Black House Chapter Fourteen

14 AT THE TOP of the steep hill between Norway Valley and Arden, the zigzag, hairpin turns of Highway 93, now narrowed to two lanes, straighten out for the long, ski-slope descent into the town, and on the eastern side of the highway, the hilltop widens into a grassy plateau. Two weatherbeaten red picnic tables wait for those who choose to stop for a few minutes and appreciate the spectacular view. A patchwork of quilted farms stretches out over fifteen miles of gentle landscape, not quite flat, threaded with streams and country roads. A solid row of bumpy, blue-green hills form the horizon. In the immense sky, sun-washed white clouds hang like fresh laundry. Fred Marshall steers his Ford Explorer onto the gravel shoulder, comes to a halt, and says, â€Å"Let me show you something.† When he climbed into the Explorer at his farmhouse, Jack was carrying a slightly worn black leather briefcase, and the case is now lying flat across his knees. Jack's father's initials, P.S.S., for Philip Stevenson Sawyer, are stamped in gold beside the handle at the top of the case. Fred has glanced curiously at the briefcase a couple of times, but has not asked about it, and Jack has volunteered nothing. There will be time for show-and-tell, Jack thinks, after he talks to Judy Marshall. Fred gets out of the car, and Jack slides his father's old briefcase behind his legs and props it against the seat before he follows the other man across the pliant grass. When they reach the first of the picnic tables, Fred gestures toward the landscape. â€Å"We don't have a lot of what you could call tourist attractions around here, but this is pretty good, isn't it?† â€Å"It's very beautiful,† Jack says. â€Å"But I think everything here is beautiful.† â€Å"Judy really likes this view. Whenever we go over to Arden on a decent day, she has to stop here and get out of the car, relax and look around for a while. You know, sort of store up on the important things before getting back into the grind. Me, sometimes I get impatient and think, Come on, you've seen that view a thousand times, I have to get back to work, but I'm a guy, right? So every time we turn in here and sit down for a few minutes, I realize my wife knows more than I do and I should just listen to what she says.† Jack smiles and sits down at the bench, waiting for the rest of it. Since picking him up, Fred Marshall has spoken only two or three sentences of gratitude, but it is clear that he has chosen this place to get something off his chest. â€Å"I went over to the hospital this morning, and she well, she's different. To look at her, to talk to her, you'd have to say she's in much better shape than yesterday. Even though she's still worried sick about Tyler, it's different. Do you think that could be due to the medication? I don't even know what they're giving her.† â€Å"Can you have a normal conversation with her?† â€Å"From time to time, yeah. For instance, this morning she was telling me about a story in yesterday's paper on a little girl from La Riviere who nearly took third place in the statewide spelling bee, except she couldn't spell this crazy word nobody ever heard of. Popoplax, or something like that.† â€Å"Opopanax,† Jack says. He sounds like he has a fishbone caught in his throat. â€Å"You saw that story, too? That's interesting, you both picking up on that word. Kind of gave her a kick. She asked the nurses to find out what it meant, and one of them looked it up in a couple of dictionaries. Couldn't find it.† Jack had found the word in his Concise Oxford Dictionary; its literal meaning was unimportant. â€Å"That's probably the definition of opopanax,† Jack says. † ‘1. A word not to be found in the dictionary. 2. A fearful mystery.' â€Å" â€Å"Hah!† Fred Marshall has been moving nervously around the lookout area, and now he stations himself beside Jack, whose upward glance finds the other man surveying the long panorama. â€Å"Maybe that is what it means.† Fred's eyes remain fixed on the landscape. He is still not quite ready, but he is making progress. â€Å"It was great to see her interested in something like that, a tiny little item in the Herald . . .† He wipes tears from his eyes and takes a step toward the horizon. When he turns around, he looks directly at Jack. â€Å"Uh, before you meet Judy, I want to tell you a few things about her. Trouble is, I don't know how this is going to sound to you. Even to me, it sounds . . . I don't know.† â€Å"Give it a try,† Jack says. Fred says, â€Å"Okay,† knits his fingers together, and bows his head. Then he looks up again, and his eyes are as vulnerable as a baby's. â€Å"Ahhh . . . I don't know how to put this. Okay, I'll just say it. With part of my brain, I think Judy knows something. Anyhow, I want to think that. On the other hand, I don't want to fool myself into believing that just because she seems to be better, she can't be crazy anymore. But I do want to believe that. Boy oh boy, do I ever.† â€Å"Believe that she knows something.† The eerie feeling aroused by opopanax diminishes before this validation of his theory. â€Å"Something that isn't even real clear to her,† Fred says. â€Å"But do you remember? She knew Ty was gone even before I told her.† He gives Jack an anguished look and steps away. He knocks his fists together and stares at the ground. Another internal barrier topples before his need to explain his dilemma. â€Å"Okay, look. This is what you have to understand about Judy. She's a special person. All right, a lot of guys would say their wives are special, but Judy's special in a special way. First of all, she's sort of amazingly beautiful, but that's not even what I'm talking about. And she's tremendously brave, but that's not it, either. It's like she's connected to something the rest of us can't even begin to understand. But can that be real? How crazy is that? Maybe when you're going crazy, at first you put up a big fight and get hysterical, and then you're too crazy to fight anymore and you get all calm and accepting. I have to talk to her doctor, because this is tearing me apart.† â€Å"What kinds of things does she say? Does she explain why she's so much calmer?† Fred Marshall's eyes burn into Jack's. â€Å"Well, for one thing, Judy seems to think that Ty is still alive, and that you're the only person who can find him.† â€Å"All right,† Jack says, unwilling to say more until after he can speak to Judy. â€Å"Tell me, does Judy ever mention someone she used to know or a cousin of hers, or an old boyfriend she thinks might have taken him?† His theory seems less convincing than it had in Henry Leyden's ultrarational, thoroughly bizarre kitchen; Fred Marshall's response weakens it further. â€Å"Not unless he's named the Crimson King, or Gorg, or Abbalah. All I can tell you is, Judy thinks she sees something, and even though it makes no sense, I sure as hell hope it's there.† A sudden vision of the world where he found a boy's Brewers cap pierces Jack Sawyer like a steel-tipped lance. â€Å"And that's where Tyler is.† â€Å"If part of me didn't think that might just possibly be true, I'd go out of my mind right here and now,† Fred says. â€Å"Unless I'm already out of my gourd.† â€Å"Let's go talk to your wife,† Jack says. From the outside, French County Lutheran Hospital resembles a nineteenth-century madhouse in the north of England: dirty red-brick walls with blackened buttresses and lancet arches, a peaked roof with finial-capped pinnacles, swollen turrets, miserly windows, and all of the long facade stippled black with ancient filth. Set within a walled parkland dense with oaks on Arden's western boundary, the enormous building, Gothic without the grandeur, looks punitive, devoid of mercy. Jack half-expects to hear the shrieking organ music from a Vincent Price movie. They pass through a narrow, peaked wooden door and enter a reassuringly familiar lobby. A bored, uniformed man at a central desk directs visitors to the elevators; stuffed animals and sprays of flowers fill the gift shop's window; bathrobed patients tethered to I.V. poles occupy randomly placed tables with their families, and other patients perch on the chairs lined against the side walls; two white-coated doctors confer in a corner. Far overhead, two dusty, ornate chandeliers distribute a soft ocher light that momentarily seems to gild the luxurious heads of the lilies arrayed in tall vases beside the entrance of the gift shop. â€Å"Wow, it sure looks better on the inside,† Jack says. â€Å"Most of it does,† Fred says. They approach the man behind the desk, and Fred says, â€Å"Ward D.† With a mild flicker of interest, the man gives them two rectangular cards stamped VISITOR and waves them through. The elevator clanks down and admits them to a wood-paneled enclosure the size of a broom closet. Fred Marshall pushes the button marked 5, and the elevator shudders upward. The same soft, golden light pervades the comically tiny interior. Ten years ago, an elevator remarkably similar to this, though situated in a grand Paris hotel, had held Jack and a UCLA art-history graduate student named Iliana Tedesco captive for two and a half hours, in the course of which Ms. Tedesco announced that their relationship had reached its final destination, thank you, despite her gratitude for what had been at least until that moment a rewarding journey together. After thinking it over, Jack decides not to trouble Fred Marshall with this information. Better behaved than its French cousin, the elevator trembles to a stop and with only a slight display of resistance slides open its door and releases Jack Sawyer and Fred Marshall to the fifth floor, where the beautiful light seems a touch darker than in both the elevator and the lobby. â€Å"Unfortunately, it's way over on the other side,† Fred tells Jack. An apparently endless corridor yawns like an exercise in perspective off to their left, and Fred points the way with his finger. They go through two big sets of double doors, past the corridor to Ward B, past two vast rooms lined with curtained cubicles, turn left again at the closed entrance to Gerontology, down a long, long hallway lined with bulletin boards, past the opening to Ward C, then take an abrupt right at the men's and women's bathrooms, pass Ambulatory Ophthalmology and Records Annex, and at last come to a corridor marked WARD D. As they proceed, the light seems progressively to darken, the walls to contract, the windows to shrink. Shadows lurk in the corridor to Ward D, and a small pool of water glimmers on the floor. â€Å"We're in the oldest part of the building now,† Fred says. â€Å"You must want to get Judy out of here as soon as possible.† â€Å"Well, sure, soon as Pat Skarda thinks she's ready. But you'll be surprised; Judy kind of likes it in here. I think it's helping. What she told me was, she feels completely safe, and the ones that can talk, some of them are extremely interesting. It's like being on a cruise, she says.† Jack laughs in surprise and disbelief, and Fred Marshall touches his shoulder and says, â€Å"Does that mean she's a lot better or a lot worse?† At the end of the corridor, they emerge directly into a good-sized room that seems to have been preserved unaltered for a hundred years. Dark brown wainscoting rises four feet from the dark brown wooden floor. Far up in the gray wall to their right, two tall, narrow windows framed like paintings admit filtered gray light. A man seated behind a polished wooden counter pushes a button that unlocks a double-sized metal door with a WARD D sign and a small window of reinforced glass. â€Å"You can go in, Mr. Marshall, but who is he?† â€Å"His name is Jack Sawyer. He's here with me.† â€Å"Is he either a relative or a medical professional?† â€Å"No, but my wife wants to see him.† â€Å"Wait here a moment.† The attendant disappears through the metal door and locks it behind him with a prisonlike clang. A minute later, the attendant reappears with a nurse whose heavy, lined face, big arms and hands, and thick legs make her look like a man in drag. She introduces herself as Jane Bond, the head nurse of Ward D, a combination of words and circumstances that irresistibly suggest at least a couple of nicknames. The nurse subjects Fred and Jack, then only Jack, to a barrage of questions before she vanishes back behind the great door. â€Å"Ward Bond,† Jack says, unable not to. â€Å"We call her Warden Bond,† says the attendant. â€Å"She's tough, but on the other hand, she's unfair.† He coughs and stares up at the high windows. â€Å"We got this orderly, calls her Double-oh Zero.† A few minutes later, Head Nurse Warden Bond, Agent OO Zero, swings open the metal door and says, â€Å"You may enter now, but pay attention to what I say.† At first, the ward resembles a huge airport hangar divided into a section with a row of padded benches, a section with round tables and plastic chairs, and a third section where two long tables are stacked with drawing paper, boxes of crayons, and watercolor sets. In the vast space, these furnishings look like dollhouse furniture. Here and there on the cement floor, painted a smooth, anonymous shade of gray, lie padded rectangular mats; twenty feet above the floor, small, barred windows punctuate the far wall, of red brick long ago given a couple of coats of white paint. In a glass enclosure to the left of the door, a nurse behind a desk looks up from a book. Far down to the right, well past the tables with art supplies, three locked metal doors open into worlds of their own. The sense of being in a hangar gradually yields to a sense of a benign but inflexible imprisonment. A low hum of voices comes from the twenty to thirty men and women scattered throughout the enormous room. Only a very few of these men and women are talking to visible companions. They pace in circles, stand frozen in place, lie curled like infants on the mats; they count on their fingers and scribble in notebooks; they twitch, yawn, weep, stare into space and into themselves. Some of them wear green hospital robes, others civilian clothes of all kinds: T-shirts and shorts, sweat suits, running outfits, ordinary shirts and slacks, jerseys and pants. No one wears a belt, and none of the shoes have laces. Two muscular men with close-cropped hair and in brilliant white T-shirts sit at one of the round tables with the air of patient watchdogs. Jack tries to locate Judy Marshall, but he cannot pick her out. â€Å"I asked for your attention, Mr. Sawyer.† â€Å"Sorry,† Jack says. â€Å"I wasn't expecting it to be so big.† â€Å"We'd better be big, Mr. Sawyer. We serve an expanding population.† She waits for an acknowledgment of her significance, and Jack nods. â€Å"Very well. I'm going to give you some basic ground rules. If you listen to what I say, your visit here will be as pleasant as possible for all of us. Don't stare at the patients, and don't be alarmed by what they say. Don't act as though you find anything they do or say unusual or distressing. Just be polite, and eventually they will leave you alone. If they ask you for things, do as you choose, within reason. But please refrain from giving them money, any sharp objects, or edibles not previously cleared by one of the physicians some medications interact adversely with certain kinds of food. At some point, an elderly woman named Es-telle Packard will probably come up to you and ask if you are her father. Answer however you like, but if you say no, she will go away disappointed, and if you say yes, you'll make her day. Do you have any questions, Mr. Sawyer?† â€Å"Where is Judy Marshall?† â€Å"She's on this side, with her back to us on the farthest bench. Can you see her, Mr. Marshall?† â€Å"I saw her right away,† Fred says. â€Å"Have there been any changes since this morning?† â€Å"Not as far as I know. Her admitting physician, Dr. Spiegleman, will be here in about half an hour, and he might have more information for you. Would you like me to take you and Mr. Sawyer to your wife, or would you prefer going by yourself ?† â€Å"We'll be fine,† Fred Marshall says. â€Å"How long can we stay?† â€Å"I'm giving you fifteen minutes, twenty max. Judy is still in the eval stage, and I want to keep her stress level at a minimum. She looks pretty peaceful now, but she's also deeply disconnected and, quite frankly, delusional. I wouldn't be surprised by another hysterical episode, and we don't want to prolong her evaluation period by introducing new medication at this point, do we? So please, Mr. Marshall, keep the conversation stress-free, light, and positive.† â€Å"You think she's delusional?† Nurse Bond smiles pityingly. â€Å"In all likelihood, Mr. Marshall, your wife has been delusional for years. Oh, she's managed to keep it hidden, but ideations like hers don't spring up overnight, no no. These things take years to construct, and all the time the person can appear to be a normally functioning human being. Then something triggers the psychosis into full-blown expression. In this case, of course, it was your son's disappearance. By the way, I want to extend my sympathies to you at this time. What a terrible thing to have happened.† â€Å"Yes, it was,† says Fred Marshall. â€Å"But Judy started acting strange even before . . .† â€Å"Same thing, I'm afraid. She needed to be comforted, and her delusions her delusional world came into plain view, because that world provided exactly the comfort she needed. You must have heard some of it this morning, Mr. Marshall. Did your wife mention anything about going to other worlds?† â€Å"Going to other worlds?† Jack asks, startled. â€Å"A fairly typical schizophrenic ideation,† Nurse Bond says. â€Å"More than half the people on this ward have similar fantasies.† â€Å"You think my wife is schizophrenic?† Nurse Bond looks past Fred to take a comprehensive inventory of the patients in her domain. â€Å"I'm not a psychiatrist, Mr. Marshall, but I have had twenty long years of experience in dealing with the mentally ill. On the basis of that experience, I have to tell you, in my opinion your wife manifests the classic symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. I wish I had better news for you.† She glances back at Fred Marshall. â€Å"Of course, Dr. Spiegleman will make the final diagnosis, and he will be able to answer all your questions, explain your treatment options, and so forth.† The smile she gives Jack seems to congeal the moment it appears. â€Å"I always tell my new visitors it's tougher on the family than it is on the patient. Some of these people, they don't have a care in the world. Really, you almost have to envy them.† â€Å"Sure,† Jack says. â€Å"Who wouldn't?† â€Å"Go on, then,† she says, with a trace of peevishness. â€Å"Enjoy your visit.† A number of heads turn as they walk slowly across the dusty wooden floor to the nearest row of benches; many pairs of eyes track their progress. Curiosity, indifference, confusion, suspicion, pleasure, and an impersonal anger show in the pallid faces. To Jack, it seems as though every patient on the ward is inching toward them. A flabby middle-aged man in a bathrobe has begun to cut through the tables, looking as though he fears missing his bus to work. At the end of the nearest bench, a thin old woman with streaming white hair stands up and beseeches Jack with her eyes. Her clasped, upraised hands tremble violently. Jack forces himself not to meet her eyes. When he passes her, she half-croons, half-whispers, â€Å"My ducky-wucky was behind the door, but I didn't know it, and there he was, in all that water.† â€Å"Um,† Fred says. â€Å"Judy told me her baby son drowned in the bath.† Through the side of his eye, Jack has been watching the fuzzy-haired man in the bathrobe rush toward them, openmouthed. When he and Fred reach the back of Judy Marshall's bench, the man raises one finger, as if signaling the bus to wait for him, and trots forward. Jack watches him approach; nuts to Warden Bond's advice. He's not going to let this lunatic climb all over him, no way. The upraised finger comes to within a foot of Jack's nose, and the man's murky eyes search his face. The eyes retreat; the mouth snaps shut. Instantly, the man whirls around and darts off, his robe flying, his finger still searching out its target. What was that, Jack wonders. Wrong bus? Judy Marshall has not moved. She must have heard the man rushing past her, his rapid breath when he stopped, then his flapping departure, but her back is still straight in the loose green robe, her head still faces forward at the same upright angle. She seems detached from everything around her. If her hair were washed, brushed, and combed, if she were conventionally dressed and had a suitcase beside her, she would look exactly like a woman on a bench at the train station, waiting for the hour of departure. So even before Jack sees Judy Marshall's face, before she speaks a single word, there is about her this sense of leave-taking, of journeys begun and begun again this suggestion of travel, this hint of a possible elsewhere. â€Å"I'll tell her we're here,† Fred whispers, and ducks around the end of the bench to kneel in front of his wife. The back of her head tilts forward over the erect spine as if to answer the tangled combination of heartbreak, love, and anxiety burning in her husband's handsome face. Dark blond hair mingled with gold lies flat against the girlish curve of Judy Marshall's skull. Behind her ear, dozens of varicolored strands clump together in a cobwebby knot. â€Å"How you feeling, sweetie?† Fred softly asks his wife. â€Å"I'm managing to enjoy myself,† she says. â€Å"You know, honey, I should stay here for at least a little while. The head nurse is positive I'm absolutely crazy. Isn't that convenient?† â€Å"Jack Sawyer's here. Would you like to see him?† Judy reaches out and pats his upraised knee. â€Å"Tell Mr. Sawyer to come around in front, and you sit right here beside me, Fred.† Jack is already coming forward, his eyes on Judy Marshall's once again upright head, which does not turn. Kneeling, Fred has taken her extended hand in both of his, as if he intends to kiss it. He looks like a lovelorn knight before a queen. When he presses her hand to his cheek, Jack sees the white gauze wrapped around the tips of her fingers. Judy's cheekbone comes into view, then the side of her gravely unsmiling mouth; then her entire profile is visible, as sharp as the crack of ice on the first day of spring. It is the regal, idealized profile on a cameo, or on a coin: the slight upward curve of the lips, the crisp, chiseled downstroke of the nose, the sweep of the jawline, every angle in perfect, tender, oddly familiar alignment with the whole. It staggers him, this unexpected beauty; for a fraction of a second it slows him with the deep, grainy nostalgia of its fragmentary, not-quite evocation of another's face. Grace Kelly? Catherine Deneuve? No, neither of these; it comes to him that Judy's profile reminds him of someone he has still to meet. Then the odd second passes: Fred Marshall gets to his feet, Judy's face in three-quarter profile loses its regal quality as she watches her husband sit beside her on the bench, and Jack rejects what has just occurred to him as an absurdity. She does not raise her eyes until he stands before her. Her hair is dull and messy; beneath the hospital gown she is wearing an old blue lace-trimmed nightdress that looked dowdy when it was new. Despite these disadvantages, Judy Marshall claims him for her own at the moment her eyes meet his. An electrical current beginning at his optic nerves seems to pulse downward through his body, and he helplessly concludes that she has to be the most stunningly beautiful woman he has ever seen. He fears that the force of his reaction to her will knock him off his feet, then even worse! that she will see what is going on and think him a fool. He desperately does not want to come off as a fool in her eyes. Brooke Greer, Claire Evinrude, Iliana Tedesco, gorgeous as each of them was in her own way, look like little girls in Halloween costumes next to her. Judy Marshall puts his former beloveds on the shelf; she exposes them as whims and fancies, riddled with false ego and a hundred crippling insecurities. Judy's beauty is not put on in front of a mirror but grows, with breathtaking simplicity, straight from her innermost being: what you see is only the small, visible portion of a far greater, more comprehensive, radiant, and formal quality within. Jack can scarcely believe that agreeable, good-hearted Fred Marshall actually had the fantastic luck to marry this woman. Does he know how great, how literally marvelous, she is? Jack would marry her in an instant, if she were single. It seems to him that he fell in love with her as soon as he saw the back of her head. But he cannot be in love with her. She is Fred Marshall's wife and the mother of their son, and he will simply have to live without her. She utters a short sentence that passes through him in a vibrating wave of sound. Jack bends forward muttering an apology, and Judy smilingly offers him a sweep of her hand that invites him to sit before her. He folds to the floor and crosses his ankles in front of him, still reverberating from the shock of having first seen her. Her face fills beautifully with feeling. She has seen exactly what just happened to him, and it is all right. She does not think less of him for it. Jack opens his mouth to ask a question. Although he does not know what the question is to be, he must ask it. The nature of the question is unimportant. The most idiotic query will serve; he cannot sit here staring at that wondrous face. Before he speaks, one version of reality snaps soundlessly into another, and without transition Judy Marshall becomes a tired-looking woman in her mid-thirties with tangled hair and smudges under her eyes who regards him steadily from a bench in a locked mental ward. It should seem like a restoration of his sanity, but it feels instead like a kind of trick, as though Judy Marshall has done this herself, to make their encounter easier on him. The words that escape him are as banal as he feared they might be. Jack listens to himself say that it is nice to meet her. â€Å"It's nice to meet you, too, Mr. Sawyer. I've heard so many wonderful things about you.† He looks for a sign that she acknowledges the enormity of the moment that has just passed, but he sees only her smiling warmth. Under the circumstances, that seems like acknowledgment enough. â€Å"How are you getting on in here?† he asks, and the balance shifts even more in his direction. â€Å"The company takes some getting used to, but the people here got lost and couldn't find their way back, that's all. Some of them are very intelligent. I've had conversations in here that were a lot more interesting than the ones in my church group or the PTA. Maybe I should have come to Ward D sooner! Being here has helped me learn some things.† â€Å"Like what?† â€Å"Like there are many different ways to get lost, for one, and getting lost is easier to do than anyone ever admits. The people in here can't hide how they feel, and most of them never found out how to deal with their fear.† â€Å"How are you supposed to deal with that?† â€Å"Why, you deal with it by taking it on, that's how! You don't just say, I'm lost and I don't know how to get back you keep on going in the same direction. You put one foot in front of the other until you get more lost. Everybody should know that. Especially you, Jack Sawyer.† â€Å"Especial † Before he can finish the question, an elderly woman with a lined, sweet face appears beside him and touches his shoulder. â€Å"Excuse me.† She tucks her chin toward her throat with the shyness of a child. â€Å"I want to ask you a question. Are you my father?† Jack smiles at her. â€Å"Let me ask you a question first. Is your name Estelle Packard?† Eyes shining, the old woman nods. â€Å"Then yes, I am your father.† Estelle Packard clasps her hands in front of her mouth, dips her head in a bow, and shuffles backward, glowing with pleasure. When she is nine or ten feet away, she gives Jack a little bye-bye wave of one hand and twirls away. When Jack looks again at Judy Marshall, it is as if she has parted her veil of ordinariness just wide enough to reveal a small portion of her enormous soul. â€Å"You're a very nice man, aren't you, Jack Sawyer? I wouldn't have known that right away. You're a good man, too. Of course, you're also charming, but charm and decency don't always go together. Should I tell you a few other things about yourself ?† Jack looks up at Fred, who is holding his wife's hand and beaming. â€Å"I want you to say whatever you feel like saying.† â€Å"There are things I can't say, no matter how I feel, but you might hear them anyhow. I can say this, however: your good looks haven't made you vain. You're not shallow, and that might have something to do with it. Mainly, though, you had the gift of a good upbringing. I'd say you had a wonderful mother. I'm right, aren't I?† Jack laughs, touched by this unexpected insight. â€Å"I didn't know it showed.† â€Å"You know one way it shows? In the way you treat other people. I'm pretty sure you come from a background people around here only know from the movies, but it hasn't gone to your head. You see us as people, not hicks, and that's why I know I can trust you. It's obvious that your mother did a great job. I was a good mother, too, or at least I tried to be, and I know what I'm talking about. I can see.† â€Å"You say you were a good mother? Why use â€Å" â€Å"The past tense? Because I was talking about before.† Fred's smile fades into an expression of ill-concealed concern. â€Å"What do you mean, ‘before'?† â€Å"Mr. Sawyer might know,† she says, giving Jack what he thinks is a look of encouragement. â€Å"Sorry, I don't think I do,† he says. â€Å"I mean, before I wound up here and finally started to think a little bit. Before the things that were happening to me stopped scaring me out of my mind before I realized I could look inside myself and examine these feelings I've had over and over all my life. Before I had time to travel. I think I'm still a good mother, but I'm not exactly the same mother.† â€Å"Honey, please,† says Fred. â€Å"You are the same, you just had a kind of breakdown. We ought to talk about Tyler.† â€Å"We are talking about Tyler. Mr. Sawyer, do you know that lookout point on Highway 93, right where it reaches the top of the big hill about a mile south of Arden?† â€Å"I saw it today,† Jack says. â€Å"Fred showed it to me.† â€Å"You saw all those farms that keep going and going? And the hills off in the distance?† â€Å"Yes. Fred told me you loved the view from up there.† â€Å"I always want to stop and get out of the car. I love everything about that view. You can see for miles and miles, and then whoops! it stops, and you can't see any farther. But the sky keeps going, doesn't it? The sky proves that there's a world on the other side of those hills. If you travel, you can get there.† â€Å"Yes, you can.† Suddenly, there are goose bumps on Jack's forearms, and the back of his neck is tingling. â€Å"Me? I can only travel in my mind, Mr. Sawyer, and I only remembered how to do that because I landed in the loony bin. But it came to me that you can get there to the other side of the hills.† His mouth is dry. He registers Fred Marshall's growing distress without being able to reduce it. Wanting to ask her a thousand questions, he begins with the simplest one: â€Å"How did it come to you? What do you mean by that?† Judy Marshall takes her hand from her husband and holds it out to Jack, and he holds it in both of his. If she ever looked like an ordinary woman, now is not the time. She is blazing away like a lighthouse, like a bonfire on a distant cliff. â€Å"Let's say . . . late at night, or if I was alone for a long time, someone used to whisper to me. It wasn't that concrete, but let's say it was as if a person were whispering on the other side of a thick wall. A girl like me, a girl my age. And if I fell asleep then, I would almost always dream about the place where that girl lived. I called it Faraway, and it was like this world, the Coulee Country, only brighter and cleaner and more magical. In Faraway, people rode in carriages and lived in great white tents. In Faraway, there were men who could fly.† â€Å"You're right,† he says. Fred looks from his wife to Jack in painful uncertainty, and Jack says, â€Å"It sounds crazy, but she's right.† â€Å"By the time these bad things started to happen in French Landing, I had pretty much forgotten about Faraway. I hadn't thought about it since I was about twelve or thirteen. But the closer the bad things came, to Fred and Ty and me, I mean, the worse my dreams got, and the less and less real my life seemed to be. I wrote words without knowing I was doing it, I said crazy things, I was falling apart. I didn't understand that Faraway was trying to tell me something. The girl was whispering to me from the other side of the wall again, only now she was grown up and scared half to death.† â€Å"What made you think I could help?† â€Å"It was just a feeling I had, back when you arrested that Kinderling man and your picture was in the paper. The first thing I thought when I looked at your picture was, He knows about Faraway. I didn't wonder how, or how I could tell from looking at a picture; I simply understood that you knew. And then, when Ty disappeared and I lost my mind and woke up in this place, I thought if you could see into some of these people's heads, Ward D wouldn't be all that different from Faraway, and I remembered seeing your picture. And that's when I started to understand about traveling. All this morning, I have been walking through Faraway in my head. Seeing it, touching it. Smelling that unbelievable air. Did you know, Mr. Sawyer, that over there they have jackrabbits the size of kangaroos? It makes you laugh just to look at them.† Jack breaks into a wide grin, and he bends to kiss her hand, in a gesture much like her husband's. Gently, she takes her hand from his grasp. â€Å"When Fred told me he had met you, and that you were helping the police, I knew that you were here for a reason.† What this woman has done astonishes Jack. At the worst moment of her life, with her son lost and her sanity crumbling, she used a monumental feat of memory to summon all of her strength and, in effect, accomplish a miracle. She found within herself the capacity to travel. From a locked ward, she moved halfway out of this world and into another known only from childhood dreams. Nothing but the immense courage her husband had described could have enabled her to have taken this mysterious step. â€Å"You did something once, didn't you?† Judy asks him. â€Å"You were there, in Faraway, and you did something something tremendous. You don't have to say yes, because I can see it in you; it's as plain as day. But you have to say yes, so I can hear it, so say it, say yes.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Did what?† Fred asks. â€Å"In this dream country? How can you say yes?† â€Å"Wait,† Jack tells him, â€Å"I have something to show you later,† and returns to the extraordinary woman seated before him. Judy Marshall is aflame with insight, courage, and faith and, although she is forbidden to him, now seems to be the only woman in this world or any other whom he could love for the rest of his life. â€Å"You were like me,† she says. â€Å"You forgot all about that world. And you went out and became a policeman, a detective. In fact, you became one of the best detectives that ever lived. Do you know why you did that?† â€Å"I guess the work appealed to me.† â€Å"What about it appealed to you in particular?† â€Å"Helping the community. Protecting innocent people. Putting away the bad guys. It was interesting work.† â€Å"And you thought it would never stop being interesting. Because there would always be a new problem to solve, a new question in need of an answer.† She has struck a bull's-eye that, until this moment, he did not know existed. â€Å"That's right.† â€Å"You were a great detective because, even though you didn't know it, there was something something vital you needed to detect.† I am a coppiceman, Jack remembers. His own little voice in the night, speaking to him from the other side of a thick, thick wall. â€Å"Something you had to find, for the sake of your own soul.† â€Å"Yes,† Jack says. Her words have penetrated straight into the center of his being, and tears spring to his eyes. â€Å"I always wanted to find what was missing. My whole life was about the search for a secret explanation.† In memory as vivid as a strip of film, he sees a great tented pavilion, a white room where a beautiful and wasted queen lay dying, and a little girl two or three years younger than his twelve-year-old self amid her attendants. â€Å"Did you call it Faraway?† Judy asks. â€Å"I called it the Territories.† Speaking the words aloud feels like the opening of a chest filled with a treasure he can share at last. â€Å"That's a good name. Fred won't understand this, but when I was on my long walk this morning, I felt that my son was somewhere in Faraway in your Territories. Somewhere out of sight, and hidden away. In grave danger, but still alive and unharmed. In a cell. Sleeping on the floor. But alive. Unharmed. Do you think that could be true, Mr. Sawyer?† â€Å"Wait a second,† Fred says. â€Å"I know you feel that way, and I want to believe it, too, but this is the real world we're talking about here.† â€Å"I think there are lots of real worlds,† Jack says. â€Å"And yes, I believe Tyler is somewhere in Faraway.† â€Å"Can you rescue him, Mr. Sawyer? Can you bring him back?† â€Å"It's like you said before, Mrs. Marshall,† Jack says. â€Å"I must be here for a reason.† â€Å"Sawyer, I hope whatever you're going to show me makes more sense than the two of you do,† says Fred. â€Å"We're through for now, anyhow. Here comes the warden.† Driving out of the hospital parking lot, Fred Marshall glances at the briefcase lying flat on Jack's lap but says nothing. He holds his silence until he turns back onto 93, when he says, â€Å"I'm glad you came with me.† â€Å"Thank you,† Jack says. â€Å"I am, too.† â€Å"I feel sort of out of my depth here, you know, but I'd like to get your impressions of what went on in there. Do you think it went pretty well?† â€Å"I think it went better than that. Your wife is . . . I hardly know how to describe her. I don't have the vocabulary to tell you how great I think she is.† Fred nods and sneaks a glance at Jack. â€Å"So you don't think she's out of her head, I guess.† â€Å"If that's crazy, I'd like to be crazy right along with her.† The two-lane blacktop highway that stretches before them lifts up along the steep angle of the hillside and, at its top, seems to extend into the dimensionless blue of the enormous sky. Another wary glance from Fred. â€Å"And you say you've seen this, this place she calls Faraway.† â€Å"I have, yes. As hard as that is to believe.† â€Å"No crap. No b.s. On your mother's grave.† â€Å"On my mother's grave.† â€Å"You've been there. And not just in a dream, really been there.† â€Å"The summer I was twelve.† â€Å"Could I go there, too?† â€Å"Probably not,† Jack says. This is not the truth, since Fred could go to the Territories if Jack took him there, but Jack wants to shut this door as firmly as possible. He can imagine bringing Judy Marshall into that other world; Fred is another matter. Judy has more than earned a journey into the Territories, while Fred is still incapable of believing in its existence. Judy would feel at home over there, but her husband would be like an anchor Jack had to drag along with him, like Richard Sloat. â€Å"I didn't think so,† says Fred. â€Å"If you don't mind, I'd like to pull over again when we get to the top.† â€Å"I'd like that,† Jack says. Fred drives to the crest of the hill and crosses the narrow highway to park in the gravel turnout. Instead of getting out of the car, he points at the briefcase lying flat on Jack's knees. â€Å"Is what you're going to show me in there?† â€Å"Yes,† Jack says. â€Å"I was going to show it to you earlier, but after we stopped here the first time, I wanted to wait until I heard what Judy had to say. And I'm glad I did. It might make more sense to you, now that you've heard at least part of the explanation of how I found it.† Jack snaps open the briefcase, raises the top, and from its pale, leather-lined interior removes the Brewers cap he had found that morning. â€Å"Take a look,† he says, and hands over the cap. â€Å"Ohmygod,† Fred Marshall says in a startled rush of words. â€Å"Is this . . . is it . . . ?† He looks inside the cap and exhales hugely at the sight of his son's name. His eyes leap to Jack's. â€Å"It's Tyler's. Good Lord, it's Tyler's. Oh, Lordy.† He crushes the cap to his chest and takes two deep breaths, still holding Jack's gaze. â€Å"Where did you find this? How long ago was it?† â€Å"I found it on the road this morning,† Jack says. â€Å"In the place your wife calls Faraway.† With a long moan, Fred Marshall opens his door and jumps out of the car. By the time Jack catches up with him, he is at the far edge of the lookout, holding the cap to his chest and staring at the blue-green hills beyond the long quilt of farmland. He whirls to stare at Jack. â€Å"Do you think he's still alive?† â€Å"I think he's alive,† Jack says. â€Å"In that world.† Fred points to the hills. Tears leap from his eyes, and his mouth softens. â€Å"The world that's over there somewhere, Judy says.† â€Å"In that world.† â€Å"Then you go there and find him!† Fred shouts. His face shining with tears, he gestures wildly toward the horizon with the baseball cap. â€Å"Go there and bring him back, damn you! I can't do it, so you have to.† He steps forward as if to throw a punch, then wraps his arms around Jack Sawyer and sobs. When Fred's shoulders stop trembling and his breath comes in gasps, Jack says, â€Å"I'll do everything I can.† â€Å"I know you will.† He steps away and wipes his face. â€Å"I'm sorry I yelled at you like that. I know you're going to help us.† The two men turn around to walk back to the car. Far off to the west, a loose, woolly smudge of pale gray blankets the land beside the river. â€Å"What's that?† Jack asks. â€Å"Rain?† â€Å"No, fog,† Fred says. â€Å"Coming in off the Mississippi.†

Oil Drilling

Have you ever seen an animal covered in sludge, helpless and weak? Offshore oil drilling is one of our world’s biggest concerns. Offshore oil drilling is the discovery of finding oil or gasoline resources underwater. Usually the oil is found off the coasts of each continent and can also be found in lakes and small seas. Drilling for oil provides the energy to make fuels for cars and other machinery. Many different platforms can be used for offshore oil drilling such as drill ships, jack up barges, steel jackets, and semi-submersibles for deeper water areas. The issue at hand is that oil drilling can lead to oil spills into oceans, seas, and lakes and can harm the environment. Barge collisions, explosions, leaks, spills, and pipeline corrosion are all key factors in the harmful effects of oil drilling. Drilling leads to pollution in the environment and kills many organisms and aquatic animals. Animals play a key role in society, especially the marine animals. Long term effects create damage to the food chain, fisheries, health, the ecosystem balance, and enjoyment of nature. Oil spills harm the lives of marine life and the federal government allows them to be killed during gas and oil drilling. When explosives are used to remove the oil rigs, pipelines can be demolished the oil will spill everywhere. Aquatic life is endangered around these oil rigs and causes many hatchlings not to be brought into the world. Sea turtles are attracted to bright lights and if the oil rig has created an explosion, they will head toward that direction, endangering their own lives for vicious predators along the way. Not only is marine life affected, but birds. Many types of birds are endangered as well like ducks, seagulls, and pelicans. If the ocean is polluted with toxic oil and they decide to swim in it, all the oil will get stuck on their feathers not allowing them to fly. Oil drilling is dangerous and can lead to the extinction of many animals. The United States needs oil, but offshore drilling is not the way to get it. There are plenty of other alternatives we can use to create gasoline such an ethanol. Ethanol uses agricultural products to make an alternative gas product and it has proven to proven to be cost effective. The U. S. should also use hybrid cars and electric vehicles instead of relying on oil. Forms of transportation should also be aware of the oil efficiency and should begin using smart growth to make less pollution and reduce gridlock. Air pollution will be cut and the amount of oil used will be reduced for a better environment. Offshore oil drilling does provide large amounts of oil, but there should be a limit on how much should be consumed at one given time. Another key factor of oil drilling is the cost. President Barack Obama has come up with energy proposals to help the environment and cut the costs our nation has put on oil. â€Å"In order to save energy and taxpayer dollars, my administration is doubling the number of hybrid vehicles in the federal fleet, even as we seek to reduce the number of cars and trucks used by our government overall,† Obama said. His plans are too drill along the Southern Atlantic coastlines and move away from Alaska, for it is too dangerous and risky for the environment. Expanding drilling is definitely not the solution our country needs and therefore; something needs to be done. Since the land that is going to be drilled cannot provide a base for offshore drilling as it does for onshore drilling, an artificial platform must be created. This artificial platform can take many forms, depending on the characteristics of the well to be drilled, including how far underwater the drilling target is. One of the most important pieces of equipment for offshore drilling is the subsea drilling template. Essentially, this piece of equipment connects the underwater well site to the drilling platform on the surface of the water. This device, resembling a cookie cutter, consists of an open steel box with multiple holes in it, dependent on the number of wells to be drilled. This drilling template is placed over the well site, and usually lowered into the exact position required using satellite and GPS technology. A relatively shallow hole is then dug, in which the drilling template is cemented into place. The drilling template, secured to the sea floor and attached to the drilling platform above with cables, allows for accurate drilling to take place, but allows for the movement of the platform, which will inevitably be affected by shifting wind and water currents. There are two basic types of offshore drilling rigs: those that can be moved from place to place, allowing for drilling in multiple locations, and those rigs that are permanently placed. Moveable rigs are often used for exploratory purposes because they are much cheaper to use than permanent platforms. Once large deposits of hydrocarbons have been found, a permanent platform is built to allow their extraction. The sections below describe a number of different types of moveable offshore platforms. Drilling barges are used mostly for inland, shallow water drilling. This typically takes place in lakes, swamps, rivers, and canals. Drilling barges are large, floating platforms, which must be towed by tugboat from location to location. Suitable for still, shallow waters, drilling barges are not able to withstand the water movement experienced in large open water situations. Semisubmersible rigs are the most common type of offshore drilling rigs, combining the advantages of submersible rigs with the ability to drill in deep water. A semisubmersible rig works on the same principle as a submersible rig: through the ‘inflating' and ‘deflating' of its lower hull. The main difference with a semisubmersible rig, however, is that when the air is let out of the lower hull, the rig does not submerge to the sea floor. Instead, the rig is partially submerged, but still floats above the drill site. When drilling, the lower hull, filled with water, provides stability to the rig. Semisubmersible rigs are held in place by huge anchors, each weighing upwards of 10 tons. These anchors, combined with the submerged portion of the rig, ensure that the platform is stable and safe enough to be used in turbulent offshore waters. Semisubmersible rigs can be used to drill in much deeper water than the rigs mentioned above. Drillships are exactly as they sound: ships designed to carry out drilling operations. These boats are specially designed to carry drilling platforms out to deep-sea locations. A typical drillship will have, in addition to all of the equipment normally found on a large ocean ship, a drilling platform and derrick located on the middle of its deck. In addition, drillships contain a hole (or ‘moonpool'), extending right through the ship down through the hull, which allows for the drill string to extend through the boat down into the water. Drillships are often used to drill in very deep water, which can often be turbulent. Drillships use what is known as ‘dynamic positioning' systems. Drillships are equipped with electric motors on the underside of the ship’s hull, capable of propelling the ship in any direction. These motors are integrated into the ship’s computer system, which uses satellite positioning technology, in conjunction with sensors located on the drilling template, to ensure that the ship is directly above the drill site at all times. Offshore oil drilling creates disasters not only in the ocean or seas, but generates explosions of the oil rig itself. Bits and pieces of the rig can rust at the bottom of the ocean and endanger precious reefs and homes of animals. I believe offshore oil drilling is a mistake and should be limited around the world. There are plenty of renewable energy sources to survive off of. Fuels can be costly but the environment would be a safer place to live in. Having a limited supply of oil can save millions of aquatic lives and provide worries from environmentalists will be satisfied. Drilling should be banned all together to save human lives as well. Many have been lost because of accidental explosives. Hopefully oil drilling will end soon and promote the general welfare of living in a clean, oil-free environment. Works Cited http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2525743/posts http://english.aljazeera.net/business/2010/03/201033118235692566.html

King Lear by Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

King Lear by Shakespeare - Essay Example Lance Baker is an excellent actor as the daughter to Regan’s husband. Steve and Jesse, acting as Gloucester’s sons were also strong characters who were influential in the act. The acts of the three actors who played the role of Lear’s daughters had substantial stage impact. Their performances depicted lack of experience in Shakespearean work. One could easily realize the lack of vocal and dramatic power in the rest of the play. The director’s simple scenic design synchronized with the modern-dress Lear. Geno’s lighting design, which is rather dramatic, highlighted the performances of the actors. The moment that had the biggest impression was in the first act when Lear had a hilarious exchange with Oswald. The part is impressive because it gives relief to me in preparation of facing the terrible suffering that the play dramatizes. When Lear asks who he was, Oswald replies, â€Å"My Lady’s father.’ Lear gets surprised on hearing the reply and repeats it. He calls Oswald names such as dog and slave. Oswald in a satirical tone declines that he is none of the names that Lear uses on him and begs for a pardon. The folly in the exchange continues and makes the portion of the act a memorable theatrical performance. The staging of the scene where Edgar pretends to show Gloucester the edge of a Dover cliff from was performed convincingly. The actor playing the part of Edgar perfectly did his portion of the play. On the stage, the two actors acting as Edgar and Gloucester walked at a rather raised platform with the one acting as Edgar breathing hard to convince Gloucester that the ground was steep. When they reached the end section of the platform, they stopped and â€Å"Edgar† points at the wall that had the image of scenery of the sea. His description of the sea and the corresponding scenery captured the mind of the reader before â€Å"Edgar† walks away leaving the old man to fall approximately two feet down to the normal

Spiritual Assessment Tools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Spiritual Assessment Tools - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that spirituality is an aspect of life that is related to holistic nursing in terms of beliefs and behaviors. Dossey gave an understanding of spirituality as that broad concept which takes into account values, rationale and meaning; one’s turns towards the human traits of personal sincerity, devotion, caring, understanding, empathy, and imagination; a graceful, dynamic poise allowing and creating body-mind-spirit restoration to health; and the existence of a quality of a higher authority, that guides mystical transcendence and personal spirit. On spirituality still, Pamela Reed adds to the definition that spirituality is entirely about expressions of developmental capacity for self-transcendence. Spirituality can be perceived as that very close affiliation that exists between an individual and a supreme being who is believed to be directing anyone’s beliefs and practices during the life time. Spiritual Assessment carried out b y medical practitioners is the fundamental process of gathering, analyzing and synthesizing salient data to be used for appropriately planning nursing care into multidimensional formulations that are capable of providing the basis for action decisions on medical administration. From the perspective of a holistic approach, it is well established that spiritual assessment is an action taken with the assumption that spiritual wishes have dedicated influences on all other factors of an individual’s life.... Below are discussions of two of these Spiritual Assessments Tools, and their effectiveness in terms of timing and use effectiveness (LaRocca-Pitts M., 2008). a) FICA FICA is a spiritual historical tool that was created by Dr. Christine Puchalski together with Daniel Sulmasy, Joan Teno and Dale Mathews in 1996 with the view of providing means through which clinicians could efficiently integrate the open-ended investigative questions checking into a standardized medical history and that which could be applied by health care professionals. This technique identifies key elements that a physician or clinician may be in need of to determine any patients’ spiritual belief in the medical settings. FICA, as a spiritual assessment tool, is based on four fundamental domains which are: the presence and recognitions of faith, belief, and their meaning to an individual; the importance of spirituality on one’s life and the immense influence that the belief system or values have on the individual’s spiritual community; and the timeless interventions to address such spiritual needs. FICA is mostly used because of its effectiveness and comprehensiveness in assessing varied spiritual dimensions as may be based on existing correlations with spiritual indicators; especially in the view of spiritual activities, alterations in spirituality, positive life changes, purpose, and hopefulness. It is able to offer provisional frameworks for clinicians to initiate discussions about those aspects deemed meaningful to patients, i.e. families, work, and faith. FICA provides information things that are supportive to patients, i.e. spiritual communities; and also gives information concerning spiritual beliefs that most likely affects health care decision

Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response - Essay Example This theory is evidenced in the case study by the fact that the executives of Enron and Merrill Lynch both thought it was fine to sidestep accounting rules that they viewed as lesser than the rules they felt were of a greater importance. Unfortunately, none of them felt bound to obey a greater law, so their disregard for law and acting in an immoral manner knew no bounds. From a utilitarian perspective, this deal would have been morally acceptable on several grounds. First, all of the parties involved would have benefited from the deal. Enron would have been able to use the proceeds of the â€Å"sale† to Merrill Lynch to help maintain their stock price. This would be good for everyone that owned Enron stock. Merrill Lynch stood to ear a 15% guaranteed return on their investment. These two principal partners would have been the most immediate beneficiaries of the transaction. But other beneficiaries would have included those employed to continue construction on the barges, local business and families that depend on the income and patronage of these employees and the beneficiaries of the electricity provided by the barges. This basic resource could improve the standard of living to many thousands of families in Nigeria. The only â€Å"downside† would be the breaking of some arcane accounting rules. From a utilitarian standpoint, this was a good deal because many people benefited from the transaction and no one was really hurt. The possibility of an inflated price for Enron stock is inherent in this deal, but the overwhelming utility of the transaction benefited the most possible people. Deciding if virtue theory has anything to do with this transaction is difficult. While I see the clear relationship between the character (or lack thereof) in the individual players and the outcomes caused by this deal, I do not see how virtue theory could be applied to this scenario. The reason I say this is,

Interview of three business people Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Interview of three business people - Essay Example It has now taken him twenty-three years to build his career in this profession. Among the many organizations he has worked for is Vine Board Education where he held the position of Purchase order Director. His education background started with him joining BMCC where he attained his AAS degree in Business Management. Later on, he joined Glassboro State College for his Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing in the year 1978. His profession requires him to be very responsible in his duties and provide quality service to all students in the college. To be a good accountant, Mr. R emphasizes that good writing skills, coupled with basic bachelor’s level education is necessary. One also has to be very good at math and must possess good communication and computer skills (Kimmel, et al, pg. 302) In order to succeed, patience is one of the key elements in this profession. Accounting requires you to be very keen and this means spending long hours in verifying data and numbers, while contac ting customers and suppliers of various goods and services. Moreover, you should also have very strong convictions in your undertakings. The main advantage in working in an accounting field is that the profession can be applied across different fields of professions. For instance, an accountant can be employed in schools or a business organization where he or she gets to handle work in those respective fields. In order to be valuable to your employers, an accountant should be able to portray skills that no other staff in the organization has. This will make his or her special, therefore, will be treasured. The downside of being an accounting payable department manager is that you can find it very difficult to perform your duties if one does not seek professional skills or stay on top of his game. The profession, however, is very rewarding. An average accountant gets a monthly salary of seven-thousand dollars ($ 7,000) which translates to approximately eighty-thousand dollars a years ($ 80,000). Given the chance to do everything all over again, Mr. R would still go back to accounting since the profession provides him with the satisfaction that he needs and also guarantees his security in leading a comfortable life. His future plan currently, is to retire in the next five years, since he has achieved most of his goals in life right now. His advice to those planning to join this career path is to get a higher degree in this field. Afterwards, he or she should gain some experience by working in the public sector and other government organizations. His advice for the interviewer was that he should prepare his degree, gain more experience in that field, then take the CPA examinations. Miss Y. Miss Y preference for choosing her career path was because she is very good with numbers and a very responsible person. She also hopes that she could assist customers by responding to their questions and solving their problems. Her first job was in a bank where she managed to s ecure the job through an interview. Currently, she has experience in her career spanning close to twenty years. As she earlier mentioned, she started her career in a bank, there after joined a certain high school where she taught accounting. Presently, she is employed in one of the branches of BMCC as a budget director. Miss Y education background is impressive. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management in New York University. Later on, she earned her master’

Auditors Responsibility for Detecting Fraud Assignment

Auditors Responsibility for Detecting Fraud - Assignment Example Business failure occurs when a business is unable to repay its creditors or meet investors because of prevailing business conditions. A recent fraud that shocked the financial society is the financial collapse of Lehman Brothers, a big investment firm in U.S. Reuters carried news report that the accounting firm of Ernest & Young helped to hide financial problems of Lehman Brothers that led to its downfall (McKena, Francine,2010) Reuters reported that Ernest & Young tolerated the fraudulent transactions of Lehman Brothers that used an accounting technique known as â€Å"Repo 105, a business model designed to hide billions in liabilities. The firm used this technique to hide as much as $50 billion in assets from the balance sheet. (McCool Grant, 2010) As a process, management puts the internal control to be assured that operations are in place. Internal control, as Carl Haus(2014) defined, are rules designed to promote proper functioning of business. It is also designed to protect company assets, Cari suggested. In this context, Independent auditors rely on the accuracy of internal controls to form their opinions. As such, management has the responsibility of providing a reliable financial position of the company. Based on this premise, failures of internal control started with top management who failed or ignored internal controls for a dependable financial reporting. The Auditors, on their part failed or disregarded the weaknesses of financial information or errors presented so as not to disrupt the operations of Lehman Brothers. Financial statements done by Lehman Brothers were manipulated by management to make it appear that it was a sound company.  

International business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 8

International business - Essay Example For example it was the company that dictated for the international market, what it needed to buy from Apple. Again, the international market did not have much choice in becoming the first users to new types of products. That is, Apple used the international market of offload most of its older products so that it could make way for new products to be introduced into the American market (Robertson, 2011). With the coming of Steve Jobs however, this approach changed as the international market was actually put at the centre of the company’s inventions and innovations. That is, instead of giving the international market what the company wanted to offer, there was enough research to know and understand the needs of the international market together with what the American market wanted. This way, the inventions that were made such as the iPod were made to meet the international demands. It is not surprising that with Steve Jobs at Apple, the company could now boast of a global marke t, where it is reported that nearly twice as many people outside the U.S were employed when the iPod was invested as those employed in the U.S (Freeland, 2011). In essence, the company positioned itself to take advantage of globalization. Once the global positioning was guaranteed through the approach to innovation which was research-led, Apple started developing very quickly. More to the company’s own approach to innovation was the technology based platform that Apple was offered as part of globalization to enhance its business growth. For example Bhagwati (2004) reported that the advent of electronic commerce (e-commerce) peaked around the early 2000s, making it easier for the company to be connected to the international market through the internet. As the elements of e-commerce provide, the company did not necessarily have to have a lot of offices across the globe before it could sell to the international market. Rather, a

Saudi Arabia presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Saudi Arabia presentation - Essay Example Social identity comes from family loyalty and submission to Islamic law, and Saudis tend to be fatalists, believing that Allah directs destiny. The importance of women in Saudi society is slowly changing as more women pursue professional careers. Women are still seen as â€Å"different† from men, and are kept strictly separate in social activities and left out of most decision-making. Some Saudi men will shake hands with Western women. Saudi women, if they happen to accompany a man, are generally not introduced and are otherwise ignored. Non-Saudi women are expected to dress modestly. Western women may be whipped by the Matawain, who are the â€Å"religious police.† However, they must not adopt the traditional dress of a veil and an abaya (full-length black robes). This is offensive. Saudis stand close to each other when talking, and touching is common during conversation. Men hold hands with men, and women with women, as a sign of friendship. A traditional Saudi greeting is a handshake and a kiss on both cheeks. Saudi culture has several important taboos about gestures. The left hand is considered unclean. Never point at a person. Always keep your feet flat on the ground, as it’s offensive to show the bottom of your foot. Also, the â€Å"thumbs-up† gesture is crude and offensive throughout the Arab world. Foreign travelers may not enter the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia without an invitation, nor may they leave without an exit permit. All visitors become subject to Saudi Islamic law, and those laws must be strictly followed. Many Western accepted business practices are frowned on or considered insulting in Saudi Arabia. For instance, most appointments are made loosely between accepted prayer times, and there are multiple holidays and religious observances that will change business negotiations. Alcohol, pornography, pork and narcotics are all illegal substances, and

Do you have to believe in Reason to believe in Democracy Essay

Do you have to believe in Reason to believe in Democracy - Essay Example 42). Therefore, an individual is able to make logic, justify his or her actions and have personal beliefs. This is based on the information that is existent. Philosophy considers reason as rational (Swanson 35). Therefore, cognition, intellect and thinking are part of the reason. Arguably, reason leads to actions or habits that are a person’s thinking. Consequently, one can judge a situation just or unjust, good or bad (Copp et al. 48). In summary, reason and democracy are two different aspects but with a connection yet cannot be said to be tightly linked. Democracy has its connection to rights and freedom to do what one desires. However, freedom and rights come with responsibilities according to democracy (Swanson 55). Consequently, people in democratic nations have the freedom to speech, live, assemble and do other things in accordance with the highest rule of law. Additionally, democracy is also a human right because it gives citizens the free will to carry on their mandate s. Moreover, democracy also protects the basic rights of people. Therefore, democracy is a principle mandate that most governments try to uphold. In summary, democracy is all about the rights and freedom of people. A government that is democratic has power but is accountable to the public. However, this accountability raises concerns because the government should respond to the voice of the citizens (Swanson 63). Consequently, forms of democracy that exist are direct and representative democracy (Held 80). Direct democracy means citizens can actively and directly participate the making of decisions within the government. On the other hand, there is a representative democracy where a set body has sovereignty of power (Held 80). These forms are to help in the representation of the people. Interestingly, this form of modern democracy is common today. In summary, democracy can be either direct or representative but still represents the will of the people. The sole principle in democracy is the equity and freedom of the people. This means that every citizen is equal before the law and the legislative process (Copp et al. 52). Therefore, every person is equal to the other. However, upward control, social norms and political equity are the fundamental principles (Copp et al. 54). As a result, the government reflects equality through these principles. Therefore, democracy allows citizens to be fully part in the life of the society. Democracy often characterizes the majority rule. As a result, the minorities within the government have the tyranny of the majority (Held 197). This is when the protection of a group or individual rights protection. On the other hand, democracy entails elections, which mainly are competitive. Additionally, democratic elections allow people their freedom of speech, political expression and press (Held 201). The citizens are eligible since they serve the interest of the people. In summary, democracy in the modern world entails the majority ru le and their tyranny as they enhance the freedom of the people. Reason is a substance that makes a judgment of a person’s behavior. It helps in arguments since it creates the sense of logic (Manktelow 15). Therefore, attitudes, institutions and traditions play a role in the creation of reason. Moreover, reason is associates with freedom and determinism. According to scientists, the cognition enhances reason in the

The Components of Criminal Justice Essay Example for Free

The Components of Criminal Justice Essay There are three main components of understanding the components of criminal justice. They are law enforcement, courts, and corrections. First is law enforcement, it broadly refers to any system by which some members of society act in an organized manner to promote adherence to the law by punishing people who violate the rules governing that society. However, the term may encompass entities such as courts and prisons, it is most frequently applied to those who directly engage in patrols or surveillance to dissuade and discover criminal activity, and those who investigate crimes and apprehend offenders. Next are courts. It’s a tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. The third and final component of the criminal justice system is corrections. The role of this component is to uphold and administer sentences handed down by judges. The corrections system, which is tightly intertwined with the previous two components, is very important and quite large. The corrections component includes jails, prisons, correctional officers, probation officers and parole officers. Criminal procedures are safeguards against the indiscriminate application of criminal laws and the wanton treatment of suspected criminals. Specifically, they are designed to enforce the constitutional rights of criminal suspects and defendants, beginning with initial police contact and continuing through arrest, investigation, trial, sentencing, and appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court, pursuant to its authority under the Rules Enabling Act, first promulgated the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which Congress, in turn, passed. The Federal Rules outline the procedure for conducting federal criminal trials. Similarly, states have their own codes of criminal procedure of which many closely model the Federal Rules. The Federal Rules incorporate and expound upon all guarantees included within the U.S. Constitutions Bill of Rights. A few of the rights guaranteed to criminal defendants by the Constitution include the guarantees of due process and equal protection under the laws, the right to have legal counsel present, the right to confront witnesses, the right to a jury trial, and the right to not testify against oneself. While state constitutions and procedural rules may increase the protection afforded to criminal defendants, they may not offer less protection than that guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. According to Freedictionary, policing is to regulate, control, or keep in order with or as if with a law enforcement agency and to make (a military area, for example) neat in appearance: policed the barracks. On the other hand, community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime. Corrections are a euphemism. It’s a less distasteful word chosen to represent jails and prisons. For many professionals involved in the justice system, though, the word represents a hope that the people they deal with can learn from their mistakes and return to society as productive citizens. The history of corrections is full of various interpretations of the purposes of removing criminals from societya debate that continues in todays theories of corrections. Penology comes from the Latin word poena, punishment and the suffix -logy, study of. It is a section of criminology that deals with the philosophy and practice of various societies in their attempts to repress criminal activities, and satisfy public opinion via an appropriate treatment regime for persons convicted of criminal offenses. Ethical issues in criminal justice have been addressed on both a philosophical and historical level. Ethical issues have existed in relation to government, policing and international politics for centuries. The standard code of ethics that law enforcement personnel and public servants are asked to uphold can often be translated subjectively by individuals, resulting in the possibility of ethically questionable conduct. Ethical issues regarding brutality, corruption and off-duty behavior have become an increasing challenge in criminal justice.

The Impact Of Asymmetric Information And Adverse Selection Finance Essay

The Impact Of Asymmetric Information And Adverse Selection Finance Essay Nowadays financial intermediations play the important role in the economy. Firms and individuals can find sources to finance its new project. Also lender can invest their money in secure positions. Financial intermediations raise funds from the depositors for short term and lend them to the borrower for long term. The main job of those institutions is to provide finance through taking extra risk. So there are three parties engaged in those investments process. The lender or the depositor could lend his money on secure way and low cost. The borrower can find the finance of his project. The financial intermediation manages the process of those transactions. The question now is that why do lender and borrower need financial intermediation to manage this relationship. Why do not they do it directly without a third party? The answer of this question needs to know the main reasons why financial intermediations exist. There are three reasons explain this issue. First reason is that, the dif ferent requirement of those two parties. Second reason is the transaction cost. Finally is the asymmetric information. In this assay we will focus on the asymmetric information as a reason of the existence of the financial intermediation. Also, in this essay I will first explain the Asymmetric information, adverse selection and moral hazard. Then I will brief some empirical study about the issue of the effect of Asymmetric information to represent the importance of this issue. Also, I will explain the effect of the transaction cost because it has relation with the information cost to avoid unobserved information. Finally, I will explain the financial intermediary natural and their role in guiding the financial process. My conclusion refers to the importance of financial institutions to avoid asymmetric information. I am also touched upon the difference between the risk transferring and risk sharing and the fails of those conventional institutions in the last financial crisis. I reco mmended Islamic industry is an alternative to those convectional ones which can be able to withstand during the crisis because they works as a partner with their consumer and they share the risks with them. The impact of Asymmetric information, adverse selection, and moral hazard on the lender. It is important to the lender to have the good quality and quantity information about the borrower to be in the save side. When the information is poor that means there will be risk exist. Asymmetric information is an important concept in finance and needs to be understood. It means said Bucle (1998); the information refers to the situation where one party has more information than the other party. This is a problem with most types of transactions, financial or non financial transactions. In the Case of a financial transaction, the borrower will have more information about the Risks and return of the investment project for which funds are being borrowed and the lender do not have the same information the borrower does. So it may leads to actual conflict. Asymmetric information more affect lender, before he gives loan to the borrower and after. Adverse selection is the result of asymmetric information which means a bad selection with high risk of default. The adverse selection refers to the borrower with adverse return. Also, the second result of asymmetric information is moral hazard continued Bucle (1998). The lender will face this particular problems, in which always happened after lending. This problem is described as bad behaviour that accurse when the lender take the money from the lender and because the money is not belonged to him he will use it badly. He will use it for risky activities. As a result the lender will be at risk of losing his money. Karlan and at al (2005): investigate the moral hazard and adverse selection in credit market in South Africa. The random sample of 58000, of male and female, direct offers mail used by a larger lender in South Africa by three classes. First, offer interest rate. Second, contract interest rate which is equal or less the offer interest rate and revealed to more than 4000 borrowers that agreed to the first offer rate. Finally, a dynamic repayment with a good price on future loans for borrowers still in a good positions. These three stages supported by full information given to the lenders. The study setup distinguishes adverse selection from moral hazard impact on repayment. The result found that approximately 20% of default is because asymmetric information problems. Another empirical study of the impact of asymmetric information conducted by Gaul and at al (2008) investigate the effect of unobservable information on corporate loan market, and if the borrower gives the lender the incentive to reduce the asymmetric information effects. The study used a regression to give evidence of a positive relationship between some measure of loan borrower by lender, contract terms, negotiating loans, and the amount of non- publicly information. The study found that, moral hazard and adverse selection problems do exist in the corporate loan market. As a result of asymmetric information, adverse select, and moral hazard is the transaction cost. So what do we mean by transaction cost? Bucle (1998) counts four types of transaction costs which are as follows. Firstly, search cost, the borrower and the lender will be affected by high cost of searching for accurate information about each other to avoid risks associated to default and loss money. Also, verification costs, which mean the cost that accrues when lender tries, ensure that information he has is true. Furthermore, monitoring costs, the lender after given loan to the borrower should follow the borrower activities to make sure he will be able to make payment as agreed. Finally, enforcement costs, in case of default the lender wants to ensure that the lender can be enforced to get the money back. The importance of the financial intermediaries The financial intermediation is the entity which in a med position between two parties and manage the financial transaction between them. Commercial banks, investment banks, stock investing services, insurance providers, etc are examples of the financial intermediation. So we can imagine the importance of those entities. For example banks, it does the important role. Banks obtain funds from depositors and then lend those funds to borrowers. Also provide financial services said Fraser and et al (2001). Also individual as lender can get fixed income at cheaper cost. Also, when the lender uses the financial intermediary he wont need to bear those costs. He does not have to spend money and time for collecting information to find good borrower. Moreover, he can get his money back at any time he want it. Also he does not have to bear risks of default the borrower and other risks because the risks are borne by the bank. Always banks have information and policy system about their clients and diversify their investment in case mismatching the maturities of their assets and liabilities said Saunders (2008). Saunders and et al (2008) said because of costs of monitoring, liquidity, and price risk, as well as for some other reasons, savers often prefer to hold the financial claims issued by FIs rather than those issued by corporations. Diamond (1984) developed a model of delegate monitoring. Financial intermediary acts as monitor by promising the lender a fixed income and monitor the borrower activity to fulfil the lender the promise said Allen at al (2008). Another model developed by Boot and Thakor (1997) about delegated monitoring. They assume that, there are three kind of information. First, incomplete and unclear information about the future activity that the borrower is going to do and they suggest the solution is using financial market to obtain this information. Second the lender does not have information about the lender activity in term of invest the money in safe or risky project, and they suggest the solution by intermediary. Finally, borrower might have the chance to invest in a risky project and also they suggest the solution by intermediary said Allen at al (2008). Conclusion and recommendations: In conclusion, financial intermediaries do not exist by chance the economy has found them. As it shows above it exist because the need of the two separate parties and these parties represent the structure of the economy in any country. Borrower wants to have finance in his new project. Also lender need to be safe from asymmetric information, adverse selection of borrower and moral hazard and it is the financial intermediarys main job. To collect information about the borrower is not an easy task. It contains high cost for the small lenders which prevents him to invest his money. Also, he cannot give his money to the wrong person or firm. Financial intermediary could do this job on behalf of the investor. This job can be done by financial intermediaries in a low cost because of the large number of the customer they deal with. Also they act as specialist to this kind of financial transactions. However, financial intermediary is not always the haven. It has also risks of default, credit risk, liquidity risk, and etc. As we experience in the last financial crisis and the collapse of the biggest financial institutions around the world as a result of transferring risk. I think Islamic banks are the solution. They share risks instead of transfer them. Every party have to bear part of the risk to be able to continue. Transferring risks are not the solution, which means party will have nothing and other will have everything as a result part of the economy, will continue and the other part will collapse. Lets imagine the collapse party is the banks. So, the crisis will extend to the economy as a whole.

How Important And Relevant Is Mertons Strain Theory?

How Important And Relevant Is Mertons Strain Theory? In this essay I will analyse the importance and relevance of a structional functionalist view of deviance seen through the lens of strain theory and a symbolic interactionalist perspective through the use of labelling theory. Strain Theory attempts to explain why crime is resolute amongst the lower classes who are subjected to the least opportunities for economic achievement (O Connor 2007). It focuses on the positions that individuals occupy in a social system, not on the characteristics of the individual. Labeling theory explains why sustained delinquent behaviour stems from destructive social interactions and encounters (Siegel Welsh 2008). These theories work in harmony as the former theory explains why deviance begins and the latter gives an explanation as to why deviance continues through the lifespan. I will be describing and evaluating these theories to further answer the question of: just how important are these two theories for the understanding deviance? The sociology of deviance is the systematic study of social norm violation that is subject to social sanction according to (Henry 2009 p.1). Deviant behaviour is behaviour that does not follow common perceptions, when people are deviant they do not conform to expectations. It is difficult to give an exact definition of deviance as many major theorists have cast a vast variety of perspectives on what it really is. Some sociologists believe that deviance is the violation of any social rule, whereas other sociologists argue that deviance does not have to be a real behaviour for it to be labelled deviant (Thio, Calhoun Conyers 2008). Downes Rock (2003) state that deviance is everywhere and not only that but it leaves traces everywhere. Theories of deviance are rarely catapulted into political settings to be accepted or rejected in their entirety; rather they trickle in from many sources. The influence of ideas is always changing due to the instability of political circumstances (Downs Rock 2003). The increase in deviance may be due to the fact that people are confused about the correct values and morals to hold. As a result of this ever evolving world there are new variations of deviant behaviour occurring on a daily basis, ranging from minor violations of the law such as not paying a television licence to major deviance like abuse scandals in regard to the Catholic Church. These acts are considered to be deviant as they are acts which the rest of society deems as unacceptable (Tierney 2006). Traditional values such as religious views have been shattered to pieces because of ongoing scandals in the Catholic Church. Individual pursuits drive people; religion has no impact on the expected standards of people in todays materialist driven society, which in turn leads to an increase in deviant behaviours. The Functionalist perspective stems from the work of Durkheim who believed that peoples social roles or functions hold society together (Flynn 2009). In contrast to this is the Symbolic interaction approach where the emphasis is on the way people construct the meaning of others acts (Becker McCall 1990). Durkheim believed that crime is not only functional but it is necessary, it only become dysfunctional if the rates are either too high or too low (Covington 1999). The functionalist analysis of deviance begins with society as a whole; it looks for the source of deviance in the nature of society rather than in the psychological nature of the individual. Durkheim believes society is held together by shared values, and if these values are not constantly reaffirmed through the generations it may signify the collapse of society. One may put forward the argument that shared values are not a fundamental part of society today. It proves difficult to reaffirm values through generations when the family when parents are working long hours. Parental influence over children has declined; due to this children seek values from available sources such as the television or internet, resulting in the promotion of materialistic values which are in turn the norms today. If the community collapsed, and the collective conscience failed the result was a state of anomie (Covington 1999). In essence anomie represents the problems in society caused by social deregulation. Merton developed an anomie theory based on Durkheims earlier work which referred to a deinstitutionalization of norms that happens when there is a disjunction between the importance of cultural goals and institutional means (Featherstone Deflem 2003). Mertons strain theory argues that structures in society may encourage deviance and crime, it is a structural functionalist explanation. Functionalist theories offers the basis for policies that are wide-ranging in their scope (Downes Rock 2003), however Gouldner (1970) believes that Functionalism thinks of systems as mutually interacting variables rather than in terms of cause and effect, thus one may infer that it is impossible to implement policy to stop a particular effect if the cause is not highlighted. Theories of deviance are extremely important as Downes Rock (2003) believe that all theories of deviance have implications for policy making. That said however the ease of implementation of polices may prove difficult. For example doing something about anomie would be far more difficult than tackling vandalism by technical means (Downes Rock p. 317 2003) However, Mertons anomie theory is of great relevance to the realm of policy as it infers a definite cause and effect statement relating to the disjunction between goals and means (Downes Rock 2003). The main principle of Social Strain Theory is that some social structures exert a definite pressure upon certain persons in society to engage in non-conforming rather than conforming conduct (Thio, Calhoun Conyers 2008 p.33). This is not to say that certain social structures leave the individual with no other choice but to turn to crime, rather inadequate regulation leaves the individual with a different perspective on means to financial gain. I agree that this system is a great source of inequality and subsequent deviance in our society today that the less powerful groups are labelled so negatively and punished severely. Every crime should be treated in the same manner, regardless of whether they are from an underprivileged area or a high flying business person. An impact of cycle of deficient regulation may also be seen in Beckers Labelling theory. This theory was greatly influenced by the symbolic interaction approach as it is people who determine and give meaning to labels. The justice system operates on behalf of powerful groups in society; hence one has to ask the question what behaviours are criminal? The two strands of this theory are a concern to address how a particular behaviour comes to be labelled as deviant and secondly what is the impact of this label. (Becker p.9 1963) states that The deviant is one whom that label has been successfully applied: deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label. In relation to deviance Labelling theory places the importance on the reaction to behaviour not the behaviour itself (Macionis Plummer 2007). It was this belief that leads Becker to place labels on types of behaviour, but who are the people labelled as deviant in society. To put it simply, labelling theory is concerned with what happens to criminals after they have been labelled, also suggesting that actual crime rates may be heightened by criminal sanctions. Unlike the Functionalist perspective, Symbolic Interaction is concerned with the process that underline social life and consequently the mechanisms by which meanings are given to those processes. It centres on the creativity capacity of humans and their ability to share interactions with others (Walklate 2007). In relation to deviance it is concerned with how certain behaviours come to be understood as deviant. Becker argued that behaviours of less powerful groups for example the poor, or disadvantaged are more likely to be criminalized than those who are privileged such as the white and wealthy. This happens because there is an assumption that crime is a social label along with the creation of law which are made by people in positions of power and enforced on people without power (Hopkins Burke 2002). The judicial system criminalizes less dominant and less powerful member of society, thus Becker argues that some rules may be cynically designed to keep the less powerful in their place (Hopkins Burke p.137 2002). Becker (1963) disagreed with the notion that those who break the law will be labelled as a criminal. He brought our attention to the fact that in many cases the innocent are accused, along with this only some of those who break the law are punished and brought through the system (Hopkins Burke 2002). Becker used a concept developed by Merton called the self fulfilling prophecy which is what labelling theory is most widely known for. When a situation is given a false definition it evokes a new behaviour in the person which as a result makes the false assumption comes through (Hopkins Burke p.142 2002). Becker felt that most criminals were in the first place falsely defined as a criminal, not only are their actions defined by society as deviant, the label is then extended to them as a person (Hopkins Burke 2002). Mertons concept of strain refers to pressure the lower economic classes feel when they try to achieve societys goals of monetary success (Flynn 2009). Merton felt that in society, people were focused on achieving high financial success which although exceptionally productive on one hand, on the other was a direct source of stress and strain for the individual (Cohen 1966). In effect there is a distortion between culturally induced aspirations for economic success and structurally distributed possibilities of achievement. This is in accordance with labeling theory view where the people who commit deviant acts are probably under strain from society to achieve monetary success. An example of this would be in relation to higher education, people without the means or cultural knowledge to aspire to respected professions are more likely to engage in deviant behaviour than those with access to achieving their goals (Flynn 2009). Within labelling theory there are two important concepts, those of primary deviance and secondary deviance. Merton thinks that the sense of strain that men feel is an accumulation of frustration, despair and injustice (Cohen 1966). Structural and Individual strain are the two main types of strain in society that promote deviance and crime. The former refers to the cycle of deficient regulation in society that has a negative impact on how an individual evaluates their needs, means and opportunities (Flynn 2009). The latter concept is defined by OConnor (2007) as frictions and pains experienced by the individual as they look for ways to meet their needs. Primary deviance in labeling theory involves acts committed by someone without a criminal identity such as an underage drinker. This act provokes little reaction from others around us, therefore it does not have any impact on the persons self concept (Macionis Plummer 2007). Secondary deviance develops through peoples actions towards the person committing the deviant act they may be pushed away and stigmatized making the crime worse, it is caused by the criminal label (Hopkins Burke 2002). It evolves from primary deviance being labelled, which is more likely to happen if you are from a less powerful group (Macionis Plummer 2007), thus mirrors Mertons argument about distortion between economic success and possibility of achievement (Flynn 2009). Merton noted that there were five possible responses or adaptations to strain that happen when people are not in a position to legally attain internalised social goals (Hopkins Burke p.107 2002). This is a perfect example of how labels are the cause of further deviant behaviour. Durkheim and Merton are one in believing that strain results in deviant behaviour, however Durkheim felt the main causes of strain were changes in society. Adapting through conformity is a self explanatory explanation whereby people both the cultural gaols of society and the means of achieving them (Burke 2002), this ensures the continuality and stability of society (Thio, Calhoun Conyers 2008), people do not break laws when achieving their means. Retreatism is considered the most uncommon adaptation by Merton, they reject social goals and the means to attain them (Hopkins Burke 2002), their behaviour is not normal and are considered true aliens (Thio, Calhoun Conyers p.37 2008). Ritualism is similar to conforming behaviour; they adhere to rules for their own sake with an emphasis on means of achievement rather than outcome goals (Hopkins Burke 2002). Innovation is a response to the pressure placed on the individual for success. The innovator embarks on novel routes to achieve success due to barriers for them to achieve success by socially approved means. They have the potential to be seen as deviant (Hopkins Burke 2002), as they engage in illegal means to achieve success. The final response is rebellion, whereby people not only reject but also want to change the existing social system and its goals (Hopkins Burke 2002). The very word rebellion connotes negative meaning thus showing the existence of labeling and stigma as used by Merton. People are stereotyped as being incapable of following normal behaviour and the general population treats them differently, resulting in discrimination in employment, and in many other areas of social life The internalization of labels by offenders may very well produce a career in criminality because of the negative reactions they receive (Hopkins Burke 2002). However, in contrast as Merton argued Cohen agreed that the root cause of the original emergence of delinquent behaviour was the economic pursuit of money success (Downes Rock 2003). A lot of labels come about through the stigmatization of a particular behaviour. Stigma is powerful negative label that has the potential to radically change a persons self concept (Macionis Plummer 2007), thus it is an influential force in the field of labelling. Slattery (2003) notes that a stigma can either be ascribed or achieved, you can be born with one or earn one. Similar to this is strain theories focus on negative relations between people, focusing on how the individual is not treated as they would like to be treated (Agnew 2002). Labelling theory has several limitations; firstly because labelling is very relative it does not take into account some behaviour like murder which is condemned virtually everywhere. Consequently it is most useful to apply to less serious behaviours like youth vandalism. Secondly, labelling may be seen in two ways- it could encourage more criminal behaviour of it could curb it because of people do not like to have a stigma attached to them. (Macionis Plummer 2007). Finally another limitation of labelling theory is that it does not tell us what are the root causes of primary deviance so how do these people become deviant in the first place? They cannot be labelled deviant if they have not engaged in that type of behaviour. Both labeling and strain theory emphasize the role society has to play in crime. Deviance is shaped in its transactions with events and people around it. Labelling theorists in particular have occupied themselves with the workings of the social reaction to deviance (Downes Rock 2003). Dissimilar to this is Durkheims perspective of deviance as performing functions that are essential to society through, encouraging social change, promoting social unity by responding to deviance, clarifying moral boundaries and affirming cultural norms and values (Macionis Plummer 2007). Sumner (1994) argued that deviance is not applicable to sociology today. He believes that the sociology of deviance died in 1975. Similarly Miller, Wright and Dannels (2001) claim to find empirical support for it and signify the death of deviance in respect to the world today. However, on the other hand Goode (2002) claims that at a certain stage in its history, the sociology of deviance developed a large number of ideas, concepts, and theories that influenced related fields. These ideas included: stigma which influenced disability and transgender studies, anomie in social theory, labelling in ethnic studies and the sociology of the underdog in queer theory. Regardless of the fact that sociology of deviance did not create these concepts, the field did help project them onto the intellectual map. Goode concludes that The social construction of deviance is once again controversial, relevant, central to our lives, and fundamental to our understanding of todays world (Goode 2002). I must agree with this statement as not a day goes by without some type of crime or deviant behaviour brought to our attention. Cohen (1966) believes that rules in everyday life provide a blueprint for every human gesture; consequently every rule then creates potentiality for deviance. However, as mentioned previously- are we really all aware of societal norms and values? I believe that society today has failed to provide a blueprint or clear rules for people to live by, hence leading to the unprecedented rates of crime and social deviance. Strain theory and labelling theory do not pay much attention to psychological factors involved in deviant behaviour, this is a limitation to both I feel. I would question the generalizability of strain theory as it emphasises the focus of materialism for society today. However, much crime is committed by people who simply want to get by in life, to survive. They feel they have no other option but to commit crime to put food on the table. Crime may not necessarily be about reaching the top in society, it may just be about getting by. Labeling theory is a lot more individual in its focus; it is more concerned with peoples reactions when placed in a designated role by society.