James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues Essay

In James Baldwin’s â€Å"Sonny’s Blues,† the unsaid brotherly relationship amongst the speaker and his younger brother Sonny is illustrated throughout the narrator’s point of view. The two brothers have not spoken in time until the narrator receives a note from Sonny following his daughter’s death. He takes this moment as a vital indication from Sonny and feels the need to act in response. Despite the fact that both Sonny and the narrator reside in separate worlds, all Sonny desires is a brother to care for him while the narrator finds himself in the past, ultimately learning his responsibility as an older brother. The speaker and Sonny at last get a chance to have a word with each other following many years, they begin to gradually open up to each other the dismal reality that they faced. ’But there’s no way not to suffer–is there Sonny?’ ‘I believe not,’ he said and smiled, ‘but that’s never st opped anyone from trying.’ He looked at me. ‘Has it?’ I realized, with this mocking look, that there stood between us, forever, beyond the power of time of forgiveness, the fact that I had held silence†¦. so long! — When he had needed human speech to help him. (848) The narrator realizes that it was his responsibility to be at hand for his younger brother for all the years that Sonny looked for him, even if it was just to talk or listen. He doesn’t know if Sonny will be capable of forgiving him, or if too much time has passed to be any forgiveness. Even though the narrator is there for his brother now, he could have been an authority figure to him for his entire life, just as any brother should be. The two characters come to the appreciation that they do share a brotherly acquaintance, and that the narrator cares immensely for his brother, even after all the time of detachment. The narrator says, â€Å"I don’t give a damn what other people do, I don’t even care how they suffer. I just care how you suffer.’ And he looked at me, ‘Please believe me,’ I said, ‘I don’t want to see you–die–trying not to suffer†(848). He knows his brother has a drug addiction, but he does not de sire to witness him give up without a fight. He cares about his brother, which is what Sonny has desired all this time, an elder brother to tell him that he ought to not give up, that he must make smart decisions and make something of himself. Sonny’s brother is trying to make up for all the time apart from Sonny during his time of need. This will be his way of making himself feel better for abandoning his younger brother countless years beforehand. Sonny has had trouble with drugs for some time, which leads him having to serve a prison term. Sonny’s brother tries to stay unaware, which is part of the reason he turned his back on his younger brother for numerous years. â€Å"I couldn’t believe it: but what I mean by that is that I couldn’t find any room for it anywhere inside of me. I had kept it outside me for a long time. I hadn’t wanted to know. I had had suspicions, but I didn’t name them, I kept putting them away†(831). The way that he dealt with his younger brother’s problems was by turning his back on them. He knew that Sonny was dealing with heavy problems, but chose to look past them and live his own life. He also knows that leaving his brother during the time he needed him the most was wrong of him to do. The narrator goes on to say, â€Å"I didn’t wa nt to believe that I’d ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out, in the condition I’d already seen so many others†(831). The narrator has seen many kids around him in Harlem that went down the wrong road, but tried to convince himself that that would never happen to his brother. He was never there to steer him in the right direction, which could have possibly lead Sonny past drugs and jail, and onto a promising future. He knows that Sonny lives in a place where many kids make bad decisions with drugs and crime, but by turning his back on Sonny he was never there to protect him like an older brother should. Sonny tells the narrator that he has always had a dream of becoming a musician. As a natural instinct, the narrator objects by saying that he should finish school first. This important part in the story shows dialog from a protective older brother, a brother that Sonny has never had the chance to have in his life before and desperately needs now more than ever. ‘Sonny.’ I said, ‘I know how you feel. But if you don’t finish school now, you’re going to be sorry later th at you didn’t.’ I grabbed him by the shoulders. ‘And you only got another year. It isn’t so bad. And I’ll comeback and I swear I’ll help you do whatever you want to do. Just try to put up with it till I come back, Will you please do that? For me? (843). The narrator is finally coming to his senses; he knows that his younger brother needs him to be a role model and guide to set his life in the right path. The moment the narrator finally remembers that Sonny is a person who should be an important part of his life, not just a past memory, was the moment he saw a story in the newspaper about Sonny being arrested for peddling and using heroin. â€Å"Then perhaps I just started at it, at the newsprint spelling out his name, spelling out the story.† He goes on to say, â€Å"And at the same time I couldn’t doubt it. I was scared, scared for Sonny. He became real to me again†(830). This turning point in the narrator’s life is a crucial aspect of the story because it is the moment when he remembers his past, and the fact that his younger brother is dealing with serious problems. The reality of the imperfections of the world, especially the dangers of his hometown of Harlem come back to haunt him. He has put his pas t behind him for so many years that the reality of his brother being arrested for drugs to him is like â€Å"great block of ice got settled in my belly and kept melting there slowly all day long†(831). He began wondering what Sonny looked like, and if he still had his bright face. Although he does not respond to his brother right away, this moment strikes the beginning of the narrator’s memory of his younger brother. Harlem plays a major role in the narrator’s life and his relationship with Sonny because it is where they were both born and raised. It is not the best neighborhood for children to grow up in, which is associated with the reasons for Sonny’s poor decisions. â€Å"All this was carrying me some place I didn’t want to go. I certainly didn’t want to know how it felt. It filled everything, the people, the houses, the music, the dark, the quicksilver barmaid, with menace; and this menace was their reality†(833). The narrator realizes that Harlem is a main reason for why Sonny is going through such struggles. He does not want to go back and face his past life. He brings Sonny into his house, which reminds him of the house in which the y grew up in. â€Å"The same things happen, they’ll have the same things to remember. The moment Sonny and I started into the house I had the feeling that I was simply bringing him back into the danger he had almost died trying to escape†(836). The narrator is acting like the protective older brother that he should have been all along. After the narrator’s daughter dies he receives a condolence letter from Sonny, which leads him to keep in touch with him as often as possible and eventually see him. â€Å"When I saw him many things I thought I had forgotten came flooding back to me.† He goes on to say, â€Å"He looked very unlike my baby brother. Yet, when he smiled, when we shook hands, the baby brother I’d never known looked out from the depths of his private life, like an animal waiting to be coaxed into the light†(835). The narrator describes Sonny as somebody he has never known. All the years apart has turned the two brothers into complete strangers. This moment between the two men is very important to the central theme of the story, which is the importance of a bond between brothers. Throughout the story, the narrator learns how important it is to Sonny for him to care and listen to him. Sonny is vulnerable and in a state where he is getting into trouble with drugs and alcohol perhaps because he feels as though no one cares enough to help him. The narrator lives his life as a teacher while Sonny spends his days using drugs hoping someday to pursue his dreams of music. Both characters end up in a place they are meant to be; acting as family and leaning on each other for support, which is the true importance of an older brother.

Human Rights Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Human Rights - Research Paper Example We do sense that an ‘indispensable minimum’ is required for such an existence. If ‘we chose to set our minds to it by cooperating and making it a priority we feel with some confidence that such unnecessary deprivation could be overcome. And yet profound injustices on a staggering global scale remain. Continuing theoretical confusion and disagreement serves as a barrier for the human rights project. Nussbaum has advanced the 'capabilities approach' as a non-rights alternative. The capabilities approach focuses on what beings are actually able to do and be, their capability to function, and is an influential approach to quality of life measurement that increasingly features in international debate. A capabilities focus was incorporated into the United Nations Human Development Reports in 1993, largely under the influence of economist, philosopher, and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. Nussbaum's own pioneering work initially adopted the language and notion of human capabil ity and functioning independently through her study of Aristotle. Nussbaum has since fused her project with that of Sen's into a theoretical framework at once grounded in ancient ideas and pertinent to development of contemporary public policy (Crocker 585). This paper explores the ways in which Nussbaum's theory is not only compatible with but also enriching of rights. The Concept of Capabilities A different language about people's basic entitlements and justified claims has emerged in recent years focused on human capability and human functioning. Capability concerns the freedom to function in certain ways deemed valuable, involving particular powers and opportunities. Functioning is the actual choosing and doing of these valued things. Conceptually, this language of people's capabilities refers to ''their abilities to do and to be certain things deemed valuable" (Nussbaum ' Capabilities and Human Rights’ 119). The idea behind Nussbaum's capabilities approach is that there are certain functions people should be empowered to do which are understood to constitute a human life. A life developed and shaped by the choosing and doing of a range of these functions demarcates a dignified or 'true' life from one that is stifled or oppressed (Nussbaum 71-72). Thus, Nussbaum "conceives capabilities as a person's valuable powers or faculties that can and should be realized in valuable functionings" (Crocker 599). A minimally good life involves recognition of the dignity of that life by empowering it with genuine opportunities to function. In principle a human life is an end in itself. Empowering someone and/or safeguarding an environment in which someone can live a dignified or 'true' human life upholds this principle. Nussbaum's foundational principle of each person as end can thus be restated as the principle of each person's capabilities. Those capabilities necessary for a dignified life constitute universal moral values (Nussbaum 74). Nussbaum's Methodology T he central question of Nussbaum's philosophy asks, 'What are people actually able to do and to be?' Answers to this question enable us to draw out a notion of what capabilities we think people need to be able to choose and achieve in order to function and flourish in a dignified manner. Put another way, the "list of basic capabilities is generated by asking a question that from the start is evaluative: What activities

Case Study Foreign Direct Investment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Case Study Foreign Direct Investment - Essay Example Consolidation in the United States with a penetrating strategy was also chosen based on the fact that the major competitors were on the verge of facing very adversity publicity, and the company had a product that could do the reverse nutritionally, if it is able to capitalize on the opportunity. Investment in terms of alliance in organic farming in Europe where projections are for double digits growth in that sector was also a viable option that North Western could pursue, due to the complementarities of both products to a growing health conscious society. In moving into such an alliance, the present management structure would require significant changes, as experts in this field will have to be recruited to strengthen perceived areas of weaknesses in advance, so that timely and informed decisions can be made. Going oversees in term of South Africa and or the Vietnamese markets will definitely challenged the competence of the organization, especially from cultural perspectives, as we ll as the levels of leadership representation required to negotiate with the government and private sector interest. Sensitivity to the needs of the environment, especially as it relates to environmentalists groups will require the adoption of new approach to maintain the stable climates that are conducive to its growth and development on a continuous basis, will prove crucial. North Western will do well to look at its financial commitment, the threats from competitors, the dwindling sales and market shares, as well as the attractive market options that are available now but may not be six months later, and make decisions, even changes in the leadership structure to reflect what qualities will be required to meet challenges in the national and global environments. Strategic Development Directions 1 North Western Corporation is a major manufacturer of health drinks and distributor of fusion nutrition health drink. Presently it has a 15% market share in the US and 12% in Europe. Howev er, these percentages were much higher six months ago. There is a cause for concern insofar as the strategy to deploy to change the scenario, increase percentage profitability, and consolidate its position as a major competitor in the market place. The managing director Leslie Owen and his Oregon City team knows that economic down turn is only one of the reasons why his company is not doing so well as this point in time. This team of managers are going to be provided with the options to consider, with a bank balance in excess of $500 million dollars, a Research and Development that is has to produce at least five new brands for the market, are advantages to bear in mind insofar as options are presented. Strategy Development Directions for North Western Corporation will include four different approach, from which management will make the choice that will reflect its best interest. Based on market intelligence North Western prices are competitive with other products in the market. How ever, the company is not satisfied with its returns and market share, and has decided to engage in market penetration strategy to reduce the level of competition. The company has already profited from all these products and is in the process of introducing additional products to the market. This is reminiscent of Sony according to Berkowitz, et al (2000), which in1995,

E-businese system about Chinese supermarket in UK Assignment

E-businese system about Chinese supermarket in UK - Assignment Example Part A 1. Introduction of the E-Business System and Organisation The Chinese grocer chin, Huaxing Chinese Supermarket uses on e-commerce and e-marketing work system that makes to successfully make significant contributions to achieving the organization’s goals and objectives. The company implements the e-commerce business system. Under the system, the company uses an online website, http://www.huaxing.co.uk/, to increase revenues generated from the company’s physical store revenues. In the e-commerce and e-marketing business system, the current and future customers visit the company’s online website (Daft, 2011). The company’s fixed office phone is 01316629892. The company sells the usual supermarket products. Further, the company’s website informs the current and future customers that some of the Huaxing products are imported from different countries. One of the grocery chain food supply group is the Japan-based grocery chain suppliers group. Anoth er food supplier group includes all companies located in Korea. Another grocery chain food supply group is the China -based grocery chain suppliers group. Another food supplier group includes all companies located in South Korea. The other suppliers of the Chinese store fall under the Thailand supplier group (Shajahan, 2007). Furthermore, the company, Huaxing Chinese Supermarket in the United Kingdom, also advertises the many benefits of taking advantage of the company’s e-commerce and e-marketing business online shopping environment (Ferrell, 2010). The company can advertise the friendly personality of all online store and physical store sales personnel. One of the attractions of the company’s online website is permitting the customers to order the delivery of the grocery and other supermarket items to the buyers’ preferred addresses (Gupta, 2011). The customers can save time ordering their supermarket goods online compared to visiting the Huaxing Chinese Super market in the United Kingdom physical store. Moreover, the Huaxing Chinese Supermarket in the United Kingdom website work system includes offering the customer several choices. The website contains pictures of the company’s top selling items. With the work system’s online website pictures, the current and future customers can vividly pick out which products to check out online. With the pictures, the e-commerce and e-marketing customers can seemingly have the same feeling as the person who personally drops by the Huaxing Chinese Supermarket in the United Kingdom to see how each fruit or vegetable classification or name looks like (Bagad, 2009). Work System Snapshot of Huaxing Supermarket (U.K.) *www.huaxing .com.uk offers online supermarket shopping (e-commerce and e-marketing) Customers of Huaxing Supermarket (U.K.) *People who buy supermarket products *Wholesalers and retailers of supermarket products Products *Grocery Items *Other supermarket products Business Proce ss * Current and future customers log on to http://www.huaxing.co.uk/ *Customers pick out their preferred supermarket product choices from the available website picture choices. *Customer enters the order and pays using credit cards. * Huaxing finds the supermarket products ordered by the customers. *Huaxing delivery department delivers food choices to the e-commerce & e-marketing customers. *If the products are not in the warehouse, the delivery departme

Oscar Wildes Fashion Ugliness Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oscar Wildes Fashion Ugliness Argument - Essay Example The paper "Oscar Wilde’s Fashion Ugliness Argument" critically examines whether fashion has some ugliness. Oscar Wilde was arguably right in his observation that the mass market that produces and distributes fashion products is saturated with poor quality products, which are meant to appeal to the end-users within a short period of time as the manufacturers make millions of pounds in profits. Producing fashion items for global consumption generally takes precedent over creativity or individual vision. The skill and creativity in the design of tight undergarments, for example, takes a lesser role as far as creating the commodity is concerned. Serving hundreds of millions of consumers with such unhealthy clothes for â€Å"six months† requires quick production of simple fashion materials through cheap processes for selling multiple times over without paying attention at the health risks and or discomfort that it would pose to the wearers. The end-result is an â€Å"uglyâ €  fashion item that prevents the wearer from freely engaging in his or her everyday duties. In addition, owing to the priority of contemporary corporate bodies that design and produce fashion items to make profits, it is apparent that short-term gains cannot coexist with quality and the â€Å"inner† attraction of fashion items. Profit demands continuous generation of unique designs that are easy to manufacture such as backless blouses for women. Once a fashion design has been accepted, usually by individuals who are under the pressure to generate more revenue.

Use of Gender Stereotypes in Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Use of Gender Stereotypes in Advertising - Essay Example Gender stereotyping in the advertisements has become one of the major problems seen. For many it is a wrong and unacceptable way since it gives a wrong sense of value to the people for selfish reasons. On the other hand, the groups of people who use gender stereotyping argue that it is to reach the targeted audience and not to immorally harm the society. The issues arise often and the debate goes on. It is important to note that advertisements rely on stereotypes, and despite what the society presents, gender stereotypes play the concrete role. The modern society has been shaped according to the media that surrounds us. The main purpose why advertisers use stereotypes is to make their message stronger and reach the targeted audience. They also think this secures the stereotypes in the society and portrays their position in the society. However, it also causes an inverse effect according to many psychologists. They say these advertisements represent the genders in the society as they exist stereotypically, and also cause these groups to be influenced to stay packed within their stereotyped molds. The advertisement of Weight Watchers is an example of how gender stereotypes are commonly used in advertisements. They have the perspective of looking at men and women so differently that they have used two separate advertisements in order to target them. The advertisement for women launched the ‘Weight Watchers 360’ programme and the advertisement for men launched the ‘Lose like a Man’ programme. The programme for women was very stereotypical as it focused on the ability of the user to, at times, eat what they wanted, such as chocolates. For men the programme used the approach giving them the ability to sometimes eat some of their favourites and still lose weight, such as pizza, burgers etc. The advertisement could not have gotten more stereotypical where it positioned different tactics for both genders, placed the genders in their stereotyped roles and influenced the society to follow them. The relationship between the media and the society is not understandable. It is observed that women face excessive stereotypical pressure, but usually men suffer the same. Gender stereotyping in advertisements is commonly discouraged because it enforces negative and false assumptions in the society through portraying audiences on television, social media or billboards. For selfish reasons advertisers use these groups and create wrong values in the minds of people in the society. Psychological reasons are the most important ones because of which stereotyping in advertisements are immoral and harmful. The advertisement may remind the targeted audience of any incidents that they went through, and influence to think of them as normal. Advertisers sell their products through targeting the psychology where the audience starts to feel they actually lack those so-called attributes (Browne, 2011, p. 33). Advertisements affect people every day in a way that they do not realise. These advertisements portray an idealistic reality which most people are not aware of. The goals and objectives attained by the advertisers cause severe negative circumstances in the society. Psychologists say that women are reminded of the negative stereotypes before they perform any exercise or activity. The stereotyped advertisements create an exaggerated version of a specific group or gender and they present it as normal. This affects the psychology of people who are being targeted and they are not only convinced to buy the product but also start believing themselves to be normally unusual.

Wireless Technology in Hotels Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Wireless Technology in Hotels - Assignment Example Later, we discover the importance of mobility and came up with a "wireless" network. Now, everybody is taking about "wireless" and we cannot help thinking of Wi-Fi, the marvel of wireless. This report details the technical aspects of Wi-Fi and its advantages over the conventional wired networks. It presents the evolution of Wi-Fi from a humble mobile device tool into a sought after device for high-speed wireless internet access. It shows the unique qualities of Wi-Fi that captures the heart of businesses around the globe and how it became so popular in the hospitality industry. It also covers the impact of wireless technology in hotels and the numerous benefits it will bring. In the past decades, the hospitality industry has witness remarkable rise in computer use. It is difficult to find an establishment in the industry without some type of information technology. IT influenced the hotels in various ways, increasing competence and reducing domestic operations cost through efficient property management systems, billing, accounting, human resources, inventories and more. It is no doubt an important tool for marketing and dissemination through the internet and digital media. It is the significant force driving change in hospitality industry and its occurring more quickly than anyone can foresee. Moreover, it has widely influence the in-room technology and gu... It seems that any hotel that does not acknowledge the vibrant nature of the hospitality industry, and appreciate the extraordinary changes taking place within it, will have a modest chance of being competitive in the 21st century. A hotel room with stunning view and high-speed broadband services are now becoming a standard request from travellers. It is an indication that the technology is already a part of the hotel industry and an essential service to implement in order to be competitive in the present industry setting. A "must have" amenity for mid-size to large hotels is the innovative technology known as Wi-Fi. It enables a person with a wireless enabled computer to connect to the internet remotely with greater transfer speed. Many hotels are now offering Wi-Fi access free as part of their standard services and are making money from this cutting-edge technology through soaring occupancy rates. THE WI-FI TECHNOLOGY Lucent and Agere Systems (formerly NCR Corporation and AT&T) with Victor Hayes invented Wi-Fi in 1991. Victor Hayes and his team design the standards such as IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g and later he became the father of Wi-Fi. The Agere System, without Hayes (retired in 2003), suffered strong competition from cheaper Wi-Fi solutions and later quit the Wi-Fi market in 2004. The term Wi-Fi for clarification, is not "Wireless Fidelity" but a term to described WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) products that are based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. The Interbrand Corporation developed the brand name "Wi-Fi" for the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (better known as Wi-Fi Alliance) for their marketing strategy. Audeh 2004, page