Simon in the Lord of the Flies

Simon is a member of the choir, but is the only one who seems weak. Simon is introduced in the novel when he faints; this is a show of his weakness. He is a lot like piggy, but not as bullied. Ralph thinks he is ‘queer' and ‘funny' because he is realistic. Simon is the first boy to notice the candle bud flowers when they are out walking. Simon always sees the spiritual side of the island. The only place you see candles nowadays is in churches. Jack slashes at the candle buds with his knife keeping up his reputation as the anarchist. The creepers on the island are long vines. The small children see these creepers as â€Å"beasties†. When the little child comes forward during a meeting, he describes a ‘snake-thing', then changes his mind to a ‘beastie'. The boy makes out the ‘beastie to be evil'. The beastie the boy has seen is not a physical monster it is a monster inside the boy's head. The most terrifying thing is darkness and the unknown. The unknown makes the human imagination go wild and ask all the questions it can, â€Å"What's out there?† â€Å"Is it a huge big snake† â€Å"Is it coming to get me in the night?† The snake-like thing the ‘little-un' describes is symbolic of the serpent in the story of Adam and Eve. In Genesis, in the Bible, the serpent is portrayed as the devil and acts against god's wishes; it offers Eve the fruit from the tree of knowledge, unknowing of the consequences, Eve accepts the fruit. She offers the fruit to her husband, Adam. They both eat the fruit and become aware of their state of undress. When God came walking in the garden he found that Adam and Eve had hidden their genitalia under fig leaves. God banished Adam and Eve from Eden. The serpent, the devil, had won. Simon is the one who is helping to construct the huts on the beach. He believes the shelters will guard from the ‘beastie'. This is for the benefit of the rest of the group, not selfish like Jack and his crazed hunt for pigs. Simon is a bit of a loner; he has his own cove in the jungle, which he keeps secret from everyone else. This place has ‘more sunlight' than the rest of the jungle and is decorated with floral bouquets. The jungle suddenly turns into a picturesque haven from the outside anger of the island. But Simon is not escaping the outside force he is merely running from himself, the Simon that exists with the other boys. When he is inside his special sanctuary he fells protected. There is the appearance of the candle bud flowers again, and coupled with the safety and sanctuary of the cove it almost turns into a church. When the tight canopy of creepers envelops Simon, the light in the cove increases. The passage describes of how the evil in this part of the jungle disappears, ‘Darkness poured out'. Simon is the light in the darkness of the island; he is the only voice of religion amongst the chaos of evil. Golding is showing Simon to be a spiritual guide in the book. When he is walking through the jungle towards his cavern, he comes across some small children, â€Å"little-uns†. They are trying to reach some fruit located just beyond their grasp in a tree. Simon obligingly picks the ‘choicest' fruit from the foliage and passes it back down to the ‘endless outstretched hands'. This scene can be likened to an event in the bible, which is where Jesus Christ feeds five thousand people with a few loaves of bread and some fish. Simon is the saviour for these children; they had been trying for hours to reach the juiciest fruit from the tree and Simon has got it for them with very little ease. Simon's description by Golding shows he has a mop of hair, which is black in colour. This is like that of Jesus Christ, again rekindling the association with a spiritual nature. Like Piggy Simon is clear-sighted, he knows what is best, but unlike Piggy he advises on the religious meanings of the island. He is the first boy in the party to notice the transformation that has occurred on the island. He sees that, the island they once took for an Eden, has under gone a metamorphosis into a place of evil. When Jack talks of how the ‘little-uns' scream in their sleep, terrified of the ‘beastie' Simon is the first to acknowledge â€Å"As if the beastie was real† and â€Å"As if it wasn't a good island.† Simon is still blaming the evil experience on an outside force, he, like the entire group still fail to see the evil is within or â€Å"The darkness within†. Jack also senses the evil on the island, he likens it to a physical presence when he goes hunting, â€Å"†¦you can feel as if you're not hunting, but-being hunted: as if something's behind you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The boys on the island have difficulty finishing their sentences; this is because they are scared and embarrassed of their situation. The boys themselves find it difficult to understand the emotions they are feeling and whether these emotions should be listened to. The situation is like that of the Jews in Egypt from the Old Testament in the Bible. When the evil Egyptian slave masters ruled them, they were not enjoying themselves but they had some kind of law and order. When Moses freed them, they were happy at the wonders of freedom, but soon were reduced to a rabble of immoral ‘wrong-doers'. The boys have been ruled by grown-ups all their lives and when they find themselves on the Island, they are ecstatic, but when things get difficult and new feelings arise, bad things happen. Luckily for the Jews Moses was there to save them, he went to God and received the Ten Commandments that brought law and order back to his people. Maybe something similar will happen in this novel. Simon may save the boys, or he may be symbolising Moses and some other, yet unknown force, is God.

Analysis of Adarsh Society Scam Essay

Chavan was the revenue minister between 2001-2003 and had dealt with files pertaining to the ownership of the land. He is alleged to have recommended 40 per cent allotment of flats to civilians in the society, which was meant for war widows and heroes of Kargil war. The exposure of the scam forced the Congress party to seek the resignation of then Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan . Maharashtra environment department had denied giving clearance to the society. The reports make it clear that neither MCZMA nor the state’s department of environment gave any clearance for the high-rise building, The state environment department has denied giving clearance to Adarsh housing society. The state environment department has denied giving clearance to Adarsh housing society. Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society building violated provisions of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 1991. No CRZ clearance or permission had been sought to construct the building. It concluded that th e no CRZ clearance had been sought for incorporating 2269 sqm of BEST land. This was a condition imposed on the housing society by the state’s department of revenue when additional land was allotted in August 2005. The Adarsh Society has also violated the floor space index permissible in the CRZ-II area of Mumbai. This is prescribed in the Development and Control Regulations of 1967. There are reports that there are other buildings too that have come up,† he accepted, adding that he will go after them after 2010 amendment to the CRZ regulations are passed by Parliament. The high-rise is built on 6,450 sq metres within the Colaba naval area and was cleared on the condition of housing war veterans but now has 104 members, including former service chiefs, senior serving Army officials, a former Environment Minister, legislators and state bureaucrats. Govt. is waiting for the official report from the various ministry, only then they take action against the gulty. MMRDA to revoke occupancy certificate till Ministry of Environment and Forest gives clearance. The prime piece of land in upmarket Colaba given to the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society belonged to the state government and not the Services, he said. The land belongs to the state government, based on the collector’s records. Revenue department granted land to the Society as per GR of 9. 7. 1999,† he said. Certain files were missing from the adarsh community housing society that bearing signatures of important officials, pertain to the decisions taken in the stages before the project was cleared by the government. Tiwari was urban development secretary for over eight years (2000 to 2009). During his tenure, the Adarsh society was given various clearances, including additional floor space index. Raj Bhavan sources confirmed on Tuesday evening that governor K Shankarnarayan received a formal request from the state government recommending him to make reference to the Supreme Court for removal of Tiwari. This will mean that Tiwari will not be able to challenge his removal in any court. Both Defence Minister AK Antony and Army Chief General VK Singh have promised strict action against any serving officer who is found to be guilty in the scam. MoD has also said that it will give prompt permission to CBI to question any serving officer and will have no objection if they are prosecuted. The controversial Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society (ACHS) had plans to undertake another residential project. It had even approached the Maharashtra government for allotment of a 7,500 sq m plot situated near the Spastic Society of India in Colaba   ACHS had proposed to develop the plot to build cheap houses for the ‘‘ weaker sections , defence personnel and other deserving classes’’ . Society was promoted by a few IAS officers; subsequently IPS officers, government servants, MLAs and MLCs joined in and the list went up to 130 members. The society applied for land at Wadala , and the government in principle showed willingness to allot 13,000 sq metres (over 3 acres) in September 2009. This plot was located close to the high tide line, where no construction activity is usually permissible. Arguing that there were at least two other buildings which had previously been permitted to be set up right next to the HTL, Adarsh promoters requested processing of their proposal and even urged the state government to modify the HTL to override CRZ concerns. he society requested the state government to redraw the high tide line (HTL) to clear the project from the ‘‘ CRZ point of view’’ . HTL is the line of intersection of the land with the water surface at the time of high tide. Restrictions are imposed on development activity within 500m of the HTL. Minimal construction activity is permitted in these parts. But since the Adarsh scam was unearthed, the names added to the file will be deleted or the allo tment of land to Indus may be delayed,’’ said sources. All of them got flats in the society in an expensive part of Mumbai at throwaway prices. While ownership of the land was still with the state, it was in the custody of Army for several years. Army had taken custody of the land ever since it was reclaimed because the state government was to give it to the Army in return for Army’s land in Santa Cruz firing range which was taken over by for expanding the Western Expressway. Now, as the auditors go through records, it is clear that the Army neither got the land, nor financial compensation from the state. The society was asked to change the bye-laws by the then Revenue Minister Ashok Chavan. That is on record. He called a meeting and called members of the society and asked them to change the bye-laws and 40 per cent of civilians should be allowed to be members of the society. There it created a lot of problems,† Deshmukh said. the defence ministry has asked to look into issues concerning the issue of a no objection certificate, relinquishment of the land in possession of the army and the extent to which commitments for the welfare of defence ersonnel were complied with, the official added. Among other things, the bureaucrats have been asked about the circumstances under which they became members of Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society and the source of funds for the luxurious flats in the 31-storeyed building, the official said. the authorities cancelled the building’s occupation certificate and snapped off its water and power supplies. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (B MC) has decided to provide all necessary information regarding residential buildings and societies on its website. People can ascertain whether a particular shop or nursing home is licensed or not. RC THAKUR   chief promoter of Adarsh Society, was the military estate officer in Colaba division when he came to know about the prime plot and started getting files moved. His colleagues say that whenever Thakur came up against a hurdle, he would make the person a member of the society. What I think is to demolish that building because it is not following any norms passed by the government. Or we can hand over that building to the navy and army and let them decide what to do. Or we can give the flats to the kargil widows, because that land is for them only. Rest is depend on the government. If any such scams occur in mere future than public must raise their voice in order to protest them, it somehow effect our economy and spoil our society. Mostly the scams are done by the government personnel’s. and nowadays many people are trying to somehow get the government job. If we are not raising our voice now then in future we cant save our country. In India there are so many terriost who are spoiling our country and we are not bothered about them we just focus on the terriosm.

Animal Cruelty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Animal Cruelty - Essay Example It is very important that pet owners realize the fact that a pet is not some exotic, cozy, furry crawling thing that has to abide taking orders from them. Neither are they some kind of soft toys kept at home to provide few moments of excitement and joy in their monotonous life. When somebody decides to own a pet, they must own up the responsibility that comes with them. Like any other living being, they have emotions and feel pain. They also like humans get hungry, fall sick, and more importantly grow old. It is not a very rosy picture when we take account of reality. Several reports of pet abuse from all across the globe, confirms the truth that pets are not always safe from animal cruelty. In various lanes and avenues of several cities, dead animals are often found. Their dead bodies go by unnoticed. Cases of domestic pet violence are on the rise. Some people take their anger and frustration out on their pets. Many pets meet their death due to cruel behaviour of human beings. In mo st cases, their angry owners themselves exhibit such inhuman behaviour. They kill their pets to express their frustrations and then dump their dead bodies in garbage bins. Some cruel pet owners indulge their pets in pet fights. With the purpose to win some money, the lives of these pets are placed in danger. People bet on the lives of these pets, who are trained to fight in rings. Then there are some eccentric celebrities, who endorse using pets as fashion statement. Very often, it has been seen that celebrities use pets as gift items or some cloth piece to wrap around. In suburban areas and villages, animals like donkeys and horses are used to carry loads and carriages. The owners of these animals often use whiplash to make them work faster. Very less care is given to these animals; they are not properly fed or given medicine when they are sick. Many of them die early due to malnutrition and some die due to severe physical strain. Like human beings, some animals unable to bear the trauma loose their sanity. They become hysterical and often end up being hostile. Lack of nutrition, physical torture, being chained whole day to one location make many pets go wild in their behaviour. There have been some bizarre cases where pets have been found imprisoned in car trunks or dark attics, locked all alone left to die. There have been some cases where pets were administered drugs, just for the mere sick pleasure of the owners. These are just a few examples to elicit, some of the brutalities that these animals are made to bear. (Hardcastle, 2008) Current Pet Abuse Scenario On March 29, 2011, an un-named Retriever was brought to the animal shelter of Guilford. The dog had suffered severe burns on his skins caused by some chemicals. The injuries were severe and the dog could not survive. The dog passed away the same afternoon he was brought to the shelter. The culprits are yet to be identified. On the same day, Noelle Stanbridge a citizen of Ottumwa was found guilty of ab using her pet dog. She had hit her pet dog 15 times with a club. The irony is Noelle Stanbridge is famous in her circle as an animal activist. In New York, alone 79 cases of pet abuse were registered in the year 2010, which accounts for only 8 percent of the total pet abuse cases registered in USA, which stands at 986 cases for the year 2010 alone. There are majority of incidents, which do not even get

The impact and influence of social media, and how it affects our world Essay

The impact and influence of social media, and how it affects our world - Essay Example The way the modern society interacts with social media has profound effects on their lives. For instance, it is easy to connect with a friend through Facebook when he or she is not responding to phone calls or text messages. Furthermore, it is easy to get entertainment by watching videos and listening to music in social media sites. There are many ways through which the modern society interacts with the society thus this essay seeks to find out how the interaction has changed the lifestyle of modern society. The interaction in social media has changed how the society socializes (Kaplan and Michael 60). In the modern society, cases of people lining up for long hours in telephone conversations are rare. To catch up with someone, it only takes a computer to communicate through email or other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. In this scale, social media offer an opportunity to connect with people, make friends, share pictures and contents and exchange ideas or information. Nonetheless, the enhancement of communication between friends implies that social media influences the relationships within a society (Bolton et al. 247). Through social media, people can know their true friends and can count on them as trustworthy. Another influence on how people socialize is the influence that social media has in keeping the society informed. Social media sites are rich sources of information about global issues and local news. Therefore, the manner in which people interact with social media keeps the society informed and abreast of what is happening in the world. Social media have reduced or done away with individual gaps that existed before (Bolton et al. 246). Development of technology for sure provides secure means of communication where individuals can talk to anyone at any time. People work overseas and leave their families behind but still able to talk to them through social media. Channels like