Sir Gawain and Green Knight Essays: Allegory :: Sir Gawain Green Knight Essays

Allegory in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight  Ã‚   Discuss the allegorical significance of the following words of the Green Knight,   You are so fully confessed, your failings made known,/ And bear the plain penance of the point of my blade,/ I hold you polished as a pearl, as pure and as bright/ As you had lived free of fault since first you were born  . These words are uttered by the Green Knight almost immediately after he delivered the third blow on Gawain  s neck (l 2391-2394). They should be understood as referring to events which began with Gawain  s arrival at the Lord  s castle. The words   confessed   and   penance   appearing in the Green Knight  s utterance may lead one to connect them not only with events of the narrative, but also with the Christian idea of sin. According to Christian ideology all human beings are sinners, though- owing to God  s grace and kindness- sins may be forgiven. But before this happens there is need for confession and penance. Absolution is the final stage which may be reached only by those who pass the former ones. When Sir Gawain is looked at closely, the events of the story correspond to the sequence: temptation -sin - confession - penance - absolution. The sin committed by Gawain was not being loyal to the lord by concealing the green girdle. This weakness of character resulted from the love of life - the girdle was to protect anyone who wore it. What happens at the Green Chapel are the later parts of the cycle: confession - penance - absolution. The penance is the fight with the Green Knight during which Gawain receives a cut on the neck and absolution (granted by the Green Knight) is attained through blood, which makes it even more meaningful. On the other hand, a nick on the neck is not an extremely painful experience (although the way in which it was attained was definitely very stressful) and shows that Gawain  s sin was only a minor one. He did not sin against chastity as he did not give in to the lady  s wishes. But still, in this interpretation Gawain  s character turned out to be faulty. There is a different possibility of interpretation - one which broadens the allegory even more. It may be said that Gawain  s primary fault was sinning against courtesy. If courtesy was in reality what he had been tested on, Gawain did not stand a chance of passing this test.

Institutional Discrimination Essay

Sociologists often follow (Merton 1972, p. 20) in defining discrimination as the treatment of a functionally relevant status (such as race or sex) as relevant for the distribution of some reward or penalty. While legal standards of discrimination have changed since the passage of Title VII (Blumrosem, 1993, p. 110), legal scholars theoretically concur that discrimination involves the desperate treatment of similarly situated individuals because of their sex, race, color, national origin, religion or some other protected characteristics (Belz 1991; Blumrosen 1993, p 50). Diversity is defined as real or perceived difference among people that affect their interactions and relationships. (Bell, 2007). Knowing how to deal professionally with racism and racial discrimination in the workplace is important in managing the situation quickly and effectively and with the least upset possible. In the fiscal year 1997-2008, the United States EEOC received 28,372 charges of sex discrimination. EEOC resolved 24,018 sex discrimination charges in FY 2008 and recovered $109. million in monetary benefits for charging parties and other aggrieved individuals (not including monetary benefits obtained through litigation). Causes: Sexism, gender and racial discrimination are more common in the patriarchal societies. The term patriarchy refers to a society where men are granted the majority of social and political power. When thought of in this way, the cause of gender or racial discrimination has to do with unequal power where men and people of a particular race are granted more power than others. Institutional discrimination begins with recruitment process. Most jobs, especially the better ones, are not openly advertised. Knowledge of their existence is usually limited to friends and colleagues of those in power in the institutions, and in turn their friends and associates. Much institutional discrimination results from judgments made on secondary rather than primary characteristics such as educational background employment history, supervisory experience, age, income, etc. Misconceptions about employment experiences of women of color, particularly black women abound. Black women are often stereotyped as being unwilling to work, preferring nstead to use welfare to support her children (Bell 2007). Consequences: Cost associated with doing a poor job by not integrating workers from different background and gender could be very high. Organizations that do not value diversity reduce employee relations and also increase the cost of staff turnover. Costs associated with turnover include exit interviews, lost productivity while positions are unfilled and recruiting cost for replacement of employees. Cox, T. , & Blake, S. (1991). Talked about non-resourceful acquisition. Cox and Blake describe an organization’s ability to attract and retain employees from different backgrounds as resource acquisition. Employees from diverse backgrounds may include women, people of color, older workers, workers with disabilities and minorities, therefore organizations who do not have diverse workers are not resourceful in acquiring employees. An organization that does not value diversity lacks creativity and problem solving capability. Organizations composed of the same group of people, with same background would lack creativity and the problem solving ability of these competitive business environments. Research indicates that groups composed of people from different backgrounds bring with them different experiences that result in greater creativity and problem solving ability. These abilities stem from different life experiences, language abilities, and education that groups composed of different members have. An organization that discriminates or does not appreciate diversity in the workplace lacks system flexibility. System flexibility is the final way that Cox and Blake proposed that valuing diversity provides organizations with a competitive advantage. They argue that women have a higher tolerance for ambiguity than men. Tolerance for ambiguity is associated with cognitive complexity and success in uncertain situations. Other researchers have pointed out women’s ability to† multitask,† successfully handling multiple tasks concurrently. Organizations that discriminate against women therefore lack the flexibility and thus poor turnover. Due to amount of media attention focusing on lawsuits and damage settlements, an organization that discriminates in hiring employees from different ethnic groups and cultures might be at risk for law suits. Firstly to find solution to discrimination one has to be aware of one’s own stereotypes and biases, making conscious efforts to challenge and address them. Evaluation of current system of recruitment and promotion in the workplace is also very important. The current system of recruitment and promotion in a workplace needs to be examined and evaluated. Occupational hierarchies need to be examined both to determine the actual content of jobs and to remove barriers to mobility built into such hierarchies which serve to discriminate (Jo Freeman 1970). Not only are efforts to recruit and hire people from diverse backgrounds important, efforts to ensure that they are treated fairly after employment are also critical to successful diversity programs. Managers and professionals should be made to understand the importance of diversity in the workplace. The benefits of diversity is not farfetched, if an organization develops a reputation for valuing all types of employees, it would become known as an employer of choice, increasing its ability to attract and retain workers from a variety of backgrounds. Valuing diversity can also benefit organizations in the areas of cost, resource acquisition, marketing, creativity, and problem solving and system flexibility. As a manager or supervisor that is hiring in an organization, pay particular attention to relevant information and ignore irrelevant, race-based stereotypes. This will help to eliminate what is not necessary and help to focus on necessity. Applying sanctions for violation of anti-discriminatory norms by employers is very important to stop discrimination in workplaces. Title VII of the civil right act of 1964 (Title VII) prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Federal and state law has expanded the rights afforded employees, giving them greater opportunities to bring claim against employer. The 1991 civil rights act specifically permits both punitive and compensatory damages for most type of discrimination and grants the right to a jury trial for such claim. I will also advice employees if they have suffered an insult, an injury, or a wrong at work to go slowly. Decide what you want to gain. If an apology from your employer would suffice, save yourself the time and expense of filling a legal action. Finally in light of societal changes, responsible managers and professionals at all levels should acknowledge the need to reassess the influence of culture and diversity on achieving expected organizational outcome. The deliberate attempt to discover and apply the positive benefits of cultural variation promotes respect and a celebration of the value of diversity, whereas perpetuating prejudice fosters narrow-mindedness and contempt.

Institutionalise Islamophobe Essay

The insects of racial discrimination, the curse of civilization, are gradually eating up out society, dissolving harmony and affection, transforming human being in weapons of carnage. Thus the society no longer remains a better place to live in. Islamophobe is a contentious neologism distinct by some as a chauvinism in opposition to, or demonization of, Muslims. The expression is documented in use as early as 1976, but came into greater prevalence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (King, 2001) The expression’s use has become greater than before since the September 11, 2001 attacks. It can be mentioned that this is an irrational paranoia that needs to be eradicated from the face of the earth in order to make life a bit peaceful. British authors and intellectuals like Kenan Malik have condemned the perception, calling it an allegory. According to Malik this concept bamboozles prejudice in opposition to Muslims with denigration of Islam, and is applied to silence detractors of the religion, as well as Muslims who intend to reform it. Novelist Salman Rushdie and many others signed a proclamation in March 2006, which deemed Islamophobe a desolate perception that perplexes disapproval of Islam as a religion and stigmatization of those who have faith in it. Danish politician Bashy Quraishy has mentioned that islamophobe and anti-Semitism are two faces of the same coin. In the yrar1996 the Runnymede Trust, an autonomous anti-racist think tank in the United Kingdoms, recognized the assignment on British Muslims and Islamophobe, headed by Professor Gordon Conway, the vice-chancellor of the University of Sussex. According to the report launched in November 1997 by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, Islamophobe can be considered as a challenge for the society as a whole. It portrayed Islamophobe as concerning eight idiosyncratic characteristics such as Islam is considered as a monolithic bloc, static and insensitive to alterations. It is observed as separate and other. It does not have principles in familiar with other ethnicities, is not pretentious by them and even does not influence them. It is perceived as substandard to the West. It is observed as barbaric, unreasonable, primordial, and sexist. It is seen as brutal, violent, intimidating, encouraging of terrorism, and affianced in a clash of civilizations. It is observed as a political philosophy, designed for political or military benefit. Condemnations made of the West by Islam are discarded out of hand. Antagonism towards Islam is used to give explanation for prejudiced practices in the direction of Muslims and segregation of Muslims from conventional society. Anti-Muslim resentment is seen as usual and normal. In 1997 the British Runnymede Trust made it clear that Islamophobe as the observation that Islam has no ethics in common with other cultures, is substandard to the West, is an aggressive political ideology instead of being a religion, that its disparagement of the West have no essence, and that prejudiced practices against Muslims are justified as such. Despite the fact that Muslims do not comprise a race in isolation, the submission is that many Europeans and North Americans have an inaccurate discernment of Muslims as composing a separate a race, which in he words of Khyati Joshi is radicalization of religion. On the other hand, Muslims may be perplexed with Arabs, even though the mainstream of the world’s Muslims are not Arabs. (Lamb, 2004) There are several causes behind Islamophobe the prime among them is to perplex disapproval of Islam as a religion and stigmatization of those who have faith in it. Sociologists have time and again argued that there was a swing in forms of chauvinism in the 1990s from race-based discrimination to inequity based on culture and religion. In 2004, Anja Rudiger, Executive director of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, made it clear in an Oxford conference on Muslims in Europe that, ever since the 9/11 attacks, religion had outshined race as the most important focal point of divergence, and that an individual’s religion was now looked upon as one and the same with their background. In the case of Muslims, this showed the way to another dimension of chauvinism, Rudiger argued, in that European Muslims were observed as signifying an amalgamated culture relatively different from European society, one that is strappingly correlated to certain non-European states. From Rudiger’s perspective, such observations are element of the course of action of classifying Islam as Europe’s other. Due to Islamophobe instead of engaging Muslims in debate, non-Muslims are hypothetical to sneak around them, for fear of causing felony. (Fletcher, 2005) There are several alleged acts of Islamophobia, such as Dr Amanda Wise and Ghali Hassan from GlobalResearch. ca have assumed that the 2005 Cronulla insurrection were the consequence of an atmosphere of Islamophobe in Australia. Dalil Boubakeur, a director of a Paris mosque illustrated the wreckage on a Mosque, referred to the burning of a Muslim Sanctuaries, attacks on hijabi Muslim women all over the world as Islamophobic. Muslim activists alleged that the Forest Gate anti terror raid in London was Islamophobic. France, which has a strong secular institution separating church from State, was accused of Islamophobe when the decree on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools was approved, which prohibits the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in public schools. In a February 10, 2004 accounted by Al Jazeera the head of the Party of France’s Muslims, Muhammad Latreche in analysing the French decree on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools was referenced as mentioning that the legislation would, institutionalise Islamophobe. In Germany, the state of Baden-Wurttemberg has anticipated set of laws that necessitate citizenship applicants from the member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to answer enquiries concerning their outlook on domestic aggression and other religious subjects. A BBC assessment taken in the summer of 2004 estimated that employment applicants with Muslim names were far less probable to be called for an interview than applicants whose names did not appear to be Muslim. (Dos, 2006) There have been efforts in opposition to supposed Islamophobe by several organizations in various countries through out the globe. In 2006 the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) was set up as an observatory body on Islamophobe. This will keep an eye on and document activities professed as Islamophobic around the planet. Throughout the attainment talks on the subject of Turkey’s probable entry to the EU, then Prime Minister of Holland, Jan Peter Balkenende, made it clear that Islamophobe must not have an effect on the possibility of Turkey’s access to the European Union. 50,000 people signed an appeal urging French President Jacques Chirac to deem Islamophobe as a new form of racism, punishable by decree. In the UK several methods directed towards limiting Islamophobe have been set up. In Tower Hamlets, a heavily populated area in London, a misdemeanour reporting system called â€Å"Islamophobe† has been set up which police expect will increase consciousness of Islamophobe and facilitate them to recognize the extent of the dilemma. The British National Union of Teachers (NUT) has issued guidelines to teachers and recommending them to Challenge Islamophobe, as they have a fundamental character to play in helping to dismiss myths about Muslim communities. In 2006 the Catholic Mission Austria and the Islamic Denomination Austria formed a platform called Christians and Muslims, which endeavours against stereotypes and antagonism and intends to augment lenience and admiration. In 1991 the Islamic Culture Foundation (FUNCI) prepared, in association with UNESCO and the Institut du Monde Arabe of Paris, a worldwide symposium concerning the involvement of Islamic Civilization in European Culture. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan issued a call in 1999 to world influential to fight Islamophobe. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) organized a colloquium on how to fight Islamophobe. (Kar, 2006) History helps out us to identify ourselves, recognize who we are and be acquainted with the origin where we come from. We over and over again shrink back from hearing about our chronological times of yore for the reason that so much of it is excruciating. Islamophobe is a dejected perception that perplexes disapproval of Islam as a religion and stigmatization of those who have faith in it. Islamophobe, a myth or a kind of racism, obfuscates bias in opposition to Muslims with disparagement of Islam and that it is used to quieten detractors and Muslim reformers. References: Dos, M; (2006); Future of Thought Process; Alliance Publications Fletcher, R; (2005); Beliefs and Knowledge: Believing and Knowing; Howard & Price. Kar, P; (2006); History of Islam; Dasgupta & Chatterjee King, H; (2001); International Politics Today; HBT & Brooks Ltd Lamb, Davis; (2004); Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata; National Book Trust.