There are too many people will we survive Essay Example For Students

There are too many people will we survive Essay There are too many people will we survive?Do you feel that we have the right to enjoy natural beauty? The right to decent, uncrowned shelter? The right to eat healthy food and drink pure water? To breathe clean air and avoid pesticide poisoning? Most people would say everyone has a right to all of these things, but in some areas of the world these rights are not being met. Overpopulation is becoming a bigger concern as the growth rate continues to skyrocket. Overpopulation is sometimes misunderstood or mistaken with other issues. Overpopulation does not deal with crowding, but in fact, density is irrelevant to questions of. What is relevant is carrying capacity. Carrying capacity refers to how much an area can hold having all things at equilibrium, including all plants and animals. An area is overpopulated when its long-term carrying capacity is being degraded by its current occupants. Some people say the earth is not overpopulated since the United States can produce more food and products than are used. That is true in the U.S. Now if you look at it worldwide the products we have are often from other countries. These other countries are often not as well off. These other countries are either in severe poverty or their cities are becoming overcrowded. Although the U.S. is not in trouble at this time, when you look at the whole world you may see a diffe rent picture. Eventually the rest of the world will also have an effect on us. The impact we have on the environment has to do with three factors. The first is the number of people. The more people there are the more resources are used. If too many resources begin to be used they will run out before they get a chance to be replaced. Leaving all plant and animal life with nothing and everything will eventually die off. The rainforests are a good example of this. The second is the amount of resources consumed by the average person. If people become wasteful and dont conserve resources now, the resources that were wasted will not be able to be used in the future.The United States is one of the most wasteful countries there is; I know this because of how much unnecessary stuff I use and throw away. We are more wasteful than necessary. Recycling has helped quite a bit, but the problem has not yet been fixed. The third is the environmental damage caused in the manufacturing of the goods c onsumed. Manufacturing grows as people demand more manufactured goods. If too much manufacturing takes place many plants and animals begin to suffer. It may not have an impact on us for a while, but after many years pass, the availability of food, water, and shelter will begin to decrease. Overpopulation does not only affect the environment, but also in turn hurts humans. By overpopulating the world it can lead wide spread poverty. As more and more people are on this planet the resources become more and more exhausted. As the human race continues to grow, other plant life and animal life begin to disappear. And the fact is we cant live without the other plant life and animal life. By keeping the population of the world at reasonable numbers; pollution levels, diseases, and resources will be able to be maintained at reasonable levels. We will write a custom essay on There are too many people will we survive specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now All governments can make an effort to help this along by, first of all educating people world wide what problems are caused by overpopulation. Educating the public is a major step toward controlling population. By educating the public they can then make better decisions on how to go about having and raising children and can set there own limitations. To educate the public the U.S. government can get the support of other organizations and set up places worldwide to help slow the growth rate by educating people. .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac , .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac .postImageUrl , .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac , .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac:hover , .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac:visited , .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac:active { border:0!important; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac:active , .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u06a04f2313347d24959e3e07496fc2ac:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Canada At War EssayMost of all, the people of the world, including you, are the ones who have to sit back and think about the consequences of overpopulating our world and realize that something has to be done. If the government and the people work together at this issue, we could reach a state of equilibrium. Where the birth and death rate are equal. If this happens disease will be less likely and other issues like pollution will be more easily controlled. With the governments and your help overpopulation could become a problem of the past and the human race can continue on along with all of the other plant and animal life around us.Bibliography:

Free Essays on Stevie Wonder

Instead of taking his vision, God gave Stevie Wonder the ability to create an originative inspiration; he is an undeniable genius not only in rhythm and blues category, but in soul, rock n’ roll, jazz, pop, and even in reggae. Also recognized and approved as a producer and a composer, Stevie Wonder took many elements of those musical genres and re-built and converted them into his own personal expression. Among his many ambitious works, the album called Songs in the Key of Life, released in 1976, is acknowledged as the most determined and impressive collection of songs that touches on practically every matter in this planet, and it shows some of the finest performances of his career. Stevie Wonder, a living legend, has greatly influenced the rock music in a narrow view and the modern music in a broad view, which reveals that he is not bounded within the â€Å"Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame† (1989). The album consists of two CDs. First disc starts with â€Å"Love’s in Need of Love Today† and â€Å"Have a Talk with God†, sharing that he has secure sense of faith and spiritual dedication. As the album progresses, however, the latter tracks- â€Å"Pastime Paradise† and â€Å"Village Ghetto Land†- that contain the illustrations of tough realities of life propose a clear distinction to the tenderness from the former tracks and observe the plight of the living in the past with small hope for the future. One of the most triumphant songs on Songs in the Key of Life, â€Å"Pastime Paradise† is one of Wonder’s finest recognized compositions, due to the sampling used in Coolio’s â€Å"Gangster’s Paradise,† which was the hit in the year of 1995. This song is classified as one of the first records that makes use of synthesizer strings, which in fact sound as real synthesizer strings, as a result of revolutionary effect . Not only the modest organization was incredibly successful, but is the lyrics social comments that are particularly re... Free Essays on Stevie Wonder Free Essays on Stevie Wonder Instead of taking his vision, God gave Stevie Wonder the ability to create an originative inspiration; he is an undeniable genius not only in rhythm and blues category, but in soul, rock n’ roll, jazz, pop, and even in reggae. Also recognized and approved as a producer and a composer, Stevie Wonder took many elements of those musical genres and re-built and converted them into his own personal expression. Among his many ambitious works, the album called Songs in the Key of Life, released in 1976, is acknowledged as the most determined and impressive collection of songs that touches on practically every matter in this planet, and it shows some of the finest performances of his career. Stevie Wonder, a living legend, has greatly influenced the rock music in a narrow view and the modern music in a broad view, which reveals that he is not bounded within the â€Å"Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame† (1989). The album consists of two CDs. First disc starts with â€Å"Love’s in Need of Love Today† and â€Å"Have a Talk with God†, sharing that he has secure sense of faith and spiritual dedication. As the album progresses, however, the latter tracks- â€Å"Pastime Paradise† and â€Å"Village Ghetto Land†- that contain the illustrations of tough realities of life propose a clear distinction to the tenderness from the former tracks and observe the plight of the living in the past with small hope for the future. One of the most triumphant songs on Songs in the Key of Life, â€Å"Pastime Paradise† is one of Wonder’s finest recognized compositions, due to the sampling used in Coolio’s â€Å"Gangster’s Paradise,† which was the hit in the year of 1995. This song is classified as one of the first records that makes use of synthesizer strings, which in fact sound as real synthesizer strings, as a result of revolutionary effect . Not only the modest organization was incredibly successful, but is the lyrics social comments that are particularly re... Free Essays on Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Born as Steveland Judkins on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michingan, Wonder now prefers to be knows as Steveland Morris after his mother's married name. Placed in an incubator immediately after his birth, Wonder was given too much oxygen, causing him to suffer permanent blindness. Despite his handicap, Wonder began to learn the piano at the age of seven, and had also mastered drums and harmonica by the age of nine. After his family moved to Detroit in 1954, Wonder joined a church choir, the gospel influence on his music balanced by the R&B of Ray Charles an Sam Cooke being played on his transistor radio. Wonder was discovered in 1961 by Ronnie White of the Miracles, who also arranged an audition for him in Motown Record. Berry Gory immediately signed Wonder to the label, that led to the birth of "Little Stevie Wonder." Though, the â€Å"Little† was dropped in 1964. Wonder was placed in the care of writer/producer Clarence Paul, who supervised his early recordings. Wonder and his label hit the jackpot in 1963 with "Fingertips-Pt. 2." This made Motown quickly marketed him on a series of albums as â€Å"the 12-year-old genius† in an attempt to link him with the popularity of â€Å"the genius,† Ray Charles. In two years he became one of Motown's finest artists, recording a serious of brilliant singles for a solid nine years. Most of were he wrote himself. By the end of the 1960s, he was not only hitting the charts with his own records including: "Uptight," "Castles in the Sand," and "My Cherie Amour† but also by writing for many other Motown artists, including "It's a Shame" for the Spinners, co-writing "The Tears of a Clown† with Smokey Robinson and writing and producing the (Detroit) Spinners’ â€Å"It’s A Shame†. Instead of re-signing immediately after his contact expiration with Motown in 1971, Wonder instead recorded two full albums by himself. In his some of his lyrics, he took on racial problems and spirit...

Vies Assertion About Technology and Society Essay

Vies Assertion About Technology and Society - Essay Example When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is check the skype messages on my mobile phone to see what my dudes had to say to me overnight. I don’t leave the bed until all messages have been attended to. In the school, I discuss latest Apple apps with my friends. My connection with friends remains open full time in the school because one of the sites that always remains browsed on my computer screen is facebook. When I get back home, I remain in contact with my friends and brothers upon massively multiplayer online games. They consume most of my time. An insight to my daily routine suggests that my social relations have been enhanced because of the 24/7 use of digital technology, though only to a certain group of people i.e. my friends. In my childhood, when I did not have a computer and there was no such thing as skype or facebook, I used to spend more time with mom, dad, grandpa and granny. I used to sit with them, have lunch, dinner, tea and coffee with them. My grandma narrated me stories and I went jogging with dad. I discussed with mom what happened in the school. But all these golden moments have been swiped away from my life by the technology. Digital technology has also changed the way I perceive myself. This is unfortunate but the change has occurred for the worse. Before, I used to feel that my blood relatives have more right upon me but with the passage of time, I have become more independent. I don’t want to think like this but I have become more of a public property than my family’s. Digital technology has increased my social networking with people of my age and distorted my social network with people elder or younger to me. Digital technology has particularly promoted my relations with people, who I am not related to by blood and weakened my tied with my blood relatives.

Starbucks's Corporate Ethics Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Starbucks's Corporate Ethics - Case Study Example Sources used include company's official website and two printed books on the subject on CSR. As they say charity begins at home, Starbucks starts its CSR policy with its employees. The firm believes that employees are partners and must be treated with due respect. The company says on its website that one of the key benefits of CSR for the firm has been in the retention of its partners. Howard Schultz, the owner of Starbucks Coffee Co understands the importance of its employees. Ronald Sims in his book, "Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: Why Giants Fall" appreciates the ethical practices at Starbucks and writes: "Amazingly, Starbucks offers both full- and part-time employees equity in the form of annual stock options. In 1987, when the company was losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in its drive for expansion, he extended medical coverage for any "partner" working 20 hours or more. Paying 75 percent of the insurance premium costs Starbucks approximately $1,275 a year per worker, while hiring a new employee costs the company almost twice that amount." (p. 304) Apart from the employee relations, the firm has been integrating CSR into its operation. ... The company also undertook a research to find out how much greenhouse gas emissions could be attributed to its operations. It found that only 18 percent was due to operations and the rest was due to energy use at its locations. This research however did not include Starbucks' foreign locations. Another important area of CSR at Starbucks is sourcing methods. The firm has to procure coffee from suppliers from around the world. The company has been trying to practice ethical means of procurement by buying from suppliers who are on C.A.F.E list of approved coffee-growers. By 2007, 65 percent of its coffee was being purchased from C.A.F.E approved suppliers but the company aims to make it 80 percent by 2013. These are the suppliers who are following rigorous standards for sustainability throughout the supply chain. The firm has been trying to work in harmony with the governments of coffee producing nations. Starbucks feels "these relationships must be mutually beneficial. They must also be collaborative in nature in order to advance measures and practices that contribute to the sustainable production of high-quality coffee - and sustainable livelihoods for farmers and their families." But things have not always been smooth. Starbucks famously got into an argument with Ethiopian government over trademark issues. But over time, this rift was resolved and Starbucks now enjoys a warm relationship with Ethiopian farmers. Starbucks is also involved in community building ventures in supplier nations. For example it understands that a large number of Mayan people depend on coffee for livelihood. The company has been working on educational projects in this region. "For more than a

The Story of an Hour Essay Example for Free

The Story of an Hour Essay The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin, interprets the liberation of subjugation and a despondent marriage. The nineteenth century setting is that of a man’s world.   The general plot of â€Å"Story of an Hour† symbolic of anticipation of possibilities for women abiding the tyrannical impact of a male- controlled society. For Louise Mallard she had a fitful response when she learned that her husband has been supposedly killed in a train mishap. She confines herself in her room and sits in front of the window in isolation. She begins to muse about life without her husband. Commencing with distress, Louise slowly converts to joy. â€Å"Free! Body and soul free!† (Chopin, n.d.). Louise knew that the normal response was to grieve the death of her husband, but deep within her new found liberation procures. Decisively she imagines living for herself and achieving things she had yearned to accomplish. Louise does not see this as adversity but as an opportunity, another endeavor at life. Compelling belief of freedom ends in dismay when Brently Mallard arrives at the door, alive and well. â€Å"Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey.† (Chopin, n.d.) Profound freedom was merely reverie. Ironically her disarray of emotions ultimately led to her death. Louise dying of simple â€Å"heart disease† reveals that her emotional agony was internal. The theme in â€Å"The Story of an Hour† is the role of men and women in the 19th century. Life was male dominated, with women being prisoners of their husbands. In the story Louise Mallard is jubilant that she would no longer  have to stoop to the desires of her husband. There is one primary conflict in â€Å"The Story of an Hour†. The conflict is internal and one of freedom versus the imprisonment of the marriage. Mrs. Mallard, hears of the believed death of her husband, she is impaired with a heart condition, and the news could possibly kill her. Further reading explains, she is merely an animal in a glorified pen. The death of her husband would offer freedom and understanding that she has been trapped in a marriage in which her husband dominated her, which has created a conflict within her. Therefore, the desired freedom being an internal conflict. In conclusion, â€Å"The Story of an Hour† is of the nineteenth century formation of male oppression and the thoughts of freedom resulting in death.

The Museum Experience :: Free Descriptive Essay About A Place

The Museum Experience One of my favorite things to do when traveling in a new city is to visit the museums. I have never been to a city that did not offer the usual museum fare, usually in the form of the â€Å"Anytown Art Museum†, or the â€Å"Anytown Museum of Natural History†. While these types of museums house some incredible artifacts, and I do visit them often, I also like to seek out museums of a more unusual sort. Museums are mostly the same just about everywhere you go, both in the United States and Europe. They offer the visitor a glimpse into the past culture of any given city or country by displaying relics found throughout the world. But there are also many museums that showcase artifacts of the culture in a much more specific way. Some fine examples of these kinds of museums include the Pez Museum, close to San Francisco, dedicated to the little candy dispenser, the Muzeum hracek in Prague, dedicated to toys of the world, both past and present, the Dungeon, a history of Medieval torture, also in Prague, and the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas, dedicated to all things Liberace--and I mean all things. The Pez Museum is not actually in San Francisco, but is located south of the city in a town called Burlingame. If you are in the Bay Area for any reason, do not miss this museum! Remember when you were a little kid, and you loved to collect Pez dispensers? Well, times have changed, and now Pez collections mean big money, and big business. The most expensive Pez dispenser to dat e is the short lived Mr. Potato Head dispenser, complete with a make-it-yourself face. This Pezsells for $5,000 at auction! This museum contains literally hundreds of Pez Dispensers, collected since their inception back in the Fifties. While Pez may not compare to a Rodin sculpture in terms of being considered classical art, obviously there are some people out there who appreciate the finer nuances of a mere candy dispenser. Toy museums abound throughout the world. I have been lucky enough to have visited two toy museums in my life, both in Europe. The first one was in a quaint town in Germany called Rothenburg. This town dates back to the Medieval era, and is one of the few towns in Western Europe that is still contained within it’s original defense walls. Because most of the buildings inside the walls are original, this town has become a major tourist attraction for European tourists.

Lee’s Function in East of Eden Essay

1. Introduction As Shimomura(1982) points out, Steinbeck’s non-teleological thinking and the Taoism, which was put forward by the ancient Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu, share a great deal of similarity, in that both of them view human beings from a detached and holistic standpoint. It is not clearly known how Steinbeck, who is certainly a product of his time and his American milieu, came to be acquainted with and interested in Lao Tzu’s philosophy, but in Journal of A Novel, he appreciates Lao Tzu so highly that he places Lao Tzu beside Plato, Buddha, Christ, Paul, and the Great Hebrew prophets. It might safely be said that there must have been a seedbed in his indigenous thought where a seed of Lao Tzu was sown, germinated, and at last bloomed into a beautiful and fragrant flower so attractive for the Oriental reader. Thus, the purpose of this paper is first to focus on Lee in East of Eden, then to make clear the relationship between non-teleology and the philosophy of Lao Tzu, and finally to show how closely Lao Tzu’s philosophy is related to the idea of timshel. 2. Lee as a servant and philosopher As is well known to his reader, Steinbeck creates three Chinese characters throughout his novels from the first, Cup of Gold, to the last, The Winter of Our Discontent. To list them, they are Lee Chong, who is an owner of a grocery store, a flip-flopping old Chinaman who is not identified by name in Cannery Row, and Lee, who appears in East of Eden. Though these Chinese characters may respectively perform significant functions in their own rights in their stories, the one who particularly warrants considerable attention among these characters is Lee, who is more active and more influential in determining the fates of the major characters in the novel. Moreover, it is noteworthy that Oriental philosophy, which is a deciding factor in the outcome of this novel, is conveyed to the reader through the mouth of this Chinese character, who is actually thought to be a spokesman of Steinbeck himself. Though Lee makes his first appearance in chapter 15 of East of Eden as a faithful servant to the family of Adam Trask, it is when he first meets Samuel Hamilton by chance in the later scene that he turns out to be something more than a mere servant and also begins to carry his own significance in the novel. This scene should acquire great importance, in that Lee first clarifies his general view of life as a spokesman of the author. Even in the first conversation he has with Samuel, Lee is instinctively aware that Samuel is a person whom he can trust. Just after exchanging a few words with him, Lee quits speaking in pidgin English, as if he cast away his protective shell into which he has secretly retired until then. And in the course of the conversation, he spontaneously confides to Samuel his idea on what it is like to be a servant: I don’t know where being a servant came into disrepute. It is a refuge of a philosopher, the food of the lazy, and, properly carried out, it is a position of power, even of love. I can’t understand why more intelligent people don’t take it as a career – learn to do it well and reap its benefits†¦. But a good servant, and I am an excellent one, can completely control his master, tell him what to think, how to act,†¦ Finally, in my circumstances I am unprotected. 1 This philosophical view on servantship which is uttered through the mouth of a Chinese character apparently reflects the author’s basic view toward life, for it is easy to imagine that Steinbeck’s manner of describing the predominance of servantship over the mastership oozes from the idea of relativity which he attained as the outcome of his favorite non-teleological thinking. The idea tells the reader that any standard, as far as it is built around the artificially contrived system of values, loses its significant validity when seen in the light of non-teleological standpoint. According to this view, a person in a socially reputed position of power cannot avoid the possibility of losing his power when seen through another different â€Å"peep-hole. † And it is possible that in fact a low and unrespected person may gain predominating influence upon the people who are ranked far above in the so-called social status. Furthermore, another interesting point in this relation lies in the passiveness of such a low position. A person in a low position is unprotected by himself, but by becoming a servant to another person in a higher position he begins to play a role in his own right and at last controls his master. This master-servant relationship uttered by Lee reveals that once he has gotten employment by his master, even a helpless person who has little social function by himself not only begins to fulfill his own function but also gains predominance over his master. Consequently, this means that in this relationship a master is no longer a master and a servant is also no longer a servant. Eventually in this work this relationship results in the fact that Lee actually controls Adam in every situation. 3. Lee as a spokesman of Lao Tzu’s philosophy Similarly in the Lao Tzu, a collection of wise-sayings which were written by a person named Lao Tzu about in the fourth century BC(Fukunaga, Hachiya, Takahashi), the same topsy-turveydom in the sense of values can be found in one of the eighty fragmentary writings. In chapter 78 it says: In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it. This is because there is nothing that can take its place. That the weak overcomes the strong, And the submissive overcomes the hard, Everyone in the world knows yet no one can put this knowledge into practice. Therefore the sage says, One who takes on himself the humiliation of the state Is called a ruler worthy of offering sacrifices to the gods of earth and millets;†¦ Straightforward words Seems paradoxical. 2 In this passage quoted above, Lao Tzu explains the victory of the submissive and the weak over the hard and the strong, just in the same way that servantship finally achieves victory over mastership. Clearly enough, there is a great deal of similarity between Lee’s general attitude toward life and Lao Tzu’s precept of holding fast to the submissive. Needless to say, the common belief which underlies their paradoxical view stems from the idea that man-made values are nothing but relative, and this relativity is resulted from their attempt to rest their standpoint on a place which is as  free from human-centered arrangement as possible. There is no doubt about the idea that Steinbeck created Lee as a deciding factor of the outcome from this novel framed with a good and evil story, and it is not too much to say that Lee’s appearance reveals the author’s strong consciousness of the relativity between good and evil. This becomes clear when Lee encourages Adam by saying, â€Å"What your wife is doing is neither good nor bad†¦. There’s no springboard to philanthropy like a bad conscience. †3 Additionally, there is another similarity between them also in their manners of describing such relativity. Both Steinbeck and Lao Tzu clarify the interdependence between the weak and the strong by emphasizing the predominance of the former over the latter. This is because they think that the weak is more closely related to the natural processes of the universe than the strong is. That is to say, in the philosophy of Lao Tzu there is nothing like water that follows the way that the tao is and on the other hand, according to Steinbeck’s non-teleological thinking, Lee occupies an ideal position in life. Based on the assumption that the Lee’s view of life involves such relativity in itself as a main factor, it is quite convincing that the word â€Å"timshel,† which means â€Å"thou mayest† in English, is introduced through the mouth of Lee in the novel. Probably one of the most impressive scenes in the novel is where Lee, Samuel, and Adam meet together to decide on names for the twins. Located almost in the center of this long novel, this naming scene actually shows the reader a certain turning point from which East of Eden meanders between good and evil all the way to the final scene. In this scene Samuel reads a long passage from the Old Testament. This passage includes the Cain-Abel story, and they eagerly talk about the views of the original sin which Cain committed by killing Abel. Lee is so strongly struck by this story that he feels that â€Å"it is a chart of our souls. † Though he never refers to them on this scene, deep in his mind remains the Lord’s word to Cain after rejecting his sacrifice: â€Å"And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. † This naming scene, where Lee is exposed to the Cain-Abel story, effectively leads to the scene in chapter 24 where he puts a new interpretation on words of the above passage. 4. â€Å"Timshel† interpreted from the Oriental viewpoint Chapter 24 in East of Eden warrants the most careful attention: first because it develops the motif of the Cain-Abel story discussed in the previous scene, and also because it crucially affects the direction of this work. This chapter reveals that Lee has given his thought to the story for almost ten years since his serious discussion he had with Adam and Samuel. A certain part of the Lord’s words to Cain has bothered this Chinese for such a long period. It is â€Å"thou shalt over him. † In the course of these years he went to the head quarters of his family association and asked for Chinese scholars to take on the study of Hebrew, in order to find the more appropriate reading of the part. And finally in this scene he excitedly explains the importance of his finding in the presence of Samuel: Lee’s hand shook as he filled the delicate cups. He drank his down in one gulp. â€Å"Don’t you see? † he cried. â€Å"The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in ‘Thou Shalt’, meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word the timshel – ‘Thou mayest’ – that gives a choice. It might be the most important word. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’, – it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not. ’ Don’t you see? †4. The above-quoted revelation made by Lee vividly reflects his idea of relativity between good and evil. To begin with, Lee, who has been bothered long by â€Å"Thou shalt,† reaches the conclusion that it never lightens the burden imposed on the shoulders of a man who suffers sense of sin. The chief reason why Lee turns his back to â€Å"Thou shalt† lies in the assumption that eventually it is not completely free from a human-centered viewpoint. When the Lord says, â€Å"Thou shalt† to Cain, the most fundamental idea that strongly supports the words on the back is that of love. But the love, though it is thought to be more universal and crucially different than human love in quality, is not entirely free from man’s viewpoint as far as the Lord in Christianity is a personified god. Basically such love, like one side of a coin, is inevitably sustained by hatred on the other side. Therefore, it follows that even when â€Å"thou shalt† is thrown to man through the mouth of Lord, his conduct has been already judged evil, more or less, by the artificially contrived standard of value which unavoidably lacks in the idea of relativity. When seen from another different angle, such conduct may appear to be good, because there might be good in it. After all, â€Å"thou shalt† works the salvation of man only in the teleological manner. On the other hand, Lee’s new interpretation shows an utter indifference of the Lord to human conduct. It does not definitely order man to overcome evil nor involve any promise in it. Actually such characteristic of his interpretation may perhaps plunge man into desperation because superficially it seems to lack love and intention to guide him to emancipation from the sin that he has committed. But Lee thinks that it is such an indifferent attitude that leads him to real salvation of his soul. â€Å"Timshel,† which is evidently a product of Lee’s assiduous study of the Cain-Abel story, is based on the idea of relativity just as are non-teleological thinking and Lao Tzu’s philosophy. This is clearly exemplified by the fact that â€Å"thou mayest† is always supported by the opposite prerequisite, â€Å"thou mayest not. † In other words it means that there is neither good nor evil in every human conduct, and at the same time, what is more important, it also means that there is both good and evil involved in it. â€Å"Thou mayest† only allows man to say, â€Å"This is relatively good and that is relatively evil. † In this way Lee, as a Steinbeck’s spokesman, ‘non-teleologically’ thinks that â€Å"timshel† unites good and evil into one body. Steinbeck’s notion of good and evil shown in East of Eden begins with the idea that both of them fundamentally derive from the same state, and, no doubt, it is a product of his favorite non-teleological thinking. He never believes in a logical theory such as laws of the excluded middle where good and evil are orderly and clearly distinguished from each other. He usually places his main viewpoint in a chaotic place where there is neither good nor evil, and applies such a viewpoint to human conducts, with the ultimate result that an evil person should be saved in the same way a good person is saved. Though the optimistic attitude of his indigenous thinking has been repeatedly attacked for its lack of serious consideration toward evil, Steinbeck thinks that good and evil are relative, and, as a result, evil is nothing but a negative state which is lacking in good; it is more appropriate to say that it is merely a paradoxical state which is devoid of a strong consciousness of good. When employed as the framework of East of Eden, his non-teleological idea of good and evil crystallizes into the new interpretation of the Cain-Abel story, and the word â€Å"timshel,† on one hand, thoroughly awakens Adam, an allegorical figure of Abel, from his vain dream to sober reality, and, on the other hand, it emancipates Caleb, an allegorical figure of Cain, from the thralldom of sin. This manner of treating good and evil, needless to say, has great similarity to the philosophy of Lao Tzu, who writes â€Å"the good man is the teacher that the bad learns from; And the bad man is the material the good works on. †5 As Steinbeck views the world from the detached standpoint of â€Å"the infinite whole,† so Lao Tzu has created the notion of the tao to eradicate a human-centered view of the world out of his philosophy. This attempt has brought about the same result as Steinbeck has achieved. That is to say, they have both reached the same conception of man’s true place in the universe, and his relation to the world about him, which enables both of them to place an emphasis on the relation of individuals to the whole and treat individuals for their own sake. Such treatment of individuals is summarized by saying that â€Å"everything is an index of everything else†6 and that â€Å"The heavy is the root of the light. †7 Finally, the quintessence of Steinbeck as a novelist undoubtedly lies in the employment of non-teleological thinking as the frameworks of his novels. The adoption of this method does not allow him to achieve invariable success in his literary works, but, at least, it can be said that it enables him to view human conduct from the broadest and highest standpoint possible, which Lao Tzu paradoxically describes by adopting negative terms such as â€Å"Nothing† and â€Å"The Nameless. † Notes 1. John Steinbeck, East of Eden, p. 190. (Penguin Books, 1976), All citations from Steinbeck are from Penguin editions and will be noted by page numbers following the citations. 2. D. C. Lau, Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, p. 140. (Penguin Books, 1963), All citations from Steinbeck are from Penguin editions and will be noted by page numbers following the citations. 3. John Steinbeck, East of Eden, p. 434 4. John Steinbeck, East of Eden, p. 349 5. D. C. Lau, Tao Te Ching, p. 84. 6. John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez, p. 259 7. D. C. Lau, Tao Te Ching, p. 83 . Works Cited Fukunaga, Mituji. Roshi (On Lao Tzu ), Tokyo: Asahishinbun-sha, 1968 Hachiya, Kunio. Ro-So wo yomu (A Study of Lao Tzu and Zhuang Tzu). Tokyo: Kodansha, 1987. John Steinbeck. The Log from the â€Å"Sea of Cortez†, Penguin Books. 1976 ————-. East of Eden, NewYork: Penguin Books. 1976 Lau, D. C. , trans. Lao Tzu :Tao Te Ching,New York: Penguin Books, 1963. Shimomura, Noboru. A Study of John Steinbeck: Mysticism in His Novel . Tokyo: The Hokuseido Press, 1982. Takahashi, Susumu. Roshi (On Lao Tzu ), Tokyo: Shimizu-shoin, 1970.