Complex Love In A Rose For Emily English Literature Essay

Complex Love In A Rose For Emily English Literature Essay This paper will investigate the complex love relationship between the southern belladonna Emily Grierson and the northern street worker Homer Barron in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily. In order to analyse this issue, I will divide my research in two parts. I will first focus on the female protagonist who seems to have a great desire for companionship and love. To verify this idea I will outline the main features of her life and try to enter in the world of her psyche. Moreover, I will define and interpret possible reasons for her actions. The second part will concentrate on the important male figure of the short story: Homer Barron. Here, I will focus mainly on his role in this sophisticated love-scenario and on the questions, why he gets murdered and which reasons led Emily to commit such a crime. I will then compare these findings to the title of the short story and concentrate my thoughts on the meaning of the symbol of the rose in A Rose for Emily. 2. A Rose for Emily: A Portrait of Emily Grierson. An absent-minded Southern belladonna named Emily Grierson represents the protagonist of William Faulkners short story A Rose for Emily. Interpretations about this character can lead to numerous directions due to her life which is seen as extremely bizarre and macabre: The daughter of an aristocratic and a good standing family has difficulties with growing-up due to her stern father who never accepts one of her suitors. After Mr Grierson passed away, a young street worker from the North, named Homer Barron, appears in the small town of Jefferson, to whom she loses her heart. Suddenly, he vanishes and he never turns up again, while Emily is caught in the act of buying arsenic. Until then, Ms Grierson stays in her house for good but her black servant leaves sometimes. All of a sudden, Emily dies and as the curious townspeople enter the house at her burial, they come across a bedroom made up as a bridal room where they find a grey strain of hair next to the tracks of a skeleton. Schizophrenia as a Scapegoat for her Actions. Although Emilys behaviour is outrageous, she never had a reputation for being insane. The townspeople did not say she was crazy (A Rose for Emily  [1]  124), but her actions and her character would lead one to assume that she has gone barking mad. If not, why would someone stay in a house for a lifetime and sleep next to a corpse? A possible explanation for this might be a mental illness, as e.g. schizophrenia (Smith). Its causes can be easily lead back to Emilys childhood: As a result of the high values of an aristocratic family, she grew up with ever-lasting expectations that the inhabitants of Jefferson had of a daughter of such an ancestry: Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town (RfE 119). The citizens demanded the maintenance of those traditions set up by her ancestors but already as a child she was not probably able to handle these demanding conditions (Smith). Another culprit for Emilys mental state is definitely Mr Grierson. The family values were of a particular importance for him, even if his daughter would have to suffer: [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] her father which had thwarted her womans life so many times [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] (RfE 127). Therefore Emily never had a love relationship with a man because Mr Grierson thinking none of those suitors were good enough for her was always shooing them away. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] she got to be thirty and was still single [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦]. (RfE 123) 2.2 Death of her Father as the Last Straw. After Mr Grierson passed away, the reader is able to observe an acceleration of Emilys mental decadence (Smith). This process might seem peculiar but it is easy explainable: Emily was always burdened with external stress, which her father has to be partly blamed for. Now, much of this pressure disappears suddenly owing to the death of Mr Grierson and of all his expectations and orders, whereby the previous hidden symptoms surface (Smith). Therefore, Emily is not able anymore to convey her true feelings at the burial, i.e. she is not affected by her own fathers exitus and has no trace of grief on her face (RfE 123). Hence, the former Southern belle is leaving more and more reality and enters an imaginary world, as e.g. by saying to the townspeople that her father was not dead (RfE 123) or by totally withdrawing herself from society. Another classic symptom for schizophrenia can be detected in her inability of interacting socially with others and in the later lack of hygiene and of sel f-awareness on her physical appearance (Smith): When we next saw Miss Emily, she had grown fat and her hair was turning gray. During the next few years it grew grayer and grayer until it attained an even pepper-and-salt iron-gray, when it ceased turning. Up to the day of her death at seventy-four it was still that vigorous iron-gray, like the hair of an active man. (RfE 127-28) Besides all these examples, the best argument for a supposable mental illness on the part of Emily Grierson establishes her attraction to corpses. 2.3 Transcending Death of Emilys Love. The fact that Ms Grierson spends time with a dead human body states Faulkner in the last sentences of his short story: The man himself lay in the bed. For a long while we just stood there, looking down at the profound and fleshless grin. The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckolded him. What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair (RfE 130). This paragraph demonstrates well the height of her mental illness and explains frankly what Emily did in the last years of her life: She murdered her suitor Homer Barron and passed the nights next to his cadaver. Such attractions to dead bodies are termed as necrophilia which is a combination of the two Greek words nekros (dead person) and philia (affection). This mental disorder includes sexual intercourse with a corpse which is in fact illegal in Europe. Whether Emily slept with Homers corpse can only be interpreted because it is not mentioned directly (Grabher). 3. A Rose for Homer: A Portrait of Homer Barron. Homer Barron displays an essential figure in A Rose for Emily because he can be presented as a symbol for hope and for companionship, i.e. Emily Grierson sees in this Northern street worker a ghost of a chance of getting away from all the expectations laid upon her and from solitude. Her whole life has been marked by the feeling of loneliness but through Homer she tries to break this mould. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] we were sure that they were to be married. We learned that Miss Emily had been to the jewelers and ordered a mans toilet set in silver, with the letters H. B. on each piece. Two days later we learned that she had bought a complete outfit of mens clothing, including a nightshirt [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] (RfE 127). The townspeoples description of Emilys activities reveals her seriousness about her relationship with her beloved foreman but does not convey the reason for her subsequent tasks. 3.1 Revelation of Homers Homosexual Proclivities. A possible reason for the murder of Homer Barron could be seen in Emilys fear of being alone again. Indeed, she falls in love with her follow and insists on marrying him but that differs with Homers intentions. As a labourer from the North, he is just looking for a place to stay during the working weeks and not for a future wife. In addition to that, it seems that Homer is not interested in any woman but in men, because he himself had remarked-he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks Club-that he was not a marrying man (RfE 126). A closer analysis of his first and last name can be used to strengthen this theory. Homer leads us back to Ancient Greece (8th century BC-146 BC) and to Homeros who wrote Iliad and the Odyssey. Anyway, the Greek society of this time is largely known for its acceptance of homosexuality. Barron could be interpreted in various ways, e.g. as a pun  [2]  due to barren which has a similar sound. However, barren displays a tight connection with the character, if we look at its synonyms: fruitless, sterile, meagre or infertile. This particular meaning of that term ties in with the inability of a homosexual couple to reproduce and therefore with the figure of Homer Barron (Grabher). Moreover, Faulkner integrates little hints to get to know Homers sexual preferences, as e.g. through the use of colours: [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] Homer Barron with his hat cocked and a cigar in his teeth, reins and whip in a yellow glove [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] (RfE 126). The colour yellow could be here a clear reference to the Yellow Book which was the most popular British magazine in the 1980s  [3]  . It was associated with aestheticism, a 19th century movement which attached more importance to aesthetic values than to moral ones, and indirectly with homosexuality (Roth). 3.2 Emilys Response to her Discovery. The most interesting issue about this complicate love-scenario between a forlorn Southern lady and a gay Northern industrial worker is how her discovery of Homers truly sexual proclivities affected Emily. After discovering his secret, she tries to adapt her physical appearance to the conceptions of beauty of her beloved: she cuts her hair which then looks like the hair of an active man (RfE 128). The motive for doing that can be lead back to the desire of pleasing him in order to keep their relationship alive. This whole aspect reminds me of the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi (1571-1610), better known as Caravaggio, whose sexual identity was also surrounded by numerous rumours, e.g. it is said that he went for male androgynous younglings. Many of his paintings show such infantile boys, like e.g. Bacchus (1595) or Amor Vincit Omnia (1602). Even more striking is that women were unusual objects in his canvases and if he depicted them, they mostly have a short, boyish hairstyle, as Faulkners Emily and as the angel in Caravaggios Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1597) have (Harten 30-34). Fig. 1. Caravaggio, Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Galleria Doria Pamphili, Rome; rpt. in Andrew Graham-Dixon, Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane (London: Allen Lane, 2010; print; 162). 3.3 Homer as a Rose for Emily. Emily realises soon that Homer and she do not have the same feelings for each other and that he will not be in her town for a long time anymore. Therefore, she takes to more extreme measures: she buys arsenic in order to kill Homer. I want some poison she said to the druggist. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] Yes, Miss Emily. What kind? [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] I want the best you have. I dont care what kind. The druggist named several. Theyll kill anything up to an elephant.' (RfE 125) The reason for the murder lies clearly in her great desire of avoiding a probable recurring solitude and of keeping Homer as close as possible. This leads directly to a possible interpretation concerning the title of the short story which can be irritating due to the absence of the image of a rose in Faulkners work. Although the flower is not stated at all, the term rose arises four times bearing two different meanings. On the one hand the author uses this word as the past form of the verb rise and on the other hand as the colour rose: A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose colo[u]r, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦]. (RfE 129-30) That is why it is not evident who or what symbolises the rose in the title. A plausible conclusion could be that Homer personalises the rose because Emily does not endure letting him go, not even after his decease. On the contrary, she uses death to be even closer to her beloved street worker. Her greatest wish of keeping Homers body resembles to the action of bending a rose and pressing it then between some pages of a book in order to keep its beauty forever (VCCS Litonline). 4. Conclusion The leading idea of this paper has been to analyse the complex love relationship between Emily Grierson and Homer Barron in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily. As we have seen, the female protagonist of this short story had a difficult life due to a probable mental health illness developed from her personal problems with her aristocratic background and the expectations laid upon her. Her only wish was to find companionship and love which she thought having found in the figure of Homer Barron. After having discovered his real sexual orientation, she was gutted and did not want to accept that she has to let him go too. Thusly, she murdered him in order to keep him for good a pressed rose between some pages of a book.

The Genre Cycle Essays -- Film, Movies

Film scholars around the world agree that all genres of film are part of the â€Å"genre cycle†. This cycle contains four different stages that a specific genre goes through. These stages are: primitive, classic, revisionist, and parody. Each stage that the genre goes through brings something different to that genre’s meaning and what the audience expects. I believe that looking at the horror genre will be the most beneficial since it has clearly gone through each stage. The first stage of the genre cycle is called the primitive stage. During this stage of the cycle, the genre of horror is very new. Filmmakers are trying to decide what makes a horror film a horror film, while audience are figuring out what they should expect every time they see this kind of film. For example, Todd Browning’s Dracula is the basic, stripped down blueprint for many monster-horror films today. It features the â€Å"bad guy† accompanied by the â€Å"good guy†. After several horrifying events, Van Helsing kills the vampire, Dracula, and good prevails, again. Thus, establishing that in horror films no matter how grue...

African American Characteristics Paper Essay

African American culture in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of Americans of African descent to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture. The distinct identity of African American culture is rooted in the historical experience of the African American people. The culture is both distinct and enormously influential to American culture as a whole. African-American culture is rooted in Africa. It is a blend of chiefly sub-Saharan African and Sahelean cultures. Although slavery greatly restricted the ability of Americans of African descent to practice their cultural traditions, many practices, values, and beliefs survived and over time have modified or blended with European American culture. There are some facets of African American culture that were accentuated by the slavery period. The result is a unique and dynamic culture that has had and continues to have a profound impact on mainstream American culture, as well as the culture of the broader world† (Rydell, 2010). Learning Team B has chosen African Americans as the culturally diverse group we will focus on. The subjects in this paper will be African American history, family characteristics, parenting practices, language, and religion. Also, the primary characteristics of African Americans and how those characteristics impact their experience as a subculture in American Society will be a topic. The last topic will be the implications of the characteristics for psychological theories and practices. History African Americans are the descendants of Africans brought to America during the slavery era. Many were owned as property and forced to work as day laborers in the fields or as servants in their owner’s homes. Others were allowed to work off their debts by being bough and sold on â€Å"the block†. An article titled â€Å"The Slave Auction of 1859 gives a brief account of what it was to be sold on â€Å"the block†: â€Å"The buyers, who were present to the number of about two hundred, clustered around the platform; while the Negroes, who were not likely to be immediately wanted, gathered into sad groups in the background to watch the progress of the selling in which they were so sorrowfully interested. The wind howled outside, and through the open side of the building the driving rain came pouring in; the bar down stairs ceased for a short time its brisk trade; the buyers lit fresh cigars, got ready their catalogues and pencils, and the first lot of human chattels are led upon the stand, not by a white man, but by a sleek mulatto, himself a slave, and who seems to regard the selling of his brethren, in which he so glibly assists, as a capital joke. It had been announced that the Negroes would be sold in â€Å"families,† that is to say; a man would not be parted from his wife, or a mother from a very young child. There is perhaps as much policy as humanity in this arrangement, for thereby many aged and unserviceable people are disposed of, who otherwise would not find a ready sale†¦ â€Å"(New York Daily Tribune, 1928). President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of civil war. The proclamation declared â€Å"that all persons held as slaves† within the rebellious states â€Å"are, and henceforward shall be free. † Despite this expansive wording, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Northern control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory. History pages often claim President Lincoln as â€Å"The Great Emancipator† which most educated adults come to learn is an over exaggeration. The general consensus is that Lincoln never freed a single slave, and only used the proclamation as a means to get what he wanted from the states. Once freed most African Americans still experienced racial violence and lived in fear for many years. In 1870 the fifteenth amendment was added to the constitution giving blacks the right to vote. Although blacks were free they were still segregated from the white people, made to go to different schools, stores, and even ride at the back of the bus. In 1954 the supreme courts declared segregation in school unconstitutional due to the Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas. The civil right movement was at its peak during 1955-1965. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ensuring basic civil rights for all Americans, regardless of race, after nearly a decade of nonviolent protests and marches, ranging from the 1955-1956 Montgomery bus boycotts to the student-led sit-ins of the 1960s to the huge March on Washington in 1963. In 1968 President Johnson signed the Civil Right act prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing. Some of the most famous leader of the civil right movement includes Martin Luther King Jr. , Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks and many others. Although civil rights were established many African American still struggled to be treated fairly in America. Affirmative Action was established in 1978 by a ruling of the Supreme Court to ensure that minorities are given an opportunity that they may have missed because of their race. In 2008 Barack Obama was the first African American to be nominated for a major party nominee for president. He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. Family and Parenting Characteristics As with most cultures, African Americans place a high value on their families. In the United States African American family’s make-up 12. 9 percent of the population according to the 2003 US Census. The US census also shows that for African Americans over the age of 15 there are 34 percent married, five percent separated, eleven percent divorced, seven percent widowed, and 43 percent were never married. According to the First Things First website, â€Å"African Americans are the most un-partnered group in America† (Medium, 2011, para. 4). One major goal of African American families is communalism, which is very important for effective functioning (Hall, 2010). Hall (2010) describes African American families as having three family types. The first type is the cohesive-authoritative that is explained to be a family with high cohesion along with being supportive, nurturing, and involved with their children (Hall, 2010). The second type of family is the conflictive-authoritarian that is defined as families with conflict and the parents are controlling, critical, and express unhappiness with children (Hall, 2010). The last type of family Hall (2010) explains is the defensive- neglectful, that did not like other racial groups and also did not teach their children to be proud of being an African American. One significant trend that has been determined about the African American family structure is that the more interconnected the family is, the lower the rate of depression in African Americans (Hall, 2010). Based on these findings, a program called Strong African American Families has been created in order to strengthen the relationships between parents and children. According to Hall (2010), â€Å"The Strong African American Families program also has been found to reduce preadolescent risky sexual behaviors, preadolescent alcohol use, and parental depression among African American families† (p.95). This kind of program has been very effective in keeping families cohesive and helping to improve the goal of communalism. Language â€Å"Generations of hardships imposed on the African American community created distinctive language patterns. Slave owners often intentionally mixed people who spoke different African languages to discourage communication in any language other than English. This, combined with prohibitions against education, led to the development of pidginsimplified mixtures of two or more languages that speakers of different languages can use to communicate. Examples of pidgins that became fully developed languages include Creole, common to Louisiana, and Gullah, common to the Sea Islandsoff the coast of South Carolina and Georgia† (Rydell, 2010). It is sad to think that slave owners intentionally put Africans with people who did not speak their language to discourage communication, but is have been researched and proven to be true. Slavery is not the only element to African American culture, and it often seems that when discussing African American culture slavery is the main topic. However, when discussing language the centuries of slavery that they endured have everything to do with the evolution of African-American language. Now that we have covered the origin of African American language we can discuss the American perspective of where modern day African American language stands, and how this effects the culture. â€Å"African American Vernacular English (AAVE)—also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular (BEV), or Black Vernacular English (BVE)—is an African Americanvariety(dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of American English. Non-linguists sometimes call it Ebonics(a term that also has other meanings or strong connotations) or jive or jive-talk. Its pronunciation is, in some respects, common to Southern American English, which is spoken by many African Americans and many non-African Americans in the United States. There is little regional variation among speakers of AAVE. Several creolists, including William Stewart, John Dillard, and John Rickford, argue that AAVE shares so many characteristics with Creole dialects spoken by black people in much of the world that AAVE itself is a Creole dialect; while others maintain that there are no significant parallels. As with all linguistic forms, its usage is influenced by age, status, topic and setting. There are many literary uses of this variety of English, particularly in African-American literature† (Rydell, 2010). Of course this information does not imply that all African Americans speak a version of AAVE, only that it is very common and prevalent throughout the modern day African American culture. Religion In the African American community religion plays an extremely significant role. â€Å"The story of African-American religion is a tale of variety and creative fusion. Enslaved Africans transported to the New World beginning in the fifteenth century brought with them a wide range of local religious beliefs and practices. This diversity reflected the many cultures and linguistic groups from which they had come. The majority came from the West Coast of Africa, but even within this area religious traditions varied greatly. Islam had also exerted a powerful presence in Africa for several centuries before the start of the slave trade: an estimated twenty percent of enslaved people were practicing Muslims, and some retained elements of their practices and beliefs well into the nineteenth century. Preserving African religions in North America proved to be very difficult. The harsh circumstances under which most slaves lived—high death rates, the separation of families and tribal groups, and the concerted effort of white owners to eradicate â€Å"heathen† (or non-Christian) customs—rendered the preservation of religious traditions difficult and often unsuccessful. Isolated songs, rhythms, movements, and beliefs in the curative powers of roots and the efficacy of a world of spirits and ancestors did survive well into the nineteenth century. Historically during their most difficult times the African American relied on their religious beliefs to endure. During the civil rights movement black churches were often the target of racial violence because that was a place that African Americans spent most of their time. This was a place where they often held meetings to discuss their civil rights efforts. African Americans practice a number of religions, but Protestant Christianity is by far the most prevalent. Some African and African American also follow the Muslim and Judaism. According to Fife, Kilgour, Canter and Adegoke (2010), â€Å"African spiritual traditions have historically held a central place in African American communalism (Mbiti, 1990) and were vital to survival during the time of slavery. In African and African American culture the concept of spirituality is inseparable from all other aspects of human experience. The spiritual and the physical are indistinguishable (Mbiti, 1990). A deep connection exists between humans, God, family, and group (Barrett, 1974). Spirituality is not compartmentalized into systematized beliefs and practices but woven into everyday experience (Boyd Franklin, 1989). The Black church is the primary means through which many African Americans express their religious and spiritual beliefs and values (Richardson & June, 1997). This institution is a central force in African American childhood and adolescent identity and helps to shape ideas about what comprises community. † Many African American children have christen ceremonies for they can even walk or talk. African American families generally spend a substantial amount of time within their places of worship. Conclusion For review, the big questions the above research addressed were: †¢What are the primary cultural characteristics of this selected group? †¢How do the characteristics of this group impact its experience as a subculture in American society? †¢How might the cultural aspects of this group be applied to traditional psychological theory? †¢What are the implications of these characteristics for psychological theory and practice? We have found that the primary cultural characteristics of the African America culture are their history of slavery in America, distinct family and parenting practices, slavery based evolution of their language, and their dedicated religious beliefs. The characteristics of this group impact its experience as a subculture in American society by enticing others in to the culture and sparking curiosity around the world. African Americans make up a small percentage of the minority in America. However African American culture dominates the world of music, fashion, and professional sports. The cultural aspects of the African American group can be applied to traditional psychological theory when considering family dynamics, cultural perspectives, and how these aspects influence mental health. The implications of these characteristics for psychological theory and practice would focus on how the African American history of slavery in America influences their world view, how family and parenting practices mold their ideals of what a family should be, how religion influences their beliefs and actions, and how language distinguishes them from others and what psychological impact this has on them as a whole. For many years African-American culture developed separately from mainstream American culture, both because of slavery and the persistence of racial discrimination in America, as well as African-American slave descendants’ desire to create and maintain their own traditions. Today, African-American culture has become a significant part of American culture and yet, at the same time, remains a distinct cultural body. References Fife, J. , McCreary, M. , Kilgour, J. , Canter, D. , & Adegoke, A. (2010). Self Identification Among African American and Caucasian College Students. College Student Journal, 44(4), 994. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Hall, G. C. N. (2010). Multicultural psychology (2nd ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Medium. (2011). First Things First. Retrieved from http://firstthings. org/page/research/african-american-family-facts New York Daily Tribune, March 9, 1859 reprinted in Hart, Albert B. , American History Told by Contemporaries v. 4 (1928). Retrieved from http://eyewitnesstohistory. com Rydell, R. J. , Hamilton, D. L. , & Devos, T. (2010). NOW THEY ARE AMERICAN, NOW THEY ARE NOT: VALENCE AS A DETERMINANT OF THE INCLUSION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE AMERICAN IDENTITY. Social Cognition, 28(2), 161-179. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Case Analysis on Business Ethics of Paso Limited

Case Analysis on Business Ethics of Paso Limited Introduction Many scholars have researched a lot on business ethics. Business ethics is a mode of operation that a given organization adheres to in its daily activities with its customers, employees and shareholders. Ethics of a business can be diverse and may include its dealings with an individual person, organization, community or government. Business ethics covers an organization’s dealings in relation to its environment, people and its shareholders or owners (Fraedrich, Ferrell, Linda, 2010). This paper is going to revolve around business ethics to demonstrate a clear understanding of business ethics concepts covered in this concept. I am going to focus on Paso Limited which is located in Eastman, Georgia. There will be a brief description of the company’s products/services, the scope and size of its operations. The paper will also include the various ethical issues that affect the company, a visual representation of its stakeholders, measures put in place in managing ethical issues, company’s CSR strategy and the implications of my approach (Pojman James, 2009). Company description Paso limited is a big firm located in Eastman, Georgia. The company deals with various production lines such as; production of agricultural chemicals, production of detergents, soaps and waste treatment products, construction of agricultural structures such as green houses, preparation and coordination of agricultural field days and exhibitions and lastly a consultancy firm (Henn, 2009). The company has branches spread all over the United States of America and Europe. The firm was started in 1989 by Dr. Mark Sports as a small agricultural firm manufacturing agricultural chemicals such as pesticides. The company has grown to an international multibillion company. As of January 2011 the company was valued at 450 billion dollars. The company supplies 60 percent of the agricultural industry with its range of products and services hence considered to be the leading company in this business. 70 percent of the company’s ownership is by various US citizens and the remaining 30 percent by Dr. Mark Sports (Kozami, 2002). The company is managed by a good team of professional and experienced managers from all genders and diversity. The board of directors is chaired by Dr. Mark and meets twice in a month in order to set and review policies for smooth running and operation of the firm. For the past years the company has won several awards from the government and non governmental institutions for its great contribution to the country’s economy. The company has also hit headlines with it being criticized for poor working conditions and environment pollution. The company has some few cases to settle with its suppliers pending in court. This has raised many questions concerning its ethics. The company vowed to pull up on the issues being raised during its last annual general meeting with the shareholders (Pojman James, 2009). The company needs to purchase latest equipment and catch up with latest technology in order to improve on efficiency, effectiveness and environment pollution in line with its vision and mission (Shaw, 2011). Ethical issues facing Paso limited Paso Limited like any other organization has a few ethical issues in its operation that may have great effect to its reputation, market segmentation, production output and efficiency. Customers trust has to be maintained in order to survive in the business world as well as improving on the firm’s revenues. A company’s relationship with the society surrounding it plays a major role in its operation. There are three ethical issues that Paso limited is currently facing: Its operation has major effect on the surrounding environment, employees are complaining of hazardous working conditions/poor working terms and lastly the annual revenues generated by the company due to its decrease in market share (Shaw, 2011). This has great impact on Paso Limited’s triple bottom line (Bose, 2006). Environment pollution Paso Limited deals with manufacture of agricultural chemicals, detergents and soaps which produced from poisonous raw materials such as highly concentrated acids. The company has constructed a good drainage system that connects to the council’s sewer line. However, during rainy seasons this never works due to constant blockage of the line which ends up busting the line, exposing chemicals to the environment. Much of this waste mixes with running water which ends up contaminating rivers (Jones, Parker, Bos, 2005). This is a great threat to the environment and the society that uses these rivers for irrigation and as a source of drinking water. Communities around the company have been complaining about this for quite some time are intending to sue the company if it does not come up with good measures to reduce the rate of pollution in the next three months. In business ethics the company should ensure that its activities do not affect the either the society or environment surrou nding it (Jones, Parker, Bos, 2005). The company should also avoid several cases with its stakeholders as a sign of an ethnical organization which is not the case with Paso limited. An ethical organization should avoid causing unwarranted harm to its employees and the neighboring communities which may be directly or indirectly affected by its operational processes. Allowances and working conditions According to business ethics an organization should be fair to its employees by providing good working conditions, equipment/machinery and good rewards/remunerations. Paso limited employees have formed a registered workers union and soon will be going on strike due to poor working conditions, allowances and salary (Shaw, 2011). This will be a big blow to the company which will have a major effect on its reputation. The management is meeting with trade union officials in order to come up with workable structure that will help in settling the issue fairly. The company deals with chemicals that cause permanent disability to human beings in case of an accident or poor handling which as had been the case recently (Shaw, 2011). Legal suits filed against the organization We have several cases pending to court as a result of the company’s negligence and not settling its debts. We have employees whose employment was terminated with no reasons. The company has also failed to honor some debts and the suppliers have opted to taking the case to court (Henn, 2009). The government claims that the business has been importing some of its raw materials illegally and has a case to answer. According to business ethics, an organization should adhere to the law as well as maximizing it profits. The organization should not concentrate on profit maximization and forget to follow the law in its exports and imports as well as settling its debts. This is really affecting its operations and overall output. A lot of money is spent in settling court cases hence affecting the amount of revenues generated by the company (Crane Matten, 2007). Paso Limited stakeholders Business stakeholders are people or organizations that are either directly or indirectly affected by its operations. Stakeholders can also affect an organizations activities and performance. Our main stakeholders are farmers using products from our company (Weber Savititz, 2007). This group of stakeholders has great impact to the company’s revenue generation because it has to purchase and consume the company’s products and services. These products should be of helpful to the farmer in satisfying his or her needs and yield improvement. If the farmer is not satisfied with the company’s products and services, he will opt for product from other companies which slowly reduces the company’s market share and profits generated from its activities (Fraedrich, Ferrell, Linda, 2010). Company suppliers play a big role in supplying the company with raw material for manufacturing of products and service delivery. At times the company gets its raw materials on credit and makes payments later. If the payments are not settled in time the suppliers may refuse to supply raw materials in future. Production can’t go on without the major raw material required for various products. Therefore, suppliers should be treated with due respect and their payments being settled on time to avoid any inconveniences (Henn, 2009). Employees play a major role in an organizations success. These are the people formulating the new products to compete in the market. Machines cannot operate without technicians and operators. Products have to be transported from one place to another. Ready products have to be marketed and the ready established market maintained. All this work has to be done by the employees. Paso Limited has to make sure that it values its employees by rewarding them well as well as ensuring good working conditions and terms. According to business ethics, all employees should be treated equally and fairly without any discrimination or favor. Every organization must respect human rights by protecting their lives (Jones, Parker, Bos, 2005). Shareholders have invested in the organization and expect to receive some dividends at the end of every financial year. The organization has to ensure that at the end of each year there are some developments to show to shareholders if no profits realized. The company belongs to the shareholders; the management team has been employed by the shareholders in order to multiply their investment. According to business ethics, the management should not concentrate much on making profits but should also make strengthen its ties with the society and other major stakeholders in the industry (Fraedrich, Ferrell, Linda, 2010). Paso production activities should not affect the communities or society in its surrounding. The company should appreciate the society by providing employment, safe products, minimal environment pollution, and contributing to development activities in the surrounding areas. These are also stakeholders because they can paralyze its activities as well as its reputation (Jones, Parker, Bos, 2005). The company has to consider all stakeholders’ interests that are being affected by its activities both internally and externally. According to business ethics the organization should conduct itself on a plane that is above the law in relation to it behavior. The laws and regulations set by the government are just minimum conditions that govern an organizations operation in order not to infringe other people’s and organizations’ rights (Crane Matten, 2007). Managing challenges facing the company Most of the challenges the organization is facing can be easily managed hence making it successful. The company needs to train its employees on several issues that affect the organization’s relationship with the outside world, enterprise management and good team work. We have several motivational organizations that prepare short courses and seminars that can help the company’s management team and employees in their daily activities at the workplace (Kozami, 2002). The company should invest on research and development of new products and services that have not yet been developed by other competitors. It should invest on latest technology and machines in its production lines to save on labour and development of new products and services. Acquiring the latest technology might be a big challenge but with good program proposals, the organization can get unsecured loans from financial institutions such as banks, non-governmental institutions and venture capital institutions. Good and advanced technology reduces on wastage as well as human labor. It improves and maintains the quality of products and services being offered by the company (Sekhar, 2010). The company should establish good relationship with the society by contributing to development activities such as cleaning of environment, building of schools and health centers, creation of environment and offering discounted products to the surrounding communities. There should be a complete overhaul of the procurement department to ensure make sure that company acquires quality raw material. This will minimize on wastage as well as boosting the company’s production output. Rate of corruption will be reduced by 70 percent which is high in the supplies and procurement department (Bose, 2006). The organization can review its employees’ salaries and their working conditions. They should be provided with protective clothing while handling the chemicals as well as good equipment to assist in loading and offloading of products from trucks. The company should minimize the rate of environment pollution by recycling some of the byproducts instead of releasing it to the environment (Fraedrich, Ferrell, Linda, 2010). Strict adherence to the states laws and regulation can help the organization in reducing the number of cases with stakeholders. This help in building confidence hence increased investments. Much time and resources are wasted in settling disputes arising from negligence, corrupt deals and illegal activities by the company. All taxes and company returns should be settled with respective institutions on time to avoid fines being imposed by theses organizations due to late submissions (Weber Savititz, 2007). Corporate responsibility Every business should conduct its activities in an ethical manner prioritizing interest of the surrounding society. As the CEO the company should respond positively to new developments in the community’s interest and expectations. The main shareholders’ interests are increased profits but the society interests should be considered first. The company must stand out as a good and patriotic citizen in the society. The company can reduce its profit margin to offer affordable products to the community as well as paying its employees good salaries. In CSR the manager should look in general at the welfare of all stakeholders and not concentrating on shareholders’ interests only which are profits (Weber Savititz, 2007). The company has a role to play in the community development and conservation of the environment where it is located (Henn, 2009). The strategic plan should start by assessing the most critical issues that have major effects on the company if altered a bit and where opportunities stand. This is followed by an agreement on the primary factors to motivate CSR in my organization (Kozami, 2002). Revision of the company’s vision and milestones is important in achieving the new objectives/goals. This should be well documented and published. A well structured system to monitor development and achievements towards its vision should be established. The company should be reviewing its goals and policies of its competitors against its policies and objectives. The CEO should agree with his management team on a plan to be followed in achieving consistency in my company’s processes (Sekhar, 2010). The CEO should be able to identify key personnel in different departments to work with. These people should be reporting their progress as well as being responsible with all the activities taking place in their production lines. One should collaborate with other organizations like government to help him in implementing his CSR strategy (Fraedrich, Ferrell, Linda, 2010). With constant evaluation and audit of the program one can easily realize where the strategic plan needs some adjustments in order to fit the intended productivity. My main responsibility is to oversee that the strategic plan is implemented down to the operators as well as ensuring that the society is not oppressed in any way by the company (Jones, Parker, Bos, 2005). The organization’s short statement for management outlining my overall CSR strategy should be Serving the community interest and satisfying the shareholders interests in an encouraging environment that is acceptable by the society (Weber Savititz, 2007). Implications of the approach With the above described approach the company is going to create a good relationship with the community at large. There will be great increase in profits as well as development of quality farm inputs that are going to benefit the community so much. There will be an increase in production output and an increase on company’s sales projections (Kozami, 2002). The company will have fewer cases in court hence boosting investor confidence. There will be a smooth learning of the organization with corporation and support from all the employees. There will better salaries and allowances which will motivate employees in their daily activities aimed at the organization’s success (Jones, Parker, Bos, 2005). With good revenue generation the organization will avoid illegal and unlawful activities which will enable it to concentration on its production output, efficiency and effectiveness (Weber Savititz, 2007). References Bose, C. D. (2006). Principles of Management and Administration. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India. Crane, A., Matten, D. (2007). Business ethics. New York: Oxford University Press. Fraedrich, J., Ferrell, O., Linda, F. (2010). Business Ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning Inc. Henn, S. K. (2009). Business Ethics: A case study approach. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Jones, C., Parker, M., Bos, R. t. (2005). For business ethics. New York: Routledge Press. Kozami, A. (2002). Business Policy and Strategic Management. Tata McGraw-Hill: New Delhi. Pojman, L. P., James, F. (2009). Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong. Belmont: Cengage Learning Inc. Sekhar, S. G. (2010). BUSINESS POLICY AND STRATEGY MANAGEMENT. New Delhi: I.K. 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