Critical Issues in Law Enforcement

Critical Issues in Law Enforcement There are three critical issues in law enforcement Citizens today look to law enforcement for service and protection. In order for officers to serve and protect, some issues have to be resolved. Remaining stress-free, enforcing the code of ethics and lastly, the presence of female police officers. These three critical issues can quickly weaken a department if left to manifest without any intervention. Being stress-free in law enforcement is very important. An officers performance is diminished greatly if he or she has trouble concentrating at work. Law enforcement officers are perceived to be tough, rough, and always ready to protect and serve. Citizens feel safe when police officers are seen regularly patrolling the streets. When it comes to dealing with personal issues, officers tend to keep to themselves. Sometimes living up to those expectations can be challenging because the general public has a superhero image of law enforcement. Officers regularly deal with the worst of what society has to offer, and make special sacrifices to maintain the peace. In the process, performing daily tasks can be increasingly difficult. Unlike firefighters and paramedics, police officers are not trained to work as a group. Officers are left to work alone or with a partner. As a result, police coverage is often sparse throughout a jurisdiction. Officers today are in desperate need of a better support system. With the rising crime rate in todays society, officers can only handle so much before reaching a breaking point. As the stress of police duty builds up, an officer may soon experience anger, depression, or disillusion. Over time, these feelings may cause strained relationships with family and co-workers and in the end lead to suicide (Franklin, 2007). Running head: THREE CRITICAL ISSUES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT 4 Officers need to be in constant emotional control. Law enforcement officers have a job that requires extreme restraint under highly emotional circumstances. Officers are trained to stay calm when excited, to take charge when nervous, and to be stable when emotional. Constantly altering emotions takes a tremendous toll on an officers mentality. When an officer is emotionally drained, it may make the officer more prone to fatigue, such as not wanting to participate in social or family life. Energy drain can also create job and social burnout (Goldfarb, Smith n.d.). Another cause of stress is shift work. No matter how many years an officer has been working, a persons body never gets used to fluctuating schedules. The human body is naturally programmed to eat, sleep, and wake at a certain time. An officer performing shift work never gets a chance to stay on a schedule and in turn upsets the physical and mental balances. Police have several options when it comes to dealing with stress. One option is psychological therapy. Police officers may be ordered to undergo sessions with a therapist. The sessions can persuade the police officer to identify any problems officer might have with their career and ultimately arrive at valuable solutions. The focus of the therapy session is to teach the police officer in finding out how and why he/she reacts to certain situations. This in turn can help the officer react correctly to stress factors. Stress management in law enforcement also includes anger management. In anger management, police officers can be taught to identify the triggers that cause aggression within an officer. Anger management also teaches police officers how to detect and prevent hostile situations from ever taking place, which in turn can be applied in Running head: THREE CRITICAL ISSUES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT 5 settling disputes between citizens. Anger management can allow the officer to prevent and manage their stress by themselves, either on the job or at home with their families. The second critical issue within departments is code of ethics for criminal justice personnel. In order for the criminal justice system to work efficiently a code of ethics is needed. Due to the amount of power criminal justice professionals possess and because of the nature of problems officers encounter every day, employees often face serious conflicts and needs guidance, which is exactly what a code of ethics provides. One of the main purposes of a code of ethics is to guide a person in making a decision. These guidelines have to be in place in order for law enforcement agencies to operate smoothly and correctly. Superiors have to lead the rest of the department by being an example. If the leaders are corrupt, more than likely the subordinates are also (Peak, 2010). There are some behaviors which are completely unacceptable in law enforcement: bribery, excessive force, extortion and forgery. At no time should these behaviors be exercised by officers or any member of law enforcement. Citizens entrust law enforcement to protect and to serve communities. The lifeline of law and order for any society is law enforcement. It is therefore very important for the police personnel to command the respect citizens, to function effectively. The public-police relationship is vital, for maintaining law and order, and this relationship can be strengthened only when police conduct themselves in appropriate manner. Every police officer Running head: THREE CRITICAL ISSUES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT 6 must realize that they need to be law-abiding citizens also, and be committed to serve society proudly and with morals. All officers and members of law enforcement should be made to attend a seminar on ethics. And after the seminar is complete, all employees will be tested and trained on all material presented. Testing will help to ensure all employees are on one ethical accord. A code of ethics can help an officer decide how to act on a daily basis. Ethics is very important for people of power because this type of person has great influence on the public daily. Law enforcement personnel make important decisions every day and the decisions an officer makes impacts the lives of others. Therefore, it is necessary that all members of law enforcement are bias free. The last issue that needs to address is female officers in criminal justice. There has been tremendous growth of female officers within the last thirty years. Law requires law enforcement agencies to hire regardless of gender or race. Traditionally, the only job a female had in law enforcement was a social worker. In the past, men have strongly resisted the integration of female officers into police departments because being a police officer was thought to be a mans job. Women have slowly transformed the social worker role because of their determination to overcome the stereotypical barriers and in more recent years, the law. However, a females acceptance by males has grown in the past thirty years. Running head: THREE CRITICAL ISSUES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT 7 The first female police officer was Alice Stebbin Wells, born on June 13, 1873. Alice served in the Los Angeles police department. Joining the police department was no easy task in those days. Alice had to send petitions to the mayor, city council and police commissioner. Wells felt women and children needed someone to be their voice and Wells wanted to be the one who stood up for them. In 1985, Penny Harrington accomplished being the first female police chief in a large agency. And in 1990, Elizabeth Watson became the first female police chief of a city with a population of more than 1 million in Houston. Another reason why police departments have been hesitant in hiring female officers is because women officers are thought of as not being unable to balance their personal and professional lives. Trying to balance child care and work, especially for single female officers, can be a very demanding task. The pressure is on to be a good wife and mother regardless of the job. Every day a police officer encounters risks and dangers, including dealing with irate people and criminals. And also, maintaining workplace relationship in a male dominated field is not easy. Discrimination against female officers can also come from the community. Some citizens believe that policewomen are only able to settle domestic disputes or to deal with rape victims. Some may also think policewomen are incapable of diffusing physical altercations, mostly due to the fact that most crimes are committed by males. There are some female officers try to fit in and go along with the male police culture by acting subservient are quickly written off as not performing to police standards. Running head: THREE CRITICAL ISSUES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT 8 Hiring and retaining female officers offers great advantages. First, women are great communicators. Listening to a womans voice can sometimes calm an intense situation. Second, male officers are more likely to use excessive force than females, it is only natural. Males are naturally more authoritarian. Third, the presence more female officers will reduce the amount of claims of sexual discrimination within the department. Women officers tend to use a style of policing that relies more on communication than physical force, and are far more likely to avoid the use of excessive force. Female officers are more likely to have a community-oriented style of policing and females excel in responding to domestic violence situations which constitute a majority of crime calls. Also, female officers trend to have more empathy than male officers in certain situations and the trait could be useful in delicate situation such as domestic calls. Inappropriate response also adds to the risk of litigation, as departments are increasingly being held accountable for failing to properly handle domestic violence (Anderson, 1985). In the past, fitting in a police force has been a challenge for women. Some of the requirements were seen as discriminatory against females. For example, scaling a 6 foot wall and being able to bench press ones own weight was almost impossible for a female to do (Peak, 2010 pg. 132 para. 8). One way to make sure women are not discriminated against is to make departments re-examine physical fitness tests and figure out ways to include females in the tests. And also, agencies should permit all candidates to practice for the pre-employment physical exam (Peak, 2010 pg. 132 para. 8). Running head: THREE CRITICAL ISSUES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT 9 There are several issues which need to be addressed in order to help female avoid discrimination in the department. Police departments can hold job fairs at different colleges and pass out flyers, brochures, newspapers, or television advertising (Peak, 2010). Hiring in this manner is instead of randomly hiring brings a more diversified police force. Training males and females together will make female officers feel more equal to males. Female instructors are important also because female officers can look to the instructors as role models. Sexual harassment is another hurdle for female officers. If an officer is being harassed, the officer may not feel that reporting the perpetrator. The officer may not want to go through the scrutiny and embarrassment. All department need to have written policies informing employees of the consequences of harassment in the department. In the written policies, the information should include illustrations and examples of what not to do and a description of the proper protocol of handling complaints. The department will need to promptly file and investigate all complaints and most important of all, keep all information about the case and individual confidential.

The Other Fort Knox :: Personal Narrative Papers

The Other Fort Knox The first Wednesday in July found me crammed into a fourteen-passenger van with enough adolescents to fill it to capacity. Actually, it was only four girls and three boys, plus the three other leaders, but stuffed in the very back with three smelly boys – Jonathan, Andrew, and Aaron – it seemed like the van was about to burst. They could have had more room if they had chosen to spread out, but then they would have been forced to occupy seats adjacent to girls, a horrible situation for any ten year old boy. We were headed to Bucksport, Maine, a two-hour trip from my house, to tour and explore Fort Knox. It is probably not the Fort Knox that one immediately thinks of; there are actually two Fort Knox’s in the United States. James Bond was never at this Fort Knox, nor was any gold. Just in case, though, I told the boys that I would give my car to anyone who found gold. This would have been a threat to person over the age of eighteen, but their eyes got quite large at the prospect of winning something that had four tires. This Fort Knox was built for protecting the independence newly won from the British in the mid nineteenth century. Located at the mouth of the Penobscot River, Fort Knox is a heavily fortified defensive point. The fort boasts of remarkable engineering and a fascinating labyrinth of passageways. With thirty foot high walls of huge granite blocks, and cannons that could fire a four hundred and fifty pound ball a distance of three miles, Fort Knox would have been a brutal foe for the British navy. When we arrived, two of the group leaders, Sarah and Josh, went to go set up lunch, while my wife, Mary Ella, and I took the kids on a brief pre-tour. Since it was only half an hour before lunch, we decided to go down to explore one of the batteries. A battery is a small point outside the fort for artillery. Fort Knox is on a large hill overlooking the mouth of the river. At Fort Knox, there are two batteries located a little way down the hill from the fort. This allows the fort to fire on an enemy from multiple locations, and it allows for more artillery than the fort alone could hold.

A Mothers dream Essay -- essays research papers

A Mother's Dream For a lot children growing up, our mothers have been an complete part of what made us who we are. Mostly all good mothers want the best for their child and they are determine to do whatever it takes for them to get it. The central struggle in Amy Tan's story ‘‘Two Kinds'' is a battle of wills between the narrator, a young Chinese-American girl, and her mother, a Chinese immigrant. "Two Kinds'' is a coming-of-age story, in which the narrator, Jing-mei, struggles to forge her own sense of identity in the face of her strong-willed mother's dream that she become a "prodigy.'' Suyuan, Jing-mei's mother, believes in the American Dream. With hard work, she feels that Jing-Mei can be anything she wants to be in this great country. After all, Suyuan does not want her daughter to ever suffer the kind of deprivation and tragedies that she had to endure in China. But Jing-Mei has no desire to prove herself or excel in any field. She wants to take life as it comes. In her words, â€Å"I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could only be me† Tan (679). Since Suyuan believes that anything can be accomplished and she uses her daughter as her outlet to prove it. She continuously gives Jing-mei numerous test and eventually forces her to take piano lessons, which becomes Suyuan's prime focus of her 'perfect dau...

Ngocdung

1) Globalization has been enabled by: A) innovation. B) technological progress. C) increased population. D) all of the above. E) A and B are correct. 2) Which of the following events interrupted Globalization 2. 0? A) The Great Depression B) World War I C) World War II D) All of the above. 3) During Globalization 1. 0, ________ were the primary entities globalizing. A) individuals and small groups B) families C) countries D) companies 4) During Globalization 3. 0, ________ were the primary entities globalizing. A) individuals and small groups B) families C) countries D) companies 5) The fall of the Berlin Wall:A) marked the end of the Cold War. B) opened up new markets for products. C) gave companies access to a talented labor pool. D) All of the above. 6) The first mainstream web browser was called: A) Netscape B) Opera. C) Firefox. D) Internet Explorer. 7) De facto standards contributing to Globalization 3. 0 include all of the following EXCEPT:   A) Microsoft Word. B) Adobe Acro bat. C) PayPal. D) eBay. 8) Web sites allowing users to add, remove, or edit content are called:   A) wikis. B) blogs. C) browsers. D) online diaries. 9) Wal-Mart has recently introduced ________ tags into their supply chain.A) price B) anti-theft C) RFID D) CSID 10) Companies setting up entire factories in China is an example of: A) offshoring. B) outsourcing. C) in-sourcing. D) on-shoring. 11) ________ refers to the delegation of a company's core operations to a subcontractor that specializes in that operation. A) Offshoring B) Outsourcing C) In-sourcing D) On-shoring 12) Assembly plants located on the Mexican side of the U. S. -Mexican border are called:   A) Mexinanitas. B) Maquiladoras. C) Manufactorias. D) Fabricados. 13) Which of the following is not a service that is being outsourced? A) Preparation of tax returnsB) Telephone support C) Reading of X-rays D) All of the activities above can be outsourced. 14) Which of the Asian outsourcing destination countries has the hig hest relative geopolitical risk? A) China B) Malaysia C) Philippines D) Thailand 15) Which of the following American outsourcing destination countries has the highest English proficiency? A) Argentina B) Brazil C) Costa Rica D) Mexico 16) Which of the following is a reason for companies to outsource business activities? A) To reduce time to market B) To increase process efficiencies C) To outsource noncore activities D) All of the above. 7) ________, the reversal of outsourcing to overseas locations, encompasses the use of locations closer to the home country in terms of geographical, political, linguistic, economic, or cultural distance. A) Inshoring. B) Nearshoring. C) Offshoring. D) Backshoring. 18) Which of the following is NOT considered a geoeconomic challenge of operating in a digital world? A) Demographic B) Expertise C) Time zone differences D) Internet access 19) The EU data protection directive is an example of which type of challenge? A) Political system B) Regulatory C) Data sharing D) Individual freedom 0) Differences in network infrastructures throughout the world are an example of which type of challenge? A) Internet access and individual freedom B) Infrastructure related reliability C) Regulatory D) Political system 21) ________ are government-imposed fees to regulate the flow of goods and services in and out of a country   A) Export regulations B) Embargoes C) Tariffs D) Quotas 22) A(n) ________ is a type of export regulation concerning the flow of goods and services, typically limiting (or prohibiting) trade with one particular country. A) export regulation B) embargo C) tariff D) quota 23) The U. S. overnment attempts to isolate the Cuban government economically using: A) export regulations. B) embargoes. C) tariffs. D) quotas. 24) ________ are directed at limiting the export of certain goods to other countries. A) Export regulations B) Embargoes C) Tariffs D) Quotas 25) Products such as missile or encryption technology underlie: A) expor t regulations. B) embargoes. C) tariffs. D) quotas. 26) ________ are regulations permitting foreign businesses to export only a certain number of products to a specific country. A) Export regulations B) Embargoes C) Tariffs D) Quotas 27) Foreign companies such as Toyota are producing goods in the U.S. to minimize the effect of:   A) export regulations. B) embargoes. C) tariffs. D) quotas. 28) The EU data protection directive limits: A) Internet freedom. B) personal rights to access data. C) transborder data flows. D) electronic commerce. 29) Which of the flowing countries is NOT considered â€Å"enemy of the Internet† by the â€Å"Reporters without Borders†? A) Belarus B) Thailand C) Vietnam D) North Korea 30) Which of the following outsourcing destinations has the lowest average annual salary for experienced programmers? A) India B) Philippines C) Malaysia D) China 31) Dimensions on which cultures differ include:A) uncertainty avoidance. B) concept of time. C) life focus. D) all of the above. 32) ________ is a cultural characteristic emphasizing the importance of the collective/group over the individual in society. A) Collectivism B) Power distance C) Uncertainty avoidance D) Group think 33) ________ is a cultural characteristic that reflects the extent to which a culture has a longer- or shorter-term orientation. A) Life focus B) Concept of time C) Time focus D) Punctuality 34) ________ is a cultural characteristic emphasizing the importance of the individual over the collective/group in society. A) Life focus B) IndividualismC) Selfishness D) Egocentrism 35) ________ is a cultural characteristic related to how different societies view authority and hierarchical structures. A) Power distance B) Obedience C) Obesity D) Authoritarianism 36) ________ reflects degree to which a society is characterized by masculine qualities, such as assertiveness, or by feminine characteristics, such as nurturance. A) Masculinity/femininity B) Assertiveness C) N urturance D) Life focus 37) ________ is a cultural characteristic related to the risk-taking nature of a culture. A) Risk aversion B) Uncertainty avoidance C) Fear of future consequences D) Risk seeking 8) ________ reflects the extent to which a culture focuses on the quantity versus the quality of life. A) Life focus B) Life center C) Quantity of life orientation D) Quality of life orientation 39) Which of the following countries ranks highest in individualism? A) Australia B) Austria C) Mexico D) Peru 40) Which of the following is most likely to be considered a domestic company? A) Insurance company B) Car manufacturer C) Consumer goods company D) Barber shop 41) A ________ business strategy is best suited for operation in markets differing widely. A) multidomestic B) global C) transnational D) All strategies are equally well suited. 2) Which of the following is a weakness of the multidomestic business strategy? A) Differing product offerings limit economies of scale B) Inability to react to local market conditions C) Difficult to manage D) Personnel overhead 43) Which of the following is a weakness of the global business strategy? A) Differing product offerings limit economies of scale B) Inability to react to local market conditions C) Difficult to manage D) Personnel overhead 44) Which of the following is a weakness of the transnational business strategy? A) Differing product offerings limit economies of scale B) Inability to react to local market conditionsC) Difficult to manage D) Personnel overhead 45) A multidomestic information systems strategy is characterized by ________ systems   A) centralized B) decentralized C) distributed D) homogeneous 46) A global information systems strategy is characterized by ________ systems   A) centralized B) decentralized C) distributed D) homogeneous 47) A transnational information systems strategy is characterized by ________ systems   A) centralized B) decentralized C) distributed D) homogeneous 48) A _______ _ information systems strategy is characterized by multiple networks between the home office and the subsidiaries.A) global B) transnational C) multinational D) hybrid 49) A ________ information systems strategy is characterized by local databases. A) global B) transnational C) multidomestic D) hybrid 50) A ________ information systems strategy is characterized by data sharing between the home office and the subsidiaries. A) global B) transnational C) multinational D) hybrid Chap 2: 1E 2D 3C 4A 5D 6A 7D 8A 9C 10A 11C 12B 13D 14C 15C 16D 17B 18D 19C 20B 21C 22B 23B 24A 25A 26D 27D 28C 29B 30A 31D 32A 33B 34B 35A 36A 37B 38A 39A 40D 41A 42A 43B 44C 45B 46A 47C 48A 49C 50A

Knowledge is Everlasting Essay Essay

One may ask, â€Å"What is knowledge?† I understand Knowledge to be the intellectual ability of being able to understand the events in the world based on principles learn from one’s experiences. Once Knowledge is truly gained, can it be lost? I believe that if one is truly knowledgeable about something it is rather impossible that such knowledge can merely vaporize into thin air. Many people claim that they have indeed â€Å"lost knowledge†but sadly all they lost was information they memorized. Conversely, knowledge involves the careful observation of events, reasoning as to how and why these observations occur, and also learning through experiencing. Furthermore, I have come to recognize the eternal quality of knowledge based on biological facts, and also during my own daily experiences. From a biological point of view, the permanency of knowledge has been proven to be true, through the realization of the brain’s vast characteristics such as memory cells. When an individual learns something for the first time, this information gets stored by memory cells in the brain. Then the next time the individual is encountered with a situation involving or requiring such knowledge, for its interpretation, the brain accesses the stored datafrom the memory cells. This data it had gained from prior experiences. For example, the scenario of the first time one peels an orange. Individuals were not created with the instructions of how to peel an orange imprinted in their DNA. Rather, it must be learned from experience. Therefore,the first step in peeling an orange is gathering information from a source about the necessary method of success.After which, one acquires the apparatus (the knife and orange) and sinks the blade into the peel slightly, so the blade goes just beneath the surface. Then gently glides the blade through the peel to reveal the white layer underneath. After removing all the peel, the orange is sliced into two halves revealing the pulp. Of course, on the first try one might make mistakes and not peel the orange so perfectly. However, upon each ot her trial of peeling an orange one’s technique become more  mastered.Soon,a point is reached where it is possible to peel an orange without thinking how to do it. Clearly, knowledge is always permanently stored in the brain’s memory cells for future use. Additionally, knowledge also becomes magnified each time it is applied and verified in different situations. Often time, true knowledge gets confused with its close relative, memorizing. The fact stands that memorizing and being knowledgeable about something are two completely different concepts. Speaking from my own experiences, studying for an exam is a typical example where memorizing and obtaining knowledge interact closely and may become intertwined. For instance, during the course of studying for an exam there are some definitions of theories that I merely memorized. The result was that I forgot them after the exam since all I did was replicate the definitions on the exam paper. Still, there were some cases in which I had gained knowledge of things I still remember. This was because, I read about the concepts in greater detail beyond their definition and actually understood the concepts and applied them to real life situations. The misperception of memorizations for knowledge is very common among people and so they tend to misinterpret the principle of knowledgeable, thereby failing to see the permanent nature of knowledge relative to the temporary and limited character of memorizing. I believe rather than dying, knowledge grows with experience and constantly metamorphosis into an even higher level of knowledge. It is intensely evident that knowledge is perpetual. Moreover, knowledge is limitless as it goes beyond mere memorizing of data and events, towards developing an understanding of the observations made during life’s experiences. My belief is reflected in the common rhyme I was taught in school, â€Å"silver and gold may vanish away, but a good education will never decay†. Thus, the lifetime of knowledge is so vast and unlimited that it is given higher value above even the most precious minerals on Earth, such as silver and gold.Wouldn’t you agree that the truly most valuable trea sure known to mankind is knowledge? Works Cited Quindel, Emilie. â€Å"our local history.† 02 December 2012. WordPress. 10 September 2013 .

Gogol’s Namesake Essay

Immigrants moving to the United States are faced with the pressing question of whether or not to assimilate into American culture. Many of those involved in diasporic situations feel that adapting to the social norms of their new surroundings is an act of betraying their roots in which their heritage and all preexisting traditions will be lost. Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake highlights this struggle through the eyes of the Ganguli family. The novel ultimately shows us that one can simultaneously belong to two cultures, in this case Indian and American culture. Many scholars are hung up on the fact that protagonist Gogol must belong to one culture or the other. Heinze’s â€Å"Diasporic Overcoat?† suggests that Gogol puts on an â€Å"overcoat† through the switching of his name to represent the switching of his identity across various relationships and social situations. In doing so, he says â€Å"by implication one is never totally free of an overcoat, there is no such thing as a pristine and authentic identity†¦ (Heinze 197-198)† This quote demonstrates Heinze taking a stand and stating that there is no fixed identity. I suggest that Gogol does indeed obtain a national and cultural identity. The characterization of Gogol’s identity can be viewed as a spectrum that is continuously changing. At one end of the spectrum is his Indian cultural identity and the other is his American. At different points in his life Gogol has different degrees of American and Indian cultures present within him. So rather than arguing Gogol has no set identity, instead his identity is classified by his movement along his hybrid cultural spectrum. Other scholars that write on the issues of cultural hybridity focus on the idea that the person involved in diasporic situations are caught some where between their two given cultures. The author of an article applying concepts of cultural hybridity in music, particularly Arabian Jazz states that those with hybrid identities create a new â€Å"imagined community’ in which cultures may interact and influence each other in a state of co-existence and a â€Å"third space† is created. He defines this third space as â€Å"the inter- the cutting edge of translation and negotiation, the in between space that carries the burden of the meaning of culture† (Al-Joulan 640). Rather than being part of one culture or the other he is saying that identity of ones culture is defined as being in this third space. For the sake of my argument Gogol’s third space is the area on between his Indian culture and American culture. Gogol’s position in his third space changes at  different points in the novel. Gogol’s birth not only marks the start of his life but it also marks the start of his movement away from the Indian side of his hybrid cultural spectrum. Although it is clear the presented naming process for the Ganguli baby is one that typically appeals to Bengali tradition, American pressures results in the vanishing of those traditions. â€Å"Ashima’s grandmother has mailed the letter herself, walking with her cane to the post office, her first trip out of the house in a decade. The letter contains one name for a girl, one for a boy. Ashima’s grandmother has revealed them to no one.† (25) This quote indicates the importance of naming in Bengali tradition, particularly done by an elder in the family. The fact that the grandmother is leaving the house for the first time in ten years to personally see the letter off shows it is of great importance. However, when the letter does not arrive in time, his parents fail to name him according to Bengali tradition. â€Å"For they learn that in America, a baby cannot be released from the hospital without a birth certificate. And that a birth certificate needs a name.† (27) The Ganguli’s must abide to American laws even if it means abandoning essential Bengali traditions and we see young Gogol’s position on the spectrum of two cultures sway away from his â€Å"Indian-ness.† Perhaps this is Lahiri’s way of communicating to her audience that sacrifices must be made in order to establish a hybrid cultural identity. During the infancy stage of Gogol’s life another series of events instills his divergence from the Indian side of his identity spectrum. The Ganguli’s invite their Bengali friends over in celebration of Gogol’s first consumption of solid food. Gogol is also offered a number of items to represent what profession he will grow to attain. â€Å"Gogol frowns, and his lower lip trembles. Only then, forced at six months to confront his destiny, does he begin to cry.† (40) This quote demonstrates how Gogol’s refusal to participate in traditional Indian rituals, begins at an early age. He does not reach for any of the items symbolizing his rejection of Indian culture ultimately pushing him further towards American assimilation. Throughout adolescence and early adulthood Gogol’s movement along the spectrum continues away from the Indian side. During this stage in his life the movement is represented through the rejection of his name to mimic his rejection of his Bengali heritage. Despite the fact that the pet name given  to him at birth is in fact a Russian name, the concept of having a pet name and good name all together is the â€Å"Bengali way† and not typical for Americans. We see this in Gogol’s petition to his parents to change his name when he asks â€Å"Why do I have a pet name in the first place? I don’t get it†(Lahiri 99). His mother responds simply with â€Å"It’s our way, Gogol. It’s what Bengali’s do†(Lahiri 99). When Gogol is asked by his new college suitemate whether Gogol is his first name or last name, he gives a new answer that is of great significance. â€Å"Normally that question agitates him. But today he has a new answer. ‘Actually, that’s my middle name,’ Gogol says by way of explanation, sitting with them in the common room to their suite. ‘Nikhil is my first name. It got left out for some reason’†(Lahiri 103). We know this statement is false due to the fact that in a previous passage of the novel Gogol’s mother explains to his principle that he does not have a middle name at all, he has a good name and a pet name. In Judith Caesar’s article about Gogol’s namesake she says, â€Å"Although Nikhil is an Indian name, it enables him to try on a sophisticated identity he thinks he wants, sexy, cool, ‘normal’†(Caesar 110). I believe what Caesar is referring to as â€Å"normal† is in fact â€Å"more American†. Making the claim that Gogol is his middle name marks his attempt at appearing like a typical American kid with a first, middle, and last name. In essence he is rejecting his pet name to represent the rejection of his Indian heritage. Conversely the acceptance of this so-called â€Å"middle name† represents his acceptance of American culture continuing his movement away from the Indian side of the spectrum. It is not until the adulthood stage in Gogol’s life that he comes full circle and begins his movement in the other direction, back towards the Indian side of his hybrid cultural identity spectrum. The first way in which he does this is through the development of his relationship with Moushumi. Moushumi, being a childhood family friend also of Bengali heritage, first met Gogol as Gogol rather than Nikhil. It is â€Å"the first time he’s been out with a women who’s once known him by that other name†(Lahiri 193). The fact that Gogol goes through with meeting a girl who already knew his pet name, a Bengali custom, represents a step towards accepting his name and a willingness to begin his movement in the other direction towards his â€Å"Indian-ness.† Ironically the very thing they bond over is their identical  hybrid identity situation. â€Å"They talk about how they are both routinely assumed to be Greek, Egyptian, Mexican – even in this misrendering they are joined† (Lahiri 212). Neither Gogol nor Moushumi ever thought they would date another Bengali due to the fact that it is what their parents had continuously drilled into their heads as their wishes. They know that their blossoming relationship will please both their parents, and they each find some comfort in this surprising thought. The reason the two met up after not seeing each other since childhood was a result of a request by Gogol’s mother. She is the one who suggest he call Moushumi. Gogol proceeding with the call and arranging to meet Moushumi marks the start to his movement and reconnection to his Indian culture. The second way Gogol begins his journey of moving back towards the Indian side, is through his exploration and acceptance of what his pet name meant to his father. In the final chapter of the novel we see adult Gogol returning to his family home in which he goes into his old bedroom, discovering the book by author Nikolai Gogol that his father had given to him years ago. He opens the book to find what his father had written in it â€Å"For Gogol Ganguli†¦ the man who gave you his name, from the man who gave you your name†(Lahiri 288). It is only out of respect for his father that he takes the time to explore what the name meant to him. Had Gogol’s father not have passed away, he may have again snubbed the book and its significance to his father as he did when he first gifted it to him. This may be Lahiri’s way of conveying to readers that although it is too little to late in the aspect of reestablishing a relationship with his father, it is not yet too late to reconnect with his Bengali heritage. The moment Gogol begins to read â€Å"The Overcoat† marks just the beginning of his exploration and acceptance of his Bengali heritage and finding its role in the grand scheme of his double-sided identity spectrum. In conclusion we see different degrees of Indian and American culture present within Gogol representing his continuous changing position across his hybrid culture identity or â€Å"third space†. In the early stages of his life we see his divergence from â€Å"Indian-ness† through his parents failure to name him according to Bengali tradition, his own rejection of important  Bengali ceremonial traditions and the rejection of his pet name. Finally in adulthood he begins his journey in the other direction, his journey at exploring at reconnecting with this Indian roots marking the start of his movement back towards â€Å"Indian-ness.† This movement is achieved through his developing relationship with Moushumi, another Bengali-American character, as well as his acceptance to explore the meaning of his name given to him by his father. Works Cited Al-joulan, Nayef. â€Å"Diana Abu-Jaber’s Arabian Jazz: An Orphic Vision of Hybrid Cultural Identity.† Neophilologus 94.4 (2010): 637-52. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. Heinze, Ruediger. â€Å"A Diasporic Overcoat? Naming and Affection in Jhumpa Lahiri’s the Namesake.† Journal of Postcolonial Writing 43.2 (2007): 191-202. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. Caesar, Judith. â€Å"Gogol’s Namesake: Identity and Relationships in Jhumpa Lahiri’s the Namesake.† Atenea 27.1 (2007): 103-19. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.

Superstition in Huckleberry Finn

Superstition If you step on a crack, you will break your mamma back, keep cats away from babies because they suck the breath of the child, and cross my heart and hope to die, cut my throat if I tell a lie are examples of some superstitions that people believe in. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, superstition is a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim and Huck use and believe in many superstitions. There are many examples from the book that show this in the characters. Most of the superstitions are ridiculous, but some actually make a little sense. In the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, one of the main themes he uses in this book is superstition and two main characters that have attitudes that are different and similar towards superstition is Huck and Jim. Huck at the beginning of the story wasn’t superstitious at all. He thought Jim was crazy for being superstition. Huck weakly believes in superstition but later in the story his views changes. Huck killed a rattlesnake and placed it on the foot of Jim blanket, Jim see the dead rattlesnake with his mater and told Huck that this was bad luck. Huck later says â€Å"I made up mmind I wouldn't ever take a-holt of a snake-skin again with my hands, now that I see what had come of it†(pg53); this mean that he do not really know all the superstitious things because he placed the dead rattlesnake at the foot of Jim’s blanket, just joking around, and he found out what happens as the effect of the joke. During this time Huck become a firm believer in superstition. Huck helps his friend Tom use superstition to help Jim escape by telling Jim’s keeper, Nat, who believes witches are haunting him, that the only cure is to bake a witch pie and give it to Jim. In the witch pie there were things that were going to help Jim escape. Next Jim views about superstition are different than Huck. Unlike Huck, he is a very superstitious man and used it for almost everything in life. He also does not joke around with superstition, unlike Huck. Jim uses superstition to fill the things he didn’t learn or understood in life. Jim uses superstition for a sign for all things that happen in nature. One example of this is, â€Å"Some young birds come along, flying a yard or two at a time and lighting. Jim said it was a sign that it was going to rain†(pg45). Jim looks at the birds and can tell that it is going to rain. Since there were no weather devices in the eighteen hundreds, signs like these were used to predict the weather. Jim view superstition by his faith by thinking the hairball is a magic spirit. Superstition kind of motivates him to escape to freedom because he found out that he was going to be sold for a high price because he believes if your chest is hairy you are worth a lot of money; which encourages him to escape his owner, Ms. Watson. Although Huck and Jim have different views on superstition, they also have views that are the same. They both do things that would stop the superstition from bringing bad luck. For example during the rattlesnake episode, Jim tells Huck to chop off the snake's head, then skin the body of the snake and put it around his wrist, so he would not be cursed. They become irrational when anything remotely superstitious happens to them. They also think when something bad happens to them it is the effect of the superstitious act that they did. In conclusion, in Mark Twain's novel, â€Å"The Adventures Huckleberry Finn†, he uses superstition to show many points. Mark Twain uses superstition to show contrast between an organized, Christian religion and believing in and superstitions and one's own beliefs. As Huckleberry Finn and Jim are hurled back and forth between these two different faiths, the reader gets a keen idea of the beliefs and lifestyles people followed living in this story. He uses it to serves foreshadow the plot at several key junctions. For example, spilling salt leads to Pa returning for Huck. Overall, superstition is used in â€Å"The Adventures Huckleberry Finn† as a way to share Mark Twain's own opinion on religion and refined living with his readers and help them to understand the good and bad of both ways of living.