Science Sexuality and the Erasure of Gender - Free Essay Example

One of the most overlooked questions of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein is the gender of the creature due to the fact that many readers assume that the monster is a male because it is never explicitly expressed through Victor Frankensteins intentions. Many feminist and scientific critics argue that Shelley reveals the unstable, conflicted aspects of Frankensteins sexuality which expose[s] his homophobia and state that Frankenstein reject[s] women (Daffron 417). However, similar to President Trumps attempts to erase transgender people from existence, Victor Frankenstein strives to not simply reject, but erase the female sex and gender from his world. Due to his obsessive passion for science, his exploitation of nature, and his fear of female sexuality, Doctor Frankenstein creates a creature embodying his ideas of male sexuality and in the process inadvertently expresses his homo-erotic fantasies; while unconsciously taking on the reproductive role of women in order to erase their need in the world, or perhaps become one himself. Americas current administration is considering [the] adoption of a new definition of gender that would effectively deny federal recognition and civil rights protections to transgender Americans (Crary). This means that the Trump administration would dictate whether or not certain sexes or genders exist. The government is essentially using oppression and discrimination to erase transgender people through the denial of their fundamental rights as citizens of America. We can only hypothesize a reason for this erasure of gender. Victor Frankenstein, on the other hand, creates an undead being in order to begin a new human race of only males, either advertently or unintentionally attempting to erase the female gender. In the 18th century, gender and sex were strict ideas based on biological factors and appearance, and female inferiority to men was seen as an undisputed fact. It is horrific that now, in 2018, this idea persists, as certain genders and sexes are treated lesser than others. Mary Shelley, through the character of Victor Frankenstein, explains some of the reasons behind deciding to erase people, as well as expressing her dissatisfaction with a males place of dominance in the world. We all have something to learn from Frankenstein, even our president. It is predominantly evident that the creature is male because Victor Frankenstein refers to it as he and him. He uses the pronouns he gave to it as its creator, however, this does not fully prove the male nature of the being. When the creature becomes lonely and asks Frankenstein for a female companion, the doctor is afraid to create the female partner because the creature would want children, and a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth (Shelley 144). If the partner he created were to be female, the only way for her to have children with the creature would for it to have functional male genitalia. This proves that the creature is of the male sex. Frankensteins fear of creating the female partner is linked to her reproductive power, which shows that he is not merely afraid of more creatures, but also afraid of the womans capability to create life. As a scientist, Frankenstein believes he can give birth to a new life without a female. Victor expects nature to grant him power and control and believes he can penetrate into the recesses of nature and show how she works in her hiding places (Mellor 3). Make note of the use of the word penetrate, and how nature is referred to as a ?her. The word ?nature has very feminine connotations; many people refer to nature as Mother Nature or Mother Earth. Victor Frankenstein admires and looks up to men who had penetrated deeper and knew more (Shelley 46), so much so that he decides to penetrate nature himself but go a step further. Nature becomes the female he is penetrating and impregnating to create his being. Throughout the novel, nature is this passive female force that solely exists to receive male desire, and in a way, Frankenstein takes advantage of this feminine nature. However, Frankenstein is angry that the life he created is distorted and imperfect, much unlike human children that actual women give birth to, but he is still satisfied that he created a male life and succeeded in proving that the world does not need females. After gaining this power, formerly possessed solely by women, he diminishes their societal worth and begins to imagine a world populated exclusively by males. He believes he is so superior to women that their existence is not necessary, which brings us to the conclusion that therefore, in a world of only men, his homosexual desires would be fulfilled. In creating this new species (Shelley 57) of only men, Victor Frankenstein would be satisfying his homosexual fantasies. Doctor Frankenstein has a close relationship with his good friend Robert Walton. Michael Eberle-Sinatra believes that their relationship in the novel can be read as an instance of repressed homosexuality (Eberle-Sinatra 187) due to the fact that they consistently identify with one anothers twisted goals. Furthermore, the relationship between Frankenstein and his creature could be another instance of repressed homosexuality. Perhaps Victor does not want to be seen in a public place with his creature for fear of ostracism based on his creation of a male companion. As Eberle-Sinatra says, when Frankenstein refuses to go through with creating the female partner for his creature, he is eliminating any potential heterosexual competition for the Creatures attention (Eberle-Sinatra 188). Additionally, when the creature is initially created, Victor is woken from a dream in which he saw Elizabeth and as he imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death and he suddenly think he is holding the corpse of [his] dead mother which results in a cold dew cover[ing] [his] forehead, [his] teeth chatter[ing], and every limb [becoming] convulsed (Shelley 60). Elizabeth is the woman that Victor Frankenstein is supposed to marry, yet in his dream, she becomes his dead mother. This strange incestual dream reflects Victors fetishization of death, which could mean that the image of the dead mother is actually a repressed version of the undead monster. The reaction this dream invokes is similar to one of sexual gratification. It is apparent that Victor is much more excited physically by the thought of the Creature and its physical presence than he is by Elizabeth (Eberle-Sinatra 189), the woman he is supposed to love and marry. Victor Frankensteins lifes work is centered on creating a world free of females where he will no longer have to shroud his true identity in homophobia and repression. He attempted to create the perfect male partner by creating the creature but ultimately failed, therefore running from his mistakes and from his homosexual desires. Sadly, Frankensteins misogyny and chauvinism suppress his homosexuality and stop him from ever being free. Victor Frankensteins hatred and spite towards women, as well as towards his creature, stem from his repression of his homosexuality. Sigmund Freud popularized the controversial theory of the Oedipal Complex, which states that as a young child we desire our parent of the same sex because of envy, fear, or disgust we have of or for our other parent. In order to combat this illicit attraction, Freud proposes that the infant boy feels an attraction to his mother and look[s] at the father as a rival for the mother and thus as feeling an unconscious desire to kill the father, so as to have the mother to himself ( Parker 119). Freud consistently uses the word unconscious because he believes that everyone has unconscious drives, and that the repression of these urges is necessary for anyone to function properly and sanely in society. These ideas are expressed in his essay The Uncanny, where he says that the uncanny is something that is not known and familiar and uses the term uncanny when discussing things that appear to slip outside of normal perceptions or normal assumptions (Freud 418). If we psychoanalyze Victor Frankenstein, we can immediately see that he is has not fully repressed nor is unconscious of his illicit desires. He is simultaneously excited and ashamed that he created his grotesque monster, because he is masking his homosexual attraction to the creature with his pride of succeeding in his creation of life goal. However, if we refer to the Oedipal Complex and the uncanny, his emotional appreciation for the creature is somewhat incestuous. Exploiting Mother Nature to give birth to the being is like having a child, therefore making the creature Frankensteins son. For Frankenstein to be attracted to the creature is him being unconsciously, or uncannily, attracted to his child-like creation in a slightly backwards Oedipal Complex situation. While Victor Frankenstein is sexually attracted to essentially his son, his son wishes to kill him and have his mother Mother Nature all to himself. In essence, Frankensteins war on women is a war on his own homosexual feelings, as well as his son. The creature wants to intrinsically stop his father from erasing women because this action would also erase nature, the very force that kept him alive and acted as a parental figure to him throughout the novel. Frankenstein wants to erase women because he unconsciously wants to erase his son, the creature, in order to completely eradicate his deeply repressed homosexual cravings. To ensure that nobody notices his homosexuality, Doctor Frankenstein uses his scientific prowess as public justification. A male chauvinist is a man who believes he is superior to women in all or many aspects of life. Unsurprisingly, Victor Frankenstein is a male chauvinist due to his pursuit of science that degrades the feminine force of nature, his attempts to erase womankind, and the way he acts towards and around the women in his life. Anne Mellor, a distinguished literary scholar, believes that chemical physiology, the field in which Frankenstein pursues the creation of life, is the kind of science that instead of slowly endeavouring to lift up the veil concealing the wonderful phenomena of living nature; full of ardent imaginations vainly and presumptuously attempt[s] to tear it asunder, while Frankenstein himself believes that his studies will result in a more harmonious, cooperative, and healthy society (Mellor 3). We already know that Frankenstein manipulated and abased nature in order to prove that the female gender is unnecessary, however it is unclear why he would use his scientific standing to do this, as it goes against the very morality and truth of science. Mellor critiques the scientist who analyses, manipulates, and attempts to control nature, scientists like Victor Frankenstein, because by doing so these scientists are engaging in a form of oppressive sexual politics (Mellor 12). Is Frankensteins need to control nature due to a feeling of superiority, or due to his fear of relating to women? Victor embarks in earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, experiencing gladness akin to rapture as one of the earliest sensations [he] can remember (Shelley 43). He was first interested in alchemy and pseudo-science, but when multiple people in his life, including his father, ridiculed him for this childish obsession, he dedicated his work to multiple fields of serious science. However, the fact that Frankenstein disrespects nature and therefore science by creating the monster, shows that he continued to be passionate about alchemy throughout his more professional studies. Frankenstein unconsciously attempted to control nature to not only erase women, but to create a male lover. Now, this may be because he is homosexual, but it also may be because Frankenstein himself would like to be a woman. Instead of creating a child with Mother Nature, he created and ?birthed the child himself, becoming a sort of woman in a way. Frankensteins deep hatred of women and their reproductive capabilities is not hate, but rather jealousy. This may be the reason he is so tentative to love and marry Elizabeth; she is more like a sister to him than a wife. Victors relationship with his mother was cut short by her death, so Elizabeth is also somewhat of a motherly presence in his life. One of Freuds familiar concepts is penis envy, where an infant female experiencing the Oedipal Complex identifies with her mother due to their mutual lack of male genitalia, therefore becoming jealous of her fathers penis and his ability to impregnate women, therefore dominating them. It seems that Victor Frankenstein suffers from the opposite of this idea; he is envious of a womans capability to have children, resulting in something we may call womb envy. This unconscious jealousy turns into an intense obsession with women and their bodies, not because he is attracted to them, but because he wants to be a woman. When he has the aforementioned dream about kissing Elizabeth, it further represents that his ?love for Elizabeth is a charade for his love of men. When Elizabeth transforms into his dead mother, it is possibly a representation of motherhood or Mother Nature, which signifies his amorous relationship with nature, which connects to science, and even further to the creature. The idea that he is connected to motherhood and womanhood invokes a very sexual reaction from Frankenstein, as if the idea of finally being a woman or being free to love a man is euphoric to him. Sexism and male superiority are the reasons transgender people and females are actively discriminated against and viewed as lesser people. The LGBTQ+ community is just like any other community, it excludes anything or anyone that is found to be too different. In this case, it is transgender people. In Frankenstein, it is the creature, but more than that, it is every and all females. Although the creature is isolated from society, it is necessary to the plot and to Frankensteins emotional growth, or in his case, lack of growth. Every major female character in the novel is either killed or invariably irrelevant. Justine, a servant turned family, is unjustly accused of murder. Due to her position as a woman, she is forced to confess to a crime she did not commit and is ultimately killed. When we compare this to the Trump administrations proposal, Justines position is scarily similar to the way transgender people could have their basic rights stolen from them. Being transgender technically means that someone feels as if their gender identity or expression does not match their assigned or birth sex. In Frankenstein, it is very easy to assume genders, especially those of the creature and Victor. In all actuality, the creature is comprised of various body parts collected from corpses of various genders, and although Frankenstein suggests it has male genitalia, we are never explicitly told this. The original front cover of the novel depicts a representation of the creature looking down in awe at its own genitalia, which further suggests confusion surrounding its own gender and sex. Frankenstein abandoned the creature as soon as it was born, never giving it a name or teaching it anything, so the concept of gender and sex were never introduced to the creature in the first place. The creature is its own type of gender that is misunderstood and discriminated against, very similar to transgender people. Although given the pronouns of he and him, the creature does not have to commit to being a man. He is restrained by societies constructed ideas of sex and gender being these strict ideas of only male and female. Susan Stryker, in her powerful essay dedicated to the idea of transgenderism in Frankenstein, want[s] to lay claim to the dark power of [her] monstrous identity without using it as a weapon against others or being wounded by it [herself] (Stryker 240). She is going to turn the hate and pain people give her into power and strength, which is essentially what the creature and Frankenstein do as well. Comprehensively, Victor Frankensteins homophobia is actually personal oppression of his semi-unconscious homosexuality, and his rejection of women is actually a deep fear that results in hatred and erasure of gender. As a male scientist, Victor takes advantage of nature as a feminine force in order to create life, diminishing any previous power women may have had in a society that already oppresses them. Frankenstein creates the monster to satisfy his own sexual desires and in the process takes away what little status women hold and their necessity in society.

Business Strategy of Amazon A Summary - Free Essay Example

|Bangalore Management Academy | |Business Strategy – Case Study 2 | |Amazon. Com | Submitted to: Mr. Nirmaalya. B. Biswas Dr. Amrita Saxena Submitted by: Jainie Jose BLR0906032007 Clareena Shafali Serrao BLR0906032032 Prashant Adhangle BLR0906032026 A. R. Sidhardha BLR0906032009 Contents Summary of the Amazon Case:3 Business Model:4 Strength:4 Weakness:5 Threats:5 Opportunities:5 Customer Focus:5 Means to Innovate and Enhance Customer Experience:6 Amazon. com The Wal-Mart of the Internet6 Recommendations:7 References:8 Summary of the Amazon Case: Amazon. com was founded in 1995 by Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon. com. Jeff Bezos strategy was to offer its clients lowest possible prices and world leading customer experience thereby becoming the biggest bookstore and the leading global online service in the world. They wanted to remain customer focused and innovate continuously to improve the online shopping experience whereby customers can buy anything online. Even though there was stiff competition from Barnes and Noble, had the advantage as the â€Å"first mover†. Between the year 1997 and 1999, it entered into promotional and strategic relationship with internet players like Yahoo. com, America Online, Excite and Dell Computers which reinforced Amazon. com’s position as the leading online bookseller. With growing customer expectations, Amazon. com introduced new products like Amazon. om Advantage, Amazon. fr, and Amazon. com Kids and also expanded operations in Germany and UK. During this phase it also went into acquiring a series of companies like Bookpages, Internet Movie Database, Junglee and Planetall for e-commerce; and announced strategic investments in companies like Drugstore. com, Della James, Pets. com. Most importantly Amazon launched its most successful music sto re with over 200,000 CD’s were being offered. However in April, 2000 led to heavy losses within Amazon. com resulting in cost cutting and closing of service centers in Hague, Netherlands, Seattle. However from 2001 onwards positive signs had begun to show with Amazon recording highest quarter sales over $1b in the fourth quarter. In 2002 by opening a website in Canada, it became the company’s 6th website and thus expanding its international sale as well. Amazon’s biggest achievement was to receive from the American Customer Satisfaction Index in 2002 the highest score in customer satisfaction ever recorded. Hence Amazon’s success shows its willingness to innovate, invest, acquire and form strategic alliances with other companies that offered products, technology and application for better customer experience. Business Model: A business model is an explanation of the operation of the business which comprises all the element of business, the task carried out in the business and includes the way the business generates revenues (Rayport, 2002). The business model of Amazon. com – a U. S. A based multinational e-commerce company, is well established because of the delivery of goods, services and information provided to its customers. Continuous development of operational efficiency will lead to sustainable competitive advantage of Amazon. com. This model takes title to the newly manufactured products that they sell and often rely on third party. Amazon. com requires third party source, such as Borders. com and Barnesandnoble. com, to maintain its sufficient supplies. To check whether the existing business model will work in future or not we have to do SWOT analysis. Strength: ? The company themselves developed key competencies in technology development, computer science and software. ? Variety of products available at low prices. ? Strategic alliances invest or acquire other companies that offered developed technology, applications, products or services that fitted its existing business model. High in customer satisfaction. Weakness: ? Amazon. com being in the highly volatile sector, to achieve sustainable competitive advantage it has to constantly revise its strategy and business model. ? Concentration of Amazon. com was on auctions which was a small part of their business. ? Due to issues in broadband/internet in developing countries, huge market is untapped. Threats: ? Concentration of Amazon. com was on auctions which wa s a small part of their business. ? In Amazon. com, Kindle – its e-book reader has a high value. Since Amazon builds the Kindle and sells digital books, Amazon is placing a large bet on the success of its Kindle franchise. However, Sony and IREX have released or are currently releasing competitor e-book readers. ? All high revenue generated or profit making business attracts competitors. Amazon. com would also face competition as it is difficult to differentiate the brand because it sells the product which is available on many other online sites. Opportunities: ? Market in developing countries. ? Increasing number of internet users. By analyzing the SWOT it can be concluded that the business model of Amazon. om will work in future provided that it has to adopt strategies that will give them competitive advantage. Also the attracting factor is the increasing number of internet users in developing countries will provide the new market and new customers. Also concentrating on customer intimacy rather than customer delight would be added advantage. Customer Focus: In the case it ca n be observed that since the startup till 2004, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of customers from nearly 150 countries which has lead to the expansion of their business and also expansion in their product line. From books, music all the way to a toilet brush has been made available to customers to buy with Amazon. com. With attractive low prices, huge selections and fast delivery of the products, Amazon. com has been able to successfully cater to the needs of various customers all over the globe. Also with the increase in the number of internet usage that can be seen in exhibit 8, Amazon. com still has a wide market of customers to cater to. Therefore they should continue catering to all the people has they have been successful with their existing business model. Means to Innovate and Enhance Customer Experience: ? Amazon. com has more than 76 million customers in which they can buy any item through the internet. It has introduced the selling of the items through internet and has customer accounts of only 1. 3 million and it is trying to increase this base. To increase it should make the customers aware of the selling of items through them and the price factor should also be taken care of. ? It has a loyalty program for its customers where they can join with a membership fee, on which they would be receiving discounts on express shipping i. . fast delivery of the products which they offer this only for the US, the UK, Japan and Germany. They should also make the availability of the offer in India, China and other countries. ? To improve its business it should start its e-commerce business in other parts of the world where people use internet extensively. ? Amazon. com sells its products to the customers without revealing who the vendor of the product is; whereas the other online sellers who have tie-ups with different kinds of vendors are able to provide its customers ith lower prices. Hence, Amazon. com should reveal its vendors so that it can provide the products even more at a cheaper price. Amazon. com The Wal-Mart of the Internet? There is intense competition in running an ecommerce venture and the many fierce competitors existing makes it all the more competitive for Amazon. com. Using Amazon’s stores will further help in creating internet based business and will force to have a direct competition with these competitors emerging. As Amazon. om offers the best prices for all kinds of products and also some products do not have any shipping deals, this makes them stand out from the others and they still make a profit out of it. Wal–Mart also focuses on offering the best deals to their customers, by charging low prices they bring out an added advantage to their retail business. Amazon. com has been ent irely unique with their business model as they focus not only on a particular products but a series of products which in turn adds values to their company. There are numerous reasons why the customers prefer using Amazon. com is mainly because they can get it directly and at a low price without any additional charge deducted. As usage of internet has increased all over the world, this further helps people to make their decisions faster and they also save time when compared to buying from an Amazon. com store. Also Amazon. com offers finest return policies, most excellent shipping prices and also biggest assortment of various products of any place over the whole web. Additionally those who have an account get 2 day free shipping as well as others promising deals. Products like kitchen items, clothes, computers, etc are free from shipping charges can be bought at one go. Amazon. com had engraved itself in many areas and had captured the attention of various consumers. Looking at their statistical range, they consider using the information that they have access to and come to conclusion about how prices should be charged and how to attain the low price wholesalers that exist in the market and make their business through. Since Amazon. com has entered into different areas, mainly into different markets wholly they now have the right to sell anything over the internet as they have the entire advantage over the other existing online businesses. In conclusion, we would like to say that as Amazon. com had engulfed various businesses into one whole business wherein customers can find whatever they require and shop accordingly, they have captures a very large unit on the internet in such a way that they have created barriers for other competitors to enter the market. An attractive way to expand themselves was by making their business stable and also sustaining the needs of the customers by the prices they set for their products. Recommendations: ? Being a competitive market and expenses being high, offering free shipping of books might affect the future financial position of the company. So Amazon. com should charge for shipping at a discounted rate. ? Amazon. com might also consider introducing Spanish version of their website since Hispanic Americans and the Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic group online. ? In order to have a competitive advantage and triple its sales Amazon. om might consider introducing referral programs for the its customers, wherein discount coupons would be given to those customers who bring in approximately 10 new members to their website. Also discount would be given to the new members who were newly referred in order to encourage them to start buying. References: About Amazon. com, (Jan 31st, 2010). Retrieved on 23 rd March, 2010 from: https://digitalenterprise. org/cases/amazon. html DaveChaffey: Your guide to Digital Business, (n. d. ). Retrieved on 23rd March, 2010 from: https://www. davechaffey. com/E-commerce-Internet-marketing-case-studies/Amazon

Introduction of Malaysia Bond Market - 4467 Words

INTRODUCTION 1.1 WHAT IS BOND? In finance, a bond is an instrument of indebtedness of the bond issuer to the holders. It is a debt security, under which the issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay them interest (the coupon) and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed the maturity. Interest is usually payable at fixed intervals (semi-annual, annual, and sometimes monthly). Very often the bond is negotiable, i.e. the ownership of the instrument can be transferred in the secondary market. Thus a bond is a form of loan or IOU: the holder of the bond is the lender (creditor), the issuer of the bond is the borrower (debtor), and the coupon is the interest. Bonds provide the†¦show more content†¦More importantly, Malaysia, among the key Islamic financial centres, offers a wide variety of Islamic bonds that are based on Shariah compliant concept. As at end-Dec 2010, Islamic bonds accounted for 39% of total bond outstanding. 1.3 BOND MARKET DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA * With the shift in public policy in the 1980s to consolidate public sector activities and promote the private sector as the engine of growth, a new financing pattern emerged. With this transformation of the economy, the decline of public sector borrowing was compensated by an increase in financing by the private sector. The private sector has relied on the banking system for its financing needs, of which a large portion was intermediated through the banking system - the ratio of bank credit to gross domestic product (GDP) in Malaysia was high at 149% in 1997. Nevertheless, the ratio of bank deposits to GDP was also high at 154% and therefore banks were able to finance their lending operations from their deposits. * As the banking sector was heavily exposed to the economic crisis that struck the nation in 1997, it was very cautious in extending new credits. In the post-crisis period, loan growth was low; for example in 1998 and 1999, growth was less than the target of 8% proposed by the government. * The malignancy of the Asian financial turmoil was derived from the externally-driven currency crisis with the internally induced banking crisis. In otherShow MoreRelatedThe Islamic Finance and The Sukuk Market1800 Words   |  7 PagesCHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 OVERVIEW The Islamic finance industry has been evolving and growing rapidly for the past decade. The recent global financial meltdown has open opportunity to Islamic finance to offer a new outlooks and effective solutions to economics problems. Economists are now looking to the east, learning lessons and seeing advantage of Islamic finance. 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Data Of Smes Rating Information Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2366 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? As discussed in the Chapter 3 on the methodology of the research, the data of SMEs rating information and the earnings information for the period has been computed. This chapter would analyze the obtained secondary data information and would provide the plan for hypothesis testing. 5.2. SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS For the current study, secondary data on manufacturing and service SMEs was accessed from the CMIE-Prowess database. Initially by giving the search option in the Prowess data base adhering to the definitions of an SME as specified in chapter 4, the financial statement of manufacturing and service-based SMEs has been obtained. The lack of consistency of the data has been identified and it was mainly because of the following reasons: Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Data Of Smes Rating Information Finance Essay" essay for you Create order 1. Information on earnings and accruals were not available for the required time; 2. Many companies were new; and 3. Many SMEs rating information were not available. Unfortunately, this drastically reduced the sample available for secondary data analysis to 50. 5.2.1. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS The following table (Table 5.1.) depicts the descriptive statistics for variables in the regressions. It is computed from the secondary data of Manufacturing and Services SMEs. Table 5.1. Descriptive Statistics ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Rating t ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Rating t+1 Earn t ACC t CFO t Lev t Size t Cap Int t Liq t Mean 0.1200 0.2400 1.8971 1.4871 0.0184 0.3046 3.0378 0.0646 2.8593 Standard Error 0.1016 0.1264 0.1126 0.1423 0.0238 0.0335 0.0761 0.0101 0.3950 Median 0.0000 0.0000 1.9181 1.6457 0.0365 0.2670 2.9652 0.0320 1.8906 Standard Deviation 0.7183 0.8935 0.7963 1.0063 0.1682 0.2371 0.5379 0.0718 2.7934 Sample Variance 0.5159 0.7984 0.6341 1.0126 0.0283 0.0562 0.2893 0.0052 7.8032 Kurtosis 7.1147 2.1525 1.0811 -1.0021 14.5300 1.6161 0.3901 2.5296 7.3048 Skewness 1.5382 0.3917 -0.7036 -0.2597 -2.9950 1.0686 0.5198 1.6068 2.4717 Range 5.0000 5.0000 3.6621 3.4761 1.1197 1.0447 2.7613 0.3190 14.9807 Minimum -2.0000 -2.0000 0.0000 0.0000 -0.8588 0.0000 1.8904 0.0002 0.0328 Maximum 3.0000 3.0000 3.6621 3.4761 0.2610 1.0447 4.6517 0.3192 15.0134 Sum 6.0000 12.0000 94.8551 74.3542 0.9184 15.2292 151.8877 3.2296 142.9664 Note: Count= 50 Source: Self Computation Using Microsoft Excel INTERPRETATION The descriptive statistics figures for SMEs indicate that the median earnings for the firms stand at 1.91 and the mean for CFO and ACC are all found to be positive. The Kurtosis value of future change in ratings is found to be 2.15 which is close to the normality range of 3. The Skewness for the same is found to be 0.39 which is nearer to the normality range of 0.3. Hence to some extent the dependent value follows a normal distribution. The Skewness is found to be negative for all independent variables under discussion namely the earnings, cash flow and the accruals. The maximum value of earnings is found to be 3.6 and that of cash flow is 0.26. The standard deviation for all the variables are in the range less than 1 except for accruals which is found to be 1.0063. The future change in ratings has a maximum change of +3 and a minimum of -2 within the period under study. INFERENCE From the above descriptive statistics, it can be inferred that the change in ratings for the SMEs does not seem to have a greater upgrade or downgrade. However few companies have seen changes in their ratings. The earnings, accruals and cash flow measures are all varying with greater extent in the industry and thus could be a possible factor for the credit rating changes. CONCLUSION It can be concluded from the above table that the rating changes that the SMEs face today be it upgrade or downgrade depends on the accruals, cash flow and on the earnings as a change in these variables are found to be relatively high. The companies differ greatly in their size which has been taken as an independent variable for the study. 5.2.2. CORRELATION ANALYSIS Correlation is one of the most common and useful tools in statistics. Correlation describes the degree to which two variables are related. Correlation coefficient ranges between +1 and -1; +shows the variables are perfectly positively correlated and -1 shows the two variables are perfectly negatively correlated. The following table (Table 5.2.) depicts the correlation between the variables under study. Table 5.2. Correlation Matrix    ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Rating t ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Rating t+1 Earn t ACC t CFO t Lev t Size t Cap Int t Liq t ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Rating t 1                         ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Rating t+1 0.240 1                      Earn t 0.491 0.362 1                   Earn t+1 0.447 0.281 0.592                   ACC t 0.226 0.354 0.524 1                CFO t 0.385 0.065 0.351 0.099 1             Lev t -0.182 0.059 -0.175 -0.005 -0.502 1          Size t 0.015 0.120 0.573 0.373 0.157 -0.024 1       Cap Int t -0.076 0.004 -0.305 -0.199 0.082 0.197 -0.482 1    Liq t 0.107 0.076 0.164 0.163 -0.217 0.279 -0.078 -0.198 1 Source: Self Computation Using Microsoft Excel INTERPRETATION A correlation analysis was performed to verify possible association between and among the variables, in order to verify whether there is any linear correlation between and among the variables of interest of the study (see Table 5.2). The correlation matrix for the SMEs indicates that ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ratingt and ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ratingt+1 are positively correlated with Earnt, ACCt and CFOt. ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ratingt+1 is significantly related to Earnt and ACCt but it is not significantly related to CFO in the univariate analysis. ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ratingt is found to be negatively correlated with Lev and CapInt. However ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ratingt+1 is found to be positively associated with all the variables. INFERENCE From the above table it can be inferred that the rating information is more dependent on the earnings than the cash flow measures based on the Pearson coefficients obtained. More significant correlation exists among the earnings information than that of the cash flow and accrual measures. The accrual measure has shown a very little significance when compared to that of the cash flow and earnings measures. CONCLUSION The SMEs change in their future rating depends more on the current earnings information than that of their accrued earnings and cash flows. It could be concluded that rating agencies take more of current earnings information rather future predicted cash flows. 5.2.3. REGRESSION ANALYSIS Regression analysis is the process of constructing a mathematical model or function that is being used to predict or determine the value of one variable by another variable. In the regression model the variable to be predicted is called a dependent variable and the variables upon which the dependent variable depends are called independent variables. For the research study, two models are developed one for earnings and the other for the cash flow. The dependent variable is the ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ratingt+1 and the independent variables are Earnt, ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ RATINGt, LEVt, SIZEt, SUBORDt, CAPINTENt, LIQt for the first model and ACCt, ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ CFOt, ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ RATINGt, LEVt, SIZEt, SUBORDt, CAPINTENt , LIQt for the second model. A summary of the model of regression analysis is given in table 5.3. Table 5.3. Model Summary Model R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 0.562 0.603 0.8508 2 0.488 0.533 0.7982 Source: Self Computation using XLSTAT INTERPRETATION R Square represents the proportion of standard deviation in the dependent variable (Future rating changes) which could be explained by the independent variables (Earnings, Change in ratings for the current year, Leverage, size, Liquidity, Capital Intensity, Subordinated debt). However the variable subordinated debt has not been considered for modelling as the value doesnt change for the entire sample. This is an overall measurement of the strength of the association and hence the extent to which any particular variable (independent) associated with the other (dependent variable) is not reflected. The value of R square for the first model is 0.562 which shows a relatively acceptable association between the dependent and the independent variables. Adjusted R Square is an adjustment to the R Square that expresses the effect on the addition of any other external predictors to the model. The value of adjusted R Square for the first model is found to be 0.603 and thus it indicates if an ad dition of external predictor to the model will add significant predictability to the dependent variable. The dependent variable (Future rating changes) which could be explained by the independent variables (Accruals, Cash Flow, Change in ratings for the current year, Leverage, size, Liquidity, Capital Intensity, Subordinated debt). However the variable subordinated debt has not been considered for this modelling too as the value doesnt change for the entire sample. The value of R square for the first model is 0.488 which shows a relatively acceptable association between the dependent and the independent variables. The value of R square is found to be lesser as the rating information does not necessarily consider the cash flow information and it is dependent on many other industry factors which are not included for the study. The value of adjusted R Square for the first model is 0.533. Std. error of the Estimate, also referred as the root mean square error represents the standard deviation of the error term and the square root of the mean square for the residual in the ANOVA Table 5.4 presented below. Table 5.4. ANOVA Table Model DF Sum of squares Mean squares F P value 1 Regression 6 8.563 1.427 2.008 0.0557 Residual 43 30.557 0.711       Corrected Total 49 39.120          2 Regression 7 6.974 0.996 1.302 0.0273 Residual 42 32.146 0.765 Corrected Total 49 39.120 Note: H2a0. Credit rating agencies do not fully incorporate information in earnings about future performance into their ratings. H2b0. Credit rating agencies do not fully incorporate information in accruals and cash flows about future performance into their ratings. Source: Self Computation using XLSTAT INTERPRETATION F test is used to test whether the model is statistically significant. The p-value of the F-test is looked at so as to see the overall model is significant. The P value is found to be 0.0557 and 0.0273, proving that the models are statistically significant. For the Model 1, the p value is greater than the significance level at 5 per cent. So the null hypothesis is accepted however the null hypothesis is rejected in the model 2 and it can be concluded that all mean values are not equal. It implies that there is a significant difference among all the independent variables. A summary of coefficients of Model 1 and Model 2 are given in the table 5.5 5.6. Model 1 Source Value Standard error t P Value Intercept 0.282 0.959 0.294 0.770 Earn t 0.546 0.205 2.658 0.011 ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Rating t 0.305 0.178 1.717 0.039 Lev t 0.339 0.599 0.901 0.373 Size t -0.223 0.335 -0.667 0.509 Cap Int t 0.268 2.157 0.291 0.772 Liq t -0.014 0.052 -0.272 0.787 Table 5.5. Coefficients for Model 1 Source: Secondary Data Table 5.6. Coefficients for Model 2 Model 2 Source Value Standard error t P Value Intercept 0.266 0.991 0.471 0.640 ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Rating t 0.217 0.149 1.450 0.154 ACC t 0.312 0.139 2.243 0.030 CFO t 0.340 0.942 0.361 0.250 Lev t 0.273 0.700 0.391 0.698 Size t -0.025 0.311 -0.079 0.937 Cap Int t 0.273 2.337 0.354 0.725 Liq t 0.008 0.052 0.162 0.872 Source: Secondary Data INTERPRETATION The first variable (Intercept) represents the constant, is the predicted change in the future credit ratings when all other variables are not considered. From the Table 5.5, Coefficients for Model 1, the coefficient value tells us about the relationship of each variable with the independent variable. For example, let us look at these variables: 1. Earnings: The coefficient for earnings is 0.546. So for every unit increase in earnings, a 0.546 unit increase in future rating changes is predicted, holding all other variables constant. 2. Size: The coefficient for size is -0.223. So for every unit increase in growth, a 0.223 decrease in change in future credit ratings is predicted, holding all other variables constant. 3. Current Rating Changes: The coefficient for Current Rating Changes is 0.305. So for every unit increase in Current Rating Changes, a 0.305 unit increase in change in future credit ratings is predicted, holding all other variables constant. The relationship in the case of other variables also follows the same pattern. Similarly, From the Table 5.6, Coefficients for Model 2, the coefficient value tells us about the following relationship. 1. Accruals: The coefficient for Accruals is 0.312. So for every unit increase in accruals, a 0.312 unit increase in future rating changes is predicted, holding all other variables constant. 2. Cash Flow: The coefficient for cash flow is 0.340. So for every unit increase in cash flow, a 0.340 increase in change in future credit ratings is predicted, holding all other variables constant. 3. Current Rating Changes: The coefficient for Current Rating Changes is 0.217. So for every unit increase in Current Rating Changes, a 0.217 unit increase in change in future credit ratings is predicted, holding all other variables constant. The Beta values have an associated standard error indicating the extent to which these values would vary across different samples, and these standard errors are used to determine whether or not the B value differs significantly from zero. By standardizing the variables prior to regression, all the variables are put on the same scale and the magnitude of the coefficients are compared so as to see which has more effect. The t and p value are the statistical tools that are used to test for the significance in of a given coefficient. If the t test associated with the B value is significant then that predictor is making significant contribution to the model. Using an alpha of 0.05 for the first model, we may explain these variables as follows: 1. The coefficient for earnings (0.546) is significantly different because its p-value is 0.011, which is lesser than 0.05. 2. The coefficient for change in current ratings (0) is also significantly different and its p-value is 0.039, which is lesser than 0.05. 3. The coefficient for capital intensity is 0.268 is not significantly different as its p-value is 0.772, which is greater than 0.05 The relationship in the case of other variables also follows the same pattern. The regression equation for the model 1 is ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ratingt+1=0.282+0.305*ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ratingt+0.546*Earnt+0.339*Levt-0.223*Sizet+0.2683*Cap Intt-0.014255*Liqt The regression equation for the model 2 is ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ratingt+1=0.2664+0.217*ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ratingt-0.31239*ACCt+0.34039*CFOt+0.27331*Levt-0.0246*Sizet+0.27285*Cap Intt+0.00841237*Liqt 5.2.4. HYPOTHESIS TESTING To test the first major hypothesis the relation between accrual-based earnings and credit ratings and the relation between cash flows and credit ratings, the level of credit rating (Ratingt) is regressed on total earnings (Earnt) and several cash flow measures. The coefficient on Earnt is significantly positive with the value being 0.469 and the adjusted R square is 0.213 and thus indicating earnings being an important input in the determination of credit rating. In another regression, the coefficient of CFOt is 0.278 is also positive and significant and indicating the rating agencies reliability on the cash flow for credit ratings. The adjusted R square is found to be 0.145. Thus it could be found that the adjusted R square in cash flow model is just 68% of the adjusted R square of the earnings model as indicated by the ratio of RSquare cash flows / R Square earnings (0.145/0.213) This indicate that earnings are more related to credit ratings than the cash flow measures and earnings could mitigate the timing problems. Thus we are rejecting the null hypothesis of the relation between accrual-based earnings and credit ratings is not stronger than the relation between cash flows and credit ratings. 5.3. CONCLUSION From the secondary data analysis it is concluded that the level of credit rating is dependent on both the earnings accruals and the cash flow measures. However, it was proved statistically that the earnings information are more significant in credit rating than the cash flows. The two major model equations that has been designed to test the other hypotheses indicate that credit rating agencies does not fully incorporate earnings information in their future credit rating changes and that of accruals and cash flows information into credit rating process. The other independent variables and industry factors are to be included while arriving at the conclusion that there exists an inefficiency in credit rating for SMEs that are under consideration.

Ethics Case Directions Example

Essays on Ethics Case Directions Essay The ethical dilemma at hand in this particular situation is one that is contingent upon accounting standards and the methods through which in common is represented. Ultimately, the needs of two distinct stakeholders are at hand. The first stakeholder is obviously the individual who is interested in representing a higher level of earnings/income so that he may be eligible for a year end bonus. By means of contrast in comparison, the second group of stakeholders are those individual shareholders of the firm itself. Naturally, when individual shareholders note that the overall level of worth that their particular shares of the company denote has fallen, as compared to a previous year, they may very well be interested in selling the remaining shares that they have; resulting in a decrease the value for the firm and a situation in which the overall longevity of this entity falls into further question. From an accounting ethics standpoint, the representation of information is an extraordinarily important facet of honesty and truthfulness. As such, seeking to represent the two values of â€Å"unearned revenue† and â€Å"payments in advance† as worthy of inclusion in the firm’s untaxed revenue would be a stark departure from the way in which such values were listed previously. In such a way rather than choosing between including these values in the overall total or refusing the request outright, a third path is possible. If this issue is one of such importance that they lead accountant feels it is necessary for inclusion, they can indeed perform such a function; Yachting this with a description and discussion of why this numerical change has taken place as compared to the prior year’s accounting report. However, this particular change must then be engaged in subsequent years and discussed it with stakeholders within the company that any potential changes in the accounting practice will have to be related to all stakeholders and clearly denoted in terms of an explanation within the year-end balance sheets. Whereas it is not illegal or unethical to change the way in which certain information is represented, so long as no laws are broken, going above and beyond this requirement and insisting that stakeholders are kept apprised of the way in which information is related is one fundamental way in which this ethical dilemma could be averted. In the eventuality that stakeholders within the company do not feel comfortable with relating the information in the way that the accountant has propose, the only other alternative would be to leave these two line items out of the final untaxed revenue entirely. The underlying reason for this is that changes in accounting representation, year-to-year, without any level of effective explanation creates a situation in which the overall truthfulness in representation comes into question. Whereas it is possible for the firm to engage in such a practice without breaking the law, such an approach would not be fair to the shareholders and would create further problems within subsequent years of accounting practice.

Latino Americans History, Culture, And Hardships Essay

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Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Essay Paper Example For Students

Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Essay Paper Incidents in the Life of a Slave GirlIn her essay, â€Å"Loopholes of Resistance,† Michelle Burnham argues that â€Å"Aunt Marthy’s garret does not offer a retreat from the oppressive conditions of slavery – as, one might argue, the communal life in Aunt Marthy’s house does – so much as it enacts a repetition of them†¦ Harriet Jacobs escapes reigning discourses in structures only in the very process of affirming them† (289). In order to support this, one must first agree that Aunt Marthy’s house provides a retreat from slavery. I do not. Burnham seems to view the life inside Aunt Marthy’s house as one outside of and apart from slavery where family structure can exist, the mind can find some rest, comfort can be given, and a sense of peace and humanity can be achieved. In contrast, Burnham views the garret as a physical embodiment of the horrors of slavery, a place where family can only dream about being together, the mind i s subjected to psychological warfare, comfort is non-existent, and only the fear and apprehension of inhumanity can be found. It is true that Aunt Marthy’s house paints and entirely different, much less severe, picture of slavery than that of the garret, but still, it is a picture of slavery differing only in that it temporarily masks the harsh realities of slavery whereas the garret openly portrays them. The garret’s close proximity to the house is symbolic of the ever-lurking presence of slavery and its power to break down and destroy families and lives until there is nothing left. Throughout her novel, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs presents these and several other structures that suggest a possible retreat from slavery, may appear from the outside to provide such a retreat, but ideally never can. Among these structures are religion, literacy, family, self, and freedom. Because it offers them the possibility of community and identity, many slaves find themselves strongly attached to religion. They cannot build a family structure and they cannot be identified by family name, but through the church, they can build a community and identify themselves as Christians. This comfort becomes virtually non-existent for it too is controlled by the slaveowners who â€Å"came to the conclusion that it would be well to give the slaves enough of religious instruction to keep them from murdering their masters† (57). The fact that one person could have the ability to control the amount of religion another person has and his purpose for having it diminishes any sense of community or identity that it may have initially provided. Many slaves felt that the answers to their problems lied in a place that was unattainable by most of them, the Bible, and that to read and interpret it would afford them â€Å"access to and participation in the discursive formations of bourgeois society† (Mullen, 256), thus allowing them to finally taste â€Å"the water of life† (61). However, for Linda, possession of such a gift did not prove this assertion. Rather than a deserved sense of pride, Linda’s literacy served only as a means by which Dr. Flint could abuse her. For years, she was subjected to his lascivious writings and psychological torment, due in part to his knowledge of her ability to read. Even her elaborate scheme, which drove Dr. Flint to and from New York, provided only the temporary satisfaction of watching him vainly and falsely pursue her because, like slavery, Dr. Flint would always return more forcefully than before. His returning presence affirmed that her freedom from him was as fictional as her letters and that she was as likely to find freedom in her present situation as he was to find her in New York The refuge that one often finds within the confines of family and self are unattainable in the life of a slave becau se, in essence, he is entitled to nether. To have a child is only to provide the slaveowner with â€Å"an addition to his stock of slaves† (52) that could be torn away and sold at his leisure and to have a family is to live in fear of this day. Linda’s father’s â€Å"strongest wish was to purchase his children; but though he several times offered his hard earnings for that purpose, he never succeeded† (9). He was denied the right to have his family and refused the possibility to purchase that on which decency could never put a price tag. Identification with family ties is a luxury that is just not afforded to the slave community. Even within Aunt Marthy’s house, the home of a free woman, family structure was not allowed to flourish. Since Dr. Flint â€Å"had the power of law on his side† (70), there was nothing to stop him from ravaging this so-called retreat and continuing his persecutions within. Therefore, how could one find refuge in a f amily or in a self that is not clearly defined by identity, but governed by uncertainty? Any chance for such an opportunity was embraced with an even more telling illustration of slavery’s â€Å"poisonous grasp† (64). This is most evident in Dr. Flint’s offer to build Linda her own private cottage away from the main house, a place where she and her children can live together. This offer cannot be benign as Dr. Flint is working from a reality that does not see Linda as a person who has the right to a family or a self. The notions of sexual and psychological abuse that would undoubtedly go on in this cottage serve to affirm the lascivious desires and powers of the slaveholder to dominate, break down, and eventually destroy all aspects of the family and self. .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 , .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 .postImageUrl , .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 , .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748:hover , .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748:visited , .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748:active { border:0!important; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748:active , .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748 .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3fdb09cb0294ae918fc48773f467d748:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Medicare Essay ThesisHaving explored the inevitable fate of a slave, there is but one assumption left – that the only outlet to freedom for a slave is freedom itself. However, like the previous false retreats I discussed, freedom is in the eye of the beholder and no matter which way you look at it, in Linda’s society, the beholder will always be the slaveholder. Let us explore the only ways in which a slave can achieve freedom – escape, sale, and death. If one escapes, then is he truly free? He may seem to be, but lurking behind will always be the slaveholder waiting and sneering. How can one be sold and still claim to be free? A price has been put on his life. Someone somewhere is lurking behind enjoying the benefits of this sale and let us not forget that there is no guarantee that a contract entered into by a slave will be binding. Finally, we encounter death. Yes, for the deceased the life of slavery has ended, but it is the life of slavery has ended his life. The slaveowner may have financially lost, but to his own ethics, he has won. No home, even Aunt Marthy’s, no matter how much love it holds, can offer retreat from the horrors of slavery until those horrors cease to exist. English Essays