Ha Jin †The Bridegroom Essay

Described as utopian in nature, the Chinese culture is often in pursuit for the perfect individual, a harmonious and structured society where the citizens as a whole create the ideal culture. In a collection of short stories entitled The Bridegroom, author Ha Jin documents this aspect of reality in homeland China. Primarily for the purposes of instruction and satirical verse, Ha Jin, shows how people are trying to find themselves in a society that focuses on the ‘whole’ of the country rather than the individual. He is able to interconnect this theme of individualism through four major stories in the book while presenting ‘Chineseness’ or satire of fictional verse as a way to focus on the changes throughout China and the political discourse that its citizens face. In the short story Alive, Ha Jin depicts individualism, or the loss thereof and its impact on a Chinese family. Headed to Taifu City to collect money at a coalmine, main character Tong Guhan develops amnesia after an earthquake devastated the community and impaired the memory of its citizens. Since the government felt that all people must work together for the betterment of the community, people like Guhan were forced to re-marry, adopt an orphan, and start a new life. For the Chinese government, this was a unique opportunity to create a new movement and â€Å"since this was an emergency [measure], love wasn’t taken into account; so long as the couple didn’t dislike each other, a marriage certificate was issued to them (29). Although as time progresses, Guhan happens to pass by the smell of dumplings and in a flash, instantly remembers his past life. At that point, he decides to return to Muji City where he encounters his original family. What can only be considered as satire, Ha Jin structures this story around wit in his literary style of writing. Who would conceive that the smell of dumplings could suddenly force an individual to remember the past? The amnesia and the government’s reaction to the aftermath of the earthquake show the loss of individualism. Furthermore, the dumpling’s echo Ha Jin’s desire to structure the story around unconventional circumstances and assert a sence of identity to Guhan’s character. The Chinese government was organized and wanted to do what they thought was right for the state as a whole. Unfortunately for Guhan, he was loosing his identity and individualism for the greater good of China. Abnormal behavior is never more apparent than in the story titled In the Kindergarten. When Shaona becomes the second child of her household, she is forced to live outside the city limits in a rural foster home. It is my assumption that Ha Jin is referring to the second child as a male since they are heavily praised in the Chinese Culture. The story depicts how children at a young age do whatever they want to do, inherit bad language and often misbehave. Social conformity and propaganda have yet to be ingrained, as quoted when Weilan, another student in the kindergarten is caught saying â€Å"Big asshole† (47) to another student, who in reply says, â€Å"Say that again, bitch! He went up to her, grabbed her shoulders, pushed her to the ground, and kicked her buttocks† (47). Compared to Alive, this story focuses on the Chinese attempt to secure conformity for all of its citizens. In my opinion, the Kindergarten story is what Chinese life is like prior to the events in the short story Alive. It shows the purity of children at an early age and how social norms are not necessarily inherited; they are learned. Main characters Beina and Haung Baowen join hands in matrimony as a marriage of convenience in the story, Bridegroom. Ha Jin uncovers the truth behind homosexuality in China and the need for Baowen to become protected under the guise of marriage to Beina. To the Chinese society, â€Å"Homosexuality originated in western capitalism and Bourgeois lifestyle. According to [our] law, it’s dealt with as a kind of hooliganism† (96). In this story, Baowen was caught in a club called â€Å"Men’s World† that was a type of salon that only admitted men. He was subsequently arrested and sent to a mental hospital to cure his supposed illness instead of serving a jail sentence. While in the mental hospital, Ha Jin structures the story around Baowen’s accounts of electro-shock therapy as a way to stop homosexual acts and maintain harmony and uniformity amongst the Chinese citizens. Ha Jin is specific about the torture when he mentions how â€Å"Baowen was noiseless in the electrified water, with his eyes shut and his head resting on a black rubber pad at the end of the tub. He looked fine, rather relaxed †¦ Then the nurse gave him more electricity† (106). Unfortunately, Haung repeated the crime of homosexual acts and was subsequently sent to prison. Ha Jin uses this brutal story to show how the government intends to mold its citizens into a ‘family unit’ or community. For the government, there is an image, or structure in which an individual is to conform to so that the community as a whole is structured. The irony is that there is no real mention or word for individualism although it is apparent that the oppressive social values that Ha Jin illustrates through the story of Baowen, shows how a government can undermine a person’s happiness and individualistic nature. In the story, Women from New York, Chin Jinli goes to America to seek a better life for her family. Unfortunately, her trip back to China is faced with the harsh realities of life under Communist China and their perception of American culture; believing that â€Å"Wall Street was paved with gold bricks† (173). Jinli’s family does not take well to her New York trip since she obtained money and wanted to get her teaching job back. To them, â€Å"She looked like a different woman, wearing a gold necklace, her lips rouged, her eyelashes blackened with ink, and even her toenails dyed red †¦ In a way, her makeup and manners verified the hearsay that she had become the fifteenth concubine of a wealthy Chinese man in New York City† (172). Fearing that she had disrupted the delicate balance of harmony, the Chinese government refused her job. Her family shunned her and at every attempt to be become re-acclimated, Jinli’s family looked at her as an outsider. Ultimately, Jinli found herself as an individual, counter to the Chinese, who were so encapsulated in a one-person, one-idea state. It is without notice that Ha Jin interconnects the four stories with fictional accounts of individualism and the struggle the Chinese people have gone through to maintain it, or even imagine it. Form the stores of Guhan’s dumplings, to the accounts of Baowen’s troubled battle of homosexuality, Ha Jin identifies the characters, shares their life story and defines a commonality all through the use of satire.

Analysis of Animal Farm and It’s Characters

Animal Farm is an allegorical fable of the workers revolt and the rise to power of the communist party in the former Soviet Union shortly after World War I and in particular the rise to supremacy of Joseph Stalin, as told in the form of a story of the farm animals of Manor Farm who overthrow the drunken farmer Jones and seize control of the farm for themselves. In this allegory, farmer Jones represents the Russian aristocracy and the animals represent the peasants, working class, and some elements of the middle class who revolted against them.The various animals on the farm were intended by Orwell to represent the various classes and responses of individuals to power. The pigs clearly represent the ruling class and the lust for power, the ones who will go out of their way to get what they want. They also represent the intellectual class, because of their capacity to read and write. First among the pigs is Old Major, the boar who prophesizes the revolution. He is based on the politica l economist Karl Marx, and, like Marx, dies before the revolution occurs, but whose teachings inspired the revolution.After the revolution, two pigs: Snowball and Napoleon, rise to prominence in the ruling pig class. Snowball was Orwell’s portrayal of the intellectual orator Leon Trotsky, who was outmanoeuvred for the leadership of the Russian communist party after the death of Lenin by Stalin, who is represented in Animal Farm by Napoleon. Snowball, like Trotsky, comes to be portrayed by the ruling forces as an anti-revolutionary figure who they claim to be working behind the scenes to undermine what happens on the farm.Second in the social ladder of Animal Farm are the puppies, taken from their mother at birth and indoctrinated by Napoleon. They signify the elite revolutionary guard, most loyal to the leadership but who also benefit from that loyalty. Further down the ladder is Boxer, the work-horse who is very loyal to authority. The expression â€Å"work-horse† ref ers to a â€Å"person or machine that dependably performs hard work over a long period of time† which corresponds perfectly with Boxer and his motto: â€Å"I will work harder†.He symbolizes the hard working peasant class, who in communist societies were always hailed by the ruling class but who were also secretly feared by them for their strength. Lower on the ladder you find the sheep. They are the ignorant ones and symbolize the uneducated, those most easily duped and fooled by power, and from whom the ruling class gain most of their authority. Finally, there is Benjamin the donkey, who represents cynicism, those who recognize corruption but do nothing to stop it and follow the current; those who go along and try not to be noticed.Only once does Benjamin become exited, and it happens when his friend Boxer gets carried away by the glue cart and taken to his untimely death, in the same way that mister Jones would have done. Among the humans, the main characters are Mis ter Frederick and Mister Pilkington. They represent Germany and England respectively. They compete both for the favour of Animal Farm but both wish to undo Animal Farm. Animal Farm is partly saved by the fact that Mr. Fredrick and Mr. Pilkington don’t get along, and their conflict represent the struggles in Europe during the years of the Second World War and those leading up to it.Mr. Fredericks attack on Animal Farm near the end of the book is a portrayal of the treachery of a pact signed between Stalin and Hitler, which lead to the siege of Leningrad. In essence, the novella deals with the way power becomes consolidated in smaller and smaller hands, until it is essentially controlled by one animal, Napoleon. After Jones is overthrown, power is shared by every animal, intelligent or not, but quickly comes to reside only in the hooves of the ruling class, better known as the pigs, then only in Napoleon’s.It is the story of how power corrupts everything. Animal Farm is perceived, at the beginning, as an idealistic farm where power is divided into the hands of all, and the repartition of power was voted by every animal. Therefore one can argue that Animal Farm’s political power was gained in legitimate way, which means it was accepted by all the animals. Even though Animal Farm depicted an optimistic regime, it did not take long before its state deteriorated. It is easily relatable to the power in the Soviet Union at the time.Whilst Stalin gained power in an illegal way by duping the soviet population and making Trotsky flee, he portrayed himself as the greatest thing that ever happened to the Union, and conned his people by creating a lifestyle in which everyone had equal rights and duties. Like in the Soviet Union, once power was contained by the more authoritative, in this case the pigs, it became progressively illegitimate. Putting the control in smaller and smaller hooves, the animals on the farm slowly lost power, and therefore the pow er became illegitimate, because it was not accepted fully by all the animals.Although Orwell was a socialist, his novel demonstrates how for revolutions to succeed, violent men are needed to run the revolution, but once successful, these men are going to remain violent to maintain their doctrine. It is also interesting to see how the animals represent the different psychologies of individuals coming to deal with something that they believed with every fiber of their being to be good but which turns out to be totally wrong.On the one extreme you have the sheep types, who are far too ignorant to understand what is going on, while on the other you have the Benjamin-the-donkey types who know that it is wrong but decide to go with it because they are too cynical to believe that there is a possibility of a better world. According to my edition of the book, this novella was written between November 1943 and February 1944. The siege of Leningrad, which is depicted in the novel, only ends at the end of January 1944, just a few weeks before Orwell completed his principal draft of the novella.Also, the novella was first published in England in August 1945, just a few months after the end of World War II. The final chapter, however, begins with the sentence: â€Å"Years passed†, and tells the history of Animal Farm in the years after the battle with Frederick. What is interesting is that the first nine chapters of the novella is a fable of the history of the Soviet Union up to the end of World War II. But because the novella was published in 1945, this final chapter is Orwell’s speculation of the future direction of the Soviet Union.In it, he draws an Animal Farm that becomes increasingly like it was before the expulsion of Jones, except even more brutal. The relationships between the pigs and the other farmers become gradually more closer, and ultimately the name of Animal Farm returns to the name Manor Farm. Clearly, the history of the Soviet Union in the cold war period is vastly different of that depicted by Orwell in the final chapter of the book; the reality of post World War II era is that the Soviet Union did not go back to being named Russia and did not denounce Marxism.Personally, I think that while accurately predicting a ruling class that would become more and more aristocratic and less and less concerned for the welfare of its citizens, Orwell also tries to depict a Soviet ruling class that isn’t the worst ruling class, but how is it as bad as those in other countries. This becomes clear in that final scene where the pigs and the farmers start toasting each other and the farmers praise the pigs successes. The final line of the book reads, â€Å"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which. â€Å"

Strategic Analysis of Apple Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Strategic Analysis of Apple Inc - Essay Example Purpose of the essay is to analyze the strategies Apple Inc. used in their business to serve as a guide and inspiration to entrepreneurs who want to start their own business. As shown in the data analysis, Apple Computer used marketing strategies that gave the company a definite competitive advantage over its large competitors. The company devoted a lot of resources and used the innovative skills and technical competence of its personnel to become one of the largest computer companies in the world. Its mission and vision have been rightly tracked to its operations and have guided the company. The company is facing lawsuits on unethical business behaviors, but the researcher believes that they have not violated any unethical behavior because of the protection of patent law. However, as a public corporation, it is their corporate responsibility to serve a great number of people that will in turn contribute to the profitability of the company in the long run. As the company derives its success from its personnel, motivation and rewards should be given. The recommended rewards are bonus and profit sharing plus non monetary rewards. Mergers and acquisitions are recommended to establish long term growth and strengthen position in the market. It is also concluded by the researcher that at the moment the biggest problem of Apple is the fierce competition in the industry, that companies resort to merger and acquisition to compete globally as globalization presents a wide opportunity for computer companies.

Airline Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Airline Marketing - Essay Example Thus, it is necessary for the company to decide which advertisement can work or not work for the company (Shaw 311). In this context, applicability of print advertising in the airline industry will be checked. The advantages and disadvantages of print advertisement will be offered. Print Advertising Print advertising normally includes newspapers, directories, technical press, leaflets, yellow pages, and magazines. In the UK, print advertising accounts for about 75% of all the advertising expenditure. It is estimated that some million advertisers’ use print media on a daily basis and that over 12000 publications are found in the UK (Blythe 486). Print adverting usually contains unasked for and sought after advertisements. Sought after advertisements is classified and categorized according to product brand and consumer need. These are advertisements are considered to be people’s choice as people seek out for them. They contain all the information required by the readers. Unsought after advertisements are the display advertisements that are made to be eye-catching and persuasive to the readers (Blythe 487). Some of the elements that make the unsought after advertisements gain the reader’s attention include: Text – the weight of the content tends to have a significant impact on capturing the reader’s attention. ... Permanence – it is important to note that print advertising unlike radio and TV is permanent. This is because the advertisement can be reread or clipped and saved. Among the print advertisements, magazines are kept for longer period than the newspapers while directories are normally kept for many years. Print media are easily read on airplanes, buses and on trains. This is because individuals rarely bring with them TVs or even radios on public transport. In such a case, the print advertising gets the readers full attention (Blythe 486). The success of advertising can be evaluated through checking coupon returns. Statistics are generally available on readership, circulation, and sales figures. These figures make the planning of media easier. Most of the magazines gather data on the reader’s characteristics and they are capable of telling potential advertisers about the readers’ demographics and the types of purchases they make (Blythe 487). Newspapers, magazines, and periodicals are the common types of print advertising used by most organizations as their marketing communication strategies. Each form of print advertising has its own advantages and disadvantages and thus it is the mandate of the organization or the company to choose the type of print advertising that suits them best. Newspapers are not costly hence; local retailers usually buy about 85% of them. Retailers use newspaper advertising extensively because it is relatively cheap in comparison with other forms of media advertisements. The newspapers offer local coverage thus a lot of money is not wasted in attempting to reach individuals outside the scope of company’s market area. It is timely and the advertisements can be placed prior to their appearance (usually

How should we live on the earth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

How should we live on the earth - Essay Example Hence, land is valuable to man and even biblically â€Å"since the days of Ezekiel and Isaiah†. The question of how we should live on earth has been there since the early civilization of man. Through his works, Leopold can be referred to as the founder of establishing how man and the environment should coexist. This is because he is regarded as the first person to invoke the topic on land ethic in the 21st century. He came up with this terminology through his book ‘A Sand County Almanac’. He referred to land ethic as a theory that directs human beings actions in land utilization or when making changes to land (Leopold). It is wise for human beings to safeguard and conserve the land as he lives on earth. Leopold argued that Land ethic is a limitation of the freedom to use land when trying to exist. Further, ethics have developed with evolution of man and ecology. Ethics mean that there are socially acceptable and unacceptable ways of dealing with or utilizing land. The use of land ethics starts from an individual whereby, the individual should cultivate ways of coexisting with the environment. Secondly, land ethics can be exercised by the community that can develop instincts and rules of how it should coexist with land. Therefore, there are various inspirations, theories and explanations that explain how we should live on earth and some of them are highlighted in this essay. ... When we relate this to the current world, these members are all that makes up the earth we live in. Each of these members should live in coexistence with others in a big community. Land ethic in this community inspires changes in the role of human beings on earth from being conquerors of the community, to being members in the community (Leopold). Therefore, human beings should respect the other members of the community to ensure there is coexistence. Secondly, we should ensure that there is harmonious living between the earth and us. As human beings, we should have knowledge and use it to ensure that the earth is in a state of harmony. Humans should embrace education that is focused towards conservation so that they can ensure harmony in the earth. To promote harmony, we should seek to ensure that the ecology in our environment is conserved. To support this, People should join in organizations so that they can step up education about the environment. The knowledge gained through such education should be used to conserve the earth and hence, ensure harmony (Leopold). For example, farmers should be educated on soil conservation methods in order to prevent soil erosion, learn how to use machinery on their fields and good crop farming techniques. They should use this knowledge to ensure that the community (the earth) also benefits from their activities. To live in harmony, we must perceive the earth as a friend, therefore, this will help us to see that the earth provides for our needs, and we should care for it. In addition, we should perceive the earth as one complete living organism, which has various parts that include all the members, who must all cooperate with each other. Thirdly, we should live in the earth by first identifying our position in the

Australia Broadcasting Comporation report Essay

Australia Broadcasting Comporation report - Essay Example Starting from news papers to the modern online network of mass communication encompasses a wide variety of means to ensure the seamless flow of communication. The mass media at present has evolved developed enormously from the earlier stages. The accuracy and speed of communication through various media have remarkably advanced. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is a key player in the field of mass communication, and the national broadcaster of Australia they have a long, successful presence of eighty years in this field. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), informally known as ‘Aunty,’ is a publicly owned national broadcaster of Australia. ABC has been providing various communication services to the country since last eighty years. It started its journey with radio service at national level and has enlarged its broadcasting service to global level with ABC online services. ABC provides radio, television, mobile and online services to national as well as global customers. The services of ABC are available in all regions of the country and they have played major role in various emergency and important situations. ABC also performs a variety of other functions. â€Å"The ABC also operates network of retailing outlets known as ABC enterprises.... ABC also performs a variety of other functions. â€Å"The ABC also operates network of retailing outlets (24 shops and 119 ABC centres) known as ABC enterprises. Operations include the production of books, classical and contemporary recordings, audio cassettes, videos, multimedia and licensed products, and music and magazine publishing† (2000 Year Book Australia No. 82 2000, p. 349). This paper discusses the history of ABC in the following segments. The services provided by ABC- radio, television and online are analyzed separately. The national and global coverage of the ABC services are also examined and the most effective means of communication service provided by ABC is identified. 3. ABC - A History: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, formerly known as Australian Broadcasting Company, was established by the government of Australia on 1st July 1932 to run the National Broadcasting Services as the Postmaster General’s Department failed to do the operation. The f irst broadcasting service of Australian Broadcasting Company was Radio service and ABC had 12 radio stations in major cities of the country at its beginning. Inspired from BBC, the working of ABC was done accordingly. The period of World War II (WW- II) and the period following it, were crucial in the history of Australian Broadcasting Company. During WW- II, considering the importance of communication and providing information to the people, the Australian Broadcasting Act was passed in 1942. This gave the company the power to make decisions to broadcast political speeches without external interferences. In 1948, ABC was given complete government appropriation through amendments made in the Broadcasting Act. The next major mile stone of Australian

The Desert Rat-Kangaroo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 179

The Desert Rat-Kangaroo - Essay Example Although the desert environment is harsh, the desert rat kangaroo had adapted to the conditions and survived in the ecosystem until interference in its natural habitat contributed majorly to its extinction. Humans were both directly and indirectly involved in the alteration of the mammal’s natural habitat by introducing herbivores such as rabbits and cattle, setting off an imbalance in the ecosystem. Fire regimes also played a key role in the destruction of the habitat (Fisher & Blomberg, 2010). Although the rat kangaroo was largely independent of water, there was increased competition for green plant with beetles. Other factors for its extinction include predation by foxes and cats. Since they were relatively small and hence vulnerable to predators, much of their self defense was in the ability to make high and quick leaps. The extinction of the desert rat kangaroo did not impact on the desert food chain significantly mainly because it was a replaceable species. More importan tly, they were not direct competitors of surface water with any other species because all their water requirements were met by the water contained in the green plants in their diet. Being herbivorous animals, their role in the ecosystem was gradually assumed by cattle as the rat kangaroo’s population diminished. However, the population of beetles, weevils and other small insects of which the rat kangaroo was a key consumer increased. The most notable difference was a decline in the number of desert fox (Fisher & Blomberg, 2010). The orangutan is a primate that depends entirely on forests for survival. Unfortunately, high illegal and legal logging and deforestation rates are contributing to its increasingly endangered status.