Characteristics of capitalist society

Characteristics of capitalist society Introduction According to Ian McIntosh (1997), Marx and Weber are on converse edges on the topic of capitalism. Weber considers developed capitalism, the essence of rationality since capitalists chase earnings in eminently reasonable ways therefore reasonable demeanour carries the expansion of capitalism. Whilst Marx assertions that it failed to rendezvous the rudimentary need of most people; that is utilizing goods/services to make a earnings at the end of the enterprise period. For Weber, capitalism is equal to the pursuit of earnings via continuous reasonable capitalistic enterprises. Weber thus sees up to date capitalism as being distinguished by the buying into and re-investment of little capital back into the output method and not by unlimited greed. His recount of the bureaucracy, nearly parallels Marxs notions of capitalist humanity in that, its structure was a hierarchical one much like the bourgeoisie at the peak with the proletariats at the bottom. Macionis states that Industrial capitalism appeared as the legacy of Calvinism (Macionis, 1998). Weber accepts as factual that Calvinist outlook on a predestined eternity provoked Calvinists to understand experienced prosperity as a signal of Gods grace. Anxious to come by this reassurance, Calvinists chucked themselves into a quest of achievement, applying rationality, control and esteem and hard work to their tasks. As they reinvested their earnings for larger achievement, Calvinists constructed the bases of capitalism (Macionis, 1998). According to Macionis, Weber utilised these traits to differentiate Calvinism from other world religions. Catholicism, the customary belief in most European nations provided increase to other worldview of life, with wish of larger pay in the life to come. For Catholics, material riches had no one of the religious implication that inspired Calvinists, and so it was Weber who resolved that developed capitalism became established mainly in localities of Europe where Calvinism had ? powerful hold. Whilst there was unending argument between these two academic ideas, it is apparent thatboth examined capitalism as been important, and better yet its reality pattern part of the key component on which their sociological paradigms are based. Evidently, capitalisms implication and likewise its effect on humanity is debatable, but its significance is unquestionably clear. Durkheim too, another of the academic theorist, had his outlook on the notion of capitalism. In detail he did not use the period capitalism, but rather, organic solidarity. (Wheelwright 1978) Overview Durkheim glimpsed the connection between the one-by-one and humanity as ? dynamic one. Society, he said, has ? communal truth of its own its not easily the addition total of the one-by-one and their actions. Beliefs, lesson ciphers and ways of portraying are passed from one lifetime to the next, and are discovered by new constituents of the society. The individuals activity is guarded by these wise patterns, which Durkheim calls social facts (Durkheim, 1984) Durkheim (1984) differentiated between two kinds of communal facts; material and non-material. His major aim was on non-material communal details, exemplified by heritage and communal organisation rather than material communal details, which encompasses bureaucracy and laws. In his soonest foremost works he concentrated on ? relative investigation of what held humanity simultaneously, in primitive and up to date situations (Durkheim, 1984). He resolved that previous societies were held simultaneously mainly by non-material communal details, expressly, ? powerfully held widespread ethics, or what he called powerful collective conscience. However, because of the complexities of up to date humanity, there had been ? down turn in the power of collective conscience (Ritzer, 1992). According to Durkheim, persons internalized the collective conscience; to the span it could be said, Society is present in the persons who furthermore came to recognize their dependence on humanity and identify that they have obligations to sustain the communal order. (Durkheim1984). Durkheim, though cognizant of confrontation and change in humanity, considered it could be managed. In his publication, The Division of Labour in Society, he investigates the consequences industrialization had on communal integration and its connections between the one-by-one and the assembly furthermore scheme integrations connection between the diverse components of the society. In this he recognised two principles of solidarity, similarity and difference. Depending on the superior values in humanity, it could be categorized as mechanical or organic. In mechanical societies, cohesion was founded on widespread or collective conscience, while organic societies are founded on integration of exceptional purposes and roles. (Leone 1978) According to Durkheim the penalty meted out to certain actions (e.g. criminals) shows the power of the collective conscience. In (Giddens, 1973) ? alike outlook is held, that is; repressive sanctions are clues of ? humanity with ? well-defined collective conscience and restitutive sanctions are more usual of organic kind societies. Durkheims consideration of solidarity and sanctions is one of his most influential works, his claim that there is no such thing as an inherently lawless individual act: as it is the communal reactions to the proceed, which characterises it as such, has been influential in criminology and the sociology of deviance to designated day (Giddens, 1973). Discussion Durkheim sees organic or up to date humanity as financial in environment, functioning interdependent inside the partition of labour. Under the force of community diversity and affray for scarce assets the structure of societies becomes more complicated and ? communal partition of work results. Old parts shatter down and new parts and flats are formed, some accomplishing rather distinct focused tasks. Durkheim recounts this humanity as organic as he compares it to organism. High grades of life outcome from the reality of focused flats or organs accomplishing distinct jobs or purposes, which assists to the survival of ? unit. Likewise these jobs assist to the general achievement of the scheme, (Durkheim, 1984). Durkheim (1984) said, when ? humanity alterations from mechanistic to organic, it has to change all its institutional arrangements to bypass confrontation and confusion. Ideally, peoples places become founded on natural gifts other than on inherited characteristics pertaining to family, belief and prestige. As humanity moves in the direction of meritocracy, regulatory bodies are formed to significantly coordinate members. People became inter-dependent because of the environment of focused work. ? mesh of solidarity arises out of this interdependence, and new set of standards arises, concentrated on the individual. (Wheelwright 1978) Durkheim admits that though each humanity make types of integrating undertaking needed for the grade of its partition of work, humanity might display difficulties of integration if its in transition. A convoluted up to date humanity, even in usual times, would display some propensity for breaks and social disasters due to convoluted and highly differentiated partition of work, need of guideline and the exterior of egoism. As such development was glimpsed as ? method of ever-increasing partition of work and institutional changes so as to double-check societys solidarity (Durkheim, 1984) According to Durkheim the annals of France is ? testimony that foremost communal change is conveyed about by political revolution. Class confrontation, he said, outcomes when the transitional stage between mechanical and organic solidarity has not been completed. (Koslowski 1996) Herbert Spencer the English Sociologist furthermore taken up organism, but in his sociology it coexisted awkwardly with ? utilitarian philosophy. Although his organism directed him to gaze at communal wholes and the assistance of components to the entire, his utilitarianism directed him to aim on self-seeking actors. Despite the thoughtful difficulties, Spencers organisms were influential in the development of Structural functionalism (Ritzer, 1992). All four of the foremost academic theorists sophisticated ? teleological viewpoint in their discussion of communal change. Although they held distinct outlooks on how capitalism began, each theorist had utilised alike groups of assumptions about worth agreement, integration and conflict. As proposed by Bottomore, they administered with capitalism as ? distinct pattern of humanity in which there are interrelations and interactions between the finances, political and other communal institution. Both Weber and Marx glimpsed capitalism as ? stepping stone to the supreme kind of humanity, while Durkheim and Spence glimpsed the capitalist humanity as the ultimate. (Went 2002) Perhaps the function of Marx, Weber and Durkheim as theorists of modernity is the mystery of their enduring influence. As Marx put it, in classically amazing periods exploitation veiled by devout and political illusions has exchanged nude, shameless direct brutal exploitations. Marx overhead all may be glimpsed as ? revolutionary, who different other theorists suggested ? way out, ? revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and ? socialist future (Weber, 1930). Durkheim interrogated about how it was likely for humanity to be held simultaneously and for persons not to be entangled in an anarchic free for all; granted the intensification of the partition of work inside up to date societies. Durkheims answer lay in ? kind of solidarity and ethics that bond persons simultaneously and types recognizable and scientifically observable communal world. (Leone 1978) Analysis Marxism assists us to realise humanity and the way in which persons inside humanity act and the reasoning behind this behaviour. Marx clarified how employers can exploit and alienate their workers; this is recounted in more minutias and is renowned as the work idea of value. Marx furthermore proceeds on to interpret how in an enterprise dropping rate of earnings can lead to an inescapable urgent position, revolutions can appear and then eventually premier to the socialist state. Marx furthermore proceeds on to interpret that if employees start to profit from more cash and gain more riches then he becomes poorer in standards and the more his output rises in power and variety of materialistic substances. One of Marxs sayings to support this idea was The employee becomes an ever lower product the more products he creates. (Koslowski 1996) Karl Marx was mostly disregarded by his scholars throughout his lifetime; although his ideas and ideologies came to exterior after his death throughout the work movement. Now his ideas considering capitalist finances, chronicled materialism, class labour and surplus are utilised as the cornerstone of the socialist doctrine. Therefore it can be said that Karl Marx by evolving Marxism has granted us ? much deeper comprehending of humanity and socialism. (Westra 2001) Marxism interprets how the most basic part in any humanity is the financial part of that society. It is due to the financial part of humanity that all the other parts the communal, heritage and political parts of humanity function. All of these parts are propelled by the financial relatives inside society. It displays how all societies should make their own means of subsistence and that the connections present here are of the utmost importance. The relatives between persons engaged in output and sustaining subsistence are the most basic inside ? society. Marxism recounts how these connections of output mention to the connections that human beings evolve and set up in alignment to persuade the financial means of ? society. It can be glimpsed now that, capital is the most significant component in todays society. Marx utilised the phrase Capitalism to recount this economic output system. (Leone 1978) Capital does not just mention to money. Modern day output methods engage buying into in items, services and persons this is furthermore mentioned to as the capital. Wealth is furthermore utilised in other ways than in the pre-capitalistic society. For demonstration, ? grower after having made for his own desires and that of his family will deal any of ? surpluses in alignment to purchase the products they could not produce. (Westra 2001) Which characteristics have held constant, and which been transformed Most of the riches conceived went to a little percentage of the community; it conceived an even larger split up between wealthy and poor. As markets were set free up they became more unstable. In the United Kingdom there was commotion in the economic markets which culminated in disintegrate of the bash on Black Wednesday in 1992. In USA too, the late 80s and early 90s were assessed by economic scandals which assisted to a full-scale slump. And what of capitalisms chronicled rival? The drop of the Berlin partition demonstrated the end of the freezing war. It shortly became clear that the persons of the previous Soviet Bloc liked the identical opening to develop riches and prosperity that we relish in the west. Communalism, it would appear, could not hang about the course either. However in capitalism what occurs is that this cash is bought into in alignment to make more cash, and to make ? profit. Capitalist persons will invest in products for example structures, devices and workers. For ? grower this may be ? buying into in ? manufacturer and new tools. The capitalists workers are furthermore taken into account as products simultaneously with the business. According to Marxism, the capitalist one-by-one will invest in those persons who will be of an advantage to him and will make ? profit. (Went 2002) These products are essential as they are the capitalists means of output which will finally supply ? means of matter for the society. Marxism interprets how; the employees are alienated because they are easily ? buying into on the part of the capitalist and are not glimpsed as one-by-one persons with their own insights and opinions. This assembly of workers are highly subject to exploitation to the fullest extent. (Koslowski 1996) This assembly of employees will make ? surplus worth that will be supplemented to the capitalists profits. It will be the earnings and not the desires of the one-by-one employees which will work out the products that are made as well as the kind in which persons will be engaged by the business. Only those will be engaged who will double-check greatest output and thus ? boost in profit. (Leone 1978) One of the ideas in Marxism was that the function of the state in ? capitalist humanity is to sustain the capitalist finances and to extend its reality by constantly re-establishing the capitalist relative of production. In alignment to do this the norms and standards of capitalist ideologies can be utilised in alignment to convince people. This in turn rises and sustains production. (Wheelwright 1978) The heritage, political and communal facets of humanity rest upon the financial base. Therefore it can be said that in ? capitalist humanity the state, heritage and communal organisations are furthermore considered as capitalist. (Koslowski 1996) Therefore Marxism interprets and it can be glimpsed that in ? capitalist humanity there will be two assemblies of persons with differing interests. The one-by-one who are engaged as employees or wage earners. The employees will desire to boost their salaries and will work harder at their occupations to double-check higher wages; the assembly of capitalists are the second assembly who will desire to boost profits. These two assemblies are engaged in ? class-conflict or class-struggle, whereas they both count on each other for the enterprise to run easily and double-check greatest production. (Went 2002) Conclusion Marxism emphasises how capitalism will lead to confrontation and would make growing misery for employees as affray for earnings directs capitalists to take up labour-saving mechanism and in effect conceiving an armed detachment of redundant or booked jobless workers. These employees would finally increase up and grab the means of output, thereby conceiving employees revolutions. Karl Marx went on to forecast that capitalism would be finally decimated by its own inherent contradictions and means of output, all of which would be self-inflicted. (Wheelwright 1978) Marx has assisted us to realise how we all reside in ? world which has been formed by the financial and communal forces he identified. Now his work has furthermore to ? large span the political forces of today all of which his work inspired. In my issue of outlook it is no exaggeration to state thatof all theorists of humanity Karl Marx is ? revolutionary and has profoundly affected and influenced all our lives. Our up to date political area reflects his ideologies and is under much of his influence. (Went 2002) For demonstration the Labour Party and the Conservative Party were both deeply influenced by the dispute of Marxist movements. It can be said that as the political countryside undergoes farther alterations, Marxism will indefinitely be conferred to help form humanity for the better. References Bottomore, Tom. (1988). Theories of Modern Capitalism. London, Boston: G. Allen Unwin. Collins, Randall. (Eds.). (1994). Four sociological traditions: selected readings. New York: Oxford University Press. Durkheim, Emile. (1984). The division of labor in society. New York: Free Press. Giddens, Anthony. (1973) Capitalism and modern social theory; an analysis of the writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber. Cambridge, England: University Press. Macionis, J., Plummer, Ken. (1998). Sociology. New York: Prentice Hall. McIntosh, Ian. (Eds.). (1997). Classical sociological theory: a reader. Washington Square, N.Y.: New York University Press. Ritzer, George. (1992). Contemporary sociological theory. New York: McGraw-Hill. Stones, Rob. (Eds.). (1998). Key sociological thinkers. Hampshire: Macmillan Press. Taylor, Orville. (2003). IDEAZ. Kingston: Arawak Publishers Webber, Max. (1930). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of Capitalism. London: G. Allen Unwin Ltd. Koslowski, P. (1996). Ethics of Capitalism and Critique of Socio-biology. Berlin Springer Leone, B. (1978). Capitalism: opposing viewpoints. Minnesota: Greenhaven Press Inc. Wheelwright, E.L. (1978). Capitalism, Socialism or Barbarism? The Australian predicament. NSW: Australian and New Zealand book company Pty Ltd. Went, Robert. 2002-03. Globalization in the Perspective of Imperialism. Science Society, 66:4, 473-497. Westra, Richard. 2001. Phases of Capitalism and Post-Capitalist Social Change. Pp. 301-317 in Albritton, et al.

Personal Leadership Reflection Paper Essay

Taking the Big Five Personality assessment was incredibly informative to me. I learned that my primary strengths are my openness to experience and conscientiousness. Openness-to-experience personality dimension includes traits of flexibility, intelligence, and internal locus of control. (Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development, 2010, p41) I am an incredibly flexible individual and tend to go with the flow even in high stress situations. I need to be relaxed in my field of expertise otherwise I will go absolutely insane. I am a Graphic Designer and clients change their minds more than you would believe. Another great attribute about this strength in my field is the ability to solve problems such as how to create a high end product on a low budget. I also am a firm believer that one’s level of success is primarily based on the work that they put in to themselves, not on luck or other people. The conscientiousness personality dimension includes traits of dependabilit y and integrity.(Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development, 2010, p40) I am an incredibly dependable individual. If I say that I will stay at work all night if I have to in order to complete a task to meet deadline, I will make it happen regardless. As far as my integrity goes, I am incredibly ethical and honest. If a coworker needs to speak with me about a personal matter they can do so without ever having to worry about me using it against them for personal gain. I want to create a trusting and supporting group to work with which is a product of integrity and dependability. The weaker traits for me were adjustment, surgency, and agreeableness. Although I scored decently high on adjustment, I’m still categorizing it as a weakness. The adjustment personality dimension includes traits of emotional stability and self-confidence. (Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development,  2010, p39) I have issues with keeping my emotions in check. I need to work on my self-control and my confidence in my ideas and ability to make decisions. Unfortunately, I’m incredibly insecure about my work. I have untouchable work ethic and I’m really good at what I do, however, I will let the most unimportant comment about my work get under my skin. That then and ruins all of the confidence that I recently managed to build up. On a positive note, I work incredibly well under pressure and I don’t criticize other people’s work. I rather praise them and lift them up. That goes back to the ideal environment that I seek. The last thing that I want to do is criticize my co-workers in turn creating a bad work environment for me and everyone else. Also, if the individual that I criticize has a hard time with the insecurities, saying something negative to them will not only create animosity it will also decrease productivity in the office. I scored fairly low on surgency. The surgency personality dimension includes dominance, extraversion, and high energy with determination. One of the main reason in which I scored so low in this area is that I don’t like to manipulate people in order to get my way. I also am not really interested in climbing the corporate ladder. From what I’ve seen in my field, I’d rather be known as â€Å"just a designer.† Reason being, the higher up you are in my field, the less actual design you tend to do. I enjoy art directing and helping people out; however, I wouldn’t want to art-direct all day long. Lastly we have the trait in which I scored the lowest, agreeableness. The agreeableness personality dimension includes traits of sociability and emotional intelligence. (Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development, 2010, p38) The reasons I scored so low in this area are I’m not too crazy about working with others and I’m not concerned about having a bunch of friends. Theory, Concepts and Application There are a few observations that I’ve made about myself over the course of this class. One of them is that I need to adjust my self-concept. Self-concept refers to the positive or negative attitudes people have about themselves. (Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development, 2010, p51) I’ve learned throughout this course that my self-concept is incredibly negative. This is largely due to the fact that I’m afraid of my confidence appearing to be narcissism. In other words, the lack of confidence is more  in other’s ability to perceive me in the correct manner. I have an innate and irrational fear that I’m going to come across the wrong way and people will dislike me if I show how proud of my work I am. . I have a rough time at balancing my confidence. I’m usually way below the level I should be. My new focus is to have more self-efficacy in order to not only benefit myself, but to also inspire my peers to do the same. My self-assess ment showed that I had a moderately high number for adjustment personality dimension. If I’m able to work on my self-confidence, my overall adjustment personality will also improve. Another thing that I’ve learned about myself is that I’m truly not what one would define as a powerful leader. I have little need for surgency. I scored the lowest on surgency on my personality profile. If someone is trying to get to the rung above my on the later, I’ll probably assist them. I’m just not competitive like that and I surely am not cutthroat. I scored the second worst on agreeableness. I get along with people okay; however, I am not equipped with the social mechanisms needed for a powerful leadership role. I am okay with that seeing as that a powerful leadership role isn’t what I seek. I simply want to teach and inspire people. I don’t care about the money or the power. Lastly, I’ve learned that I would have more of a Theory Y attitude as a manager. Theory Y attitudes hold that employees like to work and do not need to be closely supervised in order to do their work. (Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development, 2010, p.50) The reason the fits me is that I personally feel that a Theory Y manager would be the ideal leader for me. This also can relate to the incredibly high score I got for conscientiousness on my personality profile. I am a trusting and dependable individual and I will trust my employees to be the same. Everyone deserves an honest chance to prove themselves. Reflective Observation I’m also more insightful after speaking to my direct supervisor about the results of my leadership profile. She said that she views me as an incredibly dedicated worker indicating that I will do what is needed to get the job done and to get it done right. She also views me as a very honest individual. For example, she has seen me critique people’s work time and time again and she said that what she respects about me is that I won’t hold back anything and give my honest opinion. To me, honesty right up front  saves a lot of time and money. I hate to see people trying to dance around the truth. Just say what needs to be said so everyone can keep moving in the right direction. Her description of me fit the conscientiousness personality profile the most. She did agree that I could most definitely work on my confidence and that I’m way too insecure. People see me praising coworker s about their work. However, I will bash my work up and down and hardly give myself the credit that I deserve. I can see why outsiders would see my behavior as negative. In a nutshell, people would describe me as an inspirational leader to others and a hazard to myself. The reason people perceive me as having low confidence is the way that I speak about my own work. My goal is to begin to speak good about myself and my talents so people will follow suit. I received another perspective on my personality profile from the Vice President of the company I work with. One thing that stood out to him about my profile was the openness-to-experience personality trait. He mentioned that our company has been through drastic changes over the past four years and that I’ve been flexible and resilient all along. He said that flexibility is unfortunately one of the traits he tends to struggle with in employees. However, he felt that flexibility is a very strong attribute of mine. I have been a pretty go with the flow kind of gal over the past four years regardless of the stressful environment. I’m elated that this behavior has been noticed. It makes me feel good about all of the sacrifices that I’ve made for the company. Personal Leadership and Skill Development In conclusion, I’ve learned a lot of valuable information throughout this course. First and foremost, I’m simply not made to be a powerful leader. I am more of an inspirational teacher who will probably be underpaid due to my lack of surgency. I couldn’t be more okay with this; As long as I stay true to myself. My conscientiousness is more important to me than power or money any day. Another thing that I’ve learned about myself is that I need to work on building up my self-confidence. In order to influence others, the first step is to show them that I have absolute faith and confidence in what I’m doing. There’s no way that I will captivate a faithful audience if I’m  questioning myself on the stage. One of the positive traits that I’ve learned about myself is that I’m flexible and dedicated. I will be open to working long hours and performing tasks that normally aren’t day to day for me in order to get the job done. I also am very honest and straight forward. The only goals that I truly plan to set are working on my confidence and possibly attempting to mingle a bit more in order to heighten my agreeableness. Overall, this has proven to be an incredibly informative class. I’m anxious to begin to apply the applications and theories on the job. References Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2010). Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development.(5th ed) Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

A strong sense of class consciousness in “Emma”

There is a strong sense of class consciousness in â€Å"Emma†. What is Emma's attitude towards social position? How do the Martins and the Cole's reflect changes in the class structure of 19th century England? How willing is Emma to accept these changes? Compare and contrast Emma and Mr Knightley's attitudes towards Robert Martin. â€Å"Emma† was written at the beginning of the Nineteenth century when dramatic change was going on in social structures. Up until then society was governed by a rigid class system and mixing of classes was very rare, however the ‘middle class', the land owners and work-force owners were beginning to carve their own place in society. Increases in international trading and the start of the Industrial Revolution were key factors in the rise of the ‘middle class'. Emma as the daughter of a substantial landowner and at the top of society resists these changes with immense social snobbery although she is aware the change is imminent. â€Å"Emma conceives of her society in terms of rigid inequalities; Miss Woodhouse cannot visit Mrs Martin, the Coles will not presume to invite the Weston's, Mr. Elton may not aspire to the heiress of Hartfield† writes Helen Dry, â€Å"Syntax and the Point of View in Jane Austen's Emma†, (1977), 87-99. Emma clings to ancient established ideas of social hierarchy: but only when it suits her. She ignores Harriet's illegitimacy purely for her own fancy and sees no problem in a match between Harriet and Mr. Elton, or Harriet and Frank Churchill; however the idea of an unequal match between Harriet and Mr. Knightley shocks her, â€Å"Such an elevation on her side, such a debasement on his!† She is also feels extremely insulted when Mr. Elton proposes to her: Should suppose himself her equal in connection or in mind! Look down upon her friend, so well understanding the gradations of rank below him, and be blind to what rose above, as to fancy himself shewing no presumption in addressing her!-it was most provoking. Emma objects highly to Mrs Elton, partly due to her self-inflated ideas of social status: â€Å"She brought no name, no blood, no alliance. Miss Hawkins was the youngest of two daughters of a Bristol merchant†, â€Å"The idea of being indebted to Mrs. Elton†¦The dignity of Miss Woodhouse of Hartfield, was sunk indeed!† Mrs Elton shows a great deal of snobbery herself; she is harsh, brash and arrogant, she boasts on numerous occasions about â€Å"Maple Grove†, and the â€Å"barouche-landau† belonging to her brother-in-law. She constantly compares everything and everybody to his circle: the only good society she knows. Mr. Weston marries a â€Å"portionless governess†, yet Emma does not oppose this because Mrs Weston happens to have been her governess. And Emma angrily defends Mrs Weston when Mrs Elton expresses her surprise at her ladylikeness. â€Å"I was rather astonished to find her so very lady-like! But she really is quite the gentlewoman†. Emma's inherent snobbery is demonstrated when the Coles host a party in Highbury. â€Å"The Coles were very respectable in their way, but they ought to be taught that it was not for them to arrange the terms on which the superior families would visit them. This lesson, she very much feared, they would receive only from herself; she had little hope of Mr. Knightley, none of Mr. Weston†. Emma feels the Coles are attempting to rise above their station; however she recognizes that neither Mr. Knightley nor Mr. Weston will agree or support her here because as Robert Miles writes, â€Å"they have better judgement†¦Knightley's flexibility absorbs the threat, whereas Emma's stiffness augurs friction† (Jane Austen [Northcote House, 2003], p.105) Emma's dislike of the Coles stems from their recently acquired wealth: â€Å"They†¦by this time were, in fortune and style of living, second only to the family at Hartfield.† High rank in society was dictated more by family history than current wealth. Hereditary wealth was perceived as infinitely superior to recently earned ‘new money'. However, change was imminent with the increase in trade wealth and the upper class had to accept this, some even embraced it, Emma however refuses to accept these changes and adapt to this new way of thinking. The Martins are an honest, respectable family and Emma's attitude towards them shows the extent of her snobbery, conceit and class consciousness: â€Å"amused by such a picture of another set of beings and enjoying the youthful simplicity which could speak with so much exultation of Mrs Martin's having ‘two parlours†. Here Emma laughs at the idea of less fortunate people than herself and is exceedingly patronising towards Harriet; however Emma is not perceived as cruel because she doesn't know any different and has not experienced life outside of Highbury and the unchanged community she was born into. â€Å"A young farmer†¦is the very last sort of person to raise my curiosity† She discourages Harriet's attachment to the family and in particular Robert Martin, â€Å"I did not expect much; but I had no idea that he could be so very clownish, so totally without air. I had imagined him, I confess, a degree or two nearer gentility† Emma warns her that the accident of her birth obliges her to dissociate herself from any connections which would lower her social status further; Harriet is probably of the same class as the Martins, but Emma feels that the association with herself has raised Harriet far above an association with a farming family. This demonstrates the arrogant, hypocritical and interfering characteristics which flaw Emma's character. When Mr. Martin proposes to Harriet, Emma is surprised by the quality of his letter, â€Å"She read, and was surprised. The style of the letter was much above her expectation†, this reveals the extent of her superiority and condescension. â€Å"You banished to Abbey-Mill Farm!-You confined to the society of the illiterate and vulgar all your life! I wonder how the young man could have the assurance to ask it. He must have a pretty good opinion of himself.† This shows humour and irony because what Emma says is very spiteful and untrue (although she does not mean it to be so), but also hypocritical because she has an extremely high opinion of herself. Mr. Knightley, on the other hand, has a high regard for Mr. Martin and his family; â€Å"I never hear better sense from any one than Robert Martin. He is an excellent young man both as son and brother.† Mr. Knightley is outraged when he learns of Harriet's refusal. He is a realistic, sensible man and knows Martin is a good, respectable match for Miss Smith. â€Å"Robert Martin's manners have sense, sincerity and good-humour to recommend them; and his mind has more true gentility than Harriet Smith could understand.† Emma, although aware changes in social position are happening and being accepted, is reluctant to change, and as the first lady of Highbury does not welcome the break-down of the rigid class structure. The Martins and the Coles represent these changes and we see them accepted warmly by nearly everyone except Emma. Characters such as Mr. Knightley and Mr. Weston are much more realistic, with a wider understanding of social issues than Emma, who has never left Highbury.

The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson Essay - 744 Words

The Lottery In The Lottery Shirley Jackson presents us with a shocking story guaranteed to outrage the reader. The author brings together the residents of a small village as they are gathered for an annual event referred to as the lottery. The families of the village are represented by their names on small pieces of paper, which are placed in a black box. The appointed townsperson oversees the drawing to determine who pulls the slip of paper that wins the drawing. The characters seem ordinary enough, and they appear to be pleasant mild people participating in an innocuous activity. There is a huge shock when the story turns violent. The peaceful village people are choosing which person in their community they are going to†¦show more content†¦There is a whole population of people that defend players beating on each other in the middle of a sports competition, on the mindless basis that it has always been that way. People often point to tradition as the defense of objectionable violence. A timely example is seen with our country poised on the brink of war. No one denies that the war will cause the death of many innocent people. While many people are divided in their feelings about the war most people would agree that they feel bad about causing the death of innocents. Yet in a defense of a probable attack, people are pointing to the historical tradition of war as a rationalization. Older people in particular will point out that we fought and killed people in the World Wars and Korea and even Vietnam and the rationale follows that if it was o.k. then, it is acceptable now. Old man Warner took refuge in historical tradition when his name was called in the lottery and he moved forward saying seventy-seventh year I have been in the lottery, seventy seventh time(81). The logic seems to be that because we have done something a certain way in the past that correctly determines how we should act in th e future. A continuation of blind adherence to tradition can be found in many college and university rituals. The longstanding tradition of pledging in a fraternity often involves activities that result in injuries and deaths. There are manyShow MoreRelatedThe Lottery, By Shirley Jackson1195 Words   |  5 PagesOn the surface, Shirley Jackson’s short story, â€Å"The Lottery,† reads as a work of horror. There is a village that holds an annual lottery where the winner is stoned to death so the village and its people could prosper. Some underlying themes include: the idea that faith and tradition are often followed blindly, and those who veer away from tradition are met with punishment, as well as the idea of a herd mentality and bystander apathy. What the author manages to do successfully is that she actuallyRead MoreThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson757 Words   |  4 Pagessucceed but many fail just like the main character Tessie Hutchinson in Shirley Jackson’s short stor y â€Å"The Lottery†. When someone hears the word â€Å"lottery†, he or she may think that someone will be rewarded with prize. But â€Å"The Lottery† By Shirley Jackson is different than what one thinks. In the story, a lottery is going to be conducted not like Mega Million or Powerball one play here. In the story, the person who wins the lottery is stoned to death instead of being rewarded with the prize. TessieRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson931 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1948 Shirley Jackson composed the controversial short story â€Å"The Lottery.† Generally speaking, a title such as â€Å"The Lottery† is usually affiliated with an optimistic outlook. However, Jackson’s approach is quite unorthodox and will surely leave readers contemplating the intent of her content. The story exposes a crude, senseless lottery system in which random villagers are murdered amongst their peers. Essentially, the lottery system counteracts as a form of population control, but negatives easilyRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson1504 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson In The Lottery Shirley Jackson fills her story with many literary elements to mask the evil. The story demonstrates how it is in human nature to blindly follow traditions. Even though some people have no idea why they follow these traditions. The title of the story plays a role in how Shirley Jackson used some literary elements to help mask the evils and develop the story. The title â€Å"The Lottery† serves as an allegory. When people think of the lottery majorityRead More`` The Lottery `` By Shirley Jackson894 Words   |  4 Pagesshort story â€Å"The Lottery†, author Shirley Jackson demonstrates Zimbardo’s concepts in three different areas: Authority figures, Tradition and Superstition, and Loyalty. The first concept Jackson portrays in â€Å"The Lottery† is the authority figures. Jackson indicates that the lottery is being held in the town center by one authority figure, Mr. Summers, annually on June 27th. Every June 27th, without fail, townspeople gather in the town square to participate in the annually lottery even though mostRead MoreThe Lottery, By Shirley Jackson1510 Words   |  7 PagesShirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† illustrates several aspects of the darker side of human nature. The townspeople in Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† unquestioningly adhere to a tradition which seems to have lost its relevance in their lives. The ritual that is the lottery shows how easily and willingly people will give up their free will and suspend their consciences to conform to tradition and people in authority. The same mindless complacency and obedience shown by the villagers in Jackson’s story are seenRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson8 11 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Lottery† was published by Shirley Jackson. The story was true expression of Jackson’s genuine thoughts about human beings and their heinous competence in an annual village event for corn harvest . First, her used to word symbolized main point of the story. Second, Jackson was inspired by few historical events happened in the past and a life incident in her life. Lastly, She was able to accomplish the connection between historical and biographical with the story. Therefore, Shirley Jackson’sRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson934 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson signifies the physical connection between the villagers and their unwillingness to give up their tradition. â€Å"The Lottery† is very unpredictable and quite misleading. The black box has no functionality, except every June 27th. Shirley Jackson depicts the black box as an important and traditional tool. Although the villagers in â€Å"The Lottery† are terrified of the goal of the lottery and the black box, they are unwilling to let go of the tradition. Shirley Jackson portraysRead MoreThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson799 Words   |  4 Pagesthe mood and to foreshadow of things to come. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a story in which the setting sets up the reader to think of positive outcomes. However, this description of the setting foreshadows exactly the opposite of what is to come. In addition, the theme that we learn of at the end leads us to think of where the sanity of some human beings lies. The story begins with the establishment of the setting. To begin, Shirley Jackson tells the reader what time of day and what time ofRead MoreThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson1764 Words   |  7 Pagesfilled with excitement and eeriness, leaving the reader speechless. The Lottery , a short story written by famous writer Shirley Jackson, created an uproar on June 26, 1948, when it was published in the magazine The New Yorker (Ball). The gothic thriller, set in an unknown time and place, shares the tradition of a small town, a little larger than three hundred people, in which a drawing is held once a year. In this â€Å"Lottery,† each family’s husband draws a slip of paper from a black box. The husband