Of Mice And Men - Review Essay Example for Free

Of Mice And Men Review Essay The novel Of Mice And Men is set in the early 1930s, in the American state of California. America at this time was suffering from the effects of the depression, which followed the Wall Street Crash. This had caused many businesses to go bankrupt. Also, in this period of time America had great problems on the agricultural side of its economy. Large areas of farmland had been lashed by hurricane winds, and this had caused much of the topsoil to been blown away, leaving vast areas of land unable to grow any kind of crops. Logically this meant that less workers were needed to tend the land, so many were laid off, and as mentioned earlier many businesses had gone bankrupt following the Wall Street Crash, the combined effect of these two events led to vast numbers of people being left jobless. This gave rise to a new group of society drifters; people who would travel from place to place doing manual labour, or working in the fields. This worked to the advantage of the business owners who managed to survive the crisis, (many of these were in California, a rich state which had not been hit as badly by the depression) because it meant that there were lots of workers for few jobs. Employers could make working conditions awful, knowing that if anyone complained they could fire them and there would be five people eager to fill the place. We do not know if John Steinbecks story is based on true characters or not, but we do know that he gives a very accurate depiction of what life was like at the time, as he himself was a drifter for a period of time. One thing that becomes evident during the story is that most of the characters suffer from loneliness. One of the ways in which they coped with the loneliness was by holding onto a belief in the American dream, the dream that every man can better himself through his own efforts, and live a long and happy life. The first two characters that we meet are George and Lennie, two drifters. George comes across as the leader of the two; his job is to keep Lennie out of trouble. He shows great patience in dealing with Lennie whose mental age is the equivalent of a small child. During the book we do see George lose his temper with Lennie because it appears that he is always messing things up for George. For example when they are on their way to the new ranch Lennie produces a dead mouse from his pocket and George gets angry, You crazy fool, You gonna give me that mouse or do I have to sock you? and Blubberin like a baby? Jesus Christ! A big guy like you. George claims he only keeps Lennie around because he made a promise to his Aunt Clara that he would. Even if this is true she is now dead, and so George has no real reason to keep looking after Lennie, especially as Lennie seems to mess up everything that goes right for George. However, George still puts up with Lennie and this, it would seem, is mainly to avoid the loneliness that is caused by all the travelling. While Lennie may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, he is still someone to converse with on long lonely walks. We learn from early on in the book that George and Lennie also share the American dream, they dream of one day having, a little house and a couple of acres an a cow and some pigs.This ambition highlights one big difference between George and Lennies grasp on reality, whilst George says he dreams of this, he must know deep down inside of him that they will never fulfil the dream. Lennie on the other hand is completely different he believes so deeply in the dream that at one point George actually threatens to not let Lennie tend the rabbits when they achieve their dream. The dream that these two share leads us to meet the next character that also suffers great loneliness. We first meet Candy when Lennie and George arrive at the ranch. He is the first person they meet. He is also the one who takes them to see the boss. Candy only has one arm and we find out later that he lost his arm in a machinery accident in the fields. However, the ranch still employs him and he was given compensation for his injury. Due to the loss of his arm he cannot work in the fields, instead he has to stay behind and sweep up. This causes him great loneliness because he has no one to talk to, his best friend is his dog, but tragically later in the story the other workers convince Candy to shoot him because he is old and useless. While the other workers can go into town at the end of the month, giving them the opportunity go out and have a good time, Candy cannot join them because he is too old to be out drinking until late in the night. His circumstances cause him to suffer from great loneliness, so it is not surprising that when he over hears Lennie and George talking about their dream, he tries to buy in to it. With the money that Candy got in compensation for his arm, it begins to look as though the dream may become a reality more quickly than George or Lennie imagined. The next character that we meet is Crooks the stable buck. He suffers from loneliness because he is black. This means he has to sleep in his own dorm and is not allowed to stay in the same dorm as the other workers. He is lonely purely because he is alone all the time and has no one to talk to. Crooks is also a cripple as a horse kicked him when he was working, leaving him with a crooked back, this prevents him from joining in many activities. He pretends, when Lennie goes into his dorm to be really angry, I aint wanted in the bunk-house, and you aint wanted in my room. But as time goes on he begins to warm to Lennie, Come on in and set a while, Long as you wont get out and leave me alone you might as well sit down. I think this is mainly because he was just glad to have someone to talk to, after being on his own for so long. Even after this though he could not resist getting revenge on the white folk, he teases Lennie asking him, Spose George dont come back no more. And he persists and begins to scare Lennie until finally Lennie gets so scared he decides to go and check if George was back yet. But Crooks quickly apologises at the thought of being left all alone again. A few minutes later Candy turns up and although Crooks acts as though he is resentful he still invites him in. The next character to appear at Crooks door is Curleys wife. She is the only woman on the ranch, and the guys refuse to talk to her because of Curley. He is very protective and jealous of her and will try and beat up anyone who he thinks might be making a move on her. When the guys in Crooks dorm seem to shut her out she begins to insult them, Standin here talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs- a nigger an a dum-dum and a lousy ol sheep. Showing a spiteful side to her character. She only married Curley to spite her mother in the first place. One night in a bar she met a man who claimed he could make her a great star actress. We are not told how the man took advantage of her. He said that he would send a letter to her, but she never received it and blamed her mother, accusing her of destroying the letter, then to spite her she ran off and married Curley. The story has a tragic ending, all the way through the story George had warned Lennie about getting to close to Curleys wife. But this turned out to be the downfall of their dream, which had seemed so much more likely since the addition of Candy to the plot. Lennie is in the barn when she appears and starts talking to him. They start sharing stories, and she asks him why he is so obsessed with rabbits. He tells her about his obsession with stroking nice things, and she allows him to stroke her hair. She starts to complain that he will, muss it up, but when she pulls away Lennies grip tightens and she begins to scream. He puts his hand over her mouth and begs her not to because George will get angry. Her body, flopped like a fish, Lennie had broken her neck. The first people to find the body were Candy and George. They new it had to be Lennie. It is at that point that the dream is thrown into real jeopardy. Candy recognising this, immediately tries to convince George that they can still achieve their hopes, You an me can get that little place, cant we, George? Cant we? But Candy already knew the answer. George knows that Lennie was such a big part of the dream, it could not continue without him, it would almost be disloyal. George knows that the other workers, especially Curley would not allow Lennie to live after this. George goes off to find the other workers. Candy is now alone with the body of Curleys wife in the barn, he blames her for destroying the dreams of three men, himself, George and Lennie. He actually begins to shout at her, You god damn tramp. spose youre glad. George follows the other workers into the barn. He acts as though it is the first time he has seen the body. The other workers assure him that they think he had nothing to do with it, and they set off in search of Lennie. The story ends with George and Carson, one of the ranch hands, standing over Lennie. George has the gun to the back off Lennies head. He and Lennie have been talking about the dream, before Lennie knows it George pulls the trigger and Lennie is dead. The last thing we see is George going to the highway with Carson, Curley and Slim. He and Slim walk away to get a drink, George knowing that its all over. The dreams that he and Candy have shared, and that have kept them going have been destroyed.

Regulating Dietary Supplements Essay -- Health, Nutrition

According to the 2002 Harris poll, seven out of ten adults in the United States take vitamins, minerals, herbs, or other supplements (Schardt 2). Due to media advertising, dietary supplements are becoming more popular. Companies compete to have the best supplements. It is said that forty percent of American adults take vitamin supplements and over the counter products, which total in several billion dollars (Farley 2). Although many of the supplements claim to be healthy and help lose weight, the dangers are endless. Dietary supplements can be illegally spiked and are not safe. Therefore, putting regulations on dietary supplements and their safety hazards is necessary. To begin, the Federal Food and Drug Administration does not have the power to regulate supplements like it does with drugs. Once a product is out on the market, the FDA has to prove that it is dangerous or has illegal additives before it can be removed. The FDA has targeted around seventy tainted weight loss products after learning that they had been mixed with undeclared stimulants, diuretics, and antidepressants (Trebilcock 2). The Federal Food, and Drug, Administration is responsible for ensuring that the manufacturers of foods provide safe ingredients and the correct amount of dosages for their products. In addition, the agency is also in charge of providing accurate labels without any misleading information (Farley 1). The DSHEA lets â€Å"natural† products be sold without any proof that the product is safe. "In 1994 Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which allowed supplements- broadly defined as vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, and other products that don’t contain approved pharmaceutical drugs and don’t claim to treat d... ...low. It is important to take precautions in all aspects. With all the unregulated dietary supplements being sold and recommended, our health insurance costs will continue to rise. If the product causes severe side effects, it should no longer be permitted to be sold in stores. The only way to touch the minds of many people is to inform them of the dangers of consuming dietary supplements. Disposing of all incorrect information in product labeling and ingredient lists is important. People need to recognize the faults that plague many advertisements. In addition businesses should promote safe products instead of the harmful ones that they advocate for. The United States Congress should consider regulating dietary supplements to maintain safety. If people are aware of the many lies companies present, then dietary supplements will be one less problem to worry about.

Employee Safety, Health and Welfare Essay

The Company has policies and programs to address our employees’ broad range of concerns which includes working conditions, skills training, career opportunities, health and safety, and work-life balance. We have training and development programs suited to our employees’ needs. We also organize programs that support the well-being of employees, allow them to participate in PLDT’s CSR activities and obtain their feedback on company concerns. In accordance with the PLDT Personnel Manual, the Company provides medical benefits for our employees, which extends to their qualified dependents, subject to certain terms and conditions, , as well as adequate insurance coverage. The Company has also issued a Manual of Safety Practices to fulfill its commitment of providing and maintaining a safe and healthful work environment that is in accordance with industrial standards and which complies with legislative requirements. Relevant data on Safety The Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) programs being implemented by the Company resulted to an accumulation of more than 14,400,000 safe man-hours in 2013 without lost time accidents. Relevant data on health and welfare The Company’s medical benefits include the full or partial cost of doctor consultation medical tests, medicine, hospital confinements and post-operative rehabilitation. Part of our preventive medical approach is to subject employees to Annual Physical and Dental Examination (88% compliance rate in 2013). Continuous medical education fora are being conducted monthly to address common health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardio-pulmonary disease (82 conducted in 2013). The Company ensures that work-life balance is achieved by promoting sports and recreation programs with 30 various events (basketball, bowling, family fun day, volleyball, etc.) that covered and engaged 80% of employees in 2013. Likewise, the Company aims to empower its employees by providing them livelihood workshops and seminars (candle making, food processing, etc.) to engage them in productive activities that are potential for family income augmentation.

Essay on separation of powers - 629 Words

In the United States government there are 3 branches of government, the power given to the central government is divided among these 3 branches. Each of these branches are given powers so that they can check the powers of the other 2 branches ensuring that one branch doesn’t become to powerful One of these branches is the legislative branch this is the branch that includes congress, they are responsible for making laws. The second branch of government is the executive branch this is the branch that includes the president, they are responsible for carrying out laws. The last branch of government is the judicial branch, this branch includes the Supreme Court they are responsible for making sure laws are constitutional. There many different†¦show more content†¦One other power that the legislative branch has is the power to override a veto with a 2/3 vote. This means that if the president decides to veto a law proposed by congress they have the power to override that vet o w/ a 2/3 vote. One way in which the legislative branch checks the powers of the judicial branch is if congress decides that a certain judge isn’t doing his job properly they have the power to remove them from their job. One other power that the legislative branch has over the judicial branch is they have the power to approve or reject the appointments of new judges, this means that if they do not want a certain judge to be appointed to the supreme court they have the power to deny him of his job. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The executive branch also has many powers over the other 2 branches. One power that the executive branch has over the legislative branch is, if congress decides to create a new law the president has the power to approve or veto this law if he doesn’t like it. The executive branch also has many powers over the judicial branch. One of these powers is the President has the power to appoint new judges if he feels that there is the need for a new member to the Supreme Court. One other power that the president’s branch has over the Supreme Court is the power to pardon someone. This means that the president has the power to excuse someone from their crime that they committed if the Supreme Court decided that that individual was guilty.Show MoreRelatedSeparation Of Powers Of Power924 Words   |  4 Pages2014 Separation of Powers Separation of Powers is a system in which power is divided between three branches of government. These branches consist of Legislative (Congress), Executive (President), and Judiciary (Supreme Court). Each one of the branches is given a duty to fulfill. If one branch doesn’t fulfill its duties, the other branches can force that branch to fulfill it. There is another system that helps these branches of government to check on each other and limit each other’s powers. 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