The Shawshank Redemption Essay Example for Free

The Shawshank Redemption Essay The Shawshank Redemption You have just been given a life sentence imprisonment to be served out in Shawshank Prison. Your world as you know it will be turned upside down. Inside these brick walls everything will be different. Or will it? You are no longer part of society as a whole, but you are now part of a smaller society, the Shawshank prison. Like the large society you just left the prison has the same five social institutions that every society has, just in different forms. You will see a government enforcing the harsh rules of the prison, develop new relationships with fellow inmates who will become your family and educate yourself both academically and spiritually. From the moment an inmate arrives at Shawshank Prison it becomes obvious who makes the rules and who enforces them. Warden Norton’s speech to the prisoners when they first arrive makes this clear as his exclaims, â€Å"your ass belongs to me†. The fatal beating of â€Å"fatass† by the guard Hadley reiterates the fact that the prisoners have no voice inside the prison walls. Step a foot out of line or say something the Warden does not like and it’s off to solitary confinement. When Andy calls the Warden â€Å"obtuse†, because he would not help him prove his innocence Andy is locked in solitary confinement for two months. The Warden will even abuse his power and purposely execute an inmate he feels could get in his way. Tommy Williams is wrongly executed when he tells the Warden he will gladly testify to help prove Andy’s innocence. Of course the shooting is posed to look like â€Å"a tragic accident†. The government, or basically whatever Warden Norton says, is harsh and corrupt and there is little to nothing the inmates can do to help themselves. Although Shawshank prisoners leave their blood families behind they soon acquire a new one, their fellow inmates. Although not a traditional family the inmates actions towards each other are no different then those of two brothers. Family members are willing to take risks and make sacrifices for each other. When Andy is sitting in the Warden’s office and begins playing the record with the two singing Italian woman he is taking a risk so he can give his fellow inmates a much needed lift of spirits, if only for a few moments. Red and Andy are especially close, so when Andy uses his connections to get Red a harmonica to spark hope inside of him, it is because Andy is concerned for Red’s well being and state of mind, the same way a brother would care. Family members also have unconditional love for one another. No matter what crazy, idiotic things family members do for the most part they can forgive one another and move on. When Brooks goes crazy and whips a knife out on Heywood everyone is able to look past his momentary lapse of judgment and forgive Brooks. Although slightly shaken up even Heywood does not stay angry for too long. As family members the inmates can forgive each other for their mistakes. Although Shawshank prisoners are not receiving a formal education they are still educating themselves academically and spiritually. With the money that Andy receives from Congress he sets up a library to help his fellow inmates grow intellectually. He even goes a step further to help Tommy Williams and several others study to get their GEDs. However most of the education a prisoner receives at Shawshank is not the kind you learn in a classroom, but the kind that makes you look at life differently. Andy helps teach Red that hope does not â€Å"make a man go insane† but that it â€Å"can set you free†. When Red sits before the parole board after serving forty years of his life sentence the speech he makes differs greatly from his two previous speeches. This one shows a great amount of personal growth and understanding. Even if he stays locked up in Shawshank for another forty years he has found the hope inside of him that has already set him free. What he has learned in his time at Shawshank is something that cannot be taught, it is learned from experience Your new life at Shawshank will be filled with much pain, frustration and injustice just like it was when you were out of prison. But you will still have people there to support and care for you just like you did when you were out of prison. You will still have ways to empower you mind and grow as a human being just like you did when you were out of prison. Life at Shawshank will take time to adjust to but as long as you keep hope inside you will always be free just like when you were out of prison.

Free College Essays - Envy in A Separate Peace :: A Separate Peace Essays

Envy in A Separate Peace  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"People are often vain of their most criminal passions; but envy is one passion so mean and low that nobody will admit it† Francois de la Rochefoucauld(1613-1680), a French philosopher, once stated and that statement summarizes the undertone of A Separate Piece by John Knowles.   The story is set at a highly competitive boy’s school on the East Coast that sets the perfect stage to develop the storyline.   Gene’s insecurity, which led to jealousy of Finny, is the cause of the overall conflict.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In chapter 1 Finny leaps from the tree for the first time, and then Gene follows.   When Gene jumps after Finny he does it not because of being â€Å"shamed into it† (906) as Finny says but out of envy to be more like Finny.   Gene gets an odd feeling of gratification that seems to settle his insecurity when he is imitating Finny.   On the walk home from the tree Gene boasts â€Å" I then became his (Finny) collaborator† as they were both missing evening meal.   This shows that his subconscious jealousy had succeeded in being like Finny. Gene felt that the more he could associate with Finny the more he would be considered like Finny.   Even Gene may not have realized his underlying jealousy but it was there from the beginning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gene nears completion of his transformation into Finny in chapter 4. â€Å"I jounced the limb† (923) says Gene, and Finny falls through the branches snapping the limbs with his momentum until the fall ended with an unnatural thud. This action initiates the final phase of Gene’s plan he can not completely be Finny until the space is open and until then it was filled.   At this point Gene begins to realize what has been happening.   At the funeral Gene said that he did not cry then or ever.   Gene did not cry because he knew that when Finny was buried that was all that was buried Finny, a body.

Annual Per Capita Healthcare Costs By Age Essay

The United States has way higher healthcare costs than any other country in the OECD, mostly which is because of the extremely high expenses later in life. 17 cents of every US dollar is being spent on health care. At about age 60, healthcare expenses for US citizens skyrocket, averaging between $40,000 to $45,000 a year per person, which is way above Germany, who has the next highest with only about $10,000. Dr. Ficshbeck, an engineering professor who runs a website called deathriskrankings.com, says the high costs are not completely without some reward. He said when it comes to deaths caused by disease, men from the US have a survival advantage over men from western Europe starting around age 65 that steadily increases over time. American women have this same advantage starting around age 80. This means if Americans died from diseases at the same rate as people from the Netherlands, for example, there would be about 60,000 more male deaths and 14,000 more female deaths in the US, all after the age of 70. France is among the few exceptions because they have a lower death rate from disease, but for the most part, the United States has a lower rate of diseased-caused deaths than Western Europe. Dr. Ficshbeck’s research also shows evidence that Americans have a higher death rate during young adulthood and middle age mainly due to health. Obesity rates, which are one of the leading causes of type 2 diabetes, are 3 times higher in America than France, and more than twice as high as in Germany. This study could mean that American healthcare is not totally at fault for not producing better results, but the American people themselves should be to blame for not making better health choices earlier in there lives. Ficshbeck believes that the edge the United States is getting in the latter years are due to our superior screening and treatment of diseases, the most prominent one being cancer. Americans have an average 5 year survival rate for breast cancer. This is higher than any other country in the OECD. Although Americans have a small advantage when it comes to death rates caused by disease for people over the age of 70, it isn’t a big enough advantage to prove that all of the money we spend on older American’s healthcare is providing that much of a survival advantage. A Boston University economist by the name of Dr. Lawrence Kotlikoff believes that the problem with our healthcare overspending problem stems from Medicare. He says the system has no cost control, and that pretty much any services that hospitals or doctors provide, Medicare will pay for. He has a very interesting idea for an alternative system that will provide incentive for practicing healthy habits (which the lack of proves to be one of main reasons for our not-so-superior life expectancy rates) and also lower US healthcare spending. He advocates issuing everybody vouchers through health insurance companies that would vary in value depending on the receiver’s health status, kind of like how car i nsurance companies are run. This sounds like a great alternative in that it would give people a good reason to be healthy which, in turn, would lead to less money being spent on expensive tests and procedures.   Robert Martensen, director of the office history at the National Institutes of Health is skeptical of how much of the United States’ health care spending is actually going towards increasing lifespan. He says that 40 to 50 percent of Medicare is being spent on intensive care which may not necessarily increase their chances of survival. European countries spend a lot less after the age of 65 mainly due to the fact that they have a lot more general practitioners, fewer specialists, and more centralized control over the number of hospital beds. Another researcher, named Dr. Jonathan Skinner, believes that although the US may be spending too much on older people’s health care, Europeans may also be doing too little. Having a specialist for every organ in the body of a patient with a chronic illness is a big part of the reason Americans are overspending. A payment technique called â€Å"bundling† could be a solution to this problem. It suggests that doctors and hospitals be paid a set amount for each patient diagnosis, such as diabetes or heart failure, and then have the ability to be rewarded with additional payments for meeting certain standards for quality care. This will give the doctors more control on what they should be spending their money on, so if they deem it unnecessary, they won’t have to â€Å"waste† money on specialized care for a patient. The problem with bundling and the reason many physicians are against the idea, is that a doctor can’t always know ahead of time if they shouldn’t spend money on a patient. Although the US is spending way too much on Medicare, that’s not a decision any doctor wants to be in control of.

Major Changes in Society During the Progressive Era - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 581 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category History Essay Level High school Tags: Progressive Era Essay Did you like this example? During the Progressive Era, social justice became a mission to many citizens and government officials, both in the Republican and Democratic parties. At a time when there was little regulation by the government, the Progressives fought to tighten regulations through the enacting of laws and forming of bureaus to oversee that these laws were being followed. Major changes that took place as a result of their efforts included regulations that affected laborers, children, and the food produced, processed, marketed, and consumed by Americans. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Major Changes in Society During the Progressive Era" essay for you Create order During the late 1800s and early 1900s, employers were not held responsible for injuries sustained on the job by their employees. Laborers worked at their own risk and had no voice because if they did speak up to draw attention to dangers in the workplace, they risked being fired. It was a risk that most laborers could not take. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, efforts were made to enact laws to protect workers. Little by little, states came on board. By the year 1916, the Kern-McGillicuddy Workmens Compensation Act of 1916 was passed. The burden of proof was usually required of the employee and courts were hesitant to rule against employers, but without this change, Workers Compensation may have never been born. Another major change during the Progressive Era was the enacting of child labor laws. Before the Childrens Bureau, children of all ages could be found laboring long hours and in awful conditions. They were no safer than adults who labored in factories and many were critically injured or killed on the job. The Childrens Bureau was formed out of the Progressive Adams 2 movement to regulate child labor and to place restrictions on employers that would protect the children. Although child labor was the focus at the time, the Childrens Bureau is still part of our nation today and falls under the Administration of Children and Families. Before the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, there was no agency to oversee or regulate how food was processed or packaged in the United States. Food processing facilities could be full of rats and filth and cross contamination was highly probable. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was enacted to put a stop to these practices and to ensure that the food being sold to the citizens was healthy and safe for consumption. Out of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, the Food and Drug Administration was formed, which is another department of our government which is still alive and well today. Some of the most prominent and well-known Progressives of the Progressive Era were Theodore Roosevelt who pushed through tough legislation for the Interstate Commerce Act, brought back the Sherman Antitrust Act, and championed conservation laws to preserve our nations natural resources; Woodrow Wilson who brought into play the Federal Reserve and Income Tax; William Howard Taft who expanded the Interstate Commerce Commissions jurisdiction and went onto establish anti-trust legislation and helped to pass the Workmens Compensation Act; and Jane Addams who established the Hull-House in Chicago which was a settlement house for immigrants. Between the women fighting for womens suffrage, child education, health, and labor laws to the men who fought for regulation of shipping rates and workplace protections, great feats were achieved by many people during the Progressive Era. While not all of the changes may have been quickly recognized at the time, to look back on history, it is evident th at their efforts were not in vain and that their triumphs were great.