The kite runner free essay sample

Leesh bear Friendship with a Kite The desire for friendship comes quickly. Friendship does not. Aristotle In The Kite Runner, the theme of friendship is probably one on the most obvious themes to spot. The book is centered around the friendships made, and how the friendships will test their true loyalty and sometimes even their lives. According to Mark Vernon friendship is a complex thing. He says this; A heavy burden is placed on friendship. We turn to friends for our happiness. Some say they trust friends more than family. And there are those who want to marry their best friend a very novel idea. Then, in the networked age, we believe, or hope, that friendship is elastic enough to connect us across the web of complex lives, and strong enough not to snap. But is it? For whilst friendship offers much, few ask about its perils and limitations, as well as its promise. We will write a custom essay sample on The kite runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This relates to The Kite Runner almost perfectly. As it would tor any book dealing with the hardships and tests ot friendship, but somehow this one seems to fit best with this novel. one of the characters who reflects a lot on friendship Is Amir. Amir not focusing so much on his friendship, but the question of friendship completely, how two people of ifferent races, one accepted by society and the other outcast can be friends. But In none of his stories did Baba ever refer to All as his friend. The curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense anyhow Because history isnt easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shia and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing. When Hassan talks about friendship or more so reflects on it, he comes from more of a third party outsider point of view. He never really goes into detail, but the author ets us know he is caring and forgiving. Hassan writes letters to Amir filled with warmth and nostalgia for their time in Kabul. Somehow, Hassan never thinks to hold a grudge against Amir. Its unthinkable its simply not part of the makeup of this character. (shmoop. com) Even th ough they come trom different back rounds the tact that they are Ilke brothers Is really nice to see. Though the time they live In their friendship Is considered bad, they pursue It anyways. Many trials their friendship faced, yet they continued to keep eachother close. Then, when Amir attempts to fit Into society he leaves Hassan behind. Someone who he was so close to for so long. Too late we learn, a man must hold his friend unjudged, accepted, trusted to the end Oohn Boyle OReilly). Hassan was the one who helped Amir choose the path of his future career. Amir had taken advantage of the friendship between Hassan and him. He made fun of him whenever he had the chance, but Hassan never took it to heart and still perceived Amir as his best friend. One day while he read to Hassan, Amir made up the ending of the story and Hassan loved it. He said, That was the best story youVe read me in a 1 OF2 Hassan was both physically and mentally stronger than Amir. According to Baba, Amirs father, there was something wrong with Amir since his birth. Amir never stood up for himself and he was different for the fact that he liked poetry, something that Baba believed was not normal for a young boy. One day while Hassan and Amir were walking towards their tree, they came upon Assef and his friends. Assef was the son of one of Babas friends, an airline pilot. He was known for his brass knuckles and wanted to start an argument with Hassan and Amir. Right before he was going to hurt them, Hassan grabbed his slingshot and aimed it right at Assefs left eye. He let the boys go but said he was going to get revenge. This part of the story foreshadowed an event that occurred later in the story in which Amir and Hassans lives were changed forever. The Kite Runner free essay sample Kahled Hosseinis novel, The Kite Runner, serves as a story of redemption and metamorphosis of child into man, through the eyes of a young Afghan boy born into a family of recognition and prosperity. Amir, son of businessman Baba, narrates his outlook on the struggles he faced from his troubled childhood, including jealousy, neglect, and the manifestation of his own insecurities. Amir thrives for redemption in hopes of relieving self-condemnation, due to pain inflicted on his best friend Hassan out of jealousy and cowardice.Transforming from a guilt-ridden boy to a supportive, independent man, protagonist Amir in Kahled Hosseini’s novel â€Å"The Kite Runner,† travels through life and uses his experiences and hardships to transition from boyhood into adulthood. Growing up with a successful father, Baba, Amir is constantly reminded of his failure to live up to his family expectations and is blamed for his mothers death. To separate from his troubles, Amir chooses to preoccupy his time with writing poetry instead of participating in violent sports. We will write a custom essay sample on The Kite Runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Baba accuses Amir for not being a true man because of his preferred activities, and continues to harass his son, making Amir feel unappreciated and unloved. Amir especially feels such neglect when Baba presents Hassan, Amirs best friend and servants son, with a life-changing surgery to fix his cleft lip. This gesture stimulates Amirs animosity for Hassan, as he feels that Hassan does not have to work for Babas affection. Feeling unappreciated, neglected, and jealous, Amirs hostility builds both inward, toward himself and outward, toward his surrounding peers.With the seed of malice and insecurity previously planted, Amir takes out his animosity on his friend Hassan, which provides ammunition for his growth into adulthood. Leaving his childish concerns and entering the world of boyhood, Amir makes many mistakes affecting not only himself, but also others around him. One day as Amir stumbles upon Hassan being raped by bully Assef, he fails to defend his friend, partially due to his seeding animosity and also to his cowardice.Through this experience, Amir proves his lack in ability of strength and self-assertion to confront the troubles he encounters as a boy. Shadowing the traumatizing experience, Amir encounters a personal-war as he brims with guilt, yet avoids confession of the situ ation. Amir then proves his cowardice again by ridding of Hassan instead of submitting to his own guilt and taking responsibility. In doing so, Amir frames Hassan as a thief to his father Baba to ensure that Hassan and Ali will move away.Racked by his own emotions, Amirs boyhood encompasses the shame, guilt, and cowardice that result from his significant mistakes. Through his mistakes and experiences in Afghanistan, Amir finally undergoes his last transformation from boyhood into manhood by sacrificing his entitlement and learning to support himself and his family. During his adaptation to the U. S. , Amir is forced to work for money instead of life being served to him on a silver-platter. Eventually, Amir is able to drop his haughty and presumptuous attitude and establish a profitable and successful career. Once he reaches a point of stability, Amir falls in love with his beautiful Soraya while also taking on the responsibility in nursing his ill, aged-father. In doing so, Amir proves his newly achieved independence and support he provides for his family. Shortly after, Amir again proves his loyalty and selflessness when he agrees to rescue Hassans son, Sohrab, from an orphanage in Kabul.In saving Sohrab, Amir realizes that the Taliban officer is Assef and sacrifices himself, proving his gained courage and loyalty. In his confrontation, Amir finally gains redemption from all his guilt and is able to live his life in contentment. Resulting from these life-changing experiences, Amir gains redemption and in doing so undergoes metamorphosis starting as a neglected child, selfish boy, and finally into the selfless man that he always strived to be. In his final transition from child, to boy, to man, Amir proves his success, independence, support, and loyalty. The Kite Runner free essay sample The narrative The KiteRunner written in the first person point of view by Khaled Hosseini revolves around Amir and the three stages in his life. His childhood which was based in the early 1970’s was the most influential part of his life which is why Amir can bee seen as a coward and a selfish character. We will write a custom essay sample on The Kite Runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Although he does possess these traits his is not entirely to blame for them. Baba, his father can be seen as the character which influences Amir the most. His expectations are far to big for Amir to fulfill. Amir is also seen as a selfish character especially when he cant seem to get any attention from his father. The moment which shapes up the rest of the book is caused by Amir and his utter cowardliness. Watching his best friend get raped haunts Amir throughout the rest of the novel. Baba didnt give much attention or time for Amir which could be a cause as to why he is such a selfish character. Amir felt like he could not live up to his fathers expectations, he lacked approval and love which made him jealous and selfish. This is evident in the way Baba talks about Amir to Rahim Kahn, labeling Amir as a disappointment and also by the way Amir strives for his fathers approval by sacrificing Hassan in order to attain it. Evidence of Amir’s selfishness and cowardice can be seen throughout the text although his fathers influence is also a heavy contributor to his many flaws. Amir himself sees this â€Å"I realised how much of who i was ,what i was, had been defined by Baba† Although all these indecent acts Amir makes in his life, they are not solely to blame for his flaws. The lack of attention and love Amir receives from his father Baba, twists him to become selfish. Amirs only thinks about how he will benefit from his actions rather then the effect is causes to other characters. His jealousy he has of the attention Hassan receives from his father is a factor as to why is becomes so selfish. Amir frames Hassan and Ali which forces them out of the house. The self centered act of hiding a watch and money under Hassan’s mattress shows how powerful Baba is in his life. Amir believes his father favoured Hassan so with him out of the picture Amir sees this as an opportunity to become closer to his father and continues to struggle for acceptance. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb i had to slay to win Baba† This selfish acts only creates more havoc in his emotional battle to overcome his guilty conscious. Amir accepts that he will always be seen in Baba’s eyes as a let down and a burden. Even though Amir tried to be the ideal son for Baba he failed, but as he tried he dragged down other people with him, which Hosseini successfully portrays Amir as the selfish character, he only has himself to blame for. At the heart of the story is an act of cowardice in the face of abuse, a choice of self preservation over a stand to protect the vulnerable. Amir cowardly watched on as his best friend Hassan was raped by a group of boys. This act of betrayal destroys the boys friendship because Amir cannot forgive himself. This act of cowardliness is what made him who he was. â€Å"I became what i am today at the age of twelve† He struggles for redemption after this. Amir has the opportunity to stand up for Hassan or to run. In his own words, he says In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward. Amir attempts to rationalize his decision with the dehumanising thought that Hassan was just a Hazara. Ultimately Amirs cowardliness has a large flow on affect which haunts him throughout the rest of the text. Amirs actions are selfish and cowardly but he is not entirely to blame for his flaws. Baba can be seen as an influence of his selfishness, Amir only wanting his fathers acceptance leads him to selfish acts against friend Hassan. When in comes to being brave all his strength seems to go when he needs it the most, watching his frie nd get raped was the defining point in the text. Amir can only be seen at fault here because there is no other influence to make him the coward he is. The Kite Runner free essay sample The relationship between Baba and Amir is a complex one as Baba reveals his role as a father, friend, and foe. Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner explores this rollercoaster between Baba and his son Amir. As the novel unfolds, the lives of the characters unravel –as do their relationships and their sense of identity. Baba serves as an important link that connects each of the characters and also bridges the uncertain with the certain, lie with truth, pain with pleasure, servant with master, dark with light and then ultimately death with life. Each of these connections triggers strong emotions in Amir about feelings towards his father and how he feels about himself. This mixture of negative and positive feelings towards his father causes him much pain, but it also brings him closer to discovering him self and how in many ways he is truly his father’s son. Amir’s relationship with his father Baba starts off at a very rocky stage. We will write a custom essay sample on The Kite Runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Amir felt as though his father resented him since the day that he was born when his mother died while giving birth to him. Amir constantly felt as though he had to make up for killing the love of his father’s life, Sofia Akrami. However, this became a problem since there wasn’t much that Amir could do to impress Baba as they did not have much in common; the two had very different interests. Baba was more athletic, brave, and adventurous whereas Amir is the opposite. The contrast between the two was so large that Baba even said, â€Å"If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d not believe he’s my son. † (pg. 23). Amir overheard this scarring quote and became more determined than ever to win his father’s love and affection. Amir began trying so hard to impress his father that Amir even started sports. It was evident however, that it wasn’t one of his strengths. Baba’s lack of affection drove Amir into an imaginary competition between Hassan-his Hazara servant- and himself. Amir felt as though Baba was more affectionate to Hassan and he began to envy him. This led Amir to have a secret resentment towards Hassan, though he knew how much Hassan loved him. This bitterness played out in a terrible way on the day after the kite tournament. Amir witnessed Hassan get raped by the town bully Aseff- and he did nothing to help. He abandoned him in his most desperate moment. All Amir thought about was going home with the kite that Hassan had in his hand. The kite that Amir believed would make Baba love him even more now that he had won the kite tournament. That is why Amir said, â€Å"Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. † (Pg. 77). Even though he got the kite he wanted, Amir’s abandonment of Hassan in this tragic moment was a secret torment he had to live with for many years. Though Amir’s guilt meant living a life with a heavy weight on his shoulder, his life seemed to be looking up, since his relationship with his father Baba seemed to be improving. Ever since Amir won the kite tournament, Baba had been putting more of an effort into his relationship with Amir. Instead of ignoring Amir and not sharing any moments with him, Baba and Amir begun going out more. Baba agreed to do everything that Amir wanted to do and to Amir’s surprise, he even initiated some of their plans. The two did have their few bumps in the road however. For instance, when Amir was unable to deal with the guilt of seeing Hassan every day, he asked his father if he ever considered getting new servants. This made Baba furious. He told Amir, â€Å"I’ve never laid a hand on you Amir, but you every say that again†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Pg. 90). This is the moment, that the reader first gets sense that the connection between Baba and Hassan and his father Ali was much more than loyalty of years spent together. We learn that Baba grew up with Ali like a brother. The reader gets a deeper insight into their relationship later on in the novel. The reader finds out that Baba’s emotional response to Amir’s request is because Hassan is actually his son. From there on the relationship between Baba and Amir changed and went downhill. Amir realized that discussing that idea with Baba was a big mistake; however his desire to get rid of Hassan did not diminish. Amir took a decision to engage in a masterful act of deception and framed Hassan for stealing his watch and birthday money. This of course led to a confrontation between Baba, Amir, Hassan, and Ali. Hassan confessed to stealing the watch even though he didn’t and Baba instantly forgave him. Despite Baba’s act of forgiveness, the shame or perhaps the suspicion changed things in the household. Ali informed Baba that he and Hassan were leaving and would no longer be working for him. This was the first time that Amir saw Baba cry. Hassan was a good boy and Baba knew him well. He must have known in his heart that Hassan would not steal and that this predicament was all Amir’s doing. Of course this would put an even stronger strain on Baba and Amir’s relationship, but this wasn’t able to be expressed since Afghanistan soon underwent immense changes after Hassan and Ali’s leaving. After Hassan and Ali left Baba’s house in Kabul, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Baba and Amir fled Kabul and headed towards Pakistan; later on the moved to America. These traumatic events that occurred strengthened the complex relationship between Baba and Amir. When the two began life in America, their relationship was stronger than ever. Baba and Amir really started bonding and connected as father and son should. Baba began taking an interest in Amir’s studies, supported him as he pursued his dreams to become a writer. They often joked with one another and Amir began helping out Baba a lot with everything and even took care of Baba while he was ill,. When it was time for marriage, Baba got permission for Amir to marry Soraya- an Afghan he met in America- and he paid for the entire wedding. The relationship was at a very good place when Amir witnessed his father die a happy, proud man. When Amir first found out that Baba was ill and was dying, Baba told Amir, â€Å"What’s going to happen to you, you say? All those years, that’s what I was trying to teach you, how to never have to ask that question. † (Pg. 157). Here Baba reveals to Amir that his poor parenting skills actually had good intentions. What Amir saw as poor fatherly skills were in fact Baba’s way of instilling in Amir a sense of independence and manhood. It was upon reflecting upon these conversations, that Amir realized just how many sacrifices Baba truly made for him and finally concluded that Baba did in fact love him. Baba went to America purely for Amir’s education and future, and even though he hated it, Baba refused to leave. Baba was forced to take manual work and therefore degraded himself to earn money in a gas station to support Amir and his life in America. Most of Baba’s savings went to Amir’s wedding. These are ways in which Baba demonstrated his love and care for Amir. However, though Baba was dead, Amir and Baba’s rollercoaster was not yet over; there was one last hiccup in their relationship. This came about when Baba’s darkest secret was revealed by Rahim Khan. The secret was that Baba had slept with Ali’s wife Sanaubar and impregnated her, making Hassan his child. Amir went through a series of mixed emotions at this revelation. Initially the news made Amir furious. He thought of his father as a hypocrite due to all of the lessons he had thought him in his past. Baba once told Amir, ‘There is only one sin – ‘and that is theft†¦ When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. (Pg. 225) Due to this lesson, Amir couldn’t help but think that Baba’s theft was the worst kind of stealing, since â€Å"the things he’d stolen had been sacred: from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor. † (Pg. 225). As Amir reflected on his father’s deception and betrayal, he started to see himself in a similar way. Amir realized that his father was more like him than he ever knew and this is when their relationship made the final shift. He saw how much they were one and the same. His feelings towards his father finally changed. â€Å"Baba and I were more alike than I’d ever known. We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us. †(Pg. 226). Amir finally realizes that Baba was a man who also made mistakes and lived with regret. He recognized that the negative behaviors he had witnessed from his father, came from the struggles he had while trying to deal with the guilt and failures of the past. In the same way Amir had also suffered from the terrible things he had done. The big difference is at the end of the day Baba was a better man than Amir was, but Amir knew he had time to change this. From here on, Amir took on the task of redeeming both his and Baba’s mistakes. He agreed to go on the search for Hassan’s orphaned son Sohrab and to take care of him and raise him like he was his own. Amir is at last reconciled to his father. Although he was already dead, he is able to get some closure through Rahim Khan’s sharing with him. The conflicts and contradictions are also erased. His pain eases, he is sorry for his abandonment of Hassan and he forgives his father. Baba’s life of secrecy had broken with Muslim tradition in many ways and his behaviours had caused a chain of events that had the effect of both breaking and hurting relationships. He spends the rest of life making up for his failings. His example leads his own son Amir to see himself in a new way. He recognizes his weaknesses and forgives himself. He creates a relationship as a fatherly figure to his half brother’s son Sohrab and turns his life around. His outlook is now positive. There is no longer the darkness of secrecy and shame. Instead there is truth and there is love. Amir’s feelings of resentment turn to love and truth. The Kite Runner free essay sample People must sometimes defy the laws of society to overcome challenges in their path. In the novel, The Kite Runner authored by Khaled Hosseini, some characters face a lot of difficulties against the society in general. Hassan being a Hazara has constant opposition throughout his life. Baba finds a great change in his stature when he comes to America. Amir spends 26 years of his life keeping a secret that leads him to discovering many more secrets. Hassan faced a lot of challenges because he came from a social class that was considered inferior to the Pashtuns. Firstly, Hassan was always taunted by the society they lived in in Afghanistan. During a particular incident, a soldier calls to Hassan rudely, â€Å"You! The Hazara! Look at me when I’m talking to you! ,† and insults him (Hosseini 7). Here Hassan is referred to simply as the Hazara and Hassan was often reminded of his social status. We will write a custom essay sample on The Kite Runner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Secondly, Hassan’s friendship with Amir was not taken well by the people in the upper class who thought that their relationship should be nothing more than that of a master and servant. This is shown in Assef’s response, â€Å"Someday you’ll wake up from your little fantasy and learn just how good of a friend he is,† where Assef tells Hassan that he is only a servant and does not share any special relationship with Amir (Hosseini 77). This shows that it was difficult for Hassan to show the society that his relationship with Amir was more than that of a servant to master. Thirdly, Hassan sacrifices himself and suffers for Amir on countless occasions. For example, after the Kite Flying tournament, Hassan preferred to get raped than handing over the blue kite that was so dear to Amir. Hassan is shown to be extremely loyal to Amir on these instances. From the above mentioned points, it is proved that Hassan led a life of suffering and faced a lot of obstacles in challenging the rules of society. Another character who interestingly also faces a lot of obstacles although they are not very apparent is Baba. Baba confronted a lot of challenges during his life in both Afghanistan and America. Firstly, Baba was never able to openly show his affection for Hassan although he was his illegitimate son. He however does try to treat him like a son. In the quote, †Do you want to ask Hassan to come along to Jalalabad? ,† Baba is shown to be doing exactly that (Hosseini 86). Baba has had to live his entire life knowing that Hassan was his son but never directly showed it in any way. Secondly, unlike most people in Afghanistan, Baba was not a great believer in God. This is shown in the quote, â€Å"If there is a God out there, then I would hope he has more important things to attend to than my drinking scotch or eating pork,† where Baba clearly does not put his trust in God (Hosseini 20). Despite the teachings by the Mullahs, Baba does not believe them at all whereas the rest of Afghanistan is shown to be extremely religious. Baba was originally a merchant in Kabul. In fact, he was one of the most prosperous of them. After coming to America, Baba worked at a petrol station. He was quite hard hit by this change in lifestyle. At one instance, Baba gets angry at the fact that Mr. Nguyen asks Baba for a piece of ID. His irritation is clearly shown when Baba says, â€Å"What kind of a country is this? No one trusts anybody! † (Hosseini 135). Baba faces this change in his lifestyle and is unable to quickly adapt to it. Baba clearly faces a lot of obstacles in challenging the norms of society. In the following paragraph, Amir is proved to have faced a lot of obstacles in challenging the rules of society. Amir faces a lot of challenges in going against society during his lifetime in The Kite Runner. Firstly, Amir must go against the defined rules of society if he wants to accept Hassan as a friend in public. After he realises that he is brother he openly confronts the truth and is no longer attempting to hide it. He is shown confronting it in this quote, â€Å"He’s my nephew. That’s what you tell people when they ask. ,† where ‘he’ is Sohrab (Hosseini 380). Here he wants the world to now know that Hassan was his half-brother although this is against the rules of society. Secondly, when he returns to Afghanistan to get Sohrab back he can’t believe the condition Afghanistan is in. He goes against the Taliban who have become part of Afghan culture there and heavily influence the lifestyles of people there. A specific example is when the beard patrol comes and Amir looks right at them. This shows that Amir is ignorant towards the new leadership and does not completely accept them. Thirdly, Amir is shown to have tried to redeem himself so that he may feel better. He brings back Sohrab from Afghanistan even though he is a Hazara and knows that questions will be raised about him because Sohrab comes from a socially lower class even though he is Amir’s nephew. This shows that although Amir was brave enough to face the world even though what e had done could have serious consequences on his reputation. All the points above show that Amir had to go against society a number of times due to which he faced many obstacles in his path. In conclusion, any person must go through many hurdles in asserting the rules of society. Khaled Hosseini in his novel The Kite Runner has shown that these characters must surpass these hurdles to challenge the norms of society. As is proved by the three arguments stated above, Hassan, Baba and Amir were characters that braved these hurdles.

Null Hypothesis and Alternative Hypothesis

Null Hypothesis and Alternative Hypothesis Hypothesis testing involves the careful construction of two statements: the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis. These hypotheses can look very similar but are actually different. How do we know which hypothesis is the null and which one is the alternative? We will see that there are a few ways to tell the difference. The Null Hypothesis The null hypothesis reflects that there will be no observed effect in our experiment. In a mathematical formulation of the null hypothesis, there will typically be an equal sign. This hypothesis is denoted by H0. The null hypothesis is what we attempt to find evidence against in our hypothesis test. We hope to obtain a small enough p-value that it is lower than our level of significance alpha and we are justified in rejecting the null hypothesis. If our p-value is greater than alpha, then we fail to reject the null hypothesis. If the null hypothesis is not rejected, then we must be careful to say what this means. The thinking on this is similar to a legal verdict. Just because a person has been declared not guilty, it does not mean that he is innocent. In the same way, just because we failed to reject a null hypothesis it does not mean that the statement is true. For example, we may want to investigate the claim that despite what convention has told us, the mean adult body temperature is not the accepted value of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The null hypothesis for an experiment to investigate this is â€Å"The mean adult body temperature for healthy individuals is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.† If we fail to reject the null hypothesis, then our working hypothesis remains that the average adult who is healthy has a temperature of 98.6 degrees. We do not prove that this is true. If we are studying a new treatment, the null hypothesis is that our treatment will not change our subjects in any meaningful way. In other words, the treatment will not produce any effect in our subjects. The Alternative Hypothesis The alternative or experimental hypothesis reflects that there will be an observed effect for our experiment. In a mathematical formulation of the alternative hypothesis, there will typically be an inequality, or not equal to symbol. This hypothesis is denoted by either Ha or by H1. The alternative hypothesis is what we are attempting to demonstrate in an indirect way by the use of our hypothesis test. If the null hypothesis is rejected, then we accept the alternative hypothesis. If the null hypothesis is not rejected, then we do not accept the alternative hypothesis. Going back to the above example of mean human body temperature, the alternative hypothesis is â€Å"The average adult human body temperature is not 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.† If we are studying a new treatment, then the alternative hypothesis is that our treatment does, in fact, change our subjects in a meaningful and measurable way. Negation The following set of negations may help when you are forming your null and alternative hypotheses. Most technical papers rely on just the first formulation, even though you may see some of the others in a statistics textbook. Null hypothesis: â€Å"x is equal to y.† Alternative hypothesis â€Å"x is not equal to y.†Null hypothesis: â€Å"x is at least y.† Alternative hypothesis â€Å"x is less than y.†Null hypothesis: â€Å"x is at most y.† Alternative hypothesis â€Å"x is greater than y.†

Criminal Victimization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Criminal Victimization - Essay Example In facts these impacts can change the very life-styles of people with permanency and therefore it has to be ensured that justice is always correctly administered. This issue has therefore been discussed and analyzed here in a generalized manner but with logical arguments and counter arguments to convince with justification the following view points. (Callie Marie Rennison, Ph.D. and Michael R. Rand, BJS Statisticians, August 2003, Criminal Victimization 2002, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) The United States Department of Justice summary findings state that twenty three million of their residents over the age of twelve years were criminally victimized in 2005. The breakup of these twenty three million crimes according to the National Crime Victimization Statistics show that 77 percent or eighteen million were subjected to property crimes; 22 percent or five million two hundred thousand were subjected to violent crimes and one percent or two hundred twenty seven thousand to personal theft crimes. Further fatalistic figures show that in the same year for every one thousand residents again over the age of twelve years one rape or sexual assault was committed, one assault with injury was committed and three robberies were committed per every one thousand persons. ... (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Criminal Victimization) Background to Criminal Victimization While the above statistics when brought to attention may appear to be somewhat alarming, especially in view of the post nine-eleven tragedy which have bared nerves to their very cores. This together with the continuous setting off of alarm bells by the administration on the pretext of homeland security against terrorism; these statistics still are in sync with the averages on criminal victimization trends that have set in over the past many years. Assertion When these statistics are compared internationally, their analytic figures prove to be amongst the extreme highs. It therefore has become difficult to assess as to why in a country perceived to be the land of opportunities where the most advanced educational facilities, technologies and social welfare systems are available, this fatalistic criminal phenomena has been able to become so deeply embedded in our societies. Arguments Can it be that the taking of our highest standard of civil liberties so much for granted by our citizens rendered them as meaningless and of such less importance that its true value has value has somehow been lost Or could it that too much of independence and excessive freedom under the impression of living amongst the most advanced and modernized societies of the world started to degenerate our family and humanistic values more and more. The evidently visible overflowing riches which we have yet do not appreciate because we were born with them, leaves much more for us to think over so that we can once again be thankful for who and what we are and begin to contribute for the well being of humanity. The

American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

American History - Essay Example tilize the division and hatred that existed at the time within the halls of power in Europe to advance the nascent position that the United States engendered.1 As a case in point, Washington and others actively courted France and sought to curry favor within the halls of French power as a means of securing both financial and military support during and after the American Revolution.2   So great was the level of love displayed for the French during this time that citizens of the newly formed United States sought to divorce themselves fully of nearly every attribute and facet that connected them to England.   Again, although Nicole makes a valuable point with regards to the extent that Washington sought to distance the United States from European squabbles that so often devolved into far flung imperial wars, he was not opposed to massaging the other side of the issue and seeking to work shared distaste, distrust, and hatred for England towards his, and the nation’s,

Solomon, Consumer Behaviour Essay Example for Free

Solomon, Consumer Behaviour Essay When we say personality, actually everyone can understand what it is meant to be but actually it is hard to define a formal description of â€Å"Personality†. One answer can lie in the concept of personality, which refeers to a person’s unique psychological make up and how it concsistently influences the ay a person’s responds to his/her environment. From now on when we say â€Å"Personality†, we mean all of the distinctive, consistent and structured relations between an individual ‘s inner and outer environment. Personality is also be described as â€Å" the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual† Some psychologists may argue that the concept of personality may not be valid. Many studies find that people do not seem to exhibit stable personalities. Because people do not necessarily behave the same way in all situations, they argue that this is merely a convenient way to categorize people. It’s a bit hard to accept because we tend to see others in a limited range of situations and so they do appear to act consistently. Marketing strategies often include some aspect of personality. These dimensions are usually considered in conjunction with a person’s choice of leisure activities, political beliefs, aesthetic tastes, and other personal factors that help us to understand consumer lifestyle. Freudian Theories: Who is Sigmund Freud? Sigmund, born Sigismund Schlomo Freud (6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939), was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis. An early neurological researcher into cerebral palsy, aphasia and microscopic neuroanatomy, Freud later developed theories about the unconscious mind and the mechanism of repression, and established the field of verbal psychotherapy by creating psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient (or analysand) and a psychoanalyst. Psychoanalysis has in turn helped inspire the development of many other forms of psychotherapy, some diverging from Freuds original ideas and approach. * http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud Sigmund Freud proposed the idea that much of one’s adult personality stems from a fundamental conflict between a person’s desire to gratify his/her physical needs and the necessity to function as a responsible member of society. The id seeks out immediate gratification. The superego is the counterweight to the id. It is a person’s conscience. The ego is the system that mediates between the two. It tries to find ways to gratify the id that are acceptable to society. This is called the Pleasure Principle. â€Å"Id† is selfish and illogical. It is the â€Å"Party Animal† of the mind. It’s about immidiate gratification. Id operates according to the pleasure principle which our basic desire to maximize pleasure and avoid pain guides our behaviour. Id directs a person’s physical energy toward pleasurable acts without regard for any consequences. â€Å"Superego† is the counterweight to the id. The superego is essentially the person’s consicience. The superego internalizes society’s rules and tries to prevent the id from seeking selfish gratification. â€Å"Ego† mediates between the id and superego, it acts as a refree in the fight between temptation and virtue. The ego tries to balance these opposing forces according to the reality principle which means it finds way to gratify the id that the outside world will find acceptable. These conflicts occur on an unconcious level , so the person is not necessarily awere of the underlying reasons for his/her behaviour. Freud’s ideas highlights the potential importance of unconscious motives that guide our purchases. Consumer researchers have adapted some of Freud’s ideas. Consumers cannot necessarily tell us their true motivation when they choose products, even if we can devise a sensitive way to ask them directly. The Freudian perspective also raises the possibility that the ego relies on the symbolism in products to compromise between the demands of the id and the prohibitions of the superego. The person channels her unacceptable desire into acceptable outlets when she uses products that signify these underlying desires. This is the connection between product symbolism and motivation: The product stands for, or represents, a consumer’s true goal, which is socially unacceptable or unattainable. By acquiring the product, the person vicariously experiences the forbidden fruit. Phallic Symbols: are male-oriented symbolism that appeals to women. According to Freud’s idea the use of some objects that resemmble sex organs. For example: Cigars, trees, swords, buttons,trains and cars are look alike male sex organs. In addition to those mentioned, tunnels and button holes are symbolysed as female sex organs. Most Freudian applications in marketing relate to a product’s supposed sexual symbolism. For example owning a sports car for a man going through a mid-life crysis is a substitute for sexual gratification. Motivational Research: Motivational research borrowed Freudian ideas to understand the deeper meanings of products and advertisements. The approach assumed that we channel socially unacceptable needs into acceptable outlets including product substitutes. Motivational Research relies on depth interviews with individual consumers instead of asking many consumers a few general questions about product usage. Motivational Researcher probes deeply into each respondents’ purchase motivations. It might take several hours and the respondent can not immediately articulate his/her latent or underlying motives. The researcher can reach these only after extensive questioning and interpretation. Ernst Diechter was a psychoanalyst who trained with Freud’s disciples in Vienna. Dichter conducted in-depth interview studies on more than 230 products. There are both appeals and criticism associated with motivational research. * Criticisms * Invalid or works too well * Gave advertisers the power to manipulate consumers * Research lacked sufficient rigor and validity because the interpretations are so subjective. * The analyst bases his conclusions on his own judgement after an interview with a small number of people * The doubt of if the finding would generalize to a market or not * Too sexually based because of The Orthodox Freduian Theory * Appeal * Less expensive than large-scale surveysÃ'Ž * Powerful hook for promotional strategy * Intuitively plausible findings (after the fact) * Enhanced validity with other techniques Motives and Associated Products * Power-masculinity-virility: Sugar products large breakfasts, power tools – Coffee , Red meat, heavy shoes, toy guns, buying fur coats to women, shaving with a razor * Security: Ice Cream(to feel like a loved child again), Full drawer of neatly ironed shirts * Eroticism: Sweets (to lick) gloves (to be removed by women as a form of undressing) * Moral purity-cleanliness: White Bread , Cotton Fabrics , oatmeal (sacrifice, virtue) * Social acceptance: Companionship: Ice CreamÃ'Ž Love and Affection: Toys (to express love for children) Acceptance: Soap Beauty products * Individuality: Foreign Cars, Vodka, Perfumes * Status: Health Problems (To show one has a high stress , important job! ) Carpets (to show one does not step on ground with bare feet) * Femininity: Cakes and cookies, dolls, silk, tea, household curios (anthics) * Reward: Cigarettes, Alcohol, Candy, Ice CreamÃ'Ž * Mastery over environment: Kitchen appliences, boats, sporting goods, cigarette lighters * Disalienation (a desire to feel connectedness to things) : Morning radio broadcast, skiing * Magic-mystery: Soups (healing power), paints (changes mood of room), unwrapping gifts Other interpretations were hard for some researchers to swallow; such as the observation that women equate the act of baking a cake with birth, or that men are reluctant to give blood because they feel it drains their vital fluids. However, American people sometimes say a pregnant woman has â€Å"A bun in the owen† When the Red Cross hired Ernest Diechter to boost blood donation rates he reported that men (but not women) tend to intensely overestimate the amount of blood they give. As a result the red cross, counteracted men’s fear of losing their virility when the organization symbolically equated the act of blood with fertilizing a female egg: â€Å" The gift of life. † Neo Freudian Theories Alfred Adler He was cooperating with Freud and Carl Jung but later in the Freudian Theories the emphasis on sex was not accepted by Alfred Adler. Adler called it individual psychology because he believed a human to be an indivisible whole, an individuum. He also imagined a person to be connected or associated with the surrounding world to form an independent school of psychotherapy and personality theory. Following this split, Adler would come to have an enormous, independent effect on the disciplines of counseling and psychotherapy as they developed over the course of the 20th century. Adler emphasized the importance of equality in preventing various forms of psychopathology, and espoused the development of social interest and democratic family structures for raising children. His most famous concept is the inferiority complex which speaks to the problem of self-esteem and its negative effects on human health (e. g. sometimes producing a paradoxical superiority striving). His emphasis on power dynamics is rooted in the philosophy of Nietzsche, whose works were published a few decades before Adlers. However, Adlers conceptualization of the Will to Power focuses on the individuals creative power to change for the better. Adler argued for holism, viewing the individual holistically rather than reductively, the  latter being the dominant lens for viewing human psychology. Adler was also among the first in psychology to argue in favor of feminism making the case that power dynamics between men and women (and associations with masculinity and femininity) are crucial to understanding human psychology. Adler is considered, along with Freud and Jung, to be one of the three founding figures of depth psychology, which emphasizes the unconscious and psychodynamic. Caren Horney: According to Horney; individual’s reaction to percieved real threats ,anxiety, is stronger than sexuality or libido. Individuals have ways and neurotic tendencies to cope up with emotional problems in daily life. These tendencies occur as moving towards others (compliant), away from others (detached) or against others (The aggressive). Compliant people are more likely to gravitate toward name brand products. (Celal Birsen – Turkish Umbrella Manufacturer) Detached people are more likely to be tea drinkers. Aggressive people prefer brands with a strong masculine orientation. We can clearly see that in Old Spice Commercials with Terry Crews. Another approach by Harry Stack Sullivan focused that personality evolves in both internal and external daily communicatiosn to overcome anxiety. Carl Jung: Carl Jung was also a disciple of Freud but their relationship ended in part because Jung did not accept Freud’s emphasis on sexual aspects of personality. Jung developed his own method psychotherapy known as analytical psychology. He believed that we all share a collective unconscious. You can think of this collective unconscious as a storehouse of memories we inherited from our ancestors. From these shared memories, we recognize archetypes. An archetype is a universally recognized idea or behavior pattern. They typically involve themes like birth and death and appear in myths, stories, and dreams He is the founder of Analitical Psychology He mentioned the â€Å"id† as the power source of unconscious ego. Unconscious can be classified into personal and collective unconscious. Jung believed that cummulative experiences of past generations shape who we are today(Experiences have been inherited from past generation to next generation) which is collective unconscious. People are afraid of dark because their distant anchestors had good reasons to fear it. Personal unconscious means rudimentary ideas and subdued beliefs and livings. Many psychological concepts were first proposed by Jung, including the Archetype, the Collective Unconscious, the Complex, and synchronicity. A popular psychometric instrument has been principally developed from Jungs theories. Persona,one of the most common archetypes defined by Carl Jung, has a major factor while personality is shaped. It is the visible part of our personality by other people, it is the mask we wear during interacting in environment. The other two major archetypes are anima and animus. Anima is the feminine characteristics within a male personality, and animus is the masculine characteristics within a female personality. BrandAsset ® Valuator of Archetyes is created by BrandAsset ® Consulting: A Young Rubicam Brands Company. The model shows the relationships among the Archetypes. For each healthy personality, there is a corresponding Shadow. A healthy personality is one in which the Archetypes overwhelm their corresponding Shadows. A sick personality results when one or more Shadows prevail. When a brand’s Shadows dominate, this cues the agency to take action to guide the brand to a healthier personality. Agency uses the valuator to get opions of brands, keep the brand away from ome than one shoadow characteristic and move brand into a healthier positions. BrandAsset Valuator ® Archetypes Trait Theory : Trait theory focuses on the quantitative measurement of personality traits. Personality traits are the identifiable characteristics that define a person. For instance, we might say that someone is an introvert (quite and reserved) or an extrovert(Socially outgoing). Some of the most relevant traits for consumer behavior are listed below * Innovativeness is the degree to which a person likes to try new things. * Materialism is the amount of emphasis a person places on acquiring and owning products * Self-consciousness is the degree to which a person deliberately monitors and controls the image of the self that he or she projects to others. * Need for cognition is the degree to which a person likes to think about things and by extension, expends the necessary effort to process brand information. * Frugality is the tendency to deny short-term purchases and to make due with what they already own. David Reisman first introduced the terms inner-directed and outer-directed more than 30 years ago. There are several differences that exist between idiocentric (an individualist orientation) and allocentric (a group orientation) personalities. | Idiocentrics | Allocentrics |Ã'Ž | (individualist orientation)| (group orientation)| Contentment| More satisfied with current life| Less satisfied with current life| Health Consciousness| Less likely to avoid unhealthy foods| More likely to avoid unhealthy foods| Food Preparation| Spend less time preparing food| Love kitchen; spend more time preparing food| Workaholics| More likely to work hard and stay late at work| Less likely to work hard| Travel and Entertainment| More interested in traveling to other cultures| Visit library and read more|Ã'Ž Problems with Trait Theory The use of standard personality trait measurements to predict product choices has met with mixed success. It is simply hard to predict consumer behavior based on personality! There are several explanations; * Scales not valid/reliable –Results may not be stable over time * Tests borrow scales used for mentally ill marketers â€Å"borrow† those results to apply a more general population * Inappropriate testing conditions and not well trained test administers * Ad hoc instrument changes – reduces ability to compare test results across consumer samples * Use of global measures to predict specific brand purchases * â€Å"Shotgun approach† (no thought of scale application) – No specific advance knowledge about how test results is going to be conducted about purchases of specific brands. Researchers are recognised that Trait researches can not fully describe what the purchase decision is mainly caused by but a part of it. Marketers have to incorprate personality data with information about people social and economic conditions for it to be useful. Brand Personality Brand personality is set of traits people attribute to a product as if it were a person. Brands borrow personality traits of individuals or groups to convey an image they want customers to form of them. Many of the most recognizeable figures in popular culture are spokescharacters for long-standing brands, such as Mr. Muscle in Turkish advertisements. Animism: Brands carry their energy, attractiveness and soul on products as living creatures (Quaker Oats man and their credibility are reflected to a product package so that consumers may assume producers as shrewd and fair as Quaker Oats. Brand equity is the extent to which a consumer holds strong, favorable, and unique associations with a brand in memory—and the extent to which s/he is willing to pay more for the branded version of a product than for a nonbranded (generic) version . Like people, brand personalities do change over time. Brands’ popularity may vary from year to year. Herebelow it’s the most popular companies in Turkey in years 2010 and 2011. One year can make significant changes in brands equity. http://www. businews. eu/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/egsa50-1. jpg To give you another idea of how much things change Americans ranked these brands as the most stylish in year 1993 and 2008 Top 5 Stylish 1993 * Levis * Nike * Bugle Boy * Guess * L. A. Gear Top 5 Stylish – 2008Ã'Ž * Victoria’s Secret * Ralph Lauren * Nine West * Calvin Klein * Coach Doppelganger Brand Image When a company makes too many false or misguiding advertisesments, consumers can give humoristic and rebellios responses. This may be a web site attack or a fan-made(or anti-fan) video that make fun of it on Youtube and other similar content sharing social media. This is called Doppelganger Brand Image (Which means the bad twin of that brand) For example Turk Telekom’s ADSL connection also known as TTNT ADSLÃ'Ž Logo of London 2012 Olympics. The british tabloids have been less than kind; one paper described the design as a â€Å"Toileting monkey†. Also it has got some critisism due to it symbolysis Semitic Quote to â€Å"Sion†. An anti logo group got 50000 people to sign a petition demanding that organizors change the design. Some marketing experts feel that this outcry is a good thing because most young Britons are very blase about the prospect of the Olympics taking place in their backyard. So this will get their blood pumping. As an example of Animism; Adidas Brand creates a focus group of children and asks them to image, Adidas is going to join a party and tell them how they imagine adidas in the party. The kids responded that Adidas would be hanging around the keg with its pals, talking about girls unfortunely they also said Nike would be with the girls. The results reminded Adidas’ brand managers they had some work to do. Brand Action| Trait Inference| Brand Examples|Ã'Ž Brand is repositioned several times or changes slogan repeatedly | Flighty, schizophrenic| Ford, Geico, Puma| Brand uses continuing character in advertising | Familiar, comfortable | Marlboro, Turkcell, Arcelik| Brand charges high prices and uses exclusive distribution| Snobbish, sophisticated| LV, Hermes, MacroCenter| Brand frequently available on deal| Cheap, uncultured| HM| Brand offers many line extensions| Versatile, adaptable| Ipana| Brand sponsors show on PBS or uses recycled material| Helpfull, supportive| Toms, IKEA| Brand features easy to use packaging or speaks at consumers level in advertising | Warm, Approachable| T-Box| Brand offers seasonal clearance sale| Planfull, practival| Mango, Polo Garage| Brand offers five-year warranty or free customer hotline| Reliable, Dependable| Hyundai|Ã'Ž The Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) is a technique for eliciting interconnected constructs that influence thought and behavior. It is used to measure the brand equity. This tool can help companies in creating positive associations with customers. This works most, as by talking the brand in the form of story , marketer better able to grab the attention of customers and touch their feelings. ZMET is one tool used to asses the strategic aspect of brand personality and is based on the premise that brands are expressed in metaphores; that is, a representation of one thing in terms of another. These associations offen are non-verbal so the ZMAT approach is based on a non verbal representation of brands. Participants collect a minimum of twelve images representing their thoughts and feelings about the topic, and are interviewed in depth about the images and their feelings. Eventually digital imaging techniques are used to create a collage summarizing these thoughts and feelings and the person tells a story about the image created. Nestle Cerelac is the leading brand in baby food category. See how Cerelac brand equity measure through ZMET technique. By using this example, you can better able to apply this tool and increase you brands overall worth.

Modern Piracy With A Breif History Essay -- essays research papers fc

Piracy is usually determined as a seizure of property (ship, airplane or software) that holds no commission from the owner (â€Å"Piracy† 1). It is mostly linked to the dirty, bearded men that sailed the seven seas and robed merchant ships or ships that carried a valuable cargo. This however, was not the case in the late eighties and is definitely not the case today in the nineties. Now software pirates copy software without the permission of the company for their own personal benefits. Since piracy interrupts trade between nations it has been considered to be an offense against international law (â€Å"Piracy† 1). While the pirates in the medieval age roamed for plunder on the high seas, pirate radio and television stations broadcast, unauthorized software pirates copy to save money and even if one form vanished, another would soon take its place. Although the roots of piracy go as far as 102 BC the true sea pirates golden age was between the time periods of the very late 1600’s and the year of 1923 when almost all pirates suddenly disappeared. Pirates attacked the Romans as early as 100 BC. This was not as rough as the future pirates would be, but the idealism of piracy was present. The so-called piracy’s golden age started in 1695 when the first famous pirate, Henry Every, began seizing sizable treasures in the Red Sea and this made him an idol to many unemployed seamen in England. Piracy offered no more risks than being on board an ordinary merchant or privateering (which is often confused with piracy) vessel and the returns could be indescribably greater than in trade or attacking enemy ships. This started an increase in the number of pirates. Soon, in some parts of the world, for example Nassau, there were so many pirate vessels sailing the seas that the trade between the colonies and the outside world was n onexistent because all the goods ended up in the pirate vessels. Although their ways were inhumane and sometimes highly brutal, they had some sort of passion to sail the unknown and break the law to fight a war on the ordinary world. Some pirates were famous for their incredible brutality or for their otherwise colorful personalities: Edward Teach (alias Black Beard), who terrorized the coastline of North Carolina in 1716-1718; Captain Kidd who was more known for his highly publicized trial than his wrongdoings; and Bartholomew Roberts who was the last and... ...mplies with the law, and that it issues an appropriate policy statement that is signed and respected by all involved (Software Publishers' Association). The sea pirates, the software pirates Hackers and the on the air pirates all have something in common. They all (with the exception of software pirates) do their job for the passion of it. All of these forms are considered illegal because of the losses made to the owner to save costs or to collect prizes (sometimes). Whatever the case, piracy can never be gotten rid of because a new form will show up when another vanishes, history proves that. What will the next form be? Use your imagination. Works Cited Botting, Douglas. â€Å"The Pirates.† Alexandria, Virginia: Time Life Books 1978. â€Å"Piracy.† Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 1995. â€Å"Software Piracy.† CQ Researcher. May 21, 1993 MAS. Byrd, Kelly V. "Kelly's Place" Computer and Law http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~kbyrd/piracy.html: Spring 1996. Software Publishers' Association. "Software Use and the Law". http://www.spa.org/piracy/homepage.html: November 20, 1996. Computers In Society 6th ed. Dushkin Group/Brown&Benchmark Publishers: Guilford, CT, 1996.

nature of racism

Racism, though long deemed to have been eradicated in modern society, is unfortunately more ingrained than once thought. It is not only centralized in America, where slavery was once a dominant issue, but it has roots everywhere in the world that humans have reached. As George Orwell recounts in his narrative, â€Å"Shooting an Elephant,† racism feeds upon numerous psychological factors. These are the same psychological factors that Memmi also outlines in his essay, â€Å"Racism and Oppression.† The intersection of their works, which is seen through tracing the psychological foundations of racism, provides a framework in which to examine this universal condition. The first point of intersection between the two works is in Memmi’s declaration that â€Å"to be big, all the racist need do is climb on someone else’s back.† This someone else is the most obvious victim of racism: the poor, the weak, and the unfortunate. The racist does not try to oppress those who are known to be â€Å"strong,† as they know they cannot step on these people on their way to perceived superiority. Instead, they turn their attention to those who are already defeated, to the people who have all but given up fighting. These were the people who were the perpetual victims, never the victors. Hence, they focus all their racist attention on the people who, with very little effort, acquiesce to them, as they have already been shown to be defeated time and again in the annals of history. And indeed, this is how the British came about to conquer the Burmese. When the elephant began ravaging the town, Orwell was called to restrain the animal, as â€Å"the Burmese population had no weapons and were quite helpless against it.† If the people had no weapons to protect themselves from a creature they were in daily contact with and one that they knew could very well erupt in a rage anytime, then hopes for any sort of sophisticated weaponry to ward off their invaders is dim. Furthermore, these people were very poor, living in â€Å"a labyrinth of squalid bamboo huts, thatched with palmleaf.† Contrast this with the homes of the Europeans back in their own country, which utilized advanced architectural technologies and materials. With the flimsy materials the Burmese used to build their houses, the Europeans knew that they were a backward people, one that history left behind in the past. As such, they realized that it would be easy to conquer and subjugate the Burmese. However, Memmi’s point is refuted in Orwell’s realization â€Å"of the real nature of imperialism [and] the real motives for which despotic governments act† as he sets out to shoot the elephant: †¦[The crowd was] watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick. They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching. And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all. The people expected it of me and I had got to do it; I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly. And it was at this moment, as I stood there with the rifle in my hands, that I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East. Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd – seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but I reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys†¦To come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing – no, that was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at. The white man, in this scenario, is the one who is now being controlled, manipulated, and even, in a way, subjugated by the Burmese. Through colonizing, they themselves have become the ones colonized. The Burmese people, instead of being the ones stepped upon by the British, have become the ones who are stepping on the backs of these â€Å"historically strong† people. As they know the British are fastidious about cultivating an appearance of power and authority, the Burmese exploit this weakness for their own advantage. A second point that appears in Orwell’s literary work is that there exists â€Å"the surprising racism practiced by the oppressed man himself.† In theory, people who are victims of abuse and oppression should bond together, for it is through one another that they are able to weather the cruelty and subjugation imposed on them. In number, they should find strength. In practice, however, this fails to hold. Even the people who have been victims of racism can inflict and carry out the same kind of abuse on others and becoming racists themselves. In â€Å"Shooting an Elephant,† Orwell illustrates this reverse form of racism by depicting the various ways in which both he and his fellow Europeans were insulted and jeered at by the Burmese. Being a â€Å"sub-divisional police officer of the town,† Orwell became the favorite target of the anger, ire, and anti-European sentiment of the Burmese. This is because he was extremely visible, going around the town as he went about his duties. Furthermore, it was his job to enforce the rules, which are made by the British Empire.   Though the Burmese had no â€Å"guts to raise a riot,† they certainly carried out their insults in more personal ways. One time, during a soccer match, Orwell was tripped by a Burmese player and the referee, another Burmese, simply looked the other way. The crowd roared with laughter, and the Burmese players, knowing they could get away with such an insult, continued tripping Orwell on the football field. As a result, whenever he was spied on the streets, insults were continuously thrown at him when he was already several meters away. Finally, Memmi points to a universal conclusion about racism, that â€Å"everyone, or nearly everyone, is an unconscious racist, or a semi-conscious one, or even a conscious one.† It encompasses people from all cultures, races, and religions, including the most-liberal minded man, the most politically sensitive nation, and the highest-educated woman who do not necessarily fit into the mode of the stereotypical racist. Different people approach racism differently, offering differing logical reasons and interpretations, though it always boils down to the same thing – we are all guilty of being racists in one way or another, overtly or covertly. Orwell’s â€Å"Shooting an Elephant,† by presenting ideas that side with and vie for the Burmese people, can seem to be anti-racist. Indeed, Orwell explicitly states his disgust with the empire: â€Å"theoretically – and secretly, of course – I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.† Yet, Orwell is not the morally scrupulous anti-racist he paints himself to be. Just a few lines after this declaration of being â€Å"all for the Burmese,† he describes them as being â€Å"evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make [his] job impossible.† His â€Å"greatest joy in the world,† on the other hand, â€Å"would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest’s guts.† These sentiments, he said, were simply â€Å"the normal by-products of imperialism†¦Ã¢â‚¬  On the other hand, if Orwell was one of those people whom Memmi described as being an unconscious racist, his fellow British were the fully-conscious types. When Orwell was discussing with some other officers his act of killing an elephant for killing a coolie, the younger men in the group responded that he was wrong for doing so, â€Å"because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie.† For them, the worth of a human life, especially one of their colonized victims, is negligible compared to the worth of an elephant. It is simply another way of saying that the life of the people under their rule was not important. Orwell and Memmi both present the universal problem of racism. Though they do not agree on all points, they do agree that racism comes at a huge cost, both for the racist and the victim.