THE SETTING AND SYMBOLS IN THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRID Essay Example For Students

THE SETTING AND SYMBOLS IN THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRID Essay GEKeywords: setting atmosphere mood symbol character coincidencesAbstract:Modern critics consider Hardy a great writer and they consider The Mayor of Casterbridge one of Hardys two great novels. Of all the Wessexs novels, however, this is the least typical. Although it makes much less use of the physical environment than do the others, we still cannot ignore the frequently use of symbols and setting in the novel. In my essay, Ill analyze the function of the symbols and the setting in The Mayor of Casterbridge. THE SETTING AND SYMBOLS IN THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGEThe setting place of this novel is Casterbridge (England), a fictional town based on the city of Dorchester. Unlike the other Wessex novels, the action does not revolve from place to place, but instead; everything is centered on the town, which characters leaving or entering Caseterbridge. as they are mentioned in the tale. At this extent, the town does have some features, which are important to the novel. Definitely, it would not at all surprising us that Hardy gives a perfect description of the Wessex countryside, the detailed accounts of the daily goings in Casterbridge, even the dialects of the natives. By doing so, Hardy made us feel that we -the readers, are living in Casterbridge, were undergoing all the events with the tragic hero Henchard. I think the settings here act as the symbolic reflections of impressions and get readers more involved in the novel. We will write a custom essay on THE SETTING AND SYMBOLS IN THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRID specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now For instance, in the first few chapters, Hardy goes out of his way to describe the very atmosphere of Casterbridge, its Roman ruins, its market place, its inns, its grizzled church, its High Street with its timber houses, its old gardens full of bloody warriors and snapdragons, its disputable Mixen-Lane, its two bridges towards which gravitated all failures of the town. All these remind us that Casterbridge is dull and forbidden, full of age-old traditions and very much dependent upon agriculture for its subsistence. No wonder that Henchard has the stubborn, hardy, rude and instinctive sprit of the old-time country. With this kind of impression in our mind, we even can foresee the struggles between Henchard and Farfrae. With different living backgrounds, or to be more specific, the different living settings, when they clash, it is not only a disagreement between two men, but a conflict between age and youth, tradition and innovation, and emotion and reason. Henchard, for example, is the mayor of the Casterbridge that has remained untouched by modernism. He runs the town by traditional customs. He manages his books in his head, conducts his business by word of mouth, and employs the aid of weather prophetalready obsolete in many parts of the country at that time, in order to determine the success of a harvest. But when Farfrae arrives, he brings with him a new system of organization that changes Casterbridges grain business, making it more efficient and more depending on the technology. Besides this, Hardy uses the setting to present the mood of his story. For instance, in Chapteru,Henchard and Susan meet in a gloomy, ancient ruin. By choosing the Ring as the setting, Hardy intends to tell us that their marriage will not be successful. For Henchard thought his wife was a burden to him even eighteen years ago, only because the feeling of guilty, he determines to make demands for the past by remarrying her. So Henchard chooses the Ring as their meeting place, for he does not want others to know his past. Susan, too, seems to feel that everything is not as simple as Henchard would like to have it. Even Hardy himself makes a point of telling us that the true lovers do not go to the Ring. .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c , .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c .postImageUrl , .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c , .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c:hover , .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c:visited , .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c:active { border:0!important; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c:active , .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u97819fdada3db3f2204debdb2e13477c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: 2006 Hurricane Risk Case Study EssayAnother point I want to emphases is the fact that Hardy is a poet as well as a novelist (John, Holloway, 197). Hardy himself preferred poetry to fiction. This has important results for his novels, as he tended to think in poetic term. And he use poetic devices- symbolism quite often in his novels. (Ken, Sobol, 106). Hardy tends to use the objects, characters, colors to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Such as:The Caged Goldfinch-In order to express his deep love to his daughter, Henchard visits Elizabeth Jane on her wedding day, carrying the gift of a caged goldfinch. He leaves the bird in a corner while he speaks to his stepdaughte r and forgets it when she coldly dismisses him. Days later, maid discovers the starved bird, which prompts Elizabeth Jane to search for Henchard, whom she finds dead in Abel Whittles cottage. When Whittle reports that Henchard didnt gain strength, for you see, maam, he couldnt eat. He unknowingly ties Henchards fate to the birds: both lived and died in prison, been starved of love. The goldfinchs was quite literal, while Henchards was the inescapable prison of his own personality and his past. Moreover, the use of symbols explains many other seeming coincidences and unbelievable occurrences (Ken, Sobol, 106). They are often meant to reveal something to the reader, rather than the pure fact. The arriving of the furmity woman, for example, symbolizes Henchards guilty past coming back to haunt him again. She is like his conscience, telling him that he is no better than the worst ones of Casterbridge. To his credit, to his belief, he does not attempt to deny his guilt. And the effigy of Henchard, which he finds in the river, is symbolic of his state of mind. He wants to kill himself, therefore he see the portrait of him in the river. In this novel, symbols are used to describe other people as well. For Lucetta, even the name is symbolic. The name Lucetta, like Farfrae is very interesting. Lucetta is a foreign name, not English, indicating that she id different from the Wessex natives. The name is romatic and attractive, just like the character of her, emotional and impulsive, given to quick decisions. When Hardy has Lucetta choose between two dresses, Lucetta picks the cherry colored one. That color symbolizes the skimmity-ride. Even the most cursory reading of The Mayor of Casterbridge reveals a structural pattern that relies heavily on coincidence. Indeed, the story would hardly progress if it were not for the chance occurrences that push Henchard closer and closer to the failure. For example, the reappearance of one long-lost character would test our willingness to believe, but here we witness the returns of Susan, the furmity-woman, and Newson, each of them brings a dark and fateful secret that contributes to Henchards doom. In real life anywhere conversations are not invariably overheard, kind of good sailor does not appear at the right time to buy wife, the weather does not always change just at the proper moment Although I, as modern reader, seems unlikely to excuse such over-determined plotting, with the help of the analyzing of the setting and symbols in the novel I attempt to understand it. Thomas Hardy said, in the novel, that, character is fate. Hardys reliance on coincidence relates directly to his philosophy of the world. As a determinist, Hardy believed that human life was shaped not by free will, but by character, besides it, there are such powerful, uncontrollable forces as heredity and God. Henchard rails against such forces throughout the novel, lamenting that the world seems designed to bring about his demise. In such an environment, coincidence seems less like a product of poor plot structure than an inevitable consequence of malicious universal forces. .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee , .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee .postImageUrl , .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee , .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee:hover , .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee:visited , .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee:active { border:0!important; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee:active , .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ufb708e3a570a7f0d99e38396c25201ee:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Alcohol abuse among the elderly EssayAt this extent, with the believe that both character and uncontrollable super nature force determined the fate, therefore the function of the using of setting and symbols in this novel is definitely clear, the setting present the mood and impressions of the story and the symbols reflect abstract ideas and concept. By using setting and symbols in the novel The Mayor of Casterbridge, the coincidences and the uncommon behaviors became acceptable and believable. THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE MAYOR OF THE CASTERBRIDGEBy Thomas HardyMacmillan and Co., Limited ST. Martins Street, London 1947REFRENCE:Vivian, De Sola Pinto The Wessex Novels Universi ty College, Southampton, 1947Holloway , John The Victorian Sage: Studies in Argument, London, 1958. Sobol, ken Thomas Hardys The Mayor of Casterbridge, SimonSchuster, 1964

Asian Americans as Model Minorities essays

Asian Americans as Model Minorities essays For 20 years, Asian Americans have been portrayed by the press and the media as a successful minority. Asian Americans are believed to benefit from astounding achievements in education, rising occupational statuses, increasing income, and are problem-fee in mental health and crime. The idea of Asian Americans as a model minority has become the central theme in media portrayal of Asian Americans since the middle 1960s. The term model minority is given to a minority group that exhibits middle class characteristics, and attains some measure of success on its own without special programs or welfare. Asian Americans are seen as a model minority because even though they have faced prejudice and discrimination by other racial groups, they have succeeded socially, economically, and educationally without resorting to political or violent disagreements with the majority race. The success of the minority is offered as proof that the American dream of equal opportunity is capable to those who conform and who are willing to work hard. Therefore, the term model minority really is a means (1) to control minority groups in society, (2) to validate and reinforce the values of the white majority, and (3) to inform other minority groups that they too could achieve success if they conform to the values and norms of the middle class. Statistics that support this model minority theory can be found in many areas, the first being education. Fifty percent of Asian Americans 25 and older hold a bachelors degree compared to twenty-nine percent of the white population. Many studies have used standardized tests and school records, such as SAT, GPA, and other measures to compare the academic performance of Asian American students with non-Asian American students. Several studies have indicated that the outstanding academic performance of Asian students might be attributed to their cultural ...

More About Mission

More About Mission More About Mission More About Mission By Mark Nichol A recent post listed and defined many words containing the element mit and miss and descended from the Latin verb mittere, meaning â€Å"send.† This follow-up offers related words not as easily discerned as being part of the mittere family. But first, here are the details about a word integral to this vocabulary family but not discussed in the previous post: Mission, the word that often forms the root of the noun form of words in the mittere family, itself means â€Å"job† or â€Å"task† or sometimes refers to those sent to do a job or task. Because the practice of sending religious personnel to convert people or provide aid to them historically also had political and economic motivations, the term came to apply also to assignments of diplomatic personnel and trade representatives. Also from the religious sense, a complex of buildings constructed to support such work is called a mission. (A particular style of architecture and furniture inspired by buildings and furnishings for Catholic missions in North America is called â€Å"mission style.†) Someone engaged in mission work in a religious context is a missionary; that term is also employed as an adjective to describe someone very supportive of a cause or eager about a job; this fervor might be described as â€Å"missionary zeal.† Mass, describing a church service,† derives from Latin by way of the Old English term mà ¦sse, which refers to the church service known as the Eucharist; it likely stems from the priest’s concluding statement, â€Å"Missa est† (â€Å"It has been sent†). Religious documents and publications generally capitalize the term, while in lay usage it is usually lowercase. (The noun and verb mass, referring to a large amount or crowd, is unrelated.) A missal, meanwhile, is a book containing prayers said or sung at various times of year during masses. Mess in the dining sense, usually employed to describe a meal seating in a military context, comes from the notion of sending a meal to be eaten. The sense of â€Å"jumble† or â€Å"state of confusion or untidiness,† and the meaning, by extension, of â€Å"quantity† derives from the original sense applied to mixed food given to animals. A message is a communication (as a verb, the word means â€Å"communicate by message† or â€Å"send a communication†); it can also apply, more broadly, to an idea or theme. The near synonym missive refers specifically to a letter, while a missile is a weapon â€Å"sent† by projecting or throwing. The phrase mise-en-scà ¨ne, borrowed directly from French, literally means â€Å"setting on the stage† and is based on the French noun mise, â€Å"a placing or putting†; it refers to the physical arrangement of performers and scenery in a live or recorded dramatic presentation or, by extension, the context or setting of a narrative or the environment of a place in general. To dismiss is to disregard or send away; such an act is a dismissal. Demise is a formal synonym for death that also applies to the end of activity or existence or the loss of position or status, as well as conveying sovereignty or an estate; in the latter sense, it is used in legal contexts as a verb. (In the sense of â€Å"death,† such usage is rare.) A premise is an idea or statement accepted as true or the sake of argument or to discuss a reasoning; the word is also employed as a verb in that sense. In plural form, it has the specific formal meaning â€Å"buildings and the piece of land on which they are built.† (This usage stems from the fact that in legal documents, where such property was often described, premise was employed to mean â€Å"something previously stated.†) Surmise means â€Å"imagine† or â€Å"infer,† or refers to having a poorly supported idea or thought; such is also referred to as a surmise. A promise is a pledge or vow- one literally â€Å"sent forth†- or the action of pledging or vowing; the word also pertains to an expectation, as in â€Å"the promise of rain† or â€Å"showing promise.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Idioms About Numbers75 Synonyms for â€Å"Talk†Threw and Through

Introduction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Introduction - Essay Example Such as enhancing my vocabulary, encouraging powerful writing skills and ensuring wide-ranged career opportunities and advancement options so that I could become stable in the future. Personally, I was keen on improving my command on English language, and the course offered me this opportunity. Emails are extremely important nowadays at any workplace since communications by email are conducted daily. Reading and Writing emails is an essential tool in my company too. Writing email is itself an art and effective writing skills are necessary to write eloquent emails. However, I would primarily focus on improving not just my written but verbal communication skills in English language too so that getting along with others effectively becomes possible for me. I find it difficult to convey my ideas in a clear and precise manner both on paper or during speech and listeners/readers cannot correctly comprehend what I am trying to express and deliver through my thoughts. It has been pretty challenging for me to communicate effectively in written and/or spoken English writing or speaking because it is my second language. However, I plan to overcome this language barrier as it causes a dilemma for me every day. I have taken too many courses to help me out in this context, and I plan to learn more in this class. I am sure it will take a lot of time and dedication to accomplish that, but I am looking forward to it. My main focuses in life are school, work, and most of my free time is spent reading. If I find the title and the theme interesting, I just read it without caring about who is the author. My favourite reading materials are the ones that have some underlying message such as which teach me how to become a better person. Topics like etiquette, human relationships, and personal fitness are some of my preferences. I have always believed

Information Technology in Contemporary Business Annotated Bibliography

Information Technology in Contemporary Business - Annotated Bibliography Example Coulson-Thomas believes: 'IT departments need to rise above equipping people to use standard corporate technologies and help key workgroups such as bid teams working on critical tasks to be more effective. Rather than spend money on infrastructure IT directors need to become more involved in revenue earning activities.' But the major problem comes out to summarizing the cost within all the departments in an organization. It comes to the count of what should be the different cost for an individual department within an organization. For any individual IT department, it requires the setup cost, with other departments as because all the departments need to make proper links with the IT department. If an organization is organized with five or six departments, then, there must have an IT department that will serve for the IT department. ...The costs of such service departments must be allocated to the production departments, which in turn will allocate them to the product. It is known that one can view the cost allocation problem as a fascinating Markov process, with the production departments as the absorbing states and the service departments as the transient states. Using Markov analysis, we will show that this yields additional insight into the underlying concept of reciprocal service department cost allocation by proving that the "full service" department costs can be used to determine the price that should be paid to an external supplier of the same service currently supplied by the service department."So far, it has a similarity with a quote that should be in mind that if the whole cost is not owed within all the departments, as per its self usages of the department by prefix schedule of target budget, they must take all the advantages of the benefits of IT resources. These sounds can be found here if we consider another example for an IT department, we can say, "Any organization can develop an IT department, getting profit developing IT department is the hard part." Nevertheless, operating a profitable IT department can be achieved with appropriate management routines in place. Determining your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), tracking purchases and sales, and attending to the spending habits of your customers are the fundamentals of every successful IT departments.

Demonstrated Effectiveness of Training within the Workplace to Improve

The Quality Management Plan at Club Nova reflects two core quality improvement plans: House Cleanliness and Employee Retention. Club Nova collects member and staff satisfaction data at least semi-annually in order to analyze that data and to make headway in finding a remedy for these two issues. Alas, no solution has been found. Staff turnover rate is at an all-time high, with 6 of 10 staff having left Club Nova since July 2011. For the members, I recognize that losing valued and favored staff will result in decreased member participation and attendance, strained interactions with new staff, and overall dissatisfaction with the functioning of Club Nova. My solution is simple. Club Nova should invest in its staff. According to Nowack’s research (2011), 42.6% of those within his study reported that career growth and learning opportunities were a significant factor in their continued employment at a given job. Staff who are more knowledgeable about the Clubhouse Model and who receive various on-going training will operate a more efficient program, will experience less frustrations in dealing with the organizational style within Club Nova, and will enjoy their work significantly more thereby reducing staff turnover and improving member satisfaction. Which Staff & Members Do We Offer Training? Club Nova is a unique environment in which all members and staff function along-side each other to complete the tasks during the work-ordered day. Trainings should not be any different in this model. Tanvir, Hussain, & Janjua, (2011) defined training as the â€Å"attainment of the skill, ideas and attitudes to obtain the desired performance and results.† Given that the responsibilities of the day fall on both members and staff, each pe... ...nd Stress.† Envisia Learning, http://abstracts.envisialearning.com/78-abstractFile.pdf Olivero, G., Bane, K., & Kopelman, R. (1997). â€Å"Executive coaching as a transfer of training tool: effects on productivity in a public agency.† Public Personnel Management, 26(4), 461-469. â€Å"Schedule,† Retrieved from http://www.fountainhouse.org/content/schedule Smith, A., Oczkowski, E., & Smith, C. (2011). To have and to hold: Modelling the drivers of employee turnover and skill retention in Australian Organisations. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(2), 395-416. doi:10.1080/09585192.2011.540162 Tanvir, M., Hussain, A., & Janjua, S. (2011). A Remedy based Concept: Impact of Encounter Service, Culture and Employees Training on Customers Satisfaction of Hospitality Industry. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research In Business, 3(2), 1237-1247.

Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone Essay

The Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone (RUF/SL) invaded Sierra Leone from Liberia in March 1991. Initially they claimed to be a political movement supporting ‘liberation’ and ‘democracy. Instead the RUF, in reality, was an insecurely combined organization of mainly rebellious young people that inflicted mortal disaster throughout the country of Sierra Leone. The political revolution message failed to attract popular support, the RUF board on a barbarian ten-year civil war that had devastating consequences for civilians, in particular children. General Information about Child Soldiers The numbers of child soldiers are continually variable given the growth of diverse armed conflicts. The number of children under the age of 18 who have been forced or induced to take up arms as child soldiers is commonly thought to be around of 300,000. Non-governmental military organizations tend to recruit soldiers under the age of 15.Governmental armed forces, on the other hand, are more likely to recruit soldiers under the age of 18. From what is known the age of 7 is the youngest a child soldier can be. Over 50 countries currently take on children under the age of 18 into their militia. [pic] Figure 1. The African situation since Africa has without any doubt the largest number of child soldiers[1] What is a Child Soldier? UNICEF, The United Nations Children Fund, defines child soldiers as â€Å"any child—boy or girl—under eighteen years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity[2]. According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers: â€Å"Child soldiers perform a range of tasks including participation in combat, laying mines and explosives; scouting, spying, acting as decoys, couriers or guards; training, drill or other preparations; logistics and support functions, portering, cooking and domestic labour; and sexual slavery or other recruitment for sexual purposes.†[3] Girls are also called child soldiers and this is the case for many reasons. Girls usually fulfil numerous roles. While they are commonly recruited and used for sexual purposes, they are almost always also caught up in other military responsibilities. These include fighting, laying explosives, portering, and performing domestic tasks. How many child soldiers are there? It is difficult to give a worldwide number of child soldiers at any one time. There are various reasons as to why exact figures cannot be calculated. An example is that military commanders frequently mask children or do not allow access to observers. Armed groups regularly operate in dangerous, unapproachable zones to which observers do not have access and many children carry out support roles and are therefore not visible in military operations. How do children become soldiers? A special report on the impact of armed conflict on children which was created in 1996 explained how children become soldiers. In the report it is stated ‘Hunger and poverty may drive parents to offer children for service or attract children to volunteer as a way to guarantee regular meals, clothing or medical attention. Some children become soldiers to protect themselves or their families in the face of violence and chaos around them, while others, particularly adolescents, are lured by ideology. Children also identify with social causes, religious expression, self-determination, national liberation or the pursuit of political freedom, as in South Africa or the occupied territories.† [4] Another reason emphasizes the efficient value of children, especially for tedious tasks. An important explanation to keep in mind could be that child soldiers may be valuable for signalling purposes. A rebel leader may hope to show significance, commitment or terror through abduction of a child[5]. Finally, some people insist that young children are more malleable, adaptable, and obedient, as well as more easily persuaded and deceived. Therefore they are said to be easier to manage and retain[6]. If children are as productive as adults, we should find a disproportionate number in armed groups. The following two case studies give examples of what a girl and a boy have gone through during Sierra Leone’s devastating civil war. By describing their tasks, the reasons as to why these violate Human Rights can be clearly seen. Case Study: Fatmata Fatmata was one of only two survivors from her village in Sierra Leone. She was barely six years old when she was captured by the cruel rebel groups. She was taken to a rebel stronghold and forced to work under harsh conditions as a servant. In Fatmata’s own words: â€Å"We had to work all day while they would curse my mother and abuse me†. When she got older, Fatmata was forced to become the second wife of one of her rebel captors, therefore meaning she was raped and gave birth to the child of a rebel.[7] Case Study: Ishmael Beah In ‘A Long Way Gone’: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a successfully enthralling story of his life as a child soldier. At the age of twelve, he fled from rebel attacks and wandered a land caused to be unrecognizable by brutality. By thirteen, he had been captured by the government army, and Beah, even though he was a gentle young boy at heart, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. At sixteen, he was taken away from fighting by UNICEF. Beah, like many other child soldiers, had gone through devastating psychological traumas and through the help of the staff at his rehabilitation centre, he learned how to forgive himself, to regain his humanity and was finally able to heal.[8] Human Rights According to the Truth and Reconciliations commissions report the use of local as well as international human rights mechanisms in responding to the shocking criminal acts that took place in Sierra Leone during the previous decade is important to the development of international human rights law[9]. Sierra Leone became a member of the United Nations in 1961 and is a signatory to most of the important human rights committees including the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The Government of Sierra Leone has also ratified the optional protocol. Children Rights Act has been enacted in Sierra Leone quite recently in 2007. The Government of Sierra Leone signed and ratified the Protocol on 8 September 2000 and 15 May 2002. Convention to the Rights of a Child The Convention to the Rights of a Child (CRC) is built on diverse legal systems as well as cultural traditions. The Convention is a universally agreed set of fixed standards and obligations. These human rights set the least amount of pre-emptive declaration and freedoms that should be valued by governments. In Article 38, the Convention on the Rights of the Child insist that governments to take all possible measures to guarantee that children under 15 have no direct involvement in warfare. The Convention also sets 15 years as the minimum age at which a person can be willingly recruited into or willingly signs up in the armed forces.[10] Optional Protocol The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the contribution of children in armed conflict symbolizes a progressive leap in the international law in order to defend children from the damaging effects of recruitment and use in warfare. The Protocol requires States who authorize it to obtain all practicable measures to make sure those members who are part of their armed forces and are under the age of 18 do not have a direct involvement in the fighting’s. States must also raise the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the armed forces from 15 years but does not require a minimum age of 18. The Protocol reminds States that children under 18 years are entitled to distinctive protection and so any voluntary recruitment under the age of 18 must include adequate protection. Compulsory recruitment below the age of 18 is fully banned and States parties must also take legal measures to forbid self-governing armed groups from recruiting and using children under the age of 18 in conflicts.[11] ARTICLE 1 of the Optional Protocol: ‘States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that members of their armed forces who have not attained the age of 18 years do not take a direct part in hostilities.’ This shows that the Protocol raised the age that children are allowed to be a member of an illegal or legal armed force from 15 years to 18 years. UNICEF and ‘The International Rescue Committee’ and how they have helped In Sierra Leone, UNICEF was the lead agency for child protection, which worked with its colleagues to reduce arms, and to release and reconnect process for child soldiers from 1998 to 2002.They construct protective and healthy educational environments where former child soldiers obtain the opportunity to learn how to live without weapons, gain new skills which enables them to be prepared for their future and to learn how to become prolific citizens in their society. Most importantly they are given a second chance to learn how to be children again. Demobilized children were moved to temporary care centres supported by UNICEF where they were given health care and also psychosocial counselling. They also participated in educational and recreational activities while family tracing reunification was going on. A vast majority of former child soldiers have been reunited with their families. Access to education and family and community support programmes have been the key to their success to help the former child soldiers[12]. With headquarters in Freetown and three field offices in Kono, Kenema and Kailhaun districts, the International Rescue Committee provides programs that focus on child protection, education, and health, specifically for former child soldiers after the civil war ended in 2000. The IRC works to increase local participation in project activities, build local capacity, promote and protect human rights, partner with local communities and organizations, and address relief and development needs in a holistic fashion. The Revolutionary United Front rebels released 600 child soldiers. The International Rescue Committee provided education, skills training, and psychosocial care to 100 of them[13]. Conclusion To conclude, there have been many programmes that have been created to reduce and assist former child soldiers. Off course it is not possible to help every single child soldier and there are many reasons for this. Some of the reasons are that there are still a number of these soldiers that may still be involved and their whereabouts are not known. During the civil war, many of the parents of these children were killed, so it is difficult to reunite them with their families, and if they are lucky another family member may still be alive in order to look after them. Organisations, like UNICEF, provide homes for former child soldiers who are unlucky to not have anybody. By education and counselling, children learn to forgive themselves for violent crimes they were forced to commit and help themselves to progress in the future. REFERENCES †¢ Beah, I (2007). ‘A Long Way Gone’: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York: Harper Perennial. p5-218. †¢ Beber, B and Blattman, C. (2010). The Industrial Organization of Rebellion: The Logic of Forced Labor and Child Soldiering*. Available: http://chrisblattman.com/documents/research/2010.IOofRebellion.pdf. Last accessed 6th December 2010. †¢ Coalition to stop the use of Child Soldiers. (2007). Questions and Answers. Available: http://www.child-soldiers.org/childsoldiers/questions-and-answers. Last accessed 1st December 2010. †¢ Michael Odeh and Colin Sullivan. Children in Armed Conflict. Available: http://www.yapi.org/rpchildsoldierrehab.pdf. Last accessed 8th December 2010. †¢ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (1990). Convention on the Rights of the Child . Available: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm. Last accessed 8th December 2010. †¢ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2000). Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Available: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc-conflict.htm. Last accessed 8th December 2010. †¢ Report of the Sierra Leone Truth & Reconciliation Commission. (2004). Children and the Armed Conflict in Sierra Leone. Vol. 3B, p231-340. †¢ Spagnoli, F. (2008). Human Rights Quote (49): Child Soldiers. Available: http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/stats-on-human-rights/statistics-on-war-conflict/statistics-on-child-soldiers/. Last accessed 8th December 2010. †¢ UNICEF. CHILD SOLDIERS. Available: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/briefing/soldiers/soldiers.pdf. Last accessed 1st December 2010. †¢ UNICEF. FACTSHEET: CHILD SOLDIERS. Available: http://www.unicef.org/emerg/files/childsoldiers.pdf. Last accessed 8th †¢ UNICEF. (29 April 2008). What is a child soldier?. Available: http://www.unicef.org/emerg/index_childsoldiers.html. Last accessed 4th December 2010. †¢ UN Works. Fatmata’s Story. Available: http://www.un.org/works/goingon/soldiers/fatmata_story.html. Last accessed 8th December 2010. ———————– [1] Spagnoli, F. (2008). Human Rights Quote (49): Child Soldiers. Available: http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/stats-on-human-rights/statistics-on-war-conflict/statistics-on-child-soldiers/. Last accessed 8th December 2010. [2] UNICEF. (29 April 2008). What is a child soldier?. Available: .† http://www.unicef.org/emerg/index_childsoldiers.html. Last accessed 4th December 2010. [3] Coalition to stop the use of Child Soldiers. (2007). Questions and Answers. Available: http://www.child-soldiers.org/childsoldiers/questions-and-answers. Last accessed 1st December 2010. [4] UNICEF. CHILD SOLDIERS. Available: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/briefing/soldiers/soldiers.pdf. Last accessed 1st December 2010. [5] Beber, B and Blattman, C. (2010). The Industrial Organization of Rebellion: The Logic of Forced Labor and Child Soldiering*. Available: http://chrisblattman.com/documents/research/2010.IOofRebellion.pdf. Last accessed 6th December 2010. [6] Beber, B and Blattman, C. (2010). The Industrial Organization of Rebellion: The Logic of Forced Labor and Child Soldiering*. Available: http://chrisblattman.com/documents/research/2010.IOofRebellion.pdf. Last accessed 6th December 2010. [7] UN Works. Fatmata†™s Story. Available: http://www.un.org/works/goingon/soldiers/fatmata_story.html. Last accessed 8th December 2010. [8] Beah, I (2007). ‘A Long Way Gone’: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York: Harper Perennial. p5-218. [9] Report of the Sierra Leone Truth & Reconciliation Commission. (2004). Children and the Armed Conflict in Sierra Leone. Vol. 3B, p231-340. [10] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (1990). Convention on the Rights of the Child . Available: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm. Last accessed 8th December 2010. [11] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2000). Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Available: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc-conflict.htm. Last accessed 8th December 2010. [12] UNICEF. FACTSHEET: CHILD SOLDIERS. Available: http://www.unicef.org/emerg/files/childsoldiers.pdf. Last accessed 8th [13] Michael Odeh and Colin Sullivan. Children in Armed Conflict. Available: http://www.yapi.org/rpchildsoldierrehab.pdf. Last accessed 8th December 2010.