A Basis for Morality Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

A Basis for Morality In humanity's quest to distinguish itself from the rest of the animal world, a claim to morality has long been one of its greatest arguments. Perhaps second only to reason as a distinguishing characteristic, the ability to exhibit moral behavior instills in humans a distinct sense of natural order. Yet when anthropocentric egoism is dropped and we recognize that we are not, in fact, much different from other animals, our distinctive moral behavior begs explanation. What compels the majority of humans to behave morally? Why do some not? How should we respond to behaviors that are either immoral or amoral? Do we possess an innate sense of morality, determined by our neurobiology? Or to put it another (more provocative) way, is morality absolute? To begin understanding the causes of moral behavior, we must understand what we mean by morality. First, it must be emphasized that the specifics of morality - whether a given instance of behavior is moral - is not in question here. Abortion may or may not be moral; that is a very different question. At issue here is the question of why we choose one behavior over another on grounds of morality, and how it is possible that we can consider behaviors in terms of "right" and "wrong." This brings forth an assumption implicit in morality. In judging the morality or immorality of a behavior, we accept the assertion that the behavior is chosen by the actor. Any behavior that is not chosen is considered amoral, outside the realm of morality. Thus, free will is seen as a necessary predicate of morality. This assumption will be considered more thoroughly later. Morality itself may be considered in two parts: behavior that directly affects other individuals and behavior ... ...sy.html 5)Depression, from the National Institute for Mental Health. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depressionmenu.cfm 6)No Longer Gage: A Glimpse into Sociability, Temperament, and the Brain, by Julia Johnson. 1998. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper1/Johnson.html 7)Notes for Biology 202: Neurobiology and Behavior, by Paul Grobstein. 2001. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper1/Johnson.html 8)Simple Networks, Simple Rules: Learning and Creating Categories, by Paul Grobstein. Applet by Bogdan Butoi. 1998. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/complexity/perceptron/learning1.html 9)Reciprocal Altruism: Cooperation Among Animals, by Joan Strassmann. 2000. http://dacnet.rice.edu/courses/bios321/lectures/Class11Recipalthtml/ 10)Free Will? by Paul Grobstein. 2000. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/freewill1.html

The Thriller Like Suspense in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley Essa

The Thriller Like Suspense in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley â€Å"An Inspector Calls is a perfect play. It contains theatrical excitement in the thriller-like suspense of the Inspector’s inquiry; it has a moral message and it is very tightly constructed.† Do you agree with this statement? The play â€Å"An Inspector Calls† was written by J.B Priestly. The play is set in 1912, in the Edwardian Era, in a fictional town called Brumley, an industrial city in the North Midlands. When Priestly wrote the play in 1945, World War II was just ending. The play is set two years before World War I, in 1912, and in the year of the Titanic. In the Edwardian Era, known as the â€Å"Golden Age† for some classes, upper and middle classes led a pleasant life. They had everything they needed and plenty of money. The upper class, which, in the play, includes Mrs Birling, Gerald Croft and his parents, Mr and Mrs Croft, were hardhearted people. The upper class owned factories and businesses and employed the middle class, like Mr Birling, to run them. The working class, like Eva Smith, were the employees who worked for many hours and little pay. The upper class did not work, but were wealthy and many of them were associated with royalty. It was not a â€Å"Golden Age† for the working class though. They had little money and struggled to stay alive due to lack of food and employment. They worked in factories or coalmines owned by the upper class. The entire play is set in one room, the dining room. The play begins with the Birling family, who appear respectable, celebrating the engagement between their daughter, Shelia Birling, and Gerald Croft, when an Inspector calls to question them regarding a suicide incident of a young... ... Shelia, but not at the same time. Gerald, Eric and Mrs Birling do not see the photograph, this is because they knew her by name, but she had several different names. She was known to Gerald as Daisy Renton whereas, Eric knew her as Eva Smith and Mrs Birling said Eva Smith called herself Mrs Birling. The audience is left to wonder why the Inspector has only shown this photograph to two people and whether or not it was the same photograph. This is another clue to the audience to show that he may not be a real Inspector. â€Å"An Inspector Calls† has been a very successful play because it is enjoyable to watch. The play holds the audience’s attention because of the continuous action. The play today continues to be very popular and the moral or message Priestly tries to put across, treat people how you want to be treated, still applies to a modern audience.

Shadow Kiss Chapter 9

Nine WITH SO MANY MOROI tracing their roots back to Eastern Europe, Orthodox Christianity was the dominant religion on campus. Other religions were represented too, and I'd say all in all, only about half of the student body attended any sort of services regularly. Lissa was one such student. She went to church every Sunday because she believed. Christian also attended. He did it because she went and because it made him look good and seem less likely to become Strigoi. Since Strigoi couldn't enter holy ground, regular church service provided a small front of respectability for him. When I wasn't sleeping in, I showed up at church for the social aspect. Lissa and my friends usually hung out and did something fun afterward, so church made for a good meeting spot. If God minded me using his chapel as a way to further my social life, He hadn't let me know. Either that, or He was biding his time before punishing me. When the service ended that Sunday, however, I had to stick around the chapel, because that was where my community service was going to happen. When the place had cleared out, I was surprised to see one other person had lingered with me: Dimitri. â€Å"What are you doing here?† I asked. â€Å"Thought you might need some help. I hear the priest wants to do a lot of housecleaning.† â€Å"Yeah, but you're not the one being punished here. And this is your day off too. We – well, everyone else – spent the whole week battling it out, but you guys were the ones picking the fights the whole time.† In fact, I noticed now that Dimitri had a couple bruises too – though not nearly as many as Stan had. It had been a long week for everyone, and it was only the first of six. â€Å"What else would I do today?† â€Å"I could think of a hundred other things,† I noted dryly. â€Å"There's probably a John Wayne movie on somewhere that you haven't seen.† He shook his head. â€Å"No, there isn't. I've seen them all. Look – the priest is waiting for us.† I turned around. Sure enough. Father Andrew stood at the front, watching us expectantly. He'd taken off the rich robes he'd worn during service and now stood in simple slacks and a button down shirt. He looked like he was ready to work too, and I wondered whatever happened to Sunday being a day of rest. As Dimitri and I approached to get our assignments, I pondered what could have actually made Dimitri stay here in the first place. Surely he hadn't really wanted to work on his day off. I wasn't used to puzzles with him. His intentions were usually straightforward, and I had to assume there was a simple explanation now. It just wasn't clear yet. â€Å"Thank you both for volunteering to help me.† Father Andrew smiled at us. I tried not to scoff at the â€Å"volunteering† reference. He was a Moroi in his late forties, with thinning gray hair. Even without much faith in religion, I still liked and respected him. â€Å"We aren't doing anything particularly complex today,† he continued. â€Å"It's a bit boring, really. We'll have to do the regular cleaning, of course, and then I'd like to sort the boxes of old supplies I have sitting up in the attic.† â€Å"We're happy to do whatever you need,† Dimitri said solemnly. I repressed a sigh and tried not to think of all the other things I could be doing. We set to it. I was put on mop duty, and Dimitri took over dusting and polishing the wooden pews. He appeared thoughtful and intent as he cleaned, looking like he actually took pride in his work. I was still trying to figure out why he was here at all. Don't get me wrong; I was happy to have him. His presence made me feel better, and of course I always loved watching him. I thought maybe he was there to get more information out of me about what had happened that day with Stan, Christian, and Brandon. Or maybe he wanted to chastise me about the other day with Stan, where I'd been accused of jumping into battle for selfish reasons. These seemed like likely explanations, yet he never said a word. Even when the priest stepped out of the sanctuary to go to his office, Dimitri continued working quietly. I would have figured if he'd had anything to say, he would have done it then. When we finished the cleaning, Father Andrew had us haul box after box of stuff down from the attic and into a storeroom at the back of the chapel. Lissa and Christian frequently used that attic as a secret getaway, and I wondered if having it cleaner would be a pro or a con for their romantic interludes. Maybe they would abandon it, and I could start getting some sleep. With all of the stuff downstairs, the three of us settled on the floor and began sorting it all out. Father Andrew gave us instructions on what to save and what to throw out, and it was a relief to be off my feet for a change this week. He made small talk as we worked, asking me about classes and other things. It wasn't so bad. And as we worked, a thought came to me. I'd done a good job convincing myself that Mason had been a delusion brought on by lack of sleep, but getting assurance from an authority figure that ghosts weren't real would go a long way toward making me feel better. â€Å"Hey,† I said to Father Andrew. â€Å"Do you believe in ghosts? I mean, is there any mention of them in – † I gestured around us. † – in this stuff?† The question clearly surprised him, but he didn't appear to take offense at me calling his vocation and life's work â€Å"this stuff.† Or at the fact that I was obviously ignorant about it all, despite seventeen years of sitting through services. A bemused expression crossed his face, and he paused in his work. â€Å"Well †¦ it depends on how you define ‘ghost,' I suppose.† I tapped a theology book with my finger. â€Å"The whole point of this is that when you die, you go to heaven or hell. That makes ghosts just stories, right? They're not in the Bible or anything.† â€Å"Again,† he said, â€Å"it depends on your definition. Our faith has always held that after death, the spirit separates from the body and may indeed linger in this world.† â€Å"What?† A dusty bowl I was holding dropped out of my hand. Fortunately, it was wood and didn't break. I quickly retrieved it. That was not the answer I'd been expecting. â€Å"For how long? Forever?† â€Å"No, no, of course not. That flies in the face of the resurrection and salvation, which form the cornerstone of our beliefs. But it's believed the soul can stay on earth for three to forty days after death. It eventually receives a ‘temporary' judgment that sends it on from this world to heaven or hell – although no one will truly experience either until the actual Judgment Day, when the soul and body are reunited to live out eternity as one.† The salvation stuff was lost on me. The â€Å"three to forty days† was what caught my attention. I completely forgot about my sorting. â€Å"Yeah, but is it true or not? Are spirits really walking the earth for forty days after death?† â€Å"Ah, Rose. Those who have to ask if faith is true are opening up a discussion they may not be ready for.† I had a feeling he was right. I sighed and turned back to the box in front of me. â€Å"But,† he said kindly, â€Å"if it helps you, some of these ideas parallel folk beliefs from Eastern Europe about ghosts that existed before the spread of Christianity. Those traditions have long upheld the idea of spirits staying around for a short time after death – particularly if the person in question died young or violently.† I froze. Whatever progress I'd made in convincing myself Mason had been brought on by stress instantly vanished. Young or violently. â€Å"Why?† I asked in a small voice. â€Å"Why would they stay? Is it†¦ is it for revenge?† â€Å"I'm sure there are some who believe that, just as some believe it's because the soul has trouble finding peace after something so unsettling.† â€Å"What do you believe?† I asked. He smiled. â€Å"I believe the soul separates from the body, just as our fathers teach us, but I doubt the soul's time on earth is anything the living can perceive. It's not like in the movies, with ghosts haunting buildings or coming to visit those they knew. I envision these spirits as more of an energy existing around us, something beyond our perception as they wait to move on and find peace. Ultimately, what matters is what happens beyond this earth when we attain the eternal life our savior bought for us with his great sacrifice. That's what's important.† I wondered if Father Andrew would be so quick to say that if he'd seen what I'd seen. Young or violently. Both had applied to Mason, and he had died less than forty days ago. That sad, sad face came back to me, and I wondered what it had meant. Revenge? Or could he truly not find peace? And how did Father Andrew's theology about heaven and hell fit with someone like me, who had died and come back to life? Victor Dashkov had said I'd gone to the world of the dead and returned when Lissa had healed me. What world of the dead? Was that heaven or hell? Or was it another way of referring to this in-between state on earth that Father Andrew was talking about? I didn't say anything after that, because the idea of a revenge-seeking Mason was so startling. Father Andrew sensed the change in me, but he obviously didn't know what had brought it about. He tried to coax me out. â€Å"I just got some new books in from a friend in another parish. Interesting stories about St. Vladimir.† He tilted his head. â€Å"Are you still interested in him? And Anna?† Theoretically, I was. Until we'd met Adrian, we'd only known of two other spirit users. One was our former teacher, Ms. Karp, who'd gone completely nuts from spirit and become a Strigoi to stop the madness. The other person was St. Vladimir, the school's namesake. He'd lived centuries ago and had brought his guardian, Anna, back from the dead, just as Lissa had me. It had made Anna shadow-kissed and created a bond between them too. Normally, Lissa and I tried to get our hands on everything we could about Anna and Vlad, in order to learn more about ourselves. But, as incredible as it was for me to admit, I had bigger problems right now than the ever-present and ever-puzzling psychic link between Lissa and me. It had just been trumped by a ghost who could possibly be pissed off over my role in his untimely death. â€Å"Yeah,† I said evasively, not making eye contact. â€Å"I'm interested†¦but I don't think I can get to it anytime soon. I'm kind of busy with all this†¦you know, field experience stuff.† I fell silent again. He took the hint and let me work on without further interruption. Dimitri never said a word throughout any of this. When we finally finished sorting, Father Andrew told us we had one more task before our work was done. He pointed to some boxes that we'd organized and repacked. â€Å"I need you to carry these over to the elementary campus,† he said. â€Å"Leave them off at the Moroi dorm there. Ms. Davis has been teaching Sunday school for some of the kindergartners and might be able to use those.† It would take at least two trips between Dimitri and me, and the elementary campus was a fair distance away. Still, that put me one step closer to freedom. â€Å"Why are you interested in ghosts?† Dimitri asked me on our first trip. â€Å"Just making conversation,† I said. â€Å"I can't see your face right now, but I have a feeling you're lying again.† â€Å"Jeez, everyone thinks the worst of me lately. Stan accused me of glory-seeking.† â€Å"I heard about that,† said Dimitri, as we rounded a corner. The buildings of the elementary campus loomed up in front of us. â€Å"That might have been a little unfair of him.† â€Å"A little, huh?† Hearing him admit that thrilled me, but it didn't change my anger against Stan. That dark, grouchy feeling that had plagued me lately sprang to life. â€Å"Well, thanks, but I'm starting to lose faith in this field experience. Sometimes in the whole Academy.† â€Å"You don't mean that.† â€Å"I don't know. The school just seems so caught up in rules and policies that don't have anything to do with real life. I saw what was out there, comrade. I went right to the monster's lair. In some ways †¦ I don't know if this really prepares us.† I expected him to argue, but to my surprise he said, â€Å"Sometimes I agree.† I nearly stumbled as we stepped inside one of the two Moroi dorms on the elementary campus. The lobby looked a lot like the ones on the secondary campus. â€Å"Really?† I asked. â€Å"Really,† he said, a small smile on his face. â€Å"I mean, I don't agree that novices should be put out in the world when they're ten or anything, but sometimes I've thought the field experience should actually be in the field. I probably learned more in my first year as a guardian than I did in all my years of training. Well†¦ maybe not all. But it's a different situation, absolutely.† We exchanged looks, pleased over our agreement. Something warm fluttered up in me, putting the lid on my earlier anger. Dimitri understood my frustration with the system, but then, Dimitri understood me. He glanced around, but there was no one at the desk. A few students in their early teens were working or talking in the lobby. â€Å"Oh,† I said, shifting the weight of the box I held. â€Å"We're in the middle school dorm. The younger kids are next door.† â€Å"Yes, but Ms. Davis lives in this building. Let me try to find her and see where she wants these.† He set his box down carefully. â€Å"I'll be right back.† I watched him go and set my own box down. Leaning against a wall, I glanced around and nearly jumped when I saw a Moroi girl only a couple feet away. She'd been standing so perfectly still, I hadn't noticed her. She looked like she could be mid-teens – thirteen or fourteen – but she was tall, much taller than me. The slimness of her Moroi build made her look even taller. Her hair was a cloud of brown curls, and she had freckles – rare among the normally pale Moroi – across her face. Her eyes widened when she saw me looking at her. â€Å"Oh. My. God. You're Rose Hathaway, aren't you?† â€Å"Yeah,† I said with surprise. â€Å"Do you know me?† â€Å"Everyone knows you. I mean, everyone heard about you. You're the one who ran away. And then you came back and killed those Strigoi. That is so cool. Did you get molnija marks?† Her words came out in one long string. She hardly took a breath. â€Å"Yeah. I have two.† Thinking about the tiny tattoos on the back of my neck made my skin itch. Her pale green eyes – if possible – grew wider. â€Å"Oh my God. Wow.† I usually grew irate when people made a big deal about the molnija marks. After all, the circumstances had not been cool. But this girl was young, and there was something appealing about her. â€Å"What's your name?† I asked. â€Å"Jillian – Jill. I mean, just Jill. Not both. Jillian's my full name. Jill's what everyone calls me.† â€Å"Right,† I said, hiding a smile. â€Å"I figured it out.† â€Å"I heard Moroi used magic on that trip to fight. Is that true? I would love to do that. I wish someone would teach me. I use air. Do you think I could fight Strigoi with that? Everyone says I'm crazy.† For centuries, Moroi using magic to fight had been viewed as a sin. Everyone believed it should be used peacefully. Recently, some had started to question that, particularly after Christian had proved useful in the Spokane escape. â€Å"I don't know,† I said. â€Å"You should talk to Christian Ozera.† She gaped. â€Å"Would he talk to me?† â€Å"If you bring up fighting the establishment, yeah, he'll talk to you.† â€Å"Okay, cool. Was that Guardian Belikov?† she asked, switching subjects abruptly. â€Å"Yeah.† I swore I thought she might faint then and there. â€Å"Really? He's even cuter than I heard. He's your teacher, right? Like, your own personal teacher?† â€Å"Yeah.† I wondered where he was. Talking to Jill was exhausting. â€Å"Wow. You know, you guys don't even act like teacher and student. You seem like friends. Do you hang out when you're not training?† â€Å"Er, well, kind of. Sometimes.† I remembered my earlier thoughts, about how I was one of the few people Dimitri was social with outside of his guardian duties. â€Å"I knew it! I can't even imagine that – I'd be freaking out all the time around him. I'd never get anything done, but you're so cool about it all, kind of like, ‘Yeah, I'm with this totally hot guy, but whatever, it doesn't matter.'† I laughed in spite of myself. â€Å"I think you're giving me more credit than I deserve.† â€Å"No way. And I don't believe any of those stories, you know.† â€Å"Um, stories?† â€Å"Yeah, about you beating up Christian Ozera.† â€Å"Thanks,† I said. Now rumors of my humiliation were trickling down to the lower campus. If I walked over to the elementary dorms, some six-year-old would probably tell me she'd heard that I killed Christian. Jill's expression turned momentarily uncertain. â€Å"But I didn't know about the other story.† â€Å"What other story?† â€Å"About how you and Adrian Ivashkov are – â€Å" â€Å"No,† I interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest. â€Å"Whatever you heard, it's not true.† â€Å"But it was really romantic.† â€Å"Then it's definitely not true.† Her face fell, and then she perked back up a few seconds later. â€Å"Hey, can you teach me to punch someone?† â€Å"Wai – What? Why would you want to know that?† â€Å"Well, I figure if I'm going to fight with magic someday, I should learn to fight the regular way too.† â€Å"I'm probably not the right person to ask,† I told her. â€Å"Maybe you should, um, ask your P.E. teacher.† â€Å"I did!† Her face looked distraught. â€Å"And he said no.† I couldn't help but laugh. â€Å"I was joking about asking him.† â€Å"Come on, it could help me fight a Strigoi someday.† My laughter dried up. â€Å"No, it really wouldn't.† She bit her lip, still desperate to convince me. â€Å"Well, it would at least help against that psycho.† â€Å"What? What psycho?† â€Å"People keep getting beat up around here. Last week it was Dane Zeklos, and just the other day it was Brett.† â€Å"Dane †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I ran through my knowledge of Moroi genealogy. There were a gazillion Zeklos students around. â€Å"That's Jesse's younger brother, yeah?† Jill nodded. â€Å"Yup. One of our teachers was so mad, too, but Dane wouldn't say a word. Neither would Brett.† â€Å"Brett who?† â€Å"Ozera.† I did a double take. â€Å"Ozera?† I had the impression she was really excited to tell me things I didn't know. â€Å"He's my friend Aimee's boyfriend. He was all bruised up yesterday – had some weird things that looked like welts, too. Maybe burns? But he wasn't as bad as Dane. And when Mrs. Callahan asked him about it, Brett convinced her it was nothing, and she let it go, which was weird. He was also in a really good mood – which was also weird, since you'd kind of think getting beat up would bring you down.† Somewhere in the back of my mind, her words tickled a memory. There was some connection I should be making, but I couldn't quite grasp it. Between Victor, ghosts, and the field experiences, it was honestly a wonder I could string words together anymore. â€Å"So can you teach me so that I won't get beat up?† Jill asked, clearly hoping she'd convinced me. She balled her fist up. â€Å"I just do this, right? Thumb across the fingers and swing?† â€Å"Uh, well, it's a little more complicated than that. You need to stand a certain way, or you'll hurt yourself more than the other person. There are a lot of things you need to do with your elbows and hips.† â€Å"Show me, please?† she begged. â€Å"I bet you're really good.† I was really good, but corrupting minors was one offense I didn't yet have on my record, and I preferred to keep it that way. Fortunately, Dimitri came back just then with Ms. Davis. â€Å"Hey,† I told him. â€Å"I have someone who wants to meet you. Dimitri, this is Jill. Jill, Dimitri.† He looked surprised, but he smiled and shook her hand. She turned bright red and became speechless for a change. As soon as he released her hand, she stammered out a goodbye and ran off. We finished up with Ms. Davis and headed back toward the chapel for our second load. â€Å"Jill knew who I was,† I told Dimitri as we walked. â€Å"She had kind of a hero-worship thing going on.† â€Å"Does that surprise you?† he asked. â€Å"That younger students would look up to you?† â€Å"I don't know. I just never thought about it. I don't think I'm that good of a role model.† â€Å"I disagree. You're outgoing, dedicated, and excel at everything you do. You've earned more respect than you think.† I gave him a sidelong glance. â€Å"And yet not enough to go to Victor's trial, apparently.† â€Å"Not this again.† â€Å"Yes, this again! Why don't you get how major this is? Victor's a huge threat.† â€Å"I know he is.† â€Å"And if he gets loose, he'll just start in on his crazy plans again.† â€Å"It's really unlikely he will get loose, you know. Most of those rumors about the queen letting him off are just that – rumors. You of all people should know not to believe everything you hear.† I stared stonily ahead, refusing to acknowledge his point. â€Å"You should still let us go. Or† – I took a deep breath – â€Å"you should at least let Lissa go.† It was harder for me to say those words than it should have been, but it was something I'd been thinking about. I didn't think I was a glory seeker like Stan had said, but there was a part of me that always wanted to be the one in the middle of a fight. I wanted to rush forward, doing what was right and helping others. Likewise, I wanted to be there at Victor's trial. I wanted to look him in the eye and make sure he was punished. But as time went on, it seemed less likely that that would happen. They really weren't going to let us go. Maybe, though, maybe they'd let one of us go, and if it should be anyone, it should be Lissa. She'd been the target of Victor's plan, and though her going alone stirred up that nervous idea about how maybe she didn't need me to guard her, I'd still rather take the chance and see him put away. Dimitri, understanding my need to rush in and take action, seemed surprised by my unusual behavior. â€Å"You're right – she should be there, but again, it's nothing I can do anything about. You keep thinking I can control this, but I can't.† â€Å"But did you do everything you could?† I thought back to Adrian's words in the dream, about how Dimitri could have done more. â€Å"You have a lot of influence. There must be something. Anything.† â€Å"Not as much influence as you think. I've got a high position here at the Academy, but in the rest of the guardian world, I'm still pretty young. And yes, I did actually speak up for you.† â€Å"Maybe you should have spoken up louder.† I could sense him shutting down. He'd discuss most things reasonably but wouldn't encourage me when I was just being a bitch. So, I tried to be more reasonable. â€Å"Victor knows about us,† I said. â€Å"He could say something.† â€Å"Victor has bigger things to worry about with this trial than us.† â€Å"Yeah, but you know him. He doesn't exactly act like a normal person would. If he feels like he's lost all hope of getting off, he might decide to bust us just for the sake of revenge.† I'd never been able to confess my relationship with Dimitri to Lissa, yet our worst enemy knew about it. It was weirder even than Adrian knowing. Victor had figured it out by watching us and gathering data. I guess when you're a scheming villain, you get good at that stuff. He'd never made the knowledge public, though. Instead, he'd used it against us with the lust charm he'd made from earth magic. A charm like that wouldn't work if there wasn't already attraction in place. The charm just cranked things up. Dimitri and I had been all over each other and had been only a heartbeat away from having sex. It had been a pretty smart way for Victor to distract us without using violence. If anyone had tried to attack us, we could have put up a good fight. But turn us loose on each other? We had trouble fighting that. Dimitri was silent for several moments. I knew he knew I had a point. â€Å"Then we'll have to deal with that as best we can,† he said at last. â€Å"But if Victor's going to tell, he's going to do it whether or not you testify.† I refused to say anything else until we got to the church. When we did, Father Andrew told us that after going over some more things, he'd decided he really only needed one more box brought over to Ms. Davis. â€Å"I'll do it,† I told Dimitri crisply, once the priest was out of earshot. â€Å"You don't have to come.† â€Å"Rose, please don't make a big deal about this.† â€Å"It is a big deal!† I hissed. â€Å"And you don't seem to get it.† â€Å"I do get it. Do you really think I want to see Victor loose? Do you think I want us all at risk again?† It was the first time in a long time I'd seen his control on the verge of snapping. â€Å"But I told you, I've done all I can do. I'm not like you – I can't keep making a scene when things don't go my way.† â€Å"I do not.† â€Å"You're doing it right now.† He was right. Some part of me knew I'd crossed a line †¦ but just like with everything else recently, I couldn't stop talking. â€Å"Why did you even help me today?† I demanded. â€Å"Why are you here?† â€Å"Is that so strange?† he asked. He almost looked hurt. â€Å"Yes. I mean, are you are you trying to spy on me? Figure out why I messed up? Make sure I don't get into any trouble?† He studied me, brushing hair out of his eyes. â€Å"Why does there have to be some ulterior motive?† I wanted to blurt out a hundred different things. Like, if there wasn't a motive, then that meant he just wanted to spend time with me. And that made no sense, because we both knew we were only supposed to have a teacher-student relationship. He of all people should know that. He was the one who'd told me. â€Å"Because everyone has motives.† â€Å"Yes. But not always the motives you think.† He pushed open the door. â€Å"I'll see you later.† I watched him go, my feelings a tangle of confusion and anger. If the situation hadn't been so strange, I would have almost said it was like we'd just gone on a date.

Pros and Cons of Social Networks Essay

I bet that if I go onto Facebook or Twitter right now, I could find almost every one of you on there. When someone says â€Å"social network,† the first site to come to your mind is Facebook, right? Facebook is now the most identifiable social network, and according to Facebook statistics it’s recently reached over 300 million active users. Combined worldwide, they all spend over six billion minutes online every day. I got most of my information about social networking from facts on file. A statistic from the Pew Internet Project’s research on social networking found that as of December 2012, 67% on online adults use social networking sites. The earlier social networks, such as Friendster. com and myspace. com, started in the early 2000’s, and since then they’ve become very popular and even more sites have emerged. There are many effects and uses for social networks, and many people have different opinions on them so today I’m going to share those with you. Let’s see what supporters admire about social networks. Supporters say that social media and networking sites have changed the way that we communicate for the better. see more:social networking and young generation They say that with all the different possibilities it’s much easier to keep in touch with family, friends, and colleagues. If someone was tired of emailing or simply chatting, they could use Skype, which is a software application that allows users to make voice or video calls over the Internet. Social networks can also provide a way for people to express themselves, through forums, Internet messaging boards, or by creating their own blogs that others can comment and post on too. Through social networks people can also make friends more easily by connecting with others who have similar interests. It’s become a daily habit for us to sign into our favorite social networks, so that whenever we get the chance to do so, it seems to relax us. A large and important impact of social networks, however, is its ability to raise awareness and keep everyone throughout the world informed. Reading about current events isn’t limited to the newspapers anymore, now news sites and social networks are constantly updating us with the latest information. We can learn about natural disasters that strike all over the world and learn what we can do here to help. If any of you are on Facebook, I’m sure you’ve seen popular pages posting pictures of someone’s sad life story, some asking for prayers and others asking for recognition for one’s actions or heartbreaking life. As you all know, when MaKayla passed away, her friends and family worked endlessly to gain the attention of her hero, LeBron James. Through Facebook and Twitter her memorial page has received almost 8,000 likes and grabbed the attention of Packers player, Clay Matthews. He helped to raise awareness by asking people to tweet to LeBron to obtain any sort of recognition from her hero. With everyone’s help from social networks in the end, that goal was accomplished. Seeming to be on the more old-fashioned side, government officials are even getting into the networking hype. They’re using them to help get ahead in the polls, connect with voters and find out their opinions as a mass. In 2011, President Barack Obama tweeted the following message, as seen on the smartboard. Included in this tweet was a short video with tributes from his 2008 supporters. Today, he still tweets asking for the public’s opinions on controversies and issues. These points make you think that social networks are all good; however, people who oppose them have quite different opinions. Opponents argue that social media and networking sites are ruining how we communicate and that it can only get worse as time goes on. The rise of social networks has also coincided with an erosion of the quality of conversation. MIT psychology professor Sherry Turkle says, â€Å"As we ramp up the volume and velocity of online connections, we start to expect faster answers. To get these, we ask one another simpler questions; we dumb down our communications, even on the most important matters. Comedian and commentator Dean Obeidallah writes for CNN saying that social media is turning Americans into â€Å"the laziest generation† yet. Companies and businesses are using social networks to advertise and promote themselves, so if you’re applying for a job with a company or business, they could check your own profile to see what you’ve been posting. If someone were to be tagged in some inappropriate pictures, companies might see them and it could ultimately cost you the job. Social networks can also be very dangerous. Con artists have been known to create scams via emails, and now they’re trying to take your money using social networks. Because social networks let you create your own profile, some people decide to put in fake information and photos. So you never really know if the person you’re talking to is real or not. Bullying now isn’t restricted to throwing hits and talking smack face-to-face. Networking sites have unfortunately made it much easier to tease others, and now cyber-bullying and harassment has become a major problem. An article from the periodical Educational Leadership has said that cyber-bullying is focused on students and teenagers, and that it can cause severe mental, emotional, and sometimes even physical pain. An anonymous 17 year old from New Jersey said, â€Å"When I was being cyberbullied I felt like I wanted to never go out of the house or talk to anyone ever again. It led me to depression, and the person who was bullying me †¦believed that it was funny. † Now that I’ve gone over all of my points, let’s review the pros and cons of social networks. Along with helping us make new friends, they can help us keep in touch and communicate with our family and friends. They are also very useful in connecting officials to the public and helping us learn about how we can help make a difference in charities or fundraising events. However, with the convenience of online chatting, real face-to-face conversations are eroding. With the anonymity of peoples’ identities, it can be dangerous to talk to strangers. As we’ve seen, there are both positive and negative effects of social networks on us, but depending on how we use them is how we allow them to impact our lives. With all of the advancements in technology, social networks will become more prominent in everyday lives. It’s still likely, in one form or another, that social networks will continue to grow and evolve.

Dramatism and Meet the Parents Essay

The theory of Burke’s dramatism provides another view of rhetoric analysis of symbolisms that have been utilized in the film. With this, the theory analyzes human relations, culture-usage, lingual properties, and the intentions and motives present within the act. The theory of dramatism by Kenneth Burke applies to the philosophical grounds of the movie, Meet the Parents. Hence, within this study, the main aim is to apply the theoretical concepts of Kenneth Burke in analyzing the proposed film, Meet the Parents. The theory presents itself in number of different arguments and contents. With the very concept of Burke presented in the theory of dramatism that states, â€Å"life is a stage where the drama continues†, he has proposed five components that guide the analysis of human intentions, culture and other symbols present within the drama. Burke contends that every act in every given scene should possess the appropriate purpose. He further emphasizes these subtheoretical components in his dramatism pentad. Within the film of â€Å"Meet the Parents†, various concepts of Burke’s theory have been portrayed. Under this theory, Burke bases the analysis under the concepts of philosophy and symbolical criticisms. From the angles of Greg Focker and her girl friend Pam Byrnes together with her family and relatives, each component of dramatism pentad forms an interacting drama throughout the film. In this study, the film is analyzed through the different components of Burke’s theory, namely: the dramatism pentad, and the implications of human relations, culture and language. Discussion Theoretical Explanation of Kenneth Burke’s Theory of Dramatism Dramatisim Methodology The concept of dramatism involves the concept of Shakespearian idealism of â€Å"world stage† wherein it considers the realistic events or practical applications of real life scenario. As for Kenneth Burke, the theoretical framework considers the world as a drama wherein real-life scenarios are placed into a theatrical presentation. The methodology of dramatism incorporates analysis and reviewing of human relations and their motives. As supported by the Gusfield (1989), dramatism is designed to show that the most direct route to the study of human relations and human motives is via a methodical inquiry into cycles or clusters of terms and their functions (p. 135). Under this consideration, the study identifies the function of dramatism framework as an approach in emphasizing the act of language symbolism that illustrates the conception of man and of human relations. The dramatism methodology is an ideal point of perspective to analyze human acts, relations, and motives in the subjects of philosophy, political science, economics, religion, literature and arts. Upon implementation, the theory suggests the importance of determining of the following variables in order to analyze the components of human acts, relations, and motives: these are speech used, the writing, and the artistic styles present. According to the book of Kennedy (1989), Burke exercises his dramatism primarily upon acts that produces written texts, although he approaches all human actions as essentially dramatic and active, having a dynamic and being analyzable in the same terms (p. 100). Even with a static and immutable character of a play, the theory of dramatism considers the presence of dynamic, changeable and elusive components that maybe present within such plays. The dramatism form of analysis considers the inquiries: â€Å"what are involved in the play? What are the people doing in it? And, why are they doing these acts? † (with this, the pentad form of analysis can be considered). Burke’s dramatism analyzes the content and thoughts of the drama though philosophical and conceptual framework. Dramatism is commonly placed alongside classical rhetoric and tagmemics as one of the standard heuristic methods of invention. The analogy of Burke’s argument provides the thought that in every actions human make, there is always an incorporation of motives or intentions. Through critical analysis under the components of pentad, these motives of actions can be revealed. Under the concept of how drama proceeds, Burke considers the need for participants in order to establish the act. The theory of dramatism considers the human world as the continued version of what has occurred in a drama; hence, calling this perspective as the rhetoric of drama. According to Styan (1992), Burke holds that man tries to control and humanize his world by means of symbolism. Symbols and symbolic structures in art are not only typically human, but all forms of symbolism must be derived ultimately from the senses (p. 4). Burke believes that the concept of symbolism can be applied in the context of human intentions like the ones present in the theatrical drama presentations. It is not surprising since his concepts are very much related to the belief that reality is just the continuity of the drama. With these principles of dramatism methodology, he has proposed five components to instruct the appropriate pattern analyzing given subjects under the concept of dramatism. Dramatism Pentad: Personalization and Depersonalization The concept of Burke ties the two perspectives of personalization and depersonalization. Burke is considering the subject of personification as part of the theatrical drama. These components should be considered in the dramatization method as well. In addition, the theory of dramatization incorporates the ideas of act, agent, scene, agency and purpose that are all incorporated to the aspects of personification. According to Krasner and Saltz (2006), dramatism is not limited in a spatial sense, as if there were one sphere to which it can be comfortably applied and a second sphere from which it should be kept away (p. 53). With this, the theoretical framework of Burke does not consider the non-personal components under the act, agent, scene, agency and purpose; hence, he has conceptualized the idea of non-dramatist. The concept of non-dramatist is limited compared to the dramatist personification, which gives birth to the concept of outer limit in a double term scene. Within the aspect of personalization, the concept of dramatism centers into critical observation of the drama’s five components: act, agent, scene, agency and purpose. In order for an act to appear, an agent must be present to perform this act within the coverage of scene. In order to facilitate and implement the acting within the scene, the agent needs to utilize various agencies that should enable the requirements of acting. The full realization of the act is then realized by providing the appropriate and pre-determined purpose within the act. The five elements that composed the theoretical foundation of dramatism are known as the â€Å"dramatism pentad†. In every term of the pentad, significant type of analysis can be employed through the means of ratio, such as â€Å"Scene-Act Ratio† or the â€Å"Scene-agent ratio†, which interlinks different variables present in the pentad (Kennedy, 1989 p. 100). In Burke’s dramatism pentad, every component should always be present in every given act in order to acquire significance and utility. In the perspective of dramatism, these pentad components are related and form part of the entire thought of the given drama; hence, every component is associated to one another. Human Interaction: Language and Culture The theory of dramatism emphasizes the use of language in facilitating communication and interaction. In addition, the theory understands the social actors possess different cultural and language variations that need to be considered in interaction. As according to Emmelman (2003), Burke’s dramatism considers the angles of cultural domains and language systems under the social actors that behave according to their cultural and social hierarchies (p. 5). The concept of theoretical Dramatism has been considered part of the influential modern rhetoric that attracted sufficient adherents and influenced the conditions of rhetoric in the twenty-first century. As according to Burke’s definition, the concept of Dramatism is a method of analysis and a corresponding critique of terminology designed to show that the most direct route to the study of human relations and human motives is via methodical inquiry into cycles or clusters of terms and their functions is a loosely constructed theory (Benoit, Hample and Benoit, 1992 p. 279). Burke in his theory considers man as an animal that is characterized by symbolic action that identifies itself within the context of language use. Burke considers language, cultural origin and the history of the agent as important symbolisms that provide the message and theme of the drama. Theoretical Application in the Film â€Å"Meet the Parents† Film Overview With the overview of the film, the study obtains the elements portraying the possible parts of the dramatism analysis. The story of â€Å"Meet the Parents† revolves in the two characters Greg Focker and her girlfriend, Pam Byrnes. The couple is actually planning to have their wedding the soonest possible time; hence, as part of tradition, Focker tries to foster some sort of familial attachments to his fiance’s family. In doing so, Focker has been confronted by the relatives of Byrne, including his fiance’s ex-boyfriend and the annoying cat. Being a type of family that is over-protective and amazingly paranoid, Pam’s family intensively tests the credibility of Focker as the rightful man for their daughter. The protagonist is somehow confronted by the Byrneses’ interrogative actions towards him. Unfortunately, the father of Pam, Jack Byrnes, has been part of the CIA investigatory team, who somehow brought Focker in the extensive examination. Despite of the troublesome scenario that Focker is facing, he is aware that this is all part of the test in order to acquire the hands of Pam. Hence, he is determined to do all his best to please and establish a good image towards his family. However, with his frequent attempts, Focker always ends up being ignored or placed in a more complicated scenario. In the film, Focker has realized the virtue that he learned from Jack, which is the Circle of Trust. This idea has facilitated the value and resolution between the courting and doubting parties. Within the circle, Focker and Jack are able to foster trust and relationship that in the end paved the way for another task, which is to meet the Fockers. In the concept of dramatism, the ending of the film provides a notion of practical continuity of the drama. Application of Dramatism Pentad Act In application of the first level of the dramatism theory, the act component presented in the film institutes the element of family versus couple’s plan of marriage. This is a typical scenario in the reality setting wherein the male is confronted by interrogations of family members, which is most commonly from the woman’s side. In this category, the main act of Jack Byrne is to initially counter the desire of Focker to marry their daughter, Pam. On the other hand, the act of Focker is to pursue the reward, that he wants to claim, which is his marriage to Pam. Despite of his efforts and negative impression towards the family of Pam, Focker manages to build some sense of rapport towards the family of Byrnes, while Jack uses this as an advantage for further his investigation on Focker’s identity and intention. The overall act of the film does not actually revolve in a quarrel between the woman’s family against Greg Focker, but rather, the act only shows the attitude of over-protectiveness of the family and tradition that they are following. Agent The agents presented within the film, mainly Greg Focker, Pam Byrnes and Jack Byrnes, facilitates the act. These characters possess different roles and perspectives in terms of rightful marriage and the obligations of establishing a relationship. The agent Focker possesses the personality of perseverance and focus in his goal for marriage. Pam Byrnes, on the other hand, has acquired the role of a clueless fiance in terms of the dispute occurring between her father and Greg. Lastly, the agent Jack Byrnes serves as the main antagonist of the film that facilitates the act of examining Focker’s credentials and candidacy for their daughter. Scene The scene of the film involves the two parties, the Focker and Byrnes, under the traditional setting of family introduction prior to marriage. The scenario in the film provides the aspect of human relationships and the type of culture being employed within the film itself. Somehow, the scenes provide an idealistic perspective on what men and women should do prior to marriage. However, within the context of the film, the incorporation of exaggerations (e. g. the examinations instituted by Jack, the character backgrounds employed within the film – Jack being CIA, etc. ) have given the scene some property of comedy out of the tradition theme that it aims to portray. Hence, the scene of the movie provides the traditional content in a comedy approach, which is facilitated by the agents present in the film. Agency As with the theory of dramatism, the component of agency facilitates the means for the agents to implement their acts. Within the novel, there are three possible agencies that have been utilized in order to illustrate the act of the three main agents: (a) For Greg, he is able to facilitate his act as the one being scrutinized by his’ fiance’s family by his decision of meeting the Byrne family; (b) For Pam, she is able to facilitate her act of being the clueless fiance by her distinct attachment towards Greg (being his fiance) and Jack (being the favorite of her father), which has given her the idea that everything is getting smooth with the two of them; (c) lastly, Jack earns his role of being the detective of her daughter’s fiance, which has been facilitated through his background of being under the CIA profession. Purpose As per analysis of the overall plot of the story, the story illustrates its very purpose by conveying the message of how the traditional scenario should be for a family introduction in couples who are planning to get married. Somehow, the story incorporates th e sense of comedy for the sake of entertainment. It has utilized some sorts of exaggerations in the characters of Jack and Greg in order to provide the aspect of their theme of comedy. Meanwhile, the message of the story is the tradition of marriage wherein the family, most especially the father of the woman, scrutinizes the man before he allows his daughter to be married. It may sometimes be as complex as shown in the movie but not that exaggerated since the movie somehow incorporates almost impossible events. Application of Human Relations, Culture and Language In application of the other concepts of the theory, the components of human relations, culture and language are illustrated in diverse forms within the story. Evidently, the form employed by the film to demonstrate human relations is by the multi-links present between Greg Focker and the Byrne family. Meanwhile, the culture presented in the film is the traditional concept of marriage employed by American from the past up until today. Lastly, to further agree with the traditions and culture the film have presented, the lingual use of American English – between the colloquial (Focker) and Byrnes (Formal) – has somehow provided a realistic features for the two opposing parties in the film. Conclusion In the conclusion of this study, the discussion has included the theoretical frameworks of dramatism by Kenneth Burke and the film Meet the Parents. The thesis of the study subjects the application of Burke’s theory of dramatism to the film Meet the Parents. As per the discussion of the theory, the concept of dramatism has involved different subcomponents that serve as guide in analyzing the human intentions, cultural background and lingual properties of the drama. The theory of dramatism moves in the idea of Shakespearean thought of the world as a stage; hence, it has provided five subcomponents to guide the critical analysis of a drama under the rhetoric philosophy. These five subcomponents involve act, agent, scene, agency and purpose, which are all interrelated and should be present in any given drama. As per application of the theory in the given film, Meet the Parents is able to acquire all these subcomponents mainly through the character symbolisms of Greg Focker, Pam Byrne and Jack Byrne. The act of the film involves the argument between the two parties due to the decision of marriage by Greg and Pam. As part of the traditional American culture in the ideal family scenery, the film has incorporated the need for family introduction prior to marriage. However, with the diverse agencies present in the characters, the act of employing intensive examination towards the male has been portrayed. Although, the film has incorporated some aspects of exaggerations for the sake of entertainment and comedy, it was still able to relay its purpose in the message of how an American family of the female treats male whenever a family introduction is initiated. Reference Benoit, W. L. , Hample, D. , & Benoit, P. J. (1992). Readings in Argumentation. Walter de Gruyter. Emmelman, D. S. (2003). Justice for the Poor: A Study of Criminal Defense Work. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Gusfield, J. R. (1989). On symbols and society. University of Chicago Press. Kennedy, M. (1989). Theorizing Composition: A Critical Sourcebook of Theory and Scholarship in Contemporary Compositions. Greenwood Publishing Group. Krasner, D. S. , & Saltz, D. (2006). Staging Philosophy: Intersections of Theater, Performance, and Philosophy. University of Michigan Press. Styan, J. L. (1992). Modern Drama in Theory and Practice. Cambridge University Press.

Merger, Acquisition, and International Strategies Essay

* For the corporation that has acquired another company, merged with another company, or been acquired by another company, evaluate the strategy that led to the merger or acquisition to determine whether or not this merger or acquisition was a wise choice. Justify your opinion. Coca-Cola Company history originated in 1886 when the â€Å"curiosity of an Atlanta pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton, led him to create a distinctive tasting soft drink that could be sold at soda fountains† (Coca Cola History, 2013, para. 1). He generated flavored syrup, took it to his neighborhood pharmacy, â€Å"where it was mixed with carbonated water and deemed â€Å"excellent† by those who sampled it† (Coca Cola History, 2013, para. 1). Dr. Pemberton’s partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, is credited with â€Å"naming the beverage â€Å"CocaCola† as well as designing the trademarked, distinct script, still used today† (Coca Cola History, 2013, para. 1). The Coca-Cola Company is not just an average beverage company. The Company owns/licenses and markets in excess of 500 nonalcoholic beverage products, mostly sparkling beverages but also a assortment of still beverages, for instance; â€Å"waters, boosted waters (for example, Oasis, Powerade and Vitamin Water), juices and juice drinks (for example, Minute Maid and Five Alive), ready-to-drink teas and coffees, and energy and sports drinks† (Coca Cola History, 2013, para. 5). Coca Cola most popular nonalcoholic sparkling beverage brands are Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Dr. Pepper and Schweppes which they market worldwide. Coca Cola Company has a market capitalization of â€Å"$177.48 billion and is the largest company in the Food and Beverage sector† (Coca Cola Company, 2013, para.1). Whether you’re out shopping, working in the office or the gym, ZICO Pure Premium Coconut Water delivers the natural replenishment you require to renew. As of November, 2013 â⠂¬Å"Coca-Cola Company and ZICO Beverages LLC announced that Coca Cola has acquired the outstanding ownership stake in ZICO† (Coca Cola Acquires, 2013, para. 1). The merger will unlock more â€Å"capability for ZICO including marketing, selling,  manufacturing, innovation and distribution opportunities† (Coca Cola Acquires, 2013, para. 1). Not only will this merger benefit ZICO, but the Coca Cola Company will gain a top position in one of the fastest rising beverage categories in the world. This final move concludes the relationship that began in 2009 when Coca-Cola’s Venturing and Emerging Brands (VEB) business unit first invested in ZICO. In 2012, the Coca Cola Company acquired a bulk stake in the brand. And earlier this year, ZICO took its home on the unique red Coca-Cola trucks to be circulated throughout the U.S. and Canada. When Coca Cola initially invested in ZICO, they did so because they saw it as a â€Å"burgeoning premium brand with the potential to be significant leader in a high growth category† (Coca Cola Acquires, 2013, para. 4). Over the past 4 year, Coca Cola has observed the coconut water industry spea r revenue impressively and gain household penetration. ZICO itself solidified its place as one of the primary brands in the coconut water industry. With this acquisition, Coca Cola plans to modernize all characteristics of the consumer experience and intensify both rate and delivery to place ZICO at the top and continue even more growth within the company. * For the corporation that has not been involved in any mergers or acquisitions, identify one (1) company that would be a profitable candidate for the corporation to acquire or merger with and explain why this company would be a profitable target. Grocery shopping is more difficult and complex than ever before. Today’s customers are more health mindful than customers of the past. Customers are more prone to buy specialty foods over the old-style foods their parents bought. Customers across the country have access to everything from bizarre products to exclusive delivery services. Specialty grocery stores have grown in attractiveness to customers, but the main issue is that often specialty stores have restricted locations which in turn limits their reach to customers. Whole Food’s Market and Trader Joe’s are two specialty grocery stores who have increased locations to the hundreds while adhering to an unforeseen market standing for formerly untargeted market segment. Trader Joe’s operates over 340 stores in 9 states were they â€Å"buy direct from suppliers whenever possible, bargain hard to get the best prices and then pass the savings on to the customer† (Trader Joe’s, 2013, para. 4). Whole Food’s Market is the â€Å"world’s leader in natural and organic foods, with more than 360 stores in North America and the United  Kingdom† (Whole Food, 2013, para 2). Trader Joe’s and Whole Food’s Market have managed to take original ideas and spread them throughout the nation to many different customers. Although they differ not only in the technique in which they decide to bring products to their customers but also in term of inventory management and supply chain organization. These tw o companies have become so successful in my opinion, not by what they differ in but what they have most in common, which is their commitment to their loyal customers, employees and undeniable quality in their products they sell. Through their loyalty to their customers and employees in addition to their irreplaceable value proportion, both companies have effectively succeeded to upturn the grocery industry and have forced outdated grocery stores and its customers to reexamine their descriptions of what institutes a positive customer experience. The merger of Trader Joe’s and Whole Food’s Market would be lucrative to both companies since Whole Food’s Market is now international, they can allow Trader Joe’s access to an international market. Whereas Trader Joe’s offers unbelievable quality, but has a poor assortment of products, Whole Food’s Market will help offer both a great assortment as well as excellence of products. * For the corporation that operates internationally, briefly evaluate its international business-level strategy and international corporate-level strategy and make recommendations for improvement. Most customers have high hopes when buying a good or a service. As a general rule, it seems that most customers want to pay a low price for products with rather highly distinguished features. Because of these customers’ expectations, a number of firms, like Coca Cola, â€Å"actively engage in primary value chain activities and support functions that allow a firm to simultaneously purse low cost and differentiation† (Hitt, 2013, pg. 120), which is also called integrated cost leadership/differentiation strategy. The reason Coca Cola uses this strategy is to efficiently create their products with some differentiated features. Efficient production is the â€Å"source of maintain low costs whole differentiation is the source of creating unique value† (Hitt, 2013, pg. 120). Coca Cola has successfully integrated cost leadership/differentiation strategy which has allowed them to adapt quickly to today’s new technologies and to the rapid changes in today’s society/cultures around the globe. The ultimate goals of Coca-Cola’s business strategy is to â€Å"rise volume, develop their share of world-wide  non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverag e sales, maximize the long-term cash flows and create economic-value-added by improving economic profit† (Coca Cola Acquires, 2013, para 8). Corporate-level strategy â€Å"specifies actions a firm takes to gain a competitive advantage by selecting and managing a group of different businesses competing in different product markets† (Hitt, 2013, pg. 164). Coca Cola Company has long been committed to the product development strategy in which case they do everything they can to become the best in their industry. They have moved into different geographic market such a Japan, United Kingdom, ect., Coca Cola have acquired competitors such as ZICO as discussed above, and also they have bought bottle suppliers to help grow the company even more. With all of these moves that Coca Cola have made over the years, this has allowed them to penetrate existing markets with new products due to their high brand awareness. You can’t go hardly anywhere these days without seeing a Coca Cola product of some sort being advertised or sold. This strategy capitalizes Coca Cola’s favorable trademark reputation, â€Å"Open Happiness.† Coca Cola has developed great business and corporate level strategies but there is always room for improvement. We are living in a social media world and I would suggest that Coca Cola take full advantage of this new world of communicating with their customers. So many people communicate through social media and find new products through social media that developed a marketing strategy evolving social media will ultimately be a win-win strategy for any company. * For the corporation that does not operate internationally, propose one business-level strategy and one corporate-level strategy and make recommendations for improvement. A differential strategy is an â€Å"integrated set of actions taken to produce goods or services (at a acceptable cost) that customers perceive as being different in a way that is important to them† (Hitt, 2013, pg. 115). I would suggest this differential strategy to Trader Joe’s because they currently are offering unique quality, private labels and outstanding pricing that other traditional grocery stores are not offer. To have success with the differentiation strategy, Trade Joe’s must consistently upgrade differentiated features that their customers value and/or create new valuable features with any significant cost increases to the customers. To  do so, Trade Joe’s needs to constantly update and change their product lines. This means that the products that are not saleing get rid of them quickly. Look into the new developed and increasing fades that customers are looking into. And because differentiated products satisfies customers’ unique needs, Trader Joe’s will be able to charge premium prices which allows them to out price their competitors and earn above average returns. A multidomestic strategy is an â€Å"international strategy in which the strategic and operating decisions are decentralized to the strategic business unit in individual countries and regions for the purpose of allowing each unit the opportunity to tailor products to the local market† (Hitt, 2013, pg. 235). I recommend a multidomestic international corporate level strategy for Trader Joes because this strategy is used with companies that have high local responsiveness but have low global integration. This strategy should maximize Trader Joe’s competitive response to the idiosyncratic requirements of each market it is in. The multidomestic strategy is most appropriate for use â€Å"when the differences between the markets a company serves and the customers in them are significant† (Hitt, 2013, pg. 235). Reference Coca Cola History. Retrieved November 29, 2013, from http://www.worldofcoca-cola.com/coca-cola-facts/coca-cola-history/ Coca-Cola acquires ZICO, Retrieved November 29, 2013, from http://m.newhope360.com/mergers-amp-acquisitions/coca-cola-acquires-zico Hitt, M.A., Ireland R., D., & Hoskisson, R.E. (2013). Strategic Management: Concepts and cases: Competiveness and globalization (10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Trader Joe’s Our Story, Retrieved November 29, 2013, from http://www.traderjoes.com/about/our-story.asp Whole Food’s Market, Company Info, Retrieved November 29, 2013, from http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company-info

Practical Demonkeeping Chapter 26

26 TRAVIS'S STORY Augustus Brine sat in one of the big leather chairs in front of his fireplace, drinking red wine from a balloon goblet and puffing away on his meerschaum. He had promised himself that he would have only one glass of wine, just to take the edge off the adrenaline and caffeine jangle he had worked himself into during the kidnapping. Now he was on his third glass and the wine had infused him with a warm, oozy feeling; he let his mind drift in a dreamy vertigo before attacking the task at hand: interrogating the demonkeeper. The fellow looked harmless enough, propped up and tied to the other wing chair. But if Gian Hen Gian was to be believed, this dark young man was the most dangerous human on Earth. Brine considered washing up before waking the demonkeeper. He had caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror – his beard and clothing covered with flour and soot, his skin caked with sweat-streaked goo – and decided that he would make a more intimidating impression in his current condition. He had found the smelling salts in the medicine cabinet and sent Gian Hen Gian to the bathroom to bathe while he rested. Actually he wanted the Djinn out of the room while he questioned the demonkeeper. The Djinn's curses and ravings would only complicate an already difficult task. Brine set his wineglass and his pipe on the end table and picked up a cotton-wrapped smelling-salt capsule. He leaned over to the demonkeeper and snapped the capsule under his nose. For a moment nothing happened, and Brine feared that he had hit him too hard, then the demonkeeper started coughing, looked at Brine, and screamed. â€Å"Calm down – you're all right,† Brine said. â€Å"Catch, help me!† The demonkeeper struggled against his bonds. Brine picked up his pipe and lit it, affecting a bored nonchalance. After a moment the demonkeeper settled down. Brine blew a thin stream of smoke into the air between them. â€Å"Catch isn't here. You're on your own.† Travis seemed to forget that he had been beaten, kidnapped, and tied up. His concentration was focused on Brine's last statement. â€Å"What do you mean, Catch isn't here? You know about Catch?† Brine considered giving him the I'm-asking-the-questions-here line that he had heard so many times in detective movies, but upon reflection, it seemed silly. He wasn't a hardass; why play the role? â€Å"Yes, I know about the demon. I know that he eats people, and I know you are his master.† â€Å"How do you know all that?† â€Å"It doesn't matter,† Brine said. â€Å"I also know that you've lost control of Catch.† â€Å"I have?† Travis seemed genuinely shaken by this. â€Å"Look, I don't know who you are, but you can't keep me here. If Catch is out of control again, I'm the only one that can stop him. I'm really close to ending all this; you can't stop me now.† â€Å"Why should you care?† â€Å"What do you mean, why should I care? You might know about Catch, but you can't imagine what he's like when he's out of control.† â€Å"What I mean,† Brine said, â€Å"is why should you care about the damage he causes? You called him up, didn't you? You send him out to kill, don't you?† Travis shook his head violently. â€Å"You don't understand. I'm not what you think. I never wanted this, and now I have a chance to stop it. Let me go. I can end it.† â€Å"Why should I trust you? You're a murderer.† â€Å"No. Catch is.† â€Å"What's the difference? If I do let you go, it will be because you will have told me what I want to know, and how I can use that information. Now I'll listen and you'll talk.† â€Å"I can't tell you anything. And you don't want to know anyway, I promise you.† â€Å"I want to know where the Seal of Solomon is. And I want to know the incantation that sends Catch back. Until I know, you're not going anywhere.† â€Å"Seal of Solomon? I don't know what you're talking about.† â€Å"Look – what is your name, anyway?† â€Å"Travis.† â€Å"Look, Travis,† Brine said, â€Å"my associate wants to use torture. I don't like the idea, but if you jerk me around, torture might be the only way to go.† â€Å"Don't you have to have two guys to play good cop, bad cop?† â€Å"My associate is taking a bath. I wanted to see if I could reason with you before I let him near you. I really don't know what he's capable of†¦ I'm not even sure what he is. So if we could get on with this, it would be better for the both of us.† â€Å"Where's Jenny?† Travis asked. â€Å"She's fine. She's at work.† â€Å"You won't hurt her?† â€Å"I'm not some kind of terrorist, Travis. I didn't ask to be involved in this, but I am. I don't want to hurt you, and I would never hurt Jenny. She's a friend of mine.† â€Å"So if I tell you what I know, you'll let me go?† â€Å"That's the deal. But I'll have to make sure that what you tell me is true.† Brine relaxed. This young man didn't seem to have any of the qualities of a mass murderer. If anything, he seemed a little naive. â€Å"Okay, I'll tell you everything I know about Catch and the incantations, but I swear to you, I don't know anything about any Seal of Solomon. It's a pretty strange story.† â€Å"I guessed that,† Brine said. â€Å"Shoot.† He poured himself a glass of wine, relit his pipe, and sat back, propping his feet up on the hearth. â€Å"Like I said, it's a pretty strange story.† â€Å"Strange is my middle name,† Brine said. â€Å"That must have been difficult for you as a child,† Travis said. â€Å"Would you get on with it.† â€Å"You asked for it.† Travis took a deep breath. â€Å"I was born in Clarion, Pennsylvania, in the year nineteen hundred.† â€Å"Bullshit,† Brine interrupted. â€Å"You're not a day over twenty-five.† â€Å"This is going to take a lot more time if I have to keep stopping. Just listen – it'll all fall into place.† Brine grumbled and nodded for Travis to continue. â€Å"I was born on a farm. My parents were Irish immigrants, black Irish. I was the oldest of six children, two boys and four girls. My parents were staunch Catholics. My mother wanted me to be a priest. She pushed me to study so I could get into seminary. She was working on the local diocese to recommend me while I was still in the womb. When World War I broke out, she begged the bishop to get me into seminary early. Everybody knew it was just a matter of time before America entered the war. My mother wanted me in seminary before the Army could draft me. Boys from secular colleges were already in Europe, driving ambulances, and some of them had been killed. My mother wasn't going to lose her chance to have a son become a priest to something as insignificant as a world war. You see, my little brother was a bit slow – mentally, I mean. I was my mother's only chance.† â€Å"So you went to seminary,† Brine interjected. He was becoming impatient with the progress of the story. â€Å"I went in at sixteen, which made me at least four years younger than the other boys. My mother packed me some sandwiches, and I packed myself into a threadbare black suit that was three sizes too small for me and I was on the train to Illinois. â€Å"You have to understand, I didn't want any part of this stuff with the demon; I really wanted to be a priest. Of all the people I had known as a child, the priest seemed like the only one who had any control over things. The crops could fail, banks could close, people could get sick and die, but the priest and the church were always there, calm and steadfast. And all that mysticism was pretty nifty, too.† â€Å"What about women?† Brine asked. He had resolved himself to hearing an epic, and it seemed as if Travis needed to tell it. Brine found he liked the strange young man, in spite of himself. â€Å"You don't miss what you've never known. I mean I had these urges, but they were sinful, right? I just had to say, ‘Get thee behind me Satan', and get on with it.† â€Å"That's the most incredible thing you've told me so far,† Brine said. â€Å"When I was sixteen, sex seemed like the only reason to go on living.† â€Å"That's what they thought at seminary, too. Because I was younger than the others, the prefect of discipline, Father Jasper, took me on as his special project. To keep me from impure thoughts, he made me work constantly. In the evenings, when the others were given time for prayer and meditation, I was sent to the chapel to polish the silver. While the others ate, I worked in the kitchen, serving and washing dishes. For two years the only rest I had from dawn until midnight was during classes and mass. When I fell behind in my studies, Father Jasper rode me even harder. â€Å"The Vatican had given the seminary a set of silver candlesticks for the altar. Supposedly they had been commissioned by one of the early popes and were over six hundred years old. The candlesticks were the most prized possession of the seminary and it was my job to polish them. Father Jasper stood over me, evening after evening, chiding me and berating me for being impure in thought. I polished the silver until my hands were black from the compound, and still Father Jasper found fault with me. If I had impure thoughts it was because he kept reminding me to have them. â€Å"I had no friends in seminary. Father Jasper had put his mark on me, and the other students shunned me for fear of invoking the prefect of discipline's wrath. I wrote home when I had a chance, but for some reason my letters were never answered. I began to suspect that Father Jasper was keeping my letters from getting to me. â€Å"One evening, while I was polishing the silver on the altar, Father Jasper came to the chapel and started to lecture me on my evil nature. â€Å"‘You are impure in thought and deed, yet you do not confess,' he said. ‘You are evil, Travis, and it is my duty to drive that evil out!' â€Å"I couldn't take it any longer. ‘Where are my letters?' I blurted out. ‘You are keeping me from my family.' â€Å"Father Jasper was furious. ‘Yes, I keep your letters. You are spawned from a womb of evil. How else could you have come here so young. I waited for eight years to come to Saint Anthony's – waited in the cold of the world while others were taken into the warm bosom of Christ.' â€Å"At last I knew why I had been singled out for punishment. It had nothing to do with my spiritual impurity. It was jealousy. I said, ‘And you, Father Jasper, have you confessed your jealousy and your pride? Have you confessed your cruelty?' â€Å"‘Cruel, am I?' he said. He laughed at me, and for the first time I was really afraid of him. ‘There is no cruelty in the bosom of Christ, only tests of faith. Your faith is wanting, Travis. I will show you.' â€Å"He told me to lie with arms outstretched on the steps before the altar and pray for strength. He left the chapel for a moment, and when he returned I could hear something whistling through the air. I looked up and saw that he was carrying a thin whip cut from a willow branch. â€Å"‘Have you no humility, Travis? Bow your head before our Lord.' â€Å"I could hear him moving behind me, but I could not see him. Why I didn't leave right then I don't know. Perhaps I believed that Father Jasper was actually testing my faith, that he was the cross I had to bear. â€Å"He tore my robe up the back, exposing my bare back and legs. ‘You will not cry out, Travis. After each blow a Hail Mary. Now,' he said. Then I felt the whip across my back and I thought I would scream, but instead I said a Hail Mary. He threw a rosary in front of me and told me to take it. I held it behind my head, feeling the pain come with every bead. â€Å"‘You are a coward, Travis. You don't deserve to serve our Lord. You are here to avoid the war, aren't you, Travis?' â€Å"I didn't answer him and the whip fell again. â€Å"After a while I heard him laughing with each stroke of the whip. I did not look back for fear he might strike me across the eyes. Before I had finished the rosary, I heard him gasp and drop to the floor behind me. I thought – no, I hoped – he had had a heart attack. But when I looked back he was kneeling behind me, gasping for air, exhausted, but smiling. â€Å"‘Face down, sinner!' he screamed. He drew back the whip as if he were going to strike me in the face and I covered my head. â€Å"‘You will tell no one of this,' he said. His voice was low and calm. For some reason that scared me more than his anger. ‘You are to stay the night here, polish the silver, and pray for forgiveness. I will return in the morning with a new robe for you. If you speak of this to anyone, I will see that you are expelled from Saint Anthony's and, if I can manage it, excommunicated.' â€Å"I hadn't ever heard excommunication used as a threat. It was something we studied in class. The popes had used it as an instrument of political control, but the reality of being excluded from salvation by someone else had never really occurred to me. I didn't believe that Father Jasper could really excommunicate me, but I wasn't going to test it. â€Å"While Father Jasper watched, I began to polish the candlesticks, rubbing furiously to take my mind off the pain in my back and legs, and to try to forget that he was watching. Finally, he left the chapel. When I heard the door close, I threw the candlestick I was holding at the door. â€Å"Father Jasper had tested my faith, and I had failed. I cursed the Trinity, the Virgin, and all the saints I could remember. Eventually my anger subsided and I feared Father Jasper would return and see what I had done. â€Å"I retrieved the candlestick and inspected it to see if I had done any damage. Father Jasper would check them in the morning as he always did, and I would be lost. â€Å"There was a deep scratch across the axis of the candlestick. I rubbed at it, harder and harder, but it only seemed to get worse. Soon I realized that it wasn't a scratch at all but a seam that had been concealed by the silversmith. The priceless artifact from the Vatican was a sham. It was supposed to be solid silver, but here was evidence that it was hollow. I grabbed both ends of the candlestick and twisted. As I suspected, it unscrewed. There was a sort of triumph in it. I wanted to be holding the two pieces when Father Jasper returned. I wanted to wave them in his face. ‘Here', I would say, ‘these are as hollow and false as you are. I would expose him, ruin him, and if I was expelled and damned, I didn't care. But I never got the chance to confront him. â€Å"When I pulled the two pieces apart, a tightly rolled piece of parchment fell out.† â€Å"The invocation,† Brine interrupted. â€Å"Yes, but I didn't know what it was. I unrolled it and started to read. There was a passage at the top in Latin, which I didn't have much trouble translating. It said something about calling down help from God to deal with enemies of the Church. It was signed by His Holiness, Pope Leo the Third. â€Å"The second part was written in Greek. As I said, I had fallen behind in my studies, so the Greek was difficult. I started reading it aloud, working on each word as I went. By the time I was through the first passage, it had started to get cold in the chapel. I wasn't sure what I was reading. Some of the words were mysteries to me. I just read over them, trying to glean what I could from the context. Then something seemed to take over my mind. â€Å"I started reading the Greek as if it were my native language, pronouncing the words perfectly, without having the slightest idea of what they meant. â€Å"A wind whipped up inside the chapel, blowing out all the candles. Except for a little moonlight coming through the windows, it was completely dark, but the words on the parchment began to glow and I kept reading. I was locked into the parchment as if I had grabbed an electric wire and couldn't let go. â€Å"When I read the last line, I found I was screaming the words. Lightning flashed down from the roof and struck the candlestick, which was lying on the floor in front of me. The wind stopped and smoke filled the chapel. â€Å"Nothing prepares you for something like that. You can spend your life preparing to be the instrument of God. You can read accounts of possession and exorcism and try to imagine yourself in the situation, but when it actually happens, you just shut down. I did, anyway. I sat there trying to figure out what I had done, but my mind wouldn't work. â€Å"The smoke floated up into the rafters of the chapel and I could make out a huge figure standing at the altar. It was Catch, in his eating form.† â€Å"What's his eating form?† Brine asked. â€Å"I assume from the deal with the flour that you know Catch is visible to others only when he is in his eating form. Most of the time I see him as a three-foot imp covered with scales. When he feeds or goes out of control, he's a giant. I've seen him cut a man in half with one swipe of his claws. I don't know why it works that way. I just know that when I saw him for the first time, I had never been so frightened. â€Å"He looked around the chapel, then at me, then at the chapel. I was praying under my breath, begging God for protection. â€Å"‘Stop it!' he said. ‘I'll take care of everything.' Then he went down the aisle and through the chapel doors, knocking them off their hinges. He turned and looked back at me. He said: ‘You have to open these things, right? I forgot – it's been a while.' â€Å"As soon as he was gone I picked up the candlesticks and ran. I got as far as the front gates before I realized that I was still wearing the torn robe. â€Å"I wanted to get away, hide, forget what I had seen, but I had to go back and get my clothes. I ran back to my quarters. Since I was in my third year at seminary, I been given a small private room, so, thankfully, I didn't have to go through the dormitory ward rooms where the newer students slept. The only clothes I had were the suit I had worn when I came and a pair of overalls I wore when I worked in the seminary fields. I tried to put on the suit, but the pants were just too tight, so I put the overalls on and wore the suit jacket over them to cover my shoulders. I wrapped the candlesticks in a blanket and headed for the gate. â€Å"When I was just outside the gate, I heard a horrible scream from the rectory. There was no mistaking; it was Father Jasper. â€Å"I ran the six miles into town without stopping. The sun was coming up as I reached the train station and a train was pulling away from the platform. I didn't know where it was going, but I ran after it and managed to swing myself on board before I collapsed. â€Å"I'd like to tell you I had some kind of plan, but I didn't. My only thought was to get as far away from St. Anthony's as I could. I don't know why I took the candlesticks. I wasn't interested in their value. I guess I didn't want to leave any evidence of what I'd done. Or maybe it was the influence of the supernatural. â€Å"Anyway, I caught my breath and went into the passenger car to find a seat. The train was nearly full, soldiers and a few civilians here and there. I staggered down the aisle and fell into the first empty seat I could find. It was next to a young woman who was reading a book. â€Å"‘This seat is taken,' she said. â€Å"‘Please, just let me rest here for a minute,' I begged. ‘I'll get up when your companion returns.' â€Å"She looked up from her book and I found myself staring into the biggest, bluest eyes I'd ever seen. I will never forget them. She was young, about my age, and wore her dark hair pinned up under a hat, which was the style in those days. She looked genuinely frightened of me. I guess I was wearing my own fright on my face. â€Å"‘Are you all right? Shall I call the conductor?' she asked. â€Å"I thanked her but told her that I just needed to rest a moment. She was looking at the strange way I was dressed, trying to be polite, but obviously perplexed. I looked up and noticed that everyone in the car was staring at me. Could they know about what I'd done? I wondered. Then I realized why they were staring. There was a war on and I was obviously the right age for the Army, yet I was dressed in civilian clothes. ‘I'm a seminary student,' I blurted out to them, causing a breeze of incredulous whispers. The girl blushed. â€Å"‘I'm sorry,' I said to her. ‘I'll move on.' I started to rise, but she put her hand on my shoulder to push me back into my seat and I winced when she touched my injured shoulder. â€Å"‘No,' she said, ‘I'm traveling alone. I've just been saving this seat to ward off the soldiers. You know how they can be sometimes, Father.' â€Å"‘I'm not a priest yet,' I said. â€Å"‘I don't know what to call you, then,' she said. â€Å"‘Call me Travis,' I said. â€Å"‘I'm Amanda,' she said. She smiled, and for a moment I completely forgot why I was running. She was an attractive girl, but when she smiled, she was absolutely stunning. It was my turn to blush. â€Å"‘I'm going to New York to stay with my fianc's family. He's in Europe,' she said. â€Å"‘So this train is going east?' I asked. â€Å"She was surprised. ‘You don't even know where the train is going?' she asked. â€Å"‘I've had a bad night,' I said. Then I started to laugh – I don't know why. It seemed so unreal. The idea of trying to explain it to her seemed silly. â€Å"She looked away and started digging in her purse. ‘I'm sorry,' I said, ‘I didn't mean to offend you.' ‘You didn't offend me. I need to have my ticket ready for the conductor.' â€Å"I'd completely forgotten about not having a ticket. I looked up and saw the conductor coming down the aisle. I jumped up and a wave of fatigue hit me. I almost fell into her lap. â€Å"‘Is something wrong?' she asked. â€Å"‘Amanda,' I said, ‘you have been very kind, but I should find another seat and let you travel in peace.' â€Å"‘You don't have a ticket, do you?' she said. â€Å"I shook my head. ‘I've been in seminary. I'd forgotten. We don't have any need for money there and†¦' â€Å"‘I have some traveling money,' she said. â€Å"‘I couldn't ask you to do that,' I said. Then I remembered the candlesticks. ‘Look, you can have these. They're worth a lot of money. Hold them and I'll send you the money for the ticket when I get home,' I said. â€Å"I unrolled the blanket and dropped the candlesticks in her lap. â€Å"‘That's not necessary,' she said. â€Å"I'll loan you the money.' â€Å"‘No, I insist you take them,' I said, trying to be gallant. I must have looked ridiculous standing there in my overalls and tattered suit jacket. â€Å"‘If you insist,' she said. ‘I understand. My fianc is a proud man, too.' â€Å"She gave me the money I needed and I bought a ticket all the way to Clarion, which was only about ten miles from my parent's farm. â€Å"The train broke down somewhere in Indiana and we were forced to wait in the station while they changed engines. It was midsummer and terribly hot. Without thinking, I took off my jacket and Amanda gasped when she saw my back. She insisted that I see a doctor, but I refused, knowing that I would only have to borrow more money from her to pay for it. We sat on a bench in the station while she cleaned my back with damp napkins from the dining car. â€Å"In those days the sight of a woman bathing a half-naked man in a train station would have been scandalous, but most of the passengers were soldiers and were much more concerned with being AWOL or with their ultimate destination, Europe, so we were ignored for the most part. â€Å"Amanda disappeared for a while and returned just before our train was ready to leave. ‘I've reserved a berth in the sleeping car for us,' she said. â€Å"I was shocked. I started to protest, but she stopped me. She said, ‘You are going to sleep and I am going to watch over you. You are a priest and I'm engaged, so there is nothing wrong with it. Besides, you are in no shape to spend the night sitting up in a train.' â€Å"I think it was then that I realized that I was in love with her. Not that it mattered. It was just that after living so long with Father Jasper's abuse I wasn't prepared for the kindness she was showing me. It never occurred to me that I might be putting her in danger. â€Å"As we pulled away from the station, I looked out on the platform, and for the first time I saw Catch in his smaller form. Why it happened then and not before I don't know. Maybe I didn't have any strength left, but when I saw him there on the platform, flashing a big razor-toothed grin, I fainted. â€Å"When I came to, I felt like my back was on fire. I was lying in the sleeping berth and Amanda was bathing my back with alcohol. â€Å"‘I told them you'd been wounded in France,' she said. â€Å"The porter helped me get you in here. I think it's about time you told me who did this to you.' â€Å"I told her what Father Jasper had done, leaving out the parts about the demon. I was in tears when I finished, and she was holding me, rocking me back and forth. â€Å"I'm not sure how it happened – the passion of the moment and all that, I guess – but the next thing I knew, we were kissing, and I was undressing her. Just as we were about to make love she stopped me. â€Å"‘I have to take this off,' she said. She was wearing a wooden bracelet with the initials E + A burnt into it. ‘We don't have to do this,' I said. â€Å"Have you, Mr. Brine, ever said something that you know you will always regret? I have. It was: ‘We don't have to do this.' â€Å"She said: ‘Oh, then let's not.' â€Å"She fell asleep holding me while I lay awake, thinking about sex and damnation, which really wasn't any different from what I'd thought about each night in the seminary – a little more immediate, I guess. â€Å"I was just dozing off when I heard a commotion coming from the opposite end of our sleeping car. I peeked through the curtains of the berth to see what was happening. Catch was coming down the aisle, looking into berths as he went. I didn't know at the time that Catch was invisible to other people, and I couldn't understand why they weren't screaming at the sight of him. People were shouting and looking out of their berths, but all they were seeing was empty air. â€Å"I grabbed my overalls and jumped into the aisle, leaving my jacket and the candlesticks in the berth with Amanda. I didn't even thank her. I ran down the aisle toward the back of the car, away from Catch. As I ran, I could hear him yelling, ‘Why are you running? Don't you know the rules?' â€Å"I went through the door between the cars and slid it shut behind me. By now people were screaming, not out of fear of Catch, but because a naked man was running through the sleeping car. â€Å"I looked into the next car and saw the conductor coming down the aisle toward me. Catch was almost to the door behind me. Without thinking, or even looking, I opened the door to the outside and leapt off the train, naked, my overalls still in hand. â€Å"The train was on a trestle at the time and it was a long drop to the ground, fifty or sixty feet. By all rights I should have been killed. When I hit, the wind was knocked out of me and I remember thinking that my back was broken, but in seconds I was up and running through a wooden valley. I didn't realize until later that I had been protected by my pact with the demon, even through he was not under my control at the time. I don't really know the extent of his protection, but I've been in a hundred accidents since then that should have killed me and come out without a scratch. â€Å"I ran through the woods until I came to a dirt road. I had no idea where I was. I just walked until I couldn't walk anymore and then sat down at the side of the road. Just after sunup a rickety wagon pulled up beside me and the farmer asked me if I was all right. In those days it wasn't uncommon to see a barefoot kid in overalls by the side of the road. â€Å"The farmer informed me that I was only about twenty miles from home. I told him that I was a student on holiday, trying to hitchhike home, and he offered to drive me. I fell asleep in the wagon. When the farmer woke me, we were stopped at the gate of my parents' farm. I thanked him and walked up the road toward the house. â€Å"I guess I should have known right away that something was wrong. At that time of the morning everyone should have been out working, but the barnyard was deserted except for a few chickens. I could hear the two dairy cows mooing in the barn when they should have already been milked and put out to pasture. â€Å"I had no idea what I would tell my parents. I hadn't thought about what I would do when I got home, only that I wanted to get there. â€Å"I ran in the back door expecting to find my mother in the kitchen, but she wasn't there. My family rarely left the farm, and they certainly wouldn't have gone anywhere without taking care of the animals first. My first thought was that there had been an accident. Perhaps my father had fallen from the tractor and they had taken him to the hospital in Clarion. I ran to the front of the house. My father's wagon was tied up out front. â€Å"I bolted through the house, shouting into every room, but there was no one home. I found myself standing on the front porch, wondering what to do next, when I heard his voice from behind me. â€Å"‘You can't run from me,' Catch said. â€Å"I turned. He was sitting on the porch swing, dangling his feet in the air. I was afraid, but I was also angry. â€Å"‘Where is my family?!' I screamed. â€Å"He patted his stomach. ‘Gone,' he said. â€Å"‘What have you done with them?' I said. â€Å"‘They're gone forever,' he said. ‘I ate them.' â€Å"I was enraged. I grabbed the porch swing and pushed it with everything I had. The swing banged against the porch rail and Catch went over the edge into the dirt. â€Å"My father kept a chopping block and an ax in front of the house for splitting kindling. I jumped off the porch and snatched up the ax. Catch was just picking himself up when I him in the forehead with it. Sparks flew and the ax blade bounced off his head as if it had hit cast iron. Before I knew it I was on my back and Catch was sitting on my chest grinning like the demon in that Fuselli painting, The Nightmare. He didn't seem at all angry. I flailed under him but could not get up. â€Å"‘Look,' he said, ‘this is silly. You called me up to do a job and I did it, so what's all the commotion about? By the way, you would have loved it. I clipped the priest's hamstrings and watched him crawl around begging for a while. I really like eating priests, they're always convinced that the Creator is testing them.' â€Å"‘You killed my family!' I said. I was still trying to free myself. â€Å"‘Well, that sort of thing happens when you run away. It's all your fault; if you didn't want the responsibility, you shouldn't have called me up. You knew what you were getting into when you renounced the Creator.' â€Å"‘But I didn't,' I protested. Then I remembered my curses in the chapel. I had renounced God. ‘I didn't know,' I said. â€Å"‘Well, if you're going to be a weenie about it, I'll fill you in on the rules,' he said. ‘First, you can't run away from me. You called me up and I am more or less your servant forever. When I say forever, I mean forever. You are not going to age, and you are not going to be sick. The second thing you need to know is that I am immortal. You whack me with axes all you want and all you'll get is a dull ax and a sore back, so just save your energy. Third, I am Catch. They call me the destroyer, and that's what I do. With my help you can rule the world and other really swell stuff. In the past my masters haven't used me to the best advantage, but you might be the exception, although I doubt it. Fourth, when I'm in this form, you are the only one who can see me. When I take on my destroyer form, I am visible to everyone. It's stupid, and why it's that way is a long story, but that's the way it is. In the past they decided to keep me a secret, but there's no rule about i t.' â€Å"He paused and climbed off my chest. I got to my feet and dusted myself off. My head was spinning with what Catch had told me. I had no way of knowing whether he was telling the truth, but I had nothing else to go on. When you encounter the supernatural, your mind searches for an explanation. I'd had the explanation laid in my lap, but I didn't want to believe it. â€Å"I said, ‘So you're from hell?' I know it was a stupid question, but even a seminary education doesn't prepare you for a conversation with a demon. â€Å"‘No,' he said, ‘I'm from Paradise.' â€Å"‘You're lying,' I said. It was the beginning of a string of lies and misdirections that have gone on for seventy years. â€Å"He said, ‘No, really, I'm from Paradise. It's a little town about thirty miles outside of Newark.' Then he started laughing and rolling around in the dirt holding his sides. â€Å"‘How can I get rid of you?' I asked. â€Å"‘Sorry,' he said, ‘I've told you everything that I have to.' â€Å"At the time I didn't know how dangerous Catch was. Somehow I realized that I was in no immediate danger, so I tried to come up with some sort of plan to get rid of him. I didn't want to stay there at the farm, and I didn't have anywhere I could go. â€Å"My first instinct was to turn to the Church. If I could get to a priest, perhaps I could have the demon exorcised. â€Å"I led Catch into town, where I asked the local priest to perform an exorcism. Before I could convince him of Catch's existence, the demon became visible and ate the priest, piece by piece, before my eyes. I realized then that Catch's power was beyond the comprehension of any normal priest, perhaps the entire Church. â€Å"Christians are supposed to believe in evil as an active force. If you deny evil, you deny good and therefore God. But belief in evil is as much an act of faith as belief in God, and here I was faced with evil as a reality, not an abstraction. My faith was gone. It was no longer required. There was indeed evil in the world and that evil was me. It was my responsibility, I reasoned, to not let that evil become manifest to other people and thereby steal their faith. I had to keep Catch's existence a secret. I might not be able to stop him from taking lives, but I could keep him from taking souls. â€Å"I decided to remove him to a safe place where there were no people for him to feed on. We hopped a freight and rode it to Colorado, where I led Catch high into the mountains. There I found a remote cabin where I thought he would be without victims. Weeks passed and I found that I had some control over the demon. I could make him fetch water and wood sometimes, but other times he defied me. I've never understood the inconsistency of his obedience. â€Å"Once I had accepted the fact that I couldn't run away from Catch, I questioned him constantly, looking for some clue that might send him back to hell. He was vague, to say the least, giving me little to go on except that he had been on Earth before and that someone had sent him back. â€Å"After we had been in the mountains for two months, a search party came to the cabin. It seemed that hunters in the area of the cabin, as well as people in villages as far as twenty miles away, had been disappearing. When I was asleep at night, Catch had been ranging for victims. It was obvious that isolation wasn't going to keep the demon from killing. I sent the search party away and set myself on coming up with some kind of plan. I knew we would have to move or people would discover that Catch existed. â€Å"I knew there had to be some sort of logic to his presence on Earth. Then, while we were hiking out of the mountains, it occurred to me that the key to sending Catch back must have been concealed in another candlestick. And I had left them on the train with the girl. Jumping off the train to escape Catch may have cost me the only chance I had to get rid of him. I searched my memory for anything that could lead me to the girl. I had never asked where she was going or what her last name was. In trying to recall details of my time with her I kept coming up with the image of those striking blue eyes. They seemed etched into my memory while everything else faded. Could I go around the eastern United States asking anyone if they had seen a young girl with beautiful blue eyes? â€Å"Something nagged at me. There was something that could lead me to the girl; I just had to remember it. Then it hit me – the wooden bracelet she wore. The initials carved inside the heart were E + A. How hard could it be to search service records for a soldier with the first initial E? His service records would have his next of kin, and she was staying with his family. I had a plan. â€Å"I took Catch back East and began checking local draft boards. I told them I had been in Europe and a man whose first name began with E had saved my life and I wanted to find him. They always asked about divisions and stations and where the battle had taken place. I told them I had taken a shell fragment in the head and could remember nothing but the man's first initial. No one believed me, of course, but they gave me what I asked for – out of pity, I think. â€Å"Meanwhile, Catch kept taking his victims. I tried to point him toward thieves and grifters when I could, reasoning that if he must kill, at least I could protect the innocent. â€Å"I haunted libraries, looking for the oldest books on magic and demonology I could find. Perhaps somewhere I could find an incantation to send the demon back. I performed hundreds of rituals – drawing pentagrams, collecting bizarre talismans, and putting myself through all sorts of physical rigors and diets that were supposed to purify the sorcerer so the magic would work. After repeated failures, I realized that the volumes of magic were nothing more than the work of medieval snake-oil salesmen. They always added the purity of the sorcerer as a condition so they would have an excuse for their customers when the magic did not work. â€Å"During this same time I was still looking for a priest who would perform an exorcism. In Baltimore I finally found one who believed my story. He agreed to perform an exorcism. For his protection, we arranged to have him stand on a balcony while Catch and I remained in the street below. Catch laughed himself silly through the entire ritual, and when it was over, he broke into the building and ate the priest. I knew then that finding the girl was my only hope. â€Å"Catch and I kept moving, never staying in one place longer than two or three days. Fortunately there were no computers in those days that might have tracked the disappearances of Catch's victims. In each town I collected a list of veterans, then ran leads to the ground by knocking on doors and questioning the families. I've been doing that for over seventy years. Yesterday I think I found the man I was looking for. As it turned out, E was his middle initial. His name is J. Effrom Elliot. I thought my luck had finally turned. I mean the fact that the man is still alive is pretty lucky in itself. I thought that I might have to trace the candlesticks through surviving relatives, hoping that someone remembered them, perhaps had kept them as an heirloom. â€Å"I thought it was all over, but now Catch is out of control and you are keeping me from stopping him forever.†