Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Poverty Is The Worst Form Of Violence - 1595 Words

â€Å"Poverty is the worst form of violence† (Mahatma Gandhi). Living in poverty causes people to have extremely bad nutrition, to get severe diseases, and it forces children to work. This is a worldwide problem that affects children, mothers, fathers, and everyone else that has come close or lived in poverty. By registering more people living in poverty to vote in elections and spreading awareness it will drastically change many lives. When families live in poverty and parents do not have enough money to support their family children have to work and child labor occurs. Many parents cannot afford to support their family because of a disease they have, disability, or their job might simply not pay enough. For example, eight year old Rubi left†¦show more content†¦Lilita is an eight year old girl that works twelve hours a day just to pick up three trays and make fifty cents (Indian Children). Having to work to earn money to support a family as a child is a main cause of poverty, working instead of going to school leaves to uneducated children that eventually grow up to also live in poverty. This is why companies all over the world are trying to get more children to stay in school, although this cannot happen if their parents do not have jobs that will provide for their family and children have to work. Gaza is yet another country that is affected by child labor that is influenced by poverty. These children attempt to make money off of the previous wars that occurred. The three wars that happened over the last eight years are actually helping families get by, the children collect the rummage from those times and sell them to companies that recycle it. Just like in other countries, many of the children s parents are not able to work. For example, Mustafa is seventeen years old and ever since the age of ten he has been working. He sells scraps of plastic and metal trying to make a living (Wars and Poverty). It is unfortunate that children will not have as many opportunities later on in life because of the lack of education from their early childhood due to child labor. NoShow MoreRelatedPoverty is the Worst Form of Violence Essay752 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"One must be poor to know the luxury of living† (Bartas). Poverty is a term used to identify shortage in revenue. A more convenient term to the universal stipulation nowadays, however, is absolute poverty. This term recognizes extreme deficiency in fundamental living supplies; food, shelter and water. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die of famine each day. Furthermore, recent researches have proved out that over 3 billion humans on earth live on less than $2.50 a day. Since half of the worldRead MoreThe Primary Contributing Factors to Crime and Violence in Jamaica1663 Words   |  7 PagesPrimary Contributing Factors To Crime And Violence In Jamaica Jamaica is a small third world country in the Caribbean with a population of approximately 2, 709, 300 people. The country faces many problems yearly but the worst is the ever increasing crime rate. In October 2011 Jamaica was ranked 3rd in a report of countries with the highest crime rates by the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development . The country has taken a turn for the worst over the past few years. Our local televisionRead MoreThe Fear Of Crime And Gun Control1328 Words   |  6 Pagescues in the environment that relate to some aspect of crime for the person. A very common fear related to crime is the fear of gun violence and the gun controls that come along with it. The different gun laws that are provided bring a great fear to people in different ways because of the inconsistency that it comes with. Gun related fear can come in two different forms. One fear being scared of not owning a gun for protection or a fear of more people owning guns in general. Introduction It is knownRead MoreEssay about Immigration in the US1493 Words   |  6 Pagesdomestic violence amongst women (Chittenden 5), the testing of a bride’s selflessness (Bell 1), and internet scams (Internet Relationships 1). Immigration in the United States has increased over the years. Nevertheless, the process may take weeks, even months at a time. Mail order brides are no exception either. They undergo a similar process in order to immigrate as well. Being a vulnerable immigrant to the United States, mail order brides are very prone to domestic violence and Read MoreJesus And Gandhi On Poverty Essay1656 Words   |  7 PagesJesus and Mahatma Gandhi on Poverty Introduction: Poverty a worldwide problem that affects everybody who deals with the situation. People living in poverty are at the lowest of the lowest in the social, economic and political class. Another word for poverty is the slums. In today’s world there is an estimate of three-billion people that live in poverty. The average poverty person live off of just $2.50 a day. One third of the people that live in poverty are children. Over twenty-two thousand childrenRead MorePoverty : A Problem That Affects Everyone Who Deals With The Situation Essay1650 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction: Poverty a worldwide problem that affects everybody who deals with the situation. People living in poverty are at the lowest of the lowest in the social, economic and political class. Another word for poverty is the slums. In today’s world there is an estimate of three-billion people that live in poverty. The average poverty person live off of just $2.50 a day. One third of the people that live in poverty are children. Over twenty-two thousand children die due to poverty. People loseRead MoreWorking Hard Drinking Hard Is An Ethnography Written By Adrienne Pine1585 Words   |  7 Pagesto capture the way of life for certain Hondurans who were able to tell her their stories. Poverty has been a key association of many issues for the Honduran people and has had a tremendous impact on: work and employment, alcohol abuse, and violence within the community. Poverty is a major issue that many Hondurans are faced with each and everyday. In 2002, 77.3% of Hondurans were living within Poverty (Pine 2008, p.4) making it an issue that affects the majority of the population within thisRead MoreEpidemic of Violence in the USA Essay1441 Words   |  6 Pages Violence, one of the biggest problem in the world right now, especially in America, where the gun control law are barely enforced, every citizen is at constant risk, considering the amount of people in this country that own guns. Crime and violence are rapidly becoming the prime epidemic in the U.S today, but what can we do to ensure our future generation’s safety? Gun violence is a big problem everywhere, in poor rural neighborhoods to prosperous urban cities like Malibu, it canRead MoreGreat Depression Essay1662 Words   |  7 Pagesand hardship recalled by Canadians is the Great Depression. The Great Depression of the 1930s was a time of severe poverty, unemployment and unjust treatment experienced like never before by Canada. The Great Depression was unforeseen, yet inevitable. The Great Depression led many families to undertake drastic measures. This spark ignited a flame of downwards spiralling, leading the worst to be brought out in Canadians everywhere. Some say the 1930s was a time most difficult for single, unemployedRead MoreThe Island of Madagascar 1117 Words   |  4 Pagesthat permanent crops has the percentage of 1.03% and other crops that the land is made up of uses 93.9% of crops. (Henevald Craig, 1995 ) Madagascar is made up of many different resources as well. The first being graphite which is a gray crystalline form of carbon that occurs as a mineral in some rocks and can be made from coke. It is also used as a solid lubricant when it comes to pencils and as a moderator in nuclear reactors. Chromite, coal, bauxite, salt quartz, tar sands, semiprecious stones,

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

A Brief Note On The First Gasoline Powered Automobile Essay

Introduction The first gasoline powered automobile was built 1885 in Germany. The first car was engineered by Henry Ford in 1896. He took things a notch higher by establishing an assembly line which enabled him to mass produce the vehicles thus making them affordable to the consumers. The use of automobiles has since increased in the US and other parts of the world. By 1999, the US alone had over 200 million passenger cars and light trucks. The number of cars worldwide grew thrice faster than the human population. The increase in the number of automobiles has become a matter of great concern as it leads to serious air pollution. For instance, European Environment Agency reported that transportation emission presents a huge threat to the environment. 1. Global competition in the industry: During the first half of this century, automobile imports were negligible on American roads. For instance in 1950s, only 21,287 automobiles were imported and local manufacturers ignored their presence in the belief that the imports were small and low quality. However, foreign automobiles have since set the quality benchmark and in 1986 reached an all-time high of 4.1 million units. In 1980s the big three auto makers (Ford, General Motors, and Fiat/Chrysler) formed joint ventures with Japanese automakers in order to capitalize on consumer attitude towards foreign automobiles. In 2004, the automobile manufacturers formed the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to work together onShow MoreRelated The Invention of the Modern Automobile Essays4283 Words   |  18 PagesThe Invention of the Modern Automobile â€Å"The way to make automobiles, is to make one automobile just like another automobile [1].† With this statement, Henry Ford had invented the modern automobile. Many people may question this idea, as they know self propelled vehicles were in existence long before the days of Ford. In fact, these people would undoubtedly be correct; the idea of a self propelled vehicle and its actual realization had been present for at least one hundredRead MoreIndia Ready For Hybrid Cars Essay1567 Words   |  7 Pagesrecent past, India has witnessed launch of several hybrid and electric cars from automobile manufacturers. Some of the most discussed electric cars are Reva and E2O from indigenous automobile maker Mahindra Mahindra (MM). They recently launched India s first four-door pure electric car, E-Verito too. A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move. Conventional vehicles use gasoline (commonly called petrol) or diesel to power an internal combustion engine. HybridRead MoreAuto Industry in Canada3469 Words   |  14 Pagesis one the wealthiest nations in the world, we need to pay particular attention to Canada’s economic history. The economic history of our country has been marked by many important events that have paved the way for a successful economic future. A brief economic history of Canada would pay particular attention to important events such as the economic boom of the 1920s, the dark times of the 1930s; the Second World War during the 1940s and to also not forget the important trade agreements such as theRead MoreEssay about Environmentalism5717 Words   |  23 Pageshelp us to better understand, revere, and coexist with the world upon which each of us is directly dependent. Transportation The invention of the automobile is on e of historys greatest environmental disasters. The automobile decentralized our society. People with cars moved out of the city and drove to work from their suburban homes. Before the automobile, agriculture was local. Food was grown by farmers living in what was soon to be the suburbs, and delivered fresh to markets in the cities. BecauseRead MoreEngineering Fundamentals of the Internal Combustion Engine59558 Words   |  239 PagesCycle and Otto Cycle, 108 Two-Stroke Cycles, 109 Stirling Cycle, 111 Lenoir Cycle, 113 Summary, 115 Problems, 116 Design Problems, 120 AND FUELS 121 4 THERMOCHEMISTRY 4-1 4-2 4-3 4-4 4-5 4-6 4-7 Thermochemistry, 121 Hydrocarbon Fuels-Gasoline, 131 Some Common Hydrocarbon Components, 134 Self-Ignition and Octane Number, 139 Diesel Fuel, 148 Alternate Fuels, 150 Conclusions, 162 Problems, 162 Design Problems, 165 Contents vii 5 AIR AND FUEL INDUCTION 166 Intake Manifold, 166Read MoreInternational Business Case Study7015 Words   |  29 PagesAssociation of Business Executives QCF International Business Case Study Fiat Automobiles S.p.A Tuesday 4 June 2013, Afternoon This is an open-book examination, and you may consult any previously prepared written material or texts during the examination. Only answers that are written during the examination in the answer book supplied by the examination centre will be marked. 6IBCS0613  © ABE 2013 J/601/2793 Notes l As in real life, anomalies may be found in this Case Study. PleaseRead MoreChevy Volt Essay5814 Words   |  24 Pagesand trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM is primarily engaged in the worldwide development, production, and marketing of automobiles, consisting of cars and trucks. GM develops, manufactures, and markets vehicles worldwide through four automotive regions: GM North America (GMNA), GM Europe (GME), GM Latin America/Africa/Mid-East (GMLAAM), and GM Asia Pacific (GMAP). The growthRead MoreTesla Business evaluation4327 Words   |  18 Pagesï » ¿ Introduction Brief history of the company Tesla Motors, Inc. is an American company that was founded in 2003. The driving idea behind the venture was proving electric vehicles could be a viable substitute of the gasoline powered cars without sacrificing comfort, performance or luxury. Apart from the core function of designing and producing electric cars, Tesla also provides advance electric vehicle powertrain components and know-how to other automakers, which are looking into venturingRead MoreJapan: Toyota and the Hybrid Car Industry Can Toyota Continue to Maintain and Advance Its Position in the Hybrid Car Industry?8749 Words   |  35 Pages............................... 25 3 1.0 Executive Summary The world is at a stage where it cannot ignore the environmental impact fossil fuels have on the environment. Seeing the importance of green technology, Toyota was one of the first to move into the market for hybrid cars. This report examines the actions taken, the strengths and problems Toyota faces to ensure its leadership position and how they stack up against global competition. The report looks into the macro and micro factorsRead MoreEssay on Wireless Electricity14464 Words   |  58 PagesEnvironmental Impact 30 VII. Bibliography 33 ABSTRACT: Wireless electricity is not a new idea, but it has recently become revitalized. This paper looks at the different facets of this invigorated technology. First, it talks about what wireless electricity is and the different approaches of producing it. The paper also talks about the history of wireless electricity and what social factors have motivated it to become invigorated. Next, the government involvement

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Governance Rights of Shareholders at the AGM

Question: Discuss about theGovernancefor Rights of Shareholders at the AGM. Answer: Rights of Shareholders at the AGM. Shareholders have the sole right to attend the AGM if their name appears in the register of the shareholders. When it comes to resolution, the shareholder have the right to articulate the views and vote on any resolution that he deems fit. However, it should not withstand any provision provided in the memorandum or articles. However, if calls are in arrear then the member might be stopped as prescribed by the articles. The articles states that the preference shareholders are debarred from voting at the general meeting and rests upon certain scenario. A member can attend the meeting in general or by way of proxy. A proxy voting is given effect by an agent. The members at the AGM have the rights to select a proxy and vote in his capacity. The proxy has the same right like the shareholder. However, the proxy cannot vote by showing hands. The shareholders have a strong power as they can request to add a significant item to the agenda (Coffee, 2009). Such rights are highly appreciated as it help in showcasing the interest, the shareholder possess. A shareholder can question the board regarding the functioning of the company and any other matter that he deems fit. This involves raising questions regarding the profitability, declaration of dividend, etc. Shareholders influence the functioning of the company by raising their queries and giving suggestion to the board regarding important matters. As shareholders have invested money, they are the owners of the company and hence have a right to speak as their money is involved in running the company. The decision of the company is influenced if the shareholders raise correct matter and speak in that regard. If the matter is of greater interest then the entire shareholder community adheres to it (Kruger, 2013). The directors and management are sure to shed light on such activities once a voice is raised. If there is an deficiency then the matter is taken under control and answer is provided to the shareholder regarding the line of activity. Moreover, shareholders can ask from the annual report and that needs to be answered at the point of venue (Alter, 2013). This implies that shareholders have a power to ask question regarding various activities and hence, management is always on the saf e side ensuring that the activities are in proper control and that the annual report projects a correct figure. As shareholders questions and point the management regarding various activities, the management is always concerned about the activities (Hooks Staden, 2011). As transparency needs to be maintained so that shareholders are able to know the real happening. Therefore, the management injects greater efficiency so that the interest of the shareholder is not compromised. This leads to a better course of activity. Comparison and Contrast of Shareholder Rights at AGMs Companies Remuneration Reports bill was proposed by the United Kingdom Act of Parliament which required the companies to compulsorily report in the directors report the ratio of the highest paid director/ executive to the lowest paid 10% work force i.e. labourers of the company. The companies are required to place the report in the Annual general meeting of the company before the shareholders to approve the same. After the introduction of the same, these policies were also implemented in Australia and United States of America (Gillan, 2006). In todays world of globalisation and to prove to the shareholders that the executive management is not taking the maximum salary of the companys profits, the companies are compulsorily required to present a report wherein a ratio is made between highest paid director and 10% of the lowest paid employees of the company. But in United States a comparison is made between the highest paid employee to that of salary of average paid workers of the comp any and not with the lowest 10% paid staff of the company. But in Australia though the remuneration structure of the directors are disclosed but a comparison in the form of ratios are not disclosed in the reports which give a better transparency and a comparison of the remuneration paid to high paid employees (Kruger, 2013. Whereas United Kingdom government restricts the rights of the shareholders to binding vote for approving the remuneration reports in the annual general meeting on the other hand Australian government has given the rights to the shareholders to approve the remuneration structure of the executive body in the Annual general meeting based on which the future years remuneration structure will be decided after it is agreed upon (Crawford, 2008). Undoubtedly a transparency is required for the shareholders so that they can have a proper control over the decisions of the management and the executive management who are handling the finances and operations of the company ca nnot exercise a wrong power over the company and cannot take undue benefits of the powers given to them by the government. Though it is important for the shareholders to have a knowledge about the remuneration structure of the executive body but on the other hand wherein the management is taking all the risks to increase the profits of the organisation will not be able to take any incentive over and above as approved by the shareholders. The shareholders on the other hand will be of the view that the management is able to earn profits only by using the funds given by them to the company so the management should not be able to get the benefit over and above approved by the shareholders. This will though increase the transparency but management will not be happy with this and they will find out ways to get the benefit in the manner in which the shareholders will not be able to have an idea of the benefits being taken by them. This will lead to fraudulence in the accounts of the compan y and a clear and true and fair view of the accounts will not be presented in front of the shareholders of the organisation. Qualitative Hurdles in the Compensation of Executives Rates of increasing use of qualitative hurdles in the compensation of executives have made the Australian Shareholders Association concerned. This is because such increment have enhanced to such an extent that multi-billion dollar rafts have become very common in large listed companies (Pvary, 2015). Furthermore, this has also generated a huge loophole in the pay structure of CEOs and other executives of Australia on one hand, and other workforce and employees on the other hand. Besides, this gap has become so massive that it is highly subject to enhanced levels of criticisms. For instance, in the case of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), it has been noted that Ian Narev, the Chief Executive Officer of CBA received massive amount of executive compensation but the key thing that is worth mentioning is that more than half of the compensation resulted from endowing of previous LTI (Long term Incentive) awards (Pvary, 2015). This implies that such increased use of qualitative hurdles in executive compensation makes it simpler for an executive like Ian Narev and his upcoming successors to obtain huge payouts even in the future. Furthermore, recent and present international financial turbulence, and the escorting huge diminution of wealth of shareholders have strengthened the viewpoint that level of executive compensation are excessive. Such shareholders also view that compensation through qualitative hurdles does not align properly with their interests and motivate activities that contradict with long-term creation of wealth (ASA, 2016). The executives of Australia used to receive compensation against their customer satisfaction obstacles and TSR (total shareholder return) hurdles, but such recent changes in the use of qualitative hurdles have created an issue for the ASA. Another concern for the ASA regarding such matter is that most of the public listed companies of Australia utilize performance policies instead of dividends and price of shares, to ascertain t he STI (short-term incentive) of their executives. These performance policies are highly and more often associated with the qualitative hurdles instead of performance of share prices. While these variations depict relevant sentiments in real, wherein hurdles rely on qualitative measures, there is high resilience in the interpretation that compensation payment will efficiently be up to the Board to determine (ASA, 2016). Although such increased use of qualitative hurdles in payment of executive compensation have been framed to motivate the executives for the betterment of the organization as a whole, yet studies have depicted that qualitative hurdles can result in narrowing of focus, motivate immoral behavior, and diminish time horizons. Furthermore, it has been provided that reliance on qualitative hurdles regarding executive compensation can result in a harmful obsession with short-term measurement of performance. In addition to this, the incentive influences of executives compensation therefore are used to express the enhancement in the weighting of non-economical or non-financial output and input in adjusting awards. Therefore, both quantitative and qualitative hurdles must be used in the payment of executive compensation. Hence, such increased use of hurdles in executive compensation can highly alter their behavior and drive them towards immoral objectives, which is clearly not for the interest of the organization as a whole. Directors Sit on Various Boards, is this Problem, why or why not? A company is an artificial person created by law which has a separate legal entity from its promoters, members and all such persons. A company can sue and be sued but it needs a human agency to act. So Directors are such elected representatives of the shareholders which are responsible for the day to day management and business affairs of the company. As directors gain experience while performing their duties, they take up the directorship post on more than one company. This could both be a benefit as well as a problem. As a lot of related party transactions are taking place, which might not be at arms length either of the companies could be at a loss and such transactions are apparently made possible by the directors sitting on the boards of more than one company (ASA, 2016). It might be difficult for a director to concentrate and provide proper attention to the affairs of any specific company since the director has to take up the responsibility for the affairs of all the companies wherein directorship is held (Goodstein, 2011). This conflict of interest is a clear disadvantage of multiple directorships. To safeguard companies against such cases, there are legal provisions restricting the participation of the directors in transactions wherein they have any kind of interest (Fich Shivdasani, 2006). The two or more companies in which the same individual is holding directorship might be competitors or creditors or a major supplier or in such a position where one company is in a dominant position over another (ASA, 2016). This leads to the exploitation of the information or resources and apart from the unwarranted advantage for the company, the director can also satisfy their personal interests in such cases. It need not be necessarily restricted to a particular transaction or arrangement but can extend to non financial interests as well. Conflict of interest is not always direct (Levinee Prietula, 2013). Indirect conflict of interest occurs in cases when a party related to the director or any relative of the director enters into a transaction with such company where the same director is holding multiple directorships. The possibility for any party to express an unbiased opinion or decision in this case is almost a rarity (Bowen, 2006). Thus situations that could potentially make conflict of interest arise due to multiple directorships should also be expressly declared by the directors and they should restrain from participating in discussions or voting with reference to the same. A director might be taking up the opportunity to accept directorship with another company for a situation where he could profit for himself and is not known or disclosed to the other directors or shareholders. All these situations could lead to the loss of time and money for both the directors and the companies (Kalpan Williams, 2013). Practically there might be very few directors who might be able to do justice to multiple directorships but apart from that, this practice should not be encouraged for the better interests of the company and shareholders. References Alter, S 2013, Work System Theory: Overview of Core Concepts, Extensions, and Challenges for the Future, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 72-121. ASA 2016, ASA questions increasing use of qualitative hurdles in executive remuneration structures, viewed 22 October, 2016 https://www.australianshareholders.com.au/node/1195087 ASA 2016, Is it time for Metcash chairman Rob Murray to resign?, viewed 22 October, 2016, https://www.australianshareholders.com.au/node/1154680 Bowen, W.G 2006, The Board Book: An Insider's Guide for Directors and Trustees, W.W. Norton Company: New York London, Coffee, J 2009, Gatekeepers: The Professions and Corporate Governance, Oxford University Press Crawford, C. J 2008, Compliance conviction: the evolution of enlightened corporate governance, Santa Clara, Calif Fich, E. M., Shivdasani, A 2006, Are busy boards effective monitors?, The Journal of Finance, vol. 61, pp. 689724. Gillan, S.L 2006, Recent developments in corporate governance: an overview, Journal of Corporate Finance, vol. 12, pp. 381402. Goodstein, E 2011, Ethics and Economics, Economics and the Environment, Wiley Hooks, J Staden, V.CJ 2011, Evaluating environmental disclosures: the relationship between quality and extent measures, British Accounting Review, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 200-213. Kaplan, S. Williams, D 2013, Do going concern audit reports protect auditors from litigation? A simultaneous equations approach, The Accounting Review, 88(1), 199-232. Kruger, P 2015, Corporate goodness and shareholder wealth, Journal of Financial economics, pp. 304-329 Levine, S. S., Prietula, M. J 2013, Open Collaboration for Innovation: Principles and Performance, Organization Science, Harvard Press Pvary, A 2015, Remuneration voting, viewed 22 October, 2016 https://www.allenovery.com/publications/en-gb/corporate-governance/Documents/Brochure_Remuneration%20Voting-Dinesh%20Rajan.pdf

Sunday, December 1, 2019

The Sun Also Rises Essays (3318 words) - Frankenstein,

The Sun Also Rises According to the Greek poet Hesiod, the Titan demi-god Prometheus was responsible for the creation of men. He manufactured them from clay, from the natural earth. When Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, she left little doubt that the creator of the monster, Victor Frankenstein, by making a living creature from inaminate parts was a new Prometheus. But her metaphor extends beyond the immediately obvious. In Hesiod's myth, Prometheus had an inflated sense of self importance and was determined to be adored by men. Because men had no control over fire they were destined to remain mere animals. The forbidden knowledge of fire, the most basic and natural form of energy was the domain of the god, Zeus. The ego-centric Prometheus became obsessed with devising a means by which he could procure fire and with no other motive in mind than glory, he cunningly stole fire from Zeus and gave it to a grateful mankind. Prometheus' trickery was bound to invite catastrophe. Zeus' retribution was swift and twofold. Firstly, with the help of Hephaestus, Hermes and Aphrodite, he fashioned out of clay the first woman, Pandora. Thereafter, men would no longer be born directly from the earth; now through women, they would undergo birth by procreation, and consequently old age, suffering and death. She was given a box which contained all manner of misery and evils and was responsible for letting them escape, to torment humankind forever. Secondly, Zeus caught Prometheus, chained him to a rock, and each day an eagle would visit him and feed on his liver. Prometheus' liver, however, replenished itself overnight, so he was condemned not so much to a single act of punishment but to perpetual torture. This is the price of tampering with nature. Prometheus' ultimate downfall was caused, not by a poorly executed theft, but by the driving force of his own self-interest. By characterising Prometheanism, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a critique of male egoism. Shelley repre sents male egoism through the assertiveness of her glory seeking characters. The attitude of her narrator, Robert Walton, is typified by his belief in his ?God given right' to have ultimate success in Arctic explorations. He writes to his sister Margaret asking, do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose? (Shelley 17) This attitude continues as he tells Victor that he would sacrifice anything, including men's (presumably other men's) lives for the success of his polar expedition and for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race(28). This boast, made in the very midst of vast polar 2. ice fields, impels Victor to tell his story, as both a confession and also as a warning to Walton. If Victor is the ?Modern Prometheus', Walton is certainly his apprentice. Like Victor's knowledge of how to create a living being from dead matter, the knowledge which Walton seeks is forbidden; the secret of nature. By the end of the novel Walton has become awar e of the ominous aspect of the Arctic. Certainly, the cruelty of the Arctic has not been lost on the crew of his ship who threaten mutiny. Their human spirit, in striving for forbidden knowledge, when confronted with the terrifying and mysterious abyss of nature, prefers to retreat trembling from the inhuman and seemingly infinite icy wilds. On his deathbed, Victor asks them, Did you not call this a glorious expedition? ..... You were hereafter to be hailed as the benefactor of your species; your names adored, as belonging to the brave men who encountered death and honour, and the benefit of mankind(214). Despite Victor's rousing speech, the crew resolve to return to the safety and warmth of ?Mother England', no longer able to call themselves ?true men'. Or, perhaps they have some forethought that, in finding absolution in ?Walton The Confessor', Victor's parting words would be, Seek happiness in tranquillity, and avoid ambition...(217). With these last words, Victor is finally able to release himself from his dogma of glory and from life itself but his unflagging egoism will not let him concede that he might have acted in error: I have myself been blasted in these hopes (of discovery), yet another may succeed(218). Another,