Fujitsu Siemens Computers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Fujitsu Siemens Computers - Essay Example This essay stresses that large market and increased production scale is favorable for attaining the targeted market growth. The joint venture of technological firms makes possible to share the ideas and knowledge relating to competing and emerging technologies between firms. The research and development process becomes advanced through combination different useful ideas and knowledge. External participation in research and development process is helpful for diversifying the research process. Firms can concentrate on major research process through sharing the development cost. Organizational efficiency improvement is the main tool for competing in the industry. The organizational efficiency will be much improved by changing the organizational strategy by business combination. Fujitsu is a leading firm in the field of internet focused IT solutions, on a global basis. This paper makes a conclusion that in case of Fujitsu and Siemens, the equity joint venture strategy is suitable to each other for exchanging the technical know-how and manufacturing capabilities. Their stable and reliable partnership provides suitable environment for attaining business growth and profitability in the competitive industrial conditions. Through the joint venture they attained world’s most complete product and solution portfolios with world class computer technology and innovative IT infrastructure capabilities.

Final Curriculum Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Final Curriculum Design - Essay Example This course is organised in such a way as to make it simple for students being introduced to the technical application of English in business context. There will be lessons on accessing relevant resources, assessment items and key events during the course which will be uploaded on the online university blackboard. The classrooms will hold between 10 and 20 students. This part seeks to guide the organisation of the syllabus as indicated by White (1988). The course seeks to consolidate previously gained English knowledge by the students and raise it to levels applicable in business context. It aims at improving skills in English listening, speaking and writing so as to enhance business communication. Consequently, the students will be expected to: iii. Further confidence when using English to execute business functions such as placing orders, speaking on the telephone, making reservations and handling irate customers, employee complaints and unreliable suppliers. This course employs context defined by Graves (2000) as the nature of the course, time, teaching resources, classroom set-up and the people. The lessons will be conducted on Saturdays and Tuesdays from 10.00 am, since in Saudi Arabia, the week begins on Saturday, each session taking two hours for 12 weeks summing up to 48 hours of teaching. The venue will be Najran College of Technology, Saudi Arabia being a country where English is not the first language, fitting within the example of Target Language – Removed Context cited by Graves (2008). The setting will adopt the European schooling approach described by Ahmad (2009) and Nunan (1999) as involving a teacher-fronted set-up with students seated in rows facing the teacher. Each classroom will have between 10 and 20 students having previous exposure to English since the instruction will presume Intermediate learning level. A triangulation approach will be applied for needs analysis supported by

Interracial Marriages Amongst African Immigrants In Hungary Sociology Essay

Interracial Marriages Amongst African Immigrants In Hungary Sociology Essay In many countries throughout the world, marriage is primarily an agreement between two families. An alliance through marriage between two successful families can enhance the power, prestige and well being of all the members in that family. Interracial marriage is a potential venue where both partners can enrich their world-view depending on ones value and ability to accommodate cultural difference. The extent to which interracial marriages are accepted in our global society is a function of the cultural parameters within which these dynamics occur. It is apparent that the figurative shrinking of our globe seems to represent conditions that allow opportunity for the number of intercultural marriages to expand. This paper seeks to provide an overview of interracial marriages, taking into consideration, its reasons, evolutionary historic nature and its importance to African immigrants. History of Interracial Marriages Before discussing how historical changes have influenced interracial relationships, it is imperative to examine how relationships have evolved throughout history. During Medieval times, the families of would be couple arranged their marriage. Much of society placed emphasis on wealth and land ownership. People did not often marry outside of their class. Therefore, it was the role of family to find a suitable partner to make the transition into matrimony (Amt, 1993:77). Also, love was not a factor in the decision making process (Stritof, 2001). In the middle Ages, marriage was seen as a sacrament. Therefore, the transition into marriage was made in order to prevent sin and to procreate as the Bible dictates (Shahar, 1983:15). However, during colonial times, the role of the family was altered. The transition into marriage shifted from the parents control to the individuals control. In spite of this shift, though, the family did still largely influence whom the individual chose to marry . Children were guided and taught on how to choose the most suitable partner. During this time, romance became part of the marriage interest; it was an opportunity to love (Wilkins, 1998:502). Interracial relationships are historically determined. Interracial marriage started in the United State of America. Laws against interracial marriages date back to 1661. These laws were enacted to prevent whites from marrying outside their race. Individuals who married cross-culturally could be arrested (Schwalbe, 2001:23). These laws were not limited to African Americans, for example in Arizona whites and Native Americans were prohibited from marrying each other, on the other hand, in Montana whites could not marry Asian Americans (Schwartz, 2000:114).Similarly, in colonial Mexico, sexuality, marriage, and superstitious love and fertility rituals were subject to control by the Spanish inquisition (Stoler, 1989:134). Moran (2001:29), argued that anti-miscegenation laws established racial boundaries, racial purity, contained ambiguity, and preserved public recognition of sexual decency. Bardaglio (1999) holds that the anti-miscegenation law sought not so much to eliminate interracial sexual contact as to channel them. The main purpose of this law was to keep the black and white race apart. And it is for this reason that Stoler (1994:199) argued that the mà ©tissage (mixed blood) was conceived as a dangerous source of subversion, it was seen as a threat to white prestige, an embodiment of European degeneration and moral decay and represented, not only the dangers of foreign enemies at national borders, but the more pressing affront for European nation-states. This is what the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1962:149) so aptly defined as undermining the essence of the nation, and its interior frontiers. Therefore, sexual meanings and intimacy are social and cultural constructs which are the main forces conditioning human relationships. It is in this light that, Zelizer in Purchase of Intimacy (2005:1) holds that taboo against romantic affaire in workplace and sex for hire both rests on the twinned belief that intimacy corrupts the economy and economy c orrupt intimacy, intermarriage should be forbidden. In addition to the above, Roger (1990:315), holds that the United States is the only country in the New world which has carried its law against interracial marriage from its colonial period into its national one. In this light, Garrison questioned the states right to interfere with the private realm of marriage and he argued that marriage is not a province, and does not belong to the power of legislative assembly, therefore it is a wrong approach for the republican government to decide on the complexional affinity of those who choose to be united together in wedlock, and it may as rationally decree that corpulent and lean, tall and short, strong and weak persons shall not be married to each other as that there must be an agreement in the complexion of the parties ( cf Washington 1986:84). The right to select ones mate is one of the most ancient, most sacred of individual rights, and when the state interferes in this, except in the case of the mentally unfit, it but adds humour to the witticism (Roger, 1988:80) However, in 1967, the Supreme Court Case Loving v. Virginia declared laws against interracial marriages as unconstitutional (Schwalbe, 2001). This allowed individuals to explore other relationship opportunities and thus the rise of interracial marriages. These laws limited the pool of eligible mates and the transition into marriage was directly affected. These laws displayed the views of society; therefore, individuals wishing to make transition into marriage often followed these laws in order to gain societys approval and to avoid adversity. Reason for interracial Marriages As seen above, interracial relationship during the colonial era was considered a taboo or an abominable practice. Association with a European, talk less of marriage or dating a European woman was perceived as a challenge to European supremacy. Europeans regulated social conduct between races, so as to maintain racial purity. In spite of these regulatory mechanisms that were put in place, African immigrants still engaged in interracial marriages. The reasons for interracial marriages among immigrants vary from one person to another. For example, in some cases, the criteria for citizenship acquisition vary considerably between European states. Within the E U., the minimum residency; before aliens are eligible to apply for citizenship varies from three (Belgium), eight (Hungary) and ten (Austria and Hungary) years (Babcock, 2006:12-23).Some states requires shorter periods for applicants from states with whom they have cultural or historic ties. There are also variations in the requirements that states impose on those wishing to become their citizens. This is both natural and permissible. But, those requirements are nonetheless framed by moral considerations, which define their scope and limit (Caren, 1989:13-49).Many states exclude third country nationals from significant social and economic benefits such as employment benefits and health insurance, even if they have lived in their new state for several years. Citizenship, therefore, if only for instrumental reasons, is clearly a status worth having. But it is als o an intrinsically valuable status position, important as it signifies a persons equality under the law, full civic inclusion and ultimately immunity from deportation. As result, third country nationals have adopted various mechanisms to remain within EU member states. Examples of these mechanisms include commodification of sexuality, finding a shelter, or a job (in the formal or informal economy or as family labour), achieve legal status based on marriage terms (e.g. arranged or contract marriages). For instance, irregular immigrants attempt to legalise their residence with the help of various strategies. For most, illegal migrants apprehended by the authorities, entering the asylum process is the major form of legalising their stay in Hungary. In 1999, there were 11,500 asylum applications, with 5,100 submitted by citizens of former Yugoslavia and 6,000 by non Europeans. Thus, Hungary is primarily a transit country for asylum. Economic condition prevailing in Hungary can offer only a partial explanation to this phenomenon. Another equally important factor is the lengthy asylum procedures, and scarce opportunities for integration. For these reason, asylum seekers generally seeks protection elsewhere, many in other member countries of the E.U. Therefore, the most common reason for terminating an asylum procedure is that the applicant disappears (Ejalu, 2008). Similarly, Bledsoe and Sow (2008), carried out a study in Germany, and they argued that, Cameroonians in Germany, engaged in interracial relationship in order to maintain family reunification. Cameroonian women, who stay in Germany, are often those who gain residence rights by bearing a child for a German man, who is willing to recognise the child officially, irrespective of any long term paternal obligations. Using the German Federal Statistical office figures on the children of unmarried parents, Fleisher found that, in 2004, although there were about twice as many Cameroonian men than women in Germany, many more were born to Cameroonian women, than to Cameroonian men, that is, an equivalent of 240: 92, respectively. Among married partners, 49 children born to parents who were both Cameroonians but 169 were born to a Cameroonian and German conjugal pair. Again, there were considerably more, proportionately, children born to a Cameroonian German marriages who were born to Cameroonia n women and their German husbands, than Cameroonian men and their German wives. In addition to the above, for Cameroonian men, the pathway to legal residence in Germany is entirely different. Most German women who strike up relationships with Cameroonian men are substantially older than their partners, and are unwilling or unable to have a child. As well, the likelihood of becoming a parent of a German child, independently of its mother, is almost out of question, for a Cameroonian man. Claiming residence by producing a German child is thus much rarer for a Cameroonian man, than a woman from Cameroon. For a Cameroon man, without a job, the best route to acquire residence, is contracting and sustaining marriage with a German woman for at least three year, after which he can obtain residence, although authorities continue to exert surveillance, and may investigates cases of divorces after years. Fleisher found that, in 2004, there were 163 bi-national marriages between a Cameroonian and a German in Germany, most of them Cameroonian men marrying German women-but ju st six marriages between Cameroonian men and women. The further complexity is that, many Cameroonian men desire children and want to return home eventually. Confronted with the logic of singularity on which family reunification rules of marriage rest, some men quietly retain marriage with a woman back home by which they have borne children, or ask their families members to find a wife, whom they visit periodically before their final return. This is because, a Cameroonian man may come to see marriage to a German woman as a temporary necessity and look to Cameroon for his main family future, he may come to see traditional or at least Cameroonian marriages as the base, and formal marriage in the west as the temporary distortion. (Fleischer,2003). African immigrants may feel inferior due to a mental, physical, social handicap and enter an interracial relationship after determing that acceptance will be found only outside of a culture of birth. A marriage based on this motive may be consciously considered to be a second best or stand-in marriage interracial may be an act of aggression toward another race. Deviance and revenge by one partner can humiliate the in-law. They will either complement this need by feeling personally inferior or angry and rebellious against parents, culture and society (Blau, 1977:31). Leon (1984), suggests that idealism may be a motive ofliberal marrying inter-culturally. Identification with the underdog, an inferiority complex, rebellion, and rescue could be an outgrowth of this idealism. Importance of Interracial Marriages. Throughout history, the structure of interracial relationships has seen a drastic evolution. What once was seen as non-normative and forbidden practice is now seen as common. Specifically speaking, there has been an increase in heterogamous, cross-cultural, relationships. This rise in interracial relationships can be attributed to the reversal of anti-miscegenation laws, the lack of potential mates, the breakdown of segregation, immigration and advancements in technology. These changes in romantic relationships and the transition to marriage have allowed people to explore alternative lifestyles and relationships. Noticeably, interracial romantic relationships and marriages have become commonplace. According to Schwartz (2000:17) an increase in interracial marriages is as a result of immigration, increases the chances of meeting people from different racial backgrounds. For instance, the United States of America is considered a melting pot. The U.S.A. has many different races enmeshed into one society (Schwartz, 2007:23). This has allowed African immigrants to have many different types of romantic relationships/interracial marriages. Immigration has effected the transition into marriage by providing mates from many different backgrounds. Also, immigration has affected many peoples views on marriage by introducing people to new cultures. Interracial marriages among African immigrant is advantageous because it is seem as a gate way to integration and assimilation especially on the part on those immigrants who are being excluded from their societies The degree of social control and the institutionalised discrimination is a function of existing relationships between the majority(host country and minority. An increase in the number of primarily relationship (indicated by interracial marriage) between these groups signals a dissolutions of discriminatory and subordinating practices and less incumbered entrance of minority into social institution of the majority group (Gordon, 1964:35). On the other hand, interracial marriages may indicate a weakening of ethnic cohesion and a loss of highly value ethnic culture (Murguia, 1982). Beaumont (1958[1835]:245), suggests that intermarriages are certainly the best, if not the unique, means of fusing the white and the black races. They are also the most obvious index of equality. While the U.S court of 1873 considered interracial marriages as immoral, others saw it as a cultural betrayal .Opponents of interracial dating contend that those who date or marry outside of their race are betraying their families and abandoning their cultural heritage. Many African immigrants believe interracial marriage erodes the solidarity of the African community. Lawrence Otis Graham feels that interracial marriage undermines [African] ability to introduce our children to black role models who accept their racial identity with pride. Graham also fears that biracial children will turn their backs on their black heritage when they discover that it is easier to live as a white person (cf Sollors, 2000:23-58). On the other hand, proponents of interracial relationships contend that interracial romance is a step towards eliminating racial hatred. According to Mitali Perkins (2007:50), Where exploitation and anger have separated the races in society, an interracial family called by God is a compelling example of the gospel of reconciliation. Yvette Walker believes that Racism . . . will have to be bred out. We cant make policies to change it. And certainly, in an interracial relationship the children are raised in a climate of tolerance. She and others contend that the rising incidence of interracial children will eventually lead to a society where race will no longer matter because everyone will blend into one race, the human race. More importantly, assert many supporters of interracial relationships, colour should not matter when it comes to love. They echo Martin Luther King Jr.s famous sentiment that people should be judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their characterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (cf Perkins 2007:206) African immigrants believe that interracial marriages offer the best opportunities for couples and professionals to experience, learn, develop, and educate themselves. Empowerment traits for interracial marriage and intimacy are core ingredients in promoting positive relationships in order that each of the couples families might work towards achieving optimal interracial satisfaction and simultaneously cope with external forces such as nationality, community, family, and individual. (McFadden, 2002:220). In the past, African immigrants were considered as inferior, Buirj (1993:176-179) argued that immigrants are lazy, incompetent, and inefficient because they lack both the cultural and symbolic capital. Michele Lamont (2000) recapitulates the negative feeling toward immigrants and reflects the continuing availability of cultural repertoires stressing the moral failure of immigrants. In the view of historian David Kennedy, in United States on the one hand à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦immigrants were judged to be noble soulsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦whose talents and genius and love of liberty account for the magnificent American character. On the other handà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [they] were thought to be degraded, freeloading louts, a blight on the national character and a drain on the economyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(cf Lamont, 2000:105). Scientific opinion at present tends to admit that an African immigrant is not inferior in any essential character of mind; and is approximately equal to other races in his ability to acquire culture (Du Bois, 1899). Despite the long-entrenched, labels to racially categorise African population in history, a trend has emerged towards a more fluid view of racial identification. Schacht and Knox (2000:279) argued that due to an interracial marriage/dating relationship amongst immigrants, there has been a gradual, if not, socially recognised shift in how immigrants are perceived. They have gained recognition. Moreover, interracial relationships are a step toward a more integrated and egalitarian society. For example, the future of Africans belongs to the person who is the product of many different cultures. Through interracial marriage, different cultures will develop their unique identities and come together in harmony. Benefits of interracial marriages would be that an African [immigrant] child would learn more tolerance and respect towards all races. Such children may be open to new ideas, and less hostile regarding ones religious creed or nationality. Many wars are fought over both religion and patriotic fanaticism, and a child of mixed background is not going to really purely identify with either one of the other racial background, thus, the child is less susceptible to being nationalistic to a fanatical degree. (Innocent, Sirefman, 1992). However, interracial marriages enable Africans immigrants to acquire citizenship and to engage in the political affairs of the host country. It is therefore a gateway for immigrants with citizenship status to shape and influence decisions at the national level. Thus, immigrants often view citizenship as crucial for the future prosperity of their children and their immediate relatives. The possibility of reuniting with family members is the major reason for acquiring citizenship. Citizenship also carries with it status and prestige among extended family members in the country of origin. Immigrants who have naturalised tell stories about how parents and relatives at home in Africa boast about their accomplishments. Praise and accolades are given to those who have become citizens (Arthur, 2000:24) Citizenship in other word, affects the shift in the cultural identities of immigrants (Afolabi, Falola, 2008: 49). Furthermore, interracial marriage is seen as strategic for integration and a form of assimilation. Park and Burgess (1969:735) define assimilation as a process of interpenetration and fusion in which person and groups acquire the memories, sentiments and aptitude of other groups and by sharing their experience and history, are incorporated with them in a common life the process of interpenetration is arguably best examplied in intermarriage which is often seen as the final step in the assimilation process. For African immigrants, it is a gate way to better life. Intermarriage is a clear signal that minority groups have adopted the cultural patterns of the host or majority population, such as its language and customs. On the other hand, during the assimilation process, African immigrants tend to lose their distinctive characteristics as they pass through the stages of assimilation, eventually intermarrying with the majority population (Alba 2003; Gordon 1964: 89) Theoretical Framework Using the status exchange theory (Merton, 1941, Davis, 1941), I have argued that interracial marriages would frequently involve an exchange of status characteristics. Highly educated Africa immigrants would trade their educational status in order to reap the benefits associated with the racial status of a potential white spouse. Similarly, whites with low levels of education would trade their racial status for the educational status of a potential black spouse. Consequently, a black-white marriage is likely to involve a black spouse with greater education than the white spouse because these types of individuals would each have something to gain from the union. Interracial marriages involving white spouses with greater education than their black spouses would be much less likely because blacks would have nothing to offer their potential white spouse in return for the white spouse marrying down in terms of race. Both Merton and Davis believed that this process of status exchange was ap plicable only to black male-white female unions because a black mans educational background would be more closely tied to future potential earnings and prestige than would a black womans education. Lacking empirical data to confirm this hypothesis, Merton provided the framework for a future test of the theory. According to Merton, the correct procedure would be to compare the relative frequency of three types of interracial marriage: educationally homogamous unions (Group A), unions in which the white member marries upward (white hyper- gamy) in terms of education (Group B), and unions in which the white member marries downward (white hypogamy) in terms of education (Group C).2 Group B should be the most common type because it involves the expected exchange of status characteristics, and Group C should be the least common type. Numerous scholars have since shown that this test fails because most interracial marriages are educationally homogamous. Individuals have a strong tendency to marry partners of a similar educational background, and this tendency has been increasing over the last half-century (Schwartz and Mare 2005). Thus, to some extend educational status is not the only means used by African immigrants to engaged in interracial relationship but the desire to acquired integration t hrough various means such as citizenship and resident permit is another reason for interracial marriages as already highlighted above. To conclude, in spite some of the miscegenation laws put in placed in the past, the desire to acquired citizenship, resident permits are reason of the that have pushed Africans immigrants to engaged interracial marriages, in order to reap the benefits of the host country in which they find themselves.

The Growing Problem of Terrorism and Terrorists Essay -- Terrorists E

Individuals often establish belief systems in regard to attitudes, behaviors, religions, and other areas based on beliefs and practices that they accepted during the early stages of maturation when many of their interactions were influenced by their families, who both supported and practiced the same traditions. In America the customary stance toward these varied opinions is to view them with tolerance, regardless of how strange or wrong the belief or action might seem. While individually people may disagree with the beliefs of other people, under ordinary circumstances, most Americans would either offer friendly advice or completely ignore situations that would not lead to dangerous or deadly outcomes. However, it seems to me that some people within practically all groups, regardless of their designations, sometimes decide to carry their belief systems to the extreme. Extremists move into the category of fanatics or radicals who seek to establish their belief systems as the only means for achieving a desired outcome. When people become fanatics, they believe that their ideals are the only acceptable way to live. Some will seek to destroy others who do not believe or act as they do. At that point, extremists become terrorists because they try to force others to accept their practices in such areas as social behaviors, politics, and religion. Terrorists frequently want everyone to practice the same social behaviors. Dressing in a particular style, eating specific foods... The Growing Problem of Terrorism and Terrorists Essay -- Terrorists E Individuals often establish belief systems in regard to attitudes, behaviors, religions, and other areas based on beliefs and practices that they accepted during the early stages of maturation when many of their interactions were influenced by their families, who both supported and practiced the same traditions. In America the customary stance toward these varied opinions is to view them with tolerance, regardless of how strange or wrong the belief or action might seem. While individually people may disagree with the beliefs of other people, under ordinary circumstances, most Americans would either offer friendly advice or completely ignore situations that would not lead to dangerous or deadly outcomes. However, it seems to me that some people within practically all groups, regardless of their designations, sometimes decide to carry their belief systems to the extreme. Extremists move into the category of fanatics or radicals who seek to establish their belief systems as the only means for achieving a desired outcome. When people become fanatics, they believe that their ideals are the only acceptable way to live. Some will seek to destroy others who do not believe or act as they do. At that point, extremists become terrorists because they try to force others to accept their practices in such areas as social behaviors, politics, and religion. Terrorists frequently want everyone to practice the same social behaviors. Dressing in a particular style, eating specific foods...

“Flight 063” by Brian Aldiss Essay

The poem Flight 063 by Brian Aldiss compares the business flight 063 to Icarus grand flight. Aldiss shows a different side of Icarus, showing the bright side of him, his flight, rather than about his great fall. While talking about Icarus flight, Aldiss talks about corporate men flying high over the Arctic Circle, without a care in the world about flying up in the sky, having it be a normal part of their lives, unlike Icarus, who only flew once. Aldiss tries to say that one should reflect on the good things in life instead of just the bad and to make the best of life. The diction used to describe Icarus flight and Flight 063 shows the difference in the style of flying that they are using. Why always speak of Icarus fall?(1). Well, everyone always remembers the bad things that happen in life, and the only good things remembered are those that impact the whole world. There is a poster somewhere that says, When I do something good, nobody remembers. When I do something bad, nobody ever forgets. That poster shows how everybody dwells on the bad, but Aldiss is showing that you should remember the good as well. The everyday was lost in his ascent (25-26) shows that when Icarus was flying, everything normal went away during his cliff-top jump, The leap of heart, the blue air scaled his glorious sense of life Imperiled (21-24). Icarus was doing what no other man has done- fly up high into the sky. His glorious flight into the sun left his sense of life gone, just wanting to fly closer to the sun, becoming a beautiful thing. Yet [w]hy always speak of Icarus fall?(1) when his flight was so much more. The allusions used to describe Icarus fall embellish on the fact that it could either be small and insignificant, or large and memorable. For example, that little splash which caught the eye of Brueghel refers to the famous painting, The Fall of Icarus. If you look at it, it looks like a regular scene of ancient Greece, but if you look closely in the bottom right hand corner, there is someone- Icarus- drowning in the water. Brueghel shows that Icarus fall was unimportant to the normal lives of the Greeks. The myth of Icarus is the main allusion in this poem. Aldiss uses the story of Icarus to state a point that before the fall the flight was (14). Before the tragic  fall, there was a great flight of Icarus, which we barely remember in our minds. When we hear Icarus, we think of a man whose wax wings have melted and who has fallen into the sea instead of a man who has accomplished flight, accomplished the discovery of the world in the air, and a man who found out that humans can fly. This is similar to how we think of Adam and Eve. —just before The Edenic Fall, [Adam] had that first taste of Eve (15-17). We think of only that if Adam and Eve hadnt been so foolish as to eat from the Tree of Knowledge that there would be no evil in this world, and that we would be immortal; we dont focus on what was happening before the eating of the fruit. They were in paradise. That just slips our minds sometimes and we only dwell on what happened afterwards. The best things in life are meant to be remembered, and the bad things are there just to remind you that youre human. Aldiss is trying to tell people that the best things of life should be enjoyed, and one should take heed silly limitations as the melting point of wax (28-29). Sources: Flight 063 by Brian Aldiss

Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay

In the play written by Sophocles, Oedipus the King, there are several instances of irony. Dramatic irony, or tragic irony as some critics would prefer to call it, usually means a situation in which the character of the play has limited knowledge and says or does something in which they have no idea of the significance. The audience, however, already has the knowledge of what is going to occur or what the consequences of the characters actions will be. The degree of irony and the effect it has depends upon the readers’ grasp and recognition of some discrepancy between two things. Our first taste of dramatic irony comes very early into the play when Oedipus vows to bring to justice the killer of Laius, which is in reality himself. When he learns that the bringing of justice of Laius’ killer will rid the city of a terrible plague, he sets forth with a plan to track down the killer. Oedipus begins to curse the killer and vows: Oedipus: As for the criminal, I pray to God – Whether it be a lurking thief, or one of a number – I pray that that man’s life be consumed in evil and wretchedness. And as for me, this curse applies no less (968) This is very ironic, as Oedipus is indeed, without knowledge of the truth, talking about himself. Another example of dramatic irony is the power of fate and Oedipus’ powerlessness against it. Throughout the play we are aware of Oedipus’ fate and we realize there is nothing that he can do to change it. When Oedipus tells his city after listening to their plea for help against the terrible sickness and plague that has taken over the city: Oedipus: I know that you are deathly sick; and yet, Sick as you are, not one is as sick as I. (963) The audience understands the truth and the irony in that statement. Oedipus should not worry about himself becoming ‘sick’ for he is already infested with the sickness. A third example of the irony of Oedipus is the fact that Oedipus seemed to be blind and deaf to the truth. He appears to be on a valiant search for the truth and justice of the killer of Laius, yet refuses to hear the truth when it is spoken to him. In order to hear the truth Oedipus needed to be able to hear and interpret it, yet he only heard what he wanted to hear. Therefore rendering him unable to understand the mystery of who he truly was. In this play there seems to be a constant string of ironies throughout. Oedipus is in denial of the truth. In his dramatic speeches he misconstrues the information that he has been given by Teiresias, as well as Creon and Iocaste. The horrifying realization that the prophecy of the Sphinx is in fact the truth, causes Oedipus to blind himself. The audience therefore pities him, which is a result of the use of dramatic irony. The use of irony in a play allows the writer to make their audience want to see how the events which are occurring, mentally affect the main character, even if they already know how the story will end, as in Oedipus the King. Kennedy, X.J., and Gioia Dana. â€Å"Oedipus the King† Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 2nd edition. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. 960-1005.