Thursday, October 31, 2019

A Study of Human Behaviour in Fire Evacuation with an Emphasis on the Essay

A Study of Human Behaviour in Fire Evacuation with an Emphasis on the Elderly Population - Essay Example They are naturally weaker and more vulnerable than the younger individuals. Older people have vision and hearing predicaments and these handicaps have to be taken into account in selecting the best course of action in moving them out from the danger. For instance, elderly, particularly the females, cannot be advised leap even if the height of the fall is low because they have weaker and more brittle bones compared to the rest. (Cardinal, Florence. Vibrate Your Bones. March 1, 2007. Well Woman Blog. [internet].). They also have traits or attitudes peculiar to their age. Old folks want to stay alone and in paces which are slower than what the ordinary person prefers. The elderly folks always choose to be away from the crowd. In view of these constraints, there are crucial problems which have to be properly addressed in planning and implementing escape procedures during the flight from the dangers of fire. The decision on what scheme to opt for in leaving the danger zone has to include the condition and design of the building or structure that is ablaze or in flames. All these are geared toward a successful evacuation in general and for the elderly in particular. In a nutshell, the present paper is aimed at collating valuable information to come up with suggestions which are deemed best and most practicable in implementing flight procedures during incidents of fire for the safe, orderly and successful evacuation of the elderly. In coming up with this dissertation, considerable time, efforts and financial resources were invested. Additionally, there were individuals to whom the proponent of this dissertation is most grateful for their encouragement and precious help. To the professors, the writer of this thesis conveys sincerest thanks. To all the friends of the proponent in the school community, heartfelt appreciation is hereby expressed for making the stay in the campus and the surrounding environment a magnificent and

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Financial Goals Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Goals - Assignment Example Therefore, for the next 5 years, I would like to save $50,000 to enable me expand my small electronics shop to a larger one with at least 2 branches. I would also like to pay for a down payment on a house in the next five years being that I would have graduated and would like to be on my own. The down payment of the house would be $20,000 which I’d like to save for and pay over five years. Over the next ten years however, I would expect that my kid shall have become old enough to begin going to school, therefore, I’m going to save $50,000 to enable my kid go to school. The list of my goals and how they’ll be achieved are in the table below; Financial Goal Time Frame Amount Monthly Cost Save for House down payment 5 years $20,000 $333.33 Save for Business expansion 5 years $50,000 $833.33 Save for Child’s Education 10 years $50,000 $416.67 Total monthly cost $1583.33 Cash Management Since I know very well that money must be well planned for, for one to achi eve her goals, I will apply proper cash management skills in order to be able to achieve my goals. For instance, my parents give me $5,000 monthly for personal use after paying for me all my bills and buying for me all I need. I sat down one time and realize that if this money is managed well, and I save just $1,000 0ut of it monthly, I’d be having $60,000 after 5 years. ... This function involves self denials of pleasure and leisure to make sure you put your money into proper use. In the next ten years, I’ll try to reduce on my daily spending on clothing items and shoes as well as snacks just to enable me to save some money to meet my financial goals. I’ll try to use a budget for every shopping and avoid impulse buying. My shopping list in that case will have a few of unnecessary and luxurious items. I’ll just go for the major items that will keep me going as long as I meet my financial goals. Credit and Debt Management During the next five years, once I get employed and be on a payroll, the first thing I’d like to do is to see my small electronic enterprise spread to most parts of the State. This would require much cash, I know. But I’ve a plan to obtain a $2 million credit from the bank to enable me expand the business first in every part of the State, then in the next ten years, take it to other States after getting enough capital. I’ll choose a bank that gives credit for businesses at an affordable rate. That will mean that I’ll have to shop around for the different interest rates that different banks charge for their business loans. I’ll be able to service my credit from the revenue I get from the business as well as with part of my salary. At the same time, for me to make bigger sales, I’ll have to supply my products to retailers at affordable prices for them also to make profits. I’ll be able to consider some retailers who can only manage to take the products on credit and pay later after they make some sales. In this case, I’ll make the bank be the one to collect my debts on my behalf from my debtors. This will be an efficient way of debt collection as it’ll enable me to transfer the risk

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Growth and Lipid Production of L. Starkeyi Mutants

Growth and Lipid Production of L. Starkeyi Mutants CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Diesel is one of the components in fossil fuel. However, the over-use of diesel is producing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide gases which are the major elements leading to global warming. Hence, due to increase in demand and source limitation, biodiesel is introduced as a substitute for diesel fuel (Wild et al., 2010). Biodiesel is a diesel fuel substitute that is extracted from renewable biomass. Biodiesel can be produced from plant oils, animal fats and microorganisms. Traditionally, biodiesel is produced from plant oils which were transesterify with methanol (Dai et al., 2007). However, production of biodiesel from plant oils is not suitable due to the quality of tillable land (Li et al., 2008) and competition with food production (Wahlen et al., 2012). Furthermore, the increase in animal fats prices due to the increase in animal feed makes it not suitable as biodiesel feedstock (Li et al., 2008). Hence, oleaginous microorganisms have been introduced as good candidates for biodiesel feedstock. Oleaginous microorganisms can accumulate lipid up to 20% of its cell dry weight (Ageitos et al., 2011). Oleaginous microorganisms have the ability to utilize different carbon source (Ageitos et al., 2011). In this study, Lipomyces starkeyi will be used. This type of yeast has the ability to produce lipid up to 70 % of its cell dry weight (Wild et al., 2010). L. starkeyi can utilize different types of carbon as its sole carbon and it is flexible in terms of culture conditions (Ageitos et al.,2011). However, L. starkeyi is still not economically practical because of the limitations in the wild-type strains (Ageitos et al., 2011). Therefore, in our research, we will be using L. starkeyi mutants in an attempt to produce more lipid more lipid in the fungal cells. The L. starkeyi mutants will be cultured in modified media consists of glucose, (NH4) SO4, yeast extract, Na2HPO4.7H20, KH2PO4, MgSO4. 7H20, CaCl2. 2H20, FeSO4, ZnSO4.H20 and CuSO4 supplied with 2.5% (w/v) and 5.0% (w/v) of glucose and sago effluents in separated schott bottles. pH 5 and pH 6 will also be used in order to optimize the production of lipid. The temperature that will be used is room temperature ( ± 27 °C). In this experiment, sago effluent and glucose would serve as carbon source for L. starkeyi. The total carbohydrate that would be consumed by L. starkeyi will be tested using phenol-sulphuric test. Our objectives in this research are: To optimize growth and lipid production of L. starkeyi mutants To measure the amount of lipid produced by L. starkeyi mutants cultured in 2.5 % and 5 % of glucose medium To measure the amount of lipid produced by L. starkeyi mutants cultured in sago effluent CHAPTER 2:  LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Biodiesel Biodiesel consists of alkly ester of fatty acids or triglycerides. Conventionally, triglyceride is produced from soybeans oil with the addition of alcohol and acid or base catalyst. This process is known as transesterifications which will produce Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) (Wahlen et al., 2012). Basically, biodiesel can be derived from 3 sources which are plants oil, animal fat and microorganisms (Meng et al., 2008). Plant oils that involve in the production of biodiesel are rapeseed, palm oil, soybeans, cottonseed, sunflower and many possible crops (Perritano, 2010). However, the practical used of plant oils raises critical issues on the decreasing in quality of land that is needed to plant the crops could affect the quality of the crops produced (Li et al., 2008). In addition, it also competes with the food production (Wahlen et al., 2012). Animal fat is also not a good biodiesel feedstock due to economical reasons (Meng et al., 2008). Hence, oleaginous microorganisms stand out as a potential feedstock provider. 2.2 Oleaginous microorganisms Oleginous yeasts (OY) are known producers of single cell oil (SCO). SCO produced from this organism are triacylglycerides (TAG) that have long-chain of fatty acids and have similar properties with plant oils. TAG acts as source of energy and it assist in phospholipid membrane formation. OY also utilizes various its carbon sources from waste substrate thus the cost to culture this microorganism is low (El-Fadaly et al., 2009). There are four groups of oleaginous microorganisms that capable of producing biodiesel which are bacteria, algae, filamentous fungi and yeast (Kitcha and Cheirsilp, 2011). The genera of oleaginous yeast are Yarrowia, Candida, Rhodotorula, Rhodosporium, Crytococcus, Trichosporon and Lipomyces (Ageitos et al., 2011). The specific name for the most preferable candidates for production of lipid are Cryptococcus albidus, Rhodosporidium toruloides, Rhodotorula glutinis, Lipomyces starkeyi and Yarrowia lipolytica. These microorganisms are capable of producing intracellular lipid more than 20% of its cell dry weight (Tapia et al., 2012). The duplication rate of yeast is lower than 1 hour and it is easy to culture compared to other microalgae. Other than that, certain oily yeast also has the ability to produce lipid up to 80% of their dry weight, while utilizing different carbon source including the lipid present in media (Ageitos et al., 2011). 2.3 Factors affecting lipid accumulations in Oleginous yeast Lipid accumulations occur when yeast is cultured under high amount of carbon source but in limited source of nitrogen. This is due to the nutrient imbalance that helps in triggering the accumulation of lipid because the remaining substrate would be assimilated by the yeast’s cells hence convert it into fat for storage (Ageitos et al., 2011). The fat that accumulated could be extracted to produce biodiesel. In addition, the accumulations of lipid also affected by other factors such as the present of microelements and inorganic salts in media. These elements help in ATP (AdenosineTriPhosphate) citrate lyse which important in lipid production (Ageitos et al., 2011). 2.4 Lipomyces starkeyi L. starkeyi is one of the members of Saccharomycetales and considered as true inhabitant of soil which have a worldwide distribution (Ansschau et al., 2014). L. starkeyi have the ability to accumulate lipid up to 70% of its dry weight (Wild et al., 2010). It also has a high flexibility in utilization of carbon source and culture environment. Other than that, fatty acid produced by L. starkeyi is almost similar to the vegetable oil (Tapia et al., 2012). According to Wild et al. (2010), L. starkeyi need a high ratio of carbon to nitrogen in order to optimize the production of lipid. The lipid bodies (LB) of L. starkeyi will receive the excess carbon source in the form of triglycerides (TAGs) (Ageitos et al., 2011) 2.5 Sago effluent Sago effluent is a form of sago liquid waste. In normal processes, this effluent would be channeled into the river, thus polluting the river and environment (Awang-Adeni et al., 2010). The releasing of sago effluent into the river can cause decreasing in water pH and increase in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) (Ayyasamy et al., 2008) Sago effluent contains a high amount of organic materials and non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) (Awang-Adeni et al., 2010). NSP are made of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. In cellulose, the sub-components are 89% glucose and small amount of xylose, rhamnose, arabinose, mannose, fructose and galactose. In contrast to cellulose, hemicellulose main components are glucose and xylose accompanied with arabinose, galactose, rhmnose, fucose and uranic acid. Lignin functions in rigidity and stability of the wood. To sum up, sago effluent contains up to 66% of starch, 14 % fiber and 25 % lignin (Awang-Adeni et al., 2010). Sago effluents which flow from the sago mill usually have the ratio of carbon to nitrogen high which is 105: 0.12 (Awang-Adeni et al., 2010). As stated by Ageitos et al. (2011), L. starkeyi have the ability to utilize starch as its sole carbon. Hence, sago effluent is an excellent choice because it has a high amount of starch which can helps in optimizing the lipid production. 2.6 Phenol-sulphuric test Phenol-sulphuric test is the quantitative assays which often used in estimation of carbohydrate. This test could detect the presence of neutral sugar in oligosaccharides, proteoglycan, glycoproteins and glycolipids (Albalasmeh et al., 2013). When phenol-sulphuric is added, the glucose that presence in samples would dehydrate thus forms hydroxymethyl furfurax. It would yield a yellow-brown product and the OD could be checked at 490 nm (Albalasmeh et al., 2013). CHAPTER 3:  MATERIALS AND METHOD 3.1 Materials Modified media as suggested by Wild et al. (2010). Lipomyces Starkeyi mutants (LS R1 and LS R2) 2.5 % (w/v) and 5.0 % (w/v) of glucose (Ee Syn, Malaysia) 2.5 % (w/v) and 5.0 % (w/v) of sago effluent (Pusa, Malaysia) 80 % (w/v) of Glycerol stock (HmbG, Germany) 5 % Phenol (Nacalai Tesque, Japan) Hexane (Reagents, USA) Isopropanol (Amresco, USA) Microcentrifuge (Hettich EBA 21, England) Schotts bottles (Duran, Germany) 3.2 Glycerol stock A single colony of L. starkeyi mutants R3 will be inoculated into 100 ml of modified media. 800 ÃŽ ¼l of L. starkeyi mutants R3 that have grown will be transferred into vial that contained 1200 ÃŽ ¼l of glycerol stock. The glycerol stock steps of L. starkeyi will be repeated for L. starkeyi mutants R4. The solution will be stored in freezer at -20  °C. 3.3 Propagation of cell 1.5 L of modified media with pH 5 will be prepared into two Liter schott bottles and L. starkeyi mutants R3 and R4 will be inoculated in respective bottles (Wild et al., 2010). This step will be repeated for pH 6. For day 1 until day 6, three (3) falcon tubes will be autoclave and weight. After that, 50 ml of the cultured from first bottle will be transferred into each three (3) falcon tubes and it will be weighted again. The sample will be sent for centrifuge for 5 minutes at 5000 rpm. The supernatant will be discarded and the pellet with falcon tube will be weight again for its wet weight. The sample will be dry in the oven for 1 or 2 days. After that, the sample will be weight again for its dry weight. All experiments will be performed in duplications. 3.4 Standard curve for L. starkeyi 1 ml of culture which will be incubated for 3 days earlier will be added into 9 ml of modified media in test tube. Serial dilution will take place with the factors of 10-1 until 10-7. For factors of 10-1 until 10-7, their OD will be checked for 600 nm. For factors 10-5 until 10-7, 300 ÃŽ ¼l from each sample will be taken and poured onto plate count agar. The plate will be incubated overnight before colony counting will be performed. 3.5 Lipid accumulation stage for L. starkeyi mutants The L. starkeyi mutants culture will be incubated for 3 days (optimum growth) at room temperature. After 3 days, 750 ml of 10.0% (w/v) of glucose will be added into 750 ml modified media to achieve final concentration of 5% (w/v) in the schott bottle and it will be incubated further for 6 days. From day 1 to day 6, 150 ml of cultured will be harvested into each three (3) falcon tubes. This step will be repeated for pH 5 with 5.0% (w/v) of glucose and pH 6 with 10.0% (w/v) and 5.0% (w/v) of sago effluent. 3.6 Sampling biomass The samples will be weighted in wet condition before dry in the oven. After that, the samples will be dried in the oven for 3 days. The dried mass will be taken and weighted again for dry weight. 3.7 Lipid extraction Hexane: propanol in the ratio of 3:2 will be added into the falcon tubes consists of the dry mass. The mixture will be homogenized for 2 minutes. The homogenized sample will be incubated for 1 hour before centrifuge for 5 minutes. The supernatant will be taken and placed in an empty beaker and weight. The supernatant will be heated until the hexane and propanol solution have evaporated completely. The remaining oil will be weighted again. This step will be repeated for 5.0% (w/v) of glucose, 2.5% (w/v) of sago effluent and 5.0% (w/v) of sago effluent. 3.8 Phenol-sulphuric carbohydrate test Phenol test is used to detect the amount of carbohydrate that is not consumed by L. starkeyi. For each sample, phenol-sulphuric carbohydrate test will be performed by adding 0.2 ml of 5% (w/v) of phenol and 1 ml of 96% (w/v) of sulphuric acid. After that, 1 ml from each mixture will be placed into a clean cuvette and read at 490 nm in a spectrophotometer. EXPECTED OUTCOME By the end of this experiment, we expect to measure the amount of lipid produced by Lipomyces starkeyi mutants in 2.5% (w/v) and 5.0% (w/v) concentration of glucose and sago effluent at different pH. WORK SCHEDULE Project Activities 2014 2015 Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March Apr May Data collection à ¢-  Proposal writing and presentation à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢-  Bench work and sample processing à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢-  Progress report à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢-  Data analysis à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢-  Data validation: Statistical analysis à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢-  Report writing and presentation à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢- º à ¢-  Legends à ¢- º: In progress à ¢-  : End of progress REFERENCES Ageitos, J.M., Vallejo, J.A., Veiga-Crespo, P., Villa, T.G. (2011). Oily yeast as oleaginouscell factories. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnoogy, 90(12), 1219-1227. Albalasmeh, A.A., Berhe, A.A., Ghezzehei, T.A. (2013). Method for rapid determination of carbohydrate and total carbon concentrations using UV spectrophotometetry. Carbohydrate Polymers, 97(2), 253-261. Anschau, A., Xavier, M.C.A., Hernalsteens, S., Franco, T.T. (2014). Effect of feeding  strategies on lipid production by Lipomyces starkeyi. Bioresource Technology, 157, 214-222. Ayyasamy, P.M., Banuregha, R., Vivekanandhan, G., Rajakumar, S., Yasodha, R., Lee, S., Lakshmanaperumalsamy, P. (2008). Bioremediation of sago industry effluent and its impact on seed germination (green gram and maize). Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 24(11). 2677-2684 Awang-Adeni, D.S., Abd-Aziz, S., Hassan, M.A. (2010). Bioconversion of sago residue into value added. African Journal of Biotechnology, 9(14), 2016-2021. El-Fadalay, H.A., El-Naggar, N.E., Marwan, E.M. (2009). Single Cell Oil Production by an Oleginous Yeast Strain in a Low Cost Cultivation Medium. Research Journal of Microbiology, 4(8), 301-313. Kitcha, S., Cheirsilp, B. (2011). Screening of Oleaginous Yeasts and Optimization for Lipid. Energy Procedia, 9, 274-282. Li, Q., Du, W., Liu, D. (2008). Perspectives of microbial oils for biodiesel production. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 80(5), 749-756. Meng, X., Yang, J., Xu, X., Zhang, L., Nie, Q., Xian, Mo. (2008). Biodiesel production from oleaginous microorganisms. Renewable Energy, 34(2009), 1-5. Perritano, J. (13, December 2010). 10 top biofuel crops. Retrieved from HowStuffWorks:http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/biofuels/10biofuelcrops. htm#page=2 Tapia, E. V., Anschou, A., Coradini, A. L., Franco, T. T., Deckmann, C. (2012). Optimization of lipid production by the oleaginous yeast Lipomyces starkeyi by random mutagenesis coupled to cerulenin screening. AMB express, 2(64), 1-8.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians by Anthony F.C. Wallace :: American History

The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians by Anthony F.C. Wallace The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians was written by Anthony F.C. Wallace. In his book, the main argument was how Andrew Jackson had a direct affect on the mistreatment and removal of the native Americans from their homelands to Indian Territory. It was a trail of blood, a trail of death, but ultimately it was known as the "Trail of Tears". Throughout Jackson's two terms as President, Jackson used his power unjustly. As a man from the Frontier State of Tennessee and a leader in the Indian wars, Jackson loathed the Native Americans. Keeping with consistency, Jackson found a way to use his power incorrectly to eliminate the Native Americans. In May 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act. This act required all tribes east of the Mississippi River to leave their lands and travel to reservations in the Oklahoma Territory on the Great Plains. This was done because of the pressure of white settlers who wanted to take over the lands on which the Indians had lived. The white settlers were already emigrating to the Union, or America. The East Coast was burdened with new settlers and becoming vastly populated. President Andrew Jackson and the government had to find a way to move people to the West to make room. In 1830, a new state law said that the Cherokees would be under the jurisdiction of state rather than federal law. This meant that the Indians now had little, if any, protection against the white settlers that desired their land. However, when the Cherokees brought their case to the Supreme Court, they were told that they could not sue on the basis that they were not a foreign nation. In 1832, though, on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokees were a "domestic dependent nation," and therefore, eligible to receive federal protection against the state. However, Jackson essentially overruled the decision. By this, Jackson implied that he had more power than anyone else did and he could enforce the bill himself. This is yet another way in which Jackson abused his presidential power in order to produce a favorable result that complied with his own beliefs. The Indian Removal Act forced all Indians tribes be moved west of the Mississippi River. The Choctaw was the first tribe to leave from the southeast.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Désirée’s Baby by Kate Chopin in 1892 Essay

The text Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby is written by Kate Chopin in 1892. The story takes place in Louisiana before the American Civil War, on two plantations, one called Valmond and another called L’Abri. The story is told in omniscient third-persons point of view, meaning that the narrator not only describes what happens, but also reveals the thoughts of the characters from time to time. You can see an example here: â€Å"When the baby was about three months old, Dà ©sirà ©e awoke one day to the conviction that there was something in the air menacing her peace.† The language is of an old kind, but that just contributes in giving the story meaning, because it puts you into the time, in which the story takes place. The story starts with Madame Valmond, who is going to visit her daughter, Dà ©sirà ©e, because she has given birth to a baby boy. On her way over, Valmond thinks about the time she found Dà ©sirà ©e all alone, when she was just a little baby. Valmonde arrives at her daughters house called L’Abri, which is owned by Dà ©sirà ©e’s husband Arband Aubigny. When she sees her grandchild, she notices something different with him. Valmond leaves again and 3 month later, Dà ©sirà ©e is still at L’Abri with her child. Armand, who had been so loving towards her, has become really cold and do not want to speak to his wife: â€Å"†Armand,† she called to him, in a voice which must have stabbed him, if he was human. But he did not notice. â€Å"Armand,† she said again. (s. 4)† She knows something has changed. One day her baby is lying on the bed, and one of the slaves on the farm is fanning the child with a fan, here she finds out what is wrong; â€Å"She looked from her child to the boy who stood beside him, and back again; over and over. â€Å"Ah!† It was a cry that she could not help; which she was not conscious of having uttered. The blood turned like ice in her veins, and a clammy moisture gathered upon her face. (s. 4)† This is the climax of the story. She now realizes that Armand thinks she is black, which was something he saw as a bad race, and did not tolerate it. She gets really sad, Dà ©sirà ©e confronts her husband, and he confirms what she thought. She writes to her mother about her concerns. Madame Valmond writes back, that she and the baby should come home to them. When she shows the letter to Armand, he just makes her leave. He does this because he is mad at her, for putting him in such a situation; â€Å"Moreover he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name.† He is too proud of his old family tree and their values, so he could never be with someone who descended from slaves. He chooses tradition over love right there. Dà ©sirà ©e begs him, but ends up leaving L’Abri and going to her parents farm Vermond, with her baby. At the end Armand finds a letter his mother has written to her father, in which it says; â€Å"She was thanking God for the blessing of her husband’s love;- â€Å"But, above all,† she wrote, â€Å"night and day, I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know this his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.† This is when the unexpected element occurs. Armand, who as most rich people at that time, bases his worth of a person primarily on his or hers race. He has stopped loving his wife, just based on genetics, because he believes it did not suit his family’s heritage. It is now clear, that the ones Armand felt he ashamed by having Dà ©sirà ©e as a wife, his own parents, actually knew Armand was black, but they still loved him just as much. Armand has just thrown his wife away just based on something, which actually was his fault. The themes in this story are Racism, which was a really big problem at that time. It is also judging by appearances, which Armand does. When he met Desiree, he loved her outer beauty and her good family name. When he comes to think she is black, he just rejects his wife and his child, only judged by their skin. Another theme could be that love is colorblind, which is something both Armand’s and Dà ©sirà ©e’s parents know, because even though they know that their children could be colored, they do not care. Dà ©sirà ©e do not abandon her son, so she has the same opinion.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Mice and men Explore the themes of loneliness in ‘Of mice and men’ Essay

The story ‘of mice and men’ had lots of lonely people with no family and no friends; that’s the reason why Lennie and George are different is because they have got somebody who cares for them. Most of the characters in the novel feel scared of showing their true emotions. For example, when candy’s dog was about to get shot candy didn’t tell the other workers that he needed the dog and that is was a friend to him. I don’t think any of the characters want to show weakness. The title of the novel is ‘of mice and men’ was written in the 1300s. At the time of the novel there were many workers who travelled form ranch to ranch looking for jobs. The most isolated group at the time were Negroes be cause they were considered inferior and no one wanted to be with them. There were no laws against racism and it was tolerated all over the country. Crooks is the stable buck and he is a Negro so he is also the loneliest man on the ranch. His race and colour made him isolated from all the other members of the group. A lot of people bully crooks; Curley’s wife says, ‘Well, you keep your place, then, nigger. I could get you strung up to a tree so easy it isn’t true.’ Crooks is a proud man and also the most educated as well; he reads lots of books but the most important book is the 1905 California civil code. This book says that Crooks is no slave and can do what he wishes with his life but nobody takes this into consideration because he is still treated as a slave, which they can push around. Once on Christmas day the workers forced crooks to fight even though he had a bad back. All the other workers think they can make Crooks do what they want. He is isolated from the others; he doesn’t go to talk to them and they don’t come to talk to him. There is only one person that come s into Crook’s hut and that is Slim. Crooks is very proud because he knows that he is free and he keeps himself aloof from all the other workers. He doesn’t talk to any of the other workers, he says, ‘Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody’. This is from a conversion which he has with Lennie. Crooks spent the most time working on the ranch and the only person he tells his true feelings to is to Lennie. Because Crooks knows that Lennie would probably forget. Near the end of chapter four crooks starts to get along with Candy. Crooks even offers to work on the ranch which George ,Candy and Lennie are going to go to but after Curley’s wife threatens Crooks and then he says ,’ well, just forget it . I didn’t mean it. Just fooling’. This shows the reader that crooks knows that he will never be treated differently.