Life of Pi write-up Essay Example for Free

Life of Pi write-up Essay Life of Pi shows that we are entering a virtual age as Pi, a selfish murderer, is portrayed as a hero throughout the movie. In the beginning of the movie, Pi is portrayed as a smart, virtuous man – there is an emphasis on his strong faith in God, his love for his family and his knowledge of animals. However, later in the movie, Pi brutally murders a hyena after his family’s ship sank and manipulates the tiger that he was left with to do whatever he pleases. Although Pi faced anxiety because he was alone on a lifeboat with a tiger and with despair from thinking that he would die, these circumstances are not to blame for Pi’s awful behavior. Pi has the freedom to make his own decisions and is able to express his emotions in whichever way he wants, making him fully responsible for the course of his actions. Once Pi is rescued, the whole world starts to see him as a hero for his survival, however they do not process all of his wrongdoings. To make matters worse, the journalists that Pi spoke with after he was rescued do not even use the first story that he shares with them – the one involving human beings – because they claimed it was too gruesome, bringing Pi to replace human beings with animals in his second story. This also represents a virtual age because it sends the idea that wrongful actions are okay when they are presented using animals rather than human beings – truly showing the selfishness and carelessness of society. In conclusion, Pi’s inhumane actions are not acknowledged by the public, and furthermore Pi is being rewarded for his wrongdoings. In Life of Pi, storyteller Pi Patel explains the firsthand account of his adventures. When his family’s zoo business fails in India, they embark on a sea voyage to begin a new life – however, one night aboard their ship in the middle of the ocean, a deadly storm hits, leaving Pi trapped in a lifeboat with several zoo animals. After several brutal incidents, including Pi murdering a hyena, Pi is then left to fend for himself in the company of a Bengal tiger. At the end of the movie, when Pi is rescued and questioned by journalists, he tells them two different stories about his journey: one involving human beings and one involving animals, leaving the journalists to publish the story involving animals. Kierkegaard’s philosophy relates to this story because even though Pi is very religious, he is aware that he is free to put his wellbeing before God. While being stuck on a lifeboat with vicious animals, Pi does whatever he can in order to survive – even if that involves taking part in murder and manipulation. Pi chooses to murder a hyena because this animal killed his mother and would eventually kill him, as well as Pi chooses to hunt fish in order for the tiger to survive and to save himself from being eaten. Pi also had to state dominance and mark his territory in the lifeboat, in order to prevent the tiger from hurting him. Pi is therefore the perfect example of putting the individual before God in Kierkegaard’s philosophy because he believes in God, yet he continues to live his own life with freedom as he makes rational decisions. Pi is also aware of the aggressiveness in his decisions, and continuously apologizes to God for all that he has done. By doing this, Pi gains strength and heals through God, as this is also a part of Kierkegaard’s philosophy.

The Character of Iago in Shakespeares Othello Essay -- Othello essays

The Character of Iago in Othello      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   No one has ever failed to appreciate the skilled art with which Shakespeare has defined the characters of his plays; great and small alike, their distinctiveness, their dignity, their misery, and their integrity are captured and displayed.   In particular the depiction of certain characters in Othello have been universally acclaimed.   Identified by many scholars as one of Shakespeare "great" tragedies, along with Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear, Othello follows a traditional tragic pattern, tracing the central character's fall from greatness and bringing together qualities of nobility with choices that lead to inevitable suffering. Othello is also one of Shakespeare's most emotionally compelling plays. The drive, with which the devastating series of events disentangle, creates a breathless sense of muddled chaos that mesmerizes viewers almost as much as it propels the characters.   In the course of Othello, we are exposed to a dramatic concepti on of Iago.   The evil contained within Othello is by no means paranormal or mythical, yet is represented by the character Iago and his voracious desire for revenge and constant deception.   Iago is disloyal, shrewd, and egotistical.   He uses these traits to his advantage by slowly planning his own conquest while watching the demise of others.   Although Iago is a perfect example of evil, a "hellish villain" creating an internalized beastlike rage, he is in fact a human wrapped with passion suffering from a distorted image of himself and others.    Evil has nowhere else been portrayed with such mastery as in the character of Iago.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Iago is young, deceitful and a scoundrel from the start. He is keen and able to manipulat... ...ealed Through Dialogue." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Literature. N. p.: Random House, 1986.    Gardner, Helen. "Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from "The Noble Moor." British Academy Lectures, no. 9, 1955.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. "The Engaging Qualities of Othello." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p.: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957.   

Operations Management Problem Exercises Essay

McBurger’s fast-food restaurant has a drive-through window with a single server who takes orders from an intercom and also is the cashier. The window operator is assisted by other employees who prepare the orders. Customers arrive at the ordering station prior to the drive-through window every 3.6 minutes (exponentially distributed) and the service time is 2.4 minutes (exponentially distributed). Determine the average length of the waiting line and the waiting time. Discuss the quality implications of your results. If you decide that the quality of the service could be improved, indicate what things you might do to improve quality. 60/3.6=16.67 60/2.4=25 16.67Â ²/(25)(25.25-16.67)=1.33 customers waiting 16.67/25(25-16.67)=.08hr or 4.80 minutes in line Adding an additional order taker would allow the cashier to efficiently transact with the customer to remove any bottle neck. 6.5Â  Patricia Zell, a dollmaker from Olney, Maryland, is interested in the mass marketing and production of a ceramic doll of her own design called Tiny Trisha. The initial investment required for plant and equipment is estimated at $25,000. Labor and material costs are approximately $10 per doll. If the dolls can be sold for $50 each, what volume of demand is necessary for the Tiny Trisha doll to break even? 625 Dolls 6.6 Although it will fulfill her lifelong dream, Patricia is not confident that demand for her Tiny Trisha doll will exceed the breakeven point computed in Problem 6-5. If she chooses a less appealing site and does more of the work by hand, her initial investment cost can be reduced to $5000, but her per-unit cost of manufacture will rise to $15 per doll. a. What is the breakeven point for this new process? b. Compare this process to the process proposed in the previous problem. For what volume of demand should Patricia choose this process? A. 143 B. Option 2 investment is significantly lower than option 1 while the cost of the doll would be more her breakeven point would be less therefore become profitable sooner and build capital to eventually reduce the manual labor costs.

International Business Japan - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1722 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? International Business: Japan Introduction As Robert Fitzgerald (1994) says in the introduction of his collection of studies into East Asian studies, the GDP growth of nations within this region over the past half a century â€Å"has been seen as a phenomenon of unprecedented†¦ proportions.† In the early decades following World War ll, Japan was probably the most significant example of this phenomenon, although in the past quarter of a century it has lost ground to other Asian countries. Many blame the recent changes of Japanese fortunes on the effects of globalisation. The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity of this argument. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "International Business: Japan" essay for you Create order To achieve this objective, we will first conduct a brief overview of the political, economic and cultural structure of the country, together the changing international business environment. Japanese Political and Economic structure As many observers have noted, the political and economic structure within Japan is markedly different from that of many other developed nations. Whereas in countries such as the US and UK there is a clear distinction between governments and commerce, Japan has developed on the basis of a high level of government involvement and cooperation between state and commerce, to the extent that it has lef to an institutionalized public-private cooperation in the process of economic policy formulation and implementation† (Nester 1992, p.119). In essence, the industrial development and economic growth that was witnessed in Japan during the beginning of the latter half of the last century was led by the political machine, which created powerful economic bureacuracies that, linked with private enterprise, heavilyinvolved themselves in market activities (Leftwich 1995, p.420). This close relationship was, and still is, based upon the fact that both groups peceived this approach as service their common interests and objectives. Therfore, joint ventures between the two have been seen as â€Å"both practival and necessary† (Fitzgerald 1994, p.13). As will be seen later, the resultant successes of Japanese Trade during that period reveal how beneficial this approach was at the time. One of the reason that this close political/commercial relationship worked so well in Japan,, in contrast to other developed countries where there is more of a gap betweeen the ethos of the two sides, is perhaps due to the cultural influences. Historically, the Japanese are a race welded together by three main cultural strands. The first of these is a belief in an identifiable â€Å"Japanese Spirit.† The second strand of thinking is that they are culturally unique , and these two are interralted within their thought processes (Fuller and Beck 2005, p.39). This leads to a group mentality in every aspect of their lives. For example, the reason that Japanese corporation’s have experienced much lower icidences of industiral unrest than their western counterparts is the group culture, which perceives that everyone will benefit if they work for the same common interest.This culture spilled over into International trade, where Japan in the past has seen it as a situaltion of them against the rest. As Fuller and Beck (2005, p.139) observe, many corporate leaders put the success of Japanese business down â€Å"to a robust culture, part of which is believing they are different (Fuller and Beck 2005, p.139). However in recent decades, the Japanese model has become more subservient to the influences of the international community. International Trade The structure and shape of Japanese International business ha s changed significantly, particularly since 1980. The country’s old alliances that were used to fuel its phenomenal economic growth between the 1950’s and 1980’s are now being reduced in favour of the more dynamic performing emerging economies. This is clearly evidence by its international trade statistics, both in terms of exports (see figure 1) and imports (see figure 2). Figure 1 Top ten export destinations 1980 -2006 Figure 2 Top ten importing nations 1980 2006 If one looks at exports firstly, as can be seen from the graph in figure 1, between 1980 and 2000 Japan relied heavily upon the western nation markets, particularly the US, for the sale of its goods and services. However, since the turn of the century this position has changed dramatically. Whilst Japan’s trade with the west has remained fairly static during the first six years of this decade, its reliance upon Asian markets, such as China, has risen significantly. For example, whilst trade with the US has little more than double during the 26 years, trade with China increased nearly tenfold over the same period, with the majority of this growth occurring since 2000, A similar result, although more pronounced, can be found in the case of imports. In this case China has displaced the US to become Japan’s highest country for imports (figure 3). Figure 3 Top ten importers 2006 Another interesting comparison to be drawn from these statistics is the change in the balance of trade (see figure 4). As can be seen from this table, Japan’s trade with the US and Germany has moved from one of interdependence to more of a supplier based relationship, whereas with the Asian countries of China is has moved in the opposite direction[1]. Figure 4 Balance of trade An analysis of the different between the types of products also reveals where Japan is globally dominant. As can be seen from the following analysis of Exports and Imports (figures 5 and 6), The Japanese expertise and dominant position globally still remains in the areas of manufactured goods, machinery and transport, including computers and automobiles (Porter 1998, p.2). However, equally apparent is fact that the Chinese and Asian markets beginning to take precedence over the US and other western nations in this respect. The only variation to this development is in the area of automobile exports, which can be explained by the poorer living standards of their citizens. Figure 5 Exports by type 2006 Figure 6 Imports by type 2006 Much of this change of direction in Japan’s international business structure can be put down to the political, economic and cultural influences explained earlier. For example, the Japanese government takes a protectionist stance in respect of its economic welfare (Nester 1990, p.167-170 and 1991, p.29) and, faced with the exceptional growth rates in China, it would be natural for Japan to move quickly to protect i ts main industrial expertise and the industries related to this area by seeking to seek to develop its relationship with it close neighbours, in this case being China. In these aspects and others the International ethos of Japan is very much aligned to the extended version of Porters diamond on national competitiveness (Johnson et al 2007, p.73-75 and Porter 1998, p.72). For example, the political and commercial strategy is very much focused on the need to react to rivalry and changes in demand. Similarly, Japan’s international business is quick to react to adverse conditions in any country that it trades with. To further cement its relationship with neighbouring Asian countries, Japan has sought to cement more formal economic relationships with other Asian nations through its membership of organisations such as ASEAN, which seeks to look after Asia’s global trading interests. This move is reminiscent of similar action taken by Japan in the past in an attempt to forge closer links with the US and Europe. The impact of Globalisation Another factor that has seriously affected Japan over the past quarter of a century is that of globalisation. During the period from 1980 to the mid 1990’s Japan was the dominant economic force in Asia and thus, to a major extent, was the sole beneficiary of the needs of the West to secure more economical and innovative products. However, as economic growth and living standards in Japan continued, so their international trade position became less competitive. At the same time, other emerging countries in the region, such as China and India, were becoming more aware of the benefits of globalisation and began to internationalise their financial and economic markets. This provided Japan’s former trading partners, predominately the US and Europe, with alternative locations and resources, at a more economical cost. Furthermore, it also opened up significant consumer markets, which these nations were quick to recognise and seek to take advantage of. For Japan, the result of this further globalisation of countries within the Asian region was to lead to a significant fall in the rate of Growth of their GDP. As can be seen from the graph in figure 7, in the past decade this rate has halved from the high of 2000 to below the rate being achieved in 1980. Figure 7 Japans GDP growth rate 1980 2005 This fall in Japan’s GDP provides another reason for their seeking improved trade with the rest of Asia. Furthermore, Japan’s International trade position over the next decade is also beset with difficulties. With China’s economy growing at of around 10% per annum, and it set to become the world’s most powerful economy within the next three decades, with India close behind, Japan is facing a duality of economic issues. The first it that it needs to find a way to remain competitive in the face of such significant competition and the second is the need to find a strategy upon which to take advantage of the Chinese market for its own purposes. Unlike the inroads that Japan made into the US and European markets, where the economies operate on the basis of a free market with little political interference, with China Japan is facing a competitor who has a similar political, economic and cultural structure to its own. Therefore, the approach used to penetrate the western markets is unlikely to work in this China. Reference Johnson, Gerry., Scholes, Kevan and Whittington, Richard (2007). Exploring Corporate Strategy. FT Prentice Hall. Harlow, UK. Fitzgerald, Robert (ed) (1994). The Competitive Advantage of Far Eastern Business. Frank Cass. Ilford, UK. Porter, Michael E (1998). Competitive Advantage of Nations. Free Press. New York. US. Fuller, Mark and Beck, John C (2005). Japan’s Business Renaissance: How the World’s Greatest Economy Revives, Renewed and Reinvented Itself. McGraw-Hill. New York. US. Japanese Statistical Yearbook (2006). Foreign Trade, Balance of Payments and International Cooperation. Available: https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/nenkan/1431-15.htm Nester, W (1990). Japans Growing Power over East Asia and the World Economy. MacMillan London, UK. Nester, W (1991). Japanese Industrial Targeting. MacMillan. London, UK. Leftwich, A. (1995). Bringing Politics Back: Towards a Model of the Developmental State, Journal of Development Studies, 31: 3, pp. 400-27. 1 Footnotes [1] The anomaly in figure 4 is the position with Saudi Arabia, where the global energy crisis has forced up natural resource prices.