Dreams by Langston Hughes

While this is a short poem, it carries a very powerful message. It is a message that forms the underlying rule of life – a way of living life actually.

We often wish for things, we have dreams and aspirations as we grow up, but then we do not chase them. We let them go. This poem urges the reader to run after their dreams and to make them a reality. It mentions that without these dreams, aspirations and goals, life is meaningless. A bird with a broken wing has been mentioned to describe the life that has no dreams in it – or dreams that have died. A bird without its wings will never be able to live fully and the purpose of its life can never be fulfilled.

The poem urges everyone to respect and save their dreams. If this is not done, you will lead an empty life – with nothing to work for and nothing to look forward to. Life has many twists and turns; often you begin to feel that you will never be able to achieve what you dearly desire. But, steadfastness and determination to save one’s dreams and to carry on the hard work no matter what, allows you to live to see your dreams being fulfilled.

The poem then gives another image of the kind of life one would lead if there were no dreams left in it. It is compared to a field that is completely lifeless and barren – on top of that, it is covered with snow; everything frozen underneath it. Such would be a man’s life if he let go of his dear dreams. A land that is barren will never be any good; no crops will ever be planted on it and no good can be reaped from it. The snow that makes it even more undesirable sets an image of a life that is devoid of dreams.

The poem is an eye-opener – as well as a warning. It is an advice to those who have dreams and aspirations and have a set goal in their mind and heart. It is for the people who might be having a hard time chasing their dreams and have little hope for them. It is for the ones that dream big and hope for the best; they let their mind lose and live life with big goals. They challenge themselves and try to push their horizons beyond the normal – they want more. They want to be different. They want to stand out.

The poem does a great job at painting a dreadful picture of a bird that is unable to accomplish anything because it has broken wings – it will then fall off from the air, down onto the frozen, barren field. It gives an image of a life that is empty – a life that has no purpose. The poem does not ask you to dream of illogical and unrealistic things. It does not urge you to hope for miracles. It simply asks you to have something to look forward to; something that defines your life. It urges you to follow your aspirations and desires of doing something extraordinary.

The tone and theme of the poem is not directly inspiring or motivating – it paints a rather depressing picture. But the end result intended from it is that the reader tries not to let their life become a barren frozen field or like that of a bird with broken wings. It does not directly encourage one to have dreams and then go to all lengths to accomplish them. Instead, it informs the reader about what happens when dreams are let go of.

It is to be noted that this poem is not about broken dreams – it is not about failures and dreams that were worked hard for. This is in fact, about the importance of having dreams and then keeping them alive. It is a reminder to those that are close to giving up on their dreams without giving it their full shot. It is a warning to them and a picture of the kind of life they should be looking at once they give up and have nothing more to work for.

This poem has a very deep and an extremely useful meaning. This is especially useful for the younger generation, who do not tend to have high hopes and dreams – they do not look into making something special out of their lives. And that, according to this poem, is no way to live your life.

Very simple and clear vocabulary has been used in the poem; it is not ambiguous or complicated. It is easy to comprehend and understand – it is highly appropriate for the young ones who have dreams but are scared to follow them. It has just the right descriptions and imagery to impart the message that it intends to.

The poem has used a very unique tone, in relation to the dreams. Generally, a mention of dreams calls for a lively theme and an inspiring tone. However, this poem takes a different approach. The image of barrenness, broken wings with an addition of a gloomy feel has been attached to the idea of losing dreams.

The poem is largely supported by metaphors and imagery; along with the poetic power of figurative description. It takes a grave tone to inform the reader of the results of letting go of dreams and not running after goals that give life a deep meaning and a purpose.

‘The Necklace’ and ‘The Story of an Hour’

The stories, ‘The Necklace’, written by Guy DeMaupassant and ‘The Story of an Hour’ by Kate Chopin, both used women as their main characters. These women are not only extremely strong, but are also dynamic – they however are shown to be struggling. This is mainly because of some internal conflicts.

These stories have used protagonists – and it is a woman character in both the cases. These women have been given such a well-rounded personality by both the writers; they are both vibrant as well as lively characters; extremely dynamic in nature. They are both shown to be struggling with conflicts while they both want to strive to bring about some life altering changes.

The main character and protagonist in ‘The Story of an Hour’ is Mrs. Mallard, while that of ‘The Necklace’ is Mrs. Loisel. Both these married women were given their stories in the late 1800s – this was the setting of both the stories. This was the time when women were not given immense freedom; the households were not liberal and their duties were confined inside the house. They were meant and expected to be obedient wives with a dominating control from the husbands. Women were not allowed to step outside of the house for working purposes; there were restrictions that they were made to follow.

Both these strong women wished for a change; they did not want this life of being stuck inside the house. The writers of both the stories have given each of these women a feel of ‘discontent’. They are not satisfied; their characters seem reckless and unhappy with the way their life is turning out before their eyes. They hoped for a change and wished for their life to be something other than it currently was.

They felt that they were living in an unequal marriage; the husband and the wife did not share the same amount of respect and liberty. The wives were restricted and allowed much less; while the husbands lived as they pleased.

These stories were written by two unique and distinct writers but both of them have touched base with the same issue. They have both addressed the gender inequality especially in reference to marriages. However, they in fact have used highly different storylines to touch these issues.

In ‘The Story of an Hour’, Chopin kills of her main character in order to develop the irony; she does so to illustrate that women, and in this case, Louise, could have only daydreamed about having a freer and independent life. In her knowledge, her husband had died – she was obviously devastated, because he was very loving. But she was also relieved and knew that his love had only been suppressing her; she imagined the way her life could now be. She was so immensely oppressed that her husband’s death spelt freedom for her. However, she died. She passed away as soon as she saw her husband arrive – alive. Her weak heart couldn’t take the shock and pressure of having to go back into her old life; which was never actually old because it never really changed.

Mrs. Loisel was in a different story, in a different continent, but also looking for the same moment of happiness and freedom that Louise enjoyed briefly, prior to her demise. Mathilde was quite unlike Loisel in character. She was shown to be materialistic and her discontentment was hugely based on the fact that she could not afford much. However, she too, was unhappy and unsatisfied with her marriage. She never found her peace with the fact that her husband was merely a middle class clerk, and her life was sadly average in terms of money. All she did was dream of more luxury; her happiness was attached to money. And the only thing she seemed to want and care about was expensive stuff. She wished for the glamour that comes with money; the magical and attractive life that luxury has to offer.

Her mind has all the time in the world to wander – she stays at home and has no children. Or even friends. She just daydreams of a different life, all day, every day. And then came the expensive diamond necklace; the gain and then the loss of this necklace changes her life. And I believe that it was for the good. In money terms, her middleclass life was way better than the poor one to follow after the necklace. But this made her realize that life can always get worse, so it is good to be happy with what you have and be thankful.

Economic crisis in Pakistan

Our world is stuck in a grave of economic crisis. Each day, the countries plunge deeper and deeper into this dark abyss and it gets increasingly difficult to pull back. This financial crunch is the greatest after the Great Depression of 1930, which struck United States when the Stock Market crashed and moved the whole nation towards economic downturn.

At this point in time, the world economic situation is not very pretty and the future prospects seem gloomy. The fast life has slowed down and has caused a host of problems e.g. unemployment, inflation, scarcity of resources, poverty, health issues, depression among the masses, low quality of life, less trade among nations and many more. These are just some of the examples of the number of problems which has targeted the whole world and they reflect how badly our world has fallen into this chasm.

Pakistan has also been a victim of this epidemic. Our nation is in dire danger with the value of Rupee falling down with an accelerating rate and inflation rising. Also poverty is increasing rapidly and the unemployment is picking up pace, so is foreign debt, with numerous banks and industries closing down. This demonstrates how our nation is engulfed into disillusionment and helplessness. The question here is; has recession given rise to entrepreneurship in our nation. I would disagree with this statement for varied reasons. Firstly, recession completely suppresses any ongoing economic activity in the country.  Everything is put to a halt because commodities become expensive and devaluation of the currency occurs. This puts a stop to all the healthy economic advancements and entrepreneurs feel intimidated to step out and establish in the worsening situation with meager start-up capital.

Moreover, businesses face losses instead of profits and close down. Due to this fear of failure, new entrepreneurs hesitate to open up new ventures in the market. Also, with limited opportunities and less free trade, new entrepreneurs don’t feel safe and satisfies to start a new venture and they tend to delay their business. Also, old/established entrepreneurs also close down because of price hike and loss of unemployed, skilled workers (redundancy).

Additionally, the mismanagement in the country and governmental laws also create problems for entrepreneurs to establish themselves in the market. Hence, I don’t agree with the notion that recession paves way for entrepreneurship. Rather, it closes down all the roads leading to it and thwarts all the economic advancements.

I Am Not Yours – Sarah Teasdale

I am not yours, not lost in you, Not lost, although I long to be Lost as a candle lit at noon, Lost as a snowflake in the sea.

You love me, and I find you still A spirit beautiful and bright, Yet I am I, who long to be Lost as a light is lost in light.

Oh plunge me deep in love—put out My senses, leave me deaf and blind, Swept by the tempest of your love, A taper in a rushing wind.

Sarah Teasdale, in her three stanza poem, expresses the feeling and emotion of true love. She has used concise sentences in the poem; they are brief but do not lack meaning or impact by any means. She has used description to deeply explain the feeling of absolute love. The poem talks about the pain felt by the narrator in the scenario where deep love is only being reciprocated in the shape of mere affection. Teasdale, in her poem, describes the empty feeling that comes when the desire for love becomes so strong. She explains the nature of the longing – a desire – to fall madly in love.

The vey title of the poem ‘I am Not Yours’ defines the meaning of the poem; the poetess expresses that she has not submitted her mind, body and soul to the person who loves her so intensely. She is her own person; independent. She describes her emotions upon not being so in love that she knits and entangles her entire life around that one person. In only the second line of the poem, she explains that while she doesn’t belong to him, she really wishes to. She longs to fall so madly in love that she gives him ownership of her. She goes on to express that she dearly wishes to become so engrossed in love that she loses herself. She uses imagery and descriptive examples to explain the kind of feeling she wishes to have. Being ‘a candle lit at noon’ and ‘a snowflake in the sea’ are similes that are used by Teasdale to describe what she thinks is absolute love. Her longing to be lost in love is described by the presence of a candle lit at noon – so lost that the bright candle flame will not be noticed under the bright sun. Just like when a snowflake would fall into the gigantic sea, the flake will vanish and would not be seen. Such is the love that she desires – being so lost that she cannot be seen anymore. Another meaning attached to this simile is that she wants to melt away into the being of her lover just like a snowflake would melt and become water in the huge sea.

In the second stanza, Teasdale directly speaks to her lover; she tells him that she is aware of the love he holds for her. She knows that he loves her deeply and madly. She on the other hand, holds a high opinion of him. She thinks of him as an amazing person, one with a kind heart and beautiful personality, but she is not unbelievably in love with him. Despite believing that he is a remarkable man, she is herself – she belongs to herself. While she wishes and desires to be his, she is still just not in enough love. Teasdale has used a number of similes in her poem – another one is present in stanza two. She says that she hopes to fall so deeply in love that she loses herself just like a light would be lost in light. The use of similes is rich in the poem; Teasdale has taken a lot of support from them to describe her notion of love and the concept of being lost in it.

As the third stanza is reached, Teasdale became more intense in her expression. She is now speaking of passion and intensity – urging her lover to show her this passion. She asks him to make her feel the desire he holds for her; she uses a pleading tone – asking to be swept off her feet by his lust. Teasdale continues in the third stanza, expressing her longing for some passion. She pleads her lover to be so powerful in his action of love that it makes her completely lose her mind. She wants love to overcome her to such an extent that she loses touch with her senses. Despite being not insanely in love with the man, she wants him to make her feel the passion that he has for her. She wants to feel the intensity and then go completely numb during the act.

She longingly requests the man to conquer her and make it all so intense that she begins to feel deaf and blind. She uses this state of hampered senses figuratively to explain the height of lust that she desires from the man. She wishes to melt away in it and become a part of it. She wants to feel like she’s been blown away just as if she was in a strong wind. The essence of the poem is a longing for love – but one wonders why she felt only a liking for the man when she clearly approved of him and adored him. Also, she is well aware that he loves her dearly. Then why does she want him to show her passion and still admit that she wishes that she could. It can be explained that in this current equation, where the love shared between the couple is unequal, Teasdale expresses her desire to change this, in her poem. She seems dissatisfied with their state of relationship and wants something more – something more from herself! In this poem, she seems to be informing the man that indeed she adores him, but confesses that she does not quite love him the way he does. She also seems to be asking him to stay with her; and also to help her – she wants his passion to pull her into the depth of his love.

At the end of the poem, the reader wonders what happened then. Did she ever fall as deep in love as the man was? Or did her desire just remain that for the rest of the time to come.

Women entrepreneurship

A female executive working in a Corporate Firm

Women entrepreneurship is picking up pace in the rapidly developing world. It plays an integral part in the world economy regardless of the nature and the scope of the female entrepreneurship. It has taken up to 1/3 of the world’s economy and has broadened the horizons for expansion. Nowadays, women are increasingly taking part in the businesses all over the universe and are being recognized for their determination and true efforts. One can not overlook the fact that women face a lot of apprehensions and challenges in the business world and the pressures are unendurable, but this doesn’t put a stop to the hard work done by women in this field. Women entrepreneurship is a major untapped source of economic growth which has been largely ignored by the society in general over the past few decades. Also, the jobs taken up by the women mainly fall in the category of Primary and Service based programs which reflects upon the fact that major technological jobs or occupations, research based programs and the likes are “men-streamed”. Today, with the development of nations in terms of education and technology, this phenomenon is gaining popularity.  Also, the wave of feminism has also spurred the growth of women’s role in the business world. With the people becoming increasingly aware of this notion and their concern for the women involvement in the rapidly developing world, this has become a significant factor for the society.

Many examples can be noted from today’s world. Ranging from bakeries, salons, restaurants to public limited companies and business tycoons, women are making their mark in innumerable fields. Some of the big names in the business field are Anita Rodickk (The Body Shop), Bobbi Brown, Sephora Cosmetics, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Moss, Marissa Mayer (Yahoo), Patricia Woertz (Archer Daniels Midland),  Meg Whitman (eBay and Hewlett-Packard), Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo), Virginia Rometti (IBM), etc. This and many other big names in the business world show how women are progressing in today’s world, regardless of the discrimination done against them and their competitors being men. These entrepreneurs were ordinary women from different walks of life who held inspirations within them and strived to achieve their aims. The Body Shop has multiple branches in over 100 countries and is considered as “country’s pioneer” in the UK, the home country. It was the first ever business to go green and was run by a woman. Moreover, the celebrity names mentioned also represent women who are multi-talented. Kate Moss is the world’s renowned fashion designer with her own clothing line and modeling agency. Same is for Jennifer Lopez and Tyra Banks. In Pakistan, there are a lot of women who have advanced in the field of fashion designing such as Sobia Nazir, Maria.B, Zahra Ahmad, Tabassum Mughal and many more. These names demonstrate the growing trend of female entrepreneurship in Pakistan despite the major cultural rifts in the country.

Woman working in the World Economic Forum

Women believe that they lack confidence as compared to men and that’s the reason they sometimes fail in running their own business. Moreover, the discrimination against women done in some parts of the world also contribute to the failure of business start-ups by women. They have a fear of being dominated by men and in some cultures, women are considered to be inferior to men, hence there are hurdles in their careers. Moreover, there is a difference in the management styles of both the genders. Women consider the business to be family-like and care about the employees and decisions made, however, men have a more aggressive style towards their business, this shows the gender discrepancy which contributes to the differences in running the business. Also the preferences differ for both men and women. Women prefer to start a business which is tech-savvy and doesn’t require a lot of start-up capital to avoid problems in their personal lives, as opposed to men who have a different attitude to when and how to start a business. Thus this shows the different challenges faced by both the genders in the business start-ups and further.

Sobia Nazir – An entrepreneur from Pakistan

Conclusively, it is not surprising that women are different than men in managing a business and utilizing their entrepreneurial capabilities. Thus it can’t be ignored that women play an integral part in the economy of the world and without their input, there would be inefficient use of the resources. Many organizations in the world are taking initiatives to promote and encourage women to fill the vacuum even further and participate in world’s economic activities. An example of such organization is ILO, which is taking steps to motivate women entrepreneurs. Thus, let’s hope that women increase their share in the world economic development and continue to contribute positively for economic well-being.

‘Young Goodman Brown’

Young Goodman Brown is a brilliant short story – in fact one the most outstanding in the American literature. This story is about an ordinary man, who goes on to a journey of a discovery of guilt and sin. There is a significant mention of the devil in the story – Goodman Brown is actually meant to be taking the journey with the devil himself.

The author has done a great job with the story; it is actually the ultimate story of all human beings. Brown is to leave his wife, Faith, and go on to this journey into the forest. Here, he is encountered with evil – or in other words, the Devil. There has been a deep and meaningful use of symbolism throughout the story. This incident on the whole shows man’s attraction towards the evil and the forbidden – it talks about the power of sin.

Brown made a conscious decision to leave Faith behind; while she is his wife, she is named so for symbolism too. She portrays the presence and then the failure of keeping one’s faith; according to this story, all mankind carries a bit of devil in them. And at some point, the evil takes over the faith; the latter is then left behind and the journey of sin begins – such is the story of Goodman Brown.

The author clearly defines what Brown becomes by the end: “a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man.” It is clarified that he has left his innocence behind – vacated the world of innocence and seen too much. He begins to accept that there is indeed great evil in this world; this acceptance and being able to see this cruel truth stripped him of his innocence.

As Brown went on in the woods, the author wrote that he often expressed that he wished to turn back and get out of there, but somehow, his feet kept going forward. His body’s willingness to avoid the sin was nil. It is also shown, that later as he sees other people in the forest, he is shocked to see his own wife there too. It is to symbolize that even ‘Faith’ is not safe from the attraction of sin – everyone is a target.

During his journey in the forest, Brown begins to change gradually as his encounter with the devil goes on. His despair was such that his anger made him as bad and dangerous as the devil himself. Brown continued to go down the dreary road; it is a symbol of his journey and the way it changed him.

The story shows that Goodman Brown managed to save himself from the ultimate conversion into evil. However, the damage was already done – and it was quite intense. While Goodman Brown returned from the journey, a part of him remained there, making him a different man. His beliefs and faith as well as the way he viewed the world had changed. He recognized the existence of sin and had experienced the wrath of the devil.

Although he returned without being marked forever, the effect on his personality and thinking was immense. He had gone too close to evil; his return did not completely return his faith. And so he changed forever. The sin that he had almost experience overpowered him and made him “a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man.”

Shia Sunni conflict remains unsolved..

I am deeply saddened to see the recent rift between Shias and Sunnis and the Rawalpindi incident. It breaks my heart to see my country facing such critical situation, posing a threat to the peace and security of the population. Never in my life have I been this melancholic about the circumstances in my country. Its high time that Pakistanis realize what we are facing is not a trivial issue rather a very grave problem which has its roots in pre-independence era. I am going to put some light on the reasons which have led us to the current situation.

Before independence, Hindus and Muslims lived together in British India. They were together if not united in all walks of life. Despite the major differences between them, they tended to live as one. Gradually, Hindus started to progress in their lives and started adopting British way of life, leaving Muslims behind. Many posts were filled up by Hindus and they developed their skills in multiple fields. However, Muslims remained aloof, protesting against British system and Hindus following them, without realizing that this would cause them to lag behind and being ignored by the British. Sadly, that’s exactly what happened. That was then when Sir Syed Ahmed Khan presented his Two-Nation Theory, which stated that Muslims and Hindus were two different nations and should be separated. This inculcated the idea of partitions and a separate identity in the minds of many, specially the elites of Muslims League. At this point in time, there was a hue and cry among the Muslims for their separate identity and no one realized that it wasn’t only the Muslims and Hindus who were separate but there existed a gap among Muslims themselves. There were major differences in Muslims living in different parts of India i.e Bengal, Punjab, Madras, etc. the distinctions were in terms of culture, religion, traditions, norms, way of life, ideologies, etc. They didn’t have a say at that time and the idea of partition was stuck in everyone’s mind. The elite class of Muslim League had the most urge to implement the idea because they viewed Muslims as one, only keeping in view a handful of Muslim areas and ignoring the rest, different sections. After partition, the most notable element was that the majority of the Muslims shifted to India while only a few Muslims specially from the Muslim majority provinces where Muslim League had the most popularity shifted to Pakistan. This clearly demonstrated how divided Muslims were in their opinions and ideas. Also, the Muslims who moved to Pakistan had major differences among them and with time, some developed grievances against the Government i.e Balochistan and East Pakistan. This led to differences in the population noticeable. For example People living in KPK have a different way of life, culture, norms and values as compared to those living in Punjab. Same is the case with other provinces. There is even a different time of Eid celebration in KPK and other provinces. The muslims practice religion differently from each other. Also, the Constitution of Pakistan was based on the idea that Pakistan is an Islamic State. This contradicts with what Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah stated in his speech in 1948. He declared Pakistan as a secular state with freedom given to everyone to live and practice their religion freely. However, it was later fabricated and Pakistan became to be known as Islamic Republic of Pakistan, following principles of Shariah. Thus, this problem of ideology is evident today, with the divide between Shias and Sunnis growing wider and major differences rising to the surface. There is no unity or brotherhood between the Muslims if the nation and no one knows where they are going. The extremists want Shariah to be imposed while others insist on Western way of life. Our principles, morals, beliefs, culture and traditions have been largely influenced by western society and we are happily following their lifestyle. Muslims are killing each other and pay no heed to Islamic teachings. We have zero tolerance for the non Muslims dwelling in our nations and oppress them when they practice their religion. This difference in Muslims also caused the Partition of East Pakistan (Bangladesh) in post independence era, leaving a mere chunk of our country on the world map. We are far from being called a peaceful law-abiding and developed nation.

Thus, this problem is being further aggravated by our leaders who have no serious sense of action and no solution regarding this matter. Our people are frustrated and no efforts are being made to pull Pakistan out of the dark pit. The power distance in our country has made things worse and nobody has any hope left. Our optimism is down the drain. Our leaders seriously need to think upon this matter and come up with a solution to solve this issue which is also paving way for further problems. If this isn’t solved anytime soon, Pakistan can plunge deeper into the darkness and rebounding would be more difficult.

According to details, violence erupted when an Ashura procession coincided with a sermon at a nearby mosque in Raja Bazaar area on Friday killing at least nine and wounding at least 50 others.

In order to prevent violent attacks and maintain law and order ahead of the funerals of Friday’s victims, curfew was imposed in Rawalpindi till Sunday. Meanwhile, cellular phone services were also blocked in Islamabad as well. The suspension lasted till 2pm Sunday. Earlier, authorities had decided to suspend mobile phone services in Rawalpindi until Sunday afternoon.

The Lady, or the Tiger

‘The Lady, or the Tiger’ is an open ended short story; the ending is for the reader to imagine. The story is about a trial; a trial that the King puts the guilty men to. They are made to face a dilemma; they are made to choose between two doors and decide their fate. Behind one door is a violent and carnivorous tiger, ready to rip the human apart as soon as the door is opened. Behind the other door is a woman – chosen by the King. The guilty man will be required to marry that woman, if he chooses to open that door. Irrespective of whether he is already married or has a family.

The story is based on a trial that features a man from the lower class, guilty of falling in love with the socially superior daughter of the King. The difference in his trial was that the princess was aware of what was behind each door. For all the other men gone to trial, the choice was not supported by any hint from anyone. In his case, he hoped to steal looks with the princess and get a clue of which door to choose. He was aware that the princess knew.

For every other trial, the dilemma was for the guilty man. In this case, the princess was the one making the choice for the man she loved – it was a test for her. She was the one going to make the decision of whether her man got to die, or live with another woman. In both choices, she was to lose her love.

The princess does give a clue to her lover and he follows her choice. The story reaches an end as the man opens the door. But the readers are never told what door he opened and what happened to him. When I read the story, I concluded that the woman hinted the man to open the door with the tiger behind it. She loved him dearly and could not stand to see him live with another woman. All she ever wanted was to be with him but her father was not going to let that happen.

There is evidence in the story that the woman believed in the afterlife; and that might have given her some hope and also encouraged her to ask the man to choose the tiger. She would have hoped that eventually, after she died as well, they would unite again. In this case, his death will not be the end of their story. But if she had asked him to open the door with the woman behind it, which would mean that she gives him up to another woman. The writer has also suggested that the princess held pure hatred for the woman behind that door. She hated her with everything in her mind, body and blood. So there were even lesser chances that she would have opted that door for her lover.

In my opinion, the princess would rather have her man die than watch him live with another woman. She was a princess – she would not know how to share or to compromise. And she was a woman; she would never be able to stand her love belonging to someone else. Especially someone she hated anyway. She could not imagine the pain and torment if she saw that he was relieved upon opening the door with the woman – relieved to not be dying. Just thinking that he could probably find a good life and happiness with the second woman was too much for her.

In the story, the personality and soul of the princess is said to be like that of her father – wild. She, like her father, would strive to get what she wants and go to any lengths to achieve what she wishes. It would be unacceptable for her that the love of her life lived with someone else while she could not have been with him. It would be easier for her to watch him die and later join him in the afterlife. The story is indeed about extreme measures and irrational behavior – selfishness is the core of the theme.

The Most Dangerous Game

The protagonist of ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ is the main character of the story – Sanger Rainsford. He is a brilliant hunter and is quite a tough and adventurous man. So much so, that he does not even feel anything for his prey – he just hunts. Towards the latter part of the story, the tables turn and Rainsford becomes the potential prey.

Rainsford was a tough man – and he had had the experience of the World War I. That experience also taught him about the great value of the life of a human. Having said that, he did not share the same opinion about animals; he found it okay to hunt them ruthlessly. While he hunted, no emotions came in the way – he never thought twice before shooting down an innocent animal.

Connell brought a twist in this character towards the latter part of the story; he put Rainsford in a different situation and showed how humans act to save their lives as an instinct. Connell added the character of Zaroff; who hunted humans. This character was used to explore the emotional side of Rainsford.

The argument here is based on the possibility of Rainsford having changed through the course of the story. The story reveals a different side of him; a more human side of him. But not to forget, that he was only just striving to save his life. Anyone in his situation would also have reacted the same way; he was in such a hostile situation. Also, the author mentioned empathy being felt by Rainsford – for his prey. However, that did not mean that he was now a changed man. It was only his reaction to that particular situation; he just understood how the animals must feel. In fact, at the end of the story, Rainsford killed Zaroff; he resumed his hunter self and loved being victorious over the General who wanted to take his life.

Rainsford’s concept of the world was that it is divided into ‘hunters and the hunted’; for him, that was how the world functioned. And he, of course, lived to be a hunter and would never have it any other way. So much so, that he moved from hunting just animals to hunting a man at the end of the story; he killed Zeroff. He became the predator once again and took on his man prey.

It is to be remembered that this episode happened only shortly after Rainsford was himself in the position of a prey. What he felt at that time should have been fresh in his heart – the empathy should have kicked in when he decided to kill Zeroff. But it didn’t. It was an easy job for him to kill. He had not changed.

Right after he murdered Zaroff, his reaction suggested that he was at peace with himself. He was happy and proud to have turned out victorious; he was satisfied that he was the predator yet again and had not fallen prey to the General. After all that, he slept. He slept a good night’s sleep. To him, hunting meant more than someone else’s life – may that be animals or humans.

The flipside of the argument could be that Rainsford was relieved to be alive and knew that he was now out of danger; the safety making him feel calm and hence sleepy. He was, after all, tired of running for his life. It could be assumed, that when he woke up, he would still feel that empathy that awakened inside him. The argument could be extended that what Rainsford did was in self-defense. Zaroff would have killed him if he hadn’t killed him first. Also, what Whitney had said to him earlier made sense to him when he was in trouble – indeed, at that point he was in remorse of his doings.

Rainsford did not change as a person over the course of the story. What changed, were the situations he was in at different stages of the story. He was in a position where he could have been ‘the hunted’ and he did not fancy it at all! So he turned back to being a predator. Post that, he slept like a baby.

On the other hand, Rainsford’s simple and underlying belief was in ‘hunters and the hunted’. His nature was not to care and he toughened even more during the war and its hardships. His survival instinct kicked in when he thought he was going to be killed, but that was about it. He found an escape route and he ran to the finish line – victorious.

5 reasons why WhatsApp is better than BBM

WhatsApp vs BBM!

A well received ad campaign never defines the success of a product. Similarly, the arrival of BBM on Android and iPhone may have pulled in a large number of users, but the humongous 10 million downloads in 24 hours is not necessarily an indicator that users are content and would continue using the app, that was once a BlackBerry device exclusive.

1. The PIN- based system of BBM makes it hard for the random creeps out there to add/message you which obviously is a good thing for the users. But at the same time, it creates a hassle for the people to communicate with each other. You need to ask for the other person’s BB Pin if you want to talk through BBM. I bet half of the people out there would either be too lazy for that, or they would just feel awkward while asking for everyone’s Pin. We see people sharing their BBM pins via WhatsApp, This in itself speaks volumes about the penetration of WhatsApp.

BB Pin!

2. Another thing that BlackBerry brags about BBM is the ‘D’ and ‘R’ indicators – where D signifies messages delivered and R says that the messages sent to a recipient have been read. But there seems to be some bug in BBM for Android as occasionally I found a check mark (signifying non-delivery) next to the messages sent by me even when the recipient had already read those messages.

Due to large number of downloaders..

3. Most of the people who downloaded BBM couldn’t use it for the first 2-3 days. It was due to very high number of downloaders, or maybe BBM was just trying to be a bit hard to get to create more hype and importance. Also, the long process of getting a BB pin could get frustrating for some people, where as WhatsApp is just a click away.

4. By making its BBM app available on three platforms – BlackBerry OS, Android and iOS – BlackBerry is not wrong in calling its app cross-platform, but out of the two, WhatsApp – in real sense – is the more cross-platform app and is available on all the major platforms – Android, iOS, BlackBerry OS, Windows Phone, Symbian, Nokia S40. While BBM connects you with your friends on Android, BlackBerry, and iOS platforms, but WhatsApp, apart from these three OS, also lets you connect with your friends using Windows and Symbian devices. BlackBerry still has no plans to bring the BBM app to Windows, which is the second most widely used smartphone platform in India.

5. Today, when most of the people own more than one device and prefer the convenience of using an app on multiple devices, BlackBerry released the BBM app in a way that confines users to use one BBM ID on one device at a time. The same issue is with WhatsApp. A WhatsApp account can only be verified with one number, on one device. Being a late participant in the race, BlackBerry could have got an edge over WhatsApp by making the BBM app work across devices.