Humbert Humbert of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita Essay -- Essays Papers

Humbert Humbert of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita Humbert Humbert. A delusional, sick, middle aged man obsessed with a self created love for pre-pubescent girls he has namely dubbed nymphets. Right? Wrong, this is only the skin-deep image we are given of the main character in Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. Rather, He is a highly intelligent chess master who is constantly aware of his environment and is able to manipulate it with minute actions bringing him the results he desires. Humbert’s obsession for the opposite sex starts in chapters three and four when we are introduced to his first love - Annabel. As Humbert recalls his beloved nymphets, he talks of two kinds of visual memory pertaining to remembering a face. One that a person, with their eyes open, must recreate, piece by piece, taking little details of vivid moments in time and putting them all together. The other, an instant glimpse, as if a flash bulb goes off inside your head, and instinctively, an â€Å"objective, absolutely optical replica of a beloved face, a little ghost in natural colors† appears â€Å"on the dark innerside of your eyelids† (Nabokov 11). I would like to expand on the latter of the two ideologies, saying that this image, the more one thinks about it, the clarity soon fades. The reasoning for this being emotional attachment, one’s mind begins to wander about things that occurred in the past. Perhaps why he isn’t looking at the face in real li fe right then, instead of picturing it in his imagination. These emotional ties to that person may be for various reasons, but those aren’t important, it is the depth of them that bears the significance. He remembers Lolita’s face in the second of the two ways because of the extreme feelings he had built up for her throughout the time he was with her. Humbert recalls Annabel’s face with the first method simply because she was his first. Not because of any serious feelings for her; at least compared to the magnitude of those for Lolita. Writing from the confines of a jail cell, Humbert Humbert tells us this story of his sex-capade across the country with little Dolores Haze. He fills his pages with incredible detail, often wandering on certain subjects seeming unimportant, but written as if crucial to understanding his point. An example of this is Humbert’s recollection of the lake and its splendor, being more than just a place to swim and relax; but a... ...nsignificant souvenirs and pointless tours of monuments they encountered along the trip. He couldn’t risk being caught; it isn’t far fetched to imagine Lolita throwing a fit and spilling her guts to an official for the mere refusal of an ice cream cone Humbert wouldn’t buy her. So, in coming to a conclusion, I feel that Humbert Humbert isn’t crazy, or emotionally disturbed, but rather a bit vulnerable. His original fling with Annabel had such a strong impact on him, that from then on, he had a predetermination of what beauty in the opposite sex was - a nymphet. He has a strange fetish, which he allows to turn into obsession. Being immoral and illegal, his actions are condemned by all. Imagine all that he has taken away from a little girl’s growing up. He turned her into a personal prostitute, and forced her to become more mature than anyone her age. In the end, Humbert Humbert gets what is deserved and goes to jail; but not for reasons pertaining to his deeds with Lolita. His jealous murder of Clare Quilty finally sees him to his prison cell where he is sentenced to life. From there, the only way to embrace his obsession is through writing, and thus we are given the novel Lolita.

Pda Connector Case Essay

An additional feature of ConneCtor is its ability to establish wireless links to other ConneCtors for voice and data transfer or to cell phones for voice transfer. For direct data transfer, the product includes an infrared port and also ships with a USB synchronization cradle. In summary, the key features of ConneCtor are: †¢ Instant communication for voice and data †¢ Cell phone, pager, fax and e-mail, and instant messaging †¢ PIM functions †¢ Digital voice recorder †¢ Enabled voice commands †¢ PalmOS application base. The History of the PDA The Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is basically a hand-held computer. In 1984, the first PDA, the Psion1, was introduced. It could store addresses and phone numbers, keep a calendar, and included a clock and calculator. In 1993, Apple introduced the Newton PDA, which was too bulky, too expensive and had handwriting recognition too inaccurate to be successful. However, the excitement surrounding the Newton hinted that there could be a market for such devices. The broad acceptance of PDA technology then materialized in 1996, when Palm Inc. ame out with the Palm Pilot that featured an elegant user interface and a reliable character-recognition system. By 2001, PDAs had evolved to offer many applications including wireless Internet capabilities, games and music playback. PDAs are designed for very specific tasks and environments: there are custom-built PDAs for amateur astronomers, truck drivers and teachers. In addition, there is specialized software available to fit specific needs; f or example, people in the medical fields can obtain software that lists thousands of drugs with their dosages and interactions. PDA Types The 2001 palm-sized PDA market was mainly composed of two types, each with its own philosophy: (1) the PDA/Palm devices run PalmOS, whose developers sought to make PDAs simple but functional products focusing on Personal Information Management (PIM) tasks; (2) the PDA/Pocket PCs run the more complex operating system, Microsoft Windows CE, which allows these PDAs to offer 1 Source: Marketing Engineering – Lilien and Rangaswamy extensive features. In addition, â€Å"smart† phones are breaking into the PDA world. These wireless application protocol phones extend traditional cell phones with PDA functions such as email and Web access. The original Palm Pilot embodied the PDA/Palm design mission. It provided a simple organizational device, composed of a calendar, an address book and a to-do list with e-mail and Internet access. It also had a character-recognition system that worked for most people. Handspring, Palm’s biggest competitor, introduced snap-on modules to expand the Handspring Visor and allow many applications, including an MP3 player, a web cam and digital camera. These features appealed to the youth market and enabled Handspring to gain considerable market share. In 2001, Palm also offered this same degree of expandability and was able to maintain a market share of more than two thirds; in addition, all of Palm’s close competitors licensed its operating system, PalmOS. Several electronic manufacturers have developed similar devices; for example, Sony introduced Clie as a direct competitor to Palm and Handspring. PocketPCs make up the other group of PDAs, whose manufacturers include Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Psion and Casio. These hand-held computers come with a large application suite of pocket Windows applications, e. g. , a scaled down version of MS Office. They usually come with more memory than PDA/Palms and with a range of accessories to be added to the devices (e. g. , digital cameras, web ams). However, they are bulkier, heavier and more expensive. In contrast, PDA/Palms perform basic tasks very well and, unlike the PocketPCs, synchronize with non-Windows systems. A new technological thrust in 2001 involved the adoption of wireless technology for the PDA with manufacturers trying to assess if and how to add wireless capabilities. Wireless technology would make synchronization possible without docking, making PDAs true communication tools. AT&T, Nokia and other cellular phone companies have started developing wireless phones with some PDA functions. The PDA Customer As PDA designs have evolved, manufacturers have targeted different segments based on differing lifestyle and business needs. Palm initially captured innovators – people eager to adopt a new gadget. A typical early PDA user was a professional, high-income male. He was over 30 and probably worked in a technology field. Even as of September 2000, 93 percent of PDA users were male, according to IDC, a Massachusetts technology consulting firm. Another major group of users is the mobile professional. Since this group frequently needs access to e-mail and the Internet while away from the office, it is also driving progress on the wireless front. A recent study by the University of California at Berkeley indicated that nearly half of the users had a technical job dealing with computers, and the overwhelming majority of the respondents rated hemselves as technically sophisticated. To attract more mainstream buyers in 2001, companies were working on increasing the usability of the PDA and its general appeal to non business users. For example, the new Claudia Schiffer Palm (sold via her Web site) is supposed to give Palm a sexier image, and Handspring’s Visor line comes in many colors. Palm’s affordable M series ($150) targets college students and other nonprofessional consumers. It is expected that such efforts will eventually open up the largely untapped young consumer and female markets. However in 2001, it appeared unlikely that the bulk of the mainstream population would enthusiastically embrace the PDA. A PDA was still relatively pricey and fairly limited. Handwriting recognition was slow and lacked quality, and keyboard facilities were either non-existent, too big to carry or too small to use. The display screen was too small for most applications other than text display. Internet connections were generally both slow and expensive. In addition, the mainstream market appeared to have little need for many of the more sophisticated features the PDAs were able to offer. PDA Features Given all the available design options, new product entries must make tradeoffs between features. Customers want easy portability, but with more functions the PDA becomes heavier and bulkier. PDA users’ needs are heterogeneous. Those who are looking for a high-tech way to store contact and appointment data may be satisfied with the basic models that cost $200 or less. They also are likely to prefer to keep a PC and cell phone separately rather than having an integrated PDA system that could do both. Users who plan to use the PDA as an extension of a PC by creating and accessing documents, sending e-mail, and doing basic Web surfing, might consider a Pocket-PC in the range of $350–$600. The appendix provides more details on PDA features. Facts about the PDA Market In 2001, many companies participated in the PDA market, bringing in a variety of new products designed to appeal to new audiences. The market was changing and growing rapidly. PDA unit sales totaled 1. 3 million in 1999 and more than doubled, totaling 3. 5 million in 2000 (Source: NPD INTELECT in Business 2. 0).

Macbeth’s Strengths and Weaknesses Essay

Macbeth by William Shakespeare portrays the major characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They are both ambitious and are yearning for power. In the beginning of Act One, Shakespeare portrayed Macbeth as a brave and honorable general who received admiration from everyone around him including the king of Scotland, Duncan when he triumphantly defeated the rebel MacDonwald. Macbeth is a good friend and loyal confidant to Duncan. Macbeth is at tragic hero because unlike Shakespeare’s other works Macbeth is not all evil. He is consumed by his evil ambition and guilt for the throne of Scotland that he will go to any measures necessary to achieve it. Macbeth’s character is very cunning and witty. He is smart enough to understand that Duncan is very kind and naà ¯ve and he takes advantage of the fact that he could easily overthrow him. The pressures from his wife Lady Macbeth and the witches make him eager to kill Duncan, but most importantly it is his overwhelming ambition fo r power that makes him a weak character. Throughout the first act the character of Macbeth is developed, in which Macbeth’s strengths were ambition, courage, and honor. His use of these strengths and loyalty to King Duncan earned him the title of â€Å"Thane of Cawdor.† After the murder of Banquo, however, his large amount of pride and ambition disrupted his morals and faltered his heroic image, leading to the backfiring of the strengths that he once had, which later became his weaknesses. When Macbeth was visited by the three witches, his superstitious nature was brought out, causing him to trust them and their prediction that he will rise to the throne if he kills Duncan. He wasn’t satisfied with his position as the Thane of Cawdor. This is one of Macbeth’s weaknesses because he has no sense of self and is controlled and easily convinced to do things that he knows are wrong. We can see that Macbeth is not all evil and that the person who is behind all this chaos is Lady Macbeth. When it was time to kill Duncan and the plan was set he felt guilty because he understood how good Duncan was to him, however in the back of his mind he had an evil ambition and desire to obtain the throne. When he mentions this to his wife she doesn’t pity him and tells him  that he must go on with the plan. â€Å"I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambitions, which o’er leap itself and falls on the other.†(Act 1, Scene 7, Lines 25-27) In this quote Macbeth admitted that it was only ambition that motivated him to become disloyal to Duncan. This is one of Macbeth’s biggest weaknesses in which he gives in to his evil temptations, even though he knows that his actions are immoral. He realizes that what he did was wrong and that he did it through illegal actions. It seems as though Lady Macbeth conspired this plan and had n o feeling about what bad action she committed. In general, Lady Macbeth, and well as the witches, were responsible for turning Macbeth’s strong ambitions into his most major flaw. Lady Macbeth contributed to the deterioration of his character by challenging his courage and testing his manhood if he didn’t take the shortest way of obtaining the throne, which was by killing Duncan. When Macbeth tells his wife that he does not want to kill Duncan, she convinces him that he is weaker than a women, manipulating his kind and sensitive nature. The witches brought out another one of Macbeth’s major weaknesses, his superstitious nature. They suggest to the reader that his superstitious nature will lead to something fatal. After meeting the witches, Macbeth begins to worry, leading to hallucinations that he thinks tell him to murder Duncan, like his vision of the dagger. When Macbeth â€Å"sees† the dagger, he states, â€Å"Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal  vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?† (Act 2, Scene 1, lines 33-39). Macbeth’s strengths fail, turning out to be his weaknesses, which makes him a tragic hero because he was once honorable and highly respected; his downfall caused by his own mistakes. After he starts committing murders, his guilty conscience comes out and leads to the deterioration of his character,  leaving him unhappy and remorseful. In Macbeth’s case, his negative traits such as his gullibility, lack of control and willpower overcome the strengths and advantages that he once had; his pride, honor, and strong, ambitious nature.

Grave of the Fireflies

Tim Yang 4/2/13 JPN 211 During the Buffalo Film Seminar of Grave of the Fireflies by Isao Takahata, one can see World War II from the viewpoint and experiences of a Japanese survivor (Akiyuki Nosaka). The movie is about Seita, a sixteen years old boy, and Setsuko, his younger sister, and how they were forced to struggle in order to survive in the widespread famine and the heartless indifference of their extended family members and countrymen. Their mother died early in movie, after suffering burns and injuries from a firebombing related to the US B-29s and they were forced to live with their indifferent—inattentive aunt.After taking his aunt’s insults for some time, Seita finally decided that he had enough and left with Setsuko. They found an abandoned bomb shelter nearby and decided to live there by themselves with some money they took from the bank from their deceased mother. Once they ran out of money, Setsuko started to become extremely malnourished and sick; so as a way to cure Setsuko, Seita resorted to stealing crops from farmers. Soon after, Seita learned that Japan lost the war and that his father died, losing all morale, his only purpose in life left was to make sure his sister survives.Ultimately they both died, due to malnutrition and negligence of their countrymen. The movie shows how a society can become helpless and weak, and also fail to protect one another. Since the movie is a foreign film it also shows another perspective from a different culture and race. Grave of the Fireflies was beautiful made and it can bring better understanding, appreciation, and reflection upon the horrors of war and its aftermath as experienced by the Japanese people in WWII.

Religion may be losing its power at an institutional level, but it still retains immense influence over individual consciousness

Statistical evidence suggests that in terms of institutional religion, membership is in decline in Britain and in much of the rest of the world. Church attendance figures show a continuing drop in attendance throughout the twentieth century particularly in Anglican, Baptist and Catholic Churches. It has also been found that the number of children being baptised has dropped from 65% of the British child population to only 27%. Many sociologists use these statistics as support for their hypothesis in the secularisation of our society. However an equal number disregard these facts as evidence of secularisation, arguing that for our society to become secular there must be a decline in religious belief not just Church membership. Institutional religion can be defined as a large organisation, that has particular codes of conduct, values and morals which members are supposed to follow. Private belief is when an individual has their own set of beliefs and moral guidelines to follow, worship and abidance to these rules are conducted personally and internally. An opinion poll conducted in 1991 called the British Social Attitudes Survey found that only 10% of the English population and 1% of the people in Northern Ireland denied the existence of God outright. This suggests that Britain has a religious population supporting the idea that religion still has major influence over religious consciousness. It is therefore necessary to explain what has caused the decline in popularity of institutional religion if it is not a decline in religious belief itself. It can be argued that for a society to be truly religious, religion must play a part in every aspect of life. This religious ‘Golden Age' was present in Britain in the Medieval Ages where the Church held most of the power, wealth and status. Today the Church has less wealth and plays little part in the running of the country (there is little Church representation in the Government), Martin (1969) calls this process the disengagement of religion from wider society. However many sociologists would dispute that the ‘Golden Age' of religion does not automatically indicate an enhanced religious thinking but actually a lack of spiritual freedom which can lessen religious conviction. With an increasingly diverse ethnic mix present in British society there are more religions. Religious pluralism has made people aware that spirituality can be an individual journey and that they are not required to share the same beliefs as everyone else to be religious. This is verification of the idea that institutional religion is in decline but not of secularisation, as although religious beliefs have changed they are still inherently spiritual. The sociologist Bellah defined religion as the search for the ultimate meaning of life but claimed that this did not have to involve the supernatural. Bellah supported the theory that religious pluralism is evidence against, not for, secularisation saying that religion has become an individual quest as religious doctrine had become less strict. For example today it is impractical for all workers to rest on the Sabbath therefore it is no longer considered unholy to work on a Sunday allowing many to conduct their own worship in their own time. Consequently it is impossible to use research on the Church and other institutional religions as evidence of secularisation. Individuation is the natural evolution of religion whereby religion has not decreased but simply changed to become more personal to the individual. Bellah can be faulted however for his lack of evidence in individuation in wider Western society and also for his definition of religion being too vague Parsons argued that through generalisation religious teachings have become an integral part of our society. Rather than there being a number of different teachings and values in one society, the institutional religion (in Britain it is Christianity) doctrine has become more generalised and embedded into modern culture. Parsons uses the example of healthcare. When the Church was at its height of power it was responsible for the running of the Hospitals, rather than the State. Religion was a major part of caring for the sick. Today Hospitals are run by the Government but the notion that it the responsibility of the healthy and able to care for the sick is a religious teaching. David Martin looked into generalisation in the US and found the same as Parsons however both have been criticised. It has been said that neither provide enough detailed evidence to support their theory, for example they do not supply evidence that social values do not have a secular foundation rather than religious. Also many argue that it is wrong to assume that Britain and the USA are basically Christian societies. In terms of whether society has become secular Parsons theory of generalisation suggests that this is not the case, religious principals have become embedded in our society. Weber, another leading sociologist, agreed that many of society's core social guidelines in modern society have a religious origin. However where Weber significantly differs from Parsons is that he proposes that these guides to action have been transformed into secular guidelines, essentially Weber is arguing for secularisation. Weber uses his study The Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism to show how the popularity of the Protestant faith has inadvertently caused a secular society. The teaching of the Protestant faith (to work hard and to keep reinvesting time, money and energy so to accumulate wealth) has lead to a decrease in the necessity of religion. Capitalism has brought about an increase in wealth, which provides its own satisfaction and rewards so there is less need for religion. Furthermore new technology and the mechanization of industry has resulted in there being less call for religion as a motivator for hard work. Like generalisation the transformation theory can be condemned for lack of evidence for modern day values having religious origins. Alternatively one could argue that Weber's theory does not disprove generalisation, he makes little argument for the Protestant Ethic not still being present in society today. Weber argued against individuation also, claiming that the supernatural belief has been banished from our society and all meanings and motives are governed by rational belief instead. Weber called this Desacrilisation. Wilson developed the argument for desacrilisation citing four reasons for the dissolution of supernatural conviction. Firstly the rise in Protestantism, which Wilson argues encourages rational thought and behaviour. Secondly the rational organisation of society, this can be related to the fact that with a greater equilibrium in society this has lessened /. Finally the development of rational ideologies such as Communism have highlighted negativity within religious institutions (for example Marx's claim that ‘Religion is the opium of the people'). Desacrilisation can be denounced for its lack of hard data, it almost appears that much of the theory is based on the impressions of particular researchers. When looking at society from a different perspective it is clear to see that the supernatural does play a significant role in our lives. An example being belief in superstitions such as walking under a ladder or making a wish when you break a wish bone or blow out candles. To imply that supernatural belief has been banished from our society would eradicate all superstitious related actions, yet they are still prevalent in our society.

Academic Literacies through Sustainability

Sustainable tourism’s main purpose is to create a balance between the maintenance of cultural integrity, protection of the environment and establishing social justice while promoting economic benefits. These encompass the three pillars of sustainability that include economic, socio-cultural and environmental.   Various key sustainability issues need to be considered in each of these pillars to be able to achieve sustainable tourism. In the economic pillar, the tourism operators ought to hire and source locally to ensure that income earned benefits the local community by improving their living standards. In the environmental pillar, the natural and man-made environment should be conserved. This includes water sources, forests, monuments, natural landmarks among others. People should not litter to maintain the beauty of places they visit and utilize environmental conservation strategies like considering walking and not disturbing flora and fauna. In the socio-cultural pillar, the aim is to promote the positive socio-cultural impacts of tourism while reducing the negative impacts. Here, the positive factors include the exchange of cultural values where sustainability enhances protection of the cultural heritage of a particular people and preserving local traditions. An argument can be placed that the economic pillar should be prioritized as tourism mostly brings about economic growth. However, for there to be sustainable tourism, all pillars must be balanced and prioritized equally. This is so because if there were a prolonged recession, the environmental pillar would be affected substantially leading to its destruction as everyone would concentrate on high consumption now and forget to save the environment. On the other hand, if a war could break out the environment would be destroyed too.   For sustainable tourism to be achieved, all pillars must be prioritized and balanced.

Chinese Businesses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Chinese Businesses - Essay Example Over the centuries, these socio-economic affiliations helped ties the Chinese and Filipino in a strong spirit of affinity. In the 21st century, mutual trade and investments provide a solid pillar in the long-standing, friendly relations between the two nations (Philippine Embassy Beijing 2004). In Singapore, there was a phenomenal influx of Chinese migrants during the nineteenth century. Multitudes of Chinese migrants filled the island for commerce and work with the institution of Singapore as a colony of Britain in 1819 (Ee 1961). During this time, secret societies emerged that Chinese migrants became associated with. These secret societies contributed to the development of Chinese businesses in Singapore in early days. Chen (2001) narrated that around 60 million Chinese people have built communities in countries other than China. They cover a range of ethnic and linguistic subdivisions bound by their common origin, and are collectively known as the Overseas Chinese (Weidenbaum 1996). Although rather small in terms of the entire population of their host countries, they play a vital role in the economic setting of South East Asia, where they dominate a majority of the firms' wealth in the region (Yeung, 1996). According to Tsang (2002 p. ... Most of them are into small and medium enterprises; however, play a significant role in the economy of the Philippines. Some of these entrepreneurs hold large companies and are valued as some of the most well-known Philippine' business tycoons. According to Wong (1985), the traditional Chinese family business (CFB) is "a small-scale, domestically oriented, form of business organization that originated in China several hundred years ago and was dispersed throughout South East Asia by emigrating Chinese minorities in the 19th and 20th centuries". Shapiro and Erdener (2003) modernly called them as the Chinese family enterprise (CFE) in which they defined as "the larger, internationally active, family-owned Overseas Chinese enterprise that evolved from the traditional CFF outside China". Yeung (1999, pp.106-11) narrated that some of CFB turned into CFE that have become famous international conglomerates are Fortune Tobacco under Lucio Tan in the Philippines and the Far East Organization under Ng Teng Fong in Singapore. "Among the Overseas Chinese, family business was evolving in new directions that deviated from tradition and paved the way for international expansion". As they internationally expand, CFEs typically created powers and capabilities in their host markets as the basis for competitive advantages in the foreign country environment. In some South East Asian countries where ethnic discrimination is at large by the dominant cultural group, the CFB expanded their business network beyond the family. This led them to form unions with national governments. The main advantages of the CFE based on characteristics over other form of business structures are listed below. According to Chen (1995), the main lead of the CFE is its capacity to grab commercial portals of