All My Sons Essay -- All My Sons by Arthur Miller

Life is full of many hard decisions that people have to take, often on the spur of the moment. Some we get right others turn horribly wrong. Joe Keller, the tragic hero of Arthur Miller's play All My Sons, was no different. His whole life was dedicated to his family and their well being but all his plans were undone by one fatally flawed decision. The audience can relate to Joe and feel sympathy for him because he was a good man who did many great things for his family and in the end paid the ultimate price. Towards the end of the play, Joe's son Chris anguishes over the fatally flawed decision made by his father, thus eliciting the sympathy of the audience. However, this is not enough to detract from the audience relating to Joe as a basically good man, who has made the hard decisions for many years and ends up a tragic hero paying for his mistake with his life. Joe is a good man who has spent his whole life trying to live the American Dream. He has built a home and started up a business to take care of his family. He is a hardworking and considerate father to his sons, Chris and Larry and a caring and loving husband to his wife Kate. The audience knows this because early in the play, of Act 1, he says to Chris, "Because what the hell did I work for? That's only for you Chris, the whole shootin' match for you!"(Act 1, p15-16). The audience believes this because throughout the play they see no evidence of Joe indulging in any of the human weaknesses, which would squander his money. He is an easy-going man who is a good friend to everyone. The play is set in his backyard, which seems to be a perpetual open house to the neighbourhood. He is well-liked by people in his small town, as Ann says, "People like to do things for the... ...-one other young pilots. However, there are many in the audience who like Joe would think that Chris has had things too easy and is making much ado about nothing. It is Joe Keller for whom the audience feels the greater sympathy and respect because he was a great man, who made a fatally flawed decision, which continued to haunt him through life. He finally understood the meaning of life within family and the society in which we all live in and that is that you cannot make flawed decisions which impact others and get away with it. When Joe realises this, he is brave enough to pay the price for his mistake, and that is what makes Joe a hero in the audience's eyes. As the US folklorist & expert on mythology, Joseph Campbell, said, "A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself ." There was nothing bigger for Joe than his family.

Road to Mecca

The Road to Mecca examines the bio-psycho-social systems and issues that are part of the aging process. There are many issues introduced that are useful in understanding the social workers role in evaluating and developing a plan of care for young adults through late adulthood development. Since the passing of her husband, Helen has devoted her time to creating and transforming her home into her own â€Å"Mecca† of beauty and freedom. The dozens of sculptures of wise men, mermaids and other figures inside and outside of her home has secluded Helen from her neighbors who are very rigid white Calvinists.Her neighbors are trying to get rid of Helen by encouraging her to move into a local old folk’s home because of her eccentric work of art surrounding her home and because they fear for Helen’s safety living alone, now that she is in late adulthood and recently almost burnt her house down. Elsa is a young career minded woman who has befriended Helen and the only pers on that respects and accepts Helen’s work and interest. Throughout this play there are many psychoanalytic themes such as love, abandonment, dependency and loss to name a few.Both Helen and Elsa appeared to have grown up with a sense of abandonment and lack of trust from their families and others. Before the death of Helen’s husband, she lived as a conventional member of society. After becoming a widow, she began expressing herself in an artistic way and displaying her creativity throughout her house. Now that she is in late adulthood and becoming gradually unable to manage on her own as she use to, her sense of creativity seems at an end and she finds herself faced with a sense of darkness and hopelessness that at times overwhelms her.Helen discusses that when she was a child her mother would take away her candle at night; to be in pure darkness as a child was frightening for her and when her mother took away the candle, she took away Helen’s only source of com fort. That fear of darkness transformed into a feeling of abandonment for Helen which has caused her to search for intimacy and trust in her life that she fears she will not find before she dies. Helen’s darkness that she once saw on the outside when the candles were blown out is now darkness she feels on the inside; candles can no longer help this kind of darkness.This darkness symbolizes Helen’s depression. She is frightened that old age is over taking her and affecting her ability to continue creating her Mecca, take care of herself and find the true intimacy in her life that she needs. When Helen meets Elsa and their friendship blossoms, she becomes Helen’s only source of light. The day Helen met Elsa is the day she felt like her true self. Elsa didn’t judge Helen because of her statues and mermaids, she accepted her and after this, Helen felt she could trust Elsa. Elsa revived Helen’s life by accepting her true self.Elsa has extreme trust issu es which are exposed throughout this play. All trust is lost and feelings of abandonment resurface after Elsa’s married boyfriend leaves her and chooses his wife and child. Shame and guilt arise when Elsa has an abortion and when her plan to live happily ever after with a married man goes sour. The relationship with the married man opened her up to life and love, she felt like a woman for the first time. Her heart was wide open to someone that ended up betraying her. Now she feels as though she can’t trust at all and will think twice before she trusts again.Elsa feels you can love someone without trusting them, she is stuck in a mind set of all you need is love. This situation brings up feelings from the past for Elsa. It’s apparent that Elsa never learned trust as a child and trusting another is what she fears most. â€Å"Trust is more dangerous because that’s when you drop your defenses, lay yourself wide open, and if you’ve made a mistake, youà ¢â‚¬â„¢re in big, big trouble. And it hurts like hell. † Helen and Elsa’s fear of abandonment, trust and feelings of possible rejection also emerge when they both hide secrets from each other.Helen lies to Elsa about her suicidal attempt when the house almost burnt down and Elsa hesitates to tell Helen about the abortion and the married boyfriend. The two women have found love in each other and trust; they have had too much rejection in the past and fear their friendship will end badly if their secrets are revealed. Both women are very desperate to see if their friendship will survive their struggles. When Helen explains to Elsa about Marius and the rest of the community encouraging her to move into an old people’s home, Elsa becomes furious with Helen for not standing up for herself.Elsa becomes so angry about this issue, she needs Helen to stand up for herself and fight because Helen is the only one that lives her life the way she wants. If Helen goes into the old people’s home, Elsa will feel a sense of abandonment. Helen serves as a source of inspiration for her and her reaction to Helen’s inability to cope is tied to her need for Helen to remain a strong role model. There are many instances where both women provide a mirroring experience for each other in their lives. Elsa understands Helen’s life of expressing herself through her statues and she allows Helen to see how special she is.Elsa represents the good enough mother for Helen. She provides a holding environment for her. Especially after Elsa receives Helen’s letter of despair and comes to her side for support. Helen is able to challenge Elsa, to be herself and nobody has ever done that. This is what a mother would provide for her child. Both have a fear that if one is in darkness how will the other survive. Helen and Elsa need each other to take away their darkness inside. Miss Helen and Elsa develop a twinship with one another.Both allow themselves t o be vulnerable with each other, Miss Helen even states she allows the little girl inside of her come out to play when she is around Elsa. They both provide a sense of belonging and acceptance for each other. A mother holds the key to her child’s development. Helen and Elsa are on a journey of self discovery and both are at two different developmental stages in their lives. They are both stuck in two areas of the life cycle, trust and abandonment. The mirroring experience Miss Helen and Elsa have, allows a social worker to assess that both women are searching for the mother they never had.These two women were each other’s therapist. A therapist in many cases acts as the â€Å"mother† or â€Å"caretaker† for their clients. Therapists provide a safe holding place for their clients to be able to fall apart in. Therapists also mirror back strengths and uniqueness of a client that typically a good enough mother would provide. With support for each other Miss H elen and Elsa were able to move on with life. At the end of the play, Elsa helps Helen gain confidence when she stands up to Marius about not moving into the retirement home.Helen was able to explain to Marius that her home is the only place where she feels real. After Helen is able to stand her ground against Marius and the rest of the town, Helen and Elsa’s bond deepens. Elsa is able to admit that her choice of abortion has caused some depression. Helen is able to understand the pain that Elsa feels just like Elsa is able to understand Helen’s unconventional art work. The understanding that Helen has for Elsa’s troubles helps Elsa recognize the special role that Helen plays in her life.In the first act of the play when Elsa was very mean and disrespectful to Helen, she was displacing her anger and grief about her married ex-boyfriend and aborted child onto Helen. Elsa is even able to trust again by the end of the play, which is evident in the closing line, â⠂¬Å"Open your arms and catch me, I’m going to jump. † At the end of Act two, Helen is also able to move on with her life by allowing her candles to be blown out which symbolizes she is accepting her development in late adulthood and the completion of her Mecca.The childhood background of a person plays a major part in their adulthood life. When one has a healthy family typically the experience of abandonment and trust issues do not occur. Elsa felt trapped in her early adulthood; she had a job as a teacher in a â€Å"colored† school and ultimately had to conceal her true self to keep her job. Her heart was broken by the man she loved and opened her heart to and she experienced guilt and shame for terminating her pregnancy. Helen was also feeling trapped in her life.Creating her Mecca allowed her to create her own freedom and show her true self instead of complying with Cape Town’s religious ways of living. Both women were able to find a way out of their tr apped lives by finding trust and true intimacy with each other. This play shows the development of a great friendship and how having true intimacy in your life means showing all your faults and rawness without rejection. Helen and Elsa’s characters show that you can continue to grow until the end of life.

Marriage Verses Living Together

I remember when my husband and I were dating and we both decided to move in with each other rather quickly. We both felt in order to really get to know one another; we had to see how compatible we both were. Because of this, in just a short three years, we were married but living together really proved to be a valuable lesson for the future. In today’s society many people are getting married and divorced at record rates which are really affecting people views psychologically when it comes to marriage vs. cohabitation; therefore, I plan on exploring both options to see how both of these options work. A marriage is a legally binding agreement that grants each partner a wider range of rights and responsibilities. Ending this type of relationship requires a legal procedure. Cohabitation is the act of living together without a legally recognized union. This allows individuals to part ways with less difficulty than if they were married. However, both kinds of couples do live together and therefore spend most of their time together. Married people and cohabiting people are in serious relationships, they don’t generally decide to cohabit with someone they are just casually dating. People who are married are extremely committed to one another but neither couple will be unsure of their relationship or in a relationship with someone they don’t know very well. Married or cohabiting couples don’t have to completely pool their resources; both kinds of couples do have a financial stake in the relationship. At the very least, both will pay half of the rent or mortgage on a house or apartment. This means that both people in both kinds of relationships have something tangible to lose should the relationship fail. Married and cohabiting people are in intimate relationships. This essentially always includes some sexual intimacy; if there is no sexual intimacy in a married or cohabiting relationship, then it is not really a marriage or even a romantic relationship. While some people date without living together and not having sex, couples who live together are almost always in sexual relationships, whether they’re married or not. People commonly insist that a piece of paper, referring to the marriage license, is the only difference between marriage and cohabitation, this is far from being true. A marriage license is a document that drastically alters a relationship. One major way that it does this is by preserving the relationship even if one or both partners walk away. Marriages do not simply dissolve because individuals do not like the way that things are going and wish to invest their energy elsewhere. Instead, a couple must go through a divorce and have a court terminate their relationship. When two people cohabit, they live according to an agreement that may be based on a number of factors, such as emotions or financial convenience, but generally there is no legal responsibility binding one to the other. If the moment arises when the situation no longer seems suitable, both parties can instantly sever their ties. In most jurisdictions, there is not a special body of law regulating how cohabitants’ property should be divided or how the least financially fit partner should be cared for after the break up. With married partners, however, these are major considerations. Another major difference between marriage and cohabitation is liberty. When people marry, they take vows, which are legal and usually religiously sanctioned promises. A married person is not free to enter into intimate relations with other people. In addition to the threat of divorce and the financial ramifications that it can have for the guilty party, it is also possible in many states for one spouse to sue another for adultery. When people cohabitate, relinquishing the liberty to intimately fraternize with others is a choice, and if a person act contrarily, it poses no legal threat. Marriage and cohabitation also differ with regards to the decision-making. Spouses belong to one another, and if there is a life or death decision to be made and one person is unable to do so, her partner will be called upon to act on her behalf. When individuals are cohabiting, they do not generally gain the right or responsibility of making decisions for their partners, no matter how long they stay together. While many people choose to live together, others still prefer marriage. Research has shown that couples who marry generally feel more secure and are more committed to making their relationship work. People should never move in together for convenience. It should be a well thought decision that is preceded by plenty of discussion and planning.

EBay In China Study Case Essay

Question 1 eBay first entered the Chinese market in 2002 by acquiring a 33% stake in its local counterpart, EachNet, followed by a full acquisition a year later in 2003. Critically assess eBay.s choice of market entry strategy for China (use Key Country Matrix), listing both the advantages and disadvantages of its acquisition strategy (use Drivers (YIP) -CAGE Matrix). 30% Key Country Matrix Looking at the structure of â€Å"key country matrix†, we notice that this matrix has two axes (the x-axis that shows the â€Å"competitive strength† observed in the country that we are studying; the vertical axis represents the â€Å"country atractiveness†). For China, we can say that among many others, there is a top 6 of factors that drive investment there (China is an attractive investment country): 1. Capital Availability; 2. Competitiveness; 3. Regulatory Environment; 4. Stability; 5. Local Chinese Market and Business Climate; 6. Openness to Regional and International Trade. Analyzing China’s competitive strength, we conclude that this is a country still developing. China has shortages of infrastructures and services in several markets (China’s competitive strength is not that high). Drivers (YIP) Location of activity is a crucial source of potential advantage and one of the distinguishing features of international strategy relative to other diversification strategies. Given internationalization’s complexity, international strategy should be underpinned by a careful diagnosis of the strengths and direction of trend in particular markets. George Yip’s drivers of globalization’ framework provides a basis for such diagnosis. CAGE 1. Culture distance; 2. Administrative and political distance; 3. Geographical distance; 4. Economic distance. The differences between the US and China are huge when evaluating the â€Å"culture distance†, the â€Å"administrative and political distance†, the â€Å"geographical distance† and the â€Å"economic distance†. When a company like eBay assumes intend to expand its business should be aware of these differences and adopt strategies that prevent these differences to interfere in business success. Vantages/Disadvantages of the acquisition strategy When a company like eBay assumes intend to expand its business to China should be aware of the differences between both countries and adopt strategies that prevent these differences to interfere in business success. As a disadvantage, we can consider the risk of the company not adapt in a positive way to the new market (there is the possibility of being rejected by the Chinese market). As an advantage, we can consider the possibility of this acquisition became a huge success and the sales can increase abruptly (as the Chinese market is really big, this means that eBay’s profit would be really high after this â€Å"movement†). Question 2 Assess the potential benefits and risks of eBay.s joint venture with Tom Online (use Global/Local Matrix). 20% The Global / Local Matrix assesses the volume of international trade and the volume of foreign direct investment in an industry. The industry in which it operates eBay is located in the upper right corner as shown in the figure. It is a global industry which revised the philosophy â€Å"Think Globally, Act Globally† and where there are high levels of international trade and foreign direct investment. In recent years the market for e-commerce in China has recorded tremendous growth. The joint venture on analyzing is based in the relationship between TOM Online and Skype communications company online at eBay Inc. EBay is one of the largest brands of e-commerce in the world and TOM Online is a provider of excellent services to Chinese consumers. Both companies will make financial contributions online, and the new market being built by a joint venture between eBay and TOM Online will provide a great experience for users. This joint venture will promove the connection between users and channels of distribution. Therefore, in our view this joint venture has everything to be a success. Question 3 Advantages / Disadvantages of JV international strategy On one hand, a Joint Venture strategy has several advantages, mostly when it is done on a market like Chinese one, which is very protective with its national firms and little accommodative for foreign companies. TOM online is one of the largest wireless service providers and the fifth-largest internet portal in China, which allows Ebay to penetrate the market faster and easier thanks to its existing brand-awareness among Chinese population, generating for ebay a time saver. TOM online has also a strong political asset by being supported by Li Ka-shing, the biggest holder of the company, who has also strong connexions with hugh-ranking officials both in Chian and Hong Kong. This success on the Chinese market shows that the firm has a great expertise on the specificities of this business area, and decrease the  risk for Ebay to make mistake with its strategy. Also, by making a JV, the financial risks and costs decrease because they are shared between the two firms and a synergy is created between the two sides, increasing the financial power of the firms and allowing them to launch project with shared financial participation. On the other hand, with a JV, the earnings have to be shared, so they are lower. To make this partnership happen, it demand a lot more work and energy than with the other type of partnership. That includes heavy research about the law and the compatibility between the two structures. This setting of the JV comes with a lot of impact on the management of the new entity. There is risk of disagreement on how the dividends should be shared, disagreement on the managerial model to adopt and on the global strategy. All these problemes can bring to conflict of interest and make the JV losing market shares. Question 4 : Strategic recomendation on International Commercial Strategy for E-Bay: â€Å"Alliance, Acquisition or Abandon Strategy† : Cf Excel document for QSPM Matrix.  Due to this QSPM analysis, we can see that the acquiring method is still more than the expanding method, but from close, thus we know that Ebay is the auction website, so we can council them to continue acquiring the other companies†¦

Ethnic Identity in Social, Political and Economic Life Coursework

Ethnic Identity in Social, Political and Economic Life - Coursework Example The value of ethnic identity in the context of social, political and economic life is reviewed in this paper. Efforts are made so that the influence of ethnic identity on ethnic affiliations is clearly described. The various assumptions developed in regard to this issue, as identified in the relevant literature, are compared. It is made clear that ethnic identity is a core part of modern social, political and economic life but its power to influence key social, political and economic decisions worldwide is differentiated, a fact probably related to the different perceptions of people in each state in regard to the context of ethnic identity and its requirements, meaning the terms under which ethnic identity can be considered as secured. Also, different levels of freedom exist internationally in regard to the potential limitations of ethnic identity, a fact leading often too severe social, political and economic conflicts, either in the internal and the external environment of modern states.   The representation of ethnic identity in a variety of social, political and economic activities is extensive. Moreover, the literature published in this field leads to the assumption that the forms of ethnic identity in social, political and economic life can vary. Reference can be made for instance to the relationship between identity and language. In accordance with Fishman and Garcia (2010), identity is reflected in a series of identity practices, including specific linguistic choices (Fishman and Garcia 40). These identify practices, if viewed as a unit, constitute ethnicity, as a social phenomenon.

Madison Environmental Justice Organization Essay

Madison Environmental Justice Organization - Essay Example The Madison environmental justice organization is located at Madison in the United States of America. The broader Madison area covers Dane County which has four freshwater lakes in Dane County called the Yahara Lakes. Madison lakes are used for the purpose fishing in large scale by ‘thousands of recreational, subsistence, and ice anglers’ from Madison and surrounding areas (About MEJO). The Madison environmental justice program creates awareness within the community about issues regarding environmental justice, guides in facilitating the abilities of communities to publicize these issues, and provides support to the cause of environmental justice for well-being of the general public. The Madison environmental justice organization has been working with people of color and low-income residents for more than two years, discussing and addressing issues regarding toxins in locally caught fish, and learning about the cultural practices regarding fishing and preparing and eating fish. The local air and water pollution has a disproportionate impact on the people belonging to poor and minor communities. This issue is not being addressed by the institutions or the community as a whole. Madison environment justice organization aims to change this (About MEJO). The Madison environmental justice organization was founded in the year 2006. The prime objective and mission of the organization is to educate the community regarding the issues of environmental justice, engage in work to address the critical issues of environmental justice.... The Madison environmental justice organization has been working with people of color and low-income residents for more than two years, discussing and addressing issues regarding toxins in locally caught fish, and learning about the cultural practices regarding fishing and preparing and eating fish. The local air and water pollution has a disproportionate impact on the people belonging to poor and minor communities. This issue is not being addressed by the institutions or the community as a whole. Madison environment justice organization aims to change this (About MEJO). Organization’s history and mission The Madison environmental justice organization was founded in the year 2006. The prime objective and mission of the organization is to educate the community regarding the issues of environmental justice, engage in work to address the critical issues of environmental justice, and support the cause for the benefit of the common people. The organization has been working with peop le of color and low-income people for more than two years, regarding the issue of high toxic level in the fishes that are caught in the local lakes by the members of the community (Powell and Powell, 1). The programs that the organization is currently working on The Madison environmental justice organization has its prime focus presently on the rising toxic levels at the waters of Madison’s north side. It is entrusted with the duty to control the spreading of the toxins, and to spread awareness amongst the local people of the community, as they are engrossed in fishing activities and their diet also includes fishes obtained from the local water. The main purpose of the project is to engage in work activity with minority people and the subsistence anglers to gain knowledge about fishing

Business ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business ethics - Essay Example In such context, it is crucial for management to realize the importance of business ethics in maintaining the sustainability of business operation. Hence the study has decided to look back at importance business ethics in context to modern organizational settings. The study has selected HSBC, which is a renowned bank, for understanding the importance of business ethics in the organization. Analyzing the impact of business ethics on internal and external stakeholders of HSBC will also be the part of the analysis. In the last section the study will provide recommendation to the bank for improving their current business ethics approach. Business Ethics- Theoretical View According to research scholars such as Geraint (2003), Moberg (2003) and Kidd (2003), business ethics play significant role in those cases where the organization is suffering from asymmetric turbulence in terms of business operation, controlling activities of agents or managers, fraudulent activities to achieve undue adv antage and disregard of interest of shareholders and stakeholders. From academic viewpoint, business ethics can be subdivided into three parts such as, Descriptive Business Ethics- moral values of the business owner to run the business in transparent manner without hurting the interest of shareholders and stakeholders and Normative Business Ethics- supporting activities required to control and discourage unfair business practices by organizations (Brenkert, 2004). However, very few research scholars have actually tried to create demarcation between organizational structures driven business ethics from process driven business ethics. In this paper the study will try to identify the role of business ethics in context to organizational structure, organizational process and organizational performances. The proposed model can be viewed in the following manner. (Source: Svensson and Wood, 2011) There is no doubt that the concept of business ethics is multifaceted and number of research to pics can synchronized in implicit or explicit manner with the ethical perspective of business operation. For example, maintaining business ethics in terms offering high value to external stakeholders such as customers (Svensson, 2009), performing corporate social responsibility (CSR) in order to become responsible corporate citizen who is ready to put serious effort to improve quality of life of unprivileged section of the society (Young and Kielkiewicz-Young, 2001), improve the sustainability by forcing the supply chain partners to follow human rights while treating with workers (Lippman,1999), following green purchasing policy to ensure environmental sustainability (Zsidisin and Siferd, 2001), sustainable supply chain management (Svensson, 2007), following corporate governance codes in order to ensure better governance and decrease the scope for the organization to commit financial fraud which can not only hurt the interest of shareholders but also affect the interest of stakehold ers (La Porta et al, 1997 & Shleifer and Vishny, 1997). Ethical Structure Factors like