3 questions to be answered Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

3 questions to be answered - Essay Example The strain is caused by the unexpected change in the number of patients requiring attention and care (Kaplan, Sadler and Little). Such changes may strain the organization’s infrastructure and lead to serious challenges to the organization if there is not government support for the operations. Natural calamities are uncontrollable and may lead to displacement of a large population while also encouraging the outbreak of vector borne diseases that may spread faster. Global or international conflicts may lead to war which affects political stability and the provision of the necessary services. Peace facilitates easier accessibility to the affected population, but if the area is marred with conflict the cost of operation may be increased due to the engagement of security personnel in the process. Conflicts pose a greater challenge than natural calamity because of it is influenced by the action of the state or individuals within the government. They may intimidate the population requiring the medical attention (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare organizations). For example, the Alshabaab militia group forced the population not to engage in vaccination which in turn affected children’s health. Such actions in conflict areas led to poor health among the population. In addition, the organization working in the area is forced to leave as a result of intimidation. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare organizations. Health Care at the Crossroads: strategies for creating and sustaining community-wide Emergency preparedness Systems. New York: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare organizations, 2002. Online Kaplan, Susan, et al. Can Sustainable Hospitals Help Bend the Health Care Cost Curve? 12 November 2012. 25 November 2012 .

Evaluate the impact Line Managers have on organisational performance' Assignment

Evaluate the impact Line Managers have on organisational performance' - Assignment Example As they are responsible for ensuring the operation of employees and monitor their performance on a day-to-day basis, their role in influencing staff performance is crucial. Researchers have highlighted the role played by line managers in producing an integrated culture of managing employees via line management while others have demonstrated the role that line managers play in increasing employee commitment, thereby leading to rise in productivity. The psychological contract between the employee and line manager is claimed to be the lens through which workers view the entire workplace. Organizational Culture and the line manager Organizational culture is said to have a significant impact on the way in which the organization, including line managers function. It includes beliefs values and behavioral patterns that form the foundations of organizations. The power of organizational culture in influencing line managers’ communication and leadership style cannot be negated. If the c ulture is open and encourages freedom of speech, the line managers will be inclined towards adopting a participative management style whereby employees’ views are incorporated during decision making. Under such an environment, tasks are delegated and the worker has the flexibility to accomplish tasks without being closely monitored. On the other hand, cultures where deference to authority and bureaucracy prevail tend to produce line managers which do not favor employee participation, are wary of employees’ intention to work and lack the trust necessary for successful delegation. An extreme form of such management prevails in the form of micromanagers which are typically found at lower levels of organizational hierarchy. Such managers often fall into the trap of over-scrutinizing employees’ work and adopting the â€Å"my way or the highway† philosophy (Chambers, 2005). It is no surprise that under such organizations communication is often top-down and line managers expect submissive behavior from employees who, in turn, seek to â€Å"please the boss† in every way possible (Chambers, 2005). The impact of both these styles on employee motivation and commitment is profound and shall be explored in depth later. However, it is important to note that a two-way relationship exists between line managers and organizational culture. The role of line managers is crucial in order to make any organizational culture functional. If the culture is directed towards the achievement of incorrect objectives then it can become largely dysfunctional. The management’s role is critical in that it determines whether the cultural orientation needs to be adapted to internal policies or individuals in the organization. This, in turn, determines and develops a dominant leadership style which results in a mutual relationship between the organization’s culture, efficiency and leadership styles. For instance, in a study conducted on over 32 lar ge corporations in Croatia (from the manufacturing, service and financial sector), the organizational culture was resistant to change and preferred the status quo which resulted in slow development of an entrepreneurial leadership orientation amongst managers (Buble, 2012). Complementing this

Analysing equality and diversity in social care

Analysing equality and diversity in social care Equality is about creating a fairer society, where everyone can participate and has the opportunity to fulfil their potential (DH, 2004). It is about identifying patterns of experience based on group identity, and the challenging processes that limit individuals potential health and life chances. For example, occupational segregation. Women make up almost 75% of the NHS workforce but are concentrated in the lower-paid occupational areas: nursing, allied health professionals (AHPs), administrative workers and ancillary workers (DH, 2005). People from black and minority ethnic groups comprise 39.1% of hospital medical staff yet they comprise only 22.1% of all hospital medical consultants (DH, 2005). An equalities approach understands that our social identity in terms of gender, race, disability, age, social class, sexuality and religion will impact on our life experiences. Diversity literally means difference. When it is used as a contrast or addition to equality, it is about recognising individual as well as group differences, treating people as individuals, and placing positive value on diversity in the community and in the workforce. Historically, employers and services have ignored certain differences. However, individual and group diversity needs to be considered in order to ensure that everybodys needs and requirements are understood and responded to within employment practice and service design and delivery. One way in which organisations have responded to the issue of diversity in recent years has been the development of flexibility in working practices and services. For example, an employer may allow an employee to work a flexible working pattern to accommodate child care arrangements, or a GP surgery may offer surgeries at the weekends in accommodate those who work full time during the week. These approaches recognise that in order to be inclusive and equal to all, organisations may need to respond differently to individuals/groups. Therefore, a commitment to equality in addition to recognition of diversity means that different can be equal. Learning outcomes Understand concepts of equality, diversity rights in relation to Health and Social Care. Equality and diversity is becoming more important in all aspects of our lives and work for a number of reasons. We live in an increasingly diverse society and need to be able to respond appropriately and sensitively to this diversity. Learners in the healthcare setting will reflect this diversity around gender, race and ethnicity, disability, religion, sexuality, class and age. Your organisation believes that successful implementation of equality and diversity in all aspects of work ensures that colleagues, staff and students are valued, motivated and treated fairly. Every member of society is likely, at some point, to be a recipient of health and social care. The Department of Health can only achieve its aim of better health, care and well-being for all, by building an explicit commitment to equality, diversity and human rights throughout the health and social care system. All public organisations including the Department of Health and public providers and commissioners of health and social care services have a duty to promote equality. Successfully delivering these duties is a core part of the health and social care systems objective to offer services that deliver high quality care for all. To do this, the diversity of the population has to be recognised, in policy development through to service delivery and patient care, acknowledging the diverse experiences, aspirations and needs of staff, patients and service. The Department of Health and local health and social care organisations continue to take proactive steps to address unequal access and outcomes experienced by some sections of the community. DH is working to ensure the principles and practicalities of fairness, equality, diversity and human rights are a central to the work of the Department. In 2007 the UK established a new single equalities body, to bring together the existing equality Commissions dealing with gender, disability, and race and ethnicity into a Commission for Equality and Human Rights. The promotion and enforcement of equality and diversity is one of the three duties of the new body. This paper briefly explores diversity in relation to the theory of gender equality and also examines developments in policy at the EU level, which has provided much of the impetus for change. Our focus is on the policy approach and the tensions that the policy documents reveal about the emphasis on equality and diversity approach, in particular the extent to which attention to gender issues may get lost in the diversity bundle, and the extent to which a focus on the individual may be strengthened over the group. This page lists some of the guidance materials produced by the former equality commissions and guidance produced by external organisations, who have given us permissi on to reproduce their materials on our site. Understanding how discrimination can impact on individuals lives is essential to prevent potential discrimination within in teaching and learning situations and ensure that you are confident in dealing with discrimination issues if and when they arise. While we can face discrimination because of any of these aspects, it is important that we also identify the links between social identities and individuality and/or a state and situation. Bad treatment can be multi-layered and occur because of: Since 1998 the UK has also included human rights within its legal framework. The Human Rights Act applies to all public authorities and bodies performing a public function. The Human Rights Acts places the following responsibility on your organisation. Organisations must promote and protect individuals human rights. This means treating people fairly, with dignity and respect while safeguarding the rights of the wider community. Organisations should apply core human rights values, such as equality, dignity, privacy, respect and involvement, to all organisational service planning and decision making. The Human Rights Act provides a complementary legal framework to the anti-discriminatory framework and the public duties. The legal context As a clinical teacher you will want to ensure that you understand the legal framework regarding equality, and that you can relate this framework to your everyday role. The UK framework has two elements to it: the anti- discriminatory framework (which gives individuals a route to raise complaints of discrimination around employment and service delivery) and the public duties (which place a proactive duty on organisations to address institutional discrimination). The SEN and Disability Act 2001 extended the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to education with effect from September 2002. This act requires teachers to explore the provision of reasonable adjustments for students who may have disabilities, including learning disabilities, to enable them to participate effectively. Beliefs are the assumptions we make about ourselves, about others in the world and about how we expect things to be. Beliefs are about how we think things really are, what we think is really true and what therefore expect as likely consequences that will follow from our behavior. Since the last comprehensive review in 1974, the Health Belief Model (HBM) has continued to be the focus of considerable theoretical and research attention. This article presents a critical review of 29 HBM-related investigations published during the period 1974-1984, tabulates the findings from 17 studies conducted prior to 1974, and provides a summary of the total 46 HBM studies (18 prospective, 28 retrospective). Twenty-four studies examined preventive-health be haviors (PHB), 19 explored sick-role behaviors (SRB), and three addressed clinic utilization. A significance ratio was constructed which divides the number of positive, statistically- significant findings for an HBM dimension by the total number of studies reporting significance levels for that dimension. Summary results provide substantial empirical support for the HBM, with findings from prospective studies at least as favorable as those obtained from retrospective research. Perceived barriers proved to be the most powerful of the HBM dimensions across the various study designs and behaviors. While both were important overall, perceived sus ceptibility was a stronger contributor to understanding PHB than SRB, while the reverse was true for perceived benefits. Perceived severity produced the lowest overall significance ratios; however, while only weakly associated with PHB, this dimension was strongly related to SRB. On the basis of the evidence compiled, it is recommended that consideration of HBM dimensions be a part of health education programming. Suggestions are offered for further research. It is important for care workers to promote equality, value diversity and respect the rights of service users. There are various ways of how they can challenge discriminatory issues and practices in health and social care. One of the ways in which care worker can promote equality, value diversity and respect the rights of service users is to always put the patient/service user at the heart of the service provision. This means that the patients individual needs will be met and achieved Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world. Ideas about human rights have evolved over many centuries. But they achieved strong international support following the Holocaust and World War II. To protect future generations from a repeat of these horrors, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. For the first time, the Universal Declaration set out the fundamental rights and freedoms shared by all human beings. These rights and freedoms based on core principles like dignity, equality and respect inspired a range of international and regional human rights treaties. For example, they formed the basis for the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950. The European Convention protects the human rights of people in countries that belong to the Council of Europe. This includes the United Kingdom. Until recently, people in the United Kingdom had to complain to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if they felt their rights under the European Convention had been breached. for example; a personal eating plan to a specific individual. Putting the service user at the centre of the provision generally makes a happier and healthier patient in all areas. Care workers can help achieve this by: * Understanding what it is like to use those services * Involving those who use the services Another example can be quoted as, Rights of one patient will clash with the rights of another A patient has the right to watch TV or listen to the radio, while the patient in the next bed has the right the right to an undisturbed sleep the rights of these two patients clash. By providing earphones could help resolve this. If patients share a room one wants the door propped open and the other one doesnt although this is a clash of rights the rights of the patient who wanted the door closed would outweigh the other as propping open doors is a fire risk Care settings must provide services in such a way that all service users get equal benefit for them. For example a person who does not have English as their first language may require a translator in order to understand the services available and to express a choice about them. One of the most beneficial ways in which a social care setting can challenge anti discriminatory is through staff development and training this may be done formally through supervision sessions or more informally in the course of day to day working. The manager should supervise the work of their staff, offer advice and guidance in difficult situations and help the workers identify training opportunities to improve their practise.  

The Poetry of Judith Wright Essay -- Judith Wright Poems compare Contr

The Poetry of Judith Wright Abstract This report discusses the influences of Australia as well as the universal impact on the poetry of Judith Wright. It contains an evaluation of both the techniques and the "plot" behind the poems "Remittance Man, "South of My Days" and "Eve to her Daughters" as well as a comparison between the three poems. Australia, as Wright ¡Ã‚ ¦s homeland, has had a significant effect on the content of her poems but references to English scenes are also consistent as well as general references to the universal world. Eve to Her Daughters. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Poem Summary The poem  ¡Ã‚ ¥Eve to Her Daughters ¡Ã‚ ¦ tells of original sin and gives advice to the women (her daughters) of today from Eve regarding men. The first stanza describes the consequences of the fall but Eve ¡Ã‚ ¦s acceptance of it. The second and third stanzas describe Adam ¡Ã‚ ¦s rebellion against the punishment and the  ¡Ã‚ §insult ¡K the trick They had played on us ¡Ã‚ ¨,  ¡Ã‚ ¥They ¡Ã‚ ¦ being God and Satan whom Adam has grouped together as a united opposition. Adam was discontent with the new life and strove to build a new Eden and put God  ¡Ã‚ ¥out of business ¡Ã‚ ¦. The third and fourth stanzas tell the audience about Adam ¡Ã‚ ¦s attempt to understand how the world works and to disprove God ¡Ã‚ ¦s existence. In his quest to unravel everything he decides that if it  ¡Ã‚ §cannot be demonstrated [it] does not exist ¡Ã‚ ¨. In this process he proves that humans themselves cannot exist and  ¡Ã‚ §refuses to accept the conclusion ¡Ã‚ ¨. The conclusion of the poem is in a sarcastic tone as a final message to Eve ¡Ã‚ ¦s  ¡Ã‚ ¥daughters ¡Ã‚ ¦ that everybody has faults and they always work out. She suggests that Adam is too stubborn to accept this and through this he has turned himself into a shapeless enigma that  ¡Ã‚ §doesn ¡Ã‚ ¦t exist. ¡Ã‚ ¨ ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Universal References The biblical references to Eve, Adam, Abel and Cain, as well as God and Satan are not linked to Judith Wright ¡Ã‚ ¦s homeland or any country in particular but in particular her Christian upbringing. The poem reflects feminist ideas as many of her poems do and also encourage thought by including hidden questions within the poem to challenge her audience. In the third stanza there is mentioned a number of ideals that modern people are striving for such as  ¡Ã‚ §multiplied opportunities for safe investment and higher education ¡Ã‚ ¨ as well as advanced technologies and communications. This stanza has ... ...  Ã‚  Australian References The very first line of  ¡Ã‚ §South of my Days ¡Ã‚ ¨ tells us that the poem is about Australia as it is Judith Wright ¡Ã‚ ¦s home country ( ¡Ã‚ §part of my blood ¡Ã‚ ¦s country ¡Ã‚ ¨). The  ¡Ã‚ §tableland ¡Ã‚ ¨ described in lines 2 and 3 are distinctly Australian as well as the trees mentioned in line 4. In stanza 2 the use of the word  ¡Ã‚ §yarn ¡Ã‚ ¨ is also Australian. Stanza 3 is one of  ¡Ã‚ §Old Dan ¡Ã‚ ¦s ¡Ã‚ ¨ stories about a cattle muster, another distinct Australian reference especially with the inclusion of a drought mentioned and the Hunter Valley. Stanza 4 is another story containing references to particular places such as Tamworth and the Bogongs, as well as specific references to Australian legends such as the Cobb & Co. mail service and Captain Thunderbolt the bushranger, all of which are uniquely Australian. Conclusion The balance between Australia and the universal in the poetry of Judith Wright is fairly even though it does lean more towards Australian poetry. The main references in her poetry are towards England, Australia and the Bible, all of which she had grown up with and had obvious strong influences on her. The love of her country Australia is evident in many of her poems.

Karl Marxs The Communist Manifesto Essay -- Communist Manifesto Essays

Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto The Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx explains the history of all societies as the history of class conflicts, he claims that the power and direction of all societies is determined by the modes of production, as such when the mode of production no longer suits the relations of society there is a revolution. He predicts that a revolution is coming between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and calls its coming inevitable. Marx argues that the bourgeoisies are no longer fit to rule, nor is their rule sustainable, as such the proletariat will overthrow them and end all class antagonisms with the creation of a classless society. However, Marx does not give enough credit to nationalism, nor does he ascribe to the possibility of compromise between the classes. Due to this he predicts a class war which never, and might never, take place. The first section of the Communist Manifesto describes the history of all society as the history of class conflicts. Claiming, that every society is essentially divided into, the oppressors and the oppressed. Furthermore, Marx adds, in the past, societies were organized in more complex combinations and hierarchies, but modern society is being split into two ‘hostile camps’. There has always been a continuous conflict between the different classes; the end result of these conflicts is always, either the total suppression of the oppressed classes, or a revolution, which leads to an overhaul of society. He blames the cause for the separation of modern society into only two groups, on the fall of feudalism. These new class antagonisms are between the proletariat, and the bourgeoisie. Marx views the rise of the bourgeoisie in Europe as the result of a couple of factors; firstly, he believes that, the initial elements of the bourgeoisie, were developed by the chartered burghers who evolved from the serfs of the medieval ages. Next, following the great colonization of the 16th and 17th centuries the market expanded, leading to a great need for increased production. This great demand could not be sufficed by the feudal guilds, as such they were replaced with manufacturing. However, the markets and the demand kept increasing and the manufacturing system could no longer keep up, as such it also was replaced, by Modern Industry. The Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century and th... ... the revolutionary parties. These sorts of compromises happened, and different socialist parties left behind the ideas of radical revolution and instead pursued gradual improvement through unions and parliament. Thus the previously constant decrease in workers state did not continue, rather the workers started getting more rights, for example universal male suffrage. Also they fought for, and won, social and economic improvements, for example more employment stability, higher wages and laws such as the Ten Hour Act of 1847 and the Factory Act of 1833. Such reformations, the increase in the power of Unions and the ability of the workers to vote led to sustainable compromises between the classes, as such no class war took place. Marx’s description of European society as driven by economics and divided by class lines is correct. However he fails to see the great influence of nationalism and he does not entertain the idea of compromise between the classes, because of this he wrongly predicts the destruction of the capitalist system and the bourgeoisies by the proletariat. Works Cited: McLellan, David. Karl Marx: Selected Writings (Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 1977)

Being A Female In a Leadership Position Within The Military

The life of a woman in active Army service is not made up of cherries and cotton candy. Active military life requires me to constantly overcome various obstacles that are placed within my path on a daily basis. But unlike the other women who quit instead of trying to overcome the difficulties so that they can advance to the senior level positions, I chose to stay on and prove that I am somebody who will always muster the courage to become a worthy counterpart of the male soldier.I cannot blame the women who leave the service before they reach the senior grade levels though. Sometimes, the obstacles seem insurmountable and endless so that it seems like it is no longer worth the effort to keep on fighting. The reality is that the Army was developed by males and having females come into their ranks as soldiers and officers simply does not sit well with a vast majority of these people. Male soldiers want to believe that women will forever be weak and feeble creatures.Which is why it will take a immensely strong and influential female role model, a female in active service who will accomplish something so admirable that it will be impossible for the men to ignore the accomplishment to change the male perception. Such an embodiment of female leadership will also finally give the female soldiers a leader whom they can emulate, idolize, and hope to be in the future. The question female soldiers are now left with is â€Å"Where do we find such a woman to lead us? †I have seen some females who could be the role model we seek but because they are opinionated and sometimes seem more masculine than the males in an effort to make themselves heard, these women get administratively charged and then fired or worse, they voluntarily leave because of the frustration they feel I will admit that building a career as a female Army leader carries tremendous stress and frustration because we have to constantly prove ourselves, sometimes while facing overwhelming odds.We know ve ry well that the men want to see us fail and the higher leaders already talk down to us and undermine our confidence and ability to think as strong minded females, we still voice our opinions — but at a cost to our femininity. When I was serving at Camp Taji in Iraq, there was a woman who came to the brigade and it seemed like the entire female population of the camp was discussing who she was and where she came from. Before she arrived on camp, we had a male leader who pretty much did not understand, or did not care that the female soldiers where not complying with the regulations.Maybe he was afraid of being reported for sexual harassment if he called a female on a violation. All of that changed when our female leader arrived. We began to take pride in our appearance and grooming because this leader was not afraid to call us on any infractions we may have. Here was a woman who had the grace of a ballerina, the posture of a military professional, and the attitude of a leader who knew how to get the job done. She spoke in the manner of a highly educated person who was neither condescending nor rude. Not once did I ever catch her in a uniform that was not sharply pressed.Her hair was always tucked behind her head and her hat was always so crisp that it would stand on its own. She knew all about the Army Standard and insured that she would always uphold it to the best of her abilities. She did not care that she faced becoming an outcast because she was vocal about her beliefs regarding what was right for the army. She did not hesitate to use discipline when necessary and she let us know that if the Army cannot entrust you with small tasks, how could we be expected to complete real missions on the battlefront? Discipline was key.Sure she was called a bitch by most, but she was a bitch who got the job done. She knew that there were no acceptable excuses and compliance with the rules is all that mattered. For those are the traits of a real leader. She has be en my role model ever since. Males believe that women who succeed in military life can only be either of 2 things. A bitch or a lesbian. Neither of which are true. I am severely hurt when I hear comments like this. More so when I hear it from fellow females. This is why when I was given the duty of a company leader, I told myself that I was going to prove them wrong.I can be an effective leader without being a bitch and still keep my femininity to use whenever I want to. Since I currently serve as a company leader, I find myself constantly having to push myself to perform my duties even more effectively than a man. With 6 platoons and a corresponding 6 male platoon Sergeants under my direct supervision, 3 of whom have been in active military service far longer than me, I can honestly say that it took a lot of heartache for me to be able to lead them because they never expected a female to come out of nowhere and be given the duty of running a line unit.My first few months as company leader were very difficult. I had to overcome the fact that my platoon sergeants chose to ignore my orders and would rather do things their own way. The problem with this situation is that when all hell broke lose, it was my command responsibility and it was my bottom on the line. The men viewed me as a figurehead but, as they quickly learned, I knew how to get their attention and crack the whip upon them. It took some time but my corrective training eventually paid off and they now regard me with the same respect as they would a male company leader.I approached the situation the way a male company leader would. I knew exactly what they could do on a PT challenge so I stepped up the requirements a bit for them. After 55 pushups, 100 sit ups and a 13:00 run that left them winded, they certainly had a clear message regarding who was in charge of the company. From then on, I never hesitated to reintroduce them to Army Standards as the need arose. Each time I run my company, I recall m y experiences with that female leader in Iraq and remind myself that she was leadership in action.She was at the top of her game and although probably lonely at the top, she was prepared for all the challenges that came her way. I was able to properly do my job and was good at it because I chose to be an engaging leader. My job was to make sure that my soldier’s received 100% quality training and I did not let the challenges posed before me because of my gender stop me from delivering what was necessary. It is unfortunate that these challenges to the female gender will always be present. Men will always develop a sense of anger and bitterness when a woman gets ahead of them.I have experienced being conspired against by my male subordinates because I threatened their male supremacy within the ranks. Which is why I try to seek a balance between the two genders. I ask both the male and females for advice in order to prove to the males that I only want to work with them, not agai nst them. Gender discrimination is not a right. It not a privilege either. It is an unacceptable situation that exists within the military because of gender bias and issues. There was a serious point in time when all the intrigue was hitting me so hard that I contemplated leaving the military.I was frustrated and discouraged by what I believe to be the direction the military was headed in. Thankfully, I was talked out of it by the other females in the army who were with me in similar positions of authority. Through their mentorship, I came to the realization that I had to stay where I was regardless of the obstacles before me because the future of women in the military depended upon it. If every female who ever entered active military service were to quit, the males will have won and proven that females just do not have what it takes to survive in a world that they wish to solely dominate.Men in the military are already an established dominant population. But that does not mean that the military can never be female ready. It is up to existing female military leaders such as myself to cultivate the new military world. Where women will be able to serve alongside men with a little restrictions as possible while taking care of ourselves on the field. After all, men take care of themselves on the battlefront. If women want to be treated equally in the military, they we should learn to become just as self sufficient and independent on all the fronts. 2 years ago, females were finally allowed to see active combat duty in Iraq.I consider this to be a success for the females in military service. This is the military’s acknowledgement that men and women actually have the same skill level once trained properly and can both serve on the battlefront without being a hindrance to one another. Work Cited Bender, Bryan. (2005). U. S. women get closer to combat. The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 4, 2007, from http://www. boston. com/news/nation/washington/articles/200 5/01/26/us_women_get_closer_to/ RAND. (1997). Military readiness: women are not a problem. RAND Research Brief . Retrieved December 5, 2007,

Political Aspects of Lord of the Flies

The â€Å"Lord of the Flies† is an allegorical novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding. It was Golding’s first novel, and was published in the year 1954. Even though it was not a grand success at the time selling fewer than 3,000 copies in the United States throughout 1955 prior to going out of print it went on to turn out to be a bestseller, and mandatory reading in various schools and colleges. It was adapted to film in 1963 by Peter Brook, and once more in 1990. The title is a reference to Beelzebub from the Hebrew name Baalzvuv ב× ¢Ã—Å" ×â€"בוב, and said to be a synonym for the Devil. Lord of the Flies explores the dark side of humankind, the savagery that lies beneath even the most civilized human beings (Faber School Editions, 1962). Golding planned this novel as a tragic parody of children’s adventure tales, demonstrating humankind’s intrinsic evil nature. The author presents the reader with a chronology of events leadi ng a group of young boys from anticipation to disaster as they try to survive their unsupervised, uncivilized, isolated environment until rescued.In the middle of a nuclear war, a group of British boys discover themselves stranded without adult supervision on a tropical island. The group is generally divided into the â€Å"littluns,† boys more or less the age of six, and the â€Å"biguns,† who are among the ages of ten and twelve. Primarily, the boys try to form a culture comparable to the one they left behind. They select a leader, Ralph, who, with the advice and support of Piggy considered as the intellectual of the group, made every effort to set up rules for housing and sanitation. Ralph furthermore makes a signal fire the group’s first priority, hopeful that a passing ship will see the smoke signal and save them. A chief challenge to Ralph’s leadership is Jack, who as well wants to lead. Jack orders a group of choirboys-turned-hunters who sacrifice t he responsibility of tending the fire so that they can partake in the hunts. Jack draws the other boys gradually away from Ralph’s influence for the reason of their natural attraction to and fondness toward the adventurous hunting activities indicating violence and evil.The conflict between Jack and Ralph, and the said forces of savagery and civilization that they correspond to is exacerbated by the boys’ literal horror of a mythical beast wandering the island (Traister, Rebecca 2005). One night, an aerial battle takes place above the island, and a casualty of the battle floats down with his opened parachute, eventually coming to rest on the mountaintop. Breezes occasionally inflate the parachute, making the body seem to sit up and then drop forward again. This sight alarms the boys as they mistake the dead body for the beast they fear. As a result to this panic, Jack forms a splinter group that is ultimately joined by all but a few of the boys. The boys who join Jack are tempted by the protection Jack’s ferocity appears to provide, as well as by the prospect of playing the part of savages: putting on camouflaging face paint, hunting, and presenting ritualistic tribal dances. Ultimately, Jack’s group in fact slaughters a sow and, as a present to the beast, puts the sow’s head on a stick.Of all the boys, only the mystic Simon has the guts to discover the real identity of the beast sighted on the mountain. Subsequent to witnessing the death of the sow and the gift made of her head to the beast, Simon starts to hallucinate, and the staked sow’s head turns out to be the Lord of the Flies, reporting to Simon what he has previously suspected: The beast is not an animal on the loose but is concealed in each boy’s psyche. Weakened by his dreadful vision, Simon loses consciousness. Recovering later that evening, he struggles to the mountaintop and discovers that the beast is merely a dead pilot/soldier. Trying to get the news to the other boys, he slips into the tribal frenzy of their dance. Perceiving him as the beast, the boys beat him to death.Soon just three of the older boys, including Piggy, are still in Ralph’s camp. Jack’s group takes Piggy’s glasses to begin its cooking fires, leaving Ralph incapable to sustain his signal fire. When Ralph and his small group approach Jack’s tribe to ask for the return of the glasses, one of Jack’s hunters releases a big boulder on Piggy, killing him. The tribe captures the other two biguns prisoners, leaving Ralph on his own.  The tribe undertakes a manhunt to look for and kill Ralph, and they begin a fire to smoke him out of one of his hiding places, generating an island-wide forest fire. A passing vessel sees the smoke from the fire, and a British naval officer appears on the beach just in time to save Ralph from definite death at the hands of the schoolboys turned savages.Golding uses many symbolisms in The Lord of t he Flies.   The whole book is symbolic of the nature of human and society generally as the island turns out to be a society metaphorical to society as a whole and the chase at the end of the book symbolic of the war.   A symbol Golding uses all through the book is the conch.   It symbolizes authority and order.   The person holding the conch had the supremacy, and it formed order and rules since when it was called, everybody had to listen.   One more symbol is Piggy’s glasses.   It represents knowledge and insight.   While Piggy had them, he was able to provide advice to the group, such as that of the signal fire.   It was the glasses that produced the fire.   On the other hand, after the glasses are broken, the group loses what insight they had.   The war paint is furthermore a symbol.   It represented the rejection of society.In a way, when they put on the disguise of war paint, they took off the mask of society and exposed their true inner selves whic h were savage. Human condition is depicted all the way through the key characters in the novel. Every one embodies a strong-minded social stereotype which will be later on profoundly explained. This existentialist dissatisfaction is an aspect which darkens human kind similar to other factors such as the type of fear which is dealt throughout the book, being this one of the key causes of chaos. Those parallelisms, being several of them adventured, are valid too revealing two questions which take far beyond this point: to what extent is brutality a mere consequence of circumstances or a genuine feature in mankind.Unfortunately anarchy conquers order. This is the outcome for the reason that Golding believed that government is an unproductive way to maintain people together. No matter how logical or reasonable, government will in the long run have to give in to the anarchical demands of the public. This book traces the faults in society to the faults in the human being (Baker, James R. 1970).   Golding says that every person has in evil inner nature inadequately covered by society.   If the society is taken away, then the inner nature comes out and disorder and lawlessness erupt. Every person has an evil nature and is able of committing heinous crimes.   In this book, practically each person fell to the level of Jack’s savagery with the exception of those that were able to notice that evil such as Ralph, Simon, and Piggy. The beast is human.   In the start of the book, a littlun told the others that he saw a beast in the jungle opening everyone’s fears.   On the other hand, it turns out that the beast is in fact a parachutist and human, symbolizing that what people should be scared of is not some evil creature, but their own selves and other humans.Baker, James R. â€Å"The Decline of Lord of the Flies.† In South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol. 69, Autumn, (1970).Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Capricorn Books, G.P. Putnamâ⠂¬â„¢s Sons, (1954).Lord of The Flies, William Golding. Faber School Editions, (1962).Traister, Rebecca, â€Å"Reading â€Å"Lord of the Flies†Ã¢â‚¬ , (2005).