The Go-Between Essay Example for Free

The Go-Between Essay The short story †The Go-Between† is written by Ali Smith in 2009, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption of the â€Å"Universal Declaration of Human Rights†. The declaration consists of thirty rights, which symbolise all the rights we, as human beings, should be obligated to have. Smith has found her inspiration in Article 13, the right to freedom of movement. The story takes place in Morocco in North Africa, and partly in Europe. Throughout the story, we follow a 33-year-old man – who is the protagonist. We never hear the name of this man, but he speaks of himself as â€Å"Professor me†. Our main character is a so-called â€Å"border crosser† – he helps refugees cross the border between Morocco and Spain – and he is also a â€Å"messenger† between the refugees in Morocco and the French Doctors in Spain – you could call him the â€Å"go-between†. He helps the French doctors heal all the wounded people; a man whose legs had been broken under a train, a woman who had been raped and a little boy who was dying – all mentioned to make the reader sympathize even more for these people. He is a former microbiologist and has worked in a university – this shows that he has gained a lot of knowledge and is indeed a clever man. His education is what has enabled him to get help to those who need it once they cross the border, by being able to speak the language of the French doctor, who he says can be Italian, Spanish, French, English; he says â€Å"I speak these and also some others†. (p. 2, l. 32) He describes his physical self with the following characteristics â€Å"I’m a small, slight man. I’m not a big man. I’m lean and slight†. (p. 4, l. 120) I think he is describing his physical self in this way because it humanizes him. The reader may begin to think that he is some kind of super hero, helping all of these refugees cross- but he is just a normal person, doing what he can to help. The 33-year-old man is definitely a very â€Å"Determined Professor Me†, when it comes to helping people across or under the border as he is willing to go as far as losing the top of his ear as well as his 3rd finger. Despite the fact that it is dangerous to cross the border, our main character jokes about it; â€Å"I lost the top part of my ear on the fence. The top part of my ear is in Europe†. (p. 1, l. 3) This makes him seem quite like The Joker, but despite his jokes, he is actually quite scared of losing more body parts, which is shown in the nightmares he gets, when he sleeps. It is very obvious that the story is meant to show how horrible refugees used to be treated. If we read between the lines, we can tell that the main character has had a rough past. As a â€Å"Go-between†, not only has he seen, but also experienced horrible thing. â€Å"They slashed the tents so they were useless when it rained. They burned the blankets () they took all the food. They collected up some of the people from the camp when they went into the bush to get food, and drove them to the desert in a truck, and left them there.† (p. 2, l. 54 – 58) I believe this is one of the reasons why the main character is so passionate about helping people – he wants to stand up against the police, and this is his way of doing so – regardless to his own feelings about Europe of course. Despite his hate towards the police, he still dreams about Europe – about â€Å"walking down the big streets of Madrid with their fine stately buildings†. (p. 4, l. 112) Not only in this section, but also throughout the whole story, the main character shares his passion and confusion for Europe. â€Å"You see those lights across the bay? That’s Europe! You see that fence? The other side of it is Europe.†. (p. 1, l. 2) For him, Europe is a symbol of freedom, hope, greatness and possibilities. And yet, he would still like to back to where he came from, but he can’t. â€Å"My blindness is for whats behind me, I would like to go back. I want to go back. But I have to go forward. I can’t go back. Backs not possible for me. (p. 3, l. 74 – 76) – perhaps going back isn’t possible for him anymore, because he has nothing to go back to. Nothing except a shirt, the Cameroon team colors! It seems like the fence – and helping refugees cross it, is the only thing he has left. In the end, when he’s finally on the Spanish side of the border, he just stays very close to the fence, instead of getting as far away as possible; to maintain the â€Å"connection† he has with the fence. He’s also trying to hide his previous self, so nobody will notice him when he walks down the street, so he keep his ears covered and his hand folded so that no one will notice the loss in it: â€Å"I wear my hat down over my ears. I keep my hand folded so no one sees the loss in it.† (p. 4, l. 124 – 125) The story is a written in a first person point of view and the go-between is the narrator. The story is told in a very special way – and it can be read two different ways. Either the narrator is telling the reader about his experiences as a border crosser like a conversation. E.g. I was telling you about.. (p. 3, l. 81) Or he has simply gone insane from all the horrors he has seen, and is talking to himself – he also repeats his words quite often; â€Å"we had our own law system, and our own police. We had our own police!. (p. 2, l. 60) It is very confusing for the reader, because it almost seems like it’s his stream of thoughts we read, because they are very unstructured and messy. The story definitely shows how tough the conditions were for the refugees, before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are told how cruel and unfair the refugees were treated, and how dangerous and literally life threatening their everyday life could be. We also get an insight of the inhumanity that were shown to those who tried to â€Å"escape† their unsafe homes. Moreover, the author outlines the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All humans are born free and equal, and they should be treated so. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is probably one of the most important documents ever written, in my opinion. This story is not only a fight, but also a piece of history, written to ensure basic human dignity. Ali Smith uses humour throughout the story, to illustrate the cruelty of the borders – they way humour and irony is used in the story, will for sure leave a smile on your face.

Musical Modernism with Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoe

Musical modernism can be seen as the time where music emerges its liberty from Romantic era style -that started in the late nineteen century to end of the Second World War- and gains new ideas and freedom. With the political turmoil and chaos that took over the European countries, -that lured countries into the First World War- composers and artists started to find, create more and new ways to express themselves. They eagerly began to discover the art of Eastern countries with the hope of finding new ways of expression. The changes in tonality, irregular rhythms, tone clusters, distressed and antagonistic melodies, the expressionist, abstract, unusual ideas over powers the music, the traditional structures recreated or composed with unusual techniques and music gains Non-Western elements. Therefore 20th Century Music shows its rebellion from Romantic era –and any other era in fact- and earns itself the name ‘The Modern era â€Å" and a new importance through this moveme nt in the history. In addition, with the modernist movement, music obtained more interest as a subject that it never had before. â€Å"I wanted from music a freedom which it possesses perhaps to a greater degree than any other art, not being tied to a more or less exact reproduction of Nature but to the mysterious correspondences between Nature and Imagination† Claude Debussy (1902) Roughly from the 1900’s, the music started to obtain a big role in people’s life with its new aspects and it was not only made to please the listeners but carried meanings about life itself. With the modernist movement emotions other than love, anger and joy has started to be portrayed more securely and concisely. Composers like Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg are very... ...s were his guard against to harmonic resolution in his music. He was mostly fascinated by the waltz and march rhythm’s - as he used these rhythms in most of his works- nevertheless with the title ‘Schoenberg’ he brought the same complex and irregular approach to these rhythms too. The irregular tempo’s that even shows differences from one bar to the other in a same piece and The rhythms, time signatures he used in his compositions changed continually. To conclude, these three revolutionary composers that I have analysed in this essay brought so many levels and layers to ‘Modern Music’. With their contributions Modern era was disconnected from romanticism. Without Debussy’s unique, enjoyable compositions, Stravinsky’s rhythmic and dynamic layers and new ideas, Schoenberg’s creative theories and revolutionary 12 tone system one can not think of a Modern era.

The Notion of Prophethood in Islam

Only when times are at their most turbulent, when the people of Earth reach a point of living that is considered to be sinful and discordant, is there a need for a change or reform back to a virtuous lifestyle. It is evidenced in the thoughts and traditions of many different faiths of the world that this change, this revolution as it may also be referred to, is brought about by a message. Of course, a message, especially one that is meant to bring about reform and revolution, will not be heard without scrutiny on the deliverer of the message, the messenger. In the monotheistic religions of the world, Islam in particular, emphasis is placed on these messengers as bringers of truth in times of untruth or darkness, a divinely inspired human who acts as an intermediary between God and the people to whom the message is brought. Such messengers are called Prophets. This piece will discuss the notion of Prophethood in Islam, what it means to be a Prophet, and the similar traits amongst the circumstances of the Prophets. Islam places an importance of the highest degree on the monotheistic message it delivers, that there is only one God and no other. Thus, special emphasis is placed on the ones to deliver this message, the Prophets. However, for a person to be considered a Prophet in Islam, there are certain stipulations that they have to meet. The notion of a Prophet is generally a divinely inspired human who acts as an intermediary between God and other people, but more to it is that each and every Prophet receives their message directly from God and not from other people, not even from other Prophets. However, despite not learning of the message from other Prophets, the message being delivered is the same between each and every Prophet. This ensures the authenticity of the message that each Prophet receives and clearly displays the link between the Prophet and God to the recipients of the message. However, there is even further divergence underneath the title of Prophet. In Islam, there are generally two degrees of Prophethood, Nabi, and Rasul. The difference between a Nabi and a Rasul is mainly that a Rasul not only receives message from God, but is charged to propagate it. A Rasul may also be a Prophet that brings God’s scripture and they are to restore Divine Law or Sharia as well. A Nabi on the other hand is a human who brings news of the message, but the message that each brings is not necessarily universal. Both a Nabi and a Rasul has to be a pure and worthy person in order to hear God’s message, thus it can be observed that each and every Prophet is a Nabi by default, where a Rasul is a Prophet of more responsibility than that of a Nabi. Thus, it easily observable that all Prophets have similarities, but there are a few that stand out amongst others. Of the 25 Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an, there are 5 major Prophets that stand out amongst others. These Prophets are the Prophet Noah (AS), the Prophet Abraham (AS), the Prophet Moses (AS), the Prophet Jesus (AS), and the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS). While their names appear in several passages in the Qur’an, there is a particular passage that mentions all of them: He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah [AS] and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad (SAWS)], and what We enjoined upon Abraham [AS] and Moses [AS] and Jesus [AS] – to establish the religion and not be divided therein†¦ The Holy Qur’an, Translated by Sahih International, 42:13 This verse addresses the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) in particular. It equates the message that was brought to the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) to the messages that were brought to the Prophets Noah (AS), Abraham (AS), Moses (AS) and Jesus (AS), establishing that the religion each Prophet was trying to propagate was the same for all of them: Islam. For example, the message that the Prophet Jesus (AS) had brought were brought to a people that had lost their way, but that message was not entirely original either, having been expressed before in some form. It was also said that Jesus (AS) did not so much preach a message as he was a message. In a similar manner, the conducts of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) were said to contain a message themselves: There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah [SWT] an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah [SWT] and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah [SWT] often. The Holy Qur’an, Translated by Sahih International, 33:21 This verse advises those who believe in Allah (SWT) of the patterns or the lifestyle of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and the message that can be found herein. It can therefore be observed that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) would be the next in line as an Abrahamic Prophet due to his similarities to the Prophet Jesus (AS). However, despite the numerous similarities between the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and the Prophets that were his predecessors, there is one fact that sets him apart from the others, and that is that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) is consider ed to be the Khatam al-Anbiya, or the Seal of the Prophets. In the Holy Qur’an, it states the following: â€Å"Muhammad [SAWS] is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah [SWT] and last of the prophets. And ever is Allah [SWT], of all things, Knowing† (The Holy Qur’an, 33:40). It is well known that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) did not leave any surviving male heirs, his three sons with Khadija (RA) as well his son with Mariya (RA) having passed away young, and his four daughters also having passed away in infancy (Textual Sources for the Study of Islam, p47). The verse relates that fact by acknowledging that there could be no direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS), thus no one could claim to be a Prophet by claiming to be descended from him. Even more so, the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) described his own status as the Seal of the Prophets: My likeness among all the Prophets is like the likeness of a man building a house. He is proficient at it, he does it well, and he leaves a single brick out. Then the people begin to go around the building, marvelling at it, and say: â€Å"It would be complete if not for this brick†. Indeed, in the building, I am the place for that brick. Textual Sources for the Study of Islam, p48 This quote puts forth more inclinations that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) was not only another Abrahamic Prophet (the other two being Prophet Jesus (AS) and Prophet Moses (AS)), but the final Prophet after whom there would be no other. Thus, the notion of Prophethood in Islam is clearly defined and differentiated, with all Prophets being a Nabi and a select few being a Rasul. The Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) has also been clearly established as an Abrahamic Prophet and the Seal of the Prophets in the Qur’an.

Identification of Major Issues in Human Resource Free Essay Example, 3000 words

Employee ownership in the organization is missing. They just want to do their own work and get paid for it. They are not too much interested in the performance of the company and this is the reason why organizational culture reflects easiness. Lack of commitment is also a part of the company s culture. This is because employees know that they will not be rewarded as a result of their hard work but will be rewarded if they have political support. Rewards are important to enhance the performance of the employees (Linder, 1998). But the rewards system is not good for the company. Power and Politics and Its role in Change: Power and politics have great implications for an organization. They can be used effectively to enhance the performance of the employees or they can be used to hinder in the work of others. The implications of power and politics are great in organizational change. Management should use these tools to bring about the above mentioned changes in the organization. Managem ent can use power to implement the change but they will face resistance by the employees so they will have to use politics to make the process of change smooth. We will write a custom essay sample on Identification of Major Issues in Human Resource or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page For that they must take all the parties involved in confidence and then after all the main players are satisfied, the change should be implemented. This is politics but for a good reason. With using both these things no company can bring about successful change in their practices especially Oceatic Airways as they have a very peculiar culture.