Artifacts in Jamaica free essay sample

Artifact An object made by human craft, especially a tool, weapon etc and represent historical interest. It is normally an inexpensive object which is an example of the way earlier civilization lived. Types of artifact ? Ceramic Artifacts ? Chamber Pot ? Tin-Glazed earthenware ? Border ware Chamber Pot [pic] A chamber pot is a small pot, usually ceramic, designed to fit under a bed or in a discreet close stool. The earliest form of chamber pot appeared in the fourteenth century in Egypt, and was commonly made of metal.Examples are known of tin, lead, pewter, copper, silver, and even gold. The chamber pots used in Colonial America were originally patterned after silver models, but pottery was the most common material used. Chamber pots is just a few of the many items brought to Jamaica during the era of Christopher Columbus and was an item frequently found through out the colonial sit of Port Royal. We will write a custom essay sample on Artifacts in Jamaica or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The first ceramic model was recorded from at least 1418, and was identical to cooking pots. To differentiate them, pots were often placed within a close stool with a hinged top and padded seat.The wide uses of chamber pots lead to it being mass-produced by the Staffordshire Potteries in the mid-17th century. In the era when going to the bathroom involved a trek to the outdoors, people who needed to go to the bathroom at night would use the chamber pot to urinate, and empty it in the morning. The most common place that you would find a chamber pot is under the bed, as it is a convenient and ready location. Some people had close stools, pieces of furniture designed to conceal a chamber pot.In many cases, the close stool had a bench with a lifting lid, allowing women to sit comfortably while they used the chamber pot. During the day, members of the household would be expected to use the outside bathroom, unless they were ill. The chamber pots from the night before would be emptied and scrubbed before being replaced in the bedrooms. Commonly, chamber pots would have been emptied into the outside bathroom, but some households simply threw the contents out the window. In homes which had a household staff, a maid would empty the chamber pots as part of her morning chores.The basic design of a chamber pot involves a pot deep enough to hold urine without splashing, and a secure lid. Usually, a chamber pot has handles so that it can be carried easily. While poor households probably had very plain chamber pots, more elegant examples of decorated pots can be found in some museums, suggesting that these were from more lavished households. Generally, raised decorations would be found on the outside of a chamber pot, and the inside would be left smooth and decoratively painted. borderware [pic] Tin-glazed earthenware [pic] AcknowledgmentI would like to sincerely acknowledge the valiant effort of all those who contributed to the success of the project titled ‘artifacts from Jamaica’s past’. Thanks to Ms. Cameron (teacher of class 6c from St. Catherine Preparatory School) for her valuable guidance by way of giving the direction on what the project should consist of, and for providing the opportunity for me to develop an understanding of how to carry out a researched project successfully. I also want to thank my parent for further guidance and their effort in ensuring that the project was finished in due time.

Alternative Meanings for Hand and Names of Its Parts

Alternative Meanings for Hand and Names of Its Parts Alternative Meanings for â€Å"Hand† and Names of Its Parts Alternative Meanings for â€Å"Hand† and Names of Its Parts By Mark Nichol The human hand is such a quintessential element of our anatomy we wouldn’t be human without ours (specifically, without our prehensile thumbs) that we have applied the word to many literal and figurative senses other than the physiological one, as well as a wealth of idiomatic phrases (too many to list here). Here’s a discussion of alternative meanings of hand, as well as those for its parts. Hand can refer to participation or an offer of assistance, or it denotes a round of applause. It applies to a body part or a component of an object resembling a hand, and a symbol resembling a hand with an outstretched index finger is called a hand, or an index. An aspect, direction, or side is called a hand; on the other hand, the word also refers to the concept of control, possession, or supervision. One can give one’s hand as a pledge (usually, in reference to marriage), and one’s signature or handwriting is called one’s hand. The word denotes ability or skill, or interest or participation or a significant role. In card or other games, hand refers to the cards or game pieces held, to a round in a game, or to a player in a game; by figurative extension, it means â€Å"the strength of one’s position.† In the realm of a rougher game, pugilistics (boxing), or in fighting in general, hand identifies a punch. The creator or producer of a work might be acknowledged as a hand; it could also reference someone with knowledge of or skill in a specific topic, or handiwork or workmanship. The word also applies, more mundanely, to an employee or worker, especially a laborer, or a member of a ship’s crew (or the figurative equivalent). In a sense more akin to tactile connotations, hand describes the feel of a material. Finger, too, has other meanings, including something resembling a finger in shape or function, or a measurement equivalent to the general width of a finger. As a verb, it means to identify or to touch, to extend as a finger would be extended, or to play music using one’s fingers. Likewise, thumb applies to something with a thumblike appearance, and, as a verb, it means â€Å"to leaf through a book or to cause wear by doing so,† or â€Å"to hitchhike or to signal for a ride by holding out one’s thumb.† A knuckle, too, is something that looks like a joint in a bodily appendage (or, in the case of a cut of meat, is that anatomical part from livestock), including a weapon worn on the knuckles and more commonly called brass knuckles. Knuckle can also refer to a part of a hinge or to a structural component with the appearance of a knuckle. To knuckle is to press or rub with one’s knuckles. Palm extends to objects that might remind one of that part of the hand; the palm tree derives its name from resemblance of the fan-shaped leaves to a hand. A palm is also the act of palming; to palm is to conceal with one’s hand or to stealthily give or take something, or, by extension, to commit fraud. It also means to touch with one’s palm, as in the basketball violation of resting a ball in one’s hand during dribbling. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 "Home" Idioms and ExpressionsRules for Capitalization in TitlesFew vs. Several

Love DISABILITY & PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Love DISABILITY & PHYSICAL ACTIVITY - Essay Example This report discusses the major barriers that restrict disabled people in accessing and progressing within the available sporting infrastructure in Darlington Borough, in United Kingdom. Bone and Meltzer (1999, p14) define disability as â€Å"any physical or mental state that limits movements, activities or senses of the affected person†. According to Arthur and Finch(1999, p41), persons with disabilities includes â€Å"people afflicted by long term mental, physical, intellectual, or sensory malfunctions, which limit their ability to participate fully and effectively in society like other able people†. Disability could be temporary, permanent or it could recur periodically within the life span of the affected person. Darlington Borough has an estimated population of 99,475 (PMP, 2009). Elderly persons aged 65 years and above account to 17% of the total population in the region, compared to national average of 16%. The proportion of people aged below 40 years in the borough is less than the national average. About 31% of people in the area do not have private cars for transport (PMP 2009, p16). This limits access to available sporting facilities, especially among the disabled persons. The region has unemployment rate of 4%, which is above the national level in the United Kingdom (PMP 2009, 37). According to PMP (2009) disabled persons account to 10.6 % of the entire population in the borough. Most of the disabled are elderly persons aged over 65 years. Darlington borough has an estimated 107.5 hectares of land for playing pitches, but only 39% of this area is available for public use (PMP, 2009, p65). In spite of economic prosperity in various regions, people with disabilities encounter higher levels of social, economic and political isolation compared to those without the condition (Andreasen, 1995, p 17). These challenges permeate into sports across different regions and Darlington is not an exception. Although factors such as age, ethnicity, gender,

Business organisation and policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business organisation and policy - Essay Example ............................................. 6 5. Discussion of Merger Seeking...................................................................... 7 6. Conclusion..................................................................................................... 9 References / Bibliography Business organisation and policy 1. Introduction Many businesses attempt to improve their revenue stream or maintain a higher competitive advantage through the process of acquiring or merging with other successful companies. Corporations believe that they can gain a considerable growth potential, improve overall service delivery or produce better and more innovative products by consolidating talents that exist within the business being acquired and amidst the new business entity acquired. However, many board members and executives at these companies do not fully understand the realities of what affects successful acquisition and merger philosophy, with most of these driven by the external marke tplace and external stakeholders. In order to understand what causes failures in merging and acquiring other firms, it is necessary to explore real-life case histories of two different companies with radically different success and failure outcomes after merger. Air France merged with KLM and found a considerable growth potential and synergy development, whilst Daimler-Chrysler suffered substantial loss of business competitiveness and capital growth after the merger. It is likely that board members and executives, despite such a high margin of failed mergers and acquisitions, continue to seek out these opportunities for a variety of financially-based rationales, for the potential benefits achieved with shareholders and stakeholders, and as a generalised strategic methodology to improve efficiency, productivity, and cultural development. This report examines the two merged company case studies and comes to a determination as to why businesses continue to seek merger and acquisition o pportunities despite numerous failures in this process. 2. The case of Air France and KLM Air France and KLM were both highly successful airline carriers that found independent revenue growth in their home markets of France and the Netherlands respectively. Both airlines agreed that a merger would improve their competitive position in the airline marketplace and could develop long-lasting synergies that would ultimately lead to sales growth and cost reduction in key divisions of operations. The Air France and KLM merger should be considered a significant success in merger philosophy. Why is this? In key markets, Ryanair and other low cost carriers were beginning to expand their fleets by using lean models of operations that allowed for cost reduction to be passed on to consumers in the price of lower fares. This was impacting the profitability bottom line of both major carriers which had higher overhead costs and administrative costs associated with labour payments to maintain their broad hub networks. These low cost carriers were using dynamic pricing and were able to reduce marketing and advertising costs; thus, it was becoming more attractive to multiple target market consumers (Malighetti, Paleari and Redondi, 2009). Because of regulatory restrictions, Air France and KLM, separately and in their host countries and markets, could not adjust their costs of operations to successfully compete with Ryanair and other growing low cost carriers using penetration or dynamic pricing models. Together, however, it gave

Foxconn Suicides Case Study

Foxconn Suicides Case Study Introduction Foxconn Technology Group is a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Company Ltd, a Taiwanese company which is a major electronics manufacturer catering to famous-name brands including Sony, Apple and Nokia. With the first manufacturing plant established in Shenzhen, China in 1988, around 450,000 workers are now employed at the Foxconn City, which intends to act as both working and leisure place to the employees. Foxconn has been involved in several controversies, relating to how it manages employees. It is mostly known by the public for the series of suicides in 2010. The 2010 Foxconn suicides occurred between January and November, 2010, when eighteen Foxconn employees, aging from 18 to 24, attempted suicide with fourteen deaths. Though investigation has found that employees personal problems may cause them to commit suicide, low income, enormous working pressure and a lack of communication opportunity are commonly accounted for the incidence. The suicides drew much media attention and in this project, we will focus on analyzing the managerial problems of Foxconn which lead to the incidence and the effectiveness of the measures taken by Foxconn after the incidence to alleviate those problems. Management problems: Military leadership style Many reports suggested that Foxconns leadership style is the culprit for continuous suicides. They argued that manufacturing workers also need a warm and supportive working environment which was the opposite of Foxconn practices. Almost every worker needs to stand to work 12 hours a day intensively so as to maintain their live with the low wages. As they do not have other qualifications, they have no choice but have to choose this kind of harsh jobs said a first-line manager in Foxconn. After a series of suicides happen in Foxconn, a reporter slipped into the company for 30 days. He found that the environment inside the factory was more terrible than imagine. For instance, no one can leave for a minute for washroom unless he can find someone to replace his duty. It shows that even peoples basic needs are ignored. In addition, Foxconn stresses heavily on execution and efficiency although it never delivers compensation late. Some workers point out that whenever your boss gives out command, the only respond you can give is Yes or OK. You cannot be suspicious for a second. The only thing you can do is follow his order and delegate the work to your subordinates. In other words, manufacturing workers get extremely low status in the industry. With low status, workers duty is to listen and follow their instructions, workers should have no say to what they can do. We are pretty sure that this kind of military management is unethical as they simply ignore the basic human needs. If we apply the motivation theory-Maslows Hierarchy of Needs to Foxconn, they cannot even fulfill the most basic physiological needs like sufficient rest time for the prolonged working hours. Ranging from work conditions to worker status, Foxconn fails to fulfill those hygiene factors( dissatisfiers) according to Fredrick Herzberg s Two-Factor Theory. Both of the theories above show us clearly that worker will get dissatisfied with this military leadership style. The strict and inconsiderate leadership style explains why Foxconn was blamed to be inhuman causing endless suicides. Rewarding policies From the view of motivating and rewarding employees, some believe that a string of  suicides at Foxconn has highlighted what some say that the minimal pay of 900 RMB is exploitative. We shall examine the issue and analyze rewarding policies of Foxconn. With respect to the monetary rewards, it is laudable that Foxconn has signed labor contract with their workers and pay their basic salaries on time. However, they set the minimum wage in Shenzhen, 900RMB, as the basic salary of workers in the factory before tragedy happened. In fact, the so-called basic salary is not enough to guarantee workers even the basic standard of living. They are long overdue for significant pay raises and the factory pay has not kept pace with inflation over the past decade that makes their lives hard. We may find that the monetary reward offered by Foxconn is insufficient to satisfy even the physiological needs of workers. It is very likely that workers will get more depressed when their job is overwhelming stressful at low pay level. Suicide attempts are usually preceded by a period of serious depression. It is easy to understand that the low pay can induce suicide with tremendous pressure faced by factory workers every day. After several suicides, Foxconn has reached a preliminary agreement on pension and maintenance payments with the bereaved families that Foxconn would make a 360,000 RMB pension payment to those families and offered maintenance payments of 30,000 RMB per year. This practice intensifies the suicidal problem. The original intention of this measure is to pacify the bereaved families, comfort employees after a series of suicide events and at the same time, relief the pressure from public. However, for those workers who are dissatisfied with their lives at Foxconn, huge amount of compensation induces them to end their life as they find it more preferable. The pension payment, being the culprit of suicides, is achieving the opposite. The dearth of non-monetary rewards also results in a string of suicides at Foxconn. Under the military leadership style, being blamed is one of the job duties. Non-monetary rewards like praise, status promotions or privileges are simply impossible. For general companies, not having any non-monetary or intrinsic rewards is not the critical problem. It is a different story for Foxconn and they become extremely important when monetary and extrinsic rewards are far from sufficient to satisfy workers. It acts as the supplements or compensation to workers with low pay. Unfortunately, Foxconn just does the opposite. There is neither significant extrinsic reward nor any form of intrinsic rewards. Worse still, they tend to punish rather than encourage workers when they get mistakes. All the above rewarding policies fuel the suicide problem. Communication opportunity Communication with peers is important to express their ups and downs and relieve their stress. Developing the social network in the industry would also enhance the job satisfaction and sense of belongings to the company. However, there is a lack of communication in Foxconn. When they are working, workers cannot talk with each other, or else there will be disciplinary action. After work, they seldom talks with their roommates, since they either have to work overtime or need to take a rest after long working hours. After the first few suicides, Foxconn carries out a number of measures. For example, managers buy information with monetary incentive. Whenever workers report employees with psychological problem, two hundred dollar is rewarded. This practice further worsens the relationship between peers, supervisors and subordinates as it weakens the trust between workers, making it more difficult for them to share freely with their peers. When employees are not satisfied with the working environment and have nobody to talk to, their stress level will add up. And one day they can no longer withstand the stress and end their lives to get rid of the work. Fairness Have you ever imagined that the unfair treatments in the work place would induce people to commit suicide? People in this generation pay more attention to the fairness. However, unfair affairs exist in Foxconn. There are rumors that security guards maintain order according to their personal mood, rather than the regulations of the company. Whenever one of the guards does not get along with you, you will be beaten for whatever reasons. One example will be Mr Leung. Some said that he spit to the guard after being dressed down and jumped from the roof the other day. Another example will be the management by Mr Kwok, the chairperson of Foxconn. He was born and educated in Taiwan. That is why he is criticized of preferential treating towards Taiwanese. He often employs Taiwanese to manage Chinese and rewards are different between employees from different origins. Taiwanese have a higher salaries and bonus than Chinese at the same level. It is true that we cannot check whether the above claims are correct or not. However, discrimination is not uncommon in the real society as we can think and thus it may be the fault of Foxconn not to balance the interests of different parties which directly leads to continuous suicides. With the workers being treated differently and nowhere to complain, they can only endure to it. When it comes to the end of ones patience, some of them choose to end their lives. Measures taken by the Foxconn Group: After the consecutive tragedies, the Foxconn Group had adopted various measures to prevent employees from committing suicide again. These measures included: 1.) Increase in workers wages. The management raised the wages of all production line workers by 30%. And for the production line operators in Shenzhen, their basic salaries and wages were raised from 1,200 yuan to 2,000 yuan per month. 2.) Set up of Safety Net The company set up a rigid Safety Net within the staff residential areas, which occupied for over 150 million square meters of spaces, thus to avoid the death of any worker directly if they intended to jump off the roof downwards. 3.) Establishment of the Caring Team Foxconn had divided their workers into groups of 50 people, known as the Caring Team, and their responsibilities included giving cares and love to each other, and to report any unusual emotional changes of their co-workers. 4.) Counselors availability to assist the workers At the time after the incident, the company had already trained 1000 psychological counselors. They were sent to the factory to provide counseling, guidance and assistance to the workers via the psychological consultation hotline. 5.) Mandatory Psychological test Once new workers were employed after the incident, they should undergo an in-depth mandatory psychological test to evaluate their mental health and provided better guidance on how they could work happily in the future. To conclude, these measures aimed at preventing the same incident from happening again. Criticisms on the measures taken by the company Despite the several measures adopted by the company, did they really benefit the workers permanently? Or did they only bring temporary effects? It was surprising to discover that there were still cases of workers committing suicide shortly after all the above measures were implemented, which gave us the solid evidence that the measures might not be as effective as the managers expected and could not root out the problem. 1. Short-sighted measures without long-term consideration The above measures could be said to be effective in dealing with short term problems, yet it might not be long-term considered enough. For example, the set up of Safety Net could only enforce workers not to jump downwards from their roof, but it could not solve the workers dissatisfaction towards the company and enhance workers morale in long-term. Some even argue that the establishment of safety net shows the cool-blooded attitude of Foxconn towards workers. 2. Not sufficient psychological support Although the company sets up a psychological consultation hotline, helping employees to relieve their stress, this measure is quite passive and the number of employees being helped is limited. Top managers only select 1000 employees to take a training course of psychological consultation. Eighty of them pass the exam helping employees who cannot deal with stress. But, these eighty helpers, relative to over four hundred thousand of employees, are insufficient to prevent suicide from happening again. We doubt whether it is the effective method to prevent suicide and help employees. 3. Insufficient improvement in satisfying different needs According to Maslows hierarchy of needs, it states clearly that different needs ranging from physiological needs to self-actualization and esteem needs, such intrinsic values are the most crucial ingredient in the recipe of motivating workers. However, what Foxconn offered were far from fully satisfying workers fundamental needs (ie, financial security), not to mention what measures did Foxconn implement to satisfy workers social needs. Although they set up the caring team to show their love to workers, whether it works is in doubt. Can the need of social network be simply replaced by the so-called caring team? The act of suicides proves its effectiveness. Being ignored the intrinsic needs, workers hardly find the feeling of satisfactory and recognition from the work. Our Suggestions To coop with the incident, we ought to think of some more probable ways, which are listed in the following: 1. An increase in wages and a reduction on working hours Most of the workers in Foxconn endured their tiredness by standing for over 10 hours per day, with 6 days per week without adequate rest. The reason that workers choose to work overtime was that the wages were still far from enough for them, even after the little raise in the wages . By increasing the wages, workers no longer need to suffer from the extremely long working hours. If we want to save workers lives, we should first make sure that they get sufficient salary to maintain their lives. 2. Satisfying different needs Under the Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, social need like affection, belongingness and friendship is one of the essential needs for workers to get work. Apart from encouraging workers to make friends with others so as to alleviate the psychological problems, they should also encourage them to relax by having some leisure activities. Though Foxconn has good relaxing facilities like recreation centre for chess, mountain climbing and fishing, they never promote and encourage workers to enjoy them. From the Shanghai-based China Business News reported, Researchers questioned 1,736 employees and found they worked an average of 83.2 hours of overtime a month that is more than twice the maximum of 36 hours allowed under Chinese law. Workers work numerous overtime and thus they do not have time to enjoy those facilities. If Foxconn can truly allow workers to enjoy these facilities, workers would definitely gain a better sense of belonging and the morale would thus be enhanced greatly as differen t needs are satisfied. Google which provides its workers a comprehensive working environment and encourages them to enjoy it is a successful example. For instance, swimming pool, 24-hour canteen and gymnastics facilities are all free to use for every employee. Although Foxconn might not be necessary to imitate Google in such ways, it should consider deeply on how it can provide better environment to workers. 3. Means to let workers assure of a more certain future The suicide cases increase workers fears towards their future. They feel devastated and uncomfortable to what the public said and even lose confidence on Foxconn. These emotional effects can be disastrous if Foxconn cannot handle it well. We believe that more resources should be spent to stabilize workers emotion. Foxconn should first explain clearly why several workers committed suicide and hence encourage the remaining to cherish their lives. Secondly, several means should be provided to help workers establish their career paths with promising future so as to reduce their uncertainty about the future. If so, it is believed that the working pressure as well as the turnover rate of current workers would be decreased significantly. Eventually, the occurrence of suicides of workers could be diminished. Conclusion Deficiencies in management inevitably account for the series of suicides. The incidence, perhaps, is an alarm to Foxconn for the urge of a change in its management style. Is military leadership still viable and suitable? Or another style, a more caring one should be adopted to encourage workers? Instead of thinking how employees can benefit the company, it is more appropriate for Foxconn to think about how they can benefit the employees and get high productivity in return. The essence of the problem is simple: even human needs are not satisfied in Foxconn. But up to now, measures taken to tackle the problem, mostly short term, are far from satisfactory, or even worsen it. Apparently, these measures do not get to the root of the problem. To alleviate the dissatisfaction of workers, long term solutions to regain employees confidence towards Foxconn are the only way out.

Every Child A Reader Program (ECARP) Essay

Goals Activity/ies Target Venue Participants Budget Allocation Funding Source Improve reading and numeracy skills of grades 1 – 3 pupils following the revised K to 12 program; Strengthen teachers’ capacity to teach and assess reading and numeracy skills effectively; Strengthen school heads basic literacy and numeracy skills as instructional managers, supervisors; Improve management and administration of  the program (includes planning, operations, sharing and implementing best practices (including action research), monitoring and networking). Set reading and numeracy standards; and  Establish a reading and numeracy program and a sustainable professional development system. Mentoring / Learning Partnership by division or by cluster following the Department of Education Model to Enhance Teaching and Learning Selection of Division School Mentors/Learning Partners (1 grade I teacher per school Direct training of mentors/ Learning partners with all Division School Administrators Trained at least 1 grade 1 teacher per school who will serve as the Learning Partner (Mentor) Region III 6,421/50 – 129 DepEd RO3 Conference Hall All Division Education Program Specialist for Mother Tongue, Filipino and English School Manager of the Selected School 1 Teacher/Mentor/Learning Partner 80% 0f the 1.1M 880,000.00/20 divisions= 44,000.00 training assistance per division Or 880,000/5 Clusters= 176,000.00 (Trainings shall be conducted by the Regional Office) ECARP funds On-the-Ground Mentoring/ Learning Partnership SLAC/ DisLAC to discuss, address, and plan the following: 1. Issues and Concerns in Teaching Reading 2. Reading Lesson Plans 3. Development of Teaching/Learning Materials Monitoring and Evaluation Provision of additional technical assistance Respective divisions All Division Education Program Specialist for Mother Tongue, Filipino and English School Manager of the Selected School 1 Teacher/Mentor/Learning Partner 20% of the 1.1M 220,000.00 (support to School-based Mentoring/Learning Partnership Program – SLAC) Ecarp Funds Total Budget Allocation 1.1 Million

A Cultural Criticism Of Kite Runner by Khaled Hoesseini Essay

How high could a kite fly?: a cultural criticism of Kite Runner by Khaled Hoesseini   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is a saying that cultural contacts sometimes bring the worst of two cultures. It could be true but it also an illusion because of unchanging thinking on the relationship between people.   And culture is all about relationship of people. What happens when people from different ethnic background and religions are caught up in cascading events in a changing world? What if the culture which binds or more accurate divides people is essentially ancient and has remain unchanged through the years, generation after, generation.   And what happens if the â€Å"now’s† world politics suddenly has suddenly broken the spell and subjected people to reality. This is the basic motif or thematic thread of the Kite Runner. See more: Foot Binding In China essay A novel set in Afghanistan, an ancient land, of ancient culture in the the 1960s up the 1980s when the Taliban came into power in Afghanistan, the Kite Runner chronicles a strange friendship between two people from different ethnicity, religion and socio-economic status. It is a study of contrasts as told by the main character Amir. To understand Amir and the characters set in a mosaic of contrasting and sometimes sharp contrast is to understand the cultural milieu of the ancient culture of Afghanistan based on Islam. This is no easy thing to do because of the matter of point of view. In the case of the Kite Runner or perhaps in any narrative, there are two point of views.   The point of view of the author and the point of â€Å"culture† as to the events and characters being described by the author. In the Kite Runner, the point of view is definitely modern – the narrative is excellent as shown by the superb weaving of the textual logic and the plot contemporary. The plot and characters As told by Amir, the story revolves around his friendship with Hassan the son of Amir’s father’s servant. It tells a story of betrayal, redemption and finally escape to freedom. Amir is Pashtoon and Hassan is Hazara. Pashtoon and Hazara are two of the ethnic groups in Afghanistan. From the novel, it appeared that the Hazara is discriminated upon or looked down on as revealed in the the following passage when Amir and Hassan are growing up:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One day, we were walking from my father’s house to Cinema Zainab for a new Iranian  movie, taking the shortcut through the military barracks near Istiqlal Middle School-Baba  had forbidden us to take that shortcut, but he was in Pakistan with Rahim Khan at the time.  We hopped the fence that surrounded the barracks, skipped over a little creek, and broke into  the open dirt field where old, abandoned tanks collected dust. A group of soldiers huddled  in the shade of one of those tanks, smoking cigarettes and playing cards. One of them saw  us, elbowed the guy next to him, and called Hassan.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Hey, you!† he said. â€Å"I know you.†Ã‚  We had never seen him before. He was a squatty man with a shaved head and black stubble  on his face. The way he grinned at us, leered, scared me. â€Å"Just keep walking,† I muttered to Hassan. (Kite Runner, p 6-7)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"You! The Hazara! Look at me when I’m talking to you!† the soldier barked He handed  his cigarette to the guy next to him, made a circle with the thumb and index finger of one  hand. Poked the middle finger of his other hand through the circle. Poked it in and out.  In and out. â€Å"I knew your mother, did you know that? I knew her real good. I took her from behind by that creek over there.†Ã‚  The soldiers laughed. One of them made a squealing sound. I told Hassan to keep walking,  keep walking.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"What a tight little sugary cunt she had!† (Kite Runner, p 6-7) This passage revealed a lot on the circumstances surrounding the two friends. Hassan was called by a soldier, â€Å"Hazara† and specifically pointed at Hassan just to taunt him, telling him that his mother is prostitute. From this passage, the two lads are simply out to watch an Iranian movie partaking of what little leisure their culture has to offer when they are confronted by the soldiers.   It is understandable that Amir could not defend his friend and hence he took evasive action.   It also showed the meek character of Hassan. The characterization of Amir and Hassan is set early in the novel. The circumstances of their births are telling of the subjugation and desperation of an ethnic group. The contrast is revealed in this passage:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was in that small shack that Hassan’s mother, Sanaubar, gave birth to him one cold winter day in 1964. While his mother hemorrhaged to death during childbirth, Hassan lost his less than a week after he was born. Lost her to a fate most Afghans considered far worse than death. She ran off with a clan of traveling singers and dancer. (Kite Runner, p 6-7)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both Amir and Hassan lost their mothers upon birth with Amir’s mother dying of hemorrhage giving birth while Hassan was born with not much problem as implied by the quick recovery of his mother. But she ran away apparently not wanting the responsibility of raising a child. This passage is revealing of the harsh reality of Hazara woman and how harsh her reaction could be as depicted in the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"the moment Sanaubar had given birth to Hassan. It had been a simple enough affair. No obstetricians, no anesthesiologists, no fancy monitoring devices. Just Sanaubar lying on a stained, naked mattress with Ali and a midwife helping her. She hadn’t needed much help at all, because, even in birth, Hassan was true to his nature: He was incapable of hurting anyone. A few grunts, a couple of pushes, and out came Hassan. Out he came smiling. As confided to a neighbor’s servant by the garrulous midwife, who had then in turn told anyone who would listen, Sanaubar had taken one glance at the baby in Ali’s arms, seen the cleft lip, and barked a bitter laughter. â€Å"There,† she had said. â€Å"Now you have your own idiot child to do all your smiling for you!† She had refused to even hold Hassan, and just five days later, she was gone.† (Kite Runner, p 9-10)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This early in the novel, how the characters would develop has already been foretold. The novel’s author, included the phrase â€Å"true his nature, incapable of hurting anyone† in referring to Hassan. A gentle soul, helpless and innocent amid the torrid racial, economic and political cauldron that is Afghanistan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ethnic intolerance is a pervading theme in Kite Runner and there are many scenes showing this. In another passage, Hassan was taunted and called him â€Å"flat-nosed† referring to the physical features of Hassan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is interesting to point out, that this tale is in the point of view of Amir, a Pashtoon, an ethnic group which Amir found out later that his people have subjugated the Hazaras. This is the turning point of Amir’s understanding of Hassan and critical to the development of the novel and Amir’s actions much later in the book. The passage reflects the contrast between Amir and Hassan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Then one  day, I was in Baba’s study, looking through his stuff, when I found one of my mother’s old  history books. It was written by an Iranian named Khorami. I blew the dust off it, sneaked it  into bed with me that night, and was stunned to find an entire chapter on Hazara history. An  entire chapter dedicated to Hassan’s people! In it, I read that my people, the Pashtoons, had  persecuted and oppressed the Hazaras. It said the Hazaras had tried to rise against the  Pashtoons in the nineteenth century, but the Pashtoons had â€Å"quelled them with unspeakable  violence.  (Kite Runner, p 9) This is no easy revelation to a child. Difficult to grasp the extent of racial tension and subjugation, of a horrendous history separating him from a childhood friend, almost a bond brother if not a loyal servant. This as mentioned earlier is the difficult part. Is Amir, undergoing a change as a benevolent master or into egalitarian person? The climactic culmination of the this relationship is portrayed in the kite contest wherein Hassan is the kite runner of Amir. Take note that the relationship of master-servant did not change so are the dreams of children. Winning contests or making a name to make someone happy. In this case, Amir wants to impress his father so he joined the contest. In one part of the novel is this passage showing that the relationship is still is master and servant. This is important in the understanding the construct of the Kite Runner. Finally, I had my kite in hand. I wrapped the loose string that had collected at my feet around the spool, shook a few more hands, and trotted home. When I reached the wroughtiron gates, Ali was waiting on the other side. He stuck his hand through the bars. â€Å"Congratulations,† he said. 1 gave him my kite and spool, shook his hand. â€Å"Tashakor, Ali jan.† â€Å"I was praying for you the whole time.† â€Å"Then keep praying. We’re not done yet.† (Kite Runner, p 67)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ali, here is the father of Hassan, note Amir’s dialogue: â€Å"I gave him my kite and spool, shook his hand.† It is plainly, a lad in confidence talking to a servant, as if saying, here take care of this will you? Like what Batman would have done with Alfred after a caper. â€Å"Here Alfred, take care of my boomerang will you?† The following passage shows the blissful innocence in triumph.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I hurried back to the street. I didn’t ask Ali about Baba. I didn’t want to see him yet. In my head, I had it all planned: I’d make a grand entrance, a hero, prized trophy in my bloodied hands. Heads would turn and eyes would lock†¦ Then the old warrior would walk to the young one, embrace   him, acknowledge his Worthiness. (Kite Runner, p 67)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The prize trophy being referred here is a blue kit which Amir won. Hassan is tasked to recover the prize in a kite war. But succeeding events in an otherwise happy occasion of winning which Amir wanted to share with Hassan is not allowed by the author and the illusion of a champion in kiting as clashed with reality is painted squarely by Hosseini when Hassan was violated by Assef, the nemesis of Amir who would figure as the dark symbol of the grim world of Afghanistan at the rise of the Talibans in the 80’s. The sexual violation or rape of Hassan, perhaps symbolizes the subjugation by use of powerful force over another. In one scene, perhaps to zero in on a contradiction in Afghan culture, Hosseini weaved this passage describing Amir as he looks for Hassan shortly after the kite contest and shortly before witnessing the violation of Hassan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By the time I reached the marketplace a few blocks away, from the Haji Yaghoub Mosque, the mullahbellowed azan, calling for the faithful to unroll their rugs and bow their heads west in prayer. Hassan never missed any of the five daily prayers. Even when we were out playing, he’d excuse himself, draw water from the well in the yard, wash up, and disappear into the hut. He’d come out a few minutes later, smiling, find me sitting against the wall or perched on a tree. He was going to miss prayer tonight, though, because of me. (Kite Runner, p 68)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Here in this passage, Hassan is picture as a devotee of Haj Yaghoub Mosque, religious, true to his faith innocent. A simple child devoted to a friend performing for him the task of a kite runner. He performed his task and recovered the blue kite of Amir but was intercepted by Assef.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amir saw the whole episode but did nothing.   Here is a symbolic twist in the novel.   The incapacity of Amir to act to protect not only Hassan but himself. As we noted earlier, Amir is both a master and a friend of Hassan in terms of relationships, cultural and personal. As a master, he backed down to the superior force of Assef and friends, he knows he could not win so he whimpers just watching. As a friend, he suffered internally at the sight of the violation.   The illusion of triumph in the kite contest shattered. When kites are let loose The resolution of the tale of ethnic strife Kite Runner is framed by the author in the succeeding generation. It would be the redemption of Amir, when he rescued Hassan’s child who was taken captive by Assef who became a Taliban official. Amir was able to escape to California with his wife and Hassan’s child. Hassan was revealed to have been killed by the Taliban. As far as handling the themes of conflict and its resolution, the Kite Runner showed us symbolically, how change is almost impossible in an ancient setting.   It would take perhaps generation after generation to a society more tolerant of each other’s differences.   The novel is rich in symbols. The kite is highly symbolic, there is a thread that keeps it afloat, there is the wind. Cutting loose has significant meaning as when Amir decides to escape to California. The kite of Amir has crossed the continents, from the ancient to the modern or post modern California. We are then left with one question, authenticity. It is not the objective of this paper to analyze what is Afghan culture and conflicts which tearing the country apart in flare ups of violence, we could only view the novel as woven by the author. Though in many ways, ethnic or racial discrimination has been a plague of mankind, and even stable techno-scientific economies has their share of racial disharmony and bigotry. Apartheid was just recently abolished in South Africa and there are racial and ethnic strifes in Eastern Europe. What Kite Runner did is to open our eyes to such problems and maybe in the future, youthful dreams would come true. Reference Hosseini, Khaled,   Kite Runner http://rahapen.org/RAHA_Literary_criticism_safar_hanifi2.htm (1 of 8)5/6/2006 1:30:29 PM RAHA PEN: A quick glance on Novel† The Kite Runnner† WIKEPEDIA.com