Effective leadership characteristics

Effective leadership characteristics Intro (just a rough outline) Transformational vs transactional (here Im thinking to say something along the lines of â€Å"when evaluating leadership characteristics, the team identified more with transformational leadership† Our group used ranking to decide order in which we would prioritize (Exhibit 1 does the team want to include this?) Effective leadership has many characteristics that make it what it is, but weve narrowed down the list after tough debates and inspirational personal experiences. Effective Leadership Characteristics Visionary Ranked First To be an effective leader, our team believes that being a visionary is the most important characteristic. The team went through various different words with a similar tone, such as â€Å"strategist†, â€Å"innovative†, and â€Å"a thinker with depth and breadth†, but none of them encompassed such a broad meaning as visionary did. Being a visionary encompasses all of the above key descriptors and includes the ability to think ahead in a manner that is neither rash nor unrealistic. Having vision gives clarity to the integral processes that follow the vision during implementation. Our team examined previous class discussions on transformational leadership and having a vision was a key aspect that was critical in order to successfully fulfill other leadership requirements. For example, being a good communicator is definitely an advantage; however, without a vision, the information communicated is questionable. This is why we ranked it first. Competency Ranked Second The team initially had varied opinions about competency because of our diverse perceptions of what being competent really means. Some perceived it as unnecessary as leaders who have vision can align their followers and make them accountable for achieving the vision. Others perceived competency as more than that they viewed it as a characteristic that is not only technical but also involves knowing what steps to take in order to achieve the vision and how to effectively communicate those steps. Nevertheless, technical competency is of instrumental value as it increases efficiency due to the breadth and depth of knowledge. Other rational that served vital in convincing the rest of the team was that having competence increases ones self-confidence, helping them to better motivate and articulate their position. Communicator Ranked Third Being an outstanding communicator is essential to being an effective leader. The entire team was aligned with making this a core characteristic of effective leaders. The discussion highlighted the need to firstly communicate the vision and subsequently, to maintain a flow of information around the organization. The team discussed how when this was done in our personal experiences, we felt more involved and important in the company. One key point of reference for us was the class discussion on transformational leadership. Within all four aspects (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration), communication was either directly or indirectly a factor in being able to successfully be a transformational leader. Motivational Ranked Fourth A term that we feel is related to being a good communicator is being motivational. We believe they go hand-in-hand. Our reasoning for selecting â€Å"motivational† was because in order to achieve the vision, a leader must align his or her followers one person is often not enough. The group spoke about several different characteristics related to motivational that we also wanted to include on the list; however, while short-listing, we came to the conclusion that several of those were related to being a motivational leader. For example, the team brainstormed â€Å"inspiring† as a characteristic. Although this is a distinctive quality to have in a leader, we felt that being motivational was the appropriate term because, in a business context, it relates to stimulating ones interest in the vision while we saw inspirational as invoking a more general sense of desire to accomplish something. The team also saw a motivational leader as one who will create more leaders and this is essential in todays business environment as it has been said that many organizations are over-managed, but under-led. High Integrity Ranked Fifth The team was divided on whether or not to include integrity in the characteristics of effective leaders. Some of the team was concerned with the fact that leaders who have committed unethical deeds (i.e. the executives of the Enron scandal) did not have integrity yet were still effective in being successful prior to the scandal. We spoke in great detail about the article â€Å"Leadership Warts and All†, and although we found many of the points to be intriguing; some of the team members were inundated with questions like â€Å"are we setting our standards too low? Should we not expect honesty and integrity?† We had thoughts surrounding the idea that â€Å"it is okay to fail, and you should not compromise your values in the name of success†. The others brought up the class discussion on the first day when we spoke about leadership not having the classification of good or bad but the members for integrity highlighted that it depends on perception. Those who followe d Adolf Hitler believed he had integrity. More of the team was convinced, but there was still hesitation because according to them, â€Å"leadership is not a moral concept† (Kellerman, 2004, p. 5) being an effective leader has nothing to do with your values. The turning point was our discussion about the topic of leaders that lack integrity but are high on charisma; the â€Å"Danger Zone†.Questions that were raised within the group circled around â€Å"although the leader could be effective, how long could he or she sustain leadership before their low integrity was publicized?† Examples of this include the leaders of Enron or Nortel after the scandals, their leadership was completely overthrown and their credibility was no more. If one does not have credibility, how will he or she attract followers? Empathy Ranked Sixth The team spoke about empathy in great detail. We were heavily inclined to say â€Å"no† to empathy being a top characteristic, however there were two that felt strongly about it. The discussion revolved around what the true definition of empathy is is it related to the way you communicate to people, knowing their situation or is it a feeling that you have when you understand anothers circumstances? We answered it by giving real-life examples of how empathy is a characteristic that is more than communication. A personal experience within the team was one that many individuals face as part of an organization. Our teammate had fallen ill one day and telephoned his manager to let him know that he was unwell. The manager, showing a lack of empathy, instructed him to come into work anyway. The manager failed to put himself into our teammates shoes and this negatively affected his perceived leadership style. The teammate felt more and more disengaged, almost resentful towards his ma nager. An example from a team member who had a great experience was about how his manager was empathetic towards the specific direction in which he wanted to go. He would take the time to understand our teammates future aspirations and would make it his duty to seek out the most relevant projects. In another real life experience, the manager would take the time to understand the diverse culture of his team so that he would be more empathetic to the differences surrounding them. These experiences were a catalyst to emphasize the fact that empathy was a definite characteristic of effective leaders amongst our team. Passionate Ranked Seventh In all great leaders there is a purpose and intensity. To our team, passion is an internal and self-generated tool.   Effective leaders should have the ability to concentrate on their purpose, motivate not only themselves but also their followers to the common purpose. Their attitude sets the mood for everyone around them and their followers get excited if the leader is excited. There was a general consensus within the team for passionate to be one of the main characteristics. The feeling was solidified even more with a personal example of an effective team lead who was extremely passionate about his work in software coding. The team lead would spend his own time learning more about coding. He would share his findings with the team in a manner that was both exciting and intriguing. Both his work and the teams work were positively influenced because of the authentic passion this leader shared. Becoming a More Effective Leader Building a Transformational Leader During our analysis, we discovered that these characteristics are dependent on each other in order to be effective. Leaders with a vision need to be able to communicate that vision passionately in order to align their followers. In â€Å"Leadership for Extraordinary Performance†, Joseph DiStefano highlights the need for the visionary to express â€Å"personal confidence and enthusiasm† (DiStefano, 2000, p. 1). Leading your organization with passion is extremely important when communicating the vision. It seems as though a leader without vision, passion and communication is an ineffective leader, while a leader that has a high degree of all three is a motivational leader (refer to Exhibit 2a). He or she has a consistent vision in mind, and is able to communicate that vision effectively with enthusiasm which is a critical step in aligning your followers and motivating them to achieve the vision. The story discussed above about the leader who was so passionate about coding was not the only attribute that made him the best leadership experience for our teammate. He was able to see ahead and know what the team needed to do before anyone else did this is what differentiated him from the rest of the team. Team 423 argues that if you have passion and are able to communicate that to your colleagues, you are an engaged team member. It is your ability to be a visionary in addition to those that makes you a leader. In combination with the above characteristics, we feel that leadership is also dependent on ones competencies. If a leader has vision, communication skills and passion but no competency, he or she is ill-equipped to be effective (refer to Exhibit 2b). One of our team members worked under a CEO of a small company. The CEO was a former salesman and his interests were only focused on increasing sales and not building customer loyalty or providing adequate support. He had a vision of using the products uniqueness in the industry to market it to customers; he had the communication skills and passion to both inform and align his employees; however the company suffered as time went on because he did not factor in the customer relations aspect of the business. His lack of knowing what to do to be successful led the company to many reports with the Better Business Bureau and constant customer complaints to the head office. Building on our illustration of how these characteristics are dependent upon each other, we proceed to analyze motivational and empathetic. Although motivational was touched upon with communication, the team feels that it is also separate because of the need for individualized consideration. We are speaking about these characteristics not in terms of broadly aligning employees, rather in terms of providing them to employees based on their own set of unique strengths and weaknesses. A leader without empathy and motivation becomes a â€Å"power wielder† (Kellerman, 2004, p. 3) given that he or she has the other characteristics we have discussed (refer to Exhibit 2c). Being a more effective leader means, as Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones put it, â€Å"giving people what they need, not what they want† (Goffee Jones, 2000, p. 7). Effective leaders are genuinely concerned with what their employees aspirations are and will point them in the right direction even if it means co mmunicating areas of weakness. While pointing out the weakness, the leader should also motivate the employee to improve and achieve his (her) goal. When a leader has all these characteristics, we believe that he (she) is very close to becoming what we believe, is an effective transformational leader. Nevertheless, how good are all of these characteristics if the leader cannot uphold them? Once the leaders integrity is broken, his (her) characteristics are no longer legitimate. The fundamental vision which was so necessary becomes a fraud. The leader that has all the above characteristics cannot be exhibiting a true display of being a visionary (refer to exhibit 2d). Staying true to your vision, or in other words, leading by example, is undermined when a leader does something that is inconsistent with their values or vision. The team also feels that there is a lack of genuine motivation and empathy for the employees and this leads us to believe that an effective leader with low integrity is really a pseudo-transformational leader.One of our teammates had an experience where his manager would display all of the positive characteristics we have spoken about to his own managers, however, the reality was he was taking credit for successful projects and blaming others for failed initia tives. The display of leadership, in this case, was false and it served to undermine his leadership ability to our team member. On the contrary, a leader with all characteristics is a full and effective transformational leader. Leveraging Natural Strengths Some leaders are naturally stronger in one characteristic, and they leverage that to be more effective. (Can someone think of an example to put in here Made up or real is fine) Leaders who lack technical knowledge can benefit from leveraging their other strengths. Relying and trusting your employees to use their expertise you may not have empowers them and is a vital aspect in creating more leaders. We are in accord with Goffee and Jones when it comes to revealing select weaknesses to establish trust, collaboration, and solidarity. While leveraging natural strengths is something the team believes should be done, a leader should be looking to continuously improve. In class we discussed effective leaders who may not be comfortable speaking in public, and saw how one leader drastically improved his skills by joining a Toastmasters Club. We are also increasingly seeing more managers in training programs to increase their competencies in new technologies and methodologies. Using These Characteristics to Differentiate Leaders from Managers The teams analysis also revealed distinguishing factors between leaders and managers. We found that managers and workers relate more to the day-to-day work and tend not to think about the long-term strategy or vision of the organization and therefore, some processes that should be maximized to achieve long-term gains are completed to attain short term success. Through our personal experiences, we also found that they are more focused on performance rather than development and improvement. A visionary leader attaches the skills of his (her) team in to a vision, incorporating performance into team development and advancement while placing importance on both long-term and short-term strategies. â€Å"Leaders motivate people; managers manipulate assets† (Cuneo, 2005). How can managers be better leaders by motivating their employees? In all of our positive personal experiences, motivation was a key aspect. Being motivational does not need to mean inspiring a crowd of five hundred. Instead, the team appreciated open-door communication and individualized inspiration through words of encouragement when we failed, and recognition when we succeeded. We specified leaders who guided us in the right direction instead of telling us the exact move. Beginning with a simple â€Å"good job, youre almost there!† or â€Å"I know you can do it, lets try that again† proved to be effective and meaningful. According to Level 5 Leadership, a manager is described as competent, but not a leader.Our team interpreted this as a technically competent manager who lacks the softer characteristics such as empathy, vision, motivation, and etcetera. Competency is a necessary requirement for an effective manager; however it is not the foremost characteristic a manager can possess. In class, we discussed how Level 5 Leadership can be seen in any level on the pyramid. Many people possess humility and professional will at all levels it is something that transcends your leadership capabilities. Improving Leadership in Business Today In todays business world, several new issues have come into play and the leadership characteristics we discussed are relevant to the times we face at the present. In class, we spoke about multi-generational workforces, ethics, and diversity. The team will briefly discuss how each one of these issues can be positively affected by leadership. The multi-generational workforce we face today goes both ways. Older employees are taking advantage of continuing to work after the age of sixty-five and the younger generation is storming the workforce with new expectations to suit their lifestyles. Being able to manage each end of the spectrum will prove to be an asset to any leader. Through communicating effectively, a leader can avoid the problems that arise when dealing with a multi-generational work force. Speaking to your employees about their expectations and goals are paramount to being able to successfully manage both older and younger workers. We cannot assume that a younger worker wants to be the CEO of the company, just as we cannot assume that an older worker does not want to spend time outside of the office with his (her) colleagues. Using communication to directly ask the employees what they want out of the job will help to avoid misunderstandings as well as misconstrued expectations of the other. Empathy is also a characteristic that is essential in managing a multi-generational workforce. Being able to understand where someone is coming from means taking the time to comprehend their reasoning for certain matters, but it also means providing them with what they need based upon their experiences. A person with empathy can connect to and build trust with several different types of people based on the fact that they are able to understand where the other is coming from. A leader must make the â€Å"effort to understand why people do what they do† (Cook Ross Inc., 2004). After understanding your workers, it becomes easier to motivate them. We developed insight into motivation after discussing our different experiences. What motivates us as people varies; even the style of motivation varies. Some members responded well to a realistic motivator while others enjoyed a more casual, humorous style of motivation. Learning about your employees helps determine the style of motivation you should adapt. â€Å"It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it† (Warren Buffet). This quote describes how easy it is to falter in the area of integrity. Ethics has become a key aspect of leadership today. With the number and magnitude of corporate scandals, it is easy to say you stand for something than it is to actually prove it. Effective leaders must stand by the values they purport, therefore, they should not keep values that they may have the possibility of violating. The team is not saying this is easy, but it is a standard that should be upheld especially when thinking about future leaders. A manager must lead by example and focus on the behavioural outcomes more than the performance outcomes.Set the expectations at where you believe you can legitimately operate at leaders are not perfect after all. In todays globalized market, diversity is an ever-increasing factor in organizations. We feel that the struggles of managing diversity can be mediated with a competent, empathetic, and communicative leader. Competency comes into play when a leader is aware of differences and able to manage diversity. The manager should be able to align the thought processes of diverse interest groups to the common vision. How do they accomplish this? Through empathy and communication. We discussed a personal experience earlier of how a manager took the time to understand his diverse team by openly communicating about differences in cultures and work ethics. Politicians often learn to attract a very diverse array of voters. Barrack Obamas slogan, â€Å"yes we can†, was centralized enough that it applied to various groups in the United States but his meetings with senior citizens versus Mexican immigrants were extremely different. The two groups had different priorities and expectations. A manag er who takes the time to understand where his (her) employees are coming from, will find it easier to motivate them successfully. In conclusion, based on our analysis and course material study, we believe that there is no perfect recipe or readymade solution to be an effective leader. However, having the characteristics discussed above and using them appropriately places one on the right track to be an effective leader.

Literature Ethics Essay

points in their journey.   In both cases, the old men appear weak and ill-suited to survival in the harsh world of the novel.   In the first instance the father refuses to help the old man (49-52), but in the second instance the father agrees to help the old man (161-174), suggesting uncertainty and inconsistency in his moral reasoning.   But how might the father have responded if he had followed a specific branch of moral philosophy in approaching these situations? Thesis chosen: If the father had approached these situations as a deontologist he would have helped both old men, but if he had approached the situations as a utilitarian he would have refused to help both men. In staying true to the path of most deontologists, we could say that had the father been a practitioner of the said philosophy, he would have helped both old men in their respective scenarios of need. As generally defined, deontology is the ethical judgment of a certain act which founds itself on the intent of the act itself to serve as the basis for which to determine the morality of the said act. It is also accepted that deontologists believe in the existence of universal moral norms that transcend boundaries, applying to everyone; the individual helping out another individual being one of them. To deontologists, one is duty-bound to help his fellow man; doing so would allow one to adhere to what they deem as the categorical imperative, and would therefore be a fulfillment of responsibility. Had the father in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road been a follower of this approach on ethics, he would have helped both old men who were in need, and should anyone else turn up requiring any manner of assistance, then he would have turned to help them out too. The foundation of deontology requires that one should always fulfill the moral obligation of the individual, which lies in accordance with the said norms that apply to everyone. Should any evil or unpleasant consequence surface from the said action, one would remain morally pure as one had only done what was dictated by the obligations of the individual; a dying criminal nursed to health who would continue to practice crime would be responsible for his own actions and the healer would remain pure as he had only acted upon this said moral norm: this is the basis of deontology. Had the father been a practitioner of utilitarianism, however, then he would have gone and ignored both men. Helping out any of them would only hamper them in their goal of finding lasting safety and refuge for the boy. We must keep in mind that the journey was brought about by the need for a secure future for the boy as his father is weakening as well. The pilgrimage is led by the father with no specific destination, and therefore no specific timeframe. To take on other matters such as aiding old men who would have nothing to contribute to the group and should be taken with them would only serve as a liability would only delay and possibly cost the success of the expedition. Utilitarianism is the concept of analyzing an action’s moral worth by basing it on the outcome or consequences of the aforementioned action, therefore the perfect representation of the maxim â€Å"The end justifies the means.† Utilitarians often keep in mind what they deem to be â€Å"the greater good† and anything less than that is to be considered expendable. As opposed to deontologistic belief of a â€Å"universal moral norm†, utilitarians believe the pinnacle of ethics to be to spread happiness, maximizing it to the most number of people, no matter what. This means that they are willing to sacrifice the happiness of the few for that of the many. Therefore, applying this into Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, had the father in the story acted out in a utilitarian manner, he would not have helped both old men, seeing as they would have nothing to offer to aid them in their journey. Works Cited McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. Vintage Books, 2007.

The theme of hope in the writings of Hemingway, Conrad

This essay will compare the theme of hope in the writings of Hemingway, Conrad, and Kafka in the novels, The Sun Also Rises, Heart of Darkness and The Trial.   The characters in the novels will be presented as hoping against the odds of love and either fulfilling their desire or running away from them, thus either gaining hope or the lack of hope.   The different avenues of hope will also be examined in that hope may turn into acts of desperation from a different point of view, and the narrator of some of the novels will be given consideration in presenting facts to the reader in their own point of view.Finally, this essay will discuss the nature of hope, and how the characters throughout the novels may either accept a hopeless state and be transformed from it, or accept hope as a gift despite the fact that reality and circumstances may deny them their desires.   The theme of each novel will ultimately coincide with transformations or realizations through hope.In Hemingway†™s The Sun Also Rises the narrator Jake travels through a myriad of landscapes from Paris, to Madrid and even San Sebastian.   It is through these landscapes that the reader may witness the rising hope that Jake has, or the desperation, and even at times, of the peace he has or longs for in such scenery.   The cast of characters suggests a spectrum of different avenues of hope: with Jake, his hope is to be with Brett, despite the consequences and the treatment he receives from her, uttering in the novel’s last line, â€Å"Yes, isn’t it pretty to think so† after Brett states that she and Jake would have had a wonderful time together.In this statement Jake reveals to Brett, and to the audience that although he and Brett do not manage to come together as a couple, that in Jake’s view of events they are joined together through consequences and circumstances.   This is not a fulfillment by the measure of typical novels involving relationships but for H emingway, the stunted acceptance of fate in the character Jake allows for imagination and realism to coexist.   This means that hope cannot come to fruition but that to still think, and in Jake’s mind to know, that to have been with Brett would have been his greatest adventure expresses not his lament that it never happened but that it could have happened and it would have been wonderful.   This un-fulfillment is Jake’s hope realized.With the character Cohn however, hope is a desperate emotion.   His hope is overpowering; it lies with being madly in love, or infatuation with Brett and the unrequited love of Brett drives Cohn into a furious temper for any man who is with her, or desires her.   Cohn repeated follows Brett around, which conjures up images of puppy love, and blind obedience, and when Brett’s fiancà © Mike tells Cohn again and again to lay off, Cohn refuses and tensions rise during the fiesta in Madrid.Cohn ignores rationality and knocks out Jake, Mike, and Brett’s new lover, the bullfighter Romero.   Recognizing his actions, Cohn insists on having Jake forgive him, which Jake does with reluctance and even wants Romero to shake his hand, which Romero refuses.   Here, then is Cohn’s ultimate slight; that hope, at least the kind that is desperate is unforgiving.Brett rebukes her fiancà © Mike for her new lover Romero.   An interesting scene in the book is when Brett receives Romero’s gift of a bull’s ear he had slain, a bull which had earlier slaughtered another man.   This ear signifies that Brett had to cut off a piece of herself in order to live the life she does, traveling and falling in love over and over and changing her mind and following a different lover around until regret or a new love shows up.   This ear resembles Brett’s hope – her hope of love in constant fury.She must not leave too much of herself with one man leastwise she become completely attached an d dependent, thus, the vivisected ear is Brett’s heart, torn off from its owner, and kept in a distant spot.   Brett does not hope with commitment, but with transitory lust for new things, places, and men.   Although Jake tells these words to Cohn about traveling to South America this following quote may be applicable to each character in the novel and the theme of hope, â€Å"You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.† (Hemingway 11).Hemingway’s characters in the novel suggest constant movement in order to escape something; to escape constancy in setting and environment, it is as though the characters feel that if they move enough their desires and regrets won’t be able to catch up. This is true especially for Brett and is true for Jake as well.   For Cohn, it is his outdated lifestyle which is anachronistic in the lifestyle of the age in which he is living that he is trying to escape but for Brett and perhaps Jake as well, it is regret that they do want to overcome them, â€Å"I thought I had paid for everything. Not like the woman pays and pays and pays.No idea of retribution or punishment. Just exchange of values. You gave something up and got something else. Or you worked for something. You paid some way for everything that was any good.† (Hemingway 148).   In final scene in the car when the two are alone together and Jake says it’s pretty to think so, this is the only acknowledgement of truth the reader receives from Jake concerning his desire for Brett.   Beyond the tomfoolery, bullfighting and fishing, when he is quite within himself, the mantra which pulses through him is regret.   He may hope beyond it, but it is all-consuming as it would have been for Brett if she had not hidden her heart away from such devices as feeling too much as Jake does, as it best exemplified with Jake stating, â€Å"Couldn’t we live together, Brett? Couldn’t we just live t ogether?† [Brett:] â€Å"I don’t think so. I’d just tromper you with everybody.†In Jake’s final line to Brett, hope is dashed and cynicism is revealed.   Jake has no illusions as to how his and Brett’s relationship would have been since Brett has no heart to give, or it is kept at such a distance, even Jake’s love could not call it into being.   This is the lack of hope of them, realism, cynicism, and love dashed.In Kafka’s novel The Trial, the main character Joseph K, or simply K lives through a series of unfortunate events of which the first he is accused of some ambiguous crime on his 30th birthday.   One year later he is killed in the name of the law and K, for his part does not object to the killing.   The absurd as a theme in this event is very overtly portrayed.   The ambiguous nature of the actions of the other characters in the novel prove to be ridiculous and a definite parody of real life trial situations.Th e trial itself is a charade because everyone in the courtroom including K already know the outcome; they are merely going through the actions because it is something of a tradition to do so.   Thus, the characters are focused, not on the truth of the matter, did K commit a crime, but merely on the trial itself and their part in the faà §ade.K’s looming fate is indistinguishable during the trial but when he is killed in the name of the law at the end of the novel he gives no protest.   The absurd as a theme is best translated in this action by Kafka’s character K.   K does not protect his own interest but does blindly what he is told to do because it is the law.   K does not question the intent of the actions, him being killed or at times even during the trial.   During the novel, K is increasingly not in control of his own fate.   This is shown when he kisses his neighbor after his landlady told him indirectly that he was perhaps having an affair with her.    It seems that the absurd grows into its own identity in Kafka’s The Trial through the way in which K is a definite pawn, adhering to other people’s wishes instead of examining his own wants.The absurd takes further shape in Kafka’s novel through the inability of the other defendant’s awaiting news of their fate when K is given a tour of the offices by Law-Court Attendant.   Almost everyone in the book is ignorant about their surroundings, their own actions, their fate.   Kafka deals well with disguising characters or scenes (when K goes into the Law-Court Attendant’s office he glances at law books that are in fact pornography) and leading the reader to believe one thing before he switches and tells the reader the truth behind the scene.Kafka was a master at leading the audience down one path only to change course right when the reader has a glimmer of understanding about the plot or the character’s intentions.   To emphasize this point K’s last words before he dies are â€Å"Like a dog† which describe how he dies.   In essence these words state that K was expecting to die, perhaps wanted it after the previous misleading year of his life during the trial and the ridiculous events in his life while the trial was persisting.   His words describe his death, but also his life.   He lived obediently, and as the clichà © goes, he licked the master’s hand that beat him.In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the audience is presented with the character Marlow whose hope overwhelms his morality in the search for Mr. Kurtz.   Marlow appears to be a Buddha type image (at least the early Buddha, Siddhartha) in that he is searching for hope through Mr. Kurtz.   Thus, Marlow is a character whose hope is tied up with a sense of adventure and courage mixed with either ignorance or just unawareness.   Marlow seems to have created an acceptance of people and in return expects them to sho w the same regard of acceptance in silence.The company seems to think Marlow’s stories are elusive to a point because, â€Å"†¦to hear about one of Marlow’s inconclusive experiences.†Ã‚   (pg 10).   The company appears to discourage his story telling because of his disregard to the audiences wants.   At the beginning of his journey into Africa, Marlow appears to be the whimsical sailor.   An insightful sailor with thought patterns which reveal his character, â€Å"Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma† (pg 19).   Marlow presents himself to be a truth teller.   Being always ‘appalled’ by a lie.   Marlow becomes obsessed with the idea of Mr. Kurtz.   Only the want of a conversation with him led Marlow on hi journey.Marlow associated himself with Kurtz by becoming an outcaste in the eyes of the managers and the dark of his mindset comes out, â€Å"†¦but it was something to have at leas t a choice of nightmares.† (pg 105).   Then coming to base with reality when   meeting Kurtz’s Intended, Marlow says that, â€Å"His end †¦ was in every way worthy of his life† (pg 130).Following into Mr. Kurtz’s character, it is discovered that he is not fully developed, especially in regards to hope.   He is described as a misfit showing everybody up.   The ivory king so to speak.   An elusive devil with a charmed life.   Referred to as ‘that man’.   A genius of a man not forgotten only because of outrageous speeches and stunts, not for any significant contribution to humanity, nor for his character development or change towards hope.   Kurtz is a hard man to please and only a friend when he was in the whim of being a friends.Perhaps the darkness drove Kurtz crazy and thus the audience is forces to recognize how his lack of hope twisted his character development, â€Å"†¦it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with his great solitude-†¦(whisper) echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core†Ã‚   (pg 98).   Kurtz then was the abyss through which hope was lost.   He sucked away ideas, morality, self-preservation of an idea and the act of being a taking of hope filled Kurtz because he had no other thoughts of his own.   Solitude does strange things to a man as is witnessed by Kurtz’s character.Kurtz left behind him a ‘last disciple.’   A short but well formed character in the way of his obsession with Mr. Kurtz.   In the concept of hope, and the loss or lack of hope, Kurtz epitomizes this concept through is treatment of his lady.   She was in constant mourning and tears.   However, despite his treatment of her, she adored him.   Her life was with him.Conrad’s treatment of the novel, in his setting of the scene also suggests the lack of hope whic h prevails as a theme in Heart of Darkness.   Conrad creates the setting of the sea in the beginning of the book as a painting with souls included; lost souls.   He sets the mood by the setting by calming words and eloquent simplicity.   After this imagery the reader is taken into the journey of Marlow.The city is the first step in the path of discovering lack of hope in Conrad’s work.   The city is the first step in this and right away the reader is filled with the complexity and confusion of Marlow’s story as the setting of the company’s offices harbors a feeling of conspiracy.   A setting of foreboding, or darkness with two black barbed guardians is presented in the text, which further allude to the lack of hope in the novel.In the first introduction of the idea of Mr. Kurtz, the person taking praises him but eh scene leads the reader to conclude that the man brings a feeling of wickedness, and a lack of morality.   Perhaps Mr. Kurtz is the sea pe rsonified.   In fact the feeling of hope, or lack of hope can very simply be seen in the treatment of the females in the novel.   Just as in the character of Jake in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises Mr. Kurtz’s character finds a reflection of himself in his female counterpart and how he treats that counterpart.There are only three somewhat minor female characters in Heart of Darkness: Marlow’s aunt, Kurtz’s mistress, and Kurtz’s â€Å"Intended.† Marlow mentions these female characters in order to give the literal aspect of his  tale more substance.  Towards the beginning of Marlow’s story he tells how he, â€Å"Charlie Marlow, set the women to work–to get a job.†He tells this in the context that he desperately wanted to travel in  the trade industry that he did what the unthinkable (in those times).   He asked a woman for financial assistance! The woman, his aunt, also surpassed the traditional role of women in those times by telling Marlow that she would be delighted to help him and to ask her for help whenever he needed it. This incident did not have much to do with the symbolic theme of the story; it simply served to tell the reader how Marlow managed to be able to travel to the Congo (with a little help). On another note, Conrad intended to illustrate Marlow’s opinion of women’s inferior role in society, which embodied traditional 19th century society.The two remaining female characters were acknowledged later in the story.   When Marlow reaches the Inner Station, he jumps ahead and tells a little about The Intended, Kurtz’s fiancà ©e (to say â€Å"I do† when he returned). The Intended woman does not appear until the very end of the story, in which Marlow visits her and lies to her about Kurtz’s dying words.   The last female character, Kurtz’s African mistress, was presented near the end of the novel. Her first appearance took place in t he scene with Marlow talking to the Russian.She appears later when Marlow and Kurtz depart on the steamboat.   After Marlow blows the whistle, she stretches her arms out towards the steamer, and that was the last time she appears. The limited depiction of female characters in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and the way in which the three female characters are referred to by Marlow reflect Marlow’s view of women as inferior. Marlow’s opinion of women manifests the typical 19th century views of women.Perhaps his choice to lie to the Intended was because of a similar female  influence on his life†¦his Aunt.   In a way Marlow compares the Intended to his Aunt in  which both women are weaker than him.   For a man in the early 19th century, he believes  that they are delicate  and â€Å"something† that needs to be tenderly cared for.   He says, â€Å"It is  queer how out of touch with the truth women are.They live in a world of their o wn, and  there had never been anything like it, and can never be.   It is too beautiful altogether, and  if they were to set it up it would go to pieces before the first sunset.†Ã‚   This he says before  ever meeting Kurtz or hearing of the Intended.   Upon lying to her (the Intended) he says,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"But I couldn't.   I could not tell her.   It would have been too dark  too dark altogether†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚  Marlow protected her,  he allowed her to remain innocent of Kurtz and his actions and in  so doing enabled her sun to remain high rather than setting and forever engulfing her in  darkness.Through the characters of each of these three novels different aspects of hope and different ways in which hope is revealed, lost, gained, or ignored the truth is that each character in one way had the chance to hope.   Marlow’s hope and Kurtz’s hope was desperation out of the thing they could not own, a woman’s love.   K’s hope and Jake’s hope both began with cynicism, and K’s hope does not change at the end of Kafka’s novel, with the phrase pertaining to ‘like a dog’ while Jake also remains in the state of cynicism knowing that Brett could never love anyone because she was prepared to hope so high.Each novel had a point of revelation for the characters in which they must make a choice to continue to hope, to change, or to ignore hope and falter in the evolution of their own character.   Thus, when a character lost hope, they were doomed just as Marlow and Kurtz lost hope, or lost the illusion of their life and realized they never had hope for themselves, and just as Jake realizes that perhaps he never had hope for himself and Brett after all.WORK CITEDConrad, J.   Heart of Darkness.   Bentley Pub, New York.   2002.Hemingway, E.   The Sun Also Rises.   Scribner, New York, 1996.Kafka, Franz.   The Trial.   Trans.   Willa & Edwin Muir.   Shocken.   New York .   1995.

Essay on Racial Cultural Identity Developement Model

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