How bad leadership affects organization Essay

Jean Lipman-Blumen defined bad leadership as, â€Å"A toxic leader is one who engages in numerous destructive behaviors and who exhibits certain dysfunctional personal characteristics that inflict some degree of serious harm on either individuals or the organization. † (Bad Leadership: Antecedents and Prescriptions) Where there is a bad leadership present in the organization and workplace, this could lead to harmful consequences. For example, accidents, loss of productivity, cost ineffectiveness, low quality of product, communication gab, employees’ absences, industrial sabotage, etc. However, reasons for poor leadership could take place from a number of reasons such as leaders who possess poor leadership skills. And this could affect employees, co-workers and not surprisingly, leaders as well. In addition to this, leaders with insufficient skills may be worried with their own problems and may slow down any business activity within an individuality or group. A research study has revealed the fact that inadequate leadership skill significantly affects on other coworkers and inexperience member of the organizations. Because of poor leadership skills of a leader, an organization may suffer from pessimistic work views, lack of vision towards the company’s future goal, shortage of qualities to motivate workers, lack of social skills, and lack of inspiration. Obviously, leaders are paid to solve problems and not just to hold them. Thus, leaders are paid to provide good leadership which results in the achievement of a company’s goals. Kevin Dwyer, Poor Leadership; Poor Results 2006, said that, â€Å"Leaders must take it upon themselves to make â€Å"it† happen. Shuffling off responsibility for action to committees, subordinates, government departments and forever bemoaning the lack of action is not good enough. Leaders are in the position of being able to both diagnose the ailment and treat the ailment of an organization. If they won’t do it, who will? † (Dwyer, n. d. ) Communication is considered the life blood of every organization. Hence, lack of communication leads to negative outputs. Besides this, a leader who possesses poor communication and social skills can be harmful for a company. Because of poor leadership, communication often fails and this leads to several work mistakes and unwanted business expenses. For successful business operations, it is important that leaders should be equipped with great communication skills which can be applied in the organization in order to achieve a company’s desired objectives. In other words, Robert Hogan, Gordon Curphey, and Joyce Hogan wrote in American Psychologist that â€Å"abusive and incompetent management create billions of dollars of lost productivity each year. † (Stanford Business Magazine May 2006). More than 290 professionals were taken into consideration in a survey conducted in the period from 2004 to 2005. This survey revealed what seemed to be a murky spot among best planners and their own management & leadership skills. It is a fact that planners spend most of their work time in planning and summarizing things for future. In the study, they found that in most of the cases, poor leadership dumps a company’s overall planning. Or sometimes even worse, poor leadership hinders planners for producing new ways of problem solving. In addition, Business Corporations seldom get success where leaders do not know how to solve a particular problem. According to one survey, â€Å"if an organization pays an average leader $80,000 a year, that leader should bring back at least that amount of value to the organization; otherwise, the person could be considered a losing investment. Ideally, leaders return more than what they are paid, thus producing profit. Past studies have shown that there is about a 40 percent deviation in performance for a given role. So, an average leader might be worth $80,000, a great leader worth $112,000 (+ 40%), and a poor leader worth $48,000 (- 40%)†. (Cost of Poor Leadership Calculator) Psychologically speaking, workers and employees who perceive their leaders abusive, experience psychological distress, boredom, increased work conflicts, lower levels of commitment towards the company’s goals and objectives, depression, lower production outputs, low levels of job satisfaction, decreased individual working capabilities, and so forth. And consequently, in the presence of these above mentioned findings among employees, it seems very difficult to achieve organizational goals in a timely manner. According to another study conducted in the UK about retail banks, the average high street bank could increase sales by ? 65 million per year by improving employee satisfaction by just 10 per cent and almost half of the 44,000 people surveyed said that poor leadership was adversely affecting their organization’s performance. Steve Young, Project Director at ISR said that, â€Å"Leadership is an area that is really letting organizations down when it comes to employee commitment, while a quarter of employees blamed either a bad working climate or low work enablers, a half blamed poor leadership. † (Poor leadership pushes down banking profits) In poor leadership, employees’ morale declines and they feel less committed towards the company and its mission. In this dilemma situation, projects are completed slowly and hastily. In addition, when employees’ morale is down, they experience boredom. Some Suggestions for Good Leadership In order to run the organization in an effective and competitive way, management makes an outline about the leadership strategies. Moreover, they should not also watch poor leadership but also eradicate the roots of poor leadership. In this regard, the following are some points that can be used by any management to improve a leader’s qualities. 1) Quietly undermine the leader 2) link with others to confront the leader 3) link with others to overthrow the leader 4) Avoid entrapment by friends and family members 5) bound the term of leadership 6) enhance the selection process 7) Create good exit options for leaders 8) Hold directors in charge make them act 9) make a system of checks and balances 10) Protect whistle blowers. Despite all these facts, a poor leader should evaluate him or her and determine his weakness and pitfalls in each and every respect of the leadership. And following are guidelines for it 1) know your power and how to use it 2) welcome the worth of leaders and cherish the assistance they make 3) recognize the seductiveness and drawback of the power of leaders 4) Study bad leadership to learn from the mistakes of bad leaders. Conclusion As I discussed above and gave several examples about good and bad leadership, it makes very clear that a company’s success and failure depends upon the fact that how leaders can lead a team to achieve an organization’s motives. Historically speaking, leaders have a significant effect on the overall business and group performance of an organization. Besides this, good leaders can apply their superior leadership skills to make things better and to turn organizational goals in the right direction. On the contrary, bad leadership affects a company’s performance negatively in terms of production, employees’ morale, ethics, communication and many other things. So, it is the responsibility of the management and the director to keep a check on the leader’s role in the organization for the sake of that organization’s success. Hence, a good leader makes a significant difference in the successful operation of any organization regardless of the scope of that organization. However, we must not forget that superior leadership is not just confined to the business sector. Effective leaders are also necessary for the peace of the whole world in every sense. References A good leader offers reality check, thank yous – The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area: http://www. bizjournals. com/triad/stories/2004/04/26/smallb3. html Accessed, April 9, 2007. Bad Leadership: Antecedents and Prescriptions http://72. 14. 253. 104/search? q=cache:nBXXeIOGawEJ:www. koreagsis. ac. kr/bbs/pds/Bad%2520Leadership%2520Colloquium_1. ppt+bad+leadership+effects+organisation&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=20&gl=pk Accessed, April 9, 2007 Cost of Poor Leadership Calculator http://www. ddiworld. com/imex/greatleadervalue. asp Dana Hinders, (Published June 21 2005) Michael Useem’s Leading Up: Upward Leadership In Action How To Lead Your Boss So Your Both Win Journal Article Dwyer Kevin , Journal article Poor Leadership; Poor Results. Emcc – Transforming organisations – the importance of leadership and culture in managing change http://eurofound. europa. eu/emcc/content/source/eu04006a. html? p1=reports&p2=null Accessed, April 9, 2007 Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I Sutton, (2000), journal article, The Half-Truth of Leadership. Stanford Business Magazine May 2006 http://www. gsb. stanford. edu/news/bmag/sbsm0605/feature_leadership. html Accessed, April 9, 2007 McLean Cari, October 18, 2005, journal article, strategic leadership: A superior state of mind. Tsun-yan Hsieh and Sara Yik, Journal article, Leadership as the Starting Point of Strategy Poor leadership pushes down banking profits http://www. management-issues. com/2006/8/24/research/poor-leadership-pushes-down-banking-profits. asp Accessed, April 9, 2007 What is Leadership? http://72. 14. 253. 104/search? q=cache:q_XTVWqb68QJ:www. med. umich. edu/csp/Course%2520materials/Fall%25202005/Thorson_What%2520is%2520Leadership. ppt+definition:+leadership&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=pk. Accessed, April 9, 2007.

Kantian ethics Essay

Kant argued for the use of a normative ethical theory based around the idea that all men have a similar common goal; his theory was absolute (meaning one must follow a common set of rules no matter the scenario) and deontological (focused on actions themselves rather than the outcome of said actions). Kant advised the use of this theory despite it being a priori, meaning he had no observations or experience of the theory in practice. Kant believed that all men have duties which they ought to fulfil, not to gain a desired outcome or avoid a less desirable outcome, but simply because it is their duty. For example, if we can assume it is always wrong to kill people, it would be considered immoral to kill someone even if that action saved the lives of hundreds of people. Similarly, if you consider a foetus to be ‘alive’ then it would be immoral to terminate it no matter the affect it would have on the mother’s physical or mental health. Nearly everyone would find fault in the former, notably fewer for the latter, yet I would hope that the majority would still disagree. David Gauthier suggested that as morality is an agreed concept, designed so that people cannot run amok doing as they please with no consideration for others, an absolutist theory cannot function as rules are subject to interpretation. Let us briefly consider the foetus example once more, if the rule states that it is immoral to take a life, what should be considered a life? Does life start at conception or at birth, or maybe somewhere in between. For this reason, though an absolute theory should be applied to every situation, the rules do not necessarily mean the same thing for every single person. Kant said that in order to create a duty one had to pass it through three tests, the first of which being the law of nature. This law states that in order for something to become a duty it must be capable of being universalised, so everyone must be able to follow said duty ad infinitum. So, for example: ‘jump the queue’ could not become a duty as if everyone jumped the queue there would be no queue to jump. Though this seems sensible, it is possible that immoral acts could be universalised. For example ‘lie to people’ could be universalised even though it is a traditionally immoral act. Not only that but the rule could easily be manipulated by phrasing things differently, for instance ‘everyone called Hector Benjamin Stellyes can jump the queue’ could be universalised as it would most likely only apply to me. To counteract these faults Kant put in place a second law, the law of wills. This stated that for something to become a duty it must be desirable for the population. This rule however, also has faults. In order for a rule to satisfy an entire population (and if this theory was applied worldwide that would be nearly 7.5 billion at the time of writing) it would have to be extremely broad, leaving it open to being interpreted in drastically different ways. If the rule said that one simply had to please the majority, what happens to those who disagree? As all duties are absolute and universal, one would have to do something they disagreed with in order to be moral citizens. Kant attempts to rebuttal this with his argument that all humans still have free will, even though they should follow their duty they don’t have to; humans remain autonomous. However, some would suggest that though humans are nearly always capable of independent thought, it is human nature to be moral. A psychological study by Yale in 2013 on a number of babies that were as of yet unaffected by modern culture (they couldn’t read, speak etc.) making them almost purely instinctual showed that it is human nature to be ‘good’. If society tells you that there are a set list of moral acts, most people will conform to these acts to the best of their ability. So far, we have a set of rules and how this set of rules are constructed, so now I ask: why should anyone follow this philosophy? If we should not consider consequences when doing our duty, what reason do we have to do so? Kant believed there to be two separate reasons to perform any action: the hypothetical imperative and the categorical imperative.

Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example The book is necessary for novices in rock music or those searching to understand the richness of rock music from drumming, playing guitars, music composition and performance, based on the 12 highlighted bands. By examining the various rock artists, the writer takes the reader through different rock compositions and examines how they vary from one artist to the other, which portrays the varying styles in progressive rock. Riley, Glenn (2004) Progressive Rock Guitar. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing. The author is an experienced guitarist, having started playing at the age of twelve, and since 1991, Riley was a teacher and a performer of rock. The author is also renowned for authoring other books published by the National Guitar Workshop; as a teacher and a performer, Riley offers a concise examination of guitar techniques in rock. The author opens up music and various guitar techniques in covering a comprehensive approach in progressive rock guitar. However, the author assumes the read er is aware of music notations, the major scale and its modes, theories such as diatonic harmony and overall construction of codes. Riley offers a concise insight into guitar playing and its variations across the rock music genre. The book is an important guide to understanding guitar techniques in progressive rock from an experienced rock performer and academician. Macan, Edward (1996) Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. NY: Oxford University Press. Macan delves deep in examining the reasons behind the vibrancy of rock shows today, the fantasied literature associated with rock, the growing fascination in rock considered to have relations with science fiction. This is because most rock artists use science fiction –inspired images and sonic landscapes in most of their rock albums. In this approach, Macan goes into details in covering a wide range of aspects including the visual art elements por trayed in rock album covers and rock’s conceptual themes and lyrics. Importantly, the author goes back to the bohemian English culture in tracing the history of progressive rock and how rock gained popularity in Europe and North America. The broad approach makes the book a worthy text in understanding the history of progressive rock. Holm-Hudson, Kevin (2002) Progressive Rock Reconsidered, London: Routledge. The author offers a concise collection of various essays in inquiring into the history of progressive rock. The edited essays offer an understanding of the manner in which fans and critics view it. Though the author accounts for the manner in which critics have faulted progressive rock, he confirms that most rock stars have successfully integrated elements of classical style in most of their performances. The book is too technical in using rock terminologies, making it a true reference for researchers in rock music. Hagarty, Paul and Halliwell, Martin (2011) Beyond and Be fore: Progressive Rock Since the 1960s, London: Continuum International Publishing. The book details the roots of progressive rock in linking its development to fusion of styles such as the earlier rhythm and blues and the 1970 genres. The authors offer a comprehensive account of all aspects of progressive rock, which include politics, theatre, music and words. The authors in this approach shed more light on a misunderstood phase in the history of

Critical thinking-a challenge in your life-learning english Essay

Critical thinking-a challenge in your life-learning english - Essay Example I continued to deceit myself and others hypocritically that there is nothing wrong, and I am not an egocentric person. Another challenging trait is my laziness. I used to put off things until the workload is increased to an unmanageable level. Emotions had an overwhelming impact on my personality, and they often overrun the logic and reason.   In this flow of emotions, I used to indulge myself in an unfair allocation of time and resource to tasks and people. Last but not the least is the conformity which kept me away of innovative ideas to overcome certain negative traits. Under the circumstances, I have decided to structure my efforts to crush these undisciplined traits in a well-defined action plan. The action plan consists of eight traits that might be helpful in achieving my goal of English learning. The first important trait is to replace arrogance with humbleness. Humbleness is the key to learn things from others because people love to transfer knowledge to those who can give respect to others. Secondly, learning requires courage to know and change oneself while understanding others’ sentiments can help in controlling the egocentrism. Giving respect to others perspective is the best way to promote tolerance and dialogue, which can be helpful in learning skills and establishing friendly relations with others.   Similarly, I have planned to replace the hypocrisy with integrity. This requires removal of double standard in thinking and dealing with others and making sincere efforts to help them out in their hard times. People can lend you s ome help if you can reciprocate their care with sincerity. This attitude is very helpful to achieve learning objectives. However, success can only be achieved in any sphere of life through persistent and restless efforts. Hard work can fill the gaps of personal incapacities and shortcomings.

Tzedakah Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tzedakah - Term Paper Example The Hebrew word â€Å"zedakah† or â€Å"tsedakah† has been translated into English meaning either â€Å"righteousness† or â€Å"charity.† In earlier times it was referred to also as â€Å"almsgiving.† It can be defined as â€Å"an act of duty incumbent upon men of means to provide for those in want.† (Jacobs et al.: 2011, no page number). One of the main principles of Jewish faith is obedience to God’s laws, and within the Torah there is provision for widows and orphans through a system of giving from the rich. Heilman reports that when he conducted a survey on charity among Orthodox Jews, one man responded â€Å"I give tzedakah for lots of reasons but foremost because it is a mitzvah that the Torah commanded me to do and by doing so I am fulfilling my obligation to be a good Jew.† (Heilman: 1991, p. 134). This shows that giving tzedakah is seen as an important way of expressing one’s identity as a Jew, and of showing one ’s righteousness before God and before other people. It is not just a voluntary sign of goodwill, but a formal ritual that is a compulsory and fundamental part of being Jewish. There is a saying â€Å"charity begins at home† (Goldman: 2000, p. 250) and this encompasses the duty that parents have towards their children and children have towards their parents. ... Each person is expected to give according to his or her means, and this might be a small or large amount. In ancient times there were strict rules on reserving a portion of one’s wealth for giving to the poor and to strangers in the community. This is called â€Å"tithing†, and its purpose is to help people remember that all good things come from God, and that they have a duty to share their good fortune with others who are in need. In modern times it is all too easy to forget this, and get caught up with the materialism of our consumer society, but practising the act of tzedakah is a good way of keeping our feet on the ground. If everyone took this commandment seriously, then there would be far less poverty in the world. The origins or of the term tzedakah come from Deuteronomy 15:4 â€Å"There shall be no needy among you.† From the earliest times, when the Jewish people lived at times in a precarious land, with deserts, bandits and all kinds of famines and disa sters, feeding the needy was seen as a priority. Husbands died of illness or were killed in wars, leaving weaker members of the family in need of support. Many of the ancient stories speak of strangers in need, and the great Jewish teachers are famed for stopping what they are doing to help the needy. Hospitality is a basic duty in the Middle East, and it offers an opportunity to be charitable and generous even to strangers. When Jewish people were spread out across Europe and the Middle East in the diaspora, there were often persecutions and it was only by sticking together and sharing their wealth with each other that many Jewish communities survived. Today there is often a connection between the giving of tzedakah and the life of

A short essay ( A level standard) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A short ( A level standard) - Essay Example The events which led to the demise of his twin brothers, Dan and Jacob a year ago. He dearly missed them, his friends, play mates and also royal confidants. His life took a new turn that day when the three were playing in the house and Dan, the eldest among them tried to switch on the electric cooker and make a sandwich. The mother had gone to the market to buy their favourite foodstuffs so that she could prepare them a delicious meal. However, this would not happen as Dan was instantly electrocuted and the same fate befell his brother Jacob as he tried to assist him. The celebration mood turned sour and Janet, their mother, watched in disbelief as her sons bodies were hurled into the back of a waiting police car and to the morgue. David, the youngest observed with shock as her mother wailed in disbelief on seeing her son’s lifeless bodies lying on the ground. He was eight years then and thus could not fathom the magnitude of the occurrence as he was too young for it. But the mother knew what exactly the death of her beloved sons meant to her. It meant eternal physical separation from his twins whom she had treasured since birth and had vowed to protect, even with her own life if need be, all the days of her life. But now she had lost it all, she could not restore their life, they were gone forever. The pain and grief was unbearable, she was devastated and was hospitalised for depression. She was later discharged after immense help from a psychosocial counsellor and was able to cope and move on with life. This affected her performance at work as she could not be able to deliver the services required of her. She was thus relieved off her duties and was jobless for several months before she bumped into a secretarial job in the firm she is currently working in. Six months after the incident, Mr. Brown was diagnosed with a rare cardiovascular disease and was scheduled for operation in December. David

Antibody mediated hypersensitivity is clinically more significant that Essay

Antibody mediated hypersensitivity is clinically more significant that cell mediated hypersensitivity. Discuss - Essay Example Immune system was initially separated in two branches. These were cellular immunity and the humoral immunity. The protective immunization function is found within the humor, serum or the cell-free body fluid, while the protective functions of the immunization was based in cellular immunity. The helper cells or the CD$ cells give protection against many pathogens. The Cytotoxic T cells lead to death through apoptosis without the use of cytokines, thus for the cell mediated immunity cytokines might fail to be present. Anabolic steroids are made up of some performance- enhancement drugs. These drugs do the mimicking of the testosterone inside the body and, therefore, facilitate performance by enlarging the muscle cells. These drugs if used inappropriately or at high doses or without supervisor they may cause irrational and erratic behavior and a wide range of adverse effects. Performance-enhancing drugs are used by bodybuilders, and by people of different age, right from middle-school to college students and old athletes. Anabolic steroids increase the protein production hence creating building blocks for bones, muscle cells, and body tissues. The main, side effects of the anabolic steroids is the androgenic effect, and its effect in damaging the liver (Benjamin 3). Androgenic response increases the male features like secondary characteristics, which normally come, up due to androgenic steroids. Medical indications in this case are due to inadequate production of testosterone within the body. The liver damage on the other side is influenced by the direct effect of oral steroids that gives the liver a hard time to metabolize. For many years, wise physicians have come to the realization that many human diseases could be understood as pathophysiology or a disordered physiology. In medicine, pathophysiology is one of the branches

To what extent are organisations socially constructed phenomena Essay - 1

To what extent are organisations socially constructed phenomena - Essay Example To understand cultural diversity in organisations, it would be helpful to understand its roots at a sociological level. Cultural diversity at the workplace is a direct result of ‘multiculturalism’ in the society. A multicultural society simply denotes a society in which there exist several cultures (Watson, 2000). Culture is defined as, â€Å"A pattern of shared assumptions a group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way you think, perceive, and feel in relation to those problems† (Schein, 2003). So, a multicultural society has in it different groups, which have learned different ways of thinking, perceiving, and tackling problems that exist in the society. Each group taken individually is a society on its own, with its own individual culture. When all these individual societies are brought under one single cor e society, the culture of such a society becomes the core culture, with the individual cultures as its subcultures (Watson, 2002). ... A general view of cultural differences is that they affect intercultural encounters, usually by leading to misunderstanding or conflict, at both the individual and group levels (Larkey, 1996). Larkey explains that at the individual level, as different values, beliefs or worldviews are manifested in communication behaviours and as culture creates differing expectations and differing styles or patterns of speech, interpersonal misunderstanding and conflict can arise. At the group level, inter-group processes can be triggered by, for instance, an individual’s non-verbal behaviour or ways of speaking which stereotypically represent a group (1996). It then becomes the responsibility of the leadership of the core society to introduce a culture and/or change its existing core culture to accommodate the various differences brought in by the subcultures in an integrated manner, where these differences are acknowledged and valued (Lachman et al, 1994). When the above sociological aspect s of culture are compared to a business organisation, the organisation is the core society, and its culture, the core culture. We all refer to this as organisational culture. Analogically speaking, the organisational (core) culture should be designed in such a way that the employees of the company share a basic set of values and assumptions, which tie them to that particular organisation. But, on the individual or group levels, each employee has his/her own cultural norms and practices beyond those they share with other members of the company, which can be safely termed as the subcultures within the organisation (Bate, 1995). While different cultural traits offer different identities to different employees, there are usually certain traits shared by all the employees, which give them a

Harrison Bergeron Essay Example for Free

Harrison Bergeron Essay An impartial society: Utopia or Hell? What would happen to the world if the people were literally equal in every aspect of their lives? In the futuristic short story, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., the world is finally living up to America’s first amendment of everyone being created equal. In this society, the gifted, strong, and beautiful are required to wear handicaps of earphones, heavy weights, and hideous masks, respectively. Thus, these constraints leave the world equal from brains to brawn to beauty. With the world constantly pushing for equality among people, Vonnegut reveals a world that society is diligently working toward. Through this foreshadowing of the future, Vonnegut attempts to use Diana Moon Glampers and Harrison Bergeron as mechanisms to reveal and warn of the dangers of the two extremestoo equal or too unjust. Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, symbolically portrays the idea of fairness in a society. She is the one in charge of lowering the capacity of a bright and intelligent person to the level of a normal and unaware being. In the beginning of the story, the reader is given a picture of the world that Diana Moon Glampers watches upon: The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They werent only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the†¦Amendments to the Constitution, and†¦vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General. (Vonnegut 234) Diana Moon Glampers is the one who maintains the idea of checks and balances among the society of 2081. In God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Glampers is portrayed as a sixty-year-old virgin who, by almost anybodys standards, was too dumb to live†¦.No one had ever loved her. There was no reason why anybody should. She was ugly, stupid, and boring (Vit). Diana Moon Glampers is the epitome of every possible low in the world, and this allows her to hold such a high position in this futuristic society. Since everyone is created equal, her ugliness, stupidity, and boringness all play this major role in earning her such a high position as Handicapper General. She makes sure that no on is better than her, thus making everyone equal in every which way possible. Glampers represents the fairness that society is continually striving for to obtain. In this world, everyone stays at the same level no one is different, no one is jealous or fearful of anyone, and no one is trying to impress or overtake the next. In this sense, it is actually quite a positive point to be exactly equal in every way, or is it? Equality is a great idea that the world should extend and embrace; however, absolute equality is another issue in which too much of a good thing may cause matters to go wrong. In a world of absolute equality, each human being would never be looked upon as anything more or less than the person beside him or her. Unfortunately, this advantage may only go so far. For example, how can an intelligent being be given as much credit as the simple minded human beside him? This is the case with Harrison Bergerons parents. Harrisons mother, Hazel, is described as having perfectly average intelligence,†¦And [while] George[s]†¦intelligence was way above normal (Vonnegut 234). In order to stabilize their intelligence to the same level, Harrisons father has to wear a little mental handicap radio in his ear (Vonnegut 234). This societys method in maximizing complete equality is to have the intelligent people wear earphones (which give off horrible sounds) to distract ones trail of thought, which in turn, may unfairly give him the better advantage over the simple mindedsuch as Glampers and Hazel. Diana Moon Glampers symbolizes this world by not only being the one to support these customs, but by also shooting down and killing the one who is considered the symbol of freedom and differenceHarrison Bergeron. Through Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General and the murderer of freedom and individuality, Vonnegut is warning society to not lean completely towards being equal in every which way or else society loses its chances to excel past what it has become. He satirically suggests that in order for everyone to be equal, the ones who exceed the mark must be brought down to the standard. As a result, there is a loss of the exceptional talent and beauty. Moreover, just as Diana Moon Glampers represents th e fairness of society, Harrison Bergeron symbolizes the individuality in the world. In a society of excessive equality, Harrison Bergeron is the one who represents uniqueness through his physical and mental characteristics. Harrison is no ordinary being of society. In fact, he is described as a genius, an athlete,†¦and should be regarded as dangerous†¦.Instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a tremendous pair of ear phones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses†¦.Scrap metal [is] hung all over him†¦.he wear[s] at all times a red rubber ball for a nose, keep[s] his eyebrows shaved off, and cover[s] his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle-tooth random (Vonnegut 236). His physical appearance alone would definitely offset him from the rest of the crowd. Just by walking down the street, one could sense his greatness by his excessive handicaps. Furthermore, his mental capacity is great enough to override the annoying sounds that the H-G men create. The reader can obviously see that Harrison has something more to offer, yet his society is binding him down and taking away his individuality: Harrisons only crime was taking control of the television studio, but his motives outweighed the crime. He was shot for exposing the world to beauty (Marton). In this sense, Harrison represents uniqueness of an individual. He is the one willing to exploit his society and have variation as being a celebration of oneself not a crime, or is this possibly his only motive? Although Harrison symbolizes the individual, hejust as Diana Moon Glampersreveals that too much of a good thing may cause matters to go wrong. Harrison reaches freedom and takes it to the extreme. When he takes over the Television studio, he exclaims, I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once! (Vonnegut 237). Harrison completely takes away equality. He creates this caste system with him and his queen at the top, which is then to be followed by his loyal subjects. His mentality only brings him to a downfall where he literally tries to bring back anarchy. Moreover, Vonnegut tries to warn todays society of too much inequality. Although differences in brains, beauty, and brawn are a matter that should not be tied down, there needs to be a limit. Vonnegut shows that individuality can be a downfall because humans do tend to become envious and power hungry. He makes this point in the beginning when Hazel and George were discussing the dark ages†¦with everybody competing against everybody else (Vonnegut 235). People need some type of equality so that one will be able to be an individual and remain just as equal as the next. Vonnegut presents both extremes of equality and inequality and implores society to choose the median. If this median is not met, the world may become a Hell. In one corner, there is the equality that Diana Moon Glampers representsequal in every way possible; in the opposing corner, there is the inequality Harrison Bergeron symbolizesone king and his many subjects. Both extremes have extremely destructive consequences; one takes away individuality, the other takes away equality. As the future draws nearer, the only true Utopia that society should strive for is the type of equality that allows and commemorates individuality. Intelligence get their lives.

Amy Tan, Two Kinds Essay Example for Free

Amy Tan, Two Kinds Essay This storys main events take place in Chinatown throughout the 1950s and perhaps early 1960s. The main character of the story, who is also the protagonist, is the author herself: Amy Tan. The antagonist happens to be her own mother, who is always pushing Amy to discover some hidden talent and be someone she is not. There are a few other minor characters in the story. There is Lindo Jong (who she calls Auntie Lindo), who is a close friend of Amys mother. Waverly Jong is Auntie Lindos daughter, who is close to Amys age. Amys piano instructor, who she calls Old Chong, plays a small role in the story. Amys dad is included in the text, but does not play much of a role. In Two Kinds, the exposition is clear in the first couple of pages. The story begins by explaining that Amys family moved to America when she was a baby, in 1949. Her mother is clear in her goals: she wants Amy to be a child prodigy (a person with exceptional talent) and famous. Although in the beginning Amy seems accepting of her mothers goal, there are some undertones which are clear to the reader that her mother may go too far. Symbolism in literature might include visual or sound elements as well as language. Amys piano was the main symbol of this story. In the end of the story, the fact that she had it tuned and actually sat down to play shows us that she really cared about her mother-and the piano-after all. The songs that she plays at the end are also a symbol of the story, itself. She mentions playing two songs. The first is titled Pleading Child, and the second one: Perfectly Contented. These are songs that she had played when she was a child. She notices for the first time, after all of these years, that these two songs are actually two halves to the same song. The song represents Amys life. This is how the story ends. We get a pretty good idea of what Amys story is about and the theme behind it. She regrets not trying her best, and the way she has taken her mother for granted in her life. A strong message like this makes us reflect on our own lives and relationships with the ones we love. Amy constructs the story in a way that makes the plot flow, and we are interested in what will happen to her next. Some of us may even feel like she is too hard on the protagonist-her mother. The ending resolves these feelings, because we discover she feels this, too.