The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge Free Essays

string(263) " the rest of his life depended on what happened in that tiny triangle of metal, that point that searched out the gaps inside the atoms, and all his nerves trembled, sensing every flicker of every flame and the loosening of every atom in the lattice of the metal\." At that moment the Gallivespians, too, were talking about the knife. Having made a suspicious peace with Iorek Byrnison, they climbed back to their ledge to be out of the way, and as the crackle of flames rose and the snapping and roaring of the fire filled the air, Tialys said, â€Å"We must never leave his side. As soon as the knife is mended, we must keep closer than a shadow. We will write a custom essay sample on The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge or any similar topic only for you Order Now † â€Å"He is too alert. He watches everywhere for us,† said Salmakia. â€Å"The girl is more trusting. I think we could win her around. She’s innocent, and she loves easily. We could work on her. I think we should do that, Tialys.† â€Å"But he has the knife. He is the one who can use it.† â€Å"He won’t go anywhere without her.† â€Å"But she has to follow him, if he has the knife. And I think that as soon as the knife’s intact again, they’ll use it to slip into another world, so as to get away from us. Did you see how he stopped her from speaking when she was going to say something more? They have some secret purpose, and it’s very different from what we want them to do.† â€Å"We’ll see. But you’re right, Tialys, I think. We must stay close to the boy at all costs.† They both watched with some skepticism as Iorek Byrnison laid out the tools in his improvised workshop. The mighty workers in the ordnance factories under Lord Asriel’s fortress, with their blast furnaces and rolling mills, their anbaric forges and hydraulic presses, would have laughed at the open fire, the stone hammer, the anvil consisting of a piece of Iorek’s armor. Nevertheless, the bear had taken the measure of the task, and in the certainty of his movements the little spies began to see some quality that muffled their scorn. When Lyra and Will came in with the bushes, Iorek directed them in placing branches carefully on the fire. He looked at each branch, turning it from side to side, and then told Will or Lyra to place it at such-and-such an angle, or to break off part and place it separately at the edge. The result was a fire of extraordinary ferocity, with all its energy concentrated at one side. By this time the heat in the cave was intense. Iorek continued to build the fire, and made the children take two more trips down the path to ensure that there was enough fuel for the whole operation. Then the bear turned over a small stone on the floor and told Lyra to find some more stones of the same kind. He said that those stones, when heated, gave off a gas that would surround the blade and keep the air from it, for if the hot metal came in contact with the air, it would absorb some and be weakened by it. Lyra set about searching, and with owl-eyed Pantalaimon’s help soon had a dozen or more stones to hand. Iorek told her how to place them, and where, and showed her exactly the kind of draft she should get moving, with a leafy branch, to make sure the gas flowed evenly over the work piece. Will was placed in charge of the fire, and Iorek spent several minutes directing him and making sure he understood the principles he was to use. So much depended on exact placement, and Iorek could not stop and correct each one; Will had to understand, and then he’d do it properly. Furthermore, he mustn’t expect the knife to look exactly the same when it was mended. It would be shorter, because each section of the blade would have to overlap the next by a little way so they could be forged together; and the surface would have oxidized a little, despite the stone-gas, so some of the play of color would be lost; and no doubt the handle would be charred. But the blade would be just as sharp, and it would work. So Will watched as the flames roared along the resinous twigs, and with streaming eyes and scorched hands he adjusted each fresh branch till the heat was focused as Iorek wanted it. Meanwhile, Iorek himself was grinding and hammering a fist-sized stone, having rejected several until he found one of the right weight. With massive blows he shaped it and smoothed it, the cordite smell of smashed rocks joining the smoke in the nostrils of the two spies, watching from high up. Even Pantalaimon was active, changing to a crow so he could flap his wings and make the fire burn faster. Eventually the hammer was formed to Iorek’s satisfaction, and he set the first two pieces of the blade of the subtle knife among the fierce-burning wood at the heart of the fire, and told Lyra to begin wafting the stone-gas over them. The bear watched, his long white face lurid in the glare, and Will saw the surface of the metal begin to glow red and then yellow and then white. Iorek was watching closely, his paw held ready to snatch the pieces out. After a few moments the metal changed again, and the surface became shiny and glistening, and sparks just like those from a firework sprayed up from it. Then Iorek moved. His right paw darted in and seized first one piece and then the other, holding them between the tips of his massive claws and placing them on the slab of iron that was the backplate of his armor. Will could smell the claws burning, but Iorek took no notice of that, and moving with extraordinary speed he adjusted the angle at which the pieces overlapped and then raised his left paw high and struck a blow with the rock hammer. The knife tip leapt on the rock under the massive blow. Will was thinking that the whole of the rest of his life depended on what happened in that tiny triangle of metal, that point that searched out the gaps inside the atoms, and all his nerves trembled, sensing every flicker of every flame and the loosening of every atom in the lattice of the metal. You read "The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge" in category "Essay examples" Before this began, he had supposed that only a full-scale furnace, with the finest tools and equipment, could work on that blade; but now he saw that these were the finest tools, and that Iorek’s artistry had constructed the best furnace there could be. Iorek roared above the clangor, â€Å"Hold it still in your mind! You have to forge it, too! This is your task as much as mine!† Will felt his whole being quiver under the blows of the stone hammer in the bear’s fist. The second piece of the blade was heating, too, and Lyra’s leafy branch sent the hot gas along to bathe both pieces in its flow and keep out the iron-eating air. Will sensed it all and felt the atoms of the metal linking each to each across the fracture, forming new crystals again, strengthening and straightening themselves in the invisible lattice as the join came good. â€Å"The edge!† roared Iorek. â€Å"Hold the edge in line!† He meant with your mind, and Will did it instantly, sensing the minute snags and then the minute easement as the edges lined up perfectly. Then that join was made, and Iorek turned to the next piece. â€Å"A new stone,† he called to Lyra, who knocked the first one aside and placed a second on the spot to heat. Will checked the fuel and snapped a branch in two to direct the flames better, and Iorek began to work with the hammer once more. Will felt a new layer of complexity added to his task, because he had to hold the new piece in a precise relation with both the previous two, and he understood that only by doing that accurately could he help Iorek mend it. So the work continued. He had no idea how long it took; Lyra, for her part, found her arms aching, her eyes streaming, her skin scorched and red, and every bone in her body aching with fatigue; but still she placed each stone as Iorek had told her, and still the weary Pantalaimon raised his wings readily and beat them over the flames. When it came to the final join, Will’s head was ringing, and he was so exhausted by the intellectual effort he could barely lift the next branch onto the fire. He had to understand every connection, or the knife would not hold together. And when it came to the most complex one, the last, which would affix the nearly finished blade onto the small part remaining at the handle – if he couldn’t hold it in his full consciousness together with all the others, then the knife would simply fall apart as if Iorek had never begun. The bear sensed this, too, and paused before he began heating the last piece. He looked at Will, and in his eyes Will could see nothing, no expression, just a bottomless black brilliance. Nevertheless, he understood: this was work, and it was hard, but they were equal to it, all of them. That was enough for Will, so he turned back to the fire and sent his imagination out to the broken end of the haft, and braced himself for the last and fiercest part of the task. So he and Iorek and Lyra together forged the knife, and how long the final join took he had no idea; but when Iorek had struck the final blow, and Will had felt the final tiny settling as the atoms connected across the break, Will sank down onto the floor of the cave and let exhaustion possess him. Lyra nearby was in the same state, her eyes glassy and red-rimmed, her hair full of soot and smoke; and Iorek himself stood heavy-headed, his fur singed in several places, dark streaks of ash marking its rich cream-white. Tialys and Salmakia had slept in turns, one of them always alert. Now she was awake and he was sleeping, but as the blade cooled from red to gray and finally to silver, and as Will reached out for the handle, she woke her partner with a hand on his shoulder. He was alert at once. But Will didn’t touch the knife: he held his palm close by, and the heat was still too great for his hand. The spies relaxed on the rocky shelf as Iorek said to Will: â€Å"Come outside.† Then he said to Lyra: â€Å"Stay here, and don’t touch the knife.† Lyra sat close to the anvil, where the knife lay cooling, and Iorek told her to bank the fire up and not let it burn down: there was a final operation yet. Will followed the great bear out onto the dark mountainside. The cold was bitter and instantaneous, after the inferno in the cave. â€Å"They should not have made that knife,† said Iorek, after they had walked a little way. â€Å"Maybe I should not have mended it. I’m troubled, and I have never been troubled before, never in doubt. Now I am full of doubt. Doubt is a human thing, not a bear thing. If I am becoming human, something’s wrong, something’s bad. And I’ve made it worse.† â€Å"But when the first bear made the first piece of armor, wasn’t that bad, too, in the same way?† Iorek was silent. They walked on till they came to a big drift of snow, and Iorek lay in it and rolled this way and that, sending flurries of snow up into the dark air, so that it looked as if he himself were made of snow, he was the personification of all the snow in the world. When he was finished, he rolled over and stood up and shook himself vigorously, and then, seeing Will still waiting for an answer to his question, said: â€Å"Yes, I think it might have been, too. But before that first armored bear, there were no others. We know of nothing before that. That was when custom began. We know our customs, and they are firm and solid and we follow them without change. Bear nature is weak without custom, as bear flesh is unprotected without armor. â€Å"But I think I have stepped outside bear nature in mending this knife. I think I’ve been as foolish as Iofur Rakinson. Time will tell. But I am uncertain and doubtful. Now you must tell me: why did the knife break?† Will rubbed his aching head with both hands. â€Å"The woman looked at me and I thought she had the face of my mother,† he said, trying to recollect the experience with all the honesty he had. â€Å"And the knife came up against something it couldn’t cut, and because my mind was pushing it through and forcing it back both at the same time, it snapped. That’s what I think. The woman knew what she was doing, I’m sure. She’s very clever.† â€Å"When you talk of the knife, you talk of your mother and father.† â€Å"Do I? Yes†¦ I suppose I do.† â€Å"What are you going to do with it?† â€Å"I don’t know.† Suddenly Iorek lunged at Will and cuffed him hard with his left paw: so hard that Will fell half-stunned into the snow and tumbled over and over until he ended some way down the slope with his head ringing. Iorek came down slowly to where Will was struggling up, and said, â€Å"Answer me truthfully.† Will was tempted to say, â€Å"You wouldn’t have done that if I’d had the knife in my hand.† But he knew that Iorek knew that, and knew that he knew it, and that it would be discourteous and stupid to say it; but he was tempted, all the same. He held his tongue until he was standing upright, facing Iorek directly. â€Å"I said I don’t know,† he said, trying hard to keep his voice calm, â€Å"because I haven’t looked clearly at what it is that I’m going to do. At what it means. It frightens me. And it frightens Lyra, too. Anyway, I agreed as soon as I heard what she said.† â€Å"And what was that?† â€Å"We want to go down to the land of the dead and talk to the ghost of Lyra’s friend Roger, the one who got killed on Svalbard. And if there really is a world of the dead, then my father will be there, too, and if we can talk to ghosts, I want to talk to him. â€Å"But I’m divided, I’m pulled apart, because also I want to go back and look after my mother, because I could, and also the angel Balthamos told me I should go to Lord Asriel and offer the knife to him, and I think maybe he was right as well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"He fled,† said the bear. â€Å"He wasn’t a warrior. He did as much as he could, and then he couldn’t do any more. He wasn’t the only one to be afraid; I’m afraid, too. So I have to think it through. Maybe sometimes we don’t do the right thing because the wrong thing looks more dangerous, and we don’t want to look scared, so we go and do the wrong thing just because it’s dangerous. We’re more concerned with not looking scared than with judging right. It’s very hard. That’s why I didn’t answer you.† â€Å"I see,† said the bear. They stood in silence for what felt like a long time, especially to Will, who had little protection from the bitter cold. But Iorek hadn’t finished yet, and Will was still weak and dizzy from the blow, and didn’t quite trust his feet, so they stayed where they were. â€Å"Well, I have compromised myself in many ways,† said the bear-king. â€Å"It may be that in helping you I have brought final destruction on my kingdom. And it may be that I have not, and that destruction was coming anyway; maybe I have held it off. So I am troubled, having to do un-bearlike deeds and speculate and doubt like a human. â€Å"And I shall tell you one thing. You know it already, but you don’t want to, which is why I tell you openly, so that you don’t mistake it. If you want to succeed in this task, you must no longer think about your mother. You must put her aside. If your mind is divided, the knife will break. â€Å"Now I’m going to say farewell to Lyra. You must wait in the cave; those two spies will not let you out of their sight, and I do not want them listening when I speak to her.† Will had no words, though his breast and his throat were full. He managed to say, â€Å"Thank you, Iorek Byrnison,† but that was all he could say. He walked with Iorek up the slope toward the cave, where the fire glow still shone warmly in the vast surrounding dark. There Iorek carried out the last process in the mending of the subtle knife. He laid it among the brighter cinders until the blade was glowing, and Will and Lyra saw a hundred colors swirling in the smoky depths of the metal, and when he judged the moment was right, Iorek told Will to take it and plunge it directly into the snow that had drifted outside. The rosewood handle was charred and scorched, but Will wrapped his hand in several folds of a shirt and did as Iorek told him. In the hiss and flare of steam, he felt the atoms finally settle together, and he knew that the knife was as keen as before, the point as infinitely rare. But it did look different. It was shorter, and much less elegant, and there was a dull silver surface over each of the joins. It looked ugly now; it looked like what it was, wounded. When it was cool enough, he packed it away in the rucksack and sat, ignoring the spies, to wait for Lyra to come back. Iorek had taken her a little farther up the slope, to a point out of sight of the cave, and there he had let her sit cradled in the shelter of his great arms, with Pantalaimon nestling mouse-formed at her breast. Iorek bent his head over her and nuzzled at her scorched and smoky hands. Without a word he began to lick them clean; his tongue was soothing on the burns, and she felt as safe as she had ever felt in her life. But when her hands were free of soot and dirt, Iorek spoke. She felt his voice vibrate against her back. â€Å"Lyra Silvertongue, what is this plan to visit the dead?† â€Å"It came to me in a dream, Iorek. I saw Roger’s ghost, and I knew he was calling to me†¦ You remember Roger. Well, after we left you, he was killed, and it was my fault, at least I felt it was. And I think I should just finish what I began, that’s all: I should go and say sorry, and if I can, I should rescue him from there. If Will can open a way to the world of the dead, then we must do it.† â€Å"Can is not the same as must.† â€Å"But if you must and you can, then there’s no excuse.† â€Å"While you are alive, your business is with life.† â€Å"No, Iorek,† she said gently, â€Å"our business is to keep promises, no matter how difficult they are. You know, secretly, I’m deadly scared. And I wish I’d never had that dream, and I wish Will hadn’t thought of using the knife to go there. But we did, so we can’t get out of it.† Lyra felt Pantalaimon trembling and stroked him with her sore hands. â€Å"We don’t know how to get there, though,† she went on. â€Å"We won’t know anything till we try. What are you going to do, Iorek?† â€Å"I’m going back north, with my people. We can’t live in the mountains. Even the snow is different. I thought we could live here, but we can live more easily in the sea, even if it is warm. That was worth learning. And besides, I think we will be needed. I can feel war, Lyra Silvertongue; I can smell it; I can hear it. I spoke to Serafina Pekkala before I came this way, and she told me she was going to Lord Faa and the gyptians. If there is war, we shall be needed.† Lyra sat up, excited at hearing the names of her old friends. But Iorek hadn’t finished. He went on: â€Å"If you do not find a way out of the world of the dead, we shall not meet again, because I have no ghost. My body will remain on the earth, and then become part of it. But if it turns out that you and I both survive, then you will always be a welcome and honored visitor to Svalbard; and the same is true of Will. Has he told you what happened when we met?† â€Å"No,† said Lyra, â€Å"except that it was by a river.† â€Å"He outfaced me. I thought no one could ever do that, but this half-grown boy was too daring for me, and too clever. I am not happy that you should do what you plan, but there is no one I would trust to go with you except that boy. You are worthy of each other. Go well, Lyra Silvertongue, my dear friend.† She reached up and put her arms around his neck, and pressed her face into his fur, unable to speak. After a minute he stood up gently and disengaged her arms, and then he turned and walked silently away into the dark. Lyra thought his outline was lost almost at once against the pallor of the snow-covered ground, but it might have been that her eyes were full of tears. When Will heard her footsteps on the path, he looked at the spies and said, â€Å"Don’t you move. Look – here’s the knife – I’m not going to use it. Stay here.† He went outside and found Lyra standing still, weeping, with Pantalaimon as a wolf raising his face to the black sky. She was quite silent. The only light came from the pale reflection in the snowbank of the remains of the fire, and that, in turn, was reflected from her wet cheeks, and her tears found their own reflection in Will’s eyes, and so those photons wove the two children together in a silent web. â€Å"I love him so much, Will!† she managed to whisper shakily. â€Å"And he looked old! He looked hungry and old and sad†¦ Is it all coming onto us now, Will? We can’t rely on anyone else now, can we†¦ It’s just us. But we en’t old enough yet. We’re only young†¦ We’re too young†¦ If poor Mr. Scoresby’s dead and Iorek’s old†¦It’s all coming onto us, what’s got to be done.† â€Å"We can do it,† he said. â€Å"I’m not going to look back anymore. We can do it. But we’ve got to sleep now, and if we stay in this world, those gyropter things might come, the ones the spies sent for†¦ I’m going to cut through now and we’ll find another world to sleep in, and if the spies come with us, that’s too bad; we’ll have to get rid of them another time.† â€Å"Yes,† she said, and sniffed and wiped the back of her hand across her nose and rubbed her eyes with both palms. â€Å"Let’s do that. You sure the knife will work? You tested it?† â€Å"I know it’ll work.† With Pantalaimon tiger-formed to deter the spies, they hoped, Will and Lyra went back and picked up their rucksacks. â€Å"What are you doing?† said Salmakia. â€Å"Going into another world,† said Will, taking out the knife. It felt like being whole again; he hadn’t realized how much he loved it. â€Å"But you must wait for Lord Asriel’s gyropters,† said Tialys, his voice hard. â€Å"We’re not going to,† said Will. â€Å"If you come near the knife, I’ll kill you. Come through with us if you must, but you can’t make us stay here. We’re leaving.† â€Å"You lied!† â€Å"No,† said Lyra, â€Å"I lied. Will doesn’t lie. You didn’t think of that.† â€Å"But where are you going?† Will didn’t answer. He felt forward in the dim air and cut an opening. Salmakia said, â€Å"This is a mistake. You should realize that, and listen to us. You haven’t thought†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes, we have,† said Will, â€Å"we’ve thought hard, and we’ll tell you what we’ve thought tomorrow. You can come where we’re going, or you can go back to Lord Asriel.† The window opened onto the world into which he had escaped with Baruch and Balthamos, and where he’d slept safely: the warm endless beach with the fernlike trees behind the dunes. He said: â€Å"Here – we’ll sleep here – this’ll do.† He let them through and closed it behind them at once. While he and Lyra lay down where they were, exhausted, the Lady Salmakia kept watch, and the Chevalier opened his lodestone resonator and began to play a message into the dark. How to cite The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge, Essay examples

The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge Free Essays

string(263) " the rest of his life depended on what happened in that tiny triangle of metal, that point that searched out the gaps inside the atoms, and all his nerves trembled, sensing every flicker of every flame and the loosening of every atom in the lattice of the metal\." At that moment the Gallivespians, too, were talking about the knife. Having made a suspicious peace with Iorek Byrnison, they climbed back to their ledge to be out of the way, and as the crackle of flames rose and the snapping and roaring of the fire filled the air, Tialys said, â€Å"We must never leave his side. As soon as the knife is mended, we must keep closer than a shadow. We will write a custom essay sample on The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge or any similar topic only for you Order Now † â€Å"He is too alert. He watches everywhere for us,† said Salmakia. â€Å"The girl is more trusting. I think we could win her around. She’s innocent, and she loves easily. We could work on her. I think we should do that, Tialys.† â€Å"But he has the knife. He is the one who can use it.† â€Å"He won’t go anywhere without her.† â€Å"But she has to follow him, if he has the knife. And I think that as soon as the knife’s intact again, they’ll use it to slip into another world, so as to get away from us. Did you see how he stopped her from speaking when she was going to say something more? They have some secret purpose, and it’s very different from what we want them to do.† â€Å"We’ll see. But you’re right, Tialys, I think. We must stay close to the boy at all costs.† They both watched with some skepticism as Iorek Byrnison laid out the tools in his improvised workshop. The mighty workers in the ordnance factories under Lord Asriel’s fortress, with their blast furnaces and rolling mills, their anbaric forges and hydraulic presses, would have laughed at the open fire, the stone hammer, the anvil consisting of a piece of Iorek’s armor. Nevertheless, the bear had taken the measure of the task, and in the certainty of his movements the little spies began to see some quality that muffled their scorn. When Lyra and Will came in with the bushes, Iorek directed them in placing branches carefully on the fire. He looked at each branch, turning it from side to side, and then told Will or Lyra to place it at such-and-such an angle, or to break off part and place it separately at the edge. The result was a fire of extraordinary ferocity, with all its energy concentrated at one side. By this time the heat in the cave was intense. Iorek continued to build the fire, and made the children take two more trips down the path to ensure that there was enough fuel for the whole operation. Then the bear turned over a small stone on the floor and told Lyra to find some more stones of the same kind. He said that those stones, when heated, gave off a gas that would surround the blade and keep the air from it, for if the hot metal came in contact with the air, it would absorb some and be weakened by it. Lyra set about searching, and with owl-eyed Pantalaimon’s help soon had a dozen or more stones to hand. Iorek told her how to place them, and where, and showed her exactly the kind of draft she should get moving, with a leafy branch, to make sure the gas flowed evenly over the work piece. Will was placed in charge of the fire, and Iorek spent several minutes directing him and making sure he understood the principles he was to use. So much depended on exact placement, and Iorek could not stop and correct each one; Will had to understand, and then he’d do it properly. Furthermore, he mustn’t expect the knife to look exactly the same when it was mended. It would be shorter, because each section of the blade would have to overlap the next by a little way so they could be forged together; and the surface would have oxidized a little, despite the stone-gas, so some of the play of color would be lost; and no doubt the handle would be charred. But the blade would be just as sharp, and it would work. So Will watched as the flames roared along the resinous twigs, and with streaming eyes and scorched hands he adjusted each fresh branch till the heat was focused as Iorek wanted it. Meanwhile, Iorek himself was grinding and hammering a fist-sized stone, having rejected several until he found one of the right weight. With massive blows he shaped it and smoothed it, the cordite smell of smashed rocks joining the smoke in the nostrils of the two spies, watching from high up. Even Pantalaimon was active, changing to a crow so he could flap his wings and make the fire burn faster. Eventually the hammer was formed to Iorek’s satisfaction, and he set the first two pieces of the blade of the subtle knife among the fierce-burning wood at the heart of the fire, and told Lyra to begin wafting the stone-gas over them. The bear watched, his long white face lurid in the glare, and Will saw the surface of the metal begin to glow red and then yellow and then white. Iorek was watching closely, his paw held ready to snatch the pieces out. After a few moments the metal changed again, and the surface became shiny and glistening, and sparks just like those from a firework sprayed up from it. Then Iorek moved. His right paw darted in and seized first one piece and then the other, holding them between the tips of his massive claws and placing them on the slab of iron that was the backplate of his armor. Will could smell the claws burning, but Iorek took no notice of that, and moving with extraordinary speed he adjusted the angle at which the pieces overlapped and then raised his left paw high and struck a blow with the rock hammer. The knife tip leapt on the rock under the massive blow. Will was thinking that the whole of the rest of his life depended on what happened in that tiny triangle of metal, that point that searched out the gaps inside the atoms, and all his nerves trembled, sensing every flicker of every flame and the loosening of every atom in the lattice of the metal. You read "The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge" in category "Essay examples" Before this began, he had supposed that only a full-scale furnace, with the finest tools and equipment, could work on that blade; but now he saw that these were the finest tools, and that Iorek’s artistry had constructed the best furnace there could be. Iorek roared above the clangor, â€Å"Hold it still in your mind! You have to forge it, too! This is your task as much as mine!† Will felt his whole being quiver under the blows of the stone hammer in the bear’s fist. The second piece of the blade was heating, too, and Lyra’s leafy branch sent the hot gas along to bathe both pieces in its flow and keep out the iron-eating air. Will sensed it all and felt the atoms of the metal linking each to each across the fracture, forming new crystals again, strengthening and straightening themselves in the invisible lattice as the join came good. â€Å"The edge!† roared Iorek. â€Å"Hold the edge in line!† He meant with your mind, and Will did it instantly, sensing the minute snags and then the minute easement as the edges lined up perfectly. Then that join was made, and Iorek turned to the next piece. â€Å"A new stone,† he called to Lyra, who knocked the first one aside and placed a second on the spot to heat. Will checked the fuel and snapped a branch in two to direct the flames better, and Iorek began to work with the hammer once more. Will felt a new layer of complexity added to his task, because he had to hold the new piece in a precise relation with both the previous two, and he understood that only by doing that accurately could he help Iorek mend it. So the work continued. He had no idea how long it took; Lyra, for her part, found her arms aching, her eyes streaming, her skin scorched and red, and every bone in her body aching with fatigue; but still she placed each stone as Iorek had told her, and still the weary Pantalaimon raised his wings readily and beat them over the flames. When it came to the final join, Will’s head was ringing, and he was so exhausted by the intellectual effort he could barely lift the next branch onto the fire. He had to understand every connection, or the knife would not hold together. And when it came to the most complex one, the last, which would affix the nearly finished blade onto the small part remaining at the handle – if he couldn’t hold it in his full consciousness together with all the others, then the knife would simply fall apart as if Iorek had never begun. The bear sensed this, too, and paused before he began heating the last piece. He looked at Will, and in his eyes Will could see nothing, no expression, just a bottomless black brilliance. Nevertheless, he understood: this was work, and it was hard, but they were equal to it, all of them. That was enough for Will, so he turned back to the fire and sent his imagination out to the broken end of the haft, and braced himself for the last and fiercest part of the task. So he and Iorek and Lyra together forged the knife, and how long the final join took he had no idea; but when Iorek had struck the final blow, and Will had felt the final tiny settling as the atoms connected across the break, Will sank down onto the floor of the cave and let exhaustion possess him. Lyra nearby was in the same state, her eyes glassy and red-rimmed, her hair full of soot and smoke; and Iorek himself stood heavy-headed, his fur singed in several places, dark streaks of ash marking its rich cream-white. Tialys and Salmakia had slept in turns, one of them always alert. Now she was awake and he was sleeping, but as the blade cooled from red to gray and finally to silver, and as Will reached out for the handle, she woke her partner with a hand on his shoulder. He was alert at once. But Will didn’t touch the knife: he held his palm close by, and the heat was still too great for his hand. The spies relaxed on the rocky shelf as Iorek said to Will: â€Å"Come outside.† Then he said to Lyra: â€Å"Stay here, and don’t touch the knife.† Lyra sat close to the anvil, where the knife lay cooling, and Iorek told her to bank the fire up and not let it burn down: there was a final operation yet. Will followed the great bear out onto the dark mountainside. The cold was bitter and instantaneous, after the inferno in the cave. â€Å"They should not have made that knife,† said Iorek, after they had walked a little way. â€Å"Maybe I should not have mended it. I’m troubled, and I have never been troubled before, never in doubt. Now I am full of doubt. Doubt is a human thing, not a bear thing. If I am becoming human, something’s wrong, something’s bad. And I’ve made it worse.† â€Å"But when the first bear made the first piece of armor, wasn’t that bad, too, in the same way?† Iorek was silent. They walked on till they came to a big drift of snow, and Iorek lay in it and rolled this way and that, sending flurries of snow up into the dark air, so that it looked as if he himself were made of snow, he was the personification of all the snow in the world. When he was finished, he rolled over and stood up and shook himself vigorously, and then, seeing Will still waiting for an answer to his question, said: â€Å"Yes, I think it might have been, too. But before that first armored bear, there were no others. We know of nothing before that. That was when custom began. We know our customs, and they are firm and solid and we follow them without change. Bear nature is weak without custom, as bear flesh is unprotected without armor. â€Å"But I think I have stepped outside bear nature in mending this knife. I think I’ve been as foolish as Iofur Rakinson. Time will tell. But I am uncertain and doubtful. Now you must tell me: why did the knife break?† Will rubbed his aching head with both hands. â€Å"The woman looked at me and I thought she had the face of my mother,† he said, trying to recollect the experience with all the honesty he had. â€Å"And the knife came up against something it couldn’t cut, and because my mind was pushing it through and forcing it back both at the same time, it snapped. That’s what I think. The woman knew what she was doing, I’m sure. She’s very clever.† â€Å"When you talk of the knife, you talk of your mother and father.† â€Å"Do I? Yes†¦ I suppose I do.† â€Å"What are you going to do with it?† â€Å"I don’t know.† Suddenly Iorek lunged at Will and cuffed him hard with his left paw: so hard that Will fell half-stunned into the snow and tumbled over and over until he ended some way down the slope with his head ringing. Iorek came down slowly to where Will was struggling up, and said, â€Å"Answer me truthfully.† Will was tempted to say, â€Å"You wouldn’t have done that if I’d had the knife in my hand.† But he knew that Iorek knew that, and knew that he knew it, and that it would be discourteous and stupid to say it; but he was tempted, all the same. He held his tongue until he was standing upright, facing Iorek directly. â€Å"I said I don’t know,† he said, trying hard to keep his voice calm, â€Å"because I haven’t looked clearly at what it is that I’m going to do. At what it means. It frightens me. And it frightens Lyra, too. Anyway, I agreed as soon as I heard what she said.† â€Å"And what was that?† â€Å"We want to go down to the land of the dead and talk to the ghost of Lyra’s friend Roger, the one who got killed on Svalbard. And if there really is a world of the dead, then my father will be there, too, and if we can talk to ghosts, I want to talk to him. â€Å"But I’m divided, I’m pulled apart, because also I want to go back and look after my mother, because I could, and also the angel Balthamos told me I should go to Lord Asriel and offer the knife to him, and I think maybe he was right as well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"He fled,† said the bear. â€Å"He wasn’t a warrior. He did as much as he could, and then he couldn’t do any more. He wasn’t the only one to be afraid; I’m afraid, too. So I have to think it through. Maybe sometimes we don’t do the right thing because the wrong thing looks more dangerous, and we don’t want to look scared, so we go and do the wrong thing just because it’s dangerous. We’re more concerned with not looking scared than with judging right. It’s very hard. That’s why I didn’t answer you.† â€Å"I see,† said the bear. They stood in silence for what felt like a long time, especially to Will, who had little protection from the bitter cold. But Iorek hadn’t finished yet, and Will was still weak and dizzy from the blow, and didn’t quite trust his feet, so they stayed where they were. â€Å"Well, I have compromised myself in many ways,† said the bear-king. â€Å"It may be that in helping you I have brought final destruction on my kingdom. And it may be that I have not, and that destruction was coming anyway; maybe I have held it off. So I am troubled, having to do un-bearlike deeds and speculate and doubt like a human. â€Å"And I shall tell you one thing. You know it already, but you don’t want to, which is why I tell you openly, so that you don’t mistake it. If you want to succeed in this task, you must no longer think about your mother. You must put her aside. If your mind is divided, the knife will break. â€Å"Now I’m going to say farewell to Lyra. You must wait in the cave; those two spies will not let you out of their sight, and I do not want them listening when I speak to her.† Will had no words, though his breast and his throat were full. He managed to say, â€Å"Thank you, Iorek Byrnison,† but that was all he could say. He walked with Iorek up the slope toward the cave, where the fire glow still shone warmly in the vast surrounding dark. There Iorek carried out the last process in the mending of the subtle knife. He laid it among the brighter cinders until the blade was glowing, and Will and Lyra saw a hundred colors swirling in the smoky depths of the metal, and when he judged the moment was right, Iorek told Will to take it and plunge it directly into the snow that had drifted outside. The rosewood handle was charred and scorched, but Will wrapped his hand in several folds of a shirt and did as Iorek told him. In the hiss and flare of steam, he felt the atoms finally settle together, and he knew that the knife was as keen as before, the point as infinitely rare. But it did look different. It was shorter, and much less elegant, and there was a dull silver surface over each of the joins. It looked ugly now; it looked like what it was, wounded. When it was cool enough, he packed it away in the rucksack and sat, ignoring the spies, to wait for Lyra to come back. Iorek had taken her a little farther up the slope, to a point out of sight of the cave, and there he had let her sit cradled in the shelter of his great arms, with Pantalaimon nestling mouse-formed at her breast. Iorek bent his head over her and nuzzled at her scorched and smoky hands. Without a word he began to lick them clean; his tongue was soothing on the burns, and she felt as safe as she had ever felt in her life. But when her hands were free of soot and dirt, Iorek spoke. She felt his voice vibrate against her back. â€Å"Lyra Silvertongue, what is this plan to visit the dead?† â€Å"It came to me in a dream, Iorek. I saw Roger’s ghost, and I knew he was calling to me†¦ You remember Roger. Well, after we left you, he was killed, and it was my fault, at least I felt it was. And I think I should just finish what I began, that’s all: I should go and say sorry, and if I can, I should rescue him from there. If Will can open a way to the world of the dead, then we must do it.† â€Å"Can is not the same as must.† â€Å"But if you must and you can, then there’s no excuse.† â€Å"While you are alive, your business is with life.† â€Å"No, Iorek,† she said gently, â€Å"our business is to keep promises, no matter how difficult they are. You know, secretly, I’m deadly scared. And I wish I’d never had that dream, and I wish Will hadn’t thought of using the knife to go there. But we did, so we can’t get out of it.† Lyra felt Pantalaimon trembling and stroked him with her sore hands. â€Å"We don’t know how to get there, though,† she went on. â€Å"We won’t know anything till we try. What are you going to do, Iorek?† â€Å"I’m going back north, with my people. We can’t live in the mountains. Even the snow is different. I thought we could live here, but we can live more easily in the sea, even if it is warm. That was worth learning. And besides, I think we will be needed. I can feel war, Lyra Silvertongue; I can smell it; I can hear it. I spoke to Serafina Pekkala before I came this way, and she told me she was going to Lord Faa and the gyptians. If there is war, we shall be needed.† Lyra sat up, excited at hearing the names of her old friends. But Iorek hadn’t finished. He went on: â€Å"If you do not find a way out of the world of the dead, we shall not meet again, because I have no ghost. My body will remain on the earth, and then become part of it. But if it turns out that you and I both survive, then you will always be a welcome and honored visitor to Svalbard; and the same is true of Will. Has he told you what happened when we met?† â€Å"No,† said Lyra, â€Å"except that it was by a river.† â€Å"He outfaced me. I thought no one could ever do that, but this half-grown boy was too daring for me, and too clever. I am not happy that you should do what you plan, but there is no one I would trust to go with you except that boy. You are worthy of each other. Go well, Lyra Silvertongue, my dear friend.† She reached up and put her arms around his neck, and pressed her face into his fur, unable to speak. After a minute he stood up gently and disengaged her arms, and then he turned and walked silently away into the dark. Lyra thought his outline was lost almost at once against the pallor of the snow-covered ground, but it might have been that her eyes were full of tears. When Will heard her footsteps on the path, he looked at the spies and said, â€Å"Don’t you move. Look – here’s the knife – I’m not going to use it. Stay here.† He went outside and found Lyra standing still, weeping, with Pantalaimon as a wolf raising his face to the black sky. She was quite silent. The only light came from the pale reflection in the snowbank of the remains of the fire, and that, in turn, was reflected from her wet cheeks, and her tears found their own reflection in Will’s eyes, and so those photons wove the two children together in a silent web. â€Å"I love him so much, Will!† she managed to whisper shakily. â€Å"And he looked old! He looked hungry and old and sad†¦ Is it all coming onto us now, Will? We can’t rely on anyone else now, can we†¦ It’s just us. But we en’t old enough yet. We’re only young†¦ We’re too young†¦ If poor Mr. Scoresby’s dead and Iorek’s old†¦It’s all coming onto us, what’s got to be done.† â€Å"We can do it,† he said. â€Å"I’m not going to look back anymore. We can do it. But we’ve got to sleep now, and if we stay in this world, those gyropter things might come, the ones the spies sent for†¦ I’m going to cut through now and we’ll find another world to sleep in, and if the spies come with us, that’s too bad; we’ll have to get rid of them another time.† â€Å"Yes,† she said, and sniffed and wiped the back of her hand across her nose and rubbed her eyes with both palms. â€Å"Let’s do that. You sure the knife will work? You tested it?† â€Å"I know it’ll work.† With Pantalaimon tiger-formed to deter the spies, they hoped, Will and Lyra went back and picked up their rucksacks. â€Å"What are you doing?† said Salmakia. â€Å"Going into another world,† said Will, taking out the knife. It felt like being whole again; he hadn’t realized how much he loved it. â€Å"But you must wait for Lord Asriel’s gyropters,† said Tialys, his voice hard. â€Å"We’re not going to,† said Will. â€Å"If you come near the knife, I’ll kill you. Come through with us if you must, but you can’t make us stay here. We’re leaving.† â€Å"You lied!† â€Å"No,† said Lyra, â€Å"I lied. Will doesn’t lie. You didn’t think of that.† â€Å"But where are you going?† Will didn’t answer. He felt forward in the dim air and cut an opening. Salmakia said, â€Å"This is a mistake. You should realize that, and listen to us. You haven’t thought†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes, we have,† said Will, â€Å"we’ve thought hard, and we’ll tell you what we’ve thought tomorrow. You can come where we’re going, or you can go back to Lord Asriel.† The window opened onto the world into which he had escaped with Baruch and Balthamos, and where he’d slept safely: the warm endless beach with the fernlike trees behind the dunes. He said: â€Å"Here – we’ll sleep here – this’ll do.† He let them through and closed it behind them at once. While he and Lyra lay down where they were, exhausted, the Lady Salmakia kept watch, and the Chevalier opened his lodestone resonator and began to play a message into the dark. How to cite The Amber Spyglass Chapter 15 The Forge, Essay examples

Social Problems free essay sample

Social problems, also called social issues, affect every society, great and small. Even in relatively isolated, sparsely populated areas, a group will encounter social problems. Part of this is due to the fact that any members of a society living close enough together will have conflicts. It’s virtually impossible to avoid them, and even people who live together in the same house don’t always get along seamlessly. On the whole though, when social problems are mentioned they tend to refer to the problems that affect people living together in a society. The list of social problems is huge and not identical from area to area. In the US, some predominant social issues include the growing divide between rich and poor,  domestic violence,  unemployment,  pollution, urban decay, racism and  sexism, and many others. Sometimes social issues arise when people hold very different opinions about how to handle certain situations like unplanned pregnancy. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Problems or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page While some people might view abortion as the solution to this problem, other members of the society remain strongly opposed to its use. In itself, strong disagreements on how to solve problems create divides in social groups. Other issues that may be considered social problems arent that common in the US and other industrialized countries, but they are huge problems in developing ones. The issues of massive  poverty, food shortages, lack of basic hygiene, spread of incurable diseases, ethnic cleansing, and lack of education inhibits the development of society. Moreover, these problems are related to each other and it can seem hard to address one without addressing all of them. social problems are caused by society itself. people do bad and good to each other. its a war between good and evil. why do we have criminals or cruel people? f you are poor or rich, you can do bad things or good things, but the point is humans always do it to another human, not to a rock or non living thing. The very nature of social problems suggests that society itself is a problem. No country has perfected a society where all are happy and where no problems exist. Perhaps the individual nature of humans prevents this, and as m any people state, perfection many not be an achievable goal. Revelations about Social Issues in Todays Society Health Issues As can be seen from the above list, the social issues can affect it on a number of levels. Also, some of these common issues in society are inter-related. For example, there are health issues, which arise due to the increase in number of people detected with life-threatening diseases like cancer and AIDS every year. This social issue can be handled only if another issue i. e. health care reform, is dealt with appropriately. Teen Issues There are plethora of teen issues which society is facing today, right from increase in alcohol abuse to eating disorders to high stress levels amongst teens. According to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving website, around eight teens die every day due to drunken driving in America. Violence faced by teens is startlingly high too, with as many as one in every two rape victims being under the age of eighteen (Statistics given by Department of Justice) Gender Issues Womens issues, such as equality of rights, privileges and pay-packages similar to those of men, breaking the glass ceiling with regards to their jobs are some of the gender specific social issues which are faced by American women. According to department of labor, USA, 46. 8 percent of the total U. S. labor force consisted of women and it is projected that by the year 2018, 46. 9 percent of the labor force will be women. Speaking of gender issues, there is a huge debate going on in America whether same-sex marriages should be legalized or not. Although, some states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, have legalized gay marriages, there are many states which are still contemplating this social issue and decision is awaited. Economic Issues In the current economic recession, according to the United States Department of Labor, the unemployment rate has gone up to 9. 60 percent, as of September 2010. On an average, the unemployment in America has remained 5. 0% from 1948 to 2010. Thus, there has been a considerable increase in unemployment rate in recent months, making it one of the burning social issues in society. International Issues Internationally , the most important issues today are terrorism and global warming. Global warming, as everybody knows has resulted in change in weather and temperatures all over the world. United States itself has felt its fury by way of the ferocious hurricanes in the past. Islamic terrorism, particularly handing the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, is another social issue plaguing the world. Some of the issues and their solutions are discussed below: 1. DIVORCE: One of the major social and economic issues in our society is increase in divorce rate. Divorce, or dissolution of marriage means the marriage ending. It can be contrasted with an annulment which declares that a marriage is invalid, though the marriage effects may be recognized in such unions as spousal support, child custody and property distribution (â€Å"Divorce. †). Divorce is like an epidemic in our society that is spreading very quick, and the offspring are most affected in this epidemic (Chandler). According to facts one out of every two marriages ends in divorce (Chandler). It is very bad because many children are raised in single-parent families, and this has a negative impact on their development. Effect of Divorce on children In the biggest countries of the world such as the United States, Japan, Korea, Canada, the members of the European Union, the United Kingdom and some other developed Commonwealth countries divorce rates have increased essentially in the last half of the twentieth century and divorce has become commonplace in them (â€Å"Divorce. ). It is considered that the divorce rate in the USA is the highest in the world and it was primarily caused by the changing role of the husbands and wives in their household, early marriage, infidelity, additional marital affairs, domestic  violence, unstable financial situation and psychological incapacity. All this has the negative effect on social stability in the whole and, of course, it can be the reason of social change and social conflict among people. That is why divorce problem is also the social problem and the impact of divorce is not limited o couples and families, their actual interactions. he theme of divorce as a social phenomenon is an essential research topic in sociology. A new understanding of the real causes and effects of divorce on the families and society began in the mid-1980s (Crouch). Sociologists reported that the incomes of women and children lost after divorce. Economists and legal researchers outlined that the current divorce laws cause far more divorces than it would be economically efficient for the people who are going through the process of divorce, because these laws allow wife or husband to divorce for any reason. This is a stimulus for people to be prepared for the ending of marriage and to search their own self-interest in the process of divorce, rather than live together all their life in a marriage which has no legal  protection. Many other scholars pointed out that divorce has all kinds of negative influence on child. The divorce may cause the risks of emotional problems of children, teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol addiction, smoking, crime and poverty (Crouch). The custody issue on who is going to be responsible for the children care is also an important one for many people each year. Women also generally suffer financially after divorce because of the lack of equal pay for equal work in many countries and that is why many women stop to work after marriage to bring up their children. They are often left with the big responsibility and the burden of looking after their childs after the divorce while they have to find low-paid jobs. Child support collection is the most important problem because many fathers do not want to be obliged towards their children. In turn, many national and local governments help divorced mothers and their children providing some kind of welfare system. Marriage is a very happy event in the life of many people, however divorce in our culture is also a common reality. SOLUTIONS: To decrease the divorce rate: Our society needs to be supportive and caring; not punitive, biased, accusatory or self-righteous. Divorce will not go away himself. Unless much can be done in order to redefine the status of what marriage means and what it is for people, divorce and other marital problems will extremely arise. To have a peaceful, happy and healthy relationship, either spouse must be patient, strong, trustful and they have to love each other. Marriage for our life is an ideal of God, but divorce is an unpleasant reality in our society. 2. HONOUR KILLING: Honour killing, the name given to murders done in name of so called honour. Honour of family or clan or village. The crime which does exist since thousands of years and still refuses to die down. Honour Killing is not heat of moment reaction but well planned murder and often it involves more than 2 murders and often it is done by blessing of entire village!!!!!!!!! Generally targetted towards couple who get married and in eyes of society , they live in , the marriage is considered to be not acceptable. â€Å"Honor killings are acts of vengeance, usually death, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an  arranged marriage, being the victim of a  sexual assault, seeking a divorce—even from an  abusive  husband—or (allegedly) committing  adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a way that dishonors her family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her life. † Men can also be the victims of honor killings by members of the family of a woman with whom they are perceived to have an inappropriate relationship. The loose term honor killing applies to killing of both men and women in cultures that practice it. Some women who bridge social divides, publicly engage other communities, or adopt some of the customs or the religion of an outside group may be attacked. In countries that receive immigration, some otherwise low-status immigrant men and boys have asserted their dominant  patriarchal  status by inflicting honor killings on women family members who have participated in public life, for example, in  feminist  and integration politics. First Let us see types of honour killings 1) Marriage In Same Gotra : Gotra or same clan marriage often sees verdict being passed by villagers to get the couple murdered. Quiet often murder is executed by brothers and father of bride or groom. Now India being ancient civilization same gotra means lineage claimed from some ancestor who lived 3000-5000 years ago. The bride and groom might not be linked directly but have lineage from common ancestor. Now this is prohibited among many communities and if line is crossed , honour killing occurs. This is most common type of honour killing seen in India. 2) Inter Caste Marriage : Caste is huge social issue in India and honour killing in some parts of India due to inter caste marriage is second most common type of so called honour killing. 3) Inter Religion Marriage : Religion is very sensitive issue and riots have been seen triggered in smallest incidents between various religious communities and sects. Inter religion marriages are rare and some of them see honour killing too!!!!! Indian constitution doesnot prohibit any of above marriages and marriages are perfectly legal as per law but social norms finds somethings objectional and they themself turn judges and order killings , all in name of so called honour. Indian government and supreme court has taken strong stand against this social evil and in future more stricter laws are expected to deal with so called honour killing. Firstly, the mentality of the people has to change. And when we say that the mentality has to change, we mean to say that parents should accept their children’s wishes regarding marriage as it is they who have to lead a life with their life partners and if they are not satisfied with their life partner then they will lead a horrible married life which might even end in suicide. Secondly, we need to have stricter laws to tackle these kinds of killings as this is a crime which cannot be pardoned because. Humans do not have the right to write down death sentences of innocent fellow humans. . SATTI: Sati (suttee) is burning alive the widow of the deceased man in the funeral pyre. In Hindu religion the custom is to cremate the dead body after one’s death. Since it is a male dominated society the men thought that the wives are their property. So if a man dies then it is obligatory for the widow of that man jump into the fire of her dead husband and die. It was considered to be a holy act until some sensible people looked into the matter and tried to reform this social evil in the name of religion. If the woman dies the man could live on and marry another. Many thought that widow burning was inhuman act and tried to bring some changes. The recent case was on 4th  September 1987 at Deorala in Sikar Dt. , Rajastan. Roop Kunwar a young Rajput girl committed sati at the funeral pyre of her husband. Some people wanted to stop the glorification of this evil. The government promulgated Sati prevention Ordinance on 1stOctober 1987 stating that sati is a crime. But some youth took out a procession favoring the act of sati. Some traditional groups who wanted sati to be prevalent instigated them. Hinduism is a nonviolent religion. How can it be so violent with human beings in the matter of Sati? Lord William Bentinck was a social reformer and so he wanted to abolish this social evil during the British rule in India. To some extent he succeeded in doing so. Sati literally means a good woman or widow and Sattee means sahamarana – dying together, Ammarana – without dead body. In fact we cannot trace the beginnings of this practise in the Hindu Scriptures. It comes from the social life and tradition of Hindus. There is no vedic proof and even in Ramayana and Mahabharata no woman laid down her life for her dead husband. In Russia among the Volga tribes this tradition was present also in some Egyptian and Chinese tribes. Mount Stuart Elphinston was then governor of Bombay had a decisive voice in the formation of policy on suttee. He was held in high esteem for his statesmanship and mature understanding of Indian life and customs. The rite of suttee originated in the upper strata of society amidst the kings and aristocratic people. However once custom takes root, it becomes a part of social order. A widow seldom inspired any sympathy and had to lead miserable life. She bore the insults and taunts of the relatives. She was held guilty for the death of her husband. She suffered social ostracism. She had to go about without ornaments, broke bangles, shaved her head, move around with white sari, and sleep on the floor. Women were socially dead after the death of their husbands and were thought to be polluting. Hence the concern was for purity. The priestly class, the Brahmins encouraged and motivated this social evil to exist for their livelihood. After this dramatic crime the Brahmin would look for the melted gold, silver and copper, which was their earning. The widow was utterly in a helpless state. They were hardly cared for and there was no maintenance for the rest of their life. Many also had their eye on the property of the widow. To understand how and why woman burnt herself it is necessary to reconstruct the circumstances under which she was rushed to the pile. When the man dies, there is gloom. The widow suffers the most. She is stricken with grief. She is unable to cry and absolutely dumb. She has no time to think or reflect. On this occasion, the family members Brahmins and crowd take advantage of this helpless situation. They push her into the fire. If she cannot bear the heat and tries to come out of the fire then the family members beat her up and push her back into the fire. She was the easy target of abuse, fun and disparagement. It is a pity that often the children lose their both parents and become orphan. In this way this inhuman act was performed in the name of religious tradition. It was an instrument of the priestly class such as Brahmins in order to make a business out of it. This deprives of women their human dignity and right to live. The glorification of sati is a crime. If out of love for husband wife has to die, why not the husbands die? This is very vivid witness for the inequality and male domination. The question to be asked here is whether she would become a good wife by dying? Is she not forgoing or forced to forgo the responsibility of taking care of her children? Does not the society commit a crime in making the children orphans? There are some good Hindus like Swami Agnivesh work for this cause. Thanks be to some good people that they work for the dignity of human person. We can end these type of rituals from our culture by educating the people, giving them awareness about these things that they are wrong and must not be followed. We must tell the people about the women’s rights that they should not be murdered because they have to pass their life according to their own consent. If we people come to know about the women’s rights then we will surely remove these rituals which are against the freedom of woman.

Frankensteins determination Essay Example

Frankensteins determination Essay Example Frankensteins determination Essay Frankensteins determination Essay Essay Topic: Frankenstein This shows Frankensteins love of science, and he uses a good metaphor to describe his feelings towards the above mentioned scientists they were his gods and he was their disciple. This inspires Victor to go on to become a great doctor and physicist, studying at a university in Ingolstadt. It is here that Victors passions for learning the secrets of nature are revealed. These authors were not regarded as serious scientists in Victors world, and were shunned by his father, who dismissed them as sad trash, yet Frankensteins determination overruled this and he continued to learn more and more each day. If it werent for these books, which were only read because of a flash of lightning, Victor would never have had a passion for science and would not have created the being in this novel, which means that the entire purpose of the novel can be traced back to a single bolt of lightning a marvel of nature to young Frankensteins eyes. This part of the book shows Victors enthusiasm for what is still merely a harmless game, I had gazed upon the fortifications and impediments that seemed to keep human beings from entering the citadel of nature, and rashly and ignorantly I had repined. : It is preparing the reader for what is to come, but the sheer volume of Victors interest is unstoppable and quite disturbing for a child of his age. The novel is set at a time when science was of ever-growing importance, and this scared many people. Theories were appearing which people did not understand, which went against everything they had assumed to happen in the world. People were finding out that all is not as it seems, and as more and more of the scientific world unfolded to society, the more and more people wanted to find. Some were obsessed with science, striving to find out new things, which only set people unnerved. They thought science would take the place of nature, but this novel goes to show that this is not true instead, they can only work together, and as the importance of science grows, so does the importance of nature, especially in this novel. Frankenstein proves that science and nature can both work together in society, and shows how important they are in todays communities. At the time it was written, just after the French Revolution, people were also obsessed with romanticism and Gothicism. This novel incorporates both of these, by dealing with the social issues of poverty, unemployment and violence. It appealed to readers in Mary Shelleys society, as well as our own today, and opened eyes to the dangers of society and the wonders of nature. The story of Frankenstein is about a man who creates something that meddles with the course of nature, and nature comes back to mess with him, which just goes to show the power of nature. It presents nature as both beautiful and destructive at the same time. It shows that there is more to this world than meets the eye, and that all things are not either good or bad, it simply depends on how you use them. It reflects on Mary Shelleys social background, suggesting that she wanted to try and change the world, or at least warn them of the consequences of certain actions, which are even more important now than ever. The book is very successful in both horrifying the reader, but also in discerning the dangers of interfering with the most powerful force in the world nature.

October Themes and Special Events for Elementary School

October Themes and Special Events for Elementary School This list of October themes, events, and holidays have correlating activities to go with them. Use these ideas for inspiration to create your own lessons and activities, or use the ideas provided. Celebrate Bullying Prevention Month and School Safety Month all October long. October Holidays and Events With Correlating Activities October 1st - World Vegetarian Day Celebrate this special day by having student partake in a thematic unit on nutrition. Plus: investigate eating healthy with a healthy snacks lesson plan. October 2nd - World Farm Animals Day   Celebrate farm animals by taking a field trip to your local farm. October 3rd - Techies Day This day is to honor all new technology. Learn about tech tools for the classroom, iPad apps, and assessment apps. October 4th - National Diversity Day Teach students about the importance of diversity in the world by playing games and partaking in activities. October 5th - World Teacher Day Honor and celebrate all teachers. October 6th - Mad Hatter Day Decorate a hat and watch an Alice in Wonderland movie to celebrate this fun day. October 7th - World Bullying Prevention Day   Bullying is a serious issue in schools today. On this day spark a discussion and partake in activities that relate to bullying. October 8th - National Face Your Fears Day Have students take a moment to think about what they fear most. Then take turns going around the room discussing these fears. As a class, brainstorm ways they can overcome these fears. October 9th - Fire Prevention Day The week of October 6-12 is fire prevention week. During this time, teach kids about fire safety. October 10th - World Mental Health Day   Help students understand developmental disorders by shedding some light on Autism, and other disorders that children may see or hear about in school. October 11th - Eleanor Roosevelts Birthday   Honor this wonderful woman on her birthday by teaching students about her. October 12th - Universal Music Day   Celebrate music day by having students partake in a variety of music-related activities. October 13th - Astronomy Day Allow students to learn about the stars and the sky. October 14th - Columbus Day   Sail the sea with Columbus Day activities for students in grades 1-3. Plus: How much do your students really know about Columbus Day? Take a quiz or try a word search and find out. October 15th - White Cane Safety Day Celebrate the blind and visually impaired by teaching students all about disabilities. Talk about Helen Keller and all she went through. October 16th - World Food Day   Have students join the global movement to end hunger by bringing in can foods to donate to your local shelter. October 17th - Black Poetry Day Honor the birthday of Jupiter Hammon the first black American to publish his poetry. Learn about his past and have students try to write a poem of their own. October 18th - National Chocolate Cupcake Day   What a wonderful day to celebrate! Have students put on their chef hats and bake cupcakes! October 19th - Sweetest Day   This is a day to honor the people you love the most. Have students write a poem, letter, or story to their family. October 20th - Information Overload Day In todays society, we are overloaded with information so on this day give students a break! October 21st - Reptile Awareness Day   This day may freak students out just a little bit. But, its important for them to learn about all species. Take the time and have students learn all about reptiles. October 22nd - National Nut Day   In this day and age, it isnt uncommon for a student to have a nut allergy. This day was designed to recognize the healthy eating of nuts, but teachers can use this day to talk about the serious risks of nut allergies. October 23rd - National iPod Day The iPod is over 10 years old! If students are privileged enough to own an iPod, allow them to bring it to class and give them a chance to play a learning game at recess. October 24th - United Nations Day On this day, teach students all about the United Nations. Then break students into cooperative learning groups and see how much they learned. October 25th - Frankenstein Friday   Oh, how much fun your students will have on this day! Watch the Frankenstein movie, eat green food, and paint fun pictures to honor this spooky character. October 26th - Make a Difference Day   This day is the largest national day of helping others. Take time out of the day to have students help a fellow friend, teacher, or someone special. October 27th - Theodore Roosevelts Birthday   Honor this historic president by having students write a biography poem. October 28th - Statue of Libertys Birthday   Who doesnt love NY? Honor the Statue of Liberty by teaching students important facts about this statue! October 29th - International Internet Day   What would we do without the internet? That is a question you can pose to students. Have each child write an essay to answer that question. October 30th - John Adams Birthday   Honor the second President of the United States by teaching students some things they did not know about him. October 31st - Halloween Celebrate this fun holiday with themed lesson plans.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 200

Summary - Essay Example Grouping together of the nodes forms an ad hoc network that exposes the system to errors. The allowance of each node to interfere with each others transmission causes hidden and revealed problems within a wireless network station. The solution for this problem is available using the IEE standard and Point Coordination. The wireless networks have more chances of undetected frame collisions at the MAC sub layer. Detecting the collision and retransmitting the lost frame is imperative practice in preventing the loss of data integrity. However, the wired (Ethernet) local data networks rarely experience data integrity issues. Therefore, collision control is unnecessary for the Ethernet and wired LANs. The wireless network faces transmission issues when signal problems occur due to signal-bounce. Consequently, this necessitates the need for the MAC layer to solve these challenges. The MAC sub-layer for wired segments does not need collision avoidance protocol despite not having much transmission capabilities as those in wireless LANs. The wireless LANs is prevalent than the wired ones as they have various benefits found at the MAC sub layer of the network

Answer question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 10

Answer question - Essay Example The teachings by Moishe the Beadle are similar to Buber’s Hasidic teachings. Moishe teaches that there are a thousand and one ways that lead to the orchard of truth and each man has to find his own way to get there (Wiesel, 2006). Buber shares the same views as he argues that all men can access God, but each through his own way (Buber, 1958). During his various experiences, Wiesel was once in a situation where they had to celebrate the Day of Atonement by fasting. Wiesel went against traditional believes of fasting both as a symbol of rebellion against God’s silence as well as a necessary means of keeping up strength in the face of adversity and torture. Buber explains that in Hasidism, one can serve through learning, prayer, fasting or through eating (Buber, 1958). Accordingly, one should choose depending on what they view as right and avoid imitating others. On entering Auschwitz, Wiesel and his group of prisoners were greeted by a young pole with Hasidic inclination. He argues that by driving despair and through camaraderie, they will be able to overcome their hardship. Hasidism according to Buber shares a similar view as he argues that while the world is an irradiation of the Divine, it is described by independence of existence and striving and that man is to affirm the world and transform both him and the world at large to the image that God would approve. The notable difference between Buber and Wiesel accounts is the latter’s conclusion that man and man alone is the master of the universe. Buber argues that a divine spark exists in all men and that it can either be perverted or liberated and re-joined with the Origin (God) (Buber, 1958). Personally, I do not agree with Wiesel conclusion that we live in a world without God and that man alone is the master of nature and of the world. I however sympathize with