International case 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International case 2 - Essay Example It operates in about seventy countries in the world. They incorporate the use of technology and innovation with the intention of building energy for future sustainability. The company aims at meeting energy demand across the entire world in a responsible manner in terms of economic, environmental, and social aspects. The company is committed to ethics and requirements of corporate social responsibility. In Nigeria, Oliver (2014) narrated that the company was involves in corruption scandal of $ 1.1 billion. Investors and stockholders were furious on the modalities the company had employed in Nigeria concerning how the capital was spent. The deal was perceived to be a shadow one as it was considered not only bad for the people of Nigeria as a developing country but for business as well. Corruption is considered unethical in the climate of corporate social responsibility (John, 2012). The reputation of the company was tainted and this would reflect on its performance. That was an issue that the shareholders would not sit by and watch since a drop in performance was tantamount to have a significant effect on their share value. Earlier this year, Miroslav (2015) illuminated that the government of Slovakia had contemplated enacting a law that was deemed anti-Shell due to the scandal related to the health procurement. The scandal outraged the citizens since the healthcare sector was one o f the most corrupt sectors in Slovakia. If this law is enacted then the value of the shareholders of the company is likely to drop. The other countries where the multinational corporation in discussion have faced similar corruption scandal are in the US, UK, and Ireland. Diseye (2014) explained that the company also was accused of double standards in its commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) especially in countries where there are no strict laws. According to FOE (Friends of the Earth), Shell disregarded the environment, as well as the

Definition of Market Leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Definition of Market Leader - Essay Example There are three major types of Market Leaders. Market leaders that are concentrated highly on operational brilliance comes under the first category. Wal-Mart is the best example of a company that focuses more on its operational excellance. It is a company devoted to provide low to reasonable prices with high class services. Corporations that zilch in on product leadership comes under the second category of Market Leaders. Firms like Intel, Microsoft, and Nike deals with the finest products in their target markets and continue to improvise their originality to keep themselves on top of their competitors every year (Delery, Doty, 1996, 802). Customer intimacy is another tool to attain a top ranking in the market. Firms that emphasize on customer intimacy works exhaustly to provide best possible solutions to their customers on. Nordstrom is a worthy example of a company whose business works over the concept of customer intimacy. Market leaders gets many advantages due to their huge mark et share that their competitors can only dream of. They generally get premium price for their products due to their brand strength. They enjoy lower product costs, longer product cycle and smaller sales cycle due to market responsiveness to their product lines. On the other side, All customers do not have high purchasing power, therefore market leaders’ product lines faces increased amount of market threats. Makrket leaders have to update their products on frequent basis to counter with piracy and their competitors.

The Evil of Modern Technology Essay Example for Free

The Evil of Modern Technology Essay â€Å"Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. † Daniel 12:4 Here I am, sitting in a house heated by a gas/forced air furnace, illuminated by an incandescent bulb, writing down my thoughts on a computer screen, accessing the internet by a wireless connection and weighing in against modern technology. I will be the first to tell you, however, that I don’t want to go back to the way it was, even a few decades ago, when I shivered over a lone heat register in the kitchen, pounded out my writing assignments on an ancient typewriter with a faded ribbon, waiting for my water to boil on a gas stove and my cinnamon toast to bake in the oven. Daily life has been so revolutionized by a steady progression of technological improvements that few of us can imagine living any other way. Conveniences have become such necessities that anyone who has no microwave, cell phone or digital alarm clock is considered deprived. Man’s inventive genius continues to prolifically breed new technologies, and with each new technology, a cottage industry springs up to feed, clothe and shelter it. Computers have generated software, music, movies, photo-shopping and enough peripheral gadgetry to fill a catalog. With the cell phone came personal ringers, phone cameras, text messaging, GPS capabilities, internet access, ebooks, and on and on. Automobiles can now do much more than transport passengers. They can pamper, comfort, entertain, advise, warn and tell drivers how to get to their destination. We now foresee the day when we won’t even have to steer the machine down the highway. There seems to be no end to our fertile imaginations. But I am haunted by the words of an old evangelist. He said, â€Å"Man will never hold out long enough morally to do what he wants to do scientifically. Even as we mount up to the heavens in the space age, we mire down in the mud of sin and shame. † I see this chilling prediction coming true before our very eyes and ears in the twenty-first century. Our heads cannot out-smart our hearts. Something is insanely wrong with all of this progress. Not only have promises of utopia not materialized for the bulk of civilization, in many cases we have regressed back to prehistoric levels. We have not eliminated murder; we have made murder easier. We have not eliminated theft; we have made stealing easier. We have not eliminated racism; we have made racism easier. We have not eliminated pornography; we have made pornography easier. Inherent within the new technologies we find all the old maladies. Good things undeniably come from our scientific and technological breakthroughs. Unfortunately, these developments have also been subverted for evil purposes. Indeed, the evil we have enabled may end up canceling out the good we have created in society at large. The most obvious example of this is nuclear technology. The fascinating capabilities of nuclear fission for energy also gave rise to the most destructive weapon ever invented. Regardless of how atomic weaponry is used—whether for defensive purposes or aggressive military action—the fact remains that it is used to kill and destroy. Other scientific discoveries have also been channeled into military uses, like rocketry, aerodynamics, fiber optics, laser beams, radar, modulated radio and television signals, satellites, etc. If it helps, we can make it hurt. If it heals, we can make it injure. If it does good, we can make it do bad. This position has been argued in philosophical terms as well. Regent University’s website on communication contains this paragraph: â€Å"Whether one accepts the neutrality of technology depends on one’s valuing philosophy—whether one tends toward the pragmatic and situational, or the absolute and authoritarian. Those who believe that technology is neutral argue that â€Å"guns don’t kill people, people do†, or that a knife can be used to â€Å"cook, kill, or cure. Those who believe the opposite counter with evidence that technology cannot be evaluated in a vacuum. Monsma (1986) argued for the â€Å"value-ladenness† of technology (chapter 3). He based his premise on two traits that he believed are common to all technological developments: (1) technological objects are unique; they are designed to function in a particular and limited way, and (2) technological objects are intertwined with their environment; they interact in unique ways with the rest of reality. † In medical science we can find an alarming example of the limits of technology. Jerome Groopman wrote an article in the New Yorker Magazine, August 11, 2008, entitled â€Å"Superbug: The new generation of resistant infections is almost impossible to treat. † He said, â€Å"In August, 2000, Dr. Roger Wetherbee, an infectious-disease expert at New York University’s Tisch Hospital, received a disturbing call from the hospital’s microbiology laboratory. At the time, Wetherbee was in charge of handling outbreaks of dangerous microbes in the hospital, and the laboratory had isolated a bacterium called Klebsiella pneumoniae from a patient in an intensive-care unit. It was literally resistant to every meaningful antibiotic that we had,† Wetherbee recalled recently. The microbe was sensitive only to a drug called colistin, which had been developed decades earlier and largely abandoned as a systemic treatment, because it can severely damage the kidneys. â€Å"So we had this report, and I looked at it and said to myself, ‘My God, this is an organism that basically we can’t treat. ’ † Much of the toxic social climate we experience today comes to us at the hands of modern technology. Who can dispute the widespread conviction that television has had a deleterious effect on culture? It is a waster of time, numbing minds and killing creativity. It has also piped pure filth from a godless and immoral Hollywood into the living rooms of the world. The radio has dispensed anarchy, vulgarity and corruption through the powerful medium of music, especially targeting adolescents and teenagers. In the last decade, pornography has spread wildly throughout the internet, victimizing viewers who would seldom or never come in contact with sexual perversion any other way. Amazingly, these same technologies have transmitted as much or more truth, virtue, goodness and love as they have depravity. How is this possible? Is technology, then, culpable? Innocent? Morally neutral? In The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962), Marshall McLuhan wrote, â€Å"The theme of this book is not that there is anything good or bad about print but that unconsciousness of the effect of any force is a disaster, especially a force that we have made ourselves† (p. 248). Regent University comments â€Å"Insert any technology for the word â€Å"print† and you realize that for McLuhan it is not the content that really matters. In this case it is not even the channel but rather our knowledge and understanding of the medium’s potential impact. † They then ask, â€Å"Is print an amoral technology? Can any technology be amoral? These are issues that must be addressed and answered before we can begin to develop a philosophical system to address the convergence of media and technology, and its impact on society. † I contend that communication technology has the greatest potential for evil of all the developments of modern science. This should not surprise us who are in the business of spreading the gospel. After all, Jesus commissioned the church to â€Å"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. † The very means and methods used by the church to carry out the work of Christ has been co-opted by Satanic forces to destroy the gospel and spew corruption throughout the world. The advent of the online community was initially envisioned as a dynamic way to connect the inventive genius, the soaring imaginations and the scientific knowledge of individuals, groups, schools and cultures together, thus exponentially multiplying the positive impact they were making on the world. But in the parallel universe of evil, it was also appropriated by malevolent forces to connect with people who shared the same destructive designs. Roger Cohen expresses the same view in the New York Times column of March 10, 2008. â€Å"The main forces in the world today are the modernizing, barrier-breaking sweep of globalization and the tribal reaction to it, which lies in the assertion of religious, national, linguistic, racial or ethnic identity against the unifying technological tide. â€Å"Connection and fragmentation vie. The Internet opens worlds and minds, but also offers opinions to reinforce every prejudice. You’re never alone out there; some idiot will always back you. The online world doesn’t dissolve tribes. It gives them global reach. † The very internet I access to research my topics is simultaneously used to teach people to build bombs, incite hatred, instigate anarchy, commit fraud, buy and sell illicit drugs, learn witchcraft, poison minds and dismantle Christian traditions. More specifically, it provides a way for terrorist organizations to plot destructive acts, devise conspiracies, obtain funding for their violent activities and inspire each other’s dark causes. If this world is facing global chaos and apocalyptic demise, it will undoubtedly be facilitated by the technology now in existence or soon to be developed. Groups of people who otherwise had no way to unify and combine forces to wreak havoc upon the world now find it easy to locate each other and strengthen their hands. One only has to recall the tragedy of September 11, 2001 to know that cell phones and the internet aided nineteen terrorists to coordinate their diabolical plan. Without the assistance of technology, their deed would not have been possible or would have been infinitely more difficult to carry out. Technology may not be inherently evil, but neither is it inherently good. We are unforgivably naive to trust in scientific advances to spread the gospel or do the work of the church. Technology certainly will never be our savior. In fact, the future holocaust it will most assuredly precipitate may well eclipse any good that it has ever done for us. The best gifts to mankind do not come from himself, but from God. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. † James 1:17. This warning may find application at the local congregational level where churches are growing increasingly dependent upon technology for worship, singing, preaching and witnessing. But technology in the larger arena of the world needs to be viewed by the church as susp ect. It’s potential for evil means that it will never be the best friend of the church. Let us use it, work it and enjoy it. Let us also keep it at arms length, distant from our souls. We do not need computers, cell phones, radios, televisions, headphones, iPods, CD’s, DVD’s, satellites, telescopes or any other technological devices to have a meaningful relationship with God. Paul’s Mars Hill sermon said this, â€Å"That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being. † Acts 17:27-28. The greatest technology to ever come to man may be the glorified body that God has prepared for them that love him. How close will that body allow us to be to God in a physiological sense? I’m not sure, but I do know what the scripture says. â€Å"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. † 1 John 3:2. (NIV) That’s the technological advance that excites me more than any other. In an instant, all worldly innovations will be rendered obsolete. We must not sell ourselves short by losing our soul to earthly things.

The Lord Of The Flies: Chapter 8

The Lord Of The Flies: Chapter 8 Lord Of The Flies Chapter 8 Goldings Lord Of The Flies is based on an island after the second world war. Through-out the novel, Golding treats the island as a microcosm of the war. Within this is microcosm, the island commences as a utopia but it is not until chapter 8 when it gradually evolves into a dystopia as the ultimate battle for jealousy and power breaks out. The modification and degradation in certain characters behaviour from their normal life of civilization makes chapter 8 key to Goldings Lord Of The Flies . It is the main chapter in which democracy is demolished, savagery kicks in and the definitive chapter in which Simon has the ultimate encounter with the Lord Of The Flies. I will explore Goldings use of symbolism, plot, imagery, language, Christian morals, setting, themes and story structure as well as the novels overall historical context to establish the fact that chapter 8 is the most significant chapter to the novel as a whole. This is the vital episode in which Ralph experiences difficulties dealing with the beast. He acknowledges its existence and in doing so spreads fear amongst the other boys. This is illustrated when Ralph portrays the beast as having teeth and big black eyes. Ralph instantly decides that fighting the beast is not an option; leaving the boys with no alternative than to hide from the beast and live under its shadow. Ralphs fear about the beast is conveyed in his own words for the preliminary time in chapter 8, expressing the chapters great magnitude and relevance. As evidenced in the above quotations, it is in chapter 8 that the beast is embellished and made to seem scarier than reality, again showing the chapters eloquence. This powerful section centres on Ralphs pessimism which contributes to his poor management of the beast. He does not appreciate that the littluns take him seriously and visualise the news as a sign for panic. Ralph explains, I dont think wed ever fight a thing that size, honestly, you know. Wed talk, but we wouldnt fight a tiger. Wed hide. Even Jack ud hide. Ralphs apathy is conveyed because he makes himself believe that his hopes are slim. From Ralphs language, the reader and other characters become under the impression that the beast is huge and can not be fought. Here, the key notion which makes chapter 8 substantial is that Ralph injects pain and fear into the unstable community instead of calming them. Ralphs priority is evacuating the island rather than confronting the beast. This is illustrated when Ralph says As long as theres light were brave enough. But then? And now that thing squats by the fire as though it didnt want us to be rescued So we cant have a signal fire Were beaten. The reader comprehends the boys inability of coping with darkness because of their strong fear of the beast. Little do the boys know, that the beast is living inside them like a parasite which can not live on its own but is in need of a host to live in. This is momentous to chapter 8 because we learn that Ralphs desire is not to stay on the island or integrate himself into the island in order to avoid mingling with the beast. Throughout chapter 8, the conch acts as a symbol of authority and order. At the beginning of the chapter, the conch glimmered among the trees. This is pivotal to chapter 8 because the glimmering of the conch confirms its importance and the way it stands out in nature, symbolises how right actions stand out from wrong actions. From the beginning of the book, the conch takes the place of civilization and democracy which are clearly two social aspects which the island lacks after the destruction of the conch. It is because of the conchs destruction or in other words the destruction of authority, that degradation and an uncivilized atmosphere are the shocking result. Jack blows the conch and calls a meeting at the start of chapter 8. This makes the chapter especially significant because normally, Jack has a certain disregard for the rules but however it is in this chapter that he uses the conch and applies the rules for his own benefit. Jack makes negative comments in the meeting about Ralph like, Ralph said my hunters are no good, Hes like piggyhe isnt a proper chiefhes a coward himself Hes not a hunter. Hed never have got us meat He just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing, He competes with Ralph for leadership, which is unmistakably a direct challenge and describes Ralph as not a prefect which is the last reference to the boys previous school life. This is especially portrayed in chapter 8 because Jack attempts undermining Ralph in order to attract the littluns to his own life style. He also capitalises on the appearance of the beast, although he himself is scared of its shadowy presence too. However, he realises that the grou ps faith in Ralph is ever decreasing because of the fear and instability of the beast on the island. Jack reacts very violently to the beast, but does not aim his anger at the beast; instead he aims it at Ralphs leadership and at hunting. He has bloodlust and loves to hunt and kill, the food is merely a by-product of the adrenaline that it gives him to hunt, chase and kill another animal. He has passed his passion onto his hunters. This is predominantly shown in the chapter when Golding mentions that, The hunters followed, wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood This is particularly pivotal to chapter 8 because he uses the possibility of pacifying the beast as a way of seducing the boys to what he wants them to do. He uses the promise of exciting hunting, brilliant feasts and most of all, the promise that the beast will not bother them and the promise that the beast will cease to be a constant point of fear for the boys. Simon has a diverse reaction to the beast compared to the other boys in the novel. This is especially expressed in chapter 8 because it is when Simon instinctively knows that the beast is something that has manifested itself in the heads, hearts and minds of the boys, giving them a focus for their fear. He endeavours to disprove the beasts existence by climbing the mountain and discovering what it was that Ralph and Jack saw; I thought there might be something to do, something we- again the pressure of the assembly took his voice away I think we ought to climb the mountain What else is there to do? Simon climbs the mountain and his theory is proven, when he locates a dead parachutist and encounters the pigs head. This attests that Simons predictions about the existence of a physical beast were right. This is crucial to chapter 8 because Simons Christ-like figure is revealed. The imperative confrontation between Simon and the Lord of the Flies takes place in chapter 8 showing the chapters even greater magnitude. When Simon confronts the Lord of the Flies, it is just a pigs head on a stick, which Jack had stuck into the ground in Simons special retreat. However, when Simon is speaking to it he doesnt see it as a pigs head; he interprets it as evil. When the Lord of the Flies is talking to Simon, the dialogue is like a schoolmaster is telling him off. You are a silly little boy just a silly ignorant little boy. The Lord Of The Flies intentionally talks in this manner to try overpowering Simons thoughts and mind and acts as if he knows better. The pigs head then progresses by instructing Simon to go and socialise with the other boys, or they will think he is crazy. Youd better run off and play with the others. You dont want Ralph to think youre batty, do you? Overall, in this vital episode, The Lord of the Flies starts forcing Simon into thinking that no one on the island likes him. This is principally illustrated in chapter 8 because the Lord of the Flies tries to affect Simons thoughts by making him socialise with the evil boys. The beast attempts taking control of Simon by saying, There isnt anyone to help you. Only me. And Im the Beast. Simons reaction to this is to shout insults at the pigs head. Pigs head on a stick! This confirms that Simon understands that this is all it is. The Lord Of The Flies attempts gaining Simons obedience. This is ironic because it is similar to what happens to Jesus, making chapter 8 religiously momentous as well. Subsequently, the Lord of the Flies informs Simon that he cant kill it. The beast sarcastically says, Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! This section is even more relevant because the Lord Of The Flies tries to embed its presence inside Simons head by declaring its state of immortality. The island itself, particularly chapter 8, functions as a kind of Garden of Eden that is gradually corrupted by the introduction of evil. The Lord of the Flies may be seen as a symbol for the devil, since it works to promote evil among mankind. An example of this is when the Lord of the Flies tells Simon to, Get back to the others. This promotes evil because the other boys evil will affect Simon. Chapter 8 is very considerable because it is when Simon is faced with the ethical reality of the novel and is killed sacrificially as a consequence of having discovered the truth. In chapter 8, Golding conveys that Simons life has strong parallels with that of Jesus which is a very pivotal part of the chapter. His conversation with the Lord of the Flies mirrors the confrontation between Christ and the devil in Christian theology. There are unfortunate consequences to Simons death in that the island is thrown into a deeper network of misery and unhappiness. The beast says to Simon, Arent you afraid of me? and You dont want Ralph to think youre batty do you? Simons wisdom is portrayed through the concept that he does not believe and act by the beasts words, indicating the importance and great significance of chapter 8 to the novel. To conclude, Chapter 8 is key to Goldings Lord Of The Flies because it is where the instability of Jack, Piggy and Ralph an the island is conveyed. This has strong comparisons with peoples physical and emotional feelings during World War 2. Additionally, being under immense pressure of the gradual immersion of a dystopia, some of the boys like Ralph loose control but others like Jack capitalise on the fear of the littluns. This is echoed in the war when Hitler capitalises on the fear of the other countries and the public. Golding also conveys the notion of fear in chapter 8 making the chapter significant. The chapter is also prophetic because of Simons death. Finally, Golding explains the divisions within the group of children as a symbol of destruction of order and authority. This originates from the biblical reference of Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to destruction. (Mathew 12.25) The above points tie together to prove the chapters eloquence to the novel as a whol e.

The Fall of the House of Usher :: essays research papers

In "The Fall of the House of Usher", Poe uses the life-like characteristics of the decaying house of Usher as a device for giving the house a supernatural atmosphere. This not only makes the story act upon the reader in a grabbing way, but it also creates an impression of fear, mystery and horror, typical for Poe’s literary works. For example, from the very beginning of the story, the reader can tell that there is something unusual and bizarre about the old house. As the narrator approaches the home of his long-time friend, Roderick Usher, he refers to the house as the "melancholy House of Usher". This description in the beginning of the story prepares the reader for the mysterious events that will follow. Upon looking at the building, he even feels some sense of intolerable darkness which pervades his heart. The windows appear to be "vacant† and "eye-like† as if watching at the narrator and wandering through his mind. With an insecure feeling he goes to observe the "rank sedges," and the "black and lurid tarn," in which he sees the reflection of the house. He later says, "when I again uplifted my eyes to the house itself, from its image in the pool, there grew a strange fancy...". Although, the narrator tries to view everything he sees in a rationa l manner, upon seeing the house and its surroundings, he has an elevated sense of dread. He goes on to say that, "about the whole mansion and domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity". This statement indicates that perhaps the house does indeed have some thrilling and spiritual nature. The narrator observes the details of the house once more and finds that the house has mold growing all over it and the masonry of the building is decaying. He says, that " there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the utterly porous, and evidently decayed condition of the individual stones". This observation suggests that perhaps something eerie is holding the house whole, otherwise it would have fallen to the ground long ago. With this description, the house is also represented as a witness of many fates and a long period of history. It is as a mute observer of the time, knowing more, tha n anybody who lives in there. Later on, when the narrator enters the house, he sees its inside as well as the odd behavior and personality of its inhabitants and is increasingly convinced that the house has some strange impact on the people living in it.

What is the function of racist stereotype in Blackface Minstrelsy? Essa

Blackface minstrelsy became a popular form of entertainment in the early nineteenth century. Predominately, minstrel shows were performed to crowds of white working class men, by white actors who would use burnt cork, or shoe polish to blacken their skin and would create racist stereotyped characters of black people. These characters functioned to instill conceptions of white superiority into popular culture whilst at the same time oppressing black society. The characters invented were often portrayed as childlike, unintelligent and dependent on the civilisation of white society in the form of slavery. By examining the changes that minstrelsy underwent during the nineteenth century, the function that the racist stereotypes performed will become evident. Blackface minstrelsy was an established nineteenth century form of onstage entertainment most popular in the northern states of America which intentionally created exaggerated stereotypes of black people for prominently white working class male audiences . White performers would blacken their faces with burnt cork or black grease and perform skits, songs and dances and act out their image of black people. Rather than present an accurate depiction of African Americans and authentic portrayals of the qualities of ‘negro’ life, minstrelsy reflected the ideas and conceptions of white society . The content of the shows however was altered to create images of blacks and slaves that suited white northern public opinion . White actors now had the opportunity to manipulate black identity and reinforce notions of white superiority, and by portraying blacks as uncivilised it reinforced the need for slavery. This white produced black identity served to reinforce racial differences, and all... ... Cain: Blackface performance from Jim Crow to Hip Hop. Massachusettes: Havard College. Lott, E. (1993) Love and theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class. New York: Oxford University Press. Pfeiffer, K. (2002) Race passing and American Individualism. Massachusettes: University of Massachusetts Press. Pieterse , J. (1992) White on Black Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture. London: Yale University Press. Sussman, R. (2001) The Carnavalizing of race. New York: Columbia University press. Toll, R. (1971) From Folktype to Stereotype: Images of Slaves in Antebellum Minstrelsy . Indiana: Indiana University press. Watkins, M. (1994) On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying, and Signifying—The Underground Tradition of African-American Humor that Transformed American Culture, from Slavery to Richard Pryor. New York: Oxford University Press.

‘Araby’ by James Joyce Essay

What impression of Dublin and its people does James Joyce give in his story ‘Araby’? James Augustine Alrysius Joyce, an Irish writer, was born in Dublin 2nd February 1882 and died in Zurich, Switzerland 13th January 1941. He was born into a well-off Catholic family and was the eldest surviving child; two of his siblings died of typhoid. Joyce was originally educated at Clongowes Wood College, a boarding school in County Kildare, which he left at the age of 6 because his father could no longer pay the fees. James Joyce studied at home for a brief period of time before being offered a place in the Jesuits’ Dublin School. At the age of 16 he rejected Catholicism which changed his life completely. At the age of 20, after graduating from the UDC (University College Dublin) he left for Paris and tried studying different occupations like teaching, journalism and even a doctor. At the age of 21 he returned to Ireland after receiving news that his mother was diagnosed with cancer. After she had died James Joyce became a heavy drinker but gradually stopped as he got over her death. He then stayed in Dublin for a period of time from 1904-1907 writing the â€Å"Dubliners† and also started many other books. The book â€Å"Dubliners† is a collection of short stories and â€Å"Araby†, like all of them, have â€Å"paralysis† meaning that they can’t leave Dublin. For example in the short story â€Å"Clay† Maria has the chance to make a new life and leave Dublin but turns it down because she is too scared. This also occurs in â€Å"A Painful Case† and â€Å"Eveline†, as they don’t have to courage to leave Dublin. In the short story â€Å"The Boarding House†, Bob Doran wishes to leave Dublin but can’t because he is trapped inside marriage. Most of the short stories, unlike â€Å"Araby†, go in circles, for instance, â€Å"Two Gallants† when Lenehan just wanders around Dublin. This also occurs in â€Å"The Dead† because a horse just goes around and around in circles, and also in â€Å"An Encounter† when a pervert tries to stop but end back in the same perverted world. At the end of the short stories James Joyce always write an epiphany, which is a revelation, but in all but one story the revelation is only noticed by the reader but in â€Å"Araby† both the reader and the protagonist – the protagonist is the main character – have an epiphany – an epiphany is a moment of revelation, usually at the end of the story. In the streets of Dublin James Joyce writes them as being â€Å"blind†, meaning that it’s a dead end and there is nothingness, it also means that you can’t escape and there is nowhere to go (there is no way of getting out of Dublin). The main reason is that there is no vision, meaning that you can’t see how terrible and run down Ireland really is. He describes all things by the colours â€Å"brown† and â€Å"yellow† that symbolises human excrements. He writes â€Å"the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns†, the word â€Å"feeble† shows that the light is not even strong enough to even penetrate the darkness. â€Å"Jostled by drunken men and bargaining women†, the word bargaining in this case can mean two things. The first meaning of it is that they are just selling items and changing the prices of them, and the second meaning is that the women are bargaining for their bodies, they are prostitutes. There are â⠂¬Å"street singers† who sing about the problems in Ireland. Also that weather is always extremely violent, and this is shown by the words â€Å"cold air stung us†, â€Å"rain impinge upon the earth† and â€Å"the air was pitilessly raw†. Religion in Dublin is exceedingly poor. In the second paragraph it says â€Å"a priest, had died† showing that the faith in Dublin has disappeared off the face of the earth. Inside the house of the dead priest there were books that were â€Å"curled and damp† meaning that the interest in them was lost. The books were â€Å"The Abbot† which is a religious story, â€Å"The Devout Communicant† which is a book on how to receive Holy Communion well and the last one â€Å"The Memoirs of Vidocq† which is about a thief. The books are muddled up indicating that religion in Ireland is a sham. When it talks about the priest again it first says â€Å"very charitable priest† making you think that the priest was a good man, and suddenly says â€Å"in his will he had left all his money to institutions and the furniture of his house to his sister† presenting the complete opposite. This means that the priest was only charitable went he knew he was dieing and he wasn’t a nice man. In the dead priest’s â€Å"wild garden† there is an apple tree in the centre signifying the Garden of Eden which is a source of evil. In a bush in the garden, there is a â€Å"rusty bicycle-pump†, this can denote three things. The first description of the bicycle-pump is that there is no escape because, if you can’t pump up your tires, then you can’t go anywhere. The second explanation represents the snake, or Satan, in the Garden of Eden because the pump is approximately the same size a snake. The last reason, symbolizes a heart, meaning that, because the heart is not pumping, there is no love or life in Dublin, symbolizing that everything is hopeless. A good part in the story when you know that religion is just a phoney in Dublin is when the boy’s Aunt says â€Å"I’m afraid you may have to put off your bazaar for this night of Our Lord† actually saying that he should just forget about it in a nasty way. Although she I using religious word she is using them without kindness, meaning that she is not caring about him. The family life in Dublin isn’t very pleasant either. In the beginning of the book, the boy says â€Å"if my Uncle was seen turning the corner, we hid in the shadow† indicating that he doesn’t live with his parents, and also that he’s scared of him. On the night of the bazaar his Uncle came home late, â€Å"I heard him talking to himself† meaning he was obviously drunk and had forgotten all about Araby. The love in Dublin is bland. For the boy he loves and stalks â€Å"Mangan’s sister†. She is called thins because he doesn’t actually know her name so he names her â€Å"Mangan’s sister†. He defines her as â€Å"light† because he thinks of Dublin as the dark and Mangan’s sister as a light to brighten up Dublin. When he looks at her â€Å"her dress swung as she moved her body, and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side†, she is describes as lively and everyone else is not. â€Å"Followed her†, or stalking her is the meaning, â€Å"I kept her ‘brown’ figure always in my eye†, â€Å"brown† indicating that she is actually just an ordinary person with nothing special about her. Within one paragraph there are five words â€Å"chalice†, â€Å"prayers†, â€Å"praises†, â€Å"tears† and â€Å"adoration†, he describes her with religious word, and because he left Catholicism she is now his secular religion (one without God). She is also like music to his ears because it says â€Å"my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires†. Also showing that he uses her in a secular religion is a sentence saying â€Å"I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: ‘O love! O love! many times† showing that he worships her a lot. â€Å"At last she spoke to me†, this is the moment he was waiting for the whole time. She then talks about â€Å"Araby† and says she can’t go. While she was talking to him â€Å"she turned a sliver bracelet†, silver indicating bright. In two sentences he uses six words to describe how radiant and bright she is and how drawn he is to her, they are â€Å"light†, â€Å"lamp†, â€Å"white†, â€Å"lit†, â€Å"lit† and â€Å"†white†, repeating â€Å"white† and â€Å"lit†. â€Å"Waking and sleep thoughts† and â€Å"chafed against the work of school† imply that he can’t do anything besides thinking about Araby and Mangan’s sister, and it also says â€Å"I strove to read† hinting the same thing. â€Å"Lie at the window† signals that he stalks and spies on Mangan’s sister, and he is â€Å"singing† because he is happy about getting Mangan’s sister a present. Lastly he has a sexual desire for Mangan’s sister because it says â€Å"border below the dress† suggesting that he is growing quite fast and is into the puberty stage of life. â€Å"Araby† is a fair or, a â€Å"bazaar† – which is a foreign word from the east. In the boy’s eyes, â€Å"Araby† is an exotic place that gets away from all the darkness of Dublin. Also Araby is close to the word Arabia which is in the east signifying that it’s exotic, rich. And because it is in the east it signifies that the sunrise comes from the east, representing a new day, a new hope, a new light. Also Jesus resurrected in the east, epitomizing a new beginning or day. When he eventually arrives to Araby, he goes around the stalls and finds that most of them are closed. There is one that is open but when he sees the people at the stall he discovers they all speak in English accents indicating that the bazaar is not exotic at all. A â€Å"young lady†, who is probably a prostitute, because she is seen flirting with two men at the same time, asks the boy if he wants to buy anything but he says â€Å"no, thank you†. And from this, all of his dreams end because, the items are too expensive and mundane. At the end of the story there is an epiphany, which is the moment of revelation, to both the reader and the protagonist, because usually the epiphany is only recognisable to the reader. On the second from last paragraph at the end it says â€Å"complete darkness† signifying that all hope is gone. The whole of the last paragraph says â€Å"gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger†, this is the exact moment when he realises that all Dublin was in vain and all he did was in vain. He figures out from this that there actually is no love, no romance and no chivalry.