Langston Hughes “Salvation” Essay Example for Free

Langston Hughes â€Å"Salvation† Essay â€Å"Salvation† is taking from the first of these , The Big Sea ( 1940 ), and written by Langston Hughes who was a brilliant author, poet who wrote fiction, history, autobiography, and he worked at various times as a journalist. You can clearly see in â€Å"Salvation† was taking time at South – country side. From the Title â€Å"Salvation† you can have a guess and you will be right if you were thinking about church, God and so on. -But not really saved? -To bring the young lambs to the fold? -When you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside -So I sat there calmly in the hot, crowded church, waiting for Jesus to come to me -The preacher preached a wonderful rhythmical sermon, all moans and shouts -Then he said: â€Å" Won’t you come? And the little girls cried. And some of them jumped up and went to Jesus right away. But most of us just sat there -Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened -Oh, Lamb of God! Why don’t you come? -I began to be ashamed of myself, holding everything up so long. -So I got up -Then joyous singing filled the room -I was really crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied, that I deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn’t seen Jesus, and that now I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me. Langston Hughes recalls how he was introduced to religion and the church. He goes to say that at thirteen years old he was brought to his Aunt Reed’s church and was told that he needed to be saved by Jesus Christ. At the ceremony, while all other children went up to accept Jesus, Langston and another child named Westley remained seated. At the congregation prayed and the priest sang psalms, Westley cracked under the pressure and went up to the altar, but Langston still sat. He had literally taken the phrase â€Å" you will see Jesus† and felt bad about lying to the church because, after all, he had still not seen Jesus but was anxious to meet him. Finally, Langston came to the decision that it was getting late and one little lie about seeing Jesus couldn’t hurt. He then went to the altar and accepted Jesus. That night his aunt heard him crying and assumed that it was because he had come to terms with God, But Langston was crying because he felt guilty having to lie to everyone about seeing Jesus and he was even more hurt that Jesus never came to help him. At first, the piece seems to be about naive boy who believes that Jesus would physically appear in front of him. In deeper sense, however, it dives into a questioning of faith. The story could be seen and a very common scenario among people having trouble with identifying there religious inclinations. Sometimes, there so much pressure put on people by their peers to choose a religion. These people often look for signs or aid from a higher power to help guide them. After receiving no signs or guidance, they renounce faith in God and Jesus and blame the higher being. In Langston case; his aunt, the priest, and the congregation put tremendous amount of pressure on him to become a member of the church, instead of explaining to him that â€Å"see† meant to â€Å"understand† and â€Å"accept† that Jesus died to save him and give him eternal life. His aunt could have helped him by explaining that not physically â€Å"see â€Å"Jesus that evening. Instead, he felt alienated possible because this way first that he had ever known of anything having to do with Jesus or the bible, and he was not helped to understand what was going on.

Supply and Demand Simulation Essay Example for Free

Supply and Demand Simulation Essay Supply and demand is the common sense principle which defines the generally observed relationship between demand, supply and prices: as demand increases the price goes up which attracts new suppliers who increase the supply bringing the price back to normal (Law of Supply and Demand, 2010). A surplus in the market exerts a downward pressure on price while a shortage in the market exerts an upward pressure on price. In the supply and demand simulation Goodlife has control of the apartment rental community is Atlantis. In the first year Goodlife wants to bring down the vacancy rate to about 15 percent while maximizing revenue. Goodlife must lower the cost of rent in order to lower the vacancy rate but they have to make sure they don’t lower it too much or they will decrease their revenue so they must find at what rental rate they will lower vacancy but no lose revenue. As the years go by several things affect the supply and demand of the Goodlife Company, population increase, individuals wanting long-term housing and a price ceiling. Shifts in supply and demand affect decision making by causing the company to look at how to get the greatest revenue with the changes. The supply and demand simulation went over several key points that were also part of our textbook reading such as total revenue and demand, individual and market demand, cross price elasticity and shifting supply and demand. Total revenue and demand is the ability for a company to tell whether the total revenue will go up or down when they raise or lower their prices (Colander, 2008). Individual and market demand refers to how individuals may stop buying a product due to a slight rise in cost, the market demand is influenced both by how many people drop out totally and by how much an existing consumer marginally changes his or her quantity demanded (Colander, 2008). Cross price elasticity of demand is when the price of a product goes up and it positively impacts the demand of another product. Shifting supply and demand is the ability of the company to shift supply to meet demand and maintain equilibrium. At Regence BlueCross BlueShield supply and demand affects the cost of premiums as well as the type of benefits available on plans. It is important in healthcare to figure out which benefits are sought after and what it will cost to cover those benefits, by slimming down on the benefits that are used less then they can provide benefits that individuals want at a lower cost than if they supply all benefits. One example of this is putting limitations of such benefits as chiropractic or physical therapy while increasing the benefits for preventive care. Price elasticity of demand affects the decision making of the consumer and of the organization by changing the amount of a product available as well as the price of the product. Consumers will switch products if they are unable to find the product easily or if the price is higher than a similar product. Organizations must continue to shift the supply and price of a product in order to stay competitive and still make revenue. In the simulation I learned how to maintain equilibrium with supply, demand and price while maintaining company revenue at the highest rate. Goodlife must keep changing the availability and price of the apartments in order to keep up with supply and demand and maintain revenue, one way they did this is by turning some of their apartments into condos this decreased the number of apartments available but brought in revenue in a different manner.

Contemporary Hospitality Industry Assignment Tourism Essay

Contemporary Hospitality Industry Assignment Tourism Essay The main aim of this report is to provide a brief description of the hospitality industry in UK along with its size, scope and diversity in order to convince the panel of potential investors to invest in the hospitality industry.My management consultancy firm was asked to produce a formal report focussing on the foreign business people to help them to decide whether to invest or not in particular sector of the industry for the coming London 2012 Olympic games.It will provide them a brief description of different ownership styles, management styles as well as organisational structure of several different sectors of the hospitality industry.Moreover, it will also provide the detail analysis of current trends, issues and recent developments within the industry.There are different sectors in the hospitality industry like hotels, restaurants, clubs and bars, contract catering, casinos etc.The particular sector that I am going to focus is the accommodation sector i.e. hotel and I am presen ting the ideas that i have generated while doing the research. Hospitality industry is a very broad industry.It is not always easy to define the hospitality industry.There are different criteria of defining it.One of the way of defining hospitality industry is by using Standard Industrial Classification(SIC) which was founded in United Kingdom in 1948.It defined the hospitality industry under the 1968 classification, as Establishments (whether or not licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquors)providing meals, light refreshments, drink or accommodation. (jones, 2002).Hospitality industry is defined as hotel, motels, inns or such businesses that provides transitional or short-term lodging, with or without food.(Businessdictionary.com). Both definition suggests that hospitality industry is the industry which provide food and accommodation to the guest.Hospitality industry is made up of two distinct services- provision of overnight accommodation for people staying away from home, and the provision of sustenance for people eating away from home or not preparing their own meals. (jones, 2002). British Hospitality: Trends Developments 2010 which was published today has revealed that, despite the recession, the UK hotel industry is continuing to expand, with over 10,400 rooms opening in 2010 and a further 43,000 planned for the period 2011-2015.(British Hospitality Association,14/11/2010).The hotel industry is flourishing every year.Moreover, the tourist coming to the UK especially London is never stopping.The amount spent by overseas visitors to the UK rose by 15.9% during July 2010   to  £1.96b, compared with  £1.69b during the same month of 2009, according to the Governments latest Overseas Travel and Tourism figures. The number of overseas visits to the UK increased by 4.9% to 3.24 million during this period, compared with 3.1 million in July 2010.(Caterersearch.com).By looking at the figures above we can say that it is secure and safe to invest in the hotel industry. There are various sectors in the accommodation where businessman can invest.They can invest in different types of chain hotels, business and conference hotel,budget hotels, boutique hotels, motels,lodges etc.They can invest in the existing property or build up hotels by themselves.If they invest in chain and popular hotels they may save the time and money for the advertisements and promotions.Budget hotels are also getting popular nowadays because of the low disposable income.People want to spend less money and get good facilities and service.Moreover, they can also construct a new hotel by themselves where they can be the sole owner and can have control over the profit and loss of the business.Business people can also buy the franchising license or do the management contracting. Scale, scope and diversity The hospitality is one of the largest and fastest growing industry in the world. There are just over 46,000 hotels and guest houses in the UK, and the hotel industry remains a significant sector of the economy, with an annual turnover of around  £40billion (Trends Statistics, 2008, British Hospitality Association). According to the British Hospitality Association, the industry is made up of about 127,000 properties and employs a workforce of 1.6 million people.It is very large and diverse industry.It is the third largest company that provides employment. The scope of the UK hospitality industry is very big.There are different commercial sector like hotels, restaurants, fast food outlets, takeaways, motels, hostels, pubs, clubs etc whereas the welfare sector like educational institutions, halls of residence, hospitals, old age homes, prisons etc.Many tourists are coming to the country every year as the london is popular city around the world.We can find many big hotels in london in order to accommodate large no. of tourists every night.Therefore large no. of workforce is required in order to run such hotels which creates millions of jobs. The hospitality industry is very diverse due to the innovation, ownership, classification and grading system, level of service, leisure facilities, future trends etc.There are different types of hotel which provide standard services to the guest.The hotel now not only provide the food and accommodation but also provides facilities like internet, gymnasium, swimming pool, sauna bath, jacuzzi, night clubs, shops, hair and beauty salons, laundry, car parking, conference and meeting rooms etc.The ownership and classification of hotel grading system also make it diverse.There are different type of ownership and management style like sole owner, partnership, public limited company and private limited company.The grading system of hotel by rating with stars from 1 to 5 level according to the level of service they provide to their guest. Food service is also one of the important facilities provided by the hotel.The facilities provided by the hotel depends upon the type of the hotel.There are one or many restaurants in a hotel.The restaurant provide different type of facilities like ala carte menu, buffet service, bar menu, catered service, room service etc.Nowadays we can usually find a restaurant in every hotel.Thus, food service is one of the important sector of the hotel industry. Another important sector of the hotel industry is entertainment.Different types of guest come to the hotel some of them are business people, leisure guest, holiday makers etc.Leisure guest and holiday makers are travelling fully for the purpose of entertainment.They want to utilise their holidays and enjoy a lot.Therefore, the hotel should provide entertainment facilities like night clubs, bars, themed parties, casinos, swimming pools, sauna and jacuzzi, sports facilities etc.They should arrange the indoor activities so that the guest dont need to go outside searching such facilities. Organisational Structure Organistaional structure is the relationhsip between the people and different departments of an organisation.Different organisations have different organisational structure.Some organisations have tall structure whereas some have flat structures.Tall organisational structure is in mainly found in large organisations such as hotels which consists of different levels of staff from the managers to the workers whereas the flat organisational structure do not have many level of staff.For e.g. in a flat stucture of a restaurant an owner can be the manager and the chef as well.The organisation is divided in two different parts front of the house and the back of the house.Front of the house are the departments like food and beverage, accommodation, conference and banqueting etc whereas back of the house are the departments like finance , food preparation areas, and the areas not seen by the guest. In the accommodation sector you can find different types of ownership and the structure.Mostly two types of ownership are popular in the hospitality industry.They are sole ownership or the franchised.Sole ownership means opening hotel by yourself without taking any financial help from other except loans.The advantage of this type of organisation is that the owner have sole access to the profit and can make the hotel according to his ideas and concepts whereas the disadvantage is that you have to bear all the lossess of the business and may not have full support as those of chain hotels.In this type of ownership the owner will have direct control over the business. The hotel can be chain hotel or franchised and it can also be the partnership or limited companies.You can directly own a hotel in the chain or can get it be franchised.You can invest in a chain hotel where you can be a part of renowned chain whereas in franchise system of ownership you need to pay the franchisor a royalty fee in order to operate the business.In this type of ownership one can save the expense of marketing and promotions as it is already well known by the public.Moreover you will be also less affected by ups and downs in the business as you are part of a chain. Both of the above mentioned ownership and management style is popular in the hotel industry.The solely owned hotel should be more promoted in the market as everybody do not know more about the hotel.They should try to be unique by offering wide range and standard services so that guest would be lured to come back again and refer it to other guests.On the other hand the chain hotel should try to maintain their standards as compared to the other chain hotels so that the guest would feel the same standard of service like in any other chain hotel. Contemporary issues The hospitality industry is facing many contemporary issues in todays world.There are lot of managerial and operational issue in the hospitality industry.Some of the operating issues are standard operating procedure, food and safety, employee expectations, flexible working, socio- cultural issues, recruitment and retention, e-commerce etc whereas the managerial issue are key players in the hospitality industry, international aspects, marketing considerations, education and training providers, media issues etc. One of the important managerial issue in the accommodation sector is to identify the key players in the industry.There are lot of big brands who are leading in the market.So, you need to identify who are the key players and see how they manage their organisation in order to achieve their goals and objectives.Therefore, in order to remain competitive with such organisations you need to focus on the marketing strategy and providing good service to the guest.You should monitor the things happening around the organisation and should manage the staff properly in order to increase the level of output.Todays world is filled with competition so in order to be in the line you should try to focus on the staff management because if the staff is happy then only the organisation can achieve their goal.The guest judge the hotel by the level of service they provide and the facilities they offer so it is very important to provide quality of service to the guest. The operational issue should also be taken into consideration in order to have an effective organisation.One of the most important operational issue in the accommodation sector is employee expectations.Staff are the person responsible for the smooth operations of an organisation.Employee has lots of expectations from the management.They expect to receive their performance appraisal from their manager, to get trainings for their career development and growth, flexible working hours, good communication etc.They also want to have promotions and recognition for their hard work.So, it is an important contemporary issue.Therefore, for an organisation to be successful need to address the employee expectations. Another important operational issue in the accommodation sector is standard operating procedure. A standard operating procedure is a company wide formalised structure to handle specific operational activities. (operating procedure from ibis) .It helps to improve the quality and the speed of a particular operational procedure.For example booking of hotels can be done through internet.It will be easy for the guest to book the room on internet.They dont need to waste their time by calling the hotel and asking the receptionist for all the details.It is will be also easy for them if they need to make any changes for their booking.Moreover, the receptionist also can utilise their time by doing other important work instead of handling the telephone calls. Changes in last 20 years There have been tremenduous change in the accommodation sector in last 20 years.People have started spending more money in leisure travel and holidays.The innovation of budget airlines was also the main cause of people travelling from one place to another.Moreover, the budget hotel also came into existence which provided facilities to the guest in cheaper rate.So, people started to spent more money in the hospitality industry as a result of which it flourished significantly.The e-commerce was also introduced where people can book the hotel rooms through internet and make any changes in their bookings.They could find the information of the hotels and can choose the appropriate one.There was also the growth of large chain hotels and hospitality companies all across the world.There was emergence of quick service restaurants and the contract caterers such as garner merchant and compass.Moreover the big companies continue to become even larger through merger and acquisition.These all fact ors contributed to the significant changes in the hospitality industry. Current trends There are various current trends present in the accommodation sector.People have been much conscious about their health as a result of which they are attracted to healthy eating or the organic food.Innovations in technlogy is also one of the current trends.Due to inventions of new technnologies the life of people have become easier.The term globalisation has also created an impact upon the hospitality industry where people are thinking in the term of expanding their business all around the world like Accor groups.They are opening their hotel branches in most of the countries.Not only accor most of the leading hospitality brands are expanding their business all around the world.Consumer spending is also one of the current trends.People are tending to spent more money as a disposable income.Making bookings through the website reservations is also the trend that contribute to flourish the hospitality industry.People can easily book the rooms in the hotels. The current trends has positiv e impact upon the hospitality industry. Conclusion The hospitality industry is composed of two factors.They are accommodation and sustenance.Accommodation is one of the important sector of the hospitality industry.Millions of tourists come to London every year.So thousands of rooms are required to accommodate such tourists.Therefore, it is price worthy to invest in the accommodation sector.Moreover, the 2010 olympics is also coming nearer which means large number of tourists will be coming to this place.As a result they need to build more hotels for the tourists.So the business people can invest in this sector which would be more fruitful.On the other hand there are various contemporary issues facing the accommodation sector.We need to address the operational and managerial issues as soon as possible for the smooth functioning of the organisation.

Graduation Speech :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Well, seniors, here we are. It is time for us to "take on the world" as the popular Christian song states. Not only are we going to be responsible for taking on the world in the near future, but we will also be responsible for many, many other things. Just what we need, right? Well, think about it. New college classes, new jobs, new friends, possibly new spouses in the slightly distant future, new rug-rats in the more distant future. I don't know about you, but the idea of the world giving that much responsibility to someone like -- you fill in the blank -- scares me severely. Are we going to make it? If so, how? To help answer these questions, we needn't look any further than one of the greatest of our new obligations: the encouragement of one another. Now before you write me off as a lunatic or a "softy" (or both), think on the word I just used. Encouragement. Webster says that to encourage is "to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope;" but these are just mere words, right? How can a dictionary express the meaning of something that can change a person's life in a moment or lift someone from the abyss of despair to that wonderful feeling of being loved and needed? I can tell you truthfully that without the daily encouragement that I get from those around me, I would not be standing before you this evening. These people include my parents, my friends, my teachers, anyone who is able to say a nice world to me to inspire me to do my best and keep going. All of you must have experienced some form of encouragement in your lives or else you wouldn't be joining me on this football field to celebrate our completion of high school. My point is this: Encouragement is one of the most powerful forces that can be unleashed on this planet. Here's a little list of things that can be accomplished without encouragement ... Fairly short list, isn't it? I do not have a list of the things that are possible with encouragement because the use of that much paper would be environmentally devastating. You get the picture. We need encouragement and we need it as often as possible. Just like the air we breathe, if we lack encouragement in our lives we often feel suffocated. Are you getting enough of it in your life, or are you suffocating?

Understanding Indigenism: Building A Different Future for Us All :: Essays Papers

Understanding Indigenism: Building A Different Future for Us All â€Å"Defining one’s ‘culture’ is a life long process,† according to Indian rights activist Norman DesCampe of the Grand Portage Chippewa Tribe. â€Å"You have to live it.† Today, the life long process of understanding indigenous cultures is limited by terms of â€Å"cultural survival.† The ability of future generations to define themselves as Inuit or Kayapo is threatened as their natural environments and social integrity is hurt by government negligence: indigenous cultures must be protected under a political structure that allows the people to live as they choose to live, outside of the transformative power of established nation-states, and the assumptions of these powers. Thus, international organizations must actively ensure the rights of impoverished indigenous â€Å"states within states†: The right to â€Å"exchange equitably† (Rose 234) as autonomous states with nation states is the basis for the new politically explosive global phenomenon (Neisen 1) of indigenous sovereignty and cultural autonomy. However, in Western government, â€Å"native peoples are in the way because they are thought to undermine the state- whichever state they find themselves in- because of their struggle to maintain their own ways of life† (Wolfe, â€Å"Tribes†). Because they present economic challenges to land use and resource exploitation, indigenous peoples share sufferings under political oppression, deracination and racism and are, as in the case of Australian Aborigines, the â€Å"poorest of the poor.† Destroyed by a â€Å"rhetoric of hate,† genocide and mass murder are the tools of nation states to control the unwanted obstacles in economic development (Niezen 55). Colonialism transformed the indigenous life of the Yanomami, the Maasai, the Hawai’ians, the Aborigines and hundreds of other indigenous peoples. Industrialization moved humanity beyond the â€Å"world in which people mattered to a world in which they are expendable† (Wolfe). Today, still entrenched in the imperialistic ideology of colonialism by modern forms of globalization, nation states noisily quarrel over the rights to exploit both land and people for economic power without regard to indigenous existence. Non-Hawaiian haoles crudely render false historical interpretations of their â€Å"settler society† as a blessed yoke of â€Å"civilization† to the pitiful â€Å"feudal† Hawaiians (Trask). Some indigenous people attempt to assimilate, as â€Å"for years [one Aboriginal man] had ‘sweetened’ himself up just like tea, trying to make himself and others understood [to invading Western cultures]’† but â€Å"‘nothin g been come back. Just nothing’† (Rose 195). Without political muscle, indigenous people are forced to promote ecologically harmful projects, such as hydroelectric dam proposals, to survive within the paradigm of the Western world.

Kipling, Kim, and Anthropology :: Essays Papers

Kipling, Kim, and Anthropology It is widely recognised that the relatively recent sciences of anthropology and ethnology have often seemed in thrall to, and supportive of, the colonial project. Supposedly objective in outlook, anthropological discourse has often been employed to validate and justify theories of race, hierarchy, and power. So-called factual knowledge becomes a means through which racial stereotyping can be bolstered or created. The ethos of Western rationalism allied with the discourse of pseudo-science in Orientalism and Indology creates a body of knowledge which can be used as leverage in the acquisition ,or, retention of power. Such theories, however flawed, become essential ingredients in the process of defining the Other, inevitably a process which measures itself against definitions of the Self. Nineteenth-century anthropological investigations in India proclaimed a body of supposedly verifiable truths about the land and its people. In the process of formulating what or how the Indian people are, ideas of individual agency are stripped from them. Ronald Inden writes that essentialist ways of seeing tend to ignore the "intricacies of agency" pertinent to the flux and development of any social system (Imagining India. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990.p20). Rudyard Kipling's Kim exemplifies this in a variety of ways. Kim reveals a genuine love and sympathy for India but remains a jingoistic product of its time and place. Benita Parry points out that the history of Kipling criticism mirrors the history of attitudes to the imperial encounter itself (Delusions And Discoveries: Studies on India in the British Imagination. London: Penguin, 1972. p205). Several of the characters in Kim illustrate the underlying links between imperialism and anthropology, even as Kipling himself seems to be engaging on a similar project. The encounter between the lama and the museum curator at Lahore is the first instance of this type of relationship in Kim. It is surely anomalous for the white curator to have the authority of knowledge in this meeting . The lama is meant to be a venerated Tibetan sage, and yet the curator presumes to educate him through "the labours of European scholars, who...have identified the Holy places of Buddhism"(p7). By cataloguing, labelling, and classifying Indian ritual and practice the curator has somehow acquired a body of knowledge which renders the lama helpless "as a child" (p7). Time and again in Kim it will be seen how Western knowledge is used to appropriate autonomy and agency from the Indian people.

Comparison Between Hard Times and Communist Manifesto

Throughout history, a divide has always existed between the rich and poor in society. However, during the Industrial Revolution in Victorian England, this rift reached its peak. The working class labored for long hours and received miniscule wages, whereas the bourgeoisie grew abundantly wealthy through the labor of the working class. Published in 1848 and 1854 respectively, Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto and Charles Dickens’ Hard Times both comment on these troubles.While Hard Times is a novel which tells a story and The Communist Manifesto is a short publication which tries to bring about social change, both writings offer a sharp critique of the class antagonism brought about by capitalism at the height of the Industrial Revolution. From the opening of Hard Times, the setting of Coketown offers a sharp critique of the consequences involved with industrial capitalism. The town existed solely for the benefit of the bourgeoisie; however, this was brought about at t he expense of the factory workers, or proletarians.Dickens described the town as â€Å"several large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still more like one another, inhabited by people equally like one another. † Dickens recognized that the proletarians had no individuality. Before the Industrial Revolution, independent production was the norm, not the exception; therefore, the types of laborers were much more diverse. Any given laborer could have been a farmer, a nail-crafter, etc. This gave the laborer a much greater sense of individuality since there were different jobs within the working class.However, with the introduction of factories and mass production, the proletarians had no choice but to work in factories. Since almost the entire working class lived in factories, they began to be viewed more as one large group rather than as individuals. The sameness of Coketown illustrates this sameness among the working class. In the same way, Marx claims t hat the bourgeoisie has taken away all individuality from the proletarians. In Marx’s view, capitalism causes money to be more important than the actual person.For example, Marx states, â€Å"In bourgeois society capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and has no individuality. † According to Marx, the proletarian is dependent, or a slave, to money. Most proletarians had no desire to work long hours inside of a factory under horrid conditions, but they were forced to. While their wages were very meager, the workers still needed some wages. The only jobs available during the Industrial Revolution were grueling factory jobs. Since the proletarians had no choice on what type of job that they could hold, they had no individuality.Ironically, money not only controls the lives of the proletarians, but it also greatly influenced the lives of the bourgeoisie. For many members of the bourgeoisie, money was the driving force in their li ves. Marx lashed out against this when he stated, â€Å"The bourgeoisie†¦has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest. † Men no longer cared about respecting the rights of other men. The bourgeoisie simply wanted to do was to accumulate more and more wealth. The fact that this accumulation of wealth was accomplished through the suffering of other humans was of little importance.A man was judged by how much money he had; therefore, these men would do anything to acquire more of it. Traits like honor and being just no longer mattered to these members of the bourgeoisie. The primary antagonist in Hard Times, Josiah Bounderby, would be classified as one of these members of the bourgeoisie. Bounderby is a man that would Marx would condemn emphatically since Bounderby focuses entirely on his own betterment. For instance, Bounderby frequently recounts how he was born to a very poor mother that abandoned him and through his own hard work, built his fortune.He tells this story for the sole reason of impressing others, yet the story turns out to be a falsehood. Bounderby cares more about improving his position than being an honest individual. Furthermore, like many members of the bourgeoisie, Bounderby tries to better himself at the expense of the proletarians. While Bounderby was a member of the lower class in his youth, he has completely turned his back on them. He treats the proletarians with contempt, and he believes that all the proletarians desire â€Å"to be fed on turtle soup and venison, with a gold spoon. † Dickens is creating an irony here.Bounderby believes that all the proletarians want to get rich without working, yet the proletarians are actually doing all the excruciating work in the society. However, the wealth is not going to the proletarians but to Bounderby himself. In contrast, the protagonist of the novel is Stephen Blackpool, who represents the average proletarian. He is not very educated, he wo rks long hours at a difficult factory job, and he gets paid very little for this job. Blackpool is a tragic character who is constantly being taken advantage of by members of higher classes.Bounderby takes advantage of Blackpool through wage labor, and Tom Gradgrind takes advantage of him by framing him for the bank robbery. This all leads to a life full of sufferings, including exile from Coketown and an untimely death. Blackpool would be a perfect model for Marx in order to showcase the sufferings of the proletarians in Victorian England. Bounderby had complete control over Blackpool. Bounderby could decide his wages, fire Blackpool, and even forbid Blackpool from divorcing his wife. Just as Blackpool was taken advantage of by Bounderby, Marx believes that capitalism takes advantage of the labor of the proletariat.Marx says that these laborers â€Å"are a commodity like every other article of commerce. † Machines have taken away all need for skilled labor. Without skilled l abor, the bourgeoisie have complete control over the proletariats since any job in a factory can be performed by any person. Mass production causes the worker to be nothing more than an â€Å"appendage of the machine. † This devalues the proletarians to nothing more than commodities, whose wages can be determined by the bourgeoisie. While life for the proletariat may have been a struggle at this time, Marx believed that it was inevitable for the proletariat to gain political power.According to Marx, â€Å"What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. † While class antagonism has existed throughout the history of societies, the ruling class in previous eras would at least try to keep the oppressed class in certain conditions. However, with the continuing rise of industry, the living conditions of the proletarians are only getting worse and worse. Moreover, with the increase of industry, classes of people like the petty bourgeoisie are be coming part of the proletariat. Therefore, the proletariat is living under worse and worse onditions, yet it is getting larger and larger. Eventually, Marx is sure that these workers will unite and will start a revolution. In Hard Times, the earliest stages of unity among the working class can be seen. The workers at Bounderby’s factory decide to unionize. They do this in order to improve their working conditions. While the orator Slackbridge is dishonest according to Dickens, the workers cause was honest and legitimate. Since the bourgeoisie only cared about each other, they would not listen to the complaints of the workers.Therefore, the workers had to band together in order to bring about change. Each at Bounderby’s factory â€Å"felt his only hope to be in his allying himself to the comrades by whom he was surrounded. † However, in Marx’s mind, this was only the beginning. While unions in factories were a good start to the proletarians banding togethe r, Marx believed that all the proletarians throughout a country would unite. Modern industry allowed for better communication between workers in different areas. This communication would centralize all the local struggles with the bourgeoisie into one national struggle.Eventually, each country’s proletariat would gain control of their respective country, and there would be no more class struggle since there would be no classes. With no class struggle, there would be no more hostility between nations, and national differences would vanish. While the bourgeoisie and the proletariat are the primary classes at this time in society, remnants of the aristocracy still remain from the feudal times. Throughout history, family status had always been the primary factor to determine a person’s social standing. This all changed with the Industrial Revolution.Wealth now determined a person’s social standing, and the bourgeoisie, not the aristocracy, was accumulating all the w ealth. The bourgeoisie became the ruling class during this time period. To combat the growing power of the bourgeoisie, many aristocrats created a form of socialism that proclaimed the plight of the proletarians. However, this is ironic since the aristocrats used to be the ruling class who exploited the other classes. The downfall of the aristocracy is illustrated in Hard Times through the character of Mrs. Sparsit. She came from a long line of aristocrats, and she married into another aristocratic family.However, her husband wasted away all of his money, and he left Sparsit poor after he died. In this new social order, it did not matter that Sparsit came from a â€Å"high-standing† family. She had no money; therefore, she had no social standing. Even though, she was equal to the proletariat economically, she was so accustomed to being supported by others that she refused to work and must be provided for by Bounderby. Marx explained that many aristocrats were trying to return the social order to the way it was during the feudal times, and Sparsit is one of these aristocrats.She refuses to acknowledge that times are changing and that her aristocratic family means nothing in the social order. In conclusion, the Industrial Revolution was a boom in production throughout the Western world. However, it was also a time of many injustices. While the bourgeoisie grew vastly wealthy, they did this through the exploitation of the proletariat. Through they used different methods, both Dickens and Marx publicized the class antagonisms between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat during the mid-1800s. ——————————————- [ 1 ]. Charles Dickens, Hard Times (London, 1854), 27. [ 2 ]. Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (London, 1848), 22. [ 3 ]. Marx, The Communist Manifesto, 9. [ 4 ]. Dickens, Hard Times, 72. [ 5 ]. Marx, The Communist Manifesto, 13. [ 6 ]. Marx, The Communist Manifesto, 14. [ 7 ]. Marx, The Communist Manifesto, 19. [ 8 ]. Dickens, Hard Times, 138. [ 9 ]. Marx, The Communist Manifesto, 16 [ 10 ]. Marx, The Communist Manifesto, 26. [ 11 ]. Marx, The Communist Manifesto, 29.