Theories of deviance Essay Example for Free

Theories of deviance Essay Theories of deviance (1)The text describes issues of unacceptable behavior in the society. There was given 4 different theories that explain reasons and different aspects of deviance behavior. (2)In the beginning of the text author gives us the examples of deviance behavior: alcoholism, stealing, being nude in public places. Also there is a definition of deviance behavior: behavior that violates social norms and disapproval from the majority of society. However, the behavior which is deviant for one group of people may be acceptable for others. Science that explore deviance is criminology. (3)Differential-association theory. Edwin Sutherland, the author derive this theory to explain the processes of how people learn to violate. The key features of this theory is environment in which the person is and agents of socialization: family, friends, co-workers and media. People learn criminal behavior from the interactions with others, especially in small groups. The problem is that the vague terminology of the theory don’t let it to validate empirically. Anomie theory. Robert Merton defines the term â€Å"anomie† as situation in which social norms conflict or don’t even exist. Merton pointed the difference between social acceptable goals and opportunities that people have to reach this goals. With the example of achievement of wealth author shows that when people don’t have means to attain their goals, they can use deviance behavior as a response to injustice. Although, the theory does not explains the process of learning deviance. Control theory. Walter Reckless claim that people periodically may want to act in deviance ways, but most of them don’t do it. The key is in various restraints, like internal: conscience, values, integrity, and outer: police, family and religious authorities. Self-control plays an important role in preventing unacceptable acting. Development of self-control requires right  socialization, especially in early childhood. Critics use the examples of politics and businessmen’s that commit crimes. Labeling theory. The theory claims that acting become deviant only when society defines it deviant. Drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, sex offenders, retarded people are labeled as deviant people. The consequences of being labeled can be very deep, for example people who are labeled as deviant are more likely to act against social norms as a result of the label. In support of the theory author gives the description of classic study (William Chambliss, 1973) into the effects of labeling. 1- Conclusion. 2- Introduction. 3- Arguments Explanations background information.

Education in Pakistan Essay Example for Free

Education in Pakistan Essay Education in Pakistan is overseen by the governments Ministry of Education and the provincial governments, whereas the federal government mostly assists in curriculum development, accreditation and in the financing of research. The article 25-A of Constitution of Pakistan obligates the state to provide free and compulsory quality education to children of the age group 5 to 16 years. â€Å"The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such a manner as may be determined by law†. [3] The education system in Pakistan is generally divided into five levels: primary (grades one through five); middle (grades six through eight); high(grades nine and ten, leading to the Secondary School Certificate or SSC); intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a Higher Secondary (School) Certificate or HSC); and university programs leading to undergraduate and graduate degrees. [4] The literacy rate ranges from 87% in Islamabad to 20% in the Kohlu District. [5] Between 2000—2004, Pakistanis in the age group 55–64 had a literacy rate of almost 30%, those aged between 45–54 had a literacy rate of nearly 40%, those between 25–34 had a literacy rate of 50%, and those aged 15–24 had a literacy rate of 60%. [6] Literacy rates vary regionally, particularly by sex. In tribal areas female literacy is 7. 5%. [7]Moreover, English is fast spreading in Pakistan, with 18 million Pakistanis[8] (11% of the population)[8] having a command over the English language, which makes it the 9th Largest English Speaking Nation[9] in the world and the 3rd largest in Asia. [8] On top of that, Pakistan produces about 445,000 university graduates and 10,000 computer science graduates per year. [10] Despite these statistics, Pakistan still has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world. [11] Education Expenditure as Percentage of GDP Public expenditure on education lies on the fringes of 2 percent of GDP. However, the government recently approved the new national education policy, which stipulates that education expenditure will be increased to 7% of GDP,[22] an idea that was first suggested by the Punjab government. [23] Author of an article, which reviews the history of education spending in Pakistan since 1972, argues that this policy target raises a fundamental question: What extraordinary things are going to happen that would enable Pakistan to achieve within six years what it has been unable to lay a hand on in the past six decades? The policy document is blank on this question and does not discuss the assumptions that form the basis of this target. Calculations of the author show that during the past 37 years, the highest public expenditure on education was 2. 80 percent of GDP in 1987-88. Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was actually reduced in 16 years and maintained in 5 years between 1972–73 and 2008-09. Thus, out of total 37 years since 1972, public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP either decreased or remained stagnant for 21 years. The author argues if linear trend were maintained since 1972, Pakistan could have touched 4 percent of GDP well before 2015. However, it is unlikely to happen because the levels of spending have had remained significantly unpredictable and unsteady in the past. Given this disappointing trajectory, increasing public expenditure on education to 7 percent of GDP would be nothing less than a miracle but it is not going to be of godly nature. Instead, it is going to be the one of political nature because it has to be invented by those who are at the helm of affairs. The author suggests that little success can be made unless Pakistan adopts an unconventional approach to education. That is to say, education sector should be treated as a special sector by immunizing budgetary allocations for it from fiscal stresses and political and economic instabilities. Allocations for education should not be affected by squeezed fiscal space or surge in military expenditure or debts. At the same time, there is a need to debate others options about how Pakistan can invent the miracle of raising education expenditure to 7 percent of GDP by 2015. [24]

Internet Banking System Software Requirement Specification

Internet Banking System Software Requirement Specification Internet banking system provides is specifically developed for online banking for Balance Enquiry, Funds Transfer to another account in the same bank, Request for cheque book/change of address/stop payment of cheques, Mini statements (Viewing Monthly and annual statements). Purpose The Traditional way of maintaining details of a user in a bank was to enter the details and record them. Every time the user need to perform some transactions he has to go to bank and perform the necessary actions, which may not be so feasible all the time. It may be a hard-hitting task for the users and the bankers too. The project gives real life understanding of Internet banking and activities performed by various roles in the supply chain. Here, we provide an automation for banking system through Internet. Internet banking system project captures activities performed by different roles in real life banking which provides enhanced techniques for maintaining the required information up-to-date, which results in efficiency. The project gives real life understanding of Internet banking and activities performed by various roles in the supply chain. Scope This Project investigates the entry threshold for providing a new transaction service channel via the real options approach, where the entry threshold is established by using an Internet banking system designed for the use of normal users(individuals), Industrialists, Entrepreneurs, Educational Institutions(Financial sections), Organizations and Academicians under transaction rate uncertainty. Customer must have a valid User Id and password to login to the system If a wrong password is given thrice in succession, that account will be locked and the customer will not be able to use it. When an invalid password is entered a warning is given to the user that his account is going to get locked. After the valid user logs in he is shown the list of accounts he has with the bank. On selecting the desired account he is taken to a page which shows the present balance in that particular account number. User can request for the details of the last n number of transactions that he has performed. A report can also be taken of this. User can make a funds transfer to another account in the same bank. User is provided with a transaction password which is different from the login password. User can transfer funds from his account to any other account with this bank. If the transaction is successful a notification should appear to the customer, in case it is unsuccessful, a proper message should be given to the customer as to why it failed. User can request for cheque book/change of address/stop payment of cheques User can view his monthly as well as annual statements. He can also take print out of the same. Generate reports at every section Administrator can take a back up of the database for every instance that is happening, periodically. All users are authenticated to avail the services FAQ section is also included for end users benefit. Definitions, Acronyms and Abbreviations Administrator: He is the super user who can add new customers into banking system, and assigns corresponding username, password, account type and other details. When any customer withdraws his account from the bank, he can delete their account and stop the transactions immediately. He can generate different reports. He also takes the system backup. Team Members (Customers): After logging in he can request for balance enquiry in his account, Funds Transfer to another account in the same bank, Request for cheque book/change of address/stop payment of cheques, Mini statements (Viewing Monthly and annual statements). Industrialists, Entrepreneur, Organizations and academicians: These are another type of customers. They will have extra information to be entered while logging in such as organization Id and so on. They can also perform all the actions what the normal customers are going to perform. HTML: Hypertext Markup Language is a markup language used to design static web pages. EJB: Enterprise Java Beans. J2EE: Java 2 Enterprise Edition is a programming platform part of the Java Platform for developing and running distributed multitier architecture Java applications, based largely on modular software components running on an application server. DB2: DB2 Database is the database management system that delivers a flexible and cost effective database platform to build robust on demand business applications. WAS: Web sphere application server is an application server that runs business applications and supports the J2EE and web services standards. WSAD: Web sphere studio application developer is a toolkit which is designed for the creation of more complex projects, providing fully dynamic web application utilizing EJBs. This consist of EJB tools , CMP ,data mapping tools a universal test client that is designed to aid testing of EJB s. HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a transaction oriented client/server protocol between web browser a Web Server. HTTPS: Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a HTTP over SSL (secure socket layer) TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the suite of communication protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet. TCP/IP uses several protocols, the two main ones being TCP and IP.

Balancing the Individual with the Community in Barbara Kingsolvers The Bean Trees :: Kingsolver Bean Trees Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚   In an interview with Barbara Kingsolver by David Gergen, editor-at-large for U.S. News & World Report, Kingsolver states, I think everything I write is about the idea of community and about the special challenge in the United States of balancing our idealization of the individual, or glorification of, of personal freedom and the individual with the importance of community, how to balance those two offices. (Qtd. by Gergen) I found this idea of Kingsolver's to be the basis of her book The Bean Trees. Kingsolver develops the story of a strong young woman, named Taylor Greer, who is determined to establish her own individuality. The character learns that she must balance this individualism with a commitment to her community of friends, and in doing this, her life is immeasurably enriched. Many books speak of family, community, and individuality. I believe, however, that the idea that Barbara Kingsolver establishes in her book, The Bean Trees, of a strong sense of individualism, consciously balanced with a keen understanding of community as extended family, is a relatively new idea to the genre of the American novel. The balance of the individual and community is a prevalent theme throughout The Bean Trees. Kingsolver organizes the book by first introducing us to Taylor's unique individuality and then combining that with the community ideal. The first chapter of the book takes place in Kentucky where Taylor lives with her mother. Through the incidents in Taylor's early life, we come to recognize her strong resolve to be individual. In her book Barbara Kingsolver A Critical Companion, Mary Jean DeMarr agrees with me when she tells us Taylor is "a strong character who usually knows what she wants and what she wants to do and goes about getting and doing it" (45). Taylor refers to herself when she was younger, along with a neighbor boy, as "dirty-kneed kids scrapping to beat hell and trying to land on our feet" (TBT 2). Her independence is also evident in the way she dressed. When teased that she dressed like an eye test for color blindness, she reveals she was actually flattered. "I had decided early on that if I couldn't dress elegant, I'd dress memorable" (TBT 6). Taylor was also determined not to accept what was considered the "norm" for the girls in her town. She decided that she would finish school, and no matter what, she would not get pregnant.

Carbohydrates :: essays research papers

Carbohydrates For my health project I did carbohydrates. They are the bodies energy source. Carbohydrates supply the body with the energy it needs to function. They are found almost exclusively in plant foods, such as fruits, vegetables, peas, and beans. Milk and milk products are the only foods derived from animals that contain a significant amount of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are divided into two groups, simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates, sometimes called simple sugars, include fructose (fruit sugar), sucrose (table sugar), and lactose (milk sugar), as well as several other sugars. Fruits are one of the richest natural sources of simple carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are also made up of sugars, but the sugar molecules are strung together to form longer, more complex chains. Complex carbohydrates include fiber and starches. Foods rich in complex carbohydrates include vegetables, whole grains, peas, pasta, potatoes and beans. Carbohydrates are the main source of glucose, which is a major fuel for all of the body's cells and the only source of energy for the brain and red cells. Except for fiber, which cannot be digested, both simple and complex carbohydrates are converted into glucose. The glucose is then either used directly to provide energy for the body, or stored in the liver for future use. When a person consumes more calories than the body is using, a portion of the carbohydrates consumed may also be stored in the body as fat. When choosing carbohydrate-rich foods for your diet, always select unrefined foods such as fruits, vegetables, peas, beans, and whole-grain products, as opposed to refined, processed foods such as soft drinks, desserts, candy, and sugar. Refined foods offer few, if any, of the vitamins and minerals that are important to your health. In addition, if eaten in excess, especially over a period of many years, the large amounts of simple carbohydrates found in refined foods can lead to a number of disorders, including diabetes and hypoglycemia (low sugar). Yet another problem is that foods high in refined simple sugars often are also high in fats, which should be limited in a healthy diet. Carbohydrates are the best fuel for athletes because they take less oxygen to burn than protein or fat. You'll be able to exercise harder, both during training and competition, when you eat enough carbohydrates. Each gram of carbohydrate provides 4 calories. A high carbohydrate diet allows you to train harder by rebuilding your carbohydrate stores and decreasing your recovery time.

Robert Frost :: essays research papers

It has been said many times that all men have a common bond, or a thread that joins them together. Robert Frost ¹s poem  ³The Tuft of Flowers ² explores the existence of such a bond, as experienced by the speaker. In the everyday circumstance of performing a common chore, the speaker discovers a sense of brotherhood with another laborer. Frost contrasts a sense of aloneness with a sense of understanding to convey his theme of unity between men. To understand the setting of the poem, one must first understand how grass was mowed in the time period in which the poem was written (1906). Grass was mostly mowed by hand using a scythe. The mowing was often done in the dew of the morning for better mowing. This left the grass wet, and it needed to be scattered for drying. The phrase turning the grass refered to the scattering of the grass for drying. In  ³The Tuft of Flowers, ² the speaker has gone out to turn the grass. Whoever did the mowing is already gone, for there are no signs of his presence. The speaker is alone. Then, a butterfly catches the speaker ¹s attention, and leads his gaze to a tuft of flowers, which the mower chose to leave intact. The patch of beauty left by his fellow worker causes the speaker to feel that he is no longer alone. There is a sense of understanding between the speaker and the mower, because an appreciation of beauty unites them. Frost uses peaceful images to relate the feeling of his poem. The setting is in a grassy field with a brook running through it. The tranquil feeling is added to by a silent butterfly, who searches for a flower upon which to land. In keeping with the peaceful surroundings, Frost speaks of a long scythe  ³whispering to the ground, ² and of hearing  ³wakening birds around. ² The speaker also listens for a whetstone  ³on the breeze ² to determine if there is anyone around, and finds a  ³leaping tongue of bloom ² beside the  ³reedy brook. ²  ³The Tuft of Flowers ² does not contain a definite meter, but it does have a strict rhyme scheme of AA, BB. The poem is organized in couplets, each of which contains a single thought. This makes the poem more charming and gives it simplicity, which adds to the overall feeling of peace and tranquility. Robert Frost provides many interesting ideas in  ³The Tuft of Flowers.

Paradise Lost

Strictly following the tradition of classical epic, Milton made his Paradise Lost, a work that roused the interest of all men in all ages. We can even claim that by his creative genius, he has modified and ennobled that tradition. Though its form is classical, its content tends to be on the scriptural side. The very opening lines exhort its central theme –â€Å"Of man’s disobedience†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The bone of contention between the critics of all ages is about whom the hero of this epic is –God, Satan or Adam. Undoubtedly we are forced to say that a good number of passages, especially in the first two books of Paradise Lost, give a heroic stature to Satan, the major among the fallen angels. Gradual diminution of Satan’s glory and grandeur is an integral part of Milton’s epic-design. The Satan of Books I and II is a creature of such dynamic energy and colorful splendor that many of the epic’s readers are tempted to consider him as the hero of the poem. That Milton did not so regard him and that, in rejecting the Satan of the earlier part of the epic, Milton was not being false to his poetic self, is clear from Satan’s opening soliloquy in Book IV, at least the first ten lines of which were written before Books I and II. In this and subsequent soliloquies Milton is able to present the character of Satan more fully and in a partly dramatic form, by placing him in a situation which denies him an outlet for his rhetoric and invites introspective self-examination. Milton, no doubt, intended Satan – at least in the early books – to be representative of the old heroic values which were to be superseded by ‘the better fortitude of patience and heroic martyrdom’. Unfortunately for Milton, readers of Paradise Lost have not been able to shake off the heroic qualities of Satan in the first two books. Along with that, three other factors contributed to the result. In English, the word ‘hero’ has the meaning of a ‘central figure’, and this Satan is definitely in these early books. Milton was strong and fresh creatively when he characterized Satan in these early books; and he never succeeded in producing a rival hero of similar stature but opposed ideals. Milton lavished all his power, all his skill, and the greater part of his sympathy on the splendid figure of Satan. Many critics have agreed to the fact that the epic value of the whole epic is centered in the achievements and characterization of Satan. His unyielding agony represents the insightful antinomy of the modern consciousness. Satan expresses, as no other character in the epic does, something in which Milton believed strongly, that is, heroic energy. It is through Satan that Milton’s own heroic energy has been so powerfully shown forth. This is expressed through conflict and endurance. The odds are against him, he has to wage war against the Omnipotent, but still he persists and struggles, and wins our profoundest admiration and sympathy. No doubt, his energy is unreasoning, no doubt it is devoted to his wicked passion for revenge, and certainly he is carried away by hate and envy, but still we cannot help admiring him for the heroic energy with which he persistently struggles against heavy odds to achieve his aims. Milton’s Satan is not a comic or grotesque figure like the Devil or Vice of medieval writers or the demons of other epic poets. Being a principal figure of an epic, if a certain amount of grotesqueness was drawn in the character of Satan, it would have definitely impaired the dignity of the poem. Many predecessors of Milton have done the same but in this respect too Milton was daringly original. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that by attempting at proving himself ‘self-begotten’, Satan‘s behavior tends to the comic and contradictory. Moreover, only a fool would pit himself against omnipotence and thus invite certain disaster. But Milton’s Satan is neither a fool nor a clown. He definitely has the beauty of sublimity and the grandeur and majesty and dignity of bearing. The poet drives home this nobility and greatness of his bearing in wonderfully mentored fine passages which can be hailed as the best among those that have been ever written. The following passage confirms the point: â€Å"†¦Black it stood as Night, Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell, And shook a dreadful dart, what seemed his head The likeness of a kingly crown had on. Satan was now at hand, and from his seat The monster moving onward came as fast With horrid strides: Hell trembled as he strode. †(II 495-501) Courteously and fearlessly Satan addresses himself to the monarch of the nethermost abyss. His speech contains no threats; he asks for guidance in his quest; and, with politic fore-thought, promises that quest, if successful, shall restore an outlying lost province to Chaos. In the war on the plains of Heaven, Satan ranges up and down the fighting line, like Cromwell; he fortifies his comrades to endurance, and encourages them to attack. In Hell he stands like a tower: â€Å"His form had yet not lost All its original brightness, nor appeared Less than Archangel ruined, and the excess Of glory obscured†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I (591-4) In his contests with Michael in heaven and with Gabriel on earth, he never falls below himself: â€Å"If I must contend†, said he, â€Å"Best with the best – the sender, not the sent; Or all at once. † IV (851-3) His followers are devotedly attached to him; they admire him ‘that for the general safety he despised his own’; and the only scene of rejoicing recorded in the annals of Hell, before the Fall of Man, is at the dissolution of Stygian Council, when the devils come forth â€Å"rejoicing in their matchless chief†. The allure of free will is where the attractiveness and power of Satan's character lies. Satan may be quite useless when it comes to fighting the ten thousand thunders of Christ's fury, but in his will he is free and in his mind he is supreme: ‘What though the field be lost? | All is not lost; the unconquerable will' (I. 105). † (Zen g, Nicholas http://www. christs. cam. ac. uk/darknessvisible/about_us/nicholas_zeng. html) As if to set purpose to raise Satan high above the heads of other archangels, Milton devises a pair of similar scenes in Heaven and in Hell. In the one Satan takes upon himself the unknown dangers of the enterprise that has been approved by the assembly. In the other, which occurs in the very next book, the Heavenly powers are addressed from the Throne, and asked – â€Å"Which of ye will be mortal, to redeem Man’s mortal crime, and just, the unjust to save? III (214-5) None in heaven is ready to take the risk; but Satan takes upon himself the dangerous task of traveling through Chaos and seducing Man. There is no doubt in the fact that Satan’s over-mastering passions are hate, ambition and desire for revenge, but he is not presented as a monster of wickedness or an unredeemed villain. Milton has skillfully humanized his character. Hence, though Satan in the enemy of God and Man alike, he is not entirely devoid of gentler characteristics. He is deeply remorseful at the thought of the ruin in which he has involved his followers and this remorse actually brings tears to his eyes. In the second book, we see him showing forth a noble sense of the duty of self-sacrifice incumbent on him owing to his position as king of hell, by sacrificing his own safety for the general cause and as a result, undertaking alone the difficult enterprise which daunted the courage of the mightiest of his followers. This trait of Satan’s character is maintained in the later books. We see him twice melted with compassion seeing the harmless innocence of Adam and Eve whose ruin he is plotting in book IV (389. 462-66). These softer feelings are to be seen as only occasional touches introduced to relieve the grandeur of a character essentially terrible, a character who is, though not totally devoid of gentle traits, on the whole most like a mighty tempest, or an avalanche, or any other force of nature that is a harmonious blending of beauty of sublimity and immense destructive power. With due sympathy and dramatic power, Satan’s character has been drawn which further revealed Milton’s proud spirit of independence and superiority to the utmost. Satan is certainly a self-portrait, a rebel against tyranny and injustice like Milton himself. The sentiment which he expresses – ‘courage never to submit or yield’; â€Å"better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven’, raises his stature to that of an epic hero. Satan is such a magnificently drawn character and such is the fascination he has exercised on the readers of the great epic of all times, paradise lost, that ever since Dryden has christened Satan as ‘Milton’s hero’, critic after critic has taken him to be the hero of the epic. There is no doubt that he dominates Books I and II of the epic in which he towers head and shoulders above his followers, but after that there is a progressive degradation and shrinkage in his character. His gradual loss of physical brightness is accompanied by a corresponding deterioration of character. The audience, however, does find someplace to invest its sympathy, and that place is in the character of Satan. The audience first sees Satan waking in Hell where he and the other fallen angels despair. Through his despair, however, Satan claims, â€Å"All is not lost — the unconquerable will,// And study of revenge, immortal hate,// And courage never to submit or yield — . . . That glory never shall his wrath or might// Extort from me† (I. 104- 111). † (http://www. essortment. com/all/satanparadisel_rsng. htm) It is by his own will that he becomes a serpent in Book IX. In Book X, he is a serpent whenever he wants to wear its garb. This degradation that is progressive is drawn home most effectively. His beginning is shown as fighting for liberty, however it is misconceived. But very soon his stature goes down as he starts fighting for â€Å"Honour, Dominion, glorie, and renounce’. But it is seen that he is defeated in this in no time. Then he resorts to the great plotting that forms the essence of the epic – the ruining of two creatures that are in no way harmful to him, but this is not at all keeping in front a serious expectation of triumph, but only to annoy the enemy who is beyond his reach for a direct encounter. This makes him stoop to the level of a spy coming into the universe, that too as a low level spy who peeps into the privacy of a man and wife, and it is there that he is described for the first time as ‘Devil’, not the fallen Archangel nor the dreaded emperor of Hell. If we take into account not merely Books I and II, but the epic as a whole, Satan cannot be regarded as the hero. As he is carried away by his passion for revenge, envy and hatred, to use ‘guile’ and cunning to achieve his end, Satan is the villain of the piece and not the hero. Closely woven with the story of the fall of man is the story of the fall of Satan and his followers. Their fall also bears out that the theme of the epic is the victory of passion over reason and its terrible consequence. Satan falls not because he is a lesser being, but due to his giving priority to passion over reason. He is proud and is carried away by inordinate ambition and lust for power. He claims absolute equality, foolishly imagines that he is self-created, regards god’s rule as tyrannous, rebels against him and is consequently overthrown and hurled into hell. He is the very embodiment of unrestrained passions which ultimately bring no satisfaction. Debates are still going on about the fact that Satan is such a driving force within the great epic. It ranges from William Blake’s comment that Milton â€Å"wrote in fetters when wrote of Angels and God, and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil’s party without knowing it† (Black 2007, p. 996) to the plea that this poem is nothing more than a christian tale in which milton is unsuccessful in portraying what he intended to do. (Marshal 1961, p. 19) Paradise Lost Strictly following the tradition of classical epic, Milton made his Paradise Lost, a work that roused the interest of all men in all ages. We can even claim that by his creative genius, he has modified and ennobled that tradition. Though its form is classical, its content tends to be on the scriptural side. The very opening lines exhort its central theme –â€Å"Of man’s disobedience†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The bone of contention between the critics of all ages is about whom the hero of this epic is –God, Satan or Adam. Undoubtedly we are forced to say that a good number of passages, especially in the first two books of Paradise Lost, give a heroic stature to Satan, the major among the fallen angels. Gradual diminution of Satan’s glory and grandeur is an integral part of Milton’s epic-design. The Satan of Books I and II is a creature of such dynamic energy and colorful splendor that many of the epic’s readers are tempted to consider him as the hero of the poem. That Milton did not so regard him and that, in rejecting the Satan of the earlier part of the epic, Milton was not being false to his poetic self, is clear from Satan’s opening soliloquy in Book IV, at least the first ten lines of which were written before Books I and II. In this and subsequent soliloquies Milton is able to present the character of Satan more fully and in a partly dramatic form, by placing him in a situation which denies him an outlet for his rhetoric and invites introspective self-examination. Milton, no doubt, intended Satan – at least in the early books – to be representative of the old heroic values which were to be superseded by ‘the better fortitude of patience and heroic martyrdom’. Unfortunately for Milton, readers of Paradise Lost have not been able to shake off the heroic qualities of Satan in the first two books. Along with that, three other factors contributed to the result. In English, the word ‘hero’ has the meaning of a ‘central figure’, and this Satan is definitely in these early books. Milton was strong and fresh creatively when he characterized Satan in these early books; and he never succeeded in producing a rival hero of similar stature but opposed ideals. Milton lavished all his power, all his skill, and the greater part of his sympathy on the splendid figure of Satan. Many critics have agreed to the fact that the epic value of the whole epic is centered in the achievements and characterization of Satan. His unyielding agony represents the insightful antinomy of the modern consciousness. Satan expresses, as no other character in the epic does, something in which Milton believed strongly, that is, heroic energy. It is through Satan that Milton’s own heroic energy has been so powerfully shown forth. This is expressed through conflict and endurance. The odds are against him, he has to wage war against the Omnipotent, but still he persists and struggles, and wins our profoundest admiration and sympathy. No doubt, his energy is unreasoning, no doubt it is devoted to his wicked passion for revenge, and certainly he is carried away by hate and envy, but still we cannot help admiring him for the heroic energy with which he persistently struggles against heavy odds to achieve his aims. Milton’s Satan is not a comic or grotesque figure like the Devil or Vice of medieval writers or the demons of other epic poets. Being a principal figure of an epic, if a certain amount of grotesqueness was drawn in the character of Satan, it would have definitely impaired the dignity of the poem. Many predecessors of Milton have done the same but in this respect too Milton was daringly original. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that by attempting at proving himself ‘self-begotten’, Satan‘s behavior tends to the comic and contradictory. Moreover, only a fool would pit himself against omnipotence and thus invite certain disaster. But Milton’s Satan is neither a fool nor a clown. He definitely has the beauty of sublimity and the grandeur and majesty and dignity of bearing. The poet drives home this nobility and greatness of his bearing in wonderfully mentored fine passages which can be hailed as the best among those that have been ever written. The following passage confirms the point: â€Å"†¦Black it stood as Night, Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell, And shook a dreadful dart, what seemed his head The likeness of a kingly crown had on. Satan was now at hand, and from his seat The monster moving onward came as fast With horrid strides: Hell trembled as he strode. †(II 495-501) Courteously and fearlessly Satan addresses himself to the monarch of the nethermost abyss. His speech contains no threats; he asks for guidance in his quest; and, with politic fore-thought, promises that quest, if successful, shall restore an outlying lost province to Chaos. In the war on the plains of Heaven, Satan ranges up and down the fighting line, like Cromwell; he fortifies his comrades to endurance, and encourages them to attack. In Hell he stands like a tower: â€Å"His form had yet not lost All its original brightness, nor appeared Less than Archangel ruined, and the excess Of glory obscured†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I (591-4) In his contests with Michael in heaven and with Gabriel on earth, he never falls below himself: â€Å"If I must contend†, said he, â€Å"Best with the best – the sender, not the sent; Or all at once. † IV (851-3) His followers are devotedly attached to him; they admire him ‘that for the general safety he despised his own’; and the only scene of rejoicing recorded in the annals of Hell, before the Fall of Man, is at the dissolution of Stygian Council, when the devils come forth â€Å"rejoicing in their matchless chief†. The allure of free will is where the attractiveness and power of Satan's character lies. Satan may be quite useless when it comes to fighting the ten thousand thunders of Christ's fury, but in his will he is free and in his mind he is supreme: ‘What though the field be lost? | All is not lost; the unconquerable will' (I. 105). † (Zen g, Nicholas http://www. christs. cam. ac. uk/darknessvisible/about_us/nicholas_zeng. html) As if to set purpose to raise Satan high above the heads of other archangels, Milton devises a pair of similar scenes in Heaven and in Hell. In the one Satan takes upon himself the unknown dangers of the enterprise that has been approved by the assembly. In the other, which occurs in the very next book, the Heavenly powers are addressed from the Throne, and asked – â€Å"Which of ye will be mortal, to redeem Man’s mortal crime, and just, the unjust to save? III (214-5) None in heaven is ready to take the risk; but Satan takes upon himself the dangerous task of traveling through Chaos and seducing Man. There is no doubt in the fact that Satan’s over-mastering passions are hate, ambition and desire for revenge, but he is not presented as a monster of wickedness or an unredeemed villain. Milton has skillfully humanized his character. Hence, though Satan in the enemy of God and Man alike, he is not entirely devoid of gentler characteristics. He is deeply remorseful at the thought of the ruin in which he has involved his followers and this remorse actually brings tears to his eyes. In the second book, we see him showing forth a noble sense of the duty of self-sacrifice incumbent on him owing to his position as king of hell, by sacrificing his own safety for the general cause and as a result, undertaking alone the difficult enterprise which daunted the courage of the mightiest of his followers. This trait of Satan’s character is maintained in the later books. We see him twice melted with compassion seeing the harmless innocence of Adam and Eve whose ruin he is plotting in book IV (389. 462-66). These softer feelings are to be seen as only occasional touches introduced to relieve the grandeur of a character essentially terrible, a character who is, though not totally devoid of gentle traits, on the whole most like a mighty tempest, or an avalanche, or any other force of nature that is a harmonious blending of beauty of sublimity and immense destructive power. With due sympathy and dramatic power, Satan’s character has been drawn which further revealed Milton’s proud spirit of independence and superiority to the utmost. Satan is certainly a self-portrait, a rebel against tyranny and injustice like Milton himself. The sentiment which he expresses – ‘courage never to submit or yield’; â€Å"better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven’, raises his stature to that of an epic hero. Satan is such a magnificently drawn character and such is the fascination he has exercised on the readers of the great epic of all times, paradise lost, that ever since Dryden has christened Satan as ‘Milton’s hero’, critic after critic has taken him to be the hero of the epic. There is no doubt that he dominates Books I and II of the epic in which he towers head and shoulders above his followers, but after that there is a progressive degradation and shrinkage in his character. His gradual loss of physical brightness is accompanied by a corresponding deterioration of character. The audience, however, does find someplace to invest its sympathy, and that place is in the character of Satan. The audience first sees Satan waking in Hell where he and the other fallen angels despair. Through his despair, however, Satan claims, â€Å"All is not lost — the unconquerable will,// And study of revenge, immortal hate,// And courage never to submit or yield — . . . That glory never shall his wrath or might// Extort from me† (I. 104- 111). † (http://www. essortment. com/all/satanparadisel_rsng. htm) It is by his own will that he becomes a serpent in Book IX. In Book X, he is a serpent whenever he wants to wear its garb. This degradation that is progressive is drawn home most effectively. His beginning is shown as fighting for liberty, however it is misconceived. But very soon his stature goes down as he starts fighting for â€Å"Honour, Dominion, glorie, and renounce’. But it is seen that he is defeated in this in no time. Then he resorts to the great plotting that forms the essence of the epic – the ruining of two creatures that are in no way harmful to him, but this is not at all keeping in front a serious expectation of triumph, but only to annoy the enemy who is beyond his reach for a direct encounter. This makes him stoop to the level of a spy coming into the universe, that too as a low level spy who peeps into the privacy of a man and wife, and it is there that he is described for the first time as ‘Devil’, not the fallen Archangel nor the dreaded emperor of Hell. If we take into account not merely Books I and II, but the epic as a whole, Satan cannot be regarded as the hero. As he is carried away by his passion for revenge, envy and hatred, to use ‘guile’ and cunning to achieve his end, Satan is the villain of the piece and not the hero. Closely woven with the story of the fall of man is the story of the fall of Satan and his followers. Their fall also bears out that the theme of the epic is the victory of passion over reason and its terrible consequence. Satan falls not because he is a lesser being, but due to his giving priority to passion over reason. He is proud and is carried away by inordinate ambition and lust for power. He claims absolute equality, foolishly imagines that he is self-created, regards god’s rule as tyrannous, rebels against him and is consequently overthrown and hurled into hell. He is the very embodiment of unrestrained passions which ultimately bring no satisfaction. Debates are still going on about the fact that Satan is such a driving force within the great epic. It ranges from William Blake’s comment that Milton â€Å"wrote in fetters when wrote of Angels and God, and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil’s party without knowing it† (Black 2007, p. 996) to the plea that this poem is nothing more than a christian tale in which milton is unsuccessful in portraying what he intended to do. (Marshal 1961, p. 19)