Balzacs Pessimistic View Of Nineteenth Century Society Essays

Balzac's Pessimistic View of Nineteenth Century Society Le Colonel Chabert exhibits the relationship between strong and weak characters. The degree of strength within a character reflects how well the character survives in society. In society, weak characters often have no identity, profession or rank. Stronger characters have power to succeed from inner confidence, motivation and ambition. Any drastic changes brought to the body or soul by the environment corrupts that person's strength thereby affecting their ability to function properly in society. This comparison of characters gives an understanding of Balzac's pessimistic view of nineteenth century society. A character's strength and energy in the novel determines their survival in society. Colonel Chabert has been known to be a courageous hero in the past, "... je commandais un r?giment de cavalerie ? Eylau. J'ai ?t? beaucoup dans le succ?es de la c?l?bre charge..." Once he returns to Paris after his injury, he loses his identity and becomes the " weak character " of society. This is a rapid decline down the "ladder of success" and Chabert tries desperately to climb back up to the top, where he had been before. At the beginning of the novel, there is a vision of a slow non-energetic man walking progressively up the stairs to lawyer Derville's study which contrasts the boisterous energy of the clerks. Chabert reaches Derville's study and is determined to find the lawyer to help him find justice for his infortunes, "... me suis-je d?termin? ? venir vous trouver. Je vous parlerai de mes malhers plus tard." Chabert demonstrates some energy left in him by his will to retrieve everything that he lost. This energy to gain back his power changes to furious and revengeful energy upon learning what his wife had done, "Les yeux de l'homme ?nergique brillaient rallum?s aux feux du d?sir et de la vengeance." After a period of time, Chabert loses hope and bids farewell forever. He gives up his identity to become an unknown person as he realizes that his strength of character is not enough to keep him alive in this society. He sees himself weakening when seeing his wife and her children as he does not have the heart to break up her family. He tells his wife, "Je ne r?clamerai jamais le nom que j'ai peut-?tre illustr?. Je ne suis plus qu'un pauvre diable nomm? Hyancinthe..." Hence, Chabert becomes a numbered person in an institution, "Je ne suis pas un homme, je suis le num?ro 164,..." Also, he becomes the weakest among everyone in the institution, " En ce moment, le colonel Chabert s'assit au milieu de ses hommes ? faces ?nergiques,... " In contrast, Madame Ferraud represents a woman who has strong innovative traits, starts at the bottom but gradually rises to the top after Chabert had gone. She becomes driven by her passion to enter the upper class and become "Une femme comme il faut". She uses her persuasive and aggressive qualities to satisfy her ambitions. Once at the top, she has the power to survive better than Chabert. At one point, Madame Ferraud is weakened when Derville confronts her for lying about the letter from Chabert. This shows that the characters do not remain in a consistent position and this determines whether or not a character is capable of surviving well or not. The personality and appearance of characters become transformed as a result of changes in the environment. For instance, Chabert appreciates the help he is receiving from Derville. He acknowledges Derville's kind words by saying humbly, "... Voil? le premier mot de politesse que j'entends depuis..." Chabert is surprised that the treatment from Derville surpasses the ten years of rejection by his wife, justice and society. His sufferings have caused him be more kind hearted and more considerate to others. He is willing to live without pleasure, to remain poor and mediocre. This is a startling contrast to his past where he had been an ambitious man. Chabert's strength is decreasing as "Ses souffrances physiques et morales lui avaient d?j? vici? le corps dans quelques-uns des organes les plus importantes." On the other hand, Madame Ferraud's rise to power results in a more persuasive, independent and high spirited woman. This is shown by, "Encore jeune et belle, Madame Ferraud joua le r?le d'une femme ? la mode, et v?cut dans l'atmosph?re de la cour. Riche par elle- m?me, riche par son mari,... elle en partageait la splendeur." In addition, Madame Ferraud "?tait enevelop?e dans un ?l?gant peignoir, les boucles de ses cheveaux... Elle ?tait fra?che et rieuse." Her

Chapter 2. of Ontological Argument essays

Chapter 2. of Ontological Argument essays First of all, to fully understand this perplexing argument, you must strongly believe the definition of God St. Anselm gives, which is as followed: God is something that which nothing greater can be conceived. Anselm's statement essentially means that it is not possible to think of being greater than God. Even if a person does not believe that God exists, as long as the person believes this definition of God, St. Anselm can prove the existence of God. The second idea you must believe, in order to fully understand the argument, is, it is greater to exist than not to exist. Next, St. Anselm describes two kinds of existence: existence in the mind, and existence in reality. Existence in reality is very easy to believe. If you can touch, see, smell, hear, or taste something, in reality it exists. Existence in the mind is harder to understand for some, because many people only believe what they see. St. Anselm gives a beautiful illustration of how he can prove that something can exist in the mind, and also in reality. He gives us the example of a painter, before the painter paints a picture, in his mind he has an understanding of what the painting will look like. After the painter has made the painting, the painter will believe it exists in his mind, for he had the vision of the painting before he performed it, and in reality, because now he can see the painting with his own eyes. Now, St .Anselm has proven two things: God is that which nothing greater can be conceived, and it is greater to exist than not exist. Given you already know that something can exist in the mind as well as in reality, you are now fully ready to understand St. Anselm's ontological argument. Which is as follows: God is by definition the greatest being possible. A being who fails to exist is less perfect than a being who exists. Therefore, God must exist, necessarily. If a being failed to exist, the being would be, that than whi ...

Management 2 (protective security) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Management 2 (protective security) - Essay Example Efficiency has been defined as measure of productivity or operational excellence concerned with operational margins improvement and cost minimization. Effectiveness on the other hand is associated with the business’s ability to identify and embrace opportunities of business via exchange relationships. As a result effectiveness is concerned with a company’s plan to develop a growth that is sustainable within its market (Stefanos, 2007). My organization has invested heavily and made tremendous efforts in balancing these two critical aspects of operations management all in an effort to increase the market share and maintain competitive advantage. The objectives of my organization are essentially to increase the market share and decrease the overall costs of running the organization. The target is to increase our market share from the current 15% to 20% within a period of two years. Another target is to introduce certain changes within the organization such that the overall costs would reduce by 5% within a period of one year. These changes include reducing field managers by 50% and employ more Close protection officers with advanced qualification. The organization had an objective of increasing its market share. The company embarked on a market wide research effort to identify client needs that were not being met. The organization realized that many business entities with huge capital bases required specialized protection service from the protective security firms. This service required CPO’s with a special kind of skill set which many security companies lacked. This created a need for the company to hire more CPO’s with the necessary skill set resulting in increased operational cost. After a thorough cost and benefits analysis, the company decided it would be more profitable to hire five specialized CPO’s to meet this need while at