Business Essays Human Resource Strategic

Business Essays Human Resource Strategic Human Resource Strategic Assignment Theoretical, Conceptual and Empirical Developments in the field of Strategic Human Resource Management Abstract This essay will discuss the theoretical, conceptual and empirical development in the field of strategic human resource management. It is found that the idea of best-fit and best-practices has been popular in the amplification of SHRM. The best-fit school of thought argued that HR strategy will be more effective when it is appropriately integrated with its specific organizational and environmental context. Whereas, the best practices school of thought favours universalism, arguing that all firms will be better off if they identify and adopt ‘best-practice’ in the way they manage people. However, in last 20 years, the resource-based view of the firm has played a pivotal role in the theoretical and conceptual developments in the field of SHRM. The resource-based view of the firm put emphasis on the internal resources of the firm as the source of sustained competitive advantage. These all ideas have important role in the amplification of SHRM field. Further, integration of SHRM ideas and concepts in Japanese MNEs operating in USA, Russia, UK, China and Taiwan has been investigated. Introduction In this era of globalisation and intense competition firms are seeking ways to continuously gain competitive advantage, flexibility and be innovative. It has been argued in literature that efficient and effective human resource’s polices and practices play pivotal role in gaining this competitive advantage and therefore, much emphasis is now on linking organisational strategies to human resource strategies. Strategic human resource management (SHRM) has its foundation in the US in 1980s in the work of the ‘Harvard Group’ (Beer et al., 1984 cited in Truss and Lynda, 1994) and the ‘Michigan/Columbia Group’ (Fomburn et al., 1984 cited in Truss and Lynda, 1994). Before proceeding further to explore the developments in the field of SHRM, some various definitions in the literature which describe the concept of strategic human resource management are as follow: Truss and Gratton (1994) states that SHRM is linking of HRM with strategic goals and objectives of firm to enhance business performance and to develop organisational culture that support innovation and flexibility. Schular and Walker (1970, cited in Truss and Lynda, 1994) states that, human resource strategy is a set of processes and activities jointly shared by human resource and line managers to solve people-related business issues. Wright and McMahan (1992, cited in Wright, 1998) defined SHRM is the pattern of planned human resource deployments and activities intended to enable the firm to achieve its goals. In the view of above definitions, strategic human resource management therefore, takes a macro-level perspective (Truss and Lynda, 1994) and contains lot of debate in the literature for the factors influencing the development and implementation of the field of SHRM. Best-fit school of thought: The best-fit school of thought argues that HR strategy will be more effective when it is appropriately integrated with its specific organizational (Horizontal fit) and environmental (Vertical fit) context (Boxall and Purcell, 2000; Wright and McMahan, 1992 cited in Wright, 1998). However, the review of literature reveals that this fit can be better achieved when certain contingency, configurational and contextual factors are taken into account. MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Alca ´zar, Romero-Ferna ´ndez and Sa ´nchez-Gardey, (2005) have grouped the contingency relationships into three generic categories; strategic, organizational and environmental variables. They pointed out that the HR practices that are effectively incorporated (fit) into business strategy would yield high organizational performance (Niniger, 1980; Fombrun et al., 1984; Hax, 1985; Van de Ven and Drazin, 1985; Kerr, 1985; Slocum et al., 1985; Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall, 1988; Rhodes, 1988a, 1988b; Miller, 1989; Kerr and Jackofsky, 1989; Butler et al., 1991; Cappelli and Singh, 1992; Begin, 1993 cited in MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Alca ´zar et al., 2005). Further, organizational variable such as size, technology, structure (Jones, 1984; Jackson et al., 1989; Jackson and Schuler, 1995 cited in MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Alca ´zar et al., 2005), internal political relationships (Jones, 1984; Pfeffer and Cohen, 1984; Pfeffer and Langton, 1988; Pfeffer and Davis-Blake, 1987; Balkin and Bannister, 1993, Pfeffer, 1987 cited in MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Alca ´zar et al., 2005) and environmental variables such as competition, technological changes, macro-economics and labour (Kanter, 1983, 1989; Warner, 1984; Coates, 1987; Walker, 1988; Schuler and Walker, 1990; Becker and Gerhart, 1996; Boxall, 1998; Jackson and Schuler, cited in MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Alca ´zar et al., 2005), all have influence of HR on organizational strategy. The author further indicated that behavioural theory and resources and capabilities view of the firm foster the development of contingency models. Boxall and Purcell (2000) also elaborated this argument by pointing out that the more realistic model for practice is one in which fit with existing competitive strategy is developed in accordance with flexibility in the range of skill and behaviours, that have the potential to cope with uncertainty and different competitive scenarios in the future and therefore, HR strategy should incorporate firm’s current competitive goals and objectives, by recruiting and motivating people with the sort of skills and motivations required in firm’s competitive sector. In this regard, Guest (1997 cited in Tekeuchi et al., 2003) argued that effective and efficient alignment of HRM practices is able to bring out the synergistic effects on performance’, he referred it â€Å"fit-as-bundle† approach. The second approach which he identified for gaining higher organizational performance through HR is what he called the â€Å"fit-as-gestalt†. The underlying concept of this approach is that, sum of individual HR practices is greater than it parts, the pattern of combinations among HRM practices is additive rather multiplicative and that one key aspect of HRM practice is needed. This argument favours, what SHRM researcher called â€Å"configuration perspective†. According to configuration theory, a firm seeking high performance have to structure whole HRM practices and link each practice to all the others in a systematic manner, so that the system is internally coherent (Tekeuchi et al., 2003; MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Alca ´zar et al., 2005). Whereas the â€Å"contextual theory† authors argued, that to better understand the complexity of the concept of SHRM, one should not only scrutinize the internal working and its effect on business performance but rather also consider the influence on the external and organizational context in which managerial decision are made (Brewster, 1999 cited MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Alca ´zar et al., 2005). Therefore, the underlying idea of contextual approach is to effectively examine the relationship between the SHRM system and its context (MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Alca ´zar et al., 2005). In nutshell, Boxall and Purcell (2000) argued that the best-fit model is one in which HR strategy becomes more effective when it is designed to fit certain critical contingencies in the firm’s specific context. They proposed that configurational models are more capable of identifying the complex interactions involved in business strategy and toward more dynamic theory. Best-Practices school of thought: This school of thought favours universalism, arguing that all firms will achieve high performance, if they identify and adopt ‘best-practice’ in the way they manage people (Boxall and Purcell, 2000). It is recognized that the concept of ‘best practices’ is widely acknowledged by researchers and practitioners (Delery and Doty 1996, 806 cited in Boxall and Purcell, 2000) and there is immense list of argument in the favour of best practices in the literature. Wright, Snell and Dyer (2005) reported that the development of the idea of best-practices came in the mid-1990s when Huselid (1995 cited in Wright et al., 2005) published his study demonstrating a statistically and practically significant relationship between HRM practices and corporate performance. It was also when MacDuffie’s (1995 cited in Wright et al., 2005) industry-focused study illustrated how particular bundles of HR practices, when aligned within an organizational strategy leads to high plant-level performance. Since then, the focus of research is on finding relationship between HRM principles and practices and important organizational goals (Becker and Gerhart, 1996 cited in Wright et al., 2005). Jeffrey Pfeffer (1998 cited in Boxall and Purcell, 2000) identified seven best practices: Employment security. Selective training. Self-managed team or team working. High pay contingent on company performance. Extensive training. Reduction of status differences. Sharing information. However the best practices idea is not short of criticism as Wright et al. (2005) pointed out that most of these developments have come from communities of scholars focusing on their own particular countries or regions, be it the US (e.g. Arthur, 1994; Batt, 1999; Delery and Doty, 1996; Huselid et al., 1997; Youndt et al., 1996 cited in cited in Wright et al., 2005), the UK (e.g. Brewster, 1999; Guest, 1997; Guest et al., 2003; Tyson, 1997 cited in cited in Wright et al., 2005), elsewhere in Europe (e.g. d’Arcimoles, 1997; Lahteenmaki et al., 1998; RodrÄ ±Ã‚ ´guez and Ventura, 2003 cited in cited in Wright et al., 2005) or Asia (e.g. Bae and Lawler, 2000; Lee and Chee, 1996; Lee and Miller, 1999 cited in Wright et al., 2005). SHRM and Resource-based view of the firm: Another, theoretical development in strategic human resource management is its integration with the resource-based view of the firm. Although the field of SHRM does not directly emerge from resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, but to borrow concepts and theories from the broader strategy literature, the integration of the RBV of the firm into the SHRM literature was imminent (Wright et al., 2001). Therefore, two major developments have emerged over the past years. Firstly, the popularity of the RBV within the SHRM literature as a foundation for both theoretical and empirical examination (McMahan, Virick and Wright, 1999 cited in Wright et al., 2001). Secondly, the application and implications of the RBV within the strategy literature have led to an increasing convergence between the field of strategic management and SHRM (Snell, Shadar Wright, 2001 cited in Wright et al., 2001). The RBV proposes that internal organizational resources that are valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable are a source of sustainable competitive advantage (Barney, 1991). Barney (1991) further argued that firm’s resources can be imperfectly imitable for three reasons: Historical condition (Path dependency): As firm evolve they obtain skills, abilities and resources over the period of time that then become unique to the firm (Barney 1995 cited in Paauwe and Boselie, 2003). Paauwe and Boselie (2003) argued that this is equally true for firm’s human resources who are recruited and trained over the time to be properly embedded in firm’s cultural network. Causal ambiguity: Causal ambiguity exits when the relationship between firm’s resources and competitive advantage is not understood or imperfectly understood by the firm who posses the competitive advantage and most importantly by the competitors . Paauwe and Boselie (2003) argued that the ways employee’s competencies have been formed are subject to thousands of small decision and events in the firms which have contributed to specific pattern of capabilities and hence these patterns are no easily understood by the competitors. Social Complexity: And finally firm’s resources are imperfectly imitable because they are subject to very complex social phenomena that are beyond the ability of the firms to systematically manage and influence. So when the competitive advantage is based on such complex social phenomena then the ability of other firms to imitate these resources is ceased (Barney, 1991). Paauwe and Boselie (2003) pointed out that social complexity exits in HR characteristics such teamwork, interpersonal relationships among managers, cultural traditions, and firm’s networks. Wright et al. (1994 cited in Wright et al., 2001) separate firm’s human resources and HR practices. In applying the concept of value, rareness, inimitable and non-substitutability, they argued that HR practices cannot be the source of firm’s sustainable competitive advantage as HR practices can easily be copied by competitors. Rather they voted in the favour of human capital pool (a highly skilled and highly motivated workforce) as source of sustainable competitive advantage for the firm. They noted that to gain a source of competitive advantage, the human capital pool must have both high level of skill and willingness (i.e. motivation) to exhibit productive behaviour. Opposingly, Lado and Wilson (1994 cited in Wright et al., 2001) argued that HR practices could provide the source of sustainable competitive advantage. There point of view is that HR systems can be unique, causally ambiguous and synergistic in how they enhance firm competencies, and therefore could be inimitable. Snell et al. (1996 cited in cited in Wright et al., 2001) further justify Lado and Wilson point of view and seem it as widely accepted in current SHRM paradigm. Boxall (cited in Wright, 1998) indicates the process through which Human Resource Advantage (HRA) can be developed. He argues that HRA consists of two components: Human resource capital advantage which may provide advantage when firm employs people with higher level of skill than their competitors. Human resource process advantage which can be gain when employees’ relationships and joint problem solving process enable the firm to execute operations more quickly, efficiently and/or effectively. Furthermore, Lepak and Snell (1999 cited in Wright et al., 2001) argued that some employees groups are more instrumental to competitive advantage than others, so they are likely to be managed differently. This may help researchers to recognize that real and valid difference exists in HR practices in organisations and looking for one HR strategy may not help to identify the important differences in the types of human capital available to the firm (cf. Truss Gratton, 1994 cited in Wright et al., 2001). Researchers also have consensus that employee behaviour is an important independent component of SHRM. Unlike, the skills of human capital pool, employee behaviour recognize individuals as cognitive and emotional beings who posses free will and this free will enables the employees to make decisions regarding the behaviour in which they are engage (Wright et al., 2001). MacDuffie (1995 cited in Wright et al., 2001) argued about discretionary behaviour that recognizes that within prescribed organisational roles, employees exhibit discretion that may have positive or negative impact on the firm. Similarly, March and Simon (1958 cited in Wright et al., 2001) recognizes the discretionary behaviour and suggest that competitive advantage can only be gained if the members of human capital pool individually or collectively choose to engage in behaviour that benefits the firm. Based on the above discussion Wright et al. (2001) provide a preliminary framework that suggests core competence, dynamic capabilities, and knowledge serve as a bridge between the emphasis in the strategy literature on who provides sources of competitive advantage and the focus in the HRM literature on the process of attraction, development, motivation, and retention of people. The authors pointed out that the people management systems construct which is actually the focus on HR field that creates value to the extent that they impact the stock, flow, and change of intellectual capital/knowledge that form the basis of core competencies. They further argued in this model that, skill concept should be looked from the broader perspective of the firm strategy and therefore, might be expanded to consider the stock of intellectual capital in the firm, embedded in both people and systems, this stock of human capital consists of human (knowledge, skills, and abilities of the people) social (the valuable relationships among people), and organisational (processes and routines within the firm). The â€Å"behaviour† element within the SHRM literature has been embedded in the flow of knowledge within the firm through its creation, transfer, and integration. The authors have indicated that, this â€Å"knowledge management† behaviour becomes very important as information and knowledge play greater role in firm competitive advantage. It is through the flow of knowledge that firms increase or maintain the stock of intellectual capital. They further propose that core competencies arises from the combination of the firms stock of knowledge (human, social, and organisational capital embedded in both people and systems) and flow of this knowledge through creation, transfer, and integration in a way that is valuable, rare, inimitable, and organized. Finally, the dynamic capability construct represents the processes that the organisation has to cope with, in order to remain competitive. It illustrates the relationship between the workforce and the core competence as it changes overtime. The authors argued that dynamic capability requires changing competencies on the part of both the organization and the people who comprise it. It is facilitated by people management systems that promote the change of both the stock and flow of knowledge within the firm that enable a firm to constantly renew its core competencies. This frame work developed by Wright et al. (2001) is an important development in SHRM literature; however its application in real world scenario is subject to empirical testing. SHRM in Japanese Multinational in USA, Russia, UK, China and Taiwan: To further investigate the issue in the real world scenario, this essay will look into the matter of SHRM integration in Japanese multinational companies operating in USA, UK, Russia, China and Taiwan. This discussion is based on the empirical research conducted by Park, Mitsuhashi, Fey and Bjo ¨rkman (2003) on fifty two Japanese multinational corporation operating in USA and Russia, Basu and Miroshnik (1999) case study of Nisan and Toyota (Japanese automobile companies) operating in UK and Takeuchi, Wakabayashi and Chen (2003) study of 286 Japanese affiliates operating in Mainland China and Taiwan. Japanese manufacturing organisations have made a lot of inroads in overseas production bases. The successes of their enterprises have raised interests on the system of production and organisation peculiar to the Japanese business firms (Wickens, 1987; Suzaki, 1987 cited in Basu and Miroshnik, 1999). Japanese system of management is a complete philosophy of organisation which can affect every part of the enterprise (Ohno, 1978; Nohara, 1985 cited in Basu and Miroshnik, 1999). The empirical research done by the authors, mentioned above to investigate the issue of HRM strategy and firm performance in Japanese MNEs is subject to the idea of best HR practices. However, some interesting facts come into attention with the previous discussion of best-fit, best-practices and resource-based view of the firm which would be discussed below. The Japanese MNEs have maintained their own management styles in overseas operations and despite of cultural difference, environment impact, and local labour market conditions these MNEs have adopted the best practices idea and tried to coordinate the HRM policies and practices between their overseas subsidiaries and parent headquarters. The Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement, zero defect, just-in-time method of delivery, team based problem solving practices (Quality circles, management by objectives, kaizen (suggestion and improvement)), long-term commitment, in-company welfare system, extensive training for skill development, performance based rewards, decentralised responsibilities, vertical information systems are at the heart of their management strategy . And this style of management has not only proved to be successful for Japanese MNEs but it has forced other local companies to adopt Japanese styles of management for increased organizational performance. The concept of team working through quality circles and management by objectives (MBO) are the important components to manage the human resources of the firm and bring them in align with company strategic goals to achieve higher performance. Employees through quality circle teams can put forward their suggestions, and then feedback is given to employees for their suggestion and there are also rewards for employees. This foster employee’s motivation and give them the sense of involvement. It does not only ends here, as the concept of quality circle is also important for organizational learning, as the members of quality circle comes from every department of the organization and share their knowledge and information, this helps in creating new skills and attitudes that can help to attain the company goals. Zero defect policy refers to the fact that instead of individual parts the whole process is controlled and quality is insured through process instead of inspection. Therefore, employees are given extensive on the job and off the job training not only for specific but rather multiple operations of the firm. This refers to the fact of upskilling of employees. The long term commitment and performance based rewards helps to ensure employee retention and continuous commitment towards the firm’s objectives, this refers to the fact that the valuable and rare skills of the employee’s that have been developed over the period of time and are integrated into firm’s HR systems should not be imitable and substitutable. The above discussion points out, that these Japanese MNEs’ HR systems are some what in coherence with the framework developed by Wright et al. (2001). As it is obvious from above discussion that the people management systems of Japanese overseas subsidiaries are continuously maintaining their stock of intellectual capital both embedded in people and systems of the company i.e. through extensive training, performance based rewards, concept of continuous improvement etc. And the concept of team working through quality circles and MBO is fostering learning in Japanese organization and this valuable knowledge and skills that employees developed is retained by the policy of long-term commitment and in-company welfare system,decentralised responsibilitieswhich all help to develop employee’s behaviour and attitudes for high commitment and hence increased organizational performance. It is also observed that these patterns of HR practice is quite relevant to our earlier discussion of best practices in which we refer to the seven practices identified by Jeffrey Pfeffer (1998 cited in Wright et al., 2001). Conclusion: The empirical research done in the field of SHRM to investigate the issue of strategic HRM and its impact on performance of Japanese MNEs is only based on finding relationship between HR practices (configurational perspective) of the firm and their impact on organizational performance. The concepts of dynamic capabilities, core competencies, organizational learning are gaining popularity in strategic literature and as argued by Wright et al., 2001 are the important source of gaining sustained competitive advantage. Therefore, the future empirical research should incorporate these concepts to investigate the issue of integration of HR into firm’s strategy. Secondly the above research also lack the evidence of how these Japanese MNEs incorporate the local market, government regulations, cultural impact that can have influence on HR strategies of these firms. In the view of above theoretical developments in the literature it can be proposed that the firms who seek high performance and want to gain competitive edge over their competitors should device their HR policies and practices that develop skills, attitudes and behaviours of the employees in such a way that are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable in the firm’s same line of business, organizational learning is an important component in developing up these characteristics and therefore, firms should develop up knowledge management systems incorporated into their HR strategy to foster organizational learning that would have positive impact on firm’s performance. References: Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management. 17, 1, 99-120. Basu, D.R. and Miroshnik, V. (1999). Strategic human resource management of Japanese multinationals A case study of Japanese multinational companies in the UK. The Journal of Management Development. 18, 9, 714-732. Boxall, P. and Purcell, J. (2000). Strategic human resource management: where have we come from and where should we be going?. International Journal of Management Reviews. 2, 2, 183-203. MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´n-Alca ´zar, F., Romero-Ferna ´ndez, P.M. and Sa ´nchez-Gardey, G. (2005). Strategic human resource management: integrating the universalistic, contingent, configurational and contextual perspectives. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 16, 5, 633-659. Paauwe, J. and Boselie, P. (2003). Challenging ‘strategic HRM’ and the relevance of the institutional setting. Human Resource Management Journal. 13, 3, 56-70. Park, H.J., Mitsuhashi, H., Fey, C.F. and Bjo ¨rkman, I. (2003). The effect of human resource management practices on Japanese MNC subsidiary performance: a partial mediating model. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 14, 8, 1391-1406. Takeuchi, N., Wakabayashi, M. and Chen, Z. (2003). The strategic HRM configuration for competitive advantage: Evidence from Japanese firms in China and Taiwan. Asia Pacific Journal of Management. 20, 4, 447-480. Truss, C. and Gratton, L. (1994). Strategic human resource management: a conceptual approach. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 5, 3, 663-686. Wright, P.M. (1998). Introduction: Strategic human resource management research in the 21st century. Human Resource Management Review. 8, 3, 187-191. Wright, P., Dunford, B. and Snell, S. (2001). Human resources and the resource based view of the firm. Journal of Management. 27, 6, 701 -721. Wright, P.M., Snell, S.A. and Dyer, L. (2005). New models of strategic HRM in a global context. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 16, 6, 875-881. Bibliography: Lepak, D.P. and Snell, S.A. (1998). Virtual HR: Strategic human resource management in 21st century. Human Resource Management Review. 8, 3, 215-234. Lundy, O. (1994). From personnel management to strategic human resource management. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 5, 3, 687-720. Mabey, C., Salaman, G. and Storey, J. (1998). Human Resource Management A Strategic Introduction (2nd Edition). Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc.

Essays --

Paul Rà ©e, an English psychologist, wrote The Origin of the Moral Sensations in 1877. Through this text, he separated morality from God, in order to find a naturalistic source for things like altruism. He discusses an idea of altruistic emotional motivation, such as pleasure, usefulness (benefits), and the avoidance of pain. Nietzsche argues against Rà ©e’s notions, saying that morals do not come from usefulness, pleasure or the avoidance of pain, but through will to power. His notion of will to power is an instinct for independent freedom. This notion is manifested differently in different people, depending on individual traits and circumstances. In his first essay, Good and Evil, Good and Bad, he explains the manifestations of power and how they are viewed. He differentiates the manifestations of the will to power in two categories: Master Morality and Slave Morality. The master morality is the notion that, â€Å"†¦the noble, powerful, high-stationed and high-minded, who felt and established themselves and their actions as good†. The word â€Å"good† in this sense is not a good represe...

Victim Mentality :: Social Issues, Abuse

What does it mean to be a victim? Is there a certain type of victim or is being a victim universal? When I think about a victim, I think about family abuse, rape, incest, tempted murder victims and etc. There are many kinds of victims because a victim is when a person is hurt by another in a malicious way. Victims are not all of a certain race; it can affect anybody regardless of their race, religion, or their social classes. When a person is being victimize, that are they truly think in their mind. What are the aftereffects of the mind and body after such an assault whether they were physically, emotionally or verbal abuse. Every child involved in family abuse has a different thought process as opposed to the child across the street withstanding the same abuse. What makes a child not cry for help when they have to constantly on a daily basis endure such maltreatment? What is going through their minds? A child might not report family abuse because they are afraid that their parent will go to jail (Stark, 1989). In their minds they believe that if either the mother or father leaves, that they will never be loved again. Someone might think that the child would know better to identify what parental love truly is but in their minds, their parents are the only ones in their world that can love and nurture them. Children in family abuse also believe that they are the only ones going through the abuse therefore they feel lonely and that no one can comprehend what they are living through. Children might also not tell an adult about the abuse in their homes because they are embarrassed to admit that there is a problem (Stark, 1989).They are ashamed because they think they are the only ones going through this or they might believe that it normal for a parent to hurt them because a parent knows best (Stark, 1989). The child may think that they deserve the abuse because they probably did something bad. Why would children believe that they deserve such abuse? In our society, it is commonly known that the parents do what is in the best interest of the child. And so a child believes that it okay because a parent knows best. â€Å"Emotional abuse can ruin a child’s self-esteem because he or she may grow to believe that the parent’s insults are true (Stark .

Burying Your Life Essay

1. The short story Burying Your Life is written by Harkiran Dhindsa and published in 2010 on The Guardian website. Rahul is standing in his backyard trying to dig a grave. The soil is extremely hard so he struggles a lot with the hole. As he digs his wife Sarah walks back and forth from the house to the grave. They have agreed be nice to each other when Tom their son is around. Rahul try to make Sarah understand that it for the best that Tom stays with him at the house because of the incident with George their cat which has died. As Rahul continues to dig Sarah comes to the hole and try to explain that she haven’t been unfaithful and that it ´s just a friend that she has been seeing. Rahul don’t believe her as she is trying to explain her innocence. When the grave is complete they all gather around it. As Rahul puts the box with the dead cat inside down into the pit Tom says goodbye and help covering the grave with soil. Rahul watches Sarah stroking Toms back and gets emotionally touched. 2. Rahul is a normal man with a calm temper who lives with his wife Sarah and their son Tom in London. He gets home from work on time at least three times a week to eat with his son. He is a dependable person who appears to be in good contact with his own emotions. As Sarah wants to leave with Tom to her mom, Rahul try to talk her out of it. He is afraid of two things. That Tom is going to stay there for good and that Sarah will meet up with her lover again. He gets very affected by Sarah ´s unfaithfulness and actually don’t believe her, but on the other hand he want to believe her because he want their family to be together. Rahul is too dependable and that’s maybe why Sarah has been seeing another guy. Rahul is boring. 3. Sarah has many issues leaving her husband. The gardener Chris who she has been unfaithful with is probably more exciting than Rahul. They have been together for nine years and the spark between them is gone. But she still loves him and they have a son together. So that why she isn ´t just leaving him at once. She wants to work things out first by going to her mom and stay there for some time with Tom. As she walks back and forth from the house to the grave it is like she hasn’t completely made her mind yet about leaving. She can ´t decide whether to leave or stay with Rahul. She has big issues with keeping a job and drifts around from job to job and that also shows that she has big difficulties in keeping her attention on one thing for a long time. As she tries to explain to Rahul several times that she hasn ´t been unfaithful she also tells us that she wants to stay with Rahul or at least justify what she has done.

With specific reference to Act 2 Scene 1 examine Marlene’s character

With specific reference to Act 2 Scene 1 examine Marlene's character. Consider how the interview process exposed what she is like and the choices she has made. Marlene is a high powered business woman; she has just gained a promotion to managing director of a successful employment agency called ‘Top Girls. ‘ In Act 2 Scene 1 Marlene is positioned in the work environment, this enables the audience to see her perform as she would on a daily basis. This is the first time the audience sees Marlene in the work place you are able to make the observation that Marlene is well suited in this career as she is very ambitious. Act 1 informed the audience that Marlene just received a promotion this shows she is dedicated and successful within this agency. Marlene's charisma does a lot to hide her working class roots which she has obviously tried very hard to conceal from the people around her. You would never make the assumption that Marlene is from an impoverish background however, this is revealed when her sister is introduced in Act 2 Scene 2 and shown in working class society. Marlene has made several choices in life in order to move herself up civilization, which Churchill discloses throughout the play. Marlene is interviewing a young girl, Jeanine, for a job in Act 2 Scene 1. The audience is able to see her brisk interviewing skills here and how Marlene would generally perform in the work place. Marlene is quick to notice Jeanine's faults; this shows her to be a relatively pessimistic person. She is fairly blunt and seems rushed in this scene. This shows she is a busy woman who is committed to her work. Churchill purposely exposes the differences within the two women here even though Marlene was once from the same background as Jeanine, her abandoning of the ‘working class' background is noticeable in this scene as she clearly views Jeanine as being underneath her. This is shown by Marlene using Jeanine's forename, † Right Jeanine, you are Jeanine aren't you? † which is generally informal and disrespectful in this situation. Marlene is very original in her views of other women, she seems very self indulged, even though she helps people get jobs she is very ambitious and constantly looking ahead. As Marlene has no one else to worry about Churchill shows her to be self reliant and not want to let anyone else into her life. Jeanine has different ambitions to Marlene, though Jeanine is not necessarily the ambitious type she does have one desire, to get married. Marlene's character is thoroughly exposed when the idea of marriage and children in introduced. She reacts very negatively to both these aspects and seems to view Jeanine negatively for having this ambition. It is revealed in the Act 3 of ‘Top Girls' that Marlene in fact gave up her own child in order to pursue her career. Marlene has made sacrifices, marriage and children to be in the position she is in now and Churchill portrays Marlene to view other people differently for taking this path, like she believes others should make the same choices as she has. When Jeanine mentions not receiving an engagement ring Marlene responds with, â€Å"saves taking it off. † This shows she believes marriage affects work and possibly should stay undisclosed. This shows she is very dedicated to work, possibly too much so. Marlene is definitely a woman who knows what she wants from life and plans ahead to the future. Jeanine is very much the opposite of this as she is very reliant on other people's views and ideas instead of her own. When Marlene questions her about ten years time Jeanine replies with â€Å"I might not be alive in ten years. † This shows the audience their obvious differences and Jeanine's lack of expectations for herself. Marlene is definitely the type of woman who has planned out her next direction in life with steady consideration. Marlene thoroughly believes in commitment to work in order to receive the things you want. She went in to do higher education in order to pursue a career and distant her self from the working class life, her sister's life. This has been an inevitable choice for Marlene and she seems very independent. Marlene does not have a close connection with anyone. Here distances are brought across while speaking to Jeanine on the idea of marriage and children but also the idea of cutting Jeanine's speech up meaning she does not care about her personal life. I don't believe Marlene leads a great social life as she is very work orientated. Act one shows us she has never really had any partners showing again her self reliance but also her inability to make time for others. We know she has at least had one partner when it is revealed that Angie is in fact Marlene's daughter who she handed over to her sister. Though it is never revealed properly why, you get the impression Marlene would not give up the time to look after her daughter and did not want a child to interfere with her plans in future. She wanted to pick the career path not the child path. Marlene's new middle class background Marlene is definitely in a better financial state than Joyce but Marlene chooses to leave Joyce to take care on Angie. Marlene is not fond of children so the audience is able to identify that this child was not planned and Marlene left her mistakes behind her by moving away and beginning work. When Jeanine is speaking about her marriage, Marlene is swift to change the subject, possibly showing she is lonely and knows what she has missed out on. Marlene has abandoned the idea of ever getting married, to work for this company, receive her latest promotion etc. The play provides negative connotations toward being married and having children in this work environment as Marlene says â€Å"So you won't tell them you're getting married†¦ It would probably help. † Showing it is more difficult to get a good job when you have other commitments. Relationships are a hindrance for Marlene while Jeanine sees her relationship as her main focus in life. Marlene is very enigmatic as she keeps most problems and situations to herself. She is a serious character, especially in the work place. In Act 1 you see a slightly more open and humorous side to Marlene however, this was most likely because of her severe alcohol intake. In this interview process, Churchill portrays Marlene as being straight to the point and says what she thinks so that she does not have to waste time. Her job is a busy one and the way she acts towards Jeanine in the interview shows she does not have time to waste â€Å"We don't have any foreign clients. You'd have to go elsewhere. † Marlene also speeds up the interview so it finishes quickly this may be due to her amount of other work or her disliking of Jeanine, it is unclear because of Marlene's secretive side. Marlene seems to live up to the middle class stereotype. There is no connection with anyone from working class background made; this shows Marlene to be ashamed. She is proud for leaving that world behind but keeps it to herself as she doesn't want people to judge her for whom she used to be. Marlene is presented in many ways. Seeing her in the working environment is very significant as this is how she exposes herself to other people. Churchill wants to shows the differences between the two characters in Act 2 Scene 1. Marlene is apathetic towards Jeanine. She has dissimilar ambitions to Jeanine and slightly frowns upon her for choosing this path that Marlene has been so successful without. The differences here really highlight Marlene's thoughts and her as a character. The choices she has made in order to live a middle class career following life are very significant. Giving up a child is a huge decision and Marlene believes in part she made the correct choice and she is now a very successful business woman. You do receive the feeling that it has affected her on the whole as she quickly switches the direction of conversation while speaking with Jeanine about marriage and children. Also the idea of being very secretive shows Marlene must be slightly ashamed or possibly does not find others very trust worthy. She has changed her image and does not feel the need to mention the past which is mature of Marlene. Overall she is exposed by Churchill as making many significant choices in life which she makes no attempt to change permanently. Marlene is portrayed as being dedicated and successful in the work place and this is largely helped by her steady ambition. She has transformed herself and sacrifices certain aspects of life in order to be successful and have her dream occupation.

Exploring a Communication in Arabic Lingua Culture Essay

Conversation is the most basic form of communication and human beings rely on conversation to exchange information and maintain social relationships (Gardner 1994: 97). Human interactions rely on conversation for simple chatting as well as work related tasks, political discussions and educational decisions (Gardner 1994: 98). Conversation is at the heart of the human ability to interact with one another in everyday life. Communicative events typically involve definable boundaries and a joint effort at interaction (Orr 2008: 317). A communicative event that occurs within its social boundaries becomes an engagement between two people (Orr 2008: 317). In other words, a communicative event between two friends results in an engagement that has meaning to both parties involved. In contrast, a communicative event that is between two strangers, such as a shopper and salesperson, cannot be considered an engagement because when the encounter is over it holds no meaning to those involved (Orr 2008: 317). Further, a communicative event is only successful when both parties involved contribute to the process of understanding as the conversation takes place (Aune, Levine, Park, Asada, & Banas 2005: 358). In a communicative event between friends, each friend is responsible for contributing something to the conversation that will make the interaction meaningful for both people. When both friends are not contributing to the communicative event equally, then the encounter fails to have meaning and makes the person who is contributing view his or her friend negatively (Aune, et al 2005: 358). An analysis of a communicative event that occurred between two friends in Saudi Arabia is offered. This analysis includes a discussion of the eleven components that Saville-Troike identifies. The Communicative Event Cultural analysis is an important part of discussing linguistics and communication. However, linguistics is not typically associated with a cultural analysis even though the conversation styles and traditions of different cultures are an essential component to communicative events (Wierzbicka 1997: 1). In fact, there is a very close link between culture and the lexicon of the language spoken as part of that culture. This is why many cultures rely on special words for important aspects of their culture such as food (Wierzbicka 1997: 1). Additionally, many cultures, such as the Arabic culture, rely on special greetings and phrases as part of their communicative events. These special greetings and phrases add depth to the communicative events and allow them to have meaning to the people involved. The conversation analyzed for this paper occurred between two friends and included a special greeting as well as common phrases used in Saudi Arabian culture. These components of the communicative event allowed the interaction to mean something to the two friends and resulted in positive feelings from both. The definition of a communicative event and a consideration to cultural differences is particularly useful for language teachers because it gives them insight into the importance of specific aspects of communicative events that differ across cultural boundaries. Language teachers are most successful when they are able to incorporate aspects of native language into new language acquisition. Changing the way that language teachers instruct is a constant part of the job of language teachers (Jacobs & Farrell 2003: 5). At the same time, it is important that a language teacher give students the tools necessary for learner autonomy, understanding the social nature of learning, the ability for curricular integration, a focus on meaning, attention to diversity, thinking skills, assessment and utilizing the teacher as a co learner (Jacobs & Farrell 2003: 5). These eight skills are essential for language teachers to implement in order to allow students to rely on their native language while also learning a new language. Further, sensitivity to cultural differences in language style will allow the language teacher to provide students with authentic opportunities to engage in meaningful communicative events. At the same time, language teachers cannot choose to only implement one or two of these components. They are all necessary components to successful language instruction. Classroom language instruction is an important part of the job of a language teacher. However, the type of language instruction has an impact on how well students acquire language skills (Spada 1987: 137). A study of three separate language classrooms over a period of sixty observation hours shows that students are sensitive to the communicative orientation of new language acquisition (Spada 1987: 137). The reason behind this observation is the different communicative styles utilized by different cultures. For example, the special greeting and phrases used the in conversation to be analyzed here differ from the style of communication in other cultures. Therefore, sensitivity to different communicative styles may result in better instruction and higher levels of learning. The ability to improve in the speaking, listening and discourse areas of language learning seem to be related to classroom instruction style (Spada 1987: 137). When a language teacher begins to work with a specific location, the first step is to study the community that will make up the instructional population. This is important so the language teacher is able to gather important information about the social organization and important aspects of the culture in order to relate that information to the culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 107). At the same time, it is important for language teachers to discover the way that native speakers structure their communicative events in order to gain insight into the importance of different communication components important to that specific culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 107). Ultimately, the goal of a language teacher would be to make many careful and thorough observations of native speakers engaging in a variety of different communicative events so a complete understanding of communication can be gathered. Once this job is completed the language teacher should be able to model communicative events after the communicative events of native speakers (Saville-Troike 1989: 107). To this end, Saville-Troike introduces eleven components that will each be commented on as they relate to the communicative example used in this paper: type of event, topic, purpose or function, setting, key, participants, message form, message content, act sequence, rules for interaction and norms for interaction (1989: 138). Type of Event, Topic, Purpose and Setting The type of event, topic, purpose and setting make up the scene of the communicative event (Saville-Troike 1989: 139). The type of event analyzed is an informal conversation between two university friends who have not seen or spoken to one another for a week. The topic of the conversation is the time that has gone by without speaking or seeing one another and includes a discussion about why so much time has passed as well as plans to spend time together in the near future. The purpose of the communicative event is time for the friends to catch up with one another and make plans to engage in further conversation. Finally, the setting for the communicative event is Abha City in the Southern Province of Saudi Arabia. These four components of this specific communicative event make up the whole scene. While only the setting can be directly observed, the type of event, the topic and the purpose of this communicative event are equally as important for gathering information about the cultural aspects of Arabic linguistics and conversation style (Saville-Troike 1989: 139). Further cultural information can be obtained by observing the traditions and customs of a specific culture with regards to communication. This communicative event occurred between two friends and included the special greeting, â€Å"Peace be upon you† and â€Å"peace be upon you too. † This greeting is an essential aspect of Arabic communicative events and means that there is goodwill among the two friends. If this greeting would have been omitted from the conversation it would indicate that the friends were angry with one another. When analyzing components of a communicative event that are not directly visible it is important to be watching for important information regarding the sacred nature of communication and what that looks like for different cultures (Saville-Troike 1989: 141). For example, in this communicative event between two friends, an observer cannot see what the type of event or what the purpose of the event is. However, listening to the conversation and watching for customs and traditions provides valuable insight into the nature of cultural differences and what is important (Saville-Troike 1989: 141). These observations will allow an observer to discover what is sacred to a culture with regards to communication as well as what types of beliefs are important to them. Further, an observer can learn what behaviors are unacceptable, what the purpose of particular behaviors are and see external signs of participation in ritual parts of a communicative event (Saville-Troike 1989: 141). Key The key of a communicative event is introduced in order to provide the tone, manner or spirit of the encounter (Saville-Troike 1989: 141). This can take the form of teasing versus seriously discussing something, being sincere versus sarcastic, being friendly versus hostile or being sympathetic versus threatening (Saville-Troike 1989: 141). The type of key that is present in a communicate event relies on the type of relationship the people involved in conversation have. In this case, the communicative event was informal, but respectful and was a sincere and friendly exchange between two friends. However, if the conversation took a sarcastic key, the sarcasm would have overridden the sincerity of the interaction thus making the conversation far less meaningful than it was (Saville-Troike 1989: 142). In this way, the strongest key takes center stage and is determined by who the participants of the communicate event are, what their relationship as well as the nature of the conversation. Further, the key of the communicative event may be determined through the use of nonverbal cues in addition to the dialogue. For example, if one person winks at the other this may suggest some teasing during the conversation while a stiff posture may indicate that a serious conversation is occurring (Saville-Troike 1989: 142). Observing the communicative event that is analyzed here, the nonverbal cues may have included changes in facial expression when the friends began to discuss why one friend had been to busy to spend time with friends. Watching these facial expressions would lend insight into how serious or friendly the communicative event really was. Participants The participants are the most important component of a communicative event. Without participants, conversation would never happen. The participants in this communicative event were two young male university friends. The absence of females indicates the nature of gender roles in the Saudi Arabian culture. In the Arabic culture, males are not permitted to meet with females and are only allowed to converse with other males. This information provides important information regarding the role relationship of conversation in Saudi Arabia as well as information about sex and social status (Saville-Troike 1989: 143). The absence of females provides a great deal of information about the Arabic culture. It shows what the rights of each member of society are as well as the attitudes, expectations and behaviors toward others. It also shows who has authority over whom (Saville-Troike 1989: 143). This communicative event shows that males are the dominant gender in Saudi Arabian culture and this prevents them from openly conversing with females. Further, it gives insight into the attitudes, expectations and behaviors expected from males versus females. Finally, the culture dictates the formality or informality of a communicative event (Saville-Troike 1989: 144). This exchange between two young male friends was informal as compared to a conversation that may take place between a young Arab male and an older Arab male. In other words, the participants engaging in conversation have a direct influence over the nature of the communicate event and dictate what type of interaction will take place. Message Form Message form, message content and act sequence are determined by various social, cultural and situational constraints on communicative behavior. Each of these components can be presented vocally or non vocally (Saville-Troike 1989: 144). Many cultures rely on non vocal sounds to represent meaning in conversation and these make up the message form. These vocal and non vocal sounds make up the verbal and non verbal components of conversation style. For example, the verbal vocal relationship includes spoken language while the non verbal vocal relationship includes such things as laughter. Similarly, the non vocal verbal relationship is comprised of such things as written language or sign language while the non vocal non verbal relationship includes such things as silence and eye behavior (Saville-Troike 1989: 145). Although these different aspects of language vary across cultures, they are important aspects of any communication style. This communicative event example used here relies on these different relationships in order to allow the participants to engage in a conversation that has meaning to both parties. The two friends engaged in the verbal vocal relationship simply by exchanging spoken dialogue. At the same time, they engaged in the non verbal vocal relationship by relying on laughter to become part of their conversation. They also relied on the non vocal verbal relationship through the use of hand gestures and facial expressions that lent support to the nature of the conversation and also injected meaning into the exchange. Finally, the two friends showed the non vocal non verbal relationship through their use of appropriate silences and eye contact while speaking to one another. Message Content The message content is closely related to message form and cannot be separated for appropriate analysis to occur (Saville-Troike 1989: 150). Message content refers to what communicative acts are about and what meaning they hold. The dialogue and silences of a communicate event make up the message form while the meaning and implications derived from the communicative event make up the message content (Saville-Troike 1989: 150). The overall meaning of a communicate event rely on the verbal and non verbal messages being exchanged. However, meaning is also derived from extra linguistic context as well as information and expectations participants bring to the conversation (Saville-Troike 1989: 150). The physical content of a communicative event is important because it lends additional information to the exchange that allows for enhanced meaning. In this way, people who do not even speak the same language are often able to find meaning in their exchange simply be relying on physical objects or other outside influences that inject meaning without words (Saville-Troike 1989: 151). Whatever type of physical objects, outside influences or even hand gestures that are used during a communicative event it is important that they convey meaning and allow for a successful conversation. The example of a conversation used here was successful because the two friends understood the location they were in as well as the gestures each person used during the course of the communicative event. Act Sequence The act sequence component of a communicative event includes information about the ordering of the conversation. This is evident through the appropriate initiation of conversation by one person and the following of that initiation by the other person (Saville-Troike 1989: 152 – 153). The example provided here is a good example of appropriate initiation. One of the young men starts the conversation by saying, â€Å"peace be upon you† and the other man responded with, â€Å"peace be upon you too. † In Saudi Arabian culture this is an important greeting and indicates friendship and goodwill at the start of a conversation. Eliminating this greeting would suggest anger and would upset the natural ordering of conversations in Arabic culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 153). Regular patterns and recurring events are important cultural component of communicative events. When participants follow these patterns and recurring events it suggests that the nature of conversations is important and sacred within a culture. Further, the types of patterns that emerge from these patterns and recurring events allow for comparison across cultures (Saville-Troike 1989: 153 – 154). The conversation between the two young Arabic students followed a natural progression and provided important insight into the nature of communicative events in Arabic culture. Rules for Interaction The rules of interaction dictate an explanation for the rules of speech which are applicable to communicative event in a specific culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 154). These rules refer to the way that the participants in the conversation are expected to behave based on the values of their culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 154). Again, the special greeting at the start of this conversation is one example of an expectation for behavior. In Arabic culture, this is the standard greeting that comes at the beginning of a communicative event and Arabic males are expected to make use of it. These rules may not necessarily be dictated by law but are used based on values that are important within a specific culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 154). Arabic law does not require this greeting at the start of a conversation, but the values and beliefs of the Arabic culture make the greeting an expectation. Further, the use of this greeting indicates the role of turn taking in conversation within the Arabic culture. The initial greeting is followed by a follow up greeting which allows the participants to take turns greeting one another and starting a conversation. At the same time, turn taking is important in this example of a communicative event because it allows each young man to have a turn speaking while the other young man listens. This injects meaning into the conversation because the interaction relies on listening skills as well as speaking skills to get the point across (Saville-Troike 1989: 155). Norms of Interpretation Norms of interpretation are important because they provide all of the other information about the culture. These are essential for the overall understanding of the communicative event (Saville-Troike 1989: 155). For example, the different types of speech must be analyzed in order to fully understand cultural differences within a conversation. This example of the communicative event used here includes the use of the phrase, â€Å"old man. † In some cultures this may a derogatory phrase but is included in this example to show respect. In Arabic culture using the term â€Å"old man† shows respect for one’s elders and the young men use it in reference to one of their fathers. The understanding that this phrase shows respect is well known within the Arabic culture so it becomes a norm of conversation that is acceptable (Saville-Troike 1989: 155). Conclusion The development of communicative competence cannot take place without a relationship among these eleven components (Lock 1983: 253). Contexts rely on cultural information in order to provide an interplay of conversation as well as the self concepts of the participants and social structure acceptable within a society (Lock 1983: 253). A relationship among these eleven components can lead to successful communicative competence based on the cultural implications of language and how this relates to self concept and social structure (Lock 1983: 253). This can be directly applied to the language teacher because communicative competence is a cornerstone of successful language acquisition (Lee 2006: 349). Further, successful communicative events are only possible if a language teacher is able to blend the cultural components of the native language with the cultural components of the new language (Holliday 1997: 212). Therefore, an understanding of communicative competence is an essential part of successful language instruction (Lee 2006: 349). Communicative competence is the part of language knowledge that dictates which communicative system to use (Stalker 1989: 182). When the communicative system chosen is spoken language or conversation it is important to connect the goals and context of the situation in order to have a meaningful communicative event (Stalker 1989: 182). A basic understanding of what communication abilities are necessary for successful conversation within a specific culture is necessary to function adequately in society (Wiemann & Backlund 1980: 185). Therefore, the eleven components applied to a specific conversation example provide evidence and insight into the importance of language teachers enabling students to gain the knowledge the learning necessary in order to successfully participate in communicative encounters (Wiemann & Backlund 1980: 185; Gardner 1994: 104). To this end, it is important to provide students with knowledge pertaining to the use of key words within a particular culture (Wierzbicka 1997: 6) as well as analyze the importance of the relationship between the eleven components of language (Saville-Troike 1989: 156). Finally, the overall outcome of communication is to discover the unique events and recurring patterns within a specific culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 177). This can only be done through careful observation and analysis of communicative events within a particular culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 177). Aune, R. K. ; Levine, T. R. ; Park, H. ; Asada, K. K. ; & Banas, J. A. 2005. Tests of a theory of communicative responsibility. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 24 (4): 358 – 381. Gardner, R. 1994. Conversation analysis: some thoughts on it applicability to applied linguistics. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, Series S (11): 97 – 118. Holliday, A. 1997. Six lessons: cultural continuity in communicative language teaching. Language Teaching Research, 1 (3): 212 – 238. Jacobs, G. M. & Farrell, T. S. C. 2003. Understanding and implementing the CLT paradigm. RELC Journal, 34 (1): 5 – 30. Lee, Y. 2006. Towards respectification of communicative competence: condition of L2 instruction or its objective? Applied Linguistics, 27 (3): 349 – 376. Lock, A. 1983. Communicative contexts and communicative competence. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 2 (2-3-4): 253 – 266. Orr, W. W. R. 2008. ‘Prospecting an encounter’ as a communicative event. Discourse Studies, 10 (3): 317 – 339. Saville-Troike, M. 1989, ‘The analysis of communicative events’, in The Ethnography of Communication: An Introduction, 2nd edn, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 107-180. Spada, N. M.1987. Relationships between instructional differences and learning outcomes: a process-product study of communicative language teaching. Applied Linguistics, 8 (2): 137 – 161. Stalker, J. C. 1989. Communicative competence, pragmatic functions, and accommodation. Applied Linguistics, 10 (2): 182 – 193. Wiemann, J. M. & Backlund, P. 1980. Current theory and research in communicative competence. Review of Educational Research, 50 (1): 185 – 199. Wierzbicka, A. 1997, ‘Introduction’, in Understanding Cultures Through Their Key Words, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 1-31.

James Joyce’s The Dubliners Essay

In â€Å"Araby†, â€Å"Eveline†, and â€Å"The Dead†, three short stories featured in James Joyce’s The Dubliners, the characters struggle with whether to live their lives with a structured routine or to seek opportunities, change, and adventure. These short stories center around everyday life for citizens of Dublin, Ireland in the early 20th century, when a choice between continuing the inherited tradition of routine and structure versus seeking any other form of life or adventure could be the most important decision in the peoples’ lives. With the terrible potato famine still in living memory and with Ireland seeking a new culture and identity, many of its citizens clung to their routine as means of survival. The quotidian routine of the character’s lives suppresses and dominates the characters, preventing any of the characters’ ideas and dreams of seeking adventure. In â€Å"Araby,† every aspect of the little boy’s rou tine and everyday life impedes him from his adventurous goals of visiting the annual bazaar and fulfilling his dream of a relationship with Mangan’s sister. Despite his infatuation with his friend Mangan’s sister, the boy cannot work up the courage to spark a conversation and is pleasantly surprised when she asks him if he is going to the annual bazaar, hosted in Dublin. She then says that she is unable to attend, and the boy offers to bring her an item from the bazaar. Every aspect of the boy’s routine and everyday life seems to be trying to impede the boy from his goals, from school’s boring lessons to his uncle forgetting to arrive home early enough to give him money for the train fair because he was out drinking. Despite the adversities of his everyday life attempting to ensnare him, the boy does make it to the bazaar, but his hopes about the bazaar are not fulfilled. When the boy arrives at the bazaar, he realizes that the bazaar does not live up to his expectations. The untimely distractions that caused the boy to be late to the bazaar cause the boy to show up after most of the excitement and trade has already ended. He approaches one stall that is still open, but the owner of the stall seems to be preoccupied with a conversation with several men. The woman notices him, but the boy says how â€Å"†¦the tone of her voice was not encouraging; she seemed to have spoken to [him] out of a sense of duty†. The boy buys nothing, feeling unwanted by the woman watching over the goods. With no purchase for Mangan’s sister, the narrator stands angrily in the deserted bazaar as the lights go out, with his hopes crushed as his grandiose imagination of the bazaar is disillusioned. This realization deflates the boy’s hopes and dreams of an adventurous and exotic life, ending his wishful love affair with his friend’s sister, as well as ending his ambitions for a more adventurous life, and is analogous to Joyce’s â€Å"The Dead†. In â€Å"The Dead†, the banal and reflectively melancholy party is indicative of the monotonous routine that the Dubliners live by; however, Gabriel, the protagonist, struggles with the psychological battle with his methodical approach to life versus a more acceptin g and unconventional mindset, in which he wishes to enjoy a happier outlook on life. The motif of adventure versus routine is ever-present in this short story through Joyce’s meticulous and selective diction. During a very normal routine of dinner, the food is on â€Å"rival ends† of the table, divided by â€Å"sentries of fruit†, and watched afar by â€Å"three squads of bottles†. This militaristic diction transforms a seemingly harmless dinner table into an adventurous battlefield filled with action and excitement. The â€Å"battlefield† is not the dinner table, but the story in itself. The war is not between sentries and squadrons of bottles, but between the routine of life versus the hunger for opportunity. After dinner, the guests begin to dance. The guests partake in â€Å"memorized dance steps† and fall into habit and routine, one after the other. These structured dance steps rob the dancers of their individuality and creativity as uniform seizes the dance floor. The dancers are either forced to abandon their creativity and join in on the synchronized march of the automatons or be excluded from the group. Later on in the story, Gabriel learns from his wife about a previous lover. Gabriel enters a pensive and reflective state, in which he muses on the mass snow covering all of Ireland, which most likely covers the grave of Michael, his wife’s ex-lover, as well as the graves of all future Dubliners. The snow, the culmination of millions of individual and unique snowflakes melting together to form one entity of uniformity, became a metaphor for the all-encompassing routine of the characters in Dubliners, covering them in life and in death. Gabriel’s reflections towards the end of the novel give the short s tory its name of â€Å"The Dead†, which is what all of the routine and structure does the characters in The Dubliners. Despite all of the negative occurrences that the routine of the evening and of life bring upon Gabriel, he summons the courage to change his bleak outlook on life, vowing to have a more optimistic and open view on the world. In â€Å"Eveline†, the protagonist Eveline is faced with a rare opportunity to move away from Ireland to Buenos Aires with her boyfriend, Frank, but the routines and memories of her life ensnare her and prevent her from making the choice to seek adventure and excitement. This decision is an important crossroads in Eveline’s life, to continue with a life of an abusive father or an uncertain future with her boyfriend. The story begins with Eveline reflecting upon her childhood and contemplating the difficult decision that lies before her. She first has an epiphany, realizing that she cannot stay where she is, stuck in the autonomous life of routine and then becomes sympathetic to her father, saying how he was not all that abusive to her. Soon after th is thought, Eveline hears an organ playing in the street, reminding Eveline of her mother. This recollection of her mother immediately compels Eveline to decide that she cannot live her life the way her mother did, being swallowed up and forgotten by the routines of cooking and cleaning, all but forgotten in a sad and monotonous life. Eveline decides to head to Buenos Aires with Frank. As they are about to board the ship, Eveline resorts back to her routine by praying. The familiar chanting of the prayers versus the desire to flee with Frank renders Eveline in a state of paralysis, stripped of confidence after the destructive battle raging in her head between the two waging sides of her life, fiercely battling each other for superiority of Eveline’s subconcious. Eveline is left on the docks while Frank boards the ship. Because she does not move away from her routines, she is stuck forever with them. Her momentary epiphany regarding her mother and the monotonous routines of her life will go in vain, and she will end up living the exact life that her mother did. The vicious cycle of repetitive and mundane routine leaves the Dubliners helpless and lonely. Often, the routine forces the character into a state of unrequited love. In â€Å"Araby†, the routine leaves the boy in love with Mangan’s sister, never to know whether she shared any of his feelings. In â€Å"Eveline†, Eveline is left in the abusive and vicious cycle of her life, while her love is sailing off to Buenos Aires. In â€Å"The Dead†, Michael is literally buried under the mass routine of the snow, while his lover lives on, loving someone else. These protagonists each face difficult situations, of which they are not sure how to solve. As a mechanism of coping, they seek repetition, comfort, and conformity that only the routines of their average lives can bring. Without ever taking chances, they are sure to never achieve more than an average life. The characters in The Dubliners never take a chance to succeed and triumph over mediocrity. In doing this, they never give themselves a chance to fail, but they also never give themselves a chance to succeed. These characters have an opportunity to try to lift themselves up from the routinely abusive cycle of their lives, but cannot free themselves from their shackles, simply adding a few more degrees to the circle of false hopes and adventure that defines these misfortunate and disillusioned characters. Works Cited: Joyce, James. â€Å"Dubliners.† Project Gutenberg. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. .