The Lost Symbol Chapter 76-78

CHAPTER 76 Freedom Plaza is a map. Located at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Thirteenth Street, the plaza's vast surface of inlaid stone depicts the streets of Washington as they were originally envisioned by Pierre L'Enfant. The plaza is a popular tourist destination not only because the giant map is fun to walk on, but also because Martin Luther King Jr., for whom Freedom Plaza is named, wrote much of his â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech in the nearby Willard Hotel. D.C. cabdriver Omar Amirana brought tourists to Freedom Plaza all the time, but tonight, his two passengers were obviously no ordinary sightseers. The CIA is chasing them? Omar had barely come to a stop at the curb before the man and woman had jumped out. â€Å"Stay right here!† the man in the tweed coat told Omar. â€Å"We'll be right back!† Omar watched the two people dash out onto the wide-open spaces of the enormous map, pointing and shouting as they scanned the geometry of intersecting streets. Omar grabbed his cell phone off the dashboard. â€Å"Sir, are you still there?† â€Å"Yes, Omar!† a voice shouted, barely audible over a thundering noise on his end of the line. â€Å"Where are they now?† â€Å"Out on the map. It seems like they're looking for something.† â€Å"Do not let them out of your sight,† the agent shouted. â€Å"I'm almost there!† Omar watched as the two fugitives quickly found the plaza's famous Great Seal–one of the largest bronze medallions ever cast. They stood over it a moment and quickly began pointing to the southwest. Then the man in tweed came racing back toward the cab. Omar quickly set his phone down on the dashboard as the man arrived, breathless. â€Å"Which direction is Alexandria, Virginia?† he demanded. â€Å"Alexandria?† Omar pointed southwest, the exact same direction the man and woman had just pointed toward. â€Å"I knew it!† the man whispered beneath his breath. He spun and shouted back to the woman. â€Å"You're right! Alexandria!† The woman now pointed across the plaza to an illuminated â€Å"Metro† sign nearby. â€Å"The Blue Line goes directly there. We want King Street Station!† Omar felt a surge of panic. Oh no. The man turned back to Omar and handed him entirely too many bills for the fare. â€Å"Thanks. We're all set.† He hoisted his leather bag and ran off. â€Å"Wait! I can drive you! I go there all the time!† But it was too late. The man and woman were already dashing across the plaza. They disappeared down the stairs into the Metro Center subway station. Omar grabbed his cell phone. â€Å"Sir! They ran down into the subway! I couldn't stop them! They're taking the Blue Line to Alexandria!† â€Å"Stay right there!† the agent shouted. â€Å"I'll be there in fifteen seconds!† Omar looked down at the wad of bills the man had given him. The bill on top was apparently the one they had been writing on. It had a Jewish star on top of the Great Seal of the United States. Sure enough, the star's points fell on letters that spelled MASON. Without warning, Omar felt a deafening vibration all around him, as if a tractor trailer were about to collide with his cab. He looked up, but the street was deserted. The noise increased, and suddenly a sleek black helicopter dropped down out of the night and landed hard in the middle of the plaza map. A group of black-clad men jumped out. Most ran toward the subway station, but one came dashing toward Omar's cab. He yanked open the passenger door. â€Å"Omar? Is that you?† Omar nodded, speechless. â€Å"Did they say where they were headed?† the agent demanded. â€Å"Alexandria! King Street Station,† Omar blurted. â€Å"I offered to drive, but–â€Å" â€Å"Did they say where in Alexandria they were going?† â€Å"No! They looked at the medallion of the Great Seal on the plaza, then they asked about Alexandria, and they paid me with this.† He handed the agent the dollar bill with the bizarre diagram. As the agent studied the bill, Omar suddenly put it all together. The Masons! Alexandria! One of the most famous Masonic buildings in America was in Alexandria. â€Å"That's it!† he blurted. â€Å"The George Washington Masonic Memorial! It's directly across from King Street Station!† â€Å"That it is,† the agent said, apparently having just come to the same realization as the rest of the agents came sprinting back from the station. â€Å"We missed them!† one of the men yelled. â€Å"Blue Line just left! They're not down there!† Agent Simkins checked his watch and turned back to Omar. â€Å"How long does the subway take to Alexandria?† â€Å"Ten minutes at least. Probably more.† â€Å"Omar, you've done an excellent job. Thank you.† â€Å"Sure. What's this all about?!† But Agent Simkins was already running back to the chopper, shouting as he went. â€Å"King Street Station! We'll get there before they do!† Bewildered, Omar watched the great black bird lift off. It banked hard to the south across Pennsylvania Avenue, and then thundered off into the night. Underneath the cabbie's feet, a subway train was picking up speed as it headed away from Freedom Plaza. On board, Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon sat breathless, neither one saying a word as the train whisked them toward their destination. CHAPTER 77 The memory always began the same way. He was falling . . . plummeting backward toward an ice-covered river at the bottom of a deep ravine. Above him, the merciless gray eyes of Peter Solomon stared down over the barrel of Andros's handgun. As he fell, the world above him receded, everything disappearing as he was enveloped by the cloud of billowing mist from the waterfall upstream. For an instant, everything was white, like heaven. Then he hit the ice. Cold. Black. Pain. He was tumbling . . . being dragged by a powerful force that pounded him relentlessly across rocks in an impossibly cold void. His lungs ached for air, and yet his chest muscles had contracted so violently in the cold that he was unable even to inhale. I'm under the ice. The ice near the waterfall was apparently thin on account of the turbulent water, and Andros had broken directly through it. Now he was being washed downstream, trapped beneath a transparent ceiling. He clawed at the underside of the ice, trying to break out, but he had no leverage. The searing pain from the bullet hole in his shoulder was evaporating, as was the sting of the bird shot; both were blotted out now by the crippling throb of his body going numb. The current was accelerating, slingshotting him around a bend in the river. His body screamed for oxygen. Suddenly he was tangled in branches, lodged against a tree that had fallen into the water. Think! He groped wildly at the branch, working his way toward the surface, finding the spot where the branch pierced up through the ice. His fingertips found the tiny space of open water surrounding the branch, and he pulled at the edges, trying to break the hole wider; once, twice, the opening was growing, now several inches across. Propping himself against the branch, he tipped his head back and pressed his mouth against the small opening. The winter air that poured into his lungs felt warm. The sudden burst of oxygen fueled his hope. He planted his feet on the tree trunk and pressed his back and shoulders forcefully upward. The ice around the fallen tree, perforated by branches and debris, was weakened already, and as he drove his powerful legs into the trunk, his head and shoulders broke through the ice, crashing up into the winter night. Air poured into his lungs. Still mostly submerged, he wriggled desperately upward, pushing with his legs, pulling with his arms, until finally he was out of the water, lying breathless on the bare ice. Andros tore off his soaked ski mask and pocketed it, glancing back upstream for Peter Solomon. The bend in the river obscured his view. His chest was burning again. Quietly, he dragged a small branch over the hole in the ice in order to hide it. The hole would be frozen again by morning. As Andros staggered into the woods, it began to snow. He had no idea how far he had run when he stumbled out of the woods onto an embankment beside a small highway. He was delirious and hypothermic. The snow was falling harder now, and a single set of headlights approached in the distance. Andros waved wildly, and the lone pickup truck immediately pulled over. It had Vermont plates. An old man in a red plaid shirt jumped out. Andros staggered toward him, holding his bleeding chest. â€Å"A hunter . . . shot me! I need a . . . hospital!† Without hesitation, the old man helped Andros up into the passenger seat of the truck and turned up the heater. â€Å"Where's the nearest hospital?!† Andros had no idea, but he pointed south. â€Å"Next exit.† We're not going to a hospital. The old man from Vermont was reported missing the next day, but nobody had any idea where on his journey from Vermont he might have disappeared in the blinding snowstorm. Nor did anyone link his disappearance to the other news story that dominated the headlines the next day–the shocking murder of Isabel Solomon. When Andros awoke, he was lying in a desolate bedroom of a cheap motel that had been boarded up for the season. He recalled breaking in and binding his wounds with torn bedsheets, and then burrowing into a flimsy bed beneath a pile of musty blankets. He was famished. He limped to the bathroom and saw the pile of bloody bird-shot pellets in the sink. He vaguely recalled prying them out of his chest. Raising his eyes to the dirty mirror, he reluctantly unwrapped his bloody bandages to survey the damage. The hard muscles of his chest and abdomen had stopped the bird shot from penetrating too deep, and yet his body, once perfect, was now ruined with wounds. The single bullet fired by Peter Solomon had apparently gone cleanly through his shoulder, leaving a bloody crater. Making matters worse, Andros had failed to obtain that for which he had traveled all this distance. The pyramid. His stomach growled, and he limped outside to the man's truck, hoping maybe to find food. The pickup was now covered with heavy snow, and Andros wondered how long he had been sleeping in this old motel. Thank God I woke up. Andros found no food anywhere in the front seat, but he did find some arthritis painkillers in the glove compartment. He took a handful, washing them down with several mouthfuls of snow. I need food. A few hours later, the pickup that pulled out from behind the old motel looked nothing like the truck that had pulled in two days earlier. The cab cap was missing, as were the hubcaps, bumper stickers, and all of the trim. The Vermont plates were gone, replaced by those from an old maintenance truck Andros had found parked by the motel Dumpster, into which he had thrown all the bloody sheets, bird shot, and other evidence that he had ever been at the motel. Andros had not given up on the pyramid, but for the moment it would have to wait. He needed to hide, heal, and above all, eat. He found a roadside diner where he gorged himself on eggs, bacon, hash browns, and three glasses of orange juice. When he was done, he ordered more food to go. Back on the road, Andros listened to the truck's old radio. He had not seen a television or newspaper since his ordeal, and when he finally heard a local news station, the report stunned him. â€Å"FBI investigators,† a news announcer said, â€Å"continue their search for the armed intruder who murdered Isabel Solomon in her Potomac home two days ago. The murderer is believed to have fallen through the ice and been washed out to sea.† Andros froze. Murdered Isabel Solomon? He drove on in bewildered silence, listening to the full report. It was time to get far, far away from this place. The Upper West Side apartment offered breathtaking views of Central Park. Andros had chosen it because the sea of green outside his window reminded him of his lost view of the Adriatic. Although he knew he should be happy to be alive, he was not. The emptiness had never left him, and he found himself fixated on his failed attempt to steal Peter Solomon's pyramid. Andros had spent long hours researching the Legend of the Masonic Pyramid, and although nobody seemed to agree on whether or not the pyramid was real, they all concurred on its famous promise of vast wisdom and power. The Masonic Pyramid is real, Andros told himself. My inside information is irrefutable. Fate had placed the pyramid within Andros's reach, and he knew that ignoring it was like holding a winning lottery ticket and never cashing it in. I am the only non-Mason alive who knows the pyramid is real . . . as well as the identity of the man who guards it. Months had passed, and although his body had healed, Andros was no longer the cocky specimen he had been in Greece. He had stopped working out, and he had stopped admiring himself naked in the mirror. He felt as if his body were beginning to show signs of age. His once-perfect skin was a patchwork of scars, and this only depressed him further. He still relied on the painkillers that had nursed him through his recovery, and he felt himself slipping back to the lifestyle that had put him in Soganlik Prison. He didn't care. The body craves what the body craves. One night, he was in Greenwich Village buying drugs from a man whose forearm had been tattooed with a long, jagged lightning bolt. Andros asked him about it, and the man told him the tattoo was covering a long scar he had gotten in a car accident. â€Å"Seeing the scar every day reminded me of the accident,† the dealer said, â€Å"and so I tattooed over it with a symbol of personal power. I took back control.† That night, high on his new stash of drugs, Andros staggered into a local tattoo parlor and took off his shirt. â€Å"I want to hide these scars,† he announced. I want to take back control. â€Å"Hide them?† The tattoo artist eyed his chest. â€Å"With what?† â€Å"Tattoos.† â€Å"Yes . . . I mean tattoos of what?† Andros shrugged, wanting nothing more than to hide the ugly reminders of his past. â€Å"I don't know. You choose.† The artist shook his head and handed Andros a pamphlet on the ancient and sacred tradition of tattooing. â€Å"Come back when you're ready.† Andros discovered that the New York Public Library had in its collection fifty-three books on tattooing, and within a few weeks, he had read them all. Having rediscovered his passion for reading, he began carrying entire backpacks of books back and forth between the library and his apartment, where he voraciously devoured them while overlooking Central Park. These books on tattoos had opened a door to a strange world Andros had never known existed–a world of symbols, mysticism, mythology, and the magical arts. The more he read, the more he realized how blind he had been. He began keeping notebooks of his ideas, his sketches, and his strange dreams. When he could no longer find what he wanted at the library, he paid rare-book dealers to purchase for him some of the most esoteric texts on earth. De Praestigiis Daemonum . . . Lemegeton . . . Ars Almadel . . . Grimorium Verum . . . Ars Notoria . . . and on and on. He read them all, becoming more and more certain that the world still had many treasures yet to offer him. There are secrets out there that transcend human understanding. Then he discovered the writings of Aleister Crowley–a visionary mystic from the early 1900s– whom the church had deemed â€Å"the most evil man who ever lived.† Great minds are always feared by lesser minds. Andros learned about the power of ritual and incantation. He learned that sacred words, if properly spoken, functioned like keys that opened gateways to other worlds. There is a shadow universe beyond this one . . . a world from which I can draw power. And although Andros longed to harness that power, he knew there were rules and tasks to be completed beforehand. Become something holy, Crowley wrote. Make yourself sacred. The ancient rite of â€Å"sacred making† had once been the law of the land. From the early Hebrews who made burnt offerings at the Temple, to the Mayans who beheaded humans atop the pyramids of Chichen Itza, to Jesus Christ, who offered his body on the cross, the ancients understood God's requirement for sacrifice. Sacrifice was the original ritual by which humans drew favor from the gods and made themselves holy. Sacra–sacred. Face– make. Even though the rite of sacrifice had been abandoned eons ago, its power remained. There had been a handful of modern mystics, including Aleister Crowley, who practiced the Art, perfecting it over time, and transforming themselves gradually into something more. Andros craved to transform himself as they had. And yet he knew he would have to cross a dangerous bridge to do so. Blood is all that separates the light from the dark. One night, a crow flew through Andros's open bathroom window and got trapped in his apartment. Andros watched the bird flutter around for a while and then finally stop, apparently accepting its inability to escape. Andros had learned enough to recognize a sign. I am being urged onward. Clutching the bird in one hand, he stood at the makeshift altar in his kitchen and raised a sharp knife, speaking aloud the incantation he had memorized. â€Å"Camiach, Eomiahe, Emial, Macbal, Emoii, Zazean . . . by the most holy names of the angels in the Book of Assamaian, I conjure thee that thou assist me in this operation by the power of the One True God.† Andros now lowered the knife and carefully pierced the large vein on the right wing of the panicked bird. The crow began to bleed. As he watched the stream of red liquid flowing down into the metal cup he had placed as a receptacle, he felt an unexpected chill in the air. Nonetheless, he continued. â€Å"Almighty Adonai, Arathron, Ashai, Elohim, Elohi, Elion, Asher Eheieh, Shaddai . . . be my aid, so that this blood may have power and efficacy in all wherein I shall wish, and in all that I shall demand.† That night, he dreamed of birds . . . of a giant phoenix rising from a billowing fire. The next morning, he awoke with an energy he had not felt since childhood. He went running in the park, faster and farther than he'd imagined possible. When he could run no longer, he stopped to do pushups and sit-ups. Countless repetitions. Still he had energy. That night, again, he dreamed of the phoenix. Autumn had fallen again on Central Park, and the wildlife were scurrying about searching for food for winter. Andros despised the cold, and yet his carefully hidden traps were now overflowing with live rats and squirrels. He took them home in his backpack, performing rituals of increasing complexity. Emanual, Massiach, Yod, He, Vaud . . . please find me worthy. The blood rituals fueled his vitality. Andros felt younger every day. He continued to read day and night–ancient mystical texts, epic medieval poems, the early philosophers–and the more he learned about the true nature of things, the more he realized that all hope for mankind was lost. They are blind . . . wandering aimlessly in a world they will never understand. Andros was still a man, but he sensed he was evolving into something else. Something greater. Something sacred. His massive physique had emerged from dormancy, more powerful now than ever before. He finally understood its true purpose. My body is but a vessel for my most potent treasure . . . my mind. Andros knew his true potential had not yet been realized, and he delved deeper. What is my destiny? All the ancient texts spoke of good and evil . . . and of man's need to choose between them. I made my choice long ago, he knew, and yet he felt no remorse. What is evil, if not a natural law? Darkness followed light. Chaos followed order. Entropy was fundamental. Everything decayed. The perfectly ordered crystal eventually turned into random particles of dust. There are those who create . . . and those who destroy. It was not until Andros read John Milton's Paradise Lost that he saw his destiny materialize before him. He read of the great fallen angel . . . the warrior demon who fought against the light . . . the valiant one . . . the angel called Moloch. Moloch walked the earth as a god. The angel's name, Andros later learned, when translated to the ancient tongue, became Mal'akh. And so shall I. Like all great transformations, this one had to begin with a sacrifice . . . but not of rats, nor birds. No, this transformation required a true sacrifice. There is but one worthy sacrifice. Suddenly he had a sense of clarity unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life. His entire destiny had materialized. For three straight days he sketched on an enormous sheet of paper. When he was done, he had created a blueprint of what he would become. He hung the life-size sketch on his wall and gazed into it as if into a mirror. I am a masterpiece. The next day, he took his drawing to the tattoo parlor. He was ready. CHAPTER 78 The George Washington Masonic Memorial stands atop Shuter's Hill in Alexandria, Virginia. Built in three distinct tiers of increasing architectural complexity from bottom to top–Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian–the structure stands as a physical symbol of man's intellectual ascent. Inspired by the ancient Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt, this soaring tower is capped by an Egyptian pyramid with a flamelike finial. Inside the spectacular marble foyer sits a massive bronze of George Washington in full Masonic regalia, along with the actual trowel he used to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol Building. Above the foyer, nine different levels bear names like the Grotto, the Crypt Room, and the Knights Templar Chapel. Among the treasures housed within these spaces are over twenty thousand volumes of Masonic writings, a dazzling replica of the Ark of the Covenant, and even a scale model of the throne room in King Solomon's Temple. CIA agent Simkins checked his watch as the modified UH-60 chopper skimmed in low over the Potomac. Six minutes until their train arrives. He exhaled and gazed out the window at the shining Masonic Memorial on the horizon. He had to admit, the brilliantly shining tower was as impressive as any building on the National Mall. Simkins had never been inside the memorial, and tonight would be no different. If all went according to plan, Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon would never make it out of the subway station. â€Å"Over there!† Simkins shouted to the pilot, pointing down at the King Street subway station across from the memorial. The pilot banked the helicopter and set it down on a grassy area at the foot of Shuter's Hill. Pedestrians looked up in surprise as Simkins and his team piled out, dashed across the street, and ran down into King Street Station. In the stairwell, several departing passengers leaped out of the way, plastering themselves to the walls as the phalanx of armed men in black thundered past them. The King Street Station was larger than Simkins had anticipated, apparently serving several different lines–Blue, Yellow, and Amtrak. He raced over to the Metro map on the wall, found Freedom Plaza and the direct line to this location. â€Å"Blue Line, southbound platform!† Simkins shouted. â€Å"Get down there and clear everyone out!† His team dashed off. Simkins rushed over to the ticket booth, flashed his identification, and shouted to the woman inside. â€Å"The next train from Metro Center–what time is it due?!† The woman inside looked frightened. â€Å"I'm not sure. Blue Line arrives every eleven minutes. There's no set schedule.† â€Å"How long since the last train?† â€Å"Five . . . six minutes, maybe? No more than that.† Turner did the math. Perfect. The next train had to be Langdon's. Inside a fast-moving subway car, Katherine Solomon shifted uncomfortably on the hard plastic seat. The bright fluorescent lights overhead hurt her eyes, and she fought the impulse to let her eyelids close, even for a second. Langdon sat beside her in the empty car, staring blankly down at the leather bag at his feet. His eyelids looked heavy, too, as if the rhythmic sway of the moving car were lulling him into a trance. Katherine pictured the strange contents of Langdon's bag. Why does the CIA want this pyramid? Bellamy had said that Sato might be pursuing the pyramid because she knew its true potential. But even if this pyramid somehow did reveal the hiding place of ancient secrets, Katherine found it hard to believe that its promise of primeval mystical wisdom would interest the CIA. Then again, she reminded herself, the CIA had been caught several times running parapsychological or psi programs that bordered on ancient magic and mysticism. In 1995, the â€Å"Stargate/Scannate† scandal had exposed a classified CIA technology called remote viewing–a kind of telepathic mind travel that enabled a â€Å"viewer† to transport his mind's eye to any location on earth and spy there, without being physically present. Of course, the technology was nothing new. Mystics called it astral projection, and yogis called it out-of-body experience. Unfortunately, horrified American taxpayers called it absurd, and the program had been scuttled. At least publicly. Ironically, Katherine saw remarkable connections between the CIA's failed programs and her own breakthroughs in Noetic Science. Katherine felt eager to call the police and find out if they had discovered anything in Kalorama Heights, but she and Langdon were phoneless now, and making contact with the authorities would probably be a mistake anyway; there was no telling how far Sato's reach extended. Patience, Katherine. Within minutes, they would be in a safe hiding place, guests of a man who had assured them he could provide answers. Katherine hoped his answers, whatever they might be, would help her save her brother. â€Å"Robert?† she whispered, glancing up at the subway map. â€Å"Next stop is ours.† Langdon emerged slowly from his daydream. â€Å"Right, thanks.† As the train rumbled toward the station, he collected his daybag and gave Katherine an uncertain glance. â€Å"Let's just hope our arrival is uneventful.† By the time Turner Simkins dashed down to join his men, the subway platform had been entirely cleared, and his team was fanning out, taking up positions behind the support pillars that ran the length of the platform. A distant rumble echoed in the tunnel at the other end of the platform, and as it grew louder, Simkins felt the push of stale warm air billowing around him. No escape, Mr. Langdon. Simkins turned to the two agents he had told to join him on the platform. â€Å"Identification and weapons out. These trains are automated, but they all have a conductor who opens the doors. Find him.† The train's headlamp now appeared down the tunnel, and the sound of squealing brakes pierced the air. As the train burst into the station and began slowing down, Simkins and his two agents leaned out over the track, waving CIA identification badges and straining to make eye contact with the conductor before he could open the doors. The train was closing fast. In the third car, Simkins finally saw the startled face of the conductor, who was apparently trying to figure out why three men in black were all waving identification badges at him. Simkins jogged toward the train, which was now nearing a full stop. â€Å"CIA!† Simkins shouted, holding up his ID. â€Å"Do NOT open the doors!† As the train glided slowly past him, he went toward the conductor's car, shouting in at him. â€Å"Do not open your doors! Do you understand?! Do NOT open your doors!† The train came to a full stop, its wide-eyed conductor nodding repeatedly. â€Å"What's wrong?!† the man demanded through his side window. â€Å"Don't let this train move,† Simkins said. â€Å"And don't open the doors.† â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"Can you let us into the first car?† The conductor nodded. Looking fearful, he stepped out of the train, closing the door behind him. He escorted Simkins and his men to the first car, where he manually opened the door. â€Å"Lock it behind us,† Simkins said, pulling his weapon. Simkins and his men stepped quickly into the stark light of the first car. The conductor locked the door behind them. The first car contained only four passengers–three teenage boys and an old woman–all of whom looked understandably startled to see three armed men entering. Simkins held up his ID. â€Å"Everything's fine. Just stay seated.† Simkins and his men now began their sweep, pushing toward the back of the sealed train one car at a time–â€Å"squeezing toothpaste,† as it was called during his training at the Farm. Very few passengers were on this train, and halfway to the back, the agents still had seen nobody even remotely resembling the description of Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon. Nonetheless, Simkins remained confident. There was absolutely no place to hide on a subway car. No bathrooms, no storage, and no alternative exits. Even if the targets had seen them board the train and fled to the back, there was no way out. Prying open a door was almost impossible, and Simkins had men watching the platform and both sides of the train anyway. Patience. By the time Simkins reached the second-to-last car, however, he was feeling edgy. This penultimate car had only one passenger–a Chinese man. Simkins and his agents moved through, scanning for any place to hide. There was none. â€Å"Last car,† Simkins said, raising his weapon as the threesome moved toward the threshold of the train's final section. As they stepped into the last car, all three of them immediately stopped and stared. What the . . . ?! Simkins raced to the rear of the deserted cabin, searching behind all the seats. He spun back to his men, blood boiling. â€Å"Where the hell did they go?!†

Essay on Venture Capital †Motivations For Corporate Venturing

1. Introduction Traditionally, the interest of companies in creating venture funds was influenced by the venture capital climate. Increased rates of corporate venturing activity recorded in the 1960s, 1980s, and 1990s were in correspondence with the flourishing venture capital investments (Narayanan et al., 2009). Despite the deterioration in private equity investment owing to the fall of the dot-com sector in early 21st century, corporate venturing is still considered to be an important business activity in large business organisations (Gailly et al., 2014). However, corporate venturing is marred with complexity including the disconcerting array of existing corporate venturing forms (Guerrero & Pena-Legazkue, 2013). As Garg (2013) argues, for many years, large business organisations have been cautious about the idea of corporate venturing. Some have witnessed a failure of their venture initiatives while others have given up so easily. Generally, the lifespan of corporate venturing initiative is aro und one year (Basu & Wadhwa, 2013). Even business organisations with a strong capital base have struggled to utilise knowledge that is gained from start-up initiatives (Basu et al., 2011). Certainly, it is not easy to run a corporate venture capital successfully. However, as the rate of discontents in research and development increase, corporate venturing is gaining respect and appreciation in the business world (Masulis & Nahata, 2009). To clearly position the reasons that motivate organisations to consider corporate venturing, it is imperative to analyse the concept of growth and development as a result of the effectiveness of research and development initiatives at the organisational level. 2. Venturing and Firm Innovativeness Ideas that are innovative can be produced via internal R&D or access externally through activities such as corporate venture capital initiative. Companies must not limit themselves to in-house R&D as a source of innovativeness. In spite of the high prevalence of internal R&D as a source of innovativeness in many business organisations from a historical perspective, a decision to limit an organisation to sourcing its innovativeness from internal R&D has its limitations (Srivastava & Agrawal, 2010; Guerrero & Pena-Legazkue, 2013). As research on economic-based industries suggests, monopolies lack efficiency which results in the costs associated with inefficiency being passed down to the final consumer (Narayanan et al., 2009; Napp&Minshall, 2011). This idea is also recognised in corporate entrepreneurship research. Specifically, Gaba and Bhattacharya (2012) argued that elevated R&D expenditure at the organisational level is an indicator of internal inefficiencies and elevated agency co sts rather than successful innovative initiatives or antagonistic risk-taking approaches. Therefore, it is necessary for corporations to eliminate the monopoly enjoyed by their R&D units. Economics positions the existence of competing players as a source of efficiency when compared to a monopoly state (Basu et al., 2011). At organisational level, structuring of corporate innovative initiatives can be realised through the development of several R&D centre or supporting various technological initiatives through approaches such as corporate venture capital. Furthermore, research has raised concerns over the possibility of collusion pitfalls in cases where the number of players is limited (Napp & Minshall, 2011; Basu & Wadhwa, 2013). This can be addressed by offering a significant geographical dispersion of R&D centres. Indeed, according to Gaba and Bhattacharya (2012), having numerous research sites that are geographically distributed enhances corporate innovativeness by providing assistance in disabling organisational inertia, offering variety, and ultimately speeding up th e development of new capabilities and technological advancement. The option of multiple technological activities that is founded on corporate venture capital initiatives is also common among various leading companies on a global scale in the recent past. A decision to introduce the concept of competition in processes that generate organisational innovativeness has been found to eliminate inefficiencies in organisational innovativeness activities (Maula et al., 2009). Agency theory emphasises on inefficiencies that emanate from contracting associations between a firms engaging another firm to undertake certain activity on its behalf, which entails a decision to delegate a significant decision-making authority to an agent (Srivastava & Agrawal, 2010). The consideration, in this case, is that both players in the contract are rational, self-interested, risk-averse, and opportunistic. Consequently, the opportunistic behaviour of the agent may not be in agreement with the best interests of the principal (Garg, 2013; Bruneel et al., 2013). The agent†™s opportunistic behaviour is manifested via adverse selection, moral hazards, and hold-up (Cumming & Johan, 2010). In addition, any form of misalignment that exists between the principal’s and the agent’s interests implies enduring loss by the principal (Maula et al., 2009; Souitaris & Zerbinati, 2014). A typical situation where an agency problem is applicable is the case of a relationship between business managers and owners (Cumming & Johan, 2010). However, this situation can easily be applied to the relationship between a firm’s R&D unit and its top management. In this case, the internal R&D unit is positioned as an agent of the firm’s top management that is involved in technical advancement. Therefore, selection process that is adverse may be a significant issue if the R&D unit initiates a project that extends beyond its expertise. The issue of moral hazards is common in cases where actions taken by an agent cannot be verified which is a common occurrence in complex research and development projects, where observable results rather than behaviours that cannot be verified is the solution (Narayanan et al., 2009). Hold-up challenges may emerge when internal projects that are not successful are not suspended from corporate funding even when the outcomes are useless in spite of significant corporate expenditure. Therefore, a decision to create a corporate venture capital initiative is a solution to some of the problems associated with agency challenges. Specifically, corporate venture capital plans provide internal R&D units with a significant challenge over their monopoly on generating organisational innovation. According to a research done by Basu et al. (2011), challenging the monopoly by internal R&D unit on innovation production has assisted several business firms to directly move into successful business initiatives that would have been assumed under normal internal R&D situation. As much as corporate venturing is considered to be dangerous due to the threat of opportunism (Garg, 2013), a decision to limit innovative activities to internal R&D unit is more problematic (Cumming et al., 2009). The challenges associated with monopolies are just part of the challenges. Without sufficient level of diversity, strategic renewal, which is considered a major entrepreneurship, can never be reali sed. Development of corporate venture initiatives is, therefore, significant in minimising moral hazards and adverse selection (Maula et al., 2009). Allocating an organisation’s funds to a corporate venture is a significant threat to the availability of funds that can be applied in internal R&D projects, which spurs competition based on the economic perspective analysed above. 3. Motives that Drive Corporate Venturing Research has established that a corporate venture capital fund is more flexible, can move faster, and is generally cheaper when compared the conventional research and development in assisting an organisation in the process of responding to changes in business models and technologies (Maula et al., 2009; Napp&Minshall, 2011). According to Garg (2013), such a fund can be used in the process of stimulating demand for a firm’s products. Furthermore, corporate venture capital is an investment that may earn a company a return that is attractive. It is, therefore, a tool that is used by a firm in capturing ideas that ultimately influence the future of an organisation. There are various benefits that come with venture capital including faster response, better analysis of business threats, easier disengagement, enhanced investment impacts, increased demand, and higher returns.3.1. Venturing and Business ResponseThrough offering an inside perspective of new technological areas as well as an approach that can lead to possible ownership and use of novel ideas, corporate venturing allows businesses to swiftly respond to changes in the market. In a study done by (Narayanan et al., 2009) about venturing initiatives, it was established that companies that were able to make successful financial investments experienced better success levels. Consequently, such development capabilities that are experienced under venture capital initiative take a longer period of time to be realised if done by a firm on its own and is generally more expensive (Souitaris & Zerbinati, 2014). Given the resources and time needed to modernise research facilities and recruit researchers with the right skills and expertise, expanding a firm’s internal research and development can be generally painstaking (Phan et al., 2009).3.2. Venture Capital in Threat ManagementVenture fund can be used by an organisation as an approach to gathering intelligence, which assists the firm in protecting its elf from emerging threats to its competitiveness in the market. For instance, Analog Devices, the silicon-chip specialist formulated a venture program in the 1980s focused at investing in a variety of competing technologies (Basu et al., 2011). The goal, in this case, was to collect strategic information at a lower cost. The process resulted in a discovery that it was difficult and expensive to make chips using non-silicon materials. This resulted in a hike in Analog’s market valuation. In this case, the decision to utilise corporate venturing program offered the company a source of insurance. In this case, if the alternatives that the company had opted to explore had been viable, it was covered from the risk of being faced out of the market by its competitors. Conventional approaches to research and development does not offer data that can be used in predicting sources of competitive forces. Specifically, most corporate research and development units focus on projects that a re narrow which can result in neglect of areas that can cause a significant disruption from external competitors. Accordingly Phan et al. (2009) argue that most business managers in firms with versatile internal R&D functions face challenges when it comes to determining whether their companies are blindsided with regard to new innovative developments that may threaten their competitiveness3.3. Venturing and Easier DetachmentAnother positive aspect of venturing that is related to the ability of a firm to speed up its response to threats and change is that it offers organisational management a faster approach to detach from investments that appear to be doomed to fail. In particular, many firms find it challenging to abandon innovations that are not very good but are developed internally (Rohrbeck et al., 2009). Such projects can remain in a firm’s product development for many years resisting termination. This can well be illustrated by Nokia’s continued focus on develo ping its mobile phones based on the Symbian operating system even when most of its competitors had opted to go into free fall, which negatively affected the competitiveness of Nokia in the market. The relationship that exists between firms and their venture funds which is arm’s-length is advantageous in this respect. In particular, as much as a firm may be reluctant to terminate an initiative that is unpromising, the presence of co-investors provides a platform for forcing the decision.3.4. Venture Capital and Increased Impacts of InvestmentVenture Capital provides business firms opportunities for combining their capital with other venture capitals, which results in the magnification of the effects of an investment to a firm. These benefits are particularly apparent in cases where technological uncertainty is significantly higher. The iFund, which was supported by Apple Company and introduced in the market by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venerable VC firm, provides an illustration of this case. This investment enabled Apple to build applications for its new mobile phone products at the lowest cost possible. This was in contrast to the case of Nokia, which was a major market rival to Apple Company whose operating system, Symbian was unsuccessful and very costly. As a result of the success of the iFund, similar such initiatives have been positioned by many other companies including famous venture capital developments such as Facebook and Research in Motion.3.5. Venturing and Market DemandVenture firm provides a firm with several sources of leveraging. This can be illustrated by the iFund case. In particular, a decision by venture capitalists to promote the development of technologies that were reliant on the parent firm business platforms results in increased demand for the firm’s products. This approach was considered by Intel Capital in the late 1990s when it founded a capital that speeded the adoption of Intel’s next generation c hips in the market (Rohrbeck et al., 2009). This fund was invested in numerous hardware and software makers who were mostly Intel competitors and their products capitalised on the power presented by the new chip developed by Intel. These investments resulted in the accelerated adoption of Intel chip within a short period of time. Intel capital was also involved in seeding firms that were developing wireless internet products founded on a platform that had been championed by Intel. This resulted in rapid adoption of wireless products from Intel in the following years, which illustrated the success of the company in applying corporate venturing in creating a network of wireless actors.3.6. Venturing and ReturnsResearch has also established a financial benefit that is associated with venturing. Specifically, the main objective of any venture capital initiative is to generate revenue for the partners. With regard to corporate venture capital, the main goal is gaining a strategic advant age in the market, which ultimately culminates in increased profitability as much as the initial income generated as a result of the venture itself is insignificant with regard to the bottom line of corporate firms (Masulis & Nahata, 2009). Business organisations introduce value in start-ups that they find, which is commonly in the form of resources, skills, and reputation (Phan et al., 2009). This also changes the perception of the new entity’s prospects in the face of external investors. Public and private equity investors generally believe that start-ups that are founded on venture capital will be absorbed by the investors at an attractive valuation. Accordingly, Basu et al. (2011) established that business start-ups that are funded by corporations are more likely to attract more attention among high-quality players in the market when compared to ordinary start-ups. It also emerged that such start-ups that are backed by corporate venture funds have a better performance wit h regard to stock price when compared to those that are backed by traditional investment groups. 4. Conclusion The analysis of the corporate venture capital and its significance in the business world demonstrated a clear picture of its implication in growth, development, and competitiveness of business organisations in the wake of a globalised business environment. Specifically, it was apparent that corporate venture capital initiative could be applied by business organisations in increasing their innovativeness and the general firm efficiency and ultimately their competitiveness. Consequently, corporate venture capital initiatives demonstrate entrepreneurial aspects that are associated with significant effects on business corporations. Consequently, based on the deeper analysis of the strategic aspects of corporate venture capital investments, this paper has affirmed that it plays a strategic role in competitiveness and sustainability of corporate entities in the contemporary business settings hence an attractive initiative in most corporations. 5. References Basu, S., & Wadhwa, A. (2013). â€Å"External venturing and discontinuous strategic renewal: An options perspective.† Journal of Product Innovation Management, 30(5), pp. 956-975. Basu, S., Phelps, C., Kotha, S. (2011). â€Å"Towards understanding who makes corporate venture capital investments and why,† Journal of Business Venturing, 26(2), pp. 153-171. Bruneel, J., Van de Velde, E., & Clarysse, B. (2013). â€Å"Impact of the Type of Corporate Spin?Off on Growth.† Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 37(4), pp. 943-959. Cumming, D., & Johan, S. (2010). â€Å"Venture capital investment duration.† Journal of Small Business Management, 48(2), pp. 228-257. Cumming, D., Fleming, G., &Schwienbacher, A. (2009). â€Å"Corporate relocation in venture capital finance.† Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33(5), pp. 1121-1155. Gaba, V., & Bhattacharya, S. (2012). â€Å"Aspirations, innovation, and corporate venture capital: A behavioural perspective.† Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 6(2), pp. 178-199. Gailly, B., Da Gbadji, A. G., & Schwienbacher, A. (2014). â€Å"International analysis of venture capital programs of large corporations and financial institutions.† Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Forthcoming. Garg, S. (2013). â€Å"Venture boards: Distinctive monitoring and implications for firm performance.† Academy of Management Review, 38(1), pp. 90-108. Guerrero, M., & Pena-Legazkue, I. (2013). â€Å"The effect of intrapreneurial experience on corporate venturing: Evidence from developed economies.† International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 9(3), pp. 397-416. Guerrero, M., & Pena-Legazkue, I. (2013). â€Å"The effect of intrapreneurial experience on corporate venturing: Evidence from developed economies.† International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 9(3), pp. 397-416. Masulis, R. W., &Nahata, R. (2009). â€Å"Financial contracting with strategic investors: Evidence from corporate venture capital backed IPOs.† Journal of Financial Intermediation, 18(4), pp. 599-631. Maula, M. V., Autio, E., & Murray, G. C. (2009). â€Å"Corporate venture capital and the balance of risks and rewards for portfolio companies.† Journal of Business Venturing, 24(3), pp. 274-286. Napp, J. J., &Minshall, T. (2011). â€Å"Corporate venture capital investments for enhancing innovation: challenges and solutions.† Research-Technology Management, 54(2), 27-36. Narayanan, V. K., Yang, Y., & Zahra, S. A. (2009). â€Å"Corporate venturing and value creation: A review and proposed framework.† Research Policy, 38(1), pp. 58-76. Phan, P. H., Wright, M., Ucbasaran, D., & Tan, W. L. (2009). â€Å"Corporate entrepreneurship: Current research and future directions.† Journal of business Venturing, 24(3), pp. 197-205. Rohrbeck, R., Dohler, M., & Arnold, H. (2009). â€Å"Creating growth with externalization of R&D results—the spin?along approach.† Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 28(4), pp. 44-51. Souitaris, V., & Zerbinati, S. (2014). â€Å"How do corporate venture capitalists do dealsAn exploration of corporate investment practices.† Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 8(4), pp. 321-348. Srivastava, N., & Agrawal, A. (2010). â€Å"Factors supporting corporate entrepreneurship: an exploratory study.† Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, 14(3), pp.163-171.

Trends in Sustainable Travel and Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Trends in Sustainable Travel and Tourism - Essay Example The major directions in the development of sustainable tourism are discussed here in detail. It was the widespread realization of the need for preserving natural resources and natural assets that led to sustainable tourism. People are now keener to use eco-friendly products and processes eliminating the least chance of harming the nature. As Mullis (2012) points out, fifty percent of the American youngsters in a survey were of the opinion that they would only use an airline if and only if the authorities take initiatives to make up for carbon emissions. The same opinion was predominant among tourists travelling across tourist spots. They only use things that can be recycled and reprocessed. It eliminates the careless throw out of plastic, carry bags and other non-biodegradable things. According to Mullis (2012), tourism industry is paying more attention to introducing carbon offset facilities to tackle greenhouse gas emissions; and tour operators are now offering carbon offsets to th eir customers as they are well aware of it. Sustainable tourism does not require too much initial capital investment. So, the small-scale industries in the tourist sites are adopting various means of protecting the environment in order to satisfy their customers. As stated in the United Nations’ Managing sustainable tourism development (2001) principles, in order to nourish tourism in a particular locality; beaches, mountains, rivers, and all the flora and fauna are to be protected and preserved with fondness: and in the light of these observations made by the policy makers, various laws have been made to protect the indigenous characteristics of the tourist sites and for the protection of the environment. With the enactment of local laws pertaining to resource exploitation, consumption and waste dumping, issues relating to tourism could be tackled to a large extend. Another notable feature in the area of sustainable tourism is the developments made by the Thai people in the area of mass tourism with the help of their affluent historical, cultural and natural assets. They made small-scale tourism projects which are community based and implemented sustainable tourism in their ethnic village of Karen. The reason for such an allocation was that the indigenous people knew the terrain and the pulse of the environment better than the outsiders. The aims of this program were to improve the all round quality of the village population, preserve the unique culture of Karen village, allow the indigenous population to make decisions about their way of life and to contribute to the preservation and protection of the natural resources and assets of the region (Managing sustainable tourism development, 2001). They implemented this idea with the help of Nongovernmental Organizations. Thus, Thailand was one of the pioneers to teach the world the new trend of dividing sites between native people and giving them complete freedom to promote it to the fullest.

Consumer Behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Consumer Behaviour - Assignment Example 87) the market situation analysis of Nestle shows: Sales- It holds the first position in selling foods. It makes major profits from the sales of food products alone, this year sales rose to 67.6 billion swiss francs which were only 60.9 billion francs last year. Also it’s the world leader in manufacturing coffee. The first three months of 2013 shows that the company’s sales rose to 21.9 billion Swiss francs from the last year but it failed to meet the expected sales which are 22.5 billion Swiss francs. Competitors-Nestle give good competition to most of the fmcg brands like Kraft Foods Inc., Unilever plc. , P & G, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Heinz etc. Its huge range of diversified products makes it a strong contender in the fmcg & food sector (Express, 2012). Market Share- It’s the market leader in the coffee & mineral water segment. The table below displays the sales & market shares in the year 1992, of different companies- (Source: Pagell and Halperin 1999, p. 195) Pr oduct Range- The product range includes bottled waters, chocolates, cereals, dairy, coffee, drinks, food, ice-creams purina pet care etc. It puts more emphasis on the taste & nutrition content of the product & therefore it ends up fixing slightly higher prices than its competitors. Creating pet foods makes it a unique brand which not only cares for humans but also it shows significant care to the pets. Its delicious range of hot chocolate & sausage makes it the number one brand in the food & drink sector. Also the beverage systems offered by the company is used widely throughout the world. (Gilbert, 2013) Markets- It has its presence in the continents of Africa, America, Asia, Australia & Europe, in almost over 80 countries. It customizes its product according to the place where it’s being sold. More or less every household contains a product of this brand. 2. Target Market Customer base of Nestle ranges from middle income groups to higher income groups, from kids to adults, from the health conscious to the junk food eaters because Nestle’s products serve various day to day needs of a person. 3. Social Influences on Buying Behaviour PERSONAL FACTORS Age serves as an important factor for the products and services of the firm. Nestle’s consumer range includes adults, aged people, teenagers as well as kids below 12 years. Due to the brands all over presence across the world, its customer base includes people from various race, religion and ethnicity. These things affect the consumer’s food habit to a great extent. The climate, food habits, language, religion, dressing style, income status, etc. falls basically within the wide gamut of geography. For example let’s think about the approach adapted by McDonalds. The well-known fast food chain has got diverse menu for diverse sites across the world. When the firm was asked to state the cause behind the broad range of menus, the firm replied, â€Å"We try to adapt our menu to reflec t different tastes and local traditions for every country in which we have restaurants. We're keen to respect cultural differences and so every country has its own policy of developing menu items†. Moreover consumer behavior depends to a large extent on the education and knowledge of the people, for instance people who are well educated are more concerned about the adverse effects of calorie consumption and thus they would prefer to choose the sugar free chocolate prepared by

Discuss and evaluate how teams function Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Discuss and evaluate how teams function - Essay Example Secondly, team members are interdependent which signifies their reliance on each other, which is the hallmark of teamwork (Thompson, 2008, p. 2). Thirdly, team members are bounded to each other and are relatively stable over a period of time. By boundedness is meant a finite and identifiable membership the composition of which is known to all members as well as outsiders; by stability is meant that there is tenure of membership. Fourthly, team members are empowered to manage their own work and exercise their discretion over the internal processes. They do not need constant permission or approval from the team leader or manager. Finally, teams operate within the context of a larger social system. Teams work alongside other teams and draw upon resources outside their team, from the larger social system (Thompson, 2008, p 3). Team characteristics may be summarized as follows (Zayed & Kamel, 2005, p.2): A team can involve as few as two people. A team is not a mere aggregate of individual s. More than that, it is an integrated unit that functions in a coordinated and complementary manner. A team’s success depends on the interdependent and collective efforts of various team members, not just a few individuals; each member makes a significant contribution to the team effort. Team members are likely to have significant impacts on one another as they work together. When tasks require multiple skills, experience and sound judgment, teams usually outperform the sum total of the work of separate individuals. Teams are found to be more flexible and responsive to changes in the environment and other unexpected events, compared to traditional organizational hierarchical structures or other forms of permanent groupings (Zayed & Kamel, 2005, p.1; Thompson, 2008, p. 6). Factors that make a team work Zayed & Kamel (2005, p.3) specify four requirements for teams to function well: (1) Team members must have an interdependent relationship with each other in the performance of their team activities. (2) This interdependence dictates that group members must interact through conversation or work activities. (3) A team is characterized by a condition of mutual influence between team members. (4) Teams have a common purpose such as accomplishing work, completing a project, or preparing a report. Aside from internal factors possessed by the effective team, there are external factors that have made the development of the self-managed team not only apropos but necessary. The first of these is the degree of specialization required in addressing an increasingly globalized environment. The globalization of the economy enables more organizations to form and, with the increasing complexity of productive activity, assume more specialized functions. This gives rise to a need for specialists in many fields, experts with indepth knowledge and training who are particularly equipped to assess and render competent decisions within their fields of expertise, more than a gene ral manager or team leader (Dyer & Dyer, 2010). The second factor is competition, where the global market is increasingly dominated by a few large firms who enjoy economies of scale and large profits. For these firms, teamwork is becomes a source of competitive advantage in coordinating the activities of the

The Automobile in American History and Culture Essay

The Automobile in American History and Culture - Essay Example Cars operate on the four-stroke combustion cycle to convert the gasoline into motion (Gottlieb, 1997). The four-stroke combustion cycle is also known as the Otto cycle a name that honors Nikolaus Otto who invented the technology in 1867. Successive improvements on both the technology and other features of a car have resulted in the near perfect modern car that boasts of increased efficiency. Â  Development of the car engine readily manifests in the features of the contemporary car engine most of which portray dedicated technological improvements that succeeded in the modern day engine from the traditional engine invented hundreds of years ago. Among the features that prove the difference are engine sizes, efficiency, power and supporting components among many others. Efficiency in the modern car engines arises from the completeness of combustion. Engines emit smoke through the exhaust pipes depicting the incompleteness of the combustion (Brain, 2014). Old engines, for example, emitted more smoke and thus consumed more gasoline per mile. This arose from particular features of the engine that inventors improved progressively thereby resulting in the modern day engine. Direct injection, for example, is a major invention that has increased the efficiency of combustion thereby reducing the fuel consumption of cars while increasing the power that engines produce. Additionally , the reduced amount of smoke that modern engines emit has reduced the amount of pollution, which was a major concern with the traditional engines (Norman, 1902). Â  Other features of the modern engine that improves its efficiency include mechanisms of compressing air and cylinder deactivation. Air compression ensures that the gasoline receives adequate air to sustain efficient combustion of the fuel.

Health care model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Health care model - Essay Example Health care industries are now moving around a four letter word that is cost, government, insurance firms, and patients. Therefore there are numerous things to manage efficiently hospital industry. With lives in their hands, health care organizations need to function very precisely with executing high quality services and at the same time cutting unnecessary costs. Therefore it needs a proper structure which will have a very specific, narrow, and low authority role in place. Health care industry is customer industry, thus it need to done some effort to ensure customer expectations by a customer centric customized service approach. In every department there should be different vice presidents who will work under a common president or manager. Medical workers and doctors need to have coordination among them and act as a team. Usually in every industry front line workers are the one who generates unprecedented value by their service but in return receives very little remunerations which affect their behavior at work. We need to solve this discrepancy for providing better service. To change the health care system clinicians, doctors, nurses all of them need to aware about new protocols and technologies to deliver modern care to the patient. Although it’s a long term plan, therefore to make it more religious good governance and well articulated management structure is

The Possitive and Negative Effects of the Death Penalty Essay

The Possitive and Negative Effects of the Death Penalty - Essay Example Recently, the debate over the use of the death penalty has become highly contentious, and its use as a form of punishment has decreased across the nation (Katz, Livett and Shustorovich 318). For example, most of the executions that occurred during 2002 occurred in the South of the USA, with Texas accounting for three times as many executions as those carried out in the West, Midwest and Northeast altogether. Overall, most states did not use the death penalty during 2002. Currently, the debate focuses on the availability of empirical evidence, and discourse on ethics and morality, to determine whether the death penalty should, or should not, remain as a punishment alternative. This paper aims to review the arguments of the death penalty debate. Firstly, the arguments For the use of capital punishment shall be outlined. Secondly, the arguments Against the use of the death penalty shall be presented. Finally, a conclusion shall synthesize the main arguments and make recommendations for future research. A dominant argument for the use of the death penalty is that the highest interest for a society is to prevent the deviant behavior of murder, and so the strongest punishment should be employed to deter the potential for murder to occur (Death Penalty Curricula for High School). According to this reasoning, the death of those who do commit murder will motivate other potential murderers to re-think their actions, as they will fear the loss of their own life. The arguments For the death penalty contend also, that although many studies show the results of the deterrent hypothesis to be inconclusive, that this may well be because the punishment is so infrequently used, due to the long process involved to actually carry out an execution (Katz, Livett and Shustorovich 318). It is postulated that the US states that utilize the death penalty would have much higher rates of murder if they did not use this form of punishment at all. Also, the arguments focus on the ability for capital punishme nt to deter those who are executed for murder, not only as a protection for the public, but also for other prisoners and staff who work within the prison system (Death Penalty Curricula for High School). Ultimately, it is contended, as a form of permanent incapacitation the death penalty aids in crime prevention and so the protection of society. An in-depth study by Isaac Ehlich is often pointed to as providing proof that murder rates change when there is the likelihood of losing one's life for the crime (Ehlich [a] 32). Ehlich concluded that as many as 7 or 8 murders were prevented through the use of capital punishment in the USA, during the period from 1933 to 1967 (Ehlich [b] 15). Furthermore, to support Ehlich's findings, a study in England by Wolpin found that for every execution, there was a reduction, on average, of four other

Benchmarking - Amgen Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Benchmarking - Amgen Corporation - Case Study Example APQC provides Amgen with a list of 40 potential benchmarking companies from which Amgen selects the best seven. Amgen gets a chance to visit four of the companies while the other three are interviewed over the phone. After scaling itself against these companies, Amgen restructures its sales training and development department. After realizing the positive results from the benchmarking, Amgen sought to use the same concept to evaluate its mode of movement of the products from the production stage to the end user. In the process, it has been able to learn many lessons. For instance, Amgen has learned that one of the hindrances to effective benchmarking is a failure to make effective implementation of the learned concepts. Finding suitable companies willing to participate in the benchmarking is a challenge though APQC comes in handy in such instances. Through benchmarking, Amgen has been able to make a milestone development in various aspects of its operations. The best decision Amgen could ever have done was to initiate the benchmarking concept in their business. It would have been disastrous for Amgen to continue with their business operations and ideas without measuring themselves against the top performers. Other competitors, who are performing better in human resource management, would have overtaken them. It is always important to keep a constant evaluation of strengths and weaknesses in all aspects of business and then execute benchmarking to address the weaknesses. Amgen integrated the benchmarking idea just in time when it would have lost total control over the increasing number of employees. Certainly, Amgen will continue reaping the benefits of benchmarking even in future. For any business to be successful, it has to embrace the change of events that are prevalent in modern business conditions. Competition is on the rise and only the most competitive and organized businesses will remain in business.  Ã‚  

Free

Freedom of the Will Essay Edwards’ Freedom of the Will may be construed as a psychological discourse. As an annihilation of false views of the Will that prevailed in his century and in the present, in order that men may learn how to have Christian belief and be saved, and as a reply to the discourse of Arminian Minister Whitby, this work is indeed evangelical. Edwards has put emphasis on the â€Å"faculty of choice† (Tappan 1839, 16), the Will which the mind chooses as being judged by the faculty of understanding. Although this discourse may not be as authoritative as Calvin’s Institutes, the author of Freedom of the Will is undeniably one of the great and enduring masters when religious emotion is being talked about. When it comes to reasoning in his work, Edwards can never be more crafty. Simply put, Freedom of the Will is the work of a genius. In the section where Edwards distinguished Will from Desire, he has agreed with the argument of Locke but he has put more understanding and correlation connecting these two things. I do not suppose, that Will and Desire are words of precisely the same signification: Will seems to be a word of more general signification, extending to things present and absent. Desire respects something absent†¦ A man never, in any instance, wills any thing contrary to his desires, or desires any thing contrary to his will. (Edwards 1754, 2) In his discourse, Edwards has analyzed and made into view that although Will and Desire are distinguishable from each other, these two are in fact the same faculty of the man’s soul where the Will is being determined by the â€Å"strongest motive† (Edwards 1754, 4) acting over the man’s soul and thereby choosing what is, at that moment seems good to Him, which is his inclination. With this attack on the common arguments in his Freedom of the Will, Edwards is meritorious of all the credits. Moreover, in the section where Edwards has discussed on the deliberate and free choice of Man to do something â€Å"evil and painful† (Colonial and Revolutionary Literature, n/d), he has offered his readers sharp logic. He has noted that if the Man errs it is due to his free choice given the full knowledge of good and happiness versus evil and pain and such an action, to choose evil with suffering, is monstrous and is very incomprehensible. As this can be logical, it is also very difficult to practice. Man generally chooses the good but circumstances do not allow him to stay choosing and practicing the good. Analyzing the discourse, Freedom of the Will speaks of the truth. Edwards is no optimist when it comes to his philosophies. He has made it a point in his discourse that evil do exist in this world and how his teachings sprouted from a deep hatred of evil. The thing which makes sin hateful, is that by which it deserves punishment; which is but the expression of hatred†¦. Thus, for instance, ingratitude is hateful and worthy of dispraise, according to common sense; not because something as bad, or worse than ingratitude, was the cause that produced it; but because it is hateful in itself, by its own inherent deformity. (Edwards 1754, 65) On the last note, the discourse has came up with and is correlated to what are called â€Å"ethics or the rules† (Tappan 1839, 265), which are not compelled to be obeyed by everyone but impose a strong power upon the conscience of the majority, especially those who believes in an Almighty being and those who do not want to feel the uneasiness of the evil and the persecuting nature of the Man. Disobedience to these manly imposed rules are considered as a â€Å"state of sinfulness† (Tappan 1839, 265) or the corruption of human sensitivity disposed to violate the harmony and fitness of the spiritual constitution. Bibliography Henry Philip Tappan, A Review of Edwardss Inquiry into the Freedom of the Will (New York: J. S Taylor, 1839). Jonathan Edwards, The Freedom of the Will (Florida: Soli Deo Gloria, 1754). The Colonial and Revolutionary Literature; Early National Literature, Part I (The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21). Volume XV.

Different uses for spreadsheets

Different uses for spreadsheets Spreadsheets Coursework There are many different uses for spreadsheets; the main use for spreadsheets is using basic formulas to work out various sums. They can also used to represent data graphically using graphs and charts. In this document I plan to explore the various uses for spreadsheets in different areas and focus on one specific area and look at the uses for a spreadsheet in that area and also I will look at some of the limitations that using spreadsheets can bring. One of the main uses for spreadsheets is in finance, businesses can use a spreadsheet to forecast sales, and show graphically how sales will rise or drop based on past events. Spreadsheets can also be used to work out interest rates and monthly payments based on variables such as time, i.e. 5 years, 10 years or amount borrowed and also both such as  £100,000 borrowed over 30 years. Another use for spreadsheets is in education, spreadsheets can be used to store students personal data along with grades and scores, this data can then be used to predict a students overall or average grade, this can also be used to forecast how they will do at higher levels. A spreadsheet can also be used to gather all pupils scores and represent the data in a chart displaying the pass percentages for the school. A spreadsheet can also be used to record pay records for staff of the school and when they get paid and how much they get paid. Other uses for spreadsheets are in Health Care; health organisations such as the NHS can use spreadsheets to record patients details for easy access by doctors and other staff. They can also be used to show the date they were admitted and the date they were signed out by a doctor. And the doctor that is treating them. This can also be useful to see what dates are busiest and other trends. And plan accordingly for the future. Spreadsheets can be used by shop keepers to keep detailed lists of their stock, how much the item costs and the bar code number of the item, the shop keeper can also record sales of each item in his/her stock and then use graphs to see what items are selling well, and also what items are not selling so that the shop keeper can then change stock accordingly. As spreadsheet can also be used for a shop owner to do their VAT and Tax returns at the end of each quarter of the year. Spreadsheets can be used in sports to record the team statistics, and then work out goal per game percentages, and also it can be used to keep a game roster, games played and also draw up graphs and charts that show team performance, it can also be used to get a players averages such as average goals per game, injuries per season and other vital statistics. Also making them alot easier to be read and interpreted by the user. The application area I have chosen to look into is Shop keeping: In shop keeping spreadsheet applications can be very useful in shop keeping as it can help a shop owner keep a detailed inventory of all the items in the shop keeping information such as availability and barcode number easily accessible. Shop keepers can also use spreadsheets to record sales of all of their stock. They can view what items are selling well, what are not selling at all and what items are sold out. This data can be used to make graphs, charts and tables this can be used by the shop keeper to decide what he needs to get more off, or what stock he needs to order less of, or stop ordering. This can also be useful for the shopkeeper to use when deciding what offers to put on certain items. Shop keepers can also use spreadsheets to calculate their finances; they can calculate daily profit or loss and also predict using past sales what should happen for the next few weeks months or years. They can also calculate their monthly, quarterly or yearly profits or losses and they can do their VAT and Tax returns for the financial years. Making it easier, quicker and more convenient with fewer mistakes. Another use for spreadsheets by shop keepers is keeping staff details stored for quick and easy hours, this also is a good way for managers or owners to see their wage expenses and also keep track on who is working what hours and also staff holiday bookings, this makes it easier than using a conventional book and allows comparison of data faster. Spreadsheets can also be used by shop keepers by using them to work out break even points if the shop keeper wanted to obtain loans from banks or investors for expansion or other reasons. One Spreadsheet use that would be useful for shop keepers is the tables, they can clearly block out their inventories and using the SORT tool they can sort the data in any way they want, from A Z to number values. They can also group data types together making it a clear more organised list than just typing it up in Microsoft word. Another use for spreadsheets that would be useful in shop keeping is graphs and charts, graphs can be used to represent sales, profit and loss and other numerical data in one or more simple graphs that are easy to read. Charts can be easier to show data such as hours available Vs hours used. And stock sold Vs stock left over or returned. Spreadsheets could also be useful by using formula to work out various sums such as adding, multiplying, subtracting or dividing various cells together which could be useful for shopkeepers to work out their profit or loss margins. They can also use other functions such as averages to save time by bypassing the need for a calculator. One of the main limitations of spreadsheets is that some charts and graphs can be unclear if there is too much detail or if 3D graphs are used as the data lines and plotting can be unclear along. The axis also needs to be clearly labelled to avoid confusion. Another downside to spreadsheets is it isnt great for word processing, anything more than a few words and any more than that Microsoft word should be used or for small paragraphs comments attached to the cell. Another downside to spreadsheets is that beyond basic arithmetic the spreadsheet software gets more complex and may require more help from someone trained in it. As some of the functions are not easily explainable this could take time. Another disadvantage is that creating tables and graphs can be complicated and getting them to look right can be time consuming. In conclusion, spreadsheets can help turn huge amounts of data into simple and easily interpreted. They can also be used to sort and group large amounts of data in tables and make them easier to read and explain. They also allow people to work out the average of a set of data and cast predictions along with basic arithmetic. However they can be complicated to use and sometimes very unclear.

How does the writer create tension and suspense in The Red Room? :: Free Essay Writer

How does the writer create tension and suspense in The Red Room? The writer is able to create tension and suspense through various ways in the short story ‘The Red Room’. The opening sentence in the story immediately mentions the supernatural, which immediately tells us that this is a gothic story. The first sentence is dialogue, but we do not know who is speaking. This creates tension as it is withholding information. This is the main technique used to create both tension and suspense through out this story. Throughout the whole story we are not given any names of the character, but are distinguished by a certain phrase ‘the man with a withered arm’ shows us that each of the characters mentioned in this story has a negative description. The negative description and the withholding information build up tension as we want to know more about these characters and who they are. Using negative words make out that the characters are evil or decrepit. The words used to describe these characters are withered, old decayed and pale. We are also not given a name of the narrator or what business he has at the castle. All we know is that he is sceptical about the ghosts that these people are telling him about. ‘That it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me’, shows a conflict between the superstitious and the sceptical. This builds up tension as we know that in most gothic stories, the sceptical are usually the ones to get punished. The narrator is mocking these other characters, which builds suspense as we know that in the end it will be he that will be hurt. Another way in which the writer builds up tension and suspense is by writing the story in first person. This makes us feel emotionally drawn to the character. We feel what the narrator feels, and we only know what the narrator knows. Using first person also allows us to trust the narrator or to empathise with the character. The use of imagery or personification increases the suspense in the story, ‘Shadows cower’ is a very descriptive way of showing how frightening the mansion is. It sounds as if the shadows which are linked to darkness themselves are afraid of a greater evil. We wonder what this great evil could be that makes evil itself tremble. Another personification used is ‘candles writhing’. Candles are usually associated to gothic stories, as it is only small source of light within a vast darkness of the room. These personifications and imagery brings the house to life as it makes you feel and see things much

The Attorney-Client Privilege Essays -- U.S. Law

â€Å"With liberty and justice for all.† Now this all too familiar clause is often forgotten like the toils of soldiers on the battlefield, repeated ad nauseum throughout the echoing literature left by our founding fathers and throughout the annals of history. America has been shown to persevere through the greatest of trials truly reflecting the American patriot’s desire to not only uphold freedom, equality, justice and humanity, but also to remember the faint yearning whispers of the oppressed crying out â€Å"Let freedom ring!† According to Michmerhuizen the Attorney-Client Privilege means â€Å"The concepts of lawyer confidentiality and Attorney-Client Privilege both concern information that the lawyer must keep private and are protective of the client’s ability to confide freely in his or her lawyer † (1). I firmly believe that the Attorney-Client Privilege should not be abolished because it would be changing something our nation has been exp osed to for so long, helps build a good relationship between client and attorney, and is most importantly the right of every American citizen. Although the other side of the issue makes valid arguments, the constitutional rights of every American citizen and the long-standing tradition of the Attorney-Client Privilege is the epicenter of the monumental success to our judicial system. The Attorney- Client Privilege is the agreement between an attorney and their client that mandates the communication between the two parties to be fully confidential and undisclosed under any circumstances (Sheila 138). There are various cases that highlight the importance and practical use of the Attorney-Client Privilege that could help one better understand what this entails. A specific situation in which the Attorne... ...n Historical Perspective on the Attorney-Client Privilege." Jstor.og. California Law Review. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. Maloney, Sheila. The American Bar Association Guide to Resolving Legal Disputes: Inside and outside the Courtroom. New York: Random House Reference, 2007. Print. Michmerhuizen, Sue. "Confidentiality, Privilege: A Basic Value in Two Different Applications." Americanbar.org. Center for Professional Responsibility, Mar. 2007. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. . Schachner, Robert W., and John F. Phillips. How & When to Sue Your Lawyer: What You Need to Know. Garden City Park, NY: Square One, 2005. Print. Silverman, Arnold B. "Silence Is Golden—The Attorney-client Privilege." Jom 49.6 (1997): 62. Print. "What the Attorney-Client Privilege Really Means." Sgrlaw. Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. .

Summer Reading :: Creative Writing Essays

Summer Reading It was a bright, hot summer day when it all happened. I could have been sitting at the beach or swimming. Although that was not the case. I had to actually put effort into something, to actually think , to actually well, read. I went upstairs to find the summer reading list. I looked through pile after pile of school computer printouts but still no luck of that little reading list. I began to get frustrated and decided the best thing to do now would be to take a break, and that is exactly what I did. I got into my bathing suit and went for a nice swim. I was swimming for about an hour when all of a sudden I got this thirst for a nice cool beverage. Thoughts began to flow through my mind about how quenching and replenishing that glass of coke would taste. This caused me to immediately jump out of the pool and run in for a drink. As I took a cup from the cabinet I saw in the reflection of the glass a blue sheet on the refrigerator. I immediately turned around and there I saw under a magnet, on the refrigerator, the summer reading list! I wanted to start reading as soon as possible. Although I wanted to see how many books I could read that were on the summer reading list but would not have to go to the library to get a hold of. My mother is a big book reader so I checked her collection and I found one. "The Terminal Man" By: Michael Crichton. To my surprise I actually enjoyed reading this book. I don't like reading that much, I rather watch a movie. This book however was different. It was really suspenseful and hard to put down. I know my story sounds really convincing but I will prove to you any way that I read this book by giving you a quick summary of the novel. Harry Benson, the main character, is a 31 year old computer scientist. About 4 years back he got into a car accident and got brain damage which causes him mental seizures. What happens during these seizures is that he goes on a violent rampage for seven or so hours and then all of a sudden wakes up from this seizure and does not know what has happened or what he has done. Harry is admitted to Universal Hospital, the doctors plan to implant electrodes into his brain to shock the part of his brain that causes the seizure right

Principles for Duty of Care

Principles for implementing duty of care When people interact with each other each has a duty of care to the other. ‘Duty of care: a requirement to exercise a reasonable degree of attention and caution to avoid negligence which would lead to harm to other people. ’ safeguarding contributes to duty of care as children and babies are dependant on adults to care and protect them from harm, we safeguard children by carrying out risk assessments, observing and assessing their development, understanding the ways children may be abused and setting clear expectations for childrens behaviour.Children have rights, such as those set out in the UN convention on the rights of the child Parents rights are modified by their responsibilities towards the children. The childrens’ act 1989 made clear that it is the welfare of the child that is paramount. Childrens rights are often given priority, overriding those of the parent. Potential conflicts or dilemmas might arise between am imdividuals rights and the duty of care, these can be:Risk Taking Duty of care could conflict with childrens rights to have experiances which further there development and learning its essential children learn how to predict and acoid dangerous situation, if you wrap a child in cotton wool you are taking their duty of care too far. ConfidentialityIt is essential that sensitive information is kept confidential. However childrens safety and welfare is kept paramount. This conflict becomes more apparent when safeguarding children from abuse. Information must be shared between profecionals in the intrest of the child. Sometimes without consent of the parents.I would discard my duty of care to support childrens rights to gain life skills on how to cope with tricky situations. When dealing with confidentiality your duty of care to protect a child or children from abuse must be balanced with the families rights to have private information treated confidentially. I could get additional sup port and advice from my manager, supervisor or team leaders.

Comparison Of Bram Stokers Dracula And Coppola`S Dracula

Dracula, for long has been taken as a character in literature which resembles itself closely with the fear factor. The theme speaks volumes about the Draculanian culture whereby the feared perspective is made visible in the form of different sub elements as well as depictions that accompany its dissimilar and varied movements, the battle actions and so on and so forth. Dracula is indeed the end of all characters that have represented the society with regards to evil and wickedness.However it would be best to put the same in the light of the supernatural mystery that has surrounded such characters. Horror fiction, gothic novel and invasion literature have spoken volumes about this character every now and then and since this forms up as an important piece of evil regime therefore it has its own right in the present as well as past scheme of things, which is literature in this case. The key text reveals this sense of gothic implementation with line like â€Å"My friend. — Welcom e to the Carpathians. I am anxiously expecting you. Sleep well tonight.At three tomorrow the diligence will start for Bukovina; a place on it is kept for you. † (Stoker, 1) Here, the language of this note depicts a sense of mystic approach as well as almost an instruction of a treasure hunt. This is a technique that is used for developing the supernatural incidents that are going to take place later in the novel. This indirect manner of approach is nothing but the prelude to the later mystical narrations. It can also be mentioned that Dracula in Stoker’s text is always a polished and sophisticated villain in every aspect of the terms.This is because polish in appearance and sophistication in approach was highly regarded as a great virtue during the author’s era and Stoker presented his villain in the mode of the era. On the on the other hand Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1992 presents Dracula as a fire spitting monster as a vampire. It ap pears that Coppola tried to translate the gothic structure of the novel into his movie and in the process exaggerated the concept of gothic vampire and turned Dracula into a regular Hollywood monster.It is possible that the director tried to emulate the flavor of the present era where the end result counts the most. Thus Coppola’s Dracula resembles an approach that is more effective as a killer than the original character. The first dialogue in the movie by Dracula appears to be very flat in comparison to the letter mentioned earlier. â€Å"Welcome to my home. Enter freely of your own will and leave some of the happiness you bring. † (Kuehl, 1) The dialogue here is very business like and to the point.There is no mysticism involved as in the original text. The simple reason behind this is that there is a difference of more that a century between the two productions and within this time it should be mentioned that the perspective of life has changed and there is a huge d ifference of the perceptions of people of the 1897 and that with the audience of 1992. Furthermore the mediums are different too. A movie is comparatively a faster medium than a text and thus time management is necessary.As a result it is important to keep each and ever aspect concise and to the point. However, it should also be mentioned that the original flavor of the text is missing in the movie by a distance. References: Stoker, Bram; Dracula; literature. org-The Online Literature Library; 2006; retrieved on 25. 06. 2007 from http://www. literature. org/authors/stoker-bram/dracula/chapter-01. html Kuehl, BJ; Bram Stoker's Dracula; HorrorLair. com; 1992; retrieved on 25. 06. 2007 from http://www. horrorlair. com/scripts/dracula_bram_stoker. html

Greek or Shakespearean Essay

The essential component to any tragedy, Greek or Shakespearean, is a protagonist with a fatal flaw. In Greek tragedy this is called hamartia. This Latin term translates directly into the word â€Å"flaw† but is usually used to describe an excess of a personality trait – virtue or vice. The protagonist’s fatal flaw pushes the the plot and action of the tragedy forward. It is this tragic flaw, which leads to the eventual downfall of the character, his circumstances, and the denouement of the drama. In examining the bulk of the literature’s protagonists, no other character embodies the essential role of the flawed protagonist like Hamlet. Hamlet’s fatal flaw is his idealism. Only once Hamlet overcomes his idealism is he able to seek his revenge. The climax of the play occurs with Hamlet’s realization that the world is not as it seems and that he must shrug off his idealistic values and avenge his father’s murder Act 3, scene 4. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, act 3 scene 4, is a pivotal scene within the play. The scene begins in the Queen’s chamber, as Hamlet slams the door open, with sword in hand. They engage in a dialogue of riddles combined with Hamlet’s mishandling of the weapon makes the Queen uneasy. Hamlet is upset at the Queen for marrying his father’s brother. The Queen screams â€Å"Thou wilt not murder me? Help, ho! † and as Polonius responds, Hamlet promptly shoves his sword into the curtain where Polonius hides and swiftly kills him. Hamlet wonders if it was the King, half hoping that it was Claudius, who Hamlet has been trying to kill the whole play. He fantasies about killing him, in the previous scene, he states â€Å"In th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed. † Hamlet is consumed by the idea of Claudius and Gertrude making love. Once he knows that he only killed Polonius he continues to scold him mother. She responds â€Å"†In th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed† and Hamlet replies † A bloody deed. Almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king and marry with his brother. † Again Hamlet contrasts the two brothers that Gertrude has become involved with. Hamlet must avenge his father’s death. In doing so he must not only kill Claudius but also resurrect his father. He does this by outlining how his father’s good qualities compare to his uncle’s bad qualities. Hamlet laments: Look here upon this picture, and on this, The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. See what a grace was seated on this brow, Hyperion’s curls, the front of Jove himself,. . . This was your husband. Look you now what follows. Here is your husband, like a mildew’d ear Blasting his wholesome brother. Hamlet contrasts the two brothers which he claims are completely the opposite. Hamlet believes that Gertrude might has mistaken one for the other. Hamlet continues to verbally assault his mother. Much of what he says is a rephrasing of Hamlet’s first solioquy, â€Å"frailty thy name is woman† as well as Hamlet aggressive behavior toward Ophelia in the nun scene. Act 3, scene 4 is the part of the play when the climax happens. Hamlet must first confront the cause of this murder, Queen Gertrude. It is within in this scene that Hamlet gets his first taste of vengenance and murder when he easily kills Polonius. After this murder, Hamlet decides he can and must kill his father’s murderer, Claudius. However, Hamlet’s leaves his mother alone because his father’s ghost appears and advises Hamlet to â€Å"Leave her to heaven†. Hamlet respects and loves his father in life and also in death and adheres to the ghost’s advice. Hamlet’s goal is to bring back his father’s reign not just by pointing out Claudius’ faults but also by humiliating his mother and her new world to trash. Hamlet continues: Have you eyes? Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed And batten on this moor? Ha, have you eyes? Hamlet is trying to convince his mother give up her new life with Claudius, to find her loyalty to her dead husband, and back to the way things used to be. Hamlet takes the role of â€Å"scourge and minister,† and tells her she can redeem herself from being a whore to being the good wife she used to be. Hamlet advises her to leave Claudius, â€Å"the moor† and climbs up on her dead husband’s â€Å"mountain†. Hamlet explains â€Å" throw away the worser part† of your cleft heart, Hamlet instructs her, â€Å"And live the purer with the other half. † However, Hamlet, as much as he wants to love his mother, can not get past his belief that she is responsible for his father’s death. It is important to note that this scene takes place in the Queen’s bedroom. The conversation symbolized Hamlet and Gertrude essentially â€Å"in bed† together and hints to a sexual relationship. Hamlet speaks like a jealous lover chastising his girlfriend for sleeping with a different man and making their bed â€Å"enseamed†. The Queen is extremely upset and actually asks Hamlet to help her figure out what to do. At this point when Hamlet should have told her to confess, he urges her to stop her relationship with Claudius, â€Å"Not this, by no means, that I bid you do: Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed† (Act III, sc iv). It is in the moment that Hamlet allows his emotion to dominate over his intellect that Claudius was killed. He is consumed by the thoughts of his father’s demise and is haunted by the knowledge that his father’s soul will not be able to rest until his death is avenged. Hamlet willfully concludes, â€Å"My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth† (Act IV sc iv). It is then that Hamlet finally had the ability to suppress his idealistic nature, and do what is right. The murder is not a well planned scheme and occurs in the heat of the moment. Hamlet, after the murder of Claudius never once wavers in his decision. He has done what is right and believes that â€Å"There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow† (Act V sc ii). Hamlet is able to do anything but take vengeance upon the man who did away with his father and has taken his father’s place with his mother. The pain which should have caused him to take immediate revenge was replaced by pity for himself. It is Hamlet’s idealistic nature that creates the ultimate theme and driving force behind all the rising action, falling action, and resolution of this tragedy as well as the death of his mother. The way in which Hamlet views his mother, father, and Claudius is finally revealed in Act 3, scene 4. Once Hamlet is able to be honest about his feelings, he is able to finally seek revenge for his father’s murder. This scene is pivotal to denouement of the play and essential to Hamlet’s transformation from a boy to man who embodies the important qualities which were cherished and expect by an Elizabethan audiences.