Laws, Crime and Punishment in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Ess

Laws, Crime and Punishment in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Great Expectations criticises the Victorian judicial and penal system. Through the novel, Charles Dickens displays his point of view of criminality and punishment. This is shown in his portraits of all pieces of such system: the lawyer, the clerk, the judge, the prison authorities and the convicts. In treating the theme of the Victorian system of punishment, Dickens shows his position against prisons, transportation and death penalty. The main character, a little child who has expectations of becoming a gentleman to be of the same social position of the girls he loves, passes from having no interest on criminality and its penalties to be very concerned on the issue. By means of other characters, for instance Mrs. Joe Gargery, Dickens tries to define the people’s common view about convicts, transportation and capital punishment. In portraying the character of the convict, Dickens sets out the case in hand of two people sentenced to transportation for forgery of banknotes and an alyses their psychology. By reading the novel, the reader becomes aware of the Victorian unfair justice regarding poor and illiterate people, but advantageous towards the rich and educated middle-class. The prison system in England may have had a significant effect on the life and writing of Charles Dickens due to his father’s imprisonment in Marshalsea Debtors’ Prison as a consequence of his debts. These kinds of prisons came to be workhouses for people who had lost all their belongings. In case debtors had family, it must accompany them in prison. This painful experience may have kept way in his mind for the rest of his life. His involvement with the legal world came when he was employed as a clerk at a lawyer’s office. His later interest in penology made him read many works related to this subject. For this reason, he incorporated both the treatment of convicts and capital punishment in many novels. Great Expectations is a harsh criticism on the British legal and penal System as well as on Victorian society, achieved after exploring his characters’ behaviour, since the laws were only unfair for those on the bottom rung of the social ladder. London was one of the greatest cities in the world in the 19th C. At this time huge amounts of money were invested in industry and buildings as trade with other countrie... ...ntered out with a haggard look of bravery, and a few nodded to the gallery and others went out chewing the fragments of herb they had taken from the sweet herbs lying about† (451-452). It is when Pip learns to feel beyond the mask of respectability that he sees the unfair justice that condemns people with good-hearts: â€Å"For now, my repugnance to him had all melted away, and in the hunted wounded shackled creature who held my hand in his, I only saw a man who meant to be my benefactor, and who had left affectionately, gratefully, and generously, towards me with great constancy through a series of years† (441). As a conclusion, Charles Dickens criticises both sorts of punishment, the prison system and transportation as well as the unfairness carried for the judicial systems when creating laws little favourable for the poor. At the same time, he points out the Victorian hypocrisy of the rich and the lack of culture of the poor regarding the world of criminality. Work Cited Barnes, John. â€Å"The Method of Narration.† Dickens’ Great Expectations, 23- 32. London: Macmillan, 1996. Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Ed. Janice Carlisle. 1861. London: Bedford, 2006.

The Theme of Death in Edgar Allan Poe’s Poems

The Fall of the House of usher† is presented through the narrator's lens as he helps out a friend whose whole life has been permeated with death. Lastly, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is a story of death with a motive. The leading character commits the murder of a prideful man who is hooked to the pleasure of drinking wine. â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† is a story that revolves around the terror and death of both Redbrick and his sister, Madeline Usher.As Redbrick Usher becomes mentally unstable and falls into a state of depression, he sends a letter to his long lost friend, asking him to come for a stay. The mood of the story is full of unrelieved gloom as Redbrick Usher undergoes a struggle between the will to live and the will to die. Usher has no will to live and tells the narrator/his friend â€Å"l shall perish, I must perish in this deplorable folly† (Poe 5). This suggests his fixation on the horror of death, as Usher fears not death, Itself , or the end of life, but rather death while still oppressed by his â€Å"phantasmagoria† fears (Goodwin 174). Sheer â€Å"†¦. Dreads the events of the future, not in themselves, but in their results†; he continues to say, â€Å"l feel that he period will arrive when I must abandon life and reason together in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR† (Poe 5). Usher is overwhelmed by the despair and darkness of death – he is convinced of the inevitability of his fast approaching death. He has such a morbid attitude, as things that would normally bring others happiness do not please him.The narrator, says early on that usher's mental condition â€Å"displayed Itself In a host of unnatural sensations†; he then goes on to add that â€Å"he suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was lone endurable; he could wear only garments of certain texture; the doors of all flowers were oppressive; his eyes were tortured by even a faint light; and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror† (Poe 3).Because Usher is surrounded by a characteristically gothic environment, Isolated and depressing, this contributes to his fascination and obsession with death. Throughout the story, usher's friend tries to keep his distance from this dread and misery, but he cannot seem to break away since he is staying in the dull and gloomy house. Gradually, Usher's troubled mental condition worsens and he becomes so hysterical that he is not accurately perceiving his surroundings. He seems almost ghost-like because he is removed so much from life and reality; he Is unstable and his mind Is warped by his morbid attitudes and disposition.Redbrick Usher† shows readers a portrait of a man whose morbid fascinations ultimately prompt dangerous and self-destructive actions. As Usher's sister decays, he realizes he will be the last Usher. While many mig ht despair in facing this reality, Usher takes pride in being the last of his family and glossaries his death. Usher says that â€Å"her decease would leave him the last of the ancient race of the Ushers†- which explains the worsening of his mental condition because he will have no family left and will feel more lonely and isolated (Poe 5).Because Usher tends to exacerbate things that are not as bad as they are, he becomes so wrapped up in death that he responds to a death that has not happened yet. The fact that Usher entombs his own sister alive and is not immediately aware of it, confirms his obsession with the gloom of death. Usher is either preparing for, worrying about, or becoming excited with death- his orbit fascinations are so disturbing. (Walker 586). Redbrick's friend attempts to try to preserve himself from the doom of Usher, but finds it hard to not become trapped in this terror. The Fall of the House of Usher† concerns the total disintegration of Redbrick Usher as he willingly enters into a gloomy world by remaining in such a miserable environment. Usher experiences a mental disorder that oppresses him, leaves him deranged, and causes his frequent moods of ‘mad hilarity (Walker 590). Redbrick is not killed by his sister, but is literally terrified to death by his environment and his distorted imagination. He is beyond saving, as the narrator quickly discovers.He collapses into the melancholy which ultimately causes his destruction. â€Å"William Wilson† is a challenging read. In this work Poe confronts death, but not in the literal sense, as in some of his other works. â€Å"William Wilson† is a story where a self-willed, intelligent, and bold man comes across another man who seems to embody the exact form of himself. Through this short story, the audience questions whether the other William Wilson is only a conscience and does not tangibly exist, or whether he is a real human that knows too much.William Willow's â€Å"follower† has a disposition dissimilar to Wilson- he is quiet, has no flaws, and only communicates through whispers, and unlike the other boys at the school he is not charmed by William Willow's intelligence and wealth. Although Wilson is scared of and threatened by his follower (because of his omnipresence and unlimited knowledge), he is also awed and fascinated by him. Death in â€Å"William Wilson† is not necessarily literal; rather, it takes place throughout the entire story.Willow's doppelgà ¤nger is constantly trying to kill the side of William Wilson that has no concern for anyone else- the boastful and elfish side. William Wilson is, in a way, killing off his own goodness by refusing to listen to the wisdom of his doppelgà ¤nger; by the end of the story, Wilson is beyond salvation and has become dead to others around him. Many readers and critics question the true existence of the doppelgà ¤nger due to the fact that his mockery and sarcastic comments are only made in private through whispers. William Wilson is disgusted by these comments because he does not want his reputation to be tarnished.Willow's doppelgà ¤nger seems to be satisfied with the sting he inflicts, but William Wilson is hurting on the inside while trying not to question his own actions. He despises his doppelgà ¤nger because he knows he is doing something wrong but does not want to acknowledge it- he wants to pretend that everything he does is right and true. William Willow's doppelgà ¤nger, through his insights, gradually makes him tells Wilson, his avowed antagonist, â€Å"†¦ And in my death, see by this image, which is thing own, how utterly thou hast murdered thyself† (Poe 10).Here, Willow's doppelgà ¤nger tells Wilson that he has left the better part of himself and that, essentially, he is now dead also. Willow's doppelgà ¤nger is saying that if Wilson had listened to him, he might have been a better person. All along Wilson has been both t hreatened and fascinated by this doppelgà ¤nger because his wisdom is far keener and better than his own. His doppelgà ¤nger kills Willow's name, schemes, and pride- he has made Wilson feel horrible because he is the first â€Å"person† to really expose his substantial character flaws.In one of the last scenes, where Wilson is gambling with a very rich man and swindles him, his reputation is destroyed and his deceiving tricks are revealed. This scene is where Willow's doppelgà ¤nger finally takes action instead of merely whispering. He makes it known that William is a â€Å"cheat. † The doppelgà ¤ngers exposure of Willow's trickery is the pinnacle of what he has been trying to do all along. Willow's doppelgà ¤nger represents the happier and better part of William Wilson, and in the end out of fear and paranoia, Wilson kills off this â€Å"side† of himself, or his conscience.William Wilson, like all people, has to constantly choose between right and wrong. E ven with the lingering specter of his doppelgà ¤nger urging him to do right, Wilson manages to triumph over the forces of good acting on him. When Wilson kills his doppelgà ¤nger, he dooms himself to a life of â€Å"turpitude† (Sullivan 254). The theme of death in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†, by contrast, is literal. The story is a confession of a man, Mentors, who has committed the horrible crime of murder. Mentors lures his â€Å"friend,† Fortunate, into his family vaults, where he then fetters him to the wall and bricks him in.In this short story, the reader is perplexed by the seeming absence of a motive for this crime. It seems obvious that Mentors is insane, and his reasons for killing Fortunate are questionable. Mentors elaborates on his sophisticated philosophy of revenge: â€Å"l must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is undressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unrepressed when the avenger fails to make hi mself felt as such to him who has done the wrong† (Poe 1).While many would suspect Mentors feels guilty about his killing after he says â€Å"my heart grew sick†, he is actually stating his satisfaction over his monstrous deed: â€Å"†¦. On account of the dampness of the catacombs† (Poe 7). Mentors is fully capable of going through with all this violence and neither expressing nor experiencing any remorse. Not only does Mentors feel no guilt about his murder, but he perceives his murder of Fortunate as a successful and Justified act of vengeance and punishment rather than a crime (Barbara 49).The death in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is clearly murder, as Mentors expertly plans his devious actions of capturing Fortunate and killing him in his family vaults. Mentors presents himself as a person with the right to condemn Fortunate to death- he plans his murder as an act of retribution. Although Mentors claims Fortunate death is sought from revenge, th e insults Fortunate causes are never revealed to the audience. Clearly, Mentor's actions are irrational, extreme, and therefore he is mad.He is an extremely violent and insane person who is looking forward to the murder of his â€Å"friend. † Mentors is not an active participant in the life of local aristocracy- he seemed to be a recluse. The fact that was more powerful than Mentors (Poe 1). Fortunate death had to come from feelings of Jealously and inferiority. But Mentors felt, being a descendant of a powerful aristocratic family, he could not possibly let Fortunate insult him with impunity (Barbara 52). The murder of Fortunate is looked forward to and is deliberate and calculated, as Mentors wants to kill him.He is able to easily face the toll, of committing the gruesome act that comes upon him. The death in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is eagerly sought as Fortunate murder is premeditated and arranged and is later felt with no pity. The fact that Mentors feels no remorse after the death proves that he is an insane man and was fully capable of pursuing his plan. From losing his parents; becoming orphaned and adopted; and going through periods of fife where he struggled to both find and deal with losing love, it is obvious that Edgar Allan Poe experienced much suffering.Death was a common reality for him. Pope's three works, â€Å"William Wilson,† â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher,† and â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† all express different aspects of death. The tale of Redbrick Usher is one of â€Å"dramatic intensity, psychological subtlety, and symbolic complexity' (Kennedy 42). The deaths in the story are due to unrelieved gloom and morbid attitudes. In â€Å"William Wilson,† death is a mystery, as readers will never know whether William Wilson kills is actual self or a grim conscience who forces Wilson to question his immoral actions.Lastly, death in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is a plotted manslau ghter where the murderer is violent and vengeful. Although the treatments of death are diverse among these short stories, they all share characters, including Redbrick Usher, William Wilson, and Mentors, that are mentally unstable. These three stories deal with mental instability, self-destruction, and murder which all lead to death, inevitably. In conclusion, we can stem these forms of death from Edgar Allan Pope's life and experiences, as he lived through much loss.

Why Is the Krebs Cycle Called a Cycle

The Krebs cycle, also known as the citric acid cycle or tricarboxylic acid cycle, is part of a series of chemical reactions that organisms use to break down food into a form of energy that cells can use. The cycle occurs in the mitochondria of cells, using 2 molecules of pyruvic acid from glycolysis to produce the energy molecules. The Krebs cycle forms (per two molecules of pyruvic acid) 2 ATP molecules, 10 NADH molecules, and 2 FADH2Â  molecules. NADH and the FADH2Â  produced by the cycle are used in the electron transport system. Why Its a Cycle The final product of the Krebs cycle is oxaloacetic acid. It is a cycle because oxaloacetic acid (oxaloacetate) is the exact molecule needed to accept an acetyl-CoA molecule and start another turn of the cycle.

Biology Prefixes and Suffixes -phyll or -phyl

Poverty Is A World Wide Problem - 2400 Words

Nearly 1/2 of the world’s population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty — less than $1.25 a day (11 Facts About Global Poverty). This number, sadly, is steadily increasing, and poverty has become a massive problem all around the world. Women, children, and men live in situations unmistakably horrid; with no clean water, no education, and little to no food. They live in these conditions for a great majority of their lives, with seemingly nothing to help them. Poverty is a world wide problem that effects people all over the world as they live in malnourished communities full of disease, and incapable of getting the proper privileges of education such as learning to†¦show more content†¦When people live in poverty, incapable of making enough money to support their family, let alone themselves, it affects EVERY aspect of their life. Their health is drained, they get no education, they re more likely to commit crimes, and they are more likely to die before they have lived the full life that every person deserves (Balkin para 3). 11.3 percent of all Americans live in poverty, meaning below the poverty line deserves (para 3). The poverty line, according to healthcare.gov , depends on exactly how much a family makes based upon how many people are in the family. For example, the poverty line would be $11,880 for individuals, $16,020 for a family of 2, $20,160 for a family of 3, $24,300 for a family of 4, and so on. The main issue with global poverty is how different it is in places, and these contrasting views of people in various region is what makes it so difficult for people to combine their thoughts and ideas on how to fix a problem on such a global scale. For example, in America, the poor live much worse and tougher lives than the middle and upper classes. However, they do usually get some sort of schooling, and some health care. This is because in this cou ntry, the government often help s the poor and aid s them as much as it possibly can (Balkin para 2). Yet, people still argue that the lower classes in poverty should be getting MORE help, and luxuries such as cell phones, and more health insurance; while other believe that

A Dirty Job Chapter 6 Free Essays

string(101) " English into wiggling the key in the lock that he felt an atrophied dancing muscle tear in his hip\." 6 VARIABLE SPEED HEROES In the alley behind Asher’s Secondhand, the Emperor of San Francisco hand-fed olive focaccia to the troops and tried to keep dog snot from fouling his breakfast. â€Å"Patience, Bummer,† the Emperor said to the Boston terrier, who was leaping at the day-old wheel of flat bread like a furry Super Ball, while Lazarus, the solemn golden retriever, stood by, waiting for his share. Bummer snorted an impatient reply (thus the dog snot). We will write a custom essay sample on A Dirty Job Chapter 6 or any similar topic only for you Order Now He’d worked up a furious appetite because breakfast was running late today. The Emperor had slept on a bench by the Maritime Museum, and during the night his arthritic knee had snaked out of his wool overcoat into the damp cold, making the walk to North Beach and the Italian bakery that gave them free day-old a slow and painful ordeal. The Emperor groaned and sat down on an empty milk crate. He was a great rolling bear of a man, his shoulders broad but a little broken from carrying the weight of the city. A white tangle of hair and beard wreathed his face like a storm cloud. As far as he could remember, he and the troops had patrolled the city streets forever, but upon further consideration, it might have just been since Wednesday. He wasn’t entirely sure. The Emperor decided to make a proclamation to the troops about the importance of compassion in the face of the rising tide of heinous fuckery and political weaselocity in the nearby kingdom of the United States. (He found his audience was most attentive to his proclamations when the meat-laced focaccia were still nuzzled in the larder of his overcoat pockets, and presently a pepperoni and Parmesan reposed fragrant in the woolly depths, so the royal hounds were rapt.) But just as he cleared his throat to begin, a cargo van came screeching around the corner, went up on two wheels as it plowed through a row of garbage cans, and slid to a stop not fifty feet away. The driver’s-side door flew open and a thin man in a suit leapt out, carrying a cane and a woman’s fur coat, and made a beeline for the back door of Asher’s. But before he got two steps the man fell to the concrete as if hit from behind, then rolled on his back and began flailing at the air with the cane an d the coat. The Emperor, who knew most everyone, recognized Charlie Asher. Bummer erupted into a fit of yapping, but the more levelheaded Lazarus growled once and took off toward Charlie. â€Å"Lazarus!† the Emperor shouted, but the retriever charged on, followed now by his bug-eyed brother in arms. Charlie was back on his feet and swinging the cane as if he was fencing with some phantom, using the coat like a shield. Living on the street, the Emperor had seen a lot of people battling with unseen demons, but Charlie Asher was apparently scoring some hits. The cane was making a thwacking noise against what appeared to be thin air – but no, there was something there, a shadow of some sort? The Emperor climbed to his feet and limped into the fray, but before he got two steps Lazarus had leapt and appeared to be attacking Charlie, but he soared over the shopkeeper and snapped at a spot above his head – then hung there, his jaws sunk into the substantial neck of thin air. Charlie took advantage of the distraction, stepped back, and swung the cane above the levitating golden retriever. There was a smack, and Lazarus let go, but now Bummer launched himself at the invisible foe. He missed whatever was there, and ended up performing a doggy swish shot into a garbage can. Charlie made for the steel door of Asher’s again, but found it locked, and as he reached for his keys, something caught him from behind. â€Å"Let go, fuckface,† the shade screeched. The fur coat Charlie was holding appeared to be swept out of his hand and was pulled straight up, over the four-story building and out of sight. Charlie turned and held the cane at ready, but whatever had been there seemed to be gone now. â€Å"Aren’t you just supposed to sit above the door and nevermore and be poetic and stuff?!† he shouted at the sky. Then, for good measure, added, â€Å"You evil fuck!† Lazarus barked, then whined. A sharp and metallic yapping rose from Bummer’s garbage can. â€Å"Well, you don’t see that every day,† said the Emperor as he limped up to Charlie. â€Å"You could see that?† â€Å"Well, no, not really. Merely a shadow, but I could see that something was there. There was something there, wasn’t there, Charlie?† Charlie nodded, trying to catch his breath. â€Å"It will be back. It followed me across the city.† He dug into his pocket for his keys. â€Å"You guys should duck into the store with me, Your Majesty.† Of course Charlie knew the Emperor. Every San Franciscan knew the Emperor. The Emperor smiled. â€Å"That’s very kind of you, but we will be perfectly safe. For now I need to free my charge from his galvanized prison.† The big man tipped the garbage can and Bummer emerged snorting and tossing his head as if ready to tear the ass out of any man or beast foolhardy enough to cross him (and he would have, as long as they were knee-high or shorter). Charlie was still having trouble with the key. He knew he should have had the lock replaced, but it worked, if you finessed it a little, so he’d never made it a priority. Who the hell thought you’d ever have to get in quick to escape a giant bird? Then he heard a screech and turned to see not one, but two huge ravens coming over the roof and diving into the alley. The dogs arfed a frantic barking salvo at the avian intruders and Charlie put so much body English into wiggling the key in the lock that he felt an atrophied dancing muscle tear in his hip. You read "A Dirty Job Chapter 6" in category "Essay examples" â€Å"They’re back. Cover me.† Charlie threw the cane to the Emperor and braced himself for the impact, but as soon as the cane touched the old man’s hand the birds were gone. You could almost hear the pop of the air replacing the space they had taken up. The dogs caught themselves in mid-ruff; Bummer whimpered. â€Å"What?† the Emperor said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"They’re gone.† The Emperor looked at the sky. â€Å"You’re sure?† â€Å"For now.† â€Å"I saw two shadows. Really saw them this time,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Yes, there were two this time.† â€Å"What are they?† â€Å"I have no idea, but when you took the cane they – well, they disappeared. You really saw them?† â€Å"I’m sure of it. Like smoke with a purpose.† Finally the key turned in the lock and the door to Asher’s back room swung open. â€Å"You should come in. Rest. I’ll order something to eat.† â€Å"No, no, the men and I must be on our rounds. I’ve decided to make a proclamation this morning and we need to see the printer. You’ll be needing this.† The Emperor presented the cane to Charlie like he was turning over a sword of the realm. Charlie started to take it, then thought better of it. â€Å"Your Majesty, I think you’d better keep that. It looks as if you might be able to use it.† Charlie nodded toward the Emperor’s creaky knee. The Emperor held the cane steady. â€Å"I am not a worshiper of the material, you know?† â€Å"I understand that.† â€Å"I am a firm believer that desire is the source of most of human suffering, you’re aware, and no culprit is more heinous than desire for material gain.† â€Å"I run my business based on those very principles. Still, I insist you keep the cane – as a favor to me, if you would?† Charlie found himself affecting the Emperor’s formal speech patterns, as if somehow he had been transported to a royal court where a nobleman was distinguished by bread crumbs in his beard and the royal guard were not above licking their balls. â€Å"Well, as a favor, I will accept. It is a fine piece of craftsmanship.† â€Å"But more importantly, it will permit you to make your rounds in good time.† The Emperor now betrayed the desire in his heart as he let fly a wide grin and hugged the cane to his chest. â€Å"It is fine, indeed. Charlie, I must confess something to you, but I ask you to grant me the credulity due a man who has just shared witness, with a friend, of two giant, raven-shaped shades.† â€Å"Of course.† Charlie smiled, when even a moment before he would have thought his smile lost somewhere in the months past. â€Å"I hope you won’t think me base, but the second I touched this, I felt as if I had been waiting for it my whole life.† Then, for no reason that he could think of, Charlie said, â€Å"I know.† A few minutes before, inside the store, Lily had been brooding. It wasn’t her general brood, the reaction to a world where everyone was stupid and life was meaningless and the mere act of living was futile, especially if your mother forgot to get coffee at the store. This one was a more specific brood, that had started out when she arrived at work and Ray had pointed out that it was her turn to wear the vacuuming tiara, and insisted that if she wore the tiara, she actually vacuum the store. (In fact, she liked wearing the rhinestone tiara that Charlie, in a move of blatant bourgeois sneakiness, had designated be worn by whoever did the vacuuming and sweeping each day, and no other time. It was the vacuuming and sweeping she objected to. She felt manipulated, used, and generally taken advantage of, and not in the fun way.) But today, after she’d put the tiara and the vacuum away and had finally gotten a couple of cups of coffee in her system, the brooding had gone on, bu ilding to full-scale angst, when it began to dawn on her that she was going to have to figure out this college-career thing, because despite what The Great Big Book of Death said, she had not been chosen as a dark minion of destruction. Fuck! She stood in the back room looking at all the items that Charlie had piled there the day before: shoes, lamps, umbrellas, porcelain figures, toys, a couple of books, and an old black-and-white television and a painting of a clown on black velvet. â€Å"He said this stuff was glowing?† she asked Ray, who stood in the doorway to the store. â€Å"Yes. He made me check it all with my Geiger counter.† â€Å"Ray, why the fuck do you have a Geiger counter?† â€Å"Lily, why do you have a nose stud shaped like a bat?† Lily ignored the question and picked up the ceramic frog from the night before, which now had a note taped to it that read DO NOT SELL OR DISPLAY in Charlie’s meticulous block-letter printing. â€Å"This was one of the things? This?† â€Å"That was the first one he freaked out about,† said Ray matter-of-factly. â€Å"The truant officer tried to buy it. That started it all.† Lily was shaken. She backed over to Charlie’s desk and sat in the squeaky oak swivel chair. â€Å"Do you see anything glowing or pulsating, Ray? Have you ever?† Ray shook his head. â€Å"He’s under a lot of stress, losing Rachel and taking care of the baby. I think maybe he needs to get some help. I know after I had to leave the force – † Ray paused. There was a commotion going on out in the alley, dogs barking and people shouting, then someone was working a key in the lock of the back door. A second later, Charlie came in, a little breathless, his clothes smudged here and there with grime, one sleeve of his jacket torn and bloodstained. â€Å"Asher,† Lily said. â€Å"You’re hurt.† She quickly vacated his chair while Ray took Charlie by the shoulders and sat him down. â€Å"I’m fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"No big deal.† â€Å"I’ll get the first-aid kit,† Ray said. â€Å"Get that jacket off of him, Lily.† â€Å"I’m fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"Quit talking about me like I’m not here.† â€Å"He’s delirious,† Lily said, trying to pry Charlie out of his jacket. â€Å"Do you have any painkillers, Ray?† â€Å"I don’t need painkillers,† Charlie said. â€Å"Shut up, Asher, they’re not for you,† Lily said, automatically, then she considered the book, Ray’s story, the notes on all the items in the back room, and she shuddered. It appeared that Charlie Asher might not be the hapless geek she always thought him to be. â€Å"Sorry, boss. Let us help you.† Ray came back from the front with a small plastic first-aid kit. He peeled back Charlie’s sleeve and began to clean the wounds with gauze and peroxide. â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"Nothing,† Charlie said. â€Å"I slipped and fell in some gravel.† â€Å"The wound’s pretty clean – no gravel in it. That must have been some fall.† â€Å"Long story.† Charlie sighed. â€Å"Ouch!† â€Å"What was all the noise in the alley?† Lily asked, needing badly to go smoke, but unable to pull herself away. She just couldn’t imagine that Charlie Asher was the one. How could it be him? He was so, so, unworthy. He didn’t understand the dark underbelly of life the way she did. Yet he was the one seeing the glowing objects. He was it. She was crestfallen. â€Å"Just the Emperor’s dogs after a seagull in the Dumpster. No big deal. I fell off a porch in Pacific Heights.† â€Å"The estate,† Ray said. â€Å"How’d that go?† â€Å"Not well. The husband was grief-stricken and had a heart attack while I was there.† â€Å"You’re kidding.† â€Å"No, he just sort of became overwhelmed thinking about his wife and collapsed. I gave him CPR until the EMTs came and took him off to the hospital.† â€Å"So,† Lily said, â€Å"did you get the – uh – did you get anything special?† â€Å"What?† Charlie’s eyes went wide. â€Å"What do you mean, special? There was nothing special.† â€Å"Chill, boss, I just meant will we get the grandma’s clothes?† He’s it, Lily thought. The fucker. Charlie shook his head. â€Å"I don’t know, it’s so strange. The whole thing is so strange.† He shuddered when he said it. â€Å"Strange how?† Lily said. â€Å"Strange in a cool and dark way, or strange because you’re Asher and you’re out of it most of the time?† â€Å"Lily!† Ray snapped. â€Å"Go out front. Dust something.† â€Å"You’re not the boss of me, Ray. I’m just showing my concern.† â€Å"It’s okay, Ray.† Charlie looked like he was considering how, exactly, to define strange, and not coming up with anything that was working. Finally he said, â€Å"Well, for one thing, this woman’s estate is way out of our league. The husband said he called me because we were the first secondhand store in the phone book, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of man to do something like that.† â€Å"That’s not that strange,† Lily said. Just confess, she thought. â€Å"You said that he was grief-stricken,† Ray said, dabbing antibiotic ointment on Charlie’s cuts. â€Å"Maybe he’s doing things differently.† â€Å"Yes, and he was angry at his wife, too, for the way she died.† â€Å"How?† Lily asked. â€Å"She ate silica gel,† Charlie said. Lily looked at Ray for an explanation, because silica gel sounded techno-geeky, which was Ray’s particular field of geekdom. Ray said, â€Å"It’s the antidesiccant that they pack with electronics and other things that are sensitive to humidity.† â€Å"The ‘Do Not Eat’ stuff?!† Lily said. â€Å"Oh my God, that’s so stupid. Everyone knows you don’t eat the ‘Do Not Eat’ stuff.† Charlie said, â€Å"Mr. Mainheart was pretty broken up.† â€Å"Well, I guess so,† Lily said. â€Å"He married a complete fucktard.† Charlie cringed. â€Å"Lily, that’s not appropriate.† Lily shrugged and rolled her eyes. She hated it when Charlie dropped into Dad mode. â€Å"Okay, okay. I’m going outside to smoke.† â€Å"No!† Charlie jumped out of the chair and put himself between Lily and the back door. â€Å"Out front. From now on if you have to smoke you go out front.† â€Å"But you said that I look like a child hooker when I smoke out front.† â€Å"I’ve reassessed. You’ve matured.† Lily closed one eye to see if she could better glimpse into his soul and thus figure out his true agenda. She smoothed over her black vinyl skirt, which made a tortured, squeaking noise at the touch. â€Å"You’re trying to say I have a big butt, aren’t you?† â€Å"I absolutely am saying no such thing,† Charlie insisted. â€Å"I am simply saying that your presence in front of the store is an asset and will probably attract business from the tourists on the cable car.† â€Å"Oh. Okay.† Lily snatched her box of cloves off the desk and headed out past the counter and outside to brood, grieve really, because as much as she had hoped, she was not Death. The book was Charlie’s. That evening Charlie was watching the store, wondering why he had lied to his employees, when he saw a flash of red passing by the front window. A second later, a strikingly pale redhead came through the door. She was wearing a short, black cocktail dress and black fuck-me pumps. She strode up the aisle like she was auditioning for a music video. Her hair cascaded in long curls around her shoulders and down her back like a great auburn veil. Her eyes were emerald green, and when she saw him looking, she smiled, and stopped, some ten feet away. Charlie felt an almost painful jolt that seemed to emanate from somewhere in the area of his groin, and after a second he recognized it as an autonomic lust response. He hadn’t felt anything like that since Rachel had passed, and he felt vaguely ashamed. She was examining him, looking him over like you would examine a used car. He was sure he must be blushing. â€Å"Hi,† Charlie said. â€Å"Can I help you?† The redhead smiled again, just a little, and reached into a small black bag that he hadn’t noticed she’d been carrying. â€Å"I found this,† she said, holding up a silver cigarette case. Something Charlie didn’t see very often anymore, even in the secondhand business. It was glowing, pulsating like the objects in the back room. â€Å"I was in the neighborhood and something made me think that this belonged here.† She moved to the counter opposite Charlie and set the cigarette case down in front of him. Charlie could barely move. He stared at her, not even conscious that to avoid her eyes he was staring at her cleavage, and she appeared to be looking around his head and shoulders as if following the path of insects that were buzzing around him. â€Å"Touch me,† she said. â€Å"Huh?† He looked up, saw she was serious. She held out her hand; her nails were manicured and painted the same deep red as her lipstick. He took her hand. As soon as she touched him she pulled away. â€Å"You’re warm.† â€Å"Thanks.† In that moment he realized that she wasn’t. Her fingers had been ice-cold. â€Å"Then you’re not one of us?† He tried to think of what â€Å"us† might be? Irish? Low blood pressure? Nymphomaniac? Why did he even think that? â€Å"Us? What do you mean, ‘us’?† She backed away a step. â€Å"No. You don’t just take the weak and the sick, do you? You take anyone.† â€Å"Take? What do you mean, ‘take’?† â€Å"You don’t even know, do you?† â€Å"Know what?† Charlie was getting very nervous. As a Beta Male, he found it difficult enough to function under the attention of a beautiful woman, but she was just plain spooky. â€Å"Wait. Can you see this thing glowing?† He held out the cigarette case. â€Å"No glow. It just felt like it belonged here,† she said. â€Å"What’s your name?† â€Å"Charlie Asher. This is Asher’s.† â€Å"Well, Charlie, you seem like a nice guy, and I don’t know exactly what you are, and it doesn’t seem like you know. You don’t, do you?† â€Å"I’ve been going through some changes,† Charlie said, wondering why he felt compelled to share this at all. The redhead nodded, as if confirming something to herself. â€Å"Okay. I know what it’s like to, uh, to find yourself thrown into a situation where forces beyond your control are changing you into someone, something you don’t have an owner’s manual for. I understand what it is to not know. But someone, somewhere, does know. Someone can tell you what’s going on.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† But he knew what she was talking about. What he didn’t know was how she could possibly know. â€Å"You make people die, don’t you, Charlie?† She said it like she had worked up the courage to tell him that he had some spinach in his teeth. More of a service to him than an accusation. â€Å"How do you – ?† How did she – â€Å"Because it’s what I do. Not like you, but it’s what I do. Find them, Charlie. Backtrack and find whoever was there when your world changed.† Charlie looked at her, then at the cigarette case, then at the redhead again, who was no longer smiling, but was stepping backward toward the door. Trying to stay in touch with normal, he focused on the cigarette case and said, â€Å"I suppose I can do an appraisal – â€Å" He heard the bell over the door jingle, and when he looked up she was gone. He didn’t see her moving by the windows on either side of the door; she was just gone. He ran to the front of the store and out the door onto the sidewalk. The Mason Street cable car was just topping the hill up by California Street and he could hear the bell, there was a thin fog coming up from the Bay that threw colorful halos around the neon signs of the other businesses, but there was no striking redhead on the street. He went to the corner and looked down Vallejo, but again no redhead, just the Emperor, sitting against the building with his dogs. â€Å"Good evening, Charlie.† â€Å"Your Majesty, did you see a redhead go by here just now?† â€Å"Oh yes. Spoke to her. I’m not sure you have a chance there, Charlie, I believe she’s spoken for. And she did warn me to stay away from you.† â€Å"Why? Did she say why?† â€Å"She said that you were Death.† â€Å"I am?† Charlie said. â€Å"Am I?† His breath caught in his throat as the day played back in his head. â€Å"What if I am?† â€Å"You know, son,† the Emperor said, â€Å"I am not an expert in dealing with the fairer sex, but you might want to save that bit of information until the third date or so, after they’ve gotten to know you a little.† How to cite A Dirty Job Chapter 6, Essay examples

Financial Analysis AGLs Performance

Question: Describe about the Financial Analysis for AGLs Performance. Answer: Executive Summary The report given aims to highlight AGLs performance in FY2015 and compare the same with the previous year i.e. FY2014. Besides, a competitor has also been chosen in the form of Genesis Energy and performance is compared for the corresponding time period. The differences in the ratios of the two companies have been explored and based on this analysis investment advice has been given to the reader. Introduction AGL Energy is an Australia based integrated energy company which is involved in the complete energy value chain right from generation to marketing and distribution, The retailing of electricity is extended not only to residential customers but also commercial customers. The company even though was founded in 1837 but has assumed the current name only in 2006. The company has a host of coal based and gas based power plants and also focuses on the renewable segment namely wind, hydro and solar. The company boasts of having the largest portfolio of renewable energy plants in the Australian private sector (AGL Energy, 2015) Genesis energy is a Auckland based company which was formed on the back of energy reform way back at the turn of the millennium. Besides, electricity generation, the company also deals with LPG and natural gas retailing. The company has dual listing on both ASX and New Zealand Stock Exchange. It is a dominant player in the NZ market accounting for 42% and 26% market share with regards to retailing of natural gas and electricity respectively. With regards to electricity generation capacity, also, the company is the third largest private sector company in NZ (Genesis Energy, 2015). Income Statement AGL Energy The revenue growth is lacklustre for the year FY2015 and has come primarily on account of the acquisition of the New Energy Ltd. However, the concerning aspect for the company should be the muted growth in profits as on one hand the energy markets division continues to deliver stellar performance but the other operations has posted a significant loss which have tapered the gains made by the energy markets business. The requisite profitability ratios for AGL Energy over the period 2014-2015 are summarised below (AGL Energy, 2015) The above ratios indicate the lacklustre performance of the company in the year FY2015 when both ROA and net profit margin have witnessed a drop. One of the contributory reasons is the lack of growth in the revenue in certain segments of the energy markets particularly in the renewable energy segment. Further, with regards to profitability margins, the renewable energy segment has been a drag on the energy markets segment which otherwise would have posted even stellar results on the back of growth in the wholesale markets. Additionally, integration costs totalling to $15 million have been incurred for integration of New Energy Ltd in FY2015. However, the single largest factor that has contributed to reduced profitability is the other operations business segment which has operating losses. With regards to ROA, besides decreasing profit, the rising total assets also have made a contribution (AGL Energy, 2015) Balance Sheet AGL Energy With regards to the FY2015 balance sheet, only fixed assets and current liabilities have experienced significant change, however, the current assets have continued to retain their level. The increase in fixed assets in FY2015 has been to the extent of $ 1.6 billion primarily due to investment by the company in PPE. Also, the short term borrowings have surged by $ 398 million in FY2015, thus leading to the higher current liabilities at the end of FY2015. The relevant liquidity and capital structure ratios for the company are given below (AGL Energy, 2015) The above values suggest that short term liquidity ratios have shown a declining trend in FY2015. However, this is due to the constant level of current asset but an increase in the current liabilities level due to higher short term borrowings as explained above. Further, since the company is into energy retailing, hence inventories are typically lower sue to which quick ratio and current ratio both are above one. With regards to the long term liquidity, a critical parameter is debt to equity ratio which has decrease in FY2015. This is despite the fact that there has been an increase in the total liabilities. However, the increase in equity has been substantial primarily because of two reasons. One, the company has issued new shares to the tune of $ 1.2 billion in FY2015. Also, there has been contribution of the retained earnings from the income statement. This surge in equity is also responsible for increasing equity ratio despite the increase in total assets (AGL Energy, 2015). Cash Flow - AGL Energy The cash flow statement primarily consists of three major elements i.e. cash from operating activities, investing activities and financing activities. In the year FY2015, cash flow from operating activities increased by $ 443 million because the suppliers and employers were given lower payments in cash. The investing cashflow saw a huge jump in the cash outflow due to the company acquiring New Energy for $ 1.4 billion approximately. There was a net outflow in cash flow due to financing due to increase in repayment of loans in FY2015 as compared to the previous year (AGL Energy, 2015) Market Performance AGL Energy The market performance parameters for AGL Energy are summarised below. (AGL Energy, 2015) It is evident from the ratios above that there has been a decline in the EPS of the company which has been contributed to by both the declining profitability of the company along with rise in the total outstanding shares of the company as the share capital saw a significant in the year Fy2015. The company has significantly increased the dividends paid to the increased shareholders which caused a rise in the per share dividend and is incremental for shareholders (AGL Energy, 2015) Performance Comparison AGL Energy and Genesis Energy The comparison in the performance of the two companies is captured in the table outlined below ((AGL Energy, 2015;Genesis Energy, 2014). Profitability In FY2014, while AGL Energy leads in terms of profitability, the picture has turned upside down in FY2015 when Genesis Energy has the edge. Further, considering the lacklustre performance of the renewable segment in the absence of a stable climate policy in Australia, it is expected that underperformance would continue unless definite policy stance emerges and also the prices of CER recover globally (AGL, 2015) Liquidity- Both the companies do not face any short term liquidity crisis since the current ratio and acid ratio are maintained at level above one. The corresponding ratios for AGL is higher than Genesis primarily because of higher account receivables for the former owing to wholesale consumer portfolio. Gearing The gearing ratios for the companies seems similar and simultaneously hint that no liquidity issues are expected in the near future foe any company. Also, the operating profits generated by both company is healthy enough so as to meet the interest obligation (Petty et. al, 2015). Market performance While in absolute terms the EPS of AGL Energy may be higher but the growth potential seems to be higher for Genesis Energy which has registered a growth of 100% in the EPS in FY2015. This is also confirmed from the high P/E ratio in excess of 20 for Genesis as compared to P/E of 6-7 for AGL Energy. Similar case is witnessed in case of dividends where in absolute terms, AGL has the edge but in terms of dividend yield, Genesis is better off. Efficiency Ratios- The higher debtor turnover observed in case of Genesis may be explained on the basis of difference in revenue contribution of wholesale segments for the two companies. Conclusion The above trend analysis coupled with ratio analysis, hints to the fact that the performance of AGL Energy has diminished in the year FY2015 as compared to the previous year. This trend is also observed in the companys stock price which has been range bound. However, the Genesis company has showed a stellar performance with both topline and bottomline growth. However, it is imperative that these historical trends should be viewed cautiously as future trends may be significantly different (Damodaran, 2008). Also, it is possible that the accounting policies of the companies may not be same due to which the ratios may not be comparable. Further, the two players operate in two different markets and hence the woes of AGL may be attributed to uncertain policy regime in Australia (Parrino Kidwell, 2011). Recommendations Based on the limited analysis that has been conducted above, it is recommended that investment should be made in the competitor i.e. Genesis energy. The factors favouring this decision are highlighted below (Brealey, Myers Allen, 2008). High dividend yield of 5-7% on the stock. High growth potential offered by the company in the NZ market which is also captured by the high P/E ratio. Low leverage and dominant position which can be further leveraged to enhance coverage and thereby drive greater growth. References AGL Energy 2015, Annual Report 2015, Available online from https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/media-centre/article-list/2015/august/agl-annual-report-2015 (Accessed on August 31, 2015) Brealey, R, Myers, S Allen, F 2008, Principles of Corporate Finance (Global edition), 10th edn, McGraw Hill Publications, New York Damodaran, A 2008, Corporate Finance, 2nd edn, Wiley Publications, London Genesis Energy 2015, Annual Report 2015, Available online from https://www.genesisenergy.co.nz/documents/10180/2699552/Genesis+Energy+Annual+Report+FY2015.pdf/fa13f57b-fd37-4262-9bb2-5c591a55aab3 (Accessed on August 31, 2016) Parrino, R Kidwell, D 2011, Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 3rd edn, Wiley Publications, London Petty, JW, Titman, S, Keown, AJ, Martin, P, Martin JD Burrow, M 2015, Financial Management: Principles and Applications,6th edn, Pearson Australia, Sydney