Hung Liu: Artist Biography

Hung Liu: Artist Biography Hung Liu is one of the popular artists born in Changchun China in 1948. She studied Mural painting as a graduate student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing soon. After her birth, her dad an officer in Chiang Kai Sheiks Nationalist Army was capture. In addition, her mom was compelled to divorce him to ensure herself and a newborn child. Hung Liu subject throughout the year has been a prostitute, refugee, road entertainer, troopers, workers, and the prisoner and so on. Liu immigrated to the United States in 1984. She is a class of 1986 alumna of the University of California, San Diego. As a painter Liu, challenge the narrative specialist of authentic Chineses photographs by subjecting them to be the more thoughtful procedure of painting. A great part of the importance of Lius canvas originates from the way the washes and drips, disintegrate the narrative pictures, recommending the section of memory into history while attempting to reveal the cultural and narrative fixed Washing her subjects in veils of dripping linseed oil, she both Preserves and decimates the picture. Liu has imagined a kind of authenticity that surrenders to the disintegration of memory and the progression of time, while also bringing faded photographic images clearly to life as rich, easy works of art. She summons the apparitions of history to the present. As a result, Liu transforms old photos into new works of art two-time beneficiary of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in painting, Liu additionally got a Lifetime Achievement Award in Printmaking from the Southern Graphics Council International in 2011. A review of Lius work, Summoning Ghosts: The Art and Life of Hung Liu, was as of late sorted out by the Oakland Museum of California, and is booked to visit broadly through 2015. In a review of that show, the Wall Street Journal called Liu the best Chinese painter in the US. Lius works have been shown broadly and gathered by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, th e Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and the Los Angeles County Museum etc. Liu right now lives in Oakland, California. She is Professor Emerita at Mills College, where she has educated since 1990. As, her artwork are very popular. I have illustrated two of them. The first one is Three Fujins which is representational work of art. The main subject matter of this painting is all about the three Chinese women sitting on the birdcage on their hand. This work of art has depended more on complexity between two kinds of contrasting line. Controlled represent power and other is free and liberated. The mask-like faces of these women seemed to be a depiction of women bound by the system in which they live. These women are being pampered as royalty and as a slaves at same time. Similarly, the three birdcages on the painting represent their spiritual captivity. Their excessively unified formality of their pose is in perfect balance its repetitious and has rhythm in it. It represents their submission to the rule of the tyrannical social forces. Showing they have given themselves up in order to fit their prescribed roles. The second artwork, I am have chosen is the Virgin/Vessels by Hung Liu. The type of artwork for this painting is Oil on canvas. In this work of art, there is one privileged Chinese woman tottered by Chinese Convention of foot authoritative. In the photo, she is sitting like a statue with a photo of prostitution. She is very not able to walk because of her foot. The women body seems like a sexual vessel in the photo. Indeed, even her outfits on the photo uncover a similar thing about the women. Through this photo, painter Liu has possessed the capacity to make sense of the more terrible circumstance of women, even the ladies from the privileged family were constrained for the prostitution. In this work of art, Liu has exceptionally stressed on differentiation method for painting. The exceptionally pitiful, pure and miserable appearance of the face of the women depict a hard time of the nineteen century. References Bio. HUNG LIU. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017. Rucker, Raven. Three Fujins by Hung Liu. Prezi.com. N.p., 20 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

Top Glove Corporation Berhad Expansion

Top Glove Corporation Berhad Expansion 1. INTRODUCTION Top Glove Corporation Berhad founded by the husband and wife team of Tan Sri Dr. Lim Wee-Chai, as a company chairman and Puan Sri Tong Siew Bee, executive director. Establish in Malaysia in 1991, Top Glove operated with only one factory with three second-hand production lines. Nowadays, it is known as the world largest rubber glove manufacturer. Top Glove embarked an impressive expansion plan with the following position: World Largest Rubber Glove Manufacturer Existing (As at December 2010) 1. Number of Factories 20 2. Number of Production Lines 379 3. Total pieces of Gloves Produced (per year) 33.75 billion 4. Number of Employees 10,900 5. Countries of Export 180 6. Number of Customers 900 Top Glove was listed on Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpurs second board in 2001 and has been successfully promoted to the Main Market of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange on May 16, 2002. Top Glove has over 15 years of experience in production of latex examination gloves (HWANGDBS Vickers Research, 2008). It has also diversified overseas and set up four factories in Thailand and two in China, in addition to the 12 facilities it has in Malaysia (CIMB Research Report, 2007). 1.2 Companys Core Business Top Gloves nature activities are manufacturing and trading rubber gloves, synthetic gloves and surgical gloves which are mostly used in medical, industrial and food services industries. With an approximated 80% of their product is in the form of natural rubber gloves and the remaining 20% are synthetic gloves (CIMB Research Report, 2007). Top Glove acts as a one-stop glove centre by offering a full range of services, from manufacturing glove products to packaging, branding, sales as well as distribution of finished glove products through its three primary sales offices in Klang, Malaysia; Azusa, California and Duisburg, Germany (HWANGDBS Vickers Research, 2008). About 95% of the company sales are for the export market. 1.3 Financial Performance According to annual report 2009, Top Glove has successfully achieved the company growth by showing the increase in net profit for the financial year. The remarkable growth of 54% of net profit in the year 2009 as compare to the year 2008 showing that Top Glove fully utilizes the advantage of its listing as public company to generate growth that is beneficial to the shareholders. 2. SALES ANALYSIS 2.1 Sales Growth Rates Total sales or total revenue is the first line on any company income statement. This figure is the amount of money that company receives during the specific time of period. Total revenue is very important to turn in money into a profit. In the past 5 years (2005 2009), Top Glove has been profitable. The sales growth for its products showing the increase in revenue for the every financial year. Top Gloves Revenue for the past 5 years Year Total Revenue (RMmil) 2004 418.1 2005 641.8 2006 992.6 2007 1228.8 2008 1377.9 2009 1529.1 Source: Top Glove Annual Report 2010 The sales growth rates (%) from year to year will be calculate as below; current sales previous sales ________________________ x 100 Previous sales Year Sales Growth Rates (%) From year to year Sales Growth Rates (%) From year 2005 2004 2005 53.50 2006 54.66 54.66 2007 23.80 91.46 2008 12.13 114.69 2009 10.97 138.25 Exponential functions can be applied in growth processes. The most widely accepted method in academics to calculate total growth can be represented by the functions; y = a(1 + r)X which; a = initial amount before measuring growth r = growth rate (often a percent) x = number of time intervals that have passed The exponential function in computing growth rates for Top Gloves are presented as below: 1. Year: 2005 Growth rates (%): 53.50 (0.5350) Revenue amount before measuring growth (RM000): 418.1 Exponential Growth Functions: y = a(1+r)x y = 418.1(1+0.5350)1 y = 641.8 2. Year: 2006 Growth rates (%): 54.66 (0.5466) Revenue amount before measuring growth (RM000): 641.8 Exponential Growth Functions: y = a(1+r)x y = 641.8(1+0.5466)1 y = 992.6 3. Year: 2007 Growth rates (%): 23.80 (0.2380) Revenue amount before measuring growth (RM000): 992.6 Exponential Growth Functions: y = a(1+r)x y = 992.6(1+0.2380)1 y = 1228.8 4. Year: 2008 Growth rates (%): 12.13 (0.1213) Revenue amount before measuring growth (RM000): 1228.8 Exponential Growth Functions: y = a(1+r)x y = 1228.8(1+0.1213)1 y = 1377.9 5. Year: 2009 Growth rates (%): 10.97 (0.1097) Revenue amount before measuring growth (RM000): 1377.9 Exponential Growth Functions: y = a(1+r)x y = 1377.9(1+0.1097)1 y = 1529.1 2.2 Growth Rates Analysis 53.5% growth in 2005, Top Glove and the glove industry facing an exciting and challenging year when unexpected hike in the prices of crude oil and raw material. Top Gloves has managed to maintained company performance by continue its aggressive capacity expansion to capture a bigger share of the world glove market. 54.66% in 2006, the sting of increasing oil and fuel prices continues to vibrate throughout the glove and healthcare industry. These two industries feel the most pressure in deciding how to react in this situation. This is because production cost would be driven up by the increased oil and fuel prices which will impacts on the capability to deliver the products. Top Gloves still continues to stand in progressing by control over its operation costs and learned to manage the increase in the cost of oil and fuel prices. Each manufacturer can standoff these costs by their own way, however price increases are inevitable (Jeannie and Dana, 2006). By the year 2007, Top Glove achieved a remarkable revenue growth of 23.8% to RM1,228.8 million. The growth was principally due to the continued increased in customer base globally and a higher volume of sales attributed to the increased capacity so that the company succeeds to face on the increase in operating costs. In year 2008, the growth slows to 12.13% caused by global economy. It was tough for the glove producer to continue the business due to the tight margin and only glove manufacturers with sizable economies of scale can survive (Malaysian Rubber Board, 2008). Top Glove definitely cannot be escaped from this phenomenon. However, Top Glove had experienced to face the current world financial crisis and continues companys ability to grow over the years. Year 2009 shows that the slower growth rate goes to 10.97% achieved by Top Glove. The company started the year with aware about a strong global demand of gloves especially in healthcare industry stimulated by the global economic recovery. Furthermore, the H1N1 pandemic caused the demand of gloves contributed in abnormal return to all rubber glove manufacturers including Top Glove. Top Glove had adapted well in current economic environment by which its earning was boosted by higher sales and higher costs efficiency (OSK, 2010). 3. SALES TREND Sales trend analysis is a review of sales during a specified period of time. It is could be increase, decrease or remain unchanged. The purpose of sales trend analysis is to monitoring performance and to predict future performance. Top Gloves sales trend increased year by year. It is showed that the company very focused on their nature business and will struggle to maintain companys mission as a world class glove manufacturer by providing best quality product as well as to toughen their position as the worlds largest rubber glove manufacturer. Top Gloves sales trend illustrated with a graph below; Based on the graph above, it is showed that Top Glove sales trend growing over the years. The growth might be supported by the high demanded from their customer. The surge of demand for rubber gloves used for medical and protection purpose forced glove industry to raise the selling price. Similarly, Top Glove also raised its products selling price to equalize the higher production costs. However, the demand for rubber gloves remained and was in fast growing even though the selling price was high. For the 5 years, Top Glove continued achieved a remarkable profit. The global phenomena such as H1N1 and SARS pandemic, hike in the price of oil and raw material, weather, war or world financial crisis which result in boost in the demand of rubber glove. Additionally, increase in health awareness worldwide also increases the demand of rubber glove. Top Glove succeed to adapt all the difficult situation year by year by their good planning of manufacturing processes and providing a high quality of product. 4. CONCLUSION As a conclusion, Top Glove Corporation Berhad continued achieved a remarkable profit by increasing their revenue and sales growth rate from year to year. The companys show strong sales performance was endorsed to high demand for gloves especially form healthcare industry and emerging market which demand for gloves is expected to growing for a double digit every year. Even though there are more challenges to overcome, Top Glove positive to increase their remarkable revenue and sales growth rates for every year and believe to maintain its leadership in the global market by continue providing a top quality of product.

Earnest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying Essay -- Gaines Lesson Before

Earnest J. Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines is set in a plantation community in rural Louisiana. The two main characters in the novel, Grant and Jefferson, are engaged in a struggle to achieve self-respect in society, which allots them none. The story takes place at the end of the 1940s, a time when Louisiana and many other southern states were practicing segregation. The second college edition of the American Heritage Dictionary defines segregation as, â€Å"†¦The policy and practice of imposing the social separation of races, as in schools, housing, and industry†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1111). Mr. Gaines employs a variety of settings to illustrate how this cruel practice invades every aspect of Grant and Jefferson’s lives; from religion and legal process to love. In the courtroom, the defense lawyer insinuates that Jefferson is less than a man because of his physical characteristics and apparent lack of intelligence. He asks the jury, â€Å"†¦do you see a man sitting here? Look at the shape of this skull, this face as flat as the palm of my hand†¦do you see a modicum of intelligence?† (7). He further degrades Jefferson by referring to him as a thing, â€Å"What you see here is a thing that acts on command†, and finally as an animal, â€Å"†¦I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this.† (7-8). Evidently, discrimination and stereotyping based on the degree of skin pigmentation exhibited existed as a hierarchy with the lightest skin pigmentation on top and the darkest on the bottom, with the each individual cluster discriminating against the one beneath them. Grant’s former schoolmaster, Mathew Antoine, may have been a male role model for him. However, professor Antoine was bitter, he loathed himself ... ...grained the principles of slavery and its progeny (segregation) were in Louisiana society. It is unfathomable that people (i.e., the Creole) exposed to unjust discrimination based simply on their pigmentation, would in turn discriminate against others for similarly unfounded and irrational reasons. From the courtroom to the jailhouse, Grant and Jefferson faced discrimination. However, when they finally realized that the stereotypes being forced upon them were only physical confinements, not mental or spiritual confinements, they were able to identify their own self-worth and achieve self-respect. â€Å"Only when the mind is free has the body a chance to be free.† (251). Works Cited American Heritage Dictionary. Second College Edition. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.1982. Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson Before Dying. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.1993.

Narrative Techniques in Faulkner’s The Unvanquished and Barn Burning Es

Narrative Techniques in Faulkner’s The Unvanquished and Barn Burning The Unvanquished is composed of a series of stories during which Bayard Sartoris, the narrator, grows up from a twelve-year-old boy to a young man of twenty-four years. The narrative style makes it obvious that events are being related by an adult who is looking back at his past. There are several indications of this: in the very first story â€Å"Ambuscade†, the narrator, while describing his war games with his coloured friend, Ringo, states: â€Å"We were just twelve then†. (5) He tells the readers how they fantasized about the military exploits of John Sartoris, Bayard’s father, seeing them as heroic and exciting adventures. The narrator describes himself and Ringo at this stage of the novel as â€Å"the two supreme undefeated like two moths, two feathers riding above a hurricane† (7), drawing attention to the fact that while the two boys are positioned in the midst of war with all its attendant destruction and insanity, they have no understanding of it s horror. When his father first appears on the scene, the Bayard says: â€Å"He was not big, it was just the things he did†¦ that made him seem big to us† (9). Swept up in the romance of war, with the dust of battle clinging to him, John Sartoris seems to assume a larger than life persona but even as the narrator delineates his father before us, he attaches a caveat that in actuality, the Colonel was different from how he saw him as a young boy. This statement presages the mature understanding of his father’s character that Bayard develops as the novel progresses. In â€Å"The Odor of Verbena†, he has reached such clarity of vision that he can say without much difficulty that his father was a difficult man to get along with, he ac... ...an adult, his articulation of this southern code of morality is coherent and well thought out while Sarty’s reaction to his father’s incendiary behaviour is instinctive and not intellectualized. The image of the violent Southern man is evident in both stories, both boys have fathers who have participated in violence-Abner Snopes has a seething rage which finds satisfaction only through burning the property of people he hates and John Sartoris has been directly involved in the war, has a belligerent disposition and resorts to bloodshed frequently in the novel. But the difference lies in the ultimate response of the central character of each story to the southern ideals of masculinity - Bayard initially abides by but ultimately distances himself from Southern codes of honour while Sarty, being a child, is still far from finding himself at the end of â€Å"Barn Burning†.

Overcoming: Human and Fate Essay

As human beings, we are made imperfect, and do not have total control over events that affect our lives, thoughts and emotions. We may be implied to feel anger and do things we never thought we were capable of. We may enter into sadness, and experience a kind of sadness that couldn’t be cured. The beauty of life is learning how to overcome these emotions, these thoughts, and emotions. To be able to pull through from the worst times is the most rewarding experience of life. Every day, we as human beings experience how life can easily be influenced by changes that cannot be controlled. The Assault and Paradise of the Blind are novels in which these changes or events can unleash the worst characteristics of people, and a battle for control ensues, between the mind and the forces of nature. Ultimately, all the realities of misfortune and tragedy combine with the emotions of inner will power to overcome everything and move on to the future and forget the past. In The Assault, Anton Steenwijk selfishly believes that it he can change what Fate has regrettably bestowed upon him. However, no matter how much he tries to forget the events of his past and move on fate will not allow it. He does not realize that the only way to ever rid himself of the past is to accept it what has happened. Try he does, but one thing fate does not allow is the truth. Not until Anton has lived a whole life does he ever really find the truth of how his whole family was mercilessly slaughtered. Fate is what the world has planned for you, fate is everything you can’t change, the actions of people around you, and the events that affect everything around you. For Anton fate was just an element of the past, to him nothing but Anton himself could affect the events of his future. The battle between Anton and the past, was eventually won by Anton as he stands in the crowd realizing, â€Å"Everything is forgotten in the end. (185)† Yet, the battle was lost easily. Fate never allows Anton to forget, when he runs into Fake Jr, unexpectedly meets Takes, and lastly bumps into Karin Korteweg. Fate will always come with unexpected events, â€Å"It’s no coincidence†¦ (89),† its fate. In the end Anton proves to be the larger power, with the help of the realization of the past and the ability to accept everything as it is Anton moves on from the fate of the past, Anton lives his own life. Paradise of the Blind is a tale about a young woman overwhelmed by her misfortune. The novel tells a story of Hang, who from the very beginning in plagued with bad luck, when she first receives news of her ill uncle. Hang’s fate was not written by herself, but by the hand of her parents, who first encountered the area of misfortune. Fate chose the ____ family to bestow so much misfortune upon. With the reoccurrence of parental losses, sickness and poverty, fate does its best to set up a eventual fail for Hang’s life. Throughout the novel Aunt Tam also is a target of fates’ misfortune, but she is also the only example for Hang of overcoming such bad luck. Aunt Tam has such natural will power; she is such a hard worker that luck no longer becomes an issue. Aunt Tam learns to make her own luck, she fights the hard times, and wrestles with failure to become a wealthy renowned woman of her village. In going against the status quo she becomes an example to Hang, an example of overcoming the bad, to take matters into your own hands when everything is lost. Hang’s last bit of misfortune occurs as Aunt Tam passes away. With the realization that Aunt Tam built a life up from the ground with nothing and from where she was to how she died, Hang realizes that she also has those same characteristics. The novel does not go into detail on how she reached her potential, but the reader is led to believe she overcame the bad to finally reach a life led by her own self, opposed to all of fates’ misfortune. In both novels the characters attempt to combat fate, emotions and destiny; ultimately overcoming them all too become someone far better than they thought they could be. Hang and Anton can very easily be compared, as both relive their past and do their best to change or forget it. Hang similarly to Anton loses her father, and this impacts her life almost as much as Anton’s life was affected by the loss of both his parents. An influential character takes the place of the lost parental, Anton his Uncle and Aunt, Hang her Aunt Tam. The fight for the win over destiny ensues throughout the novel and as both Hang and Anton fight to rid their past they find out more about themselves than they ever knew possible. The battle of emotions is finally won by the two unfortunate souls, and the journey to the finish proves to pay off. Anton gets to live free from the wonders of his past, and Hang begins her life as herself not being held back by anything or anyone. Mankind has tried to conquer its hidden demons because it is afraid of them. But despite all of the technological advances that have been made, they are still being undermined by fates emotions like jealousy, hatred, and arrogance. The human race fears fate for it unleashes the worst qualities in people, and can not be conquered by the machines that are revered so much. It is naà ¯ve of humans to believe that they can ever vanquish the bad events of time, but they are intent on driving out any memories of times of imperfect. Yet they do not realize that imperfection is humanity’s greatest trait and weakness at the same time, and that these fate exist to make this fact obvious to all.

The Host Chapter 9: Discovered

I drove quickly through the I-10 junction as the sun fell behind me. I didn't see much besides the white and yellow lines on the pavement, and the occasional big green sign pointing me farther east. I was in a hurry now. I wasn't sure exactly what I was in a hurry for, though. To be out of this, I supposed. Out of pain, out of sadness, out of aching for lost and hopeless loves. Did that mean out of this body? I couldn't think of any other answer. I would still ask my questions of the Healer, but it felt as though the decision was made. Skipper. Quitter. I tested the words in my head, trying to come to terms with them. If I could find a way, I would keep Melanie out of the Seeker's hands. It would be very hard. No, it would be impossible. I would try. I promised her this, but she wasn't listening. She was still dreaming. Giving up, I thought, now that it was too late for giving up to help. I tried to stay clear of the red canyon in her head, but I was there, too. No matter how hard I tried to see the cars zooming beside me, the shuttles gliding in toward the port, the few, fine clouds drifting overhead, I couldn't pull completely free of her dreams. I memorized Jared's face from a thousand different angles. I watched Jamie shoot up in a sudden growth spurt, always skin and bones. My arms ached for them both-no, the feeling was sharper than an ache, blade-edged and violent. It was intolerable. I had to get out. I drove almost blindly along the narrow two-lane freeway. The desert was, if anything, more monotonous and dead than before. Flatter, more colorless. I would make it to Tucson long before dinnertime. Dinner. I hadn't eaten yet today, and my stomach rumbled as I realized that. The Seeker would be waiting for me there. My stomach rolled then, hunger momentarily replaced with nausea. Automatically, my foot eased off the gas. I checked the map on the passenger seat. Soon I would reach a little pit stop at a place called Picacho Peak. Maybe I would stop to eat something there. Put off seeing the Seeker a few precious moments. As I thought of this unfamiliar name-Picacho Peak-there was a strange, stifled reaction from Melanie. I couldn't make it out. Had she been here before? I searched for a memory, a sight or a smell that corresponded, but found nothing. Picacho Peak. Again, there was that spike of interest that Melanie repressed. What did the words mean to her? She retreated into faraway memories, avoiding me. This made me curious. I drove a little faster, wondering if the sight of the place would trigger something. A solitary mountain peak-not massive by normal standards, but towering above the low, rough hills closer to me-was beginning to take shape on the horizon. It had an unusual, distinctive shape. Melanie watched it grow as we traveled, pretending indifference to it. Why did she pretend not to care when she so obviously did? I was disturbed by her strength when I tried to find out. I couldn't see any way around the old blank wall. It felt thicker than usual, though I'd thought it was almost gone. I tried to ignore her, not wanting to think about that-that she was growing stronger. I watched the peak instead, tracing its shape against the pale, hot sky. There was something familiar about it. Something I was sure I recognized, even as I was positive that neither of us had been here before. Almost as if she was trying to distract me, Melanie plunged into a vivid memory of Jared, catching me by surprise. I shiver in my jacket, straining my eyes to see the muted glare of the sun dying behind the thick, bristly trees. I tell myself that it is not as cold as I think it is. My body just isn't used to this. The hands that are suddenly there on my shoulders do not startle me, though I am afraid of this unfamiliar place and I did not hear his silent approach. Their weight is too familiar. â€Å"You're easy to sneak up on.† Even now, there is a smile in his voice. â€Å"I saw you coming before you took the first step,† I say without turning. â€Å"I have eyes in the back of my head.† Warm fingers stroke my face from my temple to my chin, dragging fire along my skin. â€Å"You look like a dryad hidden here in the trees,† he whispers in my ear. â€Å"One of them. So beautiful that you must be fictional.† â€Å"We should plant more trees around the cabin.† He chuckles, and the sound makes my eyes close and my lips stretch into a grin. â€Å"Not necessary,† he says. â€Å"You always look that way.† â€Å"Says the last man on Earth to the last woman on Earth, on the eve of their separation.† My smile fades as I speak. Smiles cannot last today. He sighs. His breath on my cheek is warm compared to the chill forest air. â€Å"Jamie might resent that implication.† â€Å"Jamie's still a boy. Please, please keep him safe.† â€Å"I'll make you a deal,† Jared offers. â€Å"You keep yourself safe, and I'll do my best. Otherwise, no deal.† Just a joke, but I can't take it lightly. Once we are apart, there are no guarantees. â€Å"No matter what happens,† I insist. â€Å"Nothing's going to happen. Don't worry.† The words are nearly meaningless. A waste of effort. But his voice is worth hearing, no matter the message. â€Å"Okay.† He pulls me around to face him, and I lean my head against his chest. I don't know what to compare his scent to. It is his own, as unique as the smell of juniper or the desert rain. â€Å"You and I won't lose each other,† he promises. â€Å"I will always find you again.† Being Jared, he cannot be completely serious for more than a heartbeat or two. â€Å"No matter how well you hide. I'm unstoppable at hide-and-seek.† â€Å"Will you give me to the count of ten?† â€Å"Without peeking.† â€Å"You're on,† I mumble, trying to disguise the fact that my throat is thick with tears. â€Å"Don't be afraid. You'll be fine. You're strong, you're fast, and you're smart.† He's trying to convince himself, too. Why am I leaving him? It's such a long shot that Sharon is still human. But when I saw her face on the news, I was so sure. It was just a normal raid, one of a thousand. As usual when we felt isolated enough, safe enough, we had the TV on as we cleaned out the pantry and fridge. Just to get the weather forecast; there isn't much entertainment in the dead-boring everything-is-perfect reports that pass for news among the parasites. It was the hair that caught my eye-the flash of deep, almost pink red that I'd only ever seen on one person. I can still see the look on her face as she peeked at the camera from the corner of one eye. The look that said, I'm trying to be invisible; don't see me. She walked not quite slowly enough, working too hard at keeping a casual pace. Trying desperately to blend in. No body snatcher would feel that need. What is Sharon doing walking around human in a huge city like Chicago? Are there others? Trying to find her doesn't even seem like a choice, really. If there is a chance there are more humans out there, we have to locate them. And I have to go alone. Sharon will run from anyone but me-well, she will run from me, too, but maybe she will pause long enough for me to explain. I am sure I know her secret place. â€Å"And you?† I ask him in a thick voice. I'm not sure I can physically bear this looming goodbye. â€Å"Will you be safe?† â€Å"Neither heaven nor hell can keep me apart from you, Melanie.† Without giving me a chance to catch my breath or wipe away the fresh tears, she threw another at me. Jamie curls up under my arm-he doesn't fit the way he used to. He has to fold in on himself, his long, gangly limbs poking out in sharp angles. His arms are starting to turn hard and sinewy, but in this moment he's a child, shaking, cowering almost. Jared is loading the car. Jamie would not show this fear if he were here. Jamie wants to be brave, to be like Jared. â€Å"I'm scared,† he whispers. I kiss his night-dark hair. Even here among the sharp, resinous trees, it smells like dust and sun. It feels like he is part of me, that to separate us will tear the skin where we are joined. â€Å"You'll be fine with Jared.† I have to sound brave, whether I feel that way or not. â€Å"I know that. I'm scared for you. I'm scared you won't come back. Like Dad.† I flinch. When Dad didn't come back-though his body did eventually, trying to lead the Seekers to us-it was the most horror and the most fear and the most pain I'd ever felt. What if I do that to Jamie again? â€Å"I'll come back. I always come back.† â€Å"I'm scared,† he says again. I have to be brave. â€Å"I promise everything will be fine. I'm coming back. I promise. You know I won't break a promise, Jamie. Not to you.† The shaking slows. He believes me. He trusts me. And another: I can hear them on the floor below. They will find me in minutes, or seconds. I scrawl the words on a dirty shred of newsprint. They are nearly illegible, but if he finds them, he will understand: Not fast enough. Love you love Jamie. Don't go home. Not only do I break their hearts, I steal their refuge, too. I picture our little canyon home abandoned, as it must be forever now. Or if not abandoned, a tomb. I see my body leading the Seekers to it. My face smiling as we catch them there†¦ â€Å"Enough,† I said out loud, cringing away from the whiplash of pain. â€Å"Enough! You've made your point! I can't live without them either now. Does that make you happy? Because it doesn't leave me many choices, does it? Just one-to get rid of you. Do you want the Seeker inside you? Ugh!† I recoiled from the thought as if I would be the one to house her. There is another choice, Melanie thought softly. â€Å"Really?† I demanded with heavy sarcasm. â€Å"Show me one.† Look and see. I was still staring at the mountain peak. It dominated the landscape, a sudden upthrust of rock surrounded by flat scrubland. Her interest pulled my eyes over the outline, tracing the uneven two-pronged crest. A slow, rough curve, then a sharp turn north, another sudden turn back the other way, twisting back to the north for a longer stretch, and then the abrupt southern decline that flattened out into another shallow curve. Not north and south, the way I'd always seen the lines in her piecemeal memories; it was up and down. The profile of a mountain peak. The lines that led to Jared and Jamie. This was the first line, the starting point. I could find them. We could find them, she corrected me. You don't know all the directions. Just like with the cabin, I never gave you everything. â€Å"I don't understand. Where does it lead? How does a mountain lead us?† My pulse beat faster as I thought of it: Jared was close. Jamie, within my reach. She showed me the answer. â€Å"They're just lines. And Uncle Jeb is just an old lunatic. A nut job, like the rest of my dad's family.† I try to tug the book out of Jared's hands, but he barely seems to notice my effort. â€Å"A nut job, like Sharon's mom?† he counters, still studying the dark pencil marks that deface the back cover of the old photo album. It's the one thing I haven't lost in all the running. Even the graffiti loony Uncle Jeb left on it during his last visit has sentimental value now. â€Å"Point taken.† If Sharon is still alive, it will be because her mother, loony Aunt Maggie, could give loony Uncle Jeb a run for the title of Craziest of the Crazy Stryder Siblings. My father had been only slightly touched by the Stryder madness-he didn't have a secret bunker in the backyard or anything. The rest of them, his sister and brothers, Aunt Maggie, Uncle Jeb, and Uncle Guy, were the most devoted of conspiracy theorists. Uncle Guy had died before the others disappeared during the invasion, in a car accident so commonplace that even Maggie and Jeb had struggled to make an intrigue out of it. My father always affectionately referred to them as the Crazies. â€Å"I think it's time we visited the Crazies,† Dad would announce, and then Mom would groan-which is why such announcements had happened so seldom. On one of those rare visits to Chicago, Sharon had snuck me into her mother's hidey-hole. We got caught-the woman had booby traps every-where. Sharon was scolded soundly, and though I was sworn to secrecy, I'd had a sense Aunt Maggie might build a new sanctuary. But I remember where the first is. I picture Sharon there now, living the life of Anne Frank in the middle of an enemy city. We have to find her and bring her home. Jared interrupts my reminiscing. â€Å"Nut jobs are exactly the kind of people who will have survived. People who saw Big Brother when he wasn't there. People who suspected the rest of humanity before the rest of humanity turned dangerous. People with hiding places ready.† Jared grins, still study-ing the lines. And then his voice is heavier. â€Å"People like my father. If he and my brothers had hidden rather than fought†¦ Well, they'd still be here.† My tone is softer, hearing the pain in his. â€Å"Okay, I agree with the theory. But these lines don't mean anything.† â€Å"Tell me again what he said when he drew them.† I sigh. â€Å"They were arguing-Uncle Jeb and my dad. Uncle Jeb was trying to convince him that something was wrong, telling him not to trust anyone. Dad laughed it off. Jeb grabbed the photo album from the end table and started†¦ almost carving the lines into the back cover with a pencil. Dad got mad, said my mom would be angry. Jeb said, Linda's mom asked you all to come up for a visit, right? Kind of strange, out of the blue? Got a little upset when only Linda would come? Tell you the truth, Trev, I don't think Linda will be minding anything much when she gets back. Oh, she might act like it, but you'll be able to tell the difference.' It didn't make sense at the time, but what he said really upset my dad. He ordered Uncle Jeb out of the house. Jeb wouldn't leave at first. Kept warning us not to wait until it was too late. He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into his side. Don't let 'em get you, honey,' he whispered. Follow the lines. Start at the beginning and follow the l ines. Uncle Jeb'll keep a safe place for you.' That's when Dad shoved him out the door.† Jared nods absently, still studying. â€Å"The beginning†¦ the beginning†¦ It has to mean something.† â€Å"Does it? They're just squiggles, Jared. It's not like a map-they don't even connect.† â€Å"There's something about the first one, though. Something familiar. I could swear I've seen it somewhere before.† I sigh. â€Å"Maybe he told Aunt Maggie. Maybe she got better directions.† â€Å"Maybe,† he says, and continues to stare at Uncle Jeb's squiggles. She dragged me back in time, to a much, much older memory-a memory that had escaped her for a long while. I was surprised to realize that she had only put these memories, the old and the fresh, together recently. After I was here. That was why the lines had slipped through her careful control despite the fact that they were one of the most precious of her secrets-because of the urgency of her discovery. In this blurry early memory, Melanie sat in her father's lap with the same album-not so tattered then-open in her hands. Her hands were tiny, her fingers stubby. It was very strange to remember being a child in this body. They were on the first page. â€Å"Do you remember where this is?† Dad asks, pointing to the old gray picture at the top of the page. The paper looks thinner than the other photographs, as if it has worn down-flatter and flatter and flatter-since some great-great-grandpa took it. â€Å"It's where we Stryders come from,† I answer, repeating what I've been taught. â€Å"Right. That's the old Stryder ranch. You went there once, but I bet you don't remember it. I think you were eighteen months old.† Dad laughs. â€Å"It's been Stryder land since the very beginning†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And then the memory of the picture itself. A picture she'd looked at a thousand times without ever seeing it. It was black and white, faded to grays. A small rustic wooden house, far away on the other side of a desert field; in the foreground, a split-rail fence; a few equine shapes between the fence and the house. And then, behind it all, the sharp, familiar profile†¦ There were words, a label, scrawled in pencil across the top white border: Stryder Ranch, 1904, in the morning shadow of†¦ â€Å"Picacho Peak,† I said quietly. He'll have figured it out, too, even if they never found Sharon. I know Jared will have put it together. He's smarter than me, and he has the picture; he probably saw the answer before I did. He could be so close†¦ The thought had her so filled with yearning and excitement that the blank wall in my head slipped entirely. I saw the whole journey now, saw her and Jared's and Jamie's careful trek across the country, always by night in their inconspicuous stolen vehicle. It took weeks. I saw where she'd left them in a wooded preserve outside the city, so different from the empty desert they were used to. The cold forest where Jared and Jamie would hide and wait had felt safer in some ways-because the branches were thick and concealing, unlike the spindly desert foliage that hid little-but also more dangerous in its unfamiliar smells and sounds. Then the separation, a memory so painful we skipped through it, flinching. Next came the abandoned building she'd hidden in, watching the house across the street for her chance. There, concealed within the walls or in the secret basement, she hoped to find Sharon. I shouldn't have let you see that, Melanie thought. The faintness of her silent voice gave away her fatigue. The assault of memories, the persuasion and coercion, had tired her. You'll tell them where to find her. You'll kill her, too. â€Å"Yes,† I mused aloud. â€Å"I have to do my duty.† Why? she murmured, almost sleepily. What happiness will it bring you? I didn't want to argue with her, so I said nothing. The mountain loomed larger ahead of us. In moments, we would be beneath it. I could see a little rest stop with a convenience store and a fast food restaurant bordered on one side by a flat, concrete space-a place for mobile homes. There were only a few in residence now, with the heat of the coming summer making things uncomfortable. What now? I wondered. Stop for a late lunch or an early dinner? Fill my gas tank and then continue on to Tucson in order to reveal my fresh discoveries to the Seeker? The thought was so repellent that my jaw locked against the sudden heave of my empty stomach. I slammed on the brake reflexively, screeching to a stop in the middle of the lane. I was lucky; there were no cars to hit me from behind. There were also no drivers to stop and offer their help and concern. For this moment, the highway was empty. The sun beat down on the pavement, making it shimmer, disappear in places. This shouldn't have felt like a betrayal, the idea of continuing on my right and proper course. My first language, the true language of the soul that was spoken only on our planet of origin, had no word for betrayal or traitor. Or even loyalty-because without the existence of an opposite, the concept had no meaning. And yet I felt a deep well of guilt at the very idea of the Seeker. It would be wrong to tell her what I knew. Wrong, how? I countered my own thought viciously. If I stopped here and listened to the seductive suggestions of my host, I would truly be a traitor. That was impossible. I was a soul. And yet I knew what I wanted, more powerfully and vividly than anything I had ever wanted in all the eight lives I'd lived. The image of Jared's face danced behind my eyelids when I blinked against the sun-not Melanie's memory this time, but my memory of hers. She forced nothing on me now. I could barely feel her in my head as she waited-I imagined her holding her breath, as if that were possible-for me to make my decision. I could not separate myself from this body's wants. It was me, more than I'd ever intended it to be. Did I want or did it want? Did that distinction even matter now? In my rearview mirror, the glint of the sun off a distant car caught my eye. I moved my foot to the accelerator, starting slowly toward the little store in the shadow of the peak. There was really only one thing to do.

History Of The Spanish Inquisition Of The 15th Century Essay

The Spanish Inquisition is usually synonymous with persecution, brutality and tyranny; and it is thought to be the forerunner of the covert regulatory bodies of contemporary autocracies. Yet how accurate is this picture of an establishment set up in the late 15th century to route out deviation and agnosticism in that land? This report aims to place the Spanish Inquisition in its correct historical context. BACKGROUND The conception of inquisitions to eliminate religious heretics was not new when, in 1478, Pope Sixtus IV sanctioned the formation of Spanish Inquisition. The monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, decided to establish a body (which began its work in 1480) chiefly to deal with the issue of the huge numbers of converted Jews (Conversos) who were alleged of continuing to carry out tenants of the Jewish religion after apparent conversion to Catholicism. Following the formal expulsion of all non-converted Jews from Spain in 1492, the problem of the Conversos increased. The roots of the Spanish Inquisition can therefore be traced quite clearly back to anti-Semitism. In 1518, the Inquisition became a permanently unified body under one head, the Inquisitor-General . Tomas de Torquemada was appointed by the Monarchs as Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition. The Catholic Church, under the rule of the pope in Rome was a powerful force in Europe during the Middle ages. The decrees of the church provided the basis of law and order. Christians who disagreed with catholic principles were regarded as heretics, and heresy was considered an crime against the church and the state. The â€Å"inquiries† into a person’s faith to determine whether or not one was a heretic, was branded as the inquisition, with the inquisitors being priests or bishops who subjected a suspect to long grilling followed by terrible tortures. Death by fire was often the punishment of those who did not repent. The heretic’s property was then claimed by the church. Between 1478 and 1502, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon took three complementary decisions. They persuaded the pope to create the Inquisition; they expelled the Jews; and they forced the Muslims of the kingdom of Castile to convert to Catholicism. All these measures were designed to achieve the same end: the establishment of a united faith. The Christian, Muslims and Jewish communities existed tolerantly throughout the first centuries of Muslim domination and continued to do so in the Christian Spain of the 12th and 13th century. Tolerance presupposed an absence of discrimination against minorities and respect for the point of view of others. This tolerance was nowhere to be found in the Iberia of the 8th century to the 15th. Spanish archdeacon named Ferran Martinez was busy delivering a sequence of sermons in the diocese of Seville. It was his remarkable eloquence rather than the novelty of his subject which attracted an audience: for he spoke only on a single theme, one that in every age has provided an easy stalking horse for demagogues religious and civil- the iniquities of the Jews. Their veins had venom that poisoned whatever contribution they made. The Jews, he argued, had been guilty, as a body, of the greatest crime in history. They adhered to a faith that had been rejected in no uncertain manner by the Deity. Their ceremonies were outmoded and impious, rendered those who performed them capable of the most heinous misdoings and doomed them to eternal punishment in the hereafter . ORIGIN AND AIMS Jews weren’t newcomers in Spain. They had been settled there since the 1st century. Documentary and archaeological evidence demonstrates their numbers at the beginning of the fourth century, long before the coming of the Arabs or the Visigoths. The latter had persecuted them, but under the moors they had flourished as nowhere else in Europe. They were an important and influential minority. Every Spanish city had its prosperous juderia, or Jewish quarter, comprised of craftsmen and weavers, goldsmiths and carpenters . The Jews had been expelled from England in 1290 by Edward I En masse. His example had been followed in France sixteen later, by Philip the Fair. The Spanish Jews considered themselves secure from anything of the sort. The activities of Martinez disturbed them but didn’t alarm them. Month after month passed without any untoward occurrence. They fell into the error of imagining that nothing would happen. It came as a shock to them when at the close of 1390, just before Christmastide, Martinez succeeded in having some synagogues in the diocese partially destroyed and closed down, on the plea that they had been built without authorization. The community, alarmed, applied for protection to the council of regency then governing Castile in the name of the young king Henry III, which ordered steps to be taken for the protection of the petitioners. Martinez was defiant, however, and his sermons were as violent as ever. On Wednesday, March 15th, 1391 his harangue was particularly effective, and his audience was roused to a high pitch of frenzy. On its way from the church, a turbulent crowd, thirsting with zeal and greed, surged towards the Jewish quarter, which seemed to be in imminent danger of sack. The civil authorities were at last awakened to the necessity of stern measures. Seizing two of the most turbulent members of the mob, they had them flogged, turned them into martyrs overnight. After some further disturbances, order was outwardly restored: but the spirit of unrest still simmered and Martinez continued his unbridled invective from the pulpit. These seemingly unimportant disorders are to be traced some of the greatest tragedies in history – the darkest page in the dark record of the Jewish people, one of the saddest episodes in the history of human thought, and the ultimate decline of sprain from the high status to which her achievements and her genius entitled her – everything, in a word, which is associated with the term, â€Å"the Spanish Inquisition†. On June 6th, a storm broke out. An infuriated mob rushed upon the juderia of Seville and put it to sack. An orgy of carnage raged the city. The dead were numbered by the hundreds, if not by the thousand. Every ruffian in the city flaunted the finery sacked from Jewish houses, or boasted the ravishing of a Jewish maiden . Through some curious psychology of mass psychology, the infection spread from one city to the other, and throughout Spain onslaughts on the Jews became the order of the day. The fury raged that summer and autumn, and at several places the entire Jewish community was exterminated. At Cordova, the ancient Jewish quarter, where Moses Maimonides had first seen the light, was reduced to ashes. Toledo was witness to a similar horrifying carnage. 70 other towns in Castile were doomed to similar incidents of terror. In Aragon, in spite of measures put into force by the authorities to suppress the mayhem, the case was commonly adhered. In Valencia, within a few days, not a single professing Jew was left alive in the entire kingdom. In Barcelona, despite a half hearted protection given by the civic authorities, the whole community was wiped out. From Catalonia, the disorders spread to the Balearic Islands, where a massacre took place on August 2nd at Palma. Outbreaks were prevented only in the kingdom of Granada thanks to the efforts of the crown, in Portugal. Elsewhere in the peninsula, hardly a single community escaped. The total no of victims was estimated as many as 50,000 . The Inquisition did not begin in Spain, but did gather notoriety there. Shortly after commencement, the Spanish Inquisition was accused of numerous abuses. Accusations of heresy ran rampant, and innocent, faithful people were unjustly punished by public trials and condemnation. This usually took the form of strangulation or burning at the stake. The Inquisition, although vastly changed and more humane, remained a strong force in Spain until the early 19th century . By about 1750 the Inquisition had lost its power. It had been created to eradicate all traces of Semitism in Spain. The Jews had long been expelled and two and a half centuries of persecution had eventually eliminated the Judaisers. Yet the statues of blood purity still did not disappear; in fact, in the course of the eighteenth century, they tended to multiply. They no longer constituted a serious obstacle to a career in the Church, the official administration, or civic society. By the end of the eighteenth century, essentially the Inquisition was operating as a political policing force devoted to opposing the introduction of revolutionary and liberal ideas. By this time, it seemed to have softened its attitude. It no longer published edicts of faith encouraging the faithful spontaneously to denounce their neighbors and their relatives. Nor did it any longer torture its prisoners. CONCLUSION The Spanish Inquisition was one of the most powerful organizations used to eradicate heresy and safeguard the unanimity of Christendom. Begun in 1478, by 1512 the Inquisition was under review for a wide range of issues – from corruption, patronage and bribery. The Spanish Inquisition, first established under Queen Isabella was finally suppressed 356 years later under Queen Isabella II, leaving its mark in the annals of Western civilization. The onset of the Enlightenment slowed down the Inquisition. It, however, wasn’t until the Spanish invasion of Napoleon that the Inquisition finally came to an end in 1810, being completely abolished in 1836. It is estimated that more than 20,000 people were killed because of the Inquisition. Numerous more were subjected to torture and others had their possessions confiscated. John Paul II’s teachings are an ever present reminder of how to learn from history: â€Å" †¦we must take account of the complexity of the relationship between the subject who interprets and the object from the past which is interpreted†¦. Events or words of the past are, above all, â€Å"past. † As such they are not completely reducible to the framework of the present, but possess an objective density and complexity that prevent them from being ordered in a solely functional way for present interests. It is necessary, therefore, to approach them by means of an historical-critical investigation that aims at using all of the information available, with a view to a reconstruction of the environment, of the ways of thinking, of the conditions and the living dynamic in which those events and those words are placed, in order, in such a way, to ascertain the contents and the challenges that – precisely in their diversity – they propose to our present time . On 12 January 2000, to mark the Catholic Church’s Jubilee, Pope John Paul II issued a document entitled Memory and Reconciliation in which he asked for forgiveness for the errors of the Church over its 2,000 year history. ? BIBLIOGRAPHY Kamen, Henry. The Spanish Inquisition: An Historical Revision. London, 1997. John Paul II, Memory and Reconciliation, 2000. Finkelstein, Louis. 1970. The Jews: their history. New York: Schocken Books. Kohen, Elizabeth, & Elias, Marie Louise. 2004. Spain. New York: Benchmark Books/Marshall Cavendish. Lea, Henry Charles. A History of the Inquisition of Spain. 4 vols. New York, 1906–1908. Lemieux, Simon. â€Å"The Spanish Inquisition. † History Review 7. 44 (2002): 44-49