Abduction Is a Short Story by Shelagh Delaney

Abduction is a short story by Shelagh Delaney, it is a story about misunderstanding the concept of love. However it is also a story about, misunderstanding or not looking for the needs of the ones we love. Abduction is the title, and it refers to the way, that Ann abducts her sixteen year old younger brother from their parents, and brings him to london. Ann is a woman who always new, what she wanted: â€Å"She couldn't get out of Manchester quick enough. Although she'd been born and brought up there it had never been good enough. There was only one place worth living.London. † (p. 1, ll. 24) Ann moved and never looked back, except from the one time, where she came to take her younger brother to live with her in London. There can be many reasons why Ann felt the need to take him away from his home, but all in all she has a very strong need to look after someone, and control their life. Considering the fact, that she is working at a children's hospital, may give the impression, that she would want to have kids on her own, but that is not the case. Already when she was a young woman, she was sterilized.It is a bit of a mystery, because while she loved kids, she did not want any of her own. For her it was more easy to become a mother to her younger brother. Therefore she spoiled him with money, and never gave him have a life of his own. When he gets a girlfriend, who also become pregnant, Ann tells them to get an abortion, and they do what she says. Ann's younger brother's girlfriend points out to him, that there is something wrong between the two siblings: â€Å"She's more like a possessive mother than a sister,† She told him. â€Å"Are you sure you're not really her baby? † (pp, 4. ll, 81).This is said because Ann's behavior is more appropriate for a mother than a sister, because as his sister, she should not take the mothers part in the upbringing. As mentioned before Ann spoils her brother with money. She gives him, what she believes he wan ts, and he is too week to tell her, that what she is doing is wrong. When he graduates from college, (where he had studied media, which he actually despised, but did for his sister sake), Ann provide him with a job, which of course leads to Ann giving him a lot of new and expensive close, he never wanted. After that day, he immediately changed to his belongings from his birth house.Ann's brother married Marianne, the girl who got an abortion, she gets pregnant again, and this time, they keep the child. After Marianne has given birth to their child, Ann transfers her own sense to the child, and spoils it with money, even though the parents tell her to stop. After some years Ann's brother start to drink, and become an alcoholic. Marianne tries to help him, but she decides to divorce him. He moves back to Ann, and they are back were they were before the marriage. This is very satisfying for Ann, because now she can control her brother, the way she like.Again she can spoil him with mone y, and give him the things, she think he wants. He says that he does not want her to spend the money, but she answer him back that it is only money, and that is what they are for. The money she gives him, is her way of expressing her love to the brother. She never think that maybe he wants something totally different, he wants feelings, wants someone to tell him that he exist for a reason. His alcoholism is according to Ann not existing, her brother can simply not have an alcohol problem. It is easy to see, that this is her brothers way of going against his sister.He has the need to do something against his sister, and make her realize, that she can not make him, something he is not. She can not make him wear clothes, he dislike, she can't change him, no matter how big an amount of money she gives him. His life is a mess, he is in a deep alcoholism, even though he loves his child and ex-wife. â€Å"He'd wanted to run away then, run back home to his mother and father. Was it possibl e to start all over again? † (pp, 4. ll, 119) Ann is very controlling, she wants him to stay week, so she drags him back into alcoholism, she thinks that she has all the right answers.That her mother and father was in no condition to raise a child, that she could do it better herself, but all she ever did was doing it the wrong way. Money can not replace true feelings, it can not replace the love between to humans, money can never make a person happy, and it did not make her brother happy, it killed him. Both the picture by Edward Munch, and the text by D. H. Lawrence is about women controlling their men. In the painting, a woman encloses a man with her hair, he is in her power. She has the power to control him. The man in he picture has a very sad look in his eyes, as if he nows that he does not have the power to get out of her grip. In the text a man is describing how his girlfriend is very possessive and wants to control him. â€Å"She had such a lust for possession, a gre ed of self-importance in love†(pp. 6, ll. 7). This painting and the text are both very similar to the themes in the short story. They both surrounds the topic of women being dominant, and wanting to control the men, just like Ann's needs to control her younger brother. Fiction and non-fiction is two very different ways of writing.In fiction you can write anything that comes to you mind, there are no specific rules that inquirer you to do something certain. A fiction story can be very unrealistic, but also very realistic. When looking at the short story Abduction, it is quickly discovered that it is a fiction story. To start with it has a third person narrator. In fiction a narrator can write down the characters thoughts, and him or her, can be very subjective: â€Å"The first time he left his sister's house for the office he felt like a fool togged up in a black cashmere and silk shirts†(pp. 3, ll. 8). Non-fiction on the other hand is submitted rules, in non-fiction you have to stay as objective as possible. Personal thoughts are not to prefer, the writer is telling the story as it happened, him or her is passing on valuable information, and that information has to be unbiased. â€Å"Alfred Adler observed that there was an innate â€Å"drive for power an superiority† that was evidenced in sibling rivalry†(pp. 8, ll. 1) Alfred is observing something, and these observations can be used to conclude something. That would not have been the case, if the text had been fiction.

My first date

I can vividly recall my first date but not for the reasons one would usually suppose. Actually, in my opinion this ‘momentous’ event hardly meant anything to me at the time and this was reflected in the triviality with which I treated the occasion. My focus at age thirteen wasn’t primarily at chasing girls though it should have been. My focus was on impressing my older brother and getting his attention. I admired him in so many ways. He isn’t the kind of brother many other boys my age would dote over. He was a ‘study-aholic’ and dedicated himself primarily to his school work and the work he did after school. He hardly had time for anyone else, and that included me. I longed so much for those days when he would mess around with me or punch me or beat me and deny it to my parents when I complained. We had both grown up from those days and somehow I feel as I grew older I began to lose my older brother. My first date was, in actuality, to be a movie and dinner with an extraordinarily intelligent and mildly beautiful young girl with whom I went to school. This date, however, also represented a chance for me to spend some needed time with my brother, even if it was to be only a few hours. I feigned annoyance when my parents insisted he had to accompany. Being the kind of son that he is he, of course, did not complain. He was all too willing to do as my parents requested and I was all to happy that he didn’t have better things to do that evening than spend some time chaperoning his younger brother. I hadn’t spent more than an hour with my brother since he started on his new part-time job with the same company my dad worked. He also did odd jobs around the neighborhood. I hadn’t heard the full conversation but I caught on that he and my parents had discussed his college education and they had stressed how difficult it would be to finance his studies immediately after he completes high school. He, however, was insistent that he needs to get into pre-med right away and thus took on the challenge to earn as much as he could to allay the cost burden on my parents. I’ve always admired his diligence and this in addition to the fact that he was MY big brother and no one else’s, set him apart from all other older brothers. Francis left early that morning to go to work. My dad always joked that he would soon take over his position because he was always so eager and on the ball. I had wanted his opinion on what to wear but it was too late when I got up and I felt a bit disappointed. Nevertheless this didn’t throw me off at all because I knew that at five o’clock he would be home with enough time to change and get dressed and then we would be on our way to meet the two sisters a short walking distance from our own home. That walk, with my brother, at six-thirty that evening, on that cloudless Saturday evening, was the highlight of my evening and is the memory I most treasure in my reflections of that evening. While we were walking towards the house he ruffled my hair with his fingers, the way he usually did and almost threw me off the sidewalk with a slap on my back. We romped, just like in the old days, for the full fifteen minutes it took us to arrive at their front door and at that time I found the brother I hadn’t seen in a long while. We didn’t have a particularly spectacular time with the girls. It was just like a normal date I guess. Susan was alright and so was her sister. They both seemed quite enthused to be out of the dreariness of their home for a change. We chatted about any and everything. Of course some times I brought up some silly ideas and my brother would hunch me in the side with his elbows, or rub my forehead till it burned. It was in those moments that my mind would flash back to our younger days, when he, in his mischief, would do just the same. It felt like magic finally having my brother back and knowing that I was not in danger of losing him to the rest of the world. My first date, the date with my brother with whom I now share a peculiarly close friendship was indeed, a marvelous experience.

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Case Study Example The proposed change of strategy has the following consequences: the fixed costs will increase to (1,053,000 + 585,000) = $ 1,638,000. Second, the new average contribution margin = (0.25*0.5) + (0.25*0.1) + (0.1 * 0.5) + (0.4 * 0.8) = 0.52. Therefore, the total restaurant sales to achieve the desired net income = (1,053,000 + 585,000 + 117,000) /0.52 = $ 3,375,000. Sales for each product lines are as follows: appetizers = (3,375,000 * 0.25) = $ 843,750; Main entrees = (3,375,000 * 0.25) = $ 843,750; Desserts = (3,375,000 * 0.1) = $ 337,500; and Beverages = (3,375,000 * 0.4) = $ 1,350,000 (DuBrin 208-212). The fixed cost will be $ 1,638,000. However, the new contribution margin = (0.15 * 0.5) + (0.5 * 0.1) + (0.1 * 0.5) + (0.25 *0. 8) = 0.375. The sales level to achieve the desired net income = (1,053,000 + 585,000 + 117,000) /0.375 = $ 4,680,000. Sales for each product lines are as follows: appetizers = (4,680,000 * 0.15) = $ 702,000; Main entrees = (4,680,000 * 0.5) = $ 2,340,000; Desserts = (4,680,000 * 0.1) = $ 468,000; and Beverages = (4,680,000 * 0.25) = $ 1,170,000 (DuBrin 208-212). This strategy increases the level of sales to achieve the desired net income of $ 117,000. A potential risk to this strategy is the failure to meet the sales level ($ 4,680,000). On the other hand, the strategy has an advantage of increasing the restaurants revenues. A company that uses manual labor in the production system experiences the following cost pool: wages to part-time and full-time employee, the contribution to a pension plan, employee recruitment costs, and moral hazard cost. On the other hand, the automated equipment system bears the following cost pools: machine acquisition costs, equipment maintenance costs, salary to IT technician, machine replacement and depreciation costs. Changing from manual labor production system to an automated equipment system changes the cost above named

Policy Corruption in New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina Essay

Policy Corruption in New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina - Essay Example However, this may not always hold true. For one reason or another, there are countries in which those part of the law enforcement agency are not only poor or incompetent at their job, but are more concerned of pursuing their own self-interests rather than to serve and to protect. Of course, the most instinctive solution would be to kick them out of the force, but even this does not always happen – often because the higher-ups remain ignorant, or worse, are themselves complicit in such morally questionable acts. While no law enforcement agency can ever be characterized as perfect – not least because each one will have at least a few shortcomings or problem areas to balance out its strengths – there are those that go as far as they can in the other extreme, not just failing to enforce and uphold law and order but even actively undermining it. In such a case, the so-called law enforcers become little more than goons in uniform, terrorizing the public in a manner not unlike the criminals they are supposed to be hunting down. Unfortunately, even in this day and age, there are law enforcement agencies which can be aptly described in such a manner. One of the more infamous examples in recent memory is the New Orleans Police Force, which was rocked by all manner of issues such as corruption and police brutality in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This paper is thus intended as a look at the corruption that rocked the NOPD to its foundations in the immediate aftermath of the calamity, hopefully in order to draw conclusions about how best to prevent such a scandal from recurring in the future. NOPD – The Corruption As noted in the New York Times by Treaster and Newman (2005), the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina saw the bulk of the police force dedicated to mounting rescue efforts all over the city. Unfortunately, this also meant that they ended up turning a blind eye to the opportunists who chose that moment to enrich themselves at the cost of th e victims of the disaster. As a matter of fact, the inaction of the police force to these crimes resulted in criminals becoming so audacious as to commit crimes not only in broad daylight, but even in front of officers themselves in some cases – often with only a slap on the wrist to show for it, if at all. In fact, the situation got so bad that even then-City Councilor Jackie Clarkson was forced to acknowledge and lament the rapidly deteriorating situation. The calamity that had struck only recently at that time led to a major, major breakdown in channels of transportation and communications, which in turn led to a disquieting impotence on the part of police officers to properly counteract the terrible, terrible spike in crime rates. Looting in particular became alarmingly common during this time, with the shopkeepers involved forced to defend their property all by themselves. Armed robbery also reached a disturbing level of frequency at this point in the history of New Orle ans, with most of the victims being robbed at gunpoint. For the most part, though, the looting incidents that were reported simply involved calamity victims gathering basic necessities such as food, water and clothing from unattended stores – which, while still being far from legally or morally permissible, were much more understandable in light of the terrible, terrible damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

The Movies and Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Movies and Research - Essay Example Truman continued to question further his existence since he noticed that everything that is going on in Seahaven revolve around his life. When Truman decided to seek out the truth to the world beyond Seahaven, the producers of the show tried as much as they can to prevent him from doing so by making plot twists in his daily activities that would avert any attempts made. Eventually, Truman secretly sailed off from his house, and was almost killed by a storm the producer of the show made. Realizing the morality in killing a cast member for the sake of a show would be an outrage, the producer allowed Truman to exit the arcological movie set and to see the real world beyond Seahaven. In this film, one of the main themes being shown is the concept of simulated reality. Simulated reality is an approach of observation, usually scientific, that makes events in reality replicated to a point that it is difficult to distinguish it from actual reality. This form of observation is the major plot basis for the movie The Truman Show and is the driving force for the main character’s actions and existential inquiries about his life. It should be remembered that in the setting of the movie, simulated reality is used as a form of mass media entertainment while setting aside any real or applied scientific usage. However, research in the movie setting is implied to have been done in a way to make the main character Truman spend most of his life believing that his world of Seahaven is the only reality. One could consider this form of research as a controlled form of observation, as every aspect of Truman’s daily life is being manipulated by external human actions. T his is done so skillfully that it has been an accepted fact by Truman even right on the day of his birth until adulthood. It should also be noted that the reason for the simulated reality scheme is for audiences of the show in the movie’s setting would watch an

Terrorism and just war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Terrorism and just war - Essay Example Acts of terrorism involves arousing fright amongst the target population so as to push a particular political, social, cultural or a religious motive. The methodology for this involves killing random people. In the modern history, the usage war over terrorism has become a commonly used geo political jargon. The popularity and acceptance of this term within itself suggests the global feelings against terrorism. The random victims of terrorism are often referred to as innocent people who are disassociated with the cause of terrorism. The just war theory suggests the idea of innocence of the victims as a decisive factor in justifying a war. This innocence of the victims is the elements which make an act of terrorism unjust over a war wherein only soldiers involved are targeted. The larger philosophy of this innocence has to be however further analyzed. The thesis of this paper is that the concept of innocence of the victims of terrorism does not make terrorism theoretically unjustified as compared to that of war. It must be noted here that the paper does not intend to justify terrorism as a theoretically acceptable norm. â€Å"Just war theory provides normative content for ethical arguments about the resort to and conduct of war on the assumption, distinct from realism, that morality has a place in international politics—although like realism, it assumes that war is an enduring feature of world politics† (Crawford, 2000). It has been observed by several philosophers that the idea of innocence of victims as proposed by the Just war theory is often misunderstood (Walzer, 2006). Interestingly, the very word innocence provokes sympathy among the observers of war. For instance, the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre killing ‘innocent’ people was taken up quite sentimentally by the rest of the world. However, it must be understood that the meaning of the term ‘innocent’ proposed by the just war theory is quite differen t from that of the common perception of the sympathizers. It more or less means disassociated in the theoretical context. In other words, the word innocent in the war context refers to people who are not officially appointed by the system in war to engage in the war. In the context of a war between two countries, the people who are engaged are the soldiers who designated for the war by both the countries. All the other civilian people of both the countries enjoy the immunity of ‘innocence ’(Walzer, 2006). Theoretically just war is conceptually where only these soldiers are targeted and not other civilians. On the other hand, an act of killing people who are not directly involved in the cause is considered to be unjust and is termed terrorism (Walzer, 2006). Thus it is the nature of the victims that draws the line between a just war and an act of terrorism. In broader sense the nature of the victims is decided by their innocence as perceived by the just war theory(Walzer , 2006). However, the reality is that there are conceptual errors in the ways in which the whole theoretical concept of innocence is perceived by the critics. For instance, in the case of a war between two countries there are many soldiers who get killed who necessarily were physically engaged in the battle. There will be a wide range of services associated with a soldiers’ team who are victimized to death while supporting the team in the war front. However, these people do not

Obama on Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Obama on Family - Essay Example In order to fulfill educational requirements, majority of students in America are working part-time. In most of the cases, this is not their hobby but their need. The children and the family members both dont get much attention from their heads as they're out to work, this leads to communication gap between them, which further becomes the root cause of many problems. Obama also added to this, by comparing his own commitments, professional and personal both, and commented on how he use to keep a balance between his personal commitments, and professional commitments, and consign errands in a more fair way, as Obama and his wife managed and organized their commitments. Obama agrees that this condition is not suitable for the whole family. Yet, he puts the blame on Republicans who, according to his point of view, are not coming up with a realistic and approachable solution to the long-established family structure. Obama has clearly explained that in order to make children well establishe d and firm in the way to progress, they need personal attention and social relationships with stronger and long lasting effect of love and admiration.