Great Expectations: A Synopsis Essay

â€Å"The worst prisons are those we create for ourselves. † To what extent do you agree? Set in the 19th Century Victorian England, many of the main characters in Great Expectations’ are imprisoned either virtually or metaphorically. Magwich is an actual prisoner of the English penal system, and is also a prisoner of his own desire to revenge Compeyson and the class system. Miss Havisham ad Pip create prisons for themselves out of their own fixations and obsessions. It could also be argued that Pip and Estella are both metaphorically imprisoned by Miss Havisham and Magwitch’s need to revenge. Although the description of Newgate is ghastly, and the effects of the prisons imposed upon Pip and Estella are difficult to overcome- the detrimental lite and psychological effects on Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch resultant of their self imposed prisons are the worst prisons of all, because they are so illusive and deceptive, that the characters often dont know of their existence until the damage is done. Through his exposure to Satis House and Estella’s taunting malice, Pip becomes aware of his social inferiority, and thus sprouts the first seeds of discontent with his class. Like a distant yet alluring star, Pip is tantalised by Estella’s wealth and beauty, and out of his exposure to her his all consuming obsession with becoming a gentelman emerges. Ironically, when this idea first emerged, Pip really had very little understanding of what a gentleman was. Although he cannot articulate whether he has this desire â€Å"to spite her or to gain her over,† this fervent urge dictates the direction of his life. He becomes imprisoned into a superficial and narrow be. cf that a gentleman is someone with wealth, status and learning, and will go to any lengths to achieve this aim, albeit rejecting Joe and Biddy. Pip gains his great expectations frorn Magwitch, and although he was metaphorically imprisoned by Magwitch’s exploitation of him to revenge the class system- Pip had already begun to laud the false values of gentilify. Pip could have used Magwitch’s money to become a member of the upper class, but still retain qualities of kindne ss and compassion (like Herbert. Instead, Pip becomes locked into the world of lavish expenditure, greed and corruption. Despite his unhappiness, shown clearly the Finch Club â€Å"there was a gay fiction that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a keleton of truth that we never did†, it takes him many years and trials to free himself from this elusive self imposed prison. Despite the guilt that he feels, he still manages to Justify his treatment of Joe because the prison he has created for himself is so difficult to break out of. Miss Havisham is the epitome of the devastating consequences of creating ones own prison. After being swindled and left at the alter, Miss Havisham is so emotionally ruined that she creates her own virtual and rnetaphorical prison. She confines herself to her mansion, which â€Å"had a great many iron confines bars to it’? and tells Pip that she had â€Å"never seen the sun since you were born. † But she also confines her and raising her purely as an instrument to â€Å"wreak havoc† in the hearts of men. Miss Havisham creates her own prison to revenge all males, and this prison envelops her existence. So consumed by hatred, Miss Havisham’s heart begins to decay, as is symbolic in her surroundings â€Å"covered in dust and mould and dropping to peices†, as well as her spider infested rotten wedding cake. Like Pip, it takes Miss Havisham many yearsand much suffering to understand that she was actually imprisoned. The urning point for her came when she realised that Estella could not lover her because â€Å"l stole her heart away and put ice in its place. Pip acknowledges that Miss Havisham’s imprisonment of Estella was a â€Å"greivous thing† but recognised that her own seclusion from the world and from the healing influcences to her mind and broken heart were infinitely worse. Conversly, Magwitch is a prisoner of the penal system. Although he committed a crime that saw him placed in a Jail, Magwitch did not create this prison because he was forced into imp risonment by the authorities, and was basically forced to commit rime in order to survive. His imprisonment was not a conscious choice, as was Pip and Miss Havisham’s, and unlike the others, Magwitch was well aware of this imprisonment. Despite his loss of freedom and years immersed in sub-human conditions, his mental imprisonment in the need to revenge Compeyson and class system, which he creates for himself, has the most damaging effect on his life. After escaping from the prison ship, Magwitch could have been free had it not been for his revenge upon Compeyson. Because of these acitons, Magwitch finds himself again imprisoned and sent for life to Australia. Again, it was his self-imposed imprisonment that caused the most damage. Magwitch spends most of his time in Australia working to convert Pip into a gentleman to revenge the class system, instead of Just forgetting his past and moving on with his life. He even goes so far as to come back to Englas to see â€Å"my gentleman†, and is consequently sentenced to death for returning. Through the stories of Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch, Dickens is clearly expressing that the worst prisons are those we create for ourselves, as their damage is subtle to the victim who may be unaware of their existence.

Curley’s Wife Essay

The character of Curley’s Wife is one of the most significant characters in the book as she is linked to the key themes of loneliness and dreams, which ultimately leads to both her death and Lennie’s death. Steinbeck uses the character of Curley’s Wife as a microcosm for the prejudice that faced all women in 1930’s America. Like most of the main characters in the novel, Curley’s wife is significantly related to the theme of dreams. Her role in this theme is slightly more important than others, however, because of her position as the only female character on the farm. The fact that she is the only woman makes her opinions and actions representative of all women living in the Great American Depression. â€Å"Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes- all them nice clothes like they wear. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me. † Here, we see how Curley’s Wife, despite not having a name, has dreams and still relies on those dreams as a way of escaping the loneliness in the farm. Curley’s Wife is a stereotype of many other women in 1930’s America who turned to men as a result of failed dreams, and chose to take the easy route rather than be crushed by America’s cruel judgement of women. Curley’s Wife is very significant to the ending of the novel as her death is the downfall of George, Lennie and Candy’s united dream. Without this death, George, Lennie and Candy may still have gone on to live their shared dream, but because of it George had to kill Lennie. The significance of Curley’s Wife is ironically also shown threw the insignificance with which the workers in the novel treat her. Within her very first introduction, Steinbeck offers a glimpse of her role as the promiscuous troublemaker and the way in which the other characters respond to this. George, in particular, illustrates how others judge or misconceive her solely because of her gender; †Jesus what a tramp, so that’s what Curley picks for a wife†. Here, Steinbeck uses George to represent the male population of America and their attitude to women in the 1930’s. The character of Curley’s Wife is particularly significant in this microcosm as she conveys the insignificance of women and their reliance on men to just ‘pick’ and drop them on their own accord. The disregard with which Curley’s Wife is treated continues through to the very lowest positions in the farm’s hierarchy. Despite being the daughter-in-law of the boss, Curley’s Wife still suffers abuse from George, Candy and even Lennie who often refer to her as â€Å"jail-bait† and a â€Å"tart†. These derogatory statements illustrate how Curley’s Wife is made to feel worthless solely because of her gender. Curley’s Wife is significant as she presents the backward attitude of most men in 1930’s America who were scared to treat women with respect for fear of evoking conflict and losing their job, something so hard to come by in the harsh economic times. Steinbeck uses the character of Curley’s Wife to convey her dysfunctional marriage, something that was common in 1930’s America. Curley disrespects his wife and she is constantly the source of his objectification. This is most evident through her name ‘Curley’s Wife’ which clearly conveys the hold and possessive nature that Curley has over her. Steinbeck’s use of withholding information here, also suggests that she is not deserving of her own name and highlights her inferior position on the farm. â€Å"I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella. † Here Steinbeck shows how Curley’s Wife did not marry for love and demonstrates a common situation in America where women often used their sexuality to get them married for stabilisation during the Great Depression. Curley’s Wife is also a symbol of the mistreatment of women. â€Å"Curley says he’s keeping that hand soft for his wife†. Here, we see how the other characters on the farm regard Curley’s wife as a mere sex object solely because of her gender and her dependency on her husband. This serves as a microcosm for 1930’s America, as the general consensus was that the sole purpose of women was to meet the needs of their husbands. A final way in which Curley’s Wife is significant in the novel is through her link to the theme of loneliness. Curley’s Wife is one of the loneliest characters in the novel, which is overlooked at first but becomes more apparent as the novel continues. â€Å"Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely. † Curley’s Wife is constantly rejected by her husband and to combat this she tries her best to attract the attention of the workers. She does this by going to extremes with her physical appearance; â€Å"She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. † This shows her desperation to be noticed, which is understandable given the cruel judgement and disregard with which she and many other American women were faced. The loneliness of Curley’s Wife and her child-like search for attention was eventually the death of her. In her happiness at being noticed for once, Curley’s Wife misjudged Lennie’s capabilities, which was what ultimately led to her inevitable death. Curley’s Wife represents the lonely people in America and in the world whose cry for attention turns out to be their downfall. In conclusion Curley’s Wife is extremely significant to the novel and serves as a symbol for prejudice and objectification in 1930’s America. With the help of this character Steinbeck can clearly illustrate some of the novels key themes of loneliness, dreams and relationships from the perspective of the only woman in this novel.

BMW’s Internationalisation Strategy

BMWs Internationalisation Strategy â€Å"Worldwide movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration. Globalization implies opening out beyond local and nationalistic perspectives to a broader outlook of an interconnected and inter-dependent world with free transfer of capital, goods, and services across national frontiers.† Globalization is a process of interface and merger amongst the people, companies, and governments of different states, a process encouraged by international trade and investment and supported by technology. This process has effects on the environment, culture, political structures, economic progress and prosperity. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), English: Bavarian Motor Works is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company which was founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the MINI brand, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars also is under the management of BMW AG. BMW manufactures motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands. BMW is known for its performance and luxury vehicles. BMW cars are being assembled in South Africa since 1968, when Praetor Monteerders’ factory was opened in Rosslyn, near Pretoria. To begin with BMW bought shares in the company, before fully buying it out in 1975. As a result the company was named BMW South Africa; this was the first fully owned subsidiary of BMW AG which was established outside Germany. Despite U.S. manufacturers, such as Ford and GM divesting from the country in the 1980s, BMW continued to maintain full ownership of its operations in South Africa. Subsequent to the fall of apartheid in 1994 and the import duties being reduced, BMW South Africa halted manufacturing of the 5-Series and 7-Series. This was done in order to focus on manufacturing of the 3-Series which was to be exported. BMW South Africa’s cars were now being exported to right hand drive countries which included Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, etc.; this also included the African Saha ra. Since 1997 BMW South Africa had started producing vehicles in left hand drive which were to be exported to Taiwan, the United States, etc. Austria In 1978, BMW took a decision to begin a joint venture with the Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch to design, produce and sell diesel engines. When this joint venture ended in 1982, BMW took over the plant in the Austrian city of Steyr under its own group. Over time the Austrian factory had become the back bone for engine production and R&D. United States of America BMWs Spartanburg plant in South Carolina, USA commenced operation and began producing BMW automobiles for the world market in 1994. A huge success of these automobiles soon led to extensive structural enlargements at the Spartanburg plant. Its capacity was enlarged by adding additional shifts, introducing flexible working-hour models and hiring new employees. Today, the Spartanburg plant is open six days a week, with circa 110 hours a week of production. United Kingdom The BMW Group brought its flagship brand MINI into the European market in 2000. The first models to be introduced were the MINI One and MINI Cooper. In 2002, the sporty MINI Cooper S was launched, as did the MINI One D with diesel engine in 2003. In 2004, the MINI convertible was launched. The origin of the MINI is the Oxford plant in the United Kingdom. It is totally incorporated into the BMW Group production network. The plant and Mini brand were acquired in 1994 with purchase of the Rover Group.

Money Making Trends for 2011 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Money Making Trends for 2011 - Essay Example Money Making Trends for 2011 Internet marketing business is very easy and quite cheap to set up. All that one needs is a personal computer and ample and reliable internet. Individuals can set up internet marketing businesses by themselves or they can combine effort with their friends or family and set up a formidable enterprise. The Internet marketing environment is a highly competitive field, therefore innovation in the business is crucial. This means that the human resources required for any competitive online marketing business should have relevant skills. Some of the people needed in today’s internet marketing business include copywriters, technicians and business managers. Like any other business, the internet marketing business needs to market itself to prospective customers and clients. One of the most effective means of marketing such businesses is through the utilization of social networking sites. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are effective tools to use in order to reach a sizable number of people. The use of video networking is also gaining ground as a way of reaching out to prospective customers. Search engine optimization still remains an important aspect of advertising for internet marketing businesses (Bailey, 2011). ... The trend for 2011 in this business lies in the utilization of quality Electronic Medical Record software that can guarantee accurate work (Lange, 2011). Money Making Trends for 2011 The use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) remains very popular in the medical billing business. The EMR technology has been upgraded in such a way that the workflow of clinicians is well streamlined and integrated with all the important aspects of revenue cycle and practice management. The type f business ownership required for medical billing is a home-based or even an office based sole proprietorship. The business is very easy to set up and one only needs to be constantly in touch with clinicians and other healthcare providers through the internet. A small medical billing business would not require much in terms of human resources. However, apart from the business owner, one or two assistants and a technician would make work easier and much more efficient. Medical billing is a specific niche business , it only attracts medical practitioners. As such the kind of marketing that would be most appropriate for medical billers is though search engine optimization especially in websites that contain medical related content (Lange, 2011). Virtual Assistant A virtual assistant is an independent contractor who offers remote administrative services for other businesses. Virtual businesses have taken over the place of traditional brick and mortar space as businesses seek way through which they can reduce fixed costs as well as overhead expenses. The proliferation of technology has meant that more businesses are now more than ever willing to launch their operations online and reach as many customers as possible. There is a wide pool of virtual expertise available. This

Understanding Christianity from an Aristotelian point of view Essay

Understanding Christianity from an Aristotelian point of view - Essay Example This paper will compare and contrast the characterization of God in the Summa Theologica and the neo-Platonist view. Both the summa theological and neo-Platonism account for the existence of a superior being or God. In the summa theological, Aquinas advances arguments that seek to establish and prove God’s existence (Brian 22). Aquinas states that there is a God simply because the world itself needs him as an explanation. The first part of the Summa Theologica concludes by Aquinas quipping that God cannot fail to exist. Aquinas proposes that the world cannot function with such efficiency without a grand architect who is God (Edward & Aquinas 39). The smoothness with which the world functions cannot be created by chance but must be the product of God’s work. Aquinas in his first three arguments aims at explaining the existence of God by accounting for the change in the physical world, the presence of the physical world, and existence in itself. Neo-Platonism also accepts the existence of the one who is infinite (Albert 30). The one gets painted as the source of life and the sole cause of the only real existence. The one is the source of all life. The one is beyond all forms of being. The one gets portrayed as the most reality and a source of less real things. The one is a divine power that is complete and self-sufficient (Remes 132). The Summa Theologica and neo-Platonism acknowledge the existence of a superior being who is all-knowing. The summa theological derives its characterization of God from an Aristotelian point of view (Brian 103). The neo-platonic conception of the one gets derived from Plato’s teachings. The Summa Theologica rejects the idea of the neo-Platonists that knowledge of the Supreme Being gets based on ideas and forms that exist in the mind (Aquinas & Edward 93). Aquinas disputes Plato’s view that knowledge gets derived from the mind alone. He suggests that knowledge gets derived from the soul which has intellect in its composition. He argues against Plato’s view by suggesting that if knowledge only got derived from the mind alone, then the soul would be of no use to the body. Aquinas affirms the need for the body in the acquisition of knowledge and rejects the theory of innate ideas forwarded by the Platonists (Brian 74). Neo-Platonists argue that the knowledge of the one gets contemplated by the mind, which generates ideas and forms (Remes 100). By generation of ideas and forms, the knowledge about the one gets divided and multiplied. The knowledge about the one gets transcended into the physical world through the world soul. The world soul according to the neo-Platonists is separate from the individual human souls (Albert 145). Summa Theologica differs with neo-platonic concepts on the basis of how the knowledge of God gets inferred to human beings. Both the Summa Theologica and the neo-platonic concepts on the characterization of God agree that the mind assists in the acquisition of knowledge. The mind acquires knowledge about God by creating images. Aquinas refers to these images as ‘phantasms’ in the Summa Theologica (Aquinas & Edward 123). Aquinas argues that the mental images about God get based on sensual experience, and this creates universal ideas and principles.  

Best buy Case Study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Best buy Case Study - Assignment Example ased on Best Buy’s case study, customer-centricity works better because the segmentation of high-earning customers, empowers the employees to target those who will bring in more profits to the store (Boyle, 2006). In the Best Buy case study, Brad Anderson wanted an immediate change from the traditional strategy to a customer-centric strategy. However, as evidenced in Boyle’s magazine article, the shift from a traditional strategy to a customer-centric strategy also many problems. The profits and growth of a company’s branches are not made easily as most managers imagine (Capon, 2008). According to the CEO at Best Buy, Brad Anderson, the transformation is not always smooth as most people would expect (Boyle, 2006). In addition, the traditional strategy of offering customer services was different because it only focused on only the clients who are average or only those spending a lot of high quality services. Most companies are proud to say that they are customer-centric, which is an added advantage because marketers use customer results to understand the customers’ base. This not only saves on time, but resource and scarce resources. A customer-centric organization also makes it easier for the clients to communicate any time with it. Contrary to the traditional strategy of providing services, a customer-centric company has no room for opaque responses which also lack empathy. According to Boyle (2006), using the segmentation tactic at Bet Buy Company helps it to work at a successful pace, particularly when it opened its first stores in China. Since segmentation allows a company to identify its most profitable and least profitable clients in the market, Best Buy’s marketing team identified that China had profitable customers. It is the reason that allowed Best Buy to become successful in China. It is because of the segmentation tactic that Best Stores continues to design its stores according to customer wants, since identified that customers like an

How and why might violence against women be perceived as indicator of Essay

How and why might violence against women be perceived as indicator of unequal citizenship - Essay Example This paper presents a very thoughtful argument as to why and how violence against women is an indicator of unequal citizenship. It explores the aspect of gender violence as a whole providing particular forms of violence affecting women, locations where these forms of violence take place, role of government in eliminating violence, and the key political values and forms of citizenship linked either directly or indirectly to the increased widespread of gender violence. Indeed, violence against women can be seen as an indicator of unequal citizenship in that from ancient times; women have been perceived as having no value in the society and considered as a man’s property. They were mandated to be submissive to their husbands and not perform industrial activities; they were forced to early marriage, and practiced female genital mutilations as well as mistreating widows like inciting them to commit suicide.2 In addition, with all these, there is no equal citizenship because men alw ays dominate and abuse women but a few or no perpetrators are brought to justice. For instance, there have been claims that death sentence as a rape case charge does not end violence but failure to prosecute rapists does not eliminate violence either. Today, feminist movements have addressed the issue of violence and discrimination aggressively as a criminal act so as to ensure that there is equality and elimination of gender discrimination because women need to be treated fairly equally as men. Additionally, violence against women serves, as a perfect example of unequal citizenship in that, the fact that women are not equally given chance to occupy some offices is a sign of inequality and as a result, women feel left out. Even though most women in the contemporary world are offered different job opportunities and others are even designated some tasks that are usually performed by men, they are still discriminated in some sectors. This to some extent can be seen as an indicator of u nequal citizenship. Furthermore, existences of forms of violence that affect women across a variety of location like battering, domestic violence, sexual violence among others, and the fact that responsible bodies cannot aggressively address them confirms gender imbalance and unequal citizenship. For instance, most societal members especially men believe that wife battering not a big issue and it is something that must be done as a way of ‘disciplining women’. More so, violence against women shows unequal citizenship since it has been noted that popular form of violence against women globally is intimate partner violence commonly referred to as domestic violence. This is what has been happening and is still happening but the government cannot work on this to offer complete protection of women. Psychological violence where a man dominates a woman and literally forcing her to be submissive to him as well as exploiting her economically,3 persists. Indeed, this confirms tha t violence against women is a manifestation of unequal citizenship in our societies. Truly, violence against women indicates unequal citizenship because men usually abuse women in other ways like sex working, child abuse and trafficking and yet, just like men they are supposed to be protected.4 As a result, only few perpetrators are held accountable of their inhuman acts and it has been confirmed that some police officers threaten the victims to never say a word. This for sure can be seen as lack of protection of wome

Keynesian Liquidity Preference Framework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Keynesian Liquidity Preference Framework - Essay Example Apart from this optimistic approach there will be some negative characteristics of high money supply like, it will hike the inflation rate up to an optimal level (Fontana 31). Let's say the treasury printed so much in Federal Reserve Bank (FED) which made every American a millionaire, after the retirement of everyone, there would be no more workers or servants left to do the biddings which urges the industries to attract people by raising their wages. This of course is the essence of inflation; so persistency in spending the money would be required to overcome the circumstances which may arise due to higher money supply and we can say that it's a best cure of recession. A recession will change in depression if a "Liquidity Gap" occurs in it. A liquidity gap is when people hoard money and refuse to spend, no matter how much the government tries to expand the money supply. There are ample reasons why people hesitate to invest the money; it can be a consumer loss of confidence on the ec onomy probably due to stock market crash or the law and order situation in the country, natural disaster like earthquake or hurricane are also the major cause which abate the spending of the money in the country, although saving is a good thing but it is not viable if spending and investment are not on an adequate level. You know "Wars are good for economy" (it must astonish you) almost all the economist agree that World War II cured the great depression because the U.S finally began massive spending on defense. Social Programs are much more preferable over the ways to avoid depression. The success of Keynesian economics can be evaluated by having a glance over the recession periods. In U.S, before the World War II, eight recessions worsened into depression which happened in (1807, 1837, 1882, 1893, 1920, 1933 and 1937) and since world war II there have been nine recessions under Keynesian policies happened in (1945-46, 1949, 1954, 1956, 1960-61, 1970, 1973-75, 1980-83, 1990-92) and not a single recession turned into a depression. Richard Nixon who was the 37th president of the United States (1969-1974) once declared that "We are Keynesians now" shows the importance of Keynesian Liquidity Preference Theory. As mentioned earlier savings is a must for the economy. According to Keynes saving is equal to investment; means every dollar which is saved is ultimately utilized as an investment in the economy (Keynes 150). Now the concept of money supply and price level effect comes into place; if the economy reaches on an optimal level then people become less interested to invest and under this influence price level increases because the income level also increases. In liquidity preference framework, Keynes (211) states that the money demand can be equated with the term Marginal Efficiency Unit (MEU). Keynes further apprises that nothing will induce the people to invest money if they are on a consensus that the economy is on its peak point from where the prices of the commodities begin to rise and result in increasing the inflation rate up to a vulnerable position (Handa, 511). The industry which badly gets hurt from this jeopardous situation is the banking industry because

Can Environmental Insurance Succeed Where Others Have Failed Essay

Can Environmental Insurance Succeed Where Others Have Failed - Essay Example The researcher states that there are many protective measures put in place by firms in order to reduce environmental pollution. It ranges from environmental policies, health policies as well as the safety risk policies. However, these protective measures may not be socially efficient. In such cases, these firms have to be liable to the negative externalities developed due to their actions. Such externalities include loss of well-being of people exposed to pollution or those individuals who are not willing to use unhygienic recourses. In such situations, environmental may levy a post-damage fine, directly proportional to the extent of the external damage violated. For smaller firms, this fine may exceed their limited assets, therefore, making the firm declare they are bankrupt and avoid paying the fine altogether. Environmental agencies, therefore, came up with a pre-damage risk management process. In this process, firms will pay smaller fines frequently for not implementing the oblig atory environmental practices. Examples of such management process include Project Safety Management (PSM) programs, Risk Management Program (RMP), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and also Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Since post damage fines are often limited by bankruptcy and, on the other hand, pre-damage process mandates are constrained by monitoring. And, therefore, the best alternative will be to buy the environmental insurance policy. The paper, therefore, researches on mandatory insurance for Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) in order to come up with answers if environmental insurance policy succeeds where the traditional policies failed. Pre-damage fines could have been the best alternative to address the issue of bankruptcy, but the implementation is constrained by regulatory agencies’ narrow monitoring capabilities. Environmental Protection Agency has limited auditors to do facility inspection in order to ascertain whether all firm s have effectively put into practice all the risk management practices.