Isolation in the Painted Door by Ross Sinclair Essay

The feelings of isolation and alienation can be frustrating, dangerous and eventually they can even drive a person mad. People have always dealt with such issues differently. Some managed to abandon those feelings and continued with their lives while others succumbed to them as they were unable to overcome and/or control them. Those souls who â€Å"surrendered† often faced destruction or even death as they were unable to cope with changes and the pressures of living a life below their expectations with no one to trust and confide, not even their beloved ones. When people are alone and isolated for a certain amount of time there is a chance that they forget about real life and even become â€Å"bushed†. This is one of the many problems of vast countries such as Canada especially its dry prairies and northern arctic regions can change people. In this essay, I will try to analyze and investigate different circumstances that can lead to emotional states, some of which are prominent themes in Canadian fiction – isolation, alienation, loneliness, loss of identity and madness. Isolation and alienation can occur out of many reasons. It is not only an isolated landscape that may trigger feelings of loneliness, fear or helplessness, but also isolation and alienation from society or even people closest to you. Other definitions may also include spiritual and emotional isolation. In Sinclair Ross’ The Painted Door the protagonist Ann fells alone and isolated for many reasons. Ann is not pleased with her life. She and her husband John live in the middle of nowhere, far away from company and populated settlements. The remote surrounding in which they live creates a feeling of extreme isolation, especially after previously living in a city. After being exposed to this geographical isolation for some time, Ann’s feelings of loneliness eventually intensify to the point where she even feels alienated from her own husband. But at that point she does not realize that her yearning for a better and different life will consequently change her life for worse and will make her feel guilty and miserable for the rest of her life. After having an affair with Steven she realizes that this is not what she really wanted and she also realizes that she has made a big mistake sleeping with him, while her husband was away. Therefore, we cannot consider Steven as the fulfillment of her desires for a better life, but rather as a temporary means to â€Å"cure† her from her isolation and loneliness. As John unexpectedly returns home during a storm, he witnesses the betrayal and leaves Ann never to return again. †¦ the explicit theme is centered on adultery. However, there are other, more subtle, motifs in the story that play a very significant role in its success. The themes essential in making the protagonist’s adultery understandable are the landscape, her isolation, and the feelings of betrayal and guilt that she experiences following the central act of the story. (The Painted Door) Ultimately, Ann’s needs to feel loved and acknowledged, as well as her actions out of desperation and loneliness, lead her to the destruction of her life and, consequently, the life or her husband. The blizzard, which can be seen as a metaphor for passion, as well as the physical and emotional separation from her husband engage her to do things she probably, under â€Å"normal† circumstances, would not consider doing. Therefore, it is in those extreme conditions where we have to search for the driving force behind Ann’s adultery. The answers that would â€Å"justify† her actions and would, as well, give us an insight into her inner loneliness and isolation are all hidden in this seemingly unreal wasteland. In this story we can find: †¦thematic elements considered the bedrock of Canadian writing: a landscape so bleak in winter that it seemed a region alien to life, but a house standing nonetheless standing against that wilderness, a refugee of feeble walls wherein persisted the elements of human meaning and survival. †¦ A woman who wants fine things and a social life, but a slow, taciturn, country-bound husband who only aspires to paying of the mortgage. (Stouck 2005, 93) The Painted Door is not Ross’ only short story dealing with issues such as isolation, alienation and madness. The other prominent example of him using such themes and motifs is The Lamp at Noon where Ross, by establishing a gloomy and intense atmosphere, creates a feeling of uneasiness and fear of the isolated and even manic environment which inevitably affects the story’s protagonists. It â€Å"illustrates how close to madness a person’s dreams of a better life may be juxtaposing the delusions harboured by a husband and a wife about their failing homestead.† (Estehammer 1992) The newlyweds Ellen and Paul moved from the city to a desert landscape during the time of the Great Depression to live as farmers in the Canadian prairie. Unfortunately, dust storms, as well as the soil’s dryness and lack of rain made their existence as happy and successful farmers almost impossible. Nevertheless, Ellen, who came from a rich family, tried to be a model wife by taking care of the household and their baby, but the fact that they were living on an infertile and isolated farm made things worse day by day and contributed to the couple’s constant quarreling. The lack of joy, food and tolerance caused both emotional and physical suffering for Ellen and Paul. It seems as if the shift from city- to rural life hit Ellen particularly hard as she seems to be very frustrated about her present situation and even afraid of what the future might hold for them. She feels as if she was living in a cage or a prison, and deep inside she knew that there is no way out of it. It is obvious that the setting is essential in causing havoc in Ellen’s and Paul’s lives. Therefore, to answer the question of where these feelings of isolation, loneliness and, in the end, even madness originate, we must consider the extreme unfriendly and even claustrophobic environment as a major factor. Other likely reasons would have to be Paul’s stubbornness and his foolish manly pride that made him ignore his wife’s request to change matters by setting up new priorities. For many years she has tried to persuade him to leave the farm but she has failed every time due to his reassuring comments about a better life. Because Paul is unable, or maybe even unwilling, to change, he eventually destroys his marriage and family by further contributing to his wife’s state of depression and, ultimately, insanity. It is only after Ellen’s desperate run into the sandstorm, in which she sees freedom, and their baby’s death when Paul realizes his mistakes but it is already too late. Their child is dead and his wife has lost her mind. Consequently it can be seen that both of Ross’ analyzed stories are, in fact, examples of how not to deal with isolation. By creating and describing both stories’ setting so vividly, Ross succeeds in reinforcing our own understanding of isolation, by taking us in the midst of this unfriendly and devastating environment. He makes us almost feel Ellen’s geographical and emotional isolation which eventually drive her into a state of madness. The Lamp at Noon is â€Å"especially powerful because it resonates with the unique historical conditions of the 1930s, when dust storms scourged the West, hard working farm families lost their land, and some people went mad† (Stouck 2005, 91). The lamp in The Lamp at Noon itself is a symbol of hope but when it dies out in the end all hope seems lost. It can be argued that Ross â€Å"does not simply present the landscape and weather as a cause for psychological disintegration but also deploys it as a metaphor to develop the inner landscape of his characters, the landscape thus serving as the objective correlative of the feelings and the states of m ind of his protagonists† (Pauly 1999, 70). The Old Woman by Joyce Marshall is another prominent example of how isolation can lead into madness. Molly and Todd got married in Molly’s homeland England. Soon afterwards Todd traveled to Canada leaving his Molly behind. She joins him after 3 years because she had to take care of her ill mother. When she arrives in Northern Quebec she realized that Todd has changed since their last meeting. Molly starts her life in the new environment like many women before her, by taking care of the household. Her husband was preoccupied with his job to notice that Molly felt unpleasant in the new environment. Instead of helping her to adapt to the new life, he becomes more and more distant, less talkative and absorbed by the machines in â€Å"his† powerhouse. After a while, Molly finds her calling as a local birth helper but, to her disappointment, her husband is disapproving towards her newly found occupation. He wants her to stay at home all day and to be like the other obedient wives without ever second questioning him in spite of his negligence towards her. In order to cope with her isolation she nevertheless decides that she must occupy herself in some way. She finally feels needed, something Todd does not understand nor desire. In the end it does not matter how Molly feels anyway because her husband has lost his mind after 3 years of living and breathing with the machines at the power house – he has â€Å"fallen in love† with them. In this story the gender roles and immigrant stereotypes have been turned upside-down. Not in the sense of male or female roles and duties but the fact that a local man, instead of a female immigrant, goes mad in the end distinguishes this story from others. There is a sharp delineation between the two possible approaches to the foreign territory. Since the machines have always been between Todd and the land, he has been unable to relate adequately to others. In his limited and confined existence he has, in the end, even gone insane. At the same time his wife discovers a personally satisfying role as a midwife in a French-Canadian community. Her productive approach thus carries her across apparent linguistic and cultural boundaries and across her isolation. (Pauly 1999, 64) In contrast to The Painted Door and The Lamp at Noon, where the female protagonists were the ones whose lives were destroyed by their actions out of isolation, loneliness and their dependency on their husbands, Molly, despite her inconvenient situation, lack of attention from her husband and her fear of loneliness, seemingly succeeds in overcoming the obstacles that were put in her way. By not taking the repressions of her husband any longer and deciding to pursue her own interests, Molly stands as a representative of a new feminist ideology which, however, can’t be compared with today’s notion of feminism as it had to undergo decades of changes and development to improve the roles and lives of women to the stage as we know them today. Unfortunately, women’s roles still differ very much. They strongly depend on the location, culture and religion the women live in. Classic gender roles were also turned upside-down in Isabella Valancy Crawford’s story Extradited. In it we find a â€Å"striking portrait of a petulant and narcissistic woman and her devastating examination of jealousy† (Stephenson and Byron 1993, 12). The protagonists of the story are Samuel â€Å"Sam† O’Dwyer, his wife Bessie, their baby and a man named Joe who was helping them on their farm. Sam and Joe quickly became very good and close friends. While reading the story one could even think that Sam, although twice of Joe’s age, might even hold deeper feelings for him (homoeroticism?). After a while, Bessie is annoyed by Sam’s admiration for Joe and as soon as she finds out that Joe is wanted by the police for a legal offence against his former employer and that there is a 1000$ reward for the one who catches him or turns him in, she immediately grabs the chance she considers to be the one that will ensure them a better life. However, after Joe’s heroically rescue of Sam’s and Bessie’s baby, and him drowning after saving it, Bessie, although informing the police of Joe’s whereabouts, stays without the reward but has inevitably to deal and live with her husband’s scorn as she has to bear the blame for a good man’s death. Bessie probably thought that she was doing the right thing. We would normally expect a man to act rational and women emotional at that time and place. However, in Sam’s and Bessie’s case it is the other way around. It is Sam who acts emotional, by wanting to protect Joe, and Bessie who acts rational, by wanting the reward in order to buy a new farm and within to pave the way for a better life for herself and her family. Therefore, it is the woman, not the man, who is a representative of realism, whereas the man can be seen as a romanticist. This example makes it clear that women were also aspiring beyond the domestic sphere and not on ly victims of their husbands’ arbitrariness. This stands in opposition to the naturalistic ideas of earlier eras where women had to stoically accept their traditional roles, i.e. teacher, maid, housewife, devoted mother, and had to sacrifice their own happiness for their children’s and/or husband’s sake. Women should repress their previous experiences and knowledge after getting married and were mostly appreciated as long as they kept their physical charms. In Canadian short fiction immigration is the process which, in many cases, causes isolation and alienation. It is a long and complex process as starting a life in a new country can be very difficult. The issues of immigration seem to have affected women particularly hard. In order to keep themselves sane and deal with the harsh realities that the early pioneers had to face, women, who mostly spent their time at home, wrote diaries. Susanna Moodie, who was one the most famous chroniclers of the early Canadian immigrant experience, was describing the negative aspects of environmental and social isolation among early immigrants in Roughing it in the Bush. Moodie’s sister Catharine Parr Traill even advised men to consult with their wives before emigrating to Canada as most immigrants were completely unprepared to live in such an unfriendly and unfamiliar environment. Brian, the protagonist of Moodie’s short story Brian the Still Hunter, is also, like Ellen from The Lamp at Noon and Ann from The Painted Door, a victim of isolation. However, the first and foremost reason for Brian’s isolation is alcoholism. As a result his extensive drinking has isolated him from society and even his own family. Alcohol has transformed him into an unpredictable character. This is why society treated him as an outsider. When Brian was drunk, he was not able to speak normally to anyone, not even his wife. Their relationship was put to the test due to ever-changing periods of guilt, shame and anger. He felt emotionally isolated, worthless, and he even attempted to commit suicide. He fails in this intention and matters get even worse for him. Afterwards he quits drinking and chooses physical isolation for himself instead. He is slowly falling into a state of insanity as he loiters about the land with only his dog by his side to keep him company. Many immigrants could not deal with the formidable reality which the Canadian landscape prepared for them and fell into a state of madness. Madness most commonly might have appeared due to some of the following reasons. It either developed as a consequence out of the confrontation between the ideas and lifestyles of the Old and the New World, or out of geographical and environmental differences (dangerous wilderness, plain and/or artic landscape). This new environment was not only dangerous to one’s physical but also psychical health. It was hard not to lose your identity while facing the limits of your capabilities and still keeping your sense of inner (subjective) and outer (objective) reality balanced. †¦while the plains sometimes provoked the outbreaks of insanities, the primary cause is often to be found elsewhere. These causes range from economic frustration, isolation from the people, frustration growing out of an inability to adapt, personal displacement and loss of identity, to guilt and isolation. All these are parts not only of a physical environment but of a mental landscape. Women’s nerves overstretched and they usually became depressed and silent whereas men more often turned to violence in order to act out their rage and frustration. In some cases these states were permanent, in others they were temporary and subsided after a finite period of time. (Pauly 1999, 53) Stories like The Lamp at Noon and The Old Woman can be best described as examples of â€Å"Pioneer Realism† and/or â€Å"Prairie Realism†. Besides Sinclair Ross, other prominent â€Å"Canadian† authors who dealt with the prairie experiences were Martha Ostenso, Laura Salverson and Frederic Philip Grove. In their works, these authors start their stories with a naà ¯ve or, we might even say, romanticized, view of the immigrants’ arrival to Canada. Later on, all become disillusioned by the setting and gradually alienated from their new home. These stories â€Å"generally include a ‘prairie patriarch’. [†¦] he is usually presented as a land-hungry, work-intoxicated tyrant. The farm women are subjugated, culturally and emotionally starved, and filled with a smouldering rebellion. All in all a fertile ground for conflict and all kinds of mental instabilities.† (Pauly 1999, 54) As an immigrant, your well-being will largely depend on your ability to adapt and deal with the given circumstances. Though those two stories are set in different locations, the first in a prairie and the latter in the Canadian North, both still are fictional stories dealing with the issues pioneers experienced when they first arrived and became aware of how dangerous it really was to be out of tune with the land. While some succumbed to the unknown and fled, lost their minds or even died, others luckily found other forms of distraction from the isolation which surrounded them, making their existence bearable. In continuation, other forms of dealing with the harsh realities of everyday life will be analyzed. These are the stories of escapement from the â€Å"sane† into a subjective â€Å"insane† world in order to survive. The protagonists of these stories are all isolated and alienated from other people, not necessarily because of an isolated landscape, but rather because of their dissimilarities. â€Å"[A]lineation is withdrawal from something – becoming strange and foreign to it, being put out or taking One’s self out and thereby becoming a stranger – separated. Since humans feel vulnerable when they are strangers, the emotional essence of alienation is fear and hostility† (Henry 1971, 105). The â€Å"sane† world can therefore be even seen as life-threatening to the â€Å"stranger† because all it wants to achieve is to isolate him even further and to destroy his reality. Ultimately, there are three choices a â€Å"stranger† can make. He can either let the â€Å"sane† world take over and destroy his very essence, he can protect himself by playing along, pretending to be someone else by acting out roles, or he can escape into his own reality where he alone decides what is right and wrong, what the truth is and what only illusion. Louise and Morrison, the protagonists of Margaret Atwood’s short story Polarities, are working colleagues in an unnamed dull city in the northwest. They came to this city because they could not find any other job elsewhere. Morrison finds this dullness rather irritating and the northern city a hard place to live in. Louise however claims that you just have to have â€Å"inner resources† to turn to when matters get tough. After some time, Louise started acting and talking strange. She would find meaning in things other people would not, as Morrison states: â€Å"she’s taken as real what the rest of us pretend is only metaphorical† (Atwood 1993, 69). Morrison more and more started to believe that there is something seriously wrong with Louise, as her strange behavior is not to be ascribed to fatigue or the abuse of substances, a fact another colleague also acknowledges. Morrison and Paul, the other co-worked, eventually agree that it would be best for Louise to be institutionalized. Nevertheless, Louise almost convinces the doctors that she is perfectly fine but she eventually makes a mistake and they decide to keep her hospitalized. After spending some time in the hospital, Louise’s intelligence begins to deteriorate due to the extensive amount of drugs she was forced to take. She almost stopped talking to anyone and it was obvious that she suffered tremendously, especially on the inside. It seems that before she had been taken to the mental hospital she was a little strange but nevertheless managed to get along in everyday life. All that remained now of Louise was an empty shell as she became only a shadow of her former self. Margaret Gibson was another author who wrote about oversensitive people unable to live in a â€Å"normal† society. Due to her mental state, she was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, she could relate to and identify with her writing as few authors before her. Nevertheless, she claimed that her works are not autobiographical. In her collection of short stories entitled The Butterfly Ward, she tried to explore the boundaries of sanity and insanity. Her own experiences as an outsider gave her the opportunity and ability to present a â€Å"stranger’s world† in a unique and exciting way. It is important to recognize at the outset that Gibson’s primary concern in relation to the theme of madness is with the responses to mental illness, rather than with its causes or manifestations. While she clearly does not neglect the latter issues, her writing often focuses upon the ways in which those categorized as mentally ill and those assigning the label respond to the condition. (Pauly 1999, 106) Her short stories The Butterfly Ward, Making it, Ada and Considering Her Condition are great examples of her writing creativity.   In the beginning of The Butterfly Ward we are introduced to Kira, the story’s heroine, who is staying at a hospital and is undergoing various extremely painful and brutal tests and examinations in order to determine what is causing her mental â€Å"condition†. As the story progresses, we get a glimpse of her earlier life. Before being admitted to the hospital, she worked in a home for mentally challenged children. Unfortunately, she had a very ambitious mother who dreamt of a better life for her and her daughter in Russia. Her mother is convinced that Kira’s occupation does not suit her and that she would be better of studying at a university. Kira becomes a victim of her mother’s ambition and pressure under which she, eventually, collapses. She is still aware of her surroundings but nevertheless decides to live her life in her own fantasy world which she considers a better place than the real world where she is being locked up and heavily medicated. The protagonist of Gibson’s story Ada is a girl of the same name as the title and who is, like Kira, residing in a mental hospital. As the story unfolds, it becomes obvious that the patients of this institution are being heavily mistreated and denied any basic human rights. The only visitor Ada has is her mother. Although we might think that her mother would like to help her to get out of the hospital as soon as possible, she does not show any genuine intentions of helping or understanding her daughter in her need. After some time, Ada realized that she cannot expect any help from anyone, and denies her mother, and other family members, visits because they do not understand her. More and more she drives herself into isolation from others and even from her own feelings. Ultimately, her isolation causes her to lose touch with reality entirely –so we might think. When another â€Å"inmate† joins the group at the asylum, the patients are presented as seemingly smarter than their doctors, as they are easily able to manipulate with them as in the case of Alice. However, Ada and her best friend Jenny manage to escape their isolation but must pay a very high price for it. Jenny, who wanted to protect Ada from Alice’s abuses, stands up against Alice and within she awakens Ada from her inner retreat. By later killing Alice, Ada awakens from her mental slumber and ends her child-like existence. Nevertheless, it can be argued that Ada’s retreat in her own world was, in fact, her strategy to survive in a depressive and live-threatening environment such as the mental asylum where normality of patients (their thoughts, emotions, actions) is considered as something abnormal. For Gibson, therefore, abnormality can be seen as the only way to survive in an inhuman and egoistic world. A similar story to Ada is Making It where the protagonists Liza, a schizophrenic, and Robin, a male homosexual transvestite, try to make something of their lives. Both of them try to hide their true nature because if they would not they would be considered as outcasts in a society intolerant of â€Å"crazy† people. Although they desperately want to fight society’s categorizations and prove them wrong, they are, nevertheless, unable to do so. Liza, who becomes pregnant, sees her baby as her own way of â€Å"making it† out of her troubles. Robin, on the other hand, sees his â€Å"salvation† in becoming a famous women impersonator in California’s entertainment industry. They are convinced that motherhood for her and fame for him will make them â€Å"normal† in the eyes of society. In the end of the story the two once again decide to live together like a regular, but in their case platonic, couple. Robin even rejects the men of his dreams in order to be able to help Liza to live a â€Å"normal† life. Unfortunately, happiness stays out of reach for them as they, after Liza’s baby was born dead, once again fall into isolation and feel alienated from society. Although considered abnormal, Robin and Liza’s feelings of belonging, friendship, helpfulness and love for one another are something we would have trouble finding in the â€Å"normal† world. For Gibson, we, the â€Å"sane† readers, are the ones who make existence for people like her protagonists unbearable and force them into isolation and self-destruction. In Considering her Condition, it is a man named Steven who drives his wife Clare into suicide after she gave birth to their baby son. Steven is a very suppressive, bossy and egoistic character. Clare never even wanted children but after Steven persuaded her it becomes clear that he never thought about what is best for her but rather what is best for him. Later in the story we get to know that Steven already has a child but has no contact with her anymore. When Clare was pregnant, Steven became obsessed with the baby and did not care much about his wife anymore. He even denied Clare her right to chose abortion despite the doctor’s advice to terminate the pregnancy. Claire must suffer enormously just to fulfill his desires and wishes. Gibson gives us a picture of how married couples’ lives can be destroyed by polarities and traditional gender-roles. Steven will not let Clare have her own life and she does not have the strength to fight his demands. Her suicide is the only action she can realize out of her own will. Not even her death affects Steven as he never though of her being more than a subordinate wife and the mother of his children. Considering her Condition can be seen as Gibson’s strong critique against a society that denies women their right to choose their own way of living and thinking and breaks their spirits by taking away their desires, pride and self-esteem. The analyzed stories in The Butterfly Ward: †¦focus upon individuals who have become objects of scrutiny to others. These others, †¦ , exercise a great deal of power over those who have failed to adapt to the expectations and demands of normal society. First and foremost among those strategies is simple observation. Whether an individual is labeled paranoid or simply maladjusted, the effect is similar. The individual ends up excluded from normal existence and confined within another territory. The responses of those thus observed, excluded, isolated and confined are various, but all, in some way, reveal attempts to escape this condition. (Pauly 1999, 116) Not only individuals can suffer tremendously under the influence of isolation but also whole communities. In W.D. Valgardson’s story Bloodflowers â€Å"the setting seems to imply that even today, people will tend to resort to primitive rituals when isolated and severely tried by living conditions† (Neijmann 1996, 311). It is the story of a young teacher named Danny who moves to an isolated island, called Black Island, where superstition is still widely spread among the island’s local community. Danny at first just wants to witness an ancient local fertility ritual taking place annually on the island. The ritual consists of sacrificing a man in order to conclude any misfortunes that have happened in the past year and might continue into the next one. Unfortunately for Danny, as misfortunes continue to happen, the locals consider him to be the cause of disturbance and they decide to sacrifice him in order to save themselves from further harm. It seems as if the local people are not having any trouble â€Å"justifying† the murders they have committed with superstition. In this story, where Valgardson makes extensive use of irony, we get to see the serious consequences (misunderstandings) that may occur when different or conflicting cultures cross paths. In Rudy Wiebe’s Where is the Voice Coming From?, the notions of isolation and alienation can be ascribed to the native Canadian inhabitants. The isolation of the indigenous (ethnic) voice and the question of a â€Å"Canadian identity†, by this I mean telling the other side of Canadian history (of the aboriginal inhabitants) too, are issues Wiebe tries to address. Its most prominent themes would have to be the social and cultural injustices and consequently isolation and alienation suffered by the indigenous people after the European settlers have taken over their lands. In conclusion it can be said that people were often driven mad by loneliness and isolation and some even saw death as their only means of escaping it. Others, who also lived in isolation, developed psychotic behaviors which not only made them self-destructive but also a threat to others. Taking into consideration all of the authors and their stories that deal with the themes and motifs of isolation, alienation, loneliness and madness, one cannot fail to observe that isolation has an extremely negative effect upon the development of the individual’s character in Canadian short fiction and probably also Canadian literature in general. Works Cited: Atwood, Margaret. Dancing Girls and Other Stories. New York: Bantam Books, 1993. Esterhammer, Angela. â€Å"†Can’t See Life for Illusions†: The Problematic Realism of Sinclair Ross.† In From the Heart of the Heartland, edited by John Moss, 15-24. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1992. Gibson, Margaret. The Butterfly Ward. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1976. Henry, Jules. Pathways to Madness. New York: Random House, 1971. Marshall, Joyce. â€Å"The Old Woman.† In The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds., 92-103. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Moodie, Susanna. Roughing it in the Bush, Or, Life in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1998. Neijmann, Daisy L. The Icelandic Voice in Canadian Letters: The Contribution of Icelandic – Canadian Writers to Canadian Literature. Montreal: McGill – Queens Press, 1996. Pauly, Susanne. Madness in English-Canadian Fiction. Ph.D. dissertation. Trier: University of Trier, 1999. Ross, Sinclair. â€Å"The Lamp at Noon.† In The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds. 72-81. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Ross, Sinclar. â€Å"The Painted Door.† In The Faber Book of Contemporary Canadian Short Stories, edited by Michael Ondaatje. London: Faber and Faber, 1990. Stephanson, Glennis and Glennis Byron, eds. â€Å"Introduction†. Nineteenth-Century Stories by Women: An Anthology, 9-22. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1993. Stouck, David. As for Sinclair Ross. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. Valancy Crawford, Isabella. â€Å"Extradited.† In The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds. 1-11. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Valgardson, W.D. â€Å"Bloodflowers.† The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds., 316-332. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Wiebe, Rudy. â€Å"Where is the Voice Coming From?† The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English. Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver, eds., 270-279. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. â€Å"The Painter Door – A Canadian Short Story.† Term papers for students. http://www.essaysample.com/essay/002994.html (accessed August 8, 2008).

Bestfoods Case study Essay

Bestfoods can only perform effectively through interactions with the broader external environment of which it is a part. The structure and function ¬ing of the international organisation must reflect, therefore, the nature of the environment in which it is operating, including workforce diversity issues. In order to ensure its survival and future success Bestfoods must be readily adaptable to the external demands placed upon it using appropriate structure and support of its HR management team. In this case, Bestfood is responsive to change through workforce diversity management. To operate internationally, Bestfoods has to provide diversity management in order to leverage differences between employees. 1. The key diversity challenges facing by the company include: – two-thirds of employees working outside the USA; – disproportionate number of women and minorities who leave Bestfoods; – gender inequalities (women can reach only middle management level); – women and minorities have less opportunities for career development than men (according to the survey); – high turnover level among women and minorities at every management level; – attitudes and behaviour barrier for promotion; – few women at high positions. These challenges shows that Bestfoods has high diverse workforce that prevent the company to grow rapidly. Managing gender and racial differences should be the part of the management concerned with the maintenance of human relationships and ensuring the physical well being of employees so that they give the maximum contribution to efficient working 2. To overcome diversity problems, Laura Brody was appointed to develop and implement equal opportunity campaigns involving international divisions of the company. She called her task as a â€Å"double edge sword† aimed to propose everyone equal opportunities for carrier development. The key actions helped this strategy to succeed include: – global action learning programs and an incremental change; – the first woman appointed as a country general manager; – the diverse board of directors consisted of two female, an African American CEOs and four males form other countries; – senior-management training programs; – long-term objectives of the company rather than compliance; – Diversity Advisory Council. These key issues encompassed a strategic perspective of the company and were closely related to the management process as a whole demanding that each functional manager and supervisor apply the principles effectively. 3. In order to implement diversity programs, Bestfoods took several steps. (1) Brody changed the nature of Diversity Advisory Council implemented a team-building approach aimed to establish a common vision. If a team is to be successful and perform effectively there must be a spirit of unity and co-operation, which can be achieved through scheduling and decision-making. As a part of this action, the Council developed a Balance Scorecard for diversity. (2) Examining and borrowing experience from leading companies about â€Å"leveraging workforcce† (p. 529) (outside practitioners, gathering best-practice and benchmarking studies). This step helped to avoid possible mistakes and faults. (3) A Cultural Connections program was implemented. It helps to reconcile the gap between what should happen, and desire-targets and standards of performance; and what is happening and levels of work performance. It involved: educational programs, training, sexual harassment prevention training, motivation for further education, etc. (4) Forum initiative. 4. In general, the idea of a Forum was very effective helping to join employees, increase their confidence, motivation and commitment; provide recognition, enhanced responsibility, and promotion; give a feeling of personal satisfaction and achievement, and broader opportunities for career progression. The idea of Forum could help to improve organisational perfor ¬mance as it increases the level of individual and organisational compe ¬tence. Nevertheless, the drawback of this policy was that Brody decided to involve only women as participants. Instead of a blend of competence, the Forum resulted in greater diversity within organization. (5) An alternative action to this program can be the International HR management Forum involving male and female employees, HR managers from different countries and the USA. This strategy would be more effectible in terms of overall company’s policy towards diversity management. This International HR Form would ensure human resources policy as an essential part for every manager and supervisor aware of diversity management. It would develop an integrated approach for organisations to locate equality issues in their mainstream activities. (6) The main problems faced by Brody and Shoemate included negative attitudes of male employees and women excluded from discussions the diversity issues. In general, this approach broadened gander diversity, and created a negative image of females as executives. Many women were afraid that: â€Å"after attending an all-women forum might encourage others to think their success was owed primarily to their status as women rather to their competence† (p. 540). The challenge was that the Forum forced some executives to rethink their attitude towards women’s potential and look objectively at their competence and professional skills. (7) Unfortunately, the Forum was negatively perceived by male employees. For some of them it was nothing more than â€Å"koffee-klatch† (p. 541) and discrimination on the gender basis. It is possible to treat this meeting as indirect discrimination depriving most employees from opportunities to be involved in problem-solving and strategic planning. This policy did not offend only male employees, but women who had not been invited. Most women called it another â€Å"private club† party (p. 540). Brody and Shoemate did not develop a sense of people per ¬ception, and did not understand the feelings of staff, their needs and expectations. (8) In any case, leadership played a crucial role helping to held female employees together and motivated them to give their best effort to the job. Communication strategies helped to provide satisfaction of members’ social needs, and a sense of personal identity and belonging to organization. Communication provided additional channels and means of motivation, for example, through status, social inter ¬action. Decision-making about the future strategy of the organization was made and implemented by employees. It was very important that employees were involved in this process. The unity of leadership, communication and decision-making created an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect between managers and employees. (9) Bestfoods and Brody can institutionalized the position of a diversity manager in every office around the world. This strategy will help to address not only women question, but to cover equal employment opportunities for all employees in spite of their gender, position in the company or racial/national differences. The Forum should be based on an elective principle which means that every employee in the company has an equal opportunity to take part in it. The Forum can address different questions involving all employees of Bestfoods. This strategy will increase team effectiveness which depends upon different strategies including a spirit of unity and co-operation, which can be achieved through leveling of differences. In an opening letter to all CPC Employees, Shoemate underlined that the policy of the company is: â€Å"an ongoing process that affects everyone in the company. †¦ we need to engage every person in this effort† (p. 546). Nevertheless, the Forum did not present different groups of employees focused only on gender diversity question. To overcome this drawback, the Forum can create separate working teams examining gender diversity, minorities’ rights, equal opportunities and equal pay issues. Recognising that men and women present different cultures at work, as well as different ethnic groups, and that this diversity needs to be managed, is key to promoting a positive environment of equal opportunity, which goes beyond merely fulfilling the demands of the statutory codes. References 1. Case Study: Bestfoods.

R – 7 Scandal – Boston Post Magazine

The breakthrough of the century could have been the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) or more commonly termed as R – 7. With two and a half years of research, Dr. Cliff Bannaker has worked on this virus from its very conception up to its ‘coming out’ at Glass-Mendelssohn laboratory. This particular drug is banked on as the possible cure to cancer. The Glass-Mendelssohn laboratory is at the heart of Harvard University’s Philpott Institute. The Director is Dr. Sandy Glass, whose given name is Sam Glazeroff, who is a descendant of Eastern European Jews. On the other hand, his co- director Marrion Mendelssohn, is a product of Franz Applebaum at Columbia. This is also where she met her husband Jacob, who in turn was a researcher – turned professor, now teaching microbiology at a local college. Dr. Cliff Bannaker is one of the most promising young doctors from Stanford. He was under the mentoring of the deceased Professor Oppenheimer. He is a son of Los Angeles store owners, who are both are college degree holders. He has been in the laboratory for three years being hired under the recommendations of Professor Oppenheimer. The laboratory is staffed with a few post – doctorate degree holders and two laboratory technicians. The doctor’s are Dr. Robin Drecker, Dr. Xiang Feng, Dr. Prithwish and the man who created the virus Dr. Cliff Bannaker. Their qualified laboratory technicians are Aidan and Natalya. The RVS was first introduced by Bannaker during his entry in the laboratory. He was given the opportunity to do his research. Such project initially showcased high potential for turning cancer cells into normal ones but it is worthy to note that this was not the only research done within the laboratory. However, even if this one has the highest prospect, there was a failure on the initial experiment with live subjects. With such, the directors had advised Bannaker to stop his experiment on RSV and work with fellow doctor Drecker, who is also Bannaker’s girlfriend. However, with intractable spirit (or frankly insubordination), Bannaker continued to inject live subjects, in this case- mice, with the virus. The RSV’s second attempt found several nude mice, which are those that do not have hair due to some disorder, that did not have the cancerous tumors after the injection of RSV. This was found by Dr. Feng who is the laboratory’s record keeper and the co-director Mendelssohn. The initial reaction is to ‘hide’ this from the director Glass. Nevertheless, this was also subsequently revealed. The restless but close to unproductive laboratory, with contagious glee probably from their director, eagerly proceeded with an announcement. With whirlwind speed, the research findings were published in a scientific journal, Nature. The laboratory gained publicity and funding for the venture. Consequently, the laboratory started its own quandary. The doctors who tried to replicate the results were unsuccessful. Thus, suspicion ignited in each in every doctor who tried unsuccessfully. The suspicions of the issue went into a full-blown investigation complete with Congressional hearing, wherein one of the doctors of the same laboratory became, so to speak, the whistle-blower of the whole charade. Drecker was also accused of holding professional jealousy against the people who strongly (though baselessly) believed in the work of Bannaker. At the same manner, such actions of the laboratory elicited commentary from the whole medical field. Not to mention, those in politics, in business as well as all people connected with what happened and the general public. How the ‘R – 7 Scandal’ violated Ethics in Research The whole ‘R – 7 scandal’ is composed of ethical and moral violations that deserve to be scrutinized both from the researchers’ ethical standards and from the perspective of the general public. Researchers have ethical standards that are built as a two way shield, as a protection for the general public and as flight leverage for the researchers. When researchers conduct certain studies, there are sets of ethical guidelines that should be followed. Although different field of studies have different sets of guidelines, there are still parallelism in such that every research should follow. Bannaker is probably an honest researcher who did not have the heart for a failed research. Honesty is a major ethical issue with the ‘R – 7 Scandal’ where the truth about the whole issue may never be entirely given light, or perhaps there will still be doubts as to the real occurrence of the whole fiasco. Not only did Bannaker twisted honestly but it also has something to do with the directors, Mendelssohn and Glass. Mendelssohn and Glass are the directors of the laboratory and their honesty is a very crucial for the integrity of the researches done under their leadership. They have the bestowed responsibility to make sure that the results are not manipulated in a dishonest way. Such actions have compromised not only themselves, but all the past and current researches done by the staff under their command. This leads to yet another issue of carefulness. Whether the scandal is a product of carelessness or dishonesty, all that are responsible have still forgotten to take into consideration this ethical virtue. As a result, irresponsible publication is observed. Responsible publication should be in line with the researchers’ openness to the results of their studies, as well as, to gear towards advancement of the field. Bannaker have apparently underestimated Drecker where some reports have said that prior to the deemed termination of Bannaker’s RSV, he was already asked to help Drecker in her research. However, Bannaker refused for unconfirmed reason where he thinks of her research as not ambitious enough. That alone is a breach of research ethics in terms of respecting one’s colleague in terms of their work. Responsible mentoring, that should also been practiced by Mendelssohn and Glass, have also failed miserably. They have forgotten to follow procedures like replicating the study just to make sure that the results are both conclusive and reliable. Apparently, key players of the scandal have all been seduced by the fame, honor and the seemingly ‘infinite’ grants for the laboratory. At the same time, Drecker, whether her intentions are due to integrity or to professional jealousy, her respect for the truth is ambiguous. In addition to this, researches now also possess legal values. Remember that anything anyone does is under laws and regulations. Consequently, such actions should be appended with legality. The same is true for those who are soliciting for grants or funding from various institutions. How the general public is mislead The public who had high hopes of finding the cure for cancer has been disappointed. In UK alone, there are approximately 289,000 people who are diagnosed with cancer every year, according to Cancer Research UK. Furthermore, there are 150,000 cancer deaths each year which actually boil down to an estimated one death every four minutes. Imagine how many people became disheartened by the revelation that the RSV is a hoax. Social responsibility is a research ethic that should have been treated with respect. Lives are being played at as well as emotions, not only of the people with cancer but the families and friends as well. Thus, nobody have the right to have been as irresponsible as what have happened in the research failure. Clearly, people have expected more ethics from doctors. Generally, people do not condemn any doctor who are ‘not producing’ any results for their studies. Most are even understanding of such, and in turn are more conscious, respectful and appreciative of those trying to come up with advances especially in the medical field. The general public has such high respect of people who have dedicated their lives for the advancement of our lives. Without such people, the conveniences that are enjoyed today may never have come into being. Nevertheless, with such trust, the doctors – researchers should always take into consideration the people, patients and families alike, they serve and not their personal gains. The actions of the individuals from the Glass-Mendelssohn laboratory have affected the lives of many around the world. The gain only belonged to those who have received the fame, grants and all other benefits associated with it, but the suffering is left to those who had tried to hold on for the sake of the ray of hope shed by the results of the failed study. Indeed, such actions have left more scars of frustrations for the people suffering from cancer as well as their families. Lesson Learned Doctors are also human beings that have rooms for mistakes. The ‘R- 7 Scandal’ is a result of carelessness, hasty decisions and hidden agendas. The whole mess serves as a wake up call both for researchers, politicians, grant agencies and the general public. The world of research should be focused on ethical and moral bases. Grant agencies, on the other hand, should be able to create a reliable system of negotiating with research organization on how these organizations can achieve support from them. Politicians should also be able to find more ways for some research laboratories to have funding so that such laboratories would not depend on grants. Thus, less pressure on ‘producing’ results just to acquire funds for continuing research. The general public should also carry at least an ounce of skepticism to avoid the disappointment brought about by failed researches. Looking into the bright side, the study only reached global fame in terms of the research scandals. However, it has not sickened the otherwise, already sick patients, or worse killed them. Far more damage and responsibility could have been the result of such. Therefore, the whole ‘R – 7 Scandal’ should be a reminder of how every single agency and group of individuals should, at least, carry common honesty, careful planning, untainted agenda and uncorrupted social responsibility in making conclusions. Probably, the next time researchers have discovered a cure for cancer or anything resembling such, they would be more responsible and critical.

Exchange Traded Option Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Exchange Traded Option Markets - Essay Example (Christopher, 2001; 45-57) However, most exchange-traded options are standardized. There are a set number of strikes and expiry dates available, and it is not generally possible to trade options on the shares of smaller companies. By contrast, in the OTC market dealers will sell and buy options on a wide range of shares, as long as they can find a way to manage the risks associated with such deals. Also, dealers offer a huge variety of non-standard contracts known collectively as exotic options. (John, 2002: 110-118) On some exchanges and with some contracts the buyer of an option is not required to pay the full premium at the outset. Instead, the purchaser deposits initial margin that is a proportion of the premium due on the contract. In the case of the individual stock options traded on LIFFE, the full premium is payable upfront. (Zuhayr, 2001, 63-70) However, the writers of options are subject to margin procedures. They must deposit initial margin at the outset, and will be required to make additional variation margin payments via their brokers to the clearing house if the position moves into loss. (Gordon, 2001: 121-129) The initial margin depends on the degree of risk involved, calculated according to factors such as the price and volatility of the underlying and the time to expiry of the contract. In practice, in order to cover margin calls, brokers often ask for more than the minimum initial margin figure stipulated by the clearing house. The derivatives exchanges also offer listed option contracts on major equity indices such as the S&P 500, the FT-SE 100 and the DAX. Contracts are of two main kinds. Some are options on equity index futures, and exercise results in a long or short futures position. Other contracts are settled in cash against the spot price of the underlying index. If a call is exercised the payout is based on the spot index level less the strike. If a put is exercised the payout is based on the strike less the spot index level. Options on indices and other baskets of shares can also be purchased directly from dealers in the OTC market. (Dimitris, 2000: 90-102) Some dealing houses issue securities called covered warrants which are longer-dated options on shares other than those of the issuer. Warrants are usually listed and trade on a stock market such as the London Stock Exchange. The term 'covered' means that the issuer is writing an option and hedges or covers the risks involved, often by trading in the underlying shares. (Austin, 2000: 73-81) Warrants are purchased by both institutional and retail investors (historically the retail market has been more active in Germany than in the UK). (Christopher, 2001; 45-57) Warrants can be calls or puts and written on an individual share or a basket of shares. They are sometimes settled in cash, and sometimes through the physical delivery of shares. UK Stock Options on LIFFE Table 1 shows some recent prices for stock options on Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (RBOS) traded on LIFFE. These are the offer or sale prices for contracts posted by dealers placed on the exchange's electronic dealing system, LIFFE Connect. At the time the quotations were taken the options had just over two weeks remaining until expiry and the underlying RBOS share price was 1781

History- World War I and World War II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History- World War I and World War II - Essay Example The war formally started when Archduke Ferdinand, of Austria-Hungary was killed by Serbians on June 28, 1914. With this assassination, Austria declared war on Serbia and within days, Germany joined in, declaring war on first Russia then France. With the passage of time, other countries started entering the conflict with United States initially declaring that it would remain neutral. This neutrality policy however didn't work when United States noticed that its people were being killed by Germany and that the latter was resorting to unfair means. On April 6, 1917, United States finally joined the Allies against German forces. With United States and Britain launching massive military attacks against the Central Powers, Germany soon lost its powerful place in the war and by July of 1918, it was clear that Allies would win the war. The war came to an end when Allies defeated Germany at Argonne Forest Battle and the Treaty of Versailles was signed. United States did not want to join the conflict that had been rocking the world since 1914. Most Americans also supported government's policy and decided they wanted to stay out of war until 1917 when after a series of unfair German war tactics, President Woodrow Wilson decided to join the Allies and United States formally entered the war. The most important event that many believed triggered United States' entry was the 1915 sinking of British ocean liner Lusitania which resulted in the death of 128 Americans. This ship had been deliberately sunk by German soldiers to restrict and block the supply of food to British soldiers on the front. While the President had previously been remained staunchly against the war, he used some outrages like the sinking of the ship as an excuse to enter the war and secure victory for the Allies. It was for some a war by the kings against the kings. On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson called an extraordinary session of Congress. The word had al ready leaked out the President was considering joining the war and pacifist staunchly opposed this action. They blocked the roads that were to take President to the Capitol from the White House. But the Sixty-fifth session did finally take place without much trouble at the appointed day and time. The President addressed Congress and explained his reasons for entering the war. He said: "I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because there are serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permissible that I should assume the responsibility of making. On the third of February last I officially laid before you the extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government that on and after the first day of February it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and Ireland or the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean..The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destination, their errand,

Paper on Financial Monitoring and Control Essay

Paper on Financial Monitoring and Control - Essay Example According to Nikolai et al (2009), efficient monitoring and control of cash ensure that there is adequate cash to undertake important activities in organizations. Cash control systems need internal control measures that are adequate and effective, which must comply with laws and regulations of any given jurisdiction where the business or project is carried out. Kutz (2003) asserts that error and lack of control over organizations assets and cash lead to business or project failure. Components of financial monitoring and control system First, roles and responsibilities form part of the components of financial monitoring and control system. Every financial or accounting officer has a role to play regarding cash receipts and disbursement as well as towards financial records. Access to cash of the organization should be limited to few authorized personnel and duties performed by different accounting and finance officers should be separated. Cash should be controlled from the time it is r eceived from customers (at the point of sale) to the point it is deposited in the bank. Point of sales terminals or cash registers need to be used. This is because point of sales terminals and cash registers allow for monitoring cash inflow. Second, financial records are components of monitoring and controlling finances. All expenses and revenue (income) transactions are recorded in general ledger. General ledgers form the foundation for generating reports and financial statements of each project. Revenue, cost and managerial accounting are used for internal purposes for planning, monitoring and controlling organization’s monies. Financial records are evidences that financial transactions took place. Financial records assist project managers to determine how much they have spent, how much they have and how much they need to spent in future (Garman and Forgue, 2007). Gross et al (2005) asserts that well kept financial records enables managers and interested parties to review r esult of financial transactions. Cash shortages and excess will be easily identified and remedial measures taken to correct the situation when proper records are kept. List of all checks received must be recorded and forwarded to the appropriate department. Cashiers must prepare daily bank deposits. Records of all billings, payables, accruals, receivables, invoices, contracts and suppliers must be kept appropriately. Third, disbursements thresholds also form part of financial monitoring and control system. Procedures that allow payments of actual expenditures must be complied with accordingly. The organization must create ceilings above which payments shall only be made through checks. For example, an organization ensures that payments above $200 must be made using checks. Furthermore, large amounts of cash to be disbursed must be authorized and approved by people who are in higher positions. For example, any expenditure above $5,000 must only be approved and authorized by the proje ct director or managing director. The organization should properly utilize petty cash systems and payments should only be made upon verification of all supporting documents. Fourth, a budget forms a component of financial monitoring and control system. Budgets reflect financial goals and objectives of a project covering a specific period of time. During budgeting, technological trends, resource pricing, employee relations, raw materials cycles, inventory levels, financial needs and seasonality should be taken into considerations (Shim and Siegel 2008). Donovan (2005) explained that before a person or organization spend what they have earned, it is important to prepare budgets to be able to focus on priorities. Therefore, every

Canadian Economic History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Canadian Economic History - Essay Example This paper seeks to analyze these major events in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources. From the period of 1960 till 1973, Equalization payments were made to Manitoba and Saskatchewan which offered protection to Ontario market. In the eighties, petrochemical industry was established and developed in Alberta and Manitoba concentrates on production of buses and light aircrafts(Norrie, Owram, andEmery, 125). Still several provinces relied on exports and on the revenues which were generated by the major industries. In the eighties, majority of Canadians moved to cities and several of them were associated with white collar jobs. In the sixties, the electricity sector in Quebec province was nationalized in order to remove disparities and fluctuation in rates. During the same period, Canada signed Automotive Pact with United States, which concentrated on changing the North American car manufacturing landscape and sought to establish more friendly relations between the two countries (Norrie, Owram, and Emery, 163). This assisted in improving the Canadian economy. In the seventies, the foundations for James Bay project were laid in Quebec. This hydro electric project is considered to be the largest development in the Canadian economic history. The OPEC oil crisis in the seventies led to increase in prices of oil. In 1973, the Canadian government established Petro-Canada to stimulate and encourage the exploration of oil and gas and to develop tar sands of Alberta. At the same time, it concentrated on getting hold of reliable imports and to understand the strategic importance of the industry. During the seventies, the Canadian government put efforts to control the domestic oil prices (Norrie, Owram, and Emery, 172). In the year 1975, Anti-Inflation Act was incorporated which concentrates on escalation of wage and price inflation. Consequently, the Consumer Price Index inflation was 10.7 percent in the year 1974. in 1975, it was 10.9 percent. 1980s and 1990s In the eighties, Canada experience economic recession. There was a great impact on the mineral and manufacturing industry. In 1982, mining activities and operations in Yukon were shut down. More than seven hundred thousand miners were unemployed because of recession. In the mid eighties, the Canadian economy recovered itself and its economic growth was highest among al OECD countries. However, there were vast differences in economies of different Canadian provinces. Central provinces were economically and financially strong, whereas western provinces experiences economic recession because of decrease in prices of oil and other natural resources. The Atlantic Provinces also experienced turnover (Norrie, Owram, and Emery, 175). In the 1990, the Canadian economy started to contract and was heavily affected by the recession. Although recovery began in 1991, Canada experienced high rates of unemployment and budget deficit. However, it should be noted that in the nineties the Canadian econ omic growth rate was about three percent. In the year 1992, the unemployment rate was about twelve percent, which gradually declined to eight percent in 1999.Because of economic recession of early eighties and nineties, high unemployment rates, budget deficits and disaffection were witnessed. Because of the declining economy, Progressive Conservative Party was rejected severely

Managing fo results Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing fo results - Essay Example The research revealed the existence of several cultures and subcultures in Widney Cabs Ltd that matched the theoretical models developed by both Schein in the three level of classification i.e. Assumptions, Values and Artefacts and Denison’s classification that outlines four attributes namely: Involvement, Consistency, Adaptability and Mission. This study will evaluate and assess the different aspects of organizational culture that exist in Widney Cabs Ltd. The study examines these culture(s) and sub cultures in light of the relationship with models or classification from academic literature, existing knowledge and theories on organizational culture. Jacques (1951) defines organizational culture as the customary or traditional ways of thinking and doing things common to most members of an organization. There exists a significant level of formal knowledge on the subject of culture(s) and sub-cultures that exist in organizations and their effects on the organizational behaviour. Founders and leaders of organizations create these cultures, which are then developed and sustained by people. Organization’s executives generate and impart the organizations ideals. They also promote the core values that convey inclination to certain behaviors or effects. Norms on the other hand express acceptable ways of achieving set goals. Studies have shown that the development of organizational culture requires interaction within the membership. (Louis, Posner, and Powell 1983). According to Schein (1985), there are three levels of culture,the basic being Assumptions that form the foundation of culture. These assumptions are unconscious beliefs, thoughts, perceptions, and feelings. Next to these are the espoused values that consist of goals, philosophies. Lastly are the artefacts, which are physical manifestations, which may not be obvious to a lay observer of organizational

Paraphrase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Paraphrase - Essay Example This was basically used in the experiment as the components are easy to control and manipulate due to the less number of parameters. Also the various parameters that will be controlled are as follows. Firstly, the damping time constant where there is an amplitude drop of half of the height. Secondly, the period length and finally the signal level attenuation. It is essential to also note that the single level attenuation is dependent on the total number of uses of the periods. The main reason for the use of ‘dampened sinusoids’ rather than the sinusoids that have been used in previous research is the following. The dampened sinusoids have been noted to be similar to the single pulse resonance sounds. This has been used in the past for communication by a number of animals and thus it plays a very important role in this research. Since the sound of the single dampened sinusoid is similar to that of one cycle of a vowel, thus the close resemblance to the natural sounds has been used in the research. The benefits of it are numerous and it has been noted that the control is also relatively easier. It will also be interesting to note that this is the only study which used stimuli with a wavelength shorter than one period and also with an increased length in the scale of the logarithm, with almost sixteen periods of the

Career Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Career Planning - Essay Example The duties of a Market Researcher almost match with my work interests. The job is almost all about dealing with data. This involves planning, control, implementation, reports, and analysis. To be specific, it involves the study of what people buy, require, think, and do. And the findings of such study usually help companies to identify the factors affecting product demand and also the potential markets of the firm. I am genuinely good at studying the client related topics and also advising the related people about making use of the research findings. I am aware of the possible challenges associated with meeting this plan. I have studied Accounting and Finance as main subjects but if I want to concentrate on the Marketing field, I have to develop qualities like good communication skill, awareness of the latest trends, and also should be familiar with the latest technologies. Minimum knowledge in psychology is also needed while handling the issues of different people. I admit that my k nowledge and experience with regard to HR and consumer behaviour is incomplete or unsatisfying and therefore I will have to face more challenges. When I started working in the banking field, I could realize that I had much more to learn and expertise in marketing strategy. I am sure that my MSc in Strategic Marketing from the world’s most renowned institution will make me capable of addressing all the challenges in my profession. Generally, the academic and cultural heritage of an institution determines the level of nourishment it can provide for the overall development of its students. I admire the Imperial College’s great legacy of 100 years of teaching. Since the college specializes in most prominent areas such as Science, Engineering, Medicine and Business, it has contributed so many legends to the world include Nobel Prize winners, great scientists, world famous designers, actors and poets. I would like to stick to the same profession improving myself day by day. I am aware that the carrier progression in Market Research depends on one’s merits and experience. With regard to my long term plan, I would like to attain the post of Account Director of a well established firm in UK. Since my carrier started in the banking sector, I am willing to choose my long term carrier in the very sector. I believe that the post of an Account director will help me utilize my full potential. In today’s business environment, launching the right product in the right time and at the right place is a key factor to the success of a company. It requires accurate forecasting, which is evidently one of the responsibilities of the accounting director. Another responsibility of the faculty is to ensure return on every investment, which is possible only by maintaining strict budgeting controls. It depends on the competency of an accounting manger if a firm can have its own unique way of business development. A company can develop its own distinct way of mar keting only if the accounting manger and his crew are innovative and adaptive. This task lies between the planning session and the ultimate feedback on retail reality. Admittedly, my goal of achieving my desired designation is not very easy. It requires several skills. In the case of my short term plan as a Market Researcher, I must develop an analytical mind along with thorough knowledge in statistics, psychology, and behavioural science. A market researcher

Telecommuting Essay Example for Free

Telecommuting Essay Telecommuting or telework allows employees of a company to work from home or any other remote location other than an office. Telecommuting requires employees to be able to access all of the computer applications they have available to them at work in order to perform their jobs adequately. The company should provide Internet access to employees at their homes and make sure they have the appropriate equipment to run and access company provided software. While some experts argue telecommuting is more cost-efficient, may increase productivity and create a better work/life balance, others say the cost of decreased face time co-workers, effect it has on workers left at the office, and its failure to live up to some of its expectations could make it a less attractive option. By implementing telecommuting, a company has the possibility to save significantly. Because of telework, employees will be able to work from remote locations and will not have a need to come into the office. This will eliminate the need for a physical location for most employees, which will result in a large savings per month. Each employee can use their computer at home or be provided one by the company. By implementing telecommuting, it would prevent the need to expand physical locations in the future. Savings would also increase based on the lack of utility bills associated with the physical location, cancelling T1 lines, and landline phones. Each employee can communicate with each other and customers via their company cell phone, which usually is already provided to them or their home landline phone if they wish. The company will then be responsible for their Internet connection in the form of a reimbursement. The figure above outlines the total costs of each arrangement. It is clear that telecommuting has the potential to save a company more money almost immediately after implementation. This is true only if every person in the company telecommutes. As some companies telecommuting policies say, the employee who telecommutes must report to a centralized workplace for a portion of time each week. If this is true, telecommuting is not as cost efficient as it seems. Transportation costs are also drastically reduced for employees. Because they would no longer need to commute to the office everyday, costs associated with a daily commute would be drastically reduced. This would also save money for the company. The federal government offers tax incentives to companies who make efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. By implementing telecommuting, any company would be eligible for the tax incentives the very next year. In a study conducted at the Kentucky American Water Company, performed from 1998-2003, it was concluded that a significant savings could be made per employee (Butler, Aasheim, Williams, 2007). The article points out that for the Kentucky American Water Company, â€Å"savings include reduced expenses for office space and parking, and a reduction in complaints handled by the managers. † In a chart produced in the study, it compares the costs and savings of implementing the telecommuting process in the call center portion of the company. Their conclusion, on average, was telecommuting will save KAWC $1,361 per employee (p. 102). Research has shown that telework is related to higher job satisfaction and a variety of positive employee outcomes,† writes Karen Fonner for the Journal for Applied Communication Research (Fonner Roloff, 2010, p. 340). Telework helps employees manage their personal and work lives more effectively than working in an office setting. By releasing employees from the constraints of a physical office, they are empowered to create their own schedules to accomplish work more effectively. This empowerment enables employees to take ownership of their position and will otivate them to perform to the best of their abilities. With the ability of employees to create their own schedules around the clock, it will benefit companies by allowing the employee to have a flexible schedule to adapt to the demanding schedules of business in the new millennium. Another benefit of telecommuting is less absenteeism at work. If an employee has a doctor’s appointment, they can set their work schedule around the appointment and include it in their schedule around both personal and work appointments. If they were to report to a physical location and be forced to be stationary for a set amount of time in an office, the employee would be inclined to take the entire day off for the doctor’s appointment. With the flexibility of telework, the employee would not be inclined to call off and would still be able to work before and after the appointment. The same is true for employees who require creativity breaks in between sessions of working. The flexibility of telework enables more frequent breaks so that employees can use the time set aside for work to be most efficient. Telecommuting also takes employees out of the stressors of the office. Office politics plays a huge role in stress at work and is a huge distraction for employees. â€Å"By working remotely the majority of the time, teleworkers can avoid or ignore some of the unjust practices within the organization, such as cronyism, self-interested behavior, and pressure against speaking out against those in power,† writes Fonner (Fonner, 2010, p. 361). Without the politicking at work, employees who work from home can use their downtime for more productive personal task that don’t induce more stress on their job. In a survey conducted at the telcom company Ericsson in July of 2006, respondents were asked a series of questions related to telecommuting. Employees who were not currently telecommuting were asked what important factors would persuade them to telecommute in the future (Borjesson Markus, 2006, p. 526). The most rated saving time as the most influential reason to adapt telecommunication with increasing efficiency, reducing stress, and having more independence in their daily life as the top four reasons (Borjesson Markus, 2006). Ironically, reducing traveling costs had the smallest amount of supporters. Employees at Ericsson put more emphasis on empowerment as their main reason to choose telecommuting over monetary reasons. Plus, its an important tool for attracting a younger generation of employees who expect that flexibility and greater sense of control over their lives, says Danette Campbell, senior adviser for telework with the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington when speaking about telework in the article â€Å"Washington Tapping Into Telework For More Flexibility† (Silver, 2010, p. 0). Adding telecommuting as a workplace option will make any company a more attractive employer. The Kentucky American Water Company study proved telecommuters are more productive workers than their on-site employees (Butler, Aasheim, Williams, 2007, p. 101). The study measured productivity based on four factors, â€Å"amount of work; intensity of work; efficiency of work; and adjustments for additional costs associated with telecommuting (such as expenses for equipment, technology support, training, managerial support, and so forth)† (2007, p. 101). The study found, â€Å"the average productivity of telecommuters in the 13 months immediately after the â€Å"go live† period increased by 154%, while the average productivity of in-office agents fell by 13. 3%. Because overall customer service improved considerably (the percentage of abandoned calls decreased from 12. 2% to 3. 6%)† (p. 102). Understanding that all jobs at the KAWC call center can be performed using telecommunication, parallels can still be drawn from call center work and the type of work performed by most companies. The majority of daily work performed by most employees consists of communicating with clients and co-workers. All communication in most jobs does not rely on an employee being in a centralized workspace. By allowing employees to telecommute, they will be free to meet with customers and clients during any time of the day, thus allowing them to be more productive and available to them. Many clients and customers have problems meeting during a normal â€Å"9-to-5† workday because they are also at work. By implementing telecommuting, employees will be free to meet with them in the evening when they usually wouldn’t be at â€Å"work† if they worked in a centralized location or during business hours if they need to. Telecommuting also requires the use of technology to perform work from remote locations. â€Å"People who use more IT in their work are more productive, and by its very nature telecommuting requires more use of IT,† writes Ralph Westfall in his article â€Å"Does Telecommuting Really Improve Productivity? † (Westfall, 2004, p. 95). By implementing telecommuting at a company, they will be forced to update their technology and train people to use the new technology effectively. In doing this, employees will be forced to become more productive based on their new knowledge and the use of new technology. An argument against telecommuting is the lack of human interaction involved with the â€Å"Employees who worked away from their offices for three or more days a week reported worsening of their relationships with coworkers,† stated Pam Willenz for the American Psychological Association (Willenz, 2007). Employees may seem disenfranchised from their co-workers who report to an office, which has detrimental effects on employee morale to all employees. Telecommuting also could have detrimental effects on promotions for employees. The idea behind â€Å"out of sight, out of mind† plays a large role in the fear that employees who telecommute have less likely of a chance to get promoted from their current position because of their lack of face time with superiors. The lack of office politicking could be a double-edged sword where employees don’t have the chance to mingle with co-workers that could potentially advance their careers. Telecommuting had negative effects on the employees that are â€Å"left behind† in a centralized workplace. In-office employees took less satisfaction in their jobs and felt less of a relationship and obligation to their company as the number of telecommuting coworkers grew,† in a study that David Chartier reported in the article, â€Å"Study: Telecommuting makes work worse for non-telecommuters† (Chartier, 2009). Many of the workers that are left behind perceived that more work was left for them and are forced into other difficulties posed by telecommuting such as, building strong working relationships and finishing group work. Telecommuting is not appropriate for every job. There are still many jobs that cannot be performed through telecommuting. Contemporary Business states, â€Å"the cubicle- filled office will likely never become obsolete† (Boone, p. 22). Many jobs will never be able to completely translate over to a telecommuting environment so many workers will still have to report to a centralized workplace. Many face-to-face customer service jobs cannot be performed via telecommuting and many workers will still have to report to work therefore telecommuting is not an alternative to every job. Since telecommuting is so new, many employers are still experimenting with it and require that the employees who telecommute have to report to the office at least one day a week. Telecommuting is difficult to implement in situations where workers are paid on an hourly basis. The old adage, â€Å"Time worked equals time paid,† does not necessarily translate into the telecommuting environment very well. In hourly positions that can be transferred to telecommuting settings, clocking in and clocking out will be at the discretion of the worker with no oversight available. Employees who are compensated on an hourly basis would have to change their pay scale to a salaried position in order for telecommuting to be fair (Boone, 2010). If that is not the case, truant workers would be enabled by the lack of supervision and can â€Å"run the clock† more easily than if they reported to a centralized workspace (Boone, 2010). Telecommuting also puts company assets and information in an uncontrolled environment where it is difficult to keep track of how and for what they are used. It raises some questions where company information and assets could be compromised in a telecommuting situation. Many employees would easily be put in a situation where they could steal or copy customer information and use it outside of their work (Boone, 2010). Telecommuting is cost effective depending on how it is implemented and can save a company a lot of money only if every employee telecommutes in order to alleviate the need for a centralized workplace. Research supports these benefits of implementing telecommuting saying it will alleviate many stressors on employees by reducing time spent getting ready for work, commuting to an office on a daily basis, and office politics. There are negatives aspects, however, to telecommuting. It cannot be implemented for every job and there will still be a need for a centralized workspace so it may not be as profitable as expected. Telecommuting also puts company property and information inside someone else’s home. Truant workers are enabled to â€Å"run the clock† in a telecommuting setting since there is no oversight on when they are actually working. Telecommuting does have its strengths, but it also has weaknesses. The future will open up doors for telecommuting as technology improves and our culture becomes more technologically savvy. For now, telecommuting in most situations is a hybrid of some workdays reporting to work and others worked from home.

Tension in the 1920s Essay Example for Free

Tension in the 1920s Essay During the 1920’s, the United States saw many large changes made in the country, the largest of which, the ratification of the 18th Amendment and the start of prohibition, was the greatest source of tension during that time period. The 18th Amendment which made the production, transport, and sale of alcohol illegal, upset many people, but was actually never enforced that strictly. Many people could still drink very easily and alcohol was never hard to find. Although many people think it was a terrible mistake and the government was taking away a simple way for adults to get together and have fun, the government gave them a good amount of time to prepare. As stated in an article by Mark Moore of the New York Times, â€Å"The amendment prohibited the commercial manufacture and distribution of alcoholic beverages; it did not prohibit use, nor production for ones own consumption. Moreover, the provisions did not take effect until a year after passage -plenty of time for people to stockpile supplies†. People could still produce alcohol for themselves which most already did and talks of prohibition had been going on for years with much support. The citizens of the United States should have taken that time to gather the alcohol they wanted and obtain the supplies needed to produce it. Once again, even though one could not sell alcohol or produce it, it was extremely easy to access, there were extremely large amounts of speakeasies in cities, people could go to Canada or Mexico, or just take a boat three miles out into the ocean where the government had no power. Although prohibition did not have much of an effect on the consumption of alcohol, the crime rates rose quite quickly and many saw organized crime begin in the country. Many gangs arose in large cities, but in only in Chicago could you find the most powerful gangster, Al Capone. He made millions off of the illegal consumption of alcohol, and although it caused a lot of chaos and disruption, he was giving the people what they wanted. As said by Capone himself, All I do is to supply a public demand †¦ somebody had to throw some liquor on that thirst. Why not me? †. The citizens of the United States yearned for alcohol and Capone gave them what they wanted, but they all suffered the consequences. With gangsters being as powerful as they were at the time, they could influence almost anyone, especially in law enforcement, the court system, and politics. The rate of homicides per 100,000 population was extremely large and the highest it had ever been. During the war, it was around six to seven, during prohibition it was around seven to ten. Although that may seem like a small number, more people were dying because of the want for alcohol. The 18th Amendment and beginning of prohibition dramatically altered the country in ways good and bad, which made it the greatest source of tension during the 1920’s.

Strategies of CSR in Business

Strategies of CSR in Business EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This is a business report submission of my Understanding of approaches to Business Management, strategic planning and Corporate Social Responsibility challenges in Micro, SMEs and Corporate Businesses or organisations. INTRODUCTION I would like to look into the definitions or meaning of sustainability in business, strategic planning and CSR, before I commence fully on this report. Strategic planning:-Its the concise and clear plan that is put in place for a business to achieve and meet its objectives and goals if the organisation wants to survive, succeed and thrive. Sustainability: according to (Cavusgil, 2017) Meeting humanitys needs without harming the future generations. Corporate Social Responsibility : definition hasnt been widely accepted according to (Godfrey and Hatch, 2007), but its definition simply is corporate social responsibility and this is not just limited to multinational companies but to micro, small medium sized enterprises as well, in that it has a responsibility to its stakeholders and shareholders in dealing with their needs in ensuring that trading is ethical and that employees have rights within the organisation, aiding the   the community as well is impacted positively   and that the environment is not negatively affected with their business dealings and no illegal dealings in their transactions but home and abroad. DIFFERENT APPROACHES OF MICRO, SMEs AND CORPORATE BUSINESS TO BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, PLANNING AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY According to (Eweje, 2014) findings   is that Multinational enterprise that are in operation in developing countries do contribute to job creation growth and development and poverty alleviation there, but when compared to developed countries they do not pay much attention to CSR and sustainability. In SMEs operations since they do not usually have enough capital and have fewer employees compared to corporate business enterprise, this makes them more adaptable in their business dealings and transactions either locally or internationally. Business plan so that they can achieve their goals e.g. in using the swot analysis by analysing situation internally which is the strength and weakness of the organisation and external analysis looking at the strength and weaknesses. Its through corporate governance that multinational companies ensure that corporate social responsibility, sustainability and strategic management are been undertaken. For Micro, SMEs and corporate Businesses, their approach to Corporate social responsibility is quite similar in that they ensure that the human rights of their employees are a priority, ensuring that employees do have a right to join any union, health and safety is been observed at workplace, also that there is no child labourer working for the organisation and that they do not contribute to global warming e.g. recycling,   no illegal dealings either nationally or internationally, and that they support poverty alleviation in developing countries. DIFFERENT TYPES OF STRATEGIES THAT BUSINESSES USE TO OPERATE IN AN ETHICAL AND SUSTAINABLE WAY When companies observe Corporate Social Responsibility and basically incorporate it into the daily culture of the organisation they are behaving in an ethical manner. When an organisation, firm or enterprise observe some of this practices such as ensuring that there is no water wastage by recycling it, clean water, minimises air pollution, reducing an organisations carbon footprint ensure health and safety at workplace, they are operating in a sustainable way that will lead them having a competitive advantage over other companies. Also they are operating strategically and in a sustainable way when a company looks for ways to ensure that it makes an impact in the community by creating jobs locally, probably in a community that it is obvious that it is disadvantaged. If it does not use children as staff i.e. child labour or does not do anything that might negatively impact the health and wellbeing of its worker, wages and salaries should be fair, recruitment as well should not be discriminating   a safe working environment, creating opportunities for career development or improving skills of employees, which will lead to employees been retained rather than looking for other job opportunities that will improve their prospects in the future, also providing benefits for those that will eventually retire, which will make employees have something to look forward to. Ensuring also that pollution is not an issue and that waste are been reduced in their manufacturing processes. HOW COCA COLA, ADNAMs AND SMEs IMPLEMENT CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Coca cola implementing corporate social responsibility in India, according to (Vikalpa 2014, p.100) in summary, Coca-Cola in India   initiated   some steps   in   implementing   sustainability when there was scarcity of water in the region of Rajasthan,   they provided irrigation that led to the supply of water   to farmers   by doing this they   were able to provide water to the local communities , this action   enabled them to gain the confidence of the villagers   and the initially sceptical   eventually developed   trust in them   and also ended up cooperating with them. Coca cola invited the villagers and their leaders to come to the factory and see their water management processes, they used resources, labourer, contractors from the community and they ensured they were quite open in the use of the funds REFERENCES Cavusgil S Tamer, Knight G, Riesenberger John R. (2017) International business [electronic resource] : the new realities :Pearson, Global Edition, 4th Edition Eweje .Gabriel.(2014) Corporate social responsibility and sustainability [electronic resource] : emerging trends in developing economies   :Emerald Publishing,2014 Godfrey PC, Hatch NW.2007.Researching corporate social responsibility: An agenda for the 21st century.journal of business Ethics 70(1):87-98. Maria-Alejandra, Gonzalez-Perez and Liam Leonard.(2013) International business, sustainability and corporate social responsibility [electronic resource] : Emerald,2013 Paul J and Adrian Woods. (2001) Strategic Management: a fresh approach to developing skills, knowledge and creativity Chaklader B and Gautam N, 2014, Efficient Water Management through Public-Private Partnership Model: An Experiment in CSR by Coca-Cola India: Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision makers. Jan-Mar2014, Vol. 39 Issue 1, p97-104. 8p.

Advertising, What Is It ? :: Free Essay Writer

Advertising, What Is It ? Advertisements are methods used to commercialize a product or anything else, such as AA meetings, a garage sale, etc. Advertising is used mainly to influence specific audience or all audiences to buy the product. For example, my product is advertising Reebok and is concentrating on people who play American Football. The advertisement is using the testimonial* method to advertise Reebok. The purpose for advertising is to commercialize a product or anything else to a certain audience or to any audiences. Another purpose for advertising is to persuade people to buy the product so that you'll get more money. A third purpose is to make the company a bigger name by getting more buyers. For example, the purpose of my advertisement is to persuade any American Football players to buy Reebok. I think advertising is necessary in the point of view of a company owner. Because for his company to prosper, he needs buyers, and without advertising he'll have less buyers which will slow down his company's growth. But in my opinion, I don't think advertising is necessary because we can live with less products. It might even be better with no advertisements because T.V shows and basketball games would be on continuously without any commercial interruptions. For example, my advertisement is advertising Reebok, but I don't need it, I can live with slippers or nothing at all; nevertheless, wearing a pair of Reebok shoe would be more comfortable. I think advertising is the right to choose. When something is advertised, it does not mean that you have to buy it, but it is giving you a choice. For example, my advertisement is trying to persuade me to buy Reebok, but it is just giving me one choice of my several choices of sportswear.

Night :: essays research papers

The Holocaust, was a time period from 1933-1945, in which primarily Jews and other groups were imprisoned and exterminated by Nazi Germany. With the ascendance of Adolf Hitler in 1933, most Jews who did not flee Germany were sent to concentration camps. When World War II started, Hitler declared that all Jews in his conquered nations were to be exterminated. By the end of the war, 6 million Jews had been killed, along with Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, the disabled, and others. Night by Elie Wiesel, starts out in Elie’s hometown of Sighet, Romania. Eliezer is a teenage boy living in the Hungarian town of Sighet, Romania. His father is a well respected in the community. Eliezer is a student of Talmud, Jewish oral law and also Cabbala, Jewish mysticism. Eliezer is also very religious since he is an Orthodox Jew. It is 1941 and Sighet is one of the last untouched Jewish communities left in Europe. The first act of anti-Semitism was the deportation of all foreign Jews, including Eliezer’s teacher, Moshe the Beadle. Moshe soon comes back to warn Sighet, that German officials intercepted the train carrying Jews out of Hungary. The Jews were forced to dig graves and ended up being shot and thrown into them. No one believed him, thinking he was mad, including Eliezer. By the spring of 1944, the fascists take control of the Hungarian government and Hungarian capital, Budapest, yet the people of Sighet ignore this. When the Germans arrive in Sighet, they force all Jews to live in ghettos and wear yellow stars. Eventually all the J ews are put on trains bound for Birkenau, leaving all their possessions and lives behind. Being the last family to leave for Birkenau, Martha, former servant of Elizier’s family offers to hide them in her village, but their foolish optimism rejects her offer. At the first concentration camp Birkenau, Eliezer is separated from his mother and sister, but stays with his father, in which he is very happy about. However they are still uncertain as whether they will be sent to labor camps or cremated. As they moved through Birkenau, they see babies thrown into cremation pits, with a separate pit for adults. Eliezer cannot believe what is happening, and his father cries. After being processed at Birkenau, the prisoners are sent to Auschwitz, where they are tattooed with their prison numbers and stay here for several weeks before being transferred again to Buna.