Oroonoko And Narrator Role Essays - Novellas, Oroonoko, Behn

Oroonoko And Narrator Role In Oroonoko, Behn establishes her authority within the opening lines and consistently reminds her audience of her position as narrator by mentioning her personal role in the story. In the second paragraph, Behn establishes this authority by saying, "I was myself an eyewitness to a great part of what you will find here set down, and what I could not be witness of, I received from the mouth of the chief actor in this history, the hero himself who gave us the whole transactions of his youth...(1867) In this passage, Behn uses first person and testifies that she was indeed a personal acquaintance of Oroonoko. She also says that Oroonoko gave her his life history from his own mouth. The rest of Oroonoko, Behn was herself, "an eyewitness". This also means that the author and the narrator are one single entity. Behn acknowledges that it is she who writes this story, through her own narration. In other words, the narrator is not a character of the story, but the authoritative author. Throughout the first half of the story, Behn maintains an aura of authority through various devices. She speaks to her readers almost as if in an informal conversation, using contractions such as "'em". Behn also frequently uses asides such as in the following, "There is a certain ceremony in these cases to be observed, which I forgot to ask him how performed; but 'twas concluded on both sides that, in obedience to him..." (1872) In this Behn draws her readers into an intimate account of a personal story. To strengthen her position, Behn's account is wrought with detail. One would assume that the readers of her time would be quite unfamiliar with her subject matter, so she seeks to enlighten with descriptions of detail. For example, Behn describes Oroonoko, "[h]e was pretty tall, but of a shape the most exact that can be fancied. The most famous statuary could not form the figure.... His face was not of that brown, rusty black which most of that nation are, but a perfect ebony or polished jet. His eyes were the most awful that could be seen, and very piercing, the white of'em being like snow, as were his teeth. His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat; his mouth the finest shaped that could be seen..."(1871) Without this detail that Behn paints, her readers could not have such a clear picture, but because she was there, she has taken it upon herself to provide her audience with a clear image. Behn also made a statement about Christianity by comparing Oroonoko's morality with that of the Christian men. "For the captain had protested to him upon the word of a Christian, and sworn in the name of a great God, which he should violate, he would expect eternal torment in the world to come." Behn then includes Oroonoko's retort, "Let him know I swear by my honor; which to violate, would not only render me contemptible and despised by all brave and honest men..." (1886) Through Behn's depiction of the two men, the captain and Oroonoko, she expresses the contrasting moral values, thus making a strong point about her own culture. As the author and narrator, she exercises her authority to do so, making simultaneously, a point about her position of authority. Had she not been able to represent, in herself, a position of authority, she would not have taken such a stance. Finally, in the closing lines of her story, Behn acknowledges that she, "by the reputation of her pen" has the authority to convey such a story. In those innocent six words, Behn not only acknowledges her authority of Oroonoko's story, but her own greatness as author as well.

Twain essays

Twain essays Drifting toward Freedom In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain, through the character Huck, tells the story of a young boys coming of age amidst the conflicts and constraints of mid-1800s society. A recurring theme throughout the novel is the conflict between society and the individual. As Twain developed the plot he was able to to weave in his criticism of society. The idyllic life on the raft contrasts sharply with the deceit, greed, and prejudice found on the shores of the Mississippi. For Huck and Jim, the River serves as a refuge from the crippling values of the dry land of civilization. The river embodies the freedom for which Huck and Jim were searching. These two runaways - one a slave, the other an uneducated, and defiant boy - attempt to build a sanctuary from civilization upon their raft. It is here on the river that they can experience what it is like to be truly free from the expectations of society. Huck longs for nothing more than an escape from the harsh cruelties of sivilization so he lit out...and was free and satisfied(Twain). The river offers Huck refuge from a society so corrupt, that it would place a young boy in the hands of a drunken and abusive father. On the river Huck is finally able to be himself. He is free to make his own choices and form his own opinions. Jim, a slave, is not even considered as a real person, but as property, yet he was free, while on the raft, to live and think as any white man. Jim speaks with great compassion of saving money buy his wife..and...work[ing] to buy the two children(Twain 75). The dialogue between Huck and Jim also illustrates the fact that Jim is more than someone's property. He is a human being with feelings, and hopes for a better future. The river represents opportunity and chance at the freedom and equality that civilization lacks. ...

Aint No Makin It

In this paper I will explore some concepts that I saw that were prevalent in her undercover research. Weberian Sociology The first concept that I immediately grasped was Max Weber’s theory of stratification of equality. Weber’s view of stratification differed from the one-dimensional class theory of Karl Marx. Weber theorized that there are three different factors that help shape class formation, class status, and party. All but the latter of the three were evident in the book. The first notion of Weber’s notion on class stated that people with common occupations, earning approximately similar incomes, constitute a class. Marger p. 39) In each city that she worked in the living conditions and earnings were about the same, most of her coworkers had living arrangements that involved sharing housing with someone other than their spouse, if they had one. Another trait that was displayed from here coworkers in each city was the proximity of where they lived into relat ion to where they worked. Transportation plays a key role in life chances for people. If a person is mobile they may go for that higher paying job on the other side of town. Weber’s second theory of social stratification of inequality, status, was made evident while Barbara was working in Maine. While Barbara worked in Maine as a maid she noticed how convenience store clerks, who made $. 65 less than she made an hour, look at her and her coworkers as if they were beneath them. Another example of this was when she stated that everywhere she went people looked at the uniform and instantly regarded her and her coworkers as lower class citizens. People saw there green and yellow uniforms like the white and black stripes of a convict and that their style of life isn’t as good as people in their social class. One particular instance when she bought a beer from the grocery store she could feel the cold stares that implied that the reason she had that maid job was because all her money was going to support her alcohol habit; even though Barbara has a PH. D and probably made more money than many of them all they saw was a lower class citizen. Social Mobility Another sociological concept that prevalent of the working poor that was portrayed in the book was the theory of social mobility. It will be difficult for many of Barbara’s ex-coworkers to ever move into a different class because mobility rates in the U. S. have been on a decline over the past five decades. It is said in America that everyone can lace up their boots and pull themselves out of poverty but mobility is getting harder to accomplish. One factor of mobility is marriage; statistical data has said that women that never marry are 16% to 19% more likely to fall out of the middle class. Barbara worked with three females, Gail, Annette, and Marianne, who all fell into this statistic. Two of the three women lived with boyfriends but since they were not married it will be statically harder to make their way up the class ladder . Married women usually benefit from their husbands class and prestige; â€Å"shacking up† is not conducive to women making a climb up the ladder. Gender is another factor that hinders mobility; although the workplace has gotten better the fact still remains that women are still far behind men. In this system of inequality women have to work harder and are not usually respected as much as men. In lower paying jobs, like the ones Barbara worked, most of her coworkers were woman with a man being their immediate supervisor; the only exception was Linda which was her supervisor at the nursing home she worked at in Maine. This injustice to women played a major role in her life as an undercover journalist. Immigration to United States also dictates class mobility. Barbara worked with people from Haiti and the Czech Republic. The movement of immigrants moving up the class ladder is getting harder to accomplish. The lower paying jobs that they had were jobs that many Americans do not want to do but Americans blame the immigrants for taking â€Å"good† jobs away from naturalized citizens, which in all actuality the immigrates create as many jobs as they take. (Marger p. 34) The current trend is that Americans look at unskilled foreign citizens as a burden and hindrance to the economic growth to America. Americans forget that their great great grandfathers and great – great grandmothers came to this country looking for a better opportunity for their families and that they often had to jobs and work in conditions that most people did not want to work in. The lack of generational mobility was also displayed in the book. Social mobility can also be measured from one generation to another, how well the children of the previous generation do in their lives and workplace. I mentioned earlier that one of the women who Barbara worked with was unmarried, Annette, well she has another tribulation that will hinder her movement up the social ladder; she lives with her mom. Instead of creating upward mobility for herself and her family she has gone down, Annette’s mother worked as a postal clerk. The social mobility of Annette’s family took a vertical turn downward and it’s highly unlikely that her life chances will promote upward growth. Horatio Alger Jr. The mythical days of success stories portrayed in Horatio Alger Jr. s books are long gone. Horatio Alger Jr. wrote and published stories were young men were able to change their class system and life chances by working hard to gain economic and social success. (Marger p. 98) In his stories the young man always worked hard and had good moral values to make it out of poverty. This concept inspired workers back then but the farce of the books still apply in today’s society. One far ce of his books is that one can work harder only by working hard. A person can work hard all their lives and still not vertically move up the social ladder. One question that rises to me is what the definition of hard work is; is hard work physical, mental, and/or both. In the book Barbara worked so hard that she had to ingest a heap of ibuprofen pills just to make it through the day; the deterioration of her body showed that she worked hard but the fact remained that neither Barbara or her coworkers could not move up the corporate ladder in the companies that they worked at. Alger Jr. Books also portrayed young men as heroes, excluding women, minorities, and immigrants. Times have changed since his books were published; there are women, minorities, and immigrants in the modern workforce. These groups have entered the Caucasian male driven workforce to have the same opportunities of their white counterparts. Although in modern times the inequality of the groups has closed a meniscal amount each year those groups will never be the same across the board. Social Functions of Poverty The 2nd part of poverty, the political economy of capitalism, according to structural sociologist explains that poverty results from the way the economy and government operate. America is set to be a capitalistic society; in capitalistic society corporations profit first objective. Corporations decide where to do business and structure employment and employee hours to maximize profits. The inequality of these practices was blatant in every city that Barbara worked in. Barbara first victimized to this practice while working as a waitress at the Hearthside Diner. The diner did not have a break room for employees. The employees were not allowed to have idle time, there was always something to clean, resupply, or make more visually pleasing. The objective of this was to get the employees to work continuously through their shifts without breaks. The practice of this theory could also be seen while Barbara was working in Minnesota at Wal-Mart, the store had a policy that employees were not allowed to â€Å"time steal† ; all associates were told to always look for something to complete in the store. Wal-Mart also cross-trains it associates in different departments in order to be well-rounded; this is a capitalistic practice for validating not giving the employees a decent wage, if one employee has knowledge about many areas of the store then the company can maximize profits by just hiring one person to do the job instead of hiring more that are specialized in that particular section. A dentist is a doctor but I would not want the dentist to perform open heart surgery on me because the dentist is only specialized to work on teeth. The best way to explain our capitalistic society is to quote Gail, Barbara’s coworker and training partner in Florida, said it best â€Å"They don’t cut you no slack. You give and you give, and they take. †(Nickel and Dimed p. 22); because of these practices Gail vowed never to work for a corporation again. Economic Function of Poverty The 1st point of the economic function theory is that poor perform the dirty work of society because they have little choice to do other jobs. Barbara’s coworkers were unskilled laborers so their opportunities for better employment were limited to jobs that require service instead of a skilled job. Another example of this in book was the story of Isabelle. Isabelle was a coworker of Barbara in Minnesota that previously worked as a waitress; she worked at a high class restaurant but when the restaurant closed she had to work at Wal-Mart because the available high class restaurants would not hire her because of her age. The 2nd point of the economic function of poverty is that since poor people receive little wages that subsidize the rich and middle class. Over the past thirty years manufacturing jobs have been downsized or outsourced to other countries, most of the jobs in America now are service jobs. The jobs that Barbara worked at were all jobs that catered to servicing people’s needs and wants. The jobs that are offered to lower class citizens make the lives of the rich and middle class make life more â€Å"convenient†, the mind state of the rich and poor is I don’t want to do this so I can pay someone to do it for me. The rich and middle class in today’s society rely on the underprivileged to do the work. There is not a caste system in America with serfs, but the two share similar values. Slavery in Modern Form The modern system of slavery in America has transformed from owning people to controlling people through economic exploitation. One technique of corporations to control the lives of their employees to implement the practice of a pre-job drug screen; in today’s society companies want to know want their employees do in their personal lives. Although studies have shown that pre-employment testing does not lower turnover rates or absenteeism it is still a practice. I believe that employers should probe into the personal lives of their employees, what one does in their own time and not on the companies’ clock should not matter until it affects their performance on the job. Today’s society and companies assume that all lower class people do drugs that will hinder them from performing their jobs at an optimal level. The fact is that people from every class ingest drugs into their bodies; the drug cocaine is preferred by other classes because the drug does not remain in the body for an extended period of time. Barbara had to experience this form of slavery when she applied for a job at Wal-Mart and Winn-Dixie in Minnesota. Barbara had to spend extra money on a detoxification drink that she did not really have, lower her sodium intake, and drink plenty of water to get marijuana out her system just to have employment at Wal-Mart. Another example of employers assuming that workers use drugs was in Florida; the manager of the Hearthside Diner, Stu, assumed that the George was stilling money for drug, but in fact it was him that stealing money from the cash registrar. Religion Karl Marx examined the relationship between religious values and its effects on the economy; he concluded that the two things are essentially the result of capitalism; one cannot exist without the other. Marx examined this and published a book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism which detailed the relationship between the two. Early protestant religious figures believed that working to acquire material success and wealth was an indicator that God chose that person to enter heaven and this believe is still practiced today. I believe that relationship to be true but do not believe in the philosophy behind it. Barbara visited a church tent revival in Maine and was preached on how Jesus gave up his life for the sins of his followers. I used to attend church regularly and I always wondered why the church would always ask for money to support different things within the church, tithing was pushed the most. Tithing requires that one give the church at least 10% of their income, if people work and can barely make it on the low wages they earn it astonishes me how they give money to the church every week. I also agree with Barbara’s notion that Jesus was a sociologist, Jesus worked spreading the word of God and performing miracles but he was never paid for doing them. Barbara also mentioned in the book that the churches were always the place to go when one is down on their luck or experiencing tough times; she noted that one of the first things people said was to get help at a church. Once again the church, because of people’s cultural values, is the center point focused on the poor. I believe that church reality wanted to end the poverty cycle and help people in poverty that the church would use their political power to stop poverty instead of lobbying in Congress to pass laws that hinder the poor. In conclusion Barbara Ehenreich’s book, Nickel and Dimed, had many sociological concepts within her travels from Florida, Maine, and finally Minnesota. The jobs low wage jobs she took to see how lower class people survive gave validity to many of the sociological concepts I have learned in this class. There are many other concepts that were evident in the book but the concepts of Weberian Sociology, Social Mobility, Horatio Alger Jr. , Social Functions of Poverty, Slavery in Modern Form, and Religion were instantly apparent . The book gave deeper insight on how lower class people survive from low wages and demeaning jobs to make higher class people’s lives better.

IT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

IT - Essay Example Affect-based Trust is related to the the benefits that the client would get directly like quick and improved services whilst Cognition-based services relates to those advantages that a client would see and have evidence of like reduced cost of transactions and access to money without queuing and the like. Jointly, these two add up to the satisfaction a client would gain by patronizing e-commerce products of a bank. In this research, we therefore ask, what are the important factors that affect e-banking in UAE? What are the main consumer attitudes towards e-banking services in UAE? What is the effectiveness of e-banking services rendered by banks to individuals and organizations in UAE? The research seeks to add up to the stock of knowledge on the effectiveness of e-banking services rendered in UAE and the customer attitudes to e-banking services in UAE. ... The research would provide a background for the study of trends and matters pertaining to e-banking. This can enable banks, consumers and potential consumers to get a good understanding of the reaction of consumers to e-banking products and services that are offered in the UAE. Literature Review Online banking is the â€Å"process that allows a consumer to perform banking functions online. Online banking can be accomplished through the internet with specific account information and a consumer password† (Sam, 2008: 7). Online banking refers to an electronic form of carrying out traditional banking processes and transactions through the Internet and other forms of computer software systems. This implies that online banking enables a consumer to complete a banking activity using the internet and other related electronic tools like mobile phones and other sophisticated computer systems. This is also referred to as e-banking, which encompasses banking carried out in an electronic f ormat. In a bank, e-banking a typical e-banking department consists of groups responsible for marketing and sales, internet activities, electronic commerce, call center services, ATM operations and mobile phone bank services (Hlupic, 2003: 109). In other words, e-banking combines the operations and activities of several related departments in a bank to ensure that the clients of the bank get the opportunity to undertake normal banking services through electronic means. This requires the co-operation and combined efforts of several units to ensure that customers get prompt attention about their transactions, reduce fraud and get a good understanding of the internet banking

Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Industry - Essay Example The industry can be further divided into the types of automobiles/vehicles that are manufactured by the various companies that are presently dealing in this commodity. Vehicles can be categorized differently depending on their purpose and design from heavy duty to transportation purposes to leisure brands. The cars vary in size, cost and luxury, and there are cars available for every type of individual in the market from trucks to saloon cars. The automobile manufacturers supply a number of markets from private owners to companies who may require specific types of vehicles, for example, a construction company will require a number of heavy duty trucks to transport their material from one place to the other while a taxi service will require a large number of saloon cars to transport their clientele (J.D. Power). It is for this reason that the market structure of this industry can be referred to as an oligopolistic market despite the fact that they deal in basically what can be describ ed as the same product (that is, vehicles). The automobile industry is made up of 15 major companies which supply vehicles to the wide consumer base in need of cars (Schmitt). The market structure has allowed for the firms present in this industry to have a chance at fair competition as a manufacturer can determine to target either one segment of the market or decide to dabble in all the different types of vehicles. The fact that there are so many vehicles to choose from means that the competition for the market in this industry is not as harsh as others and organizations involved have enough wiggle room to operate without exactly worrying about being bullied out of their share of the market unless faced with extraordinary circumstances. Some firms choose to focus on one particular category of vehicles so as to set up a stronghold in that area which makes it easier for them to handle any competition that they may face (J.D. Power). For example, CAT mainly focuses on heavy duty machi nery that is used in industries like construction such as cranes and tractors and this has enabled it to establish a foothold in heavy duty machinery vehicles. The profit margin on the other hand is not as evenly shared out as the more popular car brands hold a majority of the market when it comes to private vehicles thus some companies can be said to hold a lion’s share of the profit when it comes to car sales. At the current moment, there are more firms exiting than entering the market due to the economic crisis that has hit various parts of the globe such as Europe leading to the reduction in car sales for a while which has meant that the less popular brands have been able to sell even fewer cars than usual (Eisenstein). The manufacturing of cars is not a business venture to be entered to light heartedly, and it costs a considerable amount of money to set up. Thus, if a company is not able to sell most of the cars that it produces they stand a chance of incurring losses at an alarmingly speedy pace that may through the company into an irrecoverable debt if the situation is not handled soon. A good example of this is the Chrysler Company that had to stop operations after failing to be able to move the required quota of cars that would have kept it afloat. The market for the product (that is, vehicles) can definitely said to be an international one as automobiles of all shapes and sizes can be found globally. Cars have

Transculture Final Essay Example for Free

Transculture Final Essay The movie Hotel Rwanda focuses on the story of a man named Paul Rusesabagina, a manager of a European-owned hotel in Rwanda. By creating a seret refuge camp in the hotel, Rusesabagina was able to help save the lives of 1, 200 Tutsis from the Hutus during the brutal genocide in 1994.   The gist of the film is depicted in the underlying genius of how the film was able to portray a hellish event without using too much distressing scenes just to be able to show the audience the brutality of the genocide, the narrative of political criticism and comments from the lines spoken by the artists   served as a replacement for these scenes   leaving it to one’s imagination on how severe the true event was. Many social issues were touched in the film. For one, the indifference of the West towards the African lives is believed to be the reason behind the genocide. (Theis, 2004). Another is that the social structure as to who should be on top and who should have the power is discussed all through out the film since the genocide was planned by the Hutus long before to take in effect the   â€Å"one man-one vote† which served as an opportunity for them to kill as many Tutsi Christians. (â€Å"Hotel Rwanda†), this is not only in a political sense but in a religious perspective as well. Many of these issues exist not only in Africa but also in other countries which remain unresolved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most straining parts of the movie is the presence of the peacekeepers and their inability to intervene because they were told not to and this makes the situation more devastating for the hopeful Tutsi. The tension showed in the film address the inability of some to be able to help in giving out solutions to the problem even if it already requires personal judgment. What really makes me uncomfortable is the inequality shown in the film and the brutal solutions done. It is also frustrating to see that while most of the foreign nationals were saved from the holocaust many of the Tutsi are left hoping to be saved by the intervention of others and relying only in the abilities of one man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This film allowed me to reflect more on my social responsibilities the way it has challenged Paul to help his family and still be able continue to saving lives of others without questioning personal judgment. Moreover, the film was able to show me how one man can make a difference during desperate times and create measures that may appear as inevitable to others. References Theis, P. 2004. Hero. Off Off Off.   Retrieved June 18, 2008 from http://www.offoffoff.com/film/2004/hotelrwanda.php Hotel Rwanda. Frontline Fellowship. Retrieved June 18, 2008 from http://www.frontline.org.za/articles/hotel_rwanda.htm

Uncle Toms Cabin: Stowes Paradoxical Christian Message Essay

Uncle Tom's Cabin: Stowe's Paradoxical Christian Message Perhaps the greatest criticism levied against Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is that it comprises of nothing more than Victorian sentimentality, and that the death of its two moral exemplars, Tom and Little Eva, do little which actually remedies the injustices of slavery. Critic Ann Douglas sees the novel as emblematic of the "feminization of American culture," which in religious terms figures as "a move away from the morally forceful Calvinism to the sloppiness of the humanistic cult of gentle Jesus" (Rachel Bowlby's paraphrase, 205). In order to recoup the novel from such charges, critics such as Jane Tompkins have attempted to demonstrate that the novel's coupling of sentimentality and Christianity results in far more than a luxuriating in lachrymose emotions. For Tompkins, the force behind the novel's sentimental Christianity is its subversion of the power hierarchy. Incidents like the deaths of Tom and Little Eva enact a "theory of power" in which "the powerless die to save the power ful and corrupt, and thereby show themselves more powerful than those they save" (128). Thus, the traditional locus of power, is in effect, decentered, and religious faith gives marginalized figures like slaves, children, and women a power, to which in strictly secular terms, they have no access. One problem with readings which stress the salvific function of the deaths of Tom and Little Eva is their failure to account for the novel's self-conscious acknowledgment of the social forces which constantly challenge the brand of Christianity which it advocates. The Christian message of Uncle Tom's Cabin is ultimately paradoxical. On the one hand, the examples of Tom and Little Eva demonstrate ... ...f sustaining one's Christianity within the context of slavery, as well as the limitations of the individual's power to challenge such a large institution. George, in deferring his acceptance of Christianity until he reaches a place of freedom, ultimately comes closest to Stowe's agenda of establishing a true Christian nation, uncorrupted by slavery, on earth. Works Cited: Bowlby, Rachel. "Breakfast in America--Uncle Tom's Cultural Histories." Nation and Narration. Ed. Homi K. Bhabha. New York, NY: Routledge Press, 1990, 197-212. O'Connel, Catherine E. "`The Magic of the Real Presence of Distress': Sentimentality and Competing Rhetorics of Authority." The Stowe Debate. Eds. Mason I. Lowance, Jr., Ellen E Westbrook, R.C. De Prospo. Amherst, MA: U. Massachusetts Press, 1994, 13-36. Tompkins, Jane. Sensational Designs. New York, NY: Oxford U. Press, 1985.