The Scarlet Letter - Thesis Essay Example for Free

The Scarlet Letter Thesis Essay One main theme present in the work The Scarlet Lette is that of sin and guilt. Nathaniel Hawthorne attempts to show how guilt can be a form of everlasting punishment. The book represents sin and guilt through symbolism and character development. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne explains how the punishment of guilt causes the most suffering among those affected. As with any piece, symbolism plays an important role in representing the main ideas of a novel. The plot in The Scarlet Letter revolves around three significant events that describe the development of the story. As both starting point and ending point of the novel, the scaffold scenes hold symbolic meaning. The first scaffold scene introduces the reader to the story, plot, and characters. The reader meets Hester Prynn and soon discovers the means of her sin. Hesters thoughts as she stands before the public are described at the end of the second chapter. Could it be true? She clutched the child so fiercely to her breast, that it sent forth a cry; she turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real. Yes! -these were her realities, -all else had vanished! (Hawthorne, 55). At this point, Hester is still quite ashamed of her sin of adultery, and may not want to acknowledge the reality of it. As Hester is accused of her crime, the first scaffold scene represents committing and being accused of a sin. By the time the second scaffold scene approaches, seven years later, the reader should know that Hesters partner in crime is the minister Arthur Dimmesdale. Thus far in the novel, Dimmesdale has kept his sin a secret from society. During the second scaffold scene, Reverend Dimmesdale ventured out in the night to the scaffold in seek of forgiveness from God. He hoped to reveal himself to the public, however No eye could see him, save that ever-wakeful one which had seen him in his closet, wielding the bloody scourge. Why, then, had he come hither? (129) Resulting with the burden of guilt still upon his soul, his sin is not revealed which is why the second scaffold scene represents concealment of sin. Just as the book opened at the scaffold, it closes there as well. The third and final scaffold scene involves the primary characters from both the first and second scaffold scenes. All three of these characters, Hester, her child Pearl, and Dimmesdale stand together at the scaffold. This is the point in the novel where the minister finally wishes to reveal his sin. Concealing his sin for so long had caused him to deteriorate both mentally and physically, so just as Dimmesdale confessed, his life was taken from him. The third scaffold scene represents revealing and repenting sin. Some say that Nathaniel Hawthorne named the characters of his novel with symbolic meaning behind them. Each of the four main characters names can be tied in one way or another to sin and guilt. First, there is the character Hester Prynn. Her last name, Prynn, rhymes with the word sin, which is used to represent her role in the novel. Next, there is Dimmesdale. Simply the mere sound of the name in itself gives the impression of someone dim, dark, or weak; perhaps this way from suffering guilt. Then there is Chillingworth. Again, the sound of the name gives the reader a sense that the character has a cold heart; which is sinful alone. And lastly, little Pearl. Rather than representing the evils of sin, her name means salvation, and can be represented as the salvation of sin. The characters alone play a symbolic role in expressing the main theme. (Online-Literature.com, Symbolism) Nathaniel Hawthorne attempts to show how guilt can be a form of everlasting punishment by showing how each character endures much suffering from it. Hester Prynne, the main character in the novel, suffers a variety of types of punishment for the crime of adultery she committed. She faces such punishment as public humiliation from wearing the symbol A as to represent her crime, dealing with the physical outcome of her crime, and most painful, having to live with what she had done. As the book opens, Hester is brought forth from the jail and walked to the scaffold. For the first time being seen in public named an adulterer, Hester shies from the public as they mock her. However, She never battled with the public, but submitted  uncomplainingly to its worst usage; she made no claim upon it, in requital for what she suffered; she did not weight upon its sympathies. (Hawthorne 140). Soon, it did not matter what other people thought of Hester because of her sin. She chose not to live with the humiliation, but she did have to live with herself. Having to deal with her daughter Pearl day in and day out is a punishment in itself as well. Most people, including Hester, view Peal as a demon child. However, Hester hesitates to punish Pearl for being so. She feels guilty as it is, placing a burden on Pearls life, for Peal is branded as the child of an adulterer, all of this resulting from Hesters passionate sin. (Guilt as Reparation for Sin, paragraph 14). The minister Dimmesdale is greatly affected by the weight of guilt he carries with him everyday of his proceeding life. Since his sin is unknown to society, there is not a public crowd to look down upon him, but one Roger Chillingworth who lives just to torture Dimmesdale. He wishes and prays most often that the public know of his wrong, rather than hold it secret, as it would be less painful. Happy are you, Hester, that wear that scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret!! (Hawthorne 182). Fear, is in fact, the only reason Dimmesdale fails to confess himself. He feels guilty for not being able to be a father figure to Pearl, for letting Hester suffer on her own, and, of course, just for his own sinful actions. In the end, it is the guilt that kills him, not any public humiliation. One may look at Roger Chillingworth, Hesters husband, and see no guilt within him. Truthfully, Chillingworth is a cold-hearted soul. He does, however, have some guilt. Chillingworth, indeed, feels a bit guilty for marrying Hester in the first place. He and Hester both knew they did not love each other, but decided to marry anyway. Chillingworth might have known something like what Hester did would have happened eventually. After all, Chillingworth was much too old and unattractive for a young woman like Hester to feel anything worth making the relationship work. Even though it was out of his hands, Chillingworth also feels a bit bad about leaving Hester as he did for so long. He may feel that he could have been a catalyst  in what happened, however, Chillingworth was not about to let others who contributed to it run away freely. This explains his excuse for becoming a fiend. He may feel guilty for becoming so evil, however, he blames it on Hester and Dimmesdales actions, and does not feel he should change his ways. I have already told thee what I am! A fiend! Who made me so?' (Hawthorne 151) He felt less guilt than the other characters, however, he was the one who caused the most misery. Although Pearl, Hesters daughter, does not directly suffer such guilt because she is the only innocent character in the novel, she does suffer from her mothers guilt and sinful actions. Because Pearl is dubbed an evil being as an illegitimate child, she suffers much public ridicule and humiliation. She also receives the blame for Hesters past seven years of suffering guilt. During the scene in A Flood of Sunshine, when Hester throws the A into the river, she also symbolically throws away Pearl, thus rejecting and blaming her own child. Each of the four main characters, in their own forms, has and must suffer from a form of guilt. Since Hester and Dimmesdale are the only characters that committed the sin the book revolves around, they are the ones who suffer most of the guilt. Guilt is a painful reminder of sin. The other punishments both characters had to face were painful, but in the end, all they did was make them feel further guilt and suffer further pain. The only thing other punishments bring out is the inner guilt of a person, if they are worthy enough to realize their wrong. Only the man who has enough good in him to feel the justice of the penalty can be punished; the other can only be hurt.' (Punishment Quote, paragraph 1). There are two characters in the novel who are worthy enough to be punished: Hester and Dimmesdale. On the other side of the spectrum, there is Chillingworth. He does not see the wrong in his sin of torturing Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne immediately feels guilty for what she had done. If anything, shed wish to take it back, as if it had never happened. Such the same with Arthur Dimmesdale. He was not only suffering from guilt of his sin, but also  was becoming a very hypocritical reverend, the last thing he may have wanted. It is quite evident that the guilt eventually drove him mad to the point of self-mutilation, because as the reader knows, in the end of the novel, Dimmesdale dies from his guilt. If you are not worthy, you cannot feel sorry for what you have done, as the case with Roger Chillingwroth. He felt it was he duty to torture the reverend Dimmesdale. He was, nonetheless, hurt by it. He had dedicated the remainder of his life to making Dimmesdale suffer, so when Dimmesdale died, so did Chillingworth shortly following. Sin is represented in many ways throughout the novel. Because of the sins the characters have committed, they had to be punished for their actions. Letting them suffer with their own guilt is the best way of going about the matter. With this, the character is forced to live with what they did. Because both Hester and Dimmesdale saw their wrongs, guilt, for them, was effective. It just goes to show the pain the characters suffer. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne explains how the punishment of guilt causes the most suffering among those affected. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Guilt as Reparation for Sin in The Scarlet Letter. [http://www.123student.com/english/1443.shtml]. Feb. 2004. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin Books, 1962. Punishment Quote. [http://www.123student.com/english/1910.shtml]. Feb. 2004. Stephanie. Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter. [http://www.online-literature.com/hawthorne/scarletletter]. Feb. 2004.

Super Elevations :: physics science

Have you ever been driving down the road and approach a turn too fast? What happens? You and the car undergo centrifugal force and you as well as the car are pushed away from the turn, or up the grade also know as a superelevation. An engineer must balance this force raising the grade on one side of the road. It should be noted that under theoretical observations steering would be effortless but in order to provide these ideal conditions the friction factor would be zero and the vehicle weight would balance the centrifugal force ¹. In the real world we have friction and cannot afford to build the extremely steep slope of ËÅ"30 º every time we need an off ramp or horizontal curve. In order for the operator to comfortably maneuver a curve there are several variables that must be accounted for, the radius of the curve, friction and velocity. Radius length may depend on sight distance and right of way, or property lines as well as sight distance. Friction depends on the surface properties of various materials and climate. The slope and velocity are usually dependent on the variables just described. While building and designing these roads, it is industry standard to put 1/3 of the change in grade within the horizontal curve and 2/3 of the transition length on the tangent. In Layman’s terms, by the time the car approaches the first part of the curve, 2/3 of the grade has already been built. This assures smooth transition for the driver to maneuver the curve ³. In order to get a better idea of what kind of friction coefficients are used in Alaska, we can look at the Badger Road Interchange construction project on the Richardson Highway ². The nortbound on ramp (from Badger Road) will have a speed limit of 35 mph a radius of 135 meters and a superelevation of 5.5%. From this data one may find the friction coefficient, ( µ) to be equal to 0.10. Another example taken from the same project, observed from the off ramp in the south bound lane will have a radius of 253 meters, a super of 6% and a speed limit of 45 mph  µ was observed to be 0.09, which is just enough traction to make these corners at the posted limit. A friction coefficient that small leads the author to assume the engineers designed these turns to be taken under extremely slick conditions.

Lessons from Enron: Bad Management, Negative Consequences

One of the classic examples of bad management, Enron's collapse according to the Economist (2002) was a result of bad management and poor decision-making of the auditing firm Andersen in handling the account of the company. The primary root of Enron’s collapse was bad management and the power of the management to delegate auditing and accounting responsibilities to a firm that they have chosen. The dependence of the auditing firm on the management in essence creates the break in the accounting and auditing ethics: in order not to lose an all-too important account such as Enron, they would need to abide by the decisions of the management.The lack of willpower of Andersen to question the unethical practices of Enron made it culpable in the same way as Enron’s managers. This led a domino and cascading effect in the corporate world of America: the government scrambling to look for other companies who are also hiding in their auditor’s books, the deterioration of the auditing and accounting profession, lack of trust in companies, and investor apprehension. The collapse of Enron was largely a decision by the top management which also involves its accountants to provide a bogus statement of finances to make Enron look like a profitable company.Auditors of Enron on the other hand, have sought to protect the company by shredding incriminating documents. From an agency theory perspective, the role of the Enron’s top management to that of the shareholders is one that is governed by the principle that managers will act in a way that will benefit the owners or shareholders of the company (Abrahamson and Park, 1994). In essence, what happened to Enron was that the managers or the agents gained too much power and the shareholders did not perform its function of overseeing the operations of their company.Fundamentally, what the shareholders and the managers who did not take part in the Enron scandal could have done was to have the government to appo int an auditing or accounting firm that will monitor the financial movement of the company. In this way, accountants and auditors will not be obliged to follow what the top managers would want them to do. Managers need to be wary of decisions made by the top management or their colleagues. To a significant extent, appointments should be made independent of the managers.In an era where auditing and accounting fraud are prevalent, managers can protect themselves by safeguarding their companies among their peers. References Abrahamson, E. and Park, C. (1994) Concealment of negative organizational outcomes: An agency theory perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 37: 1302-1334. Barefoot, JA. (2002). What can you learn from Enron? How to know if you are creating a climate of rule-breaking. ABA Banking Journal, 94. The Economist. (2002) The Lessons from Enron. 362, 8259: 9-10. Retrieved 1 July at http://www.csupomona. edu/~smemerson/PLS499%20Greed_Need/Enron. doc. Appendix 1. Enron Ar ticle Title: THE LESSONS FROM ENRON , Economist, 0013-0613, February 9, 2002, Vol. 362, Issue 8259 Database: Academic Search Elite Section: Leaders THE LESSONS FROM ENRON After the energy firm's collapse, the entire auditing regime needs radical change THE mess just keeps spreading. Two months after Enron filed for Chapter 11, the reverberations from the Texas-based energy-trading firm's bankruptcy might have been expected to fade; instead, they are growing.On Capitol Hill, politicians are engaged in an investigative orgy not seen since Whitewater, with the blame pinned variously on the company's managers, its directors, its auditors and its bankers, as well as on the Bush administration; indeed on anybody except the hundreds of congressmen who queued up to take campaign cash from Enron. The only missing ingredient in the scandal–so far–is sex. The effects are also touching Wall Street. In the past few weeks, investors have shifted their attention to other companies, m aking a frenzied search for any dodgy accounting that might reveal the next Enron.Canny traders have found a lucrative new strategy: sell a firm's stock short and then spread rumours about its accounts. Such companies as Tyco, PNC Financial Services, Invensys and even the biggest of the lot, General Electric, have all suffered. Last week Global Crossing, a telecoms firm, went bust amid claims of dubious accounts. This week shares in Elan, an Irish-based drug maker, were pummelled by worries over its accounting policies. All this might create the impression that corporate financial reports, the quality of company profits and the standard of auditing in America have suddenly and simultaneously deteriorated.Yet that would be wide of the mark: the deterioration has actually been apparent for many years. A growing body of evidence does indeed suggest that Enron was a peculiarly egregious case of bad management, misleading accounts, shoddy auditing and, quite probably, outright fraud. But the bigger lessons that Enron offers for accounting and corporate governance have long been familiar from previous scandals, in America and elsewhere. That makes it all the more urgent to respond now with the right reforms.Uncooking the books The place to start is auditing. Accurate company accounts are a keystone for any proper capital market, not least America's. Andersen, the firm that audited Enron's books from its inception in 1985 (it was also Global Crossing's auditor), has been suggesting that its failings are representative of the whole profession's. In fact, Andersen seems to have been unusually culpable over Enron: shredding of incriminating documents just ahead of the investigators is not yet a widespread habit.But it is also true that this is only the latest of a string of corporate scandals involving appalling audit failures, from Maxwell and Polly Peck in Britain, through Metallgesellschaft in Germany, to Cendant, Sunbeam and Waste Management in America. In the past four years alone, over 700 American companies have been forced to restate their accounts. At the heart of these audit failures lies a set of business relationships that are bedevilled by perverse incentives and conflicts of interest. In theory, a company's auditors are appointed independently by its shareholders, to whom they report.In practice, they are chosen by the company's bosses, to whom they all too often become beholden. Accounting firms frequently sell consulting services to their audit clients; external auditors may be hired to senior management positions or as internal auditors; it is far too easy to play on an individual audit partner's fear of losing a lucrative audit assignment. Against such a background, it is little wonder that the quality of the audit often suffers. What should be done? The most radical change would be to take responsibility for audits away from private accounting firms altogether and give it, lock, stock and barrel, to the government.Perhaps such a change may yet become necessary. But it would run risks in terms of the quality of auditors; and it is not always so obvious that a government agency would manage to escape the conflicts and mistakes to which private firms have so often fallen prey. As an intermediate step, however, a simpler suggestion is to take the job of choosing the auditors away from a company's bosses. Instead, a government agency–meaning, in America, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)–would appoint the auditors, even if on the basis of a list recommended by the company, which would continue to pay the audit fee.Harvey Pitt, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, is not yet willing to be anything like so radical. He has been widely attacked because, when he acted in the past as a lawyer for a number of accounting firms, he helped to fend off several reforms. Yet he now seems ready to make at least some of the other changes that the Enron scandal has shown to be ne cessary (see pages 67-70. ) Among these are much fiercer statutory regulation of the auditing profession, including disciplinary powers with real bite.Hitherto, auditors have managed to get away with the fiction of self-regulation, both through peer review and by toothless professional and oversight bodies that they themselves have dominated. There should also be a ban on accounting firms offering (often more profitable) consulting and other services to their audit clients. Another good idea is mandatory rotation, every four years or so, both of audit partners–so that individuals do not become too committed to their clients–and of audit firms. The most effective peer review happens when one firm comes in to look at a predecessor's books.The SEC should also ban the practice of companies' hiring managers and internal auditors from their external audit firms. In search of better standards Then there is the issue of accounting standards themselves. Enron's behaviour has co nfirmed that in some areas, notably the treatment of off-balance-sheet dodges, American accounting standards are too lax; while in others they are so prescriptive that they have lost sight of broader principles. Past attempts by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to improve standards have often been stymied by vociferous lobbying.It is time for the SEC itself to impose more rigorous standards, although that should often be through sound principles (including paying less attention to single numbers for earnings) rather than overly detailed rules. It would also be good to come up with internationally agreed standards. Although audit is the most pressing area for change, it is not the only one. The Enron fiasco has shown that all is not well with the governance of many big American companies. Over the years all sorts of checks and balances have been created to ensure that company bosses, who supposedly act as agents for shareholders, their principals, actually do so.Yet the cult of the all-powerful chief executive, armed with sackfuls of stock options, has too often pushed such checks aside. It is time for another effort to realign the system to function more in shareholders' interests. Companies need stronger non-executive directors, paid enough to devote proper attention to the job; genuinely independent audit and remuneration committees; more powerful internal auditors; and a separation of the jobs of chairman and chief executive.If corporate America cannot deliver better governance, as well as better audit, it will have only itself to blame when the public backlash proves both fierce and unpleasant. PHOTO (COLOR) ________________________________________ Copyright of The Economist is the property of Economist Newspaper Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. Source: Eco nomist, 2/9/2002, Vol. 362 Issue 8259, p9, 2p, 1c. Item Number: 6056697

Minimum Wage Deserves To Be Raised - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 1 Words: 413 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/05/18 Category Law Essay Level High school Tags: Minimum Wage Essay Did you like this example? As life in America gets more important I believe that minimum wage deserves to be raised so that people are able to live more comfortably than otherwise. I chose this topic because I believe that minimum wage is important. The minimum wage was created to stabilize the economy post depression and to protect worker in labor force. It was designed to create a living standard at a minimum, leading to protecting the well-being of employees. Now that everything in America is becoming more expensive, minimum wage is becoming a bigger issue in our society. Minimum relates to my life because a majority of the jobs I am able to get at my age, and with my education is pretty slim and they are all minimum wage paying jobs. It does not allow me to have access to many things, like an apartment or being able to own my own car. Everything is extremely expensive, but have a minimum wage that is so low, makes things unattainable for me. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Minimum Wage Deserves To Be Raised" essay for you Create order A reason to increase minimum wage would be it could decrease the amount of money the government spends on welfare. According to ProCon The Center for American Progress reported in 2014 that raising the federal minimum wage by 6% to $10.10 would reduce spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) by 6% or $4.6 billion. [9] The Economic Policy Institute determined that by increasing the minimum wage to $10.10, more than 1.7 million Americans would no longer be dependent on government assistance programs (Pro 3). This is saying that if minimum wage was increased, the low-income would be increased, which then leads to the government not needing to spend so much money on income-support programs, which then leads to that money being spent on something else or something better. This graph is illustrating how the minimum wage has barely increased over the last several years, but the GDP has drastically increased. That makes it very hard for people living off minimum wage to be able to survive in America today, which leads them to becoming poor. A problem with increasing minimum wage would be that it could increase poverty. According to ProCon The higher wages are, the higher costs of production are. The higher costs of production are, the higher prices are. The higher prices are, the smaller the quantities of goods and services demanded and the number of workers employed in producing them (Con 2). By increasing minimum wage, it increases everything associated with employment, money, demand, etc.