Allegory Of The Cave Essay Thesis Example For Students

Allegory Of The Cave Essay Thesis Plato believed that most of us have a skewed view of the world. Plato, the most creative and influential of Socrates disciples, wrote dialogues, in which he frequently used the figure of Socrates to espouse his own (Platos) full-fledged philosophy. In The Republic, Plato sums up his views in an image of ignorant humanity, trapped in the depths and not even aware of its own limited perspective. The rare individual escapes the limitations of that cave and, through a long, tortuous intellectual journey, discovers a higher realm, a true reality, with a final, almost mystical awareness of Goodness as the origin of everything that exists. Such a person is then the best equipped to govern in society, having a knowledge of what is ultimately most worthwhile in life and not just a knowledge of techniques; but that person will frequently be misunderstood by those ordinary folks back in the cave who havent shared in the intellectual insight. If he were living today, Plato might replace his rather awkward cave metaphor with a movie theater, with the projector replacing the fire, the film replacing the objects which cast shadows, the shadows on the cave wall with the projected movie on the screen, and the echo with the loudspeakers behind the screen. The essential point is that the prisoners in the cave are not seeing reality, but only a shadowy representation of it. The importance of the allegory lies in Platos belief that there are invisible truths lying under the apparent surface of things which only the most enlightened can grasp. Used to the world of illusion in the cave, the prisoners at first resist enlightenment, as students resist education. But those who can achieve enlightenment deserve to be the leaders and rulers of all the rest. At the end of the passage, Plato expresses another of his favorite ideas: that education is not a process of putting knowledge into empty minds, but of making people realize that which they already know. This notion that truth is somehow embedded in our minds was also powerfully influential for many centuries.In The Allegory of the Cave from Platos Republic, Plato describes untutored people as slaves chained by their limited views and perceptions. Most people never leave this realm of slavery in which they do not see the world accurately, but ignorantly see a skewed view of the world. Everyone is capable of seeing a true reality, for they already do know truth but do not realize it. In order to escape the realms of the cave and see truth, an individual has to embark on an intellectual journey that is painful. Few people ever do embark on this journey in which they realize what they already know. Those that succeed, and leave the cave can see the world accurately from their enlightened perspective. These are the few that truly understand reality and find truth. Plato believed that those who have found truth and understand reality are the people that are most suited to govern in society. This is because these people have an understanding of what the important issues really are. However, ordinary people who have not realized truth will frequently misunderstand those who have, because they have limited perspective rather than an enlightened perspective. The people in government should be there not because they thrive on having power and influence, but because they understand best the principles of government.

Business Ethics Business Essential Organizations

Question: Describe about the Business Ethics for Business Essential Organizations. Answer: A business ethics program is essential for any organization. It helps to establish the identity of a company. A business ethics program must be such that the values of the organization reach a wide range of stakeholders. For an effective ethics program, special emphasis must be laid on elements like high commitment level by the board of directors and executive management and statement of the fundamental values of the company. An ethics program must have ethics orientation training for the employees. There must be proper communication between the management and the target audience. The program must have the capability to investigate in case of any allegations and wrongdoings. Also, there must be a formal reporting, operation and implementation of the ethics discussed in an ethics program. Moreover, there must be audits periodically by external and internal auditors. In order to carry out an effective ethics program, the company must establish procedures and standards to detect and prevent criminal conduct. The board of directors or the governing authority must exercise oversight and assign overall responsibility to the personnel at high level. Along with conducting ethics programs, it is important to provide a confidential reporting of the activities, enforce and promote the program, and respond to the detected criminal conduct so that any further criminal activity can be prevented (Kaptein 2015). Corporate social responsibility is defined as the self-regulation that is integrated in to business model. CSR policies are self-regulatory mechanisms. Corporate social responsibilities include management of waste so that pollution is reduced. In involves contribution to programs of education and society. On the other hand, business ethics is a kind of professional or applied ethics. It examines the morality or ethical principles or ethical problems that may arise while running a business. Business ethics is the conduct of an organization and refers to the values or standards that the organization practices (Rossouw and Vuuren 2010). While social responsibility is the responsibility of a company towards the society and environment, business ethics is the conscience of what is good or bad. Things like honesty, keeping promises, integrity, loyalty, respect, fairness, obeying laws, accountability, caring, and respecting are business ethics. Efforts to make environment cleaner and greener, philanthropy, volunteering, and treating employees in a fair and ethical manner is social responsibility (Servaes and Tamayo 2013). Business ethics is important for a business as it helps to build customer loyalty, retain good employees, creates a positive working environment, and keeps legal problems away. Unfair treatment of consumers would drive them away. If dedicated and good workers are not rewarded, they would soon leave the company. Business ethics must be employed not only by the management but also by the employees. Conducts like theft and fraud are detrimental for both the company and employees and must be completely avoided. Individual factors like values, morals, knowledge, personal goals, and personality affect the ethical behavior of a person within an organization. More knowledge about a subject would prompt a better ethical decision. Lack of an appropriate knowledge may lead a person to an unethical path. Values are the standard or judgment of an individual. Lying to achieve success or win contracts are deemed as unethical and is a wrong way of running a business. Morals of a person also influence the ethics of an individual. Morals are developed by people because of cultural norms and these cultural norms affect ethics largely. Pushing a person to buy a product that would not be beneficial is not a sign of good morality and hence not ethical. Lastly, an individuals personal goals affect the ethics of a workplace. If a persons only goal is to acquire money without thinking about the consequences, the act is unethical. Also, the personality is an important factor in determining the ethical conduct of a person at work. People with a tendency to take more risks tend to be unethical (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2015). The behavior and personality of the manager, reward system, selection system, explicit policies and rules, and the kind of values adopted within the organization are some of the organizational factors that affect business ethics (Carroll and Buchholtz 2014). White collar is a crime committed by government and business professionals. First defined in 1939 by Edwin Sutherland, white collar crime is a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation. Crimes like labor racketeering, bribery, identity theft, forgery, Ponzi schemes, cybercrime, embezzlement, and fraud are some of the white collar crimes (Piquero and Clipper 2014). Research says that people with antisocial personality disorder or narcissistic issues generally indulge in white collar crimes. Such criminals start with smaller crimes and eventually commit larger crimes. Excessive self interest leads people to commit white collar crimes. White collar crimes are thus mostly psychologically induced crimes. Such criminals deem misconduct as a route to success. Moreover, excessive desire to increase profitability and corporate efficiency lead individuals to white collar crimes. Illegal dumping of waste without any management is also a crime. Companies try to escape such waste management system as it is not cost effective. They are unable to accept the responsibility for their actions (Levi 2013). Mostly fraud and misleading advertisements are designed to increase profits and disable competitors. There are two types of stakeholders to which a company must owe a degree of social responsibility. Stakeholders can be categorized into primary and secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders are the internal stakeholders and engage in the economic transactions of the business. It comprises suppliers, employees, creditors, and customers. Secondary stakeholders on the other hand, are external stakeholders who may not engage in economic transactions directly. Communities, business support groups, media, activist groups, and the general public are the secondary stakeholders (Harrison and Wicks 2013). A company must be responsible to both the primary and the secondary stakeholders as the action of the company may affect these groups both directly or indirectly. Companies must show their responsibility towards its employees for they are the most important stakeholders of an organization and contribute their expertise and labor to an organization. Employees are directly involved with the growth of a company and hence must be given most priority. The board of directors, stockholders, partners, donors and funders are some of the other important stakeholders of an organization. Stockholders are also one of the most important and powerful stakeholders as they own the shares of the company. They are economically involved with the company. They have the right to buy or sell shares, obtain dividends when declared, nominate directors, vote for the directors and keep the assets after liquidation. Though secondary stakeholders are not directly involved with the economy and finance of a company, they are essential and may impact a company largely. Environmental activists and general public for instance, may oppose the actions of a company if it violates environmental rules and harm the ecological balance. Such protests are a negative publicity and generate ill will for the company (Bourne 2016). Bribery is one of the major tools of corruption and is used by individuals and companies around the world to buy things or contracts or labor. Bribery is considered a sin and has different names in different countries. For instance, it is named la mordita in Latin America, baksheesh in the Middle East, bustarella in Italy, hai go or hung pao in Hong Kong, dash in some parts of Africa, pot de vin in France and schmiergelder in Germany. (Rose-Ackerman and Palifka 2016). It is a concept argued by many organizations and individuals that companies are not expected to adhere to ethical practices in places where corruption and bribery is very high. In most countries, it is very common to bribe government officials, locals, and other stakeholders to negotiate contracts and deriving the best out of them. In some countries, bribing agents is very much acceptable. Those who employ the agent may disclaim responsibility at any moment. In some other countries, government officials and general publ ic accept bribe as they are not paid adequate salary. In such situations, people are bribed to induce them to do what they must do. This kind of bribery also called grease may take the form of extortion. Maintaining secrecy while payment is also a kind of bribery and is considered improper. The definition and intensity of bribery thus varies from country to country depending on the ethical standards of the population, their economic standards, and society in which they live. Implementation of a worldwide legislation and regulations and a strict implementation of those rules may reduce this form of corruption to some extent (Cuervo-Cazurra 2016). Corporate governance can be defined as a system of rules and regulations, processes, and practices employed by the government to control and direct the company. It mostly involves balancing the interests of the stakeholders such as management, shareholders, financers, community, government, and customers. Corporate governance provides a framework to a company for obtaining its objectives. It encompasses internal controls, management system, action plans, corporate disclosure, and measurement of performance of a company (ArAs 2016.). The direct primary stakeholder that influences corporate governance is the board of directors as they represent a companys shareholder. It is the board that makes decisions on the behalf of shareholders and takes care of a companys financial well- being. The board looks after the firing and hiring executives, setting broad goals for the company, ensuring adequate resources for the company, and looking after proper management system of the company (Tricker 2015). One of the major issues regarding corporate governance is that of the responsibilities and roles between the boards and shareholders. A company may oversee management of risk. It may not identify and assess the risks that might emerge as a result of increasing footprint. Another issue is that of auditing and financial reporting. Corporate social responsibility or corporate conscience is a kind of corporate self-regulation incorporated into a business model. It is a self-regulatory mechanism to ensure the active compliance of a business with the laws and monitor the activities. It maintains the international norms and ethical standards of a company. It is argued that firms that operate with a CSR perspective are bound to have long-term profits. On the other hand, some critics argue that CSR distract a business from its economic role (Carroll 2015). The corporate responsibilities of a company can be organized into a pyramid whereby the economic responsibility of a company comes at the bottom. It is the basic responsibility of a company. The next in the pyramid is the legal responsibilities. A company must abide by the laws to ensure a smooth, profitable running of the company. Environmental law, security regulations, and criminal law are some of the laws that a company must adhere. The next is the ethical resp onsibilities which include fair wages, paying dues to employees, and creating a friendly working environment. Philanthropic responsibilities are placed at the top of the pyramid. This responsibility comes into play once all the other responsibilities are met. This responsibility include an effort to benefit society, donating services, engaging in projects that are beneficial for the environment or engaging in charitable programs and donating money to charitable trusts (Korschun et al 2014). There are seven key steps that must be considered while implementing an effective ethics program in an organization or company. Firstly, a company must establish procedures and standards to detect and prevent criminal conduct. The company must effectively communicate the right standards and procedures. Secondly, a company must give specific responsibilities to the committee of executives or the senior executive. The board of directors must see that the plans are implemented properly. It is equally important that the employees understand their responsibility and follow the procedures. Thirdly, a company must not give any role to a person who has a record of criminal activity. However, the company must consider the degree of misconduct. Fourthly, a company can make ethical programs effective by implementing programs through training and education. They must be given proper education and training about accounting, favors and gifts, unfair trade practices, labor standards, confidential i nformation, and organizational property. Fifthly, it is crucial to audit the program to make sure that the elements of the program are implemented properly. It is necessary to see the effectiveness of the program periodically. A company must provide guidelines to the employees to monitor and report any misconduct. Next, there must be appropriate incentives so that employees are encouraged to comply with the programs. This would help them to impose necessary disciplinary measures if employees fail to comply with the programs. Lastly, after misconduct has been identified, a company must address them and take proper measures to correct them (Beeri et al. 2013). The word teleological has been derived from the Greek work telos meaning end, goal, or purpose. Teleological is thus the study of ends, goals, and purposes. A moral theory is teleological when it defines and explains the right actions. For instance, a moral theory maintaining the rightness of an action and achieving the goal is theological theory. Aristotles theory of ethics and Utilitarianism are examples of teleological ethics. Teleology is result- oriented ethics. It is also known as consequentialism. It generally focuses on the purpose of every action that a person takes and their consequences. It examines past experiences to analyze the present actions (Berker 2013). Deontological perspective on the other hand is duty- based ethics. They are mostly the moral duties taught to an individual as a child. People are molded from their very childhood through deontological ethics. Deontological ethics assesses the rightness or wrongness of an action. It is based mostly on the obligations and duties of a person towards another person or living things or the environment. It is based on moral values and beliefs. While teleological ethics is based on the outcomes and results of the actions of an individual, deontological ethics finds its basis on the absolute duty of man towards mankind. Here the action is given more priority than the results (Conway and Gawronski 2013). Yes, my understanding of ethics has changed after studying this subject. Ethics is mostly the general behavior of a person towards another person. Earlier I thought that ethics is regarded as the morality of a person. But now, after studying the term, I came to know that ethics is applicable individually as well as in an organization. It is a highly regarded term in business. It has various perspectives like the teleological and the ontological. Various ethical programs are conducted and organized by companies so that they experience a hassle free and smooth running. There are ethics while considering environmental concerns. They are environmental ethics. Not only an organization, but individuals within a society must also abide by those moral codes and inculcate within them environmental ethics to protect the environment and help to achieve ecological balance. Ethics is thus, the concept of right or wrong. (a) Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment comprises unwelcome sexual acts and advances on the part of the employees in a workplace. Sexual harassment is, in fact, a form of discrimination towards the opposite sex or the same sex as well. The sexual conduct of a person may hamper the performance of an employee to a great extent. Sexual harassment may not necessarily be physical abuse. It may arise from sexual innuendos, sexual jokes or lewd pictures targeted at a specific person or posting offensive pictures openly on bulletin boards. However, the perception of sexual harassment may be different for both men and women. Two types of sexual harassment have been recognized at workplace- hostile working environment and quid pro quo. For instance, if a superior demands to have sexual relation with him/her to retain the job of an employee, or providing some other benefit, it is quid pro quo sexual harassment. An unwelcome, abusive or offensive work environment is ground for legal action. Such sexual harassments ma y be analyzed in court. Making unwelcome sexual comments or acting in a sexually inappropriate way or touching a person is hostile environment sexual harassment (Salman et al 2016). (b) Corporate Intelligence In the present times, transparency, accountability, and conduct are not sufficient to raise stakes and take business decisions. The competitive market shows that warranties are not enough to retain a high position in business. Some business firms tend to have more hegemonic power despite fewer resources. On the other hand, firms with less business resource tend to have more power. Any information about a business must be gathered in an ethical and legal way. However, getting information through unethical and illegal ways are issues which are noteworthy (Parello 2015). The given scenario may present the issue of ethics. Being personally related to the accountant, the decision on the part of the buyer may be biased. The buyer may ignore the ethical requirements that are not fulfilled by the accountant. Moreover, the opinion of the buyer may be biased towards the accountant. There may be people who are more desirable than the brother. Being personally related, the auditor may not behave professionally and may raise questionable issues. The buyer may not investigate into the business policies of the firm, clients, business activities, and owners that is run by his brother. The conflict in interest may arise as a result of conflict between professional obligation and self- interest. Inaccurate financial records may be placed in financial reports and this may lead to corporate scandals. While expanding a business globally, several ethical issues may crop up. The first ethical issue that may probably arise is that of operations. When companies expand their business globally, they develop local operations. Any normal practice considered illegal in the home country may be deemed legal in the host country. For instance, it may be highly essential to provide safe working conditions, provide proper wages and take care of environmental hazards in the home country. However, such parameters may not be considered by the local companies in the host country. In such a situation, the profitability of foreign companies may be at stake while small businesses compromise with such issues. This is an ethical issue for the operation manager of the foreign country (Weiss 2014). In many countries, companies from foreign market may not have to give high taxes. The low tax jurisdiction avoids the companies to pay high taxes through transfer pricing. In such a scenario, the low tax operation of the company lets it to transfer high costs to its home country. In this way, the company can retain most of the revenue locally. The companies thus pay very low tax while earning huge profits. Such transfer prices are often considered unethical and illegal (Matten 2015). An ethical issue considered highly in the present scenario is that of environment. All foreign countries do not have environmental legislations. Because of this, companies ignore the issue of environmental pollution and discharge toxic wastes into the environment thereby posing severe threat to the environment. Limiting the environmental footprint may be an ethical approach on the part of the company. Thus, going beyond local laws to protect the environment is an ethical standard that all companies must strive to maintain. Companies must ensure that the locals are not affected by the industrial pollutants generated from factories (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2015). Corruption is another arena in which one may find severe business ethical issues. In most countries, bribe is very normal and is a daily aspect. Such corrupted practices are a result of competition in the local as well the international market. Offering money and other materialistic things to political parties and government officials are unethical. These are forms of indirect payment. However, implementation of strict policies and regulations may solve the problem to a great extent (Armstrong et al. 2013). References ArAs, G., 2016.A handbook of corporate governance and social responsibility. CRC Press. Armstrong, R.W., Stening, B.W., Ryans, J.K., Marks, L. and Mayo, M., 2013. International marketing ethics: problems encountered by Australian firms.Asia Pacific International Journal of Marketing. Beeri, I., Dayan, R., Vigoda-Gadot, E. and Werner, S.B., 2013. Advancing ethics in public organizations: The impact of an ethics program on employees perceptions and behaviors in a regional council.Journal of Business Ethics,112(1), pp.59-78. Berker, S., 2013. Epistemic teleology and the separateness of propositions. Philosophical Review, 122(3), pp.337-393. Bourne, L., 2016.Stakeholder relationship management: a maturity model for organisational implementation. CRC Press. Carroll, A.B. and Buchholtz, A.K., 2014.Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Nelson Education. Carroll, A.B., 2015. Corporate social responsibility.Organizational Dynamics,44, pp.87-96. Conway, P. and Gawronski, B., 2013. Deontological and utilitarian inclinations in moral decision making: a process dissociation approach.Journal of personality and social psychology,104(2), p.216. Craft, J.L., 2013. A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 20042011.Journal of Business Ethics,117(2), pp.221-259. Cuervo-Cazurra, A., 2016. Corruption in international business.Journal of World Business,51(1), pp.35-49. eon Rossouw, D. and Van Vuuren, L., 2010.Business ethics. Oxford University Press, 2010. Ferrell, O.C. and Fraedrich, J., 2015.Business ethics: Ethical decision making cases. Nelson Education. Harrison, J.S. and Wicks, A.C., 2013. Stakeholder theory, value, and firm performance.Business ethics quarterly,23(01), pp.97-124. Kaptein, M., 2015. The effectiveness of ethics programs: The role of scope, composition, and sequence.Journal of Business Ethics,132(2), pp.415-431. Korschun, D., Bhattacharya, C.B. and Swain, S.D., 2014. Corporate social responsibility, customer orientation, and the job performance of frontline employees.Journal of Marketing,78(3), pp.20-37. Levi, M., 2013.Regulating Fraud (Routledge Revivals): White-Collar Crime and the Criminal Process. Routledge. Matten, D., 2015.Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization. Oxford University Press. Parello, C.P., 2015. Model of corporate intelligence, secrecy, and economic growth.International Journal of Economic Theory,11(2), pp.205-229. Piquero, N.L. and Clipper, S., 2014.White Collar Crime(pp. 5531-5538). Springer New York. Rose-Ackerman, S. and Palifka, B.J., 2016.Corruption and government: Causes, consequences, and reform. Cambridge university press. Salman, M., Abdullah, F. and Saleem, A., 2016. Sexual Harassment at Workplace and its Impact on Employee Turnover Intentions.Business Economic Review,8(1), pp.87-102. Servaes, H. and Tamayo, A., 2013. The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm value: The role of customer awareness.Management Science,59(5), pp.1045-1061. Tricker, B., 2015.Corporate governance: Principles, policies, and practices. Oxford University Press, USA. Weiss, J.W., 2014.Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Themes in of Mice and Men free essay sample

Themes, Motifs Symbols Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The Predatory Nature of Human Existence Of Mice and Men teaches a grim lesson about the nature of human existence. Nearly all of the characters, including George, Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, admit, at one time or another, to having a profound sense of loneliness and isolation. Each desires the comfort of a friend, but will settle for the attentive ear of a stranger. Curley’s wife admits to Candy, Crooks, and Lennie that she is unhappily married, and Crooks tells Lennie that life is no good without a companion to turn to in times of confusion and need. The characters are rendered helpless by their isolation, and yet, even at their weakest, they seek to destroy those who are even weaker than they. Perhaps the most powerful example of this cruel tendency is when Crooks criticizes Lennie’s dream of the farm and his dependence on George. We will write a custom essay sample on Themes in of Mice and Men or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Having just admitted his own vulnerabilities—he is a black man with a crooked back who longs for companionship—Crooks zeroes in on Lennie’s own weaknesses. In scenes such as this one, Steinbeck records a profound human truth: oppression does not come only from the hands of the strong or the powerful. Crooks seems at his strongest when he has nearly reduced Lennie to tears for fear that something bad has happened to George, just as Curley’s wife feels most powerful when she threatens to have Crooks lynched. The novella suggests that the most visible kind of strength—that used to oppress others—is itself born of weakness. Fraternity and the Idealized Male Friendship One of the reasons that the tragic end of George and Lennie’s friendship has such a profound impact is that one senses that the friends have, by the end of the novella, lost a dream larger than themselves. The farm on which George and Lennie plan to live—a place that no one ever reaches—has a magnetic quality, as Crooks points out. After hearing a description of only a few sentences, Candy is completely drawn in by its magic. Crooks has witnessed countless men fall under the same silly spell, and still he cannot help but ask Lennie if he can have a patch of garden to hoe there. The men in Of Mice and Men desire to come together in a way that would allow them to be like brothers to one another. That is, they want to live with one another’s best interests in mind, to protect each other, and to know that there is someone in the world dedicated to protecting them. Given the harsh, lonely conditions under which these men live, it should come as no surprise that they idealize friendships between men in such a way. Ultimately, however, the world is too harsh and predatory a place to sustain such relationships. Lennie and George, who come closest to achieving this ideal of brotherhood, are forced to separate tragically. With this, a rare friendship vanishes, but the rest of the world—represented by Curley and Carlson, who watch George stumble away with grief from his friend’s dead body—fails to acknowledge or appreciate it. The Impossibility of the American Dream Most of the characters in Of Mice and Men admit, at one point or another, to dreaming of a different life. Before her death, Curley’s wife confesses her desire to be a movie star. Crooks, bitter as he is, allows himself the pleasant fantasy of hoeing a patch of garden on Lennie’s farm one day, and Candy latches on desperately to George’s vision of owning a couple of acres. Before the action of the story begins, circumstances have robbed most of the characters of these wishes. Curley’s wife, for instance, has resigned herself to an unfulfilling marriage. What makes all of these dreams typically American is that the dreamers wish for untarnished happiness, for the freedom to follow their own desires. George and Lennie’s dream of owning a farm, which would enable them to sustain themselves, and, most important, offer them protection from an inhospitable world, represents a prototypically American ideal. Their journey, which awakens George to the impossibility of this dream, sadly proves that the bitter Crooks is right: such paradises of freedom, contentment, and safety are not to be found in this world. Motifs Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. The Corrupting Power of Women The portrayal of women in Of Mice and Men is limited and unflattering. We learn early on that Lennie and George are on the run from the previous ranch where they worked, due to encountering trouble there with a woman. Misunderstanding Lennie’s love of soft things, a woman accused him of rape for touching her dress. George berates Lennie for his behavior, but is convinced that women are always the cause of such trouble. Their enticing sexuality, he believes, tempts men to behave in ways they would otherwise not. A visit to the â€Å"flophouse† (a cheap hotel, or brothel) is enough of women for George, and he has no desire for a female companion or wife. Curley’s wife, the only woman to appear in Of Mice and Men, seems initially to support George’s view of marriage. Dissatisfied with her marriage to a brutish man and bored with life on the ranch, she is constantly looking for excitement or trouble. In one of her more revealing moments, she threatens to have the black stable-hand lynched if he complains about her to the boss. Her insistence on flirting with Lennie seals her unfortunate fate. Although Steinbeck does, finally, offer a sympathetic view of Curley’s wife by allowing her to voice her unhappiness and her own dream for a better life, women have no place in the author’s idealized vision of a world structured around the brotherly bonds of men. Loneliness and Companionship Many of the characters admit to suffering from profound loneliness. George sets the tone for these confessions early in the novella when he reminds Lennie that the life of a ranch-hand is among the loneliest of lives. Men like George who migrate from farm to farm rarely have anyone to look to for companionship and protection. As the story develops, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife all confess their deep loneliness. The fact that they admit to complete strangers their fear of being cast off shows their desperation. In a world without friends to confide in, strangers will have to do. Each of these characters searches for a friend, someone to help them measure the world, as Crooks says. In the end, however, companionship of his kind seems unattainable. For George, the hope of such companionship dies with Lennie, and true to his original estimation, he will go through life alone. Of Mice and Men offers limited, rather misogynistic, descriptions of women who are either dead maternal figures or prostitutes. Despite Steinbeck’s rendering, Curley’s wife emerges as a relatively complex and interesting character. Although her purpose is rather simple in the book’s opening pages—she is the â€Å"tramp,† â€Å"tart,† and â€Å"bitch† that threatens to destroy male happiness and longevity—her appearances later in the novella become more complex. When she confronts Lennie, Candy, and Crooks in the stable, she admits to feeling a kind of shameless dissatisfaction with her life. Her vulnerability at this moment and later—when she admits to Lennie her dream of becoming a movie star—makes her utterly human and much more interesting than the stereotypical vixen in fancy red shoes. However, it also reinforces the novella’s grim worldview. In her moment of greatest vulnerability, Curley’s wife seeks out even greater weaknesses in others, preying upon Lennie’s mental handicap, Candy’s debilitating age, and the color of Crooks’s skin in order to steel herself against harm. Steinbeck does not give her a name because he wants to reflect her complete lack of individual indentity. Curleys wifes dream of becoming a movie star dies when she marries Curley. I think that you can see this symbolized in the fact that she is never even given a name in this book. That shows, to me, that she has essentially had who she is taken away by marrying Curley. If you think about it, now that shes married to Curley, what chance has she got of ever becoming anything? In those days, women didnt have a lot of opportunities once they married and Curley is even less likely than most men to ever let his wife get any independence. As jealous as he is, he would never let his wife become anything. Curleys Wife is trapped. She is locked into a rural social structure of the 1930s California farm life, and by the common stereotypes and social views of women and their role at that time. She is certainly portrayed as disadvantaged for her choice of husbands, as Curley is both abusive and unloving. Steinbeck also takes care to portray her as a character who is consumed by loneliness and hopelessness. She has dreamsgoing to Hollywood to be in the movieswhich will never come true. She wants things as simple as someone to talk to, but has a husband with a personality that is half anger and half jealousy. She is just one of several sympathetic characters in this novel.

Analytical Essay Sample on Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Analytical Essay Sample on Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Wessex The fictionalized region of southwest England in which Hardy set all of his fiction. This region was somewhat backward in the late nineteenth century. Although industrialization had made the north of England and the region around London prosperous and modernized, southwest England was still rural, agricultural, and quite poor. Modern advancements in farming techniques were slow in coming to this region, and the transition to modernity was not easy. Hardy, who grew up and lived in the region, is particularly interested in showing the ways in which Wessex is caught between its old, traditional culture and modernization; little details showing this dilemma appear throughout Tess of the dUrbervilles and his other works. In some ways Wessex is as much a character in Hardys work as any of the people he depicts-and indeed, Tess is very much identified, physically and emotionally, with her surroundings in Wessex. Pure, purity Purity, both sexual and moral, is an important concept in Tess of the dUrbervilles. The word is used throughout the narrative with reference to Tess, and the subtitle of the book deems her A Pure Woman. (Even one of the inns where her father drinks is called The Pure Drop.) When applied to women in Victorian England, the concept of purity had specific reference to sexual chastity. By this definition, Tess very early on loses the right to be called pure. The word is nevertheless still applied to her. In this application, there is some degree of Hardys characteristic irony. But it also means something more. Hardy considers Tess pure because, despite her bodily state-that is, her loss of virginity-she is morally pure and innocent, uncorrupted by her hard life. When Hardy wrote this book, he knew that the characterization of a sexually fallen woman as pure would shock some readers, and indeed it did, but he thought it was important to show that the loss of virginity did not necessarily t horoughly corrupt a womans heart and mind. Dialect A localized way of speaking a language, distinct from standard usage. The local Wessex dialect is spoken by Tesss family and by the agricultural workers she knows, but Tess uses language closer to standard English. This is because she has been to school, where she has been taught a national standard version of the language. The change in speaking habits of people in Wessex and other areas of Britain was very much a hallmark of increasing modernization. As national schools and standards spread across the country, regional variations began to disappear. (This process is still ongoing, though it has been accelerated by radio and television.) Therefore, Tesss speech patterns are one more indicator of the way in which she is caught between the traditional world in which she was raised and the modern culture she confronts outside her village and home. Droit de seigneur An old custom of feudal days, in which lords had the right to demand sexual favors from peasant women bound to their estates. Although Hardy does not discuss the concept directly, this ancient custom has obvious relevance to Tesss plight with Alec dUrberville, who is a false lord but claims Tesss virginity nevertheless. Fallen, fallenness Middle-class Victorian ideas about womens sexuality were quite rigid and condemned women who engaged in any sort of sexual activity outside of marriage. It was thought that women who lost their virginity before marriage fell from their exalted position of chastity. This is one manifestation of the dichotomous view of women as either virgins or whores that has characterized much Western thought about the nature of women. In Victorian times the specific concept of fallenness took on a great deal of significance. It was thought that a woman who was fallen changed in her very nature-she might become not only more sinful, but more vain, unwilling to work, greedy, or otherwise immoral. This idea that fallen women were intrinsically different from and in all ways morally inferior to their pure or chaste counterparts is demonstrated in Tess of the dUrbervilles when Angel says to Tess that she is an entirely different person to him once he knows of her sexual past. Religious doubt The Victorian era was a deeply religious age, and faith was very important to many people in the era. Because of the great cultural significance of religion, the idea of religious doubt became controversial and much-publicized. In the later portion of the century, there were a large number of people who began to doubt the faith they had been taught. To some degree, this widespread doubt-which was particularly common among educated young men-can be attributed to scientific advances, particularly to the publication and general acceptance of Darwins evolutionary theories. When Angel Clare decides that he cannot believe literally in the principles of Christianity and decides not to become a clergyman, then, the event is not merely a personal decision. For readers, this would symbolize that he is a modern young man, participating in the intellectual and cultural movements of the day, however troubling this participation might have been to older people, for whom faith was still an importan t part of their culture. Fate, fatalism Hardy had a particular view of fate that plays itself out in most of his novels, and Tess of the dUrbervilles is no exception. Hardy believed that fate was a force that drove events, but that it was internal as well as external to people. In the case of Tess, her fate is largely driven by the discovery that she is a member of the old family of dUrberville. That fact of her existence is intrinsic to her-and, in Hardys view, it gives her certain character traits that condition her life-but it is also discovered through an external force, namely Parson Tringham. Because of this combination of internal and external forces, Hardy presents Tess as doomed almost from the very beginning. The novel concentrates very heavily on the ways in which Tess finds it impossible to escape her ultimate fate, because of the historical and cultural context in which she lives. This attitude that fate is inescapable, which is very characteristic of Hardy, particularly in his tragic later novels, is called f atalism. Banns Banns were an old-fashioned way of getting legal permission to marry. In this custom, an engaged couple had their names read out at church three Sundays in a row before the wedding could take place. Parishioners were told that they must object if they knew of any obstacle to the marriage. It was free to get married by banns, so they often used by the poor in preference to a license. Obtaining a marriage license from the state was both a more modern way of getting married and slightly more prestigious. Although Tess prefers getting married by license instead of banns because she is afraid that someone will tell Angel about her past, the marriage by license also symbolizes her wish to leave behind her sexual past and her class background as well as old traditions. You can order a custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis or dissertation on Tess of the dUrbervilles topics at our professional custom essay writing service which provides students with custom papers written by highly qualified academic writers. High quality and no plagiarism guarantee! Get professional essay writing help at an affordable cost.

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