Personal REading Project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal REading Project - Research Paper Example Beowulf is so confident that he uses no weapon to fight with Grendel. He fights barehanded. This results into ripping of his arm. Grendel surrenders and escapes. When he returns, he dies. The king thanks Beowulf for the great work done in defeating the enemy. They take the Grendel’s arm and hang it as a sign of trophy and victory of human nature over an evil creature. The mother to Grendel is angry of her son’s death. She is enraged. She decides to come one night and starts yet another menace mission. She picks one man and eats then runs away. The mother finds the son’s arm that had been in a hall. She gets away with it. The king is upset by the invasion of Grendel’s mother. He once again calls upon Beowulf to come and assist him to destroy the mother (Classen, 2007). The king makes promises to Beowulf in order to encourage him to accomplish the task. He promised him gold, treasures, and alliance with the people of the land. Beowulf comes along with his me n and invades the residence of Grendel’s mother. Beowulf swims to where the mother lives. They start fighting. However, he is so unfortunate that he is battered by the woman. Otherwise, she tries to harm him but is unable. Beowulf realizes that the sword does very little to finish her. She makes a mistake of swimming to her battle hall where they continue to fight. He discovers a magic sword on the wall of the battle hall. He grabs the sword and slashes her head resulting into accomplishment of the task. The sword is a special weapon. It had been created by ancient monsters. Beowulf swims around and finds Grendel’s arm. He also finds his body and cuts off his head. He gets away with the head and the arm as trophies of the victory. Beowulf swims to where his men are waiting. He finds that the king’s men had already left after predicting that Beowulf had been defeated. Beowulf and his men return to Hrothgar. The king rewards him with gold. The king also

Business Ethics in Respect of Bangladesh Essay Example for Free

Business Ethics in Respect of Bangladesh Essay Business ethics: Social responsibility requires individuals engaging in business endeavors to behave in an ethical manner. Ethics are principles of behavior that distinguish between right and wrong. Ethical conduct conforms to what a group or society as a whole considers right behavior. People working in business frequently face ethical questions. Business ethics is the evaluation of business activities and behavior as right or wrong. Ethical standards in business are based on commonly accepted principles of behavior established by the expectations of society, the firm, the industry, and an individual’s personal values. Most business leaders realize their firms cannot succeed without the trust of customers and the goodwill of society. A violation of ethics makes trust and goodwill difficult to maintain. In thousands of companies, executives and employees act according to the highest ethical standards. Unfortunately managers in some firms behave unethically, and these instances are often highly publicized. Personnel executive say the major reason managers behave unethically is to obtain power and money. Business Ethics- Practice in Bangladesh In Bangladesh, though practice of Business ethics is still not so commendable in public sector and small companies, but business ethics has been an increasing concern among larger companies, at least since the 1990s. Major corporations increasingly fear the damage to their image associated with press revelations of unethical practices. The following information about the functions relating ethics and social responsibility of a reputed company of our country will give a brief idea about the practice of Business Ethics in Bangladesh: Unilever Bangladesh Limited Over the last four decades, Unilever Bangladesh has been constantly bringing new and world class products for the Bangladeshi people to remove the daily drudgery of life. Over 90% of the country’s households use one or more of Unilever products. They aim to give everybody a little something to celebrate about themselves every day. They believe that to succeed in business, it is essential to maintain the highest standards of corporate behavior towards everyone they work with, the communities they touch, and the environment on which they have an impact. Ethical Approaches: †¢ Effective Code of business principles: Their code of business principles describes the operational standards that everyone at Unilever follows, wherever they are in the world. It also supports their approach to governance and corporate responsibility. Code of business principles are- Standard of conduct, Obey the law, employees, consumers, shareholders, business partners, community involvement, public activities, the environment, innovation, competition, business integrity, conflict of interest, compliance, reporting, monitor. †¢ Women Development and Women Empowerment: Unilever strongly believes in the importance of empowering women in Bangladesh, because the progress of any society will be constrained if a significant part of its population is neglected and excluded from the benefits of development. They believe, with economic and educational empowerment, women can become more vocal about their rights and become stronger in withstanding repression in any form. So they have established â€Å"Fair Lovely Foundation†. The mission of this foundation is to encourage economic empowerment of Bangladeshi women through information and resources in the areas of Education, Career and Enterprise. It is this realization that has brought about the Fair Lovely Foundation Scholarship Program. Under this scholarship scheme, women who have passed their HSC each receives a Taka 25,000scholarship to support her tertiary level education. Unethical Approaches: †¢ Unilever produces Fair lovely fairness cream, lotion, etc and they claim that skincolor will be white after using this product. But that it is not true. There are noscientific values about whiteness. This is totally unethical performance inmarketing activities of this company. Managing or Encouraging Ethical Behavior Managing the financial operations of a company can be a complex effort. Companies need to balance their desire to grow with the realities of maintaining their financial relationships, satisfying their investors and making a profit. †¢ Government Regulations: The government can do so by legislating more stringent regulations. But, rules require enforcement and when in many cases there is evidence of lack of enforcement even the ethical business person will tend to slip something by without getting caught. Increased regulation may help, but it surely cannot solve the entire business ethics problems. †¢ Trade Associations Setting Guidelines: Trade associations can and often do provide ethical guidelines for their members. These organizations within particular industries are in an excellent position to exert pressures on members that stoop to questionable business practices. †¢ Companies Providing Code of Ethics: Employees can more easily determine and adopt acceptable behavior when companies provide them with a code of ethics. Such codes are perhaps the most effective way to encourage ethical behavior. A code of ethics is a written guide to acceptable and ethical behavior that outlines uniform policies, standards and punishments for violations. Because employees know what is expected of them and what will happen if they violate the rules, a code of ethics goes a long way towards encouraging ethical behavior. However, codes cannot possibly cover every situation. Companies must also create an environment in which employees recognize the importance of complying with the written code. Managers must provide direction by fostering communication, actively modeling and encouraging ethical decision making, apart from investing in training employees to make ethical decisions. †¢ Whistle Blowing Technique: Sometimes, even employees who want to act ethically may find it difficult to do so. Unethical practices can become ingrained in an organization. Employees with high personal ethics may then take a controversial step called whistle blowing. Whistle blowing is informing the press or government officials about unethical practices in an organization. Whistle blowing could have averted disaster and prevented needless deaths in the Challenger space shuttle disaster, for example. How could employees have known about life-threatening problems and let them pass? Whistle blowing on the other hand, can have serious repercussions for employees; those who make waves sometimes lose their jobs. Conclusion The main objective of business is to serve people with their every need for the well-being of human being and to ensure that, there is no alternative of following business ethics. Since he practice of business ethics in our country is still not ubiquitous, we are not getting the proper environment for the business, and thus often we are facing some crisis situation and it is hampering our total economic development. Our policy makers and the top executives of the organizations should give more concern in making ethical policies and take proper steps to encourage business executives and service holders to follow them.

Ethics Religion And Sustainable Production Case Study Marketing Essay

Ethics Religion And Sustainable Production Case Study Marketing Essay The introduction of Fair Trade has indeed encouraged many businesses in building an efficient ethical supply chain which involves applying strict measures that comprises of identifying, forming and maintaining good supplier relationship with both upstream and upstream. It is important that companies build a viable ethical supply chain as well encourage good working condition in accordance to existing labor laws in other improve brand image and build a strong reputation as well as contribute to sustainable development. In todays business world, building ethical supply chains is extremely essential as it also comes with a lot of benefits attached to the practice. In an article by (Michael R. Levin and Richard J. Cellini, 2008) Consumers, investors, business partners, regulators, and media organizations now expect a company and its entire supply chain to be ethical. The world is becoming a global marketplace and companies must ensure that they have morally strong brand image and create a well trusted supply chain so as to add value not only to their brand but to their image in general, with the wide spread of internet and effective communication consumers are becoming aware of what is actually involve in production and distribution of goods and services. With the increasing rate of climate change people are becoming more conscious of how to care for the environment and the ways of how resources are being exploited. Interestingly, in these recent economic downturns big multinationals companies such as Kraft, Nestle and Starbucks have all managed to form strategic partnership with Rainforest Alliance for Ethical Sourcing of Coffee beans, according to (IGD.com, 2009) Kraft started working with Rainforest Alliance to show support as part of their contribution towards sustainability and helping the environment, shortly after gaining great experience Kraft successfully expanded more work with Rainforest Alliance and included other brands and with this, a total of 150,000 farmers benefited by gaining improved working conditions and better wages, they also helped to protect 70,000 acres of coffee farmland and helped protect rainforest plant and animal species as reported by (IGD.com, 2009) Nestle announced in 2005 to support sourcing its coffee beans ethically after bagging the title in the UK of being the most unethical company and partly responsible for driving down prices of coffee beans at the expense of poor small farmers, they decided to make a serious commitment to support Fair trade and fight poverty, invest in community projects such as improving schools and clinics, providing clean water and repairing roads. Fair Trade label is particularly strong and popular in the United Kingdom, The United States Starbucks made a pledge to make all of its popular espresso brand Fair Trade by the end of 2009 on the other hand, Nestlà © who happens to be a bigger brand with numerous has also join the bandwagon and made commitment to the mass consumer market like its number one rival Kraft, whose brands such as Maxwell house and Kenco has made sure all its coffee beans are from Rainforest Alliance certified farms. (Russell, 2009) Starbucks made a commitment to ethical sourcing in 2009, and has become one of the largest buyers of fair-trade coffee, they also made a decision to have 100% of its coffee certified or verified by an independent third party, such as TransFair USA. To show their commitment to the sustainability, they have planned to invest in communities by doubling loans to farmers by 2015. According to Starbucks, (starbucks.co.uk, 2011)responsibly grown, ethically traded coffee means working with farmers to produce coffee in ways that help provide benefits to their business, their communities and the environment. This falls in line with the Fair Trade objectives, which states that, coffee bean growers should be adequately compensated for their harvest. In addition, Fair Trades primary objectives is ensure that its sets standards for farmers organizations and labor are adhered to by all, they also work in the interest of small-scale producers and help them work in an organized manner, such as in a co-op and make sure all decisions are made democratically and not influenced. In Fair Trade, the farmers are allowed to form unions. While in the Rainforest Alliances standard, they do not get involved with the cooperation of farm workers, and are somewhat laidback. The Rainforest Alliance does not have any existing baseline premium for wages, and they only maintains the low wage bar set by local governments (Trauben, 2009) 2. According to research expert, (Johnson, 2010) who carried out a research in the UK to understand what consumers actually wants, in his studies he discovered that food is the most misunderstood area of public policy, as it accounts for 10% of household expenditure and is linked to 12% of employment, 70% of land use and 20% of energy use in the UK. He also mentioned that demand for food is higher than supply bearing in mind price, quality, availability and access such as logistics issues which play a very vital role in supply chain. (Doane, 2001) Defined ethical consumption as the purchase of a product that concerns a certain ethical issue human rights, labor conditions, animal well-being, and environment it is chosen freely by an individual consumer. With growing trends and change in lifestyle consumer behavior and expectations have changed, due to various issues which ranges from Self-interest to Purchasing Power. People are getting busier and barely have time to cook and therefore have to rely on instant junk foods, maintaining a healthy diet is increasing becoming a difficult task but it is important to make sure that they consume ethically by making sure they are well informed of the food being sourced in a sustainable way. Sending out clear information to create awareness should be encouraged by the government so as to enable the food retailers provide more knowledge and give more information to improve the eating habit of consumers said the Chief Executive of Wm Morrison Supermarkets (Philips, 2010) which is the fourth biggest grocery retailer in the UK and has 479 stores with a strong focus on fresh products. However, having access to affordable healthy foods should be greatly encouraged and not excluded economically from enjoying healthy meals, as these tends to be more expensive. With the recent economic downturn more people have very little disposable income to spend on buying food stuff, as price for simple basic commodities such as rice has witnessed an increase in price globally. (Philips, 2010) also said Key to the affordability of food is choice. Supermarkets offer wide choice in order not only to meet customers expectations but also to drive competition. This encourages innovation to help ensure excellent quality as well as to keep prices down. The conclusion of the research carried out by the (Johnson, 2010) is that consumers have growing expectations and it is the responsibility of the supermarkets to act sustainably, and not increase prices of more healthier foods, Fair trade products should be made affordable and serve as an economically sustainability initiative which helps the environment and must be backed by clear information and honest Fair Trade labeling of products so that consumers have clear knowledge of where the products originates from and the environmental impact. Consumers are becoming more aware of brands that practice responsible sourcing and procurement, carbon footprints and favorable ethical trade practices. Brands who adopt ethical sourcing are perceived as being environment friendly, these ethical firms avoid actions that may somewhat negatively influence, or probably appear to influence, supply chain management decisions for sourcing of resources. 3. Recommendations to help cure the ills of the coffee market would be as follows: In most developing countries where coffee is being exported, the coffee is regarded as very valuable export commodity which makes up a major contribution to their earnings, they are owned by small business owners, the coffee exported from these poor countries are highly consumed by the wealthiest countries, the coffee beans has variety of different grades most of they are somewhat identical which makes a standardized product, but they have distinctive flavors and specialty coffee falls into this category and has a much higher grade which makes it command a higher price than others. The Fair Trade coffee bean are in different grades, although specialty coffee requires a totally different production and pricing which in turn creates a quality control issue for Fair Trade coffee. (Haight, 2011) Fair Trade cannot solve all the problems relating to ethical supply and consumption, consumers should also play a part in curing the ills of the coffee by: a) Ethical Consumption should be encouraged in great measures so as to make consumers use their purchasing power as a means to change questionable ills of the coffee market business as well as the severe oversupply of low cost substandard coffee beans. According to (Jeremy, 2007) Fair Trade is defined as a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency, and respect that seek greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of marginalized producers and workers especially in the South. One complaint amongst many coffee drinkers is that the quality of Fair Trade coffee varies widely. The fact that the growers are guaranteed a minimum price for their product may have unintended consequences, one being that there is no incentive to improve quality. b) Reward companies that practice high ethical standards to set an example for other unethical companies to change their ways of doing business, for example according to a recent study carried out by (Remi Trudel et el, 2012) in trying to understand how much more would consumers be willing pay for an ethically produced product? and also how much less would consumers be willing to pay for the product they think is unethical? 97 coffee drinkers were radomly chosen for the experiment and were given informations about the companys production standards, the result from the experiment showed that people punished unethical goods with a much higher discount than they rewarded ethical products with premiums price. c) Consume authentic ethical products and contribute to the lives of the growers by avoiding bad consumer choice and practices. d) Always check labels and investigate popular brands to understand its history of production and encourage fairness in labor. In conclusion, coffee experts in the industry must work hard to reduce the supply of low quality coffee beans and promote ethical supply of this commodity, which will not only improve the lives of the growers but also contribute immensely in shaping the coffee market, companies should increase actions towards socially responsible marketing, (McDonald, 2013) which involves: Customer oriented marketing Innovative marketing Customer value marketing Sense of mission marketing Societal marketing

Othello :: essays research papers

The Significance of Othello’s Ethnicity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In William E. Cain’s essay, â€Å"The Triumph of Will,† he clearly states, as is represented by James that Othello’s race is not an issue in the play. I strongly agree with James and believe that if Othello’s skin was white it would not affect the outcome of the play at all. Desdemona’s marriage to any other man, black or white, would have been just as upsetting to Barbantio and Roderigo, and in this paper I will further discuss my reasoning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As I have mentioned in the introduction, the outcome of the play would have been exactly the same whether or not Desdemona’s husband in the play happened to be black or white. One of the reasons is the fact that Barbantio was not necessarily mad at Desdemona for marrying Othello. Although this might have made him a little upset he got over that very quick, but what made him really mad was that Desdemona married Othello secretly behind his back without his approval. Basically Barbantio felt betrayed by his own daughter. This made Barbantio feel that he wasn’t able to do his part as a father, and play that major role in his daughter’s life anymore. Since Othello is now Desdemona’s new husband it is his responsibility to take over those important roles. Barbantio would feel this way regardless of who his daughter married. Understandingly and respectively enough Barbantio knows that Desdemona loves Othello, and that Othello loves Desdemona just as much as he loves his daughter. In the end, Barbantio easily accepts the marriage. If the racial issue was the initial root of all evil here he would not have accepted the marriage as easily. In his acceptance to the marriage he joins the hands of Othello and Desdemona and gives them his blessings. â€Å"I here do give thee that with all my heart which, but thou hast already, with all my heart I would keep from thee for your sake, Jewel, I am glad at soul I have no other child, for thy escape would teach me tyranny, to hang clogs on them.† (Shakespeare, 31)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As for Roderigo, his main conflict is the simple fact that Desdemona has married a man whom is not himself, as he would rather love to have it. Although Iago is supposed to be a friend if Othello’s he sides with Roderigo and secretly is against Othello.

“Bring Back Flogging” Response Paper Essay

In Jeff Jacoby’s essay, â€Å"Bring Back Flogging,† he strongly reveals his opinions and beliefs on corporal punishment. Jacoby illustrates the use of verbal irony and sarcasm. He applies verbal irony and sarcasm in such a way that by reading what is written is easily understood to interpret what he really means. Jacoby describes what flogging is, how it was helpful, and argues that flogging needs to be brought back to our society. After reading Jacoby’s argument for bringing back the harsh beating and whipping, called flogging, I see that flogging would be helpful if it is brought back. Flogging is exercising the practice of brutal beatings and whippings. Flogging has been practiced by the Puritans in 1632, all the way to 1972 when it was repealed. The Puritans acted in flogging when offenders were sentenced for committing a crime, such as adultery or blaspheme. When convicted of the crime an individual committed, they were tied to a post in public, with no shirt, and severely flogged. By practicing flogging, and displaying the beating to the citizens of the town, the citizens could see what would be done for their punishment if they commit the same or different crime. If flogging were to be brought back and routinely practiced on offenders of certain crimes, and the beating was displayed to the public, it could greatly reduce crimes committed. Being whipped is not any more or less degrading that being locked in a cage, like an animal. Bringing back flogging would inspire possible criminals not to commit a crime that they could be planning. By being whipped in public, the offender will be highly embarrassed and have severe pain. Hopefully this felling of embarrassment and the pain experienced will stay with them, if they think of committing another crime. Also, after beaten the wounds will turn to scars, these would serve as a permanent reminders of the consequences obtained from their actions. Prisons are packed tightly with hundreds of criminals. Some prisoners are violent offenders and others are not. Providing meals, building new jails,  keeping a prison running, and providing prisoners with necessities, is very expensive. If flogging was the consequence of committing crimes, the money spent in and for prisons, could be used for other and more important items, such as books for school systems. In addition, less dangerous offenders will not be abused or raped in prison. The practice of flogging would also increase prison space for more dangerous offenders. Bringing back the punishment of flogging would greatly reduce crimes committed. Also, the public display, pain, and the permanent reminder from scars, will reduce the possibility of participating in the crime again. It would also serve as a physical image to others of what will happen if they commit a crime. Puritan forefathers had an excellent idea of punishment for committing crimes. Flogging was also a very effective punishment. The knowledge of what will happen if a crime is committed, and knowing how painful it is, will allow individuals to think thoroughly if they ever decide they want to commit a crime. I vote to bring back flogging!

See The Attached Instructions Example

See The Attached Instructions Example See The Attached Instructions – Coursework Example Measures to Minimize Environmental Causes of Asthma Measures to Minimize Environmental Causes of Asthma One measure that the globalcommunity can take to minimize environmental causes of asthma is house is free of fumes. In May 2012, the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children published an organized federal program to protect children from environmental causes of asthma. Two key measures from this program can be adopted to minimize the amount of causes of asthma in the global community. Burning wood, gas, and lighting kerosene stoves releases fumes within the house. Such burning equipment generates nitrogen dioxide, an odorless gas that irritates the nose, eyes, and throat. In effect, nitrogen dioxide causes asthma attacks (President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks, 2012). First, households residing in developing countries across the world and using these burning appliances and begin by ensuring that t heir stoves are ventilated appropriately to the outside. Users of gas stoves can utilize exhaust fans for ventilation while preparing food. Users of wood stoves can make sure their doors are secure to prevent any leaking fumes. Users of unventilated kerosene or gas space radiators can open windows or also utilize exhaust fans. The chimney corner should always be open before lighting it to enable fumes to dissipate through the chimney. Users of radiators should have their manufacturers clean and inspect it annually to find any likely linkages. Car owners should also avoid leaving their idle vehicles within closed garages to lower the risk of exhaust fumes entering their houses (President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks, 2012). Second, people can stand at least half a day inside the houses where there is an air-cooling system with an efficient purification system. Spending over 12 hours within such conditions should significantly lower indoor exposur e to environmental causes of asthma attacks such as pollen grains, outdoor molds, pet fur, horsehair, and dust. For this measure to be optimally efficient, the house or building should be reasonably and properly airtight. In addition, the house should have a constant central air dispensation system that sifts air constantly and not only when the radiator or cooler is on (Minnesota Department of Health, 2007). The above program recommends mandatory air household heater or air conditioners with constant fan operations as optional. For developing countries, there are affordable and efficient air filters without mandatory household radiators or coolers.ReferencesMinnesota Department of Health. (2007). Reducing Environmental Triggers of Asthma in Homes of Minnesota Children. United States Environmental Protection Agency, pp. 23.President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks. (2012). Asthma and the Environment: A Strategy to Protect Children. Presidentâ€⠄¢s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks, pp. 20.

The things they carried Research Paper Example

The things they carried Research Paper Example The things they carried Paper The things they carried Paper Essay Topic: The Things They Carried In the short story The Things They Carried, written by Tim OBrien, there is a lot of symbolism in each specific object that was mentioned. According to Dictionary. Com, a symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of Investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. A symbol Is something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign. The things each soldier carried defined each individual soldier. The story was very detailed in the objects the soldiers carried which tied into the emotional things the soldiers carried. Most of the items each soldier had were very important for survival. The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. (Ernie 596) They had their water, medical gear, foods, and most importantly weapons. Each soldier was locked and loaded with a specific war Item. For example, Henry Dobbins, being the big guy, automatically made him the gunner, which led him to carry the 26 pounds of machinery called the M-60. The medic, Rat Killed, was in charge of carrying the deiced gear, including morphine, plasma, malaria tablets and surgical tape. The radio and telephone operator, Mitchell Sanders was in charge of carrying the PRE-25 Radio. This Is just some of the things that were specialized to an individual according to their size or skill. But the soldiers also carried things that werent so necessary, yet they would bring It along anyways for certain reasons. The lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters, two photos, and a pebble sent to him by a woman named Martha. His decision to carry these items represented how much Martha meant to Cross. These objects symbolize his love for Martha because throughout the story, he often fantasize about her instead of leading his soldiers. For example, In the story he fantasize about when he went to the movies with her, touched her knee, and was sadly rejected. Lieutenant Cross remembered touching that left knee. A dark theater, he remembered, and the movie was Bonnie and Clyde, and Martha wore a tweed skirt, and during the final scene, when he touched her knee, she turned and looked at him in a sad, sober way that made him pull his hand back, but he would always remember that feel of the tweed skirt and the knee uneaten it and the sound of the gunfire that killed Bonnie and Clyde, how embarrassing It was, how slow and oppressive. (OBrien 597) Martha however didnt seem to have this same love for Cross, because none of the letters she sent him acknowledged the fact that he was in war. Due to his lack of attention to his soldiers and multiple daydreams of Martha, this showed that he wasnt ready to be a leader, but was probably forced to his position because he was drafted. He didnt have the mindset to be a successful leader, he was still young, and in love. His constant daydreams showed how mesmerisms Cross Is over this woman, and how unfocused The big soldier, Henry Dobbins, carried extra rations of food. This was because he was a big guy, and had a fast metabolism, and much of his food would be processed quicker than the others. He would also carry a panty hose around his neck. This was a way of him to boast and show off that he had a girl at home and was sexually active on his breaks. A soldier named Ted Lavender was the guy who carried tranquilizer, 6-7 ounces of dope, and extra rounds of ammo. This symbolized that he was frightened by the reality of war. He would smoke the dope and take the tranquilizer to calm his nerves. He wasnt in the war by choice, most of the soldiers werent. He felt safer by carrying extra amounts of ammunition. All of the soldiers needed a sense of security, something to make them feel that everything was okay, even though they were in the Jungle. The radio and telephone operator (ROOT) named Mitchell Sanders carried condoms. This was an odd item to carry, however, came in handy when it would rain, to keep the guns from getting wet. He carried brass knuckles, which was very interesting because it showed how even in a time of war with plenty of ammo and weapons, he was thinking of last resort situations. In the case of war, there seems no need to wear brass knuckles when the soldiers carry bazookas, grenades, and machine guns. But his mentality to having brass knuckles was so that he could have a sense of security. If he were to ever run out of ammo, and had to go one on one with an enemy, he would have an advantage. So basically, the brass knuckles symbolized safety. All the soldiers needed a sense of security. A soldier similar was Lee Struck. He carried a sling shot. This too gave him the feeling of protection. As silly as it may have seemed to have a sling shot when other people had guns, it worked for Struck. A soldier similar to Sanders and Struck thoughts was Kiowa. He too had a last resort weapon, a hatchet. He would have it to feel safe in case of an emergency, but the reality was that he probably never even used it. The point of carrying it wasnt for use, but simply for a sense of security. Kiowa said some things in the text after someone got shot, that showed a sense of how the soldiers minds were. Kiowa, who saw it happen, said it was like watching a rock fall, or a big sandbag or something? just boom, then down?not like the movies where the dead guy rolls around and does Nancy spins and goes ass over teakettle?not like that, Kiowa said, the poor bastard just flat-buck fell. Boom. Down. Nothing else. (OBrien 598) By this text, we can see that the soldiers were in a horrible reality. Not like things in movies, but real hard times in war. The medic Rat Killed carried his medical gear, and on top of that comic books and a liquor drink named Brandy. The fact that he carried comic books showed a couple of things. It showed that he was still a little kid. The draft caused many teenage boys who werent ready to grow up and be men to have no choice but to be an adult. The books also gave Killed a sense of hope. This was because comic books have super heroes, who never die. To him, he was a hero for the United States, which in a way meant he couldnt die. It made him feel safe. Also, the Brandy drink made him feel grown up. At the time, this was a drink only real men drank, older men. So by him having this, it proved that Killed was a man. One of the oddest items that were carried was by a soldier named Norman Booker. Along with a diary, he would carry a thumb. Now, the diary was pretty on during the war. However, the thumb had a sick representation. It was a thumb cut if from a dead enemys hand. A thumb symbolizes humanity, because thumbs are something unique that only humans have. By chopping off the thumb of another person, this action meant that there was no humanity at war, no rules, no morals, Just life and death. According to the text, the following happened when Mitchell cut off the thumb; You want my opinion, Mitchell Sanders said, theres a definite moral here. He put his hand on the dead boys wrist. He was quiet for a time, as if counting a pulse, then he patted the stomach, almost affectionately, and used Kiosks hunting hatchet to remove the thumb. Henry Dobbins asked what the moral was. Moral? You know. Moral. Sanders wrapped the thumb in toilet paper and handed it across to Norman Booker. There was no blood. Smiling, he kicked the boys head, watched the flies scatter, and said, Its like with that old TV show?paladin. Have gun, will travel. Henry Dobbins thought about it. Yeah, well, he finally said. I dont see no moral. There it is, man. Buck off. (OBrien 601) There were no morals. This thumb was a reminder to Booker that there were only two choices in war, to live, or to die. And this motivated him to stay alive and keep on humping through, which means to carry on. One of the most unique symbolisms in the story was towards the end, which was a Silver Bird.. To the soldiers, whenever injuries were to occur, there would be a silver plane that would come and rescue the soldier and take them to the hospital. This led to freedom, once the soldier was done at the hospital, they would go on home and be free. This was what all the soldiers wanted to do, Just go back home to their families. Many of the soldiers envisioned themselves on this Silver Bird, flying with no worries of being shot, no worries of suffering through the blazing sun, and no worries of not seeing their loved ones. In all, The Things They Carried is about soldiers who would carry symbolic objects, some were necessities, however there were a lot of things that werent so necessary, yet they would carry it along anyways. In this story, much was learned about each individual soldier simply by the possessions they would hold on to. The things the soldiers carried defined each individual soldier in a specific way.