Italian Poetry Essay

‘Glide’ forwards this pertaining uncertainty as ‘glide’ means to move fast without effort. Hence this can be linked to the final chapters where Victor chases his creation that watches and leaves deliberate clues for him. Victor feels his presence but fails to locate him. This creates atmosphere because his paranoia follows him until death, gradually draining all his happiness. His manipulation of Victor can however be interpreted as being ‘justifiably’ evil. Readers often sympathise with him because Victor was his only connection to humanity in-terms of attention and fluent communication; hence why after Victor dies he instantly contemplates suicide in the same cold condition. Victor’s death would fate him to a life, if he chose to live, of eternal loneliness: [Chapter 24] â€Å"†¦ for the bitter story of remorse may not cease to rankle in my wounds until death shall close them for ever. † The creature felt the same way Victor did; he did kill and destroy innocence, but however is not the psychopathic monster which humanity perceived him to be. The novel ends with the creature’s final recital of his tendencies: â€Å"My spirit will sleep in peace; or if it thinks, will surely not think thus. Farwell,† during his life-time he had taken a cynical outlook of humanity and thus sees death as his only escape to ‘a place’ more accepting. A similar word which describes Victor’s psychological isolation is his seeking of ‘asylum’ at â€Å"the Church of Ingolstadt†. ‘Asylum’ follows a cruder pattern of ‘refuge’; being an ‘asylum’ is similar to being a ‘refuge’ but it’s to mean more alienated – a criminal would take ‘asylum’ in a church to avoid persecution at that time. It is his method of keeping sane as he feels ‘protected’ inside God’s house. This is significant because he, prior to this, had labelled the creature as a ‘daemon’ and ‘fiend’: both of which are evil spirits related to the devil thus Victor by seeking ‘asylum’ believes that he is safe from the creature because in Christianity such evil is void of entering the Church. However all the creature wants is companionship. He had been tolerant and justifiable in his reasoning to Victor before driving himself further to demolishing his happiness. Such justification is shown in Volume 2; Chapter 9: Did I request thee, Maker, from my day To mould me man? Did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me? The monster through his intelligence learns to read and communicate in a profoundly persuasive manner. He quotes lines from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, paralleling his situation to that of Adam’s in Christianity. The creature is trying to show Victor that Adam may have been banished from all that was good in Paradise but even with such loss can still render happiness – merely because he has the one simple element to say alive for – love; which in comparison, the monster is deprived of. Therefore the monster, through his intelligence again, learns to deprive Victor of such love and companionship which will likewise inflict a profoundly negative effect on him. This is seen in Chapter 5 where he instantly recovers from his paranoia as he sees Henry: â€Å"In a moment forgot my horror and misfortune; I felt suddenly, and for the first time during many months, calm and serene joy. † Thus by the creature seizing away all his relations, he is seizing away elements of happiness which his life had contained. Hence this makes him pertain to his ‘wretchedly’ character which he had named himself. But Victor, however, knowingly shares similar emotion with his creation: â€Å"I passed the night wretchedly. † The verb which Victor uses to describe his action is ‘wretchedly’ which reflects his calling of the monster as a ‘wretch’. ‘Wretchedly’ is used to refer to someone who does an action in a deplorably unhappy manner; it is used in this context as a subtle form of foreshadowing of the trait of unhappiness he shares, and would continue to share in a fluent manner with his creation towards the end of the novel, especially during their mad endeavour towards the North Pole. The importance of friendships is further highlighted by the way he actually felt uneasy during his experiment; he was obsessed and did not genuinely enjoy what he was doing: â€Å"first time during many months† and he felt both ‘calm’ and ‘serene’ seeing Henry – such words indulge peace into one, which is contrasting with the whole experimental scenario. The significance of his creation is further emphasised, â€Å"The form of the monster whom I had bestowed existence was for ever before my eyes. † ‘For ever’ elaborates on the monster’s significance because it means for eternity, Victor will always seem him; ‘before my eyes’ is effective because it reinforces that Victor will feel the monster’s presence before or without seeing him. In Chapter 5, Victor describes the monster in a way which will inevitably repulse and frighten any human-being: â€Å"A mummy endued with animation could not be as hideous as that wretch†. The way Victor compares his creation to ‘a mummy endued with animation’ is striking, conjuring a beyond-frightful image of what the monster must look like. This image of the monster is further elaborated on in, â€Å"Oh! no mortal could support the horror of that countenance†; â€Å"it became a thing that even Dante could not have conceived. † The way Victor says ‘no mortal’ reinforces that no living thing, in this case human, could even bear to look at him – the inference to Dante emphasises how the creature has surpassed the human connotations of the word ‘hideous’. This is because Dante, especially his death mask, is one of the most controversially hideous architectural figures of History to people, both contemporarily and at that time. Dante had also written Italian Poetry (subsequently translated to other languages) which includes emotions which the monster felt such as Loneliness and exile in Paradiso. This puts an emphasis on the creature’s loneliness, showing how nothing prior to his creation had trodden upon this Earth, thus nothing currently resembles him – and without Victor’s help of creating him a partner – nothing ever will. He is lonely to a degree where he struggles to answer the most fundamental questions of identity and personal History.

Pros and Cons of the Corn-Based Plastic PLA

Pros and Cons of the Corn-Based Plastic PLA Polylactic acid (PLA), a plastic substitute made from fermented plant starch (usually corn) is quickly becoming a popular alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics. As more and more countries and states follow the lead of China, Ireland, South Africa, Uganda and San Francisco in banning plastic grocery bags responsible for so much so-called â€Å"white pollution† around the world, PLA is poised to play a big role as a viable, biodegradable replacement. Proponents also tout the use of PLA, which is technically â€Å"carbon neutral† in that it comes from renewable, carbon-absorbing plants, as yet another way to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases in a quickly warming world. PLA also will not emit toxic fumes when incinerated. However, there are still issues with the use of polylactic acid such as its slow rate of biodegradability, its inability to mix with other plastics in recycling, and its high use of genetically modified corn (though arguably the latter could be one of the good effects of PLA as it provides a good reason to alter crop yields with genetic splicing). The Cons of PLA: Biodegradation Rate and Recycling Critics say that PLA is far from a panacea for dealing with the world’s plastic waste problem. For one thing, although PLA does biodegrade, it does so very slowly. According to Elizabeth Royte, writing in Smithsonian, PLA may well break down into its constituent parts (carbon dioxide and water) within three months in a â€Å"controlled composting environment,† that is, an industrial composting facility heated to 140 F and fed a steady diet of digestive microbes. It will take far longer in a compost bin, or in a landfill packed so tightly that no light and little oxygen are available to assist in the process. Indeed, analysts estimate that a PLA bottle could take anywhere from 100 to 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill. Another issue with PLA is that it must be kept separate when recycled, lest it contaminates the recycling stream; since PLA is plant-based, it needs to be disposed of in composting facilities, which points to another problem: There are currently a few hundred industrial-grade composting facilities across the United States. Finally, PLA is typically made of genetically modified corn, at least in the United States. The largest producer of PLA in the world is NatureWorks, a subsidiary of Cargill, which is the world’s largest provider of genetically modified corn seed. This is tricky because the future costs of genetic modification (and the associated pesticides) to the environment and human health are still largely unknown. Pros of PLA Over Plastics: Utility and Biodegradability Genetically modified foods may be a controversial issue, but when it comes to genetically spicing plants together to breed corn that yields more crops for industrial use has its major advantages. With the increasing demand for corn to make ethanol fuel, let alone PLA, it’s no wonder that Cargill and others have been tampering with genes to produce higher yields. At least harmful plastic isnt be used as frequently anymore! Many industries are using PLA because they are capable of biodegrading at a much faster rate than plastic while still offering the same level of sanitation and utility. Everything from plastic clamshells for food take-out to medical products can now be made from PLA, which drastically reduces the carbon footprint of these industries. While PLA has promise as an alternative to conventional plastic once the means of disposal are worked out, consumers might be better served by simply switching to reusable containers, from cloth bags, baskets, and backpacks for grocery shopping to safe, reusable (non-plastic) bottles for beverages.

The Simpsons Movie Essays

The Simpsons Movie Essays The Simpsons Movie Paper The Simpsons Movie Paper Essay Topic: Film In The Simpsons Movie, director David Silverman and his team of producers: James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Scully and Richard Sakai use humour to incorporate other relevant messages into the film. Three of the most important factors are environment, government and family relationships. At the beginning of the Simpsons Movie, David Silverman uses GreenDay to make the audience aware of the social issues surrounding the environment; not only because of their famous songs, but because the band name itself promotes the environment. When the band is shown singing off a barge on Lake Springfield, their main singer is just singing from a script saying Da Da again and again. David Silvermans use of humour sends a message mocking singers for singing off scripts and also implies crowds are easily pleased. However, the musical sensation is suddenly put off when he says: We have been playing for 3 and a half hours, now wed like to say something about the environment! ~Billy Joe Armstrong, GreenDay lead singer, the Simpsons Movie The crowd is then suddenly put off by the message and turns to violence. This is a cleverly made scene, due to the crowd reacting in the opposite way by throwing rubbish and pollutants at them; this makes it easier for the audience to see the contrast between both groups of society. The band then picks up violins and re-enacts the final moments of the Titanic before the barge corrodes and sinks; this humour is focused on nowadays ignorance to the environment, and makes the audience aware of not only the acidic water that is made by waste, but by the lives lost to the mistreated environment. The United States produces approximately 547 thousands of metric tonnes of household waste per annum. That is 22.2% of the worlds total emission of household waste per annum. Using the history of Titanic, the audience is also reminded of the icebergs and icecaps which are being melted due to pollution. Silverman used this scene to make the audience aware of the ignorance in American society for the environment considering the sad history of the Titanic and the terrible household waste statistics produced by America. In my opinion, this scene would have never been successful without the use of Greenday and the acidic lake, due to all the clever subconscious messages sent through the humour. Later in the movie, Lake Springfield gets so polluted that Lisa Simpson decides to take action. She runs a meeting at the town hall, where all adult members of society turn up. When she tries to describe the seriousness of the situation, people always brought up other things. Am I getting through to anyone? ~Lisa Simpson, the Simpsons Movie But someone in the audience suggests that a new scissor lift should be bought, and a vote is passed by the mayor. Silverman uses the humour in this scene to show how easily distracted society can be to the real problems. However, the mayor takes this seriously and makes everyone in the town clean up the lake. Initiate code black Mayor of Springfield, the Simpsons Movie Silverman uses the seriousness of the situation to add some humour into the scene: Black..thats the worst colour there isno offence Carl! Lenny, the Simpsons Movie This humour not only expresses the dreadful state of the environmental situation, it makes the audience aware of racism and the common use of it in everyday life, despite how sensitive the issue is not only in America, but worldwide. Using Carls cheerful attitude, Silverman turns the racism into a joke therefore not having a bad impact on the audience as it couldve. However hard the towns efforts are to restore the cleanliness of the lake, Homer Simpson dumps a silo of his pets waste in the lake in hurry for free donuts. Soon the government gets involved, and Springfield alerts the EPAs attention (environmental protection agency). Silverman uses this plot to introduce the main evil character in the Simpsons Movie. I have made you 5 easy choices ~Russ Kargel, the Simpsons Movie I pick number 3 ~President Schwarzenegger, the Simpsons Movie You dont even want to read them sir? ~Russ Kargel, the Simpsons Movie I was elected to lead, not to read ~President Schwarzenegger, the Simpsons Movie In this conversation, Arnold Schwarzenegger shows he knows a lot about being a president; however he makes the wrong choice. Choice number three results in Springfield being sealed into a dome, and all the people who live there trapped. Silverman uses this ridiculous idea of being sealed into a dome as a governmental plot. This use of comedy makes the audience think of life being trapped in 1 area, and subconsciously makes the audience grateful to be able to explore around the world. In my opinion this scene is 1 of the main climaxes of the movie due to the whole of Springfield being trapped. This also makes the audience more aware of the evil governmental plots going on around the world. This scene made me think of all the attacks on other countries such as Iraq, and that maybe they were cover-ups and misunderstandings. We pay every resident $1000 so the government can ravage our states natural beauty ~ Man who greets the Simpsons into Alaska, the Simpsons Movie In this quote, the audience is reminded of this present time; the US government says it will offer exploration right for oil and gas in a north-western region of Alaska, but environmental groups fear the effects on wildlife in the region, including the polar bear population. In my opinion, this scene works well to inform the audience well and make them more aware of the events going on in Alaska. No Lisa, its not like the government is listening to our conversation ~Marge Simpson, the Simpsons Movie Silverman cleverly uses humour, when Lisa warns her mother to talk quietly because the government may be listening looking for them. This ends up being true; the train conductor is a robot that listens in to their conversation and a government employee in the NSA (National Security Agency) tracks them down. The government actually found someone! ~NSA employee, the Simpsons Movie This statement mocks the US government for their inadequacy of being unable to find people they are looking for. Silverman cunningly uses this humour to imply that the government is spying on everyones conversation. This is makes the audience more aware of the government tapping in on conversations. I think this scene adds great humour to the movie, and is a vital part of the movie to show the evil governmental schemes. It takes real courage and leadership to make choices without knowing them ~Russ Kargel, the Simpsons Movie In this quote, Silverman uses Russ Kargel to show how persuasion is easily used politically by fusing it with pride. However, president Schwarzenegger picks number 3 again. But Russ Kargel makes the president pick Number 4 by manipulating his answer. Silverman uses humour here to show how easy the presidents words can be manipulated. Soon after the plot to destroy Springfield is confirmed, the government hires Tom Hanks to create propaganda on TV so the people of the US support the government. The US ran out of credibility, so they borrowed mine ~Tom Hanks, the Simpsons Movie In this quote Tom Hanks admits that the government are just using him as propaganda. A boy then asks Tom hanks to tussle his hair. Silverman uses this humour to show how easily pleased people are. Silverman also shows the audience how corrupt the government can make society, just by using popular figures to their advantage. I think this scene is very important in telling the audience not to always trust political figures and famous people. While all these things in the movie are going on, Silverman uses humour to show family problems and relationships with modern Americans. The Simpsons family represents an average modern American family. And during the movie, Silverman makes the family go through hard times. At the start of the movie, the Simpsons are late for church and Homer starts saying things not knowing people inside are listening: Those pious morons probably arent listening anyway ~Homer Simpson, the Simpsons Movie Silverman always makes the opposite things happen to create humour. When inside the church Homer says praise Jeebus instead of Jesus. This humour is cleverly used to show how American families go to church but arent actually religious. Inside the church, Bart Simpson starts to play a handheld game, but Maggie takes it away from him. This furthermore stresses the point through humour that American families only believe in their religion for show. Then when his neighbour Ned Flanders wants to confess, Homer crosses his fingers hoping that he is gay. This shows that the relationship between American families is very bad, and that neighbours are always saying bad things behind each others backs. This humour implies that American families dont always have good relationships. This makes the audience more aware of the life of an American family. I think this scene is very important in the film, for Bart starts to take more of a liking to Flanders than his own father. Later when Homer is doing his chores, Silverman shows Homers relationship for Flanders, when he is told to dispose of a bee hive, he jams it into Flanderss mailbox. Although Flanders is a good hearted religious neighbour, Homer doesnt like him, and always tries to cause trouble for Flanders. Silverman tries to give off the message that Americans are always trying to cause trouble with their neighbours. In my opinion, this scene is also quite important to furthermore show Homers disaffection for Flanders. When Bart and Homer have a daring contest, Homer dares Bart to skate to Krustys burger bar and back naked. This results in him being handcuffed to a pole outside the shop by police officers while they went inside and ate. Silverman shows the American police officers dont care about the fugitives, and would rather have their lunch break. The audience is made aware of these dirty police officers, and they are subconsciously made more aware of this situation in America. We all dont want to wear our clothes sometimes ~Police officer outside Krustys Burger Bar, the Simpsons Movie A police officer says this to Bart to convince him to put his clothes back on. However the officer doesnt realise that Homer dared Bart to do this. Using humour Silverman shows that American parents dont accept the consequences in what they tell their children to do. I think this scene is very important, it shows the audience how Bart slowly starts to hate his father. If you know a greasier burger than this, youre in Mexico ~Krusty the clown in advertisement, the Simpsons Movie In this quote, Krusty states that Mexico has the greasiest burgers. America is known as the spiritual home of the super-sized meal, more than 119 million adults or 64.5% of the adult population are either overweight or obese. Silverman cleverly made this scene to make the audience aware of obesity in the US. Later on, Homer grows attached to a pig he rescues, and starts to forget about his family. Silverman uses this stereotype to show how forgetful fathers can be of their own family. As Homers bond with this animal starts to strengthen, he starts to forget about the rest of his family. Silverman uses this humour to tell the audience how parents can start to forget, and favour other children/things more. Come on guys it will be really great fun, and Ive really come to like you guys ~Homer Simpson, the Simpsons Movie In this quote, it shows Homer doesnt take his family serious. In this scene Homer wants to go to Alaska, but Silverman makes it as if Homer has maybe already had a family before this, and doesnt take families serious. Also, in this scene Homer convinces them to come to Alaska by going over their wedding vows. Through this is a funny statement, Silverman informs the audience of fathers in America abandoning there families. Near the end of the movie, Homer apologises to Bart for being a bad father. Bart doesnt want to accept his apology, but when Homer mentions that he could hold the bomb, Bart forgives him. Silverman uses this humour to show how father and son are both simpleminded and alike. What a great mistake you turned out to be Maggie ~Homer Simpson In this quote, Homer confesses that Maggie was a mistake. Silverman uses this humour to show how a lot of families in general are started of as mistakes. In my opinion, this humour was very informative for the audience, but subliminally made them to think about the consequences of sex. At the end of the movie, Homer and Marge kiss in the woods riding on a motorbike. After kissing Marge says that was the best kiss of her life. But after learning many thing in his quest to save Springfield, Homer alters her words to say it was the best kiss of her life so far. Silvermans uses this moment to sum up the movie and show how Homer progresses throughout the movie. This message tells the audience to cherish what they have, and look forward to the future. Using all these different techniques such as subliminal messaging and sarcasm, this is how Silverman of the Simpsons uses humour to incorporate other relevant messages into the film. But did he mean all the messages? Or were some just a coincidence?

5 Pairs of Compound Words, and How Theyre Compounded

5 Pairs of Compound Words, and How Theyre Compounded 5 Pairs of Compound Words, and How They’re Compounded 5 Pairs of Compound Words, and How They’re Compounded By Mark Nichol A while back, I wrote about compound words involving front and back, in and out, and up and down, and the bewildering variety of styles (open, hyphenated, and closed) for each group. Here are five more pairs of words to watch for when they’re used in compound phrases. 1. Light and Dark To be light-headed and to be lighthearted are not strictly analogous one is a physical sensation, and the other refers to an emotion (though it may result in a physical response) but they are both adjectives. So, why is one (and similar compounds like light-fingered and light-footed) hyphenated and the other closed? I confess I’m in the dark. But note that compounds beginning with dark are always open (â€Å"dark days† â€Å"dark horse,† â€Å"dark matter†). Most other noun compounds beginning with light (â€Å"light meter,† â€Å"light pen†) are open, but notice light-rail, which, like a few other compound nouns (mind-set, life-form), remain stubbornly hyphenated (though the meaning of light here differs; it’s akin to the definition in the previous paragraph). When the noun light is the last element of a compound, it’s always closed: candlelight, flashlight, searchlight. 2. Mind and Brain I’m going to go out of my mind. Why is one simpleminded yet single-minded? Is it because one is a presumably perpetual state that a person so designated has little or no control over, while the other is a personality trait? But compounds beginning rather than ending with mind generally obey these rules: open in noun compounds (with the previously noted exception of mind-set and the obscure mind-healer, as well as the jargony mindshare) and hyphenated in adjectival compounds such as mind-bending and mind-boggling). Brain, meanwhile, is almost always open (â€Å"brain trust,† â€Å"brain wave†); brain-dead is a rare exception. 3. Right and Wrong Compounds employing these words for practical or moral choices are generally open (â€Å"right angle,† â€Å"wrong side†), but phrasal adjectives with prepositions (right-of-way, right-to-work) are always hyphenated. 4. Right and Left Most compounds employing right or left as directions are open (noun phrases like â€Å"left wing,† adverbial phrases such as â€Å"right away†), but the phrasal adjectives left-handed and right-handed (also adverbs) are always hyphenated. 5. Smart and Dumb By now, you know not to expect logic in idiomatic phrases it’s â€Å"smart aleck† but smart-ass (or smart-mouth). Open phrasing, however, is preponderant for smart and dumb: â€Å"smart card,† â€Å"smart drug,† â€Å"dumb down,† â€Å"dumb show† (pantomime). Street-smart is hyphenated, but â€Å"street smarts† is open. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Rules for Writing Numbers and NumeralsThe Parts of a WordHow Do You Fare?

Changes in recent years to private health insurance Essay

Changes in recent years to private health insurance - Essay Example people reported that they could not afford to purchase a health insurance or the costs of these insurances is too expensive.1 Aiming to encourage more people to acquire a health insurance, the Australian government took the initiative in offer a 30% rebate on the cost of private health insurance premiums for people between the age bracket of 0 – 64; a 35% rebate for people aged 65 to 69; and a 40% rebate will be given to people ages 70 and above.2 The said rebates is claimable either as a reduction on the insurance premium as soon as the payment is made to the private insurer or as a rebate through the individual’s tax return. In line with the new structure set by the Australian government, this study will focus on discussing several issues which will serve as strong evidences that the 1/3 rebate strategy has been ineffective and unsuccessful in increasing the sales of private health insurance as well as maintaining the quality of the overall all health services in the country. The main goal of Australian Federal Government for implementing a 30 – 40% rebate system in private health insurance is to improve the health of Australian citizens through payments and information.3 In line with the said goal, Medicare works with the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing to improve its connection with the health sector. In September 2002, a total of 79.4% of the medical services that was performed in the hospitals was fully paid by the Australian government. This increased to 82.7% in December 2005.4 As a control measure, the local authorities implemented a ‘co-payment agreement’ to those who wishes to avail the medical services in the hospitals. According to Tracy Schrader, â€Å"any transfer of payment for health care from taxation to user-fees only benefits the wealthy.†5 This is primarily because of the fact that wealthy people will have a better access to the health facilities at a much lower costs. On the other hand, people belonging to

How information Technology can be used to achieve sustainable Essay

How information Technology can be used to achieve sustainable competitive advantages - Essay Example In addition, the basic purpose of developing and implementing the modern and up-to-date information systems in the business and corporate structures is to enhance the overall corporate performance and enhanced management of the business data (Laudon & Laudon, 1999; Turban et al., 2005). Literature Review According to (Turban et al., 2005, p.18) â€Å"an information system is set of different aspects that work collectively in order to gather, operate, store, assess, and transmit information with the intention of performing a particular task.† Basically, the products and business processes to develop those products differ from organization to organization. Hence, a business organization can make use of information system for different purposes according to their needs and requirements. For instance, an organization can make use of an information system to deal with its human resource related processes or for dealing with accorunts and financial matters. In this scenario, as an o rganization is based on different aspects such as departments and employees in the same way an IS encompasses a variety of aspects like that inputs (whuch an information system receives in the forms of data and instructions from its users) and outputs (which are delivered by the information system in the forms of results, calculations and reports). Thus, it provides the desired outputs by carrying out certain operations on the inputs. Value Chain Model Operations: This process involves the activities that are involves in the transformation of inputs into final products. In this scenario, information systems can play a significant role. As the figure 1 demonstrates, this process can be supported through computer aided manufacturing. These systems can be used in design and development of the products (CiteHR, 2013; Schwanzer, 2007). In this scenario, information systems cannot only be used as a wonderful tool for automating desired business processes and activities but they can also b e used to support the business organizations in designing and putting into practice a number of value added-systems in the business organizations like that the majority of bussiness organizations combine and arrange their manufacturing cycle along with information systems so as to confirm that the outputs it generates comply with the organization’s requirements and needs as well as various quality management mechanisms. The research has shown that the implementation of information systems allows the business organizations to make their business operations simple and do not waste their precious time in performing unnecessary operations. Additionally, the majority of business organizations take benefit of information systems to incorporate control and measures to human resource related activities, in an attempt to make sure that only human resources having the proper privileges and authority can be allowed to perform particular tasks. Also, the use of information systems allows the business oraganizations to throw away chronic actions and improve correctness, supporting company’s employees to contemplate on more difficult processes. Furthermore, an organization can also use information syste

Gamal Abdel Nasser Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Gamal Abdel Nasser - Essay Example The nationalist revival during the period of British occupation revealed a public awareness among a segment of Cairo's population, but this seldom was transacted into positive achievements. Instead, the Egypt of 1952 was a stagnant country. Beset by political strife, successive national governments did little to foster the country's development. An archaic structure of land ownership, abysmal living conditions among the great majority of the population, an economy geared to benefit a privileged few, and political instability--this was the legacy after thirty years of independence (Frederick, 268). The existing political parties abdicated their right to govern. In their struggle with the King and their quest for power and office, they treaded ruthlessly on the welfare of their country. Egypt's political structure blocked progress, rooted as it was in the status quo. No parliament controlled by wealthy landowners and Cairo's privileged social elite would support sweeping reform programs to the detriment of the vested interests. Few groups were untainted by the corruption which permeated Cairo. Many ranking civil servants owed their positions to partisan politics; landowners gained protection from the Wafd; businessmen were dependent upon the government for favors; and high ranking military officers often owed their posts to the King's personal support. Only the middle-class military--the captains, majors, and colonels, and, perhaps, a few generals--had the moral credentials for a bona fide movement of reform. And, after the sordid manipulation of the Alexandria cotton market and the collapse of national government in 1952, only the military was prepared to take action in the name of the people. Humiliated in the 1948 Palestine War, the Egyptian army generally had done little to distinguish itself. In its ranks, however, was a cadre of sincere and talented, though inexperienced, officers, and it was they who toppled the government in 1952. Initially, a junta sought to establish a nonpartisan civilian government, but this body proved unwilling to initiate the reforms desired by the young officers. Thus, the job of governing fell to the Free Officers by default. Governing had not been their initial purpose, and they were ill prepared for the task; but they alone were in a position to raze the "old order." And the destruction of the "old order" was a prerequisite for the implementation of profound reforms (Frederick 269). Role in Modernizing Egypt Rapid development in Egypt required an authoritarian government, and it became increasingly obvious that the Revolutionary Command Council could not measure up to the task. Instead, a single leader, a man with dictatorial powers, was needed. Gamal Abdel Nasser became dictator of Egypt in April, 1954. His was a difficult task. The country had not rallied to the military movement. Moreover, there was no panacea for Egypt's problems, and his every move drew the sniping attacks of those without the responsibilities for government. To his credit, he approached his mission boldly. Easy as it was to be irresolute, he determined what was best for