Interesting Quotes From Novel Alas, Babylon

Pat Franks classic novel Alas, Babylon  is filled with provocative quotes. Published in  1959, the book  takes place in Florida and is  centered around the Braggs. One of the first novels of the nuclear age, Alas, Babylon has a distinctly  post-apocalyptic bent. With this roundup of quotes, categorized by chapter, familiarize yourself with the prose that made this novel so unique.   Chapters 1-2 Urgent you meet me at Base Ops McCoy noon today. Helen and children flying to Orlando tonight. Alas Babylon. (Ch. 1)Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come. (Ch. 2)Sure. Time-on-target. You dont fire everything at the same instant. You shoot it so it all arrives on target at the same instant.  (Ch. 2) Chapters 4-5 Peewee may be a mouse aboard ship, but hes a tiger in a Tiger. If I sent him up with orders to shoot down the moon, hed try. (Ch. 4)So here comes our local Paul Revere, he greeted Randy. What are you trying to do, frighten my wife and daughter to death?  (Ch. 4)Ben Franklin, staring to the south, said, I dont see any mushroom cloud. Dont they always have a mushroom cloud?  (Ch. 5)Edgar hesitated. To refuse to cash government savings bonds was fiduciary sacrilege so awful that the possibility never before had entered his head. Yet here he was, faced with it. No, he decided, we dont cash any bonds. Tell those individuals that we wont cash any bonds until we find out where the government stands, or if.  (Ch. 5) Chapters 6-9 As Chief Executive of the United States, and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, I hereby declare a state of unlimited national emergency until such time as new elections are held, and Congress reconvenes. (Ch. 6)Whos winning? Nobodys winning. Cities are dying and ships are sinking and aircraft is going in, but nobodys winning.  (Ch. 6)In four months, Randy said, weve regressed four thousand years. More, maybe. Four thousand years ago the Egyptians and Chinese were more civilized than Pistolville is right now. Not only Pistolville. Think what must be going on in those parts of the country where they dont even have fruit and pecans and catfish.  (Ch. 8)I think most of us sensed this truth, but we could not accept it. You see, no matter how well we understood the truth it was necessary that the Kremlin understand it too. It takes two to make a peace but only one to make a war. So all we could do, while vowing not to strike first, was line up our lead soldiers. (Ch. 9)It was a w olf, Randy said. It wasnt a dog any longer. In times like these dogs can turn into wolves. You did just right, Ben. Here, take back your gun. (Ch. 9) Chapters 10-13 No. A company under martial law. So far as I know Im the only active Army Reserve officer in town so I guess its up to me.  (Ch. 10)The end of the corn and exhaustion of the citrus crop had been inevitable. Armadillos in the yams was bad luck, but bearable. But without fish and salt their survival was in doubt. (Ch. 12)Ben Franklin was credited with discovering a new source of food, and was a hero. Peyton was only a girl, fit for sewing, pot washing, and making beds.  (Ch. 12)It was proof that the government of the United States still functioned. It was also useful as toilet paper. Next day, ten leaflets would buy an egg, and fifty a chicken. It was paper, and it was money. (Ch. 13)We won it. We really clobbered em! Harts eyes lowered and his arms drooped. He said, Not that it matters. (Ch. 13)

Symbolic Elements in The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding the stranded boys come into contact with some particular elements that represent an idea which are called symbols. These symbols include the beast which represents the fear of the unknown and the darkness of mankind. The second symbol is the signal fire which represents hope. The third symbol is the conch shell which represents order. Golding indicates that when man is taken out of civilization, they have a natural instinct is to become evil, darkness and barbaric and these symbols help to support his opinion. One of the main problems that the boys had on the island was the beast. In their minds the beast was a terrible creature that was out to kill them. Their fear of the beast ruined†¦show more content†¦The fire was his only hope of keeping it together and acting like a human being. Once it was gone, so was any hope of being civilized. One of the most important symbols in Lord of the Flies is the conch shell. It represents law, order and power. The shell was the only way to gather everybody from their scattered places on the island. When the conch was blown the boys knew that the chief had something important to say. Once everyone was gathered at the meeting, the holder of the shell was the only person allowed to speak. In the novel, Golding compared the conch shell to its opposite; the pig’s head. The head contradicted the shell because it characterized chaos and terror. The shell also emphasized that power is fake. A flag is no more meaningful than the conch that Ralph had. It’s the meaning behind it and the meaning that people give it that makes it important. Rules are only powerful if everyone agrees on them. Ralph realized this once Jack left and took most of the group with him. If he blew the conch and no one came, the shell would lose all of its power. â€Å"If I blow the conch and they don’t come back; then we’ve had it. We shan’t keep the fire going. We’ll be like animals. We’ll never be rescued.† (Golding 124) When the conch breaks, so does Ralph’s power and Jack takes his spot as chief. William Golding uses young boys on an island as an example to show that the world isShow MoreRelatedLord Of The Flies Symbolism Analysis968 Words   |  4 Pages Lord of the Flies In William Goldings novel Lord of the Flies, he demonstrates the struggle of being trapped on an island containing no civilization and the attempt to remain safe. As the conflict starts to occur on the island, the battle to stay alive and hope to be rescued becomes more challenging for the boys. Throughout the novel, many symbolic elements become significant and are prominently used to get the reader to interpret things differently and see things in other perspectives. In theRead MoreLord Of The Flies By William Golding1589 Words   |  7 Pagesroles can turn into scourges. This concept is delineated in William Golding s novel, Lord of the Flies. After their plane crashes on a deserted island, a group of schoolboys attempt to create a functional and organized society whilst being forced to cope with the fact that there are no adults amongst them. Consequently, conflict and savagery emerge, leaving the boys with designated ranks consisting of varying levels of respect. These symbolic roles are the ultimate source of the boys’ corruption andRead MoreLiterary Elements In William Goldings Lord Of The Flies1340 Words   |  6 Pagescloak it.† In this quote, Ralph finds the answer to his question, as well as the overarching theme in Lord of the Flies. Golding utilizes a wide variety of literary elements to hint at what he wants the theme to be. However, one element is clearly superior to the others in its support of the novel’s overall theme. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s use of motifs is the most effective literary element in revealing the paramount theme of the novel: that removal from society directly causes a de-evolutionRead MoreLord of the Flies: A Comparison of the Novel and the Film1321 Words   |  5 PagesLord of the Flies: A Comparison of Novel and Film In 1954, at the height of Cold War tensions and in the continually unfolding aftermath of World War II, William Golding produced an allegorical novel of singular potency. With Lord of the Flies, Golding simultaneously captured the sense of our collective lost innocence and of our mutual descent into savagery, using a lot of castaway grade-school boys to demonstrate that such behavior may well be in mans inherent nature. Goldings text would notRead MoreGood And Evil In Lord Of The Flies Analysis1207 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout the Lord of the Flies, readers learn that people, including children, are not made of pure goodness. Deep inside there is an evil element consistently trying to rise to the surface of their minds. Golding proves that eventually the evil within the children will destroy them and the good around them. This is also proven in two other pieces of literature; one piece talking about the different techniques Golding uses to develop the theme called â€Å"The Fabl es of William Golding† and another pieceRead MoreEvaluation of the Lord of the Flies1781 Words   |  8 PagesEvaluation of The Lord of the Flies Lord of the Flies is a 202 page long adventure story written by William Golding in 1954 about a number of boys marooned on a tropical island and left to fend for themselves. While on the island, they discover quite a bit of evil within themselves. A few years after World War 2, a planeful of boys as young as 5 or 6 but most no older than 11 or 12 crashes near an uninhabited tropical island. As soon as they land, one of the eldest assumes leadership of theRead More Evaluation Of The Lord Of The Flies Essay1778 Words   |  8 Pages Evaluation of The Lord of the Flies nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Lord of the Flies is a 202 page long adventure story written by William Golding in 1954 about a number of boys marooned on a tropical island and left to fend for themselves. While on the island, they discover quite a bit of evil within themselves. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;A few years after World War 2, a planeful of boys as young as 5 or 6 but most no older than 11 or 12 crashes near an uninhabited tropical island. As soonRead MoreElements of Psychology and Sociology in The Lord of the Flies1386 Words   |  6 PagesElements of Psychology and Sociology in The Lord of the Flies In viewing the aspects of the island society, the author William Goldings Lord of the Flies as a symbolic microcosm of society. He chooses to set the children alone in an unsupervised world, leaving them to learn ‘ the ways of the world’ in a natural setting first hand. Many different perspectives can also be considered. Goldings island of marooned youngsters becomes a microcosm. The island represents the individual human and theRead MoreEssay on A Comparison of The Destructors and Lord of the Flies2333 Words   |  10 PagesA Comparison of The Destructors and Lord of the Flies      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Graham Greenes The Destructors, the author presents the Wormsley Common car-park gang, a group of adolescent delinquents who commit petty crimes for fun. William Golding, in his novel Lord of the Flies, presents a slightly younger group of boys who are wrecked on an uninhabited island and develop a primitive society that eventually collapses and gives way to despotic savagery. Although these two casesRead MoreLord of the Flies3107 Words   |  13 PagesLord of the Flies William Golding In Between the Modern and the Postmodern Content: 1. Fragments chosen.............................................................................. 2. In Between the Modern and the Postmodern - essey........................ 3. Questions.............................................................................................. 4. Bibliography........................................................................................ [

The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy

Questions: Despite the critiques of Porters five forces model, the framework remains an essential strategic tool that is taught in all business schools around the world. Porter himself remains convinced of the validity of his ideas and has recently responded to some of the critiques highlighted in your material. Please read the following article by Porter: Porter, M. E. (2008) The five competitive forces that shape strategy, Harvard Business Review, issue 1, pp. 7893, and then answer the following; A.i Critiques of Porters five forces concept (1980), suggest that might be inappropriate for application in non-competitive situations. (13 marks) A.ii Discuss the extent to which Porters five forces analysis may or may not apply to public sector organisations? Why? Support your answer with real life examples. (12 marks). B. Grant (2008) suggests that, while the five forces analysis enables us to develop an appreciation of an industrys potential for profit, it does not really discuss the characteristics of competition. Grant suggests that, organisations must deliver what customers want more effectively than their competitors do. He added that Key success factors are generally understood in terms of answers to these questions. Elaborate on Grants views and support your answer with real life examples. Answers: Question A: i) Porters five-force analysis tries to find out the level of competition within an industry and strategies in business development. The five forces are threat of substitute goods/services, competitive rivalry and threat from potential new entrants, power of the suppliers and power of the buyers (Chung 2013). The high competition reduces the power of the firm in a market scenario. A non-competitive situation in the market is regarded as the monopolistic market situation. Threat of potential new entry: Although a monopolistic market would want to limit this threat by creating high barriers to entry, no market is completely isolated from another, which means that external forces have the potency to admit new entrants to the market. Power of the buyer: As power of consumer increases, they would choose not only what the monopolisers offer but also what other players (manufacturers of goods/services) offer. Monopolisers tend to sell goods/services that are of high price but low quality. Power of the consumer can actually enable the customers to ignore the monopolisers and go for what the other manufacturers provide. Threat of Substitution: With time, buyers would definitely substitute goods/services from monopolisers to the competitors due to better quality and lower pricing. Power of supplier: Monopolistic markets tend to have low number of suppliers who control the entire market. They also control the prices, keeping them high. However, suppliers remain in constant fear of new entrants (Porter 2008). Competitive Rivalry: If there are more than a monopolisers in the same market, they tend to work together and not against each other. ii) The public and the private sector make strategies for marketing. Private sectors firm use the five competitive force strategy of Porter to analyze the external forces acting on the firm. But, with simple modifications, the five force strategy can be used in public sector agencies. Public sector agencies like Ministries and Departments uses the five force model to enforce laws and policies to steer the profit-making companies from making strategies detrimental to national interest. In the modified version of Porters Five Force model, the economic and political influences are integrated in the model (Dobbs 2014). The five forces like, threat of potential new entry, power of the buyer, threat of substitution, power of the supplier, competitive rivalry, affect the profit of an private company, a public organizations are more concerned with these forces affecting its ability to achieve its objective effectively. The Telecommunication industry in the Sultanate of Oman uses Porters Five Force Model to analyze the external forces acting on this industry (Kemp et.al. 2014). The analysis revealed that the competitive forces are competitive rivalry and threat of substitution. The threat to new entry and buyers power has remarkable effect, but suppliers power has a small effect. All the five forces have significant implication on the participants of the telecommunication industry of Oman. The participants of the telecommunication industry of Oman use the outcome of this analysis as a critical tool to construct strategies in the changing dynamics of this industry. This analysis also helps to identify the competitive forces acting on the telecommunication industry (Kotler et al. 2015). Question B: Grants model is a complement to Porters Five Force Model. The key success factors in Grants model are Customers demand Survival of a firm in face of competition These two factors are considered as the pre-requisite for success of a firm. Customers want can also be referred to as the demand analysis of the firm. The demand analysis can be divided into two parts to identify the target customers and their demand. The target consumer is a particular group of customer in the market on whom the firm concentrates while formulating marketing and advertising strategies. The firm communicates with the target consumer through electronic and print media. The target consumer having buying power provides the firm with profits. If the consumers give value to lower cost then firms can take advantage of economies of scale (Magretta 2013.). The survival of a firm in competition depends on intensity and dimensions of the competition it faces. The strategies of the firm are to obtain a higher position in the competitive scenario. A real life example following the Grant model is the National Bank of Oman. The banking system in National Banking of Oman has good reputation in satisfying their customer needs. They serve their customers according to their demands. Online banking with internet banking portal, relationship manager to handle phone banking are some of the ways in which the National Bank of Oman serve their customers. The objective of the National Bank of Oman is to provide service to their customers in a convenient and pleasant way. They help their customer to plan, protect and grow their finances both in long and short run. In 61 branches across the country, the bank is helping their consumers with relationship manager in each branch. The count of branches assures that the bank has been able to reach every corner of the country. Sarada wealth management is a service focused to provide benefits to the privileged customers. Mazaya banking service takes care of all banking and investment plan of the cus tomers. A cutthroat competition exists in the banking industry in Oman. Only the big financial institution can only be able to thrive through this competition. Out of total 18 commercial banks in Oman, only five has been able to remain in the comfort zone (Suneetha and Megharaj 2015). The National bank of Oman has been able to hold a second position in terms of net annual profits. This competition might be because of that a large number of banks targeting a small section as their customers. Thus, the survival of the fittest theory applies here. The bank able to serve and satisfy its customers will survive the competition. Oman being a country with relatively small population and a negative approach towards business expansion, financial innovation is absent here. Banks with poor customer service are just trying to scrap the business. Adapting technology and incorporating it in the banking system enhances customer service facilities. National Bank of Oman has been able to incorporate and use t echnology in serving their customers. It has been the most cost effective way to reach the target customers. References: Chung, C.Y., 2013. The Key Success Factors of Brand Extension for the Artists-Use Trendy Brand as an Example. Dobbs, M., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates.Competitiveness Review,24(1), pp.32-45. Kemp, Z.L.R.G., Jongsma, M.A., Huang, C., Dons, J.H. and Omta, S.O., 2014. Key Success Factors of Innovation Projects of Vegetable Breeding Companies in China.International Food and Agribusiness Management Review,17(4), p.177. Kotler, P., Burton, S., Deans, K., Brown, L. and Armstrong, G., 2015.Marketing. Pearson Higher Education AU. Magretta, J., 2013.Understanding Michael Porter: The essential guide to competition and strategy. Harvard business press. Porter, M.E. and Heppelmann, J.E., 2014. How smart, connected products are transforming competition.Harvard Business Review,92(11), pp.64-88. Porter, M.E., 2008. The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Suneetha, S. and Megharaj, B.R., 2015. Customer value through value delivery process in jewellery industry-intensity of customer conception (with special reference to Hyderabad and Secunderabad).South Asian Journal of Marketing Management Research,5(1), pp.86-101.