On Dumpster Diving Essay Essay Example

On Dumpster Diving Essay Paper Quite by accident. I found the essay On Dumpster Diving by Lars Eighner on the pages of Seagull magazine. The first lines of it captured my involvement well. for as I had neer read about Dumpster diving or scavenging earlier. On Dumpster Diving is a piece of big Eighner’s work called Travels with Lizbeth ( 1993 ) . which was based on his ain experience of homelessness. The writer engages me by stating the beginning and significance of the term Dumpster Diver. showing his endurance usher with specified regulations and ordinances. Dumpster is a hallmark of refuse lading onto trucks system. Dumpster plunging involves individuals voluntarily mounting into rubbish bins ( Dumpsters ) to happen valuables or merely utile points. including nutrient and used vesture. Eighner writes that the life of a mendicant going without any money opened his eyes to the fact that all those containers with waste are existent â€Å"supermarkets† for the hapless. and they are non merely a beginni ng of endurance. but besides a depository of high-quality and diverse nutrient. Anyhow. there is a hazard in eating such findings. We will write a custom essay sample on On Dumpster Diving Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on On Dumpster Diving Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on On Dumpster Diving Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Harmonizing to Eighner’s experience. taking nutrient out of Dumpsters should affect three simple rules: â€Å"using the senses and common sense to measure the status of the found stuffs. cognizing the Dumpsters of a given country and look intoing them on a regular basis. and seeking ever to reply the inquiry. â€Å"Why was this discarded? † Narrator advises to avoid such nutrients as game. domestic fowl. porc. and egg-based repasts. Soft drinks proving should be based on their fizzing smartly. Bing a scavenger. one has to detect the least marks of seeable contaminates. Notwithstanding the scavenger has no insurance of self- poisoning. Subsequently on Lars tells about â€Å"a predictable series of phases a individual goes through in larning to scavenge. † in which disgust at the get downing gives manner to indiscriminate geting of the things. The narrative besides includes information about the â€Å"can-divers† and their manner of plunging featured as unethical and impudent. The secret plan of it is neither compound nor rich in events and characters. However. it is thought arousing. The writer gives us elaborate counsel how to last being a Dumpster frogman. Reading the essay. I asked myself right along whether it was the lone purpose of Eighner to learn us those regulations. As the narrative progressed. I picked up the writer’s construct bit by bit. His essay exemplifies the uneconomical nature of American society and implies that it is the consequence of mercenary values but besides ignorance and deficiency of understanding. Peoples unreasonably throw out even nutrient that is appropriate for utilizing: â€Å"Students throw out many good things including food†¦the point was thrown out through sloppiness. ignorance. or thriftlessness. † ( Eighner ) The scavenger can get â€Å"boom boxes. tapers. bedclothes. toilet paper. medical specialty. books. a typewriter. a virgin male love doll. alteration sometimes amounting to many dollars† in the Dumpsters. I suppose the intent of the article is besides to demo how immoral is to throw out good nutrient and things. cognizing that 1000s are hungering and enduring from poorness. However. precisely that refuse helps him to last at hard times. Eighner’s concluding for why people are mercenary derives from the construct that they are lost and unsure of what they want. In a manner. his short essay On Dumpster Diving. suggests to his readers that to accomplish the province of satisfaction. they need to cognize what they want. He states. â€Å"Almost everything I have now has already been cast at least one time. turn outing that what I own is valueless to person. † The writer himself collects merely things that are of benefit to him and leaves the remainder for the benefit of others. The article shows that the author being homeless still keeps his intelligent. clever. and sentimental manner of thought. He emphasises the transiency of stuff being and says. â€Å"Once I was the kind of individual who invests material objects with sentimental value. Now I no longer have those things. but I have the sentiments yet. † ( Eighner ) I think. depicting all the regulations of Dumpster plunging Lars Eighner represents us the necessity of maintaining the etiquette even in hardship. The surfs of that common jurisprudence are the â€Å"can-divers. † They. as contrasted with the true scavengers. expression merely for the money there and blend the contents of the Dumpster doing it more hard to happen the genuinely good things. the writer explains. The worst in can scroungers’ actions is their audaciousness to travel through single containers in forepart of peoples places. something a true frogman would neer make. Making that the can diver discoveries different prescriptions. journals and things the proprietor throws out. It is clear that privateness unwraping would abash us. Eighner exclaims against private invasion. therefore showing his civilization and humanitarianism. The last paragraph where Lars compares himself to ultra-wealthy is the most interesting point of the essay. to my head. The rich people can get anything they like and the money does non stand in the manner of making that. The Dumpster diver gets the things from Dumpsters free excessively. Author’s analysis is that the truly rich or the truly hapless are those who do non desire or necessitate. In his comparing. Lars means that he and the super-rich bash non necessitate the points the remainder of us do. He can merely travel out and happen them. The storyteller tries to demo the positives of his profession. but does non overlook the negatives every bit good. following it with the words: â€Å"Dumpster diving has serious drawbacks as a manner of life. † The chief thought of Lars Eighner in his essay is to guarantee us that any hopeless state of affairs has its manner out. The life goes on even if you meet difficulties†¦ He calls us for maintaining our cultural and ethical endowments even when being in the lowest province of life. We may non bury that holding mercenary values over moral 1s destroys and vitiates us from interior. In the alone voice – prohibitionist. disciplined. affecting. comic- Eighner celebrates the victory of the artistic spirit in the face of tremendous hardship. therefore. animating me for true regard.

Legalizing Marijuana in New York State Essays

Legalizing Marijuana in New York State Essays Legalizing Marijuana in New York State Essay Legalizing Marijuana in New York State Essay Legalizing Marijuana in New York State MeganCastner Composition 1 ENC 1101-12 Currently in New York State, marijuana is illegal. Marijuana is considered an illegal drug by many countries. Over the years there has been a great deal of controversy on whether or not marijuana should be. Growing, smoking, and being in the possession of marijuana for medicinal use, should be legal in the state of New York. In the State of New York it is illegal to buy, sell, grow, or possess marijuana. In 2002 approximately 57,504 arrests associated with marijuana (â€Å"Penalties for marijuana use In New York†). Selling under 2grams of marijuana is a class B misdemeanor (â€Å"New York marijuana laws†). The penalty for selling 24g of marijuana in New York State for in currently 1 year in jail and $1,000 fine. However the penalty for selling 25g-4oz is 1-4 years of jail time and a $5,000 fine (â€Å"Penalties for marijuana use in New York†). Possession of 25g or under of marijuana is also class B misdemeanor, meaning no set penalty. However the sentencing judge can determine what consequences the guilty party suffers. Being in possession of 8oz or over is a class E felony(â€Å"New York marijuana laws†), could result in prison time equaling less than five years but more than one year(â€Å"United States Code†). The penalty for possessing 25g is $100 fine, 2-8 oz is 1 year jail time and a $1,000 fine, 8-16 oz is 1-4 years jail time and $5,000 fine, 16oz-10lbs is 1-15 years jail time and a $5,000 fine (â€Å"Penalties for marijuana use in New York†). The marijuana is not legal to just anyone, its use is for Medicinal purposes only. Marijuana is currently legal in 14 out of the 50 states, medicinal marijuana is legal in the following states: California, New Jersey, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, Colorado, Montana, District Columbia (D. C. ), Hawaii, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington. Legalizing Marijuana would help the streets tremendously. There would be little to no fighting for drugs. Young kids wouldn’t peddle drugs on the street. Crime rates would go down. Some medical conditions would be tolerable. The drug used for recreational purposes alleviates sever pain, some types of depressions. Relating this to tobacco, if marijuana was legal people wouldn’t be robbing others just to keep their fix. They have to come by the marijuana honestly like you do a pack of cigarettes. In my opinion if marijuana were to be legalized in New York, a lot of people would get longer to live and a second chance at life. References 1) Times, High. The Top Ten Reasons Marijuana Should Be Legal | Drugs AlterNet.   Home | AlterNet. Aug. -Sept. 2007. Web. 06 July 2011. . 2) CBS NEWS. Myth: Policy Change Is Inevitable  Pictures CBS News.   Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment World News CBS News. Web. 06 July 2011. . 3) NBC NEWS. Veterans in D. C. May Not Benefit From Medical Marijuana | NBC Washington.   NBC Washington DC Local News, Weather, Traffic, Entertainment, Events, Breaking News | NBC Washington. 1 Nov. 2010. Web. 06 July 2011. . 4) Legalization of Marijuana. Web. 06 July 2011. . 5) United States Code: Title 18,3559. Sentencing Classification of Offenses | LII / Legal Information Institute.   LII | Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School. Web. 06 July 2011. .

Job interview questions (Advertising) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Job interview questions (Advertising) - Essay Example While working, I allocate adequate question time to my team members in order to attain the feedback. My objective is to involve all individuals in the decision making process. In this regard, I use democracy leadership style. I value this style since it creates a good working relationship between leaders and members of an organization. I like seeking the opinions of others during my leadership. As a result, once I make changes in the benefits program for example by introducing a computer course, there is no resistance to change from the workers since they are involved in the plan. One of the challenges faced by sales team is lack of product awareness. I will tackle this challenge by coming up with roadside shows in road junction and public places especially during the weekends. As a result, more potential consumers will be aware of our brands (Matt, 2005). I will also create songs that our sales team will sing while advertising in the television. By use of IT, and in collaboration with company designers, I will come up with well-designed advertisements that inform the customer about our brands once they are launched in the market. My objective is to have a strong marketing team and effective PR that is able to handle customer complaints. Using face book and twitter, I will come up with a group that our consumers will join as friends thus creating a strong positive customer-brand relationship. As an intern, I came up with an innovative idea of using plastic bags that were green and recyclable. In this way, there was minimum pollution within our premises as well as in the neighborhood. I value teamwork and assisting individual members to achieve their goals. However, at one time I experienced a challenge when some members of my team were involved in a conflict resulting to failure to achieve our objectives. To address this problem, I arranged a meeting with each of the member, then with both of them and lastly we solved the issue and the positive

The Launching of Credit Card in Romania Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Launching of Credit Card in Romania - Essay Example The bank which is launching the card is Alpen bank. The objective of the research is to find out whether the launch of credit card into the country will be worth and whether such a launch will be able to generate the sufficient amount of revenues so that the feasibility of the new product is proved in terms of entry-decision. SWOT analysis is carried out to find out the relevant opportunities and issues about the establishment of new credit card business. Market positioning of the bank is analyzed for the successful establishment of the credit card business. SWOT Analysis Strengths The strength of the bank comes from its affluent customers. Majority of customers of the bank belong to the upper strata of the society. Having affluent customers also means that they are more frequent with the use of credit card and the purchase amount is also high. Weaknesses The major weakness of the credit card business comes because of the low growth potential. The growth potential of credit card busi ness is very low in Romania compared to other emerging markets. Lack of consumer experience in terms of management of credit card and related monetary transaction is another weakness, because of which majority of customers opt for cash transactions. The country has suffered a three year long recession which has affected the life style of the common people. Consumers have become price sensitive and opt for cutting budgets with the objective of saving money. This is a weak link for the credit card business because it is a general perception among consumers that holding credit cards leads to higher amount of purchases as compared to cash purchases. Another issue in credit card business is that, most of the times credit card is used for exclusive cash withdrawals rather than using it for real purpose that it purchase. Apart from this, since credit card business is relatively new and unknown to the customers of Romania, huge investments will be needed with respect of advertising, direct marketing and support infrastructure. Opportunities The opportunities from this credit card business can be explained in terms of the political, social and other related factors affecting the country and the credit card industry as well; Political- legal policies, procedure and other corporate obligations in the country are not very stringent, which will help in the smother transaction of the business. Economic- the economic environment of Romania has improved since 2006, after the country entered into the European Union. Since then, the microeconomic trends have been positive and with the increasing income, the disposable income of the households has also increased. This shows the opportunity of the credit card business to bank on the increased economic conditions of the country. Socio-cultural- with the increase in the economic status, it is expected that one third of the Romanian population will prefer branded products. This will increase the overall use of credit cards in the co untry. Technological- with the advent of globalization, more are more companies have stated to market their products and services into more emerging and developing markets. As the availability of technology has become cheaper and readily available, the credit card business can tap on this opportunity. Since credit card business will need technological assistance, the company can use the latest technology available to gain a sustainable competitive advantage over the competitors. Environmental- the use of credit cards is totally free from creating environmental hazards. The use of online transactions will also decrease the use of paper which will influence the environment in a positive manner. Threats Similarly, the threats from this credit

Evaluation of Suicide Research in the Elderly

Evaluation of Suicide Research in the Elderly A CRITICAL COMPARISON OF TWO RESEARCH APPROACHES TO SUICIDALITY IN THE ELDERLY: the qualitative and quantitative paradigms Introduction: Suicide may be considered a common and devastating emergency in the general practice of mental health. It is a phenomenon that is generally complex and inherently difficult to predict. Suicidality, which is the spectrum of psychological activities that culminates in the eventual death of the individual, may be especially complicated in the elderly. This is because people of that age group are known to traverse the continuum of suicidal behaviour with extraordinary secrecy, determination and lethality. Thus, there may be up to three new cases of elderly suicide for every one below the age of 25 years in many countries (Diego et al., 2004, Mello-Santos et al., 2005). Giving the intricate nature of the phenomenon in the elderly, understanding the immediate and remote factors that may be suggestive of imminent death by suicide may be an important step to setting up targeted interventions before it is too late. In the context of suicide research, immediate pointers to an impending suicide may, on the one hand, include a subjective ‘experience’ with suicidal ideas or the wish to die. This very personal experience may sometimes be expressed in signs and symptoms such as talking or writing about the end. A phenomenon sometimes referred to as suicidal warnings (Rudd et al., 2006). In this regards, immediate factors for imminent suicide may also extend to the ‘meanings’ attached to such notices by their recipients. The understanding of peoples experiences and meanings is strengthen by the qualitative research paradigm (Fossey et al., 2002). The more remote pointers to an imminent suicide may include correlates of suicidality within the larger population, as against the individual. The investigation of such independent risk factors within the population, or a systematically generated sample from it, is underpinned by the quantitative research model (Godwin et al., 2003). To provide a clear understanding of the qualitative and quantitative frameworks, this discourse aims to critically compare two studies using contrasting approaches in elucidating the factors related to suicide in the elderly. The context and comparison This first study, hereafter referred to as Kjiolseth and Ekeberg (Kjolseth and Ekeberg, 2012), was an investigation of the experiences and reactions of people to warnings they have received about the suicidal intention of their elderly wards. The authors relied on the technique of psychological autopsy (Beskow et al., 1990). Wherein, they re-created the circumstances of the suicide through interviews of 63 formal and informal carers of 23 individuals who had died in that manner aged 65 years or over. The second study, hereafter referred to as Ojagbemi et al (Ojagbemi et al., 2013), examined the predictive relationship between several health related variables and three behaviours occurring on a continuum leading to eventual death by suicide. The authors relied on a multi-stage probability sample of 2149 participants aged 65 years or over, and spread across a geographical area equivalent to a quarter of the national population. The main research question explored by Kjiolseth and Ekeberg was; how did people perceive and react to suicidal warnings communicated to them by the elderly around them? Perception in this context may be broadly understood as the individual’s cognizance of the events external to them. Such perception may also feedback on how the individual will react. In the view of empiricists such as Locke (Baird et al., 2008) the awareness of externally occurring events may only be possible if they are mentally represented. In this regards, the reality is created in the mind of the recipient. Further, Bekerley (Atherton, 1987) contends that this reality is inherently modifiable according to previous experience. Therefore, since the previous experiences of different individuals may be inherently different, and dynamic, the proposition of a single or unitary reality may be less likely. In other words, the research question of Kjiolseth and Ekerberg may be best answered if the perception and r eaction of a variety of carefully selected individuals who may have received the suicidal warnings are considered. Qualitative interviews may afford the opportunity for the researchers in this instance to generate more nuanced accounts from a wide selection of individuals who may be knowledgeable about the phenomenon of interest. In contrast to Kjiolseth and Ekerberg, Ojagbemi et al wanted to find out if there are indices of health and wellbeing in the general population that may demonstrate predictive associations with suicidality among the elderly living in sub-Saharan African communities. This research question may suggest as follows; firstly, by indices, the authors appear interested in numerical or value indicators of health and wellbeing. Secondly, by predictive associations, they may also be interested in relationships. Thirdly, Ojagbemi et al appear interested in the general population, rather than individuals. The interest of the authors in the examination of predicted relationships between numerical and/ or non-numerical (i.e, categorical) indicators, with a focus on the general population may support a non-experimental quantitative approach (Martens, 1998). In line with the quantitative framework, Ojagbemi et al specifically investigated the predictive relationship between a wide range of demographic and health related variables and three categories of behaviour occurring on a continuum leading to eventual suicide in people who have attained the age of 65 years or over at the start of the study. They additionally sort to investigate the transition between one behaviour and another. These categories of behaviour were namely; suicidal ideation, suicidal plans, and suicidal attempts. They hypothesized that several of the health and wellbeing indicators will predict the presence of these suicidal behaviours. The study was a community based cross-sectional survey of the elderly living in a geographical area equivalent to a quarter of the national population. Giving the research question of Ojagbemi et al about predictive associations, the exploration of several demographic and health related variables should allow the investigators to examin e the independent effect of individual variables on the suicidal behaviours while holding the others constant. Furthermore, giving the interest of the authors on sub-Saharan African communities, the focus on communities spread over a wide geographical area, should allow for a wider generalisation of the findings to several sub-Saharan African communities. Conversely, the community based design may inherently exclude the elderly in care and nursing homes, as well as hospitals. Therefore, the findings may not be generalizable, after all, to the entire sub-Saharan African elderly population. Also, the cross-sectional design makes the picture of whether the elderly have had these behaviours long before they attained the age of 65 years unclear. As such it may be doubtful if the result represents the true depiction of affairs in the elderly population. On the other hand, the study by Kjiolseth and Ekerberg studied people’s experiences and reactions to the ‘warnings’ they have received about the suicidal intentions or plans of the elderly around them. They have relied on psychological autopsy, based on several interviews with people the authors thought should have the knowledge and experience about the phenomenon they planned to investigate. Giving the research questions of the authors about how people perceived notices of suicide communicated to them, a re-enactment of the situation surrounding the eventual suicidal act, through information from key informants, may help shed light on people’s experiences and the processes involved in the reaction of individuals. The individual meaning is also referred to as phenomenology in the context of qualitative research (Thompson et al., 1989). However, with individual meanings it may be difficult to demonstrate ‘probabilistic’ generalisability to the w ider group of formal or informal carers of the elderly who have died by suicide. On the other hand, it might be possible to generalise findings with strong ‘internal validity’ to similar contexts (Pawson and Tilley, 1997 ). Furthermore, They were also interested in the general population of the elderly living a wide geographical area. In this regard, it is the ideal for the authors to access very elderly person living in the location of interest. However, it may be a near impossibility to attempt to interview every elderly person living in an area equivalent to a quarter of the country. As such, the authors resorted to a systematic method of taking a representative sample of the population of the elderly in the location of interest. In this way, they relied on a multi-stage area probability sample of the elderly living in households spread over the study location. They interviewed one elderly person per household, and eventually arrived at a sample size of 2149 participants REFERENCES ATHERTON, M. 1987. Berkeleys Anti-Abstractionism. In: SOSA, E. (ed.) Essays on the Philosophy of George Berkeley. Dordrecht: D. Reidel. BAIRD, E, F., KAUFMANN WALTER 2008. From Plato to Derrida, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Prentice Hall. BESKOW, J., RUNESON, B. ASGARD, U. 1990. Psychological autopsies: methods and ethics. Suicide Life Threat Behav, 20, 307-23. DIEGO, D. L., SHELLEY, B., M, B. J., KERKHOF, D. J. F. A. BILLE-BRAHEUNNI 2004. Definitions of Suicidal Behaviour. In: LEO, D. D., BILLE-BRAHE, U., KERKHOF, A. J. F. M. SCHMIDTKE, A. (eds.) Suicidal behaviour. Cambridge: Hogrefe Huber. FOSSEY, E., HARVEY, C., MCDERMOTT, F. DAVIDSON, L. 2002. Understanding and evaluating qualitative research. Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 36, 717-32. GODWIN, M., RUHLAND, L., CASSON, I., MACDONALD, S., DELVA, D., BIRTWHISTLE, R., LAM, M. SEGUIN, R. 2003. Pragmatic controlled clinical trials in primary care: the struggle between external and internal validity. BMC Med Res Methodol, 3, 28. KJOLSETH, I. EKEBERG, O. 2012. When elderly people give warning of suicide. Int Psychogeriatr, 24, 1393-401. MARTENS, D. 1998. Research methods in education and psychology : integrating diversity with quantitative qualitative approaches, Thousand Oaks, Sage. MELLO-SANTOS, C., BERTOLOTE, J. M. WANG, Y. P. 2005. Epidemiology of suicide in Brazil (1980-2000): characterization of age and gender rates of suicide. Rev Bras Psiquiatr, 27, 131-4. OJAGBEMI, A., OLADEJI, B., ABIONA, T. GUREJE, O. 2013. Suicidal behaviour in old age results from the Ibadan Study of Ageing. BMC Psychiatry, 13, 80. PAWSON, R. TILLEY, N. 1997 Realistic Evaluation, London, Sage. RUDD, M. D., BERMAN, A. L., JOINER, T. E., JR., NOCK, M. K., SILVERMAN, M. M., MANDRUSIAK, M., VAN ORDEN, K. WITTE, T. 2006. Warning signs for suicide: theory, research, and clinical applications. Suicide Life Threat Behav, 36, 255-62. THOMPSON, C. J., LOCANDER, W. B. POLLIO, H. R. 1989. Putting Consumer Experience Back into Consumer Research: The Philosophy and Method of Existential-Phenomenology. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 133-146.

Essay --

When asked to evaluate the contribution to marketing made by an influential scholar, I decided to choose Phillip Kotler. Phillip Kotler was born on the 27th of May 1931 in Chicago. He was a character who strived during his educational times as he contains a Masters degree from the University of Chicago as well as a PhD from MIT both in the field of Economics. He is known as not just a famous Marketer but a renown author who has published over 55 books such as â€Å"Principles of Marketingâ€Å" â€Å" A Framework for Marketing Managementâ€Å" and â€Å"Marketing 3.0â€Å". The main reason I chose to study Kotler was that over his lifetime he was widely known for his efforts made to the modern marketing era. Of these acknowledgements made I would like to focus in on what I think are his three main contributes to marketing. Firstly, he was given the title as the â€Å"Father of modern marketing† which was seen in the eyes of the nearly all who study marketing. This title was given to him due to his outstanding knowledge and simplest ways to describe and focus in on the future fundamentals of marketing. Secondly, He one of the worlds’s leading authors on marketing placing 4th as an influential character behind the likes of Bill Gates and Peter Drucker. Finally, Kotler is said to be the founders behind the widely known 4 P’s, he is "the world's foremost expert on the strategic practice of marketing" (by Management Centre Europe). Professor Kotler is the expert marketer who discovered the 4 Ps of Marketing. This discovery is one of the most influentia... ...her one of his books â€Å"Marketing Management† is one his widely used graduate level textbook. Many students studying marketing refer to this book, he developed ideas and concepts in marketing including atmospherics (the store's layout, noise level, temperature, lighting), demarketing (reverse marketing in which a company discourages product demand in areas where they cannot realize a desired profit), megamarketing (type of marketing activity required when it is necessary to manage elements of the firm's external environment), and synchromarketing (activity intended to shift the pattern of demand to that it equates more suitably with the ideal pattern of supply). Kotler believes that marketing theory needs to go beyond price theory and incorporate the dynamics of innovation, distribution and promotion systems into analyzing, explaining and predicting economic outcomes.

Aristotle or a post-modern anti-hero?

In On the Road Jack Kerouac produces what has become known as the archetypal Beat hero, Dean Moriaty. An analysis of whether he is closer to a traditional Aristotelian hero or to the postmodern anti-hero will reveal much about the often contradictory forces at work within the â€Å"rhythms of fifties underground America, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns and drugs . . . â€Å" (Holmes, 1957). Before discussing which Moriaty is closer to it will be necessary to briefly define both the traditional and the postmodern hero, identifying what they hold in common and what divides them.The traditional Aristotelian hero is a high-born man, normally royal or at least from the aristocracy who appears to be on top of the world at the beginning of his story. He has many advantages, both natural and acquired. He is often successful, popular with others and apparently happy. The tragic hero normally has something that has been called â€Å"the fatal flaw† (Kaufmann, 1992). This flaw may b e something he has no blame for, such as the heel that makes Achilles physically vulnerable, the jealousy that makes Othello emotionally vulnerable or the introspection that makes Hamlet delay so long. This fatal flaw often leads, in one way or another, to the downfall of the tragic hero.So the traditional tragic hero falls from a high social position to disgrace and/or death through circumstance and through his supposed fatal flaw. Aristotle said that his fate should inspire â€Å"pity and fear† within the audience (Aristotle, 2001).   Pity for the fate of the individual tragic hero and fear that they might fall into a similar situation themselves.   By contrast, the anti-hero is, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, â€Å"a main character in a dramatic or narrative work who is characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities, such as idealism of courage† (America, 1992).Some clue to which definition of protagonist – hero or anti-hero †“ Dean Moriaty falls can be found within the fact that the very term â€Å"anti-hero† is in fact a Twentieth Century invention (Lawall, 1966).   The idea of the anti-hero is in many ways linked to early twentieth century philosophies such as Existentialism, which suggested that life has little meaning and that no absolute standards of morality are relevant. The anti-hero creates his own sense of values, often from moment to moment, according to the needs of the moment. The postmodern anti-hero takes on similar propensities, although he is even more extreme. The â€Å"Man-With-No-Name† character that Clint Eastwood played in the 1960’s spaghetti westerns is perhaps the classic postmodern anti-hero.The world of these westerns does not have â€Å"good† and â€Å"evil† as could be identified by the white/black horses, the white/black cowboy hats and the handsome/ugly actors of the traditional Western. There are merely shades of darkness in the spag hetti western, and the same can be said for most of the characters in On the Road, set as it is within a world of constant wandering throughout America that is in some ways very similar to a western.One of the most important facets of On the Road is the fact that there are two main characters. First, there is Sal Paradise, the titular narrator of the novel that has been more or less associated with Kerouac himself; and second, there is Dean Moriaty. The reader is rapidly and constantly drawn into views of Dean Moriaty. Sal describes him as â€Å"simply a youth tremendously excited with life† who possesses â€Å"a kind of holy lightning . .. flashing from his excitement and his visions† (Kerouac, 1957).   Later Dean is described as â€Å"the holy con-man with the shining mind† (Kerouac, 1957).So in the manner of both the hero and the anti-hero, Dean is a charismatic character who draws others to him through the sheer energy that he exudes and his apparent zest for everything life has to offer. But Dean is very low born. He is apparently the son of an alcoholic who was never really raised properly and who has had criminal propensities from a very young age. Dean has been in prison for stealing cars. While traditional tragic heroes may commit the most serious of crimes (often murder) they are not normally criminal in a conventional sense. There is something petty and hopeless about the kind of criminality that Dean Moriaty displays.But in the best tradition of the postmodern anti-hero, Dean has learned a lot about how to live from his incarceration. He states, with characteristic bluntness:Only a guy who’s spent five years in jail can go to such maniacal  helpless extremes . . . prison is where you promise yourself the  right to live.  (Kerouac, 1957)So the anti-hero discovers himself through falling from grace, even if he probably did not have far to fall in the first place. Rather than going to his death or languishing in the shame of his crimes he lives out the years of his imprisonment and then comes out to go â€Å"on the road†. In one sense the novel shows what might happen when the tragic hero has fallen, been transformed and emerged as a postmodern anti-hero.Dean does fall further however, especially as the novel continues and the novelty of being free to do as he wishes starts to wear thin. Thus his abandonment of his wife and child are brought to his attention, indeed he is confronted with it. Sal, ever the intelligent observer, states that â€Å"where once Dean would have talked his way out, now he fell silent . . . he was BEAT† (Kerouac, 1957).The protagonist of the novel goes through it performing decidedly un-heroic deeds such as this abandonment. He also expresses a constant and rather disturbing attraction for very young girls, often only 12 or 13, especially those who are prostitutes and thus totally vulnerable to his desires. Near the end of the novel he actually abandons S al as he lies sick in Mexico City. Ultimately Sal comes to see Dean in a very brutal light, oine that hardly meets any kind of definition other than a decidedly anti-hero:. . . when I got better I realized what a rat he was, but then I hadbto understand the impossible complexity of his life, how he had toleave me there, sick, to get on with his wives and woes.b(Kerouac, 1957) (emphasis added)Dean is thus essentially a coward, and a lack of courage is never part of the character of a tragic hero, whatever other faults he may possess. But Sal, in characteristically postmodern fashion, does not blame Dean for his cowardice and being a â€Å"rat†. The postmodern condition is one in which there are no absolute standards of ethics and thus everything is more or less forgiven.It is the â€Å"complexity† of his life that Sal feels makes Dean constantly abandon people. He is just another character who moves through an aimless world with little to concern him except an increasin gly futile search for a purely hedonistic lifestyle.The constant traveling in the book makes Dean an anti-hero rather than a hero. While many tragic heroes travel (Aeschylus, Odysseus) they nearly always have some kind of destination – whether it be ethical or geographical, in mind. The characters of On the Road travel constantly, but with, to quote a popular song of the period â€Å"no particular place to go†. They travel for the sake of traveling.   This aimless travel is a symbol for the lack of a higher ethical or religious structure within which to live. The characters of On the Road are sure of nothing, except that, as Sal says at the end of the book â€Å"nobody knows what’s going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old† (Kerouac, 1957).Dean moves from the West to the East to the West to the South . . .   and on with a sense of rather melancholy endlessness. At the end of the novel Dean returns to the West Coast on his own, and Sal ruminates upon the sad meaninglessness of life. While much has happened in the novel in some senses, in the classic, Aristotelian sense very little has occurred that will permanently change people. On the Road has no simple dramatic structure. There is no climax and denouement. Rather it is a formless kind of a quest story in which the search is an end in itself.This endless quest give On the Road   a post-modern structure. The characters are on an existential search for themselves that seems doomed to failure. Dean Moriaty is the archetypal post-modern anti-hero within this quest. He draws people to him, and they travel thousands of miles in order to be a part of his wandering life. But when he loses interest in them he drops them with what appears to be a callous disregard for the consequences. But there is something â€Å"heroic† in his actions as he is at least being honest. He is being true to himself. If that â€Å"self† much of the time is cowardly, c asually cruel, vaguely criminal and pedophilic in nature then he will still reveal it.To conclude, it seems clear that Dean Moriaty, the protagonist of On the Road is far nearer to a post-modern anti-hero than   to a traditional, classical hero. The world that he inhabits is one in which there is little meaning. It is an often dark, forbidding place in which the Cold War threatens nuclear missiles and in which a kind of despairing hedonism is the only course of action which seems relevant to most of the characters. They move around the country at an often dizzying rate, driving all night long for no apparent reason other than the fact they are moving. Romantic relationships are often little more than brief romantic liaisons and marriages are abandoned with the same disregard for consequences that the children that have come from them are thrown away. Dean Moriaty is a post-modern anti-hero, one that a myriad of similar figures have been more or less based upon in the fifty years s ince On the Road   was first publish.Works CitedAmerican Heritage Dictionary, Dell, New York: 1992.Aristotle, The Basic Works of Aristotle, Modern Library, New York: 2001.Holmes, Richard. â€Å"On the Road Review†. The Times, London: 1957.Kaufmann, Walter. Tragedy and Philosophy. Princeton UP, New York: 1992.Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. Penguin, New York: 1957.Lawall, Greg. â€Å"Apollonius Argonautica. Jason as Anti-Hero†. Yale Classical Studies. 19, 119-169.