Corporate social responsabilty and ethics Essay

Corporate social responsabilty and ethics - Essay Example The approach further assesses the harms length that may emanate from unethical business practices in order to ascertain the role of societal inclusion in mentoring effective corporate, social, and public images to a company (Harrison, 2007:1). The following discussion seeks to identify the practical approach of corporate social responsibility in Northern Rock Bank in relation to the business practices, and the present theoretical approaches born therein. The internal managerial practices Executive remuneration is the amount paid to the top most managers of different ranks in any organization. It is set by the board of directors who may follow a certain set criteria and outlined in the organization’s salary and remuneration policy. Most of the managers’ demand for higher pay makes the parties involved in the remuneration system to have a hard time in resetting the system. However, sustained pay system may not be the best to reinforce executive performance (Idowu, & Leal Filho, 2008:56). It is impossible to regulate executive salaries due to various reasons, which are in a lane manifested in a range of activities. For instance; a manager may demand for a salary increment and may yet not be a good performer (Tricker, 2012:65). Others have the knowledge but lack the basic concepts of practicing what they have in their areas of responsibility. They have very little to do in the organisation compared to their subordinates who are in turn required to work hard for a low salary (Visser, 2010:156). The directors of the Northern Rock legally seize the bank shares which were to be sold and help settle all the debts it owed the bank of England. The shareholders are therefore liable to sue the directors (Innes, & Norris, 2005:128). This is due to the unfulfilled promise by the directors that they would compensate but they instead de-valued the shares so that the shareholders would get something very negligible. They did this by stating that they were; under a new management and were unable to operate as a successful business. It is the government, which led the Northern Rock to countenance the problems (Regester, Larkin, & Regester, 2008:45). They have a prima facie case for their rights having been violated by the government officials as is stipulated in the Human Rights Act of 1998, which deemed the plaintiff to compensation. The Northern Rock clients included business investment agencies, households and firms. These firms dealt with different business operations. The business investments were often in need of expenditures in the present to acquire returns in the future (Baxi, & Prasad, 2005:68). Therefore, businesses need to borrow to finance their investments since the lenders pursue to earn long-term profits from the capital investments (Idowu, & Leal Filho, 2008:58). Eventually, they demand flexible accounts, which allow them instant admittance to their deposits (this means, they value short development deposit accounts). The perso ns leading to the collapsing of the Northern Rock bank include; the directors, the shareholders, the savers, the stakeholders and the government. However, the stakeholders and the directors have greatly contributed since they led to the bank being nationalised by the British government. The British Bankers Association helped calm down the worried Northern Rock’s customers. The government interfered with the bank operations and took away the shareholders w

Reflecting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Reflecting - Essay Example However, I attained this skill through developing a plan of study time and adequate rest breaks that allowed me to concentrate during my work and avoid any distractions (Forsyth 39). In this case, I will capable of utilizing the library for my study since it offered me ambient environment that is free from noise distractions. A core aspect in managing my time is prioritization of tasks depending on their urgency and importance and I was capable of understanding that important tasks must be granted first priority and most of the time must be devoted towards handling the important tasks that bring the highest benefits to the company (Forsyth 56). In addition, the learning guided me in breaking down tasks so as to accomplish each activity in a progressive manager. This aspect will be useful in my future career since the human resources management functions such as interviewing, recruitment and training are sequential and must be accomplished in a certain progressive pattern that will enable the company to have talented employees (Forsyth 45). Furthermore, I learnt that procrastination hinders time management due to fear of handling the challenging tasks thus leading to time wastage. I believe I will be capable of control distractions such as politics, informal chats and discussions and engage in more challenging work of managing the human resources (Forsyth 67). I have acquired knowledge of how to schedule tasks, set deadlines, avoid stress and persevere by having a positive attitude in my work. In this case, I can schedule the tasks, set challenging and attainable goals, and remain committed to meeting the set deadlines without encountering work-related stress in my career (Forsyth 82). I believe success in my future career will require me to remain assertive and stress-free in handling human resources issues. Composition-1 has taught me the importance of starting early

Accounting for Small Business Essay Example for Free

Accounting for Small Business Essay ABSTRACT SMEs play a very important role in Indias economy and have a great potential for strengthening the real sector in India. But there has not been appropriate infrastructure yet which is accounting system to show the business feasibility. Traditional business in Indian Villages had been started by a family and ancestors, but has gotten bigger now. This business has many strengths and weaknesses. Based on the condition and background, the proposed-accounting system has been developed. It has been also successfully tested for a month transaction and revised. Adding knowledge management into accounting system is an alternative way to develop the proposed-accounting system. The four modes of knowledge creation will facilitate the business and its owner to add some modules in accounting system and to reengineer the business process. See more: Distinguish between problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping Essay INTRODUCTION: Small business plays a very important role in Indias economy, particularly in aspects increased employment, income generating, economic development. In addition, this sector is considered as a driving force for the rural economy. But until now there are still many problems to hinder the small business growth. Facts in the Asia Pacific region revealed that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) employ about 60 percent of the workforce. Only 10 percent of the total companies in Asia Pacific which is a big business, the rest are SMEs. For India, according to Small Medium Business Corner (SMBC) data in 2012 the numbers of micro, small and medium enterprises develop into 130 Lakhs (http://www.smeindia.net/export_schemes/OverviewofMSME.html) by giving employment to 410 Lakhs people and able to contribute to the total national GDP amounted to 8-9 percent in 2012. Basic problem of management in small business is inability of owners to determine their management style that appropriate with the business need and development stage. In early stage of business, family management style leads to one-man show. According to improvement of business environment, that conventional style could not be pushed longer. Especially in financial management, the business owners could not be able to separate the financial management of business and family yet. Besides, they have not well planned, managed and reported periodically yet. It is caused by there is no appropriate infrastructure which is accounting system. The impact is that the owners of small business have difficulties to cooperate with external such as bank or another financial institution. The owners have difficulties to show their feasibility business when they want to propose credit or make a business contract with another business. Based on the importance of an accounting system, this research results a proposed-accounting system which can be applied by owners of small business in India. The proposed-accounting system is a generic model of purchasing and selling system that should be enhanced according to business need and by refer to the knowledge management approach. LITERATURE REVIEW: ACCOUNTING SYSTEM: According to Gillespie, accounting system is an organization of document, form and report which is managed to provide information for management. Based on that definition, elements of accounting system are documents, forms and reports, but still concern with procedure and internal control. Therefore, proposed-elements in this study will refer to it. SMALL BUSINESS: Under the law of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (2008), definition of SMEs in India is explained by the table below. Based on the definition, the research object is categorized as a small business. DEFINITION OF SMES IN INDIA Enterprises engaged in providing or rendering of services (i) A micro enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in equipment does not exceed Rs. 10 lakh; (ii) A small enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in equipment is more than Rs.10 lakh but does not exceed Rs. 2 crore; and (iii) A medium enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in equipment is more than Rs. 2 crore but does not exceed Rs. 5 crore. Enterprises engaged in the manufacture or production, processing or preservation of goods (i) A micro enterprise is an enterprise where investment in plant and machinery does not exceed Rs. 25 lakh; (ii) A small enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in plant and machinery is more than Rs. 25 lakh but does not exceed Rs. 5 crore; and (iii) A medium enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in plant and machinery is more than Rs.5 crore but does not exceed Rs.10 crore. SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT: System development in this study will follow the three main steps a.System analysis: Activities in this stage are initial study, feasibility study, requirement definition, and specification system arrangement. b.System design:   After finishing system analysis, the next activities are system design, system building and system testing. c.System implementation:   Based on system testing, a revised system will be established. Finally, system is implemented and operated. At this stage, company will conduct maintenance activity. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Since this study wants to develop a proposed-accounting system, â€Å"Research and development† approach which is applied in this study is a research program that is followed by a development program. It is a combination of descriptive study that describes the actual phenomenon in an object and exploratory research that develops a proposed -accounting system. A proposed-accounting system is focused on purchasing and selling system since those are the main activities in the business. The location of this study, Traditional small business in Indian Villages, was chosen on purpose, because this business in the Villages has significantly improved in sales and human empowering, also government is paying attention by giving assistantship for both management and technology. Primary data of this study was the results of guided interviews and observation. The steps of this study are designed as follow: a.Initial study Preliminary research was conducted to comprehend previous studies and literature, guided questionnaire drafting, and Traditional business understanding. b.System requirement defining At this stage, the data was obtained by interview with business owners and observation directly to the business. By understanding the research object condition and background, also the strength and weakness, the accounting system requirement could be defined. c.Development of proposed-accounting system At this stage, development of proposed-accounting system was managed by interviews, observation, and group discussion among owners, researcher and government, related to main accounting system elements, which are document, form and report. In its development, knowledge management approach was proposed to use since it can facilitate business daily operation into business standard operation. The result of this stage was a proposed-accounting system. d.Testing and implementation Testing was accomplished by implementing the proposed system to handle a month transactions. Owners and their staff used it to run transactions of purchasing and selling for a month. By running the system, problems were found and then they were used to revise the system. At this stage, a revised-accounting system was established. e.Conclusions and recommendations In the final stage of this study, conclusions and suggestions from all research processes were stated. RESULT AND DISCUSSION: PROFILE OF TRADITIONAL BUSINESS IN INDIAN VILLAGES: India is one of the major exporter and supplier of handicrafts and gift products to the world market. The Indian handicrafts industry is highly labor intensive and decentralized, being spread all across the country in rural and urban areas. The sector is considered as the second largest employment-generating sector after agriculture with numerous artisans engaged in craft work on a part-time basis. The industry offers employment to over 6 million artisans, including a large number of women and people from the weaker sections of society. The present day handicraft tradition of India is a perfect example of assimilation between the traditional designs and modern techniques. The fast growing demand for Indian handicraft and gifts products have made this sector a full-fledged large scale organized industry that is growing day by day. History The rich history of India’s craft tradition has evolved over the centuries offering a legacy of Indian culture promising everything beauty, dignity, form and style. The variety is comprehensive and ranges from age-old stone carvings to modern handicrafts making use of glass flints and mirrors. The most popular crafts, include metalware, earthenware, pottery, sculpting, woodwork, hand-printed textiles and scarves, embroidered and crocheted goods, shawls, zari products, stone carving and imitation jewelry. There is a myriad of art and craft traditions in India that depend on social, economic and regional factors. The present status of the sector in India owes much to the rich crafts history and tradition of the past. Majority of the crafts from the past continues to flourish due to their utilitarian characteristics, availability to the common people and popularity in domestic and global markets. Today, some of the sectors within the craft industry have even become full fledged industries in their own, like carpet weaving, traditional textile (Banarsi silk sari, Chikankari etc), gem cutting and polishing, jewelry making, the world famous diamond cutting and polishing industry, brassware, jute products, etc. The growth of these industries is due to their ever-increasing demand and the popularity of Indian crafts in the domestic market and overseas. Gems and jewelry, carpet making, metalware, leather products, jute products etc. are some industries, which are growing rapidly.

Love at First Sight Essay Example for Free

Love at First Sight Essay Love at first sight is a common trope in Western literature, in which a person, character, or speaker feels romantic attraction for a stranger on the first sight of them. Described by poets and critics from the Greek world on, it has become one of the most powerful tropes in Western fiction. In the classical world, the phenomenon of love at first sight was understood within the context of a more general conception of passionate love, a kind of madness or, as the Greeks put it, theia mania (madness from the gods). [1] This love passion was described through an elaborate metaphoric and mythological psychological schema involving loves arrows or love darts, the source of which was often given as the mythological Eros or Cupid,[2] sometimes by other mythological deities (such as Rumor[3]). At times, the source of the arrows was said to be the image of the beautiful love object itself. If these arrows arrived at the lovers eyes, they would then travel to and pierce his or her heart, overwhelming them with desire and longing (love sickness). The image of the arrows wound was sometimes used to create oxymorons and rhetorical antithesis. Love at first sight was explained as a sudden and immediate beguiling of the lover through the action of these processes, and is illustrated in numerous Greek and Roman works. In Ovids Metamorphoses, Narcissus becomes immediately spellbound and charmed by his own (unbeknownst to him) image. In Achilles Tatiuss Leucippe and Clitophon, the lover Clitophon thus describes his own experience of the phenomenon: As soon as I had seen her, I was lost. For Beautys wound is sharper than any weapons, and it runs through the eyes down to the soul. It is through the eye that loves wound passes, and I now became a prey to a host of emotions[4]Love at first sight was not, however, the only mode of entering into passionate love in classical texts; at times the passion could occur after the initial meeting or could precede the first glimpse. Another classical interpretation of the phenomenon of love at first sight is found in Platos Symposium in Aristophanes description of the separation of primitive double-creatures into modern men and women and their subsequent search for their missing half: when [a lover] is fortunate enough to meet his other half, they are both so intoxicated with affection, with friendship, and with love, that they cannot bear to let each other out of sight for a single instant.[5]

Web Catalog Revenue Models Media Essay

Web Catalog Revenue Models Media Essay The web catalog revenue model is essentially an electronic version of the traditional catalog-based retail revenue model. This traditional model has been in existence for over one hundred years when catalogs of goods for sale were mailed to prospective buyers. Creating familiarity with a name or branding the goods has been an important factor in establishing reputation and creating strength in the name to attract potential customers. The web catalog model was formed through the evolution of the information era. With the advent of the internet and its increased availability, printed catalogs have been either completely replaced or supplemented by a digital online catalog reaching a wider audience in a shorter space of time. Just as the traditional catalog-based model, also known as the mail order or catalog model, allows buyers to order via mail or telephone, the web catalog model allows buyers to place their orders through online forms on the website or by telephone. Computers, electronics and household appliances capture a large part of online sales through web catalogs. There are many businesses that operate solely on the internet which use the web catalog model. Amazon.com is one such business that started off as an online book retailer but has since expanded into other markets such as music, clothing, toys, tools and much more. The web catalog model meets its challenges with customers who are not willing to send their personal information across the internet. Many internet users are fearful of their information, particularly credit card information, ending up in the wrong hands. How safe is their information in the hands of an online business? Although this fear has decreased considerably in the past ten years, this will always be a concern because as security improves, so does fraud and hacking. Digital Content Revenue Models Online businesses that use the digital content model either own or have the rights to this digital content, whether it is words, numbers, pictures or videos. Generally they offer some sort of subscription that allows a customer to access the content along with additional services such as full-text searching of various types of information. Digital copies of published newspapers, journals and magazines are sold or subscribed to and are sent to customers in various ways. The daily newspaper may be sent directly to a subscribers email address. An additional service may be applied where only topics that the subscriber is interested in are received. Legal, financial, corporate or government information may be periodically downloaded or mailed on a compact disc to subscribing businesses that need to update their records for their own reference and research. This revenue model allows companies to save time and money because digital information does not need to be printed or delivered. Advertising-Supported Revenue Models This revenue model generally offers free information or entertainment along with advertising messages which has been most apparent in television, radio and newspapers. Through the generation of revenue from advertising, such organizations are able to continue their existence. Advertising on the internet has its ups and downs and confidence in this model has not been very high in recent years. There was a lapse in this market between 2000 and 2002 and companies are only now beginning to show a increased interest in advertising online. One major problem with advertising on the internet is the fact that there are no specific measurements for charging for the service. How would a company know if they are charging too much or too little to run an advertisement on their website? Another problem is that not many websites have a wide enough viewer base that would encourage advertisers to place advertisements. How would an advertiser know that their message is reaching their target market? The website would have to collect demographic information from visitors in order to prove this. Visitors of websites are not always willing to provide such information due to concerns about their privacy. Web portals, Web directories and search engines make use of this model by taking advantage of the information they receive from visitors. Because visitors use these types of sites as a means of accessing other resources on the internet, information on what they are interested in is captured and advertisements of a similar nature can be displayed alongside the resources they are accessing. Newspapers have expanded into an online existence where they either offer all of their printed content on their website or just parts of it. There are concerns that the online version may reduce sales of the printed newspaper but the fact is, the advertising reaches a larger audience and there is greater exposure of the newspapers name. Advertising-Subscription Mixed Revenue Models Magazines publishers have been making the most use of this revenue model for many years now. They generate revenue through a paid subscription service that periodically delivers magazines to viewers and through some advertising. This model uses a lot less advertising than the advertising-supported revenue model. With the concerns of the online newspapers reducing the sales of printed newspapers, some newspaper publishers have found that adopting this model on their websites can help in making more use of their online resources, earning more revenue. They would generally offer some parts of the newspaper for free while other parts and features are only available to subscribed customers. For example, a non-paying viewer may be able to read todays news but cannot access articles prior to today. A subscriber can make use of all the content and may be able to use a search feature that would allow them to find archived articles of interest. It is common for magazines and newspapers to use different revenue models for their websites and their printed content. This helps maximise the generation of revenue for these companies. Fee-for-Transaction Revenue Models Businesses that use this revenue model offer services which they charge for based on the size of the transaction. This model has shown much success on the internet through travel agents, vehicle sales, ticket sales, financial services and others. By providing these services online, companies are able to remove the human agent as the intermediary (known as deintermediation) and introduce a website as the new intermediary (known as reintermediation). Fee-for-transaction revenue models generally generate revenue through the earning of commissions. The larger the transactions, the more they earn. Using this model on the internet offers some flexibility that businesses can take advantage of such as lower overhead costs and the ability to earn some extra revenue through some level of advertising. Fee-for-Service Revenue Model This revenue model is also service-based but instead of charging based on the size of a transaction, companies charge based on the value of the service. Some examples that make use of this model are professional services such as accounting and legal consultancy, streaming video services and online gaming. All of these examples charge a fee based on the service that the customer accesses. Recommendation for Cricket E-Zine The most suitable revenue model for the Cricket E-Zine would be the advertising-subscription mixed revenue models. By utilizing the flexibility of this model, the E-Zine can generate its main income through subscriptions without having to rely on financial support through heavy advertising. It is more desirable to have a magazine that offers more useful content with less advertising. A virtual community, or online community, is quite simply a method of meeting and interacting with people through the internet. The internet facilitates communication among its users where they talk about topics that interest them where they may share and receive information. By communicating and building acquaintances, interests are maintained and as users keep this alive an online community is established. There are several forms of virtual communities. Chat rooms, email lists, social networking, forums and blogging are some of the more popular forms. In defining the different forms of communities, we can identify possible options for use with the E-Zine and select a suitable combination that would add value, promote and attract subscribers. A chat room is a website that allows people to send and receive messages in text in real-time. Usually a chat room is based around a particular topic that multiple people can participate in. Plain text chat rooms now incorporate voice and video that help enhance the experience. Getting people from different parts of the world to meet online and collaborate at the same time can be a major problem because of the different time zones. Email lists overcome this problem since it allows a person to receive and respond to a message at a time convenient to them. Although emails can go back and forth within minutes, this method of communication is probably not best for a conversation. Emails are suitable for getting large amounts of text, files and other information to lists of people. A social networking site allows members to create a profile that shares information about themselves. Each member can connect with their friends, family and acquaintances and keep them in a friend list. Connected members can then see each others profile. As members reconnect with past friends and family, their social network becomes larger as they bring together contacts from the past and present while connecting with new people. Social networking sites are useful for word-of-mouth promotion. Businesses use this type of networking because the connections between members are so intertwined that information reaches a large audience without great effort. An online forum is a site where people discuss topics of interest through consecutive text-based messages that are posted by forum members for forum members. These messages can stay posted for many years as the site owner sees fit. Forums are widely used for receiving feedback, solutions and opinions from users who have experience, skills or knowledge on the relevant topic. They are usually monitored by forum administrators who keep messages from going off topic by either removing irrelevant messages or offering guidance to forum members. Forums are a great way of creating a large archive of information from people all over the world. Because of their longevity they become an excellent source for primary research. A blog, like a diary, is a journal of events, experiences or opinions except it is written online for others to read. Businesses may use a blog to keep their customers informed on what they have been up to, current activities and what they can look forward to. Although blogging is one way communication, there is usually an area for readers to make their comments. These comments are essentially a forum for discussing the particular blog. A blog must be properly maintained because once it is read, interest starts to diminish. Effective blogging is a great way to spark interest in new readers and attract a sort of fan-base, which is a good marketing technique. All of these virtual communities can be useful in different ways to add value to the E-Zine but the effects versus the efforts are variable. Conversations that can develop in a chat room may not be relevant to cricket or the E-Zine and could become useless to the magazine. One way a chat room could be used in this application is to provide assistance to subscribers or to encourage a potential subscriber to take the final step in signing up. The chat should generally be lead by staff of the E-Zine to ensure the chat rooms are made useful and not abused. Email lists are an excellent way of reaching out to people who have an interest in cricket. Recipients of these emails have signed themselves up to receive cricket information. This offers a direct tap into a group of people who are definitely interested in the sport. Certain types of information and promotions can then be sent with confidence knowing that people would be more receptive to the messages. Social networking sites are useful for boosting online presence and getting traffic to flow to the E-Zine website. It is easier to direct traffic than to create traffic. Because social networking sites are generally high traffic sites and information flows far and wide, it is easy to tap into this network and spread messages that bring attention to the E-Zine. It is positive promotion that has no geographical boundaries. Including a forum within the E-Zine website helps create its own online community The E-Zine Community. Subscribers and forum members can communicate with each other about the sport and similar topics while forum administrators maintain the relevance of comments. A forum is an excellent place to gather informal feedback that would help the E-Zine improve its operations and create special offers that would attract subscribers. Blogging may be most useful to the E-Zine during important times within the cricket world. For example, having a blog during the Cricket World Cup would spark interest for site visitors who come across these posts that may lead to an interest in the E-Zine. The best combination of communities that should be used for the E-Zine is the email lists, social networking sites and a forum. The chat room and the blogs could be used as secondary options but they would not play a major role in the promotion of the E-Zine.

Turns and Twists in Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find Essa

Turns and Twists in Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard to Find Irony is a useful tool for giving stories unexpected turns and twists. In Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," irony is used as a very effective literary tool; to guide the story in and out of what we think will happen. O'Connor uses irony in this story to contradict statements and situations to expose a truth very much different from what "we" the reader would think to be true. O'Connor use irony in several different forms, situational irony, dramatic irony and verbal irony to make the story unpredictable and interesting to read. In most every aspect of the story from beginning to end there is some type of ironic twist. The title itself is some what ironic, where in a normal society a "good man" would be seen as a man that obeys laws and is kind to fellow humans not as a murderer and an escaped convict like the Misfit. But the grandmother in the story while her family is being taken way to be killed says, using verbal irony, "I know you're a good man ... You're not a bit common (335)." The main character in the story is the grandmother in which O'Connor uses her for almost every ironic situation. In the beginning of the story O'Connor uses the idea that "we" the reader have of what a grandmother would be like to unfold a story that is nothing like what "we" would perceive a grandmother to be like. This type of irony is situational irony; this is used throughout the story and literature. It is the contrast between what happens and what was expected to happen or what would seem appropriate to have happen, or an appropriate way for a character to act versus the way they do act. If a story started out using a character that's a professiona... ... She uses cosmic irony; a type of irony that goes beyond being unfair and is morally tragic, as the main setting for the story, you may not be able to see it right away but the undertone are there. Such irony is often so harsh that it causes people to question God, like the grandmother does near the end of the story, "'That's when you should have started to pray...If you would pray,' the old lady said, `Jesus would help you. (336-337)" The irony in this story reaches such a tragic state that as expected it may suggest to the characters in the story and even the reader that people could just be pawns in the hands of mysterious forces or fate. Works Cited: O'Connor, Flannery "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin's. 2003. 1379-1391.

A Separate Peace Book Analysis Essay -- fear, john knowles, finny

In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene, Finny, and Leper fear recognizing their own flaws and learning about the harsh realities of a world at war because it affects their decision making causing them to make poor decisions, such as severely hurting one another, more frequently. Fear surrounds Gene during his time at the Devon school, affecting how he feels towards others as well as how well he trusts others. The fear isolates Gene from his friends and makes him, both, become weary of the evils around him as well as make him see other irrelevant evils. â€Å"Preserved along with it, like stale air in an unopened room, was the well known fear which had surrounded and filled those days, so much of it that I hadn't even known it was there. Because, unfamiliar with the absence of fear and what that was like, I had not been able to identify its presence,† (Chapter 1). Gene, after returning to the devon school, finds the atmosphere unchanged and still riddled with fear. He is reminded of the fear he felt during his days at the school because, while he attended Devon, World War II was taking place and 17 year-old Gene who was a year away from being drafted feared going off to war. â€Å"I felt fear's echo, and along with that I felt the unhinged, uncontrollable joy which had been its accompaniment and opposite face, joy which had broken out sometimes in those days like Northern Lights across black sky,† (Chapter 1). Surrounded by fear, Gene is trying to find some sort of source of joy. He needs this joy to uplift him because, without it, the terrors surrounding him, such as the war, emotional struggles, and personal rivalries, could drive him insane. â€Å"Any fear I had ever had of the tree was nothing beside this. It wasn't my neck, bu... ...imum standard of the army. I did not know everything there was to know about myself, and knew that I did not know it; I wondered in the silences between jokes about Leper whether the still hidden parts of myself might contain the Sad Sack, the outcast, or the coward. We were all at our funniest about Leper, and we all secretly hoped that Leper, that incompetent, was as heroic as we said,† (Chapter 9). Leper goes mad and â€Å"abandons ship† does not bode well for the boys. "That was when things began to change. One day I couldn't make out what was happening to the corporal's face. It kept changing into faces I knew from somewhere else, and then I began to think he looked like me," (Chapter 10). Leper's visions portray a fear of changing identity. He is afraid of letting the war change him into a different person, which greatens his fear of joining the war effort.