The text the color purple Essay Example for Free

The text the color purple Essay The text ‘The Color Purple’, in both the novel by Alice Walker and the film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg, show Celies, a broken, mistreated girl, developing into an independent, strong woman, despite the physical, emotion and sexual abuse that she faces throughout her life. Each representation of the text take on a different approach as to how it portrays Celie’s search for self through her relationships with other characters-particularly Nettie and Shug-, her belief in God, her struggle for independence and fight against the oppression Albert forces on her. The novel tends to be more confronting while the harshness of the mistreatment is softened in the film by the placid music, comical elements and the fact that physical violence is hardly seen. Though the film and novel vary significantly and utilize different techniques to express the general ideas, both explore the major themes of racism, male dominance and family relationships. The novel tells the story through Celies letters, and therefore the reader knows nothing more than what Celie writes. This strong, single point of view makes the story much more personal and the effect of her innocent, frank language make the injustices she is put through even more stirring. The book uses Celies short, blunt sentences to convey her fear and turmoil, opening with a simple confronting sentence: â€Å"you better never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy†. Celie starts as a scared, confused girl with nothing in the world but her faith in God and her love for her younger sister, Nettie. The film, however, begins with direct contrasts to this, with the two sisters laughing and playing clapping games in a beautiful field of purple, Celie’s pregnancy not revealed until she steps out to meet ‘Pa’ in which the light music stops abruptly. The film used this lighter opening to soften the impact of the rape and to show her innocence and youth, as well as immediately show the closeness she shares with Nettie. Celie grew up with no self-formed opinion of herself, believing the negative comments that others spoke of her: â€Å"Celie you got the ugliest smile this side of creation†. The years of abuse made her submissive and silent, never speaking up for herself in order to survive. Shots of Celie watching events from behind props, windows or with her face turned down demonstrate the invisible nature that she has developed in the film. As the film had to keep running time down, Celie’s life is skipped through. This is done with a clever camera position showing young Celies shadow reading, her voice gradually getting deeper and her reading more fluent, the shadow changing to the figure of a woman. Recurring snapshots of the letterbox in various conditions as well as the use of dates aid the films quicker progression through the plot. Gaps left in the story by these skips in time are filled in with a voiceover. The novel illustrates Celies fear of males through word choice and blunt statements, as well as Celies husband being referred to as simply Mr. _____ for a significant part of the book , whereas the film used visual techniques such as lighting and camera angles. Many low angle camera shots of Albert or ‘Pa’ enclosed by shadows or looking down upon the females give the impression of dominance. Close-ups highlighting the expression of fear on Celie’s face or at sinister intentions of the male characters at the start of the film compared to the close ups of Celie as a confident woman after she found her identity show the change that she has undergone. This change in Celie occurs with the introduction of Shug and Sofia into her life. The two contrasting women are both strong and free and teach Celie that women do not have to be ruled by men. Celies main influence is Shug, who is loved by Albert as well as Celie, whose attachment to Shug is depicted through her primary role in the story of Celies life. Shug plays an extremely imperative part in Celies search for self by being the affectionate, encouraging person that Celie always needed. Most importantly, she teaches Celie to love herself and be happy with whom she is as a person. Shug opens Celies mind by removing other peoples influence on her belief in God, explaining that â€Å"not being tied to what God looks like frees us†. The turning point in both the book and the novel is when Celie discovers that Albert has hidden Nettie’s letters from her for all these years. Her love of Nettie, who she believes to be â€Å"the only one to ever love me† had helped her to stay strong through the years and endure Albert’s abuse. When she finds that he had been keeping Nettie from her, her rage breaks her fear of him and gives her the courage to leave the house and move to Memphis with Shug. Albert summarizes what he believes to be her weaknesses when he says â€Å"You black, you poor, you ugly, you a woman. Goddamn you nothing at all†. Celies retaliation by cursing him with â€Å"everything you even think about is going to fail until you do right by me† shows just how far she has come already. Albert’s insult poses a challenge for Celie. She goes out to find happiness and become self-sufficient, despite Albert’s condemnation. The novel looks at the progress that Celie makes with her sewing of pants. This is symbolic of the protest against discrimination against women and is a major part of Celie’s search for self. The film however skips through this, instead focusing on the symbolism of the purple field in Celie’s happiest moments-her childhood with Nettie, her walk with Shug after she returns home a successful woman and her reuniting with Nettie at the very end. The conclusion of the novel seemed to be much more rounded, with all the strings of the past woven neatly into a final letter in which she addresses â€Å"Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear everything. Dear God†. In this letter we find out that Nettie and her husband, Olivia, Adam and Adams wife have returned home from Africa. Celie and Nettie now have their own house, after finding out the truth about their ‘Pa’, Shug as come back to Celie, Sofia and Harpo are once again happy together and Celie has forgiven Albert for the past, now valuing him as a friend. It is this connection that eventually brings them together as friends. Though the film and novel vary significantly and utilize different techniques to express the general ideas, both explore the major themes of abuse, oppression, male dominance and family relationships. The central character, Celie, finds her identity through the help of those she loves and her personal strength to accept the past and move on with the future.

Overview of the Indian Economy

Overview of the Indian Economy The Indian economy has shown a remarkable growth after the adoption of liberalization policy. The opening up of the Indian economy in the early 1990s led to increase in industrial output and simultaneously raised the inflation Rate in India. There was an immense pressure on the inflation rate due to the stupendous growth rate of employment and industrial output. The main concern of the Reserve Bank of India (the central bank) and the Ministry of Finance, Government of India was the prevalent and intermittent rise of the inflation rate. Increasing inflation rate could be detrimental to the projected growth of Indian economy. Thus, the Reserve Bank of India was putting checks and measures in various policies so as to put a stop to the rising inflation. The Indian business community and the general public were assured by the central bank that the inflationary rise was harmless but still certain apprehensions existed among them. The pricing disparity of agricultural products between the producer and end-consumer was contributing to the increasing Inflation Rate. Apart from this the steep rise of prices of food products, manufacturing products, and necessities had also catapulted the Inflation Rate. As a result of all this, the Wholesale Prices Index (WPI) of India reached 6.1% and the Cash Reserve Ratio touched 5.5% on 6th January, 2007. The Reserve Bank of India gave top priority to price stability in its recently drafted monetary policy so as to arrest the panic and discomfort amongst the Indian business circles. It also aims to sustain the stupendous rate of economic growth of India. The Reserve Bank of India raised the Cash Reserve Ratio and used it as a tool to arrest the increasing Inflation Rate. Rationalizing the pricing disparity between the producer and the consumer is the only solution to this problem. Only this will ensure inflation stabilization and thus sustainable economic growth of India. From the beginning of FY2008 the Indian economy faced a rise in the prices of vegetables, pulses and other basic food stuffs. All this was accompanied with sharp rise in the prices when the annual policy statement for 2008-09 was unveiled on April 29. Inflation increased steadily during the year, reaching 8.75% by the end of May and in June when this figure jumped to 11% then there was an alarming increase in the prices. There were many reasons for it but one of the main driving forces was reduction in government fuel subsidies, which lifted gasoline prices by an average 10%. Indeed, by July 2008, the key Indian Inflation Rate i.e. the Wholesale Price Index touched the mark of 12.6%, highest rate in past 16 years of the Indian history. This was almost three times the RBIs target of 4.1% and almost doubled as compared to last year. This continuous rise slipped back to 12.4% by mid-August. Since the beginning of 2008 combination of various internal and external factors led to steep domestic inflation and the resultant steps taken to control it in were slowing the pace of expansion. These factors included the marked rise in the international prices of oil, food, and metals, moderating the rate of capital inflows, worsening current and fiscal account deficits, increasing cost of funds, minor depreciation of the Indian rupee against the dollar, and slow growth in industrial economies. The Indian economy was at a critical juncture where policies to contain inflation and ensure macroeconomic stabilization have taken center stage. In the first quarter of FY2008 (i.e. April -June), growth rate of GDP slowed down to 7.9% from 9.2% in the corresponding prior-year quarter, for the slowest expansion in three and a half years. The most remarkable decline was in industry where growth rate fell to 6.9% this was mainly because of cutting in the manufacturing growth rate to 5.6%. The slowdown was widened when agriculture and services sector showed a negligible growth of 1.4% and 0.9% points, below their performances of the year-earlier quarter.Over the medium term, the main objective of the government was to bring down inflation to 3%. The Repo and Reverse Repo Rates remained unchanged whereas Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) was increased by 0.25 percentage points. A survey of manufacturing companies was conducted by the Reserve Bank of India in June 2008 which indicated a moderation in business optimism. This was corroborated by the composite business optimism index for July -September 2008 that was prepared by Dun and Bradstreet, which shows a decline of 11.2% as compared to the previous quarter. In July, the BBB- rating on foreign currency debt was confirmed but downgraded the viewfor Indias long -term local currency debt from stable to negative, with a noticeable deterioration in the fiscal position.Growth of the broad money supply (M3) had to be moderated in the range of 16.5 to 17 per cent. While deposits were scheduled to rise by 17% and non-food credit disbursements by banks will grow at a slow rate of 20% as compared to 22.5% in 2007-08. Credit disbursed by banks last year was less as compared to the previous period. Bank credit had grown by a scorching 30% every year for consecutively three years beginning in 2004-05. The combined budget deficits of the central and state governments have been substantially reduced over the past 5 years. This reflected sincere efforts by the government to adhere to fiscal responsibility legislation. For FY2008, the central Governments deficit is budgeted at 2.5% of GDP and the states at 2.1% (4.6% of GDP on a consolidated basis). The major factors that strengthen the appreciable fiscal consolidation from the base were a wider tax base supported by a buoyant economy and improved compliance. Two main situations that must be overcome before achieving the deficit targets for the FY2008 are: a slowing economy that may limit the revenue buoyancy seen in recent years and continuous pressure by the Central Government to raise the salaries of its employees by 21% (about 0.3% of GDP) in response to recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission. Similar wage increases were announced immediately by half a dozen states and others were following the suit. On the other hand provision for these salary increases was not budgeted. EFFECTS Inflationary pressures in any economy leads to depreciation of its domestic currency. This is what our Indian economy was facing due to the running inflation and as a result Indian rupee depreciated by about 20% since April 2008. Inflation affects- 1.Common man: Inflation effects a common man in different roles such as a consumer: Products such as crude oil, fertilizers, pharmaceutical products, ores and metals, or use imported components such as Personal Computers and laptops are directly imported. Due to depreciation of the Indian Rupee all these goods became very expensive. Components in computers such as processor, hard disk drive and motherboard are also imported. Products such as mouse, keyboard and monitor also witnessed an impact on their prices due to Rupee depreciation. Inflation may rise in an economy when the input costs increase. As an investor: Depreciation of rupee makes imports of various components, capital goods and raw materials more expensive. As inputs and other equipment that are imported get costlier and reducing the profit margins. Companies that import goods in bulk and those with heavy foreign currency borrowings may be marked down in the stock market as the rupee depreciates. As a Wage-earner: During inflation this class of common man suffered a lot because of two reasons- Increase in wages and salaries failed to keep pace with the rising prices. Wages increased during inflation but there is always a time lag between the rise in price and increase in wages. As a result common man looses during the intervening period. Export companies: Due to depreciation of domestic currency exporters receive better prices for their goods and services when sold in foreign markets. Foreign Investors: Depreciation of Indian Rupee reduced the returns that foreign investors used to earn by investing in Indian companies. Depreciation of a currency triggered FII outflows. NRI investors, who previously invested their money in India under various deposit schemes due to high interest rates, started finding those schemes less attractive on account of rupee depreciation. Countrys Balance of Payments: One of the drawbacks of depreciation of Rupee is that exports become cheap in terms of foreign currency and imports become costlier. Current account deficit widened because Indian imports basically constitutes essentials such as crude oil, natural resources and many capital goods. Depreciation of Indian Rupee made the exports more competitive globally and as a result higher exports covered up the trade deficit. Farmers: The prices of the primary commodities such as minerals, diesel oil and fuel, power light and lubricants went up significantly. This disparity affected the agricultural sector in two ways- It had a restrictive effect on investments in farming and affected the production efficiency. On one hand the agricultural commodity prices were falling or stagnant and on the other hand increasing prices of agriculture inputs and other daily life commodities led to deterioration in the living standard of the farmers. Prices paid by the consumer have impacted by the cost of living of the entire value chain, which grows on the inefficient markets and this adds to the final cost of the material. For example, high energy cost itself has contributed to the increase in the cost of inputs required for agriculture besides pushing up the marketing costs of farm products. IT companies: The IT sector is amongst the highest recruiters in the Indian economy and a depreciating rupee spells good news for the sector. Bills for Information Technology companies are basically prepared in dollars or in other foreign currencies. Depreciation of the rupee increased their realizations and bodes well for their margins. The main reason for the good performance in the second quarter of Infosys Technologies and Satyam Computers was the depreciation of the Indian Rupee. An estimate suggests that a 1 per cent depreciation in the rupee expands an IT companys margins by 0.30-0.40 per cent. CONCLUSION Majority of Indias population lies close to the poverty line and inflation acts as a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬-Poor Mans Tax. More than half of the income of this group is spent on food and this effect is amplified when food prices rise. The dramatic increase in inflation will have economic as well as political implications for the Congress Government, with an election due within a year. Economic growth rate in the emerging markets have slowed down but is far from over. The BRIC countries i.e. Brazil, Russia, India and China alone account for more than 3 billion people and with consumption rate increasing every year. It is expected that the high inflation rates will be there for a long period of time which is worrying news for the Indian Government. Direct regulatory measures such as the reduction in import tariffs were adopted in order relax the supply-side pressures on various agricultural commodities. While adopting the direct measures, the Government realized that the relaxation of supply-side pressures would dampen inflationary expectations by increasing supplies in the commodities market. The RBIs attempt to control excess liquidity in the market byraising the interest rates pushed up real-estate prices as well as the commodity prices, thus fuelling inflation. A closer look at certain commodities would reveal that the prices of sugar and wheat were managed by the Government through various market intervention mechanisms. As a result the physical market’s role in effective price discovery was affected. Trade in the commodities market operated in an asymmetrical information situation from both the supply and demand sides. Hence, market operations could only benefit segments that were privy to the available information. The existing agricultural market ecosystem revolves around the traders and to some extent the producers with no say from side of consumers. Hence, at the end both consumers and producers are often at a loss. Generally, traders keep a heavy margin to compensate for the physical and financial risk involved in carrying the commodity for short as well as long term.

Literature Review on Leadership Theories

Literature Review on Leadership Theories 1. Introduction This chapter examined the literature of leadership practices on organizational commitment among managers. The study of leadership is seen as complicated because there has not yet reached any agreement among the researchers in terms of the real meaning of leadership. Professions from different fields around the world such as researchers, philosophers, organizational leaders had attempted to define the concept and meaning of leadership (Woods, 2007). As there are a lot of definitions define by professions around the world about the term of leadership, this study helps to identify the concepts of leadership in order to improve leadership practices on organizational commitment. The elements that will be discussed in this chapter were about theories of leadership that have been argued centuries. Then the definitions of leadership practices and five dimensions of leadership practices will be explained in detail. Lastly, the definition of organizational commitment will also be identified and be elaborated in detail. 2. Leadership Theories There had been existence of arguments about the definition of leadership for several centuries (Woods, 2007). It was indicated that the term of leadership cannot be defined easily. However, the existence of leadership in an organization cannot be denied in terms of its role in achieving the goals and objectives of the organization (Grojean, Resick, Dickson Smith, 2004, p.224). The scientific study of leadership became popular on 20th century and a lot of studies at that time were mainly focused on the effectiveness of leadership (Weinberger, 2009; Yukl, 1998). Daft (2005) defined leadership as a relationship between two parties which were leaders and followers that who were willing to create a shared value and strive toward a shared missions and objectives together (Lee, 2008). Besides that, leadership consisted of the meaning that a leader acts as an example or role model for the employees so that they can follow the step of the leader on the path towards the accomplishment of their tasks (Knab, 2009). The members in an organization tend to create the perceptions of what capabilities and criteria should be posses by an effective leader. Therefore, leadership was seen as effective when the leaders are able to develop and maintain the commitment of the employees through efficient monitoring and encouragement (Knab, 2009). According to Weinberger (2009), leadership can be nurtured in the attitudes and behaviours of the people through consistent training and practices. As many leaders in the leading organizations today are unable to fulfil the needs of team. Therefore, the studies of the leadership in terms of teamwork had received attention by the researchers around the world (Carroll and Levy, 2010). This is because different leader have different attitudes and behaviours. Thus, they will perform in different types of leadership practices under different circumstances (Morgeson, DeRue, and Karam, 2010; McGrath, 1962). In current century, the requirement of a leader to practice well in the leadership is getting more difficult. For the situation nowadays, leaders have to confront with more dynamic environment compared to the working environment that was less challenge for a few centuries ago (Leonard and Lang, 2010). The effective leaders were those who were able to fulfil their obligation perfectly and were able to achieve the expectation of the organization and its stakeholders (Weinberger, 2009; Goleman, 2000). There is no comprehensive of the theory and meaning of the term leadership, so it is difficult to determine what a leader should react and how the leader should behave in a particular situation. Regardless of the various meaning and definition of leadership, it continues to be one of the most widely researched topics today. The previous research on leadership had spur out different types of leadership theories such as Great Man Theory, Trait theory, Contingency Theory, Behavioral Theory, Transactional Theory, and Transformational Theory. Each of the leadership theories mentioned has their own meaning and explanation. The existence of different types of leadership theories indicated the efforts of previous researchers in the studies of leadership. Those theories play important role for the further literature study of the leadership (Morgeson, DeRue, and Karam, 2010). The management styles in Asian countries are different with those in western countries. Therefore, there is difficult to practice the western style of leadership in Asian countries such as Malaysia. Consequently, the leadership styles and theories that are accepted by western countries may not have the notable impact on the management styles of organizations in Malaysia (Lee, 2008). Every leader is different in his or her attitudes, behaviours, and management styles. Hence, there is no single theory works for all leaders. Leaders need to develop their own leadership approach by learning more about the following leadership theories. Great Man Theory Trait theory Contingency Theory Leadership Theories Behavioral Theory Transactional Theory Transformational Theory 2.1.1 Great Man Theory Researchers who support the Great Man Theory believe that people are born with the ability and competency to become a leader (Penn, 2008). The earlier studies defined that Great Man Theory described the leaders that had achieved greatness in their behaviours and attitudes (Daft, 2008). In the new era of today, there are still people that are willing to believe in this theory. Although this theory may sound old-fashioned in the eyes of some people in management team today, research suggests that some people actually possess the intelligence, personality traits, and characteristic that lead them to become good leader (Penn, 2008; Yaverbaum and Sherman, 2008). The term Great Man Theory was first studied by Thomas Carlyle (1841) who suggested that great men are the people that posses the intelligent and created the history of the world. Carlyle argued that great man is born with well personality traits, good behaviours, and high degree of knowledge. They are the people that able to facil itate their power and ability of leadership and open minded which lead them to become a great leader and will leave their footprints in the legend and history (Eckmann, 2005). Leader Born Personality traits Behaviours Knowledge 2.1.2 Trait Theory Trait Theory suggested that an effective leader can be identified through the recognition of his or her traits. Traits are the personal characteristic that possess by a leader, such as intelligence, knowledge, values, ideas, self-confidence, and attire or appearance (Daft, 2008). Trait theory suggested that a leader that complete with perfect and unique characteristic will become an effective leader. There were several studies found that potential leader will posses that similar straits of an effective leader. Trait theory had been neglected in the pass studies of leadership. However, as there had been more researchers explored the studies of leadership theories, more research had been done on this theory in recently years (Penn, 2008). Since the studies about straits theory has getting more popular, more research can be done on other personal traits that a leaders possess such as physical and social characteristic so that a more specific and appropriate trait of an effective leader can be develop. According to Daft (2008), there were some studies of this theory showed that same kind of personal characteristic may not suitable for every situation as the environment is always changing. Leader Characteristics or Traits Intelligence Values Self- confidence Appearance 2.1.3 Contingency Theory Contingency theory suggested that effective leaders will perform an appropriate leadership practices according to the different environment and situation (Penn, 2008). They will commit in the management styles that suitable and acceptable by the employees and organizations. According to this theory, the challenge and environment for every organization was different, so there was no a particular leadership or management style that can fit into all kinds of scenarios. A leadership style will have a positive impact for the organization and its member when the style fulfils the requirement of the situation and expectations of the employees. There were two Contingency had been identified in the past studies which were Path-Goal theory and Situational theory (Penn, 2008). According to Daft (2008), Path- Goal Theory suggested leaders can increase the commitment and enthusiasm of the employees to their jobs through the implementation of the leaders behaviours that fulfil the expectation of the employees. Besides that, this theory emphasized that employees organizational commitment can be increase through the using of reward to show the appreciation of contributions of the employees. On the other hand, Situational Theory emphasized that suitable and appropriate leadership styles will be formed for different situations and leaders have to make sure that their leadership styles are match with the abilities of the subordinates and function in the right situation (Hamilton, 1992). Contingency Theory Path-Goal Theory Situational Theory Leader Behaviour Use of Rewards Right Situation Leadership Style 2.1.4 Behavioral Theory In contrast to other theory discussed above, Behavioural Theory suggested that the actions of leaders will have a positive impact when the leaders perform appropriate behaviours that fit into the situations. In other words, everyone can learn to become a good leader if he or she can match the categories of their behaviours with the appropriate leadership styles (Katsuhiko, 2007; Shapira, 1997). According to Coleman (1986), Blake and Mouton of the University of Texas had proposed a two-dimensional leadership theory called the leadership grid. Each axis on the grid is a nine-point scale, with 1 meaning low concern and 9 meaning high concern. Figure 4.1.4 shows the leadership grid. According to Blake and Mouton (1980), Team management (9,9) was considered as the most effective leadership style because all members in the organizations that work together as a team will complete the tasks faster and can achieve a better result through the process of knowledge sharing in a team. Country club management (1,9) occurred when the leaders were behave to be more concern about the well-being of the employees instead of the productivity of the company. In a contrast, Authority- compliance management (9,1) occurred when the leaders show more concern of the productivity instead of the well-being of the employees. Nevertheless, Middle-of-the-road management (5,5) reflected a moderate amount of concern for both people and production. Impoverished management (1,1) was identified as the worst leadership style as the leaders are not concern for both people in the organization and productivity of the organization. Managers are not put their efforts in the maintaining of the relati onship with the subordinates. They also do not concern of the sustainability of the organizations production. 2.1.5 Transactional Theory Transactional leadership suggested that there was an agreement of contract made between the leader and follower about the obligations of both parties (Penn, 2008). According to the agreement, the followers need to perform and accomplish the task and instructions given by the leaders with full commitment. Instead, leaders have to recognize the contributions of the employees and reward them if the tasks given are being fulfilled effectively. Transactional leadership suggested that people tend to put in more effort in order to complete tasks given when there is existence of the rewards and reorganization. However, in the today diverse working environment that full with challenges, there are getting more people that put in effort to complete the task not by the attraction of rewards, they are doing so due to the self motivation and the inspiration of challenge themselves. Transactional leadership consists of two factors which are contingent reward and management by exception (Bass, 1990) . Contingent reward is formed when there is a mutually agreement between leaders and followers in with the ultimate purpose of achieving the objectives and goals of the company. On the other hand, management by exception is focusing on task execution which means that there is mutual trust between the leaders and the employees. Leaders will try their best in correcting the problems arise in order to maintain employees well performance (Weinberger, 2009). Transactional leadership Contingent Reward Management by Exception Mutual Agreement Focusing on task execution Correcting Problems 2.1.6 Transformational Theory Burns (1978) developed the original idea of Transformational Theory. This theory was defined as a process that transforms people through the motivation, values, and well planning goals which can lead the leaders and followers to higher level of satisfaction and successful in achieving target (Anagnoste, Agoston, Puia, 2010). This theory also indicated the ability of leaders in satisfying the needs and expectations of the followers (Kuhnert Lewis, 1987). Bass (1985) suggested that Transformational Theory emphasized the influence of leaders to the followers by developing a way that can encourage the commitment of the followers to achieve a better performance (McCall, Jr., Morgan, 1986). Transformational leaders tend to have the capability to inspire the subordinates. They always encourage the employees to explore deeper of their potential so that they can be more confident about themselves and can contribute more in the effort of achieving the goals of organization (Carless, 2001). According to Bass (1985), there were four major factors that must be practiced by the leaders that wanted to commit in Transformational Leadership. The first factor was Charisma which emphasized on the characteristics expressed by the leaders that can attract and retain the employees through their persuasive words and actions. The second factor was Inspirational leadership which was defined as a sub factor within charismatic leadership behaviour. The leaders that commit in this leadership have the capability to motivate and influent others through the emotional qualities. The third factor was Individualized Consideration which means that the leaders concern for the needs and development of each employee and they respect the dignity of each employee. The last factor was Intellectual Stimulation which implied the intelligent of leaders in problem solving. They encourage the subordinates in asking question and explore the potential of employees to be creative (McCall, Jr., Morgan, 1986) . Transformational Leadership Charisma Inspirational Individualized Intellectual Leadership Consideration Stimulation 2.2 Leadership Practices There were several aspects of the studies of leadership practices because it compromised by different identifications and reorganization (Morgeson, DeRue, and Karam, 2010). An effective leadership practices is the main key to improve employees achievement. Therefore, the focus on this study is to identify the effectiveness of leadership practices in promoting the followers to achieve higher level of organizational commitment. According to Knab (2009), leaders that perform well leadership practices have the ability to motivate and generate interest of the employees to the jobs. At the same time, they are the leaders that can inspire the employees to strive for the wellness of the organization and productivity and look beyond their own self interest. Kouzes and Posner (1993) suggested that credibility is characteristic that can be learnt by leaders through the experience of previous actions. Leaders that had been through different kinds of challenges tend to be more mature and know the way to handle their relationship with subordinates (Woods, 2007). Leaders are responsible to strive and maintain the credibility through continuing behaviours. With credibility as the essential ingredient of leadership, leaders need to always improve in that particular area in order to increase the trust and commitment of employees to them. Kouzes and Posner (2007) also suggested that the theory of leadership practices had been studied by many researchers and those practices can be studied jointly or independently. According to the previous research, practices of credible leaders can be defined in five categories which are: (a) Challenge the Process (b) Inspire a Shared Vision (c) Enable Others to Act (d) Model the Way (e) Encourage the Heart Leadership can happen at any location, in any form and occur in anytime. The effective leaders that organize the people well can accomplish many and different kinds of difficult tasks. According to Kouzes and Posner (2009), every leader that wanted to success in the leadership must commit in the five dimensions of leadership practices that mentioned earlier. 2.2.1 Challenge the Process The meaning of this Challenge the Process leadership practice was defined detail by Kouzes Posner (1995). The previous studies showed that this particular leadership practice described the characteristic of a leader that always look into the opportunity and space for improvement. They are the group of people that willing to confront with the challenges and risks. Besides that, they always prepare themselves to face the changing of the world (Knab, 2009). Leaders that commit in this leadership practice are not afraid of failure, instead they take failure as a process to grow up and improve. The leadership practice of Challenge the Process emphasized on the attitude of leaders that always prepared to venture out. They are the group of people that able to accept new creations and encourage the followers to accept new products, systems, and processes. In fact, they are the one that bring into the new products or services into the organization. The leaders engaged in this leadership practices are the originators of innovation. Therefore, this leadership practice suggested that the leaders to constantly think the situation from different dimensions so that they can create a different and unexpected new thing that can contribute to the productivity of the organization (Kouzes Posner, 2009). 2.2.2 Inspire a Shared Vision Members of the organization expect their leaders to have a clear image of the future and share the vision with them. Leaders who committed leadership practice of inspire a shared vision will helps everyone to formulate a clear picture about future goals that are acceptable and achievable by everyone (Knab, 2009). Leaders play a significant role in communicates the objectives and future plans to the employees in an effective way, and in the meanwhile inspires them to work towards a shared vision. According to Hyatt (2007), the effective leaders that commit in this leadership practice have to share their ideas with the employees. Therefore, the employees will know the direction that of their effort and will strive towards the goal with full commitment. Besides that, the leadership practice of Inspire a Shared Vision emphasized on the behaviours of the leaders that allow the employees to take part in the forming of future vision (Hyatt, 2007; Gabris Ihrke, 2000). Thus, employees will have a feeling that they are part of the organization and play an important part in future planning. Leaders that engaged in this practice are willing to accept known possibilities of the future. They tend to figure out the outcome first before they give the instructions to start a new project. Therefore, they will form a clear picture about what exactly they are pursuing and the best way to achieve the successful. Furthermore, they create a common and shared vision taking into account of the needs and expectations of all members in the organization (Kouzes Posner, 2009). 2.2.3 Enable Others to Act According to Knab (2009), an effective leader that engaged in leadership practice of Enable Other to Act have the ability to influent others and encourage others to act in the way that expected by the leader. They are the leaders that support and encourage the employees to speak out their mind and contribute their ideas in the projects. Besides that, they always provide options for the employees and inspire the commitment of the employees. This leadership practice emphasized the effort of leaders and subordinates work as a team (Woods, 2007). Therefore, leaders play an important part in nurturing mutual trust within the team members (Hyatt, 2007; Tan Tan, 2000). In order to achieve successful in a project, mutual trust and cooperation among the team members are extremely important. This practice also suggested that leaders enable others to act not by forcing or strictly command. Instead, they encourage others to act through the delegation of power (Hyatt, 2007; Gabris Ihrke, 2000). They allowed the employees to make their own decision as long as the decision they make was for the good of the organization. Moreover, they always use the word we to emphasize the important to work as a team (Kouzes Posner, 2009). Thus, the employees will have a perception that they are on the same boat with others member, then the organizational commitment will increase. 2.2.4 Model the Way The leadership practice of Model the Way suggested that leaders can develop and foster mutual trust between the leader and subordinates and within the subordinates by being the role model for the subordinates (Knab, 2009). Leaders that engaged in this practice are the leaders that ethic, honest and respect dignity of others. They will clearly define the obligations of employees and give a specific instruction so that employees will receive a clear picture of what are the expectations of leaders to them. According to the study of Woods (2007), it was defined that leaders that engaged in this particular leadership practices are able to express themselves with a clear values. Then they will make sure that their behaviour and attitudes are aligned with the values they show to the employees. Competency leaders know that they must involve in the role model expected by employees so that they can gain the trust of the employees and upgrade the commitment of the employees. To be an effective leader that model the way, leaders have to make sure their values and beliefs were accepted by the employees and demonstrate their daily actions that committed to their values and standards (Hyatt, 2007; Gabris Ihrke, 2000). Leaders actions will have more impact on the commitment of the employees than their words or instructions. However, leaders actions must be consistent with what they are promised to the employees. Besides that, leaders have to identify their position in the eyes of employees. They have to make sure that their existence in the organization is important and their instructions always followed by the subordinates. The leadership practice of Model the Way explained the right attitudes that leaders should commit in their direct interaction with employees. The leaders that act as a role model tend to be the leaders that earn the respect of the employees (Kouzes Posner, 2009). 2.2.5 Encourage the Heart Leaders that engaged in leadership practice of Encourage the Heart are willing to show their appreciation to the employees publicly, and always find ways to celebrate the achievement of the subordinates (Knab, 2009). Therefore, people will be more enthusiasm to their job as their contributions are appreciated by the leaders. Besides that, the employees that receive the recognition of the leaders will increase in their self-confidence and self-esteem (Hyatt, 2007; Javidan Waldman, 2003). Thus, they will not be afraid to share their ideas and knowledge with other colleagues. The increase of confidence of employees will then encourage the commitment of employees in their jobs. This will be a competitive advantage for the organization to compete in this challenging world. The high level of organizational commitment among the employees will then increase the productivity ultimately. In the process of upgrading the quality of the products and services require the leaders to motivate the heart of the employees. Leaders play an essential role to ensure that the employees values are align with the objectives of the company (Kouzes Posner, 2009). The leaders that appreciate the effort of the employees will increase the sense of belonging of the employees. When the employees feel that they are a part of the members in the organization, they will be more commit in their jobs and willing to stay with the organization even in the through tough times. 2.3 Organizational Commitment Organizational commitment had received highly attention of the researchers in the previous studies. Previous research had identified that organizational commitment had a significant influence in some aspect of working attitudes and behaviours such as job satisfaction, job performance, and turnover rate (Lee, 2008; Lok and Crawford, 2001; Yousef, 2000). Organizational commitment focuses on employees commitment to the organization. Mowday et al., (1974) explained the definition of organizational commitment as the belief of employees regarding the organizations objectives and values. This will imply the desire of the employees effort and the willingness to contribute to the organization. The employees will be more committed in their organizations if the values and culture of the organizations align with their expectations. Then they will stay loyalty to the organization. According to Cole (2000), a committed worker always believes in companys products and services. He or she is willing to put in a lot of effort and even willing to make sacrifices as long as the purpose is for the good of company. Besides that, the employees are willing to introduce the company to their friends. They will feel proud of their company and recommend their organization to the others as the best place to work for. Furthermore, they will choose to contribute to the company that spur out their organizational commitment rather than the company that provide high salary but absence of the sense of belonging (Lee, 2008). Meyer and Allen (1991) developed three different types of organizational commitment. According to Woods (2007), the three aspects of organizational commitment were defined as below. Affective Commitment This aspect of the commitment described the feeling of employees to the organization that expressed in a positive way. They feel attach to the organization because the organization provided them a sense of belonging. The choose stay in the organization because they want to. Continuance Commitment This aspect of the commitment explained the perceptions of the employees that they will lose their benefits if they leave the organization. Besides that, they afraid to suffer the cost of losing their friendship with colleagues and the cost of losing the economic cost such as insurance, welfare, bonus, and etc. Therefore, they will choose to stay in the organization because they have to. Normative Commitment This aspect of the commitment suggested that the employees continue to contribute to the organization as they have a feeling of obligation. There will be many causes of that feeling. For instance, an employee will have a sense of moral obligation and afraid to leave the company as the company had invested a lot in his or her training. Therefore, the employee will have a perception that he or she has the responsibility to stay still in the organization. As a result, the employees will choose to commit in the organization as they feel that they ought to. 2.4 Summary Leadership was defined in many meanings by researchers and it showed that leadership was indeed plays an important role in todays organization. Although there have been many different theories and definitions of leadership, there is still space for further research about leadership (Lee, 2008). Since it was suggested by previous studies that principal of leadership is the key to improve employees achievement, it is important that we continue to investigate what type of leadership is most effective for the organizations (Knab, 2009). The need for effective and efficient leadership practices are important for the leaders in today organization to engage in. Sufficient and efficient practices of leadership in the organization by leaders will increases the organizational commitment of the employees. As a result, the productivity will also be increased. A leader may have knowledge and skills to act effectively in one situation but he or she may not perform as effectively in a different situation as there is always consist of different challenges in different situation (Lee, 2008; Rad and Yarmohammadian, 2006). In this chapter, the theories of leadership were defined. Subsequently, in this chapter the five leadership practices was explained and its important was discussed as well. Furthermore, the meaning of organizational commitment also be defined and three-component model of commitment was identified.

Knowledge, Power and Control :: Philosophy Religion Papers

Knowledge, Power and Control In this paper, I propose to examine some of the issues that arise as a result of the relationship between knowledge and power, and specifically those that concern who should control knowledge and disseminate it in society. This subject is discussed in the writings of Plato and is also commented on by such medieval thinkers as Averroes (Ibn Rushd), Moses Maimonides and St. Thomas Aquinas from the Islamic, Jewish and Christian traditions respectively and their views will be briefly outlined here. Despite the religious, historical and cultural differences which distinguish their approaches from one another, what is remarkable is the similarity in the conclusions that they reach about how noetic power and control is acquired and exercised. They all insist that knowledge should be made selectively available to certain individuals and groups according to noetic ability and social position in the context of the envisaged socio-political model of community that is in operation. Knowledge is perceived as a conserving influence on individual and political life, to be transmitted preferably in an essentially unaltered state in order to maintain sustain the desired socio-cultural value system and power structure. The emphasis is on respect for tradition and for the origins and status of the noetic content to be transmitted through the expertise of those delegated to act as transmitting agents. The content of knowledge is frequently portrayed as mysterious and mystifying, only capable of proper interpretation by appointed specialists. The role of teaching is consequently important since the teacher is the community's appointed expert for disseminating knowledge, as and when appropriate, according to the receptive abilities of those who learn. This epistemological approach appears to be in sharp contrast to the contemporary view of someone like Paulo Freire who insists that knowledge must be democratically available to everyone in order to politically transform society transformation through social justice.(1) This aim is achieved when the noetic process becomes a critical reading of reality, a reflection in action which is applied so that traditional ways of thinking constitute a permanent subject for reinterpretation. Knowledge is perceived in Freirean epistemology as a medium of communication between human beings, a process in which there is no permanently unaltered noetic data but rather an ongoing dialectic strategically pursued through contradiction and constantly aimed at radically redefining how people can coexist in a state of social equality. According to this view, knowledge offers everyone the possibility to think more critically about the world so as to act on it in a more humanising way.

Fahrenheit 9/11 Essay -- Michael Moore Movie Persuasion Essays

Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore’s latest film, â€Å"Fahrenheit 9/11,† presents a critical look at the administration of George W. Bush and the War on Terrorism. In this film Moore investigates the rapid growth of the United States government and its trend of trampling the rights of individuals, and the corporatism that is spawned out of the close ties between big government and big business during wartime. Michael Moore may not convince all audiences, but is successful for its factual accuracy in which the evidence spoke for itself, and at the same time proclaimed Moore's artistry in transposing and splicing scenes to create impressions that supported his allegations and opinions. Michael Moore has employed two main techniques in an attempt to successfully influence his audience; psychological means of strategy, and cinematic techniques of persuasion. These methods, coupled with how they are presented to the audience, and how the audience react, are what Moore uses to create a scheming effect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Humor and emotional appeals is what Moore has used in Fahrenheit 9/11 to aid the effect of persuasion. For humor, Moore reaches for an ‘ad populum’ with his audience, looking to exert his opinion as a justification for his claim. An example can be with the Florida election, where Moore has used a fast tempo background piece of music. This sounds much like a stereotypical ‘hillbilly/country’ song; which can be related to Bush’s southern US state background. This music has several functions, including helping Moore’s rapid delivery of facts, but in this case it illustrates Moore’s opinion of the nature of the election – that it can be seen as some sort of ‘joke’. By providing a taunt at Bush’s background, Moore has given the audience humor. Comedy makes these messages more effective as it increases the liking for the source [Moore], and the choice of humor might illustrate a shared sense of hi larity that hints at a similar set of underlying ideas that the audience hold. In â€Å"Fahrenheit 9/11† Moore specifically uses anger as his primary emotion in order to persuade the audience, the anger of Lila Lipscomb, whose son died whilst in combat duty in Iraq. Moore’s interview with Lila Lipscomb provides an insight into the pain felt by families whose children had died during the war in Iraq. Moore presents the audience with the nature of Lipscomb’s anger directed at th... ...ainst its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia but to keep the very structure of society intact." The aim of this is to strengthen Moore’s view of the drive of the ruling class of modern hierarchical society imposing essentially permanent warfare. Moore reads the quote before the end of the movie. This tactic is used by Moore to give a more memorable and powerful statement, leaving the audience his solidarity attempt to question their leader’s action. Michael Moore brilliantly manipulates the conventions of film to make the audience see and feel these political and moral issues the way he does. Moore, an outspoken loather of the President has shaped his film like a cinematic bullet, with character assassination as his priority. â€Å"Fahrenheit 9/11† shows a series of solemn images and sound bites, arranged as a critical history of the President’s actions since he took office, including the abuse of power and use of fear tactics that have been employed for his monetary and narcissistic gains. Regardless of personal political leanings, â€Å"Fahrenheit 9/11† is an amazing accomplishment of individual expression and anti-government aggression.

The History of Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance was driven by a force of great strides in humanity. This was a time for a re-awakening of educated thinking, great artistic endeavors, and an empowering factor of humanism to use free will to govern one's future rather than allowing the church to dictate the correct path in life. The city of Florence became the center for much of this activity, where artists and scholars were sponsored royally by like-minded families of great wealth and social power. More emphasis was put onto education as a means of freedom from ignorance instead of a reason to serve God. There was a shift in power from the church to a general secularization in all areas of life, with the main focus being on the enhancement in the studies of the arts. The arts were looked at in a new way, using humanism as the new religion and the new way to achieve the greatest possible virtue. The actual term Renaissance means â€Å"re-birth†, which is essentially what was taking place overall, in Florence and other Italian states. â€Å"For Burckhardt this period consisted, broadly speaking, of the 15th century in Italy, a time and place in which â€Å"medieval† man became â€Å"modern† man. -Italy-History of, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2000. (1) This was a re-birth of ideas, learning, communication, artistry and beliefs. All of these factors were culminating together to prepare the world for the dawning of a new age, and a new direction for man to move in. The Italian Renaissance began finding it's niche among the elite in Florence in 1360, however, this was just the beginning. The Renaissance proved to be more established by the early fifteenth century among the rest of Italy, and eventually the rest of Europe. . The world was changing and ready for a new way of thinking. No longer were individuals prepared to accept the teachings of the church as their guidelines in life. Society wanted more from life than what the church had to offer. Italian culture, most noteably in Florence, was growing wealthier. With this increase of wealth came a need to pursue personal limits in achievement, education, and ability. â€Å"In their society, successful individuals, usually men, clearly were capable of doing more in this world than traditional religious views allowed. † – Modern European History I, 1992. (2) The humanists came forth from this need to learn. They were the intellect behind the Renaissance and brought to light a new view of what should be taught and studied. They embraced the classics; translating many from the ancient Greek and Roman script they were originally created in, and redefining how these works were originally interpreted. They looked upon studies in grammar, rhetorics, poetry, history and moral philosophy as a means of elevating their self-worth, and discovered that man can create his own destiny rather than follow a pre-ordained fate determined by the church. By using education to further themselves in society, the free-willed humanists were setting the standards for educated thinking, that current modern day life adheres to. â€Å"Humanism was the most important single intellectual movement of the Renaissance. † – Eugene F. Rice Jr, 1970. (3) Humanism was not only focused on education; this way of thinking also held power over other aspects of the Renaissance. 2 As much of the educational aspect centered in Florence, so did the growing desire for beauty and culture to be represented in art; another strong factor of humanism. With it's economic and social standing becoming rapidly elevated, and due to the strong tradition of democracy it held, Florence would prove to have the ideal surroundings for the birth of artistry in the Italian Renaissance movement. At the beginning of the Renaissance, Florence was a well-established, commercial city primarily controlled by the rich merchant class and some of the very wealthy and powerful families that resided there. Families such as the de Medici family, would commission artists to design and build enormous churches, palaces and other monuments to cement the families' position in Florence. Using this type of backing sponsorship, the growing artistic community was able to flourish and thrive, and produce a mutitude of glorious works, focusing on a new embodiment of their skill. The human body was looked upon and studied with more detail and realism than ever before. This lead to more accurate and life-like art work, both in painting and sculpture. Much of the art moved away from the old themes of portraying the world and humanity as perfectly as possible, and concentrated instead on capturing the actual likeness of the subject matter, no matter how unappealing or distressing it may have been. With enormous financial sponsorship behind them, artists were able to concentrate soley on their craft and expand it into the new, Renaissance style. They met great opposition from the church but were able to continue moving forward with the ongoing support of their benefactors. The infallible teachings of the church combined with the power of the Pope, were constantly challenged by the humanists and those that followed this new style of thought. Citizens were more and more frequently pledging allegiance to the crown rather than to the Vatican, creating a steady decline of power from religion. â€Å"The Christian truth that had been acknowledged as comprehending all phenomena, earthly or heavenly, now had to co-exist with a classical attitude that was overwhelmingly directed toward earthly life. – Humanism, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2000. (4) Knowledge began to undermine the position of the church. An ever-increasing amount of followers of humanism reaffirmed the fact that humans are individuals and not just souls passing through earth on their way to eternity in heaven or hell. As individuals, every human had the right to discovering his own destiny and potential. These beliefs and views were strongly frowned upon by the church, who tried in vain to reassert their influence on society. Much of the great wealth of the era was also looked at as un-Christian, but the humanists argued that wealth was only a means to achieve greater virtue. Money was needed to fund and support the arts, which provided the tools to further enlightenment in these areas. The church however, could only accept this wealth if it was used for the greater good of society. This was an argument to prevail throughout the Renaissance. From the re-evaluation of education and art, society has derived an opportunity to determine their own destiny, based on the knowledge they choose to empower themselves with. Humanists may have opposed the church and it's teachings in order 4 to move forward with free will and choice, but without that opposition, life would not hold the amount of wonderment and variation that exists today. The humanistic efforts that began during the Italian Renaissance paved the way for society to become more independent in their thinking, more realistic in their arts, and more educated in subject matter that had been too long denied. The Italian Renaissance shaped and altered the â€Å"modern† world, bringing society out of the â€Å"medieval† times and onto the path that stretched toward the optimistic future.

Fate in Homer’s Iliad Essay

Talking about fate as about the only force that determines the human actions means to refer to a term that vexes and limits the human condition. The fate is given by the reaction of gods, but it is placed above people and gods. The gods participate to the human existence to help or to oppress them. The success doesn’t depend on the individual value, but on the support provided by Immortals, without any justification. Zeus is presented as the incarnation of a supreme force, but with an arbitrary will, whose manifestations can’t be predicted or avoided. The good and bad are related to criteria that have nothing to do with virtue or justice. The two Homeric poems Iliad and Odyssey are perfect mirrors of the Greek culture. For centuries they have fed the Greek spirit and remained models imitated by the art works and the everyday ones. Ulysses and Achilles, who dominate throw their extraordinary personality, are models of the Greek hero, Ulysses being presented as an Apollonian hero and Achilles as a Dionysian hero. The fate is present in Iliad as an answer to the existence and role of man, being responsible for his actions and decisions. It also determines the life of Gods, although they don’t have a destiny and they can not be judged for the consequences of their acts, as they are immortals. â€Å"But once they reached the springs for the fourth time,  Then Father Zeus held out his sacred golden scales:   In them he placed two fates of death that lays men low –  One for Achilles, one for Hector breaker of horses –  And gripping the beam mid-haft the Father raised it high  And down went Hector’s day of doom, dragging him down  To the strong House of Death.†Ã‚  (Homer. The Iliad. Richmond Lattimore, translator. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1951) 22. 248-54) The Homeric epics are inspired by a series of mythical and historical events, known all around the world. Iliad narrates. In the Book 1, Thetis, the mother of Achilles, tells him: â€Å"Doomed to a short life, you have so little time. / and not only short, now, but filled with heartbreak too, / more than all other men alive – doomed twice over†   (Homer. The Iliad. Richmond Lattimore, translator. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1951), 1. 496-98). The Trojan War was a military conflict from antiquity, between the city of Troy and Achaeans. According to Greek mythology, the war started because Paris, the prince of Troy kidnapped Elena, Menelaus’ wife, the king of Sparta. This conflict is one of the most important events in the cycle of Greek myths, including the great Antique epic poems, Iliad and Odyssey, both written by Homer. The sky and the Earth are united by Zeus throw rain (Zeus ombrios, hyetios, ikma, ios), wind (Zeus urios, euanemos), thunder (Zeus astrapaios, bronton, keraunos), signs and oracles that transmit to the immortals from Erath the messages sent by the heavenly gods. The immortality, which is a precise boundary between humans and gods, in the eyes of Greeks, it represents an essential feature of Divine. In Homeric epics, especially in the Iliad, it is presented a merge between the world of gods and the world of humans. Each divinity acquired its own physiognomy, characterized by specific attributes. The relations between gods and humans, as they have been presented by Homer, raise numerous issues regarding the influence of Gods on the life on Earth, even on the psychology of heroes. Homer hates the war but recognizes its power. Achilles does not come out in the battlefield until Patroclus, his most beloved friend, was killed. In that moment of blind rage, Achilles has fulfilled fault, refusing Hector to pass throw the usual rituals, to reach on the land of Hades. In fact, from the beginning to the end, it can be noticed the power of fate. Paris kidnaps Elena, all the Trojans are affected by his act, but none of them try to send her back to Menelaus and all approve the beginning of the war. â€Å"Sing, goddess, the rage of Achilles the son of Peleus, The destructive rage that sent countless ills on the Achaeans†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Iliad, Book 1) Being presumptuous, Agamemnon insists to take Briseis, a slave taken from the temple of Apollo, despite the heavy words and threats of Achilles. Regarding Achilles, it was not about fault, but about a prediction, as he was meant to choose: either he wouldn’t have known the greatness of conquering such a fortress and his name wouldn’t have survived   in time, either he wouldn’t gone to Troy and would have died of natural death. Achilles, obviously refused the anonymity and died, but not before struggling with the god of a river, who was mad because of the various crimes committed by the hero in its waters. He managed to escape from this challenge, as he was helped by gods. The fate is also present in Athena’s words, when she addresses to Achilles:  Yes!   We will save your life – this time too –  Master, mighty Achilles!   But the day of death  Already hovers near, and we are not to blame But a great god is and the strong force of fate. (19 . 483-86)  The men’s destiny is responsible for his death, and not the other men.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The son of a great man, the mother who gave me life a deathless goddess.   But even for me, I tell you, death and the strong force of fate are waiting.  There will come a dawn or sunset or high noon when a man will take my life in battle too  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ flinging a spear perhaps or whipping a deadly arrow off his bow.   â€Å" (Homer. The Iliad. Richmond Lattimore, translator. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1951) , 21. 122-28)†, said Achilles when he referred to his own fate. It is not about a clear hierarchy of the cosmic powers, as the Gods and fate are often perceived by the characters as being the same. A personified Fate or Fury answers to unclear questions about the human nature and inexplicable events. Iliad has a consistent subject, based on Achilles wrath. In the center of conflict, shines the absolute hero, the ruthless winner, violent and courageous, but also the sacrificed hero, who will spread death around him. The name of Achilles is uttered by all soldiers, and Peleus, the father of Achilles, is desired and regretted by all. Achilles wanted to die in the war, but by an irony, he is killed by one of the most sympathetic of the heroes of Homer, a war novice- Paris, the shame and curse of Trojans.