Free College Essays - The Theme of Punishment in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Scarlet Letter:   The Theme of Punishment  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter deals with many themes, the most powerful being punishment. In this novel, Hester Prynne becomes a highly respected person in a Puritan society by overcoming one of the harshest punishments, the scarlet letter. This object on "her bosom"; however, does the exact opposite of that which it was meant for. Eventually, Hester Prynne inverts all the odds against here due to her courage, pride and effort. Hester went beyond the letter of the law and did everything asked of here in order to prove that she is "able."      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hester became quite a popular seamstress, admired all over the town of Boston for her work. Hester is modest in everything that she does. Hester herself wears only poor clothing while she embroiders marvelous works for the rest of Boston. The only piece of clothing forbidden to create was the wedding vail. How could a woman wearing the scarlet letter create a dress that represents the values of marriage; having committed sin as she did to be involved in the marital bonds of another couple. Although she does the job willingly and rarely ever looks back to the horrid past behind. The scarlet letter was constantly worn by Hester with pride and dignity. Hester knew that what was done in the past was wrong and that the scarlet A was the right thing to do, therefor it is worn with a sense of pride.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The child, Pearl, is "a blessing and as a reminder of her sin." As if the scarlet A were not enough punishment there "was a brat of that hellish breed" which would remind Hester of what happened in the past. The "brat" could have been given away to Governor Bellingham yet Hester proclaimed that Pearl "is my happiness!...Ye shall not take her! I will die first!" Not a person in Boston, nor Hester herself thought highly of the little child and Hester refused to let Pearl go. Hester carried the kid around only because it was a direct reflection of her sin and to cast away here sin as freely as that to give it away would be unjust and unfair to Hester and Pearl.

Andersen’s Case Auditing and Assurance Services

Arthur Andersen was one of the five biggest accounting firms in United States. Arthur Andersen is specific example about the most recent business collapse, which is considered profound in American business history. The firm, practicing in more than 80 countries with thousands of employees, now lost its reputation as an audit and accounting firm. There are many different thoughts and judgments about the case when Arthur Anderson failed its tasks to detect fraudulent financial activities on Enron and several different companies.The Enron Company filed bankruptcy in December of 2001. Being well known as a big energy company which headquarters is located in Houston, the bankruptcy of the company drew lots off attentions from business world. Questions were asked and lots of financial misstatements were revealed and Arthur Andersen – Enron’s external auditing and accounting firm in Houston, was involved. Stephens (2002) stated, Arthur Andersen who were responsible for managin g Enron’s audits, had illegally destroyed paper and electronic documents related to their representation of Enron (p. 4). The case soon went to the jury. Louwers et al. (2011) reported the instructions hinged on the wording of statue that makes it a crime to knowingly use intimidation or physical force, threaten, or corruptly persuade other person. According to Oxford Dictionaries online, corrupt means having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain. In this case, the word â€Å"corrupt† was not applied appropriately to the actions of Anderson. There was no evidence to prove that there is a person who is corrupt persuader.Who was the one that acted dishonestly? The court also needs to identify the personal gain that a corrupt persuader can gain from having such action. The court could not find the answers to this issue, which means the decision is attached to the firm’s fate – Arthur Andersen. Research by Stephens ( 2002) states that to clarify the instruction of Judge Harmon about â€Å"corruptly†, the prosecution describes the illegal conduct of four corrupt persuaders: Duncan, Temple, Thomas Bauer, and Michael Odom.After a few days, the jury was not required to unanimously agree on the single corrupt persuader’s identity (Stephens, 2002). As Louwers et al. (2011) stated that the issues that overturned the Andersen verdict were based on faulty jury instructions, not on whether Andersen was in fact guilty or innocent. It was not Andersen who violated the law; it is individuals of the company who did. Hoxter (2005) argued that the instructions were faulty because they did not require proof that Andersen officials knew they were doing something wrong.The ruling destroying the documents was not a crime. There must be a person with authority who sent out the instructions for Arthur Andersen employees to do so. As Stephens (2002) restated from the interviews with reporters after the v erdict, four jurors identified Temple as that person. It is appropriated for the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s decision because Judge Harmon used the word â€Å"promptly† with different meaning from the dictionary, which is â€Å"improper purpose†, such as intent to subvert or undermine the fact finding ability of an official proceeding.The lower court failed in identifying the specific person who is corruptive persuader. According to Duska (2005), Arthur Anderson, a venerable firm, at one time, prided itself in its role as auditor since it fulfilled an important public function. As auditors, Andersen’s employees should have had clear minds to make sure that the financial statements that they audit are really what were going on in the company. However, big money that was made in the consulting means the responsibilities that auditors have to face is heavier.The SEC and the department of Justice should’ve tried to targeted specific ind ividuals who had engaged in acts because it seems not fair for the rest of the firm. According to Cunningham (2005), â€Å"It is a shame that the actions of a few individuals at Andersen caused 28,000 employees in the U. S. to lose their jobs† (p. 6). Indeed, putting the complete firm out of business for the unethical actions of a couple of individuals was the real sin. Andersen’s conviction was overturned does not mean that its employees acted in ethical manner.McNamee and Palmeri (2002) provided information about Arthur Anderson’s cleaning-up mission when the Enron case started to topple. From Anderson’s internal document, Enron team was also busy amending four key memos to correct the record of its review of Enron’s convolute and conflicted partnership deals (McNamee and Palmeri, 2002). Moreover, David Duncan overruled the concerns on at least four occasions, siding instead with Enron on controversial accounting that helps to hide debt amount an d brought up the earnings.That is not all, there are also evidences said that Duncan’s team wrote memos which are falsely stated that PSG partners had signed off on Enron’s inventive bookkeeping. Nancy Temple is the attorney for Arthur Andersen. She is the one who should clearly know about all the regulations and should not be the one who acted unethically. According to McNamee and Palmer (2002), memos from Nancy Temple to David Duncan were found which can considered the main key in the conviction of Duncan about shredding the documents. It is more for Nancy Temple who is more responsible for the Andersen saga.The class action lawsuit against Andersen also has another name which include other entities name in there because those entities also had involved in Enron’s case. These entities helped Enron to cover up because by helping them they make more profit. From Arthur Andersen’s case, entities and accounting firms in business world should learn lessons f or their own goods. If the employees notice of any concerning about the legality of any records, they should contact the legal department right away. There is nothing wrong disposing of business papers that are not needed.It is illegal only when retention is required by law or regulation according to Stephens (2002). Reference Page Hoxter, C. J. (2005). Arthur Andersen Conviction Overturned. Caribbean Business, 33(25), 8. Duska, R. (2005). The Good Auditor – Skeptic or Wealth Accumulator? Ethical Lessons Learned from the Arthur Andersen Debacle. Journal Of Business Ethics, 57(1), 17-29. doi:10. 1007/s10551-004-3818-1 Stephens, D. O. (2002). Lies, Corruption, and Document Destruction. Information Management Journal, 36(5), 23. McNamee, M. , Borrus, A. , & Palmeri, C. (2002). OUT OF CONTROL AT ANDERSEN.Businessweek, (3777), 32-33. Cunningham, C. (2005, July-August). Ruing Andersen's demise and the loss of audit competition. Financial Executive, 21(6), 6. Retrieved from http://g o. galegroup. com. glbvv001. enmu. edu/ps/i. do? id=GALE%7CA134300985=2. 1=nm_a_enmu=r=EAIM=w In Oxford Dictionaries online. Retrieved from http://oxforddictionaries. com/us/definition/american_english/corrupt? q=corrupt Louwers, T. J. , Ramsay, R. J. , Sinason, D. H, Strawser, J. R, & Thinodeau, J. C. (2011). Auditing & Assurance Services (5th, ed. ). NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Criticism Over the Welfare Programs - 555 Words

Welfare is a government system, which gives aid, financial and otherwise, to individuals and families based upon level of need. It is intended to help people get back on their feet, but it has been criticized for breeding dependency, along with other problems. Recipients feel that the system is degrading, and taxpayers feel that it is too expensive. Welfare is a failing system that has not only been unsuccessful in its goal of ending poverty, but has also created new issues for recipients and taxpayers alike. The â€Å"war on poverty† began half a century ago and in the past fifty years, five trillion dollars have gone towards ending it. Sadly, there is little to show for these efforts; poverty is still as prevalent of an issue today as it has ever been (â€Å"Poverty and Welfare 1). All fifty states are a part of the welfare program, but only two have successfully managed to raise families over the poverty line (Sawhill 1). Despite the improvement that the economy has seen over the last few years, enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has increased by a whopping seventy percent (Saunders 1). Extensive research conducted by Drexel Universitys School of Public Health concluded that for most people, a month long supply of food stamps is only stretching about three weeks (Lubrano 1). According to a report written by Wisconsin Senator Paul Ryan, â€Å"Federal programs are not only failing to address the problem. They are in some ways making it worse,† (Wasson 1).Show MoreRelatedI Am Writing About The Social Welfare System Essay1432 Words   |  6 PagesI am writing about the Social Welfare System. How a system that was created for the purpose of helping the needy, has now become a highway for people to abuse of it. This public policy program has come to be a very controversial subject on both sides of the political arena. 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