Literary Criticism of Uncle Toms Cabin Essay Example for Free

Literary Criticism of Uncle Toms Cabin Essay Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Toms Cabin in order to persuade the readers that slavery was bad. Her Christian views led her to do this and depict her characters as every-day life as she could and not be too over dramatic about everything that happened. Her story could be interpreted as a non-fiction if the reader does not know the history of it all, because she uses a very subtle approach to get to reader through making all events in the book seem very real as if she had really seen them. Stowes relationship with the book is that the book are her thoughts through a story. Not just any thoughts, but her abolitionist views and how much she disagreed with slavery. Stowe not only uses the book as a whole to convince of slaverys evils. She uses individual characters and their journies (emotional, physical, etc.) to get into the readers head and make everything believable to the point where one thinks that the book is non-fiction.. She doesnt use a very abrupt way of getting her message across. She tells things like they are. Not all southerners are evil, and northerners arent angels either. Every scene that Stowe needs to, persuades the reader that slavery is evil and non-Christian. Uncle Tom, the protaganist of this book, is used by Stowe to introduce slaves as not being ignorant, rag-wearing, illiterate people. Tom is a pious fellow as stated by Arthur Shelby: No; I mean, really, Tom is a good, steady, sensible, pious fellow. (Pg.4). Stowe also shows that Shelby is a good man himself, by showing that he actually cared for his slaves, and didnt treat them like objects. But, you could get a bit confused by Shelby when he showcases Elizas little boy to Mr. Haley as if he were some type of circus act, Now, Jim, show this man how you can dance and sing. (Pg.5). By giving two different views of Shelby at such an arly stage of the book, one cant really get a grasp on whether or not he really has sentiment, until further on in his and Mr. Haleys conversation. Mr. Haley, on the other hand is shown to be a wanna-be higher class type of man: He was a short, thick-set man, with coarse, commonplace features, and that swaggering air of pretension which marks a low man who is trying to elbow his way upward in the world. (Pg.3). Haley also seems to be a man who is very persuasive to get what he wants, but seems to make hollow promises: Howsomever, Ill do the very best I can in gettin Tom a good berth; as to my treatin on him bad. you neednt be a grain afeard. If theres anything that I thank the Lord for, it is that Im never noways cruel. (pg.33). When the reader is first introduced to Haley, he seems to be a kind slave trader who only wants Shelby to give him slaves, because of a debt. But, he decieves the reader, and ends up being a man that mistreats his slaves often through violence. The first a reader gets to see of Haleys ill-mannered side is when he has found out that Eliza has escaped with her son Harry (the child that was to be sold to him). Haley is enfuriated and cariies himself in an awful manner: I say now, Shelby, this yers a most extrornary business! said Haley, as he abruptly entered the parlor. It seems that gals off, with her young un.' (Pg.44). Even though it might not be much to read of somebody yelling, this incident does open the door for much more disastrous occurances further in the book. Elizas escape is not the beginning. Eliza Harris plays an enormous role that makes the reader think and also sympathize. Eliza is a young, beautiful, courageous slave. But nor only is she a slave. She is a mother and wife also. Elizas biggest part in the book is when she shows the reader what maternal attachments influence a woman to do when she knows her child will be taken from her. After discovering that her son is going to be sold to a slave trader in order to pay a debt, she decides that the only reasonable thing to do is take him, and escape so she can be by her childs side and never be separated from him. She consults Tom, and he says that he will not fight the decision made by his master to be sold, but he encourages his friend to, so she will not be away from her son. Eliza leaves and heads towards the Ohio river and Haley is looking for her. But, two slaves that Mr. Shelby sends with him to guide him lead him the wrong way to stall, but somehow ended up crossing paths with her and alert her. Once this happens. one of the biggest scenes in the book is shown: The huge green fragment of ice on which she alighted pitched and creaked as her weight came on it, but she staid there not a moment. With wild cries and desperate energy she leaped to another and still another cake; stumbling-leaping-slipping-springing upwards again! Her shoes are gone-her stockings cut from her feet-while blood marked every step; but she saw nothing, felt nothing, till dimly, as in a dream, she saw the Ohio side, and a man helping her up the bank. (Pg.62). Stowe draws a vivid image through her writing of this scene, of a mothers struggle to keep sons life with her and not in the hands of anybody else. Struggle is also seen, not just for life, but for what was morally right as a Christian. Senator John Bird was one of the people who voted in favor of the Fugitive Slave Act, clearly showing that he was not about to help any type of runaway slaves. But, his wife was a very Christian woman with morality that ran through her veins, and she lived by the Bible. Her struggle was to convince her husband that slavery was wrong and he should not agree with the law passed, because the Bible says that good will to all men was a must. Mrs. Bird informs, Now, John, I dont know anything about politics, but I can read my Bible; and there I see that I must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate. (Pg.82). By this, the reader has already been influenced positively and negatively by so many of the characters that Stowe brings into this well thought out persuasive piece of art. Christianity was what influenced her, and powered her abolitionist views. It led her to take abolitionism into her own hands, and educate the country (and in hopes, the world) of how negative slavery was. Being raised in a very strict Presbyterian home, she was taught all about the value of life through the gospel. Stowes religious views were imprinted into her mind and soul, and they set a path for her. Her path was to enlighten the southerners that agreed with slavery and were cruel to the people they held captive to do their bidding. Uncle Toms Cabin was written in response to the acts passed against slavery (e.g. Fugitive Slave Act). Each page of the story contains journey, experience, growth, development, and so much more with each and every character. With her characters, she uses them as her source of persuasion of the views opposite from the southern views. Stowe doesnt come straight out and say, Slavery is evil! Dont agree with it! She is very implicit with spreading her outlook on slavery (even though it is known that she is an abolitionist). Characters such as Quakers seem to invoke Harriet Beecher Stowe as a whole, for the simple fact that they are just as she was. Quakers are religious persons that helped slaves, because the Bible said they should help anybody and everybody that needed help. All the characters talked about before, seem to also take Stowes viewpoints. Even her bad guys have her point of views too. If you think about it, all that she is against is embodied in the slave traders and evil southerners of the book. Stowe does a phenomenal job of taking all her abolitionist views and putting it on paper, and conveying her deepest hates for slavery in such a well thought work of art. Her persuasion is easily seen through her characters. They grab you, shake you, and bring tears to your eyes. Stowe seems to know how to get into peoples heads. She does it just like when you have a set of headphones on and youre listening to your favorite song, and it sticks with you forever.

Continental Carriers, Inc. :: Finance Advanced Financial Management

Continental Carriers, Inc. (This is not an essay. This paper responds to each of the comments raised by the five members of the board.) Continental Carriers, Inc. (CCI) should take on the long-term debt to finance the acquisition of Midland Freight, Inc. for a few reasons. The company is heavy on assets, the debt ratio will only grow to 0.40 with the added $50M in debt. Also, the firm will benefit from an added $2M in a tax shield and be able to return $12.7M a year to its stockholders and investors, instead of $8.9M if equity is raised to finance the acquisition. Lastly, the stock price and earnings per share will increase to $3.87 in comparison to an equity-financed acquisition of $2.72 per share. CCI would be taking a somewhat high risk by issuing additional stock due to the uncertainty about the offering price. Having a low P/E ratio with respect to the rest of the market, and the replacement cost of the firm being greater than its book value (argument 3), there is a good chance that the current stock price and the proposed offering prices are too low. Although long-term debt is a better financing choice a few of the drawbacks are pointed out. Debt holders claim profit before equity holders, so the chance that profits may be lower than expected, increases risk to equity may reduce or impede stock value. However, in extreme financial situations such as a recession period, CCI would still be able to increase its cash during a recession period with all debt capital structure. Also, there is a remaining 12.5 million that would have to be paid at the expiration of the bonds, but that could be paid off by issuing new bonds or additional equity at that time. Five members of the board raised comments that have been addressed as follows: 1. The argument of the debt financing being a risky venture since the proposition was to pay out to a sinking fund does not make sense. Over the course of the next seven years, CCI had a historical growth in revenue of 9%. This growth along with the $2M tax shelter would easily pay for the sinking fund. In addition, by buying back bonds annually, the interest expense is further decreased, thus creating less of a burden on the cash flow. In contrast, an equity-financed acquisition would spread the net income out over 3 million more shares, thereby reducing the dividend pay-out to shareholders. 2. Another director argued that with equity financing, the shareholders will yield a 10% EBIT of $5M. Furthermore, this director posited that 3 million shares at $1.

Identity Defined Through Happiness

Happiness defined results from the possession of or attainment of what one considers good. It does not come from a set of circumstances that have occurred in our lives; instead it results from a set of attitudes and emotions that we feel. In today's world, how many of us can actually admit to having found true happiness? Not many. In George Saunder's book, â€Å"Civil War Land in Bad Decline,† specifically his story, â€Å"Bounty,† two groups of individuals, the Normals and the Flaweds, struggle in the pursuit for happiness. In their effort to achieving this, their personal identity is greatly compromised and therefore defined by their income or economical class. Satisfaction/happiness today, seems like a never-ending journey filled with false motivations to achieving it, such as freedom, money, love, or materialistic needs, and justified by futile hope and the degrading of others. As a result, we forget what we truly want and what truly makes us happy, and redefine our identities through what we think will make us happy. Hope is often futile when searching for happiness because we constantly expect more and want more therefore forgetting what truly makes us satisfied. The one and only thing that the Flaweds used as motivation for their struggles was hope. Saunders describes this hope when the father throws his children over the castle wall in hope for a better life for them. He states, â€Å"He threw us over to save us from death. He believed in people. He believed in the people on the other side of the wall† (p. 137). Because the father â€Å"believed in the people† his children ended up searching for happiness in all the wrong places and degraded themselves in order to survive. They were better off starving to death than living a life of slavery and humiliation. In this example, the father forgot that family was more important; even if it meant watching your children starve. Another source of justification used by us when searching for happiness is the technique of putting others down. The Normals had no other choice but to use the Flaweds as a means of achieving satisfaction. Such cruel treatment is portrayed to us by a slave buyer who states, â€Å"This regimen of daytime beatings and lonely nights will continue until such time as there is nothing remaining of you free will†¦ I will sell you and others of your ilk at tremendous markup† (p. 155-156). The slave buyer's position in society justifies to him that it is okay to give daily beatings to others in order to use them for your benefit which was the money and eventually in impressing a woman named Carlotta. Therefore, the slave buyer's false justification compromised his actions and redefined what happiness should be. What we assume will bring us happiness defines who we are. What the Normals thought would bring them satisfaction greatly varied from what the Flaweds described as happiness thus validating the great gap in such classes. The Flaweds wanted to escape their slavery; therefore happiness to them was freedom, which in their world could only be attained if one was a Normal. Saunders reveals Connie's struggle for happiness when he states, .. She fell for a Client, the Normal son of a transportation mogul†¦ then while touring with his parents, he saw her hunched over†¦ and that was that†¦ Connie's flaw is a slight, very slight, vestigial tail†¦ she went through a bad depression and tried to sand it off†¦ When she came out she was humiliated and refused to speak† (p. 96-97). To Connie, happiness meant falling in love with a Normal and being considered a Normal, and because she failed in doing so, she tried cutting her flaw off and ended up depressed and humiliated. What made her happy defined who she was, a person who couldn't appreciate or wear her flaw proudly. The Normals, however, defined their happiness in several different ways because they had the option available for them in doing so. To some Normals, happiness came from money, to some from love, and to a lot of others, materialistic matters. A perfect example of happiness through materialistic needs is the Normal family who make a living out of potatoes. The husband states, â€Å"If you want something nice, you've got to get it for yourself. I want a generator for my family. Lights at night. A fan in the summer. And I'm getting them! † (p. 133). The guy had nine kids and a wife and just kept himself busy and working to find his happiness in buying those things. The parents fail to take care of their children and value their family and put all that aside to buy nice things for themselves. Here, their identity is compromised and based on their materialistic needs. Happiness today is described by society as having a great job a nice car and an amazing wardrobe. However we fail to realize that this is not true happiness. The more we have does not equal the more happiness. At the end of â€Å"Bounty,† after Cole finds his sister and makes sure that she is okay, he continues to find something else to do in keeping him busy by joining the rebel group at the end. This is the scary truth that we face in our daily lives. We need to go to college, find a career that will grant us great money, and settle down. At the end we call this happiness. The more we have going for us in our lives, the more content we are. Think about plastic surgery. After fixing one flaw, we discover another, and until we fix all of them, we end up feeling â€Å"happy. † We fail to hold on to what is more important, such as health, family, and security, and cling to what society portrays to us should be happiness. In â€Å"Bounty,† Cole fails to realize from the very start that he was better off in Bountyland with his daily meals and sense of security. We must redefine what happiness is and by doing this, we create a new and better identity for ourselves.

Java Event Listeners Process User Activity in a GUI

An event listener in Java is designed to process some kind of event  Ã¢â‚¬â€ it listens for an event, such as a users mouse click or a key press, and then it responds accordingly. An event listener must be connected to an event object that defines the event. For example, graphical components like a JButton ​or JTextField are known as  event sources. This means that they can generate events (called event objects),  such as providing a JButton for a user to click, or a JTextField in which a user can enter text. The event listeners job is to catch those events and do something with them. How Event Listeners Work Each event listener interface includes at least one method used by the equivalent event source. For this discussion, lets consider a mouse event, i.e. anytime a user clicks something with a mouse, represented by the Java class MouseEvent. To handle this type of event, you would first create a MouseListener class that implements the Java MouseListener interface. This interface has five methods; implement the one that relates to the type of mouse action you anticipate your user taking. These are: void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e)Invoked when the mouse button has been clicked (pressed and released) on a component.void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e)Invoked when the mouse enters a component.void mouseExited(MouseEvent e)Invoked when the mouse exits a component.void mousePressed(MouseEvent e)Invoked when a mouse button has been pressed on a component.void mouseReleased(MouseEvent e)Invoked when a mouse button has been released on a component As you can see, each method has a single event object parameter: the particular mouse event it is designed to handle. In your MouseListener class, you register to listen to any of these events so that you are informed when they occur. When the event fires (for example, the user clicks the mouse, as per the mouseClicked() method above), a relevant MouseEvent object representing that event is created and passed to the  MouseListener object registered to receive it.   Types of Event Listeners Event listeners are represented by different interfaces, each of which is designed to process an equivalent event. Note that event listeners are flexible in that a single listener can be registered to listen to multiple types of events. This means that, for a similar set of components that perform the same type of action, one event listener can handle all the events. Here are some of the most common types: ActionListener: Listens for an ActionEvent, i.e. when a graphical element is clicked such as a button or item in a list.ContainerListener: Listens for a ContainerEvent, which might occur if the user adds or removes an object from the interface.KeyListener: Listens for a KeyEvent in which the user presses, types or releases a key.WindowListener: Listens for a WindowEvent, for example, when a window is closed, activated or deactivated.MouseListener: Listens for a   MouseEvent, such as when a mouse is clicked or pressed.