Dialectics in Oryx and Crake Essay Example for Free

Dialectics in Oryx and Crake Essay Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake, is about an anti-utopian society that chronicles the collapse of civilization and corrupt medical practice. The town’s morals are highly questionable, in that the majority of the citizens approve of gene splicing, transgenic animals, like mixing a dog’s genetic code with a wolf, and transplanting animal organs in human beings. The book poses a question of what is truly ethical in medical practice? This story has an immediate correlation to the island of Dr.   Moreau, by H. G. Wells, in which a mad scientist creates a dysfunctional society of genetically spliced transgenic animals as well. Like The Island of Dr. Moreau, Margaret Atwood relies on dialectical elements. Dialectic is a classical philosophy originated by the Greeks that depended on the furthering of society through thesis and antithesis. In modern day it has developed between most scholastics as a fine art of persuasion. It is ever present in Oryx and Crake through the dialectics produced through Crake’s insanity. His main dialectical argument is that society has become morally bankrupt and is due for a change and Crake claims intellectual right over all of man kind. His views are presented as deliriously radical, but there is irony in the fact that the University that Crake attends is named Asperger’s U. A term used to describe people who are usually extremely intelligent and often very eccentric, it be could argued that Atwood hints to imply Crake may be the correct one after all, and that the rest of society is wrong. This virtually tyrannical takeover of both the world and the lives of Oryx and Snowman are done entirely through aggressive persuasion. In the formation of Crake, Atwood creates an insanely ranting lunatic, with whom in the end the reader has no choice but to sympathize. The dialectic argument that is posed here is that the dye is cast. Atwood, acknowledges that our society’s morals tread a fine line from damnation, and she writes a novel that puts us one step over that line. The reader has no choice but to sympathize with Crakes’ actions because he is a product of an unbearable world, not too distant from our own. The novel itself, poses a persuasive argument to the reader, in that all of the occurrences in the plot are rationally plausible. There are scenes in the novel where the two men, Crake and Snowman, are attending college together and enjoying their favorite pastimes. These hobbies include, watching nudie news, live executions, and child pornography. In the beginning moments of the lives of the two main characters, the reader views a demoralized world, in which it appears even the plot’s hero is desensitized to the plight of his society. The ironic and reasonable argument posed is that all of these things they are doing, we can do today in our society. At the same time, child pornography, nude news, and live executions online are all either frowned upon and remotely new to our society. Atwood presents the enjoyment of these practices like they are common occurrences. The same goes for gene splicing. It is widely debated as an immoral and illegal act, but it is reasonable enough to think that with the passing of time eventually a law can be passed to legalize both gene splicing and child pornography. This would inadvertently make the use and distribution of these practice more heavily abundant in society and change the moral makeup of the people as a whole. A third persuasive argument the novel poses, and this is more from a perspective of female empowerment, is the idea of polyandry. It is historically a man’s fantasy and an empowering element for the man, while degrading to the woman, for a man to have two wives. Atwood poses the exact opposing scenario in this novel. On one end the idea of polyandry is implied through the relationships both Snowman and Crake have with Oryx. It is directly inferred to in that the Crakers only breed when they are polyandrous. This like most of the novel is a play on societal norms. Underlying in the dialectic argument of the novel are societal implications. For example, by Atwood calling Crakes’ creations the Crakers, she creates an implied connection on words to the Quakers, who are known for starting their own Christian new world. Crake also embodies the values of real time corporations, in that he creates a medical demand for his products through unleashing a virus. His behavior can only be expected by his inherent capabilities and by him being the product of a moral-less society. Atwood’s novel is also fueled by human nature, the horrific experiences the characters go through and their apathetic reactions actually seem believable because they are so human. An example of this is shown in the scene where Crake has just destroyed society as we know it and snowman watches the devastation on the internet, The whole thing seemed like a movie†¦The worst of it was that those people out there – the fear, the suffering, the wholesale death – did not really touch him (Atwood, 2004). It is ironic that Atwood makes a reference to the end of society being like a movie; this exposes snowman’s adolescent and distant nature, as well as makes him appear more human. This also connects back to the live executions witnessed online earlier in the novel. These are examples of Atwood using real time human tendencies to show her characters’ disenfranchisement from society. The actions following this scene consist of snowman leading the Crakers out into the new world in which they find glow-in-the-dark bunnies running rampant. This is another societal implication in that this was the actual result of transgenic Dr. Eduardo Kac, who spliced rabbit and jellyfish DNA in the year 2000. In sum, the dialectic philosophy is present in Margaret Atwood’s novel, Oryx and Crake in that it poses multiple arguments. It supports these arguments through real-time societal implications, believable characters, and a radical thesis carried out by Crake. Atwood’s literary genius is revealed in the fact that, all three of these elements draw sympathy from the reader, and in effect persuade the reader to believe the rationale behind the destruction of their own society.

Television: Helps And Hinders :: essays research papers

Television is a drug. Although when first invented it was used as a family entertaining device, its purpose has been greatly altered. Now with over sixty channels to choose from, people of all ages can easily find a show that will grab their attention. This, however, is not the problem. The problem is caused when the person starts to change their daily routine in order to tune in to their favorite programs. Television acts as a drug in that it can help or hinder an individual based on their needs. Un fortunaltely, a person may become so addicted to a television show that they put everything going on around them on hold. One example of this would be when Amy, a friend, told me about a bad experience she had gone through while being baby sat. The babysitter was watching her one afternoon, when the time came for the sitter’s soap to come on. The sitter immediately picked her up, put her in the crib, and dashed out of the room so no part of her show would be missed. This was nothing new to Amy; it was actually part of her daily routine. As the daily practice seemed to be going along as scheduled, a rude awakening was lurking around the corner. As a matter of fact it wasn’t usual at all...it was life threatening. Amy started to choke on a piece of plastic that broke off a toy she had put in her mouth. The baby-sitter left about and inch of the door open, so she could sort of see what was going on in the room. Amy was standing over the side of her crib when she started to choke. With one hand on a bottle, and the other shoving the toy in her mouth, the bottle dropped. If the television had been turned up much louder, the baby sitter never would of heard the thump of the bottle fall. If the thump of the bottle never had been heard, Amy would not be here today. An addiction to a television show is repulsive when it jeopardizes the life of a human being. In contrast, television programming geared toward kids such as Sesame Street and Blues Clues spark a child’s ability to learn at a young age. Both are good predecessors to pre-school and kindergarten. Sesame Street helps kids prepare to learn while keeping its award-winning traditions it is known for.

Ibm Case Study Essay

1. What factors led to IBM’s success during the 1960s and 1970s and its problems during the late 1980s and early 1990s? 3 pts. 2. Q: What did Gerstner do when he assumed the role of CEO in April 1993? A: Gerstner realized that rather than break up the company, he could turn it around by going to market as â€Å"one IBM.† To prevent customers from leaving in droves before he completed the turnaround, Gerstner called on each senior executive to go out to a group of customers and â€Å"bearhug† them. He made the executives personally responsible for their assigned customer accounts and accountable for any problems that arose. At the same time, he asked each of the executives to write two papers, one on the executive’s business and the other on key issues and recommendations for solving problems and pursuing opportunities. Q: Evaluate Gerstner’s approach to crisis management. How well did he perform as a turnaround manager? A: I’d have to give credit to Gerstner. He seemed to know where the problems lied within the company and viewed himself from a customer standpoint, rectifying customer concerns but from a corporate head standpoint. Based on the following information, this is how he did it: â€Å"The sales organization, which had been organized by geography and product, was reorganized into global sales teams. In response to numerous customer complaints, a customer relationship manager and a dedicated sales and service team were appointed for each key customer account. These teams were grouped within larger vertical industry teams, and product specialists were assigned to each. The product specialists served as boundary spanners, moving back and forth between focused product groups and key account teams, taking product knowledge to the field and customer input back to the product groups. Product specialists reported to the product organization, but incentives rewarded increased sales of their products through industry sales teams.† It is as if Gerstner knew the problematic areas that made the company fail to meet satisfactory levels and although it was a tough call, Gerstner’s turnaround plan seemed a success and as a masterplan! Q: What challenges did he face as he attempted to position the company for growth? 5 pts. A: The changes Gerstner proposed was met by some or much opposition. Many that had been around the company for quite some time, felt as though the changes that Gerster was implementing meant the demise of the company that they knew. The methods of which Gerstner was using from a manager’s standpoint seemed a bit unorthodox and didn’t fit well with the IBM culture and business model. Here is what was mentioned as a challenge Gerstner faced: â€Å"One group of managers—those who ran IBM’s country organizations—found the move to â€Å"One IBM† especially difficult. They believed global managers could not be relied upon to make the right choices for local markets and that initiatives and instructions from IBM corporate needed to be â€Å"customized† for particular countries. The differences came to a head when Gerstner found out that his notes to employees were being rewritten by country managers to â€Å"better fit their environment.† The senior executive responsible for the country managers was fired, and many country managers resigned. Those who stayed were rapidly elevated to key positions. Despite pockets of resistance, Gerstner was impressed by employees’ capacity to absorb change:† So based off the 3. Why do large established companies, like IBM, find it so difficult to build successful and sustainable new businesses? 3 pts. 4. Evaluate IBM’s approach to leading mature, high growth, and emerging business opportunities. What are the organization design and leadership models required to manage each type of business? How should a company like IBM (or AT & T, for example) manage the innovation process? 7 pts. 5. What challenges did Sam Palmisano face as he assumed control of IBM in March 2002? Can a company like IBM (or AT & T) be organized for both innovation and efficient operation – can it be both â€Å"big† and â€Å"small†? What advice would you give Palmisano at the end of the case? 7 pts. NOTE: You must respond to these questions in your own words i.e. do not copy straight from the case study – provide your interpretation and analysis.

Defense on Socrates Essay - 1619 Words

Defense on Socrates There are times in every mans life where our actions and beliefs collideÂâ€"these collisions are known as contradictions. There are endless instances in which we are so determined to make a point that we resort to using absurd overstatements, demeaning language, and false accusations in our arguments. This tendency to contradict ourselves often questions our character and morals. Similarly, in The Trial of Socrates (Platos Apology), Meletus fallacies in reason and his eventual mistake of contradicting himself will clear the accusations placed on Socrates. In this paper, I will argue that Socrates is not guilty of corrupting the youth with the idea of not believing in the Gods but of teaching the youth to think for†¦show more content†¦The next step in the line of reasoning that supports the thesis of this paper is that Meletus contradicts himself by saying that Socrates both believes and does not believe in the Gods. Socrates begins by asking Meletus if he thinks that Socrates has corrupted the young by teach[ing] them not to acknowledge the gods which the state acknowledges, but some other new divinities, and Meletus agrees that this is the reason for his accusation. However, Meletus further states that Socrates is a complete atheist, meaning that he does not believe in god at all. This inconsistency in Meletus answers refute the entire accusation that Socrates is an atheist because Meletus already has established that Socrates teaches other men to acknowledge some gods, and therefore that [he] does believe in gods, and [is] not an entire atheist. This can also be presented as an argument in which our first premise is (P1) that Atheists do not believe in Gods, our second premise is that (P2) Socrates believes in God, and our conclusion therefore is that (C) Socrates is not an Atheist. This logically proves that Meletus is incorrect in his reasoning and that Socrates is not guilty of teaching the youth not toShow MoreRelatedDefense of Socrat es1888 Words   |  8 PagesApology: Defence Of Socrates By: Gregory Klima Apology Defense Of Socrates Plato s The Apology is an account of the speech Socrates makes at the trial in which he is charged with the following 1) Not recognizing the gods recognized by the state 2) Corrupting the youth of Athens For the most part, Socrates spoke in a very plain, conversational manner, as one would speak to a friend or lecture a child. He explained that he has no experience with courts and demeanor that comes with , heRead More Defense of Socrates Essay1590 Words   |  7 PagesDefense of Socrates There are times in every mans life where our actions and beliefs collide—these collisions are known as contradictions. 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