Why Is Recycling Important?

Why Is Recycling Important? Recycling is a process where waste or used products are reproduced into new products. A product which has served its own purpose will be discarded, and recycling is an effort to extend the usage life of a product, thus bringing a lot of benefits to humanity and the mother earth. Most items around us are recyclable, although there are specific techniques used to recycle different material, including metal, plastic and paper. The entire process of recycling involves 3 basic steps. The used material has to be collected, and then sorted according to its material. The second step involves producing usable goods from the sorted items. After the goods were produced, the last step requires selling of the reproduced goods to the general mass, consumers or a specific market. As the reproduced goods are sold and reused, the entire process of recycling is complete and will make way for another cycle to come. Why is recycling important? Recycling helps preserve the environment in addition to providing more usable objects to people without the need for extra resources. Its importance can be seen in multiple ways. Below are the reasons in which recycling can be beneficial: Recycling Saves the Earth Recycling a material can help preserve the environment. For example, recycling the paper can result in paper production without additional tree falling. By recycling more paper and selling it to consumer, more papers can be used without further damaging the forest than its current rate of tree falling. Recycling Saves Energy Recycling a material takes less energy than to produce an item from virgin materials. For example, an aluminum product uses both the aluminum and the huge amount of energy to produce it from raw ore. Thus by recycling an item made of aluminum, we can reuse the metal again and also save on the huge energy which helps preserve the environment. Recycling Helps Mitigate Global Warming and Reduce Pollution One of the biggest benefits of recycling is saving energy. Energy saving results in less emission of carbon or greenhouse gases which are a by-product created by energy production, which are detrimental and harmful to the environment if released to the atmosphere. Recycling Reduces Waste Products in Landfills Waste which are not recycled usually ends up in the landfill. It is here that the waste are left to rot or decomposed, and this may take many years of even generations to fully decompose. More and more waste are being sent to the landfills, and if recycling does not take place, the landfill may be right behind our homes in the future. Recycling Helps you Save Money Recycled products usually cost less. Using existing material and a lot less energy, recycled product can be sold for a fraction of the same item created using virgin materials. Apart from that, selling waste for recycling purposes converts garbage into useful cash. Recycling can also be done at home, and taught to the children as a good habit to be nurtured. Biodegradable waste can be used as fertilizer for plants. Creativity goes a long way in saving money and saving the planet Earth. Recycling becomes increasingly important in a world where the population is booming. More and more products are being churned out to consumers. If these products are not recycled at the end of the product life, it will take generations to break down or decompose. Applications of Recycled Materials Application of Recycled Glass Man has found ways to recycle glass. This in fact, is highly recommended and beneficial to the manufacturing line as it is easier to produce and cost less. Crushed glass known as cullets, melts easier and faster and cost less than the raw materials used to produce glass. This practice is endorsed by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a better and greener way to produce glass. Common Non-container Uses According to Glass Packaging Institute, recycled glasses are best to be used for its initial purpose before it was being sent for recycled. For example, glass bottles are best recycled to be made into glass bottles, and those which does not qualify in the container manufacturing standards can be channeled to other usages such as fiberglass. (See References 2) Aggregate Materials Realize it or not, were driving over glass every day in our lives. Parking lots and concrete pavement has grounded glass composition. Grounded glass as an effective base material enhances the performance of the gravel in the mix, and sometimes is independent of other materials when used as a base. Glass-phalt is a material applied to making roads, including airport runways and highways, making the surface to have higher friction coefficient, less slippery and less likely to crack. Glass-phalt is made of recycled glass. Recycled glass is also used to make glass beads, which in turn is used to make reflective paint on the road. Abrasive Media According to the Clean Washington Center, the usage of recycled glass as abrasive media is known as base load market. It is verified that recycled glass has equal or better quality than traditionally used abrasive media, such as aluminum oxide or walnut shell. This makes recycled glass highly competent in the surface preparation of manufacturing equipment components and even ships. Furthermore, less recycled glass is required to produce the same job when compared with usage of traditional mineral. Moreover, glass has the advantage of being non-detrimental to health with no silica exposure dust. Landscaping Green-scaping is a term used for landscape products which are manufactured using recycled glass. Glass does not absorb moisture unlike its wooden counterpart, thus improving water delivery. It also comes in various colors to choose from. Manufacturers use crushed porcelain in concrete slab in addition to the recycled glass to decorate pathways and patios Application of Recycled Paper Placing the paper in the recycle bin helps re-create paper from existing resources. This diverts the waste meant for landfills into usable products which uses less energy, water and material to produce. How Much Paper is Recycled? How much paper is actually recycled? Research shows that the amount of paper being recycled has reached record levels. According to the Paper Industry Association Council, In 2008, 57.4 percent of the paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling. This impressive figure equals 340 pounds for each man, woman and child in America. Limits on Paper Recycling Papers are limited by the fiber it contains. As paper is recycled each time, it breaks down into pulp. This can be done for a maximum six or seven times. The fiber then will be shortened each time until it is not usable. Office Grade Paper Office grade papers are the highest quality papers in the cycle of recycling. Its quality and firmness plus its sturdy fibers, this type of paper are often recycled back into its initial grade. However, bleaching is required to reproduce its whiteness. Newsprint Papers used for newsprint are often low quality paper, therefore it cannot be recycled into better quality paper. As paper cannot be upgraded through recycling, the paper used for newsprint are often recycled back into its initial usage or lesser grade Cardboard Cardboard, whether corrugated or pressboard, is made of the lowest quality paper. If its ever recycled, it can be used for packaging. Producing boxes or cartons is ideal, as the color or brightness dulls overtime as it is recycled, and packaging boxes like cartons rarely considers color as an important factor. Tissue Tissue can be a form of recycled product. Since strength of paper is not an issue, unusable fibers are usually used for producing tissue. Other Uses for Recycled Paper There are many other products that are produced using recycled paper: coffee filters, diapers, egg cartons, shoe boxes, napkins or insulation. Application of recycled Plastic Recycled plastic can be used in many applications and products, such as packaging, construction or automobile components. Packaging Recycled PET or HDPE is primarily used in packaging by retailers. Household names such as Coca Cola, The Body Shop or MS commonly use recycled plastic in some of their products. Use of recycled plastic helps demonstrate a brand image towards commitment to sustainable resource use. Construction Recycled plastic is used a lot in construction materials, such as drainage pipes, ducting or flooring. It is innovated into scaffolding boards or kerbstones, where its durability and weight has superior benefit to Health and Safety purposes. Landscaping Landscaping uses recycled plastics to be made into walkways, jetties, pontoons, bridges, fences and signs. Durability, low maintenance, vandal resistance, and its resistance to rot are all key reasons for plastic being used. Textile fiber / clothing Polyester fleece clothing and polyester filling for duvets is frequently made from recycled PET bottles (e. g. soft drink and water bottles). Polyester fiber is the biggest single market for recycled PET bottles worldwide. Street furniture Street furniture, seating, bins, street signs and planters are frequently made from plastic. They are cost competitive and resistant to vandalism. Local authorities and schools are able to demonstrate recycling in action by specifying recycled products. Bin liners/ refuse sacks Plastic film from sources such as pallet wrap, carrier bags, and agricultural film are made into new film products such as bin liners, carrier bags and refuse sacks on a large scale. Application of Recycled Metal The functions of metals like steel, copper, and aluminum was revealed thousands of years ago. Their properties and characteristics of strong, durable, malleable and high conductivity are highly important in a wide range of products today. However, metals are resources of the Earth which has finite quantity and not replenish-able. Metal deposits are non-renewable resources that will run out if it is continued to be mined at the current rate. Therefore, it is highly important to recycle metals. Metals can be recycled without losing any their key properties. Inefficient recovery of metals from industrial and consumer waste increases the pressure on the non-renewable resources of the Earth from which they are extracted. Discarding metal is bad for the environment due to the release of metallic particles in the ecosystem. Recycling and metal recovery from the waste stream is essential in preserving valuable resources and the environment. Recycling metals are effective because they can be recycled for infinite times, making them extremely friendly to the environment. Metals differ from polymer plastics in a way that the characteristics are maintained regardless of the physical or chemical form, although it might be costly. Aluminum The extraction of aluminum from its ore requires huge amount of energy. To extract aluminum from alumina is a complex process. Recycling aluminum only takes about 5% of the energy used compared to producing it via mining, and thus only releases 5% of the CO2 emission. This in addition decreases the amount of waste being transported to the landfill. A recycled aluminum can save enough energy to run a television set for 3 hours. For example, recycling 1kg of aluminum saves up to 6kg of bauxite, 4kg of chemical products and 14 kWh of electricity. Steel Iron is extracted from iron ore which is common and highly abundant. Usually found in a combined form with oxygen or other elements like sulphur or carbon. Huge amounts of energy required to extract the iron from the ore. Over 11 million tons of iron and steel scrap are produced every year. From this amount 70% are recovered. Of the remaining quantity, 60% is sent to the landfill. Every ton of steel recycled can save 1.5 tons of iron ore, 0.5 tons of coal, 40% of the water used in production, 75% of the energy required to extract steel from the raw material, 1.28 tons of solid waste, decrease in air pollution emission of up to 86%, and reduction of water pollution release by 76 %. Recycling Metals / Other Metals to Look Out For Copper, nickel, brass, lead, gold, silver, etc. can all be recycled. Since these metals are all quite valuable only a smaller quantity is in circulation. The recovery of these metals is sometimes ignored especially when they are used in households and these items are disposed of by the householders. Application of Recycled Oil Did you know? That used, second-hand oil can be further re-refined into base stock for lubricating oil? And also, if you recycle just 2 gallons of used oil, it is sufficient to generate electricity to run the average household for almost 24 hours. Cars, like many transportation vehicles, are an essential part of life for many of us. What is done with the used oil, whether to dispose of it or to recycle it plays a significant role in balancing our desire for convenient transportation with our hope for a clean and healthy environment for our children? We are all familiar with recycling newspapers, aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles, but many of us are not even aware of the efforts carried out by giant petroleum industry to promote used motor oil for recycling, for example, providing convenient collection sites for the purpose of keeping used motor oil out of our water supplies and making sure that the oil goes back into the recycling cycle. Oddly enough, even after it has been drained from an engine, motor oil retains some of its value. The oil collected can be recycled to save energy. Many institutions, schools or plants process the used oil for electricity generation. Some plants even process it to be used for engine oil again. As consumer, we can send our used oils for recycling by taking it to the collection center. If our cars are taken to the car service center, we can be fairly certain that the oil will be recycled after they change. Additionally, we can make a difference by recycling the oil from our car, truck, motorcycle, boat, recreational vehicle or lawnmower. By dropping off our used motor oil today we help prevent pollution and conserve energy for a safer and healthier tomorrow Recycling used motor oil keeps oil out of landfills and ensures that this oil is available for re-use, reconditioning, reprocessing or re-refining. In fact, the best oil for the sake of environment is the longer lasting oil, making sure that less oil is generated. As much as over 380 million gallons of used oil is recycled every single year according to the U.S. EPA, which is equivalent to over 50 percent of all motor oil purchased annually. Currently, used motor oil can be re-used or recycled in one of the three known ways reconditioning, reprocessing or re-refining. Re-refining With modern and sophisticated method, refining can be done with accurate feed and stringent quality control. Used motor oil can be processed to remove any impurities so it can be reused as a base stock for the new lubricating oil. This effectively extends the lifespan of the oil, making it reusable for many times without sending it to the landfill. At the present, less than 15% of used motor oil is refined and the consumer demand for refined used motor oil is low, making it hard to sustain for business. It is important to note that the purchased refined used motor oil comply with the oil specifications as set by the vehicle manufacturer. Reconditioning In some industries, oil is filtered or clean in commercial scale machine. Although it may not convert the oil back to its prime quality, it can remove impurities and key additives can be added to extend its life and functions. Re-Use and Reprocessing Both motor oil and fuels are petroleum product. As lubricant, when the oil has ceased functioning, it can be reused to be burned as fuel without the need for further treatment. Water and certain particles may need to be removed earlier before the oil can be burn for electricity generation. 74% of all oil recycled in the United States of America is for the purpose of fuel combustion in turbines, incinerators, power plants, cement kilns and manufacturing facilities. An additional 11% of used motor oil is burned in specifically designed industrial space heaters. This creates a valuable form of energy, which helps our economy by avoiding the need to refine new commercial heating oil from imported crude oil. Conclusion

Affect of Unemployment in Economy Essay

Unemployment (or joblessness) occurs when people are without work and actively seeking work. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labor force. During periods of recession, an economy usually experiences a relatively high unemployment rate.[2] According to International Labour Organization report, more than 197 million people globally are out of work or 6% of the world’s workforce were without a job in 2012. There remains considerable theoretical debate regarding the causes, consequences and solutions for unemployment. Classical economics, New classical economics, and the Austrian School of economics argue that market mechanisms are reliable means of resolving unemployment. These theories argue against interventions imposed on the labor market from the outside, such as unionization, bureaucratic work rules, minimum wage laws, taxes, and other regulations that they claim discourage the hiring of workers. How does unemployment affect the economy? Some of the well-known effects of unemployment on the economy are: Unemployment financial costs The government and the nation suffer. In many countries the government has to pay the unemployed some benefits. The greater the number of the unemployed or the longer they are without work the more money the government has to shell out. Therefore, the nation not only has to deal with the lost income and decreased production but also with additional cost. Spending power The spending power of an unemployed person and his/her family decreases drastically and they would rather save than spend their money, which in turn affects the economy adversely. Reduced spending power of the employed Increased taxes and the insecurity about their own work may affect the spending power of the working people as well and they too may start to spend less than before thus affecting the economy and also the society in a negative manner. Recession With the increase rates of unemployment other economy factors are significantly affected, such as: the income per person, health costs, quality of health-care, standard of leaving and poverty. All these affect not just the economy but the entire systems and the society in general. Here are some aspects of the impact of unemployment on our society: The effect of unemployment on our society Unemployment affects not just the person himself but also his/her family and in the long run the society where he lives. Unemployment brings with it despair, unhappiness and anguish. It forces people to live their lives in a way they do not wish to – The life expectancy is negatively affected. Life expectancy is the ease by which people living in a time/place are able to satisfy their needs/wants. Here are the main aspects: 1. Mental health: Mental health problems like: Law self-confidence, feeling unworthy, depression and hopelessness. With the lost income and the frustration involved in it, the recently unemployed may develop negative attitudes toward common things in life and may feel that all sense of purpose is lost. Frequent emotions could be – low self-esteem, inadequateness and feeling dejected and hopeless. 2. Health diseases: The unemployment overall tension can increase dramatically general health issues of individuals. 3. Tension at home: Quarrels and arguments at home front which may lead to tension and increased numbers of divorces etc. 4. Political issues: Loss of trust in administration and the government which may lead to political instability 5. Tension over taxes rise: Unemployment also brings up discontent and frustration amongst the tax paying citizens. In order to meet the demands of the unemployment fund the government many a times may have to increase the taxes thus giving way to restlessness amongst the tax paying citizens. 6. Insecurity amongst employees: The prevailing unemployment and the plight of the unemployed people and their families may create fear and insecurity even in the currently employed people. 7. Crime and violence: Increase in the rate of crime. 8. Suicide cases: Increase in the rate of suicide attempts and actual suicides as well. 9. Social outing: Unemployment may bring a decrease in social outings and interactions with other people, including friends. 10. Stigma: Unemployment brings with more than just ‘no work’. It also brings with it the disgrace that the person has to bear. Nobody likes to be termed as unemployed. 11. Standard of leaving: In times of unemployment the competition for jobs and the negotiation power of the individual decreases and thus also the living standard of people with the salaries packages and income reduced. 12. Employment gaps: To further complicate the situation the longer the individual is out of job the more difficult it becomes to find one. Employers find employment gasps as a negative aspect. No one wants to hire a person who has been out of work for some time even when there’s no fault of the individual per say. 13. Lose of skills’ usage: The unemployed is not able to put his/her skills to use. And in a situation where it goes on for too long the person may have to lose some of his/her skills Benefits The primary benefit of unemployment is that people are available for hire, without being headhunted away from their existing employers. This permits new and old businesses to take on staff. Unemployment is argued[citation needed] to be â€Å"beneficial† to the people who are not unemployed in the sense that it averts inflation, which itself has damaging effects, by providing (in Marxian terms) a reserve army of labour, that keeps wages in check. However the direct connection between full local employment and local inflation has been disputed by some due to the recent increase in international trade that supplies low-priced goods even while local employment rates rise to full employment. Full employment cannot be achieved because workers would shirk if they were not threatened with the possibility of unemployment. The curve for the no-shirking condition (labeled NSC) goes to infinity at full employment as a result. The inflation-fighting benefits to the entire economy arising from a presumed optimum level of unemployment has been studied extensively. The Shapiro-Stiglitz model suggests that wages are not bid down sufficiently to ever reach 0% unemployment. This occurs because employers know that when wages decrease, workers will shirk and expend less effort. Employers avoid shirking by preventing wages from decreasing so low that workers give up and become unproductive. These higher wages perpetuate unemployment while the threat of unemployment reduces shirking. Before current levels of world trade were developed, unemployment was demonstrated to reduce inflation, following the Phillips curve, or to decelerate inflation, following the NAIRU/natural rate of unemployment theory, since it is relatively easy to seek a new job without losing one’s current one. And when more jobs are available for fewer workers (lower unemployment), it may allow workers to find the jobs that better fit their tastes, talents, and needs. As in the Marxian theory of unemployment, special interests may also benefit: some employers may expect that employees with no fear of losing their jobs will not work as hard, or will demand increased wages and benefit. According to this theory, unemployment may promote general labour productivity and profitability by increasing employers’ rationale for their monopsony-like power (and profits). Optimal unemployment has also been defended as an environmental tool to brake the constantly accelerated growth of the GDP to maintain levels sustainable in the context of resource constraints and environmental impacts. However the tool of denying jobs to willing workers seems a blunt instrument for conserving resources and the environment — it reduces the consumption of the unemployed across the board, and only in the short term. Full employment of the unemployed workforce, all focused toward the goal of developing more environmentally efficient methods for production and consumption might provide a more significant and lasting cumulative environmental benefit and reduced resource consumption . If so the future economy and workforce would benefit from the resultant structural increases in the sustainable level of GDP growth. Some critics of the â€Å"culture of work† such as anarchist Bob Black see employment as overemphasized culturally in modern countries. Such critics often propose quitting jobs when possible, working less, reassessing the cost of living to this end, creation of jobs which are â€Å"fun† as opposed to â€Å"work,† and creating cultural norms where work is seen as unhealthy.

Heart of Darkness Active Reading Guide

Conrad1. * Fifteen days after leaving the outer station Marlow â€Å"hobble[s] into the Central Station†, which was being run by â€Å"the flabby devil†, referring to the greed of the Europeans. There he finds out that his ship had been sunk when they tried to take off before he got there. He also meets the manager of the Central Station who is only employed because he never gets sick, and the brick maker who doesn’t actually make any bricks. He overhears a conversation between the manager and his uncle, who is leading the â€Å"Eldorado Exploring Expedition† that passes through the station.They are talking about Mr. Kurtz. This all occurs two months before they reach Kurtz’s station. * Marlow then takes off in his newly repaired boat (Conrad 21). Fifty miles before Marlow reaches the Inner Station where Kurtz is, he comes across a hut on the side of the river. They approach and see a sign on a pile of wood that says â€Å"Wood for you. Hurry Up. A pproach Cautiously†. Then inside a hut, Marlow finds a book entitled An Inquiry into some Points of Seamanship inside of which are notes written in what Marlow says â€Å"looked like cipher† (38). Eight miles before Marlow and his crew reach Kurtz they get stuck in a heavy fog, and are unable to move for quite a bit of time. Then once the fog lifts they are able to proceed, but find themselves stuck once again one and a half miles before reaching Kurtz. Here they are attacked by the natives. They blow the whistle on the boat and the natives are scared away (47). * Finally, Marlow reaches the Inner Station. The first person that he meets is the Russian/Harlequin, who idolizes Kurtz. He then meets Kurtz who is taken aboard the steam boat. Kurtz dies aboard the steamboat, and Marlow returns to Europe. In Brussells, Marlow goes to visit Kurtz’s intended. She is distraught over Kurtz’s death, so Marlow lies to her about the reality of what really happened, sayi ng Kurtz was a good and honorable man (75-79). 2. * While Marlow is in the Central Station, page 23, he is required to repair his ship which had sunk before he reached the Station. Marlow says: I went to work the next day, turning, so to speak, my back on that station. In that way only could I keep my hold on the redeeming facts of life. Still, one must look about sometimes; and then I saw this station, these men strolling aimlessly about in the sunshine of the yard.In this passage, when Marlow states he is turning his â€Å"back on [the] station† he is referring to the lack of work that goes on at the Central Station, and how his hard work repairing his steam boat looks in contrast. When he says that work allows him to â€Å"keep [his] hold on the redeeming facts of life† it lets the reader know that he values work, and thinks it encourages people to become better. * Still at the Central Station, Marlow makes another comment on the work ethic of the Europeans who are at the station saying that their pretending to work was as unreal as everything else—as the philanthropic pretence of the whole concern, as their talk, as their government, as their show of work†¦They intrigued and slandered and hated each other only on that account—but as to effectually lifting a little finger—oh no† (25). His sarcastic tone toward the end of the excerpt, shows that he views their refusal to work as silly and ridiculous. The way he can so easily see through their pretence also shows how little effort they put into everything in the Congo, because they are driven by greed, and greed alone. When Marlow comes across the book in the hut on the side of the river he exclaims that it was â€Å"not a very enthralling book; but at the first glance you could see there a singleness of intention, an honest concern for the right way of going to work, which made these humble pages, thought out so many years ago, luminous with another than a profe ssional light† (39). The fact that Marlow is so impressed by the book because it appreciates hard, honest work, shows what an anomaly this outlook is down in the Congo. Marlow appreciates the book so much because the book lines up with his same views on work. On page 18, when Marlow is talking to the Chief Accountant, the Accountant mentions how he is able to keep such clean clothes saying I’ve been teaching one of the native women about the station. It was difficult. She had a distaste for the work. This is more representative of the European’s view of work than of Marlow’s. The Europeans believe that work is something for slaves and people who aren’t as privileged as they are. Overall, Marlow believes that work is highly beneficial to a person. When someone works, they are kept sane, and are kept honest.Not only are they more sensible, and productive, it makes one a better person in the long run, unlike the ridiculous Europeans overcome by greed a nd laziness. 3. * One reference to futility in the novel occurs after a fire starts in the Central Station. The people in the camp are rushing to put it out, and as one of them ran past Marlow he notices â€Å"there was a hole in the bottom of his pail† (24). This shows how ineffective much of what the Europeans were doing, as a pail with a hole is not able to transport nearly as much water as an intact bucket.This also shows how ignorant the Europeans are about matters in the Congo as the man holding the bucket is not aware of the hole in it, even though that detail is so vital to his plight. * When Marlow needs to fix his ship, he only needs one material to fix it, which would be rivets. However, there are none to be found at the Central Station. Marlow says that at the Outer station, â€Å"You could fill your pockets with rivets for the trouble of stooping down†, but â€Å"there wasn’t one rivet to be found where it was wanted†.This example shows yet a gain the ignorance of the Europeans. They have an ample amount of something that is quite unnecessary in one place, but are blind to the needs of those in other places. Just like they have an ample amount of people digging for ivory in the Congo, but they pay no attention to the needs of the natives. * Only 8 miles from the inner station, Marlow and his ship get trapped in the fog. Marlow has a conversation with his manager: â€Å"[The manager] muttered something about going on at once, I did not even take the trouble to answer him.I knew, and he knew, that it was impossible†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢I authorise you to take all the risks,’ he said, after a short silence. ‘I refuse to take any,’ I said shortly; which was just the answer he expected† (43). This conversation is an excellent example of futility, because the conversation is merely for show. There was no actual reason for the conversation to take place, because the conclusion had already been arrived at. Th is is similar to when Marlow sees the men blowing up parts of the cliff to build a train track, even though the cliff was not in the way (16). 4.When Marlow first comes to the Inner Station he describes it by saying, â€Å"Through my glasses I saw the slope of a hill interspersed with rare trees and perfectly free from undergrowth. A long decaying building on the summit was half buried in the high grass; the large holes in the peaked roof gaped black from afar; the jungle and the woods made a background. There was no enclosure or fence of any kind; but there had been one apparently, for near the house half a dozen slim posts remained in a row, roughly trimmed, and with their upper ends ornamented with round carved balls.The rails, or whatever there had been between, had disappeared. Of course the forest surrounded all that. The river-bank was clear, and on the water side I saw a white man under a hat like a cart-wheel beckoning persistently with his whole arm. Examining the edge of the forest above and below, I was almost certain I could see movements—human forms gliding here and there. I steamed past prudently, then stopped the engines and let her drift down. The man on the shore began to shout, urging us to land. ‘We have been attacked,’ screamed the manager. ‘I know—I know. It’s all right. yelled back the other, as cheerful as you please. ‘Come along. It’s all right. I am glad. ’ His aspect reminded me of something I had seen—something funny I had seen somewhere. As I maneuvered to get alongside, I was asking myself, ‘What does this fellow look like? ’ Suddenly I got it. He looked like a harlequin† (53). And then later states, â€Å"You remember I told you I had been struck at the distance by certain attempts at ornamentation, rather remarkable in the ruinous aspect of the place. Now I had suddenly a nearer view, and its first result was to make me throw my head back as if before a blow.Then I went carefully from post to post with my glass, and I saw my mistake†¦I had expected to see a knob of wood there, you know. I returned deliberately to the fist I had seen—and there it was, black, dried, sunken, with closed eyelids—a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole, and with the shrunken dry lips showing a narrow white line of teeth, was smiling too, smiling continuously at some endless and jocose dream of that eternal slumber† (58). This passage shows excellent impressionistic style, because of the unreliability of the narrator.The scene is described exactly as it first appeared to Marlow. He first sees the heads on the poles, and thinks that they are knobs of wood so instead of saying, â€Å"I saw something on the poles that I later found out were human heads†, Conrad allows the reader to believe that they are indeed, only knobs of wood, for as long as Marlow believes that they are knobs of wood. It is also s hown in the slightly erratic narration, which doesn’t follow an exact order, but instead jumps around wherever Marlow’s mind happens to be at that exact moment in time.Another clue, would be Conrad’s use of commas. Impressionist writers tend to use a wide variety of commas, which some believe are also symbolic of the short brush strokes of impressionistic painters. 5. Kurtz shows interest in two very different women in the novel. The first we are introduced to is his native lover. she is described as being â€Å"savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent; there was something ominous and stately in her† (62). This woman is powerful and wearing â€Å"the value of several elephant tusks upon her†.She shows her emotions openly, but does not allow weakness to show through. Kurtz’s intended on the other hand is described as having â€Å"a mature capacity for fidelity, for belief for suffering†¦This fair hair, this pale visage, this pure br ow, seemed surrounded by an ashy halo from which the dark eyes looked out at me† (76). The intended is more meek, and full of suffering. She claims that she is the only one who understood Kurtz, and Marlow feels the need to protect her from the truth.With the native lover, one of the men onboard says that he would have shot her if she had intended to board the boat. One of the women inspires fear, while the other inspires pity. But they are both very similar in their fierce loyalty to the man they love, Mr. Kurtz. 6. * The first motif that I noticed was that of the â€Å"savages†. They are often referred to by names which are not usually used to describe a human, because they were not thought to be human the way the Europeans were thought of as human.The first example that I found was on page 6 when Marlow is describing what his occupation includes, â€Å"Sandbanks, marshes, forests, savages—precious little to eat fit for a civilized man†, which implies th at he believes that food that the natives find acceptable, wouldn’t be good enough for him, because he is better than the natives. The second example was on page sixteen when Marlow describes the faces of the chain gang that walks past him saying, â€Å"They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages. This shows the way they group all of the â€Å"savages† into one conglomerate mass, saying there is no difference between one of them, and the next. The third example was one page eighteen. Marlow walks through a group of dying natives, and picks out one in particular. â€Å"While I stood, horror-struck, one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees and went on all-fours towards the river to drink†. This sentence doesn’t refer to the native as something resembling a human. The words â€Å"creatures†, â€Å"hands and knees† and â€Å"all-fours† are phrases that are on ly used to describe animals, which reflects on the European opinion of African natives.The fourth example was a comment made by the Chief Accountant when he has a sick native recuperating inside his â€Å"office†. â€Å"When one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate those savages—hate them to the death†. This comment puts his work, and his accounting, over the well being of human beings. Meaning he values the lives of the natives less than he values his work. The last example was on page 24 when Marlow talks of viewing the man who was beaten, when a fire starts in the Central Station.He says, â€Å"A nigger was being beaten nearby. They said he had caused the fire in some way; be that as it may, he was screeching most horribly. I saw him, later, for several days, sitting in a bit of shade looking very sick and trying to recover himself: afterwards he arose and went out—and the wilderness without a sound took him into its bosom again†. This shows the treatment of the â€Å"savages†. The fire obviously started for absolutely no reason, but still they insist on blaming the fire on the native, rather than on one of their own. The second motif that I chose, was that of the jungle. The jungle is obviously a main part of the story, because most of the land around the Congo River is jungle. The first instance that I found was on page six of the novel Marlow says â€Å"all that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men. † The jungle is often referred to as wilderness, which is a good example of what it represents. The jungle is the wild aspects of the world, and the uncivilized parts of the earth. he second example was on page 23. Marlow speaks of the difference between the station and the surrounding area, â€Å"And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion. † This quote is interesting, because Marlow speaks of the Europeans in the Congo as an â€Å"invasion†. Meaning, the forest is a separate entity, and is not just there for the Europeans to take as they please.The third example is on page 24, when Marlow is talking about the native that was beat for the fire he says â€Å"the wilderness without a sound took him into its bosom again†. This shows that the wilderness is only cruel to those that aren’t used to it, meaning the Europeans. it is a kind home to the natives just as Europe is a kind home to the Europeans. The fourth example was page 27 where Marlow says, â€Å"Could we handle that dumb thing, or would it handle us? I felt how big, how confoundedly big, was that thing that couldn’t talk and perhaps was deaf as well†.Marlow usually describes the forest as being silent, which is usually associated with a sense of for eboding. This shows the unknown threats and dangers that can be found in the jungle. The last example was on page 33 where Marlow describes the silence again saying â€Å"The high stillness confronted these two figures with its ominous patience, waiting for the passing away of a fantastic invasion†. * The third motif that I chose was the river. This is the most integral part of the story, because it is the primary mode of transportation.On page five he asks, â€Å"What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unkown earth! † The river is a connection between civilization and wilderness, ancient times, and modern. The second example is on page 14 where he says, â€Å"Nature herself had tried to ward off intruders; in and out of rivers, streams of death in life, whose banks were rotting into mud, whose waters, thickened into slime, invaded the contorted mangroves, that seemed to writhe at us in the extremity of an impotent despair† . Here he is describing the rivers as the embodiment of the suffering the Europeans are causing.The third example is spoken by the unknown narrator who describes listening to Marlow, â€Å"I listened on the watch for the sentence, for the word, that would give me the clue to the faint uneasiness inspired by this narrative that seemed to shape itself without human lips in the heavy night-air of the river†. Here he uses personification, by saying that the river itself was actually the one telling Marlow’s story. The fourth example is on page 34 when he says â€Å"Going up that river was like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth, and the big trees were kings. This again shows the connecting power of the river from ancient times to modern. The last example was on page 35 where Marlow says, â€Å"The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return†. He views the river as a one way path into â€Å"the heart of darkness†. 7. * The first example of assumptions made in the book would be Marlow’s interaction with his Aunt. Because his Aunt has only heard what the companies are telling the world, she believes that the sole purpose of expeditions to Africa is to civilize the â€Å"brutes† who live there.This is, in her mind, a worth while undertaking, so she praises Marlow for his decision. However, if she had actually understood that the reason that the Europeans were in the Congo was to destroy the country in their search for ivory, and mistreat the natives, then her reaction, may not have been as kind. * The second example would be the first interactions between Marlow and the brick maker in the Central Station. Because the brick maker believes that Marlow has connections with officials who are high up in the company, the brick maker is extremely nice to Marlow and immediately attempts to be friend him.He only does this, because he assumed that being friends with Marlow would allow him to get a boost in his standing with the company. * The third example would be the interaction between Marlow and Kurtz’s intended. Marlow who has quite a misogynistic view of women says, â€Å"It’s queer how out of touch with truth women are. They live in a world of their own, and there had never been anything like it, and never can be. It is too beautiful altogether, and if they were to set it up it would go to pieces before the first sunset. Because he has this preconceived notion of women being so fragile, he acts cautiously when he meets Kurtz’s intended, and eventually, this preconceived notion causes him to lie to her about exactly the kind of man that Kurtz really is. 8. â€Å"The horror† that Mr. Kurtz refers to would partially be his involvement in the European presence in the Congo. Unlike the other managers of stations, Kurtz is not completely detat ched from the natives. He gets to know them on a personal level, until they idolize him as a God, and I believe that eventually he began to feel remorse for the way that he was using them.He could never have a real, true relationship with them, because he still had to report to a company, so the main basis of their relationship would always be extortion. Kurtz eventually realized how wrong this was, but at that point he was so involved that there was no way he could reverse the damage he had done there. I feel that he was also, in his last dying breath, attempting to continue the legacy that he had managed to build for himself. Throughout the entire book it seems as if people idolize him for his speeches, but are never able to give real substance for why he is this fantastically, amazing person they describe him to be.This would be a great example. No one will ever be able to explain exactly what â€Å"The horror! The horror! † refers to, but the words are just haunting enoug h that Marlow will never be able to go a day without contemplating what they could possibly mean. In this way, Kurtz is ensuring that his legacy will live on. 9. I believe that the frame structure is very important, because it gives credibility, and a sense of meaning to the story. A story being relayed by the person who experienced it may or may not be interesting or of extreme importance.But, because Conrad chose to have another narrator relaying Marlow’s story, it shows that Marlow was not the only one who thought that the story was worth hearing. It lends that the narrator heard the story from Marlow, and decided it was worth while enough that other people besides those that heard it from Marlow, should hear the story. It also allows Conrad to skip over the least important parts of the story, and only leave those details that are crucial to the story line. Works Cited Conrad, Joseph, and Robert Kimbrough. Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Essays in Criticism. New York: Norton, 1971. Print.

Effects Of The Hidden Internet On The Digital Age

The Dark Web: The Effects of the Hidden Internet on the Digital Age In the late 1990’s, the internet became a staple of society, a new â€Å"fad† that became integrated into modern culture. As more and more information was uploaded to this repository, data hubs formed, often around illegal materials such as copies of music and movie files. In 2001, a man named Ian Clarke revolutionized the internet by introducing â€Å"Freenet,† a service that allowed for anonymous access to the darkest reaches of the web, filled with illegal files that encompassed everything from movie torrents to child porn. (McCormick N.P.) With the creation of Freenet, Clarke changed the world by giving internet users access to the forbidden depths of the internet now dubbed the Dark Web. 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