unique aid perspective from a business-sense, where entrepreneurship and lending reforms are paramount. SCHAP’s vision is that this sea change will see developing and under-developed nations become truly profitable in not only an economic sense, but also socially, culturally and politically. SCHAP, in other words, does not wish to provide the fish, but rather to help create a nation of fishermen. 2. SCHAP’s HUMANITARIAN AID PLATFORM SCHAP is a non-profit organization working in poor nations, and their mission is two-pronged: to bring sustainable solutions to humans living with extreme disadvantages in an effort to empower them with tools, resources, information and vision requisite for development and an increased quality of life, while also teaching the correct principles of sustainable and comprehensive humanitarian work to aspiring philanthropists. SCHAP 1) SCHAP brings an approach that focuses on internal development rather than external fixes or influences. With access to developmental skills and tools and proper education, SCHAP states that change will come from the spread of principles, technology and information from within communities (1). SCHAP’s non-profit status means that it can devote the entirety of its resources and donations to the communit ies of poor nations. Founder and President Cory Glazier emphasizes that every dollar that goes to SCHAP goes into the cost of their projects, and that with a fully volunteer staff, they can grow unabated by the freedom from the need for funds (KPBS 1). An aspect of SCHAP that has garnered it not only success in its application in villages like Matoso, Kenya, but also global attention, is from its focus on planning that examines the issues at the heart of the communities and builds aid from those issues in a way that respects the local cultural and social integrity. Glazier maintains that by looking at the roots of an issue rather than just the implications of those issues (which includes speaking with people in the villages), a better understanding is gained as to how these people’s circumstances got to be the way they are and what must be done (SCHAP 1) to promote development to cross the poverty line. By better understanding the circumstances that led to and that propagate the conditions the people of poor nations face, SCHAP is uniquely equipped with the knowledge to create a plan that implements a comprehensive multi-dimensional platform to create permanent solutions. Paul Polak sees this sort of planning as being â€Å"routine for large businesses or for any entrepreneur seeking to start-up venture capital, but it is rare for development organizations† (18). Polak’s wealth of experience with humanitarian aid has given him an exclusive perspective on what is needed in order to end poverty in the poor nations, and he sees learning from a real-life context from those who are suffering and not ignoring the obvious as leading to creation of world-changing ideas (18). SCHAP’s focus on the internal development rather than the external addresses what Jeffrey Sachs sees as the influence of the developed world and how the poor nations must break the barriers that have beset them as well as the barriers that foreign aid has unwittingly erected. Sach’s identification that â€Å"a country’s fate is crucially determined by its specific linkages to the rest of the world† (128) is one that SCHAP recognizes and looks to fix with promoting the internal development of communities to unwrap themselves from the more burdensome linkages, such as crippling terms of debt or the inability to gain credit. Sach carries forward on his premise of the effect of specific linkages with the rest of the world, suggesting two remedies that SCHAP champions, which are the concept of economic transformation of a broad-based sense and the possibilities of a practical nature that arise from conceptual thinking on a large-scale (128). The true promising potential of SCHAP is seen in how its fundamentals mirror what a United States Institute of Peace symposium in October 1995 outlined as to what was needed to create a more positive impact by NGOs on foreign aid, which were improved planning, more accurate assessment of needs, providing aid with the longest term benefit to specifically targeted groups and empowering local institutions (Smock 1). With SCHAP focusing on sustainable and comprehensive planning, it is operating within a new framework that is given a freedom as a result from working independently of governments and International bodies that have been heavily involved in foreign aid that has largely been ineffectual. Operating in this manner, SCHAP is not guilty of what David Smock admonishes NGOs for, which is functioning merely as agents for the implementation of foreign aid from governments and the United Nations (2). The most unique aspect of SCHAP is its local approach regarding aid. By focusing on a community, not only is the task less daunting for a smaller organization such as SCHAP, but it also plays to the organization’s strength of knowing the root of local issues. This knowledge entails a respect for the social and cultural identity of these communities and the importance that the sphere of a community is to the larger cultural and social national identity. It is tribalism mixed with 21st century economics, and it is this ‘best of both worlds’ framework which SCHAP is hoping to use to bring the people of poor nations out of poverty – for good. To evaluate the work that SCHAP is doing, its potential for long term developmental benefits and the support it has from other institutions that assist it or provide a parallel framework, three key areas that SCHAP is focused on should be examined. Firstly is SCHAP’s focus on providing the people of poor nations with an exit strategy from poverty by a business-oriented tilt towards entrepreneurship and the formation of a solid financial foundation from micro-credit. Another key area of concern for SCHAP is attention towards education, which will not only raise the quality of life for the people in the communities, but a focus on the development of children will lead to long-lasting benefits that will carry on for generations. Lastly, SCHAP is obviously promoting improvements in the health of the people of poor nations with such necessities as clean water and access to and knowledge of better nutrition. These three key areas of concern are part of the building blocks of the comprehensive vision that SCHAP holds of bringing an end to poverty for the people of poor nations – on their terms. . Providing an Exit Strategy from Poverty Foreign aid has largely been stopgap measures in emergency situations, with money and manpower being poured into poor areas to provide food and resources without addressing the causes of the problems that plague poor nations. This aid has managed to staunch some of the bleeding that poverty steadily provides, but it is only by giving the poor nations an independence from foreign aid and providing the tools and knowledge needed to ascend beyond poverty that these nations and, more importantly, their people will prosper. What SCHAP endeavors to provide the people of communities like Matoso, Kenya is an exit strategy from poverty that focuses on providing the means for not only self-sustainment but also profit. It is from Glazier that SCHAP’s unique foundation is formed, as he has a background business, which he uses to his advantage and to the advantage of his organization and the people they help escape poverty. To use Matoso as a case study, Glazier and SCHAP put together what he calls a â€Å"business plan for the village† (KPBS 1), which focuses on what is needed to increase the quality of life for the village as a whole and for families and individuals that live within it by promoting their own development. Glazier sees the inherent barriers that a cashless community faces in trying to interact with a cash community (1), such as a financial institution or a financially supportive NGO or nation state. SCHAP’s business plan is to break those barriers. SCHAP’s exit strategy from poverty for the people of poor nations involves teaching the principles of entrepreneurship, how to optimize businesses and the benefits of microcredit (SCHAP 1). The passing of this knowledge is intended to create sustainable rural development promoted by the entrepreneurship of local members of the community, which would create a market environment within the community (SCHAP 1). SCHAP recognizes that the potential of local entrepreneurs by to be business leaders and wishes to empower them with training and assistance to reach this potential. Implementation of this strategy includes business development workshops in the communities, teaching those in the communities to develop business plans and how to qualify for microcredit and to train and hire members of the community to serve as business development leaders to carry on the initiatives set out by SCHAP (SHAP 1). Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize winner for creating the ‘grandfather’ institution of micro-credit, the Grameen Bank, acknowledges the capabilities of the people of poor nations to be successful entrepreneurs and that the support of organizations with the objectives of SCHAP can create stepping stones out of poverty. Yunus sees entrepreneurship as a universal ability that allows people to choose to work for themselves rather than waiting for jobs to be created for them (54). Yunus likens the business development by local entrepreneurs to the growth of healthy bonsai trees, as the seed of a tall tree planted in a shallow pot will grow to resemble a tall tree but will be stunted; the seed is fine, but the soil needs to be adequate to promote proper growth (54). The ‘seed’ that foreign aid has provided in the past was well intended but the framework was inadequate to create real change to the situation of poverty. The business-driven initiatives of SCHAP look to create deep, fertile soil to promote the ascension beyond poverty. Another aspect of SCHAP’s exit strategy from poverty involves the access to microcredit in order to bring the impoverished into the financial sphere. Not only will microcredit allow for entrepreneurial growth, but it will also promote financial stability for future inevitabilities of families well beyond business. By providing microcredit and supportive training to qualified members of the communities, sustainable financial situations can be created and maintained. SCHAP looks to achieve this not only with access to microcredit, but by also working with the local entrepreneurs with developing a business plan and to achieve the qualifications for credit (SCHAP 1). This is a long-term initiative that looks to empowering the people of poor nations and breaking down the barriers that traditional financial institutions have erected by marginalizing – and even entirely dismissing – the people of poor nations. Breaking these barriers is what motivated Yunus to create the Grameen Bank to serve as a financial institution to the poor. Yunus’ evaluation of the treatment of the people of poor nations led him to the realization that banks considered the poor as unworthy of credit and as a result, the poor were prevented from entering into – and profiting from – the financial system, and from this broken system Yunus sought to create a financial institution that would worthy of the people (49). In the traditional financial system, the people of the poor nations are non-entities. Traditional financial institutions are concerned with making money, and providing funds to risky ventures is not in those banks best interests. Without credit, the poor cannot create a foundation to develop a long-term self-sustaining life and save money. The conditions that have created and perpetuated poverty in developing and under-developed nations are not the only obstacle that the poor must overcome in order to escape poverty. The barriers created by the traditional financial institutions hold back the development that the poor are capable of achieving given they are allowed access to what the rest of the world has had for decades. Turning up a nose to the people of poor nations’ need for credit is a hypocritical stance that ignores the realities of the markets in the Western World. Credit is arguably how the middle class in the West survives, and when that bubble bursts, the effects show how pervasive credit is in the economy of these countries. Look no further than the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States and the resulting economic instability for an example of the vast need for credit inherent in the developed world. To deny the developing and under-developed world credit is to deny their potential and their rights. Yunus created the Grameen Bank to allow access to credit for the poor to generate self-employment and income for them (Yunus 54). The Grameen Bank operates under Yunus’ principles of microcredit, which does enforce on the poor the rules and laws of traditional banks, but rather recognizes them upon their own worth (49). Microcredit provides microloans – small loans with small interest rates – to those without collateral or previous credit. Microcredit, and the other facets of microfinance promote entrepreneurship and the ability to develop the stability needed for long-term sustainability above the poverty line. The Grameen Bank’s use of microcredit and its unique lending terms allow for the challenging of what Yunus calls the â€Å"financial apartheid† (51), as traditional lending terms, especially interest rates, are entirely unreasonable for the people of poor nations. While the average person in the Western World is around 20 to 25 per cent, poor people, who are ‘graciously allowed’ to be burdened by traditional banks with payday loans, are facing annual interest rates around 250 per cent (51). Yunus faced widespread criticism from those appalled at his disregard for the low-risk activity of traditional financial institutions and willingness to apparently throw money away without any chance of seeing any sort of return. Yunus was literally banking on the potential he saw in the people of poor nations, and his work not only yielded financial returns, but also allowed for the economic development of poor communities. The success of the Grameen Bank and its microcredit platform is seen in the over 2500 branches that currently provide loans to over seven million poor, totaling six Billion Dollars (51) since the Banks’ inception in 1983. The repayment rate on those loans stands at 98. 6 per cent – a blow to critics of microcredit and the Grameen Bank – and most importantly, 64 per cent of borrowers that have been involved with the Bank for five or more years have risen above the poverty line (52). SCHAP utilizes microcredit to promote development in communities because it allows for flexibility and growth that is within the reach of poor entrepreneurs. A study by Daryl Collins et al. howed that when given access to loans, the poor members of communities acted in a responsible manner that promoted sustainability, with savings being contributed to the bank weekly, and withdrawals being made only between two or three times in a financial quarter (161). The study also found that ease of use brought about increased development, as the introduction of the passbook savings account saw a dramatic rise in savings made by the poor members of the communities (162). The efficacy of the Grameen Bank and microcredit, then, can be seen in the quantitative evidence, but the true human impact can be seen on the quality of life of those borrowers. In these communities, the priority of families if of course the children, to not only provide them with the essentials for a healthy, productive life, but also to be given the tools and skills to continue the entrepreneurial activities. The Grameen Pension Savings (GPS) is a facet of the microcredit initiatives that greatly benefit children with the long-term stability of saving profits. The GPS offers a low interest rate to borrowers in exchange for the promise of a regular savings of at least one dollar per month for the term of the loan, which is either five or 10 years. The plan is not restricted to retirement resources, as it promotes the saving of funds for the social, cultural and familial inevitabilities, such as children’s schooling and weddings (168). While the structure of the GPS promotes savings discipline, it also is freeing in terms of its end-of-term options, as at the end of a GPS term, savings can be transferred into a deposit account at the bank and a new GPS can be started (168). Programs such as the GPS promote the sort of sustainable development that SCHAP is initiating in these communities, which will allow for the people to pick themselves up out of the hole of poverty and propagate the economic, social and cultural integrity of the community, the region and the nation at large. The Asia-Pacific Review highlighted the advantages of microcredit to organizations such as SCHAP and their initiatives: micro-credit is a dream come true for donors and non-governmental organizations†¦loans are invested in pre-existing survival skills, enabling the poorest to be magically transformed into entrepreneurs. That way, micro-credit’s supporters claim, lending to the poor shows that capitalism can benefit all, not just the rich. (xii) It is not magic that will transform the people of these communities into entrepreneurs, but the hard work of organizations like SCHAP and, more importantly, the hard work and dedication of the local members of the communities. One aspect of entrepreneurialism that SCHAP is channeling that hard work and resources into is the ensuring of ongoing regional economic development through a focus on agriculture (SCHAP 1). Polak has studied such agricultural reform with great attention, and has found that foreign aid to poor communities has provided only enough knowledge of farming to barely keep their heads above water. His experience in these communities found that the focus of agriculture was on the products and means of producing such that provided only enough to eat, but not near enough to reach a surplus on which money could be made on the market. Polak found that the difficulties of such practices come from two sources: an ingrained traditional in the culture of these communities and the propagation of such practices by government agricultural aid agents that applied Western knowledge of crop production for sustenance (84). Polak saw the potential for the economic benefits and an increase in quality of life in agricultural reforms, specifically in small-acreage farms. This potential arose from the ideals of the Green Revolution, for which its creator Norman Borlaug received a Nobel Prize. The Green Revolution refers to the sustainable change in food production, with a focus on small-acreage farmers, which would create an increase in food supply, new jobs and reasonable income from the selling of surplus food products (85). What agricultural reforms like the Green Revolution provide for small-acreage subsistence farmers is the opportunity to not to just live hand-to-mouth and remain reliant upon foreign aid donations, but to operate in a profitable manner that will allow them to be active members of the marketplace and to have the ability to purchase the food and resources they need. This is the sustainability that SCHAP endeavors to help provide, hence their attention to agriculture as a means for entrepreneurial success. The means for this success suggested by Polak concerning agricultural reform are teaching small-acreage farmers green revolution strategies, including using high yield varieties of crops already being produced, the use of fertilizers and proper irrigation to increase the yield of their food crops to enter the marketplace (84). SCHAP has used a business plan approach to agriculture to create cash flow in the village of Matoso. They took a plot of land and created – with the help of those in the community – a large garden. This garden served to not only get the economic ball rolling in the community to combat poverty, but also served as an example for the local members of the community as to how to develop a marketplace to benefit them by creating capital. In order to gain access to such healthcare products such as malaria medication or contraceptives, members of the communities could work in the garden and farm area in exchange for the medications, which SCHAP would provide. They did this, not to undermine the economy of the community, but to promote the knowledge and skills of producing time, effort and product into money (KPBS 1). By promoting entrepreneurship in this manner, SCHAP created a cycle of cash flow by purchasing medications and providing those medications to the community and then selling back the produce from the garden and farm area, (KPBS 1) in hopes of overcoming the stagnation of poverty with a new engine of commerce. This promotion of commerce with agriculture is not only an access point for local members of the community to qualify for microcredit, but also the creation of a sustainable way of life that promotes the growth beyond poverty. Lisa Avery points out that microcredit has gained recognition on the world stage as an effective mechanism for the empowerment of the people of poor nations in an economic and social sense (224), but her work also shows the importance of SCHAP’s comprehensive focus on battling poverty. The need for effective aid is to be multi-dimensional, and Avery recognizes this factor in the relationship between entrepreneurial pursuits and the support of microcredit and education and health, as she discovered that the children of borrowers from microcredit institutions like the Grameen Bank had much higher rates of enrollment in schools and that their medical needs were more likely to be met (209). 4. SCHAP’s Focus on Education. SCHAP’s comprehensive focus is supported by the Asia & Pacific Review, whose study findings led them to suggest that unless microcredit is couple with sufficient support in other areas, the poor borrowers, especially women, will find their capacity to generate income in decline (xii). A focus of SCHAP in addition to entrepreneurship is education, which speaks as much to sustainable development within these communities just as much as economic activity. SCHAP operates with heavy attention on primary education by introducing school buildings and the tools and skills to provide the educational framework within them. Yunus exemplifies the authoritative voice of support for SCHAP’s initiatives, arguing that â€Å"the first and foremost task of development is to turn on the engine of creativity inside each person† (56). Yunus also looks to the next generation of the members of these communities to be the focus of reducing or eliminating poverty, and maintains that any program directed towards children should be considered a prime development program, just as important, if not more so, than the development of infrastructure (55). In terms of the comprehensive approach to battling poverty, Yunus agrees this approach must be taken, as he argues that economic development must include the exploration of creative potential of the individual which, when enabled, will prove more important than any quantitative economic factor (56). This sense of education leading to economic growth not only shows the efficacy of the comprehensive approach of organizations like SCHAP, but also highlights the focus on the long-term sustainability of these communities and their people. By focusing attention and resources on children at a prime stage of development, the impressions made will last beyond their generation, as they will be passed on for many more to come. SCHAP’s primary education goals are to create schools and to create activities that foster learning and creative exploration for the children, as many of these communities have no formal primary educational programs and the education institutions that do exist are highly ineffective, which has resulted in high illiteracy rates and basic learning skills, especially in children under nine years of age (SCHAP 1). Construction of school buildings are repairs to existing structures is an example of a hands-on fix, while SCHAP looks to empower the community to provide education by providing training and jobs for local teachers as well as needed resources (1). Sustainability of these programs is addressed with the covering of overhead with small school fees, which are made possible by the economic reforms within these communities with entrepreneurship and access to marketplace due to agricultural reforms. The multitude of benefits from this focus on primary education is due in no small part to the role that poor education plays in the derailment of any long-term attempts at ending poverty in these communities. Lisa Avery found that children that do not receive schooling during their critical formative years will only serve to continue the cycle of the illiterate and uneducated in the communities, and that low levels of education contribute to the continuation of poverty, as a result of higher birth rates and those children competing in the families for resources already stretched too thin and they are left out of the workplace (212) due to lack of skills. The Academy for Education Development looks to primary education programs such as those of SCHAP as promoting the learning of skills and the articulation of ideas that promote the acquisition of knowledge and the means for development, but also in the acquisition of the processes and habits of reasoning that promote lifelong learning and the development of the community as a result of learning. An important aspect of SCHAP’s focus on education within the context of a community is that with local education there is also an instilling of cultural value systems. These value systems are just as important as the knowledge of the world around the students, as an understanding of where they come from and what it means to belong to that community, regional and national culture promotes the continuation of those cultural traditions and values to future generations. This is an empowering facet of the nature of these communities, not only to preserve the culture, but to also serve as a sense of independence from nations and cultures that they previously relied so heavily upon. In this way, every member of the community can be a teacher, and there is much to be learnt from them by the children. SCHAP recognizes this and involves parents and other elder members of communities within the educational programs to promote cultural learning. This is essential for not only the children, but also for the other members of the community to reinforce the cultural value and belief systems. The Academy for Education Development regards this activity as highly effective in doing so, recommending that for the success of such primary educational programs, parental involvement should be encouraged, not just as guests or family members but as contributing members of the community (23). Having parents and members of the community involved in primary school programs as SCHAP does promotes linkage between school and the community and home, where what is learned from each sphere can be transferred and shared between members. While the positive aspects of learning within a community are emphasized by SCHAP, so to are initiatives to overcome the aspects of the community that may impede learning. One such initiative is the creation of a â€Å"micro library† consisting of a collection of approximately 1,000 books on a wide variety of topics, along with providing assistance for studying the materials (SCHAP 1). What SCHAP is trying to do with these libraries is not just to provide another centre for learning, but also to combat the â€Å"closed system of information† (1) that communities become. Making new knowledge, skills and resources available to the community promotes an increase in development (1) in the economic, social, cultural and political spheres of the local region. Education works in tandem with business development to create a foundation from which to rise above poverty, but another issue that must be addressed before work can be done or learning is to be made, and that is the health of those in the communities. . SCHAP’s Focus on Health Health is obviously an important issue in the lives of people in poor nations and foreign aid’s attempt at solving. Unfortunately a large amount of funds and manpower has been put into emergency situations regarding health, but very little has been done to address the roots of health issues that are simplistic and relativ ely cheap in comparison to wide-spread relief efforts of the past. A health focus that comes from SCHAP’s knowledge of the fundamental roots of issues in these communities involves the access to clean water. The conditions of water in developing and under-developed nations is dangerously poor due to contamination from agricultural run-off, ineffective or non-existent waste management and illness-causing pathogens. By creating a clean water system in these communities, SCHAP is producing a permanent fix to the root health issue by providing a â€Å"sustainable, maintainable, expandable and replicable† (1) resource. One initiative to achieve this system is with the building and installation of a water filtration system that is simplistic and requires low maintenance, so that the members of the community can maintain existing systems and build and install more elsewhere. An IDRC study by Blanca Jimenez et al. recommends such simple filtration systems for communities such as these, with filtration removing dangerous particulate matter and illness-causing pathogens from the water (3). The IDRC also sees the benefit of access and propagation of these basic systems, as they are infinitely more cost effective than wider-spread regional programs that require significant funds and resources, such as the installation of water treatment plants (3). Another health focus of SCHAP that not only addresses a fundamental issue of poor health of the impoverished but also illuminates how health is linked with education and work in creating an escape from poverty is nutrition. The plan for improved nutrition involves the education of the community, particularly children, as to what is necessary in terms of food to keep them healthy, but also an education as to what agricultural output is most nutritional (SCHAP 1). While medications can be costly and difficult to obtain because of limited supply, addressing a health concern such as nutrition gets to the origins of issues before they can multiply or become fatal. Many people in poor nations die from illnesses that would be easily preventable with basic education and forethought into such things as nutrition. Engle et al. has examined the linkage between nutrition and child development, finding that illnesses that come from poor nutrition, such as anemia, impede such development (230). The prevention of childhood development that malnutrition causes is caused by a disruption of neural circuitry that can lead to permanent difficulties with cognitive skills (230). Early intervention in the form of nutritional education and agricultural reform is shown to combat this development impediment. To use anemia as an example, it occurs because of an iron deficiency. SCHAP initiatives would include the promoting of the growth of iron rich plants, which the IDRC has found to have positive effects on the childhood development of motor-skills, emotional maturity and language and other social skills (Jimenez 2). The initiatives of SCHAP in this context once again present a comprehensive approach to combating poverty, by promoting a healthy lifestyle and the means to achieve it, which can be passed down for generations to come. . Conclusion While only touching on a few of SCHAP’s initiatives for communities in poor nations, what is made clear is that a reformed, comprehensive approach that focuses on sustainable long-term results has the great potential for creating an exit strategy from poverty for these nations and to untie these nations from the cumbersome umbilical cord of foreign aid. What SCHAP is doing by setting up programs and initiatives in these communities is not a hand out, but a helping hand. By giving the tools and the means to create their own resources to these communities, SCHAP is contributing to the fight against poverty in ways that are far-reaching and long lasting. The emphasis made by Cory Glazier on listening to the members of these communities shows a simplistic approach to revolutionary, life-changing ideas. It implies the communication with and involvement of the people of these communities who not only have a right to have say in foreign aid that is given to them, but who also have a responsibility to create the changes that will end poverty in their nations. While SCHAP has shown great potential and has made great improvements in villages such as Matoso, the reality is that there must be hundreds more organizations like SCHAP to join the battle. It is not a battle that these organizations, such as SCHAP or their supporting institutions such as the Grameen Bank, can win, but it is in arming the people of these poor nations that the battle can indeed be won.