A Look at Victimization in Lolita Essay Example

A Look at Victimization in Lolita Essay Example A Look at Victimization in Lolita Essay A Look at Victimization in Lolita Essay introduces the story; Lolita, or the Confession of a White Widowed Male,(Nabokov, Vladmir Lolita, 3) as written by a middle-aged European pedophile named Humbert Humbert. The essentials of this title immediately strike you as controversial considering that a lolita is a promiscuous young girl and a confession is an admission of ones sins. Hum is viewed as the victimizer by others, but views himself as the victim. He blames Lolita for his disposition, but also feels responsible for causing Lolita so much pain. How can a twelve-year-old girl have so much power over an adult? Who is the victim and who is the victimizer? In the following essay this topic of discussion will be examined thoroughly as we explore Humbert and his love interest, Lolita. The novel is written in first person narrative which creates a pragmatic depiction of Humbert; an obsessive, disillusioned and deviant character. He is full of contradictions and says I knew I had fallen in love with Lolita forever; but I also knew she would not be forever Lolita. (Nabokov, Vladmir Lolita, 7) which meant that he was conscious of the situation he was entering, however he made an excuse for himself to ease his conscious. In part one, you are taken back in time to Hums childhood where you are introduced to his Howell 2 childhood sweetheart, Annabelle. It then becomes evident that his obsession with Lolita started with Annabelle. He was hau nted by the memories of his lost love, therefore the only way to kill Hums pain was to incarnate Annabelle with another. Upon meeting Lolita, Humbert immediately recognizes the similarity between the two. Lolita was a fatal consequence of that princedom by the sea in my tortured past. (Nabokov, Vladmir Lolita, 11) Humbert becomes obsessed with Lolita, this obsession is displayed through his actions, behavior, dialect and need for total control. Humbert manipulates and controls Lolita, as well as others in the novel and even the reader, exhibited by directly addressing them as his jury. Humbert rationalizes with the reader about his obsession with Lolita, manipulating them into thinking he is mentally ill and does not know that his actions are wrong. This is precisely what his plan is; to get the readers to sympathize with him. Humbert starts his manipulation with Lolitas mother, Charlotte, who falls madly in love with him. He recognizes the opportunity to take advantage of Charlottes endearment for him and decides to trick Charlotte into thinking that he is in love with her and marries her to stay close with Lolita. However he does not succeed in doing this because Charlotte is jealous of the affection Lolita receives from Humbert. He successfully ridicules Charlotte for example, as a representative middle class american uffoon but he fails to see that her very inadequacines expose him as well. In some ways Charlotte is very much like Humbert. Charlottes hopeless passion for Humbert for example parallels Humbert for Lolita. Despite Humberts ridicule ,Charlottes romantic feelings are not so different from his, belying his claims that his ecstasies are special. (Wallace, Howell 3 4:2493-2494) Charlotte is very selfish, materialis tic and easily influenced by media. Charlotte Haze has her perceptions and her mode of expression shaped by soap operas, psychoanalysis and cheap novelettes. Humbert is familiar with the patterned experiences and cliched phraseology of these forms and is able to use his knowledge to deceive Charlotte. (Winston, 4:2487) As a writer, Humbert is able to use his literary skills to create Charlottes perfect romantic fantasy, enabling him to be intimate with Lolita without Charlotte noticing. Eventually Charlotte becomes jealous when the majority of Hums attention is directed to Lolita and sends her to summer camp, with proceeding plans to send her to boarding school when she returns home. When Charlotte reveals er plans, Humberts obsession with Lolita comes to an extreme when he considers killing Charlotte for the sole purpose of being next to Lolita. Ironically, Charlottes jealousy leads her to find out the truth of Humberts feelings towards Lolita and in an attempt to expose him for the pedophile he really is, it struck by a vehicle and killed.? Lolita is much like her mother in her fondness for Humbert. Her admiration for him is visible th roughout the book. For example, Lolita has various scribbling and doodles of the two of them together on the walls of her room and the cliched DL HH, enclosed in a heart, carved into her headboard. She also make her adoration evident by the affection she displays. She never leaves his side when they are together and is very flirtatious with him. When Humbert picks Lolita up from Summer Camp after her mothers death, Lolita informs Humbert that she had been unfaithful to him by experimenting sexually with a boy from camp. Lolita is seemingly mature for her age, and is referred to by Humbert as a nymphet. This allegation proves true by her promiscuity at camp Howell 4 and her vampish behavior. Humbert shares with us that he was not at fault in his relationship with Lolita and that it was her who seduced him. This could very easily be regarded as truth due to the path of action she takes. For example, in the Enchanted Hunters hotel room the morning after she returns from camp Lolita questions Humberts past relationships and asks him if he has ever had sex as a child. When he answers no, she proceeds to copulate with him. Humbert states that, for her, sex was just another activity between children, unconnected to what adults do behind closed doors. Lolita likes to play on Humberts emotions, she will intentionally tease him then push him away when he gets close. She often contradicts her actions by threatening to tell the police that Humbert raped her after having sex with him. Lolita constantly hurts Humbert with her indifference and rebuffs him when he pleads for her affection. Humbert often buys gifts for Lolita as an attempt to keep her interested in him. Humbert eventually comes to realize that his continual sexual activity with Lolita has given her an impression that attracts other men and boys. He ries to prevent Lolita from having any other interaction with the male species, and allows Lolita to interact with other girls her age and participate in select activities like horseback riding, tennis and theater in exchange for sexual favors. Humbert often bribes Lolita with money in exchange for intercourse. Humbert emphasizes to Lolita that if she turns him in for rape she will become a ward of the state and be enrolled in t he state-run reformatory school. His desire for Lolita is so strong that he neglects her feeling as a human being, keeping her just content enough to still want intercourse with him. Lolita is very deviant and is able to convince Humbert to take her away on a road trip to Howell 5 wherever she wants to go. He assumes that she just wants to be with him and agrees, little does he know that Lolita has planned to escape him and elope with another man. Lolitas theatrical experience makes it easy for her to deceive Humbert. He observes a man, which seemed to be following them on their journey, but dismisses it for a hallucination. Lolita had been in contact with the man the whole time her and Humbert were traveling. Lolita soon convinces Humbert that she is ill and is taken to a hospital. Humbert decides to stay in a motel close to the hospital, and when he returns to retrieve Lolita, he is informed that she had already been checked out by another relative. This whole plot Lolita had planned provides useful information about her character, taking on the assertion that she had manipulated Humbert into thinking that she was in love with him. Deceiving him so that he would not be suspicious of her other lover. This proves that Lolita was the more manipulative of the two in a romantic setting. Although Lolita had toyed with Hums emotions and pretended to love him, she could have suffered from adolescent bipolar disorder, but was never diagnosed with it. Lolita had almost all of the common symptoms of early-onset bipolar disorder; marked irritability, frequent mood swings, impulsivity, restlessness, silliness, aggressive behavior, rages and explosive temper tantrums, oppositional behavior, grandiosity, hypersexuality, confusion, manipulative behavior, bossiness, lying, and depressed moods. While there is continuing debate over the validity of the diagnosis of mania in hildren, since 1994 a number of systematic clinical investigations and family/ genetic studies have begun to shed light on the presentation and naturalistic course of childhood-onset bipolar disorder, suggesting a developmentally different Howell 6 presentation in young children as compared to its adult form. Adult-onset and juvenile-onset forms of BPD have certain similar features and comorbidities in common, but in the juvenile form of the disorder, the complexities wrought by the frequent overlap of symptoms with other disorders that are far more commonly iagnosed in childhood has had a confounding affect on clinical diagnostic practice for years. (Papolos, Cockerham, Hennen) If she had had this disorder, it could explain why she had been back and fourth with Humbert. She was often irritated with him and often had mood swings after intercourse. Given this information about Lolita were true, it would be in irony that Humbert was suffering from an illness of the same type, trying to make the reader believe that he was indeed mentally ill. Some may think that Humberts relationship with Lolita would be the primary cause of her bipolar nature. However, Lolita displayed signs of adolescent bipolar disorder far before their first sexual encounter. In spite of Lolitas voiced desire for Humbert, Humbert should not have exploited Lolita either. He knew from the beginning that his feeling for her were wrong. Although pedophilia remains illegal, and our culture still considers it morally wrong, recent changes in the APAs own diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM) have reopened the discussion of the psychological dimension of pedophilia. History of the Diagnosis. In the DSM-III, the American Psychiatric Association contended that merely acting upon ones rges toward children was considered sufficient to generate a diagnosis of pedophilia. (Rind) Howell 7 The years after Lolita left were spent being studied by psychologists in various sanitariums for not only the exploitation of young girls, but the Murder of Claire Quincy, Lolitas other Lover. Humbert would have then been labeled a pedophile and received medical help to cure him. However, he also exhibited severe skitzotypical behavior, therefore making it near impossible to diagnose him. He would purposely take on symptoms he did not have, make up illusions, and lie about dreams and thoughts he had, causing a falsified diagnostic. Instead of accepting that he had an illness, Humbert wanted to keep his and Lolitas affair sacred. He may have also had a personality complex which is exhibited in his paranoia and fits of rage, which would explain why he killed Quincey so violently. In conclusion, both Humbert and Lolita were possible victims of mental illness which would have caused them to behave out of the normal character. Each one abused the other, Humbert in pursuing and obsessing over Lolita and Lolita in encouraging Humberts desires for her and making him think that it was acceptable to do so. Humbert really did love Lolita, despite the relationships immorality and was extremely hurt when he had found out that Lolita left him for another man. Humbert is the hero with the tragic flaw. Humbert is every man who is driven by desire, wanting his Lolita so badly that it never occurs to him to consider her as a human being, or as anything but a dream-figment made fleshwhich is the eternal and universal nature of passion.

Nursing Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Nursing Theory - Research Paper Example This partnership has an aim of enabling patients better manage and control the disease. If properly administered and adhered to by both parties, the partnership helps reduce social, economic, physical and psychological effects of chronic illness (Fowler, Kirschner, Van Kuiken and Baas, 2007). In the 21st century, the needs of patients, more so those with chronic illness, continue to draw attention from researchers. The nature of chronic diseases is that they last for a long period of time, developing slowly but surely. Since the majority of the illnesses have no cure, it becomes difficult to predict effects in the long-term. However, with medication some of the symptoms and problems can be tackled. On the contrary some patients find themselves severely affected by the disease. Diseases such as diabetes, depression arthritis, and hypertension may limit individuals’ daily activities. As much as these chronic conditions might have clinical differences, needs arising from the illnesses are similar for patients and their families. For instance it is important to have behavioral changes, emotional and social impacts of symptoms, disabilities, approaching death must be dealt with. The patient must endeavor to take medicines consistently and continue to interact with medi cal care (Marquis and Huston, 2009). On the other hand it is the duty of health care practitioners to ensure patients are better informed and allowed access to the best treatment. In this way the patients will be able to effectively manage their health and death. This goal cannot be realized without effective leadership and management skills by the nurses. Apart from the skills which as vital for the nursing practice, the recovery process can be fostered by good leadership skills by the nurse (Stanley, 2008). One area where the skill can be applied is in influencing legislation and health care policy. Though the level of power of the nurse cannot be compared

Ethnic Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethnic Studies - Essay Example And now is not different from the past, America, despite of her resources and good life to its people faced countless issues regarding race, ethnicity and varied culture of its immigrants and the so called "native white Americans." These among others are continuously become a subject of heated debates and arguments from scholars, politicians and for every Tom, Dick and Harry. This essay will examine the theories and arguments presented by Patrick J. Buchanan's book entitled The Death of the West. Similarly, the essay will also discuss selected important jurisprudence and laws regarding the Ethnic Population in the United States of America. Buchanan's The Death of the West basically discusses migration of different people to the United States. The author gave his theories and arguments regarding the influx migrants from various parts of the world and how these migrants affects the current society of the United States of America. America was once described as the great melting pot of all the races of Europe which correspondingly paved the movement for reformation. Buchanan argued that the biggest immigration in recent years came from all races of Asia, Africa and Latin America to which Buchanan says "are not melting and reforming." (Buchanan: 3) Consequently, America is faced with an abyss for ethnicity and loyalty. In this line, Buchanan supported this argument by stating that among the US' 31 million foreign born, a third are illegal, tens of thousands are loyal to the regimes which the US are at war with and some are trained terrorists. (Buchanan: 2) These increase in migration are encountered due to varying degrees of social as well as legal factors and as such, it posed as a threat of deconstructing the American nation for the reason that people have more or less nothing in common in matters like common history, language, culture and ancestors among others. And as such, it may bring forth separatism on account of ethnic and racial background and ideologies. Buchanan in his work pointed out that due to this influx of migration, the United States risked itself on a so called culture war which afterward results in divisiveness among people. There are social and moral issues which confront the varied background of the people which lives side by side in the US. These issues might likewise be considered as "Transvaluation" of all values for the reason that old virtues become sins and the old sins become virtues. (Buchanan: 5) These are among the reasons of Buchanan which leads him to ask "Is the Death of the West irreversible" (Buchanan: 10) The work presented numerous data with regards the decline of the population of the so called Western Civilization vis--vis the increase in population of the so called third world countries. The decline in population among these westerners pointed out people of German, Italian, Russian, British and Japanese decent, which in the same way the author regarded to as superior races in terms of thinking and technological advancement and even economic gains. It can be inferred therefore, that the aforementioned races belongs to the world's highly industrialized zones which are considered to be movers and shakers of our time. Such decline in the population of

Explaining The Iraqi Invasion Of Kuwait Politics Essay

Explaining The Iraqi Invasion Of Kuwait Politics Essay Baram (1994) explains that Iraqs claim to invade Kuwait is based on the argumentation that Kuwait was a district governed by Basra under Ottoman rule and, thus, Iraqi leaders have seen it as historically belonging to Iraq (p.5). Baram goes on to explain that this claim is wrong because Kuwait has long before been under autonomous rule by the Sabah family. Furthermore, she states that Iraqs aspiration to bring Kuwait under its control is partly due to Iraqs need to strengthen and stabilize its regimes legitimacy by uniting the different religious and ethnic minorities of Iraq under Iraqi patriotism (p.5). Iraq opposed the British-drawn borderline between Iraq and Kuwait because it left Iraq with only a short Gulf coastline and gave Kuwait control over the entrance and exit of Iraqs only port (p.6). Even though Iraq accepted Kuwait as a sovereign state in 1963, it did not accept the exact borderline. Iraq was supported by the Soviet Union and because the latter would not support an ann exation of Kuwait by Iraq, Iraq did not act earlier (p.6). Moreover, Iraq received aid from Kuwait during the Iran-Iraq war. Following this war, due to bad economic policies, Iraqi economy stagnated and as a result, Iraq could not demobilize its army which amounted to over 1 million at the end of the 1980s. The reason for this was that Saddam could not risk a high number of unemployed men which might result in social unrest (p.7). However, in order to keep such a high number of soldiers in the standing army, Saddam needed a good reason. Therefore, he started to revitalise the American and Zionist enemy (p.7). Iraq kept on spending on military expenditures which had the intention to turn Iraq into the Gulfs hegemonic power as Iraqs weapons could be used against Israeli offenses which, additionally, would make Iraq the Arabs protector (p.7). The downfall of the Soviet Union was disastrous for Iraq as it lost its biggest supporter in the face of the US. Furthermore, Iraq was alarmed by the Eastern European democratic revolutions bringing the totalitarian regimes down which were equally designed as Saddams Iraq (p.7). Another reason for Iraqi worries in the late 1980s was Iraqs failure to force the Syrian army to leave Lebanon and which was tolerated by the US and other Arab states (p.9). This became, according to Baram, an example for Iraq which saw the possibility to invade Kuwait and which then would be treated by external players like the Lebanon case (ibid.). After the end of the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq invoked the Kuwait crisis two years later by bringing up several issues, such as the border dispute with Kuwait, the Israeli-Palestinian problem, Americas presence in the Gulf, the issue of oil production quotas and Iraqs demand for financial aid (p.9). In order to solve all these issues, Iraq increasingly started to see an invasion of Kuwait as the best solution (ibid.). In 1990, Iraq for the first time publicly offered to take up the role of the Soviet Union as protector for the Arabs (p.10). Additionally, Iraq started to threat Israel in case it would attack any Arab state. These manoeuvres had the purpose to avert the public from increasing economic hardship, as well as the happenings in Eastern Europe and the regimes failure in the Lebanon case (p.11). Iraqs increasing public threats and announcements opened up the danger of Saddam being sucked into a war by his own rhetoric (p.14). Furthermore, this approach showed that Iraq was more and more diverting from a path of domestic policies to external ones in order to solve Iraqs problems (ibid.). Saddam by including the Israeli-Palestinian rhetoric and pan-Arab security, diverted the Arab world with Libya, the PLO, and Jordan being its closes supporters, but also Egypts Mubarak in the beginning supported Iraqs approach towards Arab security by believing in Iraqs good intentions (p.16). After receiving support from at least a fraction of the Arab states for its Arab security approach, Iraq started to accuse Kuwait of stealing oil from Iraq and thus, two strategically important islands in the Gulf should be given to Iraq (ibid.). Iraqi-Kuwait relations further deteriorated when oil prices fell and the OPEC quota was not fully supported by Kuwait (p.17). This in turn led to Iraq starting to mobilise troops and station them at the Kuwaiti border. Iraq shifted its demands whenever it fitted best from economic reasons to territorial claims (p.19). Egypts Mubarak in this period publicly proclaimed that Saddam promised to him that he would not attack Kuwait. The USAs reaction to the build up of the crisis was to send their ambassador Glaspie to talk to Saddam. The ambassador misjudged the situation which had the outcome that diverting and ambiguous signals were sent to Saddam and Washington (p.20). Glaspie did not put pressure on Iraq, instead she followed the approach to ally with it and improve US-Iraq relations (p.20). Glaspie, being in line with the State Departments pos ition, told Saddam that the US does not interfere in inter-Arab affairs such as the Iraq-Kuwait border dispute (ibid.). Seen in this context, the American diplomatic approach was not helpful because it sent the wrong signal to Saddam, namely that America would not use force in inter-Arab disputes (ibid.). Furthermore, in July 1990, the State Department spokesperson announced that the US has no special defence or security commitments to Kuwait (p.21). This made Saddam believe that he could invade Kuwait without US involvement and that it would not make a difference if he took only parts or the entire area of Kuwait (p.21). Taking this risk of invading all of Kuwait was based on the assumption to solve the economic problems of Iraq and to put Iraq into a power position in the Arab region and by doing so mobilise domestic support (p.25). A further explanation of why Iraq invaded all of Kuwait was, according to Baram, Saddams personality treats. Advisors could not interfere in any decis ions already made by Saddam because of his personality. He saw himself as invincible warrior and empire-builder (p.26). Barams text about the reasons of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait is very comprehensive and comprehensible and it looks at the issue in detail and from different perspectives. What was especially interesting was the detailed description of the US diplomatic approach and how a misjudgement can lead to such far-reaching outcomes. Furthermore, Barams text looks in detail at Saddam as leader and how his decisions were very logical and calculating even though they were based on false assumptions and miscalculations. Therefore, Barams text shows that Saddam did not in any way act irrationally or injudiciously. However, it could be looked at in more detail in how far Saddam became able to act in this way after the fall of the Soviet Union, its main supporter. Baram mentions that the Soviet Union would not support an invasion of Kuwait, but she does not go into more detail concerning the timing of the invasion of Kuwait and the downfall of the Soviet Union. I think the question could have been e xplored in more detail in how far that was also a part of the reason for Saddams invasion at that time or Saddams possibility for invasion since the Soviet Union no longer kept Iraq from invasion. Mark Heller (1994) discusses Iraqs army power and Western perception of the strengths of the Iraqi army. His claim is that the Gulf war was a result of Western misperception of Iraqs army strength and capabilities (p.37). According to him, a Western threat to use military force would have been enough in 1990 after the invasion to persuade Saddam to leave, however, the debate in the Western public undercut this option and made it impossible (ibid.). It was argued that a war with Iraq would result in high numbers of casualties and thus, the message that was send to Saddam was that a military US intervention was very unlikely and withdrawal was not necessary (ibid.). Heller argues that the debate about Iraqi army strength completely ignored the armys performances in the past, which had not been able to perform well in wars against foreign powers even if its weapons were plenty and effective (p.38). The reason for this is that due to Iraqs regime type, it had to give more priority to the preservation of the regime than to the military (p.47). This is due to the fragmentation of the Iraqi population and the lack of legitimacy as well as national identity which makes the regime vulnerable and the army less effective (ibid.). For this reason, Saddam had acquired weapons which could be operated by a highly centralised small elite of soldiers in order not to have to rely on the rest of the army which was rather ineffective (p.48). Heller argues that a war might have not been prevented but at least American response could have been more effective diplomacy-wise if the military capabilities of Iraq had not been overestimated by the public (p.38). Thus, Iraq would have withdrawn if the diplomatic messages and pressure would have been more evident. This article shows a very interesting view point which is not taken up by most other texts which deal with the topic. It shows a completely different angle by looking at US diplomatic shortcomings and where these were rooted in. Even though this article is rather short and more detailed evidence should be given about the public debate in the West, this article tries to give a plausible explanation for US behaviour and why the US did not put more diplomatic pressure on Iraq. However, a little flaw that occurs to me in this text is that even tough the military strength of the standing army overall were more limited, the weapons that could be used by a small elitist group could still be as disastrous concerning casualties as a high number of soldiers. Therefore, in my opinion the argument that the public overestimated the military capabilities loses a little bit of its ground. Nevertheless, the end argument still works because Saddam could have been deterred if the US had used more dipl omatic pressure but this was halted due to public discourse. Clawson (1994) discusses Iraqs economic situation prior to the war and the effects of economic sanctions on Iraq. Clawson establishes that Iraq has all the good preconditions for a well-working economy and a prosperous population. This includes that Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world, Iraq has vast and rich agricultural areas and a, to a certain extent, well-trained manpower is available; nevertheless, Iraq has economic problems and the people liver under economic hardship (p.69). According to Clawson, the Iraqi economy has a lot of potential; however, successive Iraqi regimes have put ideology before economic stability and the well-being of the Iraqi population (ibid.). Due to damaging policies, especially the oil and the agricultural sector have been harmed (ibid.). Iraq pursued a confrontational policy towards the oil industry by making claims to Kuwaiti oil fields and it did not pursue closer relations with other oil states as well as developed countries in ord er to profit from efficient technology for oil production. Furthermore, the Baath party completely controlled the economy which halted economic growth (p.70). The government, especially under Saddam, wasted its resources for large-scale projects and investments which did not serve any useful purpose for economic growth. Clawson attributes this to Saddams Nebuchadnezzar complex which means that Saddam wants to build glorious buildings in order to underline his magnificence as a leader (ibid.). In the time prior to the war, Iraq claimed that its financial situation leads it to take action. Iraq, furthermore, claimed that Kuwait is to be blamed for part of its economic situation, which was used in order to distract the Iraqi public from the fact that it was Saddams disastrous economic policies which are responsible for the peoples hardship (p.71). According to Clawson, Iraqs economic situation in 1990 was actually better than it had been the years 1986 to 1989, which could be seen in I raqs ability to repay more debts in 1990 (ibid.). Therefore, Iraqs economic problems are long-term and not due to an allegedly short-term crisis with Kuwait. Saddam was unwilling to cut back on his grand projects for his own glorification and thus, was unable to meet the peoples expectation that after the Iran-Iraq war the economic situation of the population would improve (p.72). Saddams quest for more and more grand projects could only be continued if more money would flow in. At the same time, the argument that many economically important sites have been irreversibly destroyed during the Iran-Iraq war is also not true (p.77). Rather the damage was minor or at least easily reparable and not all economically important places have been destroyed if they were not associated with military sites (ibid.). Therefore, the main obstacle to economic growth for Iraq is Saddams anti-growth policies and the claim that Kuwait is responsible for it or that Iraq would recover with more money floa ting in is wrong. Clawsons article gives a good insight into Iraqs economic situation prior to the war and what the reasons for Iraqs miserable economic situation are. The article invalidates the claim that Iraqs invasion can be justified by short-term economic problems. Rather it is the regimes attempt to divert the attention from its own bad economic policies. Even though this article shows a different perspective on the underlying problems of Iraqs bad economic situation and it does invalidate the claim that Kuwait is in any way involved in Iraqs financial problems, this does not give a satisfactorily explanation why Iraq acted as it did towards Kuwait. The author indeed states that Saddam wanted to disguise the fact that it is his long-term policies that are damaging the economy. However, Saddam could have done that by different means. Therefore, this article should be treated as a one-sighted argument in the context of other arguments. Otherwise, the question could arise why Saddam did not simply spend a little more fraction of the money on the population in order to avoid unrests in the future, or why Saddam did not try to get closer to other states, Western and Arab, in order to receive more aid etc? Thus, overall the articles gives an interesting insight in the domestic economic situation of Iraq but it falls short of giving a complete and satisfactory explanation on why Iraq invaded Kuwait and why not another state or why it did not use other tools to counteract to the economic problems. Halliday (1994) does not approach the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in terms of the reasons for Iraqs decision; rather he describes the invasion and its impact on International Relations theories. Halliday states that the Gulf war in 1990 was one of the most significant international crises of the post-1945 epoch (p.109). Not only was a very high number of soldiers involved but also a high number of international diplomats and diplomacy attempts from various countries. According to Halliday, not enough attention was given to historical events. According to him, the crisis began with the death of Khomeini in 1989 (p.115). Saddam was not able to gain any influence in Iran because it remained stable after the death and therefore, Iraq turned to Kuwait (ibid.). Moreover, Halliday states that the ideology of the Baath party was not taken into account and thus, the outcome was wrongly predicted. Baathism represents the ideal for an Arab nation, a glorification of war and the strong man who figh ts for the Arab nation (p.115). Furthermore, the reason why all the diplomatic efforts that were actually undertaken failed was that Saddam believed that the US would not intervene militarily (p.116). Additionally, Saddam was only expecting sanctions which would have not meant an irreconcilable for him and Iraq (ibid.). According to Halliday, realists see the Gulf war as an interstate-conflict. For transnationalists the economic dimension was most important and the preservation of economic, i.e. oil, interests on all sides (p.120). For Marxists and structuralists, in turn, the war was one of a dominant and a subordinated power and which was justified by Western materialist interests, i.e. oil and which reinforced hegemonic power in the Middle East (ibid.). However, all these theories fail to explain the entirety of the Gulf war. Realists cannot properly explain why Iraq invaded all of Kuwait if it was not seen as one of the biggest miscalculation and misjudgements by Saddam (p.120). Furthermore, Iraqs references to pan-Arabism and Islamic issues cannot be properly explained by realist theory. Transnationalism, in turn, do not have a satisfactorily explanation for the UNs decision outcome which was not based on mutual decisions by various states but rather it was based solely on US ideas (ibid.). Furthermore, Marxists and structuralists theory is not completely applicable either because if the war was of imperial nature then this would mean that Iraq has to display a more progressive level of development in the international arena, which is not the case due to Iraqs Baathist ideology and its brutal regime among other reasons (p.120). As a reason Halliday concludes that such an event as the Gulf war in 1990 means that theoretical approaches have to be revised and thought through again more thoroughly (p.129). However, this does not mean that the existing theories have to be overthrown altogether, rather the war tested the limits of these theories and accordingly they have to be amended and adjusted. Even though this article does not contribute to the answering of the above stated question, it does give an interesting insight into the studies of IR and the reactions of theorists from different strands to this political event. Furthermore, it shows how such an event as the Gulf war can lead to a revision even if of limited degree of the existing theories. The summary of the article above is only a small extract of Hallidays text but it still shows the impact of political events on the studies of IR. The text is well-written and comprehensible, however, one question arises for me and that is how an outcome due to misconceptions and a rational intention are mutually exclusive as stated by Halliday in the context of realist assumptions? Saddam could have had intentions based on rational thinking; however, these rational ideas could have been based on misjudgements. Even tough this point is not clear to me, the overall message of the article, namely that the war presented new realitie s and facts which cannot be satisfactorily explained by existing theories and, therefore, a revision and partial reconsideration has to take place, is still an important conclusion. This shows that IR theories cannot be rigid and that constant improvement is important if they want to be able to explain and discuss political events in a future international arena.

Miranda is an American short story, which was published in 1988

â€Å"Miranda† is an American short story, which was published in 1988. It points up the conflicts that might arise when a young girl finds out that she is pregnant. In addition to the obligatory section B, I will in my essay incorporate a short analysis of the text. The main character's name is â€Å"Miranda† as the title of the story. Miranda is an 18 year old girl who, in the beginning of the story, lives at home by her parents in Los Angeles, California. The story starts the day before she leaves for College in Boston. As the story progresses Miranda's feelings are changing. In the beginning of the story she seems like a well-balanced girl. She has everything: freedom, a great boyfriend and understanding parents. She seems like any other teenage girl. But as she finds out she is pregnant, she is slowly changing. She gets more and more sceptical towards her surroundings and the whole thing with the pregnancy is not easy for her either. She also becomes more serious and melancholic, because she learns more about life; about what is consists of. Holly is Miranda's friend and roommate in Boston. She is a year older than Miranda and a more free-minded kind of girl who tries to get Miranda to see things from her point of view. She is a girl who just wants to have fun and not necessarily always thinks of the consequences of her actions. That shows when she often sleeps with her new friend Brian on week nights, and then subsequently gets visited by her boyfriend Tom in the weekends. Holly's role in the story is to put Miranda into a situation where she has to choose, to tell the reader what kind of girl Miranda is; what her values are. That seems pretty obvious when Miranda says that she wants to be owned, and that she will marry Michael. (p. 4, l. 95) Holly represents the common opinion and she is the contrast to Miranda. When Miranda comes home to her parents, they are having a conversation about her pregnancy with her and Michael. Their reaction reflects the society they live in and they are, surprisingly, more than understanding and sympathizing – or so it would seem. As a true product of their environment, they strongly advise Miranda to get an abortion. Miranda's parents do not want a daughter who does not study and therefore cannot get an education. As her mother says, she will end up as a dumb little house-wife. (p. 5, l. 147) They want her to have an abortion, so she does not end up in misery. That is not only best for her and Michael, but also for the unborn child. Miranda is mortified at the thought of killing her child. She does not care about the hardships – she is willing to accept the responsibility of the child and raise it. When her parents realise that they are not reaching Miranda, they turn to Michael in an effort to influence him. Michael is young and at school, just the same as Miranda, and although he loves her and accepts the responsibility of the child, he is thinking of his future as well as. When he first heard the news, he soon talked about marriage, because he felt that it was the right thing to do. On the other hand Michael is relieved that her parents are trying to talk her out of it, because he realized that he is not ready to be a father. Michael knows he cannot forsake the baby, otherwise he would scar Miranda. He cannot look Miranda in the eyes; probably because he feels ashamed and guilty about the whole situation. Michael is hurting Miranda when he acts the way he does. She can see that his eyes are full of relief and gratitude when her parents come to the rescue for him. In a sense they buy Michael because they know that if he wont help raise the child, neither will Miranda. Unfortunately, Michael soon realises his mistake – by giving up on the baby, he is also giving up on Miranda. You could say that the choice was between Miranda and the child, or Michael and his future. â€Å"†¦ She looked at Michael. He looked at her, guilty, ashamed (p. 6, l. 195)†¦ He had both won and lost, and his unhappy face struggled to endure both. p. 6, l. 197) The central theme in this short story is teenage pregnancy and the worries and difficulties it brings along with it. The decision to have an abortion or not is a very complicated, because it brings up intense feelings and moral questions, and this often place people in difficult situations. Miranda is an example of a girl who has a lot of thoughts after becoming pregnant. She truly wants to have the baby, but ends up giving in to the fight with her parents. Miranda falls under the traditional values of what is â€Å"the right thing to do,† but at the same time she abandons her chance for happiness. That leads us to another theme in the story: Society's view on success and happiness. Today, the ultimate idea of success is to please ourselves first, get that major degree and job – then plan a family and a future. Miranda sees it all more simply; she has a baby, she is willing to take responsibility, and plans her future along a different path than society wants for her. Every so often you have to listen to your heart, in order to make yourself happy. Maybe that means going against everyone you know and all you've been taught, but sometimes, that is the only way to be happy.

Yoshino covering

The Submissive Covering In reality, most people live through virtual fences as they feel social exclusion and racial covering arises. The fences have double standards either to protect the revered ones in protection, whereas, the common people are enclosed from society. The imagery of fence in Fences of Enclosure, Windows of Possibility and the Covering Hidden Assault Cover In our Civil Rights shows the theory of the way power structures restrict and control over society. All these fences are interconnected with racial covering in Covering The Hidden Assault on our CivilRights, where the minorities being excluded from virtual fences that restrict them from achieving mainstream. The representation of globalization is similar to white supremacy in the United States, the domination on less powered people. In this case, relating Klein term virtual fences will demonstrate how racial covering is affected by society with white supremacy Just as capitalism is built by the ones with huge reso urces. Lack of resources and racial pressure combine to create virtual fences on people who are not accepted and the search for window of possibility arises.Klein describes that the fences that protect public interest is disappearing fast. Similarly, the gap between the white and minorities is visible even on public television as virtual fences between different races. For example, when Hosting students say how they cannot imagine Asians appearing on TV, and goes says she cannot imagine any self-respecting minority could remain untroubled by the whiteness of television (Hosing, 306). It is showing the tendency of public TV not showing minorities and more likely the whites to be appeared.As invasion of the public by the private hectically put up new barriers, whether in schools, hospitals, workplaces, farms and communities, show commodity or necessity is becoming untouchable by common people Just like Asian Americans being less likely to be on public TV. The invading of the public by the private has reached into categories such as health and education, of course, but also ideas, genes, sees , now purchased, patented and fenced off, as well as traditional aboriginal remedies, plants, water and even human stem cells (197).Yes, and citizens are becoming more lack of resources and barred under many restrictions even on commodities. In both cases, it shows the bitter truth of virtual fence categorizing people in terms of race and resources, to dictate who is inside of power dynamics and who is not. One of Hosting students says that she will not mind how white television casts are and rather she will assimilate to the white norm or speak unaccented English. The productive way of getting over the barriers is to arouse the pride of authenticity as an individual feels the virtual fences of racial pressure.The window of possibility is created when Hosing speaks The Japanese believe they are a race apart, proclaiming their blood more pure than that of other peoples (299). Hosing explains how the other side of people can think differently, as well as remembering he was part of majority in mainland Japan. Hosing starts to show his Japanese pride and accept his heritage and says in Japan Hess part of majority too. The virtual fences in Klein writing relates to the racial covering mentioned by Hosing as people see the downside of either capitalism or globalization that puts bars around people or take away their rights, they conform to society.Virtual fences favor people with more accepted appearance and view someone's cultural aspect of racial identity as being different and furthermore, it elicits negative characteristic of a person, leading social exclusion. Klein says this as the fences of social exclusion can discard an entire industry, and they can also write off an entire country, as has happened to Argentina (197). The essential power of globalization has dark shadow over the world, disregarding common citizens who deposited their life savings.Th is claim clearly specifies how one country can be devastated by social exclusion. In comparison, Hosing mentions Yet if dating Janet represented assimilation in one sense, it was also its rejection. To date another Asian as to be raced apart. We would often be the only Asians in a social group (Hosing, 303). This fear comes from the worries about being fenced out of society and the racial barrier acts as locking out these people into their own barrier, groups of Asians, Hispanics and Blacks.Hosing mentions how another form of reaching windows of possibility is found as racial minorities try to breach the social contract of assimilation sometimes, Just like an African-American woman wearing cornrows. Racial covering can advance over categorical exclusion as written by Hosing, Times eave changed, and I suppose you could call it progress that a Chainman, too, may now aspire to whiteness (Hosing, 308). This also can open window of possibility as they challenge themselves to racially ass imilate to white people in order to be more conformed to society.Hosing questions how its worth asking when we will live in a society where Americans will feel central without feeling white and that we are far from that society. The virtual fences have great impact on individuals to feel socially excluded from one another, resulting racial covering to be socially accepted. Surprisingly, people are being barred from work for showing their diversity and federal Constitution and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It only protects race much more than orientation.Even at work, there's virtual fence as Hosing writes the unfairness of Title VII claims that English-only rules that require employees to speak English in the workplace (Hosing, 313). This states that the employers are being more required to be conformed to American society under their restriction. These policies have been another virtual fence on the basis of national origin. In imprison, globalization, which seems to b e decent title, misuses power over people by prevarication that co-opts only limited people controlling certain private companies that are open for certain types of people.Globalization is no longer organizing societies of the world, but as Klein explains the fences that surround the summits become metaphors for an economic model that exiles billions to poverty and exclusion (Klein, 199). This is when the activists were withstanding all the attacks from the police to confront the form of virtual fence. People fight back to open window of possibility on the social structure. Klein talks this behavior as following, their goal, which I began to explore in the final pieces in this book, is not to take power for themselves but to challenge power centralization on principle.Other kinds of windows are opening as well reclaim privatized spaces and assets for public use. (Klein, 200). They are both euphemism terms and the people misuse things are that are meant to be good to show their power over lower people. People sometimes take challenge on virtual fences to advance over exclusion and discrimination and confront at the stage. Hosing and Klein share many examples and that limited

I Wasn t Properly Taught Much About Race - 905 Words

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