Who is most responsible for Eva Smiths death Essays

Who is most responsible for Eva Smiths death Essays Who is most responsible for Eva Smiths death Paper Who is most responsible for Eva Smiths death Paper Essay Topic: Literature The opening scene to the play An Inspector Calls is vitally important as this is where the audience is introduced to the different characters, where their actions, expression, the way they speak, their appearance. All these affect the audiences impression of the character. The playwright J B Priestley creates in the first scene a dramatic impact, for us to get a certain prejudice against the character of Mr. Birling through dramatic irony. In the first scene we learn to a great extent the personality traits of the different members of the family. This plays a major role in the plot because we find all the members of the family treated Eva Smith in the way they thought were suitable; Mr. Birling as usual shifts the blame of her death unto other characters. The playwright has written this play to make a political point, and gain support for his socialist ideas from the audience. In this essay I intend to show who was most responsible for Evas death and why and to suggest how J B Priestley uses this play to make political point. At the time the play was written, the world was going through a very important political phase. It was first performed a week before World War Two ended and set before World War One. J B Priestley wrote this play as he saw an urgent need for social change and used the play to express his desire for social equality. The time span between the dates used (1912-1945) is to make us aware of what has happened and learn from mistakes that were made in history. Priestley purposefully wrote the play in hindsight, as this was very effective at looking at the mistakes Mr. Birling (a conservative upper class gentleman) made, especially when he talks of the three issues; war which is never going to happen, the Titanic which will not sink and the miners who will not strike. All these issues did took place and the audience have known of these facts. J B Priestley has written this play to send a message to the people of the middle-class in Britain to educate them on the difficulties suffered by the working class. Priestley presents the character Mr. Birling to the audience as very pretentious and arrogant. He uses dramatic irony when Mr. Birling talks of the three issues. This gets a carefully constructed image of Mr. Birling through to the audience, that both his ideas and political analysis are misguided. At the beginning of the play, Mr. Birling is giving a speech at the table including the three issues, when his maid Edna interrupts him, and she tells him an inspector has arrived. The inspector enters and introduces himself as Inspector Goole. The timing of the entrance is crucial, as this reveals that behind the dining table, this prosperous middle-class family are very sinister. Priestley uses the inspector to show the audience how hypocritical and arrogant the upper middle class men and women were. He portrays his message to the audience through the inspector. He then begins questioning all of the characters present on the table about the death of a young girl called Eva Smith/Daisy Renton. Mr. Birling had employed Eva Smith at his works until September 1910. At first when the inspector had asked him about Eva he couldnt remember her until the inspector showed him a photograph of her. He then remembered her and explained about his involvement. Eva had been involved in a dispute over low wages and because she had been one of the ringleaders in the strike, he had dismissed her. The inspector explains to Mr. Birling Evas situation, and the consequences of his actions; she was out of work for two months and desperate for money. Mr. Birling shows no remorse. Instead he tries to justify his actions: The girl had been causing trouble in the works then he says, I was quite justified. Gerald Croft defends him; however Sheila and Eric both disapprove. Mr. Birling is also discomforted by the way he is being challenged by the inspector and is especially bitter when he suggests to Mr. Birling that he is using girls for cheap labour and getting his profit from this exploitation. To Arthur Birling, as to others of his kind, workers were there to do a job and it was not his responsibility to look after their welfare. He firmly believed that he was being fair to his workers by paying them the going rates. Eva was getting twenty two and six which compared well with a bricklayers labourer who got eighteen shillings and a police constable who got twenty seven shillings a week. So from his perspective he was not underpaying his workers by the standards of 1910, because most employees took advantage, setting the average pay very low for the working class. He considered it his duty to keep labour costs down and stamp out any unrest among his workforce. However, Priestley wanted the employers to change their ideas about their employees. Although Arthur Birling set Eva Smiths tragedy in motion I do not think he was to blame for her death, because he was just behaving as any other manufacturer at that time would have done even though it was too inconsiderate. However, I did dislike his attitude when he found out about her death. He was too concerned about keeping the story quiet to protect his position in society and his knighthood. Also he shows no remorse for his actions. Arthur Birlings attitude that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself was precisely what JB Priestly was fighting against when he wrote this play. He believed that we should all help each other and take responsibility for our actions. After being dismissed, Eva was out of work for two months and was desperate for money. She luckily got a job as a sale assistant in a clothes shop, Milwards. It was here that Sheilas involvement took place. She and her mother had been valued customers at Milwards and used this to her advantage to get Eva dismissed. Sheila had complained about Eva for laughing at her when she tried on a dress. What had perhaps annoyed her even more was that Eva looked better in the dress than she did. Sheila in a fit of jealousy demanded that Eva Smith would be dismissed; otherwise she would persuade her mother to close their account. Unlike her father Sheila felt extremely guilty for having Eva dismissed. As she says I felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel a whole lot worse. Evas second dismissal left her in a worse state than her first and she became hopeless. Sheila has been the cause of this further deterioration but I feel less inclined to blame her because of her remorse. Whereas Mr. Birling sacked Eva quite boldly and unremorseful and never gave her a second thought, Sheilas action was the result of a fit of temper and she regretted it immediately. She seems genuine when she says, Its the only time Ive ever done anything like that, and Ill never, never do it again to anybody. This is the reaction JB Priestley wanted to get from his audience. He wanted people to feel sympathy and care for each other and take responsibility for their actions. On reflection, perhaps Sheila does deserve more blame than her father. Although Sheila shows more remorse than Mr. Birling, her reasons for getting Eva sacked are less valid. Mr. Birling saw Eva as a ringleader of troublemakers who could disrupt his production and exploitation of cheap labour. Sheila however got rid of her for a far less important reason caused by her own temper, jealousy and spoilt behaviour. She used her power to get Eva dismissed. Gerald Croft becomes involved with the girl at this stage but she has now changed her name to Daisy Renton in an attempt to start a new life. She is needy and considers prostitution. We should not condemn her for this because she had no parents and there was no welfare state in those days for her to turn to, so it was probably a choice between starvation and prostitution. Gerald first met Daisy in a bar at the theatre. He saw Alderman Meggarty (a well-respected person in society) harassing her and went to her rescue. He took her for a drink and a meal because he pitied her and he learnt she was desperate and so let her use his friends rooms. She then became his mistress and they were together for the whole summer of 1911. He finished with her and cast her aside because of his relationship with Sheila Birling Although he was probably fond of Daisy, there was never going to be any future in the relationship because of the class differences. Gerald was the son of Lord and Lady Croft and would be expected to marry someone of similar social standing. This was more important in the early 1900s. Even Arthur Birling feels socially inferior and boasts about a possible knighthood to increase his own importance. Being rejected by Gerald was probably more hurtful to Daisy than the dismissals inflicted on her by Arthur and Sheila Birling because there were strong emotions involved. Daisy was in love with Gerald and being thrown out by him left her not only homeless but heartbroken. She had also been cared for by Gerald and enjoyed quite a luxurious lifestyle (to her). She therefore had more to lose than previously. The drain on her emotions would have left her with less fighting spirit so her future looked even bleaker. Gerald also had tried to act heroically; he seems to be the least at fault because he had given her a home and allowance even though he hardly knew her. Out of Evas appreciation caused love, which was inevitable so the whole situation of Gerald leaving Eva was bound to have happened. Sheila although disgusted that Gerald has had an affair with Eva Smith/Daisy Renton handles the matter maturely; I dont dislike you as I did half an hour ago, Gerald. In fact, in some odd way, I rather respect you more than Ive ever done before. Daisy does not look for a job again. Within a few weeks she is back in the Palace Bar (a place for prostitutes) where she meets Eric. She is thinking again of becoming a prostitute to earn a living. He is drunk and insists on going home with her and threatens to make a row unless she lets him in. He sleeps with her on this occasion and another two or three times. She then discovers she is pregnant but refuses to marry Eric because she knew he did not love her. Also she thought of Eric as a child, knowing he was young and foolish she realised it would not be a good idea to marry him. Although it has been a casual affair, Eric has become quite fond of Daisy and wants to take some responsibility. Despite being from a wealthy family, he is regarded as a child and has very little money of his own and is forced to steal to provide for her. When Daisy finds out where the money has come from she refuses to accept any more and ends contact with him. As soon as Mr. Birling knows that his son has stolen money from his accounts, he is furious. He tells Eric that he should have asked asked himself (Mr. Birling) for help, but Mr. Birling was not the type of father you could ask for help as expressed by Eric. Although both Gerald and Eric have had sexual relationships with Daisy, Gerald had genuine feelings for her and looked after her, for a time whereas Eric, Just used her for the end of a stupid drunken evening, as if she was an animal, a thing, not a person. He also got her pregnant which in those days was far more serious than today. Daisy now had a baby to think about as well as herself and there was no welfare state to help. Also while she was pregnant, she couldnt work as a prostitute or get any other job. This would mean she would be homeless and starving. I personally feel that Eric was most responsible and his actions could be justified by his parents upbringing. Eric is regretful for what he has done, but that does not excuse his behaviour. Although he was not entirely to blame for her suicide, he must take much of the responsibility because he used her. However, he did not rape her; she was offering her services as a prostitute. Also, she could have married him, it was her choice not to. He tried to help her financially but she refused to accept any more stolen money. Maybe Daisy was too honourable. Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton, now pregnant and with no money, turned to the Brumley Womens Charity Organisation. Mrs. Birling and other upper-class women like her used these sorts of organisations to show themselves as very compassionate and caring people within society. Mrs. Birling was an important figure within the organisation. When she interviews Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton she is disgusted when she calls herself as Mrs. Birling, she feels working girls are too low to deserve the name. Eva Smith had only given herself the name of her childs father was so. Mrs. Birling (Sybil Birling) then interrogates Eva calling her a liar and refusing to accept her story. People like Eva Smith needed advice, care and attention, however Mrs. Birling provided none of these. Eva Smith then tells her the father was only a youngster-silly and wild and drinking too much. There couldnt be the question of marrying him- it would be wrong for them both. He had given her money but she didnt want to take any more money from him this was because it was stolen. Mrs. Birling refused to believe her story and was prejudice against Eva: As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money! She then uses her power within the organisation to get the other members to refuse her help. Although Mrs. Birling is the chairwoman of a charity that is supposed to help people, her attitude is hypocritical because she does not help people who genuinely need it. Also the help she would have given Eva would not have been at her expense. She tells Eva to go and look for the father of the child. Its his responsibility. She thinks Evas case is not a deserving one and that people should sort out their own self-inflicted problems instead of putting the responsibility on others. She is smugly complacent and believes she has done nothing wrong. As she tells the inspector, I accept no blame for it at all. Out of the Birling family I feel most disgusted by Erics actions, firstly because of his drinking, which leads to more and more problems. He then forcefully made love to Eva although he had not raped her. He did however threaten to make a row. He did in a certain way force Eva to have sexual intercourse with him. Furthermore he then does not face up to his problems he steals money from his fathers accounts, then when she does not accept the stolen monies, he leaves her. I feel Eric Birling was the guiltiest of Eva committing suicide because he laid on her the burden of a baby and did not face his responsibilities. I feel this play had a political motive. J B Priestley was a renowned socialist, this play was written at a time the Labour party emerged and the welfare state was being created. This play had a purpose and that was to influence the audience on socialist ideas. The playwright presents Mr. Birling (the conservative) as a disliked character; on the other hand the inspector (a socialist) is presented as a more compassionate and caring character. The other political motive was to change the ideas of middle-classed people in Britain at the time, and J B Priestley warns if we do not try to help each other more wars, and problems, will occur.

Introduction to Behavioral Economics

Introduction to Behavioral Economics Behavioral economics is, in a way, at the intersection of economics and psychology. In fact, the behavioral in behavioral economics can be thought of as the analog of the behavioral in behavioral psychology.   On one hand, traditional economic theory assumes that people are perfectly rational, patient, computationally proficient little economic robots that know objectively what makes them happy and make choices that maximize this happiness. (Even if traditional economists acknowledge that people aren’t perfect utility-maximizers, they usually argue that the deviations are random rather than showing evidence of consistent biases.) How Behavioral Economics Differs From Traditional Economic Theory Behavioral economists, on the other hand, know better. They aim to develop models which account for the facts that people procrastinate, are impatient, aren’t always good decision-makers when decisions are hard (and sometimes even avoid making decisions altogether), go out of their way to avoid what feels like a loss, care about things like fairness in addition to economic gain, are subject to psychological biases which make them interpret information in biased ways, and so on. These deviations from traditional theory are necessary if economists are to understand empirically how people make decisions about what to consume, how much to save, how hard to work, how much schooling to get, etc. Furthermore, if economists understand the biases that people exhibit that lower their objective happiness, they can put on a bit of a prescriptive, or normative, hat in either a policy or a general life advice sense. The History of Behavioral Economics Technically speaking, behavioral economics was first acknowledged by Adam Smith back in the eighteenth century, when he noted that human psychology is imperfect and that these imperfections could have an impact on economic decisions. This idea was mostly forgotten, however, until the Great Depression, when economists such as Irving Fisher and Vilfredo Pareto started thinking about the human factor in economic decision-making as a potential explanation for the stock market crash of 1929 and the events that transpired after. Economist Herbert Simon officially took up the behavioral economics cause in 1955 when he coined the term bounded rationality as a way to acknowledge that humans dont possess infinite decision-making capabilities. Unfortunately, Simons ideas werent initially given a lot of attention (though Simon did win a Nobel Prize in 1978) until a couple of decades later. Behavioral economics as a significant field of economic research is often thought to have started with the work of psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. In 1979, Kahneman and Tversky published a paper entitled Prospect Theory that offers a framework for how people frame economic outcomes as gains and losses and how this framing affects peoples economic decisions and choices. Prospect theory, or the idea that people dislike losses more than they like equivalent gains, is still one of the main pillars of behavioral economics, and it is consistent with a number of observed biases that traditional models of utility and risk aversion cannot explain. Behavioral economics has come a long way since the initial work of Kahneman and Tversky- the first conference on behavioral economics was held at the University of Chicago in 1986, David Laibson became the first official behavioral economics professor in 1994, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics devoted an entire issue to behavioral economics in 1999. That said, behavioral economics is still a very new field, so there is a lot more left to learn.

The economic benefits and environmental problems of the Three Gorges Research Paper

The economic benefits and environmental problems of the Three Gorges Dam - Research Paper Example 139). The first suggestion was given by Sun Yat-Sen, who was the president of China in 1919. It was a business vision that was aiming at improving the economy status of China. The river Yangtze was the potential water source for the reservoir since it is 3937 miles with a volume discharge of water of 960 billion cubic meters in the Sea of East China. This river never dries, and it is consistent with the amount of water flowing in it because it gets its water from the ice that covers the mountain range in the South-west, Chongqing (Kammerer 5). More to the economic benefits, the project, was to be built to reduce flood that was occurring at least once in every decade, and its effects were devastating to the Chinese community. The dam was engineered and designed to have three parts: ship lift, ship locks, and the dam. The drive of the dam was to store water thatwas used for hydroelectric harnessing and the ship lift and ship dock was for water vessels navigation to enhance trade to and from Shanghai (Trouw 16). The dam has a height of 600 feet and a width of 1.3 miles. These measurements were large enough to hold large volumes of water during the season when the ice melting realized a lot of water. The bigger the size the efficient it is to reduce water spillage to the land surfaces. It was fitted with twenty-six turbines that were rotated by the flowing water to generated electricity. These stations have the capacity to produce the power equal to eighteen power plants generating the energy from nuclear elements (Spilsbury 30). Five ship locks were constructed for large and heavy ship transportation and a ship lift to lift the small marine vessels over the dam wall of Three Gorges Dam. The construction caused migration of 1.3-1.9 million of people because of the changing water levels in the dam. The resettlement of people was to allow a safe margin of water

Argument essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 6

Argument - Essay Example Living today is much easier and for sure this will also be different another fifty years to come and life will be better than today. The political world has evolved and the rights of the people today are more protected. Fifty years ago, the citizens did not have enough avenues where they could air their grievances. Today there are civil rights groups that help to protect the lives of the citizens. With the different political parties, there is the party that runs the government and there is the opposition side. The purpose of the opposition is to ensure that the government of the day does not misuse the office it holds. With the civil rights groups and opposition parties, leaders on both sides are more accountable. The courts that were meant to prosecute the leaders for abuse of office rarely did their work. The mighty had power whereas the common man was left watching their tax money go to waste. Today the case is different. Today we have national, regional and international courts like the International Criminal Court to ensure that those in power do not abuse this power. Another fascinating thing is that the voters are more enlightened today than they were fifty years. It is not only the parliament that has a say on the political world. Through referendums, the people can air their views on the direction they would want their nation to follow. Today, the gap between the rich and the poor is not as wide as it was fifty years ago. When the gap between the poor and the rich narrows, then we can say that the economy of the country is doing well. Martin Luther King fifty one years ago gave a moving speech where he saw the lives of all Americans improve to a great extent. Today, the economy of America is doing well, and the country is a global icon in terms of its finances. The country can now give aid to other nations in the world. The household income has improved compared to what many homes used to make on average. Fifty

What is Illiteracy? :: Illiteracy Essays

What exactly is illiteracy? An adult or adults with a reading incapacity, a lack of knowledge of a subject, and/or a error in speech or writing according to Encarta World English Dictionary is a person or persons with illiteracy. Ronald Nash the author of an on-line article entitled â€Å"The Three Kinds of Illiteracy† he describes the three different types of illiteracy. Nash explains in detail cultural, moral, and functional illiteracy in his article. Cultural illiteracy defined by E.D. Hirsch Jr. is to possess the basic information needed to thrive in the modern world (Nash). Moral illiteracy is not being taught or lacked the education and understandings in religious or spiritual beliefs (Nash). Functional illiteracy refers to the inability of an individual to use reading, speaking, writing, and computational skills in everyday life (Literacy Center for the Midlands). Functional illiteracy is probably the most familiar and known to the public out of the three.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Functional illiteracy is measured on a scale of five levels. Level one is an adult or adults who can read a little, but not well enough to fill out an application, read a food label, or a simple story to a child (NIFL: National Institute for Literacy- Frequently Asked Questions). Level two adult or adults can perform more complex tasks such as comparing and contrasting a situation (NIFL: National Institute for Literacy- Frequently Asked Questions). Level three to level five adult or adults usually perform the same types of more complex tasks on increasingly lengthy and dense texts and documents (NIFL: National Institute for Literacy- Frequently Asked Questions).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the A Untied Way Agency web page posts on-line article entitled The Scope of Illiteracy in this Country, 23% of adults who were surveyed by the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), were at level one illiteracy. 25%- 28% of the adults surveyed were at the second lowest level, that is level two (The Scope of Illiteracy in this Country). This information was released to the public in September 1993, but the survey was complete in 1992 (Literacy Center for the Midlands-Facts on Illiteracy). This survey measured three areas that included: pose, documentation, and quantitative proficiency (Literacy Center for the Midlands-Facts on Illiteracy).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Through many studies it has shown that illiteracy has a significant impact on the economy (Economic Impact of Illiteracy in this Country). The American Council of Life Insurance reports that three quarters of the Fortune 500 companies provide some level of remedial training for their workers (Economic Impact of Illiteracy in this Country).

The Battle Against Emotions

Emotion is a word that best represents the feeling of a person. An individual can have more than one emotion and explore how it impacts him/herself as a whole. The growth of an individual is well attached to their emotions; and often times, emotions are used as a weakness. However, weakness of emotion also allows for growth in an individual. In the novel Soucouyant, written by the Canadian author, David Chariandy explores the theme emotion as weakness. Chariandy explores this common theme, as the growth of the character develops using the relationship between the mother and son. This relationship is used to show how different emotions have been created in use of a weakness to the character. Caramba, the son of an ill mother, tries to the best of his ability to be a successful care taker. However, the emotions of Caramba unfold as he reveals how he truly feels. Caramba learns to overcome his guilt about abandoning his mother as he comes to terms with his remorse that portrays his anger, his mother’s failing memory that connects to his childhood and the patience he discovers he has when care-taking for her. However, the result leads to Caramba crumbling furthermore inside and attempts to commit suicide. The growth of the character will slowly unfold the weaknesses caused by emotion in connection to the actions of the character. There are several different emotions that a human can feel. There are times where emotions over take the power and ability to control our minds. The greatest difficulty one can experience is to feel that they are responsible for a problem which has no solution to it. Just as Caramba, the protagonist of the novel, shows how he let his emotions over-rule his ability to think with a stable mind. The fact that his mother is unwell and he cannot help her frustrates him. His anger is shown as he screams â€Å"†¦because she’s not just some goddamned patient of yours, she’s my mother†¦! † (Chariandy 82). The frustration of Caramba and the anger he holds within himself shows as he yells at the nurse for treating his mother as an ordinary patient. The emotions of Caramba over took his sense to think straight, causing an outburst which created a moment of weakness for him. The emotion allows the character to evolve showing how much he cares for his mother. As the protagonist realizes this, he pitches in a helping hand to the nurse trying to fix his mother a meal. However, patience is lost by him when his mother does not reply to him. He then shouted to his mother, â€Å"can you shut up and tell me, Mother? Can you please just shut up for a moment and tell me? † (Chariandy 46). The character conveys his emotion of anger as he does not get a response from his mother when trying to help her. Caramba’s character understands and acknowledges the way he had spoken to his mother which appalled him and all the others. It is evident from this quote however, that Caramba understood the indecency in which he spoke to his mother allowing him to better recognize that he cannot repeat that mistake once again. The constant battle with his inner self presents itself yet again as he cries to the nurse screaming in a fit of rage â€Å"who the f*** are you to judge me, anyway? † (Chariandy 85). Caramba learns from this outbreak how much he is hurt deep down inside for leaving his mother and realizes that his inner conflict with himself has taken over him. As much as he tries to act normal and speak politely, he finds himself losing his anger in fits of rage making him understand how much trouble he is having coping with his mother’s illness and his absence from her. The unmistakable remorse and guilt are both apparent and these huge outbursts were just a cry of anger for him to release how he truly felt. The fact that he had his emotions trapped inside him troubled him and caused these flare-ups. However, the growth of his character through these explosions of anger fighting his inner conflict made him realize that his guilt and remorse cannot be an excuse to justify his actions and rude behavior. The growth of his character shows, as he understands that his emotions were just a weak moment for him to cry out loud by releasing anger to those in front of him. Caramba’s development shows for every single quote and supports the thesis showing an inner conflict which he expresses by crying aloud in anger to his mother and the nurse. Eventually, he understands that he cannot continuously carry the burden of his mother’s illness upon his shoulders. He learns to accept that his mother’s condition is not due to him leaving her. Caramba’s behavior proves how anger is used as a weakness as the guilt he had within himself for leaving her is still existent. He understands after each of these incidents that he needs to overcome the guilt and continue living ithout guilt or sorrow. A person’s past can play a huge role in their present. The connection that’s created may form a greater effect on the person more than the present moment they may be living. Other times, the connection from childhood memories to present day may introduce a sense of vulnerability. Caramba, the main character witnesses this happening to him as he reminisces of the past. He tries to see into his mother’s expression and cannot do so. This makes him wonder what is going through the mind of his very ill mother. He thinks to himself, â€Å"I remember Mother looking up into a cloudless sky, an infinite blue. I couldn’t read the expression on her face. After this, everything seemed to change. † (Chariandy 38). As much as he wanted to understand what his mother was thinking, it was difficult for him to do. Therefore, he left his mother alone letting her stay at peace with her own thoughts. Moreover, the bond of the two became stronger as they spent more quality time together. The growth of his character shows in the time that he spends with his mother reconnecting his bond and has flashbacks of memories. He understands he cannot help her but also realizes that he cannot see her as she is either. Caramba does not like to know about his mother’s illness and what stage it has processed to as he was just a little boy at the time. They visited the doctor once as a family for his mother; the doctor provided them with information about the condition his mother has. Returning home, he tried to read through the pamphlets provided and wasn’t strong enough to fulfill his need of becoming knowledgeable about his mother’s condition. His actions spoke louder than his words. Caramba thought, â€Å"I couldn’t use this. I couldn’t go further. I put the pamphlet back and joined Mother in the living room, determined to see her my own way. † (Chariandy 41). The vulnerability of Caramba exceeded far beyond words as he was a little boy at the time who wanted to believe his mother was not suffering from a serious case of Dementia. This allowed for a stronger bond between mother and son, as he did everything he could to help her through her illness as a child. The fact that he was not able to help her financially, being so young made him feel sad which is why he just wanted to view his mother in his own way; normal. Coming back to present day in the novel, as he returns home to see his mother, he sees first-hand how fragile she’s become. The older she got, the sicker she became. However, despite being so old and ill, she still knew how to have a good time. Mother and son got up for a dance and he was impressed at his mother`s memory. Caramba thinks â€Å"She moves briskly about the room. I struggle to keep up, astonished both by her energy and her memory of the moves. † (Chariandy 44). The bond between them grew even more so as they dance with one another. Caramba is speechless seeing his mother dancing and remembering every move as he struggles to keep up. This makes him feel fragile while she demonstrates the stronger character despite being ill. He feels weak and does not know how to express his feelings of vulnerability and astonishment at the same time. The growth of Caramba is impacted throughout the novel with vulnerability and flashbacks of his childhood strengthening the bond between mother and son. As he better understands that he cannot be blamed, rather help her with her illness like his childhood days; he would be happier. However, the little boy inside of him feels helpless trying to understand how his mother can remember some things and not others. The failing memory of Caramba’s mother proves how fragile Caramba had become. He understands that his past and present are two different times. However, there are times when Caramba is reminded of his past, proving this to be a weakness for him. His emotions take control of him as he realizes the difference in his mother and himself from the past and the present. Patience is a virtue, so it’s said. It’s much easier to rehearse the saying then it is to demonstrate it. However, Caramba shows patience fairly well as he understands that the condition his mother is suffering from is not his fault. Instead of feeling guilty further, he could help her with the things she is nott capable of doing herself which is exactly what he does. As he knows his mother does not have the ability to do much for herself, he becomes more caring and nurturing, and helps her with everything he possibly can. Caramba says, â€Å"I can bathe you. You can? I can do it too. I’m your son. She nods warily at this. I accept the bag of sugar from her and guide her upstairs to the bathroom. † (Chariandy 83). Although there is a nurse to provide assistance to Caramba’s mother, he chooses to help his mother on his own showing patience opposed to outbursts of anger. He really shows patience with his mother as he leads her upstairs to bathe her. This mother and son time also strengthens the bond between them helping him to stay patient longer when helping her. His character builds a stronger support system by helping his mother with his every task and creates an awareness and strength for greater patience as well. His mother has an accident shortly after she had been bathed and Caramba being kind and caring tries to help her yet again. However, this time around, he was in for a surprise as his mother refuses his help feeling embarrassed at the incident that had occurred. Caramba witnesses â€Å"She’s soiled herself again and she’s standing in a corner of her room with liquid clots running down her legs, her face breaking. ‘It’s alright, Mother. Let’s go to the bathroom and clean up. No. Go away. Come, Mother. We have to go now. No! Go away! Way, way. Don’t be silly, Mother, you can’t stay in that†¦state. Leave me! ’ She screams. † (Chariandy 84-85). Caramba was brave and extremely patient with his mother knowing that it was not going to be easy to make her understand that it was going to be alright. Therefore, he slowly tried to make his way and instead, his mother screamed aloud as if he’d done something wrong. Despite the loud screaming and shock that he felt, he still stayed calm and tried to help his mother into another set of clothing after bathing her yet again. Caramba demonstrated patience very well in these events that occurred. The fact that he was not able to explain to his mother in words how he could help her however, show her when the opportunities were granted increased his tolerance for his mother; allowing him to present his patience. Caramba had the opportunity to display his patience once more when his mother grew a little older and acted more childish than ever before. He said, â€Å"I eventually persuade her to trust me with the fuzzy noose†. (Chariandy 108). These series of events caused Caramba to recognize how much his mother needed him, built patience and made him understand that this was the only way he could really overcome his guilt for leaving her in the beginning. He became more aware for his mother’s needs and satisfied her by taking care of her. Patience really portrayed the weakness as an emotion for Caramba because his patience was limited before. Though, he began to understand better that his mother’s illness is not of his fault which means there was no need for guilt. Once he overcame his guilty feeling that had been hurting him for so long, he realized the more he lent a helping hand to his mother, the more she would appreciate him and their bond would strengthen. The strength and patience used by Caramba is shown as a weakness because he slowly breaks apart inside himself. He examines his ill mother very carefully and tries to take care of her the best he is capable of doing so. He watches his mother become sicker however, still shows endurance until the end. Emotions always play a big role in a person’s life as they are the main key to understanding people. Caramba, the protagonist of the novel, tries his levels best in trying to understand his very sick mother. As he tries to do so, he understands many things which allow him to make an emotional connection. Caramba overcame his guilty feeling that had possession of him for a long period of time. He understood that his character developed more as he accomplished relieving himself of anger, strengthening his bond with his mother with her empowerment to lose memory, and patience being used to help her with her inabilities to fulfill tasks. In conclusion, emotion is portrayed as weakness and shows how a human can express and grow from how they may be feeling. Emotions should never be able to control our minds and disable our ability to think wisely and correctly. Moreover, emotions should be used to explore and understand ourselves better.

How Reganomics Destroyed Middle Class America - 1812 Words

How Reaganomics Destroyed the Middle Class Reaganomics are the economic policies that were set and promoted in 1980s by the U.S. President Ronald Reagan. These policies are mainly connected to trickle-down economics. There are four pillars that are associated with the economic policy of Reagan and they include: reduce government economic regulation, reduce growth of how much the government spends, reduce the marginal tax rates such as capital gains tax and income tax and lastly reduce the level of inflation by controlling money supply growth. These four policies were expected to increase investment and savings, balance the U.S. budget, reduce inflation, increase the economic growth rate, restore healthy financial markets and reduce†¦show more content†¦The government decided to fund government organizations such as Environmental Protection Agency instead of funding the social security (Barone 120). This means that the department was left without funds hence there was no mone y that could be used to pay those who were working in the social security majority of which were middle class people. This shows how the middle class people were destroyed as a result of Reaganomics which forced the middle class people to pay more taxes. In the end of his two terms as the president of the U.S., 5% of the population which comprise of the rich had received double wealth and economic share of ownership while 95% of the population which comprise of the middle class people and the poor had no progress when it comes to immersion of wealth instead they had lost more of their wealth due to inflation and high tax rates (Barone 120). Nevertheless, the social security meant to benefit the rich poor since they were the ones who owned property. The middle class people did not obtain any form of social security thus were forced to protect their own wealth. Unregulated economy: the main reason why Reaganomics policy was implemented was to stimulate economic growth. In the beginning, the policy managed to stimulate economic growth but this was as a result of increased spending among the middle class people and not as a result of tax cuts.