Power of Higher Authority in significant relevance to Antigone by Essay

Power of Higher Authority in significant relevance to Antigone by Sophocles and Another Antigone by A.R Gurney - Essay Example The modern adaptation for theatre by A.R. Gurney offers an interesting contextualization of heroine Antigone’s fight against authority. In both the cases, the theme is the same, one of confrontation of the individual will against a powerful authority figure. In Sophocles’ Antigone, this antagonist was Creon the King. In Gurney’s play it is the Professor in Classics Department George Henry Harper. But the nature of struggle of the two heroines is the same. This essay will argue that the depiction of the power of Higher Authority is crucial to the dramatization and moral deliberation of the two plays. Professor Henry Harper is equated to the all powerful Creon of Sophocles’ conception. To match with his role as an intimidator Harper is given a grizzly white beard by author Gurney. The University of Boston and its hierarchy of administrators provide the power structure for Another Antigone, with Henry Harper assuming a key position of power within in the Depa rtment of Classics. He is a tragicomic character in an academic environment that is struggling with reduced government funding and decreasing student enthusiasm. It is in this backdrop that Judy Miller plays out her tryst with power. (Diski 49) Miller, a candidate for valedictorian, presents her bold reworking of Antigone in blank verse form in the place of a formal term paper. Taken aback by this disrespect for rules, the professor exclaims â€Å"Another Antigone!" in reference to both the work being presented and its author. At this point a antagonistic position of the rebellious student and her convention respecting professor is established. In Sophocles’ Antigone, by contrast, the confrontation between Antigone and her uncle Creon (the ruler of Thebes) begins with the demise of her two brothers Eteocles and Polyneices. Since Creon was on the side of Eteocles during the combat between the two brothers, he decrees to honor him in death. In sharp contrast he decrees that Po lyneices be left rotting in the battle field sans a proper burial. This is the highest form of punishment in ancient Greek and its evocation is a measure of Creon’s hostility toward Polyneices. (Botton 20) In Creon’s own view, what legitimizes his decree is his authority as the supreme ruler of Thebes. He performs very little moral deliberation before setting his order to execution. It is unfair to compare Creon with Gurvey’s Harper, for the latter is not so much arrogant as formal and conservative. Henry Harper’s power in the University is nowhere near equal to that wielded by Creon, the emperor of Thebes. Hence, although the two authority figures share a position of prestige and power, their personalities and purviews are very different. The overbearing undergrad Antigone, Ms. Miller, has â€Å"as great an irrational self-confidence in her thespian powers as Shakespeare's Bottom, and when Henry Harper, that old Creon, refuses to give her play at least a B, she launches a campaign against him, including charges of anti-Semitism, that leads to a proper catastrophe.† (Disch 174) But in Sophocles’ classic, Polyneices’ beloved sister Antigone is a balanced, intellectual and humane person (as evidenced from allusions in the play). Her love for her brother impels her to bury him properly. Though this action would invoke the wrath of Creon and jeopardize her life, her humanity and love supersedes all other considerations. Antigone believes that though she may die as a consequence

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS - Essay Example The nature of imperfect labour markets today as well as the cutthroat competition limited jobs by desperate employees can and has in some cases, resulted in substandard industrial relations (Salamon, 2000). This in many instances leads to and escalates conflict in employee relations. However, while conceding that conflict may indeed be inevitable, it can be managed and controlled through a proactive and vibrant bargaining process that can be used to ensure a smooth transition in whatever transaction the Organization takes part in and the interests of its staff. This paper will discuss the notion of inevitability of employee conflict by examining various theories and literature demonstrating some of its causative factors and methods that have been developed in employee relations for managing it. To create a better understanding of the nature conflict in employment relations, it is important that the concept is first understood, and its constituent notions explained. Employer relations are by no means neither straightforward nor easy concept that can be tied down to a generic definition. Its meaning tends to vary widely depending on whom one is asking (Lewis, Thornhill & Saunders, 2003). In American HRM literature for instance, it is understood as the corpus of HR, in a functional sense it encapsulates the relations between employees and employers in the world place. On the other hand, a the British interpretation of the same covers a wider scope which cuts across specific workplace issues and covers even the interactions between the state, employer relations and labour unions. In these terms, employment relations involves both the micro and macro level relations which are notably absent in the American context (Gennard & Judge, 2002). In American context, employer relations are unlikely to encompass industrial relations as comprehensively as it can in a UK or

Depersonalization as a method of representation and protection of Research Paper

Depersonalization as a method of representation and protection of personal data - Research Paper Example Computers and the Internet paved the way for more efficient and fast methods to gather, store and organize personal information. Since the 1970s the number of computer data banks or databases became staggering. There are the databases from Social Security Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Medical Information Bureau, state criminal justice systems, municipal data systems, credit card companies, telephone companies, Medicaid, and, recently, Google, Facebook and so much more. The huge amount of information that governments and businesses collect from individuals have become a cause of concern. Personal data collection encroaches on the individual’s right, particularly as it invades privacy or the right to control information about ourselves; there is a disclosure of private personal facts; and, the information can be used in such a way that a person is cast in a bad light or in a case of identity theft. The method of personal data collection, its use and security, hence, necessitate citizen protection. Through the years, laws have enacted that aim to protect personal privacy but they appear to be insufficient. This paper will explore depersonalization as an effective method of personal data collection, where privacy is still protected. ... 3. Access or the level of access provided to individuals on the gathered data about them. 4. Security or the responsibility of data gatherers to provide adequate protection for the information collected (Bidgoli 2004, 98). Based from these principles, a number of laws were enacted covering individual privacy across different sectors. For instance, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act protects personal banking information; the Fair Credit Reporting Act provides the framework for handling personal credit data. There are also laws that cover the collection and use of medical and health data, government records, children’s privacy, and so forth. Laws are also enacted in other countries such as the European Union Data Protection Directive, the OECD privacy guidelines adopted by countries such as Mexico, Australia, Japan and Czech Republic (Conrad, Misenar and Feldman 2012, 401). But these laws and even some ethical guidelines (see Kluge 2000), no matter how specific and comprehensive, still fail to address privacy issues. Neubauer and Kolb (2009), for example, noted that approaches and methods for protecting privacy often do not comply with legal requirements or basic security requirements without suffering any penalty, (7). Szeto and Miri (2007) revealed the same findings when they studied the Canadian experience. According to Hildebrandt and Gutwirth (2008), this is because most statutes builds on traditional ways of thinking data, personal data and their abuse, without understanding or recognizing the new type of knowledge that result from modern data processing (321). It was further argued that even when recent or updated laws were effective regarding personal data, they are still not equipped to deal with correlated data, which is persistent today

Hollow Claims about Fantasy Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hollow Claims about Fantasy Violence - Essay Example under study is to present and question the evidences that connects the influence of the entertainment media and the violent behavior in the public specifically the children. The message depicted by the work targets the present generation who had a wide variety of media forms. In terms of the arguments of the author, it can be observed that in depth research had been undertaken in relation to the evidences that had been relayed although there are limitations in the presentation in relation to the length of presentation. The organization of the paper can be considered categorized in the basis of the background information. The important points are separated in paragraphs followed by the evidences that can support the claims of the author. On a personal note there are questions regarding the way results of empirical studies had been considered insignificant although certain arguments also used empirical evidences to be able to support the thesis and topic of the argument. Due to the use of the empirical evidences gathered by the academe and by the authorities in related groups in the field of psychology and law enforcement, the argument can be considered weak in some points but strong in other views. It can be considered that the author used certain arguments to support his claim while in some cases similar data are discredited. Such actions can be considered to decrease the strength of the argument. In the first paragraph, the author claimed that the government officials and members of the administration of the government are prejudiced in the claim that violence is largely caused by the media. Based on the arguments presented in the first paragraph, the politicians are pointing and giving attention to the issue on the basis of the opinion of the majority of the population (Par.1). The author stressed on the lack of strong evidence to support the real connection which is between the violence in media and behavior of the audience (Par 2). With regards to