The Lagoon Essay Example

The Lagoon Paper Introduction to the Study of English Literature Acharn Rongrat Dusdeesurapot September 18, 2010 Final Paper Arsat : Life that hanging on the moral, traditional values and blind love Joseph Conrad’s â€Å"The lagoon† portrays the life of a Malaysian man â€Å"Arsat† who afraid to live forward, just waiting for the bright future which is not likely to come, even at the dawn of the new day after the death of his wife. In this short story of Conrad, intensely describes the dramatic feeling of Arsat , suffered by his own decision which result in the sad ending of his brother and wife. As the story proceeds, it gradually revealing many point of view which have powerful effect on Arsat’s life. Arsat, as an ordinary man, has affection toward Diamelen (his lover, who was previously a servant of the Rajahs wife). But his desire some how not easily to be completed. As one’s life is not only depend on itself, it has to adjust itself with others life in the world, containing variation of livings. Social is one of the powerful factor that effecting Arsat’s life, if there is no social there might not have the elopement. Social always has its own way of administration such as social judgement and traditional values which were used as an organization of the society. We will write a custom essay sample on The Lagoon specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Lagoon specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Lagoon specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Arsat, too, is one of the victim of the society because of its self-organization, being a victim in traditional valuation bringing the great mistake to his decision. In Conrad’s works, he always contrasts Eastern and Western attitude, describing Western as an area of modern civilization and Eastern as an ancient civilization. Therefore, Eastern countries are full of out-of-date, undeveloped and impractical tradition. The duty of Arsat as the sword-bearers f the Ruler has been entailing from time to time and make it way to him, liking a slave status. So, for him and his family, this duty can’t be denied, these can be assumed that nowadays Eastern still has the unreasonable rule that opposing people from their individual right. This make Arsat has no choice but conform to this Ruler’s principle. Because every country , in old days , the servant have to serve the royalty with there life forever, although at the present this tradition is likely to be discarded for a long time. The bad thing is when Arsat can’t accept this tradition anymore, the people or the royalty have to hunt him down before other will follow his path. The elopement of Arsat and Diamelen breaks the rule of Rajah the word rajah means king, the leaders of local tribes and old kingdoms had that title before Indonesia became an independent nationbeing disloyal and these was the grand turning point of his life. The story takes place in Malaysia which has â€Å"Islam† as the national religion, even though it doesn’t has any precise taboo in Islam’s rule, still the elopement is shouldn’t be done in any religion. It causes bother for everyone who evolved and it never Tongyoo 2 lasts so long, because the lover have no marital rights and no family support. The basic unit of Islamic society is the family, and Islam defines the obligations and legal rights of family members in marriage. Marriage in Islam is a civil contract which consists of an offer and acceptance between two qualified parties in the presence of two witnesses. In Arsat’s case, both of their family can be presented as the royalty—both King and Queen—for Diamelen, as a servant of the queen, she can’t get married until the Queen give her a permission, so the elopement of the lover is unacceptable. The lover who are not conform the contract will be expelled from the society. Arsat’s former society can’t accept his action, even his new society at the lagoon too, is not accept him because of his weird attitude toward this area which has ghostly reputation and frighten aspect and this is the impact of tradition values too. The polers deny him because he is a strangers, more important because he has not fear in ghost â€Å". . . hey disliked Arsat, first as a stranger, and also because he who repairs a ruined house, and dwells in it, proclaims that he is not afraid to live amongst the spirits that haunt the places abandoned by mankind. Such a man can disturb the course of fate by glances or words. † We are led to think that Arsat has something mysterious by the description of his isolation that no man would live in such a place without having a reason of his action. Although Arsat is not afraid of ghost he is haunted by the bittersweet past that he has kept his desire, trusting himself into the betrayal toward his brother and disloyalty to his ruler. The old superstitious of ghost and evil still exist in the east, dividing folk into 2 sides, the believe one and the disbelieve one. These lead to the opposite feeling toward each side, believing that whoever not agree to the priority, that one will be a stranger and excluding from the society. Arsat, too, is the stranger, so he live alone with his wife, no folk want to be near him. Maybe, his wife might not die if the polers accept in this difference, Diamelen might be cured or relieved by the poles’ help. Those that mentioned is only the external conflict of human, confronting with other people in society. The main principle that directly effects on people’s life too, is morality which rooting in human’s mind. Morality is a sense of behavior that differentiates intentions, decisions and actions between those that are right or wrong, bad or good, for Arsat this sense is hard to help him make a decision. Arsat, in the story, faces this internal conflict, the morality, 2 times, one occurs in his brother’s incidence and the second one occurs in his wife incidence. Looking back at the time Atsat run away with Diamelen and his brother, he himself, turn his back toward his brother, when he was captured, even though he hear his brother screaming out his name for three times, as Saint Peter has denied Jesus three times: a man who had been his brother, teaching him and giving friendship to Peter. he betrayed his brother for a women he loved and no looking back. In this case, no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing by helping his brother, but at the time, his selfishness overwhelming him, Tongyoo 3 making him blind and sees only himself’s happiness. Arsat, pressed by passion abandons his brother to the hands of the enemies and escapes with Diamelen, to live in the shadows of The Lagoon. He had made his choice â€Å" Then I looked at her , Tuan , I pushed the Canoe. He heard his brother call him twice and yet he wanted to live for his passion â€Å"Was she not there in that canoe ? And could I not with her find a country where death is forgotten where death is unknown† There is a question that we, readers, have to make a decision whether Arsat hates his brother or not. The paradox of Arsat’s statement is still vague â€Å"Theres no worse enemy and no better friend than a brother. . .   Ã¢â‚¬ . Did he envy in his brothers bravery ? This ambiguity is expressed when Arsat speaks out â€Å"What did I care who died ? I wanted peace in my own heart. † or may be they are just a brotherhood rival, still if Arsat truly hates his brother, his sudden action of discarding his brother might not have nothing to do with his morality. When Diamelen dies, Arsat looking back to himself with the mistake that he has done. He, for once, thinks with moral that if she had not followed him to this remote place, she would have been cared for and therefore would not have met the death. One of the reason that she died is because she brings herself against her people’s social traditions. At her death, Arsat feels empty and understands that everything had been an illusion and he had left his brother to die for nothing. In the end, as his conclusion, his own passion is the main cause of the death of both people he loves. Despite from the morality and tradition values, there is still a one main factor that has powerful effect on Arsat and that thing is love. For Arsat , his love toward his beloved wife, Diamelen is so powerful and pure that nothing can stop him from being with her, still he doesn’t notice that his pure love is nothing but an illusion. It makes a person blind and irresponsible to the family and society. His duty is to serve his King but he rejecting his duty and follow his heart, yet it is a good thing, but in other aspect this feeling of passion can bring disaster to his family, administration and even himself. Arsats love for Diamelen makes him blind and he truly becomes a half man without any sense of responsibility to family and his own country. Arsat confesses of how he took Diamelen and run off with her instead of avenging his brother’s death, this can be implied that he is motivated by own desire not by any sensible reason or logic. The conclusion The lagoon is the story of isolation and failure. The isolation of a man who throw away his life and try to fulfill his passionate desire, occurred by love. The lagoon is not only a symbol for isolation in its physical of differentiated area but also Arsat’s moral that only cares for his Tongyoo 4 sake and desire. Arsart kicks himself free from the world and the universe, doesn’t has to care for the royalty or other people attitude, as long as he can has his desire. He even unconsciously destructs Diamelen because of his selfish attitude. It revealed by his action that he choose to have passion better than pride â€Å"There is a time when a man should forget loyalty and respect. Might and authority are given to rulers, but to all men is given love and strength and courage†. In the end, Arsat’s possession of Diamelen is nonpossession, she leave him there, alone in the world Life, is somehow full with controversy, Sometimes it leans toward us but sometimes it doesn’t and likely to depends on the society valuation. Even thought we have decided to believe in ourselves, insisting to stand for our path and be honest to our thought. In the end we still be eliminated, condemned, resisted by the society, because of our difference in thought and action. Living in society, is too difficult to deal with, human can’t only adjust or block their own thought for others forever, if they do so, there will be no difference in any humanity and will no more be themselves. As a result of social pressure, some people have to struggles for live their own life and not depend on the society just like Arsat. Yes, it might good to fully be yourself but it will be bad if you only think for yourself and not even care fore other people. In the end, people will be familiar with their selfishness and it will bring disaster to their life. As a suggestion, studying from Arsat’s life, everything has a solution whether it will be difficult or not. Life is ours and life is not ours, we have to accept the truth that humans are social animals, we create complex social structures composed of many groups, from families to nations. Social interactions between humans establish a variety of values, social norms and rituals, which together form the basis of human society. From this reason, humans can’t stay alone and in order to live with other people, we have to conform the rules of the society with reasonable evaluation, at the same time respect our thought that will bring us happiness which is not injure other people, family and ourselves. Writer Resource Conrad, Joseph. â€Å"The lagoon. † Cornhill Magazine, 1897. Alvarez, Carmen G. The lagoon A study in imagery, 2009. Billy, Ted. A wilderness of words: closure and disclosure in Conrads short fiction, Texas: Texas tech university press, 2007.

History of the Michelson-Morley Experiment

History of the Michelson-Morley Experiment The Michelson-Morley experiment was an attempt to measure the motion of the Earth through the luminous ether. Though often called the Michelson-Morley experiment, the phrase actually refers to a series of experiments carried out by Albert Michelson in 1881 and then again (with better equipment) at Case Western University in 1887 along with chemist Edward Morley. Though the ultimate result was negative, the experiment key in that it opened the door for an alternative explanation for the strange wave-like behavior of light. How It Was Supposed to Work By the end of the 1800s, the dominant theory of how light worked was that it was a wave of electromagnetic energy, because of experiments such as Youngs double slit experiment. The problem is that a wave had to move through some sort of medium. Something has to be there to do the waving. Light was known to travel through outer space (which scientists believed was a vacuum) and you could even create a vacuum chamber and shine a light through it, so all of the evidence made it clear that light could move through a region without any air or other matter. To get around this problem, physicists hypothesized that there was a substance which filled the entire universe. They called this substance the luminous ether (or sometimes luminiferous aether, though it seems like this is just kind of throwing in pretentious-sounding syllables and vowels). Michelson and Morley (probably mostly Michelson) came up with the idea that you should be able to measure the motion of the Earth through the ether. The ether was typically believed to be unmoving and static (except, of course, for the vibration), but the Earth was moving quickly. Think about when you hang your hand out of the car window on a drive. Even if its not windy, your own motion makes it seem windy. The same should be true for the ether. Even if it stood still, since the Earth moves, then light that goes in one direction should be moving faster along with the ether than light that goes in the opposite direction. Either way, so long as there was some sort of motion between the ether and the Earth, it should have created an effective ether wind that would have either pushed or hindered the motion of the light wave, similar to how a swimmer moves faster or slower depending on whether he is moving along with or against the current. To test this hypothesis, Michelson and Morley (again, mostly Michelson) designed a device that split a beam of light and bounced it off mirrors so that it moved in different directions and finally hit the same target. The principle at work was that if two beams traveled the same distance along different paths through the ether, they should move at different speeds and therefore when they hit the final target screen those light beams would be slightly out of phase with each other, which would create a recognizable interference pattern. This device, therefore, came to be known as the Michelson interferometer (shown in the graphic at the top of this page). The Results The result was disappointing because they found absolutely no evidence of the relative motion bias they were looking for. No matter which path the beam took, light seemed to be moving at precisely the same speed. These results were published in 1887. One other way to interpret the results at the time was to assume that the ether was somehow connected to the motion of the Earth, but no one really could come up with a model that allowed this that made sense. In fact, in 1900 the British physicist Lord Kelvin famously indicated that this result was one of the two clouds that marred an otherwise complete understanding of the universe, with a general expectation that it would be resolved in relatively short order. It would take nearly 20 years (and the work of Albert Einstein) to really get over the conceptual hurdles needed to abandon the ether model entirely and adopt the current model, in which light exhibits wave-particle duality. Source Find the full text of their paper published in the 1887 edition of the American Journal of Science, archived online at the AIP website.

Test your trademark knowledge - Emphasis

Test your trademark knowledge Test your trademark knowledge How much attention do you pay to trademarks? Mistakenly use one to refer to a generic product, and you can land yourself with a letter from the company concerneds trademark lawyers, and the need to write embarrassing apologies. While its OK to tweak trademarks slightly to bring them into line with standard English (for example More Than, rather than MORE THN), its not OK to use a trademarked name to describe a product not made by that company. In some cases, the horse has already bolted Hoover is now almost synonymous with vacuum cleaner, for example, regardless of the brand. But use Thermos to describe a vacuum flask not made by Thermos and youre on dodgy ground. Take our quiz to see how trademark-aware you are. For each item, decide whether its a current trademark, a lapsed trademark or a red herring. To make it more difficult, weve written them all with an initial capital. After you submit your answers, youll get an explanation of each one. JacuzziCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedCokeCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedHot DogCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedAspirinCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedLycraCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedTetra PakCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedEscalatorCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedBiroCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedHeroinCurrently trademarked Previously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedTannoyCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedMopedCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarkedPortalooCurrently trademarkedPreviously trademarked but now genericNever trademarked *Note: all answers accurate at the time of writing

What is a principle Scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is a principle - Scholarship Essay Example Other than these two examples, we can also observe the system of the whole world running on a defined set of principles. Principles hold a key value in my life. To me, principles act as foundations for every personal and professional success. I never overlook my principles while dealing with any matter of life. Whatever the situation is, I always take every step following my principles. Some of my core qualities include honesty, truth, moral courage, hard work, and sincerity. I have based all of my principles on these characteristics. I always try to be sincere to others, speak truth in any situation, defend the disadvantaged, raise my voice over in any unlawful situation, work hard for my better future, and avoid backbiting. These are my principles of life which I follow in all situations that occur in my life. I abide by my principles because they are the real gems of my life. They always keep me on the right track. They make my inner clean and fulfilled. They also guide me when I am in some trouble. On many occasions of my life, my principles have made me satisfied and pleased. Whenever I help a disadvantaged person, I feel extremely satisfied and relieved. Similarly, when I speak truth in a situation where it can cause problems for me, I feel that I have done something admirable. I love to follow all of my principles because they are as precious for me as any other asset. I believe that principles are assets that produce a number of considerable benefits for a person. Although we cannot touch these assets the way we touch and feel tangible assets, but the benefits associated with these assets are not less in worth than tangible assets. I would say that principles are such assets that guide us to acquire a number of tangible and intangible assets. I believe that a person can never achieve success in his/her life without following some key success principles. The reason is that principles give us direction while enlightening the way to

Case Study 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Case Study 4 - Essay Example Our objective will be to optimize the application of our dataset toward more effective CRM. The set includes both audio-visual information and electronic-data information. To focus efforts and avoid legal ethical questions, we will concentrate of the electronic-data portion. This mainly includes information gathered from telecommunications and membership cards transactions. The end product would include a GUI expressing the current trends in customer behavior and accepting inputs that translate into operational measures and investigate correlations to help optimize our influence over buyer behavior. The reasons for not using all of the available data is two-fold -- one is ethical, the other operational. The operational reason is work flow related. To avoid scope creep, we limit our focus on each component of any project. The ethical reason is about questions of personal privacy in a public way. While applying numerical data is more objective because any identifying information may be stripped from the dataset during data analysis. However, it may not be outside the scope of an expanded version of this process to apply some of the audio-visual

Threats to the Modern State

Threats to the Modern State Do you agree that in modern liberal democratic societies the state is now reduced to being ‘one actor amongst many? Whether or not the role of the modern state has changed in modern times is a contentious issue. Some argue that the state remains to be the most powerful actor in the system, holding ultimate authority on decisions. Others however, argue that the state is now just one actor amongst many. With this we can assert that there are other institutions that hold more influence over the state. It is important the role of the state is assessed under different power theories. These include Pluralism, Marxism and Elitism, whilst also looking at the theories of Zero and Positive sum politics. In this essay the internal and external threats to the states power will be assessed. These include, New Public Management, The New Right and also the impact of both globalisation and Europeanisation. Ultimately, it seems that the state has been reduced to being one amongst many actors; however, it can still remain a dominant figure within that system. Firstly, it is apt to discuss what we mean by â€Å"The Modern State.† Max Weber was an early writer about the modern state, he concluded that, ‘a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory’[1] He also linked this in with two other vital traits that are taxation and legitimacy. It is important that the modern state is built upon and within a democratic system that includes the people within its boundaries. The Modern State can also be linked with various theories of power. The first theory that the state can be assessed under is Pluralism. Schwarzmantel outlines Pluralism in his text. ‘A system where there are competing parties, a network of pressure groups and associations, a â€Å"separation of powers† in some form.’[2] This may be linked heavily with how the state has become on amongst many actors. Also important to analysis is Elitism. This theory argues that power is more concentrated and not dispersed as Pluralism assumes. ‘Elite theorists argued that whatever the ostensible form of government, an elite minority always rule.’[3] Again, this may be linked with the state; however, this theory argues that the state is still dominant. This leads onto the theories of Zero and Positive sum, these may be more accurate in describing the gaining or loss of power for the state. Zero sum argues that power is a finite resource and when it is given away, the s tate loses it to the other actor. Linking with the argument of the state power being reduced. On the other hand, Positive sum argues that power is infinite and when shared, it comes to the benefit of all parties involved, including the state. This theory may be linked with both the Pluralist interpretation of power and also the argument that the state can remain a dominant actor within a system of many actors. Internal challenges to the state have been highly important and allow us to assess the role of the modern state. The internal challenges include The New Right and the growth of New Public Management in both the UK and the USA from the 1970’s onwards. Figure-Headed by the then leaders, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the New Right grew in conjunction with the apparent failure of the Keynesian welfare state.[4] With this, the emphasis was switched from major involvement in welfare and economics, to the rolling back of the state into a more limited form. The New Right looked to do this in various ways. The economy provided an important area where the New Right could stamp their new methods of governance onto society. To move away from Keynesianism, it was seen that government needed to cut all involvement in the economy, leaving market forces to dictate the variables such as inflation and unemployment. Richards and Smith highlight this. ‘The state had to be cut, in order to create conditions where business could prosper.’[5] This is important when we consider the UK. There were over 50 companies and industries that were privatised, both under and after Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.[6] This had a significant impact on the state. Having given away some power from denationalising major industries, it may be argued that under the Zero Sum assumption, the state had lost power to the other actors that had been brought into the frame, as they were able to exert more influence over society and over the UK government. The New Right also has links with the new phenomenon that grew during the 1980’s and 1990’s, New Public Management. These developments go hand in hand with the privatisation policies previously mentioned. Klijn comments on the growth of New Public Management. ‘NPM leads to a proliferation of separate bodies, comprised of actors focussing on their specific task.’[7] Again, this supports the notion that the state has now become one actor amongst many. Ultimately, big-business and other organisations have become much more powerful and have more influence now, than they did before the 1980’s. NPM also has links with the rolling back of state bureaucracy. Interestingly, this can be seen with the reduction in the amount of civil servants working in the UK. In 1979, there were 732,000; this figure was reduced to 472,412 in 1997, at the conclusion of Conservative rule in Britain.[8] The influence of both privatisation and the New Public Management can be see n heavily through-out UK society today, with the current government carrying on these policies. Along with the rise of New Public Management came the rise of regulation under The New Right. At first glance, we may see the states role as minimal after privatisation, linking with the Zero Sum model of power, where the state has lost significant power to other institutions. However, dig deeper into the political system and assess regulation and you find that the state actually keeps quite a lot of power, by monitoring those institutions to which it has given its power previously. Hague and Harrop note that within nearly all Liberal Democracies, regulatory agencies are on the rise.[9] With this, the government is able to take a less active role, in the knowledge that they are able to step in and take charge when needed to. ‘Britain has embraced regulatory agencies with particular gusto; over 140 agencies, from the Food Standards Agency to Ofcom’[10] have been formed. With this, we may argue that the state may fit more into the Positive Sum model of power. Although they have given power away to other institutions, they keep their dominance through regulation and still remain to be the most powerful actor in a pool of many. Ultimately, in this light, the state remains to be very powerful. External Challenges can be equally important when assessing the changing role and position of the modern state. Under the external threats come Globalisation and Europeanisation. Importantly both seem to show the move away from the dominant state, into a new role where it is simply one amongst many actors in the political system. Globalisation is the first external challenge to be assessed. It is important to understand that globalisation is very contentious issue in itself, sparking much debate about the history and validity of globalisation theory. For the purposes of this essay, we will assume that globalisation has made a significant difference to world we live in. ‘Globalisation came to be seen as more than simply a way of doing business, or running financial markets it became a process.’[11] Importantly, the process became a change in the way governments had to run and forced states to adapt to the changing nature of governing. The establishment and growth of the United Nations is key to seeing the increase in globalisation. Established in 1945, just after World War II, the UN has grown since then and had 193 nations within it in 2011.[12] Along with this, economic globalisation has been key in showing us the decreasing role of the modern state. This has been seen as a result of the worldwide economic recession of 2007. Starting in the USA, the domino effect of economic downturn quickly spread to each corner of the developed world. Larry Elliot, writing in The Guardian, talked about the role of the state during the economic crisis. ‘One response to last weeks meltdown was the announcement of talks between the G7 – the US, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Canada and Japan – but while this would have been appropriate 20 years ago it is not going to calm markets today.’[13] Taking this into account, Elliot demonstrates the weakening power of the individual state. From this, we can infer that globalisation and increased interdependence between countries led to the lack of action states could take to prevent and ease the damage caused by the recession. Even the most powerful states, the UK; USA and Germany were limited in the actions they could take. With this, we could argue that the states dominance has been in decline and globalisation has played a major part in this change. The state is simply one amongst many in the world and is seemingly at mercy with the financial markets around the world. Banks and financial institutions hold a significant strong-hold on power, something the individual states have looked to regulate since the 2007 decline. The other external challenge is Europeanisation. This suggests that countries in Europe have become more integrated and heavily interdependent on each other. With this issue, we can see that the European Union, at least theoretically, has led to a decline in the dominance of the individual state. The European Union has become a major actor in the modern system and this can also be assessed in economic terms. ‘Economic factors were also fundamental. European economies needed to be re-built after 1945 and then, in order to achieve the benefits of scale, integrated into a large, single market.’[14] The financial crisis gives an indication of the states power. Bulmer and Paterson comment on this. ‘EU politicians are consequently more likely to be at the mercy of the financial markets.’[15] With this in mind, we can see that there are definitely other actors in the frame when it comes to the role of the state and in the case of European economics, we may say that the state isn’t able to dominate. In some ways however, the process of Europeanisation and the power of the European Union is limited. This may be seen as states, especially the more powerful ones, can ignore EU laws and policies without much or any sanction. This has particularly been seen in the case of Anti-Terror laws in the UK. ‘Most controversially, the Terrorism Act 2006†¦ provided for terrorism suspects to be held without charge for 28 days.’[16] These laws were passed in the UK, much to the contrary to what the European Union suggests. The EU claims that these laws are against the human rights of those suspected of crimes. In this sense, the EU and the process of Europeanisation is limited in that the state always seems to keep the majority of power and dominance within the modern system. Overall, the position of the state has without doubt changed in the last 30 years. All the factors discussed lead to the conclusion that the state is now reduced to being one actor amongst many in the system, however, we can conclude that the state is the most dominant of these actors. Although the state has taken a more limited role on, in all areas, it seems to always be there to step in when needed to. With this then, the state can be seen to fit perfectly with the Positive Sum power theory where there are many actors involved, but the state doesn’t lose any power. It may also be linked with Elitism in the system, as the state always remains the most powerful and dominant figure. [2199 Words] Bibliography Bulmer, Simon and Paterson, William (2013). ‘Germany as the EU’s Reluctant Hegemon? Of Economic Strengths and Political Constraints’, Journal of European Public Policy 20, pp.1387-1405. Cobain, Ian (2010). ‘London Bombings: The Day the Anti-Terrorism Rules Changed, 7 July 2010. http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jul/07/london-bombings-anti-terrorism Dryzek, John and Dunleavy, Patrick (2009). Theories of the Democratic State (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan). Elliot, Larry (2011). ‘Global Financial Crisis: Five Key Stages’, 7 August 2011. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/aug/07/global-financial-crisis-key-stages accessed on 30.03.2014. Klijn, Erik-Hans (2012). ‘New Public Management and Governance: A Comparison’, in David Levi-Faur (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Hague, Rod and Harrop, Martin (2013). Comparative Government and Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan). Jeffery, Simon (2002). ‘What is Globalisation?’, 31 October 2002. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/31/globalisation.simonjeffery accessed on 28.03.2014. Osborne, Alistair (2013). ‘Margaret Thatcher: One Policy That Led To More Than 50 Companies Being Sold or Privatised’, The Telegraph, 8th April 2013. Richards, David and Smith, Martin J (2002). Governance and Public Policy in the United Kingdom (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Schwarzmantel, John (1987). Structures of Power: An Introduction to Politics (Brighton: Wheatsheaf Books). [1] Rod Hague and Martin Harrop (2013). Comparative Government and Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan). p.13. [2] John Schwarzmantel (1987). Structures of Power: An Introduction to Politics (Brighton: Wheatsheaf Books). p.17. [3] John Dryzek and Patrick Dunleavy (2009). Theories of the Democratic State (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan). p.57. [4] David Richards and Martin J Smith (2002). Governance and Public Policy in the United Kingdom (Oxford: Oxford University Press). p.93. [5] Richards and Smith, Governance and Public Policy, p.97. [6] Alistair Osborne (2013). ‘Margaret Thatcher: One Policy That Led To More Than 50 Companies Being Sold or Privatised’, The Telegraph, 8th April 2013. [7] Erik-Hans Klijn (2012). ‘New Public Management and Governance: A Comparison’, in David Levi-Faur (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press). p.202. [8] Richards and Smith, Governance and Public Policy, p.98. [9] Hague and Harrop, Comparative Government and Politics, p.332. [10] Hague and Harrop, Comparative Government and Politics, p.332. [11] Simon Jeffery (2002). ‘What is Globalisation?’, 31 October 2002. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/31/globalisation.simonjeffery accessed on 28.03.2014. [12] Hague and Harrop, Comparative Government and Politics, p.365. [13] Larry Elliot (2011). ‘Global Financial Crisis: Five Key Stages’, 7 August 2011. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/aug/07/global-financial-crisis-key-stages accessed on 30.03.2014. [14] Hague and Harrop, Comparative Government and Politics, p.160. [15] Simon Bulmer and William Paterson (2013). ‘Germany as the EU’s Reluctant Hegemon? Of Economic Strengths and Political Constraints’, Journal of European Public Policy 20. p.1401. [16] Ian Cobain (2010). ‘London Bombings: The Day the Anti-Terrorism Rules Changed, 7 July 2010. http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jul/07/london-bombings-anti-terrorism

Imperialism in Heart of Darkness

Before being published in the present form of the novel, Heart of Darkness was printed in a serial form in 1899 and then part of a volume entitled Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories in 1902. Based on Conrad’s own personal experiences after the African country of the Congo and the famous Congo River flowing through this country the story assumed the present novel. It was in this year 1890 that Conrad had performed his sailing trip upon the river Congo as a captain or skipper of a Belgian steamship.During his trips, Conrad studied at first hand the conditions which prevailed in the Congo and formed his own impressions of the kind of life which the savages were leading under the imperialist Belgian rule. Conrad also observed the attitude of white traders and their manner of treating the native savages. His reaction to the treatment was unpleasant and, in fact, he was greatly dismayed and even shocked at what he observed. We find in his novel, Heart of Darkness, more or less a record of all this which experienced during his own travels through the Congo and the Dark Continent.The title of the novel Heart of darkness signifies simply the interior of the dark country known as the Congo. The theme of Heart of Darkness is the conditions prevailing in the Congo under the imperialist rule of the Belgian King, Leopold II. These conditions include the impact of white traders and explorers on the life of the African savages, and the influence of the native way of life on the white man, with special reference to one man who is given the name of Kurtz. In fact, Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness has several themes, one of which is the theme of imperialist exploration of a backward country.In this essay I’ll show imperialism intervened with his life and Conrad as a victim of imperialism; the experiences of Conrad in the dark country of the Congo where the white man had become unsuccessful in performing civilizing function. I will end my essay discussin g the white man’s callous treatment towards the native savages and demonstration of their hypocrisy in the novel. Joseph Conrad (Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski) worked as sailor on French and British ships before becoming a ‘naturalized British subject’ in 1886. He developed an elaborate and beautiful English prose style.His work was adventurous and ‘darkly pessimistic’. â€Å"One of the most noted practioners of literary impressionism, Conrad offered a fictional rendering of subjective response that had a profound impact on writers like Ford Madox Ford and Virginia Woolf. He wrote that the primary task of the novelist was â€Å"to make you see. †Ã¢â‚¬  Conrad was born in the city of Berdychiv in Russian-controlled Ukraine, on December 3, 1857. Conrad was orphaned at the age of eleven. His father was imprisoned by the Russians for his nationalist political activities. At the age of seventeen he went to Marseille to become an apprentice in the merchant marine.He was hired to take a steamship into Africa, and according to Conrad, the experience of firsthand horrors of colonial rule left him a changed man. Heart of Darkness is a fictionalized exploration of his life. Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness is largely a record of Conrad’s own experiences in the dark country of the Congo. The character named Marlow, the chief narrator in the novel, is largely none else but Conrad. Marlow, like Conrad, experiences a strong sense of disillusion and disappointment after observing the behavior of the white traders and also the conditions of the natives.There is a lot of resemblance between Conrad’s Congo Diary and the contents of the novel Heart of Darkness to justify such an assumption. It might be said that Marlow’s view of philosophy of life is very much the same as that of Conrad himself. Conrad in the novel talks about the unproductive efforts of the white-men to civilize the savages. The white-men instead became exploiters. At the time the Congo was being governed by the Belgian King, Leopold II, the Belgian trading companies were sending their agents into Congo for trading purposes.The chief commodity these Belgians found worthy was ivory and to the native savages ivory was of no use. The white traders collected ivory and sent it to Europe where it could be used profitably. We can see, throughout the novel, the mention of ivory is constant and dominates the thoughts of almost all the white characters, like the manager of the Central Station, the Brick Maker, and many others. They loiter around the country in search of ivory and Marlow describes these agents as â€Å"faithless pilgrims†. ‘Subsequently we find that ivory not only dominates the thoughts of Mr.Kurtz but has become an obsession with him. ’ Marlow is told by the manager of the Central station that Kurtz collects more ivory than all the other agents put together. Thus, ivory becomes the symbol o f greed in the novel, symbolizing the white men’s greed and commercial mentality. We have the failure of Mr. Kurtz to civilize and uplift the savages of the Congo. Even Mr. Kurtz who has begun to identify himself with the savages, has done nothing for the uplift of the natives. Instead of improving their mode of life, he has himself become a savage in their company.He has begun to satisfy his various lusts without any limits. Even in his prime of life, when he had supported the view about white man’s civilizing role, he had written down the following words conveying an opposite message â€Å"Exterminate all the brutes. † Instead of a civilizing effect in the novel, we find the white man’s callous treatment towards the savages. The sight seen by Marlow after getting down from the streamer is very disheartening and freighting. This reflects the wretchedness and the misery of the natives of the Congo. Marlow sees a lot of black people mostly naked, moving ab out like ants.Later he sees half a dozen men chained to one another, and each wearing an iron collar in his neck. Marlow feels deeply upset to see the sight. Alongside, there are quite a few other scenes which clearly demonstrate the hypocrisy of the white men. They are simply wasting time and effort to show that some kind of constructive work is going, while in actuality there is none. There is a project to construct a railway line in this region; but Marlow sees that a rock is being blasted with gunpowder even though this rock doesn’t stand as an obstruction. Then he also comes across some pieces of decaying machinery, and a large heap of rusty rails.The whole effort of the white man is completely misdirected. The futility of the white man’s efforts becomes clearer when we come across certain employees of the trading company. Marlow’s description of the brick maker is satirical. He describes him as a â€Å"paper-mache Mephistopheles† because of this man ’s cunning. In the end we may say that Conrad has exposed the Belgian imperialism in Heart of Darkness. There are wider implications of the Belgian imperialism as depicted by Conrad in his novel. It conveys to us the deceit, fraud, slave-trading and other cruelties of the Belgian rule.But Conrad here is not only exposing the hollowness and the weakness of the Belgian imperialist rule over the Congo, but also indirectly remind us of the British imperialist rule over the countries of the world of his time. Heart of Darkness is an autobiographical novel, in the sense that the book contains indirectly Conrad’s own experiences in the dark country known as the Congo, and is a firsthand account of his own voyage upon the river also named as the Congo. But the novel is not a straight biography as Conrad doesn’t speak in his own person but through the character of Marlow and also through another narrator.