Chinese History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chinese History - Essay Example Moreover, there was a system of training administration officials which was an innovative approach towards ensuring that the affairs of the state could be managed in an efficient and effective manner. The establishment of a bureaucracy helped to ensure the administration process in an effectual manner (Ebrey, 67). Confucianism was adopted as the major system for running the affairs of the state. Confucian system advocated the belief that each individual must obey the family and have devotion towards the rulers. This helped to instill a sense of discipline among the officials. The top officials of the dynasty were living in the capital where they provided valuable counsel to the emperor. The lower officials would be responsible for maintaining roads and canals. They were also entrusted with the duty of maintaining the process of storing grain. The emperors introduced a system of meritocracy where officials were chosen by their competency and ability. A rigorous test was needed so that they could become officials of the state (Ebrey, 67). Civil servants were evaluated after three years for their performance. Therefore punishment and reward were used in combination with other measures to ensure that officials could perform their duties. The Han dynasty was created when Liu Bang won a civil conflict against Xiang Yu. His model of governance was based upon reducing taxes and creating a centralized state. The harsh punishments were reduced in order win the loyalty of the people. The centralized state was a unique innovation as compared with the nomadic lifestyle of Chinese in previous years. This is because of the fact that the provincial officials had to report to the central government. This made them accountable and transparent which led to sound outcomes (Ebrey, 67). A basic local government was formed in different counties which led to efficiency. Han Wu Ti was the greatest ruler of the Han dynasty. He presided over military expansion while enhancing Chinese col onies as well as increasing influence over Central Asia. The creation of the Silk Road helped to increase the trade and prosperity of the empire. The system of governance that was in place helped the empire to provide more freedom to the people. Social mobility and freedom helped prevent rebellions and insurrections against the government (Ebrey, 67). The Han dynasty led China into an unprecedented era of economic expansion, military achievements, scientific discoveries, and powerful stability. The dynasty was able to achieve this through the development of a powerful centralized state. It was able to focus on ruling the empire in a centralized manner so that it could prevent disorder and anarchy within the empire. This was a significant achievement for the empire. B1 A Confucian system focused on the notion of community rights where each individual would be able to contribute towards its progress. A number of advantages existed for this system such as the fact that an individual wo uld contribute towards the development of society with an emphasis on duty and responsibility. Knowledge and spiritual growth would flourish in such a system while the emphasis would be on meritocracy so that an individual would gain social standing and status based upon their personal actions. Moreover, it encourages respect and kindness as a virtue that can create a humane society. The disadvantages of such a system are that it encouraged the development of a hierarchy which would lead to unfairness (Sinaiko, 91). Confucian system focused on family which had a negative aspect also such as the fact that it led to fights and conflicts in which the entire family was involved if a single member had been hurt or wronged. The system also encourages the subordination of females who must remain obedient to

Representations of Nature or the Nonhuman Animal World in Poetry Essay

Representations of Nature or the Nonhuman Animal World in Poetry - Essay Example As the report declares animal characters and attributes have formed the basis of metaphors for a long time. In other poems, the animal characters mentioned are actual animals because they do not have any deeper meaning than what appears superficially. Some pets highlight different natural conditions to add sense to their themes. Others will choose to present a detailed description of the landscape serving as the setting of the poem. All these serve to augment the ideas of the poet and enable the reader to establish a full connection with the theme of the poem. This discussion stresses that the title of the poem is a metaphorical expression that refers to an animal character, the mouse. The first line of the first stanza highlights that the mouse is caged and is extending its pleas to be accorded freedom. The ‘mouse’ represents the woman in society. Over time, society shunned the cognitive expressions of women and deemed them as lesser individuals with defective cranial capacities. The poet develops an analogy between the infringement done to a mouse through caging and women in society. In the last stanza, the poet mentions destruction as a factor that both mice and men may share. It becomes evident that the use of the ‘mouse’s is both a metaphor and an analogue. Just as the mouse on a cage would virtually be making pleas of freedom, women in the society have often found themselves in a similar situation. In the third stanza, the poet gives the mouse an adjective ‘free-born mouse’ suggesting that durin g birth it was a free creature. Similarly, all human were created free and with certain common gifts. The poet urges society’s oppressive units to refrain from detaining other free creatures. In the ninth stanza of the poem, the poet introduces a different member of the animal kingdom when he says ‘beware, lest in the worm you crush’. The aspect of the worm in this sentence becomes clear after the examination of the second line in the stanza ‘a brother’s soul you may find’. The poet uses the expression of the crushing a worm to represent the despised individuals in society. This expression warns society that it should not consider crushing certain individuals simply because they consider them of minimal value in society (Barbauld 1). William Wordsworth’s â€Å"Tintern Abbey† From the title of the poem, it becomes evident that the poet adored nature and exhibited a deep sense of appreciation for the beautiful scenarios described i n the poem. The poem is a monologue of a narrator expressing the effect of his understanding of nature. For a period of five years, the narrator had not experienced the sight and sound of ‘waters†¦.from Mountain springs. Moreover, he had not seen the ‘steep and lofty cliffs’ (Wordsworth 1). The author goes further to describe his thoughts concerning the ‘the landscape with the quiet of the sky’ and mentions trees such as sycamore, and orchard-tufts. The narrator gives full details of the scenario surrounding him highlighting the numerous ‘hedge-rows’, ‘sportive wood’, ‘houseless woods’ and ‘hermit’s curve’. All these phrases refer to nature and serve to define the landscape as the narrator sees it. The second stanza begins with a focus on the feelings that the memories of nature evoke in the narrator. He describes the sensations, emotions, and

Evaluative Report to Support a Marketing Environment Essay

Evaluative Report to Support a Marketing Environment - Essay Example Jack Cohen in East end of London started Tesco in 1919. It started when Jack Cohen began to sell surplus grocery from a stall in east London. It become a private limited company in 1932 and two years later the company built it’s headquarter and a warehouse. Later in 1947 its stocks were floated on the stock exchange and in 1956 it opened its first self-service supermarket. By 1995 Tesco had become the world leading retailer and a year later it launched a 24 hours trading. Currently Tesco operates in 14 markets across Europe, Asia, and North America. Tesco UK is the largest of the Tesco businesses contributing to over 60% of the group’s sales and profits. Its plan to build a better Tesco focuses on six key elements that are service & staff, stores and formats, price & value, Range & quality, Brand & Marketing and Clicks & Bricks (Tesco 2012). Throughout this report, we will be underpinning our empirical finding from our research with the theory from various appropriate literatures. We will show how practices on these two retail outlets correspond to the available theory of marketing practice available in various marketing literature. Moreover, we will also show how some of the practices in these two retail outlets deviate from the available theory of marketing and management.... Moreover these new technologies has enabled this retail outlet to make its retail transactions more efficient by reducing the delay in which the customers are served thus improving the retail productivity of these organization. Moreover, I found out that the two retail outlets have started to practice online retailing where customers are required to place their orders on the organizations website and then after paying for the products they have delivered to their homes. In a consumer oriented organization such as a retail organization, to gain a competitive advantage the business has to ensure that customers are served better as compared to their competitors (Cant 2004). In these two retail outlets, I found out that the service to the customers is the key objective of every employee. I found out that employees are placed in almost every subsection of the retail shop to assist the customer in case of any need. This actually has differentiated this retail outlet from their competitors and thus making them to have a competitive advantage in the areas where they are located. According to Dahlen et al. (2010), brand positioning for retailer brands involves the design and implementation of a retail mix to create an image of the retailer in the customers mind relative to its competitors. Using the quality and the attractiveness of the product these group of retailers put in its retail outlets, it has helped them in the brand positioning. As revealed by the information which I received from several customers that I talked to most of the customers have a very good image of this retail outlets. This kind of positioning that this retail outlets have employed have helped them to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors and thus

The Male Dominant Image Essay Example for Free

The Male Dominant Image Essay In his play The Lion and the Jewel, Soyinka expresses his opinions about society through his characters, as many authors do in their writing. One of the characters, Baroka, frequently seeks to take more wives despite his age and subjects his current wives to humiliating tasks such as plucking his armpit hairs and tickling his feet as a way of showing his power over them. Through the characterization of Baroka and the attitudes of other characters in the play, Soyinka explores the idea that a man needs to show dominance over women to be considered a man by society. Despite his age and already having a larger number of wives, Baroka is still seeking to take another wife, specifically a young one. This is most likely because he wants to exert the image that he is still desirable and his sexual ability has not been diminished with age. It is very important for Baroka to maintain this image, and this is why he is still persistent to take Sidi as a wife, even after she clearly refuses several times. Image is very important to Baroka, and his existing image had been tainted by the photograph of him by a latrine. Sidi, however, is young and has the image of the most beautiful woman in the village due to the pictures of her in the magazine. Bakora believes that making the most beautiful woman in the village his wife is the perfect way to elevate his image. While he is seducing her, he tells her â€Å"the truth of this, old wine thrives best in a new bottle.† (p. 1185) The old wine is a metaphor for himself and the new bottle is Sidi. He seeks the new bottle to enhance himself. He will not stand to be seen as less than a woman, to have his position as a man and a leader diminished. This is why in the end, he resorts to physical force to get Sidi to marry him when all else fails. By tradition, she is bound to marry the man she loses her virginity to, and Baroka exploits this. The fact that Baroka ultimately used tradition to exploit her also implies that much of the twisted notion that a man must exercise dominance over a woman to be powerful stems from tradition. Baroka also asserts his power by taking advantage of his wives and forcing  them to do humiliating tasks for his pleasure. While the things he makes them do are not brutal or violent, it asserts the fact that they are below him and he holds the power in the relationship. They must pluck his armpit hairs and tickle his feet, although he never does something for their pleasure in return. In regards to them performing these tasks, he uses such statements as â€Å"†¦thou Sadiku, thy plainly unadorned hands encase a sweet sensuality which age will not destroy. Beyond a doubt Sadiku, thou art the queen of them all.†(p. 1172) This statement, while in his mind possibly meant to praise, is actually quite demeaning. These statements reduce his wives simply to objects of pleasure for him. This shows how by making a woman his wife, Baroka ultimately restricts the balance of power in the relationship, with himself permanently at the top, and his wives permanently at the bottom. They are not his partners in equal, nor do they assist him in making important decisions. They are simply there to pleasure him and maintain his status. Women are self-enhancing tools for Baroka, merely useful accessories. This is no different from wearing expensive rings to show off and raise one’s status. It is not only Baroka’s thoughts and actions that assert the idea that a man needs to show dominance over women to be considered a man by society, but also those of other people in the play. When Sidi learns from Sadiku that Baroka is supposedly no longer fertile, they both view it as him having lost his power. This is demonstrated by a line Sadiku aims at Lakunle when he witnesses them celebrating Baroka’s supposed downfall. â€Å"You a man? Is Baroka no more a man than you? And if he is no longer a man, than what are you?† (p 1170) This shows how the idea that a man needs to show dominance to have power is ingrained in the people of the village, just as gender roles and are ingrained in our society today. The fact that women react exactly in this way to a man’s loss of virility in The Lion and the Jewel shows that Baroka’s fears that he will lose the respect of the village if he does not constantly verify himself are justified. He is getting older and less attractive, so he feels the need to constantly prove his power. In conclusion, Baroka’s character represents a man who is trying to verify his power and maintain his image with age in the way his society deems  appropriate. Gender roles are present in all societies, and although they vary somewhat from one society to another, it is never a good thing to have cookie cutter expectations that all men or all women are expected to fit into. It is extremely harmful psychologically for people to always measure themselves to a standard of an ideal, when in reality few can be a perfect example. This also brings up the question, why are gender roles present in the first place? Why is there a set way a man should act or a woman should act? I believe that these standards originate from tradition. Polygamy is the tradition of the Yoruban people in The Lion and the Jewel, so naturally one may be inclined to use the number of wives a man has as a way to measure him. Likewise, in Christianity, gender roles stem from the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible. Soyinka’s The Lion and The Jewel portrays a character who commits many misdoings, but in the end he is simply trying to fit with his society and tradition.

Economic Advantages and Disadvantages of a One Global Currency

Economic Advantages and Disadvantages of a One Global Currency Introduction The recent history of currency exchange rates includes 3 huge changes starting from the end of the XIX to the end of the XX century. Pure gold standard has been the basis for trading between nations during 1879 and 1914 (Abdel-Monem, n.d.). At the beginning of World War I, this standard ceased to exist and in 1920 countries permitted greater exchange rate flexibility (Jereissati, 1999), which however, did not last long and after the end of the World War II the Bretton-Woods system has been implemented. This standard has been created as a result of numerous meetings between the World War II winning states with the final conference taking place at the Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The standard took the name of this last conferences venue (Grabbe, 1996, as cited in Tucker, 2008). In August 15, 1971 Richard Nixon in his speech announced that the price of dollar will be no longer fixed against gold. This has put an end to the Bretton-Woods system and has set-off a new era in international monetary system. The main feature of this new system is that it is neither a pure gold standard nor a pure exchange rate float, but rather a system in between these two extremes (Meese, 1990). This standard exists until today and has been strongly undermined during the latest financial crisis. In this respect, the idea of having a single global currency is widely discussed as an alternative monetary system. This literature review outlines advantages and disadvantages of a single global currency. The Single Global Currency The Concept of a Single Global Currency Single global currency, as one can see from the example of Euro, signifies that countries, where this currency would be implemented, should be the members of a monetary union with one central bank, common currency, a coherent and binding financial policy. Scandinavian Currency Union (SCU), which included Denmark, Norway and Sweden, established a common currency unit, although central banks in each of those countries retained control over monetary policy and did not experience significant loss of independence (Bergman, 1999). The single global currency is a much more complicated issue. History recognizes a lot of monetary unions of different size, both formal and informal. However the most successful example came from the European Union, which is the Economic Monetary Union (EMU). There are also two proposed single currencies, which potentially may come near the Euro. They are the GCC monetary union currency and the Asian Monetary Unit. Economic Advantages of a Single Global Currency The advantages of a global currency are as follows. First of all, single currency will eliminate transaction costs, which are linked to international financial operations. This will affect both: ordinary citizens who plan to spend money abroad and multinational corporations undertaking international transactions. Different currencies create a lot of inconveniences and barriers. Exchanging one currency for another always involves currency exchange fees, as banks, which provide such currency exchanges, require commissions for their services. In the scale of countries or even monetary unions such expenditures on currency exchange fees may reach high amounts. By eliminating the need for currency exchange the monetary unions may save resources (Buiter, 1999, as cited in Bonpasse, 2008). For instance, the European Commission (EC) has estimated that due to a single currency across the European Union 13 to 20 billion of Euro were saved per year (Grauwe, 2007). Moreover the difference between the currencies exchange rates becomes an obstacle for a free flow of trade. As the barrier of different currencies will disappear, the number of international transactions will increase. Bordo and James (2006) said that neighboring countries, which are members of a common monetary union, tend to trade more frequently with each other. In a study conducted by Micco, Stein, and Ordonez (2003) they found out that trade between EU members increased by 8 to 16%, after EMU was created (as cited in Lane, 2006) Currency risks nowadays are one of the major disadvantages of the modern international financial system. Everything, ranged from a natural disaster to terroristic attack, may affect the value of the currency and as a result cause loss. Foreign investors, as well as stock holders, have to hedge their risk, which also demands additional expenditures. Implementation of the single global currency will eliminate the risk of loss, due to currency fluctuations. Moreover Bonpasse (n.d.) points out that the adoption of a single global currency will save 400 billion of US dollars annually in foreign exchange transaction costs, which come from trading 3.8 trillion US dollars every trading day. Currency misalignment is a process when central bank increases or decreases the value of its currency against another for different purposes. The most known cases of currency manipulation are the cases of China and Japan. Both countries artificially undervalued their currencies, which made their exports more competitive. As the value of Yen and Yuan decreases, the prices on Japanese and Chinese products will consequently fall. This has created a great advantage for Japanese and Chinese products in the market. Today the low value of these currencies, which has nothing to do with the real situation, has created huge difficulties for the economies of Europe and USA. Japan and China, based on all criteria related to the IMF definition, have been persistently manipulating their currencies to gain an unfair competitive advantage (Preeg, n.d.). Obviously with a single global currency, currency manipulation by individual countries would be impossible. Moreover there will be no need of such k inds of unfair methods. It is easy to perceive that problems of contemporary monetary system are currency rate fluctuations. As most of the currencies are free and are not fixed to any value, there is a huge possibility for currency speculations. For instance, speculative opportunities of FOREX market may have a great impact on economics of countries and their financial situation. The speculative attack on the Swedish Krona in 1992 is a perfect example. The Central Bank of Sweden had to raise the interest rate of its currency which caused devaluation of the Krona. Receiving income from currency speculations is getting money out of nothing. The next benefit from implementing a single global currency will be the elimination of currency speculations existence. The single global currency will present a different choice for speculators: if they wish to speculate, they will need to choose another commodity, as the money of the people will no longer be for sale (Bonpasse, 2006). Another problem of todays financial system is international reserves or foreign exchange reserves. As the possibility of a currency crash is high, due to currency risks and currency speculations, every country holds assets in various foreign currencies, which are considered as reserve currencies. Mainly it is the US dollar, not so often it is the Euro or the UK pound. However after implementing the single global currency, this hedging method will be unnecessary. As the central bank will abandon the foreign exchange reserves, it will save a considerable amount of money. In 1992 the European Commission estimated that the future Eurozone members might be able to reduce their total international reserves by one-half or $200 billion (Bonapasse, 2008). Disadvantages of a Single Global Currency Turning to disadvantages of a Global Currency, the most negative side of it is that countries will lose the ability to control their financial policy. Today every country is able to determine their monetary policy independently. In order to have an influence on the economy, nowadays central banks of every country through influencing exchange rates and adjusting interest rates, may increase or decrease economic activity. However in case of a single global currency, changes in a local countrys finances, will demand changes in the global scale. So with the Global Currency countries will lose flexibility in their monetary policy. A uniform policy template to provide macroeconomic stability, will constrain a countrys ability to make independent interest rates and exchange rate policy (Bonpasse, as cited in Wenzel, 2007, p17). Another significant disadvantage of having a Global Currency is connected with the difference in economies of different countries. While there are only a few developed states with strong economies, the rest of the countries of the world have rather weak economies, for instance the majority of African countries or some South American countries. In the world with a common currency, the weak economies shall pull down the rest, more well off countries. If one of the members will face a crisis, the others will have to spend their resources in order to stabilize the situation. A perfect example could be the debt crisis, which recently has occurred in Greece. While the EU/IMF bailout package wasnt enough, Germany had to loan about 110 billion Euros in order to save the country from bankruptcy. In addition the crisis had a chance to spread to other countries, as it reduced confidence in the economies of other EU members. Conclusion: Is The Single Global Currency Implementable? Global Currency as a financial system has been first mentioned back in the end of XIX century. The reasons why this system still has not been implemented are rather social and political, than economical. The first obstacle is national identity. Most of the nations consider their currencies as a national symbol, equal to the flag and the anthem. Obviously people will hardly discard their own national symbol, their source of pride. Some people are tempted to view such symbols as they do their flags and national constitutional documents, and the loss of such symbols can be considered as a national loss (Bonpasse, 2008). Just imagine how hard it will be for Americans to abandon dollar and accept a currency with absolutely neutral name and with neutral images and signs. In case of a Global Currency it should be absolutely neutral, as Euro is. Political barriers also should be taken in to account. In the conditions where political tensions between two countries are possible, implementing a single currency is a huge problem. For instance, it is difficult to imagine how USA, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea and Iran, countries which have experienced significant political tensions, would negotiate in order to accept a single currency. Or it is difficult to say how it is going to work between countries which are in state of war like North and South Korea. In addition, due to political discords, such issues as supply and printing of the Global Currency would be problematic. As an independent central bank is demanded, the first dispute within the countries would be about the location of the central bank. Every member of the global monetary union would try to pull the blanket over. It is hard to believe that after gaining membership to the global monetary union, countries would not start attempting to gain greater influence o n the central bank and hence the monetary policy. Though the process of globalization seems to be unstoppable, we are still far away from being even close to a Global Currency. In my point of view, implementation of the single global currency can be compared to the legends about Eldorado or dreams of Utopia. There is no doubt that Global Currency has more benefits than costs. The loss of control of the monetary policy is a really low price for the other advantages of this idea. Throughout the history mankind tried to give birth to a global government. League of Nations and UN could serve as examples. Esperanto as a worldwide language also has been a great proposal, which could simplify the understanding between nations. But both concepts were not successful up to this time. Unfortunately the single global currency is an idea of such type. Although globalization and the Internet did bring people around the world closer to each other, maybe we are still to different to buy food with the same money. Maybe social and cultural difference s play much bigger role in our life, than we think. USSR made an effort of erasing these differences, but where is the USSR now?

Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care and Domestic Responsibility by Andrea D

Traditionally, mothers have been assigned to stay in the house to take care of children and perform daily household activities. However in recent years, men are becoming more involved in the house. Men are sharing more of the same responsibilities with women in terms of housekeeping and childrearing. Several fathers are choosing to stay in the house to take care of their children rather than working outside; either because of employment interruption or their wives are earning a higher salary than them. In a modern study, an increased number of working mothers as well as an increase in stay- at- home fathers were observed in Canada (Sutherland 2008). This is where the need to analyze if fathers are competent of rendering nurture and care as well as mothers arises. In her book entitled Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care, and Domestic Responsibility, Doucet seeks the life of fathering by means of illustrating if fathers are essentially performing a mother’s role or mothering when caring for their children (Doucet 2006). Andrea Doucet, currently on sabbatical, is a Professor of Sociology at Carleton University located in Ottawa, Canada. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from York University and completed her Masters in International Development at Carleton University. Doucet furthered her studies at Cambridge University where she attained her PhD (Carleton University 2011). Besides book chapters, most of her works for the past sixteen years have been scholarly articles which made sense of and clarified, theoretical and experiential understanding of subjects related with care and work, gender issues and lives within the society. A significant number of her works discuss several issues such as responsibility, auto... ...selves as fathers (Doucet 2006: 217). By the use of several theoretical perceptions, the book provides a breakdown on the division of household responsibilities and manliness (Doucet 2006). Furthermore, it also renders literature on parenting as a result of analyzing the role of the fathers by the maternal points of view. Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care and Domestic Responsibility explores the concerns of men who choose to stay as full time fathers in order to meet the needs of their children rather than to work outside their home (Doucet 2006). The book is tremendously impactful in terms of being able to make readers realize the difference between the roles of the mother, as well as the responsibilities of the fathers while the common objective of providing adequate care and love for their children is shared between both sexes. Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care and Domestic Responsibility by Andrea D Traditionally, mothers have been assigned to stay in the house to take care of children and perform daily household activities. However in recent years, men are becoming more involved in the house. Men are sharing more of the same responsibilities with women in terms of housekeeping and childrearing. Several fathers are choosing to stay in the house to take care of their children rather than working outside; either because of employment interruption or their wives are earning a higher salary than them. In a modern study, an increased number of working mothers as well as an increase in stay- at- home fathers were observed in Canada (Sutherland 2008). This is where the need to analyze if fathers are competent of rendering nurture and care as well as mothers arises. In her book entitled Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care, and Domestic Responsibility, Doucet seeks the life of fathering by means of illustrating if fathers are essentially performing a mother’s role or mothering when caring for their children (Doucet 2006). Andrea Doucet, currently on sabbatical, is a Professor of Sociology at Carleton University located in Ottawa, Canada. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from York University and completed her Masters in International Development at Carleton University. Doucet furthered her studies at Cambridge University where she attained her PhD (Carleton University 2011). Besides book chapters, most of her works for the past sixteen years have been scholarly articles which made sense of and clarified, theoretical and experiential understanding of subjects related with care and work, gender issues and lives within the society. A significant number of her works discuss several issues such as responsibility, auto... ...selves as fathers (Doucet 2006: 217). By the use of several theoretical perceptions, the book provides a breakdown on the division of household responsibilities and manliness (Doucet 2006). Furthermore, it also renders literature on parenting as a result of analyzing the role of the fathers by the maternal points of view. Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care and Domestic Responsibility explores the concerns of men who choose to stay as full time fathers in order to meet the needs of their children rather than to work outside their home (Doucet 2006). The book is tremendously impactful in terms of being able to make readers realize the difference between the roles of the mother, as well as the responsibilities of the fathers while the common objective of providing adequate care and love for their children is shared between both sexes.

Kanthapura, a Cultural Study

Kanthapura as a novel of village or rural sensibility: Raja rao’s Kanthapura is a tale of atypical south Indian village in the kara area of Mysore. The novel is a saga of village life with a political bias. There is no conventional hero or heroine in it. The village of Kanthapura itself; with its presiding deity Kanchamma, with its live giving river Himavath, with its rustic topography, crops, weeds and diseases, with its characteristics, superstitions and customs is one of the main character.The people of the village with Moorthy as the Gandhi man of the village, under whose leadership the villagers of her non-violent resistance, take up the work of village uplift. In depicting Kanthapura, the novelist has presented to us a real India in microcosm. What happens in Kanthapura is what happens everywhere in India, particularly in rural India. That Kanthapura is novel of village life is evident from its topographical details. The novel opens with a graphic description of the phys ical features of Kanthapura.In the beautiful valley of the river Himavathy, the village lies curled up like a child on its mother’s lap. As the novel opens we here the grinding and rumbling of carts, indicating the busy agrarian life. The hills, valleys and rivers which form the setting of the village, are most vividly depicted. Raja Rao has an eye for the details of nature’s phenomena which he presents with vividness. It’s said of Thomas Hardy by David Cecil that he could realise the different noises made by the wind when its blows through a hollow a heather and bare stones.Raja Rao, too, is unique in his precise yet poetic depiction of the outdoor rural life. In the month of Vaisakh men of Kanthapura plough the fields. The rains come and skip over the bronze mountain, tiptoe the crags, and leaping into the valley go splashing. The coconuts and the betel nuts and cardamom plants choke with it and hiss back. And there, there it comes over the Bebbur hill and Kan thur hill and begins to paw upon the tiles, and the cattle come running home. The people pray to Kenchamma, â€Å"There, there the rains have come, Kenchamma; may our house be as white as silver†.In the Kartik festival of lights, lights glow from banana trunks and mango tweaks behind yellow leaves, greens leaves: ‘Kartik is a month of the Gods’. In scenes like this, rural life in all its concreteness gives the novel its essential rurality. The novelist describes the caste wise quarters for Brahmins, Pariahs, Porters, Weavers and Sudras. The economic distinctions between one villager and another are precisely described. Post master SuryaNarayana has a two storied house, Patwari Nanjundaa has put glass panes to the windows. Pock-marked Sidda has a real thoti house.Thus the persons who stand out among the men and women of the village are the moneyed people like Kamayya, a coffee planter and Range Gowda. Even a casual glancing through the names and nick names of the Kanthapurians is a thing of great interest. The villagers wear tell-tale nicknames. The names contribute greatly to the individualisation of the village character and places to the evocation of proper rural sensibility. The untouchable quarters, full of the stench of the hide and pickled pigs where Moorthy dare to step in for the uplift of the village people are also described.The dramatist persona in the novel includes a good number of villagers. They work as coolies on the coffee estates and are poor. The harrowing (suffering) tale of the half-naked, starving, spitting, weeping coolies is touchingly told in the coffee estate episode. The villagers are not depicted as epitomes of virtue nor are they condemned as useless creatures. They are as they usually are. Their character evokes the rural atmosphere in the novel. Their life is not complete without the perennial presence of God or Goddess. Goddess Kanchamma is installed in a temple right in its centre.A river a hill and a temple with the presiding deity complete the picture of the village. The villagers offer the Goddess their first rice and first fruit of a tree; they appease her by singing song. The Goddess is the protector, the life and the breath of the village. She gives meaning to every activity of the villager and is a witness to all affairs in the village – birth, death, marriage, funeral, sickness, ploughing and harvesting – and what not. Vows are made to her. Oaths are taken in her presence. She protects the villagers through though famine and diseases.Except Goddess Kanchamma, there are also often local Goddesses like Talassanamma and Kanthapureshwari mentioned in the novel. Even their jurisdictions are fixed. Religion has a firm hold on the villagers’ mind. The villagers observe Shankar Jayanti and listen to the recital of Harikathas and celebrate the festival of Lord Krishna and Lord Ganesha. The evocation of village life is accomplished apart from the inter relation of th eme and characters, through means like description of festivals, ceremonies, social customs, superstitions and the apt use of rustic idioms.Various ceremonies and rituals such as hair- cutting, rice-eating, wedding, consecration and the seventh month ceremony finds a place in the novel. The novel shows how the villagers cling (hold tightly) to their age-old faiths for succour and relief. Beliefs and superstitions govern the sensitive minds of the Kanthapurians. There is a scene in which the treasures of core are counted as â€Å"Three-Hm-Four-Hm –Five† and because of the superstition which forbids the mention of six, it becomes, â€Å"God’s extra†.Moorthy’s horoscope doesn’t agree with that of the daughter of Ramayya and hence the bride’s family get disheartened. The clucking of the wall-lizards indicate propitiousness, auspiciousness. On seeing a shooting star seeping across the sky, the villagers say: †Some good soul has left the earth†. When someone has been attacked by Malaria, they used to do some rituals instead of taking quinine pills believing that those rituals will eradicate the disease.Before filling the earth the â€Å"peasants throw handfuls of puffed rice in the eight directions for warding off evil and for a good harvest†. Again it’s through the use of the rustic idiom a flavour of rurality is captured. The idiom and rhythm of the regional language are sometimes reflected in their novel. There are similes, comparisons and vituperative (harsh/abusive) terms which smell of the agrarian soil and culturet. Fine and detailed agrarian imagery is seen in many descriptions throughout the novel.