A Streetcar Named Desire | Blanche And Stella Analysis

A Streetcar Named Desire | Blanche And Stella Analysis Tennessee Williams was America ´s most controversial playwright. He was marked by his troubled private life and was constantly struggling with his own self-doubts. Nevertheless he was the dramatist, who produced some of the most compelling works for the American theatre. In 1947 Tennessee Williams set new standards for American drama with his masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire. The play opened on December 3, 1947, and was received with great acclaim. Neither the theatre audience at the premiere evening, nor the audiences at the other 844 performances, which the play gave on Broadway, were disappointed and made A Streetcar Named Desire Williams ´ second success on Broadway after his triumph with The Glass Menagerie.  [1]   Down to the present day A Streetcar Named Desire has not lost its enormous fame and fascination. A reason for the perpetual popularity of the play is probably the fact that Williams is the only American playwright, who is able to analyze women with such subtlety and compassion  [2]  . Hence, critics such as Felicia Hardison Londrà © denote Tennessee Williams ´ A Streetcar Named Desire also as a lyrical drama about the decline and fall of Blanche DuBois  [3]  . With this statement Londrà © emphasizes that both, the character as well as the inner development of Blanche Dubois, are the focus of attention in Williams ´ play. However, in my way of thinking, it is not only crucial to examine the Blanche ´s character in detail, but also to study the character of the play ´s second female protagonist Stella, Blanche ´s sister, more closely. Hence, the aim of this seminar paper is to compare and contrast the characters of the two sisters. At the beginning of the paper the author ´s biographical context and the bibliographical history of A Streetcar Named Desire are discussed. In order to lay the foundations for a detailed characterization of the two female protagonists, chapter two contains a brief summary of the play ´s plot, focussing on the internal developments of Blanche and Stella. Afterwards, a detailed analysis of Blanche ´s and Stella ´s character follows. Finally, the most important findings are briefly summed up in the conclusion. 2. Tennessee Williams and his masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire In order to be able to fully grasp the meaning of Tennessee Williams celebrated play A Streetcar Named Desire, it is absolutely necessary to take the author ´s biographical context as well as the work ´s bibliographical history into account. Biographical context Like in several of his other plays, also the plot of A Streetcar Named Desire was strongly influenced by Williams ´ own biographical background. Tennessee Williams himself stated once that A Streetcar Named Desire was his favourite play since it said everything I had to say  [4]  . Williams never concealed that his works reflect his own history and even welcomed comparisons between his own life and the characters in A Streetcar Named Desire. In a controversial interview with Robert Jennings he explicitly compared himself with his character Blanche DuBois: I can completely identify with Blanche [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] we are both hysterics. Many critics, such as Nancy Tischler, Roger Asselineau, or Kenneth Holditch, asserted that there are several other links between Blanche and Williams. In a letter to his agent Audrey Wood he wrote the following sentence, which again stresses his strong identification with the dramatis personae of his play: I was and still am Blanche [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] [but] I have a Stanley in me, too.  [5]  Nevertheless, the connections between Blanche and Tennessee Williams are not always uncomplicated. In contrast to Tischler, Asselineau and Holditsch, other critics regard the relationship between Blanche and Stanley as a reflection of the contours of William ´s life. They claim that Blanche and Stanley represent divisions of Williams ´ own complex life and personality. Yet studies conducted by John Clum, Mark Lilly and David Savran arrive at another conclusion. All three see Blanche and Stanley as a projection of Tennessee Williams ´ homoerotic desires. Clum, for instance, says that the actions of his heterosexual female character Blanche hide a homosexual subtext.  [6]   Bibliographical history Similar to other of Williams ´ plays the plot of A Streetcar Named Desire evolved over several years.  [7]  Tennessee Williams drew, for instance, much of his inspiration from his life in the French Quarter of New Orleans. During his time in New Orleans he lived on Royal Street. Two streetcars where running down the street. One of the two streetcars was named Desire.  [8]  Accordingly the title of Williams ´ play is among other things an illusion to this particular streetcar. In the early 1940s he outlined the story line as well as his idea for a film version in a letter to his agent Audrey Wood. In this first draft of A Streetcar Named Desire, the play was a one-act drama.  [9]  The story line was mainly based upon a scene which he had written earlier. The plot was murky, but I seem to see a woman sitting in a chair, waiting in vain for something. Maybe love. Moon rays were streaming through the window and that suggested lunacy. I wrote the scene and titled it Blache ´s Chair in the Moon.  [10]   In the end, Tennessee Williams had written twelve different drafts for A Streetcar Named Desire. Each of his drafts had a different title, such as The Poker Night or The Moth, and was first set in Chicago, then in Atlanta and finally in New Orleans. Due to the influence of Elia Kazan, an influential Greek-American director, who staged the play and directed the film version of A Streetcar named Desire, Williams revised his work several times through and after its production, which had a considerable effect on the script of A Streetcar Named Desire. By changing the characters ´ nationality as well as their conception and motivation he transformed the play from a romance to a tragedy. While writing, Williams had to grapple two major problems: firstly, the relationship between Blanche and Stanley, and secondly, the varying degrees and onset of Blache ´s madness.  [11]   Furthermore, four early one-act plays, which were written around 1945, had an impact on A Streetcar named Desire. The first one of these plays is This Property is Condemned, a play focusing on a young girl ´s desires to be like her dead sister, who was a prostitute. The second play, entitled Portrait of a Madonna, chronicles the story of an old maid sent to an asylum after hallucinating. In contrast to the first two plays, The Lady of Larkspur Lotion focuses on a faded southern belle, who had become a prostitute. Moreover, parallels can also be found in Hello from Bertha, a play dealing with a dying prostitute begging her ex-lover to rescue her. In addition to the numerous different drafts of A Streetcar Named Desire, several different editions of the play have been printed up to the present day. For instance, there are substantial differences between the reading and the acting editions. Some differences can also be identified between the American and the English version. In the American version, for instance, the homosexuality of Blanche ´s husband was censored. Another difference is the structure of the play. In the British edition the play is divided into three acts, whereas the play consists of eleven successive scenes in other editions.  [12]   The roles of Blanche DuBois and Stella Kowalski in the plot of A Streetcar Named Desire In order to lay the foundations for the characterization of Blanche DuBois and Stella Kowalski, I would like to give a brief summary of the contents of Tennessee Williams ´ play. Since the aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the characters of the two female protagonists, special attention has hereby been paid to the internal development of Blanche and Stella. In scene one Blanche, a faded southern belle, arrives at the home of her younger sister Stella in a fairly run-down district of New Orleans. She is shocked about the circumstances in which Stella and her husband live and makes no secret of her disapproval. After a warm reunion of the two sisters, Blanche explains that she has taken time out from school, where she is teaching English, because of her upset mental state. Later she further admits that she has lost Belle Reve, their family estate in Mississippi. Although Belle Reve slipped through Blanche ´s fingers, she reproaches Stella for not returning to her home to help her with the troubles. When Stanley returns with his friends from the bowling alley, he accepts Blanche ´s presence; however, the atmosphere between Blanche and Stanley is tense from the beginning. While Blanche is bathing the next day, Stella tells Stanley about the loss of Belle Reve. He immediately suspects Blanche of having swindled them about the reasons for the loss of the family estate. As a result of Stanley ´s mistrust the relationship between Stanley and Blanche becomes more problematic. The situation even becomes worse when Stanley starts inquiring Blanche about the circumstances for the loss of Belle Reve and by it he discovers a bundle of old love letters, which reveal Blanche ´s marriage to a young man, who finally died. Also Stanley discloses a secret and tells Blanche about Stella ´s pregnancy. In the next scene Stanley and his friends are playing poker, when Blanche and Stella return from an evening out together. One of them, Mitch, is very politely to Blanche and pays her compliments. Also Blanche notices that he is superior to the others  [13]  . In contrast to Mitch, Stanley, who has had already one too many, is not delighted about the appearance of the two women. The situation gets out of hand and Stanley beats pregnant wife. Blanche protectively rushes Stella upstairs, but Stanley begs his wife to return to him. In the end Stella, who is somehow attracted by his animal behaviour, forgives her husband and spends the night with him. As scene four opens, it is the following morning and Stella and Blanche are having a private discussion about Stanley. Blanche can obviously not understand why Stella was insane enough to come back in here after what [had] happened  [14]  and tries to persuade her sister to leave him. She tells her of a millionaire, a former admirer of hers, who surely would give them money to start a new life. Yet Stella makes clear that she is not willing to leave her husband and embraces Stanley passionately in front of Blanche, when he sees him come in, to demonstrate her loyalty to him. However, both women do not know that Stanley overheard a good deal of what they said before. Over the course of the summer (scene five and six) it becomes clear that Blanche and Mitch have a deep affection for each other. Blanche event entrusts him with details about her brief marriage, which was overshadowed by her husband ´s homosexuality and his suicide after she had discovered him in bed with another man. Meanwhile, Stanley makes inquiries about Blanche ´s past and unmasks her distinguished behaviour as hypocrisy. He learns about her numerous one night stands and her affair with a seventeen-year-old boy, which led to her dismissal. Scene seven takes place at Blanche ´s Birthday. Stanley, who is craving to get rid of his sister-in-law, passes the gathered information on to Mitch, who does not longer wish to marry her since she is not clean enough to bring in the house with [his] mother  [15]  . Unlike Mitch, Stella is not impressed by her husband ´s story. At the beginning she is denying his reproaches but, as the list lengthens, she defends her sister by referring to her tragic marriage. The mood at Blanche ´s birthday dinner (scene eight) is tense and miserable, because Mitch does not show up. The situation reaches its climax when Stanley presents Blanche with a bus ticket back to Laurel. Blanche is insulted and rushes out. At this moment Stella feels her first labour pains and requests to be taken to hospital. Later the same evening (scene nine), Mitch drops by to confront Blanche with the rumours of her past. Finally, she admits her failures but immediately justifies her behaviour by explaining that her loneliness after her husband ´s death forced her to seek physical affection. After her confession Mitch, who is drunk, tries to rape her, but Blanche manages to kick him out of the apartment. In the subsequent scene Stanley returns fairly cheerful, but drunk, from hospital where Stella is still in labour. At home, he meets Blanche, who is drunk too. Her claim, that she has received a telegram from an oil magnate inviting her on a cruise, is her last attempt to escape into her world of illusions. First Stanley takes the situation with humour until she lies to him about what has happened between her and Mitch. Stanley becomes aggressive and rapes her. This act of violence results in Blanche ´s absolute nervous breakdown. Although Blanche informs Stella that her husband has committed a crime, she decides not to leave him since she couldn ´t believe her story and go on living with Stanley  [16]  . At Stanley ´s request Blanche is admitted to a mental hospital some weeks later (scene eleven). The fact that she believes until the end that she is going on holiday with an admirer (who is actually the doctor) again emphasizes her bad mental condition. Even though Stella is not completely convinced that it was the right decision to admit her sister to a mental home, she makes no attempt to prevent it.

Semi Empirical Formula For Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay

Semi Empirical Formula For Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Abstract A Semi empirical formula for both phase space factor and Nuclear Matrix Element (NME) is developed for neutrinoless double beta decay, and the formula is used to compute the neutrinoless double beta decay half lives. The computed half lives for neutrinoless double beta decay are compared with the corresponding experimental values and with those predicted by QRPA model. The semi empirical formula predictions are found to be in good agreement with experimental data. The semi empirical formula is used to predict neutrinoless double beta decay of various isotopes Ca, Ge, Se, Zr, Mo, Pd, Cd, Sn, Te, Xe, Nd and Sm that exhibiting single beta decay. As our semi empirical formula predictions agree with the experimental data we hope that the present work will be useful for the future experiments. Keyword: Neutrinoless double beta decay, Nuclear Matrix Element Introduction Double beta decay is a radioactive decay process where a nucleus releases two beta rays as a single process. Here two neutrons in the nucleus are converted in to two protons and in the process two electrons and two electron antineutrinos are emitted. In order for beta decay to be possible the final nucleus must have larger binding energy than the original nucleus. Double beta decay is difficult to study in most practically interesting cases, because both beta decay and double beta decay are possible, with probability favouring beta decay. The double beta decay is usually studied only for beta stable nuclei. Like single beta decay, double beta decay does not change the mass number A. More than 60 naturally occurring isotopes are capable of undergoing double beta decay. Double beta decay is of two types; the two neutrino and neutrinoless double beta decay. The two neutrino double beta decay [2ÃŽ ²(2ÃŽ ½)] which involves the transformation of two neutrons into two protons conserves not only the electric charge but also the lepton number. On the other hand neutrinoless double beta decay [2ÃŽ ²(0ÃŽ ½)] violates lepton number conservation and is therefore forbidden in the standard electroweak theory. According to this theory neutrinos are massless. The observation of neutrino mass and oscillation is a clear example of a phenomenon at variance with the standard model. There are different models for explaining the double beta decay process. Among them, two methods are mainly used to calculate Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) for 2ÃŽ ²(0ÃŽ ½) decays. One is the family of Quasi particle Random Phase Approximation (QRPA) [1]. This method has been used by different groups and varieties of techniques are employed with results for most of the possible emitters [2]. The other method concerned to double beta decay process is the interacting shell model (ISM) [3]. It has been shown that as the difference in deformation between parent and daughter grows, the NME’s of both the neutrinoless and two neutrino mode decreases rapidly. The interest in double beta decay spans more than six decades. In 1937 Racah [4] following the fundamental suggestion of Majorana [5], discussed the possibility of a neutrinoless transformation of two neutrons into two protons plus two electrons. Even earlier Geoppert-Mayer [6] evaluated the decay rate of 2ÃŽ ²(2ÃŽ ½) mode and realized that the corresponding half lives could exceed 1020years. Furry [7] shortly afterwards estimated that 2ÃŽ ²(0ÃŽ ½) should be much faster than 2ÃŽ ²(2ÃŽ ½) decay. Thus the stage was set for the realization that observation of the 2ÃŽ ²(0ÃŽ ½) decay would establish that the neutrino is a massive Majorana particle. In 1982 J. Schechter-Valle while regarding 2ÃŽ ²(0ÃŽ ½) decay suggested the existence of Majorana mass of the neutrino in the frame work of Gauge theories [8]. In 1984 Fiorini et al [9] introduced a program to develop low temperature detectors for 2ÃŽ ² decay search. Next year Doi et al [10] made a fundamental theoretical analysis of 2ÃŽ ² deca y to obtain the main formulae for probability of decay, energy and angular electron spectra. In 1986 using QRPA model Vogel et al [11] gave satisfactory agreement between theoretical and experimental 2ÃŽ ²(2ÃŽ ½) half life values. Neutrinoless double beta decay is of great interest for studying the fundamental properties of neutrino beyond the standard electro-weak theory. High sensitivity 2ÃŽ ²(0ÃŽ ½) studies are the unique and practical ways for studying the Majorana nature of neutrinos, the neutrino mass spectrum, the absolute neutrino mass scale, the majorana CP phases and other fundamental properties of neutrinos in the foreseeable future. The first experiment [12] to claim 2ÃŽ ²(0ÃŽ ½) is the Klapdor, HM experiment done in the year 2001. Numerous experiments like COBRA, GERDA etc have been carried out to search neutrinoless double beta decay and 48Ca, 76Ge, 82Se, 96Zr, 100Mo, 116Cd, 128Te, 150Nd, 238U are some of the isotopes exhibiting neutrinoless double beta decay [13-17]. For the double beta decay processes, two crucial ingredients are the phase space factors and the Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME). A general theory of phase space factors was developed by Doi et al. [18, 19] following the previous work of Primakoff and Rosen [20], and Konopinski [21]. It was reformulated by Tomoda [22] by approximating the electron wave functions at the nuclear radius and without inclusion of electron screening. The Nuclear Matrix Element depends on the nuclear structure of the nuclei involved in the decay. The expression for Nuclear Matrix Element can be written in general as the sum of three components [23] as (1) Where, , , are the Gamow-Teller, Fermi and tensor components respectively. is the axial vector coupling constant and is the vector coupling constant. The present work aims to develop a semi empirical formula for both phase space factor and Nuclear Matrix Element for computing the neutrinoless double beta decay half life. By using this formula we would like to predict the possibility of 2ÃŽ ²(0ÃŽ ½) decay from various isotopes exhibiting single beta decay. The details of the semi empirical formula are given in Section 2 and results, discussion and conclusion are given in Section 3. The semi empirical formula In the standard scenario, when 2ÃŽ ²(0ÃŽ ½) decay process occurs by exchange of light Majorana neutrinos between two nucleons inside the nucleus, and in the presence of left handed weak interactions, the life time expression can be written as a product of three factors and is given as [24] (2) Where G0ÃŽ ½ is the phase space factor for this decay mode, is the effective neutrino mass parameter, me is the electron mass and M0ÃŽ ½ are the Nuclear Matrix Elements depending on the nuclear structure of the nuclei involved in the decay. The phase space factor depends on the energy decay QÃŽ ²ÃŽ ² and nuclear charge Z and studied the dependence of phase space factor with ZQ3 and Z2Q6 for various isotopes undergoing neutrinoless double beta decay. From the observed dependence of phase space factor taken from ref [25], with ZQ3 and Z2Q6 we have developed a semi empirical formula for the phase space factor. Using ZQ3, Z2Q6 and Z3Q9 as variables, a new formula is obtained and is given as, (3) The constants are, , , Due to the two-body nature of the transition operator, the NMEs can also be expressed as a sum of product of two-body transition densities (TBTDs) and matrix elements of the two-body transition operators for two-particle states. We have studied the dependence of nuclear matrix element values taken from [26] with Z-1/3 for various isotopes undergoing neutrinoless double beta decay and a new formula is obtained by making least-squares fit to the nuclear matrix elements data and is given as, (4) The constants are, , ,, , , The comparison of the computed nuclear matrix elements using the present formula with the values of Ref [26] and comparison of computed phase space factor with the values of Ref [25] are shown in Table 1. Results, discussion and conclusion The Q value for double beta decay of mother nuclide with mass mm to the daughter nuclide with mass md is given by the mass difference [27] which in turn can be written as a function of frequency ratio and the electron mass me; (5) In the present work Q values are computed using the experimental binding energies of Audi and Wapstra [28]. The present empirical formula is applied for all the observed neutrinoless double beta decay isotopes. Column 7 of Table 1 represents the computed half-lives for neutrinoless double beta decay of various isotopes and is compared with the experimental values given in column 8 and QRPA values [26] in column 9. It is found from the table that our formula predictions are in good agreement with the experimental values and the QRPA values. The value of ÃŽ ½> is taken as 50meV and is obtained from Rodin et al [25]. We have applied the present formula for computing the phase space factor, Nuclear Matrix Element and half lives for various isotopes that exhibiting single beta decay. Tables 2 represents the computed Q values, Phase space factors, Nuclear Matrix Elements and half lives for neutrinoless double beta decay of various Ca, Ge, Se, Zr, Mo, Pd, Cd, Sn, Te, Xe, Nd and Sm isotopes. As our semi empirical formula prediction agree with the experimental data we hope that our prediction on neutrinoless double beta decay of various Ca, Ge, Se, Zr, Mo, Pd, Cd, Sn, Te, Xe, Nd and Sm isotopes will be a guide for future experiments.  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­ Table 1. The computed, and for neutrino less double beta decay of various isotopes and their comparison with the experimental, QRPA and Ref [26] values _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Table 2. The computed Q values, Phase space factors, nuclear matrix elements and the predicted half lives for neutrino less double beta decay of various Ca, Ge, Se, Zr, Mo, Pd, Cd, Sn, Te, Xe, Nd and Sm, Gd and Pt isotopes ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Table 2. Continued†¦.. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 103Mo 6408.8 1.10330E-11 3.47678 7.83E+23 104Mo 7759.0 6.71620E-11 3.47678 1.29E+23 105Mo 8588.0 1.72446E-10 3.47678 5.01E+22 106Mo 10067 7.43636E-10 3.47678 1.16E+22 107Mo 11430 2.37009E-09 3.47678 3.65E+21 109Pd 901.0 1.92669E-15 2.56879 8.22E+27 110Pd 2004.0 7.81588E-15 2.56879 2.03E+27 111Pd 3253.5 2.48567E-14 2.56879 6.37E+26 112Pd 4244.5 2.49383E-13 2.56879 6.35E+25 113Pd 5359.3 2.60657E-12 2.56879 6.07E+24 114Pd 6523.9 1.74643E-11 2.56879 9.06E+23 115Pd 7690.5 8.20373E-11 2.56879 1.93E+23 116Pd 8759.0 2.73683E-10 2.56879 5.78E+22 117Pd 9895.0 8.38279E-10 2.56879 1.89E+22 118Pd 11239 2.67934E-09 2.56879 5.91E+21 114Cd 540.1 1.30076E-15 2.37189 1.43E+28 115Cd 1945.5 7.60027E-15 2.37189 2.44E+27 116Cd 2809.1 1.46594E-14 2.37189 1.27E+27 117Cd 3975.0 1.46594E-14 2.37189 1.25E+26 118Cd 4947.1 1.48733E-13 2.37189 1.37E+25 119Cd 6158.4 1.35555E-12 2.37189 1.61E+24 120Cd 7131.1 1.15360E-11 2.37189 4.01E+23 121Cd 8144.1 4.62494E-11 2.37189 1.17E+23 122Cd 9215.9 1.59314E-10 2.37189 3.73E+22 123Cd 10510.5 4.97662E-10 2.37189 1.12E+22 124Cd 11526.8 1.65584E-09 2.37189 4.84E+2

The Dead Kitty in Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat (Favourite) :: Ode to the Death of a Favorite Cat Essays

The Dead Kitty in Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat (Favourite) Gray's "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes" is a story of a curious cat that ends up in Purrgitory (ha ha). Gray uses not only formalistic literary devices, but he also uses dialog. As Gray speaks to the reader, he uses word choice and allusions to convey the correlation between women and cats. Word choice plays a major roll in this poem, due to the fact that it helps set up allusion and other literary devices. Word choice also helps bring out the theme of relating women to cats with such phrases as "The hapless nymph with wonder saw:"(Gray 19) Nymphs are demigods, that are associated with nature and beauty. There is a second reference to nymphs, "No Dolphin came, no Nereid stirr'd:.."(Gray 34) Nereid is a sea nymph. One of the best parts in the poem is when Gray is describing the cat. "Her conscious tail her joy declar'd; The fair round face, the snowy beard, The velvet paws, Her coats, that with the tortoise vies, Her ears of jet, and emerald eyes,"(Gray 7- 11) This is great example of word choice and description. Gray also uses the word choice to create the atmosphere of grandeur. Gray shows this form of word choice when he is describing the flowers in the first stanza, "The azure flowers,†¦"(Gray 3) He could have simply said the blue flowers, but by using this first form he is alluding to something greater. In the second stanza when he is describing the cat, he seems to also be describing women. Gray at this point is talking about how the cat move, especially it's tail. One of the main things that draws people's attention to a women is how they move, cats have the same attribute. Another allusion in the story is dealing with gold objects. "What female's heart can gold despise? What Cat's averse to fish?" (Gray 23-24) This refers to the desire that women have for jewelry and other expensive things. Compared to the desire of the cat for the gold fish. "Their scaly armour's Tyrian hue throughout richest purple to the view betray'd a golden gleam."(Gray 16-18) Gray is making a reference to the city of Tyre, which is famous for making purple dye, which Kings used for their royal colors.

Plato on the Existence of Negative Forms Essay -- Plato Philosophy Neg

Plato on the Existence of Negative Forms The question of the origin and nature of evil in the world has preoccupied philosophers throughout history. The ancient philosopher Plato does not directly address this question in his writings, but it can be argued that the logic of his theory of forms demands the existence of forms that are negative in meaning, such as the evil and the bad. When discussing his theory of imitation, Plato alludes to the principle that whenever there are many things of the same nature, there is one form for that nature. In several passages, Plato makes mention of many negative things. It can be debated, however, whether or not the negative has a positive ontological character of its own for which there can be a form. The several senses in which an object can be considered negative must first be distinguished before the texts of Plato can be analyzed. It will be shown that, although Plato makes references in the Republic to a common nature amongst many negative things, the supposition of a negative form is not in harmony with the hierarchal structure of forms that depends on the good, which is also presented in the Republic. A solution to this problem will be presented and analyzed. In order to understand why it is argued that negative forms must exist according to Plato's logic, one must first understand the meaning of form for Plato. Plato thinks that forms are separate and eternal entities that exist apart from the sensible world. Plato thinks that objects in the sensible world imitate a particular form and that form makes them what they are. Plato writes, "As you know, we customarily hypothesize a single form in connection with each of the many things to which w... ...rendon Press), 167-9. [4] Ross, 168. [5] Ross, 168. [6] Plato, Statesman, trans. Seth Benardete (Chicage: University of Chicago Press, 1986), 262 d. [7] Plato, Republic, 491 d 3. [8] Plato, Republic, 608 e 3. [9] Plato, Republic, 609 a 4-7. [10] Plato, Republic, 610 b 4-6. [11] Plato, Republic, 382 b. [12] Plato, Republic, 476 a. [13] Plato, Republic, 507 b 10-11. [14] Plato, Republic, 509 b 11-c. [15] Plato, Republic, 508 c-e. [16] Plato, Republic, 508 b ? 509 a 3. [17] Plato, Republic, 509 b 7 - 7 [18] Plato, Republic, 379 a 6 - c. [19] I.M. Crombie, An Examination of Plato?s Doctrines: Plato on Knowledge and Reality (New York: The Humanities Press), 283. [20] Crombie, 283. [21] Crombie, 284. [22] Plato, Statesman, 262 d. [23] Ross, 169. [24] Plato, Republic, 491 d 3. [25] Crombie, 284.

Why Lower status groups have higher crime rates?

According to some sociologists, lower status groups have higher crime rates because they do not have access to legitimate means of achieving. This view is supported by sociologists such as Cohen, Cloward and Ohlin who believe members of the lower classes commit crime because they are not given the same opportunities to achieve as other members of society. However, this view could be disputed, as it is by sociologists such as Miller and Murray who believe other factors are involved such as the focal concerns. This essay will assess the extent to which lower status groups commit crime because they are denied access to the legitimate means of achieving success. According to Cohen, lower class boys have the same success goals as the rest of society but have no opportunity to enjoy these goals. He believes that the lack of opportunity here is because of their educational failure and then their dead-end jobs. This could be supported by Willis' ethnographic study on a number of ‘lads' at school. This study showed that these boys had come to terms with the fact they were going to be stuck in dead end jobs as they did not achieve anything at school and therefore formed anti-school subcultures to deal with this. According to Cohen this amounts in status frustration as the individuals become frustrated that they cannot achieve anything and with their low status in society. Due to this, they turn their attentions to achieving through other means – crime, they reject the success goals of common culture and replace them with others as Merton described in his responses to cultural goals. This new found calling can help them to gain status and recognition, especially from their peers, albeit for the wrong reasons and thus a delinquent subculture is formed. It can be seen as a collective solution for all the problems faced by the lower classes. Cohen believes that â€Å"the delinquent subculture takes its norms from the larger culture but turns them upside down. † Thus, the subcultures are a negative reaction to a society that has denied opportunity some of its members. This would suggest that the members of lower status groups deviate because they are denied access to the normal routes of success and shows that because of this there is greater pressure on certain groups in society to deviate. Cloward and Ohlin follow the same path as Cohen, however they develop his ideas. According to them Cohen failed to look at the illegitimate opportunity structure. They believe that lower status groups are denied access to the legitimate means of achieving success; however an illegitimate route is available to them. This opportunity could come from the fact that in some areas there may be a high rate of adult crime and this means that there is access for adolescence to follow the same path; however in other areas this culture may not be present. According to Cloward and Ohlin areas with a high rate of organised adult crime creates a learning environment for younger generations, meaning the common norms and values in these areas are different from those who apply themselves to the legitimate opportunity structure and a criminal subculture is created. Conflict subcultures are created in areas where there is little opportunity for adolescence to achieve through the illegitimate opportunity structures. This means that there is no access to either legitimate or illegitimate opportunity structure. According to Cloward and Ohlin the response to this situation is usually gang violence as a means of reaching built up tension and frustration towards the lack of opportunity. Retreatist subcultures are also created by those who have failed to have access to illegitimate or legitimate opportunity structures, thus they retreat from society and enter a retreatist subculture. Thus, all of these subcultures are created because these people do not have access to the normal means of achieving success. Other sociologists however, believe that it is not the opportunity for success but other factors that influence lower class crime rates. Miller, who studied lower class subcultures in 1950s America, discovered that the subcultures were not formed because of the inability to achieve success, but because of the existence of distinctive lower class subcultures. According to Miller there are a number of long held cultural traditions followed and these differ to those of the higher strata. He believed that these traditions passed down from generation to generation actively encouraged lower class men to break the law. Miller believes that there are a number of focal concerns of the lower class. These focal concerns are toughness that involves trying to prove their masculinity; smartness, which involves trying to outsmart each other and excitement which involves having ‘fun' which could involve alcohol, drugs, gambling and joy riding. According to Miller argues that delinquency is just the members of the lower strata acting out the focal concerns, if in a slightly exaggerated way! He believes that it has a lot to do with boredom of work and these focal concerns help them to live with the day-to-day boredom. Thus, the crime rates of the lower class are not because of the opportunities available to them but because of they have their own norms, values and traditions that are carried through from generation to generation. Murray also believes that it is not due to opportunity but believes in an under-class who are a group of either unemployed or unemployable people. He believes that this underclass share there own common norms and values and reject those of mainstream society. He believes that the welfare states are to blame as it means that people do not feel the need to work and can live of the state and reject the idea it is important to hold down a job, thus they turn to criminality. This means that he does not agree that crimes are committed because of the lack of opportunity, but more because of the opportunity to be given money from the state and not have to do anything. Stephen Jones also agrees that there us an underclass, but believes there are also number of side issues such as racial tension and gang warfare that helps to add to the crimes. This view could be supported by crimes in Britain such as the shootings of Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis in 2003. Overall, it can be said that there are a number of reasons as to why crime rates are high in the lower class. It could be because they are denied access to legitimate means of achieving success as they need to fine some way to succeed. However, it could also be due to the fact that learning environments are created and traditions are passed though the generations making it common and normal in the lower classes for crimes to be committed and normal for aspects such as racial tension to be a big part of life. Therefore, there it could be said that it is not just because of there is a lack of opportunity for members of the lower class, but because they already have there own norms and values of which t follow.

Cultural Models and Cultural Dimensions

Cultural Models and Cultural Dimensions (Hofstede) Cultural studies are not a unified theory but a diverse field of study encompassing many different approaches, methods and academic perspectives. As in any academic discipline, cultural studies academics frequently debate among themselves. Cross-cultural communication, as in many scholarly fields, is a combination of many other fields. These fields include anthropology, cultural studies, psychology and communication.There exists no uniform evaluation system or model of cultural aspects to date. However, the variety of the available models much more illustrates how multifaceted the approach can be. Nevertheless, there are some common dimensions for the most cultural models such as concept of time and space, equal (or non-equal) rights of men and women and position of the individual in the society. The most popular cultural models come primarily from the English-speaking researches: Hall (1989), Hofstede (1991), Oksaar (1988).Wierzbick a is famous for her work in semantics, pragmatics, and cross-cultural linguistics and has established the idea of so called Universal Human Concepts and their realisation in the language (Wierzbicka, 1992). Looking for an appropriate basis cultural model for this research a short comparison of the most known models needs to be done. The differences begin at the definition of culture or even at avoiding any definition, at the objectiveness level (e. g. amount and homogeneity of the interviewed persons) as well as at use of different cultural dimensions.Table 6 contains a comparison between three most popular cultural models of Hofstede, Hall and Gesteland though the latter should be concerned more as a collection of a life experience in how to behave in business with success worldwide. Table 6: Comparison of Cultural Models (Astapenko, 2008: 92) This comparison demonstrates the lack of homogeneity of the research basis. While the amount of the interviews done by Hall is relatively hi gh, he surveys only three countries. Gesteland on his hand does his research without any statistics using his own experience.Comparing to this the cultural model of Hofstede is more representative and homogeneous. He worked on interviews of IBM-employees in over 50 countries who therefore work in the same sector in comparable positions and have a similar social status. It is obviously that every cultural model has to be approached with great caution and an uncritical reading of cultural dimensions can lead to false conclusions. But even if Hofstede's conceptualization of culture has attracted some criticism he is though one of the most renowned and most cited experts.The continuity of his researches can be observed over decades and the approach of his scientific school is still being applied and improved. Moreover, his research approach establishes a connection to the active prevention measures mentioned in Chapter 2. As his classification system will be used to make a comparison of the involved regions later in this chapter, it adds to the consistency of this report to explain his definition. Hofstede defines culture as â€Å"the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from others† (Hofstede et al. , 2010: 6).Investigating culture is an attempt to catch general trends among a large group of people on a very general level. Therefore, the findings in this report should not be applied on an individual level, as this may lead to miscommunication or even stigmatisation. There are different levels of culture (national, regional, ethnic, religious, gender, social class or even organisational level) but regarding Transferability of Road Safety measures the national level was suggested to be the subject for further research. Strictly speaking, the concept of a common culture applies to societies, not to nations.Based on elaborate research from 1967 to 1973, Hofstede developed a model that tries to cap ture †culture† through scores on four values, so-called cultural dimensions (given below). Later researches added further dimensions which cannot be fully evaluated here due to other focuses in this project. The complete description of the cultural dimensions can be found on the website (Hofstede, 2011). The four main dimensions according to Hofstede are: †¢ Power Distance Index (PDI): the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally.Individualism (IDV): the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. †¢ †¢ Masculinity (MAS): refers to the distribution of roles and values between the genders. The women in feminine countries have the same modest, caring values as the men; in the masculine countries they are somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as the men, so that these countries show a gap between men's values and women's values. Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI): a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. Based on the values for these dimensions of the 19 European countries for which cultural dimension scores are available, an average European score was calculated. After a comparison between Europe, India and Brazil based on the official study data from Hofstede the research for metropolitan areas of Sao Paulo and Delhi which was done for this particular project by the local partners using the questionnaire of Hofstede is being presented.On the basis of its results the project partners awareness of the cultural differences and similarities between Brazil, India and Europe should be sharpened in order to consider them during the transfer of European Safety measures to Emerging Economies. This allows to avoid misunderstandings and to exclude from the beginning those measures which cannot be transferred due to cultural reasons. 1. 1. 1. Comparison of Cultural Dimensions of Europe, Brazil and IndiaA first issue that arises when comparing the regions that are cooperating in SaferBraIn is the difference in analysis levels: how should one compare the cultures of two countries (India and Brazil) with the culture of a continent (Europe)? Having some insight in the European states cultures, it is safe to say that significant differences can be noted between the European member states. Therefore an average European score was calculated based on a mathematical analysis of Hofstede’s cultural dimension scores.Even if there are in some cases crucial differences between European countries like Italy and Germany, Spain and Sweden, this average score allows comparing the cultures of Europe, India and Brazil. The next figure presents the scores on the four dimensions for these three regions. It must be stressed at this stage that it is not the authors’ intention to make hard statements about cultures. As was indicated before, Hofstede’s research can only be used to descr ibe general trends in the average culture of a country. This should under no circumstances be translated to an individual level.Figure 20: Comparison of Europe-India-Brazil on Hofstede’s 4 cultural dimensions Figure 20 indicates that the power distance is relatively large in India and Brazil, compared to Europe. This could mean that individuals in these two countries operate in a more hierarchical system. Following Hofstede’s definition, hierarchy in India and Brazil is not only accepted, it is also expected. It may be interesting to keep this in mind when analyzing the corresponding traffic systems and when designing pilots to be implemented in these two countries.Especially concerning the enforcement of safety measures, the strong power orientation influences its exercising. It is known that Brazil and India already have many road facilities and road safety measures but they are not proper used by population. Due to that stronger enforcement measures are needed to im prove the acceptance of new technologies and facilities. One can also notice that Europe appears to have a more individualist culture than India and Brazil. This tendency toward individualism can be found in several Western countries. The United States of America for example, have a score of 91 on Hofstede’s scale.Individualist cultures rely more on media and less on their social networks. Different surveys demonstrate that in an individualist culture employees are expected to act at their own responsibility and organise their work gathering their own interests with those of their employers. In a collectivist culture an employee is a part of a group and has to act according to its interest. This should be considered cooperating in pilot projects for SaferBraIn. Moreover, collectivist cultures tend to have higher power distance that individualist ones.So a strong hierarchy and acceptance of higher positioned partners can be presupposed working with India and Brazil. Considerin g vulnerable road users a health-care survey mentioned by Hofstede showed that individualist and collectivist cultures differently deal with disability. A special part of the survey was dedicated to disabled children. â€Å"In the individualist communities [†¦], people with disabilities tended to remain cheerful and optimistic, to resent dependency and being helped, and to plan for a future life as normal as possible.In the collectivist communities [†¦], there would be more expression of grief, shame, and pessimism; family members would be asked for advice and assistance, and they would make the main decisions about the person’s future† (Hofstede, 2010: 116). Translating this finding to the SaferBraIn project, it can be supposed that collectivist cultures like India and Brazil would not have sophisticated facilities for disabled VRU’s and these persons would not be well integrated in the society. This could be therefore a useful part of the safety meas ures? ransfer though the awareness of local partners cannot be assumed. The scores on the masculinity dimension show the smallest differences between the investigated regions. The scores are about 50-60 which can be interpreted as a quite balanced value between masculinity and femininity in the compared countries. However, one can notice that Europe has the highest score. A thorough look at Hofstede’s full definition for this dimension could interpret it as follows: Europe has a more assertive culture overall than India and Brazil, while India and Brazil have a slightly more modest culture.In relation to this report, it may be important to safeguard these cultures’ higher need for modesty. Even if the masculinity dimensions scores are very different within Europe, the average score demonstrates the predominant masculine character. In masculine societies there is a feeling that conflicts should be resolved by a â€Å"good fight†, where challenge, earnings, recogn ition, and advancement are important, whereas in feminine cultures there is a preference for resolving conflicts by compromise and negotiation focused on relationships.Since the score’s difference for surveyed countries are minimal, this dimension cannot evoke critical misunderstandings within SaferBraIn project. Finally, the level of Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) shows strong differences between the three regions. Though, UA is not the same as risk avoidance and these two concepts should not be mixed. Risk is focused on something specific and refers on a known and expected event. Avoiding risk we prevent something what we can foresee and not what is completely unpredictable.Hence, it would be incorrect to conclude that showing a relatively low level of UA, a potentially higher sense for risk taking can be assumed for India. Cultures with high Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) like Brazil or to a lesser extent Europe shun ambiguous situations and try to prevent them with more la ws, rules, and regulations. Brazil has more law schools than all countries in the world together. There are 1,240 higher education courses for the training of lawyers in the country while the rest of the planet comes to about 1,100 universities (CNJ, 2010).Cultures with low UAI like India believe that many problems can be solved without formal rules and that the latter should be established only in case of absolute necessity. Paradoxically in countries with weak UA where rules are less scared they are often better followed. Translating these findings to the needs of SaferBraIn even when European experts can expect hindered possibilities for Road Safety measures enforcement due to low legacy level in India they can presuppose their better acceptance. On the contrary in Brazil it is assumed that every measure would first need a legal regulation.However, in countries with strong UA laws can fulfil a need for security even when they are not followed. Another finding done by Hofstede tha t is relevant for SaferBraIn shows an interesting correlation between the strength of UA and the maximum speeds allowed in the country. â€Å"The relationship is positive: stronger uncertainty avoidance means faster driving. Faster driving, other things being equal, means more fatal accidents, thus more risk. However, this is a familiar risk, which uncertainty-avoiding cultures do not mind running.Their emotionality provides them with a sense of stress, of urgency, which in turn leads to wanting to drive faster. The higher speed limits in stronger uncertainty-avoidance countries show, in fact, a priority of saving time over saving lives† (Hofstede, 2010: 198). 1. 1. 2. Cultural Research for metropolitan areas in Brazil and India Brazil and India are countries of contrasts concerning climate, geography, income distribution, and educational level of its people. Because of the diversity we cannot consider that knowing the country’s culture we also know cultural dimensions of its metropolitan areas.For this reason the Hofstede? s theory of Cultural Dimensions using the interviews based on his questionnaire was applied in Sao Paulo city and Delhi – the big metropolises which can be compared in their extension and live rhythm and in which the use of western experience can be assumed. Local partners (IMR for Brazil and A+S for India) have initiated interviews of about 200 people each in Sao Paulo and Delhi to have representative scores for these metropolitan areas. Of course, analogue researches can be done for every region or city where the transfer of safety measures is planned.The detailed information to the results of these researches can be found in Annexes 6 and 7. Though, the difficulties with the questionnaire are worth to be shortly mentioned at this point. Although questionnaires in local languages (Portuguese and Hindi) were used, the interviewees in India could not always interpret question unambiguously. It was established especially dealing with lower and lower middle class that a certain level of education is affordable for the answers. Many easy understandable issues from the European point of view needed to be explained.In contrary, the upper-class representatives preferred to use the English version of the questionnaire. The main outcomes of the research are the differences between Individualism (IDV) and Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) scores. For Brazil also the Masculinity (MAS) score features diverse scores. Power Distance Index (PDI) remains very similar in Brazil and India for both country average and metropolitan area (Figure 21). Figure 21: Comparison PDI incl. Sao Paulo and Delhi As mentioned before countries with high PDI tend to have well-built hierarchical relations within the society and need strong enforcement.Concerning wearing of helmets to protect two-wheelers, Error! Reference source not found. should be studied. Following the law, the motorcycle driver is wearing a helmet. At the same time m ore vulnerable passengers (two children and the lady) are not protected. Hence, only the stronger member of the family, having more power, is protected. Figure 22: Using helmet on motorcycle in India IDV (Figure 23) shows very high divergence between the country average and metropolitan area in both Brazil and India.Though, the development goes in both countries in opposite directions. While the inhabitants of Sao Paulo turn out to be extremely individualistic the population in Delhi tends to more collectivism. Figure 23: Comparison IDV incl. Sao Paulo and Delhi With reference to the assumption in Chapter 4. 3. 2 according the interrelation between the individualism score and the treating of disabled following examples can be used due to motivate this assumption. Delhi roads are equipped with convenient, wide footpaths.Though, the level of most kerbs on Delhi roads is inconveniently high (Figure 24). This prompts pedestrians to walk along the roadside especially when they have physi cal problems in climbing high steps. Figure 24: High kerbs in India However, in modern projects like the Rapid Bus Corridor (RBC) in Delhi a segregated and safe corridor for pedestrians and non-motorized transport is provided. Also for the VRU with disabilities special facilities like dropped kerbs, low floor buses or platform-bus adjustment are provided.In the City of Sao Paulo, where the individuality score is very high, dropped kerbs and tactile pavements are applied on most major junctions in the consolidated part of the road system (Figure 25). Figure 25: Tactile pavements in Sao Paulo Another example for extremely low IDV in Delhi is the unspoken rule to never cross the street alone. They always wait to gather a group of some persons and cross the street in a crowd feeling safer as a part of a group and providing counterweight to motorised traffic (Figure 26).Figure 26: Crossing the street in Delhi Traffic rules require motorists to stop once a pedestrian steps on the zebra cr ossing. Practically this rule is not being followed, and crossing busy roads at zebra crossings is as dangerous for pedestrians as elsewhere. Pedestrians cross roads either in larger groups or whenever opportunity occurs. Concerning Masculinity score the research shows that Sao Paulo has a very high MAS (Figure 27), even higher that the European average. Therefore a conclusion can be drawn that the society of Sao Paulo is more oriented on financial recognition, earning and challenges.Possessing a big and expensive car means to be more powerful and respected. For this reason VRU have to subordinate whether crossing the street or waiting for a car blocking the footpath while garage or property. However, when a pedestrian shows his power by stepping to the road and focusing directly and self-confident on the driver he will be accepted and the car will let him cross the street. Figure 27: Comparison MAS incl. Sao Paulo and Delhi In Delhi even having an expensive do not automatically mea ns to be more powerful.These cars can be scratched and damaged the same way as a simple rickshaw. Even animals are seen as the most vulnerable road users and are equal to others. These facts are related to the very low IDV which means that this society is relationship-oriented and tries to solve conflicts by compromise. Similar to IDV the tendency of the score for UAI develops in the opposite direction between the country average and metropolitan area (Figure 28). In Brazil it is drastically decreasing for Sao Paulo, in India it is slightly increasing for Delhi.It can be therefore concluded that in Sao Paulo new safety measures being to a certain degree always ambiguous would be easier accepted. On the contrary, in Delhi more enforcement and education measures would be needed to promote acceptance of new safety measures. Figure 28: Comparison UAI incl. Sao Paulo and Delhi To sum up the research has identified several crucial differences between the countries? scores and the scores f or metropolitan areas. It is important to consider it when talking about transferability of road safety measures or working on pilot projects.

Technology and Nature in Timothy Findley’s The Wars

â€Å"The Wars can be interpreted as exploring the modern conflict between nature and technology. † The Conflict of Nature and Technology The wars is a story about Roberts life primary in the Great War, or WWI, throughout the story there are many elements of nature and technology that are introduced to the story, often in which, the two collide. Timothy Findley uses the Elements of Nature (Air, Water, Earth and Fire) and shows them in two different perspectives, sometimes harmful, sometimes helpful.The reason however that they have become harmful, is due to the perversion of nature that happens within a war. Nature is corrupted by the technology around it created by man to kill one another, it can be damaged (e. g. when chlorine gas seeps into the earth) or it can be used to cause damage (The flamethrowers). All in all, the whole war was a massive struggle between technology and nature; however one individual throughout the story is the link between Nature and Technology.Rober t Ross uses technology to kill others throughout the war, an unnatural thing, but he also cares deeply for those things that are of nature. He is the bridge between the natural and technological world. The war on nature via technology is one of the most common themes in The Wars. It is very prominent when they bring the horses over on the S. S. Massanabie, and what condition the live in while on that boat while they are transported. â€Å"Each horse was lifted in a harness by a gigantic crane and lowered into the hold like cargo. 1 This is an example where cruelties against things that are natural are portrayed by the fact that the animals are treated no better than inanimate objects. The soldiers saw the horses as nothing more than another piece of technology that they would use in the war. Robert Ross has to take over from Harris while he is on the boat, and is charged in taking care of the animals. He then finds himself in the situation of having to kill the horse because it bro ke its leg. Robert doesn’t want to do it but he decides that he has to do it to prove himself.Unfortunately Robert doesn’t kill it with the first shot and is emotionally disturbed. â€Å"Robert forced his eyes to open: aimed-and fired again. This time the horse was hit on the withers. Robert sank to his knees. He could hear himself breathing. He held the gun in both hands. He pressed it hard behind the horse’s ear and swore at the horse: God damn it, damn it, damn it-stop. His knees were wet and he drew himself into a ball and pushed with all his strength. He began to squeeze the trigger and he squeezed it gain and again and again-so many times that when the Sergeant-Major pulled him away the gun went right on clicking in his hands. †(60-61) Robert has to use technology on something he cares a lot about, animals, something natural, and it bothers him greatly. Having this is another perversion of nature, and demonstrates and re-emphasizes how the horses ar e seen as little more than another part of the war machine. Chlorine gas is a development in technology that the German’s have made towards the war effort and it is one of the most detrimental things to nature in the whole war.It is a prime example of how nature things can be corrupted my things that are man-made, because not only does the chlorine gas kill people it also â€Å"kills† the surrounding natural things. All of the surrounding land and terrain has the chlorine gas seep into it, and naturally destroys it, making the land barren and devoid of life, and the air toxic. Robert notices the green fog in the air when he and his bugler are riding. â€Å"The air was thick with green fog. There was a smell Robert could not decipher. ‘What’s that smell? ’ he said to Poole. prob’ly chlorine,’ Poole replied†¦. ‘You mean you think there’s a gas attack going on up front? ’ Robert had not yet had this experience. P oole had had it twice. ‘No sir. But the groun’ is full of it here. There’s some that says a handful of this clay could knock a person out. ’† The earth and the air have been corrupted with the chlorine gas, so much so that the area will not be viable for living or growing anything for quite some time. This is yet another example of the atrocities of war technology on nature, one that will harm the area for a long time to come.When Rodwell goes down the lines, it is shown to its truest extent how corrupted nature has been by the mechanized chaos that is war. For now it is human nature that has been corrupted, so badly they the have turned into savages. These were men who had spent the entire time while the flamethrowers burned around them, and this new technology had damaged their primal instincts. Rodwell arrive to a scene of horror, were the men were burning rats and mice alive in their cooking pots, not for food, but for pure entertainment.He tried to stop them, but he could not and they would not listen. They then did something that he could not deal with â€Å"Seeing that he took an interest, they forced him to watch a killing of a cat. Half an hour later, Rodwell wandered into No Man’s Land and put a bullet through his ears† (135) The corruption of the human mind has gone to an extent, that once normal human-beings had reverted to taking out the pain that they felt from the Germans and inflicting it on helpless creatures.Robert Ross can relate to Rodwell’s pain, because like Rodwell he also was deeply compassionate for animals. Over the course of the book technology takes its toll on nature, be it natural instincts of humans, or natural things being destroyed. Technology is one of the most detrimental things to nature there can be, and it is up to mankind whether or not it is controlled within reasonable limits, or unleashed, to an extent in which it could destroy everything. One of the largest underly ing themes in the whole book is the war within the war, or technology against nature.