How Mark Twains Views on Slavery Evolved

How Mark Twains Views on Slavery Evolved What did Mark Twain write about slavery? How did Twains background influence his position on slavery? Was he a racist? Born in a Slave State Mark Twain was a product of  Missouri, a slave state. His father was a judge, but he also traded in slaves at times. His uncle, John Quarles, owned 20 slaves, so Twain witnessed the practice of slavery firsthand whenever he spent summers at his uncles place. Growing up in Hannibal, Missouri,  Twain witnessed a slave owner brutally murder  a slave for merely doing something awkward. The owner had thrown a rock at the slave with such force that it killed him. Evolution of Twains Views on Slavery It is possible to trace the evolution of Twains thoughts on slavery in his writing, ranging from a pre-Civil War letter that reads somewhat racist to postwar utterances that reveal his clear opposition to slavery and his revulsion of slaveholders. His more telling statements on the subject are listed here in chronological order:   In a letter written in 1853, Twain wrote: I reckon I had better black my face, for in these Eastern states, nrs are considerably better than white people. Nearly two decades later, Twain  wrote to his good friend, novelist, literary critic, and playwright  William Dean Howells  about Roughing It  (1872):  I am as uplifted and reassured by it as a mother who has given birth to a white baby when she was awfully afraid it was going to be a mulatto. Twain laid bare his opinion of slavery in his classic  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,  published in 1884.  Huckleberry, a runaway boy, and Jim, a runaway slave, sailed down the Mississippi together on a flimsy raft. Both had escaped abuse: the boy at the hands of his family, Jim from his owners. As they travel,  Jim,  a caring and loyal friend, becomes a father figure to Huck, opening the boys eyes to the human face of slavery. Southern society at the time considered  helping a runaway slave like Jim, who was thought to be inviolable property, the worst crime you could commit short of murder. But Huck sympathized so profoundly with Jim that the boy freed him. In Twains Notebook #35, the writer explains:   It seemed natural enough to me then; natural enough that Huck his father the worthless loafer should feel it approve it, though it seems now absurd. It shows that that strange thing, the conscience- the unerring monitor- can be trained to approve any wild thing you want it to approve if you begin its education early and stick to it. Twain  wrote in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court (1889): The blunting effects of slavery upon the slaveholders moral perceptions are known and conceded the world over; and a privileged class, an aristocracy, is but a band of slaveholders under another name. In  his essay The Lowest Animal  (1896), Twain wrote: Man is the only Slave. And he is the only animal who enslaves. He has always been a slave in one form or another  and has always held other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another. In our day, he is always some mans slave for wages and does that mans work, and this slave has other slaves under him for minor wages, and they do his work. The higher animals are the only ones who exclusively do their own work and provide their own living. Then in 1904, Twain wrote in his notebook: The skin of every human being contains a slave. Twain said In his autobiography, finished in 1910 just four months before his death and published in three volumes, beginning at his behest  in 2010: The class lines were quite clearly drawn and the familiar social life of each class was restricted to that class. For most of Twains life, he railed against slavery in letters, essays, and novels as an evil manifestation of mans inhumanity to man. He eventually became a crusader against the thinking that sought to justify it.

About real estate in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

About real estate in China - Essay Example Even they have experienced appreciation in price too. In this scenario certain statistics can be encompassed. Prices of high-end real estate have risen up to 54% from September of the year 2009 and the price became $500 per square foot. Even only in November, the housing prices rose 5.7% in 70 major cities. Construction of houses had drafted a nationwide staggering rise of 194 percent (Bloomberg Business week, â€Å"Is China Headed for A Major Real Estate Bubble?†). Not only the real estate but also the economy of China has also been booming. China has experienced a growth of 17.4% in the average annual rate of foreign trade. It has increased up to US$ 2,173.7 billion from US$ 20.6 billion over last 30 years (Xinhua, â€Å"China Ranks 2nd with 8.8% Of Worlds Exports  In 2007†). With economic growth, purchasing power of an individual will also be high and at the same time their consumption level will also enhance. It indicates that they will either opt for luxury or will seek for investment option. In both the situations, real estate industry will be benefited. Being a student of Finance and possessing sound knowledge in economics, I am well aware of the recent economic developments in China. Moreover it has left its footprint in the world economy during the global recession. It will be my privilege to work in such an economy. Even it is a recognized fact that getting involved with an industry in its growth period is a way of enhancing experience level. Real estate business of China is also booming and enjoyed a huge growth in last few years. Therefore being a professional, it will be a great opportunity for me to join your organization of repute and raise my career graph. I have completed my education from United States. I possess an MBA degree with specialization in Finance. Therefore I have a strong background in Finance. Even while pursuing MBA, I was engaged with the study of economics as

Effectiveness of Fall Prevention International Levels Essay

Effectiveness of Fall Prevention International Levels - Essay Example In a year between 700,000 and 1,000,000 people fall in the United States and have to access healthcare and social services through putting a strain on the effective use of resources for research and development in healthcare (Ganz, A., Huang C., Saliba D. et al., 2013). Financing a high number of such falls puts a strain on the health and social services in any country keeping in mind that these costs can be avoided by running effective fall prevention programs. Another social costs as a result of falling that could be alleviated by effective fall prevention are reducing the fear of falling, admittance to nursing facility, or reduced social and physical activity. These factors have health and social costs and effective fall prevention allows for the social planners and managers to have other services available for the people and improving healthcare that could be used up in provision of healthcare facilities and spaces for treating fall patients. The other benefit of effective fall prevention is the achievement of better standards of living by the community members and patients in healthcare facilities (Registered Nurses of Ontario, 2011). Effective fall prevention measures allows for reduced sicknesses from falls, reallocation of funds to other areas including education, better nutrition, housing, investment, among other areas from funds that could have facilitated access to treatments for injuries resulting from falls. The main challenge facing the achievement of effective prevention at the international level is the need for an interdisciplinary approach for care delivery for fall prevention. Fall prevention requires the concerted efforts of all individuals involved in care delivery for a patient. Different multiple disciplines and teams have to come together to provide effective fall prevention since one clinician no matter the extent of his/her talent cannot

Diversity in the Work Place Essay Example for Free

Diversity in the Work Place Essay Diversity in the work place has been a subject of contention for decades whether taken on the perspective of gender parity, in terms of race or considering factors that constitute age of the individuals at the work place. In addition, the contemporary world is changing so fast such that the factors that play role in sustainable social development in the society are generally changing. With organizations like the WLO (World Labor Organization) taking proactive steps towards ensuring equitable resource allocation at the work place for both men and women, it is a point of concern for anyone to consider the capability of women to perform the same task as do men and if they receive or should receive equal payment (Vardy et al 2008). The focal point of this paper is an in-depth scrutiny of whether women are capable of performing the same work as men and if at all they are equally paid for the same job done. In order for the paper to provide a clear view of this issue, it endeavors to analyze the values and judgments pertaining to the present human resource practices. By doing this, it will provide an insight focus on the future of these human resource practices in the work environment. Therefore the backbone of this discussion is the case of gender discrimination at the Home depot stores. Introduction Societal dynamics have put a level ground- or have endeavored to place a level ground- for both men and women to equally benefit from their achievement without discrimination. Nevertheless, the question of equal pay for equal work has persistently beleaguered the American place of work. Though federal and state laws proscribe varied pay rates based on sex, wide-ranging statistics indicate that the American woman has historically continued to receive less pay than the man. To some extent, this disparity comes about as a result of the fact that relatively more women are generally employed in fields like service sector work jobs which are traditionally less paying. On the same platform women’s rights organizations and union maintain that promotion of women employees to the executive positions on limited basis is a clear reflection of gender discrimination at the work place. Historically, professional and executive ranks in organizations have predominantly been occupied by men. Despite the fact that the latest trends show an increase in the number of women obtaining such posts, the proportion of women the population is bigger and therefore they still lag behind significantly (Conrad, 2007). Values, judgments, regarding present Human Resource practices It is worth noting that several legislative acts have been put forth to guide the present human resource practices at the work place. Similarly, these nondiscrimination laws have been intended to provide a guideline for employers to offer equal chances for women and men without discrimination. Despite these laws there is still more to be done as general trends show that there is still disparity and pay gaps. Other than these nondiscrimination laws, the central government and various states have implemented affirmative action laws since 1970s. These laws require employers should apply fairness and be just when recruiting employees and promoting. Though some business entities slowly embraced the laws they still remain to be among the most difficult issues Along with issues about a womans place in the work force, they continue to be some of the most complicated issues concerning American employers and workers (Swartz et al 2007). Gender and Sexual Orientation in the Workplace Women are playing a progressively more significant function in the workplace. Nonetheless with statistics showing that the gender disparity is still wide open, employers cannot afford to overlook gender-related matters and have to carry on with the endeavor to avert gender inequalities in the place of work. A number of legislations have been enacted to act as a guiding line for employers in the modern workplace. Thus the federal agencies have recognized the importance of making the workplace a friendly and fairly rewarding place to those who are employed there without discrimination. Among the regulations include the Equal Pay act, sex Discrimination Act and regulations like Employment Equality regulation (Vardy et al 2008). Case: Sex Discrimination Lawsuit against Wal-Mart Overview of Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Stores, Incorporation is an American public corporation that operates a chain of large, price cut department stores. It is the worlds biggest public corporation by returns. It is also the world largest retailer with over 7,200 stores with close to 975 discount stores. Wal-mart employs about 700,000 women and counts as the largest private sector employer of women in the United States. It is only unfortunate that these women employees have had to endure conditions of unequal pay and favoritism in advancement and assignments of tasks. These inequities happen at all levels of management in the organization starting from the worker who works on hourly basis up to the one at the senior management level (Swartz et al 2007). Current Lawsuit Wal-Mart Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Wal-Mart is presently confronted with the likelihood of compensating out billions of dollars in recompense for purportedly discriminating against the thousands of women workers. A group of courageous women came forth to claim for compensation for alleged discrimination at work. As a snapshot of the corporation, it has close to a million employees in the US and Canada. Among these employees, over 40% are female. The problem that arises is that of the 40% only and in fact less than 30% of the management positions are held by female employees. Values and Judgments Most organizations have taken a proactive stance towards creating an environment for equal opportunity devoid of gender discrimination. Globalization and the general paradigm shift that has made the idea of integration fast acceptable and worth embracing have also made it possible for organizations all over the globe to embrace the changes that call for equality at the place of work. In this manner therefore the modern organization is up on heels to create a climate of equal opportunity by coming up with models and frameworks that are specifically geared towards managing diversity. The problem that comes along this is that the contemporary working environment is heavily complicated and therefore a number of business entities, for fear of change or uncertain about the impact of change are reluctant to embrace such measures. Those embracing it are doing it at a lag pace. This arises from the complexity of the manner in which environmental issues, values, factors, and cognitions create diverse perceptions concerning fair treatment at the place of work. The group of women who advanced a case against Wal-Mart identified a number of malpractices in human resources management at the corporation. There are several tactics employed by Wal-Mart to d discriminate against women employees. These tactics are basically executed through methods ranging from pay disparities to denial of promotion (Vardy et al 2008) Unequal Pay The women decried the two pay scales used at Wal-Mart and identified it as a major hitch in human resources management practices. This practice shortchanges the women since they perform the same job and tasks just as men yet men workers are paid between five and fifteen percent more than women. On the same platform, further statistics indicate that even if the women were given a promotion into management this does not guarantee them any better as far as fair treatment is concerned. Though women at the corporation have higher ratings and longer seniority ratings on average as compared to their male counterparts, those who make it to the top management positions are still discriminated against as they receive an annual pay about $5,000 less than the man counterpart in the same position. Male management trainees receive an annual pay nearly $5,000 more than female counterparts. And the top executive positions are also not spared. Women employees holding top executive positions at Wal-Mart are exposed to discrimination. This is evident from the fact that the women employee who holds this position receives an average of about $279,800 on annual basis as compared to a male counterpart who receives more than three- quarters of this more. Methodical Denial of Advancement Despite the fact that women employees constitute more than 70% of the workforce in the corporation men dominate the ranks of management. Women only comprise less than 35% of managers and less than 20% of the managers. Lower paying jobs in the corporation are concentrated with women where they make the biggest percentage. Jobs like sales associates and cashiers are filled b y women in percentages than men. Wal-Mart is trapped in the Past Wal-Mart provides work for fewer women in administration in the present day than its competitors did in 1975. Twenty equivalent traders employed an average of 41. 6% women managers by then. Today, Wal-Mart provides employment for slightly over 30%. Today, Wal-Mart’s competitors have over 55% of management positions made up of women employees constitute (Christian et al 2006). Women encounter unreasonable barriers to promotion at Wal-Mart On average, a male employee takes about 2 years to be promoted to the rank of assistant manager, counted from the day of hire. The woman employee will be promoted to the same rank in about four years’ period. Impediments are created in the organization and hinder women from getting promotion as their male counterparts. For instance, one among the women who sued the corporations said that though she had worked for seven years at the company and managed to receive evaluations indicating â€Å"goes beyond expectations† was advised to commit herself in writing to working overnight in the stores for two years when she expressed a desire to be accorded a promotion. This was strange since the men employees were not required to undergo such process to be promoted. Key Success Factors for Women in Management positions Though women at work place have been discriminated in several ways, there are also several factors that influence women’s future career development in management. Campaigns have been staged world over by a number of organizations both governmental and non-governmental to promote education without discriminating against girls. This has made it possible for women to prosper in various management positions thus gaining representation in fields like science and other professional jobs. Women continue to excel in these areas just as men. A study was carried out in Turkey which explored the factors that play role in women’s career advancement. The study revealed that though women have a substantial representation in professional and scientific jobs, they are only represented by 4% in top management. The most significant factor that was identified as a major barrier to women’s career advancement is the cultural norms towards gender roles. Cultural norms that are bent and biased against women in the society extend into the field of management thus causing the same bias against women even in management of business entities (Conrad, 2007). Verdict In conclusion, the supreme court dealing with the issue of Wal-Mart discrimination against women is likely to suggest that the group of women be compensated by the corporation for the wrong done. The future of women performance and appraisal at the workplace looks bright since if several of such rulings are passed in favor of the wronged groups of women, other likely perpetrators of women discrimination will hold back. This will encourage the appreciation of the fact that the modern woman is capable of performing the same duty the man performs and the employing organization should find no trouble paying her for the task. Works Cited Christian, J. , Porter L. W. , and Moffitt G. â€Å"Workplace Diversity and Group Relations: An Overview Group Processes Intergroup Relations†, (2006). 9, (4). 459-466. Conrad, Alison M. (Ed) â€Å"Hand Book of workplace Diversity† 2007. Swartz L. Garden, Rowe A. , Digh P. and Bennett, M. â€Å"The Global Diversity: Supervision of an International Workforce† 2007 Vardy, F. J. J. and Morgan, J. â€Å"Diversity in the Workplace† 2008

spanning tree protocol :: essays research papers

Spanning Tree Protocol Spanning tree protocol is a protocol that prevents loops that are not wanted in a network. In order for a network to work properly it has to have only one active path between two network stations. If there are multiple active paths between stations loops can and will occur. When loops occur, there can sometimes be duplicate messages in the network. The loops are created by the network and if the devices that connect the network segments are all configured to forward, they will continuously forward frames into an endless network loop. If there are enough loops going then a frame will not reach its destination. The reason duplicate messages occur is because sometimes switches will see situations appear on both sides of it. When this occurs that is when spanning tree protocol comes in. In order to shut down the loops bridges and switches exchange BPDU messages with other bridges and switches to detect loops and then remove them by shutting down selected bridge interfaces. BPDU is short for bridge protocol data unit. Bridge protocol data units are part of the spanning tree protocol and they help describe and identify the parts of a switch port. The bridge protocol data unit allows switches to obtain information about each other. All the switches gather information from each other by exchanging data messages. In order for them to exchange messages they have to elect a root switch for the topology. The root switch has to be unique. The way they elect they have to have a unique switch for every local area network segment. To exchange messages they have to remove all loops by putting them in a backup state. Now to talk about states there is 5 different states. Two of the five states do not participate in frame forwarding. Frame forwarding is what the three main states do. The three main states are listening, learning, and forwarding. The other 2 are blocking state and disabled state. When you enable the spanning tree protocol the network goes through the blocking state and then the listening state and learning state are enabled after being turned on. If the protocol is properly configured the ports are stabilized to the forwarding or blocking state. The blocking state does not participate in the frame forwarding. It removes frames that are received from the attached segment. It also discards frames from another port for forwarding.

HR manager interview Essay

1- What made you choose HR to be your career? Answer: I work well with people and I have great communication and organizational skills. I like to be treated as a valuable person that 2- Tell me about your company’s culture. Answer: The culture of the company is diverse as it is an equal employment opportunity employer. 3- What, according to you, are the qualities that an HR executive/manager must have? Answer: An HR executive must have leadership skills, excellent communication skills, good writing skills, and strong organizational skills. 4- What does your hiring process look like? Answer: We have a recruiting specialist that publishes job postings on multiple online sources, including various university websites, LinkedIn, Monster, etc. The recruiting specialist selects qualified applicants who are then called for an initial screening over the phone. The information from the phone screening is discussed with the manager. If the applicant possesses all the desired qualities, they are then called back for a face-to-face interview. The hiring committee consists of multiple individuals that vary based on the position (these individuals can include the benefits specialist, training specialist, HR business partner, etc). Each member interviews the applicant individually. The applicant is asked a series of questions. After the interview, the members of the hiring committee meet to discuss the applicant and make a final selection. 5- Do you have an HR system? If yes, what is it? Is it effective? Answer: We use a software system called Ceridian that tracks all employees, both active and terminated. Terminated employees are kept in the system for legality purposes. The system also tracks PTO hours, benefits, paychecks, etc. Employees can find all this information there. We also use a Learning Management System (LMS) called Saba. This is a training database that stores all the training the employees have completed. 6- Does your company do exit reviews? If yes, how do utilize the information? Answer: We do exit reviews in an effort to understand why the employee left. It is also an opportunity to transfer knowledge and experience before the employee leaves. 7- What type of performance assessment system do you use in your organization? Is it effective? Answer: 8- What methods do you use to ensure diversity within your organization? Answer: When we hire an employee, we use a targeted selection to collect job-related behavior. 9- What BDs (Business Developments) do you use to develop your staff? Is it effective? Answer: 10- How does pay/salary background helps with deciding the salary for a new applicant? Answer: Thank you for your time and efforts!

Baldwin Norman

The profundity of silence is a theme that plays a significant role in the works â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† by James Baldwin and â€Å" ’night, Mother† by Marsha Norman. The two tales represent confessions by family members that uncover the profound effect that each person’s communication method has had on the other. In particular, one identifies a lack of communication within both family relationships that demonstrates itself in an overabundance of silence.Baldwin’s tale recounts the woes of a certain brother who feels himself somehow responsible for the tragic events that have faced his younger sibling, and it portrays a relationship that lacks effective communication. Likewise, Norman portrays a family that has spent its usefulness in the avoidance of conversation. She eventually reveals the inadequacies of the mother who is at last unable to rescue her child from the pressures that cause her to contemplate death as the only acceptable option.The protagonists of each story find themselves in family relationships that fall short of the support necessary to prevent each from receding beyond the point of recovery. The tale rehashed in Marsha Norman’s play â€Å" ‘night, Mother† explores the hopelessness that leads to suicide, and in so doing, closely maps the psychological condition of the character Jessie (Whited 65). It takes the analysis of the situation into the realm of the family and considers that cocoon to be the engine that generates and exacerbates the problem Jessie faces. The â€Å"problem† is given its lineage in the relationships experienced by the members of the family.The relationships appear to be filled with action and devoid of communication. Of her own culpability, Mama says, â€Å"I didn’t tell you things or I married you off to the wrong man or I took you in and let your life get away from you or all of it put together† (lines 611-613). This circumstance points tow ard an overemphasizing of action and the downplaying of the type of conversation that allows true feelings to come to the fore. Jessie also recalls the silence of her father, and Norman hints that this silence has for the past decades stabilized or subdued the appearance of Jessie’s mental condition.Yet, this same silence has perhaps created the environment in which her mental or psychological illness has been allowed to germinate (Whited, 67). The idea that Jessie breaks her silence precisely at that hour in which her mental condition has become overwhelming and irreparable gives the idea that the lack of communication within her family setting may actually have been to her detriment. The exploration of the relationship between the narrator and his brother Sonny in James Baldwin’s â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† also represents a crisis of silence and suffocation within a family setting.This family in which Sonny resides also betrays a tendency toward continual act ion that precludes the kind of conversation which might have allowed the brothers to truly understand each other. Without understanding Sonny, the narrator (his brother) and their mother make plans to protect him for the rest of his life. They encourage him to live in situations that are not conducive to his spirited nature, such as his residence with Isabel while his brother goes off to war. Yet the silence Sonny endures, like that of Jessie, has the appearance of being his preferred mode of existence.The narrator says, â€Å"Sonny has never been talkative,† yet he goes on to say something more insightful that hints at the true desires that Sonny has always had. He continues, â€Å"So I don’t know why I was sure he’d be dying to talk to me when supper was over the first night† (Baldwin, 8). This hints at the underlying idea that though silence prevailed within the family, probing by his brother and mother might have dispelled both the silence and the dis mal circumstances that later defined Sonny’s life.Literary analyst Tracey Sherard writes: â€Å"the narrator comes to understand his brother Sonny through the latter’s apparent struggle to strike out into the deep, unexplored waters of jazz improvisation† (691). Therefore, it is only through the music that Sonny’s brother is able to communicate with and understand him in the end. Comparisons between the two tragic characters of the stories, Sonny and Jessie, can be made in regard to their life choices. The two characters can be seen to choose silence during the early years of their lives, and this might be connected to another form of silence throughout the later stages of their lives.Sonny’s choice of life has led him to heroin, and this dangerous drug might be considered one that paves a path to death in a manner that is very similar to the suicide that Jessie contemplates. Both characters, therefore, choose suicide as the only means of silencing the worries and discontent of their lives. Jessie expresses a desire to sleep â€Å"whenever she wanted to, just by closing her eyes† (line 637), and this she has not been able to do since she was a â€Å"pink and fat† baby (639-40). This choice to commit suicide is therefore an extension of the idea of closing one’s eyes to problems of life.Sonny, in a similar way, chooses to close his eyes to his problems via his use of heroin. And likewise, the extension of this action (continued heroin use) is precisely concurrent with the death that Jessie so openly craves. Jessie’s mother, who desires not death, says â€Å"I’m not like you, Jessie. I hate the quiet and I don’t want to die† (lines 626-27) and this juxtaposition of death and quietness underscores the idea that the death desired by Jessie and Sonny can be seen also to be a form of silence.The motif of silence can be carried through even further within the analysis of the stories t old by these authors. During the few short moments before her death, Jessie takes a break from her silence to explain the essence of it to her mother. Within this time she uncovers all the pain that her silence has embodied for the years preceding (Whited, 67). She also enumerates the problems that her ensuing death will hope to silence within her. This moment of conversation can be compared to (and in fact prefigures) the bullet that breaks for a split second the silence that has defined Jessie’s life.It also effects the reconstruction of that silence by guaranteeing its continuation in death. Death guarantees not only that the disappointments and fears in Jessie’s psyche will be quieted, but also that the events that have generated or exacerbated these problems will also cease to trouble her. The forms of silence to which Sonny subscribes are heroin (as has been uncovered above) and music. While heroin promises to lead him toward that final and inexorable death of th e body, music provides a spiritual release for him that also provides an effective (if temporary) silence from his turmoil.Sonny’s escape to music as a means of silencing his demons can be compared to the way his brother describes their father as being â€Å"on the lookout for ‘something a little better. ’† Yet he goes on to say that his father â€Å"died before he found it† (Baldwin, 8). Sonny, too, looks to music as a form of escape—a means of quieting his dissatisfaction with his circumstances, a way of searching for something better. While as a youth he annoyed Isabel’s family with his constant piano playing, everyone was able to sense that â€Å"Sonny was at that piano playing for his life† (16).The piano’s music silenced not only the troubles that haunted his mind, but also the voices of hoodlums and vagrants on the street that would have called him into a life of crime and dissipation. It was, in fact, the eventual silencing of the piano by the screams of Isabel’s family that precipitated the demise that his music had been holding at bay. This re-establishes and supports the idea that music was a means of silencing the call of the inner city life and pressures that threatened to overtake Sonny in his youth.The lives and relationships explored within â€Å"’Night, Mother† and â€Å"Sonny’s Blues,† as told by Marsha Norman and James Baldwin respectively, speak loudly and portray vividly a distinct and almost impenetrable silence that enveloped the main characters. For Jessie, silence has been the defining characteristic of her relationship between her father during both his life and his death. During his life, he demonstrated his love with actions, and while Jessie appeared to be comfortable in that silence, the very essence of it provided the environment in which her psychological demise germinated and matured.Her mother, though disliking silence, has rarely been able penetrate Jessie’s, and this proves to facilitate the more permanent form of silence to which she graduates: that of death. Sonny too experiences silence within his relationships—a silence that becomes extended and embodies by the activities of his life. He refuses to speak to his family, silencing the discomfiture with music or heroin. Like Jessie, Sonny’s major life decisions place him on a path toward the ultimate silence: death. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"Sonny’s Blues. † Wright State University.1957. Online Text. http://www. wright. edu/~alex. macleod/winter06/blues. pdf Norman, Marsha. â€Å"’Night, Mother. † Literature: Reading, Writing, Reacting. Laurie G. Kirzner & Stephen Mandell (Eds). 4th Ed. New York: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. 1708-1743. Sherard, Tracey. â€Å"Sonny’s Bebop: Baldwin’s ‘Blues Text’ as Intracultural Critique. † African American Review. Vol. 32, Iss ue 4. (Winter 1998): 691-705. Whited, Lana A. â€Å"Suicide in Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart and Marsha Norman's ‘night, Mother. † Southern Quarterly 36 (Fall 1997): 65-74.