A Character Study of J. Alfred Prufock

J. Alfred Prufock, the character in T.S. Eliot’s poem ‘The Love Song Of   J. Alfred Prufock’ is clearly portrayed in the poem as someone with a fleeting, flimsy personality, one who has a problem with self-esteem, and one who cannot take decisive action.The poem begins with a sweeping vista of frustration, â€Å"Let us go then, / you and I, /When the evening is spread out against the sky  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   / Like a patient etherised upon a table;† (1-3) setting the tone for the entire poem where the tone goes progressively miserable on the part of Prufock.Appropriately, this particular opening for the poem sets the stage for the character who goes through various situations and seems to be going around in circles or going back to ‘square one’ or is actually unable to progress in his character as illustrated by the refrain, â€Å"Let us go and make our visit. / In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo.† (12-14)   These lines are repeated numerous times throughout the poem usually after a series of narrations by the character focusing on what he has to go through.The previously mentioned sweeping vista of frustration also progresses as Prufock reveals more in the poem – unfortunately, there is no progress with the character as he consistently drags himself down, even to the bottom of the sea, in the end of the poem, â€Å"We have lingered in the chambers of the sea / By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown / Till human voices wake us, and we drown.† (129-131), indicating his inability to rise above the situation and merely succumb to the consequences of other people’s actions.Prufock, in the poem, manifests his fleeting, flimsy personality in many passages, like in the passage, â€Å"And time yet for a hundred indecisions, / And for a hundred visions and revisions,† (32-33), and in the repetition of the phrases, â€Å"There will be time, there will be timeâ₠¬ ¦There will be time†¦And time†¦Time for† (26,28-31)   Someone with the personality as indicated by these lines waits and expects for indecision to set in and cannot make up his mind as indicated by the phrase ‘visions and revisions’. (33)   In the same manner, the repetition of the ‘time’ phrases illustrates how Prufock allows time to pass him by in that instead of making time for things that he needs to do, he simply waits for time to come, and instead of grasping opportunity, remains passive.Prufock’s self-esteem problem is as well indicated by many lines that show how he feels about himself, foremost by his reference to his balding, â€Å"Time to turn back and descend the stair,   / With a bald spot in the middle of my hair – / [They will say: â€Å"How his hair is growing thin!†]† (39-41)Hair is a symbol of virility, and in these lines Prufock shows unsure he is of himself with the phrase ‘turn b ack’ (39) where he decides to go back down the stairs and hold his ground instead of moving up, because as shown in his internal thoughts, in the last bracketed line, he feels that people will be talking about his lack of virility.Prufock here illustrates his inability to cope with society in that he is quite concerned about what other people will say about him.   This lack of confidence and self-esteem is again validated when Profock talks about how he should make a decision, â€Å"And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, / When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall, / Then how should I begin / To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?† (57-60)Here, he clearly shows how indecisive he can be, that even when he is in a situation that calls for drastic and immediate action, he resorts to slinking back and considering what he has done wrong, instead of considering what he can do right; ‘spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?† (60)Final ly, the very main train of Prufock in the poem that dominates the entire piece is his abject indecisiveness – while the whole poem takes this as its main subject matter, there are very detailed indications as to this particular trait of Prufock.   For instance, in the passage, â€Å"And how should I presume?†¦ And should I then presume? / And how should I begin?† (61, 68-69)More than this obvious indecision of the man when exposed to women is his deeper dilemma with what to do with himself, in the lines, â€Å"Though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter / I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter; / I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,† (82-84) These lines do not only show that Prufock is terribly indecisive, but it shows as well that because of his indecisiveness he had let opportunities pass to the point of regret and self-pity.The characterization of Prufock in the poem gave rise to what is known as Prufockian paralysis which is a personality type that is characterized by extreme self-pity, fleeting thought, severe loss of self-esteem, and serious indecisiveness to the point of corruption of the individual himself.   T.S. Elliot, in this poem, very accurately portrayed these traits in his character, Prufock, and created a living, breathing symbol of male indecision.

Discuss Marxism and Functuionalism and Compare

Compare Marxist and Functionalist Perspectives Compare and Contrast Functionalist and Marxist Perspectives Sociology is a systematic way of studying the social world. It seeks to discover the causes and affects of intercommunication and interaction that arise in social relations. â€Å"The science of society† was developed as a discipline in the 19th Century by Auguste Compte, a French philosopher. For him, common sense and the obvious would not suffice; he wanted to build scientific theories based on critical awareness of society. The two main stems of sociological concepts are Positivism and Phenomenology. Both Functionalism and Marxism are Positivist theories. This means that philosophies are built by using scientific research methods to create structural perspectives. Positivism is called macro sociology because it looks at society holistically; it also emphasises the power of Society and how this effects man’s behaviour. Positivism was a philosophy from the Modern Era when society was industrial, England’s culture untolerating, the mass media conservative and pro-establishment. Role in society was extremely important; it was traditional and genders specific. Functionalism provided a static view of society. It was rooted in the work of Emile Durkheim, a French Sociologist and during the later stages, Talcott Parsons. Although functionalism was not a dominant theoretical perspective in sociology until the 1940s and 1950s, it first emerged during the 19th Century. Marxism was founded by a German philosopher, economist and sociologist, Karl Marx. Fredrich Engels also contributed to development the works. Marxism offered a radical alternative to the functionalism perspective and was developed in the 1970s. Both perspectives of Marx and Durkheim, aspired for a Utopian society. Functionalism views society like a biological organism. The parts or institutions of the organism or society function appropriately to ensure the whole structure works efficiently and effectively. The whole has greater power than the individual parts. The three main aims and objectives of functionalism are to maintain order, stability and equilibrium in society. Marxism became increasingly influential due to; the decline in functionalism, its promise to provide answers (which functionalism did not) and its mood reflected that of the times. It originally consisted of three related ideas: a philosophical view of man, a theory of history and an economic and political program. The basic principal was that production equals social enterprise. Man needs to produce food, materials, etc†¦ for survival, and in doing so; man enters into relations with other members of society. From a functionalist perspective, the main parts of society (its institutions such as education, religion and the family) are the foundations for social structure. These institutions have interconnected roles and interrelated norms to form a complete system. All of the institutions have a role to meet the functional prerequisites (society’s basic needs). Integration between the parts is necessary so therefor integration is a functional prerequisites in itself. Social relations are organised, in result of values providing general guidelines for behaviour. Functionalist, Talcott Parsons set out four functional prerequisites essential for society: Goal Attainment- setting goals, e. g. Government/Education, Adaptation- development of material world, e. g. Mass Media/Industry, Integration- promoting harmony and social solidarity, e. g. Religion/Family, Latency- meeting individual needs to satisfy demand, e. g. Family/Mass Media. From a Marxist view, the force of production is the collective term for all things needed for production. The means of production are those parts of production which can be legally owned (land, machinery, and slaves†¦ . Society’s infrastructure was made up of the forces of production plus the social relations. The Superstructure includes the institutions of society and is shaped by the infrastructure. This therefor means that the institutions are primarily determined by economic factors. Marxism relates class not to income or family like functionalism does, instead it is measured on how much land, mach inery†¦ is owned and controlled- so it depends on the means of production. The person(s) who had the most means of production are the ruling class. The ruling class produces the dominant ideas in society. Their domination relies heavily on the exploitation and oppression of others. The employer to employee relationship of exploitation is concealed by ideology. Some accept the ruling class conflict as natural and so are lulled into false consciousness. Functionalism relies on social stratification. Kingsley Davis, an American Sociologist and Demographer said â€Å"As a functioning mechanism society must distribute its members in social positions and induce them to perform the duties of these positions†. Without this casting of society’s members, the institutions would be unbalanced and equilibrium could not be reached. Functionalism sees this as a positive and inevitable aspect of society. In Marxism, the lower classes are exploited because they can be. Social change in Functionalism occurs when one of the institutions alters in some way. These changes only come about when society requests it. These changes in institutions cause society to behave, inevitably different. Marx believed all historical societies contain basic contradictions: the exploitation of one social group by another. Perhaps in a way, Marxism is perhaps a little more realistic than functionalism. Therefor, they cannot survive in the existing form. The major frictions are between the forces and the relations of production. A great deal of the wealth, produced by the workforce is appropriated in the forms of profit by the Capitalists- the ruling class. The wages of the workers are not equivalent to the wealth they produce and so the ruling class was exploiting and oppressing the working class. Marx predicted a new and final epoch. A society that would have complete equality. There would be no new force of production but the relations of production will be transformed. The ownership of production would be collective, as the members of society would share the wealth. The ruling class would no longer exploit or oppress the workers. It is interesting how Functionalists see people as unequal a positive thing and Marxists believe it a negative one. Functionalism fails to recognise social change, contrasting to Marxism which recognises and aspires to it. It is a conservative ideology which ignores the dysfunction’s and assumes every institution is positive for society. Marxism, on the other hand, accepts conflict and the arising social problems. The perspective tries to understand how to overcome societies problems by looking back over history and learning from past mistakes. Functionalists assume that everyone in society is in agreement and shares norms. It believes in the power of the institutions to socialise its members so well that deviance is rare. However, every society has deviants and so this statement is a little too confident. Functionalism shows us clearly the primacy of culture and socialisation via the social institution. Marxism underestimated the resilience of Capitalism, for example, Americas tragedy on the 11th September 2001.

Government Intervention in the Housing Market and Is It Ethical?

Government Intervention in the Housing Market and is it Ethical? Intermediate Microeconomics Two schools of thought encompass the intervention of government into the national economy. On the one hand there are those who believe that state intervention is not only beneficial but also essential for the creation of a stable economy. However, there too are those who contend that government intervention sub-optimises the economy and the free market should be left to its own devices. The current state of the domestic housing market helps to build a foundation for those who advocate for greater government intervention in the economy.Owning your own home is for many a life-long goal; government intervention has the ability to bring this dream to fruition for those in lower socioeconomic circumstances. A combination of taxation, subsidised mortgage rates and government incentive schemes are the most commonly used tools of intervention into the housing market that are available to intervention ist national governments. Opponents of this theory believe that letting the free market regulate the housing sector is the fairest and most effective means of reducing or eliminating government intervention all together.There are, however, ethical issues intertwined with government intervention within the housing market and these issues must be weighed up against the economic and social benefits. Without regulation many would find homeownership to be unaffordable and unattainable. Microeconomic theory states that lower rates of owner-occupied homeownership would affect the supply and demand for housing within the residential market. Therefore forcing the price of rentable property well above what many lower socioeconomic families are able to afford.This subsequently has a flow-on effect, rates of home ownership tend to be in lower in areas of low socioeconomic standing, where unemployment is high, income is low and consumer confidence is down. A desire to increase the rates of homeo wnership is the catalyst for government intervention in the market. For this reason governments seek to regulate the housing market as a means of making it an attractive and ultimately more affordable investment for the average family. Homeownership is central to a state’s economic growth and overall financial stability. Residential investment constitutes a large portion of national capital formation.Poterba writes; â€Å"In the United States, real estate itself accounts for more than 1/3 of all fixed capital stock and a similar fraction of real assets in other developed countries† (Poterba, 1989). Economic policy usually provides favorable income tax incentives to homeowners; government incentives, for example first time buyers tax credits and subsidised mortgages. These policies are usually the only reason prospective homeowners are able to enter the market. Economics teaches people to respond to incentives; therefore homeowner’s entrance into the owner-occupi ed sector creates economic responsibility by means of servicing a mortgage.This action forces homeowners into stable employment, relative income and creates consumer confidence all factors of microeconomic stimulation within the economy. Government intervention within the housing market is both ethical and unethical. Some would say that government intervention within any market is unethical. Ethically is it right for a government to intervene in the economy, as what was once used as a market mechanism can in turn become a market norm. Government intervention is see by many as the government initiating force and imposing on ones right to liberty. Morally and ethically that would be an injustice upon ones self.But with that in mind governments introduce economic policy because they have a moral obligation to help those who are less able. Morally the government has the duty to ensure that those who are disadvantaged are given equal opportunities to succeed. According to social contract theory and those who would subscribe to the Hobbesian state of nature; one ethical stream of thought would say that governments should not exist in the market place at all. If and only when it is essential then they are only in place to offer retaliation of force in order to preserve individuals rights. In turn preserving free markets.It is well documented that the United States regulation within the housing market is unethical. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac whom of which are both government backed and subsidised mortgage lenders, were seen as too big to fail. Until they did, the way government policy was constructed around these two giants of the housing market was so ethically and morally corrupt that it poisoned the entire economy. Economic policies put in place would allow almost anyone homeownership, policies that allow no deposit, no proof of employment and no proof of income are themselves morally corrupt.This type of regulation would construe to a gross ethical breach. Policy that allowed individuals to set themselves up for failure is obviously morally corrupted. The principal alternative to government intervention in the housing market is to end all government regulation and state-mandated economic policy from the market, effectively creating a truly free market. Common consensus on free markets are that inherently people will choose to better themselves without the need for government regulation and naturally people will choose to improve their situation.In an article published by the Brookings Institute, former chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, hypothesized that this alternative to government intervention would result in â€Å"interest rates and mortgage rates would clearly be higher and the size housing market would be significantly smaller† (Greenspan, 2011). This limits the access to affordable housing, a lack of government intervention would essentially eradicate achievable ownership; house prices would soar ne gatively affecting demand while the size of the market would shrink simultaneously, severely limiting a markets housing supply for both purchase and rent.Hennessy explains under these economic conditions, â€Å"High mortgage interest rates and high down payment requirements might prove that the opportunity cost of owning is too high† (Hennessey, 2001). Therefore as previously mentioned unattainable homeowner ship would lead to a downturn in the economy, raising unemployment, decreasing the supply of rental property, decreasing the demand for property both for home owners and investors as well as leading to a downturn in consumer confidence all of which create a large negative effect on the economy and decrease economic growth.In conclusion the economic case for government intervention is strong. Governments are in place to help those less fortunate, this type of economic policy not only helps stimulate the economy in a multitude of ways but it also enables homeowners to enter the market, creating economic growth and long term financial stability. The argument, government intervention in the housing market is systemically flawed, due to sub-optimisation of the economy and erosion of free markets is incorrect.There is however a lesson to be learnt from what has happened with government intervention within the housing market, namely the global economic crisis. This was not entirely due to government regulation but in some ways the opposite, not enough regulation. Ethically there are strong views around government intervention and some do have merits. Namely market mechanisms used to guide economic policy, they can then become seen as market norms.When this happens you erode the moral value of what you are trying to accomplish in the first place. References Greenspan, A. (2011). Imagining a Housing Market Without Government Intervention. Retrieved 25-09-2012, 2012 Poterba, J. M. (1989). Residential Real Estate and Capital Formations. Regional Science and Ec onomics. Hennessey, S. M. (2001). The Impact of the Tenure Choice Decision on Future Household Wealth.

Economics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economics - Research Paper Example As a result, the Current Account Balance of has been continuously deteriorating. It has not been long that China gained its position as a sovereign independent state. Initially, a centralized system or a planned economy was being focused upon. But later, the Chinese economy became more reliant on market oriented techniques and by the year 2000 the output of China quadrupled (CIA Factbook). Today China is an epitome of prosperity and economic development. It is the economic giant of today’s world. Its main focus has been on the manufacturing sector and is the major exporter of different goods and services. In this recessionary phase, China has managed to be coped very tactfully. With rising production and employment generation, not only the standard of living is being improved in China but also the economic position of China is being strengthened extensively. China manages to maintain a positive Current Account Balance in this phase of depressing worldwide economy. Additionally , China owns a large amount of foreign reserves to back its economy as well. The demographics of both the countries are different in the sense that China has the largest population of the world whereas, USA is at number 3.

Marketing Mix for U.S.A car market Chery Cars China Essay

Marketing Mix for U.S.A car market Chery Cars China - Essay Example Strategic Planning: A strategy outlines the game plan of an organisation for its success. An effective marketing plan requires sound strategic planning at many levels in an organisation. At the top level and mid level planners deal with the strategic decisions which focus on long term development of the product (Kapferer, 2008, p. 182). Research and Analysis: Strategic planning is dependent on availability and interpretation of information and hence it is considered to be the lifeblood of an organisation. Thus it is important for marketing planners to have right information for making right product. Thus marketers regularly conduct and analyze the opinions, needs and attitudes of their customers. In addition to it, there is internal analysis and external analysis for getting useful information for the company (Chery, 2014, p. 1). Developing Competitive Advantage: Competitive advantage is important to set the tone or strategic focus of the entire marketing program. With this the firm can offer customers a compelling reason for them to purchase their product. Without competitive advantage, the company and its products are just like any other company offer commoditized products (Jobber, 2012, p. 172). Product: Product is developed to meet the needs and demands of the consumers. It must be developed at the right level of quality to meet the present and future needs. Thus the perfect product must create value for the consumer and it is not necessary for a product to be tangible. Price: The price of a product is actually the perceived price of the product in the eyes of the customers. A company must make the price competitive, not necessarily the cheapest. A company can compete with large companies by offering better value to the customers for their money (Henry, 2008, p. 112). Place: The place indicates the location where customers buy their products. It is crucial for a company to make the

Health Reform Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health Reform - Research Paper Example Preskitt (2008) indicates that Clinton’s health reform plan is one that not only affected patients but also other service providers and physicians.. First, studies indicate that about 36 million Americans were uninsured at that time (Preskitt, 2008). This percentage of Americans comprises of the poor and majority depended on aid from other sources. On a realistic point of analysis, it would be extremely tasking for Clinton’s policy to apply among such population brackets. This can be discussed on a cost constraint point of view, since the available resources were not well reorganized. Universal recognition not being the centre of the focus of Clinton’s reform plan, failure of the plan was indeed in the pipeline. Brady & Kessler (2009) indicate that Clinton’s Health Care Reform failed for the reason that this plan was more inclined towards promoting a market for insurance on a long term basis. The administration was of the opinion that expanding then public health sector would be very expensive for the government. Long term insurance care was on a great extent left for the private sector. Investors were at an advantage that was geared towards coming up with a market for private employers, in terms of provision of long term care. The costs of health care rose tremendously, provision of long term care was then laid on the line. Preskitt (2008) indicates that Clinton’s health plan did not receive public support both from the liberals and conservatives. Democrats were opposed to the fact that none of the constituencies was fully for the program. For instance, the aged feared the cutting down of Medicare and nothing would do good to them in return (Starr, 1995). The high costs of health plans were also expected to be expensive; thus, taxing to the common citizens. Generally, Clinton had no back up to support the policies. It is in line to this argument that Oberlander (2002) argues that Clinton’s health plan would have been planned and

Assigment annotated bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assigment - Annotated Bibliography Example The authors say that the function of the Cyanobacterial FurA is to act as a global regulator that links â€Å"iron homeostasis to photosynthetic metabolism and the responses to different environmental stresses† (Botello-Morte, et al). According to the scholars, FurA regulates various genes involved in redox homeostasis and works to meet the characteristics of a heme-sensor protein, whose interaction with this cofactor can have a negative impact on its DNA binding ability. Targeting Virulence not Viability in the Search for Future Antibacterials is a research paper written by Heras, Scanlon, and Martin. In this article, the authors give particular focus to the subject ‘rapid antibiotic resistance’. The writers assert that improved approaches need to be developed for new antibacterials to overcome the issue of rapid antibiotic resistance. For this purpose, the researchers examine the development of improved new antibacterial drugs that do not either kill bacteria or hinder their growth but fight disease through targeting bacterial virulence. This research work gives readers a clear view of why existing approaches or techniques are not capable of addressing the issue of rapid antibiotic resistance in antibacterials. The study leaves further scope for experiments in the field of medical research. Botello-Morte L., Bes, M. T., Heras, B., Fernà ¡ndez-Otal, à ., Peleato, M. L & Fillat, M.F. (March 20, 2014). Unraveling the Redox Properties of the Global Regulator FurA from Anabaena sp. PCC 7120: Disulfide Reductase Activity Based on Its CXXC Motifs. Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, 20(9): 1396-1406. Nagpal, J., Tan, J. L., Truscott, K. N., Heras, B & Dougan, D. A. (2013). Control of protein function through regulated protein degradation: biotechnological and biomedical applications. J MolMicrobiolBiotechnol 23(4-5):335-44. Daly, N. L., Thorstholm, L., Greenwood, K.