Business Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Technology - Essay Example It actually enhances the communication process between people and the organizations. Despite the advantages, several demerits and disadvantages of the application of advanced technology in the business process affects the relationship between an individual and his or her particular organizations, such as bank, school or shops. Several business organizations and banks are implementing online transaction system in the business processes to bring efficiency in the payment making process. People are still trying to avoid this online payment process due to the threat of account hacking by cyber thieves or theft of privacy or personal relationship. In terms of social relationship between friends and families, lack of security in several social media networking sites allow people to access the accounts of different users. These issues generally affect the social and business relationship of people. It is clear from above discussions that the introduction and implementation of technology in daily operations have several advantages as well as disadvantages. Online shopping, online order placing, online distribution, online application and e-CRM are the several advantages of the implementation of advanced technology in the business operation process. In addition to this, emergence of several social media networking sites help people to maintain effective relationship with the friends, families, colleagues and several business organizations (Sternheimer, 2013). But, issues like, online hacking and theft of privacy is affecting the relationship between the people and their respective organizations. It is important for both the users of technological equipments or applications and the organizations to maintain efficiency in the adoption and... This essay approves that several demerits and disadvantages of the application of advanced technology in the business process affects the relationship between an individual and his or her particular organizations, such as bank, school or shops. Several business organizations and banks are implementing online transaction system in the business processes to bring efficiency in the payment making process. People are still trying to avoid this online payment process due to the threat of account hacking by cyber thieves or theft of privacy or personal relationship. In terms of social relationship between friends and families, lack of security in several social media networking sites allow people to access the accounts of different users. These issues generally affect the social and business relationship of people. It is clear from above discussions that the introduction and implementation of technology in daily operations have several advantages as well as disadvantages. Online shopping, online order placing, online distribution, online application and e-CRM are the several advantages of the implementation of advanced technology in the business operation process. This paper makes a conclusion that organizations are using advanced technology in the business processes in order to maintain strong relationship with the target customers. Despite the advantages, people can face several through these online business or social applications.

Phaedrus as a Discourse on Rhetoric Essay Example for Free

Phaedrus as a Discourse on Rhetoric Essay Plato’s dialogue Phaedrus is primarily about rhetoric. It initially shows rhetoric through speeches about love, (230e-234d, 237a-241d)1 but in the second half, Socrates broadens the discussion, detailing the nature and proper practice of love and rhetoric, bringing the two topics together, and showing how each is necessary for the practice and mastery of the art. (243e-257b) The first major speech, by Phaedrus, parodies the style of Lysias, a popular rhetorician, deals with the relationship between youths and their older male admirers, lovers and non-lovers. In reply, Socrates accepts the basic topic, but develops and deepens several themes. Socrates follows this with a great recantation speech, filled with beautiful and powerful images. It is an allegorical myth, touching on the subject of true love and of the souls journeys, and reaching genuinely poetic heights. (237a-241d) Phaedrus is unlike other dialogues in that it is not a retelling of a days events. It is the direct exchange of Socrates and Phaedrus, with no other interlocutors. The reader sees this exchange first hand, as if witnessing the events themselves. Further, like natural conversation, the dialogue does not limit itself to a single subject. It glides from one topic to another. Phaedrus: The Dialogue versus the Limits of a Treatise: Phaedrus is a dialogue about rhetoric. It is a dialogue about love. It is also about the relationship between Socrates and Phaedrus, shifting conversationally from one subject to another, often moving through innuendoes and multiple entendres along the way. It is a human piece, as well as a study in different but interrelated topics. Using the dialogue form, Plato can intersperse themes in a ways unthinkable in a treatise. One key issues that he interjects is pederasty, love of a man for a youth. In a treatise on rhetoric, almost any such reference would be awkward; here, it becomes an added layer, highlighting much that is said. Lysias’ speech is expressly about pederastic relationships. (230e-234d) In his great speech, Socrates details the impact of pederastic relationship on the evolution of the soul. Discussion of pederastic love and ideals. (250a-258b) Throughout the dialogue, double entendres and sexual innuendo is abundant. Phaedrus flirts with Socrates as he encourages him to make his first speech. 235b, 236b-d) Phaedrus remarks that at noon-time that Socrates should not leave as the heat has not passed and it is straight-up, as they say. (242a) Socrates wishes to know what Phaedrus is holding under his cloak. (228d) And yet, role reversals between lover and beloved are constant. Socrates exhorts Phaedrus to lead the way at various times, (229b) and the dialogue ends with Socrates and Phaedrus leaving as friends, equals, not lover and beloved. (279b-c) They sit under a â€Å"chaste† tree (229a, 236e) often known as monks pepper, used to decrease sexual urges and believed to be an antaphrodisiac. Notably, Socrates sees the ideal relationship as asexual: the relationship is a form of divine madness, helping both lover and beloved to grow and reach the divine. (242a, 243a-b) Another, less notable topic that the dialogue keeps in play is the natural setting. After originally remarking that landscapes and trees have nothing to teach me, only people do, (230d) Socrates make several references drawing on the natural setting. (229b, 242a, 242b, 251b) He repeatedly invokes the presence and action of gods and nymphs. 230b, 241e, 278b) In a treatise, Plato could not make such references. This is clearly a work in which Plato knew how to use the dialogue form, and he used it thoroughly. To have presented this as a treatise would have been to give up much of the strength of this work. Phaedrus as an Ideal Conversation: Part of the effectiveness of Phaedrus lies in its sequence. It moves from Phaedrus’ reading of Lysias’ speech (228a-e) dealing with a foolish paradox of why it is better for a boy to give his favor to an older non-lover rather than to a lover, listing a range of reasons. 231-234c) Phaedrus is captivated with the beauty of this piece. Socrates fawns admiration, but when Phaedrus asks him not to joke, (234d-e) Socrates admits that he thought the speech poor: repetitious, uninterested in its subject, and pretentious. He can do better, (235a, 235c) and he does, not simply listing reasons, but developing an argument. All men desire beauty, but some are in love and some are not. Men are ruled by two principles: the inborn desire for pleasure, and an acquired judgment to pursue the best. 237d-238) Following different desires leads to different things, the most selfish being the uncontrolled enjoyment of personal beauty. One caught in this desire will want to turn his youthful beloved into whatever is most pleasing to himself, not what is best for the youth. (238c-240a) As wolves love lambs so lovers love their loves. (241d) At some point, right-minded reason will finally overcome the madness of love. (241a) By contrast, a non-lover, ruled by judgment, will focus more on what is good for the youth. (241e) The second half of the Dialogue is a critique of the first. Socrates assails rhetorical practice on various grounds, the key being the confusion of preliminary knowledge with creative power. No attainments will provide the speaker with genius; and the sort of attainments which can alone be of any value are the higher philosophy and the power of psychological analysis, which is given by dialectic, but not by the rules of the rhetoricians. (273d-e) Phaedrus and Proper Rhetoric Phaedrus claims that a good speechmaker does not need to know the truth of what he is speaking on, only how to persuade, (260a) persuasion being the purpose of oration. Socrates first objects that an orator who does not know bad from good will harvest a crop of really poor quality. (260d) Socrates says of speaking that even someone knowing the truth cannot convince people unless he knows the art of persuasion; (260d) but mastery of the art of speaking requires knowing the truth. (260e) Rhetoric, the art of persuasion, encompasses all speaking. (261e) To persuade an audience one must approach them by using similarities. To do this, one must know what things are similar and different. A person lacking this knowledge, cannot make proper comparisons. (262a-c) To master the art of rhetoric, one must recognize the division between objective subjects (iron, silver), and emotive subjects (love). (263b) Lysias failed to make this distinction, and accordingly, failed to even define what love itself is in the beginning; the rest of his speech appears random, and is poorly constructed. (263e-264b) Socrates then goes on to say, every speech must be put together like a living creature, all parts fitting together as a whole work. (264c) By contrast to Lysias’ failed effort, Socrates’ great speech starts with a thesis and proceeds to divine love, and setting it out as the greatest of goods. He shows how a true rhetorician must determine the nature of the hearer’s soul, just as medicine must determine the nature of the body. The skilled rhetorician must know the different types of souls and how they are moved. (271a-272b) The truly skilled speaker chooses a proper soul and sows within it discourse capable of helping itself as well as a the man who planted it, which produces a seed from which more discourse grows in the character of others. Such discourse makes the seed forever immortal and renders the man who has it happy as any human being can be. (276e-277a) To be a good rhetorician, then, one must know the truth of what he is speaking and how to analyze it to something indivisible. One must understand the nature of the soul and what sort of speech is proper to each soul. Only with all these points mastered will he be able to use speech artfully, to teach or to persuade. This is the point of the argument they have been making. 277c-278b) The Failure of Rhetoric in Athens and in Modern Life  Having set forth the requirements of true rhetoric, Socrates says, the truth is of no import in a law court, but rather the convincing; rhetoric, people claim, consists of cleaving towards the likely and should leave the truth aside. However, as it has already been determined that only people that know the truth can properly use the art of the likely, this popular opinion is decided to be clearly wrong. (273d) Similarly, he decries the growing dependence on writing. Socrates doubts the value of writing. It cannot teach, but can only remind those that already know what writing is about. (275d-e) Furthermore, writings are silent; they cannot speak, answer questions, or come to their own defense. (275e) By contrast, the best rhetoric is a dialectic process, a living, breathing discourse of one who knows, of which the written word can only be called an image. (277b-c) The one who knows uses the art of dialectic rather than writing. Plato offered these criticisms about the misuse of rhetoric more than 2,000 years ago. How much more forceful are they in the modern day and age?

English Literature Polanskis interpretation of Shakespeares Macbeth

English Literature Polanskis interpretation of Shakespeares Macbeth Polanskis interpretation of Shakespeares Macbeth Critical Study: Macbeth Roman Polanski- 1971 What is the context of this film? Who is the intended audience? Polanski’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth was produced in the context of the early nineteen seventies. The turn of the sixties decade introduced a period of great change and advancement within society. It was the era of ‘The Man on the Moon’, Women’s Liberation, free sexuality and Communism. Polanski incorporated many of these pressing themes into his work. In particular he chose to highlight the role of women, through the portrayal of the three Witches as such powerful and influential characters in regard to the development of the plot of the film. Polanski’s interpretation of the ending to the story also reflects upon the context in which it was directed. As the Witches are reintroduced at the conclusion of the film, it signifies the continual or cyclic state of unrest within the world. By including such relevant themes in the film, Polanski draws interest from a more modern and educated audience. How does the opening establish in terms of context, setting and interpretation? The opening scenes of the film establish a strong connection with the audience in terms introducing the characters, the plot, and the context in which the film was set and directed. The establishing shot of the film introduces the three witches, who together play a very significant part in the controlling the events which unfold in the film. The witches gather on a rugged coast against a backdrop of a raging storm and tearing ocean. As the witches possessively chant a super natural and unsettling theme is established. At the same time a feeling of reality is introduced as the camera draws in on the witch’s physical characteristics and the hand they are burying in the sand. As the image of the witches fades, the audio of a raging battle becomes the main focus of the audience. The audio piece sets the scene and establishes a context and theme within the film. The audience is immediately drawn into an unsettled world of violence, commotion and conflict, key elements in Polanski’s interpretation of the Macbeth. The open planes over which the battle takes place and the. Apart from the words spoken by the witches, the first conversations of the film establish a great understanding. The conversation that takes place introduces the plot and the key characters involved in the storyline. The context of the film is reinforced through the way the characters speak, their clothes and their values. The open plains, hills and rugged coastline place the events in an isolated and uncivilized setting. The opening scenes of Polanski’s Macbeth clearly establish in the audiences mind the context in which the film was set an directed. It further more establishes an insight into the plot and the characters who have a significant impact upon its outcome. How does the climax highlight this context and interpretation? The climax of the film refers to the siege that is forced upon Macbeth in his castle, resulting in his death and the crowing of Malcolm as King. The main element focused upon in this scene is the extensive amount of violence and brutality present. Such a theme represents not only the context in which the film is set, but in which Polanski’s interpretation was based. The film is set in medieval times, in approximately the fifteenth century. The violence and brutality displayed in the climax help to emphasise the uncivilised and dark period in which the film is set. The setting and the supernatural idea that relate to the climax similarly display such context. Polanski’s interpretation is heavily based around gruesome and brutal violence, the climax being the ultimate display. His interpretation linked closely to he nineteen seventies; the period in which it was being directed. The nineteen seventies decade marked the beginning of heightened change and development in the world. Similarly the fight that took palce between Macbeth and was rapidly intensifying. Like the world, their one on one battle had peaked and could have fell in either direction. Polanski was personally effected by a violent tragedy before his production of Macbeth. Polanski’s wife, Sharon Tate was brutally murdered in ritual cult driven murder by a group of followers of Charles Manson. The vicious and unruly violence featured in the climax can be seen as a link between is grievance and his wife’s death. The violent and fierce nature of events that unfold in the climax further display the context in which the film is set and interpreted. How are the following Represented? Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a powerful and sensual woman of sharp ambition. She is first introduced as a gentle and loving woman of great stance. A low camera angle highlights Lady Macbeth’s importance as does her flowing blue dress in contrast to the dull and dreary background. As she reads Macbeth’s letting outlining his meeting with the witches Lady Macbeth appears softly spoken and innocent. As her thoughts are seized by the prospect of power and wealth her tone immediately changes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ for us to fear the nature, to full of human kindness†. Lady Macbeth’s villainous traits are further established as she uses her sexual power and her position as a loving wife to force Macbeth into murdering Duncan. Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent underneath it. While Lady Macbeth maintains callous personality and a dominating power Macbeth, she is evidently revealed to be a woman of feeling and conscience. The nude shot of Lady Macbeth not only reflects upon the sexuality of her character but her realness and feelings as a person. Macbeth is portrayed throughout the film as a multidimensional character. Greed, power and ambition eventually rob Macbeth of his moral, diligent and respected characteristics. The beginning of the film portrays Macbeth as a noble man and friend. Riding with Banquo, it is one of the few camera shots in the film that display Macbeth and his company at similar angles. After his meeting with the witches, he wonderers in awe about their prophecies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ The thane of Cawdor†¦It cant ever be†. He speaks softly as if in disbelief or uncertainty. As his mind ponders he quickly stands†¦ â€Å"I am thane of Cawdor†. His rapid change of thoughts display the different perspectives in which Macbeth takes throughout the film, highlighting his insecurity as a person. As Macbeth is encouraged by his own personal yearnings as well as his wife’s, he is encouraged to do whatever it takes to become king. Eventually being portrayed as an obsessive and gullible man, Ma cbeth’s world falls apart. The witches are consistently portrayed as dark and eerie and eccentric women. Their appearance portrays them as outlaws form society as does their isolated presence. The witches and events that relate to their prophecies are constantly accompanied by fierce weather and darkness .A representation of disruption and an unnatural balance. As they speak in rhyme the witches appear to be possessed or of a supernatural being. Similarly the witches represent the ancient tale of the three monkeys; Hear no evil, see speak no evil and hear no evil. In contrast to their supernatural features, constant physical factors are alluded to create the idea of reality. For example the mans hand they burry in he sand. What values and attitudes are implicit in the interpretation? Are they still relevant to the 2008 audience? Polanski’s interpretation of Macbeth is primarily based around ideas of rapid change, the cyclic world, violence, greed and power. Such themes were very prominent issues in society in the early nineteen seventies. Therefore they not only influenced his interpretation of the film, but also the audience that wit would appeal to. For example, the portrayal of lady Macbeth as such a dominating and sexual person can be viewed as a reflection of the women’s liberation movement occurring at the time. These values and attitudes that Polanski utilizes in his portrayal of Shakespeare’s Macbeth are still relevant in today’s society. As s global society were are still experiencing rapid change as part of the technological revolution. Greed, violence and power continue to be the root of all disruption in the world and the cycle of unrest continues. Compare the film to Shakespeare’s reading. -Does it support your reading? -Are there differences in how you imagined the representation of a character, setting, theme etc.? -Were the themes you believed to be most important in Shakespeare’s Macbeth highlighted? Were others? Polanski’s interpretation of Macbeth supports Shakespeare’s reading from many different aspects. Apart for the alternative ending and slight differences in character portrayal, both the play and the film follow the same basic plot. Watching the visual representations of the play helps to further understand not only understand the plot and the characters but the Elizabethan language which is used in both pieces. Polanski’s film highlights different themes to that of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. He does so according to the modern context in which he directed the film. Polanski’s portrayal of Lady Macbeth as a beautiful young lover differs to the harsh and vicious wife in the play. The witches and there significance is more commonly referred to and highlighted in the film than it is in the play. The main themes in Shakespeare’s play revolve around ideas of power, greed and tragedy. Polanksi’s interpretation incorporates all of theses themes but displays them in a less obvious manner, often disguising them behind violence. Violence and brutality was a theme constantly incorporated into Polanski’s film, while it was also present in the original Shakespearean play, it was not as graphic or as commonly addressed.

Hollowness in Emily Dickinson’s Poetic Discourse Essay example -- Biog

Hollowness in Emily Dickinson’s Poetic Discourse Much has been said about Emily Dickinson’s mystifying poetry and private life, especially during the years 1860-63. Allegedly it was during these years that the poetess, at the most prolific phase of her career, withdrew from society, began to wear her â€Å"characteristic† white dress and suffered a series of psychotic episodes. Dickinson tended to â€Å"theatricalize† herself by speaking through a host of personae in her poems and by â€Å"fictionalizing† her inner life as a gothic romance (Gilbert 584). Believing that a poem is â€Å"the best words in the best order† (to quote S.T. Coleridge) and that all the poems stemming from a single consciousness bring to surface different aspects / manifestations of the same personal mythology, I will firstly disregard biographical details in my interpretation of Dickinson’s poems 378, 341 and 280 and secondly place them in a sort of â€Å"continuum† (starting with 378 and ending with 280 ) to show how they attempt to describe a â€Å"plunge† into the Unconscious and a lapse into madness (I refrain from using the term â€Å"journey,† for it implies a â€Å"telos,† a goal which, whether unattainable or not, is something non-existent in the poems in question). Faced with the problem of articulating and concretizing inner psychological states, Dickinson created a totally new poetic discourse which lacks a transcendental signified and thus can dramatize the three stages of a (narrated) mental collapse: existential despair, withdrawal from the world of the senses and â€Å"death† of consciousness. In poem 378 the reader is introduced to the mental world of a speaker whose relentless questioning of metaphysical â€Å"truths† has led her to a state of complete â€Å"faithlessness†: l... ...son’s Poetry: Stairway of Surprise. New York: Holt, 1960. Eberwein, Jane Donahue. Dickinson: Strategies of Limitation. Amherst: U of Massachusetts P, 1985. Feit Diehl, Joanne. â€Å"’Ransom in a Voice’: Language as Defense in Dickinson’s Poetry.† Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Ed. Suzanne Juhasz. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1983. 156-75. Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the 19th Century Literary Imagination. New Haven: Yale UP, 1979. Homans, Margaret. â€Å"’Oh, Vision of Language’: Dickinson’s Poems of Love and Death.† Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Ed. Suzanne Juhasz. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1983. 114-33. Miller, Cristanne. â€Å"How ‘Low Feet’ Stagger: Disruptions of Language in Dickinson’s Poetry.† Feminist Critics Read Emily Dickinson. Ed. Suzanne Juhasz. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1983. 134-55.

Comparing Public and Private Sector Accounting

INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING Public Sector Accounting is related to government and different from private sector accounting. Accounting and financial reporting for public sector are based on distinctive concepts, standards, and procedure designed to accommodate their environment. This also based on the needs of their accounting information users. Derbyshire (1987) defined a public sector as a device for regulating human activities so that men and women can live together in reasonable harmony. The public sector is providing basic government services whether federal, state or local/municipal.It encompasses universal and critical services such as a national defense, healthcare, public roads and primary education. The public sector is part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the government. A stakeholder is a party who has an interest in the organization’s activities, project or program. This is including wh ose affects, or can be affected by, the organization’s actions and decisions. More institutional stakeholders are lying under the public sector compared to private sector.For examples the parliament, the Auditor General and the Cabinet. They are mainly from individuals who are directly or indirectly involved in the company’s action such as the shareholders and suppliers. The public sector operates within a framework of public authorization and control. One common feature of all public sectors bodies is Parliament will derived the specific power ultimately. However, the formal and informal networks such as the ministers, local councils, and pressure groups impacted on the way of how the public organizations operate. The public sector also has a plurality of objectives.Political, economic, social, regulatory, technical and performance of services often occur on the basis of perceived need rather than in response to strict market-related demand. For example, in Malaysia, plurality of objectives of the government is clearly observed. The observation is through the setting up of different ministries with a variety of portfolios. In addition, public sector organization has no direct financial interest or benefits to the contributors of resources. Any direct or proportionate share of those organization’s goods and services will not been received by the contributors of resources.For instance, an individual who is a tax payer in Malaysia will not receive direct benefits from the Inland Revenue Board. Instead, they enjoy indirect benefits from the provision of education at all levels, provision of health services, continuous clean water supply and any other benefits. The public sector is varying accounting principles and practices. In general, fund accounting where separate accounts are maintained for each fund so that limitations and restriction placed on use of the resources allocated can be properly monitored and accountability is ensured.The pri vate sector is generally using the entity accounting which a term used to identify the organization. The accounting service is to be provided and whose accounting or other information is to be analyzed, accumulated and reported. Lastly, the public sector is more to political rather than financial control which concerned about delivering social responsibilities to the public at large. Hence, the priority on resources allocation is generally governed by the priority set by the government. The national agenda sets the priority, not by any investment appraisal and profitability criteria.

Memento Mori

Nya Tejada ENGL 4230 King Memento Mori While I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, I was left more than a bit confused by the end of it. The characters were quite humorous and even disturbing at times with their scheming, blackmailing, hypocrisy, denials, and even their beliefs on the important matters in life which seemed so realistically self-centered that I could believe them to be real people in authentic circumstances. And yet, the amount of characters to keep track of was daunting in number as well as the numerous background stories and it was only by their ties to each other that I was able to grasp on to the plot-line behind it.Muriel Sparks successfully created a reality of her own with a web of wickedness that is so thoroughly layered in the span of nearly a century that I was left not necessarily unsatisfied but overjoyed that she left a question unanswered till the very end. Who was that mysterious caller? Many suggestions were given and yet I was aware that one shined out amo ng the rest. For Inspector Mortimer says it quite clearly that â€Å"considering the evidence,† which is altogether vexing and baseless, â€Å"the offender is Death himself. † (p. 144)It didn’t really matter who specifically the caller was and underlying the great mystery was a spiritual resonance that forced the reader to grip the book wanting to shout at the characters to stop their nonsense and just take advantage of their last remaining years because death is waiting patiently to take them and they were ready to keep going with their secrets and their obsessions which like invisible merciless gods, ruled over them all their lives until Jean Taylor, the only morally sound character it seemed, decided to reveal Charmian’s own ongoing affair allowing progress for Godfrey to live a bit more passionately for just a short while longer. I had no qualms viewing the suspect as a spiritual entity because the last line of the book only validated this notion by r eferring to the quote at the beginning of the book as, â€Å"Jean Taylor lingered for a time, employing her pain to magnify the Lord, and meditating sometimes confidingly upon death, the first of the Four Last Things to be ever remembered† (p. 224). In that final page, I was left thinking everyone got their just desserts as they would inevitably reached and I was grateful for the review of how they all died just so I wasn’t left even more overwhelmed by all the information given.But the very last line brought me back to thinking about the recurring theme of religion throughout the novel as Charmian may have very well been the closest character to resemble Spark herself. I tried to look up a biography for her to see if my suspicions were closer to the truth that she had filtered in her own experiences and was pleased by my findings that she did in fact have a son and he may very well have been an artist such as Eric was talented in that field but critical and resentful for his mother’s success as a writer. That got me thinking of how Spark’s saw writing as a connection to her spirituality and perhaps this relationship mirrored her own feelings towards her son’s Judaism when she was a Roman Catholic herself and how that came as a backhand to the face for her.It was also more than a coincidence that Charmian had been sending Eric money just as Spark’s did for her son until she had enough of their strained relationship and nearly if not completely severed her ties with him. So to say that I was well aware of her own questioning and thought-provoking feelings towards her religion would be an understatement. For I have felt that same ghostly if not lingering call to my own Catholic roots, always feeling a sense of something greater, a presence working its way in and out of the seams in this reality and yet while wanting to place it inside of a religion, merely value it as a part of humanity to peer back at us in our most pro found moments, which certainly includes the embrace of death. I found myself thinking again and again of the quotes placed before the start of the novel.For the book appeared to incorporate all three quotes but especially the third by having the reader judge each character themselves by their thoughts and actions, as though we are death waiting to take them justly for their either trivial or purposeful lives, hoping to place them in either heaven or hell with every wrong or morally right move they made. I wanted such characters like Charmian to have a pleasant sleep, to just drift off because she was trying so to regain some strength for herself and reach such a point but for characters like Mrs. Pettigrew I wanted the exact opposite and was appalled by her having received that wealth after-all. However, she did try so very ard to get exactly what she wanted and at least she had the drive to do something of purpose for herself, never mind that she was a successful villain. I was lef t with a smile on my face for its originality and thoroughness which can only be executed by a talented author who is able to place herself in her characters without it being an angst or far too emotional diary altogether. If only the grotesque characters could have been given far worse deaths when death itself is not justly enough. But then, it wouldn’t have been so realistic, and in that sense I could only agree with how she preferred it. Realism is always more convincing when relating to religion somehow anyway.