Good vs Evil - English Essay Essay Example for Free

Good vs Evil English Essay Essay There is neither a definite good nor evil, but only the grey area in-between. The Japanese proverb of Yin and Yang states that in all good there is some evil and in all evil there is dome good thus without good there can be no evil and without evil there can be no good. Evil was once described to me as ‘The inability to feel sympathy’ and at first I agreed with this analogy but upon further thought and deliberation I decided that it was not entirely true, for if evil is the inability to feel sympathy then that makes all acts of sympathy good. However, that analogy would make an act, one that almost the entire world agrees is purely evil, an act of good. The act in question is the destruction of the twin towers of 9/11, because the perpetrators were sympathetic. They were sympathetic towards their country and their people who, contrary to popular knowledge, had already been invaded and were being oppressed by the USA who were trying to secure their oil reserves. There is no way to moderate universally what is considered good and evil. Every man believes in some way that their own actions are just and righteous whilst also believing that their enemy’s actions are acts of evil purely because they oppose his own wishes thus making all man good in his own eyes yet evil in the eyes of those he opposes. Each and every one of us must decide for ourselves what is good and what is evil, and yet we must still conform to the â€Å"norms† of society. The definition of what is right and what is wrong may come from many different places. Some blindly accept what society tells then to where others question society and still others actively oppose society’s views. Some get their definition from the relative religious scripture and follow that without question whereas others merely see it as a general guideline whereupon to base their actions. I believe that the concepts of good and bad, righteousness and evil, just and unjust exist purely to justify man’s actions and that they have and will continue to change to fit the person whose action requires justifying. Alas, these unflinching opposing forces are bound to perpetually clash as they strive for a balance. For without either life as we know it could never exist, perhaps life at all could not exist.

The First Scene of Macbeth :: Free Essay Writer

The first scene is very short, but full of impact. The thunder and lightning alone give it a dramatic opening, which grabs the interest of the audience, as it is representative of evil. These dramatic sound effects help to set the eerie and supernatural atmosphere that Shakespeare wanted to create along with the witches. Instead of seeing Macbeth, Shakespeare’s audience is faced with three weird-looking women. The witches introduce us to a dark, dangerous play, in which the theme of evil is central. The witches say little but we learn a lot about them. The mood of the play is set here, although the action doesn’t start until the next scene. The presence of supernatural forces in the opening of ‘Macbeth’ provides for much of the play’s dramatic tension and the mounting suspense. ‘When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or rain?’ This is the opening line. It immediately draws the audience and captures their imagination, as the supernatural world fascinated people in Elizabethan England. At the time the play was first performed and at the time that Shakespeare was writing it, witchcraft was a great enemy, people became captivated by these peculiar, suspicious witches. Witch – hunts took place and many people were convicted of being witches and were executed. The witches fit in with the stereotypical perception of witches of that time, including use of familiars like Graymalkin and Paddock. The use of the paranormal occurs at the beginning, with three witches explaining that they will meet Macbeth. ‘When the battle’s lost and won.’ The audience have yet to find out what the battle is, however they know that the battle is won by one side and lost by another. Macbeth’s fate is that he will win the battle, but will lose the battle for his soul. We have come in at the end of the witches meeting, just as they are arranging their next appointment before their familiar spirits call them into the fog and filthy air. From the beginning we can tell that the witches can foretell the future, and are creating some unpleasant magic, which is to involve Macbeth. This creates suspense for the audience, wandering what is going to happen next. The fact that the witches want to meet Macbeth should raise some suspicion in the audience. The witches first mention Macbeth in the eighth line, when they explain that they will meet Macbeth upon the heath.

Pros and Cons of Minimum Wage

Pros 1. Reduced poverty The minimum wage can improve the living standard of low-income workers, which ultimately reduce poverty. According to the International Labor Office (2005), reducing poverty and working poverty requires both productivity growth and employment creation. The World Development Report 2004-05 also stated that there is strong empirical evidence that creating decent employment opportunities is the best way to take people out of poverty. As a result, the wealth gap between the rich and the poor can be narrowed.The Keynesian argument for minimum wages – this suggests that lower-income workers have a high propensity to consume, and that with the extra disposable income from minimum wage, they will spend a high portion the sum which will be injected back into the circular flow of income. In regions and localities where average incomes are low, a higher minimum pay rate can boost total demand for goods and services and create a positive multiplier effect – but much depends on the effect of a pay floor on how many people remain in work. . Reduced government spending on social welfare Since workers are being paid more per hour, their increased purchasing power enable them to meet pay for their basic needs on their own, without relying on government â€Å"top-up† welfare benefits. Therefore, this can greatly reduce the government expenditure on the social welfare, and the spending can be used in other ways, such as education and medication. Cons 1. Reduced employment of the less-skilled workersImplementation of minimum wage can reduce the employment of the less-skilled workers (Neumark & Wascher, 2008). According to The Wall Street Journal (2009), Economists for the Federal Reserve reviewed over 100 academic studies on the impact of the minimum wage and found overwhelming evidence that lower skilled and young workers have increased rates of unemployment when there is a higher minimum wage. These workers are laid off as their emplo yer finds that the employee’s labor is not worth the required age, but additionally employers are filling these jobs with higher skilled labor (Garfield, 1996). Additionally, many others pointed out the importance of the entry level jobs and observed that the loss of these jobs would have a negative impact on the development of a good work ethic in young workers (Irvin, 2009). 2. Shift the cost to consumers The increase in the minimum wage has caused many of these small businesses to raise their prices just to cover costs (Messerli, 2009).As labour is a factor of production, an increase in the average cost of labour will push up the unit cost of products. With the persistent increase in the general price level, there will be at a risk of inflation. 3. Difficult for small businesses to survive in the market Some small businesses may find it difficult to survive in the economy because they cannot afford to pay the minimum wage stipulated by the law. It obstructs their chances o f growth and thereby hampers the economic growth in the larger context.Though some of these companies would charge higher to the consumers, consumers may eventually decide that the high prices cannot be justified and the small business is forced to close (Messerli, 2009). 4. Shadow labour markets may develop Due to the surplus of labour, more people are willing to work at the minimum price than employers are willing to hire, and it is likely that workers will try to sell their services at illegally low prices. These workers are often, especially in America, illegal immigrants who are hired in favour of tax paying citizens.This will cause a decrease in tax revenue as more workers are not reporting their incomes, and an increase in the amount of unemployment benefits the government will have to pay out. The minimum wage benefits those who are employed at it and disadvantages those who loose out on potential employment because of employers hiring from a shadow labour market. The effect of minimum wages on unemployment will depend on the elasticity of demand for labour. If the demand for labour is inelastic, the introduction f minimum wages will only increase unemployment a little. Job losses may simply be due to the increase in labour cost which would result in a lower demand for labour. **** 5. Distortion to the free market Minimum wages are a barrier to the free market. If the minimum wage is set above the market clearing price, it will result in rising unemployment. Some firms will judge the opportunity cost of hiring an extra employee too high and this may prevent some workers from finding jobs who otherwise would normally find it.In a totally free market, they may be willing to accept lower wages. However, even if the artificial barrier were not present, the action of trade unions would greatly limit the wage reduction that workers would tolerate. Rather than have the entirety of the workers in a union take a pay cut, it is more likely that some will be fire d and the rest will continue work at the same wage rate. This means that even in a free market, the offer of lower wages can result in unemployment due to the effect of sticky wages.Equally, in some cases, when wages drop too low, people are willing to forgo employment. This is because the benefits of being employed are hardly greater than the unemployment benefits they would receive otherwise. This is known as the unemployment trap and its result is that even in a free market, if the equilibrium price is too low, unemployment will rise. For the two aforementioned reasons it is impossible to say that the imposition of a minimum wage will definitely cause higher unemployment than if wages were left to the invisible hand of the free market.Reference: Garfield, R. , (1996). â€Å"The Case Against a Higher Minimum Wage†. Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://www. house. gov/jec/cost-gov/regs/minimum/against/against. htm International Labour Office (2005). World employment report 2 004-05: employment, productivity and poverty reduction. , p. p. 31. Irvin, M. , (2009). â€Å"Minimum Wage Increase Pleases Workers, But Employers Not So Happy†. Retrieved March 8, 2012, from http://blog. al. com/live/2009/07/minimum_wage_increase_pleases. html Messerli, J. (2009). â€Å"Should the Minimum Wage be Abolished (i. e. Reduced to $0. 00)? †. Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://www. balancedpolitics. org/minimum_wage. htm Neumark, David (Editor); Wascher, William L. (Editor). Minimum Wages. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2008. p. 104-105, 189-190, 258-259. The Wall Street Journal, (2009, October). â€Å"The Young and the Jobless†, The Wall Street Journal, at A12. Retrieved March 12, 2012, from http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574402820278669840. html

Dragon as a Metaphor - 1646 Words

Calvin Starbird Paragraph 1 (Intro): The Epic Tale of the Dragonslaying Hero has been told a hundred times over. But where did the archetype start? Historians believe that the original Dragonslayer story was the English epic, Beowulf, written sometime between the eighth and eleventh centuries. The story of the Dragonslayer is that of a Hero, who starts off insignificant, but after his journey, is strong enough to face and defeat the evil Dragon. The Hero’s Journey is split into three phases; in order they are: Separation, Initiation, and the Return. The story of Beowulf was written for a specific purpose, other than creating a whole genre. The bards who wrote it as though it was a history, describing the past as the way things are when†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The darkness† in this quote is the forest where Grendel lives, which symbolizes hell. This excerpt ties back to the Anglo-Saxon’s beliefs of good and evil and exemplifies the cultural significance and the darkness as an important re presentation of evil in the Anglo-Saxon world. Another example of the forest is hell metaphor is in the movie Horton Hears a Who. After Horton leaves his home of Nool to begin his journey to the mountaintop, he is forced to go through a jungle and conquer many challenges all by himself. This is part of the Separation in the hero’s journey because Horton has responded to his call to be a hero, and is now crossing the bridge, or threshold into the unknown in this scene: â€Å"http://youtu.be/VblpG7Up76M†. This portion of Horton Hears a Who is culturally significant today because it demonstrates the heroic trait of fighting for what is right. It shows people to never give up, and to keep their promises. Jack Steele Paragraph 4 (Monotheism VS. Polytheism): The last theme explored is the belief in one god, Monotheism, rather than many, Polytheism. In the poem, the members in High Herot try to ward off Grendel with magic and rituals to the old stone gods, Paganistic beings. Ancient monks, in their attempt to convert the ancient Anglo Saxons to Christianity, made paganism sound like dealings with satan, and a way into hell. This is said in the quote â€Å"AndShow MoreRelatedA Literary Analysis of Ray Bradbury’s Short Story â€Å"the Dragon†1111 Words   |  5 PagesINDIVIDUAL WORK A Literary Analysis of Ray Bradbury’s Short Story â€Å"The Dragon† 1) The plot of the story The story begins with the description of a deep night and two men bent by their lonely fire. These men are speaking about a strange, mysterious creature, which seems to ruin everything on its way. They are talking about a dreadful dragon, which is described with much detail: â€Å"This dragon, they say his eyes are fire. 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