Sunday, January 26, 2020
Life Of Pi | Character Analysis
Life Of Pi | Character Analysis Piscine Molitor Patel is the protagonist and, for most of the novel, the narrator. In the chapters that frame the main story, Pi, as a shy, graying, middle-aged man, tells the author about his early childhood and the shipwreck that changed his life. This narrative device distances the reader from the truth. We dont know whether Pis story is accurate or what pieces to believe. This effect is intentional; throughout Pi emphasizes the importance of choosing the better story, believing that imagination trumps cold, hard facts. As a child, he reads widely and embraces many religions and their rich narratives that provide meaning and dimension to life. In his interviews with the Japanese investigators after his rescue, he offers first the more fanciful version of his time at sea. But, at their behest, he then provides an alternative version that is more realistic but ultimately less appealing to both himself and his questioners. The structure of the novel both illustrates Pis defining char acteristic, his dependence on and love of stories, and highlights the inherent difficulties in trusting his version of events. http://imagec10.247realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/default/empty.gif Though the narrative jumps back and forth in time, the novel traces Pis development and maturation in a traditional bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story. Pi is an eager, outgoing, and excitable child, dependent on his family for protection and guidance. In school, his primary concerns involve preventing his schoolmates from mispronouncing his name and learning as much as he can about religion and zoology. But when the ship sinks, Pi is torn from his family and left alone on a lifeboat with wild animals. The disaster serves as the catalyst in his emotional growth; he must now become self-sufficient. Though he mourns the loss of his family and fears for his life, he rises to the challenge. He finds a survival guide and emergency provisions. Questioning his own values, he decides that his vegetarianism is a luxury under the conditions and learns to fish. He capably protects himself from Richard Parker and even assumes a parental relationship with the tiger, providing him with food and keeping him in line. The devastating shipwreck turns Pi into an adult, able to fend for himself out in the world alone. Pis belief in God inspires him as a child and helps sustain him while at sea. In Pondicherry, his atheistic biology teacher challenges his Hindu faith in God, making him realize the positive power of belief, the need to overcome the otherwise bleakness of the universe. Motivated to learn more, Pi starts practicing Christianity and Islam, realizing these religions all share the same foundation: belief in a loving higher power. His burgeoning need for spiritual connection deepens while at sea. In his first days on the lifeboat, he almost gives up, unable to bear the loss of his family and unwilling to face the difficulties that still await him. At that point, however, he realizes that the fact he is still alive means that God is with him; he has been given a miracle. This thought gives him strength, and he decides to fight to remain alive. Throughout his adventure, he prays regularly, which provides him with solace, a sense of connection to something greater, and a way to pass the time . Richard Parker Pis companion throughout his ordeal at sea is Richard Parker, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. Unlike many novels in which animals speak or act like humans, Richard Parker is portrayed as a real animal that acts in ways true to his species. It can be difficult to accept that a tiger and a boy could exist on a lifeboat alone, however, in the context of the novel, it seems plausible. Captured as a cub, Parker grew up in the zoo and is accustomed to a life in captivity. He is used to zookeepers training and providing for him, so he is able to respond to cues from Pi and submit to his dominance. However, he is no docile house cat. He has been tamed, but he still acts instinctually, swimming for the lifeboat in search of shelter and killing the hyena and the blind castaway for food. When the two wash up on the shore of Mexico, Richard Parker doesnt draw out his parting with Pi, he simply runs off into the jungle, never to be seen again. Though Richard Parker is quite fearsome, ironically his presence helps Pi stay alive. Alone on the lifeboat, Pi has many issues to face in addition to the tiger onboard: lack of food and water, predatory marine life, treacherous sea currents, and exposure to the elements. Overwhelmed by the circumstances and terrified of dying, Pi becomes distraught and unable to take action. However, he soon realizes that his most immediate threat is Richard Parker. His other problems now temporarily forgotten, Pi manages, through several training exercises, to dominate Parker. This success gives him confidence, making his other obstacles seem less insurmountable. Renewed, Pi is able to take concrete steps toward ensuring his continued existence: searching for food and keeping himself motivated. Caring and providing for Richard Parker keeps Pi busy and passes the time. Without Richard Parker to challenge and distract him, Pi might have given up on life. After he washes up on land in Mexico, he thank s the tiger for keeping him alive. Richard Parker symbolizes Pis most animalistic instincts. Out on the lifeboat, Pi must perform many actions to stay alive that he would have found unimaginable in his normal life. An avowed vegetarian, he must kill fish and eat their flesh. As time progresses, he becomes more brutish about it, tearing apart birds and greedily stuffing them in his mouth, the way Richard Parker does. After Richard Parker mauls the blind Frenchman, Pi uses the mans flesh for bait and even eats some of it, becoming cannibalistic in his unrelenting hunger. In his second story to the Japanese investigators, Pi is Richard Parker. He kills his mothers murderer. Parker is the version of himself that Pi has invented to make his story more palatable, both to himself and to his audience. The brutality of his mothers death and his own shocking act of revenge are too much for Pi to deal with, and he finds it easier to imagine a tiger as the killer, rather than himself in that role. Character List Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) The protagonist of the story. Piscine is the narrator for most of the novel, and his account of his seven months at sea forms the bulk of the story. He gets his unusual name from the French word for pool-and, more specifically, from a pool in Paris in which a close family friend, Francis Adirubasamy, loved to swim. A student of zoology and religion, Pi is deeply intrigued by the habits and characteristics of animals and people. http://imagec10.247realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/default/empty.gif Richard Parker The Royal Bengal tiger with whom Pi shares his lifeboat. His captor, Richard Parker, named him Thirsty, but a shipping clerk made a mistake and reversed their names. From then on, at the Pondicherry Zoo, he was known as Richard Parker. Weighing 450 pounds and about nine feet long, he kills the hyena on the lifeboat and the blind cannibal. With Pi, however, Richard Parker acts as an omega, or submissive, animal, respecting Pis dominance. Read an in-depth analysis of Richard Parker. The Author The narrator of the (fictitious) Authors Note, who inserts himself into the narrative at several points throughout the text. Though the author who pens the Authors Note never identifies himself by name, there are many clues that indicate it is Yann Martel himself, thinly disguised: he lives in Canada, has published two books, and was inspired to write Pis life story during a trip to India. Francis Adirubasamy The elderly man who tells the author Pis story during a chance meeting in a Pondicherry coffee shop. He taught Pi to swim as a child and bestowed upon him his unusual moniker. He arranges for the author to meet Pi in person, so as to get a first-person account of his strange and compelling tale. Pi calls him Mamaji, an Indian term that means respected uncle. Ravi Pis older brother. Ravi prefers sports to schoolwork and is quite popular. He teases his younger brother mercilessly over his devotion to three religions. Santosh Patel Pis father. He once owned a Madras hotel, but because of his deep interest in animals decided to run the Pondicherry Zoo. A worrier by nature, he teaches his sons not only to care for and control wild animals, but to fear them. Though raised a Hindu, he is not religious and is puzzled by Pis adoption of numerous religions. The difficult conditions in India lead him to move his family to Canada. http://imagec10.247realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/default/empty.gif Gita Patel Pis beloved mother and protector. A book lover, she encourages Pi to read widely. Raised Hindu with a Baptist education, she does not subscribe to any religion and questions Pis religious declarations. She speaks her mind, letting her husband know when she disagrees with his parenting techniques. When Pi relates another version of his story to his rescuers, she takes the place of Orange Juice on the lifeboat. Satish Kumar Pis atheistic biology teacher at Petit Sà ©minaire, a secondary school in Pondicherry. A polio survivor, he is an odd-looking man, with a body shaped like a triangle. His devotion to the power of scientific inquiry and explanation inspires Pi to study zoology in college. Father Martin The Catholic priest who introduces Pi to Christianity after Pi wanders into his church. He preaches a message of love. He, the Muslim Mr. Kumar, and the Hindu pandit disagree about whose religion Pi should practice. Satish Kumar A plain-featured Muslim mystic with the same name as Pis biology teacher. He works in a bakery. Like the other Mr. Kumar, this one has a strong effect on Pis academic plans: his faith leads Pi to study religion at college. The Hindu Pandit One of three important religious figures in the novel. Never given a name, he is outraged when Pi, who was raised Hindu, begins practicing other religions. He and the other two religious leaders are quieted somewhat by Pis declaration that he just wants to love God. Meena Patel Pis wife, whom the author meets briefly in Toronto. Nikhil Patel (Nick) Pis son. He plays baseball. Usha Patel Pis young daughter. She is shy but very close to her father. The Hyena An ugly, intensely violent animal. He controls the lifeboat before Richard Parker emerges. The Zebra A beautiful male Grants zebra. He breaks his leg jumping into the lifeboat. The hyena torments him and eats him alive. Orange Juice The maternal orangutan that floats to the lifeboat on a raft of bananas. She suffers almost humanlike bouts of loneliness and seasickness. When the hyena attacks her, she fights back valiantly but is nonetheless killed and decapitated. The Blind Frenchman A fellow castaway whom Pi meets by chance in the middle of the ocean. Driven by hunger and desperation, he tries to kill and cannibalize Pi, but Richard Parker kills him first. Tomohiro Okamoto An official from the Maritime Department of the Japanese Ministry of Transport, who is investigating the sinking of the Japanese Tsimtsum. Along with his assistant, Atsuro Chiba, Okamoto interviews Pi for three hours and is highly skeptical of his first account. Atsuro Chiba Okamotos assistant. Chiba is the more naÃÆ'à ¯ve and trusting of the two Japanese officials, and his inexperience at conducting interviews gets on his superiors nerves. Chiba agrees with Pi that the version of his ordeal with animals is the better than the one with people. The Cook The human counterpart to the hyena in Pis second story. He is rude and violent and hoards food on the lifeboat. After he kills the sailor and Pis mother, Pi stabs him and he dies. The Sailor The human counterpart to the zebra in Pis second story. He is young, beautiful, and exotic. He speaks only Chinese and is very sad and lonely in the lifeboat. He broke his leg jumping off the ship, and it becomes infected. The cook cuts off the leg, and the sailor dies slowly. Themes Themes, Motifs Symbols Themes The Will to Live Life of Pi is a story about struggling to survive through seemingly insurmountable odds. The shipwrecked inhabitants of the little lifeboat dont simply acquiesce to their fate: they actively fight against it. Pi abandons his lifelong vegetarianism and eats fish to sustain himself. Orange Juice, the peaceful orangutan, fights ferociously against the hyena. Even the severely wounded zebra battles to stay alive; his slow, painful struggle vividly illustrates the sheer strength of his life force. As Martel makes clear in his novel, living creatures will often do extraordinary, unexpected, and sometimes heroic things to survive. However, they will also do shameful and barbaric things if pressed. The hyenas treachery and the blind Frenchmans turn toward cannibalism show just how far creatures will go when faced with the possibility of extinction. At the end of the novel, when Pi raises the possibility that the fierce tiger, Richard Parker, is actually an aspect of his own personality, and that Pi himself is responsible for some of the horrific events he has narrated, the reader is forced to decide just what kinds of actions are acceptable in a life-or-death situation. The Importance of Storytelling http://imagec10.247realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/default/empty.gif Life of Pi is a story within a story within a story. The novel is framed by a (fictional) note from the author, Yann Martel, who describes how he first came to hear the fantastic tale of Piscine Molitor Patel. Within the framework of Martels narration is Pis fantastical first-person account of life on the open sea, which forms the bulk of the book. At the end of the novel, a transcript taken from an interrogation of Pi reveals the possible true story within that story: that there were no animals at all, and that Pi had spent those 227 days with other human survivors who all eventually perished, leaving only himself. Pi, however, is not a liar: to him, the various versions of his story each contain a different kind of truth. One version may be factually true, but the other has an emotional or thematic truth that the other cannot approach. Throughout the novel, Pi expresses disdain for rationalists who only put their faith in dry, yeastless factuality, when stories-which can amaze and inspire listeners, and are bound to linger longer in the imagination-are, to him, infinitely superior. Storytelling is also a means of survival. The true events of Pis sea voyage are too horrible to contemplate directly: any young boy would go insane if faced with the kinds of acts Pi (indirectly) tells his integrators he has witnessed. By recasting his account as an incredible tale about humanlike animals, Pi doesnt have to face the true cruelty human beings are actually capable of. Similarly, by creating the character of Richard Parker, Pi can disavow the ferocious, violent side of his personality that allowed him to survive on the ocean. Even this is not, technically, a lie in Pis eyes. He believes that the tiger-like aspect of his nature and the civilized, human aspect stand in tense opposition and occasional partnership with one another, just as the boy Pi and the tiger Richard Parker are both enemies and allies. The Nature of Religious Belief Life of Pi begins with an old man in Pondicherry who tells the narrator, I have a story that will make you believe in God. Storytelling and religious belief are two closely linked ideas in the novel. On a literal level, each of Pis three religions, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, come with its own set of tales and fables, which are used to spread the teachings and illustrate the beliefs of the faith. Pi enjoys the wealth of stories, but he also senses that, as Father Martin assured him was true of Christianity, each of these stories might simply be aspects of a greater, universal story about love. Stories and religious beliefs are also linked in Life of Pi because Pi asserts that both require faith on the part of the listener or devotee. Surprisingly for such a religious boy, Pi admires atheists. To him, the important thing is to believe in something, and Pi can appreciate an atheists ability to believe in the absence of God with no concrete proof of that absence. Pi has nothing but disdain, however, for agnostics, who claim that it is impossible to know either way, and who therefore refrain from making a definitive statement on the question of God. Pi sees this as evidence of a shameful lack of imagination. To him, agnostics who cannot make a leap of faith in either direction are like listeners who cannot appreciate the non-literal truth a fictional story might provide. Motifs Territorial Dominance http://imagec10.247realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/default/empty.gif Though Martels text deals with the seemingly boundless nature of the sea, it also studies the strictness of boundaries, borders, and demarcations. The careful way in which Pi marks off his territory and differentiates it from Richard Parkers is necessary for Pis survival. Animals are territorial creatures, as Pi notes: a family dog, for example, will guard its bed from intruders as if it were a lair. Tigers, as we learn from Richard Parker, are similarly territorial. They mark their space and define its boundaries carefully, establishing absolute dominance over every square inch of their area. To master Richard Parker, Pi must establish his control over certain zones in the lifeboat. He pours his urine over the tarp to designate a portion of the lifeboat as his territory, and he uses his whistle to ensure that Richard Parker stays within his designated space. The small size of the lifeboat and the relatively large size of its inhabitants make for a crowded vessel. In such a confined space, the demarcation of territory ensures a relatively peaceful relationship between man and beast. If Richard Parker is seen as an aspect of Pis own personality, the notion that a distinct boundary can be erected between the two represents Pis need to disavow the violent, animalistic side of his nature. Hunger and Thirst Unsurprisingly in a novel about a shipwrecked castaway, the characters in Life of Pi are continually fixated on food and water. Ironically, the lifeboat is surrounded by food and water; however, the salty water is undrinkable and the food is difficult to catch. Pi constantly struggles to land a fish or pull a turtle up over the side of the craft, just as he must steadily and consistently collect fresh drinking water using the solar stills. The repeated struggles against hunger and thirst illustrate the sharp difference between Pis former life and his current one on the boat. In urban towns such as Pondicherry, people are fed like animals in a zoo-they never have to expend much effort to obtain their sustenance. But on the open ocean, it is up to Pi to fend for himself. His transition from modern civilization to the more primitive existence on the open sea is marked by his attitudes toward fish: initially Pi, a vegetarian, is reluctant to kill and eat an animal. Only once the fish is lifeless, looking as it might in a market, does Pi feel better. As time goes on, Pis increasing comfort with eating meat signals his embrace of his new life. Ritual Throughout the novel, characters achieve comfort through the practice of rituals. Animals are creatures of habit, as Pi establishes early on when he notes that zookeepers can tell if something is wrong with their animals just by noticing changes in their daily routines. People, too, become wedded to their routines, even to the point of predictability, and grow troubled during times of change. While religious traditions are a prime example of ritual in this novel, there are numerous others. For instance, Pis mother wants to buy cigarettes before traveling to Canada, for fear that she wont be able to find her particular brand in Winnipeg. And Pi is able to survive his oceanic ordeal largely because he creates a series of daily rituals to sustain him. Without rituals, routines, and habits, the novel implies, people feel uneasy and unmoored. Rituals give structure to abstract ideas and emotions-in other words, ritual is an alternate form of storytelling. Symbols Pi Piscine Molitor Patels preferred moniker is more than just a shortened version of his given name. Indeed, the word Pi carries a host of relevant associations. It is a letter in the Greek alphabet that also contains alpha and omega, terms used in the book to denote dominant and submissive creatures. Pi is also an irrational mathematical number, used to calculate distance in a circle. Often shortened to 3.14, pi has so many decimal places that the human mind cant accurately comprehend it, just as, the book argues, some realities are too difficult or troubling to face. These associations establish the character Pi as more than just a realistic protagonist; he also is an allegorical figure with multiple layers of meaning. The Color Orange In Life of Pi, the color orange symbolizes hope and survival. Just before the scene in which the Tsimtsum sinks, the narrator describes visiting the adult Pi at his home in Canada and meeting his family. Pis daughter, Usha, carries an orange cat. This moment assures the reader that the end of the story, if not happy, will not be a complete tragedy, since Pi is guaranteed to survive the catastrophe and father children of his own. The little orange cat recalls the big orange cat, Richard Parker, who helps Pi survive during his 227 days at sea. As the Tsimtsum sinks, Chinese crewmen give Pi a lifejacket with an orange whistle; on the boat, he finds an orange lifebuoy. The whistle, buoy, and tiger all help Pi survive, just as Orange Juice the orangutan provides a measure of emotional support that helps the boy maintain hope in the face of horrific tragedy. Quotes Important Quotations Explained 1. I know zoos are no longer in peoples good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both. Explanation for Quotation 1 >> These words are spoken by Pi early in Part One, at the end of chapter 4, after a long discussion of zoo enclosures. Mr. Patel, Pi has recently told us, runs the Pondicherry Zoo, a place that Pi considered paradise as a boy. Pi has heard many people say negative things about zoos-namely that they deprive noble, wild creatures of their freedom and trap them in boring, domesticated lives-but he disagrees. Wild animals in their natural habitat encounter fear, fighting, lack of food, and parasites on a regular basis. Given all these biological facts, animals in the wild are not free at all-rather, they are subject to a stringent set of social and natural laws that they must follow or die. Since animals are creatures of habit, zoo enclosures, with abundant food and water, clean cages, and a constant routine, are heaven for them. Given the chance, Pi says, most zoo animals do not ever try to escape, unless something in their cage frightens them. We have already learned that Pi studied zoology and religion at the University of Toronto, and the above quote demonstrates just how closely aligned the two subjects are in his mind. He is quick to turn a discussion of animal freedom into a metaphor for peoples religious inclinations. Just as people misunderstand the nature of animals in the wild, they also misunderstand what it means for a person to be free of any religious system of belief. The agnostic (someone who is uncertain about the existence of god and does not subscribe to any faith) may think he is at liberty to believe or disbelieve anything he wants, but in reality he does not allow himself to take imaginative leaps. Instead, he endures lifes ups and downs the way an animal in the wild does: because he has to. A person of faith, on the other hand, is like an animal in an enclosure, surrounded on all sides by a version of reality that is far kinder than reality itself. Pi embraces religious doctrine for the same reason he embraces the safety and security of a zoo enclosure: it makes life easier and more pleasurable. Close 2. I can well imagine an atheists last words: White, white! L-L-Love! My God!-and the deathbed leap of faith. Whereas the agnostic, if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays beholden to dry, yeastless factuality, might try to explain the warm light bathing him by saying, Possibly a f-f-failing oxygenation of the b-b-brain, and, to the very end, lack imagination and miss the better story. Explanation for Quotation 2 >> Spoken by Pi, this quotation-chapter 22 in its entirety-emphasizes the important distinction between facts and imagination, the crux of the entire novel. Previously, in chapter 21, the author used the phrases dry, yeastless factuality and the better story after a meeting with Pi in a cafà ©; the repetition highlights this dichotomy. Religion is aligned with imagination, while lack of faith is linked to accurate observation and rationalism. In short, Pi is giving us a simple, straightforward explanation for the variants of his own story: the one with animals and the one without. The quote condemns those who lack artistry and imagination, the inability to commit to a story. Pi himself is a consummate artist, a storyteller, and he believes all religions tell wonderful tales, though not literal truths. Pi believes that atheists (who do not believe in God) have the capacity to believe; they choose to believe that God doesnt exist. At the end of their lives, they could embrace the notion of God and devise a story that will help them die in peace and contentment. Pi despises agnostics for their decision to make uncertainty a way of life. They choose to live a life of doubt, without any sort of narrative to guide them. Without these stories, our existence is dry and unpalatable as unrisen or yeastless bread. Close 3. [W]ithout Richard Parker, I wouldnt be alive today to tell you my story. Explanation for Quotation 3 >> This line is spoken by Pi approximately halfway through the book, in chapter 57. The you in this sentence is the author, to whom Pi relates his story over the course of many meetings in Canada many years after the ordeal. Of course, the you is also the reader, for Pi is aware that he is telling his story to a writer who has the intent to publish. By this point, we know that Richard Parker is a Royal Bengal tiger, an adult male, who weighs 450 pounds and takes up about one-third of the lifeboat. At first, it might sound ludicrous that such a menacing creature should get credit for keeping alive a slender, adolescent Indian boy, but Pi explains himself compellingly. The presence of Richard Parker, though initially terrifying, eventually soothes him and saves him from utter existential loneliness. Moreover, the necessity of training and taking care of Richard Parker fills up Pis long, empty days-staying busy helps time pass. The quotation can also be considered in the context of Pis second story, the one without animals, in which Pi himself is the tiger. Pi has chosen a tiger to represent himself because of its conflicting qualities: nobility and violence, grace and brute force, intelligence and instinct. In a way, these qualities are very human. But on a day-to-day basis-for example, as we go to school, drive to the supermarket, and watch TV at night-the elements of violence, brutality, and instinct are blunted. Instead of catching and killing fish, we purchase plastic-wrapped filets; rather than hunt animals for meat, we buy steaks at the deli counter. Stripped of these conveniences, Pi must return to nature and reassert his animal instincts. He must overcome his squeamishness in order to eat. He must embrace aggression in order to kill the cook who might otherwise have killed him. In crediting Richard Parkers existence for his own survival, Pi acknowledges that it is animal instinct, not polite conven tion or modern convenience, that protects him from death. Close 4. Life on a lifeboat isnt much of a life. It is like an end game in chess, a game with few pieces. The elements couldnt be more simple, nor the stakes higher. Explanation for Quotation 4 >> This comment appears about halfway through Part Two, as Pi adjusts to life at sea and philosophizes on the nature of being a castaway. In an endgame in chess, most of the game has been played out and the majority of the chess pieces knocked off the board. Similarly, after the sinking of the Tsimtsum, only a handful of survivors (Pi, Richard Parker, Orange Juice, the Grants zebra, the hyena) remain. The few that are left are forced into a strategic battle of wits to see who will ultimately prevail. The tensions between the lifeboats inhabitants immediately after the ship sinks are high; each inhabitant knows that the game is sudden death and that each move must be considered with special care. The zebra, the orangutan, and the hyena all make missteps and lose. But Pi painstakingly charts out his plan of action, and his diligence and foresight save his life. Life on a lifeboat is simple, but, stripped of all else, the stakes become considerable: life or death. Pis life in the middle of the Pacific has no luxuries, no complex processes to participate in, and no obscure signals to follow. Faced with numerous physical dangers-Richard Parker, sharks, starvation, the blind castaway-his only real choice is whether to fight to live or to give up and die. Though he considers doing otherwise, Pi chooses to fight. The distilled quality of Pis existence is similar to the kind of bare-bones life lived by many religious mystics, for whom stripping down to the essentials is necessary for communion with God. A full, varied life with many distractions can cloud faith or even make it unnecessary. However, within a spare and even monastic existence, Gods presence becomes palpable. To put it another way, within the confines of a lifeboat, spirituality looms as large as a nearly 10-foot, 450-pound Bengal tiger. Close 5. The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar. Explanation for Quotation 5 >> Pi narrates these words in chapter 93, toward the end of his ordeal at sea and as he is reaching the depths of his despair. As Pi mentions just before this, his situation seems as pointless as the weather. Up to now, Pis tedious life at sea has been alleviated somewhat with sporadic new activities: killing fish, taming Richard Parker, creating drinkable water using the solar stills, and so on. More notably, the blind French castaway and the days spent on the floating island gave Pi a change in routine. But now the novelty has worn off. This section, in which nothing is expected to happen, drives Pi into utter hopelessness, yet he must continue living. At this point Pi turns to God and, Martel implies, invents the story that we have just read. His mind is desperate to escape the physical reality of continued existence on the lifeboat, and so it soars into the realm of fiction. At his lowest point, Pi reaches for the only remaining sources of salvation available to him: faith and imagination. Through the plots remaining action, Martel emphasizes that such a strategy for self-preservation can actually be astonishingly effective. Immediately after this moment in the text, Pi lan
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Hepatitis C Virus
With the WHO goal of HCV elimination seeming more achievable with the new DAA therapy, nurses are uniquely positioned to be the final and vital spoke to get the machine running efficiently. History has shown that nurse led programs in HIV treatment were successful and many developed and developing countries have adopted nurse led models in the fight against HIV. Nurses have the education to be a useful ammunition in the fight against HCV infection. Nurse led programs can be a cost effective alternative and also help to decentralize HCV care and improve access. Certainly, progress in HCV care has been appreciable. Nurses have been integrated into the system in novel ways and numerous studies have shown that the effect is an improved rate of recognition of the infection, treatment uptake and adherence and achievement of sustained virologic response (SVR). Nurse are currently supporting physicians in treating HCV patients. Yet, this is not enough in bringing about any observable change in the epidemic of HCV. With the shortage of physicians and specialists, it is imperative to bring about policy changes that will allow nurses to treat HCV. What is lacking is the involvement of nurse practitioners (NPs). This is the age of DAA and no time has been better than today in involving NPs in the fight against HCV by giving them prescribing authority for DAA. Study conducted in United States (US) showed similar treatment outcomes for HCV infected patients with care by NPs, PCPs and specialists (Sarah et al, 2017) concluding that HCV treatment provided by NPs was as safe as that provided by specialists. An Australian study (Lloyd et al, 2013) conducted between 2009 to 2010 utilizing a nurse led program in prisons with specialist supervision via telemedicine also showed safe and effective HCV treatment outcomes. The newer regimens of DAA which have lesser adverse effects can be easily prescribed by nurse practitioners who have the relevant education and experience. NPs in Australia have already been given the authority to prescribe DAA (Gastroenterology Society, 2017), and US and Canada can take important lessons from the success of this policy change. Nurse practitioners working in nurse led models in prisons, rural areas, and with hard to reach groups like PWID can bridge the gap due to non-availability of specialists.Expanding the scope of practice of NPs is especially relevant today in order to improve uptake of high risk groups into treatment. PWID have a high prevalence of HCV (systematic review 60 ââ¬â 80% of IDUs in 25 countries had anti HCV while >80% IDUs had anti HCV in 12 countries https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673611610970 ) and are the core group of transmitters. Treatment uptake is low in this group and yet the success of HCV programs is not going to be substantial if issues of HCV detection and treatment in PWID are not addressed effectively. PWID have many barriers to accessing health care, including but not limited to criminalization, poverty, mental health issues, addiction related issues, stigma and marginalization. But they are more likely to be engaged with community level health care providers like primary care physicians and nurses (Milne et al, 2015) in low threshold settings where they do not have fear of stigma or criminalization. Expanding the role of NPs to improve capacity to provide HCV care in these settings will lead to shorter wait times, improve information sharing with patients, advance engagement with the health care team and deliver better treatment outcomes. Prison environments have a huge concentration of HCV infected inmates. 24% of federal prisoners and 23% of provincial prisoners were positive for HCV antibody (Trubnikov 2011). Prisoners are at high risk of passing on the infection due to sharing of drug paraphernalia and are able to spread the infection once out in the community. Rural and remote areas also have disproportionate allocation of health services putting those living in these areas in the demographic of marginalized. Patients are less likely to travel large distances to start and complete treatment. Nurse led models in these two settings are urgently needed to improve HCV care. Nurse led model: a protocol based treatment program can be developed and tailored to cater to the needs of specific populations in community care clinics, OST centers, prisons, rural/ remote areas. The protocol can include relevant history taking, clinical assessment, investigations including the nurse performing transient elastography and triaging patients to determine the risk of each patient. Based on this the nurse would either start treatment, do a one on one consultation with the physician or refer the patient to consult with the physician using telemedicine. Follow up assessments should be conducted and referred for any adverse effects. In prison environments, patients who are released before the end of treatment should be referred to the community center and appropriate continuation of care must be in place. With shorter DAA regimens and better tolerated drugs, more number of prisoners may be offered HCV treatment and more number of inmates may be motivated to complete treatment upon release. Future research should focus on impact of nurses in protocol driven treatment of HCV, nurses dong fibro scan as compared to physicians, efficacy of DOTs therapy in HCV for those populations with adherence issues. Increased funding for specialty education for nurses in viral hepatitis to improve HCV care would definitely improve capacity in the fight against HCV. Lack of treatment for the marginalized is unfair and inexcusable. Nurse led programs in HIV care provided improved outcomes in all indicators and is evidence that they will be crucial in the war against HCV. Nurse practitioners need to rise to the challenge and advocate for better patient care among those affected with HCV by demanding prescribing authority for DAAs. Nurse led model in HCV care is an effective strategy to attain the WHO goal of elimination of HCV by 2030.
Friday, January 10, 2020
The Paid Research Papers Game
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Wednesday, January 1, 2020
John Steinbeck s The American Voice - 2604 Words
The world has depended on its resources for millions of years and John Steinbeck has put the resources to work in a dependent way through the works of his writing. Steinbeck gives the reader something that everyone can relate to. He allows the public to connect to an emotional level by presenting the reader with a blend of social consciousness and sentimental value to bring out the true inner self. Work in literature can appear to be so simple, but have such a complex and deep meaning. Due to the stock market crash in October 1929, everyone was wiped off their feet and thrown face first in the dirt. This was known as The Great Depression. The Depression changed many lives drastically and brought out the real values in people that were never seen before. Steinbeckââ¬â¢s writing does not demonstrate the shallow outside picture; his writing gets into the deep gritty detail that brings out the real values of the desired time period. John Steinbeck contributed to the American voice by drawing the reader out of their own reality and into his own fantasy by giving the characterââ¬â¢s relatable traits through their actions and not their words. With this in mind it is important to realize the unique ways Steinbeck is able to appeal to the public and make an impact on others. Considering the fact that the world is filled with poverty and economic concern, Steinbeck allows the reader to engage in a connection with the characters through their actions. Every movement made is either one in theShow MoreRelatedThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck Essay1622 Words à |à 7 Pages The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck, widely viewed as one of the most finest and powerful American writer, born to a middle-class family in 1902 in the Salinas Valley of California. Steinbeck is a writer who often spoke for the people. The Grapes of Wrath is a great movie, published in 1939, filled with many universal truths and views on human nature and society, especially where class is concerned. In the article, John Steinbeck The Grapes a wrath: A Call to Action says, ââ¬Å"Steinbeckââ¬â¢s novel showcasedRead MoreThe Indelible Problem : Mulk Raj Anand And The Plight Of1030 Words à |à 5 Pagesutexas.edu/tag /mulk-raj-anand/.May 10, 2011 â⬠¢ Anand, S.25Aug.2014. ââ¬Å"Bhimraoââ¬â¢sSharpArrowsâ⬠: www. Out Look India. Com. Independence Day Special. â⬠¢ Arora, Neena. ââ¬Å"The Novels of Mulk Raj Anand: A Study of His Heroâ⬠books .google.co.in/books?isbn=8126904585- 2005 â⬠¢ Asnani, Shyam M. ââ¬Å"Socio-political Concerns in the Novels of Dr Mulk Raj Anand Dr K. R. S. Iyengar s pioneering and perceptive studyâ⬠(Indian Writing in English) â⬠¢ Astro, Richard. ââ¬Å"Steinbeck s Post-War Trilogy: A Return to Nature and the NaturalRead MoreAnalysis Of Of Mice And Men1132 Words à |à 5 PagesMax Nesins Mrs. Thompson HSE 1; Period 3 November 3, 2015 Analysis of Of Mice and Men. During the 1930ââ¬â¢s Great Depression, author, John Steinbeck (1902-1968) wrote many books regarding the difficulties and tragedies that struck farmers who strived to make a living in a rural, and destitute California. One intriguing novel that exhibits his common themes is Of Mice and Men. People similar to Lennie, strive to achieve their dream in America, the land of unlimited potential, despite the depressionRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath : The Great Depression1748 Words à |à 7 Pagesof his concepts, and emerges ahead of his accomplishmentsâ⬠(Steinbeck). The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a classic book read by millions in high school due to its simple prose, clear symbolism, and its heartwarming story of perseverance against the odds. However, this novel is far more than a heart-tugging story, but is actually a historically correct interpretation of the Great Depression of the 1930ââ¬â¢s in the United States. John Steinbeckââ¬â¢s The Grapes of Wrathââ¬â¢ s plot and characters reflectRead MoreThe Chrysanthemums And The Storm929 Words à |à 4 Pageslonging for attention and excitement who leans on another man for it. On the other end of the American literature spectrum, there is John Steinbeck, who was also a feminist writer. Steinbeck wrote the short story ââ¬Å"The Chrysanthemumsâ⬠about a womanââ¬â¢s brief extramarital sexual encounter during a storm. Steinbeck understood the struggles of women of his time, sympathizing with them and ultimately becoming a voice for them. ââ¬Å"The Chrysanthemumsâ⬠and ââ¬Å"The Stormâ⬠both have similarities in terms of subject,Read MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men962 Words à |à 4 PagesThe definition of the American dream is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity and the freedom to achieve the ideals of opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society wi th few barriers. Some believe the American dream is possible, others believe it is not, but John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr saw that during the great depression that the American people had placed their trust into their governmentRead MoreOf Mice And Men By John Steinbeck1433 Words à |à 6 Pageswriting a literary essay on the novella, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. I will be responding to the question describe an important character and explain how the character helped you understand an important message. In the novella, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, two characters, Crooks and Curleyââ¬â¢s wife, help me understand the message ââ¬ËDiscrimination isolates peopleââ¬â¢. The book takes place in Soledad, California, mid 1930ââ¬â¢s, during the Great Depression, at a time when discriminationRead MoreOf Mice And Men Modernism1619 Words à |à 7 Pages One of John Steinbeckââ¬â¢s early drafts of his most famous work, Of Mice and Men, was eaten by his dog. This did not discourage him from finishing it and going on to write more stories and novellas, becoming one of Americaââ¬â¢s most beloved authors. John Steinbeck is seen as a very important important figure of the Modernist literary period; known for his observations of human conditions during the Dust Bowl era, mainly his book Of Mice and Men which truly takes a detailed look at the Great DepressionRead MoreEssay about The Grapes of Wrath - Lifestyle in the 1930s1164 Words à |à 5 PagesThe Grapes of Wrat h is a historical and fictional novel that was written by John Steinbeck in 1939. He wanted to show his point of view of life in US during the years of Great Depression. This essay will talk about the lifestyle the public had during that time which dramatically changed conditions that the environment in we stern part of US had. The plot of Steinbeck?s work of fiction is rooted in the historical and social events of 1930s America, specifically the environmental disaster in OklahomaRead MoreEssay on Of Mice and Men924 Words à |à 4 PagesMykel Pierre Mrs. Crandall American Literature- 2nd 25 March 2013 Of Mice and Men ââ¬Å"Dammit Lennie!â⬠is something I always imagine George saying every two chapters of this story. George and Lennie were both inspired by real people that Steinbeck met when he was a bindlestiff in the 1920ââ¬â¢s. The man who inspired Lennie was a mentally unstable who was very nice but also had major anger problems. Steinbeck used a character like this that can be easily controlled so he could use indirect characterization
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
The Holocaust Of The Jewish Holocaust - 858 Words
The Jewish Holocaust is often described as the largest, most gruesome holocaust in history. It began in 1933 with the rise of Adolf Hitler and lasted nearly twelve years until the Nazi Party were defeated by the Allied powers in 1945. The expression ââ¬Å"Holocaustâ⬠originated from Greece which is translated to ââ¬Å"sacrifice by fireâ⬠. This is a very proper name considering the slaughter and carnage of Jewish people inflicted by the Nazis. In addition to the Jewish, Gypsies, Jehovahââ¬â¢s Witnesses, homosexual, and physically and mentally disabled were targeted by the Nazis. Although the numbers are not exact, it is estimated that approximately eleven-million people were killed during the Holocaust. This includes about six-million Jews and one-million children. The persecution begins on April 1, 1933 when Nazis initiated the first action against Jews. It began with a boycott of all Jewish businesses and only became more extreme as time went on. In September of 1935 Jews were excluded from public life and stripped of citizenship and marriage rights. This was an unprecedented action that was enforced by the German government through the Nuremberg Laws. Several other anti-Jewish laws were established during the buildup of World War II. During these dismal years, countless Jews were sent to ââ¬Å"campsâ⬠. These ââ¬Å"campsâ⬠ranged from concentration camps, extermination camps, labor camps, to prisoner of war camps. Nevertheless, all of these camps treated Jews inhumanly. Dachau, Germany was the home ofShow MoreRelatedThe Holocaust And The Jewish Holocaust3822 Words à |à 16 PagesNoam Hiltzik Holocaust Dr. John Christian Bailey Term Paper Hundreds and thousands of people are shoved into a confined space, very few resources are granted to them. The little money that they have left can barely buy food for a week. The rations that are provided for several days barely can last one. These people are forced to perform backbreaking labor, and those who cannot work, do not get to eat and thus cannot survive. This is what the Jews of Europe experienced in the Ghettos. This stageRead MoreThe Jewish Holocaust Essay1872 Words à |à 8 PagesThe Jewish Holocaust could be, and is, widely accepted as one of the most brutal and damaging atrocities ever to occur in the history of humanity. The level of brutality brought on by this atrocity is to such a degree that whenever the word ââ¬Å"Holocaustâ⬠is mentioned it is not the Greek origins of ââ¬Å"offer burningâ⬠that comes to mind; but, instead, the thought that resonates is the death of approximately 6 million Jews and other minorities brought on by racial hatred, radi cal ideology, and establishedRead MoreThe Horrors of the Jewish Holocaust690 Words à |à 3 Pageson whether to be Jewish or Non-Jewish, to either be Jewish and fight back or to go with the flow, and to be Non-Jewish and fight back or go with the flow? Being non-jewish and going with the flow would be the smart choice, if survival is the goal. In that time period being Jewish was awful. Being Jewish basically meant you were an outcast. During the Holocaust it would have been better to not be Jewish and to stay out of the way, or go with the flow. Even though being Non-Jewish and not fightingRead MoreJewish Literature And The Holocaust899 Words à |à 4 PagesHolocaust literature is one of the emerging field in literature during the second half of the twentieth century. Several Holocaust survivors wrote about the atrocities they witnessed and their experiences during the incarceration. The word ââ¬Å"Holocaustâ⬠encompasses images of death, horror, and inhumanity. Although many survivors find it difficult to talk aabout their experience, some of the took an oath to use their pen to protest against such horrible genocide and to make sure that this would neverRead MoreDenial of the Jewish Holocaust735 Words à |à 3 Pagesextermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.â⬠A major part of the Holocaust genocide is denial. Holocaust denial is present in the United States, Europe, and Canada. These people, known as ââ¬Å"revisionistsâ⬠try to deny the extermination of six million Jews during Wo rld War II. The revisionists claim that there are no documents to prove the holocaust actually existed (Holocaust Denial n. pag). ââ¬Å"The Holocaust, like evolution, is robustly supported and generally accepted by all but a fringeRead MoreJewish Migration And The Holocaust2907 Words à |à 12 PagesWhile researching texts written about Jewish Diaspora, I came across many documentary publications on Holocaust. This tragic part of Jewish history is very well documented as opposite to the Jewish Migration. I found few authors who published articles and books on Impacts of the Holocaust on Jewish Migration. My goal in this research paper is to explore the topic of Jewish Migration by connecting it to the Holocaust. To achieve this goal, I have organized my paper in the chronological order. I haveRead MoreThe Jewish Ghettos Of The Holocaust1715 Words à |à 7 Pagesshrivel up and simply cease to exist? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you may almost be able to im agine what life was like in the Jewish ghettos. There were ghettos before the Holocaust, the first being in Venice in the 16th century, there are ghettos today, and there will be ghettos in the future, but the Jewish ghettos of the Holocaust are by far the most prominent. According to Merriam-Webster a ghetto is, ââ¬Å" a part of a city in which members of a particular group or race live usuallyRead MoreThe Horrors of the Jewish Holocaust530 Words à |à 2 Pagesbeing torn from your family, home, and the people that you loved. Most all Jewish people in that time had to live through that. There were very few that were lucky enough to have escaped. They were even luckier if they were helped out of camps by other Jewish people and brought home to their families. Now just imagine if all of the Jewish people fought back. Opposing views claim that the Jewish people during the Holocaust should not have fought back; nevertheless, fighting back would have beenRead MoreNegligence in Reporting the Jewish Holocaust1123 Words à |à 4 Pages The Jewish Holocaust, one of the most horrific mass murders in human history, took place from January 30, 1933 until May 8, 1945. Hitler blamed the Jewish population for Germanyââ¬â¢s downfalls at the time, and his anti-Semitic views eventually led Germany to create a complicated scheme of Jewish extermination. Over six million Jewish lives were lost in this mass murder. America, usually portrayed as the country that lends a helping hand to all nations in desperate need, did absolutely nothing to aidRead MoreEssay on The Jewish Partisans of The Holocaust1146 Words à |à 5 PagesResistance during the Holocaust, both Jewish and non-Jewish, is a daunting task to cover. Information abounds in relation to this which leads to the problem of putting all of it into one paper. Due to this, I will only cover the specifically Jewish Partisan fighters. The movements are divided into two groups of Eastern and Western Fighters. Partisans fought in almost every European country including but not limited to Belgium, Poland, Russia, France, Italy, Greece, and Lithuania. ââ¬Å"A partisan is
Monday, December 16, 2019
Kotu Fashion Accessories Shop Free Essays
string(248) " April 2013 that special offer is a sales promotion tool which is extremely important for any small business, as it can help the business gains its reputation, prestige and therefore, attracts more customers to grow the profits \(See Appendix B\)\." Vietnam was positioned in 23rd among 30 countries for owning one of the most attractive retail markets globally. The total retail value for clothing and accessories sector in Vietnam was 7. % and held 72. We will write a custom essay sample on Kotu Fashion Accessories Shop or any similar topic only for you Order Now 9% of share in 2009. From 2004 to 2009, there was a growth in the number of clothing and accessories retailers in Viet Name. As predicted in 2010, the number of goods and services would grow 18-19% in 2011. Along with this growth, the rate of retailing goods in 2011 was quite slow compared to previous years due to a decrease in consumption and economic difficulties. However, retailing market like accessories and clothing markets still continued to be the most attractive market ever. According to the Global Retail Development Index (201 1), clothing and accessories retailing is a attention business in Vietnam and stands at a vital position in the market, which influences not only private retailer but also the governmentââ¬â¢s attention. The government has tended to pay more attention to the local retail market. To be more specific, they have encouraged people to increase the use of local products, which urges the local market to improve. For instances, many campaigns were emerged by the government with the purpose of developing the industry potentially such as the recent campaign named Vietnamese people buy Vietnamese goodsââ¬â¢. According to Ministry of Industry and Trade (2010), a report in September ââ¬ËIndustry and Tradeââ¬â¢ in 2011 showed that in the first 9 months of 2011, the total sale of goods and services rose more than 17%. Nevertheless, this was still a low percentage compared to previous years, which tended to grow more than 20%. In 2010, the total retail grew to 24. 5% compared to previous year. This shows that Vietnamese demands for accessories have been rising and are more likely to be an upward trend. Hence, the opportunities for an accessories retailer to enter the market and increase the number of customers are very significant. RESEARCH QUESTION How can SOOT Shop attract more customers and increase the number of loyal customers? METHODS In order to effectively respond to the teamââ¬â¢s research question, the research team have examined both primary and secondary research. For primary research, in order to clearly understand the shop ownerââ¬â¢s problems, on 6 March 2013, the research team visited and had an interview with the owner of SOOT Fashion Accessories Shop, Mrs.. Maim Then Then (See Appendix A). On 5 April 2013, the research team visited Qua Tang shop, one of the most popular accessories shop among the area to observe ND compare SOOT Shop with its neighboring competitors. In addition, the research team visited a competitorââ¬â¢s accessories page named V;C on 5th April 2013. Furthermore, a survey was conducted randomly including 10 males and 10 females respondents on 10 April 2013 (see Appendix C). The data was clearly identified with a table of survey results, proportions, bar graphs and pie charts. Finally, on 14 April 2013, the team members had met with Ms. Unguent NCO Line, an online shop owner who has five years experience in doing Internet advertising (See Appendix B). Then, he research team interviewed the expert Do Truing Tuna, an owner of a grocery shop on 15 April 2013 to find out more about special offer strategies (See Appendix B). And on 12 April 2013, the team interviewed Mrs.. Cacao HTH Hung, the owner of Gardenia Hotel in Dalai City about her specialize on membership program (See Appendix B). For secondary research, the research team have searched on REMIT Online Library, government documents, and Google Scholar to find out about the possible problems as well as solution regarding social networking sites, special offer and loyalty program. Figure 1 . Gender of respondents FINDING Social Networking Sites (An) In the interview on 6th March 2013,the owner of Soot shop, Ms. Maim Then Then claimed that she would like to increase the number of customers by using Faceable which she has not had any experience in the previous time. Based on the survey that the research team conducted on 10 April 2013 on randomly adolescents a young adults (See), seven out of ten respondents research on Faceable before purchasing (See). On 14 April 2013, in a meeting with Ms. Unguent NCO Line, an online shop owner has five years experience, emphasized that social networking sites are opportune for business to increase customers (See). After researched and visited on a competitorââ¬â¢s accessories page named VC on 5th April 2013, the research team noticed that they often stay online to quickly answer customersââ¬â¢ question about the products and have separated albums for each kind of products. Bankcard (2011) indicates social networking sites help to connect nodes and branches. The author states that social networking sites contribute to increase sales, services and brand the products as a major hub. According to the Thou Tree News (2012), there was a growth of approximately 200% from 2. Million to more than 8. 5 million in the number of Faceable users in Vietnam. Unguent (2012) adds that the majority usersââ¬â¢ ages in 2011 are from 15 to 34 years old which is similar to the target ages of the business. Unguent also represents that Faceable has the highest rate of number users and a large gap comparing to Vietnamese social networking sites in 2011. Special Offer (That) Ms. Then, owner of SOOT shop states during the interview on 6 March 2013 that she has considered using special offer to attract more customers to her shop (see Appendix A). A survey was conducted on 10 April 2013 (see Appendix C), in which 9 UT of 10 respondents would choose to buy goods from accessories shop, especially, which offers them several gifts or discounts. 50% of those like to make purchases on special days if this shop offers ââ¬Ë5-10%ââ¬â¢ discount and another 50% refers buying if the shop applies ââ¬Ëbuy 2 get 1 freeââ¬â¢ (see Figure 1). The expert Do Truing Tuna, a owner off grocery shop states in the interview on 15 April 2013 that special offer is a sales promotion tool which is extremely important for any small business, as it can help the business gains its reputation, prestige and therefore, attracts more customers to grow the profits (See Appendix B). You read "Kotu Fashion Accessories Shop" in category "Fashion" According to David K and John M (2000), special offer is a tool to keep loyal customers and satisfy new customers. The authors claim that a retailer can apply special offers for different customers by recognizing loyal or new customers digitally via Kiosks, Internet and mobile devices. By using it, business can conceive different offers for different customers based upon their historical purchases and preferences. On 5 April 2013, the research team visited Qua Tang shop, one of the most popular accessories shop among the area, which also is a strong competitor of SOOT shop (see figure 2). The team found out that Qua Tang hop offers discounts and other sales promotion strategies frequently. For instance, the shop offered ââ¬Ëbuy 2 get 1 free in the woman day last month and it was high appreciated within new and loyal customers (see Appendix C). According to Wend (2012), some small businesses are now considered special offer through email marketing promotion as an effective way to get more attention of the customers. Special offer can be a way to motivate customers to buy products, it can be occurred with many forms as well, for instances, ââ¬Ëbuy and get discount on the second productââ¬â¢, ââ¬Ëbuy one get one freeââ¬â¢ and free shipping. In order to create an efficient email advertised offer, Wend mentions four advices. Firstly, a business should understand the need of the customers and offers them products with perceived value. Secondly, business has to be well defined their goals, why they do an offer. The reason they make the offer should not be because their competitors do. Thirdly, firms should be clear about their ability, which meaner that they have to make sure they can afford the offer. Finally, a successful business should think about partnering with a non-profit making organization in order to position the businessââ¬â¢s name in the mind of customers. According to Jim (201 1), some businesses have mistaken the true meaning of special offers, which caused irreparable damages to a companyââ¬â¢s reputation. He expresses some main ideas help firms to understand more about special offer. One of the most common mistakes that most of small business makes is training the marketplace to waitââ¬â¢. For example, a seminar business applies an early-bird discount to persuade customer to book promptly although customers still buy tickets with the actual price. Then, when the seminarââ¬â¢ s date gets close, he offers X% to sell his tickets quickly. Eventually, the business loses it reliability. Secondly, Jim found that famous brand companies are often successful with their special offer strategies. The reason is that big companies often spend quite a long time for their wide research and receives advices from their professionals. Membership Card (HTH) Ms. Maim Then Then, the owner of SOOT Shop stated in an interview on 6 March 2013 that she wants to apply sale promotion strategies, which can effectively attract more customers and improve the shopââ¬â¢s loyal customers (See Appendix A). The research teamââ¬â¢s survey on 10 April 2013 shows that 9 out of 10 respondents are attracted to the idea of having a membership card for an accessories shop (See Figure 3) and they would like to make more purchases if the shop provides promotions (See Appendix C). In an interview on 12 April 2013, Mrs.. Cacao HTH Hung, the owner of Gardenia Hotel in Dalai City, implies that membership card is one of the most important promotion tools to keep the loyal customers on track (See Appendix B). However, there are many firms failed to run the customer loyalty programs effectively. She also states that in order to run the customer loyalty programs efficiently, businesses should do surveys and market researches on customer urchinââ¬â¢s behaviors and then create an adequate reward for loyalty. According to Dowling and Uncles (1997), a European investigators researching business-to- business marketing in the sass stated that a firm is mostly profitable from their loyal customers. This is because of seeking more profits by lower servicing costs, less price sensitivity and suggestions passed on to other potential customers by loyal purchasers. On 5 April 2013, the research team visited Qua Tang shop, one of the strongest competitors of SOOT Shop and noticed that Qua Tang Shop has paid special attention to improve their customer loyalty programs such as patronage rewards and membership cards. They offered membership cards with different colors and designs aiming to different valued cards. According to LittleKing integrated marketing group (n. D), businesses should be aware of the mentality ââ¬Å"one product fits allâ⬠because not all of the customersââ¬â¢ needs and wants are always the same. Therefore, a hierarchy of valued consumers should be released such as diamond, premium and gold membership cards. Furthermore, ââ¬Ëlapsedââ¬â¢ members, who signed for a membership card, but only use it for one time and never use it again, are also problems dealing with membership cards and challenging almost all genuineness. If the shop provides membership cards for those who will probably ââ¬Ëlapsedââ¬â¢, the shop will not only waste their efforts to maintain the customers, but also suffer from loss of resources such as the cost to make the membership card. According to a survey of professor Worthington (2009), although membership cards often attract widespread customersââ¬â¢ interests, they are still likely that it has a large amount of ââ¬Ëlapsedââ¬â¢ members. There is no accessible information that could show the percentage of membership cards that are ââ¬Ëlapsedââ¬â¢ or ââ¬Ëactiveââ¬â¢. Nevertheless, professor Worthington survey outcomes indicate that the most frequent reason for not participating in membership programs are not attracted by the prizes and a slight rate of people who cited ââ¬Ëprivacyââ¬â¢ reasons. RECOMMENDATION Social Networking Site (An) On the survey conducted by the research team, nine out of ten respondents like purchasing accessories on Faceable. The expert, Ms. Unguent, said that having an efficient controlled Faceable page could help to increase the number of customers. Noticed by the research team, the competitor, VC shop, also had a Faceable page, which had well decorated picture albums and quick service. Bankcard (2011) asserts that by directly using a social networking site and connecting with the customers could collect positive reviews and high reputation as return since customers feel that their feedbacks are important and they are cared. The Thou Tree News (2012) reports that the number of Vietnamese Faceable users increased of around 2 times within one year. Unguent (2012) adds that the significant Faceable usersââ¬â¢ age are from 15 to 34. Therefore, Soot shop should create a Faceable page, which is easy and inexpensive, to increase the potential customers. The expert, Ms. Unguent, advised that the shop should have 2 Faceable pages, which are a personal page and a fan page. The shop can update the information and pictures related to their products, notes, and feedbacks from customers and use the personal page to share this information and add friend. In this way, the shop can be active in increasing the number of users they want to transfer information because users do not randomly like the page unless the shop has a big brand name or high productsââ¬â¢ prestige. Ms. Unguent also recommended not tagging the customers in the pictures to avoid disturbing them, except the ownerââ¬â¢s friends if they do not mind. Ms. Unguent added that the pictures should have clear descriptions and be similar to the products because if the products and picture are not matched, the shop could lose their prestige. The most impressive aspect on the competitorââ¬â¢s Faceable page is they have separated albums for each kind of products; this could help customers to save their time for searching purposes. Soot shop should consider this aspect. The most important thing that VC shop cannot efficiently manage is that there are many other shopsââ¬â¢ advertising on the page and the host also updates personal statuses and emotions. This could get bad reputation in return and the customer could click on the otherââ¬â¢s pages, as a consequence, they might lose their customers. Hence, Soot shop should not post any personal activities onto their business pages. On the survey administered by the research team, service is the most importance to the female customers and the second importance to the male customers. In addition, the competitor shop also has the order service for the products that they do not have. Therefore, Soot shop should try often stay online to quickly response to customers. Their strength is to make handmade accessories hence producing stuffs that customers order is also possible. Special offer (That) The research team administered a survey and pointed out that there are 9 out of 10 respondents would like to buy products from accessories shop where offers them gifts or discounts (See Appendix C). Half of the respondents like to make purchases on special days if this shop offers ââ¬Ë5-10%ââ¬â¢ discount and another 5 respondents refers buying if the shop applies ââ¬Ëbuy 2 get 1 freeââ¬â¢ (See Appendix C). The research team observed a well-know accessories shop named Qua Tang, which is one of a SOOT shopââ¬â¢s competitor. Qua Tang implements sales promotions strategy frequently to acquire more customers. The latest is ââ¬Ëbuy 2 get 1 freeââ¬â¢ offers on woman days and it is widely popular among the area. According to Wend (2012), special offer through email marketing promotion is now extremely important to small business. She informs that special offer indeed can be an effective way to prompt customers to buy products. In order to attract customers by special offer, Wend argues that a firm has to understand the need of customers and offers them products with appropriate value. Moreover, business needs to know their specific goals and abilities to make a healthy offer. Jim (2011) states that not every business understands clearly the true meaning of special offers, which leads them to several inevitable losses. He mentions an example regarding to his one customer that losses its reputation due to misunderstanding of special offer. According to David K and John M (2000), special offer is an efficient strategy to fulfill loyal customersââ¬â¢ and new customersââ¬â¢ expectation. The authors infer that a retailer can know more about customerââ¬â¢s buying powers and preferences using modern tools such as Kiosks, Internet and mobile devices in order to manage different offers for each group of customers. The positive aspects of special offer are obvious; every customer refers to receive discounts and gifts when they make purchases. Thus, if SOOT shop wants to increase the number of first-time customers and preserve the number of membership, sales promotion as special offer is essential. However, special offer is quite popular among other accessories shop, many competitors also apply special offer to attract more customers such as Qua Tang shop. Therefore, SOOT shop also has to make sure the reason for offering, who to offer, what and when to offer. For example, shop can offer ââ¬Ë5% discountââ¬â¢ for new customers and ââ¬Ë10%ââ¬â¢ discount for loyal customers on special days such as Valentine and Mother days. In addition, in order to prevent unnecessary losses, Ms. Then needs to know clearly the ability to offer. If she offers a product value 10,000 vend and sells it 12,000 vend after discount, she would be suffered because she still has to pay money for employers, electricity, and many other fees. Membership card (HTH) A survey released by the research team on April 2013 indicated that 90% of respondents are interested in having a loyalty card for a fashion accessories shop (See Appendix C). Mrs.. Cacao HTH Hung, the owner of Gardenia Hotel in Dalai City, mentions in an interview on 12 April 2013 that one of the most significant promotion tools to maintain the loyal customers is offering membership cards (See Appendix B). Nonetheless, there are not many companies can succeed in implementing the loyalty programs. She goes on to suggest that considering the evaluation of customer purchasing behaviors and then generate the accurate rewards of loyalty are the most important factors to maintain loyalty customers. Dowling and Uncles (1997) refer to a research, which was found by European researchers studying business-to- easiness marketing in the sass. The research claimed that loyal customers are the main contribution to a companyââ¬â¢s profit. It is due to its lower expenses by lower servicing costs, lower advertising costs and advices passed on to other potential buyers by loyal purchasers. It will cost much more to persuade a new buyer to make a purchase in the shop than to make a current shopper to purchase again. Hence, SOOT shop should focus more on their current customers and often remind them about the shop through providing promotions and running membership programs. The research team visited one of the competitors, Qua Tang shop, on 5 April 2013 ND noticed that Qua Tang Shop has fully concentrated on improving their membership programs. They provided different colors and designs cards, which distinguished between levels of card members. Little;King integrated marketing group (n. D) states that companies should notice the mentality ââ¬Å"one product fits allâ⬠, because there are always differences between every customerââ¬â¢s needs and wants. Therefore, a hierarchy of valued consumers should be released such as diamond, premium and gold memberships. Thus, SOOT shop should apply membership cards to its customers (See Figure 3). The differences between membership cards allow the hop to serve a certain type of persons based on their standard of membership. To illustrate, the system can automatically find the names of customers, their mobile phone numbers, email addresses and save their previous purchases when they use their membership cards to make a purchase. Through that process, the shop can easily classify the customersââ¬â¢ interested items and clothes in order to introduce different kinds of items, clothes to different types of customers. In addition, the shop can efficiently inform different types promotion information to different types of buyers through their mobile phones or email addresses. One of the difficulties of providing membership cards is ââ¬Ëlapsedââ¬â¢ membership card. Lapsedââ¬â¢ member meaner customer who applied a membership card and only use it for one time. According to a survey of professor Steve Worthington (2009), it always has a large amount of ââ¬Ëlapsedââ¬â¢ members in every business. There is still lack of available information that could show the percentage of membership cards that ar e ââ¬Ëactiveââ¬â¢ or ââ¬Ëlapsedââ¬â¢. Yet, professor Worthington examinations results imply that the most common reason for not taking part in membership programs are because they are not attracted by the rewards and a small proportion of respondents who cited ââ¬Ëprivacyââ¬â¢ reasons. Thus, SOOT Shop must be aware of their responsibilities to its consumers in satisfying the redeemable prizes and customersââ¬â¢ information to remain customersââ¬â¢ beliefs. In order to do so, firstly, SOOT Shop should pay more attentions to members who ââ¬Ëlapsedââ¬â¢ through classifying membersââ¬â¢ last purchases. And then try to find out the customersââ¬â¢ reasons of not taking part in the membership programs. Finally, inform different types of promotions to different customers. For example, a shop finds out that a small umber of their customers quit being the shopââ¬â¢s loyalty customers because of the low membership cardsââ¬â¢ benefits. The shop may apply different type of promotions to those particular members. The shop may send a message to those customers that they fortunately won a randomly contest of the shop and they will receive double points in every purchase by membership card. CONCLUSION In conclusion, SOOT accessories shop should apply the use of social networking sites such as Faceable in order to attract more customers. It should consider launching a Faceable page, which has well decorated productsââ¬â¢ albums and information because Faceable takes no cost to create and advertise. It also should strike up friendship with Passbooks users to advertise products widely. Moreover, it should stay online over time to answer customerââ¬â¢s questions and feedbacks. By that way, customers will probably feel that they are respected and it helps the shop to improve its reputation. The shop also has to make sure that the quality of products is similar to the pictures that it has on Faceable to earn customerââ¬â¢s belief. However, SOOT shop should manage to avoid irritating people by tagging them every hour with pictures. In addition, most of people like to make purchases when there is a discount or gift offer. Thus, SOOT shop should apply special offer to get new customers as well as to preserve loyal customers. Nevertheless, other accessories shop also apply special offer, so SOOT shop should be considered when applies this sales promotion tool. To be more specific, SOOT Shop should clearly understand the reason for making the offer, who to offer, what and when it should offer. SOOT shop should not forget their ability to make an offer because if it gives customers more than what it can afford, the shop will face difficulties. Furthermore, SOOT shop should be concentrated on keeping loyal customers by reminding them via membership programs because it will save the services and advertising costs. Providing membership cards have different colors and designs can help SOOT shop to easily classify each type of customer through their names, phone numbers email addresses and purchasing powers. Therefore, the shop would be able to know more about customerââ¬â¢s wants, interests and preferences. One of the difficulties of membership program is that there could be many ââ¬Ëlapsedââ¬â¢ membership cards. Unguent NCO Line, who has a successful online cosmetic shop named Rim Catnap Skincare, to ask for comment on my recommendation for the business that my research team currently working on. An: Hello Line. Thank for spending time to meet me. Iââ¬â¢m An from research and report writing class. As I told u before that today I want to interview you for advice on my project. Ms. Line: Hi An. So how far have you been doing? And which problem that you want me to give advice on? An: Ah. The business that Iââ¬â¢m working on is a clothing accessories store. The owner wants to increase the amount of customers. The subtopic Iââ¬â¢m doing is social networking sites. However it seems totally new to the owner, her shop doesnââ¬â¢t even have a Faceable page which is now quite familiar to the teenagers and young adults. Ah one more thing, teenagers and young adults are her target customers. Thatââ¬â¢s why I suggest her to have one. Ms. Line: Oh I see, you are right that Faceable is now getting more popular and it can help to increase sales. But let me ask u this, have u ever been tagged by an online shop in its pictures. An: Yeah, a lot. Ms. Line: How do u feel about that? An: A little bit annoying. At First, I Just ignored them, but there were many notifications and that disturb me. Therefore, if any shop tags me, I will block them or report as spam.. Ms. Line: So why do you suggest the owner to have a Faceable page? An: Ah Iââ¬â¢m going to ask her create a fan page. Can you tell me how to increase the ââ¬Å"likeâ⬠? Ms. Line: k, because she and I work on different kinds of business so you may apply in some ways but not exactly the same k? I suggest having 2 pages, one is a personal page and one is a fan page, because the customers do not randomly like your page unless you have a big brand name or prestige of your product. An: can you please explain in more details? Ms. Line: for the fan page, you update all the productââ¬â¢ details there such as pictures, notes, feedback from customers, etc. For the personal page, all you have to do are adding friends and share what you have updated on the fan page. Because the customers are afraid to be annoyed therefore we have to be active by adding friends with them and remember not to tag them, I think you already know why, huh? Maybe you could tag some of your friends if they donââ¬â¢t mind. And sharing the stuffs that you updated on fan page that mean the information is transferred to the users twice. An: Ah I got it. Ah I also want to recommend on the pictures that she is going to post on Faceable, it must be clear, close enough to see what the product made from. What else do you think I should suggest her? Ms. Line: ah itââ¬â¢s good to do that but you should put the description for the pictures, because pictures sometimes are not clear and that could cause misunderstanding about raw materials. Ah it reminds me that the real products and pictures have to be the same because you may lose prestige if the products look different. You could describe in the pictures that the products may slightly different because of the light. And you could also create an album of customers wearing your products on Faceable, which could help to increase the loyal customers and increase sale from your customersââ¬â¢ relatives since the products is ore reliable when it is introduced by friends. If you are lucky, your customers could be some hot girls or models etc. , you know, stuffs are worn by beautiful girls maybe look more beautiful (laugh) and their fans could come to buy as well. An: k, it sounds good to me. Thank you very much for meeting me again. I would go back to work on the recommendation. If there is any problem, donââ¬â¢t you mind if I call you to ask? Ms. Line: Call me as soon as you have questions. Iââ¬â¢m very glad that I can help you. k see way. An: Thank you. Audio script of the interview on 11 April 2013 with Mr.. Do Truing Tuna, owner off rockery shop for over 20 years to ask for some advices for the business That: I m working on a small accessories shop and I intend to ask you some advices for my sub topic which is special offer. Tuna: so its about loyalty program? That: yes and also attract first-time customers Actually, I plan to recommend this shop to apply discount on special days like Valentine and Woman days, specifically, ââ¬Ë20% discountââ¬â¢, what do you think? Tuna: well, on special days? Mumâ⬠¦ I think that it s not a good idea. Firstly, every shop especially small shop should not apply more than 5 to 10% on special days because they can ell more of their products within those days; some shops donââ¬â¢t even have enough stuff to sell, so why then they apply discount? Why do you choose special days to offer? That: I think that special offer will attract more customers, maybe new customers. Many people donââ¬â¢t usually buy products unless it is special days. Those days, they are encouraged to buy something for their friends and family right? Then I think I can focus on new customers Tuna: I think that you should balance between loyal and new customers, I mean it s more about services. If you offer discount for ewe customers the same amount you offer for the old one, they must be upset. Why donââ¬â¢t you separate the offer? I mean decide different offer for different customers? For example, offer 5% for first time customers and 10% for old customers. That: but how can we realize who is the new and who is old customer? Tuna: I think the shop should have been applied some of the other sale promotion tools which can help you to recognize customers such as membership card. There are many way to recognize them, I suggest you to research more about how to realize customers digitally through the internet since the internet is necessary for all the business. How to cite Kotu Fashion Accessories Shop, Essays
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Borobudur Stpa Essay Example For Students
Borobudur St?pa Essay The splendiferous monument Borobudur which stands surrounded by volcanoes in the middle of the Kedu plain in central Java is indubitably one of the noblest buildings to have sprung from the Buddhist faith and is one of the worlds finest religious founda tions. It stands to convey an extraordinary impression of the ultimate tranquility which Buddhism affords to its believers. That it does so is an architectural achievement of the highest order and testifies to the successful manner in which structure and decoration have been treated together to produce a coherent whole. Great ingenuity is demonstrated in the lay-out. It is the only stupa in Java which is rich in other types of Buddhist monuments. It is a unique product of genius and it is this uniqueness which makes its interpretation so difficult. The stQpa of Borobudur goes back eleven centuries. In about 800 a.d. a king of the Sailendra Dynasty immortalised his faith in the Buddha in an unexampled monument, conceived and concretised by a poet, philosopher, and architect, named Gunadharma. Gunadharma sallied forth into the mountains of Menorch, his heart rapturous in the hope of transcreating adoration along the path of unending time. Gunadharma, after a long meditation and an indepth study of the great Buddhist Classics, conceived the Borobudur as we know it today. Tradition has it that the architect Gunadharma is integrated into the mountain range of Menorch, where you can see the silhouette of his chin, mouth and nose. The name of the Borobudur has been an enigma. Some have derived bara from vihdra meaning a complex of temples and mona steries, and budur heralds the Balinese word beduhur meaning above. Thus the word signifies a high, eminent or supreme mona stic complex.1 Prof. Casparis explains it as an abbreviation of a com pound word which means, The monasteries of the accumulationà of virtue in the ten spiritual stages in the meditation of a Bodhi sattva 2 Whatever the origin of the word, it does represent the ten stages in mans ascent from the baser world of lust and passion into the highest realms of iiinyatd, which are known as daSa-blmmi or it may also stand to mean date kuà £altini* namely the ten sins: pdnalipdto (killing); adinndddnam (stealing); kdmesu mikkliaknro (impurity); musdvddo (lying); pisund-vdkd (slander); pharusdvakd (harsh language); samphdppaldpo (frivolous talk); abfiigglia (covetous ness); vydpddo (malice); mikklidditthi (false doctrine) in the Buddhist philosophy. As one approaches the Borobudur, one is in the presence of a replica of the universe which is three-fold namely kdmadhdtu, rupa-dhdtu, à °Ã ³Ã ¹Ã'â¬Ã °-dhdtu, and beyond these three wo rlds is the Sunya.5 However, the basic lay-out of the building is simple: four square terraces set upon the basement platform and surmounted by three circular terraces which support a stiipa. Each four square terraces are provided with an exterior wali so that there is an enclosed pathway around each level of the monument. A stair-case with lavishly decorated archways leads to the top of the monuments from the middle of each side of the square. The lowest base re presents the kama-dhdtu or the phenomena! world, the world of baser passions. Kdma, desire of senses is one of the four aSvas and is the first of the six factors of existence, the elimination of which is essential for liberation from re-birth. The six are kdma, vedaiid, sanita, dsvds, kamma, and dukkJia The basement has 160 reliefs which have been drawn from a religious text, the Mahakarma Vibhanga. This text deals with the Buddhist system of rewards and penalties for right and wrong actions, a system subsumed in the term karma7 which has been translated loosely as fate. Both the nature of the text and the il lustrations of it, which are found on Borobudur, make it clear that it is addressed primarily to laymen w hose function in Buddhism is to gain merit by supporting the monks. .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .postImageUrl , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:hover , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:visited , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:active { border:0!important; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:active , .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0 .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf030a22b0193130115d68a12fc35f5b0:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Craft and Art EssayFrom the world of passions or of kdma we reach the world of riipa dhdtu or Form.8 It consists of four square galleries or terraces, with a chain of large niches, which contain Buddha images, culi minating in miniature stupas.à The four square terraces in Buddhist philosophy may also re present dwthvdrydrya satydm? diatitfralokapdldh10 namely the Four Guardians of the World; dhaturattho, virulho or virulhako, virupakkho, vessavano or chatxtirobraUmavilidrah, the Four Perfect States or diatvdri saiigrahawstuni;12 the Four Elements of Popularity or diat vdki smrthya prasthdndni;13 the Four Earnest Mediations namely kdydnu-passamid, iedandmi-passafind, ki ttdtiu-passannd and dhammdnu passatvid; or dxatvdri-samyakprahandni, the Four Right Exertions. But a more complex theology emerges when we consider the Buddha figures enshrined in the niches on the facades. On each side of the monument there are 92 statues arranged in four rows which correspond with the four terraces. The figures represent: seated Mdnu$i-Buddha$ and Dhydni-Buddlias Akshobhya, Ratna Sambhava. Amitdbha and Amogha Siddhi who are associated with the four cardinal points. The legends of Maitreya and Saman tha-bhadra are also sculpted in the third and fourth terraces. Above these four-fold ranks there is a fifth line common to all sides of the monument whose niches house Vairochana. The walls of the terraces are adorned with reliefs portraying life scenes and Jatakas in exactitude to the texts enjoined in Jdtakamdla, Avaddnas Lalitavistara, and Gandavyuha. As befits , the walls are also embellished with a variety of designs of kdlamakara]4 foliage, flowers and spiral ornaments. Above the four terraces of the à ³Ã ¹Ã'â¬Ã °-dhdtu, we reach the higher domain of arupa-dhdtu, the World Beyond Form.15 Here tranquility and serenity prevails and the atmosphere indicates the realm of meditation. There are three circular terraces in concentric circles around the main stupa at the top. There are a number of stupas of which a particular type is found only at Borobudur. These stupas which are constructed with half-open walls, number thirty-two, twenty-four and sixteen on the three successive terraces. Each houses a figure of yet another Dyani-Buddha, Vajra sattva, who is generally accepted as being the highest of these Buddhas; indeed treated almost as a supreme deity in some schools of Buddhism. Again, the latticed stupas with Buddha images represent the near-highest manifestation of Ultimate Reality. There is a striking difference in this sphere and the previous one. There are no reliefs nor any ornamentations. The pilgrim is initiated into the higher sphere of ariipa, where decoration is no longer relevant and theà mysterious chairoscuro of the Buddha, in the latticed stupas, lends a sublimity to the entire atmosphere. The continuous repetition of the same truth is an affirmation of reality. Repetition is eternity. While the lower stages are material and massive, the higher ones rise in simplicity of silence.16 The very presence of latticed stupas numbering thirty-two, twenty-four, and sixteen on the three successive terraces is quite significant and has Buddhist philosophical meaning. Thus, the row of thirty two stupas, may represent dvathrim-Salakshanani. the Thirty Two Signs of Perfection17. Similarily, the twenty-four stupas in a row connote chaturvimSa-tirtlpakleidh, the Twenty Four Minor Evil Passions,18 while the sixteen stupas probably stand for the Sixteen Patimokkha , disciplinary rules binding a bhikkhu}9 The three circular terraces, in concentric circles around the main stupa, have again Buddhist ideology transmuted in them. The three circular terraces may stand for triratnas,20 the Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha; or Thrayovimoksha(21 the Three Kinds of Salvation namely sunnatavimoko (void); animiltavimokho (uncondi tioned), apparihtavimokho (passionless); and mahavyupt. Beyond the three circular terraces is the main stupa. Culmi nating in the centre, it forms the crown of the entire monument. Inside is an open space which is empty. It is the iiinya,22 the Absolute, the monument of silence, the highest expression of truth in the quest of the sddhaka While the sadhaka ascends the Boro budur on to higher terraces, he proceeds to higher domains of spiritual life. In a similar manner the Buddha gradually manifests himself downwards in order to be approachable to beings. It is the descent of the Divine on this earth . The pilgrimage can be seen as an account of the history of Buddhism and of the doctrine which the Buddha expounded. On the exterior of the platform are the depictions of the inexorable laws of karma. As he enters the first of the circumambulatory ter races, the pilgrim sees the way in which the Buddha prepared for his role by a succession of previous lives (the Jdtakas and avddna panels), is born to his last existence, receives enlightenment and preaches the first sermon in which he expounds the doctrine which releases men from the laws of karma; all of which this monument emphasizes. .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .postImageUrl , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:hover , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:visited , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:active { border:0!important; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:active , .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .udb77b89571a0ff515e2ac40193a0169d:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Art invades craft EssayAlso as a stfipa, the monument symbolizes the moment of the Buddhas own achievement of mrvdna, an event which is notà otherwise illustrated at Borobudur. But the doctrine has more esoteric truths to reveal than the simple historical teachings of Gautama; the story of Sudhanas search for these is now recounted in a stylized and restrained manner, for we are beyond the point of folk narrative and moving into the realm of metaphysics. This becomes clear on the circular terraces, where the reliefs cease, and thence at the Central Stupa where even the Dhyani-Buddhas have disappeared. Yet, if we consider the Dhyani-Buddhas upon the facades and the circu lar terraces as being in a sense the spiritual shell surrounding the whole monument, then it can be seen as cosmos, a universe of which the Central Stupa with its lofty mast, now missing, is the world axis, the Sumeru of the Indian cosmo logies.24 Thus, amazingly, the Borobudur stupa echoes the Buddhist ideologies imbibed in the architectural entities which formed part of it.
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