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Wagner College Forum for
Undergraduate Research
Fall 2014
Volume XIII, Number 1
��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is typically subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural
Sciences, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these sections are
limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific investigations (experimental,
theoretical and empirical). The third section is reserved for speculative papers based on
the scholarly review and critical examination of previous works.
As has become a tradition, the fall edition commences with a reprint of the abstracts of
papers and posters presented at the Eastern Colleges Science Conference this past spring.
The interested reader will then encounter the identification of very high molecular weight
proteins that bind Siglec-8-Fc and Siglec-9-Fc recombinant proteins potentially providing
a means of halting the misdirected immune responses that cause lung inflammation.
Moving on, one will explore the presence and causes of trauma in the human remains
excavated from the Huacas de Moche site and address the underlying social structure
within complex societies in the broad context of the Andes. This is followed by an
investigation of how globalization and the widespread use of the internet has influenced
free press and media rights throughout the world. Be sure not to miss the case study of
the 2003 invasion of Iraq or the essay on William McKinley and the Spanish-American
War that occurred a little over a century before.
Read on and enjoy!
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Miles Groth, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Lauren O'Hare, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference 1
Abstracts
3
Computational Modeling and Thermodynamic Trends for a Family
of Palladium Antimicrobial Agents
Joseph R. Persichetti, Valeria A. Stepanova, and Joseph K. West
3
Antimicrobial Effectiveness and Limitations of Novel Transition
Metal-Based Remedies
Lynn Tay, Christopher Corbo, and Valeria A. Stepanova
4
Pilot Study of Science Apathy Intervention in Public Elementary
Schools on Staten Island
Noura Hassan, Jennifer Lauria, and Valeria A. Stepanova
4
Neural Synchrony of Cortical Regions Devoted to Spatial and Auditory
Components of Working Memory in Musicians
Philip Fomina and Laurence J. Nolan
5
Missing High Energy Afterglows of Gamma-ray Bursts
6
An Analysis of the Fibonacci Sequence
6
Duration of Golf Ball From Initial Impact
6
The Biodiversity of Algae in Staten Island Lakes with Response to
Seasonal Change, Lake Size, Lake Depth, and Sunlight
Carrie E. Holt, J. Racusin, and D. Kocevski
Daniela DiMeglio, Dr. Raths, and Dr. Shahvar
Leobardo N. Dominguez and Dr. Otto Raths
Gregory M. Forsyth and Dr. Brian Palestis
7
Phototactic Responses of the Water Flea Daphnia magna to Different
Light Intensities of 520-nm and 690-nm Light
Salma Metwally and Donald E. Stearns
1
Papers and posters presented at the 68th Annual Eastern Colleges Science Conference held in
Poughkeepsie, NY on April 5, 2014.
�7
Comparison of the Population Growth of Oral Bacterial Colonies
When Introduced to Popular Brand Toothpastes
Thomas K. Nolan and Kathleen A. Bobbitt
8
The Effect of Na+/H+ Exchanger 6 on Tau Protein Aggregation
8
Thermodynamic versus Kinetic Control in the Syntheses of Amino
Acid Derivatives of Cyclopalladated Complexes
Pakinam Mekki, Hari Prasad, Kalyan Kondapalli, Ph.D., and Rajini Rao, Ph.D.
Samantha G. DeStefano and Valeria A. Stepanova
9
Analyzing the Effect of the Putative Endocrine Disrupting Chemical,
Dipentyl Phthalate on the Development and Viability of Male and
Female Drosophila Melanogaster
Kristiana R. Kalibat, Heather A. Cook, Zoltan L. Fulop, and Donald E. Stearns
10 Photobehavioral Responses of Daphnia magna to Selected Light Cues
Thomas Maher, Daniel Zaccariello, and Donald E. Stearns
10 Study of Thermodynamic Properties of Cyclopalladated Complexes
Bearing Fatty Acid Auxiliaries
Saad Idrees, Valeria A. Stepanova, and Joseph K. West
11 Spectrual Sensitivity of Daphnia magna at Four Selected Wavelengths
(470, 490, 630, 650 nm)
Samantha L. Kyvik, Rayna A. Silva, and Donald E. Stearns
11 The Effects of Dolasetron and Dapoxetine on the Feeding Behavior of
Larval Yellow Fever Mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti)
Enri Citozi, Edward M. Medina, and Horst Onken
12 Digital Microphotographic Atlas of the Adult Zebrafish Cerebellum
Kristen M. Lee, Megan B. Landy, Ashton Cline, Christopher Corbo, and Zoltan Fulop
12 Analysis of Oxidation Site Preferences in P-bridged Cyclodiphosphazanes
Rabije Cekovic and Joseph K. West
13 The Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemical Dimethylphthalate on the
Model Organism Drosophila melanogaster
�Sara Mfarrej and Dr. Heather Cook
13 Comparison of Transition Metal-Based Antimicrobial Agents and
Traditional Aseptic Techniques
Joseph D. Cuomo, Christopher Corbo, and Valeria A. Stepanova
14 Comparison of Solvent-Free and Traditional Approaches to Palladium and
Cobalt Complexes of Bis(carboxymethy)trithiocarbonate
Colleen N. Withers, Joseph K. West, and Valeria A. Stepanova
14 Development and Molecular Analysis of L. monocytogenes Infecting the
Central Nervous System of the Adult Zebrafish
Cira Cardaci, Monica Cipriani, Corey E. Gaylets, and Christopher P. Corbo
15 The Effects of Leaf Size and Misting on the Reproductive Success of
the Lemur Frog, Agalychnis lemur, in Captivity
Karina Roinestad, Patrick Connelly, Cathy Eser, and Dr. Christopher Corbo
15 The Physics of Golf
Jason A. Hopkins and Otto Raths
16 Composite Gel Electrophoresis Resolves Large Human Lung
Glycoproteins (Mucins) that Control Lung Inflammation
Melanie Krongold, Steve M. Fernandes, Anabel Gonzalez Gil, HuiFeng Yu,
Yadong Wei, and Dr. Ronald L. Schnaar
16 Study of Complex Formation of Palmitic Acid and Transition Metals
using Experimental & Computation Approaches
James P. Catalano, Joseph K. West, and Valeria A. Stepanova
17 Use of Morphological Techniques to Detect and Analyze Listeria
monocytogenes in the Optic Tectum of Adult Zebrafish
Brandon J. Kocurek, Anthony P. Spano, Corey E. Gaylets, and Christopher P. Corbo
Section II: The Natural Sciences
Full Length Papers
21 Composite Gel Electrophoresis Resolves Large Human Lung
Glycoproteins (Mucins) that Control Lung Inflammation
Melanie Elizabeth Krongold
�Section III: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
43 Distinguishing Trauma: An Analysis of Those Interred in the Tombs at
Huacas De Moche
Nicholas C. Gibaldi
63 Changes in the Media Landscape: The Impact of Globalization and
Widespread Internet Access on Free Press and Media Rights
Katelynn Rusnock
Section IV: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
81 Providing a Framework for Just War in United States Foreign Policy:
A Case Study of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
Kristen Matteoni
103 Stevens, Nietzsche, and Collective Enunciation
Joseph Messano
113 William McKinley and the Spanish-American War
Ian Bertschausen
125 “Time’s Injurious Hand”: The Destructiveness of Time in
Shakespeare’s Sonnets 63, 64, 65
Thomas Scarcella
131 Federico Fellini’s La Strada: Brutality, Fragility and the Search for
Identity in Post-War Italy
Francesca Catanzariti
139 No Man Will Define Bone: Self-Determined Identity in Bastard Out
of Carolina
Jessica Roberts
146 The Art of the Harlemite
Lena Ayechemi
���Computational Modeling and Thermodynamic Trends
for a Family of Palladium Antimicrobial Agents
Joseph R. Persichetti (Chemistry), Valeria A. Stepanova (Physical Sciences),and Joseph
K. West (Physical Sciences)
Organometallic palladium complexes display valuable antimicrobial properties,
particularly towards Gram(–)microorganisms, however, their mechanisms of action are
not transparent. We undertook a fundamental study of thermodynamic properties for a
family of cyclopalladated complexes to reveal the connection between their structural
features and desired biological properties. The target cyclopalladated complexes shared a
common organic backbone which varied in the type of heteroatom in the donor arm. As
leaving groups, halides and acetate were chosen. Optimal geometric configurations,
relative charge on the palladium center as well as Gibbs free energies for the hydrolysis
reactions were calculated using a HF/PCM method. The effects of variation for each
structural feature were compared and analyzed. Correlation between trends observed for
the calculated thermodynamic and observed antimicrobial properties have been
uncovered. These data were used to predict a candidate with desired biological properties.
Comparison of the observed antimicrobial activities and the expectations based on
theoretical estimates are provided.
Antimicrobial Effectiveness and Limitations
of Novel Transition Metal-Based Remedies
Lynn Tay (Biology), Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences), and Valeria A. Stepanova
(Physical Sciences)
The importance of antibiotics in medicine is beyond doubt; however, the use of
antibiotics is limited by the development of bacterial resistance and in addition is usually
limited to specific types of microorganisms. Transition metal complexes allow a
combination of small organic molecules and inorganic metals and leaving groups
together in one substance with the possibility of varying each and every part to combat
antibiotic resistance and various bacteria types. We studied a family of palladium(II)
compounds that contain varied organic backbones, donor groups and leaving groups.
Our findings show that structural features do allow for selective targeting of specific
organisms. S. aureus, E. coli, and P.aeruginosa were used during the course of this study.
Inhibition of bacterial growth in the presence of target compounds was analyzed using
3
�the disk diffusion method. The effectiveness of tested complexes was compared by
measuring zones of inhibition. Distinct antimicrobial activity against all three types of
microorganisms was observed depending on the compound chosen. Possible explanations
for the dependence of antimicrobial effectiveness on structural features of used
complexes were proposed.
Pilot Study of Science Apathy Intervention in
Public Elementary Schools on Staten Island1
Noura Hassan (Economics), Jennifer Lauria (Education), and Valeria A. Stepanova
(Physical Sciences)
This research project was developed to address needs for both enhancement of science
pedagogy in support of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) initiative, which aims
to prepare students for college and career readiness, as well as to foster enthusiasm for
learning and improve levels of engagement in the elementary grades. Wagner College
students developed several chemistry experiments to demonstrate interactively with
young learners in elementary school classrooms. These chemical activities were designed
to connect with topics outlined in K-12 curriculum. Two urban elementary schools
participated in the study. In the first, a 5th grade class of poor academic performance was
chosen, and in the second, a 1st grade honors class was involved. Students in both groups
were exposed to activities and their perspective was gauged using pre- and post
attitudinal surveys. Various teaching materials were prepared by Wagner students to help
K-12 teachers to replicate, conduct, and encourage hands-on chemistry experiences in
their own classrooms. In addition, the recording of in-person demonstrations by Wagner
students was initiated as an additional resource for students or educators who wish to
participate in the project in the future.
Neural Synchrony of Cortical Regions Devoted to Spatial and
Auditory Components of Working Memory in Musicians
Philip Fomina (Biopsychology) and Laurence J. Nolan (Psychology)
Musicians may have better working memory than non-musicians. Electroencephalography
(EEG) suggests that musicians exhibit larger amplitudes on the left cerebral hemisphere
1
Recipient of Excellence Award
4
�when processing music, particularly in the temporal region where the primary auditory
cortex is located. Shifting to the left hemisphere from the right (or lateralization) may occur
when listening to music transitions into processing of music, which may aid in their
cognitive control over working memory. The gamma frequency (30-100Hz) appears to be
distributed more in the brains of trained musicians than non-musicians; a frequency known
to demonstrate neural binding and synchrony between cortical regions, and most likely at
regions serving the visual sketchpad and phonological buffer components of working
memory. The interaction between these regions may contribute to musical-visual
abstraction, which in turn may be enhanced by musical training thus increasing musical
visual abstraction ability and thereby working memory. Male and female musicians of
varying training levels and control participants were tested. EEG recordings were made
while each completed the AMVI test, a putative measure of musical-visual abstraction and
working memory, to determine whether enhanced working memory in musicians is a result
of stronger binding between working memory cortices, lateralization, and musical-visual
abstraction.
Missing High Energy Afterglows of Gamma-ray Bursts 2
Carrie E. Holt (Physics), J. Racusin (CRESST/UMBC), and D. Kocevski (NASA
Goddard Flight Center)
The largest explosions in the Universe, Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs), are short-lived
signatures of a rare type of end stage of stellar evolution. We study the X-ray and
gamma-ray emission of these events with the Swift and Fermi observatories. High energy
gamma-ray (>100 MeV) emission from these objects is rare, only present in ~8% of
GRBs. We investigate whether or not there are bursts in the Swift sample that should
have been detectable by Fermi-LAT, in the scenario in which the observed x-rays and
gamma-rays share a common spectral component.
2
Recipient of Excellence Award
5
�An Analysis of the Fibonacci Sequence
Daniela DiMeglio (Mathematics), Dr. Raths (Physical Sciences), and Dr. Shahvar
(Mathematics and Computer Science)
The Fibonacci Sequence can be used as a model to describe a variety of phenomena in
mathematics, science, art, economics and nature. In mathematics, the Fibonacci sequence
leads to the golden ratio, spirals and curves. This talk will present some of these ideas.
Duration of Golf Ball From Initial Impact
Leobardo N. Dominguez (Physics) and Dr. Otto Raths (Physical Sciences)
In discovering a ratio in loss of kinetic energy, one can calculate the time it takes for a
ball to stop bouncing upon impact of a surface. It is difficult to assume the time it takes
for a ball to come to rest from the very first bounce, but provided a surface remains
somewhat uniform it is possible to approximate time duration. Understanding the time it
takes for a ball to come to rest may give an individual an idea as to how long they would
like to have their a particular ball in motion. Using the physic’s equation for kinetic
energy and the equation to calculate position, statistics were attained using data that was
observed. The use of an air track was essential in proving the validity of computing a
time lapse from these equations. It becomes interesting to see how angle, height, and the
surface upon which the ball makes impact have influence over the results obtained.
Having a better understanding of the motion of a golf ball may allow an individual to
better analyze and outline each situation, especially in a game of golf.
The Biodiversity of Algae in Staten Island
Lakes with Response to Seasonal Change,
Lake Size, Lake Depth, and Sunlight
Gregory M. Forsyth (Biology) and Dr. Brian Palestis (Biological Sciences)
Research on the determinants of species diversity is a major focus of community ecology.
The basis of my experiment was to observe the biodiversity of algae in Staten Island
lakes under different environmental parameters. These parameters include: seasonal
change, the amount of sunlight, differences in water depth, and the overall size of the
body of water. I made observations based on collections of water and algae samples from
6
�three different lakes, each of varying size, at different depths and exposed sunlight,
throughout the months of the summer and fall. To view these samples I created slides
with the water samples and observed them under a light microscope. The results varied
under the different conditions. Water samples from the largest lake had higher
biodiversity, followed by the smallest lake and finally the middle-sized lake. Greater
biodiversity was also found at deeper depths and on sunnier days. Finally, the
biodiversity of algae was higher in the summer months, and eventually died off during
the fall months.
Phototactic Responses of the Water Flea Daphnia magna to
Different Light Intensities of 520-nm and 690-nm Light 3
Salma Metwally (Biopsychology) and Donald E. Stearns (Biological Sciences)
Under controlled laboratory conditions, individual Daphnia magna were exposed to
selected light intensities of 520-nm and 690-nm light. Phototactic responses were
recorded and used to determine the animal’s degree of photoresponsiveness to different
light cues. At 520 nm, all tested light intensities (range = .015 to 1.6 µEm-2s-1) showed
positive phototaxis when compared with dark controls, with no significant differences
among the tested light intensities. At 690 nm, however, the photoresponses, while not
significantly different from the dark controls, trended towards positive phototaxisat 1.6
µEm-2s-1 and towards negative phototaxis at .015 and .44 µEm-2s-1. These results
indicate that the direction and degree of phototaxis in D. magna depends on the specific
combination of wavelength and light intensity.
Comparison of the Population Growth of Oral Bacterial
Colonies When Introduced to Popular Brand Toothpastes
Thomas K. Nolan (Biopsycholgy) and Kathleen A. Bobbitt (Biological Sciences)
Oral hygiene has become such an important health factor for many individuals in recent
years. With this build in popularity, nice teeth have become a pinpoint staple of what is
considered to be attractive. Every year more and more people elect to take better care of
their teeth by getting braces at a young age, or even choosing to have their teeth
3
Recipient of Excellence Award
7
�whitened. However, to prevent the “unattractive” yellowing of your teeth the most basic
step of oral hygiene, brushing your teeth, must always be taken. However, with so many
different brands of toothpastes, how is one supposed to know which brand will get the job
done. This research study was designed to test which brands of toothpaste will allow the
least amount of bacterial growth at different time intervals. The toothpaste brands that
were chosen for this research were Crest, Colgate, Aquafresh, Tom’s of Maine, and
MasticDent. After comparison the toothpaste which allowed the largest bacterial growth
was Colgate’s Cavity Protection. The toothpaste which allowed the least amount of
bacterial growth was Crest’s Cavity Protection Gel Toothpaste.
The Effect of Na+/H+ Exchanger 6
on Tau Protein Aggregation
Pakinam Mekki (Biology), Hari Prasad (Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine),
Kalyan Kondapalli, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine), and Rajini
Rao, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine)
Na+/H+ exchangers are highly conserved ion transporters found in all branches of the
evolutionary tree. Members of the NHE family are classified based on their subcellular
localization, either residing in the plasma membrane or in the membrane of intracellular
organelles. Specifically, isoform NHE6 regulates the luminal pH of early/sorting and
recycling endosomes. Patients with loss of function mutations in NHE6 have a form of
Angelman syndrome, characterized by epilepsy, mental retardation, and deposition of tau
protein in the brain. In this study, the effect of NHE6 overexpression on tau-expressing
HEK 293 cells was investigated using immunofluorescence, confocal imaging, and
Western blotting. Our preliminary results indicate that NHE6 levels have a direct effect
on tau protein levels in HEK 293 cells.
Thermodynamic versus Kinetic Control in the Syntheses of
Amino Acid Derivatives of Cyclopalladated Complexes
Samantha G. DeStefano (Biopsychology) and Valeria A. Stepanova (Physical Sciences)
The discovery of cisplatin initiated research towards metal complexes bearing similar
properties. Although many of them were synthesized only few are used. One of the main
8
�drawbacks of metallotherapeutics is their low water solubility. We suggested that use of
amino acids as metal auxiliaries will allow for enhanced water solubility and, in addition,
improve stability towards hydrolysis. For this study we chose a dimeric cyclopalladated
complex based on N,N-dimethylbenzylamine organic ligand that bears a chloride or
acetate leaving group. Glycine was used as an amino acid auxiliary due to its high
solubility in water and very simple structural features. The syntheses of these derivatives
were performed under kinetic control, using room temperature and solvent-based
methodology, as well as under thermodynamic control, using elevated temperatures and a
solvent-free approach. The comparison of obtained products’ structures and their yields
was performed. The study of biological effectiveness of formed substances using
microorganisms was initiated.
Analyzing the Effect of the Putative Endocrine Disrupting
Chemical, Dipentyl Phthalate on the Development and
Viability of Male and Female Drosophila Melanogaster
Kristiana R. Kalibat (Biopsychology), Heather A. Cook (Biological Sciences), Zoltan L.
Fulop (Biological Sciences), and Donald E. Stearns (Biological Sciences)
The ubiquitous nature of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), has created a growing
concern of the reproductive and developmental effects these chemicals have on living
systems and their progeny. EDCs disrupt normal hormonal signaling through a variety of
mechanisms, including mimicry of hormonal action and blockage of binding to target
receptors. Encompassing a diverse range of both natural and synthetic chemicals, EDC
exposure can occur through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposure. The goal of this
project was to examine the effect of the plasticizer dipentyl phthalate (DPP) a putative
EDC on the viability and development of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. A
previous study found high concentrations of DPP is toxic to fruit flies (Emilio and Cook,
unpublished). For this current study, cultured fruit flies were fed low concentrations of
DPP (1, 10, and 100 ppm) over a period of 14 days and compared to control flies. The
effect of low doses of DPP on viability, pupae formation and metamorphosis was assayed.
The data indicate no decrease in viability across any of the tested concentrations, but
preliminary data suggest that DPP may act as a reproductive stimulant at very low dosage.
Further experiments are needed to confirm this observation.
9
�Photobehavioral Responses of
Daphnia magna to Selected Light Cues
Thomas Maher (Biology), Daniel Zaccariello (Biology), and Donald E. Stearns
(Biological Sciences)
Photobehavioral responses of the freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna were recorded at
selected combinations of wavelength and light intensity. The daphnid show negative
phototaxis to 430 nm light at an intensity of 1.6 µEm-2s-1. When the wavelength was
changed to 450 nm or 590 nm, however, the response was a positive phototaxis, even
though the light intensity was not changed. In addition, the daphnid showed negative
phototaxis at 430 nm, 450 nm, and 590 nm when tested at a light intensity of 0.01 µEm2s-1.These results indicate that the direction and degree of phototaxis depends on the
unique combination of wavelength and light intensity for this crustacean.
Study of Thermodynamic Properties of Cyclopalladated
Complexes Bearing Fatty Acid Auxiliaries
Saad Idrees (Biology), Valeria A. Stepanova (Physical Sciences), and Joseph K. West
(Physical Sciences)
Several platinum compounds have shown outstanding antimicrobial and antitumor
properties, and although numerous platinum complexes were synthesized only few are
used. Palladium analogues are known for their fast decomposition rates and decreased
biological effectiveness. We suggested that the use of a fatty acid delivery system for the
palladium atom will allow controlling the rate of their hydrolysis providing desired
biological properties. For this model a cyclopalladated N,N-dimethylbenzylamine was
chosen since it alone has shown biological activity. Additional stabilization of the
palladium center was ensured using pyridine as a ligand. The fourth coordination site on
palladium was varied using short-, medium-, and long-chain fatty acid carboxylates.
Molecular geometries of target palladium complexes have been constructed using the
Avogadro program. Cis and trans conformations (for unsaturated fatty acids) of resulting
complexes were taken into account as well. Optimization was conducted in the aqueous
solution phase using GAMESS (General Atomic and Molecular Electronic Structure
System) program in the RHF/PCM model. Gibbs free energies for the first hydrolysis
reaction were recorded for each complex after the optimization. Observed correlations
between found Gibbs free energies and length of the fatty acid are discussed.
10
�Spectrual Sensitivity of Daphnia magna at Four
Selected Wavelengths (470, 490, 630, 650 nm)
Samantha L. Kyvik (Biology), Rayna A. Silva (Biology), and Donald E. Stearns
(Biological Sciences)
Using phototactic behavioral responses to different light cues, this research examined the
photosensitivity of the freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna. This research involved the
exposure of D. magna to four different wavelengths (470, 490, 630, 650 nm). For each
wavelength, the animals were tested at five light intensities (1.6, 0.58, 0.44, 0.04,
0.01µEm-2s-1), as well as a dark control group. During each experiment, the location of
the organism after light exposure indicated whether that particular organism responded to
the light cue. The collected data were analyzed using analysis of variance, and sometimes
followed by the Tukey Test to determine which group significantly (p<.05) differed from
other groups. It was generally found that at higher light intensities, the organisms were
positively phototactic for red wavelengths (630, 650 nm). However, at low light
intensities, the test organisms were positively phototactic in the blue wavelengths (470,
490 nm). The results from this research are comparable to findings from past research
regarding wavelength and light intensity factors in determining photoreactivity of D.
magna.
The Effects of Dolasetron and Dapoxetine on the Feeding
Behavior of Larval Yellow Fever Mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti)
Enri Citozi (Biology), Edward M. Medina (Biopsychology), and Horst Onken (Biological
Sciences)
It is known that serotonin (5-HT) stimulates anterior midgut alkalinization, posterior
midgut re-acidification, midgut nutrient absorption and midgut peristalsis in larval yellow
fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti). This study investigates the role of serotonin in
regulating larval feeding behavior. The diving frequencies of fed and unfed larval
mosquitoes were observed in different water depths. The observations were repeated in
the presence of 10µM Dolasetron (antagonist of ionotropic 5-HT3 receptors) dissolved in
DMSO and in the presence of 10µM Dapoxetine (SSRI). DMSO alone had no effect on
diving frequencies. Dolasetron decreased diving frequencies for fed larvae in 2, 5 and
10cm depths, had no effect at 20cm, and increased diving in 30cm depth. Diving
frequencies in unfed larvae were unchanged for 2, 5, 10 and 20cm, while it increased
11
�diving in 30cm depth. Dapoxetine decreased diving frequency for fed and unfed larvae in
2, 5 and 10cm depths. In deeper depths (20 and 30cm), Dapoxetine increased diving in
fed larvae, but decreased diving in unfed animals. The observations of the present study
may indicate that serotonin influences feeding dives in complex ways. Further studies are
necessary to elucidate the role of serotonin in larval mosquito feeding behavior.
Digital Microphotographic Atlas
of the Adult Zebrafish Cerebellum
Kristen M. Lee (Biopsychology), Megan B. Landy (Biopsychology), Ashton Cline
(Biopsychology), Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences), and Zoltan Fulop (Biological
Sciences)
Sagittal, coronal and horizontal, one micron thick plastic (semithin) sections of adult
zebrafish (Danio rerio) brain were cut serially using an ultramicrotome, mounted on glass
slides and stained with toluidine blue. Each cerebellar region of the brain sections were
photographed in 40X using a computer assisted Olympus light microscope, montaged and
arranged in series. Roughly 10 slices from each sectional orientation were selected. The
resulting pictures are presented in pairs, so the three dimensional anatomical relationships
of the zebrafish cerebellum can be visualized. The final product resulted in a digital
microphotographic atlas of the adult zebrafish cerebellum. This research was done as a
partial fulfillment of the student author’s senior thesis work for biology and/or
biopsychology majors.
Analysis of Oxidation Site Preferences in
P-bridged Cyclodiphosphazanes
Rabije Cekovic (Physician Assistamt) and Joseph K. West (Physical Sciences)
Cyclodiphosphazanes, four-membered, P-, N-containing ring systems are useful ligands
for transition metal catalysts, due to their steric shielding, chelating tendencies and
structural varieties. Direct oxidation of the phosphorus centers (via O2, S8 or Se8) is one
of several ways to affect these ligands’ electronic properties and binding-site preference.
We have conducted a detailed, investigation of the preferred thermodynamic pathway for
the partial and complete oxidation of the bridged cyclodiphosphazane,
P(NtBu)]2(NtBu)2PCl, with the commonly applied chalcogenic oxidants. Furthermore,
12
�we have investigated solvent polarity effects on these pathway preferences by modeling
these reactions in both toluene and DMSO.
The Effects of Endocrine Disrupting
Chemical Dimethylphthalate on the
model organism Drosophila melanogaster
Sara Mfarrej (Biology) and Dr. Heather Cook (Biological Sciences)
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have become a foundation of major concern on
wildlife and human health. EDCs are compounds that disrupt the production of chemical
messengers known as hormones. Current studies illustrate that dimethyl phthalate (DMP),
an endocrine disrupting chemical, greatly affects the viability of adult fruit flies and the
formation of fly pupae. However, it is still not clear if DMP is directly interfering with
their development, or if the decrease in the pupae number is due to the decrease of fly
viability. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect DMP has on the model
organism Drosophila melanogaster. Thus, students hypothesized that feeding the fruit
flies high concentrations of DMP may influence their development. First off, in day 0, 048 hr old flies were exposed to varying concentrations of DMP : 0ppm, 5,000 ppm,
10,000 ppm, and 15,000 ppm. On day 10, the pupae born were counted. From days 12-16,
the newly enclosed flies were also counted and examined carefully in each ppm
concentration. In the final results, the total pupae formation and total newly eclosed flies
decreased significantly in the higher ppm concentrations, which illustrated how DMP had
a negative impact on the fruit flies.
Comparison of Transition Metal-Based Antimicrobial
Agents and Traditional Aseptic Techniques
Joseph D. Cuomo (Microbiology), Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences), and
Valeria A. Stepanova (Physical Sciences)
Compounds containing transition metals have shown valuable antimicrobial properties. In
our group we focus on organometallic compounds of palladium(II), namely cyclopalladated
complexes. These complexes combine two organic ligands, a metal center, and leaving
group, which is usually a halide. Several structurally different cyclopalladated complexes
were obtained and the study of their antimicrobial effectiveness was undertaken using the
13
�disk diffusion method. L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa were chosen
as the test microorganisms, providing an array of Gram(+) and Gram(–) bacteria. In
comparison the inhibition of growth for these organisms using traditional antibiotics, such
as streptomycin, vancomycin, bacitracin, and penicillin was examined and analysis of
observed zones of inhibition was performed. The tested cyclopalladated compounds showed
either similar or enhanced inhibition of growth, especially for Gram(–) microorganisms. A
detailed comparison of effects for certain structural features of cyclopalladated complexes
and their resulting antimicrobial properties is entailed.
Comparison of Solvent-Free and Traditional
Approaches to Palladium and Cobalt
Complexes of Bis(carboxymethy)trithiocarbonate
Colleen N. Withers (Chemistry), Joseph K. West (Physical Sciences), and
Valeria A. Stepanova (Physical Sciences)
Bis(carboxymethyl)thrithiocarbonate ligand possess three different binding modes that are
seen in the corresponding transition metal complexes. Theoretical calculations of target
ligand binding modes with Pd(II) and Co(II) metals showed thermodynamic preference for
the tetradentate complex formation. We proposed that using two different synthetic
approaches, such as solvent-based and solvent-free methodologies, the ligand’s
coordination mode towards metals can be controlled. After isolation, purification, and
characterization of the products, comparison of the outcomes for the two synthetic
approaches with theoretical data was made.
Development and Molecular Analysis of L. monocytogenes
Infecting the Central Nervous System of the Adult Zebrafish
Cira Cardaci, Monica Cipriani (Microbiology), Corey E. Gaylets (Microbiology), and
Christopher P. Corbo (Biological Sciences)
Listeria moncytogenes is a gram-positive, intracellular pathogen that causes listeriosis.
Listeriosis is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, newborns, elderly people, and
the immunocompromised and in extreme cases leads to death. The goal of this work was to
establish a model where L .monocytogenes enters the central nervous system in zebrafish.
To accomplish this, the iris of the each fish was injected with a 24-hour L. monocytogenes
14
�cells. We hypothesized that the Listeria travels along the optic nerve subsequently entering
and infecting the optic tectum. Zebrafish brains were analyzed 2, 3, 7 and 14 days post
infection. The brains were extracted and sonicated to isolate total protein. A western blot
was done using primary antibodies against Listeria surface proteins as well as the ActA
virulence factor. This protein is used for actin recruitment and as a way to escape the host
cell. It is only expressed when the organism is causing an infection and is therefore used as
a marker of pathogenesis. From this study, we conclude that Listeria was able to infect the
central nervous system of the zebrafish. Additionally, we showed that not only were L.
monocytogenes cells present in the tissue, but the ActA protein was expressed.
The Effects of Leaf Size and Misting on the Reproductive
Success of the Lemur Frog, Agalychnis lemur, in Captivity
Karina Roinestad (Microbiology), Patrick Connelly (Microbiology), Cathy Eser (Staten
Island Zoo), and Dr. Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences)
The Agalychnis lemur, (Lemur Frog) is a nocturnal frog species found in the humid
lowlands of Costa Rica. The sample to be used in the experiment are the offspring of
parents collected from the wild by Staten Island menagerie keeper, Cathy Eser. The
Lemur Frog is a critically endangered species due to habitat loss from deforestation. Two
experiments will be conducted in order to test the effects of certain variables on breeding
rate and success. One experiment will test the effects of using broader leaved plants while
the other experiment will test the effects of increased misting levels. Each experiment
will be conducted in a separate vivarium. The same control vivarium and the same frog
sample will be used for both experiments. The Lemur frogs will be monitored for 30
days during mating season. Reproductive success will be measured by the number of
eggs laid and the total number of viable eggs produced. These experiments aim to
increase breeding success in the species by providing a better environment for egg laying
and development. The experiment also aims to exemplify how the loss of the appropriate
environment for reproduction is leading to population decline in the Lemur Frogs.
The Physics of Golf
Jason A. Hopkins (Physics) and Otto Raths (Physical Sciences)
The statistical distribution of golf shots using various clubs (Lob Wedge through Driver)
are analyzed and presented.
15
�Composite Gel Electrophoresis Resolves Large Human Lung
Glycoproteins (Mucins) that Control Lung Inflammation4
Melanie Krongold (Biology), Steve M. Fernandes (University of Arizona), Anabel
Gonzalez Gil (Johns Hopkins University), HuiFeng Yu (Johns Hopkins University),
Yadong Wei (Johns Hopkins University), and Dr. Ronald L. Schnaar (Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine)
The immune system is highly regulated, in part by cell-cell interactions that either
activate or inhibit immune responses. When these interactions are disrupted, the resulting
misdirected immune responses can lead to immune diseases such as allergic asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 are cell surface
molecules on eosinophils and neutrophils, respectively, that normally inhibit immune
responses. They recognize and bind to specific sialylated glycans on target tissues (like
the lung), then induce immune cell apoptosis. Large (>500 kDa) sialylated proteins
called mucins on the surface of human lung tissues were identified as likely Siglec
counter receptors. The goal of my research was to resolve, transfer, and identify these
large mucins, or Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 counter receptors, from human lung tissue using
detergent and/or guanidine extracts of human lung parenchyma, bronchus and trachea. I
have developed SDS-urea agarose polyacrylamide composite gel electrophoresis as a tool
to identify very high molecular weight proteins that bind Siglec-8-Fc and Siglec-9-Fc
recombinant proteins. Their identification will help us understand the control of lung
inflammation in allergic asthma and COPD, and perhaps develop new ways to halt
misdirected immune responses.
Study of Complex Formation of Palmitic Acid and Transition
Metals using Experimental & Computation Approaches
James P. Catalano (Chemistry), Joseph K. West (Physical Sciences), and Valeria A.
Stepanova (Physical Sciences)
Data regarding the synthesis and antimicrobial potential of compounds based on fatty
acids and transition metals are scarce. We suggest that these substances can be
particularly useful against Gram(–) bacteria due to the presence of a fatty acid chain in
both complexes and the lipid barrier of those microorganisms. Synthesis of fatty acid
transition metal complexes have been accomplished using either solvent or solvent–free
4
Recipient of Excellence Award
16
�approaches. For the solvent–free methodology silica gel was used to conduct the reaction.
The synthetic outcomes of the two approaches were compared. The obtained products
were isolated and purified. The purity check and structure elucidation using IR, 1H, and
13C NMR spectroscopy, as well as melting point tests were undertaken. The theoretical
calculations of Gibbs free energy for several possible products were performed using
GAMES. The observed theoretical thermodynamic preferences were compared to the
observed experimental data. The study of antimicrobial properties of obtained complexes
was initiated using Gram (+) and Gram (–) bacteria.
Use of Morphological Techniques to
Detect and Analyze Listeria monocytogenes
in the Optic Tectum of Adult Zebrafish 5
Brandon J. Kocurek (Microbiology), Anthony P. Spano (Microbiology), Corey E. Gaylets
(Microbiology), and Christopher P. Corbo (Biological Sciences)
Listeria monocytogenes is a food bourne, intracellular bacterium, which is known to enter
the central nervous system. Listeriosis, the infection caused by L. monocytogenes, is
usually cleared by a patient's immune system normally, however the immunocompromised, the very young, very old and pregnant women are prone to a more serious
infection. In extreme cases, listeriosis leads to death. To model a central nervous system
in adult zebrafish, a 24-hour Listeria monocytogenes culture was injected into the eye.
Being an intracellular pathogen, we hypothesized that Listeria would enter the optic
tectum via the optic nerve. At certain time points post injection, zebrafish brains were
fixed, frozen sectioned or embedded in resin and sectioned using glass knives and
analyzed using various microscopy tools. We found that Listeria did enter the optic tectum
via the optic nerve. The cells of the periventricular grey zone of the optic tectum were
infected with L. monocytogenes cells. Additionally, evidence of L. monocytogenes leaving
the host cells was present.
5
Recipient of Excellence Award
17
����Composite Gel Electrophoresis Resolves Large Human Lung
Glycoproteins (Mucins) that Control Lung Inflammation 1
Melanie Elizabeth Krongold (Biology) 2
The immune system is highly regulated, in part by cell-cell interactions that either
activate or inhibit immune responses. When these interactions are disrupted, the resulting
misdirected immune responses can lead to immune diseases such as allergic asthma and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 are cell surface
molecules on eosinophils and neutrophils, respectively, that normally inhibit immune
responses. They recognize and bind to specific sialylated glycans on target tissues (like
the lung), then induce immune cell apoptosis. Large (>500 kDa) sialylated proteins
called mucins on the surface of human lung tissues were identified as likely Siglec
counter receptors. The goal of my research was to resolve, transfer, and identify these
large mucins, or Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 counter receptors, from human lung tissue using
detergent and/or guanidine extracts of human lung parenchyma, bronchus and trachea. I
have developed SDS-urea agarose polyacrylamide composite gel electrophoresis as a tool
to identify very high molecular weight proteins that bind Siglec-8-Fc and Siglec-9-Fc
recombinant proteins. Their identification will help us understand the control of lung
inflammation in allergic asthma and COPD, and perhaps develop new ways to halt
misdirected immune responses.
I. Introduction
The Human Trachea and Lung
The human trachea and lungs are structures of the respiratory system. The
trachea is made mostly of cartilage and lined by epithelial cells with both mucus and
cilia, which obstructs the migration of foreign particles to the lung. There is both a right
and left lung in the human body; each is divided into lobes (Figure 1, Lynch, 2006 & Van
De Graff, 1992). Each lobe contains an extension of the trachea, which is referred to as
1
Presented at the 68th Eastern Colleges Science Conference held in Poughkeepsie, NY
on April 5, 2014 and received an Excellence Award.
2
Research performed under the direction of Dr. Ronald Schnaar, Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine.
21
�the right and left primary bronchus. As the bronchi divide deeper into the lungs, they
branch off to form the secondary and tertiary bronchi (Van De Graff, 1992). Smaller
branches from the secondary and tertiary bronchi, called bronchioles, are lined by layers
of thick smooth muscle, which allow constriction and dilation. Even deeper into the
lungs, the end of the bronchioles, referred to as the terminal bronchioles, lead to the
alveolar sacs which encase the alveoli (Van De Graff, 1992). Lung parenchyma
incorporates the main tissues of the lung (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Analysis of human lung compartments (Modified from Lynch, 2006)
The functions of the respiratory system, as a whole, include gas exchange as well as
providing a defense against antigens. Obstruction of any part of the respiratory system by
antigen-antibody interactions may lead to disorders characterized by inflammation.
Allergic Asthma/ COPD
Allergic asthma is typically associated with eosinophilic lung inflammation
(Lung Inflammatory Disease Program of Excellence in Glycoscience-LIDPEG). Chronic
obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) is characterized by the obstruction of airflow
due to inflammation of the airways and is associated with neutrophilic lung inflammation
(LIDPEG). The primary cause is smoking (Leach, 2011). Both allergic asthma and
COPD may be detrimental to one’s health as they may lead to difficulty in breathing due
to the narrowing of the air passages during inflammation. COPD is complicated by
inflammatory destruction of air sacs, or alveoli (LIDPEG).
22
�Both allergic asthma and COPD involve an inflammation of the small airways
and alveoli, while the upper respiratory tract may also be affected. With a healthy
immune system, the body is able to respond to antigens associated with pathogens, so it
may rid the body of unwanted materials; however, by doing so, the body may elicit an
immune response upon ligation with these antigens, which can lead to the onset of
chronic inflammation (LIDPEG). Inflammation of the respiratory system may lead to
airway obstruction, making breathing a daunting task for patients who are affected. The
study of the cellular processes that involve immune cell interactions in the human body
may provide new treatments for the respiratory disorders allergic asthma and COPD.
The Role of Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 in the Immune System
Siglecs (Sialic-acid binding immunoglobulin-like lectins) are proteins present on
the surface of human immune cells that are able to recognize and bind sialic acids, which
are found on the termini of cell surface glycoconjugate structures (Figure 2, Crocker et
al., 2007). According to Varki (1999), sialic acids have been found to have the ability to
inhibit both intermolecular and intercellular interactions. Siglecs are extremely specific
and bind only to certain sialic-acid containing glycans. There are fourteen known human
Siglecs (Farid, et al., 2012); each one has its own unique specificity for different ligands
containing sialic-acid. This tells us that each Siglec most likely carries out a particular
function when bound to a specific type of sialylated glycan (counter receptor) (Crocker et
al., 2007).
Figure 2: Siglecs, located on immune cells, recognize and bind sialylated glycans
(counter receptors) on specific ligands. (From Crocker et al., 2007).
23
�The focus of this research was on Siglec-8 and Siglec-9, which are expressed on
eosinophils and neutrophils, respectively. They are able to recognize and bind to (ligate)
glycoproteins and glycolipids, which function as ‘counter receptors’ for Siglecs, as well
as many other glycan-binding proteins (Crocker et al., 2007). According to Crocker,
many immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM)- containing receptors are
recognized for their inhibitory effects of the immune system. Upon ligation, immune cell
membrane receptors containing (ITIMs) become phosphorylated, recruiting SHP
phosphatase. As a result, it is believed that SHP will stimulate inhibitory signaling,
ultimately leading to apoptosis of the immune cell (Crocker, 2009). Inducing
inflammatory cell death by targeting eosinophils and neutrophils may provide us with a
new method of allergic asthma and COPD treatment, respectively.
Using SDS-Urea Agarose Polyacrylamide Composite Gel Electrophoresis
To separate macromolecules such as proteins, a technique called SDS-PAGE
(sodium dodecyl sulfate- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) was used. SDS is a
detergent used to denature proteins to their primary structure, to make them more linear
and easily recognizable when run on the gel. The SDS provides the primary structure
proteins with a negative charge, ensuring that they will all run towards the same direction
(the positive pole when a current is induced). The polyacrylamide in the gel will provide
an environment that will allow sieving of our proteins of interest to separate them by size.
Separating proteins by size can help us to identify different proteins in a sample, as well
as identify how large or small their size is. In the case of this study, we intended to
separate very large proteins.
In this study, glycoproteins were isolated from human lung tissue and trachea
samples that were extremely large, most being greater than 500 kDa. At this high
molecular weight, these proteins needed to be run on a stable gel with relatively large
pores that could separate them, even with very small differences in their large molecular
weights, while maintaining a good resolution so that they could be identified.
Previous studies in the lab showed that resolution on the commercial 4-12%
Tris-Acetate and 3-8% Bis-Tris gels was difficult to achieve due to small pore size and
gel instability. Using a procedure adapted from Karlsson et al. (2011), agarose was
incorporated into the polyacrylamide gels to maintain a more sturdy gel even with very
large pores, for handling purposes, as well as to introduce urea into the gel mixture so
that one could cast these delicate gels at room temperature. The addition of urea was
24
�shown to have no effect on the migration of mucins down the gradient gels (Karlsson et
al., 2011). The SDS- Urea Agarose Polyacrylamide composite gels were used to run
human lung and trachea samples containing very large molecular weight proteins (>500
kDa) to enhance resolution compared to gels previously used.
II. Objectives
The purpose of this research was to develop an enhanced method of protein
resolution through the preparation and utilization of SDS- Urea Agarose Polyacrylamide
composite gel electrophoresis. The addition of agarose into the gel mixture allowed for
better reproducibility of the gel, as it provided stability for very large pore gels and made
them easier to handle when transferring. The polyacrylamide was used in order to
accurately regulate the pore size in the gel, which is ideal when attempting to resolve
large macromolecules. Urea was incorporated into the gel mixture in order to avoid
casting gels at an elevated temperature. The urea was able to help slow the
polymerization of acrylamide, which was an important factor when determining if the
gels were polymerizing uniformly. Using this method, we hope to be able to identify
large human lung counter receptors (ligands) for two specific Siglecs (sialic-acid binding
immunoglobulin-like lectins), Siglec-8 and Siglec-9, which are proteins found on
immune cells. A main function of Siglec proteins is the control of inflammation (Siglec-8
on eosinophils, and Siglec-9 on neutrophils). The identification of these proteins’ ligands
may aid in the development of new treatments for allergic asthma and COPD.
III. Materials and Methods
Biological Material
Samples were obtained from human lung tissue including the parenchyma,
trachea, and bronchus. All samples were processed in the same fashion and stored under
identical conditions.
Human Lung Tissue
Human lung parenchyma, trachea, and bronchus were obtained from three
individuals, identified as donors, 10, 12, and 17 (D10, D12, D17). Donor 10 was a 45
year old female who smoked only half a pack to one pack of cigarettes throughout her
adult lifetime. Samples were obtained from the left lung. Donor 12 was a 53 year old
male who smoked a half a pack to one pack of cigarettes daily for forty years. Samples
25
�were obtained from the right lung. Donor 17 was a 26 year old male with an unknown
smoking history. Samples were obtained from the right lung. The cause of death for all
donors was head trauma/ blunt injury. Donors 10 and 12 had a slightly blackened
appearance, while the lung of donor 17 was mostly pink in color.
Siglec-8 and Siglec-9
Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 chimera, each produced with a human Fc “tag,” were precomplexed with anti-human Fc to probe western blot membranes after gel transfer. “Fc,”
or fragment crystallizable, is a region on an antibody that is able to bind to a cell surface
receptor (Czajkowsky, 2012). 1.5 μL Homologous Recombination Repaired (HRR)-Fc
was added to 500 μL 0.1% phosphate buffer saline with Tween (PBST). This was then
separated into two aliquots of 300 μL and 200 μL. Then, 10 μL Siglec-8-Fc and 30 μL
Siglec-9-Fc were added to each aliquot, respectively. These were left for one hour on the
shaker and brought to 5 mL with 0.1% PBST.
Other Materials
Homogenization Buffers
Lung parenchyma and trachea samples were prepared by homogenizing in either
detergent lysis buffer (pH 7.4) or 6M guanidine-HCl Extraction Buffer (pH 6.5).
Detergent lysis buffer (pH 7.4) contained 20 mM Tris-HCl, 150mM NaCl, 1.0mM CaCl2,
2.0mM MgCl2, 0.3% CHAPS, 1% NP-40. Protease inhibitors were added freshly to
obtain a 1:1000 dilution of protease inhibitor mixture.
Detergent lysis buffer was used in order to extract the desired proteins from lung
tissues. Detergent lysis buffer uses a mild detergent so that the proteins of interest will
not undergo denaturation (Thermo-Scientific). 6M guanidine-HCl buffer (pH 6.5)
contained 5 mM EDTA, 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer, adjusted with NaOH. PMSF
(protease inhibitor) was added freshly with a final concentration of 0.1 mM. GuanidineHCl buffer, a known homogenization buffer, was used as a second homogenizing agent.
We compared the binding expression in our western blots between homogenized samples
in their respective buffers (parenchyma tissue in detergent lysis buffer [Pcy], trachea
sample scraped in detergent buffer [TrSD], and trachea sample in guanidine-HCl
extraction buffer [TrDG]).
26
�Composite Gel Upper and Lower Solutions
Casting of composite gels was done at room temperature. Two gel solutions, an
upper and a lower gel, were prepared to create an agarose-acrylamide gradient for each
the 5% and 1-2% acrylamide gels.
Both the 5% and 1-2% gels contained the same upper gel solution. Upper gel
solution for the SDS-UA PAGE gels contained (in an 80 mL beaker) 1.1 g agarose, 10.31
mL 2M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.1), 27.5 mL 8M urea, and brought to 55 mL with ddH2O.
Following addition of all components, the upper gel was heated in the microwave to
dissolve the agarose, being careful not to boil over. Finally, 18.3 μL TEMED was added.
Upper gel solution was then covered with aluminum foil and placed in a 60°C incubator
until gels were poured.
The lower gel solutions for both the 5% and 1-2% acrylamide gels differed only
in the concentration of acrylamide. To both lower gel solutions (55 mL), 1.1 g agarose,
10.31 mL 2M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.1), and 27.5 mL 8M urea were combined in separate
80 mL beakers. Each solution was brought to 55 mL with ddH2O after the addition of
30% acrylamide/bis-acrylamide 19:1 (Bio-Rad) to a final concentration of 5% and 1-2%,
respectively. Before addition of acrylamide, the solution was heated in the same fashion
as the lower gel solution, and stored in a 60°C incubator until the gels were ready to be
poured. Acrylamide was added once air bubbles were removed (after allowing to set
about 10 minutes in the incubator).
Techniques
Sample Processing
Parenchyma samples were obtained from two individual donors (D10 and D17).
In a sterile hood, all tools and glassware were sterilized with 75% ethanol. Parenchyma
was placed in Carnoy fixative (60% methanol, 30% chloroform, 10% acetic acid) over
night at room temperature. The next day, the parenchyma samples left over night in
Carnoy fixative were divided into five 0.3 g sections and stored at -80°C. To process
parenchyma samples, each 0.3g sample was pulverized using a mortar and pestle. Liquid
nitrogen (stored at -100°C) was added as needed to assist with pulverization. Once a
powder sample was obtained, 3 mL detergent buffer (1 mL per 0.1 g sample) was added
to the mortar to obtain a liquid sample (Pcy). Samples were placed into individual
Eppendorf tubes at 80°C for storage.
Trachea samples were obtained from two individual donors (D12 and
D17). Samples were either scraped in detergent buffer (TrSD) or pulverized using liquid
27
�nitrogen to produce a powdered tissue sample (TrDG). To the powdered samples, 6M
guanidine-HCl extraction buffer was added to the tissue with a ratio of 1 mL of buffer per
100 mg of powdered tissue. This tissue was then incubated over night while being rotated
on a stirrer.
Dialysis
Samples were dialyzed against 1M urea, 50mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.0). Dialysis was
done to purify samples, which was noted when running both a dialyzed sample and undialyzed sample next to each other on a 4-12% Bis-Tris gel.
Protein Quantification
Proteins in each sample were quantified using Pierce™ BCA Protein Assay Kit.
BSA standards (A-H) were prepared in Eppendorf tubes, each with a decreasing BSA
concentration (Table 1).
A working reagent was then prepared by adding 10 mL reagent A with 200 μL
reagent B in a 15 mL Falcon tube. This was mixed by inverting the Falcon tube a few
times. The working reagent was then pouring into a plastic boat. In a 96-well plate, 20 μL
of each sample (D12 TrDG, D10 Pcy, D12 TrSD, D17 TrSD and D17 Pcy) were pipetted
into different wells and labeled. Next, 200 μL of the working reagent was added to each
well that contained a sample, and was pipetted up and down to ensure thorough mixing.
Once mixed, the microplate was covered and placed into a 37°C incubator for 30
minutes. After 30 minutes, the 96-well plate was uncovered and placed into a Filter Max
F3 microplate reader, with the absorbance set at 562 nm using the Multi-Mode analysis
software. The concentration of our crude samples was calculated in μg/μL for the
determination of how much crude sample to add when loading the wells of the gels
(Table 2).
Table 1: BCA Assay prepared BSA Standards (Pierce, Thermo-Scientific)
Tube
Volume of Diluent
(μL)
Volume/Source of BSA
(μL)
Final BSA
Concentration (μg/mL)
A
125
375 of stock
1500
B
325
325 of stock
1000
C
175
175 of tube A dilution
750
28
�D
325
325 of tube B dilution
500
E
325
325 of tube D dilution
250
F
325
325 of tube E dilution
125
G
400
100 of tube F dilution
25
H
400
0
0= Blank
Table 2: Crude sample dilution
Sample
Crude (μg/μL)
Loaded (μg)
D12 TrDG
2
1
D10 Pcy
9.7
15
D12 TrSD
2.4
10
D17 TrSD
6
10
D17 Pcy
5
15
Preparation of Composite Polyacrylamide Gels
Gels were prepared from upper and lower gel solutions. Once acrylamide had
been added to the upper and lower gel solutions, the 55 mL solutions in the 60°C
incubator were pipetted into 13.75 mL aliquots (in 15 mL Falcon tubes). These aliquots
were kept in a 100°C water bath prior to gel casting.
To prepare the gel casting station, a two-chamber column with an open/close
valve attached to the bottom was used (Figure 3). This allows one to evenly mix the
upper and lower gel solutions while creating a uniform gel. The upper gel solution (one
Falcon tube containing 13.75 mL) was placed into the left chamber, and the lower gel
solution (one Falcon tube containing 13.75 mL) was placed into the right chamber. A
gradient mixer was placed into the right chamber, which contained the lower gel solution
(Figure 3). The chamber was attached to a plastic tube, which carried the mixed gel
solutions through the tubing and into the gel cassette. The solution was carried through
the tube via a peristaltic pump (Figure 3). Prior to pouring the upper and lower gel
solutions into the chamber, 24 μL 40% APS (polymerization initiator) was added to the
upper gel solution and 4 μL 40% APS was added to the lower gel solution of the 5%
29
�acrylamide gel solutions (directly into the Falcon tube); 24μL 40% APS was added to
both the upper and lower gel solutions in the 1-2% acrylamide gels.
Once the 40% APS had been added to the gel solutions, they were each poured
into their respective chambers. The peristaltic pump (Gilson Minipuls 3) was turned on at
a speed of 9.30 rpm. The free end of the tubing was placed into an empty gel cassette and
slowly raised as the gel level rose. Once full (each cassette held 10 mL), a 15-well comb
was placed into the top of the cassette. Gel cassettes were allowed to sit at room
Figure 3: Layout of gel preparation station. Shown (from left) are the gradient mixer, 2chamber column, peristaltic pump, and cassette holder.
temperature for two hours to polymerize before being placed in the 20°C refrigerator. To
store, gel cassettes were wrapped in towels dampened with 0.192M tris-borate buffer (pH
7.6).
Loading Samples into Wells
The amount of crude sample that was loaded into wells varied (Table 2). Results
of previous data allowed for the determination of how much crude sample was needed to
obtain optimal results when running the gels.
Crude samples were diluted in their respective buffers (either detergent buffer or
6M guanidine-HCl buffer) in separate Eppendorf tubes. NuPAGE solubilizing buffer was
added to samples in a 1:1 ratio and their respective buffers to solubilizing buffer. The
samples were then vortexed and heated at 80°C for 2-3 minutes. Samples were vortexed
30
�again after heating and were then ready to be loaded into the gel wells. In each well, 10
μL of the sample plus solubilizing buffer mixture were loaded.
Electrophoresis Methods
(4-12%) Bis-Tris
Samples D12 TrDG, D10 Pcy, and D12 TrSD were run on commercial 412% Bis-Tris gels. Gel was run using MOPS SDS buffer (pH 7.7). To make this
buffer, we prepared a 1X buffer from a 20X stock solution (50mL 20X stock in 950
mL ddH2O. An antioxidant was prepared by adding 200mL MOPS SDS running
buffer with 500 μL NuPAGE antioxidant; this was poured inside of the
electrophoresis container (between the gel cassettes). The running buffer was poured
on the outside of the electrophoresis container. Gel ran for 1 hour and 15 minutes at
200 V.
(3-8%) Tris-Acetate
Samples D12 TrDG, D10 Pcy, and D12 TrSD were run on commercial 38% Tris-Acetate gels. Gel was run using a 1X tris acetate SDS running buffer (pH
8.2). Gel ran for two hours at 100V.
5% and 1-2% Composite Gels
Samples D12 TrDG, D10 Pcy, D12 TrSD, D17 TrSD, and D17 Pcy were
run on 5% and 1-2% composite gels using 0.192M tris-borate running buffer (pH
7.6) with 1mM EDTA and 1% SDS. These gels both ran for two hours at 100 V.
Western Blotting
After unloading the gel, it was carefully taken out of the cassette and placed into
a Petri dish with water to maintain moisture. To transfer to PVDF membrane, iBlot
Western blot transferring system was used. The gel was placed on top of the filter paper
and the sponge. The membrane was placed on top of the gel. Another filter paper and
sponge were placed above the membrane (Figure 4). The iBlot was closed and allowed to
run for seven minutes.
31
�Figure 4: Western blot technique using iBlot (Western Blotting Using the iBlot® 7Minute Blotting System, 2009)
Membrane was then cut and removed after seven minutes and blocked with
0.05% blocking solution (0.5 g Blotto non-fat dry milk powder, 100 mL 0.1% PBST) for
one hour.
Membrane was then placed into a prepared pre-complex. The pre-complex
contained either Siglec-8-Fc or Siglec-9-Fc. Then, 4 mL blocking milk was added to the
pre-complex and the membrane was probed with either Siglec-8 Fc or Siglec-9 Fc plus
blocking milk. This solution was left overnight at 20°C on a rotator.
Chemiluminescence of Western Blot
The next morning, the membranes being probed in either Siglec-8 Fc or Siglec-9
Fc were washed in PBST three times, for 15 minutes each wash. The ECL PRIME
Western Blot Detection Reagent kit was used. In a 15 mL Falcon tube, 1 mL of reagent B
and 1 mL of reagent A were combined and pipetted up and down to mix. In 1 mL
aliquots, the combined A and B reagent solution was dispersed over the membranes and
allowed to sit for about two minutes in the dark (reagent A is light sensitive). Once two
minutes had passed, the membranes were placed in a plastic holder and excess reagent
was blotted with a paper towel. An image of our western blot was captured using the
GelLogic 4000Pro Imager. Transferred gels were also captured as an image after they had
been stained in Sypro Ruby Stain over night, in order to make sure we had a complete
transfer of proteins.
32
�IV. Results
Western blot membranes clearly showed enhanced resolution when transferred
from both 5% and 1-2% composite gels as compared to western blot membranes transferred
from either 4-12% Bis-Tris and 3-8% Tris-Acetate gels after being probed with either a
Siglec-8 or Siglec-9 pre-complex. We can see this enhancement by comparing the western
blot of Figures 5&6 (A and B) to Figures 5&6 (C and D). According to the markers in
Figures 5 &6 (C and D), the observed protein binding occurred between Siglec-8 and
Siglec-9 and their corresponding counter-receptor proteins larger than 220 kDa. In fact,
these proteins seem to have been about 500 kDa or larger; however, we cannot accurately
predict the exact kDa range from Figures 5 and 6 since our high molecular weight marker
actually ran off of the 5% and 1-2% composite gels.
TrDG samples from donor 12, while having loaded only 1μg of crude sample as
compared to having loaded 10 μg or 15 μg of the TrSD samples, expressed the most
significant ligand binding when overlaid with a Siglec-8 Fc probe (Figure 5). This is an
interesting observation, as it tells us that certain crude samples in different buffers, or in
different locations of lung and/or trachea samples being tested contain a higher binding
affinity of specific Siglec protein ligands. TrSD samples from donor 17 also identified
itself as a promising location for potential Siglec-8 counter receptors in the composite
gels, but not as significantly as TrDG samples from donor 12. TrSD samples from both
donors 12 and 17 expressed the most ligand binding when overlaid with a Siglec-9 Fc
probe (Figure 6). Parenchyma lung tissue samples exhibited ligand binding, but not
significantly for either Siglec-8 or Siglec-9 (Figures 5&6).
Upon observing the transferred gels and their corresponding western blot
membranes, we concluded that both the 5% and the 1-2% composite gels helped resolve
the mucin-like proteins from the crude tissue sample preparation as compared to the 412% Bis-Tris and 3-8% Tris-Acetate gels. We know that our protein of interest was
present on the western blot membranes as we observed a complete transfer of high
molecular weight proteins (>220kDa) for all composite gels when transferred to the
PVDF membranes using a western blotting technique. In the commercial 4-12% Bis-Tris
and 3-8% Tris-Acetate gels, a complete transfer of proteins was not observed after
western blotting, which contributes to the benefits of using the 5% and 1-2% composite
33
�Figure 5: (A) 4-12% Bis-Tris; (B) 3-8% Tris-Acetate; (C) 5% composite; (D) 1-2%
composite. Transferred membranes probed with Siglec-8 Fc pre-complex.
Figure 6: (A) 4-12% Bis-Tris; (B) 3-8% Tris-Acetate; (C) 5% composite; (D) 1-2%
composite. Transferred membranes probed with Siglec-9 Fc pre-complex.
34
�gels. The complete transfer of proteins was shown by the images taken from all
transferred composite gels after they had been stained in a Sypro Ruby stain over night,
as compared to the images taken of transferred gels in a Sypro Ruby stain from the
commercially made gels.
When analyzing the western blot membranes after transfer, it was apparent that
Siglec-8 Fc overlay recognized possible large molecular weight counter receptors within
guanidine human trachea (TrDG) samples, as there was substantial ligand binding on
these membranes when probed with Siglec-8 Fc. Crude TrDG samples proved to contain
the best possible results for identifying a Siglec-8 counter receptor on the human lung due
to the fact that only 1μg of crude sample was loaded into the wells of the gel as compared
to 10μg or 15μg of crude TrSD. Even with only 1μg of crude TrDG sample, proteins
within TrDG displayed significantly more ligand binding than any other lung sample
used when overlaid with Siglec-8 Fc; however, we did observe possible Siglec-8 counter
receptor binding in donor 17 TrSD samples in both composite gels, although slightly less
significantly than TrDG samples.
We can conclude that the large molecular weight counter receptors of interest
were present in certain compartments of the human lung due to the observed binding
patterns on western blots (Figures 5 and 6); Siglec-8 present on eosinophils targeted
ligands present in the guanidine-treated trachea sample, and Siglec-9 present on
neutrophils targeted ligands present in the trachea scraped in detergent buffer samples.
Knowing where these counter receptors are located within the human lung and trachea
will potentially prove beneficial in further isolating and identifying these glycoprotein
ligands (mucins).
V. Discussion
Findings
While only a small amount (1 μg) of crude guanidine-treated trachea sample
(TrDG) from donor 12 was loaded into the wells of the composite gels, the observed
Siglec-8 ligand presence on the transferred western blots showed a significant amount of
binding using this sample (D12 TrDG, Figure 5 C&D). On the other hand, while a larger
amount (10 μg or 15 μg) of crude trachea sample scraped in detergent buffer (TrSD) was
loaded into the wells of the composite gels, the observed Siglec-9 ligand presence on the
transferred western blots showed the most binding of all of the human lung compartments
in TrSD samples from donors 12 and 17 when overlaid with Siglec-9 Fc, but not as
35
�significantly as the Siglec-8 D12 TrDG samples. This tells us that when attempting to
identify our counter receptors present on the human lung, the guanidine human trachea
samples may prove more effective to research further when identifying the counter
receptor(s) of interest for allergic asthma, as this area of the human lung proves to be
much more concentrated with potential counter receptors for Siglec-8. Similarly, this tells
us that the counter receptor(s) of interest for COPD should be located primarily in the
trachea scraped in detergent buffer samples, as Siglec-9 ligand binding was most
apparent in the TrSD samples.
Upon observation of our results, we can conclude that the SDS-UAPAGE
composite gels did in fact resolve Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 counter receptors. As compared
to the commercial 4-12% Bis-Tris and 3-8% Tris-Acetate gels, both the 5% and 1-2%
composite gels showed a visually enhanced western blot, with proteins being spread out
over a large molecular weight kilo-Dalton range. According to our high molecular weight
gel marker, the resolved proteins were around 500 kDa, possibly even larger, which is the
molecular weight range that Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 ligands are most likely present. This
allows us to know for further research that these composite gels will be helpful when
identifying these large Siglec counter receptors.
Corresponding Literature
Using an adaptation of the protocol from Karlsson, et al. (2011), urea was
incorporated into the upper and lower gel mixtures to cast the SDS-Urea Agarose
Polyacrylamide gels at room temperature. Commercially, typical polyacrylamide gels are
cast at higher temperatures (Karlsson, et al., 2011). Maintaining a higher temperature of
around 60°C proved difficult, as we had to adapt our gel casting method to fit the
confined space of an incubator. By incorporating urea into the upper and lower composite
gel mixture, gel casting was conveniently performed at room temperature on a lab bench.
This adapted protocol using urea also decreased gel-casting difficulties by slowing down
the polymerization of the acrylamide, which was necessary in the composite gel mixture
to achieve a uniform polymerization. The research from Karlsson et al. (2011) showed
that the addition of urea into the composite gel upper and lower solutions did not have
any effect on the migration of the large molecular weight proteins. This information
provided the reassurance that despite the difference in gel casting conditions, our
composite gels would remain uniform as well as provide an ideally porous environment
for the large migrating mucins.
36
�Future Directions
Using this research, pending the identification of a Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 counter
receptor, we will be able to use this knowledge to aid in the development of new allergic
asthma and COPD treatments. We have resolved what we believe to be a Siglec-8
counter receptor most prevalent in the TrDG samples, and a counter receptor for Siglec-9
most prevalent in the TrSD samples. This information may be advantageous when
identifying the counter receptor(s) of interest, as it tells us where in the human lung these
Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 ligands are most concentrated. Further research to identify these
proteins can use samples from these specific areas, as well as samples from areas that
have not been studied, in the hopes of locating a portion of the human respiratory system
where Siglec counter receptors are most prevalent.
It may be beneficial to, while still sampling different portions of the human
lung, have a better idea of the smoking or drug history of the donor. While all three
donors coincidentally had a similar cause of death, the effects of long-term, and possibly
even short-term smoking may have led to alterations in the results obtained. We cannot
say with confidence that the donors, even with a known smoking and/or drug history,
provided an accurate reading when protein samples were quantified using the BCA assay,
due to the fact that we did not study the effects of these conditions on the human lung;
however, obtaining a healthy human lung sample may prove to be difficult, when we
consider circumstances such as the limited availability of organ donors, as well as the fact
that a healthy human lung can be used in an organ transplant. The differences in age of
the patients may have contributed to different protein counts as well, but this study did
not focus on the effects of age on human lung tissue.
It is our hope that these new and improved SDS-UAPAGE composite gels will
aid with the identification and resolution of high molecular weight molecules in all areas
of scientific research. With this new protocol, Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 counter receptors
have been resolved and have led us one step closer to their identification.
From our western blots overlaid with either Siglec-8 Fc or Siglec-9 Fc on the SDS-Urea
Agarose Polyacrylamide composite gels, we can directly locate and isolate our counter
receptor(s) of interest. We can then use identification methods such as mass spectrometry
in order to accurately identify potential Siglec-8 and Siglec-9 ligands. These ligands may
be used for further research to develop a new therapeutic treatment for allergic asthma
(using a Siglec-8 counter receptor) and COPD (using a Siglec-9 counter receptor). If
these counter receptors are identified and used in a new drug, they may allow for Siglec
recognition and binding of these ligands on patient’s immune cells and lead to apoptosis
37
�of the cell, which is what we have observed using gel electrophoresis and western
blotting of composite gels. The discovery of new drugs for inflammation associated with
these respiratory disorders will be very beneficial to patients who suffer from chronic
inflammation, and may alleviate much of their discomfort and pain due to irritation of the
affected area(s).
VI. Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Ronald Schnaar for his guidance and valuable
discussions during this research project. I would also like to thank the Basic Science
Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as well as the Department
of Pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for the use of their facilities
and laboratory materials.
A special thank you to the Wagner College Department of Biological Sciences
for guiding me towards this research internship. I especially would like to thank Dr.
Donald Stearns for his persistent efforts in guiding me towards a completed thesis paper,
as well as Dr. Fulop for his support and time.
I would also like to thank the chair of my thesis committee, Dr. Christopher
Corbo, as well as Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt and Professor Linda Raths who were valuable
members of my thesis committee.
VII. References
Cell Lysis Technical Handbook. Thermo Scientific Pierce. Version 2. United States:
2009.
Crocker, R. Paul and Varki, Ajit. (2009). I-type Lectins. In: Essentials of Glycobiology,
2nd Edition, Chapter 32. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
Czajkowsky, M. Daniel, Hu, Jun, Zhifeng, Shao, Pleass, Richard J. (2012). Fc-fusion
proteins: new developments and future perspectives. EMBO Molecular Medicine. 4(10):
1015–1028.
Farid, Sh., Sima, Mirshafiey, Abbas, Razavi, Alireza. (2012). Siglec-8 and Siglec-F, the
new theraputic targets in asthma. Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology. 34(5):
721–726.
38
�Hadley, E., Lams, B. E., and Leach, R. M. (2011). Problem Solving in Respiratory
Medicine & Allergy. Oxford: Clinical Publications.
Karlsson, G., Niclas, et al. (2011). Analysis of mucosal mucins separated by SDS-urea
agarose polyacrylamide composite gel electrophoresis. Journal of electrophoresis. 32:
3554-3563.
The Lung Inflammatory Disease Program of Excellence in Glycoscience (LIDPEG). The
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and
Molecular Sciences. Web. 2014.
Lynch, Patrick J. Lungs- simple diagram of lungs and trachea. Medical Illustrator.
December 2006.
Paulson, C., James, et al. (2013). Antigenic liposomes displaying CD22 ligands induce
antigen-specific B cell apoptosis. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 123(7): 3074–3083.
Van De Graaff, M., Kent. (1992). Human Anatomy, 3rd edition. Dubuque, IA : Wm. C.
Brown.
Varki A., Cummings R., Esko J., et al. (1999). Sialic Acids. In: Essentials of
Glycobiology. Chapter 15. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
Varki, Ajit, Paulson, C., James, and Crocker, R., Paul. (2007). Siglecs and their roles in
the immune system. Nature Reviews: Immunology. Volume 7.
Western Blotting Using the iBlot® 7-Minute Blotting System. Life TechnologiesTM
protocols. United States: December, 2009.
39
�Appendix A: Abbreviations and Symbols
APS
Ammonium persulfate
BCA
Bicinchoninic acid assay
BSA
Bovine Serum Albumin
CHAPS
3,3-Cholamidopropyl- dimethylammonio-1propanesulfonate
COPD
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
ddH2O
Double distilled water
EDTA
Ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid
ITIM
Immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif
kDa
Kilo-Daltons
PAGE
Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis
PBST
Phosphate Buffer Saline with Tween
Pcy
Parenchyma lung sample
PVDF
Polyvinylidene fluoride
SDS
Sodium dodecylsulfate
SDS-UA PAGE
Sodium dodecylsulfate- Urea Agaros polyacrylamide
gel electrophoresis
Siglec
Sialic-acid binding immunoglobulin-like lectins
TrDG
Trachea in guanidine buffer
TrSD
Trachea scraped in detergent buffer
40
���Distinguishing Trauma: An Analysis of Those Interred
in the Tombs at Huacas De Moche1
Nicholas C. Gibaldi (Anthropology) 2
The human remains excavated from the Huacas de Moche site are among the most well
known in the Andes. However, our understanding of trauma in the Moche valley is based
solely on the sub-sample of sacrificial victims recovered from Huaca de la Luna. In order
to expand our understanding of trauma in the valley an extensive examination was
conducted targeting the remains of individuals who were interred in tombs located in the
urban sector (N=57) and the plazas of Huaca de la Luna (N=47). This paper documents
the presence of trauma in this sample, examines possible causes of this trauma, addresses
themes of the underlying social structure within complex societies, and places these cases
in the broad context of the Andes.
I. Introduction
“The analysis of fractures on the population level can be very informative in
addressing questions of prehistoric behavior” (White 2000). Trauma is an important
manifestation of social relations; therefore tracking trauma can be used to help us
understand life among the prehistoric Moche of north coastal Peru. The Early
Intermediate Period, dating at approximately A.D. 300-800 was a time of great social and
cultural innovation in the Andes. The Moche Valley (Figure 1) is agreed to be a core area
of political and social stratification, exploitation of labor, intense agricultural production
and monopolization of trade and productions on the north coast of Peru (Bawden 1995).
Additionally, various scholars argue that inter-group warfare and territorial conquest
served as prime movers in the emergence of social stratification in Peru (Lau: 2003;
Carniero 1970; Lanning 1967 Lumbreras 1974; Wilson 1988). The archaeological record
suggests that the Southern Moche State centered in the Moche Valley was as a strong,
conquest empire that controlled large amounts of territory and commonly engaging in
war-like activity (Lau 2004; Shuler-Shomig 1979, 1981; Reichert 1989). Moche groups
and their neighbors had complex social interaction that ranged from friendly trading to
hostile encounters. It is believed that Moche and their neighbors were stratified social
1
Presented at the Northeast Conference on Andean Archaeology and Enthohistory,
November 15, 2013.
2
Research performed under the direction of Dr. Celeste Gagnon.
43
�Figure 1: Map of the Peruvian north coast with principle identification of the Moche
Valley and neighboring valleys.
systems characterized by a number of shared features, including the extensive use of
irrigation and the construction of large adobe huacas that served as the center of
ceremonial activity and the resting place of elites. By mechanisms such as functionalism
and materialism, Moche societies were known to produce a series of definable social
stages, commonly seen by archaeologists in the development of most social civilizations.
The ways in which ancient states were integrated and interconnected often varied
noticeably over space and time. Additionally the differences in organization and
integration provide the construct of profound effects on state size (Feinman 1998).
Though state size cannot be definitively implied, some argue that the contextual data
recovered and interpreted in archaeological reconstructions supply accurate range of
complexity in relation to size and social organization. In more detail, conflicting political
structures negotiate subjective interests, and thus increasing the dynamic in social change
44
�within the civilization(s) (Bawden 1995).
In this analysis I examined the remains of individuals recovered from the largest
of the Moche urban complexes – the Huacas de Moche, identify problems involved in
data interpretation from this case in addition to others, and address several underlying
components of social structure that inform researchers as to why participants of complex
societies may act as they do in this context within the Andes.
This investigation included the in-depth examination of all analyzable
individuals recovered from the urban core located between the huacas and Cerro Negra
(Figure 2). In addition, the remains of non-sacrificial individuals recovered from tomb
contexts in Plazas 2B, 3B, 3C and Platform 1 of Huaca de la Luna (Figure 3) were
examined. In total, 104 tomb and non-tomb contexts were studied of which 57 were
excavated in the Urban Core. Included in this sample were 55 analyzable individuals. We
also examined 47 tombs excavated in the plazas and platforms of Huaca de la Luna.
These contexts yielded the remains of 64, analyzable individuals, for a total sample of
119 individuals. Both contexts offered an abundant amount of osteological data allowing
for the retrieval of general health information and a brief glance at the lives of seven
individuals who had suffered from trauma either before or at the time of their death. The
idiom of violence, both metaphorical and real, permeated many aspects of life,
philosophy and cosmology (Swenson 2003: Burger 1992: Rostworowski 1996: Salomon
and Urioste 1991).
Figure 2: Photo taken atop of Huaca de la
Luna. In view is the excavation of the Urban Core which is located between Huaca de la
Luna and Huaca del Sol.
45
�None of the individuals buried in the Urban Core displayed evidence of trauma,
but seven crania of individuals recovered from Huaca de la Luna were found to be affected.
It would appear that only those individuals of sufficient status were to be buried in the
huaca sustained observable trauma to the head. There is some debate as to whether or not
these injuries were obtained by means of ritualistic and cultural contexts or possibly from
contexts of war-like engagement. These seven cases will be the focus of this paper.
Figure 3: Reconstruction of Huaca de la Luna. Plazas 2B, 3B and 3C are identified by
numbers 4, 5, and 6, respectively. Plataform 1 is identified by number 7.
II . Background
Interpersonal Violence
Though there are many forms of interpersonal violence, the largest scale is that
of warfare between polities often conducted for political, economical, and social gain.
Researchers have suggested that there is a strong correlation between a society’s complex
structural organization and that of its defensive or offensive capacity. Webster (1998)
among other scholars, discuss that although there is no universally accepted definition of
warfare, all agree that it is planned confrontation between groups of people from separate
46
�political communities. These political communities typically consist of differently
dispersed levels of power, clearly defined by fluctuating boundaries of territorial control,
but this is not always the case for every political community.
Ritualistic violence has been observed throughout Peru, including on the north
coast. The Andes, and the Americas more generally, have a long prehistory of ritual
combat (Hill 2003). Ritual combat may be as physically demanding and dangerous as real
combat and it may have functioned as one of many ritual performances in a yearlong
calendric cycle tied to seasonal agricultural activities (Hocquenghem 1978). Such
activities continue to be practiced in the Andes and are ethnographically known as tinku.
In the Andes tinku-type activities are interpreted as ceremonial expressions of community
identity and dual organizational structure (Lau 2004). In practices of ritual warfare,
communities stage contests and fights, waged at different levels of violence, between a
predetermined pair of combatants (Figure 4). Arguably these acts of violence were nonlethal although some deaths may have occurred. But Verano (2001) notes that in the case
of prehistoric Moche sacrificial victims it would appear that prisoners were never
returned, raising the question of whether Moche societies participated in acts of violence
for reasons beyond those traditionally associated with tinku.
Figure 4: Iconographic depiction of elite Moche participation in a battle-like ritual called
tinku (Verano 2001).
Violence in Moche society has been most extensively studied through
iconographic representations and bioarchaeological investigation of the remains of human
sacrificial victims, especially those recovered from Huaca de la Luna (Figure 5) (Bourget
2001a and 2001b; Verano 2001a and 2001b). In Verano’s (2001) analysis of the
sacrificial victims from Huaca de la Luna he identified several individuals who displayed
fracture patterns consistent with the types of injuries that occur in warfare. Hill (2003)
has additionally noted representations of battle in Moche iconography (Figure 6).
Supporting Verano’s claim, Lambert (2003) states that “Though the presence of violent
injuries in archaeological assemblage is not sufficient to demonstrate intergroup
aggression, but evidence such as multiple victims and trophies do suggest lethal
47
�intentions and actions beyond domestic or civil arenas.” Tung argues that militarism and
the associated threat or use of force has often played a key role in the maintenance and
expansion of ancient empires all throughout history. Similar to the findings of Verano and
Lambert, though direct evidence for military campaigns and large-scale battles in the
Andes are relatively rare, Topic and Topic (1987) have found caches of sling stones
spaced at regular intervals at the late Moche site of Galindo. Additionally, Billman notes
that warfare may have been a significant variable in the rise of increasingly complex
societies on the desert coast of Peru (Lau 2004). The common theme that all these
findings share is that violence other than that of ritualistic practice is evident, and clearly
necessitates the increase of research. Unfortunately, the lack of information provided by
bioarchaeological interpretation inhibits our ability to make a definite determination of
incidents of trauma that have been acquired by the means of actual inter-group warfare or
through ritualistic violence. Given the current archaeological data, it is difficult to
understand what the role of non-sacrificial violence was in Moche society. The seven
individuals we have analyzed from Huaca de la Luna who display evidence of trauma can
provide additional data that can speak to nature of Moche interpersonal violence.
Figure 5: Cut marks on the second and third vertebrae recovered from sacrificial contexts
at Huaca de la Luna. Such trauma is suggestive of sacrificial decapitation (Verano 2001).
48
�Figure 6: Rollout drawing from a Moche vessel depicting a combat scene between Moche
and non-Moche fighters (Lau 2003).
Traumatic Evidence of Violence
Trauma is an injury to living tissue that is caused by force or a mechanism
extrinsic to the body (Lovell 1997), which can be associated with violent death (Beyer
2007). Several features of trauma allow us to reconstruct the timing, type, and cause of
injury. The seven individuals recovered from the monument of Huaca de la Luna all
displayed evidence of fracturing. Fracturing is the result of sufficient force being applied
to a bone(s) causing a discontinuity, which travels completely through the bone. As a
consequence of fracturing radiating lines or continual breaks in the surface of bone
originating near the point of impact and are created by the dissipating force across the
bone surface. They disperse outwards like an irregular sunburst, from the area of applied
force (Beyer 2007). Radiating lines indicate if the force originated from the side, top,
bottom, or some combination (Beyer 2007). Reading the patterns and characteristics
produced by trauma is very much like interpreting any other piece of material culture
unearthed with minimal contextual information.
When a fracture or multiple fractures occur from the use of weapons, the nature
of the insult may be determined from the shape of the fracture (Buikstra and Ubelaker
1994). Blunt force trauma is experienced as an object, such as a ball bat, is directed into a
skull (Figure 7), the bone bends internally, the outer table experiences compressive
stresses, and the inner table experiences tensile stresses (Reichs, Berryman and Symes
1998; Mortiz 1954). One or more of these fractures radiate away from the impact site.
49
�Figure 7: Depictions of blunt force trauma to the cranium resulting from different levels
of applied force (Berryman and Symes 1998).
Shear forces encountered during fracture production should result in angulation or
internal beveling (Figure 8) of the concentric fracture; however, this bevel is often altered
by intrinsic factors such as buttressing within the vault lines, spherical shape of the vault
or increased distance from the impact site and may not always be apparent (Reichs 1998).
Objects with smaller widths tend to need less force to create fracturing in comparison to
larger more robust objects with more width (Beyer 2007).
50
�Figure 8: Beveling on the inner table of an adult male recovered from Huaca de la Luna.
Such damage is evidence of strong, blunt force, perimortem trauma.
Projectiles have a distinctive wounding pattern due to their high levels of force
and often resulting in direct discontinuities of bone, with both displacement and in most
cases fracture lines (Beyer 2007). Projectiles such as bullets often produce entrance and
exit wounds. Reichs (1998) describes instances by which projectile elements affect the
skull by producing radiating fracture lines originating from the entrance of extrinsic force
and only if there is enough force remaining will an exit wound be produced (Reichs 1998;
Smith et al. 1987). Similarly, projectile and blunt force trauma can produce radiating
fracture lines that may terminate in preexisting fractures; in controlled experiments
preformed by forensic pathologists and osteologists this can visibly be reproduced
(Reichs 1998; Rhine and Curran 1990; Spitz 1980).
The Timing of trauma is of great importance in interpreting its cause. Trauma
occurs at one of three distinct points throughout an individual’s existence. These
indications of time are referred to as antemortem, perimortem, and postmortem.
Antemortem refers to a traumatic event that was survived and as a result healing is
evident (Beyer 2007). As time passes bone healing continues, until little evidence of the
injury may be visible. Perimortem trauma refers to injuries that occurred close to the time
of death, and thus may be associated with cause of death (N. J. Sauer, K.J. Reich 1998).
Perimortem trauma shows little if any signs of healing, but clear indications that the bone
51
�was living at the time of injury. Postmortem trauma is the result of taphonomic changes.
While it shows no evidence of healing, the bone was not living at the time of injury and
thus breaks are differently shaped and color differences are visible on broken surfaces.
III. Materials and Methods
Huacas de Moche
In 1991 under the supervisions of professional archaeologist Dr. Santiago Uceda
and professional art restorer Ricardo Morales both of the Universidad Nacional Trujillo,
an archaeological project began at the Huacas de Moche. Both researchers have dedicated
their professional and personal lives to produce an archaeological research site that is
unlike many others, which recently received the honor of top 10 archaeological research
projects throughout the world according to an article published on SAB Miller (2013).
The site consists of two large adobe pyramids (called huacas) and large urban
sector between them. Cerro Negra bound the city to the west, Huaca de la Luna was
constructed to the south bound by Cerro Blanco, and to the north bound by the Moche
River, Huaca del Sol was constructed. To the east the city was open towards the Pacific
Ocean, which lay less than six kilometers away. This placement suggests that the Moche
builders had chosen this area for economic, political and religious reasons (Chapdelaine
2002).
Huaca de la Luna was constructed throughout several segmented periods of time
complementary to the archaeological information reflecting the rise and fall of power
within the Moche society. This entailed the division of a population of about no less than
5000, an otherwise homogeneous construction into discrete, tedious units of operation
(Chapdelaine 2002; Hasting and Moseley, 1975). Approximately 50 million mold-made
adobe (mud) bricks were developed in order to erect Huaca de la Luna. One may argue
that these adobe bricks were formed as a result of taxation directed towards those in the
Urban Core or possibly even a select group living upon the huaca. For many
archaeologists studying Huaca de la Luna, the use of marks imprinted on the adobe brink
allow the identification of different segments of production, chronological phase, and
quantity of production during that phase of development. According to Hasting and
Moseley (1975) some bricks were reused but typically these adobe marks were stamped
during production ultimately making them segment specific. Key features such as roads,
public spaces, minimal entrances, geographical location and division of labor are
arguably fundamental components separating those of the huacas from the residents of
the Urban Core. This may be why in this analysis no trauma was seen within the Urban
Core due to a separation between social classes.
52
�Iconography
Moche iconography provides us with a rich record of tools of violence. Lau
(2004) notes that Moche warriors are often depicted carrying a war or hunting club
(Figure 9). Although individuals are occasionally shown carrying long-range arms such
as spear-throwers or slings, Verano (2001) suggests these are rarely shown being used
against an opponent. Lau (2004) however argues that in some images, figures are armed
with large circular objects. These circular objects are believed to be stone, rocks, or some
form heavy projectile that can easily held in ones hand. Without the archaeological
record, Moche iconography provides anthropologists evidence of material culture that is
not affected by time or narrative. Moche warriors are distinguished by several Moche
specific characteristics and specifically to point out their large phallic club, or principle
weapons (Swenson 2003; Benson 1972).
Figure 9: Moche warriors escorting prisoners of war while carrying their symbolic,
phallic club (Verano 2001).
IV. Results
Evidence of both antemortem and perimortem trauma was found in the
individuals buried in Huaca de la Luna (Table 1). Antemortem trauma was more
common. Adult males, females and sub-adults were affected in some form by trauma.
Interestingly, two individuals are believed to be affected by perimortem trauma; an adult
male and sub-adult whose sex could not be estimated. It appears that a number of human
remains recovered from plaza 2B were recovered as “clean-up” from the northeastern
portion of the plaza, their placement here is presumably the result of hauquero activity,
which was in consideration while examining the remains recovered from this area.
When we examine the antemortem wounds (Table 2) we find both examples of
53
�blunt force, likely the result of being struck by a club-type weapon (Figure 10), and
projectile damage, likely resulting from a sling stone (Figure 11). Again men, women,
and children were all affected, but the location of the wounds suggests different patterns
as to how the injury was sustained.
Within the Southeastern portion of the United States archaeologists have found,
other prehistoric agriculturalists, such as those of Moundville, which exemplify low
levels accidental injury (Larsen 1997; Powell 1988). Many of those fractures are
associated with lower-status individuals, unlike those within this study. But those found
at the late prehistoric Mississippian site of Chucalissa, high-status males have far higher
frequency of fractures than low-status males or higher status females (Larsen 1997;
Lahren & Berryman, 1984). In this case, Moche men and women of high-status have
been recovered displaying fracture patterns of both accidental and intentional injury. All
societies experience hostile conflict at some point throughout their reign, and through
means of battle imprinted on skeletal remains, iconographic representation, and
settlement location, interpretation reveals ways of life and social interaction within the
social constructs (e.g. Larsen 1997; Tung 2007; Kurin 2012).
Table 1: Huaca de la Luna Trauma
Sub-sample
Antemortem
Perimortem
Adult male
Tomb 17.1
Tomb 3-4
Tomb 17.3
Adult female
Tomb 8
Sub-adult
Tomb 33.1
Tomb 33.2
Tomb 15
Table 2: Antemortem Trauma
Sub-sample
Blunt Force
Adult male
Left frontal (N=2)
Left parietal
Adult female
Right parietal
Sub-adult
Left parietal
54
Projectile
Right parietal
�Table 3: Perimortem Trauma
Sub-sample
Blunt Force
Adult male
Left parietal
Projectile
Adult female
Sub-adult
Superior frontal
Antemortem Blunt Force Trauma
Blunt force trauma was identified Recovered from the cleanup in Plaza 2b, tomb
33.1, this subadult was found displaying two healed depressions of cranial trauma located
on the left parietal. Long and ovular in shape, and positioned one above the other, these
depressions most likely occurred being struck from behind by blunt force and may have
been sustained at the same time or at two different times. This individual was
approximately 15±1 year and could not be sexed. However the age estimation suggests
that this individual may have been old enough to be engaged in war-like activity.
The remaining cases of blunt antemortem trauma were recovered from Platform
1. A male recovered from tomb 3-4 was estimated to be an age of approximately 40±5
years displayed evidence of two healed depression fractures. One fracture was located on
the left frontal bone (Figure 10), a wound consistent with begin hit by a right-handed
attacker in face-to-face confrontation. The other fracture was located on the posterior
section of the left parietal. These depressions both displayed significant depth and active
porosity thus indicating great force and that healing was not complete.
Found within tomb 17, a possible male approximately 45 ±10 years exemplified
evidence of a healed depression located on the left frontal bone, again indicative of a
frontal assault by a right-handed attacker. In addition he had a fractured left maxillary,
first premolar, and molar. Though it is difficult to distinguish whether or not these
injuries were sustained simultaneously but if so, the downward blunt force radiated from
the left frontal bone downward into the maxillary most likely causing extreme force to
slam the maxillary with the mandible fracturing both teeth as well as bone.
55
�Figure 10: Antemortem trauma to the frontal bone of and adult male recovered from
Huaca de la Luna.
Interestingly enough found in tomb 8 of Platform 1, was a female approximately
60 years or older at the time of her death, who sustained trauma to the right parietal. Her
injury was relatively healed and its depth was quite minimal but noticeable. I would argue
that this depression was caused by mechanisms extrinsic to violence, but it is possible
that she and other women participated in tinku-like ritual, as commonly as seen today and
as noted in the past (Tung 2007).
Antemortem Projectile Trauma
The younger of the two individuals recovered from plaza 2B, tomb 33.2,
displayed evidence of several traumatic incidences. A healed depression to the right
parietal is of a form suggestive of projectile trauma, likely resulting from a sling stone
like those depicted in Moche iconography. This is due to the formation of a spherical
depression pattern with an elevated central locus. If one could imagine a pebble being
thrown into a pond, as the pebble hits the water, not only does it create an outward
rippling effect but also most commonly there is a central locus of erupting water elevating
higher than that of the surface. This individual also had an antemortem fracture to the left
radius at the lower portion of the mid-shaft. With no evidence of parry fracturing along
the ulna, it is unlikely that this wound was the result of interpersonal violence. Fracturing
of the radii as seen in this individual which is also known as Colles’s fractures typically
occur when an individual attempts to break a fall by thrusting their arms forward (Larsen
1997). But of significance, Kricun (1994) has noted that parry fractures could have arisen
from either a direct blow to the forearm or from blows hitting the shield with the force
transmitted to the ulna. These observations, paired with high levels of cranial trauma
56
�indicate the strong likelihood that parry fractures arose in conflict situations in areas such
as Hawaii and Australia (Larsen, 1997; Kricun, 1994).
Figure 11: Antemortem trauma to the right parietal of a subadult. The shape of the
depression is consistent with a projectile wound.
Perimortem Trauma
Two individuals from Platform 1 displayed evidence of perimortem trauma. The
first case was an un-sexed sub-adult, approximately 12±3 years of age. This individual
received a significant amount of blunt force to the superior frontal bone near the bregma
which resulted in a large, keyhole wound with radiating fracture lines dissipating along
the coronal suture and even partially at the anterior most point of the sagittal suture
(Figure 12). As you can see in Figure 12, there is a large ovular wound towards the
anterior portion of the skull, clearly identifying this break by blunt force as it was directed
downward most likely from behind the individual. Although this injury clearly happened
at the time of this person’s death it is hard to estimate if the interpersonal violence that
caused it was intended to be lethal. This is because injuries such as these are seen today
during tinku-type ritual violence, which is not supposed to result in death.
Additionally, an adult male approximately 30±5 years of age, also recovered
from tomb 17, displayed extreme blunt force to the right superior and inferior portion of
the cranium. Although the broken portion of the right cranium was not recovered during
excavation, radiating fracture lines are observable on the external surface of the portion
57
�Figure 12: Perimortem fracturing in a subadult located along the sagittal suture at bregma.
that remains (Figure 13) indicating large amounts of force applied to this individual’s
cranium. Due to the fragmentation of the cranium the internal surface was observable and
showed evidence of an internally beveled edge (Figure 8), commonly seen in cases
dealing with large amounts of external force. The level of force required to fracture off
such a large portion of the skull suggests that this perimortem injury was delivered with
lethal intention. It seems possible that the separated fragments were not recovered during
excavation because this man was buried without the damaged portion of his skull.
Figure 13. Perimortem fracturing resulting from the application of a tremendous force to
the right, superior portion of an adult male cranium. The missing fragments were not
recovered during excavation.
58
�V. Conclusion
In this analysis of trauma at the Huacas de Moche seven cases were identified,
all affecting individuals buried in the precincts of Huaca de la Luna. These data suggest
that though evidence of violent acts are relatively rare, non-sacrificial violence did occur
at the site. Moche practices have been interpreted through the archeological record,
iconographic reconstruction and the remains of those suitable for analysis, which
provides us with a clearer understanding of how these injuries may have occurred. In
addition to these indicators, depth, porosity and shape allow for further analysis to occur,
contextualizing these traumatic injuries and allowing us to expand interpretation from
individualized cases to understand interpersonal violence in Moche society. The
osteological evidence demonstrates patterns of trauma that we might expect to result from
ritualistic violence, because antemortem trauma fracturing affected individuals of both
sexes as well as all ages. Furthermore these data support the use of both club-like
weapons and the likely use of sling-stones. However, we cannot rule out the use of
warfare by the Moche. The two individuals affected by clear cases of perimortem blunt
force trauma indicate other reasons for violence. The adult male who had suffered from
perimortem trauma would accurately fit the description of an elite warrior displaying
injuries such as these. Similarly, both adult males who suffered from antemortem trauma
displayed evidence of the same injury on the left frontal, suggesting that there is a
common experience in how these injuries are obtained, making war-like, hand-to-hand
fighting possible. The unsexed, young adult also affected by antemortem blunt force
trauma may have been old enough to participate in activities such as ritualistic and actual
physical combat in a war-like setting.
Until further analysis takes place and additional information is processed, these
finding suggest that in the Huaca de la Luna sample fracturing, injury and violence might
be best understood in relation to smaller and more individualized contexts, rather than
those of large and more broad warfare such as those found in other cases of Andean
trauma (e.g. Verano 2001; Lambert 1994; Tung 2007; Kurin 2012). I look to further my
research by analyzing additional individuals found within Huaca de la Luna and I plan to
expand my focus of research by incorporating other post-cranial elements. By doing so, I
hope to develop an accurate theme to depict how Moche violence was incorporated
within their society.
VI. Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Drs. Santiago Uceda and Celeste Marie Gagnon for the
opportunity to study the remains. I would also like to thank Nadia Gamarra Carranza and
Sophia Linares for their help at the Museo. I also recognize Rose Tobiassen, Violeta
Capric and Sophia Fox-Sowell for aiding in the analysis of the skeletal remains. Funding
59
�for this research was provided by the Anonymous Donor Grant and Faculty Research
Grant of Wagner College to Celeste Marie Gagnon.
VII. References
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62
�Changes in the Media Landscape: The Impact
of Globalization and Widespread Internet
Access on Free Press and Media Rights 1
Katelynn Rusnock (International Affairs) 2
Changes in communications and internet access in the globalized world have altered the
way people throughout the world access the news industry. This has led to a shift in the
way that free press, as a human rights issue, must be analyzed. It is unclear how
globalization and the widespread use of the internet, has influenced free press and media
rights throughout the world. Previous writings have not completely examined how these
factors relate, even though statistics, studies, and writings on globalization, the internet,
and free press are individually widely available. Through studying the spread of the
internet and case studies regarding free press, the recently increased use of the internet as
a news medium, widespread availability of major news networks, and citizen journalists,
it can be seen that globalization has not only improved free press throughout parts of the
world, but changed society’s ideas on freedom of information.
I. Introduction
It has become easier for different regions of the world to interact with one
another as the world has become more globalized. Globalization has allowed men,
women, governments, and economies around the world to do business with, trade with,
share ideas with, communicate with, and distribute information to each other.
Communication and the media have played a large role in these interactions. The internet
and other forms of technology have made it possible for news organizations, media
companies, and even internet bloggers and writers, to reach audiences they previously
were unable to. This raises questions about how access to information is being influenced
by widespread availability of the internet and an increasingly connected world. This
paper aims to explore the impacts of globalization on free press and media rights.
1
Presented at the New York State Political Science Association Annual Meeting, St.
Johns University (Manhattan campus), April 25-26, 2014.
2
Research performed under the direction of Dr. Abraham Unger in partial fulfillment of the
Senior Program requirements.
63
�One must first examine what constitutes free press before delving further into
this topic. Reporters Without Borders, which every year publishes the World PressFreedom Index, labels Free Press as "the freedom to be informed and to inform others
throughout the world," (2013, p. 2), although there is no strict definition agreed upon by
the international community. The index rates nations based on pluralism of ideas," media
independence, environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency",
and media infrastructure (p. 17, 18). Figure 1 shows the different levels of press freedom
in the nations included on the Freedom Index. (2013) However, it is clear that the nations
in the worst situations regarding press freedom, are those whose governments highly
regulate, or even outlaw, private media sources. It is common for journalists, or those
accused of being members of the media, to be arrested, tortured, or even executed in
countries on the lowest end of the Freedom Index. The Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ) reports that they helped fifty five journalists seek refuge outside their home
countries in 2013. (Journalists in Exile, 2013) In some countries, such as Egypt, it is
common for the government to raid the offices of television and radio news broadcasting
stations and in Eritrea, the lowest ranked nation on the list, private media has been
completely outlawed and the only legal sources of information on politics is the
government itself.
Figure 1: Reporters Without Borders Free Press Map. This figure illustrates the level of press
freedom in regions throughout the world. Source: Reporters Without Borders, World PressFreedom Index (2013).
64
�Previously, information was largely communicated by newspapers and
television broadcasts, however as the world becomes increasingly globalized, the internet
has become as important a media tool as more traditional news sources. Although a
repressive government might forbid its citizens from creating, distributing, or even
consuming material it perceives to be damaging to the regime, it has become increasingly
difficult for these governments to regulate what is posted on the internet, especially by
those who reside outside the country's border. It has become impossible for a leader or
governing party to remove all disagreeing opinions from the internet. This means that the
world has greater access to a larger number of opinions, information sources, and
viewpoints than ever before. Social media, blogs, and personal websites have allowed
anyone with access to the internet the ability to serve as, what has become widely known
as, citizen journalists. In recent years, these unconventional sources of information have
become increasingly influential and even helped spark political rebellions.
In addition, technology has made it easier for the largest news organizations in
the world to provide widespread access to their broadcasts and publications. Media
companies are no longer limited to broadcasting in their own nations or regions allowing
companies like CNN, BBC, and Al-Jazeera to become worldwide sources of news. These
companies, and others like them, have become so large, powerful, and influential that it is
nearly impossible to limit them. Large media companies are no longer limited to
broadcasting and producing in one place and often have offices all over the world,
making it harder for objecting governments to shut them down. A nation that attempts to
ban Al-Jazeera or CNN from being viewed or read by its citizens, might discover that
social media, blogs, and even word of mouth might make it hard for the messages of
these networks to be completely eliminated in its population. Examples of this will be
examined below.
II. Literature Review
A Changing Media Landscape
The impact of globalization on the way the media functions has been largely
discussed and written about in recent years. The news industry has had to adapt itself to a
world where technology and ideas are much more widespread. Large news organizations
are no longer likely to simply publish a single newspaper a day intended for a limited
audience. A single news organization might produce publications, broadcast television or
radio shows, and run a website that includes traditional news stories, blog posts, and
65
�videos. News has become a twenty-four-hours-a-day industry and news organizations are
constantly churning out products that have the potential to be viewed all over the world.
Esperança Bielsa (2008) has described this shift in the news industry as “a
consolidation of a global media system,” that serves to “promote an experience of global
connectedness,” (p. 347). He argues that since the creation of the telegraph, technology
has been continuously altering the way the world receives its news. (2008). He explains
that, “the globalization of media communications has deeply shaped the modern
journalistic field in the last 150 years,” (p. 347). This means it is no longer uncommon
for a person in the United States or the Middle East to regularly consume news produced
in Europe or elsewhere in the world. Like Bielsa, Toby Huff (2001) explains that
globalization is making communication in general, and the spread of information around
the world, easier. “The advent of fax, email, and other forms of electronic communication
have captured the imagination because such communication can now be accomplished
within seconds anywhere around the world for a tiny fraction of a worker’s daily wages,”
(p. 440).
Bielsa also explains that this access to the media by larger audiences leads to the
reinforcement of the power of the largest news organizations. Organizations like the
Associated Press, Reuters, and Cable News Network (CNN) are increasingly becoming
available everywhere. He claims that such organizations are becoming “truly global
transnational entities, with worldwide networks for news production and circulation,”
(Bielsa, 2008, p. 360). This means that many throughout the world are becoming more
likely to turn to these networks for their information.
This availability of large networks all over the world has also had an impact on
the type of news the world watches and reads. Bielsa claims that Western ideas of
journalism tend to dominate the global media landscape. (2008) Bielsa explains:
The fact that by far the most important news markets are Western also weighs
powerfully on the character of the global news agencies. Fundamental criticisms
about the representation of Third World Countries were already raised in the
UNESCO debate for a New World Information and Communication Order that took
place in the 1970s. Today, the appearance on non-Western media like Al-Jazeera in
the field of global news poses a new challenge to the issue. (2008, p.361).
This means that as the world becomes more globalized, the western media giants might
gain more power, but other large organizations have the ability to garner worldwide
audiences as well.
A study conducted by Neil Thurman (2007) seems to support Bielsa’s findings.
Thurman looked at the recent trend of Americans to use British news sources. He found
66
�that, “At the British news websites studied, Americans made up an average of 36 per cent
of the total audience with up to another 39 per cent of readers from countries other than the
USA,” (p. 285). Thurman explains that the internet has made it increasingly possible for
readers to seek out, or even unintentionally come across, international news sources (2007).
Internet Induced Activism
Other scholars on globalization and media have written in depth on the topic of
political activism made possible through the internet. In recent years, blogs, web-pages,
and social media sites, have increasingly been used to spread information and have
become an important aspect of the global media landscape. The internet has allowed any
person with internet access the ability to become a citizen journalist. These people aid in
spreading information, whether it be straight unbiased news or opinions on current
political climates.
Abdel- Fattah Mady (2013) explains that “social networks have enabled
mobilization of the people and execution of political action, and have become an
important obstacle for the survival of the authoritarian system,” (p. 318). Mady uses the
example of the use of social media and blogs in Egypt during the 2011 Arab Spring
uprisings as a way to show how the internet and social media is beginning to play a
crucial role in such conflicts. He goes on to explain that although “deteriorating economic
and social conditions,” in Egypt were the main catalysts for the uprisings, “mass media,
information, and communication technologies [helped] in facilitating mobilization,
recruitment, and eventually the popular uprising,” (p. 313).
Habibul Haque Khondker (2011) argues that social media played such a large
role in the Egyptian revolution because of the Mubarak regime’s tendency to regulate and
limit conventional news media. “Control of conventional media made the role of the new
media more relevant. During the anti-Mubarak protests, an Egyptian activist put it
succinctly in a tweet: ‘we use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate,
and YouTube to tell the world’ (Global Voice Advocacy, 2010),” (as cited in Khondker,
2011, p. 677). This use of the internet as a key media component to the Arab Spring
shows how internet and social media is becoming an important player in political
discourse around the world.
Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner (2004) explain that this trend is occurring
globally. They state, “The global internet, then, is creating the base and the basis for an
unparalleled worldwide anti-war/pro-peace and social justice movement during a time of
terrorism, war, and intense political struggle,” (p. 88). They discuss the use of Wikis to
67
�get out information on the government that traditional media sources never had access to.
“Cyber-activists have been attempting to carry out globalization-from-below, developing
networks of solidarity and propagating oppositional ideas and movements throughout the
planet,” (p. 89). All three of these studies show how the internet is playing a role in
global activism.
Evolving Ideas of Free Press in a Globalized Society
All of these changes in the media industry again bring attention to the question
of how to define what a free press actually is and how to measure it. Shelton Gunaratne
(2002) explains that the most common idea of press freedom centers around what he calls
the "libertarian concept," of free press (p. 344). Gunaratne explains that Hachten (1999)
defined this concept of press freedom as “a free flow of information unimpeded by any
intervention by any nation.” (as cited in Gunaratne, 2002, p. 344). Gunaratne also
examines other similar definitions of press freedom given by other writers, such as Stein
(1966) who “describes a free press as one that ‘acts as a marketplace [sic] where ideas,
opinions and theories are served up to citizens for their acceptance or rejection’ without
government censor,” (as cited in Gunaratne, 2002, p. 345). These ideas all align with
ideas on press freedom that Gunaratne says originated in the West, with Siebert’s
libertarian Theory of the Press published in 1956, and the United States Constitution’s
Bill of Rights. (2002)
However, Gunaratne claims that these definitions of free press do not properly
account for the change in the media climate that is taking place in the current globalized
world. He says that freedom of the press should be viewed from a world system
perspective. As the world increasingly becomes one society that is beginning to have
access to a wider array of news sources, “any analysis of global communication,
including the mapping of press freedom, should move in descending order from the
world-economy to the center clusters and their respective hinterlands- the peripheryclusters- and only then to the nation-states within each of the clusters,” (p. 344). This
idea of media freedom serves as a critique on the way freedom of the press indexes are
typically constructed.
As mentioned previously, Reporters Without Borders publishes a list of 180
individual nations ranked on free press. Other organizations such as Freedom House put
out comparable lists. Similarly, CPJ publishes an Impunity Index that lists countries with
over five murders of journalists where “governments have failed to win any convictions,”
(2013 Impunity Index, 2013, p. 6) Gunaratne explains:
68
�“This individualistic approach places emphasis on the ‘atomistic’ nation-state as if
each state were independent of the world system. In the informationional era,
globalization has transformed the erstwhile nation-states into ‘global’ states. If we
concede this transformation, it becomes apparent that despite endogenous press
restrictions, citizens may have the capacity ‘to seek, receive and impart information
and ideas’...via exogenous media that are generally not subject to tate control. A
press freedom index is incomplete and inaccurate without factoring in people’s ability
to access exogenous media. (Gunaratne, 2002, p. 361).
However, some of these organizations might be starting to take this idea into
context. For the first time in 2013, Reporters Without Borders gave a “global indicator of
worldwide media freedom,” (World Press- Freedom Index, 2013, p. 2). Although this
measure does not demonstrate much for 2013, as there is nothing to compare it to, the
indicator is meant to “stand as a point of reference for the years to come,” (p. 2).
Gunaratne’s suggestion might become an important part of these lists in the future.
III. Data Analysis
Although many of these articles have examined globalization and the media, the
internet and activism, and free press, few have examined the impacts of globalization and
widespread access to the internet on free press in a complete and comprehensive manner.
Although recent research assumes that the media climate has changed in recent years, it is
unclear exactly how much of an impact this has had in regards to access of information. It
is important to look for a correlation between globalization and free press to see how the
media industry, human rights in relation to information freedom, journalism, and the
world political climate will change in the future. It is possible to examine the relationship
between globalization, technology, the internet, and media rights by looking at at the
media climate in certain nations, the widespread consumption of large media sources, the
changes in media patterns in the Middle East, and numbers regarding free press and
internet access
Comparing Nations: The Relationship Between the Internet and Free Press
The rise of widespread internet access has been a major factor in globalization.
Huff (2001) argues that “Globalization and modernity today are clearly linked,” (p. 439).
He continues on to say that the ability to communicate between far-flung regions of the
world has helped further industry and made the whole world a “local” market (p. 440).
However, this can also be seen as true when it comes to the media industry. The news
industry has become globalized and as many of the previously mentioned articles have
stated, media companies are no longer regional and can often be accessed all over the
69
�world. This makes it easier for people all over the world to access information that might
not have been available to them previously. Huff says, “it is evident that the emergence
of the Internet and the World Wide Web has radically altered the world of
communication and placed powerful new constraints on regimes that are information
shy,” (p. 441). Governments that serve a population with a large number of internet users
are less likely to be able to control the information and media its citizens are consuming.
This can be seen by comparing internet usage data with free press index ratings
and scores. By looking at Finland, the United States, Egypt, and Eritrea, it can be seen
that the countries with larger percentages of the population having internet access have
better free press ratings. Figure 2 compares the percentage of the population with internet
access in each country with the free press score assigned to each by the Reporters
Without Borders World Press- Freedom Index 2013. The report scores nations on a scale
of 0 to 100, “with 0 being the best possible score and 100 the worst,” (p. 18). Percentages
of each population with internet access were calculated using population and internet user
numbers provided by the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) World Factbook (2013).
Figure 2. The chart shows how nations with lower internet accessible populations (Eritrea and
Egypt) are given higher (worse) scores in press freedom than the United States and Finland, who
each have high internet accessible population percentages. Source of Data Analyzed: Reporters
Without Borders, World Press- Freedom Index (2013), CIA World Factbook (2013).
70
�These nations were chosen to be studied because of their rankings on the
Reporters Without Borders Index. Finland is the highest ranked nation on the list. It has a
score of 6.38 (World Press-Freedom Index, 2013) and 83.42 percent of the country’s
population has internet access. It is considered to be in a “good situation,” the highest
category on the index, regarding media freedom (2013, p. 20). The United States falls
into the next category, “Satisfactory Situation,” on the index. It is ranked 32nd overall
with a score of 18.22 (p. 20). 77.37 percent of the population has internet access, a lower
percentage than that of Finland. Egypt falls into the second worst category of “Difficult
Situation.” It is ranked 158th on the list with a score of 48.66 (p. 23). 23.61 percent of the
population has internet access, putting Egypt worse off than both the United States and
Finland in media rights and internet access. The last country viewed, Eritrea, has the
worst press freedom situation of all four nations. Categorized as a “Very Serious
Situation,” Eritrea, where the private media is completely outlawed, is ranked 179th, or
last, on the index with a score of 84.83 (p. 24). Only 3.21 percent of Eritrea’s population
has access to the internet, making it worse off than all three other countries in media
rights and and internet access. All percentages on media access were calculated using
data from the CIA World Factbook (2013). It can be seen that in these four nations, media
freedom appears to relate to internet access. Looking closely at these four nations shows
how globalization has impacted the ability of their populations to freely consume and
produce media.
Difficulties Regarding Censorship: A Case Study on Eritrea
As mentioned above, the nation with the worst score regarding press freedom is
Eritrea. With a Reporters Without Borders score of 84.83 (World Press Freedom Index,
2013, p. 24), Eritrea’s government has outlawed all forms of private journalism. CPJ has
called Eritrea one of “Africa’s top jailers of journalists in 2012,” (Journalists in Exile,
2013, p. 4). Eritrea gained political independence from Ethiopia in 1993 and ratified its
own constitution in 1997. (Connell, 2011) However, the nation’s constitution “has yet to
go into effect, and there have been no national elections,” (p. 420). Eritrea has been run
by an interim military president, Isaias Afwerki, a dictator who controls every aspect of
the government, ever since. Isaias, who goes by his first name, has outlawed anything he
sees as oppositional to his rule. This includes all forms of press in the nation. (2011)
Journalists and suspected media members are often thrown in jail without ever being
charged with a crime.
An example of what often happens to journalists in Eritrea was given in a CPJ
71
�report:
One print reporter, who asked not to be identified for his safety, fled Eritrea for Sudan
in August 2008 after nearly six years in a government detention center. He was
arrested in 2002 and was never officially charged with a crime, though he was
repeatedly interrogated, forced into labor, and tortured with restraints and suspension
of his body for extended periods of time. Prior to his arrest, he had worked in the
official media, and had also been a contributor to one of a handful of independent
newspapers in the country [before] Eritrean authorities shut down all independent
media outlets in a widespread government crackdown on dissent beginning in
September 2001. (Journalists in Exile, 2013, p.4)
This situation clearly illustrates how journalists in the country have been treated in recent
years, making participation in any sort of journalism from within the country dangerous
and life threatening.
However, what makes Eritrea interesting is the large number of media
publications and internet sites, dedicated to providing news on and for the country’s
people, based in diaspora communities. These news organizations are based in various
parts of the world including Trenton, New Jersey and Paris, France. (Connell, 2011) Dan
Connell (2011) explained that these websites, publications, and broadcasts are largely
consumed not only by those in Eritrea’s diaspora, but also illegally by some living within
Eritrea. He explains that the medium of reporting that is the most effective in reaching
those still in Eritrea is radio. There are at least three radio broadcasts centered around
Eritrean affairs that are sometimes able to be illegally broadcast into Eritrea both over
radio waves and the internet. (2011) Victoria Bernal explained that, “For Eritreans...
one’s most pressing communication might be with far-flung strangers in cyberspace,”
(Bernal, 2005, p. 660).
Although the press situation in Eritrea is dangerous and repressive, the internet,
technology, and the ability to communicate with people all over the world, has created a
way for an alternative Eritrean media system to be developed. Although the situation is
not stable, easy to navigate, or just, the ability of Eritrean populations both inside and
outside the country to communicate and get information to one another is a benefit of a
globalized world that could not have been achieved before the internet and advanced
telecommunications systems were possible. Eritrea is a prime example about how the
internet and global communications networks are changing the media industry even in the
most repressive environments.
72
�Alternative Types of Media: A Case Study on Egypt
To see the impact the internet has had on media, information, and
communication, it is also important to look at Egypt. During the spring of 2011, a series
of protests and uprisings took place in an ultimately successful effort to overthrow former
President Hosni Mubarak. The protesters, primarily young activists, utilized social media
and internet sites and blogs as a way of communicating with one another and spreading
their messages. “Many commentators quickly emphasized the role played by social
media, defining the situation as a ‘social media revolution,’ mainly focusing on its
organizational aspects...and informational spread,” Francesca Comunello and Giuseppe
Anzera explained in their 2012 article.
The significance of social media as an informational tool in Egypt is due, in part,
to the way media is controlled in the country. The Egyptian government aims to control
any journalism it deems to be oppositional within the country. The government has been
known to raid the offices of media companies in the country and even has a cabinet
position of Information Minister. (CPJ: On the Divide, 2013) CPJ reports that even
following the overthrow of Mubarak, between August 2012 and July 2013, while
President Mohamed Morsi was in power, over 78 journalist assaults were reported.
(2013)
This repressive climate, makes internet and social media more important, like in
Eritrea, even though the press freedom situation is not as dire. Social media serves as a
form of media the government cannot easily stop. For Egyptian citizens whose opinions
were outlawed by the government in traditional media sources, Twitter, Facebook and
blogs provided a venue to get their message out during the revolution. Axel Bruns, Tim
Highfield, and Jean Burgess (2013) explain that by simply attaching “#egypt,” to a post
on Twitter, Egyptians could connect “their comments to a wider discussion,” during the
revolution that was much harder for the government to stop than traditional media
sources (p. 873).
In addition social media provided Egyptians with a venue to share stories about
government violence and injustice against journalists. Khondker (2011) shared the story
of Khaled Said in his article:
On 6 June 2010 Khaled Said, an Egyptian blogger, was dragged out of a cybercafe
and beaten to death by policeman in Alexandria, Egypt. The cafe owner, Mr. Hassan
Mosbah, gave the details of this murder in a filmed interview, which was posted
online, and pictures of Mr. Said’s shattered face appeared on social networking sites.
On 14 June 2010 Issandr El Amrani posted the details on the blog site Global Voices
Advocacy (Global Voices Advocacy, accessed on 24 June 2011). A young Google
73
�executive Wael Ghonim created a Facebook page, ‘We Are All Khalid Said’, which
enlisted 350,000 members before 14 January 2011. (Khondker, 2011, p. 677)
This story shows how social media not only served as a form of media itself, but allowed
the Egyptian people to spread the word about press violence within the country. Social
media gave Egyptians power to voice their opinions regarding the political and media
situation in the government.
Media Companies: The Other Globalized News Sources
However, globalization of communication technology has not only impacted
social media, internet bloggers, and citizen journalists. Major media organizations and
their viewers and readers have also reaped the benefits of a more globalized world. News
organizations now have the ability to become worldwide news providers. As discussed
earlier, Bielsa (2008) argued that globalization has created a media climate where large
news organizations, like CNN, are able to flourish worldwide. He explains that “by 1992,
CNN and CNN International combined reached 119 million households in over 140
countries,” and these numbers have only grown since then (Bielsa, 2008, p. 361).
Not only does this benefit media companies, who now have a larger audience
and group of viewers, but people all over the world have a wider range of options to
choose from in regards to receiving information. However, Bielsa also discusses how this
ability for media companies to broadcast all over the world has led Western media giants
to dominate journalistic discourse. (2008) This raises the question whether or not a
globalized world creates a bias towards western ideas in media. Western media giants
seem to have the greatest ability to take advantage of worldwide communication avenues.
However, in recent years, Al-Jazeera, a middle eastern, “pan-Arab channel,”
(Bielsa, 2008, p. 362) has found a way to compete with Western media companies. Bielsa
said, “Assuming a pledge for objective reporting and contrasted points of view, AlJazeera initiated a revolution in the Arab world by breaking with a regional tradition that
had subordinated media to the government and by introducing new democratic practices
in broadcasting,” (p. 362). The company flourished by showing different sides of the
news than Western media companies.
Al-Jazeera provides a journalistic point of view that CNN and other competitors
cannot. (Al-Jenaibi, 2010) Badreya Al-Jenaibi argued that Al-Jazeera’s uniqueness from
its competitors is what draws in viewers (2010). The popularity of Al-Jazeera proves that
not only does globalization allow access all over the world to Western media, but it also
provides an opportunity to other regions of the world to compete. Al-Jazeera’s ability to
74
�maintain offices in various parts of the world has made it difficult for governments, such
as Egypt, that might have opposed it, to censor its content. Lawrence Pintak described
this change by saying, “No longer did all the world view events through a western lense.
But neither could Arab governments any longer control the televised message, (2008, p.
17).
However, Al-Jazeera does not only benefit those in the Middle East. The
network has also managed to bring a journalistic point of view not otherwise available
into Western homes. In August 2013, Al-Jazeera launched Al-Jazeera America, bringing
the network to over 45 million American viewers’ televisions for the first time, according
to an article in the New York Times. (Stelter, 2013) Although Al-Jazeera English was
previously available to American viewers via the internet, for the first time, the network
created a series of shows that, not only reported on international news, but also on
American affairs. An American viewer can turn on Al-Jazeera and see some of what he
or she might see on CNN, but the viewer now has a more diverse pool of news options to
choose from. For the first time, a non-Western media source is becoming a source of
news for English speaking Americans. This ability for networks to broadcast all over the
world is changing the way society as a whole views the media and gives people access to
more information framed by different points of view.
IV. Conclusion
Globalization, media rights, the internet, and free press are very clearly
intertwined in many ways. Globalization and widespread internet access throughout the
world seems to be advancing access to different types of media, and even facilitating the
creation of new ones, like Twitter and Facebook. However, it is clear that the media is
also impacting globalization. Media networks, blogs, citizen journalists, and other forms
of journalism facilitate the spread of ideas throughout the world.
Globalization and free press influence each other in a way that is both cyclical
and mutually beneficial. Figure 3 shows how as the world becomes more globalized,
technology becomes more accessible throughout the world. Technology makes it harder
for ideas and media to be censored. This uncensored flow of ideas allows points of view
to be communicated across borders, creating a more globalized and connected world.
75
�Figure 3. Media freedom and globalization impact each other in ways that are mutually beneficial.
The internet has become one of the most effective tools for communicating ideas
and news in a way that is largely uncensorable. The internet allows news organizations
and even individuals to broadcast all over the world creating a media system that is no
longer regional. This spread allows companies like CNN and Al-Jazeera to be accessible
to viewers in many parts of the world.
However, discourse on this topic could be improved by finding new ways to
measure correlations between internet use and media freedom. Studies that focus more on
the impact of internet access on freedom of the press would allow writers and the
international community to look further into what could be done to provide nations with
more repressive media climates additional avenues for their residents to receive news.
While many studies have been done on how globalization leads to technology that creates
internet and telecommunications pathways around the world, few have looked concretely
into how globalization, and these new pathways, are directly linked to press freedom.
Not only has globalization helped further access to news and information, but
76
�the internet and increased access to news networks around the world has provided a place
for stories of violent offenses against journalists to be shared. Globalization not only
creates new ways for the media to function, but also draws worldwide attention to the
importance of journalist rights, access to news, and media freedom. People all over the
world can use these new forms of media to serve as advocates for a more free flowing,
uncensored, and diverse media landscape. Free press and media freedom is becoming
increasingly achievable and news is becoming more accessible in the globalized society
the world is developing into today.
V. References
Al-Jenaibi, B. (2010). The Competition Between Al-Jazeera’ Arab News Diversity and
US Channels. Canadian Social Science, 6 (4), 81-96.
Bernal, V. (2005). Eritrea On-Line: Diaspora, Cyberspace, and the Public Sphere.
American Ethnologist, 32(4), 660-675.
Bielsa, E. (2008). The pivotal role of news agencies in the context of globalization: a
historical approach. Global Networks, 8 (3), 347-366.
Bruns, A., Highfield, T., & Burgess, J. (2013). The Arab Spring and Social Media
Audiences: English and Arabic Twitter Users and Their Networks. American Behavioral
Scientist, 57 (7), 871-898.
Central Intelligence Agency. (2013). World Factbook. Washington, DC: Online
Committee to Protect Journalists. (2013). Getting Away With Murder: CPJ’s 2013
Impunity Index (1st ed.). New York, NY.
Committee to Protect Journalists. (2013). Journalists in Exile 2013: Somalis, Syrians flee
violence; Iran crackdown deepens: A special report by the Committee to Protect
Journalists (1st ed.). New York, NY.
Committee to Protect Journalists. (2013). On the Divide: Press Freedom at Risk in Egypt: A
Special Report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (1st ed.). New York, NY.
Comunello, F., & Anzera, G. (2012). Will the revolution be tweeted? A conceptual
77
�framework for understanding the social media and Arab Spring. Islam and ChristianMuslim Relations, 23(4), 453-470.
Connell, D. (2011). From resistance to governance: Eritrea’s trouble with transition.
Review of African Political Economy, 38 (129), 419-433.
Gunaratne, S. (2002). Freedom of the Press: A World System Perspective. International
Communication Gazette, 64 (343), 343-369.
Huff, T. E. (2001). Globalization and the Internet: Comparing the Middle Eastern and
Malaysian Experiences. The Middle East Journal, 55 (3), 439-458.
Kahn, R., & Kellner, D. (2004). New Media and Internet Activism: From the ‘Battle of
Seattle’ to Blogging. New Media & Society, 6 (87), 87-95.
Khondker, H. H. (2011). Role of the New Media in the Arab Spring. Globalizations, 8
(5), 675-679.
Mady, A. F. (2013). Popular Discontent, Revolution, and Democratization in Egypt in a
Globalizing World. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 20 (1), 313-337.
Pintak, L. (2008). Satellite TV News and Arab Democracy. Journalism Practice, 2 (1),
15-26.
Reporters Without Borders. (2013). World Press- Freedom Index 2013 (1st ed.). Paris, France.
Stelter, B. (2013, August 20). Al Jazeera Makes Limited American Debut. The New York
Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/business/media/al-jazeera makes-its-american-debut.html?_r=0
Thurman, N. (2007). The globalization of journalism online: A transatlantic study of
news websites and their international readers. Journalism, 8(3), 285-307.
78
���Providing a Framework for Just War in United States
Foreign Policy: A Case Study of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
Kristen Matteoni (International Affairs) 1
In this paper the framework of Just War Theory is used to assess whether the 2003
invasion of Iraq was just. While George W. Bush's administration declared the Iraqi
invasion just war borne out of necessity, opponents charged that it was a war of choice,
even opportunism. Behind the oratory lie fundamental questions: when is war just, and
what means are acceptable through the duration of a just war? Just War Theory explores
this dilemma. Just War Theory requires that a nation at war respect proportionality both
before it goes to war, jus ad bellum, and in the way it fights a war, jus in bello. The six
criteria against which to assess the justice of going to war are just cause, right intention,
proper authority, last resort, reasonable probability, and proportionality. To respect
proportionality is to know or estimate on good evidence that the damage inflicted from
war and the tactics used throughout it will be proportionate to the good done by taking up
arms. To meet proportionality criteria the war as a whole must generate more good, help,
or benefit than evil, harm, or costs. This paper argues that the 2003-2011 United States
war in Iraq fails on both counts. It considers, in regard to jus ad bellum, the evils, harms,
and costs that the war forces on the Iraqi military and civilians, the American military,
and American and non-Iraqi civilians. It considers, under jus in bello, the evils, harms,
and costs that the war forced on Iraqi civilians. The standards of proportionality deem
this war a miserable failure. The key pre-war issues discussed include alleged Iraqi
possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and links to terrorist organizations,
as well as the meaning of UN Security Council resolutions. It concludes that, as the just
war criteria were not satisfied, the invasion of Iraq was unjust.
I. Literature Review
Just War Theory has evolved and stands today as the most significant criteria for
determining the morality for waging war. It is used by nations to decide if it is morally
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Patricia Moynagh in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
81
�and legally justifiable to engage in military conflict. Choosing the rubric of Just War
Theory allows for the 2003 invasion of Iraq to be measured in terms of morality and
legality through the concepts of jus ad bellum and jus in bello. The conditions of just
cause, right intent, proper authority, last resort, probability of success, and proportionality
must be met in order for a war to be just under the terms of jus ad bellum (Fotion, 2007).
The conditions of jus in bello include noncombatant immunity and proportionality
(Strehle, 2004). This paper will analyze all conditions as they apply to the decision to
invade and occupy Iraq. It is hypothesized that the 2003 war in Iraq failed to meet the
terms of Just War Theory. The following literature reviews demonstrate and support said
hypothesis.
Joachim von Elbe writes of the historical evolution of Just War Theory and of
how it has come to be applied in international terms. He notes that the notion of both
ancient and modern warfare should be based on the norms of justice and morality as seen
in the writings of Aristotle, Plato, and Cieceo. The concept of just war was later
developed more concisely by St. Augustine who emphasized the importance of waging
war to restore peace (Elbe, 1939). It was not until later that St. Thomas Aquinas, Hugo
Grotius, Immanuel Kant and Michael Walzer advanced the theory into the practical
formula that is used today.
The evolution from the works of Aristotle to that of Walzer can best described
as a shift from pacifism to realism. Authors Richard Bellamy and Andrew Mason clarify
the ideological shift and describe why it occured. True pacifists believe that the concept
of war is immoral and that individuals should refuse to fight in all instances. Contrary to
pacifists, realists separate war and ethics. They hold to the belief that war can, in many
cases, be justified (Bellamy & Mason, 2003). From the latter ideology spurred the
concepts of jus ad bellum and jus in bello that are used to establish the injustice of the
war in Iraq. To truly evaluate such injustice, an understanding of the history of Iraq is
necessary.
John Keegan provides a step-by-step analysis of the events leading to the
invasion of Iraq. He explicitly narrates Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and sheds light on the
strategy and tactics employed by the coalition to remove Hussein from power.
Throughout his book, Keegan provides both a military and governmental account of how
the United States handled a hostile foreign power (Keegan, 2004). The works of
Enemark, Lewis, Cohn, Rocheleau, and Weeks then tie Just War Theory and Iraq
together.
82
�Enemark applies the framework of the Just War doctrine to the invasion of Iraq
in 2003. He takes the previous mentioned six criteria for going to war and applies them
to the decisions and intentions made by the United States, Great Britain, and Australia.
Great emphasis is put upon the supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction, as
well as the justifications of self-defense and humanitarian intervention. Charles Lewis
highlights the false messages spread by government officials, as well as the highly
questionable intelligence information relied upon as a basis for military intervention.
Marjorie Cohn provides support for this thesis through her information pertaining to a
lack of just cause as well as lack of proper authority. Cohn explains that the United
States did not receive the approval of the Nations Security Council prior to entering into
Iraq nor did it have concrete evidence pertaining to weapons of mass destruction. She
analyzes the consequences of failing to gain a solid foundation before entering into such a
costly war effort.
Jordy Rocheleau adds to the support of this thesis by concluding that the United
States failed to meet the conditions of last resort, through the ignorance of other options,
and proportionality based on economic and human loss as well as conduct throughout the
invasion and occupation (Rocheleau, 2010). Albert Weeks concludes the support for this
thesis by providing an analysis of how the United States failed to meet the terms of
noncombatant immunity as well as proportionality through the process of jus in bello. He
argues that the mistreatment of prisoners of war, the multi-billion dollar cost, and the
deplorable loss of human life deem the invasion of Iraq unjust in terms of Just War
Theory (Weeks, 2010).
II. Introduction
On March 19, 2003, President George W. Bush announced that an armed
coalition led by the United States was poised to invade Iraq (Keegan, 2004). In 2011,
after more than eight (8) years of military occupation, both Iraq and the United States
faced more problems than they did pre-invasion. The United States invaded Iraq under
the pretexts of discovering weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), forcing Iraq to comply
with United Nations sanctions, and liberating the Iraqi people from the autocracy of
Saddam Hussein (Fisher, 2001). As it became increasingly evident that the United States
was preparing for an invasion in Iraq, much debate about the morality of entering into
such an excursion arose. With the United States’ inability to uncover any evidence of
nuclear WMDs in Iraq, all three justifications for the invasion were proven faulty.
83
�In light of these inaccuracies came a rise of violence, political and economic
upheaval, and an increasingly divided nation. Just War Theory provides a framework for
evaluation of the invasion in terms of morality. This thesis holds that the 2003 invasion
of Iraq clashes with the criteria of Just War and views all attempts to defend the invasion
as a misconception of Just War doctrine. Many believe that the War on Terror changed
the policy of just war and that in light of new terrorist enemies, the United States
maintained every right to invade Iraq. This view is inaccurate in that one nation cannot
decide to alter the terms of Just War to achieve selfish ends or justify its actions. All
additional research will therefore depict the justifications of war as presented by the
George W. Bush administration and evaluate the pre-invasion justifications presented.
An analysis of the origins of the invasion, as well as a description of Just War theory
must first be evaluated.
III. Saddam Hussein and the United States
“The dictatorship of Saddam Hussein is one of the harshest, most ruthless and most
unscrupulous regimes in the world. It is a totalitarian, one-party system based on the
personality cult of Saddam Hussein. The man and his family and relatives have
control of the regular army, People’s Army, police and security service. All news
media are under the strict control of the regime and there is no opportunity for
freedom of expression” (Keegan, 53).
Beginning in 1979 and concluding with his overthrow in 2003, Saddam Hussein
ruled with an iron fist over the people of Iraq. Under his reign, the Iraqi people faced
absolute oppression while his enemies faced unwarranted and often unprovoked attacks.
His time in power is marked by obvious aggression towards foreign powers, specifically
the United States and other Middle Eastern countries. Hussein came to power in a time
of increasing Middle Eastern distain for the United States. The overthrow of the Iranian
Pahavi royal family provided him with the perfect opportunity to invade Iran shortly after
gaining office in 1980. Starting in late 1980 and ending in 1988, the wars between IranIraq were considered among the most military violent conflicts since the end of World
War II. The brutality of these wars sparked intervention on behalf of the United States.
Despite this display of force, the United States knew that Hussein was looking to provoke
Western intervention in the Middle East and chose instead to back all Iraqi decisions
(Keegan, 2004).
The overt aggression displayed in the invasion of Iran was closely followed by
chemical attacks against Iranian enemies. Chemical agents are notorious for their
ineffectiveness as agents of war due to their lack of precision. Additionally, the use of
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�chemical weapons had been outlawed by League of Nations in 1925. By resorting to
chemical warfare, Saddam Hussein not only failed to achieve his goals, but also drew the
attention of the United Nations Security Council. With complete disregard for the
sanctions against him, Hussein continued chemical attacks eventually resulting in the
infamous attack on the Kurdish town of Halabjah in which an approximated 5,000
civilians were killed. A cease-fire was eventually declared by Iran on July 18, 1988, but
the victory had come at a steep price in both human and economic loss for Iraq (Keegan,
2004).
Saddam Hussein expected sympathy from his neighbors in the aftermath of the
Iran-Iraq wars. Unfortunately for him, his neighbors were ready to cash in on Iraqi debts.
This resulted in increased tension once again in the Middle East. In particular, the Emir
of Kuwait explicitly demanded repayment of Iraq’s debt. Upon failure to reach an
agreement, Saddam Hussein ordered Iraqi troops to invade Kuwait in 1990. This
unprovoked and illegal occupation resulted in a change in United States policy toward
Hussein’s Iraq. In January of 1991 the First Gulf War involving United States
intervention began in earnest and concluded in Iraq’s retreat from Kuwait a mere month
later (Keegan, 2004).
The wars between Iran and Iraq, the chemical gassing of the Kurds, and the
misguided attempt at annexation of Kuwait bear evidence to the hostile nature of Saddam
Hussein. The next ten years, from 1991 to 2001, would be marked by his continual
violation of international treaties and laws. The most notable of his defiance being his
failure to comply with weapons inspections concerning weapons of mass destruction as
agreed upon at the end of the Iraq’s defeat in the First Gulf War. Hussein’s distain for
international regulations led to frequent sanctions as well as persistent human suffering
for his people until he was ultimately ousted from power by a United States led coalition
in 2003.
The downfall of Saddam Hussein was expedited by the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks on the United States. These attacks resulted in a drastic shift in US
foreign policy. The central powers of the world were under attack and for the first time
since the end of isolationism, the United States was now putting their own security first.
The George W. Bush administration turned its full military attention to the defeat of AlQaeda. Reports of Al-Qaeda operations were flooding in from over forty countries.
However, the strongest indications of Al-Qaeda activity were emanating from Iraq.
Hussein was viewed as a threat to the Middle East and beyond. Despite the distressing
and overwhelming atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein, the backdrop for the 2003
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�invasion of Iraq was extremely ironic. For the first time in years, in January of 2002,
Hussein’s Iraq had agreed to unconditionally allow for the return of United Nations
weapons inspectors. Unfortunately for him, the American sentiment in the aftermath of
9/11 was not sympathetic to any extremist Arab regimes. This attitude, combined with
extremely questionable intelligence information, led to the invasion of Iraq in March of
2003. “Saddam was a wicked man, an aggressor, an oppressor of the Iraqi people and a
menace to order in his own regime and the wider world” (Keegan, 2004).
IV. History of ‘Just War’ Theory
Dating back to the Roman Empire, principles of Just War Theory have been
used to uphold the honor of civilizations. Recent wars have sparked much debate about
what is just and what is unjust in modern warfare. After a long and controversial history,
Just War Theory has evolved and stands today as the most significant criteria for
determining the morality for waging war (Lecamwasam, 2013). It is used by nations to
decide if it is morally and legally justifiable to engage in military conflict. In the case of
Iraq, the George W. Bush administration determined that the invasion was as one of
necessity, while many others viewed it as a war of opportunity. Behind debates such as
these lie the most vital of questions: when is war justifiable? If war is justified, what
actions are justifiable throughout the course of war? Just War Theory deals specifically
with how and why wars are fought based on moral and ethical standards.
The origins of Just War Theory are said to date back to the times of the Greeks
and Romans. Many claim that Cicero and Aristotle’s early teachings reflect the
fundamental nature of just war principles. The first discernible advancement of just war
resulted from the work of Saint Augustine in the 5th Century A.D. Saint Augustine saw
that leaders of the age were faced with the dilemma of choosing between the traditional
Christian pacifism and the new militant yearning to preserve the Holy Roman Empire
(Bellamy & Mason, 2003). Because of these conflicting ideals, he generated the first
justifications for war based on moral conduct. Building off the example put forth by St.
Augustine, progressive thinkers such as St. Thomas Aquinas, Hugo Grotius, and
Immanuel Kant further developed the concept of just war throughout the 18th century
(Lecamwasam, 2013). The 20th century marked the revival of Just War Theory as those
hundred years contained both the First and Second world wars.
World War II was especially controversial in terms of just war because it
involved the bombing of German cities by the Allied forces. Many, especially those of
Christian faiths, were vehemently opposed to the bombings and cited just war principles
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�as their basis for such fierce opposition. Outcries from the church did not succeed in
derailing the bombings, but they did restore interest in Just War Theory (Rengger, 355).
The arrival of the Vietnam War in the 1950s brought about the works of Michael
Walzer, one of the most celebrated authors of Just War Theory. In his book titled Just
and Unjust Wars, Walzer was able to break down Just War Theory in legal terms that are
still used to this day (Walzer, 1997). The criterion laid forth by his work is discussed
below. Later, in the late 1980’s, Catholic Bishops from the United States again discussed
the morality of war in light of nuclear weapons. In light of the September 11, 2001
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the absence of a policy of just war
began to dominate modern day political discussions.
Just War Theory has been developed over centuries of change in political,
social, and idealistic time periods. Classically, Just War Theory had been aimed at
preventing war as opposed to justifying it. It stemmed from a moral presumption against
war seeking to uphold the premise of peace over war. In modern day, this theory is, for
the first time, in danger of being reversed – the idea of a just war is being used as an
ethical justification for engaging in acts of warfare and is therefore on a path to becoming
part of the problem as opposed to the solution.
Many international agreements, including the Geneva Conventions and the
United Nations Charter, have resulted from rules developed by the just war tradition.
Therein lies one of the major problems with modern just war theory - it is now viewed
more as a legal framework than as a moral code (Enemark, 2010). This perspective poses
rigorous quandaries to the development of the theory since law concentrates more on
what it is right to do during war rather than concentrating on the very decision to wage
war. As a result, Just War Theory is currently being utilized as the standard to calculate
all decisions pertaining to war as opposed to the basis for analyzing why a nation goes to
war. In its modern day form, the theory is being used to justify any and all wars when it
should be used only to justify war as a last resort. With the history of Just War Theory
having been analyzed, the main criteria for entering into just war will be reviewed.
V. Criteria for Just War Theory
As defined above, there are two traditional conditions required for engaging in
just warfare: jus ad bellum and jus in bello. Jus ad bellum is the right conduct in going to
war, or whether a war is justly started. Jus in bello is the right conduct during war, or
whether a war is being fought justly. It is important to note that one can be done without
the other. An unjust war can be fought justly, and a just war can be fought unjustly. In
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�recent years a new principle known as jus post bellum has developed which focuses on
returning to peace in the aftermath of war (McMahan, 2007). However, as this paper
focuses on the justifications before and during war, it will not elaborate on this topic.
Jus ad bellum defines the legitimate reasons a state may engage in war and
focuses on the criteria that render a war just (Nabulsi, 2011). There are six necessary
rules that must be met in order for any declaration of war to be justified as more
concretely defined by Walzer:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Just cause: The rights of both states and individuals are taken into consideration
here. Both may engage in war only for the right reason. “The just causes most
frequently mentioned include: self-defense from external attack; the defense of
others from such; the protection of innocents from brutal, aggressive regimes; and
punishment for a grievous wrongdoing which remains uncorrected” (Orend, 2000).
A state can engage in war only if it aims to stop unjust aggression or end the
violation of human rights. On the flip side of this, other nations may intervene inside
another’s territories if a state is not protecting the fundamental rights of its citizens.
Right intention: A war must be fought only for the sake of a just cause. Ulterior
motives such as natural resources or revenge are not adequate justifications for going
to war.
Proper authority and public declaration: The decision to go to war can only be
considered justified if the rightful authorities declare war and the proper process,
such as acknowledgement of citizens and enemy state, has been undertaken.
Last resort: War must be engaged in only if all other plausible options have been
exhausted.
Probability of success: A state cannot resort to war if the outcome will yield no
positive impact on the situation.
Proportionality: A state must weigh the universal good expected to arise from an
event – including the good expected from the enemy and third parties and weigh that
against the negative effects likely to arise from such an involvement (namely the
casualty count). Only if the positive will outweigh the negative may a war be entered
into justly (Fotion, 2007).
Just War Theory insists that all six of these criteria be met in order for a state to
justly enter into war. There is however no universal acceptance of these regulations and
as such they are vulnerable to many different explanations or interpretations.
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�Consequently, the weaknesses of these guidelines allowed for the violations of Just War
Theory during the invasion of Iraq.
Jus in bello deals with whether a war is being fought in a just way. It is a set of
moral codes that come into effect once a war has began and generally applies to the
commanders, soldiers, and officers of the armed military forces. Jus in bello is made up
of two parts: internal and external. Internal jus in bello focuses on the rules or laws a
state or individual must follow in regard to the treatment of their own citizens. External
jus in bello is made up of two conditions regarding the treatment of enemy citizens.
These two conditions are:
1.
2.
Discrimination or noncombatant immunity: This condition states that one must not
deliberately engage in warfare with civilians or noncombatants – meaning those not
involved in the war effort.
Proportionality: One must use tactics that show regard for human life and are
commensurate with the justice of the cause or value defended. One must avoid
methods of destruction that incur a disproportionate amount of collateral damage
(Strehle, 2004).
Michael Walzer said “war is hell” and from this phrase many believe that any
action can be termed justifiable during times of war (Walzer, 1977). The principles of jus
in bello are used as a mechanism to guarantee that the fundamental rights of the
individual are not violated during such times. The tradition of engaging in just war is not
new. For thousands of years just war theories have had the dual purpose of both
justifying and restraining violence. “Without restraint war cannot be justified and yet, it
seems, the more war is justified the less restrained it becomes” (Bellamy & Mason, 212).
It is in this light that the moral justification of war often leads to its intensification as
opposed to its limitation. The more a cause is infused with moral reasoning, the more
intensely the battle for said cause is going to be fought.
VI. The Global War on Terror
The September 11, 2001 attack on the United States that resulted in the death of
over 3,000 people is significant in that it drastically altered the United States foreign
policy plan. The era of cooperation immediately ended and in its place emerged the War
on Terror. The global war on terror focused on the elimination of enemies to the United
States. It represented a shift from shared world power to a single power system with the
United States as the world hegemon. The War on Terror represented greater security for
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�the United States as well as a new, forceful military stance against all opposition. This
new position was demonstrated in two ways: identification of the axis of evil and the
right of preemptive strike.
In a State of the Union address in January of 2002, President George W. Bush
defined the axis of evil as any rogue states that were notable by their support for
international terrorism and their quest of weapons of mass destruction. The primary
nations worthy of this term were Iraq, Iran and North Korea, as well as Syria, Libya and
Cuba identified as lesser threats (Rogers, 2006). The right of preemptive attack was
addressed in President Bush’s speech at West Point three months later. He declared that
the United States held the right to partake in military action against perceived future
threats. “While preemption forms a part of military strategy in many circumstances and
by different countries, the forceful development of such a policy by the USA was clearly
in the context of the war on terror and the linking of rogue states to support for terrorism
and the development of weapons of mass destruction” (Rogers, 2006).
In short time it became increasingly apparent that the United States was
interested in initiating preemptive warfare against one particular country in the axis of
evil: Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. The neo-conservatives of the day pushed for the singular
world dominance and the invasion of Iraq. To this day, many blame neo-conservatives,
such as former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld, for the hasty excursion into Iraq. Neo-conservatives were firm backers of the
strike first policy and actively pushed their agenda through Congress and the White
House (Crawford, 2003). However, not all were in favor of this approach. Reports were
produced months before the invasion of Iraq began, stating that the consequences of such
actions would be detrimental for both the United States and Iraq. Concerns about the
high civilian casualty rate, the possible escalation to nuclear weapons, and the risk of an
insurgent Iraq in the aftermath of war were cited as just a few of the possible concerns.
Despite the violation to international law, the United States chose to employ the
policy of preemptive war, also known as the Bush Doctrine. It is vital to note the
difference between preemptive and preventive attacks. Preemptive attack is initiated in
anticipation of an attack while preventive strike is launched as a way to destroy potential
danger of an enemy, even if that danger is not imminent (Rocheleau, 2010). Due to this
difference, the United Nations (UN) very rarely endorses preventive war and when it
does, the UN Security Council must first approve such action. The Bush administration
decided to invade Iraq under the assumption that Iraq posed an imminent threat to global
peace and possessed weapons of mass destruction. In doing so, they acted without the
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�support of the Security Council (Cohn, 2007). The notion of preemptive war will be the
central argument against just war in jus ad bellum.
VII. Iraq and Jus ad Bellum
If the 2003 war in Iraq is to be considered morally, ethically, and legally just, it
must first meet the criteria of jus ad bellum. To adequately evaluate these criteria it is
necessary to first look at Saddam Hussein’s Iraq prior to 2003. Was the imminent threat
from Iraq a clear and present danger for the United States? If it was, did this threat
present a just cause for going to war? Did the United States have justifiable intent for
entering into war? Did the proper authority declare war? Had all other avenues been
exhausted for eliminating the alleged threat - meaning war was truly a last resort?
Assuming that the answer to all of the above questions justified entering into a war with
Iraq, what would be the probability and proportionality of success? Would greater good
come from such a war?
As the instigator of the 2003 war in Iraq, the United States was responsible for
adequately answering each of these questions prior to invasion. The primary causes
presented by United States government officials for entering into war with Iraq can be
broken down into two parts: self-defense and humanitarian intervention. Iraq was
invaded by a coalition of three countries: the United States, Great Britain, and Australia.
In terms of Just War Theory, the self defense of all these nations would have to
adequately meet the terms of just cause. If however, these three nations were acting in
the collective self-defense of a general threat to the “West,” then there is less to
distinguish between in terms of just cause. While the principle of self-defense is not
usually adequate to meet just war criteria, this has changed with the evolution to Article
51 of the United Nations Charter. Article 51 states that the “inherent right of selfdefense” as an exception to the Article 2(4) prohibition on the use of force “if an armed
attack occurs” elevates self-defense to a just cause in certain instances. Additionally, the
use of preventive force can only be justified if a nation can prove that a threat is
imminent (Enemark, 2005).
Following this logic, an imminent threat can provide a sufficient basis to justify
war. However, the question must then be asked whether Iraq presented an imminent
threat? As cited in the following examples, statements made by many United States
government officials including the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, and
Whitehouse spokespeople, proclaimed that Iraq was an imminent threat.
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�“No terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our
people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.”
-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 9/19/02
“The Iraqi regime is a threat to any American. … Iraq is a threat, a real threat.”
- President Bush, 1/3/03
“Absolutely.”
-White House spokesman Ari Fleischer answering whether Iraq was an
“imminent threat,” 5/7/03 (American Progress, 2004)
Yet just because they said it, does not make it so. The emergence of the global
War on Terror in the United States changed the classification of an “imminent threat.” In
the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, the Bush administration heavily pushed for the
expansion of preemptive warfare. The concept of preemptive war relies on “advance
knowledge of an impending attack” (Enemark, 2005). The reliability of intelligence
information is therefore necessary for the justification of war. Reports amassed declaring
two major justifications for war: (1) that Iraq was in violation of the United Nations
resolution banning them from possessing weapons of mass destruction and (2) that they
had confirmed links to international terrorism.
The underlying problem with this first justification is that Iraq had no WMDs.
In the two years following the September 11th attack, more than 935 false statements by
President Bush and his administration were made regarding the national security threat
that Iraq posed to both the United States and the international community. In a National
Address, United States Vice President, Dick Cheney, openly declared that: “Simply
stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction”
(Lewis, 2008).
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) were at the heart of all justifications for
entering into a war with Iraq. The threat that Saddam Hussein possessed these weapons
was the clear and present danger for the United States. When the Coalition under US
Secretary of State, Colin Powell, failed to uncover any evidence of such weapons, the
pre-war debate about the morality of the Iraq invasion began afresh. The war effort fed
into American citizens fear, angers, and manipulations. The general raised by the
populace became “what are we doing here?” Was the cause worth the sacrifice? This
paper maintains that these questions were secondary. From the outset, there was no valid
justification for entering into Iraq in 2003 and the reliance on faulty intelligence
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�information simply highlights this fact. Intelligence information is infamously dubious
and accurate information is incredibly difficult to obtain.
It seems unlikely that the United States would base just cause on such
questionable intelligence information. Unfortunately, it did just that. Specifically,
America and Great Britain, who possessed very little Intel in the Middle East, relied
mainly on human intelligence. Information from such sources often vague, inaccurate, or
comes from unreliable sources. The sources of human of information may be seeking to
advance their own agenda or provide misleading information on behalf of unknown
allies. Misinformation is at an even greater rate when it pertains to high technology such
as that of WMDs (Enemark, 2005).
The definition of the term “weapons of mass destruction” establishes another
issue with the war in Iraq in terms of Just War Theory. The United States termed WMDs
as not just nuclear weapons, but chemical and biological weapons as well. While the
general public was led to believe that Iraq was on the verge of launching a nuclear
warhead, they possessed neither the technology nor materials to do so. Biological and
chemical weapons do not cause catastrophic “destruction” and the overall effects of them
are highly unknown. A nuclear attack could have established the war in Iraq as justified,
but the lesser threat of an unknown chemical or biological attack lessen the threat of Iraq
in terms of just war yet again.
Assuming for argument sake that Iraq did possess WMDs, this alone would not
be reason enough to justify war. To validate self-defense as a just cause, there would
have had to have been undeniable proof that Iraq had links to terrorist cells prior to the
invasion. Only through such links would Iraq have posed a direct threat to the United
States. Unfortunately, there was no concrete evidence that Saddam Hussein supported
the terrorist organization, Al-Qaeda, and even less to say that he was providing them with
nuclear weapons (Cohn, 2007). This is a not surprising finding since Al-Qaeda is an
Islamic fundamentalist group while Hussein was extremely active in religious repression.
The Bush administration must bear the responsibility of failing to meet just
cause doctrine based on self-defense. The reliance on faulty intelligences, the
misrepresentation of WMDs, and the failure to provide adequate links to terrorism
discard self-defense as a just cause. As defined above, self-defense was not the only
reason provided for entering into the Iraqi war. Humanitarian intervention on behalf of
the Iraqi people was a second cause used to justify the war in Iraq. It is not uncommon
that the justification for going to war changes as the war progresses. In this instance, the
pursuit of life, liberty, and the spread of democracy soon became the reasoning for going
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�to Iraq (Rocheleau, 2010). Military intervention on humanitarian grounds is considered
illegal due to the violations against state sovereignty (Chesterman, 2001). Despite this,
humanitarian intervention has become more justified in recent years in the face of
instances of ethnic cleansing or severe harm. While it would be extremely difficult to
coin Hussein’s Iraq an ethnic cleansing, lets assume for argument’s sake that Iraq did
meet the standard of causing severe harm to his own people. It still took years of such
harm before humanitarian intervention was stated as a justification for the war. Not until
his 2003 pre-invasion address did President Bush mention the liberation of the Iraqi
people. The name “Operation Iraqi Freedom” was extremely hypocritical as never were
the just terms of humanitarian intervention met.
Ironically, the “humanitarian crisis” that compelled the United States to stay in
Iraq is its own doing. As a result of the aggression and destruction throughout the
invasion, the United States was ethically bound to Iraq. The mission of saving human
lives and securing peace quickly overtook any selfish desires (such as regime change). In
argument with this thesis, it can be objectively stated that the desire to liberate the Iraqi
people evolved into a just cause. However, this post-invasion justification leads us to the
following five justifications of jus ad bellum. Was the right intent pursued, and if it was,
did the consequences of going to war meet the criteria of proportionality?
Right intent states that a war is only just if it has a subjective aim. In literal
terms this means that the aggressor state stands only to defend itself or rescue the
defenseless without the desire of monetary or political profit. Right intention as a just
cause must focus on the legacy a nation hopes to leave behind after war. To fulfill the
Just War Theory standards, the goal of right intent must ultimately be peace.
There are two major problems with the evaluation of right intent. First, it is
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate the intentions of others. Second, the
likelihood that there is more than one underlying intent poses serious problems. It is
highly unlikely that it will ever be possible to know the exact intent of the President and
his staff upon entering into war with Iraq. One view is that the government truly wished
to disarm Iraqi WMDs and promote the spread of democracy in the region. There are at
least two main arguments against this proposed intent.
Firstly, many claim that the United States has historically become involved in
foreign nations for one reason: economic interests (i.e. natural resources, etc.) (Schwartz,
2007). In this case it was oil. At the beginning of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, very little
was ever mentioned about the “sea of oil” estimated to be worth 10-30 trillion dollars
concealed underneath the surface of Iraq. For decades, the United States has been
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�attempting to gain control of the “black gold” that lies beneath the Middle East. By
looking at the history of United States involvement in that area, it becomes indisputable
that oil was a driving force behind the American invasion of Iraq.
The Iranian revolution of 1979 brought to power “a regime hostile to
Washington, and not particularly amenable to Saudi pressure, had now become an active
member of OPEC, aspiring to use the organization to challenge American economic
hegemony” (Schwartz, 2007). The Iranian revolution not only inspired anti-American
sentiment throughout the Arab world, it paved the way for the emergence of an Iraqi
leader who strove to make Iraq the new global superpower: Saddam Hussein. A policy of
containment towards Saddam Hussein’s growing Iraq followed for the next several
decades. Unfortunately, Hussein had little experience with Western countries, particularly
the United Sates, and therefore underestimated the lengths the U.S. would go to in order
to protect its interests.
This is the second argument against right intent as a just case in the case of Iraq.
The war in Iraq was not a necessity, but an opportunity. The chance to remove Saddam
Hussein from power, to create a western stronghold in the Middle East, and display
military strength in the face of rouge nation states was too great for the United States to
pass up. These intentions were undoubtedly part of the reason for the invasion of Iraq
and they do not fulfill the standards of the Just War Theory. The United States entered
into war with Iraq for a multitude of reasons, some of them are arguably just while others
are clearly not so. The conditions of just cause and right intent fail to meet the standards
of Just War Theory in this case study of Iraq.
In addition, declaration of proper authority to invade a nation is often
overlooked as meeting the standards of just war, but it too fell short of the necessary
criteria. Under the principle of jus ad bellum, Just War Theory states that a war is only
just if the proper authority consents to it. This means that any wars that a nation engages
in must be authorized by the legally recognized officials that control the armed forces of
that nation (Rocheleau, 2010). Despite this, debate has arisen among Just War theorists
that in the case of international wars, the true right to war does not lay with individual
nations, but with the international community. This is seen as exceptionally important
when a foreign power takes it upon itself to uphold international norms – such as the UN
sanctions in Iraq. In the case of Iraq, permission from not only the President of the
United States, whom controls the armed forces, but also the United Nations was required
to meet the standards of just war. Despite the violation of their international sanctions,
the United Nations did not approve the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003, making the
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�excursion illegal (Rocheleau, 2010). This violates right authority from an international
perspective.
The United Nations eventually came to change their position on Iraq. A
reevaluation, after considerable debate, resulted in a mandate allowing for the United
States invasion and occupation of Iraq through 2008. As a result of this approval, it can
be said that the condition of right authority in international terms was met in the invasion
of Iraq. Those who argue that right authority was met in terms of Just War Theory fail to
realize that there is one additional source that must approve war: the local population or
“collective will.”
Local populations maintain the greatest interest in the outcome of wars. The
institutions established from these wars must therefore have the support of local civilians
if they are to be well established. In cases similar to Iraq it has been argued that the
“collective will” is more important than the permission of the international community
such as the UN. In these instances, it has been determined that some type of collective
body, and not just the occupying nation, must follow a legal process through which a
collective decision is made. This can only be justified if the participating actors are
representative of the entire international community as opposed to only those nations who
support or oppose the war effort. The only time this rule is violated is when the
international community cannot, for some reason, support military occupation despite the
fact that the occupying state is acting for the greater good. For example, in 1990 the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) instituted a cease-fire group to
restore peace to Liberia. This group did not have the express permission of the United
Nations, but they were acting for greater good the collective will (Enemark, 2005).
The 2003 invasion of Iraq does not meet the standards of unauthorized collective
will. Firstly, the United States did not confer with any outside nations who would
represent the broad international community. Second, even nations that did support the
invasion of Iraq, such as Britain and Italy, were not fond of the idea of military
involvement without the support of the UN. The UN Security Council did not initially
approve the measure and there was no unauthorized enforcement on behalf of the
collective will. The right authority was not established in the 2003 invasion of Iraq for
these reasons.
Based on the analysis above, the invasion of Iraq has failed to meet the Just War
conditions of just cause, right intent, and right authority. The fourth condition of Just
War Theory is last resort. Last resort states that all procedures “other than war should be
sufficiently tried first” (Langos, 2007). Iraq had not reached a point in which military
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�intervention was the only option. At the time of invasion, there was no threat of
irreversible harm or the fear of an ethnic cleansing. It has already been established that
no concrete evidence of nuclear weapons was to be found in Iraq. As a result, Iraq
presented no direct threat to the United States. Given the lack of a dire situation, there
was sufficient time to make an attempt at a diplomatic solution. Even in the event that
diplomacy should fail, there are other potential means available, such as coercion or
bribery in which the Coalition of the United States, Great Britain, and Australia could
have embarked upon to prevent Iraq from advancing any suspected nuclear programs
(Rocheleau, 2010).
It is important to note that there were at least two obvious considerations
available prior to utilizing military force that the coalition failed to acknowledge. First,
the UN weapons inspections were proceeding as planned and it was stated by many that
only a few more months were needed until a peaceful solution could be reached by the
United Nations and Iraq concerning WMDs. The second suggestion was presented by
Germany, Russia, and France in which they recommended that a tougher inspection
program combined with no-fly and no-drive zones should be implemented in Iraq
(Enemark, 2005). In conclusion, these alternative proposals, combined with the failure to
prove a looming crisis, deduce that the condition of last resort was not met for Just War
Theory.
The fifth and sixth conditions that a nation must address to justify war are
proportionality and probability of success. These conditions are so similar that it is
proper to address them as a single condition. There can be no doubt that war will bring
about death, destruction, and pain. Because of this, a just war can only result when the
invading nation proposes a reasonable proposal for more public good than previously
existed. In summary, the benefits must outweigh the costs. A brief look at the Iraq
invasion shows that it fails to meet both probability and proportionality. The war in Iraq
was predicted to be short and decisive – and it was. But the overall outcome of the war
discredits any argument for proportionality or probability. Within Iraq, the entire society,
including the political and economic sectors, became unstable as a direct result of the
invasion and more than 100,000 lives were lost. The United States spent billions of
dollars and lost over 4,500 lives (Rocheleau, 2010). These facts do not provide support
for a just war. These final two criteria are meant to avoid unnecessary harm and it is
undeniable that the war in Iraq goes against these terms. The outcome of the invasion has
been severe economic downturn, loss of thousands of lives, and a severe distrust of
American military power from the rest of the world.
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�Some theorists have attempted to argue that the benefits outweighed these costs,
but how can they logically say so? From the standpoint of the United States, it was
unable to make a quick retreat from Iraq as it had planned. It bears responsibility for
Iraq’s political and economic instability. The Iraqi people suffered through an extremely
corrupt and volatile nine years only to be abandoned by the nations that proclaimed
themselves rescuers. In terms of humanitarian intervention, Saddam Hussein was
undoubtedly a cruel dictator, but his reign was never accused of creating human or
economic loss to the extent suffered as a result of the invasion. Given the violence that
has continued in Iraq to this day, it can be clearly determined that the United States did
not adequately plan for the aftermath of the war in Iraq prior to entering it.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq failed to meet the terms of jus ad bellum as laid out
by Just War Theory. The conditions of just cause, right intention, proper authority, last
resort, proportionality, and probability of success were all lacking prior to the invasion.
The conditions as laid forth by jus in bello can now be applied to the case study of Iraq.
VIII. Iraq and Jus in Bello
The principles of jus in bello are broken up into two parts: noncombatant
immunity and proportionality. Noncombatant immunity is the protection of civilians
from military force so that they may not be directly targeted. Proportionality refers to the
lowering of overall destructiveness so as to avoid needless harm (Weeks, 2010). These
principles were set forth at the Geneva Convention of 1929 and are so vital to Just War
theorists because they are used to evaluate the conduct of war.
Noncombatant immunity and proportionality are not new regulations or
conditions imposed during the Iraq war. These conditions have existed since the earliest
times of war and are similar to moral codes that all combatants and nations are expected
follow. However, the global War on Terror was not a war between two enemy nations. It
was a war between the United States and all those who posed a potential threat. This
“enemy” was and is hard to predict because it is almost impossible to unequivocally
determine if a nation, group, or individual is guilty of terrorism. Looking at enemies
located within Iraq, it is clear that the insurgents did not recognize the same humanitarian
codes that the United States had previously followed. They attacked innocent civilians
while using guerilla warfare tactics to gain the advantage. When the United States
realized that following the rules laid forth by the Geneva Convention were failing, they
formed counterinsurgency plans of their own (Weeks, 2010).
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�The United States used precision guided mutinitions (PMGs) in their attacks
against Iraqi insurgents. While these are considered the most humane of all bombing
techniques, they are not perfect and account for hundreds of civilian casualties
throughout the war in Iraq. Other violations of both proportionality and noncombatant
immunity were seen in the treatment of prisoners of war (POWs). The infamous abuse of
prisoners by Coalition nations at Abu Ghrabi prison is a direct violation of the Geneva
Convention regulations on POWs (Weeks, 2010). Many innocent POW were held for
months without trial and the undeniable evidence of torture clearly violate all conditions
of Just War Theory.
The mistreatment of POWs as well as the overall misconduct of Coalition troops
and government officials is well documented in numerous publications. In terms of Just
War Theory, this thesis shall simply state that the terms of jus in bello were violated in
the most extreme of ways. The killing of thousands of innocent civilians and the torture
and wrongful holding of POWs illustrate that no sense of proportionality was intended or
achieved.
IX. Conclusion
This paper set out to determine whether the 2003 invasion and occupation of
Iraq was unjust. This topic, while not new, is distinguishable from other forms of
literature in that it applies the criteria of Just War Theory specifically to Iraq. The
subheadings of this paper carefully evaluate the United States conduct both pre-invasion
and during occupation and arrived at the conclusions set forth below.
The United States unequivocally violated the terms set forth by jus ad bellum,
thus making the entire excursion immoral. The United States and its Coalition allies
could not validate the claims of justice through self-defense or humanitarian intervention
due to the lack of weapons of mass destruction, no direct links to terrorist organizations,
and questionable intelligence information. In addition, Iraq had shown positive gestures
in accordance with international law concerning on-going and increased weapons
inspections. The justification of liberating the Iraqi people from the dictatorship of
Saddam Hussein also falls short of a just cause because there were not human rights
abuses at a level that would warrant such humanitarian intervention. When a cause it
deemed unjust, the intentions of such a cause cannot be justified for similar reasons. This
means the argument for war in Iraq was not justified.
Additionally, the United States’ case for legitimate authority failed on the
grounds that the United Nations did not back the war nor did it secure the approval of
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�local populations. In terms of last resort, the United States failed to exhaust all options
prior to engaging in military combat. Diplomatic negotiations or increased time for
additional sanctions from the UN should have been pursued prior to military intervention.
Lastly, the arguments for proportionality and probability of success are demolished when
the negative outcomes were compared to the positive ones. The economic and human
losses on both sides compounded to make the invasion of Iraq immoral in terms of Just
War Theory.
The second part of this paper set out to determine if the 2003 invasion of Iraq
met the terms of jus in bello as applied to conduct during times of war. The standards of
both noncombatant immunity and proportionality were both determined failures.
Accidental loss of life through the use of imprecise munition bombs resulted in a great
amount of human and property damage voiding any justification for proportionality or
noncombatant immunity. A lack of proper planning resulted in thousands of avoidable
deaths and that alone violated the terms of jus in bello.
Evidence from this thesis concludes that the United States and the Coalition are
unable to justify the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq. These findings suggest that an
extensive revelation and analysis of Just War Theory is needed to address modern
warfare. New regulations are needed in order for nations to abide by moral standards laid
forth by the theory, and most importantly, it must be determined if the threat of an attack
justifies preemptive war. Additionally, the international community must serve as a
greater gatekeeper against unnecessary aggression. The United Nations in particular
must serve as a check for just warfare. Immoral conduct through war should also be
restrained and legal standards adopted so that proper punishments can be enforced in the
face of violations. If the above recommendations are made and implemented, then the
impact of Just War Theory would stand as the proper and binding moral guide for
modern warfare.
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Jus Ad Bellum Principles and the Case of Iraq. Journal of Military Ethics, 9(2), 123-138.
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102
�Stevens, Nietzsche, and Collective Enunciation
Joseph Messano (English) 1
Wallace Stevens’ poetry’s phenomenological bent lends itself to Nietzschean
interpretation. The central tension of his poems is often the necessity of sorting out and
coming to terms with the constructions of imagination and the inaccessible realities of
Nature—what Lacan might call the Real. Critics like J. Hillis Miller have offered
convincing explications of this tension as being rooted in a Nietzschean crisis following
from a collapse of the subject and object binary showing how Stevens sets up language to
collapse in on itself and builds metaphors to be turned and changed with a shift in
perspective as in the cubistic “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” or “Study of
Two Pears.” This discourse in Stevens research often centers on the death of the gods, as
it does for Friedrich Nietzsche. While Miller and others, including Steven Shaviro and
Joseph Kronick, have investigated the relationship between Nietzsche’s antimetaphysical position and Stevens’ supreme fictions, most have not given enough weight
to the social dimension of these imaginary constructions.
Rather than concentrating exclusively on the relationship of an individual poetic
self to reality and imagination, a more productive use of Nietzschean frameworks with
Stevens would reveal a collective imagination that is engaged directly in Stevens’ poetry
as well as possible moral readings that don’t simply chide Stevens for self-absorbed
“bourgeois solipsism”. The critical possibilities that follow from the revelation of a
collective imagination even extend to a complimentary collective enunciation as per
Delueze and Guttari. If investigation of the collective element in Stevens research is
marginal, the possibility of a Stevensian minor literature is almost totally ignored. Using
the Nietzschean language already familiar in the critical discussion of Stevens’ poetry, a
theme of collective imagination and enunciation in poems like “Sunday Morning” should
become apparent.
However, the present critical conversation around Stevens’ relationship to
Nietzsche’s phenomenology does occasionally acknowledge the possibility of collective
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley and Dr. Steven Thomas in partial fulfillment
of the Senior Program requirements.
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�imaginary experience. J. Hillis Miller’s Poets of Reality actually describes the collapse of
the subject and object relationship, the fall of the gods, as a collective modern experience.
The unity of collective imagination that is supposed to have existed before the ruptures and
upheavals of the twentieth century, the cohesive and culturally coherent world described by
Miller as “the harmony [of a] unified culture” (Miller 217), was shattered and fragmented in
the catastrophe of modernity. Miller self-consciously echoes Nietzsche, as well as Richard
Wagner, in expressing the crisis of modernity in terms of the fall of the gods. Miller
explains that previously “culture was a revelation of the invisible and the speech of
speechless gods” which justified an otherwise chaotic and inconsistent reality but with the
dissolution of the gods and the stable subjective self these “fictions, aesthetic projections”
of imagination are revealed as constructions (Miller 218). While acknowledging that the
source of Stevens’ crisis is the modern disavowal of collective metaphorical language as a
trustworthy rout to access reality Miller’s explanation of Stevens’ project of reconstructing
the relationship between imagination and reality focuses closely on the individual poet
without properly considering the possibility of Stevens’ working on a broader social and
cultural level. Stevens, like all poets is in dialogue with an audience, and is working to
make sense, not only of his own fictions but of the collective fictions of Western culture in
deconstruction and reconstruction.
J. Hillis Miller articulates Stevens’ phenomenology, his struggle with the
constant deconstruction of the imaginary and its necessary reconstruction after the fall of
the gods, in The Poets of Reality. By Miller’s account the foundations of Stevens’ very
necessary fictions must always be laid on sand or, to use Nietzsche phrase, “on moving
foundations…on flowing water” (Nietzsche 879) not because the human mind has no
access to reality but because that access is incomplete, changeable, and unreliable. “The
imagination”, he writes, “wants a complete understanding of the world, a perfect
integration of mind and reality” (Miller 232) but that integration is impossible and
frustrated because the death of the gods leaves modern people with an irreparable divide
between “man and nature, subject and object” (Miller 221). Stevens’ poetry works to
bridge this divide but the poet’s linguistic and metaphorical tools for describing and
mediating experience are ultimately no more than mediations and descriptions, never the
thing in itself. But Stevens’ poetry is not the solitary musing of a hermetic Dickenson
type, but public and social project and Nietzsche’s philosophy optimistically anticipates
successful artistic mediations.
In fact, Stevens emphasizes the threat of isolation and solipsism in the spiritual
void that opens beneath metaphorical constructions which could leave the modern poet
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�“feeling dispossessed and alone in solitude, like children without parents, in a home that
seem[s] deserted” (Ramazani 235) and his poetry reaches for communion with others.
The fact that Stevens works in metaphor at all is an attempt to push language to the limits
of its universalizing potential, its ability to make reality common and coherent, even if
only to see it break down and fall back on itself. Stevens is wary of the aesthetic
hedonism’s “coffee and oranges” in “Sunday Morning” and the poem’s protagonist, a
woman, is swept out of comfortable sensualism in a Deleuzean line of flight—that is, her
subjective frameworks for interpreting experience are decontextualized, or
deterritorialized, and “change in nature and connect with other multiplicities” (Deleuze 910).
Part of the misattribution of solipsistic hedonism to Stevens by critics like Frank
Lentricchia may be related to its parallel misattribution to Nietzsche, whose philosophy is
such a reliable touchstone for critics. Michael Rodgers emphasizes that “Nietzsche was
neither a libertine nor a nihilist” (108) rather, Nietzsche simply wishes to challenge the
unquestioned cultural categories that organize human consciousness and morality—
deterritorializing them. Nietzsche’s “On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense”, which
outlines many of the epistemological points that are often referred to by Stevens scholars,
is deeply concerned with the functioning of the shared metaphorical structures, or
fictions, on which a society relies consistency and moral conformity—a collective
imagination—and challenges readers to recognize the limits of rational and linguistic
interpretation of reality.
Nietzsche’s first English translations were much in the air of early twentieth
century America and critics like Milton J. Bates, who have carefully documented
Stevens’ encounters with and allusions to Nietzsche, rightly note that Nietzsche’s
approach to phenomenology dovetails with Stevens interest in the imagination’s aesthetic
constructions (Bates 812-818). Stevens’ “The Motive for Metaphor”, for example,
describes the imagination struggling under the “weight of primary noon” (ll. 258), that is,
“the pressure of reality,” to use Steven’s phrase, which is the poem’s concluding “vital,
arrogant, fatal, dominant X” (ll. 20). Patricia Parker explains this “shrinking” from the
weight of reality, as the deferral, or evasion of reality in metaphor and in language
(Parker 81). But the signification of reality, the unknown other, in a mathematical symbol
strikingly recalls Nietzsche’s similar use of the sign for reality as “the mysterious ‘X’ of
the thing in itself” which “appears first as a nervous stimulus, then as an image, then as
articulated sound” (Nietzsche 877). In “The Noble Rider and the Sound of Words”
Stevens refers to such “blanks” as the “X”, which “are the specimens of mathematical
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�prose” in newly imposed income taxes explaining they are tied to the pressure of reality
which “titillate[s] the instinct of self-preservation in a class” (Stevens 977). The pressure
of reality’s provocation to class consciousness here crucially connects the collective crisis
of modernity to problems of collective expression and enunciation: how is the blank, the
‘X’ to be represented and understood, not only by the individual artist, but by the whole
community?
For Nietzsche this impulse to repair the fracturing between “two absolutely
different spheres as subject and object” can only be successfully arbitrated by aesthetics,
“a middle sphere and a mediating force” which incidentally “can freely invent and freely
create poetry” (Nietzsche 880). This is essential for Stevens’ project because an artist,
Nietzsche says, “can reveal more through his substitution of one sphere for another than
the empirical world betrays of the essence of things” (Nietzsche 880). Stevens too
resolutely rejects “realism [as] a corruption of reality” (Stevens 973), that is, direct
representation of reality cannot be accomplished and must be deconstructed, but
concludes that using metaphor can “renovate experience” and revitalize imagination
(Stevens 975). Metaphorical substitution for Stevens has the potential to resuscitate a
language from its current exhausted state—Nietzsche calls language “a decayed
metaphysics”—and to synthesize an authentic and spiritually satisfying poetry in
imaginative reconstruction of perception.
A new enunciation in poetry, then, might be able to answer the pressure of
reality that so destabilizes the subjective social-cultural self and reintegrates the poet into
a functional collective imagination. Linguistic evasion of the formidable “dominant X,”
the thing in itself, is as much a matter of cultural affirmation, a reterritorializtion of
disconnected or exhausted language, as it is epistemological maneuvering. Stevens makes
it clear in “The Noble Rider and the Sound of Words” that the pressure of reality is a
product of the social disruption characteristic of modernity. The anxiety of
industrialization and urbanization, as well as the horrors of the mechanized World Wars,
for Stevens necessitate “escapism” through poetry drawing a line of flight in his
imaginative reconstructions that might relieve the pressure.
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, themselves deeply indebted to Nietzsche,
write that “if a writer is in the margins or completely outside of his or her fragile
community, this situation allows the writer all the more possibility to express another
possible community” (Deleuze 1599). Stevens, a solitary person who “had little to do
with other writers” and “was on a first-name basis with almost no one” was certainly
outside of the larger contemporary poetic discourse dominated by Ezra Pound and T.S.
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�Eliot, whose work overshadowed Stevens’ for years. The poet who, like Deleuze and
Guttari’s darling Franz Kafka, worked in insurance for most of his life and “professed
virtual ignorance of Frost’s verse” (Ramazani 235) ought to be considered as a candidate
for minor literature. The “island solitude” that characterized Stevens’ life, put him in a
position to express a line of flight, an alternative expression of community, and a poem
like “Sunday Morning” bears this out.
The loss of a “unified culture” and the tension between constructed and
unmediated experiences, for Stevens is refigured both in his own cosmic symbolism in
which the sun, the unapproachable illuminating source of reality, and the outmoded
collective constructions of Western religions, specifically the Classical and Christian
symbolism of divine blood. In Stevens’ “Sunday Morning” the solar imagery,
culminating in the ecstatic chanting of the sun cult in the seventh stanza represents
“naked” unmediated but inaccessible reality which, after the blood of old gods—Christ
and Jove, who represent the old symbolic order—has been rejected or exhausted, is
consecrated and reterritorialized in the praise that rises from out of mortal blood and
mortal imagination. “Sunday Morning” grapples very explicitly in these terms with
Steven’s spiritual search for “what will suffice” (“Of Modern Poetry” ll. 2) to take the
place of faith when the universe of Christian certainty collapses and with it the stability
of subjectivity. His conclusion here is to emphatically embrace the spiritual void, the “old
chaos of the sun” (ll. 110) and to pursue an authentic collective enunciation that will
reestablish the vitality and viability of language and replace individual subjectivity with a
restored and seamless communal consciousness. “Sunday Morning” uses solar imagery
as a key part of Steven’s poetic vocabulary in dealing with this crisis of collective
imagination.
In “Notes toward a Supreme Fiction” Stevens writes, “Phoebus was / A name for
something that could never be named” (ll. 16-17). The traditional representation of the
sun as a Phoebus, for Stevens’ is one example of such a problem of imagination, since
when the metaphor of the deity is dismissed and deterritorialized he is left to face the
realization that, as Miller says, “the primitive feeling that nature is full of gods” must be
replaced for the poet “by a self-awareness that man has an incorrigible habit of
personifying nature” (Miller 221). The sun itself is an unknowable reality and as Stevens
states a few lines before the mention of Phoebus, “the death of one god is the death of
all” (ll. 13). That is, collapse of one metaphor into the void beneath reveals the fragility
of all the rest and one is left “behold[ing] / Nothing that is not there and the nothing that
is” (ll. 14-15) as in “The Snow Man.”
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�For Riddel Stevens’ sun “is a figure of cancellation and blindness, not that caused by
looking directly at the sun but that caused by averting our self-consciousness.” (Riddel
69). Poetic representations are such averted gazes, the imagination straining to perceive
reality in its fullness but falling back into metaphor. As in “The Motive for Metaphor”,
the “primary noon,” the sun at its zenith, representing the pressure of reality, provokes
imaginative refiguring—motivating metaphor, to put it bluntly. But despite escaping the
grasp of imagination the sun is also an ocular center for Stevens, an eye that illuminates
reality and makes imagination possible. It is this dimension of the solar image, that of
unified and universal consciousness or illumination, that for Stevens suggests the
possibility of a resynchronization of language with reality that would transcend the
modern dislocation of subjectivity. Since, as Miller argues, imagination must be as
closely dependent on reality as possible to produce fictions to Stevens’ satisfaction, it is
essential that reconstruction of a collective imagination be rooted in direct experience and
not tired or conventional symbolic orders.
”Sunday Morning” gracefully develops this theme in Stevens’ solar imagery
describing, what Miller calls, “the moment when the gods dissolve” (Miller 222). The
image of the sun, conspicuously imbedded the title, forms a metaphorical center of the
poem, both as a source of imaginative synthesis and of blinding encounters with reality.
The title’s double implication of Christian reverence and of the revitalization of
imagination in the ecstatic sun worship of the poem’s climax actually encapsulates the
full spiritual arc of “Sunday Morning”.
The title’s most superficial function, though, is to establish the setting and provoke
the spiritual dissatisfactions of the woman of the opening stanza who luxuriates in
“Complacencies of the peignoir” (ll. 1) sitting in a “sunny chair” (ll. 2). The initial
sensualism and aestheticism of this scene is underscored by its sunny atmosphere, the
solar here invoked as illumination and in opposition to the incongruous flight of
metaphor in the “dark/ Encroachment of that old catastrophe” (ll. 7-8) which opens up in
the lines that follow.
The woman slips out of experience into “the wide water without sound” (ll. 11), a
phrase repeated immediately in the next line and echoed again later in the text. Each
successive repetition drains the metaphor of the “wide water” of its stability as a spiritual
signifier, until its appearance in the final stanza as a feeble, petulant but stubborn
insistence on a similarly sapped Christian tradition, like the wind in “The Motive for
Metaphor” that “repeats words without meaning” (ll. 4). This image of the “wide water,”
closely linked with Christianity throughout the poem, suggests a spiritual space that is
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�vacant, isolated and most importantly muted. The “silent Palestine” (ll. 14) to which the
“wide water without sound” leads, does not allow a fresh enunciation in which
experience may be newly refigured and reterritorialized but rather appears in moment of
deterritorializtion as the woman’s foothold in experience slips and disintegrates.
In the next stanza, the woman reaffirms her subjectivity and aesthetic position as she
insists on individual identification with “comforts of the sun” (ll. 19). The sun here
functions as a source for sensory experience in these opening stanzas, a literal source of
color and warmth, but anticipating the sensory unity and epiphany to follow. The
woman’s “passions of rain” and “moods in falling snow” directly tied to her experience
give her a vocabulary of Eliotic objective correlatives, authentic symbolic frameworks for
life. Identification with the spontaneous and fully realized natural world, the birds who
“Before they fly, test the reality / Of misty fields, by their sweet questionings” (ll. 47-48)
offers a possible model for an organic, unified collective imagination that could come to
terms with the impossible void. These complacencies are challenged again and she is
pulled out the orbit of her individual experience by the gravity of a collective
symbolic system that is no longer reflective of that experience but entrenched in established
symbolic order of Western culture, the “Dominion of blood and sepulchre” (ll.15).
Weighty images of blood enter the poem early, first in their Christian context. For
Stevens Christ’s blood is never redemptive or revitalizing but rather is associated with the
distant holy land, and the silence of tombs. The Christian myths enter the poem as “silent
shadows, and dreams” (ll. 18) inadequate and utterly abstracted. For Stevens
Christianity’s total abstraction from the lush reality of woman’s experience marks it as
inadequate, and like Nietzsche, he challenges the rigidity of a symbolic order that doesn’t
correspond with experience.
Elsewhere, Stevens openly refers to Christianity as “an exhausted culture” (Stevens
975) and as Wordsworth’s speaker in “The World Is Too Much With Us,” who, “out of
tune” with reality or “Nature”, seriously reassesses paganism, another “creed outworn”.
But for Stevens “it is the belief and not the god that counts” (Stevens 972) and he goes
pushes the imaginary potential of Classical paganism to integrate the mind and reality
further than Wordsworth and finds it inadequate. After all Phoebus, like Proteus and
Triton, is only an empty signifier for something else.
Even more distant than Christ is the “mythy mind” (ll. 33) of Jove, whose blood
Stevens recalls “commingling” with human blood. Jove’s “inhuman birth” and total
abstraction from the land his subjects must live in but, if as is suggested, his divinity has
passed to human beings it presses the question: “Shall our blood fail?” (ll. 39). The
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�possibility that life might be redeemed in human blood, that is, in human imagination and
that human fictions represents the central hope of the poem for Stevens and the main
source of anxiety. Joseph Kronick argues that for Stevens the human imagination of the
major man, the giant, who emerges in Stevens’ later poems, assumes the creative position
of god to generate experience rather like Nietzsche’s overman. This creative generation
extends to social generation as well, that is, the enunciation of a new collective
imagination.
In the seventh stanza, Stevens envisions a world where human imagination succeeds
in renewing a balance between construction and experience, and reality and imagination
can be integrated in an ecstatic “orgy on a summer morn”. Stevens paints people chanting
in “boisterous devotion to the sun / Not as a god but as a god might be” (ll. 93-94). The
sun at the center of this ritual, unlike of the Phoebus rejected in “Notes toward a Supreme
Fiction” is not obscured by linguistic or symbolic deferral but instead is manifested,
‘Naked among them, like a savage source” (ll.95). In this optimistic vision human
imagination succeeds in appreciating reality aesthetically and their chant, rising “Out of
their blood” (ll. 97), inverting the Western tradition that divine blood flows down to
human beings, achieves here what the old symbolic systems now fail to do and unifies
expression with reality. This choir of “heavenly fellowship” (ll. 102) is an assemblage
which “voice by voice” (ll. 99) creates a fresh and authentic collective enunciation, an
aesthetic revelation of cultural reconstruction. As in Kafka’s story, when Josephine the
mouse renounces her individual voice to join the chorus, individual subjectivity
dissolves, not into fragmentary modernist displacement, but in a merging of voices.
In the final stanza the speaker is hesitant to be caught up in the jubilant unity,
admitting that “We live in an old chaos of the sun” (ll. 110) and tries to accept the “island
solitude” (ll. 112) of the present. Stevens muses on the lavish land full of deer, and
“sweet berries”, and compares a natural world’s intuitive, “unsponsored, free” (ll. 112)
expression of itself, given explicit voice in the “spontaneous cries” (ll. 116) of quail, to
the current frustration of modernity. Deleuze and Guattari stress that acts of collective
enunciation “only exist insofar as they’re not imposed from without and insofar as they
exist only as diabolical powers to come or revolutionary voices to be constructed”
(Deleuze 1599). That is, the pressure of reality cannot impose a new enunciation but must
provoke its assemblage by stimulating a new class consciousness. This is why the
spontaneity of nature is such a clear model for Stevens, its enunciation erupts organically
and completely out of its own unmediated self. But it is clear that the fully realized
integration of mind and reality in collective imagination is far off and that in the present,
110
�full of “ambiguous undulations” (ll. 120), the poet is still groping for a bridge between
his own individual poetics constructions and the sincere assemblage of voices in the
chanting of the sun cult that reaches the incomprehensible Real.
Here, as elsewhere in Steven’s poetry the problem of separation between imagination
and reality is expressed in terms of what can and cannot be expressed. The sun, the
inexpressible center of the poem, appears as the unnamable source for all experience but
the ecstasy in the enunciation that might be achieved in the chanting of the celebrants in
the seventh stanza indicates the possibility that human blood, not divine blood will
suffice, and that a reterritorialization of a confused or displaced subjectivity is possible.
This is Nietzsche’s hope for aesthetics shared by Stevens’ that new fictions, new
expressions can successfully mediate between imagination and reality.
Stevens poetry, grappling with the problems posed for a community’s collective
imagination, its symbolic order, by modernity—the death of its gods—a problem
Nietzsche identified as well, seeks to reterritorialize expression in a new collective
enunciation. While this essay dealt mostly with the collective imagination and
corresponding enunciation figured in Stevens’ work, and its Nietzschean origins, a
definitive classification of Stevens as poetry as minor literature should also explore in
more depth the other two qualifications set for the category by Deleuze and Guttari:
deterritorializtion and politicization. In Stevens’ poems one can easily trace the
disintegration of metaphorical systems, deterritorializtion, reached in dazzling lines of
flight. In fact, Riddel convincingly argues that Stevens’ poetry “deconstructs itself.” But
demonstrating the political dimension may be more challenging. Stevens’ himself was
very interested in the poetic implications of political and economic upheaval in the
twentieth century, as any reader of “The Noble Rider and the Sound of Words” can see,
but political readings of his poetry are scarcer in the critical discussion than
phenomenological readings and explicitly political content is rather scarce in his verse.
More research certainly remains to be done before definitive conclusions can be made on
a Stevensian minor literature, but it should be clear that Stevens’ poetry actively engages
with problems of collective expression and experience in ways that resonate not only
with Nietzschean values of reevaluation of cultural categories but with Deleuzean
impulse towards collective enunciation.
111
�Works Cited
Deleuze, Giles, and Félix Guattari. "from Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature." The
Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch, William E. Cain,
Laurie Finke, and Barbara Johnson. New York: Norton, 2001. 1598-1601.
Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1987. 9-10.
Kronick, Joseph. “Large White Man Reading: Stevens’ Genealogy of the Giant” Wallace
Stevens Journal 7.3 Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983: 98-108.
Miller, Hillis. “Wallace Stevens.” Poets of Reality: Six Twentieth-Century Writers” 1966.
p. 217-285.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. "On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense." The Norton Anthology
of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch, William E. Cain, Laurie Finke, and
Barbara Johnson. New York: Norton, 2001. 874-84.
Parker, Patricia A.. “The Motive for Metaphor: Stevens and Derrida” The Wallace
Stevens Journal. Vol. 7: 3 p. 76-88. 1983.
Ramazani, Jahan, Richard Ellmann, and Robert O'Clair. "Wallace Stevens." The Norton
Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry: Vol. I. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003.
235-67.
Riddel, Joseph N.. “The Climate of Our Poems.” The Wallace Stevens Journal. Vol. 7: 3
p. 59-75. 1983.
Rodgers, Michael. “Lolita’s Nietzschean Morality”, Philosophy and Literature. Johns
Hopkins University Press Vol. 35;1 2011. 104-120.
Shaviro, Steven. "'That Which Is Always Beginning': Stevens' Poetry Of
Affirmation." PMLA: Publications of the Modern Language Association of
America 100.2 (1985): 220-233.
Stevens, Wallace. “from Adagia.” Ed. Jahan Ramazani, Richard Ellmann, and Robert
O'Clair. The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry: Vol. I. New York:
W.W. Norton, 2003 972-975.
Stevens, Wallace. “from The Noble Rider and the Sound of Words.” Ed. Jahan Ramazani,
Richard Ellmann, and Robert O'Clair. The Norton Anthology of Modern and
Contemporary Poetry: Vol. I. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003. 976-983.
112
�William McKinley and the Spanish-American War
Ian Bertschausen (Government and Politics) 1
On March 11, 1898, President William McKinley delivered a speech to
Congress which would become known as his “War Message.” In this speech, he signaled
to Congress his desire for the United States to officially declare war on Spain, which
would usher in a new chapter in America’s history. As the Spanish-American War marks
a watershed in American expansionism and imperialism, it has been thoroughly studied.
Given that the President of the United States is Commander-in-Chief and that McKinley
did indeed deliver a speech in which he urged Congress to declare war, it has often been
concluded that he played an important role in leading the nation into war, his sights set on
imperialist gains. This, however, is a dangerous and false assumption because McKinley
was little more than a reflection of the attitudes of Americans at that time. McKinley tried
longer and harder to attain a peaceful settlement with Spain, yet he was, by and large,
replaceable in a historical sense. The man himself was not particularly responsible for
bringing about the war and, if anything, prolonged the period of time before America
declared war. Instead of a pioneering man leading America with a new vision, McKinley
was a product of the times. Any president would likely have shared the same values and
therefore made similar decisions.
To understand the motives for initiating war, we must first review the
circumstances that set the stage. Conditions in Cuba had been deteriorating for the
Cubans for decades. The dissatisfaction with Spanish rule led to a failed rebellion in 1878
and a revived rebel effort in 1895, known as the Cuba Libre (Free Cuba) movement. 2
When Spain ran into trouble suppressing the new rebellion, the “notoriously brutal”
General Valeriano Weyler was sent to restore order. 3 He quickly instituted a policy
known as reconcentrado, which involved forcing the rural population into concentration
camps. In these camps, civilians were denied access to proper food and sanitation,
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Shaohua Hu for GOV297: Research & Analysis.
Wetzel, Benjamin J. 2012. "Onward Christian Soldiers: Lyman Abbott's Justification of
the Spanish-American War." Journal Of Church & State 54, no. 3: 406-425. Academic
Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed September 13, 2013), 408.
3
Ibid., 408.
2
113
�resulting in many dying of disease and starvation. 4 Reasonable estimates place the
number of civilian deaths at 100,000, though some estimates reached as high as 300,000. 5
This sequestering was accompanied by the burning of crops and killing of livestock,
leaving those who managed to avoid the camps with little to live on. As scholar Paul T.
McCartney notes: “It was the reconcentrado policy and accompanying challenges to
Cuba’s population, more than anything else, that galvanized American interest in the
Spanish-Cuban conflict.” 6
As early as 1895, a full three years before war was declared, Congress began
passing a series of resolutions on the Cuban situation, introducing petitions sent to them
by their constituents and state legislatures. In doing so, they did little more than officially
express American sentiments about the Spanish-Cuban War. 7 It was not until Vermont
Senator Redfield Proctor gave a speech before Congress in March of 1898 that the United
States seemed poised to take serious action, which finally resulted in a declaration of war
after President McKinley’s speech to Congress on April 11.
McKinley was a man who was very careful about his image. He has been
described by historians as ‘“an enigma’ whose inner mind was ‘well concealed’ and who
‘obscured his views by a fog of phraseology, conventional or oracular.’” 8 He left a
relatively small written record (he was the first president to make extensive use of the
telephone) 9, and gave everyone he met the impression that he agreed with them, so
discerning his true feelings and motivations could be a tricky task. 10 McKinley grew up
in Niles, Ohio--right in the heart of America. In his youth, Methodist preachers
evangelized the Midwest, including the McKinley family who left Presbyterianism to
become founding members of their Methodist congregation. 11 McKinley’s mother
claimed, even as her son was president, that he would have made a better preacher. 12
Though he was not known to strongly proclaim his religious beliefs, McKinley was
4
McCartney, Paul T. "Religion, the Spanish-American War, and the Idea of American
Mission." Journal Of Church & State 54, no. 2 (June 2012): 257-278. Academic Search
Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed September 13, 2013), 266-267.
5
Ibid., 267.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid., 269.
8
Kinzer, Stephen. Overthrow (New York: Times Books, 2006), 47.
9
Kapur, 24.
10
Kinzer, 47.
11
Bloodworth, Jeffrey. "For Love or for Money?: William McKinley and the SpanishAmerican War." White House Studies 9, no. 2 (September 2009): 135-157. Historical
Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed September 13, 2013), 147.
12
Kapur, 29.
114
�quietly pious, “attending church rigorously and reading to his wife from the Bible every
evening.” 13
Another of McKinley’s values engrained at an early age in Ohio was a profound
belief in the value of arbitration. He was exposed to this practice as a young lawyer,
defending twenty-three coal miners involved in an arbitration-related dispute. 14 He
continued to practice and support arbitration in his time as governor and congressman. He
believed in arbitration, not only as a functional practice, but as a viable alternative to war.
When a treaty between the United States and Great Britain was proposed that would use
arbitration to settle any disputes, McKinley argued that it presented to the world “the
glorious example of reason and peace, not passion and war . . . An example certain to be
followed by others, [and] respectfully urge[d] the early action of the Senate thereon, not
merely as a matter of policy, but as a duty to mankind.” 15 As the conflict between Cuba
and Spain escalated, McKinley continually pushed for arbitration as means to avoid war,
but ultimately could not get everyone on board with his idea. His commitments to peace
and arbitration were natural extensions of his personal values. 16
It is altogether unsurprising that there are such varied conclusions on President
McKinley. His existence to historians as “somewhat of a cipher” 17 is likely not a
coincidence. He was very aware that his thoughts and actions would be scrutinized not
only by the American public, but by historians for years to come. For this reason, he was
very concerned with how he would be viewed, and took careful action to ensure he would
be portrayed in a positive light. As Kapur put it:
The McKinley that emerges, therefore, is not only a McKinley who held high moral
standards that urged him to strive for peace, but also a McKinley who was concerned
with making sure the record showed that he held those moral standards. For
McKinley, the perception of morality was virtually as important as the morality itself.
McKinley had determined early on that the proper thing for an American president to
do would be to exhaust every opportunity for peace before resorting to war, and he
was very concerned with the appearance of propriety. He was the kind of man who,
even if he were to decide that war was necessary, would not have wanted to portray
18
the war as his decision.
It is in large part because of this concern about how posterity would view him that he is
so difficult to understand. In order to reach an understanding, one must study simply his
background and actions to piece together the puzzle of McKinley. Fortunately, it has
13
Ibid.
Kapur, 27.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid., 30.
17
Ibid., 24.
18
Ibid., 32.
14
115
�been concluded by historians that “by all accounts, McKinley was truly a man of
character and truly believed in the ideals he expressed.” 19
A last vital part of McKinley’s background that can be used to understand the
mysterious man is his mother’s imparting of Victorian values. While this term can be
awfully vague at times, it can be defined as “a certain set of values that . . . were
widespread among many Americans and British of the mid-nineteenth century, [which]
placed a ‘high valuation on rational order . . . humanistic self-cultivation, Protestant selfdenial, and bourgeois self-control, all in the name of regulated self-improvement.” 20
While Jeffrey Bloodworth points out that this makes him a “boring fuddy-duddy,” 21
McKinley’s belief in these Victorian values offers a clear explanation for how and why
the man was so committed to finding a peaceful resolution to any conflict, and recording
his actions for posterity. To understand McKinley’s actions while in office is to
understand the values he brought with him. As has been made clear, these values were
not exclusive to McKinley, but had permeated the country, particularly the Midwest. It is
only natural that a large population with common values would elect a president who
shared their values.
A study conducted in 1893 showed that “out of 62.6 million Americans, 49.6
million were Protestant and 7.3 million were Catholics.” 22 This means that 90.9% of
Americans were Christian, and nearly 80% of the nation was Protestant. With such a vast
majority of the nation claiming these religions and their accompanying values as their
own, it is imperative to understand its implications. During this period, known as the
Modernist Period within Protestantism, the Protestant faith included three important
facets which would shape the history of the world: American Providentialism, Christian
Republicanism, and the Social Gospel.
American Providentialism is the belief that “the United States [is] a tool in the
hand of God.” 23 Lyman Abbott, outspoken Protestant minister and the “champion
popularizer” of Protestant Modernism, claimed that Americans are “an elect people of
God [and] have received, pre-eminently, His blessing, His gifts, and shone under His
glory.” 24 This belief within America has deep roots and can be traced as far back as the
Puritans, who “brought the idea of an interested, intervening God with them to the
American shores, and the colonists’ unlikely success in the Revolutionary War provided
19
Ibid.
Ibid., 30.
21
Bloodworth, 147.
22
McCartney, 261.
23
Wetzel, 409.
24
Ibid., 409-410.
20
116
�apparent empirical support for it.” 25 The Protestants of the United States viewed it as
their Christian duty to intervene in Cuba, and believed that to ignore a call to action was
to ignore a command from God. While war may not have been the only solution,
reasonable Protestant Americans felt a sincere obligation to help the, now romanticized
Cuba Libre movement.
A second tenet of Modernist Protestantism was the time-honored tradition of
Christian Republicanism. This can be defined as “the patterns of thought . . . That joined
Real Whig political thought to Protestant theology. That is to say, continental ideas
concerning liberty, tyranny, and civic humanism became blended with inherited
conceptions of Christian faith.” 26 While today there is much more care used to limit the
direct role of Christian Republicanism in one’s rhetoric, in McKinley’s day there was no
such hesitation. Countless senators and representatives made arguments before Congress
centered on Christian Republicanism and McKinley himself stated: “I shall never get into
a war until I am sure that God and man approve.” 27 A second aspect of Christian
Republicanism is the belief that “the character of the citizenry matters.” 28 Not only was
the United States priding themselves on their high moral standing, but they viewed Spain
as a backwards and degenerate nation. The moral degeneracy of the Spanish was deemed
to stem from “the tyrannical character of their political system,” 29 which was in stark
contrast to the pious American public.
The final significant belief of the Modernist Protestant views that the American
public held was the Social Gospel, which can be described, in Lyman Abbott’s words, as
the belief that Christians were to “carry religion into daily life, not to keep it for the closet
and the church.” 30 Those who believe in the Social Gospel advocated for righteousness
everywhere. These followers felt concern “for the physical as well as spiritual well-being
of individuals, prompting them to engage in extensive outreach to the poor [and]
missionary activity overseas.” 31 A logical extension of this belief that people should be
outspoken and fight hard for their cause would be to intervene in Cuba to restore rights to
the Cuban people. These fundamental beliefs of the large majority of the American
people, and their representatives who held similar views, played prominently in shaping
the United States’ policy toward Cuba.
25
McCartney, 264.
Wetzel 413.
27
Kapur, 29.
28
Wetzel, 414.
29
Ibid.
30
Ibid., 417-418.
31
McCartney 262.
26
117
�Another significant belief the American public held was first delineated in the
Monroe Doctrine. Set forth by President James Monroe, this doctrine made two basic
claims. The first was that the United States had a Manifest Destiny to occupy the entire
span of the North American continent--from sea to shining sea. The second claim that the
Monroe Doctrine made was that the United States would become the authority over the
Western Hemisphere, and that European countries could no longer intervene in these
affairs. While it is true that during McKinley’s presidency the nation had expanded as far
West as it could, this was not the important component of the Monroe Doctrine for
shaping Cuban policy. Instead, it was the fact that the United States, having claimed
authority over affairs in the Western Hemisphere, had a “moral duty to aid oppressed
humanity” in Cuba. 32 Bloodworth even goes so far as to claim that “armed with the
economic and military firepower to enforce the Monroe Doctrine, if the policy were to
retain any meaning, McKinley had to end the bloody anti-colonial conflict located at
America’s doorstep.” 33 Even the minority who may not have believed in the social gospel
likely felt motivated to uphold its declaration and aid Cuba. This motivation came not
only from a desire to help, but an obligation.
With this understanding of the prevailing views of the American people, it
becomes quite clear that, while other factors certainly existed, the primary reason for
United States involvement in the Cuban crisis was a humanitarian impulse. The
American people felt strongly that the Spanish were enforcing a cruel tyrannical rule over
the Cubans and felt responsible, as a nation, to extend help. As scholars have fought to
answer the question of “why the war started in the first place,” many who have studied
the material have concluded that McKinley “seemed to have genuinely felt the
humanitarian concerns that he so often expressed,” 34 and that “the terrible human
suffering in Cuba . . . Convinced McKinley that war was justified.” 35 While there may be
a difference between justification and reason, in this instance the two are one and the
same, as will be discussed later. The most important piece of the puzzle in assessing
McKinley’s personal significance is to understand that his true motive was to help the
people in Cuba, and that “it was not merely McKinley’s personal spirituality that drove
32
Davis, Michelle Bray, and Rollin W. Quimby. "Senator Proctor's Cuban Speech:
Speculations on a Cause of the Spanish-American War." Quarterly Journal Of Speech
55, no. 2 (April 1969): 131. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost (accessed September
13, 2013), 137.
33
Bloodworth, 145.
34
Kapur, 26.
35
Offner, John L. "McKinley and the Spanish-American war." Presidential Studies
Quarterly no. 1 (2004): 50. Academic OneF ile, EBSCOhost (accessed September, 2013),
61.
118
�his Cuba policy, but that of his constituents as well,” (emphasis mine). 36 McKinley was
merely a reflection of the American public, and held the same beliefs and values as the
overwhelming majority of the public as well as their elected representatives.
While most Americans, politicians and constituents alike, felt that something
needed to be done about the Cuban crisis, it was not always clear that war would be the
answer. McKinley hoped to arbitrate, some recommended that the rebels be formally
recognized by the United States, and some insisted that war was the best course of action.
It was not until March 17, 1898, that the country hit a tipping point that would lead to
war. What is peculiar about this particular date is that it is not significant because of the
actions of a warmongering individual, but a cleanly presented speech by Vermont senator
Redfield Proctor who delivered an “unemotional report in a mild fashion.” 37
Indeed, this speech was unscheduled and nearly did not occur. According to
Proctor, on that morning he bumped into Senator William Frye who literally “pushed
[him] into the Senate chamber” to deliver his report. 38 His honest recounting of his visit
(which was approved by, but not requested by McKinley) and the conditions he
witnessed while there--in Lyman Abbott’s words--“aroused in the country a storm of
humanitarian indignation which proved irresistible.” 39 Proctor stated: “all my conception
of wrong that could be inflicted on people falls short of this reality.” 40 The significance of
this particular speech given by this particular man being what historians have called the
“prime factor responsible for the precipitation of the War with Spain” 41 cannot be
overstated. Since all that Proctor did was recount his observations, it not only confirms
that humanitarian considerations were the primary rationale for engaging in war, but
directly disproves arguments for other reasons, such as yellow journalism, the explosion
of the USS Maine, imperialist desires, and pressure from interest groups.
Perhaps the most commonly heard reason for the Spanish-American War is that
it was caused by publishers such as William Randolph Hearst who whipped the public
into a frenzy with their yellow journalism. Now, there is no disputing the fact that Hearst
and others clearly desired a war and made wild claims in attempts to precipitate such an
event. There is, however, plenty of evidence to suggest that they were not as influential as
they have been made out to be. Spanish-American War expert, John L. Offner, argues
that the American public “believed that newspapers exaggerated the extent of Spanish
36
Bloodworth, 148.
Davis and Quimby, 131.
38
Bloodworth, 150.
39
Davis and Quimby, 131.
40
Bloodworth, 150.
41
Davis and Quimby 131.
37
119
�atrocities and Cuban suffering.” 42 This claim is further supported by McKinley’s decision
to send a personal envoy to Cuba to collect facts. “Far from an executive pushed by
yellow journalism . . . McKinley cautiously collected facts and calibrated policy.” 43
However, the best counterargument for the yellow journalism claim is the importance of
Proctor’s speech. There stood a man who “before his trip had not believed the reports,”
claiming that “the case had not been overstated.” 44 The ethos of a respected Senator who
was not crying for war was able to make a convincing case, which Hearst and his cohorts
never could.
Another common rationale for war is that the American citizenry could not be
tamed after the sinking of the USS Maine on February 15, 1898, in Manila Harbor, which
killed 266 sailors. Again, while there is no denying that there was outrage after the event,
there is not a strong enough link between the ship’s sinking and the declaration of war to
find causation. For one, the McKinley administration immediately requested that the
American public withhold judgment until a naval court of inquiry could establish the
facts. 45 While the court of inquiry did establish that it was an external explosion that
caused the Maine to sink, “few Americans in positions of responsibility seriously
believed that Spain intentionally sabotaged the battleship.” 46 Even if Spain had been
found responsible, Lyman Abbott claimed that the Protestant faith maintained that
America should “not seek revenge for the destruction of the Maine, but would fight only
to relieve Cubans of a corrupt government and put an end to Spanish barbarism.” 47 It
goes uncontested that this event sparked outrage; however Americans, particularly those
in power such as McKinley, were not ready to make the leap into war just because of this
single event.
An oft-reported, yet misinformed, claim is that American desire to become an
imperialist power was the primary motivation for involvement in Cuba. Similar to the
aforementioned cases, it is certainly understandable how some might reach this
conclusion. The Spanish-American War marked the beginning of the era of American
imperialism, and some clamored for America to expand its territory abroad. It is not,
however, an example of causation. As Robert Strahan points out: “the controversy over
42
Offner, 52.
Bloodworth, 146.
44
Davis and Quimby, 132.
45
Offner, 56.
46
McCartney, 268.
47
Wetzel, 419.
43
120
�what to do with the Philippines . . . [was] the result of the war, not the cause.” 48 Indeed,
many historians are all too eager to create a link of causation where there simply is none.
“Rather than judge the forces of war distinct from the conflict’s consequences,” posits
Bloodworth, “the dominant historiographical interpretations fail to make this division.
Instead, historians assume the conflict’s architects always sought an imperial outcome.” 49
The link between the United States and the Philippines was not foreseen by those calling
for war. (This fact is perhaps best evidenced by McKinley himself stating that he “could
not have told where those darned islands were on a map within two thousand miles.” 50)
The reason the United States was there in the first place was the fact that a Spanish fleet
was based there. The “destruction of the enemy fleet was the first and most important
function of a Navy,” therefore the attack at Manila was simply “going after the enemy
fleet wherever it may be.” 51 A careful examination quickly determines that American
sights were not set too closely on the Philippines.
Another refutation for the argument that the Spanish-American War was started
for imperial purposes can be found in the Teller Amendment. This amendment to the
military intervention resolution was introduced by Senator Harry M. Teller in the heat of
debate on how to take action after Proctor’s speech. While Congress recognized that
action needed to be taken, there was plenty of debate on how best to act. The amendment
stated that “The United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise
sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over [Cuba] except for the pacification thereof, and
asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control
of the island to its people.” 52 This was an agreeable compromise for all because while it
“fell short of recognizing the existing Cuban republic, it satisfied the widespread
perception that the United States was intervening in Cuba to help the Cuban people and
not to annex the island.” 53 Between the clear intentions of the Teller Amendment and the
lack of any knowledge of the Philippines, which was supposedly so coveted, it seems safe
to conclude that territorial gains were not the causes, but rather the consequences of the
Spanish-American War.
A final imperfect claim for the cause of the war is that McKinley gave in to
interest groups. Two frequently cited groups were the businessmen who had an economic
48
Strahan, Robert. "Origins of the Spanish-American War." Long Term View 6, no. 2
(Spring2004 2004): 41-46. Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed September
13, 2013). 41.
49
Bloodworth, 137.
50
Kinzer, 47.
51
Strahan, 44.
52
Ibid., 38.
53
Offner, 60.
121
�interest in Cuba and the political figures who desired war. The notion that United States
business men with direct interest in Cuba unanimously wanted war is incorrect. The
reality was that those with established interests simply wanted trade between the United
States and Cuba to return to its previous levels. While some maintained that the United
States should take action to rid the Spanish from the island and restore peace, others
favored cooperating with Spain to end the rebellion. 54 Kapur argues that “in the months
leading up to the war, business interests were largely against the war on the grounds that
the uncertainty it would produce would be detrimental to the economy.” 55 While Kapur’s
assertion that businesses were ‘largely’ against the war is debatable, it not safe to
conclude that business interests drove the country to war.
It is also misguided to argue that political pressure forced McKinley’s hand.
While figures such as Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge were clamoring for
United States intervention, they were less influential on McKinley than described. First,
the number of Republican congressmen threatening to revolt against McKinley is greatly
exaggerated. While this contingency was very loud about their opinions, they were
relatively small in numbers. On top of this, it has been said that “Congress had more
trouble handling McKinley than the President had handling Congress. The President had
no fear of that body.” 56 Finally, for as many voices as McKinley heard demanding war,
he heard many others calling for peace. Many influential congressmen, such as House
Speaker Thomas Reed, were deeply opposed to war, and noted that the letters he and his
peace-supporting colleagues received were primarily in favor of peace. 57 There might
have been political pressure, but it has been ascribed much more value than it deserves.
The significance of Senator Proctor’s speech was only what the public made of
it. Michelle Bray Davis and Rollin W. Quimby claim it to be a speech that “persuaded in
spite of itself--an unexplainable freak.” 58 That is, his unassuming speech was not meant
to rally the troops, but merely to be informative. He “avoided inflammatory modifiers
and other emotional intensifiers” and was “persuasive only in that it was clear and
vivid.” 59 Yet, it captured the attention of Congress, the President, and the nation. It is
clear in the study of periodicals that there was a “shift of attitude toward American
54
Ibid., 52
Kapur, 35.
56
Ibid., 21
57
Ibid., 35.
58
Davis and Quimby, 131.
59
Ibid., 133-134.
55
122
�intervention” shortly after Proctor’s speech. 60 Since Cuban suffering was as bad as--or
worse than--portrayed, there remained little choice but to take action.
It is at this juncture that the specific actions of McKinley will reveal his truest
intentions in the matter. When Congress and the citizens demanded some sort of action,
the President showed his true colors and continued to search for a peaceful resolution.
McKinley knew war was an option and was not afraid to use it as threat against Spain. On
March 26, 1898, he sent an ultimatum to Spain, which represented a final chance to avoid
war. 61 On March 31, Spain agreed to end the reconcentrado policy, but would not
authorize the requested armistice unless the Cubans first asked for it. The Cubans, in turn,
told McKinley that “they would not stop fighting because their army of volunteers would
quickly melt away while Spain would use a ceasefire to strengthen its military
position.” 62 When negotiations fell through, he realized that he would have to deliver a
message to Congress, scheduled for April 4. The President then “announced two delays-one until April 6, to give him more time to draft the message, and another until April 11”
in order to give American citizens in Cuba time to evacuate. 63 In reality, McKinley
“requested these delays, in part, to accommodate a flurry of last-minute peace
negotiations which ultimately failed.” 64 Even after recognizing the imminent reality of
war, McKinley’s belief in arbitration--or perhaps his desire for the history books to shine
pleasantly on him--led him to continue to pursue an elusive peace. His firm belief in his
Modernist Protestant, Victorian values guided him down this path, maybe even further
than the average person would have gone.
When finally giving his April 11 message, McKinley explained that “the
abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years on the island of Cuba,
so near our own borders, [sic] has shocked the moral conscience of the people of the
United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization . . . and can no longer be
endured.” 65 While he understood that war was inevitable by this point, he still made one
last significant decision--this one surely for posterity. Instead of explicitly calling for war,
he declared that “the issue was now with Congress,” while (in Kapur’s words) “ensuring
that no one could claim that McKinley had chosen war.” 66
McKinley’s personal significance in the matter was not leading the nation into
war; the citizens themselves pushed the nation into war by electing officials whose values
60
Ibid., 138.
Kapur, 28.
62
Offner, 58.
63
Kapur, 33.
64
Ibid.
65
McCartney, 273.
66
Kapur 33.
61
123
�mirrored their own. Perhaps historian Edward Hallett Carr put it best: “The view which I
would hope to discourage is the view which places great men outside history and sees
them as imposing themselves on history in virtue of their greatness.” 67 McKinley was no
pioneering visionary, but a man who understood the will of his country. If anything,
McKinley’s personal legacy is that of a man who pursued peace down to the last second-just the way he would have wanted. The trick to this achievement was to actually live out
his values, not merely claim them and ‘leave them in the closet.’
As has been demonstrated, President McKinley was a product of his times.
During his presidency leading up to the Spanish-American War, his strongest efforts
were to intervene peacefully. The values he held ensured that some sort of action needed
to be taken, and dictated that war should only be a last resort. He ultimately waged a war
for humanitarian purposes. The fact that the United States would impart their own
reconcentrado policy in the Philippines is not to be seen as making their prior motives
insincere, but as “a prime example of the role irony plays in the course of human
events.” 68 The assertion that the Spanish-American War was waged for imperialist
purposes, or because of yellow journalism, is misguided. It was brought about because of
the values of the American people, who elected a president who shared these values-William McKinley.
67
Edward Hallett Carr, What is History? (New York: Random House, 1961), 67.
Bloodworth, 138.
68
124
�“Time’s Injurious Hand”: The Destructiveness of Time in
Shakespeare’s Sonnets 63, 64, 65
Thomas Scarcella (English) 1
Many of Shakespeare’s sonnets deal with themes of time passing and love.
While each individual sonnet has thematic integrity on its own, there are many instances
of sonnets that are strongest when read together, containing new meaning and concealed
narrative patterns. One of the most productive examples of reading in sequence is found
in Sonnets 63, 64 and 65. While some critics have provided astute interpretations of these
three sonnets as isolated entities, reading them as such weakens their overall meaning.
When read as a trio, these sonnets have enormous emotional resonance and a hidden
theme: they show the speaker’s resignation to the destructiveness of time on love. These
three sonnets are connected by the motif of the seeming supremacy of time, and together
they create a mini-narrative. The speaker begins in Sonnet 63 with a resonant faith that
his love will transcend time through his poetry. In Sonnet 64, the speaker considers the
destructiveness of time from a broader perspective, and is deeply shaken by its profound
implications: his love must die and there is nothing he can do to stop it. Sonnet 65 shows
a climactic return to the speaker’s hope that his poetic love can transcend time, but now
the he seems much more resigned to the fate of time’s ruination: he hopes, rather than
knows, that his love living on is possible. This paper will examine how these three
sonnets are tied together thematically. It will closely analyze each one, connecting them
together to show how the ultimate conclusion of the trio is that the speaker realizes the
supremacy of time over love, but still wishes for his poetic dedication to reach a level
akin to immortality.
It is important to first explore from a broader perspective why these three
particular sonnets should be read together. They are a mini-sequence in the larger
sequence of sonnets addressed to a beautiful young male aristocrat, so they are all
addressing the same person, the young male friend of the speaker. Moreover, these three
poems deal with the destructiveness of time, as shown by the personified “Time” with a
capital “T” found in each sonnet. Each of the three sonnets has the same basic Petrarchan
argument structure in that they have a volta beginning in the third quatrain. Also, each
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley for EN330:Shakespeare Survey.
125
�sonnet has the same a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g rhyme scheme. These rhyme and
argument conventions are found elsewhere in the Shakespeare sonnets; but the fact that
these three sonnets are next to each other—with the shared emphasis on “Time,” similar
themes, basic structures and narrative chemistry—urges the reader to consider them
together as a virtually inextricable trio.
This sonnet trio sequence begins in Sonnet 63 with the lines, “Against my love
shall be, as I am now, / With Time’s injurious hand crush’d and o’erworn” (63.1-2). This
is the speaker saying that someday his love will be like him: old and worn by the “hand”
of time. This comparison is important because it simultaneously illustrates the speaker’s
fears about his own aged self, his larger fear for the love object’s future, and the essential
fearful feelings the speaker has towards time. The concept of time as a personified force,
“Time,” is first established here, and it is done powerfully. “Hand” has a twofold
meaning: it is the literal hand of the clock, as well as the metaphorical abstract “hand” of
divine life-altering forces beyond our control. The poem continues with the speaker’s
lamentation about how his love object will become old due to the forces of time: “When
hours have drain’d his blood, and fill’d his brow” (3). The second quatrain contains the
first noticeable instance of alliteration with “vanishing” and “vanish’d” in line 7, which
dramatically emphasizes the speaker’s melancholy at his love object’s beautiful features
beginning to fade. Clearly, the theme in the first two quatrains is the woeful
destructiveness of time upon his love object’s physical beauty.
The volta of this sonnet comes at the beginning of the third quatrain:
For such a time I do now fortify
Against confounding age’s cruel knife,
That he shall never cut from memory
My sweet love’s beauty, though my lover’s life. (9-12)
This is the speaker fighting back, trying to “fortify,” against the forces of time. While
time will physically decay the speaker’s love object, it cannot take away from his
memory of the love object. Still, the speaker knows he his fighting a profoundly difficult,
perhaps impossible battle, as shown by his description of age as “confounding” and
associating it with the violent imagery of a “cruel knife.” Interestingly, this sonnet does
not include any periods until the last line of the third quatrain, which creates a feeling of
an uneasy continuousness, which lends to the overarching theme of time passing, aging
everything and raging forward. Despite the difficulties the sonnet details, it crucially
concludes with a hopeful couplet, insisting that the love object’s beauty will live on
through the speaker’s “black lines,” his poetry. This is an optimistic and assertive
126
�conclusion, but the tone changes drastically and tragically in the next sonnet.
Sonnet 64 is much more grave than the previous sonnet, and it covers broader
ground than time’s effect on the speaker’s love object. This sonnet continues the “Time”
and “hand” personification from the previous sonnet: “When I have seen by Time’s fell
hand defac’d / The rich-proud cost of outworn buried age / When sometime lofty towers I
see down-ras’d” (64.1-3). Here, the speaker talks about “buried age” and befallen towers;
he is not yet focusing on the love object, but instead explores the calamitous effect time
has on civilization. In the second quatrain, the speaker conveys this theme with battle
imagery: “When I have seen the hungry ocean gain / Advantage on the kingdom of the
shore” (5-6). Notice the repetition of “When I have seen” and how in both cases the
speaker witnesses the devastating effects of time on society as a whole. Here in the
second quatrain, time causes the ocean, representing disastrous nature, to swallow up the
shore, representing human territory because it is a “kingdom.” Eventually, like an
opposing army too strong to defeat, time consumes everything man-made. There is a
continuous “a” assonance with “defac’d,” “age,” “slave,” “rage,” etc. that continues down
to the end of the third quatrain with “away” (12). This creates a sort of explosive effect in
relation to the theme of time’s inexorable destruction. Also, the second quatrain ends
with a chiasmus: “Increasing store with loss, and loss with store” (8), which implies a
sort of total destruction.
The third quatrain contains a mini-volta; the argument does not really change as
much as it adds a new perspective. The first line continues the “When I have seen” motif
seen in the beginning of the previous two quatrains with “When I have seen such
interchange of state” (9). In the first two quatrains, this puts the speaker, an individual,
viewing helplessly the profound effects of time against the man-made world. In the third
quatrain, however, he goes back to considering the dire consequence of time on his love
object: “Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate— / That Time will come and take my love
away” (11-12). In the context of Sonnet 64 alone, we see how the speaker first witnesses
time’s disastrous effect on civilization; then in the third quatrain he realizes, with earnest
dread, that time must also take his love away. Considering this in the context of the
previous Sonnet 63 deepens this theme: we see that the speaker has moved from thinking
about his love aging because of time to thinking about his love dying because of time. As
in Sonnet 63, this sonnet does not include any periods until the end of the third quatrain,
again conveying the unstoppable, terrifying flow of time. The concluding couplet is thus
bitter and filled with heartache: “This thought is as a death, which cannot choose / But
weep to have that which it fears to lose” (13-14). There is a new assonance found with
127
�“ruin,” “ruminate,” “choose,” and “lose,” which further expresses a sonic atmosphere of
upmost dejection. Here, at the end of the first two sonnets in this sonnet trio, the speaker
now feels the futility of his struggle against time, realizing that his love must die—all he
can do at this point is weep.
Sonnet 65 begins where the previous sonnet left off, with the speaker’s
desolation about the destructiveness of time. The opening lines, “Since brass, nor stone,
nor earth, nor boundless sea, / But sad mortality o’ersways their power” (65.1-2),
characterize the hopelessness of all seemingly solid things against the power of time: they
fully express time’s supremacy over everything else. The speaker uses repetition of “nor”
in order to create a powerful, negatively repetitive effect, which is strengthened by the
alliterations “stone,” “sea,” and “sad.” The poem goes on to juxtapose the delicate and
the beautiful aspects of life against the destructive forces of time and nature:
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
O, how shall summer’s honey breath hold out
Against the wreckful siege of batt’ring days, (3-6)
Here the speaker compares our human lives to things that are beautiful and transient—a
flower and the carefree days of summer—against the virtually violent passage of time.
Much like in Sonnet 64’s war imagery, line 6 echoes warfare with the notion of the
“wreckful siege of batt’ring days.” In this sonnet, the speaker actually poses questions,
which he does not do in the other two sonnets, thus now creating the feeling of an
existential conundrum. The third quatrain, a mini-volta in its dramatic shift in tone, acts
as a climactic penultimate eruption: “O fearful meditation! where, alack! / Shall Time’s
best jewel from Time’s chest lie hid?” (9-10). This is the first time in the mini-sequence
the speaker uses exclamation points, and he poses three questions before ending the
quatrain. He also brings up the personified Time for the last time. These combined
elements create the emotional peak of the three sonnets—it is dramatic enough in the lone
context of Sonnet 65, but its true climactic power only comes out when viewed along
with the other two. The speaker feverishly questions what can possibly stop time and its
destructive power and he cannot seem to handle reality anymore.
The couplet, the final volta of the trio, timidly answers the speaker’s questions
about what can stop time: “O, none” (13). He resigns to the fact that nothing can stop
time. Yet the sonnet continues, “unless this miracle have might, / That in black ink my
love may still shine bright” (399). This couplet is placed at the bottom of the powerful
lamentations and pondering about how unstoppable time is; thus, in the context of this
128
�poem alone, it almost seems like his final argument, that his love can live on through
poetry despite time, cannot hold the weight of the rest of the singular poem. Yet it is still
a balanced volta in the context of the other two sonnets, acting as the thematic grand
finale of the three. He goes back again to the notion of his love living through “black ink”
like he did at the end of Sonnet 63, but the wording is changed subtly and significantly.
In Sonnet 63’s concluding couplet, the speaker assuredly states that his love object’s
beauty shall be seen, and that his black lines shall live. Now, the speaker considers this to
be a potential “miracle”: his love, in poetry, may still shine. The speaker fully
understands how small he is and how time cannot be stopped, but he has a glimmer of
hope for his love to continue—an important glimmer of hope since it is the conclusive
couplet of the sonnet trio. The phrasing “my love may still shine bright” can be taken to
mean two things: that his admiration for his love object will live on, or that the love
object himself may live on. In this sense, the speaker prays for both to reach a level of
immortality through his words.
Reading Sonnet 65 without considering it in the context of the trio severely
obfuscates the hopeful potency of its volta. Jason Brooks characterizes the general
subject of Sonnet 65 succinctly: “Protest as one may, age and death, decay and loss are
upon us” (399). This is true, as the overarching theme of this sonnet is the ceaseless
decaying effects of time. However, Brooks goes on to argue that the poem suggests it is
“fruitless to fight what cannot be fought. Any move we make to counter the effects of
life’s rot only betrays our delicacy” (399). This reading disregards the significant
hopefulness at the end of the sonnet, and does not consider the sonnet in the context of
the other two. The speaker actually makes a final and delicate move against the Goliath
of time: he simply wishes for his words to live on while fully understanding that it would
be a “miracle.” This volta does not suggest that fighting against time is “fruitless,” as
Brooks feels, but rather suggests a profound and tempered optimism. While Brooks
provides a productive reading, he does not see the optimism of the final volta, thus
misinterpreting the whole meaning, because he only sees Sonnet 65 as an individual
entity and not part of the grander trio.
Ironically enough, from a modern perspective, this “miracle” has been, in a
sense, achieved for the speaker. When Sonnets 63, 64 and 65 are taken together, we
painfully realize that time does reign destructively supreme: it ages and destroys our
bodies, our relationships, our society and everything else. However, the beautiful irony of
these three poems, especially when read together, is that the speaker’s poetic dedication
has withstood the test of time—at least as of today, hundreds of years later. This trio of
129
�sonnets fully expresses the seeming futility of art and love against time, but wishfully and
resignedly poses them to the world anyway. This gives us hope that truly beautiful art
such as Shakespeare’s poetry can withstand the violent passage of time. The ultimate
longevity of Shakespeare’s sonnets—and all of human endeavors for that matter—is
something we cannot predict; truly, only Time will tell.
Works Cited
Brooks, Jason. “ ‘Tired With All These, For Restful Death I Cry’: Autoeroticism And
Decadence In Shakespeare's Sonnets 62-75.” Orbis Litterarum: International Review Of
Literary Studies 66.5 (2011): 388-408.
Shakespeare, William. Complete Sonnets. New York: Dover Publications, 1991. Print.
130
�Federico Fellini’s La Strada: Brutality, Fragility and the
Search for Identity in Post-War Italy
Francesca Catanzariti (Business Administration) 1
“Mi Volete pocco bene?” which translates as “Do you like me a little?” is the
central question in Federico Fellini’s La Strada (The Road, 1954). 2 A touching portrait
of the struggle of a lower-class Italian girl Gelsomina, La Strada won the inaugural Oscar
for Best Foreign Language film in 1956. When the circus strongman Zampanò
purchases Gelsomina for 10,000 lire from her mother, Gelsomina’s difficult journey
begins. Gelsomina is fragile, indecisive and willing to do anything, at least when forced
to by Zampanò. Federico Fellini showcases Zampanò’s brutality but also his insecurities,
informed by the director’ own struggles. Fellini embarked on his own path with an
introspective film style distinct from the dominant Italian neo-realist movement. La
Strada showcases how gender, class, politics and religion impacted identity in postWorld War II Italy.
The characters in La Strada were inspired by Fellini’s childhood trips to visit his
grandmother in Gambettola, a small town on the Adriatic Sea, not far from Bologna.
Federico Fellini remembered unusual sites: “a frightening castrator of pigs, numerous
gypsies, witches, and various itinerant workers”. 3 Born on January 20, 1920, Fellini
grew up in Rimini, in Northern Italy. He loved reading comic books and “Opper’s
Happy Hooligan was the visual forerunner not only in Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp but
also for Gelsomina in La Strada….This was one of his favorite comic strips.” 4 He
worked for a magazine called Opera Balilla, with a Fascist youth organization. He
opened up a shop where he would sell his drawings and had the opportunity for them to
be sold in a theater. 5 Federico would use his imagination for his work. “Fellini, who had
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Lori Weintrob for HI286: On the Screen: Gender, Class,
and Culture in Film.
2
“La Strada - Federico Fellini (Film Completo),” YouTube, accessed April 30, 2013,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3VQ63giVbY.
3
Peter E. Bondanella, The Films of Federico Fellini, Cambridge Film Classics
(Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press, 2002), 7–9.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.,11.
131
�begun his interest in psychoanalysis during his personal crisis that coincides with the
shooting of La Strada, now began to analyze his own dreams by sketching them in large
notebooks with vivid felt-tip makers”. 6 The timing of La Strada offers many insights
into Fellini’s evolution as a director.
What is La Strada about? Gelsomina is sold to Zampanò as his assistant to
replace her sister Rosa who mysteriously died in his company. They travel all around
Italy to do circus shows for people and collect money to live. Zampanò dresses
Gelsomina and harshly teaches her how to perform. One evening he gets drunk and
leaves Gelsomina on the street while he cavorts with another woman. After a wedding
performance later in the film, Gelsomina leaves him. She follows a little marching band
into a town where she meets Il Matto, the fool. She loves the sight of him above the
ground doing tricks. Zampanò finds her and forces her to go with him. The next morning,
they perform at the circus until Zampanò gets into a fight with Il Matto who lets
Gelsomina play the trumpet. His anger leads to Zampanò’s arrest, yet Gelsomina waits
for him to be released. Zampanò` asks her why she didn’t leave. They take refuge at a
convent, sleeping that night in the barn. When they next see Il Matto, Zampanò again
gets into a fight with and accidently kills him. This tragedy make Gelsomina crazy and
Zampanò guilty, so he leaves her. Many years later, he hears a girl sing the song that
Gelsomina used to sing, that she first sang with Il Matto, and asks where she heard it.
She says it was a girl that worked in the circus who never really spoke and no one, not
even the mayor, knew who she was. Unfortunately Gelsomina died a long time ago.
Zampanò starts to be sad. He gets drunk and goes to the ocean. He wets his feet and then
collapses on the sand crying because he has lost Gelsomina. 7
Is La Strada a neo-realist film? In the neorealist tradition, Fellini has
“nonprofessional actors playing at least minor roles; real locations in the small provincial
towns of Italy; a large number of poor people down on their luck”. 8 In the beginning
scenes, the viewer sees Gelsomina being bought by Zampanò` from her crying mother.
Gelsomina is there for him to do whatever he says, which includes her keeping their
wagon clean, cooking and acting as his assistant. Gelsomina also services him “sexually
whenever he wishes, in fact she is raped by her purchaser.” 9 If Federico Fellini prioritized
6
Ibid., 27.
Tullio Kezich and Vittorio Boarini, Federico Fellini: The Films (New York, NY:
Rizzoli, 2010), 62–69.
8
Bondanella, The Films of Federico Fellini, 48.
9
Ibid., 48–49.
7
132
�a neo-realism as a director, he would focus on the class and gender conflicts. He would
have told the audience more about Gelsomina’s older sister who was sold to another
person, and the poverty of their family.
“Fellini, however, has something entirely different in mind, and, as Millicent Marcus
points out, the fact that la Strada ‘indeed meets the conditions for a thesis film on
poverty and social justice’ is simply irrelevant. Fellini does not condone poverty and
injustice; he merely wishes to speak of something else and to do so not with the
rhetoric of ideology but with the lyricism of poverty…the plot and visuals of La Strada
reject easy classification as a realistic story of social exploitation. More than a story,
La Strada is a fable about symbolic figures, and its plot structure reflects this origin in
10
the fable or fairy tale”.
With this film, Fellini moved away from Italian Post-World War II neo-realist
film directors, their ideological messages of exploitation and their style, to create
something new. He turned a tale of sexual and class conflict into an exploration of the
psyche and relationships.
La Strada took a new approach to capturing the Italian experience, but borrowed
from local traditions. Gelsomina, Zampanò and the Il Matto (or the fool) “are the
opposite of social types that represent Italian reality…They are closely related to, as a
modern type, the commedia del l’arte.” 11. Dressed up as characters like clowns and
gypsies, they are separated from ordinary people.
“Fellini agreed with both [Roberto] Rossellini and [Michelangelo]Antonioni that Italian
cinema needed to pass beyond a dogmatic, Marxist approach to social reality, dealing
poetically with other equally compelling personal or emotional problems.
Communication of information, especially ideologically tinted information, was never
Fellini’s goal. As he once stated, ‘I don’t want to demonstrate anything: I want to show
12
it’ ”.
Many critics disapproved of Fellini’s turn to poetic realism, even when it
garnered awards at the Venice film festival. “Italian critics, many loyal to Marist
interpretations of art, pointed to La Strada as a primary evidence of a ‘crisis’ of
neorealism in the 1950s, a betrayal of the genre, a ‘grievous abdication of moral
responsibility.’” 13 Yet others praised his approach as “a kind of anthropological
10
Ibid., 49-52.
Ibid., 52.
12
Ibid., 53–54.
13
Ibid., 714.
11
133
�telescope” that offered deeper insights than other films. 14 For the first time in La Strada,
Fellini showed “how the force of human fantasies and dreams complicate the
construction of reality for ordinary Italians.” 15
The film La Strada can be translated as “The Road”. It refers to the journey that
Zampanò and Gelsomina go through in this movie. It can also mean something dark “ ‘its
capacity to separate eventually exceeds its ability to unite, and in failing to lead people to
fulfillment, the road becomes an avenue to violence, death, abandonment, and
alienation.’” 16 “The movie’s title might suggest another journey, one taken by the
director: the film, in several respects, represents Fellini’s movement away from the
classical neorealism of the 1940’s, which he had had a hand in creating, toward a
different brand of neo-realism, a kind of poetic realism, as scholar Peter Bondanella and
others have suggested. It is a voyage in the direction of a form of cinematic expression
that might be referred to as ‘neorealism of the person,” as French critic Andre Bazin
called it, or ‘phenomenological realism.’ ‘Fellini’s point of departure for this journey, is
indeed the strictly construed neorealism of the Marxists-that form which ‘was mistaken
for social realism’’” 17
Fellini etched himself into the film by projecting himself into not one, but all
three, of the central characters, despite their differences. Some critics saw the
relationship of Gelsomina and Zampanò as a reflection of his marriage to Masina, or even
of “a typical Italian marriage, with an interweaving of male bullying and female
subservience,” but there was more to it. Federico Fellini “wanted to recount the
impressions of a distant 1920s Italy, a secret, still primitive land inhabited by people
wandering about without any fixed destinations, like gypsies and other picturesque
characters.” Indeed, he created a formal, definitive framework for the issue only many
years later, explaining that in order to understand La Strada, one had to accept the fact
that Fellini was in turn and at different moments each of the three protagonists: the
anxious Gelsomina, the violent Zampanò`, and the imaginative poet, the Crazy Man.” 18
14
Gianni Celati, “Fellini on the Italian Male,” in “Scrittori Inconvenienti”: Essays on
and by Pier Paolo Pasolini and Gianni Celati, ed. Armando Maggi and Rebecca West
(Ravenna, Italy: Longo, 2009), 223.
15
Martha Nochimson, World on Film: An Introduction (West Sussex, U.K.: WileyBlackwell, 2010), 175.
16
Booth, “Fellini’s La Strada,” 704.
17
Ibid., 704–705.
18
Kezich and Boarini, Federico Fellini, 59.
134
�This quote explains how Federico Fellini relates to his film and the importance of
reflecting on his identity as part of the film-making process.
Gender issues, notably male dominance, play a big role in La Strada. Zampanò
treats Gelsomina badly. In one scene, Zampanò is teaching Gelsomina what to do when
she is performing. She is excited and ready to learn. Yet, every time she does it wrong,
he hits her in the leg with a twig. The violence begins with the first night they are
sleeping together: he tells her to “get in the car.” When she says she is going to sleep
outside, he refuses, pushes her in the car and likely rapes her. Later, at the wedding,
when Zampanò asks the widow if she would ever remarry, the widow says no, because
she “gives the orders around the house.” Zampanò responds: “isn’t that what a husband
is for?” 19 Zampanò constantly pushes Gelsomina around, telling her what to do and slaps
her around. As scholar Phillip Booth points out,
When Zampanò meets Gelsomina he says, “‘don’t worry, I can even teach dogs.’ It is
nearly impossible not to view Zampanò’s cruelties as the director’s commentary on
male brutishness and sexism, a pattern of behavior, which at the time was commonly
accepted by many women as an avoidable cost of domesticity. In short, it is a critique
of social conventions, a blunt attack on male behavior and contemporary martial
20
practices by a filmmaker who loved women.”
Fellini showcases the challenges facing a poor young girl like Gelsomina and a rich
widow alike.
My grandmother Rosa Costanza and my aunt Madalena Costanza were both
raised in Fardella, a small town in Baslicata, in Southern Italy. During our interview,
they emphasized that Italian women during this time didn’t have many rights. If they
wanted to do something, women had to ask permission from their husband and father.
Only if they said yes, the women could go. Men were allowed to slap their wives. Some
women had a job but men didn’t want their wives to work. There was a “revolution for
women” in the 1950s, where they started to work but some jobs were opened to women
only and others to men only. Some women didn’t get an education because people said
“why does a woman need to have an education?” Women couldn’t sit next to their
boyfriends in public and even inside their houses it was discouraged. 21 My father
Pasquale Catanzariti who also watched the movie gave his interpretation of the movie.
Fellini was trying to give a message that when a person is young, you are strong and you
19
Ibid.
Philip Booth, “Fellini’s La Strada as Transitional Film: The Road From Classical
Neorealism to Poetic Realism,” Journal of Popular Culture 44, no. 4 (August 2011): 709.
21
Costanza Rosa, and Costanza Madelena, interview by author, April 06, 2013.
20
135
�don’t care about anyone else and you think you are the strongest person in the world
physically and mentally and forget that you will get old. His favorite character was
Gelsomina because she was true to herself and her family and even though she suffered,
she still respected everybody and nobody respected her. The film showed some fascism
because Zampano believed he could do whatever he wants and fascists believed they
could do whatever they wanted. 22
This relates to Gelsomina because she wasn’t allowed to do many things without
Zampanò’s permission. Gelsomina loves playing the trumpet and when Il Matto asks her
to play she says that Zampanò said no. The trumpet symbolizes being independent. Il
Matto tells Gelsomina to play but she says Zampanò` says no, but when she finally does
it because of Il Matto and the owner of the circus, she feels great and independent but
when Zampanò sees her he gets angry. He tells her when she could play or not. He has
control of what she loves in her life.
Class issues are woven throughout the film. In the opening scene, Gelsomina is
sold to Zampanò so that her family could have money to live. Her sister Rosa who died
earlier was also in the same situation as Gelsomina. Zampanò and the other characters
are also lower-class. When people pass by the truck-wagon where they live, they notice
and say “what a piece of junk”. 23 Also, they always eat outside and cook on firewood.
When they get a chance to eat someone else’s food, for example at the wedding and the
convent, they do so. They only eat once out at a restaurant. When Gelsomina and
Zampanò` are sleeping in the convent in the barn Zampanò` tries to steal their silver. 24
Religion plays a major role in La Strada, both positive and negative. It can be
positive when there is a festival for a saintly day. There is also the scene when they are at
the convent. But the church gives little to the poor and for people that need it. That can be
seen when instead of the nuns letting Gelsomina and Zampanò stay in the convent they
have to sleep in the barn. Fellini suggests a “Christian humanism” because the film is
explaining Zampanò’s road to redemption and humanity. 25 It is for him to become a
better person. The death or sacrifice of Gelsomina and Il Matto will give him his
redemption. The film’s plot mirrors a religious story because it compares to when Jesus
sacrifices himself on the cross to redeem his people.
22
Catanzariti, Pasquale, interviewed by author, December 19,2013.
“La Strada - Federico Fellini (Film Completo).”
24
Ibid.
25
Booth, “Fellini’s La Strada,” 707.
23
136
�In the beginning of the movie Gelsomina is gathering sticks when she is called;
this shows her innocence and “identifies her as a child of nature.” 26 Also another
comparison is Gelsomina and the Virgin Mary. In the scene of the procession, she is
pictured beside religious figures. “Gelsomina is photographed against a sign that reads
‘Madonna Immaculata,’ making explicit her identification as a religious figure.” 27
Gelsomina is an outcast to society--in one scene she meets a boy who is emotionally
distraught and when she looks into his eyes she sees herself. In this scene there is an
example of a close-up and it is done perfectly. 28
The symbolism of the ocean and water also frames the film, again borrowing
from religious ideology. Gelsomina’s family lives by the ocean, so water offers the
backdrop to the opening scene.
“Water and bodies of water have significance in Christian theology, in terms of the
use of water to symbolize spiritual cleansing thorough the rite of baptism. This scene
also offers something of a structural device: the ocean is starting point to which Fellini
will return during the climatic final moments of the film. The journey of Zampanò
29
begins and ends at the ocean; it is part of the natural cycle of life.”
Another scene of panning out is at the end when Zampanò is at the beach and he
crawls up and cries while holding on to the sand. The panning out shows the audience
how much he has missed Gelsomina and that he is alone now.
In addition, Il Matto or the “holy fool” may be similar to the Holy Spirit. When
Gelsomina is at the town square and she sees Il Matto on a string high above the ground.
“It’s is an example of panning up when the camera pans up, heavenward, to the ceiling
and the scene shifts to a shot of the Fool, performing his high-wire act as he is cheered on
by a crowd.” 30 Fellini uses camera angles to convey this symbolic message, which also
comes across in dress and dialogue. “One view of the Fool, who wears wings on his
back, might be that he represents a ‘holy fool,’ a Christlike figure whose death, in some
respects, is a sacrifice that sets the stage for Zampanò`’s ultimate redemption…He tells
Gelsomina (in another scene): ‘I’m the one who’s gonna die young.’ His sacrifice if
followed by another sacrifice, when Gelsomina dies after being abandoned by
26
Ibid., 709.
Ibid., 712.
28
Ibid., 710–711.
29
Ibid.
30
Ibid., 713.
27
137
�Zampanò.” 31 Neither Gelsomina nor Il Matto survive in this parable of 1920s Italy, only
the strongman Zampanò.
Federico Fellini’s La Strada portrayed a journey of Gelsomina, Il Matto and
Zampanò. He directed a film with poetic realism instead of neo-realism. La Strada
conveyed poetic struggles that happen beneath the surface of reality. He wanted to
showcase their tragedy and inner journeys rather than simply trace the conditions of
poverty and exploitation. La Strada questioned religious institutions yet borrowed from
religious imagery. Fellini criticized male brutality and gender relations, yet brought
sympathy to Zampanò. He wanted to move the audience with the inner turmoil of the
characters, similar to his own struggles with religion, gender and authority.
Bibliography
Bondanella, Peter E. The Films of Federico Fellini. Cambridge, UK : Cambridge
University Press, 2002.
Booth, Philip. “Fellini’s La Strada as Transitional Film: The Road From Classical
Neorealism to Poetic Realism.” Journal of Popular Culture 44, no. 4 (August 2011):
704–716.
Celati, Gianni. “Fellini on the Italian Male.” In “Scrittori Inconvenienti”: Essays on and
by Pier Paolo Pasolini and Gianni Celati, edited by Armando Maggi and Rebecca West,
223–253. Ravenna, Italy: Longo, 2009.
Catanzariti, Pasquale, interviwed by author, December 19,2013.
Costanza Rosa, and Costanza Madelena, interview by author, April 06, 2013.
Kezich, Tullio, and Vittorio Boarini. Federico Fellini: The Films. New York, NY:
Rizzoli, 2010.
“La Strada - Federico Fellini (Film Completo).” YouTube. Accessed April 30, 2013.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3VQ63giVbY.
Nochimson, Martha. World on Film: An Introduction. West Sussex, U.K.: WileyBlackwell, 2010.
31
Ibid., 713.
138
�No Man Will Define Bone: Self-Determined
Identity in Bastard Out of Carolina
Jessica Roberts (Business Administration) 1
In Bastard Out of Carolina, the protagonist, Bone is born with a birth certificate
that is stamped illegitimate, leaving her in search of self-knowledge and discovering who
she is. Initially, named Ruth Anne, she quickly receives the nickname, Bone, which is
not a proper name but instead used normally to describe “something to be possessed,
broken, or thrown to dogs” (Bailey 275). This results in leaving her with a genderless
name that allows her to shape her identity outside of the stereotypical gender terms that
the Boatwright men and women follow. The traditional males are rowdy, hot tempered
drunks that believe they have the right to come and go from the house as they please. On
the other hand, the females are strong-willed as well but are appointed to nurse and clean
up after men. Like most people, Bone struggles with her identity, as she battles two
complicating pieces in her life. She must first come to terms with what it means for her
to be a woman and secondly, learn what it means for her to be a Boatwright woman. In
Dorothy Allison’s Bastard out of Carolina, Bone’s genderless name suggests her ability
to push past the traditional stereotypical female and it is not until from the help of Aunt
Raylene, does she identify as a Boatwright woman. Ironically, one would think her
illegitimacy would be a potential liability but instead it acts as a source of strength and
helps her forge a more healthy sense of identity.
Bone’s name acts as a metaphor throughout her life as she tries to connect with
her family identity as well as her gender identity. Like a bone, she remains strong as she
feels in certain moments alienated from her family and must act older than she really is.
Readers must continue to remind themselves that she is not even a teenager yet but rather
a child throughout the narrative. Without knowing who her father is, Bone is left with
only one side to craft her identity with, which is the Boatwright’s. This causes problems
because the typical Boatwright has red-blond hair but her hair is black. Bone recognizes
these physical differences and questions her Granny when she says “You gonna look like
our granddaddy, for sure. Those Cherokee cheekbones, huh, Alma?” “Oh yes, for sure.
She’s gonna be another one, another beauty to worry about.” Bone’s response to this is “I
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Alison Arant for EN348: Southern Women Writers.
139
�smiled wide, not really believing them but wanting to” (Allison 30). Bone wants to
believe that she looks like a Boatwright to have some family resemblance to connect
with. This search or want to have something that will mark her as a Boatwright is because
she wants to feel a part of something that is larger than just herself (Miller 140). In other
words, Bone wants to connect with her family identity and be able to be proud to label
herself as a Boatwright. This is why she envies her younger sister, Reese, whose father
unfortunately passed away but she is still able to connect with him through pictures and
because the Boatwright’s still talk about him. Bone’s lack of identity throughout her
childhood angers her and she wishes she could feel a sense of unity and clarity with her
family.
Bone wishes she was more like the girls in storybooks because she feels that her
body and the rest of the Boatwright women’s bodies are broken and damaged (King 134).
She expresses this when she says “this body, like my aunts bodies was born to be worked
to death, used up and thrown away” (Allison 206). Bone does not know any other way to
view herself and what it means to be a woman due to watching the women in her life be
physically and mentally drained by men. Most importantly, she thinks of herself as
“trash” and a victim of abuse since no one else has taught her otherwise. This sculpts her
view of what being a Boatwright means to her and this is why she has difficulty
identifying herself as a Boatwright, since that is the image her aunts are portraying. It is
not until the end of the novel that Bone is able to see past her initial definition of the
“damaged” Boatwright woman and realize that she can identify as a Boatwright woman,
while not being restricted to the life her aunts live.
Bone grows up watching women in her family cater to men’s desires and needs
before their own, therefore representing the traditional woman which is an image she is
trying to overcome. The Boatwright women clean up after their husbands, as if they are
over-grown boys running around the house making a mess. Bone explains “Men could do
anything, and everything they did, no matter how violent or mistaken, was viewed with
humor and understanding” (Allison 23). This teaches Bone that femininity is defined
largely through the construction of masculinity (McDonald 19). This comes from the idea
that the existence of a woman is to accommodate men as they act destructive and have
little to no responsibilities. Therefore, the way men act dictates and shapes womanhood
causing the definition of a woman to revolve around men. Bone ponders the thought and
says, “What men did was just what men did. Some days I would grind my teeth, wishing
I had been born a boy” (Allison 23). She idolizes the freedom that her uncle’s have and
the desire for her to be a male is due to the desire for power. She even begins to take on
140
�male characteristics by following her uncle’s around and mimicking their actions. Bone’s
gender neutral name, supports her ability to take on these masculine characteristics,
therefore going against the traditional female as she shapes her identity as a woman.
Bone’s mother, Anney, plays a tremendous role in how Bone views womanhood, as she
acts in a way that makes it problematic for Bone to connect with the traditional woman.
While her mama brings her much love, she also brings her shame as well by falling into
the stereotypical woman who surrenders to patriarchy. Anney is spineless and feels the
constant burden of the stigma that comes along with Bone’s illegitimacy. She feels the
need to fix it and by doing so she marries Glen. Her impulse is to create a family
however, this backfires and does not help Bone’s situation at all. Anney is supposed to be
Bone’s role model or the woman that she looks up to in life. However, Anney does not do
a good job at this since she acts like a better mother to Glen than her own daughter.
Anney even admits to it when she says “It was like looking after a little boy, a desperate
hurt little boy. That’s when I knew I loved him” (Allison 133). Anney gives more
attention to her pathetic husband, strictly from being dependent on having a man in her
life. She tends to his needs to give him the paternal support that he lacked when he was a
child (Lin 4). The demand to meet his needs rewrites and defines her womanhood, as she
bows down to the patriarchal figure. After witnessing her mother’s choice of gender role,
Bone realizes later in life that she does not want to be dependent on a man like the
traditional woman her mother is portraying. Instead, she would rather be self-sufficient
like her independent, Aunt Raylene, who clearly defines the woman Bone hopes to be.
Anney turns a blind eye to Bone’s physical, verbal and sexual abuse from Daddy
Glen and it is this victimization that takes away any pride the Bone might have as she
develops into her female body (Harkins 126). The worst part about the abuse is that it is
reinforced by her mother, Anney, since she continually makes excuses for Glen and takes
his side while consciously knowing about the abuse. She tends to turn the situation
around to Bone by saying “Baby, what did you do?” Bone response is “What did I do?”
(Allison 107). Bone is shocked that her mother is asking her what she did when Glen is
the one who hurt her. Eventually, Bone begins to think that it is her fault that Glen abuses
her. Anney tolerates Glen’s behavior at the price of self-respect and her daughter’s safety
because she believes she cannot survive without him. Bone however, can see how Glen
weakens her and questions how her mother could value a man, who is asserting such
dominance over women instead of valuing herself and her child (Bailey 278). By her
mother making it seem like it is Bone’s fault for Glen’s terrible treatment, Bone feels that
her body is supposed to be used as an object of abuse. This crafts Bone’s identity as she
141
�does not see her value as a human being let alone as a woman until she is with Aunt
Raylene.
While viewing the hardships that the females in Bone’s life face, Bone is still
able to see the strength that her aunts possess as women which she admires as she figures
out the woman she wants to be. Bone values the love her aunts share and the bond
between one another. She expresses this as she says, "I liked being one of the women
with my aunts, liked being a part of something nasty and strong and separate from my big
rough boy-cousins and the whole world of spitting, growling, overbearing males”
(Allison 91). However, Daddy Glen intentionally moves his family further and further
from the Boatwright’s, in hope to create distance between Bone and her aunts who are
her only source of family identity (Bailey 276). The one strength that her aunts have is
their bond between each other and by breaking that sense of womanhood up, Glen is
taking away the one bit of power they have together because he is threatened by it. Glen
says to Bone “I’ll tell you who you are, he said. You’re mine now, an’t just Boatwrights”
(Allison 52). He does this purposefully as a way to take away the one piece that Bone
has to her family and most importantly her link to feeling like a Boatwright woman.
Fortunately, Glen does not succeed and due to separating herself from him, Bone is able
to figure out that she wants to be a part of the bond that comes along with Boatwright
womanhood.
It is not until Bone starts to live with her Aunt Raylene that she begins to
identify as a woman that represents a different type of womanhood. Aunt Raylene
arguably is the strongest, fulfilled character out of the Boatwright family since she
represents an alternative to both gender roles in the family (McDonald 21). She is
different from the rest of her sisters. She lives a private life away from them, outside of
the city by herself. She stays put unlike the Anney, who moves her family from house to
house since Daddy Glen cannot seem to keep a job. When Bone stays with Aunt Raylene
she helps her with chores around the house and Aunt Raylene praises her and it is this
encouragement that begins to boost Bone’s self-esteem. Bone says “I loved her praise
more than the money, loved being good at something” (Allison 182). Bone’s confidence
begins to build because she feels that she is worth something and has a purpose in life.
This “purpose” is outside the realm of patriarchy, which is the environment she has
grown up in. This environment has been created by Daddy Glen, a man who only tears
her down and makes her feel like an object and that it is her fault she is being abused.
Most importantly, this abuse is being reinforced by the person she loves the most which
is her mama, Anney. However, Aunt Raylene comes into Bone’s life just in time to turn
142
�things around. She believes in Bone and tells her that “I’m counting on you to get out
there and do things, girl. Make people nervous and your old aunt glad” (182). This gives
Bone hope for her future and helps her figure out that a woman can live outside of the
terms of manhood.
Aunt Raylene provides Bone with much guidance and helps Bone begin to
constitute her new identity as an independent Boatwright woman. One day Bone says to
her “How am I suppose to know anything at all? I’m just another ignorant
Boatwright...another piece of trash barely knows enough to wipe her ass or spit away
from the wind...we an’t like nobody else in this world (Allison 258). Aunt Raylene
responds “I don’t know about other people, but I’ve always believed everybody does
what they have to do in this life” (259). Aunt Raylene encourages Bone to refuse the
position of the passive female victim and to shape her life no matter what restrictions are
placed on her (Baker 10). She helps her change the direction of her anger from the
women in her life to her abuser Daddy Glen. By focusing her anger on Glen, she is able
to change her role from being a victim of abuse to a survivor. This not only changes her
outlook on womanhood as a whole but also how she looks at the Boatwright women.
Bone is able to realize women should not be subjects of abuse and that her family is just
trying to do the best they can. Therefore, her abuse is a part of her life but Bone is not
going to let that be what defines her identity.
Unlike her mother, Anney, who never taught her how to stand up for herself,
Aunt Raylene gives Bone the confidence to fight back unlike the traditional submissive
woman. Bone for the first time says “I had always felt like it was my fault, but now it
didn’t matter. I didn’t care anymore what happen. I wouldn’t hold still anymore” (Allison
282). It is in this moment that everything finally clicks for Bone and she decides that she
will not stand for being hurt anymore. During the final attack when Daddy Glen rapes
Bone, she physically and verbally fights back, through cursing and stabbing a butter knife
into his side. This is evidence of her beginning to develop into the strong woman that she
has been searching to become from day one. Her mother, Anney walks into the
unbearable scene and sadly yet again, shifts her attention from comforting Bone to
holding Glen in her arms as he pleads for help after what he just did. Thankfully, Aunt
Raylene comes to rescue Bone from the hospital after he mother drops her off and leaves
her there alone. While Bone is bombarded with questions from the sheriff, Raylene steps
in and says “Look at her she is hurt and scared and don’t need nobody hurting her any
more…She’s just twelve years old, you fool. Right now she needs to feel safe and loved,
not alone and terrified” (Allison 298). Raylene explains perfectly what Bone needs not
143
�only at this moment but what she has needed her whole childhood. All her life, Bone has
needed someone to come to her aid and defend her and Raylene does just that. Aunt
Raylene time and time again provides Bone with an example of how a woman should act,
which helps Bone form her identity.
The final abandonment of Anney choosing Glen over Bone ironically is
clarification for Bone’s identity as a Boatwright. At this moment she comes to terms with
her mother’s choices and realizes that she is not defined as her mother’s daughter. Bone
says “the child I have been, is gone with the child she had been” (Allison 307). Her
identity as a Boatwright woman is with her extended family rather than her mother, as
she links herself with her loving aunts. Surprisingly, Anney returns to give Bone her birth
certificate, which is blank, unmarked and unstamped. This suggests Bone has a fresh start
as she begins her new chapter in life and a future with endless possibilities. Aunt
Raylene has taught Bone that she can exist as a Boatwright woman on her own terms and
that nothing can restrict her from becoming a successful woman.
In Bastard out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison allows her readers to grasp the
journey Bone goes through to identify herself as a nontraditional Boatwright woman,
through the eyes of Bone’s narrative. Bone decides that being a woman means not
conforming to the definition of the traditional woman. She defines a woman as
independent, one that does not let men dictate her life and make her feel less of the
person she truly is. Secondly, she learns what it means for her to be a Boatwright woman
by expanding the terms for her to exist rather than adjusting her lifestyle to fit into what
her mother has laid out for her. Bone understands her family roots and trusts the love that
Aunt Raylene has for her. She shows this at the end when she says “I let her touch my
shoulder, let my head tilt to lean against her, trusting her arm and her love” (Allison 309).
Bone has a good understanding of who she is and her part of the Boatwright family as she
sits with Aunt Raylene with their fingers wrapped together.
Work Cited
Allison, Dorothy. Bastard out of Carolina. New York: Penguin, 1993. Print
Bailey, Peggy Dunn. "Female Gothic Fiction, Grotesque Realities, And Bastard Out Of
Carolina: Dorothy Allison Revises The Southern Gothic." Mississippi Quarterly: The
Journal Of Southern Cultures 63.1-2 (2010): 269-290. MLA International Bibliography.
Web. 5, Nov. 2013.
144
�Baker, Moira P. "The Politics of ‘They’”: Dorothy Allison’s ‘Bastard Out of Carolina’ As
Critique of Class, Gender and Sexual Ideologies." The World is Our Culture: Society and
Culture in Contemporary Southern Writing. Jeffrey J. Folks and Nancy Summers Folks,
eds. Lexington: UP of Kentucky (2000): 117-41.
Bouson, J. Brooks. "'You Nothing But Trash': White Trash Shame in Dorothy Allison's
Bastard Out Of Carolina." Southern Literary Journal 34.1 (2001): 101-123. MLA
International Bibliography. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.
Harkins, Gillian. "Surviving The Family Romance? The Realist Labor Of Incest In
Bastard Out Of Carolina." Realism's Others. 247-276. Newcastle upon Tyne, England:
Cambridge Scholars, 2010. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.
King, Vincent. "Hopeful Grief: The Prospect Of A Postmodernist Feminism In Allison's
Bastard Out Of Carolina." Southern Literary Journal 33.1 (2000): 122. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.
Lin, Ying-chiao. "The Necessary Disclosure: Confronting Childhood Abuse in Dorothy
Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina.
McDonald, Kathlene. “Talking Trash, Talking Back: Resistance to Stereotypes in
Dorothy Allison's "Bastard out of Carolina" Women’s Studies Quarterly. Vol. 26, No.
1/2, Working-Class Lives and Cultures (Spring - Summer, 1998).
Miller, Shawn E. "'An Aching Lust To Hurt Somebody Back': The Exile's Patrimony In
Bastard Out Of Carolina." Southern Quarterly: A Journal Of The Arts In The South 44.4
(2007): 139-154. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
145
�The Art of the Harlemite
Lena Ayechemi (Arts Administration) 1
Rent parties were not only held for the purpose of making rent. The functions
themselves began to play a significant part in developing and preserving African
American musical culture in Harlem during the renaissance. While some musicians,
poets, and other members of the Harlem Renaissance began to direct their pieces towards
a white audience, rent parties became a place where individuals who were not concerned
with appealing to popular American society were able to play jazz and dance without the
outside pressures from the intelligentsia. The actual cultivation of stride piano took place
during these soirées. These gatherings played a key role in upholding the spirits of the
common black individual who, unlike people such as James P. Johnson and Duke
Ellington, were not receiving any monetary benefit or increased respect from their
counterparts as a result of the Harlem Renaissance, but still loved jazz just the same.
The Harlem Renaissance came into being as a result of heightened animosity
towards African Americans. At the end of World War One, many African Americans
were terminated from their jobs and isolated from employment. Housing segregation kept
families trapped in the urban ghettos of the West Side of Manhattan. The Ku Klux Klan,
which regrouped during the time of WWI, had also increased attacks. The rise in racial
discrimination led to race riots, not only in New York City, but throughout the nation.
Terrorism and financial instability filled the lives of African Americans with uncertainty
and robbed them of control of their futures. In spite of these difficulties, African
Americans moved in droves to the North to try and take advantage of the newly available
industrial work and other jobs that awarded them more opportunity than sharecropping in
the Jim Crow South. The population that migrated to Harlem found that they could own
property and commune with others who did as well. Black entrepreneurship was a dream
that could be realized, a fact made palpable to them each time they bought their groceries
from black owned corner stores or sat down in black owned restaurants. The “New
Negro” also drew strength from cultural enlightenment and black consciousness.
Organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) increased activity in Harlem, and leaders of thought such as W.E. Dubois
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Roger Wesby for MU209-ILC: History of Blues and Jazz.
146
�(1868-1963) stimulated political awareness and activism. Harlem, which was intended by
developers to be “distinctly devoted to the mansions of the wealthy, the homes of the
well-to-do, and the places of business of the trades that minister to their wants” (Jongh 7),
was secured as a black neighborhood by black people. This was a milestone in the fight
against crippling discrimination and the color barrier.
The idea that artistry would advance the situations of colored people prompted
Harlemites to place their energies in honing the skills of black artists. Musicians inspired
by this passion for edification birthed Harlem’s unique and signature style of music,
stride piano. The increase of black realty provided the opportunity for these musicians to
meet and create; Harlem rent parties, cellars and small clubs became the school houses in
which stride piano was taught and developed.
Harlem had formed its own musical identity but the musical elite believed the
ultimate purpose of stride piano was to be used as a tool for the musically inclined. The
great black musicians of the post war era had no intention of being satisfied with playing
at nightclubs and in crowded apartments for wild dancers, but the true motivation to learn
these new techniques was the ambition to evolve jazz into a greater artistic form. Fats
Waller played a large hand in the development and promotion of the stride piano
technique and even composed the hit “The Joint is Jumping,” a tune that celebrated the
traditions of rent parties. Although Fats was aware of the significant role rent parties
played in the culture, he, like Duke Ellington, saw a bigger horizon. Stride piano was
their way to bring jazz into the world of concert halls “It was during the twenties that a
great deal of interest in creating symphonic, composed jazz was expressed by both blacks
and whites” (Early 138). Although the music started in the homes and establishments of
self-made and proud blacks, some musicians felt their music could only reach full esteem
in “serious European-style art music halls” (Early 138).
Musicians, who actually obtained the opportunity to use their music to better
their lives and gain respect, were few in comparison to those who were confined by the
realities of living as an urban Negro. Rent parties, although festive and exciting,
foreshadowed the impending destruction that the continued financial discrimination
would bring upon the black Mecca. Harlem was intended to be a neighborhood for white
families. When the realtors and contractors could not sell enough property and risked
losing money, they began to sell to blacks and “more than 200,000 Negroes [West
Indians, Africans and American Negroes] migrated to Harlem” (Byrd 1). The
overcrowding of Harlem made living spaces much like those in any slum area. Residents
took jobs as laundresses, personal workers, or the other lower paying unskilled jobs
147
�allocated to the black community. African Americans worked under the threat of being
fired as soon as preferred white workers were found. Harlemites were not exposed to
racial violence as openly as blacks who still resided in the ghettos, such as San Juan Hill,
the Tenderloin, and Hell’s Kitchen, but the threats still restrained their freedoms. As more
white families moved out of Harlem, rent was purposely raised, which further eroded
their ability to keep up with the ever-rising Harlem standard of living. Blacks in Harlem
were systematically fed a pipe dream. Segregation ensured that high rates and limited
resources continued to hinder progress and recreate the cycle of financial instability. Rent
parties were a way to delay the inevitable and to sustain the fading dream.
The glamour that surrounds the tales of the great jazz age and its renowned
musicians is nothing more than “the confusions, distortions, half-truths…that are the
foundations of racial and ethnic stereotypes [derived from] the white world’s image of
the “New Negro”(Osofsky 230) and Harlem. The true glory of the Harlem Renaissance is
the establishment of a resilient community. In spite of deficits in their own personal
finances, people came together to help a neighbor make rent, enjoy the music that was
born in the places they worked hard to secure, and executed their rights to live in. Even
with all the pressures from whites and the black bourgeoisie “the Negro’s situation in
Harlem is without precedent in all history in New York; never before has he been so
securely anchored…never before has he had so well established a community life”
(Jongh 7).
Even with all the accomplishments of Harlem, the belief that dignity, validation,
and worth could only be achieved by integrating into white society drove some blacks to
abandon their community. The Harlem commoner witnessed black nightclub owners and
musicians who, in the pursuit of money and acceptance, began to segregate patrons, give
choice service to white customers or completely ban fellow African Americans from their
clubs. These actions turned Harlem and its people into a form of entertainment. Dances
and music became more complicated and athletic because the need to be impressive to
white tourists took precedent over the pursuit of enjoyment. Langston Hughes was able to
recognize the true victories of the Jazz age and gives testament to the views of common
Harlemites.
White people began to come to Harlem in droves. For several years they packed the
expensive Cotton Club on Lenox Avenue. But I was never there, because the Cotton
Club was a Jim Crow club for gangstsers and monied whites. They were not cordial to
Negro patronage, unless you were a celebrity like Bojangles. So Harlem Negroes did
not like the Cotton Club and never appreciated its Jim Crow policy in the very heart of
their dark community. Nor did ordinary Negroes like the growing influx of whites
148
�towards Harlem after sundown, flooding the little cabarets and bars where formerly
only colored people laughed and sang, and where now the strangers were given the
best ringside tables to sit and stare at the Negro customers – like amusing animals in
a zoo. (Hughes 1)
Beyond the glamour of the nightclub, “The ordinary Negroes hadn’t heard of the
Negro Renaissance. And if they had, it hadn’t raised their wages any.” (Hughes 3)
Popular musicians began to transform their aesthetics into what they perceived to be
respectable art and to shift their target towards those who they felt were respectable
audiences. Unwilling to continue to be deemed entertainment and losing their place to
preferred white audiences, Harlemites turned to hosting rent parties, which in turn
cultivated and preserved their culture.
Saturday nights were a prime occasion to dance and play music until dawn.
Most people were paid on Saturdays and did not have to go into work the next day. For a
small price, which was cheaper than the speakeasies that dotted Harlem during
prohibition, partygoers could enjoy food, dancing, drink, and hear stride piano. Stride
pianists pounded out harmonies and complex rhythms in order to recreate the sounds of a
full orchestra, “the powerful left-hand bass acts as the percussive rhythm section and the
right hand provides the thickly textured melody” (Pappadopoulos 3). By focusing on
ability and musical intelligence, the stride pianists were able to create a technique that
exceeds the knowledge needed to play the tunes of its predecessor, ragtime. At rent
parties, musicians were given the opportunity to practice, playing in every key, making
quick changes, all without rest, and develop their skill set and athletic ability.
Even though art was highly esteemed, stride pianists were not spared from the
economic difficulties and were themselves starving artists. Employments for the new
sound were scarce, especially in Harlem where competition was intense and the number
of steady gigs few. Rent parties became a source of supplemental employment to
musicians who would otherwise have to take odd jobs or travel out of state to find work.
The hosts of rent parties even employed multiple pianists at a time, providing them with a
way to support themselves and their music. The presence of other pianists pressured the
musicians to be highly skilled. Even if acquiring skill for intellectual purposes was not
the goal of the pianists, keeping dancers enthralled and moving required a vast
knowledge of stride. A strider found lacking received a bad reputation, which decreased
his chances of being hired for other gigs. This fierce competition perhaps fostered the
value of athleticism found in bebop and even the elitism of bebop. If players could not
keep up with the required skills and fast complex playing, then they found no place as
performers of the music. It is the beginning of an era where black musicians had to have
149
�mastery of the instrument. Even though these musicians were employed for the purposes
of entertainment they understood the importance of developing technique and
professionalism, which drove them to practice relentlessly and develop a form of music
so substantial and complete that it is able to stand in for the sounds percussions, horns,
and strings. All they needed was the piano and they made the necessity of all those
instruments obsolete.
Although the highbrow members of the black community may have regarded the
carrying on at these soirées as degrading and shameful, it was in fact these gatherings that
played the strongest hand in creating stride and developing the music. If the goal was
having black creativity gain respect, its attainment was undermined by the unwillingness
of elitists to acknowledge that art is not necessarily born in concert halls but within the
souls and from the expressions of the people who make said art. In fact, this
unwillingness reinforced the cycle of deprivation and emptiness that kept the esteem and
public perception of the black community low. The greats may have gained public
popularity and have been devoted to the development of jazz, but their idea that the music
only becomes art when it is welcomed into distinguished concert halls or resembles the
symphonic structures of European styles disregards the merits the music and its
originators bestowed upon the genre. For in this genuine and authentic expression we find
the ability of the common Negro to take the roughest of situations, and the dregs of
resources that are left to him and turn them into country blues, spirituals, gospel, ragtime,
and jazz. Stride piano is already an art in itself. African Americans have an art of living
through music and of using music to survive. The music played for those weary workers
on Saturday nights that helped them cast off their chains, if even for just one night, is true
art. The apartments and houses in which the parties were held and where pianists learned
stride were schools of art and those ragamuffin musicians were themselves artists.
Without the rent parties providing a place to learn, and a reason to practice new
skills and create new techniques, stride piano would have not developed. In turn, stride
piano would not have been available to many ordinary Harlemites and the musicians,
who used it to transform jazz. Ultimately, Harlem rent parties reflect the crowning glory
of the Harlem Renaissance. Harlemites drove one another to do the best they could do in
the conditions they lived in. They dreamed of obtaining a better life. Even if it was denied
to them, they created their own identities and pursued their passions. They maintained
their commitment to keeping the music within the community and provided a safe space
for their friends and neighbors to enjoy life.
150
�Works Cited
Bonacich, Edna . "Advanced Capitalism and Black/White Race Relations in the United
States: A Split Labor Market Interpretation." American Sociological Review . 41.1
(1976): 34-51. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. (Bonacich 34-51)
Byrd, Frank. New York. Library of Congress. American Life Histories: Manuscripts from
the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 Harlem Rent Parties . New York : , 1938. Web.
Early, Gerald. "Three Notes Toward a Cultural Definition of The Harlem
Renaissance." Callaloo. 14.1 (1991): 136-149. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.
Hughes, Langston. "When the Negro was in Vogue." The Language of Literature:
American Literature (1940): 933-36.
Jongh, James de. Vicious Modernism: Black Harlem and the Literary Imagination.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. eBook.
Lawrence, A. H. Duke Ellington and His World. Routledge, 2003. Print.
Notten, Eleonore Van . Wallace Thurman's Harlem Renaissance. Atlanta : 1994. eBook.
(Notten)
Osofsky, Gilbert. "Symbols of the Jazz Age: The New Negro and Harlem
Discovered." American Quarterly. 17.2 (1965): 229-238. web. 10 Apr. 2013
Pappadopoulos, Nicholas “Smith, Johnson, and Waller: The Birth of Stride Piano and
Three Piece For Piano: My Sometimes Lover Camden Catch J’s Meadow.”
Diss.Wesleyan University,2008. Web
Trotter, Joe. Black Milwaukee: The Making of an Industrial Proletariat, 1915-45.
Illinois: Illini Books, 1988. eBook. (Trotter)
151
�
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Wagner College Forum for Undergraduate Research
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Forum for Undergraduate Research
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Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
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Fall 2014
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Volume 13, Number 1
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Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference -- Abstracts -- 3 Computational Modeling and Thermodynamic Trends for a Family of Palladium Antimicrobial Agents / Joseph R. Persichetti, Valeria A. Stepanova, and Joseph K. West -- 3 Antimicrobial Effectiveness and Limitations of Novel Transition Metal-Based Remedies / Lynn Tay, Christopher Corbo, and Valeria A. Stepanova -- 4 Pilot Study of Science Apathy Intervention in Public Elementary Schools on Staten Island / Noura Hassan, Jennifer Lauria, and Valeria A. Stepanova -- 4 Neural Synchrony of Cortical Regions Devoted to Spatial and Auditory Components of Working Memory in Musicians / Philip Fomina and Laurence J. Nolan -- 5 Missing High Energy Afterglows of Gamma-ray Bursts / Carrie E. Holt, J. Racusin, and D. Kocevski -- 6 An Analysis of the Fibonacci Sequence / Daniela DiMeglio, Dr. Raths, and Dr. Shahvar -- 6 Duration of Golf Ball From Initial Impact / Leobardo N. Dominguez and Dr. Otto Raths -- 6 The Biodiversity of Algae in Staten Island Lakes with Response to Seasonal Change, Lake Size, Lake Depth, and Sunlight / Gregory M. Forsyth and Dr. Brian Palestis -- 7 Phototactic Responses of the Water Flea Daphnia magna to Different Light Intensities of 520-nm and 690-nm Light / Salma Metwally and Donald E. Stearns -- 7 Comparison of the Population Growth of Oral Bacterial Colonies When Introduced to Popular Brand Toothpastes / Thomas K. Nolan and Kathleen A. Bobbitt -- 8 The Effect of Na+/H+ Exchanger 6 on Tau Protein Aggregation / Pakinam Mekki, Hari Prasad, Kalyan Kondapalli, Ph.D., and Rajini Rao, Ph.D. -- 8 Thermodynamic versus Kinetic Control in the Syntheses of Amino Acid Derivatives of Cyclopalladated Complexes / Samantha G. DeStefano and Valeria A. Stepanova -- 9 Analyzing the Effect of the Putative Endocrine Disrupting Chemical, Dipentyl Phthalate on the Development and Viability of Male and Female Drosophila Melanogaster / Kristiana R. Kalibat, Heather A. Cook, Zoltan L. Fulop, and Donald E. Stearns -- 10 Photobehavioral Responses of Daphnia magna to Selected Light Cues / Thomas Maher, Daniel Zaccariello, and Donald E. Stearns -- 10 Study of Thermodynamic Properties of Cyclopalladated Complexes Bearing Fatty Acid Auxiliaries / Saad Idrees, Valeria A. Stepanova, and Joseph K. West -- 11 Spectrual Sensitivity of Daphnia magna at Four Selected Wavelengths (470, 490, 630, 650 nm) / Samantha L. Kyvik, Rayna A. Silva, and Donald E. Stearns -- 11 The Effects of Dolasetron and Dapoxetine on the Feeding Behavior of Larval Yellow Fever Mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) / Enri Citozi, Edward M. Medina, and Horst Onken -- 12 Digital Microphotographic Atlas of the Adult Zebrafish Cerebellum / Kristen M. Lee, Megan B. Landy, Ashton Cline, Christopher Corbo, and Zoltan Fulop -- 12 Analysis of Oxidation Site Preferences in P-bridged Cyclodiphosphazanes / Rabije Cekovic and Joseph K. West -- 13 The Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemical Dimethylphthalate on the Model Organism Drosophila melanogaster / Sara Mfarrej and Dr. Heather Cook -- 13 Comparison of Transition Metal-Based Antimicrobial Agents and Traditional Aseptic Techniques / Joseph D. Cuomo, Christopher Corbo, and Valeria A. Stepanova -- 14 Comparison of Solvent-Free and Traditional Approaches to Palladium and Cobalt Complexes of Bis(carboxymethy)trithiocarbonate / Colleen N. Withers, Joseph K. West, and Valeria A. Stepanova -- 14 Development and Molecular Analysis of L. monocytogenes Infecting the Central Nervous System of the Adult Zebrafish / Cira Cardaci, Monica Cipriani, Corey E. Gaylets, and Christopher P. Corbo 15 The Effects of Leaf Size and Misting on the Reproductive Success of the Lemur Frog, Agalychnis lemur, in Captivity / Karina Roinestad, Patrick Connelly, Cathy Eser, and Dr. Christopher Corbo -- 15 The Physics of Golf / Jason A. Hopkins and Otto Raths -- 16 Composite Gel Electrophoresis Resolves Large Human Lung Glycoproteins (Mucins) that Control Lung Inflammation / Melanie Krongold, Steve M. Fernandes, Anabel Gonzalez Gil, HuiFeng Yu, Yadong Wei, and Dr. Ronald L. Schnaar -- 16 Study of Complex Formation of Palmitic Acid and Transition Metals using Experimental & Computation Approaches / James P. Catalano, Joseph K. West, and Valeria A. Stepanova -- 17 Use of Morphological Techniques to Detect and Analyze Listeria monocytogenes in the Optic Tectum of Adult Zebrafish / Brandon J. Kocurek, Anthony P. Spano, Corey E. Gaylets, and Christopher P. Corbo -- Section II: The Natural Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 21 Composite Gel Electrophoresis Resolves Large Human Lung Glycoproteins (Mucins) that Control Lung Inflammation / Melanie Elizabeth Krongold -- Section III: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 43 Distinguishing Trauma: An Analysis of Those Interred in the Tombs at Huacas De Moche / Nicholas C. Gibaldi -- 63 Changes in the Media Landscape: The Impact of Globalization and Widespread Internet Access on Free Press and Media Rights / Katelynn Rusnock -- Section IV: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 81 Providing a Framework forJust War in United States Foreign Policy: A Case Study of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq / Kristen Matteoni -- 103 Stevens, Nietzsche, and Collective Enunciation / Joseph Messano -- 113 William McKinley and the Spanish-American War / Ian Bertschausen -- 125 “Time’s Injurious Hand”: The Destructiveness of Time in Shakespeare’s Sonnets 63, 64, 65 / Thomas Scarcella -- 131 Federico Fellini’s La Strada: Brutality, Fragility and the Search for Identity in Post-War Italy / Francesca Catanzariti -- 139 No Man Will Define Bone: Self-Determined Identity in Bastard Out of Carolina / Jessica Roberts -- 146 The Art of the Harlemite / Lena Ayechemi
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is typically subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural
Sciences, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these sections are
limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific investigations (experimental,
theoretical and empirical). The third section is reserved for speculative papers based on
the scholarly review and critical examination of previous works.
Read on and enjoy!
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Miles Groth, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Lauren O'Hare, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I: The Natural Sciences
Full Length Papers
3
Species-Area Relationship of Colonial Waterbirds Nesting on Barnegat Bay
Saltmarsh Islands
Alexandria Mary Zummo
Section II: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
23 America Needs to Make a SNAPy Comeback: An Empirical Humanitarian Study
Arguing in Favor of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Justin S.E. Bulova
Section III: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
43 Modal Jazz, Miles Davis and Kind of Blue
William Pegg
55 Opening Doors: The Broadway Musicals of Harold Prince
James Forbes Sheehan
65 Rochdale Village: Integration, Urban Renewal, and Decline
Jessica Catanzaro
76 The Life of R.D. Laing and an Analysis of Laing’s Theory of
Laurie Fogelstrom
Schizophrenia
88 Accepting a Healthy Dose of Falstaff: The Element of Irreducible Rascality and Sir
John Falstaff’s Role in Henry IV, Part I
Krag Kerr
94 Edward Said: The Critic as Exile
Aisha Raheel
�106 What is Madness: Analyzing “Equus”
Kaitlin Newlin-Wagner
110 Urban Stratification
Quincy Rasin
���Species-Area Relationship of Colonial Waterbirds
Nesting on Barnegat Bay Saltmarsh Islands
Alexandria Mary Zummo (Biology)1
The species-area relationship (SAR) is described as the dependence of the number of
species in a region on the size of the region. The species-area hypothesis states that an
increased number of species will be found in larger areas since larger regions can support
larger populations and contain greater habitat diversity. SARs are important in the
analyses and conservation of biodiversity. The study and measure of species-area
relationships can help in the maintenance of biodiversity and the prevention of species
extinction. A study of the species-area relationships for species of nesting waterbirds took
place on the Barnegat Bay islands in New Jersey. During the summer of 2013, records of
any waterbird species nesting on the islands (e.g. terns, gulls, ducks, oystercatchers, etc.)
were recorded during visits to the island along with the habitat diversity and vegetation
present on the six islands explored. The areas of the islands were calculated using Google
Earth™ software. The data was calculated and compared to construct what is known as a
species-area curve. This ultimately determined the relationships between area size and
habitat diversity with the number of species occupying the land, leading to increased
knowledge of habitat selection of waterbirds. As expected, islands that occupied a larger
area in turn harbored a greater number of species. In addition, these islands specifically
contained several habitats rather than islands with simply one type of habitat.
I. Introduction
Species-Area Relationships
The relationship between habitat area and the species that inhabit the area is
known as a species-area relationship (SARs). A common pattern in ecology states that the
larger the amount of area available, the higher the number of species that populate the
area. Area has the ability to influence species richness directly in more than one way. For
example, larger islands present larger targets for dispersing individuals and they generally
support larger populations (Ricklefs & Lovette, 1999). In addition, a large area has the
Research performed under the direction of Dr. Brian Palestis in partial fulfillment of the
Senior Program requirements.
1
3
�ability to support a more diverse habitat. Therefore, the increased habitat diversity
indirectly increases the number of species occupying the area since increased habitat
diversity will provide the environmental conditions to accommodate various plant and
animal life. Three biological systems have been used to explain species-area
relationships, and are known as the habitat diversity hypothesis, the area per se
hypothesis, and the passive sampling hypothesis (Connor & McCoy, 2001).
The habitat diversity hypothesis suggests that there is an increase in species
within large areas as opposed to small areas due to the fact that large areas support a
larger range of diverse habitats (Ricklefs and Lovette 1999; Connor & McCoy, 2001).
The various environments present on larger areas of land permit a larger array of species
that naturally reside in specific habitats to select these areas to occupy. It also provides a
place for species requiring multiple habitats to populate. Ultimately, large areas will
prosper in species richness more than small areas leading to the establishment of a
species-area relationship. The habitat diversity hypothesis places more emphasis on the
direct effect of habitat diversity rather than the effect of area upon species richness. In
regards to this hypothesis, area is only indirectly correlated with species richness.
The second hypothesis, known as the area per se hypothesis or the random
placement hypothesis assumes that the number of species within a certain region varies as
one would expect if species were dispersed at random among sites with the number of
species in a site proportional to the area of the site (Connor and McCoy, 2001;
Guadagnin, Maltchik, and Fonseca, 2009). In addition, the probability of extinction
occurring within the area is a negative function of abundance and overall area. In other
words, larger areas will contain a higher number of species in comparison to small areas
because larger population size allows more species to survive overall and avoid local
extinction. Simultaneously, as area size increases and the risk for extinction decreases,
there is a higher probability of immigration. That is, there is a greater chance that new
species will be introduced to the island and balance any local extinctions (Kallimanis et
al., 2008). Furthermore, according to the area per se hypothesis, a species-area
relationship could still be observed even in spaces of area with only one habitat (Connor
and McCoy, 2001).
The third hypothesis mentioned is known as the passive sampling hypothesis.
This hypothesis illustrates the theory that larger areas will be inclined to acquire more
colonists than smaller areas. Thus, according to the passive sampling hypothesis, species
richness is independent of the influence of habitat diversity and the probability of
extinction. The species-area relationship only considers the variables of species number
4
�and area. Researchers observing passive sampling of seasonally colonized areas have
supported this hypothesis. As stated by Connor & McCoy (2001), these studies
demonstrate that seasonally colonized habitats receive more colonists and ultimately have
higher species richness.
Typically, the formula for SARs is expressed as a power law S = cAz. (Allen &
White, 2003; Kolasa, Manne, & Pandit, 2012). S represents the number of species, A is
the area, and z is the slope of the species-area relationship when graphed on a log-log
plot. The double-logarithmic transformation ultimately linearizes the power-function
model so that the resulting species-area curve is linear (Connor & McCoy, 2001). The
value of c is a constant specific to the location and type of organisms, with log(c) as the
y-intercept in the log-log plot.
For data to be retrieved based on the relationship between species and area, the
most universally accepted method used has been to sample physically separated areas
such as islands or habitat patches. Sampling from this observed natural range of areas,
generates a range of sample areas. The alternative technique is to sample adjacent areas
of continuous habitat as independent regions. The land is divided up into a series of nonoverlapping subregions in order to generate a range of sample areas (Connor & McCoy,
2001). The following study within this thesis sampled areas physically separated by
surrounding bodies of water. This approach is commonly used in studies of SARS.
Area, Species Richness, and Habitat Diversity
As stated previously, species richness is also directly affected by habitat
diversity. Considering a larger area of land will usually be able to support a more diverse
range of habitats, the species richness will rise. Additionally, larger populations typically
involve high genetic variation among individuals of the population. This will permit them
to respond better to changes in the environmental conditions that may occur in a more
diverse habitat. Different habitats also attract a wider variety of species that have specific
nesting and settling preferences. Expectedly, landscapes with diversified habitat types,
and higher levels of natural fragmentation (heterogeneous landscapes), should maintain
higher species number for the same surface area than homogenous landscapes (Kolasa et
al., 2012). In essence, habitat diversity exerts a significant effect on species richness
(Ricklefs & Lovette, 1999).
In spite of this, the study of habitat diversity within the context of species-area
relationships is problematic by reason of three factors (Ricklefs & Lovette, 1999). First and
foremost, it has been viewed that habitat diversity is challenging to define. Habitat diversity
5
�is quite complicated and has many different forms with many different meanings.
Appropriate measures of habitat diversity are likely to differ from one type of organism to
another (Simberloff, 1976; Ricklefs & Lovette, 1999). A second complication arises in that
the effects of area and habitat diversity on species richness are indistinguishable with island
area. This causes difficulties in separating the independent statistical effects of habitat
diversity and area per se on species richness (Simberloff, 1976; Ricklefs & Lovette, 1999).
A third problem that is posed in determining the influence of habitat diversity is that it is not
yet completely understood how species respond to different habitats. Without some type of
species differentiation between habitats, the concept of habitat diversity is irrelevant (Hart
& Horowitz, 1991, Ricklefs & Lovette, 1999).
Nonetheless, despite the difficulties in analyzing the effect of habitat diversity
upon species richness vs. area, each variable contributes to the overall species richness in
a profound way. Connor and McCoy (2001) express that species-area relationships are
universal and have been observed within a considerable group of taxa extending from
diatoms to mammals and for geographical entities such as islands, woodland, grassland,
and cropland habitat patches, and lakes.
Island Habitat
Coastal ecosystems, much like Barnegat Bay, are the interface between coastal
mainland and the open ocean (Burger, et al. 2001). The habitats that form within these
estuaries and bays are the homes for a multifarious amount of species including plant life,
invertebrates, fish, and microorganisms. Furthermore, these ecosystems provide adequate
nesting sites for a vast assortment of birds to strengthen and maintain survival and
reproduction during the breeding season. For example, Burger (1998) explains that
colonially-nesting species often attempt to reduce their interactions with humans and other
predatory species by choosing to nest on more remote island locations. Since barrier islands
provide not only protection from natural predators, but preferred habitat specifications, and
plenty of available food and nutrient sources, they are desirable sites for nesting.
Much of the island habitat located in estuaries and bays are salt marshes.
Dominated by salt-tolerant plants, shrubs, and grasses, salt marshes are relatively stable
sites despite the regular tidal flooding that occurs on these islands. Since they lie between
land and open saltwater or brackish water, the accumulation of sediments from adjoining
rivers, streams, and other water sources, these areas build up low-lying saltmarsh islands.
Burger (1977) describes the predominant vegetation type that populates the saltmarsh
island known as Spartina alterniflora or Smooth/Saltmarsh cordgrass, while some high
6
�marsh areas also grow Spartina patens, a hay like grass that grows taller than S.
alterniflora as well as Iva frutescens bushes, Phragmites, bayberry (Myrica
pensylvanica), and poison ivy (Rhus radicans).
S. alterniflora covers saltmarsh islands almost exclusively, while other habitat
types such as sandy beaches or woody tree areas populated with trees and shrubs like the
species mentioned above, can also inhabit the land. The image in Photo 1 depicts S.
alterniflora carpeting part of Little Sedge Island. A stream of water that cut through a
portion of the island, most likely a result of flooding is visible in the photograph. The
herring gulls (Larus argentatus) that populate the island along with other species can be
seen in the background of the picture.
Photo 1. Picture of saltmarsh island- Little Sedge Island (North).
Waterbird Classification and Habitat Selection
To put it simply, birds that live on or around water are also known as waterbirds.
These birds occupy numerous diverse regions of both marine and freshwater habitats and
are vital contributing members to the aquatic ecosystem in which they inhabit. Often,
most waterbirds tend to have slow life histories in which they are long-lived, lay
relatively small clutches, and most individuals do not breed until around the age of three
or later (Palestis, 2014). Some major groups of waterbirds include the wading birds or
shorebirds, waterfowl, and seabirds.
7
�Waterfowl, categorized by duck, swans, and geese are able to swim and spend
long periods of time living in the water. These birds are often recognized as game birds.
Shorebirds otherwise known as waders or wading birds include species such as
oystercatchers and sandpipers that are often found feeding on saltwater or freshwater
shorelines. Seabirds, also known as marine birds, commonly feed in saltwater and have
adapted to reside in a marine environment or a pelagic zone (any body of water on the
open ocean). These birds are grouped apart from other waterbird classes since these other
groups include bird species that have not necessarily adapted to a predominantly marine
habitat. Seabirds, such as terns, cormorants, and pelicans often remain out in the open
ocean. However, some may nest on islands present in the ocean or on the mainland.
Nevertheless, common characteristics of seabirds also incorporate their abilities of
surface feeding, existing within colonies for the purpose of breeding, and migration after
the breeding season has concluded. During the breeding season, it has been evident that a
majority of these waterbirds, specifically terns, prefer to feed mainly on small schooling
fish close to the surface of the water, but diet may also include crustaceans, insects, and
other prey (Palestis, 2014).
While the waterbirds identified in this study selected the salt marsh habitat for
nesting, each species of waterbird has a specific range of preference. For example,
common terns (Sterna hirundo) traditionally nest on sand and shingle beaches, sand
dunes, and on sand islands in freshwater and coastal marshes However, on saltmarsh
islands common terns prefer to nest upon either species of Spartina or nesting substrate
composed of wrack, dead eelgrass (Zostera)and other dead vegetation that is often
deposited on the salt marsh islands by floods (Burger& Lesser, 1979; Palestis, 2009;
Figure 2). Wrack allows the nests to survive flooding as opposed to nests on bare soil,
bare sand, or in S. alterniflora since they increase elevation, provide structure, and can
float (Palestis, 2009). However, colonies of herring gulls prefer to nest on islands where
they are able to detect approaching dangers. Typically they are usually found occupying
sandy or rocky barrier beach island habitats with S. patens and S. alterniflora but have
also been found nesting in higher regions, under Iva or Buccharis bushes (Burger, 1998;
Burger et al., 2001). Other bird species such as herons prefer highly elevated islands that
allow the growth of Iva or Buccharis bushes and poison ivy which provide the herons
with structures for nesting. Yet different species might prefer densely vegetated areas that
allow them to hide, making them not quite visible from the edge of the island (Burger et
al., 2001).
8
�II. Objectives
The aim of this thesis is to establish and discover the pattern of species-area
relationships of waterbirds in the Barnegat Bay region. Many are knowledgeable of
species-area curves and the concept that as area of an island increases, the number of
species or species richness will also increase. In other words, area is directly proportional
with species richness. It is believed that this pattern seen in ecology occurs due to the
impact of habitat diversity. A larger region of area has the capacity to support a more
Photo 2. A common tern (Sterna hirundo) nest in eelgrass (Zostera)
diverse habitat; in turn this attracts a wider variety of species to inhabit the area. In
testing this theory with six very distinctive islands within a coastal ecosystem
environment (i.e. an environment that provides many vital resources for survival), it is
possible to conclude if the theory is in fact true. Species-area curves are important in the
pursuit of conservation and the prevention of loss of biodiversity. Many natural habitats
and the species that reside there are at risk for extinction. Predatory effects, natural
disasters, and human interference threaten many of the living species worldwide. By
establishing a baseline using the observations and conclusions of biodiversity from this
study and similar studies, conservational attempts can be mapped out and put into effect.
As Desmet & Cowling (2004) state, conservation targets are an integral part of presentday conservation planning, implementation, and monitoring. It is possible to utilize
species-area relationships to set conservation targets for different land classes. The ability
to predict the rate of extinction is also something that the SAR has provided researchers.
By reversing the SAR, and inferring backwards from area, to calculate expected species
9
�loss based on habitat deterioration, the extinction rate can be estimated (Fangliang &
Hubbel, 2013).
III. Materials and Methods
Field Research
During the summer of 2013, beginning prior to the start of the breeding season
during the middle of May and continuing until mid-late August, six islands located in
Barnegat Bay, New Jersey were visited multiple times to compare island size and habitat
diversity with the number of nesting waterbird species. Accessibility to the field sites was
accomplished using a small 2-3 person motorized boat.
Of the equipment used at the field sites, a hard hat was included and used for
protection against aggressive nesting birds occupying the island. Rain boots were
necessary as a precaution against the unpredictable weather and terrain of the islands.
During the exploration of the island, the habitat type was recorded along with any
observed waterbird nesting species using a Rite-in-the-Rain® notebook. In order to
identify a waterbird species, binoculars were used for larger areas of land where species
were farther away. However, for many of the species identified, visual enhancement was
not necessary. In these scenarios, nests were present containing eggs or young, and were
discovered in the grass. The egg sizes and colors were indicative of the species of birds
that laid them. Additionally, species occupying the nest were frequently identified when
an adult bird would fly up and away from the nest site.
Study Sites
Barnegat Bay is a small area located between the main coastline and the barrier
islands of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. Approximately 50 kilometers
in length, the barrier islands separate the bay from the Atlantic Ocean, protect the main
coastline from damaging weather conditions such as storms and hurricanes that may
emerge from the ocean, and create several different habitat types that are ideal for various
species. Generally, barrier islands form a long chain of offshore islands, separated from
one another by tidal inlets that allow sediments and tidal mixing with the open ocean to
form brackish water. The Barnegat Bay estuary, a tidal inlet of the sea where fresh water
and ocean water meet through open connections to the sea, is consisted of a large number
of various habitat types such as sandy beaches and salt marshes that support a variety of
wild life including migratory birds, threatened and endangered species, and several
species of fish and shellfish.
10
�The six islands that were explored include Pettit Island, Little Sedge Island,
Little Mike’s Island, Ortley Cove (Unknown) Island, Surf City (Unknown) Island, and
Cedar Bonnet Island East. The most northern island that was frequented most often was
Little Sedge Island (39º 58’N, 74º 04’W) located in Great Swan Bay, Lavallette, NJ. The
island itself adjoins another island with very similar habitat and area size. However, there
is a distinct separation between the two bodies of land. It is assumed that rising sea levels
and floods could have washed a portion of the low lying island (elevated 1 to 2 ft.) area
out leaving a distinct channel that separates the island. Therefore, the island was
considered as two land masses (Little Sedge Island North and Little Sedge Island South).
Little Mike’s Island (39º 57’N, 74º 05’W), a smaller island in northern Barnegat
Bay, New Jersey is a low salt marsh island populated predominantly with S. alterniflora,
with about 10 % S. patens. This island is located approximately 45 m from a nearby
barrier island and 60 m from Mike’s Island. In the early 1990’s, Little Mike’s Island had
contained one of the largest nesting colonies of Common Terns in Barnegat Bay with a
range of 200-500 pairs (Burger, 1998). However, in recent years the amount of active
nests that survive throughout the season has reduced to meager numbers.
Pettit Island (39º 40’N, 74º 10’W) is a smaller island at an elevation of 2 ft. and
an area of approximately 0.35 hectares covered predominantly in S. alterniflora located
in Manahawkin Bay. Many studies have taken place here over the past 40 years by
scientists Burger, Gochfeld, and Palestis, who have analyzed the behavior and nesting
patterns of common terns and other colonial nesting waterbirds. For the past few decades,
it is known that Pettit Island has been the site of a common tern colony. The total number
of common tern nests on the island often varies from approximately over 110 to 210
nests. (Palestis, 2009). Nevertheless, recent years have produced poor reproductive
success for terns with many abandoned or washed out nests.
The island referred to as Cedar Bonnet East Island (39º 39’N, 74º 11’W) is
located not far from Pettit Island in the Manahawkin Bay of Ocean City, NJ near the
Long Beach Island (LBI) Causeway area. This island along with the Unknown Island in
Surf City (39º 39’N, 74º 10’W) and the Ortley Cove (Unknown) Island (39º 57’N, 74º
04’W) are located very close to residential human populated areas. For example, Cedar
Bonnet is located very close to Rt. 72 West, while the Surf City (Unknown) Island is
located approximately 70 m from the residential area located on the nearby barrier island.
Ortley Cove is the closest to the adjacent barrier island located with the nearest part of the
island a mere 10 feet from the barrier island.
11
�Once data was obtained regarding the species richness and habitat diversity of
each island, the area of each island was calculated using Google Earth™ software. The
measurements of each island in meters were taken using the Ruler tool provided by
Google Earth. Once the approximate length and width of the island were noted, the area
was computed and the resulting number indicated the island area in square meters. For
the necessary study, the area in meters squared was then converted into hectares. A
hectare is a unit of area equal to 10,000 square meters. Keeping the conversion factor of 1
square meter is equal to 0.001 hectare in mind, the area in hectares was calculated simply
by dividing the m2 value by 10,000.
Bird Banding
Throughout the course of this study, a simultaneous study implemented by Dr.
Brian Palestis was taking place that analyzed the migration and nesting preferences of
common terns within Barnegat Bay. The study objective has been to trap, band, and spot
previously banded common terns in order to understand the population dynamics
exhibited by the common tern. The execution of this ongoing, annual study has
continuously been accomplished by arranging multiple metal wire traps on top of active
nests that permit the tern to walk into the ensnarement, but make it difficult to escape.
The traps are built so that the terns are not harmed. After vacating the island and allowing
a sufficient amount of time for the terns to calm, settle, repopulate the island and their
nests once again, and potentially enter the traps that have been set up, reentry of the
island to evaluate the traps is executed. If the terns are successfully caught in the traps,
the birds are carefully removed from the cages and placed in small drawstring bags to
calm them and prevent them from escaping during the banding procedure. Once the short
banding procedure is completed that again does not harm the bird or hinder flight, the
tern is released. The method does not cause abandonment of the nest.
Trapping and banding has progressed in 2012 to additional islands and the use of
color bands for Dr. Palestis. The adults that are captured receive a metal band that reads a
serial number and a combination of five celluloid colored bands that allow him to identify
birds from a location farther away than normal and determine the nesting choices of the
adult bird i.e. whether they have chosen to disperse to another island or return to the same
island. The newborn terns that are unable to retreat when humans or predators approach,
often attempt to hide in areas close to the nest that provide shade and camouflage. If young
are found, these birds are also carefully banded. However, the chicks are only banded with
a single metal band rather than with both metal and celluloid color bands.
12
�In addition to trapping and banding, a record was kept of the number of nests present
on each island. To track the initial number of nests and their progress throughout the season,
wooden craft sticks are often placed to mark the start of a nest and to recognize nests that were
marked during previous visitations. For islands with thicker and more compact substrates,
numbered ceramic tiles instead of wooden craft sticks were used. This also aided in the
resistance to removal of the marker via flooding of the island. The study allows the
observations and analysis of resulting behavioral and nesting patterns of the terns.
IV. Results
Observation of Waterbird Species
Over the course of about fourteen weeks, approximately eighteen total different
nesting waterbird species were identified in Barnegat Bay, NJ. The species of waterbird
that was surveyed the most was the Common tern (Sterna hirundo). This species chose to
nest on almost every island. The willet also chose to nest on many of the islands that were
explored. However, when recognized, there were few nests totaling one or two nests on
each island where they were located. On the other hand, Sterna hirundo typically
occupied multiple nests on the islands they populated, sometimes having over one
hundred nests on some islands such as Little Sedge Island (North).
Table 1. List of Nesting Waterbird Species
13
�On the smaller islands, there were fewer nests observed for species other than
the tern nests. For example, mallard duck, oystercatcher, killdeer, swan, and clapper rail
often had one or two nests per island, with the exception of Little Sedge Island. Little
Sedge Island had numerous nests of herring and black backed gulls as well as tern nests
and multiple additional species, totaling 11 different species (Some species were present
on both islands). Little Sedge Island provided the largest area as well for both sides of the
island, equaling almost 11 total hectares. Separately, Little Sedge Island still granted the
largest territory for nesting at 4.95 ha (Little Sedge Island North) with 7 observed
different species (Table 2) including common tern, willet, oystercatcher, osprey, great
black backed gull, herring gull and green heron, nesting on the island, and 5.95 (Little
Sedge Island South) with 10 different nesting species including four herons (tricolor
heron, little blue heron, great egret, and snowy egret), two gulls (herring gull and great
black backed gull), osprey, glossy ibis, yellow crown night heron, and black crown night
heron.
Table 2. List of Islands Where Nesting Observed
Island Name
Area
Little Sedge Island North
Little Sedge Island South
Ortley Cove Island
Pettit Island
Cedar Bonnet Island East
Surf City Island
Little Mike's Island
550 x 90
350 x 170
170 x 30
70 x 50
240 x 45
10 x 10
180 x 50
Sq. meters Area (ha)
49500
59500
5100
3500
10800
100
9000
4.95
5.95
0.51
0.35
1.08
0.01
0.9
# of Habitat Types
3
3
2
1
2
1
2
# of Species
7
10
2
3
5
1
3
Cedar Bonnet Island (East) was the next largest island with an approximated
1.08 ha for nesting. A number of different species preferred to nest on this island
equaling a total number of 5 nesting species. The species that nested here included willet,
common tern, mallard duck, oystercatcher, and clapper rail. However, on Little Mike’s
Island, a 0.9 ha island and Pettit Island, a 0.35 ha island both possessed 3 different
nesting species. Pettit Island contained common terns, willet, and mallard duck species
while Little Mike’s population included terns, swan, and mallard duck. On the other
hand, Ortley Cove Island, a 0.51 ha island had only 2 species, despite being bigger than
Pettit Island. These species included common terns and the mallard duck. The smallest
island, Surf City Island at approximately 0.01 ha plot of land, had only one visible
14
�nesting species of killdeer. Although other species were present on this island and a few
other islands during the time spent there, these visible species often showed no signs of
nesting. It was predicted that these non-nesting species were just flying low near the
island and/or searching for food on the island.
Species-Area Curve
Overall, the curve that was produced, (Graph 1) followed the normal
expectations for a species-area curve. A linear trend line was produced depicting that the
number of species nesting on an island is directly related to island size. The increase in
number of species was seen in islands that were much larger in area size. With the
exception of Pettit Island and Cedar Bonnet Island (East) where a smaller number of
species nested on the larger island, it is possible that nesting species were missed in the
observation process. It is also possible that the island of Cedar Bonnet was not an ideal
nesting ground. Ultimately, the larger area of the island influenced the species richness
by increasing it.
Graph 1. Species-Area Curve
15
�Habitat Diversity vs. Species Richness
As expected, it was also recognized that the larger islands also supported a
richer habitat. The two largest islands of Little Sedge supported three different diverse
habitats of different vegetation. The habitats included sandy beach, spartina cordgrass,
and woody areas that supplied shrubs and small trees. The medium sized islands Cedar
Bonnet, Ortley Cove, and Little Mike’s both supported two types of habitats. Typically
these islands contributed either S. alterniflora or S. patens cordgrass as well as woody
areas for nesting. Furthermore, the smaller islands of Pettit Island and Surf City Island
only contained one habitat type of spartina cordgrass.
The rich habitat on the larger islands supported a copious amount of species.
This is largely due to the fact that current types of vegetations on the islands catered to
certain preferences that the different species nesting there possess. For example, osprey
perches present on Little Sedge Island supported the presence of a higher nesting
structure for the ospreys. Likewise, the diverse vegetation present on Little Sedge Island
included bushes and trees for species that are more inclined to nest in hidden areas where
they are not usually visible. For instance, this diverse habitat supported a wide variety of
birds such as the herons that were seen nesting there.
Graph 2. Habitat Diversity Curve
16
�V. Discussion
Analysis of Data
As hypothesized, the number of species inhabiting a specific area (species
richness) directly correlated with island size/area. In addition, the effects of habitat
heterogeneity upon species richness among Barnegat Bay islands correlated with one
another as predicted. Within small isolated sample of islands located in the Barnegat Bay
area of Ocean City, NJ, approximately eighteen species of colonial nesting waterbirds
were observed during the summer breeding months. This is fitting considering that
Barnegat Bay supports some of the largest and most diverse breeding colonies of birds
along the Atlantic coastline. In 2001, Burger estimated that 20 species of colonial
waterbirds nest in the Barnegat Bay and Little Egg Harbor area. The species included
were ten different species of herons, three species of gulls, six species of terns, and black
skimmers. Excluding a few rare species amongst the description, the waterbird species
observed in this study vary from the index given by Burger, allowing the conclusion that
changes have occurred over the past decade that have altered island conditions resulting
in a loss or modification of biodiversity.
Chances for Errors/Inaccuracies
It is largely possible that insufficient exploration of the islands increased the
chances for inaccurate and unreliable data. For example, during the walk through of each
island examined, nests may have been overlooked or remained unseen within the tall
grass that camouflaged nests. It is also highly possible that incorrect identification of the
nests occurred. One could argue that observation of species flying very close to the
islands, and what was speculated as adult parent waterbirds flying up from a nest could
be mistaken for what is simply a search for food or resources.
When approaching the island and ultimately advancing onto the island, many of
the species nesting there become visibly agitated. Most abandon the island and their nests
upon it in fear, attempting to seek immunity in areas that humans cannot attain contact
with the birds such as the air or the waters surrounding the island. Many of the species
remain in the area surrounding the island, squawking angrily and swooping down,
striving to attack or scare predators away. This behavior pursues in protecting the
constructed nests and potential young within. However, from experience, some species
did not flee. Instead, they remained hidden in the grass either on top of or in close
proximity to the nests they have assembled. Only when a human ventured too close for
comfort to these birds and their nests, did they fly up and away. Therefore, it is possible
that some nests remained undiscovered as they were hidden well within the cordgrass.
17
�Furthermore, it is possible that by not completing a thorough inspection of the larger
islands such as Little Sedge Island, species that were nesting there remained unnoticed
during the survey of the island.
Species-Area Relationships and Conservation Efforts
Although the islands have remained the same with typically the same habitat and
area size over the passing decades, it is possible that significant changes in regards to the
conditions within the Barnegat Bay area have influenced the changes seen amongst the
different waterbird species and the success of these species over the course of the last
twelve years . Typically, colonially-nesting species attempt to reduce predator
interactions including human interactions by nesting on remote islands. However,
according to Burger (1998), there has been a significant increase in the population of
residents among the Barnegat Bay area as well as a great increase in the number and use
of personal water crafts or PWC’s (e.g. jet skis, motor boats, and waverunners) in more
recent years. Also, as stated by Navedo & Herrera (2012), increases in human population
density close to estuaries as well as an increase in human activity have resulted in a
number of adverse effects upon the coastal wetlands which includes, but is not limited to
an approximate 30% loss. Similarly, with humans so close in proximity to colonialnesting waterbirds, the chance for interaction has increased tremendously.
Along with the threat of predation and interactions with humans, waterbird
populations are constantly threatened by continuous habitat loss, predatory introduction,
colony site displacement, and decrease in resource availability amongst other threats such
as rising sea levels and constant climate changes (Palestis, 2014). All of these factors play
a role in the loss of biodiversity of not only the Barnegat Bay islands, but other habitats
and ecosystems around the globe as well. Many waterbird species are threatened and
endangered at the current time. For example, most species of terns are currently present
on conservation lists in specific nations, states, and provinces along the Atlantic coast
(Palestis, 2014). Efforts of conservation are very much needed in specific areas or
adverse effects of decreasing biodiversity will negatively influence the adjacent and
surrounding ecosystems.
As stated earlier, species-area relationships can be applied to conservation
efforts and aid in determining species richness, predicting species extinction rates, and
estimating appropriate sizes of areas requiring protection. While the islands chosen for
observation and analysis followed expected species-area patterns, it is clear that over the
past few decades, there has been a severe decline in the number of waterbird species that
18
�choose to nest in Barnegat Bay and their overall reproductive success on these islands.
One can assume the declines in waterbird species are caused by natural occurrences such
as flooding, and rising sea levels as well as the increase in movement of human
populations, increase in human interaction, and general disturbances of humans and other
species. However, it is clear that the conservation efforts and commonly practiced
techniques are desperately needed for colonial waterbirds nesting in Barnegat Bay, New
Jersey.
VI. Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my advisor
Dr. Brian Palestis for without, this research paper could not have been possible. Thanks is
also given to Dr. Brian Palestis for the continuous support, feedback, and assistance
throughout the course of this study. It is also important to me to thank the additional
member of my senior thesis committee Professor Linda Raths, as well as my Senior
Thesis class instructor Dr. Donald Stearns who encouraged the clear, concise, and
thorough construction of this thesis. Appreciation is also expressed to Wagner College
and the Department of Biological Sciences for the use of their facilities and laboratories
as well as their Undergraduate Senior Research funds (provided by alumni donations) for
without this research would not have been possible. In addition, I express gratitude
towards the Waterbird Society for the previous research and information provided. I
would also like to acknowledge the Information Technology Help Desk and the student
workers and the staff members for their advice and recommendations. Gratitude is
expressed towards the proofreaders and readers of the paper. These participants include
but are not limited to Kari Payton, Enri Citozi, Daniel Cimilluca, Marisa Carmello. I
would also like to thank all the supporters, fellow senior learning committee students,
friends, and family who all assisted in the development and progression of this research
paper.
VII. References
Allen, A.P., and White, E.P. (2003).Effects of range size on species-area
relationships.Evolutionary Ecology Research. 5: 492-499.
Burger, J. (1977). Nesting behavior of herring gulls: Invasion into Spartina salt marsh
areas of new jersey. Condor, 79: 162-169.
19
�Burger, J. (1979). Breeding behavior and success in salt marsh common tern colonies.
Bird Banding, 50 (4): 322-337.
Burger, J. (1998). Effects of motorboats and personal watercraft on flight behavior over
a colony of common terns. Condor, 100, 528-534.
Burger, J., C.D. Jenkins, Jr., F. Lesser, and M. Gochfeld. (2001). Status and trends of
colonially-nesting birds in Barnegat Bay. Journal of Coastal Research SI (32): 197-211.
Connor, E. F., & McCoy, E. D. (2001).Species–Area Relationships.Encyclopedia Of
Biodiversity, Five-Volume Set, 397-411
Desmet, P. & Cowling R. (2004). Using the species–area relationship to set baseline
targets for conservation. Ecology and Society, 9(2): 11.
Fangliang, H. & Hubbell, S. (2013). Estimating extinction from species–area
relationships: why the numbers do not add up. Ecology 94:1905–1912.
González-Gajardo, A., Sepúlveda, P., &Schlatter, R. (2009).Waterbird assemblages
and habitat characteristics in wetlands: Influence of temporal variability on species
habitat relationships. Waterbirds, 32(2), 225-233.
Guadagnin, D., Maltchik, L., & Fonseca, C. (2009). Species–area relationship of
Neotropical waterbird assemblages in remnant wetlands: looking at the mechanisms.
Diversity &Distributions, 15(2), 319-327.
Hart, D.D. & Horowitz, R.J. (1991). Habitat diversity and the species-area relationship:
alternative models and tests. Habitat Structure. The Physical Arrangement of Objects in
Space (eds S.S. Bell, E.D. McCoy & H.R. Mushinsky), pp. 47-68. Chapman & Hall,
London.
Kallimanis, A. S., Mazaris, A. D., Tzanopoulos, J., Halley, J. M., Pantis, J. D., &
Sgardelis, S. P. (2008). How does habitat diversity affect the species–area relationship?.
Global Ecology & Biogeography, 17(4), 532-538.
Kolasa, J. J., Manne, L. L., &Pandit, S. S. (2012). Species-area relationships arise from
interaction of habitat heterogeneity and species pool. Hydrobiologia, 685(1), 135-144.
20
�Navedo, J. G., & Herrera, A.G. (2012). Effects Of recreational disturbance on tidal
wetlands: supporting the importance of undisturbed roosting sites for waterbird conservation.
Journal of Coastal Conservation, 16: 373–381.
Palestis, B.G. (2009). Use of artificial eelgrass mats by saltmarsh-nesting Common Terns
(Sterna hirundo).In Vivo, 30(3): 11-16.
Palestis, B.G. (2014). The role of behavior in tern conservation. Current Zoology
60:500-514.
Ricklefs, R.E., and Lovette, I.J. (1999). The roles of island area per se and habitat
diversity in the species-area relationships of four Lesser Antillean faunal groups. Journal
of Animal Ecology, 68, 1142-1160.
Simberloff, D.S. (1976). Experimental zoogeography of islands: effects of island size.
Ecology, 57, 629-648.
21
�22
���America Needs to Make a SNAPy Comeback:
An Empirical Humanitarian Study Arguing in Favor of the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Justin S.E. Bulova (Government & Politics)1
The United States federal government is doing more harm than good by cutting funding
for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Official Journal of the
American Academy of Pediatrics provides a background on the effects of SNAP and food
security in the United States. Data from the United States Census Bureau suggests that
SNAP reduces the number of households with children living in extreme poverty and is
therefore effective in reaching its objectives. Economic research by Moody’s suggests
that the SNAP can provide long term stimulus and could potentially improve
unemployment rates. The American government has a responsibility to assist the
underprivileged citizens of the country, making sure they are well equipped to fulfill their
basic needs. This paper will address the positive aspects of the SNAP and explain how
the program is conclusively protecting the citizens of the United States. Continued
funding of the program is necessary because the SNAP program has the ability to assist
the underprivileged public in remaining food secure, reduce extreme poverty in the
country, and boost economic growth in the long term.
I. Introduction
In 1939, the food stamp program distributed benefits to its first participants. The
program was established in order to provide food purchasing assistance to the
underprivileged. Rather than assist low-income households with cash, the government
was able to control how the funds were being spent and help families put food on the
table. In the 1970’s, with leadership from congresswoman Shirley Chisolm, the food
stamp program underwent radical legislative changes and became more accessible across
more states in the United States. In the late 1990’s, the food stamp program transitioned
from paper stamps that were redeemable at local grocery stores, to electronic bank
transfer cards which could be swiped like a credit card at any authorized retailor. In 2008,
Research performed under the direction of Dr. Abe Unger in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
1
23
�the program was renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP
(USDA – SNAP History, 2014).
In 2014, the United States federal government passed legislation to cut funding
to the SNAP by five billion dollars in just one year. Research suggests that further
reduction in benefits for SNAP will result in economic stagnation and an increase in
poverty. The cut in funding also indicates the government’s failure to adequately protect
the citizens of the United States. For these reasons, it is imperative that the American
public does not allow further funds to be cut from the SNAP.
In 2013, the federal government paid a total of $76.1 billion in SNAP benefits
(Resnikoff, 2014). The five billion dollar decrease in 2015 will negatively affect the
recipients of the SNAP benefits. Although some state governments have chosen to
subsidize the decrease in benefits, it is important for the federal government to be aware
of the dangers involved in making further cuts.
Food Security
Nearly fifteen percent of households were food insecure during the financial
crisis of 2008 (FRAC, 2014). The Urban Institute conducted a research study evaluating
how much SNAP reduced food insecurity at that time. “The receipt of SNAP benefits is
found to reduce the likelihood of food insecurity by 16.2 percentage points” amongst the
low income sample used in their study (Ratcliffe, 2014, 13). This information strongly
suggests that SNAP has had a substantial affect on the households’ food insecurity.
Thusly, in the past the program has proven to be successful.
Poverty
Although not commonly acknowledged, poverty is a massive concern in the
United States of America. SNAP is a program which indirectly attacks the unspoken
crisis in America by providing food stamps in the hands of those most in need. While
nearly 16% of the U.S. population had income below the poverty level, only about 15%
of Americans took advantage of the social program (US Census Bureau, 2014).
Long-Term Economic Stimulus
Economic research suggests that SNAP can provide long term stimulus. Every
dollar in SNAP benefits goes on to generate nearly double that in economic activity.
According to a study by economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s, “increasing food stamp
payments by $1 boosts GDP by $1.73. People who receive these benefits are very hard-
24
�pressed and will spend any financial aid they receive within a few weeks” (Zandi, 2008,
4). By spending these suddenly available resources, the underprivileged have the
opportunity to become consumers. It is likely that those receiving these benefits will pay
off debts or purchase school supplies, which they were previously unable to afford. This
creates a ripple effect in the economy resulting in increased revenue in all industries. The
greatest beneficiaries of this plan however, are the small grocery store owners (who
accept food stamps) and the farmers from whom the store owners purchase their produce
from. Not only does SNAP put food on the table of those struggling to make ends meet,
but the program also directly puts money into the hands of small business owners and
farmers.
Long-Term Employment
An individual earning minimum wage may make enough money in a work day
to pay for rent and utilities, but struggle to put food on the table. This individual would
have to work overtime whenever available to afford the cost of living for themselves and
their family. With the assistance of food stamps, participants of the SNAP may find
themselves not feeling overwhelmed to put food on the table and have free time to train
or educate themselves. If SNAP can continue to stress education in conjunction with food
nutrition as part of its multi-pronged approach, beneficiaries may be more inclined to use
this time to further develop their career training. This would motivate the participants to
obtain fruitful and meaningful careers with their education and training. It is likely that
SNAP participants who make good use of their time, are less likely to require additional
benefits in the future.
Morality
As of March 2014, roughly one in every seven people living in the United States
received benefits from the SNAP (Hunger Coalition, 2014). Although participants did not
have a nutritious meal every day, food insecurity has not increased, even during times of
financial crisis. Taking into consideration the international hunger crisis, the United
States has been consistently viewed as a leader in the coalition against hunger. This data,
which is readily available across a number of platforms, raises the question of morality.
Although America currently faces a massive debt crisis, it would be truly disappointing if
the US government overlooked the most fundamental needs of its underprivileged
citizens (Hunger Coalition, 2014).
25
�With the current state of the American economy, the national deficit being a
massive concern, government officials are looking to make budget cuts anywhere
possible. Many might argue that while the SNAP has noble intentions, the program is
serving as less of a safety net to the American public and more as a form of additional
income. Others may object to the program, wondering whether the benefits are actually
going to those that are really in need. Another negative view of the program stems from
the many international charities that have recently been exposed as having massive
overhead and administration costs (Ellis, 2013). Finally, the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program was intended to improve the obesity problem amongst America’s
underprivileged, yet obesity remains a massive concern amongst the nation’s youth.
Objection #1 – Fraud and Trafficking
Cases of fraud are a genuine concern for the SNAP. Many cases have been
reported of beneficiaries ‘trafficking’ their benefits. ‘Trafficking,’ in this context, refers
to beneficiaries taking their food stamp electronic benefits card to small grocery stores,
where the owner is a willing participant in this scam, and receiving cash instead of goods.
The electronic benefits transfers (or EBT) can be swiped just like a credit or debit card at
any authorized food stamp retailer. The owners of these small grocery stores may charge
the beneficiary one hundred dollars on their EBT, and then hand the beneficiary sixty
dollars in cash which they can then use as they please (Mantovani, 2013). Unfortunately,
it is assumed that most of these cases of trafficking are directly funding the unhealthy
habits of these less-than-honest beneficiaries.
However, since the transition of food stamps from paper checks to EBTs in the
1990’s, cases of fraud have fallen significantly. According to Government Information
Quarterly, published by Elsevier, the EBTs “also give the government more control over
how they (and the applicants’ data) are used (Mantovani, 2013).” Some states employ
sophisticated data-mining to identify fraud patterns,” (Wilson, 2014). Those objecting to
the program must recognize that the SNAP trafficking has fallen. Studies suggest that
only about 1.3% of all benefits are being trafficked (Mantovani, 2013).
Objection #2 – Cost of Administration and Implementation
Individuals that believe the SNAP is ineffective discuss the high cost of
administration as another low point of the program. Since SNAP is a social program,
which in its very ideology is concerned with the welfare of the underprivileged, many
observers associate the program with charity. These individuals may view the program as
26
�a handout rather than as an economic tool which functions to benefit the participants and
the economy. Most importantly, those not benefiting from the program are concerned
with its implementation and administration costs. It is not uncommon to discover that a
major charitable organization spends nearly fifty cents of every dollar contributed on
overhead costs and massive salaries for the organization’s staff (Ellis, 2013). Those
opposed to SNAP will point to such data and suggest that the same is happening with
their tax dollars.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the federal share of
state administration and other federal administrative costs amounts to five percent of all
federal dollars spent on SNAP. Therefore, about 95% of all federal dollars spent on the
program goes directly to benefits.
Objection #3 – Health and Nutrition Failure
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was additionally intended to
improve the health conditions amongst underprivileged Americans. There is no concrete
evidence to suggest that it has succeeded in this objective. Observers who object to the
SNAP program may do so on the basis that it has actually made no effect on the medical
welfare of its beneficiaries. These individuals may also argue that the EBT card has made
it easier for beneficiaries to purchase and consume sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)
which leads to increased rates of diabetes and heart disease.
While there is no data suggesting that SNAP assists participants to make
healthier food choices, there is data to support the increase in food security among
participants. Individuals that object to the SNAP, on the grounds that it does not promote
a healthy lifestyle, believe the program should focus more on nutrition and promote
healthy choices. This is an excellent opportunity to increase funding in the program and
improve beneficiary nutrition education. If SNAP made a point to send out a monthly
newsletter to all participants, which includes not only the dangers of making unhealthy
choices, but also how to stretch the participant’s benefit dollars further, the program
could make an even greater difference in people’s lives.
II. Literature Review
Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, published
“Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation and Child Food Security” in
March of 2014. The American Academy of Pediatrics provides a background on the issue
of food security in America. In this study, the authors James Mabli and Julie Worthington
27
�discuss the correlation between SNAP and children’s food security. Using funding from
the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the study was able to survey nearly 3,000
households. “The data came from the SNAP Food Security (SNAPFS) survey, which was
conducted by the Mathematica Policy Research for the US Department of Agriculture
Food and Nutrition Service from 2011 to 2012”, (Mabli, 2014). The survey determined
that out of all the individuals applying for SNAP, more than one third of those individuals
were food insecure. Having low food security, as defined by the USDA, means that the
household reduces the quality of their diet, while occasionally skipping or cutting the size
of a meal due to financial concern. The study found that the program completely
eliminated food insecurity in one of every ten households enrolled in SNAP, while also
cutting households with very low food security nearly in half.
In March of 2010, the Urban Institute published “How Much Does SNAP
Reduce Food Insecurity?” The authors, Caroline Ratcliffe and Signe-Mary McKernan,
sought out to prove that SNAP is meeting its key goal of reducing food-related hardship.
Implementing data from 1996 though 2004, provided by the Survey of Income and
Program Participation (SIPP), their research measures the effectiveness of SNAP in
reducing food insecurity using an endogenous variable model. Their findings show that
“households that do and do not participate in the SNAP show higher rates of food
insecurity among SNAP-recipient households… The percentage of households that are
very food insecure is higher among SNAP-participating than SNAP-nonparticipating
households,” (Ratcliffe, 2010, 13). An issue the SNAP needs to address is the households
that are most likely to suffer from food insecurity, but are not receiving the benefits. In
Ratcliffe and McKernan’s endogenous variable model, “SNAP receipt shows that SNAP
participation is associated with increased food insecurity, while the model that does
control for indigeneity shows that SNAP participation reduces food insecurity,”
(Ratcliffe, 2010, 13).
The National Poverty Center published a policy brief in February of 2012 titled
“Extreme Poverty in the United States, 1996 to 2011.” In this policy brief, the poverty
center seeks to examine the effects of the Great Recession of 2008-09 on the poverty rate
in the United States. The poverty center defines extreme poverty in a household “if they
report $2 or less per person, per day in total household income in a given month,”
(Shaefer, 2012, 2). The policy brief goes on to explain that the number of total
households living in extreme poverty has more than doubled from 1996 to 2011.
However, suppose we were to include food stamps, or SNAP, as income, then the number
of households living in extreme poverty is significantly lower. The National Poverty
28
�Center concludes that “counting SNAP benefits as income reduces – but does not
eliminate – this rise in extreme poverty,” (Shaefer, 2012, 2).
Economy.com, a subsidiary of Moody’s, published “Assessing the Macro
Economic Impact of Fiscal Stimulus” in January of 2008. Mark Zandi, a well-recognized
economist, reviews the macroeconomic impact of the stimulus put in place following the
Great Recession. Included in this stimulus was the immediate and temporary extension of
unemployment insurance and increase in government funding for food stamps. Zandi
explores this decision and proclaims that “extending UI [Unemployment Insurance] and
expanding food stamps are the most effective ways to prime the economy’s pump,”
(Zandi, 2008, 4). Zandi goes on to explain that households receiving such benefits are
finding it incredibly difficult to make ends meet, therefore they will spend any additional
income almost immediately. Since these programs are already in place, implementing the
increase in benefits will not take very long. This will in turn provide a direct cash flow
back into the local economy.
The United States Department of Agriculture published “The Extent of
Trafficking in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: 2009-2011.” One of the
most prominent objections to SNAP is that there is a great deal of fraud going on at the
local level. While some beneficiaries of the program may be lying about their income,
others may be trading their food stamps for a smaller value in cash. USDA sought out to
identify these cases of fraud, examining trafficking from 2009 to 2011, and reviewing
recent trends. This study implements data from SNAP administration, any investigations
conducted by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), and data from the Anti-Fraud
Locator using the EBT Retailer Transactions (ALERT) system. USDA was able to
determine that although one of every ten retailers engage in some fraud, only about one
dollar out of every hundred distributed in benefits is actually trafficked. Translated into a
dollar figure, the number is hardly negligible. However, while the amount of benefits
trafficked supports public opposition to the program, the percentage of benefits trafficked
proves that this fraud is not all that common among SNAP participants.
Government Information Quarterly published “Implementation Issues for
Programs for Low-Income People” in January of 2014. While this study, written by
Susan Copeland Wilson, focuses on the various application methods for federal aid
programs, the author also touches on fraud within SNAP, and the effects of education on
poverty in general. In the 1990’s, as the food stamp program was evolving into SNAP,
the federal government rolled out nationally standardized Electronic Benefit Transfers
(EBTs) which functioned like debit cards at all SNAP participating retailers. In its
29
�implementation, “EBTs have helped reduce the stigma of receiving assistance, thus
increasing participation. They also give the government more control over how they (and
the applicants’ data) are used. Some states employ sophisticated data-mining to identify
fraud patterns,” (Wilson, 2014, 45). The growth of the EBT program has allowed the
SNAP to reach more needy people than ever, while monitoring the usage of their benefits
for potential trafficking.
Medical Decision Making published “Nutritional Policy Changes in the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: A Microsimulation and Cost-Effectiveness
Analysis” in June of 2013. As the food stamp program evolved into SNAP, the program
adopted a new name along with a new set of goals. In addition to improving food
security, as Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm set out to do in the 1970’s, SNAP is now
more broadly focused to assist with the overall welfare of the American public. Medical
Decision Making, led by author Dr. Sanjay Basu, sought out to determine if policy
changes to the SNAP program could improve the overall health of its participants. Their
micro-simulation used 6 policy variables to determine the most cost-effective and
nutritious policy reform possible. They determined that taxing Sugar Sweetened
Beverages, in supplement to current SNAP, resulted in the most cost-effective, food
secure, healthy sample population. Additionally, they concluded, “increasing SNAP
benefits overall may improve food security if SNAP participants were to engage in
purchasing decisions similar to non-SNAP participants,” (Basu, 2013, 946). This raises
the issue of education. Is SNAP unsuccessful in reducing food security and improving
health? Or do SNAP beneficiaries shoulder part of the blame for SNAP’s ineffectiveness
in supplementing their nutrition?
III. Methodology
The data following, drawn from various academic journals and government
funded surveys, will serve to substantiate the claims introduced previously. The
humanitarian question of whether or not we should cut funding for SNAP will be
answered using an empirical conclusion. The data will serve to address the issue of food
security in America and answer the question of what the US federal government can do
about it. In addition, this paper will also discuss the depth of extreme poverty and provide
evidence of SNAP’s positive effect on poverty. The data will support the proposition that
SNAP can lead to long term economic stimulus.
In addition, the data below will address each of the objections introduced by
conscientious objectors to SNAP. The data will serve to address the issue of corruption
30
�and fraud within the program. In response to those opposed to SNAP, on the grounds that
the funding isn’t being used properly, or isn’t distributed properly, the data will
substantiate the contrary.
Government officials are cutting funding of SNAP, a life-saving social program,
with little consideration as to the negative effects on the citizens. Disregarding the
welfare of the general public, cutting funding to SNAP is directly and indirectly
impacting the United States economy. The data below will function to enlighten those
inclined to cut government funding for SNAP further, and encourage them to look
elsewhere when curtailing government spending.
IV. Data
General data on SNAP is provided by the United States Department of
Agriculture. The latest data, available from 2012, outlines that households are eligible for
SNAP so long as their monthly gross income does not exceed 130% of the poverty line.
SNAP has 47 million beneficiaries nationwide, or 15.1% of the general population. In
2014, the Journal of Extension provided statistics on education characteristics of SNAP
participants. They found that out of all beneficiaries, 35% had not completed high school
and 35% discontinued their education at the conclusion of high school. In addition, 8%
completed a technical school, 19% had some college experience, and only 3% had a
bachelor’s degree or graduate work.
Studies on food security in the United States have been conducted by the Urban
Institute and the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2010, the Urban Institute concluded
that 24.4% of low-income households are food insecure. 10.3% are considered very
insecure. While 35.6% of SNAP beneficiaries are food insecure, 19.9% of SNAPnonparticipants are food insecure. The receipt of SNAP benefits is found to reduce the
likelihood of food insecurity by 16.2%. SNAP recipients’ food insecurity would be
16.2% higher (51.8%) if SNAP benefits were not available. The decrease in the
likelihood of food insecurity from 0.518 without SNAP to 0.356 with the program
suggests that SNAP receipt reduces food insecurity by 31.2%.
In the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (2011), the
academy concluded that one in five households with children was food insecure. One in
eight households without children was food insecure. Children were food insecure in
10% of households. 37.2% of new SNAP beneficiaries with children were food insecure.
Six months following enrollment, that number dropped to 27.1%. Enrollment in SNAP
reduced food insecurity by 10%.
31
�The United States Census Bureau published poverty statistics from 2013. 48.8
million people or 15.8% of the American population, had income below the poverty
level. From 2008 through 2012, the poverty rate increased each year. In 2013, 20.6% of
Americans had an income below 125% of the poverty threshold.
The National Poverty Center (NPC) released a policy brief addressing the
economic issues faced by Americans immediately following the recession of 2008-09.
According to the NPC, extreme poverty is defined by a household income not exceeding
$2 per person, per day. The number of households living in extreme poverty increased
from about 636,000 in 1996, to about 1.46 million households in 2011 (growth of 130%).
2.8 million children lived in households suffering from extreme poverty. Compared to the
numbers above and including SNAP benefits as income: extreme poverty rose from
475,000 in 1996, to 800,000 households in 2011 (growth of 67%).
In 2008 Moody’s economist, Mark Zandi, released a study on the economic
stimulus provided by tax cuts and spending increases. Moody’s economist determined;
the one year fiscal change in real GDP for a given fiscal dollar reduction in federal tax
revenue or increase in spending. Zandi’s research concluded that non-refundable lumpsum tax rebate produced $1.02 for each dollar and refundable lump-sum tax rebate
produced a lofty $1.26. Temporary tax cuts created a similarly impressive $1.29.
Permanent tax cuts however did not have as significant of an effect producing only 48
cents in GDP. Spending increases however provided the most significant return in GDP,
where in extending unemployment insurance benefits returned $1.64 and a temporary
increase in food stamps produced $1.73 in GDP. Furthermore, spending increases in
stimulus lowered unemployment by about 0.5%.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published statistics on fraud
and trafficking in 2014. Their findings included an annualized dollar amount of
trafficking within SNAP, by study period. In 1993 that dollar figure was $811 million,
which decreased to $660 million in 1996-1998. The annualized dollar amount of
trafficking continued to shrink to $339 million and then $241 million in 1999-2002 and
2002-2005 respectively. The dollar amount grew in 2006-2008 to $330 million and
swelled further in 2009-2011 to $858 million.
Further study by the USDA explored the rate of trafficking within SNAP by this
same study period. The rate of trafficking has generally declined since the early 1990’s.
Declining from a high rate of 3.8% in 1993, that percentage fell to 3.5% in 1996-1998
and 2.5% in 1999-2000. Starting in 2002-2005, the rate fell to 1.0% and remained there
through 2006-2008 as well. The rate rose to 1.3% in 2009-2011.
32
�Also explored in this same study, the rate of store violations by approved SNAP
retailers. This rate has floated around 10% over the course of the entire study. Beginning
in 1993 with a rate of 9.4%, the rate of store violations grew to 11.7% in 1996-1998. The
next few study periods saw some improvement to 9.3% in 1999-2002 and then 7.4% in
2002-2005. The rate was at 8.2% in 2006-2008 and in 2009-2011 returned to 10.5%.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is responsible for reviewing the costs of
administration and implementation. In a study conducted in 2014, the center found that
92% of federal SNAP spending goes directly to beneficiaries. The federal share of state
administration was reportedly 4.8%. Nutrition Assistance in territories accounted for
2.5%, support for food banks reported 0.3%, while other federal administrative costs are
0.2% of the spending. The remaining 0.1% of spending was used on food distribution
programs on Indian reservations.
Individual states reported intriguing statistics on poverty and SNAP participation.
Poverty statistics were reported by the United States Census Bureau as of 2014. SNAP
participation was reported by the Food Research and Action Center as of 2014.
In California, 16.8% of the population, or 6.3 million people, were living below the
poverty level. 11.9% of the population, or 4.4 million people, were receiving benefits
from SNAP. Since the recession of 2008-09, there has been a 55.6% increase in SNAP
participation.
In Florida, 17.0% of the population, or 3.25 million people, were living below the
poverty level. 18.9% of the population, or 3.55 million people, were receiving benefits
from SNAP. Since the recession of 2008-09, there has been a 64.6% increase in SNAP
participation.
In New York, 16.0% of the population, or 3.05 million people, were living below the
poverty level. 16.0% of the population, or 3.08 million people, were receiving benefits
from SNAP. Since the recession of 2008-09, there has been a 24.6% increase in SNAP
participation.
In Texas, 17.5% of the population, or 4.53 million people, were living below the
poverty level. 15.1% of the population, or 3.8 million people, were receiving benefits
from SNAP. Since the recession of 2008-09, there has been a 27.1% increase in SNAP
participation.
V. Findings
SNAP eligibility and participation are determined primarily by household size
and income. Using these factors, state appointed Nutrition Outreach and Education
33
�Program (NOEP) coordinators can determine whether or not a person is deserving of the
benefits. NOEP coordinators will also factor lease or rent agreements, utility bills, liquid
assets and any other form of social programs into their determination. So long as the
monthly gross income does not exceed 130% of the poverty line for the household,
applicants should be approved for participation. The most recent data available suggests
that 47 million Americans, over 15% of the population, are currently receiving SNAP
benefits.
There is a direct correlation between the level of education achieved and SNAP
participation. Seven out of every ten SNAP participants did not continue their educational
pursuits following high school. Only three percent of SNAP participants have completed
their bachelor’s degree.
Among low-income households, one of every four households is food insecure.
One of every ten such households is considered to have very low food security, meaning
that the household has been forced to skip several meals a week. The Urban Institute
conducted a research study on SNAP’s effect on food insecurity. They concluded that the
program’s assistance was able to bring three out of every ten households living with food
insecurity to a food secure state. The American Academy of Pediatrics concluded
similarly that one of every ten households with children, living with food insecurity, was
food secure after six months of SNAP participation.
According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2014 one in every five
Americans had a gross income of less than 125% of the poverty level. The National
Poverty Center confirms this information, adding that from 1996 to 2011 poverty in
America grew by 130%. Counting SNAP benefits as income, poverty in America grew at
a significantly lower rate of 67%.
Government Information Quarterly (2013), published statistics on poverty rates
by education. The study concluded that 26.7% of poverty stricken individuals had not
completed high school. 13.5% of such citizens discontinued their schooling following a
High School Diploma or GED. Meanwhile, 9.8% of those in poverty completed some
college, and only 4.2% have a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher.
Economic research conducted by Moody’s concluded that out of all the common
stimulus programs, such as tax cuts and spending increases, increases in SNAP funding
actually had the greatest effect on gross domestic product. Moody’s study concluded that
for every dollar increase in SNAP funding the almost immediate return in GDP was
$1.73. The explanation behind this is that the people receiving the benefits are in fact the
most in need. Since SNAP beneficiaries’ financial situation is one that is already
34
�stretched so thin, these are the people most naturally inclined to spend any excess money
they may have.
The USDA’s research on fraud and trafficking within the SNAP program have
concluded that the rate of such activity is relatively low amongst participants. While the
most recent annualized dollar amount of fraud and trafficking within the SNAP program
is $858 million in 2011, the actual rate of such activity in that same year was only 1.3%.
The USDA actually concluded that the most egregious fraud and trafficking was
conducted by the authorized SNAP retailers, at a rate of 10% in 2011.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concluded that 95% of federal
spending on SNAP is either going directly to the beneficiaries or is being used to deliver
benefits to remote areas and food banks. According to the center, only 5% of federal
spending is going toward federal or state administrative and implementation costs.
Analyzing poverty data from the United States Census Bureau, alongside SNAP
participation statistics provided by the Food Research and Action Center, there is a clear
subsection of the population that is not enrolled in SNAP despite being eligible. In
California, 4.9% of the population living in poverty have not enrolled in SNAP. In Texas,
2.4% of the population living in poverty have not enrolled in the program. In Florida and
New York, most of the population living in poverty is enrolled in SNAP, but since the
requirements are 130% of the poverty level there is still a great deal of the population
eligible and not enrolled.
VI. Explanation of the Findings
Food insecurity has been established as an issue in America using the data from
the Urban Institute and American Academy of Pediatrics. In the study conducted by the
academy, they were able to conclude that SNAP participation reduced food insecurity by
a significant rate. SNAP is conclusively reaching its objective, systematically improving
upon a far reaching crisis.
The United States Census Bureau confirms that roughly 20% of American
citizens are living at or below 125% of the poverty line. In correlation with the recession
of 2008-09, the number of households living in this condition has grown significantly.
Although this growth has gone stagnant since 2012, allowing this number to grow further
or standing by without making an active effort to reverse this phenomena, would be
35
�irresponsible on behalf of the US government. When SNAP benefits are calculated as
income, this poverty growth is cut in half.
According to Government Information Quarterly, there is a correlation between
education and poverty. Seven out of every ten poverty stricken individuals did not further
their education following high school. Only three out of every hundred such individuals
has a bachelor’s degree. Educated individuals are more likely to obtain, and maintain, a
career because they have a broader skill set. A college education provides students with
the very basic skills required in a professional environment.
Economic research has conclusively proven that GDP and unemployment rates
are excellent indicators of economic trends. The poverty rate has grown since the
recession of 2008-09, the American economy is still recovering. SNAP is a tool proven,
by Moody’s economists, to provide immediate long term stimulus to GDP.
Research conducted by the USDA concluded that only about one in every
hundred SNAP participants is guilty of fraud or trafficking. Advanced data mining
technology has been put in place for almost two decades now and has made a significant
impact on the cases of unjust misuse. However, the USDA’s study has brought valuable
information to light. For over two decades, one of every ten authorized SNAP retailors
has been guilty of fraud.
Research conducted by the Center of Budgets and Policy Priorities has proven
definitively that 95% of federal SNAP funding goes directly to benefiting the
participants. It would be fair to say that such a rate is highly efficient and there is very
little that could be improved upon. SNAP is effective in ensuring nearly all of their
funding reaches the participants directly.
Using data from the United State Census Bureau and the Food Resource and
Action Center, it is clear that not all eligible individuals are taking advantage of the
program. It could be that they are ashamed or dislike the program on some ideological
ground. However, it is much more likely that they simply are not aware, or are not able,
to take advantage of these benefits. Increased SNAP participation would only serve to
improve SNAP’s statistical effectiveness.
VII. Conclusion
In the seventy five years since the food stamp program’s introduction, it has
repeatedly evolved and adapted to better help low-income households and to address the
concerns of conscientious objectors. The food stamp program has been successful in
meeting its objectives. The SNAP has proven to be an effective legislation in reducing
36
�food insecurity. The program indirectly improves poverty, provides long term economic
stimulus, and is morally just in its protection of the citizens.
The SNAP has proven that it is capable in addressing issues of fraud and
corruption. It has proven innovative enough that the federal funds appropriated to SNAP
are being streamlined and used to directly assist low-income households. The program
has evolved over time to more efficiently service its beneficiaries. While the program has
been unsuccessful in improving the overall health of participants, this issue actually
stems from a lack of education. A lack of education is actually something that can be
addressed in legislation reform to the SNAP.
When reviewing the education characteristics in SNAP participants, food
insecure individuals, and low income households the data repeatedly presents the same
information. The majority of individuals that qualify for these three categories all share
one thing in common, they did not continue, or did not complete, their education posthigh school. In order to make long term improvements in food security, poverty, and
unemployment, legislation needs to directly address this issue of education.
Currently there are programs in place to help individuals understand and apply
for SNAP benefits. This program is known as the Nutrition Outreach and Education
Program (NOEP) in the state of New York. This program’s funding is provided by both
the federal and state government. Some variation to this program is available in most
states; in Florida it is known as the Family Nutrition Program (FNP). This program is not
only responsible for assisting applicants with enrollment, but also has a responsibility to
make the community aware of the program and inform poverty stricken individuals of
education and job training. Although these coordinators are diligent in presenting
individuals with these opportunities, many SNAP participants do not take advantage of
these classes.
The first policy proposal for SNAP legislation reform needs to address
education requirements. During SNAP enrollment, participants are required to disclose
education, employment and housing arrangements. However, participants only need to
confirm this information once per year when re-applying. In implementing this new
legislation, SNAP beneficiaries would be required to participate in an approved form of
job training or career education. A computer program would be created to confirm their
enrollment, attendance and satisfactory performance, upon which their benefits would be
contingent.
Additionally, the policy proposal for SNAP legislation reform needs to address
the prevalent issue of fraud and trafficking among SNAP authorized retailors. The
37
�program cannot afford to allow ten percent of retailors to continue scamming the system.
Applying to become an authorized SNAP retailor can take as little as fifteen minutes and
there are no recertification requirements. In order to police the retailors more effectively,
the program will need to instill random auditing of the stores on location. Randomly
reviewing store records and activities with no warning would allow the SNAP to crack
down on trafficking among retailers.
In order to address the nutritional ineffectiveness of the SNAP, additional
funding would be required to distribute educational information on nutrition. Since a lack
of an academic education is prevalent among SNAP participants, it is fair to assume that
beneficiaries are also rather uneducated in regards to nutrition. The program could be
more effective in creating health conscious participants by mailing an informative
pamphlet to them on a monthly basis. While the pamphlet would be primarily intended to
educate them on the dangers of poor nutrition, it would be successful in drawing the
attention it requires by including tips on how to stretch food stamp dollars. Although the
effectiveness of such a policy proposal would probably be minimal and hard to gauge, it
would be one simple way to stress the importance of nutrition without denying
individuals their freedom of choice.
In order to maximize the positive effects of the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, the program needs to increase the participation of eligible
households. While 15% of the general population participates in SNAP, over 20% of this
population is eligible. If the SNAP were able to get these additional 5% to enroll, the
program would make an even more significant difference in the issues of food security,
poverty and unemployment. In order to draw this subsection of the population, funding
needs to be increased in the NOEP (or FNP, etc.). Increased funding in these Nutrition
Outreach and Education Programs would allow them to reach a wider audience by hiring
multi-lingual employees and expanding their community outreach efforts.
These policy proposals would all require an increase in funding for the SNAP.
While that may be a massive request during a time in which the federal government is
cutting spending everywhere it can, the benefits of the program cannot be denied. The
SNAP has been effective in meeting its goals of reducing food insecurity and improving
the depth of poverty in America. An increase in funding will provide even more
significant long term economic stimulus and lower unemployment rates in the future.
Although the opposition to the program may have some valid objections, simple policy
changes and increased funding to already operational programs would benefit the entire
nation multi-dimensionally.
38
�VIII. References
6 SNAP (Food Stamp) Myths | Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger. (2010).
Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://www.hungercoalition.org/food-stamp-myths
Basu, S., Seligman, H., & Bhattacharya, J. (2013). Nutritional Policy Changes in the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: A Microsimulation and Cost-Effectiveness
Analysis. Medical Decision Making, 937-948.
Bishaw, A., & Fontenot, K. (2014). Poverty: 2012 and 2013. American Community
Survey Briefs.
Ellis, B. (2013, May 24). Where your donations actually go. Retrieved December 1,
2014, from http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/24/pf/donations-charities/
Introduction to SNAP. (2014). Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: POLICY
BASICS.
Korlagunta, K., Hermann, J., Parker, S., & Payton, M. (2014). Factors Within Multiple
Socio-Ecological Model Levels of Influence Affecting Older SNAP Participants' Ability
to Grocery Shop and Prepare Food. Journal of Extension, 52(1).
Mantovani, R., Williams, E., & Pflieger, J. (2013). The Extent of Trafficking in the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: 2009–2011. Food and Nutrition Service,
Office of Policy Support United States Department of Agriculture
Shaefer, H., & Edin, K. (2012). Extreme Poverty in the United States, 1996 to
2011. National Poverty Center, 28.
SNAP/Food Stamps Provide Real Stimulus « Food Research & Action Center. (2010,
January 1). Retrieved November 1, 2014.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Participation Statistics. (2014). Food
Research and Action Center.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) History. (2014, November 20).
Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/short-history-snap
39
�Ratcliffe, C., & McKernan, S. (2010). How Much Does SNAP Reduce Food
Insecurity? The Urban Institute.
Resnikoff, N. (2014, February 5). Congress passes $8.7 billion food stamp cut. MSNBC.
Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/congresspasses-farm
-bill-food-stamp-cuts
Wilson, S. (2014). E-Government legislation: Implementation issues for programs for
low-income people. Government Information Quarterly.
Worthington, J., & Mabli, J. (2014). Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Participation and Child Food Security. Official Journal of the Academy of Pediatrics.
Zandi, M. (2008). Assessing the Macro Economic Impact of Fiscal Stimulus 2008.
Economy.com.
40
���Modal Jazz, Miles Davis and Kind of Blue
William Pegg (Music)1
Although it was not a critical darling upon release (in fact, it flopped initially),
Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, released in 1959, is the best selling jazz record to date. In its
Jazz Profile on Kind of Blue, NPR states that this record is “a universally acknowledged
masterpiece, revered as much by rock and classical music fans as by jazz lovers.”2
Perhaps the one aspect of Kind of Blue that is regarded as most revolutionary is its
adherence to the principles of modal composition – a compositional technique that
typifies the genre of modal jazz (which Kind of Blue is often credited with establishing).
This technique represents a much more abstract concept of jazz than the genre’s
predecessor, bebop. This can be considered a result of the progressive thinking and
artistic expression which began in the early 1940’s and developed through the mid1950’s; “by the mid-1950’s, jazz had not only become an art, it had become a way of life
and, to some extent, a science. . . . This new, more abstract attitude could be seen in other
artistic arenas as well.”3 Artists, authors and architects (like Jackson Pollack, Jack
Kerouac and Frank Lloyd Wright, for example) had already begun to “push the
boundaries” into more abstract territories well before the mid 1950’s – this influences
George Russell, Miles Davis and Stan Kenton (among others) to approach jazz in a more
intellectual way. This being the case, it seems difficult to believe that Miles Davis was
the only contributor to modal jazz and that Kind of Blue was really a revolutionary album
(in more than just jazz), since artistic opinion was already swaying in a progressive
direction. Therefore, is it correct to call Miles Davis an innovator, and was Kind of Blue
really a “revolutionary” masterpiece?
Present in Kind of Blue is an apparent lack of harmonic motion and an emphasis
on few harmonic changes. This is quite a contrast to bebop; “bebop and (to a lesser
extent) hard bop were largely focused on ii-V-I progressions and frequent harmonic
changes to emphasize an overall sense of forward motion. . . . This approach, or
Written under the direction of Dr. Roger Wesby for MU209-ILC: Jazz and Blues.
Anonymous, dir. "Miles Davis: Kind of Blue." Jazz Profiles. National Public Radio:
WRVO, Syracuse, 01 Aug 2001. Radio.
<http://www.npr.org/2011/01/04/10862796/miles-davis-kind-of-blue>.
3 Lawn, Richard J. Experiencing Jazz. 2nd. New York: Routledge, 2013. 227. Print.
1
2
43
�“progression-oriented jazz,” had been the norm for nearly four decades (prior to the
advent of modal jazz).”4 By 1959, Miles Davis already had a career that spanned over a
decade, with plenty of triumphant performances on the world’s biggest stages. However,
just before Kind of Blue’s release, he appeared to have “ . . . grown tired of endlessly
running over chord changes.” Given his prior success, this would seem quite a feat, as
most would opt to rest on their laurels and continue to create music that would perpetuate
an already staggeringly efficacious career. Nevertheless, Miles’ new vision led him “. . .
on a journey to discover a new approach to improvisation that would abandon the
conventional formula of harmonic progression in favor of particular scales, or modes, and
their overall sound.”5 However, it was not Davis who articulated the theoretical
underpinnings that would make his vision possible.
George Russell’s impact on modal jazz should not be understated, as the concept
that governs his most enduring contribution, contained in his book The Lydian Chromatic
Concept of Tonal Organization, is the central theoretical device that Davis employed in
the creation of Kind of Blue. In fact, it was Davis’ dilemma – finding a scale that could
embody a chord and make the overall sound of the mode the prominent feature – that
fueled Russell. In order to do so, Russell was
. . . required to shed the expectations of his ‘Western ears,’ which are trained to hear
sonorities in terms of harmonic motion. Western music is driven forward by
harmonic progression and listeners are most comfortable when they hear
tonicization [the affirmation of a central, key or “tonic” note.] The problem with
tonicization, however, is that it forces every chord into one of two categories: it is
either a tonic, or it is part of a progression toward the tonic. Such a traditional
approach forces improvisers to focus on where chords lead, rather than on the
chords themselves. The approach Russell had in mind would permit improvisers to
create melodies that embody chords in themselves rather than treating chords as
mere tools of harmonic function.6
Boothroyd, Myles. “Modal jazz and Miles Davis: George Russell’s Influence and the
Melodic Inspiration Behind Modal jazz.” Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal
of Musicology. 3.1
5 Boothroyd, Myles. “Modal jazz and Miles Davis: George Russell’s Influence and the
Melodic Inspiration Behind Modal jazz.” Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal
of Musicology. 3.1
6 Boothroyd, Myles. “Modal jazz and Miles Davis: George Russell’s Influence and the
Melodic Inspiration Behind Modal jazz.” Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal
of Musicology. 3.1
4
44
�Meanwhile, other composers were contributing to the progression of jazz away
from bebop, among them Charles Mingus (for his use of minimal harmonies) and Dave
Brubeck (for his use of odd-numbered meters).7 Along with applying the theoretical and
compositional techniques of contemporary composers (particularly Russell and Mingus),
Kind of Blue also applies the chords and chordal substitutions of pianist Bill Evans.
“Drawing on his knowledge of classical music and modal jazz, he developed an original
approach to chord voicings. By loosening the root from the rest of the chord, he found
original ways to add harmonic extensions to existing chords and to substitute chords in
standard progressions. These techniques were clearly apparent in his adaptation of
standards, some of which were unusual choices.”8 So while Miles Davis was quite
remarkable in his capacity to change (“nobody looms larger in postwar jazz than Miles…
He changed the rules of jazz five times from 1949 to 1969.”)9, it is unfair to Bill Evans,
and George Russell in particular, to regard Miles Davis as the theoretical mastermind of
Kind of Blue, although the works on this album (of which all of them, with the possible
exception of “Blue in Green,” the authorship of which is subject to controversy, are
Davis’ sketches) certainly stand for themselves as the definitive collection of modal jazz
compositions, which neither Bill Evans or George Russell can be credited with creating.
By that token, is it fair to call Kind of Blue a “revolutionary masterpiece?” We
have already explored the revolutionary aspects of Kind of Blue as they pertain to jazz
composition and genre. But as the NPR quote states, Kind of Blue is revered not only by
jazz listeners but also by classical and rock listeners (among others, certainly). How was
this work able to create this crossover effect to become the masterpiece that is now
revered?
Modal composition was not new to Davis before the release of Kind of Blue; in
fact, he had experimented with these techniques in his previous record, Milestones. While
the majority of Milestones was made up of compositions that owed much to the style of
hard bop (of which, Davis was also a pioneer), the title track displays a minimalistic
harmonic approach which would later be central to Kind of Blue. Another similarity that
these records have in common is that both are indebted to the blues idiom: “four of the
DeVaux, Scott and Gary Giddins. “The Modality of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.”
Trans. Array Jazz. 1st ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan 2009. 425. Print.
8 DeVaux, Scott and Gary Giddins. “The Modality of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.”
Trans. Array Jazz. 1st ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan 2009. 427. Print.
9 DeVaux, Scott and Gary Giddins. “The Modality of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.”
Trans. Array Jazz. 1st ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan 2009. 422. Print.
7
45
�six tracks on Milestones are blues numbers (“Dr. Jackle”, “Sid’s Ahead”, “Two Bass Hit”
and “Straight, No Chaser”) as are two out of five on Kind of Blue (“All Blues” and
“Freddie Freeloader”).”10 Furthermore, the roots of the blues are also explicit in the
figuration (the filled-in walking sixths) of the song, “Milestones,” which later influences
“All Blues” from Kind of Blue. “[The] extent to which modal jazz is rooted in the blues is
underlined by the fact that the title track off Milestones, the often hailed ‘first example of
modal jazz,’ is characterized by its blues figuration, with its rising and falling between
chordal tones over a static harmony. This same figuration was then used as the groove on
‘All Blues’ on Kind of Blue (in a more characteristically “bluesy” way than the former).” 11
Samuel Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Music and Director of College Music at
Pembroke College, Cambridge, goes on to note that other aspects of blues govern the
modal jazz present on Kind of Blue.
The primary melodic focus of the blues, which is often limited to a particular scale
(such as the pentatonic in much Delta blues, or the more extensive 'blues scale'),
acts as a precedent for the scales provided to the soloists as bases for improvisation
in modal jazz. Also, the way a limited number of chords can serve as a loose and
not necessarily metrically fixed support for the voice in blues, finds its counterpart
in the ‘vamps’ [ostinati or brief, repeated accompaniment figures] used in modal
jazz. The harmonic language of the blues is also not necessarily diatonic, since the
tendency to treat the tonic chord as a dominant-type seventh sets up an ongoing
cycle with a weakened sense of any home key.12
While this take on the blues is more abstract than previous forms, it should be noted that
the melancholic mood of the blues is very clearly present throughout the album.
The year 1959 saw some jazz crossovers into the rock and roll charts (Bobby
Darin’s recording of “Mack the Knife” and Sarah Vaughn’s “Broken Hearted Melody”
are particularly noteworthy examples as both peaked in the top 10 of the pop charts)13,
which perhaps explains why this record had a crossover effect with the rock and roll
community. However, this record was perhaps most accepted by this community post-
Barrett, Samuel. "Kind of Blue and the economy of Modal jazz." Popular Music. 25.2
(2006): 186. Print.
11 Barrett, Samuel. "Kind of Blue and the Economy of Modal jazz." Popular Music. 25.2
(2006): 188. Print.
12 Barrett, Samuel. "Kind of Blue and the Economy of Modal jazz." Popular Music. 25.2
(2006): 186. Print.
13 ("The Hot 100 - 1959 Archive." . Billboard Magazine, 28 Dec. 1959. Web. 28 July
2014. <http://www.billboard.com/archive/charts/1959/hot-100>.
10
46
�1965 (when bands like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles were becoming more and
more innovative in their approaches).
However, this only explains two tracks on Kind of Blue. What characterizes the
other three songs and do these songs share any aspects with “Freddie Freeloader” or “All
Blues?” The last track on Kind of Blue, “Flamenco Sketches,” is often considered, along
with the opening track, “So What?” one of the ideal examples of modal jazz. However,
according to Samuel Barrett, this song is also blues-based in its overall aims. If this song
is one of the model compositions of modal jazz, yet adheres to the compositional aspects
of blues (a style that had thrived for decades prior to Kind of Blue), does that mean that
Kind of Blue is actually derivative of blues and, therefore, not “revolutionary?”
One of the defining aspects of the blues is a static tonal center and a predictable
harmonic progression. This is key to Barrett’s theories on the composition of “Flamenco
Sketches.” However, Barrett was not the first scholar to make the claim that “Flamenco
Sketches” is based on a static tonal center. In his doctoral dissertation, Barry Kernfield,
editor of the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, proposed a harmonic progression for
“Flamenco Sketches” which could link this song to the static tonal centers and
predictable chord progressions that define blues.
Any suggestion that the five scales of ‘Flamenco Sketches’ were treated as familiar
major and minor sonorities lends weight to the opinion of Barry Kernfeld . . . that
this track is built not on modal scales, but on a series of chordal vamps. Evans’ twochord oscillations over V–I roots in the first three segments can easily be
understood as a vamp structure, and a case can even be made for an overall tonal
organization to the track. . . . [Effectively] Kernfield argues that the chord
progression works as an interrupted and heavily inflected II-Vmin-I.14
Barrett disagrees with Kernfield’s analysis, stating the difficulties with
describing these chords in functional terms, most notably that “the track ends not on C
major but on G minor, and each soloist cadences in the G minor section rather than
continuing to Cma7 as both the end and the beginning of the cycle . . . the final Gmin9
serves as a closing point and Cma7 sounds as a new beginning each time around the
sequence.”15 Barrett then theorizes that the blues roots of “Flamenco Sketches” lie not in
a harmonic progression, but rather in a single chord (Cma7, a blues sonority) and in the
exploration of the blues scale around that central sonority.
Kernfeld, B.D. 1981. Adderley, Coltrane, and Davis at the Twilight of Bebop: The
Search for Melodic Coherence (1958–9), Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell (Ann Arbor)
15 Barrett, Samuel. "Kind of Blue and the economy of Modal jazz." Popular Music. 25.2
(2006): 190, 191. Print.
14
47
�A simpler way to hear ‘Flamenco Sketches’ is as an elaboration of a single and
static blues sonority. Key to this consideration is the fact that all the roots of the
harmonies on ‘Flamenco Sketches’ are drawn from a single C Aeolian scale, i.e. C,
D, E-flat, F, G, A-flat, B-flat. . . . The principle is that of building harmonies on a
scale over which the blues can be played, and it is this exploration of local colors
within an overall blues sonority that binds together ‘Flamenco Sketches’. Moreover,
it is not just that the roots of the harmonies are drawn from a scale with flattened
third, sixth and seventh, but that the entire sound world is derived from the principle
explored in much blues of introducing flattened alterations or ‘blue notes’ against a
diatonic major scale. Considering ‘Flamenco Sketches’ as an exploration of local
colors within an overall blues sonority based on C also serves to explain why the
initial Cma7 sounds as a home chord without the same pull that it would have in a
tonal scheme.16
So does Barrett’s analysis of “Flamenco Sketches” offer any insight into the
composition of “Blue in Green” or “So What?” According to Barrett, “Blue in Green”
shares several aspects with “Flamenco Sketches,” particularly in Evans’ chord voicings
and in an abstract adherence to the blues form (with a substitution of the usual IV chord
by a bVI chord).17 Barrett also characterizes “So What?”, the first song on Kind of Blue,
by Evans’ rich chord voicings and by the half-step modulation, which is also used in the
opening two changes of “Flamenco Sketches” (or movement from a scale of no
accidentals to one of five flats, typical of Spanish music). The form of “So What?”
hearkens back to older jazz, employing a traditional quaternary form. This form is akin to
Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm,” which inspired the likes of Duke Ellington (“Cotton Tail”),
Dizzy Gillespie (“Salt Peanuts”) and Thelonius Monk (“Rhythm-a-Ning”).
Barrett’s analysis of “Flamenco Sketches” (as well as Kernfield’s proposed
harmonic progression) and “Blue in Green” (mentioned previously) represents a
departure from the original analysis provided by Bill Evans in his liner notes for Kind of
Blue. While Evans’ liner notes are more philosophical than theoretical in nature, Evans’
analysis is much more straightforward and practical than Barrett’s or Kernfield’s
analysis. "’Blue in Green’ is a 10-measure circular form following a 4-measure
introduction, and played by soloists in various augmentation and diminution of time
values. . . . ‘Flamenco Sketches’ is a series of five scales, each to be played as long as the
soloist wishes until he has completed the series.”18 The “10-measure circular form” that
Barrett, Samuel. "Kind of Blue and the economy of Modal jazz." Popular Music. 25.2
(2006): 190, 191. Print.
17 Barrett, Samuel. "Kind of Blue and the economy of Modal jazz." Popular Music. 25.2
(2006): 192. Print.
16
48
�Evans’ is referring to is actually quite a lot more sophisticated than Barrett’s analysis
seems to suggest when he calls it an “abstract adherence to the blues form.” A 10measure circular form consists of a 10-measure phrase that then circles around on itself,
with the second chord of the initial phrase acting as the first chord of the new phrase. The
idea that this adherence to a traditional blues form (such as the 12-bar blues) is abstract is
incorrect, as a 12-bar blues form in and of itself is not abstract but quite readily
identifiable (a blues is characterized by a predictable chord progression and a solid tonal
center - Bill Evans’ chord voicings and modal compositional techniques make this
comparison to a blues false). Secondly, “Blue in Green,” in its slower tempo and more
sophisticated harmonic structure, has more in common with a ballad than “Freddie
Freeloader” or “All Blues.”
A better analysis of “Blue in Green” would be that is a harmonically rich ballad,
set in a challenging form. Kernfield’s proposed harmonic progression for “Flamenco
Sketches” (or a “heavily inflected II-Vmin-I,”) is also a bit disingenuous, as Evans’ liner
notes describe that “Flamenco Sketches” was not conceived with the idea of harmonic
motion in mind but rather as a spontaneous jam wherein the improviser is allowed to take
control of the elements of form and duration of the song’s five scales. This also defeats
Barrett’s claim of a central “single, static blues sonority,” as the song’s five scales can
not all be traced to a simple C blues scale – particularly not the fourth scale used in this
song, which appears to be based on the Phrygian mode and not a blues scale. This fourth
segment also demonstrates Miles Davis’s penchant for Spanish music, which is
characterized by the Phrygian mode. Davis would later utilize this fascination with
Spanish music on Sketches of Spain (the album which follows Kind of Blue) and on the
song “Teo” from Someday My Prince Will Come (which shares many elements with
“Flamenco Sketches,” particularly in that it is themeless and its form on the recording
was dictated by the soloists).
Therefore, we can infer that Bill Evans’ liner notes, which certainly make far
fewer assumptions than Barrett’s analysis of “Flamenco Sketches” or “Blue in Green” (or
Kernfield’s proposed harmonic progression for “Flamenco Sketches”), form a better
analysis of those two songs and that Kind of Blue, by extension, is not a work that is
completely blues-based in its overall aims. However, there is some credence to Barrett’s
concept that the blues and earlier jazz had a direct influence upon Kind of Blue, as the
Evans, Bill. ""Kind of Blue" Liner Notes.” Columbia Records, 17 Aug. 1959. Web. 6
July 2014. <http://www.cannonball-adderley.com/miles/miles07.htm>.
18
49
�blues and jazz roots of Kind of Blue are fairly recognizable in the general aesthetics of the
album (a melancholic mood achieved through blue tonality, structural references to both
blues and jazz, and in the rhythmic discipline of swing). It would then appear that to the
joint blues, jazz and rock and roll communities, the term “revolutionary” is still valid in
describing Kind of Blue, however, significant influence was most certainly obtained from
blues and jazz.
But how could this record crossover into the classical realm when it is steeped in
blues and jazz (two genres generally seen as contrary to classical music)? Modality in the
classical realm was far from new. “[The] theory of modality originated with the Ancient
Greeks and Medieval Church music, wherein the music was based on the diatonic
modes.”19 For a more recent example (particularly one that would pertain to Bill Evans’
use of chords, as he was a classically trained pianist), classical listeners need only to
reference Impressionism. “By the end of the nineteenth century, the ear could accept
virtually any combination of pitches in a sonority, provided that it was audibly derived
from the diatonic tonal system. . . . Prior to the twelve-tone system, composers such as
Ives, Ravel and Debussy were beginning to find new ways to organize harmony. All of
these departed [from tonality] in some way, usually without a serious break.”20
One of the key harmonic organizational tools that these composers would use
was modality. While modal jazz rarely focuses solely on Western diatonic modes,21
Impressionist composers were able to evoke similar moods with exotic scales some fifty
years earlier, most notably Debussy, who had a preference for Eastern Scales, like the
Balinese scale.
Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization differs from
Impressionist theories of modal harmonic organization, in that his theory cared more
about the sound of a chord that could embody all notes in a scale rather than as an exotic
effect that blurred the lines of tonality. In this sense, while modality was not new to the
classical realm, Davis’ vision differed from the vision of the Impressionist composers and
therefore can still be considered “revolutionary” to a classical music listener.
Another aspect that perhaps resonated with classical music enthusiasts is not
only in the refined playing of Bill Evans but also in the expressivity and virtuosity of
Lawn, Richard J. Experiencing Jazz. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. 240. Print.
White, John David. Comprehensive Musical Analysis. 1st ed. Baltimore: Rowman &
Littlefield, 1994. 140. Print
21 “Modal jazz.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press.
Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com>.
19
20
50
�John Coltrane and Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, who give extraordinary performances
on this record alongside Paul Chambers (who is often revered as one of the greatest
bassists in jazz history)22, and Jimmy Cobb (who exhibits particularly tasteful drumming
on this record). It should also be noted that while perhaps not as technically gifted as
some of his contemporaries, Miles Davis’ playing (especially on this record)
demonstrates an introspective virtuosity that exhibits an incredible musical intelligence,
particularly as this pertains to note choices, as Davis’ note choices (like Evans’ chord
voicings) often avoided the obvious for more abstract or expressive choices (thus
expanding harmonic and melodic possibilities)23.
With all of these considerations in mind, it is unfair to call Miles Davis the
“originator” of modal jazz, as many of the principles that define modal jazz were taken
from various sources, most notably the blues and early jazz, Davis’ contemporaries and
classical music. However, an artist taking influence from other artists or styles does not
negate artistic innovation. In his article “A Sense of the Possible: Miles Davis and the
Semiotics of Improvised Performance,” Christopher Smith, Chair of Musicology/
Ethnomusicology and director of the Vernacular Music Center at the Texas Tech
University School of Music, argues that Miles Davis’ “. . . particular genius was centered
in an ability to construct and manipulate improvisational possibilities, selecting and
combining compositions, players, musical styles, and other performance parameters.”24
But Smith's analysis of Davis' genius extends beyond his acknowledgement of Davis'
ability to combine musical styles, as he goes on to stress that it is Davis' ability to find the
right combination of players to interpret his vision that is just as important.
The five compositions that comprise Kind of Blue entrusted the improvisers with
levels of freedom rarely afforded them previously. “There were two immediate effects of
modal jazz (in jazz recordings): the tempos slowed down (although Miles tended to favor
conservative tempi in many recordings) and solo durations tended to be longer (rather
than the traditional 24 or 32 bar long solo, the improviser was allowed to invent and reinvent for as long as he/she wanted).”25 This "manipulation of improvisational
possibilities" allowed for tremendous personal creative contributions to Kind of Blue that
were not necessarily intended when Davis composed the initial sketches. Indeed, some of
Kahn, Ashley. Kind of Blue. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2001. Print.
Kahn, Ashley. Kind of Blue. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2001. Print.
24 Smith, Christopher. "A Sense of the Possible: Miles Davis and the Semiotics of
Improvised Performance." TDR Vol. 39. No. 3 (1995): 41. 11 Oct. 1995. Web.
25 Kahn, Ashley. Kind of Blue. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2001. 68. Print.
22
23
51
�the greatest moments on Kind of Blue are the solos played not only by Miles Davis but
also by Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, John Coltrane, Julian Adderley and Paul Chambers.
Therefore, the performers can be considered of a near equal status with the composer in
the freedom granted by modal jazz. Thus, the contributions of the performers on Kind of
Blue cannot be overstated.
The importance of the performers' role is also evident in that every song (with
the exception of “Flamenco Sketches”) on Kind of Blue was done in one take. This
certainly preserves the spontaneity of the recording. Also, the sheet music provided to
the performers would usually have been quite minimal and nearly illegible; a jazz
recording would not have been conducted like a classical recording at that time, with
published editions of sheet music being given to the players before the recording. More
than likely, most jazz recordings of that period would have used handwritten sheet music
with minimal instruction. Therefore, along with the compositional freedom given to
them, the performers on Kind of Blue would have needed to be able to think on their feet.
More than likely, without this collection of players, the album would not have been as
successful.
Another remarkable aspect of Davis’ zeitgeist is in his ability to bring together
the right musicians at the right time. After Kind of Blue, Bill Evans explored other areas
of jazz, as did John Coltrane, who began to embrace the emergence of free jazz after his
split with Miles. Miles Davis himself would depart from modal jazz not long after Kind
of Blue, progressing into the realms of post-modern jazz and jazz-fusion. The fact that
these progressive musical minds could be drawn together (with Julian “Cannonball”
Adderley, who was remarked as coming “into his prime” with this recording26, Paul
Chambers and Wynton Kelly) for this short window of time to create this album is
certainly a testament to Davis’ ability to bring together the best players at the right time.
Such zeitgeist should not be underestimated.
The “manipulation and construction of improvisational possibilities” that Miles
Davis exhibits on Kind of Blue would prove to be particularly influential, as the
precedents of solo lengths in recorded jazz were shattered but also in live performances
as well, as these solo lengths could be even longer live. These improvisational practices
would be central to the proceeding jazz genre of free jazz, which based improvisation on
tonal centers. This genre is still practiced today by jazz musicians some fifty years after
Devaux, Scott and Gary Giddins. “The Modality of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.”
Trans. Array Jazz. 1st ed. Ann Arbor; University of Michigan 2009. Print.
26
52
�Kind of Blue’s release, making this one of the more significant achievements of Kind of
Blue. Although jazz has evolved to a considerable degree in fifty years, the techniques
introduced by this record have yet to become irrelevant. In fact, many of the songs on
Kind of Blue (particularly “All Blues” and “So What?”) are still staples of the jazz
repertoire.
Because of these achievements, Kind of Blue can be considered a revolutionary
masterpiece, in which Miles Davis once again manifests his vision, taste and, some would
say, genius. While he was influenced by a wide variety of different musicians and styles,
he can be considered an innovator in his ability to incorporate these styles into his
approach and a visionary in his initiative to surround himself with the right musicians at
the right time. What ties everything together are his compositions – the truly timeless
sketches that make up the music on Kind of Blue. As is often the case with music,
something that is truly groundbreaking is usually not appreciated immediately; certainly
the idea of tonicization, which was a central tenet to listeners in 1959, when bebop was
still accepted stylistically, was left behind by Kind of Blue. However, Kind of Blue is now
certainly the best-selling jazz album of all time, mostly due to the universal ideals of
freedom and integration that this album represents. As long as these ideals are relevant to
music, Kind of Blue will remain an essential work.
Bibliography
Anonymous, dir. “Miles Davis: Kind of Blue.” Jazz Profiles. National Public Radio:
WRVO, Syracuse, 01 Aug 2001. Radio.
Barrett, Samuel. “Kind of Blue and the Economy of Modal jazz.” Popular Music. 25.2
(2006). Print.
Boothroyd, Myles. “Modal jazz and Miles Davis: George Russell’s Influence and the
Melodic Inspiration Behind Modal jazz.” Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal
of Musicology. 3.1
Devaux, Scott and Gary Giddins. “The Modality of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.”
Trans. Array Jazz. 1st ed. Ann Arbor; University of Michigan 2009. Print.
Evans, Bill. ""Kind of Blue" Liner Notes." . Columbia Records, 17 Aug. 1959. Web. 6
July 2014. <http://www.cannonball-adderley.com/miles/miles07.htm>.
53
�Kahn, Ashley. Kind of Blue. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2001. Print.
Kernfeld, B.D. 1981. Adderley, Coltrane, and Davis at the Twilight of Bebop: The Search
for Melodic Coherence (1958–9), Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell (Ann Arbor)
Lawn, Richard J. Experiencing Jazz. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print.
“Modal jazz.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web.
11 Mar. 2014. <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com>.
Smith, Christopher. "A Sense of the Possible: Miles Davis and the Semiotics of
Improvised Performance." TDR Vol. 39. No. 3 (1995): 41. 11 Oct. 1995. Web.
"The Hot 100 - 1959 Archive." Billboard Magazine, 28 Dec. 1959. Web. 28 July 2014.
<http://www.billboard.com/archive/charts/1959/hot-100>.
White, John David. Comprehensive Musical Analysis. 1st ed. Baltimore: Rowman &
Littlefield, 1994. 140, Print.
54
�Opening Doors: The Broadway Musicals of Harold Prince
James Forbes Sheehan (Arts Administration)1
“No doors!” remarked the revered theatre producer-director Harold Prince
during a conversation at William Paterson University in May, 2014. Prince is referring to
the set designs for the majority of his musicals: he finds doors unnecessary, cluttering the
action and movement of the show. So, the title of this essay—a Stephen Sondheim lyric
from the 1981 musical Merrily We Roll Along, which Prince directed—is a title of great
truth and great irony. Despite Harold Prince’s dislike for physical doors onstage, he thrust
open the doors to a new type of musical theatre, spearheading the creation of a more
serious, interesting, adult art form; a theatre that no longer tolerates—in his own words—
“dopey” musicals with nice songs laced together by a thin book.2 (Along the way, Prince
garnered a record-breaking 21 Tony Awards: ten for producing, eight for directing, and
three special awards.)
In the 1979 book Broadway Musicals, historian Martin Gottfried noted that “the
man most responsible for the musical book’s most dramatic change after [Oscar]
Hammerstein’s development of the musical play was not a writer but a director. . . .
[Harold] Prince’s name has never appeared on a program as an author. Yet he has been
the dominating collaborator on every musical he has directed.”3
A protégé of the playwright, producer, and director, George Abbott, young
Prince was afforded many opportunities by Abbott. “So many directors, actors, and
writers have come out of the ‘school of Abbott’ because George Abbott is a very
generous man,” Prince stated in 1989, when Abbott was still alive and working at the age
of 102. (Abbott lived to be 107.) “He has always known how good he is and so he never
resented when we went off on our own.”4 Prince, in turn, has inspired the generations of
musical theatre practitioners who have followed him.
After three shows as a stage manager, Prince co-produced his first musical at the
age of 26: The Pajama Game, in 1954, which Abbott co-wrote and directed. The show
Written under the direction of Prof. Dan Venning for TH235: Musical Theatre History.
Prince, An Evening With Harold Prince
3 Ilson, Harold Prince, 159
4 Hirsch, Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre, 22
1
2
55
�won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and Prince went on to produce such hit shows as
Damn Yankees, West Side Story, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fiorello! before directing
his first musical, A Family Affair, in 1962. (Prince had been called in as the second
replacement director; the show quickly flopped after 65 performances.)
The following season, he once again tried his hand at directing, this time with
She Loves Me, a delightfully romantic musical written by Joe Masteroff, Jerry Bock, and
Sheldon Harnick. Though the musical was warmly received by most critics, it ran just
short of ten months. Twelve years after the musical’s opening, Prince mused on the fact
that it did not succeed financially because it was a small show that seemed out-of-place
next to big, splashy musical comedies like Hello, Dolly! and Funny Girl. Nevertheless,
Prince regrets nothing about it, from the casting (he chose Barbara Cook over Julie
Andrews) to the writing, stating that it was “as well directed as anything I’ve ever done.”5
Prince’s direction, however, was not mentioned in most of the reviews.
Following She Loves Me, Prince struck gold producing Fiddler on the Roof, but
he received mixed-to-negative reviews for his next two directorial endeavors (Baker
Street and It’s A Bird…It’s A Plane…It’s Superman). Finally, in 1966, he was properly
recognized as a director, with the musical adaptation of John Van Druten’s 1951 play I
Am A Camera. The show—titled Cabaret—was a major critical and commercial success,
and it redefined the “concept musical.” (Kurt Weill, George Gershwin, and Moss Hart’s
Lady in the Dark from 1941 is considered by many to be the first concept musical, but
Prince and his collaborators—most notably Stephen Sondheim, John Kander and Fred
Ebb, and Michael Bennett—greatly improved upon the form.)
Prince and his Cabaret creative team—book writer Joe Masteroff, composer
John Kander, lyricist Fred Ebb, and scenic designer Boris Aronson—were attracted to the
show’s source material because they identified similarities between “the spiritual
bankruptcy of Germany in the 1920s” and America’s Civil Rights Movement of the
1960s.6 As remembered by Aronson, Prince said that the primary goal for the production
was “to show that what happened then in Berlin could happen here now.”7 Thus,
Aronson designed the set to include a large mirror, tilted so that the audience members
could see their reflections; the audience became part of the action of the show.
Prince, Contradictions, 99-101
Prince, Contradictions, 125
7 Ilson, Harold Prince, 145
5
6
56
�The cabaret and the mysterious Master of Ceremonies who inhabited it became a
metaphor for Hitler’s Germany, commenting on the corrupt, desperate, and confusing
“real world” of Berlin in the early 1930s. Prince drew inspiration for the Master of
Ceremonies, portrayed on Broadway by Joel Grey, from his time in the army, when he
was stationed in Stuttgart. While there, he frequented “a nightclub called Maxim’s in the
rubble of an old church basement. . . . There was a dwarf MC, hair parted in the middle
and lacquered down with brilliantine, his mouth made into a bright-red cupid’s bow, who
wore heavy false eyelashes.”8
Prince also found inspiration in a political musical revue presented by the
Taganka Theatre in Moscow, Russia, which he saw around 1965. He describes the revue
as “traumatizing (in a good sense). It totally changed my life. . . . That one performance
in the theatre totally altered my vision of the stage and what I would want to do with that
space. . . . It’s saying look at the stage and put there what cannot be done by films and
television.”9 Prince’s time in Moscow reminded him that shows did not need to use the
traditional American musical theatre conventions that had worked for some many years
before. He returned to New York, invigorated, with new ideas of how to break down the
invisible ‘fourth wall’ that separates the action onstage from the audience.
“[John Kander and I] didn’t have the idea of a concept musical in mind when we
were writing Cabaret,” said Fred Ebb. “We were working in a form that was very
accessible to me, the revue form, where performers just come out and do a number. . . . I
don’t think that I appreciated the portentousness of the subject we were treating with a
cabaret in Hitler’s Berlin, or the seriousness of it, until it was pointed out to me.”10
Kander and Ebb essentially wrote two scores for Cabaret: the ‘book songs’ that
were sung in the real world to propel the story, and the cabaret songs that commented on
the action of the real world. It became very clear to the audience when the characters
were playing in the “real world,” when they were in the “cabaret world,” and when they
were in the “limbo area.”
Company, written by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth in 1970, takes the
concept musical approach a step further, blurring the line between the “real world” and
the commentary. For example, in one scene, a middle-aged couple who have been
bickering with each other (Sarah and Harry), begin practicing karate together, starting out
Prince, Contradictions, 126
Ilson, Harold Prince, 135
10 Kander and Ebb, Colored Lights, 60
8
9
57
�in jest and quickly escalating to violence. The character Joanne, a rather cynical woman
“of a certain age,” steps in to sing “The Little Things You Do Together,” which she
delivers out to the audience, commenting on troubled marriages like Sarah and Harry’s
while never directly mentioning the couple. Until this point, Joanne has not been a
character in the scene.
In the late 1960s, playwright George Furth sought out Stephen Sondheim’s
opinion on an evening of eleven one-act plays that Furth had written to star actress Kim
Stanley, titled Company. Puzzled by the plays, Sondheim sent them to Prince. Upon
reading them, Prince became overwhelmed with the fact that Stanley would be running
off-stage to change costumes and wigs every few minutes. He did, however, feel that the
plays that dealt with marriage would make an intriguing musical. The musical, however,
would revolve around Robert—a New York bachelor who is celebrating his thirty-fifth
Birthday—and all of the friends in his life (five couples and his three girlfriends).
Though Company did not have the controversial political undertones that
Cabaret had, “Company was the first musical I had done without conventional plot or
subplot structure,” Prince says. “The first without the hero and heroine, without the comic
relief couple.” The plot of the show, centering around Robert’s relationships with his
married friends, is “subtextual,” and it stems from “subconscious behavior, psychological
stresses, inadvertent revelations: the nature of the lie people accept to preserve their
relationship.”11
In the way that Kander and Ebb did not set out to reinvent the musical theatre
form with Prince, Sondheim states that “content dictates form and breaking form is
therefore connected to the story you’re telling: we never started out by saying, ‘let’s do a
non-plot musical.’” Every part of the collaborative process between Sondheim, Furth, and
Prince was connected. “My music and lyrics grew out of the way we commented about
the characters in conferences; before I began to write I absorbed the play’s ambiance and
atmosphere, its style of speech. I don’t make the characters speak, but I try to mime or
echo or enhance a story or characters invented by somebody else.”12
Prince states that he needs to see “the motor and rhythm of a show through the
scenery to really start directing.”13 Thus, as with Cabaret, scenic designer Boris Aronson
Prince, Contradictions, 149
Hirsch, Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre, 85-86
13 Prince, An Evening With Harold Prince
11
12
58
�was once again a major influence on the production. Author and arts administrator Ted
Chapin feels that Aronson, who was seventy years old at the time,
was having something of a renaissance under Prince. Following a long and varied
career, he had found something new and imaginative in his decadent and
theatrically twisted scenery for Cabaret. He then came up with the ultramodern,
chrome, glass and shiny-black urban environment of Company, which was so
modern and new that many felt it had been the work of a young artist. It was simply
Boris Aronson being inspired.14
Two working elevators were installed in the set for Company, and Sondheim
incorporated them into his writing. “I staged [the opening number] in my head around the
elevator,” Sondheim remembers. “I asked Boris how long it would take the elevator to
get from the top to the bottom so that I knew I could get the people off the stairs and onto
the stage level and that’s what the climax [of the song] is about.”15
Aronson received a Tony Award for his design of Company, and the show also
took home awards for Best Musical, Best Music and Lyrics (Sondheim’s first Tonys),
Best Book, and Best Direction (Prince’s second prize for directing, having won
previously for Cabaret). “Cabaret established me as commercially successful,” Prince
says. “Company established me in my own eyes.” Despite the show’s accolades and its
705-performance run, “Company never played a sold-out week . . . but it paid off and
shows a profit. And that’s what commercial theatre must ask of itself.”16
A week following Company’s sweep at the 1971 Tony Awards, Sondheim and
Prince’s next musical opened at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre. The musical, which
had a book by James Goldman, had been percolating since 1965, but was only now being
mounted on Broadway. The show was Follies, a concept musical set at a reunion of aging
showgirls the evening before their theatre’s demolition. Prince had agreed to direct and
produce Follies (then titled The Girls Upstairs) if Sondheim would write Company.
When Prince initially read The Girls Upstairs, the reunion involved a murder-mystery
plot. He immediately discarded the murder-mystery idea, focusing more on the
relationships between two ex-chorus girls and their husbands. In Prince’s words, Follies
deals with “the loss of innocence in the United States, using the Ziegfeld Follies (a pretty
girl is no longer like a melody) as its metaphor.”17 It was the perfect blend of old and
Chapin, Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies, 20
Secrest, Stephen Sondheim: A Life, 195
16 Prince, Contradictions, 157
17 Prince, Contradictions, 158
14
15
59
�new: Using the 1920s-style Follies numbers as a way to comment on the troubled,
Chekhovian relationships of the middle-aged couples.
Prince drew inspiration for Follies from a Life magazine photograph of Gloria
Swanson standing in the ruins of the half-demolished Roxy Theatre. The photograph
captured the glamor against the rubble, and Prince felt that it perfectly represented the
metaphor of Follies. “[Follies] was to be surrealistic, inspired by [Federico Fellini’s film]
8 ½, and rubble became the key word. Metaphoric rubble became visual rubble. . . . Is the
theatre town down? Will it be torn down tomorrow? Or was it torn down yesterday?”
Prince was looking to create “a mood in which to lose sight of the present, to look back
on the past.”18 The musical utilized ghosts of the leading characters, appearing in
flashback sequences and occasionally intertwining with the their older counterparts in
“real-life.”
Follies was also groundbreaking in that it was the first time Prince collaborated
as a co-director, with Michael Bennett, a young man who had just choreographed
Company for Prince. Bennett was also the choreographer for Follies, and Prince was the
producer, so they each took on different parts of the production: Prince handled the most
of the book scenes, and Bennett handled most of the musical numbers, with overlap
between the two artists occurring as necessary to create a fluid piece. “[Bennett] was so
talented and Follies was such a natural thing to collaborate on as co-directors because
there was enough work on Follies for both of us to work all the time,” Prince
remembered in 2010. “And, at the same time, I can’t actually imagine one director doing
it because the book was so knotty and so complex and the tone so specific.”19
Sondheim had experienced writing for stars when he had written for Ethel
Merman (Gypsy), Phil Silvers and Zero Mostel (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to
the Forum), and Elaine Stritch (Company), but nothing could compare to the magnitude
of stars for whom he wrote Follies. The cast of Follies was an eclectic mix of individuals,
featuring movie stars (Alexis Smith, Gene Nelson, and Yvonne De Carlo), stalwarts of
the musical theater (John McMartin, Dorothy Collins, and Mary McCarty), a former
Ziegfeld girl (Ethel Shutta, approaching 80 at the time), and a former Folies Bergère star
(Fifi D’Orsay). Sondheim tailored each song in the score to fit each performer’s
character.
18
19
Prince, Contradictions, 159-160
Prince, InDepth IntetView
60
�The score of Follies, like Cabaret, was comprised of two different musical
styles: what Sondheim refers to as the “book songs” (sung by the main characters to
propel the plot) and “pastiche” songs (sung by the supporting characters and written as an
homage to songs by such composers as Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, and Victor Herbert).
Follies was, in a way, the perfect blend of Cabaret and Company, because the pastiche
songs informed character and commented on the action of the “real world,” but they
could also be viewed as both a diegetic production number or a non-diegetic character
song. For example, “I’m Still Here,” Carlotta’s Harold Arlen-type showbiz anthem,
begins in a rather conversational way. As the song progresses, it becomes more evident
that it is about Carlotta, here and now, and less of a Follies number from her youth.
When the cast of Follies had their first rehearsal, the now-legendary ending of
the show—a lavish, expansive Follies sequence set in “Loveland”—was just an empty
page. As the rehearsal period progressed, Sondheim, Goldman, Bennett, and Prince
created each Follies number for the four principals and the ensemble. On Sondheim’s
writing process, original Broadway cast-member Kurt Peterson says:
The best thing about Stephen is that he’ll wait until the last minute. . . . He likes to
sit in rehearsal and see what’s happening. He wants to see the scene before, he
wants to see the actors doing the part, he wants to know what’s going on with the
lights . . . and then he can write from character in the brilliant way that he does.20
Follies, though ambitious and stunningly beautiful, was a flawed musical, and in
some ways it was ahead of its time: Its topics of depression and divorce were practically
taboo in 1971. The show has been discussed and debated by theatre fans since it first
premiered, becoming a beloved “cult classic” of sorts. A decade before his tenure as chief
drama critic of The New York Times, Harvard undergraduate Frank Rich was an early
champion of Follies. In his preface to Ted Chapin’s 2003 memoir, Everything Was
Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies, Rich writes:
Follies remains the most elusive of landmark Broadway musicals. . . . It is a show
for which the word “problematic” could have been coined. Its theatricality is lavish
but its mood is downbeat. Its storytelling plays tricks with time that are poetic to its
fans but disorienting gimmickry to less sympathetic onlookers. The principal
characters are narcissistic, unpleasant, and prone to onstage nervous breakdowns.
Yet the Stephen Sondheim songs they sing are now classic of the musical-theater
repertoire, full of heart even when they delineate arid, disappointed lives.21
20
21
Peterson, Theater Talk
Chapin, Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies, xiii
61
�The show ran only fifteen months on Broadway, losing nearly all of its initial
$792,000 investment and making it one of the most notorious flops of the day. It won
seven Tony Awards, including direction, choreography, and score, but it lost the Best
Musical prize to Two Gentlemen of Verona. In his memoir, Prince says, “I could not do it
again because I could not in all conscience raise the money for it.”22
Follies was the second of Sondheim and Prince’s decade-long collaboration—a
partnership which also produced A Little Night Music (1973), Pacific Overtures (1976),
Sweeney Todd (1979), and Merrily We Roll Along (1981). However, after more than forty
years and numerous collaborations, Prince still holds Follies close to his heart. “It’s my
favorite show, really, and the reason is it is the most flying blind I’ve ever done. It was all
about instincts and feelings.”23
Though Prince is best remembered for his marvelous original works, he has also
had success with revivals, particularly Candide in 1974. The Chelsea Theatre Center at
the Brooklyn Academy of Music approached him to stage a revival of Leonard Bernstein
and Lillian Hellman’s 1956 musical adaptation of Voltaire’s novella. Prince had disliked
the original Broadway production, citing that Hellman’s original book was too long and
too stodgy; it did not match Voltaire’s lighthearted source material and Bernstein’s
operetta score. With Prince’s guidance, Hugh Wheeler penned an entirely new book, and
the final product was a delightful, hour and forty-five minute long production. (Or, in
Prince’s words, “an hour and fifty seven minutes with laughs.”24)
Prince was paired with scenic designer Eugene Lee, and the two worked
together to create an environmental production design that fully enveloped the Brooklyn
Academy of Music’s upstairs theatre. Inspired by a carnival sideshow, Candide’s
physical production consisted of seven different stages of varying heights and sizes
stationed throughout the room.
Candide was a success in Brooklyn, selling out nearly every performance.
Prince jokingly reminisces that there were no walkouts—because audiences were
trapped, seated on benches between the multiple stages! Candide transferred to Broadway
and enjoyed a run of close to two years at the Broadway Theatre. For that production, the
interior of the Broadway Theatre was gutted and the seven stages were remodeled and
installed as they had been in Brooklyn—though this time the venue accommodated 900
Prince, Contradictions, 168
Chapin, Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies, 313
24 Prince, Contradictions, 192
22
23
62
�audience members, as opposed to 180. In the tradition of the Taganka Theatre in
Moscow, where Prince had found inspiration for Cabaret, Candide began in the lobby:
the floors were covered with rough, unfinished wood, the chandeliers were concealed
behind draped fabric, and multiple concession stands were placed throughout the space.
The success of Candide in Brooklyn affirmed Prince’s belief that a revival of a
show requires complete reimagining. “Stake your career on trying things,” Prince said in
a recent interview, going on to note that he has had more financial flops than hits. “I
wake the next morning and think, ‘what should I do next?’”25
This work ethic and wish to open the door to new types of exciting theatre has
kept Prince working for nearly seven decades. Now, age 86, he is working on a new
project: a musical adaptation of the film The Band’s Visit, with composer-lyricist David
Yazbek, which he hopes will premiere in 2015. He is also collaborating with Charles
Strouse and Thomas Meehan on a musical version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s A Diamond as
Big as the Ritz; a musical retrospective of Prince’s life, titled The Prince of Broadway,
has been in the works for several years and may open in Tokyo in 2015; and he regularly
rehearses the casts of his biggest commercial success, The Phantom of the Opera, which
has been running on Broadway and in London’s West End for more than 25 years.
In addition to his directing and producing work, Prince was instrumental in the
creation of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archives at the New York Public Library for
the Performing Arts, which has in its collection a live video recording of almost every
Broadway show since the early 1970s. (One of the first productions taped for these
archives was, coincidentally, the national tour of Company). Prince also revolutionized
theater criticism on Broadway: he was the first producer who allowed critics to attend the
final few preview performances, which has become the norm today, as opposed to
everybody from the press attending the show on opening night. This allowed for more
articulate reviews, and it put less pressure on the performers and creative teams.26
Few people deserve to be called a “legend,” but the title undoubtedly applies to
Prince. It has been 35 years since Martin Gottfried made the bold statement that Prince’s
contribution to the musical theatre was the most significant since Oscar Hammerstein
II’s, and that statement still holds true in 2014. The “Prince of Broadway” continues to
reign, and he plans to continue working “until they make me stop.”27
Prince, An Evening with Harold Prince
Sondheim, Signature Theatre 2013 Gala
27 Prince, An Evening with Harold Prince
25
26
63
�Bibliography
Cerasaro, Pat. "InDepth InterView: Hal Prince." BroadwayWorld.com.
BroadwayWorld.com, 24 Oct. 2010. Web. 05 May 2014.
<http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/InDepth-InterView-Hal-Prince20101024#.U2Ubfq1dWwg>.
Chapin, Ted. Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. Print.
"Follies Reunion." YouTube. Theater Talk/CUNY TV, 07 Feb. 2012. Web. 05 May 2014.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJIcoqHa_hY>.
"Follies Stars and Isherwood's Lament." YouTube. Theater Talk/CUNY TV, 28 Oct.
2011. Web. 05 May 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt8UTzjKCJA>.
Goldman, William. The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway. New York: Harcourt,
Brace & World, 1969. Print.
Hirsch, Foster. Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre (Expanded Edition).
New York: Applause Theatre and Cinema, 2005. Print.
Ilson, Carol. Harold Prince: From Pajama Game to Phantom of the Opera, and beyond.
New York: Limelight Editions, 1992. Print.
Kander, John, Fred Ebb, and Greg Lawrence. Colored Lights: Forty Years of Words and
Music, Show Biz, Collaboration, and All That Jazz. New York: Faber and Faber, 2003.
Print.
Prince, Harold. Contradictions: Notes on Twenty-Six Years in the Theatre. New York:
Dodd, Mead, 1974. Print.
Prince, Harold, and Alfred Doblin. "An Evening with Harold Prince." William Paterson
University, Wayne, NJ. 1 May 2014. Lecture.
Riedel, Michael. "The Prince of Broadway Has a New Musical up His sleeve." New York
Post. New York Post, 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 05 May 2014. <http://nypost.com/2013/11/14/
the-prince-of-broadway-has-a-new-musical-up-his-sleeve/>.
Secrest, Meryle. Stephen Sondheim: A Life. New York: Knopf, 1998. Print.
Sondheim, Stephen. "Signature Theatre 2013 Gala Honoring Harold Prince." Youtube. 18
May 2013. Web. 05 May 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBzDhSeOqpw>.
64
�Rochdale Village: Integration, Urban Renewal, and Decline
Jessica Catanzaro (History)1
Integrated housing developments were not a new concept in 1963 when
Rochdale Village opened in South Jamaica, Queens, but Rochdale Village was something
special. When the integrated housing community of Rochdale Village opened in 1963, it
was the largest integrated housing cooperative that was ever built in the city of New
York, and perhaps the largest built in the entire country.2 When Rochdale Village first
opened it housed almost 6,000 families, and about 80% of those families were white.
Slowly, Rochdale Village became more integrated, with more African American families
moving in. However, by the 1970’s white families were moving out of the Rochdale
Village housing development in vast numbers and by the late 1970’s, there were very few
white families left in Rochdale Village and in the not so distant future, the community
would be almost entirely African American.3 What started in 1963 as a vibrant integrated
housing community became in the late 1970’s the complete opposite of what its creators
set out to do. So why after over ten years of being seemingly successful, did the
integrated housing development start to collapse? What was it that caused this great
endeavor to become a virtually non-integrated community? Despite the great
achievements and initial success of Rochdale Village, the events and issues surrounding
South Jamaica and New York City as a whole, led many predominately white families to
leave the Rochdale cooperative for better opportunities for their children in other parts of
New York.
Three years before Rochdale Village opened its doors, New York’s Governor
Nelson Rockefeller announced on February 17, 1960 that a new integrated housing
development would be built on the site of the former Jamaica Racetrack.4 This was the
beginning of the transformation of South Jamaica, Queens and the start of another step in
Written under the direction of Dr. Alison Smith for HI297: The Historian as Detective:
Exploring the City.
2 Clarence Taylor, Civil Rights in New York City: From World War II to the Giuliani Era
(New York: Fordham University Press, 2010), 77.
3 Peter Eisenstadt, Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City’s
Great Experiment in Integrated Housing (New York: Cornell University Press, 2010), ix.
4 Ibid., 5.
1
65
�the integration of African Americans and whites in New York City. South Jamaica,
Queens was predominately an African American neighborhood because of the mass
migration of African Americans out of New York City into Queens after World War I.
By 1960, before the development of Rochdale Village, South Jamaica’s population was
almost entirely African American which caused it to become the third largest African
American neighborhood in the city.5 South Jamaica was always a neighborhood that was
diverse in regards to income, where middle income families would be living across the
street from lower income families.6 In fact, South Jamaica became the “premier area for
black homeownership in New York City” for all levels of income.7 Despite the efforts of
the growing Civil Rights Movement, there was some white opposition to African
Americans owning homes both in and around New York. In the years before the
development of Rochdale Village, South Jamaica experienced an increase in poverty
among its residents caused by the poor conditions in the surrounding area of South
Jamaica; it was this rise in poverty that led Abraham Kazan, the president of the United
Housing Foundation (UHF) whose goal was to create affordable and attractive
cooperative housing for working people in New York City, to create the plans to develop
an integrated housing cooperative in South Jamaica.
Abraham Kazan had developed many other housing developments throughout
the city and he made it his goal to improve the area of South Jamaica, Queens by building
a housing development that would be self-sufficient and would therefore decrease some
of the poverty that surrounded the neighborhood. In theory, since the cooperative would
be self-sufficient, meaning that it would have its own shopping centers, schools, etc., the
cooperative would be able to maintain a steady income and its residents would be able to
go out into South Jamaica and help increase the wealth of the neighborhood. Abraham
Kazan was not an avid supporter of the civil rights movement, however, Rochdale
Village was affordable for many types of families whether they be lower-middle class
African American families or middle income white families. In Peter Eisenstadt’s book
Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City’s Great Experiment
in Integrated Housing, Eisenstadt states that “Abraham Kazan’s career spanned the
growth, and finally the decay of the idea that nonprofit cooperative housing, attractive
and relatively inexpensive, could be an alternative to the cupidity and vagaries of the
Taylor, Civil Rights in New York City: From World War II to the Giuliani Era, 77.
Ibid., 78.
7 Eisenstadt, Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City’s
Great Experiment in Integrated Housing, 46.
5
6
66
�private real estate market.”8 It was Abraham Kazan who led the cooperative housing
movement in New York City and his greatest achievement, Rochdale Village, put an end
to the integrated housing revolution that Kazan began because in reality, the integration
of Rochdale Village failed.
Title I of the 1949 National Housing Act “permitted the federal government to
reimburse municipalities for two-thirds of land acquisition and condemnation costs for
urban sites.”9 This portion of the National Housing Act was intended to encourage the
rebuilding of tenement areas in large plots as a means of stabilizing and improving urban
areas. This was the program that helped Kazan design an integrated housing development
in South Jamaica. Acting as his own private developer, Kazan started his own contracting
company that he used in many of his developments. The company was called Community
Services Inc. (CSI) and was the general contractor for Kazan’s cooperatives; it was also
the contractor that built Rochdale Village in the early 1960’s.10
With Abraham Kazan’s grand ideas for an integrated housing development in
South Jamaica, Queens, came the issue of funding for the project. There were some
issues with this considering it was the “largest and most significant middle income
cooperative housing project in the country.”11 With the help of Robert Moses, the “master
builder” of New York City and the preeminent architect and developer of many areas of
New York City, Kazan was able to get the funding he needed for Rochdale Village.
Robert Moses was able to “flex his political muscle” and urge the government of the city
to come up with a funding project for the cooperative.12 Because of Robert Moses’
“unflagging enthusiasm for the project, which kept the idea moving forward when most
[including Kazan] had their doubts,” on February 16, 1960, an $86 million deal was
announced.13 The New York State Department of Housing was to provide $19 million
from a housing bond issue tied to Mitchell-Lama projects. The Mitchell-Lama law was
developed in postwar New York City and made it easier for middle-income housing
programs to develop. Another portion of the money would come from pension benefits
from the State Teachers Retirement System and the State Employees Retirement System.
Ibid., 23.
Taylor, Civil Rights in New York City: From World War II to the Giuliani Era, 83.
10 Eisenstadt, Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City’s
Great Experiment in Integrated Housing, 42.
11 Ibid., 66.
12 Ibid., 33.
13 Ibid., 66.
8
9
67
�These groups would provide mortgage loans of $28.5 million.14 The rest of the money
would be raised by the UHF to be gathered from down payments by future Rochdale
residents.
With the funding for Rochdale Village now complete, it was time to build the
development on the grounds of the old Jamaica Racetrack in South Jamaica, Queens. A
controversial issue arose when New Yorkers heard about the plan to build a middleincome cooperative in South Jamaica, Queens. Many saw this venture as risky because
Rochdale Village would be built in an “overwhelmingly black area…one that would not
attract whites” and because the Rochdale Village apartments would be more expensive
than low income housing, which many argued that black families could not afford.15 In
the words of Abraham Kazan “I am more than ever convinced that the Jamaica Track
project, properly carried through, because of its size, conspicuous location, freedom from
tenant removal, and from Washington red tape, etc., will pave the way for the big state
aided middle income cooperative program we all want.”16 Kazan felt that even with the
rising controversy surrounding the building of Rochdale Village at the old Jamaica
Racetrack site, the new cooperative development would be successful because it would
be a self-sufficient cooperative that was middle income and it would be appealing to any
number of people.
Despite these controversies, Abraham Kazan moved forward with the
construction of the Rochdale Village cooperative. However, things did not remain
unproblematic for long as new issues developed outside the build site as the building of
the development commenced. In the years that Rochdale Village was built, the Civil
Rights Movement was in full swing. There were movements in the South that
demonstrated that African Americans should have equal rights in all areas of life. Some
of these demonstrations include the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Freedom Riders’ rides
throughout the South, and the Birmingham demonstrations.17 It was during this time that
people began to realize that the old Jim Crow laws were dying and a new age of racial
Ibid.
Jason Morgan Ward, Defending White Democracy: The Making of a Segregationist
Movement and the Remaking of Racial Politics, 1936-1965 (North Carolina: University
of North Carolina Press, 2011), 70.
16 Abraham Kazan correspondence letters July 29, 1959 as found in Eisenstadt, Rochdale
Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City’s Great Experiment in
Integrated Housing, 64.
17 Michael J. Klarman, From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the
Struggle for Racial Equality (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 374.
14
15
68
�equality was being ushered in. By 1963, New York City had many civil rights
accomplishments including bans against discrimination in housing, employment,
entertainment, and education and “no city had more public and private institutions open
on a nondiscriminatory basis.”18 Unfortunately many of these policies were not fully
enforced, and this led to the riot that occurred at the Rochdale Village construction site.
In the early 1960’s, African Americans were not fairly represented in the job
market and the most discriminatory area had to be the building trades unions. The
building trades unions were a group of 121 craft unions that were responsible for those
employed in the construction industry throughout the city.19 Numerous construction sites
refused to hire African Americans and the same was true of the Rochdale Village
construction site. Throughout the country in the 1960’s, civil rights organizations were
leading demonstrations that forced building trades unions to change their hiring practices.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) successfully
integrated the building unions in Philadelphia and the director of the organization decided
that similar demonstrations should be undertaken in New York City. By June of 1963, a
group of civil rights organizations set their targets on the large state-funded construction
sites in the city. One of these sites was Rochdale Village where demonstrations began on
Tuesday, July 23, 1963.20
It was common knowledge at the time that the contractors working at the
Rochdale Village construction site hired union members from out of state to expand their
work force instead of hiring willing African Americans from the city. The goal of the
civil rights organizations that were involved in the demonstrations, the Jamaica Branch of
the NAACP, Long Island branch of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the
Coordinated Clergy of Jamaica, was to “block deliveries to the site and to halt or slow
construction” until their demands were met.21 The demonstrations were generally
peaceful at the Rochdale Village construction site but many protestors did get arrested,
though very few were sent to jail. The Rochdale Village demonstration, as well as others
across the city, placed pressure on both politicians and unions to do something about the
discrimination issue. On August 6, 1963, Governor Rockefeller announced a plan that
Fred Siegel, Future Once Happened Here: New York, D.C., L.A. and the Fate of
America’s Big Cities (New York: Encounter Books, 2000), 35.
19 Eisenstadt, Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City’s
Great Experiment in Integrated Housing, 85.
20 Ibid., 86.
21 Ibid., 87.
18
69
�would tighten up enforcement of state discrimination statutes. The plan also included
working with the building trades unions to set up programs that would increase the
number of minorities in construction across the city. In the end, these demonstrations at
the Rochdale Village site paved the way for new anti-discriminatory laws to be enforced
and ensured that full racial equality was in the near future.
As construction of Rochdale Village continued, progress report bulletins were
sent out to future Rochdale residents on the status of the construction of the new
cooperative. These bulletins, like the one from May 1962, told future residents which
buildings were built so far and how long it would be until the cooperative was finished.
One such bulletin from May 1962 stated that the buildings in the first section of the
development were complete and were eight floors tall.22 The progress report also let
people know which buildings would be going up next and soon, by late 1963, residents
would be able to move in to their new apartments. Such bulletins as these encouraged
other people throughout the city to move into Rochdale Village by announcing that the
cooperative apartments would be $21/room, a decent price for lower to middle income
families.
By late 1963, Rochdale Village opened its doors to a wide variety of people. At
its opening, Rochdale housed people from all races and all classes of society. On average,
new residents paid about $21 per room making Rochdale Village available to people on
the low end of the middle income range.23 Rochdale Village truly became what Abraham
Kazan envisioned many years earlier. In 1960, Kazan said about Rochdale Village: “The
6,000 families that will live in Rochdale will have a wonderful opportunity- an
opportunity to develop a community within the larger confines of the city that will serve
their taste and needs. It will be a place where neighbors know neighbors, where roots and
traditions will be established. A community which will be motivated not by self-interest,
but by mutual aid and self-help. Where each can contribute and all will benefit.”24
Kazan’s dream was to have a fully self-sufficient cooperative, and his dream came true.
Rochdale Village supported its own food markets and shopping centers. Rochdale Village
even had its own power plant that supplied Rochdale Village with its own electricity.25
Rochdale Village Bulletin May 1962 found on:“rochdalevillageturns50.com,”
rochdalevillageturns50.com, accessed March 30, 2014,
http://rochdalevillageturns50.com/.
23 Taylor, Civil Rights in New York City: From World War II to the Giuliani Era, 77.
24 Eisenstadt, Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City’s
Great Experiment in Integrated Housing, 32.
22
70
�Peter Eisenstadt, a former resident of Rochdale Village, recalls that he enjoyed living in
Rochdale as a child because Rochdale offered many amenities to its residents and
Eisenstadt attended school there and had many life-changing moments in Rochdale
Village.26 In interviews conducted by Peter Eisenstadt with other former residents from
Rochdale Village, we get a sense that in its early years, Rochdale Village was a
wonderful place that was integrated and peaceful. One of these residents was Olga Lewis,
a practical nurse. In her interview with Peter Eisenstadt she says that she moved to
Rochdale Village because “I thought I needed to elevate myself and elevate my child. I
knew I was going into a nice neighborhood, Rochdale’s houses were good, and the
people in the surrounding area were homeowners, and East New York was beginning to
go down.”27 People just like Olga Lewis moved into Rochdale Village because New York
was changing, there was an increase in poverty around the city and many knew that
Rochdale Village was an escape from that. Rochdale Village became a haven for many
New Yorkers, black and white. So what changed?
During the New Deal era, New York City prospered economically. However, as
the 1950’s progressed, there were more and more families on welfare benefits and the
city’s neighborhoods were becoming poorer and poorer. In 1961, New York City’s
budget fell into deficit “for the first time since the Great Depression, and stayed there.”28
In the 1960’s, at the height of New York City poverty levels, New York and the federal
government “gambled that what makes people poor is simply lack of money and that the
fastest way to eliminate poverty is to get more people on the welfare rolls” while also
increasing what recipients are entitled to.”29 In the years that Rochdale Village was
running the way Kazan envisioned, the poverty of South Jamaica and New York City in
general, was increasing dramatically. The rise in poverty in turn led to the rise in violence
and these factors, among others, led to Rochdale Village’s decline.
By the 1970’s, many white families were moving out of Rochdale Village
because of the changing times in and around Rochdale Village and New York City, and
by the late 1970s, the cooperative was predominately African American.30 Despite the
Ibid., 7–8.
Ibid., x.
27 Ibid., 8.
28 Siegel, Future Once Happened Here: New York, D.C., L.A. and the Fate of America’s
Big Cities, 34.
29 Ibid., 54.
30 Taylor, Civil Rights in New York City: From World War II to the Giuliani Era, 77.
25
26
71
�December 1964 Rochdale Village newsletter that told residents to spread good will to
their neighbors no matter their race, there were still many racial issues within the walls of
Rochdale Village that caused the departure of almost all of the white families in the
cooperative.31 According to many whites who resided in Rochdale Village, they came to
Rochdale because they had accepted integration as a way of life, not because they were
fighters for integration.32 This became part of the problem as the years went by, despite
the fact that whites accepted integration, and vice versa, there were still racial tensions.
These issues were standard for the time: “white fears of black crime, outsiders, and the
problems of integrated education; black anger at curt and rude comments and treatment
and black fears that the Jews in Rochdale…were trying to unduly dominate the
cooperative’s political and cultural affairs.”33
Another issue surrounding Rochdale Village arose because of the increase in
crime and drug use in the areas surrounding Rochdale Village. All around South Jamaica,
there was an increase in car thefts and break-ins and a rise in the usage of heroin.34 In
fact, between 1969 and 1973, South Jamaica’s crime rates had doubled and in some areas
tripled. The earliest case of violent crime around Rochdale was in 1964 in Kew Gardens,
Queens, a town just a few subway stops from Rochdale Village. This event was the brutal
sex crime and murder of Kitty Genovese on March 13, 1964. The crime was a sign of the
changing times of the city; it was the start of the high crime era in New York City.35
Families also left Rochdale Village simply because they moved there in order to
save money to buy a house in the future; along this line came the people who felt that
Rochdale Village no longer lived up to their expectations and moved out to buy a house
in another part of the city. Families with children left the cooperative because the
education program of Rochdale was deteriorating and they wanted their children to
receive a better education; one resident wrote to Inside Rochdale, Rochdale Village’s
newspaper, that “True, young people with children moved out because of the school
situation, we all know it is bad.”36 Rochdale Village also faced a financial crisis, which
31
December 18, 1964 Rochdale Village newsletter “rochdalevillageturns50.com.”
Taylor, Civil Rights in New York City: From World War II to the Giuliani Era,
89.
32
Ibid.
Eisenstadt, Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City’s
Great Experiment in Integrated Housing, 175.
35 Ibid., 173.
36 Ibid., 217.
33
34
72
�led to the deterioration of many of the programs that the cooperative held. As one
representative of Rochdale stated: “There has been a heavy turnover at Rochdale Village
which is not healthy for this community and inimical to its stability. The problem of
schools, security, increase in the cost of living and other factors have contributed to this
turnover…we nevertheless believe that the survival of Rochdale Village as an integrated
community should be preserved.”37
The 1960’s was an important decade in the history of African American civil
rights, and through many struggles African Americans gained the equality they deserved.
This era saw many changes in the way people lived and worked together. It was a time
for bold moves and for change. The year 1963 saw one of the grandest endeavors in the
civil rights era, the development of the largest integrated housing cooperative in New
York City and in the country. Today Rochdale Village stands as the largest
predominately African American housing cooperative in the United States. The Rochdale
Village cooperative faced many challenges throughout its development, but still remains
as one of the largest housing developments in New York City. Abraham Kazan, the man
behind Rochdale Village, dreamed of a place where people from all areas of life could
live together peacefully in a development that would be completely self-sufficient. For
almost ten years, Kazan’s dream came true. However, as time went on Rochdale Village
lost some of the funding it needed to remain like Kazan dreamed. The changes in
Rochdale Village and in South Jamaica, Queens led many families to move out of the
cooperative to seek better opportunities for themselves. Despite the mass exodus of
families in the 1970’s, Rochdale Village celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013 and
remains one of the largest housing developments in New York City and perhaps in the
entire country.
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37
Ibid., 217.
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75
�The Life of R.D. Laing and an Analysis
of Laing’s Theory of Schizophrenia
Laurie L. Fogelstrom (Psychology)1
To present day, the mysteries of schizophrenia continue to plague the mental
health movement. Many hypothesize it to be organic in nature either caused by an
individual’s genetics or abnormal brain chemistry and structure, provoked further by
environmental factors. Furthermore, after individuals are diagnosed with this brain
condition, the prognosis remains rather poor, with the psychiatric stigma that they will
never heal and will have to live with this disease for life. Anti-psychotic medications and
mental health institutions constitute as means of controlling the course of the disorder,
despite the fact that there is no concrete evidence of whether this phenomenon is truly a
disease of the brain.
R.D. Laing was a prominent figure in the anti-psychiatry movement, which
attacked the power held by psychiatric institutions, the authoritarian structure of the
doctor and patient relationship, and electroshock therapy (Fernández, 2001). R.D. Laing
rejects schizophrenia as an organic disease and considers it a social process that can be
understood as a response to family transactions of the schizophrenic patient to their
family. Furthermore, Laing puts forth that madness is a form of communication in
response to the contradictory messages and demands that occur within the family.
Although criticized by many, R.D. Laing remains a figure in history whose background
as a psychiatrist and whose theory of schizophrenia brought light to humanizing the
schizophrenic individual.
Biography of R.D. Laing
Ronald David Laing was born on 7 October 1927 in Glasgow as an only child.
As noted by Beveridge (1998), Laing had a troubled relationship with his mother, who
apparently lacked affection for him. Years later, Laing recalled that his mother was
scandalized at seeing the word “fuck” in one of his books and began the practice of
sticking pins into a model of her son, called a “Ronald doll” (Burston, 1996). According
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Miles Groth for PS248: Existential Psychology.
76
�to Burston (1996), Laing’s medical friends actually considered his mother to in fact be
“mad” or posited she had a psychotic illness.
Laing’s relationship with his father was more positive, on the other hand. His
father, David Laing, was an electrical engineer with the Glasgow Corporation, and he and
Ronald shared a passion for music (Beveridge, 1998). Yet when Laing entered medical
school, his father suffered a depressive breakdown, brought on by religious doubts
(1998). Laing commented that his father was his first patient, as Laing provided him with
psychological support during this time.
Furthermore, Laing was a bright individual with a passion for philosophy,
literature, and music despite his enrollment in medical school at Glasgow University. He
graduated in 1951 at the age of 24 and began work at the Glasgow and West of Scotland
neurosurgical unit at Killearn. Here, Laing met Joe Schorstein, a leading neurosurgeon,
whom Laing (1985) was later to describe as “my spiritual father.” Schorstein helped to
further Laing’s knowledge of European philosophy and knowledge of continental
thinkers as they both attended a philosophical discussion group which met regularly in
Glasgow (1998). According to Beveridge, Laing’s time in Glasgow was crucial to his
later intellectual development. Laing was exposed to the thriving philosophical tradition
in Glasgow during the time, which concerned itself with European existentialist thought,
and with the related Scottish school known as the “personalists” (Beveridge, 1998). In
Laing’s first book, The Divided Self (1959), he mentions leading Scottish personalist
philosopher John MacMurray, who argued that the techniques of natural science were
inappropriate to the study of people.
Next Laing found himself serving in a British army psychiatric unit in England,
since army service at the time was mandatory. He served here until 1953 and recalls that
the staff were under strict instructions not to talk to the psychotic patients. Laing (1960)
recollects:
You must not let a schizophrenic talk to you. It aggravates the psychotic process. It
is like
promoting a hemorrhage in a hemophiliac or giving a laxative to
someone with diarrhea.
It inflames the brain and fans the psychosis.
According to Beveridge (1998), British psychiatry at this time was characterized
by a strongly semanticist approach to mental illness, and interpersonal connections with
the patients were highly disregarded, which were particularly hindered by the widespread
usage of insulin coma therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, and lobotomies which all
attempted to fix the patient.
77
�However, when Laing was placed in his first civilian posting at Gartnavel Royal
Hospital, whose superintendent was the humanist Angus MacNiven, the staff was open to
alternative social models of therapy versus the leading physical treatments at the time. At
Garnavel, Laing along with his colleagues, McGhie and Cameron, conducted what has
come to be known as the “Rumpus Room” experiment (Cameron et al., 1955). The back
wards of Gartnavel were overcrowded and understaffed, and Laing and his colleagues
questioned the extent to which the schizophrenia was a product of the environment of the
patients as opposed to a result of a physical condition.
According to Beveridge (1998), Laing and his colleagues persuaded Dr.
MacNiven to let the patients have a large, comfortably-furnished room, and to allow 12
of the most intractable patients to stay in that room for an extended period. Along with
that, the nurse-to-patient ratio was increased and the atmosphere gradually became more
relaxed. After 18 months in this new environment, all 12 patients were so improved that
they were discharged (Cameron et al., 1955). However, after one year, all of the patients
were back at Gartnavel. Consequently, some of Laing’s colleagues argued that this
illustrated that schizophrenia was a lifelong condition which was only partially relieved
by environmental manipulation. This led Laing to ponder that if there was something
wrong with the social environment outside of the hospital.
Laing’s clinical experiences at Gartnavel formed the foundation of The Divided
Self (1960), in which Laing attempted to “…make madness, and the process of going mad
comprehensible” (Beveridge, 1998). Laing drew his influence from the work of
existential philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Sartre, and Buber, and came to conclude
that the medical model, with its notion that the patient was a malfunctioning biological
mechanism served to dehumanize the patient. To further support his conclusion, Laing
quotes an extract from a German professor, Kraepelin, in which Kraepelin presents a
patient suffering from schizophrenia to a medical class. Kraepelin interacted with a
patient who demonstrated the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia through
incomprehensible speech and behavior.
However, instead of claiming that the patient’s interactions were unintelligible,
Laing attempted to comprehend the patient’s behavior. He suggests that the patient was
objecting to being exhibited in a lecture hall by Kraepelin, and that his responses could be
understood if this was taken into account (Beveridge, 1998). As Laing writes:
Now it seems clear that this patient’s behavior can be seen in at least two ways…
One may see his behavior as ‘signs’ of a ‘disease’; one may see his behavior as
expressive of his existence (1960).
78
�Laing implies that the patient’s behavior could be seen as a result of a physical
condition or as the result of being subjected to a dehumanizing display before an
audience.
Pursuing this in his 1964 book, Sanity, Madness and the Family (Laing &
Esterson, 1964), Laing sought to understand the speech and behavior of patients suffering
from schizophrenia in the context of disturbed family communications. However,
academic psychiatrists viewed Laing’s book with disdain, and complained that there was
no control group, and that the author and his colleague had relied on their subjective
impressions of the families they interviewed, rather than using standardized rating
procedures (Beveridge, 1998).
Laing officially estranged himself from mainstream psychiatry, particularly with
the publishing of the Politics of Experience and The Bird of Paradise (Laing, 1967), in
which Laing famously wrote:
From the moment of birth, when the stone-age baby confronts the twentieth-century
mother, the baby is subjected to these forces of violence, called love, as its mother
and father have been, and their parents and their parents before them. These forces
are mainly concerned with destroying most of its potentialities. The enterprise is on
the whole successful. By the time the new human being is fifteen or so, we are left
with a being like ourselves. A half-crazed creature, more or less adjusted to a mad
world. This is normality in our present world (1967).
At this stage in Laing’s life, his views were popular among the post-war student
generation, especially in America where The Politics of Experience was a campus
bestseller (Beveridge, 1998). In his talks and lectures, Laing grouped the psychotic
patient with the criminal and the political protestor in a trinity of oppressed heralds
carrying a universal message about the human condition (Clare, 1990). Laing also
discussed in The Politics of Experience and the Bird of Paradise, that madness is a
voyage of self-discovery, which could lead to spiritual enlightenment. However, despite
some of his popularity, Laing’s views of schizophrenia and mental illness in general were
not taken well by other psychiatrists and his reputation suffered.
Despite his critics, Laing set up Kingsley Hall in London as a refuge from
drugs and hospitalization (Beveridge, 1998). According to Beveridge, it was underpinned
by theories that madness was a potentially self-healing voyage, and that if sufferers were
provided with a supportive environment, free from medical intervention and force, they
would emerge recovered. However, Kingsley Hall eventually deteriorated into chaos by
the end of the 1960s, and according to Beveridge (1998), even Laing admitted that it had
not been a great success. The fall of Kingsley Hall reflected to many of Laing’s critics the
79
�limits of non-interventionist approaches to mental illness. Nevertheless, it did inspire
future attempts to treat the mentally ill outside the institutional setting.
The end of the 1960s resulted in the decline of the fame and interest
surrounding R. D. Laing. From then until his death in 1989, the frequency of his writings
diminished, and his public appearances were filled with his drunken and outrageous
behavior (Beveridge, 1998). In 1985, Laing was interviewed by Anthony Clare (1992) for
the program In the Psychiatrist’s Chair,where he arrived at the studio drunk. As he
sobered up, he spoke about his childhood, and his fears that he was suffering from midlife melancholia, similar to his father and his grandfather before him. Laing however died
in 1989 of a heart attack while playing tennis. Characteristically, his last words were that
he did not want a doctor to be called (Beveridge, 1998).
Laing’s philosophies no longer take prominence in present psychiatry.
Regardless, Laing has made some contributions in the field of psychiatry. Anthony Clare
(1990) has stated that Laing’s major contribution was to identify the dehumanizing
consequences of treating people as malfunctioning machines, and he discusses that
Laing’s message has important implications not just for psychiatry, but for the whole of
medicine. As Beveridge (1998) states, in the 1990s to even present times, there is a
growing concern in medicine that doctors are increasingly poor at relating to their
patients. Although Laing was criticized for his view of the mental health industry and
psychiatry, his views did attempt “to put the person back in the patient” (Mullan, 1997),
something with which psychiatry continues to struggle with today.
Laing’s Theory of Schizophrenia
Laing’s view on the etiology of schizophrenia became a controversial theory,
especially since schizophrenia is still considered a physiological condition. However, his
approach attempts not only to humanize the schizophrenic patient, but also attempts to
claim that they are not totally lost, as society believes. Laing (1967) specifically
addresses in the Schizophrenic Experience what he believes to be the foundation of the
phenomenon of “schizophrenia,” which focuses not on the physiology of the patient but
on his or her existence.
The term schizophrenia was first coined by Swiss psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler.
Bleuler originally claimed that schizophrenia was primarily an organic disease, not only
having a physical dimension, but a mental component as well. Bleuler’s psychogenic
view of schizophrenia treats the mind as if it were the brain, leading to the concept that
80
�the mind can become mentally ill, similar to the body’s potential for disease. As Laing
(1967) states:
…based on the attempts of 19th-century psychiatrists to bring the frame of clinical
medicine to bear on their observations…. the subject matter of psychiatry was
thought of as mental illness; one thought of mental physiology and mental
pathology, one looked for signs and symptoms, made one’s diagnosis, assessed
prognosis and prescribed treatment. According to one’s philosophical bias, one
looked for etiology of these mental illnesses in the mind, in the body, in the
environment, or in inherited propensities (1967, pp. 102-103).
As Laing points out, the medical model for determining physiological diseases
was also applied to physician’s observations of behavior that was seen as unfavorable.
This behavior, like a physiological disease, was traced back to its source. Usually a
physiological disease is traced back to a physical part of the body - looking at specific
genes, cells, or organs. However, with one’s behavior, the source of abnormal behavior
became the mind. Thus the idea that a person can become mentally ill provides an
explanation for behavior that society considers irrational and unpredictable.
Furthermore, as Laing (1967) refers to the term schizophrenia, he claims to be
referring to it as conditions that are neither mental nor physical, but rather a label that
certain individuals pin upon other people under certain social circumstances. As Laing
states, the label of “schizophrenia” signifies a behavior that is disapproved of under
social norms. The reasoning behind this behavior, as psychiatrists claim, is the result of a
malfunctioned or ill mind. Instead Laing states, “it is wrong to impute hypothetical
disease of unknown etiology and undiscovered pathology to someone unless he can prove
otherwise” (p. 104). In his discussion, Laing claims that it is incorrect to state that
schizophrenia is an organic disease, as its etiology is undiscovered. Unless researchers
and physicians can physically pinpoint its origins to a location within the body, it is
erroneous to diagnose someone with a disease or illness called “schizophrenia.” As
mentioned by Laing:
…most but not all psychiatrists still think that people they call schizophrenic suffer
from an inherited predisposition to act in predominately incomprehensible ways,
that some as yet undetermined genetic factor (possibly a genetic morphism)
transacts with a more or less ordinary environment to induce biochemicalendocrinological changes which in turn generate what we observe as the behavioral
signs of a subtle underlying organic
process (1967, p. 104).
Most psychiatrists and individuals today still think that schizophrenia is the
effect of a physiological cause. On the contrary, the only evidence truly derived in
making that claim is through observing the behavior of the schizophrenic. Laing regards
81
�the schizophrenic as “someone who has queer experience and/or is acting in a queer way,
from the point of view usually of his relatives and of ourselves” (p. 105). Therefore, since
this diagnosis is not made on the basis of scientific process of physiological examination,
Laing further states, “To regard this as a fact is unequivocally false. To regard it as an
hypothesis is legitimate. It is unnecessary either to make the assumption or to pass
judgment” (p. 105). In psychiatry, schizophrenia is denoted and treated as a fact from
which the patient is predicted to never recover. The judgment of the psychiatrist is thus
also treated as a fact, or as Laing describes, is taken “for our common-sense view of
normality” (p. 108). Therefore in psychiatry, there is an assumption that the psychiatrist
is emblematic of normality, and that the patient signifies the abnormal.
Laing focuses on the experience of individuals which psychiatrists pay very
little attention to in actuality. According to Laing (1967), psychoanalysis also appears to
stress that the experiences of the schizophrenic are unreal or invalid. Even Kaplan, an
American psychologist that Laing quotes, states that the process of psychotherapy
consists largely of the patient abandoning his or her false subjective perspectives for the
therapists’ objective ones. For “the essence of this conception is that the psychiatrist
understands what is going on, and the patient does not” (Kaplan, 1964, p. vii).
Nevertheless, Laing believes that schizophrenics have more to teach psychiatrists about
the inner workings of the mind than psychiatrists can their patients.
Laing (1967) draws more influence from American sociologist, Erving
Goffman, who took part in a study that documented how it comes about that a person, in
being put in the role of patient, eventually becomes defined as a non-responsible object
and even comes to regard himself in this light. As Goffman (1961) states, “…behavior
that might seem unintelligible, at best explained as some intrapsychic regression or
organic deterioration, can just describe such behavior ‘in’ mental hospital patients”
(p. 306). Therefore, although behavior that is declared abnormal may be explained by
physical malfunctions, Goffman goes on to say that unintelligible behavior may just be
the result of the system in which it takes place. Consequently, if individuals are labeled
“schizophrenic” and thrown into a setting for “insane” people, Goffman believes that
they will act crazy because that is what is expected of them.
However, the people that get diagnosed with schizophrenia reside outside of
hospitals, (Laing, 1967). Psychotherapists have looked at interpersonal and
environmental causes of schizophrenia, and have come to the assumption that if their
patients were disturbed, their families were often very disturbing. Laing critiques this
method because the families were not studied directly but rather the patient was only
82
�examined as an individual. As Laing states, “the social system, not single individuals
extrapolated from it, must be the object of study” (p. 115).
Furthermore, Laing discusses the double-bind hypothesis proposed and created
by Gregory Bateson et al. (1956). Studies of families of schizophrenics conducted at Palo
Alto, California, Yale University, the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, and National
Institute of Mental Health for instance, have all shown that the person diagnosed as
schizophrenic is part of a wider network of disturbed and disturbing patterns of
communication (Laing, 1967). According to Laing, “…no schizophrenic has been studied
whose disturbed pattern of communication has not been shown to be a reflection of, and
reaction to, the disturbed and disturbing pattern characterizing his or her family of origin”
(p. 114).
Laing also took note of this in his own research that schizophrenia seemed to be
a depiction of a disturbed family background in his 1964 book Sanity, Madness, and the
Family, Volume I, Families of Schizophrenics. In over 100 cases, Laing and colleagues
studied the circumstances around the social event where one person comes to be regarded
as schizophrenic. It appeared to them that the experience and behavior that leads to being
labeled schizophrenic by society is in actuality a special strategy that a person invents in
order to live in what he or she considers an unlivable situation (Laing, 1967).
As Laing (1959) discusses in his first book, The Divided Self, psychosis results
from the intensification of the divisions of the self. Each division of the self reflects
different fragments of modern society. Therefore, as Laing (1967) puts it, schizophrenia
is the reaction of the individual in a life situation in which they have come to feel he or
she is in an indefensible position:
He cannot make a move, or make no move, without being beset by contradictory
and paradoxical pressures and demands, pushes and pulls, both internally from
himself, and externally from those around him. He is, as it were, in a position of
checkmate (p. 115).
Therefore, Laing proposes that something is definitely wrong somewhere, but
not simply “in” the diagnosed patient, but rather the society the individual dwells in.
Behaviors classified as schizophrenic are therefore a reaction to the off course society an
individual finds his or her self in. Laing also uses the example of a formation of planes to
further conceptualize the society that the schizophrenic individual is in:
From an ideal vantage point on the ground, a formation of planes may be observed
in the air. One plane may be out of formation. But the whole formation may be off
course. The plane that is “out of formation” may be abnormal, bad, or ‘mad,’ from
the point view of the formation. But the formation itself may be bad or may from
83
�the point of view of the ideal observer. The plane that is out formation may also be
more or less off course than the formation itself is (pp. 118-119).
The implication Laing is making is that it is not the schizophrenic that is off
course, but rather the society, which is represented as the whole formation of planes that
is “out of formation.” As Laing states, it is fundamental not to assume that because a
group is “in formation,” they are necessarily “on course,” nor is it necessarily the case
that the person who is “out of formation” is more “on course” than the formation. Rather,
as Laing implies, just because an individual may appear “out of formation” from the
society in which he or she resides does not mean he or she should be ostracized. For
according to Laing, “the person who is ‘out of formation’ is often full of hatred toward
the formation and of fears about being the odd man out” (p. 119). Therefore, if this
formation is in fact off course, the individual who is trying to get “on course” must in fact
leave the formation. In other words, since the individual is leaving the formation or
society in order to get more on track, it appears that he or she is out of touch with reality
or the formation. This in fact is a contradiction, as he or she is simply attempting to get
more in touch with what is true reality.
Therefore, “schizophrenia” to Laing, is a label applied to some people by others.
This establishes it as a social fact; not a pathological, psycho-pathological, or physiological condition of unknown etiology. As Laing (1967) states, “it is easy to forget that
the process is a hypothesis, to assume that it is a fact, then to pass the judgment that it’s
biologically maladaptive and, as such, pathological” (p. 120). Furthermore, the label
“schizophrenia” is also a political event which imposes both stigmas and consequences
on the labeled individual.
It is a social prescription that rationalizes a set of social actions whereby the labeled
person is annexed by others, who are legally sanctioned, medically empowered and
morally obliged, to become responsible for the person labeled. The person labeled is
inaugurated not only into a role, but into a career or patient…The “committed”
person labeled as patient, and specifically as “schizophrenic,” is degraded from full
existential and legal status as a human agent and responsible person to someone no
longer in possession of his own definition of himself, unable to retain his own
possessions, precluded from the exercise of his discretion as to whom he meets,
what he does. His time is no longer his own and the space he occupies is no longer
of his choosing. After being subjected to a degradation ceremonial known as
psychiatric examination, he is bereft of his civil liberties in being imprisoned in a
total institution known as a “mental” hospital. More completely, more radical than
anywhere else in our society, he is invalidated as a human being. In the mental
hospital he must remain, until the label is rescinded or qualified by such terms as
84
�“remitted” or “readjusted.” Once a “schizophrenic,” there is a tendency to be
regarded as always a “schizophrenic” (1967, pp. 121-122).
As Laing states, the diagnosis of schizophrenia and the effects it has on the
individual is dehumanizing. The individual is either committed to a hospital where they
are not free and their freedom is regulated. In modern times, the ever prevalent usage of
anti-psychotic medicines suppresses behaviors seen in an unfavorable light and often
results in weight gain and drowsiness. However, it is specifically important to note, as
Laing emphasizes, that the label of “schizophrenia” dehumanizes the person enough. It
implicates that the person is abnormal, unworthy of human freedom, possibly violent
because of unpredictable behavior, and will forever stay schizophrenic for the rest of his
or her life.
As Laing (1967) goes on to question, “Why does this happen? What functions
does this procedure serve for the maintenance of the civic order?” (p. 122). Labeling and
locking away individuals diagnosed as schizophrenic appear to be methods of control, as
Laing describes, and an expression of power over one another. The schizophrenic often
exhibits behavior as the result of unusual experiences that appear to be unusual to the
observer. These unusual experiences expressed by unusual behavior appear to be part of a
potentially orderly, natural sequence of experience (Laing, 1967). However, since the
observer of the schizophrenic behavior cannot relate to it in any manner, he or she views
it in a distorted form and as Laing puts, our therapeutic efforts tend to distort even
further.
Perhaps the inability of society to understand the experience of the schizophrenic
is its fear of the “inner” world or what is called “psycho-phobia” (Laing, 1967). Laing
states that we do not realize the existence of the inner world and are generally taught to
stay in the “outer world.” Entering the inner world from this world should be as natural,
as Laing describes, as death and being born. However, given society’s fear and ignorance
of the inner world, if an individual does enter it as the physical “reality” of the outer
world disappears, this individual is lost and terrified, and will encounter the disgust of
others. Laing writes “we are socially conditioned to regard total immersion in outer space
and time as normal and healthy. Immersion in inner space and time tends to be regarded
as antisocial withdrawal, a deviation, invalid, pathological…” (p. 125). Individuals are
now so out of touch with this inner realm that many people do not attempt to access it and
in fact argue that it has ceased to exist. Therefore, the experience of the schizophrenic
does not exist, but it is attributed to a dysfunctional collection of genes or irregular
biochemistry.
85
�Conclusion
The disorder of schizophrenia seems to be in society rather than physiological.
Perhaps when some factual evidence is obtained on its etiology, psychiatrists will be
capable of discussing adequate treatments and methods to aid the schizophrenic with his
or her condition. Schizophrenia is still a hypothesis; one that derives from unknown
etiology and manifests itself as behavior that cannot fully be interpreted by the observer
(Laing, 1967). As Laing (1967) suggests at the end of “the Schizophrenic Experience:”
If the human race survives, future men will, I suspect, look back on our
enlightened epoch as a veritable Age of Darkness. They will presumably be able
to savor the irony of this situation with more amusement than we can extract
from it. The laugh’s on us. They will see that what we call “schizophrenia” was
one of the forms in which, often through quite ordinary people, the light began
to break through the cracks in our all-too-closed minds (p. 129).
Perhaps the institutionalization of and disdain for schizophrenics will become
just another chapter in human history. Just as witchcraft once was a way for society to
abuse power and control others, the mental disorder of schizophrenia may be regarded as
another flaw in our judgment of humans. For now, the schizophrenic is still seen as a
hopeless and bizarre creature because he or she cannot be coerced. As Laing (1967) puts
it, “perhaps we can still retain the now old name, and read into its etymological meaning:
Schizo - ‘broken’; phrenos - ‘soul’ or ‘heart.’ The schizophrenic in this sense is one who
is brokenhearted, and even broken hearts have been known to mend, if we have the heart
to let them” (pp. 129-130).
Laing’s humanistic approach to the theory of schizophrenia still differentiates
itself from the opinion of society. It will perhaps take several years for psychiatrists to
acknowledge the existence and experience of the schizophrenic as something that is not a
physiological disease, but a reaction to alienation and disrupted family situations.
Nevertheless, Laing validates the schizophrenic as a human being, not deserving of
institutionalization and disregard, but as one who will give the human race more
information about itself than it can to the schizophrenic. Although R.D. Laing is an
undervalued figure in the history of psychiatry, his insightful and existential approach to
the concept of schizophrenia captures the essence of humanity almost extinguished by
psychiatry.
86
�Bibliography
Bateson, G., Jackson, D.D., Haley, J., & Weakland, J. (1956). Toward a theory of
schizophrenia. Behavioral Science, 1, 251-254.
Beveridge, A. (1998). R.D. Laing revisited. Psychiatric Bulletin, 22, 452-456.
Burston, D. (1996). The Wing of Madness. The Life and Work of R. D. Laing. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Cameron, J.L., Laing, R.D., & McGhie, A. (1955). Effects of environmental changes in
the care of chronic schizophrenics. Lancet, 2, 1384-1386.
Clare, A. (1990). Ronald David Laing 1927-1989: an appreciation. Psychiatric Bulletin,
14, 87-88.
Clare, A. (1992). In the Psychiatrist’s Chair. London: Heinemann.
Fernández, I.C. (2001). A journey to madness: Jane Bowles’s narrative and
schizophrenia. Journal of Medical Humanities, 22, 265-283.
Laing, R.D. (1967). The politics of experience. New York: Pantheon Books.
Laing, R. D. (1959). The Divided Self. New York: Penguin Group.
Mullan, B. (1995). Mad to be Normal. Conversations with R.D. Laimg. London: Free
Association Books.
Siegler, M., Osmond, H., & Mann, H. (1969). Laing’s models of madness. The British
Journal of Psychiatry, 115, 947-958.
Showalter, E. (1985). The female malady: Women, madness, and english culture, 18301980. London: Virago Press.
87
�Accepting a Healthy Dose of Falstaff:
The Element of Irreducible Rascality and
Sir John Falstaff’s Role in Henry IV, Part I
Krag Kerr1
Whether Queen Elizabeth actually had an affinity for the character of Sir John
Falstaff and requested that he return so that she might see him in love, or if this is a
legend created long after the fact, there is something about Sir Falstaff which draws the
reader or theatergoer. He is adored for his wittiness and infectious personality, and
despite Shakespeare using Falstaff as a subtle cautionary message against too much chaos
or disorder, the reader does not wish for him to be fully punished. To have him
completely vilified and given a serious comeuppance is not appealing. This is because the
reader sees himself/herself, to a degree, and likely varying degrees, in Falstaff. He
represents, as it is called in Jungian psychology, the Shadow, or element or irreducible
rascality: that hidden part of a person which is supremely selfish and wants the best for
himself/herself. Just as the psyche must accept the Shadow and can expect trouble in
trying to remove or bury it, Falstaff’s role as the rascal and the harbinger of chaos makes
him absolutely imperative in Henry IV, Part I.
In the final lines of an essay entitled “The Birth and Death of Falstaff
Reconsidered,” the scholar concludes:
It is…Carl Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious which offers a possible
explanation…archetypal images of king-fathers and sacrificial rites are our
inescapable heritage no less than they were Shakespeare’s. We should be neither
surprised nor alarmed that Shakespeare, in his greatest moments, penetrates this
mysterious, rich, and largely unexplored region of the human psyche. (Williams
365)
Sir John Falstaff is an archetype of his own. He is fat, grotesque, crapulous, and aging,
despite his youthful behavior. Beyond that are his lies, his profanity, and his sexual
perversion. Therefore, a Falstaffian character encompasses that which the reader does not
want to be, hopes that he/she is not, and likely believes that no one should be. Yet he is
not some worthless drunk in the gutter, but a knight! Were Falstaff simply a repulsive
low-life, he could have been passed off as business as usual, in a sense. But instead, with
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley for EN330: Shakespeare Survey.
88
�his title and close companionship of the Prince, he stands where honor and other virtues
are expected; just as any person is of the disposition that there is an expected morality to
which they must personally adhere, and feels guilt when aware of Falstaffian intentions
or desires lurking below the conscious.
Of all of Sir Falstaff’s “reproachable” traits and behaviors, the base
characteristic from which all the rest stem, and therefore the most important to
understanding him, is his selfishness. He is truly in it for himself, and though he is not
always skilled at gaining an unfair advantage on the world, his introduction demonstrates
a certain skill at pursuing the most of a situation. He says, in conversation with Prince
Henry, “Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let not us that are squires of the
night’s body be call’d thieves of the day’s beauty. Let us be…minions of the moon, and
let men say we be men of good government, being govern’d as the sea is, by our noble
and chaste mistress the moon, under whose countenance we steal” (Shakespeare I.ii 23 –
29). By making the Prince promise to not turn on his current friends, Falstaff ensures
some protection over the future of his delinquent activity as well as the delinquency of
the crowd he surrounds himself with. The selfish aspect of this (preferring his own
freedom to raise havoc over the peace and well-being of England) is subtle enough to not
give a bad first impression, as no one is being personally wronged or hoodwinked.
Scholars have paid much attention to the power dynamic in this scene. Samuel
B. Hemingway, a professor at Yale during the first half of the twentieth century, in his
essay, “On Behalf of that Falstaff,” writes:
The first impression we get of Falstaff comes from the Prince Hal’s raillery in I. ii,
and the first epithet applied to him is “fat-witted.” To the first-night audience he is,
and perhaps remains, “fat-witted” in the sense that he seems always to be the victim
of the more clever Hal and Poins. But…after reading the nine-and-a-half acts that
follow, do we not radically modify this first impression? Do we not become more
aware of the lack of perception on the part of the Prince than of any stupidity on the
part of Falstaff? (349)
The superficial ill-treatment of Falstaff mirrors the suppression of the Shadow, with the
apparent “leaders” in the situation, especially Poins, behaving as the conscious mind. The
reader gets the sense that what they say is considered with care before being spoken.
However, there is an unspoken and unacknowledged leg-up that the Shadow has due to
residing in the unconscious, just in the same way that Hemingway notes that the display
of ignorance, retrospectively, belongs far more to Hal than to the friend at whom he
pokes fun.
89
�Falstaff was almost certainly not thinking about introducing an ideology while
requesting that the someday-king absolve him of crime, but he did nonetheless. By
making himself, as well as his lowly friends, “minions of the moon” who are governed by
it and under its rule just as the sea’s tides are, they seem, firstly, like animals. A pack of
wolves is the obvious association due to the moon imagery, but regardless of whatever
night-animal they may be, there comes the second logical step that they are governed by
nature itself. From an Elizabethan perspective, this creates an interesting parallel. For
while the king may be appointed by God to lead the people, the throne can be usurped,
and thus fall out of God’s hands, as the Prince’s father knows well. To be ruled by nature
in this scenario is a far closer method to being under the direct command of God.
Again, Falstaff is likely glorifying his delinquency to the Prince facetiously after
the serious request of get-out-of-jail-free cards as friends of the crown; but taken now
into a modern context, Falstaff’s allegiance to the impulsive and natural over the
kingdom of man and its policies and schemes likens him even further to the Shadow of
the psyche. To be “of the night” also lends itself to the notion of suppressed or hidden
desires. These murky depths of the unconscious are brought forth as well in this
introduction by building a relationship between the reader and Falstaff. He does not come
across as a “thinker,” which leaves the impression that he is benevolent, or at least
benign. But he is also without a doubt well-spoken and can evoke beautiful images and
comparisons in league with Shakespeare’s most eloquent characters. Sir Falstaff’s gift
with words as well as his humorous wit makes his offensive belligerence warm,
easygoing, and inviting to the reader. Even knowing the character to be “bad” in a social
context, the reader does not feel distrustful or suspicious, but that there is something
familiar there.
Hal and Falstaff are not but foils to one another. They are far closer than their
dialogue in the first act suggests. In the fourth scene of the second act, Falstaff asks Hal if
the position of the crown does not frighten him at all; if he is cold-blooded to the idea of
being killed so that another might take the throne. The Prince responds, “Not a whit, i’
faith, I lack some of thy instinct,” acknowledging a positive attribute of Sir Falstaff’s
nature (Shakespeare II.iv 371 – 372). With impulse comes instinct, contextually meaning
an ability to act without hesitation as well as to improvise a means to manipulate a social
situation. Falstaff replies that the king will chastise Hal should he go to the king without a
prepared performance, and implores him: “if thou love me, practice an answer”
(Shakespeare II.iv 374 – 375). Hal does. He instructs Falstaff to play the part of his
father, and the knight hilariously puts on a sarcastic portrayal of the king. Playing the
90
�king, he praises Hal for often having a virtuous, portly man in his company. The two then
switch roles and treat it more seriously, though Falstaff soon turns that too into a game.
First, there is the implication that Hal has a love of some kind for Falstaff. How
different than the relationship to the drinking buddy whom the Prince could mock for
entertainment! Even should a person wish to argue that Falstaff set the condition himself
and that Hal merely agreed to practice a speech to his father to save his own skin, the
Prince himself proposed that they act out the roles of father and son. Of course, the Prince
and his friend might as well have stepped off the stage into Dr. Freud’s office the
moment this was agreed upon, but keeping with Jung, Hal is admitting through various
means in the previously detailed interaction that there is a place in him for Sir John
Falstaff. The Prince is aware, consciously or unconsciously, that to try to rid himself of
Falstaff at this point in his life would be counter-productive somehow. Functioning again
as the conscious, Hal demonstrates what Carl Jung would deem a sign of great
psychological health by accepting the Shadow and becoming best of friends with the
essential beast.
Later, at the end of the first scene of the fifth act, Falstaff delivers his famous
“catechism,” as he calls it, on the concept of honor. Here, more than ever, Falstaff
demonstrates the overwhelming importance of his role. Honor is a weighty issue amongst
the characters of Henry IV, Part I, as well as all of the history plays regarding the passage
of the crown. There is, amongst the series of plays, much anxiety as to whether the next
person in line for the throne is honorable, if the king himself is honorable as king, and
naturally any king wants to be surrounded by honorable noblemen to avoid constant
paranoia of usurpers. Sir John Falstaff provides the only counterpoint, by expressing that
honor cannot mend an arm or a leg because it is not real in the same way that either of
those things are. “What is honor? A word. What is in that word honor? What is that
honor? Air” (Shakespeare V.i 133 – 135). The Shadow, naturally, has no use for such
abstract ideas and concepts as honor. Obviously, the concept of honor is still useful as a
trait for which to be attentive for the reasons mentioned above, but this must be balanced
with Sir Falstaff’s point of view. It is a tragic mistake to forget entirely that any talk of
gaining honor, losing honor, maintaining honor, and so forth is a game of ideas which at
times grows absurd. No other character in this series grasps this concept on a
fundamental level, rendering them all troubled, insane, neurotic, or some shade betwixt
those three distinctions at some point or another.
Beautifully, both Falstaff’s identity as the Shadow as well as Hal’s acceptance
of him are exemplified simultaneously during their final interaction of the play. Directly
91
�before this is the climax of the play, with the Prince killing Hotspur as Falstaff briefly
fights with Douglas before pretending to die. Douglas is fooled and leaves. Once alone,
Falstaff rises and takes Hotsbur’s body. Throwing the body on the ground before its true
assailant, Falstaff proclaims proudly: “If your father will do me any honor, so; if not, let
him kill the next Percy himself. I look to be either earl or duke, I can assure you”
(Shakespeare V.iv 140 – 143). Hal replies that he had killed Percy himself and that
Falstaff had been dead. Falstaff replies in the most Falstaffian way:
Didst thou? Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying! I grant you I was down
and out of breath, and so was he, but we rose both at an instant and fought a long
hour by Shrewsbury clock. If I may be believ’d so; if not, let them that should
reward valor bear the sin upon their own heads. I’ll take it upon my death, I gave
him this wound in the thigh. If the man were alive and would deny it, ‘zounds, I
would make him eat a piece of my sword. (Shakespeare V.iv 146 – 153)
Every bit of this fabrication, as well as the scene that took place before it, is
perfect in characterizing Sir John Falstaff. Were a person unaware of the character
completely, this scene would likely summarize him best. He shows cowardice, lies about
a reverent matter so that he might achieve a higher rank, and when his lie is instantly
made apparent and obvious, he claims first that the world is lying, and then introduces
another fabricated narrative, which he punctuates by hypothetically threatening the man
he claims to have killed. Obviously, this is once again the selfish nature of the Shadow at
work. The last act in this series of dishonest behavior, covering up one lie with another,
more ornate one, tends to disgust people the most in real life. But still, Sir Falstaff
remains comedic and endearing.
Just as soon as Falstaff brings his ugliest of traits to the front and center to be
viewed in plain sight, the Prince illustrates perfect acceptance. “Come bring your luggage
nobly on your back. For my part, if a lie may do thee grace, I’ll gild it with the happiest
terms I have” (Shakespeare V.iv 156 – 158). Thus, the Prince has decided to honor his
fantastic lie as though it were true. Tacitly, this also means the Prince must now lie to
vouch for his old friend. This suggests that Hal does not take up qualms against Falstaff’s
rascality because he recognizes that somewhere within himself, he is also a rascal. So it is
by the compliment of Falstaff’s rascality that Hal’s characterization is complete and full
at the conclusion of Henry IV, Part I.
After Hal departs with John of Lancaster to scan the field for living and dead,
Falstaff declares his final piece of dialogue: “I’ll follow, as they say, for reward. He that
rewards me, God reward him! If I do grow great, I’ll grow less, for I’ll purge and leave
sack, and live cleanly as a nobleman should do” (Shakespeare V.iv 162 – 165). This
92
�ironic “turning over a new leaf” is obviously not genuine. The reader is perfectly aware
of Falstaff at this point for what he truly is, and the notion that he will so quickly give up
drinking and sin to lead a clean life simply does not add up. Further, the idea of a
reformed Falstaff has no appeal because it removes everything that had characterized
him.
Were it not for Sir John Falstaff, and on a larger scale, what he symbolizes and
personifies, the play would be nothing close to what it is, and the remaining characters
would suffer. The play would be one of characters lost totally to the illusory world of
abstract concepts such as honor without so much as a voice to offer that there may be
another way of viewing reality. In general, to lose the Shadow as an entity to be dealt
with would result in its suppression, and to that end would lead the characters into a
probably violent disconnect from what they are actually experiencing in life. This is
literally true of Hal, who without his mischievous friend, would not explore or accept the
Shadow, and would have spent his time with his father’s crowd. This would have given
him only pretense and ultimately would alienate him from himself. The reader would be
robbed as well, for Sir John Falstaff’s appeal through his ability to entertain, coupled with
the atrocious behavior he exudes, is an invitation to the reader to listen to, reason with,
and above all, embrace and accept their inner Falstaff.
Works Cited
G. Blakemore Evans, J. J. M. Tobin, and Shakespeare, William. The Wadsworth
Shakespeare: The Complete Works. 2nd ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 1997. Print.
Hemingway, Samuel B. "On behalf of that Falstaff." Shakespeare Quarterly 3.4 (1952):
307-311.
Williams, Philip. "The Birth and Death of Falstaff Reconsidered." Shakespeare Quarterly
8.3 (1957): 359-365.
93
�Edward Said: The Critic as Exile
Aisha Raheel (History)1
Edward Said was one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century.
As a professor at Columbia University, he occupied a position of prominence within the
American establishment. Yet he is best known for criticizing the American abuse of
power abroad and promoting unpopular causes, such as justice for the Palestinians. His
best-known book Orientalism, published in 1978, as well as his political views developed
at Columbia University would earn him many enemies. However, Said was able to play
the role of intellectual critic because he chose to view himself as an exile. Embracing
exile allowed Said to be critical of all forms of power.
Edward Said was born in Jerusalem in 1935 to Palestinian Christian parents2. He
spent most of his childhood in Cairo where his father ran a successful stationery business.3
The Cairo of Said’s childhood was a cosmopolitan city still under British colonial
influence. Italians, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Arabs from the Levant (Palestine and
Syria), along with the Egyptians lived side by side in the city. However, there was no
pressure to assimilate and become Egyptian4. On the contrary, most non-Egyptians who
lived in Egypt at this time, usually Cairo or Alexandria, viewed native Egyptians as less
civilized and educated than themselves and therefore had no wish to become Egyptian5.
As a result, Italians remained Italian, Greeks remained Greek, and Palestinians remained
Palestinian. Most people from Egypt’s foreign communities would eventually be forced
to leave the country precisely because they were not Egyptian. In that case, Italians could
return to Italy, Greeks return to Greece, and Jews could emigrate to the newly created
state of Israel. However, the Jewish state was created on a piece of land that was formerly
called Palestine, where hundreds of thousands of Arab Christians and Muslims were then
living and had lived for centuries. The creation of this new country meant that thousands
Written under the direction of Dr. Alison Smith for HI297: The Historian as Detective:
Exploring the City.
2 Edward Said, Out of Place: A Memoir (New York: Knopf, 1999), 20
3 IBID., 10.
4 Philip Mansel, Levant Splendor and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean (London: John
Murray, 2010), 247.
5 IBID., 247.
1
94
�of people were forced to flee and those who had emigrated before the founding of Israel
could not come back.
The 1948 creation of the state of Israel took place when Said was twelve. Said
did not experience the violence of the dispossession firsthand, nor did his family have to
languish in a refugee camp as hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians did, and still do
today. Said’s family was luckier than most. His father had emigrated to the United States
in 1911 to avoid being drafted into the Ottoman army. He had served in the American
military during World War 1 and was able to apply for American citizenship after the war
ended.6 Said and his siblings inherited their American citizenship from their father. All of
them finished their educations in America and were able to make lives for themselves
there. Nonetheless, the Said family was also affected by the dispossession of 1948. Said’s
parents eventually moved to Lebanon. Said’s mother was the only member of the family
who was unable to get a U.S. passport. She was eventually able to become a Lebanese
citizen. However, the Lebanese Civil War made it difficult for Said’s mother to travel on
a Lebanese passport as the Lebanese people became associated with terrorism.7 Thus
Said did not experience Palestinian dispossession directly but the fact of dispossession
was always in the background. As if this was not complicated enough, Said was educated
in the British colonial system. An education in a British school was then the best
education that one could get in Egypt. This education helped give Said a solid grounding
in Western thought and English literature. This education did not teach Said about the
Arabic language or Egyptian history. It is small wonder that Said remarked that the
“overriding sensation I had was of always being out of place.”8 Said emigrated to the
United States in 1951. He finished his education at a New England boarding school and
undergraduate and graduate degrees from Princeton and Harvard respectively.9 Said was
appointed a professor of literature at Columbia University in 1963 and remained there
until his death in 2003.10
Said began his professorship at Columbia during a turbulent time in American
history. The 1960s were a time of radical political activism and rapid social change in
America. This was the decade of the civil rights movement and the protests against the
Vietnam War. These protests, along with the student protests on college campuses would
Edward Said, Out of Place: A Memoir. 11.
IBID., 132.
8 IBID., 3.
9 IBID., 211.
10 Tariq Ali, Conversations with Edward Said (London: Seagull, 2006), 6.
6
7
95
�create an atmosphere that was open to criticism to established authority11. Initially, Said
was not interested in politics.12 In fact his first book, published in 1966, had nothing to do
with the Middle East. Titled Joseph Conrad and the Fiction of Autobiography, it was a
work about the British writer Joseph Conrad. The only problem was that he could not
quite forget that he was Arab. In an interview with the journalist Tariq Ali, Said explains
that he felt deeply uncomfortable with the anti-Arab prejudice that he found in the
writings of the literary critics that he admired. He observed that “they were fantastically
hostile towards the Arabs, it wasn’t just that they were pro-Israeli, but they said in print
the most awful things about the Arabs.”13 At that point, there was nothing that Said could
do about the prejudices that he encountered except to note them. As it happened, his Arab
roots left open the possibility of becoming white. In fact, the hiring committee at
Columbia had been under the impression that Said was an Alexandrian Jew.14 Before the
1965 Immigration Act, most Arab Americans were the descendants of second or third
generation Lebanese Christian immigrants. Their physical appearance and Christian faith
allowed many of them to gain acceptance for themselves as white people. They too, were
largely apolitical.15 Said did not associate with other Arabs in his early years at
Columbia. Instead, he tried to separate his Palestinian identity from his work as an
English professor.16 For his students and colleagues, he was simply a literary critic and
professor who taught classes on Virgil, Homer, and Conrad among other Western writers.
It was all to change in 1967.17
The Six-Day War of 1967 politicized both Arab and Jewish Americans. For
Jews, the Israeli victory meant that it was now safe to support Israel in public.
Hitherto,most Jews had expressed indifference or even hostility towards Israel’s
existence when it first came into being in 1948. Norman Podhoretz, the editor of
Commentary magazine spoke for many when he remarked that:
Zachary Lockman, Contending Visions of the Middle East. (London: Cambridge
University Press, 2010), 150.
12 Tariq Ali, Conversations with Edward Said. 6.
13 IBID., 72.
14 Keith Gessen, “Calamities of Exile,” Bookforum.com, accessed April 6, 2014,
http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/015_04/2975.
15 Sarah Gualtieri, Between Arab and White : Race and Ethnicity in the Early SyrianAmerican Diaspora (CA: University of California Press, 2009).
16 Tariq Ali, Conversations with Edward Said, 72.
17 IBID., 72.
11
96
�It is difficult to imagine that anything Israel might accomplish in her struggle with
the Arabs could be celebrated as having achieved the status of the symbolic and the
exemplary. Israel is simply not that important; Israel exists in the realm of the
politics of interest, where questions of relative justice are involved, but never, as in
the realm of pure, disinterested politics, world-shaking issues of Historical Justice.
Historical Justice has become a term in the cataclysmic language for forces and
classes and economic systems, and in that language there is not even a vocabulary
in which to talk about Israel.18
In other words, Israel represented a narrow Jewish parochialism that American
Jews wanted to escape. Before 1967, many Jewish intellectuals criticized Israel for its
militarism, its racism, and its massacres of the Palestinians in 1948.19 Most Jews wanted
to be Americans because this meant taking part “in the great battles of our time” such as
the civil rights movement and the struggle against Communism. But Israel had now
demonstrated that it could be an asset to the West in the Cold War. After all, it had
defeated Egypt and Syria, the Soviet Union’s allies in the Middle East, in a mere six
days. Israel therefore became annexed “to the great battle of our time”20. Not just Jews,
but non-Jewish Americans of a variety of backgrounds celebrated the Israeli victory of
196721. Ironically, support for Israel facilitated the full assimilation of American Jews
because it was widely believed that Israeli Jews fought and died to protect American
interests abroad. Americans, whether they were Jewish or not, came to view Israel not
only as a state that shared their interests but also their values.22 All this is to say that
criticism of Israel, when it was expressed openly, would often be met with hostility and
even violence.
If Jewish Americans were jubilant about Israel’s victory, most Arab Americans
found that there was nothing for them to be happy about. Edward Said spoke for many
when he declared that “the world as I had understood it and knew it had completely
ended at that moment.”23 This was understandable. The Arab defeat in the war stunned
the entire Arab world24. It also stunned Arabs in America and Americans of Arab
Normal G. Finklestein, Knowing Too Much: Why The American Jewish Romance with
Israel Is Coming To An End (New York; London, OR Books, 2012), 40.
19 IBID., 38.
20 IBID,, 40.
21 Sarah M. A. Gaultieri. Between Arab and Whites: Race and Ethnicity in the Syrian
American Diaspora. (California: University of California Press, 2009), 174-175.
22 Norman G. Finklestein. Knowing Too Much: Why the American Jewish Romance with
Israel is Coming to an End. 40.
23 Tariq Ali, Conversations with Edward Said, 7.
18
97
�descent. For Palestinians in particular, the news of the war was especially painful because
it meant that there would be no independent Palestine. The worst aspect of watching the
war from a distance was the way the war was covered. The 1967 War unleashed a deluge
of biased, ignorant, and openly racist views of Arabs into the American media. The war
was portrayed as a battle between an Israeli David against an Arab Goliath.25,26 The
media’s depiction of Arabs did not recognize their humanity. The Arabs were portrayed
as hysterical mobs of people whose only real significance was that they seemed to stand
in the way of Israel’s existence.27 The Israelis, on the other hand, were a stoic people who
simply wanted to make peace with the Arabs. This situation compelled many Arab
Americans to form organizations that would promote the Arab perspective on Middle
East affairs, challenge stereotypes of Arabs, and defend the civil rights of Arab
Americans.
Edward Said, like many Arab Americans at the time, felt compelled to act. In
1970, he visited Jordan and Lebanon.28 In Jordan, he learned about the PLO and
Palestinian politics through his cousin who was a spokesperson for Yasir Arafat’s Fatah.
By 1970, he was completely immersed in the Palestinian struggle for independence. He
also took part in the protests against the Vietnam War in America. In doing so, he tried to
connect the Palestinian struggle to the Vietnamese struggle, arguing that both were
struggles against colonialism. However, he found that most people did not want to hear
this. It was also around this time that Said began to be interested in what Western
scholars had written about the Middle East. Said realized that the Arab losses of 1967
were partly due to the Western perception of Arabs as an inferior people. He was
determined to “try to understand where that image that they had of us came from.”
In the meantime, the politics of the 1960s were radically changing most aspects
of American society. The universities were not left unaffected. Said’s own college,
Columbia University, was faced with one of the largest student revolts in the country.
Ironically, Said was not able to be there when it happened. This was not for lack of
Alia Malek. A Country Called Amreeka. 45.
Gualtieri, Between Arab and White.
26 Hanson W. Baldwin, “Why Israel Prevailed; Her Spirit and Modern Organization Are
Contrasted With Arab Feudalism,” The New York Times, June 8, 1967,
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10F12F8385E137A93CAA9178DD85F
438685F9.
27 Edward Said, “The Arab Portrayed,” Odyssey, June, 1967.
28 Tariq Ali, Conversations with Edward Said .74.
24
25
98
�trying. By then, he was a member of the Columbia faculty. At the time of the revolt, Said
was at the University of Illinois where he had gotten a fellowship at the newly established
Center for Advanced Studies. In the middle of 1968, he had received a telegram asking
him to return to Columbia and participate in a faculty meeting concerning how to respond
to the revolt. When he did return, Said discovered that he was not able to attend the
meeting. It turned out that the meeting was being held at the Law School and that the
entrance to the Law School was blocked by the police. He was unable to get through the
police barrier simply because he did not have a valid ID.29 The students who took over
the campus in 1968 were influenced by the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War
protests.30 Unlike past generations of students, they cared about how the university was
run. Among other things, they demanded that the university withdraw from the Institute
for Defense Analysis because it made Columbia complicit in the Vietnam War. More
importantly, the students demanded changes in their curriculum that would include black
and women’s studies. Before the 1960s, Columbia, along with most of America’s
colleges, taught history and literature from a male and Eurocentric perspective.31 The
campus protests forced the college to rethink its curriculum. At the same time, the
decolonization and civil rights movements had an impact on scholarship done on Asia
and Africa. Scholars began to examine history from the point of view of the colonized
and oppressed.32
By the time Orientalism was published in 1978, it became acceptable to discuss
the exploitative and racist aspects of European colonialism. According to Said,
Orientalism is “a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological
distinction made between the Orient (and most of the time) the Occident.”33 The world
was divided into East and West. The Orientals whether they were Arab, Indian or
Chinese were always portrayed as fundamentally different from, and inferior to, the
European. The Arab was described as barbaric, violent, irrational, and uncivilized. In the
eyes of many Europeans, the Arab was incapable of progress and had no appreciation for
Edward Said. Power, Politics and Culture.
Robert MacCaughey. Stand Columbia: A History of Columbia University. (New York:
Columbia University Press, 2003), .
31 Ella Shohat, “On the Margins of Middle Eastern Studies: Situating Said’s
Orientalism,” Review of Middle East Studies 43, no. 1 (2009): 18-20, accessed March 27,
2014, JnR5cGU9MCZzaXRlPWVkcy1saXZl.
32 Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books, 1979)
33 Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books, 1979), 26.
29
30
99
�liberty or civilization.34 In contrast, Europeans were modern, rational, and civilized
human beings. Europeans were not only civilized but had a duty to bring this civilization
to the Arab. This attitude often pitted the Arabs and Europeans against each other as
opposites in ways that affirmed a positive Western sense of self but also degraded the
Arab. Said demonstrated that European scholarship and literature concerning Arabs was
tainted by these assumptions. Furthermore, scholars not only passed off the inferiority of
the Arab as an objective truth but used their scholarship to serve the interests of
colonialism. Literature and scholarship did not exist in a vacuum; they were often
affected by the historical and political contexts of their time. Often, this meant that
scholars did their work in the service of governments, which compromised scholarship
because it was used to further political ends.35 With that argument, Said blurred the line
that was supposed to separate scholarship from politics because he believed that “society
and literary culture can only be studied together.”
Orientalism caused a stir in academia when it was first published. At first, much
of the reaction to the book was positive. A new generation of American scholars,
influenced by the radicalism of the sixties, were open to a critique of scholarship on the
Middle East that questioned the motives of the scholar.36 It became the founding text of
postcolonial studies which insists that the colonized speak for themselves. Although
Orientalism only spoke about Western power and knowledge in relation to the Middle
East, scholars from other backgrounds found it useful in examining the West’s attitudes
towards their own societies.37 Not surprisingly, most of Said’s critics came from an older
generation of scholars who, only five years earlier, had referred to themselves as
Orientalists. (The International Congress of Orientalists renamed itself the International
Congress of Human Sciences of Asia and North Africa in 1973.) The most well known of
his critics was the academic Bernard Lewis, who was criticized in the last chapter of
Orientalism. Lewis argued that Said’s characterization of the Orientalists was inaccurate.
According to Lewis, these European scholars had not gone to the East in service of
colonialism. As a matter of fact, Orientalism had developed as a facet of European
humanistic scholarship. Western European scholars had a genuine interest in
34Ibid.,
172-173.
27.
36 Edward Said The Last Interview 2004, 2014,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslLIHZ-3TA&feature=youtube_gdata_player.
37 Ella Shohat, “On The Margins of Middle Eastern Studies: Situating Said’s
Orientalism,” Review of Middle East Studies 43, no. 1 (Summer 2009): 18–24.
35Ibid.,
100
�understanding the Islamic world and devoted their lives to the study of Islamic
civilization long before the era of European colonialism.38 Said has also been criticized
for his polemical style. For example, he excluded scholars who did work for the
establishment of their societies but who resisted the negative stereotyping of Arabs.39 He
also did not discuss Russian, German, or Dutch scholarship. In general, Said only
discussed those British and French scholars, writers, and travelers whose work confirmed
his thesis.40 It is worth noting that most did not appear until several years after
Orientalism was published in 1978. Malcolm Kerr’s critical review of Orientalism would
not appear until 1980 and Bernard Lewis’s criticism would not appear in the London
Review of Books until 1982. However, the scholars who disagreed with Said or opposed
his thesis altogether did not understand the true appeal of his work. Said’s work was
meant to be polemical and meant to eschew balance. It was a response to the anti-Arab
prejudices that Said saw in the media. It was the work of a man who lived in New York at
a time when there were few other Arabs there. Said was able to put into words the
feelings of many Third World academic migrants who found themselves in the West
surrounded by white people and their prejudices41. The Indian historian Partha Chatterjee
described Orientalism as a book that “talked of things which I had felt all along but had
never found the language to formulate with clarity.”42 It gave Muslims and Arabs who
lived in the West a language in which to talk about what it meant to live embattled in a
sea of prejudices that came as objective factual knowledge.43
Beyond the academy, Said became a fixture in the American media. In that
capacity, he became a spokesperson on behalf of the Palestinian people, and he was the
perfect candidate to do so.44 He had joined the Palestine National Council in 1977 and
Bernard Lewis, “The Question of Orientalism,” The New York Review of Books, June
24, 1982,3-4 3http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1982/jun/24/the-question-oforientalism/.
39 Malcolm Kerr, “Edward W. Said, Orientalism,” International Journal of Middle
Eastern Studies, 12, no. 4 (1988): 544.
40Bernard Lewis, “The Question of Orientalism,” The New York Review of Books, June
24, 1982, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1982/jun/24/the-question-oforientalism/.
41 Leila Ahmed, A boarder passage: from Cairo to America- a woman’s journey (New
York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999).
42 Stephen Howe, “Edward Said: The Traveller and the exile,” Open Democracy October
2, 2003
43 Ahmed, Border, 240.
44 Rashid I. Khalidi, “Edward W. Said and the American public sphere: speaking truth to
38
101
�was familiar with the politics of the region.45 He used his influence and prominence as a
university professor to lend weight and authority to what he said.46 Most importantly, he
was an articulate and urban man who dressed in suits and spoke an English that sounded
completely American.47 He could speak and behave as though he was an insider to
American society while defending a position that would simply serve to make him an
outsider.48 Before the Oslo Peace Accords, Said defended the positions of the PLO.49 In
his interviews, argued for the rights of the Palestinians as a people and pointed out the
wrongs committed by Israel.50 This was not easy because the reporters often framed their
questions in terms of terrorism and Israel’s existence.51 They would ask why the PLO had
not renounced terrorism.52 Said’s response was that he rejected terrorism in all of its
forms. His associations with Yasir Arafat did not help his image with the American
public.53 For these associations, he was often called a terrorist or accused of terrorism.
His office was firebombed by the Jewish Defense League in 1985. There were not many
Arab intellectuals in the United States. Perhaps he was the only one because he could
speak about a wide variety of subjects and not just Palestine. But due to his race, Said
became known only for Palestine and rarely for anything else in the media.
Edward Said was a difficult man to place. For all of his work on Palestine, he
had no intention of returning there to live if a Palestinian state was ever established. He
always viewed himself to be in exile, not belonging in any particular place. He praised
New York as an “exile city”, a place of writers and diverse communities of migrants and
power,” boundary 2, 25, no. 2 (1998): 161-177
45 Ali, Conversations with Edward Said, 6.
46Rashid I Khalidi, “Edward W. Said and the American Public Sphere: Speaking Truth to
Power,” Boundary 2, no. 2 (1998): 161-165.
47 Robert Marquand,“Conversations with Outstanding Americans: Edward Said,” The
Christian Science Monitor. Web,
http://www.csmonitor.com/1997/0527/052797.feat.feat.1.html
48 Rashid I Khalidi, “Edward W. Said and the American Public Sphere: Speaking Truth to
Power,” Boundary 2, no. 2 (1998), 165
49 Ibid., 161-165.
50 Edward Said and Gauri Viswanathan, Power Politics and Culture (Random House,
2002)
51 Edward Alexander, “Professor of Terror”, Commentary Magazine, August 1989.
52 Ibid
53 Robert Marquand,“Conversations with Outstanding Americans: Edward Said,” The
Christian Science Monitor. Web, http://www.csmonitor.com/1997/0527/052797.feat.
feat1.html
102
�exiles that gave him the freedom to write what he wished and to identify himself as he
wished.54 This had allowed him to work for the Palestinian cause despite its unpopularity
with many Americans. However, he was also not like most other Palestinians, even those
who emigrated to the United States. Unlike most Palestinians, he was a man whose tastes
were shaped by things Western. Although changes of the 1960s made the publication of
his seminal work Orientalism possible, Said himself opposed changing the literary
cannon.55 Even though Said was active in the Palestinian struggle for independence, he
never taught courses on the Middle East nor did he teach Arabic or even postcolonial
literature. He preferred teaching classical Western literature. His goals were not to
politicize the study of literature, but to look at the study of the Arabic world with a more
critical eye. His attitudes towards New York and Palestine were ambiguous because he
was not at home with either place yet managed to embrace both places.
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55 Robert Marquand,“Conversations with Outstanding Americans: Edward Said,” The
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Pp. Xiii + 368.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 12, no. 04 (1980): 544–47.
doi:10.1017/S0020743800031342.
Khalidi, Rashid I. “Edward W. Said and the American Public Sphere: Speaking Truth to
Power.” Boundary 2, no. 2 (1998): 161-178.
Lewis, Bernard. “The Question of Orientalism.” The New York Review of Books, June 24,
1982. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1982/jun/24/the-question-oforientalism/.
Lockman, Zachary. Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of
Orientalism. London: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Mansel, Philip. Levant Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean. London: John
Murray, 2010.
Marquand, Robert. “Conversations with Outstanding Americans.” Christian Science
Monitor 89, no. 126 (May 27, 1997): 10.
http://www.csmonitor.com/1997/0527/052797.feat.feat.1.html
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�McCaughey, Robert A. Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University in the City of
New York, 1754-2004. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1979.
———. Out of Place: A Memoir. New York: Knopf, 1999.
———. Reflections on Exile and Other Essays. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 2000.
Said, Edward, Charles Glass. Edward Said the Last Interview. Video, 3:25:22. 2004.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslLIHZ-3TA
Saunders, Rebecca. “Risky Business: Edward Said as Literary Critic.” Comparative
Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 25, no. 3 (2005): 522–32.
Shohat, Ella. “On The Margins of Middle Eastern Studies: Situating Said’s Orientalism.”
Review of Middle East Studies 43, no. 1 (2009): 18–24. Accessed March 27, 2014.
JnR5cGU9MCZzaXRlPWVkcy1saXZl
105
�What is Madness: Analyzing Equus
Kaitlin Newlin-Wagner (Psychology)1
The play Equus by Peter Shaffer portrays the relationship between a psychiatrist,
Dr. Martin Dysart, and his patient, Alan Strang, while exploring the central theme of
madness. However, what is perceived to be “madness” by those who are considered to
be “normal” is actually passion, and, in turn, it is the idea of “normalcy” that is exposed
as “madness.” The inter-connected, underlying themes of sexuality, religion, and
passion, illustrated through the use of symbolism, work to expose the true source of
madness.
The underlying theme of sexuality surfaces when Alan is finally able to lift his
repressed memories. On a basic level, this theme of sexuality works in a deeply Freudian
sense to tie back to the central theme of madness. Alan’s first experience with a horse, at
age six on the beach, was a source of connection with a masculine identity and sexual
excitement that presumptively caused arousal. Mr. Strang, Alan’s father, is seen as a
rather weak figure of masculinity in the play. When Alan is riding the horse he begins to
identify with the rider, a very hyper-masculine figure. Alan is on the brink of this
identification with masculinity, which he is not getting from his father, but is interrupted
when his father pulls him off of the horse and away from the rider. This, coupled with
the frantic reaction of his parents to the horse ride induces a negative connotation, and
Alan learns to associate this experience with negativity, linking masculinity to a bad
experience. This day at the beach becomes a traumatic experience for Alan. Later on,
this trauma evolves into a paraphilia: bestiality.
The only sexual experience Alan has ever had was with a horse. In
ritualistically riding the horses every three weeks at midnight, Alan attempts to recreate
this experience. Alan’s inadequate masculinity resurfaces when he attempts to have
intercourse with Jill later in the play. Alan cannot perform, cannot be a man, cannot, in a
sense, “become a man” or accept the right of passage through intercourse because he
never fully identified with a masculine figure. When Alan is in the barn with Jill his
failure to perform and failure to be masculine lifts the repression of the memory and
emotions from this traumatic experience. Blinding the horses can be seen as Alan’s
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Miles Groth for PS291-ILC:Psychology and Literature.
106
�release from sexual repression and a freedom of sexuality. The pick Alan uses to blind
the horses represents a phallic symbol, which he thrusts into the eye sockets, which
represents penetration of female genitalia. This metaphor for copulation insinuates that,
in piercing the eye of the horse, Alan is symbolically piercing the “I,” establishing his
masculine identity.
The theme of sexuality works on another level and is connected with the theme
of religion. While at the same time ripping him away from masculinity, Mr. Strang
performs an antireligious act and rips Alan away from the prospective concomitance with
a God, and the introduction to a religious, existential experience. The horse ride gives
Alan the opportunity to identify with a masculine figure, the horse, which, for Alan,
represents the apotheosis of power, free will, and an almighty God. Riding the horse and
then, in turn, merging with the horse is symbolic of Alan’s covenant with God. The
sacred aspect consecrates sexuality. In riding the horses at the stable, and worshiping his
makeshift, Christ-like God, Equus, Alan develops a sexualized religious ritual. The
physical body of the horse can be seen as fulfilling the role of bishop, mediating between
God and mortal. Alan rides the horse bareback and completely naked, leaving himself
explicitly vulnerable, mentally and physically, to be sanctified in the eyes of Equus. The
orgasm Alan experiences at the close of the ritual represents the ultimate connection with
the sacred, spiritual, God figure, Equus.
While the sexualized religious ritual acts as a bond between sexuality and
religion, Alan’s sexual experience with Jill acts as a break between the two. Alan’s
experience with Jill is actually a sacrilegious one: a sin, which breaks Alan’s ties to
Equus. This almost-sex scene takes place in the barn, the “Holy of Holies.” Alan is
giving himself to someone else, worshiping someone else, and, like Adam and Eve who
commit the ancestral sin in the Garden of Eden and spawn the fall of man, is disobeying
his God and committing primal sin. Further, to consummate with Jill would be an act of
worship, a pursuit of a spiritual connection with another figure, Alan would be turning
away from his God to worship other idols.
The theme of religion also stands on its own and plays an important role
independent from sexuality. One way this religious theme is illustrated is through
symbolism using the horses from the bible. From a young age, Alan’s mother exposes
him to the Christian faith, while, at the same time, Alan’s father completely rejects
religion altogether. The horse and rider in the bible stories Mrs. Strang used to tell Alan,
which were mistaken to be one and thought to be a God, ride and fight to vanquish the
enemies. These enemies symbolize normal people, the normal world, and the very idea of
107
�normalcy. Alan and his horses ride off to conquer the establishment of the “normal”
world.
Similarly, Equus and the picture of the horse in Alan’s bedroom work as
symbols of Christ. When Mr. Strang took down the picture of Jesus going to his
crucifixion in Alan’s bedroom he replaced it with a picture of a horse. The picture of the
horse replaces the picture of Jesus, and, in turn, the horse becomes Equus and replaces
Jesus Christ. Equus becomes a religious figure with Christ-like qualities. The picture of
Jesus portrays the chained Christ going to his crucifixion, with thorns on his head, a spear
in his side, bearing the cross. Alan transfers these attributes to Equus: the chains and
thorns become the bit in the horse’s mouth, and symbolize the suffering of the Christ; the
horse carries the rider, like Christ bears the cross. Equus, like Jesus, takes on the sins of
the world.
Further, Alan’s riding ritual symbolizes that of a religious ritual, like that
performed at the alter of a church. Alan first puts the bit in his own mouth before putting
it into the horse’s mouth, symbolizing the transfer of Alan’s sins, and the sins of man to
Equus. The sugar cube Alan feeds the horse is a symbol of Equus internalizing Alan’s
sins, while the sugar cube Alan eats himself symbolizes the Eucharist when receiving
communion, representing Alan internalizing Christ/Equus. Alan and the horse are both
naked, symbolizing Alan standing naked before his God, preparing for judgment.
Mounting and riding the horse is symbolic of Alan’s connection with God, horse and man
become one person, and Alan becomes one with God. “Amen.”
Alan’s blinding the horses can also be read in a religious context. In this scene,
all of the horses in the barn symbolize Equus. By blinding the horses, Alan is committing
sin and being freed from sin at the same time. He is blinding the eyes of his God, and by
doing so, turning away from his God, committing a sin. However, Alan is
simultaneously forgiven for this sin by Equus, in being blinded and suffering for Alan,
the way Jesus Christ suffered on the cross for the sins of man. Equus takes away and
internalizes Alan’s sin. Alan is symbolically forgiven for turning away from and
disobeying his God by the passion of Equus/Christ.
The relationship between Dr. Dysart and Alan Strang works to unmask the
theme of passion, and its importance in the play. Through the actions of Alan Strang, and
the inner monologues of Dr. Dysart, the theme of passion is revealed in suffering.
Suffering is passion. Alan demonstrates that authenticity, uniqueness, and a deviation
from the accepted norm are forms of suffering which develop passion. Passion is
suffering and truly experiencing being, truly living. Alan Strang embodies this theme of
108
�passion, and Dr. Dysart recognizes this in Alan, because he himself is passionless. Dr.
Dysart’s purpose is to rid his patients of their passion, and create ghosts of individuals.
“Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created” (Shaffer 2005, p.
109).
It is only when Alan and Dysart metaphorically switch roles that Dysart finally
suffers and finds passion. His self-identity is related to his suffering. Dysart takes on the
sins, suffering, and pain of others and finds his passion in his own suffering. Dysart,
himself, symbolizes the new Christ figure, the new Equus. He bears the bit, the chain,
and the cross; he has to carry the sins, the rider, and the pain. Like Dostoyevsky’s Grand
Inquisitor, he bears the suffering of others to free them of pain, to give them “normalcy.”
Dysart realizes, “There is now, in my mouth, this sharp chain. And it never comes out”
(Shaffer 2005, p. 110). Dysart’s secret is that normalcy, to be passionless, is the true
meaning of madness.
Shaffer’s Equus exposes madness as normalcy, the suppression of passion, and
the conformity to the constructs of the “normal” world made by “normal” people. What
is perceived as “madness” by those who are considered “normal” is instead passion. In
the play, religion is associated with sexuality and becomes sexual. Similarly, the sacred
is used to explain sexuality. The theme of passion in the play is exposed through the
themes of religion and sexuality. “Normal,” the true madness, can be created, passion
cannot.
Bibliography
Shaffer, P. (2005). Equus. New York: Scribner.
109
�Urban Stratification
Quincy Rasin1
Urban sprawl dates back to the establishment of public housing in 1937, but
even more specifically to the development of urban areas. These urban areas began to
decay due to crime and overpopulation back in the 1940’s. The middle class began
fleeing from cities and moving into areas such as Levittown. Suburbs became
increasingly desirable as the world developed into a more mobilized society after World
War II. The ability to travel to and from cities became more accessible due to increases in
government aid, infrastructure, and technology.2 As roads improved and travel became
easier, population was able to spread out over a large distance. The impact of this lead to
suburbs, enclaves, exurbs, and gated communities. The GI Bill, which made it easier for
soldiers returning from war to own property, further contributed to this stratification.
Suburbs became wealthy and developed their own rules and regulations. Rules
that were used to separate the upper and middle class from the lower class were also used
to isolate the different races and ethnicities. High taxes and building requirements were
the methods through which segregation was promoted in these communities. These
enclaves, gated communities, and suburbs transformed into what are now known as
Polynucleated Metropolis and Exurbanization .3
The population was ever growing, “with 13 infants being born per 1000 the
population” and continued to grow exponentially. ”4 In order to contain urban sprawl the
government developed three approaches; New Regionalism, Smart Growth, and New
Urbanism.
New Regionalism was a way that cities could merge and share resources. The
Twin Cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul, are examples of this approach. They formed a
Written under the direction of Dr. Abraham Unger for GOV205: Urban Politics.
Judd, D., & Swanstrom , T.(2015). City Politics (8th Edition). Pearson.
3 Polynucleated Metropolis – several concentrated urban areas. Exurbanization- or
exurbs, communities that go beyond suburbs.
4 1. Martin J. A., Hamilton B. E., Ventura S. J., Osterman, M. J., Wilson, E. C., Mathews,
T. J., et al. (2011). Births: Final data for 2010. National Vital Statistics Reports, 61, 1–72.
Retrieved January 21, 2013, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/
nvsr61_01.pdf#table01 (PDF – 1.66 MB)
1
2
110
�regional government to achieve this goal. New Regionalism is based on municipal local
government rather than state government. Few cities have these means to balance each
other, which is why regionalism is not often seen. The New Jersey and New York Port
Authority is a similar technique but isn’t used for urban sprawl, rather it is used to
improve quality of life amongst both states.
New Urbanism, another technique, requires specific zoning, which is illegal in
certain areas. This focuses mainly on accessibility and unique building design. The idea
of New Urbanism can be seen in the newly gentrified area of Rockville, Maryland. Like
the suburbs, lower classes are excluded. Yet it consists of great qualities, such as the
following: “mix land use, mixed housing, attractive communities (consisting of
traditional styled homes), green transportation, sustainability, connectivity, and
walkability. ”5 These qualities are used to improve the quality of life within communities.
Mixed land use and mixed housing are both used to contain the population, while the
attractive communities, green transportation, sustainability, connectivity, and walkability
weave them into a tight knit community.
Smart Growth has seen much success in Portland, Oregon. Smart Growth takes a
unique approach through its specific zoning technique used to preserve the environment
and green areas. Cost effective development and community collaboration are necessary.
Smart growth also utilizes the unique approach to “Preserve open space, farmland,
natural beauty, and critical environmental areas, provide a variety of transportation
choices, make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost effective, and encourage
community and stakeholder collaboration in development decision.”
Smart growth and New Urbanism share specific qualities, including green
transportation, sustainability, quality of life, and quality architecture and urban design.
All of these techniques take advantage of mixed land use and unique zoning.
However, a new, more effective method to contain urban sprawl would be to
combine Smart Growth and New Urbanism. To demonstrate this idea take for example
the famous Arnold Palmer drink that consisted of “X” amount of ice tea and “X” amount
of lemonade. Once combined, a groundbreaking concoction is made which is no longer
just tea or lemonade, but an Arnold Palmer. Likewise, New Urbanism and Smart Growth
together in different ratios can merge into a beneficial “Urban Stratification”.
"Urbanism Principles." Urbanism Principles. NewUrbanism.org, n.d. Web. 11 Nov.
2014. <http://www.newurbanism.org/newurbanism/principles.html>.
5
111
�Urban Stratification would primarily focus on specific attributes, or layers such
as land preservation, cost effective development, and community collaboration, etc. It
would take advantage of compact building design by creating a range of housing
opportunities and choices with the addition of attracting businesses to the community.
These would all strive to be beneficial to the environment with advances in green
technology, and the use of public transportation. Urban Stratification should prove to be
cost-effective when implemented with mixed-use developments the way Paul Katz
imagined.6 Increased property values would be one way to assess the program as historic
districts housing have shown that there is a direct correlation between quality of life and
property value.7
The government has tried the three aforementioned approaches to containing
urban sprawl. There are only a handful of cities thriving off of their success. Urban
Stratification is made to filled that gap, and allow for cities to flourish and survive. It is
economically and environmentally attractive making it a very good alternative to current
policy.
Bibliography
Judd, D., & Swanstrom , T.(2015). City Politics (8th Edition). Pearson.
Martin J. A., Hamilton B. E., Ventura S. J., Osterman, M. J., Wilson, E. C., Mathews, T.
J., et al. (2011). Births: Final data for 2010. National Vital Statistics Reports, 61, 1–72.
Retrieved January 21, 2013, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/
nvsr61_01.pdf#table01 (PDF – 1.66 MB)
Pyati, Archana. "KPF President and Renowned Architect Paul Katz Has Passed." Urban
Land Magazine 8 Dec. 2014: n. pag. Print.
6 “Katz was also committed to the idea that vertical and dense development can create
sustainable, modern, and efficient communities that reflect the values and lifestyle
choices of today’s urban dwellers. He also saw building height and density as solutions in
helping Asian cities contend with the rapid influx of rural migrants to urban cores” Pyati,
Archana. "KPF President and Renowned Architect Paul Katz Has Passed." Urban Land
Magazine 8 Dec. 2014: n. pag. Print.
7 Todd, Jonathon H. "How Historical Designations Affect Property Values." Urban Land
Magazine 15 Dec. 2014: n. pag. Print.
112
�Todd, Jonathon H. "How Historical Designations Affect Property Values." Urban Land
Magazine 15 Dec. 2014: n. pag. Print.
"Urbanism Principles." Urbanism Principles. NewUrbanism.org, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.newurbanism.org/newurbanism/principles.html>.
113
����
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Volume 13, Number 2
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Section I: The Natural Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 3 Species-Area Relationship of Colonial Waterbirds Nesting on Barnegat Bay Saltmarsh Islands / Alexandria Mary Zummo -- Section II: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 23 America Needs to Make a SNAPy Comeback: An Empirical Humanitarian Study Arguing in Favor of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) / Justin S.E. Bulova -- Section III: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 43 Modal Jazz, Miles Davis and Kind of Blue / William Pegg -- 55 Opening Doors: The Broadway Musicals of Harold Prince / James Forbes Sheehan -- 65 Rochdale Village: Integration, Urban Renewal, and Decline / Jessica Catanzaro -- 76 The Life of R.D. Laing and an Analysis of Laing’s Theory of Schizophrenia / Laurie Fogelstrom -- 88 Accepting a Healthy Dose of Falstaff: The Element of Irreducible Rascality and Sir John Falstaff’s Role in Henry IV, Part I / Krag Kerr -- 94 Edward Said: The Critic as Exile / Aisha Raheel -- 106 What is Madness: Analyzing “Equus” / Kaitlin Newlin-Wagner -- 110 Urban Stratification / Quincy Rasin
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is typically subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural
Sciences, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these sections are
limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific investigations (experimental,
theoretical and empirical). The third section is reserved for speculative papers based on
the scholarly review and critical examination of previous works.
This issue is dedicated to Donald Marcus and the late Frank Sisino who have unselfishly
provided affordable printing for this journal since its inception. Don and Frank were
childhood friends. In 1984 they opened F&D Printing in the Midland Beach section of
Staten Island. For 28 years they produced bulletins, sales promotions, advertisements,
journals, etc. for local merchants, schools, and other organizations.
In late in 2001, I met Frank while stopping by F&D Printing for a quote on the newly
conceived Wagner College Forum for Undergraduate Research. I gave him the budget
and an idea of what we wanted and he made it work. For almost a decade I enjoyed
chatting with Frank when dropping off a manuscript or picking up an order.
Unfortunately, in 2012 Hurricane Sandy destroyed the shop and in 2013, after a
courageous battle, Frank succumbed to cancer. Thankfully, his partner Don opened MJR
Direct Mail, Inc. so that he could continue to work with some long-time accounts. When
Don drives to Wagner to pick up an electronic copy or drop off the finished product we
get a chance to talk. Just like Frank, he is quite knowledgeable and a good, decent,
down-to-Earth person. I am fortunate to have had the pleasure of working with these two
fine individuals.
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Miles Groth, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Lauren O'Hare, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference1
Abstracts
3
The Effects of Diethyl Phthalate on the Development of Drosophila melanogaster
Johnathan Hinrichs and Dr. Heather Cook
3
Search for Safe Underground Water Through Observation of Tubewell Concrete
Platform Color in Southern Bangladesh
Sanjita Dham, Sandra Minchala, and Dr. Mohammad Alauddin
4
The Search for MET or a MET Homolog Expressed by Dugesia dorotocephala
Najia Malik and Vincent Vitulli
5
The Effect of Five Plant Extracts on Serratia marcescens for Medicinal Significance
Meghan Morrissey
6
Detection of a Listeria monocytogenes Infection in the Zebrafish Central Nervous
System; Development of a Squashed Tissue Preparation for Immunofluorescence
Labeling
Brandon Kocurek, Anthony Spano, and Dr. Christopher Corbo
6
Identification of Listeria monocytogenes in Adult Zebrafish Using the Gram
Stain Reaction
Anthony Spano, Brandon Kocurek, and Dr. Christopher Corbo
7
Isolation of Bacteriophages from Sewage that Infect Escherichia coli and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Jacob Cohen
8
Exposure to Hexavalent Chromium from Tannery Wastes and Health Risks for
Urban Population in Bangladesh
Sanjita Dham, Sandra Minchala, Nadia Asfar , Sarah Alauddin, Dr. Mohammad
Alauddin, Sanjit Shaha, W. Hoque, and Russell Gerads
8
Presenting the Information Value of Different Resolutions in Digital Brain Images
Using an Embryonic Rat Brain Section
Julie Roggeveen, Gabrielle Langella, and Dr. Zoltan Fulop
1
Papers and posters presented at the 69th Annual Eastern Colleges Science Conference held in
Niagara University, NY on April 18, 2015.
�9
Differences in Photophysiology of Adult Female Daphnia magna Obtained from
Different Biological Supply Houses
Yan-Yee Cheung, Dr. Donald Stearns, and Dr. Jonathan Blaize
10 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Human IL10 Promoter Affect Gene
Expression in Macrophages
Alexa Viniotis, Adam Leibold , Dr. Pali Shah, Dr. Djeneba Dabitao, and Dr. Jay
Bream
10 Molecular Dynamics Simulations to Understand the Role of Human Cystatin C in
Alzheimer’s Disease
Joseph Persichetti and Dr. Arunkumar Sharma
11 The Effect of Marinades on Salmonella typhi on Raw Chicken
Arielle Dorfman
11 Isolation of Bacteriophage for Listeria monocytogenes
Brandon Hart, Anthony Gonzalez, Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt, and Dr. Christopher Corbo
12 Mathematics Instruction in a Special Education Setting
Daniela DiMeglio
12 The Effect of Different Alcohol Concentrations on Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Species
Recognition
Mayar Mussa
13 Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Planarian Micrographs in Search of Human ProtoOncogene Orthologs
Michael Cataldo and James Ducey
14 Ultrastructural Analysis of the Zebrafish Visual System Infected with Listeria
monocytogenes
Timothy Mendez and Dr. Christopher Corbo
14 The Effect of Salinity Levels on Activity and Respiration of the Mummichog Fundulus
Heteroclitus
Cody Carpenter and Dr. Donald Stearns
15 Effects of Olfactory Stimulation on Captive Amur Leopards
Maria Papaioannou, Marc Valitutto, Dr. Brian Palestis, and Dr. Christopher Corbo
�Section II: The Natural Sciences
Full Length Papers
19 The Effect of Five Plant Extracts on Serratia marcescens for Medicinal Significance
Meghan Marie Morrissey
Section III: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
45 Cosmopolitanism and Global Justice
Ian Bertschausen
Section IV: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
67 The Preservation of van Gogh
Casey Schweiger
77 Alien to Ourselves: Finding Humanity in Mars Attacks!
Abigail Creem
83 Representation of Society through Film in Weimar Germany: Fritz Lang’s
Metropolis (1927)
Jessica Catanzaro
93 Even the Grass: Food in Half of a Yellow Sun
Lisa Condemi
98 Ahead of Her Time: Feminism in the Writings of Emilia Pardo Bazán
Caitlin McCarthy
106 Re-writing Myth, Exploring Gender, and Challenging Misogynist Narratives in
Christine de Pizan’s Writings
Arijeta Lajka
����The Effects of Diethyl Phthalate on the
Development of Drosophila melanogaster
Johnathan Hinrichs (Biology) and Dr. Heather Cook (Biological Sciences)
Endocrine disrupters are ever prevalent in the world and have been shown to have a great
effect on the growth, development, and sexual success of both wildlife and humans.
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC’s) have been a hot topic of debate for research due
to the wide variety of impacts that they can have on insects, the environment, and
humans. This paper explores the impact of the endocrine disrupting chemical diethyl
phthalate on the development of Drosophila melanogaster. The goal of this research is to
make a definitive conclusion about the developmental effects of diethyl Phthalate on D.
Melanogaster. Fruit flies are a great organism to use for this kind of research due to their
small size, quick turnover rate, and their small sequenced genome. To assess the impacts
6 groups were used at the following concentrations 100 ppm, 1,000 ppm, 5,000 ppm, and
10,000 ppm as well as 2 control groups grown in water and in 0.3% dimethyl sulfoxide
(DMSO). The flies were incubated in 60% humidity at 25ºC for 11days when pupal
casings and pupa were counted. Over the next 4 days the flies were anesthetized sexed
and counted to determine if there was a developmental effect. The initial statistical data
shows that there is a significant difference among the groups though further analysis is
needed to see where the differences lie.
Search for Safe Underground Water Through Observation of
Tubewell Concrete Platform Color in Southern Bangladesh
Sanjita Dham (Microbiology), Sandra Minchala (Chemistry), and Dr. Mohammad
Alauddin (Physical Sciences)
The search for arsenic (As) safe drinking water for people in this densely populated South
Asian country remains a challenge for policymakers and non-government organizations.
Even though the permissible level of As in groundwater in Bangladesh is 50μg/L, the
vast population in the southern part of Bangladesh is exposed to As at levels close to 200300μg/L. Various safe water options have been introduced in arsenic affected areas. The
pace of installation of such options is not able to cope with the demand of safe water. The
As and Fe rich groundwater develops a reddish-orange color with the silica of concrete
while groundwater with low levels of As and Fe develops a diffuse ash color. We have
investigated 200 tubewells with different degrees of platform color in Sharasti Upazila in
3
�the Chandpur district of Bangladesh. Using inductively coupled plasma optical emission
spectroscopy (ICP-OES), we have determined 28 trace elements in tubewells in two
unions and six villages. In tubewells with reddish color platform, the correlation
coefficients for As versus Fe were much higher than the corresponding coefficients for
As versus Fe in tubewells with blackish to ash color platform. As and Sr correlated highly
for both groups of platform colors. Screening of platform color for tubewells does
indicate that the tubewells with blackish to ash color platform provide groundwater at a
much lower level of arsenic. In absence of other safe water options, the screening of
tubewells through platform color does offer a viable tool for searching for arsenic safe
water.
The Search for MET or a MET Homolog
Expressed by Dugesia dorotocephala
Najia Malik (Biopsychology) and Vincent Vitulli (Biology)
Regeneration of lost or injured planarian tissue is controlled by a litany of molecular cues
that initiate prompt cytoskeletal reorganization, re-epithelialization and recruitment of
neoblasts to the wound site. While few multi cellular eukaryotes share the restorative
fidelity displayed by planaria, nearly all members of the animal kingdom rely upon
epithelialization to reduce the likelihood of infection, minimize water loss/maintain
tonicity and initiate recovery immediately following severe trauma. Unsurprisingly, many
of the cellular hallmarks that facilitate reinstitution of epithelial continuity are conserved
between species, despite massive variability within the repair scheme thereafter. A key
contributor to this process in mammalian wound healing is the peptide ligand hepatocyte
growth factor (HGF) and the receptor tyrosine kinase to which it binds- mesenchymal
epithelial transition factor (MET). While initially described as a unique mitogen that
participates in liver regeneration, it is now well accepted that the HGF-MET pathway
contributes significantly to cellular proliferation, migration and morphogenesis in many
organ systems. Considerable evidence illustrates the importance of HGF-MET signaling
in development and cellular injury recovery; for example, abolishment of MET
expression profoundly effects tissue remodeling and composition of hepatic stem cells
and prevents re-epithelialization in epidermal wounds by keratinocytes. We suspect that
MET or a MET-like protein plays a role in planarian regeneration, as it is a key mediator
of cellular survival, growth and differentiation. To determine whether D. dorotocephala
4
�express MET, standard immunohistochemistry and western blotting techniques were
employed. Our preliminary findings suggest that D. dorotocephala express the MET
receptor under normal physiological conditions.
The Effect of Five Plant Extracts on
Serratia marcescens for Medicinal Significance1
Meghan Morrissey (Microbiology)
Antibiotic resistant bacteria have become a significant problem over the past few
decades. These once antibiotic susceptible bacteria have become resistant through
overuse of antibiotics. This is a problem because if a bacteria’s susceptibility to
antibiotics is severely decreased it is hard for doctors to treat bacterial infections in their
patient. Recently, infections due to antibiotic resistant Serratia marcescens have
increased and become a problem in hospital settings and immunocompromised
individuals. Antibiotic resistant bacteria also have a negative effect on biological systems
in our environment. It is important to find alternative methods to treat bacterial infections
in order to treat already antibiotic resistant bacteria and prevent antibiotic resistance. In
this study, five plant extracts (tannic acid, cinnamic acid, clove oil, eugenol, and tea tree
oil) were tested to determine their antimicrobial activity against the gram-negative,
Serratia marcescens. It was determined that clove oil (6.3 x 10–1 M) and eugenol
(6.810–1 M, 6.810–2 M, 6.810–3 M) were able to inhibit the growth of S. marcescens.
The cinnamic acid (7.510–2 M, 7.510–3 M, 7.510–4 M, 7.510–5 M), tannic acid
(6.510–3 M, 6.510–4 M, 6.510–5 M, 6.510–6 M), and tea tree oil (7.210–1 M, 7.210-2
M, 7.210–3 M, 7.210–4 M) showed no antimicrobial activity against S. marcescens.
1
Recipient of Excellence Award for manuscript.
5
�Detection of a Listeria monocytogenes Infection in the
Zebrafish Central Nervous System;
Development of a Squashed Tissue Preparation for
Immunofluorescence Labeling
Brandon Kocurek (Microbiology), Anthony Spano (Microbiology), and Dr. Christopher
Corbo (Biological Sciences)
Listeria monocytogenes is a gram positive, food borne, intracellular bacterium, which is
known to enter the central nervous system and cause a central nervous system infection.
L. Monocytogenes is the causative agent of the infection listeriosis, which is normally
cleared by a patient’s immune system. However, the immuno-compromised, newborns,
pregnant women, and the elderly are prone to a more serious infection, which can
eventually lead to death in extreme cases. The goal of this study was to set up a central
nervous system infection model in adult zebrafish, and cause a central nervous system
response via injection into the iris of the eye. Results were obtained using
immunhistochemical staining and laser scanning confocal microscopy. Being an
intracellular pathogen, we have previously hypothesized and demonstrated that L.
Monocytogenes would enter the optic tectum via the optic nerve. Each specimen was
injected in the eye and brain extraction was performed at 24hr, 48hr, 98hr and 7 day postinjection. Once the brains were extracted, they were smashed onto slides and fixed using
paraformaldehyde. After the immunohistochemical reaction, the slides were mounted.
These slides were then imaged using confocal microscopy. During evaluation of the zstacks, we found gram-positive cells representing L. Monocytogenes among then cells of
the periventricular grey zone of the optic tectum. Evidence of L. Monocytogenes leaving
the host cells was also present in the z-stacks.
Identification of Listeria monocytogenes in Adult
Zebrafish Using the Gram Stain Reaction
Anthony Spano (Microbiology), Brandon Kocurek (Microbiology), and Dr. Christopher
Corbo (Biological Sciences)
Listeria monocytogenes is a gram- positive, food born, intracellular bacterium that is the
causative microbe for listeriosis, which can be fatal in the immunocompomised, the
elderly, the very young, and those with a suppressed immune system. Infection in healthy
individuals is very uncommon. L. monocytogenes is known to attack the central nervous
6
�system. Our lab has set out to develop a model of a L. monocytogenes central nervous
system infection. The goal of this study is to see if L. monocytogenes can be detected in
the zebrafish brain tissue using the Gram Stain reaction. Using zebrafish as our model,
each specimen was injected into the iris of the eye with approximately 2ul of a 24- hour
culture of L. monocytogenes. Being an intracellular pathogen, we hypothesized that
Listeria would travel through to the optic tectum of the brain via the optic nerve. We
have previously demonstrated that L. monocytogenes reaches the optic tectum of the adult
zebrafish when injected into the eye. At the time points of 1, 2, and 7 days post- injection,
each fish’s brain was extracted, squashed into a monolayer of cells and fixed using
paraformaldehyde. After gram staining each sample, dehydrating the tissue and mounting
with permount, they were examined using light microscopy. During examination, we
found gram-positive cells present among the cells of the periventricular grey zone of the
optic tectum. There were also gram- positive cells present with the cells of the central
nervous system.
Isolation of Bacteriophages from Sewage that Infect
Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Jacob Cohen (Microbiology)
This research serves the purpose of isolating the different kind/s if any of bacteriophages
that will infect Escherichia coli and/or Pseudomonas aeruginosa that are taken from a
sewage source. Once found, it can be then identified and isolated for further research.
The bacteriophage/s found may serve as an alternative to taking antibiotics to cure an
infection caused by E.coli or P. aeruginosa. Following the procedure stated in this paper,
allowed the ability to isolate a bacteriophage taken from a sewage treatment plant known
as the Joint Meeting Sewage Dispose in Elizabeth, NJ. It was found that only the E. coli
tested positive in providing growth of bacteriophages taken from the collected sample of
sewage water. The P. aeruginosa did not show any sign of plaque formation by a
bacteriophage suggesting that the sewage may not have contained a virus specific to P.
aeruginosa.
7
�Exposure to Hexavalent Chromium from Tannery Wastes
and Health Risks for Urban Population in Bangladesh
Sanjita Dham (Microbiology), Sandra Minchala (Chemistry), Nadia Asfar (Chemistry),
Sarah Alauddin (Physical Sciences), Dr. Mohammad Alauddin (Physical Sciences),
Sanjit Shaha2, W. Hoque2, and Russell Gerads3
About 277 small, medium and large size tanneries in the outskirts of Dhaka city in
Bangladesh produce 2-3% of world’s leather. These tanning industries process
approximately 180 million square feet or 74,000 tons of raw hide annually and export
about $400 million worth of leather and footwear. In the tanning process of raw hides
these industries use a variety of chemicals, especially chromium salts. On a daily basis
approximately 22,000 cubic meters of untreated liquid waste and 170 tons of solid waste
are dumped in nearby canals and rivers. In addition to the population at the work place in
these industries, the general population is exposed to chromium species through river
water. Although Cr (III) is essential trace element, hexavalent chromium Cr (VI) is a
known carcinogen. In addition to the exposure in river water, and polluted ambient air,
residents in nearby slums often use discarded hides and shaving of hides as cooking fuel
causing indoor air pollution. In the current investigation, water and air samples near the
industrial discharge areas and in the downstream areas were analyzed for total chromium
(Cr) and total Cr (VI). All the data for total Cr and Cr (VI) in water and air samples in
these urban areas, along with their potential health risks, are discussed.
Presenting the Information Value of Different Resolutions in
Digital Brain Images Using an Embryonic Rat Brain Section
Julie Roggeveen (Biology), Gabrielle Langella (Biopsychology), and Dr. Zoltan Fulop
(Biological Sciences)
A region of embryonic rat brain was digitally photographed with an Olympus BX40
Microscope equipped with a 10MP (MU1000) video camera using four different
objectives (4x, 10x, 20x,40x). The different objectives were used to analyze the value of
different resolutions in balancing the amount of work needed to make the pictures with
the worth (or information value) of the image when using Photoshop (version 12.0). The
images captured were montaged and arranged into series. This information will be used
2
3
Exonics Technology Center, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh
Applied Speciation LLC, Bothell, WA 98011
8
�in preparation of a digital microscopic atlas of different aged embryonic rat brains. This
poster presents the pictures in printed versions while the digitalized images will be shown
via laptop computer.
Differences in Photophysiology of Adult Female Daphnia
magna Obtained from Different Biological Supply Houses
Yan-Yee Cheung (Biology), Dr. Donald Stearns (Biological Sciences), and Dr. Jonathan
Blaize (Biological Sciences)
This research used behavioral responses to light to compare the photophysiologies of
Daphnia magna from three supply companies (Carolina Biological Supply Company,
Connecticut Valley Biological Supply Company, Ward’s Science). For each treatment,
each of 10 test organisms was exposed five times to the same light stimulus (1.6 μEm-2s1 of 410-nm light) and compared with dark controls for location in the test chamber after
15-30 s light exposure. Analysis of variance comparisons allowed for pooling for each
treatment (10 x 5 = 50) and allowed additional pooling of 15-s and 30-s exposures,
further increasing sample size. In addition to the three company treatments, the Carolina
and Connecticut clones were tested before and after rinsing with spring water containing
no fish chemicals. While rinsing of Connecticut specimens made no significant difference
in photobehavior, rinsing did affect photoresponses of Carolina organisms, indicating an
environmental effect. Pooled data showed much more variability in photoresponses for
Carolina organisms compared with specimens from the other two companies, as well as
significant (p < 0.05) phototactic differences, suggesting a genetic effect as well.
Restriction digests were prepared and electrophoresed to look for genetic differences to
which variation in phototactic response may be attributed.
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Human
IL10 Promoter Affect Gene Expression in Macrophages
Alexa Viniotis (Microbiology), Adam Leibold4, Dr. Pali Shah4, Dr. Djeneba Dabitao4,
and Dr. Jay Bream4
One of the greatest challenges in the post-genomic era is to interpret the functional
consequences of human genetic variation on disease outcomes. Genetic variation, such as
4
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205
9
�single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), are common, occurring ~ every 500-1000bp. It
has long been recognized that some SNPs are associated with susceptibility to disease.
Although the number of SNPs associated with complex disease continues to rise, there
are few tools available to determine that these SNPs functionally contribute to disease or
are merely disease markers. To move beyond disease association studies, the Bream Lab
established a mouse model to directly test the effects of human genetic variation on gene
expression and disease susceptibility, using the anti-inflammatory gene IL10 as a proof
of-concept. They found that 2 common human IL10 promoter SNP alleles, previously
associated with disease, encode for high or low IL-10 expression in CD4+ T cells (Helper
T cells). Importantly, allele-specific hIL-10 production in T lymphocytes leads to
differential susceptibility to Leishmania donovani infection. For this project, we sought to
determine if these IL10 alleles also control differential induction of IL-10 in
macrophages. Stimulation of bone marrow derived macrophages (BMM) with LPS (a
TLR4 agonist) but not Pam3CSK4 (a TLR1/2 agonist) resulted in allele-specific human
IL-10 expression. These data suggest that human IL10 promoter SNPs operate in a cell
type- and receptor-specific manner to fine-tune IL-10 levels to control inflammation.
Molecular Dynamics Simulations to Understand the
Role of Human Cystatin C in Alzheimer’s Disease
Joseph Persichetti (Chemistry) and Dr. Arunkumar Sharma (Physical Sciences)
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by neuronal degeneration as well as the
presence of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques. Despite the recent popularity in
AD research, there is no known effective therapeutic treatment for the disease. One of the
characteristics of AD is the formation of Amyloid plaques, of which Amyloid- β (Aβ) is a
major component. The role of Human Cystatin C (HCC) in the advancement of AD has
yet to be determined as agonistic or antagonistic. In order to better understand the
interaction between Aβ and HCC, we have used computational methods to quantify the
stability of the protein complex. Initial docking between these proteins has been obtained
using the Z-DOCK server. We have run fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulations
at physiological pH and temperature for the best docking poses. The simulation, run
through the YASARA software package, identifies the binding region of the complex as
well as the molecular pathway taken by the ligand. Our analysis uses hydrogen bonds,
root square mean deviation and fluctuation of each protein, and binding energy of the
10
�complex to establish stability of the complex. This investigation will lead to a better
understanding of the docking and stability of HCC to Amyloid-β. This can be immensely
useful in understanding the role of HCC in the aggregation or reduction of Aβ plaques in
Alzheimer’s patients. Ultimately, this knowledge can provide vital clues to a cure for the
disease.
The Effect of Marinades on Salmonella typhi on Raw Chicken
Arielle Dorfman (Microbiology)
Salmonella is one of the most recognized species of bacterium known in a household.
The most acknowledged presence of the species is found in packages of raw chicken
found at your local butcher, market and even in contamination of water. The research
interest in the bacteria is to explain the effect of marinade on Salmonella typhi
concentrations on raw chicken. In this research study different marinades were tested and
analyzed to discover if each edible condiment causes a distinct effect on the Salmonella
typhi colony count and cell death. The results obtained in this experiment are
inconclusive.
Isolation of Bacteriophage for Listeria monocytogenes
Brandon Hart (Microbiology), Anthony Gonzalez (Microbiology), Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt
(Biological Sciences), and Dr. Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences)
Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative, motile diphtheroid gram-positive organism. L.
monocytogenes is the cause of listeriosis, which results from consumption of
contaminated meats, vegetables, fish, poultry, and dairy products. The lethality of L.
monocytogenes poses threat in the immunocompromised, young, elderly, and pregnant
populations. Bacteriophages are a group of viruses which use bacterial cells as their host.
They are highly specific; only infecting one or certain types of bacteria. Bacteriophages
ultimately lead to the destruction of the bacterial cell it infects. Being that Listeria is
commonly isolated from soil and water samples we hypothesized that bacteriophage are
present in raw sewage. Listeria is believed to be present from runoff and waste in sewage
and therefore this is why we selected this source to obtain phage isolates. Sewage
samples were added to nutrient broth and incubated overnight and then incubated in the
11
�presence of a 48 hour L. monocytogenes culture. Phage elution buffer was used to extract
the phage from the bacterial cells. Phage were diluted out using water blanks. Lysate was
serially diluted and enriched in brain heart infusion agar and plated on soft top agar.
Plaques were identified and counted. The isolated phage were analyzed using electron
microscopy (EM). EM identified tailless phage which we are currently in the process of
the phage identification. This research is important because it investigates new potential
ways to prevent food from being contaminated by Listeria.
Mathematics Instruction in a Special Education Setting
Daniela DiMeglio (Mathematics)
Description of how mathematics is taught in a self- contained setting. This self contained
setting includes one teacher, one student teaching four paraprofessionals and ten students.
Students were grouped by ability, and through the use of differentiated math stations
students received various tasks.
The Effect of Different Alcohol Concentrations on
Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Species Recognition
Mayar Mussa (Biopsychology)
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a model organism that has been utilized for many scientific
experiments in many different areas of biology. Species recognition occurs when
members of the same species can identify one another and has many benefits for social,
reproductive, and antipredator behavior. There have been many experiments conducted
on the effect of ethanol (EtOH) on zebrafish, which has allowed us to better understand
the behavioral and physiological effects of alcohol. The purpose of this experiment is to
determine if different low levels of ethanol can impair the zebrafish’s ability to recognize
members of the same species. Five concentrations of EtOH water were used in this
experiment: 0.00% (control), 0.125%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1%. The zebrafish were tested
based on how long they spent near another zebrafish or near a member of a similarly
sized species, the neon tetra (Paracheirodon innesi). Statistically significant preference
for the same species was observed in the control group and with the fish in the 0.125%
EtOH levels. With the 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1% treatments, the fish did not discriminate
among species and spent significantly less time near the zebrafish than in the control and
12
�0.125% treatment. The results of this experiment show that higher levels of EtOH disrupt
species recognition in zebrafish.
Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Planarian Micrographs
in Search of Human Proto-Oncogene Orthologs5
Michael Cataldo (Biology) and James Ducey (Biology)
The mechanisms controlling morphallactic regeneration are among the most complex and
well studied of all biological processes. Since the 18th century planaria have served as a
model organism for the study of regeneration due to their immense developmental
plasticity, simple body plan and relative abundance. In our investigation, fresh water
brown planaria supplied by Carolina Biological Sciences (Dugesia dorotocephala or
tigrin) were employed to determine whether a variant of human mesenchymal epithelial
transition factor (MET), a key contributor to liver regeneration, could be detected through
use of electron microscopy. While our initial experimentation suggested that a MET
ortholog was expressed by these species, results from subsequent experiments have been
inconsistent. We conclude that while a MET variant is likely absent from the planarian
genome, proteins that contribute to tissue repair in a similar fashion are undoubtedly
present. In a concurrent study, light and electron micrographs were augmented by image
analysis software to create novel, three-dimensional depictions of the aforementioned
flatworms. The inclusion of this open-source program revealed ultrastructural
information that would remain hidden otherwise and provides a reliable method for
quantitation of immunological markers.
Ultrastructural Analysis of the Zebrafish Visual
System Infected with Listeria monocytogenes
Timothy Mendez (Biology) and Dr. Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences)
Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive bacterium that invades host cells causing
listeriosis in immunocompromised patients and may cause death. In severe cases, this
pathogen has been shown to invade the central nervous system (CNS). Listeria
monocytogenes grows well at low temperatures allowing it to colonize on refrigerated
foods. Our lab has begun to describe this mode of infection and is in the process of
establishing this as a successful model to study a L. monocytogenes CNS infection in a
5
Recipient of Best Presentation Award for poster.
13
�vertebrate organism. This project has set out to characterize the cellular pathology at the
ultrastructural level. Infected zebrafish brains and retinas which had previously been
infected with L. monocytogenes were fixed with glutaraldehyde and osmium tetroxide at
specific time points, dehydrated through an increasing ethanol concentration, and dried
for scanning electron microscopy or embedded and sectioned for light and transmission
electron microscopy. At the light microscopic level, cells of the periventricular grey zone
(PVGZ) were seen to be unhealthy in appearance. Transmission electron microscopy
revealed the presence of Listeria in the optic tectum of the zebrafish brain. Specifically
residing in and among the cells of the PVGZ. This region of the brain is the direct input
of the optic nerve and the major visual processing cortex of the zebrafish. Listeria cells
can be seen between the cell bodies of the PVGZ. The cells of this region were also, in
some cases damaged, appearing as if a hole was punched into the side of cells.
The Effect of Salinity Levels on Activity and Respiration
of the Mummichog Fundulus Heteroclitus
Cody Carpenter (Biology) and Dr. Donald Stearns (Biological Sciences)
This research tested for salinity effects on the activity and respiration levels of Fundulus
heteroclitus. The test organisms were acclimated at room temperature (~ 24°C) for
approximately four weeks, to three different salinities: < 1.0 ppt (near freshwater), 21 ppt
(estuarine), 31 ppt (near oceanic). Fish activity was recorded as number of grid lines
crossed per minute per videotaped fish (n = 25-27 fish), each averaged from three
separate counts. For respiration, each test organism (n = 25 fish) was placed inside an airtight, 250 ml container of test water at room temperature (~ 24°C). Initial dissolved
oxygen was recorded, and respiration level was quantified as the amount of dissolved
oxygen consumed per gram of fish (ppm O2 g-1) during each 10-minute test period.
Analysis of variance showed that fish acclimated to 31 ppt had significantly (p < 0.001)
higher activity levels compared with the other two salinity treatments. Fish acclimated to
near-freshwater and estuarine salinities trended (p < 0.067) towards higher gram-specific
respiration rates compared with fish acclimated to near-oceanic salinities. These results
suggest that, like many estuarine species, the mummichog appears to require more energy
for osmoregulation in estuarine waters than in more oceanic waters, with subsequently
less energy available for active swimming.
14
�Effects of Olfactory Stimulation on Captive Amur Leopards
Maria Papaioannou (Biology), Marc Valitutto6, Dr. Brian Palestis (Biological Sciences),
and Dr. Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences)
Amur leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis) are a critically endangered species that is
native to southeastern Russia and northeastern China. Species which are critically
endangered are often housed by zoological facilities world –wide to enhance public
awareness and continue captive breeding programs to ensure the survival of this species.
In order for zoo animals to be properly stimulated on a daily basis, research into proper
animal enrichment is necessary. This study was conducted on two captive male Amur
leopards located at the Staten Island Zoo. These individuals were exposed to three
different scents in order to provide environmental enrichment and to observe their
activity and behavioral diversity. The scents used to determine Amur leopard behavior
were nutmeg oil, scent of a prey-klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) feces, female
Amur leopard urine, and a scent of a predator- cougar (Puma concolor) urine. Each scent
was freshly sprayed on a cardboard box for three consecutive days within four
consecutive weeks. Overall, the scents provided in this study resulted in an increase in
behavioral diversity. Among the four scents, the leopards were most interested in the
nutmeg and female Amur leopard urine followed by the klipspringer feces and cougar
urine. Introducing novel scents into the leopard’s environment essentially increased the
spatial use in their exhibit along with physiological and mental stimulation.
6
Staten Island Zoo, Staten Island, NY 10310
15
����The Effect of Five Plant Extracts on
Serratia marcescens for Medicinal Significance1
Meghan Marie Morrissey (Microbiology)2
Antibiotic resistant bacteria have become a significant problem over the past few
decades. These once antibiotic susceptible bacteria have become resistant through
overuse of antibiotics in clinical settings. This is a problem because if a bacteria’s
susceptibility to antibiotics is severely decreased it is hard for doctors to treat the
bacterial infection in their patient. Recently, infections due to antibiotic resistant Serratia
marcescens have increased and become a problem in hospital settings and
immunocompromised individuals. Antibiotic resistant bacteria also have a negative effect
on biological systems in our environment. It is important to find alternative methods to
treat bacterial infections in order to treat already antibiotic resistant bacteria and prevent
antibiotic resistance. In this study, five plant extracts (tannic acid, cinnamic acid, clove
oil, eugenol, and tea tree oil) were tested to determine their antimicrobial activity against
the gram-negative, Serratia marcescens. It was determined that clove oil (6.3 x 10–1 M)
and eugenol (6.8 x 10–1 M, 6.8 x 10–2 M, 6.8 x 10–3 M) were able to inhibit the growth of
S. marcescens. The cinnamic acid (7.5 x 10–2 M, 7.5 x 10–3 M, 7.5 x 10–4 M, 7.5 x 10–5
M), tannic acid (6.5 x 10–3 M, 6.5 x 10–4 M, 6.5 x 10–5 M, 6.5 x 10–6 M), and tea tree oil
(7.2 x 10–1 M, 7.2 x 10–2 M, 7.2 x 10–3 M, 7.2 x 10–4 M) showed no antimicrobial activity
against S. marcescens. At all four concentrations no inhibition occurred.
I. Introduction
Serratia marcescens
Serratia marcescens (further referred to as S. marcescens) is a gram-negative
bacillus and a member of the Enterobacteriacae. Enterobacteriacae are a large family of
gram-negative bacteria, including many harmless symbiotic bacteria and many bacteria
known to be pathogenic to humans. Serratia species are most commonly found in soil,
This paper received an Excellence Award at the 69th Eastern Colleges Science
Conference held in Niagara University, NY on April 18, 2015.
2 Research conducted under the direction of Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt in partial fulfillment of
the Senior Program requirements.
1
19
�water, air, plants and animals. They are also found in many food products especially
foods high in starch, due to an excellent growth environment. S. marcescens was
originally thought to be a non-pathogenic water organism. It was used as a biological
marker because it is easily recognized due to its red colonies. However, in 1896, it was
found that S. marcescens lead to more deaths than many pathogenic bacteria (Hejazi and
Falkiner, 1997).
Organism Identification and Culture
The potential of Serratia species to utilize a wide variety of nutrients aids in its
survival in extreme conditions; Serratia sp. is also known to be able to survive in
disinfectants, antiseptics and double distilled water. Antiseptics are chemical agents used
on the skin or other living tissue to inhibit or eliminate microbes. Disinfectants are
physical and chemical procedures that inhibit or destroy microbes, bacterial spores,
viruses, fungi and mycobacteria. There are different levels of disinfectants, high level,
intermediate level and low-level disinfectants (Murray et al., 2013). All bacteria grow at
different rates and have different optimal growth requirements. Optimal pH, temperature
and nutrients needed for growth all differ between each bacterium and can even be
different within a bacterial species. Serratia species are known to be able to survive in
aerobic (in the presence of oxygen), semi-anaerobic (small levels of oxygen) and
anaerobic (no oxygen present) conditions. In a study conducted by Hejazi and Falkiner
(1997), the survival and growth of S. marcescens isolated from hospital blood bags, at
different oxygen concentrations in de-ionized water containing materials derived from the
blood bags, it was found that the rate of survival was highest in anaerobic conditions.
The cultures tested under aerobic and semi-anaerobic conditions, did not promote the
growth of Serratia. These results showed a toxic effect of oxygen on Serratia in low
nutrient conditions. This showed that when whole-blood units become contaminated
there is a high risk of rapid growth in red blood cells and platelets. This indicates that
human immunological mechanisms, such as complement killing and phagocytosis are not
effective against S. marcesens. The ability to multiply in blood components varies
between bacterial species and plays a role in infection (Hejazi and Falkiner, 1997).
Serratia marcescens was found to be an oxidase-negative gram-negative
bacteria. An oxidase negative bacterium does not produce certain cytochrome c oxidases
(Hejazi and Falkiner, 1997). Serratia is able to produce deoxyribonuclease (DNAse), an
enzyme that catalyzes the breakage of phosphodiester linkages, the backbone of DNA.
This leads to the degradation of DNA into smaller fragments and facilitates the spread of
20
�the bacterium (Murray et al., 2013). In clinical laboratories, the main system used to
identify Serratia species is the API 20E system, which is widely used to differentiate and
identify gram-negative bacteria. The API is a strip of 20 small reaction tubes with a
different substrate in each. Before performing an API, it must be confirmed that the
bacteria in question is gram-negative and a member of the Enterobacteriaceae. A Gram
stain can be used to confirm the bacteria is gram-negative and an oxidase test can be
performed to confirm the bacteria is a member of Enterobacteriacae, most
Enterobacteriaceae are oxidase negative. Under normal conditions S. marcencens is
unable to ferment arabinose and Serratia liquefaciens is arabinose-positive. However, in
the API20E system, S. marcescens can oxidase arabinose, giving a false-positive
reaction. This misidentification as S. liquefaciens can be dangerous to patients (Hejazi
and Falkiner, 1997).
Serratia marcescens can usually be identified by the reddish color of the
colonies. The red pigment is caused by prodigiosin, however, the function of this pigment
remains unclear because clinical isolates are rarely pigmented. Prodigiosin biosynthesis
in S. marcescens depends on growth conditions. Normally in clinical specimens, the
colonies appear unpigmented, but in a natural setting the colonies are pigmented. The
pigment has a role in respiration and has antibiotic properties by serving as a protective
barrier when conditions are not favorable for growth. Synthesis of this pigment depends
on temperature, ions and available amino acids. Failure of S. marcescens to produce
pigment in clinical specimens makes it difficult to distinguish from other organisms
(Hejazi and Falkiner, 1997).
Pathogenicity and Virulence
Serratia marcescens often causes infection in immuno-compromised patients
and neonates. These infections are usually hospital acquired and are rare in
immuonocompetent individuals (Murray et al., 2013). People classified as
immunocompromised have an immune response that does not function as well as
someone who is immunocompetent. Immunodeficiency may result from genetic
disorders, drug induced immunosuppression, cancer or disease (ex. AIDS). Also,
immunodeficiency naturally occurs in neonates and pregnant women (Murray et al.,
2013). There are two types of pathogens, strict pathogens and opportunistic pathogens.
Strict pathogens are organisms that are always associated with human disease and
opportunistic pathogens are organisms that are typically members of a person’s normal
microbial flora. Opportunistic pathogens do not usually cause disease in their normal
21
�setting but they become problematic when introduced to normally sterile body sites, such
as blood and tissues. If an individual’s immune system is compromised they are more
susceptible to infections from opportunistic pathogens. Serratia marcescens is an
opportunistic pathogen with many virulence factors that help it invade and infect humans
(Murray et al., 2013).
Serratia marcescens was once thought to only cause infection in patients with
chronic debilitating disorders. However, S. marcescens has now been found as the
etiological agent in every conceivable kind of body site. These infections include
respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infections, septicemia, meningitis and wound
infections. It is known to cause infective endocarditis in cardiac surgery patients. In
contrast to other gram-negative bacteria, S. marcescens usually infects the left side of the
heart. Recently, S. marcescens was shown to be fully pathogenic in heroin addicts and
hospitalized patients (Hejazi and Falkiner, 1997).
Serratia marcescens strains are known to have many virulence factors that aid it
during infection. It possesses both mannose-resistant (MR) pili and mannose-sensitive
(MS) pili, which aid in the adherence to host epithelial surfaces. The ability of a
bacterium to attach itself to the surface of host epithelial cell surfaces is a determinant of
microbial virulence. S. marcescens pili is able to attach to uroepithelial cells and cause
nosocomial urinary tract infections. A nosocomial infection is an infection that a patient
acquires while in a hospital setting. The hydrophobicity of S. marcescens’s surface allows
it to easily pass into and out of human host cells. This hydrophobicity also allows the
bacterium to adhere to solid plastic surfaces such as catheters, which can often lead to
infection. In contrast to gram- positive bacteria, all gram negative bacteria have
lipopolysaccharide (LPS) located in their outer membrane. This layer of LPS allows the
bacteria to survive an attack by antibodies in the host. The components of the bacterial
surface of pathogenic bacteria are the primary factors in determining their pathogenicity.
Gram-negative bacteria are surrounded by an outer-membrane, which protects them from
toxins and blocks access to their target sites during infection. Lipopolysaccharide is
comprised of lipid A, the O-antigen and the core. The presence of an O-side chain
transfers resistance to serum cells. S. marcescens possesses many extracellular enzymes
and is one of the most efficient bacteria in the degradation of chitin. Chitin is the major
component of fungal cells walls. Since S. marcescens produces chitinolytic enzymes,
enzymes capable of degrading chitin, it is believed that parts of the bacterium can be used
as natural anti-fungal agents (Hejazi and Falkiner, 1997).
22
�Antibiotics and Antibiotic Susceptibility
History on antibiotics
Before antibiotics were discovered antiseptics were applied topically to prevent
the growth of microorganisms. However, these antiseptics were ineffective against
systemic bacterial infections. In 1935, scientists found that compounds produced by
microorganisms were able to inhibit the growth of other microorganisms. Alexander
Fleming was the first to realize that the mold Penicillium inhibited the growth of
Staphylococci. Shortly after the discovery of the antibiotic Penicillin, Streptomycin and
the Tetracyclines were developed. The discovery of antibiotics did not stop bacterial
infections from occurring, it was merely a weapon against infectious diseases. As time
goes on and scientists develop new and more powerful antibiotics, bacteria also develop
resistance to many of these antibiotics (Murray et al., 2013).
Antibiotics work by interfering with a structure or some process within the
bacterium. Most antibiotics work by disrupting the synthesis of the bacterial cell wall.
The three other modes of action of antibiotics are inhibition of protein synthesis,
inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis and, competitive inhibition (antimetabolite) (Murray
et al., 2013).
Antibiotic resistant strains of S. marcescens
Infections caused by S. marcescens have become increasingly difficult to treat
because many strains have become antibiotic resistant. Recent studies found strains of S.
marcescens resistant to ampicillin, first and second-generation cephalosporins, B-lactam,
and aminoglycosides. Beta-lacatamase resistance among Enterobacteriacae is rare,
however, recent clinical isolates of S. marcescens have shown resistance. It was found
that the presence of the O-side chain, a repetitive glycan polymer, in the LPS layer
decreased the permeability of the membrane to Beta- lactam antibiotics. Bacterial
resistance to aminoglycosides occurs by the bacterium preventing the drug from reaching
the target site on the ribosome. The bacterium also alters its cell envelope, preventing the
uptake of the drug, causing the drug to be modified by inactivating enzymes. S.
marcescens contains an enzyme acetyltransferase (AAC(3)-I) which inactivates the drug
and is mediated by plasmids. Since this is mediated by plasmids, this resistance is often
transferrable from one bacterium to another (Hejazi and Falkiner, 1997).
23
�Biological cost of antibiotic resistance
Fitness, the ability to survive and reproduce, is an important tool to study the
evolution of a species. The fitness of a pathogen depends on rates at which they
reproduce and die in an infected host and environment, how they are transmitted between
hosts, and how they are cleared from infected hosts. In the environment there is an
ongoing competition between antibiotic sensitive and resistant bacteria. If in a
population of bacteria, the antibiotic resistant strain of bacteria has increased fitness, the
fitness of the antibiotic sensitive strain will decrease. It is important to understand the
fitness of a species of bacteria, because if antibiotic resistant bacteria prevail over
antibiotic sensitive bacteria, it is unknown if this can ever be reversed. There are cases of
“no cost” antibiotic resistance, where this resistance does not affect the overall fitness of
itself and others in the community, however, the increasing appearance of antibiotic
resistant bacteria can have a detrimental effect on other species fitness in the community.
It has been proven that the evolution and spread of resistance is directly
correlated to the use and overuse of antibiotics. This increasing resistance depends on
various factors that we may be able to control and factors that are out of our control. The
first step in controlling resistance would be to control the rate and pattern of antibiotic
use. Another solution would be to find an alternative way to treating bacterial infections.
To date, certain bacterial infections have become almost untreatable with antibiotics. The
frequency of these untreatable bacterial infections will only increase if changes in the use
of antibiotics are not made. If the population of antibiotic resistant bacteria is at a high
level in a community, is it likely to remain there for a long time (Andersson I. Dan, 2003
& Andersson I. Dan and Levin R. Bruce, 1999).
Antibiotics and commensal bacteria
More than 1000 species of commensal bacteria live inside the human intestines.
These commensal bacteria form a symbiotic relationship with its host, known as
mutualism. A symbiotic relationship is one in which one organism benefits causing little
or no harm to the other organism. The normal microbiota in humans continues to evolve
and these bacteria play important roles in maintaining one’s health. These commensal
bacteria also help in preventing pathogenic bacteria from invading and colonizing certain
parts of the body. The commensal bacteria do this by directly competing with the
pathogenic bacteria for nutrients and space, and some commensals can inhibit signaling
pathways necessary for invasion by pathogenic bacteria.
24
�The protective mechanism of commensal bacteria is drastically affected by the
use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. These broad-spectrum antibiotics can kill large
numbers of commensal bacteria. This then creates opportunities for pathogenic bacteria
to occupy niches in the body, normally filled with harmless commensal bacteria, causing
infection (Janeway et al., 2012).
Plant Extracts
History and usage of plant extracts
Plant extracts and oils have been used for various different things for thousands
of years. They have been used in perfumes, flavoring in drinks and crop preservation.
The antimicrobial activity of plant extracts has been used for raw and processed food
preservation, pharmaceuticals and alternative medicine (Hammer et al., 1999).
Even though the number of new antibiotics has been increasing in the past three
decades, resistance to these drugs by microorganisms has increased rapidly. Bacteria
have the ability to generate and transmit this resistance to pharmaceutical drugs. Due to
new bacterial strains, which are multi-resistant, patients in hospitals with weakened
immune systems have increased chances of mortality. The problem of antibiotic
resistance will only continue to increase if patients are not presented with an alternative
option. In order to prevent bacteria from becoming resistant, the genetic mechanisms of
resistance must be researched and prescribing physicians must control the distribution of
antibiotics.
Natural phytochemicals, organic compounds found naturally occurring in plants have
been used to help cure individuals with infections long before antibiotic therapy was
introduced. They can be a source of antioxidants and aid in immune response against
bacteria. Some of these plant extracts have been proven to be a good alternative to
synthetic chemicals, such as many antibiotics produced today (Nascimento et al., 2000).
Eugenol
Eugenol (4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol) is a pale liquid usually extracted from clove oil,
nutmeg, basil, bay leaves, and cinnamon. Eugenol has aseptic and anesthetic properties,
therefore, it is often used for prosthodontic applications in dentistry. It is used to calm the
nerve inside the tooth during deep nerve extraction techniques (Alma et al., 2007), (Ody,
1993), (Wade, 2010).
25
�Figure 1: Eugenol (Wade, 2010)
Tea tree oil
Tea tree oil (terpinen-4-ol) is taken from the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia. The
properties of tea tree oil can make it toxic if taken by mouth so it is often used in products
that are rubbed on the skin. However, tea tree oil be an irritant and cause allergic reactions
to some people when applied on the skin. Tea tree oil has been known to have antiseptic
and anti-inflammatory properties and has promising effects in a clinical setting. In nature,
tea tree oil is mostly bactericidal and at some concentrations bacteriostatic (Carson et al.,
2006).
Figure 2: Tea tree oil (Wade, 2010)
Clove oil
Clove oil is an essential oil from the clove plant, Syzygium aromaticum. It has
aseptic and anesthetic properties and is often used in dentistry to relieve minor dental
pain. In foreign counties it is often used as medicinal herbs for therapy for
many infections. It is used in aromatherapy and included in the diets of many European
and Asian countries (Alma et al., 2007), (Ody, 1993).
26
�Figure 3: Clove oil (Wade, 2010)
Tannic acid
Tannins, present in tannic acid, belong to a group of plant produced polyphenolic
compounds which are known to have antimicrobial properties. These plant produced
polyphenolic compounds are present in many soil types. Tannins are produced in leaves,
roots, bark, galls, fruits and the buds of many plants. It is believed that tannins have
antimicrobial properties due to their ability to disrupt the membranes of microorganisms
(Lim et al., 2003).
Cinnamic acid
Cinnamic acid (3-phenyl acrylic acid) is naturally found in the oil of cinnamon.
Cinnamic acid and its derivatives are found in many plants and fruits. Therefore, they
provide a natural protection against various invading pathogenic microorganisms. Many
aromatic antimicrobial agents, have been used as preservatives in the food industry.
Research has also proven that it has properties capable of preventing the growth of yeast
(Chambel et al., 1999).
Figure 4: Cinnamic Acid (Wade, 2010)
27
�Plant extracts as antimicrobial agents
Since the emergence of antibiotics in the 1950’s, the use of plant derivatives as
antimicrobials has been rarely seen. Until recently, scientists and doctors mainly focused
on developing drugs from bacterial and fungal spores, due to their antimicrobial
properties. However, scientists are now realizing that the life span of any antibiotic
developed is limited, due antibiotic resistance. Many people are becoming aware of the
misuse and over prescription of traditional antibiotic drugs. In addition, many of these
people are interested in treating their ailments with a more natural product. Some of
these natural plant extracts are already available to the public at over the counter herbal
suppliers, and natural food stores. Many individuals are even starting to self-medicate
with these substances.
Additionally, over the last decade, increased research into antimicrobial properties of
plant derivatives is due to the increasing population of HIV positive patients in
underdeveloped countries. These plant derivatives found in the environment, may be
effective to patients in nations who cannot afford expensive Western medicine (Cowan,
1999).
II. Objectives
The purpose of this experiment was to test the effect of naturally occurring plant
extracts on the growth of S. marcescens. The effect of the five plant extracts on the
growth of S. marcescens was tested at four different concentrations of the extract. By
making different dilutions, it could be determined whether the extract has better antimicrobial properties at high or low concentrations. Finding alternatives to antibiotics is
very important given the increasing populations of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Antibiotic resistant bacteria make it difficult for doctors to treat patients with these types
of infections. This experiment allowed us to see which plant extract had the greatest
effect on the growth of S. marcescens and at which concentration inhibition of growth
was greatest. Finding a naturally occurring plant extract that can combat antibiotic
resistant bacteria could potentially lead to a better prognosis for patients infected with
these types of bacterial infections.
28
�III. Material and Methods
Preparation of Medium
Carolina Biological Supply Co. MacConkey Agar (catalog No. 784481, Lot No.
L13-18) was used to plate out the bacteria. Fifty grams of the medium powder was
mixed with 1000mL of distilled water in a 2000mL Erlenmeyer flask, a stir bar was
placed inside the flask and was placed on a hot plate. The mixture was then left on the
hot plate to dissolve completely and come to a boil, this took about fifteen minutes. After
the mixture was brought to a boil it was placed in the autoclave at 121°C at 15 psi for
fifteen minutes. When the autoclave completed a cycle the mixture was allowed to cool
for three minutes. After cooling the mixture it was carefully poured into petri dishes and
left to solidify overnight.
New 9mL water blanks were used for each trial of the experiment. One hundred and
forty test tubes were placed in a metal rack and 9mL of distilled water was pipetted into
each tube using a 5mL pipette. Five mL of distilled water was pipetted into each tube
and then 4mL of distilled water was pipetted into each tube, giving a total of 9mL of
distilled water in each test tube. Test tube caps were then placed on each test tube,
allowing air to still pass in and out of the test tubes to prevent them from bursting inside
the autoclave. The metal rack containing the water blank test tubes were then placed
inside the autoclave and autoclaved for fifteen minutes.
Difco nutrient broth purchased from Carolina Biologicals was used to grow the
bacteria. Eight grams of powder per 1000mL of distilled water were mixed in a 2000mL
Erlenmeyer flask. The mixture was then placed on a hot plate and allowed to come to a
boil for two minutes. Twenty test tubes were placed on a metal rack and 7mL of nutrient
broth was pipetted into each test tube. The caps were gently placed on each test tube,
allowing air to be released during the sterilization process. The metal test tube rack was
then autoclaved at 121°C for fifteen minutes.
Preparation of Live Bacteria
Serratia marcescens
Remel 19-308, ATTC # 33077, Lot # 203866
The night before completing each trial of this experiment, a frozen pellet containing
S. marcescens was added to a test tube containing nutrient broth and placed in an
incubator at 37°C overnight. To ensure that the organism used in the study was Serratia
marcescens numerous biochemical tests were performed. Lactose fermentation was
29
�observed on MacConkey agar plates. The organism tested was oxidase and methyl red
negative. It was observed to be gelatinase and lysine decarboxylase positive. The indole
test was negative, the voges-proskauer test was positive and the citrate test was positive.
Methods
Cinnamic acid, tannic acid, eugenol, menthol, clove oil, and tea tree oil were
used as the plant extracts to see the effect they had on the bacteria. All plant extracts were
obtained from Sigma Chemical Company, St. Louis, Missouri. Cinnamic acid and
tannic acid were in the form of a powder and eugenol, menthol, clove oil and tea tree oil
were in the form of liquid oil. The sterile test tubes containing 9mL of distilled water
were used for making the dilutions. Sterile 1mL pipettes were also used when making
the dilutions.
After successfully growing the bacteria in nutrient broth, four test tubes containing
9mL of distilled water in each tube were placed in a metal test tube rack on the bench top.
1 mL of Eugenol was added to the first test tube, labeled original, and inverted upside
down twice. Three tenfold dilutions were then made 1:10, 1:100, and 1:1000, inverting
and shaking the test tubes before each dilution to ensure proper mixture of the liquid from
the previous dilution. After labeling all the tubes, 0.5mL of nutrient broth containing S.
marcescens was added to each of the four test tubes, again gently inverting each of them
a few times. The test tubes were allowed to sit at room temperature for thirty minutes
before they were plated out on four separate MacConkey agar plates. The same
procedure was performed for tea tree oil, clove oil, cinnamic acid and tannic acid. Since
cinnamic acid and tannic acid were in powder form, 100 mg of the powder was weighed
out on the scale and the powder was added to the first test tube. The rest of the procedure
for these two extracts were the same as the other three. After allowing the twenty test
tubes filled with S. marcescens and the various diluted and non-diluted extracts to sit at
room temperature for thirty minutes, they were then plated out with a metal flaming loop
on twenty separate MacConkey agar plates. To prevent cross contamination, between
streaking each plate the loop was placed in a flame for five seconds. Before streaking the
next plate, the loop was placed on side of the agar plate to cool the flamed loop to ensure
the heat from the flamed loop did not kill any bacteria in the test tubes, leading to false
results. Each plate was labeled with the date, the type of extract, and either original or
type dilution it was. The twenty plates were then stacked and left on the bench top at
room temperature for forty-eight hours. This exact procedure was done seven times,
trying to keep the conditions for growth and the amount of extract/bacteria added to the
30
�dilutions the same each time. After each trial, S. marcescens was regrown in nutrient
broth for at least twenty-four hours prior to the start of each experiment.
Recording of Data
Forty-eight hours after each trial, the plates were examined to see if there was growth
or not. The number of colonies present was then counted and recorded. If the colony
count was larger than 150, it was labeled as TNC (too numerous to count). After
recording the data, the plates were discarded and the test tubes were sterilized in the
autoclave. For each trial new water blank tubes, new sterile pipettes and new
MacConkey agar plates were used. By making the three dilutions, 1:10, 1:100, and
1:1000, this slowly decreased the concentration of the extract.
Unit Conversion
In order to compare data, the units in this experiment were all converted to
molar concentration, molarity. The molar concentration is defined as moles divided by
volume. First, the number of moles of solute present was calculated then the number of
liters of solution present was calculated. To find molarity, the number of moles of solute
was divided by the number of liters of solution.
IV. Results
Colony Count via. Tables
As seen in Table 1, the first trial of this experiment showed that tannic acid at
concentrations of 6.5 x 10–3 M and 6.5 x 10–4 M had an effect on the growth of S.
marcescens, but at concentrations 6.5 x 10–5 M and 6.5 x 10–6 M, it had no effect on
the growth, the growth recorded was too numerous to count. At 100mg
concentration, cinnamic acid showed to completely inhibit all growth of S.
marcescens, however, at 10mg and 1mg concentrations 59 and 96 colonies were
counted respectively. At 0.1mg concentration, cinnamic acid showed to have no
effect on the growth of S. marcescens. At 6.8 x 10–1 M, 6.8 x 10–2 M and 6.8 x 10–4 M
concentrations, Eugenol was found to completely inhibit all growth. Both tea tree oil
and clove oil were shown to inhibit all growth at their highest molar concentration
used in this experiment. At the lowest molar concentration used, both tea tree oil and
clove oil were found to reduce the growth of S. marcescens, but not completely
inhibit growth.
31
�Table 1: The colony count of S. marcescens after inoculation with
five different plant extracts after three tenfold dilutions (Trial #1)
Molarity
6.5 x 10–3 M
6.5 x 10–4 M
6.5 x 10–5 M
6.5 x 10–6 M
Tannic Acid
3
107
TNC
TNC
Molarity
7.5 x 10–2 M
7.5 x 10–3 M
7.5 x 10–4 M
7.5 x 10–5 M
Cinnamic Acid
NG
59
96
TNC
Molarity
6.8 x 10–1 M
6.8 x 10–2 M
6.8 x 10–3 M
6.8 x 10–4 M
Eugenol
NG
NG
NG
5
Molarity
7.2 x 10–1 M
7.2 x 10–2 M
7.2 x 10–3 M
7.2 x 10–4 M
Tea Tree Oil
NG
NG
43
51
Molarity
6.3 x 10–1 M
6.3 x 10–2 M
6.3 x 10–3 M
6.3 x 10–4 M
Clove Oil
NG
NG
15
21
Performed:
2/26/2014
Results read:
2/28/2014
TNC = Too numerous to count, NG = No growth
Table 2 showed that at 6.5 x 10–5 M and 6.5 x 10–6 M concentrations of tannic
acid there was no effect on the growth of S. marcescens. However, at the 6.5 x 10–3
M concentration, seven colonies did grow. Ten mg of tannic acid showed little
effect on the growth of S. marcescens, but nothing substantial. In comparison to
tannic acid, 7.5 x 10–5 M of cinnamic acid showed no effect on growth and 7.5 x 10–4
M concentration showed only a small effect on growth. At a concentration of 7.5 x
10–2 M cinnamic acid was shown to inhibit all growth of S. marcescens, and 7.5 x 10–
3 M again showed only a small effect on growth. Eugenol was shown to inhibit all
growth at 6.8 x 10–1 M, 6.8 x 10–2 M, and 6.8 x 10–3 M concentrations and only one
colony was found on the petri dish with 6.8 x 10–4 M concentration of eugenol. Both
tea tree oil and clove oil were shown to inhibit all growth at 7.2 x 10–1 M, 7.2 x 10–2
M (tea tree oil) and 6.3 x 10–1 M, 6.3 x 10–2 M (clove oil) concentrations. At 7.2 x
10–3 M and 7.2 x 10–4 M concentrations of tea tree oil it was shown to partially inhibit
32
�growth with twenty-four and thirty-eight colonies counted, respectively. At 6.3 x 10–
3 M and 6.3 x 10–4 M concentrations of clove oil it was found to almost completely
inhibit the growth of S. marcescens, with only seven and eleven colonies counted,
respectively.
Table 2:The colony count of S. marcescens after inoculation with
five different plant extracts after three tenfold dilutions (Trial #2)
Molarity
6.5 x 10–3 M
6.5 x 10–4 M
6.5 x 10–5 M
6.5 x 10–6 M
Tannic Acid
7
106
TNC
TNC
Molarity
7.5 x 10–2 M
7.5 x 10–3 M
7.5 x 10–4 M
7.5 x 10–5 M
Cinnamic Acid
NG
78
104
TNC
Molarity
6.8 x 10–1 M
6.8 x 10–2 M
6.8 x 10–3 M
6.8 x 10–4 M
Eugenol
NG
NG
NG
1
Molarity
7.2 x 10–1 M
7.2 x 10–2 M
7.2 x 10–3 M
7.2 x 10–4 M
Tea Tree Oil
NG
NG
24
38
Molarity
6.3 x 10–1 M
6.3 x 10–2 M
6.3 x 10–3 M
6.3 x 10–4 M
Clove Oil
NG
NG
7
11
Performed:
3/5/2014
Results read:
3/7/2014
TNC = Too numerous to count, NG = No growth
The third trial of this experiment (see Table 3) indicated no effect on growth at
6.5 x 10–5 M and 6.5 x 10–6 M concentrations of tannic acid, and 7.5 x 10–3 M, 7.5 x
10–4 M, 7.5 x 10–5 M of cinnamic acid. At 6.5 x 10–3 M of tannic acid, only one
colony grew on the petri dish and at 6.5 x 10–4 M fifteen colonies grew. Like tanninc
acid, 7.5 x 10–2 M of cinnamic acid showed almost complete inhibition, with only
two colonies present. At highest molar concentrations of eugenol, tea tree oil and
clove oil inhibition of all growth of S. marcescens occurred. At 6.8 x 10–3 M
(eugenol) and 6.3 x 10–3 M (clove oil) concentrations it was shown to completely
33
�inhibit growth, whereas, the 7.2 x 10–3 M concentration of tea tree oil only slightly
inhibited growth.
Table 3: The colony count of S. marcescens after inoculation with
five different plant extracts after three tenfold dilutions (Trial #3)
Molarity
6.5 x 10–3 M
6.5 x 10–4 M
6.5 x 10–5 M
6.5 x 10–6 M
Tannic Acid
1
15
TNC
TNC
Molarity
7.5 x 10–2 M
7.5 x 10–3 M
7.5 x 10–4 M
7.5 x 10–5 M
Cinnamic Acid
2
TNC
TNC
TNC
Molarity
6.8 x 10–1 M
6.8 x 10–2 M
6.8 x 10–3 M
6.8 x 10–4 M
Eugenol
NG
NG
NG
TNC
Molarity
7.2 x 10–1 M
7.2 x 10–2 M
7.2 x 10–3 M
7.2 x 10–4 M
Tea Tree Oil
NG
NG
21
TNC
Molarity
6.3 x 10–1 M
6.3 x 10–2 M
6.3 x 10–3 M
6.3 x 10–4 M
Clove Oil
NG
NG
NG
TNC
Performed:
3/10/2014
Results read:
3/12/2014
TNC = Too numerous to count, NG = No Growth
The lowest molar concentrations of both tannic acid and cinnamic acid (see
Table 4) showed no effect on the growth of S. marcescens. The 6.5 x 10–3 M and 6.5
x 10–4 M concentrations of tannic acid, showed a drastic decrease in growth of S.
marcescens with eight and nine colonies counted, respectively. The 7.5 x 10–2 M
concentration of cinnamic acid showed a decrease in the growth of the bacteria,
however, 7.5 x 10–3 M only slightly decreased the amount of bacteria that grew. At
both 6.8 x 10–1 M and 6.8 x 10–2 M concentrations of eugenol, there was complete
inhibition of S. marcescens, and at 6.8 x 10–3 M and 6.8 x 10–4 M concentrations
there was decreased growth. At 7.2 x 10–1 M and 7.2 x 10–2 M concentrations of tea
tree oil showed complete inhibition occurred with only two colonies being counted
34
�on both petri dishes. The 7.2 x 10–3 M concentration of tea tree oil only slightly
decreased the growth of S. marcescens; whereas, 7.2 x 10–4 M showed no effect on
growth. At both 6.3 x 10–1 M and 6.3 x 10–2 M concentrations of clove oil there was
complete inhibition of growth; 6.3 x 10–3 M and 6.3 x 10–4 M concentrations still
allowed significant amount of bacteria to grow.
Table 4 :The colony count of S. marcescens after inoculation with
five different plant extracts after three tenfold dilutions (Trial #4)
Molarity
6.5 x 10–3 M
6.5 x 10–4 M
6.5 x 10–5 M
6.5 x 10–6 M
Tannic Acid
5
24
TNC
TNC
Molarity
7.5 x 10–2 M
7.5 x 10–3 M
7.5 x 10–4 M
7.5 x 10–5 M
Cinnamic Acid
3
101
TNC
TNC
Molarity
6.8 x 10–1 M
6.8 x 10–2 M
6.8 x 10–3 M
6.8 x 10–4 M
Eugenol
NG
NG
11
12
Molarity
7.2 x 10–1 M
7.2 x 10–2 M
7.2 x 10–3 M
7.2 x 10–4 M
Tea Tree Oil
2
2
41
TNC
Molarity
6.3 x 10–1 M
6.3 x 10–2 M
6.3 x 10–3 M
6.3 x 10–4 M
Clove Oil
NG
NG
67
90
Performed:
3/17/2014
Results read:
3/19/2014
TNC = Too numerous to count, NG = No Growth
As seen in Table 5, the fifth trial of this experiment, the lowest molar
concentrations of both tannic acid and cinnamic acid again had no effect on the growth of
S. marcescens. Both 6.5 x 10–3 M and 6.5 x 10–4 M concentrations of tannic acid showed a
better effect on the inhibition of S. marcescens than the 7.5 x 10–2 M and 7.5 x 10–3 M
concentrations of cinnamic acid. Eugenol showed significant inhibition of growth at all
concentrations, especially 6.8 x 10–1 M and 6.8 x 10–2 M concentrations, where complete
inhibition was observed. Tea tree oil only showed a partial inhibition of growth at 7.2 x
35
�10–1 M and 7.2 x 10–2 M concentrations; growth was only slightly inhibited at 7.2 x 10–3
M and 7.2 x 10–4 M concentrations. Clove oil showed complete inhibition of bacterial
growth at 6.3 x 10–1 M and 6.3 x 10–2 M concentrations and to partially decrease growth
of S. marcescens at 6.3 x 10–3 M and 6.3 x 10–4 M concentrations.
Table 5 : The colony count of S. marcescens after inoculation with
five different plant extracts after three tenfold dilutions (Trial #5)
Molarity
6.5 x 10–3 M
6.5 x 10–4 M
6.5 x 10–5 M
6.5 x 10–6 M
Tannic Acid
8
9
TNC
TNC
Molarity
7.5 x 10–2 M
7.5 x 10–3 M
7.5 x 10–4 M
7.5 x 10–5 M
Cinnamic Acid
21
31
TNC
TNC
Molarity
6.8 x 10–1 M
6.8 x 10–2 M
6.8 x 10–3 M
6.8 x 10–4 M
Eugenol
NG
NG
2
2
Molarity
7.2 x 10–1 M
7.2 x 10–2 M
7.2 x 10–3 M
7.2 x 10–4 M
Tea Tree Oil
1
13
87
123
Molarity
6.3 x 10–1 M
6.3 x 10–2 M
6.3 x 10–3 M
6.3 x 10–4 M
Clove Oil
NG
NG
35
30
Performed:
3/26/2014
Results read :
3/28/2014
TNC = Too numerous to count, NG = No Growth
As seen in Table 6, the sixth trial of this experiment showed no effect on growth
at a 6.5 x 10–6 M concentration of tannic acid, however, decreased growth was observed
at 6.5 x 10–3 M, 6.5 x 10–4 M and 6.5 x 10–5 M concentrations. At 7.5 x 10–3 M, 7.5 x 10–4
M and 7.5 x 10–5 M concentrations of cinnamic acid it showed no effect on growth,
however, at the 7.5 x 10–2 M concentration a significant amount of inhibition was
observed. Eugenol showed complete inhibition of S. marcescens at 6.8 x 10–1 M, 6.8 x
10–2 M and 6.8 x 10–3 M concentrations and showed significant inhibition at 6.8 x 10–4 M
concentration. Tea tree oil showed to have an effect on the growth of S. marcescens by
36
�decreasing the growth at all concentrations except 7.2 x 10–4 M, where no effect on
growth was observed. At all concentrations of clove oil, there was a decrease in the
growth of S. marcescens, especially at the 6.3 x 10–1 M concentration, where complete
inhibition was observed.
Table 6: The colony count of S. marcescens after inoculation with
five different plant extracts after three tenfold dilutions (Trial #6)
Molarity
6.5 x 10–3 M
6.5 x 10–4 M
6.5 x 10–5 M
6.5 x 10–6 M
Tannic Acid
4
16
89
TNC
Molarity
7.5 x 10–2 M
7.5 x 10–3 M
7.5 x 10–4 M
7.5 x 10–5 M
Cinnamic Acid
15
TNC
TNC
TNC
Molarity
6.8 x 10–1 M
6.8 x 10–2 M
6.8 x 10–3 M
6.8 x 10–4 M
Eugenol
NG
NG
NG
6
Molarity
7.2 x 10–1 M
7.2 x 10–2 M
7.2 x 10–3 M
7.2 x 10–4 M
Tea Tree Oil
4
27
44
TNC
Molarity
6.3 x 10–1 M
6.3 x 10–2 M
6.3 x 10–3 M
6.3 x 10–4 M
Clove Oil
NG
1
24
29
Performed:
4/8/2014
Results read:
4/10/2014
TNC = Too numerous to count, NG = No Growth
In the last trial of this experiment (see Table 7), tannic acid showed no effect on
growth of S.marcescens, except at the 6.5 x 10–3 M concentration, where it decreased the
amount of colonies that grew. Cinnamic acid showed only to have an effect on growth at
7.5 x 10–2 M and 7.5 x 10–3 M concentrations, it had no effect on growth at 7.5 x 10–4 M
and 7.5 x 10–5 M concentrations. Eugenol was shown to completely inhibit growth at 6.8
x 10–1 M, 6.8 x 10–2 M and 6.8 x 10–3 M concentrations and significantly inhibited growth
even at the 6.8 x 10–4 M concentration. At concentrations of 7.2 x 10–2 M, 7.2 x 10–3 M
and 7.2 x 10–3 M tea tree oil had an effect on the growth of S. marcescens, however, 7.2 x
37
�10–4 M concentration it did not affect growth. The 6.3 x 10–1 M concentration of clove oil
inhibited all growth of bacteria, whereas, 6.3 x 10–2 M and 6.3 x 10–3 M concentrations
only slightly decreased the growth of S. marcescens. The 6.3 x 10–4 M concentration of
clove oil had no effect on growth.
Table 7: The colony count of S. marcescens after inoculation with
five different plant extracts after three tenfold dilutions (Trial #7)
Molarity
6.5 x 10–3 M
6.5 x 10–4 M
6.5 x 10–5 M
6.5 x 10–6 M
Tannic Acid
23
TNC
TNC
TNC
Molarity
7.5 x 10–2 M
7.5 x 10–3 M
7.5 x 10–4 M
7.5 x 10–5 M
Cinnamic Acid
15
34
TNC
TNC
Molarity
6.8 x 10–1 M
6.8 x 10–2 M
6.8 x 10–3 M
6.8 x 10–4 M
Eugenol
NG
NG
NG
9
Molarity
7.2 x 10–2 M
7.2 x 10–3 M
7.2 x 10–4 M
7.2 x 10–5 M
Tea Tree Oil
3
28
76
TNC
Molarity
6.3 x 10–1 M
6.3 x 10–2 M
6.3 x 10–3 M
6.3 x 10–4 M
Clove Oil
NG
40
41
TNC
Performed:
4/15/2014
Results read:
4/17/2014
TNC = Too numerous to count, NG = No Growth
V. Discussion
Methodological Aspects
Clove oil and eugenol had the greatest effect on the inhibition of growth of S.
marcescens. Cinnamic acid and tannic acid did not have a substantial effect on the
growth of S. marcescens even at high concentrations. Evidence that plant oils are able to
inhibit growth help to show which plant oils could be useful to cure clinical bacterial
infections in the future. In the past tea tree oils and clove oils were used as topical
antiseptics because they have numbing properties and antimicrobial properties. By
38
�investigating which plant oils have the greatest effect against the growth of bacteria and
which concentration works the best will help to provide future alternatives to antibiotic
therapy. Comparing results obtained in this experiment to other similar experiments is
difficult because it is known that plant oils differ in chemical composition in different
climates around the world, and experimental methods in these studies also greatly differ.
(Hammer, 1999).
As seen in other experiments, clove oil showed to have antimicrobial properties
against gram-negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeroginosa. As the
concentration of clove oil increased, the zone of inhibition also increased against these
two bacteria. It was shown that clove oil had greater antimicrobial properties against
gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. The two zones of inhibition
observed for the gram-positive bacteria were almost double the size of the two zones of
inhibition for the gram-negative bacteria. Again, as the concentration of clove oil
increased, the zone of inhibition was larger.
At a concentration of 1 μl/disc of eugenol, there were no zones of inhibition
observed for the four bacterial species tested in this experiment. At concentrations of 1.5
μl/disc of eugenol and 2 μl/disc of eugenol, eugenol showed to inhibit the growth of all
four bacteria, with inhibition zones ranging from 9.8 mm to 19.8 mm. Various other
plant extracts were used during this experiment and thymol and carvacrol were both
shown to have the greatest antimicrobial properties against the four bacterial species
listed above.
In this experiment, the same plant extracts were tested against two yeast strains
and two mold strains. Clove oil was shown to inhibit growth against the two mold
strains, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger. As the concentration of clove oil
increased, the zones of inhibition also increased in size. However, as the concentration of
clove oil increased, the zone of inhibition of Aspergillus niger tripled between the 5
μl/disc of clove oil concentration and the 10 μl/disc of clove oil; Whereas, the zone of
inhibition of Aspergillus flavus only slightly increased between the same concentrations.
Eugenol showed to inhibit the growth of both mold strains, but small zones of inhibition
were observed at small concentrations of eugenol.
Clove oil was shown to inhibit the growth of the two yeast strains,
Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida lipolytica at all concentrations. Eugenol was also
shown to inhibit the growth, but the zones of inhibition were smaller compared to that of
clove oil. Overall, thyme oil and clove oil had the greatest antimicrobial properties
against the two yeast strains and the two mold strains (Helmy, 2012).
39
�Another study conducted tested the effect of plant extracts against antibiotic
resistant bacteria. This experiment showed that each of the seven bacterial species tested
responded differently to all six of the plant extracts/phytochemicals. The combination of
plant extracts and antibiotics against the growth of bacteria were observed in this
experiment. It was found that antibiotic-resistant Proteus spp. was inhibited when either
clove extract (10 μg/mL) or eugenol (5 μg/mL) was combined with tetracycline.
However, there were synergistic effects observed from clove oil or eugenol on Klebsiella
pneumoniae and Enterobacter aerogene. The inhibition of Proteus spp. occurred at low
concentrations of both eugenol and clove oil, indicating a low toxic threat to humans
(Nascimento et al., 2000).
Future Research
Future research should focus on testing other species of bacteria, gram-positive
and gram-negative and to make sure the same plant extracts are used with the same
chemical composition. Additional trials of the above experiment will help strengthen the
findings of this experiment. More plant extracts should be investigated to determine their
antimicrobial properties against S. marcescens. During these experiments, a larger
number of ten-fold dilutions should be used to find the exact concentration at which the
plant extract has its greatest anti-microbial activity. Once the concentration of the plant
extract is determined, experiments should be carried out to determine the toxicity to
humans, to see whether the plant extract could be consumed. Antibiotic-resistant strains
of S. marcescens should be tested with the plant extracts to observe if inhibition of
growth occurs.
Bacterial adhesion to human cells is another main problem in bacterial
infections. Disruption of adhesion of bacteria by plant extracts should be investigated to
see whether they have the ability to not only cure infections but also prevent them from
happening. Investigation into all these areas could lead to a new era of therapeutic
treatment using plant extracts versus synthetic antibiotics (Cowan, 1999).
VI. References
Alma, H. , Ertas, M., Nitz, S., Kollmannsberger, H. (2007) Chemical composition and
content of essential oil from the bud of cultivated Turkish clove (Syzygium aromaticum
L.). BioResources – Vol 2, 265-269
40
�Andersson, D. I. (2003) Persistence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Current opinion in
Microbiology - Vol 6, 452-456
Andersson, D. I. and Levin, B. R. (1999). The biological cost of antibiotic resistance.
Current opinion in microbiology – Vol 2, 489-493
Carson, C.F., Hammer K.A, and Riley T.V. (2006) Melaleuca alternifolia (Tea Tree)
Oil: a Review of Antimicrobial and other medicinal properties. Clinical Microbiology
Reviews – Vol 19, 50-62
Chambel, A., Viegas C. A., Sa-Correia, I. (1999). Effect of cinnamic acid on the growth
and on plasma membrane H+-ATPase activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
International Journal of Food Microbiology – Vol 50, 173-179
Cowan, M. M. (1999). Plant Products as Antimicrobial Agents. Clinical Microbiology
Review – Vol 12, 564-582
Hammer, A.K., Carson C.F., and Riley V.T. (1999). Antimicrobial activity of essential
oils and other plant extracts. Journal of Applied Microbiology – Vol 86, 985-990
Hejazi A. and Falkiner R. F. (1997). Serratia marcescens. J. Med. Microbiology – Vol
46, 903-912
Helmy, S. A. (2012) Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of basil, thyme,
sage, and clove essential oils and their major components. International journal of
academic research – Vol 4,117-130
Janeway, C. A., Murphy, K., Travers, P., and Walport, M. (2012) Immunobiology,
Vol 8, pp 494-495 (Garland Science, Taylor & Francis Group) New York, NY
Lim, C. K., Penesyan, A., Hassan, K. A., Loper J. E., Paulsen, I. T. (2003) Effect of
Tannic Acid on the Transcriptome of the Soil Bacterium Pseudomonas protegens Pf-5.
Applied and environmental Microbiology – Vol 79, 3141-3145
Murray, P. R., Rosenthal, K. S., Pfaller, M. A. (2013) Medical Microbiology, Vol 7,
pp. 6, 12, 96, 165-167, 270 (Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data)
Elsevier Saunders, Philadelphia PA
41
�Nascimento F. G., Gislene, J. L., Freitas, P. C., Silva, G. L. (2000). Antibacterial
activity of plant extracts and phytochemicals on antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Brazilian
Journal of Microbiology – Vol 31, 247-256
Ody, P. (1993) The complete medicinal herbal. Vol 1 (Doring Kindersley Publishing)
New York
Wade, L. G. (2010) Organic Chemistry. Vol 8, pp 818, 940 (Library of congress
cataloging-in-publication data) Glenview, IL
42
���Cosmopolitanism and Global Justice
Ian Bertschausen (Government & Politics)1
Given that the idea of cosmopolitanism is, more or less, the idea that each of us are
citizens of a single global community of human beings, it follows naturally that this
mindset would be of importance in attempts to achieve global justice. This study will
explain how the traditional normative understanding efforts fall short of achieving this
goal and will lay out an alternative understanding characterized by a looser cognitive
conception. Given the wide variety of meanings the term “global justice” can have, this
study will take a very narrow definition, in this case distributive justice necessary for a
healthy life, in hopes of finding a realistic and pragmatic solution. Upon reviewing
existing literature and postulating my own theory, I will examine how this new mindset
might actually play out in hopes of achieving this very specific form of global justice.
I. Introduction
The rapid technological advances that has given rise to the increasingly
significant trend of globalization has led to a global society that is more interconnected
than at any other point in history. Accordingly, political theorists and philosophers are
working diligently to keep up with the times. It is the growing presence of the idea of
globalization that has led these theorists and philosophers to consider the theory of
cosmopolitanism. This term, which has a wide variety of meanings (that will be discussed
in much detail later), more or less refers to the idea that we, as individuals, are part of a
global community of human beings, and that each human has individual rights which
ought to be respected. It is natural, then, that this worldview might provide the
framework for working towards a realistically attainable goal of global justice—another
term which has a plethora of definitions that will be discussed further.
In this study, I seek to examine cosmopolitan ideology and how it can be
successfully harnessed to achieve global justice. For the purposes of this study, I use a
very narrow aspect of global justice to work toward. This is a practical measure, aimed
toward truly achieving a realistic goal, as opposed to waxing poetic about a
Written under the direction of Dr. Abraham Unger in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
1
45
�comprehensive global order in which all citizens are truly equal in every way. To this
end, I will focus on the goal of eradicating the type of global poverty that leaves human
beings unable to live healthy lives.
This study will briefly examine the history of cosmopolitan thought, building
toward the most common understandings of contemporary theorists. The trouble with
traditional conceptions of cosmopolitanism is, primarily, a basis on normative principles
that, at worst, directly contradict stated policy goals. These normative principles focus
too heavily on ideal conceptions of how we ought to act in an ideal world, and too little
on realistic avenues toward justice. They serve as the primary source of contention with
theorists who oppose cosmopolitan theory, and rightfully so.
I contend that these normative principles, which are difficult to both follow and
defend, are holding cosmopolitan ideology back and should be foregone.
Cosmopolitanism has a great deal of utility to offer the world community, and normative
conceptions serve only to muddy the waters and invalidate the entire ideology.
Fortunately, there is a conception of cosmopolitanism that can survive without a strong
normative component. This conception, the roots of which are set forth by sociologist
Gerrard Delanty, can be termed a looser, cognitive conception. That is, instead of
viewing cosmopolitanism as a set of rules that determine how to act, it will be viewed as
a cognitive process that individuals experience as they interact with their world. Indeed, it
does insist that individuals be open to belonging to a global society, but it does not beg
that one prioritize national, global, or local communities over one another. Rather, it
posits a “self-understanding that arise when both Self and Other are transformed,”
(Delanty, 2009, p. 11) in all of these communities. In doing so, it escapes the trap laid by
strict normative principles, and allows individuals to fairly assess any given situation by
focusing on the dialogic interactions presented. If global justice is to be achieved, then we
must shift away from our traditional normative conception of cosmopolitanism toward a
looser cognitive conception.
Operating on Our Own Terms
Defining global justice
In his 2011 article, “Achieving Global and Local Justice,” Michael Walzer
introduces his groundwork for how he supposes we ought to achieve global justice by
giving the following disclaimer: “The issues are very difficult, and perhaps it is useful to
approach them in different ways, at different times. Here is one possible approach” (p.
42). It is in this spirit that I present my own argument. I do not argue, nor do I wish to,
46
�that what is laid out in this study will be a framework that will necessarily be useful in
fifty or one-hundred years. Instead, I seek to put forth a single approach that has been
tailored very specifically to the world as it exists today. To this end, I want to recognize
outright that the scope of this essay has been intentionally and deliberately limited.
Walzer goes on to state that “Global justice would seem to require a global theory—a
single philosophically grounded account of what justice is that explains exactly why it
ought to be realized in exactly this way, everywhere. . . But there are several practical
difficulties with this project” (p. 42). In this spirit, my study will not seek to lay out a
comprehensive global theory of justice with the aim of achieving, to use John Rawls’
term, a “realistic utopia.” Instead, I will focus pointedly on achieving merely a subset of
the far-reaching category of human rights.
The reason for a conservative approach to the subject matter is out of
practicality. My hope is that this essay not serve the purpose of setting forth a global ideal
that is far from reality, but that it can outline a means of actually attaining a narrowlyfocused goal. As Thomas Pogge (2005), who is arguably the most important
cosmopolitan scholar, points out: “The annual death toll from poverty-related causes is
around 18 million, or one-third of all human deaths” (p. 1). The reality here is that while
the sorts of civil and political rights that are present in nearly every discussion of global
justice are important, they should not be considered the top priority. (To be sure, I want
to emphasize here that in order to achieve a true sense of comprehensive global justice,
each person needs to be free from what can be unilaterally conceived as oppression.) The
focus here needs to be on simply accomplishing step one, which in this case is ensuring
that humans are not dying simply because they cannot afford to live. Without life, it does
not particularly matter if one lives under an oppressive regime. In the terms of Henry
Shue, as paraphrased by Simon Caney (2001), “if we accept civil and political rights we
should also accept substance rights as well since the latter are essential for the former” (p.
978). Given that a realistically narrow scope is sought, and that the most basic human
right is right to live, this study will focus on global distributive justice—seeking the goal
of subsistence for all—as its sole objective.
Defining cosmopolitanism
Thomas Pogge (2012) explains that “Like other -isms, cosmopolitanism is an
intellectual position—or, more precisely, a family of such positions” (p. 312). It is
natural, then, that the term itself is not particularly useful without establishing context for
its use. While Pogge (2012) maintains that “The central idea . . . is that of including all
47
�human beings as equals” (emphasis his, p. 312), it is often described in even less specific
terms. That is, the central tenet of cosmopolitanism is that all human beings belong to a
global community. It follows, then, from this concept into the understanding of all human
beings as equals. For the purposes of this study, if it not otherwise stated, it is the loose
conception of humans as members of a global community that will be denoted by the
term cosmopolitanism. As will be evidenced, there are many different understandings of
the term, each of which have strengths and weaknesses. In order to understand what it
means today, it is natural that we should trace its origins, leading to a discussion about its
current incarnations and where it goes right and wrong.
Looking Back
The origins of cosmopolitanism
Though globalization is often thought as an exclusively recent trend, and large
contributor to the idea of cosmopolitanism, the roots of cosmopolitanism date back to
ancient Greek society. The word itself is a product of the Greek words cosmos, meaning
world, and polites, meaning citizen (Pogge, 2012, p. 312). The word itself is “generally
first attributable to Diogenes the Cynic, (c.412-323) who said ‘I am a citizen of the
world’” (Delanty, 2009, p. 20). A century later, Stoicism gave rise to a more explicitly
political understanding before the Roman Empire brought on a more literal expansionist
connotation. The middle ages built on the literal expansion through the teachings of
Christianity, which prevailed until the Enlightenment (Delanty, 2009, p. 21-29). While
there were a handful of thinkers, such as David Hume and Abbé Charles de Saint-Pierre,
who put forth early models for peace that embraced cosmopolitan principles, Immanuel
Kant is generally regarded as the father of contemporary cosmopolitanism (Delanty,
2009, p. 31). In his 1795 work, “Perpetual Peace,” Kant outlined his theory that history
was building toward a common republican world order, drawing heavily on moral
principles of how the state ought treat its citizens, and that all citizens of the world are
entitled to such treatment. While Kant is undoubtedly considered responsible for ushering
in a new era of cosmopolitanism, the rise of nationalism through the following centuries
would mark a trend of decline that was not revitalized until globalization became a
significant global force.
48
�Pogge’s Cosmopolitanism and its Problems
His theory
There are many prominent cosmopolitan scholars—such as Charles Beitz, and
Martha Nussbaum—but there is none who argue the point as strongly and passionately as
Thomas Pogge. This section will specifically examine his argument, in order to properly
asses its relationship to other thinkers. To this end, it will be necessary to quote his work
at some length in the following pages. As mentioned earlier, in his chapter in A
Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy (2012), simply titled
“Cosmopolitanism,” Pogge explains his understanding that “The central idea guiding
these morals assessments and prescriptions [that make up cosmopolitanism] is that of
including all human beings as equals. This central idea can be understood and employed
in diverse ways, and a variety of cosmopolitan positions can therefore be distinguished”
(p. 312). Within this variety of cosmopolitan positions, he maintains that there are three
elements shared by all:
First, individualism: the ultimate units of concern are human beings, or
persons—rather than, say, family lines, tribes, ethnic, cultural, or religious
communities, nations, or states.
. . . Second, universality: the status of
ultimate unit of concern attaches to every living human equally—not merely to
some subset, such as men, aristocrats, Aryans, whites, or Muslims. Third,
generality: this special status has global force. Persons are ultimate units of
concern for everyone—not only for their compatriots, fellow religionists, or
such like. (1992, p. 48-49)
In later works, he narrows these criteria even further, emphasizing his first point as
“Normative Indidivualism,” and adding a fourth breaking the category of universality into
two parts, namely “Impartiality” and “All-Inclusiveness” (2012, p. 316) He defines the
new categories as follows:
Impartiality: In processing [information about how individual human beings fare
or are treated], a cosmopolitan moral criterion takes each included human
individual into account symmetrically. Economists call this the Anonymity
Conditions: that a certain number of included individuals experience a certain
fate or treatment enters the assessment in the same way, regardless of who these
individuals are.
All-Inclusiveness: Every human being counts as an ultimate unit of moral
concern and is therefore included in the information base on which a
49
�cosmopolitan moral criterion bases its assessments and prescriptions. (2012, p.
316)
Furthermore, he also confirms two more distinctions that David Miller—one of his
notable critics—sets forth:
Weak cosmopolitanism is the anodyne view that all human beings are of equal
worth. Strong cosmopolitanism is the view that all human agents ought to treat
all others equally and, in particular, have no more, or less, reason to help anyone
needy person than any other. (2002, p. 86).
Additionally, he approves of the claims which Miller makes about these two distinctions:
1. Weak cosmopolitanism does not entail strong cosmopolitanism.
2. Strong cosmopolitanism is false.
3. Weak cosmopolitanism is undistinctive in the sense that almost anyone
(‘barring a few racists and other bigots’) accepts it. (2002, 86).
As will be discussed later on, these recognitions that Pogge makes in light of his critics
do not altogether jive with the rest of his writing.
Of particular relevance to this study is Pogge’s classification of “social justice
cosmopolitanism,” which he classifies as a conception of social justice that is “based on
taking equal account of the interests of all human beings” (2012, p. 313). Much of
Pogge’s theories on how to rectify global injustice call to focus on the institutions that he
feels are perpetuating—if not, creating—drastic global inequality. He argues that each of
us “share a collective responsibility for the justice of the existing global order and hence
also for any contribution it may make to the incidence of human rights violations” (1992,
p. 53). To this end, he singles out not only those directly perpetuating the institutions that
make the global order unjust, but implicates all citizens as bystanders.
His critics
There are, of course, many different arguments those who oppose Pogge and his
brand of cosmopolitanism make—as there would be for any scholar who is outlining the
defining argument for any particular ideology. However, the strongest criticism
challenges Pogge’s cosmopolitanism criteria of Universality, later divided into
Impartiality and All-Inclusiveness. The trouble with laying out such broad normative
principles is primarily that it seeks to paint complex relationships in shades of black and
white in a reality that has few such cases. At the heart of this argument lay issues of
loyalty and moral desert. While David Miller may have conceded that weak
cosmopolitanism is anodyne, he is not willing to make the leap and say that its direct
50
�alternative is any better. Indeed, in response to these charges Pogge himself declared
strong cosmopolitanism “righteous idiocy” (2002, p. 89). The most glaring issue with this
need to find the middle ground is that Pogge admits that we must, then proceeds to do
little to no work toward this goal. First, however, we will examine the validity of
challenges to Universality.
Questions of loyalty
Much can be made of how a particular scholar defines cosmopolitanism.
Pogge’s ardent brand leaps directly to his principle of equality. Charles Beitz states that
a cosmopolitan perspective is, at least, a perspective that seeks to encompass the
whole world. But cosmopolitanism is sometimes regarded, not only as a point of
view, but also as a substantive moral and political doctrine that can be expected
to yield distinctive prescriptions for policy. This can lead to trouble. (2004, p. 15).
Beitz’s framing of cosmopolitanism as such makes entirely evident his concerns about
normative principles, yet leaves open the possibility for them to be effective in proper
circumstances. Samuel Scheffler, (1999) noted critic of brands cosmopolitanism such as
those of Martha Nussbaum and Thomas Pogge, defines “cosmopolitanism about justice”
(as opposed to ‘about culture’) as being “opposed to any view that posits principled
restrictions on the scope of an adequate conception of justice. In other words, it opposes
any view which holds, as a matter of principle, that the norms of justice apply primarily
within bounded groups comprising some subset of the global population” (p. 256.)
Simply by his language, namely listing rules in the negative sense (i.e. “opposed to any
view”) and its implications across broad categories (i.e. “some subset”), he is framing
these rules as too restrictive. At the heart of Scheffler’s concern is the apparent inability
to reconcile these rules with questions of loyalty. While nationalism is typically the
ideology that appears to be at odds with cosmopolitanism, it is not limited to these two
positions here. Scheffler poses his question as such:
What kinds of reasons can one have, compatibly with one’s status as a world
citizen, for devoting differential attention to those individuals with whom one
has special relationships of one kinds or another—either relationships that are
personal in character or ones that consist instead in co-membership in some
larger group. (1999, p. 259).
Pogge would seem to answer this question with simply a “yes” and do little to elaborate,
other than to seemingly concede this point without changing any of his views. Martha
Nussbaum takes a different approach. She argues in the Stoic tradition that there are
51
�concentric circles of citizenship, starting with the local and working its way out toward
the global community. She states: “Our task as citizens of the world will be to ‘draw the
circles somehow toward the center’” (1996, p. 9). She identifies that the primary
objection to a strong cosmopolitan argument “is not that the local is better per se, but
rather that this is the only sensible way to do good” (1996, p. 135). As Scheffler
summarizes: “Rather than attempting to divide one’s attention equally among all the
children of the world, for example, one should devote special attention to one’s own
children, but only because it is the most effective way of allocating one’s benevolence”
(1999, p. 259). Scheffler continues on to demonstrate his point convincingly:
Since certain kinds of relationships—to put the point paradoxically—cannot
exist at all unless the participants value them, and since the participants cannot
value them without seeing them as providing reasons for equal treatment, certain
kinds of relationships cannot exist at all unless they are seen as providing
reasons for unequal treatment. (p.266).
In an admittedly extreme example, Pogge’s vehement critic Uwe Steinhoff insists that
“one definitely does not owe equal respect to one’s nice sister and to her rapist” (2013, p.
329). While at first glance this example seems to be easily brushed off by asserting that
one who violates human rights in such a blatant way may sacrifice their own claim to
such rights, it validly identifies complex relationships which Pogge and the like cannot
seem to explain.
Pogge and Nussbaum are not writing for the real world, but rather for the ideal
world that ought to be. In doing so, both are downplaying the significance of legitimate
questions of loyalty. By making concessions, they render their own arguments extremely
weak. While Nussbaum’s argument in regards to how to practically allocate one’s
benevolence, she is making exceptions to an admittedly difficult rule. Similarly, Pogge
gives the example of efforts to find a missing girl and moral reasons to help. Pogge
concedes that “my moral reason to help find the child depends on my relationship to her:
I have more moral reason to volunteer when she is my daughter or niece than when she is
a stranger—surely. When she is a stranger, then perhaps I also have more reason to
volunteer if she is a fellow citizen or fellow resident” (2002, p. 87). He then goes on to
draw attention toward his conception of important negative duties (i.e not to “collaborate
in imposing an unjust institutional order” and not killing any world citizen, regardless of
loyalty [p. 87-88]), without reasonably justifying his differing conceptions of positive
actions. In regards to the question of giving some preferential treatment over another, he
argues that “it is not a problem . . . so long as you do not, thanks to your special
52
�relationship with [one], owe less to [another] than you would have owed her otherwise”
(2002, p. 90). This is problematic because it begs the question of how we can reconcile
owing preferential treatment to one and not another.
There is, to my mind, only one way to understand these contradictions. Simply
put, if even the most fervid advocate for these rules is willing to make exceptions, there
must be a problem with the rules. In this case, the problem is that the rules exist at all.
That is, that Pogge and others are trying to apply normative principles where they cannot
possibly be expected to be followed. Even if we concede that there are legitimate reasons
for breaking some of the rules, they remain difficult to follow. In this sense, normativity
itself, which is defined by Steve Buckler (2010) as “thinking [that] typically invokes
principles with respect to how we should conduct and organize ourselves; [and] as such,
seeks to provide ‘norms’ that prescribe appropriate ways of acting individual and
collectively” (p. 156).
Charles Beitz argues that “the feeling[s] that I have obligations to compatriots
simply because this is our country . . . are real and that they are primitive in the sense of
being irreducible to feelings with a basis either in impersonal morality or self interest”
(1983, p. 599). To cast these feelings aside, or to justify them via a loophole in the theory
of cosmopolitanism is not a satisfying reconciliation to this direct affront to Pogge and
others’ claims of Universality. Furthermore, each attempt to allow for an exception to the
rule will only lead to further objections, as can be found in the above explanations. My
solution to this problem, as will be elaborated further, is to shift away from normative
roots altogether toward a cognitive conception of cosmopolitanism that allows for various
loyalties without placing priority over one another.
In Defense of Cosmopolitanism
At this juncture, I feel it is pertinent to reiterate my holding that
cosmopolitanism is a critical component in achieving basic substantive global justice as I
have outlined here. I do not wish to convey the notion that the theory is inherently flawed
and not worth embracing in any sense, but simply that normative principles are
complicated to the point of hindering any real cosmopolitanism progress. I shall here
examine the better parts of the theory as it has been outlined by others, starting with the
man that so many draw on when forming cosmopolitan theories: John Rawls. Let it be
clear: Rawls did not promote cosmopolitanism as we have discussed here. Indeed, his
brand of political liberalism explicitly draws on sub-units of society. While he rejects
nation-states as the important unit, as evidenced by the title of his 1999 work The Law of
53
�Peoples (not, it should be pointed out, ‘The Law of Nations’), many of the principles he
lays out are drawn upon very heavily by cosmopolitan thinkers.2 This makes sense not
only because his rejection of states, but because of the values he places on individuals
within “peoples.” In The Law of Peoples, he outlines eight basic principles which make
of the Law of Peoples, the most notable of which, for our purposes, are numbers six and
eight: “6. Peoples are to honor human rights. . . 8. People have a duty to assist other
peoples living under unfavorable conditions that prevent their having a just or decent
political and social regime” (p. 37). In regards to honoring human rights, he elaborates:
The list of human rights honored by both liberal and decent hierarchical regimes
should be understood as universal rights in the following sense: they are intrinsic
to the Law of Peoples and have a political (moral) effect whether or not they are
supported locally. That is, their political (moral) force extends to all societies,
and they are binding on all peoples and societies, including outlaw states. (p. 80)
It is from this line of reasoning that Pogge draws his condition of generality. It is also
from Rawls that Pogge draws his conception of obligation. Rawls posits that that peoples
have a duty to serve those “living under unfavorable conditions,” much like Pogge argues
in favor of All-Inclusiveness. The principles Rawls sets forth guide nearly every theory of
cosmopolitanism, and indeed begins to frame these global issues of justice in a favorable
mindset, even if the Rawlsian principles—which he describes as having a place in a
“realistic utopia” (pp. 11-23)—are used to create less-than-functional normative
principles of cosmopolitanism.
Furthermore, my issue with Pogge and his like-minded scholars is primarily
with their means—not their ends. That is, they are using cosmopolitanism to try to
achieve worthy goals. I simply cannot see how their methods to attain the goals can be
fruitful. Pogge, for instance, is particularly passionate about eradicating the crippling
world poverty that kills 18 million people each year. Nearly all of his work that discusses
cosmopolitanism, with rare exceptions being responses to the work of other academics,
draws conclusions by using this exact case study. The goals of cosmopolitanism are
certainly noble, and not without warrant. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine the world’s
2
Of the sixteen articles and three books—not all of which ended being cited here—(not
counting Rawls’ own Law of Peoples, all but three directly cite Rawls. The three that did
not were short articles by Thomas Pogge—Rawls most notable pupil—that were in direct
response to an article written by a different author, mainly those challenging Pogge’s
views.
54
�privileged peoples working toward ending the suffering of others without some sort of
notion that they are all citizens of a global community.
Concluding Review of Existing Literature
To this point, I have outlined the basic tenets of cosmopolitanism, particularly
the brand that Thomas Pogge has presented, and its strengths and weaknesses. I hope that
I have effectively demonstrated why normative conceptions of cosmopolitanism fail to
provide a realistic framework in a complex world. While any conception of
cosmopolitanism is likely to contend that we are all citizens of a global community, it is
much more difficult to defend the notion that we must treat each human precisely
equally, particularly in regards to compatriots versus strangers from far away. It is natural
that there will be some personal relationships that we value over that of a foreign
stranger, and it is difficult to reconcile this with far-reaching normative principles. As
Scheffler claims, if there is “the need to choose between equality and special
responsibilities, consistent liberals must choose equality, and must therefore end up as
extreme cosmopolitans” (1999, p. 264). The theory of cosmopolitanism I have yet to
outline avoids this normative trap, and allows for complexities. In order for my theory to
make sense, however, we must examine the data surrounding the issue of global justice as
I have framed it.
II. Methodology
As mentioned earlier (in the section titled Defining global justice), my definition
of global justice in this study is quite narrowly limited. In this instance, I seek to view the
effect of cosmopolitanism on global distributive justice on merely a very basic level of
subsistence. I have selected this issue for a variety of reasons. First, as mentioned
previously, before one can even begin to worry about political rights and living a happy
life, one needs to simply live. Second, as Walzer (2011) points out, “it is the poor who
suffer most from every other kind of disaster” (p. 43). Overcoming crippling poverty has
tremendous effects not only on health, but in enduring many other hardships. Third, my
hope is that this study could actually be of some use in today’s society. I do not hope to
set a paradigm that will redefine how we view justice for the rest of civilization. I hope to
tackle a tangible and feasible goal. For this reason, my study is very limited in nature, and
will need to be reexamined should basic global distributive justice be achieved. I will
review the state of global distribution as it stands, and then move on to demonstrate how
my theory of cosmopolitanism will rectify the injustice that is present in the world.
55
�III. Data
As Thomas Pogge is quick to point out, one third of all human deaths—18
million—are due to poverty-related causes (2005, 1). According to the World Health
Organization, as of 2014 women in high-income nations have a life expectancy that is
nearly 20 years longer than women of low-income nations (2014, p. 7). Pogge (2008)
continues his recounting of statistics:
Official estimates show 830 million humans chronically undernourished, 1,100
million lacking access to safe water, and 2,600 million lacking access to basic
sanitation. About 2,000 million lack access to essential drugs. Some 1,000
million have no adequate shelter and 2,000 million lack electricity. (p. 72).
As Dr. Steve Snow always points out when covering topics that involve high death tolls,
we as humans cannot conceive of the realities of numbers in the millions. We are
cognitively unable to understand just how large the number 18 million people dying per
year—let alone Pogge’s obscure characterizations of 2,600 million without sanitation—
truly is. To his point, no matter how shocking these numbers may feel to us, the situation
is inevitably worse than we can imagine. What is even more shocking is how little the
amount of money that can make a world of difference is. Pogge (2008) points out:
The aggregate shortfall from the World Bank’s $2/day poverty line of all those
40 percent of human beings who now live below this line is barely $300 billion
annually, much less than what the United States spends on its military. This
amounts to only 0.7 percent of the global product, or less than 1 percent of the
combined GNIs of the high-income countries. (p. 73).
The point that Pogge builds toward, and is entirely convincing in making, is that “With
our average per capita income nearly 180 times greater than that of the poor (at exchange
market rates), we could eradicate severe world poverty if we chose to try,” (2005, p. 1)
and that “It is for the sake of trivial economic gains that national and global elites are
keeping billions of human beings in life-threatening poverty” (2008, p. 73). Given this
examination of the data, and even ignoring Pogge’s moral charge as to why these funds
have not been reallocated, it is entirely obvious that eradicating, or—more simply—
greatly reducing, severe world poverty is a truly achievable goal. The question now
becomes: how do we get citizens of the world to try?
56
�IV. Discussion
Achieving Global Justice
In The Law of Peoples, John Rawls writes that “one should allow, I think, a
space between the fully unreasonable and the fully reasonable” (p. 74). My hope is to
find the middle ground that he allows for, and determine how it can be of use. In this
endeavor, the notion from the previous section (of how relatively small the effort needed
to bring about drastic change in global poverty levels is) is of critical importance. While
taken at its face, the number $300 billion may seem a staggering number. Yet, in the
context of a global economy, it seems barely a drop in the bucket. Therefore, we do not
need an expansive overhaul of the system, merely a slight shift in fund allocation. To this
end, the brand of cosmopolitanism that I am about to set forth need not even be adopted
by every citizen in the world, but merely by some of the small fraction who have the type
of power and resources to affect fund allocation. (I would, of course, prefer that each
person in the world look through the lens of cosmopolitanism as I frame it. I just seek to
point out that for practical purposes, this is not necessary.)
It is at this point that I will begin to lay out exactly how I recommend
cosmopolitanism be adapted from a strict set of normative principles to a looser cognitive
conception. For all of my hooting and hollering against normative principles, I find it
imperative to set forth a single basic criterium that will lay the foundation for the rest of
my theory. My defense of this decision is two-fold. First, this study must be, at its core, a
policy paper. Any effort to set forth tangible policy that is lacking any sort of
normativity, which you will recall Buckler (2010) defined as “prescrib[ing] appropriate
ways of acting,” is a hopeless endeavor. Moreover, for this study to achieve its goal of
being a practical tool, some sort of normative instruction is necessary. Secondly, the
normative principle I set forth has none of the complexities or contradictions that are
characteristic of most cosmopolitanism principles. In fact, it has been described by even
the harshest critics of cosmopolitanism as “anodyne” and accepted by “almost anyone”
(Pogge, 2002, p. 86). Namely, that all human beings are of equal worth and
consideration. Without this principle, and a willingness to consider the worth of even
strangers one has never met or seen tangible relations to, cosmopolitanism has no value
whatsoever. So, in order for my theory to operate, I must rely on this single normative
principle.
From here, I draw heavily on Gerard Delanty’s theories of cosmopolitanism. In
his book The Cosmopolitan Imagination (2009) and his 2014 article “The Prospects of
Cosmopolitanism and the Possibility of Global Justice,” he sets forth a unique way to
57
�view the ideology which has been central to this study. While his logic and reasoning is
extremely compelling, it is very much limited by his position as a sociologist. He puts
forth that
While cosmopolitanism has become influential within normative political
theory, it has been taken up in a different guise in disciplines such as history,
sociology, anthropology and cultural studies where the tendency has been
towards a more situated or rooted understanding of cosmopolitanism as always
contextualized. (2009, p. 3)
In creating my own theory, I seek to apply some of his principles through the lens of a
political scientist while creating a comprehensive framework suited to the task at hand.
Delanty’s Theory
I shall first present Delanty’s theory as he has framed it, necessarily citing him
at some length, then move on to altering and applying it to fit our needs. He terms his
distinctive approach as critical cosmopolitanism, and states that:
Rather than seeing cosmopolitanism simply as an ideal, as is indicated by the
title of this book [The Cosmopolitan Imagination], the cosmopolitan perspective
requires a particular imagination. . . The basic view of cosmopolitanism taken in
this book is that it is rooted in two contexts: a new definition of social reality of
immanent possibilities and a conception of modernity that emphasizes its
multiple and interactive nature. (2009, p. 6).
It is Delanty's notion that “the cosmopolitanism imagination is both an experience and an
interpretation of the world” (2009, p. 6) that has profoundly influenced my theory. He
goes on to outline the sort of “experience” and “interpretation” to which he refers:
First, any analysis will have to take as its starting point the context of the local
and in particular major national, regional and civilizational traditions. Second,
the impact of the culture of the Other ranging from the influence of other
nations to global forces, must be brought to bear on the analysis of the self. In
addition to this interplay of the local and the global by which Self and Other
interact, there is also the cosmopolitan dimension of ways of thinking, cognition
and feeling that derive neither from the native culture or the culture of the Other,
but from the interaction of both. (2009, p. 10)
While here he is referring to how the Self interacts with culture, I will later outline how
this cognitive process is entirely applicable to conceptions of justice.
58
�The last point of vital importance to understanding Delanty is his position on
cosmopolitan citizenship. He defines citizenship “in terms of rights and duties. The
classic rights of citizenship are political rights . . . civic rights . . . and social rights,” the
last of which encompass the category of healthcare and general protection which are
importance here. He goes on to write that “These rights are underpinned by duties” to
serve others (2009, p. 118). For him, “A cosmopolitan political community does not have
to rest on an underlying cultural community” (2009, p. 127)—a point of contention that
has not been discussed up to this point, primarily consisting of concerns over whether a
single prevailing homogenous sense of a single global culture is a necessary component
of cosmopolitanism. Moreover, he argues that “cosmopolitan citizenship is to be
understood in terms of a cultural shift in collective identities to include the recognition of
others” (2009, p. 127). In this sense he does not want to undervalue the local level of
cosmopolitan citizenship
since it is on this level that some of the major political struggles take place and it
is the site of the voice of the global poor. We thus speak of cosmopolitan
citizenship as opposed to global citizenship to capture this sense of the local
global dimension” (2009, p. 127).
While recognizing the value of local citizenship, he makes definitively clear his position
that we have obligations to communities beyond local municipalities and nations. I agree
whole-heartedly with Delanty in his condemnation of holding the position that “only
cohesive national communities are real and we have no obligations beyond the borders of
nation-states” (2014, p. 216). As will be made evident in the next section, this grasp of
the importance of the local in a global context plays a vital role in finding a viable
cosmopolitan theory.
Cosmopolitanism as a Cognitive Dimension
The most attacked tenet of classic conceptions of cosmopolitanism is the claim
of Universality or All-Inclusiveness. The beauty of my theory is that it does not require
prioritizing different notions of community amongst one another. To this end, the single
principle which I insist on adopting—that all human beings are of equal worth and
consideration—seeks no further priority than mere consideration. Based on Delanty’s
understanding of cosmopolitanism as a cognitive process, I argue that cosmopolitanism
as fits the realm of political science should also be understood as a cognitive process
based on interactions with the Others of the world. That is, when an individual is faced
with a decision, particularly those that have direct impacts on citizens around the globe,
59
�they will assess what is in the best interest of all parties involved. Taking solely the
principle of equal consideration, it is natural, then that the rights of those who fit the
identity of Other will be taken into consideration. This cognitive moment makes no moral
judgement as to which community ought to take priority in this instance. That is, I
envision each individual as belonging to multiple societies, and making rational decisions
within these societies. I reject Nussbaum’s insistence that we conceive of concentric
circles, and focus primarily on the local, but instead argue that there can be no hierarchy
of relationships. In Delanty’s words, “a cosmopolitan position involves the recognition of
differential levels of obligation and membership” (2014, p. 217). Instead of insisting that,
when making impactful decisions, one must act exclusively in the interest of the entire
global community and not in the interest of their national or local community. Merely,
the stage is set for a rational assessment of which community has the greatest needs in a
particular instance and how one can help meet those needs. To this end, I take no issue
with placing loyalty to a particular subset of the global community. It is rational that
loyalties will vary from one individual to another in the unique situations they will face.
So long as all individuals are given equal consideration, there will inevitably be times
that the global community to which one belongs will take precedent.
Some may argue that this position is unrealistic, due to human nature as being
primarily self-interested, and will select to serve only their most immediate community.
While this is in itself an entirely contentious position, the validity of this statement is not
relevant this instance. We will recall that my theory does require adopting the mindset
that all individuals are of equal worth and consideration and calls for an honest
assessment of the needs of all. If we are truly to extend equal consideration to all the
citizens of the world, the position begins to seem less anodyne, and instead an impactful
perspective. Given the nature of cosmopolitanism as a cognitive process, the
‘cosmopolitan moment’ is that in which one views the world as it is presenting itself (the
Other) and how one prioritizes their needs in regards to oneself. Delanty writes that
“Cosmopolitanism is centrally about learning; it is about how the moral and political
horizons of individuals, groups, the public in general, societies are broadened through the
capacity for connectivity” (2014, p. 218). The cognitive dimension I envision embraces
this understanding heartily, and recognizes that any decision that is made that has
ramifications for the global community is likely to occur in a moment in which new
information is presented. The hallmark of this process is the recognition of the global
society of one worth considering.
60
�Applying the Cognitive Dimension
Much of the debate over various conceptions of cosmopolitanism, which has
been largely ignored in this study due to its nature as normative, and therefore
problematic, pertains to who ought to be primary actors in taking action toward achieving
global justice. Those who do not embrace the notion of downplaying the role of states in
a global cosmopolitanism community will argue, as Rawls does, that it is the duty of the
subdivisions of society—“Peoples” in Rawls case, and primarily nation-states in others.
Alternatively, thinkers such as Pogge stress the importance of NGOs and those within
these existing and not state-driven structures. Another beauty of my theory is that it does
not call for one over the other. Individuals, as they work in NGOs or national
governments alike, will experience the cosmopolitan moment in assessing how to take
action.
To this end, individuals within a national government, when allocating a budget,
will consider what is in the best interest of various communities, including the global
community. In giving at the very least equal consideration to the citizens of the world
who live on less than two dollars per day—and giving this consideration in a serious
sense, not simply a petty or partisan discussion on the role of government, but truly
assessing what is in the best interest for each of the communities they consider,—these
national governments will inevitably allocate a larger portion of funds toward alleviating
world poverty. Given that the funds needed to make up the gap that holds the worlds
poorest below $2/day is “much less than what the United States spends on its military”
(Pogge, 2008, p. 73), it would take relatively little effort from the world’s wealthier
countries to make up this shortfall. This does not even take into account the various
individuals who are making decisions within NGOs, or individuals taking personal
philanthropic action. As mentioned earlier, the small nature of this gap is what enables
this theory to remain operative. Were the gap unable to be made up incrementally as I
have argued, there would necessarily be a more major overhaul of the prevailing global
network. Though it may seem simplistic at its face, a global understanding of
cosmopolitanism as a cognitive phenomenon would pay huge dividends in aiding the
plight of those in severe poverty globally. To that end, the goal of achieving substantive
global distributive justice is entirely attainable.
V. Conclusion
Michael Walzer wrote in his 2011 article that his relevant principle contends that
“whoever can, should” (p. 45). The question of cosmopolitanism can be framed as asking
61
�whoever can, should, for whom? Given the complexities of local communities, let alone a
global community, normative principles serve largely to trap individuals into not
knowing how to prioritize loyalty. For while the principles insist that each citizen be
treated precisely equally, exceptions are made for various reasons that render the
guidelines contradictory and messy. By viewing cosmopolitanism through the lens of a
cognitive moment, as opposed to normative, one escapes these difficult questions of
loyalty. By recognizing that each new interaction is an opportunity to view the world in a
new light, and by giving each citizen at least equal consideration, one is able to fit into
the global community without being asked to give up other loyalties or questions whether
the decisions they make are ‘allowed.’ Delanty’s critical cosmopolitanism argues that
change comes from clashes between opposing viewpoints, and the results from the clash
between nationalism and globalization. It is this cognitive moment of reconciling
opposing viewpoints that is of such importance. In this moment, individuals are
challenged to reconcile the interests of various communities to determine what is in the
best interest of each.
To this end, my theory lends itself perfectly to achieving the most basic goal of
global justice, which I have identified as raising the world’s most poor out of poverty to
the point that is no longer killing them, and in turn responsible for a third of the world’s
deaths. By embracing the cognitive moment of cosmopolitanism and giving equal
consideration to all of the world’s citizens, decision makers serving in various
positions—national, local, global, or not fitting any one of these descriptions—will be
challenged to consider the Others of the world. In doing so, it is inevitable that more
resources will be devoted to help the plight of the world’s severely poor. As previously
identified, this theory is only designed to be applicable to this specific problem in today’s
specific world. Should the goal of distributive justice as defined here be achieved, it will
be time to reassess this theory and adapt it toward a new goal. I look forward to it.
VI. References
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Beitz, C. R. (1983). Cosmopolitan Ideals and National Sentiment. The Journal of
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Scheffler, S. (1999). Conceptions of Cosmopolitanism. Utilitas, 11(3), 255- 276.
Steinhoff, U. (2013). Against Pogge's 'Cosmopolitanism'. Ratio, (3), 329-341.
Walzer, M. (2011). Achieving Global and Local Justice. Dissent, 58(3), 42-48.
63
����The Preservation of van Gogh
Casey Schweiger (Theatre/Speech)1
On the twenty-ninth of July, 1890, Vincent van Gogh passed away by his own
hand at the age of 37. Practically unknown to anyone outside his circle of fellow artists
and a few family members, it was likely that his name would be forgotten. Fortunately
for Vincent and for all of us who study and admire his work, his family and friends
decided to grant his work the recognition it deserved. Those most responsible for
preserving van Gogh’s memory were his sister-in-law, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, and
his friend and fellow artist, Emile Bernard. These two individuals, aided by family and
friends, shared van Gogh’s work with the world. They are responsible for raising him
from obscurity to his rightful place as one of the most recognizable personalities in the
history of art.
The earliest attempts to establish van Gogh as a prominent artist were made by
his brother, Theo, and their mutual friend Emile Bernard. As early as 1889, while van
Gogh was a patient at St. Paul’s de Mausole in S. Remy, Bernard sent copies of their
correspondence to the magazine Le Moderniste for publication. The magazine was
headed by the critic Albert Aurier. Soon after, Aurier would be the first critic to formally
review van Gogh in his 1890 article “Vincent van Gogh: Les Isoles”. The letters
submitted by Bernard were never published by the magazine (“Publication History”).
Van Gogh’s death left Theo unspeakably heartbroken and inevitably quickened
his own demise. Shortly after his brother’s passing, Theo endeavored to set up an
extensive memorial in the form of a gallery show. Theo explains in a letter to Emile
Bernard that his proposal for an exhibition was rejected by the father-and-son firm
Durand-Ruel. Ruel Sr., who had initially expressed some interest, but decided that
showing Vincent’s work would not be lucrative choice for the firm, and therefore was not
worth their time (Stein 235). In response to that rejection, Theo decided to display
Vincent’s works in the Paris flat he shared with Jo and their baby, Vincent Willem. Much
to his dismay, Theo felt he was unable “to arrange them together as to give a coherent
sense of his oeuvre”, and reached out to Emile Bernard. A letter from Theo to Bernard
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Laura Morowitz for AH321: The Madman and the
Savage.
67
�dated 18 September, 1890 reveals the motivation behind Theo’s request. He tells
Bernard, “When I saw in Auvers (at Vincent’s funeral) how capable you were at such
arranging (of Vincent’s pictures), I had already gotten the idea of asking you for your
help when the time came to organize and exhibition.” Theo goes on to explain that the
planned exhibition had been relocated to his own home and asks Bernard simply, “In
short, could you please give me a hand?” (Stein 236).
Naturally, Bernard was eager to help his friend. He recounts the initial in-home
exhibition in the preface to his collected correspondence with Vincent, which was
published in 1911, and will be discussed later. He writes, “The hanging was completed in
no time. He [Theo] left everything up to me.” Bernard explains that the reason his
hanging was so successful was that he had “not left a single empty space on the walls”.
He also relied on “an idea Vincent had often mentioned in his letters: to make a painting
sing by placing it next to another; to place a color scale of yellow next to a scale of blue,
a scale of green next to a red, etc…” (Stein 237-238). The exhibit included not only van
Gogh’s work but pieces from Theo’s extensive collection of works from other artists that
had been friendly with Vincent. Though in a confined space the show was a success and
served as a place for artists and friends to gather in remembrance and reflection.
Sadly, the exhibit was short lived. Theo became violently ill in mid-1890, a
combination of anguish over Vincent’s death, and the final stages of syphilis. Jo abruptly
fled to Holland with Theo and their son. Presumably this move was motivated by Jo’s
desire to be nearer to her family. Though her relationship with him was strained, her
brother, Andries Bonger had been a mutual friend of the van Gogh brothers. In
November, Theo was admitted to the Willem Arntsz clinic, an asylum, in Den Dolder. On
25 January, 1891, at the age of 33, Theo van Gogh died at the clinic, leaving his wife a
widow at only 29 years old (Hulsker 455).
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�Vincent's death announcement , sent by Theo to family and friends
(from Van Gogh A Retrospective edited by Susan Alyson Stein)
With the collected works of her late brother-in-law and his namesake in-tow,
Johanna van Gogh-Bonger officially moved back to the Netherlands. There, she became
the proprietor of a boarding house, the Villa Helma, near Amsterdam. Since she was the
heir of all that had passed from Vincent to Theo, she also became the curator of the van
Gogh collection. She wrote to Bernard, as recounted in his aforementioned preface, “It’s
a nice house, where baby, the paintings, and myself will be better accommodated than in
our Paris apartment where we, nonetheless, felt so at home and where I spent the happiest
days of my life.” Despite being urged by those around her to destroy or sell the
collection, which was worthless at the time, she chose to carry on Theo’s work. She
assured Bernard, “you shouldn’t fear that the paintings are going to be put up in the attic,
or in dark cupboards. They’ll decorate the whole house, and I hope that you’ll come to
Holland sometime to see what care I’ve taken of them.”(Stein 239). Jo further
documented her steadfast intentions for Vincent’s work in a diary entry dated 14
November, 1891, “Besides the child he [Theo] had bequeathed me another taskVincent’s work- to get it seen and appreciated as much as possible; keeping all the
treasures that Theo and Vincent had collected intact for the child-that, too, is my work”
(“Publication History”).
Her first step in sharing Vincent’s work was to display his art in just the way she
had described to Bernard. Many of the lodgers at her boarding house were artist and
writers which gave her the advantage in trying to stir up some enthusiasm over Vincent’s
pictures. Often she lent out pictures to those who were interested in showing them in
galleries around the country (V.W. van Gogh). She also shared his letters with anyone
69
�who would read them. One of her guests, the Dutch artist Richard Roland Holst,
displayed a great deal of curiosity about the collection. Together they produced an exhibit
at the Kunstzaal Panorama in Amsterdam, which Holst curated under Jo’s supervision.
Christiaan van Kesteren, the gallery manager, sent Jo a floor plan of the space to help her
plan the layout of the exhibit. The exhibition ran from 17 December, 1892 to 5 February,
1893. Reportedly the pieces were arranged not only by where they were created, but
according to their dominant color, which was unique for the era. No less than 112 works
were displayed and the show’s catalogue even contained selections from Vincent’s
letters. Holst himself designed the cover for the catalogue. A symbolic work, it features a
drooping sunflower encircled by a halo against a black background, as shown on the next
page (“Van Gogh Museum Journal”).
Though the show helped to popularize van Gogh in his home country, it did not
have the same effect for Jo. A while later, in a letter to another artist, Holst wrote a
scathing review of Jo’s involvement in the exhibition. He recalled “Mrs. Van Gogh is a
charming little woman, but it irritates me when someone gushes fanatically on a subject
she understands nothing about, and although blinded by sentimentality still thinks she is
adopting a strictly critical attitude. It is schoolgirlish twaddle, nothing more” (Kendall 1314). Whatever Mr. Holst might have thought of her, Jo proved to be an intelligent and
skillful businesswoman.
Sunflower by Richard Roland Holst for the Panorama exhibition catalogue, 1892
(http://www.sothebys.com/es/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/dutch-modernism-the-schillerdavid-collection-of-symbolism-art-nouveau-and-art-deco-1880-1930-am1047/lot.html)
70
�In addition to shows such as the Panorama, various publications throughout
Europe began promoting van Gogh’s work. Van Nu en Straks, a Belgian avant-garde
magazine, which was printed in Dutch, was one such publication. The magazine ran more
complete versions of the letters over the course of 1893, all of which were given to them
personally by Jo in 1892. Along with the letters, Straks ran memorial pieces written by a
variety of artists (including Richard Roland Holst, oddly enough), some of whom had
known Vincent personally (“Publication History”).
While Jo was busy making a name for Vincent throughout northern Europe,
Bernard took up the cause in France. It was Bernard in fact who sent her Vincent’s
collection. After the tragedy of Theo’s death, Jo did not wish to return to Paris and
instead had all of the work shipped to her at the boarding house (Hulsker 456). Moreover
in 1891, Bernard wrote a memorial article on van Gogh in his series for the Mercure de
France called Les Hommes d’Aujourd’hui. The cover plate (below) displays an etching
by Bernard of his late friend, based on a self-portrait van Gogh had given him as a gift.
The article itself tells the tale of their first meeting, their friendship, and the tragic end of
a vibrant life. As an author, Bernard allows his grief to pour onto the page. His opening
paragraph is perhaps the most moving, “He was mine, so I want to speak of him,
although I am gripped by apprehension…one mistrusts the judgments set forth by friends,
indeed even of relatives of the dead. And yet how much more valid these seem to be than
the others, for whom do we know better than those we love, especially in art, where all
friendship is based on like aspirations, or on similar views?”(Stein 282-283).
71
�Cover plate for “Les Hommes d’aujourd’hui” by Emile Bernard
From Van Gogh A Retrospective edited by Susan Alyson Stein
The following year, Bernard was able to fulfill Theo’s dream of showing van
Gogh in a real Paris gallery. With nothing but 600 francs sent to him by Jo, her
encouragement, and what was left of Vincent’s work in Tanguy’s attic, he exhibited 14
pictures for the month of April at the borrowed gallery space at Le Barc de Boutteville. In
return, he received “no other satisfaction than to have performed the duty of a friend”
(Stein 239). Soon after the exhibit closed, Bernard began consulting with Jo on the
publication of Vincent’s letters.
In 1893, he edited and published copies of the letters in the Mercure de France.
Bernard sometimes consulted his friend, Andries Bonger (Jo’s brother) when editing the
letters for publication. Often, he relied on Andries for reassurance that his editing was not
shameful to Vincent’s memory. Jo agreed to cover the cost of the printing plates so that
Vincent’s sketches could be included in the published version just as they were in the
originals. Since Mercure de France was an internationally read magazine, Bernard was
successful in sharing Vincent’s work with a wide audience. Soon, other periodicals
throughout Europe began publishing translations of Bernard’s original articles
(“Publication History”).
72
�Another major development in the preservation of van Gogh’s work came in
1905. The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam held an exhibition of roughly 460 pictures
which made Vincent’s work widely popular throughout Holland. The pictures were
organized in the same way that the Kunstzaal Panorama show had been; first by where
they were made, and then by color (“Van Gogh Museum Journal”). Most of the pieces
displayed were from Jo’s collection. She and her second husband, Johan Cohen
Gosschalk, an artist himself, whom she married in 1901, were fully involved in the
execution of the show (“Publication History”). This particular exhibition was incredibly
important because it solidified van Gogh’s place in Dutch history. An artist whose life
and work were so entwined had never been so accessible to the public. Suddenly, his
name meant something to the common Dutch person. Practically overnight, he became
something more than an artist: he became a national figure.
Cover for Letters from van Gogh by Emile Bernard, 1911
http://www.dbnl.org/ tekst/_van012200201_01/ _van012200201_01_0003.php
Despite the rising popularity of Vincent’s work and life, it would take six more
years for any full versions of his letters to be published. A French dealer, Ambroise
Vollard published van Gogh’s letters to Bernard in 1911 (“Painted with Words”). To this
day these letters are considered a distinct group as they demonstrate the mentor-student
relationship between the two artists. Vollard paid Bernard around 2,000 francs for access
to the letters. Additionally, Bernard was supposed to receive a portion of the profit for
each volume sold, but the number of copies that were distributed remains unknown
(“Publication History”). As previously mentioned, Bernard wrote the introduction
73
�himself, and designed the cover. His design, shown above, is unabashedly imperfect, a
handwritten homage to his friend’s memory. The collection was translated from French
to English in 1938 by Douglas Cooper (“Painted with Words”).
After years of carefully arranging the letters into chronological order, Jo’s edited
collection, entitled Brieven aan zijn broeder was finally published in Holland in 1914.
The original edition spanned three volumes and contained only letters from van Gogh
family members, mostly those from Vincent to Theo. In his memoir of his mother,
Vincent Willem recalls Jo’s process of editing and organizing the letters, “in the
beginning she copied them by hand, later on they were typewritten. The proofs she
corrected herself”. When Jo moved to New York in 1915, she took the letters with her to
continue her work. She began translating Vincent and Theo’s writings into English, a task
which she continued even after her move back to Amsterdam in 1919, and until her death
on 2 September, 1925. By that time she had managed to translate 526 of the letters (V.W.
van Gogh).
Vincent Willem became the official curator of the van Gogh collection after Jo’s
death. Technically, he had been the curator since Theo’s death when the older members
of the van Gogh family had legally waved their rights to inherit Vincent’s (and therefore
Theo’s) collection. However, Vincent Willem had very little desire to follow in the
footsteps of his parents and uncle. He became an engineer with the hope to make a name
for himself outside the world of art. He traveled in France, the US, and Japan before
making his way back to the Netherlands in 1920. In spite of his best attempts to get out
of the family business, Vincent Willem found himself in charge of one of the most sought
after collections of the day. He lent pieces to various museums around Europe throughout
the late 1920’s. Another particularly successful show at the Stedelijk Museum in
Amsterdam in 1930 prompted him to loan the museum the majority of the collection.
After WWII, Vincent Willem became more invested in sharing the collection
with the public, presumably a response to the mass destruction of art that had occurred
during the war. For the next three decades he toured internationally, lecturing on the
collection and his own views on the importance of art. He also continued to publish new
editions of the collected letters through the 1970’s. As early as the 1950’s, plans emerged
for instituting a permanent home for the van Gogh collection. Pre-existing museums were
considered but no one could be decided on. The establishment of the Vincent van Gogh
Foundation in 1962 contributed to a final choice. With federal funding the Foundation
purchased the collection and construction began on a new museum to house it in 1969.
Vincent Willem served as the advisor for the construction of the new building and was
74
�enthusiastically involved in the process despite being in his seventies by that time (“Van
Gogh Museum Journal”). On 2 June, 1973 the Vincent van Gogh Museum opened next
door to the Stedelijk Museum, containing the van Gogh collection on permanent loan
from the Foundation. Similar to that very first exhibit in Theo and Jo’s Paris apartment,
van Gogh’s art was not displayed alone, but was enhanced by the surrounding works of
his fellow artists (Kendall 14-16). Vincent Willem van Gogh passed away in 1978 at the
age of 88.
Photo of Vincent Willem with “The Yellow House”
at the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
From Van Gogh’s Van Goghs by Richard Kendall
It is thanks to these individuals that van Gogh’s work has survived. On one
hand, a grief-stricken brother and a sister-in-law who had only met him on three
occasions, and on the other a friend whom he took the opportunity to teach. Had Johanna
not been searching for a way to mend her broken heart, or had Emile Bernard not felt the
need to honor the memory of his mentor, van Gogh could have easily been forgotten. The
dedication and love of these remarkable people and their painstaking efforts were the first
steps in turning van Gogh into a household name. Thankfully, his family and friends saw
the value in his work when few others did. His pictures, the focus of constant study, are
now some of the most famous in the world. They have stood the test of time and remain a
source of inspiration for scholars and laymen alike.
75
�Works Cited
Hulsker, Jan. Vincent and Theo Van Gogh: A Dual Biography. Ed. James M. Miller. Ann
Arbor: Fuller Technical Publications, 1990. 450-456. Print.
Kendall, Richard. "The Van Gogh Museum: A History of the Collection." Van Gogh's
Van Goghs. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1998. 12-16. Print.
"Painted with Words: Vincent Van Gogh's Letters to Emile Bernard Press Release." The
Morgan Library and Museum. The Morgan Library and Museum, 6 July 2007. Web. 1
Nov. 2014. <http://www.themorgan.org/sites/default/files/pdf/press/PaintedWithWords
Release.pdf>.
"Publication History the Early Publications of the Letters." Vincent Van Gogh the Letters.
Van Gogh Museum, 1 Jan. 2009. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
<http://vangoghletters.org/vg/publications_2.html>.
Stein, Susan Alyson, ed. Van Gogh A Retrospective. China: Hugh Lauter Levin
Associates, 1986. 218-222, 232-239, 282-285. Print.
"Van Gogh Museum Journal." DBNL. DBNL/ Rijksmuseum, 1 Jan. 1999. Web. 15 Nov.
2014. <http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_van012199901_01/_van012199901_01_0007.php#128>.
Van Gogh, Vincent Willem. "Memoir of Johanna Gesina Van Gogh-Bonger." Van
Gogh's Letters. WebExhibits. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/memoir/nephew/5.html>.
76
�Alien to Ourselves: Finding Humanity in Mars Attacks!
Abigail Creem (English)1
While Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! (1996) shows a vicious alien invasion, the
attack reveals more about consumer-driven human society than it does the Martian
invaders. The movie is set in three prominent locations: Washington, D.C., New York,
and Las Vegas. Each of these locations represents different capitalist traits within
consumer culture; however, all of them share a common notion of television-driven
superficiality. The Martians’ research and tests on humans bring to life this superficiality
in a way that makes the flaws of the humans they experiment on all the more blatant.
Moreover, we see how power shifts take place among the classes when those in charge
fail to defeat the Martians. How Mars Attacks! reflects humans clearly highlights not only
our failings as a species, but also our triumph as humane beings in the end. This triumph
ultimately shows our fundamental resilience to the ruthlessness of the Martians, which
also acts to remind us of our humanity.
Washington D.C. characteristically represents the center of power, control, and
overall reason; however, the movie parodies the role of the President of the United States,
his advisers and cabinet members. In the second scene, we see the President (Jack
Nicholson) in his office surrounded by men of science, men of war, and men of justice,
but instead of asking them their opinions of the aliens, he turns to his press secretary:
PRES. What’s your take on this, Jerry?
JERRY. The people are gonna love it! Our only decision is whether to ambush
the six o’clock news, or hold out for primetime.
The President’s first concern is not whether the country is safe, but how this information
should be released to the press. Only when his chief military officer (Rod Steiger) cuts in
does he address any safety concerns, but even then the film mocks the officer’s concern
and portrays it as irrational. Finally after the President asks for scientist and professor,
Donald Kessler’s (Pierce Brosnan), opinion – who reassures him of the evolved,
nonviolent, nature of the aliens – the President returns to Jerry in order to continue
discussing the photo opportunity they are planning. From this very early scene, we see
Written under the direction of Dr. Susan Bernardo for EN323: Aliens, Cyborgs and Time
Travel in Literature and Film.
1
77
�that the President’s priorities are not where they should be: those in power fail to
recognize the potential for serious threats and are not putting the public’s safety first. The
President is supposed to do what is best for the United States; however, his only concern
is with which suit he is going to wear. Here we see an intersection between media and
politics where the glamor of television overrides reason and reality.
While Washington fails to live up its political duties, New York also fails as the
main source of news and media. Jason Stone (Michael J. Fox) and Nathalie Lake (Sarah
Jessica Parker) care only for their personal fame instead of reporting the truth to the
people. Nathalie Lake’s interview with Donald Kessler focuses on the flirtation between
the two rather than information about the Martians. During this interview the Martians
first communicate with Earth. Again, the television is at the center. The entire United
States witnesses the attack that accompanies the Martians’ first encounter because it is a
televised event that attracts thousands. Hedgecock argues that “television is in control.
Plot developments cut to characters watching them on television, until the characters –
and the audience – cannot distinguish immediately between television and ‘reality’”
(113). This estrangement from reality continues in the tests the Martians perform on their
prisoners, Lake and Kessler. The Martians end up switching Lake’s head and body with
her Chihuahua’s because that is how she portrays herself on the television, always with
her dog. In the television reality the two are the same and that is what the experiments
portray. The same goes for Kessler after his capture. The Martians choose to decapitate
him, though he still remains alive. This depicts him as the television portrays him; that is,
he can only be valued for his intelligence, his brain – he is a talking head. He is incapable
of any real action, thus the Martians take away his body. The television reduces the man
to the way he exists in this superficial society; the Martians’ tests simply accentuate this
existence.
Finally Las Vegas represents the hub of commercialism and consumerism. Here,
people become so blinded by greed and consumption that they do not even realize the
Martian invasion is taking place until it is too late. The only ones who escape the
invasion are Byron Williams (Jim Brown), Barbara Land (Annette Bening), Tom Jones,
Cindy (Janice Rivera), and for a short while a sleazy lawyer (Danny DeVito). Byron and
Barbara contradict the superficial consumerism of those around them in this city of sin.
Barbara, while depicted as flighty because of her belief in New Age spirituality,
constantly disagrees with her casino developer husband Art Land’s (also played by Jack
Nicholson) greed; and instead of grieving his death, she simply says that she told him
something like this would happen. As for Byron, a former prize-fighter turned bouncer,
78
�he is looking for a way to make money for his family, despite being divorced. These
characters’ priorities are selfless in contrast to Art Land’s and the sleazy lawyer’s. Both
Land and the lawyer embody extreme consumerism. While the Martians are attacking,
Art Land moves forward with his pitch for a new hotel and ignores the potential
investors’ warning that something is happening. Meanwhile the sleazy lawyer joins
Byron’s crew; however, the Martians eventually trap the lawyer as he, Barbara, Tom
Jones, and Byron try to escape. He tries to bargain with them using his prowess as a
lawyer and the worth of his watch. He says: “it’s a Rolex.” The mere fact that the lawyer
pleads while relying on brand recognition to save him shows how much faith he puts in
consumer culture. He believes the capitalist lifestyle appeals to everyone and can
ultimately save him; however, he fails to persuade the Martians, and they kill him.
Rejecting the commercial norm is what ultimately saves the world. Those who
survive all exhibit the inherently human senses of selflessness and individualism that
society at large has lost. These characters are “member[s] of a social system yet not
strongly attached to that system. He or she does not conform completely to systematic
norms. Interpersonal relations among strangers are characterized by social distance […]
the stranger, relatively free of these networks, can more easily deviate from the norms of
the system” (Gerlach and Hamilton 126). What sets these characters apart is ultimately
what saves them, as well as recalls a sense of humanity prior to society’s dependence on
media and consumption.
For instance, Richie Norris (Lukas Haas) and his family represent a microcosm
of the entire country. The family dysfunction works to parallel the dysfunction of all the
Americans who are corrupted and blinded by consumerism. The family embraces the
aliens on the Earth as long as they do not have to leave their couches to do so. Even
during the Martian attack, Richie’s mother vehemently declares: “I’ll tell ya one thing –
they ain’t gettin’ the TV.” The focus is still on the television. Despite the real life attacks
going on in their front yard, the sensationalism of the television captivates them. Billy
Glenn (Jack Black), the eldest son in the family, who naively joins the army, has an
unrealistic view of what it takes to be a soldier. During the first Martian attack, he
attempts to play the hero and charges directly at the enemy as so many others do in action
films; however, his gun is empty, he fails, and the Martian vaporizes him instantly.
Richie and his grandmother (Sylvia Sidney) represent outsiders within the family and in
society. Richie, in spite of his father’s demands that he stay home, decides to risk his life
and save his grandmother at the nursing home. His defiance promotes the idea of the
individual versus the collective norm as well as shows his innate selflessness as he saves
79
�his grandmother; both ideas resonate with the core of humanity, which is only able to be
revealed through this alien invasion.
The grandmother is even more removed from society, due to her old age.
Because of her senility, nothing she says or does resonates with the faux-reality of
consumerism. Richie is the only one who takes the time to try to figure out what she is
saying, which results in one of the few moments of clarity from the grandmother:
GRANDMA: I want to get back to Slim. Slim and Muffy and Richie.
RICHIE: Grandma, I’m Richie.
GRANDMA: I know, Thomas. Richie was always the best one.
Even though the grandmother is senile, she is still a better judge of character than most of
the people around her. The grandmother’s country music is what ultimately defeats the
Martians. This is because she, like Richie, is a stranger to the consumer society that
attaches itself to the television. Instead she is content staying in her little room, listening
to her music, and petting her taxidermal cat. Her role as an outsider thus allows her to
survive the alien attack. What is more, the music itself is reminiscent of a simpler time in
America. The country-western crooner Slim Whitman’s music is free from the poppy,
artificial mechanics that has consumed modern music.
The film also shows Taffy (Natalie Portman), the first daughter, as an outsider to
the television-dependent society. She seeks family over anything else, but a family is the
one thing she cannot have. To crave the traditional American value of a closely bonded
family also represents an aspect of humanity that is lost in this society. The only way she
is able to spend time with her parents is if she helps her mother redecorate the Roosevelt
room or listen to her father’s speeches on television. She wanders the White House
looking for human contact, but finds none. Her craving for interpersonal relationship is
what saves her. She does not want the non-reality of the TV universe; she wants real
people. This notion is what prompts her to survive and is the reason why she, not her
media-crazed father, or image-centered mother, stands in front of the White House at the
end, giving Richie the Purple Heart.
The Williams family, in turn, contrasts with the Presidential family. Here, the
family is in repair. Byron admits to turning his life around for his family. The film
suggests that at one point, Byron was consumed by the glamor of Las Vegas and failed to
provide for his family. Now however, Las Vegas no longer seduces him into a life of
consumption. Contrary to Richie’s family, each member of the Williams family shows
estrangement from the dominant media culture. Byron’s ex-wife, Louise (Pam Grier),
who works as a bus driver, displays the struggles of single parenthood as well as being
80
�part of the lower middle class. After catching her kids skipping school when she sees
them in an arcade playing video games, she irately highlights what is at risk for them. She
says that if they skip school, they will flunk; if they flunk, they will go to jail; and if they
go to jail, they will do crack. While it seems dramatic, it is clear that Louise’s fears are
rational. When she returns to her bus, still yelling at her sons, the passengers begin to
applaud, as though they know this is what the kids need – a reality check. Louise’s firm
grip on reality sets her apart from the others as well as triggers the same sense of reality
in her sons.
Because her sons’, Cedric and Neville, grasp this sense of reality, they are able
to distinguish the alien threat as real despite the videogame-like manner in which they
fight. When both boys are on an educational tour of the White House, the Martians
invade it. Their understanding of the reality of the threat prompts them to take up arms
and fight the Martians. Between Richie, Taffy, Cedric, and Neville there is a final sense
of role reversal in which those in charge, such as the President and his security detail are
unable to take charge of the situation. Cedric and Neville are the ones who say: “What
are you guys gawking at? Get that President out of here.” It is the younger generation, the
lower class that takes control of the situation.
The reunion of the Williams family as well as Taffy’s desire for attention from
her parents reinforces the call for closer filial bonds and better grasps on reality. Richie’s
decision to save his grandmother over helping his mother save the television signifies a
demand for a less television-oriented public and a more selfless humanity. Mars Attacks!
shows how consumer-oriented and media heavy our society has become. Through the
threat of destruction of humanity by the Martians we understand how these human
qualities of individual thought, selflessness, and family-centered acts will survive and not
the faux-reality television presents – a truth ironically revealed through a Hollywood
film. The failure to recognize this need results in a quick loss of power, as seen in the
President and his men, and their eventual deaths. The role reversals at the end with Richie
getting a medal of honor instead of Billy Glenn, Taffy awarding the medal instead of her
father, and Byron reuniting with his family instead of remaining in Las Vegas reflect the
reestablishment of innately human values and reaffirm our humanity as a whole.
81
�Works Cited
Gerlach, Neil and Sheryl N. Hamilton. “Preserving Self in the City of the Imagination:
Georg Simmel and Dark City.” Canadian Review of American Studies. 34.2 (2004): 115134. Print.
Hedgecock, Liz. “‘The Martians Are Coming!’: Civilisation v. Invasion in The War of the
Worlds and Mars Attacks!” Alien Identities: Exploring Differences in Film and Fiction.
Ed. Deborah Cartmell. London: Pluto Press. 1999. 104-120. Ebook.
Mars Attacks! Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica
Parker. Warner Bros.., 1996. DVD.
82
�Representation of Society through Film in Weimar
Germany: Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927)
Jessica Catanzaro (History)1
Noted as the “father of film noir,” Fritz Lang takes us “into the mouth of
Moloch” with his 1927 science fiction film Metropolis.2 Metropolis is a German
Expressionist film that was produced during Germany’s Weimar Republic period (19191933). The society and culture of this period in German history changed dramatically
because of the outcome of the First World War (1914-1918). Many German
Expressionist films during the Weimar period reflected the fears, anxieties, and ideals of
the German people after the radical change in government and their defeat in WWI. But,
how do films like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis capture culture and society in Weimar
Germany in the years 1919-1927? It was the defeat in WWI which created feelings of
men being emasculated, and new fears of women and Jews that were reflected in the
films of the Weimar period. The notion of working class unity, the femme-fatale and the
evil Jewish mastermind were themes that were prevalent throughout German films, like
Metropolis, in the Weimar Republic. Several characters in the film embody these themes.
For example, the Madonna-like Maria represents the femme-fatale, the controlling
woman who leads men to their doom. Dr. Rotwang is the quintessential Jewish character
that is prevalent in many of Fritz Lang’s films. Dr. Rotwang is portrayed as the conniving
Jew who misleads people and ends up ruining them. Finally, the workers that run the city
of Metropolis are the working class that the Germans feared so much. The workers in
Lang’s film are ready to revolt and destroy the powerful industrialist city that is
Metropolis.
Films like Metropolis that were made during the Weimar Republic in Germany
are classified as German Expressionist films. German Expressionism was an art form in
Germany during the Weimar period that gave German filmmakers the freedom to express
the way that they felt about society and the world in their films. This means that the
Written under the direction of Dr. Lori Weintrob for HI286: On the Screen- Gender, Class,
and Culture in Film.
2 Vincent Brook, Driven to Darkness: Jewish Emigre Directors and the Rise of Film Noir
(New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2009), 58; Janet Ward, Weimar Surfaces: Urban
Visual Culture in 1920s Germany (California: University of California Press, 2001), 142.
1
83
�filmmakers created films that represented how the filmmaker himself viewed things.
German Expressionism is depicted by dark, shadowy sets that almost appear haunted.
“Weimar cinema took up the tools of expressionist yearnings for a mythological rebirth
for Germany in the wake of the defeat of World War I.”3 German Expressionism rose out
of the changing society after World War One. It was influenced by the turmoil in society
after Germany’s defeat in WWI and the Allied Power’s (England, the United States, and
France during World War One) attempt to improve the German government with the
installation of the Weimar Republic, Germany’s first democratic government.4
Fritz Lang captures German Expressionism in his film Metropolis. The film is
composed of shadows and large, looming edifices. This idea of a dark city was new and
Metropolis “etched the first blueprints of Dark City: omnipotent external forces dictating
the fate of innocent people, and uncontrollable internal urges leading to self-destruction.”5
It is fitting for Fritz Lang to use these German Expressionist themes of darkness because
Lang experienced some difficult times at one point in his life. In late 1920, Lang found
his wife, Lisa Rosenthal, dead in her bathtub from a gunshot to the chest. The gun
Rosenthal used was Lang’s Browning revolver. Lang found his wife’s body and claims
that she committed suicide. It was known by many, including Rosenthal, that Lang was
having an affair with actress Thea von Harbou (she played Maria in Metropolis).
Rosenthal was distressed for some time about the affair and the fact that her husband was
flaunting his relationship with von Harbou. Lang was furious that Rosenthal would not
accept his affair and, according to a witness, he had waved his revolver at her during a
heated argument about the matter.6 Although Lang was never tried for murdering his
wife, many believed that he did, in fact, kill Rosenthal. Whatever the cause of
Rosenthal’s death, murder or suicide, there is much speculation on the relationship
between the incident and Lang’s work “which is haunted from the first film to the last
with guilt, complicity, false accusation, irredeemable crime, inadvertent crimes, and
suicide.”7
In order to understand the relationship between Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and
Weimar Germany, we must look at the society in the new Republic and the fears and
anxieties that many faced. The working class, “unleashed” female sexuality, and the Jews
Ward, Weimar Surfaces: Urban Visual Culture in 1920s Germany, 145.
Colin Storer, Short History of the Weimar Republic (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2013), 27.
5 Brook, Driven to Darkness: Jewish Emigre Directors and the Rise of Film Noir, 58.
6 Ibid., 60.
7 Ibid.
3
4
84
�were all elements “the Fascists considered a part of a conspiracy against the German
‘fatherland’.”8 Men were paranoid and all-consumed with this supposed conspiracy and
they felt that women, Jews, socialists, and foreigners had humiliated Germany and were
“hindering efforts to resurrect its power.”9
When the Weimar Republic government was put in place, a new constitution
was written. This constitution added something that not even the United States had at this
time: equality for women. With this new law emerged the image of a “new woman” in
German society. The “new woman” was one who challenged the traditional roles of
women and who was more open about her sexuality.10 The “new woman” was seen as a
vamp, a woman that would lead men to their ruin by being “a mysterious and seductive
temptress.”11 During the inter-war period of the Weimar Republic, there was a collective
male consciousness that was obsessed with the supposed loss of male power and
authority because of women and the Jews.12
These anxieties about losing power and authority were not only prevalent among
the common people of Germany but they were also present in the German elite. After
Germany’s defeat in World War One, Germany felt powerless and it felt that it lost all of
its former glory in the world. The fear of the working class came to fruition because of
this “loss of authority.” It was the dynamic between the worker and the boss, the fact that
one was in essence enslaving the other, which increased this feeling that eventually the
worker would rise up and destroy the powerful leader.13 This feeling or anxiety was a
reflection of the times because Germany was destroyed by the ones it was trying to
enslave or more appropriately, control.14
All of these fears and anxieties, fear of the “new woman”, the working class,
and the Jews, were all themes in German Expressionist films including Fritz Lang’s 1927
film Metropolis. Fritz Lang’s classic science-fiction silent-film takes place in the year
Richard P. McCormick, “From ‘Caligari’ to Dietrich: Sexual, Social, and Cinematic
Discourses in Weimar Film,” Signs 18, no. 3 (Spring 1993): 644.
9 Ibid., 648.
10 Ibid., 641.
11 Andreas Huyssen, “The Vamp and the Machine: Technology and Sexuality in Fritz
Lang’s Metropolis,” New German Critique, no. 24/25 (Fall81/Winter82 1981): 228.
12 Barbara Hales, “Projecting Trauma: The Femme Fatale in Weimar and Hollywood
Film Noir,” Women in German Yearbook, no. 23 (December 2007): 226.
13 Thomas Halper and Douglas Muzzio, “The Republic in the Metropolis,” Journal of
Popular Culture 44, no. 3 (June 2011): 475.
14 Storer, Short History of the Weimar Republic, 27.
8
85
�2000 and in its bare bones is a story about clashes between “workers and an authoritarian
industrialist in a giant city.”15 This clash or issue is resolved in the film when the city of
Metropolis is nearly destroyed and the leader of the city realizes that he needs to be more
caring to his workers. While this is the main plot of the film, Lang slips in these recurring
themes that were prevalent in Weimar Germany.
The story of Metropolis is centered on Maria and Freder. Maria is the caretaker
of the workers’ children and she is the one who convinces the workers that there is
someone out there who will help them out of their troubles. Freder is the son of the
authoritarian industrialist Joh Fredersen and wants to experience the life of the worker
after seeing Maria. Maria, when she sees Freder in one of her catacomb meetings with the
workers, believes that he is the mediator that will help the workers receive a better life.
When Joh Fredersen learns of the relationship between his son, Freder, and Maria, he
goes to his scientist, Rotwang, and asks him to turn his new invention into a
doppelganger of Maria. Rotwang has created a Machine-Man, a robot, and transforms it
into the image of Maria in order to place the workers under her spell so they will listen to
the command of Joh Fredersen. However, because of an earlier event, Rotwang does not
like Joh Fredersen and soon he changes the Machine-Man Maria so that she will only
listen to his command. At this point, the Machine-Man Maria is convincing the workers
to destroy the Heart Machine that runs the city so that Joh Fredersen will be destroyed.
The workers soon realize that they did not protect their children from the destruction of
the city. Little do they know, however, that the real Maria and Freder are rescuing the
workers’ children. In the end, the workers want to burn Maria for being a witch but they
burn the Machine-Man Maria instead of the real Maria. After the workers settle down and
they realize that the Maria they were after was a machine, Freder convinces his father to
shake hands with a worker and the audience is led to believe that all problems in the city
are now solved. The film ends with the message “The Mediator between head and hands
must be the heart!” This means that the one who will bring the industrialist (Joh
Fredersen) and workers together is the one who cares about everyone’s well-being
(Freder).
Without knowing the themes that are present in German Expressionist films,
Metropolis appears to be a film about disagreements between workers and the
industrialist. The film is, for the most part, about love and compassion and we are left
with a happy ending and the message that revolt is not the solution to society’s problems.
15
Mark Cousins, The Story of Film (New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2004), 100.
86
�However, now that we know the themes that were part of German Expressionist films, we
see that there are underlying meanings to Metropolis. Three strong themes that are
present throughout the majority of the film are fear of the Jew, fear of the “new woman,”
and fear of the worker which all lead to a sense of powerlessness and loss of authority
among German men.
There was a general anxiety in Weimar Germany that the working class and the
worker would create an uprising and cause the destruction of the powerful industrialist. In
Weimar Germany it was the idea that the working class would ruin Germany’s utopian
vision of a new Germany after its defeat in WWI that caused many industrial leaders in
Germany to have fears and anxieties about the working class. Metropolis is a kind of
microcosm of Germany after the First World War where the utopian vision “has gone
awry, producing a tyrannical ruling class which enslaves the workers who eventually
rebel against their masters.”16 In Germany, the year 1919 saw a wave of strikes,
demonstrations, and uprisings against the established order. There was a real fear
amongst western leaders that the foundations of capitalism and liberal democracy were
being shaken and might give way.17 The city in Metropolis is divided by the haves and
have-nots, the industrialist and the workers, and this divide leads the workers to strive for
change.18 In Fritz Lang’s film, Joh Fredersen, the industrialist, is regularly brought papers
that were taken from the workers that illustrate plans to destroy the major machines that
give Joh Fredersen’s city life. Joh Fredersen enlists the help of Rotwang to figure out
what the plans mean and how they will be achieved. It is Joh Fredersen’s greatest fear
that the workers below his city will try to overthrow him, and he does everything he can,
including transforming Rotwang’s Machine-Man into the image of Maria, to stop the
workers from uprising. Freder also warns his father of the threat of the workers, he says
“Your magnificent city, Father, and you the brain of this city, and all of us in the city’s
light, and where are the people, Father, whose hands built your city…what if one day
those in the depths rise up against you?”19 In the end, because of Machine-Man Maria’s
influence, the workers below Joh Fredersen’s city destroy the machines that support
Fredersen’s city. In reality, Joh Fredersen had reason to fear an uprising and the German
elite feared that the workers during the Weimar period would do the same. Joh Fredersen
Mary K. Leigh and Kevin K. Durand, Marxism and the Movies: Critical Essays on
Class Struggle in the Cinema (McFarland, 2013), 17.
17 Storer, Short History of the Weimar Republic, 42.
18 Halper and Muzzio, “The Republic in the Metropolis,” 477.
19 Fritz Lang, Metropolis 1927.
16
87
�as the industrialist and the industrialists in Weimar Germany have this fear about losing
control, which was extremely prevalent after Germany’s defeat in WWI.20
Throughout Weimar Germany there was an anxiety and fear over the “new
woman”, a woman who was free with her sexuality and who challenged gender roles.21
This “new woman” rose out of the period of WWI that gave women the opportunity to
participate in the work force while the men were fighting at war.22 This new image of
women in Weimar Germany led to the view of women as femme fatale and the view that
women would be the ruin and downfall of men. In Fritz Lang’s Metropolis both the real
Maria and Machine-Man Maria, embody the image of the “new woman.” Fritz Lang
shows the anxiety over the “new woman” in Maria’s interactions with the people of the
city.
There are several instances in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis where Maria and her
double have power and influence over men. The very first occurrence is when Freder first
lays eyes on Maria and he immediately wishes to follow her. She has a strong hold over
Freder which causes him to become infatuated with her even though the only thing he
knows about her is that she is the caretaker for the workers’ children. It is Maria and
Freder’s awe over her which leads Freder to enter the workers’ city for the first time and
experience the hardships that the workers face. Although this encounter with Maria is a
mild one, it sets off a chain reaction that does not become resolved until the end of the
film.
Freder’s first encounter with Maria leads him to trade places with one of the
workers, worker 11811. As a worker, Freder attends one of Maria’s catacomb meetings
where she tells the workers that there will be someone who can help them with their
problems and that they should not rise against Joh Fredersen. Maria has a hold over
Freder and the workers in these meetings and she has the ability to make them listen to
what she says. Maria holds these meetings because she does not want the city of
Metropolis to be ruined by the workers. Maria does not like violence and she would
rather not see the workers revolt against Joh Fredersen, instead she wants to have a
peaceful revolution.
When Maria is taken by Rotwang and her image is given to the Machine-Man,
Rotwang hosts a party with Joh Fredersen to show the workers Maria as an erotic dancer
Huyssen, “The Vamp and the Machine,” 228.
Storer, Short History of the Weimar Republic, 150.
22 Barbara Hales, “Dancer in the Dark: Hypnosis, Trance-Dancing, and Weimar’s Fear of
the New Woman,” Monatshefte 102, no. 4 (Winter 2010): 534.
20
21
88
�which will make them listen to her every will. In this scene, Machine-Man Maria
preforms a trance-dance that hypnotizes the workers causing them to listen to her
command. This trance-dance is “hypnotic both in the sense of alluring her masculine
audience and casting a spell over them.”23 In this scene, it is alluded to in Freder’s dream,
that Maria is represented as the Whore of Babylon.24 When Freder realizes that the erotic
dancer is Maria, he faints and has a dream that a monk is preaching the bible verse
“Verily, I say unto you, the days spoken of in the Apocalypse are nigh! And I saw a
woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads
and ten horns and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, having a golden
cup in her hand and upon her forehead was a name written, mystery, Babylon the Great,
the mother of abominations of the earth!” It is not an accident that during the erotic
dance, Machine-Man Maria rises onto the stage and sits with a golden cup in her hand on
top of a dais formed like the seven-headed beast.25
The final scene where we see women as holding power and authority over men
is when Machine-Man Maria is back in the catacombs under Rotwang’s control.
Machine-Man Maria is convincing the workers to destroy the machines that make Joh
Fredersen’s city thrive. This scene, where Machine-Man Maria yells “Who is the living
food for the machines in Metropolis? Who lubricates the machine joints with their own
blood? Who feeds the machines with their own flesh? Let the machines starve you fools!
Let them die! Kill the machines!”, Machine-Man Maria has complete control over the
workers and she convinces them to “kill the machines” that make up the city. The
workers in this scene blindly listen to her and they completely forget about rescuing their
children such is Machine-Man Maria’s hold over them. In the end, the workers try to
burn Machine-Man Maria at the stake after they realize they forgot about their children,
they call her a witch and capture and burn the Machine-Man. These four scenes display
the fears that Weimar Germany’s men had towards the “new woman.” These men felt
that they would lose their power and authority to these women and that the women would
destroy the men’s lives.
There is one scene in particular in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis that shows the
German fear of and the loss of power and authority to the Jew. The scene is towards the
beginning of the film when Freder firsts stumbles into the vast workers’ city. He sees the
Ibid., 537.
Ake Bergvall, “Apocalyptic Imagery in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis,” Literature-Film
Quarterly, no. 4 (2012): 247.
25 Ibid., 248.
23
24
89
�workers working in a synchronized fashion at their machines. Soon a great mouth in the
machine opens with steam rising from every corner, Freder yells “Moloch!” when he sees
the giant machine. The following segment shows Freder in absolute terror as he watches
workers being marched up the steps to Moloch’s mouth and descending down into the
gaping maw of the machine. In the ancient Semitic religion, Moloch is a deity that is
honored by human sacrifices and this scene in Metropolis shows the sacrifice of the
workers to the machine that runs the city.26 Freder, who is not accustomed to seeing the
workers’ city and the practices that keep the city running, is terrified at the sight of this
great machine and the march of workers into its mouth. This is a representation of
Germany’s fear of the Jew because Germany does not understand the ancient beliefs of
the ones that they feel will overtake their authority, therefore they fear what they do not
know or understand.
Another area where Fritz Lang’s Metropolis shows the Weimar fear of the Jew
is in the character Dr. Rotwang. Rotwang is the scientist that Joh Fredersen goes to for
assistance who makes his Machine-Man in the form of Maria. According to some
scholars, it has not gone unnoticed that Rotwang, the evil scientist/black magician, looks
Jewish with his beard and hook nose but also “employs explicitly kabbalistic practices to
transmogrify the Madonna-like Maria into her inhuman twin.”27 The “master-criminal
types” like Rotwang offer negative Jewish stereotypes like the evil Jew that will take
control. In the film, Rotwang deceits Joh Fredersen by turning Machine-Man Maria
against Joh Fredersen and willing her to only listen to Rotwang’s command. This is the
same fear that the Germans had after World War One, that the Jews would hinder any
attempts at Germany becoming powerful and that they would take away Germany’s
authority.28
Camera angles were very important for showing how the Jews, the working
class, and women undermined men’s authority and power in Weimar Germany. In many
scenes with Maria and the workers, the camera often looks down on the workers and up
at Maria giving us the illusion that Maria is superior to the workers. These angles show
that Maria is above the workers because she has power over them. Another example of
this is when Rotwang stands over Maria in order to give her image to the Machine-Man.
Rotwang is shown as leaning over Maria because at that moment, he has power over her
Leigh and Durand, Marxism and the Movies, 21.
Brook, Driven to Darkness: Jewish Emigre Directors and the Rise of Film Noir, 68.
28 Storer, Short History of the Weimar Republic, 43.
26
27
90
�and controls her. Lighting is also an important tool for film. The workers’ city is always
shown in shadow and Joh Fredersen’s office is shown in the light with sunlight shining
through the windows. These examples of light show how desolate and depressing it is in
the workers’ city and the light in Joh Fredersen’s office shows that he is greater than the
workers because he is living in a land of brightness and in essence, happiness.
After the regime change that came with Germany’s defeat in World War One,
new fears and anxieties arose amongst the people in Germany. These fears came out of
the idea that Germany had been emasculated by its loss during the war and the efforts to
bring Germany’s former glory back were being hindered by specific groups such as Jews,
the working class, and women. The Germans felt that their power and authority were
being undermined and taken over by these groups and society and culture reflected these
anxieties. The cinema during the Weimar period exploded with films that represented the
anxieties that were rampant in Weimar society. German Expressionism rose out of this
changing society and it gave film directors the opportunity to use light and shadow to
express how they felt about society. With German Expressionism, directors were able to
make film into an art form, as Fritz Lang says “I may boast to have been one of those
among the passionate pioneers for the development of film who fought most fiercely for
the claim that film is called upon to develop itself from a vapid entertainment industry
into an artwork.”29 Films like Fritz Lang’s 1927 science-fiction film Metropolis captured
the themes of German Expressionism and Weimar society. Fritz Lang used the city in
Metropolis as a microcosm of Germany during the Weimar period and revealed the fears
and anxieties that were prevalent in society through hidden themes, camera angles and
lighting techniques.
Works Cited
Bergvall, Ake. “Apocalyptic Imagery in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.” Literature-Film
Quarterly, no. 4 (2012): 246–57.
Brook, Vincent. Driven to Darkness: Jewish Emigre Directors and the Rise of Film Noir.
New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2009.
Cousins, Mark. The Story of Film. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2004.
Richard McCormick and Alison Guenther-Pal, German Library: German Essays on
Film (New York: Continuum International Publishing, 2010), 61.
29
91
�Hales, Barbara. “Dancer in the Dark: Hypnosis, Trance-Dancing, and Weimar’s Fear of
the New Woman.” Monatshefte 102, no. 4 (Winter 2010): 534–49.
———. “Projecting Trauma: The Femme Fatale in Weimar and Hollywood Film Noir.”
Women in German Yearbook, no. 23 (December 2007): 224–43.
Halper, Thomas, and Douglas Muzzio. “The Republic in the Metropolis.” Journal of
Popular Culture 44, no. 3 (June 2011): 473–88. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00844.x.
Huyssen, Andreas. “The Vamp and the Machine: Technology and Sexuality in Fritz
Lang’s Metropolis.” New German Critique, no. 24/25 (Fall81/Winter82 1981): 221–37.
Leigh, Mary K., and Kevin K. Durand. Marxism and the Movies: Critical Essays on
Class Struggle in the Cinema. McFarland, 2013.
McCormick, Richard, and Alison Guenther-Pal. German Library: German Essays on
Film. New York: Continuum International Publishing, 2010.
McCormick, Richard P. “From ‘Caligari’ to Dietrich: Sexual, Social, and Cinematic
Discourses in Weimar Film.” Signs 18, no. 3 (Spring 1993): 640–68.
Storer, Colin. Short History of the Weimar Republic. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2013.
Ward, Janet. Weimar Surfaces: Urban Visual Culture in 1920s Germany. California:
University of California Press, 2001.
92
�Even the Grass: Food in Half of a Yellow Sun
Lisa Condemi (Film and Media Studies)1
Food is something most readers take for granted, and so is peace. The surreal
horror of war is not something most readers have experienced first-hand—casualty
counts are abstract and devastation is hard to quantify, so in Half of a Yellow Sun,
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie makes the tragedy of war imaginable by wrapping it in the
context of day-to-day life. Adichie's careful references to food and drink throughout her
novel reflect the long-term effects of colonialism on the Biafran people of Nigeria.
Adichie uses food and drink to call attention to key differences between certain
characters. As soon as the novel begins, the characters and their relationships with certain
foods illustrate the cultural variations between them. First, food is used to distinguish the
lives of the middle-class Igbo people from those of the upper-class. When Ugwu begins
working for Odenigbo, he is accustomed to eating his mother's “watery soup” and
dividing strips of dried fish among his siblings and himself (8-9). His entrance into
Odenigbo's comparatively luxurious lifestyle is summarized by his spotting of “a roasted
shimmering chicken” on the “topmost” shelf of the fridge, introducing meat as an
indicator of status in Igbo society (6). For Ugwu, food is undeniably linked to prosperity.
He fantasizes about winning his cousin Nnesinachi over with chicken wings before she
moves to the North, where “a fortune [is] to be made” and she could be won over by a
“pot-bellied trader” who would “bring palm wine to her father.” Descriptors like “potbellied” remind the reader that eating well in Nigeria is evidence of an individual's wealth
and status (9-10).
Although Western characters like Richard would like to generalize about the
Igbo people, Ugwu's relationship with food reflects his spirituality in a way that
Odenigbo's does not. When Ugwu irons Odenigbo's sock, he searches for the herb arigbe
to cook in his master's soup. Ugwu believes this local herb has the power to “[soften] a
man's heart” (18). Ugwu's cooking is often influenced by his spiritual beliefs, as is typical
of middle-class Igbo in this novel, whereas Odenigbo, having received a formal Western
education, is removed from the mysticism of Igbo culture, and he dismisses Ugwu's Igbo
superstitions. Odenigbo's detachment from middle-class Igbo culture is fully on display
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley for EN111:World Literature.
93
�when he visits Ugwu's village and refuses a local pineapple because they are “too acidic”
and “burn [his] mouth” (113). This is the first of several instances in which a burning
sensation in a character's mouth suggests the inability or relucatance to fit into a certain
culture. After living with Odenigbo for some time and growing used to the food that once
seemed like the height of luxury, Ugwu finds that his “mother's food [is] unpalatable”
(154). Anulika sees the influence in her brother and tells him, “You have forgotten where
you come from, and now you have become so foolish you think you are a Big Man”
(154). Her words remind the reader that the contrasting lifestyles and diets of the
different Igbo classes were caused by Western colonization.
Adichie also uses food to compare characters of Nigerian and English heritage.
Although Nigeria becomes independent in 1960, the impact of England's presence is not
so readily left behind. Harrison's role as Richard's servant is the personification of
Western influence on the Igbo people. Harrison is perhaps an accelerated version of the
man Anulika sees Ugwu becoming. He is desperate to impress Richard with his
knowledge of English cuisine (91) and believes that “the food of white people makes you
healthy,” unlike the “nonsense that our people eat” (262). The imbalance of power
between the colonizers and the colonized leads Harrison to idealize Western culture and
dismiss that of his own people. Harrison thus serves as a foil to Richard, who would do
anything to fit into Igbo society but fails to see how his privilege as an Englishman
prevents him from being truly Biafran. Richard often tries to pass as Biafran, but certain
cultural indicators allow the other characters to see through his attempts. For example,
when Ugwu clears Odenigbo's guests' plates, he notes that every guest has chewed their
chicken bones, with the exception of Richard. Adichie includes these small cues to
indicate how Richard, though admiring of the Igbo people, is an Englishman at heart.
Richard's love for Igbo culture is on display when he eats Ugwu's pepper soup,
pretending to like it more than he does, just to earn the approval of Odenigbo's guests
(137). Later his efforts backfire; Okeoma criticizes his patronizing fascination of the
Igbo-Ukwu roped pots and the pepper soup burns Richard's tongue. While Richard may
enjoy the culture of the Igbo people, Odenigbo and his friends see how he also
condescends to it, with statements like “It's quite incredible that these people... perfected
the complicated art...” (Italics mine, 141). Richard is angered by Okeoma's implication
that he is racist, and he tries to justify his place in Igbo society to himself, buying
groundnuts from a hawker in the traditional Igbo way. Richard does not actually want the
nuts, but is instead purchasing a facsimile of Igbo culture. Eating the “shriveled” nuts, he
thinks of the “crumpled pages” of his manuscript—a story that he cannot write, does not
94
�have the tools to write, but desperately wants to be able to write, a representation for his
desire to be Igbo (143). While Richard's intentions are usually good, his Western
background comes with a blanket of ignorance regarding Nigeria. This ignorance extends
throughout the novel. Later, when Biafra is at war and her people starving, a “plump”
American journalist stares in horror at children roasting rats over a fire, and another
American journalist says, “Niggers are never choosy about what they eat” (463). These
two journalists represent the typical American attitude towards the Biafran War. They are
there to make profit off of pictures of children with kwashiorkor—a disease from which a
child may recover “if it is given adequate and timely medical care” (Konczacki 434). All
of this while eating chocolate bars and saying “I wish I could do more” (Adichie 464).
Adichie also uses food and drink to foreshadow events that occur later in the
novel. While Arize and Olanna cook together, Arize marvels at Olanna's ability to put off
getting married. This is something that she can only afford because of her Western
education. For uneducated Arize, the only way she can secure a living for herself is to get
married and have children. She then “[removes] a translucently pale egg from inside the
chicken,” Adichie's nod to her impending pregnancy, which is ended prematurely upon
her eventual presumed rape and murder. The issue of starvation during the war is
foreshadowed many times in the novel. When Ugwu and Olanna are first getting to know
each other, they see a lizard and Ugwu tells her “Don't kill it!” because if she does, she
will get a stomachache (60). Later in the novel, the children of Biafra are suffering from
kwashiorkor, which distends the stomach, and they resort to eating lizards to survive. The
imminent loss of food is implied heavily when Olanna sees a mother carrying her dead
child's head in a calabash, or hollowed gourd (188). Where there once was food, death
now presides, in particular the death of the children. Finally, when Ojukwu appears at the
administration block, the crowd chants, “give us guns!” Ojukwu says in reply, “Even the
grass will fight for Biafra” (215). He does not know how true his statement is; the
Biafrans do not fight a war with guns. Instead, starvation becomes their biggest enemy
and cultivating the land they live on become their only means of defense.
Once Olanna and Odenigbo are displaced, food becomes an indicator of how
heavily the war is affecting the Igbo people. At Odenigbo's house in Abba, they have
mango and kola nut trees, and chickens in the yard, all of which will seem like luxuries
just a few months in the future, but Olanna thinks only of what she lost when they left
Nsukka: “her books... her clothes... her wigs... the television” (231). The little food they
have serves only to remind her of how they lived before the war took Nsukka. Olanna
attempts to maintain a semblance of normalcy, apologizing for their lack of meat and
95
�asking Okeoma to “remove [his] grenade while [they] eat” (406). Everyone is affected
and few have extra food, but still Olanna clings to Igbo social customs, which are rapidly
disintegrating as the war enters homes. Thus food itself becomes a weapon in the war,
with vandals poisoning relief milk meant for infants with kwashiorkor (426). Adichie
reminds the reader just how far Olanna and Odenigbo's quality of life has fallen when
Olanna visits Professor Ezeka to beg for a new placement. Mrs. Ezeka repeatedly offers
her brandy, cake, and lunch but Olanna feels detached from the luxury, describing their
house as “surreal” (429). Mrs. Ezeka can't believe what the war has “reduced” them to, as
she stares at her full furnished bunker. Sentences later, Olanna comforts Baby who is
crying over Adanna's mother cooking and eating Adanna's pet dog Bingo (430).
The stark contrast between those affected by the war and those protected by
their Western associations is portrayed again and again through the appearance of food.
In times of war, food is power and Kainene is incensed when she discovers Father Marcel
has been giving her hard-earned relief food to girls who will have sex with him (499).
She finds his taking advantage disgusting, and the exploitation of a people in exchange
for their own natural resources is meant to remind the reader of colonialism on a whole.
Ugwu experiences the other side of this power dichotomy when he is conscripted into the
war. Initially, Ugwu is eager to join the win-the-war cause, and he focuses on not the
violence but on the rising sun on the soldier's arms (225). In “Recollections of Childhood
Experiences during the Nigerian Civil War,” fifty-two year old Ocha recalls that despite
the violence, “[he] was excited at what was going on.... [he] was anxious to go and
defend [his] fatherland...” (Uchendu 397). But when Ugwu kills a man for the first time,
he feels in his pockets and finds “a cold hard kola nut and warm thick blood” (Adichie
454). The juxtaposition of an Igbo food, traditionally extended in welcome to guests, now
being described like a dead body shows how far Ugwu has traveled away from his
comfortable lifestyle with Odenigbo. Similarly, when Ugwu's fellow soldiers goad him
into raping the bar girl, they tell him, “The food is still fresh!” (458). Ugwu indulges. He
has lost all agency in his life, so he takes advantage of a helpless party, exercising control
in the only way he can.
In Half of a Yellow Sun, food symbolizes success in a country where success is
historically achieved at the expense of others. The effects of England's colonization of
Nigeria are shown through the characters' various relationships with food. In a novel
about a war in which starving to death was as imminent a threat as being bombed,
Adichie uses food to heighten the reader's understanding of the ironic horror of the
Biafran war, and show them exactly what is at stake. At the conclusion of the novel,
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�Odenigbo tells Olanna that “the war has ended but hunger has not...” (540). Kainene's
continued disappearance after she goes looking for food symbolizes the long and
uncertain journey away from starvation that lies ahead of the Igbo people.
Works Cited
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Half of a Yellow Sun. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.
Konczacki, Zbigniew A. "Infant Malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Problem in
Socio-Economic Development." Canadian Journal of African Studies 6.3 (1972): 43349.
Uchendu, Egodi. "Recollections of Childhood Experiences during the Nigerian Civil
War."Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 77.3 (2007): 393-418.
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�Ahead of Her Time: Feminism in the
Writings of Emilia Pardo Bazán
Caitlin McCarthy (Sociology)1
Many of the writings of Emilia Pardo Bazán, including the collection Torn Lace
and Other Stories, examine gender roles and the role of women in societies. When
exploring the feminist tendencies in the writings of Pardo Bazán, it is important to note
several things. First, it is important to look at the life history of the author, as it greatly
influenced her writings. Secondly, it is essential to note that in today’s world many
readers would surely dub Pardo Bazán a “feminist;” however, she was writing during an
entirely different era- an era long before feminism as a movement even existed. One
author states that this style of writing did not go under the radar of the public eye, saying
of Pardo Bazán:
in her own time she challenged the conventions of a society which sealed
women in a role, and her audacity often met with rebuke, scorn, grudging
tolerance sometimes agreement and praise. Clearly she did not go unnoticed or
disregarded, for irresponsive of personal or professional bias, her critics could
not dismiss her as boring or frivolous, and the thickest veil of sarcasm cannot
conceal the fact that they did not take her seriously. (Giles 356)
Pardo Bazán placed strong women at the center of many of her stories and as
such was able to look at relationships between men and women. Additionally Pardo
Bazán breaks down many traditionally constructed gender roles. Pardo Bazán criticizes
and challenges societal norms concerning gender largely through her writings on
marriage, sexuality, and submissiveness.
First and foremost, it is important to examine thoroughly the personal life of
Pardo Bazán. She was born in La Coruña, a small city of Galicia in northern Spain, in the
year 1851. Her father was recognized as a count, and as such she grew up in an elite
social circle. She inherited the title of countess when her father passed away, and
remained a woman of the upper class all her life, which, interestingly enough, greatly
contrasts with some of her writings concerning impoverished characters. The education
Written under the direction of Dr. Marilyn Kiss for the honors course SP213: Hispanic
Literature in English Translation.
1
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�of Pardo Bazán far surpassed the normal etiquette classes that many women of that era
took. Perhaps this is why one author admires her decision not to write under a male alias,
stating that this was “unlike many women writers of the nineteenth century” (Bauer 23).
At the age of fifteen, Pardo Bazán married a nineteen-year-old law student named Don
Jose Quiroga y Perez Deza. At the start of their relationship, Don Jose encouraged Pardo
Bazán’s education, even allowing her to complete some of his homework for law school.
However, as time went on he began discouraging her work. His disapproval came to a
climax when Pardo Bazán wrote a critique of Emile Zola, a French novelist. She received
much disapproval from a great deal of people, including her husband. In fact, “her
reading public tended to ignore her criticisms of Zola; it was scandalous that a woman
should be reading Zola at all, much less commenting explicitly on him” (Tolliver xii).
Jose Quiroga agreed with the general public and insisted his wife give up writing. Instead
of succumbing to her husband’s wishes, however, she separated from her husband and
moved her children and herself to her mother’s home and continued her life as a
successful novelist. This idea is important to note because in many of her stories she
includes stories of brides leaving their soon-to-be husbands, or defying them in general.
These themes certainly can be credited to her intelligence and ability to know that she
deserved more than what she was being allotted simply because she was a woman.
Additionally, her personal experiences must have played a role in her opinions on women
and their rights.
There are several styles of writing that are evident in the works of Pardo Bazán.
The first and perhaps most prominent was the naturalist style. Naturalism can be
described as:
a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and
detachment to its study of human beings. Unlike realism, which focuses on
literary technique, naturalism implies a philosophical position: for naturalistic
writers, since human beings are, in Emile Zola's phrase, ‘human beasts,’
characters can be studied through their relationships to their surroundings.
(Campbell)
This style of writing is especially prominent when Pardo Bazán writes about
feminist themes because many characters have strong female voices that can be credited
to the events in their interaction with their surroundings. For example, in the short story
entitled “Piña” in Torn Lace and Other Stories, the main female title character is a
monkey who submits to an abusive relationship with the male monkey, named Coco,
when he is placed in her cage about half way through the story. The story follows Piña
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�and Coco’s abusive relationship and Piña’s eventual depression. However, for the readers
to be more affected by the emotional development of the story, Pardo Bazán uses the first
half of the short story to describe Piña’s normal behavior within her surroundings. The
readers learn that she is rambunctious and adventurous, so much so that it gets her in
trouble, to the point where she must remain caged at all times. At this point, the readers
are introduced to Coco and see the development of an abusive relationship. Because
abuse and submissiveness were two somewhat taboo topics in the day of Pardo Bazán,
she was able to speak more freely on the subject by using animals as the main characters.
However the moral of the story, feminine freedom, would not be as powerful had readers
not gotten a thorough description of Piña’s normal behavior previous to her relationship
with Coco. Pardo Bazán’s naturalistic descriptions make the short story much more
powerful. However, one author remarks on the backlash Pardo Bazán received for this,
stating:
from the moment of Emilia Pardo Bazán’s entrance into the public sphere,
criticism of her work has been marked by gender considerations and
confusions…her writing has been subjected to a particular scrutiny. In her own
time, Pardo Bazán was attacked by contemporaries for endorsing naturalism
despite being a woman. Yet she was also identified by and with the most
respected male literary authors. (Colbert 427)
Additionally, Pardo Bazán incorporates realist themes in her writing. Realist
themes are somewhat similar to naturalist themes in that realism examines psychological
relationships with others. Realist literature styles focus primarily on honestly stating
things for how they are. This type of literature is important for the strong female voices
stating their true feelings. In the title story entitled “Torn Lace”, Pardo Bazán writes of a
bride who, “when the bishop of San Juan de Acre asked the bride if she took Bernardo for
her husband, she let loose- at the very foot of the alter- with a resounding and energetic
“No!” (Pardo Bazán 61). This story goes on to have realist descriptions of a bride when
her soon-to-be husband becomes dramatically angry when she tears the heirloom lace of
her gown. Instead of tolerating what surely would have been an abusive relationship, the
bride defies the societal norm and loudly states that she will not marry her fiancé. The
realist descriptions elevate the story to one that is empowering for women overall.
It is important not only to acknowledge the writing styles that Pardo Bazán
incorporates in her stories, but also to notice the overall themes of defiance of societal
norms in marriage and sexuality. Though not as evident in Torn Lace as in other writings
by Pardo Bazán, many critics examine her adoration for androgyny. One author states:
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�(Since) Pardo Bazán identifies androgyny as a favorite topic of the decadents,
we must recall that she has already limited the figure’s appeal by associating the
androgyny with the monstrous. Indeed, although Pardo Bazán uses androgyny in
her fiction to frustrate genre and gender expectations with indeterminacy…it is
certainly tempting to explain Pardo Bazán’s concern with an author androgyny
by referring to the Countess’s own literacy and personal battles. The tension in
the relationships of both decadence and androgyny with nature is ultimately an
asset for Pardo Bazán, as she shifts away from problematic androgyny and
toward a new image of the unprecedented. (DuPont 354)
Androgyny is certainly a criticism of gender roles because it rejects the necessity to
“choose” one gender. Pardo Bazán’s fascination with androgyny could be credited to her
attempt to deconstruct socially constructed gender norms, which is certainly present in
stories such as “Memorias de un Solterón” in which “gender confusion implicit in the
female author’s use of a male voice is highlighted by references to the sign system of
dress, to the unconventional garb of both narrator and the rebellious female protagonist,
Feíta Neira” (Bauer 24). Such use of cross-dressing as a tool for feminism had not been
seen in many previous writings, and Pardo Bazán uses it to further her pursuit for gender
equality.
Somewhat related to androgyny is the importance of fashion in the writings of
Pardo Bazán. Though some readers might think that fashion would not promote
feminism, Pardo Bazán uses it for much more. One author remarked on the evolving
changes in fashion reflecting the changing attitude of women, stating “during the final
decades of the nineteenth century-whether in Spain or in the rest of Europe- neither the
new fashion for women nor the feminist movement was viewed in a positive light. The
image of a modern woman wearing a divided skirt, smoking a cigarette, or riding a
bicycle was perceived as a menace to the traditional ideals of femininity and, as such,
was largely ridiculed by the Spanish periodicals” (Heneghan 64). However Pardo Bazán
challenges these societal norms not only by writing stories that explored the sexuality of
women that was not normally discussed, but also by using this new sexuality as a tool to
gain power. This idea is absolutely present in two stories in Torn Lace entitled “The
Look” and “The Key”. In both short stories, the leading women use the power of their
feminine sexuality as a means to gain an upper hand against their male counterparts. In
both stories the women are described as having a certain level of sexuality about them
that the men in the stories cannot seem to resist, and they use this to their advantage. This
method of storytelling was entertaining and somewhat over the top in its development of
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�plot and characters; however, Pardo Bazán was once again able to discuss a difficult
subject without directly addressing society as a whole.
Another interesting theme throughout Pardo Bazán’s various stories is her
tendency not to give women stereotypically “happy endings”. The first story that comes
to mind is once again “Champagne”. One of the last lines of the story is when the
protagonist remarks, “but I think that if all women spoke their minds-as I did because of
the champagne-a lot of them would be worse off than me” (Pardo Bazán 74). This line is
interesting because it seems to be alluding to the prostitute’s acknowledgement of a
certain level of being content with her life. Though this line may come off as somewhat
of a warning to other women not to speak their mind, in her last few lines the prostitute
remarks to her lover for the night, “come on, give me more champagne. Now I can drink
whatever I want. My lips have no more secrets to let out” (Pardo Bazán 74). The
combination of these two lines seems to assert that though the prostitute had a much
different life than perhaps what she was anticipating; she is free.
One of the only stories that seemed to contrast the fiercely prominent theme of
feminism and freedom was “Sister Aparicion”. This story follows a nun whose eyes
could “never be forgotten” (Pardo Bazán 44). Throughout the development of the story, it
is revealed that before the nun joined the convent, she was known as Irene and had a deep
love for a man named Camargo. However, once she finally thinks she has found her
happiness and given in to having sexual relations with him, he embarrasses her in front of
all of his friends and she runs off to the convent, ashamed of herself. This story was one
that seemed to stand out from the rest of the Torn Lace stories because it seemed quite
the opposite of feminist. Irene not only depended on a man to find her happiness, but also
succumbed to his ongoing advances toward her and finally was so embarrassed she felt
the need to run away to a convent and forever be seen weeping, perhaps as a form of selfdeclared penance. The only feminist tone there is that of the narrator, who only in the
finale of the story is revealed to be a woman. However, perhaps it asserts the idea that
being submissive to a man will only result in personal embarrassment and shame, rather
than the freedom of “Champagne”. One author identifies this idea of freedom and
happiness in Pardo Bazán’s writings as well, stating that readers “should regard Pardo
Bazán’s feminism as a metaphor for women in transition to full personhood and as such a
means rather than an end” (Giles 366). This idea seems to be a key one to understand,
and could be attributed to Pardo Bazán’s life choices as well. Rather than the “happy
ending” defined by women finding the man with whom they will live for the rest of their
lives, the real happiness is in finding the courage to stand up for themselves and their
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�own happiness. This is a bold perspective in contrast to the Victorian stories that
preceded Pardo Bazán’s writing. It seems to be a call to action for women to stop settling,
and not be afraid of being alone-as Pardo Bazán was after she separated from her
husband. This is also important to note because many people even in today’s world have
a false belief that feminism is composed of women whose purpose is to insult and
degrade men, when in actuality it is mostly a movement that empowers women not to feel
the necessity of having a male present in their life to make it worth living.
In addition to this dismissal of a need for a male presence, the writings of Emilia
Pardo Bazán are also taken seriously for the manner in which she writes from a male
perspective. One author states this added to her credibility, and that she “stands out
among nineteenth century Spanish realist writers for the consistency with which she
writes through a fully developed persona of the opposite sex, a fact perhaps too easily
explained by the possibility that she wanted to avoid writing what George Elliot called
‘silly novels by women novelists’ and instead empowered her fiction with the greater
degree of seriousness typically attributed to the male voice” (Bauer 25). Pardo Bazán is
able accurately to represent both male and female voices as well as to identify the societal
problems associated with both. Additionally one author remarks that the use of the male
narratives makes her stories more powerful, stating:
the use of the male narrative voices in the vast majority of the Countess’s short
narrative production is a characteristic of her work that needs to be more closely
studied. It is due to the use of male narrators in many of her tales that the reader
is generally given very little direct access to the female characters’ thoughts and
experiences. At first glance this may appear to be an unexpected finding, since
we know from Pardo Bazán’s non-fictional writings that she fully believed in
the rights of women to be recognized as autonomous subjects. This technique,
however, is not discordant with the Countess’ feminist beliefs because there are
often other nuances in the narrative structure of the tales that subtly manipulate
the readers’ interpretation of the story. The benefit of using a male narratorial
voice is the credibility that it lends to the text simply because it is what a
nineteenth century reader expected since most texts written during this time
period used male narrators. (Walter 10)
For many of the stories of Torn Lace, the narrator’s perspective sets the tone of the tale.
Though for some of the stories the narrator remains nameless, it is assumed that a man is
telling the story, with the exception of “Sister Aparacion.” However despite this, Pardo
Bazán is able correctly to identify the emotions of women in these stories so that readers
103
�are able to connect to both the narrator, who may or may not be a woman, as well as the
women in the story.
Emilia Pardo Bazán is regarded as a powerful woman and author in today’s
literary world who largely influenced other women to have the same amount of courage
and fearlessness when writing their novels as well. In almost all of her stories, she makes
observations about the lives of women and their difficulty in moving outside of their
gender role. However, by giving the various characters of her stories powerful voices and
purpose, she was able to put them in situations where they had power. Being a smart and
well-educated woman, she knew she would receive backlash from the public; however,
rather than writing under a male name or not writing at all, Pardo Bazán incorporates
stories that are somewhat fantastic in their plot development, and simultaneously have
relatable male and female characters. Because of this, readers are able directly to parallel
her writings to their lives and see the clear critiques she is making of the treatment of
women of her time. She challenges the ideas of marriage, sexuality, and submissiveness
in relationships and how, above all, happiness and freedom should be valued. Emilia
Pardo Bazán was a woman far beyond her years in wisdom, and she serves as an
inspiration for readers even in today’s world.
Works Cited
Bauer, Beth. “Narrative Cross-Dressing: Emilia Pardo Bazan in Memorias de un
solterón.” Hispania 77.1 (1994): 23-30. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature. “Literary Movements.” Dept.
of English, Washington State University. 04 July 2010. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Colbert, Maria. “Rules of Gender, Reserve, and Resolution in Pardo Bazan's Insolacion.”
Hispanic Review 77.4 (2009): 427-48. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
DuPont, Denise. “Decadence, Women Writers, and Literary History in Emilia Pardo
Bazan's Late Criticism.” MLN 117.2 (2002): 343-64. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 23 Apr.
2015.
Giles, Mary. “Feminism and the Feminine in Emilia Pardo Bazan's Novels.” Hispania
63.2 (1980): 356-67. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
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�Heneghan, Dorota. “Fashion and Femininity in Emilia Pardo Bazan's Insolacion.”
Hispanic Review 80.1 (2012): 63-84. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Pardo Bazán, Emilia. Torn Lace and Other Stories Trans. Maria Cristina Urruela. Intro.
Joyce Tolliver. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1996. Print.
Walter, Susan. “The Use of Narrative Frames in Four Tales by Emilia Pardo Bazan.”
Hispania 90.1 (2007): 10-20. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
105
�Re-writing Myth, Exploring Gender, and Challenging
Misogynist Narratives in Christine de Pizan’s Writings
Arijeta Lajka (English)1
Christine de Pizan was an astonishing figure, to the extent that she was a woman
writer exploiting masculine “myths” and challenging standard gender roles in medieval
France. Christine insisted that women must be educated, and was persistent in defending
their morals and intelligence. While Christine was by no means today’s version of a
radical feminist, she did actively question the misogyny present in her medieval society,
and in classical literature. Literary works written by men such as Ovid, Boccaccio, and
Chaucer present the typical misogynist narrative that was prevalent in medieval society.
Christine skillfully followed their writing techniques and reworked their own stories so
she could paint a more favorable image of women. Although she was a woman writer,
she was not entirely marginalized by her society since she was part of the aristocracy.
Christine does challenge misogynist ideals, especially in the very beginning of her works
when she notes that women can be just as moral and intelligent as men, but she does not
necessarily question woman’s place in society. In some cases, Christine reinforces the
idea that women should be “self-sacrificing” and even advocates that women accept the
conditions of their marriages, even if their husbands are brutal, for they will be rewarded
in the afterlife. Christine’s writings are heavily entwined with Christian ideologies
throughout. A common comparison Christine makes is associating woman to the Church,
implying that nurturing female attributes resemble the Church. In this essay, I plan to
focus on the concept of feminism in the Middle Ages and closely examine how
Christine’s writings fit a feminist framework since she bended gender boundaries and
reworked popular misogynist texts that initially sought to silence her sex. Ultimately,
Christine’s writings created a space that embraced the accomplishments of women—a
space that called for individuality and empowered women to defend themselves against
the tales that have demonized them.
Some modern feminists are cautious about claiming Christine since she does not
call for a change in woman’s position. It is important, though, to note that Christine was
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Anne Schotter and Dr. Steven Thomas for EN 425/EN
400 in the Senior Learning Community in English.
106
�writing within medieval cultural boundaries. Critic Rosalind Brown-Grant argues that
“such judgments tell us more about what modern feminists might wish Christine to have
achieved, as opposed to what she herself sought to achieve in her campaign to champion
the cause of women” (2). Christine, however, is explicit in her attempt to rework
literature that shames her sex and ultimately create an opportunity for attitudes toward
women to transform. Useful here is Helene Cixous’ article “The Laugh of the Medusa,”
where she states that women should “write women” because they have been oppressed by
patriarchal language, a view at some odds from Christine’s. Cixous argues that if women
write women, they will be reconnected with their bodies, which the masculine literary
tradition has denied them. Christine’s works, however, bend boundaries between the
sexes since she sees “authorship as masculine performance” (Desmond, Christine de
Pizan and the Categories of Difference, 195). Cixous' argument is not particularly helpful
for this aspect since she creates simplistic binaries for each sex. Cixous develops a
narrow interpretation of the concept of woman. Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble is more
useful in examining Christine’s treatment of sex because she argues that universal
concept of “woman” is problematic. Butler argues that gender is rather performative, and
socially constructed over time: “gender proves to be performative — that is, constituting
the identity it is purported to be. In this sense, gender is always a doing, though not a
doing by a subject who might be said to preexist the deed” (33). This also proves to be a
persistent theme in Christine’s writings. I will explore each of these feminist theorists
later in this essay. First, I will uncover Christine’s reasoning for taking on a project in
which she reworked well-known works of literature to form a series of writings that
celebrate women rather than shame them.
Christine’s personal life had an immense impact on her writings. Christine was a
prominent writer in France during her time, writing between 1399 and 1430. After
Christine’s husband died, she earned an income with her writing. in order to support
herself and her family. Many scholars consider Christine to be the first major woman
writer to ever have done so. Christine raised some important questions regarding the
representations of her sex during her time. She helped “foster the first major literary
debate in French history and inaugurated what Renaissance writers and subsequent
historians would call the ‘debate about women’” (Krueger 594). Christine’s The Book of
the City of Ladies describes three allegorical ladies Reason, Rectitude, and Justice, who
come to Christine in a dream and give her the authority to construct her own city
comprised solely of women. Each of the women is able to rely on the other, which
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�enforces the sense of community amongst women. Her first step in establishing
legitimacy is reimagining the antifeminist literature that surrounds her.
Christine states in The Book of the City of Ladies that her inspiration for writing
the work is that while reading 13th century compilations, she could not find a chapter that
did not criticize women and highlight their immorality. In each of the works written by
male authors, “the behavior of women is inclined to and full of every vice” (4). Christine
represents herself in the work so that readers can also experience the self-hatred she felt
while reading these antifeminist stories. Because male authors have represented women
negatively, Christine wishes that she had been born a man instead of a woman: “Alas,
God, why did You not let me be born in the world as a man, so that all my inclinations
would be to serve You better, and so that I would not stray in anything and would be as
perfect as a man is said to be?” (5). After the three women come to Christine in a dream,
encouraging her to develop a solid ground where she could defend women, Christine
draws attention to the works that are filled with misogyny. She wants to counter the
narrative on women that has been fostered in literature for so many centuries. Christine’s
main strategy is to reveal that women are not completely vile, which is why she must
rewrite these women. Since the misogynist tradition has been reinforced in literature, the
mystical figures appoint Christine the task of rewriting the destructive narrative and
building her own city of women:
Those ladies have been abandoned for so long, exposed like a field without a
surrounding hedge, without finding a champion to afford them an adequate
defense, notwithstanding those noble men who are required by order of law
to protect them, who by negligence and apathy have allowed them to be
mistreated…We three ladies whom you see here, moved by pity, have come to
you to announce a particular edifice built like a city wall, strongly constructed
and well founded, which has been predestined and established by our aid and
counsel for you to build, [A city] where no one will reside except all ladies of
fame and women worthy of praise, for the walls of the city will be closed to
those women who lack virtue…Thus, fair daughter, the prerogative among
women has been bestowed on you to establish and build the City of Ladies (10-11).
By encouraging Christine to build a city of women, the figures are emphasizing the
significance women have had on the development of communities. The mystical
manifestations present the key idea that women and men are equal to one another. The
names of the three figures are also extremely significant. Lady Reason is the one to
provide Christine with logic and to encourage her to pick up her pen and rewrite these
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�women. Without logic, Christine would not have the capability to question the wellknown male authors of her time. Justice is a Christian figure, representing the daughter of
God. Throughout Christine’s works, we see that she enforces Christian themes, which
were standard at the time period she was writing in. In addition, Justice is also a darker
entity who seeks to punish the men that have written negative portrayals of women. She
reveals the horrific fate of misogynists who lie about women. Rectitude is rather similar
to Reason. She tells Christine examples of virtuous women, convincing Christine to
channel her “great love of investigating the truth” (10). Lady Justice also tells Christine,
"I am in God and God is in me, and we are as one and the same" (14). Her claim that God
shares a close bond with women directly would have been a controversial statement in
Christine’s society. Christine eventually comes to the realization that she must adapt
these authors’ works to her own conditions.
While she would not have known her, Christine seems to echo Chaucer’s
fictional Wife of Baths when she states that had women written these works “they would
read quite differently, for well do women know the blame is wrong” (Desmond, Christine
De Pizan and the Categories of Difference, 73-74). According to Sheila Delany,
Christine mentions virtuous women that defy the misogynist generalizations in order to
“rewrite women good” (Delany 81). Christine ultimately adapts male-authored
mythological works concerning famous women, such as Ovid’s Metamorphoses and
Boccaccio’s De mulieribus claris, to fit in her own framework, as she writes of virtuous,
intelligent, and sincere women. Christine’s main goal is to establish the effect of the
existing social structure and signify woman’s active place (Kellogg 183). Christine does
not take on Ovid’s approach of shaming the sexes, however. Rather, she draws in
Christianity as a tool to solidify her argument that the sexes were made equal: “God
created the soul and placed wholly similar souls, equally good and noble in the feminine
and in the masculine bodies” (Pizan 23). Christine’s work is divided into three textual
levels of meaning: text (actual story) gloss (morals within the story) and the allegory
(Christian truth). In each of these levels, Christine reveals women in a more positive
light, than they had been in previous literary works.
Christine was extremely critical of Ovid, especially in her work Epistre au dieu
d’Amour. Epistre is an allegory where Cupid addresses women who claim that men were
mistreating and cultivating lies about them. Cupid’s final verdict is that these dishonest
men should be banished. Prior to announcing his final decision, Cupid mentions
examples where men lied to women and severely mistreated them. He mentions several
writers that are guilty of this practice, including Ovid and Jean de Meun. Although
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�Christine directly draws attention to Jean de Meun’s demeaning view of women, in the
Romance of the Rose, she notes that he “borrowed” his views from Ovid. Christine
claims that Ovid’s views present “perverse, poisonous doctrine” (Kellogg 181).
According to Cupid, because of Ovid’s immense “lust,” he took his feelings out against
women and “set out to slander them” (Desmond, Christine De Pizan and the Categories
of Difference, 182). Christine notes that Ovid’s Art of Love teaches men “how to trick
women into bestowing their favors on them…this book is badly named: it is rather a book
of the art of sheer deceit and dissimulation—that’s the name I give it” (182). Christine is
rather explicit about her disdain for Ovid’s representation of women, who are typically
portrayed as the objects of male desire and who are repeatedly punished.
In order to defy the misogynist narrative, Christine follows the Ovidian tradition
to refine the initial representation of women. Since Ovid’s work was well known in
medieval society, Christine is rewriting the women who have been established in literary
tradition, in order to show them in a more positive light. Both Ovid and Christine rewrite
the Greek myth of Arachne. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Arachne was a poor young girl
who challenged Athena, the goddess who invented the art of weaving, to a weaving
contest. During the contest, Arachne wove 21 pictures that captured the corruption of the
gods and goddesses: raping, cheating, and punishing humans. Arachne reveals that the
greatest perpetrator of all was Zeus. Athena was outraged, and eventually turned Arachne
into a spider. Feminists have analyzed the story of Arachne as representing the male
attempt to silence and ignore female artists over time. Men have committed the rapes and
have tried to silence the women who have sought to report sexual violence. In addition,
other critics have also pointed out that Athena is not really female, but rather masculine
since Zeus technically gave birth to her when she popped out of his head. Critic Patricia
K. Joplin says that Athena was “an enfleshed fantasy, a male fantasy” (Wisman 138). In
Christine’s version of Arachne in the Epistre au Dieu d’Amours, the story is only four
lines long. Christine acknowledges that the story of Arachne, is a fable—an false story.
By referring to Arachne’s story as a fable, she is already undermining Ovid.
Although Christine does not change Arachne’s original fate of being
transformed into a spider, she emphasizes that Arachne was punished for her
boastfulness, instead of exposing the gods’ cruelty. Moreover, it is important to note that
in Christine’s version, now that Arachne has been transformed into a spider, her
punishment is to spend the rest of her life spinning “work of no value” (Pizan, Brownlee,
and Blumenfeld-Kosinski 36). Prior to Arachne’s transformation, her works told
significant stories, and they were creative. With this detail, Christine is emphasizing that
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�the importance of female craft and artistry (36). Feminist theorists Helene Cixous and
Judith Butler would both approach this story in their own distinct manners.
Since Cixous divides man and woman into binary opposites, she would argue
that the original version of Arachne presents man’s attempt to silence woman, furthering
her oppression. If we consider Athena to be a man, since she popped out of Zeus’ head
and takes on masculine traits, Cixous would emphasize that the original story represents
the superiority men have over women. She believed that sex and gender discourses were
interchangeable, and that therefore Athena must really be a man. Thus, Cixous called on
women to write women so they could challenge masculine narratives. From Cixous'
perspective, she would emphasize that Christine is bringing “women to their senses and
to their meaning in history” (Cixous 875-876), ultimately showing women how men
have trampled on them in literature. Similar to Christine, Cixous also highlights that men
have typically denied women their subjectivity. Thus, Christine takes on the task of
establishing woman’s importance, especially since Ovid’s story seeks to punish Arachne
for revealing her craft. However, if we are applying Judith Butler’s theory to Arachne,
Butler would claim that Athena is a woman, and is instead taking on masculine traits.
Since Butler emphasizes that gender is performative, an individual can take on the traits
from either sex. Through performance, the individual can obtain the authority that is
projected through bodily characteristics. I will further explain this subject later in the
paper when discussing Christine’s complex view on gender. Christine also adapted other
Ovidian works, where she used Christianity to defend women.
In Othea, Christine reworks Ovid’s myth on Ceyx and Alcyone to emphasize
that women are moral, committed, and channel the saving grace of the Church. The tale is
a tragic story about King Ceyx and his wife Alcyone. King Ceyx dies at sea after
Alcyone begs him not to undertake in the voyage. In Ovid’s version, he does not give the
reader any details of Ceyx’s suffering in the storm. Ovid ultimately refrains from
discussing the human drama on the story. In Christine’s version, she directly places
Alcyone as the main focus on the story. She also details the human emotion, highlighting
Alcyone’s power and courage. Christine defends women in this myth when she points out
that Alycone’s feminine actions are similar to the Christian Church. In times of need,
individuals seek counsel in the Church. Women also take on the qualities of the church,
especially in times of need. According to critic Judith L. Kellogg in her article
“Transforming Ovid The Metamorphosis of Female Authority, Christine “associates the
idea of the Church with loving female actions rather than an inanimate object” (184).
Since the Catholic church held a significant position in Christine’s society, equating the
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�Church with women would have been controversial in a time where women were
scorned.
In Christine’s version of the myth, when her husband is killed in the storm,
Alcyone attempts to join him in order to share his tragic fate. Instead, when Alcyone
throws herself into the sea and dies, she and her husband, are transformed into birds.
Kellogg argues that this scene presents an example of Christian eternal salvation. Eternal
salvation “is only attained after death, and after a life of self-sacrifice, of loving another
more than oneself as Alycone has done. She, by her spirit of charity, thus becomes an
appropriate and satisfying emblem for the Church” (185). While Kellogg’s analysis
provides vital insight to Christine’s attempts to channel Christian ideologies in her work,
specifically when comparing women to the Church, I find it concerning that Kellogg does
not consider the implications this part of the story has for Christine’s feminist agenda.
Kellogg does not critically examine or explain Christine’s approach in placing Alcyone in
the typical “self-sacrificing” role for a woman. Throughout literature, women are
constantly expected to take on the self-sacrificing role for their husbands. I find that
Christine is merely reiterating a problematic narrative that has been repeated for
centuries. Kellogg ultimately does not challenge Christine’s spiritual approach to
feminism. Christine has also mentioned in her work that she longed to follow Alcyone’s
footsteps when her husband died: “I raised myself up like a mad woman. I climbed high
and would have plunged myself into the sea and came close to doing so. If someone
hadn’t helped me, I would have jumped. For never did Alcyone jump any sooner into the
seas where Ceyx, whom she had long loved, was lost to her than I would have fallen into
the sea” (186). Since Christine is following Ovid, the story must also involve some sort
of transformation. Thus, Christine becomes a man so that she is able to take on the
responsibility of supporting her family, and can rid herself of “typical” feminine feelings
of sorrow. Kellogg also mentions the reasoning for this change. Christine needed to take
on the male traits in order to thrive in the patriarchal society.
Some feminists are reluctant to claim Christine de Pizan as one of their own,
mostly because she did not challenge woman’s place in society. Although Christine is
critical of misogyny, she accepts woman’s suffering. According to Christine, women
must endure the abuses of men, along with the Church’s mistreatment of them. In the
City of Ladies, Lady Reason tells Christine that women must follow “the example of
suffering which God commands” (LeGates 108). Women who have husbands “who are
cruel, mean, and savage,” must be patient, for they will “acquire great merit for their
souls through the virtue of patience” (108). Marlene LeGates argues that while Christine
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�challenged misogyny, she did not necessarily challenge the structures that have oppressed
women: “Christine de Pizan draws back from any call of social change. Her claim for
spiritual equality entails nothing further” (109). Christine mostly attacks individual and
psychological misogyny. In these lines specifically, we can see that Christine is
extremely connected to the traditions of her medieval culture, and shows some reasons
why feminists have criticized her. However, by invoking Christian tradition, and
emphasizing women’s equality under spiritual beliefs, Christine can alter negative
attitudes toward women. Christine did in fact try to create a better image of women, and
change the oppressive narrative surrounding her sex. However, Christine was aware that
she had to channel masculine attributes in order to develop a platform where she could
defend women with her writing. Therefore, she did not have a restricted understanding of
gender.
Feminist theorists tend to disagree with one another especially, when defining
and applying the concept of “woman.” Christine asks in a debate concerning the poor
representation of women in the medieval French poem Roman de la Rose: “Who are
women? Who are they? Are they serpents, wolves, lions, dragons, monsters, or ravishing
devouring beasts and enemies to human nature that it is necessary to make an art of
deceiving them and capturing them” (Desmond, Christine de Pizan and the Categories of
Difference, 190). In her groundbreaking work, The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir asks
a similar question: “What is a woman?” Beauvoir herself even stated that Christine was
the first woman to “take up her pen in defense of her sex” (105). Early on, Beauvoir
claims her own embodiment when she states “I am.” While claiming her femininity,
Beauvoir also wants to uncover the reason for woman’s long-rooted oppression. She
highlights that woman is the other. According to Desmond’s work Reading Dido:
Gender, Textuality, and the Medieval Aeneid, Christine “does not achieve her authorial
identity in relation to the ‘the threatening Other.’ Instead, it is her identity as a woman—
and her culture’s identification of woman with the Other—that must be negotiated and
renegotiated in each of her texts” (196). Further, Christine must tamper with gender
expectations in order to establish authority in her writing. When we analyze the situation
of women, we have to consider the belief system they are subjected to and also the
individual situation each women is put into. We typically define feminism as the pursuit
of achieving legal and political equal rights for women, which is rather naive and
simplistic with respect to feminist theory.
Mainstream “feminists” today tend to critique other women who share a
different culture and experiences from them, which often leads to alienating them.
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�Generally, many assume that feminism is mostly concerned with obtaining “equal rights”
for women and have silenced women of low-income backgrounds, women of color, and
lesbians—mostly because they may share a different perspective. Mainstream feminists
would be quick to dismiss Christine, primarily because of her upbringing and
conservative viewpoints. In Christine’s defense, she was writing in a conservative
medieval culture in France where women were continuously demonized by society, and
especially in the misogynist literary tradition. The term “feminism” was not coined in
France until the 1880s, where it was linked to emancipating women (Krueger 590). The
concept of obtaining “equal rights” was nearly impossible during Christine’s time. Yet
she was still able to make a living from her writings, which was extremely rare for a
woman of her time. Cixous, within her narrow understanding of gender, called on women
to “write women” in the 1970s, stating that there were not enough women writers
challenging male-dominated narratives: “And why don’t you write? Write! Writing is for
you, you are for you; your body is yours, take it. I know why you haven’t written.
Because writing is at once too high, too great for you, it’s reserved for the great—-that is,
for great men; and it’s silly” (877). Contrary to Cixous’ assumptions, Roberta L.
Krueger’s article “Toward Feminism: Christine de Pizan, Female Advocacy, and
Women’s Textual Communities in the Late Middle Ages in Beyond,” says that if we
reconsider “our perspective to look for evidence of the promotion of women’s intellectual
activity, the defense of female moral equality, and the affirmation of women’s
contributions to their families and communities, then the record becomes far richer”
(591). Christine’s writings are certainly evidence of this phenomenon.
In her poststructuralist feminist text “The Laugh of the Medusa,” Cixous
attempts to connect women to writing, so they can be reunited with their bodies. Cixous
emphasizes that women should write about women: “Write your self. Your body must be
heard. Only then will the immense resources of the unconscious spring forth” (880). With
this claim, Cixous evokes a sense of eroticism, encouraging women to explore their
repressed bodies. In addition, according to Cixous, men have helped turn women against
one another, which is why women have to claim their bodies and should write. Instead,
women are expected to follow the classic narrative that women are dreamy, passive, and
sensitive. Within this narrative, we never really have a chance to explore women’s bodies
in literature. If women write women, they can help transform this representation and
liberate themselves in the process.
Throughout this article, we encounter a theme that women can change their
position in society through language. However, Cixous notes that language has also
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�contributed to women’s oppression. She argues that reinventing the masculine language
of writing “Écriture feminine,” will give woman her femininity, thus allowing her to
explore her sexuality. She states that writing is “typically masculine [and] a locus where
the repression of women [is] perpetuated over and over” (879). While there are obvious
disparities between Christine’s work and Cixous’ piece (which I will explain later in this
essay when we talk about the treatment of gender in Christine), what is important to note
is that both women emphasize writing women. Christine was part of the foundation for
women to begin writing women: she established self-authorization. Cixous' calling on
women to challenge patriarchal narratives is what Christine already did hundreds of years
before.
Like Christine, Cixous also reworks myth, particularly the story of Medusa.
While mythology has painted Medusa as a monstrous, deadly figure, Cixous emphasizes
that “You only have to look at the Medusa straight on to see her. And she's not deadly.
She's beautiful and she's laughing” (885). It was Christine who explicitly confronted the
misogyny of her time and wrote back to prominent male writers. Cixous defines what
writing is: “Writing is precisely the very possibility of change, the space that can serve as
a springboard for subversive thought, the precursory movement of a transformation of
social and cultural structures” (879). Christine’s writings created a space where debate
concerning women could flourish. In defying antifeminist narratives, Krueger professes
that Christine acts like a “lawyer refuting false charges with superior evidence….[she]
progressively constructs a defense of women’s intellectual and artistic capacities,
women’s constancy and resourcefulness, and their fortitude as rulers, wives, mothers, and
martyr saints” (595).
However, Christine and Cixous differ especially on perspectives concerning the
female body. Modern feminists could potentially argue that Christine’s Christian
approach to the female body is repressive, for she constrains herself within medieval
cultural boundaries. According to scholar Benjamin Semple, the female body in medieval
Christian culture was primarily viewed as “profane” in comparison to the male body
(164). However, Semple points out in Christine’s defense, that besides illuminating on
woman’s moral, intellectual, and political achievements, Christine emphasizes that “body
is given as a gift because it can be withheld, and that the body as a threat is only
considered threatening because the person who directs the body—the woman—has been
represented as divested of ethical capability” (183). In contrast, Cixous’ emphasis on the
body endorses sexual and economic exploitation of the female body. Along with there
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�different approaches to the female body, both Cixous and Christine have different
treatments of gender.
Christine appears to have a complex view of sex and gender. Christine’s earlier
work The Book of Fortune’s Transformation, showed that she found it difficult to define
her gender. In a work written the Book of The City of Ladies with her dream of the three
women, Christine questions her sex and wishes to be a man. According to Kellogg,
“Given the unsettling cultural signification attached to the female body, considered a
grotesque sign of woman’s base and irrational nature, it is not surprising that a male body
would become a necessary symbolic vehicle for admittance into the public, economically
driven world of patriarchal discourse” (Kellogg 188). Taking on male characteristics
offered Christine a chance to survive in the male-dominated public sphere.
To Christine, gender is not a limited and solidified category. There is space in
between the genders, and individuals can shift between the two, and absorb the
attributions of each side. Christine says that her upbringing as a woman severely limited
the opportunities she was able to explore. In The Book of Fortune’s Transformation, she
explains that Fortune changed her sex when she was 25 years old, after her husband died,
and that change was imperative so she could obtain the masculine qualities required in
order to survive: “Wearied by long crying, I remained, on one particular occasion,
completely overcome; as if unconscious…Then my mistress came to me, she who gives
joy to many, and she touched me all over my body…I felt myself completely
transformed” (Walters 100). Christine suddenly feels stronger and no longer feels her
grief: “I no longer remained in the lethargy of tears, which had been increasing my grief,
I found my heart strong and bold, which surprised me, but I felt that I had become a true
man; and I was amazed at this strange adventure” (100). The transformation emphasizes
that both man and woman share a soul and the quintessence of the human species
(Rosalind-Grant 120). Christine is expressing the notion of a universal human
perspective. Literary critic Earl Jeffery Richards notes that because of her
metamorphosis, Christine retained the memories of a woman, even after becoming a man,
which “literally embodies the human condition” (Richards 150). She carefully detaches
herself from the notion that sex and gender are interchangeable. Cixous was very firm on
completely separating man from woman, which makes her argument problematic to
gender studies. In her approach to feminism, Cixous divides the genders into two district
categories, male versus female, while also placing women into one universal category.
Butler, on the other hand, is uncomfortable with this aspect. She thinks that the notion
that women share the same qualities despite cross cultural differences and experiences, is
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�a destructive generalization, as is the universal concept of women. Her argument is
important in understanding Christine’s ambiguity surrounding gender. In addition, when
Christine challenges the biological relation to gender, she echoes Judith Butler’s take on
gender.
Judith Butler’s text Gender Trouble argues that performance is vital to
determining one’s gender. An individual can obtain authority of the other sex through
performance. Butler is uncomfortable with the simplistic gender binaries that Cixous has
set up in her argument. She argues that the universal concept of “woman” is problematic.
Gender is rather performative, and socially constructed over time. Individuals take on a
role and act out their gender. She emphasizes that one comes into gender through actions:
“gender proves to be performative — that is, constituting the identity it is purported to be.
In this sense, gender is always a doing, though not a doing by a subject who might be said
to preexist the deed” (Butler 33). Gender and sex should be viewed as two entirely
separate discourses. In addition, Butler finds the universal approach to the concept of
“woman” problematic. Christine explores her gender in a related way through her name
play. Christine points out to the readers that her name derives from the male figure
Christ. By doing this, Christine is forcing the reader to see her name as an allusion to
Christ. Ultimately, her hybrid name because of its universality, reinforces her ambiguous
view on gender (Walters 98).
Christine eventually comes to accept her sex in The Book of the City of Ladies,
when she encounters the three women, Reason, Rectitude, and Justice, and they inform
her of woman’s achievements throughout history. Lady Reason especially, who draws
out self-knowledge in Christine, points out that her loathing toward her sex mirrors the
process of fire trying gold:
Fair daughter, have you lost all sense? Have you forgotten that when fine gold is
tested in the furnace, it does not change or vary in strength but becomes purer
the more it is hammered and handled in different ways. Do you not know that
the best things are the most debated and the most discussed?…Come back to
yourself, recover your senses, and do not trouble yourself anymore over such
absurdities. For you know that any evil spoken of women so generally only
hurts those who say it, not women themselves (Pizan 6-8).
Christine overcomes the desire to be born a man. The three women eventually enforce in
Christine a sense of pride in the female body and female intellect. However, some aspects
of her masculine self follow her as she turns into her “natural self” in the City of Ladies.
Ultimately, Christine unveils her understanding of herself as a “woman,” whereby she
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�can write with male authority, while also addressing the issues surrounding women of her
time. Most importantly, she is critical of male authority and antifeminist slurs. She writes
stories of powerful women such as the Joan of Arc. Ultimately, the trend of creating
heroic women persisted in her writing (Pizan, Brownlee, and Blumenfeld-Kosinski 256257). Christine calls on women to search for their female ancestors, and specifically
focuses on powerful women. Although Christine has a primarily Eurocentric worldview,
which is not surprising considering the time that she was writing in, she expresses the
notion that we should explore the stories of women.
Feminist thought can be complex, especially Western feminism that often
groups women into one vague category, while marginalizing women of non-Western
cultures and places. While Cixous makes an important argument that women should write
themselves, considering the fact that women have been subjected to a patriarchal
framework, other feminists note that we should be careful when applying the concept of
woman. Butler highlights that categorizing women can be destructive, since sex and
gender are different concepts and involve social constructions. Feminism is far more
complicated and involves many more approaches than focusing on “equal rights.” Each
of these theorists clearly emphasizes that the traditional idea of “woman” does not mean
the same thing to every woman. To Christine, woman was not a narrow category that was
solely comprised of feminine attributes. Channeling male characteristics ultimately
helped Christine survive and support herself, especially after her husband died. Now that
Christine has lived as both a man and a woman, she is able to carefully approach
misogynist literature with a critical eye.
Medieval society viewed woman as less intelligent and less ethical than man,
and perceived her body as profane. Because of these views, Christine had developed the
desire to become a man. In her fiction, Fortune visited Christine and transformed her into
a man, so that she could obtain masculine authority in a patriarchal society, and could
support herself and her family. Christine’s ambiguous views on gender illustrate Butler’s
claims that gender is performative. People’s actions come to define gender, rather than
their biological makeup. While Cixous’ theory is somewhat useful in understanding
Christine in terms of women writing women, her understanding of gender is too restricted
for understanding Christine, who claims she was able to take on the traits of each gender.
Most importantly, Christine is able to look beyond gender boundaries, and emphasize the
shared human experience in order “to persuade the male reader to look beyond the
identification of woman with the body and man with the soul, and to attach greater
significance to what unites the two sexes—their higher human faculties such as
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�rationality—than to what distinguishes them” (Brown-Grant 216). Moreover, Christine
eventually overcomes her desire to become a man, when the three women visit her and
encourage her “to return as a woman and be heard” (Desmond, Christine De Pizan and
the Categories of Difference, 189). Christine ultimately transforms into her “natural self.”
However, this natural self now contains both masculine and feminine experiences since
she claims to have lived as both. With the support of the three women, Christine is able to
establish feminine authority in her society, while also defying the male assumptions
about women that are presented in Ovid and other similar works. Although Christine is
not critical of woman’s inferior position in her society, she attempts to change society’s
attitude toward women. By establishing herself in the City of Ladies, Christine invites the
female reader to challenge antifeminist narratives, while emphasizing that woman can
obtain moral virtue, despite what the misogynist narrative may imply. She is able to
attack misogyny directly and rewrite women as virtuous and intelligent figures. Christine
unveils the “poisonous doctrine” in antifeminist texts that encourages women to refute
the sexist narratives that have been written. By establishing a female voice that defends
her sex. Christine’s writings are just as relevant today in understanding feminist theory
and its progression as they were when she wrote.
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�
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Wagner College Forum for Undergraduate Research
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Volume 14, Number 1
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Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference -- Abstracts -- 3 The Effects of Diethyl Phthalate on the Development of Drosophila melanogaster / Johnathan Hinrichs and Dr. Heather Cook -- 3 Search for Safe Underground Water Through Observation of Tubewell Concrete Platform Color in Southern Bangladesh / Sanjita Dham, Sandra Minchala, and Dr. Mohammad Alauddin -- 4 The Search for MET or a MET Homolog Expressed by Dugesia dorotocephala / Najia Malik and Vincent Vitulli -- 5 The Effect of Five Plant Extracts on Serratia marcescens for Medicinal Significance / Meghan Morrissey -- 6 Detection of a Listeria monocytogenes Infection in the Zebrafish Central Nervous System; Development of a Squashed Tissue Preparation for Immunofluorescence Labeling / Brandon Kocurek, Anthony Spano, and Dr. Christopher Corbo -- 6 Identification of Listeria monocytogenes in Adult Zebrafish Using the Gram Stain Reaction / Anthony Spano, Brandon Kocurek, and Dr. Christopher Corbo -- 7 Isolation of Bacteriophages from Sewage that Infect Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Jacob Cohen -- 8 Exposure to Hexavalent Chromium from Tannery Wastes and Health Risks for Urban Population in Bangladesh / Sanjita Dham, Sandra Minchala, Nadia Asfar , Sarah Alauddin, Dr. Mohammad Alauddin, Sanjit Shaha, W. Hoque, and Russell Gerads -- 8 Presenting the Information Value of Different Resolutions in Digital Brain Images Using an Embryonic Rat Brain Section / Julie Roggeveen, Gabrielle Langella, and Dr. Zoltan Fulop -- 9 Differences in Photophysiology of Adult Female Daphnia magna Obtained from Different Biological Supply Houses / Yan-Yee Cheung, Dr. Donald Stearns, and Dr. Jonathan Blaize -- 10 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Human IL10 Promoter Affect Gene Expression in Macrophages / Alexa Viniotis, Adam Leibold , Dr. Pali Shah, Dr. Djeneba Dabitao, and Dr. Jay Bream -- 10 Molecular Dynamics Simulations to Understand the Role of Human Cystatin C in Alzheimer’s Disease / Joseph Persichetti and Dr. Arunkumar Sharma -- 11 The Effect of Marinades on Salmonella typhi on Raw Chicken / Arielle Dorfman -- 11 Isolation of Bacteriophage for Listeria monocytogenes / Brandon Hart, Anthony Gonzalez, Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt, and Dr. Christopher Corbo -- 12 Mathematics Instruction in a Special Education Setting / Daniela DiMeglio -- 12 The Effect of Different Alcohol Concentrations on Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Species Recognition Mayar Mussa -- 13 Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Planarian Micrographs in Search of Human Proto-Oncogene Orthologs / Michael Cataldo and James Ducey -- 14 Ultrastructural Analysis of the Zebrafish Visual System Infected with Listeria monocytogenes / Timothy Mendez and Dr. Christopher Corbo -- 14 The Effect of Salinity Levels on Activity and Respiration of the Mummichog Fundulus Heteroclitus / Cody Carpenter and Dr. Donald Stearns -- 15 Effects of Olfactory Stimulation on Captive Amur Leopards / Maria Papaioannou, Marc Valitutto, Dr. Brian Palestis, and Dr. Christopher Corbo -- Section II: The Natural Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 19 The Effect of Five Plant Extracts on Serratia marcescens for Medicinal Significance / Meghan Marie Morrissey -- Section III: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 45 Cosmopolitanism and Global Justice / Ian Bertschausen -- Section IV: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 67 The Preservation of van Gogh / Casey Schweiger -- 77 Alien to Ourselves: Finding Humanity in Mars Attacks! / Abigail Creem -- 83 Representation of Society through Film in Weimar Germany: Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) / Jessica Catanzaro -- 93 Even the Grass: Food in Half of a Yellow Sun / Lisa Condemi -- 98 Ahead of Her Time: Feminism in the Writings of Emilia Pardo Bazán / Caitlin McCarthy -- 106 Re-writing Myth, Exploring Gender, and Challenging Misogynist Narratives in Christine de Pizan’s Writings / Arijeta Lajka
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is typically subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural
Sciences, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these sections are
limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific investigations (experimental,
theoretical and empirical). The third section is reserved for speculative papers based on
the scholarly review and critical examination of previous works.
Read on and enjoy!
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Miles Groth, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Annemarie Dowling-Castronovo, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I: The Natural Sciences
Full Length Papers
3
Antimicrobial Properties of Clove Oil and Turmeric against
Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli
Joseph V. Agro
Section II: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
31 Relationship between Traditional Parenting Styles, and Helicopter Parenting
Kendra Best
Section III: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
41 From the Island to New York City: Puerto Rican Educational
Achievement and Policy Recommendations
Katie Murphy
52 Jewish Artists in Nazi Germany: Charlotte Salomon
Jessica Catanzaro
60 “Wind of Her Misfortune”: The Role of Nature in Innocent Erendira
Nicole Bianco
65 An Analysis of the Influence of Christianity and French Naturalism on
Vincent Van Gogh’s Relationships with and Depictions of Women
Sandra G. Minchala
74 Role, Representation and Symbolism of Objects in The Back Room
Karina Cusumano
83 In Search of True Freedom in Post-Independence India:
An Analysis of the Apu Trilogy
Avika Sagwal
�90 St. Thomas and the Individuality of the Human Soul
Alyssa Thompson
96 Mentor Programs for New Registered Nurses
Juliana R. Ohanian
���Antimicrobial Properties of Clove Oil and Turmeric
against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli
Joseph V. Agro (Microbiology)1
Worldwide the food industry is combating the repercussions of food spoilage due to the
growth and contamination of many foods by food borne pathogens. Combating these
pathogens has never reached its full potential, with all the preservative methods that
human beings have come up with; there is never a 100 percent success rate. Turning to
chemically synthesized substances such as antibiotics can potentially lead to dangerous
side effects, even though these chemicals are able to act as a germicide. In this study the
use of naturally derived plant extracts such as clove oil and turmeric were tested on
Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli to determine the effectiveness of these
agents as antimicrobial agents. These two microorganisms are readily found in and on the
human body, which is why it would be of interest to be able to combat these bacteria and
their potential pathogenicity to humans. In this study the plant extracts were diluted 1:10,
1:100, 1:1,000, 1:10,000, and 1:100,000, to determine whether the extract performs as a
bactericidal agent or as a bacteriostatic agent.
I. Introduction
General Introduction
As there are advancements in the medical world, and the fight against disease,
microorganisms have evolved to be able to fight back. With the overuse and improper use
of antimicrobial ointments, creams, and medications, microbes are able to become
resistant to the agents used against them. In the procedure carried out, clove oil and
turmeric powder were tested on two commonly found microorganisms on and in the
human body. This is done to show the beneficial use of naturally found remedies and
their effects upon microbes. The two microbes are Staphylococcus aureus and
Escherichia coli. Staphylococcus aureus is found on the exterior of the skin and in the
nares of humans and animals, and is commonly found in infections of the skin, eye, nose
or throat. Escherichia coli is a bacterium found abundantly in the intestines of animals
and humans.
Plant Extracts Used
1 Research conducted under the direction of Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt in partial fulfillment of
the Senior Program requirements.
3
�Background information on Clove oil
Clove oil is an extract from the plant Halicize, it is brownish red in appearance.
It is widely used as an analgesic as well as antiseptic, and is purchased over the counter
for anti-inflammatory uses such as toothaches. Analgesics are substances that relieve pain
on a sore area. Clove oil has a very recognizable and strong smell; it can be found in
aromatherapy practices for stress relief and for its stimulating effect. Other effects
attributed to clove oil are antifungal, skin care specifically acne, and the ability to clear
one’s nasal passages with its anti-inflammatory properties (Singletary, 2014). Although
there are many benefits of clove oil, in excess there is a possibility of toxicity. Ranging
from nausea to diarrhea, more serious effects that can occur are respiratory distress,
intestinal bleeding, liver failure, kidney failure and seizures.
Clove oil also acts as a bactericide, as well as being able to inhibit the growth of
fungi and viruses. A bactericidal substance is a substance, which has the ability to
eradicate bacteria. When regulated, the potent effects of clove oil can discontinue the
growth of bacteria and other organisms when put into contact with them. In the
experimental procedure, clove oil will be tested on how well its germicidal properties
work on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (Burt, 2004).
Background information on Turmeric
Turmeric is a spice native to tropical Asia, India, and China and is part of the
ginger family. Mostly seen in curry powder, Turmeric can be used in herbal medicines to
treat ringworm, pain, jaundice, infections, intestinal cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, and
Huntington ’s disease. It is a bright yellow-orange powder that contains a natural antiinflammatory compound. Mainly placed in food products, turmeric can be taken by
mouth as a pill (Tajkarimi et al., 2010). It is unlikely that turmeric can cause severe side
effects, but it can slow blood-clotting timing, cause iron deficiencies, and increases the
effects of gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Turmeric acts as an antibacterial, antiviral,
and antifungal agent (Tajkarimi et al., 2010). Turmeric’s properties of antibacterial
effects will be tested through dilution series to determine the proper concentration needed
to show its anti-bacterial properties on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.
Background information on Euganol
Euganol is one of the main constituents that has been proven to be one of the
major contributors to the bacteriostatic properties of clove oil and extracts; specifically
against E. coli and S. aureus. Euganol alone has been shown to inhibit quorum sensing
and the formation of biofilms. Quorum sensing is an action by which bacteria
communicate within their own species, and interspecies. A biofilm is a grouping activity
of microorganisms where the cells begin to adhere to each other creating a matrix of the
4
�predominate microorganism, allowing for increased environmental advantages. With the
ability to disrupt cellular membranes and decrease the expression of virulence-related
exoproteins, euganol has a great advantage over an array of microbes (Singletary, 2014).
Background information on Dimethyl Sulfoxide
Dimethyl Sulfoxide is an organic sulfur compound that acts as a polar aprotic
solvent. It has an appearance of a colorless liquid, and has the ability to penetrate
biological membranes; a polar aprotic solvent has the ability to dissolve both polar and
nonpolar compounds. Dimethyl Sulfoxide also has been used in many laboratories
because of its many abilities to solubilize drugs, which by themselves are not soluble. By
being able to solubilize drugs that alone are not soluble, laboratory technicians are able to
test a larger array of drugs, and their potential effects that they could have on biological
membranes and cells (Da Violante et al., 2002).
Microorganisms Used
Background information on Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus is an organism found on the skin and in the nose of
humans and animals. It is coccal in shape, and gram-positive. In addition, S. aureus is
catalase positive and is able to reduce nitrates. Although not always pathogenic, S. aureus
is commonly associated with skin, eye, nose, and throat infections. In the clinical field,
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA is a large threat to those harboring
the microbe as well as those being affected by the pathogenic effects of MRSA. First
discovered in pus from a surgical abscess, S. aureus reacts with hydrogen peroxide
creating pus upon contact with the agent; this is what it means to be catalase positive. It
was soon after learned that around twenty percent of the worldwide human population is
long-term carriers of S aureus, concluding that it is a naturally occurring bacteria that is
found frequently as human flora (Department of Health, 2014). In this experimental
procedure, Staphylococcus aureus Presque Isle #4651 was provided by Wagner College’s
Biological Sciences Department.
Background information on Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli is a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria commonly found in the
lower intestines of humans and animals. It is a facultative anaerobe, meaning E. coli can
make adenosine triphosphate, which is a form of energy for cellular organisms with or
without the presence of oxygen. Although E. coli is part of the normal flora of the
intestines, some strains are pathogenic, and if found in products, a major recall of the
product occurs due to contamination. There are some benefits of E. coli, primarily
5
�vitamin k2 production. This vitamin is fat-soluble, which is needed for the complete
synthesis of proteins for blood coagulation as well as the binding of calcium to bones and
tissues. Without this vitamin, uncontrollable bleeding occurs and weakened bones begin
to become a result without the calcification (Department of Health, 2015). In this
experimental procedure, Escherichia coli Presque Isle # 336 was provided by Wagner
College’s Biological Sciences Department.
Media Used
Background information on Mannitol Salt Agar
Mannitol salt agar plates have the compositional make up of mannitol, phenol
red, salt, agar, distilled water, beef extract and peptone. This make up allows for the
medium commonly called mannitol salt agar, which is able to identify Staphylococcus
aureus selectively and differentially. With a salt content of 7.5%, many microbes whether
they are gram positive or negative, cannot withstand the high salt concentrations of the
medium. This allows for the selectivity of the MSA plates; by actively eliminating
microbes from non-pure cultures, one can have an easier time identifying the microbe
that can grow on the media (Shields and Tsang, 2006).
Mannitol salt agar plates also contain phenol red, which is an ingredient that
changes the color of the media allowing for a differential aspect of the composition of
MSA plates. Phenol red is able to change the color of the plate when the pH of the plate
is lowered to acidity levels under 6.9. The pH of the plate is able to drop to a lower
number by the ability of S. aureus to ferment the mannitol sugar. When a bacterium is
able to withstand the high salt concentrations and ferment mannitol, the pH is lowered to
anywhere below 6.9, and phenol red changes the color of the plate from red to a yellow
color (Shields and Tsang, 2006).
Background information on Eosin Methylene Blue Agar
Eosin methylene blue is a plate that has the ability to inhibit the growth of grampositive bacteria; allowing for only gram-negative bacteria to grow. These plates are
extremely useful in the isolation of Escherichia coli, via pathways that are both selective
and differential. With a compositional make up of lactose, sucrose, peptone, dipotassium
phosphate, agar, eosin Y, methylene blue, and distilled water. Sucrose and peptone add
nutritional value to the media for the inoculated microorganisms. Dipotassium phosphate
is a buffer added whose purpose is to adjust the agar to a pH level that would allow the
dyes of the agar to react properly with the lactose fermenters. Without the dipotassium
phosphate in the composition of the agar, the dyes would not react properly, and there
6
�will be no lactose fermentation because the pH will be too high (Archana and
Cheeptham, 2007).
Other components such as eosin Y allow for the selective growth of gramnegative bacteria, and inhibiting the growth of gram-positive bacteria. Lactose is the main
component in eosin methylene blue plates that is fermented. The lactose fermenting
gram-negative bacteria appear as colored colonies, and the bacterium that do not ferment
lactose appear as colorless colonies. As E. coli grows on the plate, it forms as a nucleated
colony with a dark green center.
Escherichia coli will grow with a metallic green sheen due to the rapid lactose
fermentation; this fermentation produces acids that then lower the pH, making the
environment more acidic. This acidic environment promotes absorption of the dyes and
the colonies grow as darker colors such as purple/black. Microbes that do not ferment
lactose such as Salmonella or Shigella, increase the pH, making the environment more
basic. A more basic environment does not ensure dye absorption, making the colonies
grow colorless, allowing for the selective and differential identification of gram-negative
bacteria and other coliforms (Archana and Cheeptham, 2007).
Background information on Nutrient Broth
Nutrient both is a liquid medium made up of powdered beef extract and peptone.
These two ingredients allow for non-selective and non-differential growth of microbes.
This allows one to culture the microbes growing to see if they are pure or not, and this
can also help validate one’s research. By being able to see the cultures undergo growth on
sterile media which will have no chemical influences, one can deduce if the cultures have
been contaminated or not.
Prevalence of Foodborne Pathogens and Illnesses
Foodborne pathogens and illnesses in the United States of America
As America made advancements in the preparation and handling and
distribution of food products, the practice of reducing transmissible food borne illnesses
has been an ongoing battle. In America alone E. coli non-0157 has been responsible for
31,229 food borne related illnesses. Staphylococcal food poisoning has been recorded to
have caused 185,060 cases in 1999 (Mead et al., 1999).
In more recent news, it was seen as of 2011, E. coli was the cause of 112,752
food borne related illnesses, and that S. aureus was the cause of 241,148 food borne
related illnesses. If these numbers weren’t staggering enough, it is believed that hospitals,
clinics and the population is underreporting and misdiagnosing these illnesses. These two
articles are actually related, helping track the amount of foodborne illnesses, helping to
7
�allot resources and prioritize interventions associated with preventing future food borne
illnesses. The constant active and passive surveillance of the food related illnesses are
needed to record how we are counter adapting to the adaptive methods of bacteria in the
food industry’s efforts to eliminate bacteria from food handling environments (Scallan et
al., 2011).
Transnational challenge of foodborne diseases
With the advancements and the increase of social, political and economic
interdependence, the spread of disease has increased via transnational trade and travel
(Käferstein et al., 1997). As the food industry has become increasingly globalized, the
international trade of not only food products but also disease has increased. Factors such
as mass production, environmental dynamics, and the inadequate knowledge of proper
handling have lead to the rise of food-borne illnesses in both developing and
industrialized countries (Käferstein et al., 1997). With improper handling of food and
mass production of food, it is easy to spread food-borne related illnesses without knowing
if the products are contaminated or not. With a better understanding of how microbes
spread and an increase in the conscious effort to share information among nations
regarding outbreaks of contaminated food supplies, researchers and scientists can better
the international trade of the food industry worldwide, as well as containment and
prevention of the transmission of foodborne related illnesses.
II. Objectives
The intention of this experimental research was to evaluate the effectiveness and
antimicrobial properties of clove oil and turmeric on Staphylococcus aureus and
Escherichia coli. By diluting the extracts to various decreasing levels, and incorporating a
culture of each bacterium in their own tube, it was possible to test the individual strengths
of the extracts on the bacteria. Other than testing the strength of the extracts, using a
dilution series, a separate factor was to see how diluted the extracts can become before
their possible bactericidal effect is no longer effective. The effectiveness of the dilutions
can be seen through plating each of the tubes onto what is called a petri dish. Each petri
dish contained agar, which is a medium to allow growth of the bacteria if it survived the
possible antimicrobial agent.
With the continuing fight on microbes in the food and packing industry; and the
battle to find safe antiseptics to fight against bacteria, the use of natural remedies could
come into play. The use of natural remedies against microbes can prove a safer and more
effective alternative to chemically synthesized antimicrobials. The microbes,
Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were chosen because they occur naturally on
8
�and inside the human body. This could prove useful for future research and if there are
antimicrobial properties of clove oil and turmeric, their properties can be transcribed to
other industries such as healthcare or the beauty industry using the properties of clove oil
and turmeric to play a role in warding off the bacteria in hospital settings, or then using
day to day beauty appliances. By being able to target specific microbes, and prevent their
growth for whatever purpose could prove useful for those who are immunocompromised,
elderly, young, and even the general population and their overall health.
III. Materials and Methods
Preparation of Media
When the media was prepared, whether broth or agar, it was imperative to
follow the directions listed on the bottles. By doing so one successfully executed the
proper steps to make the media required by carrying out the procedure.
Preparation of Nutrient Broth
To prepare nutrient broth, eight grams of the powder were weighed on a scale.
Then the powder was suspended in a beaker or Erlenmeyer flask with one liter of purified
or distilled water. To mix thoroughly, a stir bar was placed in the container chosen to mix
the solution, and the container was placed on a stirring hot plate. This allowed for a
constant temperature, and the mixture was constantly being stirred. After the broth was
evenly distributed, it had a translucent appearance. To sterilize the broth, the entire
container was sterilized while holding the entirety of the broth, or non-sterile broth could
be transferred to clean tubes, capped, and then sterilized via the use of the autoclave.
When putting capped tubes in an autoclave, it is best not to fasten the cap entirely
because that can build up pressure in the tubes causing a burst, resulting in the loss of
materials not only for yourself, but for also one’s peers.
Required materials to prepare Nutrient Agar
When nutrient agar was prepared, the designated 28 grams of powdered agar
was obtained and weighed out and mixed with one liter of distilled water. To ensure
proper mixing of the agar, the powder and one liter of water were placed in a flask or
beaker with a stir bar. The container was placed on a magnetic stirring hot plate, which
allowed the stir bar to spin at a speed at which the agar dissolves homogenously. To test
to see if the agar was mixed thoroughly, a small amount of the mixture was taken out and
slid down the inside of the tube. If small clumps were observable, then those are the
solidifying agents. These solidifying agents are what allow the agar to solidify when it is
poured to make plates. Without these agents, the plate would appear as a gelatinous liquid
9
�that would not settle and solidify completely. Another way to easily see if there are
solidifying agents present, one could transfer some of the mixture to a tube, and after a
minute or so, a dense milky cloud can be seen at the bottom of the tube. That is also the
solidifying agent, but in a much higher concentration. Before using the agar for any
purpose, it needs to be sterilized via the use of an autoclave on a wet cycle. A wet cycle is
a setting on an autoclave to sterilize materials that are either liquid or aqueous in nature,
programmed to a temperature of 121 Celsius at 15psi for 15 minutes.
Required materials to prepare Mannitol Salt Agar
Mannitol salt agar follows the same guidelines as making any other agar. The
only difference is the amount of the powdered agar that is mixed with distilled water. To
make MSA, 111 grams of powered agar are required to a ratio of one liter of distilled
water. Mannitol salt agar should be properly mixed to a light boil with the use of a stir
bar and a magnetic stirring hot plate. Complete distribution or dissolving spreading of
solidifying agents should be checked for before the agar is either autoclaved, or
transferred to a conduit apparatus and then autoclaved. It was important to make sure
there is an even spread of solidifying agents so the plates solidify and form properly.
When put into the autoclave, the agar was be put through a wet cycle because it is an
aqueous substance.
Required materials to prepare Eosin Methylene Blue Agar
Mixing 36 grams of powdered EMB agar with one liter of distilled water would
make eosin methylene blue agar. It is essential that the agar is mixed properly and that
the solidifying agents and ingredients of the agar are mixed evenly. The protocols to
make EMB agar is the same for other agars; before autoclaving the agar, the agar was be
mixed thoroughly and heated on a magnetic stirring hot plate to ensure an even mixture.
The agar also went through a wet phase when put in the autoclave.
Equipment
Throughout this experimental procedure, various instruments and machinery
were utilized. A magnetic stirring hot plate is a machine that has the ability to heat up
substances when the aforementioned substances are placed upon it. With the ability to use
magnets to stir the mixture, an even distribution of the substance can be obtained. This is
important to the experiment, because the lack of a homogeneous mixture can drastically
affect the outcome of the materials being used.
An autoclave is a pressure chamber with the sole purpose of providing the
ability to sterilize any substance that is put through a wet or dry cycle. These wet and dry
10
�cycles are used to designate the nature of the machine’s automated washing technique.
Wet means that it a wash cycle specifically designed for containers containing substances
that are liquid or aqueous. A dry cycle is a cycle used upon materials that do not contain
any liquid or aqueous solutions. These cycles are each 15 minutes in length, and
completely sterilize the materials. Heat resistant gloves are needed to handle this
equipment for the chance of brushing up against the inside of the machine and for
removing one’s materials. The materials sterilized will reach up to 121 degrees Celsius.
When the materials such as agar are removed from the autoclave, it needs to be poured
before it solidifies in the container that it is being held in. A microvoid air controlled
plate pouring station is utilized for pouring agar into petri dishes. This pouring station’s
design decreases the amount of microorganisms that are able to travel through the air
over the pouring station. With the use of micro vents, there is a dramatic reduction in the
number of microorganisms present in the space of the pouring station.
Biological Materials and Compounds
Biological materials and compounds used in this experiment ranged from
microorganisms such as Staphylococcus aureus Presque Isle #4651 and Escherichia coli
Presque Isle # 336 to mannitol salt agar (Difco), eosin methylene blue agar (Difco), and
nutrient agar (Difco), as well as nutrient broth (Difco). These microorganisms were used
because they are commonly found through day-to-day activities and their prevalence to
cause food borne illnesses. The agars used allow the experimenter to identify the
microorganisms as they are used during the experiments.
Other Materials
Other materials used in the experimental procedure include graduated cylinders,
pipettes, a pipettor, an electronic scale, disposable trays used for weighing out the
powdered materials, test tubes, caps, stir bar and the magnetic stirring hot plate. Without
these accessory materials, this procedure would not have been possible. With the pipettes
and pipettor, transferring agar and bacteria was a feasible task, with these tools, the risks
of contamination to the biological and chemical materials was lowered, as well as the
chances of spills of said materials. The scale and disposable trays were necessary for
accurately weighing out powders needed to make up the media needed for the
experiment, and culturing of the bacteria. Tubes and caps were needed to hold the media
as well as the cultures used in the experiment. The magnetic stirring hot plate along with
the stir bar was necessary to provide evenly mixed materials, if not evenly mixed it would
have skewed the experiment.
11
�IV. Procedure
Dilutions
A dilution series is a row of tubes that has a decreasing amount of a variable that
is being tested. In this experiment the variables or extracts being tested were clove oil and
turmeric. In each dilution series there were five tubes, each containing nine milliliters of
nutrient broth. Before adding anything to the tubes containing the nutrient broth, the
extracts have to be dissolved in DMSO (Sigma Chemical). With a ratio of .1mL clove oil
to .9mL DMSO, and .1g turmeric to .9mL DMSO, the extracts must be dissolved directly
prior to the addition of them to the first tube of the dilution series. For each extract being
dissolved individually, this makes one milliliter of extract and DMSO being added to the
first tube of the dilution series. After the one milliliter of mixture was added, the tube was
gently inverted 10 times, and after inverting the first tube, one milliliter was removed and
added to the second tube which was uncapped directly before the adding of one milliliter.
This process of inverting and transferring one milliliter to the next tube was repeated until
the fifth tube is reached. In that case, the milliliter was added and the tube was inverted
10 times. By this time one dilution series was done. This process was repeated nine times
total for clove oil and nine times total for turmeric for S aureus, and another total of 18
dilution series is repeated for E. coli. This large number of dilution gives a larger sample
size reducing the number of outside and uncontrollable variables that could have an effect
on the experiment.
Pour Plates
To perform pour plates the agar must be made first, after the agar is made there
are three distinct ways to pour plates. The first is that once the agar comes out of the
autoclave in a beaker or flask, the agar can be poured out directly from that container.
Another way plates can be made is that the agar can be transferred out of the original
beaker or flask with the use of a pipette. The method that was used was that 20mL of agar
was transferred into tubes directly after being mixed with distilled water. The tubes were
then loosely capped to prevent pressure build up, and/or the breaking of the tubes. After
the tubes were autoclaved under a wet cycle, they were left to cool momentarily but not
long enough for the agar to start solidifying. While the tubes were cooling, the bacterial
cultures were transferred each with a new and sterile pipette to marked plates
corresponding to their tube number. At this point in time the agar would be uncapped one
at a time and simultaneously poured on to the plates. The cap to the petri dish would be
left slightly off the dish to allow vapor release and the cooling of the agar. Utilizing a
microvoid air controlled plate-pouring station; the handling of agar is done in an
environment that decreases the chance of contamination.
12
�Technique
The key to this experiment was to be able to carefully label each tube, plate, and
every culture grown. Calling for 36 dilution series, 1,080 plates, and three different agars,
it could be easy to mislabel a plate or culture, which would then in time skew the results.
Using a simple permanent marker to label each tube and plate, mixing up the materials
had a slim possibility. Another technique that was essential to this procedure was to make
sure every surface was washed preferably with bleach when handling sterile materials,
and to make sure gloves were being used as well as with washed hands. Decreasing the
possibility of contamination is a main goal in the experimental procedure, because if
there was contamination, the results could be determined invalid, due to the fact that if
there was a contamination of the materials, there is a possibility that the set up done
initially could have been done wrong leading to a multitude of mistakes that could cause
an inaccuracy.
Specifics
Starting off the procedure, the dilution sets had to be made. The nutrient broth
was made by taking 8 grams of the nutrient broth powder, dissolving it in 1 liter of
distilled water, and heating it on a hot plate station until it is translucent. When the broth
is fully cooked or translucent, 9 milliliters of broth was transferred to a tube. The tube
racks are then set up, which had three rows of 5 tubes per extract for a given microbe and
extract, meaning there are 30 labeled tubes containing nutrient broth on a tube rack. This
was done in triplicate, allowing for more concise results. After the tube racks were set up
they were put into the autoclave on a liquid cycle for 15 minutes to sterilize the broth. It
is important to sterilize because it is a precaution done to reduce the risk of cross
contamination allowing for more valid results.
As the autoclave was going through the cycle, it was time to set up the extracts
to be dissolved in DMSO. Dimethyl sulfoxide is an organic sulfur compound that acts as
a polar aprotic solvent. This is important because a polar aprotic solvent has the ability to
dissolve both polar and nonpolar compounds. When the liquid cycle had completed, the
racks were taken out of the autoclave, and after cooling down, an extract and DMSO
solution were added to the first tube of the designated row. For clove oil, 0.1 milliliters is
mixed with 0.9 milliliters of DMSO. With turmeric, 0.1 grams is mixed with 0.9
milliliters of DMSO. These ratios are done to properly dissolve the extract in the broth
so it does not all clump to the bottom and so that the extracts have an even effect on the
microbes that the thesis is testing.
Now that the first tube contained the appropriate extract, it was capped, inverted
ten times, and 1 milliliter was taken out and transferred to the next tube in that row. This
13
�procedure was repeated until the fifth tube is reached. Then the next row was worked on
and then the next row, and so on. Each consecutive tube of a given row is an increasing
tenfold dilution with decreasing amounts of the extract. This is to show the efficiency of
either clove oil or turmeric in decreasing amounts on the microbes being tested. As the
dilution tubes were completed, one drop of the microbe being tested was placed into the
tubes. At this point there were 15 tubes for each extract in a given tube rack, meaning
there were 30 tubes in a singular tube rack because both clove oil and turmeric were on a
tube rack. The tube racks were then incubated allowing for the microbes to grow. The
incubator was set to 37 degrees Celsius because that is the temperature of the human
body. Since these microbes are found on or in the human body, that is their optimal
temperature to work at and grow.
To make the process easier in terms of knowing which tubes to work with, all
clove oil tubes were labeled 1 to 15, and all turmeric tubes were labeled 16 to 30. Each
tube rack was labeled either A, B, or C when working with S aureus. When working with
tubes containing E. coli, the clove oil and turmeric tubes followed the same numbering
procedure, but were labeled D, E, F. This was done to know which group was being
worked with, and which tubes were being worked with at any given time.
After the microbes were incubated for 24 hours, pour plates were done. One
dilution tube has 1 milliliter taken out of it six times, making six plates from one tube.
Forty-five tubes were made from one subsection of a group twice; the subsections were
either clove oil or turmeric. When working with S. aureus, nutrient agar plates and
mannitol salt agar plates are necessary. Nutrient agar was made with a ratio of 28 g to 1
liter of distilled water; MSA plates were made with a ratio of 111g to 1 liter of distilled
water. As they had completely boiled and spun to an even consistency, 20 milliliters of
agar was transferred to an empty tube, and this process continued until the entirety of the
agar had been utilized; one liter of agar gave, on average, 50 tubes. Although only 45
tubes were necessary for a single set of pour plates, it was useful to have extra tubes if
some tubes lost too much agar in the autoclaving process.
Nutrient agar plates were done first, and then the MSA plates were done.
Although the order of which agar was made and used to plate first doesn’t have an effect
on the experiment, it was beneficial to make up and use one agar at a time to avoid
risking contamination by having the agar sitting out after it was sterilized. Also if agar is
autoclaved, it will solidify after it cools down, so it would prove futile to autoclave both
at one time and try to do 90 plates all at once. For a singular petri dish, 1 milliliter of
bacteria was taken out of the dilution and one sterilized tube of agar was poured into a
dish in that order. The tube of agar cannot be too hot, or it would kill the microbes that
are being tested, but if the agar cooled too much, then it would solidify in the tube. After
14
�less than 15 minutes, the plates had cooled down and were able to be put in the incubator
for 24 hours and then the pour plates were ready to be read.
When completing the plates regarding S. aureus, E. coli was next. When dealing
with E. coli Nutrient agar with the same consistency of 28 grams to 1 liter was used.
Instead of MSA plates, EMB plates were used. To make EMB agar, with one liter of
distilled water, 36 grams of the EMB agar is mixed. The same steps were followed when
making the pour plates regarding E. coli as S. aureus. After completing all the steps and
triplicates required for the experiment, the plates were examined and all results were
recorded.
V. Results
Observations
The purpose of this experiment is to test the ability of diluted clove oil and
turmeric extract’s bactericidal properties on the microorganisms S. aureus and E. coli. As
the extracts were diluted to decreasing concentrations of 1:10, 1:100, 1:1,000, 1:10,000,
and 1:100,000, there was a clear pattern that the more diluted that the extract was, the less
of an effect the extract had on the microorganisms. When the petri dishes were plated
with a more diluted extract from the dilution series, such as 1:10,000, and 1:100,000 the
bacteria grew exponentially on the plates. As the numbers on the plates were too many to
count, the marking “TMTC” was made. The colonies that were too many to count had
colony numbers well over 300 colonies.
Clove oil and turmeric were both tested for their antimicrobial properties on the
bacteria S. aureus and E.coli. It was shown that clove oil had a great bactericidal effect
on S. aureus but turmeric had less of an effect on the microbe. When testing the effect of
the extracts on the microbe E. coli, both clove oil and turmeric had good bactericidal
effects on the microbe. At times it was also observed that there were petri dishes with
microbial growth on the plates with higher concentrations of the extract. With larger
sample sizes, it was seen that this abnormal growth in higher concentrations of extract
was not a norm for the microbial growth.
For 24 hours, sets of plates were left in an incubator at 37 Celsius. When the
plates were taken out to count the colonies, both S. aureus and E. coli had distinct smells.
S. aureus had a distinguishing smell of butter, and E. coli had an odor of bacon. In
addition to the selective and differential plates used to double check that the microbes
being worked with were the correct microbes, the distinguishing scents of the microbes
were an observation that were made to further identify the microbes on the plates. The
selective and differential plates were a key identifier of the microbes being used. As
15
�MSA plates changed color from red to yellow, and EMB plates changed from red to
purple.
Colony Counts
The following tables are a numerical representation of the growth of
Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The tables are set up in such a way that the
group is labeled A through F; A to C represents S. aureus and D to F represents E. coli.
The tube numbers one to fifteen represent the cultures that correlated to clove oil, which
was then plated to nutrient agar plates and one of the selective and differential plates.
Tube numbers sixteen to thirty correlated to turmeric extract used, which was then plated
onto nutrient agar plates and one of the selective and differential plates. As there are
dilution series of five going from 1:10 to 1:100,000, every five tubes on the diagrams
completes a dilution series, and then a new series begins. Tubes 1, 6, 11, 16, 21 and 26
are all the first tubes of a dilution series.
Table 1a: Group A, Clove Oil
Nutrient Agar
Tube #
MSA
Plate ID
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
0
0
7
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
5
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
6
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
0
0
0
0
0
0
8
650
700
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
9
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
10
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
11
0
0
0
0
0
0
12
0
0
0
0
0
0
13
0
58
34
200
100
110
14
300
200
150
230
TMTC
TMTC
15
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
16
�Table 1b: Group A, Turmeric
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
10
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
115
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
7
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
8
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
17
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
161
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
17
250
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
MSA
1
19
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
16
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
30
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
15
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
86
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
13
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
1
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
158
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
6
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
The above tables show that the clove oil has the ability to eliminate the growth
of S. aureus everytime when the dilution rate 1:100 was used. Also some 1:1000 dilution
rates of clove oil was seen to be able to eliminate the growth of S. aureus. It was seen that
turmeric during this trial had a poor antimicrobial affect on the microbe, E. coli.
Table 2a: Group B, Clove Oil
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
150
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
17
3
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
150
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
MSA
1
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
�Table 2b: Group B, Turmeric
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
70
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
83
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
65
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
MSA
1
30
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
92
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
22
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
90
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
32
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
87
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
90
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
It can be seen that clove oil had a antimicrobial effect on the growth of S.
aureus. In tubes 6 through 10 it can be seen that only the dilution rate 1:10, had a strong
antimicrobial effect, when the culture was poured to make the nutrient agar plates. It can
also be seen that turmeric had a very poor antimicrobial effect on S. aureus.
Table 3a: Group C, Clove Oil
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
0
145
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
170
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
18
3
0
200
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
MSA
1
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
�Table 3b: Group C, Turmeric
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
MSA
1
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
It can be observed that clove oil had a standard antimicrobial effect up until the
dilution rate of 1:10, as well as turmeric having no antimicrobial effect on S. aureus.
Table 4a: Group D, Clove Oil
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
0
1
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
16
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
19
3
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
EMB
1
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
75
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
45
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
10
1
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
�Table 4b: Group D, Turmeric
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
EMB
1
0
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
85
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
40
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
Clove oil and turmeric have good antimicrobial effects against S. aureus and E.
coli. The dilution rate 1:100 is the dilution rate that contained the most diluted
concentrations of the extracts, and still had a standard antimicrobial effect against S.
aureus and E. coli.
Table 5a: Group E, Clove Oil
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
20
3
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
EMB
1
0
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
�Table 5b: Group E, Turmeric
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
0
1
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
16
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
EMB
1
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
0
0
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
It can be seen that clove oil has a constant antibacterial effect against E. coli
with the dilution rates 1:10, when plated on nutrient agar. When the same cultures are
poured to make the eosin methylene blue plates a constant antimicrobial effect with the
dilution rate 1:100 can be observed. With the extract turmeric, a standard antimicrobial
effect with the dilution rate of 1:10 can be observed.
Table 6a: Group F, Clove Oil
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
21
3
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
EMB
1
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
�Table 6b: Group F, Turmeric
Tube #
Nutrient Agar
Plate ID
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
EMB
1
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
2
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
3
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
TMTC
It can be seen that the extracts turmeric and clove oil had no effects against on
the bacterial cultures of S. aureus and E. coli.
VI. Discussion
After reviewing the data, it can be determined that clove oil and turmeric have an
antimicrobial effect on S. aureus and E.coli. It was evident that clove oil had a greater effect
on S. aureus than turmeric did, but it was seen that both clove oil and turmeric had positive
bactericidal effects on E.coli. Through this experiment the effect of testing the antimicrobial
capabilities on the microbes S. aureus and E.coli was accomplished. The prediction of clove
oil having a better effect in inhibiting S. aureus was observed. This prediction was made
because clove oil is commonly applied to the skin, and since that is where S. aureus is usually
found, it was determined that clove oil will have a better effect on that microbe, and in the end
this was observed. The prediction that turmeric would have a better effect on E.coli was made
because turmeric is normally ingested, passing through the intestinal tract, where E. coli is
normally found. The procedure, predictions, observations and results all followed the general
trend predicted. This was favored because it showed that there is potential in the use and
application of natural remedies for the use of preservation and processing of food products.
Figure 1 shows the growth of S. aureus on nutrient agar (pictured left) and mannitol
salt agar (pictured right). It can be seen that the growth of the microbe is inhibited up to a
1:1,000 dilution. On the right the yellow plates show the growth of S. aureus through the color
change from red to yellow.
22
�Figures 1: Growth of S. aureus on nutrient agar (left) and mannitol salt agar (right).
Figure 2 shows the growth of S. aureus on a nutrient agar plate. The non-motile
microbes are only seen growing in pinpoint colonies. Figure 3 shows the growth of S.
aureus on a mannitol salt agar plate. It is the colors change from red to yellow shows the
fermentation of the mannitol. The areas that are red are areas where the microbe did not
colonize. Figure 4 shows the growth of E. coli on nutrient agar (left) and eosin methylene
blue (right). The color change on EMB plates from red to purple shows the fermentation
of the lactose in the agar, caused by the growth of the microbes.
Figure 2: Growth of S. aureus on
a nutrient agar plate.
Figure 3: Growth of S. aureus on
a mannitol salt agar plate.
23
�Figure 4: Growth of E. coli on nutrient agar (left) and eosin methylene blue (right).
The growth of E. coli on an EMB plate and on a nutrient agar plate are shown in
figures 5 and 6 respectively. Figure 7 illustrates the ability of E. coli to produce a
metallic green sheen when fermenting the components in the EMB agar.
Figures 5: Growth of E. coli on a
nutrient agar plate.
Figure 6: Growth of E. coli on
an EMB plate.
24
�Figure 7: The ability of E. coli to produce a metallic green sheen when fermenting the
components in the EMB agar.
Possible Sources of Error
Although the experiment was carried out as carefully as possible there are
always various possibilities for error to occur. Whether it was not mixing the agar well
enough to properly make the agar, or not using a clean technique to carry out the
experiment, any number of factors could have skewed the experiment. When making the
first round of nutrient agar, mannitol salt agar, and eosin methylene blue agar, the proper
steps to make agar was not known, causing the agar to not properly solidify, leading to
the discarding of the plates made. This is a possible source of error because one milliliter
of bacterial culture is required for each plate, and the bacterial culture that was utilized
for the plates also had to be thrown out, only leaving three milliliters in each tube from
the original nine milliliters. This then lead to use of the remaining three milliliters in each
tube to make spread plates, where a small amount of the microbe was taken and with a
flamed triangular spreader, the microbes were spread across the plates to spread the
culture evenly. Although this allowed the spreading of the microbes evenly, the original
procedure was not followed. Another possible source of error could have been the
mislabeling of the petri dishes. When labeling the sets of petri dishes, it was seen that
some plates were mislabeled with the marker before the microbes or agar were
introduced to the petri dishes. The mislabeling of the plates could have lead to the
invalidation of the entire experiment.
Possible Weaknesses of the Experimental Procedure
After performing the experimental procedure, results were collected and
analyzed. When going through the experimental procedure it was noticed that a negative
control was not utilized. The importance of a negative control could have been to see if
25
�the DMSO had any and all effect on the microbes S. aureus and E. coli. Although less
than one milliliter of DMSO was used in the experiment, it is a chemical known to have
potential toxicities to microorganisms. A negative control could have been creating serial
dilutions with .9 mL DMSO with .1 ml distilled water, and carrying out the procedure on
both S. aureus and E. coli to see if the DMSO had any contributions to the inhibitory
effects seen in the experimental procedure.
VII. Future Research
In the future, experimenting the antimicrobial effects of other natural extracts is
an interest of mine. By being able to explore the natural effects of natural oils and spices,
giving a healthier alternative to the preservation of food products may be reached. With
the readiness of cleaner and healthier preservation techniques in a society where the food
processing procedure is on public display whether it is organic or not, the integrity of
food products can be upheld in a way that appeals to the public eye in a more positive
way. To positively impact the processing and handling procedures of the food industry
and possibly even other areas of medicine such as the use of antimicrobial creams and
ointments which could be used in the cosmetic industry or in skin care.
VIII. References
Archana, L., and Cheeptham, N. (2007). "Eosin-Methylene Blue Agar Plates Protocol."
Eosin-Methylene Blue Agar Plates Protocol. American Society For Microbiology.
Burt, S. (2004). "Essential Oils: Their Antibacterial Properties and Potential Applications
in Foods—a Review." Els-cdn.com. International Journal of Food Microbiology.
Da Violante, G., Zerrouk, N., Richard, I., Provot, G., Chaumeil, J.C., Arnaud, P.
(2002). “Evaluation of the cytotoxicity effect of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on
Caco2/TC7 colon tumor cell cultures”. Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin. Volume
25, Issue 12. pp. 100-1603.
Department Of Health. (2014). “Causes and Symptoms of Staphylococcus aureus.”
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/staph/basics.html. Minnesota
Department of Health
Department Of Health. (2015). “Escherichia coli (E. coli).”
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/ecoli/index.html. Minnesota
Department of Health
26
�Käferstein, F., Motarjemi, Y., Bettcher, D. (1997) Foodborne Disease Control: A
Transnational Challenge http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC2640096/pdf/
9368787.pdf . Emerging Infectious Diseases
Mead P., Slutsker L., Dietz V., McCaig L., Bresee J., Shapiro, C., Griffin, P., Tauxe,
R. (1999). “Food-Related Illness and Death in the United States.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Scallan, E., Hoekstra, R.M., Angulo, F.J., Tauxe, R.V., Widdowson, M., Roy, S.L,
Jones, J.L., Griffin, P.M. (2011). “Foodborne illness acquired in the United Statesmajor pathogens”. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Shields, A., and Tsang, A. (2006). "Mannitol Salt Agar Plates Protocols - Library."
Mannitol Salt Agar Plates Protocols - Library. American Society for Microbiology.
Singletary, K. (2014) Clove Overview of Potential Health Benefits, Culinary Nutrition,
https://wagner.illiad.oclc.org/illiad/illiad.dll?Action=10&Form=75&Value=40182
(Volume 49) Nutrition Today.
Tajkarimi, M.M., Ibrahim, S.A., Cliver D.O. (2010) Antimicrobial herb and spice
compounds in food. Sciencedirect.com (Volume 21). Food Control.
Wang, Y., L, Zhaoxin., Wu, H., and Lv, Fengxia. (2009). "Study on the Antibiotic
Activity of Microcapsule Curcumin against Foodborne Pathogens." Els-cdn.com. College
of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing/ International
Journal of Food Microbiology.
27
����Relationship between Traditional Parenting
Styles, and Helicopter Parenting
Kendra Best (Psychology)1
Research suggests that parenting styles can influence a child’s social, cognitive, and
emotional well-being. There has been much literature published over the last few decades
on the three traditional parenting styles of authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive.
Helicopter parenting, a newly developed term that describes parents who control and
hover over their children, has been a recognized style in recent years. The present study
explores possible overlaps of these parenting styles among college students. It was
hypothesized that authoritarian parenting style and helicopter parenting would be
positively correlated, whereas authoritative and permissive styles would be positively
correlated with autonomy. Results suggest a positive moderate correlation between
authoritarian and helicopter parenting styles, whereas authoritative parenting style was
linked to autonomy.
I. Introduction
Parental involvement is associated with several positive and negative outcomes
of a child’s life (Schiffrin, Liss, Miles-McLean, Geary, Erchull, & Tashner, 2013).
Previous literature has specifically explored the relationship and implications on
parenting styles in the development of autonomy, self-esteem, and thinking styles during
emerging adulthood. It has been suggested that parenting style plays an important role on
individual and cognitive development, as well as social and psychological health. (Love
& Thomas, 2014). Baumrind’s (1991) two-dimensional framework of responsiveness
(warmth and supportiveness) and demandingness (behavioral control), are broken down
into four categories of parenting: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and rejectingneglecting, in which parenting style has been described. Most recently, however, is the
birth of “helicopter parenting,” which is an emerging parenting style that has been used to
describe parents who have a tendency to “hover” over their children (Moriatry, 2012).
An authoritative parenting style is characterized by exhibiting equal
responsiveness and demand. Authoritative parents focus on a balance between teaching
children independence, but also the importance of having boundaries and rules. They are
Written under the direction of Dr. Steve Jenkins for the independent study PS593:
Psychology Parenting Styles/Career Choice.
1
31
�generally found to be warm and involved with their children’s lives (Watabe & Hibbard,
2014). Having an authoritative parenting figure has been found to be the style most
correlated to positive development and self-efficacy (Turner, Chandler, & Heffer, 2009).
Parental characteristics, such as warmth and responsiveness, have shown to be
advantageous in the development of well roundedness in children. Griess (2007) found
that undergraduate college students have a higher perceived optimism when raised with
authoritative parents, due to proper encouragement and control from their parents.
An authoritarian parenting style is characterized by being extremely high in
demand, but low in responsiveness (Watabe & Hibbard, 2014). These parents discourage
discussion and debates, and solely decide themselves what behaviors are acceptable.
Because authoritarian parents attempt to shape their child’s behaviors and attitudes,
children typically have little to no freedom. They also heavily value obedience and
believe in forceful consequences. Authoritarian parenting has been associated with higher
levels of physical and verbal aggression, especially physical aggression among boys (De
la Torre-Cruz, Garcia-Linares, & Casanova-Arias, 2014).
A permissive parenting style is one that is characterized by being minimal in
responsiveness, and very low in demand. Permissive parents are rarely concerned with
their child’s happiness or overall well-being, and do not properly attend to their child’s
needs (Watabe & Hibbard, 2014). With permissive parents, children are not required to
properly behave, and little is typically asked of them. Permissive parents provide a lack
of guidance to their children; therefore they often turn to other figures or outlets for
support. The use of alcohol among children in permissive households has shown to be
likely, especially between children in grades seven to eleven (Tucker, Ellickson, & Klein,
2008). Three quarters of adolescents from these households among 710 participants
reported especially heavy drinking during grade nine.
The parenting style associated with the most negative outcomes is rejectingneglecting. These parents neither provide support and encouragement, nor discipline.
These children have their basic needs met, but are otherwise essentially ignored
(Baumrind 1991). Thankfully, this parenting style is rare enough that most instruments
that measure parenting styles do not include it.
Lastly, parents who are over-involved and overprotective are characterized by
using a helicopter parenting style. As a result of over-parenting, young adults have found
to have a sense of entitlement, believing that other people, like their parents, should solve
their problems for them (Segrin, Woszidlo, Bauer, & Murphy, 2012). Because helicopter
parenting facilitates little to no autonomy skills, there has been a growing concern among
college administrators that witnesses this parental control over their children. Over
32
�involvement, therefore, does not allow children to adjust and control their own college
life, as many parents speak to college professors and administration on their child’s
behalf (Hunt, 2008). Montgomery (2010) found that children of helicopter parents tended
to be neurotic, less open to new experiences, and dependent. Children with helicopter
parents are more likely than children of non-helicopter parents to have decreased life
satisfaction, and are at an increased risk for developing a depressive disorder (Schiffrin et
al.). In addition, helicopter parenting has positively correlated to a higher rate of
recreational drug use and painkillers (LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011).Some studies have
identified that helicopter parenting can also lead to positive outcomes (Padilla-Walker &
Nelson, 2012). The National Survey of Student Engagement (2007) found that college
students who were raised by helicopter parents reported high engagement during their
college years. Yet, these students also reported lower GPA’s. In terms of social and
emotional development, parental involvement has resulted in higher social efficacy and
graduate school and career intentions. Nevertheless, it can also be related to more severe
negative consequences such as lower self-efficacy and self-esteem (Bradley-Geist &
Olson-Buchanan, 2013). Hence, the literature thus far on helicopter parenting has shown
mixed results on how it may impact child development.
Parenting style differences between mothers and fathers have also been explored
on the well being of adolescents (Raboteg-Saric & Sakic, 2014). Higher levels of life
satisfaction and self-esteem were reported among adolescents with authoritative or
permissive mothers, than those with authoritarian mothers. Adolescents who perceived
their mothers as authoritative had higher levels of happiness when compared to any other
parenting style. Likewise, fathers who were perceived as authoritative or permissive by
their children produced higher results of well being, than those with authoritarian fathers.
Concerning the impact of parenting style on mental health later in life, both maternal and
paternal authoritarian style worsened participants’ mental health, including psychological
well-being, risk to self and others, and overall daily life functioning (Uji, Sakamoto,
Keiichiro, Adachi, & Kitamura, 2013). Both maternal and paternal authoritative parenting
style has shown to have a beneficial impact on participants’ later mental health.
Another factor on the development of emerging adults is the further integration
of technology, which allows parents to be in constant contact with their children. A recent
survey found that 97% of people ages 18-24 report an average of 190.5 texts that are sent
and received each day (Golonka, 2014). When compared to previous generations, moving
out of the house allowed for the development of autonomy, due to the inability to contact
their parents often. In contrast, the rapid evolution of technology has provided a plethora
of ways to keep in touch with one another, which allow parents to be involved with their
33
�children’s lives at all times. Results indicate that parent’s who scored higher on being
authoritarian and helicopter parents predicted more frequent contact with their children
(Golonka, 2014). Most noted was lower emotional autonomy among children who had
helicopter parents due to the frequency of contact on a daily basis.
Overall, authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and helicopter parenting styles
all vary in their degree of positive and negative effects on emerging adults in college.
Though research is overwhelmingly supportive of authoritative parenting and its positive
effects on development and autonomy, other influences should be considered. Thus far,
literature has not explored any possible overlaps among these four parenting styles, and
how genders may be parented differently. The present study hypothesized that helicopter
parenting could be associated with authoritarian style parenting, whereas permissive and
authoritative parenting styles could lead to autonomous behaviors in emerging adults.
II. Method
Participants
Prior to conducting the experiment, the project was approved by the Human
Experimentation Review Board (HERB) at Wagner College. Participants were 26 male
and 54 female college students from a four-year liberal arts college in Staten Island, New
York. All participants were compensated by receiving credit in their Introduction to
Psychology class.
Measures
Demographics Questionnaire. This questionnaire included questions on age,
gender, major, graduating class, ethnicity, and how often participants talk to their parents
via social media, texting, and/or over the phone.
Helicopter Parenting Questionnaire (HPQ; Schiffrin, et al, 2014). This
questionnaire consisted of 15 questions using a 6-point type scale, ranging from “strongly
disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (6), The scale measures two facets: helicopter
parenting, (e.g. My parent monitors my diet), and autonomy (e.g., "My parent encourages
me to make my own decisions, and take responsibility for the choices I have made.”)
Parenting Style Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ; Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen,
& Hart, (1995). This questionnaire consisted of 30 items using a 5-point scale, ranging
from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5), to assess for authoritative,
authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles. Participants were instructed to “try to read
and think about each statement as it applies to you and your parents during your years of
growing up at home.”
34
�Procedure
Research time slots were added to a participant pool website, allowing
Psychology 101 students to sign up for the study. On the date specified and chosen,
participants reported to the testing room, in groups of approximately 15. All participants
signed the informed consent form, and were asked to complete the demographics
worksheet as well as the two questionnaires. Packets were all in a varied order. At the
conclusion of the study, participants were given a debriefing worksheet with information
about the purpose of the study and contact information.
III. Results
In support of the hypothesis, a positive correlation between helicopter and
authoritarian parenting styles was found, r(82) = .38, p > 0.01. Authoritative parenting
style was positively correlated with autonomy r(82) = .29, p > 0.01. As expected, a
negative correlation between authoritarian and permissive style parenting, was found
r(82) = -.32, p < 0.01. There was no correlation between permissive parenting style and
autonomy.
When doing a gender breakdown, among females, authoritarian and helicopter
parenting styles were found to be positively correlated, r(54) = .39, p > 0.01, and
likewise, correlated negatively with autonomy, r(54) = -.27, p < 0.05. Authoritative
parenting style positively correlated with autonomy, r(54) = .38, p > 0.01, which was
consistent with the overall hypothesis.
Among males, a negative correlation among authoritative and helicopter
parenting, r(26) = -.43, p < 0.05. Likewise, comparing autonomy to permissive parenting,
r(26) = -.49, p < 0.05. Most notably, no correlation between authoritarian and helicopter
styles was found, in support of the hypothesis.
IV. Discussion
In this study, we were able to identify a relationship between authoritarian and
helicopter parenting styles. Additionally, authoritative and permissive parenting styles
were found to positively correlate with autonomy. However, correlations differed when
broken down by gender. Females remained in agreement with the hypothesis that
authoritarian parenting correlates to helicopter parenting, meaning there is a relationship
between strictness and over-involvement. However, among males, helicopter parenting
was negatively correlated with authoritative parenting style. Permissive style parenting
was correlated with autonomy, stating that the more permissive the parent, the less likely
35
�they are to be over-involved in their child’s lives. Most notably, authoritarian and
helicopter parenting styles among males showed no correlation whatsoever.
Results suggest that gender roles may play a factor in how parents interact with
their sons or daughters. Parents may be more likely to take a more permissive stance with
their sons, due to the stereotype that males are more independent. Contrarily, parents may
be more likely to be involved or hover over their daughters, due to the idea that women
are seen as more emotional or timid (Plant, Hyde, Keltner, & Devine, 2000).
There were several limitations to the current study. First, the PAQ, HPQ, and
demographics questionnaire are all self-report, and therefore may not accurately reflect
the participants’ honest answers. The participants used in this experiment were limited to
a small sample size of students in Introduction to Psychology courses, with limited ethnic
diversity. A more ethnically diverse sample size could account for variations among
parenting styles in different cultures, and assess if a parenting style is more dominant in a
certain culture than the others. The subjects were also drawn from the same college
campus, with a slight variation in age range. Including more participants, and different
age groups, could possibly account for a greater variation in data findings. Furthermore,
because helicopter parenting is a fairly new concept, there is limited research on it thus
far. Few studies have examined the effects of helicopter parenting among college
students (Schiffrin et al., 2014).
Despite these limitations, the present study offers a unique correlational finding
between Baumrind’s (1991) parenting styles and the newly developed, helicopter
parenting, that supported our overall hypothesis. In terms of parenting style effects, it
may be beneficial for emerging adults to identify how much of their decision making is
influenced by their parents. Subsequently, this may help adolescents work towards a
more balanced relationship with their parents. Being able to classify parenting may also
be useful in environments such as family counseling.
This research may also be useful for parents. Specifically, parents who have
children going away to college may benefit from learning how their parenting style can
impact the development of autonomy. The adjustment from constantly having a say in the
everyday decisions of their children, to letting them begin being more autonomous, could
be a difficult transition on parents (Whiteman, McHale, & Crouter, 2010).
V. References
Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and
substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11, 56-95.
36
�Baumrind, D. (2013). Authoritative parenting revisited: History and current status.
Authoritative parenting: Synthesizing nurturance and discipline for optimal child
development American Psychological Association, 11-34.
Bradley-Geist, J. C. & Olson-Buchanan, J. B. (2013). Helicopter parents: an examination
of the correlates of over-parenting of college students. Education + Training, 56, 314328.
De la Torre-Cruz, M. J., García-Linares, M. C., & Casanova-Arias, P. F. (2014).
Relationship between parenting styles and aggressiveness in adolescents. Electronic
Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 12, 147-169.
Golonka, M. M. (2014). Keeping in touch: Relationships between parenting style, parentchild electronic communication, and the developing autonomy and adjustment of college
students. Dissertation Abstracts International, 74.
Griess, S. (2010). Perceived parenting style and its relationship to hopefulness,
happiness, and optimism in a college student sample. Published Doctor of Psychology
Dissertation, University of Northern Colorado.
Hunt, J. (2008). Make room for daddy…and mommy: Helicopter parents are here! The
Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education, 4, 9–11.
LeMoyne, T., & Buchanan, T. (2011). Does hovering matter? Helicopter parenting and
its effect on well-being, Sociological Spectrum, 31, 399-418.
Love, K. M. & Thomas, D. M. (2014). Parenting styles and adjustment outcomes among
college students. Journal of College Student Development, 55, 139-150.
Montgomery, N. (2010). The negative impact of helicopter parenting on personality.
Association of Psychological Science.
Moriarty, E. A. (2012). Relationship of helicopter parenting on autonomy development in
first-year college students. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A, 72, 2290.
Padilla-Walker, L. M. & Nelson, L. J. (2012). Black hawk down?: Establishing helicopter
parenting as a distinct construct from other forms of parental control during emerging
adulthood. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1177-1190
Plant, E. A., Hyde, J. S., Keltner, D., & Devine, P. G. (2000). The gender stereotyping of
emotions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24, 81-92.
37
�Raboteg-Saric, Z. & Sakic, M. (2014). Relations of parenting styles and friendship
quality to sedlf-esteem, life satisfaction and happiness in adolescents. Applied Research
in Quality of Life, 9, 749-765.
Robinson, C., Mandleco, B., Olsen, S. F., & Hart, C. H. (1995). Authoritative,
authoritarian, and permissive parenting practices: Development of a new measure.
Psychological Reports,77, 819-830.
Schiffrin, H., Liss, M., Miles-McLean, H., Geary, K., Erchull, M., & Tashner, T. (2014).
Helping or hovering? The effects of helicopter oarenting on college students' well-being.
Journal of Child & Family Studies, 23, 548-557.
Segrin, C., Woszidlo, A., Givertz, M., Bauer, A. and Murphy, M. (2012). The association
between over parenting, parent-child communication, and entitlement and adaptive traits
in adult children. Family Relations, 61(2), 237-252.
Tucker, J., Ellickson, P. L., & Klein, D. J. (2008). Growing up in a permissive household:
What
deters at-risk adolescents from heavy drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol
and Drugs, 69, 528-534.
Turner, E. A., Chandler, M., & Heffer, R. W. (2009). The influence of parenting styles,
achievement motivation, and self-efficacy on academic performance in college students.
Journal of College Student Development, 50, 337-346.
Uji, M., Sakamoto, A., Adachi, K., Kitamura, T. (2013) The impact of authoritative,
authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles on children’s later mental health in japan:
Focusing on parent and child gender. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 22, 293-302.
Watabe, A. & Hibbard, D. R. (2014). The influence of authoritarian and authoritative
parenting on children’s academic achievement motivation: A comparison between the
United States and Japan. North American Journal of Psychology, 16, 359-382.
Whiteman, S. D., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2011). Family relationships from
adolescence to early adulthood: Changes in the family system following firstborns'
leaving home. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 461-474.
38
���From the Island to New York City: Puerto Rican
Educational Achievement and Policy Recommendations
Katie Murphy (History)1
“Living in a sixth floor apartment in the Bronx was like living in jail,” Nancy
Torres said when speaking about moving at age 10 to New York from the Puerto Rican
countryside. In Puerto Rico, she and her brother and sister played outside often in the
warm weather. When her family moved to the Bronx, they could not go outside to play
on the city block without their mother’s supervision. They moved to New York City in
the fall of 1955, so cold weather also limited their time outdoors. Catalino and Nancy
Torres’ migration experiences, like other Puerto Ricans, offer a different and interesting
twist on American immigration history. When Puerto Ricans came to the United States,
they were considered migrants, and were not immigrants. Since 1917, Puerto Ricans have
held U.S. citizenship. Since the 1950s, Puerto Ricans have migrated here for better
economic opportunities. Yet they have faced discrimination and barriers to the American
Dream. Puerto Ricans still have a high drop out rate from high school and lower wage
jobs compared to other Hispanic groups and whites. This paper will look at what
motivated the Puerto Rican migration and what can be done to change in order to lower
their high school drop out rate in New York City, including programs to promote preschool attendance and parent involvement, to change curriculum and to raise family
wages. It concludes with a look at the Torres family and their own family’s
contributions to this country, including in the U.S. Marine Corps. Educational
achievement and occupational opportunity have increased for Puerto Ricans since they
first migrated to New York City, however much more needs to be done.
The United States acquired Puerto Rico from Spain following their victory in the
1898 Spanish-American War and it became a territory of the United States. As a result of
this aquistion, the economy was disrupted and poverty increased.2 The United States
made economic investments in Puerto Rico’s sugar industry, which had a devastating
impact on the traditional and more labor-intensive coffee and tobacco industries. The
Written under the direction of Dr. Lori Weintrob for HI 325: Immigrant New York City,
1800-2016.
2 Stephanie A. Marquez, “Race, Class, and Gender: Reformulating the Push and Pull
Factors Explanation of Hispanic Immigration,” Race, Gender, and Class 4, no. 2 (1997):
45–55, 47.
1
41
�coffee and tobacco industries declined in the years between 1898 and 1930. The tobacco
industry came to an end in the early 1920s. Thousands of rural and working-class Puerto
Ricans were forced to migrate to the coast and cities to search for jobs. In the years
between 1898 and 1930 wages fell, living standards deteriorated, and unemployment
increased.3 Unemployment became an epidemic in Puerto Rico in the 1920s.4 These
were push factors for Puerto Ricans to migrate to New York City where there was plenty
of work in low skill manufacturing jobs.5
In 1917 Puerto Ricans were granted citizenship rights under the Jones Act of
1917.6 In 1924 Congress passed the Johnson-Reed Act. These laws shaped immigration
patterns in the United States until the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act was passed. The JohnsonReed Act of 1924 put quotas on immigration groups. The quotas allowed only two
percent of each immigrant population, recorded during the 1890 census, into the United
States each year7. When the Great Depression hit, Americans were thankful for this act
being in place. This changed very quickly, however. When the United States entered
World War II, more workers were needed to labor in the fields and factories because so
many men were being shipped overseas. Because the act did not allow a large number of
immigrants into the United States, businesses turned to Puerto Rico. Because Puerto
Ricans had citizenship rights, the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 did not affect them.
Companies began to make it easier for Puerto Ricans to come to the United States. Some
even went so far as to fly Puerto Ricans to New York for free! These pull factors explain
why we see a big increase in Puerto Rican migration at this time.
Puerto Rican migration grew extremely quickly. In 1920 there were 5,000
Puerto Ricans in New York City. In 1940 there were 61,463 Puerto Ricans living in New
York City. By 1960 there were 612,574 Puerto Ricans living in New York City8. In
2008 the number of Puerto Ricans living in New York City reached 1.2 million9!
Gabriel Haslip-Viera and Sherrie L Baver, Latinos in New York: Communities in
Transition (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996), 9.
4 Sherrie L. Baver, “The Rise and Fall of Section 936: The Historical Context and
Possible Consequences for Migration,” Centro Journal 11, no. 2 (Spring 2000): 44–55,
46.
5 Vilma Ortiz, “Changes in the Characteristics of Puerto Rican Migrants from 1955 to
1980,” International Migration Review 20, no. 3 (1986): 612-628, doi:10.2307/2545707,
613.
6 Kosuzu Abe, “Identities and Racism of Puerto Rican Migrants in New York City: An
Introductory Essay,” Transforming Anthropology 14, no. 1 (April 2006): 83–88, 85.
7 Statistical Abstract of the United States (Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office,
1929), 100.
8 Haslip-Viera and Baver, Latinos in New York, 8, 14.
3
42
�According to the 2010 Census the number of Puerto Ricans living in the United States as
a whole is 3.5 million.
As Puerto Ricans flocked to New York City, they developed a dynamic cultural
presence, even as they lived in concentrated areas. In April of 1958, the first Puerto
Rican Day Parade was held in New York City. Many Puerto Ricans moved into Barrios,
or Spanish-speaking neighborhoods with a high poverty level. Many Puerto Ricans were
attracted to Spanish Harlem and the Bronx because a Puerto Rican community was
already established there. The Nuyorican Poets Café, a non-profit organization that
promotes Puerto Rican art forms, was founded around 1973.
Although there was this great cultural presence in New York City that attracted
many Puerto Rican migrants, along with job opportunities, New York City was in the
decline. Following World War II many New York City factories and manufacturers
moved out of the city. Many families began to move to suburbia at this time, leaving
primarily lower-class families in the City. This is just one reason Puerto Ricans are
caught in the endless cycle of low wage jobs.
Education and Economic Challenges for N.Y.’s Puerto Ricans
A large number of advocacy groups have been founded over the years to try and
solve the problem of education and employment within the Puerto Rican community. In
1961 Puerto Rican educators and community leaders founded ASPIRA, Inc., to foster the
social and educational advancement of Puerto Rican students.10 Aspira v. Board of
Education, the 1972 federal lawsuit, had given way to a period of focus on Latinos, in
general, and on immigrant students. New York City became especially concerned with
increasing ESL instruction and providing aid to English language learner (ELLs).
Bilingual education was also emphasized.11 The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at
Hunter College was created to promote and encourage underrepresented groups, such as
Puerto Ricans, to get a higher education.12
Puerto Rican education has improved since the first migrants came to New York
City. With that there is still high drop out rates from high school within the Puerto Rican
community. Fourteen percent of Puerto Ricans who migrated in 1955 to 1960 graduated
Sonia G. Collazo, Camille L. Ryan, and Kurt J. Bauman, “Profile of the Puerto Rican
Population in United States and Puerto Rico: 2008,” U.S. Census Bureau: Housing and
Household Economic Statistics Division, April 15, 2010, 1–28, 7.
10 Luis O. Reyes, “Minding/Mending the Puerto Rican Education Pipeline in New York
City,” Centro Journal 24, no. 2 (Fall 2012): 140–59, 143.
11 Ibid, 147.
12 Ibid, 155-56.
9
43
�high school. That compares to 37 percent, who migrated in 1975 to 1980, that graduated
high school.13 In 1990 only 53 percent of mainland Puerto Ricans had a high school
diploma or equivalent. By 2008, 73 percent had a high school diploma or equivalent14.
Although Puerto Rican education levels have increased, they still fair poorly when
compared to the population in the United States. There is an educational gap between
Puerto Ricans and the rest of the population in the United States.15 Puerto Ricans have
the highest dropout rates in the United States and low college enrollment and graduation
rates. Young Puerto Rican males share poor educational outcomes with AfricanAmerican youth, according to one recent study. Only 55 percent of native born Puerto
Rican youth attend school in New York City. That rate is closer to native-born Black
youth at 61 percent rather than to native-born Dominicans at 68 percent or Mexicans at
67 percent.16
There are many reasons why Puerto Ricans are not doing well in education
compared to the rest of the population in the United States. One issue is that very few
Puerto Rican children go to pre-school. This deficit in early education magnifies when
these children reach adolescence.17 The National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP) indicated that 9 percent of Black 4th graders and 10 percent of Latino 4th graders
in New York City scored at or above proficiency on the science exam compared to 41
percent of White 4th graders. Five percent of Black, six percent of Latino, and 29 percent
of White students scored at or above proficiency on the 8th grade science exam.18 This
shows how Puerto Ricans are not fairing well in school.
Another reason Puerto Ricans are doing poorly in school is because New York
City public schools are often segregated. About 84 percent of Latino students enrolled in
New York State public schools attend a school that has 50 percent or higher minority
population. About 57 percent are enrolled in schools that are 90 percent or higher
minority population.19 Another issue is the fact that Puerto Ricans attend larger public
Ortiz, “Puerto Rican Migrants from 1955 to 1980,” 617-18.
Collazo, Ryan, and Bauman, “Profile of the Puerto Rican Population in United States
and Puerto Rico: 2008,” 6.
15 Ortiz, “Puerto Rican Migrants from 1955 to 1980,” 619.
16 Reyes, “Minding/Mending the Puerto Rican Education Pipeline in New York City,”
144.
17 Clive R. Belfield, “The Economic Consequences of Inadequate Education for the
Puerto Rican Population in the United States,” Centro Journal 22, no. 2 (Fall 2010): 234–
59, 237.
18 Reyes, “Minding/Mending the Puerto Rican Education Pipeline in New York City,”
148.
19 Ibid, 143.
13
14
44
�high schools with higher student to teacher ratios. This is associated with low school
productivity and contributes to poor academic outcomes.
Puerto Ricans have been thought of as “one of the most undereducated ethnic
groups in the United States.”20 This is thought to be for several reasons including social,
cultural, and assimilation factors. There is a link between low income and low
attainment. In the 1990 Census Puerto Ricans had the highest poverty rate and the
second highest dropout rate amongst young adults. ASPIRA of New York produced a
report that showed that up to 68 percent of Latino youth were dropping out of City
schools.21 Puerto Ricans ages 25 and older in the United States have a dropout rate from
high school at 28 percent. There has not been much evidence that the education status is
improving since the 1990s and the college attendance rate has risen for Hispanics
however it has not for Puerto Ricans.22
Generally individuals who graduate from high school will earn significantly
more than dropouts and those who go to college will earn more than high school
graduates. People with more education report a better health status, and are less likely to
be involved in the welfare and/or criminal justice systems. These benefits yield fiscal
and social benefits and cause economic growth to be boosted.23 Clearly it is important to
make changes to help Puerto Rican students and lower the dropout rates. New York City
public schools have a history of failure when it comes to Puerto Rican students
completing high school with a diploma. Instead of school being a successful pathway out
of poverty, many public high schools are considered “dropout factories” and do the
opposite.24 The least experienced teachers, the most teachers teaching out of
certification, and the highest rates of teacher turnover are the teachers teaching at the
schools most Puerto Rican students attend. On top of this these schools are overcrowded, under resourced, and low performing.25
To fix this problem it is imperative to get the parents involved. Because Puerto
Rican parents may not speak English it is important to provide resources for them as well
Belfield, “The Economic Consequences of Inadequate Education for the Puerto Rican
Population in the United States.”
21 Reyes, “Minding/Mending the Puerto Rican Education Pipeline in New York City,”
143.
22 Belfield, “The Economic Consequences of Inadequate Education for the Puerto Rican
Population in the United States,” 238.
23 Ibid, 236.
24 Reyes, “Minding/Mending the Puerto Rican Education Pipeline in New York City,”
143.
25 Ibid, 144.
20
45
�and educate them on the importance of an education in the United States.26 Parent
involvement is not the only solution to this problem. It is also important to increase
Puerto Rican enrollment in pre-school. Curriculums and classroom involvement has to
be aimed more at culture and identity as well as language. It is important that an agenda
and policy be in place that includes a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. To
solve the issue of the high dropout rates we must enhance and support students’ basic
skills development, create alternate pathways to graduation, and provide supportive
transitions from middle to high school. Teachers and staff have to be culturally
competent in terms of the community of their students. It is essential to provide equal
and consistent access to quality education, education starting at a young age, smaller
class sizes, effective teachers, rigorous curricula and interactive, student-centered
pedagogies.27
There is a clear link between educational attainment and economic success. It is
imperative to reduce poverty among Puerto Rican young children, young adults, and the
working poor.28 Low educational attainment generally leads to low income.29 Puerto
Ricans are highly concentrated in low wage jobs. Individuals who are educated
experience higher income, wealth and improved health status. Education can help better
avoid poverty and debt.30 A Puerto Rican at age 20 years old who completes high school
is estimated to earn $631,960 over their lifetime. A Puerto Rican of the same age who
dropped out of high school is estimated to earn $396,300 over their lifetime.31 Simply
finishing high school allows you to earn double what you would if you dropped out of
high school over your lifetime! This clearly shows a link between low wage jobs and
drop out rates.
Puerto Ricans came to the United States for a better life and more opportunity.
A survey of Puerto Ricans who migrated to the United States in the 1950s-70s showed
that 60 percent cited “obtaining employment.”32 Today many Puerto Rican migrants are
employed in low wage jobs.33 The probability of being a low wage worker is ten times
Ibid, 151-53.
Ibid, 154-55.
28 Ibid, 151.
29 Belfield, “The Economic Consequences of Inadequate Education for the Puerto Rican
Population in the United States,” 238.
30 Ibid, 240.
31 Ibid, 245.
32 Ortiz, “Puerto Rican Migrants from 1955 to 1980,” 620.
33 M. Anne Visser and Edwin Meléndez, “Puerto Ricans in the U.S. Low-Wage Labor
Market: Introduction to the Issues, Trends, and Policies,” Centro Journal 23, no. 2 (Fall
2011): 4–19, 5.
26
27
46
�higher for minority populations. Puerto Rican migrants are mostly concentrated in lower
status occupations. These occupations include laborer, operative, and farmer.34 Puerto
Ricans are so heavily concentrated in low wage jobs for several reasons including, the
influence of migration to and from the island, the role of policy initiatives such as the
publicly-financed workforce investment system, and community responses to labor
market policy.35 Puerto Ricans and other minority groups are disadvantaged in the labor
market. These groups are in industries where economic factors and expansion of service
jobs have led to a deterioration of working conditions and labor market outcomes for
workers.36
Puerto Ricans are considered an exception within the Hispanic subgroups. They
are less likely to be self-employed and are a part of the earning gap in the United States.
Puerto Ricans are also a part of the underclass in the United States. The underclass can
be defined as “populations with high levels of poverty, social and political
disenfranchisement, marginal participation in the labor market, and a high reliance on
government transfers.”37 This exception is rooted in structural characteristics. These
characteristics include lack of access to education and training opportunities, employment
in industries concentrated in geographical areas that have experienced extreme economic
dislocation, and labor market discrimination.38 Puerto Ricans experience higher
unemployment rates and poverty than other Hispanic groups. Puerto Ricans also have
high rates of welfare. This generally leads to more unemployment and the cycle
continues.39
One American Journey
For this paper, I interviewed Nancy and Catalino Torres about their migration
experiences. Nancy Marrero, later married Catalino and took the name Torres, migrated
to the United States in 1955. She was ten years old. Her father had been in the United
States for two years prior. He had a job in Connecticut. When Nancy came to the United
States she came with her mother, her brother, and her sister. They settled in the Bronx.
She started school right away. She recalled school being quite difficult at first because
she did not know English and there was not much support provided. She still remembers
how different life in New York City was and depicted it as being trapped indoors. She
Ortiz, “Puerto Rican Migrants from 1955 to 1980,” 619.
Visser and Meléndez, “Puerto Ricans in the U.S. Low-Wage Labor Market,” 6.
36 Ibid, 5.
37 Ibid, 7-8.
38 Ibid, 8.
39 Ibid, 5, 8.
34
35
47
�also hated the cold! Nancy graduated high school on a business track and with an
accounting focus. Upon graduating she was hired as a bookkeeper for McGraw-Hill
book and publishing company. She moved her way up the ladder and eventually became
the inventory manager and manufacturing scheduler. She retired after 33 years with the
company. After retirement, she began working as a data processor scheduler for her local
school system. She also did the bookkeeping for her husband’s business, which he began
in 1984.
Catalino Torres came to the United States in 1957. He was 15 years old. He
went straight to high school. He attended and graduated Morris High School in the
Bronx, which is where his family settled. His father had come to New York six months
before he arrived and started working. He did not speak English when he got the New
York. He first got a job in an Italian restaurant as a busboy. He remembered learning
Italian before he learned English because that was all that was spoken at the restaurant.
He said that did make it a bit harder to learn English, however he learned English in a
little over a year. Following his job as a busboy, he became a waiter and then a
bartender. He then started managing a small restaurant during the day and started a
business at night. In 1984 Catalino and his brother started a cleaning and maintenance
business. Eventually it became too large and they split the company into two. Catalino’s
company was named C & N Cleaning. He retired in 2009 and gave the company to his
son.
Catalino and Nancy are examples of Puerto Rican success stories. Catalino and
Nancy married and had two sons. They moved to New Jersey in 1972. They have a son
who is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. They both graduated
high school and made good livings for themselves and their family. Catalino opened his
own business, a rarity in the Puerto Rican community. They were also both able to retire
and move onto a farm in Florida. This gave Nancy all the room to play and the warm
weather she has wished for since she was a ten-year-old girl!
The Puerto Rican community has made many positive contributions and steps to
empower itself in education. One positive contribution is the ethnic studies department
and the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College. This center for higher
learning encourages Puerto Ricans to get a higher education and be able to do it in a place
48
�A photograph of Catalino and Nancy Torres.
that understands your ethnic and cultural background. In order for this to happen it is
extremely important to have culturally relevant coursework, faculty, and advisors that
relate to the students, and institutions like Centro that give students a sense of belonging.40
Another example of a positive contribution is Puerto Rican participation in the United
States military. The rate of military participation among Puerto Ricans is higher than it is
for the population as a whole.41 Although until recently, too many in the Puerto Rican
community have lived in poverty in New York City, it is projected that within a few
years more Puerto Ricans will live in Florida than in the state of New York42. With
Puerto Ricans moving to Florida, there is a great possibility that their positions both
educationally and economically will begin to improve!
As you can see Puerto Rican migrants’ economic and education statuses have
improved since migrants first started arriving to New York City. Puerto Rican migrants’
economic and education statuses have not improved however when compared to the
general population of the United States. Puerto Rican migrants have a high drop out rate
from high school and because of this continue to be employed in low wage jobs. Puerto
Ricans have a high level of poverty that shows no end in sight if something is not done to
lower the high school drop-out rates. Clearly New York City schools, and schools
around the country, need to change. We need teachers, parents, students, Puerto Rican
Reyes, “Minding/Mending the Puerto Rican Education Pipeline in New York City,”
155-56.
41 Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New
Millennium (New York, NY: Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College, CUNY,
2014).
42 Ibid.
40
49
�community members, lawmakers, etc. to step in and make the changes necessary so that
the Puerto Rican community can succeed.
Works Cited
Abe, Kosuzu. “Identities and Racism of Puerto Rican Migrants in New York City: An
Introductory Essay.” Transforming Anthropology 14, no. 1 (April 2006): 83–88.
Barreto, Amílcar A. “Speaking English in Puerto Rico: The Impact of Affluence,
Education and Return Migration.” Centro Journal 12, no. 1 (Fall 2000): 4–17.
Baver, Sherrie L. “The Rise and Fall of Section 936: The Historical Context and Possible
Consequences for Migration.” Centro Journal 11, no. 2 (Spring 2000): 44–55.
Belfield, Clive R. “The Economic Consequences of Inadequate Education for the Puerto
Rican Population in the United States.” Centro Journal 22, no. 2 (Fall 2010): 234–59.
Collazo, Sonia G., Camille L. Ryan, and Kurt J. Bauman. “Profile of the Puerto Rican
Population in United States and Puerto Rico: 2008.” U.S. Census Bureau: Housing and
Household Economic Statistics Division, April 15, 2010, 1–28.
Haslip-Viera, Gabriel, and Sherrie L Baver. Latinos in New York: Communities in
Transition. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996.
Marquez, Stephanie A. “Race, Class, and Gender: Reformulating the Push and Pull
Factors Explanation of Hispanish Immigration.” Race, Gender, and Class 4, no. 2 (1997):
45–55.
Meléndez, Edwin, and Anne M. Visser. “Low-Wage Labor, Markets and Skills
Selectivity Among Puerto Rican Migrants.” Centro Journal 23, no. 2 (Fall 2011): 38–62.
Meléndez, Edwin, and Carlos Vargas-Ramos. Puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New
Millennium. New York, NY: Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College, CUNY,
2014.
Ortiz, Vilma. “Changes in the Characteristics of Puerto Rican Migrants from 1955 to
1980.” International Migration Review 20, no. 3 (1986): 612. doi:10.2307/2545707.
50
�Pérez-Johnson, Irma L. “Industrial Change and Puerto Rican Migration to the United
States, 1982-1988.” Latino Studies Journal 4, no. 2 (1993): 71–92.
Reyes, Luis O. “Minding/Mending the Puerto Rican Education Pipeline in New York
City.” Centro Journal 24, no. 2 (Fall 2012): 140–59.
Statistical Abstract of the United States (Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office,
1929), 100.
51
�Jewish Artists in Nazi Germany: Charlotte Salomon
Jessica Catanzaro (History)1
“The war raged on and I sat by the sea and saw deep into the heart of humankind. I was
my mother my grandmother indeed I was all the characters in my play. I learned to walk
all paths and became myself.”
-Charlotte Salomon
Hitler and the Nazis came to power in 1933 and exhausted every effort to
persecute the Jews of Europe. Jews all across Europe were kicked out of their homes and
businesses and were forced to wear a yellow star that labeled them as Jews. Charlotte
Salomon, born in Berlin, grew up during the Nazi persecution of the Jews, and faced
much of this persecution herself. Charlotte painted her last work, Life? Or Theater?,
under this persecution. How was Charlotte Salomon’s life affected by the Nazi regime?
How is her final work Life? Or Theater? representative of her life in Nazi Berlin? During
her life under the Nazis, Charlotte fled from Berlin to France and was taken to several
concentration camps before being taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau. However, Charlotte’s
work was also plagued by childhood secrets regarding the suicides of her aunt and
mother. In short, Charlotte Salomon had gone through girlhood in a house of suicides,
had done her schooling in a Fascist state, had spent her fruitful years in exile, and learned
the horrible truth of the fate of her people at the gates of Auschwitz.
Charlotte Salomon’s Life? Or Theatre? is a narrative series of 769 finished
gouaches and nearly 500 additional paintings that tells the fictionalized story of Charlotte
Salomon’s family history from 1913 through 1942. Charlotte combines word and image
into her pieces; which were incorporated through semitransparent pages that provide
description, dialogue, and music for the images, which Charlotte taped to the front of
many of her paintings.2 In the later images, when Charlotte is running out of supplies in
her exile, she paints the words directly onto the pictures. Charlotte’s work is ordered in a
numbered and sequential form. Life? Or Theater? has a list of characters, and is divided
into a prologue, a main act, and an epilogue.3 Unknowingly, by creating this work,
Written under the direction of Dr. Laura Morowitz for AH291: Art and Aesthetics in Nazi
Germany.
2 Ariela Freedman, “Charlotte Salomon’s Life? Or Theater? A Melodrama?,” Criticism
55, no. 4 (Fall 2013): 617.
3 Griselda Pollock, “What Does a Woman Want? Art Investigating Death in Charlotte
1
52
�Charlotte provides Holocaust scholars with a unique look into Jewish life and persecution
during the Nazi regime.4
Charlotte Salomon was born on April 16, 1917 in Berlin, Germany to Dr. Albert
Salomon and Franze Grunwald.5 Charlotte and her family lived in an apartment at 15
Wielandstrasse in Charlottenburg, “a lovely part of western Berlin where trees shaded the
side streets and cafes brightened the boulevards; the great Jewish department stores and
the synagogues stood solid and steady a walk away.”6 During her youth, Charlotte was
withdrawn, serious, pale, tall, and nondescript, and according to one of Charlotte’s
childhood friends, “a girl you would never look at twice.”7 In school photos, Charlotte
Salomon was always the one staring into space at the edge of the group. Other girls at her
school thought of Charlotte as a “nonperson”, as someone who was there but did not
matter to the social life of the school. However, Charlotte was “shielding her fragile core
– the loss of her mother, the hush around it – and brooding her way forward.”8
From the windows of their apartment, Charlotte was able to see friends passing
by, and later the Nazis marching past. However, these windows held a different kind of
significance for Charlotte Salomon. In the winter of 1925-1926, Franze Grunwald
Salomon suddenly could do nothing but stare out the windows of the apartment and one
day, she threw herself out the window to the ground.9 Charlotte Salomon was twenty-two
when she first learned of and understood the tragic fate of both her mother and her aunt.
Charlotte Grunwald, Franze’s younger sister, committed suicide by drowning when she
was eighteen, in 1913. Charlotte Salomon is named after her. The legacy of her mother’s
and aunt’s suicides was kept secret until 1939 when Charlotte’s grandfather broke the
news.10 What Charlotte learned affected and perhaps inspired her work Life? Or
Theater?. When Charlotte started her work in 1941, she painted death-mask faces of her
great-grandmother, great-uncle, aunt, mother, and two other relatives, then counted them
in a song: “One two three four five six, does this mean we have a hex?”11 An arrow skips
Salomon’s Leben? Oder Theater?,” Art History 30, no. 3 (June 2007): 386.
4 Freedman, “Charlotte Salomon’s Life?,” 617.
5 Mary Lowenthal Felstiner, To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi Era (New
York: Harper Collins, 1994), 4.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid., 24.
8 Ibid., 26.
9 Ibid., 5.
10 Ibid., 11.
11 Carolyn F. Austin, “The Endurance of Ash: Melancholia and the Persistance of the
Material in Charlotte Salomon’s Leben? Oder Theater?,” Biography: An Interdisciplinary
Quarterly 31, no. 1 (Winter 2008): 109; Felstiner, To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon
53
�from each face before landing on Charlotte herself; this could only show one thing,
Charlotte believed that chances were, whatever took them would take her too.
Charlotte’s childhood was also marred by the rise of the Nazis, and this also
greatly influenced Life? Or Theater?. Charlotte had a great desire to know what
happened to her life in Germany, so while she was in exile, she explored the appeal of
Nazism to those who idolized it. Two pieces in her story look down at the Nazi parade on
the day that Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany, January 30, 1933. Mary Lowenthal
Felstiner, Charlotte’s biographer, describes these pieces: “First the Nazis uniform the
crowds so that men can lose themselves in a numberless mass: all the ranks turn
brownshirt color as far as the eye can see. Then Nazism saturates them with symbols until
the tedium retards all thought: one crowd looks stupefied by a swastika banner, another
by a poster with the features of the so-called Jewish face.”12
During this period, the Nazis discriminated against Jews in every area of life.
The first act of persecution was the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. These laws declared who
was Jewish based on family and heritage. The Nuremberg Laws made Judaism into a race
rather than a religion which strengthened Hitler’s ideology. These laws also segregated
the Jews from public life in Germany, for example, there were specific benches labeled
Jude for Jews and other benches for Aryan Germans.13 Early in the regime, the Nazis
declared the boycott of all Jewish stores and goods on April 1, 1933. It was Hitler’s goal
to crush the Jews economically so that they would have no choice but to leave Germany.
Charlotte Salomon captures the essence of the April 1st boycott in one of her paintings: “1
April 1933. Boycott the Jews. Buy from a Jew and you’re a pig too.”14 The April 1st
boycott was ultimately a failure for the Nazis because the ordinary German people just
bought their goods from the Jewish stores the day before.15 Gradually, the Nazi laws
became more restrictive and turned into pogroms against the Jewish people of Germany.
One such pogrom occurred during Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, on the
night of November 9-10, 1938.16 During the Kristallnacht pogrom, 267 synagogues and
7,500 businesses were destroyed, some 91 Jews were killed, and hundreds more
committed suicide or died as a result of mistreatment in the camps.17
in the Nazi Era, 12.
12 Felstiner, To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi Era, 29.
13 Saul Friedlander, Nazi Germany and the Jews: 1933-1945 (New York: Harper
Perennial, 2009), 44–53.
14 Felstiner, To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi Era, 29.
15 Friedlander, Nazi Germany and the Jews: 1933-1945, 10.
16 Ibid., 112.
17 Ibid., 115.
54
�After the events of Kristallnacht, thousands of Jews were arrested and sent to
the Sachsenhausen camp.18 Charlotte’s father was one of them. The pages Charlotte
paints of her father’s time in the camp are hit with a flat swab of color and Charlotte casts
rough hasty lines over it, representing Charlotte’s unwillingness to dwell on her father’s
pain. Another image of Sachsenhausen depicts Charlotte’s father bent half the height of
the Kommandant. His stoop in these scenes told the truth of reality in the Sachsenhausen
camp; the Kommandant of the camp had announced that “this concentration camp is not a
rest home. It is a center for National Socialist education. The Jews need simply to learn
how to behave toward their hosts [otherwise] they will receive twenty-four blows
hanging by their arms upside down.”19 The next painting depicts her father upon his
return home, starved and ill.
After the annexation of Austria in 1938, Charlotte Salomon and 78,000 other
Jews left Germany.20 Charlotte paints this moment as well, and she asks the viewer to
“hear all the over again the music from the early scenes, to recall the circles and ruptures
of love, to hold in mind the home where Charlotte’s whole life has been lived.”21 In this
image, Charlotte is standing with her family surrounding her; there is an absence of a
background, the main focus is Charlotte and her family telling her that she needs to get
on the train. This is Charlotte’s last glimpse of Berlin and the family that inhabits it. It is
at this point that Charlotte goes into exile where she will paint these depictions of her life.
Back in 1933, when Hitler and the Nazis first came to power, Charlotte’s
maternal grandparents were able to flee Germany and run to the aid of their American
friend Ottilie Moore in Villefranche, France.22 When Charlotte fled in January of 1939,
she was welcomed into their open arms. A month after Charlotte left Berlin, Albert
Salomon and his new wife Paula fled too with plans to meet Charlotte in France once
they had papers for all three of them. Albert and Paula settled in Amsterdam with Jewish
friends and Charlotte “lived without their guidance, or their doubts, for the first time.”23
When Charlotte wrote to friends she described herself as being “renewed and clear, out of
so much suffering and sorrow.”24 Facing years of oppression with no end in sight,
Charlotte’s grandmother finds her tough exterior cracking. In September 1939, the very
month the Nazis invade Poland, Charlotte finds her grandmother with a noose around her
Felstiner, To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi Era, 79.
Ibid., 80.
20 Ibid., 92.
21 Ibid., 94.
22 Ibid., 100.
23 Ibid., 99.
24 Ibid., 101.
18
19
55
�neck in the bathroom of Ottilie’s house. What her grandmother feared would happen to
Charlotte, happened to her. Fortunately, Charlotte’s grandmother was not dead and she
was nursed back to health.25 In an effort to cheer her grandmother up, Charlotte began
painting her grandmother’s life. This was Charlotte’s first step in documenting her own
life in Berlin, her first move towards Life? Or Theater?.
After Charlotte’s grandmother recovers, Charlotte admits to manipulating her
grandparents to leave the house of Ottilie and to resettle in Nice. It is here that Charlotte’s
grandfather tells Charlotte of the suicides of her aunt and mother. Later, Charlotte paints
this scene as described earlier, the death-masks of all those who committed suicide.
Another scene shows her grandfather telling Charlotte that “in this family of yours, every
single person commits suicide.”26 As these words snake around her grandfather, the faces
in the image turn to grey slabs, show up tragic, then malevolent, then drain blank. In the
scene, Charlotte “sheds all identity of her own, down to two colors and an outline, as
deprived of features as she had been of facts. In this unguarded state, like a blank surface
waiting to be etched, she has to absorb the family legacy.”27 Here Charlotte writes, “I
knew nothing of all that.”28 It is for this reason that Charlotte’s work is one of
“estrangement and uncovering; the detached narrative voice describes the events in a tone
of ironic disbelief and quiet astonishment.”29 It is now that Charlotte feels that she has to
explore her life, a life that was surrounded by secrecy. In Charlotte’s own words, she
begins Life? Or Theater? “so as not to lose my mind.”30 Charlotte now paints all of the
scenes that were mentioned above, as well as many others that detail her life from the
moment her mother committed suicide.
During May and June 1940, the French were failing to hold off the Germans.
With the disintegration of France came the order of the “internment of people dangerous
for the national defense.”31 What this meant was that all Jewish refugees living in France
were to be sent to concentration camps. Charlotte is one of those refugees. The train takes
Charlotte and her grandfather to the Gurs center in the French Pyrenees.32 Charlotte
stayed at the Gurs camp for several months before being released on July 12 in order to
Ibid., 104.
Ibid., 107.
27 Ibid., 109.
28 Ibid., It is at this point that Charlotte’s grandmother throws herself from the window,
like her daughter before her.
29 Freedman, “Charlotte Salomon’s Life?,” 628.
30 Felstiner, To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi Era, 112.
31 Friedlander, Nazi Germany and the Jews: 1933-1945, 192.
32 Felstiner, To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi Era, 119.
25
26
56
�accompany her grandfather home. Charlotte was given a permit and a place to live in
Nice. Leaving Gurs in July saved Charlotte’s life, if only for a few years, because at least
four thousand Jews were murdered in Gurs when the Nazi-approved Vichy government
of France made Gurs a conduit to German murder camps.33
In order to accomplish what the quote above suggests, “…I learned to walk all
paths and became myself,” Charlotte moved away from her grandfather to St. Jean Cap
Ferrat.34 It was here where she worked on the rest of the pieces for Life? Or Theater?. As
Mary Lowenthal Felstiner explains, Charlotte started her scenes from melodies, labeled a
memoir as an operetta, arranged the work into acts, labeled the people in her life as
performers, and narrated the scenes through an unnamed author.35 Charlotte gave this
unique form of storytelling a name: Dreifarben Singespiel, which translates to mean tricolor opera. This name describes Charlotte’s work well because in fact, she used only
three colors: red, blue, and yellow, or a blend of these.36 Wherever Charlotte’s
explanatory texts, those which gave dialogue and description, seemed too private, she
revised them by penciling additions on the overlays to “identify a character, to indicate a
new act, or sharpen a crucial scene.”37 After the scenes of Kristallnacht, the text becomes
foreboding. “Words well up within the paintings, and language becomes the expressive
graphic element. Finally words infiltrate all the spaces until the last pictures are pure
letters devoid of images.”38
As conditions for refugees became worse in France, Charlotte decided to travel
back to Nice to protect her grandfather. When she returned to Nice, Charlotte met another
refugee who knew Ottilie Moore, Alexander Nagler. On June 17, 1943, Charlotte and
Alexander married in the Town Hall of Nice.39 Happiness did not last long for the couple,
by September of that year, roundups of Jewish refugees had begun. Charlotte and
Alexander were caught on September 24, 1943 and taken to the camp of Drancy.40
Drancy was a transfer point for all Jewish refugees captured in France. After spending a
few days in the camp, Alexander and Charlotte were sent on a train to Auschwitz. Upon
arriving at Auschwitz, Alexander Nagler was waved to the left-hand column, tattooed
with number 157166, sent to Block 55 of the work camp of Auschwitz III, and settled
Ibid., 123.
Ibid., 141.
35 Ibid., 144.
36 Ibid.
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid., 147.
39 Ibid., 167.
40 Ibid., 193.
33
34
57
�into a mass of slaves. Once, Alexander’s name appeared on the infirmary’s list. On
January 1, 1944, it appeared again, in the Register of the Dead.41 Charlotte Salomon
Nagler approached the selection ramp. There were several factors in her favor: not ill, not
with small child, German-speaking, German-looking, able-bodied, young, and skilled in
calligraphy. One factor against Charlotte: she was at least five months pregnant.
Charlotte’s name was entered nowhere in the records of the camp. She was sent to the gas
chambers on arrival.42
Charlotte Salomon’s Life? Or Theater? was recovered after the war by Ottilie
Moore, to whom Charlotte dedicated the work. This strange and mysterious volume of
musically inspired paintings annotated with texts on transparent overlays has only
recently begun to be considered as a modernist or avant-garde work of art. Charlotte’s
work has attracted a growing scholarly attention in relation to studies of art and trauma,
German-Jewish art in Nazi Germany, and in relation to feminist studies in autobiography.43
Charlotte Salomon’s work is currently at the Jewish Historical Museum of Amsterdam,
although they are not usually on display.
Works Cited
Austin, Carolyn F. “The Endurance of Ash: Melancholia and the Persistance of the
Material in Charlotte Salomon’s Leben? Oder Theater?” Biography: An Interdisciplinary
Quarterly 31, no. 1 (Winter 2008): 103–32.
Felstiner, Mary Lowenthal. To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi Era. New
York: Harper Collins, 1994.
Freedman, Ariela. “Charlotte Salomon’s Life? Or Theater? A Melodrama?” Criticism 55,
no. 4 (Fall 2013): 617–36.
Friedlander, Saul. Nazi Germany and the Jews: 1933-1945. New York: Harper Perennial, 2009.
Pollock, Griselda. “What Does a Woman Want? Art Investigating Death in Charlotte
Salomon’s Leben? Oder Theater?” Art History 30, no. 3 (June 2007): 383–405.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-8365.2007.00551.x.
Ibid., 203.
Ibid.
43 Pollock, “What Does a Woman Want?,” 384.
41
42
58
�Nazi March
Does this mean we have a hex?
At Sachsenhausen
You have to get on the train now
59
�‘Wind of Her Misfortune’: The Role
of Nature in Innocent Erendira
Nicole Bianco (Business Administration)1
Nature is often underappreciated in the hustle and bustle of society. Readers
may just skim over the environmental details in Innocent Erendira, by Gabriel Garcia
Marquez, but each element: wind, desert, rain/water/sea, and sun, all make a significant
contribution to Marquez’s plot development. Marquez’s specific references to nature
throughout his novella have hidden meanings that enhance the story, constructing a
mystic, fairytale-like style to a rather political and seriously intended work.
In “Recommended: Gabriel Garcia Marquez,” Rafael C. Castillo describes
Innocent Erendira as a story that is “metaphorical with symbols to suggest political
allegory” (77). The weather-related aspects of the story each have deeper implications,
and some symbolize critical moments. For example, in the beginning, Marquez
introduces Erendira with her grandmother right as “the wind of her misfortune began to
blow” (1). The wind symbolizes the spell that Erendira is under, and as the story
progresses, Erendira continues to struggle with the force of the wind. Marquez uses the
wind as a metaphor for Erendira’s difficulty with her grandmother, probably because the
wind in itself is a difficulty. Wind, when strong enough, knocks down trees, power-lines,
houses, even people. It makes sense for Marquez to choose this element of nature,
figuratively representing Erendira trying to move against the wind, trying to push through
the force that the grandmother controls her with. Just as the wind causes great destruction
in the real world, Erendira’s wind of misfortune demolishes her life.
Another nature symbol is the use of the desert in Innocent Erendira. The desert
is first brought up when the mansion Erendira lives in, is talked about. Marquez tells the
reader that the mansion is “lost in the solitude of the desert” (1). Erendira is already
secluded by the grandmother’s spell, but the desert symbolizes another type of isolation
from the people around her. Just as deserts are separated from most life forms, the sexual
exploitation she goes through also causes her to live a life apart from everyone as well
(except Ulises). The climate is then described as “accursed” (3), and again the house is
noted as “far away from everything, in the heart of the desert next to a settlement with
miserable and burning streets where the goats committed suicide from desolation when
the wind of misfortune blew” (3). The wind thus adds a sinister dreariness to the desert,
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley for EN111: World Literature.
60
�and contributes to the supernatural feel of Marquez’s story. Marquez’s mention of the
desert also sets up the rest of the plot, because the desert later becomes a barrier and a
key setting in the story.
As the tale of Erendira carries on, the desert and wind come back as she does her
chores: “Around eleven o’clock, when she was watering the desert weeds, she had to
fight off the anger of the wind, which had become unbearable, but she didn’t have the
slightest feeling that it was the wind of her misfortune” (4). The act of watering the desert
weeds, trying to restore life to something already dead, is similar to Erendira’s situation.
Because she is under her grandmother’s spell, in a way she is the desert weed. She can’t
live her life, so she is basically lifeless, as long as she remains in the trance controlled by
her grandmother. These symbols of the desert and the wind add to the magic realism
technique that Marquez used to reinforce the story. They enchant the story, but at the
same time, they still reveal the horror of reality, when the grandmother manipulates
Erendira.
A turning point in the plot happens when Erendira’s candle starts a fire in the
house. Marquez notes, “the wind of her misfortune came into the bedroom like a pack of
hounds and knocked the candle over against the curtain. At dawn, when the wind finally
stopped, a few thick and scattered drops of rain began to fall, putting out the last embers”
(7). From this point forward, Erendira experiences the worst part of her “misfortune” and
spell, as she becomes a part of child trafficking. The wind that caused the fire is a
damaging force and could be considered evil. However, the rain contrasts with this. The
rain contrasts with this, because it is calming in this situation. It put the fire out and is the
form of nature that tries to aid Erendira. Erendira awakes “relaxed by the sound of the
sea” (47) at the end, confirming that the rain and sea are elements of relief. The rain
could also suggest a quality in Ulises, because he too is soothing for Erendira and
ultimately helps her escape her spell.
As Erendira’s grandmother is auctioning her to a widower, all of a sudden, a
storm appears. The author states, “The storm threatened to knock the house down, and
there were so many leaks in the roof that it was raining almost as much inside as out” (8).
First the wind/fire symbolized the downfall of Erendira, and now the storm is another
element that suggests further destruction too. The storm continues as Erendira is forced
into bed with the widower—her innocence being lost, and her body being destroyed. The
events in the story clearly correlate with the weather conditions.
The next nature element that Marquez uses to enhance Innocent Erendira is the
sun. He writes, “The grandmother protected herself from the sun with a tattered umbrella
and it was hard for her to breathe” (10). The sun conventionally represents light and
61
�goodness, which is the complete opposite of the grandmother. She is the villain in this
story and thus cannot face the sun. The grandmother is seen shielding herself from the
sun in another instance as she travels through the towns: “She [the grandmother] was
protected from the motionless sun by the half-spoked umbrella that Erendira held over
her head” (15). The grandmother cannot absorb any of the light radiating off of the sun,
not just because of her advanced age, but because the sun is like poison to her. She is full
of darkness, and even though Marquez doesn’t explicitly state this, it can be inferred.
Once Erendira’s innocence is broken, the grandmother suggests that she “take a
bath in sage water to get [her] blood back into shape” (18). Water, like the element of
rain, is needed in order for all things to grow. Here it is seen as though it too has healing
powers and can purify Erendira’s body. This is yet another, not so obvious example of
the mystical side of Marquez’s story. A few pages after, when Ulises meets Erendira, and
she claims she is going to die, he says, “My mother says that people who die in the desert
don’t go to heaven but to the sea” (20). As already established, the desert suggests
isolation, and the sea is associated with Ulises; he is giving Erendira hope that even
though she may be isolated because of her grandmother, she won’t be that way when she
dies, she will go to the sea—Ulises. Ulises then goes on to explain that the sea “[is] like
the desert but with water” (21). Water, an element that heals, could heal a desert, making
more life forms possible to live there, and symbolically, Ulises could heal Erendira’s
loneliness. Ulises’s mother mentions “purifying baths” (33) likewise, after she learns that
he has become “lovesick” (33) over Erendira, also suggesting that water heals.
The wind of Erendira’s misfortune changes to “a wind as fierce as the wind of
misfortune” (23) when a bunch of missionaries stand in the middle of the desert, holding
up crucifixes. This change is significant because the missionaries go on to shame the
grandmother for Erendira being underage, which infuriates the grandmother, causing the
wind to become fierce as well. Thus we see the grandmother’s emotions continue to
correspond to the wind. The spell grows stronger, fiercer, as she turns bitter. The wind
also becomes “wild” (26) as the grandmother gets annoyed with the photographer.
According to the article, “The Conquest Revisited: The History of Innocent Erendira
From A Postcolonial Perspective,” Cesar G. Lopez discusses this meaning of the wind.
He talks about how Marquez makes a distinction between “the wind of her misfortune”
and “the wind as fierce as the wind of misfortune”. He notes, “The first refers
symbolically to the wind that drove Columbus’ ships to the coast of America, and which
start the fire which brings slavery and exploitation to Erendira/America; for that reason it
is the wind of her misfortune” (87). He then explains, “The wind blows every time
Erendira tries and fails to obtain her liberty” (87). The wind as fierce as the wind of
62
�misfortune (the wind of the missionaries) is different because although it brings conflict,
it tries to help them at the same time (87). This is true, because Erendira won’t truly be
free until the spell is broken—when the grandmother dies. The wind often appears
throughout the novella, and Marquez makes it a focal point, while bringing reality to the
fantasy side of the plot.
The desert then becomes a temporary barrier between Ulises and Erendira.
Marquez states, “He [Ulises] traveled across the desert for the rest of the night and at
dawn he asked in towns of villages about the whereabouts of Erendira” (34). Ulises has to
find his way through the barren fields, to get to Erendira, only to discover that she is
headed toward the sea.
Towards the end of the plot, the wind starts to pick up speed, and its effects are
seen through Erendira. For example, “during the pauses in the wind she [Erendia] was
tormented by uncertainty” (40). Marquez notes, “She heard the wind barking about, but
she didn’t recognize it as the wind of her misfortune that time either” (40). The longer
Erendira is in her grandmother’s spell, the more damaged she gets. However, the spell
can be broken, and “her instinct for freedom in the end prevailed over her grandmother’s
spell” (40). Erendira longs to escape the horrors of exploitation, another political idea
infused into the magic realism.
The story wraps up with Erendira “running into the wind” (59), symbolizing the
spell shattering. Erendira runs “until the natural science of the sea ended and the desert
began, beyond the arid winds and the never-ending sunsets” (59). The action of Erendira
running until the sea ends, suggests that she is also running away from Ulises who serves
as the sea/rain/water symbols. She flees away from the winds, no longer drawn in by the
spell, no longer controlled by her grandmother who finally died. Erendira runs towards
the sunsets, gaining light, but not necessarily leaving the darkness—greed—that filled her
grandmother, because she takes the gold vest with her. Although Ulises is a positive
symbol, he is nonetheless still part of the fairytale. Thus Erendira is escaping the
Cinderella narratives as well as the spell.
In Innocent Erendira, four main elements of nature: wind, desert, rain/water/sea,
and sun, all have symbolically created a greater understanding of the story. These
symbols contribute to the magic realism, a style well-known by Marquez. Marquez is
able to turn a story about political corruption into one with charm and illusion. Erendira
may have broken the spell from her grandmother, but as she runs with the gold vest, she
might just run into another spell of desire.
63
�Works Cited
Castillo, Rafael C. “Recommended: Gabriel Garcia Marquez.” National Council of
Teachers of English (1984): 77-78.
Lopez, Cesar G. “The Conquest Revisited: The History of Innocent Erendira from a
Postcolonial Perspective.” Chasqui: revista de literatura latinoamericana (2006): 79-90.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Innocent Erendira. New York: Perennial Library (1972).
64
�An Analysis of the Influence of Christianity
and French Naturalism on Vincent Van Gogh’s
Relationships with and Depictions of Women
Sandra G. Minchala (Chemistry)1
Vincent Van Gogh, the legend, is known for being one of the pioneer bohemian
artists of his time. Due to this classification of “bohemian,” little is mentioned of his avid
and extensive literary knowledge. With his citing hundreds of authors who wrote in
several languages including French and English – apart from his native Dutch – it is a
marvel that more is not mentioned about his intellect. Vincent, as he wished to be
referred, also included the Christian bible in his extensive library due to his deep
connections to the Dutch Protestant Church. Not only was he the son of one of its
ministers, but he was a student of the church from his youth into his early adulthood. This
Christian doctrine gave Vincent a longing to care for those in need and a yearning to join
the marginalized in their strife. In complement to his established desire to help the
oppressed, Van Gogh’s library included multiple authors whose writing was heavily
based on heart-felt moral sentiments. These authors included Charles Dickens and Harriet
Beecher Stowe, who each wrote about the need to be moral towards the poor and towards
African Americans; their works included A Christmas Carol and Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
respectively. Van Gogh saw a lot of his early Christian influence embedded within these
works, which allowed him to relate with them deeply (Hoek 1993).
Although Vincent found these moralistic authors’ works enlightening, they were
not the culmination of his literary influences. In the 1880s, Van Gogh became largely
attracted to modern French literature, and in particular the Realist and Naturalist
movements. Realism was an artistic and literary movement in the 19th century, which
aimed to make the common people the subject of its works. Jules Michelet was among
the main authors who belonged to this movement and whom, interestingly enough, Van
Gogh cited repeatedly in his letters. Naturalism, a movement that emerged from Realism,
proposed to do more than what Realism conveyed in art and writing; Realists did not only
make peasants the subject of their work, but they also thoroughly explained their
condition through a scientific and historical approach. Van Gogh’s strongly rooted social
conscience was heavily strengthened by this movement, as he heavily quotes many of
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Laura Morowitz for AH321: The Madman and the
Savage.
65
�these authors including Guy de Maupassant, the Goncourt bothers, Alphonse Daudet, and
most importantly, Emile Zola (Hoek 1993 & Cable 2005). It is upon this framework that
an important question arises: how do all of these literary influences shape the way that
Van Gogh views, and as an artist, portrays, arguably one of the most oppressed subjects
at the end of 19th century – the woman? This paper will aim to answer this question
through a close study of how Van Gogh’s views, relationships with, and depictions of
women were heavily influenced not only by his social conscience, but more importantly
by his literary influences, particularly those of the French Naturalists.
Van Gogh, as the son of a protestant minister was fond of the Christian Gospel
teachings for a majority of his youth, but this perspective changed as he entered
adulthood and found that literature could provide more concrete and real teachings for his
time (Sund 1992). It seems, though, that Van Gogh by no means abandoned his deep
spirituality and his profound humanitarian intentions, but he “instead sought an
alternative vessel for his Christian convictions in a self-styled religious humanism that
drew on the ideas of several nineteenth-century novelists, philosophers, and social
crusaders” (Sund, 1992, 37). Regardless, as Van Gogh grew older, he analyzed that
teachings that the Protestant Church that he once took as truth, were highly hypocritical;
he believed that the authors that he read instead provided him with what he saw as
“modern equivalents of the Gospels” (Sund 1992, 37).
The moralistic and Realist authors from whom Van Gogh received his new
gospels were Michelet, Beecher Stow, and Dickens, but the good news they proclaimed
about women were questionable. Michelet in his two novels, L’Amoure and La Femme,
portrays women as domestic, docile creatures who are “suitably passive, naïve, and
cloistered” and who also show “passivity, modesty, [and] disconnectedness from the
world” (Sund 1992, 19). It is also evident that Michelet’s sentimental and often
patronizing view of a woman as an “endearingly alien creature whose fragility demands
compassionate protection had a permanent impact on Van Gogh’s vision of the opposite
sex,” so much so that and he even “memorized certain Micheletian maxims on women
that cropped up in his letters to the end of his life” (Sund, 1992, 43). Beecher Stowe, a
female author that Van Gogh frequently cited was another influence that perpetuated both
“offensive [and] stereotypic views on both blacks and women” (23), as she “calls upon
women to recognize the sanctity of their mission as wives and mothers and work to attain
feminine dignity and self-fulfillment within their rightful contexts: home and family”
(43). The novels that Van Gogh most heavily refers to are her Uncle Tom’s Cabin, My
Wife and I, and We and Our Neighbors. Over all, the moral of their stories, and the idea
66
�that these authors instilled on Van Gogh, was that in order to be happy and to fulfill her
duties, a woman needed to be with a man.
The moralistic views instilled on him by the Realist literature of Michelet, along
with Beecher Stowe, and Dickens created in Van Gogh the complex that he is often
known for – the savior complex. It is with this knowledge that his early relationships with
women can be understood, particularly his attempt at courtship in 1881 with his cousin
Cornelia Adriana Vos-Stricker, known as Kee. His cousin was a recent widow with a
child and he, as her savior, wanted to provide her with what she needed. According to
Vincent, and likely fueled by his belief that a woman could not be satisfied without the
presence of man by her side, she had no reason to reject him, and her answer of “no,
never, never” simply baffled him. In a letter to his close friend and brother, Theo, he
explains: ‘to express my feelings for Kee, I said resolutely, “She, and no other.” And her
“no, never, never,” was not strong enough to make me give her up. …Notwithstanding
this refusal, which I thought was like a piece of ice that would melt… I could find no
rest” (Meissner 1999, 272). Van Gogh clearly believed that his desire to be with her
would not go unreciprocated – he firmly held that a woman could not live without a man,
an idea that the Realists had strengthened within him.
By 1882, Van Gogh, thoroughly immersed within Realist literature and the
secular gospel, moves to The Hague, and it is here where his literary climax is reached.
Van Gogh meets both modern French Naturalist literature and Clasina Maria Hoornik –
one of the most important women in his life as an artist. To fully understand his
relationship with Maria, whom he calls Sien, it is important to first understand the basis
of the Naturalist literary movement in France. Naturalist literature, like Realist literature,
conveyed ideas about the dignity of the laborer and peasant, but it also claimed that a
person is the product of their circumstances. At the turn of the century, new scientific
horizons were being reached, in particular that of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
(Carol 2004 & Baguley 1990). This scientific feat, explaining the condition of humanity
as a continuous evolution due to natural occurrences, gave the Naturalists the tools
needed to explain the condition of the poor as being a consequence of their natural
circumstances. At the time, though, these views are overshadowed by the predominant
beliefs that poverty was not a symptom, but that it was instead, the disease. Having a
deeply rooted Christian social conscience, Van Gogh was largely moved by the former
naturalist movement that aimed to explain the human condition of poverty. In this light, it
is necessary to analyze how this Naturalism seeped into Van Gogh’s conscience and
influenced the relationship that he shared with Sien, and ultimately how this translated
into his artwork.
67
�Sien was a prostitute and seamstress whom Van Gogh meets in 1881 when he is
living at The Hague in the Netherlands (Zemel 1987). Van Gogh, feeling bad for her, as
in the middle of the winter, she has a small child and is pregnant with another, sees it as
his moral obligation to take her in and care for her (Sund, 1992). While receiving services
from prostitutes was acceptable at the time, living with one was certainly not. It is among
these circumstances that his relationship with Sien needs to be analyzed: Why does Van
Gogh take her in? And, once he does take her in, how are his relationship and depiction
of her affected by the Literature that he is exposed to at The Hague? Carol Zemel (1987),
an art scholar and professor, offers a plausible answer for these questions. She argues that
Van Gogh defends Sien’s prostitution. In one of his letters to Theo, he compassionately
wrote that “no matter how good and noble a woman may be by nature, if she has no
means and is not protected by her own family, in the present society she is in great
immediate danger of being drowned in the pool of prostitution” (Carol Zemel 1987, 354).
This view that Van Gogh has of Sien stands as complement to not only the views of
women that Michelet – a Realist author Van Gogh read extensively – had, but also with
current Naturalist ideas about the circumstantial nature of humans. To explain it
explicitly, this was the belief that women, like all other people, were subject to their
social conditions, and were therefore unequivocally molded by them; therefore, only
logically, prostitution was not a sin, but rather the unavoidable conclusion to unfortunate
circumstances. Van Gogh now, with all of this influence feeding his intentions, sees the
need to “rescue the fallen woman, [the] type one might find in the pages of a [Naturalist]
Zola novel” (Cable, 2005, 57).
This Realist belief that he had to rescue Sien from being alone, as well as the
Naturalist view that she was trapped in this inevitable outcome of poverty and calamity
sparks in Van Gogh the need to depict her accordingly. After Van Gogh takes her in –
something she needs as she is a woman without a man – she becomes the muse of his
artwork. In a sketch entitled “Sorrow,” Van Gogh shows a naked Sien, but relieves her of
any sexuality by instead focusing on her pregnant belly, and her maternal breasts, atop
her mourning expression as a consequence of her poverty. According to Michelet, and to
Realist thought, it is only through her maternity and her following conventional roles
within the home that she is uplifted from her circumstance of prostitution (Zemel, 1897).
Due to this influence, Van Gogh becomes fixated on her performing tasks of the home in
order to rescue her from her condition and succumb to what the Realists believed were a
true woman’s duties. In this context of Realism, Van Gogh made Sien complete by
providing her with a man, focusing on her maternity, and by depicting her as a homekeeper in his works. In the context of Naturalism, this was his way of cleansing her of the
68
�circumstances that forced her into the world of prostitution. In either context, he was
saving her.
In addition to his depictions of Sien, Van Gogh also draws “The Great Lady”
while in The Hague (Sund, 1992, pg. 68). This drawing of “The Great Lady” is not only
evidence that his reading influences what he creates, but it also suggests that he wants to
make evident the contrast between this woman and Sien. In addition, his “The Great
Lady” makes clear that Van Gogh’s social conscience remains alive through all of his
works. Describing his inspiration for the piece, he states in one of his letters “There is a
poem by Thomas Hood… telling of a rich lady who cannot sleep at night because when
she went out to buy a dress during the day, she saw the poor seamstress… sitting at work
in a closed room. And now conscience-stricken about her wealth, and starts up anxiously
in the night…” (LT185). Van Gogh makes it clear that while Sien is a guilt-ridden
woman that is rescued from her wanton ways through her encounter with him, the “great
lady,” guilty of her prodigal ways is rescued from these through her encounter with that
poor woman. While Sien is revived to be a “good” woman through his rescue, the
wealthy woman is made anew by the revival of her social conscience – both things which
lay at the heart of Realist thought (Zemel, 1987).
As his time at The Hague continues, Van Gogh becomes familiarized with
Zola’s novels and he is suddenly no longer content with Sien in his life. The connection
between these two events is clear: Zola’s novels insisted that a woman fulfill her proper
role once she is rescued by a man. Sien, on the other hand, started to refuse acting as a
domestic house-wife, and she instead continued to earn her wages as a prostitute while
living with Van Gogh. Seeing that Sien no longer was following the mold set out for him
by Zola, Van Gogh begins to complain formally about Sien in letters to his brother Theo,
in one of which he states that she is like ‘an ugly, even venomous insect’ and even
complains that she is ‘entirely spoiled’ (Zemel, 1987, 363). This view that Van Gogh has
is completely radical from the initial compassion and desire to save Sien that he has when
he first meets her. But, as Carol Zemel (1987) beautifully puts it, “the tale of the fallen
woman and domestic rescue was imagined, written, and pictured by men. Bolstering Van
Gogh’s experience and his images, after all, are the voices of Michelet, Hugo, Zola… just
to name a few. The voice we do not hear – or only very selectively, muffled through the
letters – is Sien’s” along with all of the other women that he depicts (365). It is clear that
what Van Gogh sees in her changes to match what he reads. It is also comes as a
corollary that he desires to fit her into Realist then Naturalist literary molds, with little
regard to what she, as a real person, wants to do.
69
�After his stay at The Hague and his failed relationship with Sien, Van Gogh
moves to Nuen in 1885, where he, no longer having Sien as a model, depicts women
workers in their working spaces (Sund 1992). These depictions – Peasant Stooping Seen
from the Back and Side (1885), Kneeling Peasant Woman Seen From Behind (1885), and
Peasant Woman Seen from Behind (1885) – according to Van Gogh scholar, Sund
(1992), have a more raw approach to them as they, as their names state, always show
women from their back-side. She states that these depictions therefore emphasize the
sexuality of the women as opposed to the fragility of women needing to be saved, as was
the case with Kee and Sien. Sund (1992) argues that “it is likely that Zola’s graphic
descriptions of working women in Germinal, … informed Van Gogh’s artists decisions
as he depicted female laborers in the months that followed his enthusiastic reading of that
novel” (106). These “decisions” that Van Gogh made seem to be heavily focused on the
sexuality of women, but Griselda Pollock (1994), another art scholar, argues that these
depictions instead show proof of an internal battle between maternal aspects of women
and animalistic sexualized aspects of women. She states that Van Gogh’s own torn ideas
about his society’s views and those of the authors that influenced him (particularly Zola)
made these depictions a mixture of both.
Pollock (1994) strongly argues that Van Gogh’s depictions are not so clear-cut
and polarized. She states that unlike the distinction that his society made about women
either fulfilling the role of mother or prostitute, his depiction of them “reveals another,
equally compelling, fantasy that oscillates between the mother and the peasant nurse”
ideas that were “produced in the social and psychic conditions of those historicallyspecific relations between bourgeois men and working-class women” (810). Van Gogh
and Zola, both men coming from the bourgeois class, were those very men that
perpetuated this conflict in the perception of women. They saw the peasant woman as
both a motherly figure of nurture and care – a wet-nurse and a comforter – but at the
same time, an object of animalistic and available sexuality. Sund therefore argues that in
contrast to Van Gogh’s view of Sien as woman that was forced to be a prostitute, but
whom he could save, “Zola’s suggestion of the sexual availability of such [lower class]
women clearly did not offend… [him], and the author’s assertion of their animality
probably encouraged the painter to unleash the ‘beast’ he saw within himself…” (101).
For Van Gogh, his role of saving women from their situation was no longer needed after
both of his failed attempts with Kee and Sien; instead, he now had the ability to explore
his own raw sexuality once he left The Hague. Pollock (1994) then explains that this is
why the women are depicted from the point of view of an observer looking down upon
them as opposed to the more neutral point of view of Van Gogh’s earlier works of Sien.
70
�This new point of view is the very claim that due to their lower standing in class, the
bourgeoisie man can exploit them as sexual objects. After his lengthy stay in the
Netherlands and his failed relationships with women, Van Gogh moves to France where
he now frequently visits the brothel, exacerbating the sexualization of women, and
definitely no longer showing the same convictions as he did about women when he was
reading the moralist authors like Dickens and Stowe. Van Gogh’s exposure to several of
Zola’s novels is clear and as his artistry is developing and he decides to move to Arles
where he hopes to build his utopian Studio of the South. It is here in Arles that Van Gogh
meets the Arlesiennes, the supposed most attractive women in France. His desire to
depict them is evident as he proclaims to his brother, Theo that he has finally found an
Arlesienne willing to pose for him (Sund, 1992). This Arlisienne was none other than
Mme Ginoux, the wife of the owner of the café that Van Gogh and his fellow artist, Paul
Gauguin, often frequented. Sund (1988, 1992) argues that his first depiction of her
(L’Arlesienne I, 1888) was depicted in the café around her natural surroundings, but in a
second depiction (L’Arlesienne II, 1888), Van Gogh “literally transformed Ginoux…”
and she “…became… an intent reader – and in this incarnation she is much a reflection of
the artist as of his model” (209). This depiction of Ginoux included Naturalist novels, an
interest that Ginoux did not seem to have based on evidence found by Sund (1988, 1992).
Sund continues to argue that the influence that Van Gogh had received up to this point
from Naturalist literature included the notion that in order to be modern, everyone,
including women, had to be well versed in Naturalist literature. He writes this in a letter
to his own sister Wil, saying, ‘One can hardly be said to belong to one’s time if one has
paid no attention to [French Naturalism]’ (Sund 1992, 210).
Van Gogh, while in Arles, continued to paint a multitude of works of books and
one other particular painting of a woman reading a book: Une Liseuse de romans (1888).
According to Sund (1992), “The painting’s colors and tonalities emphasize the books’
relation to light and conform to Van Gogh’s notion that modern literature was at once
figuratively and literally illuminating” (212). His idea of the modern woman was clearly
delineated in his desire that women, in particular his sister, read the current and powerful
literature that had so heavily influenced his perspective. Women reading novels which
were written by men about their own condition, unfortunately, soon showed to be a
problem as Wil, Van Gogh’s sister, said to him that she did not like them, but instead
preferred other literature (Sund 1988). According Naturalist literature itself, this was not
the place of the woman, and therefore Van Gogh again became convinced that women
were not meant to read novels of such class (Sund 1988). Soon after these exchanges with
his sister, Van Gogh becomes ill and is forced to move to a sanitarium in S. Remy.
71
�It is only after 1888 that Van Gogh, given his deteriorating state of mind, almost
fully abandons French Naturalist literature (Sund, 1992). Van Gogh, now influenced by
Loti, author of a novel of a sailor “wherein the author describes the sea as a nurse who
rocks the sailor in his cradlelike ship” (218). It is here where his depiction of Mme
Roulin, the wife of his postman friend, as “La Bercuse” arises. Van Gogh becomes
fascinated with the consoling nature of this woman “whose hinted roles included those of
mother, nursemaid, and wife” (220). For Van Gogh, these traits were “also…allied in his
mind with Christian prototypes” which allowed him “to create… modern secular
variant[s of Mme Roulin based] on traditional devotional images of saintly women”
(220). Sund (1988) argues that Van Gogh’s multiple depictions of “La Bercuse” indicate
his need for a comforting figure in his time of internal turmoil. This return towards a
more sentimentalist view of the woman, can be traced to his abandonment of the
scientific Naturalist literature and his return to novels he read as a young man.
Van Gogh, as his condition worsens, begins to come full circle and returns to the
literature of Charles Dickens and Beecher, which he held so dear during his younger
years. It is in 1890 that he paints his final depiction of Mme Ginoux (L’Arlesienne, Mme
Ginoux) in which he includes Dicken’s A Christmas Carol and Beecher Stowe’s Uncle
Tom’s Cabin instead of the Naturalist books he depicted her with just two years before
(Sund, 1988). According to Sund (1988) Van Gogh does this to serve three purposes. The
first being that he needed to create a piece that helped mirror his own state of mind,
slouched and pale, and bring him comfort. The second, being his need to show his
detachment from Naturalist literature. And finally, the third, to regain control of
influencing the modern woman’s literary choices even if only in his paintings, as his
sister was no longer taking his advice on literature. Van Gogh, during his time at S.
Remy, paints a total of five La Bercuse paintings, in addition to his three L’Arlesienne’s,
showing his true, almost desperate need to connect himself once again with the care and
comfort of the ideal woman from his Christian youth.
The progression of Van Gogh’s artwork becomes a clear marker that, as literary
influences change, so does his perspective on women. His moralistic, realist, and
naturalist literary influences truly shape the way he relates to and depicts women,
beginning with Kee, and continuing with Sien, Mme Ginoux, and Mme Roulin. It is also
evident that, although Van Gogh abandons his convictions to formal Christian teachings,
the Naturalist movement allowed him to fit his Christian convictions of standing up the
marginalized within a modern context. Van Gogh found, in literature, the modern gospels
he searched for. It is therefore clear that among all the literary movements, and regardless
of his return to Moralist Literature, that French Naturalism was key in his complex view
72
�of women. Whether for good or for bad, these literary influences made him the
worldwide known and bohemian Van Gogh that we know today.
Works Cited
Baguley, David. Naturalist Fiction: The Entropic Vision. Cambridge [England:
Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Cable, Patrick Shaw. “Zola and Millet Through the Eyes of Van Gogh.” Excavatio:
nouvelle revue Emile Zola et le naturalism international, 2005, 49-58.
Carroll, Joseph. Literary Darwinism: Evolution, Human Nature, and Literature. New
York: Routledge, 2004.
Hoek, Leo H. “Van Gogh and Zola a case of Formal Similarity.” Neophilogous, 1993,
343-54.
Meissner, W.W. “Love and Sexuality in the Life and Art of Vincent van Gogh.” The
annual of psychoanalysis, 1999, 269-294.
Pollock, Griselda. “The Ambivalence of the Maternal Body; Psychoanalytic readings of
the Legend of Van Gogh.” International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 1994, 801-813.
Sund, Judy. “Favoured Fictions: Women and Books in the Art of van Gogh.” Art History,
1988, 255-67.
Sund, Judy. True to Temperament: Van Gogh and French Naturalist Literature.
Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press], 1992.
Zemel, Carol. “Sorrowing Women, Rescuing Men: Van Gogh’s Images of Women and
Family.” Art History, 1897, 351-68.
73
�Role, Representation and Symbolism of
Objects in The Back Room
Karina Cusumano1
Everything has meaning. Look around you and every single object in your life
has a purpose. Carmen Martin Gaite’s novel, The Back Room, is full of objects that have
significant meaning to the characters within the text. As Stephanie Sieburth stated in her
journal article, “In the novel, the middle-aged narrator-protagonist, C, has a midnight
interview with a mysterious man in black, in which she strives to recapture her past as
she lived it during the Republic, the Civil War and the postwar period” (78). The
protagonist, Carmen (C.), is disrupted in the early hours of the morning by an
interviewer, The Man in Black, to whom she reveals her secrets and past memories.
Throughout the telling of her stories she relies on certain objects to help her revisit her
past and recount memories of an earlier time. As Herbert E. Craig writes, “…specific
words, ideas and objects in her presence allowed her to recover in detail forgotten
moments from her past” (102). These objects also represent the chaos of the character’s
mind and her way of living. Symbols such as the mixed up contents of her sewing basket,
the cockroach in her kitchen, the reappearing images of mirrors and the growing piles of
paper all help the narrator analyze her former days. The various objects in The Back
Room are utilized to understand the narrator’s identity and reestablish her memory from
before the Spanish Civil War.
The novel starts out with a sleep-deprived narrator who contemplates her
sleeping positions while lying in bed. She analyzes her many restless nights and her
thoughts begin to scatter in her mind. As she decides to get up out of bed, she takes a
walk to a shelf that holds books supported by a sewing basket that had belonged to her
Grandma Rosario. As she struggles to reach the Todorov book she was hoping for, she
trips and the sewing basket falls open upon the floor (Gaite 11). The contents from within
come pouring out: “From the half open wicker lid there come spilling out spools of
thread, electric plugs, cubes of sugar, thimbles, safety pins, bills, a candle end, snapshots,
buttons, coins, bottles of pills, everything imaginable, all tangled up in colored thread”
(11). This is not any ordinary sewing box filled with sewing materials, but it is scattered
with random objects. The sewing basket is used to represent the role of women during the
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Marilyn Kiss and Dr. Katica Urbanc for LC 5: Exploring
the Hispanic World Through Language and Film.
74
�Franco regime. Women are known for their domestic duties, and a sewing basket of ready
to use items is always necessary in those of a woman’s household. Carmen’s basket
however, was not like the others. Her basket of random objects shows her rebellious
nature to the regime and the fact she did not follow the typical “womanly standards” of
the time.
The scattered objects in the sewing basket also are used to reflect the state of the
narrator’s mind. Carmen’s jumbled up thoughts coincide with the items of the sewing
basket. They are sprawled out, but connected by one force. Like the materials in the
basket that are connected by the colored thread, the thoughts of Carmen are reflected
back to her interview with the Man in Black and the time before the War. As Deborah A.
Castillo states in her article, “When the narrator trips over Todorov’s indispensable book
on the fantastic and spills the contents of the basket, all this varied cache becomes tangled
together by the colored threads, the force that stitches together the disparate elements of
the narrative” (826). As the narrator hopelessly searches for her misplaced objects she
comes to the conclusion that she does not remember the objects within the basket and
how they have all gotten there. She then comes to realize there is a folded sheet of paper
hidden within the items and recognizes it as a long letter that she then sits down to read.
The letter forms a part of one of the first stories she tells in the novel. The sewing basket
represents the “textual allegory for that other ‘confused mess’ that was our head” (826) as
stated by Deborah Castillo. The basket exemplifies the clutter of things the narrator has
both physically in her home and mentally in her head.
When the Man in Black arrives to the narrator’s house, she hurries to put clothes
on to run downstairs. As she makes her way into the kitchen, she stumbles upon a barrier,
keeping her from crossing the floor. A big cockroach is standing still in the middle of one
of the tiles (Gaite 20). She struggles as to how to make her way around it and says,
“There is a source of strength to it. Its plan seems to be to keep me from getting past it, I
don’t know how long we remain there confronting each other, both of us paralyzed, as
though trying to decipher each other’s intentions. Finally, I reject all intention of
attacking it and opt for that of fleeing from it...” (21). The cockroach stood as a barricade
for C, for she had a fear of going past it. The cockroach stands as a symbol of the Man in
Black. She was at first scared of opening up to him or getting past the barrier of her mind
where all of her memories and stories are stored. Mary T. Hartson states in her article,
“The arrival of the man coincides with the appearance of an enormous cockroach and the
relative position of the narrator it established. She rejects possibility of defending her
territory and opts instead to give way before the cockroach, just as she does before the
man” (1). The cockroach and the man came at parallel times to one another in the novel.
75
�The narrator expresses her fear of the Man in Black, as she does of the insect. Just as she
has done with letting the Man in Black become comfortable in her home, she does not
defend her territory but lets the cockroach run away without killing it; she gives in to both
of them. The cockroach had also popped up out of nowhere, just as the Man in Black did;
they are both unpredictable creatures. While Carmen explains to the man what just
happened in the kitchen he answers, “They’re mysterious, like all apparitions” (23). This
is again alluding to the man himself.
The cockroach may also represent Franco, dictator of Spain, and the times
during the war. She shielded herself during these times, keeping herself away from the
social norms of his regime. She kept her writing to herself and felt she could not be who
she was publically without facing consequences. Carmen compares her fear of
cockroaches with that of her rebellious friend she had met at the institution. She tells of
how her friend once caught a cockroach in the kitchen and Carmen proceeded to ask,
“Aren’t you scared of it” (Gaite 52), to which her friend replied, “No, why would I be?
It’s not doing anybody any harm” (52). The contrast between Carmen’s fear and her less
defiant side to that of her friend’s was evident through the cockroach. After the session
with the Man in Black is over, Carmen wakes up to her daughter. As she is in the
bedroom she hears a screech from her daughter in the kitchen. She, too, has sighted the
cockroach and is screaming in fear. As Carmen proceeds to say how she thought she was
screaming over something much worse, she tells her daughter, “Cockroaches are
harmless, my girl” (213). For the woman who previously screamed for the same reason to
say that they are harmless was a milestone. She now was saying what she was previously
told. She had gotten over her fear of the cockroach and realized that it was something that
should not have caused such distress. The fear she once had, was now her daughter’s
fear. As Carmen states, “Another person’s fear helps one to overcome one’s own” (214).
Just as the Man in Black helped Carmen to overcome her fear she was to help her
daughter overcome her fear as well. The cockroach not only stands as a figure of
importance to show Carmen’s growth and triumph over her fears, but also shows that she
has overcome the refuge she had taken all of these years. After the defeat of the Franco
regime and opening up to the Man in Black, she was able to step over the boundaries,
such as the cockroach, and have a clear mind of who she was.
Throughout the novel Carmen seems to be looking into mirrors quite often. Her
reflection helps her to remember times she may have forgotten about and to analyze her
past experiences. Janet Pérez claims, “Philosophically mirrors are related to thought (both
serve as instruments of self-contemplation). Metaphysically, they help to evoke
apparitions and serve as doors to the other world” (149). When the symbol of the mirror
76
�is first mentioned in the novel, Carmen sees her reflection in the “yellow light” of the
mirror and notices the imperfections of herself and the room around her. She writes:
The room reflected in its quicksilvered depths seems unreal to me in its
static reality. Behind my back everything is right side up again,
perfectly in plumb, and I am so taken aback by the gaze of that vertical
figure, with its arms dangling down the side of its blue pajamas,
beaming back from me from the mirror, that it scares me…but outside
the mirror the normality that it has reflected persists, and perhaps for
this very reason the disorder that reigns there is even more depressingly
obvious. (Gaite 8)
As C looks into the mirror she uses the pronoun “it” to describe herself. She does not
recognize herself nor the mess that seems to be growing in the space around her. Looking
into the mirror brings her both into reality and out of it. In this case the idea of reality
versus fantasy was evident as she saw a clear vision of what was actually going on
around her. As Erin J. Paul Scheutter adds, “The surprise and lack of recognition of the
image reflected in the mirror provides an element of destabilization and the presentation
of C’s identity” (147). Carmen’s inability to identify herself in the mirror displays her
confused identity and her lack of knowledge about who she is as a person.
Mirrors throughout the novel also help to perform memory work for C. They
help her to relive times of her childhood and compare her identity then to her identity
now. Carmen confirms, “Now the little girl from the provinces who can’t manage to fall
asleep is looking at me in the light of the little yellow lamp…” (Gaite 16). She still sees
herself as a child when she looks at her reflection. She is also able to remember her
childhood experiences more vividly by looking at her image in the mirror. Erin Schuetter
writes, “…C sees her reflection in a mirror that in Carmen’s youth hung in her
grandparent’s home and she narrates childhood experiences that occurred in the presence
of the mirror” (14). The mirror that belonged to her grandparents has significance in
reflecting on times at her house and before the war that she believed were happy ones in
her life. The mirror also serves as a reminder of who Carmen used to be compared to her
former self. She engages with objects, such as the mirror, for memory from the Franco
Regime. Scheutter again states, “These past selves criticize her when, in the present
moment they observe her doing domestic chores. This action occurs in an interior
monologue, until the moment when C responds to the younger versions of herself by
reassuring them she has not abandoned her impromptu style” (26). Carmen sees herself
doing chores and duties around the house which she has never done before. She has come
to terms with herself and the person she has become is revealed when she states:
77
�I raise my eyes and see myself reflected with a hopeful, cheerful
expression in the mirror with an antique frame hanging on the wall to
the right, above the maroon sofa. There is just a touch of mockery in
the reflected smile on noting that I am carrying a dust cloth in my hand.
To tell the truth, the girl who is looking back at me is a child of nine
and then a youngster of eighteen, standing in the huge dining room of
my grandparent’s apartment in the Calle Mayor in Madrid, come back
to life from the depths of the mirror. (Gaite 68-69)
As she sees herself in the mirror she smiles, unlike previous times of shock as she stood
before the glass frame. Carmen witnesses herself in the mirror doing chores. She is not
used to this Carmen, for she had never been a person to fulfill the household tasks of
women in the Franco Regime. Carmen uses this object to engage in an interior
monologue. She reassures herself that she is the same person and although she may look
different, she still sees herself as a young girl through her reflection in the mirror. Her
younger self begins to “talk” to her through the mirror saying, “Well, well you’re
cleaning, I’d never thought I’d live to see the day!” (69). Carmen, as her older self, then
replies, “Thanks, my girl, but don’t worry, really I’m the same as always, I haven’t let
myself be brainwashed” (69). Through this inner monologue Carmen proves to herself
that she still is the same person with the same beliefs. Her younger self consistently
appears through the mirror to remind Carmen of the “dangers of domestic life.” (69).
Although performing the domestic duties that Carmen said she would not commit to
contradicts her rebellious nature, the mirror symbolically reveals that her spirit has not
changed, but has matured through time. Erin Schuetter confirms this maturation when she
writes, “The mirror has served as a tool used to trace her steps and confirm what she
already knew; her essence has not changed, it has evolved over time into a more mature
version” (161). Carmen will always be the same person, but she has significantly grown
through her experiences, now looking back and appreciating all of the times she has had.
Carmen’s pile of papers is constantly referenced by the Man in Black and
Carmen herself throughout The Back Room. As she sits in silence for a few moments
between conversations, she notices the pile sitting against the wall like a castle. She
states, “I seem to see a castle with paper walls rising in the air, or rather, a castle made of
papers stuck together like bricks and full of words and deletions in my very hand. It
grows bigger and bigger, taller and taller. It is going to tumble down at the slightest
sound, and I take refuge inside it…” (Gaite 51). This “castle of papers” that she
continually talks about is her writing. She writes on the typewriter and the papers grow as
time goes on. She never really notices that this pile grows, for she is too consumed in the
words she is printing. She confirms that this pile is where she takes refuge. It is where she
78
�opened up and was able to express herself during the Franco dictatorship and the war
while in Salamanca. As Erin Schuetter notes, “The papers in their accumulated unreflected upon state represent a collection of ideas that can only be un-archived once
Franco dies and memory can flow freely” (183). The papers consist of notes, research and
experiences while she was undergoing the violence of the world around her. As she looks
at the papers she recalls more memories from her childhood that she shares with the Man
in Black. The papers are a mess of ideas; confirmed by García Martha in her article, “Los
folios son el resultado del arte de hilar y tejer nudas de interlocución ginergética” (131).
The pile continues to accumulate throughout the novel and as she speaks she continues to
write her ideas down without even realizing it.
Towards the end of the novel a gust of wind comes in through the house and
reaches the pile of papers. The castle she once built and hid in was now destroyed; pages
were blown all over, to be picked up by the man (Gaite 203). This symbolizes the closure
she had and the fact that she no longer takes refuge inside her writing, but is able fully to
express herself allowing her thoughts to be free. Carmen had asked the man to bring her
shawl to her which he then wraps around her to keep her warm. She tells the man she is
sleepy, but not to leave as she drifts to sleep (204). She is awakened the next morning by
the sound of her daughter’s voice coming home. Carmen is confused to find an empty
room, her shawl lying on the couch and the pile of papers still in tact. She writes, “…on
the floor, is a large, neat pile of sheets of paper, with a paperweight on top, inside which
is a miniature Gothic cathedral with iridescent columns” (210). The pile of papers
remains in an organized pile that the Man in Black supposedly put together for her. As
she examines the papers she reads the first page of the pile, “On the first one is written in
capital letters with a black ballpoint pen: THE BACK ROOM. I pick it up and I begin to
read” (215). The pile of papers reveals the memories she spoke to the man about and is
written down taking shape of the novel we are now reading. Janet Pérez concludes, “El
caurto de atrás lacks definite closure; the ending is a reflection of the beginning as the
narrator, alone- again turns to a growing pile of papers beside her type writer and reveals
the novel’s opening words” (52). The memories she was sharing throughout the novel
were the memories she was writing down that consist of the novel itself. The last page of
The Back Room transports us back to the beginning. She reads the opening phrases of the
novel while she again is in her bed contemplating her normal sleeping position.
Carmen Martin Gaite’s gripping novel, The Back Room, consists of the character
Carmen, who tells of her stories from the past through the various objects she encounters.
Throughout the novel she is able to draw out information from her mind through the
items that are most important to her. When a mysterious Man in Black rings her bell late
79
�one night, she finds herself pouring out all of her deepest, darkest thoughts. As Elizabeth
Espadas states, “El cuarto de atrás es fascinante desde otro punto de vista … ” (75). The
novel consists of a jumble, scattered arrangement of her ideas and the recollection of
memories from the past. Through the various objects including the sewing basket,
cockroach, mirrors and the growing pile of papers she is able to transform her thoughts
into dialogue to share her story out loud. These items reveal her disorganized mind,
childhood experiences and the acceptance of who she is. The various objects in The Back
Room are significant to the principal themes of the novel, and stand as symbols to the
story line of the character.
Works Cited
Castillo, Debra A. "Never-Ending Story: Carmen Martin Gaite's, The Back Room."
PMLA 102.5 (1987): 814-28. Print.
Craig, Herbert E. "Three Proustian Subjects Reconfigured in El Cuarto De Atrás by
Carmen Martin Gaite: Recovery of the Past, Sleep and the Novel to Be Written." Comrev.
University of Nebraska at Kearny. Web.
García, Martha. “'El Cuarto De Atrás' De Carmen Martín Gaite: Simbolismos En Una
Relectura Alegórica Ginergética.” Baquiana: Revista Literaria 3 (2001): 126-32. Print.
Espadas, Elizabeth. “El Cuarto De Atrás by Carmen Martín Gaite.” Letras Femeninas
5.2: 74-26. Print.
Hartson, Mary, T. "The False-bottomed Suitcase: Historical Memory and Textual
Masochism in Carmen Martin Gaite's El Cuarto De Atras." Thefreelibrary. Romance
Novels, 22 Sept. 2007. Web.
Martin-Gaite, Carmen. The Back Room. Trans. Helen Lane. San Francisco: City Lights,
2000. Print.
Paul-Schuetter, Erin J. Objects, Memory, and Representation in the Spanish Post War
Narrative from 1959-1978. Diss. Wisconsin-Madison, 2013. Print.
Perez, Janet. "Structural, Thematic, and Symbolic Mirrors in "El Cuarto De Atras" and
"Nubosidad Variable" of Martin Gaite." South Central Review 12.1 (1995): 47-63. Print.
80
�Sieburth, Stephanie. Memory, Metafiction and Mass Culture: The Popular Text in "El
Cuarto De Atrás." Revista De Estudios Hispánicos 43.1: 78-92. Print.
Bibliography
Abbott, James H., and Carmen Martín Gaite. "El Cuarto De Atrás." (1979): 260. Print.
Castillo, Debra A. "Never-Ending Story: Carmen Martin Gaite's, The Back Room."
PMLA 102.5 (1987): 814-28. Print.
Craig, Herbert E. "Three Proustian Subjects Reconfigured in El Cuarto De Atrás by
Carmen Martin Gaite: Recovery of the Past, Sleep and the Novel to Be Written." Comrev.
University of Nebraska at Kearny, n.d. Web.
Espadas, Elizabeth. “El Cuarto De Atrás by Carmen Martín Gaite.” Letras Femeninas
5.2: 74-26. Print.
García, Martha. “'El Cuarto De Atrás' De Carmen Martín Gaite: Simbolismos En Una
Relectura Alegórica Ginergética.” Baquiana: Revista Literaria 3 (2001): 126-32. Print.
Glenn, Kathleen M., and Joan Lipman Brown. "Secrets from the Back Room: The Fiction
of Carmen Martin Gaite." Hispania 57.4 (1989): 533-34. Print.
Hartson, Mary T. “The False-Bottomed Suitcase: Historical Memory and Textual
Masochism in Carmen Martín Gaite's El Cuarto De Atrás.” Thefreelibrary. Romance
novels, (2007): 35-47. Print.
Martin-Gaite, Carmen. The Back Room. Trans. Helen Lane. San Francisco: City Lights,
2000. Print.
Paul-Schuetter, Erin J. Objects, Memory, and Representation in the Spanish Post War
Narrative from 1959-1978. Diss. Wisconsin-Madison, 2013. Print.
Perez, Janet. "Structural, Thematic, and Symbolic Mirrors in "El Cuarto De Atras" and
"Nubosidad Variable" of Martin Gaite." South Central Review 12.1(1995): 47-63. Print.
Servodidio, Mirella. “Reviewed Work: Secrets From the Back Room: The Fiction of
Carmen Martín Gaite by Joan Lipman Brown.” Society of Spanish & Spanish-American
Studies, 14.1/3 (1989): 293-95. Print.
81
�Sieburth, Stephanie. “Memory, Metafiction and Mass Culture: The Popular Text in "El
Cuarto De Atrás." Revista De Estudios Hispánicos 43.1: 78-92. Print.
Welles, Marcia L. “Reviewed Work: Secrets from the Back Room: The Fiction of
Carmen Martín Gaite by Joan Lipman Brown.” 41.2 (1988): 189-91. Print.
Womack, Marian. “Beyond The Back Room New Perspectives on Carmen Martín Gaite.”
New York, NY (2011): Peter Lang. Print.
82
�In Search of True Freedom in Post-Independence
India: An Analysis of The Apu Trilogy
Avika Sagwal (Business Administration)1
Admired for its “Bollywood” musicals and melodrama, Indian Cinema got a
new direction with Satyajit Ray’s humanistic films. Ray encouraged the nation to rise
above the boundaries of caste and poverty and the horrors of its colonial past. Inspired by
Italian Neorealism and Soviet Expressionism, his films made a global impact after the
devastation of World War II and decolonization. He pushed India to a fresh beginning.
The Apu Trilogy comprises of three Bengali movies directed by Satyajit Ray: Pather
Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959). These stories are mainly
based on two of the novels of Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay. It is a life journey for Apu
that revolves around his struggles, losses, poverty and dreams. Each film in the trilogy
beautifully compliments the others and represents a different phase in Apu’s life. It can
be seen as a circle of life, where Pather Panchali shows Apu’s childhood and Apur
Sansar ends on Apu’s reunion with his abandoned son in his childhood. Ray directs his
movies in such a way that the whole nation can empathize with the sufferings and choices
made by one individual. Through his movies, Ray brings out the dilemma of a newly
emerging nation choosing between tradition and modernity, individualist ethics and
communal solidarity, freedom and responsibility. Ray wanted to encourage greater selfconsciousness among individuals to define themselves amid the paradoxes of an
emerging nation.
Background
“What Indian cinema needs today is not more gloss (unlike Hollywood films),
but more imagination and more integrity…The raw material of cinema is life itself,” said
Ray during one of his interviews.2 Ray was born in 1921 in an intellectual and affluent
Bengali family. His father and grandfather were distinguished writers and poets. At
middle school, he became a film fan and an admirer of western classical music. After
school, he was sent to Shantiniketan to train in Indian art by a great Bengali poet,
Written under the direction of Dr. Lori Weintrob for HI286: On the Screen: Class, Gender
and Culture in Film.
2 “Calcutta Film Society,” satyajitray.org, Accessed on November 19 2015,
http://www.satyajitray.org/bio/film_society.htm
1
83
�Rabindranath Tagore. His visits to the nearby village for sketching activities were his first
encounter with the rural India. Soon, he learned to appreciate the hidden beauty and
meaning of Indian art, a quality that can be seen in his films later on. In 1947, he along
with his friends co-founded a film society. Battleship Potemkin was the first film they
screened. Around this time, Ray started writing screenplays for his films.
As many say, his trip to London in 1950 was his turning point. He wanted to
make a film on real locations with non-professionals about daily lives, an idea dismissed
by his friends back then. Around this time, De Sica's Bicycle Thieves left a profound
impression on Ray. Bicycle Thieves reconfirmed his conviction to make realistic films.
Inspired, Ray started filming his first film Pather Panchali. Critics like Suranjan Ganguly
have read Ray’s work to understand Pather Panchali in terms of Italian Neorealism and
write, “‛The Apu Trilogy, it can be argued, is the first work of Indian Cinema that shifts
the emphasis from exteriority to interiority’, by which he means an investment in the
inner subjectivity of ‘psychological realism’.”3
With utmost simplicity, Ray brings out the contrast between the alienating
solitude of the city and the close proximity of nature and family. He paid great emphasis
on the eyes of the actor and used shadows and reflections through mirrors and water to
steal millions of hearts worldwide. In his introductory shot of Apu in Pather Panchali,
Durga opens his eye forcefully. Similarly, Ray uses a close up in Apur Sansar4 to capture
Kajal’s eyes to remind us of Apu in his childhood.
At Cannes 1956, Pather Panchali won a special prize for “Best Human
Document”, to which Lindsay Anderson said, “ Cannes 1956 has discovered a new
masterpiece of poetic cinema. You cannot make films like this in studio not for money.
Satyajit Ray has worked with humility and complete dedication.”5 Despite opposition
from the Government of India for its depiction of poverty in the film, Jawaharlal Nehru,
the first Prime Minister of India, sent Pather Panchali to Cannes. The film supported his
goals of industrialization and modernization and his anti-caste agenda.
Poverty and Colonialism
India was a British colony for over two hundred years and finally rose to
independence in 1947. Colonialism had destroyed the traditional economic and socioBill Nichols, ” Pather Panchali” in Film Analysis: A Norton Reader, ed. Jeffrey Geiger
and R.L. Rutsky. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. 351
4 Ray. Apur Sansar, 1959
5 Andrew Robinson. “The Apu Trilogy” in Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye: Biography of a
Master Film Maker. London: I.B. Tauris, 2004, 102.
3
84
�cultural system in the country to give birth to the desire of material advancement and
better amenities and living conditions of individuals. The films shot in the 1950s actually
show the life of an average Indian under the colonial government of the 1930s. In Pather
Panchali, when Apu is following Durga, he finds himself in a strange land. Ray describes
the strangeness of the land by strong winds and a long shot of the landscape. He builds up
anxiety when both Durga and Apu put their ears against an electric pole while their feet
are dipped in water. When the sound of a steam engine is heard from the far end, the
camera is placed below the train to capture both the speed of the train and the excitement
of Apu running towards the train.
However, even after the introduction of railways and electricity in the country, a
rural family still lived in the dark, both literally and metaphorically. In Pather Panchali,
Apu’s family barely earns enough to make both ends meet. There are not enough
resources, job opportunities, electricity or school education around the village to bring
about a change in people’s lives. In one of the scenes when Apu’s dad, Harihar is talking
about taking up a job as a priest for a rich family, he dreams ahead and says “Two good
meals a day, new clothes twice a year. What more could we want?”6 Harihar’s life and
struggles have made him expect so little from life. In Aprajito, Apu’s mother has to work
as a cook to pay for his school fee. When Apu goes to Calcutta for the first time he is
fascinated with having electricity and repeatedly plays with the switch. In Apur Sansar
the poverty of Calcutta lingers on the fringes of each scene. The film opens with a close
up of a recommendation letter written by one of Apu’s professors, who wishes that Apu
could have studied more. Apu responds, “ I know sir, but I can’t afford it.” However, the
professor encourages Apu to pursue his talents of writing. As the camera moves towards
the door we hear a crowd striking in the background, shouting “Inquilab Zindabad”
(“Long live the Revolution”), which was a famous phrase used during the Indian
Independence Movement against Colonialism. Ray’s mise en scene in the opening scene
beautifully sums up the Apu’s poverty restricting him to go for higher education and the
tensions building up the against the colonial government.
Musical, Traditions, Class and Gender
Ray through his movies has uplifted the struggles of the young Indian
population choosing between some of its outdated traditions and the new lifestyle from
the west. India has always been very rich in culture. Even in the face of adversity, people
choose to smile and enjoy the festivities. In Aparajito, a sequence of events in Benares
beautifully depicts the cultural celebrations of India. First, we see Sarbajaya and Apu
6
Ray. Pather Panchali, 1955
85
�visiting the chief shrine of Benares, where they gaze at the evening ritual of chanting and
bell ringing through the haze of incense. Then Sarbajaya decorates her ground-floor room
with diyas, candles and little lights for the festival of Diwali. But Harihar has overexerted himself and is in a weak condition. A series of firework explosions in a burst of
light can be seen and heard in the background. Being Apu’s first Diwali, Apu is carrying
a large sparkler in his hand and is excited to play with his friends. But looking at his
father’s condition, his face falls. Harihar senses his eagerness and gently releases him to
go enjoy the festival of Diwali.7 Similarly in Apur Sansar, Ray covers all aspects of an
Indian rural wedding where the bride is dressed in red and gold, and the bed decorated
with flowers on the wedding night.
While he honors important traditions and beliefs of the culture, he also manages
to critique the unnecessary beliefs present in the society that are destroying the culture.
For example, Pulu approaches Apu and pushes him into marrying Aparna, explaining if
she doesn’t get married soon then she will be cursed. Apu, who is a little shaken by the
situation exclaims, “Are you living in the Dark Ages?”8 Elders at the wedding saw Apu
as Lord Krishna supported by low-angle shots. The wedding sequence also raises
concerns about Aparna’s right and say in choosing her life-partner. Gender inequalities
can be spotted in numerous scenes in the trilogy. For example, all the girls are refused
basic education and are expected to work in the kitchen at a very young age. In Pather
Panchali, Sarbajaya says “Durga, at your age all the other girls know how to cook
meals”. 9 However later on the trilogy we see a very modern outlook on gender, where
Apu offers to cook for Pulu someday. Moreover, in Apu and Aparna’s marriage both of
them possess equal rights. The fanning scene, where Aparna fans Apu while he is eating
and then Apu fans Aparna while she is having her meal shows the changing gender
values within the youth.
Class differences are also apparent in the trilogy. While Ray manages to throw
light at the beautiful friendship of Apu and Pulu, he also makes sure to show some major
class differences between the two. Pulu is from an upper middle-class family, who lived
in the city and later goes on to work outside the country to earn money. In Aparajito,
when Apu and Pulu are lying on the grass and staring at the steam ships, Pulu asks Apu if
he is ambitious enough to go with him to England. Apu replies, “If I weren’t ambitious I
would have stayed home,” showing the limitations of being from a lower-class family.
Similarly, in Apur Sansar Pulu is dressed in shirt and trousers whereas Apu is wearing a
Ray. Aparajito, 1956
Ray. Apur Sansar, 1959
9 Ray. Pather Panchali, 1955
7
8
86
�torn dhoti-kurta. In the restaurant while Apu is eating food with his hands, Pulu is seen
using a fork. Later in the evening, Apu reveals, “I’ve had my first good meal in months,
thanks to you (Pulu).”
Indian music has been used with great precision to highlight the nobility of
serenity of emotion of the scenes. For example, in Aparajito when Harihar’s soul departs
his body, a huge flock of pigeons takes flight accompanied by the falling notes of a flute
playing a melody of raga Jog. The same tune is played when Sarbajaya dies and when
Apu is heartbroken after Aparna's death. In the closing scene of Apur Sansar when Kajal
runs towards Apu, a piercing sound of high tershenai is played in the background. This
tune was also played when Harihar and Sarbajaya lost their daughter Durga. It is as if the
love that was destroyed then has revived now through Apu and Kajal.
Education, Modernization and Dream
Apu’s journey inspires its audience to dream and to go after those dreams.
Despite poverty, loss of his family and the societal pressure to become a priest, Apu rose
above the system to give his dream of becoming a writer a chance. Harihar wanted to be a
writer himself however due to his poverty he couldn’t realize his dreams. In Pather
Panchali he believes, “my ancestors were writers and they left a legacy that cannot be
ignored” and expresses his desire to “write new kinds of plays and poems.” In Aparajito
after his father’s death Apu moves back to the small village of Mansapota and is forced to
learn to perform prayers and rituals so that he can carry on with his family tradition. Apu
has other dreams and desires, and chooses to live his life on his own terms. One day he
follows the kids in the uniform to school and insists “Maa I want to go to school.”10
He puts his heart into studying and excels at school. However the school he goes
to is only up to middle school. His headmaster calls him into his office and awards him a
scholarship for higher studies in Calcutta and says, “We live in a corner of Bengal but
that should not limit scope of knowledge.” Motivated to come out of his shell of caste
boundaries, restrictions and lack of opportunities, Apu moves to Calcutta and starts
working part-time to support himself. When Apu comes back and learns that his mother
died, he is completely shattered. His granduncle suggests that he should stay back and
work as a priest. He refuses, “I can’t be a priest all my life” and picks his bag and heads
back to Calcutta. He has seen the misery of his parents by giving up on their dreams and
he is determined to follow his dream even if he has to face poverty.
In one of the most popular scenes of the Trilogy, Apu is describing the plot of
his novel to his friend Pulu. He writes about a Brahmin boy who is alone, poor but
10
Ray. Aparajito, 1956
87
�ambitious. Both of them are walking on the railway track in the dark, where the only
source of light is placed right behind Apu, showing how Apu is an inspiration to others
living in the darkness of system. The camera closes up on Apu as he further elaborates on
his novel with a sense of passion and joy in his voice, “He has greatness in him but he is
not able to do much. However he doesn’t escape and he wants to live.” Pulu argues that
the novel seems autobiographical. Shot in the post World War II era, Ray wants to
encourage the home audience to live freely and to break through from caste and class
boundaries. However, after Aparna’s death Apu’s life takes a drastic turn, he gives up on
everything he has ever believed in and starts working in the coal mines of Central-India.
“At key points in the trilogy Apu faces death-borne separation from significant persons in
life (all women): his sister, his mother and his beloved wife. Yet each separation marks
the stage of a new freedom, expanded potentiality in Apu’s life.” 11 When Apu comes
back to the village, he finds a reflection of Aparna and himself in Kajal, and finally takes
responsibility to raise his child.
The trilogy is about Apu’s life journey and each film in the trilogy share a
similar closing scene showing Apu walking on a path that would lead him to the next
phase of his life. In Pather Panchali, Apu can be seen moving with his parents to
Benares, in Aparajito he heads back to Calcutta and in Apur sansar he along with Kajal
on his head, is moving into a fresh beginning together. Ray shot the closing scene of Apur
sansar with a low-angle shot, where both Apu and Kajal are smiling and ready to cope
with any challenges that lie ahead. Apu is a single dad who finally takes responsibility of
his son and chooses to raise him in a modern way where they share a bond of friendship
and not force. The Trilogy ends on a very positive note where the whole country through
the eyes of Apu can forget its feudal and colonial past and step into a modern world
responsibly.
Conclusion
In the country where musicals have been a part of filmmaking, Ray’s cinema
was widely appreciated for its serenity. Unlike other Bollywood heroes who lived
extraordinary lives, Apu's heroism was his portrayal of courage and hope in his ordinary
life. It was the first time that in a big country like India, people appreciated the realistic
cinema and discovered that there is a hero in each one of them. Ray’s films stood out of
11 Peter J. Bertocci, “Bengali cultural themes in Satyajit Ray’s ‘The World of Apu’”.
South Asian Literature, Michigan State University , no. 19 (1984): 33, accessed
November 19, 2015, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40872633.
88
�all Bollywood films of that time because they brought a fusion of modern western
cinematographic techniques and heart-warming Indian traditions.
Ray brought real and ordinary stories up on the screen, where people are born,
live and then accept death. However, these stories stirred up deep passions within the
audience at home and audiences in the western countries. He motivated the nation to let
go off the past and to take responsibility for the challenges ahead, striking the right
balance between tradition and modern values. While he wanted the nation to walk on the
path of progress together in communal solidarity, he also valued the individualistic ethics
of a young Indian. These films demonstrated that progress and independence come at a
cost, for both an individual and a nation, and attempted to awaken a recently independent
nation to understand the meaning of true freedom.
Works Cited
Aparajito. Produced by Epic Films & directed by Satyajit Ray. 113 mins. India .1956.
DVD.
Apur Sansar. Produced by Epic Films & directed by Satyajit Ray. 107 mins. India .1959.
DVD.
Bertocci, Peter J. “Bengali Cultural Themes in Satyajit Ray’s ‘The World of Apu.”
Journal of South Asian Literature, Michigan State University , no. 19 (1984): 17-34,
Accessed November 19, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40872633.
Nichols, Bill. “Pather Panchali” in Film Analysis: A Norton Reader, ed. Jeffrey Geiger
and R.L. Rutsky. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005.
“Calcutta Film Society,” satyajitray.org, Accessed on November 19 2015,
http://www.satyajitray.org/bio/film_society.htm
Pather Panchali. Produced by Government of West Bengal & directed by Satyajit Ray.
126 mins. India .1955. DVD.
Robinson, Andrew. “The Apu Trilogy” in Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye: Biography of a
Master Film Maker. London: I.B. Tauris, 2004, 91-106.
89
�St. Thomas and the Individuality of the Human Soul1
Alyssa Thompson (Philosophy)2
In Article I of The Soul, St. Thomas Aquinas raises a significant question
concerning the nature of the human soul. He asks: “Whether the soul can be a form and a
particular thing?”3 Article I has been the subject of much scholarly commentary.
Unfortunately, as I shall show, these commentators have overlooked part of St. Thomas’
message. They correctly show that the soul exists as a form and as a spiritual or selfsubsistent substance. Yet, they neglect – for the most part4 – the particularity of the soul.
I intend to highlight St. Thomas’ account of the soul as a particular thing, which he
stresses in the article.
Consider, for example, some of the scholars who have commented on St.
Thomas’ Article I. Armand A. Maurer states that the human soul is, in St. Thomas’
opinion, an “intellectual substance and the form of the body;” and as such, the soul “has
its own act of being and hence exists by itself.”5 Vernon Joseph Bourke states that the
human soul, for St. Thomas, is “a substantial, self-subsistent entity”6 that exists as “the
form of the human body.”7 M.C. Fitzpatrick and J.J. Wellmuth make a similar point: they
state that the human soul, according to St. Thomas, is a “spiritual substance” as well as
“the form of the body.”8 The point I would like to make here is that these commentators
Accepted into the program of the 10th Annual Undergraduate Conference in Medieval and
Early Modern Studies at Moravian College.
2 Written under the direction of Dr. John Danisi for the honors independent study PH593:
Contemporary Theories of the Self.
3 From St. Thomas Aquinas, The Soul, trans., J. P. Rowan (St. Louis: B. Herder Book
Company, 1959), 142.
4 An exception to the claim is found in W. Norris Clarke, “Living on Edge: The Human
Person as a ‘Frontier Being’ and Macrocosm,” International Philosophical Quarterly
36.2 (1996): 183-199.
5 From Armand A. Maurer, Medieval Philosophy (New York: Random House, 1962),
181.
6 From Vernon Joseph Bourke, The Pocket Aquinas (New York, Washington Square
Press, 1960), 111.
7 Ibid, 114.
8 From M.C. Fitzpatrick and J.J. Wellmuth, “St.Thomas Aquinas: On the Nature of Man.”
Spiritual Creatures (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press: 1949), 141.
1
90
�capture St. Thomas’ view that the human soul is a form of the human body, and that the
soul is a spiritual substance, but they do not address the entirety of St. Thomas’ question:
namely, they leave out the notion of the soul as a particular thing. In overlooking the
particularity of the soul, they rob the soul of its uniqueness and individuality, a view that
is contrary to St. Thomas’ account of the human soul in Article I. He states, in a
memorable sentence:
The soul is a particular thing and that it can subsist of itself, not as
having a complete species of its own, but as completing the human
species by being the form of the body. Hence it likewise follows that
the soul is both a form and a particular thing.9
Let us now turn to Article I to see the manner in which St. Thomas develops his
account on the particularity of the soul. St. Thomas, like Aristotle before him, begins his
account by addressing the metaphysical question: what truly exists, or what is really real?
Following Aristotle, St. Thomas maintains that what truly exists are concrete individual
things. These things have not only actual and positive existence in the world, but they
also exist as distinct individuals. Some of these things are living things, namely, plants,
animals, and human beings. From studying these living things, St. Thomas was able to
bring into view the universal capacities or activities of living things, such as life,
nourishment, reproduction, motion, sensation, perception, recollection, and intellection.
He found that plants have the activity of life, nourishment, reproduction, and motion;
animals display these capacities as well as sensation, perception, and recollection. More
importantly, human beings carry out all of the aforementioned capacities, as well as a
unique capacity, namely, thinking, which he calls intellection.
The question arises: How does St. Thomas explain the existence of those
capacities in living things? Following Aristotle, St. Thomas introduces the soul as the
active operating power. It is precisely the soul, and not some physical thing, that allows
those living things to exist and act in a determinate way. St. Thomas concludes that there
is a hierarchy of souls, that is, souls of varying degrees of spirit: plant souls, animal souls,
and human souls. What interests us is the human soul, which he calls the rational soul.
How are we to understand the mode of the human soul’s existence? In Article I,
St. Thomas provides us with an answer. He states: “The human soul’s mode of existing
can be known from its operation, namely, intellection.”10
9
Aquinas, The Soul, 143.
Aquinas, The Soul, 144.
10
91
�St. Thomas is concerned here to show that the human soul, through its operation
of intellection or thinking, is a human function that is capable of knowing and grasping
universals. St. Thomas agrees with Aristotle’s explanation of the soul, namely, that the
soul’s operation of intellection has the capacity to know universals. The activity of
intellection has the task of bringing into view universal truths, which are, as St. Thomas
puts it, embedded in “matter and material conditions” by way of abstraction, and not by
way of recollection.11 Here St. Thomas and Aristotle are seeking to distinguish their
explanation of knowing from that of Plato. All three speak of the act of knowing or
thinking as central to grasping universals, but Plato insists that universals are recalled or
recollected by human beings, and that they exist apart from matter and material
conditions. In Article I, St. Thomas compresses his explanation of knowing into this
sentence:
The rational soul, whose operation consists in understanding, and in
abstracting species not only from matter, but from all individuating
conditions, this being required for the understanding of universals.12
To be sure, St. Thomas does agree with Aristotle. However, he seeks to
complete Aristotle’s explanation of the human soul in its operation of intellection. St.
Thomas reminds us that the operation of intellection is carried out by a human being,
more specifically, a particular human being; and as such, it is his or her thinking that does
the abstracting of universals, which are embedded in things. The commentator, Gerald
Kreyche, seems to be on the right track in describing the activity of thinking as “man’s
thinking.”13 Here he notes that the act of thinking is performed by human beings. But
unfortunately, he does not highlight the fact that the act of thinking is carried out by a
particular human being; and, as a result, he does not account for the soul as a particular
thing.
Furthermore, St. Thomas holds that in the case of the rational soul, as
understood as a particular thing, another feature must also be highlighted: specifically,
that the soul, in its activity of thinking, performs that activity without the aid of the body.
In Article I, St. Thomas puts this point clearly and succinctly:
Ibid, 142.
Aquinas, The Soul, 142.
13 Jesse Aloysius Mann and Gerald F. Kreyche, Reflections on Man: Readings in
Philosophical
Psychology from Classical Philosophy to Existentialism, (Harcourt: Brace & World,
1966), 53.
11
12
92
�In the case of the rational soul, something of special importance must
still be considered, because not only does it receive intelligible species
without matter and material conditions, but it is also quite impossible
for it, in performing its proper operation, to have anything in common
with a bodily organ…Thus the intellective soul, inasmuch as it
performs its proper operation without communicating in any way with
the body, must act of itself. And because a thing acts so far as it is
actual, the intellective soul must have a complete act of existing in
itself, depending in no way on the body. 14
In so far as the human soul carries out the operation of intellection, St. Thomas
argues that the human soul or the intellective soul is a “self-subsisting thing.”15 St.
Thomas further explains that although human beings consist of a union of soul and body,
wherein the body is required for the activity of perception, the soul eventually surpasses
the body when in engaged in its unique operation of intellection. The intellective
operation of the soul transcends the body, insofar as the soul does not make use of any of
the bodily organs when grasping universal concepts. To use the words of St. Thomas, the
intellectual soul “must act of itself.”16 St. Thomas again makes this point clear:
“inasmuch as the human soul has an operation transcending the material order, its act of
existing transcends the body and does not depend on the body.”17 Since the soul has an
operation distinct from the body, it must exist by itself, that is, as a self-subsisting thing.
In sum, St. Thomas, therefore, has enabled us to see the human soul’s mode of
existing by way of its unique operation, namely, intellection. To make his position
clearer, let us illustrate the human soul’s mode of existence by way of an example.
Consider a student learning a mathematical law, namely, the Communicative Law of
Addition. This law states that A plus B is equal to B plus A. To assist the student, we
would begin by writing particular arithmetic equations on the chalkboard such as: 3+5=8,
6+1=7, 2+3=5 and so forth. Note that these equations are sensible objects, that is, humans
can perceive them with their sense of sight. Next, we would get her to notice that the
order of the numbers being added may be reversed and still yield the same solution:
5+3=8, 1+6=7, 3+2=5. Looking closely at the equations, she would now begin to
recognize that 3+5=5+3, 6+1=1+6, 2+3=3+2.
Aquinas, The Soul, 142-143.
Aquinas, The Soul, 143.
16 Ibid.
15 Ibid, 144.
14
15
93
�At that point, she would go on to entertain this group of equivalent arithmetic
equations, entertaining them by thought, wherein she would abstract the Communicative
Law of Addition. She would come to understand that these equations are simply
illustrations of the Communicative Law of Addition. Notice here: that the student’s
thinking enables her to lift out from those perceptual objects, something not seen,
something that is not visibly written on the board, namely, A+B=B+A. By way of
intellection, the student is able to move beyond sensory perception, namely, the perceived
equations on the board, and bring into view, what St. Thomas refers to as “immaterial
knowledge,” that is, something that was not seen, nor understood before, namely, the
Communicative Law of Addition.18
Furthermore, it is not merely the activity of thinking that brings into view the
universal concept, but her thinking. It is this particular student’s thinking that is able to
grasp the universal. Moreover, the particular student is not using any bodily organs, in
this case, her physical eyes, to bring the universal concept into view. Rather, her
operation of intellection acts by itself when grasping the mathematical law. And in so far
as her particular thinking grasps the law without the aid of the body, the human soul
proves to be a particular thing and to be a self-subsisting thing.
As a particular, self-subsisting thing, St. Thomas maintains that the soul not only
gives life to the body, but also lends its life to the body; and as such, the soul is capable
of existing independently of the body. As St. Thomas puts it: “The soul is a particular
thing and that it can subsist of itself, not as a thing having complete species of its own,
but as completing the human species.”19
The self-subsisting part of the soul is separate from the body, not as another
substance, but as the other component of a human being. In Article I, St. Thomas clearly
states that “it is impossible and inconceivable for the intellect to be one of the separate
substances.”20 He therefore considers human beings to be embodied souls, rather than a
composite of body and soul. Commentators concern themselves with showing that the
soul is a separate, independent substance that survives the death of the body. That is only
part of St. Thomas’ account. He is more concerned with the soul as a particular
substance, in that, it is the individual soul that survives the death of the body.
The human soul as thus understood, has been confirmed by St. Thomas in
Article I, wherein he has given a metaphysical treatment of the notion of the soul, along
with his account of what truly exists. If the soul does not exist in anything else, but exists
Aquinas, The Soul, 144.
Aquinas, The Soul,143.
20 Ibid, 147.
18
19
94
�in its own right, it must have independent existence. It follows that since all existing
things are concrete individual things, that is, things that have actual, positive and
particular existence, then, the human soul is also a thing that has actual, positive and
particular existence. St. Thomas’ account of the soul existing as a self-subsisting thing
and a particular thing is important for understanding Christian theology, and especially
his works. Indeed, it becomes the foundation of his theology, wherein the salvation of
individual human souls has a central place.
Works Cited
Aquinas, St. Thomas. The Soul. Trans. J. P. Rowan. St. Louis: B. Herder Book Company,
1959.
Bourke, Vernon Joseph. The Pocket Aquinas. New York: Washington Square Press,
1960.
Clarke, W. Norris. “Living on Edge: The Human Person as a ‘Frontier Being’ and
Macrocosm.” International Philosophical Quarterly 36.2 (1996): 183-199.
Fitzpatrick, M.C. and J.J. Wellmuth. “St. Thomas Aquinas: On the Nature of Man.”
Spiritual Creatures. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1949.
Mann, Jesse Aloysius and Gerald F. Kreyche. Reflections on Man: Readings in
Philosophical Psychology from Classical Philosophy to Existentialism. Harcourt: Brace
& World, 1966.
Maurer, Armand A. Medieval Philosophy. New York: Random House, 1962.
95
�Mentor Programs for New Registered Nurses
Juliana R. Ohanian (Nursing)1
Currently, the healthcare climate is characterized by an unstable supply and
increasing demand for registered professional nurses (RNs), especially in hospital
settings (Green & Puetzer, 2002). As the population ages, and continues to demand the
best and most advanced health care, the recruitment and retention of nurses along the
continuum of health care settings remains critical (Fox, 2010). In an attempt to combat
attrition and improve retention of RNs in these environments, many healthcare
institutions adopt mentorship programs, which also can attract others into the system.
Such efforts are done to support novice nurses in their delivery of high-quality patient
care (Greene & Puetzer, 2002). These models vary in duration, type of education, and
available resources. Nevertheless the presence of a mentorship program improves
retention and competency of new graduate RNs with important cost benefits (Rush,
Adamack, Gordon, Lilly, & Janke, 2012). It is evident throughout the literature that the
installation of a nurse mentor program benefits workplace culture, increases job
satisfaction, and decreases hospital spending and costs, while also leading to positive
patient outcomes.
In order to fully comprehend the beneficial effects that these programs have had
on patient care, the role of the nurse mentor in the workplace must be understood. A
nurse mentor is “an experienced and competent staff nurse who serves as a role model
and resource person to a new staff member,” (Greene & Puetzer, 2002, p. 68). Nurse
mentors provide new graduate registered nurses with the guidance necessary to become
successful and professional RNs (Latham, Ringl, & Hogan, 2011). Both mentors and
mentees described eight mentoring functions perceived as most significant to their
success (Latham et al., 2011). These included personal and emotional guidance,
coaching, advocacy, career development, role modeling, strategies and systems advice,
learning facilitation, and friendship. Availability is also a key function of a mentor, as
mentees identified the importance of going to mentors in times of uncertainty or stress
(Beecroft, Santner, Lacy, Kunzman, & Dorey, 2006). Mentors also assist with situations,
such as interpreting data, communicating with other healthcare workers, and assisting
Written under the direction of Dr. Annemarie Dowling-Castronovo for the independent
study NR593: Nursing Mentorship for New Nursing Grads.
1
96
�mentees in assimilating into the workplace culture by providing a unique perspective of
the workplace (Latham et al., 2011).
Facilitating Assimilation into Workplace Culture
Assimilation into workplace culture may be one of the most difficult aspects of
transitioning into a new job. To counter this stress, one of the primary roles of nurse
mentors is to socialize new RNs. They facilitate the new RN’s socialization into their
new workplace by actively integrating them into the facility’s social culture. By doing
this, new RNs can feel more comfortable and welcome in peer groups among co-workers
and with the overall organization (Beecroft et al., 2006).
The workplace culture in hospitals encompasses the social norms, programs,
policies, and procedures of the organization (Latham, Hogan & Ringl, 2008).
Organizational culture simultaneously operates along at least three levels of all healthcare
organizations and institutions. The micro level stems from the assumptions of the
individual workers. Their values, beliefs, thinking frameworks, and behaviors, are
learned and shaped by the power relations among influential social groups. The meso
level includes the ascribed social groups, such as ethnicity, gender, age, and religion, in
which people belong to and interact with and among. The last of the three levels, the
macro level, includes the formal structure and processes of an organization. Within each
of these levels of organizational culture are deeply rooted values, beliefs, assumptions,
and habitual ways of behaving. The organizational culture of a hospital plays a significant
role in framing the daily lives of its employees (Latham et al., 2008). Mentor programs
ease this stressful period of assimilation providing new RNs with the ability to focus on
patient care, which has shown to lead directly to enhanced patient care (Beecroft et al.,
2006).
Nurse Mentor versus Preceptor
A major misconception in the nursing community is distinction between the
roles of mentor versus preceptor. Gordon and colleagues (2014) offer an illustration that
clarifies the differences:
A mentor is concerned with the development of a more long-term relationship
with a nurse that focuses on their professional development and growth.
Whereas, the preceptor engages in a more short-term clinical teaching and
instruction with a focus on orientation and role socialization with the aim of
building the nurse competence. (p. 5)
97
�While it is extremely important to have clinical instruction, it is equally important to
enhance the novice RN’s professional development and growth. Latham and colleagues
(2008) and Smith (2013) agreed that fostering professional growth and development
enhances the self-awareness of the nurse and leads to their making better patient-related
decisions. This has been evident in improved measures of patient and nurse satisfaction
and safety. An example of the latter was improved patient safety outcomes relating to fall
and pressure ulcer prevention, as well as use of restraints (Latham et al., 2008).
The relationship between the mentor and mentee is viewed as critical to the
positive development of the mentee’s career. The ultimate goal of the mentorship is to
achieve safe and competent practice (Greene & Puetzer, 2002). This is achieved by
accentuating career advancing skills, such as critical thinking and cultural competency, to
guide mentees to present themselves in a manner that shows advanced professional
development when completing their mentorship and becoming independent (Beecroft et
al., 2006; Latham et al., 2008; Rush et al., 2012). The competence of a mentee can be
measured by determining the integration of the knowledge, attitude, and skills necessary
to function in a specific role in an assigned clinical setting (Greene & Puetzer, 2002).
In addition to positive mentee outcomes, another substantial outcome achieved
was increased job satisfaction among all staff, especially among the mentors (Fox, 2010).
One study that captured this mentor satisfaction is The California Nurse Mentor Project
(Mills & Mullins, 2008). The California Nurse Mentor Project was designed to create a
replicable program to improve the quality, sensitivity and effectiveness of patient care
through enhanced retention of nurses. Mills and Mullins (2008) stated that mentors
reported revitalization and enthusiasm for their jobs as well as for nursing as a career.
Perhaps the best illustration of the value of being a mentor was this personal quote by a
mentor, “As mentors, we see this experience as an opportunity for personal growth;
meeting our professional responsibility to help nurses stay in nursing,” (Mills & Mullins,
2008, p. 313)
Another study of 89 mentors and 109 mentees in two southwestern United States
hospitals suggested mentor programs enhance professionalism of frontline RNs:
“Mentors report feelings of being valued with improved engagement and less burnout
following engagement in the mentoring process” (Latham et al., 2011, p. 345). The
majority reported feeling completely “reinvigorated.” Mentors not only became more
engaged in supporting fellow RNs, but also with enhancing the overall work environment
for RNs. Mentors reported having positive self-perceptions of their mentoring skills, and
were often sought out by other RNs on their unit, thus boosting their self-esteem (Latham
et al., 2011).
98
�Elements of Mentoring Programs
In the literature several elements of mentoring programs emerged. Three
elements seemed more critical than others: mentor-mentee matching selection process,
education and preparation, and incentives.
Mentor-Mentee Matching and Selection Process
Success in the mentorship requires risk taking on both part of the mentor and
mentee in order to achieve desired outcomes. It is necessary they work to discover
abilities within themselves that permit growth, avoid over-dependency, and identify when
the relationship has achieved its goals (Greene & Puetzer, 2002). Some of the key factors
that contribute to the success of mentor-mentee relationships are an organizational
matching and selection process that includes the criteria to be a mentor or mentee.
Although the process of mentor-mentee matching among the literature differs, there are
common elements that are essential.
It is an expectation among most programs that the mentee possesses some of the
following characteristics: openness to receiving help, interest in seeking challenges or new
responsibilities, has a strong sense of self-identity, shows career commitment and
competence, and excitement about nursing (Greene & Puetzer, 2002; Fox, 2010; Owens &
Patton, 2003). Criteria to be a mentor is more variable among the different programs,
however the most common characteristics included willingness, availability, knowledge,
experience, and competence (Greene & Puetzer, 2002; Fox, 2010; Owens & Patton, 2003).
This was clearly evident in a study that examined the effectiveness of mentor programs
that selected mentors who had good communication skills, high level of expertise,
familiarity with the organization, and motivation to assist fellow nurses (Fox, 2010).
Fox (2010) identified the importance of mentors and mentees coming from the
same educational background, working the same shift, and having generational
compatibility between both parties. In the literature, there is a strong emphasis on
availability of the pair to meet on a regular basis; and that this availability can be linked
to having mentors who volunteer and are committed to accommodating mentees into their
busy schedules (Beecroft et al. 2006; Fox, 2010; Latham et al., 2008; Latham et al.,
2011). Another common element is matching based on personality types and
compatibility between the mentors and mentees (Beecroft et al., 2006; Fox, 2010; Greene
& Puetzer, 2002). Conversely, Latham and colleagues (2011) suggested that personality
and compatibility were not the most important factors for successful mentor-mentee
teams. However, they do believe that the data gathered on personality and learning style
assist the mentor-mentee pairs with self-reflection and improvement of future
communication (Latham et al, 2008).
99
�Education and Preparation
Another essential element was the type and amount of education and preparation
provided to both mentors and mentees prior to, and integrated into the program.
Education programs were individualized on a programmatic basis and varied among
published reports. The individual mentoring program education provided prior to
mentoring were effective for most. An effective program included mentors and mentees
taking the classes together, which facilitated bonding (Fox, 2010). Another program
incorporated interactive activities between mentors and mentees during educational
classroom sessions, in addition to mentors attending two mentor-only support sessions
each year (Latham et al., 2011). Providing structured time for mentors and mentees to
establish written goals during the education sessions acted as a guideline for the growing
relationship (Latham et al., 2008; Mills & Mullins, 2008).
Among the literature reviewed, only Beecroft and colleagues (2006) specifically
discussed issues that arose from inadequate education of mentors and mentees prior to the
initiation of the program. These included not being educated on specific role details of
the mentor and mentees or career advice and networking opportunities (Beecroft et al.,
2006). Adding strength to this was Latham and colleagues’ (2011) finding that mentors
requested extra skills and classroom time in addition to what was provided. This
included, “team building, review of critical communication skills, cultural competency,
time management, conflict resolution, and feedback on personality and learning styles,”
(Latham et al., 2011 p. 347).
Incentives
Incorporation of incentives facilitated the success of mentor programs. Monetary
compensation took a variety of forms: end of the year bonuses, stipends, and paid
classroom education time for mentors (Fox, 2010; Gordon et al., 2014; Green and
Puetzer, 2002; Latham et al., 2008). One program also incentivized by awarding
continuing education units for the mentors (Latham et al., 2008). Other incentives
included staffing and scheduling flexibility, such as holiday time off, and title and
leadership recognition in the hospital organization (Green & Puetzer, 2002). Similarly,
others established career ladders for processional advancement (Latham et al., 2011).
Although not explicitly stated, the positive outcomes of the majority of the mentor
programs may be attributed to these incentives.
Effects Clearly Defined
As previously mentioned, implementation of mentor programs positively affects
the workplace, the personal and professional development of both the mentor and mentee,
100
�and patient outcomes related to both increased safety and satisfaction (Latham et al.,
2008). The most predominant positive outcome mentioned in the literature reviewed was
increased retention and decreased attrition among the RNs related to improved job
satisfaction (Fox, 2010; Latham et al., 2008; Latham et al., 2011; Mills & Mullins, 2008;
Parsh & Taylor, 2013). A major contributor to increased retention is the significant effect
mentors have had on improving the workplace, consequently improving job satisfaction
(Latham et al., 2011). Job satisfaction increases retention by decreasing stress and
promoting positive self-esteem and confidence among nurses in the patient care setting
(Beecroft et al., 2006). In the California Nurse Mentor Project, retention and job
satisfaction were also attributed to feeling a sense of achievement, developing
professional confidence and autonomy, having established relationships with colleagues
and managers, leading to an overall sense of fulfillment at work (Mills & Mullins, 2008).
The hallmark effect of these mentoring programs is improved nurse retention
rates, which leads to economic savings (Latham et al., 2011). By decreasing the turnover
rates of nurses, healthcare facilities save money that was previously spent on hiring and
training new RNs. Latham and colleagues (2008) illustrated the cost-effectives of mentor
programs: “Overall, the mentors prevented more than 24 RNs from leaving the 2
hospitals, with a cost savings of almost $2.5 million dollars using a $100,000 per RN
replacement charge” (p.37-38). While another documented an annual expense of
$291,000 for the mentoring program, that decreased the attrition rate of nurses by
93.71%, for a total savings of just over one million dollars (Fox, 2010).
Other outcomes achieved by the implementation of mentor programs should not
go unrecognized. In particular, one mentor program described as an “overwhelming
success” initiated by the nursing department, resulted in other departments initiating
similar mentoring programs (Fox, 2010). Similarly, Latham and colleagues (2011)
defined the potential of these programs: “this type of mentor development work also
could be used to enhance faculty and student mentoring in nursing education programs,
so that mentoring is not a new concept to newly employed RNs,” (p.352). Another
incentive for hospitals to initiate mentoring programs is the fact that it is a requirement
for achieving the prestigious Magnet status designation (Latham et al., 2011). The
American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) awards Magnet status to hospitals that
achieve the gold standard for nursing practice. In order to be awarded Magnet status by
the ANCC:
Hospitals must include mechanisms for mentoring and professional development
of nurses as well as succession planning. In the application process, examples
101
�must be provided that speak to mentoring for these purposes. (Melnyk &
Fineout-Overholt, 2011 p. 347-348)
A Need for More Information
The search and analysis of the literature did not reveal evidence of nurse mentor
programs in New York City, a geographical region that has three hospitals with Magnet
status. Since the literature clearly defined the importance of mentor programs, and it is a
requirement for magnet status, an understanding of how New York City hospital systems
institutionalize mentoring programs in a geographical area that is culturally and socioeconomically diverse will be informative. In order to gather such information, I propose a
survey tool developed from this current literature review (See Appendix A). The tool
draws upon the strengths of those published. More importantly, it addresses weaknesses
reported and identified. The information gathered will enhance the understanding of
current state of mentoring.
Conclusion
There is clear evidence to support the initiation of nurse mentor programs. It is
imperative that healthcare organizations use these programs to improve job satisfaction.
By increasing job satisfaction, RNs can work to enhance patient care skills and cultivate a
positive workplace environment, maximizing the potential for a safe and positive
experience for patients. These programs are essential for organizations to have a
competitive advantage over other institutions to retain new RNs leading to substantial
cost savings. Additional research of hospital systems within New York City is essential to
growing this body of knowledge. The proposed survey tool will gather the information
needed to contribute to this important body of knowledge.
Works Cited
Beecroft, P. C., Santner, S., Lacy, M. L., Kunzman, L., & Dorey, F. (2006). New
Graduate Nurses’ Perceptions of Mentoring: six‐year programme evaluation. Journal of
Advanced Nursing, 55(6), 736-747.
Fox, K. C. (2010). Mentor program boosts new nurses' satisfaction and lowers turnover
rate. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 41(7), 311.
Gordon, C. J., Aggar, C., Williams, A. M., Walker, L., Willcock, S. M., & Bloomfield, J.
(2014). A transition program to primary health care for new graduate nurses: a strategy
towards building a sustainable primary health care nurse workforce?. BMC nursing,
13(1), 34.
102
�Greene, M. T., & Puetzer, M. (2002). The value of mentoring: A strategic approach to
retention and recruitment. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 17(1), 63-70.
Latham, C. L., Hogan, M., & Ringl, K. (2008). Nurses supporting nurses: creating a
mentoring program for staff nurses to improve the workforce environment. Nursing
Administration Quarterly, 32(1), 27-39.
Latham, C. L., Ringl, K., & Hogan, M. (2011). Professionalization and Retention
Outcomes of a University–Service Mentoring Program Partnership. Journal of
Professional Nursing, 27(6), 344-353.
Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (Eds.). (2011). Evidence-based practice in
nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Mills, J. F., & Mullins, A. C. (2008). The California nurse mentor project: Every nurse
deserves a mentor. Nursing Economics, 26(5), 310.
Owens, J. K., & Patton, J. G. (2003). Take a chance on nursing mentorships enhance
leadership with this win-win strategy. Nursing Education Perspectives, 24(4), 198-204.
Parsh, B., & Taylor, E. (2013). Benefits of residency programs for new grads.
Nursing2014, 43(12), 64.Rush, K. L., Adamack, M., Gordon, J., Lilly, M., & Janke, R.
(2013). Best practices of formal new graduate nurse transition programs: an integrative
review. International journal of nursing studies, 50(3), 345-356.
Rush, K. L., Adamack, M., Gordon, J., Lilly, M., & Janke, R. (2013). Best practices of
formal new graduate nurse transition programs: an integrative review. International
journal of nursing studies, 50(3), 345-356.
Smith, L. R. (2013). All aboard! Helping new grads navigate nursing. Nursing
management, 44(3), 8-9.
103
�Appendix A: Interview Survey
Inclusion Criteria
Mentor:
o Work in an acute care hospital facility
o Work 0.5 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) or higher.
o Work in one of the five boroughs of New York City
Mentee
o Hired to their workplace within the last five years.
o Have never worked in their workplace prior to being hired as a RN.
o Completed their orientation process in full.
o Work in one of the five boroughs of New York City.
Exclusion Criteria- Mentors and mentees who:
Have been licensed greater than 5 years.
Hold a degree higher than Bachelors of Science in Nursing.
Hold a per diem position.
Introduction and description of survey
This survey was designed to gather information of current mentorship programs in
NYC in order to compare and contrast to the current literature
Demographic Information
What is your year of birth?
What is your gender?
What year did you graduate your nursing program?
What degrees have you earned? Circle all that apply.
o AAS, BS, BSN, Other
Survey:
Please list all the institutions you have worked in as a registered nurse.
Where is your current place of employment?
o
Section One: Orientation Process at current place of employment
How long was your orientation process?
2-4 weeks
4-8 weeks
>2 months
Other:
104
�
I cannot recall
On what unit are you currently employed?
Did your orientation include a classroom component?
Yes/No
o If yes, please explain how the classroom component
influenced your work in the patient care setting.
o If no, what about a classroom education may have been
beneficial before working in the patient care setting?
Please explain what you would have liked to learn in a
classroom setting before being exposed to it in the patient
care setting.
Did your orientation include an online education?
o
Section Two: Preceptor Pairing
Once on your work unit, were you paired with a preceptor?
o
Yes/No
o If yes, please explain how the online education influences
your work in the patient care setting.
Yes/No
o If yes, were you given the opportunity to select your
preceptor? Yes/No
If yes, please explain the process of selection.
o If no, do you believe you were matched well with your
preceptor?
Section Three: Mentorship
A mentor is described as “an experienced and trusted adviser.” Based
on this description, to what extent do you agree or disagree your
preceptor acted as a mentor to you? Select one.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Once on your work unit, were you paired with a mentor different from
your preceptor?
Yes/No
o If yes, did you get to select your mentor?
If yes, please specify the process of selection.
105
�If no, did you connect with an individual who acted as a
mentor to you?
If yes, please specify how this relationship started.
Please describe what “mentor” means to you in no more than two
sentences.
If you had a mentor, please elaborate on how having a mentor affected
you.
o
106
�
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The <em>Wagner College Forum for Undergraduate Research</em> provides an arena where students can publish their research and have a wider audience that can see what types of areas of academic intellect and expertise are being explored at Wagner College. The journal is devoted to publishing empirical and theoretical papers by undergraduate students in all disciplines. Papers are reviewed with respect to their scholarly merit. Length and type of articles have been determined by the paper’s objectives and scope of contribution to its respective field. This collection houses all issues of the <em>Forum</em> from 2002 to the present.
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Wagner College, Staten Island, N.Y.
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Forum for Undergraduate Research
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Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
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Spring 2016
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Volume 14, Number 2
Table Of Contents
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Section I: The Natural Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 3 Antimicrobial Properties of Clove Oil and Turmeric against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli / Joseph V. Agro -- Section II: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 31 Relationship between Traditional Parenting Styles, and Helicopter Parenting / Kendra Best -- Section III: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 41 From the Island to New York City: Puerto Rican Educational Achievement and Policy Recommendations / Katie Murphy -- 52 Jewish Artists in Nazi Germany: Charlotte Salomon / Jessica Catanzaro -- 60 “Wind of Her Misfortune”: The Role of Nature in Innocent Erendira / Nicole Bianco -- 65 An Analysis of the Influence of Christianity and French Naturalism on Vincent Van Gogh’s Relationships with and Depictions of Women / Sandra G. Minchala -- 74 Role, Representation and Symbolism of Objects in The Back Room / Karina Cusumano -- 83 In Search of True Freedom in Post-Independence India: An Analysis of the Apu Trilogy / Avika Sagwal -- 90 St. Thomas and the Individuality of the Human Soul / Alyssa Thompson -- 96 Mentor Programs for New Registered Nurses / Juliana R. Ohanian
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112 pages
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eng
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is typically subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural
Sciences, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these sections are
limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific investigations (experimental,
theoretical and empirical). The third section is reserved for speculative papers based on
the scholarly review and critical examination of previous works.
As has become a tradition, the fall edition commences with a reprint of the abstracts of
papers and posters presented at the Eastern Colleges Science Conference. The interested
reader will then encounter the morphallactic regeneration of planaria and a study to
determine whether a variant of human mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (MET)
can be found within the planarian genome. Moving on, one will explore how corporate
America uses its resources to address external and internal challenges by embracing
diversity. This is followed by an investigation into New York City's role in the evolution
of the Gay Rights Movement. Be sure not to miss how German culture was demonized
during both World War I and World War II or the essay on the effect of storytelling in
Isabel Allende’s Eva Luna.
Read on and enjoy!
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Miles Groth, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Annemarie Dowling-Castronovo, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference1
Abstracts
3
Bacterial Infections of the Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Swim Bladder
Brandon Hart, Yasmine Khaled, and Dr. Christopher Corbo
3
Neurogenesis Observed in the Adult Zebrafish Optic Tectum
Jacob Orvidas and Dr. Christopher Corbo
4
Antimicrobial Properties of Clove Oil and Turmeric Against
Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli
Joseph Agro
4
Antimicrobial Properties of Plant Extracts Against Gram-Negative Bacteria
Lauren Alessandro and Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt
5
Measurement of Arsenic and Heavy Metals in Groundwater in Bangladesh by
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Spectroscopy
Rabije Cekovic and Dr. Mohammad Alauddin
5
Effects of Plant Extracts on Gram Negative Bacteria
Kathleen Calves and Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt
6
Detection of MET in the Flatworm Girarida dorotocephala Genome
Michelle Detka (Biology) and Dr. Jonathan Blaize
6
The Effects of Diethyl Phthalate on Drosophila melangaster, Studied Through
Scanning Electro Microscopy and Developmental Assays
Phillip Necaise
7
The Search for a Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor Ortholog in the
Flatworm Girarida dorotocephala Genome
Kaitlin Murtha (Biology) and Dr. Jonathan Blaize
7
Comparing Photobehaviors of Genetically Different Populations of the Water Flea
Daphnia magna Ordered from Different Biological Supply Companies
Marguerite Langwig, Dr. Donald Stearns, and Dr. Jonathan Blaize
1
Papers and posters presented at the 70th Annual Eastern Colleges Science Conference held in
Springfield, MA on April 2, 2016.
�8
Digital Microscopic Photographic Series of Adult Zebrafish
Cerebellum, Horizontal Series
Emily Bovasso, Dr. Christopher Corbo, and Dr. Zoltan Fulop
8
Molecular Dynamics Simulations to Investigate Interactions
between Fullerenes and Amyloid Proteins
James Catalano and Dr. Arun Sharma
9
Chemistry in the Aerosol Interfacial Region: A Computational Study
Tyler Cropley, Gent Prelvukaj, and Dr. Arun Sharma
9
Racial Preference and Self-Identification in Latino Children
Kelsey Hopland (Chemistry) and Dr. Amy Eshleman
10 Survey of Molds in Different Seasonal Climates and Environments
Amanda Pavia and Amanda Weinberg
Section II: The Natural Sciences
Full Length Papers
15 Detection of MET in the Flatworm Girarida Dorotocephala Genome
Michelle Detka
Section III: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
59 Reaping the Benefits of Racial and Ethnic Diversity:
The Competitive Advantage for Top Level Management
Kadijah Singleton
�Section IV: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
81 From Riots to Organizations: New York City’s Role in the Gay Rights Movement
Christine Shouldis
97 Anthropological Effects on Business Operations
Erynn Tuerk
112 Anti-German Sentiment in New York City During the World Wars
Kristen Whitaker
130 The Effect of Storytelling in Isabel Allende’s Eva Luna
Alexandra Dmytrow
����Bacterial Infections of the Zebrafish
(Danio rerio) Swim Bladder
Brandon Hart (Microbiology), Yasmine Khaled (Microbiology),
and Dr. Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences)
Swim bladders are gas filled sacs found in the abdominal cavity of fish. The main
function of this organ is to provide fish with neutral buoyancy. Swim bladders serve an
important role in its ability to help fish hear by amplifying sounds and vibrations. Swim
bladder disease is a common ailment found in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Infection of this
organ causes inflammation and prevents the inhalation and exhalation of gas, which
hinders swimming, causing fish to float upside down or at the surface of the water. We
set out to determine the bacteria that might be causing these infections in captive
zebrafish. Zebrafish exhibiting sickness were anesthetized and had their swim bladder
removed. There were a total of five trials conducted, with five fish in each trial. Fish were
anesthetized by using Tricane and euthanized by severing of the spinal cord. Swim
bladders were extracted and put into brain-heart infusion broth and incubated for 48
hours at 37 C. Samples were subsequently inoculated onto Phenyethyl Alcohol agar and
Thiosulfate citrate bile salts sucrose agar and incubated for another 24 hours. Agar plates
exhibiting growth were gram stained and revealed gram positive rods. Further
biochemical analysis revealed that zebrafish swim bladders were infected with Bacillus
subtillis, and Bacillus coagulans. This research will help us to identify fish pathogens and
allow us to test which antibiotic treatment could be most effective.
Neurogenesis Observed in the Adult Zebrafish Optic Tectum
Jacob Orvidas (Microbiology) and Dr. Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences)
Previous studies using light, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, has shown
that the brain of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) has the ability to survive in organotypic
culture for up to 14 days. Various studies have also shown that the optic tectum continued
neurogenesis. In an attempt to gain a better understanding of the cellular events taking
place in the surviving culture explants, our work utilized BrdU labeling to detect
proliferating cells seen in the zebrafish optic tectum maintained in organotypic culture.
The goal of this experiment was to further characterize the cellular composition and
organization of the normal adult zebrafish optic tectum, as well as the embryoid bodies
seen in the surviving brain explants of the organotypic. Six specific time points of
cultivation were extensively analyzed; 12, 48, 96 hours, 7 days, 9 days, and 12 days.
3
�Optic tectum neurogenesis has not been extensively recorded in organotypic cultures of
zebrafish brain, which in this experiment are used as a major traumatic event to the tectal
tissue. The time points leading up to 7 days will then be used in comparison with other
studies to determine homology and the data collected beyond the time point of 7 days
will be recorded as new examinations.
Antimicrobial Properties of Clove Oil and Turmeric
Against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli
Joseph Agro (Microbiology)
Worldwide the food industry is combating the repercussions of food spoilage due to the
growth and contamination of many foods by food borne pathogens. Combating these
pathogens has never reached its full potential, with all the preservative methods that
human beings have come up with; there is never a 100 percent success rate. Turning to
chemically synthesized substances such as antibiotics can potentially lead to dangerous
side effects, even though these chemicals are able to act as a germicide. In this study the
use of naturally derived plant extracts such as clove oil and turmeric were tested on
Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli to determine the effectiveness of these
agents as antimicrobial agents. These two microorganisms are readily found in and on the
human body, which is why it would be of interest to be able to combat these bacteria and
their potential pathogenicity to humans. In this study the plant extracts were diluted 1:10,
1:100, 1:1,000, 1:10,000, and 1:100,000, to determine whether the extract performs as a
bactericidal agent or as a bacteriostatic agent.
Antimicrobial Properties of Plant Extracts
Against Gram-Negative Bacteria
Lauren Alessandro (Biology) and Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt (Biological Sciences)
In the field of medicine, chemical antibiotics are very widely used. However, these
medications can sometimes have harmful side effects on humans as well as create
bacteria that ultimately become resistant. Finding an alternative way of creating
antimicrobials through testing plant extracts could cut down on the harm caused by the
chemical antibiotics. In this research, the researcher used three extracts, ginkgo biloba,
turmeric and clove oil and tested them against the bacteria Klebsiella, Pseudomonas
fluorescens, Morganella and Acinetobacter. In order to complete the research, three tenfold dilutions of the plant extracts were created and inoculated with the bacteria. The
4
�bacteria and extract mixture was swabbed on a nutrient agar plate and incubated at room
temperature for a week. When observed after the week, the clove oil was found to have
the best result as it had inhibited all four bacteria at all three concentrations. Further
research should be done to examine the lowest effective concentration of clove oil that
will have the same results.
Measurement of Arsenic and Heavy Metals in Groundwater in
Bangladesh by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Spectroscopy
Rabije Cekovic (Chemistry) and Dr. Mohammad Alauddin (Chemistry and Physics)
About 97% of 160 million people in Bangladesh depend on groundwater as a principle
source of drinking water. However, the groundwater in Bangladesh is found to be
contaminated with arsenic (As) from geogenic origin. While the World Health
Organization (WHO) permissible level for As is 10 μg/L, the As level in Bangladesh
groundwater ranges from 100 to several thousand micrograms per liter in seriously
affected areas. While most of the mitigation efforts are directed to removal of As from
groundwater through various filtration systems, multielemental analysis of the water from
an arsenic affected area reveals that the groundwater is contaminated with several other
heavy metals. Using the analytical technique of inductively coupled plasma atomic
spectroscopy (ICP-AES), we have analyzed water samples from 100 tube wells in four
villages in a seriously affected area. In addition to As, heavy metals such as Fe, Mn, Pb,
Sr, Ba, U and several other trace elements have been detected. For safe drinking water
supplies for vast population, an effective filtration system needs to be developed.
Interelement correlation in our collected data will be presented.
Effects of Plant Extracts on Gram Negative Bacteria
Kathleen Calves (Biopsychology) and Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt (Biological Sciences)
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram negative, rod shaped bacterium that is commonly
found growing in the environment. This bacterium does not have complex nutritional
requirements allowing it to grow abundantly in a laboratory setting as well as in nature.
This abundance is a problem as the bacteria can cause severe, and possibly fatal illness in
humans and animals. It is also beginning to become resistant to antibiotics. Because of
this, new methods are being researched to prevent the spread of this bacterium. Certain
plant extracts, in this research specifically, chamomile, nutmeg, basil, and clove, have
antimicrobial properties that could be effective agents against bacteria such as P.
5
�aeruginosa. These properties were tested through two different methods; inoculation and
swabbing on a selective agar as well as producing mix plates. Out of the plant extracts
that were tested chamomile appeared to have the most effective antimicrobial properties.
On the plates that were observed, those swabbed with the highest concentration of
chamomile, had the fewest colonies of P. aeruginosa grown. This observed antimicrobial
action may be due to the active metabolites in the chamomile plant, such as -bisabolol,
that are not in the other extracts used.
Detection of MET in the Flatworm Girarida dorotocephala Genome
Michelle Detka (Biology) and Dr. Jonathan Blaize (Biological Sciences)
The mechanisms controlling morphallactic regeneration are among the most complex and
well studied of all biological processes. Since the 18th century planaria have served as a
model organism for the study of regeneration due to their immense developmental
plasticity, simple body plan and relative abundance. In our investigation, fresh water
brown planaria supplied by Carolina Biological Sciences (G. dorotocephala) were
employed to determine whether a variant of human mesenchymal epithelial transition
factor (MET), a key contributor to tissue recovery in vertebrates, can be found within the
planarian genome. Our preliminary data suggests that a MET ortholog is expressed by
this species, a finding that is partially corroborated by our in silico investigations.
However, no amplicon of this gene was recovered when planarian DNA was subjected to
PCR amplification using human MET oligoprimers. We conclude that while a MET
variant is likely absent from the planarian genome, proteins that contribute to tissue repair
in a similar fashion are undoubtedly present.
The Effects of Diethyl Phthalate on Drosophila melangaster, Studied
Through Scanning Electro Microscopy and Developmental Assays
Phillip Necaise (Biology)
Phthalates are a class of chemicals widely used in the production of plastics and other
common household products. Mounting scientific evidence suggests phthalates, such as
diethyl phthalate, can act as endocrine disruptors, causing negative health effects like
cancer and birth abnormalities. By using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism,
the developmental effects of phthalate exposure can be studied. Developmental assays
can provide data correlating amount of exposure and effect on the life cycle of D.
6
�melanogaster. To further explore the effects of phthalates, a novel method was required
to prepare D. melanogaster pupa and larva tissues for use in a scanning electron
microscope. Use of a scanning electron microscope provides high detailed imaging of the
D. melanogaster surface ultra structure. By comparing control and treatment tissues
under the scope, potential differences induced by phthalate exposure can be determined.
The Search for a Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor
Ortholog in the Flatworm Girarida dorotocephala Genome
Kaitlin Murtha (Biology) and Dr. Jonathan Blaize (Biological Sciences)
Regeneration of lost or injured planarian tissue is controlled by a litany of molecular cues
that initiate prompt cytoskeletal reorganization, re-epithelialization and recruitment of
neoblasts to the wound site. While few multi-cellular eukaryotes share the restorative
fidelity displayed by planaria, nearly all members of the animal kingdom rely upon
epithelialization to reduce the likelihood of infection, minimize water loss/maintain
tonicity and initiate recovery immediately following severe trauma. Unsurprisingly, many
of the cellular hallmarks that facilitate reinstitution of epithelial continuity are conserved
between species, despite massive variability within the repair scheme thereafter. A key
contributor to this process in mammalian wound healing is the peptide ligand vascular
endothelial growth factor (VEGF). While no homolog of the VEGF gene exists within the
planarian genome, partial homology of its receptor, VEGFR has been identified though in
silico investigations. Preliminary data from electrophoresed amplicons suggest that an
ortholog of the ligand is present, though its function has not yet been characterized.
Comparing Photobehaviors of Genetically Different
Populations of the Water Flea Daphnia magna
Ordered from Different Biological Supply Companies
Marguerite Langwig (Biopsychology), Dr. Donald Stearns (Biological Sciences), and Dr.
Jonathan Blaize (Biological Sciences)
This research compared the phototactic responses of Daphnia magna from two supply
companies (Carolina Biological Supply Company [CB], Connecticut Valley Biological
Supply Company [CV]) to better understand how these behaviors are genetically
influenced. For each treatment, 10 organisms were exposed to the same light stimulus
(1.6 Em-2s-1 of 410-nm or 630-nm) and compared with dark controls for location in the
test chamber after a 30 s light exposure. The photobehaviors of the CB and CV daphnids
7
�did not significantly differ from dark controls when tested using these two wavelengths.
However, phototaxis in CB and CV showed a larger standard deviation than the controls,
indicating increased variation in response to light. Although the CV and CB daphnids did
not differ from the controls, the two populations showed a large but not statistically
significant difference in phototaxis when compared with each other (p = 0.055). These
results, when combined with previous research (Cheung, 2015), indicate that CV
daphnids are more responsive to 410-nm light than 630-nm light. In contrast, CB
daphnids do not show a phototactic response at either wavelength. These data suggest a
difference in photobehavior that may be attributed to genetic variation. To determine if
the two populations were derived from the same clonal ancestor, genome digests
prepared with restriction endonucleases EcoRI, HindIII, and BglII were electrophoresed
and analyzed. Digestion profiles revealed that DNA sequence variation exists between
the two populations. While these assays are not definitive, the results provide evidence
that the two D. magna populations are genetically distinct.
Digital Microscopic Photographic Series of
Adult Zebrafish Cerebellum, Horizontal Series
Emily Bovasso (Biology), Dr. Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences), and Dr. Zoltan
Fulop (Biological Sciences)
Digital photographic series from plastic embedded semithin sections of adult zebrafish
brain, stained with toluidine blue, were used in this study. Serial sections of adult
zebrafish brains were cut in all the three anatomical planes. This work utilized the
horizontal series and focused on the cerebellar region. The poster demonstrates montaged
images captured with 20x objective and/or 100x objective. They are presented in a
consecutive order of the dorsal ventral orientation. Efforts to make these images in an
interactive atlas are in progress. The overall aim of this work was to contribute to the
formational of a neuroanatomical atlas of a zebrafish brain. Zebrafish are now a model
organism, so knowledge of the structure and function of the zebrafish brain is important
and this project will address such need by providing a high-resolution guide to many of
the cerebellum’s important structures.
8
�Molecular Dynamics Simulations to Investigate
Interactions between Fullerenes and Amyloid Proteins
James Catalano (Chemistry) and Dr. Arun Sharma (Chemistry and Physics)
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative illness that produces plaques in the brain.
These neurotoxic plaques are produced by the Amyloid-Beta protein and its fibrils. A
cure for Alzheimer’s and associated dementia is the focus of many large scale
investigations, both, in vivo, and in silico. Recently, fullerenes have been identified as
potential inhibitors of the aggregation of amyloid proteins and fibrils that eventually lead
to the disease. Fullerenes are hollow carbon spherical structures that are achiral, and have
varying sizes. We have simulated the interaction of fullerenes of various sizes with the
amyloid protein, and the beta fibrils. Our initial results show that small fullerenes can
bind strongly to fibrils. The best binding pose from our docking simulation is then
subjected to fully atomistic Molecular Dynamics simulation. We plan to analyze in detail
the binding interactions, stability of the fullerene-fibril complex, and fullerene-amyloid
complex. Our simulations will create a microscopic picture of these interactions, and shed
light on the potential role of fullerenes as therapeutic targets for Alzheimer’s Disease.
Chemistry in the Aerosol Interfacial Region: A Computational Study
Tyler Cropley (Chemistry), Gent Prelvukaj (Chemistry),
and Dr. Arun Sharma (Chemistryand Physics)
The chemical reactions caused by atmospheric aerosol particles are substantial elements
that influence radiative forcing, chemical reaction cycles, and human health. Although
the general properties of aerosol particles, along with the chemical reactions of their
exterior are understood, the chemical reactions that occur in the interfacial region remain
ambiguous. Due to the complexity of the interfacial region, self assembled reverse
micelles (RM) are used as proxies to help develop a complete understanding of the
photochemical properties of the region. We performed fully atomistic molecular
dynamics simulations to explore the impact of trapped ionic species on the size and shape
of reverse micelles. RMs were created using Packmol and the simulations were carried
out using the open source, GROMACS engine. Simulations were run at constant
temperature and pressure and under different ionic concentrations. We have analyzed
RMs constructed from dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) surrounded by isooctane
solvent. The size of RM is best defined by the ratio w0=H20/surfactant. We have
simulated RMs with w0=5, 7.5, and 10. Each micelle size has a different amount of ions
9
�to ensure that each size has the same concentration. Preliminary simulations show that
KCl holds the reverse micelle together more and makes it more spherical. Although, after
running multiple simulations of different concentrations we discovered that there is a
threshold concentration. When there are too many ions in the core they repel each other,
which causes the reverse micelle to lose its spherical shape.
Racial Preference and Self-Identification in Latino Children
Kelsey Hopland (Chemistry) and Dr. Amy Eshleman (Psychology)
A large body of research has investigated racial bias and self-identification of African
American children, however the field is considerably underdeveloped as it pertains to
children of Latino/Hispanic descent. As a contribution to the field, the current pilot study
experimentally investigated the effect of language on racial preference, selfidentification, and general racial identification in Latino children. Specifically, the
researcher examined whether children would respond to the measures differently if
interviewed in English or Spanish. Children were presented with nearly identical
cartoons, differing only in skin tone, hair color, and eye color. Preliminary data suggest
the children slightly prefer the lighter-skinned variation, particularly boys. Thus far, it
appears language may impact self-identification, as two-thirds of children randomly
assigned to the English-speaking condition identified with the light-skinned cartoon.
Additional interviews will clarify preliminary results.
Survey of Molds in Different Seasonal Climates and Environments
Amanda Pavia (Microbiology) and Amanda Weinberg (Microbiology)
Fungi are among the most important microorganisms and can be fatally dangerous to
human health. Fungi have been extensively studied in indoor environments with relation
to their pathogenicity. To date, the importance of studying outdoor fungal communities
has not been sufficiently noted. Creating the connections between outdoor fungi and their
preferred seasonal climates and environments is important for the development of further
information about the way in which fungi effects on human health. This research aims to
identify and enumerate the various locations, temperatures and environments of fungi that
are found in outdoor settings. Using Sabouraud Dextrose Agar, samples were collected
via settling and swabbing methods to isolate fungi in both rural and urban environments.
Fungal cultures were given a growth period of four to fourteen days at room temperature.
10
�Colonies were examined macroscopically and microscopically via the Tape Mount
Method and the Slide Culture Method. In the rural environment, the most common
culturable fungal species was identified as Exophiala dermitidis with 77 Colony Forming
Units, followed by the yeast Candida albicans with 9 CFU. In the urban environment and
warmer climates, specifically between 71°C and 82°C, the most isolated species was
Cladosporium spp. with 63 Colony forming Units, followed by Pencillium marneffei with
15 CFU. During the colder temperature conditions, between 13° C and 27°C, the most
abundant fungal species by far consisted of solely Cladosporium spp. This study provides
insight into fungi and their indigenous environments and seasonal climates.
11
����Detection of MET in the Flatworm
Girarida dorotocephala Genome
Michelle Detka (Biology)1
The mechanisms controlling morphallactic regeneration are among the most complex and
well studied of all biological processes. Since the 18th century planaria have served as a
model organism for the study of regeneration due to their immense developmental
plasticity, simple body plan and relative abundance. In our investigation, freshwater
brown planaria supplied by Carolina Biological Sciences (Girarida dorotocephala) were
employed to determine whether a variant of human mesenchymal epithelial transition
factor (MET), a key contributor to tissue recovery in vertebrates, can be found within the
planarian genome. Our preliminary data suggests that a MET ortholog is expressed by
this species, a finding that is partially corroborated by our in silico investigations. An
amplicon of this gene was recovered when planarian DNA was subjected to PCR
amplification using human MET oligoprimers. We conclude that there is a MET variant
present in the planarian genome and proteins that contribute to tissue repair in a similar
fashion are undoubtedly present.
I. Introduction
Planarian Taxonomy
In 1766, Peter Simon Pallas had the opportunity to study an organism that would
provide present day scientists with a wealth of knowledge about morphallactic
regeneration (Newmark, and Alvarado, 2001). Pallas bisected a small piece of the
planarian head and observed how the planarian was able to regenerate a complete
organism, which was the first example of planaria regenerative capabilities (Newmark,
and Alvarado, 2001). It was not until 1814 and 1822 that the work of scientists Dalyell
and Johnson explored planarian regeneration even more in depth, performing
experiments that involved cutting planaria horizontally and longitudinally to see how
they would regenerate in response (Newmark and Alvarado, 2001). Such studies, which
Research conducted under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Blaize in partial fulfillment of
the Senior Program requirements.
1
15
�focused on isolating parts of a planarian and studying the method by which their bodies
regenerate an entirely new organism, would be the focus of studies for years to come.
Planaria are freshwater flatworms, members of the phylum Platyhelminthes
(Newmark, and Alvarado, 2001). These organisms are part of the Lophotrochozoa group,
a group of understudied organisms that are related to the Ecdysozoa (Caenohabditis
elegans and Drosophila) and the Deuterostomes (Alvarado, 2003). The interest of our
laboratory research was to understand planaria’s ability to regenerate complete body parts
in a span of seven to fourteen days (Alvarado, 2003). Although scientists have not agreed
on a definite model of planarian wound response, biologists at Tufts University have
recently proposed a comprehensive model of planarian regeneration, which has identified
numerous genes within the wound response cascade. Freshwater brown planaria were
supplied by Carolina Biological Sciences in an effort conclude whether a variant of
human mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (MET), associated with human wound
repair, is present within the planarian genome.
Regenerative Capabilities
Regenerative abilities of planaria are of great importance to the scientific
community because of the novel manner in which they complete wound repair in other
living organisms. Planaria use a morphallactic regeneration mechanism. Morphallactic
regeneration involves the regeneration of lost tissue by reorganizing and growing the
remaining and adjacent tissue (Gilbert, 2000). Planaria are dependent upon the
accumulation of somatic stem cells, referred to as neoblasts, at the wound site
(Wenemoser et al., 2012). When a planarian undergoes an injury to a fragment of their
body, it initiates a cascade of signals that work to repair the wound by regenerating lost
tissue and incorporating it amongst the pre-existing structures.
Proposed Mechanism of the First Wave of Wound Induced Gene Response
Planarian signal response constitutes the use of neoblasts, which are somatic
stem cells that give the planarian the developmental plasticity necessary to regenerate
body fragments ranging from the head to the trunk of their bodies (Wenemoser and
Reddien, 2010). Neoblast mitosis is necessary to complete regeneration (Wenemoser and
Reddien, 2010).
When a planarian has been wounded, whether it is by the prick of a needle, or
gross tissue loss, the initial step of the wound response is the activation of latent
transcription factors (Wenemoser, 2011). Data suggests that the wound response cascade
16
�in planaria involves MAPKKK1, SOS, c-fos, and serum response factor (SRF)
transcription factors as an immediate response mechanism after injury has occurred
(Wenemoser, 2011). The activation of these transcription factors signifies the start of the
first main stage of wound response. The initial phase of wound response is classified as
the response of immediate early genes (Wenemoser, 2011). The genes expressed within
the first 30 min. of wounding are classified as the immediate early group of genes
(Wenemoser, 2011). The first mitotic phase is involved in a body-wide response, while
the second mitotic phase is involved in a more localized response near the wound site
(Wenemoser and Reddien, 2010). RNAi was used to study which genes were involved in
the immediate early group of genes (Sen, 2006). RNAi is a post-transcriptional silencing
process that requires the short interfering molecules (siRNA) to bind in a complementary
fashion to the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) (Thermo, 2016). When associated
with the RISC complex, the mRNA is identifiable and capable of cleaving the
corresponding mRNA at a particular location (Thermo, 2016). Once the mRNA has been
cleaved, it can possibly result in protein expression (Thermo, 2016). A downfall of this
silencing process is that the gene can be silenced for only a brief period of time unless the
organism is unable to survive (Thermo, 2016). Therefore, the silencing mechanism of
RNAi methodically shuts down specific genes of interest in the cell to identify the
components that are necessary for regeneration in planaria (Sen, 2006). RNAi screening
was performed on a group of planaria to test the effectiveness of five genes: c-fos,
CREB1, jun, MAPKKK1, and PP1, which were were suspected as immediate early genes
(Wenemoser, 2011). c-fos and MAPKKK1 exhibited the strongest effects of woundinduced expression (Wenemoser, 2011). The genes: jun, egr1, egr1b, CREB1, TRAF,
PP1, and pim-3 were also identified as part of the first wave of genes that respond to the
wounding of the planaria (Wenemoser, 2011). These early wave genes were classified as
translation-independent and were heavily involved in cell-signaling (Wenemoser, 2011).
After performing careful studies, immediate early genes were determined to be critical in
wound-induced expression of the late wound inducing cells (Wenemoser, 2011).
Genes that respond 6-12 hrs. after wounding are classified as members of the
transition stage (Wenemoser, 2011). This stage takes place prior to the second mitotic
phase in planarian regeneration (Wenemoser, 2011). The genes involved in the wound
response 6-12 hrs. after the injury are associated with cell-cell communication and matrix
remodeling (Wenemoser, 2011). These genes include delta, plaminogen, TFP1,
borderline 1, con Williebrand-1, and ADAM20 (Wenemoser, 2011). After the first
mitotic phase has been completed, there is a second wave of genes that is induced
17
�approximately 48 hrs. after the injury referred to as the localized response (Wenemoser et
al., 2012).
Tissue Loss and Differentiation During the Second Mitotic Phase
The second mitotic phase is dependent on a gross loss of tissue (Wenemoser et
al., 2012). To test this hypothesis, scientists injured a planarian using two types of
methods. The first method consititued a non-loss of tissue, while the second type of
injury resulted in the disfigurement of the planaria (Wenemoser and Reddien, 2010). A
mitotic response was only exhibited in the planarian that experienced gross tissue loss
(Figure 1). These results signified that the second mitotic phase is only inititated if a
planarian has undergone a disfigurement of body tissue (Wenemoser and Reddien, 2010).
Figure 1: Confocal microscopy demonstrated that an injury involving a poke in the
planarian body lacked an accumulation of neoblasts 48 hours after a poke, therefore not
inducing a second mitotic response. When the planarian body was disfigured by a hole,
resulting in a gross loss of tissue, there was a proliferation of neoblast cells, indicating a
second mitotic wound response (Wenemoser and Reddien, 2010).
During the second mitotic peak, neoblasts differentiate to form new tissue at the site
where there has been a loss of tissue due to injury (Wenemoser and Reddien, 2010).
Irradiation techniques were exploited to determine if cell cycling cells or differentiated
cells were present 48 hours after a planarian was injured (Wenemoser and Reddien,
2010). Cell-cycling cells were labeled as smedi-1+/SMEDWI-1+, while differentiated
cells were labeled as smedwi1-/SMEDW1+ (Wenemoser and Reddien, 2010). The results
indicated that the smed-1+/SMED-1+ cells were killed by irradiation (Wenemoser and
18
�Reddien, 2010). The loss of smed-1+/SMED-1+ cells due to irradiation indicates that
entire population of SMEDW-1+ cells must have been contained within neoblasts
(Wenemoser and Reddien, 2010). Only a presence of smedwi-1-/SMEDWI-1+ labeled
cells (differentiated cells) was observed when the irradiation techniques were performed
on planaria that were being studied 48 hrs. after wounding. Therefore, the presence of
differentiated cells 48 hrs. post-injury acts as a hallmark indication of wound repair in
response to tissue loss (Wenemoser and Reddien, 2010).
The Presence of Patterning Genes During Second Mitotic Phase
Many genes identified during the second mitotic phase are associated with the
formation of patterns within the planarian body during the regeneration phase (Wenemoser,
2011). The following genes have been identified as homologs of patterning factors: wnt-P,
nlg1, inhibin, wntless, dally-like, and follistatin (Wenemoser, 2011). RNAi was performed
again to identify the genes associated with patterning in the second mitotic phase
(Wenemoser, 2011). Planaria containing the genes unc22, follistatin, and dally-like were
chosen to undergo the RNAi procedure (Wenemoser, 2011). The wild type of these genes
was used as a control (Wenemoser, 2011). The results revealed the implications of altering
the pattern regulating genes unc22, follistatin, and dally-like genes. Follistatin RNAi
prevented the formation of a blastema (Wenemoser, 2011). RNAi performed on the dallylike genes resulted in a planarian that expressed a split blastema (Wenemoser, 2011). The
RNAi technique manipulated the pattern forming genes to demonstrate the significance of
these genes in the remodeling of the planarian body post injury. Mutation in patterning
genes such as wnt-P, nlg1, inhibin, wntless, dally-like, and follistatin, would still result in
the accumulation of neoblasts at the wound site, however there would be a lack of proper
alignment of cells, resulting in the planarian being incapable of regenerating a proper
functioning planarian body (Wenemoser, 2011).
19
�Figure 2: This image is brief overview of the two distinct mitotic phases that planaria
undergo in response to tissue loss. The first mitotic phase is a body-wide response that
utilizes transcription factors as a response to injury. The second phase involves a
localized response that recruits neoblast cells to the wound site. Genes in the second
mitotic phase are involved in patterning and differentiation (Wenemoser et al., 2012).
Reepithelialization in Humans
The scope of this research involves studying planarian regeneration because they
serve as model organisms for the study of regeneration in other organisms, such as
humans. The regeneration model for human skin in response to wounding has been
identified, and it parallels the planarian method of regeneration in a few aspects.
In humans, the process that is responsible for restoring function after injury is
referred to as re-epithelialization. Wound response is divided into different phases similar
to the way that planarian regeneration is divided into two mitotic phases. The initial step
in the four stage wound response process is coagulation and hemostasis, followed by
inflammation which occurs quickly after wounding, proliferation that begins within the
few days following the injury, and finally maturation/wound remodeling (Velnar et al.,
2009).
Bleeding can result at the site of injury. As result, blood flow must be stopped at
the site of injury, but must be maintained within the rest of the body. To stop the flow of
blood at the site of injury, the formation of a hemostatic plug must occur (Gale, 2011). A
hemostatic plug is made up of fibrin and platelets (Gale, 2011). The activation of platelets
20
�and fibrins occurs immediately after injury (Gale, 2011). The platelets must stay localized
near the wound, whereas in planarian regeneration the immediate response to an injury
constitutes a body-wide response (Gale, 2011). The formation of a blood clot does
however, resemble the accumulation of neoblast cells. Similar to neoblast cells, platelet
cells accumulate and adhere to the surface near the site of injury during hemostasis.
There are two components of hemostasis. The first mechanism of hemostasis
involves the accumulation of platelet cells at the site of injury (Gale, 2011). Platelets
change their shape, release the granule contents, and adhere to other platelets resulting in
clumping (Ghoshal et al., 2014). The adherence of platelet cells to one another decreases
blood loss (Gale, 2011). The secondary mechanism of hemostasis is the incorporation of
fibrin into and around the platelet plug (Gale, 2011). Both the primary and secondary
mechanisms involved in hemostasis occur simultaneously (Gale, 2011).
Once hemostasis has taken place, the inflammation stage is initiated. The
inflammation stage is responsible for removing debris and bacterial contamination, as
well as recruiting fibroblasts (Menke et al., 2007). Leukocytes, which are commonly
referred to as white blood cells, are also recruited to the site of injury (Muller, 2013).
Recruiting the leukocytes, more specifically the neutrophils, from the blood to the site of
injury is referred to as extravasation (Muller, 2013). Neutrophils move to the site of
injury using chemotaxis and clean up the wound of debris using phagocytosis (Muller,
2013). Fibroblasts are also involved in inflammation (Hannink, 2009). These are cells in
connective tissue that form the structural foundation for animal tissue. Fibroblasts require
platelet derived growth factor to perform cell division (Hannink, 2009). Platelet derived
growth factors (PDGFs) promote cell growth and division (PlateletRich, 2004). The
receptor of PDGF, PDGFR, is a receptor tyrosine kinase (PlateletRich, 2004). MET is
also a receptor tyrosine kinase that activates a litany of signals, which promote cell
division and survival. Human wound response relies on receptor tyrosine kinases such as
PDGF’s and even MET itself, therefore identifying a receptor tyrosine kinase such as
MET in planaria would allow for planaria to act as a model of organism for the study of
regeneration in other organisms.
Following the hemostasis and inflammation phases, new tissue begins to grow in
the proliferation stage. Keratinocytes direct this portion of the wound healing process
(Pastar, 2014). Keratinocytes are cells that produce keratin and they are critical in the reepithelialization process (Pastar, 2014). These cells make up the stratified layers of
epithelium and are also responsible for creating the barrier that protects the body from the
surrounding environment (Pastar, 2014). These cells are also capable of maintaining the
21
�epithelium because they are able to shift from a proliferative state that can be found
within the basal layer to a differentiated state, which involves the migration of
keratinocytes from the granular layer to the cornified layer that is made of dead cells
(Pastar, 2014). The migration towards the stratum corneum requires the reorganization of
the cytoskeleton (Chmielowiec et al., 2007). In humans the keratinocytes resemble the
behavior of neoblast cells because they are capable of differentiating into the corneum,
similar to how neoblasts are able to differentiate into either intestinal, neuronal, or other
post mitotic cell types (Wagner et al., 2011).
Once proliferation has taken place, the cell begins to regulate the amount of
collagen presence and remodel the collagen so that the area of injury becomes stronger
and increases in vascularity as well as cellularity (Greenhalgh, 1998). This process of
strengthening the area around the wound is referred to as maturation. Cells that are no
longer needed at the wound site are also removed using apoptosis, which is programmed
cell death (Greenhalgh, 1998).
The Presence of MET in Human and Mouse Reepithelialization
Receptor tyrosine kinases, such as PGFR’s, have been studied in the
inflammation stage of wound response in humans, however MET in particular, which is
also a receptor tyrosine kinase, has had a strong association with human regeneration,
such as human liver regeneration, lung, heart, kidney, and has even been identified in
skin keratinocytes (Chmielowiec et al., 2007). When bound by a ligand, (MET ligand is
Hepatocyte Growth Factor) receptor tyrosine kinases phosphorylate tyrosine residues and
activate a litany of complex signaling cascades (Chmielowiec et al., 2007). These
signaling cascades are involved in cell survival, differentiation, motility, migration,
tubulogenesis, motility, adhesion, and cytoskeletal reorganization. As a result, the interest
of this research was to identify if MET also has a large presence within the cascade
belonging to the leaders of regeneration: planaria, since the gene has already been
identified multiple times within the human regeneration cascade.
Humans are not the only mammals that have been determined to include MET
within their genome. The role of MET in mouse wound healing was also studied. MET
was mutated in the epidermis of mice by using a cre-recombinase (Chmielowiec et al.,
2007). The mutated mice were compared to a group of controls, as well as mice that were
able to escape recombination (Chmielowiec et al., 2007). A full-thickness wound was
created in the epidermis and underlying dermis in the mice (Chmielowiec et al., 2007).
By doing so, scientists were able to study the expression of MET in control cells in
22
�comparison to MET mutant cells using in situ hybridization to analyze MET and HGF/SF
expression between the first and tenth days of injury (Chmielowiec et al., 2007). Prior to
the wounding of the mice epidermis, HGF/SF was expressed only in the hair follicles, but
after the mice were wounded, HGF was expressed in the dermis near the blood clot
(Chmielowiec et al., 2007). Three days after the injury, there was an abundant amount of
HGF/SF in the hyperproliferative epithelium, which is epithelium that proliferates
quickly and migrates quickly to the wound site (Chmielowiec et al., 2007). Due to the
upregualtion of it’s ligand, HGF/SF, MET was also found to be upregulated in the
epidermis. This study indicated that MET is also present in the reepithelialization of
another mammal besides a human.
MET is a proto-oncogene and has been associated with the progression of many
cancers (Organ and Tsao, 2011). In addition to being involved in wound healing, MET
has also been recognized as a tyrosine kinase receptor that is also specifically involved
with embryonic development and organogenesis (Organ and Tsao, 2011).
Activation of Transcription Factors in Upstream Signaling of MET
Binding of HGF by MET results in a litany of molecular signaling cascades to
become active. This results in homodimerization of MET, as well as the phosphorylation
of the tyrosine residues Y1234 and Y1235 (Organ and Tsao, 2011). Once the phosphate
group is covalently attached to the Y1234 and Y1235 tyrosine residues, the 1349 and the
1356 tyrosines in the carboxy-terminal tail, also become phosphorylated (Organ and
Tsao, 2011). The phosphorylation of the two tyrosines, 1349 and 1356, forms an SH2
recognition motif (Organ and Tsao, 2011). The tyrosine phosphorylation prompts
signaling of the adaptor proteins that include Growth factor receptor-bound protein 2
(GRB2), Src homology-2-containing (SHC), v-crk sarcoma virus CT10 oncogene
homolog (CRK), and CRK-like (Organ and Tsao, 2011). The effector molecules that are
recruited when the tyrosines 1349 and 1356 are phosphorylated include:
phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), phospholipase C (PLCφ) and v-src sarcoma viral
oncogene homolog (SRC), Src homology domain-containing 5’ inositol phosphatase
(SHIP-2), and the transcription factor signal transducer (STAT-3) (Organ and Tsao,
2011). The binding of Y1313 residue to MET activates PI3K, resulting in cell motility
and viability, while phosphorylation of Y1365 tyrosine residue by MET regulates cell
morphogenesis (Organ and Tsao, 2011).
MET also forms an association with GRB-associated binding protein 1 (GAB1)
(Organ and Tsao, 2011). GAB1 has two binding mechanisms that promote the formation
23
�of downstream receptors (Organ and Tsao, 2011). GAB1 can directly bind to MET or
indirectly, through the adaptor protein GRB2 (Organ and Tsao, 2011).
Co-receptors Upstream of the MET Receptor
Co-receptors physically bind with MET at the cell surface. In doing so, these
receptors increase the specificity of the MET pathway. MET associates physically with
the receptors resulting in the inputs from the co-receptors being translated to biological
outputs. The types of biological outputs produced when MET associates with co-receptors
include actin cytoskeleton reorganization or the enhancement of receptors such as PI3K,
RAS, and SRC activators (Organ and Tsao, 2011). PI3K controls cell scattering, cell
survival, motility, tubulogenesis, and cell growth. The RAS co-receptor initiates a
cascade that culminates in cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, and survival. A v6
splice variant of the receptor, CD44, uses the adaptor protein, GBR2, to link MET
signaling to the actin cytoskeleton (Organ and Tsao, 2011). In addition, Intracellular
adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) has been capable of substituting CD44v6, as a coreceptor for MET (Organ and Tsao, 2011). CD4456 knockout in mice demonstrated the
ability of the newly substituted ICAM-1 co-receptor, to activate a signaling pathway
involved in cell regulation (Organ and Tsao, 2011).
Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase Regulates Downstream Signaling of MET
Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation is essential to the
downstream signaling events in the MET cascade (Organ and Tsao, 2011). MAPK elicits
transcription and translocates to the nucleus where it activates numerous transcription
factors (Organ and Tsao, 2011). Activation of MAPK warrants cell proliferation, cell
motility, cell polarity, cell differentiation, and cell migration. Activation of MAPK takes
place when the rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (RAS) is activated causing protooncogene serine/threonine protein kinase (Raf1) to turn on. Raf1 triggers the activation of
mitogen activated protein kinase (MEK1/2), which in turn activates extracellular signal
related kinases (ERK1/2). Finally, ERK1/2 turns on MAPK, which results in cell
proliferation, migration, survival, and differentiation. When Src homology 2 domaincontaining phosphatase-2 (SHP2) is sequestered to Grb-associated binding protein 1
(GAB1), MAPK phosphorylation is extended, in turn prolonging cell proliferation, cell
motility, and cell cycle progression (Organ and Tsao, 2011).
24
�PI3K /Akt Signaling Axis Controls Cell Survival Response
A very important signaling cascade that is activated when HGF binds to MET is
the Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase/ Protein Kinase B (PI3/Akt) signaling axis. The p85
subunit of PI3K can utilize either the binding of GAB1 or signals triggered by the
binding of HGF to the MET receptor, to signal through protein kinase B (Akt) (Organ and
Tsao, 2011). The activation of Akt results in the activation of the heat shock protein 70
(HSP70) and the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTor). The activation of these two
downstream targets results in cell survival, tubulogenesis, motility, and scattering.
Activation of Akt can also turn on a different pathway in which serine/ threonine protein
kinase 1 (PAK1) becomes active and results in anoikis, which is a form of programmed
cell death. Lastly, Akt activation can also prompt another pathway to have an influence
on cell survival. Akt also has the ability to prompt the cAMP response element binding
protein (CREB) to promote gene expression. The Akt signaling cascade is critical to cell
growth because serine/threonine kinase Akt is a proto-oncogene. If not regulated
properly, this pathway has been seen to result in implications with cancer, diabetes,
neurological disease, and cardiovascular disease.
Cellular Migration Mediated by Focal Adhesion Kinase
The Src family of protein kinases are involved in regulating signal transduction
from surface receptors (Organ and Tsao, 2011). The Src family of kinases works directly
with MET and phosphorylates Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) (Organ and Tsao, 2011).
Focal adhesions are the sites where proteoglycan and integrin are bound to the actin
cytoskeleton (Wozniak et al., 2004). Many protein interactions, such as tyrosine
phosphorylation, take place at focal adhesions (Wozniak et al., 2004). The protein FAK,
is recruited to focal adhesions, where it is phosphorylated creating a docking site for
SH2-containing proteins to bind and further direct subsequent kinases that control
cellular behavior (Organ and Tsao, 2011). The association between c-MET-SRC-FAK
promotes anchorage independent growth and can result in a positive feedback mechanism
that activates MET (Organ and Tsao, 2011).
Negative Regulation of MET: A Pathway for Therapeutic Cancer Studies
There have been a number of reported tumors that have been identified as
having an amplified MET gene that results in protein overexpression and constant kinase
activation (Organ and Tsao, 2011). Consequently, negative regulation of the MET
receptor is imperative in the body. Without a negatively regulated MET receptor, cell
25
�proliferation cannot be properly regulated and can result in accumulation of cells, which
can result in tumor formation. Irregularities in MET activity can also upregulate
transcription as a product of protein overexpression and form tumors in the body (Organ
and Tsao, 2011).
Negative regulation can occur through a multitude of signaling steps. Y1003, a
negative regulatory site for MET signaling, recruits c-CBL (Organ and Tsao, 2011).
Another mechanism in negative regulation involves the binding of MET to various
protein phosphatases (PTP) (Organ and Tsao, 2011). Unlike phosphorylation that
involves the addition of a phosphate group to activate a protein, a protein phosphatase is
an enzyme that removes the phosphate group from the amino acid that has been
phosphorylated, deactivating the amino acid (Organ and Tsao, 2011). In MET signaling,
the PTP’s either dephosphorylate the tyrosine in the MET kinase domain or the docking
tyrosines, so that the proteins it has bound to are no longer active (Organ and Tsao,
2011). Once the PTP’s have inactivated the tyrosines or the docking stations,
phospholipase C (PLCφ) binds to the MET receptor to activate protein kinase C (PKC),
which is required to negatively regulate the MET receptor phosphorylation and activity
(Organ and Tsao, 2011). Since MET is a proto-oncogene, it is critical that negative
regulation occurs in the body so that cell proliferation can be controlled and maintained.
Without the negative regulation of protein phosphatases, cellular proliferation would be
unmanageable and pose a risk of increased tumor growth.
II. Objective
Injury recovery is common amongst animals, however tissue recovery methods
vary from species to species. The focus of this research is to determine if there is
sequence homology between the human proto-oncogenic MET receptor and genes
associated with neoblast recruitment in planaria.
III. Materials and Methods
Bioinformatics
Prior to performing any laboratory techniques to search for MET in planaria,
bioinformatics were utilized. Bioinformatics is a field that exploits computer software to
understand biological data. BLAST, the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, was used to
look for partial homology between human MET and MET in the planarian genome.
26
�BLAST is an algorithm that uses a series of steps to analyze and compare that are
subjected to comparison. BLAST offers two tools, global and local alignment, to
compare sequences between species (McClean, 2004). The global alignment tool
compares entire sequences of DNA (McClean, 2004). The local method studies only parts
of a DNA sequence and compares them to a subset of another DNA sequence (McClean,
2004). Since the human MET gene is very large, local alignment techniques were
employed to search for partial homology between the human MET gene and the planarian
genome. Even though the planarian genome and the human genome are very different,
the local alignment tool is successful in studying the genomes of the two species because
they are related by descent. The Schmidtea mediterranea Genome Database (SmedGD)
was used specifically when searching for homology between human MET and MET in
planaria. The species being used in this experiment, Girarida Dorotocephala, does not
have a sequenced genome, therefore the S. mediterranea genome was used during the
BLAST search.
To perform a BLAST analysis on the human MET gene, the Schmidtea mediterranea
Genome Database was accessed on the Internet. The human MET sequence was first
pasted into the text box. “Program” was then selected, which displayed a drop down
menu in which the command “blastn” was selected. For the “Database (Db),”the
“SmedSvl_genome_v31.nt” command was selected. The “E-value” was chosen as “1e3.” Finally, for the “Format,” the command “table” was selected. Then, “Run Blast” was
clicked.
When BLAST is running, the software is performing a multitude of algorithms and
to analyze and compare theses queries BLAST encounters, BLAST performs a multitude
of steps (McClean, 2004). When using the local alignment tool, BLAST first breaks the
query that has been selected into short words (McClean, 2004). A sliding window is
created and requires the selection of one amino acid from the beginning of the sequence.
After the first amino acid has been established, the window moves one character over and
selects another three amino acid character to create a list of words (McClean, 2004). The
words are then compared to the genome of Schmidtea mediterranea (McClean, 2004).
Once the sequence of words is compared to the sequence in SmedGD, a T-value of
18 is used as a seed to extend the alignment of the sequence (McClean, 2004). The Tvalue scores are calculated using a scoring matrix and the extension of the sequence is
stopped once the alignment value has decreased (McClean, 2004). An Expect Value (e) is
also calculated from each alignment (McClean, 2004). The e-value is significant when
analyzing the BLAST results because it represents the probability of achieving a score of
27
�this value when using a sequence of this length against a database of this size (McClean,
2004). The lower the e- value, the more significant the alignment is at a specific
probability level (McClean, 2004).
A bit score is another important value calculated from the BLAST search results
(McClean, 2004). A score is simply a number used to assess the relevance of a finding,
while the bit score is simply the log-scaled version of the score (McClean, 2004). The bit
score is used to estimate the magnitude of the search space that must have been looked
through to find a score as good or better than the current score, found by chance
(McClean, 2004). For instance, if the bit-score was 25, a score of 2^25 would have to be
attained to find a score that is as good or better than the current score, but by chance
(McClean, 2004). In this experiment, the bit-score, the e value, and the percent identity,
which is the percent homologous the sequences were, are used to analyze the BLAST
search on human MET in Schmidtea meditteranea.
Maintenance and Homogenization of Planaria
The fresh water brown planaria were supplied by Carolina Biological Sciences
(Girarida dorotocephala). The planaria were kept in a beaker filled with spring water,
which was stored in a dark box to prevent contact with outside light. The planaria were
fed 0.5 grams of boiled egg yolk after being first received from Carolina. Once fed, the
planaria were starved for one week. After starvation, the planaria were cultivated and
prepared for DNA extraction.
The planaria were initially pipetted out of the beaker containing spring water
into a weighing boat. They were allowed to dry for 5 min. The mass of the planaria was
then recorded to determine the amount of buffer that was going to be utilized for
homogenization. 300 L of extraction buffer, at a temperature of 4oC containing 100 M
Tris HCl Lysis buffer with a pH of 7.3, supplemented with 100 M of EDTA/ 0.1% SDS,
was prepared. The samples were then homogenized for 15 min. using a glass
homogenizer with 100 L of the extraction buffer. To ensure that no DNA was left on the
glass homogenizer or on the sides of glass tube, the homogenizer was rinsed using 200
L of the homogenizing buffer. The sample was then incubated for 1 hr. in a warm water
bath at 65oC. After incubation was performed, the DNA sample was centrifuged at
16,000 RPM for 15 min. Once the mixture gathered at the bottom of the tube, the
supernatant was decanted by pipetting.
28
�100 L of 95% cold ethanol was added to the test tube to alter the density of the
sample and precipitate the DNA out of the solution. After precipitation was observed, the
sample was placed into the freezer overnight.
The next day, the precipitate was removed from the test tube and placed into a
separate test tube for re-suspension. The precipitate was then re-suspended in 100 L of
nuclease free water. After the DNA was re-suspended, the Nanodrop 2000 UV-Vis
Spectrophotometer was used to quantify the amount of DNA that had been successfully
extracted from the planaria. After quantifying the DNA sample using the Nanodrop, the
sample was stored in the freezer overnight.
The sample was removed from the freezer the next day and centrifuged for 15
min. The supernatant was again removed, and the test tube, containing the sample, was
placed in the fume hood to evaporate any remaining solution that was not associated with
the sample. After 5 min., 100 L of nuclease free water was added to the extracted DNA.
Polymerase Chain Reaction
The PCR technique was performed to amplify sequences of interest. Human
MET oligoprimers were used in the PCR technique. Oligoprimers are polymers made of 2
to 10 nucleotides that start as a starting point for DNA synthesis (VWR, 2015). DNA
polymerases can only add nucleotides to an existing sequence of DNA, which in this
experiment was the human MET sequence. The two oligoprimers were purchased from
Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT). Using the IDT primer design tool, a forward and
reverse primer was created. The forward primer sequence was: 5’- GGG AGA CAA
ACA GAC AGG ATT AG -3.’ The reverse sequence created was 5’- GAC TGG GCA
GAA GCA TAA GTA -3.’
Proper primers are critical to a good PCR. The annealing step depends on the
primers to anneal to the proper DNA sequences (Innis, 2012). It is the primers that direct
where the Taq polymerase binds to and which portion of the DNA sequence that the
DNA polymerase elongates (Innis, 2012). A proper melting temperature of 55oC and
65oC is required for each primer (Innis, 2012). The primer that was created using the IDT
tool had to lack dimerization, lack an absence of hairpin formation, and contain a low 3’
priming end (Innis, 2012). During the denaturation step, a primer with a melting
temperature below 65oC-70oC could result in a noisy sequence. When designing the
primer, it was also important that the 5’ primer end of the primer was stickier than the 3’
end (Innis, 2012).
29
�To prepare our sample DNA for PCR, 2.52 L of template DNA was added to
pre-made Taq polymerase. 20 L of nuclease free water was then pipetted into the test
tube containing the solid bead of DNA. This solution was pipetted into the forward
primer, leaving the solid bead. The contents of the forward primer tube were then
suspended in the reverse primer tube. Finally, the combined contents of the forward and
reverse primer were pipetted into the test tube so that the DNA was suspended in both the
forward and reverse primers. Once the suspension of the DNA into the forward and
reverse primer was completed, the tube was inserted into the thermocycler, a DNA
amplifier machine, for approximately three hours during which the three steps of PCR
were performed. Once the DNA was amplified it was ready to undergo gel
electrophoresis.
The PCR technique consisted of three steps. In the first step, which is referred to
as denaturation, the reaction was heated to 95oC to allow the DNA strand to unwind from
a tightly coiled state and denature the double-stranded helix (Innis, 2012). Annealing was
the next step in PCR, and it involved the cooling of the reaction to 50oC so that the
primers could bind to the sequences that were being amplified in the DNA template
(Innis, 2012). In the final step of PCR, the reaction underwent elongation, which occurred
at 72oC (Innis, 2012). During the elongation portion of PCR, the pre-made Taq
polymerase polymerized the nucleotides from the 3’ end of the primer to form a new
daughter strand (Innis, 2012). This entire cycle was then repeated approximately 25-50
times so that there was an increased concentration of the double stranded DNA template
created, which contained the MET sequences (Innis, 2012).
Gel Electrophoresis
Gel Electrophoresis was used as a preparatory technique, prior to the use of
Southern blotting, to identify if the MET gene was present within the planaria genome.
Electricity, provided by immersed electrodes, moved charged molecules through the
agarose gel that was cast (Hames,1998). The gel was used as filtering mechanism as the
electricity was used to move the charged particles across the gel. An agarose gel was
utilized because the DNA fragments ranged between 50 and millions of base pairs.
A 1.0% concentration of agarose was required to construct the gel. 0.5 grams of
agarose powder were combined with 50 mL of electrophoresis buffer in an Erlenmeyer
flask. The solution was microwaved for 50 sec. until the solution was transparent and
boiling. Once the solution was prepared, it was poured into the casting tray. A comb was
30
�placed into the gel and left to polymerize for approximately 25 min. After the gel was
created, it was suspended in the electrophoresis chamber and buffer was added.
20 μL of sample was added to each well. 10 μL of molecular weight size marker
was added to the outermost well. The amplicons were electrophoresed at 100V for one
hour. After one hour, the gel was stained in Fast Blast DNA Stain for 24 hrs. prior to
visualization in the light box. Since the DNA was not transferred onto a membrane and
then onto a piece of paper, the initial portion of the Southern Blot had only been
completed. ImageJ was used to quantify the results of the Southern Blot.
Quantifying blots using ImageJ
ImageJ software was used to analyze the bands from the southern blot. ImageJ is
capable of performing desitometric imaging on the intensity of bands from different types
of, such as Western and Southern blots (Miller, 2010). To prepare the blot for
desitometric analysis the first step included opening the image in the program and
changing the image to gray scale. To do this the command needed was “Image>Type>8bit” (Miller, 2010).
Once the blot was changed to gray-scale, the rectangular selection tool was used to
draw a vertical rectangle that was narrow and tall around each lane (Figure3). After the
first rectangle was drawn over the first lane the command “Analyze>Gels>Select First
Lane” was used to set the rectangle in place (Miller, 2010). The next rectangle was
formed by holding the middle of the rectangle in the first lane and dragging it over so that
it is selected around the next lane over that had the ladder in it (Miller, 2010). Then the
command “Analyze>Gels>Select Next Lane” was selected.
Figure 3: Pictured is the gray-scaled version of the blot as well as the commands,
“Analyze>Gels>SelectFirstLane”and“Analyze>Gels>Select Next Lane” commands. The
fifth and sixth lanes were selected by pressing the middle of the first rectangle created and
dragging them over.
31
�After the rectangles were created around the lanes, the command “Analyze>Gels>Plot
Lanes” was selected to draw a profile plot of each lane (Miller, 2010). The profile plot
presented the density of the contents that were represented by each lane in the Southern
blot. Higher peaks represented darker bands that covered a larger area on the gel (Miller,
2010).
When the density plots were created, the background noise was eliminated from the
blot. To do this the “Straight Line” tool was chosen and a line was drawn at the base of
each peak enclosing the area within the peaks (Figure 4). The line was drawn at the base
of the peak, where it began and where it ended (Miller, 2010). Once this was done to each
peak that was determined as valuable for analysis, the “Wand” tool was used to select
inside each peak that had been enclosed (Miller, 2010). Measurements would appear in a
table as each peak appeared, as well as within the peak (Figure 4). These measurements
would include the area of each peak, while the percent area of each peak occupied
relative to the other peaks, and the relative density of the peak could be calculated
(Miller, 2010).
Figure 4: This figure is an example of how the density plot of each analyzed peak should
look after the “Straight Line” command has been used to close off each peak. The
numerical values within each peak are representative of the area of the peak.
32
�IV. Results
BLAST Search of MET
The human MET sequence inserted into the BLAST search within the Schmidtea
mediterranea Genome Database is featured in the appendix portion of this paper due to
the extent the sequence. The first third of the sequence was used in the analysis of
homology between human and planaria MET. The BLAST search performed on human
MET within the Schmidtea mediterranea genome produced results that analyzed the
sequence homology between human MET and MET found in planaria (Figure 5).
Table 1: MET Homology Analysis
Query ID
% Identity
E-value
Bit score
Chromosome: GRCh38:7:116671790:116798986:1
91.9
3.05E-05
68.38
Table 1: This table presents the average values in respect to each category that BLAST
used to analyze the sequence homology of MET between humans and planaria. The lower
the e value, the more likely the homologous sequences and that it is unlikely that random
chance lead to the current alignment of bases. 3.05E-05 is a very small average e- value,
indicating that the sequences are homologous, but not by random chance. The bit score is
68.38, therefore it would require 2^68 independent segment pairs, to find this score by
chance. The average percent identity was greater than 90%, indicating a strong homology
between the first third of human MET and planarian MET.
33
�Electrophoresed amplicons of Girarida dorotocephala
Figure 5: Positive immuno-reactivity was observed in lane 1 of the southern blot. The
results of this experiment suggest that MET or a MET ortholog is present in the genome
of planaria.
Densitometric Analysis of MET using ImageJ Gel Analysis Software
Figure 6: ImageJ software was used to quantify the MET ortholog identified in the
southern blot. From the gel image, ImageJ formed two histograms. When using Image J
the image was first changed to gray scale. This allowed for the program to compare the
white, gray, and black colors. Black indicated no signal in a lane, white indicated a
presence of signal in the lane. Comparing color intensity in the gray scale version of the
blot, the relative area of each peak could be calculated and is pictured above in a
graphical representation.
34
�Confocal micrographs of Girarida dorotocephala
Figure 7: This figure illustrates a subtle, though not completely obvious change in
fluorescence intensity between primary antibody omission (left) and complete immunohistochemical reaction (right). These images were gathered in an experiment performed
previously. The MET protein seems to be present in the confocal microscopy performed
in the previous experiment, which is the reason that the search for the MET gene was
initiated as the next step in providing additional support of MET existence in planaria.
Western blot analysis of G. dorotocephala lysate
Figure 8: Positive immuno-reactivity is observed in three separate homogenate
populations (lanes 1,2 & 3) resolved by the same gel. The results of this experiment
suggested the existence of MET, or a molecularly similar protein expressed by this
species of planaria. This western blot gave rise to the search for the MET gene to provide
further evidence of MET presence in planaria.
35
�V. Discussion
Interpretation of BLAST Homology Search
A sizeable amount of homology was discovered in the BLAST search (Appendix)
that was performed by inserting human MET into the Schmidtea mediterranea Genome
Database, which was a very closely related species to the Girarida dorotocephala. MET
had a very large average percent identity, approximately 91%, which indicated strong
homology between the human MET gene and the genome of S. mediterranea. The
average e value was a miniscule number of 3.05E-5. Such a low e-value is a strong
indicator that the sequence used was homologous to the sequence to which it was aligned
to in the database (Smed). The bit score of 68 represented the value of 268, which is the
size of the gene that we entered into BLAST search within the SmedGD. A high percent
identity, a very low e value, and a high bit score was indicative of MET or a MET
ortholog presence.
Interpretation of Southern blot Electrophoresis
Figure 5 illustrates the presence of a MET amplicon in the initial step of the
Southern blot created. A large band is visualized in first lane of the blot where MET was
loaded. The second lane was loaded with a ladder that ranged in molecular weights
starting at 1200, 800, 600, and 400 base pairs (bp) respectively. MET had a molecular
weight of approximately 100 kilo-base pairs. All of the densitometry studies indicate a
strong presence of MET within the blot. A western blot that was performed in previous
research demonstrated positive immune-reactivity for the MET protein. Confocal
microscopy shows fluorescence when an immuno-histochemical reaction occurs during
the binding of a primary MET antibody to the secondary MET antibody that has a
fluorescence marker attached to it. The confocal microscopy presents additional support
for the presence of MET or a MET ortholog within the planarian genome. Figures 7 and 8
motivated us to continue research that would provide further evidence of MET presence.
As a result, the investigation of the MET gene presence in planaria was borne of previous
studies that discovered MET protein presence in planaria. In silico inquiries, presence of
bands in both Western and Southern blots, and confocal microscopy evidence, lead us to
conclude that there is a MET variant present in the planarian genome.
36
�Future Experiments
The first avenue of future research would incorporate the completion of the
Southern blot that was performed in this research. The entire experiment would be
performed again, but in future research the MET DNA fragments from the agarose gel
would be transferred onto a membrane. Then the membrane would be imprinted with
DNA bands and a labeled hybridization probe would be applied to the membrane
(Brown, 2001). Complementary probes would anneal to the DNA on the membrane
allowing for MET to be visualized. If a probe labeled with a fluorescent marker were
used, the fluorescence of the bands would support the presence of MET in planaria.
Another possible avenue of research would involve probing with a specific
complementary sequence and using RNAi to knock down MET. Once knock down had
been completed, the planarian could be observed for the effects of MET inhibition using
in-situ visualization. Studying the results of MET inhibition due to RNAi techniques
could possibly provide data about when MET is being specifically expressed in planarian
regeneration. . Information about the types of genes associated with each mitotic phase
has already been presented; therefore a hypothesis could be drawn for future research that
predicts the presence of MET in the first mitotic phase. Genes expressed during the initial
phase of wound response are involved in cell-cell signaling, which resembles the
behavior of MET in the human genome, while the genes in the second mitotic phase are
associated in patterning. Inhibiting MET and using in-situ visualization to observe which
mitotic phases are implicated could produce possible evidence of when MET is present in
the regeneration cascade of planaria.
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Appendix A: Human MET Gene Inserted into BLAST Search
Below is the human MET gene that was inserted into the BLAST search
performed on the Schmidtea mediterranea Genome Database. The highlighted portions
represent the exons within the sequence. Due to its large size, only the first third of the
human MET sequence was inserted into the BLAST search.
Human MET sequence:
>chromosome:GRCh38:7:116671790:116798986:1
TAGCGGAGACGTGGGAGAGGCCGAGAGCAAAGCTCGCGCCCTTCCCGGGGTCAGCGAGCG
GGGTGCCAGGAGGGTGCGCGCCCTGCATCTGAGCCCGGGGTGACACTCGCCTCCCAAGCG
CCAGGAGGGGGAGACTCGGTCCCGCTTATCTCCGGCTGTGCTAACTTCAGACTGCCTGAG
CTGGGGGAGGAGAGCGCGCAGCCAGGGCGAGAAAACTTCTCCACCTAGAAAGTTTCACCT
TGTCGTGGGCGGGGCAGAGGCGGGAGGAAACGCGACCCCCGCGGGGCCAGGCGCGGCGCG
GACGGCAGGAAGGGCGGGGGCCGATTTCCCTCTGGGTGGTGCCAGTCCCCACCTCAGCGG
TCCTCGGAACCCGCGGACTAGGGGACGGACAGCACGCGAGGCAGACAGACACGTGCTGGG
GCGGGCAGGCGAGCGCCTCAGTCTGGTCGCCTGGCGGTGCCTCCGGCCCCAACGCGCCCG
GGCCGCCGCGGGCCGCGCGCGCCGATGCCCGGCTGAGTCACTGGCAGGGCAGCGCGCGTG
TGGGAAGGGGCGGAGGGAGTGCGGCCGGCGGGCGGGCGGGGCGCTGGGCTCAGCCCGGCC
GCAGGTGACCCGGAGGCCCTCGCCGCCCGCGGCGCCCCGAGCGCTTTGTGAGCAGATGCG
GAGCCGAGTGGAGGGCGCGAGCCAGATGCGGGGCGACAGCTGACTTGCTGAGAGGAGGCG
GGGAGGCGCGGAGCGCGCGTGTGGTCCTTGCGCCGCTGACTTCTCCACTGGTTCCTGGGC
ACCGAAAGGTAAAATTGCAGCCCCTTTCAGATCCAGTACCCAATCCCTCGCCTCAGGGGT
TCTGCTTTCTTTGTTCCCCTAAGAGACCTGACTGCTGTTCCAGGGGGCAAAACCACGTAG
40
�GTGGGCTAGAGTTTAGGGGCTTCGGAAACTGAAGAGACGTGGCCACGGCGAGGACGAAAC
TAGAATGGGGCTTGTCTTTTTAGGGGGTTGCTTCTGATGGCCACCTGTATGACTTAGGAG
GGAGAGGGGCGCTGGGACAGTGGGTGATGTGTGACTGTTACGGCCCAGCAAGTTTTAAAG
CTGGGATCTGACTCAGCCCTTACAAAAGGGATCCGGTCATCCTCGTCCCACCGTGATGCA
GCTGGCAAGGTTTGAGCCGAGCTGTTTCCTTGTTCCCAGCCTTGCTTTATCTGTGTTATG
TTGGGGTCCTTCCAAGGGGCAGGTGTTTCTGTGAAAGTCTGAATTCATTTCTGGCAATCA
CGCGGGGCTTGTGATCCATCAATTTTCCATCGTACCTTATCTCTTTCTGGGGCTTGTGGT
GGACATCTATCTTATTAGGTGAAATAGATTATAACCAGAGGCTGAGCGATGTGGCCAGTC
GTAGTGCTGACCCGATAATTAAAGCACCAGTGAAAGTACTTTCCCTGACTATTGTCAATG
CAGAATTTACTCCGAAGTACGGTTTCCCATTCATATCTTTCATGTTTTAAAAGAGCCATT
TGCTAATTTGGCAGTTGGAGAGGGCTCCAATGGCTCACGCATGAATAGTTGCCCAGTGTA
TTTTACCTTATCACAGTTTTATGTTCAAAGGAGCCCTCGGGCAGAATGAAATATTGTCAA
CTCTCTTAGGCAAAATAATCAAGATACTTTAATTGCTATGTTAAGATGGTCCATGAATGT
GAGAGGATTGTAAGAACTGACGTTGGAGGCAATATAGACTATCTGGACCCTCTCTTGAAT
TTTAAGAAGACTGTTCACATTCTGTAGCTTTGGGTGGGGGTTTATTCTGTCGCTTTCATC
AGCCAGACACATGCACATTGCCATGCAAATGGATTCAGAAAAACATTATATTCCCTTACA
GCTAAACTATTATAGCTGACTAATGAATTTTTTCTGCATGAAGATGATCTGAAAATGATG
TACATCATGTTTCTCTGTGCTACAGGGACATAAATTGCATTTTTATGTAAACAGTGTAAG
TGGTGCTTGGATTATTTACAGGTACATAGCTTTCCTTCCTTGATCTAAGCTAATTGAGCT
TTGTTTTGAACGTGTAAACTTCCATAATGGAACATAAGTGAGGTACTTTGGTTCCTATCA
TTTGCAAGTCTGTGGTGTATTCAATGTTCATTCTTTTTGAACTGCTGAATAACAGAGGGA
AAATTTACATCATTCATAAGAAATTTTGGTAGTACAAAAATGTGTCTGATAGCCTATAAA
ATGTACTGCTGTTTTAAAAATTCTATTCCGTTTTCAAACTTAATGGTGTATAAGCTATAG
TTATTAACTTAAATATATTTTGCTTTTAACATGATGGAATTTGTGGCATATAGAAGACAG
TCTGCCGACTACTGCTTTTTCAAAATTGCTTTGTTCTTGATACATGGCAGTAGGGGTTTA
CATTAGATGTATACTACATGCTTTCAAAATTAGTTGATGGAGTTTATCTTCATGATAAAA
AATGTACCAGATTAATCATAGCCAGTCAATACGAAAGCTCATAACTAATATTTTCACTAC
TTTTAAACCTATAATAGAGAAAAATGACCCTTTGCTAAGCAGGAGAAATACCCATATTTT
ATAAATTCCTTTTAAGACTATGTAAGTATATGCCTTGCATTAATCTTGAAATCTTTAAAA
AAAAATTGTCTTAATGAGGGCTAGACTAAGAAATACATTTCAAAAATCAATTTCCTTAGC
TGTTTTTAAAATAGTGTTTGAAGTAGCATTAGTCATATTATCCTTCTGCAGATCTACATA
ATAGTCTCAAATTAACTTTTTCTCAAATGTGGTCATCTCAAAACAACGTGAATAACTCAG
AGGAGCTAACATCCTCTAACTGGCTTATTTTCTCCAAGTGGCTGCACCAAAGACATGGCA
ACACCCCCATGGTGAGCACAGTTCCTCACACATTCAGATTACCTCCCATTTCTCTGTCCT
CTTCCTCCTCAACCCTTTCCCTTGGTTTGGTCAGAGCTGCTTTCAAGGCCTTCCGTGCCC
41
�CCATTTCTCCAGCCCAGTTTGCTCGTTTCTTCTTTAGGCATTAGGCTTAGTGATTCTCGC
CAGAGCCATCTACGCTTTCTTTTCCGTGGTCTAAATCCCTAAGATTTCCTTGGTCTGCTG
TGTTTATTCATAGGATACTCAATTTCCTCATTGTGCCCTCTTAAGGGGAGAAAATGTATG
TAGAAACTCAAGTGTCCGGAAGTGAGCCTTCTTTTCCTGGCTGGTGTATGCTGAAACTAG
TGTTTTTGACACCAAGCCCTTAGGGCAGAGTTTCTTCATGGGTTTTGCTCAGTGCAAAAT
AAATAGTCACTTCTCAGTAATAAATGATAGATACACTGACTAATGTTAGTTCAGAATCAC
TTTGATGATGTGTTCTCAACTGACACTGAGTTGCTGCTAGATCCACATTTGCCTGACCAA
AAATAGCTAGGACCTATAGGTAGAGTATCATATGTGCTAGGTACTACAGCATTTTCTTTA
AAAGAAAGAAATGGAATCTGCCCTTGAGAAGTTTATGATCTAGATACACAGACAAATATC
ACATATTAAATGAACACAAATTCATAATTATTAAGAGGACATCACATGAGAAACGCTTTC
AAAATCATCCTATTTGCTATGAAATAATAGAATTTTTTTTTAAAAATCAAAGTTTGGAAC
TTAAAAACCTTAACATTTTCAAGCTGTTTCTGCATACATCACCTTTCTGATACCAAAACG
ACCTTACAAGATAGGCAAGTCTGATAACATCTTAACATTCTTATGTTATAGACAAGGAAA
CTGAGCTTGAGACTAGCTCCATGCTATTTCAATAGCACCATACCACCTTTCCTCAGCCAT
CAACTATTGGAAACATTTTCCATGGAGGCATCATTAGGGATGCTTAAGATAGTGGTAAAT
GATGAATATAACATATCTAGTCCCTGGAGTTTTTGTCACCTTCTCTTTCTCCAGTTCTCT
CTCTCTTTTTTTTTTTTAATTTCTTTTCTTTTCTTTTTTTCTTTTCTTTGTAGTGAGACA
TACCGAGAAAAGGTTTCATTCATATGTGTGGGGCATTCTGCTCCTGTTATCAGATTAAGA
GCCGTGAATAATTTTGTAATCTATCCTTCTATCAGAAAGCCCATTCTCAGATATCTTTTC
AGCTGTGTTAAACAGGTTAGTATATTCCGCTTGGGATTTGTTTCAATAAAAACATCCAGT
AAAATCTGACTACTTTGCTTTTCATGGGACAAAATGAAAAAAGTGCTTTTATAAGCTGTA
AAACTTAATTGAGAGAAAAAATCACGTGTGGCATTTGTAGCAGGAGGTATGAGCTCAGTG
AAATAAAAAAGTTAACTTTGTAATCACATACCCAGGTACACATATTTCTCTCTGTGATTG
CATAAATGTGTGCAAGTATGTTTATGTAGGTTACTCCCATTGATTTTAATTTCTATAATA
AATTATGTAGCTATAGGGCCCACAGGCGATTATATAATGGGCAATAGAATTTGAAAATGT
ATCTCTCCTAATATAATTAAGGATAGCAATTATGAAATGTGCTTAGAGAATCACAAGTTA
TCGTGAAAGCCAGGTTCCTGTACTCCAAGAATGTGAATGAGGATTTAGTCATTCATTCAG
GACAATTTTTTGACAACCTACGAGGCATAGTTCTAAAATCTGGCATTTCCACAGAGTATA
AAACAGATGAAAACCTCTAACCTCATGACACTCTGTTCTATTGAGTTGGCAAACAATAAA
GAAATACATAACTGAAATGTGTTGTATGTCAGGTGATGATAATAGCTTCAAGGTAGAATA
AAATGGAAAAGAGAATAGTGACTGTCAAGGATAAGAGAGAGTGGGATGGTGATTGAAAAA
CTCAATAGTGAGGTCAGGGAAGGCTTGTCTTCAAAGGTGGGCTTTGGGCTAGAATCTGAA
GGAGATAAGGAAGTGAGCCAGGCGCATATGAGGAGCACTTCTCAGGAGTGCTATTCTCAT
CTTGTTTTTCCTGAAATTGTGCAGTTCACAGCTTGCACAACTGTCCATAGACTCCCTGAT
TTTGGAGGGAGATACCTGAATAGTGCCCCTGTTTTTGTAGGGAAATACCTGGACAGTGCC
42
�TGCCATCATTAGCTACCATGTTAAAGATGAAGATACAGGAGTGGCCCACATCTCTTGGTT
TATGAGACATGGAAGAAGAAGACCCAGAGTGTTGTTTTGTTTTTTTTTTTGTTTTTTTGT
TTTGTTTTGTTTTGTTTTGTTTTGCATCCGCCTGGTCCCATCCCATACTCCATCCTCTAT
CAGAGATATTGCTCCATTCAGACAATTTTCCTTCTTATTTTCCACACTGTGAGCCTGTCA
CAGTGGGATTTGTTGAGAAGGATACCCATGGCTTTTTTCACTGATCCCTTCCATAGTATA
AATCTAAAGACAGCAAGAGGCAGTTGCTGATGGTGTGCAGCTTCTGTCTGCTATGCACTT
CTTTCTTTCCCCCTCGCTCTCCTTCCTTTTCCTTTCCAGTATTAAGTCACTGCATTGGAT
TTTCTTCCTCTTTTCTTCCTTTTCCCTTATTCCCCTATTTATATCCTGTATCAAGATTTG
CAAACAGGTAACTTAAATGAGGAAAACTAACCATTTCACTAGGGATTGACAAACTGCTTA
GGAAAAGCAGAGGGGCAGTCACTGCTTGGCGTGATTAGAGCTGTTGTGAGGCTCAGTGTA
TGGCATGGGCCCATGTGGTAGTATCTTTCAGATTTTCAAGAGAAGCTAGGACTCTCCCAA
TTTTAAAATGTTGACTCAGTGTCTTTAAAACACCATACAGCTTACAGTGGCAGAAAGTCT
GCAAGCCAGATTGGGCTCCTGATGGTCCCAATTGCAGCAGCATGCATGGCCCGAGAGCCC
CAGGACTGCTTCTACAAAATATTTTATTTTCTAAAATTCTCAGAAAATTAACTAAACAAA
TTTTTTAAAACCAATATTTTATGTCAGTTCCTATTGGCACGTGGTTATTTTTCTAAACTC
ATCAGCCCACATACTTTACATCAAACTATGTACGTTTCTAAACTAAAGGGTAATCTAGTT
ATTTCATTCTTAAACTGAAGTAGTAGTTTTCTGAAACCTGAATCCATCATGGCTTTATGC
ATCAATTTCATTTCCAAGTTCTCTGATTCAGGATAAACTCCCCCTTTGGAATATTGTCTT
TCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTGTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTGTCTCTGTCTCTGGAAATGACTGAACT
TCACCCGTTGTTATTACCCTGCCATTGAAATTCAAAACATGCACTGCCCTCCTGGTTTCC
AGTGCCCTTTAAAAGCAATCAGATCAGTGTTAAAATCTATTTTTCCAAAGGAATAAAAGC
TCACAGGTTGTGCACTAATTTGTTTCCTTTAATCCTAAAATCTCAGTGAAATGCCCAAGC
TAGCAGCCCTCCAGAAGGCCACTGTGTTAGAAAGGGAGATTATGTACTGTATTTCTTCCT
ACTATTTTAAATGCAAATATAATAATATATCATGAAACAGTGCACATACAGTATACATAT
TAAGATCAGTGGTCTATTCCTGTTTTGAAATGGTCTCCTACTCCTTAATAGTTGGAATTC
TGAGGCAGCACCTAGACTCTCAGGTCCAATTTGAAAATGTATGTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAGA
ATGACTTGGGGAATAACTGTTTGATAAGACCGTGGAAGATTTCTAATTTTTAATATTTTA
TTAAAAATGTAAAGAAAGACATTCAAAGCTGAGACCTTTGAAATAATATGGTCTTTGCAA
GTCAGAGAAAAAGAGAAGTGGTAAATTTATTAGAGATAGGTTGCCTCCTTTGAGGCCTAA
TCATGTGGGAAAGGAAAACCCAGCCAAGGTTTGGGTCCATAAGACAATTCAACCTAGCTT
TAAAAATAGGTTTTGGCTTTGCTTGGGACCAGCATTGGGACCAGAGTGTATCTAGACCAG
CATTTTAGCTATTAAATTTTAAACCTAGGGGTCTTTTAAGGGAAATTTAATCCATGTGTC
TTTGATTCACTAAATCTTAAATCATTACTCACAAACTGTATGTCCCTCTAAGCTCTTTGA
TGTCCAAGAGATCTCTAAAATTGTGTAAGGCCTTTTTGTTCCAGAAAAAAATAGGAAGTT
GGTTTTTGCTAAGCGTCAATAAACAGCATCCTCAAAAATCTGATTAGGTCTAAAATCTTG
43
�CAACCATGACAGTATGGATGTTTGAATGATGCAATGTGAAAATTTTAAGCACTTTTTAAA
GTCCTTGTTTACCAGTAATACTCAGTTGTAATCCTTACTAACCCCAAGGAAATTATTTTG
ACACATTTCCTCTCTGTTTTGTAATATAAATACAAAGCCCAAATATTCATCATTTTATTC
TGGCACATAGTAGGTACTCAGTAAGTATTTTGTAGAGTGTTGAATGACTCTTTCTTCTGC
CCAGAAACTTCTAGCTAATGTCAGTTCTTCTATTCAATATTGATATCCATCTGTCATACC
TTGGAATAAGATCTATTCTAAGTCAGTGACCTTGTTCGACAAATTTTTAAAATAAGCCAT
CTAACTAAATATATGACATTTATTGAAATTCATTTTGCACCATGAAGCAACTGCCTTGCA
AAGAGTGCTGAAAATAGGAAGGAATTTCTAGACTAATTTGATTAAATATTCAGTTGTTGC
CATATGCTTTCTGAAAATTGATTTTCCCCCTTTTACTATTCCTGTCATCCTTCCTCCCAC
CTTGACATGCTTACTGATTGAAAGCTATGCACAGAAAAAGGGCAGGTCGCTTGTATGTAT
AAGCAAGAGCAGCAAGTCCAAACAGGCTTAGAAAACGTAATGCTATAATCACGAGTTGTC
ATAATATAGGAGAGGGGAGAGAGGAATACTCAGCAATAAGAGTGGTGTTGGGTATTGCTC
CAAATTACATGGATGACACATCTTTGAACTCTATTGTGTCGGGGGAAAACACCTTCTTGC
TGTAGTTAGATTTCCTGTTTGTGAATGTGTATTTTCTGGTAACCAGACTTCCTATATGAA
TTTGACATAGCTTTAAGTGCATTTCAAATGACATGATTAAAGAATGGCTGCTTTGGAGAC
AGCAGCTCCTTCTCTCTTAAAGAAATAAACTATCATGCTAAAATATAGGCATTGAGATCT
TTCTTGATACCATATTGTGAATTTCTAATGGCTCATCACATTTTTATCCTCAGAAAACCT
TTCCTGGTGAAAAGCATGCTGTTTTAGTATCACATTTGGGGTGATGGAATTGGCAATTTC
TTATATCTTGAGGGGGCGGGGGGGTAAAAGGAAAATTGTGTTAATAGGGTCTTAAAATAG
AGATTCTCTTAGGTTAACCTGAAGATTTACTAAATACATTATCATTACAGCTTGTTTTGA
CATTTAATTGTAGATGGCACTGTATCAGCACTGACTTATTTATACAGCTTTGTTTAGACA
TGCCTAATTTTTATTTCATTGGTGGAACCAAACCATCAGTAATAAATCATATATCAGTGT
TTTTGTACACATTCGTATTTACATGACTTTTAAAATTCCAATGTAAAGGTCTCACAACTT
GAAAAATGAATGAATGCCTGAGTATTTGAACAGTTGGGAAAATGTAGTTCAATTTAAGAA
AGATTTTTTATGACAATTCTTATGCCATATATAGAAAATAGATAATAAAGGAGAAGGCCT
GGAGGTTTAGATGGGATATTGGATCAATGAGCAAAGGAAGGGGAAAGGTGGGCGGGATAT
GCTGAAGGGTCATGGGCTTGAGTGCACCCTAAGTCATAAAGAGGGTGTCCCATTAAGAAT
CAGGCTGCCTGAATTCTAAGTAGGAAAGAGGCAGGTCAAAATGGTGTATAGGCCAGGCAC
AGTGGCTCACGCTTGTAATCCCAGCACTTTAGGAGGCCAAGGTGGGTGGATGGCTTGAGC
TCAGGAGTTTGAGACCAGCCTGGGCAACATAGCAAAACCCCCCTCTTAAAAAAATTACAA
AAAGTAGCTGGACATGGTGGCGCACACTTGCAGTCCCAGCTACTCAGGAGGCTGAGGTGG
GAGGATCACCTGAGCCTGGGAGGCCAAGGCTGTAGTGAGCCGAGATCATACCACTGCACT
CCAGCATGGGTGACAAAGAGAGACCCTGTCTCAGAAAAAGTGGGGGAGGGAGGGTATGGA
ATAAAGTAAAGCTCATGGGAAAATGGTACCTTTACCATTTTCCCACCTTGGGAAATGGTG
GGAAAATTTAGACATTGCTTTACAAAGTCTAAATTTCTGCCAACTTGTGTTACATGTGGT
44
�TTGATTCTGGAGAAAGATAGACTATCATCTATCCAGTCCTAAATTGGGCCTCTTAGTCTG
TCCTCCCCTCAGTTACCAGGAAGAATAGCAGGAATATGTCACAGAAGCAGAGAAAGCTTT
TATTCTGAGTGTCAGAGGCATGTTCTAAGCACTCTGTTATCTACTCCCAGGCACTCTAAA
TGAAATTCCATTTTCTCTGAGGAAATCAAAATATAAAAAGAAAACTCAGGCAAATTTATA
AAGGTTTTACACCATTTTCATGACTGAAATATTCTAGCATATCTAGCTCATTATAATCTA
TAAATTCCTGTTGGGACCAAAAGTTATGGCCCTAAAACCTGTTATCTGTAATCCTTTTCC
ACTGGGATATTGTCTCTGGGGATATATATTAGCTTTCCTTGAGGATACTACCTTGAAACC
ATTTCTTTGGTCCTTGACTATACAAAGTTCATACTAGCATGGATGTAGGAATTGTATTTT
TCTATTCTAAATACGAATTTAGACAGTGATATAAAGATTCAAGGAAAGCTTCTATCAAGG
CCTGCCTTCACTACTTGTCTTTTGGCTCCTCTGAGGGTCTTAGGTGAGCCACTTTCATCT
GATTCTGCCCTCACTTCAGGCAGAATTCATATGGCTCCAGCCAATGGCTACACTGTCCAA
AGTGAGACTGTGGTCTCACAACCATCTGGTTAATACAAAGACAGCAAGCCAATATGATCA
CTTAGGACCTAGGCAAACCTTTGGGCTTAAAATATTACCTTAGCTATTGTTGTTTTTAAT
GAGTATCAAATAGTATGATATTTGTAATTTGTATTATGTAAAGAAGTAACCAAAGCAGAG
ATTGTTGACAAAAAAAAAAACTTCCTCCTAACATAAATGAATATGCATTTTGGACTTTTC
AAAAATTCCCTTTCTGTCTTGTCAAAATTAAGATATTTCTAAATTTTATTTCGGTCTCAC
TAACACATACTTGGATTATTGTTCATTGAAATCTGTACGTCAAGGCCCAGTGATTTTAAA
CATTCTTTTGGTCTTCAAAGAACTTACCAAAAAAAAATTGTTCTTTAAATCACCAGAAAA
GTGCAGATAAAATCCCAGACAGTTTCATTAATGACAATGAAAGGTGACAGCCCTTGAATC
TATGTCATAAGTTGATTAATTACTTTCCAAACATTATTAAAGATATTAGACGAATAACTT
AGACTGGTATCCAGGATCAAGGTTCCTTCATAATCCCTAAATGGGTTTTAATTTTCAGAG
TTAGATGATCATTATATGTGATTTATTTCTTTAACATCTTTAGACTGTTGGCTTTATTGA
AAAGAGAGGAGAGTATCTGTTTCAATGTGTTTTCTTTTCCCTGAAGTTATTCCTTGCAGA
ATTCAATAAAACCGGTTTTGAAATAAAAATAATTAAATGCTGGCATTTTCTGTTAATAAG
GGCCCATAGACCTGATGAATTATATAAACATTACAAGGAATTTACCACTGAGTTCATAAT
TATGTAACCATTTAATGCCCAAACCTGCCTACTGACAGTGAAGACGTTCAATGAGAATGG
ACATTGTGCATTAGGATAAGGATGACCTGGAGTGAACTTTCATTCTTGTTTTGGTTCTTT
CCCATTTTGCCCAATTCATAGCACCTGATTCTCTTAACCAGCAAGTCTGTTTGCATGTCT
CCAGTCCAATTTTTCGCCATGCCCACTGCAGTGATTCCAAACTCTCACCATTTCTTAAGC
TCTTGCATCTTTTGGGCTCTCCTTATTCTCAGTATAAGATCTTTCCTTATAGTTTAGAGA
GTAAACACAAGCCCAGTTGTTTCCATGTCACCCATTATTACCTCTTTCTGTCTCAAAGGA
TGAAACAGTCTTTTCTACCTAAGTCTTGACCCTGTTGTTCCCCACACCTGTGAGCACCTC
CTCCCTCTATCCTACCCACCTTACAACTCTTCCCGTGTTTAAAATCTCCCTCACCATTTT
TCTTTTTTAAAAAAATTATATTTTAGGCTCAGTGGTACATGCGCAGATTTGTTACATAGG
TAAACTCGTGCCACAGGGTTTATTTCATCACCCAGGTATTAAGCCTAGTACCCAATAGTT
45
�ATCTTTTCTGCTCCTCTCCCTCCTCTGCCCCCTCAAGTAGACCCCAATGTCTGTTGTTCC
TTTCTTTGTGTTCATAGGTTCTCATCGTTTAGCTCCCACTTATAAGTGAGAACATGCAGT
ATTTGGTTTTCTGTTCCTTTGTTAGTTTGCTAAGGATAACAGCCTCCAATTCCATCCATG
TTTCTGCAAAAGACAGAATCTCATTCTTTTTTATGTCTGCATAGTATTCCATGGCTTCTC
TATTTTTCATTCACCTCTTACTCAACTTACTGATTCTTCTAGAAAGAAATAAAACACACA
CATCAGGCATCCTGATAGGATCTTGAATACACAATTTCCTTAAGTAGTCACTCCTGTTTT
CATTTTAGCCTTTAAATAATGAATTCTTGAAAATAAATGTCTAACTCAGTTTCTCTACTT
TCTTCATTCCCATTCATTCTTAAGTCATTCAACTCAAGCAGTCTGTACCACATGCCCAAG
AAAGTGTCCTCATTCTAATCACCAGTGCCCTCCTCATGGCCAGATCTGATGGACACTGGT
TTTTATCCCTTTTGACCCGTCTGTAGAATTTGACACCATACATTTTATTTCTCCCTTCTC
GAAAGTTCTCCTTAGCTTATCTCTCCACATTTTCTTTGCCTACAATTGTTCTTTTTACCC
TTTAAAACATAAAGGTTAGATTCTAGTCTTCTGTAAGGCTCCATCTGAATTCCTCCTTTC
TACTTACAAAACACATTCACAAGTGATCTCACTTCAGTGACTTCCAATACACCGATGGAC
GAGTGGTTCACAAACCGCTCTCTCTCACTTCCTCTTTTCTCTAGACCACCACTTTCATGT
TGTCAGCTACCTTACAGACTCCACCACTTAGATGACCAGAAGCTACATCAGGGTTATTAA
CTCAACTAATTACTTTTACCCTCAAAGTCTCCTCTCCCTATTTTCCTTACCTTGGTTTAT
GATACCCAGATAGACAATTTTTTAGCCATTCTTGGCTTTTCAGTCTCCTCTACAATCAAA
ATCCATATTGAATAATTCCCACATAATTTTTCTCACTTTAATATGTGTATAATCTAGTCC
TTCCTTTCTTTCCATAATGCTAGAAACTTTGTTCAGGAACATTCTTTTGTATATTGATTG
ATTCTGTTGTCCATTCATTCAATAAATGCTTACTAAGTGCCATGTAATGACACTATGCTA
AGGGCTAAAAGTGGAGCTTACACTCTGATGGGAGACACAGATAAATAAGTTACTATATAG
TGTGGTAAAGGCTAGATAAGGGGAAGACAGGTTTGATGTTTGAGCACATAGGAGAGTTCC
TAATTCCTTACTAGAAGGTAAGAGATGCATCAGAGAAGGCTTCCCAGAACTGTTCCCTAA
GATGAGGCTTGAAGAGAGAGGACAACTTATCCATGTGAAGTTGAGGGCAAGAATATCCAT
AAAGAGGGATCCACATGTGCTGAAACCCAGAGTGGCTGAGCACATGGCTTGCTTCAAGAA
CTGGAAGAGGGCAGAGTGGCCAGAGCCTAGATTTCTAATGGTGTGATGGCAAGAGGCAAG
ACTGGAGAGTGGGGCAGAAAAAAATGGTATGTGGTTTGTAAGCTCTGCCAAGGGGTTGAC
ATTTTTTTTCAGCAAAGAAGTGACATAGTCAAATTGTCAGTTTAGAAAGATATCTCTGGT
ATGCTAGGGGGCAGATGATCAGGGTGAGAATGGAGAGGGAAGACCAGCGAGGAAGCTGTT
GTAGTAATCCAGGTATGAAGTGACACTGCCCTGACCATGGGCATGGAAGCCAATAAGGAG
ATGGACATGTTTAAAATATTTGTAGGTGGGTGTCAAAGATGATGTCCTAGAAATATGGGA
CATGTTCAGCACTGAGGTAGGATACAGAGAGGGAGACCAGGTTTTGTGGGAGTAGATGGA
GATAACAGAAGGATATCCAACTGCTCCTTCTTGGTCTCTTGTCCCATCTGTCTTTGTCTC
CTGACCTATTAGCTTTGGTGGCGCCATCACTCAGTCCTCCTCTCTTCATTCTCTACAGTC
CCTCTCCTCGGAGATCCCATCCACTCTCATGGCTTTTCATGATGTCTACATGCTGACAAC
46
�TTCTTAATTTAAATCTCTAGCCCAGACCTTTCTCCTTAACCCCGGGACTCAAACATCCAA
CTGCATGCCCGGCATCTCCACTTAGATGCCTAAAAAATGTATGTCAGGCTGAGTGCAGTG
GCTCATGCCTGTAATCCCAGCACTTTGGGAGGCTGAGGCGGGTGGATAGTGAGGCGGGTG
GTGGTCAGGAGTTCAAGACCAGCCTGGCCAACATGGTGAAACCCCGTCTCTACTAAAAAT
ACAAAATTTAGCCAGGTGTGGTGATGTGTGCCTGTAATCCCAACTACTCAGGAGGCTGAG
GCAGGAGAATCGCTTGAACTTGGGAGGCGGAGGTTGCAGTTAGCCAACACCACATCACTG
CACTCCAGCCTGGGCAACAGAGCAAGACTCCATGTCAAAAAAATAAAAATAAAAAAACCT
CCATTGTGGGCAAAACTACATTCCTGGTCTCCTCATATCCTACAAACATGCTTCACCAAC
CAGAGTCTGCATGTCGGTAACTGGCAAAGCCATTCTCTCTGTTAAAAAAGTCAAAATCCT
TGGCATATTCTCCTTTTTTTCTCACATGCCTCAGATCTGACTCCATCAGTAAATCCGGAT
GGAGTTCGATCTGAGGCATGTGACAAAATAGCTCTGTCTTCAAAATAGAACCAGAATTCG
GCCACATCTCCCCACTCTCCCCTTCCTTCCTGGCCCAGGCCACCAGGGTCCCCCTCCTGG
AACACCACTGGAGCCTCCCAGCTGGCCTCACCACTCCACCTTTGCCCTGAACTGCCCCCC
AGCCACTAGCAGTCTTCTCTCCCATATGATCGAGGTGAATACATTCCAACATAATCCCCC
CTTGTTCAACACCCTGCAATGACTCCCCATTTCACTCCAATAAAAACCTGAATCTCCCAG
GGGCCTACAAGGCCTTACATGCTCTGCTTCTTTGTCCTTTTGATCTCAGCTCCCGGTCAA
CAAAGTCCAGGCTTACTGGCCCCCTTGCTGTGCTTCAGACACACCAGGCACATTTAGTTC
TTCCTTCTTGCCTCTGCCCAGAAATCTCTTTTCCCATCTCAGACATCTGGGTCCACAAAA
GCCACCTTCCCAATTTCCGAGCTACAAACCTATCCCCATACCTCTCCTCCAGGCAGTTCT
GATGCCCCAGCCCTACTTTTTGTTTTTCCCTGTAACACACATCAACTTCTGAAACACTAC
ATCATCAGCTTGTTATGGGTATTAATTGTTGTCCCCAGCTAAAAAGTAAGTTCCACAAGA
GCAGGGGTGTTGGGTTTTGTTTACTGATGTATCCCAAGCATCTGATGCATAGTAGGACCC
CAGTAAATACTTGTCAAATTTGGTCTTAAATAGCTGTTGCATAGACAAAAGTGATATTGG
AGAGATGGATTTCGGGATTCTCTGGAGATCCTTCAACAAAACATATCAGACTTTCTTTAA
TGTGGCCACAGCCTAATCTTATACCTTTTTCCACTGTCAACCCAGCCCACCTGGCCTCTA
TGCCAATTGCAGCTTCCTGGACAACCCTGCATCTTCTCCCCAGGTGCCCGTGTGTGAGTC
CACTCCACCCAAAGTGTCTGTCCCCTACCTCAGCTGCACCTGAGCAGCTCCAACTTATCC
TGCAAGACACAGCTCAAGTAGTATCCCCTCTGAAATACTCCTTGGCCCCGCTTTCTGTCT
GCATAGTTAGCTCTTCTCCCCCGTGCTGCTCCACTGACATGCGCACACCTTTACAGCACA
GCCTGGGCGTGTTGCAGGTGGAAGGTGGAGATTCCCAGTCAAGGGGCAACACCTGTATGG
TTGGAAAAGTTGTTTGTTTTAATTTCTTGCCCTCTCTTCTCTCTTCTATTTCTTTCCTCT
CCCATAAATACACATACCGCCTATATACACACAACCTGCCCTGAATTGTTTTCCTTGAAT
TGATGAGTTACGTAAATGCAATCCTAAGCACAGTTGTTTTCAGGTTGTCCTAACCTTTTG
CTTTATTGATTTTTCAAGGATCCAGAGTGTTTACTGAGTTTCAGAAATTGGATTCTGTAC
TTATTTTTCTGTACTATCCTAGTTTTATGAGAATCTATTTGCTCAGCATTCTCTATTCTT
47
�TTAAAAGTGTTTAAGATTTTTGTAAACAGTTTTGTTTGGTTCTTTATTTTCTGGTGACAT
ATTGATCTCAACATAATGCTATTCATATACTTTTAATTCTTCTTCCAACACTGTTAGGAT
TGCATTATGTTCACCCAAGGAATCCACATCTGTACAAAATGTGGCCAGGTTTGGCTATTC
CTTCACATTCACAGTATTCTCATGATTTCTAACAATTCTTGTCTACTTTGCCTAAATAAG
AAAATGTCATATACTGACAATTTTGATCGTGAAAAAGAGACCTTAGTTCATACCAGTGTC
AGAGTCTACTTGCAAACATTGATTTCCAAGAAAATTTCTCAGGTGTGAGCAAATAAGCAA
AATAAATTCAGACCTAAGAGAAAATAGCACTACAAGGAACGCCCAGCTCATTCAAACGCT
CTGCATTTTGAGACTAGAGGGGGCTTGGCCTTTGGCACCCTCACACCTCTCCCCTTTGTC
TCTCTGTCCCTGGGTGCTGATTTCTCTTTCTTTGTGTGACAGCCACTGTGAAAAGAATGG
GGTTCACTCACCACCTGCATTCCTCCACAGCCATTTGATATCTGCTTTCGATAACAGCAG
AGGAAACTGATCAGTCATATAAATCCAATCCTGAGCATAGTTCCTCGTTTGGAATTGTAC
CATGCTTTATGCCGAGGACATTTTCAAACACGGAGGGAGGGGATGTCTGATTCATTCGTG
AGTAATGTACCAGCTTCCTCTCCAACTTGTCTCCCTTCAGTGGTTCACATTCTGACTATT
CAGTCGGTTTATCCTTTCCAAACCCAGTATTTGAATGCAACTGGCAAAGGTTGATTGCCT
CTTTTTTTTTTTAATATATAGACTTGGAAAGATGTTTCTCAAATGTGATTTGCGGATTTA
TGTTATTCAGTCTTCCTGGATTAATTGAACAAAAACTGGTAACACTGCTACACAGTCTGA
ATCACAAAATTATGTCCATCCATTTGGCTGAAAAATACGAAAACAAATACTTGTATAAGT
TTTCATGCATTTTAGCACTTTCTTTACATTGGGGAAGTTCAACCTTCACACTTTCAAGGG
CAATGAAACATTTTTGTCTGACCTACAATTTATTAATGGGACAAAAGCCCATCTGTCAAT
CAGGGCTCTGAGAGTTCAATGTATTTTCTGAACAATATTTTTTACATTATGTACAATGGT
AAAAACAAATGTCCATTTATTCTTCTTTCCAAGAAGTTGAGTACTTTCAACCATTCTTAA
AAGGACAAAGATGTTTGCTGACAGAATATGAATTTATAAAGGATAATCTTGAGGATATAA
TGGCATTCTATTCTTTTTATCTTTACTCTTGCCATATCAGAGTTGGATAATAGTCTCAAT
CATATGTTACAACTAGAAAATGCACAATTGGCTTTTTCTTATGCTAACAGGCAGCCATTT
TCAACTTTTTAAATGATTATAGGACTAAGAGGGGATGCAAAAACAGATAAGAATCTGAAT
AAAAGCACTATCTGTCAAAGAAACAACATTTGTGTAATAATCAAGAAACCGTTTAGAGCA
CCCCCTGGAAACATTAATTATAACACATGCAAATCATTCCTGTACAAAGCTTAACTTGTT
TATCTCCTATAGCCACCTGTATTTGAATTTTTTAATAAGCTCATTTATTATAAATAAAGC
ATGTAAATCAATCTGGGAATACCTTTTCTGTTTCAGAAATTTCATGTAAATGACAGGCTG
CCACATACAGTACAACTATAGAGGGGAAAAAGTTTCTTTACTCCCTTTCATATAGTTATA
CCTTCATATGACACTTAAAACCACCTGCCAGGAACTTTTAAAACATGTTTTAGATGCACA
GAAGCAAACCCAAATGAAAAAATGCTATGCAGTTTTGCAATACATATATACCACAGAAAG
CTTTAAAAACATTCTACCCCAACAGATAAATAGATTTGGCCCAAATCTTTTTAATGTGAG
TTTTGTGGGTAAAAAAGATTATTGTTCCCTTATTTTTCCCCATTTGCTGACGACTAGGAT
TGTCATATAAAATACATTCCTGGGACATGCTTATACTAAACAAATTATCCACTGTTTATC
48
�TGAAATTCAAATTTAACTCAGCATCCTATATCTTTACTTGCTAAATCTCAGTTGGGATAT
GGGCTTACTCTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTGAGACAGAGTCTGGCTCTGTCAT
CCAGGCTGGAGTGCAATGGTGTGATCACGGTTCACTGCAGCCTCAACCTCCCTAGCTCAA
GTGATTCTCCCACCTCAGCTTCCACAGTAGCTGGGACTATAGGCACATGCCACCATGCCT
GGCTAATTTTTTTATTTTTTGTAGAGATGGGGTTTGCCCAGGCTGGTCTCAAACTCCTGA
ACTCAAGCAATCGTCTGGCCTCAGCCTCCTGAAGTGCTGGGATTGCTGGCGTGAGTCACA
GTGCCTGGCCTGAGCTAACTCTTTTTTAAAGAGTTAAAATACTGGTTCCTATTTGTTTTT
ACTTCTCTAGTATGGGAGGCTGTTACTGTGGCTTCTGTCTTGGGGGGCAATTTTCGAAGG
GCTTCAAGAACTTGAACCGAGGTTAGAGGAAAACCACAAGATGGCTAAAGGGTGGGAAAA
GAAGAAATAACACTATTTAAACTTTAGATGAGAGGACTAAAGTGATGAAACAGTCACCAG
GTATTTGGAGTGGTCTCACCCAAGGGACTGTGCCAACTTCCTCATTTTTTATGAGGGCAG
GCAAAAACTGGCCAAAACACAAGTTAGGATAATAAGCATAGTAGCTATTATTAAATGCTA
GGGTGTGCTGCATAACTGAAGGACAGTGTTTCTCACAGTTTATCTCCAACTCTCATGGCC
AACCCATGAGATGTATATCATTATCCCCACGTTTTGAATATAAGAAACTGACACTCAAAT
CAGAAGGCATGTCAGTGAAAAAGGCCATATTCACATCCCATCTAAGTCTGTCTGACACTA
AAGCCCACACTCTCTCCACTACACTCCACCTTGTCTCCAGAATGTTTTGGGCTGTTTAAA
TGTGATTATACCAAAGAGCAGTTGAATGCACTGAAAAATTCTGAAGATTCCTCCTGTCCC
TTCGATTCACTGTTGGAAACCATTGTCAAGGTAGTGTCTGGCTACGATAGAAGGGATTTT
TGACATGGCCTATTGTTTTATCTTTTTAAAGTAAATGTAGGTGCTTTTGATGATCATAAC
ACTAACTGTTAAGTCTTTAGGCATAAGAATCAAGCATTCAACTAAGCATGTTTACAAATT
TGCTTTCAGCCCAGTGGATCTATCCACTTTTCCATTTAGGTTGCACATTTAGATTTCGGA
GTTTATCCTGTTATCTTCAAATCCACGGACTGTACACTCTTTGAGGGAAGAAACTCTTAG
TATCTAGTCAAGTACGTGGCATGCAATGGGTGCTCCCAAATACTTGATTAATATCATATG
ATATAATGTAATATGATTCTTCATAAACAGTGAGTGTTTATAAATACAGTATTTTAAATG
TCATTAGGAATCTTCTATTGGAATCTTAACTTTATTTTAATAGACCTACTTTTAAAGTTA
ATAAACATAATATAAATGTGGACAGGGCTAAGATTTTTCCCTAAGATTTCACTCTGGCAA
GTCTTCCTGGAGATTTAGCCATGGCTATTTTTATGACTGTAATTTCCTTAATATGGGGCC
TCAGCCATATTCCATCATCATAAATCCCTTTCTTGCACTTAAAAGCAATGTTGAAATATT
TTCCAGTTTCTATATCTTAACTCTTTACTTAGATCCATTATTTCCATTTTGAGATTATCT
TATGTAAATATTGTAGAAGATTTTAGAATTATATAATAAGAAAATACTAGTATACCACCT
CAGAAATCTTAACTAATAGATATGTTCTCAAATGCAAAGTGAAATATTTAAAGTAATTAT
TCAAGTAAATAAAGAGACCATCTTTGTCCCAATTACTTGAATATTTTACGTAAAGTTGGT
TTTATGCACTTGACTTTGTGTTTAAACTCAAGTTTGTAGTATTGTCTACTGGACATTGTT
AGCTCAGGACCTTTTCAGGAGCAAGGAATGAAAGAATCATTTTTAAACTTATTTAAAAAA
AGAAATAAGGAAGAAAAGAAGAAATTTTACTGGCTCGCCTTAGCTTAAGACATGGCTGGA
49
�TACAGATGCTCAGACAATCACATCAGGAGCCTGCCTCCCTCCGTGTCTGGGCTCTCTGGC
CTCTTGGGTCAGTTTCATGCTCAGGCTGGCTTTCTCCACATAGTGGCAAAGATGGGCATC
AGACATCCCAAGTTAACATCATCTTTAGTGCTCATGCTGTCAGAATGAAAGAGGCCCTCT
CCCAGCATCCATATTAAATCTCCAAAGAGATTCTGTTTGGCCTTGCTTTGGCCACATACT
CAACCCTGACCAAGCTCCGTGTCAAGAGAACAGAGTTCGTTGAAAGGCCAGCCTGGTTTG
CACACTCATTCTGTGTTGAAAGATGTAGACCATGTGATTGACAGTCCCAGGAGATAGGAG
AGGGAGAATTTTCAAAAGAGTTGCCGGTATAAGAGACAGTGGATTCTGGGAAGGTAAAAA
GAGGTATTTATTAAAATACTGTGCCTTTGGAATAAAAATCTTTTCCAGGAAATGCAAATA
ATTTAAAACAATTCAAATAAGGATCATACATTTTAAAACAATTAGAAATACACTCAGAAG
AACTGAATTGCTCATTTAGTAGATTTCAGATAATATTTTCTCCTCTTTGAACCTCAGTTT
TGTCATCTGGAAACACAGGATAATGCTTACCTTATAAGGTAATCATGATTAGAAGAGATG
ATGGAGCTGACCATATCTATTTACTATAAAGTGCTATCTACATAGTTATAAATTATGACA
GCTAAGAAAATTAATCCCTAAAGAAAGCAAAATTACCTATGTCACGGTTTAGAAAGTCTC
TCTCTTAAGAAGAAACTTATTCTATTGCCTCTGTTGGGTTTTTTCCTGAGGAATCGGTGT
TTGAATGCAATATACATTTTTGTAGGCTCTGCAATGTTTTTATGATGAGGACAGTCATAG
TGTTGACAATTACTCAATGAATACTTAGAGATTTGAATGTATCGCTAGATTTCTGGGAAA
TGAAAAGACCAATGTAAGCTAGTTGAATGAGAAAACCAGAGGTGGGCAGATGGTGGACAG
ATTAAGTCGCTGGTTTTAAAGGTAGGCTGAACTGGTATTTGTAACTATTAATAACAGCCA
TCTTCTTTAAAGGAAGTACTCCTAAATATCAATAGTTTAGTGGCCAAGGTGCCATTGAGA
TGATCACTCCCAGGAAATGTTTTGCCAGTGATATTACCTTAACTTTCATCTGAAAAGAAA
TAAAGAAATGTTTTATGGATGATTCACTTTCACCTGATATGTGCACAACATTTTAAGAGA
ATGAATTAGTCAGTCTGTTTGAATCATCTTTACGTGTTCCTTTTAGCAGGGAACTCAAAG
TTGGTTAAATGGCTAGCTCTATTTCAGAAAGCAAAAATAACAGAAACAGTGAAAAGACAG
TCTATATTGAAAGCCTGATCCAGACACATCATGGGGGAATAAATATATCAGGACAAAAAT
ATATGAAAAGTGAAAGTATTTCTGGAGTATTTCACTACCAATATAAATATTAAAATGCTC
ACACAGCCAGATCTGGCAAGTTACATAGATGAGGAAGTGAAAGCAATAATATGCCAAGTC
AATGGCATTGGTGTAAAATGTAATCATAGAGGAACAATCTCAGAGTTGAAAATTATTAGA
ATTGGAAAACACTTTGAAGTTCTTTAGTTCCACCCAGGAGTATGCCATTAAATATTTAAT
AACCATCCCTCTGCGGGCTTTAATAACAAGCCCTGATTTGTAGTGTTTGCCAATTTCTAT
GGTGTCAATACAGCCACCATGGCTGATTTTAGGCTACCAAGATGAGGTCACTGAAACACA
AGTTGGGAAGAGATGCACATAGTAGGCTGTCATGAGCCAGCACACAGCTGGTTCAGCATT
ATAATTTTCAAATAAGAAAGCAGTTGACCTCAGAGGAGTTGGGTGACTTGCCTGGGTCAT
ACAAATAATTAGCTGCACTGCCACAACTAAACCTAGGCCCTCTCCAGTGTTTGACCTCAG
AATTGTGAATGCATTATGAGGAAAGCACCATGATTGATTGATTGGTAAGCCCACGTGACT
TTCTGTCCTAGTTAAGTTCCCCTTTAAGGGCCTCCATAGACATTTCTACATTGAGTTTAA
50
�ACTATAGTCTGCCTATCTCCACTACTGGCCTGAGATCTCACTGACATTTGGAAAGCGTTT
TATTTATCTTTGTATCTTCAGCACTCTGTACAGTATCTGACACTTAGATGCTTATAAGTG
TTTGTTGGGGGCCATGTACGAACAATAGAGAACATGCATTGACCTGCTATGTGCCAGGCA
GTGTTCTTAGTGATTTACATGCATTAACTTATTGAATCCTTAGAATAACTCTCACAAGTG
AGGTAGGTACTATAATCCTGCCCATATTTTAGATGAGAAAATACAGGCTTAGACTTACTT
GCCTAAGGTAACATGGACAGTGATTGGATTTAAACCCTAAAATCTGGCCAGTGCCTGTGC
ACTTGGCCTCTCAGTTGTCACTCATTTAACTAGCAGTTATCATCATAGTGCCCAGCTCAG
CGCCAAATACTTCTAAAAGGTCTCCCTCCTTTCCTTAGGAAGGACACAAAACGTTTCCCA
GAAAAGATCTGATCTGACCAACACACACCTTTGTTAATGGGGAAGGGCCTTTATTAATGG
GAATGATCAAGGAAATGGGGCGTTTTTGGTGATTACATTTTCTCATTATCTGAGGTTTAA
ACAGAAACCTCTAGTTTAATTAAAATTTCTGTTGCTGACAATAGGCCCTAGTCCCATTTT
TTTCTTTAATTAAAAAAGTTAACCTTTTTTTGATGTATTCACTTGAAAAATGGCATCACC
ATATGGTAACAGATAATGTAAAGAAGGTGTAGGAGATTAAGGTACTAACTCCAACTGTGT
TCTGTGAGGGTTTTTCTTTAAATAGAAAATATATTCTTCTTCCCCACTGATTTTCCATTT
CATCAAATGAAGTAACAAAAAGCCTATTTCTACATGTGTACATTTTCTTGGATTCTTGTC
CACTGAGATTTAGTACAGTGTGTGACTTATGTGCGAACCTTAAGATATGAATCTTATTTT
AAAAACATAATTTAATATAATATCTCTAATTTTTTTGTTTTTGTTTTTATTTTTTTTAGA
TGGAGTCTCGCTCTGTCATCAGGCTGGAGTGCAGTGGCGCAATCTCAACTCACTGCAACC
TCCAATTCCCTGGTTCAAGAGATTCTCCTGCCTCAGCCTCCCAAGTAGCTGGGATTACAG
GCATGCGCCACCACACCCAGCTAATTTTTGTACTTTTAGTAGAGACGGGGTTTCACCATA
TTGGCCAGGATGGTTGTGATCTCCTGACCACGTGATCCACCCACCTCTGCCTCCCAAAGT
GCTAGGATTACAGATTATTTTGAAGGCTCCTTCAAAAAGCCTAGAAGAAAAAATGTCATT
CACACTTCACACTGCATTAATGGACATCAACTAACATGCAAATTGGTTACAATATTTTTC
TCCCTTTTGGCAATAATAATTCGTTTCCTTTCTTTCATTATAATTTCTACAGAAAATACA
GCAATAAATTATATATTAAGCTCAATTTTGTTAGATACACTGATACCATATTGATAAGTG
CAGTTAACTTTTCACATAATATTTATTTTTCCCATTGTGCTCTAGATGGTTTAGATACAT
ATTTGCAGTTTGGTTTACAGTTTGTATTTGCCCTCTAGTACAACAAATTGTCCCTAATCC
TTTTCTTCTATCCCTTGTTATTCCCTCTACCAGCACCAAAAATTTGCTAGTACATTGCAA
AACAATGAGAATTACAGATAAAATAGCAAGCATTTATATATACTCTATATTGATCAAAGT
GCTTTCAGAGATGAGATCTCTTTTTGATCCTTAAAATGGTCACGTGAGAATATCTGACCC
TGGGACTCAGAGGTGGGTGATTGCCTGGAGTCACACAGCTAGAGAGGGAAAGGGCTAGAA
TCAGAGGGCTGATTGTCTGACTTCTGTTCTAGTGCATGCTCCCACCTCGCTTTGGAAGCT
GCTTCGGCATAGTGAAGCACTTAAGAGCATGGATGGGTTCTTGTTAGCCAGACGTGGAAT
TGAATCTTGGTTCTAACTGTGTGATTTTAGCAAGTTTGCTTATCTAGAAGAGAAGGATAA
TAATACTTCCTTCTTCACAGGGTGGTGATGAAGAGTAAATCAAAGAGTTTAGCAGAATGC
51
�TTCCCATATGGTAAGCACTCAATACATGTTCTTGTTATTTTTATTATTACATGGCTTTGC
CTTACTGAGGCTTCATCTTGTCCTCTGGTCCAACTACAGTTCTCTAGCTTGGCTTATCCC
TTCATAACCTGTACCCCCAGTGGCACGATCTTGGCTCACTACAACCTCCGCTTCCCAAGT
TCAAGCAATTCTCCTGCCTCAGCCTCCCAAGTAGCTAGGATTACAGGCACCTGTCACCAC
ACCCAGCTAATTTTTTTGTAGTAGAGATGGGGGTTCACAGTGTTGGTCAGCCTGGGTTCA
AACTCCTGACCTCAAGTGATCTGCCCACCTCAGCCTCCCAAAGTGCTAGGATTACAGGCA
TGAACCACCGCGCTCAGCCAGGAATTTTCATTCTTTATCCTCCTTTGAGACTCGGCTCTA
GCATCATTTCCAGTCGAGTTGGTCTCCCTTCCTCTGCATTCTGATAACTGTTAACCATCA
AGTGACTTGAGCTTCCCAGGGAAGGGCATCATGTCTTTGTAGACATCCAATAAATGTTAG
TAGAAGAAAGGGGGGTCCTGCCAATAATCATATGTCTTTCCCACAATTTAAACTCCTTTT
CACCCTGTTACTACTTTTTGCTTGTCTTCCCTTTGATAAACATTCTACTTCTTCATCACC
CATTCCCTCAATTTAACATCTGATACTACTATAGAAACTACTGCCTTGAAGATCAACAAA
CGGGTTCCATGTGGACCAACGTCCTCCTTGAGACCCTCACTTGGCTTTTGTGACACAGTG
CAATATTTGCTCTCTTGATGCCTCACTGACCTTAACCTTCCTTGACTCCTGCATAGATTT
CTCAACTGTGGGTATCCCCTAAGATTTAGGCCATTTGCCTTCTCTTCTTTCATCTAGTCC
ATTCATGAACACACCCATTCCTGGTTTTAACCATCACCTCTGTGCAGATAATGTGCAAAG
TTTATTTCTAGTCGGAGTGGAGTCTCTGTTACTCTGCCAATCAAGTTCTAAATTTTTATT
CCTTCTAGTGCAGCAGTGGCAAATACCTGACACTCATGTGTCTCACTCAAGACAGATACT
GTTTCACCCAAGACTGATCATGCCGCTTTCCCAGTCAAGGCAGGCTTCTCAGAATCCTTC
TCATTTCCGCCTCTGTTCTTTGGCACTAATGCTCTGTCTGCCCAGAGTTTTCATTCTTCA
CTTGTTCCAGGCACCTGCTTCCTGGTGAATAATGTAAAACCTGCTAGTCATCCTTATAGG
AGAATATGCACTCATTTCCCAGCAGCACACCCGACTCAACGTGGTTAAAACCAATCTACC
ATTCCCATATATTCAGCCTAACTTCCCAGTGCAGTCTACCCTAGTTTTATAACTTGTTCT
ACTTTTTCCAGATAACTGCTAATCATCTTTGTTTGTCTTTGCTTTCTTTTTTGCACTGTG
TTTGATATATTAGGGTATCAAATCCTACTTATTCAAATATGTCCCTTATTCATTCCTTCT
ATCCTTGGTGCTACCATATTTGTTCTGGCTCTTGTTACCTCATTATGGGATATAAAAATA
GCCTGTCAACTGGTCTTTCCATTGCCAGGATCTCTCTGTTCTAAGCCACCCTGCCTCCAG
ATCAATCTTCCTAGAGTAAAACCTTCATTGTATGACGGTCTAGCTCAAAATTCCTTAATG
ATTATTAATCACCTCTTAAAGTCCCCAATTCTTAGACTATTAGTAGGGTAAAATTATTTT
TGATTTGGAGTCAAAAAATTTTGGACGCAAATTTTGGCTACTACACTTAACCATTATGTA
ACTTCGAATTTCGGCTTAATTTTTATTCATCATTTATTCAGTATCTATTTGTTTAACACC
TTCTGCATCTCAGGCTCTGTACTAGGTACTTGGGATACAATGATGAGCCAAGCAGACCTT
GTCCTTGCTCTCCTGGACCTCACAACATGGTGAACTTGTCTCTATTGCTCATGATCATAA
TAATCCTAAGTACAGGCTGTGCTTTTTTCCCTTGATACTTGTAGCTTTTGGTTTGTGCTA
TGCAGGGTATTGTAATACCATTTGCAGTGCCACAATAATCAGCATATATGTGTTATCACT
52
�CAGCCACATTGCAGCTTCACTGAAGGGCAGGGGCTATGTCCCATTTCTCATAGCGCAAGC
ACAGTGCCCTGCACATACCAGCTGCTCAGTGATTTCTGATGTGGTTTTTGTAGATCCAGG
GTTAGTCTTTGGCAGTCATGATGCCTAGTATGTTTTTAGAGGCTCCCTTTGTCCTATCAG
AATTATGCTATTTAAAAAAAAGTCATACCTATTTAGTTTATATTCATTCTAAGGCCTCTC
CTTTCCAACCTACTACCCTGCCTATAACTATTATAAGGAGAACTCACAATGTTTATAACT
TGTGCACCTTAAGTTTTAAATACTGAATAACAGGCCCATTCATGTTTCCTCATAGAAATA
CTGTCTATATGCATACAATGAAATGTTAAAATAATGTTCTTTTTACTAAATAGCTTTTTG
ACTTGGTAATGAACAATATGTTGTTTTTCCCTGAGAAGTAGTTCTAGGACTTTAGTTCTG
AAGATTATGTTGTATTTTATACATTTTCAGCCTCCTGTTTTTCAGTTCCCAGTGATCTTA
CATTAAACATTTGTCTGTCTAAAACAATAGGTTAACTATAGCCAAATTATAACCATACCA
TTCCTCTCCACACAAAATCCTATAAACAGCATGTGATCATATTGCTTCTAGAATTTATGA
TTGTTTTCTTCCAAAAGGAAGCTAAATTTAGCCTAGTAATTCTACATGCGCTCAAGAAAA
CAATGCCTGCTGTGATTTCTAGAATAAATGAATGTGAACCACAGTTCCTTTACTTGACTA
ACAGAGAAAGTTTAAATATCAACCTAGTCATTAACCACAGTTATTAAACCACGTTAAACA
ACCAGCAAGGGGTTAAGAAAGAAAGTTGCTATGTTTTTTCTTTCATTGCTGAATGAGTCT
AACTTAGTTACTGTATCAACCTTAATACAGAACATTGTTTGCATCTCAATGGTTCTCTAA
AATTATTCGTTCATGGCTTGAGTTCTAAAATTAAACTATGTGGAGTCATGTCCAACCGCA
CAATGCATCTTTATGTGAAACTTGCTAGAGTTTTTGTTTTCCTTCTATGTAAAAGTCCAG
TTGGGAAGCTTTATTTCTGATAGATTAAATGGTATAGGTCTTTCAGTTTTCTCTTCATTT
CTGACAACTGAACTGCTCTCGCCTTGAACCTGTTTTGGCAGATAAACCTCTCATAATGAA
GGCCCCCGCTGTGCTTGCACCTGGCATCCTCGTGCTCCTGTTTACCTTGGTGCAGAGGAG
CAATGGGGAGTGTAAAGAGGCACTAGCAAAGTCCGAGATGAATGTGAATATGAAGTATCA
GCTTCCCAACTTCACCGCGGAAACACCCATCCAGAATGTCATTCTACATGAGCATCACAT
TTTCCTTGGTGCCACTAACTACATTTATGTTTTAAATGAGGAAGACCTTCAGAAGGTTGC
TGAGTACAAGACTGGGCCTGTGCTGGAACACCCAGATTGTTTCCCATGTCAGGACTGCAG
CAGCAAAGCCAATTTATCAGGAGGTGTTTGGAAAGATAACATCAACATGGCTCTAGTTGT
CGACACCTACTATGATGATCAACTCATTAGCTGTGGCAGCGTCAACAGAGGGACCTGCCA
GCGACATGTCTTTCCCCACAATCATACTGCTGACATACAGTCGGAGGTTCACTGCATATT
CTCCCCACAGATAGAAGAGCCCAGCCAGTGTCCTGACTGTGTGGTGAGCGCCCTGGGAGC
CAAAGTCCTTTCATCTGTAAAGGACCGGTTCATCAACTTCTTTGTAGGCAATACCATAAA
TTCTTCTTATTTCCCAGATCATCCATTGCATTCGATATCAGTGAGAAGGCTAAAGGAAAC
GAAAGATGGTTTTATGTTTTTGACGGACCAGTCCTACATTGATGTTTTACCTGAGTTCAG
AGATTCTTACCCCATTAAGTATGTCCATGCCTTTGAAAGCAACAATTTTATTTACTTCTT
GACGGTCCAAAGGGAAACTCTAGATGCTCAGACTTTTCACACAAGAATAATCAGGTTCTG
TTCCATAAACTCTGGATTGCATTCCTACATGGAAATGCCTCTGGAGTGTATTCTCACAGA
53
�AAAGAGAAAAAAGAGATCCACAAAGAAGGAAGTGTTTAATATACTTCAGGCTGCGTATGT
CAGCAAGCCTGGGGCCCAGCTTGCTAGACAAATAGGAGCCAGCCTGAATGATGACATTCT
TTTCGGGGTGTTCGCACAAAGCAAGCCAGATTCTGCCGAACCAATGGATCGATCTGCCAT
GTGTGCATTCCCTATCAAATATGTCAACGACTTCTTCAACAAGATCGTCAACAAAAACAA
TGTGAGATGTCTCCAGCATTTTTACGGACCCAATCATGAGCACTGCTTTAATAGGGTAAG
TCACATCAGTTCCCCACTTATAAACTGTGAGGTATAAATTAGAAATAAGTATCAGTCTCA
AAAAGAATATCCAGGGCTTCTTTTGTGCTTTGTAAATGGTGTTTATCCAAAATAGTTGCA
GATTTTTTCCAAGAAAATTGAGGAATTGAATCTTCATTTACACCTAAAATTATATCTTTA
AAATGTAAATGGTAACTAAAAGAAAAATGTTTTTACAATTCAGATTTGCATGTTCGTGAC
ATTTCAGATTATATTAAAGTTATTTCCCATATAAGCTTTTTTATATTTACACAGATTTTA
TCAGATTTACACAGATTTTATCAGATTTACACAGATTTTTATCACAGCAGCAATTCCCAT
AAAACATAATTATTGACATTTCTATATAATCTCTGCAACATTTACAAGATGTTCAAGCTA
ATTTGTATGCCTTAAAGAATTGTTCCTTATGAGATTATATTCTCTCACTGATACACAACT
GATTAATCTATATTCTTGACATTACTTAAAGGAACTTAACTTTAAAAAACCTCTTCTGAA
ATGCTGGTAAATAAAACATTTTTAAATGAGCTCGTATACTTCTCTAAATAACCTGTAAGA
GTAGAGAGGAAATGTTTGTTCCCAAGTCCTTCCTTTAGAGCTTGACTTTAATCATGGACT
TCCTTCTGGAAAAGACTTGTGTCTACCAAGTTCTAGCTTGGCACTTTACCTGGTTGGTAT
TTGTTATTTATAAGCATAAATATTTTGGTTGATGATTATTTATACTTATATGAAATGGTA
TTTTCTTAGGAGCTGTTAGAGATATTCTTGGTGCTGTGATTTAAATATAGTAACAGCTAC
CAGCTATACCTGGAGATTTATCCTGCTAGTCAGTTGATCACCTGGTCTGAGTGTTTATTG
TGGCTTTGAGTTTCTTGATCTGGGCCAGATTTGGAATACGGACCTGACTATGACCATCAT
TGAATGAACAAATAGTATAGCTTTTCTAAAGACAGTTTGACTTTGGCATGGTATGTTTCA
CTTACTTTAACAGGTTTCAATCTAAGATATAAAGGTTATAATTGCAATCAGGTAGAACAT
TAAACATGTCCTCAGTAGCATAAAGTATATAATTTGCTGAGGGGTAAAGGCATATGAATT
CAGAGACATTTGGTTGACTTTTGCTGAAATGTCTGGGACACTTCTCTAGATGGAAACTAT
AGTTAACTTTTTATGATGCTAGGAAAATACTTCCAAGAAAGTCAGTTCATCTTTTGGTGA
ACTAAAAACAAAACTTCCTTCCTCTCTCTTCCAAAGTCTATGAATATACATAACATAAAT
GCACATACATTCCAACTAAGACTTATTTCCCCCTACATACATTTAATATATGTTGCAAAG
AAGCAATAGAATTCCTTATGAAGCTCCCCCTTTTCTTTACTAGAAACTACAAAAGAATGA
AAGGAAACAAAATGATTTTCAGAAACCTGGGATTAGGAAATAAAAATATAATATTAATAG
CATTACAGAGAAGATATTTTTCTGCATCCAGTAAGTTGATTCTGAGACACAAGTTTTAAA
AGAGTCTATTAGGAATTCCTCCAGGGCTCCTAGAGCACATGGATTTGCTATTTAAATCTT
TCTTTGTTAAAAATTAAAAAGAAGGGTAGGGCAAGAAAAAAATTAAAAAGAGAATTCATA
AAGGTATATTGATATCTCATTTTTTAAATTTTGTACATTTCAATCCTTAGATGTAAAAAT
54
�ACTTATCAATTCTAGAAATTCTCAAAACACATCTGAATTTTATCCTACCCTTTTGACTTT
TTTAGTGTTCCAAGGGAGACAAACAGACAGGATTAGCCAATGAAATTCAGGTCAGTTTTA
TCGCCCAGGAAAAATTCCCAAAATGCACTAGCCACACCTGAAACCATTATCACTCCCATC
ACAAAAATTCTTGCGGGAAACAAGATGGAACTTGCCAACATAGTCTTCTTACAAAGGAAG
CCAACTTTTACACTGGCCAAATTCCATAGACAAATACCTTCAAACCTCCTCTATTTATTT
GCCTGTTTATCTTCTCTGGTTACAAAGATCAAAATTCTTCTGAGACTGAGACTACACATA
TTCTCTCTCTCCATATACCCCATCCAGACCTCAGATTGTTCCAATAATGAGCATATAATC
ATTTCCTAGCTTAATGCCAAAATGAAGGCACCTAGAGCCATTCATCACACACAAAAAAAA
CAAAATGATTACAAGATCAAAGCTGTTTAGCAGGACTCTCAAGCAATAAGATGACTCCAT
TTTGTCTTGGCAGATTTACTTGGCCAGAAATCAAGTGACCCTTTTAATAATTTCTTGGAA
CTGAGTTTTTACTTTGGCATCAAGTTTGGTGAAAAGACACACATATTGTAGTTTTGTTAT
TAACATCTCTAATACATTTATAAAGGGACTCTTGTGGACAAGGTTAAGAAAGCTGAGCTG
CAGCAGTAACTTTCTACTTATGCTTCTGCCCAGTCCTCAGTGTTGACACATTGCTGAAAG
AGGGATTTCCTGGCACTCCAAGAGCTCTCCACCATGTGCAAAAAGTGTTTCTATCACAAG
ATCAGATAATGGGAGTGCCAGGGACGGGCCTTTTACATTTTAGGGGTCCAGCAGGTGTAC
CAGGCCTGACTTGCTTGTTTAGGATCACATATTTTGTTGCTTTTCCCAGTCTCACATTTC
ATGAAATATGTCTATGCAAACTCTTCACATGCATCTTCTCATATTGATGACATCACAAAA
GCCCTCTTTTGAGTCATTTGATAATTCCCAGTACTCGTCATCTTCACCCATAAGCTATTT
GTGCTTCAGAACTCTTTGTCTCCACATATGATGCTGTTTCTGGAAACTTATCCCAAGCCA
CAAATGCCCACTTATAGAATACCAGTGTTGTTGACTATGTCAGTTGTTCTATAAGAATAT
55
����Reaping the Benefits of Racial and Ethnic Diversity:
The Competitive Advantage for Top Level Management
Kadijah Singleton (Business Administration)1
This research illustrates how corporate America uses its resources to address external and
internal challenges by embracing diversity. These activities will be demonstrated through
the use of content analysis of current financial reports, non-financial reports, literature
review and the exploration of how racial and ethnic diversity in top level management
affects financial performance. Top level management refers to both top management
teams and boards of directors. A common presumption is that companies in the Unites
States with diverse workforces have a much higher financial performance and a
competitive advantage over companies that lack diversity. The thesis will explore why
this presumption is true and how it can be helpful for companies to understand the ways
in which they can improve performance through implementing racial and ethnic diverse
policies.
I. Introduction
Currently the “University of Missouri is facing an image crisis after days of
protests over concerns about the administration's handling of racial issues and subsequent
leadership resignations” (Ballentine, 2015). As students experience racial and ethnic
tension in their own university, they intended to seek out opportunities to learn how to
deal with these problems with the support of the top university officials. There have been
numerous reports of racist incidents and perceived lack of response from administration.
Consequently, “the president and chancellor of the University of Missouri resigned after
weeks of mounting student protests over what they called poor handling of several recent
racial incidents, marking the first time in decades students have forced out the head of a
major American university” (Belkin & Korn, 2015).
As the school deals with its tarnished reputation, the new focus has turned to
communicating what steps are being taken to address student concerns; including the
development of diversity training for administrators, faculty, and students and the new
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Shani Carter in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
59
�administrative position of vice chancellor for inclusion, diversity and equity (Ballentine,
2015). Mr. Wolfe is the latest among college and university presidents who have been
forced out by the kaleidoscope of pressures facing leaders in higher education” (Belkin
and Korn). This is a clear example of how a lack of diversity can negatively influence
business. There is growing trend for the proper implementation of diversity in order to
prevent issues similar to this in the future.
Recent 21st century research suggests that having racial and ethnic diversity in
the workplace utilizes American workers’ skills to their fullest, and contributes to overall
growth and prosperity for the United States. The reality of the situation today, however,
is that most companies have a long way to go to achieve high levels of diversity and
progress remains slow. The theory is that a lack of racial and ethnic diversity hinders a
company’s ability to make the appropriate decisions when faced with a changing business
environment because the company has inevitable blind spots. A racial and ethnic diverse
workplace offers more than just exposure to employees from different cultures and
backgrounds, but a greater outlook on life (Mayhew, 2013).
Technological advancement, the growing global economy, and fluctuating
markets have resulted in companies’ paying greater attention to racial and ethnic
diversity. The advantages of a culturally diverse workforce and creating a cultural
understanding in their corporate environment are becoming increasingly important to
corporations, this strategic business objective gives the company an advantage over its
competitors. As the value of understanding racial and ethnic diversity increases in
corporate America, companies are identifying methods to increase employee awareness
of diversity (Green, 2011). “As workforce demographics shift and global markets
emerge, workplace diversity is significantly closer to becoming a business necessity
instead of a banner that companies wave to show their commitment to embracing
differences and change. Employees reap tangible and intangible benefits from workplace
benefits, not the least of which include respect from co-workers and business gains”
(Mayhew, 2013).
Race vs. Ethnicity
The categories of diversity include race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other
ideologies. More specifically, racial and ethnic diversity includes two separate entities.
Ethnicity refers to common nationality or shared cultural traditions, while race refers to
sets of physical characteristics such as skin color (Green, 2011). “Over time, academic
60
�and popular understandings of racial and ethnic identities have changed dramatically.
Prior to the 20th century, racial and ethnic groups were perceived as permanent, biological
types” (Anderson, 2004).
While race and ethnicity share an ideology of common ancestry, they differ.
Ethnicity is defined as a state of belonging to a social group that has a common national
or cultural tradition (Diffen, 2015). It can also be construed as a population of human
beings whose members identify with each other, on the basis of a real or a presumed
common genealogy or ancestry (Riley, 2011). On the other hand, race is defined as a
group of people with common physical features (Diffen, 2015). Race presumes shared
biological or genetic traits, whether actual or asserted (Riley, 2011).
In many cases today, race is unitary because if a person belongs to one race, that
person may claim ethnic membership in multiple different groups (Diffen, 2015). “Racial
categories presume a shared genealogy, although this often is not the case. Most races
actually share multiple genealogies with significant crossover” (Riley, 2011). A major
difference between race and ethnicity is related to the ability to self-identify. A person’s
race is assigned by today’s society based upon physical features and traits, and is
determined at birth. “However, ethnicity is self-identified. An individual can learn a
language, social norms and customs, and assimilate into a culture to belong to an ethnic
group” (Diffen, 2015). Overall, ethnicity can be inherited by an individual as a result of
her geographic location, religion, morals and values.
United States Census Review
Views of racial and ethnic identities have changed over time. “The U.S. Census
has classified people into racial groups since its origin in 1790. However, the list of
categories and the method of measuring race or ethnicity has changed many times in the
intervening decades, as the political and economic forces shaping the collection of racial
data have changed” (Anderson, 2004). The list of categories in the Seventh Census of the
United States: 1850 were listed as Whites, Free colored, and Slaves (Gauthier, 2002).
Starting in 1997, there were five categories to classify people into racial groups;
White, African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native
Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (United States Census Bureau, 2013). For respondents
unable to identify with any of these five race categories, individuals were presented with
the option to self-identify with more than one race for the first time in Census 2000 and
this continued with the 2010 Census (United States Census Bureau, 2013). People who
identify with more than one race may choose to provide multiple races in response to the
61
�race question if they deem necessary. Changes in the U.S. Census categories over time
reflect changes in the ways in which corporate America will approach their diversity and
inclusion strategies.
Objective
It is important for top level management to understand the importance of racial
and ethnic diversity and the benefits it can have in business. Companies in corporate
America still have a lot of strategic planning to complete before being able to use
diversity as one of their advantages. To address this lack of knowledge, this thesis will
show that successfully implementing racial and ethnic diversity strategy can give
companies in corporate America an advantage. This advantage will be illustrated by
examining cases in which companies have successfully used diversity to respond
effectively to the constantly changing environment. The advantage will be demonstrated
through the analysis of financial and non – financial reports. The objective is to show that
racial and ethnic diversity have a role in company success and to show how companies
can use diversity as a competitive advantage.
II. Importance of Top Management Teams
Top management teams have an enormous influence on the success of their
entrepreneurial firms. The underlying reasons include that diverse large (i.e., 4–5
members) teams simply have more people with more unique skills to do the intense and
multi-faceted work of founding a new firm (Eisenhardt, 2013). Specifically, larger teams,
teams with more diversity in age and experience, and teams with a history of working
together are much more likely to launch successful entrepreneurial firms with significant
growth (Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1990). Teams with members that have extensive
industry experience and other teams without industry experience often bring diverse
points of view (Eisenhardt, 2013).
There is also a very strong interaction effect between top management teams and
markets. That is, entrepreneurial firms with superior teams (i.e., large, diverse age and
experience, prior experience together) and in growth markets (i.e., markets that are
growing at over 20 percent per year) are likely to perform significantly better than other
entrepreneurial firms (Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1990). So, although the effects of top
management teams is significant and the effects of markets are significant, the interaction
effects between teams markets are stunningly strong.
In contrast, firms either founded by small and homogeneous teams with little
experience together or founded in emergent or mature markets perform less well
62
�(Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1990). “Emergent markets are problematic because the
timing of their take-off can be very long, and entrepreneurs are challenged by the delays
and their own limited resources. Mature markets are better in that entrepreneurial firms
can sometimes locate very profitable niches such as military products, but these markets
are too stable and often dominated by established incumbents” (Eisenhardt, 2013).
Overall, the combination of a superior team in a great market is over-whelming in its
likelihood of leading to high performance.
Demographics
The U.S. workforce is undoubtedly becoming more diverse. As of June 2012
African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics made up 36 percent of the labor force.
“Breaking it down by race and ethnicity, approximately 99.9 million (64 percent) in the
labor force are non-Hispanic white; 24.6 million (16 percent) are Hispanic; 18.7 million
(12 percent) are African American; and 8.2 million (5 percent) are Asian. Approximately
4.8 million people (3 percent) in the labor force do not identify in any of these racial or
ethnic categories” (Burns, Barton, & Kerby, 2012). The proportion of African Americans,
Hispanic, and Asian people participating in the workforce will only increase as the
United States becomes a more racially and ethnically diverse country. Census data
indicates that by 2050 there will be no racial or ethnic majority in our country.
Further, between 2000 and 2050, new immigrants and their children will account for 83
percent of the growth in the working-age population. In regards to race and gender in the
labor force, these communities have more Hispanic men and African-American women
(aged 20 and over) are in the labor force than Hispanic women and African-American
men. Of Hispanics in the labor force, 58 percent are men, and 42 percent are women. Of
African-Americans in the labor force, 53 percent are women, and 47 percent are men
(Burns, Barton, & Kerby, 2012).
Data Analysis
Table 1, which includes data from Dr. Carter’s research outlining the percentage
or employment by race, illustrates that employment by race has significantly changed
from 1983 to 2013. During the last 40 years, there has been significant growth in the
percentage of employees who are African Americans, Hispanic, Asian, and women. “In
addition there is a continued shift in the age composition of the labor force due to the
aging of the large Baby Boomer generation. The labor force will continue to change
significantly in the coming decades” (Carter, 2012).
63
�There is a continuous increase in the number of African Americans, Latino, and
Asian employees. “Specifically, employees of different cultural backgrounds may need to
be trained to interact effectively with each other, thus increasing organizations’ cultural
sensitivity development needs”(Combs & Griffith, 2007). Workshops can ensure
employee development in regard to having cross-cultural interactions. If workshops are
held, a cross-section of races and ethnicities should be represented in order for the
workshop to be seen as valid by employees and this can be successful implemented with
the help of the workshop leaders” (Cross, 2010). “Furthermore, the workshops should
cover subtle cross-cultural communication and sensitivity issues such as how to build
trust in different cultures, and not just obvious or overt cross-cultural issues” (Chebium,
2015).
Table 1: Employment by Race (%)
Year
African
Americans
Hispanic
Asian
White
1983
10.0
5.4
0.0
84.6
1993
11.5
9.2
0.0
79.2
2003
11.1
12.7
4.2
71.9
2013
11.7
15.8
5.6
66.9
(Carter, 2012)
III. Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Workplace
Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an
organization (Greenburg, 2004). Diversity is the way in which people differ from each
other. These differences among employees could arise due to their age, gender, race,
ethnicity, personality, educational background, organizational function and the tenure
(Joshi Pant & V., 2015). These differences among employees create diverse experiences
for everyone in their organization in terms of performance, motivation, communication
and inclusion. Additionally, diversity involves how people perceive themselves, but the
most important component is how they perceive others, and these perceptions can affect
their interactions (Khan, 2010). “Thus, diversity includes those differences in people that
64
�not only impact how they see themselves but also how they see and interact with each
other at work” (Joshi Pant & V., 2015).
In order for employees to function effectively as an organization, human
resource professionals must address issues such as communication, adaptability and
change which will help diversity increase significantly over time (Greenburg, 2004).
Successful organizations realize that immediate action is necessary when implementing
diversity and they are ready and willing to spend the necessary resources on managing
diversity in the workplace today (Greenburg, 2004). “An organization’s success and
competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits.
When organizations actively assess their handling of workplace diversity issues, and
develop diversity plans to implement, multiple benefits are reported” (Khan, 2010).
“Organizations should seek to perform on a diverse set of measures, including integrity
on stated core values such as fair and respectful treatment of all members and/or
promotion of equal employment opportunities in the broader society” (Cox, 2011).
Advantages
“Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences
and often suggest ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer
demands” (Sarkar, 2014). There is also a much broader service range because a diverse
collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural understanding) allows a
company to provide service to customers globally (Greenburg, 2004). A diverse
workforce where all employees feel comfortable communicating varying points of view
provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences (Sarkar, 2014). The organization can
draw from that pool of ideas to meet business strategy needs and customer need more
effectively. This can lead to effective execution of employee performance because
companies that encourage diversity in the workplace inspire all of their employees to
perform to their highest ability. Company-wide strategies can then be executed, resulting
in higher productivity, profit, and return on investment.
Other benefits of diversity are that diverse organizations will find it easier to
recruit because there will be a far larger labor market from which to choose, so the
companies will enjoy access to a greater wealth of experience, skills and talent, and
companies will gain improved public image, and increased staff motivation (Khan, 2010).
Companies can further increase employee motivation through having role models for
diverse employees, thus helping future company growth in the management ranks which
could increase the companies’ market penetration. In the end, diverse companies will
65
�have better overall financial performance than non-diverse companies have (Spiers,
2008).
Challenges
Managing a complex and constantly shifting network of employees,
collaborators, and business partners poses significant challenges. In one study, the
potential for cultural mismatches and communication difficulties among the workforce
was highlighted, along with the risk of data security breaches which was of greatest
concern to respondents, followed by disclosure of competitively sensitive information,
while some respondents were worried about the effect of poor communication on their
organization’s ability to make timely decisions. A significant challenge for managers is
the capacity to retain oversight and control over the performance and productivity of the
workforce (Hagel, 2015).
Taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity in the workplace is not without
its challenges. Some of those challenges are lack of communication, resistance to change,
difficulty of implementing diversity in workforce policies, and difficulty of successful
management of diversity amongst the workplace (Greenburg, 2004). Communication
becomes a challenge when perceptual, cultural and language barriers need to be
overcome for diversity programs to succeed. Ineffective communication of key objectives
results in confusion, lack of teamwork, and low morale. When employees refuse to accept
changes in social and cultural makeup of the workplace, the company is faced with the
challenge of resistance to change (Greenburg, 2004). Some employees believe the way
things were previously done is best and there is no need for change because it will only
cause more problems rather than benefit the company.
Moreover, implementing diversity in workplace policies can be challenging to
diversity advocates. Armed with the results of employee assessments and research data,
diversity advocates must build and implement a customized strategy to maximize the
effects of diversity in the workplace. Most important, the successful management of
diversity in the workplace is undoubtedly the biggest challenge. “Diversity training alone
is not sufficient for ensuring success of the organization’s diversity management plan;
rather, a strategy must be designed and implemented to create a culture of diversity that
permeates every department and function of the organization” (Hagel, 2015).
66
�Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the difference between cultures and it has become a norm
internationally. “U.S. multinationals perform better with CEOs with international
assignment experience at their helms, especially when such human capital was bundled
with other organizational resources and capabilities” (Carpenter, Sanders & Gregersen,
2001). The intent of multiculturalism is to preserve cultures identity within a larger
society and finding the connection and acceptance between among different cultures
(Raatikainen, 2002).
The greatest benefit comes from the understanding of the diverse markets.
Companies with diverse groups make better decisions, enhances creativity and has a
better understanding of customers (Raatikainen, 2002). According to the resource-based
theory, a firm's growth and competitive advantage are functions of the unique bundle of
resources that it possesses and deploys (Carpenter, Sanders & Gregersen, 2001).
Therefore, racial and ethnic diversity does, in fact, add value to multiculturalism and,
within the proper context, contributes to firm competitive advantage.
Diversity Trends
This year more than 1,600 companies participated in the survey for Diversity
Inc. The top 50 most diverse companies are announced and celebrated nationwide. Every
company in the top 50 receives a free report card assessing its performance against all
competitors. The survey, now in its 16th year, leads to a detailed, empirically driven
ranking. The free report card assesses performance based on four key areas of diversity
management (Diversity Inc., 2015). “(1) Talent Pipeline: workforce breakdown,
recruitment, diameter of existing talent, structures. (2) Equitable Talent Development:
employee resource groups, mentoring, philanthropy, movement, fairness. (3)
CEO/Leadership Commitment: accountability for results, personal communications,
visibility. (4) Supplier Diversity: spend with companies owned by people from
underrepresented groups, accountability, and support” (Diversity Inc., 2015).
Across the companies that made the Diversity Inc. top 10 are some common
themes; the top ten companies include Novartis, Kaiser Permanente,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, Sodexo, MasterCard, AT&T, Prudential,
Johnson & Johnson, and Procter & Gamble. Overall, the top 50 companies are
significantly more diverse than average U.S. corporations. “Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) statistics show that Diversity Inc.’s top 50 companies
have 20% more African Americans, Latino, and Asian employees in management, and
67
�13% more women. Among the top 10, the discrepancy is more pronounced, with 41%
more African Americans, Latino, and Asian employees in management positions, and
46% more women than the U.S. corporate average” (Dishman, 2015).
Across the companies that made the Diversity Inc. top 10 have a few common
themes. As sources of labor become increasingly diverse, these companies are able to
hire, retain and effectively utilize workers from all social-cultural backgrounds and may
gain an advantage in human assets that effectively meet their diversity goals (Cox, 2011).
Moreover, these companies also have supplier diversity in which they require suppliers to
incorporate their own diversity values and even compensate supply-chain executives
based on diversity goals. For example, Procter & Gamble has an executive compensation
plan that is tied to successful completion of staff and supplier diversity initiatives
(Rosenbaum, 2015). Additionally, their CEOs and TMT’s directly involved: “While
many companies have chief diversity officers, or a head of human resources who
oversees diversity efforts, it's the companies where the CEO is actively engaged in
diversity efforts and either founded or heads diversity business groups that stand out.
AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson heads the company's executive diversity
council and founded it in 2008’ (Rosenbaum, 2015).
Subsequently, in the previous year, The National Association of African
American Owned Media (NAAAOM) filed a $10 billion dollar lawsuit alleging racial
discrimination against AT&T and DirecTV (Allen, 2014). The suit alleges that AT&T
refused to consider carriage agreements with black-owned companies (Rosenbaum,
2015). However, lawsuits reference events that happened in the past, so they do not
necessarily condemn companies in terms of diversity efforts; what matters is how
companies are being responsive to them through new policies and procedures
(Rosenbaum, 2015). Therefore, Diversity Inc. does not take events of this nature into
consideration, but rather the overall effort of the company to embrace diversity.
IV. Implementation of Racial and Ethnic Diversity Programs
Companies that are successful in embracing diversity have a better
understanding of individual differences, which stem from their unique experiences.
“There is a better understanding of their capabilities and heritage that can contribute to
the overall success of the organization. Therefore, the diversity programs should promote
those same values” (Enoch, 2003). It should promote understanding, mutual respect,
awareness, understanding and organizational cohesiveness. “Because of increased
globalization and the extensiveness of international business operations, corporations
68
�would likely benefit from research findings concerning the adoption of diversity
programs in different cultures and under different organizational conditions, and their
relative effects on important organizational outcomes” (Peretz, 2015).
Efforts to take advantage of the benefits inherent organizational diversity should
go hand in hand with existing management philosophies relating to workers and their
potential. There is managerial process for developing an environment that works for all
members of the organization. For organizations to embrace the philosophy, they must
accept the position that diversity initiatives will help organization survive in the 21st
century (Enoch, 2003). Organizations can also embrace the philosophy by emphasizing
the potential contributions of diversity to organizational outcomes in their onboarding or
orientation programs, signaling the importance of the values of openness and inclusion
(Peretz, 2015).
Diversity Management
The personal commitment of top management teams is essential. Executive
leaders and managers within organizations must incorporate diversity policies into every
aspect of the organization’s function and purpose (Avery, Mckay & Morris, 2008).
“Attitudes toward diversity originate at the top and filter downward. Management
cooperation and participation is required to create a culture conducive to the success of
the organization’s plan” (Greenburg, 2004). Diversity leadership must drive innovative
perspectives. Companies have not yet figured out how to unlock the potential within
markets and processes that must be enabled globally (Llopis, 2011).With the increase in
numbers of personnel from underrepresented groups entering firms, diversity
management will become more paramount (Avery, McKay & Morris, 2008).
Diversity management is the key to growth in today’s fiercely competitive
global marketplace. Businesses cannot thrive if their leaders have a habit of hiding
behind their lack of cultural intelligence (Llopis, 2011). “Numerous benefits of diversity
have been offered including coverage of projected labor shortages, increased access to
untapped consumer markets, improved corporate image, reduced legal liability, and
greater creativity, problem-solving ability, employee performance, and market share”
(Sacco & Schmitt, 2005). “Effective diversity management (i.e., a highly pro-diversity
climate) should foster greater organizational identification (OI) among employees
because they feel the firm serves their best interests” (Avery, McKay & Morris, 2008). In
today’s new workplace, diversity management is a time-sensitive business imperative
(Llopis, 2011).
69
�V. Financial Performance of Top Management Teams
The theory is that racial and ethnic diversity within a top management team
(TMT) is what drives the leaking effect on the rest of the entire organization. The result
could lead to a greater deal of success. Correlation does not equal causation; greater
racial and ethnic diversity in corporate leadership doesn’t automatically translate into
more profit. However, the correlation does indicate that when companies commit
themselves to diverse leadership, they are more successful in the long run (Certo, Lester,
Dalton, & Dalton, 2006). “Companies in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic
diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians.
Companies in the bottom quartile in these dimensions are statistically less likely to
achieve above-average returns” (Hunt, Layton & Prince, 2015).
More diverse companies are able to utilize cultural intelligence and improve
their customer orientation, employee satisfaction, decision making, and all that leads to a
virtuous cycle of increasing returns. “This in turn suggests that other kinds of diversity—
for example, in age, sexual orientation, and experience (such as a global mind-set and
cultural fluency)—are also likely to bring some level of competitive advantage for
companies that can attract and retain such diverse talent (Hunt, Layton, & Prince, 2015).
In the United States, there is a linear relationship between racial and ethnic diversity and
better financial performance: for every 10 percent increase in racial and ethnic diversity
on the top management team, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rise 0.8 percent
(Hunt, Layton & Prince, 2015). The United Kingdom does comparatively better in racial
diversity, albeit at a low level: some 78 percent of UK companies have senior-leadership
teams that fail to reflect the demographic composition of the country’s labor force and
population, compared with 91 percent for Brazil and 97 percent for the United States
(Hunt, Layton & Prince, 2015).
On the other hand, it is important to understand that “while the preponderance of
evidence suggests a positive relationship between TMT size and firm performance, there
are also some disadvantages associated with large TMTs that may outweigh the proposed
benefits. As TMTs increase in size, for example, communication, coordination, and
cohesiveness may become problematic” (Certo, S. T., Lester, R. H., Dalton, C. M., &
Dalton, D. R, 2006).
Additionally, “while cultural difference among individuals in organizations is a
well-researched phenomenon, only a few researchers have investigated cultural diversity
in the TMT and its influence on organizational outcomes. The presence of culturally
diverse top management is continuously increasing (Interpress, 2013).” The findings of
70
�these rare studies are most likely mixed. TMT cultural diversity can have both positive
and negative effects on organizational outcomes. For instance, a negative effect should be
a split in opinion between theoretical and empirical papers in workgroup cultural
diversity research, where theoretical studies claim that cultural diversity in groups would
lead to creativity and innovative ideas (Certo, S. T., Lester, R. H., Dalton, C. M., &
Dalton, D. R, 2006). Also, group cultural diversity could result in decreasing group
effectiveness and performance because of the difficulties associated with group processes
such as lack of communication, increasing conflict and decrease in social integration
(Interpress, 2013).
However, there is a considerable amount of research that specifically
investigates a linkage between top management team characteristics and firm financial
performance. “The influence of top executives on firm performance remains one of the
most widely studied relationships in strategic management. Evidence of the importance
of TMT characteristics, a significant amount of research proposes that TMTs play a
fundamental role in influencing firm performance” (Certo, S. T., Lester, R. H., Dalton, C.
M., & Dalton, D. R, 2006).
Financial Overview
Amongst the top ten of Diversity Inc.’s companies for diversity is health care
giant Johnson & Johnson and has been on the list for the ninth year in a row (Diversity,
Inc., 2015). The CEO Alex Gorsky and his top management team is commitment to
diversity, which brings richness to the work environments (Our People & Diversity,
2015). By attracting, developing and retaining a base of employees that reflects the
diversity of customers, this TMT has been successful in learning how to embrace
diversity and use it as a competitive advantage (Our People & Diversity, 2015).
“By bringing together individuals from different backgrounds and experiences,
businesses can more effectively market to consumers from different racial and ethnic
backgrounds, women, and consumers who are gay or transgender” (Burns, Barton, &
Kerby, 2012). This in turn has helped Johnson & Johnson increase sales. By tapping the
insights and understanding of people of different cultures and ethnic groups, this results
in designing and selling products and services to a culturally diverse marketplace (Cox,
2011).
Over the course of five years Johnson & Johnson has invested heavily in
diversity and Inclusion. Johnson & Johnson’s Supplier Diversity and Inclusion Program’s
goals and actual spending results are illustrated in Table 2 (Strategic Framework, 2015).
71
�This five year investment has nearly spiked the company’s sales for the years to come.
Refer to Table 3 for the sales from year 2010 and 2014. By the end of 2014, Johnson &
Johnson has increase sales by 20.6%. The top management’s strategic plan to
aggressively spend in the area of improving and implementing diversity amongst their
organization has contributed to long term growth and increased sales for years to come.
Table 2: Johnson & Johnson’s Diversity Spending
Years
Goal
Actual
2010
$1 Billion
$1.12 Billion
2011
$1.12 Billion
$1.31 Billion
2012
$1.18 Billion
$1.23 Billion
2013
$1.23 Billion
$1.36 Billion
2014
$1.3 Billion
$1.52 Billion
Racial and ethnic diversity stimulates innovation, productivity, and creates a
business that can outperform the competition. Implementing racial and ethnic diversity
amongst workgroups creates a richer flow of ideas and thus has the potential to increase
creativity, productivity, innovation; this, in turn, can improve organizational financial
performance (Cox, 2011). Ranking number one in the top ten of Diversity Inc.’s
Table 3: Johnson & Johnson’s Revenue/Sales
Year
Sales (Billions)
2010
$61.64
2011
$65.04
2012
$67.28
2013
$71.26
2014
$74.33
72
�companies for diversity is Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Diversity, Inc., 2015).
Data from the 1996 to 1997 National Organizations Survey explores the relationship
between racial and gender workforce diversity and several indicators of business
performance, such as sales revenue, number of customers, relative market share, and
relative profitability (Herring, 2009). “The 1996-1997 National Organizations Survey
consists of data on 1,002 United States work establishments and was conducted from
June 10, 1996, to June 13, 1997, using a stratified random sample from approximately 15
million work establishments in Dun and Bradstreet's Information Services data file”
(Kalleberg, Knoke, & Marsden, 2001).
Table 4: Levels of Diversity (Kalleberg, Knoke, & Marsden, 2001).
Racial Diversity Level
Low
Medium
High
(< 10 %)
(10 - 24 %) (25% +)
Characteristics
Percent in racial diversity
30
27
43
Mean Sales Revenue ( In millions)
51.9
383.8
761.3
Mean Number of Customers ( In thousands)
22.7
30
35
Percent with higher than average market share
45
59
60
Percent with higher than average profitability
47
63
61
Table 4 presents means and percentage distributions of various business
outcomes of establishments by their levels of diversity according the 1996 to 1997
National Organizations Survey data (Herring, 2009). “Average sales revenues are
associated with higher levels of racial diversity: the mean revenues of organizations with
low levels of racial diversity are roughly $51.9 million, compared with $383.8 million for
those with medium levels and $761.3 million for those with high levels of diversity”
(Kalleberg, Knoke, & Marsden, 2001).
“Higher levels of racial and gender diversity are also associated with greater
numbers of customers: the average number of customers for organizations with low
levels of racial diversity is 22,700” (Kalleberg, Knoke, & Marsden, 2001). This compares
73
�with 30,000 for those with medium levels of racial diversity and 35,000 for those with
high levels. The mean number of customers for organizations with low levels of gender
diversity is 20,500 (Herring, 2009). This compares with 27,100 for those with medium
levels of gender diversity and 36,100 for those with high levels. “Table 4 also shows that
businesses with high levels of racial (60 percent) and gender (62 percent) diversity are
more likely to report higher than average percentages of market share than are those with
low (45 percent) or medium levels of racial (59 percent) and gender (58 percent)
diversity” ((Kalleberg, Knoke, & Marsden, 2001). A similar pattern emerges for
organizations reporting higher than average profitability. According to the 1996 to 1997
National Organizations survey, it was found that indeed racial diversity is correlated with
increased sales revenue, more customers, greater market share, and greater relative
profits.
VI. Conclusion
This research illustrates how organizations can use their resources to address
external and internal challenges in embracing diversity. Indeed, organizations with a
racial and ethnic diverse workforce will have a much higher financial performance and a
competitive advantage over companies that lack diversity. Although corporate America
still has a long way to go before all organizations are able to successfully use diversity as
one of their greatest keys to success, the first stepping stone for most is having a top
management that is equipped with the resources to properly implement a racial and ethnic
diverse workplace. In addition to networking and relationship building, members of top
management teams should find that their experiences in participating in the cultural
aspects of the organization provides them with insights into growth strategies, innovative
business processes and best practices that can greatly benefit their businesses.
Implementing racial and ethnic diversity inclusion initiatives must start with the
commitment from top level management. With a commitment from top leaders in an
organization to change the existing culture to one of diversity inclusion, the diversity
change management process can succeed. “This process includes analyzing where the
organization is currently at through a diversity audit, creating a strategic action plan,
gaining support by seeking stakeholder input, and holding individuals accountable
through measurable results” (Harvey, 2012). Research clearly shows that our nation will
continue to become increasingly more diverse, as more of corporate America takes on the
initiative to reap the benefits.
74
�VII. References
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78
���From Riots to Organizations: New York City’s
Role in the Gay Rights Movement
Christine Shouldis (History)1
The gay rights movement in America is different than any other civil liberties
movement that occurred in the 20th century because it did not have one, prominent
figurehead. Rather than follow a charismatic leader, the gay rights movement was driven
by two important organizations that formed after the Stonewall riots of 1969. These two
organizations, the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), were
radicalized by the overall ‘anti-establishment’ feeling of the 1960s and 1970s, which was
the differentiating factor that separated the GLF and GAA from pre-Stonewall
organizations. Nevertheless, pre-Stonewall organizations provided the crucial structure
that allowed gays and lesbians to effectively organize after the Stonewall riots. While
radicalization was a key part as to why organizations in the aftermath of Stonewall were
able to generate change, the GLF was too radicalized to even properly function as an
organization. Therefore, the most important organization to form in the immediate
aftermath of the Stonewall riots was the GAA because they combined the respectability
factor from homophile organizations of the 1950s with the liberated mindset of the 1960s
and 1970s. Based on the exploration of the GAA’s archive at the New York Public
Library this paper will argue that the GAA’s constitution, and the structure of various
different sub-organizations that operated under the “umbrella” of the GAA allowed them
to foster change for the legal situation for gays and lesbians in America.
The situation for gays and lesbians from 1945 to 1969 was bleak. There were
numerous laws that specifically penalized, and targeted homosexuals. For example, a
Mattachine Society poster from 1964 describes all punishments for various sex offenses
in the United States.2 The first column lists sex offense of sodomy acts, which were
described on the poster as, “sexual activity with animals or with another person of same
Written under the direction of Dr. Alison Smith for HI297: The Historian as Detective:
Exploring the City.
2 "Penalties for Sex Offenses in the United States," Manuscripts and Archives Division,
The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/671159d8-0456-a33c-e040-e00a180655cb
(Accessed May 3, 2016).
1
81
�sex.” The penalty for New York was up to three months in prison, however in the
neighboring state of New Jersey a gay or lesbian couple could face up to twenty years in
prison for simply having consenting sex.3 Additionally, even if a homosexual was not
penalized for their sexuality in court, they suffered in other ways. Today the world baffles
at how Hitler sterilized Afro-Germans and Jews during World War II, but many people
fail to realize that approximately 65,000 Americans were sterilized from the 1900s to the
1970s for being homosexual.4 Further, gays were also discriminated against in the
military. During and after World War II if a service member was found to be a
homosexual they were discharged under section 8 from the U.S. military. The Veterans
Administration ultimately decided that these service members would be denied the,
“numerous benefits of the GI Bill, such as college tuition, occupational training,
mortgage insurance, and loans to start business,” it also ensured that, “former service
member[s] [were] unable to get a job in civilian life.”5 During this time period no
politician would publicly support homosexuals, since during the McCarthy Era
homosexuals were seen as a threat to national security and it is also reported that the State
Department fired more accused homosexuals than accused communists during this time.6
Lastly, gays and lesbians did not even receive support from special interest groups such
as the American Civil Liberties Union, who deemed the discrimination and persecution
of homosexuals as fully legal and constitutional until they changed their position in 1964.7
The social and legal implications of being gay restricted homophile organizations postWorld War II, in fighting for real change, by only allowing them to meet in secrecy for
fear of being accused of homosexual, deviant behavior.
During the pre-stonewall era the two major national homophile organizations
that had New York City based chapters were the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of
the Bilitis. The goals of these homophile groups were different than the goals of gay
rights groups post-Stonewall because the social and legal implications for being gay were
harsh and more severe. This can be evidenced by the fact that they are referred to as
“homophile” organizations rather than “gay rights” organizations; the members of these
Ibid.
Michael Bronski, A Queer History of the United States, Revisioning American History
(Boston: Beacon Press, 2011), 133.
5 Bronski, A Queer History of the United States, 165.
6 Walter Frank, Law and the Gay Rights Story: The Long Search for Equal Justice in a
Divided Democracy (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2014), 14.
7 Frank, Law and Gay Rights Story, 17.
3
4
82
�groups could not imagine publicly stating they were homosexual while demanding their
rights. An interview with Henry Hay, one of the founders of the Mattachine society,
reveals that the group was named after a secret fraternity in France by stating, “So we
took the name Mattachine because we felt that we 1950s gays were also a masked people,
unknown and anonymous, who might become engaged in morale building and helping
ourselves…to move towards total redress and change.” 8 The ultimate vision of the
Mattachine society in 1950 was to transform ‘out of the closet’ homosexuals from a small
minority to a larger majority, and ultimately introduce an amendment to the United States
Constitution, but Hay later recognized that that goal was impossible to achieve in the
1950s because the society “had to move with what the times would allow.”9 Additionally,
during the pre-Stonewall era gay men and lesbians did not unify.10 In turn, the
predominant lesbian organization was the Daughter of the Bilitis (D.O.B), formed in
1955; the organization was named after a collection of poems titled Songs of Billitis
written by Pierre Lous11. Similar to the Mattachine, D.O.B was founded on the principle
of secrecy. In the book Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in
Historical Context Phyllis Lyon, whose partner Del Martin ultimately became the
founding president of D.O.B in 1955, describes how they were asked by their friend if
they would join her “in starting a secret club for lesbians,” that later became the D.O.B.12
Similar to Harry Hay of the Mattachine Society, the founders of D.O.B could not imagine
fighting for their civil rights in the 1950s so the original goal was simply to be a social
organization aimed at introducing lesbians to one another.13 Although during this time
period there was no significant advancement, legally or socially, for gays or lesbians, the
Mattachine and D.O.B organizations allowed these groups of people to socialize in a safe
environment. This socialization created a structure that allowed for immediate action
after the Stonewall riots.
Jonathan Katz, “The Founding of the Mattachine Society: An Interview with Henry
Hay,” Radical America 11, no. 4 (September 1977): 34.
9Jonathan Katz, “The Founding of the Mattachine Society,” 30.
10 Jonathan Katz, “The Founding of the Mattachine Society,” 34.
11 “Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) | American Organization.” Encyclopedia Britannica.
http://www.britannica. com/ topic/Daughters-of-Bilitis (Accessed April 23, 2016).
12 Vern L. Bullough, Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical
Context, Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies (New York: Harrington Park Press, 2002), 163.
13 Bronski, A Queer History of the United States, 180.
8
83
�The riots that took place at the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in
Greenwich Village in June of 1969 were different than other riots that occurred
throughout the rest of the country. After the riots, many gays and lesbians felt
empowered, which caused organizations such as the Gay Liberation Front and later the
Gay Activist Alliance to form. Prior to Stonewall, there were other riots in San Francisco
and Los Angeles. 14 However, the Stonewall riots were unique because for the first time
in history gays and lesbians had control over the police, because the police were
outnumbered and had to barricade themselves inside the Inn. In David Carter’s detailed
book about the riots, Carter describes this unique, unprecedented situation by writing,
“As all kinds of objects continued to crash around the police, Pine [who was the lead
detective in the original bar raid on the Inn that night] decided that his only recourse was
to take refuge inside the Stonewall Inn: it was either that or risk being assaulted by a wild
mob.”15 The time that elapsed between when the police barricaded themselves inside the
bar and before reinforcement from the sixth precinct arrived to disperse the crowds
changed the momentum of the gay rights movement. From that time forward, gays and
lesbians would no longer allow themselves to communicate in secrecy or live in fear.
Once they had a sense of what being liberated felt like, the movement became radical.
Instead of trying to portray themselves as being respectable people they embraced the
radicalization of the 60s and demanded their rights rather than politely asking for them.
The original coverage of the first night of the riots by New York City
newspapers such as the New York Times either downplayed the atmosphere of the first
night of the riots, or did not comprehend that this was not an ordinary police raid on a
well-known gay bar. The next morning the New York Times ran an article titled “4
Policemen Hurt in ‘Village’ Raid,” in which the author left out any mention of the word
“riot,” but instead focused on how four cops were injured and a famous folk-signer, Dave
Von Ronk, was among the people who were arrested.16However, gays and lesbians
recognized the importance of what happened during the first night of riots and by the next
morning they were back on Christopher Street to assert their freedom and place
unrelenting pressure on the police.17 As mentioned in the book Stonewall: The Riots That
Henry Abelove, “How Stonewall Obscures the Real History of Gay Liberation,”
Chronicle of Higher Education 61, no. 40 (July 10, 2015): B14–16.
15 David Carter, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution (New York: St.
Martin’s Press, 2004) 157.
16 “4 Policemen Hurt In ‘Village’ Raid; Melee Near Sheridan Square Follows Action at
Bar,” The New York Times, June 29, 1969.
14
84
�Sparked The Gay Revolution, Chris Babick, a gay man living in the village, recognized
the importance of the riot and vowed to go to the Stonewall Inn to protest for the rest of
the weekend.18After a second night of riots, the New York Times finally ran a story on
Sunday properly titled, “Police Again Rout ‘Village’ Youths: Outbreak by 400 Follows a
Near-Riot Over Raid.” The author of the article noted the slogans on the wood that
boarded up the Inn included the sayings, “Support gay power…and legalize gay bars.”19
That slogan is indicative of the radicalization that occurred as a result of the riots because
it resembles the popular saying of “black power” used in the civil rights movement. The
slogan on the Stonewall Inn would become the mission statement of the first and most
radical gay rights organization to form in the immediate months after Stonewall: the Gay
Liberation Front.
The Mattachine Society tried to capitalize on the momentum of the riots as
evidenced by a poster titled, “Where Were You During The Christopher St. Riots?” The
poster then goes on to state, “Join and actively participate in Mattachine…now is the time
for all homosexuals to unite in common action!”20 However, the movement did not unite
under the umbrella of the Mattachine Society, but rather the Gay Liberation Front. Why
did radicalized gays and lesbians reject the Mattachine Society? While there was no clear
mandate to reject Mattachine, the author Don Teal describes the rejection of the
Mattachine by the gay community in New York City by writing, “It spoke to a generation
short on patience and distrustful of red tape.”21 Therefore, by 1971 both the Mattachine
Society and Daughter of Billitis had dissolved.22As evidenced by the following
paragraphs, gays and lesbians of New York City were tired of working from within the
system to improve their lives, instead they felt they needed to transform the ‘system’
from the outside.
Carter, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, 183.
Carter, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, 182.
19 “Police Again Rout ‘Village’ Youths; Outbreak by 400 Follows a Near-Riot Over
Raid,” The New York Times, June 30, 1969.
20 "Where Were You During the Christopher Street Riots?" Manuscripts and Archives
Division, The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/671159d8-0457-a33c-e040-e00a180655cb
(Accessed May 9, 2016).
21 Donn Teal, The Gay Militants, Stonewall Inn Editions (New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1995), 21.
22Diana Kardia. “Gay Liberation Front Is Formed.” Salem Press Encyclopedia Research
Starters, EBSCOhost, 2015 (Accessed May 10, 2016).
17
18
85
�The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was the first organization to take advantage
and perpetuate the radicalization of the movement that Stonewall created. Ironically, this
radical stance ultimately led to its destruction. The first leaflet that was put out for the
organization that would later name itself the GLF stated, “Do you think homosexuals are
revolting? You bet your sweet ass we are. We’re going to make a place for ourselves in
the revolutionary movement.”23 This pamphlet was also the first sign that the GLF was
not solely concerned with gay rights but with aligning themselves with the “revolutionary
movement,” of the 1960s. For example, from a photograph of a GLF demonstration in
front of Bellevue hospital in New York City, a GLF member is holding a sign that reads,
“Free all political prisoners from Bellevue’s Auschwitz of Sexist Brainwashing.”24
Moreover, the GLF participated in picket lines similar to civil rights organizations and
also publicly confronted local politicians. One of the GLF’s first major success occurred
in November of 1969 when they protested against the Village Voice for censoring their
radicalized ads, which resulted in a picket line that ultimately led to a meeting with three
GLF representatives and the editor of the Village Voice; the GLF ultimately got the
magazine to change their policy on classified ads.25The success of forcing the Village
Voice to change their position on ads encouraged members of GLF to continue using this
successful method of protesting. Additionally, as reported in the Come Out! Magazine,
the first newspaper written by gays and lesbians after Stonewall, the 1969 mayoral
candidates for NYC were all invited to a Q&A at Temple Torah that was hosted by the
League of Women Voters. 26The magazine reported that a GLF member, Marty
Robinson, challenged Mayoral Candidate Mario Procaccino, “ ‘It’s1776, Mr. Procaccino.
The homosexual revolution has begun,’ and asked him what he was going to do about the
homosexual community.”27 When Marty Robinson, who eventually became a founding
“Do You Think Homosexuals Are Revolting? You Bet Your Sweet Ass We Are.” In
Teal, The Gay Militants, 19.
24 "Gay Liberation Front demonstration at Bellevue Hospital,” Manuscripts and Archives
Division, The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-752f-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
(Accessed April 24, 2016).
25 Michael Brown, Michael Tallman, and Leo Martello: “The Summer of Gay Power and
the Village Voice Exposed!” Come Out!, November 14, 1969. In Teal, The Gay Militants,
47-48.
26 “The Come Out! Archive · Come Out! Magazine, 1969-1972." Outhistory.org.
http://outhistory .org/exhibits/show/come-out-magazine-1969-1972/the-come-out-archive
(Accessed April 23, 2016).
23
86
�member of GAA, mentions 1776, the first year of the American Revolution, he poses the
gay rights movement in the context for a fight for basic freedoms that all Americans
should have. This is reflected in the San Francisco Free Press in late 1969 that while
many members of the gay liberation movement wanted to, “end discrimination against
homosexuals…and build the Gay counter-culture,” there were many members who
thought that various gay liberation organizations were not involved for the, “freedom for
Gay brothers and sisters but blood-in-the-streets revolution.”28 This divide on how to
approach the fight for gay rights plagued the GLF and is one of the main reasons the GLF
was ultimately responsible for the formation of the Gay Activist Alliance, which eclipsed
the GLF and became the major gay rights organization in the immediate post-Stonewall
years and through the rest of the 1970s.
From its inception, the GLF never had a proper structure in order to contain the
feelings of counter-culture, anger at the establishment, and even anger at other
conservative gay rights organizations that did not embrace radicalization. As quoted in
the book Gay Militants Charles Pitts, a GLF member recalls that, “There was no
agreement about methods or philosophy…there was a rather sharp division in the meeting
as to whether the purpose of the group should be self-enlightenment or integration
immediately with other revolutionary or militant movement.”29Ultimately, GLF decided
that it would align itself with other militant movements. This is evidenced by the GLF’s
decision to donate money to the Black Panther Party, even though, “the Panthers
employed language even more virulently homophobic than anything used by the reviled
Marchi or Procaccino.”30 Coincidentally, John Marchi and Mario Procaccino were New
York City mayoral candidates in 1969. While the GLF did not become the most
dominant, influential gay rights group in New York City in the 1970s, they were crucial
in the overall success of this time period since they immediately took advantage of
Stonewall by asserting their presence in local politics; forcing local politicians and the
general public to take the gay rights movement as a serious civil rights issue. This
allowed the GAA to have leverage when it started to file motions in court to obtain rights
for the gay community.
The Gay Commandoes: “The October Rebellion,” Come Out! November 14, 1969. In
Teal, The Gay Militants, 84.
28 Marcus Overseth: “Inside Look At Where We Stand,” San Francisco Free Press Vol.
1, No.9. In Teal, The Gay Militants, 35.
29 Teal, The Gay Militants. 34.
30 Carter, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution, 232.
27
87
�The historiography of the gay rights movement has widely focused on a
particular section of the gay community: white, gay, and middle-class men; this was the
majority of the demographic makeup of both the GLF and GAA. This leaves many
wondering about the other members of the gay community such as lesbians, non-white
gays and lesbians, and transgender people. Stemming from the tension in the GLF
between the gay white men in the organization, minorities were prompted to create their
own organizations to ensure their voice was heard in the gay rights movement.31 These
groups were named, “The Gay Liberation Front Women, Lavender
Menace/Radicalesbians, Lesbian Feminist Liberation, Third World Gay Revolution, and
Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries.”32 These different organizations ensured that
the voices of these minorities were heard both within and outside the gay community,
despite the GAA becoming the ‘face’ of the gay rights movement in the 1970s.
The archival research for the works cited in relation to the Gay Activist Alliance
in this paper was conducted at the manuscript and archives division of the New York
Public Library (NYPL) Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. The collection that compile
the GAA’s archive is extensive and covers topic, including but not limited to, letters, hate
mail, meeting minutes, GAA ephemera, GAA election ballots, and finance reports. The
reason that the GAA left such an extensive paper trail is because they had archivists
dedicated to preserving, “the historically valuable records of the Gay Activist Alliance.”33
Since this paper compares the structure of the GLF and GAA I felt it was appropriate to
focus on series 1 of the archives, containers 15-17, since they included meeting minutes,
committee files, and media relations documents. The GAA archives can be accessed
through contacting the manuscripts and archives division of the NYPL.
The three men who were founding members of the GAA--Arthur Evans, Jim
Owles, and Marty Robinson—met while they were members of the GLF and became
close to one another over one common thing: how to accomplish creating a rational and
political platform for the gay rights movement.34 While other people were present at the
preliminary meetings in late November and early December of 1969, these three men
31
Kardia, “Gay Liberation Front Is Formed," Salem Press Encyclopedia (Accessed May
10, 2016).
32 Ibid.
33 “G.A.A Committees and Services—Page 2,” Gay Activists Alliance Records,
Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and
Tilden Foundations.
34 Carter, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution, 233.
88
�became the most prominent founding members of the Gay Activist Alliance. Arthur
Evans played an extremely influential role by drafting the preamble to what would
become the key to the effectiveness of the GAA: its constitution.35 Additionally, all three
men would become leaders of the group in demonstrations and sit-ins. For example,
when the GAA protested Mayor Lindsay against job discrimination in February of 1970,
it was Jim Owles who ended up meeting with the mayor’s chief adviser to discuss the
complaints of the gay community.36These three men became crucial to the overall success
of the GAA.
The former member of GLF Arthur Evans, Jim Owles, and Marty Robinson,
decided to leave the organization over its support of other counter- culture movements,
despite the fact that they were homophobic. This tension reached its climax when the
GLF decided to donate money to the homophobic Black Panther Party in November of
1969.37 The founding members of the GAA learned from the mistakes of GLF. One of
the major mistakes committed by the GLF was not creating a structure for the
organization that would allow for productive, civil meetings. The second mistake was
allowing the organization to demonstrate and protest for all counter-culture movements,
rather than just specifically focus on discrimination against gays and lesbians. The
founding members of the GAA prevented these problems from influencing the GAA by
creating a constitution for the organization that closely resembles the United States
Constitution. In fact, in an information pamphlet put out by the GAA talk-group
committee they summarized their own beginning by stating, “The constitution of the new
GAA made it a one-issue organization focused on gay liberation as it’s single goal.”38 In
the preamble of the constitution it is stated that, “We as liberated homosexual activists
demand the freedom for expression of our dignity and value as human being through
confrontation with and disarmament of all mechanisms which unjustly inhibit us:
economical, social, and political. 39 The constitution goes on to describe, in detail,
membership eligibility, duty of officers, how elections and votes on motions will be held,
and how various sub-committees will operate. Moreover, it is arguable that the most
Carter, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution, 234.
Carter, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution, 238.
37 Carter, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution, 232 -233.
38“Talk Groups’ in New York City’s Gay Activist Alliance,” Gay Activists Alliance
Records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.
39 “Constitution and Bylaws of Gay Activists Alliance,” Pagan Press Books.
http://paganpressbooks. com/jpl/GAA.HTM, (Accessed May 10, 2016).
35
36
89
�important section are the bylaws where it states that the GAA, “will not endorse, ally
with, or otherwise support any political party, candidate for public office and/or any
organization not directly related to the homosexual cause…meetings shall be conducted
according to Roberts Rules of Order.” 40 By putting that bylaw in the Constitution the
founders of the GAA would ensure that the GAA would not get caught up in other civil
liberties movement, but would always hold the plight of gays and lesbians at the forefront
of the GAA’s mission. These unmistakable references to the problems of the GLF and
statement of beliefs reflected that GAA was going to be a new type of organization that
shared characteristics of the liberated GLF, but also the respectable traits of the
Mattachine Society. This constitution that laid the foundation for this hybrid model of a
gay rights organizations was the reason why the GAA became the most successful and
influential gay right group in the 70s.
While the GAA had a constitution that created structure, and sounded
theoretically effective, they also implemented practical strategies. A key strategy utilized
by the group was to inform the general public and key public institutions about what
being a homosexual actually was, in order to dismantle the negative and unfounded
stereotypes many gays and lesbians had to confront on a daily basis. The GAA put out a
pamphlet titled “20 Questions About Homosexuality” (the circumstances surrounding
this pamphlet are unknown) that addressed several misconceptions about homosexuality
through answering common questions such as, “How do they get that way?” Or, “Can
they be turned to heterosexuals?”41Additionally, there are numerous letters from
psychology and sociology departments from various academic institutions requesting a
representative from the GAA to speak to their students. Through letters such as the one
from David F. Greenberg of New York University in 1974, who requested a GAA
representative to, “speak to [his] sociology course on the gay liberation movement.”42
Through informative pamphlets and public speaking events, the GAA exerted their rights
as the GLF had, but they asserted them in a way that also educated the public so they
would not be fearful of homosexuals. Moreover, by having a GAA representative speak
to students of various academic institutions, it helped influence a new generation of
Ibid.
“20 Questions About Homosexuality,” Gay Activist Alliance Records, Manuscripts
and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.
42 Letter from David F. Greenberg of New York University to Gay Activist Alliance,
September 20, 1974, Gay Activists Alliance Records, Manuscripts and Archives
Division, The New York Public Library.
40
41
90
�scholars. Additionally, the GAA influenced a whole generation of gays and lesbians in
New York City by forming the agitprop committee which was dedicated to working,
“with teachers, administrators, and student leaders…to politicize high school students
who are gay, and to motivate them to assert their rights and dignity by coming out and
joining the struggle for gay liberation.”43 By working within institutions, instead of trying
to revolt against them like the GLF did, the GAA were able to achieve change on a wider
scale.
The structure of the GAA outlined in its Constitution allowed for many subcommittees to form that focused on specific social, political, and legal areas that
discriminated against the gay community in New York City. For example, several GAA
sub-committees were titled: Political projects, police power, municipal fair employment
law, fair tax, municipal government committee, state government, legal committee, news,
leaflets and graphics, fundraising, social affairs, orientations, and agitprop committee.44
By forming these sub-committees the sphere of influence of the GAA expanded, since it
allowed the organization to focus intensely on multiple issues. For example, the news
committee helped, “to provide the mass media with information about GAA and its
committees,” and the municipal fair employment law committee allowed the GAA to
focus to, “effect passage in the City Council of a bill outlawing public and private job
discrimination against homosexuals.”45 Additionally, one of the reasons why the GAA
became the ‘face’ of the Movement in the1970s is because they were aware that the gay
community had to unite. Therefore, the GAA set up a specific committee titled “Gay
Movement Committee” which was meant, “to act as a liaison between GAA and other
Gay organizations; to foster solidarity of all groups within the gay community.”46 The
subcommittees advised members on strategies that the GAA used to confront specific
issues that held the organizations attention, making their strategies highly effective.
In the GAA’s constitution they declared themselves as politically neutral, but
they also pressured various New York City politicians and national politicians to endorse
the gay rights movement. The GAA branch of the “Reform Democratic Club”
spearheaded the GAA’s political activism by making gays and lesbians, “noticed as an
“ The GAA Agitprop Committee,” Gay Activists Alliance Records Manuscripts and
Archives Division, The New York Public Library.
44 “Gay Activist Alliance Committees,” Gay Activists Alliance Records, Manuscripts and
Archives Division, The New York Public Library.
45 Ibid.
46 Ibid.
43
91
�existing force at election time,” and by hosting political candidates at the, “GAA
Firehouse in order to face the gay community and to present their opinion’s and
philosophy.”47 At the local level of politics in New York City, a bill was introduced in
1972 to end discrimination against homosexuals.48 When that bill failed to pass the City
Council in 1973, GAA activists decided to interrupt a City Council meeting by
screaming, “bigots” at the City Council members every three to four minutes.49On the
national level of politics, GAA members also pressured presidential candidates of the
democratic party to reveal their position on homosexuals. In 1972, members of the GAA
protested at democratic presidential nominee, Senator George McGovern’s New York
campaign office and demanded that he reveal his position on civil rights for gays and
lesbians.50 By strategically targeting and choosing problems to protest, the GAA was able
to pressure local and national politicians into discussing their stance on the gay rights
issues. Most importantly, the GAA transformed the power that Stonewall provided by
changing the movement from a radical counter-culture movement into a serious civil
rights movement.
“Reform Democratic Club—GAA Branch,” Gay Activists Alliance Records,
Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.
48 David E. Newton, Gay and Lesbian Rights: A Reference Handbook, Contemporary
World Issues (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 1994), 35.
49Edward Ranzal, “10 Gay Activists Are Seized in City Hall; Chant at Ceremony Threats
Are Revealed,” The New York Times, May 1, 1973.
50 “Gay Activists in Protest Occupy McGovern Office,” The New York Times, August 22,
1972.
47
92
�51
The historiography of the gay rights movement often places too much emphasis
on the Stonewall riots, while ignoring the importance of the gay rights organization that
immediately formed in New York City in the aftermath of the riots. Without the Gay
Liberation Front radicalizing the mindset of gays and lesbians to continue to
unapologetically enforce their presence as homosexuals on society, Stonewall could have
simply joined the list of riots against police bar raids in other cities across the country.
However, as important as the Gay Liberation Front was to the Movement in continuing
the momentum from the Stonewall riots, the Gay Activist Alliance soon eclipsed them.
The founding members of the Gay Activist Alliance understood that they had to keep the
liberated mind-set of the Gay Liberation Front, but no true social or legal change would
occur if they violently protested along with the other counter-culture movements that
were taken place in the 1970s. Therefore, the Gay Activist Alliance opted to assert their
presence as homosexuals through educating the general public and academic community
about homosexuality in order to dismantle the negative stereotypes of gays and lesbians.
"GAA Board of Education zap, 1971," Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New
York Public Library Digital Collections.
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/671159d8-0456-a33c-e040e00a180655cb(Accessed April 29, 2016). Members of the Gay Activist Alliance during
one of their famous “zaps,” against the New York City Board of Education in 1971.
51
93
�On that account the most important years in the gay rights movement are the immediate
years after Stonewall because without the pressure that was applied on all parts of society
by the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance the Stonewall riots could have
been just another local news story, rather than a major event in the history of the fight for
equal rights in America.
Bibliography
“4 Policemen Hurt In ‘Village’ Raid; Melee Near Sheridan Square Follows Action at
Bar.” The New York Times, June 29, 1969.
Bronski, Michael. A Queer History of the United States. Revisioning American History.
Boston :Beacon Press, 2011.
Bullough, Vern L. Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical
Context. Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies. New York: Harrington Park Press, 2002.
Carter, David. Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. New York : St.
Martin’s Press, 2004.
“Constitution and Bylaws of Gay Activists Alliance,” Pagan Press Books.
http://paganpressbooks. com/jpl/GAA.HTM, (Accessed May 10, 2016).
Duberman, Martin B., Martha Vicinus, and George Chauncey. Hidden from History:
Reclaiming the
Gay and Lesbian Past. New York: Meridian Book, 1989.
"Daughters of Bilitis (DOB)", Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
http://www.britannica.com/topic/Daughters-of-Bilitis (Accessed May 10, 2016).
Frank, Walter. Law and the Gay Rights Story: The Long Search for Equal Justice in a
Divided Democracy. New Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, 2014.
“Gay Activists in Protest Occupy McGovern Office.” The New York Times, August 22,
1972.
94
�Kardia, Diana. “Gay Liberation Front Is Formed.” Salem Press Encyclopedia Research
Starters, EBSCOhost, 2015 (Accessed May 10, 2016).
Katz, Jonathan. “The Founding of the Mattachine Society: An Interview with Henry
Hay.” Radical America 11, no. 4 (September 1977): 27–40.
Newton, David E. Gay and Lesbian Rights: A Reference Handbook. Contemporary
World Issues. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, 1994.
“Police Again Rout ‘Village’ Youth; Outbreak by 400 Follows a Near-Riot Over Raid.”
The New York Times, June 30, 1969.
Ranzal, Edward. “10 Gay Activists Are Seized in City Hall; Chant at Ceremony Threats
Are Revealed.” The New York Times, May 1, 1973.
Teal, Donn. The Gay Militants. Stonewall Inn Editions. New York : St. Martin’s Press,
1995.
“The Come Out! Archive · Come Out! Magazine, 1969-1972.” Outhistory.org.
http://outhistory .org/exhibits/show/come-out-magazine-1969-1972/the-come-out-archive
(Accessed April 23, 2016).
Archival Sources
Gay Activists Alliance Records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York
Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.
The Gay Activist Alliance Archives at the New York Public Library contains 11
boxes of various primary documents from 1970-1983. These 11 boxes are
divided into five series: committee files, topical files, international list of gay
organization and publications, printed ephemera, and restricted records (set to be
released in 2055). The following documents from “Series 1, Committee Files,”
were cited in this paper:
“G.A.A. Committees and Services—Page 2”
“Letter from David F. Greenberg of New York University to Gay Activist
Alliance, 20 September 1974”
“Talk Groups’ in New York City’s Gay Activist Alliance”
“The GAA Agitprop Committee”
95
�“Gay Activist Alliance Committees”
“Reform Democratic Club—GAA Branch”
Mattachine Society, INC of New York Records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The
New York Public Library Digital Collection.
"Penalties for Sex Offenses in the United States"
“Where Were You During the Christopher Street Riots?”
Wandel, C. Richard, Photographs, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York
Public Library Digital Collection.
“Gay Liberation Front demonstration at Bellevue Hospital, 1970”
“GAA Board of Education Zap, 1971”
96
�Anthropological Effects on Business Operations
Erynn Tuerk (Business Administration)1
Anthropology has many different facets that range from Medical Anthropology to
Paleoanthropology. Today there is an increased trend among corporations to hire
anthropologists and to include more anthropological views in business practices. This
paper aims to analyze what components of the general field of anthropology are crucial to
business anthropology. By looking at key components of anthropology, companies can
better position themselves among competitors, with employees, and in terms of running
more efficiently. Some topics covered include the placebo effect and the implicit person
theory. Furthermore, comparisons between the business anthropology practiced in United
States and that practiced in other countries are made in order to highlight that
anthropology examines various cultures and it cannot be expected to operate in the same
way for every single company.
I. Introduction
Today, there is a noticeable trend of large corporations hiring business
anthropologists. To understand this trend and the benefits of having anthropologists work
with large companies, one must comprehend the meaning of anthropology. Anthropology
is defined as “the objective and systematic study of humankind in all times and places”
(Haviland, Prins, McBride, & Walrath, 2008, p.22). To rephrase the standard definition,
anthropology is the holistic study of human experiences. The aim of this social science is
to interpret how cultural and biological aspects of everyone’s lives fit together. The
interpretation of cultural aspects is crucial in the business world. Interpreting culture can
affect how employees work with one another, how they work with customers, and what
products can succeed where.
Business anthropology is a form of applied anthropology, meaning that
anthropological knowledge is used in solving practical problems (Haviland et al., 2008).
The subject of business anthropology covers any behavior that has to do with an
organization. This behavior could apply to a consumer of a product or service from the
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Shani Carter in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
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�organization as well. Business Anthropologist Ann T. Jordan, of the University of North
Texas, explains that her job is to examine various business issues. These issues range
from work processes and group behavior to organizational change, diversity, and
globalization (2013).
Trends
The idea of hiring anthropologists for business applications is not new, and in
the United States, employment of business anthropologists began in the 1930s. From the
1930s until the 1950s, business anthropologists played a crucial role in developing the
field of management. Employment of business anthropology began to increase again after
the management field was established because there was a decline in faculty positions
available, so many anthropologists were displaced into the business world (Stewart &
Aldrich, 2015). Companies have continued hiring anthropologists today in order to keep
abreast of new research. For example, as of 2013, Intel has hired fifteen Ph.D.
anthropologists and Microsoft has hired seven (Jordan). Google also is recognized for
employing anthropologists (Baer, 2014).
Business anthropologists today are most notable in large technology
corporations. Business anthropologists shift into technology because many higher-level
employees in the technology industry tend to delve into consumer insights and how the
company’s products affect people’s everyday lives. This leaves an evident gap between
what higher-level employees suspect their consumers want and what anthropologists find
the company’s consumers are actually thinking (Baer, 2014).
An example of where higher-level employees mistook their consumers’ wants
was in the case of Adidas and its anthropological study of motivation. Adidas’
anthropologists were assigned the task of determining what motivates Adidas’ consumers
to purchase Adidas’ products. The company believed that its consumers were motivated
by aiming to excel in a specific sport. Adidas’ anthropologists spent 24 hours with
individual consumers of the brand and the results of this study showed that most
consumers were driven by pride in themselves (in their level of fitness) or pride in their
team. Adidas then tailored its marketing strategy to what the anthropologists concluded,
which lead the company to predict that by the end of 2015 its sales would be EUR €17
billion and that its operating profit margin would rise to 11% from the 8% recorded in
2013 (Anonymous, 2013).
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�II. Theories
There are several theories that apply to the anthropologists’ research in the
Adidas case. Anthropologists who are examining the internal functions of a company
from a management perspective also utilize these theories. Some of these theories include
the placebo effect, the nocebo effect, the implicit person theory and various uses of
psychosomatic factors.
The Placebo Effect
In the placebo effect, a procedure or substance that appears to have resonating
effects but has no actual power, which is unknown to the participant, is a great tool for
management in terms of human resources and marketing (Irmak, 2008). The Adidas case
can be used to show how the placebo effect can be used in marketing: Plassman and
Weber (2015) discuss how marketers are able to change consumers’ “reward-seeking
drives” (p. 505). As a result of Adidas’ changed marketing campaign, the company
altered one of its track shoes into an “exceptionally light football boot” (Anonymous,
2013). After releasing this product, it was the shoe that scored the most goals in the 2010
World Cup (Anonymous, 2013). The game results of using this football boot, along with
the information that was discerned by Adidas’ anthropologists, shows that the altered
marketing of the shoe towards the consumers’ desired product characteristics allowed the
consumer to perform better because consumers thought highly of the product; the altered
football boot did not actually change the player’s ability.
The inner management of a company can draw on the placebo effect in their
human resources strategy. It is proven that the two most influential components of the
placebo effect are motivation and expectations. Once an employee has a desired goal, the
next steps that the employee unconsciously chooses to take in the workplace are in
accordance with his goal and these steps are automatically triggered. In such cases of
motivation, the employee’s pathway is formed by the placebo effect (Irmak, 2008). The
employee’s desired outcome is the placebo, such as gaining a promotion, and by creating
a concrete and achievable goal, the employee is set into action to accomplish it.
The White Coat Effect
Furthermore, the placebo effect can be seen when discussing an employee’s
performance, and that it is possible to increase performance via the white coat effect. The
white coat effect is derived from white coat ceremonies at medical school. These
ceremonies grant the white doctor-coat to students who are just beginning their
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�education, with most ceremonies held within the first month of classes. The ceremonies
often include praising the students and connecting this praise to becoming a doctor, such
as how privileged the student is that they get to become a part of patients’ lives (KarnieliMiller, Frankel, & Inui, 2013). Overall, students who participate in the white coat
ceremony are more aware of their duties as a doctor and have a better relationship with
patients (Karnieli-Miller et al., 2013; Brase & Richmond, 2004). Here, the white coat acts
as a placebo effect. The coat allows the students to perform their tasks better without any
extra training or knowledge. The white coat effect can be translated into other job
applications. Tools like the white coat effect should be exploited when organizations are
training employees for new jobs in order to boost their performance in job tasks.
The Nocebo Effect
The nocebo effect, or expecting poor results which leads to a poor outcome, is a
similar principle to the placebo effect. It is another tool that anthropologists look towards
in order to explain why an organization is functioning the way it is. The nocebo effect
differs from the placebo effect because instead of focusing on positive outcomes, it can
guide someone towards a negative, less desired result (Colloca & Miller, 2011). While
the term “nocebo effect” is still primarily used in medical scenarios, it is a crucial
counterpart to the placebo effect. Because of the importance of the placebo effect, the
nocebo effect must be mentioned even though it is still a new theory in the field of
business anthropology. While the nocebo effect is not something companies strive to
achieve in management or with their consumers, the theory is used to describe why
operations may not be going as well as they should be. For an example, in the Adidas
case, before the company had hired anthropologists, Adidas was struggling to keep up in
sales with Nike and Puma. Adidas did not spend as much of its revenues on advertising
as the other two companies spent and hence its consumers saw Adidas as the lesser brand
(Anonymous, 2013).
The Implicit Person Theory
The implicit person theory is used more when discussing internal management
of a company as opposed to a company’s interactions with its consumers. This theory is
defined as “the belief that specific attributes of people are generally either more static or
more malleable” (Kam, Risavy, Perunovic, & Plant, 2014, p.267). In other words, this
theory shows that someone’s assumptions of another person’s personality alter the
observer’s social reality. A malleable person is seen as someone who is dynamic and has
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�the potential to further develop. A static person has traits and actions that are closely tied
together and are often self-stigmatized, meaning that the person believes his traits are
unable to change. Static people may have troubles striving towards the right goals
(Dweck, Chui, & Hong, 1995). These two versions of personality are crucial for a
manager to understand. By comprehending which type of employee works for the
company, the manager can individualize his methods of interacting with each employee.
For instance, the manager could alter the way he motivates the employee, how he trains
employees and how he gives the employees feedback. Also, certain companies may favor
one personality over the other depending upon the culture in their organization. In this
case, it is beneficial for the human resources team to understand this theory in order to
hire the appropriate type of personality.
III. Human Resources and Diversity Management
Anthropology also goes further into human resources when discussing diversity.
Since a large part of anthropology is a comparative tool that is used to examine various
cultures, it is an effective resource for examining diversity. Also, diversity management
has been increasing since more businesses are becoming international and there are more
anthropologists to support the increase in diversity. A study conducted in 2009 found that
very little was done in companies for training, management development, and individualbased approval when trying to incorporate diversity into the workplace. Further, minority
employees lack the opportunities that are offered to other employees in that company. For
example, in many corporations, minorities are noticeably recruited for lower paid
positions while simultaneously being offered fewer promotions (Shen, Chanda, D’Netto
& Monga, 2009).
Furthermore, companies typically offer training to incorporate the employee into
that organization’s culture while lacking attention to the individual employees and their
respective cultures. This leads to minorities not being open about their opinions in the
workplace, and lacking empowerment. Also, most companies were previously striving to
hire minorities only in order to market themselves as being diverse in order to gain sales.
Such companies only cared about the profits they could gain and not the inner workings
of their companies or how their employees were being treated. Due to this thought
pattern, companies are still trying to increase the diversity of their cultures and add
appropriate investments into their diversity programs (Shen et al., 2009). By highlighting
current diversity problems, it is easier to see how anthropologists aim to improve
diversity mismanagement.
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�Business anthropologists in the management field work towards creating an
environment with less conflict, more motivation, a lower employee turnover rate, and
high organizational performance (Shen et al., 2009). Companies should have these goals
at the forefront of their mission statements. If a company needs to decrease conflict
between employees, managers need to become aware that opposing groups or individuals
with incompatible goals cause conflict. Managers would need to reformat the working
environment so people who have different beliefs can work together towards a common
goal. A lower employee turnover rate would then be a result of a more unified workplace
because it would increase comfort levels among employees and they would be more
willing to remain working there. Higher motivation can be achieved through rewarding
employees. Culture is key in allocating rewards because different cultures value different
rewards. Understanding employees’ cultures can allow management to vary rewards
based on employees’ values. For example, some cultures place a heavy focus onto money
and material items, such as the American culture, while other cultures favor time off or
other social interactions, such as in Austria (Hess, 2013).
Ethnocentrism
Upper-level management not understanding various cultures is often due to
ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the idea that one’s own cultural beliefs are superior to
other people’s cultural beliefs. In interviews, it was noted that a large percentage of the
workforce (exact number unknown) in the United States believed that there was
stereotype discrimination happening where they were working (Ensari, 2001). With these
prominent statistics, it is clear that the concept of ethnocentrism has to become more
known in a business setting. By acknowledging ethnocentrism still exists and by using
cultural relativism, workers can start to eradicate ethnocentrism from professional
settings.
Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism is the opposite of ethnocentrism and it states that a person
understanding cultural relativity has the ability to view things in the way that a person
inside of another culture views things. Further, cultural relativism notes that there are
more than a few ways to comprehend how others behave, which encourages a person to
be more respectful and open when looking into differences in various cultural practices.
Also, cultural relativism would allow upper-level management to look critically at the
functions of another person’s cultural practices even if the practices are not in line with
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�his own personal ethics and values. With this being said, however, one must always
consider that cultural relativism does not mean that upper-level management should
readily accept that another person’s behaviors as acceptable just because they are part of
a different cultural group (Bryant, 2003).
The Personalization Model
Examining the personalization model is one of the first steps in eradicating the
problem of ethnocentrism and moving towards cultural relativism. This model says,
“group members should increase their awareness of the distinctiveness of individual
members of other social categories” (Ensari, 2001, p. 86). There are three main ways that
workplaces can employ the personalization model. The first way to use the
personalization model is to make individuating information available to employees. The
only foreseeable drawback to making individual information available is that managers
have potential to breach employees’ privacy. The second way to use the personalization
model is to facilitate learning/training opportunities, which should promote minority’s
cultural beliefs. The outcome of the second method (facilitated learning) would allow
people with ethnocentrism to increase their perceptions of variability in a cultural
category. The third way to use the personalization model is to create repeated and
personalized social interactions with a variety of members from the company.
In addition to the personalization model, there is also the recategorization model
and the crossed-categorization model (Ensari, 2001). The categorization models are
supplementary to the personalization model. The recategorization model focuses on
creating a new identity for one common subordinate group. This would lead back to the
desired outcome of less conflict and more unity. The crossed-categorization model says
mixing various social categories reduces noticeable differences while increasing
similarities (Ensari, 2001).
Country Comparisons
While there are business anthropologists in many countries (China, Japan,
Australia, and a few countries in Central America) today most of the literature
surrounding business anthropology is based out of the United States or England (Jordan,
2010). Thus far, the focus of this paper has been on American business anthropology.
However, it is crucial to understand that business anthropologists are going to behave
differently and use slightly differing methods depending on the type of culture that is
surrounding them. To show variations between business anthropologists working in
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�different countries, one can compare Europe and the United States. A European
anthropologist, Alf Walle, states that business anthropologists turn to the Culture at a
Distance Method. Walle says that this method covers five key points:
1. The analytic process often takes place at a distance
2. Qualitative research and open source information are used
3. Cultures/organizations can be viewed as systems
4. Systems often exhibit uniform and patterned responses
5. Some members of the group might exhibit idiosyncratic responses (2013, p.99).
An American anthropologist, Ann Jordan, looks towards the Participant Observation
Method. This method focuses simply on gathering data that would enlighten daily or life
customs of people while participating in that life (2103, p.42). This approach works
through ethnography, “the descriptive study of contemporary cultures” and can be seen in
practice in the Adidas case (Bryant, 2003, p.53). Jordan displays how the American
system focuses on the development of the culture construct to organize and collect
information so one can identify a set of behaviors which are individualist to certain
groups, while Walle exemplifies how the English focus on a step system to collect their
data.
These variations in communication styles show how a business anthropologist
must be aware of his culture to understand that his findings may differ from an
anthropologist from another location. The differences are important for globalization, or
the distribution of products around the world (Bryant, 2003). A global company must
understand that it cannot expect the same findings in every country. If the company
assumes this, it is holding an ethnocentric point of view.
This ethnocentrism could stem from a few realms. The first scenario which
ethnocentrism could stem from is that whoever ordered the anthropological study in a
global company would just assume the findings applied to all of the company’s locations.
The second scenario would be that the anthropologist for the global company did not
consider his own personal culture. The anthropologist would need to take into account
how his interpretations of this his own culture may have skewed the results. If this is
noted, then biases can be eliminated. Finally, if whoever is reading the results is not in
the same culture as where the study happened and the reader is trying to place their own
context to the information then the reader, who is being ethnocentric, will misinterpret
the results. Overall, it is critical to recognize the discrepancies from one country to
another, each respectively having their own cultures.
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�IV. Effects
Employees
The results of anthropology in the workplace range from affecting employees,
customers, or the company as a whole. Since the field of business anthropology is vastly
growing, the effects are not limited. When exploring the effects of employees, the idea of
worldview needs to be discussed. Worldview is defined as “a system of shared basic
understandings of how the world works and people’s place in it” (Bryant, 2003, p.225).
In this instance, the workplace is referred to as the world.
Worldview helps compose a workplace’s ideology and allows employees as a
group (high level employees may have more of a say) to create a set of beliefs that would
be used to describe how the organization performs. Different departments in a company
may have different worldview; this especially applies to companies that have
international employees working in different countries from where the headquarters is
located. Most companies have different worldviews from one another no matter where
the company is located or what industry they are in. Conflicting worldviews from people
working in two different organizations who hold the same job title may describe the same
component of the job very differently (Bryant, 2003).
Often, the worldview is implicit to employees, so many employees may have a
difficult time describing their department’s or company’s worldview (Bryant, 2003). This
effect on employees creates a potential challenge for upper-management employees. For
example, if lower-level employees are unhappy with their department’s worldview, they
will look towards higher-level employees to remedy the problem. However, since
worldview is implicit, the lower-level employees may have a difficult time presenting
their concerns with their department’s worldview.
The Company
The workers may not readily accept changes with a company’s worldview or
any component that is crucial to workers on a daily basis. When dealing with changes,
the company as a whole must comprehend the stages of change through the business
anthropologist. The stages include precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action,
maintenance, and termination. Precontemplation is the stage where the company has not
yet recognized that it needs to make a change. The contemplation stage is when the
company begins to pensively think about change. In this stage, the company also thinks
about what the benefits of changing would be and becomes open to input from possible
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�advisors. Furthermore, the company may stall in this stage until the benefits clearly
outweigh the possible obstacles (Bryant, 2003).
Lingering in the contemplation phase may be troublesome for the company if
employees are aware of possible changes. Employees may become unsettled from lack of
change for a prolonged period. The preparation stage would lessen the uneasiness of
employees since this is the stage where the company would commit to change.
Employees could note the preparation stage because the company would take preliminary
actions in organizing the change. Following the preparation stage is the action stage.
During the action stage specific changes are installed. To count as part of the action stage
however, changes that are installed must have a certain level of effectiveness (Bryant,
2003). The company would have to appoint an employee or a group of employees to
predetermine what the acceptable level of effectiveness would be.
The maintenance stage is defined as “the period starting about six months after
the new behavior has been adopted” (Bryant, 2003, p. 341). At this point, the company
and individual employees become assured in the company to uphold the changes. This
stage is pivotal because this is when an inclination to revert to old habits before the newly
implemented change arises. Also, some companies may get stuck in this stage due to the
inclination to revert and it could last for years. Until all inclination to revert is eliminated,
a company will stay in this stage (Bryant, 2003). Possible reasons a company may revert
are money issues, being comfortable with the old ways of proceeding, or disagreements
between employees and management.
The final stage is termination. Termination is when the company and its
employees are totally confident with the company’s changes. Temptation to revert is
gone. Companies may begin to seek out new areas to change. Overall, a company may
enter or exit the stages of change at any stage or a company could be stuck in a cycle
between a few stages. Though, it is best for the company to go through all stages in order.
Also, the stages of change model exemplifies that change is a dynamic process and
reactions differ depending on employees’ willingness to accept the new changes (Bryant,
2003).
Customers
An effect that business anthropology has on a company’s customers is the
heightened attention to attitude. Anthropologists will look towards customers’ attitudes to
understand the public’s evaluations of the company, the company’s issues, and what the
company is selling. According to Bryant, “attitudes are determined by the individual’s
106
�beliefs about the consequences of behaving a specific way, weighted by the importance
the person places on that outcome” (2003, p.347). The focal point on customers’
attitudes was shown in the Adidas case. Attitudes affecting marketing campaigns, how
the company communicates with its consumers, and how the international customers may
react to the company’s products or services.
Inertia is the concept defining reluctance to change. This is another
anthropological effect that alters customers. This idea states that people include certain
things in their lives simply because they have always done so. The inertia effect creates
customer loyalty to a brand. Inertia allows a customer to ignore other possible
alternatives because they have become comfortable with the continuity and familiarity of
the brand. Being loyal to the brand is easier than searching for alternatives, even if the
alternatives are better options. Further, customers can be affected by an “unfamiliarity”
factor. If an alternative is an unfamiliar brand, consumers are more reluctant to buy the
product (Pillsbury, 2012).
V. Opposition
There are four main arguments as to why anthropology does not have a place in
business applications. These four issues claim that anthropology lacks the ability to affect
employees, customers, and a company’s products. One of the issues is that diversity
programs can have a negative outcome on employees. Another argument is that ridding
oneself of cultural lenses is impossible. Cultural lenses affect employees and customers.
The third argument is that since one’s worldview is implicit, people do not have the
ability to discuss it. Finally, the last concern is doubts within the stages of change model.
These arguments exaggerate potential issues with anthropology in the workplace, and it is
still evident that as a whole, business applications are greatly benefitted by understanding
anthropological perspectives.
Diversity Programs
In a study conducted in 2006, 700 companies were interviewed regarding the
successfulness of their diversity programs. Critics stated that these programs were only
used as public relation ploys. Also, an experimental study noted that throughout these
companies, higher-level employees and management saw diversity programs as creating
fairness when lower-level employees noted that they only created a false impression of
fairness. Additionally, this study found that often companies expect minorities to come
forward and express their desires for increased diversity programs. (Williams, Kilanski,
107
�& Muller, 2014). However, these criticisms hold ethnocentrism at their cores. The
criticisms are only looking into companies that have yet to adapt to an anthropological
diversity program, such as the personalization model. If companies do not aim to
eliminate ethnocentrism, diversity programs will continue to be ineffective, such as the
results found in this study.
Cultural lenses
Cultural lenses are referred to when discussing cultural relativism. Some
anthropologists claim that it is impossible to rid oneself of their own cultural lens. A
lingering cultural lens would result in a person always being influenced by their
ethnocentrism regardless of if they recognize their ethnocentric ways or not. Being
unable to shed a cultural lens would cloud one’s judgment that in turn could affect human
resources decisions, business operations, or customer relations. If it were impossible to
rid ethnocentrism from one’s point of view, then business anthropologists would be
completely ineffective. On the other hand, business anthropologists have been flourishing
thus far because anthropologists are able to notice the discrepancies between the narrow,
ethnocentric mind and a culturally relative point of view. By noticing the discrepancies,
the anthropologists are able to view the work society in a realistic view to help a
company better approach their operations (Bryant, 2003).
Implicit Views
The idea of the implicit worldview is another topic that brings doubt to the field
of business anthropology. However, a way to combat the disadvantages of the implicit
worldview is by exploring its many facets. For example, various functions of the
worldview are to define, categorize and explain operations. If an employee is unable to
explain one of these facets, that employee may be able to explain another (Bryant, 2003).
Doubt with Stages of Change Model
The doubt of the stages of change model is when companies enter or leave the
model at various stages and expect to obtain the results of going through the whole
model. If companies follow through with the model and understand how the time can
fluctuate depending upon which stage one is in, then the doubts of the stages of change
are eradicated (Bryant, 2003).
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�VI. Conclusion
The newly reinstated trend of hiring anthropologists into business corporations
is a beneficial practice. Business anthropologists affect a corporation’s mindset when
managers decide how to organize the daily operations. The field of business and the field
of anthropology tie together in order to offer an increased understanding of a customer’s
behaviors and of employees in the workplace. Business anthropologists have the ability
to review customers and employees by using various techniques such as the placebo
effect (and the white coat effect), the nocebo effect, the implicit person theory and
cultural relativity.
Overall, if a company is aware of anthropological perspectives, it will ultimately
only improve other people’s viewpoints of that company. An improved view of the
company also comes from its employees’ reflections of the company that are affected
through human resources and diversity management programs, for instance the
personalization model. While there are some doubts in this field, the continued rise in the
job placement of business anthropologists shows that the field is legitimately benefiting
many companies today.
VII. References
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Baer, D. (2014, March 37). “Here's Why Companies Are Desperate To
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Bryant, C. A. (2003). The cultural feast: an introduction to food and society. Belmont,
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Practice”. Psychosomatic Medicine, 73(7), 598-603.
Dweck, C. S., Chiu, C., & Hong, Y. (1995). “Implicit theories and their role in judgments
and reactions: A world from two perspectives”. Psychological Inquiry, 6(4), 267-285.
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�Ensari, N. (2001). “How can managers reduce intergroup conflict in the workplace?
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Haviland, W., Prins, H., McBride, B., & Walrath, D. (2008). Cultural anthropology: The
human challenge (12 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Hess, A. (2013, June 8). “On holiday: Countries with the most vacation days”. USA
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Irmak, C. (2008). “The placebo effect in marketing: Motivational underpinnings”.
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Kam, C., Risavy, S. D., Perunovic, E., & Plant, L. (2014). “Do Subordinates Formulate
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Karnieli-Miller, O., Frankel, R., & Inui, T. (2013). “Cloak of compassion, or evidence of
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�Stewart, A., & Aldrich, H. (2015). “Collaboration between management and
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�Anti-German Sentiment in New York City
During the World Wars
Kristen Whitaker (History)1
At the turn of the twentieth century, New York City had a flourishing German
community but today a German presence is scarcely found in New York City and almost
all evidence of this large, influential ethnic group that once thrived has been erased.
German culture was demonized during both World War I and World War II when both
government agencies and non-German citizens set out on a smear campaign that greatly
damaged the reputation of Germans and German-Americans.2 In New York City, antiGerman sentiment during and between the World Wars led to the disappearance of the
German language and culture and was generated through three main sources: the
portrayal of Germans in the media and pop culture, local acts of espionage and pro-Nazi
sympathies, and the arrests and internment of Germans and German-Americans in all five
boroughs.
By 1910, the United States Census Bureau reported that 2.5 million German
born immigrants and an additional 5.8 million first generation German-Americans lived
in America, making them the largest ethnic group in the country.3 Germans came from
Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish religious faiths which made them unique compared to
other ethnic groups. New York City’s German community established churches,
newspapers, hospitals, schools and clubs all over the city. German brewers made New
York one of the largest beer producing cities in the country. While New York’s German
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Alison Smith for HI297: The Historian as Detective:
Exploring the City.
2 In order to clarify the terms used in this paper, it is important to define ‘German(s)’ vs.
‘German-American(s)’. The term ‘German(s)' refers to those who were born in Germany
and were immigrants living in the United States. The term 'German American(s)' refers
to those who became naturalized or those who were first generation American citizens
born to at least one parent of German immigrant status. Sources for the study of German
culture in the United States during the World Wars often use these terms interchangeably
so at times it is difficult to differentiate between the two terms. However, in this paper I
have attempted to make a clear distinction between the two groups as much as possible.
3 Don Heinrich Tolzmann, The German-American Experience, (Amherst, NY: Humanity
Books, 2000), 281.
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�community cultivated their own cultural institutions, they also assimilated into American
culture and moved into developing neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, Brooklyn,
Yorkville, and Manhattan’s Lower East Side which became known as Kleindeutschland
or “Little Germany.” During the early 1900s, German-Americans made up the largest
ethnic group in New York City.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 placed America’s German community in a
precarious position unlike anything they had experienced before. In the beginning of the
Great War, the United States was a neutral power, and while some Germans and first
generation German-Americans openly supported Germany through German-language
newspapers, most favored American neutrality and are often credited for keeping
America out of war for so long.4 German culture in New York City was dominated by
cultural societies and patriotic clubs, most of which were either social or athletic in
nature. Unfortunately, a few displays of German support by these clubs eventually
caused all German culture and people in New York City to fall under suspicion. On May
28, 1915 at the Thirteenth Regiment Armory in Brooklyn, controversy occurred over the
presence of German flags during one German singing society’s annual Saengerfest event.
When a decorating company mistakenly hung too many German flags, outraged
neighbors complained to the head of the armory and the singing society compromised
and replaced most of the flags with American flags. Even though the German-American
singing society had not intended to portray any stance other than neutrality, the next day
The New York Times headline read “German Flags Stir Wrath: Error in Decorating
Armory Puts Kaiser’s Banner Over Old Glory.”5 While the news reports of German
national and German-American societies during the pre-war era did convey minor
negative undertones, they were not yet as devastating to German culture in New York
City as they were in other parts of the country and often demonstrated their enthusiasm
for neutrality.6
Eric Kirschlbaum, “Whatever Happened to German America?" The New York Times,
September 23, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/opinion/whatever-happenedto-german-america.html?_r=0.
5 “German Flags Stir Wrath; Error in Decorating Armory Puts Kaiser’s Banner Over Old
Glory.,” The New York Times, May 29, 1915.
6 Michael Connors, Dealing in Hate: The Development of Anti-German Propaganda
(London, England: Britons Publishing Company, 1966), 10.
4
113
�Though America was technically still a neutral power in 1915, its involvement
in the war blurred as America provided support to the British through the sale of war
materials. In response, Germany began submarine warfare against American ships which
worsened the situation at home for German-Americans. German spies in the United
States infiltrated German national and German-American clubs and soon planned
sabotage in New York Harbor. On July 29, 1916, in the peak act of sabotage on
American soil during WWI which became known as the Black Tom Explosions, German
agents set fire to a complex of warehouses and ships on Black Tom Island, a small island
across from Ellis Island. The explosion lit the skies – the equivalent of an earthquake
measuring up to 5.5 on the Richter scale, killed four people, destroyed tons of war
materials, and caused $100,000 damage to the Statue of Liberty.7 To onlookers in Lower
Manhattan and Brooklyn, this act of treachery was another reason to fear their German
neighbors and wonder if a spy could be living amongst them.
Further exacerbating the fears of those who were skeptical of Germans and
German-Americans, key figures of the United States government spoke out publicly
against hyphenated communities. In a speech at Carnegie Hall, Former President
Roosevelt stated:
“There is no room in this country for hyphenated
Americanism. A hyphenated American is not an American at all … The
one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing
all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit
it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of
German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, FrenchAmericans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each
preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy
with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the
American Republic … There is no such thing as a hyphenated
American who is a good American. The only man who is a good
American is the man who is an American and nothing else.”8
President Woodrow Wilson also regarded "hyphenated Americans" with suspicion,
saying in a public address to the nation: "Any man who carries a hyphen about with him
Gilbert King, “Sabotage in New York Harbor,” Smithsonian,
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sabotage-in-new-york-harbor-123968672/.
8 “Roosevelt Bars the Hyphenated,” The New York Times, October 13, 1915.
7
114
�carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals of this Republic whenever he
gets ready."9 According to Carl Wittke, the public denouncement of “hyphenated
Americans” led to one of the most difficult and humiliating experiences suffered by an
ethnic group in American history. He notes that “misunderstanding, suspicion, slander,
emotional conflict, bewildered readjustment, and tragedy marked the war years, as
excited Americans became convinced that everything of German origin must be
treasonable.”10
On the evening of April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson, in delivering his
war message to Congress, said that the United States was to embark on a crusade to
“make the world safe for democracy.”11 Unfortunately for Germans and GermanAmericans, the president said nothing about protecting democracy at home. Wilson’s
Declaration of War precipitated a tragic outbreak of hysteria directed against anything
and everything German. Germans and German-Americans across the country faced new
prejudices, ethnic harassment, intimidation, and violence. According to Tolzmann, a
common act of harassment was tarring and feathering and another favorite was dunking
Germans and German-Americans in syrup.12 German ministers were publicly flogged
and even murdered. The first German-American killed was the Reverend Edmund
Kayser, who was shot near Chicago in 1915.13 By 1918 the violence was increasing with
more cases of beatings, tarring and featherings, shootings, and lynching. The most wellknown lynching took place on April 5, 1918, when Robert P. Prager, a coal miner, was
seized at Collinsville, Illinois. He was dragged from his home and led barefoot through
town wrapped in an American flag. Police actually tried to save him but then ended up
escorting the mob so that the lynching could take place outside of the city limits and no
one was ever convicted for his murder.14
“Explains Our Voting Power in the League,” The New York Times, September 27, 1919.
Carl Wittke, The German-Language Press in America (Lexington, Kentucky:
University Press of Kentucky, 1957), 235. Wittke has long been considered one of the
foremost historians on the studies of Germans and German-Americans in United States
History. Nearly all recent books written about German-Americans cite Wittke’s books
and research.
11 Woodrow Wilson, “Declaration of War Message to Congress,” April 2, 1917. Records
of the United States Senate; Record Group 46; National Archives at College Park, MD.
http://www.archives.gov. Accessed April 24, 2016.
12 Tolzmann, The German-American Experience, 286.
13 Ibid., 287.
14 “German is Lynched by an Illinois Mob; Had Made Speeches to Miners on Socialism
9
10
115
�While Germans and German-Americans were subject to violence, harassment
and even death in many communities across the country, no substantial evidence exists to
suggest that they were subject to the same acts of violence in New York City. Perhaps
the main reason for this unique environment is because the large concentrated population
of people of German descent living in New York City between 1915-1918 would have
made it difficult for acts of violence to occur against Germans and German-Americans
because the group as a whole could have retaliated. Moreover, the German community in
New York City became very conscious of the anti-German sentiment and hysteria that
existed elsewhere and they often compromised and voluntarily chose to play their own
part in reducing those attitudes by limiting their cultural activities, closing controversial
German clubs and forming their own pro-American patriotic clubs.15 Also by World War
I, New York City had become a melting pot of immigrants and different cultures and that
also could have created a community that was more sensitive towards cultural groups and
people of foreign descent.
For the first time, the government commissioned a concerted propaganda
campaign to “sell” a war to the American public. Incredible tales of German barbarism
in Belgium and France in novels gave rise to a myth of unique German savagery that
continues to color the thinking of many persons today.16 As a result, ethnic slurs such as
“Hun” and “Hunskunk” were used daily on the front pages of the press when referring to
Germans.17 A new form of media, film, came into use for the purpose of war propaganda
and proved to be extremely effective. Atrocity films, such as The Woman the Germans
Shot, that depicted Germans as the pillaging Huns, raping, burning and destroying
villages filled the movie halls of New York City and deeply offended Germans and
German-Americans. The “hate-the-Hun” movies caused problems by means of guilt by
association.18 Having German ancestry caused German-Americans to be viewed in a
different light. Even though they were born in the United States, they were increasingly
being accused of disloyalty, as possible spies, and as Huns. German-Americans in New
and Uttered Disloyal Sentiments. Police Tried to Save Him; Mob Stormed City Hall to
Get Him and Then Hanged Him After Wrapping Him in an American Flag.,” The New
York Times, April 5, 1918.
15 “German-Americans Form Patriotic Union; To Organize 15,000,000 Men, Women,
and Children to Help America to Win the War.,” The New York Times, June 10, 1918.
16 Connors, Dealing in Hate: The Development of Anti-German Propaganda, 9.
17 Leslie Midkiff DeBauche, Reel Patriotism: The Movies and World War I (Madison,
Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997), 36.
18 Ibid, 36.
116
�York City resented films showing their kinfolk as sadistic, arrogant, rowdy, rude, often
drunk, beasts bent on rape plunder, and murder, especially when many of the propaganda
films presented the United States being honeycombed with spies working with German
Americans.19
In response to the propaganda war against Germans and German culture,
authorities across the country and in New York City enacted laws to harass and silence
the German community. The American Protective League was formed in 1917 with the
intention to identify and investigate German sympathizers but they turned into a group
that simply harassed people of German descent and never uncovered a single act of
espionage.20 As one of the first major acts of the American Protective League, they
assisted the Attorney General in collecting information about German Americans
throughout the country in 1918. German aliens in New York City and the rest of the
country were forced to report to New York City Police Stations in order to get
fingerprinted, even if they had started the first steps in becoming American citizens.21
The New York Herald even published a list of all of the names and addresses for German
aliens living in the city.22
In June 1918, a Congressman from Michigan introduced a bill to rid the words
“Germany” and “Berlin” from every town and street name.23 While the law was never
passed, the mere suggestion of the act prompted local authorities all over the country to
follow suit and rename streets, buildings, and landmarks with names of German origin.
New York City was not immune to the name changing trend. Brooklyn’s Hamburg
Avenue was changed to Wilson Avenue.24 At the US Customs House in Lower
Manhattan, the word “Germany” that was on a shield of one of the building’s many
figures was chiseled over. Health facilities also changed their names and the Germanary
Dispensary suddenly became the Lenox Hill Hospital in June 1918 and the German
Connors, Dealing in Hate: The Development of Anti-German Propaganda, 10.
Tolzmann, The German-American Experience, 281.
21 “German Intrigue Is Still Kept Up; Attorney General Asks Protective League to
Continue to Combat Propaganda Urges Public Vigilance,” The New York Times,
November 22, 1918.
22 New York Herald’s Complete and Alphabetical List of Names and Addresses of the
German Alien Enemies Registered in New York City in the State Military Census. (New
York, NY: New York Herald, 1917).
23 “To Strike Germany From Map of U.S.,” The New York Times, June 2, 1918.
24 Diane Durante, Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide (New York,
NY: NYU Press, 2007), 155.
19
20
117
�Hospital in Bushwick became Wyckoff Heights Hospital.25 Even the iconic Germania
Bank building at Bowery and Spring Street in “Little” Germany was forced to change its
name to Commonwealth Bank due to anti-German sentiment.26
Soon thereafter, the anglicization of German derived words and the war on
German culture spread like a plague and infected everyday life, education, and the arts in
New York City. Many Germans and German-Americans lost their jobs if they worked in
fields that were considered to have access to sensitive war information, such as the docks
or munition yards. While New York State did not enact language restrictions as did other
states, the New York City Board of Education banned books that mentioned Kaiser
Wilhelm. City University of New York schools did not ban German language courses
but they limited the number of credits received for the courses in order to deter students
from studying the language.27 The number of German language papers circulating in
New York City fell by half between 1914 and 1919.28 Anglicization even affected food
names. A group of vegetable dealers called for the renaming of Sauerkraut to Liberty
Cabbage due to a drastic drop in consumption since the declaration of war that resulted in
a surplus of 400 tons in the New York district alone29. Hamburger and frankfurters
became Salisbury steak and liberty sausage. Wiener schnitzel and pretzels were banned
from restaurants.30 The New York Metropolitan Opera even banned operas by German
composers such as Wagner and Beethoven and ended the reign of famous German opera
singer Melanie Kurt.31 Overall, German culture was repressed during World War I in
New York City.
Even after the signing of the Armistice to end the war in 1918, the anti-German
sentiment created during the war still lingered. While the rest of the country enjoyed
their return to normalcy, German-Americans still faced backlash from the war. The U.S.
Senate held hearings in 1919 and created a subcommittee that presented a report on
Ibid., 156.
Ibid, 158.
27 Frederick C. Luebke, Bonds of Loyalty; German-Americans and World War I,
Minorities in American History (Dekalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, [1974],
172.
28 Ibid., 173.
29 “Sauerkraut May Be Liberty Cabbage,” The New York Times, April 25, 1918.
30 Meirion and Susie Harries, The Last Days of Innocence: America at War, 1917-1918
(New York, NY: Random House, 1997), 257.
31 Erik Kirschbaum and Herbert W Stupp, Burning Beethoven: The Eradication of
German Culture in the United States during World War I, 2015, 127.
25
26
118
�Brewing and Liquor Interests and German and Bolshevik Propaganda in which they
presented brewers as unpatriotic.32 Almost all brewers were felt to be of “German birth
and sympathy” and were condemned by the Senate. It was a logical step from this
nativist report of 1919 to what German New Yorkers considered another anti-German
piece of legislature – the enactment of prohibition.33 New York brewers resented
prohibition because they felt it was a direct attack against their heritage and held it
responsible for destroying family beer gardens which had brought people together in their
community for so many years. By the time prohibition was in full swing nearly all of the
breweries in Brooklyn were forced to close and another prominent part of German culture
disappeared from New York City.
Prohibition not only hurt ethnic groups culturally and economically but the
movement also exacerbated fears towards hyphenated Americans. According to
prominent historian Michael Lerner:
The history of American temperance movements was riddled with
examples of bigotry toward and paternalistic disdain for nonwhites,
immigrants, Catholics, and Jews. While many prominent drys did try to reach
out across racial, ethnic, and religious barriers for the sake of building a
stronger temperance movement, their work could be undone by an off-the-cuff
comment, such as that of Purley Baker of the Anti-Saloon League, who
declared that Germans “eat like gluttons and drink like swine.”34 With wartime
patriotism advancing the Prohibition cause, the conflict in Europe boosted the
drys’ chances for success in another important regard. The Anti-Saloon League
had always regarded New York’s large population of first- and secondgeneration immigrants as a significant obstacle to Prohibition, as they were
expected to protest strenuously against any pending dry legislation. The
conflict in Europe, however, unleashed a new wave of anti-ethnic sentiment in
the United States cloaked as patriotism, which undermined the ability of ethnic
Americans to challenge the dry movement in any meaningful fashion. In the
context of the war, German Americans came under scrutiny as possible
sympathizers of the Kaiser, Irish Americans were criticized for opposing the
U.S. alliance with Great Britain, and Southern Europeans and Eastern
Tolzmann, The German-American Experience, 299.
Ibid., 300.
34 Michael A Lerner, Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 2008), 30.
32
33
119
�European Jews drew suspicion for their perceived radicalism. As a result, many
ethnic New Yorkers grew reluctant to speak out against the dry agenda as long
as the war raged in Europe. With the Anti-Saloon League loudly proclaiming,
“The challenge to loyal patriots of America today is to demand the absolute
prohibition of the liquor traffic,” many ethnic New Yorkers simply swallowed
their opposition to the dry campaign for fear of appearing disloyal.35
Even prominent “dry” Americans spoke out about these “wet” ethnic groups and
escalated anti-ethnic and anti-Semitic sentiment. When industrial titan, prohibition
advocate, and anti-Semitic propagandist Henry Ford declared that “the Jews are on the
side of liquor and always have been,” he intimated that the history of Jewry’s economic
ties to alcohol and their political opposition to prohibition classified them as eternally unAmerican, incapable of abiding by the morality of the dominant culture.36 Though their
connection to alcohol had previously been a subject of communal pride, Jews now faced
a difficult decision: change their attitudes toward alcohol commerce and consumption so
that they conformed to the dominant culture or maintain their historical connection to
alcohol and risk further alienation.
Prohibition was not successful in ending alcohol consumption because
authorities failed to enforce the laws and many Americans viewed the movement as unAmerican and a violation of liberty. Speakeasies and bootlegging popped up all over
New York City in protest. Organized crime families seized the opportunity to benefit
from the backlash. The most notable of the Mafia families were of Italian and Jewish
descent. Even though prohibition was essentially disregarded by a large portion of the
population, the crimes and violence of the Mafia created even more fear and distrust for
Jewish Germans in New York City. Prohibition ended on December 5, 1933 with the
ratification of the 21st Amendment; however, the damage was already done and the
movement succeeded in pitting immigrants against natives.
In the midst of prohibition, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924 on
May 26, 1924 which put quotas on immigration and required all immigrants to obtain
visas. President Coolidge announced to the country that the annual quota of any
nationality would be reduced to two percent of the number of foreign-born individuals of
each nationality in Continental United States as determined by the United States census
Ibid., 31.
Marni Davis, Jews and Booze Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition (New
York: New York University Press, 2012), Introduction.
35
36
120
�of 1890.37 Critics of the act claim that the drafters of the bill intentionally used
population data from 1890 instead of 1910 or 1920 in order to promote Americanism and
discriminate against the newer, darker skinned groups of immigrants such as the
Japanese, Italian, and Eastern European Jews. The new law cut the quota for northern
and western European countries by 29 percent, but slashed that for southern and eastern
Europe by 87 percent.38 Since British and Germans were the first large groups of
immigrants to settle in the United States, German immigration actually benefited from
the act. While Germany’s quota was the largest at 51,227 persons, Italy's quota, for
example, was reduced from 42,057 to 3,845 persons.39
As a result, a brief renaissance of German culture occurred. During the early
1930s new immigrants fleeing Nazi Germany came to America and many of them were
scholars, scientists, artists, and musicians. The Frankfurt School for Social Research
brought their entire faculty and continued their research at New York City’s colleges
such as Colombia University and the New School.40 The new immigrants raised the level
of German culture in the United States and had a great economic impact. However,
trouble was brewing oversees and the renaissance did not last long. As news about the
rise of antisemitism and the Third Reich spread throughout America, Germans and
German-Americans once again faced distrust and scrutiny from their peers and the
zeitgeist of the time became greatly anti-German.
Just as they did during World War I, German organizations and GermanAmerican societies in New York attracted attention as people grew to fear that spies
existed within their ranks. While most of the organizations and societies were harmless
and once again simply social in nature, a few pro-Nazi groups muddied the waters and
created a great deal of unrest in New York City. This was first noticed in the hasty
reaction to the emergence of the German-American Bund, a national pro-Nazi
organization that had a headquarters just outside of New York City. Although many
German-Americans made their opposition to this group known, and although the group
represented an insignificant amount of people, public reaction made it seem as if it were a
multimillion-member conspiracy. The Bund attained a total membership of only 6,300,
“Coolidge Proclaims Immigrant Quotas; New Act Goes Into Effect Today Basing
Admissions on Census of 1890.,” The New York Times, July 1, 1924.
38 Ibid.
39 Ibid.
40 “10 Named to Staff of Exiles’ College; Faculty of Ousted German Leaders Nearly
Completed for Session Opening Oct. 1.,” The New York Times, September 2, 1933.
37
121
�of which 3,900 were German born or German-American; however, it was reputed to have
a much larger membership due to the exaggerated claims of its leader, Fritz Kuhn who
often asserted it had more than 200,000 members.41 However what the Bund lacked in
numbers it made up for with parades, rallies, and rhetoric.
The Bund’s largest public display occurred at a rally at New York’s Madison
Square Garden on February 20, 1939. Security was overly heavy for the event and antiGerman protestors lined the streets and conducted marches that delayed the event. When
it finally occurred, the Bund celebration proved to be uneventful as Bundists gave
speeches, sieg-heiled, and sang nationalistic songs.42 Outsiders joined in on the festivities
in order to take advantage of the free food and beer or simply out of curiosity; thus, the
attendance numbers were inflated.43 The next day The New York Times ran a two-page
spread covering the event with the headline on the front page reading “22,000 Nazis Hold
Rally in Garden” including pictures of the uniformed Bund members and anti-Nazi
demonstrators.44 The increased visibility of the Bund in public made New Yorkers and
the American government uneasy as the fear that the group had ties to the Third Reich
grew. As a result of the uneasiness surrounding the appearance of the Bund,
congressional hearings were held which led to the formation of the infamous House UnAmerican Activities Committee, which received notoriety for its witch-hunting during
the McCarthy era.45
German-Americans decided it was time to take a firm stand against the Bund, as
well as against the Third Reich, so that the distinction between German-Americans and
Bundists was crystal clear. New York’s premier German-American newspaper the New
Yorker Staats-Zeitung, for example, strongly attacked the Bund, and an officer of the
Steuben Society in New York states that some of the Bund members were unfortunately
of German stock but were of absolutely no credit to German-Americans.46 In November
LaVern Rippley, The German-Americans (Boston, MA: Twayne, 1976), 203–206.
Arnold Krammer, Undue Process: The Untold Story of America’s German Alien
Internees (London; Boulder: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997), 5.
43 Susan Canedy and Mazal Holocaust Collection, America’s Nazis: A Democratic
Dilemma: A History of the German American Bund (Menlo Park, CA: Markgraf
Publications Group, 1990), 223.
44 “22,000 Nazis Hold Rally in Garden; Police Check Foes - Scenes As GermanAmerican Bund Held Its ‘Washington Birthday’ Rally Last Night." The New York Times,
February 21, 1939
45 Don Heinrich Tolzmann, German-Americans in the World Wars, Volume 4.
(München, Germany: K.G. Saur, 1998), 325.
41
42
122
�1939 the German-American Youth Federation held its conference and an anti-Nazi rally
in New York aiming to demonstrate that German-Americans were loyal Americans and
anti-Nazi. The conference also tried to prevent another outbreak of the anti-German
hysteria of the First World War.47
Just as the media played a role in creating tensions for German-Americans
during World War I, films produced in Hollywood portrayed negative images of
Germans and German-Americans that created anti-German sentiment prior to World War
II. According to Tolzmann “such images fanned flames of prejudice against the German
community without providing a contrasting viewpoint representative of the majority of
German-Americans of the day.”48 New Yorkers flocked to propaganda films such as
Confessions of a Nazi Spy that featured an FBI agent investigating Nazi underground
activities in America and discovering an organized network of German-American agents.49
Another film starring the popular Bowery Boys, Ghosts on the Loose, showed the Boys
discovering that their neighbors were Nazi spies who had a printing press in their garage
for producing propaganda.50 The many examples above suggest that major studios
purposely produced films that created the impression that an internal Nazi threat existed
in the United States that clearly contributed to a call for action against the German
community, especially in New York City.
As the possibility of war weighed heavily on the United States, government
agencies joined together in peacetime to form the Alien Enemies Program and the Secret
Intelligence Service which the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover
oversaw. The Alien Registration Act of 1940 required all aliens, ages fourteen and older
to register with the United States government. At that time, an alien was defined as any
individual who was not a citizen of the United States and was living inside U.S. borders.51
New York City Germans were forced to go to their local Post Office to register and fill
out cards that were sent to the Immigration and Nationalization Service (INS) who
assigned each alien enemy a number which became known as an A-Number. This
Tolzmann, The German-American Experience, 323.
Canedy and Mazal Holocaust Collection, America’s Nazis, 222.
48 Tolzmann, The German-American Experience, 330.
49 Holian, Timothy, The German-Americans and World War II: An Ethnic Experience
(New York, NY: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 1998), 123.
50 Ibid., 124.
51 “The A-Files: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors - a-Files.pdf,” Enemy Aliens
Program, National Archives, College Park, MD. Electronic Document. Accessed April
27, 2016. http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2013/spring/a-files.pdf.
46
47
123
�allowed the FBI and the INS to compile lists of people thought to be dangerous to the
United States. Often all it took for someone’s name to be added to the list was a
complaint from a skeptical neighbor, a visit to a German church, or involvement on a
German-American society’s athletic team.
J. Edgar Hoover expanded the FBI’s surveillance program and a New York City
field office and an internment camp was set up at Ellis Island in conjunction with the
INS. On October 10, 1941, two months before America entered the war, a confidential
directive, one of many between the Office of the U.S. Attorney General and INS directors
around the country, was sent to the director of Ellis Island in New York Harbor. The INS
official was instructed to prepare for the arrival of foreign internees and informed that “It
has been estimated there will be six hundred arrests monthly in the State of New York
and two hundred in the State of New Jersey.”52
After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued Presidential
Proclamations 2525, 2526, 2527 branding German, Italian, and Japanese nationals as
enemy aliens and authorizing internment.53 Even before the United States declared war,
the FBI raided the homes of many Germans in New York City and arrested those who
had made Hoover’s watch list on the basis of suspicion of disloyalty – not crimes.
Renowned German Historian Don Heinrich Tolzmann writes about the pre-war arrests in
his book The German American Experience:
An FBI memo dated December 8, 1941, from J. Edgar Hoover,
identified people targeted for internment, including 636 German aliens, 1,393
American citizens sympathetic to Germany and 1,694 persons of German
descent whose citizenship was unknown. Beginning on December 7, 1941
arrests of German-Americans in forty-one states began to take place. Arrests
ranged from as few as two in Alaska to as many as 2,200 in New York. The
actual number of people arrested was 6,362.54
“Memo from Joseph Savoretti for Lemuel B. Schofied, Special Assistant to the District
Attorney, to District Director of Immigration and Naturalization, Ellis Island, N.Y.
Harbor.,” October 10, 1941, "Special Delivery and Confidential," 2pp., File 56125/3, Box
2399, 85-58A734. INS Records, Washington, D.C.
53 Regarding the Enemy Aliens Program archive: “World War II Enemy Alien Control
Program Overview,” Enemy Aliens Program, National Archives, College Park, MD.
Electronic Document. Accessed April 21, 2016
http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/enemy-aliens-overview.html.
54 Tolzmann, The German-American Experience, 337.
52
124
�On April 1, 1942, the New York Times ran a story that would greatly exacerbate
the prejudice Germans and German-Americans faced in New York City. The headline
read “FBI Tightens Curb on 256,000 Aliens” and the article described how the FBI
conducted check-ups on all of the aliens on their watch list in an attempt to uncover
German spies and Nazi sympathizers. One German-American in New York City who
experienced these raids was Arthur Jacobs who recalls:
“In my case, the FBI ransacked our home three times. Each time they searched
our home they came up empty handed – no contraband or propaganda. During
their ransacking searches they would throw items all over the place out of
drawers onto the floor; and invariably they would leave all the cabinet doors
ajar. It would take my mother hours to get things back in order. After each
search my mother would be in tears and frightened and devastated.”55
Arthur Jacobs’ father was soon arrested and sent to the internment camp at Ellis Island,
where his family would join him because his mother was unable to support their family
while his father was detained. He would later be transferred to another internment camp
in Crystal City, Texas but his family found themselves back at Ellis Island after the war.
Soon his family was deported to Germany where they were imprisoned at a place called
Hohenasperg.56 The Jacobs family is just one example of the unjust treatment GermanAmericans in New York City encountered at the hands of the FBI.57
By the end of the war, 10,905 Germans had been rounded up and shipped to
internment camps throughout the country. Approximately 1,600 of those interned were
from the New York City area.58 The most famous and ironic of the temporary detention
facilities was Ellis Island. During the course of the war, the Ellis Island camp detained
approximately 7,000 internees while they awaited hearings, transfers to another
internment camp, and even deportation back to Germany.59 Six exchange voyages
Email from Arthur Jacobs, “Archives from Ellis Island Event,” March 29, 2016.
Ibid.
57 Through my research on German Interment during WWII, I was able to read 27
interview transcripts of individuals of both German and German-American descent who
were interned at Ellis Island during World War II. Arthur Jacobs’ case is just one of
many from the New York City area. Further information can be found on file in the
archives at Ellis Island.
58 “U.S. Has Interned 1,600 From This Area, FBI Says,” The New York Times, December
8, 1943.
59 “The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island,” http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/ellis55
56
125
�departed Ellis Island carrying approximately 2,650 German immigrants and their
American-born children back to Germany, many of whom were being traded for
American prisoners of war. After the war, Germans were released from the internment
camps, but many did not return to their native cities such as New York City and chose to
start over in cities and towns near their detainment camps. New York City’s German
population changed drastically and the new wave of German refugees who flooded to the
United States after the war did not settle in the metropolitan area. To put this in
perspective, Tolzmann notes that in 1900 New York City had 324,224 citizens of German
decent compared to only 185,467 in 1950.60
According to modern census reports, only 3.6% of New Yorkers identify with
having German ancestry61, even though it is still one of the largest ethnic groups in the
United States. Perhaps this can be attributed to the stigma that has stuck to GermanAmerican culture in New York even after all these years. As a result of the prejudices
and Anti-German sentiments that ran rampant during the two World Wars, people are less
likely to self-identify as being of German descent. After World War I, regulations that
caused the change of name for German derived street and building names or the banning
of German books in libraries were not revoked. Instead, the stereotypes and restrictions
that grew during World War I created precedents that allowed the prejudices and
violations against Germans and German-Americans to strengthen during World War II.
Neighborhoods such as “Little Germany” and Yorkville never truly bounced back and
while there are still a few areas that were once dominated by German culture, it requires a
very hard look at the neighborhoods to identify the remains of German heritage in those
areas today. Propaganda in the media and the anglicization of German words virtually
wiped German culture off the New York City map while unethical government agencies
forced Germans and German-Americans out of the city.
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129
�The Effect of Storytelling in Isabel Allende’s Eva Luna
Alexandra Dmytrow (Mathematics and Childhood Education/Special Education)1
In Eva Luna by Isabel Allende, storytelling is a major part of the protagonist’s
survival and identity. Eva Luna uses her gift of storytelling throughout the challenging
conflicts she faces and, by the end of the novel, it shapes her overall outcome in life.
Storytelling was an important part of Eva Luna’s journey and it was something that she
always had in her life from early childhood. Throughout Eva Luna, readers can see the
life changing impact that storytelling had on Eva’s life, from the moment she was born all
the way to her adulthood. She was influenced by her relationships and her environment,
which shaped her stories in a unique way.
Isabel Allende was strongly influenced by feminism and narration, both clearly
evident in Eva Luna. In the novel, the reader sees the effect of femininity and storytelling,
which correlates to Isabel Allende’s personal life experiences. Michael Sollars writes
about Isabel Allende and says that Eva Luna reflects “her growing awareness of her own
identity as a woman and a writer” (17). When writing Eva Luna, Allende incorporated
many of her own traits into this main character. Joan Axelrod-Contrada comments that,
“The title character of the novel, Eva Luna, uses her talents as a storyteller to change her
life. An idealized version of the author herself, Allende called the character “my
dreamself”” (77).
Eva Luna first witnessed the power of storytelling from her mother, Consuelo.
She constantly reflects on the influence that her mother’s stories had on her when she was
growing up. Even though Consuelo died when she was young, the life changing effect of
her stories kept her alive through Eva’s eyes. Eva Luna describes her mother’s stories and
says, “She manufactured the substance of her own dreams, and from those materials
constructed a world for me. Words are free, she used to say, and she appropriated them;
they were all her. She sowed in my mind the idea that reality is not only what we see on
the surface; it has a magical dimension as well and, if we so desire, it is legitimate to
enhance it and color it to make our journey through life less trying” (22). Eva Luna was
so intrigued by the characters in her Consuelo’s stories and the tone that each one
Written under the direction of Dr. Marilyn Kiss for EN/SP 213: Hispanic Literature in
English Translation.
1
130
�possessed. Jacoba Koene comments that “In the privacy of her room, Consuelo offers her
young daughter the one gift she has: the gift of storytelling. Her creative imagination
allows her to escape from the silence to which she submits in her day to day life, and to
invent a new way of encoding reality” (69). Her mother’s stories were the only part of
her early childhood that she clearly remembers and, as the reader can see, she takes this
concept of storytelling with her throughout the many different homes in her life.
Storytelling, which began with her mother, enabled Eva Luna to see the world through a
different perspective than most people. She did not see it literally, but through a creative,
imaginative point of view: “One word from me and abracadabra! reality was
transformed” (25).
When Eva’s mother died, she knew that she wanted to continue her mother’s
storytelling legacy so she wouldn't forget her. Her mother said before she died, “There is
no death, daughter. People die only when we forget them. If you can remember me, I will
be with you always” (43). Sporadically throughout the novel, Eva Luna, in difficult
times, will speak to her mother. Storytelling helped to preserve her memories of
Consuelo and the characters she used to create. Karen Castellucci Cox writes that, “Her
actual mother, Consuelo, lends a measure of fantasy to both women’s lives. Consuelo
organizes her world through storytelling and so demonstrates to her child that “words are
free”, and one of the few pleasures that people of all stations might enjoy alike. Eva’s
original talent is received from her mother; its development is nurtured by others” (85).
When Eva Luna left the house of Professor Jones, after her mom died, she began
to work in a house of an elderly brother and sister. Here, she befriended the cook Elvira,
whom she called abuela: “Only Elvira paid any attention to me, making me eat, teaching
me how to do domestic chores, relieving me of the heaviest tasks. We spent hours talking
and telling each other stories” (57). Elvira was someone whom Eva Luna trusted and felt
comfortable with. They were able to bond and form a close relationship from the stories
they would tell each other. Eva was able to use her imagination with Elvira when she
would help in the kitchen: “ I would run to the kitchen, and while I helped Elvira put
things away I besieged her with stories of enchanted carrots and peppers that turned into
princes and princesses when they fell into the pot and jumped out of it with sprigs of
parsley tangled in their crowns and broth streaming from their royal garments” (58).
One of the paintings in this master’s house always caught Eva’s attention. It was
a seascape that Eva Luna couldn't stop staring at. She didn't just think of it as a painting,
but she thought of the different stories that she could create to go along with it. At this
point she remembers her mother and says, “Among the countless stories my mother had
131
�told me, I always preferred those in which the sea played some part; afterward I would
dream of distant islands, vast underwater cities, oceanic highways for fish navigations. In
the presence of that painting, I recaptured those earlier emotions, either when I stood
close enough to hear it speak or when I watched it while I was doing my household
chores; each time I could smell a faint odor of sails, lye and starch” (59). Eva Luna would
offer to tell Elvira a story if she would let her sleep with her. She tells Elvira so many
different types of stories and Elvira comments, “There must have been a lot of sap in
your mother’s womb to give you such a mind for telling stories, little bird” (60). From
this point in her life, Eva Luna is able to connect with Elvira through her stories. Elvira
gives her the encouragement to tell her stories and serves as a motherly figure for Eva.
When Eva runs away from this master after having an argument with her
patrona, because she was always looking at the seascape painting, she began to roam the
streets and take in her surroundings. She noticed a campesino singing and sees the
resemblance between singing and storytelling: “Under my breath I tried imitating him,
and discovered how much easier it is to remember stories when you rhyme—the story
dances to its own music” (62). During her time roaming the streets, she meets Huberto
Naranjo. Eva Luna uses her storytelling, as a way to survive. She offers to tell Huberto
Naranjo a story as a payment for being so nice to her and for taking care of her. Hubert
Naranjo tells Eva to tell a story about bandits and Eva’s imagination instantly begins to
wander: “I took inspiration from several episodes I’d heard on the radio, some ballads I
knew, and a few ingredients of my own invention, and began spinning a story of a damsel
in love with an outlaw, a real jackal who resolved even minor disagreements with bullets,
strewing the landscape with widows and orphans” (65). Eva uses real world events and
combines them with her own ideas and creates her own story. When Eva finishes telling
her story, Huberto says “That’s a stupid story…. But, all right, I would like to be your
friend” (66). During this scene in the novel, the reader can see how Eva’s gift of
storytelling helped her form relationships with the many different people she met
throughout her life.
Eva Luna did not have any proper education. She was able to learn from the
radio and the people around her: “Often only a word or two would string together a
rosary of images in my mind. Once I heard a delicious new word and flew to ask Elvira,
Abuela, what is snow? From her explanation I gathered it was like a frozen meringue. At
that moment I became the heroine of stories about the North Pole; I was the abominable
snow woman, hairy and ferocious, battling the scientists who were on my trail hoping to
catch me and experiment on me in their laboratory” (73). As Eva Luna learned new
132
�things, she would begin to incorporate them into her stories. Karen Castellucci Cox
writes that, “The cook, Elvira, offers a ready audience, entreating Eva for new stories
each evening. Eva explains that gaining her adopted abuela’s favor and a safe place to
sleep was how the budding storyteller learned to barter words for goods. Likewise, the
eccentric old cook introduces Eva to the radio serials that offer the girl a template for
thousands of stories” (85).
When Eva Luna had to leave Elvira, it was difficult for her because she loved
telling stories to her. Elvira would visit Eva and Eva said that, “Elvira would ask me for a
long story to last till next visit” (107). Eva Luna’s stories would help keep her abuela in
her life. When Eva worked in the minister’s house, it was fancy and immaculate, and
banquets were held there often. Eva would notice this rich lifestyle and look forward to
putting it in her stories: “Ten white gloved waiters attended the guests, while I watched
from behind the draperies of the grand salon, fascinated with the refinements that
furnished a wealth of new material for embellishing my stories. Now I would be able to
describe royal feasts, reveling in details I could never have invented” (111).
Eva Luna runs away from this house and is back on the streets again. She
searches for Huberto Naranjo and when she finds him, he remembers her as “the one who
told stories” (115). This shows that storytelling is part of Eva Luna’s identity and that she
is beginning to become known for her stories. He takes Eva to live with La Señora, and
all the women who work for La Señora beg Eva to tell them about current events on the
radio and Eva “would invent a dramatic ending that never coincided with the real one”
(127).
Eva Luna’s next master, Riad Halabí, was the one who truly began to develop
Eva’s education. Lynne Diamond Nigh writes, “Her stories form part of literary oral
tradition. She learns the art of storytelling from her mother, learns to use her stories as
tools of barter, survival, escape and emotional comfort, but it is not until the mid-point of
the novel, which takes place in Agua Santa with Riad Halabí, that she gains the skills of
reading and writing” (36). Halabí knew Eva had to learn how to read and write, so he
made her take lessons with the schoolteacher Inés. Eva Luna was instantly in love with
learning and she saw it as an opportunity to further develop her storytelling. She reflects
on her experience with the schoolteacher Inés and says, “Writing was the best thing that
had happened to me in all my life; I was euphoric. I jotted down thoughts, the names of
flowers, birdcalls; I made up words. Being able to write allowed me to remember without
rhyme, and I could make my stories more complex, with multiple characters and
adventures” (152). Eva absorbed everything she learned with such eagerness. The
133
�thought of creating new characters and new places in her storytelling made her a more
avid, talented narrator. Her life with Riad Halabí and her instruction with the
schoolteacher Inés had a significant impact on her stories and her writing: “I was too
busy to think about myself, but a yearning and restlessness began to appear in my stories
that I had not known were in my heart. I began to spend parts of the night writing, and I
enjoyed it so much that the hours sped by and I often got up in the morning with red eyes.
But those were my best hours. I began to wonder whether anything truly existed, whether
reality wasn't an unformed and gelatinous substance only half-captured by my senses”
(187). Her experience with Riad Halabí made her begin to see the world differently. She
realized that not everyone perceived things in the same way. Through her storytelling,
Eva was able to create anything she wanted and she had the freedom to determine the
outcome of her stories. Everything happening in her stories depended on her: “I had only
to speak the right word to give it life. At times I felt that the universe fabricated from the
power of the imagination had stronger and more lasting contours than the blurred realm
of the flesh and blood creatures around me” (188). Eva’s storytelling was something she
relied on as she lived in different places. She truly believed that creating a story, with her
own ideas and her own interpretation of reality, was a much more rewarding way to live.
When Eva returns to La Calle República, where she lived with La Señora, she
meets Melesio again, who is now called Mimí. When Mimí sees Eva she says, “Aren’t
you the girl who used to tell the stories?… Eva Luna?” (206). Once again, similar to
when Huberto Naranjo recognized her, Eva Luna’s storytelling has become part of her
identity. Eva stays with Mimí who strongly encourages her to pursue her storytelling as a
career. Eva is reluctant to pursue her gift of storytelling: “I doubted whether there was
any practical application for my talent; until then it had served only to add a little color to
life, and to allow me to escape to other worlds when reality became too difficult to bear”
(212). At this point in the novel, the reader can see how Eva’s storytelling passes from
her childhood to her adulthood. She used to tell stories for the pure fun of it or as a way
to escape reality, and now she tries to use her talent and make a career out of it. When
Mimí buys Eva a typewriter, Eva is so overwhelmed by the power that storytelling has on
her life:
“I believed that that page had been waiting for me for more than twenty years,
that I had lived only for that instant, and I hoped that from that moment my only
task would be to capture the stories floating in the thin air, to make them mine.
I wrote my name, and immediately the words began to flow, one thing linked to
another and another. Characters stepped from the shadows where they had been
134
�hidden for years into the light of that Wednesday, each with a face, a voice,
passions and obsessions. I could see an order to the stories stored in my genetic
memory since before my birth, and the many others I had been writing for years
in my notebooks. I began to remember events that had happened long ago; I
recalled the tales my mother told me when we were living among the
Professor’s idiots, cancer patients, and mummies” (251).
The instant that Eva Luna begins to physically type her stories, she begins to remember
all the people she has met throughout her life and the characters she could put in her
stories, as a result of these relationships she’s made. If it weren't for Mimí pushing her to
become a writer, Eva would never have had the motivation to further develop her talent
of telling stories.
Eva Luna meets Rolf Carlé, and they share a special connection from their
stories. Rolf Carlé tells Eva the dark stories about his sister’s death and his mother. Sonia
Kotiah writes that “By focusing on survival, Eva Luna’s stories collectively formulate a
narrative plan to transform oppressive situations into happy endings for everyone” (33).
Eva Luna retells his story from a more positive perspective so they wouldn't sound so
grim. Rolf Carlé is intrigued by Eva’s stories and when they are helping Huberto Naranjo
in the guerrilla movement he asks Eva to tell him a story: “Tell me one you’ve never told
anyone. Make it up for me” (280). Eva begins her own television soap opera and Rolf
Carlé encourages her to write about the guerrilla movement. Eva explains the name of her
television drama and says, “in a fit of sentimentality I had called it Bolero, as homage to
the songs that had nurtured my girlhood hours and served as a basis for so many of my
stories” (296). Eva was able to form a career doing something she loved. She was
completely immersed in the world of her stories and everyone who watched her soap
opera could see Eva’s genuine personality as gifted storyteller. S.E. Carvalho writes that
Eva Luna is “a woman who inherited from her mother both a gift and a need to create
stories as a refuge from a harsh reality” (55). The reader clearly sees how Eva’s difficult
lifestyle, with its constantly changing homes, culminates in her storytelling. Her
experiences, both positive and negative, strongly affect her stories.
Throughout Eva Luna, there are many references to A Thousand and One Nights
and many similarities between Eva Luna and Scheherazade. Eva Luna and Scheherazade
were both storytellers, who used the power of their stories in order to survive. Isabel
Allende read A Thousand and One Nights when she was young and Stephen Gregory
writes that “It left her with a love for storytelling and a love for the sensuous world it
portrayed” (82). In Eva Luna, the epigraph is taken from A Thousand and One Nights and
135
�says, “Then he said to Scheherazade: “Sister, for the sake of Allah, tell us a story that will
help pass the night”. This reflects the entire theme of Eva Luna and how Eva used her
storytelling for survival, for friendship, and for love. In the novel, Riad Halabí gives Eva
a copy of A Thousand and One Nights and she immediately becomes immersed in it: “I
completely lost sight of reality. Eroticism and fantasy blew into my life with the force of
a typhoon, erasing all limitations and turning the known order of things upside down.
When I knew them by heart, I began to transfer characters from one story to another, to
change the anecdotes, to add and remove details—a game of infinite possibilities” (153).
Reading A Thousand and One Nights allowed Eva Luna to further expand her creativity
as a writer and a storyteller. It also allowed her to form a unique relationship with Riad
Halabi’s wife, Zulema. She would tell Zulema these stories and eventually Zulema
learned Spanish. Both Eva Luna and Scheherazade lived by the power of their stories.
Scheherazade each morning is on the verge of execution by the king, but the king
continuously keeps her alive because he wants to hear her stories. Many times when Eva
Luna was between masters or living on the streets, she used her talent as a storyteller in
order to survive. Stephen Gregory says, “The main idea within Eva Luna is based on the
woman narrator Scheherazade who exchanges her stories for what she needs.
Scheherazade saves her life with her storytelling. She reinvents reality, she paints it in
different colors and while she is at it, she saves her own life” (82).
Eva Luna’s gift of storytelling is a significant part of Eva Luna. Isabel Allende
was able to successfully portray her love for storytelling through this female protagonist.
Eva’s stories slowly evolved throughout her life and eventually began her television soap
opera, Bolero. Her living situations and the people she meets have a strong influence on
her stories. Eva was able to use her talent to create an escape from reality and to create
the freedom she needed to produce her own world in her stories. Sonia Kotiah writes that,
“Rescued, healed and ‘adopted’ by the equally mestiza madrina and the abuela, Eva
Luna redefines her liminal mestiza identity within the more celebrated space of oral
storytelling” (32). Her stories represented her life and, by the end of the novel, readers
can see the effect that storytelling had on the development of Eva’s identity from her
childhood to her adulthood.
136
�Works Cited
Allende, Isabel. Eva Luna. n.p.: New York, New York : Bantam Books, 1989., 1989.
Carvalho, S.E. Narration and Distance in Isabel Allende's Novels and in Cuentos De Eva
Luna. Print.
Contrada, Joan Axelrod. "Eva Luna." Isabel Allende. N.p.: Marshall Cavendish, 2010.
76-96. Print.
Cox, Karen Castellucci. Isabel Allende: A Critical Companion. N.p.: Greenwood Group,
2003. Print.
Gregory, Stephen. "Scheherazade And Eva Luna: Problems In Isabel Allende's
Storytelling." Bulletin Of Spanish Studies 80.1 (2003): 81.
Koene, Jacoba. Metaphors of Marginalization and Silencing of Women in Eva Luna and
Cuentos De Eva Luna by Isabel Allende. N.p.: U of Toronto, 1997. Print.
Kotiah, Sonia. "Reading Orality In Isabel Allende: A Study Of Three Novels." Asian
Journal Of Latin American Studies 28.1 (2015): 27-43.
Nigh, Lynne Diamond. Eva Luna: Writing as History. N.p.: Elmira College, n.d. 29-42.
Print.
Sollars, Michael. The Facts on File Companion to the World Novel: 1900 to the Present.
N.p.: Infobase, 2008. Print.
137
��
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Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference -- Abstracts -- 3 Bacterial Infections of the Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Swim Bladder / Brandon Hart, Yasmine Khaled, and Dr. Christopher Corbo -- 3 Neurogenesis Observed in the Adult Zebrafish Optic Tectum / Jacob Orvidas and Dr. Christopher Corbo -- 4 Antimicrobial Properties of Clove Oil and Turmeric Against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli / Joseph Agro -- 4 Antimicrobial Properties of Plant Extracts Against Gram-Negative Bacteria / Lauren Alessandro and Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt -- 5 Measurement of Arsenic and Heavy Metals in Groundwater in Bangladesh by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Spectroscopy / Rabije Cekovic and Dr. Mohammad Alauddin -- 5 Effects of Plant Extracts on Gram Negative Bacteria / Kathleen Calves and Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt -- 6 Detection of MET in the Flatworm Girarida dorotocephala Genome / Michelle Detka (Biology) and Dr. Jonathan Blaize -- 6 The Effects of Diethyl Phthalate on Drosophila melangaster, Studied Through Scanning Electro Microscopy and Developmental Assays / Phillip Necaise -- 7 The Search for a Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor Ortholog in the Flatworm Girarida dorotocephala Genome / Kaitlin Murtha (Biology) and Dr. Jonathan Blaize -- 7 Comparing Photobehaviors of Genetically Different Populations of the Water Flea Daphnia magna Ordered from Different Biological Supply Companies / Marguerite Langwig, Dr. Donald Stearns, and Dr. Jonathan Blaize -- 8 Digital Microscopic Photographic Series of Adult Zebrafish Cerebellum, Horizontal Series / Emily Bovasso, Dr. Christopher Corbo, and Dr. Zoltan Fulop -- 8 Molecular Dynamics Simulations to Investigate Interactions between Fullerenes and Amyloid Proteins / James Catalano and Dr. Arun Sharma -- 9 Chemistry in the Aerosol Interfacial Region: A Computational Study / Tyler Cropley, Gent Prelvukaj, and Dr. Arun Sharma -- 9 Racial Preference and Self-Identification in Latino Children / Kelsey Hopland (Chemistry) and Dr. Amy Eshleman -- 10 Survey of Molds in Different Seasonal Climates and Environments / Amanda Pavia and Amanda Weinberg -- Section II: The Natural Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 15 Detection of MET in the Flatworm Girarida Dorotocephala Genome / Michelle Detka -- Section III: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 59 Reaping the Benefits of Racial and Ethnic Diversity: The Competitive Advantage for Top Level Management / Kadijah Singleton -- Section IV: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 81 From Riots to Organizations: New York City’s Role in the Gay Rights Movement / Christine Shouldis -- 97 Anthropological Effects on Business Operations / Erynn Tuerk -- 112 Anti-German Sentiment in New York City During the World Wars / Kristen Whitaker -- 130 The Effect of Storytelling in Isabel Allende’s Eva Luna / Alexandra Dmytrow
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is typically subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural
Sciences, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these sections are
limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific investigations (experimental,
theoretical and empirical). The third section is reserved for speculative papers based on
the scholarly review and critical examination of previous works.
This issue sports a new cover courtesy of Wagner College’s Office of Communications &
Marketing. Credit for the design goes to Natalie Nguyen. Special thanks to her and to
Laura Barlament who proposed and oversaw the change. They did a superb job and were
a pleasure to work with.
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Miles Groth, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Annemarie Dowling-Castronovo, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I: The Natural Sciences
Full Length Papers
3
The Effect of Listeria monocytogenes on Amyloid Plaque Buildup and
Neurofibrillary Tangle Formation in the Brains of Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Monica Fallon Cipriani
Section II: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
29 Access Rewired: Telecommunication Liberalization in Developing Nations
Leslie Lopez
49 The Financial and Social Impact of Organizational Cultural Awareness for Cosmetic
Brands in France and the United States
Julia Loria
Section III: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
85 Mina and Her Men: Examining Gender in Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Madison LaSorda
91 Seneca Village: A Forgotten History
Hadeel Mishal
103 Is She or Isn’t She? An Analysis of Images of Virginity in Film
Natalie Persia
111 Antithetical Attestation: Layers of Gray in Hamlet
Madison J. Ruff
117 Oral Microbiome Diversity: The Future of Preventative Health Care, an
Anthropological Perspective
Noah Wolthausen
�129 Breaking the Way America Walks: The Unlikely Duo of Aerosmith and Run-DMC
and Its Implications on Society and the Music Industry
Winona Scheff
137 Politics in the Global Era
Michael Pardo
154 LGBT Museums and Redefining Alice Austen
Kimberly Landstrom
177 “I think the world’s asleep”: Fairytale Expectations in King Lear
Bridgett Bonar
���The Effect of Listeria monocytogenes on Amyloid Plaque
Buildup and Neurofibrillary Tangle Formation in the
Brains of Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Monica Fallon Cipriani (Microbiology)1
In this experiment, adult zebrafish were infected with L. monocytogenes to test its role in
neurodegeneration of brain tissue and buildup of both amyloid beta plaques and
neurofibrillary tangles. Following infection the zebrafish were taken, anesthetized, and
brains were extracted at 24h, 96h, and 7 days. The Gallyas silver staining technique was
used to detect both neuropathological abnormalities after each brain was sectioned using
ultramicrotomy. Upon observation, an abundance of neurofibrillary tangles were seen in
the brain sections of each zebrafish, however, no amyloid plaques were seen in any of the
brain sections taken.
I. Introduction
Listeria monocytogenes
Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular gram-positive, non-spore forming,
facultative aerobic bacterium. L. monocytogenes is the leading cause for listeriosis which
is a common food borne illness that results when consuming contaminated products. In
most cases listeriosis is self-limiting and causes no harm for the average healthy person.
However, in immunocompromised, pregnant, or elderly hosts, listeriosis may cause
detrimental or even fatal complications. L. monocytogenes has the capacity to cross the
intestinal barrier and disseminate to the mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen, and liver. In
immunocompromised individuals, it can replicate in the spleen and liver leading to
prolonged and sustained bacteremia, crossing of the blood brain barrier and the placental
barrier, and dissemination to the brain and placenta, causing meningitis, encephalitis,
abortion in pregnant women, and neonatal infections (Hamon et al. 2006, Bonazzi et al.
2009).
The main route of infection is through ingestion, then crossing mammalian gut
epithelium and spreading to other organs through the blood and lymphatic system. The
intracellular nature of the bacterium allows for placental barrier crossing in pregnant
Research conducted under the direction of Dr. Christopher Corbo in partial fulfillment
of the Senior Program requirements.
1
3
�women as well as crossing of the blood brain barrier (BBB) in immunocompromised
hosts. The ability of the bacteria to do so leaves the possibility of miscarriage, stillbirth
or birth defects of a fetus (Mylonakis et al., 2002), as well as damage to the central
nervous system (CNS), where it can lead to fatal meningoencephalitis (Schuchat et al.,
1997).
Listeria monocytogenes is a model organism for the study of intracellular
bacterial pathogenesis. The organism possesses intracellular characteristics that lead to
broad dissemination of infection. Broad dissemination of an infection is especially
related to an organism’s ability to cross the blood brain barrier and enter the CNS. In a
study of neuropathological abnormalities, L. monocytogenes’ invasive and intracellular
nature makes the organism a desired candidate to observe.
Intracellular Infection
Listeria has two main virulence factors: listeriolysin, specifically listeriolysin O
(LLO) and actA. Virulence factors are properties or characteristics of a microorganism
that serve as the contributing factors to the pathogenicity of the microorganism. The
LLO toxin formed by Listeria monocytogenes is a member of the cholesterol-dependent
cytolysin family (CDC). CDCs are known to be secreted as soluble monomers that bind
and oligomerize to form a pre pore at the surface of cholesterol-rich membranes.
Conversion into a pore involves the unwinding of two α-helices into β-hairpins that span
the membrane bilayer to form a β-barrel that lines the 25 nm aqueous channel (Tweten,
2005). Listeriolysin, specifically listeriolysin O, is the hemolysin of the Listeria
bacterium responsible for the lyses of phagosomes allowing for bacterial escape from
macrophages and, in turn, resulting in the destruction of phagocytic cells. Similar to
other hemolysins, LLO protects the bacterium itself from destruction during the cellular
escape process and allows for the bacterial replication in the cytosol in which the bacteria
thrives best (Schnupf et al., 2007). The actA protein mediates motility of the bacterium
inside an infected cell. It does so through actin filaments propelling the bacterium
through the cytosol of the cell using cytoskeletal proteins.
Although Listeria has several virulence factors, among all known, secretion of
the hemolysin seems to be crucial for growth of L. monocytogenes in host tissues (Berche
et al., 1988). Without LLO, the bacterium would not be able to cause or spread infection
because transfer of the Listeriolysin O gene into organisms that lack the LLO protein
results in phagosome escape by these organisms (Dramsi et al., 2002). Meaning, LLO is
a virulence factor serving as a critical role in the pathogenicity of Listeria infection.
Actin filaments coat the Listeria cells and reorganize to form polar tails, a confirmation
that seems to be correlated with intracellular movement and intercellular spread (Tilney
4
�et al., 1989). The blood brain barrier, in particular, is mostly composed of nonfenestrated endothelial cells interconnected by tight junctions in contact with astrocyte
processes (De Chiara et al., 2012). Virulence factors associated with Listeria
monocytogenes allows for dissemination of the bacteria throughout the human body,
including crossing of the blood brain barrier, or BBB, inducing damage to the central
nervous system.
Apart from phagocytic internalization, bacterial internalization into a host can
also be mediated through specific surface proteins known as Internalin A (InlA) and
Internalin B (InlB) (Schubert et al., 2002). These internalins are responsible for the entry
into nonphagocytic cells facilitating entry using surface expressing proteins such as
cadherins and the hepatocyte growth factor receptor Met.
Historically, cadherins have been perceived to link cells and to stabilize these
links through interactions with the cytoskeleton. The consequences of such adhesions
can have dramatic effects on tissue stability and morphogenetic processes such as cell
rearrangement, cell migration, tissue formation and the establishment and maintenance of
neural networks (Suzuki et al., 1997). Cadherins can also participate in signaling events
between and within cells that affect differentiation, proliferation and migration (Knudsen
et al., 1998). InlA targets the eukaryotic host surface receptor E-cadherin whose main
function is to ensure adhesion of neighboring epithelial cells. E-cadherin is a vital
calcium-dependent eukaryotic cell-cell adhesion receptor linked to the actin cytoskeleton
that is critical in cell signaling, differentiation, and even diseases like cancer (Steinberg et
al., 1999). However, E-cadherins are not found on many cells, thus InlB has been more
common in cell invasion and bacterial infection through Met. Met acts as a receptor for
Listeria internalin (InlB), mediating entry of the pathogen into cells. It is a receptor
tyrosine kinase that transduces signals from the extracellular matrix into the cytoplasm by
binding to hepatocyte growth factor/ligand (Bonazzi et al. 2009). Met regulates many
physiological processes including proliferation, scattering, morphogenesis and survival.
Ligand binding at the cell surface induces autophosphorylation of MET on its
intracellular domain that provides docking sites for downstream signaling molecules
(Hamon et al. 2006, Bonazzi et al. 2009).
It is known that infection, especially those of intracellular invasion, cause
disruptions of cell functions and can lead to cellular death. Listeria has a particular
capability of invading host cells through its actin filament motility spreading infection
throughout the CNS, essentially disrupting neuronal functions in the brain. A study on the
entry of Listeria into neurons and the cell-to-cell spread indicated that entry of L.
5
�monocytogenes into cultured neurons occurred by cell-to-cell spread from infected
phagocytes J774 macrophages or microglial cells (Drams et al., 1998).
Zebrafish as Research Model
Zebrafish are popular model laboratory animals due to their small size and ease
of care. They were first used for the study of vertebrate development because of their
short development time and characteristic of transparent chorion. Later, zebrafish proved
to be beneficial for the study of vertebrate genetics because of the orthology and high
synteny with mammals that correspond to those of both mice and humans (Sullivan, and
Kim. 2008).
Zebrafish models of human diseases are beneficial because they too have a
functional adaptive immune system along with a similar innate immune system when
compared to other mammals. Macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells are vital to
innate immunity in higher vertebrates and assumably play a similar role in zebrafish.
While macrophages and neutrophils have been characterized to a limited extent, dendritic
cells have yet to be identified (de Jong et al., 2005). Zebrafish offer distinct
immunological advantages because their genes for immunoglobulin and T-cell receptors
are similar to those found in humans. Zebrafish lymphoid tissue can also be examined
easily and potentially manipulated (Yoder et al., 2002). Zebrafish upkeep is also faster,
easier, and more cost effective to model mutations.
Zebrafish are valuable in studying Listeria monocytogenes being recent studies
have indicated that zebrafish have an innate resistance to L. monocytogenes that is higher
than other animals (Yoder et al., 2002). Zebrafish have been observed to have a
resistance with a lethal dose of bacteria twice that of mice; however the fish used in these
studies were kept at 22ºC which would hinder virulence genes in Listeria are accustomed
to a temperature of 37ºC (Levroud et. al. 2009). When fish kept at this temperature are
infected, Listeria shows a high rate of virulence. The mechanisms of Listeria infection
are similar to those found in mammals involving escape from phagosomes and movement
around the cytosol through actin polymerization (Levroud et. al. 2009).
Microglia
As previously mentioned, Listeria mediates intracellularly and inter-cellularly.
Intra/intercellular mediation occurs through the bacterium undergoing a process known as
parasite-directed endocytosis. Parasite-directed endocytosis occurs in phagocytes such as
macrophages, neutrophils, and the brain residing macrophages known as microglia
(McGee et al., 1988). It is essential to understand microglia due to their lead role in brain
infections, being they partake in both brain defense and brain repair. Microglia,
specifically, are the focal phagocytic cells of Listeria in the central nervous system
6
�(Kreutzberg, 1996). They are the resident macrophages of the brain and form through the
differentiation of stem cells to monocytes. These monocytes then travel to the brain and
are able to survive longer compared to other macrophages.
The BBB is composed mainly of non-fenestrated endothelial cells
interconnected by tight junctions in contact with astrocyte processes. The BBB not only
limits the movement of cells and molecules to the brain parenchyma and neurons but also
these cells provide a physical and cellular barrier to the perivascular space by producing a
basement membrane consisting of laminin (De Chiara et al., 2012). The long lasting
survival of microglia is due in particular to the limitations the BBB possesses on new
cells coming in and out of the brain. When infection is present in the brain, there is an
increase in microglial replication. Following infection, the large amount of cellular
damage and apoptosis of cells decreases the amount of microglia back to the baseline
leaving vulnerability of future infection and trauma (Kreutzberg, 1996).
An interesting observation that is sometimes overlooked in neuritic plaques is
the invariable presence of activated microglia. Their presence may be a reactive
phenomena, however, it comprises the basis for the hypothesis that AD is a disease of
excessive inflammation within the brain (Miyakawa et al., 1982). Inflammation enhances
invasion of the CNS as inflammatory molecules released during the systemic infection
activate infected leukocytes. The activated infected leukocytes attach to and invade the
postcapillary venule wall surrounding endothelial and parenchymal basement
membranes, in turn crossing the BBB (De Chiara et al., 2012). Leukocytes are then
further activated by interactions between chemokine receptors expressed on their
membranes and chemokines circulating in the brain.
Neuronal Brain Invasion
Among many neuroinvasive bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes is quite distinctive
in that in vitro and in vivo data suggest it has the potential to invade the CNS by at least
three different mechanisms (Drevets et al., 2004a). The first mechanism includes
parasitized leukocytes through the process of parasite-directed endocytosis mediating
infected phagocytes across the BBB. The second mechanism is in relation to axons of
cranial nerves preceding in retrograde migration. The final mechanism is direct invasion
of extracellular blood-borne pathogens. For example, direct injection into the optic
tenum allows for pathogenic bacteria to travel to the brain directly. Patients with
neurodegenerative and neurobehavioral diseases may have chronic, neuropathic
infections that have potential to be important in disease inception, disease progression, or
increasing the types or severities of signs and symptoms (Nicolson, 2008).
7
�Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's
disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are
characterized by progressive degeneration and loss of specific subsets of neurons,
primarily the pyramidal neurons (Hof, et al., 1990). Pyramidal neurons are found in areas
of the brain including the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus, and the amygdala.
Progressive degeneration of these neurons lead to a decline in brain functions such as
cognition and locomotor control. Neurodegenerative disorders share common features
such as protein aggregation and the formation of inclusion bodies or aggregate deposits
normally consisting of insoluble fibrillar aggregates that contain misfolded protein with
β-sheet conformation (De Chiara et al., 2012).
β-sheets, also known as beta pleated sheets, are the secondary structures of
proteins. A β-pleated sheet is a secondary level of protein structure formed when one or
more strands of a polypeptide align parallel (or antiparallel) to one another and hydrogen
bonds between carbonyl oxygen and amino hydrogen atoms in the peptide backbone form
between the strands. These secondary protein structures are important for tertiary
structure formation and lead to the overall function of the protein. β-sheets become an
important part of fibril formations when pertaining to Aβ disaggregation and bundling of
proteins (Soto et al., 1996). Peptides containing the sequence 1-40 or 1-42 of Aβ and
shorter derivatives can form amyloid-like fibrils in the absence of other proteins (Soto et
al., 1994). Several reports on the matter have indicated that when Aβ aggregates into
amyloid fibrils it can lead to neuronal death (Pike et al., 1993). This indicates that the
potential to form amyloid resides mainly in the structure of Aβ. The results of a recent
study indicate that a short peptide partially homologous to the central hydrophobic region
of Aβ (at residues 17-21), but containing amino acids which prevent the adoption of a βsheet structure binds Aβ (Soto et al., 1996).
Protein aggregation, in particular ubiquitin aggregation, is a hallmark of
neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.
The adapter protein p62 is a common component of these aggregates (Zatloukal et al.,
2002). A recent study has shown that the major virulence toxin of Listeria, LLO, forms
small perinuclear aggregates that accumulates in large autophagosome-like structures and
sequesters to large protein aggregates. The characterization of protein aggregates found
in this study indicated that they not only contained the active form of LLO but also
polyubiquitinated proteins and p62, which are both common components of protein
aggregates found in neurological diseases (Viala et al., 2007). For this reason, a protein
of bacterial origin could potentially follow the same path as a toxic protein associated
with neurodegenerative disease.
8
�Intraneuronal Cytoskeleton Abnormalities
Cytoskeletal abnormalities are made up of mostly paired helical filaments (PHF)
found throughout the cerebral cortex of the brain. For example, Alzheimer’s disease was
first identified as a unique neurological disorder in 1907 by Alois Alzheimer. He
observed the two prominent cerebral hallmarks of the disease to be paired helical
fragments known as neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques (Castellani et al., 2010).
The major protein subunit of PHF is microtubule-associated protein tau present in
abnormally phosphorylated forms (Grundke-Iqbal et al., 1986). In many, if not all, cases
these cytoskeletal abnormalities correlate with the presence of dementia and cell death.
Recent studies have also shown these abnormalities are not solely genetic predispositions.
However, certain invasive infections may also result in helical conformation of proteins.
Cell cycle deregulation in neurons plays a large role in abnormal
neuropathological discoveries, especially those consisting of neurofibrillary tangles, or
NFT, and Aβ. The cell cycle consists of four main phases: G1, S, G2, and M. Most cells
undergo these cycles up to 40–60 times in their life for division and replication (Moh et
al., 2011). However, neurons remain in a nondividing and nonreplicating phase, G0,
once they have matured. Matured neurons are able to initiate entrance into the cell cycle
but can not complete cell division, eventually entering into an apoptotic-type
neurodegeneration (Raina et al., 2001). Neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s
disease (AD) involves dysfunction in neuronal cell cycle reentry, leading to the
development of the two-hit hypothesis of AD (Moh et al., 2011).
Amyloid Beta and Senile Plaques
Data suggests that Amyloid peptides, result from the amyloidogenic proteolytic
cleavage of Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP). APP is a large protein found on the
surface of neurons and is believed to play a role in synapse formation and synaptic
plasticity (Turner, et al., 2003). Normally the enzyme alpha- secretase snips APP and
releases a fragment. A second enzyme, gamma-secretase snips the APP again and
releases additional fragments of amyloid that are thought to benefit neurons. In
neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Alzheimer’s disease, the first cut of APP is often
cleaved by another enzyme known as Beta-secretase (Alzheimer’s Universal, 2010). The
cleavage of APP through Beta-secretase along with the second cut through gammasecretase results in the release of short fragments of APP known as beta-amyloid. These
fragments come together to form toxic senile plaques disrupting the function of neurons.
As more fragments are added, oligomers increase in size and become insoluble
eventually forming beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques (Alzheimer’s Universal, 2010).
9
�Cleavage occurs through APP secretase enzymes β- and γ- and suggests that Aβ
accumulation is a result of the imbalance of Aβ production and Aβ clearance (De Chiara
et al., 2012). The Aβ peptide seen as the main component of senile plaques is an
extracellular amyloid deposit made of a 39 to 43 amino acid peptides part of which forms
from the hydrophobic transmembrane domain in the COOH (C) terminal of APP
(Boutajangout et al., 2003). In other words, senile plaque formation is a product of Aβ
undergoing a cleavage process producing Aβ peptide fragments that cannot be disposed
properly. These Aβ fragments are usually small fragments of amyloid known as Aβ1-40
and Aβ1-42.
Senile plaques are known to have Aβ filaments radiating as bundles from the
center composed of 6-10 nm long fibrils. Accumulation of senile plaques in association
with Aβ results in severe cell loss or cell death. It is still unclear how Aβ causes neuronal
loss and tangle formation. However, the peptide is known to disrupt calcium homeostasis
and increase intraneuronal calcium concentration (Hardy, et al., 1992). It is important to
note, Aβ deposits in the form of senile plaques are not limited to AD and are also found
in several other conditions such as Down syndrome, dementia pugilistica, diffuse Lewy
body disease, acute traumatic brain injury, as well as in normal aging of humans and
other higher mammals such as the beagle (Selkoe et al., 1987).
Neurofibrillary Tangles
Neurofibrillary tangles are made of bundles of abnormal filaments called paired
helical filaments (PHF), found in neurons and in dystrophic neurites associated to βamyloid deposits (Boutajangout et al., 2003). The dystrophic neurites refer to entangled
cell body projections of neurons. The projections can either be the axon body or the
dendrites. The term “neurite” usually refers to immature developing neurons and it is the
developing neurites that become entrapped and disrupted in NFT or amyloid plaque build
up (Flynn, 2013). The paired helical fragments are known to be formed through
hyperphosphorylated tau proteins. Hyperphosphorylation of tau protein disrupts the
binding of tau protein onto the microtubule, resulting in the formation of neurofibrillary
tangles (Grundke-Iqbal et al., 1986). During neurodegeneration, tau is abnormally
phosphorylated at proline directed serine/threonine phosphorylation sites (Castellani et
al., 2010).
Extra phosphates change the tertiary structure of tau being they carry a very
negative charge. The conformational change of the tau no longer allows for tau to bind to
microtubules, rather, leaving the tau protein to bind to themselves. When tau binds to
itself, it leads to the breaking down and destabilization of microtubules. Destabilization
10
�of tau protein aggregates tau causing helical pairing choking the cell (Grundke-Iqbal et
al., 1986).
NFT first develop in the hippocampus of the brain which is essential for
memory and learning. They then reach the whole brain following a centrifugal
movement causing atrophy (LECMA Vaincre Alzheimer’s, 2013). Within neurons with
a pyramidal shape to the perikaryon, NFTs are parallel, thickened fibrils that surround the
nucleus and extend towards apical dendrites. When NFTs are seen in a more rounded
neuron, they appear as interweaving swirls of fibers called a globoid neurofibrillary
tangle (Perl, 2010). In comparison to Aβ, NFT are not restricted to AD. They are also
found in association with a variety of other conditions including post-encephalic PD,
Parkinsonian dementia complex of Guam, Down syndrome, progressive supranuclear
palsy, corticobasal degeneration, dementia pugilistica as well as normal aging (Selkoe et
al., 1987).
Gallyas Silver Stain
The Gallyas staining method was first developed in 1971 by Ferenc Gallyas to
further investigate neuropathological complications. In Gallyas silver staining techniques
a specific mordant is used to generate silver nucleation sites on PHF or β-amyloid.
Classically defined, mordants are generally ions such as metal ions or halide ions, but can
be any molecule that serves the purpose of holding down a dye (Nguyen, 2016). The
nucleation sites are increased in size up to microscopic dimensions by a physical
developer containing silver nitrate, and a reducing agent (paraformaldehyde) in the
presence of a protecting colloid, in this case, tungstosilicic acid (Iqbal et al., 1993).
Gallyas silver stain is less expensive compared to other immunohistochemical techniques
and is easy to perform in lower level laboratory settings. Neurofibrillary tangles, plaques
neurites, and neuropil threads will be seen as black under microscopic view and any
nuclei present will be indicated as red using Gallyas method of staining.
Objectives
The objective of this research study was to test the effect of Listeria
monocytogenes infection and its role in neurodegeneration of brain tissue and build up of
both amyloid beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The Gallyas silver staining
technique was used to detect both neuropathological abnormalities.
11
�II. Materials and Methods
Organisms
Adult zebrafish were obtained from Arcadia Pets in Staten Island, New York
and maintained in a 10-gallon aquarium at Wagner College. The tank was maintained
daily for proper filtration as well a both day and night lighting cycles at 27°C. The
zebrafish were also fed daily with flake fish food.
Surgical Procedure
All surgical techniques were carried out using aseptic conditions and treating all
tools with 70% ethanol or isopropanol as a sterile disinfectant to minimize bacterial
infection and/or contamination. All fish were anesthetized prior to surgery using a 4%
tricaine solution in 200 mL of dH2O.
Each zebrafish was surgically injected through the optic tectum of the eye with
0.1mL of cultured L. monocytogenes resuspended in zebrafish buffer. The injections
were performed using a tuberculin syringe under a light microscope for a greater
injection accuracy. The fish were then placed back into the 10 gallon aquarium until their
next surgery performed at the following specific time points: one day, four days, and
seven days. At each of these time points, the brains of four fish were extracted to proceed
to the next step of the experiment.
The brains of the fish were removed using fine-tipped forceps, a micro scalpel,
and a razor blade. Prior to brain extraction, the skullcap was opened and removed. The
optic nerves were severed to ensure that separation of the brain from the cranial cavity
was properly executed. Following brain extraction, three of four successfully extracted
brains were placed in 4% paraformaldehyde until all time points were completed. The
one remaining brain was crushed and placed on Oxford media, incubated for 48 hours,
and reviewed to ensure proper execution of Listeria monocytogenes infection in the brain.
The remaining three brains were extracted and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde. They were
then cut into three similarly sized pieces in preparation for silver staining. Smaller sized
brain sections allowed for a more clear and defined staining.
Oxford Media:
Oxoid™ Listeria Selective Agar (Oxford medium) was used for the detection
and isolation of possible Listeria infection in the brains of the Zebrafish following
injection. One of four fish brains from each time trial was taken, crushed, and inoculated
onto the Oxford medium. Plates were then incubated at 35°C for 48 h. Upon
observation, black zones shown on the agar indicated the presence of L. monocytogenes,
12
�as seen in Figures 1, 2 and 3, and allowed for continuation of further experimental
procedures.
Gallyas Silver Stain
The Gallyas silver stain is a neuropathology method used to determine the
detection of NFT and Aϐ plaques. All glassware was acid washed prior to any
introduction of solution or brain tissue. No metallic objects were to be used in this
procedure, only plastic and glass. Chemicals used to make each solution were obtained
from Sigma-Aldrich. After fixation, samples are immersed in distilled water, then placed
in 5% periodic acid for five minutes. The samples were then washed in distilled water
twice for five minutes each and placed in alkaline silver iodide solution for one minute.
The silver iodide binds to degenerated neurofibrils under alkaline conditions in this
reaction. Alkaline silver iodide solution was made in the laboratory. Table 1 includes all
chemicals used to make the alkaline silver iodide solution used in this experiment.
dH2O
Sodium Hydroxide
Potassium Iodide
1% Silver Nitrate
dH2O
50mL
4g
10g
3.5 mL
Amount to final volume of 100mL
Table 1: Alkaline Silver Iodide Solution
The samples were washed in 0.5% acetic acid for 10 minutes (or 3 x 3 min
each). The acetic acid served as a reducing agent in which the iodide atoms were
released leaving behind silver particles. (Kuninaka, et al., 2015). The acetic acid solution
was also made in the laboratory and Table 2 lists all chemicals included in the making of
the solution. The samples were then placed in developer solution for 20-30 minutes. The
developer solution contains three parts of Stock Solution II, added to 10 parts of Stock
Solution I, which were together added to seven parts of Stock Solution III. Developer
solution aids in the visualization of silver particles when proceeding to the observation
steps (Kuninaka et al., 2015). Formation of stock solutions I, II, and III are listed in
Tables 3, 4, and 5 accordingly.
Acetic Acid
dH2O
0.005mL or 5uL
100mL
Table 2: 0.5% Acetic Acid Solution
13
�Sodium Carbonate (anhydrous)
dH2O
5g
100mL
Table 3: Stock Solution I
Ammonium Nitrate
Silver Nitrate
Tungstosilicic Acid
dH2O
0.2g
0.2g
1g
100mL
Table 4: Stock Solution II
Ammonium Nitrate
Silver Nitrate
Tungstosilicic Acid
Formaldehyde (neat)
dH2O
0.2g
0.2g
1g
0.73 mL ~ 730 μL
100mL
Table 5: Stock Solution III
The samples were washed in 0.5% acetic acid for a total of three minutes (or 3x
at 1 min each) to remove any remaining iodide atoms, then placed in distilled H2O for
five minutes. Next samples were placed in 0.1% gold chloride (refer to Table 6) for five
minutes to enhance the silver coloration. After another brief distilled H2O rinse, the
samples were placed in 1% sodium thiosulfate for five minutes, which acted as a stopping
solution and rid of reducible salts. The thiosulphate releases any iodide atoms left at this
stage. The chemical makeup of sodium thiosulphate is exhibited in Table 7 below. Once
placed in the thiosulfate, the samples were rinsed with tap water and counterstained in
0.1% Nuclear Fast Red (see Table 8) solution for two minutes then washed again with tap
water.
Gold Chloride
dH2O
0.5g
100mL
Table 6: 0.1% Gold Chloride
Sodium Thiosulphate
dH2O
0.01g
100mL
Table 7: 1% Sodium Thiosulphate Solution (“Hypo”)
14
�Aluminum Sulphate
dH2O
Nuclear Fast Red
2.5g
100mL
0.1mL
Table 8: 0.1% Nuclear Fast Red in 2.5% Aluminum Sulphate
Samples were dehydrated through increasing ethanol series (70%, 80%, 95%,
and 100%) consecutively for three minutes each, and cleared with two changes of xylene
solutions at two minutes each. For preservation, each stained brain sample was placed in
an Eppendorf tube of 100% absolute alcohol until tissue embedment in Spurr Resin.
Tissue Embedding
The resin used was a four-component composite resin known as Spurr resin.
This resin results in a plastic type embedment rather than a wax type embedment. The
Spurr resin was mixed with alcohol to make the spurr viscous to allow the resin to enter
the tissues.
Resin embedment was performed as follows: For two hours, samples were
placed in a 25 to 75 percent Spurr Resin-Alcohol solution. After two hours, the samples
were placed in a 50 to 50 percent Spurr Resin-Alcohol solution overnight. Samples were
taken after 24 hours and placed in a 100 percent Spurr Resin embedment solution for a
full weekend period of approximately 48 h.
Tissue Sectioning
Thin sections were made at a 0.5 μm thickness using a Reichut OMU-2
ultramicrotome and sectioned with glass knifes. Each section was removed from a “glass
boat” filled with distilled H2O using a fine tip brush and placed on glass slides. Next,
each slide was placed on a hot plate to adhere the sections onto the glass and dry out
excess water. Samples were analyzed using a BX40 Olympus light microscope equipped
with a motic digital camera and its supported software. Following digital imaging, the
final images were put together using an adobe photo shop program and observed.
III. Results
Listeria monocytogenes was the bacterium of choice, specifically, for its ability to propel
itself into the cells of its hosts. Intracellular involvement increased the chance of cellular
damage because penetration of cells leads to intercellular dissemination and cellular
damage. The figure at the top of the next page exhibits the presence of the Listeria
monocytogenes bacteria within the brains of the zebrafish. The presence of infection
supported the idea that neurological degeneration most likely would occur due to
15
�disruption of normal neuronal functioning in the brains of the zebrafish. On the far left,
the figure shows 24 hour brain of zebrafish injected with Listeria monocytogenes and
plated on Oxford medium. The middle figure shows the 96 hour brain of zebrafish
injected with Listeria monocytogenes and plated on Oxford medium. The figure of the
far right shows the seven day brain of zebrafish injected with Listeria monocytogenes and
plated on Oxford medium.
The sections of the day one samples show NFT that are indicated by the arrows
present in the brain tissue of zebrafish. No amyloid plaques are seen in any samples
taken from the first day. The neurofibrillary tangles shown here are seen throughout the
cytoplasm of the tissues and on the peripherals of the cells. The presence of NFT in day
one samples shows that the Listeria infection of just 24 hours caused enough damage to
the neurons of the zebrafish leading to bundles of paired helical fragments and tau
hyperphosphorylation.
Day four samples also show a presence of NFT seen throughout the cytoplasm
of the brain tissues. Similar to the day one samples, Aβ plaques were not seen in the
16
�sections taken from the four day brain samples of zebrafish. The NFT in day four
samples are indicated by the arrows and are shown in a larger abundance compared to
those of the day one samples.
The samples taken from day seven showed the greatest amount of NFT in the
perikaryal cytoplasm and surrounding the peripherals of the cell. For the most part,
observation of the seven day brain tissues supports the correlation between infection and
neuropathological abnormalities. Comparing the seven day samples to those of day four
as well as those from day one shows that as infection progresses so does cellular damage.
The cellular damage intensifies the formation of neurofibrillary tangles seen in the cells
of the infected brain cells.
17
�IV. Discussion
Presence of Listeria monocytogenes in the Brains of Zebrafish
The pathogenesis of Listeria monocytogenes in neurons is possible because of
Listeria monocytogenes’ intracellular invasive properties. Intracellular pathogens, like
Listeria, can be transported across the blood-brain barrier within phagocytes, enter
neurons through direct invasion from the blood, or migrate from nerve-nerve or neuronneuron thorough actin filament mobilization. In this study, zebrafish were injected with
Listeria monocytogenes through the optic tectum to induce a CNS response. Zebrafish
are valuable in studying Listeria monocytogenes because recent studies indicated that
zebrafish have an innate resistance to L. monocytogenes higher than that of other animals.
The reasoning behind direct injection was to elicit a brain infection and spark
neurological degeneration of the zebrafish brain tissues. Virulence genes of Listeria are
accustomed to a temperature of 37ºC. When fish kept at this temperature are infected,
Listeria shows a high rate of virulence. In this study, all fish infected with Listeria were
kept at approximately the same temperature to hopefully obtain the same response and
rate of virulence.
Immune Response and Further Infection
Listeria monocytogenes has been especially studied as a model pathogen for
both innate and adaptive immune responses to intracellular infection as well as bacterial
entry and survival within mammalian host cells (Cossart P, 2007). Listeria, as previously
noted, has the utmost capability of crossing the BBB invading the CNS. Infections of the
central nervous system, especially those characterized by a chronic progressive course,
may produce multiple damage in infected and neighboring cells. The activation of
inflammatory processes and host immune responses cause chronic damage resulting in
alterations of neuronal function and viability, but different pathogens can also directly
trigger neurotoxic pathways (De Chiara, 2012). Inflammation enhances this invasion of
the CNS because inflammatory molecules released during the systemic infection activate
infected leukocytes, which in turn attach to and invade the postcapillary venule wall
surrounding endothelial and parenchymal basement membranes and crossing the BBB
(De Chiara, 2012). Although activation of the host immune response in an attempt to
eradicate the pathogen may significantly contribute to produce neuronal damage,
different pathogens and/or their products may directly induce long-term degenerative
effects, such as the deposit of misfolded protein aggregates, increased levels of oxidative
stress, deficient autophagic processes, synaptopathies and neuronal death (Kristensson
2011). Further studies on the relationship between recovering zebrafish compared with
18
�newly infected zebrafish could be performed to see if NFT formation decreases or
continues to get worse even after treatment is being administered aside from the natural
immune response. If studies show that immune responses could possibly make infection
worse, there could be a possibility that an antimicrobial agent reduces the risk of
furthering infection and NFT formation in neurons.
Staining Neuropathological Abnormalities
Neuropathological diagnosis of brain abnormalities is identified through
histological examination of brain tissue (Perl, 2010). Brain abnormalities having distinct
contributions to neurological degeneration are considered neurofibrillary tangles (NFT)
and amyloid beta plaques (Aβ). Ordinary morphological staining techniques are usually
not used for the identification of NFT or Aβ. General staining techniques are not specific
to NFT or Aβ abnormalities therefore, they are left with staining a large variety of
unwanted morphological structures. Using the Gallyas staining procedure normal
structures are not stained in the process. This method uses silver ions along with
reducing agents that quickly react together to mediate specific attachment onto the target
tissues containing plaques and NFT (Uchihara, 2007). Gallyas silver staining technique
was performed for the conduction of this research study followed by ultra-microtome
sectioning and observation of brain tissues under a digital light microscope in search for
NFT and Aβ.
Abundance of NFT
A major contributing factor to Aβ plaque formation are neurons reentering into
the cell cycle resulting in an overload of Aβ later leading to plaque buildup. In other
words, senile plaque formation is a product of Aβ undergoing a cleavage process
producing Aβ peptide fragments that are not intact and therefore cannot be disposed
properly. Upon observation, no Aβ were present but a large number of NFT were present
in all tissue samples. NFTs are seen as black, abnormal fibrous inclusions within the
perikaryal cytoplasm of neurons seen in figures one, two, and three in the results section.
The abundance of NFT suggest that infection can in fact lead to paired helical
fragmentation of brain cells. The lack of Aβ plaque could be a result from the short
amount of time each brain was extracted from the infected zebrafish. Further studies
could use longer time periods as compared to a maximum of 7 days to allow infection to
settle in longer. NFT were indicated as black zones around the peripherals of the tissues
as well as lighter yellow/brown bundles in the actual tissue.
19
�Future Research
Additional research should be completed for further accuracy of the results
obtained. In addition to longer time periods, more trials of the overall experiment should
be completed to support the results obtained. Regenerating tissues were also not of
concern in this experiment. Further research should take into account the regenerating
tissue throughout the different time periods to see if there is a possibility that when
tissues regenerate there is a decrease in beta-amyloid and NFT. Another area to be
explored is whether or not there is a decrease in Aβ and NFT when infection is being
treated. The highlight of this experiment was to investigate the effect of infection on
brain cells. Results supported that infection can lead to the formation of both Aβ and
NFT. However, no further research was conducted to see the effect of infection on brain
cells followed by the introduction of a therapeutic agent. Another interesting area to be
researched is whether or not there is a possibility that after a therapeutic agent has been
introduced, and infection begins to heal, that there a decrease in Aβ and NFT. In
addition, different staining techniques for Aβ and NFT could be performed and compared
to the Gallyas silver stain to see how results may differ, whether it being positive or
negative.
V. Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I would like to thank my family for never once doubting me
throughout this whole process. They have been my backbone throughout this time and I
can never thank them enough for giving me that little extra push whenever I needed it. I
especially thank Dr. Christopher Corbo for all he has done for me. He has been my
greatest motivation and most admired mentor. Working alongside him has been a true
honor. I also would like to thank the Department of Biological Sciences at Wagner
College for granting me the privilege to do this work.
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25
����Access Rewired: Telecommunication
Liberalization in Developing Nations
Leslie Lopez (International Affairs and English)1
This paper will explore the competing rationales over the benefit of telecommunication
liberalization on LDCs or developing nations. The paper will first provide background on
the field of telecommunications and define liberalization. Following this background will
ensue an exploration of expected push factors and shortcomings of liberalization. In an
effort to test these opinions and come to a conclusion, the paper will also reference my
two case studies on Africa’s Ghana and South Asia’s Bangladesh, which are lesserdeveloped countries that chose to adopt telecom liberalization. Additionally, concluding
statements will focus on drawing final determinations on telecom liberalizations benefit
on developing nations and provide potential policies for developing telecom markets.
I. Introduction
As our world becomes increasingly more globalized, the pressure to become
readily interconnected continues to surge. In consequence, the liberalization of the
telecommunications sector has become an increasingly popular form of policy reform
among nations. However, this interest is not singular to Western developed nations such
as the United States and the United Kingdom as many lesser-developed countries (LDCs)
are developing into increasingly crucial parts of this broader economic reform initiated by
the World Trade Organization (WTO) on February 5, 1998 (Bodamer, Pirie, Addy-Nayo.
2005 p.538). The Agreement on Basic Telecommunication (ABT) was considered the
first “major accomplishment” by the WTO as sixty-nine governments, which included
over 40 LDCs and represented “over 90% the world’s basic telecommunications
revenues,” made the landmark decision to formulate a commitment to provide market
access or liberalize their basic telecommunications service (Bressie, Kende, and
Williams, 2005, p.4). This decision exemplified the trend of LDCs pursuing liberalizing
policy reform and a warm welcoming of an interconnected and globalized
telecommunication market.
Still evident today, developing nations such as Myanmar, Asia’s least-developed
telecom market, are forming lucrative telecom hubs for investors and are becoming
Written under the direction of Dr. Abraham Unger in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
1
29
�subjects for liberalizing policy reform that intends to turn these nations into the world’s
fastest growing telecom sites (Heinrich 2014). On one hand, these developing nations
have the potential to turn into newly industrialized countries that can provide a
competitive network for development, productivity, and even counter the negative effects
of “lack of access,” which can undermine social stability. However, this tech revolution
can also contribute to our ever-expanding development gap, as unwired nations and poor
inhabitants are unable to sustain or achieve the economic development opportunities that
stem from telecommunication liberalization. Therefore, these competing rationales serve
as the basis for the focus of this paper as this study seeks to examine whether
telecommunication liberalization benefits developing nations by detailing the effects of
access on nations.
In an effort to survey this question, this paper will first provide background on
the field of telecommunications and define liberalization. Secondly, it will introduce
potential origins of motivation for the adoption of liberalization. Next, it will introduce
expected possible positive and negative effects of telecommunication liberalization.
Additionally, I will present my methods of observations. Lastly, the paper will conclude
with a case study of two developing nations from the Africa and South Asia, respectively.
Ultimately, the essay should provide a fair guide into the factors that contribute to either a
damaging or constructive use of telecommunication liberalization.
II. Literature Review
The telecommunication sector has greatly reshaped infrastructure industries
worldwide by “allowing new market configurations and institutions to emerge.” (Gasmi,
Vitro, 2008 pp. 275). However, as communication technology has developed, so has the
need for new forms of policy and regulation. As a result, there is now an accumulation of
literature analyzing telecommunication reforms, such as telecom liberalization by
analyzing privatization, competition, universal service, and their impact on the
development of nations. Prominent scholars leading this field of discussion include,
Agustin J. Ros (1999), George R.G. Clarke and Scott J. Wallsten (2002), as well as Wei
Li and Lixin Colin Xu (2002). Beginning with Ros, his study is considered “the first
empirical work on the impact of privatization and competition” as his data covers the
onset of telecom reform spanning from 1988 through 1995 (Garbacz and Thompson,
2007 p.277). His study concludes that privatization is crucial to the expansion of mainline
networks and suggests that competition does not affect network expansion. However, he
acknowledges that competition does positively affect efficiency, which “increases
technical innovation and the likelihood that these technological advances may lead to
30
�new and lower cost technologies to expand network[s]” (Ros 1999, pp. 72). In regard to
developing countries, he believes their telecom systems suffer from “numerous
deficiencies” such as an “unmet demand for basic services, lack of advanced services
needed by the private sector, poor service quality, low productivity, and having revenues
diverted to other sectors of the economy,” hindering their potential for growth (65). Ros
holds some skepticism toward the idea of liberalization alone being able to contribute to
developing nations’ development.
Similarly, scholars George R.G. Clarke and Scott J. Wallsten, “argue[d] that
universal service for the poor in developing countries is generally ineffective” (Garbacz
and Thompson, 2007 pp. 279). They believe the expectation that telecom liberalization
will reduce prices for public through competition is not enough, “to ensure [the] full
coverage of vulnerable groups,” such as those living in rural or very low-income
households (Clarke and Wallsten, 2002 pp.13). Additionally, they introduce the need for
regulation and an effective distribution system to finance universal service if it is truly a
goal of public policy. Lastly, Wei Li and Lixin Colin Xu suggest privatization and
competition, “are important factors to the development and expansion of both fixed and
mobile telecommunications” (Garbacz and Thompson, 2007 pp. 277). Unlike Ros, they
do recognize competition makes some contribution to growth. However, they also cite,
“less efficient modes of governance,” as a, “bottleneck for growth,” for the progression of
developing countries (Li and Xu, 2002 p.25). Ultimately, these studies highlight
skepticism and uncertainty regarding the contribution of telecommunication
liberalization, since the onset of competition and privatization alone may not prove
largely beneficial to the entirety of developing countries’ population. This makes proving
the benefits of telecom liberalization benefits increasingly difficult. Thus, there is a need
to test its benefit through an improved understanding of telecommunication, and its
motivations, drawbacks, and reported effects.
What is Telecommunication?
When we think of telecommunication today, we often associate it with big
business. In the United States alone, “110 million households have telephones,” there are
“170 million mobile subscribers,” and “50% of total households in the U.S. have Internet
access” (Freeman, 2005 p. 1). Nevertheless, defining this business garners far more
confusion as it consistently redefines itself with the development of technology. An
evolving definition, it is consistently grounded in implying, “communication at a
distance,” but its method of communication can no longer be restricted to telephones,
telegraphs, radio or television as it was in the past (Freeman, 2005 p.20).
Telecommunication now encompasses all media including voice, data, and image,
31
�therefore, calling for redefining of telecommunications as a “suite of technologies,
devices, equipment, facilities, networks, and applications that support communication at a
distance” (Lucky, R.Q, Eisenberg, J., National Research Council. 2006, pp.6). In other
words, the definition of telecommunications is rather subjective and can affect the daily
lives of most people and industries as it encompasses multiple service providers ranging
from “telephone companies, cable system operators, Internet service providers, wireless
carries, and satellite operators” (Lucky, R.Q, Eisenberg, J., National Research Council.
2006, p.7).
Consequently, over the years, telecommunication has become increasingly more
crucial to individuals, businesses, industries, and nations. As it becomes an enabler for
productivity and development, it provides growth not only in its own industry as the
broadness of communication’s range strengthens telecommunication’s impact. As a
result, industries are able to profit off of key benefits of telecommunications by
constructing “technological foundations for societal communications,” and “enabl[ing]
participation and communication,”while “provid[ing] vital infrastructure for national
security” (Lucky, R.Q, Eisenberg, J., National Research Council., 2006, pp.8).
Telecommunications has become engrained in our fundamental societal operations as
communication plays a role in business, government, and even our individual
relationships. A lack of access can enable or disable participation and development of
these forms of community, which can in turn hinder social stability, the economy, and
even security. Thus, knowing who has control of this “access,” becomes imperative to
understanding who benefits from telecommunications’ economic and technological
impact. Who has control over telecommunication access can be divided into the
categories of “state-run monopolies, privatization, and lastly liberalization” (RattoNielsen 2004 p.400).
What is Liberalization?
Telecom liberalization as a concept originated from the WTO’s negotiations
concerning telecommunications, which lasted from 1986 to 1998, and culminated in the
Agreement on Basic Telecommunications (Bodammer, Pirie, and Addy-Nayo 2005 pp.
538). Telecommunications liberalization is the introduction of “competition into the
[nation’s] telecom sector,” in order to compete for consumer demand (Sebban and Abu
Ghazaleh 2007 p.9). It is a policy reform in which a nation’s government allows
commercial enterprises (i.e. AT&T) to construct telecom businesses in their nation under
the condition that they conform to certain regulations defined by the government and
trade agreements. The adoption of liberalization marked a turning point as nations
diverted away from the historical strategy of state-run monopolies in which governments
32
�operated as a, “policy-maker[s], regulator[s], and operator[s]” (Lucky, R.Q, Eisenberg, J.,
National Research Council. 2006, p.9). The accepted perspective of the telecom sector as
a “natural monopoly” began to wean among governments.
More increasingly, governments began feeling the monopolist tradition was less
likely to incentivize investors to introduce new technologies and services due to it
increasing operational cost and risk. Fearing inaccessibility to the developing telecom
market, developed and developing nations alike abandoned their state-run monopolies for
access into this informational and industrial global society. Ultimately, the goal of
liberalization is to assist in the development of a free market, in which nations embrace a
decrease in government intervention and state regulated prices.
In consequence, the increased competition was expected to attract investors to
nations. However, the change also implied a complete restructuring of the regulatory
framework of a sector of a nation’s trade, which thoroughly complicates the
understanding of who benefits as the terms of the agreement are not set by individual
governments, but by international treaties in which more than domestic interests are at
play. Therefore, national development through access provided by liberalization is not
always the explicit motivator for LDCs to liberalize. This deduction insinuates a need for
understanding telecom liberalization’s regulatory framework and prompts the question,
“what motivates an adoption of telecom liberalization?”
III. Motivations for Telecommunication Liberalization
Broad motivators for telecommunication liberalization include aspects such as
membership into the global trading system (GATS) and universal access, which
ultimately contribute to assimilation into the globalized economy. Considering its
essentiality to transnational business, internationalization of services has become central
to economic globalization. In other words, the rising importance of “services,”
specifically, telecommunications has created a need for establishing global links (e.g.
universal access, global trading system member) and liberalization is perceived as a
means to achieve these benefits.
GATS
Beginning with membership, it is telecommunication liberalization’s regulatory
framework that allows a nation access into the global trading system. Governments
operating under telecom liberalization have regulatory framework adhering to
commitments made in an international trade treaty agreement. More specifically, the
framework is set by the General Agreements on Trade in Services (GATS) under which
the WTO’s 1997 ABT was made (Bhyuiyan, Shafiul Alam A.J.M., 2004 p. 270). The
33
�GATS consists of a framework agreement and commitments that cover four modes of
international delivery of services, which include, “cross-border supply (international
telephony), consumption abroad (tourism), commercial presence (provision of services
abroad through a branch, agency, or subsidiary), and the presence of natural persons
(entry and temporary stay of foreign individuals necessary to supply a service)” (Primo
Braga, 1997, p.2). As they adopt an unconditional MFN treatment, in which all members
agree to treat each other favorably, commit to transparency, and make trade regulations
or laws accessible as countries that agree to GATS embrace trade that is
nondiscriminatory and holds fewer restriction. In essence, national treatment and market
access are obligations under the GATS that apply to specific service industries and
activities such as the treatment of telecommunications under ABT.
Under ABT, telecommunications service commitments concerned themselves
with providing basic services and value added services. Participating developing and
developed countries committed to pro-competition, regulatory principles with underlying,
“unconditional MFN” mechanisms deriving from GATS legal obligations such as,
“market access, most-favored nation treatment…[as well as] the reference paper
commitments to an independent regulator, regulation of anticompetitive conduct as well
as interconnection, and finally liberalization” (Bressie, Kende, and Williams, 2005, p.9).
In other words, the outcome of countries embracing “regulated” competition in which
they became members of a multilateral system, the establishment of telecom services
abroad, and to a degree standardized the process.
Universal Access
The concept of universal access is becoming heavily integrated in the telecom
policies of developing countries. For instance, increasingly influential, telephony has
become a crucial infrastructure, as it is seen as, “supporting human freedom, enabling
economic development, and increasing people’s organizing power,” which in turn causes
a demand for universal access due to telecommunications importance in social and
economic life (Bhyuiyan, Alam Shafiul A.J.M. 2004 p. 269). Universal access by
definition involves, “widespread availability of telecoms or ICT services” or simply
providing access to telecommunications for everyone in society (Sebban and Abu
Ghazaleh 2007 p.22). However, universal access’ very definition becomes increasingly
complex because determining which forms of telecommunication’s access should be
facilitated is subjective to the terms and conditions of the country.
For instance, in the case of developed countries such as the United States and
United Kingdom, universal access is acknowledged as expanding access beyond basic
telephony for more advanced telecom services, such as the internet. In contrast, for many
34
�developing countries universal access entails “everyone, at home or at the office, should
be within a reasonable distance of telephone,” which is something many of these
countries have yet to achieve (Bhyuiyan, Alam Shafiul A.J.M. 2004 p. 270). Likewise,
for some nations, such as Bangladesh, universal access may entail expanding the goal of
providing basic telephony to also adopt a value-added system, which makes telephone
access as well other services such as email, voicemail, and cell phones more affordable.
For good reason, these goals have led to a push for facilitating universal access, making it
a decisive factor in nation’s decision to liberalize their telecommunication markets.
However, what can all be inferred by the unstable definition of universal access,
is that there are several factors that could potentially hinder or prevent a nation from
achieving their goals and benefit from universal access. Ultimately, this uncertainty
makes determining the benefit of telecommunication liberalization for developing
countries increasingly more intricate, but also interesting. In an effort to provide further
reasoning for developing nations turning to telecom liberalization, the following sections
will introduce expected benefits, challenges and the methodology, which will be used to
analyze the telecom liberalization case studies.
IV. Benefits and Challenges of Telecom Liberalization
Telecom reform is linked to expected benefits such as the development of a
nation’s economy on the macro and microeconomic level. On a macro level, telecom
liberalization is believed to attract new investment to the country, which leads to
increased competition. In turn, this new investment and competition leads to an
upgrading of national infrastructure as the investors attempt to construct telecom sectors
in the country. Sites of new profit, the newly constructed telecom sectors further entice
investors as sites with untapped potential capital.
If successful, a nation can legitimize and integrate itself as a player in the
increasingly global market place. In consequence, the macro-economic benefits soon
impact national or micro-economic interests, as the new telecom industry create jobs for
locals in these new telecom industries. The improving national efficiency is then
expected to assist in making universal access a viable possibility. Ultimately, the
universal access alongside new competition, a result of telecom liberalization, allows for
improved “services, pricing, and choice” as well as service variety for communities.
(Sebban and Abu Ghazaleh 2007 p.11). To sum it up best, the improved telecom system
prompted by liberalization create an improved connotation for investors that a nation is
secure, developed, and ultimately connected and these new investors are expected to
prompt new infrastructure, prices, and services intended to benefit citizens who make up
35
�the domestic economy.
Nonetheless, there challenges are to telecom liberalization in the context of
developing nations, which is largely due to their poor macroeconomic conditions.
Featuring “poor infrastructures, weak economic conditions, and inefficient institutions
inherited from pre-reforms era,” the effectiveness of telecom liberalization on developing
nations is quite erratic (Gasmi and Recuero Vitro 2009 pp. 275). Likewise, political
accountability is also a place of concern as market outcomes and industry performance
are tied to their lawfulness and policies. Referencing scholars Farid Gasmi and Laura
Recuero Vitro, they comment, “Corruption engrained in the political system and lack of
democracy substantially weaken the efficiency of institutional rules [, while]…high debt
service and inefficient taxation worsen the financial situation” (276). Unlike developed
nations, the infrastructure of these nations is not yet fully established making the
integration of liberalization reforms and the success of telecom sectors more complicated.
Another complication is the wealth gaps in terms of telecommunication access
between “rich and poor as well as urban and rural areas” (Bhyuiyan, Shafiul Alam
A.J.M., 2004 pp. 270). An issue of distribution, the low economic conditions of a nation
limit access to a select few, more specifically, the wealthy being that the poor cannot
afford to spend on these services. For instance, scholars Wellnius and Stern concluded,
“in 1980s the total unmet demand was 30 to 49 million lines in the developing world”
(Bhyuiyan, Shafiul Alam A.J.M., 2004 p. 271). Due to insufficient infrastructure, there is
an increased unmet demand consisting mainly of the poorer citizens. The lack of
infrastructure also leads to the establishment of telecom services being centralized to
wealthier, more metropolitan areas, which in 1996 alone, the “ITU estimates that of the
total telephone users in developing countries...77% were urban and 23% rural”
(Bhyuiyan, Shafiul Alam A.J.M., 2004 p. 272). In turn, these factors exempt rural and
poorer communities from inclusion, which can contribute to a greater divide between the
rich and poor by creating an information gap in which the poor remain disconnected and
illiterate to these technological resources. Evidently, when compared with developed
countries the establishment of telecom liberalization in developing countries is riddled
with hindrances that can undermine its benefit to the nation as a whole and potentially
further isolate populations rather than provide access. However, if telecom liberalization
is successful a developing nation can gain access into the global market as well as allow
citizens to benefit from more affordable and diverse services. Thus, this juxtaposition
becomes the basis for my reasoning to create a methodology to come to a conclusion on
telecom liberalization’s benefit for developing countries.
36
�V. Methodology
In an effort to reach a conclusion, the case studies on Ghana and Bangladesh
will be analyzed through a comparison of the respective nation’s changes in tele-density
(access and competition), infrastructure (direct investment), and GDP (domestic
economy) prior to and after liberalization. Tele-density will operate as a measure of
access and competition by working as an indication of telecom sector’s pressure as well
as present the nation’s proximity to universal access or an increasing unmet demand.
Tele-density will also serve as a measure of testing whether the increased competition
actually does contribute to lower prices and consequently, greater access. An analysis of
infrastructure provides a means to measure the impact of foreign direct investment by
studying the rise or fall of private and public investment following telecom liberalization.
Much literature, like the earlier mentioned Ross (1999) has associated a link between
infrastructure and economic performance finding infrastructure to contribute to “output,
growth, and productivity” (Loayza and Odawara. 2010 pp.4). Lastly, there will be a
focus on the telecommunication sector’s contribution by looking at what percentage of a
nation’s GDP telecom revenues make before and after liberalization, which will help
assess the domestic economic contribution made by telecom sector to the lives of
citizens.
VI. Case Studies: Africa (Ghana) and South Asia (Bangladesh)
Africa: Ghana
Today, in Ghana, the telecommunication industry has seen a great expansion
progressing at a rate comparable with “other low-income countries globally and [is]
above [the] 1.1 per cent average for Sub-Saharan Africa” (Atsu et al., 2014 pp.195).
Targeting a stronger market economy, Ghana has made commitments to WTO basic
telecommunications services and liberalization has gained traction through Accelerated
Development Plan, meant to prepare Ghana with a “level playing field” and “integration
into the global playing field” (Bodammer et al., 2005 p.545). In sum, the intention behind
Ghana’s liberalization is the pursuit of a standard in which “policy bottlenecks” to
competition are removed believing it will encourage better services to consumers at more
competitive prices through an introduction of competition. Assisted by the World Bank,
some policy objectives included, “achiev[ing] a density between 1.5 and 2.5 lines per 100
people, improve[ing] public access in rural and urban areas, through public and private
provisions of payphone facilities, expand[ing] the coverage of mobile services,
promot[ing] Ghanaian ownership and control of telecommunication companies, [and]
retain[ing] overall public regulatory control through…the National Communication
37
�Authority” (Bodammer et al., 2005 p.544). Evidently, Ghana has intended to make a
contribution to tele-density, infrastructure, and its GDP, which are all factors of
methodology.
As shown in table one, from 1980 to 1994, penetration of telephone lines
remained constant at “around 0.3 per 100 inhabitants” (Falch and Anyimandu, 2003 p.
26). After liberalization, the increase in privatization led to greater increases in
teledensity and number of phone lines as mobile phone services entered in 1993.
Table 1: Number of phone lines and teledensity in Ghana from 1980-1999. Reprinted
from Tele-centres as a way of achieving universal access-the case of Ghana (p.26), by
M. Falch and A. Aniyimadu, 2003, Telecommunication Policy: Elsevier Science Ltd.
In regard to teledensity, telecom liberalization led to spur in cellular subscribers
from 1742 in 1993 to a high of 70,000 in 1999 (Falch and Anyimandu, 2003 p. 26).
Similarly, total penetration of mobile and landline phones increased from 0.3 to a high of
1.17 per 100 inhabitants (Falch and Anyimandu, 2003 p. 26). Nevertheless, before 1999
teledensity did not exceed 1 per 100 inhabitants and this stagnation is still partly apparent
as the World Bank reports that in 2015 the number of fixed telephone subscriptions
remains at 1.021 per 100 people (data.worldbank.org). Conversely, the effects of
competition spurred through liberalization are still evident in the vast increase in mobile
subscriptions, which according to the World Bank was at 129.736 per 100 inhabitants in
2015 (data.worldbank.org). Ghana is still unable to “achieve a density between 1.5 and
2.5 lines per 100 people” a condition in their policy objectives for telecom liberalization.
Likewise, their goal of “improve[ing] public access in rural and urban areas”
falls short as there is a “unsatisfied demand for telecom services” with one of nation’s
largest fixed service providers, Ghana Telcom, having “a waiting list of around 50,000”
38
�(Falch and Anyimandu, 2003 pp. 26). In response, many give up on applying or even turn
to cellular phones as an alternative, but unfortunately this is often much more expensive
and not available in all areas. The World Bank reports the cost of mobile cellular services
in Ghana is $5.1 per month, which is costly for those living on limited income at or
below the international poverty line at $1.90 per day (wdi.worldbank.org). Another
limitation is the high concentration of telephone lines, specifically public payphones,
being mainly built in capitals. In rural areas where 70% of the population lives, phone
lines remain limited and are only supplied by two service providers one of which is the
overwhelmed Ghana Telecom. Ultimately, low telephone penetration continues to limit
rural development, but the telecom market continues to grow evidenced by infrastructure.
With regard to infrastructure, prior to 1992, Ghana had only a state-owned
telecommunication company (Atsu et al., 2014 pp.196). However, liberalization has led to a
global expansion of telecommunication sector “facilitat[ing] market competition” and
“attract[ing] a lot of private investment (both domestic and foreign investment)”(196). In
Ghana there are now three fixed service providers and three mobile service providers (Falch
and Anyimandu, 2003 pp. 27). A newly globalized market, players providing telephony
service include, “Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited, Telenor of Norway,
Western Telestems Ghana Ltd, Capital Telecom Ltd.” (Bodammer et al., 2005 pp.546).
Table 2: National Information and Communication Infrastructure 1995-1999. Reprinted
from Telecom Regulation in Developing Countries Attracting Investment into the Sector:
Ghana-A Case Study (p.547), by I. Bodammer, M. Forbes Pirie, and C. Addy-Nayo,
2005, Journal of World Trade: Kluwer Law International.
39
�As presented by the examples and in Table 2, these domestic and international
investors have led to a growth in infrastructure expanding Ghana’s telecom sector to
include, mobile cellular, Internet, paging, and television services. A positive factor of
liberalization, the variety of telephony services is growing and infrastructure is steadily
expanding to reach beyond urban areas. However, regulations are having difficultly
keeping up with the technology and uses of telecommunications infrastructure cause
regulations designated for specific devices to become obsolete (Bodammer et al., 2005
p.528). Regulations become problematic, as they must be reestablished quickly, but also
alleviate investor concerns such as transparency, controls on anti-competitive conduct,
and have an enforcing regulator body (Bodammer et al., 2005 p.532). In regards to
Ghana, they have a National Communications Authority (NCA), which has the authority
to develop regulations for the sector, maintain transparency, and promote fair
competition. However, there are increasing complaints by consumers and businesses that
feel that “regulation has also been used to ensure that specific vested interest are
protected and manifested… [and that the] problems that surface are not inherent in
regulations, procedures, and policies in place, but rather a product of politics and lack of
transparency,” which has led to increasing skepticism among investors (Bodammer et al.,
2005 p.552). For instance, the previously mentioned issues with high service prices and
unmet service demand are occurrences mobile operators attribute to their “sub-standard
access to the GT (Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited) network,” despite
regulations against anti-competition (Bodammer et al., 2005 p.553).
Lastly, is a study of the impact of telecom liberalization on Ghana’s GDP through
an observation of the telecom sectors contribution following liberalization. The impact of
telecom investment is difficult to track due to the subjectivity of how “governments
harness and allocate these telecom resources,” making their impact an issue “of [the] host
country-specific factors and policies” (Atsu et al., 2014 p.198). A study by Atsu, Agyei,
Phanuel Darbi, and Adijei-Mensah (2014), would further support this point by concluding
in their case study on Ghana between 1976-2007 “telecommunications revenue does not
contribute significantly [to economic growth] whilst telecommunications investment does”
(p.195). Correspondingly, the World Bank’s World Development Index, documented that
telecom revenue made up a small 2.3% of Ghana’s GDP in 2014 (wdi.worldbank.org).
However, Atsu and his colleagues believe these conditions may in part be due to the
immaturity of Ghana’s telecom sector and infrastructure rendering the impact of telecom
revenue minimal. Consequently, their findings reveal that there is a need to create a
“favorable environment that encourages and supports massive investments in
telecommunications,” which ultimately attracts foreign direct investment (Atsu et al., 2014
40
�p.204). Ultimately, the impact of telecommunications revenue on economic growth (GDP)
can only be supplemented by investing in the success of policy initiatives to “enhance
teledensity, telecommunications infrastructure, and economic activity” (204). Thus, it is
concluded that in order for telecom revenue to make impact on economic growth it must
be supported by “sound favorable and targeted policies” that reduce investor skepticism
(Atsu et al., 2014 p.205).
South Asia: Bangladesh
In regard to Bangladesh, the nation committed to GATS basic telecommunication
commitments in February 1997 (Bhyuiyan, Shafiul A.J.M., 2004 p.271). The nation
committed to license two private operators to provide “domestic long distance and local
services,” allowed for full competition on “voice and data transmission” through the
internet, and lastly four cellular service providers were permitted. Similar to Ghana, the
nation restructured its telecom sector to allow the private sector to aid in the supplying of
basic and value added services. The nation’s aim is to achieve universal access, which
Bangladesh defines as, “providing efficient and cost-effective basic and value-added
telecommunication services, to as many people as is economically and socially justifiable”
(Bhyuiyan, Shafiul A.J.M., 2004 p. 270). These basic services include residential and
business telephones, while value added services include email, cellular mobile phones and
even voice mail. In an effort to achieve universal access, Bangladesh initiated a “fourphase plan” in 1998 to reach the following objectives, first, “1 telephone for every 100
people and a number of telephone mainlines to 1,300,000 by the year 2000,” second,
“make telecommunication facilities available in every village by 2005, third, “achieve 4
telephones for every 100 people by 2010,” and fourth, “10 telephones for every 100
people”(Bhyuiyan, Shafiul A.J.M., 2004 p. 270). Unfortunately, Bangladesh’s telecom
sector remains characterized with having a very low telecommunication penetration
historically, limited capability to meet growing demand, low levels of investment, as well
as dated technology and systems (Bhyuiyan, Shafiul A.J.M., 2004 p. 269).
As shown in figure one, Bangladesh has one on the lowest teledensities in South
Asia and in the onset of its liberalization in 1981 it had a teledensity of 0.1(itu.int). In
2003, the government presented their teledensity to be “0.63 per 100 people” with
telephone mainlines at “920,000” (Bhyuiyan, Shafiul A.J.M., 2004 p.272). Bangladesh is
considered to have one of the lowest densities among developing countries. The World
Bank’s World Development Indicator reports that in 2015 the rate for fixed telephone
subscriptions is 1 per 100 people, but the International Telecommunication Union reports
41
�the numbers to be much lower, as seen in figure two, at 0.518 per 100 people
(data.worldbank.org). Likewise, Bangladesh’s telephone mainlines remain at 1,090,000.
Figure 1: Fixed teledensity in South Asia (1981-2001).
Figure 2: Fixed Telephone Subscriptions South Asia (2007-2015)
42
�Sources: ITU World Telecommunication Indicators Database; WorldBank
as of 2014 (world.bymap.org). All these figures are an indication of Bangladesh’s
inability to achieve its universal access objective of “1 telephone for every 100 people
and a number of telephone mainlines to 1,300,000 by the year 2000” (270). Likewise,
there remains a very high, unmet demand for telecommunications in Bangladesh because
subscribers must wait “more than four years” after their initial request (Bhyuiyan, Shafiul
A.J.M., 2004 p.273). Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB), which is the
state-owned dominant operator creates new lines every year, but is unable to keep up with
demand for landlines. As a result, many areas, especially rural or poorer villages, remain
disconnected unwilling to wait. Similarly, prices and skewed distribution also create a
problem as the price for landlines is heavily subsidized by BTTB having to pay $104 in
connection fees with largely all phones concentrated in urban areas. Cellphones pose a
more feasible, but still costly investment with services costing “$1.40 per month,” but
“$88 to get a cellular connection” in addition to the price of the cellphone itself
(wdi.worldbank.org).
In regard to infrastructure, liberalization has led to the Bangladesh’s development
as the telecom sector now consists of private and public providers, which has led to an
increase in competition. As opposed to its system prior to liberalization in which BTTB
was the monopoly provider of telecommunication services in Bangladesh. Currently, this
competition is extremely visible in the mobile service sector as there are now four private
operators providing cellular service. The first private company was Pacific Bangladesh
Telecom and another is Granmeen Phone, which alone has 750,000 subscribers.
Bangladesh’s telecommunication sector is flourishing and is one of the country’s largest
foreign direct investment (FDI) recipients (Immran Hossain, 2015 p.157). As shown in
Table three and figure three, the telecommunications sector received $525.29 million in
FDI 2013 and $226.79 million in 2014 (Immran Hossain, 2015 p.157; Bangladesh Bank,
2014, p.13). This is a stark contrast to the FDI in 1997 at $1.37 million, which was the
onset of liberalization. Despite these large contributions, Bangladesh still suffers from
insufficient infrastructure causing it to be unable to achieve universal access and unable
expand certain services such as the internet, which “Bangladesh is ranked 199th out of 206
countries in multimedia access” (Bhyuiyan, Shafiul A.J.M., 2004 pp.273). This disparity is
the result of “high cost of telephone connections,” “unavailability of digital telephones ,”
“high Internet access cost,” and “the price of computers,” which are issues are
supplemented by Bangladesh’s poor method of service distribution (Bhyuiyan, Shafiul
A.J.M., 2004 p.273). For instance, BTTB’s monopoly provides 95% of local and long
distance telephone service, but alone fails to meet the telecom demand, as does the attempt
43
�to have Grameen Phone be the only licensed mobile operator allowed to “provide basic
services to in rural areas” (Bhyuiyan, Shafiul A.J.M., 2004 p. 274).
Table 3: Bangladesh’s Time Series Data on FDI Inflows by Sectors (Million US$).
Reprinted from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Economic Reforms: The South
Asian Perspective (p.157), by M. Imran Hossain, 2015, European Journal of Business and
Management
Figure 3: FDI inflows (in million USD) Reprinted from Foreign Direct Investment in
Bangladesh (p.13), by Statistics Department of Bangladesh Bank.
44
�Ultimately, as a consequence, universal access is unable to be achieved and the telecom
revenue gained can only make up a small 1.9% of Bangladesh’s GDP, which is too small
to make a significant contribution to the overall condition of a nation (wdi.worldbank.org).
VII. Conclusions & Policy Recommendations
As presented in both case studies, the results of telecommunication
liberalization is mixed at best, being that the nations have yet to achieve objectives settled
upon as their basis for enacting liberalization. Some shared objectives and pitfalls include
universal access, which was hindered by skewed distribution of services and high
subsidies, an expansive GDP through telecom revenues, which ultimately proved less
significant a contribution than earlier predicted, and lastly, reducing bottlenecks against
foreign direct investment, which was also hindered by a lack of enforcement. However,
the contributions of telecom liberalization should not be ignored as it has allowed for
these nations to enter the global market by allowing competition and privatization, an
increase in FDI, which contributes to some revenue and funding, and lastly, an expansion
of their telecom sector beyond the pre-liberalization numbers, especially in the case of
mobile services. Despite its drawbacks, telecom liberalization has become a gateway to a
variety of telephony services for these developing nations. Nevertheless, as these nations
are still in their early stages of network development, there are policy recommendations
that can be adopted to counter the pitfalls these nations face and consequently contribute
to greater benefit from telecom liberalization.
In an effort to provide policy recommendations I will reference scholars, A.J.M.
Shafiul Alam Bhuyian as well as Imme Bodammer, Mia Forbes Pirie, and Chris AddyNayo. In regard to skewed distribution, we have seen that the monopolizing of telecom
service is not conducive to universal access. However, research on the relationship
between universal access, privatization, and liberalization reveals that the presence of
multiple service providers does not ensure universal access nor does privatization
(Bhyuiyan, Shafiul A.J.M., 2004 p.274). There should be more operators, but there
should not be a fixation on privatization. Rather, licensed operators be they private or
otherwise, such as Bangladesh’s Grameen Phone, should be subject to policy guidelines
that can help insure universal access. Scholar Bhuyian suggests, “build-out obligations”
that specify requirements for operators such as “serv[ing] a certain amount of new
customers within a certain period of time or require that an operator expand infrastructure
to rural areas” (p. 275). In enacting these policies, nations can help reduce the
concentration of telecom services to urban areas, monopolization of a tech service, and
unmet demand.
45
�To address the issues of lack of enforcement and high subsidies, both a new
enforcement and funding mechanism should be established. As presented in the case
study on Ghana, unclear motives by a regulating body can lead to investor insecurity and
limit FDIs. In response, Bodammer et.al., suggests “institutional structures…be reformed
with specific emphasis on improving internal management practices as well as promoting
ethics and accountability” (558). The purpose of this suggestion is to ensure regulators
have the independence necessary to apply laws fairly, which instills confidence in
investors and consumers as decisions gain transparency.
Lastly, the high subsidies on telecom services, such as those on Bangladesh
fixed telephone lines, can be challenged through different funding mechanisms. For
instance, Bhyuiyan suggests cross-subsidization as opposed to cost-based pricing. Crosssubsidization involves the “shifting of costs away from rural toward the urban market,
from residential to business market and from local toward long distance market”
(Bhyuiyan, Shafiul A.J.M., 2004 p.275). This tactic reduces the need for heavy subsidies
on the rural poorer villages that cannot afford to pay. The effects could contribute to
reducing unmet demand, increasing rural consumer connectivity, and help the nation
become closer to universal access. In contrast, cost-based pricing, the embraced
approach, can be counterproductive as Bhyuiyan comments, “rural expansion requires
more money than urban expansion,” which would make services remain unaffordable to
the poor rural masses (p.276). Evidently, there are both benefits and shortcomings in
telecom liberalization, but if developing nations are to succeed in obtaining benefits for a
greater majority, we must not adopt liberalization, with a one-size-fits-all approach.
Instead, we must look at the conditions as well as infrastructure present and adapt
policies to the needs of each country.
VIII. References
Atsu, F., Agyei, C., Darbi, W. P., & Adjei-Mensah, S. (2014). The impact of
telecommunication revenue on economic growth: Evidence from Ghana. African Journal
of Economic and Management Studies, 5(2), 195-208.
Bhuiyan, A. S. (2004). Universal Access in Developing Countries: A Particular Focus on
Bangladesh. The Information Society, 20(4), 269-278.
Bodammer, I., Pirie, M. F., & Addy-Nayo, C. (2005). Telecom Regulation in Developing
Countries: Attracting Investment into the Sector: Ghana-A Case Study. Journal of World
Trade, 39(3), 527-558.
46
�Bressie, K., Kende, M., & Williams, H. (2005). Telecommunications trade liberalisation
and the WTO. Journal of Policy, Regulation and Strategy for Telecommunications,
Information and Media, 7(2), 3-24.
Clarke, G., & Wallsten, S. (2002). Universal(ly Bad) Service: Providing Infrastructure
Services to Rural and Poor Urban Consumers. The World Bank.
Falch, M., & Anyimadu, A. (2003). Tele-centres as a way of achieving universal
access—the case of Ghana. Telecommunications Policy, 27(1-2), 21-39.
Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) Bangladesh. World Bank. Retrieved
fromhttp://data.worldbank.org//indicator/IT.MLT.MAIN.P2?end=2015&locations=BD&s
tart=2007&view=chart
Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) Ghana. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.MLT.MAIN.P2?end=2015&locations=GH&start=
2004&view=chart
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bangladesh. (2014). Retrieved from Statistics
Department Bangladesh Bank
https://www.bb.org.bd/pub/halfyearly/fdisurvey/fdisurveyjuldec2014.pdf
Freeman, R. L. (2005). Fundamentals of telecommunications. United States: IEEE Press.
Garbacz, C., & Thompson, H. G. (2007). Demand for telecommunication services in
developing countries. Telecommunications Policy, 31(5), 276-289.
Gasmi, F., & Virto, L. R. (2010, December 9). The determinants and impact of
telecommunications reforms in developing countries. Journal of Development
Economics, 93(2), 275-286.
Heinrich, E. (2014). Asia’s least-developed telecom market will soon become the world’s
fastest growing.
Hossain, M. I. (2015). Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Economic Reforms: The
South Asian Perspective. European Journal of Business and Management, 7(5).
47
�Li, W., & Xu, L. C. (2002). The Political Economy of Privatization and Competition:
Cross-Country Evidence from the Telecommunications Sector. Journal of Comparative
Economics, 30(3), 1-41.
Minges, M., & Simkhada, P. (n.d.). A closer look at South Asia. Retrieved November 26,
2016, from https://www.itu.int/itunews/issue/2002/10/southasia.html
Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) Bangladesh. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://data.worldbank.org/
Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) Ghana. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://data.worldbank.org/
Poverty Overview. (n.d.). from http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview
Primo Braga, C. A. (1997, July). Liberalizing Telecommunications and the Role of the
World Trade Organization.
Ratto-Nielsen, J. C. (2004). A Comparative Study of Telecom Reforms in East Asia and
Latin America. International Journal of Public Administration, 27(6), 399-416.
Ros, A. J. (1999). Does Ownership or Competition Matter? The Effects of
Telecommunications Reform on Network Expansion and Efficiency. Journal of
Regulatory Economics, 15(65), 65-92. doi:10.1023
Sebban, G., & Abu-Ghazaleh, T. (2007). Telecoms Liberalization Guide. Retrieved from
http://www.iccwbo.org/Advocacy-Codes-and-Rules/Document-centre/2007/TelecomsLiberalization-Guide/
World Development Indicators: Power and communications. (n.d.). from
http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/5.11
48
�The Financial and Social Impact of Organizational
Cultural Awareness for Cosmetic Brands in France
and the United States
Julia Loria (Business Administration)1
As preferred trading allies in the cosmetics industry, the United States and
France continue to strengthen their partnerships through both financial and social impact
initiatives. To better understand the American-French relationship, one begs the question:
to what extent has organizational cultural awareness for cosmetic brands caused financial
and social impact similarly or differently in France and the United States? This
dissertation focuses on a financial, economic, and social comparative analysis supported
by case studies from premier brands such as L’Oréal in France and Procter and Gamble
(P&G) in the USA. As a result of primary and secondary peer review analysis, the
economic signals include: First, organic as a trend to stay, second, cosmetics perceived as
a normal good and cultural signal, and third, communication, which leads to the
opportunities for both France and the United States. Interviews with principals in the
cosmetics industry identified that these trends hold constant for both nations and that
effective organizational management with these signals could increase financial sales as
well as increase brand awareness in respective target markets. This research has shed
light on two leading brands with product lines worth several billion dollars, each of
which have the opportunity to make social good impact on the environment through
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. It is the researcher’s fundamental
belief that the application of these three cultural signals to CSR initiatives will allow for
greater momentum in business development and organizational success for both L’Oréal
and P&G. Additionally, small and medium-sized businesses will find these cultural
signals relevant to apply for their product lines to increase their product positioning in the
cosmetics industry.
I. Introduction
According to research from the International Monetary Fund, globalization has
increased in world trade from 42.1% in 1980 to 62.1% in 2007 (IMF). The increase in
global trade could be seen as the 21st century world rapidly expanding through cultural
Written under the direction of John Moran, J.D. in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
1
49
�and financial growth across different countries and continents. Additionally, intra-trade
and extra-trade have led the growth in globalization over the past 40 years (figure 1).
Global trade has been seen as a relevant indicator for the financial health among trading
nations both in emerging and developed nations. One example of two favorable trading
partners tells the story of how France and the United States have created immersive
industries between the two nations located halfway around the globe. From wine and
food to fashion and cosmetics, the United States and France have developed integrated
societies fascinated by each other’s culture, lifestyles, and behaviors of their citizens.
Figure 1: Percentage share of major exporters in world merchandise trade, 1953-2006
The researcher’s primary belief in 2016 is that French and American trade
continue to integrate further as both societies behave as favorable trading partners that
offer cultural benefits to each country. As a result of her practicum experience as
L’Atelier NYC, a French American agency for worldwide makeup and hair stylists, the
researcher has chosen to shed light on the evolution in the cosmetics industry. According
to the Soil Association’s 2015 Organic Market Report, the organic beauty evolution in
2016 continues to focus more attention on the rapidly changing ecosystem for cosmetics.
50
�The research shares that consumers discretionary spending has shifted to green products
and vegan-friendly products that contain toxin-free ingredients for both animals and the
environment. The report continued to share how consumer demand has increased for
organic products since 2007, and how there exists an educational gap for consumer’s
appetite to understand the stories behind organic products. In general, companies that
market their products as organic, include language such as “ethical sourcing of
ingredients, green chemistry, sustainable packaging, organic and sustainable production
methods, water management and a reduction of carbon footprints” (Organic Beauty
evolution, 2016)
The objective of this report is to investigate the impact of organizational cultural
awareness on cosmetic brands in France and the United States in an effort to better
understand its financial and social ramifications. In addition, the researcher hopes to
shed light on the shift to organic products in the cosmetics industry.
Key Points About the Cosmetic Industry
The cosmetic industry includes any products in “makeup, sun care, skin care,
fragrances, toiletries and other grooming products”. As of 2016, the estimated total value
for the global cosmetic industry is “121 billion dollars”. It is predicted for the cosmetic
industry in the United States to expand to a value of “11 billion dollars”. The elements
that will raise the value for the industry are the increase in the demand for natural
products and the effectiveness of skin care marketing. On the other hand, in France, the
total revenue for the cosmetic industry is 13,089.7million Euros (Statista). Transparency
Market Research conducted a forecast that shows that the leading five brands of the
global industry will be “L’Oréal, Unilever Group, Procter& Gamble, Beirsdorf AG and
Avon Products”. These five corporations are expected to encompass about “45 %” of the
market (Global Cosmetics, 2016).
According to IBIS World research, there are “external factors” that have a
strong impact on the “Global Cosmetics Manufacturing industry”. These factors include
“GDP of the BRIC nations, global per capita income, global research and development
funding, world price of crude oil, performance, prestige and environmental issues”
(IBIS,2016).
As the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are developing their
markets, their GDP is growing and expected to continue to grow. This is affecting their
BRIC’s economy and will affect “purchasing power”. If purchasing power increases, it
will give consumers more capability to afford products in the cosmetic industry. These
51
�new markets are thus appealing to companies in the cosmetic industry looking to expand
their business units (IBIS, 2016).
If the purchasing power increases, it will also affect the sales of the more
expensive products as more people are able to purchase them. Similarly, the “global per
capita income” is also expected to grow this year, increasing opportunities for companies
in the industry.
Another factor that is expected to augment this year is the funding for research
and development (R&D) as it is what enables companies in the industry to create
innovative products with better quality functions. Similarly, it is important to take into
account that the price of petroleum should be considered as most companies hold
factories for their production and those factories need crude oil to function. As prices of
crude oil goes up it affects the prices of materials and decreases the amount of profit.
Even though the prices of oil are expected to decrease this year, oil is a very “volatile”
good and there is the possibility of it increasing again at any time (IBIS, 2016).
The cosmetics industry has been affected by the “global economic recovery”,
which created a slow pace for revenue in the industry as a whole. In addition, this caused
a higher quantity of demand. Now that the economy is recovering there is even more
demand for higher priced products (IBIS, 2016).
The consumers that represent the most growth potential for the industry are
consumers between the ages “15 and 34”. Consumers of that age group are using
cosmetics and toiletries more regularly. A lot of young consumers of the cosmetic
industry are aware of the different brands and search for “high end brands at affordable
prices”. Furthermore, IBIS World estimates that the demand for luxury goods will
continue to increase up to 1.8 % by the end of the year (IBIS, 2016).
Similarly, it is important to take into consideration that the industry’s “core
product portfolio” has also changed recently in the last 5 years. The product portfolio
constantly adapts to the consumer’s taste and preferences, which today prefer natural
organic products. Many companies have launched organic and vegan brands without
chemicals in order to adapt to this change to suit consumer preference (IBIS,2016).
The cosmetic industry is in “the mature stage of its life cycle; it has an industry
value added (IVA) that is expected to increase at rate of 3.4 % annually until 2021. The
industry is growing even quicker than the French economy. Both exports and imports in
the industry are increasing. France is “the leading exporter of industry goods”. They
export 16.8% of the “total amount of manufactured cosmetics”. The United States is the
second “largest exporter” in the industry with a value of 10.4% of industry exports
(Global Beauty, 2016).
52
�According to IBIS the factors that can help companies be successful in the
cosmetic industry includes being able to produce “premium goods or services”, having a
brand well known in different markets and being able to niche position. Similarly, it is
important to have a “clear market” position, keeping up with market trends and adapt to
“ethical and environmental concerns” of consumers. (IBIS,2016)
Doing Business in France vs. the United States
In France, the business culture is closely linked to the country’s culture.
Comparing both cultures from both point of views truly shows the differences and helps
analyze how to prevent cultural miscommunications in business dealings. From an
American perspective, Jones states that France values “freedom of opinion” and French
people like to separate their social and personal lives. It is an individualistic country.
When dealing with business, French people do not like “uncertainty” and like to follow a
set of rules and order (Jones, 2016).
Almost everyone in France speaks at a proficient business English level, as
everyone is required to learn it in school starting at a young age. Nevertheless, even
though most people speak English, Jones recommends learning some basic French
vocabulary to show you respect the language and to further aid you in business dealings
with the French. Likewise, French people appreciate learning about other cultures and
would enjoy being taught something about a different country (Jones, 2016).
In France, hierarchy plays a significant role in the business structure. It may
even seem too strict in comparison to the American culture. The hierarchical structure in
French businesses follows a vertical line of command, signifying that the highest level of
management will discuss each decision. Jones suggests that the best person to speak to is
a “PDG”, the French word for CEO, if one would like to negotiate a long-term strategy. It
is crucial to stay polite and confidently voice requests in order to impress the CEO
(Jones, 2016).
In France, contrary to the USA, it is not considered rude to debate and point out
the low points of your colleague’s ideas. Being “formal” and “professional” is
emphasized. French people admire simplicity and elegance when it comes to business
wear. Makeup should also remain simple and stay in the natural tones. When it comes to
handshakes, French people shake hands faster and not as firm as Americans. It is
important to take into consideration that the French language has two forms of addressing
the American term “You”. In France, there is a “vous” form, which is used when
referring to people in a professional and formal way. It is required to address people in
53
�the “vous” form unless instructed otherwise. Similarly, it is important to address people
by their last names (Jones, 2016).
French people use a “direct and questioning” conversation style. They like wellstructured presentations, but prefer simplicity compared to bold presentations. Arguing
plays an important role in the French business structure, however it is important that
Americans do not misinterpret the arguments. In France, arguments are not necessarily to
show who is right or wrong; they are used to best analyze ideas. Arguing the most
negative points of a good idea will only help make that idea even better (Jones, 2016).
The way an argument is structured in France is as vital as the argument itself.
The French value logical, clear arguments from charismatic people. It is best to avoid
humor when dealing with French people as the jokes could be lost in translation and end
up offending them or making them think one should not be taken seriously (Jones, 2016).
In the French culture having a meal, and taking the time to enjoy it, is valued.
Business lunches or dinners can last two hours and may not even include a business
discussion. In addition, French people appreciate direct eye contact and a good posture
when speaking. In France, there is less personal space than in the United States when it
comes to discussing with colleagues (Jones, 2016).
People in France pay close attention to detail and are “careful with makeup”,
they place an important role for skin care (Business culture). Studies have shown that
makeup can be a “confidence booster”. People who wear makeup feel more attractive and
thus feel more confident (NY Times).
II. Case Studies
Study on L’Oreal
The leading company in the cosmetic industry in France is L’Oreal. L’Oreal was
founded in 1963 in France. It is a public, international company. The company sells
products such as “makeup, perfume, hair care, styling luxury products, and skin care
products”. L’Oréal consists of four sectors that include: “Consumer Products,
Professional Products, Luxury Products and Active Cosmetics”. Each sector is marketed
in a different place. The consumer products include brands such as L’Oréal Paris and
Garnier. Professional products represent hair care products for hairdressers and they are
advertised under the brand names “Kerastase, Redken, Matrix and L’Oreal Professionel”.
Luxury Products include brands such as “Lancôme, Diesel, Giorgio Armani and
Cacharel”. Finally, active cosmetics are sold in pharmacies and include brands such as
Vichy and La Roche Posay (L’Oreal S.A, 2016).
54
�Table 1 shows L’Oreal’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
L’Oreal’s strengths include having strong research skills, operations that work globally
and they have “brand equity”, signifying their brand has a strong value associated to its
name. L’Oreal’s research skills are what leads their management to achieve a high level
of innovation by combining bioinformatics with considering consumer diversity.
Table 1: SWOT Analysis
As of today, L’Oreal has created 130 molecules and spent more than $94
million on R&D. It is a company that values quality products and is always trying to
improve their quality. L’Oreal has reached “140” countries and markets through “32”
brands internationally. The cosmetic branch of L’Oreal functions in “Western Europe,
North America and New Markets comprising Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin
America and Africa and the Middle East. L’Oreal profits from its brand equity and that is
what allows them to obtain loyal customers. Similarly, L’Oreal achieves strong sales.
From 2014 to 2015, L’Oreal was able to increase 12.1 % of their sales. This was
especially due to three main divisions: “The Active Cosmetics, L’Oreal Luxe, and
Professional Products”. The Active Cosmetics division had a sales growth of “9.4%”.
L’Oreal Luxe had a growth of “16.7% with the launch of its new brands Decleor and
Carita. Professional Products had a growth of 12.1% (L’Oreal S.A,2016).
55
�Their opportunities are based on their attempt for diversification, their emphasis
on “e-commerce and digitalization. L’Oreal is projecting to further invest in beauty tech
startups worldwide and create two new companies each year. Similarly, L’Oreal just
launched a virtual make-up app in Honk Kong to increase digitalization and has recently
created an “e-skin platform”, that allows consumers to connect with professionals for
advice and also have an online health and beauty diagnosis (L’Oreal S.A,2016).
L’Oreal faces threats, however, that need to be considered. The lack of
“counterfeit goods and accessories” is influencing the number of sales of “branded
products” (L’Oreal S.A). The Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Seizure Statistics by
Customs and Border Protection Office of International trade reported that IPR seizures
increased to “23,1410 in 2014”. The “low quality counterfeits” causes consumers to trust
the products with brands less and therefore decreases revenue and affects L’Oreal’s brand
image. (L’Oreal S.A,2016)
On the other hand, L’Oreal’s three main weaknesses include increasing amount
of trade receivables, many lawsuits, and negative effects of the product recalls on the
brand image. L’Oreal’s trade receivables have increased to 3,627.7 million Euros from
3,297.8 million in a year. The trade receivables amount comprises 39.3% of L’Oreal’s
total current assets. L’Oreal has had to spend money and time filing lawsuits and
defending themselves in lawsuits. Several False advertisement lawsuits were filed against
L’Oreal. This is a weakness as these lawsuits can give the brand a bad image or cause the
company to pay fines. In March of this year, L’Oreal had launched a cream that level of
“concentration of preservative methylisothiazolinone that was too high”. Even though
there were no complaints from consumers it could have caused a health issue and risked a
violating health image for the company. (L’Oreal S.A, 2016)
L’Oreal’s top competitors include Beiersdorf AG Coty Inc., Henkel AG & Co.,
KGaA Johnson & Johnson Kao Corporation, LVMH Moet Hennessy, Louis Vuitton SA
Revlon, Inc., Shiseido Company, Limited, The Estee Lauder Companies Inc., and The
Procter & Gamble Company Unilever.
Jean – Paul Agon the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L’Oreal stated,
“Despite a slowdown in worldwide growth, the group delivered a solid performance.
Sales growth was strong, supported by a positive currency effect. Three out of four
divisions outperformed their market. And we delivered good quality results.” L’Oreal’s
three divisions named “L’Oreal Luxe, Active Cosmetics and the Professional Products
Division” grew significantly helping L’Oreal achieve a higher market share. In regards to
the other divisions that didn’t do as well, L’Oreal plans on improving it’s brands’ images
and putting maximal efforts to provide innovation at a faster paste. L’Oreal has
56
�successfully grown in Western Europe and in North America it has improved each
quarter. (L’Oreal S.A, 2016)
Over the past four years, L’Oreal has continued to see favorable increases in
total revenue across the organization as well as consistent Gross Profit at a 71% margin.
Additionally, earnings before income tax (EBIT) is consistent at 16%-17%. L’Oreal’s
quick ratio has decreased from 1.1 to 0.6 over the past four years. Overall, inventory
metrics remain consistent year over year. Total liabilities seem to fluctuate year over
year as L’Oreal invests into its operations and expands its product lines. L’Oreal’s
financials are consistent with the industry standard. L’Oreal’s growth rates are
consistent, although lower than new competitors in the industry who are rapidly growing.
L’Oreal has the third lowest Beta or volatility risk among its peer competitors, which
indicates a relatively stable financial organization. Additionally, L’Oreal is ranked in the
top 5 of its competitors for its Enterprise Value (17.6x to 21.1x) and Earnings Per Share
(5.7). L’Oreal leads in revenue across its industry, only second to Unilever. S&P Capital
IQ recommends a hold on L’Oreal as a result of acquisition integration with new brands,
a weakening in the Asia-Pacific market, and emerging market currencies (L’Oreal
S.A,2016).
L’Oreal went from being a prominent cosmetic company in France to being one
of the leading cosmetic companies in the world. They have gone global while still having
kept a French image worldwide. L’Oreal has successfully adapted a strategy of
incorporating a team of managers with mixed cultures and backgrounds. These managers
are considered assets to the new product opportunities and serve as the link that helps the
company understand the cultural differences. They facilitate the relationship between
“executives and their direct reports” and relationships between “subsidiaries and
headquarters”. This strategy has helped them to adapt products, services, and business
models to the conditions of different countries (Harvard Business, 2013).
From its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, L’Oreal’s management
believes that an investment in multi-cultural strategies will result in improved financial
operations. From the top-down management, L’Oreal has identified five key
characteristics that can support an organization to become a multi-cultural entity where
cultural awareness is placed above an organization’s special interests. L’Oreal believes
that by being sensitive to one’s own and other’s cultures, other firms can recognize new
product opportunities. Coupled with cultural awareness, curiosity, and cultural empathy,
cosmetic companies can prevent losses in translation from impacting brand strategies
negatively. Other soft skills from analysts and associates such as multilingual skills,
semantic awareness, and ability to switch cultural frames of reference and
57
�communication modes would be effective to integrate outsiders and bridge differences
between brand subsidiaries and headquarters.
L’Oreal Paris consists of 40 product development teams who work on different
concepts. The teams are usually made up of four people and out of those four people, half
are multicultural. Most members are recruited from top International Business Schools
and go through a 12-month training period either in Paris, Singapore, New York or Rio.
(Harvard Business, 2013)
In addition, people who are exposed to multiple cultures are able to see things
from different perspectives. An Indian -American –French manager of a L’Oreal team of
men’s skin care line in Asia stated. “I read books in three different languages, meet
people from different countries, and so on. I cannot think about things in one way”. This
further demonstrates how exposure to different cultures impacts someone’s way of
thinking. As table 2 indicates, a multicultural person will be able to think and adapt to
“multiple mindsets and communication styles” (Harvard Business, 2013).
Table 2: Multicultural Strategy
As there was an increase in the demand of high end brands for affordable prices,
L’Oreal incorporated YLS Beauty as one of its luxury brands (IBIS,2016).
58
�Study on Procter and Gamble (P&G)
Similar to L’Oreal, Procter and Gamble is also one of the world’s largest
consumer good companies. The company has product brands in “beauty, health care,
grooming, fabric care, and home care categories”. Procter and Gamble is an American
company but has also reached global markets such as Europe, the Middle East, Africa
and Asia Pacific. The headquarters of Procter and Gamble is located in Cincinnati, Ohio
and its total revenues are of $76,279 million dollars. P & G owns “50 leadership brands”
in the Cosmetic industry (Marketline,)
P& G’s strengths include having a “dominant market position and a strong brand
portfolio”. The company has reached “4.4 billion” consumers around the world. It takes
over “65 %” of the market share for blades and razors globally. It has a market share of
“more than 20%” in the “male shavers market” and “50% in the female epilators market”.
In addition, P& G has a strong position in the “retail and color market”, having a total of
more than “20%” market share value. Its total market share value is of “30%” making it a
“market leader” (Marketline).
The “strong brand portfolio” comes from the fact that it’s 21 billion dollar
brands are successful at being “market leaders” in multiple prominent “consumer
categories”. Its brands for paper toilet “Charmin” and for paper towel “Bounty” has
earned P&G a total market share of 45 % and 25% in the U.S Market. Both its “dominant
market position and strong brand portfolio” are important strengths as it allows P&G to
reach an economies of scale, keep a good bargaining relationship with retailers and
maintain their “financial growth” (Marketline).
In addition, it has important investments in marketing and R&D as well as
having a “large scale of operations”. P&G conducts more than “15,000 research studies
every year “spend more than “$350 million to fully understand consumers”. The
company partners up with external partners to “connect and develop” in order to enhance
its innovation capabilities. P&G’s successful product innovation techniques have helped
them gain more revenue and have a better market position. This has made P&G the
cosmetic industry’s “global innovation leader” (Marketline).
The company’s “large scale of operations” is based on the fact it was able to
reach a value of $76,279 million in revenues and a “strong geographical presence”.
Operating in about “70 countries” around the world and having sales of products in 180
countries. This “large scale of operations” further strengthens the company’s strong
bargaining power (Marketline).
59
�On the other hand, P&G’s weakness includes having to be dependent on few
customers. This causes the bargaining power of the company to lower and large
customers could enforce “unfavorable terms” on the company (Marketline).
P&G’s financial performance is recommended as a Strong Buy from S&P
Capital IQ as a result of a significant favorable price increase in its stock performance
over the next 12 months. As a large-cap growth stock in the Consumer Staples and
Household Products, P&G leads consumer products in more than 180 countries. Sales
are expected to increase 1.0% in FY 17 to $65.95 billion, up from $65.30 billion in FY
16. EBITDA margins will remain flat at 26.2% in FY 17, and there exists realized
expectations on multi-year cost savings and productivity initiatives. Earnings per share
(EPS) in FY 17 is expected to increase to $3.97 from $3.61 in FY16 as a result of share
repurchases. The result of heightened competition, promotional spending, unfavorable
currency translation, rising commodity costs, and slow consumer acceptance of new
products could result in slower growth for the organization. P&G’s 12-month price target
is $103, reflecting a P/E ratio of 26X, trading near a three-year high from the range of
between 21.1X to 28.4X. P&G offers relatively low volatility. Expectations for debt are
to decrease over time, as well as new products to begin generating stronger cash flow
revenues for P&G’s bottom line. Over the past 3 years, the majority of P&G’s financial
ratios have held constant with minimal fluctuations given the large scope of the
organization.
The main opportunities for P& G include having potential to grow in the “male
grooming industry” and the “personal care and homecare markets”. As the industry, as a
whole, has shifted from women focused products to incorporating grooming and skin
care products for men, P&G could benefit from this factor. It is expected for the male
grooming market to grow “at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 8%”. It is
not only predicted to expand in the United States, but also in other countries such as
China and India. P&G targets male consumers with products such as “male blades and
razors, electronic hair removal devices, and pre- and post-shave products”. These
products are under the brand names of “Fusion, Gillette, Mach3 and Prestobarba”
(Procter and Gamble Swot, 2015).
As the purchasing power rises and consumers are becoming more aware the
global products market is expected to grow and reach a “value of 625.8 billon”. As
consumer’s global income is increasing it will continue to increase the value of the
market as a whole (Market line).
Similarly, P& G has the potential to reduce costs by using their “strategic
initiatives” to increase productivity. It is expected to have an “excess of $5 billion in
60
�before tax restructuring costs during 2012 to 2017”. Due to “manufacturing cost savings”,
the gross margin also raised to “50.3% of net sales” from the end of the financial year
2015 to December 2015 (Marketline).
However, it is important for them to consider the threat of “counterfeit goods”,
severe competition as well as strict and laws and regulations they have to follow.
(Marketline).
III. Product Analysis of Lipstick in the Global Industry
The lipstick industry is a highly competitive industry as it includes products
such as “lipstick, lip gloss, lips stains, and lip liner and lip balm”. Figure 2 demonstrates
that lipstick accounts for “42.5%” of the industry’s revenue, whereas lip balm is “24%”,
Lip-gloss is “20.3%” and lip liner is “13.2 %” (IBIS,2016).
Figure 2: Products and services segmentation (2016)
In 2016, in the US, the lipstick industry as a whole had a total revenue of “3.9
billion dollars”. It grew annually at a rate of “4.7 %” from 2011 to 2016. It is predicted to
keep growing at a rate of “2.3%” from 2016 to 2021. This growth was due to more
demand of “premium goods” and the rise of the economy creating more “consumer
spending” (IBIS,2016).
As there is a growing population of consumers who prefer natural products and
vegan products the demand for vegan lipsticks has grown. More funding has been
invested in the research for innovative “natural and safe products”. The fact that crude oil
prices declined and consumer spending went up led to an increase in the industry’s total
profit. As crude oil prices are expected to go up at rate of “8.5%” annually, from 2016 to
2021 it will cause the growth to slow down (IBIS,2016).
Figure 3 represents the trade weighted index graph that measures the value of
the US dollar compared with the values of its trading partners’ currencies. It indicates
61
�Figure 3: Global cosmetics manufacturing industry revenue
that the value of the U.S dollar will rise which can cause the U.S to lose foreign
customers as it will be “less affordable” for foreign consumers.
International trade has become prominent for the manufacturing lipstick
industry. Imports are valued at 16.1%, which equals to “$691.1 million”. The past five
years, imports have grown at rate of “15.3%” annually due to “premium brand demand”
and a “6.2%” increase annual in the trade-weighted index. The United States primary
suppliers for “high-end cosmetic products” include France, Canada, and Italy. The three
countries total an amount of “more than 40 % of the industries’ imports” (IMF, 2008).
On the other hand, the low –end cosmetic goods used in the United States are
imported from China and Mexico. In regards to exports, they have also increased at a rate
of “2.7%” annually over the past five years. The primary countries that the U.S exports
are Canada and Mexico as they are close and they share beneficial trade agreements
(IMF, 2008).
Lipstick is “the largest industry product segment”. It is a product used to add
color, and smoothness as well as to hydrate the lips. There are many different types of
lipsticks in the market with different ingredients, different purposes and different colors
and textures. When it comes to “sheer lipstick” for example, it has a high amount of oil
and “less wax and pigment” than matte lipsticks. They both give different effects to the
lips. The translucent lipstick has to be reapplied and give the lips a “shiny and glossy”
look. On the other hand, matte lipsticks give a “flat look” and last longer. Similarly, like
the lipstick manufacturing industry as a whole, revenues in high-end lipsticks have
increased due to more “consumer spending”. Another factor that contributed to the rise in
62
�sales of lipstick in the US was the “bold lip color trend” (Beauty and Personal
Care,2016).
As lipstick is considered a “small luxury” product, consumers purchase more
lipsticks when they have to cut back on higher luxury goods. This is what allowed the
sales of lipsticks to continue increasing even though the economic recovery was slow
(Beauty and Personal Care, 2016).
The major company for lipsticks is Estee Lauder, selling in “150 countries” and
having multiple brands including;” Clinique, Origins, Smash box, Mac and Bobbi
Brown”. Estee Lauder holds 17.1 % of the market share in the global lipstick
manufacturing industry compared to P&G with 3.6 % and L’Oreal with 3.8%. In regards
to the lipstick part of the cosmetic industry P&G and L’Oreal have a very close estimated
market share.
L’Oreal’s main two branches that sell lipstick are the “L’Oréal Luxe” division
and the “Consumer Products Division”. The “Luxe” division represents high-end
lipsticks that can be purchased at “department stores, cosmetic stores, travel retail, brand
boutiques and e-commerce websites”. On the other hand, the consumer products division
represents the more affordable lipsticks distributed in “retail channels” (L’Oreal, 2016).
The “L’Oréal Luxe” division brands that sell lipsticks include Yves Saint
Laurent, Lancôme and Giorgio Armani Beauty. The lipsticks that L’Oréal offers under the
“consumer products” division include brands like Maybelline and NYX. (L’Oréal, 2016).
A very popular red lipstick in the Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) brand is named
“Rouge Pur Couture the Mats” displayed in figure 4. It is a matte lipstick with a “velvet
complex” that allows a “smooth application” as it contains jojoba oil. The jojoba oil will
also help the lipstick to last. It gives a “vibrant” look. The packaging of the lipstick is in a
gold color and it is priced on the YSL website at $37 (Yves saint Laurent).
L’Oreal’s brand Lancôme offers a Red lipstick called “L’Absolu rouge
Definition” displayed in figure 5. It is a “creamy matte” lipstick and gives a defined lip
63
�Figure 4: Rouge Pur Couture the Mats
Figure 5: L’Absolu rouge Definition
look. It also has jojoba oil in order to provide lasting “comfort and hydration”. It has a
gold and black packaging and is priced at $30.50 on Macys website and thus is slightly
cheaper than the one form YSL.
The Giorgio Armani brand offers a red lipstick called “Rouge D’Armani
Lipstick” shown in figure 6. It is also a long-lasting comfortable lipstick. In addition, it
has a “soft texture and a shine. It’s packaging is in a “black lacquered case” and it is
“sealed with a magnetic click”. It is priced at $37.00 on the Giorgio Armani Beauty
website.
64
�Figure 6: Rouge D’Armani Lipstick
L’Oreal’s consumer division brand Maybelline, also offers a red lipstick showed
in figure 7 named “Red Revolution”. It is a rich creamy color made from honey nectar. It
doesn’t last as long as the luxury brands but is priced at “$7.49” at Ulta. Its brand NYX
also offers a red lipstick shown in figure 8 that can be purchased on the NYX official
website. It is called “Perfect Red” and has a strong pigment color. It is a matte based
lipstick and is smooth. It is priced at $6.
Figure 7: Red Revolution
65
�Figure 8: Perfect Red
It is interesting to note that L’Oreal’s Luxury brands use French names compared
to L’Oreal’s Consumer division brands that use American names for their products.
P & G also has two main brands for lipsticks. On the high end is Gucci
cosmetics and on the low end is Cover girl. The Gucci cosmetic’s Red lipstick can be
compared to the Yves Saint Laurent, Lancôme and Giorgio Armani lipstick. The Gucci
Lipstick shown in figure 9, “Gucci Luxurious moisture –Rich”, also has a gold color
packaging and is priced at $40. It has a bold color, incorporates oils to give a smooth and
hydrating touch to the lips and “allows for smooth application” (Gucci cosmetics).
Figure 9: Gucci Luxurious moisture –Rich
Cover Girl also offers a red lipstick called “Continuous color lipstick”, featured
in figure 10. It has a smooth black packaging look. It is described as “Easy, breezy
classic with rich, long lasting lipstick color” and is priced at “$5.74”, which is slightly
less expensive than the L’Oréal low end brands which could give the product a
competitive edge.
66
�Figure 10: Cover Girl
IV. Interviews
Malena Holcomb, one of the partners of L’Atelier NYC
I interviewed Malena Holcomb, one of the partners of L’Atelier NYC, the
company I intern at. L’Atelier NYC is a French and American P.R company that
represents high-end makeup artists and hairdressers. Ms. Holcomb has been on both ends
of the fashion and cosmetic industry by being a model and by working with many
different makeup artists and cosmetic and fashion companies.
Tell me a little bit about your story, who you were, and who you are today.
Malena: I was a model in the beginning; I always liked the fashion industry. Through
modeling I got to do a lot of travelling and my intellectual curiosity made me ask
questions wherever I went and it built the best kind of education for me. I then interned at
photography at a photography agency and worked with photographers and production
and make up and hair. In 1998, I met Francois who had started a Makeup and hair stylist
agency. He was looking for an American person and I worked with him as an agent to
hair and makeup artists. Four years later I became partner.
Do you see certain trends in products being used?
Malena: Yes, I see a major trend for Korean skin care products and natural products.
When you were a model, what was your opinion on cosmetics for fashion, for selfconfidence, for your lifestyle, for who you are? What did it say about you? What
was your preferred brand? And today what is your opinion?
Malena: I have always been passionate about cosmetics not just as a model but as a
woman. I grew up with severe acne and I loved the effect of foundation and how it gives
67
�confidence. I like how makeup makes people feel good and I believe people will do better
when they feel better. I switch a lot between brands but red lips are forever, they always
add color to the day.
Have you noticed the shift towards organic products and men’s products?
Malena: Yes, there is a major trend for organic products & skin care is pushed even more.
Men’s products are extremely high in demand in Asia; there are more men in China and
thus more competition on looking good.
How has traveling shaped your work?
Malena: Traveling influenced me to see beauty beyond the face but at the end of the day
people are the same. The communication style is different however when
communicating with people from different countries. For example, the Japanese can’t say
no so you have to guide them to being able to say no. On the other hand, someone who is
Latin would like to be treated on a more “mommy like”.
What are the major changes you have witnessed?
Malena : There is a different market for skin care. When I started modeling in the 80s
was just when they just started introducing black and Latin models.
Paco Blancas on of the make-up artists represented by L’Atelier NYC.
What is your story and what inspired you to work in the Cosmetic industry?
Paco: I was always attracted to the makeup from a young age. I would admire when my
mother did her makeup so quickly. It was her transforming moment. I would enjoy
looking at my mom’s magazines and the beauty section of the magazine really stayed
with me.
What is your style as a makeup artist and what sets you apart from the completion?
Paco: I have a minimalistic style. For many years I like to work with clean skin. A lot of
times I skip foundation and work with a translucent luminous skin. I like to focus on one
trait instead of doing a full-face makeup look. I will incorporate a strong line or shape
and bring focus to that. I have been doing that for 30 years.
Have you witnessed the Cosmetic industry change?
Paco: Yes, the business has changed due to the digital world. I personally don’t like to
rely on the digital world. I aim for flawless makeup that is perfection to the point “it
looks already retouched”. There has been an evolution in the cosmetic industry since I
68
�started. Products are more sheer, more silky, and easier to apply. The makeup can be
more part of the skin less “cakey makeup” that gives more hydration quality. Technology
has improved makeup.
Do you prefer French or American Products? Do have a preference for L’Oreal or
P&G?
Paco: I usually use French products rather than American products. However, I do like to
use Nars as well which is an American brand. I prefer L’Oreal than P&G. I usually like to
use Armani makeup for foundation. I have tried a few mascaras from P&G’s Cover girl
brand though.
Do you choose products based on brand, pricing or quality?
Paco: I choose products based on quality and most of the time that goes hand in hand
with higher prices.
What characteristics do you look for when you are searching for Mascara?
Paco: I usually look for a very black mascara that doesn’t collapse. I prefer waterproof
mascara that doesn’t crack as it helps to keep the lashes curly. I really like L’Oreal’s
Yves Saint Laurent Mascara.
What do you look for when searching for a lipstick?
Paco: I look for lipsticks that have vibrant colors, that are silky, matte, easy application,
hydrating, long lasting and fresh.
Have you noticed the trend for organic products in the cosmetic industry?
Paco: Yes, it has been going on for a few years now. I would go for an organic makeup
product for an everyday look but a lot of organic products pigments are not very intense
and tend to fade. I hope to see them improve with the evolution of R&D.
Emile Loria who has worked as a CEO in both an American company and a French
company.
Tell me about yourself? Where have you worked and what was your position?
Emile: I am an M.D. and worked in a cancer research center called "institute for cancer
Immuno genetics" at a time where immunology was not established as a major cancer
treatment and the importance of genetics almost ignored (1971). Besides research and
student jobs, I started my career as international product manager in pharma Headquarter
in Switzerland (Base, Ciba-Geigy today Novartis). I started my own consulting firm in
69
�Geneva with the objective to develop a transdermal product after my positive experience
at Ciba. I selected a start up in California and we made two successful products one for
menopause and one for smoking cessation. I wanted to continue in patient friendly
designed products and as CEO for Biovector initiated a nasal flu vaccine product and as
the capital venture people wanted to sale the company I decided to move to the US
(Epimmune, San Diego). The cancer immunotherapy project is presently the main asset
of OSE Immuno, a company listed in France and I am the chairman of the company.
What is the major similarity you noticed between the French Company and the
American Company?
Emile:
- People quality
- Basic scientific knowledge
- Team work
What is the major difference you noticed between the French Company and the
American Company?
Emile:
American Company
- Going deeper on a subject
- Very focused
- Lean hierarchy
- The show
French Company
- Imagination
- Curiosity but lack of focus
- Highly hierarchical
- Humility
What kind of situations can you encounter when working with both French
and American people? What should be done in order to bridge the cultural gap?
What is your suggestion to a French person and to an American person?
Emile: Relaxed atmosphere but competition exists, US scientists are the divas.
Culture gap:
- Eating at meetings,
- Family first ( US people)
- Sport a major subject to initiate contacts
70
�- 5pm we close in California
- Non-stop in France but coffee breaks...
To bridge culture: Organize events with underlying meaning 4th of July vs. le 14 July
When hiring new people, how important is it to hire someone who is multicultural?
Emile: Yes, definitely someone who is multicultural would be an asset to the firm as they
can help us bridge cultures.
V. Conclusion
Economic signal: Organic as a trend to stay
This research has shown that through both L’Oréal’s and Proctor & Gamble’s
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and product brand development, that
organic as a trend has solidified into core product offerings for both Consumer Brand
companies. Consumers continue to increase their educational awareness about the
products used on their bodies from ingredients and manufacturing to product delivery and
packaging. As consumers continue to become more aware of the growing ‘green’ trends
in beauty products, this research would recommend additional investment into natural
beauty products.
Economic signal: Cosmetics perceived as normal good
Primary economic research as well as secondary case study interviews has
confirmed that cosmetics could be perceived as a normal good. While fashion
accessories such as handbags, sunglasses, and jewelry are perceived as luxury goods for
when economic industries experience growth, the cosmetics space has been perceived as
a normal good where consumers make purchased both in good and sub-optimal economic
conditions. First-person interviews confirmed that cosmetic offerings include both highend and low-end pricing options to appeal to consumer segments based on their
discretionary spending, and that pricing differences between comparable products for
both L’oreal and P&G are negligible by a few cents. It could be determined that the
cosmetics industry will continue to grow as the developing BRIC nations become more
developed, and minority demographics experience higher consumer spending both in
America and France.
Cultural signal: Communication is key
Regardless of whether business is conducted in France or the United States,
secondary research and primary sources indicate that communication is essential for
71
�successful product implementation and delivery to consumers. On the business side,
corporate staff need to adapt to cultural references, language barriers, and norms in their
respective country, as well as an understanding on the purposes for health and beauty
products. Both France and the United States believe in fashion forward and trendy
lifestyles; however, France sees cosmetics as a more refined and educated part of
lifestyle, while Americans treat cosmetics as a luxury. It could be perceived that French
culture continues to be immersed into American society, where marketing managers and
product managers will need to adapt education and advertisements for a shift to education
and refinement, instead of the need to pamper and experience luxury. Economic changes
in FY 17 and beyond will determine the speed of integration for the shift in cosmetics use
in America, France, and developing nations. Nonetheless, localized cultural signals
remain imperative for successful product sales and new product offerings in any country
or marketplace.
VI. References
Business etiquette. Retrieved October 25, 2016, from http://businessculture.org/western
europe/business-culture-in-france/business-etiquette-in-france/Cosmetic industry.
Bidness ETC. http://www.bidnessetc.com/subindustry/cosmetic/overview/
Etcoff, N. (2013, January 2). Makeup Can Provide a Fleeting Confidence Boost to Some.
Retrieved November 10, 2016, from Global Beauty by the Numbers. (2016). Global
Cosmetic Industry, 6.
Hae-Jung, H., & Doz, Y. (2013). L'Oréal Masters Multiculturalism. Harvard Business
Review, 91(6), 114-119.
IMF research on globalization trend increasing:
https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ib/2008/053008.htm
I. S. Globalization: A Brief Overview. Retrieved October 22, 2016, from
https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ib/2008/053008.htm
Jones, M (2011). Doing business in France: 8 cultural cues that make (or break) a deal.
International Business Times. http://www.ibtimes.com/doing-business-france-8-culturalcues-make-or-break-deal-368258
72
�L'Oreal S.A. SWOT Analysis. (2015). L'Oreal SA SWOT Analysis, 1(1), 1-9. Retrieved
November 10, 2016, from http://www.investing.com/equities/loreal-ratios
Marshall,C (2014). Youtube and the beauty industry: how brands are getting crushed
[REPORT], Tubular Insight. http://tubularinsights.com/youtube-beauty-industry/
October 26, 2016, from https://fashionunited.com/global-fashion-industry-statistics
Okpara, J. O. (2008). Globalisation of Business. Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd.
Retrieved from http://www.cosmeticsbusiness.com/technical/article_page/
Organic_beauty_evolution_in 2016/114941
President, S. V. (2016). Beauty and personal care: France market value 2011-2016 |
statistic. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
President, S. V. (2016). Apparel and footwear: France market value 2011-2016 | statistic.
Retrieved October 26, 2016, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/494010/apparel andfootwear-france-market-value/
Strijbos, B. (2016, April 20). Global fashion industry statistics - international apparel.
Retrieved https://www.statista.com/statistics/494028/beauty-personal-care-francemarket-value/
The Procter & Gamble Company SWOT Analysis. (2016). Procter & Gamble SWOT
Analysis,1-9.
Wikipedia. Retrieved November 12, 2016, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)
73
�Appendix A: L'Oreal SA (ENXTPA:OR) > Financials > Ratios
Restatement: Latest Filings
Period Type: Annual
Order: Latest on Right
Decimals: Capital IQ (Default)
Ratios
For the Fiscal Period Ending
Profitability
Return on Assets %
Return on Capital %
Return on Equity %
Return on Common Equity %
Margin Analysis
Gross Margin %
SG&A Margin %
EBITDA Margin %
EBITA Margin %
EBIT Margin %
Earnings from Cont. Ops Margin %
Net Income Margin %
Net Income Avail. for Common
Margin %
Normalized Net Income Margin %
Levered Free Cash Flow Margin %
Unlevered Free Cash Flow Margin %
Asset Turnover
Total Asset Turnover
Fixed Asset Turnover
Accounts Receivable Turnover
Inventory Turnover
Short Term Liquidity
Current Ratio
Quick Ratio
Cash from Ops. to Curr. Liab.
Avg. Days Sales Out.
Avg. Days Inventory Out.
Avg. Days Payable Out.
Avg. Cash Conversion Cycle
12 months
Dec-31-2013
12 months
Dec-31-2014
12 months
Dec-31-2015
LTM
12 months
Jun-30-2016
7.7%
10.5%
13.2%
13.2%
7.7%
10.5%
12.9%
12.9%
8.3%
11.5%
15.1%
15.1%
8.0%
11.0%
12.9%
12.9%
71.2%
51.0%
20.2%
17.1%
16.8%
13.0%
13.4%
13.0%
71.1%
50.6%
20.6%
17.4%
17.1%
12.3%
21.8%
12.3%
71.2%
50.8%
20.6%
17.5%
17.2%
13.1%
13.1%
13.1%
71.5%
50.9%
20.8%
17.6%
17.4%
11.4%
11.4%
11.4%
11.4%
9.6%
9.7%
11.6%
11.2%
11.2%
11.7%
9.3%
9.3%
11.8%
10.6%
10.6%
0.7x
7.7x
7.3x
3.1x
0.7x
7.5x
7.1x
3.0x
0.8x
7.7x
7.3x
3.1x
0.7x
7.5x
6.3x
2.8x
1.5x
1.1x
0.6x
50.1
116.0
199.2
(33.0)
0.9x
0.6x
0.4x
51.2
122.1
183.2
(9.9)
1.1x
0.7x
0.5x
50.0
118.0
180.7
(12.7)
1.1x
0.6x
0.5x
58.3
129.1
189.1
(1.7)
Long Term Solvency
74
�Total Debt/Equity
Total Debt/Capital
LT Debt/Equity
LT Debt/Capital
Total Liabilities/Total Assets
1.5%
1.5%
0.4%
0.4%
26.6%
12.8%
11.4%
0.3%
0.3%
37.0%
3.3%
3.2%
0.2%
0.2%
29.9%
7.7%
7.1%
0.1%
0.1%
34.2%
EBIT / Interest Exp.
EBITDA / Interest Exp.
(EBITDA-CAPEX) / Interest Exp.
Total Debt/EBITDA
Net Debt/EBITDA
Total Debt/(EBITDA-CAPEX)
Net Debt/(EBITDA-CAPEX)
161.1x
193.1x
149.0x
0.1x
NM
0.1x
NM
122.9x
147.5x
115.4x
0.6x
0.1x
0.7x
0.2x
183.8x
219.8x
170.4x
0.2x
NM
0.2x
NM
264.8x
NM
241.9x
0.3x
0.1x
0.4x
0.1x
6.74
4.94
6.74
6.55
2.2%
3.2%
5.3%
5.3%
5.0%
4.3%
3.2%
5.1%
3.7%
1.8%
1.8%
3.8%
3.7%
3.7%
(4.0%)
66.0%
3.4%
0.0%
12.1%
12.2%
12.5%
12.9%
12.9%
19.3%
(32.8%)
12.7%
23.5%
4.8%
5.4%
6.0%
4.0%
5.9%
(1.9%)
(42.8%)
6.3%
(2.4%)
Accounts Receivable
Inventory
Net PP&E
Total Assets
(0.9%)
5.8%
2.1%
5.6%
9.1%
8.5%
8.6%
3.8%
10.0%
7.9%
8.4%
5.2%
2.8%
7.9%
6.1%
(5.6%)
Tangible Book Value
Common Equity
Cash from Ops.
Capital Expenditures
Levered Free Cash Flow
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Dividend per Share
14.8%
8.2%
9.9%
10.3%
2.4%
2.2%
8.7%
(30.6%)
(10.8%)
4.1%
(1.0%)
17.9%
18.0%
8.0%
25.8%
16.9%
8.8%
16.3%
(7.0%)
(7.2%)
14.8%
(3.3%)
(4.1%)
17.0%
21.4%
(22.9%)
(23.0%)
14.8%
Compound Annual Growth Rate Over Two Years
Total Revenue
4.3%
Gross Profit
4.2%
EBITDA
5.2%
2.0%
2.5%
4.6%
6.8%
6.9%
8.1%
7.4%
7.7%
8.6%
Altman Z Score
Growth Over Prior Year
Total Revenue
Gross Profit
EBITDA
EBITA
EBIT
Earnings from Cont. Ops.
Net Income
Normalized Net Income
Diluted EPS before Extra
75
�EBITA
EBIT
Earnings from Cont. Ops.
Net Income
Normalized Net Income
Diluted EPS before Extra
5.0%
6.3%
8.6%
10.1%
6.7%
7.7%
4.5%
4.3%
0.1%
30.9%
4.2%
1.8%
8.2%
8.2%
7.0%
5.6%
7.9%
11.1%
8.7%
8.6%
0.3%
(1.5%)
8.4%
4.1%
0.4%
0.8%
0.2%
7.2%
4.0%
7.1%
5.3%
4.7%
9.5%
8.2%
8.5%
4.5%
6.9%
9.1%
8.1%
(1.0%)
26.6%
13.4%
13.1%
8.5%
15.8%
15.1%
11.8%
(10.7%)
(1.8%)
6.9%
4.5%
9.9%
9.8%
8.3%
(6.5%)
2.1%
6.4%
7.3%
4.7%
4.7%
11.4%
(9.0%)
(2.0%)
10.2%
12.1%
41.6%
41.0%
11.4%
Compound Annual Growth Rate Over Three Years
Total Revenue
4.3%
Gross Profit
4.5%
EBITDA
5.3%
EBITA
5.8%
EBIT
6.8%
Earnings from Cont. Ops.
8.7%
Net Income
9.7%
Normalized Net Income
7.0%
Diluted EPS before Extra
7.7%
3.5%
3.4%
4.7%
4.6%
5.4%
4.3%
26.3%
5.6%
5.1%
5.3%
5.6%
7.1%
7.2%
7.1%
6.1%
4.8%
7.0%
8.6%
3.9%
4.2%
4.9%
4.6%
4.9%
(0.5%)
(0.6%)
5.0%
1.9%
4.0%
4.8%
2.6%
8.7%
3.2%
3.3%
2.9%
6.1%
5.9%
7.4%
6.3%
4.9%
3.6%
5.9%
4.5%
2.7%
27.3%
15.1%
4.0%
14.5%
(1.0%)
(1.2%)
11.6%
3.6%
4.6%
10.0%
5.2%
16.5%
16.0%
10.5%
0.1%
4.1%
7.6%
8.3%
3.9%
3.9%
10.5%
(3.3%)
0.3%
6.9%
8.8%
7.7%
7.6%
10.5%
Accounts Receivable
Inventory
Net PP&E
Total Assets
Tangible Book Value
Common Equity
Cash from Ops.
Capital Expenditures
Levered Free Cash Flow
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Dividend per Share
Accounts Receivable
Inventory
Net PP&E
Total Assets
Tangible Book Value
Common Equity
Cash from Ops.
Capital Expenditures
Levered Free Cash Flow
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Dividend per Share
76
�Compound Annual Growth Rate Over Five Years
Total Revenue
4.8%
Gross Profit
5.0%
EBITDA
5.4%
EBITA
6.0%
EBIT
6.4%
Earnings from Cont. Ops.
8.1%
Net Income
8.7%
Normalized Net Income
7.8%
Diluted EPS before Extra
7.5%
Accounts Receivable
Inventory
Net PP&E
Total Assets
Tangible Book Value
Common Equity
Cash from Ops.
Capital Expenditures
Levered Free Cash Flow
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Dividend per Share
5.2%
5.4%
6.3%
7.8%
8.4%
9.0%
22.3%
8.8%
9.0%
5.3%
5.4%
6.4%
6.8%
7.3%
8.0%
8.0%
7.4%
9.0%
4.9%
5.0%
6.3%
6.3%
6.8%
3.9%
3.9%
6.8%
4.9%
2.3%
5.0%
1.0%
6.2%
6.2%
8.9%
3.9%
6.6%
6.2%
6.2%
4.9%
7.0%
6.0%
6.8%
5.5%
5.8%
29.2%
14.4%
7.4%
6.4%
6.6%
5.0%
11.7%
10.3%
8.2%
3.7%
9.9%
0.8%
0.5%
12.5%
12.5%
9.7%
4.9%
11.6%
1.2%
1.1%
11.5%
6.9%
6.4%
9.6%
10.7%
11.8%
11.6%
11.5%
Appendix B: The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) > Financials > Ratios
Restatement: Latest Filings
Period Type: Annual
Order: Latest on Right
Decimals: Capital IQ (Default)
For the Fiscal Period Ending
Profitability
Return on Assets %
Return on Capital %
Return on Equity %
Return on Common Equity %
Margin Analysis
Gross Margin %
SG&A Margin %
EBITDA Margin %
EBITA Margin %
12 months
Jun-30-2014
12 months
Jun-30-2015
12 months
Jun-30-2016
LTM
12 months
Sep-30-2016
6.1%
8.5%
15.4%
15.2%
6.4%
8.8%
12.5%
12.2%
7.0%
9.9%
16.6%
16.4%
7.0%
9.8%
16.6%
16.5%
47.5%
28.8%
22.9%
19.4%
48.5%
28.7%
24.3%
20.5%
50.7%
28.7%
26.7%
22.6%
50.9%
28.7%
26.8%
22.7%
77
�EBIT Margin %
Earnings from Cont. Ops Margin %
Net Income Margin %
Net Income Avail. for Common
Margin %
Normalized Net Income Margin %
Levered Free Cash Flow Margin %
Unlevered Free Cash Flow Margin %
18.7%
14.3%
15.6%
13.8%
19.8%
11.7%
9.9%
11.2%
22.0%
15.4%
16.1%
14.8%
22.1%
15.5%
16.3%
15.0%
11.0%
7.4%
8.0%
11.8%
15.1%
15.6%
13.2%
11.8%
12.3%
13.4%
18.7%
19.3%
Asset Turnover
Total Asset Turnover
Fixed Asset Turnover
Accounts Receivable Turnover
Inventory Turnover
0.5x
3.4x
11.5x
5.7x
0.5x
3.4x
12.9x
6.2x
0.5x
3.3x
14.6x
6.6x
0.5x
3.4x
13.8x
6.3x
Short Term Liquidity
Current Ratio
Quick Ratio
Cash from Ops. to Curr. Liab.
Avg. Days Sales Out.
Avg. Days Inventory Out.
Avg. Days Payable Out.
Avg. Cash Conversion Cycle
0.9x
0.5x
0.4x
31.6
63.9
80.9
14.6
1.0x
0.5x
0.5x
28.3
58.8
87.4
(0.4)
1.1x
0.6x
0.5x
25.1
55.1
100.1
(19.9)
1.1x
0.6x
0.5x
26.5
58.4
96.4
(11.6)
50.6%
33.6%
28.3%
18.8%
51.5%
48.1%
32.5%
29.1%
19.6%
51.3%
52.8%
34.5%
32.7%
21.4%
54.4%
52.8%
34.6%
32.1%
21.0%
54.3%
19.6x
24.0x
18.6x
2.1x
1.5x
2.7x
1.9x
22.4x
27.4x
21.4x
1.8x
1.1x
2.3x
1.4x
24.8x
30.1x
24.4x
1.8x
1.0x
2.2x
1.2x
25.3x
30.7x
24.7x
1.8x
1.0x
2.2x
1.2x
3.4
3.87
3.72
3.74
(7.1%)
(11.8%)
(4.9%)
(3.0%)
(7.7%)
(3.5%)
(4.7%)
(1.5%)
Long Term Solvency
Total Debt/Equity
Total Debt/Capital
LT Debt/Equity
LT Debt/Capital
Total Liabilities/Total Assets
EBIT / Interest Exp.
EBITDA / Interest Exp.
(EBITDA-CAPEX) / Interest Exp.
Total Debt/EBITDA
Net Debt/EBITDA
Total Debt/(EBITDA-CAPEX)
Net Debt/(EBITDA-CAPEX)
Altman Z Score
Growth Over Prior Year
Total Revenue
Gross Profit
78
�EBITDA
EBITA
EBIT
Earnings from Cont. Ops.
Net Income
Normalized Net Income
Diluted EPS before Extra
(0.3%)
(1.6%)
(1.5%)
(2.7%)
2.9%
(2.5%)
(2.3%)
0.7%
0.4%
0.9%
(22.2%)
(39.6%)
1.8%
(21.7%)
1.6%
1.8%
2.4%
21.0%
49.3%
3.5%
23.1%
1.2%
0.9%
1.4%
21.3%
38.9%
2.9%
23.6%
Accounts Receivable
Inventory
Net PP&E
Total Assets
(1.9%)
(2.2%)
2.9%
3.6%
(28.5%)
(26.3%)
(11.9%)
(10.2%)
(4.3%)
(5.3%)
(1.4%)
(1.8%)
(0.2%)
(4.6%)
1.2%
(0.2%)
NM
1.8%
(6.2%)
(4.0%)
(35.4%)
(33.4%)
7.0%
NM
(9.9%)
4.7%
(2.9%)
92.6%
84.9%
5.9%
NM
(8.2%)
5.7%
(11.3%)
(28.0%)
(27.2%)
2.5%
NM
(6.5%)
2.8%
0.2%
181.7%
167.0%
2.0%
Compound Annual Growth Rate Over Two Years
Total Revenue
(4.7%)
Gross Profit
(6.7%)
EBITDA
(2.2%)
EBITA
(2.3%)
EBIT
(2.4%)
Earnings from Cont. Ops.
7.9%
Net Income
4.0%
Normalized Net Income
(2.2%)
Diluted EPS before Extra
8.8%
(6.0%)
(7.5%)
0.2%
(0.6%)
(0.3%)
(13.0%)
(21.1%)
(0.3%)
(12.5%)
(6.3%)
(3.3%)
1.1%
1.1%
1.6%
(3.0%)
(5.0%)
2.6%
(1.8%)
(9.2%)
(7.7%)
(2.2%)
(2.7%)
(2.4%)
(4.5%)
0.1%
(1.4%)
(3.3%)
2.6%
0.3%
4.6%
4.4%
(16.2%)
(15.1%)
(4.8%)
(3.6%)
(17.2%)
(16.5%)
(6.8%)
(6.1%)
(12.8%)
(16.1%)
(5.9%)
(3.4%)
NM
4.6%
2.5%
(1.5%)
(21.1%)
(20.2%)
7.0%
NM
(4.3%)
(0.9%)
(3.5%)
11.6%
10.9%
6.4%
NM
(9.1%)
5.2%
(7.2%)
17.8%
16.0%
4.2%
NM
(6.1%)
(2.0%)
(6.1%)
11.1%
10.3%
3.4%
Tangible Book Value
Common Equity
Cash from Ops.
Capital Expenditures
Levered Free Cash Flow
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Dividend per Share
Accounts Receivable
Inventory
Net PP&E
Total Assets
Tangible Book Value
Common Equity
Cash from Ops.
Capital Expenditures
Levered Free Cash Flow
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Dividend per Share
79
�Compound Annual Growth Rate Over Three Years
Total Revenue
(2.8%)
Gross Profit
(5.0%)
EBITDA
(2.4%)
EBITA
(3.5%)
EBIT
(3.5%)
Earnings from Cont. Ops.
(3.1%)
Net Income
(0.4%)
Normalized Net Income
(3.9%)
Diluted EPS before Extra
(2.1%)
(4.8%)
(5.5%)
(1.2%)
(1.4%)
(1.3%)
(3.2%)
(13.2%)
(0.9%)
(2.5%)
(6.6%)
(6.2%)
0.6%
0.2%
0.6%
(2.9%)
(2.4%)
0.9%
(2.0%)
(7.3%)
(6.9%)
(2.1%)
(2.8%)
(2.5%)
(3.8%)
(2.7%)
(2.2%)
(2.9%)
Accounts Receivable
Inventory
Net PP&E
Total Assets
0.6%
(2.9%)
1.6%
1.4%
(9.0%)
(9.5%)
(1.2%)
(0.7%)
(12.4%)
(12.0%)
(3.6%)
(3.0%)
(10.4%)
(12.2%)
(4.1%)
(2.9%)
Tangible Book Value
Common Equity
Cash from Ops.
Capital Expenditures
Levered Free Cash Flow
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Dividend per Share
NM
0.8%
1.5%
5.2%
(8.9%)
(8.6%)
7.5%
NM
(0.5%)
3.2%
(2.0%)
6.2%
5.6%
6.6%
NM
(5.6%)
1.2%
(6.1%)
(3.6%)
(3.6%)
5.1%
NM
(5.1%)
1.8%
(4.1%)
9.4%
8.9%
4.6%
80
�Compound Annual Growth Rate Over Five Years
Total Revenue
(0.6%)
Gross Profit
(1.4%)
EBITDA
(1.6%)
EBITA
(2.1%)
EBIT
(2.0%)
Earnings from Cont. Ops.
(0.0%)
Net Income
(2.8%)
Normalized Net Income
(1.8%)
Diluted EPS before Extra
1.3%
Accounts Receivable
Inventory
Net PP&E
Total Assets
Tangible Book Value
Common Equity
Cash from Ops.
Capital Expenditures
Levered Free Cash Flow
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
Dividend per Share
(1.8%)
(3.3%)
(1.8%)
(2.4%)
(2.3%)
(5.2%)
(11.2%)
(1.9%)
(3.9%)
(4.2%)
(4.3%)
(1.0%)
(1.7%)
(1.5%)
(3.0%)
(2.3%)
(1.3%)
(2.0%)
(4.6%)
(4.4%)
(0.7%)
(1.1%)
(1.1%)
(2.7%)
(2.0%)
(0.7%)
(1.6%)
1.8%
(0.4%)
2.8%
1.4%
(3.1%)
(4.8%)
0.4%
0.2%
(7.0%)
(8.6%)
(1.9%)
(1.7%)
(6.5%)
(9.0%)
(1.4%)
(1.1%)
NM
2.0%
(1.3%)
3.5%
(11.0%)
(11.1%)
8.4%
NM
0.5%
(2.0%)
4.0%
(2.7%)
(2.9%)
7.6%
NM
(3.2%)
3.0%
0.0%
1.0%
0.5%
6.2%
NM
(2.2%)
2.7%
(0.9%)
10.6%
9.7%
5.8%
81
����Mina and her Men: Examining
Gender in Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Madison LaSorda (Theatre/Speech)1
Bram Stoker’s Dracula examines gender not just by portraying gender roles, but
also by showing the bending and crossing of gender lines. While multiple characters
challenge gender roles throughout the book, none do so more than Mina Harker, née
Murray. Mina’s journey throughout the novel shows her visiting both ends of the gender
spectrum. Van Helsing says it best when he notes, “she has a man’s brain…and a
woman’s heart” (Stoker 226-227). In a world with strict gender roles and no concept of a
gender spectrum, Mina is an anomaly. Her “unwomanly” intelligence, however, might
have gone unnoticed if it were not for Mina and the band of men’s encounter with Count
Dracula. Dracula, and the supernatural events that accompany him, is the catalyst that
causes the characters to cross gender lines, willingly or not. In surviving her encounter
with him, Mina not only crosses gender lines, she also creates herself as a matriarch in a
patriarchal world.
The first person whose gender role is altered by Dracula within the novel is
Mina’s fiancé, Jonathan Harker. When he travels east to meet with Dracula as a solicitor,
Jonathan soon becomes a captive within Dracula’s castle. Dracula forces Jonathan into a
position many middle and upper class Victorian women were accustomed to—being
stuck inside a house, the domestic sphere. Jonathan, also like women of the time, is
powerless to do anything but accept his position. The doors to the outside are kept
locked and when he tries to reach out for help by means of sending letters, Dracula
intercepts the letters and silences him (43). In other words, while keeping him prisoner,
Dracula completely dominates Jonathan.
Along with domination, Dracula treats Jonathan with an air of seduction and
physical possession. Though Dracula does not treat his captive cruelly or dominate him
through scare tactics, he removes Jonathan’s agency—his freedom to leave and his voice
through letters—while still providing him food, a place to sleep, and gentlemanly
conversation. Later, however, Dracula’s true intentions become clear when Jonathan
encounters the three vampire women. When Dracula walks in on Jonathan and the
women, he says to the vampire women, “‘I promise you that when I am done with him
Written under the direction of Dr. Susan Bernardo for EN 225: Ghosts, Vampires, and
Civilization in English Gothic Fiction.
1
85
�you shall kiss him at your will’” (39). Dejan Kuzmanovic describes the kiss Dracula
alludes to:
The emphasis on the woman's mouth, lips, and teeth, as well as her going on her knees
and moving her head lower and lower, connote fellatio, even though Harker's weakened
ego is still strong enough to substitute the throat, with its ‘super-sensitive skin,’ for the
penis, but the woman's sharp teeth and her impending bite clearly endanger the
throat/penis and suggest castration, which Harker, less and less invested in maintaining
his own masculinity, almost welcomes, in an ultimately masochistic impulse.
(Kuzmanovic 417)
The kiss Dracula was so desperate to stop would not just turn Jonathan into a vampire,
but also could remove the last of his masculinity. Marking Jonathan as his possession
until he says otherwise implies that Dracula wishes to perform the “castration” himself
and the vampire women only have permission to kiss Jonathan after Dracula has kissed
him first. Dracula wants to be the only creator of vampires and therefore remain at the
center of his harem with all vampires directly connected to him.
Eventually, Jonathan escapes Castle Dracula and manages to make his way to
Budapest, where he is diagnosed with brain fever. His fiancée, Mina, travels to Budapest
where they are reunited and ultimately married before returning to England. Jonathan,
however, remains in the feminized state Dracula forced him into. Before they are
married, Jonathan gives Mina his journal and says, “‘Here is the book. Take it and keep
it, read it if you will, but never let me know unless, indeed, some solemn duty should
come upon me to go back to the bitter hours” (Stoker 103). As Alison Case notes,
Jonathan’s continued feminized state is evident by this treatment of the journal he wrote
during his time at Dracula’s castle. Case says, “the abdication of narrative authority
signaled by Jonathan’s rejection of the journal provides the context for Mina’s growing
importance as a complier and interpreter of her own and others’ stories,” and, “Mina, not
Jonathan, is now the authority on what he ‘meant to say’” (229). In other words,
Jonathan’s unmanning not only feminizes him, but also leaves a void of masculinity in
his marriage with Mina—a void she easily fills.
This narrative and masculine authority Mina now possesses is evident when she
meets Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. After failing to prevent Lucy Westenra becoming a
vampire, Van Helsing reaches out to Mina, a close friend of Lucy’s, hoping to gather
more information about Dracula. Not only does Mina give him a copy of Jonathan’s
journal that she typed out, she also makes the effort to show off her intelligence. When
Van Helsing asks to see her own journal from her time staying with Lucy, Mina first
gives him the original written in shorthand, assuming correctly that he cannot read it
(Stoker 177). This power play not only shows off her intelligence, but also tells Van
Helsing that she is not just a dutiful wife handing papers over for the men to deal with.
86
�Instead Mina is a woman with her own mind and with agency. Mina’s power play is
successful, for Van Helsing immediately remarks, “Oh, you so clever woman!” (177).
Despite Mina’s masculine qualities, the band of men who go up against Dracula
still do not see her as an equal. The men in question include Mina’s husband, Jonathan
Harker; the late Lucy’s fiancé, Arthur Holmwood; two of Lucy’s former suitors, Quincey
Morris and Dr. John Seward; and Dr. Seward’s former mentor, Van Helsing. After telling
the entire group about vampire lore and explaining the best way to destroy Dracula, Van
Helsing turns to Mina and says,
And now for you Madame Mina, this night is the end until all be well. You are too precious
to us to have such risk. When we part tonight, you no more must question. We shall tell
you all in good time. We are men and are able to bear, but you must be our star and our
hope, and we shall act all the more free that you are not in danger, such as we are. (233)
Van Helsing not only wants Mina to be removed from the physical action, he also wants
to keep her in the dark about the events to come, despite the fact that while organizing
and typing up all the information thus far she has been made aware of the horrors of
Dracula’s world and has handled it as well as, if not better than, the men. Van Helsing
both underestimates Mina and becomes an anti-feminist force that tries to push Mina
back into her proper gender role. Mina, as a patriarchal woman, writes in her journal
about the men’s decision, “though it was a bitter pill to swallow, I could say nothing,
save to accept their chivalrous care of me” (233). In this way, Mina passively allows the
men to retake the agency she had gained. Although she is more than capable of
performing male tasks and has the initiative to research and organize without being
asked, Mina is not actively pursuing equality. Due to the era she lives in, she has been
socially programmed to consider herself subordinate to men. Masculine qualities do not
automatically give Mina equal rights in her mind or the men’s, instead she becomes a
threat to their patriarchal world, and so they try to push her out of it.
While the human men might not think Mina is their equal, Dracula singles her
out in a way that infers that he considers her, if not his equal, a greater threat than the
men actively attacking him. After he has drunk her blood, Dracula says, “And so you,
like the others, would play your brains against mine,” and in doing so both acknowledges
that she is intelligent and equates her with the men (277). For him, all humans are equal
for they are all prey. Dracula does acknowledge human patriarchy, however, and uses it
to manipulate the band of men when he claims possession of ‘their’ women—“your girls”
he calls them—but it is Mina he chooses to link his mind with by giving her his blood
(296, 277). He could have chosen Van Helsing who has the most knowledge of vampires
and has been doing most of the plotting, or Jonathan, with whom he already has a
relationship, but instead he chooses Mina to become “flesh of my flesh, blood of my
87
�blood, kin of my kin” (277).
Dracula, as the being causing all the gender shifting in the other characters, is
interestingly gendered himself. Through his domination of Jonathan and his vampire
progeny he appears masculine, but unlike human men, Dracula can reproduce without a
woman. Likewise, the three vampire women we meet can presumably reproduce without
a man, but Dracula physically prevents them from doing so. He has created for himself a
forced matriarchy by allowing no one else to vampirically procreate. In other words, he
has made himself both the patriarch and the matriarch of his world.
Not only does his ability to reproduce feminize Dracula, Van Helsing does as
well. When speaking to his fellow men, Van Helsing refers to Dracula’s brain as a “big
child-brain” (292). Children, as well as women, criminals, savages, and the insane, were
considered to be right-brained in this era, while men were superiorly left-brained (Stiles
885). Despite having failed to protect Mina from being bitten by Dracula, by thinking he
has a child’s brain, Van Helsing implies that he considers Dracula to be inferior.
Inferiority and femininity go hand-in-hand in this era, and therefore Dracula is once
against feminized.
There is one other way in which Dracula is feminized, and it relates to one of the
rules of vampirism. According to Van Helsing, a vampire cannot enter a dwelling unless
a member of the household grants him permission (Stoker 231). The home is considered
feminine space, yet it is the space Dracula most wants to penetrate. With all the men
occupied next door at Dracula’s English estate, Carfax, perfectly poised to become prey,
Dracula still seeks out Mina to satiate his appetite, just as he did with Lucy. Permission,
in this case, was given by Renfield, a patient in Dr. Seward’s asylum, prior to Mina
taking up temporary residence there. Renfield, like the other men, is compelled to try to
protect Mina and asks to be moved out of the asylum in order to negate the invitation to
enter he gave Dracula, but Dr. Seward denies him (238). In general, however, Dracula’s
inability to enter the female space without permission infers that he still possesses
masculine qualities, but by wanting to enter it he feminizes himself as well.
In the final battle between the band of men and Dracula, Mina witnesses and
notes in her journal “a look of peace” on Dracula’s face as he is killed (364). Both her
noticing this and the gladness it brings her denotes, not for the first time in the novel, her
mothering instincts. Earlier in the novel when she comforts Arthur after the loss of Lucy,
Mina records in her journal,
We woman have something of the mother in us that makes us rise above smaller matters
when the mother spirit is invoked. I felt this big sorrowing man’s head resting on me, as
though it were that of a baby that may someday lie on my bosom, and I stroked his hairs
as though he were my own child. (222)
88
�Although Mina has masculine qualities, one feminine quality she maintains throughout
the novel is her maternal instinct. Just as Van Helsing says, she has “a woman’s heart”
(227). She comforts a grieving man even though he is little more than a stranger to her,
and she is the only one of the band who cares whether Dracula is at peace in death.
The endnote in the novel informs us that Mina does eventually become an actual
mother. When writing about their son, Jonathan says, “his bundle of names links all our
little band of men together. But we call him Quincey” (365). Naming her son after all the
men who went after Dracula—Quincey, Jonathan, Arthur, John Seward, and Van
Helsing—implies multiple men are responsible for the child, in other words, multiple
fathers. Due to their adventure, they are all linked to Mina with varying degrees of
intimacy. Jonathan is her husband; Arthur was mothered by her; Quincey died to save
her; Seward let her listen to his recorded diary; and Van Helsing hypnotized her. While
they may not all be the biological father, having gone through so much to save her from
damnation they all feel responsible for her and her offspring. This is very similar to a
hypothetical matriarchal society where multiple sex partners would allow a woman to
have multiple men acting protectively over their potential children. In a spiritual way,
Mina has created a similar matriarchy for herself.
In Dracula, both Mina Harker and Dracula are androgynous characters—
embodying a mix of feminine and masculine qualities. While for most of the novel
Dracula’s supernatural existence affects the genders of the other characters, when he dies
at the end he leaves a void in the shape of a simultaneously matriarchal and patriarchal
figure. In slicing open Dracula’s throat, Jonathan loses the femininity caused by the
vampire and is able to finish the novel with verbal agency, just as he started it. This
leaves Mina, with “her man’s brain” and “woman’s heart” as the only surviving character
able to fill Dracula’s role (226, 277). Not only does she meet the gender qualifications,
but also Dracula himself made her kin by sharing his blood, which also makes her the
rightful successor. Although she is not as cruel and her influence does not go further than
the four remaining men and her son, by surviving Dracula’s attack, Mina replaces him
and becomes a matriarch in her own world.
Works Cited
Case, Alison. “Tasting the Original Apple: Gender and the Struggle for Narrative
Authority in Dracula.” Narrative, vol. 1, no. 3, 1993, pp. 223-243. JSTOR. Accessed 28
Nov. 2016.
Kuzmanovic, Dejan. “Vampiric Seduction and Vicissitudes of Masculine Identity in
89
�Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Victorian Literature and Culture, vol. 37, no. 2, 2009, pp. 411425. JSTOR. Accessed 28 Nov. 2016.
Stiles, Anne. “Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde and the Double Brain.” Studies
in English Literature, vol. 46, no. 4, 2006, pp. 879-900. JSTOR. Accessed 28 Nov. 2016.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Canterbury Classics, 1897; 2012.
90
�Seneca Village: A Forgotten History
Hadeel Mishal (History)1
Seneca Village beautifully, and tragically, shows how unity and determination
can get a community far, and the ways in which powerful people and institutions can
decimate these things, and leave them forgotten in history. Seneca Village, a free black
community in Manhattan, was established in 1825 when white land-owners sold off their
plots at affordable rates to black New Yorkers. Over the course of its existence, from
1825 to 1861, the community became a thriving place for black people, eventually
containing a flourishing community of three churches, two schools, two cemeteries, and
upwards of 200 houses.2 For black Americans, Seneca Village represented hope, and the
potential that they had to be successful in this country. However, during the 1850s, with
the movement to construct a municipal park for public gatherings, Seneca Village
residents were caught in the middle and their land taken away through eminent domain.
By 1861, despite resistance from the Seneca Villagers, the neighborhood was razed and
disappeared from both the map of Manhattan, and from NYC history.3 My research
suggests Seneca Village, which was a vibrant and successful community, should receive
more attention from historians as an important example of northern black resistance to
white aggression before the Civil War.
By as early as 1871, the Village was forgotten in New York City. Located
between 82nd and 89th Street, from 7th to 8th Avenue, this tiny area achieved the closest
thing to middle-class status for black people. As workers were uprooting trees at the new
entrance of Central Park, on the corner of 85th Street and 8th Avenue, they came upon
two coffins, both containing Black people from Seneca Village.4 This was so surprising
that this discovery made it to the New-York Herald: an area which once served as a
community for Blacks was lost in a matter of ten years. This was the beginning of
unearthing the history of one of the most successful black communities in the Northern
states.
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Alison Smith for HI297: The Historian as Detective:
Exploring the City.
2 Leslie Alexander, African or American? Black Identity and Political Activism in New
York City, 1784-1861 (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2008), 157.
3 Alexander, African or American?, 172.
4 “Yesterday Afternoon,” New-York Herald (New York, NY), August 11, 1871.
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�Seneca Village’s history disappeared quickly. This stems from the lack of
primary sources that have survived. Newspaper articles from The New York Times, The
New York Daily Tribune, and New York Sun offer historians the richest sources for
exploring Seneca Village. Also, there are government documents such as the Census, the
Mayor’s notes, and the Board of Commissioners of Central Park’s First and Second
Annual Report on the Improvement of the Central Park. Topographical maps, which were
created to survey the location of the Park also exist, such as Egbert L. Viele’s
“Topographical Map of the City of New York,” which shows the original water courses
and land quality. A Central Park map book from 1856 shows the plots of land owned in
all the area taken for the creation of Central Park, including Seneca Village. Lastly, there
are documents (such as a list of members) which survived from one of the churches in
Seneca Village, All Angel’s Church, upon its transfer to its new location. No letters or
documents remain from the community members, which makes studying the everyday
life of a Seneca Villager extremely challenging. Although some history has been pieced
together on Seneca Village, there are gaps within it. This shows how primary documents
are instrumental to putting together a concise history, and how the lack of them leaves
stories incomplete. Here, we see how this incomplete story leaves blank spaces in New
York City history as well as erases the presence and contributions of Black New Yorkers.
Seneca Village served as a jewel for black New Yorkers. Unlike other black
neighborhoods in New York, black people in Seneca Village were middle-class and
owned land. In fact, “about 50% of Seneca Village residents owned land, which was five
times higher than the average ownership rate for all New Yorkers,” showing how the
community differed from other Black communities in the North through land ownership.5
John Whitehead, a white cart man, was selling off plots of land in the Upper West Side
during 1825. There is no information on how Whitehead had obtained so much land or
why he was choosing to sell it off. Andrew Williams, a young black man, bought three
lots from Whitehead, and then Epiphany Davis bought twelve lots in the area. Within a
week, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church purchased six lots as well.6 It is
unknown why AME Zion Church decided to purchase the lots in Seneca Village, but it is
known that the AME Zion church had been organized in New York in 1756, and that it
was described as the “largest and wealthiest church of the coloured people in this city,
perhaps in this country.”7 Davis’ purchase really put a stake in the area, because he was a
5
Elizabeth Blackmar and Roy Rosenzweig, The Park and the People: A History of
Central Park (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1992), 70.
6 Blackmar and Rosenzweig, The Park and the People, 65.
7 Blackmar and Rosenzweig, The Park and the People, 66.
92
�leader of AME Zion, and over the course of three years, three or four other church leaders
purchased plots. Communities have historically been built around houses of worship,
which would explain AME Zion church’s investments in the plots, as well as the
purchases which came later from other church leaders. Although it is unknown why these
men decided to purchase these plots, my research suggests that the men intended to build
a community, because they settled in close proximity to one another. Williams and Davis
went on to be the founding fathers of the Village, because between 1825 and 1832,
Whitehead sold off the remainder of his fifty plots to black families.8 Although there is
no evidence on why Whitehead chose to sell off his land to black people, it is significant
to note that in other parts of New York City, this was uncommon, making Seneca Village
unique as a free black community.
The influential role of the church in Seneca Village was solidified in 1853, when
the AME Zion church laid a cornerstone on 85th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues. It
was laid out to honor the location of the new building, which would be “22x40 in size,
[with] the basement of it serving as a school-room for the education for colored
children.”9 This shows that the church served as a foundation for the community, because
it provided a place of worship for the “fifty colored families’ resid[ing] in the
neighborhood,” and also contributed to the education of the Black students.10 The laying
of the cornerstone shows how critical the church was to Seneca Village, because it was so
well-established, and was one of the first plots to be purchased in the founding of the
Village.
Black enfranchisement was an important element of why Seneca Village was
able to be actively against the construction of Central Park. Of the 13,000 Black New
Yorkers, 91 Black New York residents were qualified to vote, and 10 lived in Seneca
Village (which only spanned about eight blocks up, and two blocks across). The purchase
of land by Blacks came to play out significantly in their political engagement. Blacks in
Seneca Village were extremely politically engaged in proportion to the rest of New York.
The requirements for voting were “a $250 freehold estate and three years of residency in
the state,” which some of the Seneca Villagers fit the criteria for.11 This is incredible, and
8
Leslie M. Harris, In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 16261863 (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2003), 74-75.
9 “Laying of a Corner-Stone,” New-York Daily Tribune (New York, NY), August 5,
1853.
10 “Laying of a Corner-Stone,” New-York Daily Tribune.
11 Elizabeth Blackmar and Roy Rosenzweig, The Park and the People: A History of
Central Park (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1992), 72.
93
�shows that Seneca Villagers were more likely to be politically engaged than their black
counterparts in other neighborhoods, which would serve as a substantial reason to keep
their community established. This also provides a reason for why black ownership was
critical to political activism. Furthermore, this is important because it shows a large
difference between Seneca Villagers and the rest of the free black population in the
North, who were disenfranchised.
Seneca Village functioned as a community of working class people, with only
three residents being considered middle class: German grocer Henry Meyers, black
grocer William Pease, and New York born innkeeper John Haff.12 This is interesting,
because although the community consisted mostly of unskilled laborers and service
traders, they were able to build a sustainable, functioning community. Economic activity
in the community was reflective of the rest of New York City, with women and children
supplementing the earnings of the men. Black women “worked as domestics and
laundresses….and wives contributed to the household economy through housework:
sewing, economizing on meal preparation, and especially scavenging for food, clothing,
and fuel.”13 This shows that their labor force was similar to the rest of New York City.
Establishing this labor force and economic balance is important to note, because one of
the Park’s first engineers described that Seneca Villagers were “living off the refuse of
the city,” and “denuding the park’s forests for firewood,” thus attempting to degrade the
community and financial security that Seneca Villagers were able to develop.14
It is necessary to challenge that narrative, and show that despite the Village
being predominantly lower class, they were able to sustain themselves. White New
Yorkers made Seneca Villagers out to be scavengers, who could not provide for
themselves. In fact, the Village was frequently referred to as “Ni**er Village.” In one
article, Seneca Villagers were described as “present[ing] a pleasing contrast in their
habits and the appearance of their dwellings to the Celtic occupants, in common with
hogs and goats, of the shanties in the lower part of the Park.”15 This excerpt, from an
article published in 1856, which serves as a primary source, shows how the Seneca
Villagers were viewed by their white counterparts. Their homes were referred to as
“shanties in the lower part of the Park,” which was alluding to Five Points, where most
Black Manhattanites lived. Five Points was reputed for having high crimes rates, rampant
12
Blackmar and Rosenzweig, The Park and the People, 68.
Blackmar and Rosenzweig, The Park and the People, 69.
14 Blackmar and Rosenzweig, The Park and the People, 69.
15 “The Present Look of Our Great Central Park,” New-York Daily Times (New York,
NY), July 9, 1856.
13
94
�prostitution, and gang activity. This description of Seneca Village is problematic in many
ways, because Five Points has continually been dramatized as being worse than it
actually was, and this newspaper article only added to the stigmas of black people in New
York City. Considering that this was being published in the newspaper, there was a
massive audience who was engrossed with this information, giving black people living in
Five Points and Seneca Village a terrible, and quite falsified reputation. Moreover, the
author seems to compare the residents to animals alongside the Irish immigrants who also
occupied the Village, showing a disregard for their humanity. Approximately 30% of the
population of the Village was composed of Irish immigrants, showing that there was class
and racial unity and solidarity between the two groups of people.16 It is important to note
that although Seneca Village was predominantly black, they were welcoming to the Irish
immigrant community, who historically faced racial discrimination.
Talks of a centralized park in Manhattan became serious in 1848, with the
publication of Andrew Downing’s “A Talk about Public Parks and Gardens.” Downing
was a horticulturalist and landscape designer who believed that creating public space
would advance urban environments. He went on to say that Manhattan was the ideal
location for a public park, which would promote social freedom by providing a space for
interaction between different classes.17 When this push for a park continued, Mayor
Kingsland partitioned Jones Woods, which was near the East River, to be used as a space
for a public park.18 Andrew Downing immediately opposed the location, because it was
too small of a place which would not be effective in serving its purpose. He suggested
that the Common Council, the municipal legislature, use land above Thirty Ninth Street,
because it was more spacious, and would provide “broad reaches of park and pleasure
grounds, with a real feeling of the breadth and beauty of green fields, the perfumes and
freshness of nature.”19 Following the publication of Downing’s article, in July 1851, the
Common Council actually took his advice and decided that they wanted “the piece of
16
Elizabeth Blackmar and Roy Rosenzweig, The Park and the People: A History of
Central Park (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1992), 66.
17 Andrew Downing, “A Talk about Public Parks and Gardens,” Horticulturalist, and
Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste 3, no. 4 (October 1848): 155. Although the idea of
Central Park is typically credited to Andrew Downing, it is important to note that
William Cullen Bryant issued an appeal for a public park in 1844, four years prior to
Downing. Nevertheless, Downing’s articles have been referred to as the birth of the idea
of a Central Park.
18 Board of Commissioners of Central Park, First Annual Report on the Improvement of
the Central Park, New York (New York: Charles Baker, Printer, 1857), 6.
19 Downing, “A Talk about Public Parks and Gardens,” 346-47.
95
�ground lying between Fifth and Eighth Avenues, Fifty-Ninth and One Hundred Sixth
Streets, for the purpose indicated over that known as Jones Woods.”20
This sudden decision to change the location of the park to annexing 800 acres of
land was controversial, and was complicated for a wide array of reasons, the most central
being the annexation of Seneca Village. A crucial reason for its controversy was the way
the Central Park Board of Commissioners described the land in this annex. They declared
that a lot of the land in this area to be unfit for a park to be built. The land south of
Seneca Village was reported as “a pestilential spot, where rank vegetation and miasmatic
odors taint every breath.”21 The reason this did not sit well with many Manhattanites was
because the reports contradicted the way the Council would use the land. If the land was
unfit for being constructed into a park, why take the land? Furthermore, the land that the
Report described as pestilential and bad for vegetation was actually able to sustain
greenery. It is unclear why the Report was so ambiguous and misinformed.
Manhattanites whose land was being take away for the construction of Central
Park attempted to change the location of the Park by petition, which gained thousands of
people’s support. The petition protested the new, expanded location for the park. It stated
that “the time to consummate this desirable object should be no longer delayed,” and that
the Council should work as soon as possible on the land which is “so eligibly situated,”
referring back to the original location at Jones Woods.22 There is no evidence that
residents from Seneca Village signed this petition, but it can be inferred that if other
Manhattanites were this upset and willing to challenge authority, so would the Seneca
Villagers. Consequently, something interesting came from this unity and resistance: a
suspension of the construction of Central Park. This resulted in a subcommittee
overturning the plans, and going back to the construction of a park at Jones Woods. For a
moment, there was a sense of victory for those who would have been displaced.
Fernando Wood, the new Mayor, used his power to veto this resolution on
March 23, 1855, and continued the plans for Central Park.23 His decision was quite
shocking, considering that he represented the people, yet made a decision that went
against the thousands of people (black and white) who signed the petition for the change
in location for the Park. This suggests that there could have been a complicity to build
Central Park in order to raise property value. The construction of the Park was funded
20
Board of Commissioners of Central Park, First Annual Report, 6.
Board of Commissioners of Central Park, First Annual Report, 11-12.
22 James W. Beekman Papers, Jones Woods Petitions, New York City, 1853. The land
which is being referred to as “eligibly situated” is Jones Woods.
23 Blackmar and Rosenzweig, The Park and the People, 56.
21
96
�federally and privately, and Wood was financially invested in Central Park. Wood owned
property adjoining Seneca Village, and an examination of Wood’s tax records show that
following the razing of Seneca Village, his land value increased from a few hundred
dollars to over $10,000.24 This shows that there was corruption in the support Wood gave
for the construction of the Park, because he was looking to make financial profits, as
opposed to representing the residents who wanted to see a change in location.
It is significant to understand Wood’s views of black people in the North,
because it gives better insight on the theory that it was possible that Woods intentionally
wanted to raze Seneca Village because of prejudice against black people. During his time
in Congress as a member of the House of Representatives, 1841-1843, he advocated
against the removal of the property qualifications from Black voting to make it more
difficult for them to be politically engaged. He also supported the Dred Scott decision,
and supported the extension of slavery into new territories of the United States. Wood
strongly despised the Radical Republicans because they were promising “lazy, unfit
blacks immediate suffrage, high pay and social superiority.”25 All of these words and
actions help to build up a conclusion that not only was Woods benefitting financially
from the creation of Central Park, but he was using his power to get rid of black people
from New York City, specifically Seneca Village. The Village functioned as a
community with politically active citizens, who owned land: Wood’s voting record
suggests he was opposed to black enfranchisement. Furthermore, this shows how antiblack sentiments fueled decisions like that of Wood, because he was motivated by black
disenfranchisement and making profits in his investments.
An interesting theory on Seneca Village, developed by historian Leslie
Alexander, is that Seneca Villagers were involved in the Underground Railroad. The
location of the Village, uptown, and away from the chaos of the City, would make it a
place that was away from preying eyes. Also, the African Society helped to establish
Seneca Village, and was known for its help in the Railroad. Men such as Charles Ray,
James McCune Smith, John J. Zuille, and Albro Lyons were known conductors of the
Railroad, and were connected to the African Society. Furthermore, there were more
24
Fernando Wood’s Tax Records, 1855-1860; Alexander, African or American?, 168.
Alexander, African or American?, 169. Woods continued this discrimination against
Black people, and stated that to make the United States a better country, they needed to
“extinguish the followers of the anti-slavery fiend stalking the country.” He also believed
in an armed rebellion against Blacks to annihilate them. Furthermore, Wood and his
brother, who were publishers of the New York Daily News, have been blamed for
instigating the 1863 draft riots, which resulted in riots, the destruction of Black
institutions and the torture and death of hundreds of Blacks.
25
97
�homes than residents in Seneca Village, which means that there would be space to house
these fugitives.26 The Railroad would have operated in total secrecy, so there is no way to
confirm Seneca Village’s role in it. If Seneca Villagers could be active in the
Underground Railroad, that is the ultimate form of resistance against the oppression of
black people in the United States. Therefore, we can assume that if they were active in
this ultimate form of resistance, then they would also be active against their forcible
relocation.
Although there is no research that shows where the Seneca Villagers found their
new homes, there is evidence that shows that the residents were not given the full value
of their lots, because the government decided on the property value. One of the founding
fathers of Seneca Village, Andrew Williams, made a plea to get more out of his plots. He
claimed that the price for his plots was valued at least $4,000 each, instead of the $2,335
the government was giving him per plot.27 Furthermore, the First Annual Report issued
by the Board of Commissioners stated that Seneca Villagers were pleading to either keep
their property, or get more out of it.28 There is no proof that the protesting and petitioning
was successful, because by 1861, Seneca Village was cleared and razed. The mystery of
where the Seneca Villagers scattered to makes it even more challenging to piece together
whether or not their resistance was effective in any way.
After it was decided that Seneca Village was going to be taken through eminent
domain, there is a debate about the extent the Villagers resisted their relocation.
According to James Roman, who wrote Chronicles of Old New York: Exploring
Manhattan’s Landmark Neighborhoods, “On October 1, 1857, the residents of Seneca
Village scattered, quietly and without violence, enabling the construction of Central
Park.”29 On the other hand, Leslie Alexander uses her book African or American? Black
Identity and Political Activism in New York City, 1784-1861 to recount opposition from
the community. In her chapter on Seneca Village, Alexander notes that “for those
remaining few who did not comply, the police violently removed them in the following
month.”30 Furthermore, she refers to an article published in the New York Daily Tribune
in 1866, which states that “[the raid upon Seneca Village could] not be forgotten… many
a brilliant and stirring fight was had during the campaign. But the supremacy of the law
Alexander, African or American?, 166.
Andrew Williams, Andrew Williams’s Affidavit of Petition, 1856.
28 Board of Commissioners of Central Park, First Annual Report, 93.
29 James Roman, Chronicles of Old New York: Exploring Manhattan’s Landmark
Neighborhoods (United States: Museyon, 2010), 96.
30 Alexander, African or American?, 173.
26
27
98
�was upheld by the policeman’s bludgeons,” which implies that the Seneca Villagers were
passionate about opposing the government.31 This conflict in opinion is not uncommon
for historical events, but it is quite interesting, because they completely oppose one
another. Alexander argues vehemently that Blacks were politically active during the
antebellum period, and throughout her book, uses her tone to push this idea forward.
My research suggests that Alexander’s view is probably the most accurate. The
New-York Daily Tribune published an article titled “City Items: Central Park Lands,” on
May 28, 1856, which explores the “commotion among property-holders within the
proposed limits.”32 This article is key to understanding potential Seneca Village
resistance, because there was a general mass of commotion from the people who were
being kicked out to build Central Park. Although this article does not specifically state
that Seneca Villagers were putting up resistance, it is important to understand that there
would be a general sense of unity and anger, because Central Park would displace 800
acres worth of people.33 This refusal to move, as referred to in this article, can be traced
back to “the awards made to them not [being] equal to what, in justice, they are entitled.”34
This is an issue which Seneca Villagers struggled with, meaning that this article could be
alluding to resistance from Seneca Villagers.
Seneca Villagers were viewed as simple-minded by the main news media
outlets. According to another article from New-York Daily Times, dated July 9, 1856,
Seneca Villagers “have been notified to remove by the first of August. The policemen
find it difficult to persuade them out of the ideas which has possessed their simple minds
that the sole object of the authorities making the Park is to procure their expulsion from
the homes which they occupy.”35 These two sentences are extremely powerful, and
necessary to understanding Seneca Village and the way it was viewed by whites. Firstly,
the tone of this article is degrading and dismissive of the Seneca Villagers, and that is
evident in the diction being used. The author, who is anonymous, describes them as
“simple minded,” as if their beliefs are outlandish. Secondly, this article was published in
early July of 1856, which was the year that Seneca Village was taken by eminent domain.
A few months to relocate is a very short time to give Seneca Villagers, who had to be out
31
Alexander, African or American?, 173.
“City Items: Central Park Lands,” New-York Daily Tribune (New York, NY), May 28,
1856.
33 “The Present Look of Our Great Central Park,” New-York Daily Times (New York,
NY), July 9, 1856.
34 “City Items: Central Park Lands,” New-York Daily Tribune.
35 “The Present Look of Our Great Central Park,” New-York Daily Times.
32
99
�by August 1st, 1856. This shows a lack of respect for the members of the community,
This could be one more example of how race and class based prejudices have played out
in New York City, because there was a lack of respect for the community members, who
were being forced out in a short window of time. Lastly, the article states that “the
policemen find it difficult to persuade them out of the ideas which has possessed their
minds,” suggesting that there was interaction between the community members and the
police which did not go in favor of the police, because they were struggling with them.
Based on this primary source, our best bet in understanding what happened when Seneca
Villagers were being expelled is that they put up a fight. The sources do not touch upon
the scale of the resistance, but it shows that there is a contradiction to Roman’s statement
of the Seneca Villagers leaving quietly.
However, this brings up a bigger question of why there is no actual
documentation of this resistance. Because Seneca Village was so significant to the
community members, why haven’t letters or some other form of documentation of this
resistance survived? Why are there no surviving police documents, especially since
according to the Tribune article from ten years later, they were the ones who shut it
down?36 Over and over again, the way that whites have regarded and spoken of Seneca
Village has been with a poor connotation, but even if historians had a biased account of
the resistance, having that as substance would be better than having nothing. Moreover,
this is another reason why primary sources are vital for historical analysis, because now
we may never know whether or not the Seneca Villagers actually resisted. They had a
huge stake in the community; the fact that they were landowners gave them political
power- once again, of the 13,000 Blacks in New York, 91 were qualified to vote, and 10
of those people were from Seneca Village, as of 1845. Based on these facts, a historian
can assume that the case of resistance is the most plausible. Additionally, in Mario
Maffi’s book, New York City: An Outsider’s Inside View, he references the New York
Historical Society’s exhibit on Seneca Village, and says that “despite a wave of
objections and protests, the village inhabitants were scattered,” which does not give the
reader much insight on how the Villagers would have conducted this protest.37 Also, the
book does not provide any footnotes on the sources that would lead to this conclusion,
which is problematic for historians, because he does not state if the exhibit suggested this,
or it was an interpretive leap which led him to such a conclusion.
New York Times (New York, NY), August 17, 1866.
Mario Maffi, New York City: An Outsider’s Inside View (Columbus: The Ohio State
University Press, 2004), 24.
36
37
100
�Researching Seneca Village is fascinating in an array of ways, because there is
so much to learn from this underrated neighborhood which once existed in New York
City. Seneca Village was a politically engaged community with land owning black
people- something practically unheard of during the antebellum period. This community
functioned as a hope for black New Yorkers to step up in the social and political ladder to
find success, economic stability, and involvement in politics. Despite the razing of
Seneca Village, and the erasure from history, it is important to have a coherent
understanding of the place, because it serves as a community which was ahead of its
time. Seneca Village beautifully, and tragically, shows how unity and determination can
get a community far, and the ways in which power structures can decimate these things,
and leave them suppressed and erased from history.
Bibliography
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York City,1784-1861. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2008.
James W.Beekman Papers. Jones Woods Petitions. New York City, 1853.
Blackmar, Elizabeth, and Roy Rosenzweig. The Park and the People: A History of
Central Park. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1992.
Board of Commissioners of Central Park. First Annual Report on the Improvement of the
Central Park. New York (New York: Charles Baker, Printer, 1857).
“City Items: Central Park Lands.” New-York Daily Tribune (New York, NY), May 28,
1856. Downing, Andrew. “The New York Park.” Horticulturalist, and Journal of Rural
Art and Rural Taste 3, no. 4 (October 1848).
Downing, Andrew. “A Talk about Public Parks and Gardens.” Horticulturalist, and
Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste 8 (August 1, 1851).
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Germic, Stephen. American Green: Class, Crisis, and the Deployment of Nature in
Central Park, Yosemite, and Yellowstone. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2001.
Harris, Leslie M. In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 16261863. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2003.
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�“Laying of a Corner-Stone.” New-York Daily Tribune (New York, NY), August 5, 1853.
Maffi, Mario. New York City: An Outsider’s Inside View. Columbus: The Ohio State
University Press, 2004.
Meyerson, Ann. “Review of Before Central Park: The Life and Death of Seneca Village.”
The Public Historian 19, no. 4 (Fall, 1997): 100-102.
New York Times (New York, NY), August 17, 1866.
“The Present Look of Our Great Central Park.” New-York Daily Times (New York, NY),
July 9, 1856.
White, Shane. Prince of Darkness: The Untold Story of Jeremiah G. Hamilton, Wall
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Williams, Andrew. Andrew Williams’s Affidavit of Petition, 1856.
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�Is She or Isn’t She?
An Analysis of Images of Virginity in Film
Natalie Persia (Arts Administration)1
There may be no other form of media that affects our culture as much as film.
From the time we’re children and through the rest of our lives we are constantly being
bombarded with images of the world and what life should be through film, without even
thinking about the validity of what we are seeing. It comes as no surprise that one of the
topics rarely depicted with much accuracy is the image of the virgin and virginity in
modern America. Throughout history there have been many misconceptions about what
virginity symbolizes and what it means to either keep or lose it. Because film is such a
universal medium, the messages it sends are very important to the health and identity of
the women who are watching. This paper will analyze the image of the virgin in film as
naïve and morally outstanding, with a specific focus on horror movies and Final Girls,
and how these images further the belief that women should not possess sexual desire.
Virginity has always been a taboo topic throughout history, and in many
countries and cultures, something that people feel needs to be guarded. In various
cultures there is even a process of examining the hymen of a woman to “check” to make
sure she is still a virgin. When discussing this process, Mary Owen Macey explains,
“This boundary line is clearly demarked and ferociously protected by those cultures that
value virginity before marriage and often rely on a bride-price as a financial reward for
raising female children (4).” Often these practices are based on religious customs but the
belief is that it is the right of those in power to have control over the women around them.
This concept is not an outdated one: it is still very prevalent in the 21st century, especially
in non-Western nations. Even if there is less invasive controlling of women’s bodies in
modern America, they are still viewed as public property subject to public opinion. Men
and women alike decide that it is their right to express their concerns when a woman is
wearing clothes that are too tight or not enough makeup and what these details must
mean about her sexuality. Women’s bodies are public property. If the subject of a
woman’s sexual experience or lack thereof were to become known, even complete
strangers would have something to say about it.
Film is not the only modern media form to have an impact on this idea of
controlling women’s sexuality. Men’s magazines like Maxim and GQ that have pictures
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Laura Morowitz for AH324: Gender in the Visual Arts.
103
�of women often place them in two categories – “young, innocent, sweet, highly flawless,
bright, open, cheerful female bodies, suggesting playfulness, purity, child-like qualities,
or vixens, warrior-like, direct and sexually liberal, dangerous Amazon females or
mysterious, hidden, prostitutes and femmes fatales. Categorizations of women's
identities as wife or virgin, warrior and prostitute or mistress, make clear the static,
unchanging roles allocated to female identities” (Macey 21). There are only these
opposing options for images of women in film as well, and often the former is depicted as
unglamorous and as inexperienced in the world as she is in sex. She appears childlike in
her optimism and ignorance.
Film is the perfect medium to spread images of sexuality in a universal way.
People around the world are capable of finding them and finding something in them to
relate to. Turvey-Sauron explains, “…it is very difficult to experience the ‘live,’
immersive, awesome quality and transformative power of what is generally understood as
the sacred, in the interaction between the static art object and the viewer. Film, however,
which has a number of dimensions, such as time, and contains combinations of the aural
and visual and of colour and pace, can affect and stimulate the emotional and bodily
senses more directly” (153). While magazines can provide images of what seem like the
right ways for women to live, film actually provides an immersive experience for its
viewers. They can see, hear, and follow the journey of a character so closely that they
feel a personal connection with them. In terms of virginity, it is no longer just a topic to
speak about but the audience is able to really see it through a character’s eyes. Casey
Ryan Kelly explains in Abstinence Cinema “…arguments about the meaning of virginity
undergo a process of translation as they are converted from assumptions, beliefs, and
discursive propositions into a visual and symbolic representation of virginity” (19).
Instead of just hearing someone’s beliefs on the topic, they get to understand the topic
through their personal experience. Often in film, characters remind viewers of people in
their real life as well. By feeling a personal connection with them, viewers will be more
likely to identify with them.
Laura M. Carpenter’s Virginity Loss in Reel/Real Life: Using Popular Movies to
Navigate Sexual Initiation, claims there are three ways movies can depict virginity loss –
as a gift, a stigma, or a rite of passage, but they all have an impact on their viewers. “Of
the 61 people I interviewed, 52 either told me that they remembered seeing or hearing
about virginity from the mass media I inquired about or discussed specific media at
another point in the interview (Carpenter 811).” No matter how film projects the idea of
virginity, it has an effect on those who view it.
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�One of the ways film depicts virgins is as naïve, young, inexperienced girls.
They are often pictured wearing casual clothes and little to no makeup, especially in
comparison to other female characters. While it seems that this projection of a woman
would make her a less desirable character, many times it is exactly the opposite.
“Conflicting notions of innocence and eroticism, passivity and agency, pricelessness and
marketability, swirl around the figure of the beautiful virgin girl…” (MacDonald 7).
Instead of being viewed as an de-eroticized child, the virgin is often viewed as a
conquest – as a challenge, but one that is worth the end result. Her innocence is the very
thing that makes her desirable, and once that innocence is lost, she is fully a woman.
Many times in film, the audience gets to experience the change from virgin to
non-virgin and how this change affects the girl involved. One movie where this contrast
can be seen is Will Gluck’s Easy A. Main character Olive appears as a normal high
school student and claims at the beginning of the film that she is “invisible.” The movie
focuses on her as a rumor circulates throughout the school that she has lost her virginity
to a boy in college. As the movie progresses, she starts wearing more risqué and
fashionable clothes; she wears more makeup and puts an obvious amount of effort into
her looks as a whole. This switch can be seen as soon as her virginity is “lost,” so even
though the character stays a virgin throughout the film, her visuals change. Just as her
reputation in school is altered due to her sexual experience, her level of standard beauty
changes for the audience as we watch her throughout the movie. Another level is added
as she creates for herself and wears a red letter A to symbolize her connection with
Hester Prynne from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. The book which Olive’s
class is reading tells the story of a woman who had an affair with a pastor and was forced
to wear a red “A” as a sign of her crime. In Olive’s case, the red “A” symbolizes that she
too has committed a crime in the eyes of her community, but her crime was instead her
alleged virginity loss. Just as Hester’s sexuality became the gossip of the town and
everyone felt the right to have an opinion on her “crime,” Olive felt the eyes and opinions
of the school on her. She became another woman whose sexual encounters suddenly
became public property without her permission.
The men in the movie also go through a change as the school begins to think
they are no longer virgins. Those who were bullied for years and thrown into dumpsters
now have the ability to live their lives without interruption. They are accepted as men
who have reached some goal and are now free to live without harassment. Olive, on the
other hand, is now the center of attention throughout the school as they all feel it
necessary to make comments on the way she dresses and how many sexual partners she
has. She becomes the most popular girl in school and men are chasing after her because
105
�of the idea that she is no longer a virgin and now dresses more promiscuously than the
other high school girls (Easy A).
Perhaps the most obvious example of this transition can be seen in Randal
Kleiser’s musical film Grease. Sandy is a sweet, soft-spoken girl who wears sundresses,
her hair in braids, and no makeup. She resists Danny’s passes when they are at the drivein and it is very clear throughout the film that she is a virgin (lyrics in the song “Look at
Me, I’m Sandra Dee” such as “Lousy with virginity. Won't go to bed 'til I'm legally wed,
I can't; I'm Sandra Dee” show her friends (non-virgins) making fun of the way Sandy
lives out her high school years). The switch happens with the reprise of this song, with
lyrics, “Sandy you must start anew, don’t you know what you must do? Hold your head
high, take a deep breath and sigh, goodbye to Sandra Dee.” In the next scene she has
changed into a black, leather outfit, has teased her hair up high and covered her face with
makeup. For the first time in the entire film she is accepted by her friends and receiving
the attention she wants from Danny. It can easily be assumed, especially with her
goodbye message to Sandra Dee, that she will be losing her virginity to Danny soon, now
that she is beautiful and mature enough to do so (Grease).
While Olive and Sandy decide not to lose their virginity until they find someone
they truly care about, in many scenarios this is not the case. Often, women feel their
virginity is a stigma they must get rid of quickly so that they don’t have to worry about it
anymore. One of the first movies to depict virginity as a stigma, or burden to women that
they want to get rid of was Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High. “Young
men and women both find virginity embarrassing in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy
Heckerling, 1982). Though a departure from traditional norms for women, this portrayal
is consistent with real-life trends in the 1980s” (Carpenter 817). Instead of treating the
virgin as a goddess with this special secret, it presented her as most women at the time
probably felt – that they were living with something they were ready to get rid of. It is
also interesting to note that Carpenter claims the embarrassment over virginity was not a
traditional norm for women, but something that was an actual trend at this time. During
the 1980s, there seems to have been a shift from the innocent virginal goddess into
virgins who (although inexperienced) have an actual desire to have sex. This was
something that would probably never be shown of women in films before this time.
In an early scene in Fast Times, the main character Stacy loses her virginity to a
man 7 or 8 years older than her in a baseball dugout. She lies passively on her back and
is shown to clearly be in a lot of discomfort. As the scene goes on, a very interesting
thing happens with the camera angles. The shots switch back and forth between viewing
Stacy’s face and showing her point of view by flashing up to the ceiling of the dugout.
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�Instead of looking at her partner Ron, she is distracting herself with writings on the
ceiling. Not even an inch of her partner is visible in these shots, making it clear to the
audience that Stacy is trying to focus her attention specifically on anything other than
him. This puts the audience in Stacy’s place, seeing the same things she is and feeling
the same level of discomfort as she is. This discomfort becomes even clearer in the
immediately following scene in which the only thing she tells her friend about the event
is “It hurt so bad.” Her friend responds with “Don’t worry, keep doing it, it gets a lot
better, I swear” (Fast Times). Even if it is unenjoyable, the characters feel virginity loss
is something they must get over with quickly until the “better” part of sex comes along.
Stacy has a few more sexual encounters over the course of the film, all of which end with
her discomfort and obvious pain. She receives no pleasure from any of these experiences
and the men she is with all end up leaving her after. One of these encounters even leaves
her pregnant and although her partner offers to pay for half of the abortion, he does not
hold up this deal and leaves her on her own to figure it out. She eventually ends up with
Mark, the sweet boy who liked her from the beginning, and they decide to focus on
aspects of the relationship other than sex. The message here is clear – even though
Stacy’s sexual freedom is acknowledged and the ending of her story isn’t too disastrous,
she learned that girls who express this desire will not have a positive experience until
they find someone they love and wait to have sex.
It is interesting to note that while the 1980s may have been a time of portraying
more sexual freedom for women, the typical John Hughes type movies of this time say
otherwise. They depict women who are saving themselves and men who have to work
hard to prove to the woman why she should lose her virginity to him – although these
women view virginity as a gift they can give more than a burden they must get rid of, the
romantic quality of these movies is much higher than Stacy’s painful dugout scene. The
women who hold on to their virginity for as long as possible are the ones who are
rewarded with romance and happiness. This is not an outdated concept either. Going
back to Easy A, there is a scene where Olive asks, “Whatever happened to chivalry? Did
it only exist in eighties movies? I want John Cusack holding a boom box outside my
window. I want to ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey. I want Jake from
Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me. I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist
in the air because he knows he got me just once. I want my life to be like an eighties
movie.” At the same time a montage of clips from these movies – Say Anything, Can’t
Buy Me Love, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club – flashes across the screen (Kelly
111). In all of these shots the characters are smiling and gazing lovingly at each other in
complete joy over having found each other. The idea of the charming man winning over
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�the sweet, virginal girl with a grand gesture is still what many would consider the ideal
romance story. Now, not only is the audience being affected by the messages about
virginity in Easy A, but they are also reminded of the ideals of movies in the 1980s. A
character within this movie acknowledges how her thoughts on sex and virginity were
shaped by the film industry while this film does the same for a new generation of
audiences. By the end of the movie, Olive, who has actually remained a virgin over the
course of the film despite the rumors, is rewarded for her chaste behavior with her happy
ending – her love interest Todd playing music outside her house as they raise their fists
and ride off on a lawnmower. Olive is rewarded for her chastity just as Stacy is punished
for her promiscuity.
One genre that surprisingly focuses a lot on sexual inexperience of women is the
horror film category, particularly slasher films. There has been speculation for years that
the last character to survive in most horror films is usually an innocent, virginal girl.
Angela Weaver’s Embodying the Moral Code explains, “It is a well-known stereotype
among slasher fans that the most telling indicator of a bad (and ultimately disposable) girl
in the slasher film is sexual activity (Rockoff, 2002). On the other side of this
Madonna/whore dichotomy is the Final Girl (Clover, 1992), who, by virtue of her refusal
to engage in licentious behavior (e.g., sex, drugs), is rewarded with survival” (32). So
what exactly is the Final Girl? She is defined by Carol Clover as the character who
outlives all of the other victims and is responsible for destroying (or seemingly
destroying) the villain (Clover).
In general, Final Girls are thought to be attractive, sexually inexperienced, and
to appear as more androgynous than other female characters. Angela Weaver conducted
a study to determine just how much Final Girls really matched this description and
discovered that while most Final Girls were not explicitly labeled as virgins, the audience
can infer that they have much less sexual experience than their female counterparts.
They are less likely to be shown engaging in any sort of sexual behavior and rarely, if
ever, appear nude or partially nude. Sex and nudity are common in the horror genre, but
mostly in terms of the female victims. Final Girls were also discovered to appear more
androgynous than other female characters; they wear little to no makeup, rarely do much
with their hair, and their style of dress is much less glamorous (Weaver 38).
While Final Girls are rarely explicitly identified as virgins there may be a reason for
that. Tamar Jeffers MacDonald explains that virginity itself represents a barrier between
what’s inside and what people see on the outside, which is true of the horror movie genre
in general. This category of film focuses on characters who may appear good and
wholesome but are monstrous on the inside (evil children and dolls, attractive vampires,
108
�etc). Horror films are all about deception and keeping what’s inside hidden (MacDonald
126). It only makes sense that the one who truly keeps herself hidden by remaining a
virgin would be the one who can defeat all of the forces of evil in her complete virtue.
This idea provides two separate visions of the Final Girl – she is either the definition of
goodness and is rewarded with life, or she is aligned with the killer in a way that makes
her the only one powerful enough to conquer them.
I have already discussed the idea of virgins getting rewarded for their
wholesomeness, but the idea that they might be a reflection of the killer instead is an
interesting one. Generally the killers in these horror movies are solitary, socially inept
people whose manner suggests they also have a lack of sexual experience. In addition,
Final Girls and killers often share vantage points throughout the films. The killer is able
to watch and stalk his prey, and the Final Girl often sees more of the killer than most
other characters do. Both use vision as a form of power over their enemies. None of the
other characters in these films have that same power of vision and their inability to see
usually leads to their ultimate demise. Perhaps they are most similar in their fight to win.
The fight between the Final Girl and the killer is the last and most climactic scene in the
movie; the Final Girl’s determination to stay alive is paralleled by the killer’s
indestructability. “This is one reason why Final Girls and psycho killers are so often
virgins – their bodies are already figuratively closed. They are resistant to all forms of
penetration” (MacDonald 133). There is a thought here that being a virgin provides the
character with a type of supernatural power and once virginity is lost so is their
invincibility.
Film is an extremely important medium when it comes to spreading messages
about sex and sexuality. When it comes to depicting virgins, most films portray them as
young, naïve girls with little world experience (as seen in Grease). Those who save their
virginity are rewarded (as in Easy A) while those who lose it early are often punished for
their sexual desires (Fast Times at Ridgemont High). One genre that strays from these
rules a bit is the horror film genre which portrays Final Girls as having almost
supernatural powers that go along with their virginity, and this allows them to survive
while the sexually active women around them are destroyed. Images of virginity in film
further the belief that it is unnatural for women to possess a sexuality and that disastrous
events will occur if they try to act on these desires.
Works Cited
Carpenter, Laura M. “Virginity Loss in Reel/Real Life: Using Popular Movies to
Navigate Sexual Initiation.” Sociological Forum, vol. 24, no. 4, Dec. 2009. Ebscohost,
109
�eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8dd2f0b1-12ee-49b0-b15bae77474ac9a7%40sessionmgr104&vid=0&hid=126. Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.
Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.
Princeton UP, 1993. Amazon, Princeton UP, www.amazon.com/
Men-Women-Chain-Saws-Gender/dp/0691006202. Accessed 4 Dec. 2016.
Easy A. Directed by Will Gluck, Screen Gems, 2010.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Directed by Amy Heckerling, Universal Studios, 1982.
Grease. Directed by Randal Kleiser, Paramount Pictures, 1978.
Kelly, C. R..Abstinence Cinema: Virginity and the Rhetoric of Sexual Purity in
Contemporary Film. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2016. Project MUSE.
Macey, Marie, Owen Heathcote, and Clare Beckett. Negotiating Boundaries? Identities,
Sexualities, Diversities. Newcastle, U.K.: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007. eBook
Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
McDonald, Tamar Jeffers, and Muse Project. Virgin Territory : Representing Sexual
Inexperience In Film. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2010. eBook Collection
(EBSCOhost). Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
Turvey-Sauron, Victoria, and Griselda Pollock. The Sacred and the Feminine. I.B.
Tauris, 2007. New Encounters: Art, Cultures, Concepts. ProQuest Ebook Central,
ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wagner-ebooks/detail.action?docID=676535.
Weaver, Angela D, et al. “Embodying the Moral Code? Thirty Years of Final Girls in
Slasher Films.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture, vol. 4, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 31-44.
Ebscohost, eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=960dead9-0de8-4da59a57-10d149042b6f%40sessionmgr120&vid=0&hid=126. Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.
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�Antithetical Attestation: Layers of Gray in Hamlet
Madison J. Ruff (English)1
Every author, whether he realizes it or not, creates a work that promotes certain
sociological and anthropological ideas; the way in which one goes about this, however,
can vary immensely. Some choose to tackle their topic head-on, so to speak, aligning the
main focus of their story with the main points of their arguments; others choose to take
the opposite approach, using a sort of reverse psychology—an antithetical attestation—to
advocate the social acceptance of the argument’s accuracy and individual realization of
its worth. Shakespeare’s Hamlet appears to follow the pattern of the latter; throughout
the tragic tale, themes of unequivocal sexuality, inner turmoil, and mirrored characters
arise, reflecting the definite duality of nature in order to emphasize, perhaps, one of the
most prominent themes in the tragedy: inevitable uncertainty. It is the certainty sprung
from the explicit duality of Hamlet’s invented reality that further accentuates
Shakespeare’s apparent belief in the unsettled nature of the bona fide world in which we
exist—an unsettled world revealed not by the play’s explicit content, but rather by its
insinuations.
This duality of nature and the subsequent epistemological uncertainty are at the
very heart of the tragedy as Hamlet struggles with his own understanding of truth; in
seemingly bifurcated situations, the areas of gray emerge. The ghost, the murder, the
guilt, the infidelity, the sanity (or lack thereof), and the melancholy all enigmatically
reflect this uncertain reality.
The theme of sexuality runs rampant through the scenes of Hamlet, prominently
seen in the characters of Gertrude, Hamlet, Ophelia, and Horatio. It is clear from the
second scene of the first act that Gertrude’s sexuality is her primary characteristic:
Hamlet interprets this sexuality as the chief cause of the “hasty remarriage” (Levin)
following her late husband’s murder and he blames this adultery on reckless lust.
Gertrude’s sexuality, whether in the late King Hamlet’s “celestial bed” (I.v.56) or King
Claudius’ “couch for luxury” (I.v.83), displays not only the female’s power in the
heterosexual relationship, but also the male’s response to this, thus exhibiting the
tragedy’s fictitious (deceptive) essence of duality.
The character of Hamlet, though explicitly depicted as a heterosexual Prince of
Denmark, brings into question the distinct, binary nature of heterosexuality through his
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley for EN330: The Shakespeare Survey.
111
�friendship with Horatio. There are clear parallels between Romeo and Juliet’s
relationship and that of Hamlet and Horatio, specifically in their final moments, which
lead the reader to suspect Hamlet’s ambiguous bisexuality. Again, the antithetical
associations between Hamlet’s death and Romeo and Juliet’s emphasizes any and all
significance that lies therein. Hamlet is stabbed with a poisonous blade, bringing Horatio
to try to kill himself by the drinking of poison, as there is “yet some liquor left”
(V.ii.326). Romeo and Juliet’s story, on the other hand, is so distinctly inverted that one
cannot help but see the parallels between the two tales: Romeo poisons himself with
drink, causing Juliet to stab herself with blade. This, in turn, highlights the effeminate
nature of Hamlet. This tragic and romantic end is merely the cherry on top of a towering
sundae of sexually charged conversations and interactions between Hamlet and Horatio.
Given the way the endings for these two Shakespearian couples, so to speak, are so
undeniably parallel, in combination with the clear sexual tension and innuendo-drenched
dialogue between Hamlet and Ophelia, it is no stretch to assume that Hamlet’s sexuality
is, at the very least, somewhat ambiguous, if not entirely bisexual. Although the 1500’s
society did not live in the same perpetual homophobic paranoia as today’s society, and
the term “homosexual” was yet to be coined, such relationships did exist. Close
relationships between men were common and, although close male friendships were not
looked upon with suspicion, that does not mean that homosexual desire and tension did
not, at times, spring from such relationships. Homoerotic undertones would have been
interpreted in a more casual manner in Shakespeare’s day and age, but that does not
change the fact that gay men have existed since the dawn of time, and Hamlet (and
possibly Shakespeare, himself) may have been among them. Shakespeare has created a
world in which nothing is known for sure and the characters must wade through expanses
of gray in a search for truth, answers, and retribution; this duality and uncertainty that
defines Hamlet’s sexuality antithetically contributes to this sense of malleable, uncertain
reality.
This, in turn, holds a striking contrast with the unquestionable sexuality of the
other major characters (namely Gertrude). Through Gertrude’s explicit heterosexuality,
Shakespeare attests to the fact that, in reality, sexuality is often not a two-way street, as
can be seen through the implicit bisexuality (at least tri-fold in nature) of the tragedy’s
protagonist. Sexuality, therefore, is one way in which Shakespeare uses Hamlet to assert
the idea of a reality that is not naturally binary.
Furthermore, Shakespeare’s complexity of actuality is emphasized through the
internal struggle of Hamlet as he feigns madness throughout the majority of the tragedy.
Critics have been divided for centuries as to whether the madness portrayed by Hamlet in
112
�the tragedy is authentic or merely simulated. By examining the life of Shakespeare,
Simon Augustine Blackmore sought a definitive conclusion to the question of Hamlet’s
sanity (or lack thereof). He discovered that the playwright, “lived […] directly opposite a
medical college near which was an insane asylum. Here, […] he had every opportunity
to draw from nature, when engaged in the creation of his mad characters” (Blackmore).
It is this evidence that helps Blackmore reach the conclusion that Hamlet is, in fact,
feigning his madness; the horrible ways he treats those around him only further supports
this claim. Because Shakespeare studied the mentalities and actions of the mentally
insane, Blackmore is able to draw the conclusion that Hamlet’s sanity very well does not
follow the explicit path set forth by Shakespeare when Hamlet proclaims that he will
feign madness to achieve his goals. Other critics, however, are more skeptical. Theodore
Lidz, for example, finds that, though Hamlet is “being affected by the deceit and hostility
of those around him,” he does not display the signs of one truly insane, as he is still able
to admit that “[he] is but mad north-north-west; when the wind is southerly, [he] know[s]
a hawk from a handsaw” (II.ii.360-61). Typically, one agreeing with Lidz would argue
that a person under the influence of true dementia would be unable to admit this insanity
due to its very onset. Shakespeare, through the explicit and implicit text of the tragedy,
appears once again to be displaying that that which is explicitly stated cannot always be
trusted. Though many critics argue over the duality Hamlet’s sanity/insanity, many
overlook the possibility that it may be a mix of both, as is implied in the line quoted
above from act two, scene two. Hamlet, while often aware of his madness (meaning that
he is in control of it and is feigning it), is sometimes unable to control that which he
thinks and does in his state of true insanity. The way in which Hamlet is weighed down
by melancholy, the plight of scholars and the hamartia of this particular protagonist, also
contributes to this possible combination of sanity and insanity— he is undoubtedly clever
enough to feign madness, as he is deeply intelligent and insightful, but this identity of
intellect also makes him more liable to mental illness, specifically depression, or
melancholy as it would have been referred to at the time. A mixture of the two is a valid
option that is actually most heavily supported by the underlying messages within the rest
of the text, and, as has already been displayed, it is these merely suggested ideas that
prove to align most clearly with Shakespeare’s ideas of anthropology, sociology, and
epistemology. Consequently, through the binary fictitious reality of sanity and insanity,
Shakespeare dramatically emphasizes the uncertain, non-binary aspects of the reality in
which humanity is trapped.
This antithetical attestation can also be found in Hamlet’s epistemological view
that, through deceit, one can know the truth, that “through indirections [one] finds
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�direction out” (II.1), “that seeing unseen...[he] may frankly judge” (III.1). Each scene in
the third act of the play consists of spying of some sort by someone on somebody, from
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Polonius and Claudius. This epistemology fortifies the
idea that nobody can truly come to his own decisions without the input of others. Hamlet
is the prime example of this, as he spends the entire play contemplating the orders given
to him by the ghost of his father rather than acting on them before finally coming to the
conclusion that “from this time forth / [his] thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth”
(IV.4). This theme of espionage, the act of seeing or hearing that which should not be
seen or heard, is introduced before the show even begins with the ear into which
Claudius poured poison, thus committing fratricide. At first glance, the audience might
assume that Shakespeare’s outlook on espionage is that it, alone, can bring true
knowledge and truth. However, upon further examination, one notices that every
character involved in espionage in any way, shape, or form, ends up dead by the end of
the drama. The only major character left is Horatio, the most honest character in the play.
Thus, one can conclude that Shakespeare, in truth, does not think that espionage is the
source of ultimate wisdom. It is through neither transparency nor deceit that one
discovers truth because the very notion of “truth” implies a duality (if something is true
then the opposite is not true). Shakespeare shatters this illusion of a concrete dual reality
through the confusion and uncertainty of each character’s search for “truth”.
Finally, Shakespeare demonstrates the lack of a binary reality through the
duality of the characters in this tragedy and the ways in which each acts as an antithetical
mirror for the other. One of the mirrors with the sharpest and clearest anti-reflections in
Hamlet can be seen in the characters of Hamlet and Laertes. The former is a highlyeducated man of rank who is trained in philosophy— it is, perhaps, due to this that his
responses are never impulsive; he only makes decisions after serious contemplation.
Much of the play is defined by this perpetual delay that reflects Hamlet’s scholarly
tendency towards sluggish response— for example, we are not even introduced to the
protagonist till the second scene. This five-act tragedy, the longest Shakespearean play, is
centered around one main action: Hamlet’s need to avenge his father by killing King
Claudius. It takes Hamlet five prolonged acts to take measures in fulfilling the task set
upon him by the Ghost in act one, though the opportunity to complete said task arises
multiple times throughout the play— this delay in action demonstrates how Hamlet does
not act with haste, to say the least. Act three depicts a scene in which Hamlet has
unsheathed his sword over a praying King Claudius, ready to fulfill the command of his
deceased father. Hesitation, though, causes him to miss many an opportunity. It is only
in the final scene of the final act that Hamlet kills his uncle with, ironically, the same
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�poisoned sword that kills his foil, Laertes. Laertes also feels the need to avenge his father.
Just as Hamlet needs to avenge his father by killing the murderous king, so Laertes
needed to kill the murderous prince. Hamlet, having killed Polonius and, arguably,
causing the suicide of Ophelia, Laertes’ sister, was clearly not in Laertes’ good graces.
The difference between Laertes and Hamlet, however, is that it took less than half the
time for the former to enact revenge. Despite the major actions taken by Laertes in the
second half of the tragedy, it is noted that, “he is not much cursed with inward struggle”
(Nardo 87), whereas Hamlet’s inward struggle far outweighs any real action he takes
throughout the extent of the plot. However, it is strange to think that from such an
“impulsive” (Nardo 89) young gentleman—so seeming to strive for vengeance against
Hamlet—comes to a final fight fought “more from suicidal impulse than a lust for
revenge” (Nardo 89). Laertes, it appears, is driven from having seen the final state of his
sister, from having been unable to save his father—ultimately by grief, not mad rage—
into his frenzy of vengeance. So, again, it is in the subtleties and the insinuations in
Hamlet where one can find Shakespeare’s lack of duality in life’s actuality. Explicitly, it
is clear that Laertes’ vengeance is drawn from a pool of angst, whereas the truth that it
comes from grief is found only by looking at those things that Shakespeare subtly
implies. Through Shakespeare’s antithetical mirrors between the duality of the characters
of Hamlet and Laertes, he further describes the lack of a black and white reality seen by
the contrasts of the two characters, while he asserts the significance of the colors of the
reality of actuality.
Like every playwright before and after him, Shakespeare promotes an
anthropological, sociological, epistemological philosophy in his narrative. He chose to do
so through the use of antithetical attestations, proving to the reader his major points, and
to elegantly reflect the uncertainty at the heart of the plot. Evidence of his assertions can
be found most saliently in the uncertain sexuality of Hamlet, the undetermined nature of
his madness, and finally the opposing character traits of Laertes and Hamlet. Through
these examples, Shakespeare conveys to the audience that the reality of the world in
which we live cannot be confined to a merely dualistic nature; rather, it is full of
metaphoric shades and hues that act to color mankind’s relationship, personal
understanding of oneself, and teleological stance.
115
�Works Cited
Blackmore, Simon Augustine. “The Real or Assumed Madness of Hamlet.” (2006).
Levin, Richard. “Gertrude’s elusive libido and Shakespeare’s unreliable narrators.” SEL
Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 48.2 (2008): 305-326.
Lidz, Theodore. “Hamlet’s Precarious Emotional Balance.” Hamlet’s Enemy: Madness
and Myth in Hamlet (1975): 60-67. Rpt. In Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Dana Ramel
Barnes. Vol. 35. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. Literature Resource Center. 2016.
Nardo, Don, ed. Readings on Hamlet. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1999. Print.
Shakespeare, William, Ann Thompson, David Scott. Kastan, Una Mary Ellis-Fermor,
Harold Fletcher. Brooks, Harold Jenkins, and Richard Proudfoot. The Arden
Shakespeare. London: Methuen, 1904. Print. 2016.
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�Oral Microbiome Diversity: The Future of Preventative
Health Care, an Anthropological Perspective
Noah Wolthausen (Anthropology)1
The purpose of this paper attempts to explore the intertwining and overlapping
connections between dietary diversity, overall health status of individuals, social status,
and social space. It has been established that dietary diversity has a direct impact on
health status; more specifically, the more diverse diet an individual regularly consumes,
the healthier they are (Eshed, Gopher, Pinhasi, & Hershkovitz, 2010). When discussing
the subject of dietary diversity, it is important to identify all possible variables that have
the potential to affect the types of food individuals have access to. Social status, along
with social space, can greatly affect dietary diversity because certain levels of social
capital that correlate to a particular status and space come with their own unique
limitations (Bourdieu, 1989).
Looking at the evolution of human subsistence strategies, as societies began to
become more complex, a decrease in diet diversity is demonstrated due to hunter and
gatherer societies beginning to use agricultural techniques (Eshed et al., 2010). The
archaeological record shows that this shift caused substantial increases in disease.
Looking deeper into why dietary diversity is so important for human health, the microbes
living in the human mouth, provided by the types of foods consumed by an individual,
present their own unique communities that impact the onset and prevention of disease.
Through the sequencing of microbial DNA in ancient calcified plaque, it is seen that an
extreme lack of oral microbiome diversity in agricultural societies was present (Warinner
et al., 2014). Looking at the prevalence of disease in ancient populations, linking this rise
in disease to lack of dietary diversity, and troubleshooting why certain groups of people
within a specific ancient population have a higher prevalence of disease than others, this
research expands on this conundrum by bringing in social inequality, space, and status,
identifying them as contributing factors.
A shift similar to the agriculture revolution has occurred in recent history with
the advent of industrialization, resulting in high levels of food insecurity within urban
populations (Feinberg, Kavanagh, Young, & Prudent, 2008). Food insecurity has been
attributed to cultural shifts within cities that encourage behaviors associated with poor,
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Celeste Gagnon for AN491: Seminar in Anthropological
Theory.
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�unvaried diets. Due to the connection with a lack of oral microbiome and diet diversity,
and increased prevalence of disease, the food insecurity of these populations is directly
linked to their lower health and social status. Innovations within preventative care,
increased emphasis on diet diversity, and the implementation of urban agriculture
networks have the power to alleviate the pressures of food insecurity on affected
populations; this will consequently lead to the empowerment of these populations
through restoring their health, and social status.
The Importance of Oral Microbiome Research
Recent research has highlighted multiple associations between human oral
microbiome diversity and the manifestation of chronic disease. One particular association
that has garnered much attention is the association between periodontal disease and
cardiovascular disease (Slocum, Kramer, & Genco, 2016). Exploring the idea that these
seemingly different syndromes are connected, one can make the assumption that there is
potential for them to be treated simultaneously. Monitoring oral microbiomes in the
clinical setting can lead to the diagnosing of individuals at risk for certain types of
chronic disease much earlier than current avenues. Through shifting the discourse
associated with the local flora and fauna that resides in the human body, it will be
possible to catalyze the production, and implementation, of a multi-faceted perspective
and approach to preventative care that includes a increased emphasis on consuming a diet
that encourages oral microbiome diversity.
Periodontal disease can be defined as a “chronic inflammatory disorder in the
oral microbiome that causes immune dysregulation and oral bone loss” (Slocum et al.,
2016). The culprit of this immune dysregulation are high levels of detrimental bacteria
taking up residence in the mouth. Any healthy microbiome consists of a diverse
landscape of bacteria that work in unison as a self-regulating machine, promoting healthy
immune responses. The direction that oral microbiome research is heading seeks to
determine what changes in bacteria occur that cause their status to change from
commensal to pathogenic (Avila, Ojcius, & Yilmaz, 2009). An example of this change in
status is seen when certain phylas of bacteria rise in number (such as the red complex
consisting of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tre-ponema denticola and Tannerella forsythia
that has been linked to periodontitis) and cause sustained levels of inflammation, leading
to the manifestation of disease (Warinner et al., 2014) (Slocum et al., 2016)
Although inflammation is a necessary immune response in the human body,
constant inflammatory states are detrimental (Metcalf, Ursell, & Knight, 2014).
Cardiovascular disease is used to describe a wide spectrum of disease, the most common
one being atherosclerosis, described as the accumulation of plaque in coronary arteries. P.
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�gingivalis, a main causative agent of periodontal disease, has been found in copious
amounts within atherosclerotic regions, further supporting the connection of the two
diseases (Slocum et al., 2016). When the oral microbiome environment of an individual
exhibits conditions that favor the manifestation of periodontitis, excessive amounts of
antigens, endotoxins, and harmful proteins are produced that also have a propensity to
contribute to cardiovascular disease (Zarco, Vess, & Ginsburg, 2012). In addition to
shifts in oral microbiota contributing to a rise in cardiovascular disease, research has also
proven links between other systemic diseases, such as diabetes, and arthritis. The great
potential that the oral microbiome has to cause a complete dysbiosis within the body
warrants increased attention and research.
A well-respected pioneer in the field of microbiome research, Dr. Christina
Warinner, describes the microbiome as a separate organ in the human body. Like the
kidney or liver, the proper functioning of microbiomes enable the body to perform at high
levels of efficiency (Warinner, Speller, Collins, & Lewis, 2015). Any one organ in
dysbiosis has the potential to wreak havoc on the entire organism. Due to microbiomes
being composed of many working parts, the potential for dysbiosis to occur is high. The
average amount of bacteria comprising the microbiomes of the human body is equal to
two percent of the entire body, roughly the same amount of the brain (Warinner et al.,
2015). Thinking of microbiomes as their own organ entity within the human body will
encourage further research and exploration of their importance, while unlocking their
unlimited potential to revolutionize human healthcare.
How Can Oral Microbiomes Be Better Understood?
One of the first steps needed to be taken in order to completely understand the
implications of healthy and unhealthy oral microbiomes, and the requirements of an oral
microbiome to be considered healthy, is to track the evolution of the human oral
microbiome. Recent research has demonstrated that dental calculus, calcified dental
plaque that is ubiquitous in ancient teeth, can provide insight into the oral microbiomes of
individuals from different time periods. Through the extraction and sequencing of the
microbial DNA present in the calculus, researchers are able to identify the types of
organisms that comprised an individual’s oral microbiome (Warinner et al., 2015). In
analyzing calculus of individuals from various time periods, a consensus has been
reached; as humans began to shift their subsistence strategies from hunting and gathering
to agriculture, the diversity of oral microbiomes decreased dramatically (Adler et al.,
2013). The decrease in oral microbiome diversity is directly linked to the diversity of diet
being diminished as a result of this shift. Hunters and gatherers ate a variety of nuts,
plants, and meat while the diet of agriculturalist societies are based on starches.
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�In the archaeological record it can be seen that transitioning from the Neolithic
period to the practice of agriculture, disease indicators that manifest in bones experience
a substantial increase (Eshed et al., 2010). Periodontal disease and dental caries were
rarely seen when looking at individuals from hunter and gatherer societies (Zarco et al.,
2012). As archaeologists began to compare different time periods, they saw that the
societies that were characterized as an agricultural society, they exhibited more dental
calculus on their teeth, and through sequencing of microbial DNA within the calculus,
higher levels of harmful microbes were present (Weyrich, Dobney, & Cooper, 2015).
Due to the absence of consistent oral hygiene (tooth brushing) for most of ancient history,
the excess of starch granules consumed by individuals in agriculturalist societies
cemented onto their teeth (Weyrich et al., 2015). An accumulation of these domesticated
cereals provided the ideal environments for the commensal bacteria comprising their oral
microbiomes to become pathogenic. These pieces of information support the notion that
diet has played an important role in the health of individuals over time.
Dietary Diversity and Social Status
When contemplating the individual factors that are important in determining the
amount of access that an individual may have to various resources, such as food, this
access is greatly impacted by social status and the amount of social capital an individual
may possess. A characteristic common to agricultural societies is a high prevalence of
social inequality (Smith et al., 2010). This is due to the fact that the likelihood of a single
individual accumulating a surplus of resources is heightened. Agriculture allows humans
to manipulate their environment in a way that encourages mass production, an individual
that happens to claim a plot of land that has an abundant crop yield, will progressively
increase capital.
This is in contrast to hunter and gatherer societies that are characterized by
being mostly egalitarian in structure, where all individuals have duties that are weighted
in similar fashion (Smith et al., 2010). They also are only gathering enough resources to
last short periods of time, rather than producing food for storage like agricultural
societies, preventing the accumulation of resources by a small group of individuals.
Extrapolating on this notion further, one can make the argument that part of the reason
why agricultural societies exhibit high amounts of dental calculus containing harmful
amounts of certain microbes, is because the vast majority of individuals within those
societies embody a social status that is synonymous with a normal or less than normal
level of social capital, correlating to limited access to resources, such as nutritious food.
Looking at the larger trend of societal evolution, it is apparent that as societies
become more complex, such as indoctrinating centralized government into their political
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�structure, the social inequality gap widens. Resources become more concentrated at the
top of society with those that have large amounts of social and economic capital, leaving
less for those dwelling at the bottom half of society. Archaeological evidence shows that
the prevalence of individuals who lived in medieval and early industrial periods
demonstrating multiple skeletal indicators of disease and physical stress is high, with few
individuals that exhibit low amounts of these indicators (Eshed et al., 2010). These
individuals are most often found in extravagant graves and grave goods, indicating high
social status (Robb, Bigazzi, Lazzarini, Scarsini, & Sonego, 2001). This evidence
supports the fact that complex societies contain elite populations with significantly more
access to resources than the majority, which has a propensity to decrease the quality of
diet in this lower status majority.
Dietary Diversity in Modern, Urban Populations
Similar to the decrease in dietary diversity that occurred as humans shifted their
subsistence strategies towards agriculture, there is a modern version of this trend
occurring in urban centers within the U.S. Since the advent of the industrial revolution,
the working class that lived and worked in crowded cities experienced limited access to a
diverse diet, contributing to a compromised health status. This has created a growing
problem of food insecurity that is a reality for many disadvantaged urban populations
today, bringing about various detrimental health consequences.
Food insecurity can be delineated into four different domains; uncertainty or
worry about food, inadequate quality of food, inadequate quantity of food, and food
acquired through socially unacceptable means (Feinberg et al., 2008). The populations
that suffer most from the feeling and reality of food insecurity are the minority
populations that live in urban, disadvantaged communities. First, they live in a location
where it is logistically difficult to deliver nutritious food, such as fresh fruits and
vegetables, and when they are available they are most often in a different part of the city
and out of budget. In the Feinberg et al. (2008) study that explored maternal
compensatory feeding practices, it was found that there are strategies that have been
developed by mothers of inner city black households that function to combat food
insecurity. These include the adding of calorie supplements, artificial sweeteners, and
appetite stimulators to meals (Feinberg et al., 2008). This finding presents an interesting
perspective on the reason why urban minorities tend to participate in behaviors that have
been labeled as unhealthy.
As minorities, black populations in particular, were encouraged to migrate to
certain areas of cities through various policy initiatives, which bred access to inferior
education and job markets, food insecurity increased. Mothers of black children would
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�attempt to add calories to their meals, such as through the frying of foods, in an effort to
prepare for the uncertainty of how the next meal would be provided (Feinberg et al.,
2008). This stereotype, the association of an excess of fried foods to the diet of black
populations, is usually confused with being a fundamental aspect of African-American
culture. Although it has been culturally adopted, the reason for the use of frying in their
daily diet is directly linked to the reality they experience within the social structure of the
United States. It is a survival mechanism that has been used by caretakers of black
families due to the prevalence of food insecurity.
Another food compensatory behavior that was observed in black families was
the encouragement of over eating (Feinberg et al., 2008). An example of this would be a
mother encouraging her child to “eat everything on your plate”. This practice is driven by
food insecurity, more specifically the uncertainty of the next meal that has become a
naturalized fear in urban black communities. Feinberg et al. concludes that mothers who
find themselves in these types of environments often sacrifice food quality and variety in
order to provide adequate calories for their children. These sacrifices, especially the
variety of foods, lead to a multitude of health issues as these children grow into
adulthood, serving as evidence for the important role diet plays in health, and
demonstrates how social status affects one’s access to food.
The survival mechanisms that have been adopted by those who experience food
insecurity demonstrates how culture evolves in order to serve human needs (White,
1943). White specifically talks about how cultural evolution is driven by the innovation
of new technology. Technology is defined as anything that enables humans to do things
more efficiently or satisfy new needs that arise from changes in the environment. White
points out that culture and technology are inextricably linked, elaborating on this notion
by claiming that when humans stop inventing new technology, cultural evolution will
cease. The compensatory feeding practices of black mothers in urban, disadvantaged
areas are a form of technology that has been used to provide a sufficient amount of
calories to their children to combat food insecurity.
Unfortunately, the compensatory maternal feeding practices mentioned above
have a significant role to play in the health issues that plague minority populations in
their adult lives, especially black males (Parrinello et al., 2015). If there is nothing done
to alleviate the pressures of food security on the affected populations, the overall health
of these communities will continue to decline. As a consequence, culture will evolve in
an effort to combat this trend, regardless of whether the way it evolves is beneficial to
these populations in the long run. The frying of foods accomplishes the goal of providing
sufficient calories, however, an excess of fried foods in one’s diet will contribute to a
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�number diseases as well as a decrease in oral microbiome diversity (Parrinello et al.,
2015). The correlation between lack of oral microbiome and diet diversity, and their
impact on chronic diseases, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease, is important when
advocating for the monitoring of both oral microbiome and diet diversity in the clinical
setting. In addition, intertwining the fact that all of those chronic diseases have higher
prevalence rates within urban minority communities allows one to logically argue for an
increased investment for public health initiatives that address this situation in these
populations specifically. Innovation in technology that can aid in reversing the prevalence
food insecurity is important because, as White highlights, culture will attempt to fix
problems faced by disadvantaged populations that could have detrimental consequences.
Practicality aside and if technology would allow, a machine that is able to scan
microbial activity in the human oral cavity, analyze the amounts of different organisms
through a database that contained the relationships between different organisms, and
alerted health care providers when certain organisms reached harmful levels should be
discussed. A machine such as this would revolutionize preventative medicine. The
database would be constructed through intensive research on the types of organisms that
live in the human oral microbiome, allowing researchers to determine what organisms,
and in what amounts, have the propensity to encourage disease. Using this technology
during routine doctor visits to create patient histories could help prevent the onset of
diabetes and cardiovascular disease by addressing early symptoms that may not have
been measurable otherwise. White sites the inventions of the “canoe, arrow, axe, dynamo,
locomotive, or any other tool or machine” as tools that enabled cultural evolution to take
place (White, 1943, p. 337). Humans adapt and invent out of necessity. It is imperative
that those who have the capacity to create technology, such as the one mentioned above,
do so to insure that culture can evolve in a sustainable fashion.
Urban Agriculture: A Realistic Public Health Initiative
Significantly more research that further supports the importance of oral
microbiome diversity in determining health status is needed to propose a technology
investment such as this, and have it be implemented in the healthcare system. A more
realistic public health initiative that addresses the lack of diet diversity in urban
communities plagued by chronic disease is the promotion and implementation of urban
agriculture networks. The concept of urban agriculture attempts to utilize “small areas
within cities, such as vacant lots, gardens, verges, balconies, and containers, that are used
for growing crops… for own-consumption or sale in neighborhood markets” (Poulsen,
McNab, Clayton, & Neff, 2015).
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�The purpose of this paper is to establish the link between oral microbiome
diversity, diet, and disease, while simultaneously bringing to light the plight of urban
communities with high prevalence of chronic disease, proposing that it is attributed it to
their unvaried, nutrition lacking diet. The last portion of the paper proposes to increase
investment into urban agriculture as a way to meet the need of dietary diversity in
disadvantaged urban populations. Due to the connections made earlier in the paper
regarding oral microbiome diversity and its negative correlation with disease (as oral
microbiome diversity decreases, likelihood of disease increases), in addition to its
positive correlation with diet diversity (the more diverse diet one consumes, the more
diverse their oral microbiome will be), urban agriculture will directly address the issue of
diet diversity because it will provide communities with limited access to fresh fruits and
vegetables, an abundant supply at relatively no cost.
It has become apparent, through research into urban agriculture, specifically
community gardens, that having a consistent supply of fresh fruits and vegetables
available to disadvantaged urban communities can positively impact the overall health of
the community if use is significant (Corrigan, 2011). What has not been explored is the
possible impact oral microbiome diversity research can offer to the efficacy of
community gardens. Using potential future screening methods that could give an accurate
sense of oral microbiome diversity of individuals from neighborhoods with a high
prevalence of chronic disease, this information could be used to construct personalized
urban agriculture that contained the foods that were most likely able to either provide or
combat various microbe levels in their oral microbiomes, encouraging a beneficial level
of diversity. Poulsen et al. (2015) points out that “dietary diversity is not a measure of
dietary quality”, which is why this paper takes community gardens a step further in
advocating in the use of oral microbiome diversity research in order to bring a
customizable approach to urban agriculture development.
Further research would be needed in order to establish standardized levels of
microbes that proved to be the most beneficial universally, as well as what types of foods
encourage certain types of microbial activity. One of the main obstacles with compiling
the resources needed to accomplish a similar task is how varied and dynamic oral
microbiomes are cross-culturally. In addition, due to this microbial community residing
in the oral cavity, it has innumerous amounts of contact with the outside environment,
causing it to change rapidly (Adler et al., 2013). Along with many other variables, the
volatility of the oral microbiome poses various difficult research obstacles in the way of
obtaining this particular information.
124
�The discourse that was mentioned in the beginning of the paper about
microbiomes being treated as individual organs could lead to community gardens being
utilized as a prescription that would aid in bringing symbiosis back to microbiomes in
dysbiosis. Using a similar database to the one above would give an idea of what sorts of
food could help promote microbiome diversity. As a consequence of the current food
system in the U.S., there is a discourse present that labels certain foods as an indicator of
higher status. Organic, farm fresh, free range, and antibiotic-free are all words that have
become associated with more expensive food. The consumption of kale has increased due
to its recent adoption into the category of ‘superfoods’, causing its price to increase
dramatically. Grocery stores such as Whole Foods sell foods like Kale at higher prices,
attracting a clientele with higher social and economic capital. This fosters the trend of
excluding certain foods, mostly foods with a high nutritional value, through discourse
from disadvantaged populations. Community gardens can make these types of foods
available to communities that would otherwise be unable to obtain them. Bourdieu uses
the analogy, those who drink champagne are more likely to have antique furniture
(Bourdieu, 1989). The way that food has been categorized and discussed has led to
people being conditioned to feel excluded from consuming nutritionally dense foods; if
one eats significant amounts of kale, they are less likely to be a minority living in a
disadvantaged urban community.
Bourdieu also discusses how the structure of societies can create social classes
and social spaces, leading to unique cultures shared by those that live in close proximity
to one another. Those who live in urban, disadvantaged areas share a common culture.
Unfortunately, part of this culture has evolved with certain features that function in
enabling humans to survive in conditions where vast fields of power differentials exist.
Physical space is a determinant of one’s ability to access resources, which then translates
into power. Bourdieu outlines how ‘agents’ are “distributed in the overall social space”
through two different dimensions. The first is “according to the volume of capital
(cultural, social, symbolic) they possess, and in the second dimension “according to the
structure of their capital”, which refers to the ratios of the different types of capital they
possess. The reason that farmers markets are most often located in affluent
neighborhoods is due to the fact that the food that they produce does costs more than
mass crop production, a practice utilized by large agribusiness. In order to maximize their
returns they go to social spaces in which they can charge higher prices, leading to those
living in disadvantaged areas experiencing limited access to these types of foods. The
idea that certain foods are not to be consumed by certain people becomes naturalized into
125
�culture, both the ones in social spaces of higher and lower status, through realities such as
this.
Advocating for an increased investment into technology that can monitor
diversity of oral microbiomes, and the implementation of sustainable agriculture
networks, is imperative to alleviate the pressures of food insecurity created by the current
cultural structure in urban centers. The playing field is not level. Individuals working
demanding jobs, receiving inadequate incomes, are forced to sacrifice a diverse,
nutritious diet in order to survive. Mothers are filling their children with empty calories,
contributing to their future compromised health status. This vicious cycle will continue to
plague the cities of the U.S. until the appropriate amount of attention is invested into the
type of preventative care, such as the monitoring or oral microbiomes, that can identify
those at risk for chronic disease and prescribe realistic interventions to combat the
progression. The technology needed to incorporate the preventative oral microbiome care
mentioned in this paper is unrealistic at this point in time; however, the implementation
of urban agriculture networks can function as a preemptive strategy in the halting of the
diminishing health statuses of those living in disadvantaged urban communities. A
diverse diet should not be a privilege; investment into the correct avenues that will foster
a reverse in the culture that had made this a naturalized notion are a necessary priority.
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�Breaking the Way America Walks: The Unlikely Duo
of Aerosmith and Run-DMC and Its Implications
on Society and the Music Industry
Winona Scheff1
The unlikely duo of Aerosmith and Run-DMC collaborated on the song “Walk
This Way” in 1986, breaking racial boundaries, as well as structures of the music
industry. Originally produced in 1975 by Aerosmith, “Walk This Way” was a chart
topper that was known in every American household. Aerosmith, a rock band of white,
androgynous men, and Run-DMC, a rap group of black, manly men, produced a song and
music video that gained lots of attention and publicity. This music video was intended to
revive Aerosmith’s career and to introduce Run-DMC in order to start their career,
providing mutually beneficial publicity through crossing musical genres. The intention
of the collaboration was solely career driven. While this collaboration did create more
audience crossover, it primarily benefited white artists by providing Aerosmith with a
larger fan base, including members of other races in the once-white rock world. This
shows the racial divide and tensions within society. “Walk This Way” breaks racial
barriers within society by eliminating music boundaries, bringing rock n’ roll and rap
together as a social message for America to move towards an equal society. My analysis
infers the theme of promoting equality, however the motives of the message behind this
collaboration comes from market profit rather than hopes of a racially just country.
Pairing Run-DMC, a black hip-hop/rap group, with Aerosmith, a white rock n’
roll band, was a daring marketing technique. Run-DMC’s producer, Rick Rubin had the
brilliant idea of bringing Aerosmith into the studio for a musical collaboration that would
provide the new group a publicity spot-light. When Rubin presented this proposition to
Aerosmith, the rock group willingly agreed in hopes this collaboration would revive their
dwindling career (Green). While Aerosmith supported the idea, Run-DMC was hesitant
about ‘singing’ other people’s words. However, Rick Rubin convinced Run-DMC that
this was a wonderful opportunity to present the group to the masses of the music industry,
introducing rap music to a broader spectrum of fans. This would bring rap, a ‘black’
genre, into the world of white rock n’ roll. Run-DMC introduced the image of toughness
into the rap genre, but it was through their collaboration with Aerosmith that Run-DMC
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Alison Arant for EN 291: Race and Music in the USA.
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�was able to set the stage for what rap music is to the white culture. In other words, this
collaboration was solely to take an old, popular song and remix it in order to bring
success to the two struggling groups. “Walk This Way” was intended to bring larger,
more diverse fan bases to both groups through crossing music genres, which in turn
would break the racial divide.
This is not to say that “Walk This Way” did not have a social impact through the
mixing of the two genres even though the motive for collaboration derived from
marketing. However, the success of the song was a message in itself (Palmer). In the
1986 music video, viewers can observe racial tensions. At the beginning, each band is
seen on opposite sides of a wall, each room presenting a totally different vibe. Aerosmith,
dressed rather androgynously, is playing loudly in a room with a ‘garage rock band’ look
to it. Run-DMC dressed in leather jackets and dark jeans with sunglasses on, stands in a
dimly lit room as they bang on the wall in attempts to get Aerosmith to lower their
volume. Some might see this as simply Run-DMC wanting Aerosmith to not be as loud,
but this tension represents the black rap group’s frustration with the white’s oppression
and superiority, illustrating a larger social issue. Due to Aerosmith refusing to listen to
those who could be considered “the Other,” Run-DMC starts rapping in retaliation. The
frustration between the two sides visualizes and conceptualizes Aerosmith’s frustration
with their career success diminishing while Run-DMC is frustrated of their inability to
gain success. From a marketing perspective, Run-DMC needs the profile of Aerosmith
while Aerosmith needs the ‘coolness’ of Run-DMC. In the music video when Aerosmith
breaks through the wall that was separating the two groups, they create a new musical
union. They perform together on stage in the video, representing a bond even though this
bond was not carried into the real world. Regardless of the marketing intent of the song
or the afterwards affects, the visual representations suggest far deeper meanings
regarding race. “Walk This Way” takes two different music groups, in race, genre, and
culture, and demonstrates animosity. This animosity is eventually mended over the
shared interests of women and sex.
When Aerosmith rips through a poster of a sexy lady by breaking the wall that
divides the two bands, they start to sing back and forth with Run-DMC in a
conversational style. This portrays the actual integration of the two music groups, mixing
both music styles as well as showing both races working together. Aerosmith sings the
song in a different style than Run-DMC, while maintaining the many differences between
the two groups. Throughout the entirety of the music video, Run-DMC and Aerosmith
compete between styles of singing, styles of dancing, dress styles, and so forth. I argue
that this represents the racial and societal tensions of the time period. While segregation
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�no longer formally existed, whites tended to stick to whites and blacks tended to stick to
blacks. The life choices of the two races were presented in the music they listened to, the
clothes they wore, and their many other choices of living. That is why this collaboration
introducing hip-hop to the white, rock world was so groundbreaking. Race dictated how
an individual would ‘walk’ through life one might say. In “Walk This Way”, Aerosmith
would instruct Run-DMC to “walk this way, talk this way”. However, eventually the two
groups eliminate the tension by testing out the other’s dance moves and accepting the
different styles when performing on stage in the video. The unity happens in the moment,
but then the division of the two groups eventually returns.
“Walk This Way”’s success and ability to be interpreted and perceived was
because of media. Media, especially music videos, is a huge form of communication
whether it is conscious or not. What I mean by this is that whether the audience
consciously acknowledges the ideas presented in music videos, those ideas are still
shared and communicated regardless of the audience. A few years before “Walk This
Way” was produced, MTV started “airing rock music videos 24-hours a day” (Brown).
This sparked a continuation of music videos displayed on television through other
channels as well. Jane D. Brown argues that “videos are distributed to these channels and
programs by record companies as promotional material for the artists,” (“Race and
Gender in Music Videos”). When “Walk This Way” aired on MTV, it was not to cause a
societal movement of racial acceptance, but rather to simply get the two bands some time
in the spotlight. However, I argue that simply viewing the music video is a way of
communicating ideas and messages whether that was the intention or not. In Brown and
Campbell’s studies, they found that teenagers listen to music not because of the lyrics,
but because of the artist and sound. In “Walk This Way”, the lyrics are about a sexualized
female and a male. However, the plot of the music video does not follow the plot of the
lyrics. The song became popular because of the performers and the extreme difference
from other collaborations done before, thus gaining an immense amount of popularity.
This popularity allowed the music video to represent ideas such as racial unity, sending
messages to the public. Aerosmith and Run-DMC brought two music genres and races
together, showing black artists to black and white viewers. Brown and Campbell suggest
that blacks watch music videos more than whites because the music videos in the 1980’s
and early 1990’s tended to be white artists with white cultured songs, thus blacks learned
about the dominant white and their culture. “Walk This Way” was a collaboration that
taught the Other about the Self and the Self about the Other, serving as a form of
communication for social issues. Bringing two different groups together communicates to
the viewers that there is a lack of true difference between the races. While seeing the
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�unity of the two races is a positive thing, it risks ignoring the racial disparities in society,
but in this specific collaboration, the racial disparities within the music industry.
Not only are music videos a huge form of communication, but they also serve as
a cultural barometer that helps see differences, structures, and issues within society. This
relates to “Walk This Way” because the success of the video demonstrates social
dynamics, such as the division of races, the superiority of the white race, and who truly
pays attention to music videos. Robert Palmer, the journalist of “Pop Music Remains a
Cultural Barometer,” writes “the rapprochement between black rap and white rock
affected by the Run-D.M.C./Aerosmith hit ‘Walk This Way’ were evidence that the
music can still serve as a kind of conscience for its audience, and perhaps became a
catalyst for change” (Palmer). Palmer, in other words, recognizes the significance of the
unintended messages of the “Walk This Way” collaboration. Music videos serve as a
social message, especially in the way they are publicized. In Palmer’s article, he mentions
that “underground music,” or less popular music, will continue to enliven the music
scene. Run-DMC was considered to be “underground music” because the group
previously had little success and their style of music was less known or valued. Putting
rap/hip-hop music into a rock song introduced new styles to the mainstream music world.
The popularity and success of the music video in 1986 demonstrates that colorconsciousness is less of an issue amongst teenage musical tastes and that crossing racial
boundaries was a coming-of-age idea. This is not to say that American music and culture
is not still racially divided, but that “Walk This Way” was one of the first music videos to
bridge that divide. This song was not intended to serve as racial unity, but instead was
intended to bring a new genre into the light by uniting the musical differences of the two
groups. MTV’s exposure of the underexposed, in this case Run-DMC and the dwindling
success of Aerosmith, allows the music to be a style guide for newer things.
When MTV aired “Walk This Way,” Run-DMC set the stage for what a hip-hop
and rap group looked like, providing the white music world with an introduction to the
different style. Run-DMC introduced the image of toughness into the rap genre, but the
collaboration is what truly presented the put-together, coolness of the rap/hip-hop group
(Linden). Run-DMC became relatable to viewers as a respectable and reputable rap/hiphop group. This rap group was not formed in the ghetto, but rather in middle-class
neighborhoods of Queens. While Run-DMC was not the first rap and hip-hop group to
form, they were the first ones to gain the publicity they did because of their Aerosmith
collaboration. While their success and fame did not last, it is still believed that RunDMC’s appearance is what should be the appearance of all rap and hip-hop groups today.
Amy Linden, author of Niggas with Beatitude, wrote about Run-DMC and hip-hop music
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�today. “More than any other rap group had or ever would, Run-DMC entered into the
public (read white) consciousness” (Linden). Linden refers to the fact that Run-DMC
carried themselves in a way that would allow racial and musical crossovers. However,
after personal issues within the group, other groups eclipsed their trailblazing role in the
industry. An article that specifically talks about how this collaboration changed pop
music says “the reputation of the entire [rap] genre was rescued by Run-DMC who, in the
words of British writer Neil Kulkarni in The Periodic Table of Hip Hop, ‘made
everything that had happened before them sound old-fashioned, too slick and smarmy’”
(Price). Amy Linden believes that rap is a “state of turmoil” today, referring to the fact
that the lyrics encourage bad appearances, such as the black males̕ conception of drugs
and the objectified and sexualized black female. The artists do not articulate values that
gain them the respect that the music genre and black race need and deserve. In an
interview with Amy Linden, Run of the group Run-DMC, talks about his views of
modern day rap and hip-hop verses what his group strives to do. He says he wants “RunDMC to be what good rap is, to stand for rap like Pampers stands for diapers.” This to me
means that Run’s goals were to be a well-respected face of rap, but that Run-DMC’s
appearance has lost its power since the rise of newer rap groups. I believe that the drive to
rebel through things such as NWA’s “Fuck the Police” overpowered the respectable RunDMC’s approach at the music genre.
Amy Linden argues that Run-DMC still holds its original vision of what rap
should be like, suggesting that Run-DMC’s lack of success in comparison to Aerosmith
left the music industry with a continuation of racial division and musical divide that
preexisted it. However, Tricia Rose, author of Black Noise, says otherwise. Rose argued
that rap has continued to grow, eliminating the racial and musical inequality. Tricia Rose
depicts modern rap as a source of empowerment for the voices of the black community
that tend to go unheard. Run-DMC became a voice for the black community because of
the fascination with the group’s completely new look and sound to the white audience.
However, the public lost its interest in Run-DMC when other artists such as Ice T started
to emerge. The lack of Run-DMC’s success caused scholar Amy Liden to observe a
racial divide in the music industry, while Tricia Rose seemed to see that rap continued to
grow with different groups, much like the rest of the music industry operates. My point is
not that Run-DMC did not have a huge impact, but that their impact did not provide them
with the music industry success they desired. Still, the white community’s fascination
with rap provided the artists’ success regardless of the lyric subject matter. I argue that
Run-DMC’s “Walk This Way” opened the doors for rap artists and the genre itself, but
that the appearance of rap groups are now considered not reputable because of the Self’s
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�lack of understanding of the lives behind the rap genre. Rose says “rap music is a black
cultural expression that prioritizes black voices from the margins of urban America” (2
Rose). In essence, rap is a foundation for the voices not acknowledged by our society. It
is through rap that these voices are heard. Some might say that Run-DMC was not a
voice for the black community, but instead too similar to the white community. Yet it is
because of Run-DMC that rap caught the eyes of the white population. Tricia Rose helps
me come to the conclusion that a reason for Run-DMC’s short success is because of how
racial divides and musical perspectives play a role in the continuation of the industry’s
and society’s inequality.
Both Run-DMC and Aerosmith wanted fame and fortune in the 1980’s, but the
collaboration primarily benefited Aerosmith in the long run. When Rick Rubin proposed
the idea of collaborating with Aerosmith, Run-DMC was hesitant to portray themselves
as something they were not and to sing lyrics they had not written. Through creative
styles and cooperation, the two bands were content with the final product, changing only
one line. Instead of “walk this way, walk this way” in the chorus, the collaborators sang
“walk this way, talk this way” which plays an interesting role in the messages of the song
and duo. To me it seems that this lyrical change plays into the racial dynamics, one group
instructing the other to act and talk like the other. This compromise was intended to
create a beneficial collaboration for both groups. It painted a desired image of rap artists
in the “eyes of white-listeners” and it revived Aerosmith’s career. Once put on air, the
success was in the hands of society. Aerosmith, when they agreed to work with RunDMC, did not intend to cause Run-DMC a lack of publicity. However, Aerosmith gained
a lot of popularity and a huge following of fans while Run-DMC struggled to maintain
the same success on their own (Price). Originally Aerosmith’s song, “Walk This Way”
with Run-DMC became a national anthem that introduced Aerosmith to a new generation
since their old following had matured and moved on. While the Run-DMC track did not
have Aerosmith’s name anywhere, Aerosmith gained the publicity and foundation to
continue their careers even though Run-DMC was considered to be the newer, hipper,
cooler group. This says a lot about the whiteness of the music industry and the balance of
power, showing how the white community is in control. Simon Price writes that the
collaboration “got them [Aerosmith] on to the contemporary hits radio format for the first
time, and achieved a different sort of crossover: if Run-DMC’s was racial, Aerosmith’s
was generational” (Price). In making this comment, Price implies that Run-DMC created
a message about race by performing with a white rock band while Aerosmith became a
powerhouse that would be an icon for the time being and for many years to come,
proving the Self’s domination of society and the music industry.
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�The difference in success demonstrates the whiteness in the marketing world.
White bands tended to be what was considered popular music. Many might object that
there was plenty of popular artists of color, but it was the assumption behind white fans
following white bands and black fans following black bands that “Walk This Way”
challenged. My point here is less that we lived or live in a segregated country, but more
that the forms of segregation are unconscious but still existent. Aerosmith flourished,
becoming a household name in America and the United Kingdom. Run-DMC became the
first rap group on the cover of the Rolling Stones, but their career started to lose power as
‘blacker’ rap groups started to form. To me, this shows that there is a constant need to see
differences between races rather than choosing to recognize the relatability and
similarities between genres and cultures. “Walk This Way” has lyrics that talk about
women in vile ways, but the bonding over degrading and objectifying women brings the
two groups together. Run-DMC raps lines that Aerosmith sang in the original version:
“Backstroke lover always hidin’ ‘neath the cover/ ‘Till I talked to my daddy he say/ He
said, You ain’t seen nothing/ ‘Till you’re down on a muffin/ Then you’re sure to be achangin’ your ways”. Both bands say the same thing, sexually discussing women. While
both groups sing the same lyrics, sending the same message when sexualizing women,
the white band is favored over Run-DMC as Run-DMC’s entrance into the world of
white, rock fans was not as successful as the revival of Aerosmith to American
households.
When Aerosmith and Run-DMC collaborated, they produced music and a style
that was new and exciting to society. They crossed rock n’ roll with rap, mixing a white
dominated music genre with a black populated music genre. The sole intention of this
dynamic duo was to bring life to the two groups’ music careers, however the rapid
success created a social message that brought cultures together. Aerosmith received more
fame, being the band to make a comeback, while Run-DMC introduced rap to a white
audience. The effects of the collaboration prove the whiteness of the music industry and
the power behind race due to the centralization of Aerosmith. Even though Run-DMC did
not gain the following that would leave their group with a lifetime of fame, their
collaboration with Aerosmith to produce “Walk This Way” had an undeniable impact on
musical genres and racial cultures.
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�Works Cited
Brown, Jane D., Kenneth Campbell, and Lynn Fischer. "Race and Gender in Music
Videos: The Same Beat But a Different Drummer." ResearchGate. Martinus Nijhoff
Publishers, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Green, Andy. “Readers Poll: Best Collaborations of All Time.” Rolling Stone. Rolling
Stone Magazine, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.
Linden, Amy. “Niggas with Beatitude.” Transition. By Joseph Simmons. N.p.: Indiana
UP, 1993. 176-87. Online.
Palmer, Robert. "Pop Music Remains a Cultural Barometer”. The New York Times. The
New York Times, 27 Dec. 1986. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Price, Simon. "Walk This Way: How Run-DMC and Aerosmith Changed Pop." The
Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 04 July 2016. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Rose, Tricia. “Voices from the Margins: Rap Music and Contemporary Black Cultural
Production,” Black Nose, Wesleyan UP, 1994, pp. 1-20.
Serpick, Evan. “Run-D.M.C. Biography. Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of
Rock & Roll, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016
136
�Politics in the Global Era
Michael Pardo (Government & Politics)1
Issues?
Globalization has impacted politics on the local and national level. It has
changed the structures of cities regarding banking, development, and politics. Some cities
have adopted to the new reality better than others. This paper asks, what are the issues
that face cities and how have political parties reacted on the local and national level? This
paper answers this question by using the following cities as case examples: New York
City, Liverpool, and Cape Town. National, state, and city governments have all taken
different approaches to globalization. Globalization has created different obstacles for
different industries and segments of the population.
Globalization Brings Change
Kantor and Savitch believe that as capitalism advances, “a new international
marketplace has been forming, pulling cities into its orbit.” (International Cities, XV)
Since 1970, North American and Western European industrial capacity has been replaced
by high tech, services, business, and government. (International Cities, 1) In this era of
globalization, it is possible for a company to be “multinational.” Companies can be based
anywhere in the world and have factories and research centers on opposite sides of the
world. Modern communications allow people to contact each other quickly.
Planner-type 1 and 2
“Planner-type 1 regimes are particularly adept at mobilizing an array of
capacities in order to advance broad social agendas because they hold substantial steering
resources.” (International Cities, 173) Planner-type 2 cities try, but are less able to realize
and take advantage of the bargaining opportunities that they possess.
New York City – Koch and Giuliani
New York City mayors organize voter coalitions to maintain an alliance with
business interests. (International Cities, 202) Mayor Edward Koch repaired relations with
business. Under the previous administrations, relations between city government and
business had collapsed. Koch believed in fiscal austerity for social services. (International
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Abraham Unger for GOV318: Cities and Globalization.
137
�Cities, 203) Koch also believed that programs should subsidize business. Koch’s
coalition was so successful that he went on to win the nomination for both the Republican
and Democratic parties.
In 1993, Rudolph Giuliani became mayor of New York City. Giuliani rebuilt the
coalition that had been used during the Koch era. Giuliani reached out to the Hispanic
community of New York City. (International Cities, 203) Giuliani avoided using racial
rhetoric as mayor, which had proven a liability for Ed Koch. As a Republican, Giuliani
was a neo-conservative on several issues.
Liverpool - Trotskyites and Militant Tendency
During the 1970’s, Liverpool was led by the Liberals or a Liberal-Conservative
coalition. (International Cities, 238) The liberals campaigned for rent stability and
neighborhood revitalization. The Liberals understood that community politics was
important. The local Labour Party in Liverpool was rebuilt by Trotskyites that were part
of Militant Tendency. (International Cities, 238) Social workers went on strike over
wages in 1978, as well as typists and secretaries. (International Cities, 239) The
Trotskyites took advantage of the clashes to build support. In 1981, riots broke out after
a police officer shot a black youth. (International Cities, 239) Michael Hestine began
work on several projects, including the Merseyside Development Corporation. Hestine
also began work on an enterprise zone in Speke. In May of 1983, Militant Labour won 51
of the 93 seats on the Liverpool council. (International Cities, 240) Militant Labour
“resorted to creative accounting by using reverse funds to reduce the deficit and
recalculating figures for inflation.” (International Cities, 241)
In 1984, Militant Labour prepared a massive public-spending program and was
going to go bust on the budget. (International Cities, 242) Some housing mortgages were
sold to a French bank to raise much needed funds. The refusal to set a tax rate is
considered an act of willful misconduct in British law. (International Cities, 243) Several
of the Labour councilors were charged by the district auditor for willful misconduct.
Cape Town History
The Dutch expedition led by Jan van Riebeeck first landed in the Western Cape
in 1652. (A Tale of Two Plaques, 254) Cape Town began as a trading post for the Dutch
East India Company. During British rule, ghettos began to encircle the city as the need
for black laborers increased. (A Tale of Two Plaques, 255) After World War II, urban
employment became more competitive and rural living became much more difficult
which resulted in many poor blacks moving into the ghettoes. (A Tale of Two Plaques,
255) The Group Areas Act of 1950 required the relocating, segregating, and classification
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�of residents into certain districts. (A Tale of Two Plaques, 256) Government policy made
it difficult for black townships to keep up with the demand for housing. Since it is located
between the Table Mountain and Table Bay, Cape Town was vulnerable to the social
crisis of apartheid. (A Tale of Two Plaques, 256) Cape Town was a key port for trade
between Asia and Europe. Cape Town was home to a large Malaysian and Indian
population at the time. (A Tale of Two Plaques, 256)
In 1966, the South African Government declared District Six to be for “whitesonly.” (Land Restitutions’ Rights Communities, 267) Until 1986, 60,000 residents were
evicted from District Six.
“The Bloomberg Way”
To avoid New York City’s growing budgetary problems, previous mayors had
used questionable accounting practices. (Bloomberg’s New York, 27) Michael
Bloomberg campaigned as a CEO Mayor. (Bloomberg’s New York, 28) It was clear that
New York City needed to be run like a business and understand what it could and could
not afford. (Bloomberg’s New York, 34) New York City is the center of transnational
capitalism. (Bloomberg’s New York, 44) Bloomberg ran on a “respectable platform” and
hired a team of experts. (Bloomberg’s New York, 65) Bloomberg financed his own
mayoral campaign and told voters that he did not need special interests. It was argued that
personal corruption would not be a problem due to his wealth. Bloomberg also
campaigned on the fact that he was not beholden to any political party.
Bloomberg was a “CEO mayor” and ran New York City like a business.
(Bloomberg’s New York, 75) “… Performance, understood as both the successful
accomplishment of a task and communication of this success, was crucial to the figure of
the charismatic CEO…” (Bloomberg’s New York, 76) During the mayoral campaign,
Bloomberg has promised to strengthen the economy, fix budget issues, and repair the
education system. Bloomberg’s skills as a salesman would be helpful in delivering his
message to the public. Bloomberg wanted to be judged on decision-making and
accountability, not on political ideology. (Bloomberg’s New York, 77)
Bloomberg believes that “transparency produces fairness.” (Bloomberg’s New
York, 78) Bloomberg had the desks in his company set up in a “bullpen” layout.
(Bloomberg’s New York, 78) The “bullpen” layout places all the desks in an open area
and the dividers are only waist-high. It is meant to facilitate teamwork and enable bad
work habits to be identified.
Bloomberg believed that New York City should have more autonomy.
Bloomberg requested and received control of the education system from New York State.
(Bloomberg’s New York, 79) Bloomberg would also enable Police Commissioner,
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�Raymond Kelly, to build an anti-terrorism unit for the city police, separate from the
federal government. (Bloomberg’s New York, 79) Bloomberg had always believed that
customer service is a critical component of any business. As mayor, he oversaw the role
out of 311, which enabled citizens to call and report issues. (Bloomberg’s New York, 79)
In 2001, Bloomberg set up the Citywide Accountability Program to improve performance
and monitor agencies. (Bloomberg’s New York, 79)
“I’m a big believer in picking good people, giving them the tools, removing
barriers to cooperation, promoting and protecting them, and letting the professionals go
and do what they do well … I think I put exactly the right people in place.” (Bloomberg’s
New York, 80) Bloomberg believed it was important that those around him, running
different agencies were creative and skilled so that they could be given the space to
maneuver and do what had to be done. The Bloomberg administration hired many
political outsiders that came from the private sector. (Bloomberg’s New York, 81)
Bloomberg tried to have a balance in his administration, between those that had worked
in the private and public sectors.
The Bloomberg administration appointed Daniel Doctoroff to the position of
deputy mayor for economic development. (Bloomberg’s New York, 83) Doctoroff had
previously been part of NYC2012 and had been working on the Olympics bid. Doctoroff
declined Bloomberg’s offer the first two times and accepted the position on the third.
(Bloomberg’s New York, 83) Bloomberg said the following about Doctoroff: “I don’t
think in any previous government … they ever had somebody who was a real banker,
who knew how to put together things, who knew what drives the private sector economy.
He’s got the attitude, I’m going to get it done. I’ll find a way to do it.” (Bloomberg’s
New York, 83)
Bloomberg had positioned himself as a firm believer in “entrepreneurship” and
as someone who would fit in with small business and not a Fortune 500 company.
(Bloomberg’s New York, 92) Bloomberg appealed to upper professionals because he was
not a regular politician. The upper professionals recognized that Bloomberg and others
had passed on lucrative positions in the private sector to enter city government. For some
of the wealthier members of Bloomberg’s administration, working for the city was a form
of charity, in which they received a salary of $1 for legal reasons. (Bloomberg’s New
York, 93) Bloomberg’s decision to run the city like a business, resulted in several
changes to the way city government functions. Different types of skills and experience
was brought into the public sector by the private sector.
The Bloomberg administration would take advantage of its knowledge of the
private sector and management experience to develop a strategy to be competitive.
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�(Bloomberg’s New York, 100) New York City would become a brand that would be
marketed to the world. The Bloomberg administration recognized that New York City
would have to be re-branded. New York City needed a set of images to guide businesses
perceptions of what New York City is. (Bloomberg’s New York, 102) The Bloomberg
administration would than target these businesses to invest in the vision. There had been
several attempts at branding New York City before Bloomberg, the most well-known
being the “I ❤ NY” campaign. (Bloomberg’s New York, 104) Branding requires figuring
out who your target market is, who your competitors are and what makes you the same or
different from your competitor. (Bloomberg’s New York, 105)
The Bloomberg administration had to figure out how to convince companies to
come to New York City. Many companies such as Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs had
moved to New Jersey. (Bloomberg’s New York, 106) Mayor Giuliani’s law and order
campaign made the streets of New York City safe. (Bloomberg’s New York, 106)
Giuliani’s economic development plans had focused on offering some tax incentives, but
more needed to be done to prevent business from moving to New Jersey. The Bloomberg
administration hired consultants in the spring of 2002. (Bloomberg’s New York, 107)
The consultants identified the “depth of the talent pool” in New York City as a strength.
(Bloomberg’s New York, 107)
The Bloomberg administration decided that New York City would be branded as
a luxury city. (Bloomberg’s New York, 110) Bloomberg explained that “If New York
City is a business, it isn’t Wal-Mart – it isn’t trying to be the lowest-priced product in the
market. It’s a high-end product, maybe even a luxury product.” (Bloomberg’s New York,
111) Bloomberg would depend on an urban marketing campaign and a shift in the NYC
tax policy to complete his vision. (Bloomberg’s New York, 113)
In his 2003 State of the City address, Bloomberg described how, “We’ll take
advantage of our brand. New York is the best-known city on the planet. Our skyline is
recognized worldwide.” (Bloomberg’s New York, 115) In April of 2003, the position of
chief marketing officer for the City of New York was created. (Bloomberg’s New York,
115) Under Joseph Perello, New York City would “take custody” of the brand it had
created. (Bloomberg’s New York, 116) New York City would enter into sponsorship
deals with several companies, including Snapple. (Bloomberg’s New York, 116) New
York City would also crackdown on unlicensed goods that included city logos.
The Liberal Democrats in Liverpool
In 1998, the Liberal Democrats won 70 out of the 99 seats in Liverpool.
(International Cities, 245) The Liberal Democrats understand that market forces are not
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�perfect, but they do “appreciate the dynamics of free enterprise.” (International Cities,
245) The Lib Dems have used objective 1 money to create business incubators. The Lib
Dems also took advantage of grants from the central government to help the local
community. The Lib Dems have made change in city hall a key part of the local parties’
message. A Lib Dem party leader explained, “Everyone out there is our customer, not our
prisoner.” (International Cities, 245) The Lib Dems have recognized the local
bureaucracy and sacked over 1,500 municipal employees. (International Cities, 245)
Cape Town/ The CCDS
The Cape Town Partnership is working on the Central City Development
Strategy (CCDS). CCDS is meant to capture the public’s imagination and inspire them
about what the future holds for the city of Cape Town. The CCDS is part of other
processes in Cape Town. (Cape Town Central City, 4) The Cape Town Partnership has
been part of the work being done in the Central City since 1999. (Cape Town Central
City, 5) Over R16 billion has been invested in the Central City since 1999. (Cape Town
Central City, 5) Another R28 billion is to be spent on the Central City. The CCDS is built
around “five big ideas.” The plan is to have public spaces that connect to the historical
role of the sea and mountains on the city. To get people to live in the Central City,
improving and providing better access to public transport is important. Ensure space for
future investment and growth in the Central City. Dividing the Central City into 20
neighborhoods.
The CCDS believes the tragic importance of a central city is its tax revenue,
focal point, productivity, image/identity, and visitor destinations/gateways. (Cape Town
Central City, 7) Tax revenue is important to maintain city services. Central Cities are
where most government, employment, and logistics are located. For example, Auckland
CBD accounts for 80% of the city’s insurance and legal services. (Cape Town Central
City, 7) It is also accounts for 49% of financial services. Central Cities are very
productive areas. Central Cities have a symbolic importance, such as being a state or
national capital. The quality of the Central City can have an impact on tourism. The
Central City in Cape Town is responsible for 40% of business turnover. (Cape Town
Central City, 8) Over 1,000 retailers earn their living in the Central City. 20,000 students
are educated in the Central City every day.
The CCDS is encouraging mixed-use spaces and making sure that these
locations are open and sustainable. (Cape Town Central City, 11) CCDS is also trying to
maintain a business-friendly environment. What makes Cape Town distinctive is its
topography, lifestyle, and it is a well-managed major city in Africa. (Cape Town Central
City, 13) The CCDS believes that stable public private partnerships are necessary for
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�greater business confidence in the city. The CCD would to take advantage of a popular
night time economy in Cape Town, as well as helping in the recovery of property values
in the city.
The CCD recognizes that some obstacles remain. Cape Town is largely cut off
from the sea. (Cape Town Central City, 16) Parking is difficult and roads are congested.
Many buildings in the city do not have signs and the buildings’ facade is blank. Rising
property values are displacing poorer communities. (Cape Town Central City, 16)
Current efforts to recycle and reduce waste are not enough.
The CCDS believes that both supply-side and demand-side solutions should be
considered to improve infrastructure capacity. (Cape Town Central City, 20) Part of the
CCDS vision is a “Integrated Rapid Transit system”, which is designed to give public
transport priority status. (Cape Town Central City, 21) The IRT will have two parts,
feeder routes and trunk routes. To enable buses to move quickly through traffic, bus
stations will be placed in the center of the streets. (Cape Town Central City, 21) Feeder
services will transport people to the feeder routes. The IRT network will be rolled out to
the entire city of Cape Town in four phases over the next 10 to 12 years. (Cape Town
Central City, 21) Phase 1 has a R1.3 billion budget. (Cape Town Central City, 21) The
private operators will provide services and the operations. City government will specify
the types of vehicles that can be used and the price range for fares. The city is in
negotiations with the minibus taxi operators to join the IRT. The Cape Town New
Mobility Alliance will be conducting a pilot program for 15 months. (Cape Town Central
City, 22)
Cape Town Station is currently under redevelopment. The current train station
was built in the 1960’s and the structure reflects the apartheid era. (Cape Town Central
City, 23) The train station is a hub where people can find taxis and buses to get to their
final destination. (Cape Town Central City, 23) Phase 1 of the redevelopment is based
around updating so that it can keep pace with changing transport requirements. SARC
and Intersite are working on Phase 2, which includes several possibilities. An option
currently being explored is the sinking of all or some of the current railway lines. (Cape
Town Central City, 23) Sinking the lines would allow for development of land in certain
areas. The space could be used for mixed-use developments, such as housing, offices, and
schools. (Cape Town Central City, 23)
The mayor of Cape Town, Patricia De Lille has campaigned on stopping
corruption and helping people find work. In 2011, the Democratic Alliance won 60.92%
of the vote in local elections. (I have set my sights on increasing the numbers) Voter
turnout is important because councilors are selected by proportional representation.
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�Mayor De Lille is proud that the performance monitoring from the South African
government showed that Cape Town is the best-run city in the nation. (I have set my
sights on increasing the numbers) Mayor De Lille explained “I set very high standards. I
can’t compare Cape Town to Johannesburg or Durban. The standard we set is best
practice around the world.” (I have set my sights on increasing the numbers)
A problem in Cape Town has been a lack of proper sewage and water systems in
the poorer neighborhoods. Mayor De Lille has had portable flush toilets set up in areas
where proper flush toilets are not installed. The city of Cape Town has provided 3,091
sanitation service points and 948 water service points. (I have set my sights on increasing
the numbers) To make Cape Town more attractive for business and create jobs, the city
has installed over 780km of fiber- optic cables. (I have set my sights on increasing the
numbers) Mayor De Lille plans to finish installing ceilings and waterproofing the walls in
the remaining RDP homes that were built during the late 1990’s. (I have set my sights on
increasing the numbers) Cape Town will be investing R40 million in bulk infrastructure
for Dido Valley. (I have set my sights on increasing the numbers) De Lille believes that
affordable housing can be built in the inner city. Her plan is to sell council land to private
developers.
There will not be a uniform approach with regards to the height of buildings,
streetscape, and land mix use. (Cape Town Central City, 24) Each of the 20
neighborhoods that make Cape Town will be allowed to have its own interpretation. The
different neighborhoods will be diverse, each with its own character. (Cape Town Central
City, 24) The reason for separate neighborhoods is that CCDS does not believe that a
one-size solution will fit the Central City. The 20 neighborhoods within the Central City
are: Green Point Common, V&A Waterfront, Green Point, Bo-Keep, De Waterkant,
Convention District, Mid City, Company’s Gardens, East Foreshore, Cape Town Station,
East City, District Six, Walmer Estate, Upper Woodstock, Lower Woodstock/Salt River,
Vredehoek, Lower Gardens, Upper Table Valley, Culemborg, and Port. (Cape Town
Central City, 24)
The Democratic Alliance
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is led by Mmusi Maimane. (Meet the South
African Politician) Maimane has vowed to fulfill the vision of a “rainbow nation.” The
African National Congress (ANC) has struggled with corruption scandals, economic
decline, and mismanagement issues. Many South Africans are frustrated with the ANC
and are willing to give the DA a chance. In August, the DA had a strong showing in the
elections. The DA won the vote in Nelson Mandela Bay. (2016 election result a tipping
144
�point for South Africa) The DA will lead local government coalitions in Johannesburg
and Tshwane.
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�Voter Frustrations
Recently, people in different nations have begun to become frustrated with the
ruling class. This led to a new coalition government being formed in the United Kingdom
after the 2010 elections and the continuing rise of a populist political party called the
United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). The established parties understood that
they needed to move quickly and offer a new direction. Voters had grown tired of the
way of thinking promoted by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown during New Labour. The
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats would offer a package of reforms to show voters
that they were listening. The Conservatives realized that they needed to change, to keep
the populist party UKIP from gaining any more traction.
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition
In 2010, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a coalition
government in the United Kingdom. The Lib Dem party platform supported political
reform. David Cameron had made a “big, open, and comprehensive” offer to the Lib
Dems to begin negotiations for a coalition. (Coalition, 7) The Conservatives and the
Liberal Democrats agreed to create a “radical package” to transform the political system.
(Coalition, 11) Both sides agreed to redraw boundaries, reduce the number of MPs, and
hold a referendum on Alternative Voting. “The Alternative Vote was a far more modest
form of electoral reform, in which candidates were ranked in preference order by voters.
The votes of the bottom candidates were then redistributed until one candidate had at
least 50 percent of the vote.” (Coalition, 9)
“With high unemployment in many parts of Europe, and much lower wage rates,
particularly in Eastern Europe, large numbers of EU citizens came to the UK to work.”
(Coalition, 239) Due to political pressure from UKIP, and members of his own party,
Prime Minister Cameron began to become increasingly Eurosceptic. The Prime Minister
announced net migration targets to calm populist outrage, but due to EU open-border
rules, the targets could not be enforced. In July of 2012, the Lib Dems began to realize
that the conservative position on the EU and a referendum was changing. Cameron
informed Deputy Prime Minister Clegg that he would be writing a newspaper article that
would lay out the possibility of holding a referendum on the EU. (Coalition, 240) Senior
Conservatives told David Laws, “We need to come out for a EU referendum, or we will
be destroyed by UKIP in the 2014 European elections, and maybe lose a lot of votes in
2015 too.” (Coalition, 242) Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem MP for North Norfolk, texted
David Laws telling him that “Our complacent, uncritical, pro-EU position has once again
turned so many of our supporters away.” (Coalition, 413) The Lib Dems failure to modify
their positions on Europe would cost them in the 2015 election.
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�Establishment response
Boris Johnson expanded bike-sharing programs and green spaces as mayor of
London. (If Mayors Ruled the World, 80) Unlike the Lib Dems during the 2015 election,
Boris Johnson understood how to balance some populist positions and still be practical.
An example of Boris understanding what the people wanted, was when he did away with
bendy-buses and reinstated hop-on/hop-off buses. Boris Johnson understood that it is
important to ensure that a city is safe so that people will want to visit and live in it. As
mayor, Boris used the Stop and Search method to remove 10,000 knives from the street.
147
�(If Mayors Ruled the World, 80) In many European cities, knives are the equivalent of
handguns in American cities. This mixture of environmental reasonability and public
safety led to him maintaining popularity during his terms as mayor.
A New (Old) Way of Thinking
UKIP and the current Labour Party are both reactions to globalization. Voter
frustrations led to UKIP in the 1990’s and the selection of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour
leader in 2015. The parties and their leadership have very different ideas about how to
react to globalization. Corbyn and his followers believe that the effects of globalization
can be stopped by adopting socialist policies. As blue collar workers struggle in the era of
globalization, they have turned to the populist right and hard left to find answers. These
workers feel that the old parties and leadership no longer speak for them. Nigel Farage
speaks often about his time in the private sector. Farage believes that many of the
problems faced in the era of globalization, are caused because politicians do not have
private-sector experience and do not know how to react. Farage also feels that the
traditional political parties and their leadership have grown complacent after being
unchallenged for so long.
UKIP – Populism Rising
Nigel Farage speaks often of his time working in the city and running Farage
Futures. He has often said the following about politicians that never worked in the private
sector: “This is singularly what career politicians such as Clegg, Cameron, and Miliband
simply don’t understand. They have never had a proper job. They went straight into being
the political researcher at Conservative Party central office or they started off as a special
advisor to a minister. They have never run a business. They have no grasp at all of what
life is like out there.” (The Purple Revolution, 71) Farage calculated that as an MEP, due
to Euro Parliament rules, he could only make 28 speeches a year and that he only had 42
minutes of speaking time. (Flying Free, 113) Farage concluded that he had best make use
of the time that he has. He has spent most of his time as an MEP exposing corruption and
waste within the European Union. In 1999, the EU gave the British MEP’s £600 for
travel expenses, the cost of travel was £99 at the time. (Flying Free, 108) In 2004, Farage
exposed that the new EU transport commissioner, Jacques Barrot had funneled £2 million
of French government funds to his political party’s coffers. (The Purple Revolution, 133)
The video of Farage’s speech was uploaded to YouTube and translated into several
languages. Farage and his team began to realize the role that the internet would play and
the ability to bypass the traditional media sources. After the new constitution was rejected
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�by referendum, the EU rebranded it the Lisbon Treaty. (The Purple Revolution, 140) A
EU treaty does not require a referendum. This was the moment that many euro skeptics
became angered with the entire project.
Farage and his aid, Raheem Kassam, went to America to learn about voting
habits so that they could improve in an upcoming by-election. (The Purple Revolution,
206) As a former employee of Breitbart, Raheem had several contacts in America. Farage
met with Rand Paul during this trip. The type of politics that they both preach is that they
“believe that the state is too big, too costly, too powerful, and robs the individual of
inherited rights and freedoms.” (The Purple Revolution, 215)
In 2014, Douglas Carswell, the Conservative MP for Clacton-on-Sea announced
his defection to UKIP. (The Purple Revolution, 240) Lord Pearson has spent several
years meeting with eurosceptic MPs to convince them to defect. As an MP, Carswell had
clashed with the party whips before his defection. Douglas Carswell made it a point of his
to understand the issues that affect the local community. Carswell was asked by a
grieving mother what would he would do to tackle knife crime and the fact that the street
lights were turned off at midnight due to austerity cuts. (The Purple Revolution, 264)
149
�Carswell responded to the question and it showed that he had met with her before and
was aware of the issue, not many MPs are that engaged on the ground level. Farage was
impressed that Carswell was so aware of constituent concerns and how the people of
Clacton responded when they saw him on the streets.
After the defection of Douglas Carswell, Conservative whips had put together a
list of euro skeptic MPs and demanded an assurance that they would not defect. (The
Purple Revolution, 250) Mark Reckless, the Conservative MP for Rochester & Strood
defected to UKIP a month after Carswell. (The Purple Revolution, 251) UKIP had ranked
Rochester & Strood as target seat 271 in internal memos. UKIP needed money and
volunteers to win the by-election, since they did not have a ground game in Rochester &
Strood. During his speech, Reckless said that, “People feel ignored, taken for granted,
over-taxed, ripped-off and lied to. They have reason to. MPs too often are not their local
representatives but agents of a political class. Instead of championing their constituents’
interests in Westminster, too often they champion their party’s interests in their
constituencies. I will resign my seat in Parliament, trigger a by-election and stand for
UKIP.” (The Purple Revolution, 261)
“I can honestly state however, that no part of the journey was planned at the
outset. My very movement along the way has been relative. It all started with anger and
frustration at politicians̕ lies, and there was always been another outrage to address,
another election to fight, another smirking prat to be corrected. One new challenge
simply leads to another.” (Flying Free, 279)
Farage is not the only party leader that would like to see a radical change in how
government functions and reacts to globalization. The Current Labour leader has also
found himself in a unique position and inspired a mass movement. Corbyn has managed
to take over the leadership of a party after spending years on the fringes of the party.
Under the leadership of Corbyn, the Party has moved away from the policies of Tony
Blair.
Jeremy Corbyn – The Return of the Hard Left
Jeremy Corbyn was made the Leader of the Labour Party on September 12,
2015 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center. Corbyn has always been to the far left
of the Labour Party. He was one of the founders of the Stop the War coalition during
Tony Blair’s premiership. (Comrade Corbyn, XIV) When he was younger, Corbyn had
joined the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) project and had been assigned to Jamaica.
(Comrade Corbyn, 34) Colonial rule for Jamaica had only ended in 1962. Corbyn was
assigned to the island five years later. The VSO gave volunteers pocket money, basic
accommodations, and the opportunity to see a part of the world. During his time in
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�Jamaica, Corbyn was struck by the inequality that he encountered on the island.
(Comrade Corbyn, 37) Corbyn described his time in the VSO as, “The most interesting
experience in my life was being sent to Jamaica at the age of eighteen and being told to
work with young people. I was only about two years older than most of the kids I was
working with. It was hard actually, but it was wonderful. I didn’t go university, I did that
instead.” (Comrade Corbyn, 37) After his time with the VSO came to an end, Corbyn
would backpack through South America. He would return to the United Kingdom further
to the left politically than when he had left. (Comrade Corbyn, 38)
Jeremy Corbyn had come to the attention of Tony Benn for his work with NUPE
during the 1978/1979 Winter of Discontent. (Comrade Corbyn, 58) Corbyn was part of
the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy, which was meant to get more grassroots
members to participate in the party. (Comrade Corbyn, 63) In 1983, Corbyn was elected
to Parliament as a member of the Labour Party. (Comrade Corbyn, 82) Jeremy Corbyn
voted against the party whip on 148 occasions. (Comrade Corbyn, 141) He was the most
rebellious MP between 2001 and 2005. Corbyn “once claimed that he did not vote against
the party willy-nilly, only being willing to defy the whip over three types of issues: war
and peace, issues of liberty, and socioeconomic policy.” (Comrade Corbyn, 141) His
interviewer jokingly pointed out that those three issues made up almost everything a
government could possibly do. Despite his voting record in parliament, Corbyn was loyal
to the party. Corbyn considers one of his proudest moments to have been cycling home
after voting for a minimum wage raise in March of 1998. (Comrade Corbyn, 144) Corbyn
explained, “I’ve often been extremely frustrated with the Labour Party, particularly over
Iraq and, earlier Vietnam. Then you think of what the Labour Party has achieved and that
it is the electoral home to millions of people, so I’m still in it. Always have been. I
remember discussing this with Tony Benn many times, and he said: You know what,
comrade, we’re just in it, aren’t we?” (Comrade Corbyn, 145)
Corbyn decided to enter the leadership competition in part due to a social media
campaign. (Comrade Corbyn, 224) The petition was promoted on Twitter by regular
party members who wanted change. (Comrade Corbyn, 229) Corbyn needed the support
of Labour MPs to get on the ballot. To keep the left at bay, many MPs voting for Corbyn
claimed that they only did it so that all the voices from within the party would be heard
on the debate stage. (Comrade Corbyn, 261) Corbyn’s campaign manager was fellow
hard left MP, John McDonnell. (Comrade Corbyn, 263)
Closing Thoughts
“He who rides a tiger cannot dismount.” (Flying Free, 279) The winds of change
due to globalization has brought about a new type of politics and changed the way that
151
�cities function. The establishment political parties have had to come up with improved
solutions to the problems that modern economies face, or risk growing support for rival
populist parties. New York, Liverpool, and Cape Town have all reacted to the new reality
of globalization in different ways. Each city also faces different internal difficulties. New
York City for example does not have to worry about providing clean water to the greater
city in the same way that Cape Town does. In both the political center, right, and populist
movements, the idea that government should be run like a business has become more
popular. New York City elected a “CEO mayor” and UKIP elected a leader who prides
himself on his time spent in the private sector.
Bibliography
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Obama – But Prefers Bill Clinton TIME.
Barber, B. (2013) If Mayors Ruled the World. Yale University Press
Brash, J. (2011) Bloomberg’s New York Class and Governance in the Luxury City
Beyers, C. (2007) Land Restitution’s Rights Communities’: The District Six Case
Cape Town Partnership, Cape Town Central City Into the Future
Farage, N. (2010) Flying Free
Farage, N. (2015) The Purple Revolution The Year That Changed Everything
Kantor P. and Savitch H.V. (2002) International Cities
Kirkup, J. and Swinford, S. (2014) Ukip storms the European Elections. The Telegraph
Laws, D. (2016) Coalition
Maimane, M. 2016 election result a tipping point for South Africa. da.org.za
Marback, R. (2004) A Tale of Two Plaques: Rhetoric in Cape Town
Merten, M. (2016) DA’s Patricia De Lille: “I have set my sights on increasing the
numbers’, Daily Maverick
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to the Labour Leadership UK General Election 2010 results map. The Telegraph.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10855972/Ukip-storms-Europeanelections.html
http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-07-29-das-patricia-de-lille-i-have-set-mysights-on-increasing-the-numbers/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/2432632/UK-General-Election-2010-politicalmap.html
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�LGBT Museums and Redefining Alice Austen
Kimberly Landstrom (History)1
Alice Austen (1866-1952) defied many of the gender roles of upper-class women in the
Victorian era. She was unusually active in sports, often bicycling and an early tennis
player. She took over 8,000 photographs in her lifetime, an activity that was seen strictly
for male professionals. While she was not the first female American photographer, she is
the first of her caliber. Most unconventional was her long-term romantic relationship with
her partner, Gertrude Tate. Clear Comfort, Austen’s home in Staten Island, New York,
has become a historical landmark and a historic house museum. In the past two decades,
the reinterpretation of her place in LGBT history, as a lesbian in the Victorian era, has
gained momentum and generated controversy. When reclaiming LGBT historical figures,
issues arise in using modern terminology. This essay examines how the Alice Austen
House Museum has interpreted, is interpreting, and will interpret her work and legacy as
a lesbian woman.
Alice Austen, Trude and I (1891):
At age 25, Alice posed with Gertrude Eccleston.
This essay is an abridged version of the Senior Thesis for the History Department under the
direction of Prof. Lori Weintrob, with Prof. Patricia Moynagh as second reader.
1
154
�Introduction
Museums are at the forefront of a conversation about whose history matters. Too
often, political history dominates classrooms in the United States, as one learns about
wars and those who led the U.S. to victory. Very rarely are the stories of “the Other”
presented, not least those in the LGBT community. When the past experiences of women
and people of color are explored, they are nearly always placed in a narrative dominated
by white men who were making a “better America.” The important push back against the
“Great Men narrative” by historians and society allows for different stories to be told. It
allows for people not typically interested in history to find individuals that they identify
with. As diverse histories begin to emerge in mainstream media, many communities have
reclaimed forgotten historical figures as an act of empowerment in their battle against
oppression. To have their history told and celebrated is a goal of many activist groups.
The role of shaping public conversation about these “untold” histories is given to
museums. Museums are the location of public history, where so many Americans go to
learn about history outside of classrooms. For LGBT history, this presents new
opportunities. The experiences of LGBT individuals like Alice Austen are coming to
light as role models in museums, where visitors are feeling this change first-hand.
One of the earliest female photographers in the United States, Alice Austen,
broke from many of the gender norms of the Victorian era. Most active during the 1880s
and 1890s, over the span of her life Alice took over 8,000 photos. She was one of the
earliest photographers to go beyond studio photography. As a wealthy white woman born
in 1866, photography was her hobby, not a career. Alice considered herself an “amateur”
photographer, despite having various photographs of hers copyrighted. All of her photos
were taken privately and were primarily intended for private use. Her photos can be
divided into at least four different subject matters: Her “larky life” on Staten Island, with
friends; her street photography; her family; and what was likely her muse, her home of
Clear Comfort. In many of the photos, one can observe how she visually defined and
defied gender norms.
Alice Austen’s story has been re-interpreted in light of her relationship with her
long time partner, Gertrude Tate. Until ten years ago, the Friends of the Alice Austen
House Museum, the organization tasked with running Clear Comfort as a historic house
firmly maintained that she was not a lesbian and that Gertrude was just Alice’s close
friend. As LGBT politics and history, and the issue of gay marriage, became more
mainstream, pressure to more accurately present her sexuality as part of her identity and
story mounted. For too long, Alice got a complete erasure of her LGBT identity within
museum interpretation. Further, there is contention over the use of modern concepts of
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�sexuality and gender. While we have no written evidence that Alice herself ever
identified as a lesbian, this does not mean she was not a lesbian. For Alice Austen and
other ground-breaking LGBT figures, curators and educators have a responsibility to
celebrate their LGBT identity and heritage regardless of the political controversies.
Ann Novotny’s work on Alice Austen has been critical to highlighting her
legacy. Her 1976 book, Alice’s World, offers a wealth of information and biographical
data on Alice’s life.2 It has been invaluable to getting a basic understanding of Alice’s
work. Novotny’s research is a comprehensive history of Alice, but it does not include a
gender critical analysis nor point to the gender defying aspects of Alice’s photography.
Novotny refers to her photos as transgressing Victorian norms but does not offer a deeper
look on Alice’s defiance against a patriarchal society. Alice’s lesbianism is not discussed
at all.
In contrast, Susan Feretinos’s more recent book, Interpreting LGBT History at
Museums and Historic Sites (2015), offers both a general introduction and in depth
historic background and case studies of LGBT sites.3 Ferentinos also explores concerns
about the language of deciphering LGBT past. Language in the LGBT community has
become very specific and is important to consider in writing about history. In the past 40
years, LGBT has been the most common way to refer to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
trans-gender community. This concept includes both sexuality and gender identity. These
two are not the same and do not rely one another. A trans-gender individual can be
straight, for example. The acronym, additionally, can be much longer; with letters such as
Q and A (queer and asexual) being added. Non-binary individuals also fall in this
spectrum. The term ‘queer’ also has been undergoing a revision. While in the 1980s the
field of LGBT history was often called queer studies, the word is impossible to separate
from its cruel use and being used as a slur. As such, many individuals within the
community do not use it and would prefer it to not be used. For this paper, LGBT will
generally be used in place of queer.4
Ann Novotny, Alice’s World: The Life and Photography of an American Original, Alice
Austen, 1866-1852 (The Chatman Press: Old Greenwich, Connecticut, 1976).
3 Susan Ferentinos, Interpreting LGBT history at Museums and Historic Sites (Lanham,
Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 2015).
4 This will encompass gay cis and trans men and women as well as gay non-binary
individuals; bisexual and pansexual cis and trans men, women, and non-binary
individuals; asexuals who experience same gender attraction; trans men and women; nonbinary individuals. Cis refers to an individual who identifies with the gender they were
assigned with at birth. A person who was assigned a man at birth and identifies as such in
his life is a cis man. A trans individual is a person who does not identify with the gender
they were assigned to at birth. Non-binary individuals are people who identify as neither
2
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�Alice and Gertrude
Growing up in wealth, Alice was given so many opportunities in her life.
Photography was among them. Alice defied gender roles, even as a child. She was
athletic, passionate, and not afraid to speak her mind. She was a single woman in a world
where upper-class women were expected to marry. Only about 10% of all American
women remained single between 1880 and 1900.5 The tenets of the ideal woman, based
off of the ideals of the Cult of True Womanhood, she was not submissive, pious or pure,
as these terms are generally understood.6 Her domesticity can be seen in her attachment
to her home. She followed some traditional Victorian gender roles. As an upper-class
woman, she never worked a day in her life (until her later years after the 1929 stock
market crash). She never had to consider photography as a means of income, despite the
example of other female photographers who made a successful living off of their photos.
Her photos of poor and immigrant workers in Manhattan, as well of the immigrants on
the quarantine islands, were never used to help the lower class. The most telling is
Alice’s unwillingness to identify with homosexuality. There are multiple reasons for this,
but one has to note the importance of class connotations. Conventional thought was that
people who were openly homosexuals were often lower class.7 It is impossible to expect
every other woman to have also followed the strict Victorian morals of the time, and to
present Alice as such would be incorrect. However, just because other women defied
gender roles, does not mean what Alice did was not important.
Gertrude Tate (1871-1962) was a kindergarten and dance teacher from
Brooklyn. When Alice was 33 years old, in 1899, she met Gertrude at a resort in the
Catskills known as Twilight Rest. From there, the two women would become very close
and enter a relationship secretly. Alice and Gertrude would spend the next fifty years
together, with Gertrude moving into Alice’s home of Clear Comfort in 1917. While they
presented themselves as heterosexual, single women, Alice and Gertrude were in love.
For Victorians, the concepts of homosexuality and heterosexuality were emerging as new
concepts that individuals could identify with.8 It is important to note that Alice and
male or female. Bisexual and pansexual individuals are people who experience attraction
to two or more genders. Asexuals are people who do not experience sexual attraction.
5 Lillian Faderman, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A history of Lesbian Life in
Twentieth-Century American (Columbia University Press: New York, 1991), 14.
6 Jessica Loren Roscio, “Unpacking a Victorian Woman: Alice Austen and Photography
of the Cult of Domesticity in Nineteenth-Century America,” Master’s thesis, University
of New York at Buffalo, 2005, 7.
7 Ferentinos, Interpreting LGBT history, 25.
8 Roscio, “Unpacking a Victorian Woman” 6.
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�Gertrude were two different classes; Alice did not have to work while Gertrude did. The
difference in their classes was not enough that it was a shock that these two women
would spend time together, or even more in.
Gertrude was the most important woman in Alice’s life and together they were
in a “Boston marriage.” These relationships could not only be nurturing relationships, but
also equal in terms of finance, responsibilities, and decision making -- all areas in which
the husband claimed precedence and advantages.9 Women had far more freedom, as they
had direct control over areas of their life that would otherwise be controlled by their
husband. They had a long life together and lived through a very intense financial burden
together. By age 63, Alice lost her family fortune due the stock market crash in 1929.
Alice took a mortgage out on the house; but the couple had no method of paying it off.
They had no choice but to sell off Austen heirlooms and try to make an income. Gertrude
taught dance classes, and they opened a tea house. In 1945, when the couple could no
longer afford the home, and the bank repossessed it, Alice and Gertrude moved together
into an apartment for a few years. Eventually, Gertrude moved back into her family home
in Brooklyn. Alice lived in a nursing home which Gertrude would visit as often as she
could. In 1950, Alice was moved into the poor house at the Staten Island Farm Colony.
Even so, Gertrude would still visit. There was nothing stopping Gertrude and Alice from
being together. That is, except in death. Alice passed away in 1952 and Gertrude in 1962.
The two wished to be buried together, but the Tate family decided to bury her separately
in a plot 15 miles away from Alice.10 To see their relationship ending like that is
heartbreaking, which is why representing their relationship accurately is important.
Early Life and Clear-Comfort
It is impossible to understand Alice’s work without understanding how she grew
up in a home with her mother and grandparents. Both relationships and place were
instrumental in how Alice developed as a person and as a photographer. Born March 17,
1886, she was baptized under the name Elizabeth Alice Munn. Her mother Alice Cornell
Austen was the daughter of John Haggerty Austen and Elizabeth Townsend Austen. The
Austen family was a wealthy auctioneering family who had moved from Manhattan to
Staten Island in 1850. They called their home Clear Comfort. Located at 2 Hylan
Boulevard, the house overlooks the Narrows near New York Harbor and the skyline of
lower Manhattan. Her father, Edward Stopford Munn, was a wealthy English man. Alice
Faderman, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, 18.
Laura Peimer, “Alice’s Identity Crisis,” History of Photography 24, no 2 (2000), 176;
Novotny, Alice’s World, 197, 210-11, 217.
9
10
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�Cornell Austen married Edward in 1864. They lived on Staten Island about a quarter of a
mile away from Clear Comfort at Woodbine Cottage. However, in 1865 or 1866, either a
few months before or after Alice was born, he deserted his wife and new daughter. While
it is unknown what happened to Munn, it is thought that he claimed that he was returning
to England in order to pave the way for his wife and daughter to move over with him.
This, of course, never happened. In 1868, when Alice was about two years old, she and
her mother moved into Clear Comfort with her grandparents, her uncle, and her aunt and
her husband. 11 Three generations lived in Clear Comfort as Alice grew up, and they had
a distinct impact on her life.
Aside from her grandmother, the most influential people in Alice’s life were her
mother, her aunt Mary (or Minn), and her uncles Oswald and Peter. It is easy to see why
Alice might identify with her aunt Minn who was more lively, extroverted, and sociable
than her sister. Minn had two successful marriages, marrying Oswald Muller after the
death of her first husband. Oswald was a Danish sea captain. Together, the two of them
would go on trips around the world. Oswald was the man who introduced Alice to the
camera. While its make and year are lost, it is known that Oswald brought Alice her first
camera when she was about 10 years old from Germany. From there, he would be
instrumental in helping her figuring out the mechanical care of her cameras. Her Uncle
Peter was a professor of chemistry at Rutgers College, which is now Rutgers University.
He was a talented man in his field, and at home, he would be important in helping how
Alice develops her photos. The women in Alice’s life had more of an impact on her
socially and the men on a more professional level, even if Alice never took photography
up professionally.
Photography
While Alice began taking photos when she was young, many of those older
photos are lost. The earliest photo that has the date known of is when she was about
eighteen years old. She was primarily active in photography during the 1890s, when she
was in her 20s. It was her commitment to photography that was seen as a defiance of
gender roles. To travel with this type of equipment showed a trait typical of lesbians at
the time: independent and pride in the mastery and deployment of skills associated with
masculine capabilities.12
11 To prevent the repetition of citations, all information about Alice’s life and Clear
Comfort are from Novotny, Alice’s World,17-39.
12 Helen Langa, “Seeing Queerly: Look for Lesbian Presence and Absence in United
States Visual Art, 1890 to 1950,” Journal of Lesbian Studies 14, no 2-3, 128.
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�Her photos, as mentioned earlier, were taken with no intention of being seen by
the public. Her glass plates and prints were intended to stay within a private sphere. The
only way they were to be distributed was through Alice herself. As such, her work was
very rarely used outside of this sphere. The only time Alice used her work commercially
prior to being rediscovered was in when one of her friends was publishing a book on the
proper etiquette and care of a bicycle. As a lover of bicycling, Alice helped her friend and
took photos for it in 1895-96, without accepting pay for the use of the photos. Perhaps her
reasoning for it had to do with her status as a wealthy woman. Alice had not seen her
photos as anything but a hobby; there was no need to sell them when she had money.
Even when she and Gertrude were in need of money during the 1930s and 40s, she did
not sell them. They were personal and private to her, even if she understood and
recognized the historical significance they could have. Following her eviction in 1945,
her glass plates were to be moved to Richmond Historic Town.13 It was not until 1950,
when Oliver Jensen discovered her photos, that she was discovered for her talent.
Alice took photos of anything and everything she could. Her photos can be
broken down into at least four categories. This includes: her “larky life,” featuring her
friends as young adults; Clear Comfort; her family; and Street-Life photography,
documenting the immigrants and poor Americans in Manhattan and the quarantine
islands near the Narrows. These are not the only photos, of course. She took trips to
Europe quite often; and in 1893, she travelled to the Columbian World's Fair that was
taking place in Chicago. She got six photos taken at the World Fair copyrighted. While
all of her photos are impressive, this paper will only be looking at photos that are during
her “larky life.” These are among her more intimate photographs.
Her “larky life,” as she liked to call it, captured her experiences as a young
woman. The photos of these years document a carefree, fashionable and adventurous
young woman and her friends in their 20s enjoying life. This includes dressing up, going
to the beach, and playing sports. Alice had always been a tomboy and muscular, so her
taking up sports as a young woman is not surprising. It is also among these photographs
that one sees how Alice broke away from gender norms of the Victorian New York.
This photo, aptly named Dressed up as Men, was taken in 1891.14 This captures
Alice and her two friends, Julia Martin and Julia Bredt when Alice was 25 years old. In
1951, sixty years later, Alice remarked on her youthful cross-dressing: “We look so
funny with those mustaches on, I can hardly tell which is which. We did it just for fun.
Novotny, Alice’s World, 194.
Alice Austen Dressed up as Men, 1891, Alice Austen House, New York City,
http://aliceausten.org/dressed-men.
13
14
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�Alice Austen, Dressed Up as Men (1891): Alice is on the left,
phony cigarette in hand, next to her friends Julia Martin and Julia Bredt.
Maybe we were better looking than women.” Here Alice states that she and her friends
did it for fun, that there was no deeper meaning to the photo. It was just a few friends
playing pretend. However, the subversion of gender norms does not have to be a
conscious act. At some level, these women thought that presenting themselves as men
and having each pretend to be a man would be fun. Why? It is easy to say for the
amusement of oneself, but it portrays Alice in various different lights. First, it is a
confirmation that Alice did not care about gender norms, that she was willing to violate
social norms and even transgress the laws discussed below. This photo certainly does
prove that she is willing to break conventions, although she did not originally intend that
this photo be made public. Is it really that revolutionary then? Still, yes.
A common expression of gender is the clothes that we wear. Clothing is an
expression of one’s identity. For many individuals, they can use society has deemed
certain clothing as women’s and others as men’s. For women today, it is far easier to note
what is considered “women’s clothing” than men’s attire. Clothing such as dresses, skirts,
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�crop tops, leggings, high heels, knee high boots are all items that “belong” to women.
For men, there are fewer items that one can look at and deem off limits to women. It has
become socially acceptable for women to wear men’s clothing, while the reverse is not.
Women’s clothing is seen as un-masculine and men wearing these articles of clothing are
at risk for harassment and violence. In the Victorian era, it was much worse.
Beginning in the 1840s, cross-dressing quickly became illegal throughout the
US.15 For New York, a law was passed in 1845 stated that, “[a] person who, having his
face painted, discolored, covered, or concealed, or being otherwise disguised, in a manner
calculated to prevent his being identified, appears in a road or public highway.”16 These
laws primarily targeted perceived men dressing as women, however as they were more
visible in their “disguise” of being a woman. Under these laws, police would be able to
have more freedom to dictate what people should or should not be wearing. They had the
power to enforce societal standards on what Americans should look like. So, even though
Alice may have not had any intention on being seen as a radical figure in this regard, her
actions can be taken as such. Alice had remarked earlier on her life that men did not like
her because they thought she was better than them at being masculine. To dress up and
pretend to be a man is an exploration of those thoughts.17
In an exhibit in 1994 at the New York Public Library, Alice’s photos led to her
being “outed” as a lesbian. Her art had signs of being read as lesbian. A prime example of
this is seen in the photo at the beginning of this essay. Taken on August 6, 1891, ‘Trude
& I’ shows two masked women in their undergarments that are mirror images of one
another. Alice and her friend, Gertrude ‘Trude’ Eccleston, took this photo to emulate a
sort of sin; Alice said in 1950, “We were hard-up that day, I guess. We had no ideas
about smoking then, but we thought we were smart.”18 This piece is often displayed in
lesbian art shows because of its symbolism.19 A state of undress and being mirror images
of one another can be interpreted as a subversion of the Cult of True Womanhood,
Vern L Bullough and Bonnie Bollugh, Cross Dressing, Sex, and Gender (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), 237.
16 Joseph D. Fay, Digest of Laws of the State of New York: Comprising the Revises
Statutes and Statutes of General Interest in Force on January 1, 1874 (Cambridge, MA:
James Cockcroft, 1874), 117.
17 Langa, “Seeing Queerly”, 128.
18 Alice Austen, Trude & I, 1891, Alice Austen House, New York City,
http://aliceausten.org/trude-i.
19 Bram Dijksta, Tolds of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-De-Siecle Culture
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), 152-153; Amy S. Khoudari, “Looking in the
Shadows: The Life and Photography of Alice Austen,” Master’s Thesis, Sarah Lawrence
College, 1993, 74.
15
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�rejecting the idea of pure and piety, or as a sign of exploration of unconventional and
perhaps lesbian values. Once again, it does not seem certain that this was Alice’s
intention when posing for the photo, as she comments in her later life that it was just for
fun. However, perhaps the conservative conversation around gender in the 1950s
hindered Alice from coming out and admitting that what she and her friends were doing
were a direct reaction and attack on the Victorian patriarchy that they had lived in. As it
is, she presents it as something that her and her friend did on summer night; but it still
stands that the reality of the art and interpretation can be received through a lesbian lens.
Sexuality
In 1952, the year Alice Austen passed away, the American Psychological
Association (APA) published the first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM). The DSM-I (and its future publication) would be most reliable source
that psychologist and psychiatrists used when diagnosing patients. In the DSM-I, and
until 1973, homosexuality was categorized as a mental disorder. While no mental illness
is nice, homosexuality received a categorization that is rather scary; it was designated as
a “sociopathic personality disturbance.” DSM-II (1968) no longer categorized it as
sociopathic. It was thought to be a mental disorder throughout the United States. This is
easy to understand why homosexuality (an act which some argued had been damned by
the Bible) in the still religious United States would be considered as such. While
homosexuality existed in the United States long before this classification, our modern
concepts of what homosexuality were developed in the Victorian era. Further, in New
York, in 1881, a revised version of the criminal code was released, and sodomy’s
punishment was raised to 5-20 years. In 1886, the law was expanded to include basically
any sexual act and made it more difficult for same-sex couples, especially men, to live
together.20
The Victorian era is when these concepts of sexuality as part of an identity truly
began to develop.21 In the 1880s, sexologists (such as Karl Ulrichs, Richard von FraftEbing and Gavelock Ellis) pioneered a science in which sexual preferences were
analyzed and categorized and the terms of heterosexuality and homosexuality were
created.22 Even as these terms gained in popularity, early concepts of homosexuality have
as much to do with gender nonconformity as it did with sexuality.23 This distinction is
Painter, "The Sensibilities of Our Forefathers”
http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/sensibilities/new_york.htm.
21 Roscio, “Unpacking a Victorian Woman,” 6; Holly Furneaux, “Victorian Sexualities,”
Literature Compass vol. 8 no. 10 (2011), 769; Ferentinos, 54.
22 Furneaux, “Victorian Sexualities,” 769.
20
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�important to note, as in modern queer theory, gender and sexuality are two separate
identities. Still, the process of accepting homosexuality as a mental disorder came from
influences of 20th century, not the 19th century.
The increase resulted in the creation of an idealized role of women and men. It
also created more gender divided activities. Men began to spend more time with men, and
women began to spend more time exclusively with women. With being more or less
placed into these stricter gender divides, it is was only natural that women and men began
to find themselves finding intense, loving communities with members of their own
gender. This concept became known as “romantic friendships.”24 This model first
originated in the 18th century and featured acts such as pledging undying devotion to your
friends, proclaiming your love for them, erotic language, and even physical fondling.25
These friendships were most common amongst the middle and upper class, but had a
surprising amount within the working-class whites and black Americans. They were also
more common among women than men. One letter, written by a free black domestic,
Addie Brown, to her friend, Rebecca Primus, a black schoolteacher:
You are the first girl that I ever love so and you are the last one. Dear Rebecca,
do not say anything against me loving you so, for I mean just what I say. O
Rebecca, it seem I can see you now, casting those loving eyes at me, If you was
a man, what would things come to? They would after come to something very
quick. What do you think the matter? Don’t laugh at me. I not exactly crazy yet.26
To most, this letter is clearly a romantic attraction and a sign of a queer relationship. It is
far more complex than that. These friendships and types of letters were perfectly
acceptable within the context of 18th and 19th century lives, as there were no sexual ideas
attached to this idea. With letters like these, it is possible for historians to argue for
studying LGBT individuals in history. Defining and exposing queer individuals becomes
a much more difficult task for historians. This is due to the fact that because this behavior
was seen as an acceptable expression of emotion and friendship, that individuals who
were not LGBT used to the same language. Of course, it can be interpreted that
individuals who participated were LGBT. It was an expression of friendship. The issue
Ferentinos, Interpreting LGBT History, 25.
Lillian Faderman and Phyllis Irwin, "Alice Austen and Gertrude Tate: A "Boston
Marriage" On Staten Island" Historic Home Trust 5, no. 4 (2010), 18-19; Ferentinos, 36.
25 Ferentinos, Interpreting LGBT History, 36.
26 Karen V. Hansen, “No Kisses Is Like Youres’: An Erotic Friendship between Two
African American Women during the Mid-Nineteenth Century,” Gender&History 7, no.
2 (1995), 153-82. Retrieved from Ferentinos, Interpreting LGBT History, 37.
23
24
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�there is that the concept of romantic friendships predates modern conceptions of homo
and heterosexuality. Placing modern day definitions of concepts to historical figures can
be dangerous, as it may result in a misrepresentation of the figure.
As such, with these concepts of homosexuality and heterosexuality being
created while Alice was a young woman, and the notion of romantic friendships it is
impossible to know if these ideas of what sexuality is ever became a topic of
conversation with her and her friends, or her and Gertrude. As far as LGBT historians are
aware, Alice never identified as a lesbian. The true nature of her relationship with
Gertrude was never revealed by either herself or Gertrude. While many early historians
noted the relationship between her and Gertrude, she was never identified as anything
more than a friend. Searching through various obituary records of Alice Austen shows
that Gertrude is mentioned quite a few times. However, through her work, her
relationship with women, and gender defying actions, historians are able to identify her
as such. Ann Novotny did obtain confirmation through various sources of the exact
nature of their relationship. In an undated interview with an old family friend, Pieter
Vosburgh, about the relationship he said: “Gertrude and Alice were lesbians. Gertrude
was the female and Alice was the male. This is so in all my experience with these two
ladies. How were the two ladies alike: totally different. Gertrude was the charming lady
and Alice was the he-man.”27 This puts the relationship into a different perspective.
Stereotypical lesbian relationships often have a butch and femme, where one assumes the
role of a “man” and the other a “woman.”28 Additionally, Gertrude’s sister, Winifred Tate
Baker, also confirmed the nature of the relationship.29 When Guy Loomis, a wealthy
eligible man, proposed to Gertrude, she turned him down in favor of going abroad with
Alice.30 Her older sister and mother, while never openly admitting it, were very unhappy
with the relationship. This disapproval can be seen at the time of Gertrude’s death as
well. Alice and Gertrude requested to be buried together, and when Gertrude died in
1962, she was not buried with Alice, but rather a few miles away.
Ann Novotny, Interview with Pieter Vosburg, Undated, Uncataloged papers at the
Friends of Alice Austen House Museum (Staten Island); retrieved from Khoudari,, 49.
28 This idea is also true for gay men—that one person in the relationship is the man and
the other the woman. This idea is ultimately outdated and problematic as neither of the
people in same-sex relationships would fulfill these roles. This idea is among the many
forms of micro aggressions faced by same-sex couples.
29 Ann Novotny, Interview with Winifred Tate Baker; retrieved from Khoudari, 49.
30 Interview with Elwood Tate Baker and Leonie Vosburg Baker home, Bethesda MD,
March 5, 1993; retrieved from Khoudari, 50.
27
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�It is likely that Alice’s attraction to women did not begin with Gertrude. She did
meet Gertrude in 1899, making Alice about 33 and Gertrude 27. Alice’s relationship with
men was destined to be strained. After the desertion by her father, and perhaps because of
her mother’s bitterness and the Austen’s family refusal to speak of Edward Munn, it is no
shock that Alice would prefer to keep the company of women. While growing up, the
easiest way to rile her up was to call Alice, “Alice Munn.” She never identified with the
name and made a point to refuse to be a Munn.31 In fact, she was so silent about her
father that many Islanders thought that she had been born as an illegitimate child. 32 She
also declared that the reason why she never appealed to young men because she “was too
good at sports, photography, and mechanics,” and thus threatened their own masculinity.33
It is impossible to confirm the nature of her relationships with her other friends, but many
of the letters that had been written between Alice and her friends were romantic in nature.
In some of the footnotes of her Master’s thesis, Amy Khoudari writes about the some of
the letters that Alice received that indicated same sex attraction from her friends, such as
Julia Martin.34 Her one friend, Daisy Elliot, professed her love for Austen in letters from
Europe often. Being in the same class as Alice, and how these letters do not imply sexual
attraction that some of her other friends had written about, this letter calls into question
about her relationship with Alice. Did these women use romantic friendships to freely
write about their romantic attraction to one another? As these women were close friends,
and spoke in person often, the missing pieces of their relationship makes it difficult to
decipher. Baker did imply that Alice and Gertrude had a circle of friends in Manhattan
who were also homosexual that they kept a secret from their friends on Staten Island.35
This implication does not specify which friends. Were Alice’s closest friends on Staten
Island privy to her attraction?
Despite all of Alice’s breaking of gender norms at the time, there were still
many she kept in place. Her image was among the more important ones. According to
Susan Ferentinos, “the definition of homosexuality carried class connotations, in keeping
Her mother, while still remaining legally Elizabeth Cornell Munn, took up her family
name once again following his desertion.
32 Novotny, Alice’s World, 16.
33 Novony, Alice’s World, 60.
34 Khoudari mentions that Alice had multiple mystery women. Among this was a
Mexican woman named Sara de la Seina, who wrote to Alice profession “attraction and
love and expressing disappointment in Alice’s failure to return her interest.” In some of
Alice’s scrapbooks, there are multiple newspaper articles dating about the murder or
possible suicide of a young woman in Brooklyn, with seemingly no connection between
the two other than Alice’s fascination with her. Retrieved from Khoudari, 50.
35 Novotny, Interview with Winifred Tate Baker; retrieved from Khoudari, 49.
31
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�with its associations with the urban underworld of vice and with the desires of more
primitive (.i.e. non-European) races. Wealthier people, unconnected from this subculture,
did not necessarily understand their relationships to fall under this new category of
deviance.”36 Many upper-class individuals would prefer to not be associated with this
concept or language and often stuck to the idea of the romantic friends. Alice Austen
was among those. While in many of her self-portraits and photos with her in it defying
gender roles, in the public space she was more traditional than anything else. It is perhaps
of her connection to these women that Alice felt the need to make sure that no one
questioned her relationship with Gertrude. Historian Jonathan Ned Katz talks about the
role that Sigmund Freud had with the development of sexuality perception in the United
States in the 20th century.37 In the early 19th century, Americans would have understood
the “good” and “bad” sexuality as love and lust. For Americans exposed to Freud’s work,
“good” and “bad” sexuality was now defined by heterosexuality and homosexuality.38
This concept would see a legal confirmation beginning in 1939, where states began to
enact sexual psychopath statues.39 Romantic letters were not acting on lust, and as such
not considered “bad”. Living with another woman was acceptable, but living with another
woman in a homosexual relationship was not. To admit and accept that she was
homosexual, even though her local community was accepting, would have been social
suicide for her.
The Alice Austen House Museum
Museums are the center for public history. Whether it is art museums, museums
commemorating a historical event or era, a museum dedicated to an individual, or a house
museum, they all offer the opportunity for the visitor to feel more connected to the period
they are observing. People can only learn from the past; they see who was and was not
accepted in society. They see themes, personalities, or just admire artifacts and people.
So, what does that exactly mean for LGBT history? It is difficult subject to approach.
Sexuality throughout the ages has been understood differently. Words and definitions
change; society reacts and accepts sexuality through different ways. People’s
understandings of modern concepts of homosexuality, combined with advancements in
Ferentinos, Interpreting LGBT History, 25.
Jonathan Katz, Love Stories: Sex between Men before Homosexuality (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2001), 332-336; retrieved from Khoudari, 39.
38 Katz, Love Stories,, 39.
39 Marie-Amelie George, “The Harmless Psychopath: Legal Debates Promoting the
Decriminalization of Sodomy in the United States,” Journal of History of Sexuality vol.
24, no. 2 (2015), 226.
36
37
167
�contemporary gender theory, have allowed people to look at historical relationships
between two individuals with the same gender and have their own interpretation on the
relationship. Questions such as was the relationship romantic, or platonic, or neither,
come to our heads.
Historic homes of/for LGBT individuals offer something other than what a
traditional museum can offer. They are dynamic sites in representing time, familiar
relationships, and domestic spaces. Despite more freedom to creating one’s
interpretation, historic homes can be read as conservative as well; the celebration of a
family and their genealogy is heteronormative. LGBT historic homes inherently
challenge heteronormativity as a result;40 their very existence is radical in this sense.
Whether controlled by private or government bodies, which can affect what narrative is
being presenting, they are more likely to present the dominant discourse. They have a less
deliberate approach to education, as there is less of a reliance on formal categorization of
knowledge.41 Still, they offer more than just as a subversion of mainstream history.
Lesbian and gay visits to LGBT homes are new and exciting. Oram calls the experience
one has as “a personal connection with the historic house and its former owners might
also be shared with a partner, while at the same time creating a feeling of being part of a
wider trans-historical community of those who enjoyed same sex love.”42
It has not been an easy path, “queering the museum.” Since the 1960s, Western
cultures have been “throwing off the shackles of Victorian-style repression and
embracing sexual and gender liberation that has been the motivating force” politically.43
During the 1970s and 80s, the LGBT movement was becoming a more radicalized
movement in a post-Stonewall world. At that time, finding LGBT individuals was akin to
coming out, according to Oram, and a way of reclaiming a positive image.44 While the
exhibit in 1994 was the first mainstream moment Alice was called a lesbian, in 1976, two
New York lesbians, Liza Cowan and Penny House, published an article in DYKE, A
Quarterly about Alice and Gertrude. They open the article up with “Alice Austen was a
Lesbian born on Staten Island in 1866.”45 As already discussed, the type of modern
Oram, “Going on an Outing,” 199.
Alison Oram, “Going on an Outing: The Historic House and Queer Public History,”
Rethinking History 15, no. 2 (2011), 192.
42 Oram, “Going on an Outing,” 193.
43 Robert Mills, “Theorizing the Queer Museum,” Museum & Social Issues 3, no 1, 44.
44 Oram, “Going on an Outing,” 195.
45 Tatum Alana Taylor, “Concealed Certainty and Undeniable Conjecture: Interpreting
Marginalized Heritage,” Master’s thesis, Columbia University, 2012, 19; Liza Cowan and
Penny House, “Alice Austen—Photographs” Dyke, A Quarterly vol. 1 no. 3 (1976), 1.
40
41
168
�language and identities put onto historical LGBT history is dangerous--which House and
Cowan accept and understand. However, they defend it: “we called Alice a lesbian in our
article because in those days, we weren’t even thinking about the shifting language of
categorization. We just wanted to claim her.”46 This is an understandable reaction. Gay
history, especially aimed at the mass straight audience, stressed similarities between the
past and present. After centuries of being erased and ignored, their history finally gets the
opportunity to live. It took a while though.
It took museums much longer time to start accepting and incorporating LGBT
history into mainstream media; and the suppression of LGBT identities still occurred. In
the UK, it was largely due to the Local Government Act of 1988. ‘Section 28’ of the law
prohibited local authorities spending on the promotion of homosexuality.47 It was in the
1990s that it became more acceptable to represent their history, and it is really in the last
decade or so that a strong shift has occurred. Part of it was the fear of offending a
conservative audience.
The Alice Austen House Museum opened in the 1980s after years of restoration
and artifact hunting. During the 1970s, the Staten Island that Alice Austen loved was
being demolished. The house was no different and was threatened with demolition. The
efforts of individuals like Ann Novotny, Oliver Jensen, and Margaret Buckwalker--the
first executive director of the House--prevented Austen’s house from being demolished.
Clear Comfort would become a New York City National Landmark in the 1970s, owned
by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and a member of the Historic
House Trust. It was designated a National Landmark in 1992, and a member of the
distinguished Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios.48 However, these designations were
not for her being LGBT.
Alice’s many photos of her home allow for a detailed recreation of her home.
The Austen House has two historical period rooms for the public to visit: the formal
parlor and the dining room. While many of the Austen heirlooms were sold off in Alice’s
later life, many items or replicas have been returned. Alice’s darkroom is also available
for guests to go up too. Two other rooms, the middle parlor and Alice’s bedroom, are
contemporary exhibit spaces for the museum to use. The sunroom, attached to Alice’s
bedroom, doubles as a study. In here, guests can sit and flip through multiple binders’
worth of Alice’s photos. Various books about Alice, photography, Victorian etiquette,
http://seesaw.typepad.com/dykeaquarterly/people-alice-austen/
46 Taylor, “Concealed Certainty and Undeniable Conjecture,” 20.
47 Oram, “Going on an Outing,” 192.
48 “About the Museum,” Alice Austen House, http://aliceausten.org/organization.
169
�and others, are also available. The house itself is modest in size. The rest of Clear
Comfort is a park for guests to enjoy, overlooking the same beautiful landscape Alice and
Gertrude did many years ago, with views of New York harbor.
The Alice Austen House represents a positive change in how LGBT individuals
are represented in museums. Up until about 20 years ago, the Austen House was part of
this problem of denying the LGBT identities. As mentioned earlier, in a New York Public
Library Exhibit in 1994, Alice was “outed.” This exhibit was celebrating the 25th
anniversary of the Stonewall Riot, featured Trude and I (1891) and in its descriptions
called Alice a lesbian. This was the first time that the Austen House would be forced to
engage with this part of Alice’s life, as it was not previously part of their interpretation.
This threw the house’s board and lesbian activists into disarray, even though her identity
as a woman has been celebrated for decades.49 It was an explosive controversy; LGBT
groups demanded the real nature of Alice and Gertrude’s relationship be displayed.50
The Board of the Friends of the Alice Austen House refused to acknowledge this
part of Alice’s identity. In 1994, the former president of the board, James Thompson,
wrote to the Staten Island Advance that it is “regrettable that all these rumors have been
asserted without any real scholarship behind them. We believe that Alice will be
remembered for her exceptional skills as a photographer and for her home which
admirably reflects the Victorian era.”51 Ironically enough, in some of her letters, Ann
Novotny notes that she knew Alice was a lesbian, but as mentioned before, due to Alice’s
World being the first biography her and the relative conservative atmosphere of the
majority of Americans in the 1970s, she felt that it was better to not focus on the real
nature of Alice and Gertrude’s relationship.52 The battle both within the board and
between the House and activists was harsh. It got so intense that the board threatened to
close the house as the debate swelled over whether or not Alice’s lesbianism was being
intentionally suppressed, or whether it was a fact irrelevant to the interpretation of the
house.
In 2010, Carl Rutberg, the executive director of the Alice Austen House
Museum, reflected back on this controversy:
At the core was the word “lesbian.” Either she was or she wasn’t. To me, the
argument wasn’t very interesting. What fascinated me was Alice Austen, her
work, and her life. And it didn’t take much research to conclude that Gertrude
Ferentinos, Interpreting LGBT History, 113.
Peimer, “Alice’s Identity Crisis”, 175.
51 ‘Contrary to Rumors, Miss Austen wasn’t Gay,’ Staten Island Advance (23 June 1944).
52 Ann Novotny files, Alice Austen House Museum, Unorganized.
49
50
170
�Tate was the most important person in Austen’s life. This fact, support by
hundreds of photographs, is undeniable. Yet when we stopped debating the “Lword” and started to talk about what we knew of Austen, the disagreements
disappeared. Today, we do not claim that Austen was a lesbian, and we do not
hide Gertrude Tate. Instead, we present what we know and let the visitors make
up their own minds.53
Gertrude was never a secret. When Alice passed away, multiple obituaries mention
Gertrude and the importance of their relationship. This, of course, is in 1951, so the
interpretation of their relationship was never thought to be romantic. Still, as Rutberg
said, it was very easy to see that Gertrude was the most important person in Alice’s life.
As such, to deny their relationship, is ahistorical and homophobic. It tells LGBT
individuals that part of their identity can be up for discussion, and at the very worst,
ignored and rewritten.
Today, the House accepts and celebrates Alice’s sexuality and emphasizes the
importance of her and Gertrude’s relationship. Rutberg says that he is happy the LGBT
community has embraced her.54 The new website, launched in 2012, was a vast
improvement compared to what was there before, as Alice’s biography had formally
made no mention of Gertrude. Today, in the “Her Life” section, her relationship with
Gertrude is described as a loving romantic relationship, even though her sexual identity is
not named.55 The Austen House knows that there are gaps in its interpretation, but their
embracement of their LGBT history and acceptance of it and the work it is putting in to
make it a better historical location for LGBT history says far more. On April 26, 2012,
the Austen House was one of the almost 40 historic sites in NYC chosen to vie for a grant
from Partners in Preservation, a joint project of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation and American Express. Rutberg asked the Gays & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) to help the House in its bid.56 From the list, the Austen House was
among the few that could successfully be interpreted as LGBT. In 2010, the Historic
House Trust developed a special program in order to explore the implications of Alice’s
work.57
There has also been a more active role in having the house become a community
location for LGBT people, with helping host events together with the Pride Center of
Carl Rutberg introduction for Lillian Faderman and Phyllis Irwin, "Alice Austen and
Gertrude Tate: A "Boston Marriage”6.
54 Taylor, “Concealed Certainty and Undeniable Conjecture,” 21.
55 “Her Life.” Alice Austen House. http://aliceausten.org/her-life
56 Taylor, “Concealed Certainty and Undeniable Conjecture,” 22.
57 Ferentinos, Interpreting LGBT History, 114.
53
171
�Staten Island. A musical about Alice had their relationship as an open secret was written
and performed in November of 2011 on Staten Island had images from the Austen House
as part of the set; another musical about Alice was performed in August of 2016.58 The
freedom that was gained from governmental support, and that the board of the house
stopped arguing about the use of the “L-word” in people’s interpretations of Alice, meant
that the interpretation of her history and work gained a flexibility that was not there
before. Her history was no longer being maliciously suppressed by conservatives. This
embracing of her identity is a positive direction, and it is exciting to see where the house
goes next.
So, the Alice Austen House is among the museums leading a change. Still, there
are many museums that are a bit slower in the change. Oram talks about multiple
museums in the UK that are going through a similar process. At the Sissinghurst Castle
and Garden, poets Vita Sackville-West and Harold West are celebrated for their artistry
and gardens they have. Despite their marriage, Sackville-West and West were both gay, a
fact that still confuses scholars today as to why their relationship was successful. The
exhibition that has been there for at least a decade now refers to Sackville-West and
Virginia Woolf’s relationship as that of literary contemporaries. This is a
misrepresentation of their relationship, as they were lovers for a few years. “Their
friendship lasted until Woolf’s suicide in 1941, but she never spent a night at
Sissinghurst.” This type of language implies that the relationship was platonic, with
‘never spent the night’ as a slang phrase for sleeping with another. It is even more
confusing when one looks at a 2008 guidebook and it states: “Harold and Vita, although
both homosexual and both serially unfaithful to the other, survived the traumatic early
ears…”59 So for LGBT individuals going to this house, it is a confusing narrative. The
truth about Sackville-West and West is important enough to put in supplementary
information, but not into the main exhibit. This is one type of representation of problems
that museums are facing.
For museums, the reorganization of objects and displays presents another major
problem. The Alice Austen House has successfully been reorganizing; for traditional
museums or historic homes that have not been embracing their queer past, it is far more
difficult. Mills, in his work, speaks about the “importance of LGBT exhibitions in
Taylor 22; Elizabeth Vincentelli, “Review: In ‘Alice in Black and White,’ a Pioneering
Photojournalist” New York Times, August 7, 2016.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/08/theater/review-in-alice-in-black-and-white-apioneering-photojournalist.html.
59 Oram, “Going on an Outing,” 200.
58
172
�challenging the implicit heteronormativity of museums spaces, but questions the
projection of contemporary sexual identifies onto the past, arguing that public history
needs to take on the complexity of sexual subjectivity in the past by developing new
ways of queering museum spaces.”60 For one, what exactly makes an item “queer”?
LGBT historic homes challenge traditionally heteronormative spaces by its
existence, but items are a different story. Angela Vanegas notes:
Certainly, objects are not alive – they have no intrinsic sexuality – however, it is
probably fair to say that their users will generally be assumed to have been
heterosexual unless the object are explicitly connected with lesbian and gay life,
such as Gay Pride badges. The history of objects has to be recorded or their real
meaning is lost.61
Often, that is what happens. Items that are organized years before the acceptance of
LGBT identities are unlikely to ever see it redone. Items have to be explicitly connected
with lesbian and gay life, and thus often these items are sexual in nature. Of course,
LGBT identities are more than just sex; but due to individuals finding a common ground
in similar sexual attraction, this is an unfortunate reality. Mills notes that “attempts to
present histories of sexual activity through the objects, spaces, and bodies with which it
comes into view place audiences in a relationship with the material that many regular
museums still find too hot to handle.”62 This designation of “too hot to handle” typically
means that these museums will only be accessible to 18+ years old. This is harmful; it
teaches LGBT youth that their identity is and will always be sexual. It also enforces this
idea that people cannot figure out their identity until they are an adult. Still, LGBT
museum and exhibits continue to flourish and are celebrated. The change in narratives in
museums is exciting.
Conclusion
As LGBT history becomes more mainstream and increasingly accepted in
society, there is the expectation that LGBT individuals’ identity will be properly
represented. Alice Austen and her museum are at the forefront of this story. Not only is
she among the earliest female photographers in the United States in a time where women
were supposed to be in the private sphere, she constantly challenges the gender norms of
the Victorian era through dressing herself up as a man, playing sports, and generally
Oram, “Going on an Outing,” 191.
Ferentinos, Interpreting LGBT History, 112; Angela Vanegas, “Representing Lesbians
and Gay Men in British Social History Museums,” in Gender Sexuality, and Museums: A
Routledge Reader, ed. Amy K. Levin (New York: Routledge, 2010), 164.
62 Mills, Theorizing the Queer Museum, 46.
60
61
173
�adopting more masculine traits. The discovery and acceptance of her lesbianism is an
important development for her in her own house museum. Despite years of purposely
suppressing her identity, the Alice Austen House has been making amends. Gertrude is
part of Clear Comfort’s story and Alice’s identity is spoken in public. The Austen House
works with local LGBT groups and hosts various events at the home. Their actions can be
used for museums, specifically house museums, to interpret a “new” identity for
inhabitants. Her story is a successful transition, from a board of directors unwilling to
admit change, to an embracing of her identity.
Works Cited
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Austen, Alice. Dressed Up as Men. 1891. http://aliceausten.org/dressed-men.
Baim, Tracy. “Sex, Love, and Relationships.” In LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History. Edited by Megan E. Springate.
Washington, DC: National Park Foundation, 2016.
Bullough, Vern L. and Bonnie Bullough. Cross Dressing, Sex, and Gender. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.
Cowan, Liza and Penny House. “Alice Austen—Photographs” Dyke, A Quarterly vol. 1
no. 3 (1976). http://seesaw.typepad.com/dykeaquarterly/people-alice-austen/
Crompton, Louis. “The Myth of Lesbian Impunity: Capital Laws from 1270 to 1791,”
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�Fay, Joseph D. Digest of Laws of the State of New York: Comprising the Revises Statutes
and Statutes of General Interest in Force on January 1, 1874. Cambridge, MA: James
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Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 2015.
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767–75.
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2 (1995), 153-82.
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Austen.” Master’s Thesis, Sarah Lawrence College, 1993.
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States Visual Art, 1890 to 1950.” Journal of Lesbian Studies 14, no. 2–3 (April 9, 2010):
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�Novotny, Ann, and Alice Austen. Alice’s World : The Life and Photography of an
American Original, Alice Austen, 1866-1952. Old Greenwich, CT:Chatham Press, 1976.
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Painter, George. "The Sensibilities of Our Forefathers: The History of Sodomy Laws in
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Roscio, Jessica Loren. “Unpacking a Victorian Woman: Alice Austen and Photography
of the Cult of Domesticity in Nineteenth-Century America.” Master’s thesis, University
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Taylor, Tatum Alana. “Concealed Certainty and Undeniable Conjecture: Interpreting
Marginalized Heritage,” Master’s thesis. Columbia University. 2012.
Vanegas, Angela. “Representing Lesbians and Gay Men in British Social History
Museums.” In Gender Sexuality, and Museums: A Routledge Reader, edited by Amy K.
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176
�“I think the world’s asleep”:
Fairytale Expectations in King Lear
Bridgett Bonar (English)1
Unlike most of Shakespeare’s plays, King Lear has a peculiar air, as if it were
centuries older than even its playwright, as if it belongs to the oral tradition of fairytales,
rather than the Elizabethan stage. Part of this comes from the pagan setting, another
undoubtedly from the pervasiveness of fairytales in current culture, nevertheless, it is
impossible to read through King Lear without any fairytale bells ringing in one’s ears.
However, despite the many scenes that could easily fit in a fairytale, the tragic end
deviates from what would typically be called a ‘fairytale ending,’ despite many fairytales
ending with just as much bloodshed. What the ending truly deviates from is the
expectations garnered from the fairytale-esque scenes and settings, an expectation
garnered despite the reader’s awareness of the Shakespearian tragedy they are reading.
The Fairytale theme begins very early, in act one, scene one. A king has three
daughters, and will give his kingdom to the one who can prove she loves him the most—
a familiar challenge, though often played out with sons. Even though Lear, from the very
beginning, intends to split his kingdom between his three daughters, it does not detract
from the timelessness of the scene, or from the feeling that a reader has read a variation
of this story a thousand times before. And as in many fairytales, King Lear begins with a
father’s mistake, the fathers of Cinderella and Snow White remarry to horrible women
and then promptly die, the father in Donkeyskin lusts after his own daughter, the father in
The Juniper Tree turns his back on his own child in favor of his new wife, the father of
Hansel and Gretel leaves his children in the woods to fend for themselves, and Lear
banishes the only daughter who truly loves him, in favor of the sycophants and flatterers.
As Cordelia sails across the channel, the bride of France, the vipers emerge from their
rose-bush homes, the demons remove their angelic masks, and Lear’s error is revealed to
him.
However, Lear’s mistake does not only function as a fairytale convention, but
also as part of the tragic error of the play. The rest of the tragic error is Lear giving up his
kingdom before his death, however, if Lear had given his kingdom to a daughter that
cared for him over his power, he would not have had the same problems as the ones he
faces in the houses of Regan and Goneril after his abdication. So, truly, his tragic error is
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley for EN330: The Shakespeare Survey.
177
�tied to his need for validation more than his abdication, itself. Lear’s need for validation
causes what is the least of Shakespeare’s Tragic Errors. It is hardly Hamlet’s melancholy
or Macbeth’s ambition, the traits that cause the tragic Errors in Shakespeare’s most
famous tragedies. A need for validation is something that every person possesses, which
makes it all the more tragic when it is the cause of Lear’s downfall. However, Lear’s
need for validation also forces him to act in ways that distance himself from the reader, at
the same time the reader emphasizes with the cause of these actions. It is Lear’s need for
validation that forces him to all but auction off and banish the same daughter of which he
says “I lov’d her most, and thought to set my rest//On her kind nursery,” (I.i. 123-124). It
is Lear’s need for validation that hides the true natures of his daughters from him, both
the daughter that refuses to cheapen her love by publicly professing it, and the daughters
who profess of love that they do not feel.
The two viperous daughters of Lear have their own fairytale counterparts, of
course, the most famous of whom are the step-sisters in Cinderella. Although readers of
King Lear are never told if the daughters of Lear have the same mother—in fact the play
never mentions the daughters’ mother at all—their relationship is quite similar. Even
more similar is the relationship between Belle and her sisters, in the versions of Beauty
and the Beast in which they exist, who often care exclusively about material things, much
like King Lear’s Regan and Goneril. Cordelia says to her sisters, “Love well our
father;//To your professed bosoms I commit him,//But yet, alas, stood I within his
grace,//I would prefer him to a better place,” (I.i 271-274). Cordelia, like Cinderella,
knows better than anyone the true character of her sisters, and has remained unblinded by
their overdetermined professions of love to their father. Cordelia then disappears—
whisked off to by the King of France, like Cinderella to Prince Charming’s castle or Belle
to the palace of the Beast.
As previously stated, one of the reasons for the general fairytale feel of King
Lear is the pagan setting of the play. This is not only because Christianity abhors and
replaces, to some extent, the ‘need’ for fairytales, but also because Shakespeare mapped a
specific pantheon of gods onto an area where it never existed. While the Britons would
have been ruled by the Roman gods throughout most of the Roman occupation of their
land, the Britons themselves would have most likely remained true to their own, if less
famous or long lasting, or mixed the two. Furthermore, Briton would not have had a King
during this time of occupation, and instead would have been ruled by the Emperor of
Rome, and would therefore have been converted to Christianity when Emperor
Constantine did, meaning that Briton would never have had a Roman-pagan king. By
creating a quasi-historical space, Shakespeare creates a world where anything could
178
�happen and removes the action of the play from the reality of its reader, further enforcing
a general fairytale atmosphere of the play, as this is something fairytales, more than any
other literary genre, excels at.
This fairytale atmosphere is the main reason why the line “I think the world’s
asleep” (I.iv 48) evokes another story, for those who are listening. Despite the relative
lack of fairytale imagery in this scene, important only in Lear realizing his Tragic Error,
but upon reading this line for the first time, any reader attuned to the fairytale nature King
Lear presents, would immediately think of a sixteen year old girl, cursed to eternal sleep
upon pricking her finger on a spinning wheel, and her kingdom, which suffered the same
fate in some versions, and be left to wonder if the world, or at least the Duke of Albany’s
palace is, in fact, cursed with the same eternal sleep. This, of course, turns out to be
untrue, and Lear goes on to discover his daughter’s viperous hearts, rather than to find
them under cursed sleep. However, the actual events of the play are not what is important
here, merely the expectations that Lear’s line sets in the mind of the reader—an
expectation of something magical, an expectation of something more than the mundane
world of the reader. Like Lear calling on his gods, readers hope for some benign magical
intervention to bring the story to a more pleasant end than the one the genre and
playwright promises.
With the expectation of a sleeping kingdom shattered, readers, for some time
leave their fairytale expectations behind them. That is, until the storm begins. The nature
of weather in fairytales differs based on the story and version, sometimes it is benevolent,
hiding the escape and route of a fleeing hero/heroine, or announcing the arrival of the
villain. Other times it is malevolent, halting the progress or endangering the life of the
same. However, the storm is always called, by one vaguely magical source or another.
Lear, it seems, calls his own storm, or perhaps it was sent by those haughty and uncaring
gods whose names he keeps invoking. Either way this storm lies somewhere in the
middle of the spectrum. Lear’s life is certainly threatened by it, and yet it announces the
arrival of the play̕s true villain—Lear’s own madness. Even further, it is only through the
storm that Lear truly realizes his mistakes, and that the situation he finds himself in is as
much his own fault as it is that of his daughters. Through the storm he learns to
empathize, with Kent, with his Fool, “How dost my boy? Art cold” (III.ii 68), with
Edgar—fallen as far as Lear, himself, a Duke’s son and now nothing more than a
beggar—“Didst thou give all to thy daughters?//And art thou come to this?” (III.iv 4950). It is only after Lear learns what he has done wrong “Poor naked wretches…O, I have
ta’en//Too little care of this” (III.iv 28, 32-33), it is only after he learns empathy that the
storm lessens, that Gloucester is allowed to come to the rescue. The storm is truly the
179
�culmination, though not the final appearance, of the fairytale elements in King Lear, it is
magic, it is moral, and it has an air of darkness—like a tale to be whispered around
fireplaces to scare children from straying on the forest path.
Storms are not the only occasional fairytale convention that Shakespeare uses in
King Lear, another is pointed out by Coppélia Kahn, in her article, “The Absent Mother
in King Lear.” Kahn states, “there is no literal mother in King Lear. The earlier
anonymous play that is one of Shakespeare’s main sources opens with a speech by the
hero lamenting the death of his “dearest Queen.” But Shakespeare…refers only once to
the passing of this queen,” (242). The absent mother, dead long before the story starts, or
with similar frequency upon the first page, is one of the greatest tropes of fairytales,
though even more so in nineteenth and twentieth century revisions. While this is a long
time after Shakespeare, his absent mother and those belonging to fairytales serve the
same purpose, to separate the maternal and ‘good women’ from the vain and ‘evil
women.’ Although in King Lear those titles go, not to a mother and a step-mother, but to
Cordelia and Goneril—and to some extent Regan—respectively, whose lack of motherly
link separates further than the physical distance that exists between them for more than
half of the play.
Shakespeare returns to fairytale conventions in the last scene of act IV—in
Cordelia’s forgiveness. Just as the mistakes of fathers often begin a fairy tale, their
children’s forgiveness often ends them. The father in Donkeyskin repents and seeks the
forgiveness of his daughter, now happily married to a foreign prince, the father in The
Juniper Tree is gifted by his reincarnated son with a golden chain, while the stepmother
is gifted with a falling millstone, and Hansel and Gretel return home after their adventure
to live happily with the same man who thrice left them alone in the woods, with one
significant difference, the step-mother is gone, and Cordelia forgives a repentant and mad
Lear for trusting the pretty words of his other daughters over the love Cordelia bears for
him. Narratively, Cordelia’s forgiveness does something perhaps even more important,
she restores his authority by calling him “my royal lord” and “your Majesty” (IV.vii 4344), rather than “father,” and therefore removes the authority from her sisters, though not
in time to save any of them from their violent ends.
This last return to fairytale conventions returns the fairytale expectations to the
reader, despite knowing that there is likely only one survivor of the play—one who is
only needed, only allowed, to survive in order to tell the stories of the corpses that will
surround him by the end—hope reenters the hearts of the reader, perhaps only the evil
will die, after all it is what the deserve, perhaps the good will be spared. Perhaps
Edmund’s last minuet reversal of orders will reach the jailer in time, or else the plot will
180
�be revealed and Cordelia and Lear will be the ones to walk, in bloodstained clothing, out
of the end of the play, into eternity. And when the bodies begin to drop, the hope
continues. First Regan, who, if not the evilest of the two sisters, was certainly willing
enough to betray her father and husband. Then Goneril, willing to do the same and even
more vile-hearted than Regan. Then Edmund, a bastard in both the literal and figurative
senses, is borne away with more hope that his plot against Cordelia and Lear will be
unraveled in time. That, however, is not the case. Regardless of whether or not
Shakespeare intended to build up these fairytale expectations, he smashes them to pieces
with hanging of Cordelia, then Lear’s agony over her lifeless corpse and his own death.
True to his genre, only Edgar, Albany, and Kent survive, regardless of their virtue or
villainy. King Lear could hardly be called a tragedy, let alone a Shakespearian one, if it
had ended any other way.
Laura Tosi reminds her readers that it was not until long after Shakespeare that
fairytales became popular in England, “Thanks to the romantic movement and the
impulse given by continental translations, the Victorians and Edwardians were
exceptionally prolific fairy tale writers,” (249). Obviously, this implies that not even the
more ancient fairytales were translated to English until long after Shakespeare, meaning
that he would have had little to no knowledge of fairytale conventions, as timeless as they
seem to modern readers. More to the point, modern readers are aware of these
conventions and it is the expectations drawn from them, as well as the knowledge of how
all of Shakespeare’s tragedies end, that drives modern readers, more than anything else,
to complete the tale. It is this juxtaposition of expectations that makes this the greatest of
Shakespeare’s tragedies, in the regard of many.
Whether or not Shakespeare was aware of fairytale conventions, or of the stories
at all, it is almost inarguable that this juxtaposition of expectations was anything but
intentional, especially since Shakespeare’s intended audience was even more aware of the
conventions of the tragedy genre than the modern audience. Therefore he had to produce
something different, something unexpected, even more especially since he was adapting a
slightly earlier play which much of his audience would not only have known about, but
have seen around ten years earlier—long enough in the past for just a glimmer of
familiarity to shine through, but not nearly long enough to be forgotten entirely. Modern
readers can map this hope onto King Lear through the now well-known fairytale
conventions, but it is likely that the Elizabethan audiences saw the hope just as clearly.
Regardless, the fairytale conventions and tropes throughout King Lear create
expectations for the modern reader, opposite of the expectations created by the
conventions of Shakespearian tragedy.
181
�Works Cited
Kahn, Coppélla. “The Absent Mother in King Lear.” Rewriting the Renaissance: The
Discourse of Sexual Difference in Early Modern Europe. Ed. Margaret W. Ferguson,
Maureen Quilligan, and Nancy J. Vickers. 1986. pp. 239-262.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear. The Riverside Shakespeare, Second
Edition. 1997. pp. 1303-1343.
Tosi, Laura. ““But It’s the Story We Like”—King Lear for Children: From Drama to
Narrative.” Children’s Literature, vol. 42, 2014, pp. 246-343.
182
�
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Wagner College Forum for Undergraduate Research
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Volume 15, Number 2
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Section I: The Natural Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 3 The Effect of Listeria monocytogenes on Amyloid Plaque Buildup and Neurofibrillary Tangle Formation in the Brains of Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio) / Monica Fallon Cipriani -- Section II: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 29 Access Rewired: Telecommunication Liberalization in Developing Nations / Leslie Lopez -- 49 The Financial and Social Impact of Organizational Cultural Awareness for Cosmetic Brands in France and the United States / Julia Loria -- Section III: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 85 Mina and Her Men: Examining Gender in Bram Stoker’s Dracula / Madison LaSorda -- 91 Seneca Village: A Forgotten History / Hadeel Mishal -- 103 Is She or Isn’t She? An Analysis of Images of Virginity in Film / Natalie Persia -- 111 Antithetical Attestation: Layers of Gray in Hamlet / Madison J. Ruff -- 117 Oral Microbiome Diversity: The Future of Preventative Health Care, an Anthropological Perspective / Noah Wolthausen -- 129 Breaking the Way America Walks: The Unlikely Duo of Aerosmith and Run-DMC and Its Implications on Society and the Music Industry / Winona Scheff -- 137 Politics in the Global Era / Michael Pardo -- 154 LGBT Museums and Redefining Alice Austen / Kimberly Landstrom -- 177 “I think the world’s asleep”: Fairytale Expectations in King Lear / Bridgett Bonar
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is typically subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural
Sciences, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these sections are
limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific investigations (experimental,
theoretical and empirical). The third section is reserved for speculative papers based on
the scholarly review and critical examination of previous works.
As has become a tradition, the fall edition commences with a reprint of the abstracts of
papers and posters presented at the Eastern Colleges Science Conference. The interested
reader will then encounter a research endeavor aimed at determining whether exposure to
low frequency oscillating electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can be used to excite a
hazardous response in the microorganism Staphylococcus aureus. Moving on, one will
explore the increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease in low socioeconomic
populations and see how nursing initiatives made through the Wagner College Port
Richmond Partnership are tackling this problem in one local community. This is
followed by an investigation into the Dakota Access Pipeline that calls to attention often
overlooked details. Be sure not to miss factors influencing school readiness and an
examination of the therapeutic effects of adult focused therapy for survivors of domestic
violence and human trafficking.
Read on and enjoy!
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Miles Groth, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Annemarie Dowling-Castronovo, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference1
Abstracts
3
The Effect of Listeria Monocytogenes on Amyloid Plaque Build Up
and Neurofibrillary Tangle Formation in the Brains of Adult
Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Monica Cipriani
3
Traumatic Brain Injury as a Disorder of the Connectome
Merrysha Castillo, Dr. Nikolaos Ziogas, Dr. Vassilis E. Koliatsos
4
Fluoride in Groundwater in South Eastern Bangladesh
Regina Ismaili, Prof. Sarah Alauddin and Dr. Mohammad Alauddin
4
Grafting Organic Molecules to Metal Surfaces through the Reduction of
Aryl Diazonium Salts
Helema Tayeh, Anna Cios and Dr. Racquel C. DeCicco
5
In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils on Escherichia
coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus
Alexis Dispensa
5
Computational Investigation of the Pyrolysis of Polyethylene
Lejla Bolevic and Domenick Palmieri
6
Detection of a MET Transcript in the Flatworm Girardia dorotocephala
Theresa Mustacchio and Dr. Jonathan Blaize
6
Characterizing the Role of O-GlcNAcylation in Cardiomyopathy:
Constructing a Transgenic Mouse Model
Anthony Tucker-Bartley, Dr. Olurotimi Mesubi, Dr. Mark Anderson
7
The Behavioral Effects of Caffeine on Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Michelle DeTomaso
1
Papers and posters presented at the 70th Annual Eastern Colleges Science Conference held in
Springfield, MA on April 2, 2016.
�7
Gallyas Staining Method Used to Detect the Presence of Neurofibrillary
Tangles and Beta Amyloid Plaques After Traumatic Brain Injury in
Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Nicole Bell and Dr. Christopher Corbo
Section II: The Natural Sciences
Full Length Papers
11 The Effect of Oscillating Electromagnetic Fields on the Microorganism
Staphylococcus aureus
Shannon Cedeno
Section III: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
39 The Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease in Port Richmond
Nicole Aylmer, Nada Metwally, and Robin Santoro
53 The Dakota Access Pipeline: Litigating the Dispute
Vanessa Dailey
Section IV: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
79 Luca Pacioli, The Father of Accounting
Madison McNichol
88 Factors Influencing School Readiness
Cynedra Osinaike
111 Internalized Racism and Indoctrinated Religion: Alice Walker’s
“Convergence” and The Color Purple
Madison J. Ruff
�122 Thirty-Nine Million and Counting: The Role that Federalism Played
in the HIV/AIDS Crisis
Daniel S. Smith
130 Gregor Samsa and Marx’s Alienation of Labor
Rebecca Martin
138 Why Adults are Allowed to Say Children Are Best Kept Out of Sight
and Out of Mind: A Study on Adult Focused Therapy for Survivors of
Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking
Kelly Glenn
����The Effect of Listeria Monocytogenes on Amyloid
Plaque Build Up and Neurofibrillary Tangle Formation
in the Brains of Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio)1
Monica Cipriani (Microbiology)
In this experiment, adult zebrafish were infected with L. monocytogenes to test its role in
neurodegeneration of brain tissue and build-up of both amyloid beta plaques and
neurofibrillary tangles. Following infection, the zebrafish were taken, anesthetized, and
brains were extracted at 24h, 96h, and 7 days. The Gallyas silver staining technique was
used to detect both neuropathological abnormalities after each brain was sectioned using
ultramicrotomy. Upon observation, an abundance of neurofibrillary tangles were seen in the
brain sections of each zebrafish however no amyloid plaques were seen in any of the brain
sections taken.
Traumatic Brain Injury as a Disorder of the Connectome2
Merrysha Castillo (Biology), Dr. Nikolaos Ziogas3, Dr. Vassilis E. Koliatsos4
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with a variety of primary and secondary lesions
such as contusions and diffuse axonal injury. Although diffuse axonal injury is by definition
a network problem contusions are viewed strictly as a focal pathology without the
consideration of related connections and circuits. Post-mortem human brains with
orbitofrontal contusions or diffuse axonal injury were examined immunohistochemically to
detect the presence of phosphorylated epitopes of heavy and medium-molecular weight
neurofilament proteins (NF-H/NF-M). Damaged neurons in interconnected neocortical,
limbic, and subcortical areas were marked. Large numbers of phosphorylated NF-H/NF-Mimmunoreactive, SMI 310 (+) neuronal cell bodies were found in the ventral group of the
lateral nucleus, specifically in the ventral anterior nucleus and ventral lateral nucleus of
thalamus for each contusion case. Neuronal cell bodies with p-NF (+) were also identified
in the hippocampus, but fewer were identified. In contrast, frontal sections did not show
Research conducted under the direction of Dr. Christopher Corbo.
Received an award of excellence for outstanding presentation.
3 Div. of Neuropathology Dept. of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine (Baltimore, MD, 21205).
4 Div. of Neuropathology, Dept. of Pathology, Dept. of Neurology, Dept. of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD,
21205).
1
2
3
�any p-NF (+) cell bodies. In the diffuse axonal injury case, frontal sections showed robust
p-NF (+) cells throughout the cortex. After orbitofrontal contusion, transneuronal
degeneration is profound in the thalamus, but less so in the hippocampus, and none in the
interconnected frontal cortex. These investigations lay the foundations for elucidation of
the neuropathology of traumatic contusions and diffuse axonal injury on the basis of
impaired neocortical and limbic connectivity, and promote understanding of behavioral and
cognitive changes in patients with TBI.
Fluoride in Groundwater in South Eastern Bangladesh
Regina Ismaili (Chemistry), Prof. Sarah Alauddin (Chemistry and Physics) and
Dr. Mohammad Alauddin (Chemistry and Physics)
Fluoride in drinking water in excess of 1.5 ppm poses a health hazard. In Bangladesh flood
plains and part of table lands containing Holocene sediments are rich in arsenic bearing
minerals while the hill tracts containing Pliocene sandstone are not rich in arsenic minerals
but may be rich in fluoride, another toxic element. Our recent study involving analysis of
about 100 groundwater samples from hill tracts area revealed that 20 percent of samples
have fluoride (F-) levels much higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline
value. Through our current study we are trying to characterize the fluoride bearing mineral
and understand the mechanism of mobilization of fluoride from these minerals.
Grafting Organic Molecules to Metal Surfaces
through the Reduction of Aryl Diazonium Salts
Helema Tayeh (Chemistry), Anna Cios (Chemistry) and Dr. Racquel C. DeCicco
(Chemistry and Physics)
Energy demands are increasing worldwide and the effects on the environment cannot be
overlooked. Recent developments in energy storage have involved the use of conducting
polymers as a means of electron transfer. Some applications of these conducting polymers
include lightweight and rechargeable batteries, light emitting diodes, sensors and molecular
electronics, among others. The reduction of diazonium salts is one of the known methods
for chemically modifying electrode surfaces. This is achieved by grafting molecular chains
onto the surface of materials through covalent bonding. Various monomers can be
employed to provide distinctive electronic properties. We explored the reaction of various
aromatic amines with nickel foam surfaces via diazonium chemistry. The reduction of aryl
diazonium salts allows for the grafting of different aryl groups on the metal surface. In the
4
�first step, several aromatic amines were added to an acidic medium, generating the
diazonium salt. Grafting was then achieved by simply dipping the metal into the salt
solution. Samples were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy, with 4-bromoaniline
yielding the most significant visual surface change. Sonication served as an indirect method
of assessing surface modification, as the interaction between diazonium derived films and
metallic substrates are stable enough to withstand ultrasonic treatment, boiling in solvents,
and prolonged exposure to various temperature conditions.
In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils on Escherichia coli,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus5
Alexis Dispensa (Microbiology)
The oils of basil, cinnamon and oregano were tested against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus using agar-well diffusion, broth dilution and agar
dilution methods to assess antibacterial activity. All extracts exhibited antibacterial activity,
with oregano having the most potent bactericidal properties followed by cinnamon and basil
having similar effects based on minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum lethal
concentration values.
Computational Investigation of the Pyrolysis of Polyethylene6
Lejla Bolevic (Chemistry) and Domenick Palmieri (Chemistry)
Knowledge of pyrolysis is crucial for the understanding of the chemistry behind polymer
combustion and flammability of plastics, which is vital to the scientific contributions
toward fire safety. Polyethylene, being the most common plastic, has been most frequently
involved in various kinetic studies consisting of different elementary reactions. Such
chemical processes have achieved considerable success in recent studies. Computational
research has been conducted on the pyrolysis of polyethylene with both methyl end groups
as well as CH2 radical end groups. Pyrolysis is the dissociation of bonds at high
temperatures in the absence of oxygen. However, the temperatures are high enough to
supply the energy needed to separate the bonds. We plan to computationally investigate the
dissociation of various polyethylene chains at multiple temperatures to study the
dissociation of the chains themselves. The dissociation of C-C bonds in various
polyethylene chains were studied using reactive molecular dynamics simulations in
vacuum. Three types of polyethylene chains were simulated under both constant density
and constant pressure. These chains consisted of 500 molecules of PE-1 (ethane), 250
5
6
Research conducted under the direction of Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt.
Research conducted under the direction of Dr. Arun Sharma.
5
�molecules of PE-2 (butane), and 200 molecules of PE-2.5 (pentane). These polyethylene
chains ended in methyl groups rather than leaving the terminal carbon as a radical. We will
report rate constants and mechanistic details for the pyrolysis of molecules under
investigation.
Detection of a MET Transcript in the Flatworm Girardia dorotocephala
Theresa Mustacchio (Biology) and Dr. Jonathan Blaize (Biological Sciences)
Regeneration is a multi-faceted process by which organisms recruit stem cells to repair or
replace compromised tissue. In humans this process is limited, however, planaria have the
ability to recover from as little as 1/300 of their body. The proto-oncogene MET is involved
in cell proliferation, motility and growth in mammalian tissue capable of self-repair, though
a homolog has not yet been identified in flatworms. Our preliminary data suggest that a
protein homolog of MET is expressed by Girardia dorotocephala and new evidence of a
mRNA homolog in the same species corroborates this finding.
Characterizing the Role of O-GlcNAcylation in Cardiomyopathy:
Constructing a Transgenic Mouse Model
Anthony Tucker-Bartley(Biology), Dr. Olurotimi Mesubi7, Dr. Mark Anderson8
Cardiac disease is currently one of the leading causes of mortality in the United States. The
onset and proliferation of cardiomyopathy is influenced by the co-morbidity of disease such
as diabetes. Prior research suggests that O-GlcNAcylation, a form of glycosylation, is
increased in individuals who suffer from diabetes. The two enzymes controlling this
process, O-GlcNAc Transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA) have become targets of
genetic engineering in order to study the relationship between altered O-GlcNAcylation and
the emergence of disease. This paper describes the process of Mark Anderson’s research
group at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine cloning the human variant of OGT
and OGA into a mouse expression vector with the ultimately goal of developing a
transgenic mouse to study in vivo dysregulation of O-GlcyNAcylation. The Anderson lab
developed two unique plasmid constructs of OGT and OGA containing a Myc epitope tag
and His epitope tag respectively to subsequently measure gene expression. Due to their
7
Basic Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD,
21205.
8 Basic Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD,
21205.
6
�interest in heart related diseases, the Anderson Lab aimed to localized gene expression to
cardiac specific tissue by cloning both genes into their own mouse alpha myosin heavy
chain expression vector. Successful creation of the two constructs was followed by external
submission of each vector for microinjection into embryonic cells.
The Behavioral Effects of Caffeine on Zebrafish (Danio rerio)9
Michelle DeTomaso (Biology)
Caffeine activates dopamine by acting as an antagonist on adenosine receptors and affects
behavior by increasing locomotion indirectly through this mechanism. Caffeine affects
zebrafish (Danio rerio) in various ways, such as increasing latency to explore the top of the
tank, reduced time on top of the tank, erratic swimming and increased freezing time. This
study aimed to test adult zebrafish under an acute condition of caffeine exposure. Each fish
was tested for forty seconds in a 0.008% concentration of caffeine or a control (no caffeine).
Their activity levels were quantified by counting the number of lines crossed on a grid using
digital videos. There was a significant difference between the control and the treatment
groups. The number of times crossed over for the treatment group ranged from 0-65 while
the control varied from 23-110. The treatment group had three trials where the zebrafish
crossed zero lines, which does not support the hypothesis that the zebrafish would have more
erratic and active behavior. Other studies have tested varying concentrations of caffeine
which had a more dramatic result. We will also test a higher concentration (8%). The
concentration of the caffeine along with the differences in anxiety levels between wild type
and mutant strains may affect the data.
Gallyas Staining Method Used to Detect the Presence of
Neurofibrillary Tangles and Beta Amyloid Plaques After
Traumatic Brain Injury in Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio)10
Nicole Bell (Microbiology) and Dr. Christopher Corbo (Biological Sciences)
Previous work has focused on detection and documentation of cell survival, migration and
reorganization after brain injury and the proliferation of the embryoid-like structures within
the optic tectum explants. The goal of this study was to determine the presence of
neurofibrillary tangles and beta amyloid plaques after traumatic brain injury is induced. It
9
Research conducted under the direction of Dr. Brian Palestis
Received an award of excellence for outstanding presentation.
10
7
�has been shown that brain damage makes patients more prone to various forms of dementia,
which itself is often linked to the presence of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid beta. The
presence of neurofibrillary tangles and beta amyloid plaques were identified in surviving
zebrafish optic tectum maintained in organotypic culture. Morphological data was collected
after one day, four day and seven days in culture. The detection of these pathologies was
made using Gallyas silver staining method and thioflavin t fluorescence microscopy. This
allows for the confirmation of neurofibrillary tangles and beta amyloid plaque presence.
Additionally, the presence of these neuropathologies were analyzed using transmission
electron microscopy.
8
���The Effect of Oscillating Electromagnetic Fields
on the Microorganism Staphylococcus aureus
Shannon Cedeno (Microbiology)1
This research aims to determine whether the exposure to low frequency oscillating
electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can be used to excite a hazardous response in the
microorganism Staphylococcus aureus. The microorganism was exposed to the EMFs at
25 Hz, 50 Hz, 100 Hz, 150 Hz, and 250 HZ, to potentially initiate a resonant response
delivering enough energy to the bacteria to create detrimental electrochemical imbalances
within the cell. Colony forming units per mL (CFU/mL) of exposed and control cultures
were determined for each frequency. The fields that had the most effect on the organism
were those oscillating at the frequencies 25 Hz and 250 Hz. At 25 Hz, S. aureus’ growth
was diminished while at 250 Hz the organism’s growth was stimulated. Microscopic
analysis showed potential cell wall disruption within the organisms at both frequencies.
Currently the effects on the S. aureus can only be hypothesized, and further research is
needed.
I. Introduction
Characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus is a gram positive, nonmotile, non-spore forming,
facultative anaerobe which belongs to the Micrococcaceae family (Granato et al. 2014).
Micrococcaceae tend to not be pathogenic to humans but are often problematic within the
food industry. Staphylococcus aureus, when in comparison to other Staphylococcus
species, including Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus, is the
most virulent (Granato et al., 2014). The microbe is coagulase positive, meaning it
produces hemolysins, or proteins, capable of coagulating human serum (Evans, 2013).
While researchers remain unsure why the organism has the capability to coagulate blood,
the microorganism can be easily determined from the other Staphylococcus species
because of this characteristic (Evans, 2013). Staphylococcus aureus are cocci that are
often seen in grape-like, cluster formations. From an epidemiological standpoint, S.
Written under the direction of Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt and Dr. Gregory Falabella in partial
fulfillment of the Senior Program requirements.
1
11
�aureus survives clinically undetected within 30% of the population, belonging within the
normal flora of the host’s epidermis and nasal cavity (Tong, et. al, 2015). Being an
opportunistic pathogen, the once harmless organism can become pathogenic under the
appropriate conditions.
Staphylococcus aureus is often isolated using the selective and differential
media, mannitol salt agar. The agar typically consists of 7.5 % NaCl, mannitol, and the
indicator phenol red, for the isolation and identification of most S. aureus strains
(Granato et al., 2014). With the presence of S. aureus, as opposed to other
Staphylococcal species, the once red agar turns yellow in response to the fermentation of
mannitol (Granato et al., 2014). Because of the fermentation of mannitol, an acidic
byproduct is formed, causing a change in pH indicated by the phenol red, which in turn
changes the color of the agar to yellow (Granto et al., 2014).
Virulence Factors of Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus produces various toxins and enzymes that cause harm to
the infected host. Strains of S. aureus expel poisonous proteins such as enterotoxins that
are extremely harmful to the host (Granato et al., 2014). Enterotoxin, if found in
contaminated food, results in the toxic effect of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, which is
the result of severe gastroenteritis or staphylococcal food poisoning (Granato et al.,
2014). Through past analysis of the organism, it was determined that specific strains of
S. aureus produce enterotoxins A and D, both of which are resistant to the gastrointestinal
acid of human stomachs (Evans, 2013). Another enterotoxin, enterotoxin F, or TSST-1,
has been associated with thousands of cases of Toxic Shock Syndrome, the disease which
is often seen in correlation with menstruating women and super absorbent tampons
(Granato et al., 2014). Staphylococcus aureus, also has the capability of producing
hyaluronidase, an enzyme which degrades hyaluronic acid, allowing for the movement
throughout connective tissue and the further spread of infection (Granato et al., 2014).
The opportunistic pathogen is commonly seen within the population, resulting in
minor skin infections such as pimples, boils, and highly contagious rashes such as
impetigo (Granato et al., 2014). With the combination of both enzymes and toxins, S.
aureus has the capability to cause severe harm to its host. Some serious systemic
infections that are caused by S. aureus are pneumonia, meningitis and endocarditis, each
of which can result in death (Granato et al., 2014). Staphylococcus aureus is an organism
that should not be left untreated because of the serious infections that can result from the
once harmless opportunistic pathogen.
12
�Prevalence in Nosocomial and Community Acquired Infections
When the host’s immune system is compromised, Staphylococcus aureus can
cause many infections to both the skin and other organs which is problematic within both
health care and community settings. Nosocomial, or healthcare acquired, outbreaks
commonly related to S. aureus infections have been reported in both acute and chronic
care settings (Evans, 2013). High risk areas within the hospital setting include areas in
which patients are extremely immunocompromised. These areas include burn units,
nurseries, dialysis units, intensive care units, transplantation units, and oncology units
(Evans, 2013). Nosocomial infections are also a result of the host's response to normal
flora. Because of the suppression of the host’s innate immune response, changes within
the anatomical barriers, such as breaking of skin from surgical or accidental trauma,
which once protected the host from infection now becomes compromised (Evans, 2013).
As stated, immunosuppressed patients are at high risk of S. aureus infections because
hospital staff is also at fault for nosocomial outbreaks. Because of insufficient
handwashing and proper donning and doffing techniques by clinical professionals
between patients, the organism is easily transferred to immunocompromised patients
within the healthcare facility.
Nosocomial Staphylococcus aureus infections have been an issue for decades,
yet community acquired S. aureus infections have recently become problematic
especially within urban, low income areas. A retrospective case study done by Huang et
al. (2006), focused on community acquired strains of S. aureus. It was concluded that
community acquired S. aureus is predominantly associated with skin and soft tissue
infections (Huang et al., 2006). The easily transferable infection is often seen in
intravenous drug users, a reservoir of community acquired S. aureus, and can be
transmitted within the community through close contact (Huang et al., 2006). Other
increased risk factors of community acquired infections of S. aureus are typically
associated with poor hygiene, age, and the HIV-infected population (Tong et al., 2015).
Staphylococcus aureus infections and Antibiotic Resistance
Throughout the years, outbreaks and epidemics of Staphylococcus aureus have
been witnessed in diseases such as staphylococcal diarrhea and staphylococcal
pneumonia (Granato et al., 2014). Currently the most prevalent issue with S. aureus
today is methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (Evans, 2013). Because of
the over-prescription of antibiotics, strains of S. aureus have been able to adapt and
13
�become resistant to the once effective form of treatment (Evans, 2013). While new
antibiotics are constantly in development, organisms such as S. aureus have the ability to
become resistant to multiple microbial agents (Granato et al., 2014). Methicillin resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is thought to be most commonly associated with
healthcare settings, but emerging strains are being isolated within the community as well.
Both nosocomial and community acquired strains of MRSA are slightly different.
Community acquired MRSA is currently more susceptible to antibiotics in comparison to
nosocomial strains, but resistance continues to rise (Granato et al., 2014).
To this day, nosocomial MRSA, a globally prevalent issue within hospitals, has
been treated with the antibiotic vancomycin (Granato et al., 2014). Recent studies show
that the once susceptible strain of MRSA has become resistant to its past form of
treatment (Granato et al., 2014). Vancomycin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) is
now another complication with treating S. aureus infections. Currently, antibiotic
resistance is a serious topic in both microbiology and healthcare. While the production of
antibiotics continue to thrive, microorganisms continue to become resistant. This
distressing concern has prompted clinicians and researchers to study and promote new
methods for eliminating microorganisms. This research studies the effects of exposure to
oscillating electromagnetic fields in hope to find a potential new method for treating S.
aureus infections.
Electromagnetic Fields
Continuous advancements in microbiology are being constantly discovered and
manufactured to fight the ongoing issue of antibiotic resistance. Electromagnetic fields
have been used in previous research to stimulate or inhibit the growth of prokaryotic
cells. Studies show that when an external electromagnetic field is applied to cells, it
generates a cellular response (Panagopoulos et al., 2000). The idea behind this research
is a hypothesis entitled electromagnetic pollution and is seen constantly within our
society (Panagopoulos et al., 2000). The hypothesis is often seen throughout media and
news coverage, concerning the possible health effects caused by the exposure of
electromagnetic fields radiating from electronic devices such as cell phones and
transmission lines (Garip et al., 2011). Electromagnetic pollution suggests that
oscillating electric fields will exert a force which effects the permeability of the ionic
channels within the membrane (Fojit et al., 2003). The exposure from the oscillating
electromagnetic fields would potentially exert upon the organism forced vibrations, based
14
�upon the specificity of its natural frequency ultimately leading to detrimental
electrochemical imbalances necessary for survival (Panagopoulos et al., 2000).
Resonance
The atoms and molecules of all objects above absolute zero are in constant
motion. The frequency at which they oscillate in the absence of external forces is known
as the natural frequency. When energy is delivered to a system by a non-steady, external
force the response depends upon the relationship between the driving frequency and the
natural frequency. A succession of small impulses applied close to the natural frequency
can have a significant effect (Halliday and Resnick, 1977).
Ultimately, the goal of exposure to the oscillating wave is to promote forced
vibrations up to the critical value within the cell, resulting in false signaling of
transmembrane channels (Fojt et al., 2003). The free ion gradient that cells generate is
fundamental for metabolic processes within the cell. With improper gradients produced
in response to the oscillations, the cell will ultimately die (Bayir et al., 2013). The free
ions located on both sides of the plasma membrane and the inner cell membranes,
including K+, Na+, Cl-, and Ca2+ control the cell volume by regulating the osmotic
pressure within the cell and other metabolic processes (Panagopoulos et al., 2000).
Hypotheses promote the idea that electromagnetic fields will stimulate ion influx through
the cell membrane generating a potential difference, or voltage, between both sides of the
membrane (Panagopoulos et al., 2000). Past research also suggests that the exposure to
electromagnetic fields could potentially enhance free radical production, promote
oxidative stress upon the cell, and genetically mutate the microorganisms’ DNA (Bayir et
al., 2013).
Previous Research of Electric Fields on Cells
The use of electromagnetic fields in microbiology made an entrance into
scientific journals in 1961 with the work of biologist, Barnett Rosenberg (Kennesaw,
2008). His area of study focused on the in-depth process of cell division and mitosis.
Rosenberg hypothesized that the shape of the cell during mitosis was due to an induced
dipole (Kennesaw, 2008). Rosenberg expanded upon his theory by exposing the dipole to
electromagnetic radiation of a resonant frequency, in order to observe the effects of the
cell after absorption (Kennesaw, 2008). Because of his interest in mitosis, Rosenberg’s
goal was to focus on eukaryotic cells. When testing the continuous exposure apparatus
15
�that was created to expose the cells to an external electromagnetic field, Rosenberg chose
to use the prokaryote Escherichia coli. (Kennesaw, 2008).
The apparatus consisted of two chambers in which the Escherichia coli was
placed and stored at a controlled temperature of 37° C. After determining the steady state
of the continuous culture (approximately 10 days after inoculation), Rosenberg exposed
the culture to an audio oscillator which provided the sinusoidal voltages, which were
amplified by an amplifier to create the desired field within the chambers (Kennesaw,
2008). After one hour of exposure to the oscillating electromagnetic field, the turbidity
decreased within the culture, and after two hours, the turbidity was almost completely
gone (Kennesaw, 2008). Once the voltage was turned off, after eight hours, the turbidity
levels returned back to their original density (Kennesaw, 2008).
Since 1961, there have been many advancements and research initiatives within
the field of biophysics, specifically with the idea of using oscillating electromagnetic
fields for its antimicrobial properties. Some successful examples include Fojt et al.
(2004) and Garip et al. (2011). Fojt et al. (2004) observed decreased growth in three
organisms, Escherichia coli, Leclercia adecarboxylata, and Staphylococcus aureus when
exposed to an oscillating electromagnetic field at 50Hz. Garip et al. (2011) showed that
when exposed to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF), both the
gram positive and gram negative bacterial growth rates were slowed and morphological
changes were ensued in comparison to the control cultures. When analyzed microscopy
via transmission electron microscopy, morphological changes consisted of disintegration
of the cell wall, expulsion of the cytoplasm from the cell, clumping of the cytoplasm, and
the overall standard shape of the microorganism changed (Garip et al., 2011). By
exposing S. aureus to similar ELF-EMF, this research aims to find a resonant frequency
which will excite a hazardous response within S. aureus to ultimately diminish the
ongoing clinical issue and relevance of antibiotic resistance.
Objective
The objective of this research was to expose the microorganism Staphylococcus
aureus to extremely low frequency oscillating electromagnetic fields (EMFs) to excite a
hazardous response within the cell. Exposure to the EMFs would potentially initiate a
resonant response delivering enough energy to the bacteria to create detrimental
electrochemical imbalances while leaving the surroundings unaffected. Currently,
targeted frequencies that could excite a resonant response in S. aureus are unknown, but
this research should shed light on potentially hazardous frequencies. Electromagnetic
16
�control of S. aureus is the first step towards a potential alternative to the pharmacological
approach and the need for antibiotics.
II. Materials and Methods
Collection and Storage of Staphylococcus Aureus
The microorganism, Staphylococcus aureus was purchased from DIFCO. The
organism used was Staphylococcus aureus Bactrol Disks, ATCC #25923, and was
retrieved from the Wagner College Department of Biological Sciences. The disks were
stored in a controlled environment at 2- 8 ° C. The microorganism was placed into
nutrient broth and incubated at 37 ° C. Once cultured, it was plated directly on mannitol
salt agar and incubated at 37° C for 24 hours. When visible colonies were formed, the
plate was sealed with parafilm and placed in the refrigerator for storage and continued
use.
Mannitol Salt Agar
Carolina® mannitol salt (lot#160602021906) was made for the selective
isolation and differentiation of Staphylococcus aureus. The broth powder consisted of
approximately 5.0 g of enzymatic digest of casein, 5.0 g of meat peptone, 1.0 g of beef
extract, 75.0 g, 10.0 g of D- mannitol, phenol red, .025 g of sodium salt, and 15.0 g of
agar, per 1L of water. The agar was made by suspending 111 g of the medium into 1 L of
purified water. The mixture was then heated and stirred until completely dissolved.
After, the mixture was then autoclaved on a wet cycle for 15 minutes at 121° C. After
sterilization was complete, approximately 20 ml of agar was pour-plated. The mannitol
salt agar was used multiple times throughout the experiment, for its major purpose of
cultivating S. aureus.
Nutrient Broth
Difco™ nutrient broth, Lot number 0089012, was made for the cultivation of
Staphylococcus aureus for the analysis of its growth phase. The broth powder consisted
approximately of 3.0 g of beef extract, and 5.0 g of peptone, per 1L of water. Eight
grams of pre-made broth powder were suspended into 1 L of purified water. The mixture
was heated and stirred with frequent agitation for approximately five minutes, and boiled
for one minute. The broth was then autoclaved on the wet cycle for 15 minutes at 121°C.
17
�Spectrophotometer
The spectrophotometer which determined the optical density within a sample
was a Spectronic 20D+ manufactured by ThermoSpectronic. The spectrophotometer was
used to determine the growth phases of Staphylococcus aureus over time. Specifically,
the log phase was desired for experimentation. The reason for determining the log phase
for experimentation was to know that the microorganism was at an optimal growth rate
with no other reason for potential death, such as nutrient expulsion. Before use, the
spectrophotometer was turned on, because it required 15 minutes of warm-up time. The
wavelength used was 600 nm.
Approximately 14 minutes after turning on the spectrophotometer, previously
isolated Staphylococcus aureus was inoculated into a labeled and sterilized nephelo flask
filled with 10 ml of nutrient broth, while another sterilized nephelo flask filled with 10 ml
of pure nutrient broth acted as a blank. Once the spectrophotometer was ready for use,
the wavelength was set to zero. The mode was then switched to absorbance, and the
blank nephelo flask was carefully inserted into the spectrophotometer. The 100% T was
then set to zero, and the blank was removed. The nephelo flask containing S. aureus was
inserted, and the optical density reading was recorded. Spectrophotometer readings were
taken every two hours and the optical density readings were recorded from 11:30 am until
9:30 pm, and recorded once again at 11:30 am the following day. The spectrophotometer readings were duplicated to ensure accuracy. It was determined, after
graphical analysis, that the log phase began approximately eight hours (figure1).
Figure 1: Spectrophotometer readings of Staphylococcus aureus over a nine hour period
at a 600 nm wavelength.
18
�Mannitol Salt Broth
The HIMEDIA mannitol salt broth (MSB), REF # M383-500G was made as per
manufacturer guidelines in order to isolate Staphylococcus aureus. The broth powder
consisted of 10 g of protease peptone, 1 g of meat extract B#, 75 g of sodium chloride, 10
g of D-mannitol, and 0.025 g of phenol red. The broth was made by suspending 96.02 g
in 1000 ml of distilled water. The broth was then heated and stirred for approximately 5
minutes, until completely dissolved. After heating, 10 ml of broth was pipetted into
small test tubes. The filled tubes were then autoclaved for 15 minutes on a wet cycle, at
121° C, to ensure sterilization. The sterilized MSB tubes were then stored capped for
future experimental use. At the start of experimentation, a colony from the stored,
refrigerated MSA plate harboring S. aureus was picked up via an inoculating loop and
placed into two mannitol salt broth test tubes - one labeled test and one labeled control,
and placed in the incubator set at 37° C. After eight hours, the tubes were removed from
the incubator and placed into the oscillating electromagnetic field.
Oscillating Electrical Field
A Goldstar FG-2002C Frequency Generator2 (figure 2) was used to initiate a
sinusoidally varying voltage output in the frequency range 25-250 Hz. The signal was
then amplified using a seven watt oscillator amplifier (figure 3) purchased from Sargent
Welch (item#CP36891-10). Next the voltage was stepped up using a transformer made
up of a 200-turn coil and a 3200-turn coil placed on a U-shaped iron core (figure 4).
These items came from the SF-8617 complete coil set from Pasco Scientific.
Figure 2: The function generator used to initiate the sinusoidally varying voltage.
2
Note that the GoldStar corporate name was changed to LG Electronics in 1995.
19
�Figure 3: The oscillator amplifier used to boost the signal.
Figure 4: The transformer that further stepped up the voltage.
The enhanced voltage was sent from the transformer to two steel 175 cm2 parallel plates
separated by 4 cm to create the oscillating field. The plate capacitor used was
manufactured by American 3B scientific (item#CP-U30040). It proved quite useful as it
kept the plates aligned and allowed one to slide the plates for easy loading and unloading
(figure 5).
20
�Figure 5: The parallel plates used to create the field.
A handcrafted wooden apparatus was used to hold the test tubes containing the
specimen stably in the field. To keep the bacteria at a constant 37° C during the
experiment, the parallel plate apparatus was placed in a VWR 15000E Science Education
incubator (figures 6 and 7) manufactured by Sargent-Welch (item# WLS43668-20).
Figure 6: The incubator
21
�Figure 7: Plate capacitor with the test tube stabilizing apparatus within the incubator
before initiating testing. See above with MSB tubes, one being tested within the field and
one acting as a control.
Calibration and Testing of the Electronic Equipment
The incubator has a graduated manual dial marked with 10 major and 50 minor
increments. The appropriate temperature for optimal growth of Staphylococcus aureus,
37° C, was achieved when the dial was placed on setting five. Daily testing with a real
time digital interface (Pasco Xplorer GLX PS-2002) and stainless steel probe connected
to a temperature sensor (Pasco PS-2125), for data acquisition, ensured a stable
temperature. The wires attaching the plate apparatus to the power source amplifier and
transformer were sealed within the incubator through the suction closure of the incubator.
In order to ensure a desired rms voltage of 80 volts yielding an electric field
strength of 2000 V/m, an Edmund Scientific's Dual Range AC Voltmeter was connected
to the parallel plates each time before placing them inside the incubator. To obtain
confirmation that the voltage was in the form of a true sine wave, the signal from the
function generator was sent to an oscilloscope (Pasco Scientific SB-9699).
22
�Exposure to Oscillating Electrical Field
After eight hours, the inoculated MSB tube was removed from the incubator and
transferred into the test tube holding apparatus that existed between the parallel plates of
the electric field apparatus. The incubator was shut and the function generator was
switched on to the appropriate frequency. The frequencies used during experimentation
consisted of 25 Hz, 50 Hz, 100 Hz, 150 Hz, 200 Hz, and 250 Hz. After 24 hours, the
tubes were removed and plated on mannitol salt agar plates via the serial dilution method.
Results were recorded 24 hours after plating.
Serial Dilutions
Both the control and the test MSB tubes were diluted up to 10 -8 via serial
dilutions. Dilutions required sterilized water blanks, eight tubes per MSB tube, totaling
16 test tubes per frequency. Following appropriate aseptic technique, 1 ml of cultivated
and exposed MSB was pipetted into 9 ml of sterilized water (10-1). After manually
mixing the totaled 10 ml of broth and sterilized water, 1 ml was then taken from the
solution and placed in a new sterilized 9 ml water blank (10-2). This process was
repeated until the 10-8 dilution was reached. After completing the serial dilutions, 1 ml of
10-6, 10-7, and 10-8 of both the test and control cultures were individually plated on
Mannitol Salt Agar and incubated for 24 hours at 37 ° C. Colonies were then counted and
analyzed for electromagnetic effects. Frequencies with promising results, which included
25 Hz, 50 Hz, and 250 Hz were chosen for further testing. Each promising frequency was
tested and plated two more times each, and the average colony forming units per mL
(CFUs/mL) were calculated.
Gram Stain and Microscopy
After analyzing plate counts and color changes in the MSB tubes, two
frequencies consisting of 25 Hz and 250 Hz were chosen for further analysis.
Staphylococcus aureus were exposed for 24 hours to the electromagnetic field at both 25
Hz and 250 Hz. Immediately after exposure, the organisms were gram stained and
analyzed microscopically with an Olympus BX 40 at 100x magnification. Using the
ToupView camera control software on a Windows operating system, pictures were taken
of both the control and exposed cultures.
23
�III. Results
Trial 1 Exposure of Staphylococcus aureus to the Oscillating Electromagnetic
Field at 25 Hz, 50 Hz, 100 Hz, 150 Hz, 200 Hz and 250 Hz
After the exposure of Staphylococcus aureus to the electromagnetic field at 25 Hz, 50 Hz,
100 Hz, 150 Hz, 200 Hz, and 250 Hz, the culture was removed from the field, serially
diluted, and plated to determine colony forming units per 1 mL (CFU/mL). Based on the
colony counts, analysis of the color change in the mannitol salt broth tubes, and a
literature search, it was decided to proceed forward with additional trials at 25 Hz, 50 Hz,
and 250 Hz. Figure eight shows the first trial results for all the tested frequencies
Figure 8: Line graph depicting CFU/mL per plated dilution of the first trial of tested
cultures and control cultures of frequencies all tested frequencies.
The exposure of Staphylococcus aureus to an oscillating electromagnetic field at
25 Hz showed promising results. It appeared that the growth of the organism was
decreased in comparison to the control culture. This favorable result was accompanied
with an abnormal indication within the mannitol salt broth tubes. The test culture
remained red, an indication that the fermentation of mannitol did not transpire. The
control culture turned bright yellow in response to the sugar fermentation, which is a
prominent characteristic of S. aureus. The aforementioned potential electromagnetic
24
�effects stimulated by the oscillating field at 25 Hz, contributed to the decision to progress
into further trials using this frequency.
The effects on Staphylococcus aureus during the first trial of using a 50 Hz
electromagnetic field yielded unexceptional results. The colony counts were
indistinguishable between the first two plated dilutions, both exhibiting greater than 300
colonies each (TNTC). When further diluted (10-8), the test culture showed slightly less
growth than the control. Similar colony counts for both the test and control cultures
potentially indicated minimal electromagnetic impact on the organism. The use of an
oscillating electromagnetic field at 50 Hz to inhibit the growth of S. aureus has been
noted in multiple research articles, and because of this past success, it was decided to
continue trails using this frequency.
Inconclusive results were obtained during the exposure of Staphylococcus
aureus to the oscillating electromagnetic field at 100 Hz. The control at the 10-6 dilution
had an abundant amount of growth totaling 160 colonies or 1.6 X 108 CFU/mL while the
test sample exhibited 3.6 x 107 CFU/mL. As the dilutions continued, plate counts showed
similar amount of growth as depicted in the graph, but this varied unfavorably when
diluted further. At the 10-8 dilution, the CFU/ml was much greater for the test (1.5 X 109
CFU/mL) than the control (2.0 x108 CFU/mL), rendering the results inconclusive. The
oscillating field exposure at the frequency of 150 Hz, yielded initial dilutions (10-6 and
10-7) with similar colony counts for both the test and control cultures. As the dilutions
continued, the test culture expressed no visible growth at the final dilution, while the
control had an abundant amount of growth totaling 9.0 x108 CFU/mL. The results for this
frequency remain inconclusive because of the inconsistent final dilution of the test
culture.
Post exposure to the electromagnetic field oscillating at 200 Hz, the test culture
exhibited an abundant amount of growth in comparison to the control culture. After
colony counts were determined, the test culture exhibited 2.7 X 108 CFU/mL, 2.7 X 108
CFU/mL, and 1.1 x 109 CFU/mL at each plated dilution, while the control culture had 6.2
X107 CFU/mL, 3.9 X108 CFU/mL, and 7.0 X 109 CFU/mL per plated dilution. When the
frequency increased to 250 Hz, results indicated the potential inhibition growth. Similar
to what was seen at the 25 Hz trial, mannitol fermentation was inhibited in the test
culture. The aforementioned potential electromagnetic effects stimulated by the
oscillating field at 250 Hz, contributed to the decision to progress into further trials using
this frequency.
25
�The inconsistencies and unfavorable outcomes associated with the 100Hz,
150Hz, and 200Hz trials lead to the decision to proceed further with trials using an
oscillating electromagnetic field at 25 Hz, 50 Hz, and 250 Hz.
Three Trials of Exposure to the Oscillating Electric field at 25 Hz
As previously stated, when cultures were exposed to the electromagnetic field
oscillating at 25 Hz, the test cultures lacked the ability to ferment mannitol within the
broth tubes, ultimately indicated through the unchanged pH (Figure 9). The averaged test
cultures post exposure to the field oscillating at 25 Hz, indicate potential electromagnetic
control on the organism. The test cultures grew less than the control (Figure 10), with
results consisting of 2.12 X108 vs. 2.45 x108, 1.30x109 vs 2.03 x 109, 6.53 x 109 vs 1.46 X
1010. For visual analysis, figure 11 shows the diluted test and control cultures from the
second trial plated on mannitol salt agar. The diluted control culture exhibits an abundant
amount of growth in comparison to the test culture, which is expressed through the
yellowing of the mannitol salt agar.
Figure 9: 25 Hz exposed culture did not exhibit a color change, a key indicator of
Staphylococcus aureus’ capability of mannitol fermentation
26
�Figure 10: Graphical analysis of the three averaged trials of Staphylococcus aureus
exposed to an oscillating electromagnetic field at 25 Hz. Note that plate counts >300
colonies were considered too numerous to count and inputted into the average as 300.
Figure 11: Plated diluted cultures post 24 hour exposure to the oscillating electric field
at 25 Hz (top) compared to the diluted control (bottom). Left to right: 10-6, 10-7, 10-8.
Three Trials of Exposure to the Oscillating Electric field at 50 Hz
As previously discussed, the effects on Staphylococcus aureus during the first
trial of using a 50 Hz electromagnetic field yielded unremarkable results. The trials at this
frequency progressed because of past research successes determined through a literature
27
�search. The remaining trials exhibited similar outcomes as the first. The graphical
analysis of CFU/mL (figure 12) of the averaged trials suggests that the electromagnetic
field oscillating at 50 Hz had little effect on S. aureus as compared to the control, with
results consisting of 3.0 x108 vs. 3.0 x 108, 4.50 x 109 vs. 4.50 x 109, and 2.98X 1010 vs.
3.0X 1010. Visually, there were similar colony counts and comparable yellow coloration
on the mannitol salt agar plates of both the test and control cultures. (Figure 13).
Figure 12: Graphical analysis of the averaged three trials of Staphylococcus aureus
exposed to the electromagnetic field at 50 Hz. Note plate counts >300 colonies were
considered too numerous to count and inputted into the average as 300.
28
�Figure 13: Plated diluted cultures post 24 hour exposure to the oscillating electric field at
50 Hz (top) compared to the diluted control (bottom). Left to right: 10-6, 10-7, 10-8.
Three Trials of Exposure to the Oscillating Electric field at 250 Hz
The first trial exposure of Staphylococcus aureus to an oscillating
electromagnetic field at 25 Hz showed promising results. It appeared that the growth of
the organism was decreased in comparison to the control culture, and exhibited potential
electromagnetic effects similar to the 25 Hz trial. The test culture exhibited a lack of color
change within the mannitol salt broth, presenting with a more red/orange color in
comparison to the expected yellow color, which was expressed within the control. As
trials proceeded, the colony counts inferred a potential stimulation of growth of S. aureus.
A graphical analysis (figure 14) of CFU/mL of the averaged three trials suggests that the
29
�Figure 14: Graphical analysis of the averaged three trials of Staphylococcus aureus
exposed to the electromagnetic field at 250 Hz. Note plate counts >300 colonies were
considered too numerous to count and inputted into the average as 300.
250 Hz oscillating electro-magnetic field had a stimulating quality. The averaged test
cultures when exposed to 250 Hz suggests potential stimulation in comparison to the
control, with results consisting of 2.2 8 X108 vs. 1.03 x108, 1.94x109 vs. 1.01x 109, 2.27 x
109 vs 6.33 x 108. Serially diluted test and control cultures from the third trial plated on
mannitol salt agar can be seen in figure 15. The intense yellow color within the test
culture suggests an abundance of growth compared to the control plates.
30
�Figure 15: Plated diluted cultures post 24 hour exposure to the oscillating electric field at
250 Hz (top) compared to the diluted control (bottom). Left to right: 10-6, 10-7, 10-8.
Gram Stain and Microscopy
Figure 16: Gram stain analysis using100x magnification light microscopy of
Staphylococcus aureus exposed to 250 Hz (upper left) and control S. aureus (upper right).
The gram stain of S. aureus exposed to 25 Hz is denoted by picture (lower left) and the
control is the last image, (lower right).
31
�The results of both the 25 Hz and 250 Hz frequencies were further examined
microscopically. The above microscopic images show the post exposure effects (24
hours) of the test and control cultures of Staphylococcus aureus through 100x
magnification with the use of the Olympus BX 40 and the Toup View computer software.
S. aureus, a gram positive organism, naturally retains the initial crystal violet stain,
appearing purple when microscopically analyzed. As seen in both the control and the test
cultures, the gram positive organism presents as gram variable, indicating the organism’s
inability to retain the crystal violet stain (Figure 16).
IV. Discussion
The objective of this research was to expose the microorganism Staphylococcus
aureus to extremely low frequency oscillating electromagnetic fields (EMFs) to excite a
hazardous response within the cell. Staphylococcus aureus was chosen because of its
clinical relevance and pathogenesis, along with the continuous emergence of antibiotic
resistant strains both in healthcare and in the community. Exposure to the EMFs would
potentially initiate a resonant response delivering enough energy to the bacteria to create
detrimental electrochemical imbalances while leaving its surroundings unaffected. By
determining resonant frequencies which negatively affect the natural metabolic processes
within S. aureus, electromagnetic fields could potentially solve the unwanted effects of
antibiotics. Therefore, finding the natural frequency of S. aureus is the first step towards
a potential alternative to the pharmacological approach and the need for antibiotics.
After exposing Staphylococcus aureus to extremely low frequency (<300Hz)
oscillating electromagnetic fields at varying frequencies (figure 8), it was decided to
proceed forward in trials using electromagnetic fields at 25 Hz, 50Hz, and 250 Hz. The
decision to use the aforementioned frequencies was made through the analysis of colony
counts per plated dilution, potential sugar fermentation inhibition, and a literature search.
As seen graphically (figure 8), other frequencies remain promising. Specially, the
oscillating electromagnetic field at 150 Hz yielded zero CFU/mL at the final plated serial
dilution, potentially indicating the generation of detrimental oscillations within S. aureus
in response to a resonant frequency. This frequency, because of the inability to
potentially inhibit sugar fermentation and the lack of notable success in past research,
was not chosen for future trials, but should be considered for future research. Another
frequency of interest for future trials is 200 Hz. This frequency had comparable results to
the averaged colony forming units (CFU/mL) calculated after exposure to the oscillating
electromagnetic field at 250 Hz. It appears that the organism’s growth increased in
32
�response to the exposure of electromagnetic fields at the higher tested frequencies.
Graphical and visual analysis (figure 14) of CFU/mL of the averaged three trials suggests
that the 250 Hz oscillating electromagnetic field had a stimulating quality in comparison
to the control. These results potentially suggest that the growth of S. aureus is stimulated
when exposed to oscillating fields at 200-250 Hz, and future trials are necessary to
explore this hypothesis.
Past research, such as a study conducted by Garip et al. (2011) suggested that
when exposed to an electromagnetic field at 50 Hz, growth of S. aureus was inhibited
both during and post exposure. This research contributed to the decision to proceed
forward in trials for the 50 Hz frequency because of the potential ability to promote
detrimental effects within the organism. Unfortunately, my results proceeding the 50 Hz
exposure were not as conclusive as past research. When the average of the three trials
were taken, the control and the exposed cultures had comparable colony counts and sugar
fermentation ability (figure 12). In this stage of this research, the magnetic component of
the field was not altered. This may potentially contribute to the inconsistent results of this
research and past studies. Further testing on this frequency is definitely required for
future research, along with potentially altering the magnetic component of the field.
After the average of the three trials was determined, it can be suggested that the
growth of Staphylococcus aureus decreases substantially in response to the
electromagnetic field at 25 Hz. Similar results were achieved in past research. Obermeier
et al. (2009) found that when exposed to the electromagnetic field at 0-30 Hz, there was a
significant decrease in growth of S. aureus. Bayir et al. (2013) also concluded that an
oscillating electromagnetic field at 20 Hz, decreased colony forming units in broth
cultures significantly. This research proposes that the exposure to 25Hz, not only
decreases growth, but it also inhibits the organism’s ability to ferment mannitol (figure
9). This effect was visually seen and recorded directly after removing the culture from the
incubator post 24 hours of exposure. Despite its inability to ferment the sugars within the
broth cultures during the exposure to the electromagnetic field, after serially diluting and
plating the test and control cultures on fresh mannitol salt agar, S. aureus did ferment the
mannitol (figure 11) as visually seen by the yellow coloration of the media. This finding
suggests that the stress of the external field may have caused metabolic effects on the
organism during exposure, which are not necessarily irreversible or detrimental. Because
of this finding, future research should analyze and record growth and other inherent
characteristics of the organism during the 24 hour exposure time at hourly intervals, as
this research currently focused on post exposure growth inhibition.
33
�Because of the inhibiting and stimulating qualities of the oscillating
electromagnetic fields at 25Hz and 250 Hz, it was decided to do a simple microscopic
analysis (figure 16) of the post exposure Staphylococcus aureus cultures to observe
morphological changes. The results were extremely interesting in that the once gram
positive S. aureus species, turned gram variable, meaning the gram negative
characteristic of retaining the safranin stain was also visible within the cells. During the
gram staining procedure, gram positive cells, because of their thick layer of
peptidoglycan retain the initial crystal violet stain fixed by the iodine mordant, while a
gram negative organism, because of their thin peptidoglycan layer, stain pink in response
to the decolorizing agent (Granato et al., 2013). This finding suggests that the
peptidoglycan layer within the S. aureus’ cell wall was somehow affected by the stress of
the oscillating electromagnetic field in both frequencies. While older cultures of
microorganisms tend to stain incorrectly, the gram stain was done immediately after
exposure to the field for 24 hours, and is unlikely that age resulted in the current findings.
In past research done by Garip et al. (2011), the exposure to an oscillating
electromagnetic field resulted in the disintegration of the cell wall in S. aureus, which
was microscopically analyzed through transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This
could support the cause of the gram variable stain that was seen in this research.
As seen in figure 16, the control cultures expressed a gram variable stain as well.
In past, related research, it was common for the experimenters to place the control in a
completely separate incubator in fear of electromagnetic pollution from the generated
electromagnetic field. In this research, the control and the test culture remained within the
same incubator during the time of exposure for 24 hours, which could suggest a possible
explanation as to why the control seemed to be effected.
For the purpose of future research, each frequency should be tested again for
further accuracy of the results obtained, focusing on the effects of the oscillating
electromagnetic field at 25 Hz. Furthermore, implementation of a standard for the exact
amount of cells per culture should be executed, rather than the current practice of visual
estimation, to ensure an accurate comparison of colony forming units between the control
and test cultures. In addition, control and test cultures should be incubated in separate
incubators to eliminate the possibility of electromagnetic pollution.
The results of this research suggest that oscillating electromagnetic fields excite
both positive and negative effects on the microorganism Staphylococcus aureus.
Unfortunately, at this stage in the research it cannot be concluded as to why the effects
within the cell are occurring, or what specific metabolic functions are being effected.
34
�This research remains in the elementary stages of determining potential resonant
frequencies of S. aureus and can only suggest potential resonant frequencies and possible
effects the oscillating electromagnetic fields have on the microorganism. This study
intends to contribute in finding a resonant frequency which will excite a hazardous
response within S. aureus and aid in the direction of antibiotic alleviation and future
research in the field of biophysics.
V. Acknowledgements
Above all, I would like to thank my loving family for always believing in me even when
at times I did not believe in myself. I truly would not be anywhere near where I am today
without your endless support. I especially would like to thank my mentors, Dr. Bobbitt
and Dr. Falabella. I would like to thank Dr. Bobbitt for her unwavering patience and
guidance. She constantly inspires and motivates me every day to be the best
microbiologist I can be. I would also like to thank Dr. Falabella for all he has done for me
during my time at Wagner College. Words cannot begin to express how thankful I am to
have had a chance to learn and work alongside him throughout this process. I would also
like to express my absolute gratitude to Dr. Corbo for supporting and believing in me
from the very first day of my undergraduate career to my last. Lastly, I wish to express
my sincere thanks to the Department of Biological Sciences at Wagner College for
providing me with the necessary facility for my research.
VI. References
Bayir, E., Bilgi, E., Sendemir-Urkmez, A., and Hames-Kocabas, E. (2013). The
effects of different intensities, frequencies, and exposure times of extremely lowfrequency electromagnetic fields on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and
Escherichia coli 0157:H7. Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine 34: 14-18.
Evans, A. (2013). Bacterial Infections of Humans: Epidemiology and Control. Springer.
Fojit, L., Stasak, L., Vetterl, V., and Smarda, J. (2004). Comparison of the lowfrequency magnetic field effects on bacteria Escherichia coli, Leclercia adecarboxylata
and Staphylococcus aureus. Science Direct 63: 337-341.
Garip, A., Aksu, B., Akan, Z., Akakin, D., Ozaydin, N., and San, T. (2011). Effect of
extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields on growth rate and morphology of
bacteria. International Journal of Radiation Biology 87(12): 1155-1161.
35
�Granato, P., Morton, V., and Morello, J. (2014). Laboratory Manual and Workbook in
Microbiology Applications to Patient Care. New York: McGraw- Hill Education.
Halliday, D., and Resnick, R. (1977). Fundamentals of Physics, 2nd edition. John Wiley
& Sons Inc.
Hsin, H., Flynn, N., King, J., Monchaud, C., Morita, M., and Cohen, S. (2006).
Comparisons of Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) and Hospital-Associated MSRA Infections in Sacramento, California. Journal
of Clinical Microbiology 44 (7): 2423-2427.
Kennesaw State University. (2008). Control Experiments in the Study of the Effect of
Electric Fields on E. Coli. Chemcases.com.
Obermeier, A., Matl, F., Friess, W., and Stemberger, A. (2009). Growth inhibition of
Staphylococcus aureus induced by low-frequency electric and electromagnetic fields. Bio
Electromagnetics 30 (4): 270-279.
Panagopoulos, D., Messini, N., Karabarbounis, A., Phillipetis, A., and Margaritis, L.
(2000). A Mechanism for Action of Oscillating Electric Fields on Cells. Biochemical and
Biophysical Research Communications 272: 634-640.
Tong, S., Davis, J., Eichenberger, E., Holland, T., and Fowler, V. (2015).
Staphylococcus aureus Infections: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Clinical
Manifestations, and Management. American Society for Microbiology 28: 603-661.
36
���The Prevalence of Cardiovascular
Disease in Port Richmond
Nicole Aylmer (Nursing), Nada Metwally (Nursing), and Robin Santoro (Nursing)1
I. Overview
Cardiovascular disease, heart disease, is an umbrella term used to describe
diseases of the blood vessels, dysrhythmias of the heart, and congenital heart disease
(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2014). According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 610,000 people die of heart
disease in the United States each year (CDC, 2015). In the United States, heart disease is
the leading cause of death for most individuals of the following ethnicities: African
American, Hispanics, and Caucasians (CDC, 2015). In addition to ethnicity, other risk
factors of cardiovascular disease include age, family history, unhealthy diet, lack of
physical activity/exercise, obesity, use of tobacco and alcohol, high blood pressure, and
diabetes (Hinkle & Cheever, 2014). Socioeconomic status plays a role in whether or not a
person develops cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, individuals who do not have the
monetary means tend to choose unhealthy food and drink that are cheaper than healthier
options. As a result, people gain weight and develop comorbidities that increase the
chance of developing heart disease. One community in Staten Island, New York that has
been identified as having a high cardiovascular disease rate is Port Richmond. This
community is also classified as a low socioeconomic area.
Low socioeconomic populations are at risk for health issues. Low
socioeconomic status can lead to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in many
different ways. People with low socioeconomic status usually cannot afford health care
visits that may help prevent cardiovascular disease, such as going to a primary care
provider regularly. According to The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2014),
individuals who have an annual income of less than $30,000 are twice more likely to
have a heart attack than those who make at least $65,000. There is also research showing
that cardiovascular disease is more prevalent among places with big gaps between the
wealthy and the poor. New York City ranks at the top in income inequality (New York
Written under the direction of Prof. Tinamarie Petrizzo-Hughes for NR400: Techniques of
Nursing Research.
1
39
�Times, 2015). While Staten Island’s median income is high, poverty prevails in the Port
Richmond Community (New York Times, 2015).
According to the 2010-2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, it
is estimated that 471,522 people currently live in Staten Island, New York. Of these
residents, 18,043 of them reside in Port Richmond. Approximately 51% of the
community is female and 49% is male. The age group varies from under 5 years old to 85
years old and over. The largest age group is 25 to 34 years old, 16.6% of residents. Port
Richmond is a diverse community of individuals from various ethnic backgrounds:
38.9% Hispanic or Latino descent, 32.7% Caucasian, 18.7% African American, 6.4%
Asian, 1.9% mixed race, and 1.3% other (2010-2014 American Community Survey 5Year Estimates, 2015).
Reviewing the New York City censuses from earlier years one can compare how
the population of Port Richmond has changed. In 1980, 14,256 people were living in Port
Richmond and the population was divided as follows: 87.7% Caucasian, 9.6% African
American, 1.6% Asian descent, 1% Spanish origin, and 0.1% American Indian (Bureau
of the Census, 1980). Prior to 2010, Hispanics were counted among ‘other’. In 1990,
‘other’ comprised 13% of the Port Richmond community (Bureau of the Census 1990).
When reviewing and analyzing these statistics, a population increase of 3,787 people was
seen between 1980 and 2014. Currently, the population of Hispanics or Latinos is now
the dominant cultural group in Port Richmond. Other ethnicities, such as African
American and Asian, have grown over the years as well, while the percentage of
Caucasian living in the community has decreased by 55%. The fact that Hispanic,
African American, and Caucasian populations represent the predominant ethnicities, it is
essential to address cardiovascular disease, because all three of these groups are at an
increased risk (CDC, 2015).
As previously stated, Port Richmond is considered a low socioeconomic
community. Approximately 57.6% of the population 16 and older is employed (20102014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2015). The average annual family
income is $68,842 (2010-2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2015).
After taxes there is not a sufficient amount of money to pay bills and buy healthy
groceries. This sum of money is especially not enough if they are supporting significant
others, children, and extended family. About 34.9% of this community receives some
form of governmental assistance, such as food stamps (2010-2014 American Community
Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2015). These facts further support that individuals living in the
Port Richmond community are not able to afford nutritious food because of its high cost
40
�and their low income. Therefore, they buy cheaper, unhealthy food. An unhealthy fatty
diet increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and associated comorbidities,
diabetes and obesity (Hinkle & Cheever, 2014).
II. Evaluating the Social Determinants of Health and Risk Factors
Healthy People 2020 defines social determinants of health (SDOH) as
“conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play,
worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life
outcomes and risks” (2016). SDOH substantially impact the health of individuals, such as
access to jobs, education, and health care, as well as, socioeconomic status, residential
segregation, culture, and public safety (Healthy People 2020, 2016). For example, the
less education an individual has the more likely they are to have health issues (CDC,
2016). In New York State, adults with less than a high school education are more likely
to report having a heart attack than those who have a high school education (Fessenden,
2005). Many people within the Port Richmond community do not have education at the
high school level, which predisposes them to health issues, such as cardiovascular
disease. Education is one modifiable risk factor.
Modifiable risk factors, unlike non-modifiable ones, are ones that are amendable
to intervention in order to reduce the likelihood of coming down with a certain condition.
Targeting the leading modifiable risk factors in the Port Richmond community - high
blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, diabetes, an unhealthy
diet, decreased physical activity, and obesity – is essential in order to decrease changes
within the heart and blood vessels that lead to heart disease. Approximately 75 million, or
1 in 3 adult Americans, live with hypertension with just over half (54%) having it under
control (CDC, 2016). A high sodium diet can cause hypertension, yet 90% of Americans
exceed the daily-recommended intake of sodium (CDC, 2016). Unfortunately, many lowcost foods are high in sodium, which is problematic in communities like Port Richmond.
Hypertension can be caused by another major risk factor of cardiovascular
disease, obesity. Within the United States, 66.3% of adults are overweight or obese,
which represents a major public health concern (Swift et al., 2016). Obesity puts a strain
on the heart and blood vessels, which can lead to cardiovascular disease. In 2016, the
CDC stated that within the United States, “Blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of
obesity (48.1%) followed by Hispanics (42.5%), non-Hispanic Whites (34.5%) …”,
which mirrors the ethnicity of Port Richmond. Also, similar to Port Richmond is the fact
that women with a lower income are more likely to be obese than women of a higher
41
�income (CDC, 2016).
Obesity and physical inactivity are closely linked together. In 2016, Americans
did not meet CDC guidelines for aerobic and muscle strengthening exercises. According
to the CDC, “Regular physical activity can improve the health and quality of life of
Americans of all ages, regardless of the presence of a chronic disease or disability”
(2016). The American Heart Association suggests weight loss in overweight and obese
patients to reduce the risk of getting cardiovascular disease. According to Swift, “Weight
loss in these patients has been associated with improvements in many cardio-metabolic
risk factors such as prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, type 2
diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, pulmonary disease, and CVD” (2016, p. 441-447).
Clinically significant weight loss, 5%-10% of baseline body weight, reduces the
prevalence of cardiovascular disease (Apovian, 2012; Swift, 2016). According to the
CDC, factors that positively affect physical activity are: postsecondary education, higher
income, history of physical activity, access to facilities, and safe neighborhoods. A study
conducted by the American Heart Association in 2012 demonstrated an average 7%
weight loss, done by intensive lifestyle modifications of diet and exercise among those
with pre-diabetes delayed its progression to type 2 diabetes mellitus (Apovian, 2012).
Obesity is prevalent among Hispanics, which comprises a major portion of the Port
Richmond community (CDC, 2016). Understanding the barriers to and facilitators of
physical activity is important to improve and maintain physical activities among the
people living in Port Richmond.
After assessing the statistics, it is clear to see that the three largest groups in Port
Richmond are Hispanics or Latinos, Caucasians, and African Americans. All three of
these groups have an increased risk of developing heart disease, when compared to other
ethnicities (CDC, 2015). Although this information suggests that there is a high incident
for cardiovascular disease in the Port Richmond community, there is no available data on
the health of the Port Richmond community itself. However, examining the Community
Health Profile of District 1 that consists of St. George, Stapleton, and Port Richmond. St.
George and Stapleton communities, all of which are similar areas to Port Richmond, it is
clear that heart disease is the leading cause of death, killing 2,295 people each year (King
et al., 2015).
When comparing to the other districts on Staten Island, District 1 has the highest
rate of smoking and obesity; yet, has the lowest rate of diabetes (King et al., 2015).
Twenty-two percent of District 1 smokes and individuals are twice as likely to smoke as
all other areas citywide (King et al., 2015). These individuals are more prone to tobacco
42
�use due to their occupations and the large number of delis and bodegas in these areas that
sell cigarettes (King et al., 2015). The adult obesity rate in this district is 33% and 9% for
diabetes (King et al., 2015). Although the rate of diabetes is low, it could increase due to
individuals developing type 2 diabetes if the obesity rate continues to rise.
One way to decrease risk factors such as obesity is through exercise. Federal
guidelines suggest that children exercise 60 minutes per day and adults should exercise
150 minutes each week (King et al., 2015). This community profile suggests that
cardiovascular disease is an epidemic in low socioeconomic areas due to the various
previously mentioned risk factors present in these communities. Even though this data is
not specific to Port Richmond itself it can be inferred that cardiovascular disease is a
problem in this community. Overall, poor eating habits and suboptimal physical health
are largely responsible for obesity, which is a major risk factor of cardiovascular disease.
Through proper nutrition, diet, exercise and living a healthy lifestyle, individuals can
decrease the incidences of cardiovascular disease within the areas they live in.
III. Community-focused Interventions
The literature encourages nurses and other health care providers to identify
various resources in the community that can foster its health. Such resources are available
through schools, churches, media, and clinics. Identification is the first step and then
there is the need to assess how they are or, are not, being properly accessed (Hinkle &
Cheever, 2014). Broad examples include, how churches could hold information sessions
teaching about what cardiovascular disease is and ways to decrease the risk; media could
make public service announcements raising awareness about cardiovascular disease; and,
clinics could provide information to patients about cardiovascular disease and
preventative measures (Hinkle & Cheever, 2014).
Specific to Port Richmond, The Community Health Center of Richmond is a
facility that offers many resources to educate community members about how to decrease
the modifiable risks factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease. These resources
include insurance enrollment assistance, nutritional counseling, diabetes care
management, and primary care (Community Health Center of Richmond, 2016).
Churches, media, and clinical are the more traditional community-based
resources. A contemporary approach to building a model to enhance community health is
the Port Richmond Partnership. This is a formalized partnership lead by Wagner College
and a memorandum of record with key resources in Port Richmond community. The
Partnership focuses on addressing significant challenges and establishing measurable
43
�impacts in five high need areas, one of them being health (Center for Leadership &
Community Engagement, 2016). If media along with churches and clinics start to take an
active role in the health of the community and individuals start to utilize the resources
available to them it is possible to reduce cardiovascular disease in Port Richmond. The
target goal is for local media and community resource to come together with a common
goal of reducing the risk factors that play a role in the development of cardiovascular
disease.
IV. Theoretical Framework
Dorothy Johnson’s behavioral system provides a framework to address
community-based interventions in Port Richmond. According to Johnson, “constancy is
maintained through biological, psychological, and sociological factors” (Alligood, 2002).
Johnson’s concepts focus on the person, the environment, health, and nursing. By
examining each concept in relevance to the Port Richmond Community, viable solutions
are proposed to reduce the occurrence of heart disease. A nursing assessment of the
community can be obtained through the integration of the statistical data analysis
collected and the interrelated concepts of the person, environment, and health. The
concept of nursing, as an “external regulatory force that is indicated only when there is
instability,” allows for the proper interventions to be implemented allowing for change to
occur (Alligood, 2002). Nurses act as the external regulatory force to assess Dorothy
Johnson’s concept of the person and environment relevant to port Richmond. Based on a
concrete definition of health and nursing assessment, interventions can be put into place
to properly address the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in this community.
The Person
Johnson’s theory defined the concept of the human being as a “behavioral
system that strives to make continual adjustments to achieve, maintain, or regain balance
to the steady-state that is adaptation (Gonzalo, 2011). Focusing on who “The person” is
in the Port Richmond community that is most at risk for cardiovascular disease provides
clarification. Age and culture are key contributors to the increasing rate of heart disease.
An estimated 10.6 percent of the Port Richmond population is over the age of 65. There
is a direct correlation between an increase in age and heart disease, placing this group of
individuals within the “at risk” population. According to our collected statistics, the two
top ethnicities that are at high risk for cardiovascular disease are Hispanics and
44
�Caucasians, comprising 81.6 percent of the Port Richmond Community. Risk factors for
heart disease include hypertension, diabetes, and obesity (CDC, 2015a). The listed
morbidities are common in both Hispanics and Caucasians and predispose both
populations to heart disease if not properly maintained and monitored. Heart disease is
the leading cause of death in nonwhites, and the second leading cause of death in
Hispanics across the nation (CDC, 2015). For Hispanics, the proper care necessary to
address the risk factors of heart disease is caused by barriers such as a language barrier,
and poor access to health care, and lack of health insurance coverage (Escarce, 2006).
The Environment
Based on Dorothy Johnson’s behavioral system theory, the environment is “all
elements of the surroundings of the human system and includes interior stressors”
(Gonzalo, 2011). Based on previously collected statistics, Port Richmond is a
community of low socioeconomic status. There is a direct relationship between heart
disease and low socioeconomic status. According to previous studies, there is a
“dominance within the lower socioeconomic groups” when it comes to the prevalence of
heart disease (White, 2016). Low socioeconomic status in itself is a risk factor for disease
since the “less well-off have fewer opportunities to undergo regular preventive medical
checkups and screenings, to work at jobs with low physical danger or contact with
hazardous materials, to live in well-built housing in safe neighborhoods with low
pollution, and to drive safe cars” (Pampel, Krueger, and Denney, 2011). A community’s
lack of resources, whether it be money to purchase healthy food, (which is significantly
more expensive than fast food), recreational areas that allow for a person to become
active, and steady access to health care, all contribute to a community that is more likely
to fall susceptible to disease; in this case heart disease.
Health: Balance and Stability
Dorothy Johnson defines health as “some degree of regularity and constancy in
behavior, the behavioral system reflects adjustments and adaptations that are successful
in some way and to some degree… adaptation is functionally efficient and effective”
(Gonzalo, 2011) Therefore, to maintain a degree of “constancy in behavior” and
successful adaptation as highlighted in Dorothy Johnson's health definition, a healthy
lifestyle needs to be maintained to prevent cardiovascular disease. In relevance to heart
disease, “a healthy lifestyle is defined as consuming a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy
weight, exercising regularly, having low to moderate stress levels, not smoking and
45
�limited alcohol use” (Hutchins, Melancon, Sneed, & Nunning, 2015, p. 721-734).
Through this definition a construct can be created to provide the necessary measures to
tackle this conflict.
Nursing
By defining the person, environment, and health concepts, clear parameters have
been created to allow for an initiative plan to address heart disease in Port Richmond.
These parameters are self-care, which is a “set of behaviors or activities that patients are
asked to engage in to promote health and well-being” (Dickson et al. 2013, p.1-16).
Therefore, the plan created is structured around primary and secondary care. Through
primary prevention, care will be provided in the form of education. Secondary care will
be provided through screening.
Primary Prevention
Through our predefined definition of health in relation to heart disease, the
following must be addressed to the Port Richmond Community: alcohol intake, smoking,
weight, diet and activity. Education will be centered on how to manage these four
categories in the practice of everyday life. For alcohol intake and smoking, there needs to
be an emphasis to decrease both practices. According to the CDC (2015), alcohol, a
hypertensive agent, should be limited to two drinks for men per day and one drink for
women per day. Smoking must be encouraged to stop; it was found that “a key
contributory factor in the decline of deaths was the individual reduction behaviors,
especially the elimination of smoking” (White, 2016). A discussion on how to quit should
be started with a primary care provider. A healthy diet should consist of low sodium, to
decrease blood pressure, and low trans/saturated fat to decrease high cholesterol and the
buildup of plaque in the arteries (CDC, 2015). Foods high in fruit, vegetables, and fiber,
are encouraged; “a healthy diet consists of a balance of essential nutrients, calories,
carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and has been associated with lower risk for heart
disease” (Hutchins, Melancon, Sneed, & Nunning, 2015). Activity can also significantly
reduce the risk of heart disease. A recent study has shown that “accumulating 150
minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week can reduce risk of heart disease
and blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels” (Hutchins, Melancon, Sneed, &
Nunning, 2015). Suggestions on how to become active could include having daily walks
or morning exercises at home. It is important to emphasize that the smoking cessation,
46
�limiting alcohol consumption, diet, and exercise will significantly lower the risks of heart
disease in the Port Richmond community.
Secondary Prevention
Secondary prevention is done via screening of: blood pressure, cholesterol and
triglycerides, body weight, and glucose levels (Heart-Health Screening, 2016). To allow
for the proper cardiovascular monitoring it is important to emphasize regular
appointments with the appropriate healthcare providers. Most regular cardiovascular
screening tests should begin at age 20 (Heart-Health Screening, 2016). In a community of
low socioeconomic status, such as Port Richmond, it is important to educate on the help
Medicare and Medicaid can provide, and make referrals to healthcare providers within a
proper radius to allow for easy access.
V. The Wagner College Port Richmond Partnership: Health and Wellness Program
Nursing faculty and student nurses from Wagner College started an initiative to
enter the Port Richmond Community and reach out to the targeted population. Meetings
at schools were held to encourage a proper learning environment. Collaborating with
schools in Port Richmond, informational pamphlets targeted both the students and the
parents to advocate healthy lifestyle choices. Student nurses discussed guidelines for
healthy habits. Surveys after each informational session were distributed to determine the
effectiveness of the teaching, and to determine if modifications should be put in place.
Taking into consideration the possibility of a language barrier, surveys were distributed
in both English and Spanish
Dr. Nancy Cherofsky was the 2013-2016 Fellow of Health in the Wagner
College Port Richmond Partnership, Health and Wellness Program. She launched the
“Eat well, Be well” initiative in Port Richmond High School in 2015. The culinary
classes at Port Richmond allowed nursing students to hold educational seminars to
educate the high school students about healthy food alternatives. They learned to
substitute ingredients that allow for desirability and taste while remaining healthy.
Collaboratively, Suzanne Woodman, Assistant Principal of Port Richmond High School,
Mr. James Ryan, Culinary Teacher, Mr. Neil Soto, Health & Wellness Teacher, and Dr.
Cheroskfy successfully planted three gardens at the school. Funding for the gardens to be
planted at Port Richmond High School was provided by Grow to Learn NYC. The
organization’s mission is “the creation of a sustainable school garden in each and every
public school across New York City” (Grow to Learn NYC, 2017).
47
�Students grow their own food, such as kale, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes.
Dr. Nancy Cherofsky and Mr. James Ryan with nursing
students from the Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing.
48
�This experiential learning allowed for students to learn how to harvest their own
food, and, therefore, make healthier choices. Planting the gardens at Port Richmond High
School, allowed for further validation of the education provided by Wagner nursing
faculty and students through application in a real-life setting. This sustainable program
has been found to be effective in its teachings and students’ weight maintenance. Three
months after the initiative started, eighty-five culinary students participated in a survey to
evaluate student feedback. After various presentations held by the Nursing Students at
Wagner College, results indicated that 51.6% of students were now more capable of
choosing a healthier life style; 65.53% felt more knowledgeable about healthy eating
habits; and 52.94% of students agreed that they are more likely to incorporate healthy
ingredients in their food (N. Cherofsky, Personal Communication October 1, 2017).
Building on this program, Dr. Edna Aurelus, the 2017 Fellow of Health, is
leading a screening and educational program. Dr. Aurelus started weekly visits to Port
Richmond High School, to educate on proper diet and exercise. The program will consist
of once a week meetings on education, an exercise regimen and blood pressure
screenings, as well as monthly measures of body mass index. With the help of nursing
students, she will be recruiting at least fifty high-school students to measure the
effectiveness of this initiative, on BMI and blood pressure. The monthly measurements
will be compared to evaluate the program. In addition, surveys to gain participant
feedback will be collected (E. Aurelus, Personal Communication, October 1, 2017).
These holistic approaches to address the prevention of cardiovascular disease
encompass Johnson’s concepts of the person, the environment, health, and nursing, in
order to provide effective strategies for a healthier lifestyle in the Port Richmond
community. “It is important to ensure that patients are fully informed as to how to reduce
further decline and advancement of their disease and to educate as to how to make these
changes “(White, 2015). Initiatives of the Health and Wellness Program have the
potential to include other facilities in the Port Richmond Community and target a larger
population. Informational sessions can be held that enlist the help of guest speakers.
Including a Spanish liaison will address the language barrier among the Hispanic
population, as will any distributed information being made available in both English and
Spanish. It is an important duty of nurses and other healthcare professionals to partake in
community education to encourage preventative care measures to diminish the onslaught
of disease.
49
�VI. Exposition
A collaboration among and between nurses and the community can help
facilitate action and, therefore, change. At the Collaborative Research/Evidenced Based
Nursing Practice Expo, held at the College of Staten Island on April 24, 2017, we were
able to showcase our proposal in an effort to illustrate the prevalence of cardiovascular
disease in Port Richmond. We found Dorothy Johnson’s behavioral system theory
effective in addressing this problem. In presenting her theory we inspired other nurses to
use it in reference to other community concerns. We wanted to present our approach to
how we can tackle cardiovascular disease in Port Richmond, and the importance of the
role of nursing in primary and secondary prevention. We emphasized the importance of
nursing research and nursing interventions based on evidenced based practice.
VII. References
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. (2015ACS SELECTED ECONOMIC
CHARACTERISTICS ESTIMATES 2010-2014). Retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov
/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2016) Adult Obesity Facts. Retrieved
November 19, 2016, from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
Alligood, M. R. & Marriner-Tomey, A. (2002). Nursing theory: Utilization &
application. St. Louis: Mosby.
Apovian, C. & Noyan, G. (2012, March 5). Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease.
Retrieved November 19, 2016, from http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/125/9/1178
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. (2014). Cardiovascular Disease.
Cardiovascular Disease New York State Adults, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2016,
from https://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/brfss/reports/doc/1511_brfss_cardiovascular_
disease.pdf
Bureau of the Census. (1980). Population by Race - 1980 Census. Retrieved from
http://infoshare.org/mod1/main.aspx
Bureau of the Census. (1990). Population by Race - 1990 Census. Retrieved from
http://infoshare.org/mod1/main.aspx
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015a, August 10). Conditions that Increase
Risk for Heart Disease. Retrieved November 12, 2016, from http://www.cdc.gov/
heartdisease/conditions.htm
50
�Centers for Disease Control and Prevention C. (2016, June 16). High Blood Pressure Fact
Sheet. Retrieved November 19, 2016, from https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/
fact_sheets/fs_bloodpressure.htm
Community Health Center of Richmond-Services. (2016). Retrieved from
http://www.chcrichmond.org/ services/
Dickson, V. V., Nocella, J., Yoon, H.-W., Hammer, M., Melkus, G. D., & Chyun, D.
(2013). Cardiovascular disease self-care interventions. Nursing Research and Practice,
2013, 1– 16. doi:10.1155/2013/407608
Escarce, J. J. (2006). Access to and Quality of Health Care. Retrieved October 02, 2017,
from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19910/
Fessenden, Ford. (2005, August 18). Health Mystery in New York: Heart Disease. The
New York Times. N.Y. Region. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/
nyregion/health-mystery-in-new-york-heart-disease.html?_r=0
Gonzalo, A. (2011). Dorothy Johnson. Retrieved September 23, 2017, from
http://nursingtheories.weebly.com/dorothy-johnson.html
Grow to Learn NYC. (2017). About Grow to Learn. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from
http://www.growtolearn.org/about/
Heart-healthy screenings. (2016, August 30). Retrieved November 27, 2016, from
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Heart-Health-Screenings_UCM_428687_
Article.jsp#.WDYcX4U7FaU
Healthy People 2020. (2016). Physical Activity. Retrieved October 02, 2017, from
https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/physical-activity
Hinkle, J. L. & Cheever, K. H. (2014). Brunner & Suddarth's textbook of medicalsurgical nursing (13th ed., Vol. 1-2). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott
Williams & Wilkins.
Hutchins, M., Melancon, J., Sneed, D., & Nunning, J. (2015). Effectiveness of the
Complete Health Improvement Program. Physical Educator, 72(4), 721-734.
King, L., K. H., Dragan, K. L., Driver, C. R., Harris, T. G., Gwynn, R. C., . . . Bassett, M.
T. (2015). Staten Island Community District 1: ST. GEORGE AND STAPLETON.
Retrieved November 10, 2016, from http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh /downloads/pdf /
data/2015chp-si01.pdf
Mayo Clinic. (2014, July 29). Heart disease. Retrieved November 17, 2016, from
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/basics/definition/con20034056
51
�Pampel, F. C., Krueger, P. M., & Denney, J. T. (n.d.). Socioeconomic disparities in health
behaviors., 36. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC3169799/
Center for Leadership & Community Engagement. (2016). Port Richmond Partnership.
Retrieved November 15, 2016, from http://wagner.edu/engage/port-richmond-partnership/
Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF
1) 100- Percent Data. (2000). Retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/
tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile
Data. (2010). Retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/ pages/
productview.xhtml?src=CF
Social Determinants of Health. (2016). Retrieved November 19, 2016, from
https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health
Swift, D. L., Johanssen, N. M., Lavie, C. J., & Earnest, C. P. (2014, January). The Role
of Exercise and Physical Activity in Weight Loss ... Retrieved November 19, 2016, from:
http://www.onlinepcd.com/article/S0033-0620(13)00165-5/fulltext
White, C. (2016). The pathophysiology of coronary heart disease from a student's
perspective. Journal of Perioperative Practice, 26(7/8), 170-173.
52
�The Dakota Access Pipeline: Litigating the Dispute
Vanessa Dailey (International Affairs)1
The purpose of this research is to identify all the details of the Dakota Access Pipeline
and to call attention to what might be overlooked among the enormous uproar that has
ensued to stop the construction process. The aspects explored are who the proponents and
opponents are, the politicians involved, what laws were utilized to make the construction
up and fully operating, how the media covered the whole situation, and the possible
solutions to the dispute of whether or not the pipeline should be finished. Upon
examination of these events, it becomes clear that a lot more is involved in the underlying
details of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the protocols that have been carefully followed
to make crude oil transporting pipeline a success compared to the Keystone Pipeline XL
that was turned down by President Barack Obama. Through analyzing all the logistics of
this pipeline and the stakeholders involved, this research highlights the need for possible
alternatives to the pipeline as well as the importance of being politically aware in the
American society.
Source: https://steemit.com
I. Introduction
Written under the direction of Dr. Abraham Unger in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
1
53
�This essay contends that the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a crude oil pipe
that is proposed to be finished by early 2017 contravenes with the ‘sacred’ land of Native
Americans, particularly the Sioux Tribe whose land it runs through. The $3.78 billion
pipeline will span approximately 1,172 miles from North Dakota to Illinois (Nemec 16).
It is projected to run through the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation and is feared to
leak or spill and contaminate their water supply. The natural gas and propane company,
Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), argues that the pipeline is beneficial to the economy and
will pump millions of dollars into local economies as well as create 8,000 to 12,000
construction jobs (Nemec 17). Both sides have erupted into an impassioned fight on
whether or not to build this enormous, crude oil transporting pipeline. Although the
protesters claim they are peaceful, there have been reports of heated confrontations with
law officers and construction workers (“Police Remove Pipeline Protesters in North
Dakota” 2016). Many people have been arrested and ETP has sued several protesters.
Most politicians including the 2016 presidential contenders as well as the presidential
elect have remained silent on this issue. President Barack Obama had just recently spoke
upon delaying the construction of DAPL while a minority of politicians such as Green
Party presidential nominee, Jill Stein, and the Senator of Vermont and former presidential
nominee, Bernie Sanders have been consistently vocal on the situation (“Is decision a
brief timeout or a game-changer for Standing Rock? 2016). As for the media, it had
received little to no coverage during early September; a lot having to do with the law
enforcement officers arresting reporters on site. Even celebrities such as actress Shailene
Woodley have been arrested for peacefully protesting with the Native Americans and Jill
Stein has been charged for “rioting” (“Is decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for
Standing Rock? 2016). However, the media did connect internationally creating an
uproar abroad and through various platforms of social media such as YouTube,
Facebook, and other forms, people in the United States were able to see what was going
on at the Dakota Access Pipeline and have also taken action by protesting against the
construction of this pipeline (“Standing Rock protest grows with thousands opposing
North Dakota pipeline 2016). The questions that arise with the construction of the Dakota
Access Pipeline are: Will this pipeline be as beneficial to the economy as Energy
Transfer Partners claims it will be? How much is actually at stake with the Sioux Tribe’s
land? And what is a possible solution to all of this?
54
�II. Literature Review
In the Article, North Dakota Oil Pipeline Battle: Who’s Fighting and Why by
Jack Healy, he describes the whole situation at hand with the protestors, why they’re
protesting, what Energy Transfer Partner is, what will go into the construction of the
Dakota Access Pipeline, and how the government is handling the whole situation. While
in the article, Dakota Access Pipeline: A New Artery for Bakken Crude by Richard
Nemec is about the logistics of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline instead of
focusing on the protesters and who is affected. Nemec goes into detail on who is in
charge of what for the operation process, how this pipeline will be implemented, how the
pipeline will affect the national and local economy, what states the pipeline will be built
through, and how’ve they’ve strategically employed their workers. Another source that
directly explains what the Dakota Access Pipeline is being installed for is from the direct
website of DAPL, http://www.daplpipelinefacts.com, where Energy Transfer Partners
explains where the pipeline is going to transverse through, the width and length of the
pipeline, how many barrels a day the pipeline can produce, how they claim that it will
protect land and farmland, the technology in place for the pipeline, and the national &
local economic impact. The economic impact that DAPL will have on a national and state
level is also illustrated in the article by J. Thompson, The Dakota Access Pipeline Will
Simply Create Profits. Not Jobs or Energy Independence. He argues that the economic
impact isn’t large enough to make this project worthwhile.
Then for the legality of the pipeline as well as sections highlighting property
laws, a couple of sources were used. In the journal, National Security Complex National
Historic Preservation Act Historic Preservation Plan, it is elaborated on what Section
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act 1966 and why it is important when it comes
to Dakota Access LLC constructing its pipeline on the grounds of the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe’s sacred land. In addition, the source: www.achp.gov, is also an outline of
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act 1966. Another source used for the
legality of land is the book, Takings: Private property and the power of eminent domain
by Richard Epstein, which describes how eminent domain is used in the court as well as
without the court and what the process is in order for a government, state, or private
operation to take private property from the landowner for public use. In addition, another
article of use for legal terms on all about the 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux is The
Sioux Treaties and the Traders by Lucile Kane. It explains how the United States
government and Sioux Indians signed an agreement that the Sioux tribe would move onto
reservations along the Minnesota River in exchange for cash and goods. Showing that the
55
�land that Dakota Access wants to operate on isn’t technically legal. For farmers,
particularly in Iowa, the article 296 Iowa landowners decline Bakken Pipeline by W.
Petroski talks about how multiple people in Iowa never gave permission for Dakota
Access to take their land, but it was taken anyway under eminent domain.
As for keeping up with the protestors and media, included in this essay is
multiple Newspaper articles reporting on what has happened from early October to late
early December of 2016. I have used the article, Scientists stand with Standing Rock by
multiple authors and edited by Jennifer Sills, which covers how scientists feel about the
construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and how they are concerned about its possible
detrimental effects on the environment. Some articles that go over the possible hazardous
outcomes of an oil or crude spill that could impact the environment. These include:
Protectors vs. Pipelines by M. Engler, A Sustainability Dialogue: The Dakota Access
Pipeline and Subjugation of Native Americans, Pick Your Poison-Oil Transportation, and
Environmental signatures and effects of an oil and gas wastewater spill in the Williston
Basin, North Dakota by multiple authors. For what is happening on the ground level with
the protesters, articles such as 16 Arrested at North Dakota Pipeline Protest by J.E.
Bromwich which is about police force and the dog cages they supposedly keep the
protesters in as well as What to Know About the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests from
TIME magazine which is about an overview about the whole situation. CBC’s article
Standing Rock protest grows with thousands opposing North Dakota pipeline touches
upon how expansive the protest has become to not only nationwide, but internationally.
The CBS News article, Dakota Access pipeline protest costs mount, along with pressure
on President Obama to end standoff reports on President Barack Obama’s decision to
temporarily halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The essay is up to date with articles of what is happening currently with
Standing Rock and DAPL. The Star Tribune article, Is this decision a brief timeout or a
game-changer for Standing Rock? talks about what the strategies will be for the
protesters even though the Army Corps has denied the permit for the construction of
DAPL. The decision is further explained in the article U.S. Army Denies Dakota Access
Pipeline to Cross Through Standing Rock.
The Logistics of the Dakota Access Pipeline
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is a $3.78 billion project that was first
announced publicly in July 2014 and ran informational hearings for landowners between
August 2014 and January 2015. Dakota Access submitted its plan to the Iowa Utilities
56
�Board (IUB) on October 29, 2014 and applied for permit in January 2015 (“296 Iowa
landowners decline Bakken pipeline” 2016). The IUB was the last state of the four states
involved, which are North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois, to grant the permit
in March 2016, including the use of eminent domain, after some public controversy (296
“Iowa landowners decline Bakken pipeline” 2016). The Pipeline will range 1,172 miles
from the Bakken oil fields in northwest North Dakota and travels in a somewhat straight
line south-east, through South Dakota and Iowa, and ends at the oil tank farm near
Patoka, Illinois. The pipeline is anticipated to be fully functional by January 1,2017, but
as of now, the construction has been brought to a halt under president Barack Obama.
However, as of November 26th, 2016, the project was reported to be 87% completed and
what is currently being debated over is on the pipeline’s final 1,100 feet in North Dakota
over concerns about water quality and historic relics (“What to Know About the Dakota
Access Pipeline Protests” 2016).
Although at a halt, the construction of the pipeline is currently run by Dakota
Access, LLC, a subsidiary of the Dallas, Texas Corporation Energy Transfer Partners,
LP. For ownership over the pipeline, Dakota Access owns 75% of the pipeline, while
Houston-based Phillips 66 owns a 25% share. The $3.78 billion pipeline project, of which
$2.5 billion was subsidized by loans while the rest of the capital would be raised by the
sale of a 49% share in Dakota Access, LLC (36.8% indirect stake in the pipeline) to
Enbridge and Marathon Petroleum. The loans were provided by a group of 17 banks
(Nemec 2016). The Energy Transfer Partners, which is a United States Fortune 500
natural gas and propane company, proposed that the pipeline will transport 450,000 bpd
(barrels per day) with a capacity as high as 570,000 bpd or more (“Dakota Access
Pipeline” 2015). The committed volume rates of the pipeline project have already created
historically high shipment ratios, with the pipeline projected to carry half of the Bakken’s
current daily crude oil production. In addition, the shippers will be able to access various
markets, including the Midwest and East Coast via the Nederland, Texas crude oil
terminal facility of Sunoco Logistics Partners (Nemec 2016).
In the United States a statistic taken in 2014 reported that 70% of crude oil and
petroleum products are shipped by pipeline, 23% by tankers and barges over water, 4% of
trucking, and 3% of railroad (Conca 2014). A major point for the production of the
Dakota Access Pipeline is to use less railroads and trucks to transport crude oil from one
location to another. And by constructing a pipeline and using less of the railroads,
farmers will be able to ship more Midwest grain through train transportation. However,
pipelines leak more than by railroad which could be concerning to the environment
57
�(Conca 2014). It is also contended that by using a pipeline to transport oil rather than by
trucks is it will free up the highways. Because the same amounts of water need hauling as
barrels of oil produced, so the truck traffic will never disappear (Conca 2014). This is
particularly important because the truck is worse than the pipeline in spills. However,
both trucks and railroads are the least concerning factors of oil spills due to the fact that
they both make up such a miniscule percentage in oil transportation.
According to engineers of the Dakota Access Pipeline it will transport so called
“clean barrels”, which means that “What is put in the system in the Bakken is what the
refiners get at the other end” say the senior vice president for engineering at the project
sponsor, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), Joey Mahmoud (Nemec 2016). Mahmoud also
stated that through the pipeline, the barrels will be able to transport from the Bakken
formation to the Gulf as clean barrels. One of the ways oil can become unclean is by
being shipped dirty by the supplier and that is through becoming contaminated by
tobacco smoke, bacteria, salt, coal dust, human hair, and pollen. All of which the naked
eye can only see up to 40 µm, which allows it to only see human hair at 70 µm and salt at
100µm. The rest is undetectable and is why the ability to transport clean oil is impressive.
Usually such contaminates oil through outside forces in storage or during the transport
process to the machine (Conca 2014).
There is economic gain to building the Dakota Pipeline and that is through the
$3.7 billion being spent on the project, $189 million will be paid to the landowners as
well as the investment made into the United States directly locally and nationally with a
labor force by creating 8,000 to 12,000 construction jobs and 40 permanent operating
jobs. The economic impact of the project will also transverse through the $1 billion pipe
being constructed currently in 2016 as well as other related equipment. Most of the
equipment is made in the United States except for a couple of pumps and a little bit of the
pipe (Nemec 2016). All the materials that could be sourced here were, so it is estimated
that the overall $3-4 billion job has a total impact of $20 billion on the economy. In
addition, the project will need about 12,000 construction workers by the time it’s finished
in early 2017 (“Dakota Access Pipeline” 2015).
For the workers, the Dakota Access L.L.C hired 100% union labor. This is
notably important because the ETP took provisionary actions in order to not get shut
down like Barack Obama turned down the Keystone Pipeline XL on account that it
wouldn’t create that many jobs. The issue with the Keystone Pipeline XL is that, although
it would create up to 20,000 jobs, $1.9 billion had already been spent by TransCanada
and would reduce the number of supply chain jobs that could be created in the future
58
�(Nemec 2016). For the Dakota Access Pipeline, it will create 8,000 to 12,000 temporary
construction jobs and 40 permanent operating jobs once the pipeline is finished. Although
the Keystone Pipeline XL would create more jobs that the Dakota Access Pipeline, the
use of union organized workers is the key factor to their success.
How the pipeline was constructed is also a key factor to its success with being
passed by legislation. For starters, the Dakota Access Pipeline will meet or exceed state
and federal safety requirements and at a minimum will be designed in accordance with 49
Code of Federal Regulation Part 195 (Nemec 2016). This code summarized means that
DAPL will follow the protocols concerning using computation pipeline monitoring which
is a software-based monitoring tool that alerts the pipeline dispatcher of a possible
pipeline leak, to make sure that the construction of the pipeline complies with the
protocols in that if a pipeline must be built underwater then it cannot protrude into the
water and should be built underground, and that the pipeline follows the safety standards
on transporting hazardous liquids or carbon dioxide (Nemec 2016). To meet these
requirements, the pipes in the Dakota Access Pipeline have leak detection and remote
control valve systems and that ETP operates 71,000 miles of other various energy
pipelines across the nation, so this is not a new phenomena. In addition, ETP claims that
the pipe is all brand new and all the materials that went into making it are of the highest
quality (Nemec 2016).
Land Claim
The Dakota Access Pipeline is a 1,172 miles, 30-inch diameter pipeline that will
start in the Bakkens, a huge rock formation in North Dakota, and moves in a somewhat
straight line through South Dakota and Iowa, and ends at the main oil hub near Patoka,
Illinois (“Dakota Access Pipeline” 2015). Eminent domain was used in order for Dakota
Access L.L.C to annex it and build this crude oil pipeline. Backed by the Fifth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, eminent domain is the power a government or state
has to seize private property for public use, in exchange for payment of fair market value.
Some examples that are typically used to make with eminent domain are roads,
courthouses, schools and utilities. Sometimes it can be used to make private commercial
development such as the Dakota Access Pipeline if it is considered a benefit to the
community (Epstein 1985).
It is also stated in the Fifth Amendment that private property can’t be taken for
public use without just compensation, but the catch is that private land can be taken
without the landowner’s consent just as long as they are fairly compensated. The legal
59
�process of eminent domain, formerly known as condemnation, starts out with the
government or state deciding that they need a parcel or sometimes miles of land and then
contacts the owner to work out a selling price. If the property owner agrees with the sale
price then the government pays them and the landowner gives up the deed to the land.
However, this isn’t as usual as cases where a landowner is not willing to give up their
land. For this instance, the two parties must proceed to a hearing where a “fair value” is
established (Epstein 1985). Sometimes the landowner refuses sale entirely and in that
case, the government issues a public notice of the hearing. In this hearing the government
must prove that it attempted negotiate the sale and that the land is for public use. If the
government wins then an appraiser is setup to establish the fair market value. If the
landowner wins then the land remains their private property. Both sides are allowed to
appeal the decision. And if the government does not follow through with compensation
then the landowner has the right to sue for the money (Epstein 1985).
In the case of Iowa for the Dakota Access Pipeline, ETP claims that it legally
obtained the land through eminent domain. However, state utility regulators in Iowa had
received notice that 300 parcels of land had been taken without consent from the
landowners while the supposed pipeline would run diagonally through 18 Iowa counties.
The Iowa Utilities Board was unable to reach a decision regarding the permit requested
by Dakota Access LLC to build the 30 inch diameter pipeline along 346 miles in Iowa
(Petroski 2016). Another concern the residents of Iowa had was that the pipeline would
not directly benefit any public contributions to Iowa. In a March 2015 Des Moines
Register poll, it was reported that 57% of Iowans supported the Dakota Access Pipeline,
but 74% were opposed to the use of eminent domain on behalf of a private corporation.
And in a February 2016 Des Moines Register article, Dakota Access LLC said it had
voluntarily obtained signed easements for roughly 80% of the Iowa land parcels, which is
primarily farmland. There was, however a remaining 296 parcels that could’ve faced
condemnation proceedings if the pipeline was approved by state regulators who conclude
eminent domain was justified under Iowa law (Petroski 2016).
Most of the Dakota Access Pipeline is finished and what is being protested on
today is the remaining 1,100 feet in North Dakota. The pipeline as of now, is 87%
complete. Some of the concerns that are similar to those of standing rock was from the
farmers in Iowa. Farmers feared for their land like the Sioux tribe fears for its water
supply and historic relics. The farmers were particularly worried about the diagonal path
of the project’s route because it would interfere with farm tile drainage lines. The Dakota
Access LLC had promised it would repair and damage to tile lands and the pipeline will
60
�be far enough under ground that they would still be able to raise crops above the buried
pipeline (“Dakota Access Pipeline” 2015).
The pipeline has also caused extensive controversy because it would travel
directly underneath the Missouri River, the primary water source for the Standing Rock
Sioux tribe. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has a population of around 10,000 and has a
reservation in the central part of North Dakota and South Dakota (“What to Know About
the Dakota Access Pipeline Protest” 2016). ETP insisted that they had taken
extraordinary measures to prevent any sort of disaster the pipeline might cause, but
opponents point out that even the safest pipelines leak. The Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has reported that there have been more than
3,300 incidents of leaks and ruptures of oil and gas pipelines since 2010 (Cozzarelli,
Skalak, Kent, Benthem, Mumford, Jolly 2016). Even if one leak or a minor incident did
occur, the spill could damage the entire tribe’s water supply. In addition, the pipeline
would run through the tribe’s sacred burial ground. And even though the land that will be
used for the pipeline is not directly on the reservation of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe,
tribal leaders contend that the federal government did not sufficiently engage the tribe
during the permitting process, which is a requirement under federal law (Healy 2016).
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been continuously vocal about opposing the
construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has a lot to do with their drinking
water supply as said before, but also because it will be built over, and thus ultimately
destroying, sacred, centuries old land. Not only is this inhumane, but it could also be
potentially illegal. In Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act 1966
(NHPA), the Standing Rock Sioux tribe were not adequately consulted on the pipeline’s
potential impact on these cultural and ancestral sites. To summarize Section 106 of the
NHPA, it is required for Federal agencies to take into account the effects of their
endeavors on historic properties, and afford the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation a reasonable opportunity to offer a statement of opinion (N.G. 2003).
Without this, the whole process of the pipeline concerning the land that affects the
Standing Rock Sioux tribe could be illegal and therefore it would be unlawful to continue
construction on that land.
Legal Context
As far as the legal matters go, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe sued the Army
Corps of Engineers, which permitted the project, for violating the National Historic
Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NHPA requires
61
�that the Army Corps of Engineers have to regard the cultural significance of federally
permitted sites and NEPA needs to be considered on the account of the implications for
the waterways. The process was ongoing about what the final decision should be. On
December 4th, 2016 the agency decided to not grant the permit for construction on the
site and suggested that the pipeline be routed for an alternative route. However, ETP has
decided to continue construction without a permit (“Is Decision a brief timeout or a game
changer for Standing Rock?” 2016).
It was declared a victory for the protesters after the Army’s Assistant Secretary
for Civil Works, Jo-Ellen Darcy, announced that she would not grant a permit to Dakota
Access LLC. Her decision was based on a need to explore alternate routes for the Dakota
Access pipeline. Darcy also suggested that the discussion should continue on where the
alternative routes would be best for everyone through an Environmental Impact
Statement with full input and analysis. After this announcement, it was unclear how
durable the government’s decision would be. Especially since now there are news
reporting that Energy Transfer has stated that they will continue to drill at the current
location, despite having no permit, under the Missouri River (“Is Decision a brief timeout
or a game changer for Standing Rock?” 2016).
On top of the debate of whether or not the Dakota Access Pipeline will be
legally constructed, the police also have a force to be reckoned with. Many of the security
officers had used pepper spray, rubber bullets and concussion cannons, security dogs, as
well as many other uses of force on the peaceful protestors at Standing Rock. On a night
later in November, 21-year-old Sophia Wilansky had her arm seriously injured from a
concussion grenade that the police threw at her (Engler 2016). There is a continuous
debate on whether or not the police actually did throw the concussion at her, but
Wilansky holds her ground as well as the many other witnesses that say they saw the
incident.
Police have also used water cannons to fight off the protesters that have now
reached around 2,000 people. It was on the night of November 21st that the police and
protesters epically clashed. The protesters set fire to the police barricade Backwater
Bridge, which has for months been the site of a protest against the pipeline. The police
responded to this by shooting water cannons into the crowd of protesters in 23-degree
weather. That night it was reported by the New York Times that the Oceti Sakowin
medical team stated that nearly 200 people were injured and 12 people were hospitalized
for head injuries. Hypothermia was additionally a problem due to the freezing climate
(“Police Remove Pipeline Protesters in North Dakota” 2016).
62
�Many people have been arrested for protesting the pipeline including actress
Shailene Woodley. She had become a major advocate for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe
since late September and after being sent to Morton County jail with 26 other protesters,
she publicly voiced the situation with what was happening in North Dakota. These arrests
have been ongoing and since August, a total of 575 arrests have been counted. It has
come to the point that the state’s court system is now facing huge cost overruns and
doesn’t have enough judges, lawyers and clerks to handle this situation. The cost of this
overpopulated protest based court issue is going to be around $1.5 million extra next
year, which is about 1 ½% of its current two-year budget. There are also problems
concerning public defenders. They are experiencing an imbalance of public defenders for
the influx of protesters, which will cost them an additional $670,000 from the
Legislature. This amounts to about 3-½ % of its current two-year budget (Bromwich
2016). As for the police force guarding the pipeline, the state of North Dakota has paid
more than $11.8 million and the department will seek another $7 million in emergency
borrowing on top of the $10 million borrowed earlier this year. Morton County has also
spent more than $8 million in policing the protests (Engler 2016). It is clear that the state
is running out of funds to keep the police force present in order to protect the pipeline.
The conditions of the jails are also an issue legally. Activists of the protest
described the jail cells being similar to dog kennels and they had been labeled by
numbers when taken in. One of the activists, Floris White, said she was arrested and then
transported by bus to the Morton County Correctional Center, where her and other protest
detainees were locked in cages in the facility’s garage (Bromwich 2016). Another
organizer, Mekasi Camp-Horinek said that he and his mother were arrested and then
placed in one of the metal enclosures together and wrote a number on his arm. There are
no beds in these facilities where they’ve placed the protesters. The Morton County
Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that the enclosures were “temporary holding
cells” that are composed of chain link fence and were only used when police made mass
arrests. The cells have also been permitted by the North Dakota Department of
Corrections. The department also claims that prisoners have access to bathrooms, meals
and drinking water. However, the protesters have called on the U.S. Department of
Justice to investigate the tactics used by authorities (Bromwich 2016).
Proponents
Proponents for the Dakota Access Pipeline are composed of the people
constructing the pipeline since they were employed to do so, Energy Transfer Partners,
63
�and the people who currently own a share in stock in the operation like Donald Trump.
The argument is that the pipeline will contribute to the national economy as well as local
by its employment of 8,000 to 12,000 temporary construction workers and 40 permanent
operating jobs. The $3.78 billion job is proposed to spend $189 million out of that to pay
landowners as well. ETP also states that this pipeline will make the United States less
energy dependent even though we are the third largest producer of oil energy in the world
(Nemec 2016).
On the national level, Dakota Access LLC has stated that the increased domestic
crude oil production will translate into more energy independence for the United States.
Dakota Access also states that even though the United States is the third largest producer
in the world, it is as well the number one consumer of crude oil in the world. With this
pipeline they aim to close the gap between those two findings. The wish is to make the
United States less of an importer for crude oil because although in 2013, the U.S.
produced 7.5 million barrels of crude oil per day it had simultaneously still imported 7.7
million barrels per day in order to meet consumer demands. The goal is to eliminate the
middle-man of purchasing crude oil abroad and become a larger producer in oil. The
Bakken oil has been a goldmine for crude oil. It went from 309,000 barrels of oil a day
into 2010 to 1 million barrels a day in 2014. That is a significant increase and ETP wants
to build this pipeline because it is the most efficient way of reaching multiple U.S.
markets (“Dakota Access Pipeline” 2015).
For global economic impact, Dakota Access says the $3.78 billion investment
will create 8,000 to 12,000 jobs including 40 permanent. The construction phase required
millions of hours of labor for welders, mechanics, electricians, pipefitters, heavy
equipment operators, and others within the heavy construction industry. There is also a
demand for those who manufacture the steel pipes, fittings, valves, pumps and control
devices necessary for a major pipeline. Everything that could be made in the United
States was and that is mostly everything except for a couple of pumps and a little bit of
the pipe. This overall $3-4 billion project will translate into $20 billion in the economy
according to Dakota Access. In addition, the construction on the pipeline will boost local
economies through expanded use of hotels, motels, restaurants, and other services by the
workers (“Dakota Access Pipeline” 2016).
The pipeline will also convert into millions in state and local profits during the
construction phase and an estimated $129 million yearly in property and income taxes.
To the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois, Dakota Access stated that
the pipeline will generate about $50 million yearly in property taxes and nearly $74
64
�million in sales taxes. This money translates into contributing to schools, roads,
emergency services, and more (“Dakota Access Pipeline” 2015). These are the arguments
used when Dakota Access LLC appealed to landowners as well in order to produce
evidence that it would boost their local economies as well as the national & global
economy.
The project will additionally aid farmers by lessening the strains in the Upper
Midwest railroads. Instead of using the railroads for transporting clean crude oil, the
pipeline will become the main use of transportation. Currently there is a lack of rail carts
to move grain out of South Dakota and the tariffs on the grain have increased from $50 to
almost $1,400 per car. These increases in cost can mean up to $1.00 from every bushel of
corn shipped, so The Bakken Pipeline will relieve transportation shortages for agriculture
and other industries (“Dakota Access Pipeline” 2015).
Opponents
Those who oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline include:
environmentalists, conservationists, scientists, celebrities, veterans, some farmers, and the
Native Americans. The main concern is about what is at stake with the environment if the
pipeline does leak or break. Greenpeace, a non-governmental environmental
organization, and a group of 160+ scientists dedicated to conservation and preservation of
threatened natural resources & endangered species have openly expressed their
opposition to the pipeline. In addition, the Science & Environmental Health Network has
also publicly spoken out against the pipeline (“A Sustainability Dialogue: The Dakota
Access Pipeline and subjugation of Native Americans” 2016).
Why exactly do over 160 scientists oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline? That is
because DAPL had not thoroughly assessed the negative ecological, cultural,
socioeconomic, and public health impacts of the people and animals in the surrounding
area. It appears that DAPL had haphazardly approached the extraction of natural
resources without going over the consequences of oil development. Pipelines do break
and there have been a reported 3,300 pipeline leaks in just the past six years
(Januchowski 2016). And in a Wall Street Journal review, it was reported that four in
every five-pipeline accidents were discovered by local residents, not the companies that
own the pipelines (“High-Tech Monitors Often Miss Oil Pipeline Leaks” 2016). The
practices that DAPL took to build the pipeline through these four states and their land
does not comply with recent Paris Agreement commitments to cut fossil fuel emissions
by 2030. In order to show their dissent on the matter, many scientists have signed a
65
�resolution in support of halting all construction on the DAPL unit until revised
environmental and cultural assessments are executed as requested by the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe (Januchowski 2016).
Conservationists and environmentalists worry about safety, and the impacts on
air, water, wildlife and farming because pipeline lines do break. Environmentalists and
Native Americans have articulated their fears that the Missouri River might become
contaminated in the event of a spill or leak, jeopardizing a source of drinking and
irrigation water that affect thousands of people who depend on clean water (“A
Sustainability Dialogue: The Dakota Access Pipeline and subjugation of Native
Americans” 2016). Just in early December a pipeline, luckily with water, did leak due to
equipment failure. It leaked approximately 84,000 gallons of source water into Skull
Creek, in Bowman County, North Dakota. And in another incident in 2013 concerning
North Dakota, a pipeline owned by a subsidiary of US refiner Tesoro had leaked 20,000
barrels of crude oil into a wheat field, which equaled 10 years’ worth of onshore spilled
in just one incident according to data from the US Department of Transport (“Huge Oil
leak in North Dakota” 2013). Now these occurrences are just in North Dakota, but the
amount of pipeline leaks/oil spills in total and as stated before add up to 3,300 in just six
years.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe as well as being concerned about their water
drinking supply, are worried about the destruction of their sites that hold historic,
religious, and cultural significance. They say that this is where their ancestors hunted,
fished, and were buried. Protests at pipeline construction sites in North Dakota started in
early spring 2016 and drew the largest gathering of indigenous people throughout North
America in the last 100 years as well as many other supporters. They call themselves the
water protectors and land defenders. The Missouri River, more specifically Lake Oahe, is
where the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe gets their water supply and that is the exact
location where the rest of the 1,100 parcels of pipeline are to be finished (“A
Sustainability Dialogue: The Dakota Access Pipeline and subjugation of Native
Americans” 2016). And even with the harsh weather coming its way to North Dakota,
leaders of the Sioux Tribe said they will not leave their protest campsites near
construction zones, regardless of an order to do so from North Dakota Governor Jack
Dalrymple (Richardson 2016).
Veterans have also come into the mix of opposing the construction of the
Dakota Access Pipeline. On December 4th, throngs of about 2,000 veterans from the
group “Veterans Stand for Standing Rock” came to join the fight for Standing Rock’s
66
�water supply as well as the indigenous peoples’ sacred land (Engler 2016). The veterans
announced that they would serve as human shields for the protestors and will protect the
innocent people. On this past Sunday, December 4th, 2016, veterans have done just that
by shutting down the ‘Standing Rock’ Bridge with their cars to protect protesters. And
just yesterday, December 5th, 2016, Michael Wood Jr., a Marine Corps veteran and the
organizer of the veterans for Standing Rock, and Wes Clark Jr., an Army vet, made a
formal apology to Native Elders for war and genocide by U.S. military (Engler 2016).
Celebrities such as Mark Ruffalo, Shailene Woodley, and Jane Fonda have also
publicly voiced their opposition of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Actor Mark Ruffalo spent
time in early November to join the protest at Standing Rock and was invited by Wahleah
Johns, founder of Native Renewables. Together, they delivered Navajo-made portable
solar panels to provide clean energy to power medical tents and other camp facilities as
winter approaches (Engler 2016). Actress Shailene Woodley also participated in the
Standing Rock protests and was arrested in October charged with trespassing and
engaging in a riot, both misdemeanors that carry a maximum punishment of a month in
jail and a $1,500 fine (Engler 2016). She will stand trial on February 22nd. Actress Jane
Fonda has also been actively participating in the fight on DAPL and the dangers
surrounding the construction. On Thanksgiving, Jane Fonda and Shailene Woodley
served dinner at the Oceti Sakowin camp for the protesters calling it an “Appreciation
Dinner” instead (“Is decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for Standing Rock?
2016). It is now stated that any contributions made to the protesters could be fined up to
$1,000, which is a message from the local sheriff’s office (“Is decision a brief timeout or
a game-changer for Standing Rock? 2016).
Media Coverage
The media coverage of the Dakota Access Pipeline had not covered the protests
in early September in the United States. However, there was International coverage and it
created uproar that would only get larger when protests started to erupt in the U.S. At the
time, construction workers bulldozed a section of land that tribal historic preservation
officers had documented as a historic, sacred site, and when protesters filled the area
security workers used attack dogs, which bit at least 5 of the people protesting. This event
was filmed and viewed by several million people on different social media platforms
such as YouTube and Facebook (“Is decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for
Standing Rock? 2016).
67
�Source: https://www.clutchmagonline.com
Later in October, armed soldiers and police with riot gear and military
equipment cleared an encampment that was directly in the proposed pipeline’s path.
Many celebrities such as Mark Ruffalo, Shailene Woodley, and Jane Fonda brought light
to the issue even further to the general public (“Is decision a brief timeout or a gamechanger for Standing Rock? 2016). And on November 15th, protesters in Chicago, Los
Angeles, Manhattan, Denver, and other cities held protests against the pipeline in a
coordinated protest which organizers called a “National Day of Action” (Healy 2016).
The lack of coverage from the media might have something to do with a lot of
journalists being arrested. Amy Goodman, a journalist with the Democracy Now!
program, was arrested while covering the protest for allegedly trespassing. Footage she
captured showed police officers allowing their dogs to charge protesters (Martindale
2016). She stated on October 17th that “[These charges are] a complete vindication of my
right as a journalist to cover the attack on the protesters, and of the public’s right to know
what is happening with the Dakota Access pipeline” (Martindale 2016). As of now, she is
still fighting those charges, so it is clear how hostile this environment is to conventional
journalists.
68
�Politicians Involved
The politicians involved in this dispute are both politically active and vocal or
completely silent on the matter, there is no in between. Politicians such as Green Party
Jill Stein as well as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders have continuously been out spoken
against the construction of the pipeline while former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton
and President-elect Donald Trump have remained silent on the issue. President Barack
Obama had issued a halt on the construction of the pipeline, but many including Bernie
Sanders feel that this is not enough and he needs to talk action to stop the construction
permanently (“Is decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for Standing Rock? 2016).
Many other politicians have just become active in the DAPL protest such as Hawaiian
congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard, as well as the senior Democrat on the Public Resources
Committee, Raul Grijalva (“Is decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for Standing
Rock? 2016).
Senator and former Presidential nominee, Bernie Sanders, has remained
continuously vocal against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. He even
joined a protest in Washington, DC early in September to raise awareness on the pressing
issue of this pipeline possibly contaminating a whole drinking supply of millions of
people. In early October, Sanders and five other US lawmakers sent President Barack
Obama a letter asking him to shut down the pipeline all together and end the construction,
calling it an imperative measure for Indigenous rights and the climate (“Dakota Access
Pipeline Mounts 2016). On the National Day of Action, November 15th, Sanders stood
outside the White House demanding that we start fighting for our indigenous people and
that their sovereign right be honored. He also proclaimed that it is time for politicians to
stand up and protect access to clean water and push towards greener energy sources (“Is
decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for Standing Rock? 2016).
Green Party candidate and political activist, Jill Stein, has also participated in
the protests against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. She is currently
facing charges from writing on one of the bulldozers saying, “I approve this message”
with other messages left by the protesters. This was after the protesters’ victory on
stopping the bulldozers that were trying to dismantle the native’s sacred land (“Is
decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for Standing Rock? 2016). She continues to
voice the concerns and opposition of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Former presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, had written a statement that said,
“We received a letter today from representatives of the tribes protesting the construction
of the Dakota Access Pipeline. From the beginning of this campaign, Secretary Clinton
69
�has been clear that she thinks all voices should be heard and all views considered in
federal infrastructure projects. Now, all of the parties involved—including the federal
government, the pipeline company and contractors, the state of North Dakota, and the
tribes—need to find a path forward that serves the broadest public interest. As that
happens, it's important that on the ground in North Dakota, everyone respects
demonstrators' rights to protest peacefully, and workers' rights to do their jobs safely.”
(“Is decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for Standing Rock?” 2016).
This statement doesn’t voice any concern for action, and she has remained silent
before and after she released this. Many of the youth protesting DAPL came to her
headquarters and demanded some sort of response, but with no prevail. She has been
useless as far as contributing to the protesters.
Presidential-elect Donald Trump has for the most part remained silent as well,
but has finally made a statement on December 2nd, 2016. He announced that he supports
the construction of the pipeline. This is probably because in May 2016, his federal
disclosure forms showed that he held between $15,000 and $50,000 in stock in Energy
Transfer Partners and around $100,000 to $250,000 in Phillips 66 (“Is decision a brief
timeout or a game-changer for Standing Rock? 2016). In addition, ETP had donated
$100,000 to a Trump Victory Fund before the election in the hopes that he’d support it
(“Is decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for Standing Rock? 2016). This makes a
conflict of interest when making presidential decisions affecting the pipeline, which is
why president Obama is being pursued even more to make a move to end the
construction.
Other politicians such as the senior Democrat on the Public Resources
Committee, Raul Grijalva, have publically proclaimed that this appearance of conflict of
interest is “disturbing” when it comes to Donald Trump. He also went to Standing Rock
in order to support the protesters and continues to voice his opposition to the
construction. Congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard, will also be joining thousands of military
veterans and is a huge advocate for protecting our water sources for current and future
generations (“Is decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for Standing Rock? 2016).
III. Analysis
Although the United States will benefit economically from the Dakota Access
Pipeline, a lot of this is only temporary. Dakota Access LLC has employed 8,000 to
12,000 temporary jobs, but much fewer permanent jobs coming to about 40. The numbers
such as $189 million to landowners is essentially nothing because they are still left with
70
�$3.5 billion in profit as well as the $20 billion that will go into the economy is not
explained. I am not sure how they’ve made these estimates and where they’ve gotten
these numbers or what will come out of the proposed pipeline.
Furthermore, ETP explains how important the pipeline is to the United States
due to us being the number one consumer in the world and how they want to match that
demand. However, this goes against the Paris Agreement commitments to cut fossil fuel
emissions by 2030. I see how oil is very important to our economy, but we are only
focusing on temporary energy sources and need to be focusing on something long term
such as green energy sources. Oil will eventually run out and it will most likely not
happen in our lifetime, but we really need to start planning for future generations.
In addition, the Missouri river, specifically Lake Oahe, is at stake as well as the
Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s sacred land. If the pipeline does burst it will affect millions
of peoples’ drinking water. There have been 3,300 oil leaks in the past 6 years and they
have all been detrimental to the surrounding community. In the incident that I included
where Tesoro leaked 20,000 bbl of crude oil into a wheat field, it cost $4 million to clean
up and was detrimental to the wheat fields it encompassed (“Huge Oil leak in North
Dakota” 2013). ETP tried to reassure the tribe and farmers that the land the pipeline
transverses is of the highest quality and has a slim chance of leaking, but the number of
leaks that happened in the last 6 years say otherwise. I think it is time to stand up for the
Native Americans and put people ahead of corporate profit.
The Energy Transfer Partners CEO, Kelcy Warren, argues that this does not
traverse the land of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and they have every right to do
construction, but 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux says differently. This treaty was
signed on July 23, 1851 and was between the United States government and Sioux
Indians for the agreement that the Sioux tribe would move onto reservations along the
Minnesota River in exchange for cash and goods (Kane 1951). With this treaty, it is clear
that Dakota Access LLC is not following former US signed documents and is technically
working against the law in order to build this billion dollar pipeline.
It is also unclear with what specifically happens if the pipeline does leak, how
the residents would know of a leak, why the company seeks for permanent right of way
of farmland when these oil rights can only be obtained for 25 years at a time, who the
majority of stock investors of Dakota Access are, and where the liability lies if the
pipeline does burst (Nemec 2016). The Iowa Environmental Council is concerned as to
whether or not the state has enough protections such as oversight on the company to
ensure it has enough money to address any harm caused by a spill. Iowa only requires
71
�pipeline owners to have $250,000 reserve fund, which will not be able to sufficiently and
thoroughly address the damage (“What to Know About the Dakota Access Pipeline
Protests” 2016). There are too many open ends to this pipeline, which is alarming.
Crude is a nasty material that is extremely destructive to environments as well as
highly toxic to human or animals if it should spill. It is not useful for energy or anything
else until it’s chemically processed or refined into commodities like naphtha, gasoline,
heating oil, kerosene, and many other forms. The water of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
is in critical danger and since it is apparent that ETP does not wish to stop construction
and the people in power are not making critical moves, it would be beneficial to map out
an alternative route much like what the Army’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, JoEllen Darcy, decided. I think it would be entirely more beneficial for not only us, but also
for the future if we started looking into greener energy sources that will not destroy the
environment. Moreover, there is an ambiguity regarding the amount of money put into
this pipeline and the $15 million spent on law enforcement to fight off the protesters
could be put to use in other things such as roads, schools, and other public entities.
IV. Conclusion
The $3.78 billion pipeline will no doubt produce millions, potentially billions of
dollars in revenue, but it is at the expense of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and millions
of others’ water supply and environment. Not to mention the land taken under eminent
domain with some having their land taken without consent. It is a tricky situation when so
much money is on the line, but it would be beneficial in the long run to focus this energy
on greener energy sources that will produce high amounts of energy without taking a toll
on the environment and it’s living organisms. It’s time to stand up for the Native
Americans and put people ahead of corporate profit.
V. References
ACHP | Section 106 Regulations Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved December 03, 2016, from
http://www.achp.gov/106summary.html
Author, N. G. (2003). Y-12 National Security Complex National Historic Preservation
Act Historic Preservation Plan. doi:10.2172/820902
72
�Bromwich, J. E. (2016). 16 Arrested at North Dakota Pipeline Protest. Retrieved
December 03, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/us/dakota-accesspipeline-protesters-police.html
Cozzarelli, I., Skalak, K., Kent, D., Engle, M., Benthem, A., Mumford, A., & ... Jolly, G.
(2016). Environmental signatures and effects of an oil and gas wastewater spill in the
Williston Basin, North Dakota. Science Of The Total Environment,
doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.11.157
"Company Led by Donald Trump’s Energy Adviser Says Its Oil Will Flow Through
Dakota Access Pipeline." Global Research. N.p., 6 Sept. 2016. Web. 3 Dec. 2016.
Conca, James. Pick Your Poison. Retrieved December 03, 2016, from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2014/04/26/pick-your-poison-for-crudepipeline-rail-truck-or-boat/
Dakota Access Pipeline. (2016). Congressional Digest, 95(10), 12.
Dakota Access Pipeline. (n.d.). Retrieved December 03, 2016, from
http://www.daplpipelinefacts.com/
Dakota Access pipeline protest costs mount, along with pressure on President Obama to
end standoff. (n.d.). Retrieved December 03, 2016, from
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dakota-access-pipeline-protest-costs-pressure-presidentobama-standoff/
EDITORIAL: Is decision a brief timeout or a game-changer for Standing Rock? (2016,
December 6). Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN).
Engler, M. (2016). Protectors vs pipelines. New Internationalist, (497), 25.
Epstein, R. A. (1985). Takings: Private property and the power of eminent domain.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Healy, J. (2016). A North Dakota Oil Pipeline Battle: Who's Fighting and Why. The New
York Times. p. A12.
73
�High-Tech Monitors Often Miss Oil Pipeline Leaks. (2014).
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303754404579310920956322040
Huge oil leak in North Dakota. (2013). TCE: The Chemical Engineer, (869), 12.
Januchowski-Hartley, S. R., Hilborn, A., Crocker, K. C., & Murphy, A. (2016). Scientists
stand with Standing Rock. Science, 353(6307), 1506.
Kane, L. M. (1951). The Sioux Treaties and the Traders. Minnesota History, (2). 65.
Martindale, D. (2016). Still Defiant at Standing Rock. In These Times, 40(12), 32.
Nemec, R. (2016). Dakota Access Pipeline: A New Artery for Bakken Crude. Pipeline &
Gas Journal, 243(8), 16-17.
Petroski, W. (2016). 296 Iowa landowners decline Bakken pipeline. Retrieved December
03, 2016, from
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/government/2016/02/09/296 iowalandowners-decline-bakken-pipeline/80085982/
Police Remove Pipeline Protesters in North Dakota. (2016). The New York Times. p. A18.
Richardson, V. (n.d.). U.S. govt. sets deadline for Dakota Access Pipeline protesters to
leave federal land. Retrieved December 03, 2016, from
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/26/obama-administration-setsdeadline-dakota-access-p/
Sisk, A. (2016). In Victory For Protesters, Obama Administration Halts North Dakota
Pipeline. NPR: Environment.
Standing Rock protest grows with thousands opposing North Dakota pipeline. (2016).
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
The Economic Impact of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Retrieved December 03, 2016,
from http://undergroundvoices.co/2016/11/07/nodapl-dakota-access-pipeline-economicimpact/
74
�Thompson, J. (2016). The Dakota Access Pipeline Will Simply Create Profits. Not Jobs
or Energy Independence. Retrieved December 03, 2016, from
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2016/11/the_dakota_acce
ss_pipeline_will_not_create_jobs_or_energy_independence.html
United States Statutes at Large. (n.d.). Retrieved December 03, 2016, from
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_Statutes_at_Large (TREATIES)
U.S. government seeks to halt North Dakota pipeline construction. (2016). The Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/dakota-pipelineruling-1.3754964
What to Know About the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests. (n.d.). Retrieved December
03, 2016, from http://time.com/4548566/dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock-sioux/
#NoDAPL: U.S. Army Denies Dakota Access Pipeline to Cross Through Standing Rock.
https://www.clutchmagonline.com/2016/12/nodapl-u-s-army-denies-dakota-accesspipeline-to-cross-through-standing-rock/
63, V., 53, A., & 67, E. (2016). A Sustainability Dialogue: The Dakota Access Pipeline
and Subjugation of Native Americans - Steemit. https://steemit.com/news/@victorlucas/a-sustainability-dialogue-the-dakota-access-pipeline-and-subjugation-of-nativeamericans
75
����Luca Pacioli, The Father of Accounting
Madison McNichol (Business Administration)1
The history of accounting traces back centuries, to a time when it was just part
of business and not a field of study. The study of the historiography of accounting
involves the study of how and why accounting had been written, how historical writing
on accounting had developed and the main topics and themes presented 2. Accounting
was born before it was a research field, and it was born because of Luca Pacioli. A
humanist, Pacioli extended his knowledge of mathematics in his complex work, Summa
De Arithmetica, that includes a treatise on book-keeping, ultimately altering the future of
accounting. The 27-page treatise is considered to be Pacioli’s greatest accomplishment
since it is still used in the same manner as presented years ago. There is a part of Pacioli
that fails to be comprehended. Pacioli not only set the principles of double-entry
bookkeeping but also gave an approach to teaching the subject in a unique way that
forever changed the history of accounting. Luca Pacioli was a man of pedagogic insight
with an expertise in attempting to grab the audience’s attention to maximize their
attempts of learning the material. He brought a subject of journal-entry bookkeeping to
life that is still taught today. Through the study of Pacioli’s childhood education, lifetime
encounters and professional successes, he emerged as the father of accounting.
“The father of accounting”, Luca Pacioli was born in 1445 around the eastern
border of the Florentine state.3 There is not much recorded information on Pacioli’s early
childhood but is thought that he spent most of his time in Venice.4 As a child, Pacioli
grew up in abbaco5 schooling, where he was given the foundation that he built on later in
Written under the direction of Dr. Alison Smith for HI362: Renaissance Italy.
def. Teodora Viorica Fărcaş. and Adriana Tiron Tudor. “An Overlook into the
Accounting History Evolution from a Romanian Point of View. A Literature Review.”
Economia Aziendale Online 2000 Web 7, no. 1 (January 2016):. doi:10.6092/20385498/7.1.72.
3 Martin Shubik. Proceedings of the Conference Accounting and Economics: In Honour
of the 500th Anniversary of the Publication of Luca Pacioli’s Summa de Arithmetica,
Geometria, Proportioni et Propotionalita, Siena, 18-19 November 1992. Routledge,
2014:162.
4 Ibid.
5 A school for sons of merchants. Ibid.
1
2
79
�life. Abbaco schools that Pacioli attended as a young child were schools attended by only
the sons of merchants and craftsman. 6 These schools were established through the
financial power of merchants for their offspring. This enhanced the curriculum to only
focus on the needs of merchants, since most of these children or young adults were
destined to be merchants like their fathers. Around 1460, Pacioli was under the guidance
of a famous merchant Antonio Rompiasi. 7 Together they grew into better businessmen
and Pacioli was able to learn the ropes of the business realm from Rompiasi.8 During this
time, Pacioli was attending abbaco classes at the Rialto School under master Domenico
Bragadin. Here, he was able to study geometry, algebra and theology, all of which is later
seen in his work, Summa De Arithmetica. While attending to his educational studies,
Pacioli was living with a prestigious mathematician, Leon Battista Alberti.
Young Pacioli gleaned much insight from the relationship formed from Alberti
and Rompiasi.9 Pacioli furthered his studies in the mathematical approach to business
from these very reliable scholarly mentors. Beginning in 1475, Pacioli moved to Perugia
where he began his profession in teaching. He started sharing his knowledge in teaching
but before long he carried on traditional behaviors of not staying put in a place for a
substantial amount of time. Pacioli left Perugia in desire to reflect on his religion and
become evolved in his different religious movements.10 During the Renaissance, Italy’s
Catholic Church had considerable wealth and had control over vast territories.11 The fall
of the Roman Empire led to the growing political and economic power of the church,
giving them the need for Pacioli’s intelligent mind for business and accounting.12 The
church wanted Pacioli’s help in its business aspects and that is exactly what he did when
Alan Sangster. Gregory N. Stoner, and Patricia A. McCarthy. “Lessons for the
Classroom from Luca Pacioli.” Issues in Accounting Education 22, no. 3 (August 2007):
447–57.
7 Ibid.
8 Rompiasi was a man of the current business world in regards to merchants. Martin
Shubik. Proceedings of the Conference Accounting and Economics: In Honour of the
500th Anniversary of the Publication of Luca Pacioli’s Summa de Arithmetica,
Geometria, Proportioni et Propotionalita, Siena, 18-19 November 1992. Routledge,
2014:169.
9 Ibid,170.
10 Ibid.
11 Valerio Antonelli. and Raffaele D’Alessio. “Accounting History as a Local Discipline:
The Case of the Italian-Speaking Literature (1869-2008).” Accounting Historians Journal
41, no. 1 (June 2014): 93-94.
12 Ibid
6
80
�he returned to Perugia in 1477 and began the preparation to share his knowledge. 13
Pacioli received his honor and fame during the Renaissance era because of his
profound teaching abilities and study of works. When Pacioli returned to the university
from his religious mission in Perugia, he taught students the application of mathematics
in everyday life.14 Pacioli learned from one of the best abbaco professors, Leonardo
Pisano Fibonaci,15 giving him the ability to demonstrate the “problem based learning”16
for business merchants. The approach presented the goal to establish general cases to all
and present transferable knowledge, applying mathematical skills (arithmetic, algebra,
geometry and trigonometry) to all merchandising situations, involving manufacturing and
exchange.17 Pacioli expressed Fibonaci’s mathematical concepts that included, using the
Arabic numerals 1-9, the ninth century algebra of Persian including the value of zero, a
number place value system, and how to perform calculations without the use of abacus.18
This is where Pacioli got some of his motivation from and during this era created his
outstanding piece of work that reshaped the world of business for generations to come.
In 1494, Pacioli used his previous education and mentorships to create his
groundbreaking masterpiece. Pacioli expressed his humanist morals through his work,
Summa de Arithmetica, intending to “extend knowledge to everyone, not just those with
the wealth to afford it”.19 He wrote in northern Italian dialect20 in hopes to make it
13 Martin Shubik. Proceedings of the Conference Accounting and Economics: In Honour
of the 500th Anniversary of the Publication of Luca Pacioli’s Summa de Arithmetica,
Geometria, Proportioni et Propotionalita, Siena, 18-19 November 1992. Routledge, 2014.
14 Martin Shubik. Proceedings of the Conference Accounting and Economics: In Honour
of the 500th Anniversary of the Publication of Luca Pacioli’s Summa de Arithmetica,
Geometria, Proportioni et Propotionalita, Siena, 18-19 November 1992. Routledge,
2014:168.
15 Alan Sangster. and Giovanna Scataglinibelghitar. “Luca Pacioli: The Father of
Accounting Education.” Accounting Education 19, no. 4 (August 2010): 425.
doi:10.1080/09639284.2010.501955.
16 l Alan Sangster. Gregory N. Stoner, and Patricia A. McCarthy. “Lessons for the
Classroom from Luca Pacioli.” Issues in Accounting Education 22, no. 3 (August 2007):
449.
17 Ibid.
18 Alan Sangster. and Giovanna Scataglinibelghitar. “Luca Pacioli: The Father of
Accounting Education.” Accounting Education 19, no. 4 (August 2010): 425.
doi:10.1080/09639284.2010.501955.
19 Ibid.,426
20 The Summa de Arthemitca was written in vernacular language of the day and in script
which was the form of writing taugh in the abbaco schools during the time period.
81
�accessible to all who traded in those markets across Europe. As mentioned before, Pacioli
was known for consistently being on the move and never being in one place for a
substantial amount of time. It has been said that Pacioli spent more than 30 years
gathering material that would be used within his writing of the Summa.21 He traveled
widely, starting as a young boy, and saw a variety of styles of teaching. He recorded the
material in manuscript texts, all being completed leading up to the final publishing of
Summa. Throughout his piece of work, he included commercial arithmetic; algebra;
weights and measures; barter; currency exchange; geometry; gauging22, the legal
framework of business; how to conduct a business; business ethics; record keeping;
business letter writing; and double-entry bookkeeping.23 He provided a 27- page treatise
on double-entry bookkeeping, which has been known to be the earliest evidence we have
on the subject of accounting and has stuck around.24
Pacioli created the Summa for what it is believed to be used primarily as a text in
all abbaco schools. 25 As previously noted, Pacioli received an abbaco education and later
on in life taught the abbaco education to fellow merchants and craftsmen. It was said that
within abbaco learning and a traditional abbaco education bookkeeping was not taught
and there was no such department as accounting.26 Pacioli was the first to change this for
merchants but also allowed not only merchants to be able to abide and learn from these
new findings he had discovered. Pacioli embellished his teaching techniques and abbaco
education through his work of Summa de Arithmetica. It was written in a way that Pacioli
is now known for teaching. It enlightened and informed in the didactic style it was
Ibid,425.
21 Alan Sangster. Gregory N. Stoner, and Patricia A. McCarthy. “Lessons for the
Classroom from Luca Pacioli.” Issues in Accounting Education 22, no. 3 (August 2007):
450.
22 how to determine the capacity, volume, or contents of an object; and precise
measurement of an object. Alan Sangster. and Giovanna Scataglinibelghitar. “Luca
Pacioli: The Father of Accounting Education.” Accounting Education 19, no. 4 (August
2010): 424. doi:10.1080/09639284.2010.501955.
23 Ibid.
24 Ibid.
25 Alan Sangster. Gregory N. Stoner, and Patricia A. McCarthy. “Lessons for the
Classroom from Luca Pacioli.” Issues in Accounting Education 22, no. 3 (August 2007):
451.
26 Alan Sangster. and Giovanna Scataglinibelghitar. “Luca Pacioli: The Father of
Accounting Education.” Accounting Education 19, no. 4 (August 2010): 427.
doi:10.1080/09639284.2010.501955.
82
�written, to instruct the audience. He reveals that he guided the audience to do as asked,
for it is what is “best” and he explained why this was so important to follow.27 For
example, in the introduction of Summa de Arithmetica, Pacioli states his “things are
necessary to the real merchant and the method of keeping a ledger and its journal well”.28
He also states that he did not write any of the Summa from scratch, rather he got practical
examples to demonstrate all concepts.29 He wanted to ensure not just how to do doubleentry and bookkeeping, but make sure it was performed appropriately. He provides
examples and instructions on how to record transactions using three primary books
known as the Memorandum, journal entry and the ledger.30
He split up his treatise into three different books for students to truly learn the
fundamentals of bookkeeping and the overall idea. The first book presented in the Summa,
includes the Memorandum, also known as the household expense book. Pacioli states “it is
meant by how it must be written up and by whom”.31 This included any purchase made or
anything sold for a household or business, Pacioli commands that all must be recorded. He
explained the urgency of this task through the style of his writing. He uses pedagogical
devices to drive home the understanding of the purpose of the Memorandum.32 He
describes at the beginning what is going to be covered and why it is relevant and then also
ties in the same key elements again at the very end of discussing the first book to his
treatise. For example, in the beginning he discusses the importance and why the
Memorandum is necessary and in the final pages of the explanation he stresses, “ but first
[always] listen to what is customary to enter in the Memorandum”.33 Pacioli presents the
idea to record everything in an orderly and very organized manner. This was the first time
this concept was developed and presented to the public, Pacioli knew this and for this
Ibid.
Lucas Pacioli. Double-Entry Book Keeping. London, United Kingdom: The Institue of
Book-Keepers, LTD,1, 1924.
29 Alan Sangster. Gregory N. Stoner, and Patricia A. McCarthy. “Lessons for the
Classroom from Luca Pacioli.” Issues in Accounting Education 22, no. 3 (August 2007):
448.
30 Ibid,449.
31 Lucas Pacioli. Double-Entry Book Keeping. London, United Kingdom: The Institue of
Book-Keepers, LTD,14, 1924.
32 Alan Sangster. and Giovanna Scataglinibelghitar. “Luca Pacioli: The Father of
Accounting Education.” Accounting Education 19, no. 4 (August 2010): 428.
doi:10.1080/09639284.2010.501955.
33 Lucas Pacioli. Double-Entry Book Keeping. London, United Kingdom: The Institue of
Book-Keepers, LTD,18, 1924.
27
28
83
�reason divided his treatise as mentioned. He summarized the most important principles at
the very end and sequenced the contents so that everything leading up builds onto what
was just presented. Starting with the Memorandum, Pacioli moves to the next step in the
idea of bookkeeping.
The second book that Pacioli provides insight on builds off of the Memorandum
book, called the journal entry. This begins the process of when mathematical values start
to play into effect, according to Pacioli.34 The importance of dates is stated, so that one
can always go back and look to find the exact day the transaction was made. Pacioli
states before anything how important it is that “those who have the habit of keeping three
books, as described, must never enter a thing into the journal entry before having it first
entered it in the Memorandum”.35 Pacioli uses his previous knowledge and experience to
complete the following style he wrote his book in. At this point, the audience should
understand the idea of simply recording what purchase or sale was made in the
Memorandum and following it with the Journal entry, including the date. Pacioli also
made clear that all entries must include one credit and one debit as he shows through
numerous examples. He explains how each entry has something that is gained and lost (in
possession or value depending on the situation). He presents how to prepare the entry,
showing the credit and debit, in a subtle approach not creating monetary value until it
increasingly get harder, then he adds the monetary values. This is done because it is said
that the material is hard enough and since not everyone has a merchant background, he
wanted to introduce the format concept before adding numbers. He explains how to set
the columns as if a monetary value was present, although in the beginning it was not. He
uses four money columns, one for each common used coin, Lire, Soldi, Grossi, Picioli.36
He does not put a zero in these spots but rather leaves them blank, with no value to ease
into the theory of Journal Entries. The students, or whatever audience was using this
informational book, learn how to prepare the entire document before values are included
and it becomes more complicated. Pacioli uses his abbaco education and teaching habits
in this aspect by easing the students through the material with consent examples, allowing
the material to get progressively harder. By the end of the chapter he begins introducing
Lucas Pacioli. Double-Entry Book Keeping. London, United Kingdom: The Institue of
Book-Keepers, LTD, 1924.
35 Ibid,.22
36 Alan Sangster. and Giovanna Scataglinibelghitar. “Luca Pacioli: The Father of
Accounting Education.” Accounting Education 19, no. 4 (August 2010): 430.
doi:10.1080/09639284.2010.501955.
34
84
�numeric values and establishes the Ducat37 value. The values are not difficult, rather
Pacioli wanted to drive home the importance and difficulty of the entry for book-keeping.38
The final part to Pacioli’s treatise continues building off each book and this final
stage connects all parts to book-keeping. This final stage, also known as the ledger,
allows the audience to take the monetary value and add it to the journal entry to make it
into a complete action. At this time, different aspects are introduced that, a merchant
would understand, but any other citizen would regard as new concepts. Pacioli explains
the interpretation of the ledger to be a double account of the journal entry to first identify
the date and second have all the debtors and creditors.39 In this section, the comparison
between capital and cash is discussed and their differences and importance identified.
Pacioli, again, uses his background abbaco education to provide those who are not
merchant families, an insight on how to keep track of their finances through the many
examples shown. Continuing, Pacioli touches on each different ledger, explaining which
elements would be categorized under each account. As he exemplified before, he starts
off by explaining and then providing practical examples for the audience to fully learn.
By the end of this segment, Pacioli talks about closing the ledger and the preparation that
is needed for the trial balance. He uses monetary values at this point, since he believes the
audience should have a substantial grasp on the theory of bookkeeping.40
It has obviously been expressed that Pacioli’s Summa was directed to merchants
but it certainly reached far more than just that audience. His writing has laid the foundation
for double-entry bookkeeping as it is practiced today. Over the last 150 years, it has been
translated into English five times and into at least 13 other languages41, showing the
impact of his work on society. One important element that played a huge factor in the
process of allowing Pacioli to reach the audience he did was through the establishment of
the printing press. The first known example of printing in Europe was published in Mainz,
Another important currency during this era. Ibid.
Ibid.
39 Lucas Pacioli. Double-Entry Book Keeping. London, United Kingdom: The Institue of
Book-Keepers, LTD, 1924.
40 Alan Sangster. and Giovanna Scataglinibelghitar. “Luca Pacioli: The Father of
Accounting Education.” Accounting Education 19, no. 4 (August 2010): 432-35.
doi:10.1080/09639284.2010.501955.
41 Alan Sangster. "The Printing of Pacioli's Summa in 1494: How Many Copies Were
Printed?" The Printing of Pacioli's Summa in 1494: How Many Copies Were Printed?
Accessed December 14, 2016.
37
38
85
�Germany in 145442. The first book, commonly referred to as the “Gutenberg Bible,”
printed 150 copies and was a very valued text43. By 1482, Venice had become the
headquarters for the printing press, mainly for the fact of having the cheapest paper
available.44 When 1494 came around, Paganino de’ Paganini took the credit for printing
the first of Pacioli’s Summa.45 In 1494, there is an estimate that around 500 copies were
printed, but many believe this number to be substantially higher. By the end of 1523 there
were 1,500 copies printed, reaching countries past Italy46. The establishment of the
printing press gave Pacioli the opportunity to reach the spectrum of people as he did and
essentially transform the history of accounting.
Pacioli, a man of many important tactics shaped the world of business and
everyday living, creating a masterpiece for all to benefit from. The Summa de
Arithmetica brought order to a chaotic world and measured the glory of all men and
women.47 Being born in the northern part of Italy and imminently starting his constant
movement around Italy, he benefitted from different mentors and influences, all of whom
affected his work. Pacioli held on to his childhood education views, attending an abbaco
school made for all sons of merchants and later on teaching these same views at the
university level. He always showed his humanist side by providing all with access to his
knowledgeable findings and ideas. Pacioli was one of the first to study the application of
mathematics and further these studies with practical examples he experienced throughout
his life. His life encounters, experiences and findings all led up to his Summa de
Arithmetica. With thousands of copies printed into multiple languages, Pacioli’s treatise
explained the importance of bookkeeping through three different books. Starting from
theory and conceptual to monetary values, each builds off the previous providing the
audience with an opportunity to fully understand the business world. Pacioli shaped the
history of accounting for all to come and was a true historical professor and publisher,
documenting one of the most complex works the field has seen.
Work Cited
Ibid.
Ibid.
44 Ibid.
45 Ibid.
46 Ibid.
47 Doug Bennett. “A History of Accounting.” Armed Forces Comptroller 60, no. 1
(Winter 2015): 7.
42
43
86
�Antonelli, Valerio, and Raffaele D’Alessio. “Accounting History as a Local Discipline:
The Case of the Italian-Speaking Literature (1869-2008).” Accounting Historians Journal
41, no. 1 (June 2014): 79–111.
Bennett, Doug. “A History of Accounting.” Armed Forces Comptroller 60, no. 1 (Winter
2015): 6–9.
Fărcaş, Teodora Viorica, and Adriana Tiron Tudor. “An Overlook into the Accounting
History Evolution from a Romanian Point of View. A Literature Review.” Economia
Aziendale Online 2000 Web 7, no. 1 (January 2016): 71–84. doi:10.6092/20385498/7.1.71-84.
Pacioli, Lucas. Double-Entry Book Keeping. London, United Kingdom: The Institue of
Book-Keepers, LTD, 1924.
Sangster, Alan, and Giovanna Scataglinibelghitar. “Luca Pacioli: The Father of
Accounting Education.” Accounting Education 19, no. 4 (August 2010): 423–38.
doi:10.1080/09639284.2010.501955.
Sangster, Alan, Gregory N. Stoner, and Patricia A. McCarthy. “Lessons for the
Classroom from Luca Pacioli.” Issues in Accounting Education 22, no. 3 (August 2007):
447–57.
Sangster, Alan. "The Printing of Pacioli's Summa in 1494: How Many Copies Were
Printed?" The Printing of Pacioli's Summa in 1494: How Many Copies Were Printed?
Accessed December 14, 2016.
Shubik, Martin. Proceedings of the Conference Accounting and Economics: In Honour of
the 500th Anniversary of the Publication of Luca Pacioli’s Summa de Arithmetica,
Geometria, Proportioni et Propotionalita, Siena, 18-19 November 1992. Routledge,
2014.
87
�Factors Influencing School Readiness
Cynedra Osinaike (Psychology and Government & Politics)1
This paper examines preschool and kindergarten children, to gain insight on their
learning environments, the quality of those environments, and the environments̕ influence
on school readiness. Learning environments have gained attention in recent years due to
the correlation between school readiness and early childhood care quality. Research
suggests that school readiness is an important predictor of later school outcomes. Which
may perhaps mean, children who start or transition into formal schooling with stronger
reading and math skills, tend to have higher achievement scores in elementary school.
Are all children, across the board, who transition into formal schooling well equipped
with school readiness skills? There are multiple factors that encompass children having
strong school readiness skills when transitioning into formal schooling. This research will
explore some important factors including the quality of care facilities, childhood
development, testing, and lastly students of color (minority students).
I. Introduction
Early childhood is a time of remarkable brain growth. These years lay the
foundation for successive learning and development. These foundational years are
important because this is the time where children are growing. They are also learning to
flourish socially, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and morally. The first five
years of a child’s life are critical for development. The experiences children have during
this time help shape the adults they will become. More than anything else, a relationship
with a child can shape the way that a child learns, grows and develops. Development is a
term used to describe the changes in a child’s physical growth, as well as their ability to
learn the social, emotional, behavioral, thinking and communication skills one needs for
life. These areas are linked, and each depend on the influences of others, or rather who
they spend their time with (Keys, Farkas, Burchinal. 2013).
Children spend most of their time in child care facilities during development
years, or early childhood. Child care quality is often positively associated with child
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Miles Groth in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
88
�outcomes. And the quality of those settings is thought to be an important factor in young
children’s development. According to Pianta, Burchinal, Barnett, and Thornburg, high
quality settings for 3- to 5-year-olds include frequent warm and stimulating interactions
between caregivers and children and clear intentional instruction. When explored further,
child-care quality and relation to developmental outcomes will determine school
readiness. School readiness encompasses physical, cognitive, language, and behavioral
aspects of development (Keys, Farkas, Burchinal. 2013). Another perspective on school
readiness, is that it tends to focus on five domains: physical well-being, social and
emotional development, approaches to learning, language usage, and lastly cognition and
general knowledge (Kagan, 1992). National attention to “school readiness” was spurred
by a 1991 report of the Education Goals Panel, which established the goal that “all
children shall enter school ready to learn. The notion of “ready to learn” has since been
met with criticism and the argument that all children are ready to learn; the emphasis
should be on the degree to which a child is “ready for school,” or even whether the school
itself is “ready” to meet the needs of all children (Kagan, 1990).
Are school readiness skills dependent upon the quality of preschools? Keys,
Farkas, Burchinal raised similar questions; “to what extent are children’s school readiness
skills higher when they experience higher quality preschools? Do the effects of preschool
center quality on school readiness skills differ by child demographic background or child
entry characteristics such as cognitive skills, attention skills, and problem behaviors?” It
is important to note before developing answers that both federal and state governments
invest heavily in providing (presumably high quality) child care as a means to improve
school readiness skills for children (Comber, 2014). This implies that child care quality
is significant to our education system. The current investigation will look at the factors
that involve: school readiness, early care quality, transitions from informal to formal
education and importance of testing, and lastly students of color.
II. Review of Literature
Since the 1950s, researchers have investigated how external factors can
influence or predict student success in school, and particularly school readiness (Milner,
1951). Readiness is a term used to describe preparation for what comes next. As stated
above, school readiness encompasses physical, cognitive, language, and behavioral
aspects of development (Keys, Farkas, Burchinal, 2013). Many other definitions of
school readiness can be found in the research literature. For some, school readiness
relates to students’ cognitive abilities (Nobel, Tottenham, & Casey, 2005). For others,
89
�readiness is more related to maturational, social, and emotional domains of development
(Ray & Smith, 2010) or to whether students have the tools necessary to work effectively
in a classroom setting (Carlton & Winsler, 1999). This paper defines school readiness as
how prepared a child is for what they are expected to know and do in academic settings.
Children spend most of their time in child care facilities during development
years, or early childhood. In addition to this, children experience socialization through
encounters with other people. Through daily interactions over many years, acceptable
social customs are taught and fostered. Other children as well as adults can have a great
impact on a broad range of issues in the child's life, including achievement in school.
What is important to note is that schools and teachers are held accountable for student
achievements. Due to this, preschool programs are widely seen as an important and costeffective means of getting children ready for school, especially children at risk for
academic difficulties (Reynolds & Temple, 2008). Children who enter school not ready
for typical learning experiences continue to have difficulties in later school years.
Research suggests that academic school readiness is an important predictor of later school
outcomes. Children who start formal schooling with stronger skills tend to have higher
achievement scores in elementary school.
Young children are increasingly entering academically demanding school
settings where an emphasis on accountability and standards has replaced an emphasis on
child development. However, many young children enter school unprepared for both
academic and social expectations. Research suggests (Aunola, Leskinen, Lerkkanen, &
Nurmi, 2004) that if students enter kindergarten at a disadvantage, early gaps in
understandings of literacy or mathematics tend to be sustained or widened over time; this
appears to be particularly true for children of poverty (McLoyd & Purtell, 2008).
Identifying strategies that move young children toward becoming independent learners,
to increase the likelihood of their school success in later years is imperative.
In order to achieve this vision, we must first identify the specific characteristics
or factors that enable certain children to enter formal schooling at an advantage while
others enter at a disadvantage. It has been well established that early exposure to poverty
is linked to children’s future functioning along multiple domains, including behavior
problems, self-regulatory skill, and academic performance (Linver, Brooks-Gunn, &
Kohen, 2002). There is a clear, detrimental relationship between growing up in a poor
family and children’s cognitive functioning and academic performance. Prior research
has found negative life events to be related to children’s cognitive skills and behavior
problems (Roy, & Raver, 2014). Children living in poverty also have higher levels of
90
�behavior problems than more privileged children. One might ask how this research
connects with preschool quality and school readiness. Thus, there is this pending question
of how outside factors effect children’s social emotional heath and school readiness.
Children raised in poverty are less likely to have crucial needs met than their
more affluent peers are and, as a result, are subject to some grave consequences. And
those same impoverished children are those that attend lower quality early care programs.
It is truly central to note, experimental literature suggests that higher quality care can
have a lasting impact on development when that care begins during the early childhood
years (Belfield, Nores, Barnett, & Schweinhart, 2005). With the knowledge that higher
quality early care and education programs expect to close the gaps in children’s school
readiness; it is crucial to understand the ways in which social settings can affect academic
achievement. Essentially, the inquiry revolves around defining quality and child care. But
ultimately, figuring out what is the concerning differences and factors among low/poor
quality and high quality early care programs.
Defining Quality and Child Care
Quality, most broadly, includes attributes of caregiver/child interactions, the
degree of developmental stimulation in the physical and social environment, how time is
spent, and structural domains such as amount of space for play and educational status of
the caregiver (Dowsett, Huston, Imes, & Gennetian, 2008). These attributes are important
for child care, as they are a part of the foundation of childhood development. The
literature on child-care environmental quality is primarily based on both constructivist
theory, in which the adults’ role is to provide children with rich materials that promote
child-initiated exploration, and sociocultural theory, in which the adults’ role is to
provide frequent sensitive and responsive interactions with children (Vygotsky, 1962).
These attributes go hand in hand with non-parental child care.
McCarthy and colleagues (2007), said that children participate in different types
of non-parental care at different moments in their years before starting kindergarten,
often for different reasons. A parent returning to work, tends to be the primary reason for
non-parental care, before or within the first year or two of a child’s life. However, there
are negative effects in children who begin non-parental care before one or two years of
age. Those children who begin non-parental care at very early ages, generally are those
from low-income families…and unfortunately those children later demonstrate the largest
behavioral and socioemotional deficits. The beneficial effects of care are associated with
later experiences. Children who begin center-based care between the ages of 2 and 3
91
�years demonstrate the largest cognitive/school readiness gains (Loeb, Bridges, Bassok,
Fuller, & Rumberger, 2007). Understanding how different care arrangements at different
developmental moments influence children’s growth is important for enforcing child care
policy. It is also important for informing the broader range of social and economic
policies that shape family life at the interconnection of work and child rearing.
The Concerning Differences in Low/Poor Quality Care
Low quality care involves a setting in which the caregiver does not interact often
with the children, and when said caregiver does, care at times can be harsh and critical.
Children prosper cognitively, emotionally, and socially in programs with fewer children
per group or per adult staff member, with caregivers who are sensitive and responsive to
children, with well-educated and well-paid staff, and with low staff turnover.
Unfortunately, child care programs with these characteristics are rare (McCartney et al.,
2007). Among children of all income levels in child care centers, about 15% are thought
to be in child care centers of such poor quality that their health or development is
threatened. Such settings might have clear safety hazards such as broken glass on the
floor, poor sanitation practices, unresponsive caregivers, or few toys for the children.
About the same percentage of children are thought to be in child care centers that actually
promote child development—that is, they are in programs that have the positive
characteristics described above. The remaining 70% are in centers that are only
mediocre—neither helpful nor harmful (Votruba-Drzal et al., 2004).
In general, the extant research suggests that children benefit from time in nonparental care when the quality of the child care environment is high. Particularly so for
children in low-income households, where child care quality appears both to buffer
against the negative effects of a resource-poor home environment, and potentially tries to
improve the quality of the home environment by decreasing parental stress and enhancing
parenting knowledge and skills. Some of the differences in child care effects may be
attributable to differences in the quality of care children receive both in child care and
when they are at home (Votruba-Drzal et al., 2004). Research suggests that child-care
programs can benefit children’s socioemotional development, especially when quality is
high and among children from low-income families (Votruba-Drzal et al., 2004).
Fortunately, depending on settings and situations, high quality preschool experiences for
children from low-income families are more cost efficient than any interventions
delivered later in their lives (Jeon, Langill, Peterson, Luze, Carta, & Atwater, 2010).
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�The Concerning Differences in High Quality Care
High quality care is characterized by sensitivity and responsiveness, generous
amounts of attention and support, and high levels of verbal and cognitive stimulation.
Compared to children in settings with less engaged caregivers, children with high quality
daily interactions tend to display stronger cognitive and language development, school
readiness, and early school achievement. High quality care has been found to be
especially effective in improving academic outcomes for children growing up in poverty
or facing other risks at home. Higher quality prekindergarten programs are associated
with more positive child outcomes (Burchinal, et al. 2000). Preschool children in
classrooms that are characterized by warmth and high instructional support display better
development of language and behavioral skills than children in lower quality classrooms.
The higher the quality, the greater the short and long-term positive impact on children’s
development.
Transitions
Maher, & Bellen (2015) stated that, the transition to the first year of formal
schooling is multidimensional and complex; it also involves a major change and period of
adjustment in children’s lives. In order to understand transitions, one must understand the
difference between formal and informal education. Groobman, Forward, & Peterson,
state that formal education is providing an education that includes and determines a rigid
and strict working plan and procedure that has the least possibility of deviating from the
set procedures. These plans and procedures are classified in such a way that the
achievement of pre-determined objectives of education can be evaluated at the end of the
entire educational process. In simple words, formal education includes a strict and well
planned method to provide essential educational experience to students so that the desired
educational objectives may be achieved. Educative agencies like school, library,
recreation centers, reading rooms, religious institutions come under the heading of formal
agencies to provide education as they always follow a defined and particular method to
provide educational experience to the people who come in contact with them.
On a similar note, informal education, or agencies of education, includes
unpremeditated or non-definite method to provide education to students. The informal
education system does not contain any strict or rigid plan to reach a desired and predetermined educational objective. Just the same as formal education, informal education
has clear educational objectives. However, those educational objectives are defined on
the wide connotative range. It is very much dependent upon the person who experiences
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�these objectives (Groobman, Forward, & Peterson, 1976). Informal education does not
follow any specific or particular method to convey educational experience to their
students but provide education in some form which is distinctly absorbed by its students.
There is a pressing question of, does informal education, or informal agencies of
education effect transitions positively or negatively?
To make the transition from preschool or kindergarten to formal school. This
involves a ‘significant ecological shift’, with children having to navigate increased
academic social demands, as well as physical changes in their learning environments
(Ladd, 1996). The transition to school marks a change in their identity and status—that
being the shift from a child to a pupil. With this new identity, children need to negotiate
all the intricacies of a school’s culture, particularly the ways in which teaching and
learning is conducted. There is a significant shift from a play-based pedagogy in prior-toschool settings to a more structured, cognitive learning environment in formal schooling
(Maher, & Bellen, 2015).
Research has indicated that only 32% of fourth-graders in the United States have
met literacy proficiency standards. Furthermore, minority children have disproportionately
performed below minimum proficiency standards in both literacy and mathematics (Reyna,
2005).There is this fear that is “supported by national surveys of kindergarten teachers
who report that their primary concern is that children—particularly those living in
poverty—are not entering kindergarten with the basic learning behaviors and socialemotional competencies that they need to transition successfully into a formal learning
environment” (Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, & Cox, 2000). This then affirms the significance
of early childhood education and the necessity of effective early identification and
intervention.
Young children exposed to social and biological risk factors are at greater risk
for not developing foundational competencies, placing them at future risk of poor school
performance (Sameroff & Fiese, 2000). Furthermore, “quality early care and education
have been found to promote positive school outcomes, particularly for vulnerable young
children living in poverty” (Kolker, Osborne, & Schnurer, 2004). There is a growing
awareness that some children transition into formal schooling more readily than others.
Compelling evidence indicates that children familiar with the skills and knowledge
associated with the dominant practices of literacy teaching in schools have an
advantage…there is often a disjuncture between the literacy experiences of children from
minority backgrounds and those they encounter on entry into formal schooling.
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�Are those who receive low/poor quality care put at a disadvantage, when it
comes to transitioning into formal school settings? Does the start of a child transitioning
into formal schooling, determine where they end up? A positive start has the potential not
only to assist children’s future academic and social competence, but also to ensure that
families and children feel valued and comfortable in school (Dockett et al. 2010). The
time is ripe to strengthen efforts in early education, during the primary grades, to support
kindergarten transition and the school years.
III. Observations
In an effort to gain further insight on the importance of school readiness in
preschool and kindergarten children, I decided to dedicate my time and field work to the
Early Childhood Center. I worked with Mrs. Rucci and the two-year old children. My
focus was on factors that determine preschool and prekindergarten classroom quality. I
observed firsthand how being active with the children, continuously keeping them
involved, teaching them how to constructively follow rules, and supporting them
promoted positive results.
The Early Childhood center is split into four classes, the classes range in ages
from 2-5 (preschool to kindergarten age). Although there are four different classrooms,
the children benefit from their teachers keeping them all connected with having visit
days. A visit day is a special day. During visit days, at least two teachers combine their
classrooms. This allows the children to interact with their peers that are at different
levels. Which is imperative because when these students transition from early care into
formal schooling, they will encounter students who have different types of capabilities or
succession rates. However, because children at this Early Childhood Center are
experiencing high quality care, they are more likely to have positive child outcomes.
A Typical Day at the Early Childhood Center
School starts at 9am every Monday through Friday, unless there is a holiday.
The children are eager to play, (and when I say play I do mean learn). Every morning
starts the same. The children fill the gazebo next to Parker Hall, as they wait for their
fellow classmates to exit their parent vehicles. Once every child that is supposed to be at
school for the day arrives, they grab a hand of a teacher and walk to the classrooms in
campus hall. Once in their designated classrooms, children place their belongings into
their assigned cubbies. Mrs. Rucci encourages the children to be independent, which
enhances decision making. The teachers also feel that it is important for the children to
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�practice facial recognition, so the children are told to grab their picture person and place
themselves on the wall near their cubbies; as a way of checking into school!
After that, the children are taken to the bathroom and wash their hands. After
clean hands, they “choga-choo-choo” train back to the classroom for circle time! During
circle, the children sing songs, identify what day, month and year it is. They also
determine what the weather is like outside. Another big part of circle time is getting each
child to say their name. Mrs. Rucci goes around and asks the children to introduce
themselves to the class by saying their name. Of course, this is done in a song. After the
introductions, each child is given a specific job to do throughout the day. The children
then listen or read along during story time. Following circle time is playtime, along with
an arts and craft activity. Since I started at the Early Childhood Center all the arts and
craft activities have been Halloween or Fall themed. The teachers and graduate assistants
facilitate each arts and crafts activity. It can be anything from painting to gluing or
pasting.
During playtime, I observed how the children play and use their imaginations.
They play with playdoh, dolls, cars/trucks, all kinds of toys! They build Legos, very tall
up and pretend they are construction workers and crash the Legos down. They also have a
classroom sandbox, that they love to play in. There is also a kitchen set and play food,
that the children are very interested in. I personally think their favorite playtime
activities are the sandbox, Legos, and the kitchen set. When playtime has come to an end,
the child that was chosen to conclude playtime at the beginning of the day during job
distributions, rings a bell to end playtime. I get to observe these children play, and be
creative. This is my favorite part of my day.
I am almost positive that snack time is every child’s favorite part of the day.
Snack time would be equivalent to the time of day when we adults eat lunch. In each
classroom at the Early Childhood Center, snack time is done the same across the board.
Directly after the bell rings to conclude playtime. The teachers (in my case Mrs. Rucci),
play instrumental music to bring the children to a calm. The teachers do this so that they
can transition into snacks. During the music, the children are asked to put their heads on
the table and relax. While this is happening, the graduate assistants are preparing snacks
for the children, such as: goldfish, cookies, animal crackers and water or juice. Again,
Mrs. Rucci is big on allowing the children to be independent so they get to choose
between water and or juice (usually apple). But, in order to receive snacks each child
must say please and thank you, as this teaches social awareness “Do’s and Don’ts!”
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�After snack time, there is another circle time, full of more book reading/listening
and activities. Before the conclusion of the day, the children either have another playtime
inside or on the playground. To conclude the day the children grab their belongings,
check themselves out of school (facial recognition) and go back to the gazebo to await
their parent’s arrival!
Dissection of My Placement
While discussing the specifics of everyday life at the Early Childhood Center is
important. I must note what I have observed in regards to my research. There are several
things that I have witnessed at The Early Childhood Center that I’d like to touch base on.
There are the quality of care, the importance of routines and the importance of play.
1) I truly believe that children who attend the Early Childhood Center receive high
quality care. The teachers and graduate assistants that work at the Early
Childhood center, are very involved. The kids leave their homes with their
families, and come to school to gain and join another family. The teachers are
very respectful of each child’s needs. No matter any differences or no matter at
what rate a student learns, teachers consistently support each student. There is a
need to give the children of the Early Childhood center undivided attention and
respectful sensitivity.
A specific case: There is a child who from first glance seems to struggle. She
struggles with speech, responsiveness, listening, comprehension, instruction, and
basic communication skills. She truly lacks social cues. The teachers noticed
fairly quickly, her dissimilarities from a “normal” child at her age. Mrs. Rucci,
immediately pulled her file, to search for an explanation as to why there is a gap.
While waiting on her file, we continued to observe this child’s actions. Some of
her actions:
Delayed Responses to Questions. For example, if she were asked
multiple times to sit down, she will either stare at you blankly, or say
thank you and not sit down. Someone will physically have to pick her
up and sit her down, in order for her to follow instructions.
Listening. For example, a bell is rung every day to conclude playtime,
and every child knows this. A perfect example of her not knowing how
to follow instructions or follow social cues, is when a teacher rings the
bell to conclude playtime, and she continues to play, although all the
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�students around her are picking up the toys, placing the toys where they
belong, and where they originally found the toys.
Self-Awareness. For example, when children are walking to the
playground or even on the playground they are all very independent.
She, however, is wailing and is afraid of walking across the play set at
the playground. She constantly needs assistance in regards to certain
activities.
Social Cues. For example, when she is either told to play or sit down,
she will continuously either sit in a chair where a child is currently
already sitting in, or try to play with a toy that a child is already playing
with.
There is a plethora of outstanding factors that grasped our attention, and they
have continued. But as her teachers continue to work with her, those factors
have improved. She is gaining self-awareness, communicating better and
gaining social cues. And lastly, she is actually listening and responding at a
greater speed. This for me is why quality care is so incredibly important.
Imagine if she went to a center where teachers have so many other children to
look after and cannot pay attention to her needs. Which most likely would mean
that she would not have gotten the attention she needed in order to progress.
2) In the Early Childhood Center, there is such a stress on routines during this
period in their lives. Specifically, in regards to the structure and layout of their
day. These children encounter the same activities every single day. Each activity
is held to such importance, which can be helpful to the children. I feel children
should be exploring and encountering different activities and lessons daily.
Instead children are performing the same tasks, and activities every day.
Children are not broadening their horizons, so in what regard can this be harmful?
A specific case: There is a specific child who has been in the same classroom
since he arrived at the Early Childhood Center. He is a year older than the rest of
the children in his class, he is three. This child has been active in basically the
same routines for about a year and a half now. Is this child growing? Now what
is important to note, is that he is a leader in his classroom. He is very energetic
in every activity. But, personally I feel as if he is stagnating. He answers all the
questions during circle time and story time. His teachers have to ask him not to
speak to give other students a chance to engage. Even when he doesn’t speak,
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�the other students either do not feel comfortable enough yet, as they are two
years old, or they truly do not know the answer. At what point does this
continued silencing of this child interfere with his growth?
3) Lastly, in the Early Childhood Center play is important. Especially play of the
children, where they are learning how to be independent. Being independent is
important because it gives children a chance to make their own decisions and
gain self-awareness.
A specific case: There is a child that is not independent. She always asks for
help, no matter what the task is. Even as small as picking up a piece of chalk,
she will ask someone to hold her hand, and come with her. She is an only child,
thus the teachers feel as if her parents cater to her every need. They have
stressed allowing her to make her own decisions. By allowing her to be
independent, especially through play, we have observed a switch in her wanting
to do more for herself. She now says these phrases: “I’m a big girl, and I can.”
IV. Discussions
When I first started at the Early Childhood Center I was unsure of the route that
I wanted to take, in regards to research and any resulting publications. But as I continued
my observations, I noticed an emphasis on routines and schedules; specifically with
preschool and prekindergarten children. I am aware that some routines at this age are
vital, for example: hygiene training, social awareness Do’s and Don’ts, and following
rules. However, these children execute the same activities everyday around the exact
same time. As it should be for children this age, their activities mostly revolve around
play. On the other hand, I'm wondering how these environments better prepare children
for first through third grade, and essentially onward. Children in preschool and
kindergarten are learning their ABC’s, how to count, how to interact with individuals
their age, how to listen, how to follow restrictions or rules, and lastly genuinely playing
and learning to identify with their own interests. Which are all great skills for children at
this age, but starting at first grade children will be heavily tested on literacy, mathematics
and language skills. In some states, e.g. New York, preschoolers are mandated to take
exams concerning each child’s future needs (Early Screening Inventory-Revised, ESI-R2)
and each child’s progress (The Iowa Test of Basic Skills, ITBS3). However, preschoolers
2
3
More detailed information on the ESI-R can be found in Appendix A.
More detailed information on the ITBS can be found in Appendix B.
99
�are not being tested on the material learned in classrooms and receiving feedback in the
form of a grade or percentage. Consequently, most children that come out of preschool
and kindergarten have limited experience with written, individual environments that
focus on testing the new subject matter that they have studied.
My observations have gone into figuring out if preschools and kindergartens are
at fault or is the education plan through first and third grade at fault. There is an
additional pending question of should children be tested, to be placed into levels based on
their intelligence of subject matter, at this age. From my observations, children are not
ready for testing environments, based on their day to day tasks. Furthermore, I believe
that tests on material studied does not accurately indicate a student’s full potential.
Currently in our education system, grades are weighed so heavily in predicting a
student’s future, and success. That measurement is too often misread. The types of tests
given do not reveal important details regarding an individual’s true capabilities. They are
subject to pervious influences, and factors at hand during the testing process. In addition,
they in no way show learning styles, creativity, personality, or individuality; these are key
elements in assessment, especially in children. Our education system pushes children too
quickly. As said above “Research has indicated that only 32% of fourth-graders in the
United States have met literacy proficiency standards (Reyna, 2005).” More and more
teachers are concerned for the students that are entering into formal schooling. One may
ask why? Children “are not entering kindergarten with the basic learning behaviors and
social- emotional competencies that they need to transition successfully into a formal
learning environment” (Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, & Cox, 2000).
Another issue we need to study, is complex social problems. Such as poverty
and unequal educational outcomes to be well-versed in how to approach such issues. It is
imperative to take into account the countless issues that influence school readiness in
children. Some problems, as I stated above, in short are: the quality of care facilities, low
income families versus affluent families; and the care that children receive because of
those factors (either at home or in early care). Child care is increasingly viewed as an
opportunity to enhance children’s development and school readiness. Because of this
there is a high correlation between child care, later success, and the grave detriments of
low/poor quality facilities.
While compiling my research, I noticed a plethora of issues and immense
problems in our education system that I’d like to introduce: 1) the education system needs
to recognize student capabilities (positive or negative) and the rates at which students
100
�succeed. 2) There are general biases that tend to effect students of color (specifically
African American or Black boys).
1) There is an excess of students who are capable of succeeding and exceeding
their peers. Luckily in New York City, Gifted and Talented (G&T) programs are
one way that the New York City Department of Education supports the needs of
exceptional students. G&T programs aim to deliver accelerated, rigorous, and
specialized instruction aligned to Common Core Learning Standards (Gifted &
Talented, 2016). Yet, in some school systems these students are not being
recognized, which creates a lag in their learning. The school system needs to
distinguish these students and their capabilities of excelling at faster rates. But to
identify that students learn at different rates, either positively or negatively,
would create a separation between assessing students. When there are situations
where students are recognized for exceeding their peers, in some school
systems, parents are convinced that their child’s social upbringing could be
effected. Furthermore, that learning things at a higher capacity and level, would
push their child too fast, and ultimately stunt their growth. Personally, I feel a
healthy push is always necessary in a classroom setting. Most students who
should move up a year or grade level who do not, end up not being challenged,
which could eventually be a detriment on the child’s grades. And, unfortunately
in our education system, grades are weighed so heavily and are used to measure
intelligence. If a child is capable, they should be pushed in these types of
situations.
2) “In spite of the advancements of the civil rights movements, black boys and men
generally remain excluded from good jobs, schools, and neighborhoodsˮ
(Brown, Dancy, & Davis, 2013). Thus, the practice of de facto racial segregation
is one strategy of control that illustrates how politics of containment persist amid
societal laws that abolish such maneuvers. For instance, formal desegregation in
schools gave African American boys and men access to educational attainment;
however, possessing the right to be in a public space, such as schools, did not
necessarily translate into the right of equitable treatment in those public spaces
(Brown, Dancy, & Davis, 2013).
There are numerous studies and education policy reports that have
documented the lower school readiness skills, both in terms of achievement and
social competence, of Black children compared to their White peers (Aud, Fox,
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�& KewalRamani, 2010). Especially for black boys, “black males remain one of
the most socially and academically marginalized student groups in US schools”
(Brown, Dancy, & Davis, 2013). This group is put at a disadvantage because
most teachers are unsure of how to identify a healthy way of advocating and or
dealing with students of color. Most teachers assume because of behavioral
issues or repetitive situations of acting out, that there are early childhood deficits
like special needs or ADHD. As a result, these boys are labeled at a young age
for disorders that they most likely do not have. Which then places them into
classroom that unfortunately are not challenging them enough. Thus these males
are bored in class, not caring, and end up being trouble makers. Which in some
cases can lead to them being kicked out of school and on the street, and most
likely in jail, i.e., the school to prison pipeline. “The school-to-prison pipeline
refers to the disturbing national trend in which children are funneled out of
public schools and into juvenile and criminal justice systems” (Brown, Dancy,
& Davis, 2013). But we tend to disregard the fact that these teachers simply do
not understand these students and how to deal or find ways to help them cope.
“For instance, disparate learning and discipline trends flow from assumptions
that black males are ‘unteachable̕ and ‘up-to-no goodˮ’ (Brown, Dancy, &
Davis, 2013). The “black males misbehaving” narrative (Clarke, 1991), which
expresses, affirms, and authorizes popular fears and anxieties around raced
bodies, intersects with school sanction.
In regards to formal learning, I’d like to discuss classroom quality and quality
care. I will be introducing two quotes that I will compare to my observations of the Early
Childhood Center.
1. Classroom quality is increasingly seen as a critical aspect of a child’s preschool
experience (Howes et al., 2008). Quality is so imperative it can determine
multiple factors for children outcomes. Thankfully at the Early Childhood
Center, children are receiving high quality care. Children have caregivers who
are very much engaged. The children are receiving generous amounts of
attention and support. No matter the level or difficulty that it takes, the children
always come first. The children are being pushed to think for themselves.
2.
High quality care is characterized by sensitivity and responsiveness, generous
amounts of attention and support, and high levels of verbal and cognitive
stimulation. Compared to children in settings with less engaged caregivers,
102
�children with high quality daily interactions tend to display stronger cognitive
and language development, school readiness, and early school achievement
(Burchinal, et al. 2000).
Thankfully at the Early Childhood Center, children are receiving high quality
care. Children have caregivers who are very much engaged. The children are receiving
generous amounts of attention and support. No matter the level or difficulty that it takes,
the children always come first. The children are being pushed to think for themselves.
“High quality care has been found to be especially effective in improving academic
outcomes for children...Higher quality prekindergarten programs are associated with
more positive child outcomes (Burchinal, et al. 2000). Preschool children in classrooms
that are characterized by warmth and high instructional support display better
development of language and behavioral skills than children in lower quality classrooms.
The higher the quality, the greater the short and long-term positive impact on children’s
development.”
Finally, while conducting my research, a point of interest are the types of
engagement that children in the Early Childhood Center encounter. They will most
definitely be encountering free play, group or individual instruction. As the research
concluded, high quality care is imperative for the success during later years for children.
As I stated in my observations, the Early Childhood Center is a high care quality facility.
However, are they types of engagement that the children at the Early Childhood Center
are encountering, helpful or harmful? Chein et al. 2010, have helped draw conclusions to
this question. “The assessment of quality is typically at the classroom level and involves
global assessments across all activities. Chien and colleagues (2010) investigated the
types of engagement young children could encounter in child care settings (free play,
group or individual instruction, and scaffolded learning). Children in settings with more
free play showed smaller gains than their peers on literacy and mathematics indicators at
the preschool level” (Chien, Howes, Burchinal, Pianta, Ritchie, Bryant, Clifford, Early, &
Barbarin, 2010).
V. Summary and Conclusions
A plethora of questions and statements have been raised that need to be
answered, and addressed in order to draw conclusions to the influencing factors of
childhood school readiness. This research discussed school readiness, early care quality,
transitions from informal to formal education and importance of testing, and lastly
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�students of color. All of these factors go into determining school readiness of a child. As
the research continued there is one undecided question in regard to school readiness.
Should a child be ready for school or should the school be ready for a child? There is an
argument that all children are ready to learn; the emphasis should be on the degree to
which a child is “ready for school,” or even whether the school itself is “ready” to meet
the needs of all children. These statements begin to draw some conclusions in regards to
school readiness factors.
I'm hoping that this thesis will spark conversation and cause others to conduct
further research in regards to the betterment of care quality, school readiness of
preschoolers or kindergarteners, their transitions from early care to formal schooling,
testing measurements, the overwhelming biases towards students of color, and lastly
school readiness. As stated above, early childhood is a time of remarkable brain growth.
Children at this age are in the prime of their developmental years. These years lay the
foundation for successive learning and development. These foundational years are
important because it is the time when children are undergoing rapid development. The
experiences that these children have will shape the adults they will become.
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�Appendix A: Mandated Test for Preschoolers in New York City
The Early Screening Inventory-Revised, ESI-R, provides a brief developmental
screening instrument designed to be individually administered to children from 3 to 5 years
of age. It identifies children who may need special education services in order to perform
successfully in school. Research has shown the ESI-R to be highly reliable and valid. The
instrument addresses developmental, sensory, and behavioral concerns in the following
areas: Visual Motor/Adaptive, Language and Cognition, and Gross Motor Skills. The
focus under Visual Motor/Adaptive skills: fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, short
term memory, and ability to reproduce two and three dimensional forms and structures.
The focus under Language and Cognition: language comprehension, verbal expression,
ability to reason and accountability to remember and repeat auditory sequence. The focus
under Gross Motor Skills: gross motor coordination, and the ability to imitate body
positions from visual cues. Ultimately the ESI-R identifies children who may need further
evaluation to determine if they have a condition that may place them at risk for school
failure. It samples domains of developmental tasks, rather than the domain of specific
accomplishments that indicate academic readiness. Finally, it survey’s a child’s ability to
acquire skills rather than child’s current level of skill achievement and performance (Early
Childhood, 2017).
Appendix B: The Iowa Test of Basic Skills
The ITBS is a standardized achievement test for students in kindergarten through
eighth grade. The test is tailored specifically for different grade levels. Developed by the
College of Education at the University of Iowa, the ITBS is used to monitor year-to-year
progress and can help supplement teachers in their observations about student capabilities,
such as what a student’s most and least developed skills are. The ITBS has been in use
since 1935. The test is available at different levels for students at different grade levels.
The batteries aim to help determine how prepared students are for academic instruction,
what individual accommodations may be necessary, which students may require early
intervention, and to determine each student’s individual baseline of achievement.
Questions are delivered orally by the teacher and response options are pictures, words or
numerals, as appropriate. Approximately 30 minutes are given for each test. The Level 5
Battery is given to children in kindergarten. It emphasizes early childhood academic skills,
such as listening vocabulary and math, and assesses how prepared a child is cognitively to
begin the academic curriculum. Level 6 is given to students in the fall and midyear of first
grade and is similar to Level 5, though it also includes an optional reading test for those
students who are ready to have their literacy skills assessed (Erin Hasinger, 2009-2016).
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�Internalized Racism and Indoctrinated Religion:
Alice Walker’s “Convergence” and The Color Purple
Madison J. Ruff (English)1
In Alice Walker’s novel, The Color Purple, and short story, “Convergence,” she
seeks to give her readers insight into the complex spiritual identities of American black
women. In both stories she addresses how internalized racism and indoctrinated religion
are inextricably linked and, though Walker does not explicitly condemn religion (or the
Judeo-Christian God), she explores the racism innate to many of the images and
assumptions surrounding these religious institutions. Through these two narratives,
Walker reveals how being a part of an oppressed people can add further layers of
complexity to an already multifaceted personal religious/spiritual identity. While
Walker’s characters illustrate some positive aspects of formal religion, her narratives
primarily work to expose the Western appropriation of Christianity and identify the sexist
and racist implications of said appropriation. She also implies through these narratives
that in order for her characters to fully develop their racial and spiritual identities, they
must separate themselves from the indoctrinated religion they internalized, take a few
steps back to gain new perspective, and shape their own spirituality.
In the Western tradition, white men have overly shaped biblical interpretation
resulting in a biased and jaundiced teaching. Such bias contributes to the internalization
of racist attitudes/beliefs in non-white communities, towards members of one’s own
ethnic group, including oneself (internalized racism). Those in power often
subconsciously project their own agendas, biases, and superiority complexes onto its
message and then convey this distorted message to those below them as pure, honest-toGod truth. In order to confirm themselves as authoritative, those in power maintain
specific agendas and biases. Such understandings are distorted views of reality in which
they are “rightly” or “naturally” in power. The powerless, the disenfranchised, and the
oppressed are often told that this distorted reality is simple pure, honest-to-God truth. As
a result of this process of naturalizing an artificial power structure, the oppressed people
can develop a deep, formidable, and insidious double consciousness. When Shug explains
why she and Celie pictured God as an old white man, saying, “[…] that’s the [God] that’s
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Alison Arant for EN 342: The Contested South.
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�in the white folks’ white bible”, Celie vehemently responds, “Shug! […] God wrote the
bible, white folks had nothing to do with it” (Walker 35). Celie, like so many others,
bought the story that the Bible’s message has gone untampered with by those who teach
it. The challenge of living with this internalized racism and double consciousness is, as
W.E.B Du Bois puts it in his book, The Souls of Black Folk, “always looking at one’s self
through the eyes” of a racist white society, and “measuring oneself by the means of a
nation that looked back in contempt” (Du Bois 3). This kind of religion-induced double
consciousness penetrates deeper than that perpetuated by secular societal discrimination
because people believe these principles come from God himself, springing from a
spiritual truth. In the same way people are assigned and blindly accept an “innate”
(entirely arbitrary) value based on skin color, many people also blindly accept the racism,
sexism, and other farces of religious teachings in that the same unquestioning manner
because the preacher-man said so.
While some of Walkers characters fall prey to internalized racism, others resist
it by parodying and exposing it. In Subjectivity in the American Protest Novel, Kimberly
Drake describes double consciousness as being split between the, “[…] limiting racial
identity and an unlimited ‘human’ identity, so that to be ‘raced’ in the United States is in
practice to be viewed categorically, through the lens of stereotype, which dehumanizes
the individual being viewed” (2). In Walker’s stories we witness the protagonists wrestle
with their racial identities and the stereotypes their societies have assigned them. In
“Convergence” Adrianne is frustrated with the condescending manner in which Mrs.
Thomson speaks to her and her mother, so she rebelliously adopts an exaggerated
“Southern, uneducated, Black” accent to demonstrate her frustration and highlight the
absurdity of the condescension: “Thet’s jest zackly whut ah mean to say, mz Thomson”
(Walker 5). Adrianne exposes and parodies what Mrs. Taylor expects of her by using
subversion. As Drake writes, the heart of this double consciousness is, “inhabiting both
identities: not simply “American” and “Negro,” but American observing subject and
Negro object of observation” (Drake 2). Walker’s protagonists are not free to simply be
individuals (observers) but are also aware of being observed (and judged/stereotyped);
this is a heavy awareness to operate under. Adrianne is aware of Mrs. Thomson’s gaze,
she recognizes the injustice at work, and uses subversion to play this White woman’s
condescension against her.
Drake explains that double consciousness is both a psychological disorder and a
survival strategy, a fact explicitly exposed in both The Color Purple and “Convergence”.
As a result of this double consciousness, the women in these stories both reject and cling
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�to their assigned racial, religious, and gender identities. While Adrianne and Shug reject
the stereotypes being projected on them, Celie initially retreats into the stereotypes she
has been forced to embody. Drake suggests that, “constructing [a] kind of therapeutic
mirror” (Drake 15) helps in the process of deconstructing double consciousness and
reconstructing a positive personal identity. We see Celie do this kind of deconstruction
and reconstruction in The Color Purple and Adrianne in “Convergence”. They attempt to
take a step back, take apart, reevaluate, and reconstruct their views of themselves, trying
to identify and disempower the lies that have been projected on them—and their
spirituality— by society. Celie writes, “Well, us talk and talk about God, but I’m still
adrift. Trying to chase that old white man out of my head. I been so busy thinking bout
him I never truly notice nothing God make. Not a blade of corn (how it do that?) not the
color purple (where it come from?)” (Walker). She struggles to let go of the deeply
internalized racial fabrications she has been trained to believe, demonstrating how deeply
these beliefs are ingrained into one’s psyche as a child. Adrianne thinks to herself, “She
wondered if she would ever recover from her mother’s faith? She thought not” (Walker
6). Although Adrianne is referring to her ability to let go her mother’s faith, Walker
intentionally parallels this statement with all the racial/political conversation in the short
story. Though they struggle with finding a complete release from these institutions and
beliefs, these women are freeing themselves, to an extent, simply by reevaluating such
structures, so while they can’t totally undo the way double consciousness shapes them,
they are not totally controlled by it either.
This race-based double consciousness is inextricably related to the religious
structures within these two Walker stories. Indoctrinated religion can be defined as
uncritical, unquestioning acceptance of religious doctrine. This kind of indoctrination
implies forcibly or coercively causing people to act and think on the basis of a certain
ideology— or in other words, brainwashing in the name of Jesus. Walker highlights a
distinct difference between this kind of blind conditioning and personal spirituality. The
protagonists in Walker’s novel and short story resist the clutches of white-run,
patriarchal, organized religion and instead they seek a spirituality apart from those racist
and sexist institutions. Other authors have also captured this relationship between
internalized racism and indoctrinated religion in a similar fashion; in Maya Angelou’s
autobiographical novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing, she writes of her younger self
perceiving racism and injustice through the eyes of a (Black) child: “Of course I knew
God was white too, but no one could make me believe He was prejudiced” (Angelou 4950). This quote captures a certain irony— she believes God is not prejudiced, but her
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�very perception of Him as White exposes prejudice and internalized racism. The Color
Purple captures this same complex, the intertwined relationship between religion and
race through Celie’s initial view of God as a white man.
Historically, women have had less say in the conversation about who God is—
not for lack of insight or opinion, but because they are often not allowed a voice in the
discussion— and therefore masculinist bias plays out with bold assurance and selfrighteousness in some religious contexts. The characters in Walkers̕ stories
reclaim/redefine their “God” in a powerful way; they examine their internalized biases,
sorting out the strawman from the real thing. One cannot discuss religion and racism
without discussing gender and sexuality, especially when dealing with Alice Walker.
Shug and Celie specifically address the intersectional nature of religion, gender, and race
in The Color Purple. Shug says, “You mad cause he don’t seem to listen to your prayers.
Humph! Do the mayor listen to anything colored say?” (Walker). In the same way the
characters have racial stereotypes projected on them and religious beliefs impressed on
them, these characters also have gender roles and sexual expectations forced upon them.
For instance, Celie is married off to Mr.______ without any consideration to how she
might feel about it, and then expected to have sex with this new husband regardless of her
complete lack of desire and repulsion, “I don’t like it at all. What is it like? He git up on
you, heist your nightgown round your waist, plunge in. Most times I pretend I ain’t there.
He never know the difference. Never ast me how I feel, nothing. Just do his business, get
off, go to sleep” (Walker). Celie is trapped by the societal expectations, and this
oppression prevents her from feeling autonomous, worthy of happiness or pleasure, or
even fully human. Therefore, in order to become the truest version of herself she must
also reevaluate this gender and sexual component of her identity. There is a kind of
rebirth alluded to here as Shug tells Celie, “Why Miss Celie, she say, you still a virgin”
(Walker). In the same way girls are told their virginity is renewed when they ask for
forgiveness and are “born again” in Christ, Celie is given new life, a salvation of sorts, in
her life-giving relationship with Shug.
As Walker’s characters outgrow traditional monotheism, they simultaneously
reject their previously held patriarchal beliefs; these two developments are not mutually
exclusive. This intersectional overlap is further explored in Hankinson’s essay, “From
Monotheism to Pantheism: Liberation from Patriarchy in Alice Walker’s the Color
Purple”, in which she studies this transformation of gender/sexual identity as it relates to
religious/spiritual identity, writing:
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�Celie’s conversion from a monotheistic view of God (or traditional
Christianity) to a more pantheistic outlook represents and parallels her
movement from feelings of oppression under domination of patriarchy
into a sense of connectedness with others and self-acceptance at which
she ultimately arrives by the novel’s end. (Hankinson 320-321)
Though many critics entirely credit Shug with Celie’s liberation by exposing Celie to
what a healthy, constructive, and sexually gratifying relationship can be, Hankinson
claims that Celie may never have been receptive to Shug’s sexual advances if she hadn’t
already been on the path towards pantheism and away from monotheism. Celie
simultaneously distances herself from traditional monotheistic religion and patriarchal
oppression. By claiming that Celie is liberating herself sexually and as a woman by
liberating herself from monotheistic doctrine, Hankinson suggests that these religious
institutions are oppressive in regards to gender. Hankinson claims, “[…] it is only as
Celie diverges from patriarchal family structure and perspective of God that she acquires
her first sense of self-acceptance. She resists the imposed negative self-image and
develops a previously unprecedented confidence” (Hankinson 325). Patriarchal laws of
Western Christian religion oppress women in their search for place and identity and it is
only by breaking free of these traditional institutions and ideologies that women can find
self-acceptance and empowerment. When Shug and Celie discuss sex and pleasure, Shug
says, “God loves all them feelings. That’s some of the best stuff God did. And when you
know God loves ‘em you enjoys ‘em a lot more. You can just relax, go with everything
that’s going, and praise God by liking what you like”, Celie asks, “God don’t think it
dirty?” and Shug replies, “Naw[,] God made it. Listen, God love everything you love”
(Walker). Walker illustrates this phenomenon in Celie, Shug, Nettie, and Adrianne’s
narrative arches as they shed their oppressive beliefs and structures, develop their own
spiritual understandings, and assert themselves as independent, free-thinking agents.
Walker also introduces some positive aspects of organized religion in
“Convergence” and The Color Purple, demonstrating that she is not so enraged by, or
biased against, the church that she entirely writes it off completely, adding an important
layer of nuance to Walker’s critique. At the end of her somewhat anti-church monologue,
Adrianne pauses to admit that, “[…] whereas the few God-deniers she knew had thrown
themselves from fifteen-story apartment windows and others ‘flipped out,’ her mother
stayed sane as an ant” (Walker 6). Adrianne (and arguably Walker) implies that religion
has a way of keeping people sane. Having a set belief system can be stabilizing and lifeaffirming— Mrs. Taylor feels secure in her identity even if some of her underlying
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�beliefs include internalized racism. In The Color Purple, Celie’s letters to God provide
her with a certain security even when she is speaking to the white bearded man in the sky.
By simply writing to God she does not feel so alone and these letters set Celie on the path
to self-awareness. In both stories indoctrinated religion is not entirely vilified and certain
characters advocate for it; however, according to Walker, the hypocrisy and oppressive
tendencies of the indoctrinated religion overshadow these positive aspects. However, this
security and comfort that institutionalized religion offers is a double-edged sword; when
Celie and Mrs. Taylor resist doubting or critically thinking about their beliefs they also
fail to see the harmful ideologies interwoven with their faith.
Walker is not alone in recognizing the racism and hypocrisy within the Western
church. She builds upon the criticisms of those before her and without addressing how
other civil rights activists and Black Americans reproached the church, one cannot fully
understand Walker’s contribution to the ideological conversation. Benjamin E. Mays
book, Born to Rebel: An Autobiography, he expresses similar frustration and
disappointment. Despite his many criticisms of the (White) church, Mays did not
inherently oppose Christianity— after all, he was a Baptist minister— but he was deeply
critical of certain aspects of religious institutions. Walker’s (and Mays’) criticisms of
indoctrinated religion do not spring from the spirituality and moral lessons within the
bible, but rather from what White men have done with them and how these white-washed
ideologies have been indoctrinated and institutionalized on such a wide scale. Mays,
though he does not abandon monotheism in the same way Walker does, still resists letting
his own religious views blind him to the realities of the dark side (racist side) of the
church, vehemently claiming, “the local white church has been society’s most
conservative and hypocritical institution in the area of White-Negro relations” (Mays
241). Similarly, in a speech Derrick Bell gave at the National Black Law Journal 25th
Anniversary Conference, he spoke about how we often study racism through economic,
political, and cultural lenses, but then introduces, “the possibility of a deeper foundation
growing out of an undeniable fact: Most racists are also Christians” (Bell qtd. in Taylor
1). Here Bell speaks directly to that same difficult reality facing Christians of all colors
(and the characters in Walker’s stories) as they grapple with their religious, ethnic, and
moral identities. As a preacher, Mays could explain racism in religious terms, “The sin of
man asserts itself in racial pride, racial hatreds and persecutions, and in the exploitations
of other races. Religious categories may most deeply capture racist belief. The sin is one
of pride” (Mays 240). In the chapter “The Church Amidst Ethnic and Racial Tensions”
Mays writes, “Within the past quarter of a century, Christians have been forced to think
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�about the bearing of their faith upon the problem of racial discrimination […]” (Mays
241). He addresses how Christians must reconcile the morality of their faith with the
historically immoral way their religious institutions have dealt with racism. Mays
explicitly laid the foundation for Walker’s critical approach to religion in her feminist
fiction.
By injecting that moment of religious sympathy at the end of Adrianne’s antichurch monologue, she demonstrates a certain understanding of the potential positive
components of these traditional Christian beliefs. Similarly, George Taylor concludes,
“Race, Religion and Law: The Tension Between Spirit and its Institution” with:
Theological and religious categories help us understand both the
functioning of civil religion and its limits. For our purposes, the concern
is not that civil religion’s faith-like character should be eliminated. That
would be to reject the positive, constitutive, and properly aspirational role
that civic religion may play […] Rather, the concern, particularly in areas
such as civil rights, is that faith in law not become dogmatic, insular, and
immune to criticism from external values such as religious faith. As
throughout, the goal is to maintain the tension-both in criticism and
insight-in the relation between religion and law. (Taylor 67)
Walker’s solution to the problem of indoctrinated religion, accomplishes a version
of what Taylor suggests. By having her characters separate themselves from religious
structures, they are not “eliminating faith” but discovering truths and unearthing a
spirituality that does not oppress, degrade, or inhibit them.
The generational divide in regards to religion as seen in “Convergence” is most
explicitly visible in the relationship between Adrianne and her mother, Mrs. Taylor. Their
argument, which mostly concerns racism and civil rights, also seeps into the realm of
religion; even in the brief passage we see the ties between blind religious faith and blind
internalized racism. The way Adrianne speaks about her mother’s acceptance of racist
ideology is almost identical to how she speaks about her mother’s acceptance of religious
ideals.
Part of why Mrs. Taylor refuses to doubt her faith (and why Celie initially resists
doing so) is because they are afraid to be angry with God or disagree with the church.
This could mean going to hell. Shug and Adrianne— and eventually Celie— give
themselves permission to doubt and rethink. Celie writes:
I can’t even remember the last time I felt mad, I say. I used to git mad
at my mammy cause she put a lot of work on me. Then I see how sick
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�she is. Couldn’t stay mad at her. Couldn’t be mad at my daddy cause he
my daddy. Bible say, Honor father and mother no matter what. Then
after while every time I got mad, or start to feel mad, I got sick. Felt
like throwing up. Terrible feeling. Then I start to feel nothing at all.
(Walker)
The goal is not to get angry and stay angry; it is to allow oneself to be justifiably angry at
injustice as a part of the stages of grief of letting one’s old identity die and bloom into
someone new and authentic. Mrs. Taylor is more resistant to questioning her faith simply
because of her age. She internalized these “truths” her whole life—decades longer than
Celie— and, frankly, she is closer to death and therefore closer to the potential
consequences of renouncing/revising her faith (heaven or hell). However, at the end of
“Convergence”, when Mrs. Taylor’s resolve wavers, she finally allows herself to get
angry. This is her first step in identifying and admitting that injustices is at play. By
simply articulating her frustrations to her mother and introducing new ideas about
equality into the conversation, Adrianne helps Mrs. Taylor cross over from denial (due to
the internalized racism) to a new perspective. In order for her characters, regardless of
age, to fully develop their racial and spiritual identities, they must (to some degree)
separate themselves from the indoctrinated religion they internalized; they must take a
few steps back to gain new perspective and take ownership of their own spirituality.
“Convergence” is deeply autobiographical in nature and this aspect of the
narrative gives depth to our understanding of the characters. In “The Evolution of Alice
Walker”, Cynthia Cole Robinson touches on some of the parallels between Walker and
Adrianne. She writes about Walker’s close relationship with her mother, telling the story
of how her mother and her local church congregation helped her pay for college: “Walker
did not have to search very far to find other black women with persevering strength and
character. [Walker] writes of women in her church and how they worked tirelessly to
support the church and her. When Walker was offered a scholarship to Spelman College
in Atlanta, the ladies of the Methodist church collected $75 to bless her on her way and
this was a nice sum of money for impoverished women to raise” (Robinson 305). This
parallels Adrianne’s narrative: “How else could [Mrs. Taylor] have sent Adrianne to
college on twelve dollars a week? There was something miraculous about that, one had to
admit” (Walker 6). However, Robinson then explains how Walker began, “to see the
oppression of her Methodist church and Christianity as a whole”; this was partially
because Walker’s mother tirelessly served the church by cleaning it every week, but,
unlike many of the male volunteers and members, she was never invited to speak, “In
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�fact, [women] were forbidden [to preach] according to the Christian doctrine that they
were being taught” (Thomas qtd. in Robinson 492). As a result of the treatment of
women in the church, the fact that God has been represented as white, the way in which
Christianity was forced on the slaves, and the depiction of Eve causing the fall of man,
Walker does not believe in indoctrinated religion. She states, “I don’t believe there is a
God, although I would like to believe it. Certainly I don’t believe there is a God beyond
nature. The world is God” (Gardens qtd. in Robinson). Walker has never been shy about
sharing her personal theological and pantheistic beliefs. This outspokenness helps readers
better understand Celie, Shug, and Adrianne’s movement away from the church to
discover their own truths, a trajectory that mirrors that of their author.
Understanding Nettie’s narrative and religious/spiritual journey is vital to fully
grasping Walker’s theological prerogative in The Color Purple. Both the significance of
the missionary narrative and the way Nettie and Celie come to similar spiritual
conclusions, despite being worlds apart, are both significant plot points that contribute to
the religious, spiritual, and racial attitudes of the novel. In Lindberg-Seyersted’s article,
“Who is Nettie? and What is She Doing in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple,” she
explores Nettie’s role from the beginning (analyzing the way Celie’s talks about her sister
in her initial letters to God), and then through the letter correspondence between Nettie
and Celie. Lindberg-Seyersted writes, “The greatest change that Nettie’s African
experience has had on her is in her view of religion. When she leaves Africa, her idea of
God and the divine is no longer the orthodox one that the church at home had taught her.
The Olinka have made her see the divine in many more forms than the one presented in
the Bible and in Christian religious art” (Lindberg-Seyersted 84). The fact that Nellie and
Celie arrive at similar spiritual conclusions while thousands of miles apart speaks to the
truth of their conclusion. They did not read this pantheistic philosophy in a book or hear
someone preach on the subject, but instead, they arrived at this conclusion purely through
life experience, realizing the biases and injustices at the heart of the religious institutions.
There is also a connection between Nettie and Mrs. Walker. Nettie is deeply involved
with institutionalized religion as well and Nettie’s eventual denunciation of traditional
Christian doctrine proves there is hope for escape for anyone, even someone like Mrs.
Taylor who clutches to these beliefs for dear life. And as I stated before, even she shows
potential for rebellion at the end of her tale.
Walker recognizes the potential purpose-giving, community-creating, identityaffirming, philanthropic qualities of formal religion, and these sympathies are visible in
both “Convergence” and The Color Purple; however, these stories are arguably more
119
�influenced by the sexist and racist aspects that have hijacked traditional Christianity as a
result of the Western appropriation of the religion and human’s natural proclivities for
pride and subjugation. Through Adrianne’s somewhat sympathetic attitude towards her
mother’s religious beliefs, we see a glimpse of Walker’s sympathies, but Walker also
illustrates the dark side of indoctrinated religion in the Christian church and how it
perpetuates racist ideology. Therefore, when her characters set forth in a journey to free
themselves from their internalized racism, they also free themselves from traditional
religious institutions. Adrianne searches for answers at university and Celie finds
simultaneous freedom and security in a pantheistic spirituality and in a liberated and
loving lesbian relationship. Both these protagonists struggle to fully escape the deeply
ingrained images of a White God, but with every step they take away from “Him” the
closer they get to self-love and a life-giving, personal spirituality. Walker explores the
intersectional nature of race and religion while also addressing gender, sexuality, and age
in these stories, exposing how they are so interconnected that one can hardly be spoken
about without tackling the others as well.
Works Cited
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Bantam Dell Publishing Group,
1997.
Dehghani, Mahdi. “Identity and Religion in Alice Walker's The Color Purple.” Journal of
Research In Gender Studies 4.2 (2014): 448. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File.
Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
Drake, Kimberly S. Subjectivity in the American Protest Novel. Springer, 2011.
Du Bois, W. E. B., and Farah Jasmine. Griffin. The Souls of Black Folk. New York:
Barnes & Noble Classics, 2005. Print.
Hankinson, Stacie Lynn. “From Monotheism to Pantheism: Liberation from Patriarchy in
Alice Walker’s the Color Purple.” The Midwest Quarterly 38.3 (1997): 320-8. ProQuest.
Web. 1 Nov. 2016.
Lindberg-Seyersted, Brita. “Who is Nettie and What is She Doing in Alice Walker’s The
Color Purple?” American Studies in Scandinavia 24.2 (1992): 83-96.
120
�Mays, Benjamin E. Born to Rebel: An Autobiography. University of Georgia Press, 2011.
Robinson, Cynthia Cole. “The Evolution of Alice Walker.” Women’s Studies 38.3
(2009): 293-311. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2016.
Singh, Sonal, and Sushma Gupta. “Celie’s Emancipation In The Novel “The Color
Purple.” International Transactions in Humanities & Social Sciences 2.2 (2010): 218221. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2016.
Taylor, George H. “Race, Religion and Law: The Tension Between Spirit and Its
Institutionalization.” University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and
Class 6 (2006): 51.
121
�39 Million and Counting: The Role that
Federalism Played in the HIV/AIDS Crisis
Daniel S. Smith (Public Policy & Administration)1
The Nixon administration ushered in an era of “New Federalism” by returning autonomy
to the states, while also maintaining significant levels of federal funding (Borick, 2013, p.
140). When the Reagan administration came to power they took this form of federalism
one step further. “New, New Federalism” would drastically cut back on the powers of the
federal government under the assumption that state/municipal governments would better
understand the needs of their own people (Broadnax, 1981, p. 231). Around the same
time, researchers at the Center for Disease Control and Research (CDC) were able to
pinpoint and identify the virus responsible for a string of auto-immune deficiency related
deaths that had plagued the New York City “Men-who-have-sex-with-men” population
since the late 1970s. However, with a lack of federal funding, the CDC was unable to
fund the research efforts necessary to eradicate the virus (Francis, 2012, p. 292). Through
careful analysis of scholarly sources, we will find that the Reagan administration’s
approach of “New-New Federalism” lead to the CDC’s inability to respond appropriately
to the initial AIDS outbreak.
I. Introduction
Larry Kramer is often cited as having put a face to the NYC HIV/AIDS
movement. His involvement with the “Gay Men’s Health Crisis” and “Act Out!”, along
with his multiple publications on the topic, gave visibility to a public health crisis that
was largely ignored by the local, state, and national government (Kramer, 1983). It is Mr.
Kramer’s belief that certain actions not taken by Ronald Reagan on the national level,
and Ed Koch on the local level, were responsible for the global pandemic that HIV/AIDS
was shaping up to be. Kramer’s work also poses the question of whether HIV/AIDS
would have been the global pandemic that it is today, had the federal government and the
NYC municipal government been more willing to work with executive agencies,
nonprofits, and other health organizations to support HIV/AIDS research, and stop the
spread of the virus.
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Abraham Unger for GOV211: Public Administration.
122
�At the core of the issue is the fact that the Center for Disease Control and
Research did not have the proper funding, or resources available to them for sufficient
research on the virus. This was in part due to the Reagan administration cutting a solid
portion of their funding, and the NYC Department of Health refusing to allocate any
funds towards the study of this public health threat. This cut in federal funding was a part
of Reagan’s call to downsize on the power and influence of the federal government.
“New-New Federalism” would cut down on federal government spending, by turning
what were previously the responsibilities of the federal government, over to the state
governments (Borick, 2013, p. 140). Reagan’s theory of “New-New Federalism” lead to a
lack of the funds/resources needed to fight the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in NYC.
II. Literature Review
In finding the difference between “New-Federalism” and “New-NewFederalism”, one can rely on Christopher Borick’s Introducing Public Administration
(2013) to offer an almost entirely unbiased take on these theories, and their differences.
One could argue that Mr. Borick’s use of commentary creates a blatant bias, but more
often than not, this bias is used for the purpose of driving a point home. Borick’s
definitions of “New-Federalism” and “New-New-Federalism” serve as a solid foundation
in researching the roles that both theories played in the initial NYC HIV/AIDS scare.
Texts that explored Nixon’s theory of “New-Federalism” include Walter
Broadnax’s The New Federalism: Hazards for State and Local Government, and Timothy
Conlan’s New Federalism: Intergovernmental Reform from Nixon to Reagan (1988).
Broadnax offers us his educated opinion that not only will the states not be able to handle
the federal mandates, but also that Reagan and his administration have not put nearly
enough thought into the long term effects of this style of federalism. Rather Conlan’s
text, as short as it may be, compares and contrasts Reagan’s style of federalism with his
predecessor, Nixon. Conlan’s text was written towards the end of Reagan’s second term
and can offer facts on how both styles of federalism played out; whereas Broadnax’s text
is written only a year into Reagan’s first term as president. For these reasons, one should
use Broadnax’s text as a source for information on Nixon’s presidency, and the
immediate effects of when Reagan first came into office.
In researching the role that the federal government played in the spread of
HIV/AIDS, one can refer to Lucas Richert’s Reagan, Regulation, and the FDA: The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration’s Response to HIV/AIDS, 1980-90 (2009), and Donald
Francis’ Commentary: Deadly AIDS Policy Failure by the Highest Levels of the US
123
�Government: A Personal Look Back 30 Years Later for Lessons to Respond Better to
Future Epidemic (2012). Richert’s essay offers a purely factual timeline of events that
lead to the spread of HIV/AIDS; while Francis’ article offers the perspective of a federal
agent working for the Center for Disease Control and Research. While Richert’s work
may supplement most research done on this subject, Francis’ work offers a unique, expert
perspective that can strengthen any argument on the federal government’s lack of
interference in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Finally, both Mark Green’s The N.Y.C. Scandals of Ed Koch (1989) and Bruce
Lambert’s Koch’s record on AIDS: Fighting a Battle Without a Precedent (1989), give
insight into how Ed Koch’s passive stance on the HIV/AIDS outbreak lead to its spread.
Lambert’s article is more of a critique on the actions of the former New York City mayor,
whereas Green cites more credible sources on where he believed Koch failed.
III. Findings
In discussing the role that Reagan’s “New-New Federalism” played in the NYC
HIV/AIDS crisis, one must first have an understanding of President Nixon’s theory of
“New Federalism.” Prior to Nixon coming to power in 1972, we began to see the shift
from liberal/moderate politics, to more conservative politics. As the name implies,
Nixon’s goal was to “return autonomy to the states while maintaining significant levels
of federal funding” (Borick, 2013, p. 140). Nixon intended to turn certain responsibilities
of the federal government over to state/local governments, while maintaining the federal
funding that these state/local agencies would need to provide social services. Funds were
allocated from the federal government in block grants to be spent as local/state
governments saw fit. These provisions were known as the “Nixon Reforms”, and served
the purpose of improving coordination, efficiency, and planning when it came to
programs ranging from public health to public safety (Starkes, 1989, p. 401).
While both Reagan and Nixon called for a “War on the Welfare State”, Nixon
“...pushed for efficiency and economy of scale, while Reagan fought for the reduction of
the governmental bureaucracy, especially for those areas perceived as being in conflict
with the conservative agenda of the president” (Starkes, 1989, p. 401). Reagan’s goal was
to downsize on the power and influence that the federal government had over state/local
governments, with the theory that local governments should be responsible for carrying
out the expectations/mandates of the federal government without any federal intervention
and virtually no federal funding. Granting the states more power would in theory improve
responsiveness of the government to local issues, decrease conflict over goals and
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�objectives, and improve the level of efficiency/effectiveness of programs that are
implemented (Broadnax, 1981, p. 232).
However, both federal/local agencies were in desperate need of funding in 1979,
as a cluster of auto-immune deficiency related deaths began to appear across New York
City. A strange new disease believed to be a form of blood cancer, was taking the lives of
the homosexual/”men-who-have-sex-with-men” population in New York City, and many
feared that the the common link between these infections was a sexually transmitted virus
or bacterial infection that attacked the immune system (Lambert, 1989). Only six-months
after having settled into the White House, President Reagan and his administration would
receive an emergency brief on the severity of the still unidentified infection that lead to
AIDS (Francis, 2012, p. 291). The CDC was now putting pressure on major figureheads
in Washington to act immediately or face a potential global pandemic.
By 1983, over a thousand confirmed cases had been reported to the CDC. It was
now understood by the CDC that the disease was spread through blood product/sexual
contact, and that it did not discriminate based on sexuality (Francis, 2012, p. 291). Dr.
Donald P. Francis, an epidemiologist, was appointed by Dr. James Mason, Director of the
CDC, to become the coordinator of all AIDS Laboratory Activities. He claims that the
key to controlling a potential outbreak is an “early understanding of epidemiology of the
disease”, and “rapid applications of preventive interventions”, and that Dr. James Mason
refused to make the calls necessary for a proper response, because he was being
influenced by Washington figureheads who had no concept of how to properly respond to
a public health threat (Francis, 2012, p. 290).
According to Dr. Francis, the CDC follows a three-step process in approaching a
potential public health threat. First, a potential health threat is reported to the CDC,
followed by the director of the CDC putting together a panel of experts to formulate
possible attack plans, and finally the director of the CDC putting the experts’ plans into
action (Francis, 2012, p. 291). Thankfully, Dr. Francis was commissioned by the CDC in
1983 to put together a team to study the disease/spread of the virus, however they were
unable to get far in their research due to a lack of federal funding.
Francis and his team recognized that the disease had a 100% mortality rate, and
that there were no signs of a cure being developed anytime soon. So instead of trying to
develop a cure for HIV/AIDS, they decided to put their best efforts towards containing
the spread of the virus. They planned to consult behavioral specialists for advice on how
to educate the public and keep transmission levels low, and also looked toward the
French who were developing various drugs for patients already infected with the virus
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�(Francis, 2012, p. 295). However, on February 4th, 1985, all research was shut down to a
complete cut in funding from the CDC. As it turns out, Reagan had cut a significant
portion of the CDC’s funds, and in turn the CDC was no longer able to sponsor research
on the federal level. (Francis, 2012, p. 295) The only hope now was for further work to
be done on the state/local level.
Unfortunately, very little was being done in the city of New York, which had
become the epicenter for the HIV/AIDS crisis by the mid-eighties. Mayor Ed Koch, who
served as mayor from 1978-1989, was said to have been, “The Mayor ‘who didn’t want to
know.’” (Green, 1989, p. 483), given the fact that he was notorious for his “selective
memory”, and often tried to float above political scandals/endeavors that were against his
better interest. Not only that, but he was famously always concerned with protecting the
image of New York City at all means possible. As Jackie Mason puts it, “His opinion of
people depends on how they’re doing. If they’re doing great; he nominated them. If
they’re indicted, he never heard of them.” (Green, 1989, p. 483)
When it came to the world of gay politics, Koch wanted nothing to do with it.
Although his political ideology had been closer to the left during the early years of his
administration, he began to veer closer and closer to the right towards the end of his
career as mayor, which didn’t help given the fact that opportunistic infections related to
AIDS were becoming a major cause of death not only for the homosexual/”men-whohave-sex-with-men” community, but the New York City community in general. By 1989
AIDS had become the number three cause of death in New York City, right behind
cardiac disease, and cancer (Lambert, 1989)
Only during the latter years of the eighties did the federal government finally
begin to fund efforts to fight the HIV/AIDS crisis. In 1989, the federal government would
finally allocate $171 Million towards the CDC and state/local health departments effort in
fighting HIV/AIDS. Just prior to that in 1988, Mayor Koch would finally come up with
housing/critical care solutions for New York City residents suffering from HIV/AIDS.
(Lambert, 1989)
One cannot deny that both the Reagan administration and the Koch
administration would both eventually recognize for the need for action against
HIV/AIDS. However, Reagan’s approach of cutting down federal funding/social services
through his theory of “New-New-Federalism” lead to what is now a global pandemic
with no end in sight.
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�IV. Explanation of Findings
In comparing Nixon and Reagan’s separate takes on federalism, one can argue
that Nixon’s approach was less radical than Reagan’s. Nixon intended to turn more
responsibility over to the states, yet maintain federal funding so that state/local
governments would be able to adjust, whereas Reagan wanted to take away all block
grants/federal funding for state/local projects. Although in theory state/local governments
would know best how to meet the needs of their people, they ultimately did not have the
resources available to them to do so (Richert, 2009, p. 468).
In trying to cut down on the national deficit, Reagan overlooked how expensive
it was to provide social services. Social services come at a cost, and the Welfare State had
long provided federal funding to subsidize the costs of local services such as public
health and public safety, and many state/local agencies would not be ready to take on the
ultimate burden that would come from a sudden lack of federal funding.
When public/private health clinics began to see cases of a strange form of
“blood cancer” pop up across NYC, they began to report it to the local NYC department
of Public Health. This local agency did not have the means needed to approach this new
public health threat, and many health professionals looked towards outlets such as the
New York Times, health journals, civic leaders, etc., in order to bring more visibility to
the issue. As discussed previously, former NYC mayor Ed Koch proved unsympathetic
towards the growing health threat, and chose to avoid the issue out of fear of getting
involved in “gay politics” (Lambert, 1989).
On the federal level, it is no surprise that the Reagan administration chose not to
approach the issue for as long as they did. There are two arguments that can support as to
why the Reagan Administration waited as long as they did to intervene. A weaker
argument would be that the homosexual community had no place in Reagan’s America,
with Reagan even rumored to have once said that “those who live in sin, shall die in sin.”
(Vilanch, 2004, p. 68) However, the stronger and more reasonable argument is that the
powers that be under the Reagan administration did not understand how vital it was to
support the efforts of the CDC.
Figureheads in Washington didn’t understand that it takes a great deal of time,
capital, and other resources in order to not only cure a disease, but more importantly stop
the spread of it. Public health agencies within New York City at the time did not have the
resources they needed to better understand/prevent the spread of the HIV virus, and that
is mainly because the Center for Disease Control and Research did not have the funding
from the local government to support their efforts, making the argument rather simple:
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�Reagan’s theory of “New-New Federalism” depleted the CDC of the resources that it
would have needed in order to properly fight the spread/eradicate HIV. Had the Reagan
Administration been more willing to work with the CDC (a federal agency!), HIV/AIDS
might not have been the global pandemic that it is today.
V. Conclusion
To date, more than thirty-nine million people worldwide have died of AIDS
related diseases. The disease does not discriminate based on sexuality, gender, race, or
age, and has taken countless lives in both western nations, and developing countries.
Health care workers continue the effort to treat/cure the disease, yet most efforts to date
have proven to be futile. Had the Reagan Administration originally budgeted the funds
necessary for the CDC to attack the virus, than a cure/the eradication of the virus might
have been a reality. However, current trends show that there is no accessible cure in sight,
and strains of the virus now prove to be resistant to antiviral treatments. It goes without
saying that Reagan’s theory of “New-New Federalism” has lead to a global pandemic
that continues to ravage the whole world over.
VI. References
Borick, Christopher P. (2013) New Federalism, Introducing Public Administration, Ed.
08, 140
Broadnax, Walter D. (1981) The new federalism: hazards for state and local government.
Policy Studies Review (1) 2, 231-235
Conlan, Timothy (1988) . New Federalism: Intergovernmental Reform from Nixon to
Reagan. Policy Studies Review (9) 2, 401-403
Francis, Donald P. (2012) Commentary: Deadly AIDS policy failure by the highest levels
of the US government: A personal look back 30 years later for lessons to respond better
to future epidemic. Journal of Public Health Policy (33) 3, 290-300
Green, Mark (1989) The N.Y.C. scandals of Ed Koch. Nation (248) 12, 397-425
Kramer, Larry (1983) 1,112 and counting. New York Native (59)
128
�Lambert, Bruce (1989) Koch’s record on AIDS: fighting a battle without a precedent.
New York Times
Richert, Lucas (2009) Reagan, regulation, and the FDA: The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration’s response to HIV/AIDS, 1980-90. Canadian Journal of History (44) 3,
467-487
Starkes, Robert T. (1989) New Federalism: intergovernmental reform from Nixon to
Reagan. Policy Studies Review (89) 9, 401-403
Vilanch, Bruce (2004) Just say ‘mo. Advocate Issue 906, 68
129
�Gregor Samsa and Marx’s Alienation of Labor
Rebecca Martin (English)1
German-language novelist and short story writer, Franz Kafka, is widely
regarded as one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century. He is best known
for the way he artfully combined elements of fantasy and realism to produce works that
explore themes of guilt, anxiety, existentialism, and alienation in surreal and often bizarre
predicaments (Sokel 485). Kafka’s 1915 piece, The Metamorphosis is perhaps the best
(and most famous) example of this unique style of writing. The novella is notorious for
its odd plotline in which the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, awakens one morning to find
that he has transformed into a grotesque insect.
A subtextual reading of Gregor’s altered physical appearance reveals an internal
struggle with depression, anxiety, alienation, and societal pressures. While the piece has
been read and interpreted at length through various lenses of literary analysis, it is
remarkably difficult to find a Marxist approach to The Metamorphosis. Given the
explicitness of Gregor’s feelings of alienation and the emphasis placed on his job as a
traveling salesman, it is shocking that few literary critics have attempted to apply Karl
Marx’s piece on “Estranged Labor” to Kafka’s creepy-crawly protagonist. That is,
Marx’s theory that in a capitalist society, laborers are forced to work under such
unpleasant, demeaning conditions that they inevitably become alienated from the product
of their labor, the activity of production, their “species-being,” and finally, from other
human beings (Marx 401-405). This paper, therefore, seeks to demonstrate how Gregor
Samsa’s transformation into an insect, which renders him unable to work and ultimately
kills him, is a somatic depiction of what Marx referred to as “the alienation of labor.”
Prior to beginning this study, however, I feel that it is important to briefly
discuss the “suspension of disbelief” that accompanies a reading of this novella. That is,
as a reader, one must be willing to accept certain absurdities or impossibilities in order to
enjoy, interpret, and analyze The Metamorphosis on an academic and pedagogical level.
(Human beings, for example, cannot morph into insects.) That is not to say, however, that
this paper plainly accepts Gregor’s transition as factual and unembellished. On the
contrary, this study understands his transformation as being a shift in mental state rather
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley for EN425: Senior Seminar.
130
�than a physical change. From this perspective, whether or not Gregor literally morphs
into an insect is irrelevant because Samsa himself believes in his altered physical
appearance. Therefore, regardless of reality, he acts and reacts to his circumstances as
though he is, indeed, a bug. Through Gregor’s delusion, his internal feelings of
estrangement and disillusion manifest physically and become his warped reality. In other
words, in hypothetically transitioning into an insect, Gregor imagines his alienation into
existence.
Marx’s Capitalist Society
In my opinion, it is worthwhile to briefly establish a context for analyzing
Gregor’s relationship with his job as a traveling salesman by highlighting parallels
between the capitalist society that Marx describes and the capitalist society in which
Gregor Samsa lives. In doing so, I aim to provide a basis of comparison between the two
and demonstrate how the text is subliminally rich with Marxist concepts, thereby making
it a fantastic source for Marxist analysis.
In his 1844 publication, The Alienation of Labor, Karl Marx offers a critique of
the capitalist society in which he lives and describes how capitalism serves as a catalyst
for what he calls “the alienation of labor.” According to Marx, this alienation occurs as a
result of a social hierarchy within the capitalist system, where those at the top of the
hierarchy (the bourgeoisie) control the capitalist system, while those at the bottom (the
proletariats, or laborers) are slaves to the system (401). Under capitalism, he claims,
laborers lose the ability to be in charge of their own destiny and once this dissociation
occurs, workers invariably become alienated from their labor (401- 405).
In Kafka’s piece, Gregor is a member of the proletariat class, while his boss (the
office manager) is representative of the bourgeoisie. Gregor articulates this relationship
when he states that his boss “sit[s] up at [his] desk and talk[s] down to [his] employee[s]
from way up there” (Kafka 5). The office manager’s elevated position conveys a sense of
authority over Gregor and his fellow laborers in the same way that a king’s throne in a
Shakespearean tragedy would likely be the highest point on the stage. Further, Gregor’s
office manager is harsh, unsympathetic, and solely concerned with production, as is the
role of the capitalist in Marx’s theory (Sutherland 121).
An additional feature of capitalism that Marx identifies is the “consent,” or
voluntary acquiescence of the laborer’s own subordination (Sutherland 123). While this
acceptance must initially be coerced by the capitalist (the bourgeoisie), over time,
131
�workers become compelled by social conditions to “sell the whole of [their] active life,”
thereby self-imposing their own subservience (Sutherland 123).
A close examination of Gregor Samsa’s everyday activities reveals that he is no
exception to this rule. Although he complains about his job and fantasizes about quitting,
Samsa’s tyrannical office manager has had such an effect on his mental state that he
becomes obsessed with his job – Gregor’s career as a traveling salesman wholly
consumes his life.
Consider, for instance, that Gregor has never missed a day of work in the five
years he has been a traveling salesman and “has nothing in his head except business”
(Kafka 6, 12). Further, reflect on the fact that Gregor’s only concern upon waking up to
find that he has transformed into an insect is arriving to work on time. In reviewing all of
the details that define and shape Gregor’s life, it becomes clear that he is living in the
capitalist society that Marx describes. Samsa’s boss (the bourgeoisie) is in control of the
employees (the proletariats), and Gregor has bought into his inferiority. The haughty,
capitalist office manager has conditioned him into only caring about his career and Samsa
therefore becomes compliant with the restrictions and expectations imposed on the
proletariat class by the bourgeoisie. These Marxist notions serve as an impetus for
Gregor’s alienation and elucidate the argument in favor of the application of the
alienation of labor to Kafka’s protagonist.
Alienation from the Product of Their Labor
For Marx, a worker’s estrangement from the product of his labor is the first
major form of alienation. Under this model, when a worker devotes a great deal of effort
to the object that he is creating, he becomes invested in the product. The laborer may
even identify with the product as an extension of himself (401). Under the capitalist
system, however, nothing that the laborer produces is his own. This, in turn, creates a
distance between the laborer and his product. Because the worker no longer relates to the
fruits of his labor in any significant way, he subsequently views the product as alien to
himself (401). Everything that the laborer creates contributes to a world that he does not
take part in. Marx claims that the more he produces, the more alienated the laborer is
from his product.
Applying this theory to The Metamorphosis, we see that Gregor is precisely
Marx’s alienated laborer. That is, Gregor is primarily unconcerned with anything that
does not relate to his job. As his mother affirms, even in his free time, he studies travel
schedules or reads the newspaper – he does not dawdle about or spend his weekends
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�hitting the town with his friends (Kafka 12). For Gregor, his career is of the utmost
importance, regardless of how much he dislikes it, because his despotic boss leaves him
with few other options. (The office manager literally comes to Gregor’s house when he
sees that he is late for work and demands to know what is holding him up). In other
words, Gregor’s profession is an extension of himself – Gregor Samsa is a traveling
salesman. It is what defines him.
Furthermore, Gregor’s job requires that he move from one location to another,
trying to sell various items to potential customers. Accordingly, Samsa must be warm,
persuasive, and convincing in order to perform well in his career. In this way, the product
of Samsa’s labor is a successful transaction in which he effectively convinces someone to
purchase what he is marketing. Gregor’s transformation, however, reveals that he has
become alienated from the fruits of his labor. That is, his physical change hinders his
ability to communicate with his family and his office manager and therefore renders him
unable to sell them the falsity that all is okay behind the locked door of his room (Kafka
16). While Gregor can hear himself clearly when he attempts to reassure the crowd
outside of his bedroom door that he will be on his way to work shortly, all they hear is
chirping (Kafka 16). So, despite how hard he tries to annunciate his words and reinstate a
sense of calm in his household, his efforts are in vain. Gregor’s insect qualities (his
mouth, voice) inhibit is vocal capabilities and therefore demonstrate how his transition
alienates him from the product of his labor (the ability to convince others with his words),
which is a defining characteristic of himself. Without the product of his labor, Gregor is
nothing. Hence, Gregor’s transition and subsequent inability to communicate
demonstrates that he has become alienated not only from the fruits of his labor, but also
from himself, as Gregor’s labor is an extension of himself.
Alienation from the Activity of Production
The second form of alienation that Marx discusses is the alienation of the
laborer from the activity of production. He theorizes that if the product of laboring is
alien to the worker, then, by the same logic, the activity of production itself must be a
form of “active alienation” (402). According to Marx, this estrangement is characterized
by lack of voluntary labor. He argues that since the laborer is engaging in work that is not
necessarily chosen by free will, the work is essentially forced labor (403). In other words,
even if the laborer produces an object that he has favorable feelings toward, if not for
capitalism, he would not produce this item for monetary gain. Therefore, the capitalist
society coerces the laborer to exploit his efforts and take part in alienated labor (403).
133
�Just as the fruits of a laborer’s work can appear as alien, so too can the creation of this
product.
As discussed earlier, this is clearly the case for Gregor Samsa. From the very
beginning of the novella, he places a great deal of emphasis on the stressors of his job,
how much he dislikes it, and even spends time daydreaming about how great it would
feel to quit (Kafka 5). Gregor labors tirelessly for his boss, working under miserable
conditions – “worries about train connections, bad food, constantly changing human
relationships that never come from the heart,” – all to be treated inhumanely (Kafka 5).
Even more vital to this argument, however, is the fact that Gregor is working to pay off
his family’s debt to his office manager. So, not only does Samsa have an overly-intense
boss and a job that he hates, but he must also commit at least another five or six years to
being a traveling salesman in order to rectify his father’s monetary troubles (Kafka 5).
Hence, Gregor’s labor is certainly forced, if not by his office manager, then definitely by
his family’s financial struggles.
Taking this idea one step further, one could even theorize that within the two
spheres of the capitalist society in which Gregor and his family live, Samsa’s home life is
divided even further into an additional bi-furcated social hierarchy. That is, Gregor’s
parents are part of what I will call the “at-home bourgeoisie,” while Gregor is, again,
relegated to the working class. In this sense, Gregor’s labor is coerced on a minor level
by the financial perils of the “at-home bourgeoisie,” and then again at a universal level by
his office manager. This double-layered pressure from his parents and his boss clearly
show that Samsa’s labor is not an act on his own volition, but is instead affected by
external forces. Thus, the activity of production of Gregor’s labor is exploited by the twofold bourgeoisie and is therefore alien to him. His disdain for his job and incessant desire
to quit proves that he is working solely because it is what is required of him, not because
he has a burning passion to travel from place to place, pushing items on people.
Moreover, even if Gregor did have a deep love for his job, Marx tells us that he would
still be an alienated laborer, because if not for capitalism, the worker would not be
laboring for monetary gain.
Gregor’s transition into a bug, then, brings these feelings of estrangement into
fruition. That is, his alienation from the act of production as a result of coerced labor
manifests as an insect and therefore makes him unable to produce, or to even leave his
house. Instead, he is bound to his room, where it is impossible to effectively perform his
tasks as a traveling salesman.
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�Alienation from the “Species-Being” and from Other Human Beings
I have chosen to combine the remaining two forms of alienation into one
succinct section because Gregor’s transition simultaneously causes alienation from the
“species-being” as well as from other human beings. Hence, there is a great deal of
overlap between the two.
Marx describes the alienation from nature and the “species-being,” or, human
identity as being the result of the lack of relationship between the laborer and the product
of his labor and coerced labor (403). He holds that an individual is defined by his or her
ability to turn nature into objects through “practical activity,” or labor (403). Thus, for
humans, work offers a meaning to life. According to Marx, however, because neither the
object of production nor the activity of production sufficiently express the laborer’s
species-being, the capitalist society also causes the alienation of the worker from his
human identity (404).
Further, Marx asserts that because workers are alienated from the product of
their labor, from their activity of their production, and from their species-being, laborers
are also estranged from other humans. In other words, the relationship among workers
mimics the relationship they have with their labor, the product of their labor and
themselves – they lack the ability to relate to one another as a consequence of capitalism
(Marx 404).
Gregor Samsa’s transformation into an insect presents self-alienation in a literal
way. That is, one morning, out of the blue, Gregor can no longer recognize himself. He
goes to sleep in his human form, and awakens fundamentally estranged from his own
identity (Sokel 485). To put it concisely, “no manner more drastic could illustrate the
alienation of a consciousness from its own being than Gregor Samsa’s started and
startling awakening” (Sokel 85). It is this concept that typifies how Gregor is alienated
from both his species-being and from other human beings. Samsa’s altered physical
appearance demonstrates on a visual level how he is disconnected from his own essence
as well as from the human race. He is not himself (the traveling salesman) and he is not a
human. Instead, Gregor is a specimen of vermin – a physical form that is alien to his
regular, human body, and a species that is largely feared and disliked by humans.
Further, Gregor’s transition causes him to act in a way that is dissociated from
human norms. For instance, the longer he remains in his insect-form, the more
uncomfortable he feels in open spaces and subsequently seeks refuge in the darkness
under furniture, as is characteristic of bugs (Kafka 30). He also grows apathetic to fresh
food, and instead prefers rotten vegetables, moldy bread, and things of the like (31). In a
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�somewhat humorous turn of events, Gregor, in one scene, happily eats cheese that he had
declared completely inedible two days prior when he was still in his human form (31).
This change in pallet demonstrates how Gregor has become estranged from both his
species-being, or his human essence, and other human beings, as people cannot consume
outdated food without the risk of becoming ill.
The disgust of Gregor’s family and office manager at the sight of him also
speaks to the notion that Gregor’s transition alienates him from others. If Gregor’s own
family is apprehensive in his presence, chases him back into his room with a broom, and
throws apples at him, the outside world is certainly not going to welcome insect-Gregor
with open arms. Hence, Gregor’s metamorphosis renders him unlike his human self (his
species-being) and, consequently, unlike other human beings. His new insect-state makes
him not only physically different from the human race, but it also makes him unable to
conduct himself in a way that is in accordance with the “normal” habits of the human
species.
In this way, Gregor’s metamorphosis subjects him to alienation from the product
of his labor, the activity of production, his species-being, and from other human beings.
The conditions for the alienated laborer, as characterized by Karl Marx, are present in
Gregor’s capitalist society, and therefore provide a basis for his estrangement. In
transforming into an insect (mentally or physically), Kafka’s protagonist turns his
feelings of alienation that are evoked by his miserable working conditions into his reality.
Gregor’s insect-form inhibits his ability to effectively communicate with other human
beings, thereby alienating him from the product of his labor. That is, his ability to
perform and sell people with his words. Further, Samsa’s transition brings into fruition
his feelings of alienation from the act of production as a result of double-layered coerced
labor, and estranges him from his species-being, as well as from other human beings.
Thus, Gregor Samsa’s metamorphosis is an excellent somatic depiction of Karl Marx’s
theory of the alienation of labor.
Works Cited
Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Translated by Malaspina University-College
Nanaimo, BC, PlanetEBook, 1999.
Marx, Karl. “The Alienation of Labor from Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of
1844.” Theory Course Reader, edited by Alison Arant, 2015, pp. 400-405.
136
�Sokel, Walter H. “From Marx to Myth: The Structure and Function of Self-Alienation in
Kafka’s Metamorphosis.” Literary Review: An International Journal of Contemporary
Writing, vol. 26, no. 4, 1983, pp. 485-495. MLA International Bibliography. Accessed on
24 Mar. 2017.
Sutherland, Kate. “Marx and McKinnon: The Promise and Perils of Marxism
for Feminist Legal Theory,” Science & Society, vol. 69, no.1, Jan. 2005, pp. 113132. MLA International Bibliography. Accessed on 23 Mar. 2017.
137
�Why Adults are Allowed to Say Children
Are Best Kept Out of Sight and Out of Mind:
A Study on Adult Focused Therapy for Survivors
of Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking
Kelly Glenn (Sociology)1
This paper examines the therapeutic effects of adult focused therapy for
survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Survivors are operationally
defined as adults who have fled the environment of violence and are already engaged in
the process of emotional and psychological rehabilitation. The research examines how
adult focus therapy which includes the separation of children from parents or other adult
survivors affects the recovery process for adults. The data for this study come from
participant observation, participant evaluations, and volunteer feedback from Here There
and Everywhere, an art therapy nonprofit working with survivors of domestic violence
and human trafficking. The focus group is held at The Family Justice Center, a social
service center in New York, New York. The main findings of this research are parents
benefit from having time away from their children because they require independent
opportunities to focus on goals for present and future. The parent child relations improve
with separation because time together becomes more valuable. In addition, domestic
violence and human trafficking survivors empower each other by creating a support
network to reduce likelihood of returning to violent situations.
I. Introduction: Reclaiming Adult Survivor Empowerment in Therapy
This study is concerned with survivors of human trafficking and domestic
violence. These survivors are grouped together as participants because the after effects of
trauma are similar and therefore treatment from an art therapy approach yields similar
results. The most cited definition of human trafficking is the World Health
Organization’s (2012) definition:
The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by
means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Bernadette Ludwig in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
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�fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of
the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a
person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation (p. 4).
The United States Department of Justice (2016) defines domestic violence as a
continuous pattern of abusive physical, sexual, emotional behavior, economic, or
psychological actions. Violence is defined to include threats of actions in any domestic
intimate relationship that is used by one partner to gain power and control over the other
partner. There has been limited research about adult focused therapy for survivors of
domestic violence and human trafficking, which most likely has also contributed to these
programs not being adequately funded. However, examining the success of adult focused
therapy for survivors is important to better understand adult rehabilitation and the mental
effects of leaving environments of domestic violence and/or human trafficking. This
study evaluates how survivor empowerment is achieved in a therapeutic practice where
parents arrive with their children but then children and adults are separated into two
separate groups. The data show that with separation both adults and children receive
quality rehabilitation. Adults receive enhanced benefits from art therapy with increased
healing effects when they have a designated time to focus on themselves. Without having
the responsibility for their children or the children of other survivors, adults are able to
focus on their personal needs and with deeper reflection can identify goals while knowing
their children are safe.
At Here There and Everywhere’s art therapy program a recent group of
participants living in New York City shelters after fleeing situations of violence
expressed that they would prefer to be separate from their children while working on
developing personal skills. The participants argued they would be more successful if they
could focus on their personal goals without having to watch their children imultaneously.
The feedback prompted the central research question of this study and this paper will
analyze the validity and success of separation for adult focused therapy.
Verifying the efficiency of art therapy with an adult focus can support separated
social services for adult survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Because
survivor therapy is typically structured to be centered on the children, promoting parent
and child separation based on findings may reduce the likelihood of combining both age
groups, a measure that may be enacted for budget reasons.
The political climate of 2017 has brought services for domestic violence
survivors to almost a standstill. During the process of this research, funding for therapy
was cut by the New York City Mayor’s office because of presidential threats to sanctuary
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�cities. At the time of the study (May 2017), the 45th U.S. President has executive plans to
cut budgeting from the Department of Justice which would specifically eliminate the
government grant programs created under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and
subsequent legislation. This program was designed to develop the nation’s capacity to
reduce domestic violence and similar offenses by strengthening services it currently
oversees 25 grant programs that support survivors of domestic violence. This threat
affects many different grant programs. The consequences of defunding programs that
support survivors would be detrimental to adults who are psychologically affected by
trauma and would disproportionately affect low-income single parents, (undocumented)
immigrants, and/or survivors who are often estranged from their family as support
networks.
II. Literature Review
Findings from studies investigating the effects of domestic violence and human
trafficking on women in group therapy support the idea of practicing adult-focused
therapy so the parent survivors can counteract the negative effects of violence (Dodd,
2009; Johnson, 2013; Rankin & Taucher, 2003; Swanston et al., 2014). In absence of
focused counseling, many victims continue to live with the negative mental instability
and inability to cope after negative effects of trauma events (Johnson, 2012 and Swanston
et al., 2014). Having a space designated to parent survivors2 allows facilitation of
relationships with other mothers and provides social networks for adults in similar
circumstances (Dodd, 2009). For parents one of the most therapeutic element of therapy
is connecting with others to discover that they are not alone in recovery. Individual
behavior and parenting skills improve because adult therapy increases confidence and
self-esteem and promotes opportunities to discuss life concerns (Dodd, 2009). To build
connections survivors must evaluate where they currently are emotionally and where they
have been both psychologically and physically. Reevaluating the self is easier to
accomplish when support is centered for a group of similar experience and identity
(Johnson, 2012). Survivors gain control over improving the quality of their lives and can
do so by labelling symptoms and practicing self-management techniques to stabilize daily
life (Rankin & Taucher, 2003).
The term parents refers to parent survivors, which only focuses on mothers who
participated in workshops
2
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�In therapy, adult focused discussions or art prompts3 are used which allow
confronting trauma to reshape self-perspectives (Kapitan, 2011; Rankin & Taucher,
2003). Trauma sensitive care is informed care that acknowledges the presence of
complex devastation through telling a narrative. Parents can easily recognize and discuss
trauma in the absence of children (Dodd, 2009; Johnson, 2012; Rankin & Taucher, 2003;
Swanston et al., 2014). In groups with children present and listening both groups face
difficulties remaining present during emotionally intense situations. Children witness
their parents’ distress during and following acts of violence then do not know how to
cope (Swanston et al., 2014). Parents experience the discussion of trauma as being forced
to continue to acknowledge that their children live or have lived in an environment
controlled by threat and fear. This continuation of stress can strain the parent child
relationship and make rehabilitating together painful for the parent because it creates a
sense of being unable to escape the effects of violence (Johnson, 2012; Swanston et al.,
2014). Scholars (Dodd, 2009; Johnson, 2012) have found that time away from the child,
for at least a major portion of the therapy session, makes this experience de-stressing
rather than distressing.
Parents can develop attachment issues with their children by becoming
dependent on parent-child relationships as a replacement for dependency on a partner
(Moulding, 2015). Having adult focused therapy separate from the children encourages
women to become dependent on themselves and ultimately fosters healthy parent-child
relationships. This is important because survivors of domestic violence and/or human
trafficking have more parenting difficulties than those who were not victimized (Keeshin
et al., 2015). Even after leaving the environment of violence, without professional
support, parents often feel unequipped to deal with distress (Swanston et al., 2014).
Victim blaming is a common problem in parent child relations following trauma. As a
method for protection of the self and the child, parents sometimes remain silent about
violence. Perceiving this as a lack of closure from the parent as a sign of weakness,
children may blame the victimized parent (Moulding et al., 2015). In an adult setting
which allows parents to discuss their experiences and feelings with others who share
these, adults are more likely to achieve closure and move forward. This may enable the
parent to discuss trauma more openly or to help the child achieve closure. Parents with
existing trauma are still able to be emotionally available to their children when there
Art prompts are instructions to guide the beginning of a project with freedom of
interpretation.
3
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�exists adequate professional support. Adult focused therapy that promotes wellbeing
through sustainable self-care, such as art therapy, provides a focus on healing skills so
that adults are equipped to handle high stress from children (Kapitan, 2011). If parents
are able to decrease the intensity and frequency of negative aftereffects to improve daily
functioning and increase positive life experiences through therapy, they can rehabilitate
parent-child relationships (Mauri & Klein, 2007; Rankin & Taucher, 2003).
Adult focused therapy fosters the development of support networks with
facilitators who offer professional guidance or rehabilitation services and fellow
participants who create a safety net by discouraging the return to a violent environment
(Dodd, 2009; Rankin & Taucher, 2003). Finally, the separation from children protects
survivors from being reminded of the lasting effects trauma has on their children because
they do not witness outbursts or behavior that mimics the perpetrator (Rankin & Taucher,
2003).
III. Data and Method
Data for this research project come from Here There and Everywhere art therapy
workshops. These workshops are for survivors of domestic violence and/or human
trafficking. The status of which violence the participants were victims of remained
confidential and this information was only shared with their case workers. Most of the
adult participants were women. Approximately half of all women were mothers who
brought their children to the art therapy sessions. Participants attended weekly three-hour
long workshops. Each session began with an opening exercise, either stretching, a
physical warm up, or an emotional check in. Then participants transitioned into the
week’s predetermined art project. Each week concluded with a share out where
participants had the option to show what they made and discuss it.
Data for this study consist of a) feedback forms from participants, b) volunteer
evaluations, c) participant observation, and d) an in-depth interview with the founder and
CEO of Here There and Everywhere.
a) Participant feedback was completed with open-ended evaluations at the end
of the cycle. As several participants are immigrants with low level English skills,
evaluations were distributed in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic. One participant
received help from a volunteer with her writing. Evaluations completed in languages
other than English were then translated by volunteers who were recruited to Here There
and Everywhere based on their language skills. Responses were then read to determine
the effectiveness of Here There and Everywhere cycles and measure the growth of
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�survivors considering their feeling of empowerment. For this study evaluations from
2014, 2015, and 2016 were used.
b) Volunteer evaluations collected information in the form of guided prompts,
which included information on group atmosphere, bonding and connections made, mutual
aid among group members, new problems, staff response to issues, accomplished growth,
analysis, and areas of improvement. For this study evaluations from 2014, 2015, and
2016 were analyzed.
c) Participant observation: From January until May 2017, I was an intern for
Here There and Everywhere. I participated in a number of different tasks. For example, I
was a facilitator for adult workshops and children’s workshops. I provided aid by
distributing supplies, guiding creativity with step by step directions or artistic prompts,
and being a source of verbal support. With the adults, my primary function was to guide
them in communicating an idea or emotion through art. As a child care volunteer, I
facilitated the children’s wellbeing by monitoring behavior and reducing acts of verbal or
physical aggression. It was my responsibility to make sure the children did not invade the
adult workshops. Hands on participation in both workshops allowed me to observe the
various adult interactions and parent-child relationships.
d) In an interview with the co-founder and President of Here There and
Everywhere, Tanya Gupta, I asked follow-up questions about how the parent-child
relationships noticeably changed over the twelve-week therapy cycle and what strategies
participants use to empower themselves. The interview was recorded and all responses
were transcribed verbatim and analyzed.
IV. Findings
A Need for Separation
At one of the of Here There and Everywhere’s art therapy workshops in
February 2017, there were 22 women, five of whom brought a total of fourteen children.
The women were in a large conference room, which was pre-arranged to look more like
an art studio. The children were down the hall in a smaller conference room out of their
mothers’ sight. Within the first half hour of the three-hour workshop a child opened the
door and ran to his mother. A childcare volunteer attempted to prevent the child from
going into the adult workshop and cause a disruption but the mother could witness her
distressed child through the open the conference room blinds and felt she needed to
respond. This took the mother away from the project she was working on and broke her
143
�away from the group. After the first child ran out of the designated children’s area, the
youngest child followed. Her mother and a returning survivor, Ms. Lee4, came out and
calmly sent her back to the childcare room by saying, “Mommy needs this time, you can
go play with the big kids.” The older children were less inclined to run to their mothers
because there were activities for them to do and snacks for them to eat in the smaller
conference room.
In previous group sessions when children were physically with the mothers,
sessions were reported to be more intense and difficult to handle. Although the children
were engaged in the beginning, before the three-hour session ended it became more of a
daycare program for the younger ones. Mothers were restricted by childcare and each had
to focus on the child’s needs rather than her own. Without feeling an obligation to center
attention on the child, adults could devote energy to the therapeutic project and relax.
They had more time to begin planning projects and executing their goal for the
designated time. Here There and Everywhere co-founder, Tanya Gupta, stated:
It’s more of just needing space to think about what they’re doing right now. I
think it’s very healthy and important. Especially the parents of the younger
parents because they are doing so much for the child and spending even more
time with them.
The mothers in the Here There and Everywhere workshops value time with their children,
but understand that they benefit psychologically and professionally from devoting time to
themselves and developing vocational skills. Because the children heard or witnessed
violence first hand it was common for children to exhibit behaviors that reminded the
survivor of traumatic experiences. They have not or are still learning how to cope
following acts of violence. Mothers expressed that when a child used language
recognizably similar to their perpetrator or inflicted violence on other children, they were
reminded that their children live or lived in an environment controlled by threat and fear
that was unbearable. Mothers were hyper aware of the foul language, pushing, and
choking which can be seen in numerous weekly evaluations.
Children are one of the biggest motivators for a parent to leave an abusive or
dangerous situation. The mothers felt secure when they knew where the children were but
in the evaluation section which asks if anything about the workshops can be improved
several mothers requested to be separated into a group exclusively for adults. In her
evaluation Ms. Ashoke wrote, “If there is anywhere that the workshops can improve, I
4
All participants’ names are pseudonyms.
144
�think the children should be separated from the parents whenever possible.” Another
participant, Ms. Sasha echoed this:
It would be good to have a space where we can work without the children. I
think we should not be in the same room and sometimes it is hard to work when
we can still hear them. Especially if we hear them cry.
The mothers exhibited sentiments of not wanting to exclude the children completely
because they want to know where the children are at all times. With this precaution in
mind, they still communicate a desire to have separation. When groups were divided so
that adults were in a space designated for them the group was more receptive to projects
and displayed greater enjoyment while working together. It was apparent that everyone
was engaged and excited because each participant was eager to work on the week’s
project as a group. No individual asked to do a different project or work separately from
the group when the program was designed to have participants working on the same
projects simultaneously.
Parent-Child Relationships
When the adults were able to spend time away from the children the time which
was spent together becomes more valuable. Children were excited to talk about what they
did during the time apart. Parents were excited to see how well they did and because they
felt refreshed, they were ready to exert energy with the children. The adult group and the
child group convened together at the end of the workshop to share through showing and
telling what each participant created that day. Appreciation for time spent together was
evident from the way parents and children communicated with each other following the
art project. A volunteer described the mothers being excited to share and see what their
children made while apart:
Having that space away from the parent makes them appreciate time
with the parent even more. And from the parent’s point of view I think
two or three hours after they are excited to see the kid. And the child is
excited to show what they made to the parent. And there is another
level of communication where they can each share with one another.
You hear a lot of, “Oh look mommy, look at what I made today.”
For the children, to see their mothers in a situation where they took control of a project
enhanced the child’s perception of the adult as powerful. Some children blamed the
parent for not assuming responsibility early enough in the former dangerous environment
145
�and they, as well as the parents, question their ability to protect. By witnessing the
parents’ strength and abilities, the perception as a protector increases. Observation during
workshops revealed that expressing love and appreciation are reassuring strategies
parents use to demonstrate protectiveness. This is apparent from the reactions parents
gave their children and could be seen when the parent shared a project with the child
(Moulding et al., 2015).
Individualized attention and moments of private time to reflect allowed parents
to restore emotional well-being. While in the violent environment, parents were
emotionally drained and children often report having felt emotionally neglected
(Moulding et al., 2015). The child is then more likely to have outbursts in search of
attention or as a result of neglect. When these tantrums or outbursts occur without the
parent being present, the emotional strain already being experienced is not further
worsened. Through the separate therapy sessions, young participants were able to
develop communication skills under guidance of childcare volunteers. Children did not
have much interaction with others outside of the household because the environment is
controlled by the perpetrator. And so this is often the first time that they are out of their
socially restricted environments and engage with children of different ages, which is
healthy for rehabilitating (Moulding, 2015).
The improvement in the children’s behavior deferred them from acting out like
the perpetrator and forced the adults to acknowledge previous trauma. As a possible
outcome of separation combined with consistent individualized attention during
therapeutic workshops, the parents and children can then get along with less conflict.
Individual Empowerment
Empowerment is a foundation of recovery for survivors. The term
empowerment is used in this context to mean the power that develops and is gained.
From this perspective individuals gain more control over their lives than previously held,
either independently or with the help of others, such as volunteers, caseworkers, or
supportive friends. Empowerment is both a process and an outcome of effort to obtain a
relative degree of ability and influence (Staples, 1990).
In adult focused groups, participants received individualized attention from
facilitators. The facilitators dedicated time to working closely with the survivor while
helping to ensure the success of their project positively enforces the idea that the
survivors are deserving of encouraging partners. This also affirms that healthy resources
exist in relationships where one is providing support rather than seeking power.
146
�Facilitators do not exercise power over the survivors and act with equal capabilities. The
barriers of status and authority typically established between workshop leaders and
participants are not present at Here There and Everywhere. The facilitator-participant
dynamic uses inclusive involvement and therefore empowers both groups. This also
provided opportunities to discuss life concerns without stress of repercussions. Promoting
well-being by fostering partnerships to acquire vocational and emotional skills gave
participants life skills to create nurturing environments for themselves. By knowing their
value, survivors are more likely to discover one’s own capabilities and are less likely to
return to an oppressive environment (Cantos, 2014).
The cooperation level among adults engaged in the workshops increased as well.
The art therapy space offered a non-threatening environment where adults could share
ideas about coping. The recovery process combined with parenting can be a lonely
responsibility, especially because the majority are single parents or adults not living with
other family members. Conversations without forced prompts allowed survivors to
discover that although they experience anxiety concerning family or individual struggles,
they are not alone in this plight (Dodd, 2009). This also makes it easy to share ideas for
projects. Participants often noticed if another was having difficulty with a project and
offered guidance. By helping one another complete projects the participants validated
their own skills to feel self-empowered and exercise leadership. This is exemplified by
Ms. Zara’s reflection:
I enjoyed the learning new things and taking knowledge. I also like to
attend the Here There and Everywhere workshops because it is a team
work and everybody has different ideas, knowledge. And I enjoyed
most interacting with others [mothers/survivors].
The central focus of the program is empowerment because both domestic
violence and human trafficking rely on disempowering individuals who subsequently feel
worthless. Particularly in cases of human trafficking, the survivor was treated as a
commodity whose value is determined by the perpetrator. Their value is further decreased
by exchange for little or no compensation for forced demeaning work (Brooks, 2013).
Domestic violence survivors also had their value undermined by the violent treatment
they had to endure in the past. Perpetrators prey on vulnerability and victims are only
able to view their worth in the capacity established by the offender. In the art therapy
workshops survivors created products then had the option to sell what they made using an
online store and keep the total profit. Transitioning from being treated as someone else’s
147
�product to creating artistic products and determining their value puts the survivor in a
position of power. Once they make a profit of their product, their productivity transforms
a creator-consumer paradigm from an abuser-master paradigm (Brooks, 2013). That
power becomes a platform to continue building on that foundation. The workshop
structure gives participants the opportunity to make decisions for themselves and relax
from the stress induced by the after effects of trauma.
V. Conclusion
There is mounting evidence that supports adult focused therapy for successful
rehabilitation through empowerment (Johnson, 2012). Although mothers in this study
discussed wanting to spend time with their children and knowing they are safe they also
valued time dedicated to themselves. Observation and evaluations reveal that parent-child
relationships in fact improve when there is temporary separation because they are excited
to share what they accomplished and adults feel refreshed after focused therapeutic
practices. Empowerment is best achieved when adults can focus on their own personal
needs and goals. This is possible when parents are part of therapeutic group work with
other adult survivors because with an understanding of similar experiences and
responsibilities, they form relationships which create a supportive environment that
ultimately deters survivors from returning to a violent situation. In addition, survivors are
able to build healthy relationships with each other, something they could only do after
leaving an environment that restricted their interactions. They also gain the liberty to
execute a short-term goal for the workshop, and are then able to plan long term goals for
personal or vocational growth.
This study, although local to New York and small scale, shows that survivors of
domestic violence and human trafficking are empowered during adult focused therapy
where they are able to create a finished product with the option of marketing it for
financial support. One obvious omission was the lack of any male participants (including
fathers). Future research should consider the impact of this on overall results.
VI. References
Alter-Muri, S. & Klein, L. (2007). Dissolving the boundaries: Postmodern art and art
therapy. Art Therapy Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 24(4), 82-86.
Cantos, A. (2014). One size does not fit all in treatment of intimate partner violence.
Partner Abuse, 5(2), 204-236.
148
�Johnson, B. (2012). Aftercare for survivors of human trafficking. Social Work and
Christianity, 3(4), 370-389.
Kapitan, L. (2011). Power, reflexivity, and the need to complicate art therapy research.
Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 27(3), 1-5.
Keeshin, B., et al. (2015). A domestic violence shelter parent training program for
mothers with young children. Journal of Family Violence, 30(4), 40-47.
Moulding, N., et al. (2015). Untangling self-blame and mother-blame in women’s and
children’s perspectives on maternal protectiveness in domestic violence: Implications for
practice. Child Abuse Review, 24(4) 249-260.
New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. (2004). Getting help from the
department of social services. In Domestic Violence Handbook, 6, (20-27) Retrieved from
http://www.opdv.ny.gov/help/fss/fss.pdf
Rankin, A. & Taucher, L. (2003). A task-oriented approach to art therapy in trauma
treatment. Art Therapy: A Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 20(3) 138147.
Swanston, J., et al. (2014). Towards a richer understanding of school-age children’s
experiences of domestic violence: The voices of children and their mothers. Child
Psychology and Psychiatry, 19,(2), 184-201.
United States Department of Justice (2016). Reflections from the field on victim/survivor
advocacy (2). Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/ovw/page/file/936746/download
World Health Organization. (2013). Global and regional estimates against women:
Prevalence and health effects on intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual
violence. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/85239/1/
9789241564625_eng.pdf
149
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Volume 16, Number 1
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Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference -- Abstracts --3 The Effect of Listeria Monocytogenes on Amyloid Plaque Build Up and Neurofibrillary Tangle Formation in the Brains of Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio) / Monica Cipriani -- 3 Traumatic Brain Injury as a Disorder of the Connectome / Merrysha Castillo, Dr. Nikolaos Ziogas, Dr. Vassilis E. Koliatsos -- 4 Fluoride in Groundwater in South Eastern Bangladesh / Regina Ismaili, Prof. Sarah Alauddin and Dr. Mohammad Alauddin -- 4 Grafting Organic Molecules to Metal Surfaces through the Reduction of Aryl Diazonium Salts / Helema Tayeh, Anna Cios and Dr. Racquel C. DeCicco -- 5 In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils on Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus / Alexis Dispensa -- 5 Computational Investigation of the Pyrolysis of Polyethylene / Lejla Bolevic and Domenick Palmieri -- 6 Detection of a MET Transcript in the Flatworm Girardia dorotocephala / Theresa Mustacchio and Dr. Jonathan Blaize -- 6 Characterizing the Role of O-GlcNAcylation in Cardiomyopathy: Constructing a Transgenic Mouse Model / Anthony Tucker-Bartley, Dr. Olurotimi Mesubi, Dr. Mark Anderson -- 7 The Behavioral Effects of Caffeine on Zebrafish (Danio rerio) / Michelle DeTomaso -- 7 Gallyas Staining Method Used to Detect the Presence of Neurofibrillary Tangles and Beta Amyloid Plaques After Traumatic Brain Injury in Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio) / Nicole Bell and Dr. Christopher Corbo -- Section II: The Natural Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 11 The Effect of Oscillating Electromagnetic Fields on the Microorganism Staphylococcus aureus / Shannon Cedeno -- Section III: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 39 The Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease in Port Richmond / Nicole Aylmer, Nada Metwally, and Robin Santoro -- 53 The Dakota Access Pipeline: Litigating the Dispute / Vanessa Dailey -- Section IV: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 79 Luca Pacioli, The Father of Accounting / Madison McNichol -- 88 Factors Influencing School Readiness / Cynedra Osinaike -- 111 Internalized Racism and Indoctrinated Religion: Alice Walker’s “Convergence” and The Color Purple / Madison J. Ruff -- 122 Thirty-Nine Million and Counting: The Role that Federalism Played in the HIV/AIDS Crisis / Daniel S. Smith -- 130 Gregor Samsa and Marx’s Alienation of Labor / Rebecca Martin -- 138 Why Adults are Allowed to Say Children Are Best Kept Out of Sight and Out of Mind: A Study on Adult Focused Therapy for Survivors of Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking / Kelly Glenn
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural Sciences and
Quantitative Analysis, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these
sections are limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific investigations
(experimental, theoretical and empirical) and complex mathematical/ statistical modeling.
The third section is reserved for speculative papers based on the scholarly review and
critical examination of previous works.
This issue introduces an expansion of the first section to include not only scientific
investigations but also others that involve significant quantitative analysis such as those
in finance and risk management. The interested reader will explore the effects of
caffeine on the behavior of Zebrafish. This is followed by a rigorous analysis yielding
information on how a potential change in a retail chain’s SKU (stock keeping unit)
system will impact revenues. Moving on one encounters the significance of the 19361939 Palestinian revolt against the British, art and female sexuality in Nazi Germany,
how hegemonic masculinity is harming humanity, and many more stimulating topics.
Read on and enjoy!
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Amy Eshleman, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Annemarie Dowling-Castronovo, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I: The Natural Sciences & Quantitative
Analysis
Full Length Papers
3
The Behavioral Effects of Caffeine on Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Michelle DeTomaso
19 Optimizing Stock Keeping Unit Efficiency in Max Mara’s Direct
Retail: Analysis of the Effects of Implementing a New Inventory
Management Model
Fabia Maramotti
Section II: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
57 The Difference is in the Tales: The Relationship Between Insurance
Regulations and Accessible Abortion Care
Emma J. MacDonald
Section III: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
71 The Palestinian Revolt against the British, 1936-1939: Empowering
Palestinian Voices and the Effects the Revolt had on the Creation of
Israel
Hadeel Mishal
99 Beautiful Nude Girls: Art and Female Sexuality in Nazi Germany
Jordan Gonzales
113 Woman as Witness: Embodiment and the Female Christ-Figure in
Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment
Katelyn Alcott
119 “Be a Manâ€: How Hegemonic Masculinity is Harming Humanity
Michael Cancelleri Jr.
129 Los aspectos sociales y fÃsicos del bilingüismo
Tori Ross
����The Behavioral Effects of Caffeine
on Zebrafish (Danio rerio)1
Michelle DeTomaso (Biology)2
Caffeine is a psychoactive drug that stimulates the nervous system and is found in many
drinks and foods humans consume on a daily basis. Caffeine activates dopamine by
acting as an antagonist on adenosine receptors and affects behavior by increasing
locomotion indirectly through this mechanism. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a vital model
organism because the ancient body plan is 70% homologous in DNA to humans.
Zebrafish can be used to study anxiogenic drug effects on behavior. Anxiogenic drugs
stimulate the nervous system, causing anxiety effects in humans and zebrafish. Caffeine
affects zebrafish in various ways, such as increased latency to explore the top of the tank,
reduced time on top of an experimental tank, erratic swimming and increased freezing
time. This study aimed to test adult zebrafish under an acute condition of caffeine
exposure. Each fish was tested for 40s in a 0.12% concentration of caffeine and their
activity levels were quantified by counting the number of lines crossed on a grid using
digital videos. There was a significant difference between the control and the treatment
groups. The number of times crossed over for the treatment group ranged from 0-65
while the control varied from 23-110. The results showed significantly (p < 0.05) lower
levels of activity for the caffeinated zebrafish compared with the controls. In three trials
the treated did not cross any lines, also suggesting that caffeine may reduce activity by
inducing freezing. Other studies using various behavioral methods, have also found
caffeine effects. The concentration of the caffeine along with the different anxiety levels
between wild type and mutant strains may affect behavior. Further studies with varying
concentrations and comparisons of strains would be a vital expansion of this study, as it
would aid in the further understanding of how caffeine affects animals and humans.
I. Introduction
Caffeine as an anxiogenic drug
1
This research was presented at the 71st Annual Eastern Colleges Science Conference held in
Wilkes-Barre, PA on April 1, 2017.
Research conducted under the direction of Dr. Brian Palestis in partial fulfillment of the
Senior Program and Honors Program requirements.
2
3
�Caffeine is a known psychoactive drug that stimulates the human nervous
system. Caffeine is chemically defined as C8H10N4O2, which is also referred to as 1,3,7trimethylpurine-2,6-dione. Caffeine has a molar mass of 194.19 g/mol and a boiling point
of 1780C. Caffeine can be found in coffee, tea, chocolate-associated food, kola beans and
soft drinks. Acute or chronic intake of caffeine has not been linked to any major damage
to humans (Fredhold et al., 1999). However, caffeine is a competitive antagonist for
adenosine and will block the hormone adenosine from functioning. The resulting effects
are opposite of adenosine. This competitive nature inhibits adenosine, which indirectly
activates dopamine-induced behavior, because of the functional reaction between
adenosine receptors and dopamine receptors. This mechanism is consistent with findings
that caffeine produces behaviors similar to other stimulants such as cocaine which
include increased locomotion (Garret et al.,1997). Methylxanthine, a derivative found in
caffeine, reacts with serotonin neurons which induces, dosage dependently, increased
movement in animals. Awareness, vigilance and sluggish behavior, can be related to the
methylxanthine- related effects of caffeine (Nehlig, 1992). There is evidence that
suggests patients with anxiety disorders, who are more sensitive to stressors, have been
shown to have increased anxiety and impaired sleep under caffeine consumption (Smith,
2012).
Zebrafish as a model organism
Zebrafish are scientifically classified as Danio rerio and are in the family
Cyprinidae, which is the largest fish family (Mayden et al., 2007). Their natural habitats
include the Himalayan regions of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in areas ranging from
rice fields to ponds. They are common aquatic pets in the United States and are widely
used for laboratory research. Zebrafish are omnivorous and will eat aquatic plants and
zooplankton. The adult body size varies but mostly stays within the range of 1.5 to 2.5
cm, and their lifespan in the wild is about three years (United States Geological Survey,
2013).
Zebrafish are considered an alternative model for research in the areas of
neuroscience, development and therapies in diseases, for example, by studying genetic
expression of certain cancers (Craig et al., 2011). Usually rodents are used for these
studies, but fish have a large benefit in a multitude of areas as well. Using a fish is
beneficial, because fish are of an ancestral decent (the earliest bony fish lived
approximately 200-250 million years ago), and most modern vertebrates, including
humans, have evolved from this ancient blueprint (Gerlai, 2014). The older ancient body
plan of fish is advantageous to use in experiments having to do with understanding
4
�diseases or other issues of interest in terms of humans. Humans are connected to fish as
all creatures are related through a common ancestor. The common ancestor of all
organisms has fundamental mechanisms that can be considered core traits of life that
evolution has built upon through time. The fish can therefore reveal the core mechanisms
which can be used to explain complex genotypes of today (Gerlai, 2014).
Zebrafish can be utilized in diverse areas for research, such as studies on human
diseases using genomics. The development of zebra fish is rapid and major organs appear
after 36 h of initial fertilization (Spence et al., 2007). The precursor to the embryo is
called a chorion, which is used in neurodevelopment research to make visualization easy
with modern equipment. The ability to make any gene mutant in the genome of a
zebrafish makes genomic studies attainable as well and zebra fish are already a viable
means of discovering the function of genes in molecular development (Schier, 1997).
Zebrafish have many positive attributes that make them a viable source of
information for research. Danio rerio prefers to be clustered close together with their own
species, which is called shoaling (Miller and Gerlai, 2012). This shoaling behavior allows
the researcher to have numerous fish condensed into one tank. Zebrafish also produce
high numbers of offspring per female, allowing for constant replenishment of fish to be
used in experiments (Gerlai, 2014). The most important highlight of their usefulness is
the possibility of high throughput screening, due to the large amount of eggs manifested
by the female. High throughput screening is used to test for the correlation of genes and
biomolecules for specific genetic mutations and functional processes. This requires a high
coverage or vast number of trials in order to obtain all genes or biomolecules in a given
experiment. Zebrafish can be useful for high throughput screening due to the simplicity
of their body plan, but are still relevant enough to use for research based on human or
mammal tissues (Patton and Zon, 2001). Zebra fish can serve as human models, given
that 70% of nucleotide sequences in zebrafish are homologs to human DNA. This means
that homologous markers of humans can be found in zebrafish DNA and the function of
genes found in these areas may have similar function to human DNA (Howe et al., 2013;
Gerlai, 2014).
Anxiogenic and anxiolytic drugs experiments with zebrafish
Anxiogenic and anxiolytic drugs are used to test anxiety behavior of fish.
Anxiogenic drugs cause anxiety while anxiolytic drugs are known to decrease anxietyinduced behavior when taken regularly. Anxiolytic drugs like ethanol and nicotine can
have anxiety-like symptoms as a result of withdrawal from chronic use (Lin et al.,1999).
Anxiogenic drug studies have been performed using ethanol and nicotine. Chronic
5
�exposure to ethanol causes an adaptation to the chemical in the adult zebrafish. The fish
are known to have adapted because no anxiety response is viewed during the experiment.
This indifference means the fish has become adapted, or used to the ethanol, and the
chemical makes no significant difference in their behavior. In acute exposure to ethanol,
the zebrafish instead experiences anxiety-driven responses such as increased freeze time
and erratic swimming patterns (Gerlai et al., 2006). Kurta and Palestis, (2010) found that
the proximity of fish, or shoaling behavior, was tighter in a concentration of 0.125% and
0.25% ethanol as compared to a control. At 1% concentration the nearest neighbor
distance was three times that of the control, meaning the fish were farther apart at high
ethanol concentrations. There is clearly an effect of ethanol on shoaling behavior and that
effect depends on the alcohol concentration.
Chronic exposure to ethanol in zebrafish lowers cortisol levels and has an
overall anxiolytic drug effect. Anxiolytic drugs lower anxiety and result in a phenotype
that is more able to explore and transition more often from top to bottom in the tank
(Egan et al., 2010). Zebrafish have a similar map of stress hormones released from their
endocrine system to humans, making them a model organism for research. This cascade
of hormones starts with corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) to adrenocorticotropic
hormone (ACTH), and cortisol. Cortisol is used as a primary stress hormone in zebrafish
and humans (Barcellos et. al, 2007). Anxiogenic drugs, by contrast, increase anxiety and
exploration of the top of the tank is more frequent than normal behavior of the fish would
show.
Edgan et al. (2010) compared wild type and mutant strains of zebrafish and
found differences in behavior when the fish were exposed to the same concentrations of
caffeine. Different strains of fish have differing baseline anxiety thresholds that have to
be taken into consideration when studied. Some mutant strains have a higher anxiety
baseline which results in an over compensated stimulus response compared to wild type
zebrafish.
Recently studies have emerged using zebrafish as a model organism for studying
behavior. Using a motion camera, Blaser and Gerlai, (2007) have studied adult zebrafish
for various characteristics such as novelty response, response to predators, social
behavior and aggression. Levin et al., (2007) studied exploratory behavior in zebrafish
and discovered the duration on the bottom of the tank is longer when a threat is detected.
Generally, exposure to any new environment is cause for an anxiety driven response. The
novel tank diving test is a traditional method of testing the fish for anxiety behavior.
Zebrafish can be exposed to alarm pheromone which can be released by their epidermal
cells when cell damage occurs or as a fear response. The response from an increase in
6
�pheromone corresponds to increased dwelling on the bottom of the tank, rapid swimming
with increased erratic turns, less aggression and increased amount of freezing time
(Rehnberg and Smith, 1988).
Caffeine experiments in zebrafish
The anxiogenic drug caffeine is part of the focus of the present research.
Barcellos et al, (2007) found that caffeine affected treated zebrafish by reducing the time
they spent near the top of the experimental tank, the length of time taken to transition to
the top, degree of erratic swimming and frequency of freezing spurts.
According to Wong et al. (2009), caffeine increases overall exploration and
erratic movements in the swimming patterns of the zebrafish. The effect of the caffeine
also lowered habitual behavior due to increased sporadic anxious behavior. Caffeine
increased exploration time, and increased erratic movement more than most other
anxiogenic substances tested (Wong et al., 2010). In male rats, caffeine produced
significant increases in intracranial self-administration assay, which was equivalent to
paraxanthine. Paraxanthine is a stimulant and has a similar affinity for A1 and A2
adenosine receptors like caffeine (Chou et al., 2003). There was a significant effect on
frequency and total responses per component in a dose dependent manner (Lazenka et al.,
2015).
In addition to experiments with adult zebrafish, developmental effects of
caffeine have also been studied using larval fish. Caffeine stunted the growth of the
dorsal aorta connection to the dorsal trunk and significantly lowered the amount of dorsal
longitudinal anatomic vessels in the 12-36 hour after fertilization group (Yeh et al.,
2012).
Caffeine also disturbed the formation of somite boundaries of proteins used for
vascular development in groups that were 12- 36 h and 12-60 h post fertilization (Yeh et
al., 2012). Somites are bilateral mesoderm cells found on the neural tube of the embryo
that are precursors to skeletal muscles and other body structures (DeRuiter, 2010). Yeh et
al. (2012), took three different genes involved in the formation of blood vessels and
performed gel electrophoresis on the mRNA to see if the levels in the control group and
the two groups injected with caffeine differed. With caffeine, the mRNA level increased
in the gene nrpla while the level decreased in sema3aa and sema3c. Nrpla is a coreceptor
of plexin. Plexin is the receptor for sema3a, which is part of the pathway of vascular
endothelial growth factor (Yeh et al., 2012). The genes that normally play a key role in
the development of the vascular system had antiangiogenesis effects from the caffeine.
7
�Which led to physical alterations in somite formation, dorsal longitudinal anatomic
vessels and sub-intestinal veins.
Zebrafish can be used to understand behavioral effects of certain drugs such as
caffeine. The effect of caffeine on zebrafish is predicted to be increased erratic behavior
and increased exploration of the tank. There should be more freeze time and spurts of
energy that indicate erratic swimming patterns. The overall effect should be that of
anxiety- ridden movement and different rates of movement than the baseline behavior of
the zebrafish. This should demonstrate a difference in behavior from zebrafish in tank
water to zebrafish being exposed to caffeine. This study, along with others previously
published, can be used to understand how caffeine can affect behavioral patterns of
organisms. Although many experiments exist with the effect of caffeine on zebrafish
embryos, this research is meant to study adult zebrafish. The results can be used to
compare adult zebrafish to the embryonic reaction to caffeine and other anxiogenic drugs.
This can be further studied to understand even long term exposure on zebrafish both adult
and embryonic stages. This can be further applied to how humans react to caffeine both
physically and hormonally. Zebrafish can be used to study psychological, hormonal and
developmental long term effects of caffeine. The use of small vertebrates that have
homologous traits to humans can be a gateway to understanding the effect of caffeine on
humans and if regulation of consumption should be considered.
II. Materials and Methods
Procedure
The zebrafish were kept in a 10-gallon tank isolated from the shallow dish
fingerbowl used in the experiment. The fingerbowl was filled with 850 ml of tank water
and placed on a 3x3 cm grid. Each fish was transferred from the tank to the fingerbowl
with a net and given two minutes in the new environment before capturing the movement
on a video camera attached to a computer. This allowed time for the fish to adapt to the
unknown small tank and minimized the anxiety of capture and of the fish being
overwhelmed by a new habitat. The first ten trials were a control using water from the
original tank. The second round of trials involved the inclusion of a diluted solution of
98% pure caffeine powder (Sigma- Aldrich) and 6.87 % concentration of caffeine to
water. This concentration was achieved by diluting 1.1 mg of caffeine using 16 ml of
water. The fingerbowl was filled with 850 ml of water from the original tank and the 16
ml of caffeine solution. The experimental percentage of caffeine/water solution to the
tank water was 0.12%. Each fish was placed into the fingerbowl, one fish at a time, for
each trial. Each fish was videotaped for 40 s per trial. After all the data were collected,
8
�statistical analysis of the times the fish crossed a grid line was determined. Observations
of time spent not moving, erratic behavior and freeze time were recorded as well.
The documented videos were recorded on a desktop computer connected to a
camera. Windows Video Maker software was used to edit and view the slideshow of
videos. There were four groupings of slideshows, each consisting of either control
zebrafish or caffeine-exposed zebrafish. The caffeine treatment group was compared to
the control group in terms of number of lines crossed.
Animal Maintenance
The fish were purchased at the Arcadia Pet Store and maintained by the Wagner
College Department of Biological Sciences. The maintenance of the organisms consists
of feeding daily, and keeping the temperature at optimum median temperature. After the
fish were used for the experiment, they were separated from non-tested fish so the same
fish was not experimented on twice.
Statistics
SPSS software was used to import an Excel document with the data for both the
control and caffeine treated zebrafish. Histograms were constructed to show the range of
the data. The Mann-Whitney U-test was conducted to test whether the two groups
significantly differed using a significance level of α= 0.05. A non-parametric test was
used because of an excess of zero values. The data from the control and treated fish were
averaged to find the mean, median, mode, standard deviation, minimum, maximum and
percentiles in quartile intervals. The distance and the displacement of each fish was
calculated and the data was used to create histograms for easy comparisons of the
caffeine treatment with the control.
III. Results
Treatment and control group
The control group was made up of 10 trials that were 40 s each. In each
trial a new fish was used to keep the exposure the same length of time for each fish. The
number of times crossed over the lines on the grid ranged from 23-110 (Figure 1). The
most frequent range of the times crossed over was 60-80 times. The mean (±SD) for the
control group was 69.8 (±28.1). The treatment group consisted of 13 trials of 40s
intervals. The range of lines crossed over for the treatment group was 0-64, which was a
lower range then the control (Figures 1, Figure 2). The treatment group had an increased
9
�frequency of zero lines being crossed over (Figure 2). The mean for the treatment group
was 26.5 (± 21.5).
The percentiles for the treatment group were lower compared to that of the
control group. The caffeine treated group had a 25th percentile of 2.5 which is
approximately 18 times less than the 25th percentile for the control. The three zeros in the
data of the treatment group lowered the percentiles (Figure 2). The treatment group had a
50th percentile of 27 and a 75th percentile of 42 while the control had a 50th percentile of
71.50 and a 75th percentile of 93.25. The number of lines crossed differed significantly
between the two groups (Mann-Whitney U Test, p <0.05).
Number of Lines Crossed
Figure 1: Number of times the fish crossed over the grid in the control group
10
�Number of Lines Crossed
Figure 2: Number of times the fish crossed over the grid in the caffeine treated group
Physical observations
During the observation of the videos, certain patterns were noticed. The control
group fish swam precisely and quickly with little to no freezing. The treatment group had
increased freezing during the time interval compared to the control group. In the three
trials that the fish were motionless, all of them stayed in one position to the left side of
the fingerbowl. The one trial of the treatment that only crossed five times also behaved
similarly. The movements of the treatment group were jagged and showed broken
swimming motions compared to that of the control. The control fish had a fluidity and
smooth transitions from one box to another. The fish in the treatment group tended to stay
more in the middle of the boxes while the control group fish followed the lines of the
boxes more closely. Zig-zagging was seen much more often in this study than darting, but
both were found in the treatment and control groups
IV. Discussion
Caffeine experiments are needed to analyze what physiological and behavioral
effects anxiogenic drugs have on animals, including humans. The prediction of this
research was that caffeine would give the zebrafish anxiety- like behavior such as erratic,
fast swimming patterns in the tank. In comparison to the control, the caffeine-treated
group was predicted to have larger numbers of lines crossed over during the experimental
period. The results were different than hypothesized. The control group had a larger
11
�number of lines crossed over, with a wider range and percentile numbers than the
treatment group. The treatment group had three fish that did not move at all during the
trial and one that crossed only five times during the trial. The fish moved more swiftly
and less erratically in the control than the treatment group. The only detected behavior
was obvious freezing or jerky motions when moving that differed from the control. This
result is not similar to other studies published using zebrafish exposure to caffeine.
The study done by Egan et al. (2009) demonstrated that caffeine in five-minute
intervals affected the zebrafish by inducing an anxiety-ridden state. This included the
phenotype of erratic movements and fewer transitions to the top but did not alter the
freezing time. This finding could be due to the fact that varying concentrations of
caffeine can affect the zebrafish differently. Egan et al., (2009) used 300 mg for 3 L or a
10% concentration, while this study conducted used 0.12% concentration. My research
would have had to use 86 mg of caffeine in 860 ml of water to equal the concentration
used in the comparative study. The dosage of 250-350 ppm of caffeine for a zebrafish is
equivalent to 4,200-5,800 mg/kg for a 1.2 mg fish (Chen et al. 2008). This range in
milligrams exceeds the allowed maximum consumption for adults which is 150-300 mg
per day (Brent et al. 2011). Caffeine seems to have the largest effect on an individual
when given in a 300 mg or higher one-time dose, which is not a realistic concentration.
Humans do not exceed 300 mg of caffeine daily and take the drug in smaller doses
throughout the course of a day (Lieberman,1992).
The specific location in the brain where dopamine is released, once a drug is
consumed, corresponds to a specific psychological mapping in the brain. The daily
consumption of caffeine by humans releases dopamine from the prefrontal cortex which
corresponds to reinforcing substances. Other drugs release dopamine from the shell of the
nucleus accumbens, which corresponds to addiction and reinforcement. The nucleus
accumbens is in the hypothalamus and is a critical action target for abusive drugs. This
pathway from the nucleus accumbens is considered an addicting neurological response,
while the consumption of caffeine comes from the prefrontal cortex providing a
reinforcement pathway of satisfaction but not addictive in hormonal release. The core and
shell are distinctive regions anatomically identified (Pontieri et al., 1995). Dopamine
released from the shell of the nucleus, and increased cerebral functionality is a key
indicator of a drug abusive substance. The cerebral acceptance of dopamine is the center
for reward and addiction (Nehlig,1999). The dopamine being released from a different
part of the brain means it has a different physiology than a substance that would be
habitual and lead to addiction. The stimulation of the brain is general and most
importantly does not adhere to the area of dopaminergic areas that are related to reward
12
�and addiction (Nehlig, 1999). The effect of methylxanthine is co-localized on the
dopamine receptor and does not affect the addiction center of the brain but rather the
reinforcement area. Xanthines are compounds that are used in metabolism for recycling
of GTP and nucleic acids (Franco et al., 2013). Methylxanthine binds to adenosine
receptors and the binding results in enhance mood and concentration levels (Nehlig,
2010). Patients who are more sensitive to stressors have had increased anxiety, while in
patients who are less sensitive to stressors, caffeine improves abilities such as vigilance
tasks and simple tasks when alertness is low (Smith, 2012).
Different ways of analyzing the zebrafish may result in varying results due to
the method chosen. In this experiment a grid was used and then the number of times the
zebrafish crossed over was tallied. This procedure assessed the movement of the zebra
fish under a 40 s time frame during acute conditions of exposure. Other studies observed
the transition of the zebrafish from the top and bottom of the tank and the time spent on
the upper portion of the tank to analyze response to caffeine (Egan et al., 2009). The
division of the tank would show the behavioral specifically instead of just the movement
frequency. My research used a fingerbowl which did not provide enough depth to section
the tank and observe the areas of behavior accordingly.
Degree of cohesion could also be used to analyze zebrafish in response to
caffeine. Zebrafish have a preference for being in a shoal and individuals are socially set
up to join a group. This preference for swimming close to other fish and joining a group
is called group cohesion (Gerlai et al., 2014). The formation of tight groups of fish is
called shoaling and zebrafish prefer this over being alone. There are internal aspects that
relate to shoaling including olfactory, auditory and visual cues that zebrafish associate
with their group mates (Miller and Gerlai, 2007). The theory of group cohesion in
zebrafish may affect solitary individuals, causing an additional stress factor.
The behavior of movement, either the quantification of movement or lack of
movement, can still be correlated to anxiety in zebrafish. In the study done by Egan et al
(2009), exposure to caffeine displayed evidence of anxiety with a latency in top of tank
exploration and erratic movements. The evidence suggests that limited exploration by
zebrafish is also an anxiety feature. Different strains of zebrafish have differing baselines
in anxiety levels, which can also lead to varying results in anxiety responses. Reduction
in exploration by different strains of zebrafish will vary according to the threshold of
stimuli needed for the behavior to occur. Mutant strains have a lower tolerance and
higher baseline for anxiety than wildtype (Egan et al., 2009). Therefore, the strain of the
zebrafish should be taken into consideration. My research involved the wildtype which
could mean the anxiety baseline was lower than in the case of mutant strains. Further
13
�research should distinguish between wildtype and mutant strains when comparing
behavioral responses to caffeine.
Other factors that could have affected the research include human error in
counting the lines of the video, which was minimized by counting multiple times before
recording the data. The amount of light in the room, depending on day, may have also
skewed the data slightly as the treatment group was recorded with both morning and
afternoon light situations. The temperature of the water may have also affected the
results, but the same water was used from the original tank to avoid this problem. Further
studies can be done using different strains of zebrafish to compare the baseline of anxiety
in mutant strains (Egan et al., 2009). Another way to study how caffeine affects the fish is
to vary the concentration from 0.12% or lower to 10% and compare responses.
Additional assays can be used in conjunction with this grid line examination, such as
dividing the tank into upper and lower limits and recording time in each portion similar to
other studies (Rehnberg and Smith, 1998; Egan et. al., 2009).
A major result of this study is the behavioral freezing of the zebrafish, especially
in the treatment group that was under the effects of caffeine. Freezing in zebrafish means
stillness without moving any body part. Freezing with frequent opercular movement can
indicate a stress or anxiety-induced behavior (Kalueff et al., 2013). Erratic movements
that were found in fish who moved in the treatment group can be defined as a complex
behavior which features freezing before or after zig-zagging behavior. This can be
evoked by stressors or general fear state from an outside influence (Kalueff et al., 2013).
Zig-zagging is consecutive multiple darts that vary in velocity and speed. This movement
would change rapidly and seamlessly (Cachat et al., 2011).
The control group had overall increased motion and increased lines crossed
compared to the treatment group, which suggests further studies need to be conducted to
test the full effects of caffeine. This unexpected result leads to a suggestion that
concentration dosage of caffeine may affect the behavioral responses of zebrafish. My
research indicates there is an effect in zebrafish that involves freezing, however, more
research needs to be done to verify this response and compare using different caffeine
concentrations.
V. Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge the aid of my mentor and advisor Dr. Palestis for
helping with the data analysis and guiding me through the research. I would like to also
acknowledge Dr. Stearns for revising my paper and Professor Raths as well. I would also
like to thank Wagner College for funding my research and also giving me a lab facility to
14
�work in. The next set of people to address is to my family and friends who supported me
and have been there for me. I believe undergraduate research is important to shape skills I
will use in the future and I acknowledge all those who respect my view.
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Y.J. (2008). Movement disorder and neuromuscular change in zebrafish embryos after
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Yeh, C. H., Liao, Y. F., Chang, C. Y., Tsai, J. N., Wang, Y. H., Cheng, C. C., and Chen,
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18
�Optimizing Stock Keeping Unit Efficiency in Max Mara’s
Direct Retail: Analysis of the Effects of Implementing a
New Inventory Management Model
Fabia Maramotti (Business Administration and French Studies)1
This thesis presents an articulated analysis developed and carried out by the author for the
company Max Mara Fashion Group. Max Mara is a luxury fashion company founded in
1951, currently operating in 105 countries around the world with more than 2,300 stores.
The organization is considering the possibility to implement a new SKU (stock keeping
unit) system to optimize revenues from B2B, direct retail, B2C and potentially also B2E.
My task with this project is to understand whether it is worth taking the risk of switching
from the old Push model to the new inventory management model, called the Pull model.
The aim is to find results in the data analysis and in the simulations of the future model
that are significant enough to prove potential beneficial or unfavorable outcomes from the
use of the new model. The goal is also to give clear and reliable reasons that explain why
the company could benefit from implementing the Pull system, where part of the
merchandise is on hold in the main warehouses, instead of being sent directly to the
stores. This thesis consists of a quantitative analysis that provides mathematical evidence
for conclusions, and is a more theoretical consideration of warehouse and store logistics
such as spaces, timings and rapidity of shipments and deliveries. It is divided in two main
parts, AS/IS and TO/BE, one analyzing the efficiency of the present model and the other
simulating potential results of the new model. Max Mara has 9 brands and 19 collections
with different style and price ranges. Since it would be impossible to include every brand
and department in the analysis due to the large sizes of the databases, it has been decided
to take as samples the two largest brands, Max Mara and Max & Co, the two past
seasons, FW 16 (Fall-Winter) and SS 17 (Spring-Summer), and the European
geographical area of stores. The data is provided by Max Mara Fashion Group,
headquartered in Reggio Emilia, Italy; the initial database will not be published, due the
company’s policies, but many samples, formulas, result tables and graphs will be
included in the thesis, which will be written in two languages, English and Italian. The
main results found are that the service level, how much merchandise the customer finds
in the store, is slightly lower in the new model, but that the amount of potential lost sales
Supervised by Cathyann Tully and written under the direction of Edward Strafaci in partial
fulfillment of the Senior Program requirements.
1
19
�is also inferior. Stores could therefore be restocked multiple times throughout the season
covering potential missed sale opportunities. Max Mara is a luxury company where
merchandise is exposed much less than in fast fashion stores and where the number of
daily sales is much lower than in other industries.
I. Introduction to Max Mara’s Inventory Management
The rapid development of the e-commerce industry, along with the significant
impact of social media and the changing consumer shopping patterns are the main
reasons for which Max Mara Fashion Group is considering the idea of changing their
inventory management system by implementing a new pull model to optimize SKU
quantities.
To provide the reader with a better understanding of the subject matter,
definitions and explanations are shared multiple times throughout the thesis; these are
often not directly quoted due to the fact that they are the result of accumulated knowledge
acquired by interning first in one of Max Mara’s direct retail stores and then in the
logistics department of the company. Colleagues, the company’s intranet and internal
manuals are therefore the main sources of this thesis.
History of Max Mara and its Inventory System
Max Mara is a fashion company, headquartered in Reggio Emilia, Italy and
founded by Achille Maramotti in 1951. It was the first Italian fashion business to produce
ready-to-wear clothing, distributing and selling the finished products to its customer (MM
Fashion Group, 2012). The founder started producing, storing and selling its products in
one single building with a very small and limited number of employees with expert skills.
Today the company has become a multinational corporation operating in 105 countries
around the world with 2,300 stores and with a workforce of more than 5,000 employees
(MM Fashion Group, 2012). Max Mara Fashion Group has 9 different brands, Max Mara,
Sportmax, Weekend, Marina Rinaldi, Max&Co, Persona, Pennyblack, Marella and
iBluse, which all have different styles, sizes and price ranges. There are moreover 19
different collections within the brands, such as Studio from MaxMara, Inserimento from
Weekend, Code from Sportmax and many others. Each collection follows a specific
theme, style or trend. This already gives a quick idea of the amount of clothing items,
sizes and colors that there are and how complicated distribution logistics can become.
With the brands and collections rapidly developing throughout the years,
production, inventory and distribution management logistics changed multiple times. In
2003 the company built a new headquarter and two new warehouses to sustain the
increasing sizes of brands, collections, employees and products. Since 1951 Max Mara
20
�Fashion Group hasn’t stopped looking for improvements to succeed and strive in the
luxury fashion industry and even today the company is still trying to enhance its stock
keeping unit system, considering the idea of changing its present inventory management
system, switching from a push to a pull model.
SKU models and inventory management methods
It is very important to note that Max Mara is an Italian fashion house operating
in the luxury sector; it should therefore not be compared or confused with other fast
fashion organizations, since quality, prices and quantities are completely different. If
inventory management is very important in fast fashion and in every other industry, it is
particularly relevant in the female luxury fashion sector, where fits are very specific,
qualities very high, materials very expensive and overall produced and ordered quantities
per items are very small. The focus on production, allocation and distribution is therefore
extremely important for the company’s revenues and profits.
ID- SKU codes
Every item has an ID-SKU, Stock-Keeping-Unit, which is a code of 10 to 12
numbers, each one with a defined meaning. The simple term ID-SKU in the fashion
industry describes a specific model of a collection, in a determined color code and its
given size. On the other hand when referring to a Model-ID, it is narrowed down to the
model and its color code. ID-store-SKU is used to visualize even more specifically the
performance of a certain model-color-size in a given store location. This last ID-storeSKU is very useful to identify which brands and collections are in the greatest demand in
given cities and stores. The table below shows three examples of different ID-SKUs that
can be used to classify units; these are however not the only ones existing and used, but
instead the three relevant to this specific analysis.
Table 1. ID-SKU Nomination
ID-
Description of Code
ID Example
Code Description Example
Model-ID
Model-Color
624926003-2
model DRY/color blue
ID-SKU
Model-Color-Size
624926003-2-M
mod. DRY/color blue/size M
ID-storeSKU
Store-Model-ColorSize
30103-6249260032-M
store Berlin/mod. DRY/color
blue/size M
21
�Figure 1 is an example of the Fall-Winter 2016 dress department database and it
gives an idea of how databases are set up. As shown by the horizontal arrow, the first line
and the first column of every database and excel sheet used in the analysis is frozen. This
is done with the intent to visually associate the data to a specific SKU.
Store Code
Model Code
Color & Size
Figure 1. ID – SKU Example Table from FW 16 Coats Department Database
The concept of Model-ID is largely used in the ordering process when it has to
be decided how many models of each line should be produced, where they should be
allocated and with what breath. The term breath is used to describe the quantities of each
Model-ID in an order. In the Spring-Summer-2017 season the average Unit-ID breath
was of 9.05, meaning that in every store order each Model-SKU was present 9 times,
normally one for each size and two or three for middle sizes. The relatively low ModelID breath is typical for the fashion luxury sector and also simply a choice of the company
in order to be able to offer the larger and most sustainable variety of products.
Push Model
The push model that the company has been using until now is certainly the most
efficient distribution model for small companies that have a limited number of points of
22
�sale, since most of the produced and ordered merchandise is located in the store; with this
model, assuming an item has been ordered in the correct amount of units to meet its
demand, the probability that the customer finds the desired item in a specific size and
color is very high, even if the same exact item has been sold the hour before. This occurs
with the push model because the entire merchandise ordered for a specific location is sent
to the store at the beginning of the season; if its demand is very high, it can also be
restocked a second time in the season. If an item is demanded by a customer in one
location that has not been provided with that specific ID-SKU the store can demand a
transfer from either another store or from the main centralized warehouse. However,
issues that rise with transfers are many, such as high cost of shipments, long processing
times, low sale probability and others. Since shop managers and sale assistants do not
have a particular interest in transferring the item, it can often occur that she/he postpones
this request even up to a week, after which the item might not be demanded anymore by
the original costumer. This is therefore considered not only a lost sale and a wasted
shipment but also a misallocation of that item, since once a transfer is made and not sold,
it is no longer located in its original pre-established location. Indeed, it emerged from the
analysis that only 65% of transfers are successful, meaning that remaining 35% of
transferred items are neither sold to the customer that demanded it nor to any other
customer before the end of the season. There are two risks associated with transfers, the
first one being that the customers might no longer buy the requested item and the second
one that the store sending it out may lose a sale due to the lack of that particular ID-SKU.
Each store has a very specific cluster of items from each brand, collection,
model and color code, which has been accurately studied and chosen by buyers, who
consider it to be the best possible selection for that store, location and its customers. A
small town in Italy for example, will have a much greater selection of the Weekend brand
than a larger city would, since prices are lower and fits are easier. In flagship stores, on
the other hand, stylish coats and important Sfilata models, which are strongly advertised
by the company and have a higher average price due to their appearance in the Milan
fashion show, will be prevalent and largely demanded.
Pull Model
In the pull model the quantity of ordered merchandise remains unchanged, but
the amount of stock kept behind in centralized warehouses is much greater. This allows
the centralized management to analyze trends of each shop, identify popular items, spot
missing sizes and restock these immediately with the stock kept behind or “on holdâ€. In
this way, transfers between stores would disappear, leaving all restocking and
transferring activities to the centralized warehouses. Even if ordered clusters for stores
23
�wouldn’t change, there would be more freedom to mix them and allocate individual SKU
units in those stores that need it most during a given week in the season. While extremely
accurate forecasts of stores’ total merchandise allocation are essential in the push model,
in the pull system it is mainly important to have a more general forecast of quantities for
the season.
The question whether this model actually works in this industry goes back to the
point made earlier on, explaining that the luxury fashion business is not only very
vulnerable to customers, locations, styles and trends, but also the fact that quantities of a
specific model, color code and size are not very large.
II. Variables and Methodology
Database
Databases withdrawn from the general system are divided in departments and
seasons. Since the amount of data is too large and the time of the analysis is limited, two
seasons and six departments are taken as sample for the entire analysis. In order to
analyze and compare the two most recent time periods, the seasons that are chosen as
samples are FW-16 (Fall-Winter 2016) and SS-17 (Spring-Summer 2017), while the two
chosen brands are Max Mara and Max&Co. The analyzed departments for each season
are dresses, coats, knitwear, pants, tops in jersey and footwear, which is considered part
of accessories. The same analysis is carried out for each department after which seasonal
and annual aggregate results are calculated to make assumptions that lead to general
conclusions.
Independent Variables
Independent variables are those initially found in the database and not created or
changed for the analysis. Each database has from 80 to 200 thousand Excel lines,
representing a model of a collection, in a certain country, store, color and size during a
determined week in the season. Each file analyzes 133 direct stores in 10 different
countries, 42 exits of 21 collections and 2 brands. These are all considered independent
variables. It is then possible to match items and to find aggregate results by creating pivot
tables, which do not consider the week, the store or the nation of an item. These can also
be considered independent variables, although created by the author for this analysis.
Other variables are the number of supplied units of an item, its relative sellout amount,
transferred units, transferred sellout amount, sold units, and sold sellout amount. The
“maximum-†and “minimum-week†are also important variables representing
respectively the last week before sales start and the first week of possible sales when
24
�items are delivered to the store. The analysis and simulation is indeed only possible and
accurate if done over this period of time since sales are considered special events in
which clothing items are demanded according to different customer trends and patterns,
such as the act of prioritizing lower prices. While the Max-week differs for every
country, the Min-week changes for every individual item, since Model-SKUs are not
necessarily supplied at the same time. Finally, it is also necessary for the analysis to
differentiate from transfer in, which are positive numbers, and transfers out, which are
negative. The table below (see Figure 2) shows some independent variables that are
distributed by column for every SKU.
Figure 2. Independent Variables - Example Table from FW 16 Dress Department Database
Dependent variables
Initial Allocation
Initial Allocation or IA is the initial quantity of ID-SKU that is allocated in a
store at the beginning of the season excluding all restocked and transferred items. It is the
quantity needed to guarantee a determined service level from the first day of the season.
The average IA for an ID-store-SKU is three pieces for main sizes and one or two for the
remaining ones. Initial allocation quantities are calculated by complex algorithms and
then manually influenced by buyers, who are responsible to place the stores’ orders.
Stock Level – in store/boxes
The stock level of a store, mathematically represented by SLw, is calculated
weekly and represents the amount of units of a model/color/size still left in a store during
25
�a specific week. In the first week it is calculated by adding supplied and transferred units
and subtracting sold units of that item. For all the following weeks it is also necessary to
subtract the stock level of the week before, as seen in the formulas below.
Week 1
ð‘†ð¿ð‘¤ = ð‘ 𑤠+ ð‘¡ð‘¤ ‒ ð‘£ð‘¤
or
ð‘†ð¿ð‘¤ = ð‘𑤠‒ ð‘£ð‘¤
All weeks x ≠1
ð‘†ð¿ð‘¤ = ð‘ 𑤠+ ð‘¡ð‘¤ ‒ ð‘£ð‘¤ + ð‘†ð¿ð‘¤ ‒ 1
or
ð‘†ð¿ð‘¤ = ð‘𑤠‒ ð‘£ð‘¤ + ð‘†ð¿ð‘¤ ‒ 1
(1)
where
w=week
sw=supplied SKU quantity
tw=transferred SKU quantity
vw=sold SKU quantity
cw=sw+tw=in stock SKU quantity
GDO
Gross Domestic Outflow (GDO) is a sale forecast for a ID-store-SKU,
store/model/color/size, that projects, if used for future outcomes, or averages, if used with
past data, the amount of items sold in a week throughout a specific period. It considers
only the weeks where stock is greater than 0. It is an indicator that tells you how many
units of an ID-SKU (model/color/size) are going to be sold on average in one week.
Calculating GDOs is a very important component of this analysis, because it defines the
desirability of a SKU in mathematical terms.
26
�ð‘¡ð‘œð‘¡ð‘Žð‘™ ð‘¢ð‘›ð‘–ð‘¡ð‘ ð‘ ð‘œð‘™ð‘‘
ðºð·ð‘‚ð‘†ð¾ð‘ˆ = ð‘ð‘œ. ð‘œð‘“
ð‘¤ð‘’ð‘’ð‘˜ð‘ ð‘¤ð‘–ð‘¡â„Ž ð‘†ð¿ > 0
(2)
WOC
Weeks of Coverage (WOC) is the number of week over which the target stock
level needs to guarantee given quantities; in other words, it represents the period of
weeks over which the store should have coverage without replenishing the stock, given
the GDO and the initial allocation of a specific item in a specific store location. WOC
vary from a minimum of 8 weeks to a maximum of 22 weeks. The WOC variable can be
manually changed depending on the frequency with which a store can be physically
replenished.
ð´ð‘™ð‘™ð‘œð‘ð‘Žð‘¡ð‘–ð‘œð‘›
ð‘Šð‘‚ð¶ = ð¼ð‘›ð‘–ð‘¡ð‘–ð‘Žð‘™ðºð·ð‘‚
(3)
Service Level Percentage & Minimum Display Quantity - MDQ
Minimum Display Quantity (MDQ) is the minimum quantity of SKU needed to
support at least visual needs in the store and minimum required service levels. It is used
to calculate target stock levels and it has to take into account special event, festivities,
holidays and other special days for the retail industry. When MDQ equals to one it means
that the unit is present in the store. Minimum display quantities are calculated before
orders by predefined algorithms.
Service level is a percentage that indicates the average satisfaction of a customer
when entering the store and the service that is offered in a specific location and moment
in time. Service level is a mathematical and objective variable and it should not be
confused with the actual and subjective service offered by sale assistants or by the
physical facilities of the store. In other words, it indicates how many times the consumer
finds an ID-SKU (model/color/size) when desired. Mathematically it is calculated by
dividing (1 – GDO) over the Initial Allocation of the SKU.
ðºð·ð‘‚ ∗ 100
ð‘†ð‘’ð‘Ÿð‘£ð‘–ð‘ð‘’ ð¿ð‘’ð‘£ð‘’ð‘™ð‘†ð¾ð‘ˆ = 1 ‒ð¼ð´
(4)
27
�In-Season Processes
The in-season process analyzed in this thesis is composed by three main
planning processes Target-Stock-Level (TSL), Replenishment and Reorder, which
coordinate and control the SKU management during the retail season, defining sales
revenues, customer satisfaction and the brand’s general performances.
Target Stock Level – TSL
Target Stock Levels (TSL) refers to the process that controls the optimal
quantity needed to support sales in each different store location and their warehouse. It
includes the calculation of the optimal stock level according to the desired goals of the
management and the inventory management model in use. It is initially based on the preestablished sales expectations and on the stores’ coverage necessities, but since these
change as the retail sale season develops parameters of TSL quantities need to be
changed and adjusted throughout the season. More simply the TSL is a process matrix
that responds to the questions what will be needed, when – at what time in season – and
where or in which store location. It is generated in the ordering process and is essential
for the general stock distribution. Mathematically the TSL is calculated weekly for every
SKU combination with the following formula:
( (
ð‘‡ð‘†ð¿ð‘¤ = ð‘…ð‘œð‘¢ð‘›ð‘‘.ð‘¢ð‘ ð‘€ð‘Žð‘¥ ð‘€ð·ð‘„ð‘¤,
𑤠+ ð‘Šð‘‚ð¶ ‒ 1
∑
ð‘–=ð‘¤
ðºð·ð‘‚ð‘–
))
(5)
Replenishment
Replenishment is the process that focuses on the already produced and available
stock situated in stores or in centralized warehouses. Replenishment operations are
responsible for balancing and controlling stock quantities and clusters of merchandise in
final retail locations. The replenishment process follows five main planning criteria:
1.
Standard replenishment is the standard replenishment method where produced
merchandize is transferred from main warehouses to stores.
2.
Rationing is used in case of time scarcity when main warehouses are not able to
satisfy requirements and when it is more convenient to replenish stores from the
closest local warehouse; these are normally located in a main city such as
London, Milan, Rome, Paris, Madrid and some others.
28
�3.
Push replenishment, not to confuse with the Push Model, occurs when excess
merchandise is situated in centralized warehouses and therefore has to be
“pushed-out†to the stores.
4.
Store-to-store Transfers is a method to fulfill individual requirements of stores
and customers and it consists in transfers from one store to another, normally
within a country.
5.
Consolidating consists in replenishment operated primarily to give consistency
to a collection, look or brand; e.g. when skirts matching to its blazers are no
longer available.
Table 2 summarizes when and how these criteria are used.
Table 2. Logistics of InSeason-Process
Beginning of season
During season
End of season
From main warehouse
Replenishment
Rationing
Push
From other stores
Store to store transfers
Consolidation
Reorder
The reorder process overlooks general stock levels and the demand of products.
If it is necessary and logistically possible, additional SKU units will be reproduced and
supplied a second time during the season and strictly before reduced-price sales start.
III. Analysis AS/IS
Ordering and Screening of Database (AS/IS)
The first step of the AS/IS analysis is to clear the databases from all the
information that could be considered misleading inputs to the analysis. First, it is
important to delete all the ID-SKUs that were transferred, stocked or sold during reducedprice sale weeks, considered abnormal weeks in the retail industry since they do not
follow average sale patterns, sellout prices and much more. Another major database
screening step is to combine and match all codes and names of identical ID-SKUs, which
have been changed by the information technology systems that keep track of the
29
�company’s inventory and stock. When an ID-SKU item is restocked or replenished to the
store during the season due to its high demand and desirability, the code is changed and
one letter or symbol is also added to the name. For example, if the model DRY with IDSKU code 624926003-2-M is highly demanded it will be restocked with the name *DRY
and code 956926335-2-M. This is an essential change and correction that has to be made
to the database prior to any calculation to avoid that identical ID-SKUs are considered in
the analysis as completely different items. Finally in the database screening process
transfers have to be divided into transfers-in, received transfers, and transfers out, sent
transfers, in order to distinguish the ‘given’ and the ‘taken’ units.
Analysis of Current Performances of Push Model (AS/IS)
Once the database is cleared from misleading and incorrect inputs, it is possible
to proceed to the current performance analysis, which leads not only to the identification
of the strengths and weaknesses of the current push mode but also to ability of comparing
current results to the simulated performances of the new pull model. The four main steps
that are carried out in the current performance analysis are the calculation of first the
stock level, then the GDO and WOC of every store-SKU, followed by the formulation of
service levels that items are able to provide, and finally the calculation of stock quantities
kept on hold in centralized warehouses. The reason for keeping items “on hold†is to be
able to uniformly distribute this stock throughout the season.
Calculation of Stock Levels (AS/IS)
As explained above, the Stock Level (SL) is the quantity of an ID-Store-SKU
that is still in the store during week x. To calculate and display the stock level of an item
for every single week as shown table 3, it is necessary to create a pivot table in excel that
calculates the SL of a specific week considering the SL leftover from the prior week. The
first week starts with a SL of zero. It is important to take into account different first
weeks (Min-week), since every ID-SKU can be delivered and therefore available for sale
in separate weeks according to internal production and inventory management decisions.
This is why cells prior to the min-week are not considered and left empty instead of
having a SL= 0.
30
�Graph 1. Average Stock Level - Fall Winter 2016 Dress Department
The graph above shows the average stock level of the Fall Winter 2016 dress
department. Week 14 corresponds to the 14th week of the year that goes from 04/04/2016
to 04/10/2016 and represents the first week of the FW 16 season. The average stock level
goes down throughout the season when SKUs are sold, but it does not reach zero at week
49, since it is not the last week of the season but instead the last week before reducedprice sales start.
The calculation of stock levels is an essential step in the analysis making it
possible to calculate GDOs, WOCs and missed sale opportunities. By telling how many
SKUs are present in a store’s stock during every week, it is possible to see when and
where a determined clothing item in its color and size is no longer available. As seen in
the figure below, the cells representing the weeks after delivery, in which the SL of an
SKU unit is equal to zero, are highlighted in yellow with conditional formatting in order
to bring to the attention the potential missed sales opportunities due to stock outs.
31
�Figure 3. Stock Level per Week - Example Table from FW 16 Dress Department Database
32
�Table 3. Stock Level Calculation
Stock Level per Week
14 15 16 17 18
… 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
2
… 2
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
… 1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
… 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
… 1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
… 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
…
…
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
…
1
2
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
…
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
…
…
… …
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
0
0
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
The method and formulas used in excel to calculate stock levels of a SKU for
every week of the analyzed season, as shown in Figure 3, are described in the following
table:
Table 4. Stock Levels Calculation in Excel
Excel Formula
Description
=IF(CG$5<$CD6;"";G6-AQ6)
 week 1.
=IF(CH$5<$CD6;"";(CG6+H6-AR6))
 weeks x ≠1
33
If week x is less that min
week than the cell has to be
empty, otherwise c(x)-v(X)
(in stock ID-SKU-sold IDSKU)
If week x is less that min
week than the cell has to be
empty, otherwise
c(x)-v(x)+SL(x-1)
�Calculation of GDO & WOC (AS/IS)
Calculating GDOs on past data is much easier than forecasting it for future data,
since no forecast is really needed. Indeed, the project supervisor Carlo Capoferri clarified
that if the term GDO is used for calculations with past data, it has to be clearly stated that
it is not referred to a forecast but simply to the number of sold SKU units over the
number of weeks with stock level greater than zero, as shown in the formula (2).
From the analysis it emerges that the average GDO of all departments from the
season FW 2016 and SS 16 was of 0.1, meaning that on average 0.1 store-SKU units (storemodel-color-size) were sold in one week. While the GDO is relatively low, as it is common
in the luxury fashion industry, the WOC has a high average of 19.5 meaning that the stores
are normally covered with a SKU item for nearly 20 weeks, without stock replenishment.
Calculation of Service Levels (AS/IS)
Service level is calculated in the AS/IS analysis with the intent to find how well
the current push model is able to satisfy the final customer. Service level varies
depending on the collection, brand and department of the SKU and it is a very important
parameter to keep under control especially in the luxury industry where customers expect
high service levels. Even if having a service level of 100% is always desired and
preferable, the current push model is able to provide on average 94%, which is
considered relatively high in the industry.
Calculation of Stock on Hold (AS/IS)
Stock on Hold is a variable that indicates how much inventory is kept in main
warehouses to be restocked later in the season. It is one of the most important variables of the
study since it is voluntarily going to be changed in the new pull model, with the assumption
that the more stock is kept on hold at the beginning of the season, the more managerial
freedom there will consequently be to allocate this remaining stock when and where it is most
needed. While stock on hold is very low in the push model, since most of the units are
immediately delivered to stores, or as the term says “pushed†to the stores, it is supposed to be
much higher in the pull model. Today only 5.6% of stock is kept on hold in main warehouses.
The table below (see Table 5) is an example of the AS/IS analysis results for the FW
16 Dress department. In this example, the average GDO is 0.1 and the average service
level is 93.07%, meaning that on average about 0,1 dresses of every SKU are sold per
week and that 9 times out of 10 the customer finds the dress, in the color and size she
needs it. Furthermore, in the Fall-Winter 2016 season 89,690 dresses were initially
34
�delivered and stocked in all European stores, while only 5.26% of the total amount of produced
units was later transferred and restocked.
Table 5. AS/IS Current Performance Results –
FW 16 Dress Department
Id Store-SKU
101062-626116906-1-44
101062-626116906-1-46
101062-626116906-1-48
101062-626156906-2-38
101062-626156906-2-40
101062-626156906-2-44
101062-626156906-2-46
101062-626156906-2-48
101062-626156906-5-38
101062-626156906-5-40
101062-626156906-5-42
101062-626156906-5-44
101062-626156906-5-46
101062-626156906-5-48
101062-626176906-2-44
Co
unt
ry
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
Store
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
London
Harvey
Nichols
GDO
Collection
Model
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
OLBIA
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
WOC
Service
Level
IA
Stoc
k on
Hol
d
Stock
on
Hold
%
#
weeks
SL=0
ð‘¥Ì…
ð‘¥Ì…
ð‘¥Ì…
0.12
20.1
8
93.07%
∑
89,
690
∑
5,2
65
5.87
%
∑
344,47
4
0.00
15
100.0%
2
0
0%
9
0.00
16
100.0%
1
1
0%
13
0.00
22
100.0%
1
0
0%
0
0.00
19
100.0%
1
0
0%
9
0.00
23
100.0%
1
0
0.00
18
100.0%
1
0
0%
8
0.20
10
90.0%
2
0
4%
6
0.10
10
90.0%
1
3
3%
1
0.00
9
100.0%
1
0
1%
0
0.14
14
92.8%
2
0
0%
2
0.14
14
92.6%
2
0
0%
9
0.06
32
96.8%
2
0
0%
0
0.00
26
100.0%
1
0
0%
0
0.00
24
100.0%
1
0
0%
9
0.07
14
92,6%
1
1
0%
7
ð‘¥Ì…
OLBIA
OLBIA
GOLF
GOLF
0%
21
GOLF
GOLF
GOLF
GOLF
GOLF
GOLF
GOLF
GOLF
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
GOLF
MAXMARA 1^ Exit
MITIC
O
35
�IV. Analysis of Lost Opportunities
In order to calculate and analyze when and how often there are lost sale
opportunities in the current push model, it is necessary to create two tables that highlight
the frequency of possible missed sales and the probability of that sale actually happening
in the week where the item is not present in the store. The first table (see Table 6) shows
how many times an ID-SKU was needed and how probable the missing sale actually was.
The second table on the contrary (see Table 7), highlights how many times a store could
have given an SKU away to some other direct point-of-sale that needed it more. When
the cell is equal to zero it means that the SKU was neither needed nor available to be
transferred.
Table 6. Missed Sale Opportunity “to-take†– Example Table from FW 16 Coats
Department
SKU to Take - Missed Sale Opportunity
ID-SKU
16
10011-126016906-7-36
10011-126016906-7-38
10011-126016906-7-40
10011-126016906-7-42
10011-126016906-7-44
17
…
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
0
…
0
0
0
0
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
0
…
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
0
…
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
…
0
0
0
0
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
0
…
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
10011-126066306-5-38
…
10011-126066306-5-40
10011-126066306-5-42
…
0
0
0
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
…
0
0
0
0
0
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
0
0
0
L
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
10011-126066306-5-44
10011-126066306-5-46
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
36
…
…
�Table 7. Missed Sale Opportunity “to-give†– Example Table from FW 16 Coats Department
SKU to Give - when SL >= 1
ID-SKU
18
…
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
10011-126016906-7-36
15
16
17
L
…
L
L
L
L
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
10011-126016906-7-38
L
…
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
10011-126016906-7-40
L
…
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
10011-126016906-7-42
L
…
L
L
L
L
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
10011-126016906-7-44
L
…
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
10011-126066306-5-38
…
10011-126066306-5-40
…
L
L
L
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
ML
ML
ML
ML
ML
0
0
0
0
0
0
L
L
L
0
L
L
L
L
L
L
10011-126066306-5-46
L
L
L
L
L
L
10011-126066306-2-42
L
L
L
L
L
L
…
…
…
…
…
…
10011-126066306-5-42
10011-126066306-5-44
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
The formula that has been used is:
=IF(CG$5<$CD6;"";IF(CG6>=1;0;IF($DT6<=0,1;"L";IF($DT6<=0,2;"ML";IF($D
T6<=0,4;"MH";"H")))))
It presents 5 possible scenarios:
1.
If the week in charge is prior to the week of delivery then cell is empty;
2.
If the SL is higher that 1 then the there is 0 chances of losing a sale;
3.
If the GDO is lower or equal to 0.1 than the probability of losing a sale is low, L;
4.
If the GDO is lower or equal to 0.2 than the probability of losing a sale is
medium low, ML;
5.
If the GDO is lower or equal to 0.4 than the probability of losing a sale is
medium high, MH;
6.
If the GDO is higher than 0.4, all other cases, than the probability of losing a
sale is high, H;
37
�Each parameter is then added together for each department in order to find
which percentage of the total SL in Europe is considered a misallocation of stock and
could have been responsible for a missed sale opportunity. The summary table below (see
Table 8) shows the results of the missed opportunity analysis of the FW-16 Coats
department; from 1.5 million possible sale combinations 10.4% (158K) can be considered
missed sale opportunities, 3.3% of which have a high probability of occurrence. This
means that the current stock management system is not able to optimize sales’ efficiency
probably due to the lack of control that it has on 94% of the merchandise that is entirely
sent to the stores at beginning of the season. The downside of the current model described
above brought the company to question the push system and the reason for which Max
Mara decided to analyze the benefits and the downsides of a different inventory
management model.
Table 8. TOTAL Missed Sale Opportunity – Example Table from FW 16 Coats Department
Total Combination Missed Sale Opportunities % Missed Sale Opportunities
1,530,729
158,825
10.4%
H
1,530,729
50,447
3.3%
MH
1,530,729
47,428
3.1%
ML
1,530,729
60,950
4.0%
V. Analysis TO/BE
Analysis Performances of Simulated Pull Model (TO/BE)
The TO/BE analysis is the heart of this study and is a simulation of the new pull
model. It starts from the AS/IS database on which inputs are changed in order to achieve
greater stock efficiency and more beneficial sales outcomes. Simulations are made with
data of the Fall-Winter 2016 season in order to compare actual performance of the push
model with potential results that could be achieve with the pull model.
Simulations of IA, GDO, WOC & Service Level in the new Pull Model (TO/BE)
Since the pull model predicts a much lower initial store stock, the first variable
that is changed is the initial allocation of every SKU, which is calculate with the real
collection-based GDO and the desired WOC. The collection-based GDO is a brandcollection average calculated from the AS/IS model, and therefore nearly identical to the
GDOs of the push system; it is simply more accurate to use for future simulations
because abnormal events and special trends of certain SKU units that have very particular
38
�GDOs due to their design, price or style, are not taken into account. Weeks of coverage
on the other side are deliberately decreased since stores will have more frequent
replenishments and need to be covered for a smaller number of weeks. The pull model
assumes that the store is covered for about 8 to 10 weeks, about half of the WOC in the
push system. Initial allocation for the pull model is calculated multiplying the weekly sale
probability of the item’s collection (GDO) times the weeks over which the units need to
cover the store (WOC). Mathematically speaking it is obtained with the formula below:
ð¼ð´ = ð‘Šð‘‚ð¶ ∗ ðºð·ð‘‚ð‘ð‘œð‘™ð‘™ð‘’ð‘ð‘¡ð‘–ð‘œð‘› ≫ ð‘¡ð‘œ ð‘¡â„Žð‘’ ð‘›ð‘’ð‘Žð‘Ÿð‘’ð‘ ð‘¡ ð‘‘ð‘’ð‘ð‘–ð‘šð‘Žð‘™ ð‘ð‘™ð‘Žð‘ð‘’(6)
Predicted and simulated initial allocations cannot be in decimal form, since they
are actual supplied quantities of units. Due to the complexity of the formula, it is
necessary to calculate first a general IA that rounds the value to the nearest whole
number, and in a second time a more accurate one that takes into account the minimum
display quantity (MDQ) and the higher allocation needed for middle sizes.
The more general initially allocated (gen. IA) quantity is calculated with the following
criteria:
ï‚· If ðºð·ð‘‚ ∗ ð‘Šð‘‚ð¶ ≤ 2  then ð‘”ð‘’ð‘›.ð¼ð´ rounds upwards
ï‚· If ðºð·ð‘‚ ∗ ð‘Šð‘‚ð¶ > 2  then ð‘”ð‘’ð‘›.ð¼ð´ rounds downwards
It is then necessary to increase initial allocation quantities of the European middle
sizes 42 and M, which have a higher average GDO.
ï‚· If ð‘”ð‘’ð‘›.ð¼ð´ = 1  then ð¼ð´ = 2
ï‚·
ï‚·
If ð‘”ð‘’ð‘›.ð¼ð´ = 2  then ð¼ð´ = 3
If ð‘”ð‘’ð‘›.ð¼ð´ > 3  then ð¼ð´ = ð‘”ð‘’ð‘›.ð¼ð´
By changing this input the total initial allocation automatically decreases since
the aim is to keep only the minimum necessary stock in the stores. Since the weeks of
coverage in the pull model are more than halved, from an average of 20 weeks to about 8
or 10, the new system predicts that stores will be much less stocked than in the push
model (see Graph 2). This does not imply that stock is missing and causing missed sales,
but on the contrary that inventory carryover is reduced and profits are optimized. In the
graph below it is possibly to see the difference of stock quantities between the two
models.
39
�Graph 2. Initial Allocation by Collection – AS/IS & TO/BE
Even if the initial allocation is carefully calculated so that the store is fully
covered for 8 weeks with a balanced distribution of SKU units, it is impossible to predict
which collections, models, color or sizes are going to have the highest demand and GDO;
it is therefore inevitable that with less initial allocation the service level, also calculated
with the collection-average GDO, is going to be slightly affected in the new pull model.
As seen in the graph below (see Graph 3) service levels would all decrease by 2%, from
93.3% in the current model to 91.5% in the future inventory management system.
Calculation of Exit-Speed (TO/BE)
Exit-Speed is a parameter that is calculated in order to define the correct or
minimum number of weeks that a certain initial allocation quantity can cover. This
calculation finds the percentage of Model-SKU that has a fast exit-speed, meaning a
much higher GDO during the first four, six or eight weeks from when the Model-SKUs
are delivered to the stores, in relation to all the other weeks. It has been found that only
7.9% of merchandise has very high exit speed within 8 weeks, which is a sufficiently low
percentage to allow 8 weeks of coverage (WOC) to be a sustainable amount.
40
�Graph 3. Service Level by Collection – AS/IS & TO/BE
Table 9 below summarizes and outlines TO/BE and AS/IS results. The bottom
line represents the changes that would occur if the company decided to switch from the
push to the pull model. While the decrease of initial allocation is not necessary a negative
change, the decrease in the percentage of service level is certainly not a desirable factor.
Table 9. GDO, WOC, IA & Service Level results AS/IS & TO/BE
GDO
WOC
Initial Allocation
Service Level
AS/IS
0.1
19.7
83,656
93.3%
TO/BE
0.1
8.00
61,362
91.5%
From AS/IS to
TO/BE
=



Calculation of Stock on Hold (SoH) (TO/BE)
Once initial allocation is defined for the pull model, it is possible to calculate the
amount of stock that is kept on hold for more accurate replenishment during the season.
41
�Depending on how drastically the company is willing to adopt the push model, it is
sufficient to change the week of coverage length, which consequently increases the IA
input and decreases the stock on hold.
 WOC –  IA – SoH
(7)
If the minimum preferable WOC period for the pull model is 8 weeks, a more
mild approach would be maintaining an average of 10 weeks of coverage (WOC). To
calculate the new stock on hold, the initial allocation quantity of the pull model is
subtracted from the initial allocation plus the stock on hold of the push model, as shown
in the formula below.
ð‘†ð‘¡ð‘œð‘𑘠ð‘œð‘› ð»ð‘œð‘™ð‘‘ð‘ð‘¢ð‘™ð‘™ = (ð‘†ð‘œð»ð‘ð‘¢ð‘ â„Ž + ð¼ð´ð‘ð‘¢ð‘ â„Ž) ‒ ð¼ð´ð‘ð‘¢ð‘™ð‘™
(8)
According to the formula (8) and due to the fact that the initial allocation of the
pull model includes much smaller quantities, it is logical that the stock on hold of the pull
model will increase. While stock on hold is currently of 5.7%, the pull model would hold
back on average 32.1% of the total produced items as seen in table 10.
Table 10. Total Stock on Hold AS/IS – TO/BE
B2C/B2E – MM & MC – FW 2016
AS/IS
TO/BE
Stock on Hold Units
SoH %
Stock on Hold Units
oH%
52,246
5.7%
290,973
2.1%
VI. Spaces Analysis
Given that much less stock is kept in local and stores’ warehouses with the new
pull model, and that about the same quantity has to be allocated between stores, boxes
and main warehouses, it is important to analyze and consider in advance physical spaces
available, that will be in surplus or shortage. Boxes are actually found within the main
warehouse and they refer to stock that is physically divided and reserved for stores that a
have a low space capacity. In 2016 in Europe, MaxMara and Max&Co covered in total
54,610 square meters (m2) of direct store and stock area, 34.2% of which were occupied
by stores’ warehouses and 65.8% by retail space. This total area was able to hold a
maximum capacity of 822,220 clothing items, 90,170 on display in sale area and 732,050
42
�in warehouses. However, for both safety and quality reasons the company decided to hold
in store’s warehouses an average capacity of only 643,100 items.
Table 11. Total Store Area – Retail & Stock Surface
Area in m2
Total Area
Sale Area
Warehouse Area
% Retail % Warehouse
Total
54,610
35,942
18,668
65.8%
34.2%
MaxMara
41,027
27,290
13,737
66.5%
33.5%
Max&Co
13,583
8,652
4,932
63.7%
36.3%
From the AS/IS analysis it also emerged that as it is now, the two brands have a
density of 34 items per square meter including accessories, hanged items and laid out
units. This last variable however, has a relatively high standard deviation of 82.12
meaning that some stores have a much higher and more significant density than others. In
order to spot stores that have a high density and that need space attention, conditional
formatting has been applied as seen in the example table below (see Figure 4).
43
�Figure 4. Warehouse Density – AS/IS & TO/BE
The significant part of this sub-analysis is the TO/BE simulation of spaces that
calculates how much physical store and warehouse surface could be saved or is needed
with the pull model. Since the average utilized store and stock-area capacity is decrease
by 19.8%, 127,029 items are not physically present anymore in stores’ warehouses and
3,528 squared meters are therefore freed (see Table 12). The 17% of warehouse space
that is not occupied anymore, could be either used to spread out items and accelerate the
searching process of sale assistant, which would be the case of stores with very high
density, or could be possibly invested and transformed in display and retail surface. In a
third case scenario, when the pull model is fully implemented and if warehouses are
correctly managed, the possibility of closing some of the external and secondary
warehouses that are not need anymore could also be considered.
44
�Table 12. TO/BE Stock on Hold Simulation
TOBE Simulation of WOC 8
% Stock on Hold
Stock on Hold Freed m2 % Freed m2
19.8%
127,029
3,528
17.0%
16.4%
72,777
2,186
14.2%
27.2%
54,251
1,342
25.1%
As it is possible to see in the graph below the average density of stores
decreased from 34 to 28 SKU per square meter. This change in density is caused by the
drop in the total allocation of stock in all direct stores.
Graph 4. Average of Total Allocated Stock in all European direct stores
It is important to clarify to the reader that this specific part of the TO/BE
simulation is slightly less accurate and harder to do, since it is not possible to know how
exactly stores’ warehouses are laid out and what they are used for. Some external
warehouses for example are only used for windows’ material, office space or other
furniture. Moreover, at the beginning of the winter season the capacity of warehouses is
inferior due to the higher volumes of winter clothing items. It is however interesting to
have a general idea of how much space will be freed and if the utility of some external
warehouses and boxes can be reexamined.
The two diagrams below (Figure 5 & 6) give an outline of the push and pull
models. While secondary warehouses in Paris, London, Rome and other large cities are
extremely important in the push model, since a large amount of stock is kept and
distributed from there, their use is questionable in the new system, where a large portion
45
�of the stock is now kept “on hold†in main warehouses. In the pull model boxes in main
warehouses would disappear since stock not initially allocated is left pending and is not
yet in any store’s property and control. Its final allocation will be internally decided
throughout the season depending on its GDO and the location where the SKU in question
is most demanded and desired. Finally, the length of the arrows and the area of the stores
(N squares) symbolically represent the initial allocation quantity of SKU that every store
receives, explaining why in the second diagram these are much shorter and smaller.
Figure 5. Push Model Diagram
46
�Figure 6. Pull Model Diagram
As seen in the diagram above (see Figure 6) the main warehouse is much larger
than in the push systems since 25% more stock is now “on hold†within the warehouse.
This brings to the conclusion that enlargement of the warehouse is necessary and has to
be considered prior to the implementation of the system.
VII. Transfers Analysis
Until today transfers from store to store have been a major help and a significant
portion of additional revenue to the company, giving to sale assistants the possibility to
requests from other stores items that are desired by customers, but not present in that
particular location. This helps not only to increase sales and revenues but also to fulfill
the customers’ satisfaction and provide the best possible service. In 2016 45,632 units
were transferred in Italy only from the two brands MaxMara and Max&Co, which equals
to 3.6% of the 1,272,720 total supplied items. However, transfers are not always
successful and indeed only 62.1% of the transferred items are actually sold within two
weeks (see Table 13 & Figure 7).
Moreover, from the total 66,706 total transfers, 24.7% were denied due to
logistics problems such as shipping times, preordered items in stores or simply the store
manager’s decision to keep the item in his/her own store. Of these 16,473 not transferred
items, only 5,680 or 34.5% are sold within two weeks in the initial store, meaning that
47
�65.5% of these items could have been transfers without creating any problem in the
original location.
Table 13. Total Received Transfer Requests
Total Received Requests
Transfer Requests AS-IS Italy
2017
Total
Received %
Supplied
Transfers rec/sup
Sold
within 2
weeks
%
sold/rec
Total
1,272,720 45,632
3.6%
28,328
62.1%
Max Mara
730,116
35,335
4.8%
21,481
60.8%
MAX&Co.
542,604
10,297
1.9%
6,847
66.5%
Figure 7. Percentage of Sold Transfer from Receive Transfers
Table 14. Total Denied Transfer Requests
Denied Requests
Transfer Requests AS-IS Italy 2017
Total
Denied
Requests
Transfers
Total
66,706
16,463
Max Mara
50,896
MAX&Co.
15,810
48
% den/req
Sold within %
2 weeks
sold/den
24.7%
5,680
34.5%
11,732
23.1%
4,003
34.1%
4,731
29.9%
1,677
35.4%
�B2E/B2C Effect on Transfers
Business-to-consumer (B2C), more generally called e-commerce, occurs when
businesses sell directly to consumers, through the internet and their webpages. This
model, also commonly called “online shoppingâ€, was adopted by the Italian fashion
house in 2014 and was a significant step in the e-commerce world since a very important
priority for companies in the luxury industry is to provide to consumers a unique
customer experience during their purchasing process (Maramotti, 2017). Luxury fashion
brands strongly rely on direct and personalized service and customers’ desirability.
Business-to-employee (B2E) is similar to the B2C model because it also uses
information technology systems to facilitate retail operations, but it has the difference
that the employees are primarily responsible for the sale, while the final consumer is not
directly involved in the digital purchasing process. MaxMaraFashionGroup has only
recently started to use this model in pilot stores with the goal in the first place to decrease
store-to-store transfers and in a second time to increase sales and revenues. When a
customer demands a SKU that is not available and present in the store momentarily the
sale assistant asks the customer if she/he wants to digitally buy the item from the store’s
I-pad with the aid of the sale assistant. The customer is then invited to try the clothing
unit(s) at home when it is delivered and bring it to the store for any possible problem
such as size issue, pant length, additional look suggestions and others. If the item does
not satisfy her expectations, she can either give it back to the store or send it back to the
warehouse, as it occurs in B2C.
Operating B2E is not always as easy at is sounds and often both sale assistants
as well as customers are hesitant to offer and accept this business option. This however,
does not imply that the system doesn't work; on the contrary data has proven that in 2017
in Italy 8.4 items were transferred on average weekly in every MaxMara and Max&Co
store. As seen in the table below (see Table 15) Max Mara stores transfer about 10.2
items per week while Max&Co only 5.8; this is mainly due two major factors, the first
being the higher luxury desirability of the MaxMara brand, and the second due the much
lower number of different Model-SKU that Max&Co has. As seen in the summary table
below (see Table 15) B2E decreased transfers between Max&Co stores by 24% and it is
therefore possible to assume that the digital commerce model is bringing positive results.
In MaxMara stores on the other hand, physical transfers increased by 1% regardless of
the implementation and availability of the B2E system. This means that there is still
much improvement to be done and that transfers should not be stopped until B2E is fully
active and effective.
49
�Table 15. Impact of B2E on Transfers – Italy
Transfers & B2E
B2E Italy 2017
Weekly Received Impact of B2E % Impact of B2E
Transfers
on Transfers
on transfers
Total
8.4
-0.5
-6.0%
Max Mara
10.2
0.1
+1%
MAX&Co.
5.8
-1.4
-24.5%
One of the main problems that also emerges from B2E and on which managers
are strongly working, is the lack of control that the company has on franchisee stores.
Non-direct stores are often not willing to use B2E due to the scarce margin that they
make from it; items bought from B2E are indeed not voluntarily ordered by them in the
wholesale process and if the customer brings the item back to the store they are left with
an item that is not of their property. Two immediate solutions to solve this problem are to
ask the franchisee to send the item back to the company in the case of unsuccessful sale
or to buy it at the wholesale price and add it to their inventory. In the first case however,
franchisees have to take a risk, and even if they accept to install the B2E system, there is
no incentive for them to actually use it due to the small or inexistent profit margin that
they make. The second option presents a better scenario but still does not balances the
interest of the franchisees and the company, since there is always the risk of having to
keep the additional item in stock if the customer decides to bring it back. The only reason
for which they should therefore operate B2E is the willingness to satisfy their customers’
demands, hoping that they become “returning customersâ€.
In order to give real incentives to franchisees to use B2E it is necessary to give
them a profit margin in each case scenario, which could be the difference between sell-in
and sell-out price when the customer is satisfied with the item, and the option to send the
item back to the company if the customer brings it back to the store.
The complexity of the process could appear discouraging at first, but it gives
franchisee stores, who already have a smaller selection of models and SKU units, the
possibility to offer the customer a valid alternative for receiving the desired item. While
in direct stores for example, individual sale assistants are rewarded when completing a
B2E sale, it is not possible to do the same in franchisees. Although franchisee stores are a
minority, especially in Europe, this is an issue that needs close attention because
centralization of operations and services is essential in retail. When the customer is aware
of a service that the brand offers, he/she expects to receive the same service level in every
50
�store of that brand. The flow diagram below shows all possible options that the company
and the franchisee have if the B2E system is provided and installed in a franchisee store.
Figure 8. Implementation of B2E in Franchise Stores
VIII. Conclusion
After having carefully analyzed, considered and compared data results of the
AS/IS and TO/BE analysis, it is possible to conclude that the implementation of the pull
model would almost certainly optimize SKU and sales efficiency in Max Mara’s direct
retail, especially if carefully managed by specialists and controlled with advanced
information systems. On one side, the pull model would increase the number of sales and
reduce the possibilities of missed sale opportunities, but on the other hand it would
increase costs of shipments, time required in stores to receive and scan deliveries, as well
as create costs linked to the management and to the enlargement of the central
warehouses.
As it is today, the company does not have the facilities to provide a fully
functioning and effective pull inventory management system based on eight weeks of
coverage, and the risk of switching to something that has never been done before in the
company would be unreasonably high. However, if the company decided to implement
the pull model despite its downsides, it would be suggested to slowly and partially
implement the system step by step, starting from an intermediate 12-WOC model and
51
�then gradually switching to the ideal 8-WOC pull model, which has been simulated in the
analysis.
From the AS/IS analysis it emerged that 94% of the total stock is initially
allocated in retail points and is sufficient to cover stores for more than 19 consecutive
weeks. The TO/BE simulation brought to the conclusion that 32.1% of stock is on hold,
and therefore ready to cover possible missed sale opportunities in every location. Even if
service levels went down by 2% from the old inventory management system, the pull
model would still benefit retail operations increasing customers’ satisfaction throughout
the season.
The implementation of the pull model needs to be done very carefully not only
due to the slightly lower service levels in the new system, but also due to the drastic
logistical changes. Indeed, this project opened many other cost-related issues and
logistics questions that could not have possibly been analyzed in this study since time
was limited and the focus of the analysis was on direct retail. Given that the company is
aware of both downsides and benefits of the new inventory management system, the
question that emerges is whether managers would be willing to implement the new pull
model, which optimizes efficiency on the retail side but increases costs and logistics
issues on the other end.
IX. Bibliography
Babai, M., Ladhari, T., & Lajili, I. (2015). On the inventory performance of multi-criteria
classification methods: empirical investigation. International Journal Of Production
Research, 53(1), 279-290.
Caterina Maramotti. (2 June 2017). Transforming digitally the customer experience in the
luxury sector. HEC Master Thesis. P.29
Felipe, C., & Jérémie, G. (2010). Inventory Management of a Fast-Fashion Retail
Network. Operations Research, (2), 257.
Garrett van Ryzin, a., & Siddharth Mahajan, a. (1999). On the Relationship between
Inventory Costs and Variety Benefits in Retail Assortments. Management Science, (11),
1496.
Hannah, Lewis. (19 February 2015). The Amazing History of Max Mara. Global Blue.
Retrieved from: http://www.globalblue.com/destinations/italy/milan/history-of-maxmara/
52
�Max Mara Fashion Group. (2012). At a Glance. Retrieved from:
http://www.maxmarafashiongroup.com/en/at-a-glance
Morgan Swink & Steven Melnyk & M. Bixby Cooper & Janet L. Hartley. (2017).
Managing Operations Across the Supply Chain. 3rd Edition.
Ton, Z., & Raman, A. (2010). The Effect of Product Variety and Inventory Levels on
Retail Store Sales: A Longitudinal Study. Production & Operations Management, 19(5),
546-560.
Venugopal, P. (2008). Sales and Distribution Management: An Indian Perspective. New
Delhi, India: Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Xiao, Y., & Chen, J. (2012). Supply Chain Management of Fresh Products with Producer
Transportation* Supply Chain Management of Fresh Products with Producer
Transportation. Decision Sciences, 43(5), 785-815.
53
����The Difference is in the Tales: The Relationship Between
Insurance Regulations and Accessible Abortion Care
Emma J. MacDonald (Sociology)1
This pilot study was conducted in order to determine the correlation between restrictions
on federal, state, and private insurance in regards to abortion and the accessibility of
abortion care for women in the United States. While working on a storytelling project for
the advocacy organization Physicians for Reproductive Health, patterns in the stories
about insurance coverage and abortion care were noticed. Many women, despite having
insurance, either through a private provider, the government, and/or their employer, were
forced to pay some or all of the cost of the abortion care they sought. This necessity was
largely due to policies such as the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funds from
being used for abortion care except in the cases of rape, incest, and immediate danger to
the mother’s life. The Hyde Amendment mainly affects Medicaid users and those who
use state equivalents. Indirectly, the Hyde Amendment affects women in marginalized
social groups, such as women of color, poor women, disabled women, LGBTQ+ women,
women living in rural communities, and others. These women already have trouble
accessing safe and affordable health care because of the systemic disadvantages they
face.
I. Introduction
“She asked me, ‘What is different from the last one?’
I replied, ‘A heartbeat.’â€
This is a conversation between a doctor and their patient when the latter
discovered that her insurance company would not cover her second abortion. Both
pregnancies she had were not viable, but the difference in detail – the heartbeat of the
second fetus – prevented her from receiving affordable abortion care.
Every day since the administration of the 45th president has taken office in the
United States, a story has been shared as part of a Physicians for Reproductive Health
project. These stories come from individuals all over the country – patients, providers,
and advocates alike – through an online submission form. These accounts shed light on
how individuals are affected by policies to show resistance against said policies and laws
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Bernadette Ludwig in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
57
�that pose a threat to safe and accessible reproductive health care. The stories that are
submitted are tales of loss, love, gratitude, determination and indignant righteousness.
Women share their experiences with abortion and organizations such as Planned
Parenthood, while providers share the stories of the women they have cared for and the
reaffirmation they feel that they have chosen the right profession, especially when their
right to practice is challenged every day by politicians.
However, restrictions on insurance in the context of abortion care can produce
heart-wrenching moments such as the one above. While many women have health
insurance, policies such as the 1976 Hyde Amendment – a law that prevents federal funds
from being used for abortion care – as well as state and more local legislation regulate
under what conditions, if any, an abortion may be paid for by an insurance company.
These laws and policies affect women nationwide, but affect women in marginalized
social groups in particular. These women are often systemically prevented from easily
accessing safe and affordable abortion care. An insurance company’s obligation or
decision to deny coverage for abortion care can put the health of women at risk, despite
the supposedly well-meaning policies and values they stand on.
II. Literature Review
Individual access to reproductive health care, specifically abortion services, is
restricted as a result of a number of federal and state regulations on funding. Most
prominently, the Hyde Amendment,2 which was passed in 1976, prohibits Medicaid3
insurance from covering abortion procedures, except in the cases of rape and incest, or if
a physician determines that the life of the mother is immediately endangered. According
to the Guttmacher Institute (2017), ten states have laws that make it illegal even for
private insurance companies to cover abortion services. 21 states pose restrictions on
abortion coverage for individuals who work in the public sector, such as federal, state,
and local governments. Similar to the rules of the Hyde Amendment, these restrictions,
2 No federal funds and no trust funds that the federal government is authorized to use
may be expended for abortion or health benefit plans that cover abortion. No federally
owned or operated health care facilities, nor any individuals employed by the federal
government may provide abortion services. State Medicaid funds are also restricted in
this manner (House of Representatives, 2014).
3 Eligibility for Medicaid is “based on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) as
required by the Affordable Care Act.†Eligibility levels vary in each state relative to the
federal poverty guidelines, as of April 1, 2016 (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services, 2017).
58
�under the most liberal of circumstances, cover abortion care only if the pregnant
individual was raped, is a victim of incest, or if the health or life of the mother and/or the
fetus is severely threatened (Guttmacher Institute, 2017). There are also cases where
abortion services are not covered under insurance plans because private insurance
companies or individuals’ employers simply choose to not cover it.
These regulations have been shown to have the most significant negative impact
on women from poor or low-income households, women of color, young women –
ranging from their adolescent years to their mid-twenties, queer women, disabled women,
and/or women who live in rural locations (Jackson, 2007; Jones, et al., 2011; Jones, et al.,
2013; Ely, et al., 2010; Hussey, 2010; Jones, et al., 2010; World Health Organization,
2012). Women belonging to these demographics are more likely to be recipients of
Medicaid, which, as has already been established, limits a woman’s access to abortion
unless she is seeking the procedure under these very specific circumstances.
Despite these limitations, studies have found that abortion rates are higher
among women of these marginalized demographics (Jones, et al., 2011; Finer, et al.,
2011; Hussey, 2010), and/or women who are covered by Medicaid insurance (Jackson,
2007; Jones, et al., 2013; Hussey, 2010). Some scholars speculate that the reason for
these increased rates of termination are due to the financial stress that bearing and raising
a child would create (Jones, et al., 2013; Hussey, 2010; Jones, et al., 2010), while others
argue that the initial cost of the abortion procedure is too great for many women, and they
are therefore more likely to carry the pregnancy to term (Finer, et al., 2011; Hussey,
2010; Dennis, et al., 2011). Jones, et al. (2013) add that “the financial costs of accessing
abortion services [extend] beyond paying for the procedure. Two thirds of patients
[report] that they incurred additional expenses for transportation… lost wages… [and]
childcare†(p. 176). Ely, et al. (2010) and a publication by the World Health Organization
(2012) support this finding. These additional expenses are multiplied in states where
abortion care is required to include a waiting period or pre-procedure counseling. In 27
states, there is a mandatory waiting period, typically 24 to 72 hours, between a
consultation and when an abortion can actually be performed, which often necessitates
multiple trips to a clinic or a hospital; and in 14 states, in-person counseling also
necessitates more than one trip (Guttmacher Institute, 2017). This means that in addition
to the cost of an abortion procedure, travel, lodging, and childcare costs are also
necessary for more than one day. Van Doorslaer, et al. (2006) suggest that those with less
disposable income will not follow through with an abortion procedure. They state,
“...[G]iven need, higher-income people are more likely to seek specialist care than lowerincome people†(p. 180). In other words, if an individual has more money to spend on
59
�specialist doctors’ visits, they are far more likely to make and follow through with those
appointments than someone who has a lower income. This means that insurance
restrictions on abortion care are classist and, by extension, racist. Poor women are subject
to greater financial difficulty in either circumstance – having an abortion or carrying the
pregnancy to term.
Noteworthy is that while many women in the United States, including poor and
low-income women, have some form of insurance coverage, a majority of those who both
have insurance and underwent an abortion procedure did not use their insurance to pay
for the service. This was found to be true because their insurance plans typically did not
cover the abortion for one reason or another, whether because of regulations or by choice
(Jones, et al., 2013; Dennis, et al., 2011; Jones, et al., 2010). Many individuals were also
unsure if their insurance plans covered abortion, so they did not use insurance. This
means that a majority of women paid out-of-pocket – an average of $485 for firsttrimester abortions and an average of $854 for second-trimester abortions (Jones, et al.,
2013) – in order to cover some or all of the cost of this aspect of reproductive health.
As the research shows, federal and state regulations surrounding insurance
coverage of abortion procedures have an undeniable impact on certain demographics in
the United States. Marginalized groups such as queer women, transgender men, women
of color, disabled women, women in low-income households, as well as many others, are
more heavily impacted by the lack of coverage for abortion care than their straight, white,
middle class, and/or able-bodied neighbors. While many regulations do not explicitly
limit access for certain social groups, the indirect results impact the groups greatly.
III. Data and Methods
This pilot study was conducted to gain a better understanding of how individual
access to reproductive health care, specifically to abortion services, or lack thereof is
restricted by insurance regulations in the United States.
From January 20th until early March 2017, stories were collected through a
storytelling project run by Physicians for Reproductive Health.4 In the process of editing
and tagging the stories, patterns in content were recognized. There were over 100 stories
that recounted the impacts of insurance regulations on reproductive health care. Many of
the individuals who shared their tales lamented over the fact that they ended up needing
to pay for their abortion care despite the fact that they were under some form of insurance
coverage.
4 This is an ongoing project. Physicians for Reproductive Health vows to keep publishing
stories until reproductive rights are no longer under threat.
60
�A total of 319 stories were submitted. 45 stories explicitly discussed abortion care
and insurance regulations. This subsample of 45 stories was used for this study. The
following themes were identified: a) if the individuals had insurance coverage, b) if their
insurance fully covered the cost of their abortion procedure, and c) what state the individual
was from. It was also determined whether or not the individual had private insurance or was
covered under state or federal Medicaid. Stories from the various states were grouped
together by region and division of the country based on the divisions put forth by the United
States Census Bureau. With this information, data was gathered on which regions and
divisions of the country had the greatest access to full insurance coverage for abortion care.
One of the 45 stories that were analyzed was not accompanied by an identifying state. As a
result, the percentages discussed in the findings were out of 44.
IV. Findings
Out of the sample size of 45, 40 individuals (88.9%) were reported to have some
form of insurance. Ten of those 40 (25%) were recipients of federal Medicaid or their
state equivalent, while the rest had insurance through private companies or their
employers, which include the government and the United States military. 28 of the 40
individuals with insurance (70%) reported that their abortion procedures were not fully
covered under their insurance plan, for one reason or another. It was unclear if two of the
40 (5%) individuals’ abortion procedures were fully covered by their insurance or not.
Coverage by Location
Table 1 shows the number of stories submitted from each region and the
divisions within those regions. The data show that only one story (2.3%) was submitted
from Division 1, and this individual had insurance, but it was unclear if the abortion
procedure was fully covered or not. 13 stories (29.5%) were submitted from Division 2:
five stories reported the individuals having insurance and having their abortion care fully
covered; six had insurance but did not have their abortion care fully covered; one had
insurance, but it was unclear if the abortion was fully covered by the insurance; and one
had no insurance at all. In Division 3, 11 stories (25%) were shared, three of which
reported full insurance coverage, and eight reported having insurance but not having their
procedure covered. Division 4 reported one individual (2.3%) having insurance but not
having abortion care covered by their insurance plan. Division 5 had five stories (11.4%):
one with full insurance coverage for their abortion, three with insurance but no coverage
for abortion, and one entirely without insurance. There were no stories from Division 6.
From Division 7, one individual (2.3%) reported having insurance but not being fully
61
�covered by their insurance for abortion care. Division 8 was home to two stories (4.5%)
of having insurance but a lack of coverage, and Division 9 hosted ten individuals
(22.7%), one with full insurance coverage, six with insurance but no coverage, and three
with no insurance at all.
These statistics imply that states on the East Coast and West Coast generally
have more liberal policies on abortion care, allowing women to get insurance coverage
for the procedure. Two of the four states with the lowest median annual household
income (less than $45,000 per year), Alabama and Mississippi, are part of Division 6, a
subdivision of the southern region, from which no stories regarding abortion care and
insurance coverage were submitted. Policies tend to be more restrictive in this region, as
well, as was stated by an anonymous affiliate of Physicians for Reproductive Health in an
interview about abortion care, and these factors contribute to the lack of abortion
providers in these states. According to the Guttmacher Institute (2017), in 2014, Alabama
had nine abortion providers in the state, and Mississippi only had two. In comparison,
California had 512 abortion providers, New York had 218, and Massachusetts had fortythree. In other terms, Alabama had one provider for every 113,887 women; Mississippi
had one provider per 321,215 women. There was one provider per 16,723 women in
California; one provider per 19,632 women in New York; and in Massachusetts, there
was one provider for every 33,689 women. Despite the significantly higher populations
of women in California and New York, especially, the disparity between the number of
women and the number of abortion providers is far greater in the southern states.
Table 1: Story Locations
Region
Division
Number of Stories
Northeast
1
1
Northeast
2
13
Midwest
3
11
Midwest
4
1
South
5
5
South
6
0
South
7
1
West
8
2
West
9
10
62
�Struggling for Funds
The data alone show the negative effects insurance restrictions have on access to
abortion care; but the stories of women illustrate this impact on a more personal level.
For example, one provider’s story tells of a patient who was forced to carry a fetus with
“a significant brain abnormality that would have resulted in nearly constant seizures,
profound disability, and likely very early death.†As a federal employee, the patient’s
health insurance would not cover the cost of abortion care.
Jackie and Brad5 struggled to come up with the thousands of dollars needed to
have the procedure in the hospital, and after three weeks of trying to collect the
money, they gave up. Dejected, they decided to just wait for their baby to be
born or to die in utero. Many weeks later, Jackie stopped feeling fetal
movement, and an ultrasound confirmed that her baby had died. Her only option
at that point was to labor and deliver her dead daughter.
However, in some circumstances, insurance coverage was the only way
individuals could financially proceed with an abortion, despite the hindering regulations.
One couple for whom this was the case also faced the heartbreaking news of fetal
anomaly. While there was little risk of the fetus dying in utero, it was likely that once the
child was born, she would not survive, and she certainly would not survive without
severe disability.
They chose to end the pregnancy. Kristen was now 23 weeks pregnant. Her
insurance company did not cover abortion unless it was medically necessary.
Because Kristen was healthy, she and her doctor had to go to great lengths to
convince the insurance company that the procedure was medically necessary for
the baby. Ultimately Kristen was able to have her insurance cover the abortion,
but if she had been on Medicaid or worked for the state or federal government,
she and Steve would have been left with overwhelming medical bills.
Despite the fact that Kristen was ultimately able to have her abortion procedure covered,
the amount of convincing it took for the insurance company to cover it would have been
utterly unnecessary if there were no restrictions on access to abortion care at all.
Indirect Impacts
These regulations on abortion care are implemented by both federal and state
governments. The Hyde Amendment already limits access to abortion care by nature, but
5 All names changed for privacy.
63
�an anonymous affiliate of Physicians for Reproductive Health explains restrictions on
another level:
There are so many hoops that you have to jump through to prove rape by the
standards that the government requires in order for it to be deemed... an abortion
that can be covered because of rape. There have to be police charges, rape kits
have to be completed. There are so many things that women… [must] go
through just to prove that they’ve been raped.
There are also some states that have laws restricting private insurance companies’ ability
to cover abortion. For example, “...in North Dakota, no one can get an insurance plan that
covers abortion care… It just doesn’t exist. There are no private insurance plans in North
Dakota – in the state – that cover abortion care,†as an anonymous affiliate of Physicians
for Reproductive Health explained.
This data indicates that the restrictions placed on insurance companies and
insurance policies do, in fact, impact individuals’ ability to access abortion care. The fact
that even with insurance, many people still end up paying for some or all of their abortion
procedure is evident in the statistics: the rates at which individuals cannot use their
insurance to cover the cost of an abortion are startlingly higher than the rates at which
insurance plans do cover abortion care. The lack of stories from certain divisions and
overall regions can also be indicative of how accessible abortion care is to individuals; if
abortion care is not at all accessible, it is more difficult to be able to share stories and
gather statistics about the extent of the care and insurance coverage.
V. Conclusion
The restrictions placed on insurance companies, insurance policies, and
women’s bodies, such as the Hyde Amendment and similar, more local laws, severely
impact the ability of women from varying walks of life to access abortion care. This pilot
study shows that even though a vast majority (88.9%) of the sample size have some form
of health insurance, on average, over two out of three women must pay for some or all of
the cost of their abortion. These regulations have a larger impact on women of color, poor
women, and/or disabled women. Little research has been done on the accessibility and
comprehensiveness of reproductive health care for transgender men, so it is difficult to
say exactly how insurance regulations on abortion care affect them.
While the sample for this pilot study was small and specific information on the
women’s demographics (e.g. age, race, socio-economic status) are not available, the
findings are important. The sparse abortion care in some states, the cost of terminating a
pregnancy, and the indirect impacts of insurance regulations cannot go unnoticed or
64
�unchanged. In an effort to expand the data on this issue and to hopefully implement
positive change, more in-depth research should be conducted. The use of an online
submission form limited the sample population to individuals who have access to and
knowledge of social media platforms, implying a certain level of socioeconomic standing
and, potentially, age, education levels, and physical and/or mental ability. With more
research including a more diverse sample population, this issue is likely to become more
recognized and the individuals and social groups who are most affected will be
acknowledged. Greater awareness of this social problem will mean greater progress in
guaranteeing safe and accessible abortion care for women across the nation.
VI. Acknowledgements
To my parents, who planted and nurtured my passion for social justice;
To Dr. Bernadette Ludwig, who pushed me to see the value of my work;
To Physicians for Reproductive Health, for the incredible opportunity they granted me.
VII. References
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2017). Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility
Levels. Retrieved from https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/programinformation/
medicaid-and-chip-eligibility-levels/index.html
Dennis, A., Blanchard, K., & Córdova, D. (2011). Strategies for securing funding for
abortion under the Hyde Amendment: A multistate study of abortion providers’
experiences managing Medicaid. American Journal of Public Health, 101(11), p. 21242149. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300212
Ely, G., & Dulmus, C. (2010). Abortion policy and vulnerable women in the United
States: A call for social work policy practice. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social
Environment, 20(5), p. 658-671. doi:10.1080/10911351003749177
Finer, L., & Zolna, M. (2011). Unintended pregnancy in the United States: incidence and
disparities, 2006. Contraception, 84(5), p.478-485. Retrieved from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2011.07.013
Guttmacher Institute (2017). Counseling and Waiting Periods for Abortion. Retrieved
from https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/counseling-and-waiting-periodsabortion
65
�Guttmacher Institute (2017). Data Center. Retrieved from https://data.guttmacher.org/states
Guttmacher Institute (2017). Restricting Insurance Coverage of Abortion. Retrieved from
https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/restricting-insurance-coverage- abortion
Hussey, L. (2010). Welfare generosity, abortion access, and abortion rates: A comparison
of state policy tools. Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 91(1), p. 266-283.
Jackson, D. (2007). State policy restrictions on abortion. Journal of Policy Practice, 6(4),
p. 25-43. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J508v06n04_03
Jones, R., Finer, L., & Singh, S. (2010). Characteristics of U.S. abortion patients, 2008.
Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved from http://nyfamilylife.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/
11/ US-Abortion-Patients.pdf
Jones, R., & Kooistra, K. (2011). Abortion incidence and access to service in the United
States, 2008. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 43(1), p. 3-14. Retrieved
from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1363/4304111/pdf
Jones, R., Upadhyay, U., & Weitz, T. (2013). At what cost? Payment for abortion care by
U.S. women. Women’s Health Issues, 23(3), p. 173-178. Retrieved from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2013.03.001
United States Census Bureau (2015). Geographic Terms and Concepts: Census Divisions
and Census Regions. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/ gtc/gtc_
census_divreg.html
United States Census Bureau (2016). Map: Median Household Income in the United
States: 2015. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2016/
comm/cb16-158_median_hh_income_map.html
United States of America. House of Representatives. (2014). No Taxpayer Funding for
Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2014: To prohibit taxpayer
funded abortions. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/housebill/7
66
�van Doorslaer, E., Masseria, C., & Koolman, X. (2006). Inequalities in access to medical
care by income in developed countries. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 174(2),
p. 177-183. doi:10.1503/cmaj.050584
World Health Organization (2012). Safe abortion: Technical and policy guidance for
health systems. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/70914/1/
9789241548434_eng.pdf
67
����The Palestinian Revolt against the British, 1936-1939:
Empowering Palestinian Voices and the Effects
the Revolt had on the Creation of Israel
Hadeel Mishal (History)1
Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the Middle East was
broken into clusters. The League of Nations was quick to seize power in Palestine, and
established the British Mandate of Palestine in 1920, which thereby relinquished the
Palestinians’ power to self-govern, and affirmed a British presence in the region. From
1936-1939, in an act of anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist institutions, Palestinians revolted
against the British. This Revolt has been lost in history, overshadowed by the creation of
the State of Israel in 1948 and the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians. However, this
essay will argue that the Palestinian Revolt was significant for empowering the
Palestinian people, particularly as a peasant-led movement, and that the repression of the
revolt indirectly facilitated the establishment of the state of Israel. When the British were
fighting back, they used their dominance to exile and murder many Palestinian leaders
who were especially resistant to imperialist powers. The violent British imperialist
policies, by silencing indigenous Palestinian voices, created a vacuum of power and
ultimately led to the capacity for Israel to be established.
I. Background Information
In order to grasp the roots of the Palestinian Revolt against the British, a few key
points need to be deconstructed and explained. Some of these essential points are
Zionism, The Balfour Declaration, the British stance on a Jewish Homeland, and the
historic origins of Palestine. These terms, documents, and politics all inter-link in the way
that imperialism prevailed in Palestine, and the ways in which the British did not give the
Palestinians autonomy to govern themselves.
Zionism is the movement which aims to establish a Jewish homeland in
Palestine, using the rationale that this was the place where Jews believe they are destined
to be. The spread of Zionist ideology was prevalent during the end of the 19th century,
and into the 20th century in large part because of the rampant anti-Semitism that was
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Lori Weintrob in partial fulfillment of the Senior Program
requirements.
71
�present in Europe. The movement gained momentum when Theodor Herzl published The
Jewish State in 1896, a book about escaping European anti-Semitism through building a
Jewish state in Palestine.2 For example, the Russians and Romanians were taking part in
pogroms aiming to kill and exile Jews from their homes. Many fled to other nations or
regions, including to Palestine.3 In 1882, the population of Jews in Palestine was 24,000,
or 5% of the population. Following a wave of migrations in 1914, this number increased
to 85,000.4 Between 1922 and 1931, this number was further increased to 175,000.
It is important to note that this movement was largely rooted in European Jews,
not the indigenous ones of the Middle East, who had been living in the region for
centuries before. In fact, “of the 716,000 Jews living in the new state six months after it
declared its independence, 463,000- that is, nearly two-thirds- had been born abroad,
according to the November 11, 1948 census.â€5 Furthermore, Zionism was backed by
European nations, where either leaders or right-wing groups played up fear of Jewish and
foreign influences. Francis Nicosia, an American scholar on the Holocaust and the Arab
World, discusses this idea further:
Within Germany, Hitler actively intervened in the debate over Palestine in 1937
and early in 1938. He insisted on the stepped-up promotion of Jewish emigration
and deportation by all possible means, regardless of destination. According to
Hitler, Palestine was to continue as a prime destination for German Jewish
refugees and became an even more significant factor in Nazi emigration policies
in 1938 and 1939 as the Gestapo collaborated with underground Zionist
organizations in the “illegal†immigration of Jewish refugees past the British
blockade in Palestine.6
Nicosia’s commentary on Hitler and his views on encouraging migration to Palestine
show that Zionism was an idea that was pushed forward by people who were anti-Semitic
2
Wendy Pearlman, Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement,
(Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2011): 27.
3 Victor Kattan, From Coexistence to Conquest: International Law and the Origins of the
Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1891-1949, (London, England: Pluto Press, 2009), 9.
4 Neville J. Mandel, The Arabs and Zionism before World War I (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1976: xxiv.
5 Gilbert Achcar, The Arabs and the Holocaust, (New York, NY: Metropolitan Books,
2009): 11.
6 Francis Nicosia, “Arab Nationalism and National Socialist Germany, 1933-1939:
Ideological and Strategic Incompatibility,†International Journal of Middle Eastern
Studies 12, no. 3 (November 1980): 358-359.
72
�in order to get rid of their Jewish populations. This is significant, because it is essential to
grasp the idea that Zionism was started as a movement to escape persecution for Jews,
but which resulted in the diaspora of millions of Palestinians.7 These connections are
important, because they show how different groups of people are interconnected, and
how frequently history manages to repeat itself.
When discussing the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, one of the first questions to
come up is, who does Palestine belong to? This is a valid question, especially for an
audience that may not be well-versed on the politics and happenings of Palestine during
the 20th century. In 1920, there were 77,000 Christians, 76,000 Jews, and 547,000
Muslims in Palestine. There is large debate over who settled in the land first, who has
ownership over the land, and what should be done with it. Although this concern is valid,
it erases the bigger picture. To narrow such a large, controversial, sensitive topic to who
lived in Palestine first, is to insult the history, integrity, and struggle of the Palestinian
people. This is because analyzing the conflict from this lens invalidates the painful
experiences of the Palestinians. Let us say that a scholar came up with the conclusion that
the Jews were there first, and they therefore have the right to push Zionist ideals and
build their homeland, does this happen at the expense of the Palestinians? Is their
suffering and genocide worthwhile, because the land historically belonged to Jews? The
answers to these questions may vary, but the point is that this is a relatively modern issue,
because it happened in the 20th century. At this point in history, it is essential to leave
people with their humanity, and genuinely grasp an issue by seeing the different
perspectives of people, and how these perspectives influence the lives of millions.
To say that Palestine belongs to the Israelis because they were in the region first
oversimplifies the history, culture, and being of Palestinians, because it takes away their
right to exist peacefully in the place they have called home for centuries. In 1915, when
Palestine was still a part of the Ottoman Empire, the population was 78% Muslim
(590,000), 11% Christian (82,498), and 11% Jewish (83,794).8
The Balfour Declaration of November 2nd, 1917 is a pivotal point in
understanding the roots of the Palestinian Revolt against the British. This letter expressed
Great Britain’s support of a Jewish Homeland in Palestine to Lord Rothschild, a member
of one of the most prominent Jewish families in the world. The letter was written by
British Foreign Minister, Arthur James Balfour, and stated that “His Majesty's
Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the
7
8
Kattan, From Coexistence to Conquest, 2.
“Demographics of Israel: Population of Israel/Palestine,†jewishvirtuallibrary.org, n.d.
73
�Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this
object...I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the
Zionist Federation.â€9 Balfour goes on to refer to “the non-Jewish communities,â€
beginning to erase the identity of the Palestinians by othering them as non-Jewish people.10
This document is significant in understanding the British Revolt, because it reflects the
lack of consideration that the British had for the Palestinians. By not even referring to
them by their nationality, Balfour strips the Palestinians of their identity and sets the
precedent for how the British and Zionists will treat the Palestinians. Rashid Khalidi,
author of Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood, explains that
this Declaration resonated with the British support of a Zionist state:
The mandatory power was specifically called upon to extend all possible
assistance to the growth and development of this national entity, notably by
encouraging Jewish immigration and “close settlement on the land.†The tiny
Jewish community of Palestine, composing about 10 percent of the country’s
population at the time, was thereby placed in a distinctly privileged position. By
contrast, the Arab majority, constituting 90 percent of Palestine’s population,
was effectively ignored as a national or political entity. While the Mandate’s
twenty-eight articles included nine on antiquities, not one related to the
Palestinian people per se: they were variously and vaguely defined as a “section
of the population,†“natives,†or “peoples and communities.†As far as Great
Britain and the League of Nations were concerned, they were definitely not a
people.11
Here, Rashidi captures the way the British were consistent with their treatment of the
Palestinians, which shows why the Palestinians felt the need to revolt against them. By
stripping them of their identity, and by extent, their humanity, the British allow for the
Palestinians to be treated as second class citizens. The British, in other official
documents, begin to refer to the Palestinians by their names, but generally with a negative
connotation.
II: Analyzing Sources
9
“Balfour Declaration: Text of the Declaration,†jewishvirtuallibrary.org, n.d.
Rashid Khalidi, The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood
(Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2006), 32.
11 Khalidi, The Iron Cage, 33.
10
74
�For this thesis, a plethora of resources were used. One source which has proven
useful to the construction of this thesis is The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian
Struggle for Statehood by Rashid Khalidi. In his book, Khalidi is able to contextualize the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the lens of the struggle for statehood. However, he
sets up his book to provide a solid history, which serves as the foundation of his book.
Iron Cage becomes useful to the thesis because it contains important information on the
Revolt, as well as a means of making a concise, comprehensive understanding of the
history behind the movement. Khalidi heads the Middle East Institute at Columbia
University, and has written more than eighty articles pertaining to Middle Eastern history
and politics. This shows that Khalidi is a valid source of information, because he has the
necessary credentials to write about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.
Another important source is “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†by
James Jankowski. This article helped in conducting research, because it provides a
general history of the events in the Revolt, but with details on the particularly important
events, which was helpful because most other sources are focused on specific events in
the Revolt. This article gave me all the information I needed on the Revolt so that I may
find more substantial sources to analyze them further. Also, James Jankowski is a Middle
Eastern historian who has the credentials to write about the Revolt.
III: Life for Palestinians under the British Mandate of Palestine
Life for the Palestinians under the British Mandate was meager. Palestinians
were treated as second-class citizens in their own home, and were angry that after being
freed from the Ottomans (who they were with for four centuries), they were once again
being ruled by a higher power. In the Churchill White Paper, a response from Winston
Churchill, the Prime Minister, regarding the Arab concern over the Balfour Declaration,
he states “these apprehensions, so far as the Arabs are concerned, are partly based upon
exaggerated interpretations of the meaning of the Declaration favouring the establishment
of a Jewish National Home in Palestine, made on behalf of His Majesty's Government on
2nd November, 1917.â€12 Here, Churchill’s tone and diction seems to demean the
concerns of the Palestinians regarding their land being misused and given away. His use
of the phrase “so far as the Arabs are concerned†singles them out and makes them the
other, thereby creating a split between them and the Jews. Likewise, he is confounded by
their worry, saying that is based on “exaggerated interpretations†of the document at
12
Winston Churchill, The Churchill White Paper, (United Kingdom: 1922), 1.
75
�hand. By doing this, Churchill releases to the Palestinians, and the general public, a lack
of care for their own concerns, and invalidates them.
Donna Robinson Divine, who wrote “Islamic Culture and Political Practice in
British Mandated Palestine, 1918-1948,†described that:
Palestinian political activity depended upon and made use of the political
resources of the Ottoman Empire where family status, personal authority and
local autonomy had recognized meaning and value. When that era ended
abruptly with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, familiar
patterns of political organization and behavior resumed, but they were no longer
relevant.13
This means that off the bat, the British instilled changes in how the autonomy would
work for the Palestinians, and it was different from what they were used to. Instead of
valuing the traits the Palestinians deemed important in their autonomy, it was not
relevant, which seemingly shook the core of their identities and practices. Despite this:
Experience of Western rule, full as it was for Palestinians of dissonance and
antagonism, Palestinian political leaders [were convinced] to retreat to family
networks-to be wary of broader political alliances and to attack large-scale
economic development, both of which had been set in motion in an environment
hostile to the primacy of their traditions and consequently impossible to affirm.14
This shows that the Palestinians attempted to hold onto their autonomy the way they were
used to it during the Ottoman Empire. Nonetheless, Palestinian leaders did take on
something new- attacking large scale economic development. This was done in the face
of being ruled by a people who did not understand, or quite frankly, care for the traditions
which the Palestinians engaged in, which stirred angry Palestinian sentiments. Moreover,
because Palestinians under the Ottomans did not have much autonomy, they were starting
to think of themselves in “national terms as a people… [and] this was only one of their
overlapping senses of identity, which included being part of the larger Arab people and of
Greater Syria, as well as having other religious, local, and familial identities.â€15 This was
significant, because this was the first step to establishing a state: having a national
identity.
13 Donna Robinson Divine, “Islamic Culture and Political Practice in British Mandated
Palestine, 1918-1948,†The Review of Politics 45, no. 1 (1983): 72.
14 Divine, “Islamic Culture and Political Practice in British Mandated Palestine, 19181948,†88.
15 Khalidi, The Iron Cage, 32.
76
�The Allied Powers had promised to support Arab independence during World
War I, but lacked the commitment to their words. In the face of their state being
colonized by the British and the Jews, the Palestinians almost had no means of
diplomatically fighting for their rights. Because they had been occupied for centuries by
the Ottomans, “the Palestinians had no international sanction for their identity, no
accepted and agreed context within which their putative nationhood and independence
could express itself, and their representatives had no access whatsoever to any of the
levers of state power.â€16 Here, Khalidi unloads a lot of information by explaining that
because they lacked a national identity that was well-known, it was hard for them to fight
for their freedom. Also, their leaders were not equipped with the diplomacy or resources
to take on a battle with the British. As stated by Khalidi, “none of the top appointees of
the mandatory administration outside the judiciary were Arab,†and this was the essence
of the root of the Palestinian problems with the British. Even when the new British High
Commissioner, Sir Wauchope pushed his superiors in the Colonial Office in London for
the establishment of a Palestinian Arab legislative council, pro-Zionist politicians
defeated this proposal in the British Parliament, frustrating the Palestinians, especially
because “neighboring Arab mandates, especially Syria, Iraq, and (earlier) Egypt, had
made strides towards sovereignty.â€17 The Palestinians, under the British, did not have
representation in the decisions that the government made, which supplemented them a
reason to revolt.
According to The Palestine Royal Commission Report of 1937, there was a large
influx of Jewish immigrants from1931-1936. The records indicate that in 1931, 4,075
Jews immigrated into Palestine. The numbers grow to 1932-9,533; 1933-30,327; 193442,359; 1935-61,854; 1936-29,727, respectively.18 This was due to the rise of Nazism
and Fascism in Europe. In a matter of six years, the population of Jews increased in
Palestine to 177,895, which reflected a large shifting of the population. When the Jews
came into Palestine in large masses, this changed the socio-political order that was in
place, and put the Palestinians as second-class citizens.
IV: Economic Boycotts
During the 1920s, the Jews in Palestine were becoming more affluent, and rising
to power. Indeed, “from 1921-1929, Jewish land possession nearly doubled, dozens of
16
Khalidi, The Iron Cage, 39.
Naseer H. Aruri and Samih K. Farsoun, Palestine and the Palestinians: A Social and
Political History, (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2006), 90.
18 Kattan, From Coexistence to Conquest, 11.
17
77
�new settlements were established, and Jewish owned enterprises multiplied.â€19 At the
same time, the Yishuv, a term to describe the Jewish residents of Palestine before 1948,
were founding character necessary for a state:
It created an elected national assembly, an armed defense force, and an array of
institutions to manage agricultural collectives, immigrant absorption, and
banking. An encompassing labor union served as an engine of employment,
public works, and economic self-sufficiency. Waves of immigrants brought
human and material resources. Effective champions outside Palestine offered
both funding and lobbying with foreign governments.20
This shows that although the migrant Jews were not being integrated into society with the
Palestinians, they were building their autonomy by establishing elements like an armed
force, banks, and settlements. Also, this reflects the upper hand that the Jews had when
establishing their national identity, because the Palestinians did not have foreign
governments to find and lobby on their behalf.
Economic opportunity for Palestinians was on a downward spiral, because
Zionist leaders made sure that the Jewish economic sector was growing and hiring Jewish
immigrants. The Ha’avara, an agreement between the Nazis and the World Zionist
Organization, allowed for Jews leaving Germany to import large amounts of capital into
Palestine. This allowed for “wealthy Jews to increase their investments in industry,
building, and citriculture.â€21 This meant that the Jews were allowed to bring their money
with them to Palestine, where they could further invest in business, and keep hiring
Jewish workers over Palestinians.
As a result of the growing presence of Jews that the British allowed into
Palestine, the lack of economic opportunity for peasants, and the British refusal to
establish the Palestinian people, there was an outbreak of anger, violence, and nonviolent
protest. The Palestinians came together to find the Arab Executive, a pan-Arab delegation
meant to show unity to the British. The AE believed that “the Jewish people held no right
to a national home in Palestine, urged a ban on the transfer of lands to Jewish control, and
demanded a halt to Jewish immigration.â€22 The Palestine Communist Party contributed to
this movement by handing out pamphlets to Jews in Tel Aviv, encouraging them to stand
19
Pearlman, Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement, 35.
Pearlman, Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement, 36.
21 Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (1936-1939),â€
The Modern Middle East (1993): 184.
22 Pearlman, Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement, 30.
20
78
�up against Zionism. They pushed these ideas forward to the Jews by saying that Zionism
was the root of their issues, and that this movement was pushing Jews into a dead end.
The Party was able to acknowledge that “to save the Jewish community in the country
from bloodshed, and to shake the country free from the oppressive imperialist yoke, it
was necessary for the Jews to form a united front with the Arabs.â€23 This was important,
because it shows that in some capacity, there were Palestinians who tried to create unity
between the Arabs and the Jews.
The Palestinians were able to successfully mobilize an economic boycott to
really bring action to their ideas. One of the ways this was achieved was through the Arab
Higher Committee, which was a new country-wide organization that successfully united
the Arabs and “gave official sanction and national leadership to the strike.â€24 This
committee was founded by the Palestinian parties and national committees as a
coordinating body to control the economic boycott through a united front.25 Further, the
AHC “represented all political factions and social sectors of Arab Palestinian society and
announced its goals to be the complete cessation of Jewish immigration, the prohibition
of land transfer to Jews, and the establishment of a national government responsible to a
representative faction.â€26 The AHC was presided over by Amin al-Hussayni, and served
as the national organization for the boycotts, but there were local national committees
that did a lot of organizing and extended the boycotts to the non-payment of taxes by the
Arabs of Palestine. This was economically successful, because “commercial intercourse
was seriously disrupted and the cost in revenue to the British administration in 1936 was
over one million pounds.27 Despite these economic blows to the British, the Palestinians
did not completely get what they wanted from the British politically. Their demands were
to limit Jewish immigration, but in July of 1936, the British did send out a Royal
Commission to investigate the situation in Palestine, and they came out with the Peel
Report.28 Wendy Pearlman, in her book, Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian
National Movement, was able to analyze the way the Palestinians went about their
boycott in a united front against the British and the Jews:
23
Musa Budeiri, The Palestine Communist Party, 1919-1948, (Chicago, IL: Haymarket
Books, 2010), 64.
24 James Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†Muslim World 63, no.
3 (1973): 223.
25 Swedenburg, “Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt,†190.
26 Aruri and Farsoun, Palestine and the Palestinians, 91.
27 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†224.
28 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†224.
79
�This cohesion enabled a national protest campaign in which diverse sectors of
society participated using the nonviolent means at their disposal. The Arab Car
Owners’ and Drivers’ Association halted transport facilities, merchants and city
laborers stayed home, prisoners refused to perform penal labor, and schools and
factories closed. The Jaffa port ceased operations. Local committees limited
farmers’ marketing to specified hours. Intellectuals published leaflets, and
newspapers urged the public to participate. Men, women, and children of all
ages took part in public demonstrations, and families across the country
observed a boycott of Jewish firms and products. Boy Scouts and shabab - urban
young men who would continue to play a key role in resistance activities for
generations thereafter - enforced compliance at the neighborhood level.
Although Arab civil servants did not go on strike, first- and second- tier public
officials came together to submit memorandum to the government explaining
Arab grievances and claims. Many also donated a percentage of their salaries to
help the national campaign.29
Pearlman includes a substantial amount of relevant information into her book. She is able
to point out that (a) the Arabs, Muslims and Christians were a united force against the
Jews and the British, (b) the Palestinians included their entire families in the boycott, and
(c) Palestinians took an economic route precluding the revolt, which is actually
ingenious. The Arabs understood that economics were the basis of existing, because
without economics, how are people going to disperse land, labor, and capital? If the Jews
and British suffer economically at the hands of the Palestinians, then the Palestinians will
be able to make their demands, and have more of a chance at success. Also, by
incorporating the support of entire families into the movement, they were instilling the
ideas of protest into their family units, and teaching civil disobedience.
The boycotts ended in October of 1936 for a wide array of reasons. There were
economic pressures for the Palestinians, which was the approach of their citrusharvesting season (a hot commodity for the Palestinians), leading to a crack in Arab
determination. Also, the Arab neighbors, Iraq, Transjordan, and Saudi Arabia, assured the
Palestinians that the British “would do justice, [thus giving] the AHC and the local
committees an acceptable reason for terminating their strike on October 12.â€30 However,
the lack of action on the part of the British resulted in Palestinian aggression, which
opened the doors to the Revolt.
29
30
Pearlman, Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement, 43.
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†224.
80
�V: The Impact of Education on Palestinians
The increase of education in Palestine directly affected Palestinian national
identity. As mentioned earlier, there was not much of a Palestinian identity that existed,
because the Palestinians were previously occupied by the Ottomans. Through education,
the Palestinians saw a growth in their nationalism and mobility to revolt:
The expansion of education, though lagging behind Palestinian demand, had a
similar effect. The percentage of Arab children enrolled in school rose from 20
percent in 1911 to approximately 34 percent by 1946. Education expanded the
ranks of a middle class whose ambitions could not be satisfied under the
traditional distribution of power. Teachers and civil servants assigned to work in
the countryside transmitted political debates from urban to rural areas. The
growth of literacy fostered the rise of nationalism. Giving voice to a small but
influential nationalist intelligentsia, newspapers helped Palestinians follow the
events transforming their country and region.31
Another benefit that came out of the rise of education was “a new generation of
radical nationalists were raising slogans of socioeconomic justice and Arab unity and
developing novel forms of political organization.â€32 This was positive, because the rise of
education made people politically active, and organized. A key term that Swedenburg
uses when describing the effects of education was Arab unity, because without a common
idea, there would not be success. Additionally, political organizations came to a rise
among Palestinians, with the founding of the Young Men’s Muslim Association, the Arab
Youth Conferences, the Arab Boy Scouts, and the Istiqlal (Independence) Party. The
Istiqlal Party was unique among the political organizations, because instead of being
organized based on family or clan loyalties, it was organized around a political program.
This appealed to the educated middle class, and distinguished itself by centering their
political actions to opposing the British Mandate government, instead of targeting the
Jewish community alone.33
On the other hand, “among the Arabs, economic change and education in
Western-model schools (both public and private) were gradually creating a modern Arab
31
Pearlman, Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement, 40.
Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (1936-1939),â€
186.
33 Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (1936-1939),â€
186.
32
81
�elite.â€34 So although there was a growing sense of nationalism and identity, it caused the
development of an elitist class of Palestinians. Even Lord Peel commented on the
education of Jews and Palestinians, saying that “like Jewish nationalism, Arab
nationalism is stimulated by the educational system and by the growth of the Youth
Movement…. The existing Arab and Jewish school systems are definitely widening and
will continue to widen the gulf between the two races.â€35 This proves that the increase in
education created an Arab elite group, which is discussed more at length in Section VI.
VI: Classism in the Revolt/Urban v. Rural Palestine
When the Ottoman Empire collapsed, there was a shift in the political structure
among the Palestinians. The political leadership of the Palestinians during the Ottoman
rule and throughout the early years of the Mandate was based on the notable families,
who “had acquired lands, wealth, and local dominance in the Ottoman period.â€36 This
system that was in place was not successful for Mandate-era Palestinians, because “the
lines of political cleavage ran horizontally, following the most meaningful lines of social
cleavage (between village and village, between one notable family and its dependent
rural following),†showing that politics was centered on the notable families.37 This
traditional leadership was negated by the formation of Arab Congresses, assemblies, and
delegations, because the political system did not have any substantial means of
sublimating the Palestinians, or opposing the establishment of the Jewish National Home.38
Scholarship on the Revolt has typically painted the peasants as “traditional,
backward, and conservative… activated by tribal and religious loyalties...and as too
isolated, ignorant and poor,†thereby discrediting their role in the revolt, and ignoring
their legitimate social and political demands.39 However, the Revolt saw the rise of a
middle-class of peasants, and workers, who were able to develop a military force, and
implemented social and political programs that challenged the notable leadership that was
in place. This nationalist movement really threatened the mercantile-landlord system in
place and “the threat of a counter-hegemonic peasant leadership with a class-based
34
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†221.
Earl Peel, Peel Commission Report, (Great Britain: United Kingdom Government,
1937).
36 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†221.
37 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†221.
38 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†221.
39 Ted Swedenburg,“The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (19361939),†169.
35
82
�program caused large numbers of wealthy urban Palestinians to flee the country.â€40
Moreover, this rise of a middle-class challenged the British military and strategy by
forcing them to expend military energies to crush the revolt.41
Class played a huge role in the way that the Palestinians reacted to the Jewish
homeland being established. For the Palestinian peasants, the selling of Arab land to Jews
led to an increase in landlessness and subsistent farming. Subsequently:
Tens of thousands of indebted farmers were forced to leave the fields that they
had worked for generations. Moving to shanties on the outskirts of Palestine’s
budding towns, they worked as cheap laborers. Hours were long and conditions
wretched. Peasants’ dislocation both nourished spaces of volatile bitterness and
corroded the ties that traditionally linked them to rural patrons.42
Pearlman’s inclusion of this information in her book, Violence, Nonviolence, and the
Palestinian National Movement, resonates with the reader, because it bridges the peasants
to the revolt. When the Jews were starting to establish themselves in Palestine, it most
directly affected the peasants, who were displaced from places that they hailed from for
generations. By 1928, the sale of land to Zionists by Palestinian landowners had eclipsed
those by non-Palestinians. A section of the notable class was “thus enriching itself
through land sales to Zionists and contributing directly to peasant landlessness, especially
in the northern and central plains.â€43 This also shows the disconnect that existed between
the elite class and the peasants. Although the elitists generally opposed Zionism, they
“urged prudence toward the government… [and] continued to extract profits from tenant
farmers, as some did from the sale of land to Jews.â€44
The peasants were quicker to take up arms in response to colonialism and
Zionism, because they were affected by it the most. When the Palestinians remained
vigilant against these outside forces, it led to some disunity in the movement. For
example, “while [the Palestinian Communist Party] condemned the terror in no uncertain
terms, it also tried to explain its occurrence as a result of the predominance in the armed
bands of peasants, who had felt more directly the pressure of Zionist colonization.â€45
40
Ted Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (19361939),†170.
41 Ted Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (19361939),†170.
42 Pearlman, Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement, 36.
43 Ted Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (19361939),†180.
44 Pearlman,Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement, 36.
83
�Peasants were burdened with high rates of interest from usurers, rural property taxes
charged by the British, and regressive indirect taxes. This meant that “the weight of
taxation fell disproportionately on poor Palestinian fellahin (farmers) whose contributions
helped to finance industrial and agricultural development in the Jewish sector and to pay
Britain’s expenses in defending the Jewish ‘national home,’†and one of the ways they
alleviated these debts was by selling plots of their land to Zionists.46 This shows how the
peasants suffered in a plethora of ways at the hands of the British, Zionism, and upperclass Palestinians. They were removed from lands that they lived on for generations, were
stuck paying taxes that they could not afford, and had to resort to selling their land to the
very people who were causing them to be burdened with these issues, Zionists. This
information demonstrates the position peasants were put into by the Mandate, and how it
resulted in their aggression and violence.
After the economic boycotts were over, because the British decided to send out a
Royal Commission to investigate what was happening in Palestine, the rural areas
opposed the British by taking up arms. This was an interesting response, because there
has been no evidence that this was planned or organized the way the boycott was.
According to James Jankowski, who wrote an article called “The Palestinian Arab Revolt
of 1936-1939,†this was a result of the clash of the urban and rural approaches and
effects:
It seems to have been a spontaneous uprising of the Arab peasantry produced by
several processes: the accumulating fears of the past fifteen years, the
heightened Jewish immigration of the mid-1930s, the displacement of a portion
of the Arab peasantry from their traditional holdings through Zionist land
purchase, the undoubted use by at least one faction of the Arab leadership, that
of Hajj Amin al-Husayni, of xenophobic propaganda, and a temporary but
severe economic recession in 1935 and 1936. All these combined to provoke a
significant proportion of the peasantry to take up arms once an impetus to
resistance was provided by urban developments.47
Jankowski is able to capture the harsh realities and differences of class under the British
Mandate. It was easier for the urban areas to have faith in Great Britain, because they
45 Musa Budeiri, The Palestine Communist Party, (Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books,
2010), 64.
46 Ted Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (19361939),†182.
47 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†224.
84
�were not struck with economic hardship and displacement that the rural Palestinians were
experiencing. At this point, they were fed up with the civil disobedience that the
movement was taking on, because it did not produce better living conditions for them.
Therefore, they took it upon themselves to bear arms and put more pressure on the British
to change their policies in Palestine.
Although this divide in the classes was present, and was a surprise to members
of the AHC who spoke out against the rural violence, there were more extreme factions in
the AHC who supported the rural violent outbursts. The Husayni faction of the AHC was
able to “establish contacts with the guerrillas, and utilized their activities to increase
pressure on the British.â€48
VII: Phase I of the Revolt
The outbreak of the Revolt sixteen years after the British established their
presence in Palestine was rooted in the Palestinian realization that:
The security and efficiency of the British administration, the economic
prosperity of most of the interwar period, and the slow and often troubled
growth of the National Home until the 1930s, all combined to satisfy the bulk of
the population materially, and to lull its latent hostility to Jewish immigration
and alien rule.49
There were outbreaks of violence in 1921, and 1929, but they were scattered outbreaks by
angry Palestinians. However, from 1930 to 1935, the population of Jews grew from
175,000 to 400,000, which was a major concern to Palestinians as well. This was a result
of the growing anti-Semitism in Poland, the tightening of quotas in the United States, and
the success of Nazism in Europe.50
The Revolt has historically been viewed as a movement with two phases, both
serving two different platforms. Jankowski writes that “during the first phase of the revolt
in 1936, they aimed not at developing into a full-scale attempt to oust the British from
Palestine, but rather tried to use the revolt to change British policy.â€51 The Mufti Amin
al-Husayni’s confidant, Emile al-Ghuri told a British audience that “[the] strike has
developed into a revolution. It is not the act of terrorists or marauders or snipers: it is a
revolution. It is not a revolution designed to threaten the power of Great Britain, nor to
48
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†224.
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†221.
50 Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (1936-1939),â€
184.
51 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†224.
49
85
�force its hand, but to ask for justice.â€52 The first phase of the revolt can be described as
the Palestinians causing a scene to get the British to pay attention to them, and
accommodate their demands, which were rooted in limiting Jewish immigration into
Palestine.
Shaykh ‘Izz al-Din al-Qassam was a radical Islamic reformer, who used his
religious position as a shaykh (a leader in the mosque) to recruit followers among the
fellahin (farmers) and the laborers of Haifa. By 1935, he had recruited anywhere from
200-800 followers, who received military training, which was carried out in the dark. AlQassam instilled into his recruits’ messages of “strict piety, of struggle and sacrifice, of
patriotism, the necessity for unity, and the need to emulate early Islamic heroes.â€53
Although al-Qassam and his men did attack Zionist settlements from as early as 1931, the
group was not officially mobilized until November of 1935. Then, al-Qassam set out
from Haifa to raise the peasants into rebellion after it was discovered that an illegal arms
shipment was made to the Zionist movement in the port of Jaffa, which caused unrest
among the Palestinians.54 However, the group had an accidental encounter with the
police, which resulted in the death of al-Qassam and several of his followers.55 This led
to an outrage among the Palestinian middle class and peasants, who found comfort and
power in al-Qassam and his movement.
The Palestinians who were active in the Revolt “organized themselves into
guerrilla bands (fasa’il) of a few men with a leader (qa’id). Guerillas often used hit-andrun tactics, at night and principally in their local areas.â€56 This was strategic for the
guerrillas because it meant that they could disperse quickly, and with the advantage of
knowing the terrain, could hide among their kins and villagers.
Phase I of the Revolt lasted from the fall of 1936 to the summer of 1937, with
“the British discontinu[ing] attempts to actively seek out and identify the rebels, while the
rebels faded back into their villages.â€57 As the issues were escalating in Palestine, and
opening the doors for the Revolt, the British were unable to mount offensive operations,
52
“An Arab View of the Situation in Palestine,†International Affairs 15 (1936), 691692.
53 Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (1936-1939),â€
189.
54 Achcar, The Arabs and the Holocaust, 135.
55 Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (1936-1939),â€
190.
56 Aruri and Farsoun, Palestine and the Palestinians, 92.
57 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†225.
86
�because they only had four battalions of British troops in Palestine (as of April 1936).
However, by September of that year, the British military increased their presence to
20,000 and offensive operations began. The suspension of the revolt was due to the
Palestinians waiting on the Royal Commissions to complete its deliberations.58 Husayni
and Lord Peel, who was heading the Palestine Royal Commission, were in contact with
one another in November and December of 1936. When Lord Peel inquired about the
Palestinians establishing a government, and what they would do with the 400,000 Jews,
Husayni responded with:
It will not be the first time that Jews have lived under the aegis of an Arab state.
In the past it has been the Arab states which were the more compassionate to
them. History shows that, during all periods, the Jews only found rest under the
protection of Arab rulers. The East was always a shelter for Jews escaping from
European pressure.59
Here, Husayni makes a valid point about the way the Jews have been historically treated
in Europe and in Palestine. The Jews have generally found a safe haven in Arabs, when
the Europeans have been anti-Semitic. The Arabs have had good intentions for the Jews,
which have been taken advantage of by the British, who just decided to establish a
National Home for the Jews in Palestine. Husayni’s words are significant, because his
tone is firm and to the point-- the Jews have historically coexisted with Arabs, and could
coexist if a Palestinian government was established.
The Commission published their findings in 1937, to which they expressed that
“the disease is so deep-rooted that in the Commissioners' firm conviction the only hope
of a cure lies in a surgical operation,†the surgical operation being the partition of the
land between the Jews and the Palestinians.60 They concluded that there was no way that
the two groups of people could coexist under the same government, and would need to
have their own, respective lands. The land that would be given to establish a Jewish
homeland was the coastal land along the Mediterranean, like Jaffa, Haifa, Tel Aviv, and
Acre, as well as the lands bordering Lebanon and Syria. It is important to point out that
these coastal cities were economically developed and bustling with business, but they
would have gone to the Jews under this Report. This infuriated Palestinians, who saw this
58
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†225.
Amin Al-Husyani, “Hajj Amin to the Peel Commission in Palestine,†Center for
Online Judaic Studies, 1936.
60 Earl Peel, Peel Commission Report, (Great Britain: United Kingdom Government,
1937).
59
87
�as the “antithesis of what the general strike and the uprising of 1936 had been aimed at.â€61
The Arabs vehemently rejected the Peel Commission Report, and in Syria, “a pan-Arab
congress voted overwhelmingly and unequivocally†against it.62
VIII: Phase II of the Revolt
Phase II of the Revolt, which started in September of 1937, was “dominated by
the more radical within the Arab community, particularly the Husaynis,†because the
traditional notables and newer urban population were afraid of the violence in the
previous uprisings, and were hurt by the commercial and agricultural effects of the
general strike.63 This second phase for the revolt was interesting, because there was an
evident divide among the Palestinians, and a lot of the planning and organizing was
happening outside of Palestine. The British were prepared to immobilize the rebels by
any means, and in October of 1937, took it upon themselves to dissolve the AHC, exile
its prominent leaders, and intern about two hundred members of the Arab committees.64
In Damascus, Syria, a Central Committee of the Struggle was being spearheaded
by Palestinian exiles, who were not ready to give up on the idea of a Palestinian
homeland. This committee functioned by providing supplies and channeling volunteers
into Palestine, led by Husayni, who had fled Palestine in fear of being imprisoned by the
British.
Another element that distinguished phase II from phase I of the revolt, was the
aid that the rebels were able to obtain from outside of Palestine: “Funds collected in the
neighboring Arab countries played a major role in sustaining the rebels, volunteers came
from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt, and by mid-1938 Germany had become aware of
the possibilities of the revolt and was supplying small amounts of modern arms.â€65
As mentioned earlier, the split among the Palestinians in regards to pursuing a
second phase to the revolt caused an issue. Husayni and his supporters were outraged by
this:
Those notables and village leaders reluctant to support the rebels were forced to
do so or were eliminated, those who collaborated with the British, especially the
Arab constabulary, became the target of attacks…. In 1938, the peak of the
61
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†226.
Ronald Sanders, The High Walls of Jerusalem, (New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, 1983), 663.
63 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†226.
64 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†226.
65 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†226.
62
88
�revolt, an estimated 454 Arab civilians were killed by the rebels themselves, as
compared to 206 Jewish civilians. Thus the revolt, while retaining its primarily
anti-British (rather than anti-Jewish) orientation, had become a struggle for
internal as well as external dominance.66
Another difference in the rekindling of the Revolt was the way the Palestinians
challenged the British over land control. The rebels went greater than just stirring the pot
for British policy change- they were reclaiming the very land that the British occupied
from them. The Central Committee of the Struggle, still functioning outside of Palestine,
“began to function partially as a government-in-exile, appointing administrators and
judges for the areas under rebel control.â€67 The British were not expecting such a harsh
pushback from the Arabs:
The British lost control of much of the countryside to armed bands and were
briefly forced to withdraw from several of the major cities, including the Old
City of Jerusalem, Jaffa, Acre, Jericho, and Bir Sabe’. The less accessible and
more rugged areas of the countryside escaped British control for a longer time.
The British military commander in Palestine wrote in August 1938 that “the
situation was such that civil administration of the country was, to all practical
purposes, nonexistent.†The spectacle of a few thousand poorly armed
Palestinian peasants successfully resisting the might of the British Empire for
such a lengthy time encouraged Britain’s aggressive and ambitious regional
rivals, Italy and Germany; had an impact on Arab and Islamic opinion on the
colonized world generally; discouraged and angered the Zionist movement; and
infuriated British politicians, officials, and military officials68
In August of 1938, with the Arab rebels gaining more power, they set up a High Council
of Command. The purpose of the command was to unify the rebel forces, in the same
way the AHC tried to unite Palestinian voices in the early 1930s. An empowering action
that the High Council put forth was the abandonment of the fez, which was worn by city
dwellers, for the flowing headdress of the peasant to make it easier for rebel forces to
infiltrate towns.69 This comes to be so significant, because it shows that the roots of the
revolt was lying in the hands of the peasants, who were putting action to their feelings,
and going full-force against the British. The peasants were demanding the upper-class
66
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†227.
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†227.
68 Khalidi, The Iron Cage, 107.
69 Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†227.
67
89
�urban dwellers to alter their appearances to take control of Palestine and put it in the
hands of the peasants, which was incredibly courageous on their part.
The success of the rebels in the countryside encouraged them to take control of
interior cities, like Nablus, Hebron, Beersheba, Bethlehem, and Ramallah. At the same
time, the British administration in these cities began to deteriorate, and they were
withdrawing their forces.70 At this point, the British realized what they were up against,
and started to build new roads throughout 1938 to open the countryside to their forces.
Furthermore, they built the Tegart Wall along the Palestine-Syria border to prevent the
infiltration of rebels, which was a success for the British. With heightened numbers of
British security forces, which was nearly 25,000 by 1938, they were able to gain control
back from the rebels. Throughout 1939, there were steady British advances in subduing
the rebels, by taking measures like installing curfews, intensive searches, and the
prohibition of all road traffic that was not authorized by the security forces.71 Alongside
these measures to gain control, the British used force to repress the revolt.
IX: British Suppression of the Revolt
The British worked hard to suppress the revolt, and did so in cruel, violent
manners. In Halhul, the British killed fifteen Palestinians, the youngest being thirty-five
and the oldest being seventy-five. They did so by leaving them out in a caged enclosure
in the sun with insufficient water.72
Harry Arrigone, a British Palestine policeman in the village of al-Bassa recalled
a moment of British aggression towards the Palestinians, after local guerillas buried a
land mine meant to kill British officers:
The British “herded†about twenty men from al-Bassa onto a bus. Villagers who
panicked and tried to escape were shot. The driver of the bus was forced to drive
along the road, over a land mine buried by the soldiers. This second mine
completely destroyed the bus, scattering the maimed and mutilated bodies of the
men on board everywhere. The villagers were then forced to dig a pit, collect the
bodies, and throw them unceremoniously into it.73
This shows the absolutely cruelty, and lack of mercy that the British had towards the
Palestinians. They willingly chose to execute innocent villagers to make a statement to
70
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†227.
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†228.
72 Matthew Hughes, “Repression of the Arab Revolt in Palestine,†358.
73 Matthew Hughes, “Repression of the Arab Revolt in Palestine,†359.
71
90
�the Palestinians that their revolt would not give them power, and that their voices were
not heard. Furthermore, this one instance highlights the cruelty of the British, because
they forced the remaining villagers to dispose of the bodies in an “unceremonious†way.
The British went out of their way to make sure Palestinians understood that their revolt
would not be tolerated, as evidenced by not allowing the people slaughtered to have a
proper burial. Moreover, by forcing Palestinians to dump their bodies into a mass grave,
the British were reinforcing the idea that the Palestinians did not have an identity.
Another British officer in Palestine, Raymond Cafferata, in a letter to his wife, wrote
“Since that day not a single mine has been laid on that road,†showing that the British
were okay with making examples out of Palestinians if it meant that they could repress
the revolt.74
The British doctor, Forster, wrote that “we may teach Hitler something new
about the conduct of concentration camps,†when discussing Palestinian torture methods.75
Forster’s words are significant, because they highlight the hypocrisy of the British, on top
of shedding light on the torture methods of the British. The British willingly participate in
the torture of the Palestinians, who were revolting against the Zionist establishment in
Palestine, in the same manner that Hitler would treat a Jew in Europe. The British, here,
are helping to set up a National Home for the Jews, and work on decimating the native
population by means similar to that of Hitler. This is incredibly ironic, and terribly
horrendous.
In total, the Revolt, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, “saw more than 3,000
deaths, 146 executions by hanging, and 50,000 arrests leading to 2,000 stiff prison
sentences; 5,000 homes and businesses were demolished and long curfews were
imposed.â€76
X: The Role of the Media
The media played an important role in escalating tensions between Jews in
Palestine and Palestinians. Even for the Palestinians, “opposition to Zionism became
more political and profuse with the lifting of press censorship in 1908.â€77 An important
primary source in understanding the Palestinian Revolt against the British is a political
cartoon published in Davar, a Jewish newspaper that was being published under the
British Mandate of Palestine. The cartoon, titled “Education in Palestine,†contains a
74
Matthew Hughes, “Repression of the Arab Revolt in Palestine,†359.
Matthew Hughes, “Repression of the Arab Revolt in Palestine,†362.
76 Achcar, The Arabs and the Holocaust, 142.
77 Pearlman, Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement, 27.
75
91
�mother figure with androgynous features, clearly dressed as an Arab, as indicated by the
Palestinian kuffiyeh (a scarf that Palestinians wear around their heads or their necks,
especially the peasants) and the black garb. The mother is reading to her child, and this
just means that the mother is blindly implanting the wrong ideas to her child from a
young age, creating an ignorant generation. The main character of the cartoon being a
peasant is significant, because it represents the masses of Palestinians who were
supporting the Revolt, and targets them instead of public officials and leaders.
Furthermore, by creating the idea that these peasants are uneducated, and just blindly
follow what the highly censored newspapers believe.
By creating this image to a large audience, the Jewish media is able to use their
power to instill the view that the revolt is being followed by the blind-- those who cannot
see that their reality is distorted. However, this invalidates the struggles of the Palestinian
people, who have been occupied for so many years, first by the Ottomans and then by the
British. To distort their views on Palestinian identity and nationalism takes away from
their being and humanity, and allows for them to subject to their inhumane treatment,
murder, exile, and torture. This cartoon is further significant for shedding light on the
way that Hebrew, the language of the Jews, is able to become prominent in Palestine
even before the establishment of the Jewish state. Political cartoons generally tend to be
valuable to historians for lending a helping hand to understanding the information that the
general population was constantly being fed, and thereby the way the government or
institutions act towards marginalized people. Likewise, it displays to the historian the
politics of the time by assessing the content of the cartoon, and how it fits into the bigger
picture of what was happening at the time.
Also, “strict British censorship during the uprising ensured that Palestinian
papers were closed for long periods of time and the Palestinian Arabic Press was unable
to make critical comment on British military activity in the country after 1936.â€78 By
blocking the Palestinians access to the media, the British could control the information
being fed to them and could sway popular opinion in their direction. The British were
strategic in blocking only Palestinian news media outlets, because “the Zionist Presssuch as the Palestine Post, Haaretz, or Davar- has more comment on Britain’s repression
of the revolt than the heavily censored Arabic-language newspapers.â€79 This means that
in some form, there was information on the repression of the revolt, but it was not to the
audience who could take action against it.
78
Mustafa Kabha, The Palestinian Press as Shaper of Public Opinion, 1929-1939:
Writing Up a Storm (London and Portland: Vallentine Mitchell, 2007), 227.
79 Matthew Hughes, “Repression of the Arab Revolt in Palestine,†358.
92
�XI: The White Papers of 1939
With the building of the Tegart Wall, there was difficulty in communication
among the rebels, which caused a break in the Central Committee of Struggle, when
several of the guerilla leaders left the group. Also, the Arab field commander, Abd al
Rahim al-Hajj Muhammad was killed in March 1939, and the rough treatment of the
rebel courts towards Arabs who did not want to participate in the revolt caused the
development of a pro-British, anti-Husayni faction called The Squadrons of Peace, who
took action against rebels.80
In May of 1939, the British government released the White Paper of 1939, after
much consultations and negotiations.81 This document “capped Jewish immigration at
seventy-five thousand over five years, restricted land transfers to limited areas, and
proposed to make Palestine independent within ten years if Arab-Jewish relations
improved.â€82 To the Palestinians, this was a partial victory, because they would be getting
an independent Palestine, but it would be split with the Jews. At this point, with the
escalation of global issues, the British did not prioritize the British Mandate and the
issues that the Palestinians were facing.
XII: Impact on the Creation of Israel
Rashidi, in The Iron Cage, does an in-depth analysis of the way the British
suppressed the revolt:
The number of those exiled or forced to flee is unknown, but probably in the
thousands. In the Arab population of about 1 million, these were considerable
figures; they meant that over 10 percent of the adult male population was killed,
wounded, imprisoned or exiled. Although some of these casualties were simply
bystanders, these figures give some indication of the extent of popular
participation in the revolt, and of its all-encompassing national nature…. A high
proportion of the Arab casualties included the most experienced military cadres
and enterprising fighters.83
80
Jankowski, “The Palestinian Arab Revolt of 1936-1939,†228.
Tom Segev, One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate,
(New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 1999), 440.
82 Aruri and Farsoun, Palestine and the Palestinians, 93.
83 Rashidi, The Iron Cage, 108.
81
93
�On top of the casualties, and exiles, the British confiscated large amounts of weapons
from the Arabs during the revolt and in the years after. The diverging political views
between the Palestinians caused more divides in them, and the decline of the Palestinian
economy opened the door for Jewish industries to take control.84 Consequently, it was
easier for the State of Israel to be built, because there was a depletion of sources to resist
the establishment of the Jewish homeland. The Palestinian economic decline allowed for
the Jews to build themselves up further, and hold stakes in the land. Also, the nationalist
political leaders had, for the most part, been killed, imprisoned, or exiled, which meant
that the Palestinians did not have the leadership necessary to fight against the building of
Israel. Lastly, the weapons had by Palestinians were almost completely wiped out by the
British security forces.
This all shows that although the Revolt empowered Palestinians voices,
especially those of the peasants, it indirectly impacted the creation of Israel. When the
Arabs rejected the original Peel Commission Report, they completely shut out of the idea
of sharing the land under the advisement of the British, which would have been better
than their current situation. This is not to say that the Palestinians made a mistake making
that decision, because they believed so much in their nationalism and ability to gain
independence, and the British proved that they were not trustworthy with the way they
handled Palestine. However, this means that the events of phase II of the revolt could not
have been predicted by the Palestinians, and that nearsightedness resulted in the lack of a
Palestinian homeland. Lastly, the timing of the Revolt came at a time where the world
was breaking out into war, and World War II was more important to the world powers,
like Great Britain, than the question of what to do with the Mandate of Palestine.
XIII: Conclusion
As evidenced above, the British Mandate of Palestine was not a successful
system put in place by the West. By establishing an imperialist power, and opening the
doors to the facilitation of the building of a Jewish Homeland, the Palestinians were upset
with the British. Although the Revolt has been lost in history, it is important for showing
that the peasants were able to mobilize themselves for their cause, thereby empowering
their voices. Also, the repression of the Revolt indirectly facilitated the creation of Israel,
because the British killed, exiled, and imprisoned the leading voices against the British.
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�Beautiful Nude Girls: Art and Female
Sexuality in Nazi Germany
Jordan Gonzales (Art History and Anthropology)1
“In mobilizing leisure, National Socialism encountered one of the last bulwarks behind
which the progressive elements of individualism were still alive…In the solitude of
peaceful enjoyment, the individual may come to think, his impulses, feelings, and
thoughts may be driven to regions which are foreign and inimical to the prevailing
order. We mention here only two stimuli of this tendency: sex and art.â€
-
Herbert Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,†in Technology,
War, and Fascism: Collected Papers of Herbert Marcuse, volume 1, ed. Douglas
Kellner (London: Routledge, 1998), 89, Taylor & Francis e-Library.
Dostoevsky creates characters based on the historical use of feminine
embodiment. Colleen Mack-Canty’s essay “Third-Wave Feminism and the Need to
Reweave the Nature/Culture Duality†discusses the importance of reclaiming that which
is deemed ‘natural.’ Mack-Canty defines embodiment as the physical characteristics of a
human being, derived from nature, and historically used in reference to women. As she
explains:
“in the nature/culture dualism [...] Men were identified with disembodied
characteristics such as order, freedom, light, and reason, which were seen as
better than, and in opposition to, women’s allegedly more ‘natural’ and/or
embodied characteristics such as disorder, physical necessity, darkness, and
passion†(Mack-Canty 158).
It is the aim of this essay to understand how the National Socialist regime used
fine art to exercise power affirmatively in order to control the body politic. Sexuality
presents a case in which both repression and affirmation play critical roles in the
consolidation of state power, particularly as sexuality is often perceived, both historically
and contemporaneously, as outside of the realm of control of state institutions. This
perception in itself often reflects a discordance with realities of modern Western
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Laura Morowitz for AR291H: Art and Aesthetics in the
Third Reich.
99
�societies, and the relationship between sex and state power is perhaps most acute and
catastrophic in the National Socialist regime. Crucial to the fortification of power derived
from controlling sexuality was the utilization of “polymorphous techniques of powerâ€2meaning the deployment of a variety of methods to exert power in multiple spheres of
life. Power can be exercised through written codification in the legal system, verbally
through official and unofficial iterations of administrative and popular leaders, and
visually through art and propaganda. This essay is concerned with the latter, particularly
with the subtle propagandistic edification of individuals through fine art.
‘Fine art,’ or ‘high art,’ in the Western world is characterized by being steeped
in European academic tradition and is associated with class, wealth, and privilege. For
these reasons, fine art may constitute a less aggressive form of propaganda, what
Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels called ‘unsichtbare propaganda’ - invisible
propaganda.3 In this way, fine art has the potential to reach more educated and privileged
classes that may be more critical of overt or ostentatious approaches to propaganda.
Additionally, these same audiences are more likely to be beholden to traditional
constraints of behavior, especially sexual mores, characteristic of middle and higher
socioeconomic classes. Therefore, messages contained within works of fine art can be
posed subtly and amiably, particularly in the realm of sex and sexuality. One particularly
relevant and useful case is that of Botticelli's Primavera - placed in the sleeping quarters
of a Medici bride, the painting abounds in images of fertility. A reading of the painting
from right to left shows the scene of the rape of Chloris by Zephyrus, leading to her
impregnation and transformation into Flora. Along with the obvious intimation of the
bride’s responsibility of fertile reproduction, the rape scene provides a subtle reassurance
that even if the bride does not desire her husband, she must succumb to him so that she
may bear children. In this way, the repeated consumption of images in works of fine art
in quotidian experience helps to embed certain messages and ideas about the world and
how to behave in it.
In a similar way, fine art created within National Socialism and promoted by its
political and cultural leaders proliferated images meant to inculcate viewers about correct
ideas and behaviors. Female sexuality was not excluded from the realm of the
‘unsichtbare propaganda’ that characterized much (if not all) of the fine art approved by
the state. National Socialist artists and art critics appropriated the classical Italian
2
Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, volume 1: An Introduction (New York:
Vintage Books, 1990), 11.
3 Terri J. Gordon, “Fascism and the Female Form: Performance Art in the Third Reich,â€
Journal of the History of Sexuality 11, no. 1/2 (January/April 2002): 170.
100
�Renaissance genre of oil painting of the female nude to synthesize a quasi-classical
aesthetic. Through the appropriated aesthetic and its iconography, the National Socialist
regime constructed the ideal, liberated, female sexuality and edified women on this ideal;
however, this sexual liberation did not give the individual agency, but rather was a means
of subverting sexual behaviors to the benefit and greater control of the state.
The creation of a National Socialist quasi-classical or neo-classical aesthetic is
by no means novel or unknown. A whole host, if not all, post-Enlightenment societies
utilize the appropriated styles and aesthetics to visually legitimize their power by evoking
a sense of historical constitution and authority, both of which are actually constructions
of the institutions and administrations in power at a given time. While the first medium to
come to mind might be architecture4, the power of classical appropriation is no less true
for studio art forms. Accordingly, the National Socialist appropriation of the classical
language of the female nude helps to visually legitimize the intervention of the state over
the individual body, as well as indoctrinate ‘pure’ German women on virtuous behaviors,
appearance, and ideals in accordance with National Socialist Ideology. The evocation of a
historically constituted narrative within Germany and within the National Socialist
regime is relatively easy to ascertain. The relations of authority and agency which are
mediated in the genre of the female nude are more nuanced, in that the images attest to
the manipulation of individual female sexuality. Both the history and relations of power
evoked in paintings of the National Socialist style of the nude are premised on falsehoods
constructed by the state, in service of the state, with no actual regard for the
individualism of the viewers.
This essay raises the question of how, in the fine art of National Socialism, the
traditionally male gaze is conflated with, even replaced by, the gaze of the state. The
possibility of a ‘state gaze’ is proposed as the mechanism of control in the fine art of
National Socialist Germany, a gaze which unified works of art in light of unsuccessful
attempts of Party leaders to create an official and distinct National Socialist style of art.5
In this respect, it would not matter that the viewer have ownership of the subject and her
sexuality as they do in the classical genre, but rather the nude subject, and consequently
her sexuality, are constructed by and belong to the state, and that it is through the ‘state
gaze’ that the viewer understands the subject. Therefore, the relation of power between
Frederic Spotts, Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics (New York: Overlook Press, 2003),
311.
5 Olaf Peters, “Genesis, Conception, and Consequences: The ‘Entartete Kunst’ Exhibition
in Munich in 1937,†in Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern art in Nazi Germany,
1937, ed. Olaf Peters (Munich: Prestel, 2014), 107.
4
101
�the subject and average viewer is altered, as the viewer no longer has ownership over the
subject and her sexuality, but rather an access that has been permitted by the owner - the
state. When the viewer is female, she may identify herself with the subject and the
sexuality with which she had been imbued. This is doubly enforced when one considers
how art acts as an apparatus of the state’s omnipresent control in individual life, and so
through the gaze of the state the female viewer “...comes to consider the surveyor and the
surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as
a woman,â€6 through which she is free to experience the subject’s sexuality as both her
own and belonging to the state. Attempting to identify how a ‘state gaze’ was imposed on
German art may prove to be more successful and revealing in understanding the
importance and role of fine art in the Reich than attempting to identify a distinct style of
National Socialist art.
The concerted efforts on the part of Hitler and Josef Goebbels to create an
official category of National Socialist art largely failed because there were no standards
established by which to judge works of art, although there was a more clear distinction of
what was considered unacceptable. General ideas about the importance of realism were
perhaps the only commonality among works chosen, and state-appointed juries generally
exalted “works that were not exactly ideologically motivated but rather mainly
landscapes, genre paintings, and paintings of animals. Other than that, they primarily
featured depictions of women, especially nudes vaguely modeled on antiquity.â€7 Works
deemed acceptable by these juries and other administrators were showcased in the Haus
der Deutschen Kunst (House of German Art), meant to house the best of German art and
serve as the “beginning of the end of the stultification of German art and the end of the
cultural destruction of [the German] people.â€8 One artist involved in the attempts to
visually stylize National Socialism and to be showcased in the Haus der Deutschen Kunst
was Adolf Ziegler, who also served as president of the Reichskammer der bildenden
Kunst (Reich Chamber of the Fine Arts) - his triptych Die vier Elemente (The Four
Elements) [see Figure I] was even bought by Hitler and hung above his fireplace at the
Führerbau in Munich.9
6
John Berger, Ways of seeing (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1973), 46.
Peters, “Genesis, Conception, and Consequences,†108.
8 “Hitler’s Speech at the Opening of the House of German Art in Munich (July 18,
1937),†German History in Documents and Images, accessed November 28, 2017,
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/docpage.cfm?docpage_id=2374
9 Peters, “Genesis, Conception, and Consequences,†110.
7
102
�In this kitschy appropriation of the classical nude, Ziegler imbued his female
subjects with a sexuality that was not entirely dependent upon the assumed male viewer,
but rather which was constructed in accordance with state ideology. Paradoxically,
however, his subjects were not endowed with agency over their sexuality and implicitly
accompanied sexual behaviors- these were to be channeled in service of the volk, a cause
more important and virtuous than a woman’s own individual desires. In this way, Ziegler
was able to edify women on their sexuality and how to behave as sexual beings not for
the sake of sex itself, but in service of the Reich. Such sexual ideologies as portrayed in
these paintings conform to the hypocritical and paradoxical nature of the National
Socialist regime, and attest to the cacophony of policies and attitudes towards the role of
women and their sexuality in National Socialist Germany.
National Socialist attitudes and policies regarding sex and sexuality deserve
particular scrutiny because of the way in which “sex was not something one simply
judged; it was something one administered.â€10 That is to say, sex and sexuality under
National Socialism was not just restricted and repressed for some groups, but
simultaneously promoted and proliferated for one group in service of the nation, that
group being healthy and racially pure Germans. The nature of power in modern Western
society is to be repressive, especially in regards to the repression of “useless energies, the
intensity of pleasure, and irregular modes of behaviorâ€11 like those stemming from sex
and sexuality. It cannot be contested that the National Socialist repression of ‘deviant’
and ‘perverse’ sexualities, behaviors, and relations were firmly founded in eugenics. Such
repression of deviance is certainly elucidated by the desire to extinguish any and all
behaviors which would subvert the ideologies and agenda of the National Socialist party.
However, when one considers what may be implied as the opposite of this - that is, the
promotion of energies, pleasures, and behaviors which are useful to the state - then
National Socialist attitudes towards sexual liberation begin to make sense.
Sexual desires and their fulfillment in the realm of and for the sake of the
individual are threatening to society and to the state. Within the realm of the individual,
the satisfaction and happiness which are derived from the fulfillment of sexual desires is
impervious to the intervention of external agencies and institutions, and therefore creates
a division between the individual and society grounded in the inability of the state to
fulfill those desires. In a fascist regime of the intensity of National Socialism, such
division undermines the authority and autonomy of the state over individual bodies and
the body politic, and constitutes a waste of time and energy on behaviors which do not
10
11
Foucault, The History of Sexuality, 24.
Foucault, The History of Sexuality, 9.
103
�serve a virtuous purpose. By socializing the individual and their sexuality, the state can
reconstitute its authority and channel sexually fulfilling behaviors to be ‘useful’ in
society. In the National Socialist regime, “the individual [was] ‘socialized’ in the
distorted sense that society itself [took] over his [or her] oppressed and deteriorated
instincts and interests and [asserted] then on an international scale…â€12 This assertion fell
under the label of ‘sexual liberation,’ and is very much framed within the context of
National Socialist racial policies and eugenic agenda.
Employing Foucault’s theories of sexuality and power is useful when examining
the dichotomy of sexual repression and sexual liberation in the ideologies and policies of
the National Socialist regime, and how the latter pair were successfully transmitted
through art. To begin, unlike other forms of repression, state repression of sex and
sexuality is often publicly acknowledged, and even lauded as a virtue of ‘civilization.’ In
this way, sexual repression of ‘racially impure,’ non-heterosexual relations provided the
regime with a publicly acceptable means to exert control over deviants within the body
politic. This also made more subtle expressions of this control through art all the more
effective and nonsuspect. However, in order to exert comprehensive control over sex and
sexuality, sexual repression alone is insufficient.
Repression worked in conjunction with methods focusing less on exterminating
measures and more on the employment of “a policing of sex: that is, not the rigor of a
taboo, but the necessity of regulating sex through useful and public discourses,â€13 such as
visually through the arts. Such policing characterizes the proliferation of discourses on
what sex should be and its greater purpose for the volk. It is in this context that sexual
liberation acted as a positive exercise of power, in that the promotion of certain
sexualities and sexual behaviors - in this case among racially pure, heterosexual men and
women - and their liberation from traditional mores promoted the control of the state over
the body politic, and in fact created the perception of this control as amicable to the
individual.
It must be admitted that “the working of socio-psychological mechanisms [of
the National Socialist Party] cannot be verified by official or semi-official documents; it
must be elucidated by careful interpretation of the behavior and utterances of National
Socialist groups in certain characteristic situations.â€14 Artistic creation can be understood
Herbert Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,†in Technology,
War, and Fascism: Collected Papers of Herbert Marcuse, volume 1, ed. Douglas Kellner
(London: Routledge, 1998), 90, Taylor & Francis e-Library.
13 Foucault, The History of Sexuality, 25.
14 Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,†87.
12
104
�as one such utterance, one whose subjectivity permits the interpretation and
reinterpretation of meaning and message which can help to penetrate the complexities of
human existence at any given moment in time. Art under National Socialism lends itself
well to such interpretations as even Hitler himself attested to the necessity of integrating
art into daily life so as to reconcile the individual and the masses with the world as it was,
or at the very least as Hitler wanted it to be.15 Through its efforts to bring ‘fine’ or ‘high’
art into the everyday lived experience of the body politic, the National Socialist
administration successfully employed fine art as ‘unsichtbare propaganda.’ The style and
subjects of such art, however, was meticulously selected so as to reflect the ideals and
vision of the Party - idyllic scenes of “beautiful nude girlsâ€16 in an appropriated, quasiclassical style were among the favored.
With Hitler’s and the National Socialist Party’s efforts to bring art into the
everyday lives of the German community, eroticized images of the female nude acted as
affirming and normalizing agents which reached a larger audience than might have
normally been exposed to the genre. Repeatedly seeing images of the nude figure “acts as
a confirmation and provokes a very strong sense of relief…[the viewer is] overwhelmed
by the marvelous simplicity of the familiar sexual mechanism.â€17 It follows, then, that
there might have existed comfort in the validation and reassurance of seeing young,
beautiful, Aryan women in the National Socialist appropriation of the genre of the nude.
This was perhaps further reinforced by the state’s explicit and implicit endorsement of
such images in fine art, images meant to attest to the racial perfection and superiority of
the German volk, and to the usefulness of sexual behaviors, traditionally deemed as
immoral misconduct, for the state. Through these artistic images, the viewer could be
reaffirmed of their relation to the subjects and their sexuality as they were oriented within
the mechanisms and ideals of the state.
It is imperative at this point to identify more explicitly the specific attitudes and
policies of the National Socialist administration which characterized sexual liberation,
and how liberation actually served as a means to greater control of the state over
individual and collective bodies. Most generally, the National Socialist party advocated
for a liberation from the “the Christian precepts of chastity, monogamy, and the sanctity
of the home,â€18 around which so much of Western morality was and continues to be built.
“Hitler’s Speech at the Opening of the House of German Art in Munich (July 18,
1937),†German History in Documents and Images, accessed November 28, 2017,
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/docpage.cfm?docpage_id=2374
16 Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,†87 & 92.
17 Berger, Ways of seeing, 59.
18 Gordon, “Fascism and the Female Form,†166.
15
105
�The National Socialist Party achieved the rejection of and liberation from these sexual
mores through ending stigmatization and discrimination of illegitimate mothers and
children, through the promotion of extra-marital sex between healthy, heterosexual,
Aryan Germans, through introducing a new cult of nudity in art and entertainment, and
through dissolving the traditional, private responsibilities of the family unit and the
destruction of patriarchal and monogamous standards of individual, interpersonal
relationships.19 Furthermore, sexual liberation only created the veneer of individual
autonomy and agency over the use of sexuality, but the reality was that “the state
instituted a politics of the body that rendered the individual body a public site whose
purpose was to further the larger social organism.â€20 Sexual liberation, then, became a
privilege and perhaps even a right of those citizens subjects who belonged to the National
Socialist volksgemeinschaft, as these were the citizens who could (re)produce the Aryan
race and the German nation. Not only was this privilege affirmed politically by National
Socialist leaders, but it was affirmed and normalized culturally through the arts via
images of ideal Aryan bodies that constituted the cult of the body and the cult of nudity
of the time.
The argument and the questions raised in this essay must be contextualized
within this cult of nudity and the obsession of the National Socialist Party with the body
of the Aryan race; in order to understand images of nudity in fine art the precedent must
be understood of how these images operated in other spheres of visual culture and artistic
expression. Most fundamental to all of this is the National Socialist “notion of the healthy
body as a microcosm for the healthy state.â€21 In this regard, the Aryan body must be
exalted and venerated for its naturally superior vigor and beauty, and to see these bodies
nude is not shameful, but celebratory. In following this, sexual acts leading to the
creation of these bodies and the continuation of the race were to be equally exalted. This
cult obsession with nudity and the Aryan body is most manifest in film and the
performing arts, and much of the literature of the National Socialist cult of nudity focuses
on these areas of artistic production.22 Leading National Socialist race-theorist Dr. Hans
Endres attested to the usefulness of near-pornographic images of German men and
women in film as a means to “propagate a new way of life in Europe†in which Aryan
youth may “become proud of their bodies and enjoy the natural pleasures of sex without
being ashamed.â€23 It is not without precedent, therefore, that the imbuement of nude
Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,†84.
Gordon, “Fascism and the Female Form,†164.
21 Gordon, “Fascism and the Female Form,†165.
22 Gordon, “Fascism and the Female Form.â€
19
20
106
�subjects in with a real and natural sexuality occured intentionally in the fine art of
National Socialist Germany. However, the relationship between nudity and sexuality in
the fine art of the regime differs from the classical genre of the female nude, and these
differences are slight but significant.
While the usefulness of emulating the classical female nude is necessary to
understanding the relationship between art, sexuality, and the National Socialist state, as
important is considering ways in which the appropriated, quasi-classical style deviated
from the tropes of the classical nude and the effect of such deviation. In appropriation,
deviating from the original creates a cognitive dissonance between what the viewer
expects based on prior experience with the original style, and what they actually see in
front of them in the new work. At the very least, the effect is to disrupt the viewer’s
experience of the work, whether the interruption be positive or negative. To the more
critical viewer, this disruption calls attention to what has changed and why, and prompts
the viewer to consider the effect of that change stylistically and interpretatively.
Generally, the National Socialist style of the nude oil painting deviates from the classical
genre in the way in which is creates a distinct subject both in the formal style and the
attributes of the nude subject.
Whereas the idealized rendering of the classical nude was meant to evoke the
sublime perfection of the Greek and Roman pantheons, the distinctive realism of the
National Socialist style was mean to attest to the natural beauty of the ideal German
woman. Hitler’s mandate that only true and great art could depict natural forms in the
highest degree of realism is reflected in the “...the stimulating distinctness with which
National Socialist artists expose the erogenous zones of the body. Hitler established the
combination of ‘expediency and beauty’ as the highest principle of art,†and demanded
that male and female bodies be presented with absolute realism and correctness. This
realism served as a celebration and exaltation of the German body, and reflected the
racist ideology and population politics of the National Socialist Party. Only the most
perfect Aryan forms were worthy of extolment and immortalization in the medium of fine
art, and only these bodies were worthy or reproduction (that is, both artistically and
physically).
Framing ‘racially pure’ German women as the subjects in the artistic tradition of
the nude provided German women a history they could potentially identify with, since in
the National Socialist model, “women had no history at all… Because they exerted no
force in politics and economic change, women would provide a constant backdrop to
23 Endres quoted in George W. Herald, “Sex is a Nazi Weapon,†The American Mercury
54, no. 222 (June 1942), 661.
107
�men’s history.â€24 In the same way that emulating classical architecture evokes the idea of
ancient origins of power for the state, appropriating the classical nude with the
undeniably Aryan woman as the subject evokes the idea that this breed of woman has
existed and been exalted since antiquity, and therefore is justified as an ideal standard. In
a society that gave women a scathingly limited role as active participants, creating this
sense of historical narrative vindicated the state’s view of women by giving them images
asserting their descent from these ancient, if not timeless, subjects.
Instrumental to enabling identification with the historical narrative of the genre
was painting women who looked undeniably Aryan. Take, for example, the four women
in Ziegler's triptych The Four Elements [fig I]. The facial features of each woman
conform distinctly to the ideal of the Aryan woman, yet their features are not so idealized
that they become nondescript or detached from reality, as the mythological figures of
classical nude paintings are often rendered. This ideal yet identifiable depiction gives the
female viewer a sense of a glorified place in the cultural history of Germany. It also gives
her a sense of the timeless and natural existence of her exalted sexuality which comes
from being a member of the Aryan race, thereby validating her own sexual desires and
contextualizing them as necessary to the development of German culture.
The distinction with which the faces of these subjects are painted approaches
portraiture. In this way, the nude subjects possess a degree of personhood or identity that
is normally absent in the generic beauty of the classical and Renaissance nudes. Allowing
the subject to possess her own identity disrupts the passivity characteristic of the classical
nude, and reinforces the idea that the woman is permitted to actively cultivate and
exercise her sexuality. However, this individuality is limited by the non-specificity of the
bodies of the subjects, as is apparent in The Four Elements [fig. I] - all four of the women
appear distinct in their facial features, but their bodies bear little, if any, individuality. It
almost appears as if the artist has taken portraits and transplanted them onto the same
body, and the effect is disorienting. Even so, the contrast illuminates how these paintings
at the very least attempted to mediate the paradox of simultaneous affirmation of female
sexuality while claiming the agency over that sexuality for the state rather than for the
individual. And although distinctive faces facilitated identification of the viewer with the
subjects, by associating the sexuality of the subject with a generic image of femininity,
sexuality becomes something which is not conflated with or constituted by individualism,
but rather is seen through the homogenizing gaze of the state. Still, despite the nonClaudia Koonz, “The Second Sex in the Third Reich†in Mothers in the Fatherland:
women, the family, and Nazi politics, ed. Claudia Koonz (New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1987), 178.
24
108
�specificity in rendering different images of the feminine form, these images were painted
with acute consideration for the real and natural beauty specific to the German female
body.
If the German female form was to be appreciated and celebrated in its totality
for its superior natural vigor and beauty, then true depictions of the female form could
exclude nothing, not even pubic hair. In this respect the National Socialist quasi-classical
genre of the nude deviates once more from the classical style in a subtle yet impactful
way. The convention in classical painting to exclude pubic hair from the female nude
reinforced the construction of the subject as a passive sexual object because “hair is
associated with sexual power, with passion. The woman’s sexual passion needs to be
minimized so that the spectator may feel that he has the monopoly of such passion.â€25
This is not to say that National Socialist artists intentionally included women’s pubic hair
for the sake of reflecting her sexual passion. Rather, the emphasis on the showing the
naturalness of the German female form inadvertently led to the incorporation of the
sexuality inherent in that form.
Likewise, the viewer of these highly realistic images does not possess a
‘monopoly’ of the subject’s passion, as that monopoly belongs exclusively to the state. In
this case, the subject’s sexuality does not necessarily require mediation by the
omnipresent state - it is clear that this sexuality comes not from the woman as an
individual, but is the result of the vigor of her superior Aryan body. Furthermore, the
sexuality which is evoked by endowing these figures with the utmost realism serves,
perhaps to a greater extent, to titillate the viewer in order to encourage sexual behaviors
which lead to the propagation of the German volk.
The appropriation of the classical genre of the nude by the National Socialist
regime was an intrinsically ironic practice when one considers how “the nude in
European oil painting is usually presented as an admirable expression of the European
humanist spirit,†and how “this spirit was inseparable from individualism.â€26 National
Socialism was by nature vehemently anti-individualist, but the creation of such works
concealed this nature by promoting a false image of humanism through the female form
while subtly dictating the ideals of the Aryan woman for the agenda of the state. Rather
than creating a distinct category of ‘National Socialist art,’ this subtle edification and
propagation was achieved through a state-constructed gaze which permeated fine art and
dictated modes of seeing and interpreting images. In this way, images of female subjects
endowed with sexuality transformed “stimuli for protest and rebellion into stimuli for
25
26
Berger, Ways of seeing, 55.
Berger, Ways of seeing, 62.
109
�coordination†and reconciliation of the paradoxical ideals and ideologies of National
Socialism.27 Through the medium of fine art, the National Socialist party was able to
penetrate into one of the most private spheres of individualist society and transform those
desires and actions embedded within it into a means by which to propagate the state and
the German volk.
Attempting to conceive art and sexuality as working in harmony with the agenda
of the National Socialist administration is difficult, but it is still important to pose such
questions in order to understand how the regime was able to irrationally harmonize
enormously dissonant ideas and behaviors to achieve their goals. It might not be
discernable to what extent the edification of women on sexuality through fine art was
actually effective, however it must at least be considered in order to understand the extent
to which National Socialist control intervened in every possible sphere of individual and
collective life. Likewise, it might be erroneous to draw such conclusions in hindsight, but
this essay does not propose to find conclusive answers. Rather the goal is to open up
possibilities for further exploration in order to understand the mechanisms of National
Socialist power more profoundly.
27
Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,†92.
110
�Figure I. The Four Elements by Adolf Ziegler, Oil on canvas, 1937
https://www.sartle.com/artwork/the-four-elements-fire-water-and-earth-air-adolf-ziegler
Bibliography
Berger, John. Ways of seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1973.
Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction. New York:
Vintage Books Edition, 1990.
German History in Documents and Images. “Hitler’s Speech at the Opening of the House
of German Art in Munich (July 18, 1937).†Accessed November 28, 2017.
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/docpage.cfm?docpage_id=2374
Gordon, Terri J. “Fascism and the Female Form: Performance Art in the Third Reich.â€
Journal of the History of Sexuality 11, no. 1/2 (January/April 2002): 164-200.
Herald, George W. “Sex is a Nazi Weapon.†The American Mercury 54, no. 222 (June
1942): 656-665.
111
�Koonz, Claudia. “The Second Sex in the Third Reich.†In Mothers in the Fatherland:
women, the family, and Nazi politics, edited by Claudia Koonz, 175-219. New York: St.
Martin’s Press, 1987
Marcuse, Herbert. “State and Individual Under National Socialism.†In Technology, War,
and Fascism: Collected Papers of Herbert Marcuse, Volume 1, edited by Douglas
Kellner. London: Routledge, 1998. 67-92. Taylor & Francis e-Library.
Peters, Olaf. “Genesis, Conception, and Consequences: The ‘Entartete Kunst’ Exhibition
in Munich in 1937.†In Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern art in Nazi Germany,
1937. Edited by Olaf Peters, 106-125. Munich: Prestel, 2014.
Spotts, Frederic. Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics. New York: Overlook Press, 2003.
Von Lüttichau, Mario-Andreas. “Crazy at Any Price: The Pathologizing of Modernism in
the Run-Up to the ‘Entartete Kunst†Exhibition in Munich in 1937.†In Degenerate Art:
The Attack on Modern art in Nazi Germany, 1937, edited by Olaf Peters, 36-51. Munich:
Prestel, 2014.
112
�Woman as Witness: Embodiment and the Female
Christ-Figure in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment
Katelyn Alcott (English and French Studies)1
Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment develops the female character as a
catalyst for the rebirth of the main character, Raskolnikov. The women appear as martyr
figures, whose stories run parallel with Raskolnikov’s, focusing on self-sacrifice for the
preservation of others, while Raskolnikov’s own story focuses on self-destruction for the
generation of self. The women, specifically Sonia, must endure great suffering in order for
their male counterparts to achieve revelation. Through the embodiment of these two
women, the degradation of their physical bodies, and the abandonment of their own
desires, Raskolnikov finds himself on a path to salvation. Raskolnikov’s interactions with
the ‘feminine’ embodied characteristics, physical illness, degradation, spirituality and
compassion, catalyze his renewal process. Dostoyevsky’s women stand witness to crime
within the novel, offering their bodies in exchange for their male counterpart’s
achievement of Christian salvation.
Dostoevsky creates characters based on the historical use of feminine
embodiment. Colleen Mack-Canty’s essay “Third-Wave Feminism and the Need to
Reweave the Nature/Culture Duality†discusses the importance of reclaiming that which
is deemed ‘natural.’ Mack-Canty defines embodiment as the physical characteristics of a
human being, derived from nature, and historically used in reference to women. As she
explains:
“in the nature/culture dualism [...] Men were identified with disembodied
characteristics such as order, freedom, light, and reason, which were seen as
better than, and in opposition to, women’s allegedly more ‘natural’ and/or
embodied characteristics such as disorder, physical necessity, darkness, and
passion†(Mack-Canty 158).
Crime and Punishment applies feminine embodiment to the image of Christ. Just as
Christ sacrificed himself for the sins of the world by taking a human embodied form, so
the female characters of Dostoevsky sacrifice themselves through their own embodied
degradation.
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley for EN425: Senior Seminar.
113
�Marmeladov introduces the character of Sonia. He describes the debasement of
Sonia, her selling her own body to support the family and maintain his alcoholism. A
defiled pub, full of mocking barmen and the grotesque Marmeladov, supplies the setting
for Marmeladov’s explanation of his ascent into the kingdom of heaven. Benjamin
Saxton explains in his essay how “Marmeladov’s vision, which presents an image of
infinite redemption, arises from his knowledge of infinite debasement†(101).
Marmeladov’s foulness forces the physical deprivation of Sonia, placing her in the role of
Christ figure. Elizabeth Blake’s essay traces the character of Sonia through her speech
acts. She explains how “before Sonya ever utters a word, her father, Raskolnikov, and
Luzhin present competing identities for her ranging from a model of Christian selfsacrifice to a common prostitute†(Blake 255). Though the image of Sonia as prostitute
may initially degrade her, the act achieves a sense of morality through her self-sacrifice.
Sonia’s deep shame surrounding her status, as well as her constant support of her family
explain how “this decision did not result from a moment of moral weakness on her partâ€
(257). She is instead read as Christ figure, the angel in the house, as discussed in Gilbert
and Gubar’s book. They explain how for the self-sacrificing woman “it is the surrender of
herself- of her personal comfort, her personal desires, or both - that is the beautiful angelwoman’s key act, while it is precisely this sacrifice which dooms her both to death and to
heaven†(Gilbert and Gubar 817). Sonia’s self-sacrifice gives her power over
Raskolnikov’s narrative. Although her power is indirect, she manages to manipulate his
eventual redemption. Sonia uses her spiritual and embodied self as a means of achieving
the redemption of Raskolnikov’s soul.
Raskolnikov initially mocks the family’s sacrifice of Sonia; “Hurrah for Sonia!
What a mine they’ve dug there!†(Dostoyevsky 22). His mocking reaction indicates his
alliance with the non-embodied characteristics, as indicated by Mack-Canty. Raskolnikov
looks only to reason, and refuses the needs of his body. His preoccupation with his plans
for murder cause him to neglect his body: “for two days he had scarcely tasted food. He
was so badly dressed that even a man accustomed to shabbiness would have been
ashamed to be seen in the street in such rags†(2). Marmeladov’s repulsive form offers an
example of the degradation of society. Raskolnikov attempts to escape this degradation
through intellectual means. Yet, his intellectualism leads him to madness. Marta
Wilkinson in her essay “Raskolnikov: Rodion Romanovich's struggle with the woman
within†observes how “Raskolnikov attempts to live only for the mind, as for him the
body carries associations with the abject, as is illustrated in the filthy, subservient and
objectified positions of the female characters. He refuses all association or identification
with the body by denying it food, rest and the benefits of decent clothing†(Wilkinson 1).
114
�Raskolnikov’s refusal of the body demonstrates his obsession with achieving hyper
masculinity. He associates the body with femininity, and therefore rejects it. Thus, the
sacrifice of the female body allows for his redemption.
What Raskolnikov does not understand is the Christian philosophy of suffering
as a means to salvation. The body must physically suffer while the mind remains pure, in
order for the soul to be saved. Therefore, the self-sacrificing nature of Sonia leads not
only to her own salvation, but also to the salvation of those around her. Forgiveness,
offered by these women, becomes close to the word of God. Their physical suffering
against their pure minds transforms them to the level of sainthood. Straus explains that “if
Alyana brokers jewelry, Sonya...brokers youth and sexuality†(Straus 59). Sonia
exchanges their bodies in order to provide for their families, and Raskolnikov resents this
physical exchange. Yet, Straus’ essay also highlights Raskolnikov’s own link with the
women throughout the text. Raskolnikov is unable to escape the image of the woman;
“female images (nag, pawnbroker, landlady, sister, mother) are sources of uncontrollable
misery which he longs to transcend through the ‘fascinating audacity’ of a violent, manly
act†(55). And yet, as Straus continues to explain, “this act, associated with the fantasy of
man’s illimitable freedom...receives its charge from the contrasting idea of woman’s
bondage†(56). Raskolnikov cannot escape the physical embodiment of the women of the
text because he requires their bondage to experience his complete masculinity.
Femininity and masculinity “enter into a dialogic relation with each other,†creating a
link between the two (57).
Raskolnikov’s murder of the two women depicts a twisted attempt at male
bravado, selfishly designed to prove his own value as a man. This ‘manly act,’ his murder
of Alyana and Lizaveta, cultivates his disdain for the embodied characteristics within
himself. Raskolnikov’s murder of the two women attempts to physically embody the
disembodied characteristics of Raskolinkov’s theory. Therefore, “the strike to the
pawnbroker's head as an act by which Raskolnikov attempts to release blocked energy
from his own head in an unconscious response to the split between his mind and bodyâ€
(Wilkinson 6). Raskolnikov’s internal conflict between the disembodied and the
embodied, between feminine and masculine, violence and prayer, creates conflict within
him: “the idea of ‘the feminine’ in Crime and Punishment is the symbolic hatchet that
breaks open men’s heads by destroying the distinctions between ‘low’ and ‘high’,
‘docile’ and ‘powerful’, victim and master, coward and hero†(Straus 56). It is therefore
through his own acceptance of the feminine within himself, the acceptance of the
embodied sacrifice of Sonia, which allows Raskolnikov to begin the path to redemption.
115
�Raskolnikov believes the seeming coincidence of his arrival in the Hay Market
at the exact moment this information is relayed, to be an act of fate, relinquishing his
responsibility for his actions. Raskolnikov's chance encounter at a tavern with two men
discussing the same idea for murder reinforces his belief that his decision to murder the
old woman truly represents the intentions of fate, “as though there really had been in it
something preordained, some guiding hint†(55). Raskolnikov’s intellectual justification,
his misinterpretation of and irrational reverence for signs, demonstrate his alienation from
his own embodied spirituality, His spirituality is instead warped by his desire to maintain
what he views as an ideal disembodied mind. Yet, his disembodiment leads expressly to
his descent into madness. Therefore Sonia, and her bodily sacrifice, leads to his own
rebirth as an embodied figure. As Wilkinson explains, “The humiliating and victimizing
experiences of these women mirror his own desperation and helplessness. Dostoevsky's
presentation of women as victims creates a paradigm of social abuses that
illustrate...Raskolnikov's struggle is against the feminine elements within himselfâ€
(Wilkinson 3). Raskolnikov’s own depravity, his intellectual baseness, requires a mirror
of physical baseness in order to establish balance. Sonia offers her physical body as
sacrifice, without sacrificing her sanity.
Sonia’s physical body becomes a religious icon for Raskolnikov. Yet as Saxton
indicates, the image of Sonia, who “appears as a living icon†(106). Religion, thus takes
its earthly form, not merely embodied as a human, but as a woman who is socially
shunned. Sonia, removed from her home because she was forced to turn to prostitution,
offers the entirety of her body for the sake of her family; “Sonya's spiritual purity despite
the squalor of her life drives Raskolnikov to confess his crime, after which she follows
him to Siberia where he is serving his sentence at the conclusion of the novelâ€
(Wilkinson 2). Raskolnikov turns to Sonia as a physical embodiment of all religion,
falling to her feet and declaring: “I did not bow down to you, I bowed down to all the
suffering of humanity†(Dostoyevsky 255). Raskolnikov makes Sonia into a symbol, an
icon for his backwards faith. Sonia becomes a Christ-figure, sacrificing her physical body
symbolizing Raskolnikov’s redemption.
The internal conflict between feminine and masculine, spiritual and intellectual,
redemption and violence, creates within Raskolnikov an imbalance, which is the origin of
his insanity. Raskolnikov, exhausted with his madness, turns to the salvation offered by
Sonia. Dostoyevsky portrays Sonia’s inherent need for self-sacrifice as most masochistic.
Upon hearing that Raskolnikov has murdered two women, one of whom was her friend,
Sonia embraces him declaring “No one in the whole world now so unhappy as you!â€
(323). Sonia is thrilled at the prospect of discovering the most depraved other for whom
116
�she can sacrifice herself. She asks Raskolnikov to explain his intentions, “Only speak,
speak daring and I shall understand, I shall understand in myself†(326). Her attempt to
understand him, her unconditional love for him, creates for him a path to salvation.
Almost immediately she offers to join him in his condemnation; “we will go to suffer
together, and together we will bare our cross†(332). Sonia’s quick disposal of her life
seems at first futile, naive and absurdly self-sacrificing. Yet, Dostoevsky creates in Sonia
the ultimate trap: she cannot escape her social situation and therefore enters into exile
regardless of her relationship with Raskolnikov. As a prostitute, Sonia already faces
social exile and at least in Siberia she will not be alone.
Raskolnikov accepts Sonia’s sacrifice and path to salvation. He agrees to turn
himself over to the police proclaiming, “I’ve come for your cross, Sonia†(410). A
moment of embodied revelation proceeds Raskolnikov’s confession. Raskolnikov,
leaving his intellectual madness, turns to worship the physical earth in all its deprivation;
“he knelt down in the middle of the square, bowed down to the earth, and kissed that
filthy earth with bliss and rapture†(413). Raskolnikov finally comprehends the need for
physical suffering and turns towards this feeling of spiritual purity “clutch[ing] at the
chance of this now unmixed complete sensation... Everything in him softened at once and
tears started into his eyes†(413). Sonia’s example of an embodied salvation has lead
Raskolnikov to his redemption. As Stellemen explains Sonia “represent[s] a way of
“being in the world†as opposed to the “being in the mind†represented at the ideological
level...this mode is easily transferred into the speech of “the heartâ€, as it is firmly rooted
in the immediate individual experience and therefore has no need for dialogizingâ€
(Stellemen 285).
Sonia’s salvation derives from a non-ideological belief in God. Her lack of
ideology maintains her purity, and keeps her from the madness which her physical
situation implies. Raskolnikov’s feeling of rapture as he kisses the earth derives from the
simplicity of Sonia’s faith. The unstructured, non-ideological belief in God offers
Raskolnikov an unlimited salvation from his violent sins. Raskolnikov therefore turns to
the unconditional love of Sonia, ipso facto God, and “his development thus moves from a
self-preserving life, in which he is divided by the rationalizing aspect, to an experiencing,
and ultimately loving life, which has no need for words†(288). Raskolnikov turns from
his disembodied intellectual pursuits, to the non-ideological embodied life Sonia offers.
Their exile to Siberia strips them of all their belongings and ideas and “the only thing of
value that remains, really, is the wordless power of existence itself: life†(289). For
Raskolnikov “life had stepped into the place of theory and something quite different
would work itself out in his mind†(Dostoyevsky 430). He achieves salvation through his
117
�acceptance of the embodied sacrifice of Sonia, and all the women in his life, and leaves
the madness of his intellect. He resolves to dedicate his life to loving Sonia, “he knew
with what infinite love he would now repay all her sufferings†(430). Their strange love,
built on sacrifice and salvation, transcends the physical world through non-ideological
and embodied purity.
Dostoevsky creates female characters whose embodiment becomes a temple of
rebirth and renewal. Yet the rebirth lies not for these women, but for their male
counterparts. The intellectual world, the psychological world of Raskolnikov, which he
believes would offer him revelation and enlightenment instead brings him only to
madness. His salvation, therefore, lies in his own embodiment, offered by the selfsacrifice and degradation of the women of the text, regenerating his spiritual and
embodied relationship with the church. Dostoyevsky’s female characters offer up their
bodies to illuminate Christian theology and the salvation of man.
Works Cited
Blake, Elizabeth. “Sonya, Silent No More: A Response to the Woman Question in
Dostoevsky's ‘Crime and Punishment.’†The Slavic and East European Journal, vol. 50,
no. 2, 2006, pp. 252 - 272.
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Constance Garnett. Dover
Publications, 2001.
Gilbert, Sandra and Susan Gubar. “The Madwoman in the Atticâ€. Literary Theory: An
Anthology. Edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Chichester, West Sussex: John
Wiley & Sons, 2017, pp. 799-811.
Saxton, Benjamin. “From the Incarnational to the Grotesque in ‘Revelation’, ‘Parker's
Back’, and Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.†Flannery O'Connor Review, vol. 10,
2012, pp.97-111.
Stelleman, Jenny. “Raskol Nikov and His Womenâ€, Russian Literature, vol. 54, no. 1, To
Honour the Memory of Jan van der Eng, 01 Jan. 2003, pp. 279-296.
Straus, Nina Pelikan. “‘Why Did I Say ‘Women!’?Ë® Raskolnikov Reimagined.â€
Diacritics, vol. 23, no. 1, 1993, pp. 54–65.
Wilkinson, Marta L. “Raskolnikova: Rodion Romanovich's Struggle with the Woman
Within.Ë® Genders, vol. 50, 2009, pp. 1-7.
118
�“Be a Manâ€: How Hegemonic
Masculinity is Harming Humanity
Michael Cancelleri Jr. (Biology)1
Hegemonic masculinity is a social concept that promotes the dominant social position of
men and the subordinate social position of all women and of men who do not meet its
narrow definition. Women are oppressed by hegemonic masculinity, and men are
pressured to fit an idea of a “perfect man†that constricts the expression of all the
identities that men may possess. Hegemonic masculinity encourages men to be
emotionally restricted, controlling, and aggressive. Given that it is formulated as the
opposite of femininity, hegemonic masculinity devalues all women. Because it is based
on a narrow construction of masculinity that assumes heterosexuality, White race, and
wealth, men with identities that vary from the hegemonic norm are also devalued.
Hegemonic masculinity is an institutionalized way of thinking that is instilled in young
children by their parents and reinforced by popular media and peer relationships.
Hegemonic ideals often lead to an internal struggle, especially in men whose identities
are other than White, wealthy, cisgender, and heterosexual. This internal struggle often
produces emotional restrictiveness, feelings of inferiority, and relationship stress.
Hegemonic masculinity is socially constructed, and it can be socially undone.
“Be a Manâ€: How Hegemonic Masculinity is Harming Humanity
Hegemonic masculinity oppresses women and imposes an idea of a “perfect
man†that constricts the expression of all the identities that men possess, therefore
crippling the growth of our society. Men who fit this ideal of a “perfect man†are often
entitled to privilege that others are not. This fluid concept is likely to vary from culture
to culture and its definition has changed over time (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005;
Kane, 2006). J. M. O’Neil (1981) predicted that “the late 1970s and early 1980s will
probably be known as the times when men recognized that they are also victims of
restrictive gender role socialization and sexism in their lives†(p. 203). He also suggests
that a focus on men’s gender role socialization is essential in order to reduce the
oppressive aspects of sexism for both sexes.
Psychologists have approached this area of research with varying theoretical
perspectives, including essentialist theory, constructionist theory, and life course theory.
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Amy Eshleman for PS241: Psychology of Gender.
119
�Eliot (2010) explores the roles of both genetic factors (nature) and experiences (nurture)
in the development of our gender identity. “Researchers have found very few large-scale
differences between boys and girls in brain structure or function†(p. 22) and since
biological differences are minimal, there must be some other explanation for the
differences between men and women in our own and so many other cultures. “The
crucial, often overlooked fact is that experience itself changes brain structure and
function†(p. 22). Experiences have major influences on gender identity and can offer
insight into societal differences between genders.
Taking a nature perspective, essentialists view sexual orientation through a
biological lens and consider it an innate, deeply-rooted set of attributes that are immune
to any cultural or environmental influence. Constructionists, on the other hand, believe
that gender identity is socially constructed through one’s own life experiences, such as
cultural influences and personal relationships. Hammack (2005) realizes that both the
essentialist perspective and a purely social constructionist perspective that disregards
biology are radical approaches. Psychologists can gain deeper insight when they utilize a
more holistic approach. Although Hammack (2005) focuses on sexual orientation and
identity rather than gender, his promotion of life course theory, which integrates
essentialism and constructionism to “[consider] the biology of sexual desire while
simultaneously acknowledging the socially constructed nature of identity†can be applied
to understanding expression of gender (p. 267). Life course theory takes historical
moment in time and culture into account, which are two major influences on an
individual’s life experience. An individual born in the United States during the roaring
1920s would experience a much different social atmosphere than someone born ten years
later during the Great Depression; these changes could influence gender role
expectations, individuals’ responses to those expectations, sanctions for violating
expectations, and reinforcement for conforming to expectations. Life course theory takes
into account human agency; individuals are capable of making choices within the
opportunities and restrictions of history and social circumstances. “Life course theory
thus acknowledges the dialectical process between internal and external, biology and
culture, person and society†(p. 269) to give us the fullest understanding of hegemonic
masculinity.
Intersectionality plays an integral role in the development of hegemonic
masculinity. “Intersectionality makes plain that gender, race, class, and sexuality
simultaneously affect the perceptions, experiences, and opportunities of everyone living
in a society stratified along these dimensions†(Cole, 2009, p. 179). To understand
hegemonic masculinity, it is critical to explore the distinction between sex and gender,
120
�and how these identities intersect with other major categories of identity. Sex is a
biological category (male, female, or intersex) while gender is psychological identity,
such as identifying as a boy, a man, a girl, a woman, gender queer, or non-binary.
“Distinguishing sex from gender was a very important step in recognizing that biology is
not destiny—that many of the apparent differences between women and men might be
societally imposed rather than natural or inevitable†(Muelenhard & Peterson, 2011, p.
794).
Psychology has been affected by the patriarchal systems of the societies in
which the field has developed (Bem, 1994). Fausto-Sterling, Gowaty, and Zuk (1997)
expose androcentric bias in their criticism of evolutionary psychology, a theory that
suggests the differences in the social roles of men and women are due to biological
adaptations. Prior to the second wave of the feminist movement, men outnumbered
women in empirical investigations of gender. With more women exploring gender and
more men critically evaluating hegemonic masculinity, we are realizing that the
patriarchal goggles of Western societies have blinded us from some scientific discoveries.
“In Female Choices: The Sexual Behavior of Female Primates, Meredith Small found
evidence of sexually active female primates whose behavior is far from coy†(FaustoSterling et al., 1997, p. 407). This goes against a major belief in evolutionary psychology
that males usually engage in more sexual activity in order to increase their chances of
passing on their genes through their offspring. Critical evaluation suggests that
hegemonic masculinity may explain why beliefs like these have been accepted for so
long. Evolutionary psychology celebrated sexually prolific men—sometimes to the point
of justifying sexual aggression. In contrast, critical evaluation of evolutionary
psychology has contributed to psychologists’ understanding of potential bias, as well as
promoting advancements in the study of gender in order to reduce the harmful effects of
hegemonic masculinity.
Hegemonic masculinity is a fluid, time-sensitive concept that varies from culture
to culture. One distinguishing characteristic of hegemonic masculinity is its framing in
opposition to femininity. “When a man fears his feminine side he really fears that others
will see him as stereotypically and negatively feminine (e.g., weak, dependent,
submissive) rather than positively masculine†(O’Neil, 1981, p. 206). This fear of
femininity produces a gender role conflict that produces suppressed emotionality, a drive
for control, and homophobia fueled by stereotypes that homosexuality in men bears a
resemblance to femininity (O’Neil, 1981). Hegemonic masculinity has led to a fear of
femininity, and societal standards affect how an individual develops and expresses gender
identity. “Hegemonic masculinity is embodied at the specific intersections of race, class,
121
�and sexuality†(Hurtado & Sinha, 2008, p. 338), specifically White, rich, and
heterosexual men who demonstrate strength are privileged. The privilege associated with
these identities often excludes men of color, impoverished men and working-class men,
and gay, bisexual, and transgender men, who are identified within American society as
belonging to devalued social groups.
One may suggest we just change how society views gender in order to fix the
damage that has been caused by hegemonic masculinity, but it is difficult to revert years
of institutionalized thinking. Most sex differences are minimal at first, but they become
amplified by our patriarchal society (Eliot, 2010). Once a child’s sex has been
determined, societal expectations determine what behavior, attire, and relationships are
appropriate. Parents are an important influence in gender identity development,
especially for young children (Kane, 2006). “Parents anticipate sex differences from the
first prenatal ultrasound, but then seem amazed when their son goes gaga over trucks or
their daughter will wear nothing but pink†(Eliot, 2010, p. 22). Parents are aware of what
has been socially deemed appropriate for the male sex and understand the consequences
that come with stepping out of these societal bounds. Parents often condition, or nurture,
their children to accept and abide by socially determined gender roles, either to fulfill the
parents’ values or to avoid having their male children face criticism (Kane, 2006).
Parents tend to reinforce gender-appropriate behavior and to reprimand the
opposite, especially when it comes to young boys. Many parents are actually open to the
idea of their daughters exploring different opportunities, emotions, and interests than
those defined by gender stereotypes, however parents strictly limit what their sons are
exposed to (Kane, 2006). Blazina (2001) uses the all-too-familiar scene of a distressed
little boy who is crying out for emotional soothing. The father of the boy will more than
likely tell the boy that he is “acting like a little girl†(the opposite of the way he should be
acting) and that he needs to “man up†(suppress his emotions). This is a common
interaction for a young boy to experience that teaches him that he should oppose
femininity and bury his emotions (Blazina, 2001).
The behaviors children learn during critical developmental years are often the
ones they will carry for life. Korobov (2004) interacted with a group of adolescent boys
and recorded powerful examples of how hegemonic masculinity influences behavior.
The boys were uncomfortable with the concept of homosexuality, but the boys seemed
alarmingly more uncomfortable when asked to imagine that someone they associated
with often (e.g., a best friend) was homosexual. The boys expressed concern that people
on the outside looking in might question their masculine values. The boys felt that any
association with queer sexuality (e.g., having a gay friend) would make them less of a
122
�man. This is an antiquated, harmful way of thinking that leads to judgmental men who
lack self-expression.
This hegemonic behavior more often than not follows a child into adulthood
where the behavior materializes into much more than just a simple opposition to
femininity.
Men learn at an early age to compete for power and to establish their place in the
home, school, or work setting. Power, control, and competition are learned by
modeling after fathers and other men who have also learned that being powerful
is an essential part of being a man (O’Neil, 1981, p. 207).
This masculine adoration is exemplified in Korobov’s (2004) study. At the start of the
discussion, the seven boys involved are discussing their idols and all of them are male.
The boys may be unaware of it, but they are living products of hegemonic masculinity
and therefore idolizing anything other than a man would be a violation. Their idols, often
athletes, have risen to the top of their game by being dominant competitors, and the boys
think the only way to achieve success is by doing the same. This leads to men’s
obsession with success and the primary means to this success is through competing with
other men by using power and control (O’Neil, 1981).
This desire for success by power and control follows into manhood and
negatively impacts both men and women. Men fear failure, hunt for dominance and
power, and are forced to wear a mask to conceal their “weakness†(emotionality). This
hunt pushes women into a submissive role, not only in terms of relationships, but also in
society. Women are held to very different societal standards than men are. When young,
girls are not necessarily expected to play competitive sports. In contrast, it is extremely
rare for a boy not to be encouraged to partake in some type of organized, competitive,
often physically demanding sport (Eliot, 2010).
Traditional patriarchal views extend to expectations of men within familial
relationships. Some of the men interviewed for Dancy’s (2011) study signified that they
viewed themselves as the stronghold of the family. They believed their roles were to
protect and provide for their women and children. Though a kind thought, it devalues a
woman’s contributions to the family and implies that she cannot effectively provide for
herself. This way of thinking places women in the role of the homemaker while men
play a more dominant role.
Many men concur with this way of thinking and see themselves as having to be
proactive and outspoken. They feel they must protect their masculinity at all costs and
this may arise from the expectation that men are to be in control and emotionless. These
two expectations often force men to be overly-assertive, or even aggressive. Hoffman,
123
�Hattie, and Borders (2005) found that “35% of the men interviewed described their
masculinity as having a forceful/aggressive component†(p. 71). A good percentage of
men identify with this aggressive/forceful behavior because aggression is one of the few
emotions men are “allowed†to feel within the hegemonic form of masculinity. A man
who shows affection, cries when he is sad, or seems flustered when he is frustrated is
considered weak. Wong and Roclen (2005) discovered that men who adhere to
traditional societal gender roles are much less likely to openly express their feelings,
especially verbally.
This restrictive emotionality is an unhealthy characteristic of hegemonic
masculinity that harms men. Male restrictive emotionality predicts low self-esteem,
difficulties with relationship intimacy, anxiety, and depression (Wong & Rochlen, 2005).
Emotional limitations set by hegemonic masculinity lead to a grueling internal struggle
within men. This internal struggle resembles a game of tug of war. On each side of the
rope is a social category with which an individual identifies. Society places such an
emphasis on masculinity that most men desire to identify with it, but some men have
identities that “pull†them from the hegemonic ideal. Social class, race, and sexuality are
examples of identities that do not allow some men to experience full hegemonic
privilege.
Working class men of color tend to be a social group that struggles with
accepting all of their identities because they vary on two major dimensions from the ideal
hegemonic man, in that they are not White or rich. African American males interviewed
by Dancy (2011) reportedly struggle with a double identity crisis, or as he describes it
“double consciousness.†These men understand that they are not allowed full hegemonic
privilege because of their race and must act accordingly. They struggle to express two
identities: one is a hegemonic man and the other is an oppressed African American.
These men often analyze themselves in the eyes of others before they make any
conscious decisions, hence the term double consciousness. For these African American
men, “acting White†may be frowned upon in a Black community, but welcomed in
White communities. Therefore men of color often alter their behavior to reflect the
consciousness of those around them; they wish to blend into the social environment in
order to avoid judgment for one of their multiple identities (Dancy, 2011).
Each individual is a summation of all of their identities, shaped by prior
experiences and relationships. Some identities, such as masculinity, are favored by
society while others, such as skin of color, are often a hindrance to an individual. Cole
(2009) summarizes this point when she states, “constructs like race and gender affect the
beliefs about what is possible or desirable and define the contours of individuals’
124
�opportunities and life chances through social and institutional practice†(p. 173). In the
androcentric society of the contemporary United States, a woman’s worth is too often
based on her value to the hegemonic male. White women, although not masculine,
experience some of the privilege affiliated with hegemonic masculinity due to their
relationship with White men, while women of color receive double discrimination for
their race and sex (Cole, 2009). Even a woman’s place in society is dependent on her
relationship to men.
Although it may seem as though being at such a disadvantage may make
working class individuals of color resent hegemonic masculinity, these individuals have
offered some of the most constructive feedback of hegemonic masculinity. Men in
Dancy’s (2011) study constructed their own definitions of masculinity. They believe that
a man is someone who demonstrates leadership values, who is reliable, and who is true to
himself. This resembles hegemonic masculinity in that the dominant men desire control,
but it differs in the fact that these men believe true self-expression is integral to being a
man (Dancy, 2011). Men in Hurtado and Sinha’s (2008) study were worried that the
current cultural consensus on the definition of masculinity emphasized many negative
characteristics with which men did not want to be affiliated with. Some of these
characteristics included selfishness, emotionlessness, and closed mindedness. Rather
than accept these characteristics associated with hegemonic masculinity, the men decided
to take the admirable characteristics of manhood—such as selflessness, expressiveness,
and supportiveness—and personify those. It is empowering to see individuals who are
negatively impacted by hegemonic masculinity personally redefining what masculinity
means to them. A man to them is “a person who from now on instead of thinking about
himself is someone who starts thinking about repercussions about his actions for his
family and for [his] community†(Andres Elenes, 2008, as quoted by Hurtado & Sinha,
2008, p. 345).
The aspects of hegemonic masculinity that participants in Hurtado and Sinha’s
(2008) study rejected were male bonding over the objectification of women and physical
and sexual domination of women. The two ideas, major components of hegemonic
masculinity, devalue and dehumanize women. In a patriarchal society, women are
mainly worthwhile for sexual pleasure, childbearing, and home making. In fact, many
men look at sexual interaction with women as a game rather than an intimate connection.
The goal of “the game†is to assert male dominance over women and have sex with as
many women as possible (O’Neil, 1981). This way of thinking leaves no room for an
emotional connection.
125
�Fortunately, we have made some progress as a society in terms of seeing the true
worth of femininity. A woman should not be considered inferior to a man because of her
sex or gender, and the men in Hurtado and Sinha’s (2008) study recognize this. Women
have historically been at a severe disadvantage. Women had to fight for their right to
vote, a privilege granted to White, property-owning men, because women were
considered incapable of making rational decisions. Thankfully, women have been
progressively gaining equal rights, but true equality will never be granted until
hegemonic masculinity is a concept of the past.
We may not be able to fix the damage already caused by hegemonic
masculinity, but we do have the power to stop it from hindering any more of our growth
as a society. It is important to fix the issues people of color encounter, especially on
college campuses. People of color often feel that the White community is trying to hold
them back and oppress them, and this is a valid feeling considering the years of
oppression people of color have experienced, especially in the United States. Dancy
(2011) suggests the way to fix this mistrust is through “higher education practices†(p.
493). Dancy’s (2011) participants agreed that seeing diversity among institutional
leadership reinforces their self-expectations and shapes a sense of value in the institutions
they attend. Culturally-sensitive hiring is an important step in helping people of color
feel welcome and reach their potential within institutions. In order to get the White
community to accept diverse racial identities, colleges and communities should offer
cultural workshops to educate people on diversity within the community (Dancy, 2011).
Similarly, women should have equal chances for employment and more men
should make the effort to learn about what it is like to be a woman. There have been
many great strides, especially in mass media, taken to help prevent further hindrance by
hegemonic masculinity. “In the past few years, some [advertising] brands have finally
started to leverage sports and playing sporting events to promote healthier depictions of
masculinity†(Fischl, 2016). This is unusual from previous sporting advertisements that
typically capitalized on aspects of hegemonic masculinity to sell their products. In fact, a
commercial aired during Super Bowl 50 in 2016 that took Jordy Nelson (a male role
model) and put him in the position of a caregiver. The commercial portrays Nelson
taking his son to school, cooking breakfast for his son, and showing his son affection.
Nelson “wants [his kids] to understand that being a man is about being comfortable in
who you are, not someone that’s just fitting in because it’s the cool thing to do†(Fischl,
2016). This demonstrates a modern-day man redefining what it means to be a man.
Although hegemonic masculinity has crippled societal growth in the United
States over the years, we do not have to continue down this path. Now that we
126
�understand that hegemonic masculinity prevents men from full self-expression and
devalues women, we should all be able to reflect and evaluate what we are doing to
promote the abolishment of hegemonic masculinity, first at an individual level, then at a
societal level. If we can all band together to promote acceptance and a comfortable
environment for individuals to express all of their intersecting identities, the world would
benefit from diverse expressions of masculinity and femininity. “Patriarchy hurts
everyone and therefore manhood is a false ideology that should be questioned and
eventually obliterated and replaced with more equitable arrangements between peopleâ€
(Hurtado & Sinha, 2008, p. 347). If we wish to continue to grow and evolve as a society,
we must rid this world of hegemonic masculinity.
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to institutionalized androcentrism. In J. C. Chrisler, C. Golden, & P. D. Rozee (Eds.),
Lectures on the psychology of women, 3rd ed. (pp. 2–15). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Cole, E. R. (2009). Intersectionality and research in psychology. American Psychologist,
64, 170–180.
Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the
concept. Gender & Society, 19, 829–859. doi: 10.1177/0891243205278639
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perspectives on African American males. Gender & Education, 23, 477–495.
doi:10.1080/09540253.2010.508454
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�Hammack, P. L. (2005). An integrative paradigm. Human Development, 48, 267–290.
Hoffman, R. M., Hattie, J. A., & Borders, L. D. (2005). Personal definitions of
masculinity and femininity as an aspect of gender self-concept. Journal of Humanistic
Counseling, Education and Development, 44, 66–78.
Hurtado, A., & Sinha, M. (2008). More than men: Latino feminist masculinities and
intersectionality. Sex Roles, 59, 337–349.
Kane, E. W. (2006). “No way my boys are going to be like that!â€: Parents’ responses to
children’s gender nonconformity. Gender & Society, 20, 149–176.
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and sexism in adolescent male talk. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 5, 178–189.
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femininity in men’s lives. Personnel & Guidance Journal, 60, 203–210.
Wong, Y. J., & Rochlen, A. B. (2005). Demystifying men’s emotional behavior: New
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128
�Los aspectos sociales y fÃsicos del bilingüismo
Tori Ross (Spanish)1
El bilingüismo es más que solo la capacidad de hablar dos idiomas. Son las
conexiones y funciones formadas en el cerebro. Es la habilidad del cerebro para distinguir
sonidos y palabras de diferentes idiomas y categorizar esas palabras apropiadamente. Es
la capacidad de cambiar de código entre dos idiomas cuando se comunica con otros. Es el
entorno en el que nacemos, las amistades que hacemos, la familia que cuidamos, el
pasado y el futuro de nuestra familia.
Antes de explicar cómo la gente aprende múltiples idiomas, es importante
discutir cómo el cerebro desarrolla cualquier lenguaje primero. Las principales áreas del
cerebro responsables de desarrollar y comprender el lenguaje son el área de Broca y el
área de Wernike. Estas áreas del cerebro son crÃticas para el lenguaje y juegan dos
papeles muy importantes.
El área de Broca es responsable de la producción del habla. Se encuentra en la
corteza frontal derecha detrás del ojo izquierdo y fue descubierto en 1861 por el cirujano
francés Paul Broca. Paul Broca descubrió este área al observar los cerebros de pacientes
que habÃan perdido la capacidad de hablar. Vio que esta área especÃfica estaba dañada y
se dio cuenta de que esta área del cerebro era responsable del habla (Pierre Paul Broca,
2017). Esta área del cerebro ahora se llama el área de Broca. Un estudio realizado en la
Johns Hopkins Medicine concluyó que el área de Broca “is developing a plan for
articulation, and then monitoring what is said to correct errors and make adjustments in
the flow of speech†(John Hopkins Medicine, 2015). Para esta prueba, los doctores
trabajaron con varios pacientes con epilepsia que fueron sometidos a la cartografÃa
cerebral para encontrar el origen de sus convulsiones. Durante este procedimiento, los
médicos ponen electrodos en la corteza frontal del paciente en diferentes lugares,
incluyendo el área de Broca. Con el paciente completamente despierto y sensible, los
médicos le pidieron al paciente que leyera o escuchara palabras de una sÃlaba y las
repitiera. Algunas de estas palabras eran reales, por ejemplo ‘book’, y algunas palabras
no eran reales, por ejemplo ‘yode’.
El estudio concluyó que el área de Broca era más activa “just before the words
were spoken, but its activity declined while the patients were speaking… [and the]
Written under the direction of Dr. Margarita Sanchez in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
1
129
�Broca’s area was most active, and stayed active longest, when the patients were asked to
pronounce nonsense words†(Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2015). Esto demuestra que el
área de Broca tiene que trabajar más duro para procesar sonidos y palabras desconocidas.
Por lo tanto, el área de Broca se apaga mientras la persona habla, pero puede permanecer
algo activa durante la conversación para planear palabras y oraciones futuras. El doctor
también concluyó que el área de Broca no sólo es responsable del habla. Conecta la
corteza temporal que es responsable de organizar la información sensorial y la corteza
motora que es responsable de los movimientos de la boca. Esto hace que el área de Broca
sea un área crÃtica para conectar la información del lenguaje a través de las diferentes
regiones del cerebro (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2015).
La otra área del cerebro que es responsable de entender el lenguaje es el área de
Wernike. El área de Wernike se encuentra en el lóbulo Temporal en el lado
izquierdo del cerebro y fue descubierto diez años después del descubrimiento de la zona
de Broca por Carl Wernike. Carl Wernike descubrió este área realizando un estudio de
caso sobre un paciente que habÃa sufrido un accidente cerebrovascular. Este hombre no
tenÃa problemas para oÃr ni hablar, pero no podÃa entender nada de lo que se le decÃa o le
escribÃa. Cuando el paciente murió y Wernike pudo estudiar el cerebro, descubrió que
habÃa una lesión en el lóbulo temporal izquierdo. Concluyó que esta región del cerebro
era responsable de la comprensión del habla (Alic, 2017).
El área de Broca y el área de Wernike trabajan juntas para comprender y hablar
un idioma. Cuando queremos decir una palabra escrita, el cerebro pasa por un proceso
largo. Primero, vemos la palabra con nuestros ojos y esa imagen entra en la corteza visual
primaria, la parte del cerebro responsable de la vista. Entonces esa información es
transferida al área de Wernike donde la palabra es comprendida. Después de que la zona
de Wernike comprende la palabra, se envÃa a la zona de Broca donde la palabra se
pronuncia y está lista para ser enunciada. Finalmente después de que la información se
transfiere a la corteza motora primaria, la parte del cerebro es responsable del
movimiento para hacer que la boca se mueva y diga la palabra escrita. Si la palabra se
dice en voz alta, el proceso es muy similar. En lugar de pasar por la corteza visual
primaria sin embargo, la palabra pasa a través de la corteza auditiva primaria, que es
responsable de la audición. Una vez que se hace, la información pasa a través de la zona
de Wernike, a la zona de Broca, y finalmente a la Cortex motor primario de nuevo (Oh
Say Can You Say).
Aprender un idioma es una de las primeras cosas que aprendemos a hacer como
seres humanos. Mientras que algunas personas aprenden un idioma como un niño, otras
personas tienen la oportunidad de aprender varios idiomas desde el nacimiento dando
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�lugar al multilingüismo. La capacidad de aprender más de un idioma es el resultado de
atributos fÃsicos dentro del cuerpo, asà como factores externos y el entorno que nos rodea.
Aprender un idioma como un niño es muy diferente a aprender un idioma como
adulto. El cerebro se desarrolla de manera diferente durante la infancia y durante la edad
adulta. Durante la infancia, los niños pueden aprender cualquier idioma y pueden
aprender y responder fácilmente a palabras y sonidos en cualquier idioma.
Los cientÃficos han llegado a la conclusión de que hay un perÃodo crÃtico en el
que los niños pueden aprender un idioma más fácilmente. Este perÃodo de tiempo crÃtico
varÃa según el sujeto. Por ejemplo, el perÃodo crÃtico para el aprendizaje fonético ocurre
antes del final del primer año. La sintaxis de aprendizaje ocurre entre los 18 y 36 meses
de edad, y la adquisición de vocabulario comienza a los 18 meses de edad y continúa
siendo activa durante toda la vida (Kuhl, 2010).
Sin embargo, hay una pregunta importante que hacer: ¿si un cerebro adulto está
más desarrollado cognitivamente que el cerebro de un bebé, por qué los bebés aprenden
más fácilmente varios idiomas? La respuesta está en la pregunta. Dado que el cerebro de
un bebé tiene capacidades cognitivas limitadas, les permite aprender y dominar los
idiomas que les hablan haciendo patrones simples. Dado
que el cerebro aún no ha crecido, también puede hacer y distinguir patrones para
múltiples idiomas, que se integran en los circuitos del cerebro. Sin embargo, esta
capacidad comienza a disminuir entre los 6 y los 12 meses de edad porque disminuye la
capacidad del cerebro para distinguir idiomas extranjeros. Esto se debe a la mayor
comprensión y exposición a la lengua materna. Por eso es más difÃcil aprender un idioma
como adulto. Los nuevos patrones que están tratando de aprender no se ajustan a los
patrones de lenguaje original establecidos como niños (Kuhl, 2010).
Establecer estos patrones durante la infancia es extremadamente importante
porque hay aproximadamente 200 vocales y 600 consonantes utilizadas en todo el
mundo. Todas estas vocales y consonantes se llaman fonemas. Estos fonemas cambian el
significado de una palabra basada en el sonido, por ejemplo: baño y paño. Por lo tanto,
aprender a distinguir estos diferentes sonidos fonéticos es importante para comunicarse
correctamente. Esto es importante para los niños bilingües porque están siendo expuestos
a muchos fonemas que no pertenecen a un idioma. Entonces, los niños necesitan una
manera de agrupar cada idioma en consecuencia, por lo que el cerebro hace estos
patrones. En conclusión, la tarea del niño en el primer año de vida consiste en descubrir
la composición de las 40 categorÃas de fonemas en su idioma antes de tratar de adquirir
palabras en su lengua materna (Kuhl, 2010).
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�Desde un aspecto fÃsico, los niños son capaces de aprender otro idioma mucho
más fácilmente que los adultos que quieren aprender otro idioma. Este desarrollo del
lenguaje comienza cuando el niño está en el útero. A pesar de que el niño no ha nacido
todavÃa puede escuchar las palabras de su madre y recoger los sonidos de los alrededores
de la madre también. Una vez que el niño nace, hay una edad crÃtica del perÃodo de
adquisición que termina en la adolescencia, donde se pueden aprender múltiples lenguas
debido a la neuroplasticidad cerebral durante ese perÃodo de tiempo. Los bebés que están
expuestos a múltiples lenguas al nacer son capaces de demostrar "una capacidad
universal para percibir los fonemas de todas las lenguas habladas" (Berken, Gracco,
Klein, 221).
Por lo tanto, todos los niños tienen el potencial de aprender cualquier idioma, y
si se les da la oportunidad, tantos idiomas como puedan. Una vez que un bebé alcanza los
6 meses de edad, esta capacidad comienza a disminuir, y se hace más difÃcil percibir estos
sonidos diferentes. Este es un punto crÃtico en el desarrollo del lenguaje porque un idioma
nativo está empezando a establecerse en el niño aunque no puedan hablar todavÃa.
Los sonidos de vocales y consonantes, asociados al lenguaje al que el niño está
siendo constantemente expuesto, ahora están comenzando a ser grabados en las Ãreas de
Broca y Wernike del niño. A los 9-10 meses de edad, las primeras tapas de vocalización
comienzan a aparecer en forma de balbuceo. Este balbuceo refleja los sonidos y el acento
del idioma nativo al que están expuestos. Los niños que aprenden una lengua y se
vuelven multilingües a una edad temprana pueden dividirse en dos categorÃas diferentes:
bilingües simultáneos y bilingües secuenciales (Berken, Gracco, Klein, 221).
Los bilingües simultáneos son niños que aprenden dos idiomas al mismo tiempo,
y los bilingües secuenciales son niños que aprenden primero un idioma nativo y luego un
segundo idioma poco después. Aunque ambos idiomas se aprenden a una edad muy
joven, a menudo hay muchas diferencias con la competencia y cómo habla el niño. Como
se mencionó anteriormente, un niño después de los 6 meses de edad comienza a
reconocer y entender los sonidos en el idioma nativo. Un niño que aprende múltiples
idiomas a una edad muy temprana puede diferenciar los sonidos y fonemas de cada
lengua antes de que puedan hablar los idiomas (Berken, Gracco, Klein, 222). Esta
capacidad de aprender y diferenciar los sonidos según el lenguaje se debe al hecho de que
el cerebro está en su etapa de desarrollo óptimo. Nuevas sinapsis, mielinización,
conexiones neuronales y circuitos neuronales están constantemente creándose y
moldeándose dentro del cerebro. La actividad cerebral que ocurre en los primeros años de
vida crea un alto grado de neuroplasticidad. Sin embargo, al analizar los cerebros de los
bilingües simultáneos, se descubrió que utilizan "las mismas estructuras neuronales
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�implicadas en la adquisición de una primera lengua" (Berken, Gracco, Klein, 223). Sus
áreas de lenguaje en el cerebro son las mismas para ambos idiomas. Los bilingües
secuenciales, cuando se analizaron, mostraron mayor actividad en áreas del habla y
motor, y en sustratos más neuronales en comparación con un bilingüe simultáneo
(Berken, Gracco, Klein, 223).
Ambos conjuntos de bilingües usaron las mismas estructuras cerebrales para el
habla, pero hay estas ligeras diferencias en cómo estas regiones del cerebro están
conectadas. Esto demuestra que a pesar de que ambos conjuntos de bilingües aprendieron
un idioma a una edad temprana, todavÃa hay pequeñas diferencias en cómo el cerebro se
desarrolla debido a la diferencia de edad y el entorno en el que aprendieron el idioma.
Esto es evidente en un área especÃficamente: el acento. Los bilingües simultáneos fueron
capaces de hablar y escribir igualmente competentes en ambos idiomas, mostrando un
dominio igual en ambos idiomas. Estos bilingües simultáneos tenÃan un acento nativo en
ambos idiomas, mientras que los bilingües secuenciales eran tan proficientes en hablar y
escribir como bilingües simultáneos, sin embargo no tenÃan un acento nativo en el
segundo idioma aprendido (Berken, Gracco, Klein, 223).
Un niño puede aprender una gran cantidad de vocabulario antes de llegar a la
adolescencia. El vocabulario puede verse influido en gran medida por el entorno del niño
y su escolarización. Esto puede afectar su capacidad para comunicarse efectivamente en
múltiples idiomas.
El vocabulario es muy importante para comunicarse. Hay tres tipos diferentes de
vocabulario. Estas palabras de vocabulario están organizadas en tres niveles diferentes.
Las palabras de nivel 1 se conocen comúnmente como palabras reconocibles a primera
vista. Estas son palabras que un niño puede leer de una página e inmediatamente sabe lo
que dice. Estas palabras incluyen 'libro, niña, niño, triste, perro, gato' entre otras
(Sprenger, 2013).
Las palabras de Nivel 2 son palabras que los niños encuentran todos los dÃas.
Estas palabras tienen múltiples significados, se usan en múltiples áreas temáticas, son
palabras descriptivas, son necesarias para la comprensión de lectura y ayudan a construir
un lenguaje maduro. Algunos ejemplos de palabras de Nivel 2 incluyen "benevolente,
coincidencia, obra maestra" entre otras. Las palabras de Nivel 2 causan muchos
problemas para los estudiantes cuando leen porque son palabras muy maduras (Sprenger,
2013).
La categorÃa final de palabras es palabras de Nivel 3. Estas palabras son palabras
especÃficas del contenido y se usan cuando se estudia un tema. Estas palabras son
fundamentales para construir conocimiento y comprensión dentro de un tema académico.
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�Algunos ejemplos de palabras de Nivel 3 son 'hipótesis, precipitación, mediana,
cuadrática' entre otras (Sprenger, 2013).
El medio ambiente de un niño afecta enormemente el desarrollo del vocabulario,
especialmente si el niño creció hablando más de un idioma. Ha habido un largo debate
sobre si los bilingües tienen o no un vocabulario más extenso que un monolingüe. Para
encontrar una respuesta a esta pregunta, se realizó un estudio con niños de habla inglesa y
niños bilingües que hablan inglés y español. Estos niños recibieron el Examen de
vocabulario expresivo de una palabra (EOWPVT). Esta es una prueba donde los sujetos
de prueba tuvieron que identificar una imagen usando solo una palabra. Los niños que
eran bilingües recibieron la prueba en inglés y español, los niños que eran monolingües
solo recibieron la prueba en inglés. Los resultados de la prueba fueron muy
sorprendentes. Los niños que eran hablantes de inglés monolingües obtuvieron el puntaje
más alto. Los niños que eran bilingües, pero el inglés era su idioma dominante,
obtuvieron el segundo puntaje. Los niños que eran igualmente competentes en inglés y
español obtuvieron el tercer puntaje más alto, y finalmente los bilingües que identificaron
el español como su idioma dominante obtuvieron el cuarto puntaje más alto (Allman,
2005).
El lenguaje no es solo el resultado del desarrollo del cerebro y las caracterÃsticas
fÃsicas, también es el resultado de nuestro entorno. Para entender por qué aprender otro
idioma es importante desde un punto de vista global, tenemos que volver a la prehistoria,
cuando los humanos todavÃa estaban migrando y estableciéndose en todo el mundo.
Durante la prehistoria, muchos grupos diferentes de personas migraron en todo
el mundo. Cuando estos grupos de personas migraban, generalmente se dividÃan porque
sus grupos se volvÃan demasiado grandes o se separaban unos de otros. Cuando estos
grupos se separaron, por lo general se aislaron de otros seres humanos durante muchos
años. Una vez que estos grupos se aislaron, eventualmente comenzarÃan a desarrollar sus
propios idiomas y dialectos. Estos nuevos lenguajes se desarrollaron en el transcurso de
miles de años, razón por la cual cada idioma es diferente e incomprensible para personas
ajenas a esa sociedad. (Hagen, 52).
Cuando estas diferencias idiomáticas evolucionan debido a que están aisladas
del mundo, las diferencias culturales también evolucionan. Estas diferencias culturales y
de idioma pueden causar hostilidades y malentendidos. Es por eso que es importante que
las personas de ese momento aprendan un segundo idioma. Al aprender un segundo
idioma, estos grupos de personas podrÃan comenzar a comerciar con otros grupos de
personas y mantener buenas relaciones con otros grupos. (Hagen, 52).
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�Si un grupo entraba en contacto con otro grupo y no hablaban un idioma común,
ambos grupos probablemente recurrÃan a la violencia. Esto se debe a que un grupo de
personas protegÃa a su propia gente, sin embargo, no harÃan lo mismo con un extraño. Es
más fácil para alguien cometer un acto de violencia contra alguien con quien no se puede
comunicar que alguien en su grupo porque es más fácil para ellos deshumanizarse
mutuamente. Hay una falta de empatÃa y conexión entre los grupos. Si un grupo de
personas no puede comunicar sus deseos y necesidades entre sÃ, hay margen para
malentendidos. Este malentendido puede llevar a que alguien se ofenda
involuntariamente, lo que conducirá a la violencia. (Hagen, 55-57).
El desarrollo del lenguaje bilingüe ha cambiado mucho desde tiempos
prehistóricos, especialmente para niños. Los niños bilingües están muy influenciados por
su entorno. Este entorno no solo ayuda a dar forma a los idiomas que estos niños
aprenden, sino que también ayuda a dar forma a su identidad. Estos aspectos ambientales
tienen un impacto en los niños bilingües, asà como en sus familias.
Se realizó un estudio sobre los inmigrantes y sus descendientes al mudarse a
otro paÃs y conservar su identidad lingüÃstica y cultural. Este estudio mostró que
habÃa un deseo de que estos inmigrantes se integraran y se asimilaran en su nuevo paÃs.
Al tratar de asimilarse en su nuevo paÃs, los inmigrantes intentan aprender el idioma
nativo de ese paÃs. Durante este proceso hay una mezcla constante del idioma del paÃs y
el idioma nativo de los inmigrantes que se llama 'Parler Bilingue'. Para los hablantes de
español e inglés esto se llama 'Spanglish'. Para los inmigrantes de primera generación,
esto es importante porque quieren conservar su identidad cultural, y aún asà ser capaces
de integrarse en su nueva sociedad. Una vez que se logra la fluidez en ambos idiomas, el
idioma nativo se usa en el hogar y durante otras interacciones familiares, mientras que el
nuevo idioma se usa en el trabajo y en las interacciones sociales. (Avenas, 1998)
Para los inmigrantes de segunda generación, sin embargo, el bilingüismo se veÃa
de manera más negativa porque temen ser discriminados. Están atrapados entre el paÃs de
origen de sus padres y las tradiciones, y entre su nuevo paÃs y sus tradiciones. No quieren
ser vistos como ‘extranjeros’. Como resultado, usan el idioma del nuevo paÃs y rechazan
el idioma de su paÃs de origen. Sin embargo, muchos inmigrantes de segunda generación
todavÃa practican su lengua materna para que puedan integrarse en su grupo étnico solo
cuando sea necesario. (Avenas, 1998).
Mi familia ha experimentado esto con mi abuelo. Mi abuelo emigró a América
desde Puerto Rico con su padre cuando era muy joven. Cuando crecÃa en Estados Unidos,
mi abuelo usaba el español solo con su padre en casa. Intentó mucho aprender inglés
hasta el punto en que se deshizo de su acento español. Para encajar mejor con la cultura
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�estadounidense, procedió a cambiar su apellido de 'Torres' a 'Ross'. Luego logró
convencer a sus hermanos y padre de cambiar sus apellidos a 'Ross' también. Luego mi
abuelo se deshizo de cualquier evidencia de que era puertorriqueño, y escondió cualquier
documento que tuviera su apellido. Esto incluÃa boletas de calificaciones, cartas,
documentos personales y otros documentos personales que pertenecÃan a su padre y
hermanos. Esto fue descubierto por mi padre hace unos años cuando encontró un boletÃn
de calificaciones de la escuela primaria que pertenecÃa a su tÃo en el ático de mi abuelo.
El concepto de 'Spanglish' es importante para cada generación de inmigrantes
porque muestra la fusión de dos culturas. Lo que es interesante de descubrir es que hay
dos tipos diferentes de 'Parler Bilingue' o 'Spanglish'. Está el spanglish 'inglés-español' y
el spanglish 'español-inglés'. Ambos son la mezcla del idioma inglés y el español, pero
hay algunas diferencias. Con el spanglish 'inglés-español', los inmigrantes principalmente
hablan inglés e integran el español como consecuencia. Con el spanglish 'español-inglés',
los inmigrantes principalmente hablan español e integran el inglés como consecuencia.
Cualquiera que sea la forma de Spanglish que usen depende de su competencia
lingüÃstica, asà como de su identidad cultural (Avenas, 1998).
El spanglish es importante hoy porque según la Oficina del Censo de EE. UU.,
la población hispana total en los Estados Unidos supera los 37,4 millones y sigue
creciendo. Estiman que para 2020, la comunidad hispana será el grupo minoritario más
grande en los Estados Unidos. Con este gran aumento de la población, la sociedad y la
cultura estadounidense cambiarán enormemente, y esto incluye el uso del spanglish. Esto
se debe a que los inmigrantes de habla hispana y las personas de origen hispano, que
hablan español e inglés, y que ya viven en Estados Unidos interactúan más entre sÃ. Las
interacciones que ocurren finalmente conducen a la mezcla del idioma español e inglés
(Hernández, 21-22).
Muchas generaciones de habla hispana e inglesa reaccionan al hablar spanglish
de la misma manera en que reaccionan por ser bilingües. Como se mencionó
anteriormente, algunos inmigrantes no quieren hablar Spanglish porque quieren
asimilarse a Estados Unidos y están avergonzados de su origen. Por lo tanto, estos
inmigrantes solo hablarán inglés, como lo hizo mi abuelo, o usarán Spanglish con
palabras especÃficas en inglés porque les hace sentirse con poder y listos. Algunos
inmigrantes usan Spanglish porque viven en una comunidad donde el Spanglish es el
dialecto principal, y hablar Spanglish crea un sentido de pertenencia. Algunos
inmigrantes se niegan a hablar Spanglish porque lo ven como una corrupción del idioma
inglés y español, o no se sienten cómodos de alternar entre idiomas porque nunca antes
han estado expuestos a un entorno bilingüe (Hernandez, 22-23).
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�El idioma español, asà como el spanglish, es muy diferente entre cada
comunidad hispana. Ciertas palabras pueden significar una cosa en cierta comunidad,
pero pueden significar algo completamente diferente en otra comunidad. Es por eso que
en ciertos paÃses de habla hispana puedes decir "coger al autobus", pero en México nunca
puedes decir "coger al autobus" porque tiene una connotación sexual.
A menudo, estas diferencias en el significado de la palabra pueden causar
malentendidos. Otro ejemplo de esto ocurrió cuando una compañÃa de insecticidas
decidió anunciar su producto a la comunidad de habla hispana. Contrataron a alguien que
no tenÃa experiencia y carecÃa de conocimiento sobre estas diferencias de idioma. Por lo
tanto, la compañÃa en su anuncio declaró que eran “infallible at killing bichosâ€
(Hernandez, 24). Cuando este anuncio se hizo público, muchos hispanohablantes se
rieron porque, aunque bicho significa "insecto" en la comunidad mexicana, se refiere a
los genitales masculinos en la comunidad puertorriqueña. (Hernandez, 24).
Debido a estas ligeras diferencias de idioma, hay múltiples comunidades
hispanas en todo Estados Unidos que son únicas a su manera. Por ejemplo, en Miami hay
una mayor población de cubanos, en Nueva York hay una gran comunidad
puertorriqueña, en el suroeste, especialmente Texas, hay una gran comunidad mexicana.
Cada comunidad tiene su propia forma de Spanglish. En Miami, su forma de Spanglish se
llama Cubonics, en Nueva York, su forma de Spanglish se llama Nuyorrican, y en Texas,
su forma de Spanglish se llama Tex-Mex. El Spanglish por lo tanto es el término general
que cubre todos estos dialectos español-inglés (Hernandez, 24).
A pesar de estas diferentes formas de Spanglish, la mayorÃa de estos bilingües
solo usan Spanglish en conversaciones informales. La mayorÃa de sus
conversaciones en Spanglish solo ocurrirán con sus familias y amigos muy cercanos.
Estos bilingües hacen esto para expresarse más fácilmente, especialmente cuando no
conocen una traducción adecuada para una palabra. Ser bilingüe abre un mayor rango de
expresión porque tienen la capacidad de elegir en qué idioma se expresan. Sin embargo,
casi todos los bilingües entrevistados dijeron que no les gustaba usar Spanglish porque la
mezcla de ambos idiomas no es atractiva y no es estéticamente agradable hablar
(Hernandez, 25-26).
Sin embargo, hay excepciones a este sentimiento hacia el spanglish. Muchos
escritores hispanos famosos como Junot DÃaz usan Spanglish en sus galardonados libros
y escritos todo el tiempo. Cuando Junot DÃaz fue entrevistado acerca de su novela
ganadora del Premio Pulitzer, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, se le preguntó si
siempre usa el spanglish en sus escritos y por qué? Él dijo:
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�“Since I can remember, English was present in my Spanish. And clearly Spanish
was always present in my English… the technique, the mixture, has always been within
me. An accident of immigrant history, but one that I've pursued relentlessly and
rigorously.†(O’Rourke, 2008)
DÃaz usa exactamente la misma razón por la que la gente no quiere usar
Spanglish, para justificar por qué usa Spanglish en sus escritos. También usa Spanglish
como un medio para conectarse con las comunidades de habla inglesa e hispanohablante.
Al hacer esto, los lectores conocen el idioma y la comunidad que conocen, asà como el
idioma y la comunidad que no conocen. (Shanesy, 2010).
Usar Spanglish es ventajoso porque ciertas cosas se pueden explicar más
fácilmente en inglés que en español, y viceversa. Esto permite que los hablantes de
español e inglés se comuniquen de manera más eficiente y efectiva. Esta 'ley del esfuerzo
más fácil' permite que los bilingües se comuniquen sin usar mucha energÃa, mientras que
el 'principio de eficiencia' permite a los bilingües comunicarse con más energÃa cuando
sea necesario y con menos energÃa cuando no sea necesario. (Hernandez, 26-27).
Esta adaptación del bilingüismo continúa evolucionando incluso hoy en dÃa.
Para mis horas de tesis para Seniors, yo era la supervisora del programa de ayuda para
tareas después de la escuela en el Centro de Inmigración de Make the Road Nueva York.
Ayudaba a los estudiantes de primaria a completar sus tareas, asà como a mejorar sus
habilidades de lectura y escritura en inglés. En el Centro de Inmigración de Make The
Road, realicé una serie de pequeñas entrevistas con los niños a los que enseño allÃ. Todos
estos niños están en la escuela primaria, a pesar de que sus edades y grados son
diferentes. Sin embargo, casi todas sus respuestas fueron muy similares. Todos estos
niños dijeron que eran bilingües y hablaban inglés y español. Todos estos niños dijeron
que predominantemente hablaban español con solo un poco de inglés en casa. Estos niños
dijeron que solo usaban Spanglish a veces con sus amigos porque sus padres no hablan
mucho inglés. Solo un niño dijo que hablaba Spanglish en casa con sus padres, y otro
niño dijo que usa Spanglish con su madre porque, como se mencionó anteriormente en
otros casos, ella no conoce una traducción adecuada de una palabra.
A pesar de esto, todos los niños dijeron que ser bilingüe los hace felices. Todas
sus razones fueron muy similares en el hecho de que ayudan a enseñar inglés a un ser
querido. Un niño dijo que les gustaba poder hablar dos idiomas porque cuando su
hermana llega a Nueva York desde México, pueden ayudarle a aprender inglés. Muchos
niños dijeron que estaban felices porque les enseñan inglés a sus padres y sienten que
están ayudando a su familia. El bilingüismo para estos niños es algo positivo, y en mi
138
�opinión, es una forma de contribución de su parte porque están contribuyendo a su hogar
y ayudan a sus familias.
Spanglish es el resultado de 'code-switching’ o el cambio de código. La
definición oficial del diccionario para el cambio de código es "el cambio del sistema
lingüÃstico de un idioma o dialecto al de otro" (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary). La
conmutación de código para Spanglish se identifica por el hecho de que el hablante
cambia a palabras inglesas o españolas sin cambios, y las palabras que se dicen se
pronuncian de la misma manera que un hablante nativo de cada idioma las pronunciarÃa.
Sin embargo, para cambiar el código, el hablante debe tener competencia en ambos
idiomas. Deben comprender los formatos de idioma de español e inglés. Si no se pueden
cometer muchos errores.
Por ejemplo, una vez un niño jugaba al tag en la escuela y constantemente lo
estaban molestando. El niño querÃa que esto se detuviera, y querÃa decirles a los niños
‘Stop bothering me!’ Sin embargo, el niño no sabÃa la palabra ‘bother’ en inglés, pero en
cambio sabÃa que ‘molestar’ significaba lo mismo. Por lo tanto, cuando fue a decirles que
lo dejaran en paz, dijo ‘Stop molesting me!’, lo que significa
algo completamente diferente en inglés. Esta es la razón por la cual la comprensión del
trabajo en español e inglés es extremadamente importante cuando se cambia de código
(Jiménez, 2017).
El cambio de código requiere tanto de la gramática inglesa como de la española,
y debe fluir y sonar correctamente. Esta es la razón por la cual las personas que hablan
Spanglish no pueden decir ‘Stop molesting me!’ or ‘Yo am going to the baile in the
noche.’ No parece correcto, y no muestra competencia en ambos idiomas. En cambio,
frases como ‘El libro me costó twenty dollars’, y ‘I’m going home pasado mañana.’ son
ejemplos efectivos de cambio de código porque muestra una estructura gramatical
adecuada en el idioma español, asà como en el idioma inglés. Las personas que cambian
de código en Spanglish hablan de una manera única y compleja dentro de las reglas de
ambos idiomas (Jiménez, 2017).
Los beneficios del bilingüismo son increÃbles porque abren muchas
oportunidades diferentes. Una persona bilingüe puede comunicarse con más personas y
conectarse con las diferentes comunidades de habla. Esto es extremadamente importante
en el mercado de trabajo de hoy. Anotar que eres bilingüe te da una ventaja increÃble
sobre tus competidores porque la compañÃa a la que postulas puede ampliar su mercado
en todo el mundo, asà como anunciar a diferentes comunidades de habla hispana.
Mi familia también tiene experiencia de primera mano en esto. Mi padre es un
oficial de policÃa del Departamento de PolicÃa del Condado de Suffolk (SCPD) y trabaja
139
�en la Academia de PolicÃa. Cuando es hora de contratar una nueva clase de reclutas, mi
padre y sus compañeros de trabajo se sientan y miran las solicitudes. Me dijo que
aquellos que hablan más de un idioma, especialmente español e inglés, son incluidos en
una lista de contratación preferencial por separado. Esto se debe a que el SCPD está al
tanto de la creciente población de habla hispana en Long Island, y desean poder
conectarse positivamente con esa comunidad. El trabajo de mi padre quiere ser accesible,
y eso es muy difÃcil de hacer si hay una barrera del idioma.
Toda esta investigación que he hecho la he podido experimentar en Make the
Road New York. Todos los niños con los que he tenido la oportunidad de trabajar han
hablado inglés y español desde que eran muy jóvenes. Casi todos ellos hablan con un
perfecto acento inglés cuando hablan inglés, y un acento español perfecto cuando hablan
español. Todos ellos pueden alternar entre inglés y español sin esfuerzo, dependiendo de
con quién están hablando y de qué están hablando. Estos niños también pueden cambiar
de idioma y hablar Spanglish para ayudar a sus familias y amigos a aprender inglés o
spanglish.
El bilingüismo es más que solo la capacidad de hablar dos idiomas. Son las
conexiones y funciones formadas en el cerebro. Es la habilidad del cerebro para distinguir
sonidos y palabras de diferentes idiomas y categorizar esas palabras apropiadamente. Es
la capacidad de cambiar de código entre dos idiomas cuando se comunica con otros. Es el
entorno en el que nacemos, las amistades que hacemos, la familia que cuidamos, el
pasado y el futuro de nuestra familia. El bilingüismo es más
que un término descriptivo, simplemente elegimos mirar más allá de su significado
superficial para encontrarlo.
Works Cited
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Encephalopathy.†Right Hemisphere of The Brain, Right Brain, and Brain - JRank
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Allman, Bohdana. “Vocabulary Size and Accuracy of Monolingual and Bilingual
Preschool Children.†ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on
Bilingualism, 2005, www.lingref.com/isb/4/004ISB4.PDF.
Avenas, Françoise. “The Role of Ethnic Identity in Language Maintenance and Language
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“Broca's Area Is the Brain's Scriptwriter, Shaping Speech, Study Finds - 02/17/2015.â€
Johns Hopkins Medicine, Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Johns Hopkins Medicine, 17
Feb. 2015, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/brocas_area_is_the_brains_
scriptwriter_shaping_speech_study_finds.
“Code-Switching.†Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/code-switching.
Hagen, L. Kirk. “The Bilingual Brain: Human Evolution and Second Language
Acquisition.†Evolutionary Psychology, vol. 6, no. 1, 2008, pp. 43–63.
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SPEAKERS IN GEORGIA.†Aug. 2004, pp. 1–92., getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/
hernandez_amy_m_200408_ma.pdf.
Jiménez, Rosa Maria. “‘Spanglish’: The Language of Chicanos.†"Spanglish": The
Language of Chicanos | Prized Writing, UC Davis, 2017, prizedwriting.ucdavis.edu/
spanglish-language-chicanos.
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National Library of Medicine, 9 Sept. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC2947444/.
“Oh Say Can You Say.†Neuroscience for Kids - Language, University of Washington,
faculty.washington.edu/chudler/lang.html.
O'Rourke, Meghan. “An Interview with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Junot DÃaz.†Slate
Magazine, 8 Apr. 2008, www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/recycled/
2008/04/questions_for_junot_daz.html.
“Pierre Paul Broca.†Human, Language, Speech, and Anthropology - JRank Articles,
2017, psychology.jrank.org/pages/97/Pierre-Paul-Broca.html.
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�Shanesy, Kelsey. “Anxiety De La Historia: Understanding the Roots of Spanglish in the
Texts of Junot DÃaz.†Macalester College, 2010, pp. 1–40, digitalcommons.macalester.edu/
cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=english_honors.
Sprenger, Marilee. “Chapter 1. What Does the Research Say About Vocabulary?†What
Does the Research Say About Vocabulary?, ASCD, 2013, www.ascd.org/publications/
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142
�
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Volume 16, Number 2
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Section I: The Natural Sciences & Quantitative Analysis -- Full Length Papers -- 3 The Behavioral Effects of Caffeine on Zebrafish (Danio rerio) / Michelle DeTomaso -- 19 Optimizing Stock Keeping Unit Efficiency in Max Mara’s Direct Retail: Analysis of the Effects of Implementing a New Inventory Management Model / Fabia Maramotti -- Section II: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 57 The Difference is in the Tales: The Relationship Between Insurance Regulations and Accessible Abortion Care / Emma J. MacDonald -- Section III: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 71 The Palestinian Revolt against the British, 1936-1939: Empowering Palestinian Voices and the Effects the Revolt had on the Creation of Israel / Hadeel Mishal -- 99 Beautiful Nude Girls: Art and Female Sexuality in Nazi Germany / Jordan Gonzales -- 113 Woman as Witness: Embodiment and the Female Christ-Figure in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment / Katelyn Alcott -- 119 “Be a Man”: How Hegemonic Masculinity is Harming Humanity / Michael Cancelleri Jr. -- 129 Los aspectos sociales y físicos del bilingüismo / Tori Ross
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural Sciences and
Quantitative Analysis, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these
sections are limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific investigations
(experimental, theoretical and empirical) and complex mathematical/ statistical modeling.
The third section is reserved for speculative papers based on the scholarly review and
critical examination of previous works. As has become a tradition, the fall edition
commences with a reprint of the abstracts of papers and posters presented at the Eastern
Colleges Science Conference.
Read on and enjoy!
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Annemarie Dowling-Castronovo, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Amy Eshleman, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
�Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference1
Abstracts
3
Effects of the Psychoactive Drug Caffeine on the Behavior of
Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Kevin Lipton and Dr. Brian Palestis
3
Epithelial Lining Turnover in the Rodent Small Intestine Based on
Mitotic Indices in the Crypts of Lieberkühn
John Acquaviva
4
Arsenic and Selenium in Human Tissues: The Investigation of Arsenic
Contamination in Human Food and Urine Samples
Lejla Bolevic and Dr. Mohammad Alauddin
4
Walking on Eggshells: The Effects of Theobromine on Tooth
Remineralization
Anna Cios
5
The Effect of Peer-Comparison in Social Media on Food Selection
Lauren Taibi
5
Global CO2 Emissions: Sources, Historical Trends, and Links to
Economic Growth
Samantha Susi and Jack Leighton
6
Analysis of Climate Change Data and Predicted Impact on Japan and
Surrounding Areas
Mara Mineo, Tamar Amirov and Vinh Phuong
6
Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Kelsey Savje and Domenick Palmieri
7
Accessing Diynes Containing Thiocyanate and Thiophene End-Groups
En Route towards Polydiacetylenes
Oskar Sundberg and Iireyel Gittens
1
Papers and posters presented at the 72nd Annual Eastern Colleges Science Conference held in
Ithaca, NY on April 21, 2018.
�7
Effects of Diethyl Phthalate on the Development of Drosophila
melanogaster
Ellen Reidy
8
Global Sea Level Measurements: History, Current Status, and Future
Impact
Derek Avery, Zachary Pandorf and Michelle Hernandez
8
Antibacterial Properties of Functionalized Melamine
Piper Skinner
9
Analysis of Hurricanes and Cyclones in North America and Asia
Matthew Barreto and Victor Ruan
9
The Effect of Semi-Precocial Development on Movement of Juvenile
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) from the Nest
Monica Valero
10 Chemistry in the Aerosol Interfacial Region: A Computational Study
Gent Prelvukaj
Section II: The Natural Sciences &
Quantitative Analysis
Full Length Papers
13 Thermal Stresses and Resistive Heating: A Computational Analysis
Adam O’Brien
Section III: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
39 The Role of Overprescription in Antibiotic Resistance among Adult
Hospitalized Patients
Cathryn Cantyne, Claire Johnson, Jacqueline Otake
�Section IV: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
51 Beautiful Nude Girls: Art and Female Sexuality in Nazi Germany
(Reprint from Spring 2018 issue with correction)
Jordan Gonzales
64 Eréndira and her Heartless Grandmother: Gabriel García Márquez’s
Political and Social Allegory
Jacquelyn Thorsen
72 Nazi Cinema: Ideology and Politics in Romantic Melodrama
John Badagliacca
80 “A Luminous Language”: The Paradoxical Role of English as a Remnant
of Colonialism in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun
Elena Rotzokou
91 Genocide in Myanmar: The Plight of the Rohingya People
Ethan Meyer
98 “Nobody Returns:” Exploring the Limitations of Derrida’s Hauntology in
Edwidge Danticat’s Claire of the Sea Light
Glen MacDonald
���Effects of the Psychoactive Drug Caffeine
on the Behavior of Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Kevin Lipton (Biology) and Dr. Brian Palestis (Biological Sciences)
Caffeine, a psychoactive, plant-based alkaloid is found in a variety of food, which include
coffee and tea leaves. Caffeine acts as a stimulant that has the potential to cause dependency
if a large amount is ingested and is anxiogenic (anxiety causing). Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is
an ideal model organism for pharmacological studies and neuro-behavioral studies, due to
the homology of their nervous system with that of the human nervous system. This
experiment was performed to gain a better understanding of the behavior of zebrafish when
exposed to caffeine. This study tested the behavior of adult zebrafish with a concentration
of 0.00625% caffeine. The behavior was quantified by counting the number of lines each
zebrafish crossed on a grid in 30 seconds, using recorded videos. Out of all the fish that
were tested, there was only one fish that was not mobile and did not cross a single line, and
this fish was in the experimental group. The range of the number of lines crossed for the
control fish was greater than the range for the experimental fish, but the mean number of
lines crossed between the two groups did not significantly differ (control: 38.6;
experimental: 36.0). This study, as well as other similar studies, can increase knowledge
and understanding of how anxiogenic substances affect humans.
Epithelial Lining Turnover in the Rodent Small Intestine
Based on Mitotic Indices in the Crypts of Lieberkühn
John Acquaviva (Biology)
The regenerative properties of the small intestine are mediated by a small group of intestinal
stem cells (ISCs) within the base of the crypts of Lieberkühn. However, the difficulty in
identifying these ISCs in contemporary research limits the information on the division and
migration of these cells. In this study, using random histological slides from the rodent
small intestine and by capturing digital microscopic images at 100x in oil immersion, the
dividing capabilities of the small intestinal cells were analyzed. The identification of mitotic
figures of dividing cells and differentiated enterocytes within the crypts allowed for the
calculation of the total mitotic index, which was found to be 6.1% for the analyzed tissue
samples. The average location of the mitotic figures from the luminal crypt mid-line was
11.916_m. Regarding the morphology of the mitotic figures, only prophase-like and
anaphase-like stages could be identified, suggesting a non-typical, amitotic division.
Unidentified, distinctive cells among the lamina propria and enterocyte lining of the crypts
3
�were also noticed. We hypothesize them to be intestinal stem cells migrating from the crypt
bases. Further research can focus on this type of cell.
Arsenic and Selenium in Human Tissues: The Investigation
of Arsenic Contamination in Human Food and Urine Samples
Lejla Bolevic (Chemistry) and Dr. Mohammad Alauddin (Chemistry & Physics)
Metabolic studies have shown that the chemical properties of selenium and arsenic counter
the toxicity of one another; therefore the intermolecular interactions between selenium and
arsenic has been utilized as a means to protect against the toxicity of arsenic. Through
dietary intervention of a group of human subjects in a controlled experiment, the antidote
characteristic of selenium was investigated. The determination of the exact levels of arsenic,
as well as, selenium in dietary intake was measured through Atomic Absorption
Spectroscopy. In a habitat where arsenic free domestic water is unattainable, a simple
addition of dietary supplements may ameliorate arsenic toxicity. Analytical research in the
ingestion of arsenic is significant in protecting against the widespread toxicity observed in
human populations exposed to arsenic through drinking water from contaminated tube wells
in West Bengal and Bangladesh. Recent findings from our own collaborative studies in
Bangladesh will be presented.
Walking on Eggshells: The Effects
of Theobromine on Tooth Remineralization
Anna Cios (Chemistry)
Theobromine, an extract of the cacao bean, has demonstrated a greater effect in the
remineralization of enamel compared to fluoride. The enamel of the tooth is naturally
demineralized by the onset of acidic plaques within the oral cavity. As the carbonated
hydroxyapatite mineral within the tooth structure is dissolved by the acidic plaques coating
the tooth, dental caries begin to form. Remineralization occurs when ions in the saliva
distribute over the tooth surface. To prevent dental decay, fluoride is added to toothpaste
and drinking water. Studies reveal dental and skeletal fluorosis, caused by excessive
ingestion of fluoride, lead to over-calcification of the bone with further detrimental
situations. Eggshells, primarily composed of calcium carbonate, were employed as enamelmimicking substrates. The shell fragments were treated with various toothpaste analogs
containing theobromine and other xanthine derivatives. The shells were analyzed using
Scanning Electron Microscopy before and after treating with the formulated toothpastes.
4
�The porous surface of each eggshell was surveyed for size and population, quantifying the
effectiveness of each xanthine derivative.
The Effect of Peer-Comparison in Social Media on Food Selection
Lauren Taibi (Biopsychology)
An independent group’s experiment was conducted to test the effect of peer-comparison via
Instagram on food selection. Participants included undergraduate women ranging from the
ages of 18-20 years old who were randomly assigned to view an Instagram account that
either induced peer competition, induced non-peer comparison, or that served as a control.
Participants were screened for social media use. Appetite, social comparison, body
dissatisfaction, and emotional eating were measured as was BMI. After viewing the feed for
five minutes, participants were asked to select foods from a buffet of food images that
consisted of 6 unhealthy items and 6 healthy items. Participants high in social comparison
who were randomly assigned to the PC condition were hypothesized to show different
patterns of eating behavior than other conditions by choosing less unhealthy items, taking
fewer bites of unhealthy items if chosen, or by having fewer total bites. It was also
hypothesized that those high in social comparison would have higher levels of body
dissatisfaction which would be reflected in the predicted food behaviors. Finally, it was
predicted that food choice would be predicted by emotional eating score because any stress
from the media might impact emotional eaters more.
Global CO2 Emissions: Sources, Historical
Trends, and Links to Economic Growth
Samantha Susi and Jack Leighton
Throughout Earth's history, there has been a cycle of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,
which was mostly self-regulating due to environmental factors such as plant photosynthesis
and tectonic plate movement. However, human impact on CO2 levels began rising since the
beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This creates a hotter atmosphere and for years,
scientists have suggested reducing CO2 emissions in an effort to combat climate change.
CO2 is seen as one of the most prominent greenhouse gases that contributes to climate
change. Therefore, multiple proposals to control CO2 levels have been put forward,
however arguments against the large costs of implementing them prevented their execution.
This project analyzes and presents ways in which to meaningfully reduce CO2 emissions
into the atmosphere at a low economic cost or even possible economic benefit. This project
also analyzes proposed alternative methods of producing and consuming energy in different
5
�economic sectors at a lower cost and reduced "carbon footprint". All work and calculations
were done using historical data of CO2 levels in comparison to projected CO2 levels with
the proposed changes, via the Wolfram programming language as part of the Scientific
Computing course offered exclusively to Honors Freshman students at Wagner College.
Analysis of Climate Change Data and Predicted
Impact on Japan and Surrounding Areas1
Mara Mineo, Tamar Amirov and Vinh Phuong
Although climate change in the United States has been touched upon in the media, the
impact of climate change on the Eastern hemisphere is just as detrimental as in the Western
hemisphere. Countries like China and Japan are challenging climate change while their
environments are currently suffering. While Japan is the leading country in combating
climate change, the devastations are still prevalent in Japan's society today, and will
continue to be prevalent in the near future. Since this archipelago stretches across four Mai
islands as well as a smaller island chain, Japan is home to numerous climatic zones which
will witness the stress of climate change firsthand. Since most of China is less habitable, the
majority of the population lays on the eastern coast of the continent facing Japan, aiding in
the detriment to the region. This analysis of Japan and its surrounding areas focuses on key
points such as sea levels, cultivated fields and crops, and urban heat islands, as well as
others. This research was carried out in the freshman-only Honors Scientific Computing
course at Wagner College. Computational thinking skills have been utilized to apply
functional programming to develop climate change data analysis using the Wolfram
programming language.
Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Kelsey Savje (Chemistry) and Domenick Palmieri (Chemistry)
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been the subject of much research in recent years,
as the employment of solar energy as a means of generating electricity has drawn increasing
interest. Organic dyes are particularly attractive, as it is easier to modify the structure of
organic molecules compared to metal-based dyes. This project explores the synthesis of
conjugated organic molecules that contain similar structural motifs to dyes reported to have
high conversion efficiencies. The first step in the synthesis of the initial target dye was the
preparation of 4-butoxy iodobenzene. This reaction used ethanol as a solvent, which is
1
Received an award of excellence for outstanding presentation.
6
�accepted as a green organic solvent. The alkoxybenzene was then used in a coupling
reaction, in an attempt to synthesize a triphenylamine derivative that would serve as the
donor region of the target dye. There is no conclusive evidence that the triphenylamine
donor has been isolated, so alternative donor regions are being explored.
The new targets are based on data from Harvard Clean Energy Project, which lists
molecules that have demonstrated high energy conversion based on computational analysis.
Accessing Diynes Containing Thiocyanate and Thiophene
End-Groups En Route towards Polydiacetylenes
Oskar Sundberg (Chemistry) and Iireyel Gittens (Chemistry)
Polydiacetylenes, PDAs, are a family of polymers that can access a wide variety of
properties by attaching different end-groups. Amongst the most interesting properties is the
chromatic color change that occurs when PDAs are exposed to certain external stimuli. This
property has caused PDAs to be found in many sensory assemblies, which can be useful in
for example the food industry. Although polydiacetylenes have been known of since the
1960s, there is little known about the possible applications arising from attaching different
end-groups. The synthesis of thiocyanate- and thiophene-capped diynes is in progress, with
the ultimate goal of accessing polydiacetylenes with these end-groups using a host-guest
strategy. Both thiocyanate and thiophene end-groups are expected to impact the electronic
properties of the polymerized system because of the resonance-stabilization and electronic
effects of these groups. Efforts to synthesize thiocyanatoethyne and 1,4-dithiocyanatobuta1,3-diyne have produced promising results, with 13C NMR data containing peaks that
correspond well with predicted spectra. Additional characterization is needed to confirm
isolation of this novel diyne. The synthesis of 3,3-(1,3-butadiyne-1,4-diyl)bis[thiophene]
was also achieved; however initial attempts towards polymerization are inconclusive.
Effects of Diethyl Phthalate on the Development
of Drosophila melanogaster
Ellen Reidy (Biology)
The purpose of the present study was to test the effects on diethyl phthalate (DEP) on the
development of the classic model organism Drosophila melanogaster. DEP is a diethyl
ester of phthalic acid, an aromatic dicarboxylic acid commonly used as an organic solvent
in the manufacture of fragrances, cosmetics, plastics, detergents and aerosol sprays.
Because of its widespread use, the question of DEP toxicity is essential. Several studies
suggest that DEP exposure has adverse effects on animals. For these studies, groups of 50
7
�fly eggs were randomly transferred to vials containing either 0 ppm DEP, 1000 ppm DEP,
3000 ppm DEP or 5000 ppm DEP. The number of pupa that formed as well as the
number of new flies that eclosed were quantified and the data analyzed using a one-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA). The data indicate that chronic exposure to high
concentrations of DEP causes a significant delay in fly development.
Global Sea Level Measurements: History,
Current Status, and Future Impact
Derek Avery, Zachary Pandorf and Michelle Hernandez (Chemistry)
Sea levels around the globe have been rising rapidly since the late nineteenth century.
Various areas around the world are directly affected by these rising sea levels,
specifically heavily populated coastal regions. Primary causes of rising sea levels are
thermal expansion of oceans and increased melting of glaciers. The melting of ice caps
have potential catastrophic effects on the environment. This presentation illustrates the
relationship between climate change and past, current, and future sea levels. The research
was performed in the Scientific Computing course, a freshman-only honors class at
Wagner College. Within the course, computational skills and critical thinking are
implemented using the Wolfram programming language. The Mathematica program is
essential for largescale data analysis through collection and presentation of sea levels and
historical trends. Economic and agricultural impacts exist in most regions, which has an
effect on the standard of living in these areas. This will be compared between developed
and developing nations. Predictions for future sea levels pose threats to life and
development around the globe. Using Mathematica, the presentation displays the
projections and trends of sea levels, using a variety of interactive functions. Altogether,
the rising global sea levels will be effectively exhibited using computational data
analysis.
Antibacterial Properties of Functionalized Melamine
Piper Skinner (Chemistry)
The antibacterial activity of molecules is typically attributed to the presence of long
hydrophobic alkyl chains or phenol groups. Attaching such groups to melamine, a
aromatic heterocycle, can result in new molecules that possess the ability to resist
bacteria. The antimicrobial activity of chlorinated melamine has been reported in the
literature. This project focuses on the alkylation of melamine as a means of enhancing
antimicrobial properties. Attempts to functionalize melamine with alkyl chains using
8
�substitution reactions are in progress. Bromobutane and bromopentane have been
employed thus far, with various reaction conditions under review. Once alkylation is
achieved, the compound will be applied to infected agar plates to determine if the
colonies of bacteria do indeed decrease. In addition to adding alkyl groups, phenolic
substituents will also be explored as a means synthesizing additional melamine
derivatives with antibacterial activity.
Analysis of Hurricanes and Cyclones in North America and Asia
Matthew Barreto and Victor Ruan
Climate change has caused an emergence of extreme weather events in the United States
and Asia. Most notably, this presentation analyzes the juxtaposition between the effects
of hurricanes in the United States such as Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, and cyclones
prevalent in Asia, primarily Typhoon Chan-hom (2015), or Typhoon Falcon in the
Philippines. The prevalence of these extreme weather events have caused many effects on
the world and human life. Furthermore, this presentation showcases a correlation between
the severity and frequency of hurricanes and cyclones with certain factors such as job loss
rates, insurance deficits, and public assistance necessities. This research has been carried
in the freshman only Scientific Computing course at Wagner College. The computational
analysis of the data was carried out using the Wolfram programming language. This
research focuses on the severities of hurricanes and cyclones in different parts of the
world and how they impact the global economy. Based on these findings, there has been
a notable trend in a decrease in amount of extreme weather events, but an increase in
their intensities. This data could serve as a precursor for extreme weather events that may
occur in the future of North America and parts of Asia.
The Effect of Semi-Precocial Development on Movement of Juvenile
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) from the Nest
Monica Valero (Biology)
The objective of this experiment was to observe the effect of semi-precocial development
on the movement of juvenile Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) as the chicks aged.
Semiprecocial species begin to wander away from the nest at around two to three days
old. Over the course of two months, two sites in Barnegat Bay, off Long Beach Island,
New Jersey were observed to examine common tern chick movement from the nest. Once
the chicks hatched, data was collected on the chicks: band numbers, the chicks' distance
from the nest, as well as the distance between neighboring nests. The results collected
9
�were expected to reflect semi-precocial development, meaning that as the chicks aged,
they would be found farther from the nest. Observations of S. hirundo chicks from seven
different age groups supported the hypothesis that chicks moved from the nest as they
matured. In the first age group of 1 to 3 days, it was found that the median distance from
the nest was only 0.10 m away from the nest. In the next age group of 4-6 days, the
median distance away from the nest was 0.45 m away. In the age group of over three
weeks old, the median distance away from the nest was 6.45 meters; no chicks were
found at their nest, and the chicks were about to fledge. Although complications did arise
such as storms, predation by gulls, and the chicks moving into dense vegetation, enough
chicks were recorded to demonstrate that S. hirundo chicks move away from the nest
after only days of hatching. Ultimately, the data show that Common Tern chicks are not
attached to the nest site, despite continuing to rely on their parents for care.
Chemistry in the Aerosol Interfacial Region: A Computational Study
Gent Prelvukaj (Chemistry)
The chemical reactions caused by atmospheric aerosol particles are involved in radiative
forcing, chemical reaction cycles, and human health. The chemical reactions that occur in
the interfacial region remain ambiguous. Due to the complexity of the interfacial region,
self-assembled reverse micelles (RM) are used as proxies to help develop a complete
understanding of the photochemical properties of the region. We performed fully
atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to explore the impact of trapped ionic species
on the size and shape of reverse micelles. Our simulations of larger reverse micelles from
w0 =10, 15, 20 provide a template for further studies. For each RM size, the ions form
layers in the interfacial region. K+ ions reside near the surfactant head groups and even
replace the Na+ counter-ion of the surfactant while the Cl- anions are localized in the
aqueous core. Density calculations indicate that the interfacial region of the reverse
micelles are structured as follows: R-SO3- > Na+ ≥ K+ > Cl- (Core). Our simulations
indicate that the trend in shape of reverse micelles continues for smaller reverse micelles
including w0 2,3,4, and 6. After running multiple simulations of different concentrations
we discovered that there is a threshold concentration.
10
���Thermal Stresses and Resistive
Heating: A Computational Analysis
Adam O’Brien (Physics)1
In order to drive safely in icing conditions, drivers must be able to clearly see their entire
surrounds, including behind the vehicle. This research investigation aims to analyze the
degree to which heat spreads through glass containing resistive heating strips and the
thermal gradients that result from the uneven warming. Because this problem is
mathematically cumbersome, and for many geometries does not remit to an analytic
solution, a numerical simulation utilizing finite differences was developed to evaluate the
temperature distribution as a function of time. It showed that running rear defrosters for
approximately two to five minutes would adequately clear condensation and a thin layer
of ice despite convective heat loss in harsh conditions. It also confirmed that the
resulting thermal stresses would not be large enough to weaken the glass or cause
cracking.
I. Introduction
The addition of heat to a point on a surface is a seemingly simple procedure that
occurs frequently across a multitude of applications. Heat flows from hot to cold regions
in a physical process known as heat diffusion. The rate at which heat flows across the
surface of a material is known as the thermal diffusivity. It, along with ambient
conditions and internal heat generation, determines the temperature distribution that
results.
Localized heat at precise locations is required across many fields. Doctors
performing certain surgical procedures use lasers for a multitude of applications,
including removing hair, moles, warts, scars, closing blood vessels to prevent blood loss,
and even destroying cells that are cancerous.2,3 While the lasers are extremely precise in
Written under the direction of Dr. Gregory Falabella in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
1
James, W.D., Berger, T.G., and Elston, D.M. “Cutaneous laser surgery”, Diseases of the
Skin: Clinical Dermatology, 12th ed., Elsevier, 2016, pp. 888-899.
2
Sakamoto, F.H., Jalian, H.R., and Anderson, R.R. “Understanding lasers, lights, and
tissue interactions”, Lasers and Lights: Procedures in Cosmetic Dermatology, 3rd ed.,
Elsevier Saunders, 2013, pp. 1-8.
3
13
�applying energy exactly where the surgeons wish, the heat applied by the laser broadens
from the site of application to the surrounding tissues, which can cause serious
unintended damage. Laser machining is the process of using lasers to apply heat to shape,
cut, and weld metals.4 Laser machining hardware does not come in physical contact with
the metal it is shaping and therefore provides less wear on the equipment, however, laser
machinists face a similar dilemma to laser surgeons.5 They must use high intensity lasers
to melt and shape metals to a very high degree of accuracy, but heat from the point of
application on the metal spreads to the surrounding area and can cause unintended
shaping and cutting of the metal.
Laser surgery and laser machining are examples where heat is deposited at
localized points during brief intervals to minimize effecting surrounding areas. By
contrast, automobile engineers design rear windshield heaters where wire strips heat an
entire piece of glass to deice or defog.6 Heating strips must be developed and arranged in
such a way that allows for efficient heat transfer across the glass without significant
thermal gradients that can lead to breakage.
As a material is heated and the kinetic energy of its particles increase, the space
between the particles increase slightly, resulting in an overall increase in the size of the
material.7 This process is known as thermal expansion. Thermal expansions cause
thermal stresses, which is the process where the expansion of a material causes the shape
of the material to warp and possibly generate cracks or even break completely. For
example, railroad tracks and bridges can warp during hot days. Without proper expansion
joints that allow the materials to expand without being constrained enough to break, they
would fail and cause catastrophic loss of life. Thermal stresses warping railroad tracks
caused over forty train derailments in the United States in 2001.8 Aircraft do not contain
wire strips to heat the aircraft’s surface and thwart ice formation because the thermal
expansion that the aluminum would incur from such a device would cause excessive
“What are Laser Cutting Machines?”, Thomasnet, updated April 2018,
https://www.thomasnet.com/ articles/custom-manufacturing-fabricating/laser-cutting-machines.
4
5
Ibid.
A. Faghri et al, “Modern Applications of Heat and Mass Transfer”, Advanced Heat and
Mass Transfer, Global Digital Press, 2010, pp. 61-65.
6
Duffy, A.G., “Heat Transfer, and the first law of thermodynamics”, Boston University,
PY105 notes, 1998, http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/py105/notes /Heattransfer.html
7
Kish, A., Mui, W., “Track Buckling Research”, Tech Report, John A. Volpe National
Transportation Systems Center (U.S.), July 9, 2003, https://www.volpe.dot.gov/
infrastructure-systems-and-technology/structures-and-dynamics/track-buckling-research
8
14
�stresses and cracks that lead to catastrophic wing and fuselage destruction. Aircraft
undergo enough stress from their wings constantly vibrating and ever present pressure
and air temperature changes. Adding stresses by using heating elements to de-ice would
amplify the problem.9
This research investigation aims to analyze the degree to which heat spreads
through glass containing resistive heat strips and the resulting thermal gradients that
result from the uneven heating. Because this problem is mathematically cumbersome, and
for many geometries does not remit to an analytic solution, a computer program will be
utilized to evaluate the temperature distribution as a function of time. A post-processor
called Tecplot10 will be used to visualize the results.
II. Theory
The transfer of thermal energy within or between mediums takes place when a
thermal gradient (i.e. temperature difference is present). It is accomplished by one or
more of three physical mechanisms. The first is conduction. Conduction is the transfer of
heat between individual particles in a material.11 As a particle is heated, it vibrates more
frequently and subsequently collides with the particles adjacent to it causing them to also
vibrate more quickly, or in macroscopic terms, increase in temperature12. Fourier’s law
governs heat transfer via conduction is:
q At
Th Tc
R
(1)
In the above equation, A is the area of the surface, q is the rate of heat transfer, Th is the
temperature of the hotter object, Tc is the temperature of the cooler object, and R is the
thermal resistance of the material to which the heat is being added. The thermal
resistance is denoted as L/k, where L is the thickness that is subject to the temperature
gradient and k is the thermal conductivity of the material. Note that there must be a
difference in temperature between the hotter and cooler objects in order for heat transfer
Integrated Publishing, “Specific Action of Stresses”, Aviation Structural Mechanic
(H&S) 3&2 - How airplanes are built and how to maintain them, p. 20,
http://navyaviation.tpub.com/14018/css/Specific-Action-Of-Stresses-32.htm, accessed
April 2018.
9
10
Amtec Enginnering
Duffy, A.G., “Heat Transfer, and the first law of thermodynamics”, Boston University,
PY105 notes, 1998, http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/py105/ notes/Heattransfer.html
11
12
Wilson, Buffa, and Lou, College Physics, 7th Ed., Pearson, (2010), pp. 373-375.
15
�to occur, as heat must flow from the hotter object to the cooler object as per the second
law of thermodynamics.
The second method is convection. Convection involves the motion of fluids
surrounding region that is at a different temperature. The equation for heat transfer via
convection is13:
q hA(T T )
(2)
In the above equation, T represents the temperature of the fluid, T is the temperature of
the medium surrounding the fluid, A is the surface area over which heat transfer is
occurring, and h is the convective heat transfer coefficient. Heat is initially transferred to
or from the region in question via conduction to the surrounding fluid which, as it is
moving, carries the energy further up or downstream.14 Hence, it is the physical
movement of the surrounding fluid that accounts for the majority of the actual heat
transfer. Convection is important to analyzing heat diffusion since heat may be lost to the
surrounding environment while diffusing through a material, such as heat being lost to
the air outside of a rear windshield in a car that is being electrically heated.
The last method is radiation. Radiation is energy transfer by electromagnetic
waves. The equation for heat transfer via radiation is known as the Stefan-Boltzmann
equation and is given by15:
q AT 4 T
(3)
In the above equation, is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. is the emissivity of the
radiating object. It has no units and is a value between 0 and 1, where an emissivity of 0
indicates that it radiates none of its energy and absorbs no radiation from other sources.
On the contrary, objects with an emissivity of 1 are ideal absorbers and emitters. A is the
area of the surface that is radiating or absorbing heat. T is the absolute temperature,
usually measured in Kelvin, of the object radiating the heat. T is the ambient air
temperature. An example of heat transfer via radiation would be the heating of the Earth
by the Sun.
Cengel, Y. A., Turner, R. H. and Cimbala, J. M. Thermal-Fluid Sciences, 5th edition,
McGraw-Hill, 2017, p. 635.
13
Duffy, A.G., “Heat Transfer, and the first law of thermodynamics”, Boston University,
PY105 notes, 1998, http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/py105/notes/Heattransfer.html
14
15
Wilson, Buffa, and Lou, College Physics, 7th Ed., Pearson, (2010), pp. 378-381.
16
�Thermal gradients in an object subject to uneven heating will spread through the
material by conduction, otherwise known as heat diffusion.16 The rate of heat diffusion
varies based on a material's thermal diffusivity, . This property can be viewed as the
ratio of the heat conducted through the material to the thermal energy stored per unit
volume.17 Hence, =k/cp where k is the material's thermal conductivity, and cp is
essentially the volumetric heat capacity of a material. Every substance, whether it be
aluminum, iron, glass, water, or organic tissue have various intrinsic properties that cause
differing diffusivity constants to vary greatly.18 Some applications require a quick even
redistribution of thermal energy while others make use of insulating properties. Scientists
and engineers use this knowledge when selecting materials for a particular application.
This research investigation focuses on heat conduction which is governed by the
heat diffusion equation. This equation can be derived by applying the conservation of
energy to a differential control volume. 19
c p
T T T
q
t x x y y
(4)
The
q in the above equation accounts for any internal energy generation or loss per unit
volume. Assuming constant properties in two dimensions, the equation reduces to:
d 2T 2T q
T
2 2
t
dy k
dx
(5)
Convective losses of heat energy are accounted for by the
q term.
T. W. Davies, “Thermal Diffusivity”, Thermopedia, (2016), DOI:
10.1615/AtoZ.thermal_diffusivity.
16
Pascoe, N.., Principles and Practice of Failure Prevention in Electric Systems, Wiley,
2011, p.94-95.
17
Faghri, A. et al, “Modern Applications of Heat and Mass Transfer”, Advanced Heat
and Mass Transfer, Global Digital Press, 2010, pp. 61-65.
18
19
Incropera, F. and DeWitt, D., Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, (1985), pp.43-47.
17
�III. Computational Methodology
Closed form solutions for the heat equation in two or three dimensions make use
of a technique known as separation of variables. However, the solutions often do not exist
or are extremely difficult and time consuming to obtain. In addition, any changes in the
boundary conditions or the geometry of the surface being evaluated would result in the
need to re-solve the entire problem. As a result, numerical methods are routinely
employed. These include finite differences, finite elements, and finite volume
approaches. The finite difference method was chosen for this research investigation
because it can be employed in a straightforward manner and yields highly accurate
results.
Using the finite difference method involves replacing derivatives in a
differential equation by finite rates of change that are intentionally very small, but still
measurable. The smaller the difference used, the more accurate the answer will be. The
downside to using extremely small differences is that smaller spatial divisions and time
steps necessitate more computations. For this reason, this research investigation will
make use of a computer program.
Consider the definition of a derivative:
dy
y(t t) y(t)
lim
dt t 0
t
(6)
The derivative of a function indicates how a variable changes with respect to another
variable. Using the definition of a derivative, one can approximate the rate of change, of a
function at a specified point. For example, given the function y=3t2, an approximate
derivative at the point y=3 and using t=0.1, can be found as follows:
dy y(t t) y(t) 3(3.1) 2 3(3) 2
18.3
dt
t
0.1
Using the power rule,
(7)
dy
|y=3 would be exactly 18. The above example finds a value of
dt
18.3 which contains a 1.67% error. The reason for the error is the large size of t. By
using the same equation with t=0.01, a value of 18.03 is obtained which is 0.17% above
the actual
value. The smaller thet, the smaller the error. In order to prevent round-off
error at an extremely small t, increased precision up to sixteen digits is often
necessitated. Also, high order finite difference approximations can be employed. They
are obtained through the use of a Taylor series approximation.
18
�f (x) f (a) f '(a)(x a)
f ''(a)(x a) 2
f n (a)(x a) n
...
2!
n!
(8)
The Taylor series approximation can be used to create other finite difference formulas
with improved accuracy for a very small t . A common finite difference approximation
is the central difference approximation:
dy y(t t) y(t t)
2t
dt
(9)
The above equation is derived by taking the linear combination of the Taylor series
expansions for f (t t) and f (t t) . A central difference equation for second
derivatives also exists:
d 2 y y(t t) 2y(t) y(t t)
dt 2
(t) 2
(10)
The heat diffusion equation can be written in finite difference form using a
forward difference for the temporal term and central differences for the spatial terms.
Ti,nj1 Ti,nj
n
n
n
n
n
n
(11)
q
2 Ti, j 1 Ti, j 1 2Ti, j
2 Ti1, j Ti1, j 2Ti, j
i, j
(y)
t
(x)
The superscript n+1 refers to the value at time t+t where as n designates current time t
results. i and j denote the grid point in question. Using grid points that are equally spaced
in both directions and rearranging terms yields:
Ti,nj1 Ti,nj
t
(x)
2
T
n
i1, j
n
n
n
n
Ti1,
j Ti, j 1 Ti, j 1 4Ti, j
t n
q
i, j
(12)
As can be seen, the present values of the temperature in conjunction with the
internal heat generation or loss at a given point can be used to ascertain future values at
all of the interior nodes. Specification of boundary conditions completes a new
temperature profile. Although this approach is straight forward it must be repeated over
and over marching through time at a slow rate to ensure both convergence and accuracy.
To this end, a C++ program was written and employed (see Appendix A).
19
�IV. Results:
The objective of this research was to evaluate the thermal gradients produced by
resistive heating in glass using a two-dimensional model. This would approximate the
rear defroster of a typical automobile.
In order to ensure that the computer code works properly test cases were run to
validate it. The first set all of the initial temperatures of a square region (L=0.25 meter)
to an arbitrary value of 20oC. At time t=0 seconds the right side was suddenly changed to
100oC and maintained at that value while the other boundaries were kept at the original
20oC. This is a classic textbook case that remits to the same steady-state separation of
variable solution regardless of material properties20. The higher the thermal diffusivity
the more rapidly equilibrium is reached. As expected, thermal energy diffused in from
the hotter boundary producing the isotherms shown in figure1.
Figure 1: Steady-state two-dimensional conduction.
Jaluria, Y. and Torrance, K.E., Computational Heat Transfer, Hemisphere Publishing
Corporation, 1986, pp.108-111.
20
20
�A second scenario with convection taken into account using the heat loss per
unit volume term was then tackled. When an aluminum plate was used there was little
difference between the solutions with and without convective losses (figure 2). This is
because the high conductivity of aluminum provided a low resistance path for the heat to
travel through.
Figure 2: Aluminum plate with convective losses.
By contrast when a glass pane was considered the isotherms changed dramatically (figure
3). The results show that the heat did not spread through the glass considerably. This is
because glass has a low conductivity and a small diffusivity making it easier for thermal
energy to escape by convection to the air moving over it.
The spacing of the grid points was set at 251 in each direction to provide a
spacing of 1 millimeter for the resistance heating strips to be analyzed (figures 4 and 5).
No changes in accuracy occurred when doubling or halving this value confirming its
appropriateness. The time step was also varied. Glass remitted to a converged solution
for t ≤1.3. For DT≤0.01 changes of less than 0.1% occurred and at Dt≤0.002 the
solution remained independent of the size of time increments. Aluminum required a time
21
�step that was proportionally smaller due to its higher thermal diffusivity (i.e.
aluminum/glass=285.6 so tglass/taluminum=285.6).
Figure 3: Glass pane with convective losses.
22
�Figure 4: The grid on which calculations were performed.
Figure 5: Zoomed in view to better show the spacing between grid points.
23
�With the test cases completed the subject of the investigation was modelled. To
accomplish this the regions described by the grid points in eight equally spaced rows
generated heat that modelled electrical resistive strips (figure 6). The amount of heat
input was varied until a maximum temperature gradient of 25oC resulted. This would be
adequate to defrost the window under harsh conditions without fracturing or cracking the
glass. For these simulations the ambient temperature was set at 0oC and all of the
boundaries maintained at that value. Convective losses were also accounted for as in the
test cases.
The virtual defrosters ran for four simulated amounts of time: two minutes, five
minutes, ten minutes, and one hour. At two minutes, the heat had not disbursed more
than what appears to be 1 cm bands of higher temperatures (10-14oC) centered at the each
of the heating strips (figure 7). The regions between the heating strips are almost
unchanged from their initial temperature of zero degrees. Although minimal, it would
provide a driver with some visibility.
After five minutes a totally different picture emerges. Almost the entire glass pane
Figure 6: The heat input from electrical resistive strips.
24
�Figure 7: Temperature distribution after 2 minutes of resistive heating.
has experienced a temperature increase of several degrees and approximately half of it is
12 or more degrees above the ambient temperature. Moreover, hot spots of 20oC (the
orange coloring) have appeared where at the location of the wire elements (figure 8).
Under most conditions visibility through the rear windshield would be quite good at this
time. Even in frozen precipitation any ice would begin to show significant melting.
25
�Figure 8: Temperature distribution after 5 minutes of resistive heating.
At ten minutes (figure 9), temperatures immediately surrounding the heating
strips near twenty-five degrees. The coldest regions between the strips is approaching
nine degrees. Although largely inconsequential, the temperatures at the extreme borders
do not show significant change from the five-minute simulation. In a real-world situation,
it is likely that almost all of the condensation and ice on the windshield would be gone
and, from a rear visibility standpoint, the vehicle would be safe to drive even under harsh
conditions.
Once the defroster has been on for an hour it has reached an equilibrium state
26
�Figure 9: Temperature distribution after 10 minutes of resistive heating.
resulting in an average temperature of 13.1 degrees above the ambient (figure 10). Note
that in an automobile the thermostat would have switched off before this point was
reached except in extreme cold. Nevertheless, this represents a worst-case scenario for
thermal gradients. To facilitate the analysis a vertical slice was taken at the mid-section
to better illustrate the variation in temperature as a function of height (figure 11). It
shows temperature gradients peaking out at T=2.1oC from grid point to grid point in the
vicinity of the wire strips and 25.3oC over the entire surface. Since glass has a thermal
expansion coefficient of 910-6 oC-1 and a Young’s Modulus of 63 GPa21, the maximum
thermal stress, , is 14.3 MPa which is less than ⅓ of its 50 MPa yield stress22 and
therefore will not promote cracking or failure.
ET
(13)
Qingsong, Wang et al., “Thermal shock effect on the glass thermal stress response and
crack”, Procedia Engineering 62 (2013), p.720.
22 Beer, F.P. and Johnston, E.R., Mechanics of Materials, McGraw-Hill, 1981, p.585.
21
27
�Figure 10: Temperature distribution after 1 hour of resistive heating.
Figure 11: Vertical slice showing temperature variation as a function of height at the midpoint.
28
�V. Conclusions
This research investigation successfully simulated the basic physical principles
of heat diffusion using finite differences. It showed that running rear defrosters for
approximately two to five minutes would adequately clear condensation and a thin layer
of ice despite convective heat loss in harsh conditions. It also confirmed that the
resulting thermal stresses would not be large enough to weaken the glass or cause
cracking. Future research could entail utilizing a three-dimensional model and varying
the wire configuration to increase efficiency.
VII. Acknowledgements
First, I would like to thank my parents, Holly and Frank O’Brien, and my
grandparents, Arden and Barbara Kessler. Without their support, my entire academic
career, especially my college career would not have been possible. I would like to thank
my advisor, Dr. Gregory Falabella, for putting up with me for four years, which, in
addition to him being a great professor makes him a candidate for sainthood. I would like
to recognize Dr. Otto Raths, Dr. Florin Pop, Dr. Adrian Ionescu, Dr. Zohreh Shavhar, and
the rest of my professors for their guidance along the way and for giving me the
education that I received here at Wagner. I would like to acknowledge my high school
pre-calculus, Mr. David Dannilack for believing in me when I was struggling in math,
and my high school physics teacher, Mr. David Klann for showing me that there is more
to the world of science than just biology and chemistry. Lastly, I would like to thank the
administration, staff, and student body of Wagner College for offering me the
opportunities that I was given over the last four years. I will certainly never forget my
time at Wagner and I wish everybody here the best of luck in their future endeavors.
VI. References
1. Beer, F.P. and Johnston, E.R., Mechanics of Materials, McGraw-Hill, 1981, p.585.
2.
Cengel, Y. A., Turner, R. H. and Cimbala, J. M. Thermal-Fluid Sciences, 5th edition,
McGraw-Hill, 2017, p. 635.
3.
Duffy, A.G., “Heat Transfer, and the first law of thermodynamics”, Boston
University, PY105 notes, 1998, http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/py105/notes
/Heattransfer.html
4.
Faghri, A. et al, “Modern Applications of Heat and Mass Transfer”, Advanced Heat
and Mass Transfer, Global Digital Press, 2010, pp. 61-65.
29
�5.
Incropera, F. and DeWitt, D., Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, (1985),
pp.43-47.
6.
Integrated Publishing, “Specific Action of Stresses”, Aviation Structural Mechanic
(H&S) 3&2 - How airplanes are built and how to maintain them, p. 20,
http://navyaviation.tpub.com/14018/css/Specific-Action-Of-Stresses-32.htm,
accessed April 2018.
7.
Jaluria, Y. and Torrance, K.E., Computational Heat Transfer, Hemisphere Publishing
Corporation, 1986, pp.108-111.
8.
James, W.D., Berger, T.G., and Elston, D.M. “Cutaneous laser surgery”, Diseases of
the Skin: Clinical Dermatology, 12th ed., Elsevier, 2016, pp. 888-899.
9.
Kish, A., Mui, W., “Track Buckling Research”, Tech Report, John A. Volpe
National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.), July 9, 2003,
https://www.volpe.dot.gov/
10. Pascoe, N.., Principles and Practice of Failure Prevention in Electric Systems, Wiley,
2011, p.94-95.
11. Qingsong, Wang et al., “Thermal shock effect on the glass thermal stress response
and crack”, Procedia Engineering 62 (2013), p.720.
12. Sakamoto, F.H., Jalian, H.R., and Anderson, R.R. “Understanding lasers, lights, and
tissue interactions”, Lasers and Lights: Procedures in Cosmetic Dermatology, 3rd
ed., Elsevier Saunders, 2013, pp. 1-8.
13. T. W. Davies, “Thermal Diffusivity”, Thermopedia, (2016), DOI: 10.1615/
AtoZ.thermal_diffusivity.
14. Wilson, Buffa, and Lou, College Physics, 7th Ed., Pearson, (2010), pp. 373-381.
15. “What are Laser Cutting Machines?”, Thomasnet, updated April 2018,
https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/custom-manufacturing-fabricating/laser-cuttingmachines.
30
�Appendix A
// Explicit finite-difference algorithm to solve two-dimensional
// transient conduction with heat addition.
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;
int imax;
int main()
{
double alpha, dx, dt, time, ambient, tfinal, FO, k, h;
double T[251][251], q[251][251], heatadd, thickness;
double heatloss;
int imax, jmax, i, j, counter;
bool iterate = true;
// fix the number of grid points in horizontal direction
imax = 250;
// fix the number of grid points in vertical direction
jmax = 250;
// provide thermal diffusivity (SI units)
alpha = 3.4E-07;
// give thermal conductivity
k = .78;
// set heat transfer coefficient
h = 75.0;
thickness = 0.01;
// provide grid point spacing (meters) assuming that dx=dy
dx = 0.001;
// provide time increments (seconds)
dt = 0.002;
// compute the Fourier number
FO = alpha * dt / (dx*dx);
// start at time=0 seconds
time = 0.0;
// the time at which the simulation ends in seconds
tfinal = 600.0;
// ambient temperature
ambient = 0.0;
// constant for convection term in finite difference equation
heatloss = h * dt * alpha / (k*thickness);
heatadd = heatloss/h;
31
�// initialize arrays associated w/temperature & heat addition
for (i = 0; i < imax + 1; i++)
{
for (j = 0; j < jmax + 1; j++)
{
// initialize temp to ambient conditions
T[i][j] = ambient;
// initialize grid points associated with
// internal heat transfer per unit volume
// only every third strip starting from the
// second will have heat addition
if (((j + 10) % 30) == 0)
{
cout << j << '\n';
q[i][j] = 35000;
}
else
q[i][j] = 0.0;
}
}
// begin marching through time
do
{
cout << time << "\n";
// solve for new temperature at interior points
for (i = 1; i < imax; i++)
{
for (j = 1; j < jmax; j++)
{
T[i][j] = T[i][j] + FO * (T[i + 1][j] +
T[i - 1][j]+T[i][j + 1] + T[i][j - 1] +
heatadd*q[i][j] -4 * T[i][j])- heatloss *
(T[i][j]-ambient);
}
}
// apply top and bottom boundary conditions
for (i = 1; i < imax; i++)
{
T[i][0] = ambient;
T[i][jmax] = ambient;
}
// apply left and right boundary conditions
for (j = 1; j < jmax; j++)
32
�{
T[0][j] = ambient;
T[imax][j] = ambient;
}
// apply boundary conditions at the corners
T[0][0] = ambient;
T[0][jmax] = ambient;
T[0][imax] = ambient;
T[imax][jmax] = ambient;
// is the final time reached
time = time + dt;
if (time > tfinal)
iterate = false;
} while (iterate);
// writing grid to a file in plot3d format
ofstream fout("heat.g");
fout << imax + 1 << "\t" << jmax + 1 << "\n";
counter = 0;
for (j = 0; j < jmax + 1; j++)
{
for (i = 0; i < imax + 1; i++)
{
counter = counter + 1;
fout << fixed << setprecision(4) <<
(double) dx *i << "\t";
if (counter % 5 == 0)
fout << endl;
}
}
fout << endl;
counter = 0;
for (j = 0; j < jmax + 1; j++)
{
for (i = 0; i < imax + 1; i++)
{
counter = counter + 1;
fout << fixed << setprecision(4) <<
(double) dx* j << "\t";
if (counter % 5 == 0)
fout << endl;
}
}
fout << "\n";
33
�fout.close();
// writing temperature distribution to file in plot3d format
ofstream fout2("heat.q");
fout2 << imax + 1 << "\t" << jmax + 1 << "\n";
fout2 << time << "\t" << dt << "\t" << h << "\t"
<< time << "\n";
counter = 0;
for (j = 0; j < jmax + 1; j++)
{
for (i = 0; i < imax + 1; i++)
{
counter = counter + 1;
fout2 << fixed << setprecision(4) << left
<< setw(9) <<
T[i][j] << "\t";
if (counter % 5 == 0)
fout2 << endl;
}
}
fout2 << endl;
counter = 0;
for (j = 0; j < jmax + 1; j++)
{
for (i = 0; i < imax + 1; i++)
{
counter = counter + 1;
fout2 << fixed << setprecision(4) << left
<< setw(9) <<
q[i][j] << "\t";
if (counter % 5 == 0)
fout2 << endl;
}
}
fout2 << endl;
counter = 0;
for (j = 0; j < jmax + 1; j++)
{
for (i = 0; i < imax + 1; i++)
{
counter = counter + 1;
fout2 << fixed << setprecision(4) << left
<< setw(9) <<
T[i][j] << "\t";
34
�if (counter % 5 == 0)
fout2 << endl;
}
}
fout2 << endl;
counter = 0;
for (j = 0; j < jmax + 1; j++)
{
for (i = 0; i < imax + 1; i++)
{
counter = counter + 1;
fout2 << fixed << setprecision(4) << left
<< setw(9) <<
T[i][j] << "\t";
if (counter % 5 == 0)
fout2 << endl;
}
}
fout2 << "\n";
fout2.close();
// writing temperature distribution at x=125 to file
ofstream fout3("heat.dat");
counter = 0;
for (j = 0; j < jmax + 1; j++)
{
counter = counter + 1;
fout3 << fixed << setprecision(4) << left
<< setw(9) <<
(double)dx *j << T[125][j] << "\n";
}
fout3.close();
//find average temp
double sum;
sum = 0.0;
ofstream fout4("avgtemp.dat");
for (i = 0; i < imax+1; i++)
{
for (j = 0; j < jmax+1; j++)
{
sum = sum+T[i][j];
}
}
35
�sum = sum / (251 * 251);
fout4 << fixed << setprecision(4) << left << setw(9)
<< sum << "\n";
return 0;
}
36
���The Role of Overprescription in Antibiotic
Resistance among Adult Hospitalized Patients1
Cathryn Cantyne (Nursing), Claire Johnson (Nursing), Jacqueline Otake (Nursing)2
Antibiotics were once a lifesaving discovery that reduced morbidity rates for
numerous illnesses. However, in recent years, antibiotic resistance has become a concern
in New York City as well as nationally and globally. Bacteria becomes resistant due to
prescriber or patient overuse or misuse. Antibiotics kill sensitive bacteria, allowing
resistant bacteria to grow and multiply (New York State Department of Health
[NYSDOH], 2017). According to Livorsi, Comer, Matthias, Perencevich, & Bair (2015,
p. 7), this multifactorial issue is a result of patient expectation, lack of knowledge and/or
uncertainty regarding diagnosis on the part of healthcare providers. This paper explores
how nurses help decrease the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria, such as
clostridium difficile (CDI) and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
among New York City’s hospitalized adult patients.
Community Assessment and Analysis
Hospitals in the United States are analyzed at national, state, and local levels
based on their standardized infection ratio (SIR). This measurement compares the number
of reported hospital acquired infections to the predicted number of infections. Hospital
acquired cases are defined as a positive specimen obtained on day four or later following
hospital admission (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2017c).
According to “Medicare Hospital Compare Results” (n. d.), in 2014, New York State’s
SIR for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was 1.01, and for
clostridium difficile (CDI) the SIR ratio was 0.97. In comparison, the 2014 national
MRSA ratio was 0.92, and CDI ratio was 0.9. A SIR value greater than 1.0 means there
was a larger number of infections than predicted (NYSDOH, 2017). New York State’s
higher than national ratios supports the need for new, innovative interventions. To give a
few examples, Staten Island’s local hospital, Richmond University Medical Center,
currently has a MRSA ratio of 1.454 and a CDI ratio of 1.245, both are above national
1 Paper was presented at the Sigma Theta Tau Collaborative Research/Evidence Based
Practice Expo at Staten Island University Hospital and at the Wagner College Senior
Poster Presentations.
2 Written under the direction of Prof. Josephine Marcantonio for NR400: Nursing Research.
39
�averages. Bellevue, the oldest hospital in the city, has lower rates of 0.868 for MRSA and
0.767 for CDI; while New York Presbyterian, has shown higher than normal rates with a
MRSA ratio of 0.936 and CDI ratio of 1.046 (“Medicare Hospital Compare Results,”
n.d.). Although ratios vary among hospitals in New York City, improvement is important
for all.
High SIRs not only decrease hospital quality, but also cause an economic
burden. Overall, the national direct cost of healthcare associated infections (HAI) range
from 28 to 45 billion dollars annually (Scott, 2009). The average cost of hospital onset
CDI per case was an additional $34,157, with a total annual cost of 6.3 million dollars
(Chit et al., 2016). MRSA costs approximately an additional $60,000 per case and 10
billion dollars per year nationally (Anderson et al., 2009). To incent hospitals to manage
these costs better, the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services established a HospitalAcquired Condition Reduction Program under the Affordable Care Act. The program
identifies and measures two domains: patient safety and health care associated infections.
This program reduces payments by one percent to hospitals with quality scores in the
lowest 25% (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 2010).
Antibiotic resistant bacteria were initially identified in 1940, but they have only
recently been tracked (CDC, 2017b). The Active Bacterial Core surveillance, a section of
the CDC’s Emerging Infections Program has nationally measured MRSA since 2005 and
CDI since 2012. This program identifies risk factors and monitors effectiveness of
interventional programs inside and outside of healthcare facilities. It identifies three main
racial profiles: White, Black and other. National rates of MRSA have been decreasing
since 2005, but Black Americans consistently have the highest prevalence rates compared
to Whites and others. In comparison, the statistics of CDI are almost opposite revealing
an increase of national rates and the highest prevalence among whites (CDC, 2016).
The NYSDOH is taking measures to reduce the prevalence rates of antibiotic.
They have teamed up with CDC in the educational campaign “Be Antibiotics Aware” to
teach health care providers and patients about antibiotic resistance and appropriate
antibiotic use. Promotional literature urges patients to not share, save or incompletely take
a course of antibiotics. Additionally, patients are instructed to avoid pressuring providers
to prescribe antibiotics when it is not indicated (U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week, 2018).
(CDC, 2018)
40
�In many hospitals, there are antibiotic stewardship programs lead by a
pharmacist to ensure the patient is getting the right drug and dose, at the right time (CDC,
2017c). In addition, the NYSDOH has started a New York State Antimicrobial
Resistance Prevention and Control Task Force which collaborates among federal, state
and local agencies to recommend new initiatives to combat this issue.
Problem in the Community
Globally, there is a rising prevalence of hospital-acquired infections, which
particularly affects those living in metropolitan communities. Antibiotic resistant bacteria
such as Clostridium difficile (CDI) and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) commonly cause infections that can be deadly, especially when they affect the
already vulnerable demographic of hospitalized patients. This antibiotic resistance is an
exceptionally urgent issue and needs to be rectified promptly. Additionally, though
antibiotic resistant infections typically originate in hospital settings, they can then travel
into the community via infected hosts.
Bacterial infections can be spread in several ways: airborne, through fluid
droplets, or through physical contact. Within large metropolitan communities like New
York City, where people live, work, and commute in close contact with one another, all
people are especially vulnerable to all routes of bacterial transmission. This is similarly
true of hospitalized patients in contracting antibiotic resistant infections, and although all
patients in a medical setting are at risk for infection, some demographics are at a higher
risk than others including young children, the elderly, and individuals with a
compromised immune system. Other risk factors include: long hospital stays (the longer a
patient is hospitalized exponentially increases their chance of acquiring a nosocomial
infection), the use of indwelling urinary catheters (which can act as a reservoir for
causative bacteria and lead to hospital-acquired urinary tract infections), healthcare
workers who fail to use proper hand hygiene and infection control, and the improper use
of antibiotics (including inappropriate prescription of antibiotics for viral or fungal
infections, or failure of patients to complete the prescribed course of antibiotics). The
improper use of antibiotics is arguably the most dangerous risk factor for hospitalacquired infections, as it is directly responsible for breeding potentially fatal antibiotic
resistant bacteria (Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Science, 2018).
A 20-year old longitudinal study of antibiotic resistance in Sweden found that,
“the high global use of antibiotics, the rapid spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria and the
lack of new, effective antibiotics has led to an imminent threat to health systems and
global development” (Mölstad, et al., 2017, p. 1). A study done by the American Center
for Disease Control (CDC) found that each year at least 2 million people become infected
41
�with antibiotic resistant bacteria, and as a direct result of these infections at least 23,000
people die annually (CDC, 2017). This is a highly relevant and time-sensitive issue that
needs to be addressed, analyzed, and resolved by the global community.
Antibiotic resistance is a global issue, but is particularly prevalent in the United
States and metropolitan areas because the way North American physicians prescribe
antibiotics, and furthermore because the American healthcare system has not yet fully
adapted to combat the rising threat of antibiotic resistance. For example, according to a
qualitative study that explored the prescribing decisions of 30 physicians in two
metropolitan hospitals in Indianapolis, Indiana,
“many [physicians] admitted to prescribing antibiotics even when the clinical
evidence of infection was uncertain. Overprescription was largely driven by
anxiety about missing an infection while potential adverse effects of antibiotics
did not strongly influence decision-making… there is a physician based culture
of prescribing antibiotics, which involves over-using antibiotics and not
challenging colleagues’ decisions.” (Livorsi , et al., 2015)
It’s important to note that this culture of overprescription is not specific to
Indianapolis and is a growing issue, in fact, roughly one third of all antibiotics prescribed
in the United States between 2010 and 2011 were unnecessary, “there was an estimated
annual antibiotic prescription rate per 1000 population of 506, but only an estimated 353
antibiotic prescriptions were likely appropriate, supporting the need for and establishing a
goal for outpatient antibiotic stewardship” (Fleming-Dutra, et al. 2011), and furthermore,
“up to 50% of the time antibiotics are not optimally prescribed, often done so when not
needed, incorrect dosing or duration” (CDC, 2017a). The CDC found that many
prescribers, when unsure about the etiology of a patient’s symptoms, just prescribed a
wide spectrum antibiotic to treat the potential of a bacterial infection, rather than wait for
definitive evidence of bacterial infection. This is a dangerous behavior that is responsible
for the rising incidence of antibiotic resistance.
If infectious bacteria continue to adapt to antibiotics, all current antibiotics will
eventually become obsolete. This is a formidable possibility, because if it occurs humans
will have absolutely no defense against causative organisms, which would be devastating
to public health worldwide, but particularly to large metropolitan areas where people live
in close contact with one another. The problem of antibiotic resistance is incredibly time
sensitive and needs to be addressed by both patients and medical professionals
immediately.
42
�Proposed Solution
The NYSDOH has developed and published a number of interventions to
address the wide-spread national problem of the overprescription of antibiotics. One of
their most notable and well-developed hospital efforts is the implementation of Antibiotic
Stewardship Programs (ASPs) (NYSDOH, 2017). The CDC defines an ASP as a program
that follows all seven of the CDC’s Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship
Programs. As of 2015, 58.3% of hospitals in New York State, as compared to a 48.1%
nationally, enforced CDC-recognized ASPs. The national goal is 100% hospital
participation by the year 2020 (CDC, 2015).
The CDC’s (2017c) 7 Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship
Programs define seven evidence-supported elements that the CDC believe are essential to
the success of hospital-instated ASPs: leadership commitment, accountability, drug
expertise, action, tracking, reporting, and education. Leadership commitment refers to the
dedication of hospital leaders in human, financial, and information technology resources
to the enforcement of stewardship efforts. For example, human resource departments
incorporate stewardship-related responsibilities, such as stewardship program leader or
pharmacy leader, into job descriptions and performance reviews. The accountability and
drug expertise elements call for the appointment of stewardship program leaders, such as
physicians, and pharmacy leaders as well as the delegation of stewardship-related tasks to
other key groups within the hospital. For example, nurses are tasked with obtaining
cultures prior to the initiation of antibiotics and inciting discussion among prescribers
regarding the indication and duration of antibiotic prescriptions. The fourth element,
action, addresses policies and interventions to improve antibiotic use. Documentation of
dose, duration, and indication is a simple, yet pivotal and versatile policy that aids
stewards in the identification and monitoring of antibiotic prescriptions (CDC, 2017c). In
accordance with the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, the CDC has published an
“Antibiotic Stewardship Driver Diagram and Change Package,” which outlines potential
interventions including how to develop a standardized guideline for antibiotic selection
and ensure the visibility and availability of patients’ antibiotic use histories (Institute for
Healthcare Improvement [IHI], 2012). It is recommended that hospitals be critical in
selecting interventions that appropriately match an institution’s available resources and
expertise. The tracking and reporting elements comprise of both monitoring the process
of antibiotic prescription as well as analyzing and reporting the outcomes of said
processes (CDC, 2017c). The last Core Element, education, focuses on educating staff
groups within the hospital with the goal of motivating improved prescribing habits.
Strategies include sharing updates of antibiotic-related issues on the local and national
43
�levels and teaching about appropriate antibiotic use through a variety of presentation and
messaging platforms. These Core Elements serve as a framework to guide participating
hospitals in the creation of successful stewardship programs but also call for flexibility
and personalization in their implementation (CDC, 2017c).
While the ASP’s Core Elements framework comprehensively and explicitly
states that a coordinated multidisciplinary approach is essential to the success of
stewardship programs, there is little mention of nurse involvement, with the exception of
the obtainment of cultures, and no section specifically addressing patient involvement.
Patient education, a primary nursing responsibility, can serve as an invaluable tool to
promote patients’ development of self-advocacy in hospitals. Specifically, patientdirected education about proper diagnosing, antibiotic prescribing practices, and
consequences of inappropriate prescribing not only better equips patients to become selfadvocates, but can potentially help to reduce overprescribing trends by tasking patients to
question the decisions and actions of their healthcare team.
In addition to being perceived as the most trusted profession by the American
public (Gallup, 2016), nurses are at the core of communication among antibiotic
stakeholders (American Nurses Association, 2017). Nurses are the key group positioned
to educate patients and influence the actions of prescribers. Nurse-led patient educational
efforts can be guided by Irwin Rosenstock’s Health Belief Model. This model focuses on
understanding the health-related perceptions of the individual through analysis and
mention of three crucial components: perceived susceptibility to a condition, perceived
seriousness of a condition, and perceived benefits of action (Taylor, 2015).
Applied to the problem at hand, the “condition” is the inappropriate prescription
of antibiotics in the hospital setting. Perceived susceptibility is addressed through alerting
the patient to their risk of being inappropriately prescribed an antibiotic by providing the
alarming statistic that 30 to 50% of antibiotics are inappropriately prescribed in hospital
settings (CDC, 2017a). Perceived seriousness is addressed by explaining antibiotic
resistance and development of bacteria resistant to antibiotics that can occur as a
dangerous and costly consequence of antibiotic overprescription. To satisfy the triad of
the health belief model, the patient and their family must be equipped with action to take
and be convinced that these actions will benefit the problem. Actions include questioning
prescribers and individuals administering antibiotics and expressing concern if an
antibiotic has been prescribed without the acquisition of a diagnostic culture. Questioning
healthcare providers can be very intimidating for some patients, so the National Patient
Safety Foundation has created the “Ask Me 3” model as a guide. The three simple
questions ask: What is my main problem? What do I need to do? And Why is it important
44
�for me to do this (IHI, 2017)? A complete health belief model requires cues to action that
remind the patient to participate in the aforementioned actions (Taylor, 2015, p. 53).
These reminders can take the form of flyers or ads within the hospital and in the
community.
The NYSDOH has published numerous educational resources and tools
targeting patient education applicable in the outpatient setting, but fails to provide
resources to educate inpatient populations (NYSDOH, 2017). Fortunately, many of the
outpatient-directed efforts can easily be modified and implemented to accommodate the
unique circumstances found within New York City’s inpatient settings. The first element
of inpatient education is an antibiotic educational session guided by the health belief
model. This session can be held by the staff nurse or nurse educator and should take place
as close to the patient’s admission to the hospital as possible. It is imperative that the
nurse performing the informational session verifies that the patient understands and
speaks English or obtains a translator. The patient and their family will be provided with
flyers briefly addressing the three components of the health belief model: the risk of
inappropriate antibiotic prescription, the consequences, and the actions that can be taken
to prevent it. These flyers will also be posted in patient rooms via posters and educational
television channels and around the hospital as computer screensavers. Once a pilot
program is run and the flyers are adjusted in accordance to maximize effectiveness, the
flyers will be printed in the most commonly spoken languages including English,
Bengali, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Italian, simplified Chinese, Korean,
Polish, Urdu, Yiddish, and Russian (NYC Health, 2017).
The community goal is to implement this two-part patient education effort in
five ASP-participating New York City hospitals. Prior to starting educational session and
distributing flyers, the current rates of antibiotic overprescription per unit will be
obtained from these hospitals and will be taken again after a 12-month trial period.
Antibiotic overprescription rates will be measured via thorough audit of prescriber’s
decisions. Success of the program will be determined by a five percent decrease in the
rate of overprescription in all five hospitals. If successful, this model should be
implemented in accordance with the CDC’s national goal of 100% hospital participation
in Antibiotic Stewardship Programs by the year 2020 (CDC, 2015).
Conclusion
Overprescription of antibiotics is a main contributing factor to the rising global
issue of antibiotic resistance. A particular demographic that requires intervention is New
York City’s adult inpatient population. Although the NYSDOH and the CDC have
established programs addressing this problem, there is a need for increased nurse
45
�involvement. Our proposed solution entails implementing nurse-led patient education to
promote patient self-advocacy and empowerment.
References
American Nurses Association. (2017). Redefining the Antibiotic Stewardship Team:
Recommendations from the American Nurses Association/Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention Workgroup on the Role of Registered Nurses in Hospital Antibiotic
Stewardship Practices. Retrieved from: http://www.nursingworld.org/ANA-CDCAntibioticStewardship-WhitePaper
Anderson, D. J., Kaye, K. S., Chen, L. F., Schmader, K. E., Choi, Y., Sloane, R., &
Sexton, D. J. (2009, December 15). Clinical and Financial Outcomes Due to Methicillin
Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Surgical Site Infection: A Multi-Center Matched
Outcomes Study. 4.Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0008305
Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Science. (2018). (Antibiotics and antibiotic
resistance. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.mass.gov/service-details/antibiotics-andantibiotic-resistance
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). [Map showing the percent of
hospitals with antibiotic stewardship programs by state, 2015]. Percent of Hospitals with
Antibiotic Stewardship Programs by State, 2015. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/
antibiotic-use/community/images/materials/2015-Percentages-B-rev3-01.jpg
Centers for Disease Control (2016, October 18). Healthcare-Associated Infections Community Interface (HAIC). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hai/eip/index.html
Centers for Disease Control (2017a). Antibiotic / Antimicrobial Resistance. Retrieved
from https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/about.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017b, November 17). Antibiotic
Prescribing and Use in Hospitals and Long-Term care. Retrieved from:
https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/healthcare/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017c, February 23). Core Elements of
Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/
antibiotic-use/healthcare/implementation/core-elements.html#_ENREF_49
46
�Centers for Disease Control (2017d). The NHSN Standardized Infection Ratio. Retrieved
from https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/pdfs/ps-analysis-resources/nhsn-sir-guide.pdf
Centers for Disease Control (2018, April 06). Antibiotic Prescribing and Use. Retrieved
from https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/
Chit, A., Balsells, E. M., Nair, H., Kyaw, M. H., Palazuelos-Munoz, S., & Zhang, S.
(2016, August 25). Cost of hospital management of Clostridium difficile infection in
United States-a meta-analysis and modelling study. 8. Retrieved from
http://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-016-1786-6
Fleming-Dutra KE, Hersh AL, Shapiro DJ, et al. Prevalence of Inappropriate Antibiotic
Prescriptions Among US Ambulatory Care Visits, 2010-2011. JAMA. 2016;315(17):
1864–1873. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.4151
Gallup. (2016). Honesty/Ethics in Professions. Available at: http://www.gallup.com/
poll/1654/honesty-ethics-professions.aspx
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2012, July). Antibiotic Stewardship Driver
Diagram and Change Package. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/
healthcare/pdfs/Antibiotic_Stewardship_Change_Package_10_30_12.pdf
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2017). Ask Me 3: Good Questions for Your Good
Health. Retrieved from: http://www.npsf.org/page/askme3
Livorsi, D., Comer, A., Matthias, M., Perencevich, E., & Bair, M. (2015). Factors
influencing antibiotic-prescribing decisions among inpatient physicians: A qualitative
Investigation. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, (9), 1065-1072.
7.doi:10.1017/ice.2015.136
Medicare Hospital Compare Results. (n.d.). Retrieved, from https://www.medicare.gov/
hospitalcompare/results.html#dist=25&lat=40.6274394&lng=-74.0946311&loc=10301
Mölstad, S., Löfmark, S., Carlin, K., Erntell, M., Aspevall, O., Blad, L., & ... Cars, O.
(2017). Lessons learnt during 20 years of the Swedish strategic program against
antibiotic resistance. Bulletin of The World Health Organization, 95(11), 764-773. doi:
10.2471/BLT.16.184374
47
�New York State Department of Health (2017, November). Antibiotic Resistance.
Retrieved from https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/protocols_and_guidelines/
antibiotic_resistance/
NYC Health. (2017). Threats. Retrieved from: http://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/
emergency-preparedness/threats.page
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https://www.cdc.gov/hai/pdfs/hai/scott_costpaper.pdf
Taylor, C., Lillis, C., Lynn, P., LeMone, P., & LeBon, M. (2015). Health, Illness, and
Disparities. Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Person-Centered Nursing
Care. (pp. 42-57). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health.
U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week. (2018, March 30). Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/week/index.html
48
���Beautiful Nude Girls: Art and Female
Sexuality in Nazi Germany1
Jordan Gonzales (Art History and Anthropology)2
“In mobilizing leisure, National Socialism encountered one of the last bulwarks behind
which the progressive elements of individualism were still alive…In the solitude of
peaceful enjoyment, the individual may come to think, his impulses, feelings, and
thoughts may be driven to regions which are foreign and inimical to the prevailing
order. We mention here only two stimuli of this tendency: sex and art.”
-
Herbert Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,” in Technology,
War, and Fascism: Collected Papers of Herbert Marcuse, volume 1, ed. Douglas
Kellner (London: Routledge, 1998), 89, Taylor & Francis e-Library.
It is the aim of this essay to understand how the National Socialist regime used
fine art to exercise power affirmatively in order to control the body politic. Sexuality
presents a case in which both repression and affirmation play critical roles in the
consolidation of state power, particularly as sexuality is often perceived, both historically
and contemporaneously, as outside of the realm of control of state institutions. This
perception in itself often reflects a discordance with realities of modern Western
societies, and the relationship between sex and state power is perhaps most acute and
catastrophic in the National Socialist regime. Crucial to the fortification of power derived
from controlling sexuality was the utilization of “polymorphous techniques of power”3meaning the deployment of a variety of methods to exert power in multiple spheres of
life. Power can be exercised through written codification in the legal system, verbally
through official and unofficial iterations of administrative and popular leaders, and
When this article was originally printed in the spring 2018 issue it contained an
additional paragraph that belonged to another article. To correct this error the article has
been reprinted here. The editor apologizes for the typo.
2 Written under the direction of Dr. Laura Morowitz for AR291H: Art and Aesthetics in the
Third Reich.
3 Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, volume 1: An Introduction (New York:
Vintage Books, 1990), 11.
1
51
�visually through art and propaganda. This essay is concerned with the latter, particularly
with the subtle propagandistic edification of individuals through fine art.
‘Fine art,’ or ‘high art,’ in the Western world is characterized by being steeped
in European academic tradition and is associated with class, wealth, and privilege. For
these reasons, fine art may constitute a less aggressive form of propaganda, what
Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels called ‘unsichtbare propaganda’ - invisible
propaganda.4 In this way, fine art has the potential to reach more educated and privileged
classes that may be more critical of overt or ostentatious approaches to propaganda.
Additionally, these same audiences are more likely to be beholden to traditional
constraints of behavior, especially sexual mores, characteristic of middle and higher
socioeconomic classes. Therefore, messages contained within works of fine art can be
posed subtly and amiably, particularly in the realm of sex and sexuality. One particularly
relevant and useful case is that of Botticelli's Primavera - placed in the sleeping quarters
of a Medici bride, the painting abounds in images of fertility. A reading of the painting
from right to left shows the scene of the rape of Chloris by Zephyrus, leading to her
impregnation and transformation into Flora. Along with the obvious intimation of the
bride’s responsibility of fertile reproduction, the rape scene provides a subtle reassurance
that even if the bride does not desire her husband, she must succumb to him so that she
may bear children. In this way, the repeated consumption of images in works of fine art
in quotidian experience helps to embed certain messages and ideas about the world and
how to behave in it.
In a similar way, fine art created within National Socialism and promoted by its
political and cultural leaders proliferated images meant to inculcate viewers about correct
ideas and behaviors. Female sexuality was not excluded from the realm of the
‘unsichtbare propaganda’ that characterized much (if not all) of the fine art approved by
the state. National Socialist artists and art critics appropriated the classical Italian
Renaissance genre of oil painting of the female nude to synthesize a quasi-classical
aesthetic. Through the appropriated aesthetic and its iconography, the National Socialist
regime constructed the ideal, liberated, female sexuality and edified women on this ideal;
however, this sexual liberation did not give the individual agency, but rather was a means
of subverting sexual behaviors to the benefit and greater control of the state.
The creation of a National Socialist quasi-classical or neo-classical aesthetic is
by no means novel or unknown. A whole host, if not all, post-Enlightenment societies
utilize the appropriated styles and aesthetics to visually legitimize their power by evoking
Terri J. Gordon, “Fascism and the Female Form: Performance Art in the Third Reich,”
Journal of the History of Sexuality 11, no. 1/2 (January/April 2002): 170.
4
52
�a sense of historical constitution and authority, both of which are actually constructions
of the institutions and administrations in power at a given time. While the first medium to
come to mind might be architecture5, the power of classical appropriation is no less true
for studio art forms. Accordingly, the National Socialist appropriation of the classical
language of the female nude helps to visually legitimize the intervention of the state over
the individual body, as well as indoctrinate ‘pure’ German women on virtuous behaviors,
appearance, and ideals in accordance with National Socialist Ideology. The evocation of a
historically constituted narrative within Germany and within the National Socialist
regime is relatively easy to ascertain. The relations of authority and agency which are
mediated in the genre of the female nude are more nuanced, in that the images attest to
the manipulation of individual female sexuality. Both the history and relations of power
evoked in paintings of the National Socialist style of the nude are premised on falsehoods
constructed by the state, in service of the state, with no actual regard for the
individualism of the viewers.
This essay raises the question of how, in the fine art of National Socialism, the
traditionally male gaze is conflated with, even replaced by, the gaze of the state. The
possibility of a ‘state gaze’ is proposed as the mechanism of control in the fine art of
National Socialist Germany, a gaze which unified works of art in light of unsuccessful
attempts of Party leaders to create an official and distinct National Socialist style of art.6
In this respect, it would not matter that the viewer have ownership of the subject and her
sexuality as they do in the classical genre, but rather the nude subject, and consequently
her sexuality, are constructed by and belong to the state, and that it is through the ‘state
gaze’ that the viewer understands the subject. Therefore, the relation of power between
the subject and average viewer is altered, as the viewer no longer has ownership over the
subject and her sexuality, but rather an access that has been permitted by the owner - the
state. When the viewer is female, she may identify herself with the subject and the
sexuality with which she had been imbued. This is doubly enforced when one considers
how art acts as an apparatus of the state’s omnipresent control in individual life, and so
through the gaze of the state the female viewer “...comes to consider the surveyor and the
surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as
a woman,”7 through which she is free to experience the subject’s sexuality as both her
Frederic Spotts, Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics (New York: Overlook Press, 2003),
311.
6 Olaf Peters, “Genesis, Conception, and Consequences: The ‘Entartete Kunst’ Exhibition
in Munich in 1937,” in Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern art in Nazi Germany,
1937, ed. Olaf Peters (Munich: Prestel, 2014), 107.
5
53
�own and belonging to the state. Attempting to identify how a ‘state gaze’ was imposed on
German art may prove to be more successful and revealing in understanding the
importance and role of fine art in the Reich than attempting to identify a distinct style of
National Socialist art.
The concerted efforts on the part of Hitler and Josef Goebbels to create an
official category of National Socialist art largely failed because there were no standards
established by which to judge works of art, although there was a more clear distinction of
what was considered unacceptable. General ideas about the importance of realism were
perhaps the only commonality among works chosen, and state-appointed juries generally
exalted “works that were not exactly ideologically motivated but rather mainly
landscapes, genre paintings, and paintings of animals. Other than that, they primarily
featured depictions of women, especially nudes vaguely modeled on antiquity.”8 Works
deemed acceptable by these juries and other administrators were showcased in the Haus
der Deutschen Kunst (House of German Art), meant to house the best of German art and
serve as the “beginning of the end of the stultification of German art and the end of the
cultural destruction of [the German] people.”9 One artist involved in the attempts to
visually stylize National Socialism and to be showcased in the Haus der Deutschen Kunst
was Adolf Ziegler, who also served as president of the Reichskammer der bildenden
Kunst (Reich Chamber of the Fine Arts) - his triptych Die vier Elemente (The Four
Elements) [see Figure I] was even bought by Hitler and hung above his fireplace at the
Führerbau in Munich.10
In this kitschy appropriation of the classical nude, Ziegler imbued his female
subjects with a sexuality that was not entirely dependent upon the assumed male viewer,
but rather which was constructed in accordance with state ideology. Paradoxically,
however, his subjects were not endowed with agency over their sexuality and implicitly
accompanied sexual behaviors- these were to be channeled in service of the volk, a cause
more important and virtuous than a woman’s own individual desires. In this way, Ziegler
was able to edify women on their sexuality and how to behave as sexual beings not for
the sake of sex itself, but in service of the Reich. Such sexual ideologies as portrayed in
these paintings conform to the hypocritical and paradoxical nature of the National
7
John Berger, Ways of seeing (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1973), 46.
Peters, “Genesis, Conception, and Consequences,” 108.
9 “Hitler’s Speech at the Opening of the House of German Art in Munich (July 18,
1937),” German History in Documents and Images, accessed November 28, 2017,
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/docpage.cfm?docpage_id=2374
10 Peters, “Genesis, Conception, and Consequences,” 110.
8
54
�Socialist regime, and attest to the cacophony of policies and attitudes towards the role of
women and their sexuality in National Socialist Germany.
National Socialist attitudes and policies regarding sex and sexuality deserve
particular scrutiny because of the way in which “sex was not something one simply
judged; it was something one administered.”11 That is to say, sex and sexuality under
National Socialism was not just restricted and repressed for some groups, but
simultaneously promoted and proliferated for one group in service of the nation, that
group being healthy and racially pure Germans. The nature of power in modern Western
society is to be repressive, especially in regards to the repression of “useless energies, the
intensity of pleasure, and irregular modes of behavior”12 like those stemming from sex
and sexuality. It cannot be contested that the National Socialist repression of ‘deviant’
and ‘perverse’ sexualities, behaviors, and relations were firmly founded in eugenics. Such
repression of deviance is certainly elucidated by the desire to extinguish any and all
behaviors which would subvert the ideologies and agenda of the National Socialist party.
However, when one considers what may be implied as the opposite of this - that is, the
promotion of energies, pleasures, and behaviors which are useful to the state - then
National Socialist attitudes towards sexual liberation begin to make sense.
Sexual desires and their fulfillment in the realm of and for the sake of the
individual are threatening to society and to the state. Within the realm of the individual,
the satisfaction and happiness which are derived from the fulfillment of sexual desires is
impervious to the intervention of external agencies and institutions, and therefore creates
a division between the individual and society grounded in the inability of the state to
fulfill those desires. In a fascist regime of the intensity of National Socialism, such
division undermines the authority and autonomy of the state over individual bodies and
the body politic, and constitutes a waste of time and energy on behaviors which do not
serve a virtuous purpose. By socializing the individual and their sexuality, the state can
reconstitute its authority and channel sexually fulfilling behaviors to be ‘useful’ in
society. In the National Socialist regime, “the individual [was] ‘socialized’ in the
distorted sense that society itself [took] over his [or her] oppressed and deteriorated
instincts and interests and [asserted] then on an international scale…”13 This assertion fell
Foucault, The History of Sexuality, 24.
Foucault, The History of Sexuality, 9.
13 Herbert Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,” in Technology,
War, and Fascism: Collected Papers of Herbert Marcuse, volume 1, ed. Douglas Kellner
(London: Routledge, 1998), 90, Taylor & Francis e-Library.
11
12
55
�under the label of ‘sexual liberation,’ and is very much framed within the context of
National Socialist racial policies and eugenic agenda.
Employing Foucault’s theories of sexuality and power is useful when examining
the dichotomy of sexual repression and sexual liberation in the ideologies and policies of
the National Socialist regime, and how the latter pair were successfully transmitted
through art. To begin, unlike other forms of repression, state repression of sex and
sexuality is often publicly acknowledged, and even lauded as a virtue of ‘civilization.’ In
this way, sexual repression of ‘racially impure,’ non-heterosexual relations provided the
regime with a publicly acceptable means to exert control over deviants within the body
politic. This also made more subtle expressions of this control through art all the more
effective and nonsuspect. However, in order to exert comprehensive control over sex and
sexuality, sexual repression alone is insufficient.
Repression worked in conjunction with methods focusing less on exterminating
measures and more on the employment of “a policing of sex: that is, not the rigor of a
taboo, but the necessity of regulating sex through useful and public discourses,”14 such as
visually through the arts. Such policing characterizes the proliferation of discourses on
what sex should be and its greater purpose for the volk. It is in this context that sexual
liberation acted as a positive exercise of power, in that the promotion of certain
sexualities and sexual behaviors - in this case among racially pure, heterosexual men and
women - and their liberation from traditional mores promoted the control of the state over
the body politic, and in fact created the perception of this control as amicable to the
individual.
It must be admitted that “the working of socio-psychological mechanisms [of
the National Socialist Party] cannot be verified by official or semi-official documents; it
must be elucidated by careful interpretation of the behavior and utterances of National
Socialist groups in certain characteristic situations.”15 Artistic creation can be understood
as one such utterance, one whose subjectivity permits the interpretation and
reinterpretation of meaning and message which can help to penetrate the complexities of
human existence at any given moment in time. Art under National Socialism lends itself
well to such interpretations as even Hitler himself attested to the necessity of integrating
art into daily life so as to reconcile the individual and the masses with the world as it was,
or at the very least as Hitler wanted it to be.16 Through its efforts to bring ‘fine’ or ‘high’
Foucault, The History of Sexuality, 25.
Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,” 87.
16 “Hitler’s Speech at the Opening of the House of German Art in Munich (July 18,
1937),” German History in Documents and Images, accessed November 28, 2017,
14
15
56
�art into the everyday lived experience of the body politic, the National Socialist
administration successfully employed fine art as ‘unsichtbare propaganda.’ The style and
subjects of such art, however, was meticulously selected so as to reflect the ideals and
vision of the Party - idyllic scenes of “beautiful nude girls”17 in an appropriated, quasiclassical style were among the favored.
With Hitler’s and the National Socialist Party’s efforts to bring art into the
everyday lives of the German community, eroticized images of the female nude acted as
affirming and normalizing agents which reached a larger audience than might have
normally been exposed to the genre. Repeatedly seeing images of the nude figure “acts as
a confirmation and provokes a very strong sense of relief…[the viewer is] overwhelmed
by the marvelous simplicity of the familiar sexual mechanism.”18 It follows, then, that
there might have existed comfort in the validation and reassurance of seeing young,
beautiful, Aryan women in the National Socialist appropriation of the genre of the nude.
This was perhaps further reinforced by the state’s explicit and implicit endorsement of
such images in fine art, images meant to attest to the racial perfection and superiority of
the German volk, and to the usefulness of sexual behaviors, traditionally deemed as
immoral misconduct, for the state. Through these artistic images, the viewer could be
reaffirmed of their relation to the subjects and their sexuality as they were oriented within
the mechanisms and ideals of the state.
It is imperative at this point to identify more explicitly the specific attitudes and
policies of the National Socialist administration which characterized sexual liberation,
and how liberation actually served as a means to greater control of the state over
individual and collective bodies. Most generally, the National Socialist party advocated
for a liberation from the “the Christian precepts of chastity, monogamy, and the sanctity
of the home,”19 around which so much of Western morality was and continues to be built.
The National Socialist Party achieved the rejection of and liberation from these sexual
mores through ending stigmatization and discrimination of illegitimate mothers and
children, through the promotion of extra-marital sex between healthy, heterosexual,
Aryan Germans, through introducing a new cult of nudity in art and entertainment, and
through dissolving the traditional, private responsibilities of the family unit and the
destruction of patriarchal and monogamous standards of individual, interpersonal
relationships.20 Furthermore, sexual liberation only created the veneer of individual
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/docpage.cfm?docpage_id=2374
17 Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,” 87 & 92.
18 Berger, Ways of seeing, 59.
19 Gordon, “Fascism and the Female Form,” 166.
57
�autonomy and agency over the use of sexuality, but the reality was that “the state
instituted a politics of the body that rendered the individual body a public site whose
purpose was to further the larger social organism.”21 Sexual liberation, then, became a
privilege and perhaps even a right of those citizens subjects who belonged to the National
Socialist volksgemeinschaft, as these were the citizens who could (re)produce the Aryan
race and the German nation. Not only was this privilege affirmed politically by National
Socialist leaders, but it was affirmed and normalized culturally through the arts via
images of ideal Aryan bodies that constituted the cult of the body and the cult of nudity
of the time.
The argument and the questions raised in this essay must be contextualized
within this cult of nudity and the obsession of the National Socialist Party with the body
of the Aryan race; in order to understand images of nudity in fine art the precedent must
be understood of how these images operated in other spheres of visual culture and artistic
expression. Most fundamental to all of this is the National Socialist “notion of the healthy
body as a microcosm for the healthy state.”22 In this regard, the Aryan body must be
exalted and venerated for its naturally superior vigor and beauty, and to see these bodies
nude is not shameful, but celebratory. In following this, sexual acts leading to the
creation of these bodies and the continuation of the race were to be equally exalted. This
cult obsession with nudity and the Aryan body is most manifest in film and the
performing arts, and much of the literature of the National Socialist cult of nudity focuses
on these areas of artistic production.23 Leading National Socialist race-theorist Dr. Hans
Endres attested to the usefulness of near-pornographic images of German men and
women in film as a means to “propagate a new way of life in Europe” in which Aryan
youth may “become proud of their bodies and enjoy the natural pleasures of sex without
being ashamed.”24 It is not without precedent, therefore, that the imbuement of nude
subjects in with a real and natural sexuality occured intentionally in the fine art of
National Socialist Germany. However, the relationship between nudity and sexuality in
the fine art of the regime differs from the classical genre of the female nude, and these
differences are slight but significant.
While the usefulness of emulating the classical female nude is necessary to
understanding the relationship between art, sexuality, and the National Socialist state, as
Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,” 84.
Gordon, “Fascism and the Female Form,” 164.
22 Gordon, “Fascism and the Female Form,” 165.
23 Gordon, “Fascism and the Female Form.”
24 Endres quoted in George W. Herald, “Sex is a Nazi Weapon,” The American Mercury
54, no. 222 (June 1942), 661.
20
21
58
�important is considering ways in which the appropriated, quasi-classical style deviated
from the tropes of the classical nude and the effect of such deviation. In appropriation,
deviating from the original creates a cognitive dissonance between what the viewer
expects based on prior experience with the original style, and what they actually see in
front of them in the new work. At the very least, the effect is to disrupt the viewer’s
experience of the work, whether the interruption be positive or negative. To the more
critical viewer, this disruption calls attention to what has changed and why, and prompts
the viewer to consider the effect of that change stylistically and interpretatively.
Generally, the National Socialist style of the nude oil painting deviates from the classical
genre in the way in which is creates a distinct subject both in the formal style and the
attributes of the nude subject.
Whereas the idealized rendering of the classical nude was meant to evoke the
sublime perfection of the Greek and Roman pantheons, the distinctive realism of the
National Socialist style was mean to attest to the natural beauty of the ideal German
woman. Hitler’s mandate that only true and great art could depict natural forms in the
highest degree of realism is reflected in the “...the stimulating distinctness with which
National Socialist artists expose the erogenous zones of the body. Hitler established the
combination of ‘expediency and beauty’ as the highest principle of art,” and demanded
that male and female bodies be presented with absolute realism and correctness. This
realism served as a celebration and exaltation of the German body, and reflected the
racist ideology and population politics of the National Socialist Party. Only the most
perfect Aryan forms were worthy of extolment and immortalization in the medium of fine
art, and only these bodies were worthy of reproduction (that is, both artistically and
physically).
Framing ‘racially pure’ German women as the subjects in the artistic tradition of
the nude provided German women a history they could potentially identify with, since in
the National Socialist model, “women had no history at all… Because they exerted no
force in politics and economic change, women would provide a constant backdrop to
men’s history.”25 In the same way that emulating classical architecture evokes the idea of
ancient origins of power for the state, appropriating the classical nude with the
undeniably Aryan woman as the subject evokes the idea that this breed of woman has
existed and been exalted since antiquity, and therefore is justified as an ideal standard. In
a society that gave women a scathingly limited role as active participants, creating this
Claudia Koonz, “The Second Sex in the Third Reich” in Mothers in the Fatherland:
women, the family, and Nazi politics, ed. Claudia Koonz (New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1987), 178.
25
59
�sense of historical narrative vindicated the state’s view of women by giving them images
asserting their descent from these ancient, if not timeless, subjects.
Instrumental to enabling identification with the historical narrative of the genre
was painting women who looked undeniably Aryan. Take, for example, the four women
in Ziegler's triptych The Four Elements [fig I]. The facial features of each woman
conform distinctly to the ideal of the Aryan woman, yet their features are not so idealized
that they become nondescript or detached from reality, as the mythological figures of
classical nude paintings are often rendered. This ideal yet identifiable depiction gives the
female viewer a sense of a glorified place in the cultural history of Germany. It also gives
her a sense of the timeless and natural existence of her exalted sexuality which comes
from being a member of the Aryan race, thereby validating her own sexual desires and
contextualizing them as necessary to the development of German culture.
The distinction with which the faces of these subjects are painted approaches
portraiture. In this way, the nude subjects possess a degree of personhood or identity that
is normally absent in the generic beauty of the classical and Renaissance nudes. Allowing
the subject to possess her own identity disrupts the passivity characteristic of the classical
nude, and reinforces the idea that the woman is permitted to actively cultivate and
exercise her sexuality. However, this individuality is limited by the non-specificity of the
bodies of the subjects, as is apparent in The Four Elements [fig. I] - all four of the women
appear distinct in their facial features, but their bodies bear little, if any, individuality. It
almost appears as if the artist has taken portraits and transplanted them onto the same
body, and the effect is disorienting. Even so, the contrast illuminates how these paintings
at the very least attempted to mediate the paradox of simultaneous affirmation of female
sexuality while claiming the agency over that sexuality for the state rather than for the
individual. And although distinctive faces facilitated identification of the viewer with the
subjects, by associating the sexuality of the subject with a generic image of femininity,
sexuality becomes something which is not conflated with or constituted by individualism,
but rather is seen through the homogenizing gaze of the state. Still, despite the nonspecificity in rendering different images of the feminine form, these images were painted
with acute consideration for the real and natural beauty specific to the German female
body.
If the German female form was to be appreciated and celebrated in its totality
for its superior natural vigor and beauty, then true depictions of the female form could
exclude nothing, not even pubic hair. In this respect the National Socialist quasi-classical
genre of the nude deviates once more from the classical style in a subtle yet impactful
way. The convention in classical painting to exclude pubic hair from the female nude
60
�reinforced the construction of the subject as a passive sexual object because “hair is
associated with sexual power, with passion. The woman’s sexual passion needs to be
minimized so that the spectator may feel that he has the monopoly of such passion.”26
This is not to say that National Socialist artists intentionally included women’s pubic hair
for the sake of reflecting her sexual passion. Rather, the emphasis on the showing the
naturalness of the German female form inadvertently led to the incorporation of the
sexuality inherent in that form.
Likewise, the viewer of these highly realistic images does not possess a
‘monopoly’ of the subject’s passion, as that monopoly belongs exclusively to the state. In
this case, the subject’s sexuality does not necessarily require mediation by the
omnipresent state - it is clear that this sexuality comes not from the woman as an
individual, but is the result of the vigor of her superior Aryan body. Furthermore, the
sexuality which is evoked by endowing these figures with the utmost realism serves,
perhaps to a greater extent, to titillate the viewer in order to encourage sexual behaviors
which lead to the propagation of the German volk.
The appropriation of the classical genre of the nude by the National Socialist
regime was an intrinsically ironic practice when one considers how “the nude in
European oil painting is usually presented as an admirable expression of the European
humanist spirit,” and how “this spirit was inseparable from individualism.”27 National
Socialism was by nature vehemently anti-individualist, but the creation of such works
concealed this nature by promoting a false image of humanism through the female form
while subtly dictating the ideals of the Aryan woman for the agenda of the state. Rather
than creating a distinct category of ‘National Socialist art,’ this subtle edification and
propagation was achieved through a state-constructed gaze which permeated fine art and
dictated modes of seeing and interpreting images. In this way, images of female subjects
endowed with sexuality transformed “stimuli for protest and rebellion into stimuli for
coordination” and reconciliation of the paradoxical ideals and ideologies of National
Socialism.28 Through the medium of fine art, the National Socialist party was able to
penetrate into one of the most private spheres of individualist society and transform those
desires and actions embedded within it into a means by which to propagate the state and
the German volk.
Attempting to conceive art and sexuality as working in harmony with the agenda
of the National Socialist administration is difficult, but it is still important to pose such
Berger, Ways of seeing, 55.
Berger, Ways of seeing, 62.
28 Marcuse, “State and Individual Under National Socialism,” 92.
26
27
61
�questions in order to understand how the regime was able to irrationally harmonize
enormously dissonant ideas and behaviors to achieve their goals. It might not be
discernable to what extent the edification of women on sexuality through fine art was
actually effective, however it must at least be considered in order to understand the extent
to which National Socialist control intervened in every possible sphere of individual and
collective life. Likewise, it might be erroneous to draw such conclusions in hindsight, but
this essay does not propose to find conclusive answers. Rather the goal is to open up
possibilities for further exploration in order to understand the mechanisms of National
Socialist power more profoundly.
Figure I. The Four Elements by Adolf Ziegler, Oil on canvas, 1937
https://www.sartle.com/artwork/the-four-elements-fire-water-and-earth-air-adolf-ziegler
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of German Art in Munich (July 18, 1937).” Accessed November 28, 2017.
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/docpage.cfm?docpage_id=2374
Gordon, Terri J. “Fascism and the Female Form: Performance Art in the Third Reich.”
Journal of the History of Sexuality 11, no. 1/2 (January/April 2002): 164-200.
Herald, George W. “Sex is a Nazi Weapon.” The American Mercury 54, no. 222 (June
1942): 656-665.
Koonz, Claudia. “The Second Sex in the Third Reich.” In Mothers in the Fatherland:
women, the family, and Nazi politics, edited by Claudia Koonz, 175-219. New York: St.
Martin’s Press, 1987
Marcuse, Herbert. “State and Individual Under National Socialism.” In Technology, War,
and Fascism: Collected Papers of Herbert Marcuse, Volume 1, edited by Douglas
Kellner. London: Routledge, 1998. 67-92. Taylor & Francis e-Library.
Peters, Olaf. “Genesis, Conception, and Consequences: The ‘Entartete Kunst’ Exhibition
in Munich in 1937.” In Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern art in Nazi Germany,
1937. Edited by Olaf Peters, 106-125. Munich: Prestel, 2014.
Spotts, Frederic. Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics. New York: Overlook Press, 2003.
Von Lüttichau, Mario-Andreas. “Crazy at Any Price: The Pathologizing of Modernism in
the Run-Up to the ‘Entartete Kunst” Exhibition in Munich in 1937.” In Degenerate Art:
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Prestel, 2014.s
63
�Eréndira and her Heartless Grandmother: Gabriel
García Márquez’s Political and Social Allegory
Jacquelyn Thorsen1
Gabriel García Márquez was well known throughout Latin America for his use
of the postcolonial narrative technique of magical realism. Magical realism varies
between authors because each author includes magical features unique to their own
culture. As described by Dhanabal, “The variable features of the magical realist novel are
local or native narrative traditions that are brought by the practitioners of this literary
genre into contact with and incorporated into the European realistic novel” (46). In his
homeland of Colombia, Márquez lived in the coastal area, where he was exposed to an
array of cultural influences: colonial Spanish culture, native Indian culture and the AfroCaribbean culture. This mixture of cultural influences was the reason for his “distinct,
hybrid reality”, that was so prominent in his works of magical realism (Dhanabal 48).
The supernatural factors of Caribbean culture played an important role in the written
works of Márquez, as he seamlessly intertwined magic with the realistic everyday life of
his characters. None of his characters expressed bewilderment when they witnessed a
supernatural incidence. This tension of reality and magic, that was accepted by Márquez
and his characters, was mostly rejected by the “Western” sense of reality (Dhanabal 53).
According to Dhanabal, “García Márquez uses magical realism to attack the assumptions
of the dominant culture… By equating magic with realism, García Márquez sabotaged
the notion that Western realism is superior to the myth and magic of the colonial nations”
(51, 54). Throughout many of his works Márquez used magical realism to reject and
expose dominant features of Colombian culture that he disapproved of.
In the film Eréndira, which is based on Márquez’s short story The Incredible
and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother, Márquez used his
magical realism to point out the excessive violence and confusion of Colombian politics
(Dhanabal 51). Márquez lived through La Violencia, which was the Colombian civil war
between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party. Therefore Márquez’s short stories
during and after the ten year civil war, were inspired by the political and social turmoil in
Colombia. They served as political and social allegories that exploited the use of magical
realism. He also used other tactics, like symbolism, hyperboles, and metaphors, to
Written under the direction of Dr. Marilyn Kiss for SP213H: Hispanic Literature in English
Translation.
1
64
�coincide with magical realism in achieving the goal of criticizing Latin American society
and politics, as well as rejecting the notion that some foreign countries and their policies
are superior. His rejection of foreign superiority stems partly from the tendency of first
world countries to keep third-world countries, like Colombia, as debtors. This criticism,
as well as the criticism of social injustices, is symbolized through the relationship of
Eréndira and her grandmother. The photographer also served as a vital part of his
political criticism, as did the Senator. Through the use of symbolism, Márquez allowed
for different interpretations of his short-stories. Marquez’s short stories served as social
and political allegories that applied to multiple aspects within Latin American society.
One interpretation of Eréndira and her grandmother’s relationship is that it is
symbolic of the relationship between Latin America (Eréndira) and the United States of
America (grandmother). In the film, Eréndira burns down her grandmother’s house, thus
leaving them both homeless and poor. This fire sparks a change in the grandmother; she
becomes vindictive and cruel. She decides to exploit the fruit of her granddaughter’s youth
in search of payment for the damages Eréndira caused her, thus entrapping Eréndira in an
endless cycle of remorse and debt. The debt that Eréndira owes her grandmother is
symbolic of the debt that Latin America owes the United States of America. The United
States’s tendency to come to the aid of Latin America, although helpful at the time, now
leaves Latin America struggling financially, as they owe the United States a great deal of
money. This debt will always be hovering above Latin America’s head, inhibiting all
financial expansion until the debt is paid. This is exemplified by how Eréndira’s debt will
always be held over her head by her grandmother. In the film the grandmother states “My
poor child, life won’t be long enough for you to pay me back for this mishap” (Márquez
7), thus inferring that Eréndira will owe her grandmother for the rest of her life, just as
Latin America will always owe the United States some time of debt. Márquez expresses
that due to the remorse that Eréndira feels, her grandmother is able to exploit her and take
advantage of her sexuality without her refusing, just as the United States does to Latin
America. As pointed out by Barbara Manyarara, “García Márquez uses stories of female
sexual abuse as a metaphoric figure of Latin America’s continued exploitation by foreign
powers” (158-159). Throughout the film Eréndira’s grandmother is always in some way
increasing Eréndira’s debt to her. For example if Eréndira doesn’t meet the daily quota of
men she is supposed to have sex with, then her grandmother increases the debt that she
owes her. As explained by Diane Marting, “The Abuela has no intention of letting
Eréndira repay the debt and continually finds ways to pocket the fruit of her labor. In this
sense, a comparison with the foreign debt of third world countries has been sustained”
(183). This endless cycle of exploitation and increasing debt is Márquez’s way of exposing
65
�the maltreatment of Latin America that he believes the United States performs. Just as
Eréndira’s grandmother will never allow for her to pay off her debts, Márquez believes
that the United States will never make it possible for Latin America to pay off its debt.
Márquez believed that the circumstances from which Latin America’s debt to
the United States came about, were due to small human errors or something out of Latin
America’s control. In the film, Eréndira, who is representative of Latin America,
accidentally set the house on fire by leaving a lit candlestick near a curtain: “A short
while later the wind of her misfortune came into the bedroom like a pack of hounds and
knocked the candle over against the curtain” (Márquez 7). This small human error, of
leaving a lit candle, led to Eréndira’s eternal debt to her grandmother. Philip Swanson
makes the observation that “this man-made disaster is presented not as the result of a
disastrous human or social decision but rather in terms of a natural disaster or human
error, that is, something which cannot be helped” (140). A parallel can be drawn between
the actions and consequences of Eréndira and of Latin America. Márquez believed that
Latin America’s punishment of eternal debt to the United States is due to a small error or
due to an event that was out of Latin America’s control. He believed that the debt is too
steep of a price to pay when considering the actions and or situations that led to it.
Through the relationship between Eréndira and her grandmother, Márquez wished to
exaggerate the enormity of Latin America’s debt and to expose the fact that the United
States took advantage of the situations from which the debt came about.
The reason why Latin America allowed for the United States to take advantage
was because they had done it before. A pattern had developed where the United States
continually exploited Latin American political and social turmoil, thus establishing a
dominance over Latin America. This is symbolized by the early relationship between
Eréndira and her grandmother. The grandmother had taken advantage of her position of
caregiver over and over again by making Eréndira her house slave. She had asserted her
dominance over Eréndira for so many years, that when Eréndira made the mistake of
burning the house down, instead of refusing the wishes of her grandmother for her to
become a prostitute, she gave in to her grandmother. The only reason was because she
had learned a pattern of submissive behavior and therefore did not question her
grandmother's wishes no matter how unethical they were. Her loyalty to her grandmother
is exemplified throughout the film, one example being when she willingly returns to her
grandmother after leaving the covenant. Another example is when Ulysses asks Eréndira
to run away with him and her response is, “No one can go anywhere without the
permission of her abuela” (Eréndira 1:03:00-1:06:00). As described by Bülent Cercis
Tanritanir and Melike Çaliskan, the grandmother is an oppressive presence in Eréndira’s
66
�life, they go so far as describing her as a dictator (218). It is because of this that Eréndira
feels an unvanquished loyalty to her grandmother throughout the film up until the end.
Just as Eréndira remains loyal to her dictator, Latin America remains loyal to the United
States. In this oppressor-oppressed relationship between Eréndira and her grandmother,
Márquez wished to emphasize the oppressed nature of Latin America. Every action that
Latin America takes is guided and controlled by the watchful eye of the United States.
Eréndira states that she cannot go anywhere without her grandmother’s permission; this is
symbolic of how Latin America must get permission from the United States to engage in
foreign affairs. Every decision regarding foreign involvement must be scrutinized and
accepted by the United States before Latin America can act. This is because the United
States has a financial interest in Latin America, just like how the grandmother has a
certain investment in Eréndira that she wishes to see through.
The grandmother viewing Eréndira as an investment rather than a person is one
way in which Márquez exposed a social injustice that he witnessed in Colombian society:
child prostitution. In the film, Eréndira is forced into prostitution, as a young teenager, by
her grandmother. Her grandmother was her sole caregiver, therefore she had to choose
between being homeless and alone or being a prostitute. This situation is a prime example
of child abuse at the hands of their guardian, which is a societal issue that Márquez hoped
to draw attention to. Diane Marting explains, “The circumstances of Eréndira’s becoming
a prostitute emphasize the two adults’ abuse of their legal, moral, physical, and magical
power over a child...the Colombian’s protest against injustice becomes the salient
feature”(182). The grandmother was the only person that Eréndira felt that she could trust
and her grandmother took advantage of that. She exploited her granddaughter’s body for
her own financial gain. The grandmother, filled with greed and vengeance, was going to
do whatever it took to become rich and prominent once more, even if it meant sacrificing
Eréndira’s health and well-being. She no longer saw Eréndira as a human, but rather as a
good. As described by Thomas Kiely, “When the merchant buys Eréndira’s virginity, he
first weighs her and then haggles with the old woman over a price. The equation is clear:
Eréndira is the goods; the merchant a consumer...The point is that the man purchases sex
not from Eréndira but from the grandmother, who is the controlling presence throughout
this scene”. It is at this point that the viewers first see the decay of Eréndira’s human
value in the eyes of herself and her grandmother. She is no longer an independent human
being, but rather her grandmother’s possession. Prostitution wasn’t the only example of
child abuse that Márquez wished to expose. In a more symbolic sense, “In the metaphor
of prostitution, the author describes the vast proportions of the exploitation of human
liberty” (qtd. In Rockey 39). He stood up for all human liberties and sought to expose
67
�societal practices that devalued them. By using symbolism in most of his stories he was
able to stand up for a plethora of human and civil liberties without specifically naming
every single one. He also was able to expose multiple industries under the mask of
symbolism.
One industry that Márquez attacked in his political allegories was the media
industry. He believed that the media not only had the means to expose corruption, but
also had the information to. Instead of using what resources they had and doing further
investigation, they decided to sit back and let it happen. Children and women, like
Eréndira, suffered great injustices at the hands of society for decades in Colombia. People
saw it occurring, but no one wished to express their voice, as it was not a society of free
speech at the time. Women and children had no say in the fates they suffered. Female and
child prostitution was common. It was a matter of means rather than choice. Adult
women may have had the choice at one point, but as their economic status declined they
were forced to find some way to provide for themselves and for their family, if they had
one. Some children were forced into prostitution by their guardians, like Eréndira was, as
a way to help provide for the family since they were too young to work any other way.
As described by Diane Marting, “Eréndira does not ‘choose’ prostitution: for a man, for
economic survival, to feed her children, or for gain. She is unequivocally forced by the
shopkeeper and the Abuela” (182). All of these injustices were occurring right under the
nose of the journalists and reporters of the media industry and yet they decided to do
nothing about it. This was because they wanted to please politicians and escape
persecution and backlash from the male-dominated public. The photographer in the film
is Márquez’s representation of the media. The photographer follows Eréndira’s entourage
around the country. He makes his living by photographing Eréndira’s male suitors, thus
making a profit from the practice of paedophilia at the expense of Eréndira’s sexual
exploitation. In the film he states “I haven’t seen a thing”(Eréndira 1:09:57-1:10:10),
inferring that he will continue to not say or do anything about what he is witnessing. The
photographer had the information and the means of spreading the word about Eréndira’s
sexual exploitation at the hands of her grandmother and yet he did nothing about it. As
explained by Barbra Manyarara, “The photographer does not use his professional insights
to expose the abuse and his violent death by gunshot from precipitate police action speaks
of García Máquez’s disapproval of his opportunism and covert form of non-sexual child
commercial exploitation and the practice of paedophilia” (158). By violently killing off
the photographer, rather than killing off Eréndira’s male suitors, Márquez expresses that
observing horrific injustices, like the sexual abuse and exploitation of Eréndira, and not
doing anything about it or anything to help, is just as appalling as if the person was
68
�committing the crime themselves. As a result of the media’s inactivity, Márquez took it
upon himself to expose societal issues. He stepped up in the place of the media and used
his literature to bring to light to these inhumane issues. As well as to bash and embarrass
the media for not doing anything to expose these societal issues.
Another group of people that Márquez wished to criticize within his literature
were politicians. He believed that they had the authority and influence to change society
for the better and yet, just like the media, they did nothing about it. They allowed society
and politics to carry on in a downward spiral fashion. They swept social and political
injustices under the rug and they themselves performed acts of cruelty, as well as
corruption. In the film the Senator is representative of politicians. Throughout the film
the Senator performs multiple acts of corruption, the first being his relationship with
Eréndira. The act of being with Eréndira, an underage prostitute, sexually is a crime
within itself. He then goes on to accept a bribe from the grandmother. The bribe is that he
will be given the key to Eréndira’s chastity belt, so long as he allows the grandmother
and Eréndira to conduct their business without interference from the police. This exposes
the tendency of politicians to use what power they do have, in the wrong ways and for the
wrong reasons. They use their power only to reap personal benefits. Another criticism
that Márquez makes is that politicians make empty promises. When running for election,
politicians’ platforms are filled with policies that they hope to put into effect and goals
they hope to achieve during their candidacy. Márquez believed that politicians often
promised things that they had no intention of actually doing or they promised things that
just weren't physically capable of doing. In the film, during the Senator’s speech he
states, “In the realm of thirst and bad climate, exiles in our own land, we will be different.
We will be great, and be happy. We’ll have machines to make rain. We’ll distill oil of
happiness at home. Vegetables will grow in saltpeter and bougainvillea in the windows.
That’s how it will be ladies and gentlemen. That is how it will be” (Eréndira 0:51:000:53:00). Márquez clearly exaggerated the extent to which a politician is willing to make
an empty promise, by having the senator promise things like controlling rainfall and the
growth of plants. The senator obviously cannot control nature, but Márquez does this to
emphasize the absurdity of some of the promises that politicians make. It also emphasizes
that politicians are really willing to say whatever it takes in order to win over the general
population. This criticism also serves a cautionary purpose. Márquez hoped to warn his
audiences of the potential danger of blindly following the words of politicians without
thinking critically.
Gabriel García Márquez was a man of many roles. He served as an author, a
critic, and a muckraker. He sought to expose the political and societal indecencies when
69
�no one else would. His works of magical realism served more of a purpose than to just
install two separate views of reality in his audience’s eyes. Through his magical realism
he sought to expose and critique Latin American society, including the media and
politicians. He did so through the use of symbolism and hyperboles in his work of The
Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother. Through
the creation of the relationship between Eréndira and her grandmother, as well as
character traits of the Senator, and the photographer, Márquez was able to criticize
aspects of Latin American society and politics that he saw as unjust. He created these
works of political and social allegories because he wished to help his society in ways that
those before him never could. The well-being of Latin American citizens and the
prosperity of Latin America was always in his mind when writing his works of literature.
As described by Matt Reimann, “ García Márquez’s work is not only Latin American in
origin; it is inextricably Latin American in mood, setting, and perspective”. He was a
nationalist that was influenced by Latin America in every way possible. He absorbed the
culture that surrounded him and included it in his literary works. It is said that “The
legacy of García Márquez, the man described by his president as ‘the greatest Colombian
to ever live,’ appears to be getting brighter by the day” (Reimann). Márquez, through his
magical realism and allegories, gave Latin America a sense of pride, as well as a sense of
urgency to correct the wrongs of society.
Works Cited
Dhanabal, C. Postcolonial Perspectives in Select Novels of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Tiruchirappalli, 2011.
Guerra, Ruy, director. Eréndira. Cine Qua Non, 1982.
Kelly, Thomas. "Erendira: A not-so-innocent film." Jump Cut A Review of Contemporary
Media, www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC31folder/erendira.html.
Manyarara, Barbra. Lost His Voice? Interrogating the Representations of Sexualities In
Selected Novels By Gabriel García Márquez. Pretoria, 2013.
Marting, Diane E. “The End of Erendira's Prostitution.” Hispanic Review, vol. 69, no. 2,
2001, p. 175., doi:10.2307/3247037.
Reimann, Matt. “The Legacy of Gabriel García Márquez.” Our Blog,
blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/the-legacy-of-gabriel-garc%C3%ADa-m%C3%A1rquez
70
�Rockey, Wilson. Fragments of Maturing Vision: Loneliness In the Early Writings.
Malappuram, 1999.
Swanson, Philip. The Cambridge Companion to Gabriel García Márquez. Cambridge
University Press, 2010.
Tanritanir, Bülent Cercis. “Oppressor, Oppressed And Gabriel García Márquez.” Journal
of International Social Research, vol. 9, no. 45, 2016, pp. 214–214.,
doi:10.17719/jisr.20164520601.
71
�Nazi Cinema: Ideology and Politics in Romantic Melodrama
John Badagliacca (Government & Politics and International Affairs)1
Political undertones were quite common in works of art within the Third Reich particularly within film. The Nazi government wasted no opportunity in using culture as a
weapon for advancing its ideology and platform. In some cases, the social messages
embedded into a work of art can be quite covert. They exist as a sort of subconscious
propaganda - an attempt to distribute the ideology of the Nazi Party without being
explicit in its aims.
Common Themes in Romantic Melodrama
“Melodrama” is a genre of film which typically displays an over sensational or
emotional story, frequently utilizing romantic plots. While this aforementioned tactic of
inexplicit propaganda was used in various artforms, its use in melodrama was particularly
notable due to the genre’s seemingly apolitical nature. Nevertheless, there was no such
thing as “apolitical” in the Third Reich. Even these films had their content examined and
approved by the Nazi government and themes can be found promoting various ideologies
such as the doctrine of Blood and Soil, emphasizing the “proper” role of women in the
Third Reich or directing hate against particular groups (as will be discussed later in this
analysis). Author Laura Heins, in her book Nazi Film Melodrama, writes “Third Reich
films were intended to have a strong emotional effect upon spectators of both sexes, but
this effect was never supposed to appear so carefully calculated that audiences would
become aware of the workings of ideology. The propaganda minister, as Sabine Hake has
pointed out, watched carefully over film projects to make sure that they did not have a
boomerang effect: “any excess of representation might threaten the precarious balance
between aesthetic and political intentions and give rise to dangerous forms of ‘reading
against the grain.’” Melodramas proved to be particularly problematic for Goebbels,
because their emotional effects sometimes led in the wrong direction” (Heins p. 23)
Films are capable of exerting emotion from the viewer and provoking thought.
The government utilized this power to control the flow of thought in their favor. This
raises the question: just what kind of ideology was promoted within melodrama? The
answer, however, would depend on the sort of melodrama that is being discussed. In the
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Laura Morowitz for AR291H: Art and Aesthetics in the
Third Reich.
72
�context of romantic melodramas, Heins writes “Her [The heroine’s] desires are multiple
and mutually exclusive and thus impossible within the economy of the classical film
narrative, or they are forbidden by some generally accepted moral code. The
melodramatic narrative thus attempts either to limit her desire and focus it on one object
or to purge her of illicit desires. In this way such narratives may serve a pedagogical or
ideological function by warning of the consequences of illicit acts or by training desire to
attach itself to the ‘correct’ object. Romance can thus be recruited for political service;
even if it does not name an external enemy, as does the most original form of the
melodrama, it can form desire in ideologically useful ways” (Heins p. 48).
Control of the flow of thought, as practiced by the Nazis, was an undertaking
reliant on emotion. Manipulation of human emotion to direct the masses into what is
“proper” was therefore highly important. Mary Elizabeth O’Brien, author of Nazi Cinema
as Enchantment: The Politics of Entertainment in the Third Reich, writes “Enchantment
as practiced by National Socialism is heavily dependent on intense emotional
evolvement. Precisely because emotions are non-rational and subjective, they do not
require explanation. One simply feels the rightness of an event or a relationship, and this
sentiment functions as a moral compass to evaluate the world and establish a point of
orientation. The underlying principles of classical cinema, identification with characters
and stars, emotional attachment and affective involvement in narrative outcomes, and the
ability to transform reality through a sense of magic and make-believe all contributed to
the enchantment of reality essential to the success of National Socialism” (O’Brien, p. 4).
Being able to control what is considered desirable is a powerful force. The
government is thus capable of creating an idea of sexual appeal and icons in popular
culture. Romantic melodramas construct the notion of an “ideal lover,” one who is
rewarded in some way by film’s end or demonstrated to be, in some way, morally or
humanly superior. Alternatively, the inverse may be true, as they may also construct the
notion of an “unideal lover,” or one who embodies qualities which are painted in a
negative light within the context of the film. The audience is thus instructed in their
partner choice and a culture is created where a particular, “correct” brand of lover is
created.
The heroines of Nazi romances often varied. Generally, however, they were
adventurous, lively and energetic in keeping with the popular ideals of the global World
War II era. While the Nazis did emphasize domestic servitude and empowerment for
women within the sphere of the home, melodramas rarely depicted this ideal. They
carried a fixation on upper-class fantasies and thus many women within melodramas had
servants who perform domestic activities for them. Without the shackles of homebound
73
�servitude, the melodrama heroine is capable of exploration beyond her traditional sphere.
She often utilizes seduction and ends up in a love triangle - a prominent staple of the
romantic melodrama genre. This notion of an adventuring woman manages to contradict
the Nazi ideal of empowered domestic servants while at the same time conforming to it.
The melodramatic heroine is entirely defined by her relationships and lovers. While she is
often conquering and imperious, usually ending up with a cadre of multiple lovers, she
nevertheless is frequently defined by these relationships with male characters and her
actions therein. These films, as a result, create an image of German women as both
modern yet also an extension of their male lover.
Die Goldene Stadt
Veit Harlan’s 1942 film Die Goldene Stadt is one such melodramatic work
which makes use of the aforementioned ideological motifs as well as others unique to it.
The film revolves around Anna, the daughter of farmer Jobst. Anna longs for a life in the
city of Prague, away from her simple countryside life - much to her father’s disapproval.
Over the course of the movie, Anna has romantic relations with three men: Thomas, a
farmer on the countryside; Leidwein, a Praguer engineer working on the Jobst farm; and
Toni, Anna's charming cousin living in Prague who only loves her in a bid to inherit the
family’s farm. Of these three, the latter two are the most important figures in Anna’s life.
Leidwein is depicted as a good-natured and caring man, representative of the beautiful
city which she longs to one day visit. Toni, on the other hand, is manipulative and
deceitful. He is a womanizer who seeks only to financially get ahead. Anna ultimately
ends up pregnant with Toni’s child and dies, drowning in the same swamp near her
family’s farm where her mother had died. Following Anna’s death, Jobst passes the farm
onto Thomas, the farmhand whom Anna was to marry at the film’s beginning.
Anna’s desire to travel to Prague and her multitude of lovers makes her quite
similar to the typical melodramatic heroine. She strives for modernity and is filled with
wanderlust and chooses to act on those desires to achieve them. Anna moves from lover
to lover, each one marking a different period in her life during the film. When she was to
marry Thomas, the message is that she is still wrapped in rural life. Her affair with
Leidwein demonstrates her move toward achieving that idyllic vision of the “golden city”
while her eventual relationship with Toni represents the harsh reality of city life settling
in and eventually taking its toll. As a result of these interactions, Anna is a character
entirely defined by her lovers. Her death at the end of the film seals the overall
ideological message of the journey from one man to the next. Stephen Lowry, in his
article Ideology and Excess in Nazi Melodrama: The Golden City writes “In Anna's
death, the film affirms the given ideology: social restraints clearly triumph over her
74
�desires. This conclusion, to be sure, comes as no surprise. As soon as Anna meets Toni, it
is clear to anyone even vaguely familiar with melodramatic convention that this
relationship, and most likely the film as a whole, will not end well” (Lowry p. 137-138).
These events would likely be apolitical to the layman who simply seeks a movie
on its entertainment value. However, they are laced with political and ideological
undertones. The consensus on the specifics of these undertones is, however, inexact.
Lowry writes “Assessments of the film's politics range widely. Many film historians
argue that it abounds with familiar emphases of Nazi ideology: anti-Czech nationalism
and anti-Slavic racism, Blut und Boden anti-urbanism, and misogyny” (Lowry p. 134).
All of these assessments, however, seem plausible even if they’re less than overt within
the film itself. Regarding Toni and his mother, Lowry goes on to write “They also can be
seen as caricatures of the Czechs. Toni and Maruschka are egoistic, calculating,
mercenary, and deceitful. Each character contributes directly to Anna's downfall. The two
figures possess the negative traits associated with villains in popular fiction. Similarly,
they reflect the same negative features that the Nazis attributed to their enemies,
particularly to the Jews” (Lowry p. 146). In effect, the film reinforces the Nazi’s
government’s consensus on Slavs and depicts them as an unscrupulous people willing to
use each other to get ahead.
Although, while the film certainly contributes to the racial politics employed by
the Nazis, a racialist message is not its central focus. The film is quite broad in the
messages it draws upon. As Lowry noted, another popular interpretation on its message is
the focus on the relationship between the countryside and the city. He writes “The
Golden City is hardly an exemplar of Blut und Boden. Were that the case, the farmer
Jobst - a paradigmatic blubo character, bound to the land and tradition - would have to
prevail. But he does not. In fact, he cedes his inheritance and power to the representative
of a younger (and modern) generation” (Lowry p. 144). While this is true to an extent,
another interpretation of this exchange is that Anna’s entire family was punished as a
result of her betrayal of her countryside origins. As Lowry pointed out, Jobst indeed did
not emerge as the victor of the film as he too was punished by having to bear his
daughter’s death and eventually ceded his land away to Thomas. However, his victory is
not necessarily needed to promote a message of Blut und Boden. Anna’s selfishness
which guided her to trade in her rural life for one of urban excess was the indirect cause
of her eventual death and, as a result, suffering for her father. She sought to break out of
her family but ultimately broke her family instead. The moral here would thus serve as a
warning to the viewers of the dangers of leaving the countryside for both themselves and
75
�their respective families - a notion which would therefore be in line with the Blut und
Boden ideology employed by the Nazis.
Zu Neuen Ufern
Hans Detlef Sierck was among the “giants” of Nazi and American melodrama.
However, he was ideologically opposed to the Nazi government. Eric Rentschler, in his
article Douglas Sirk Revisited: The Limits and Possibilities of Artistic Agency writes
“[Sierck] fused ‘the traditions of Weill, Ophuls, Brecht and Sternberg’ - and managed to
do so while being monitored by the Nazis. Seen in this light, Detlef Sierck's Ufa films
represented rare and surprising indications of aesthetic resistance against the Hitler order”
(Rentschler p. 153). Not all of Sierck’s films, however, fall under this umbrella of
“aesthetic resistance.” One of Sierck’s popular works, Zu Neuen Ufern (1937), is well in
line with Nazi ideals and ideology - a reminder that even a man who is not in line with
the Nazi government’s message must still kowtow to its strident film standards in order to
have any sort of presence in the world of film.
Zu Neuen Ufern tells the story of the relationship between English singer Gloria
Vane and aristocrat Sir Albert Finsbury, a couple hailing from 19th century London.
When Finsbury must leave for Australia to join the New South Wales Regiment, Gloria
(unbeknownst to Finsbury) accepts responsibility for one of his crimes in England in
order to be sent to the penal colony after her lover. When Finsbury finds Gloria in chains
in Australia, he refuses to marry her (which would free her from her imprisonment) due
to the cost that would come to his career. Gloria later meets Henry Hoyer, an Australian
settler who she agrees to marry only as a way to escape her prison. Gloria tries to find
Finsbury after her release only to learn that he is now engaged to the Governor’s
daughter. Gloria and Finsbury later engage in a painful meeting which leaves Finsbury
filled with remorse for his actions, prompting him to shoot himself on the eve of his
wedding. Gloria later finally has her delayed wedding with Hoyer at the film’s end.
Author Andrew G. Bonnell, in his article Melodrama for the Master Race: Two
Films by Detlef Sierck (Douglas Sirk), demonstrates the various ideological messages
rooted in Sierk’s film. One of the implicit messages pointed out by Bonnell is the notion
of pronatalism. He writes “On [Gloria’s] dark prison uniform is a large white number 218
shines clearly, over her left breast. The semiotic significance of this may seem obscure to
an English-speaking audience today, but to a German audience in the 1930s the sight of a
woman in prison uniform in connection with the number 218 would inevitably evoke
associations with Paragraph 218 (§218) of the German criminal law code, the law which
prohibited abortion. . .ˮ Thus, Gloria Vane's identity is reduced to her number, a number
76
�which every member of a German audience would associate with the law which singled
out women for punishment for abortion. She can, however, gain redemption through
obtaining a legitimate marriage. Here a pro-natalist population policy becomes an act of
mercy for women, offering them a second chance through becoming lawful wives and
mothers” (Bonnell p. 212). This analysis is especially interesting given that the topic of
abortion is never actually explicitly raised within the film. The pronatalist undertones are,
nevertheless, far too prominent to be dismissed as mere coincidence. Gloria’s prison
number is prominently displayed in such a way that the film makes it quite obvious that
the viewer is intended to see it. The strongly pronatalist Nazi government was strongly
against abortion in an effort to keep the German birth rate high and the population
growing. The implicit, almost subliminal pronatalist message imposed by the film is
therefore in accord with the prevailing ideology of the state.
We also see propagation of the Blut und Boden ideal. This is presented in the
form of the eventual pairing of Gloria and Henry Hoyer at the end of the film. Bonnell
writes “In the happy ending, Gloria and Henry Hoyer are reunited, and the well-matched
couple are able to start a new life on Hoyer's farm in the countryside: a 'blood and soil'
idyll far removed from corrupt urban life. The opposition between a fundamentally
healthy rural society, which formed the indispensable basis for a strong and healthy race,
and the corrupt city, where race-mixing and degeneration were ever-present dangers, was
one of the most basic and common tropes of Nazi discourse” (Bonnell p. 213). Hoyer is
the film’s underdog champion, the honest rural man who eventually wins the love of
Gloria. He contrasts the dishonest, city-dwelling Finsbury and is ultimately rewarded for
it with a happy relationship. The film paints a clear, positive picture of rural dwellers
using this characterization.
The film also uses its characters to highlight an anti-English and anti-capitalist
statement. Bonnell writes “It is true that the film presents a sociologically differentiated
treatment of the British upper classes: a decadent aristocracy; grasping, materialistic
merchants, and their upwardly mobile sons, who are caught between slavishly aping the
aristocracy and resenting the latter’s effortless social superiority; and hypocritically
moralising petits bourgeois. . . .ˮ The Englishness of these characters is constantly
stressed, something which cannot be said of Gloria or Henry Hoyer, who are free from
such stereotyping treatment. If viewed in isolation, it is possible to see the film as
conveying a critique of national stereotypes in German cinema at the time, the film fits
seamlessly into the pattern of anti-English propaganda familiar from later, wartime films
such as the Boer War historical drama Ohm Kruger” (Bonnell p. 213). This would
therefore be in line with the government’s aims. The Nazi Party was vehemently anti-
77
�capitalist and abhorred the English especially after their role repressing the German
people following their victory in the first world war. Depictions of the English as a
decadent people who are slaves to the aristocracy would thus fall into the realm of the
party’s aims. Reinforcing desired perceptions, even in such subtle ways, is key to the
victory of propaganda.
Comparisons
The similarities between Die Goldene Stadt and Zu Neuen Ufern may come as
quite obvious. Both melodramas seek to promote similar ideological goals. They are both
proponents of the Blut und Boden ideology although in different ways. Die Goldene Stadt
demonstrates punishment for turning against rural life while Zu Neuen Ufern
demonstrates reward for conforming to it. Anna ultimately met her demise while Gloria
achieved a happy marriage by their respective film’s ends.
Additionally, we also see similar themes in the role of women in society. Anna
and Gloria both are traveling, adventurous and modern women who take a journey in the
name of romance. They are, however, ultimately still defined by their relationships with
the male characters and cannot achieve happiness unless they are in ideal relationships.
To that effect, women are stressed as “champions of the birth rate.” The expectation in
the era of the two films was for women to seek out relationships and bear children for the
reich. Both of the melodramas carry a message for women that happiness cannot exist
without a good man in which to form an eventual family and creation of a new generation
of Germans. Therefore, while the films do paint a picture of “modern women” using the
characters of Gloria and Anna, they ultimately still reinforce traditional expectations and
values regarding their purpose.
Lastly, both films depict a negative image of the enemies of the Nazi state. They
both utilize negative stereotypes in order to stoke unpopular sentiment against said
enemies. In Die Goldene Stadt’s case, the subject of these stereotypes are the Czech
whereas in Zu Neuen Ufern, it is the English. This method of reinforcement adds
credence to the popular perception of these groups as deceitful and slavishly materialistic,
respectively. The ultimate goal of these unflattering depictions is to make it easier for the
state to justify hatred against them. It is far easier to paint a group as evil when the first
images to come to mind in the popular conscious are consistently negative, dehumanizing
traits.
Conclusion
The popular genre of melodrama, while frequently perceived as apolitical, was
actually anything but. The propagation of popular Nazi themes and motifs managed to
78
�leak their way into the genre and hide under the guise of subtext. As Harlan’s Die
Goldene Stadt and Sierck’s Zu Neuen Ufern demonstrated, even films created with the
primary purpose of “simple entertainment” may actually serve to forward a far more
nefarious agenda frequently without the audience’s knowledge. The melodrama genre
was, therefore, not immune to the politicization of art under the Third Reich and, like
other mediums of artistic expression, became an instrument of ideology by the state.
Work Cited
Bonnell, Andrew G. “Melodrama for the Master Race: Two Films by Detlef Sierck
(Douglas Sirk).” Film History, vol. 10, no. 2, 1998, pp. 208–218.
Harlan, Veit and Wolfgang Schleif, directors. Die Goldene Stadt. Gloria Film, 1942.
Heins, Laura. Nazi Film Melodrama. University of Illinois Press, 2013.
Lowry, Stephen. “Ideology and Excess in Nazi Melodrama: The Golden City.” New
German Critique, no. 74, 1998, pp. 125–149.
O'Brien, Mary-Elizabeth. Nazi Cinema as Enchantment: The Politics of Entertainment in
the Third Reich. Camden House, 2006.
Rentschler, Eric. “Douglas Sirk Revisited: The Limits and Possibilities of Artistic
Agency.” New German Critique, no. 95, 2005, pp. 149–161.
Sierck, Hans Detlef, director. Zu Neuen Ufern. UFA GmbH, 1937.
79
�“A Luminous Language”: The Paradoxical Role
of English as a Remnant of Colonialism in
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun
Elena Rotzokou (English)1
Within the framework of a postcolonial discourse, it can be argued that the
English language paradoxically poses as a point of disconnection as well as connection
between the characters of Ugwu and Odenigbo in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of
a Yellow Sun. In this paper, I will primarily indicate how, on one hand, the knowledge of
English has propelled the demarcation of academic as well as class boundaries between
the two characters in question, thereby creating a disconnection between them on both an
intellectual and socioeconomic, practical level, in addition to, consequently, inhibiting the
two from forging a human relationship, as well as generating individual anxiety in Ugwu.
Subsequently, by way of extension to the latter, I will indicate that Odenigbo’s privileged
position as a Nigerian whose knowledge of the English language, thus access to western
education, and in turn, induction into the Nigerian bourgeoisie that was created during
British rule and persisted upon the country’s independence (Griswold 225), breeds a type
of colonialist dynamic between him and the uneducated, lower-class Ugwu, a certain kind
of inner conflict whereby they seem to strongly embody the roles of colonizer and
colonized, respectively. Then, I will argue that, on the other hand, knowledge of the
English language seems to simultaneously paradoxically function as a connective force,
as the intellectualism it invests Odenigbo with allows him to bond with Ugwu through,
practically, transgressing the class boundaries established between the two as a result of
colonial influence in the past. Also, as a consequence of this connection, Ugwu benefits
from his anglicization not only in that his intellectual curiosity is awakened, but
additionally, in that his indoctrination into western education ultimately enables him to
realize Odenigbo’s dream of decolonization, by utilizing his knowledge to write his own
story as a black Igbo man. Hence, I will conclude my over-arching argument by thus
indicating how this paradoxical role of the English language in the relationship between
Ugwu and Odenigbo ultimately amounts to a greater paradox in Adichie’s novel,
suggesting that westernization can lead to mental decolonization.
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley for EN111: World Literature.
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�Primarily, it is important to trace the integration of the English language into
Nigerian society, in the colonial era, as this explains the language’s firm presence upon
the country’s independence. According to Safiya Garba, prior to the officialization of the
English language, pre-colonial education in Nigeria was fundamentally dissimilar to the
changes that it underwent over the course of British rule, as it was much more attuned to
the several tribes’ traditional village cultures. With its “emphasis on functionalism”, this
type of education was not framed on the basis of schools, but rather on practical
knowledge. That is, boys would normally be sent to “masters or apprentices” in order to
learn various vocations, while girls were expected to remain at home, for the purpose of
getting habituated to performing domestic chores successfully, preparing themselves for
motherhood. With the absence of any sort of “intellectual training”, this type of education
was ostensibly aimed at being of practical “relevance to Nigerians” (55). This remnant of
pre-colonial habits is seen through Ugwu in the novel, whose family sends him to work
as Odenigbo’s houseboy, the latter becoming his “Master.” As soon as the three tribes of
the region were officially unified into comprising one single nation, following the
implementation of British rule at the end of the 19th century, “western education” came at
first in the form of “Christian missionaries”, mostly prevalent in the southern part of the
country (Garba 56). In contrast to the typical pre-colonial type of training, this new,
western-oriented education was much more intellectually invested, emphasizing the
acquisition of skills pertinent to reading, writing, and religion, while the English language
became official, in the government, as much as in schools. Gradually, in the early 20th
century, those Christian schools were being increasingly supplanted and preponderated
by those so-called “government schools,” which were designed specifically to produce
teachers, people who would be able to utilize the kind of western-oriented, extensively
British education that they had received in order to continue “enlightening” other
“backward” Nigerians (Garba 57). Overall, access to education promised “higher
prominence” in social circles, as well as conferred a certain kind of status (Sekhar 115).
Firstly, on a practical level, the access to intellectual cultivation that knowledge
of the English language allows, determines, by extension, social stratification in postcolonial Nigeria. This inner discrepancy that is created owing to the power of a single
language and its pathways is delineated by Adichie in the relationship between Ugwu and
Odenigbo. As Henning Melber writes, the Nigerian middle class that rose in the country’s
colonial years, and persisted upon its independence, to which of course Odenigbo and
Olanna subscribe, “grew out of three intersecting processes,” with “the introduction of
Western education” being one of them (23). This type of mainly British-oriented
education, to which Nigerians had access either by means of “formal schooling,” like
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�Olanna’s, or through individual endeavors, as in Odenigbo’s case, who is an autodidact,
“fundamentally altered power relationships and forms of social stratification in
communities” (23). These “new sources of wealth and influence” were derived from
education, in addition to “administrative posts” favored by the British, a case in point
being Olanna’s and Kainene’s father. Therefore, a major determinant for the
configuration of the Nigerian “elite” was now knowledge of the English language, and
thus education, regardless of whether it was originally characterized by an “established
social status” (23).
In the novel, I would argue that Adichie delineates this discrepancy between
Ugwu’s lowly social status, and Odenigbo’s higher own status, thereby in turn indicating
the determinant force of the English language and education in a society that has been
subjected to colonialism. More specifically, as conveyed effectively through the use of
free indirect speech in the figure of Ugwu, Adichie draws attention to the class disparity
between the two characters, by mentioning that Ugwu “had never seen anything like the
streets that appeared after” he and his aunt “went past the university gates, streets so
smooth and tarred” (3). The social status that Odenigbo’s English education has accorded
him, since it has permitted him to work as a university professor of mathematics in a
naturally English-speaking university of Nigeria, is tellingly indicated in the above
passage. However, it should be noted that, at least in this instance, Ugwu does not
particularly exhibit or seem to feel any sort of intimidation at being confronted with this
rather westernized sight, as it is mentioned that “he itched to lay his cheek down” on
those tarred streets, as well as that he marveled at those “polite well-dressed men” around
him (3). I would argue that this can be regarded as indicative of the novel’s overall partly
favorable attitude toward the influence of western culture on Nigerian society. This
difference in regards to class is further suggested through the use of palpable sensory,
specifically tactile, imagery. For instance, Ugwu is described as wanting to reach out and
“touch the cement wall” of Odenigbo’s house, to see “how different it would feel from
the mud walls of his mother’s hut that still bore the faint patterns of molding fingers” (4).
Also, Ugwu’s hunger, another indicator of the contrast between his and Odenigbo’s
socioeconomic status, is registered through visual imagery, with him being taken aback
by the house’s fridge, this “white thing” that was “almost as tall as he was,” as well as
subsequently starting to eat chicken “until he had only the cracked, sucked pieces of
bones left in his hand” (6). Once again, in addition to shedding light on this
socioeconomic disparity, determined largely by this one factor of language, Adichie does
not really present Ugwu as being particularly resentful or daunted. Rather, the reference
to him having “opened it [the fridge] and gasped as the cool air rushed into his face,”
82
�mostly suggests his marveling at this array of “oranges, bread, beer, soft drinks,” all
“arranged on different levels” (6). This implies Ugwu’s, and, I would argue, the text’s
positive attitude toward the privileges brought about by the presence of the English
language in Nigeria, despite in the same instance, drawing attention to its creation of
social disparities, with Ugwu being depicted as “quickly stuffing the food in his mouth
while his heart beat as if he were running,” hurriedly slipping “extra chunks of meat” into
his pockets (9). Once again though, a rather critical attitude on social divisionism is
expressed by both Ugwu, and the narrator, with Ugwu’s observation of the “wasted
space” of Odenigbo’s garden in comparison to “the tiniest plots” farmed by the people in
his village, containing solely “useful vegetables and herbs” (18), furthering the text’s
discourse on socioeconomic disparities as a remnant of colonial and societal changes.
However, it should be again noted that the text intimates Ugwu’s simultaneous attraction
to Odenigbo’s modernized lifestyle and household, as he is portrayed as luxuriating “on
this [his] new bed that was nothing like his hand-woven raffia mat,” the “springy softness
of the mattress” (10-11). Although the ambivalent role of post-colonial Nigeria’s
westernization in general is not the focus of this paper, it is vital to demonstrate the
suggested positive, even connecting influence of western influence in the lives of the
novel’s characters, as in a fashion it prefigures Ugwu’s attraction to and benefiting from
his exposure to western education.
Nevertheless, on another level, this class divide brought about by the degree of
accessibility to Western education, as dependent upon knowledge of the English
language, has created some internal conflict, not solely of a socioeconomic nature, but
also one of disruption of human relationships. Indeed, to substantiate this claim,
according to April Gordon, in the colonial and postcolonial years in Nigeria, following
the creation of the country’s middle class, there was “understandable hostility” between
“traditional Nigerians” and “educated” ones. From the point of view of the former, this
“new class” was seen as “a bunch of low-status, foreign upstarts,” who, “embracing the
white man’s ways,” were “considered to be unrepresentative of most Nigerians, who
were illiterate and rural or village-based peasant farmers” (81). Garba also draws
attention to this intratribal conflict, stating that “western education created a dichotomy in
the status of the people,” with “the difference between the rich and the poor becoming
clear” (58), while Walter Rodney writes that the new western-oriented systems were not
“designed to give young people confidence and pride as members of the society, but
sought to instill the sense of difference in the society” (58). On the basis of the above
statements, I would extrapolate into arguing that the relationship between Ugwu and
Odenigbo in the novel not only is exemplary of this newfound socioeconomic divide that
83
�the above writers allude to, but also, is one indicative of a certain disruption in human
relationships. The fact that it is composed, as I see it, of certain elements that even
remotely resemble colonial practices suggests the presence and impact of perennial
mental remnants of colonialism in the postcolonial years in Nigeria. More precisely,
although ideologically a tribalist who advocates the “decolonization” of Nigerian
education (25), Odenigbo’s behavior toward Ugwu strongly presents him as an
incarnation of the figure of the colonizer. Despite his egalitarian exhortation of Ugwu to
suspend with formalities and call him by his name instead of “sir,” as he believes in the
fluidity of power boundaries, meaning that Ugwu “could be the sir tomorrow” (16), his
employment of him as a houseboy comes across as a kind of cognitive dissonance, since,
as Ugwu observes, he is so “youthfully capable,” looking “as if he needed nothing” (6).
Furthermore, the colonial practice of erasure of speech seems present in the relationship
between Odenigbo and Ugwu, with the latter immediately addressing the former “in
English” upon first meeting him (4), adamantly demanding of him to speak English
instead of Igbo (22), as well as referring to him as a “stupid ignoramus” whenever he
fails to speak English satisfactorily (17). Moreover, Odenigbo’s appellation of Ugwu as
“my [his] good man,” an old-fashioned British affectation, seems to mark a codeswitch to
the colonial language, thereby enhancing this idea that the dynamic between the two
characters in a way indicates the percolation of colonial relationships into those that
posed once as the colonized. Odenigbo’s act of deculturation, as I would suggest, of
Ugwu, is further demonstrated by his rather coercive urging of him to read western
books, in addition to sending him to attend an elite secondary school, as well as to
subsequently “send him to university”, and deciding that “he would not marry until he
had become like Master, until he had spent many years reading books” (221). The above
is clearly akin to the typical pattern of deculturation and forced re-acculturation of
western countries inflicted upon their colonies, with Odenigbo imposing upon Ugwu a
western-oriented cultural and linguistic influences. As Emmanuel Ngwira observes,
Odengibo’s behavior toward Ugwu, in concert with his use of “my good man,” betrays
his internalization of Western education” (47), thereby allowing for the claim that the
character’s paradoxical privilege, determined by his conformity to western-instilled
cultural elements, and the advantage entailed by that in regards to his position in the
social gradient, creates a rift between him and the uneducated, traditionally Igbo Ugwu,
as well as confers upon him, paradoxically, the status of the oppressor.
The mental effects of this inner divisionism left from colonialism, manifesting
itself in the form of power dynamics that resemble the old colonizer-colonized dichotomy
is further indicated through Ugwu, namely by his suggested inner anxiety, as well as by
84
�his internalization and acceptance of what seems to be the figure of the “oppressed.” In
the first instance, Mukoma Wa Ngugi views Ugwu as “a victim of colonial education,”
since “language becomes a source of anxiety” for him (23). I would concur with this
observation, suggesting that the psychological dissonance inflicted by the powerful role
of the English language is intimated when Ugwu nervously wonders whether “Master
[would] send him home because he did not speak English well,” or “did not know the
strange places Master named” as a result of his superior education (12), while he is also
depicted anxiously trying “to appear as alert as he could” as soon as Odenigbo
indignantly starts raving about his father not having borrowed money to send him to
school, “because of the wild shine that had appeared in Master’s eyes” (13). Furthermore,
in another instance, Ugwu is shown “awkwardly” standing next to Odneigbo, while he is
passionately expounding on a white man deemed to have discovered River Niger, with
Ugwu silently wishing “that this person called Mungo Park had not offended Master so
much” (14), while it is subsequently mentioned that he was “convinced that Master was
mad” (14). Lastly, I would argue that the divisive as well as psychologically disturbing
effects of the English language are further intimated in the novel, although not directly
pertinent to the characters of Ugwu and Odenigbo and their relationship, yet with some
underlying significance. In one case Olanna addresses Ugwu in English, and “because
she hardly spoke English to him,” “it sounded cold, distancing” (302), while in the
second case, the narrator summarizes Odenigbo’s educational and class-related privilege,
stating that “he was the master, he spoke English, he had a car” (311), in the context of
asserting his clout over the traditional, uneducated Arize. The above examples point
toward the immense power conferred upon those who have been molded by British
colonialism’s westernization, education, and class re-constitution, as well the role of the
English language as, perhaps, a barrier, a marker of “distance” between people
themselves even in the years following the termination of colonial rule. Furthermore, the
role of English as appropriating one’s culture is symbolically conveyed, I would argue
through the allusion to Robert Browning’s well-known British poem “The Pied Piper of
Hamelin”, which Odenigbo has asked Ugwu to memorize (106). The speaker’s feeling of
being “bereft” about not having been led to this Eden-like place where “waters gushed”
and “fruit trees grew” by the Pied Piper, like “he said”, like he had “promised me [him]”
as well, (106), can be paralleled to the sinister effects that Ugwu’s “strange and new”,
“luminous” (28) education is having of him, divesting him of his own culture, as well as
mentally enslaving him.
In the second instance, I would argue that Ugwu’s internalization and
acceptance of his status as Odenigbo’s inferior and servant reinforces this idea of
85
�language and its re-fashioning of class boundaries as well as mental enslavement due to
its intellectual implications, as a barrier. As far as class disparities are concerned, Ugwu
is mentioned as “wanting to do more [work], “to give Master every reason to keep him,
and so one morning he ironed Master’s socks” (17), while he is referred to as
“determined to please Master” (7). On an intellectual level, Ugwu’s passive acceptance of
his subservience is implied when it is mentioned that he would utter the word “sah” in
reference to Odenigbo “proudly”, being attracted to “the crisp power behind the word”
(16). More importantly, his belief in the putative superiority of the English language is
strongly suggested when he thinks of it as “magic,” as this “superior tongue,” this
“luminous language,” and being enthralled by its musicality and “easy perfection” (28).
In the same vein, Ugwu is shown deciding to use a grammatically correct English phrase,
“because it sounded better,” “because it would impress her [Olanna] more” (28). I would
argue that the above two instances suggests a form of mental conformity on Ugwu’s part,
meaning that his belief in the luminosity and greatness of the English language, renders
him highly reminiscent of typical associations of oppressed, colonized people, with a
sense of almost juvenile ignorance and childlike admiration for the putative majestic and
superlatively intellectual grandiosity that they are confronted with, aching to emulate it, if
not perhaps rather a stereotypical trope thereof.
Nevertheless, on the other hand, the apparent ambivalence with which Ugwu
and Odenigbo are both treated lends itself to the suggestion that the English language, in
fact, perhaps also functions as a binding factor between the two, in addition to marking a
certain social as well as intellectual disparity. Indicators of its role as a connector is,
firstly, the fact that Odenigbo, with his persistence and fixation regarding English and
western education seems to indeed succeed in stimulating Ugwu’s intellectual curiosity,
at least in principle, denuding him in a manner of his Igbo language and culture.
Examining the aforementioned instances through an alternative lens, Ugwu’s attempt “to
appear alert” upon seeing a “wild shine” in Odenigbo’s eyes while discussing the
former’s discontinuation of attending school (13) could be construed as Ugwu not so
much suggestive of the breach inflicted upon human relationships by the advent of the
English language, as well as of Ugwu’s anxiety, but, in fact, of Ugwu feeling positively
motivated. Odenigbo’s reprimand of him over not attending school seems to pique his
pride, implying that he is sensitive to how he is perceived, thereby now being prompted
to appear “alert” and show interest. Also, Ugwu’s determination to “learn how to sign
forms” (16) further implies the intellectually stimulating effect Odenigbo has had on him.
Even his pride about calling Odenigbo “sah,” as well as his “scrubbing the doors daily”
and “wiping the louvers until they sparkled” (16) can be regarded, I would argue, not
86
�necessarily as an indication of Ugwu’s internalization of subservience, thereby
introducing the discourse regarding a divisive colonizer-colonized dynamic discussed
above, but rather, of his curiosity to learn. As Adichie writes, the radiogram with the
English “strange flutelike music” would reach Ugwu’s ears (17) while he was performing
chores, which is subsequently juxtaposed next to the phrase that he “wanted to do more”
so as to “to give Master every reason to keep him” (17). In this instance, the English
language is arguably presented as a point of aesthetic and intellectual attraction for
Ugwu. Likewise, it attracts Ugwu to Odenigbo as much as it distances him from him.
Even the boy’s alert response “Sorry, sah!” to Odenigbo’s somewhat invectively calling
him a “stupid ignoramus” (17), may be seen as part of Ugwu’s determination to “please
his Master” (6) in order to remain in this house that so attracts him. It may also be seen as
illustrative of his admiration for what Odenigbo, in fact embodying, by extension, a
rather stereotypical facet of the “oppressed” as childishly ignorant and obsequiously
venerating. Furthermore, Ugwu’s view of English as this “luminous” and “superior”
language (28), as well as his determination to use it correctly because “it sounded better”
(28) can be seen as portrayed in a positive light, meaning as part of the poor houseboy’s
fascination with a new piece of knowledge, as opposed to a lamentable sign of his
deculturation and mental enslavement. His boosted sense of self-worth as a result of his
exposure to learning is further implied by the fact that it is mentioned that, overhearing
Olanna’s observation to Odenigbo that Ugwu “has such an innate intelligence”, the latter
phrase “became Ugwu’s favorite expression” (107).
Even on the part of Odenigbo, his attitude toward Ugwu can be seen not
suggestive of his embodiment of the figure of the “colonizer,” due to his paradoxical
privilege, but, in fact, as transgressive and disruptive of the extant class-related and
intellectual boundaries between the two, especially in view of Odenigbo’s own trajectory
from a poor background in a village to a westernized university. Odenigbo’s conduct
toward Ugwu does not seem as paradoxical when considering it in view of his socialist as
well as anti-colonialist political beliefs, as, on a practical level, his treatment of him
seems to flout conventional class boundaries. His protestation to Ugwu about ascribing to
him the “arbitrary” word “sir”, when in fact “you [he] could be the sir tomorrow” (16)
can be seen as flouting the boundaries between master and servant. Likewise, even his
not so polite calling Ugwu a “stupid ignoramus” is, in fact, meant to reprehend the latter
about having ironed the former’s socks (17), thus, curiously, about having endeavored to
conform to the typical role of a servant. Also, in the former instance, Odenigbo’s implied
belief in class mobility, which ostensibly derives from his exposure to such ideologies
through his western education, counterintuitively, enables him to act toward the
87
�transcendence of this social disparity between him and Ugwu, created by colonialism. His
education and place in this newfound privileged Nigerian middle class allows him to
contribute toward the disruption of such class boundaries. On a similar note, Odenigbo’s
appellation “my good man”, in addition to arguably being reminiscent of the tone of
hypocritical ingratiating quality embedded in colonial codes of communication, can also
be viewed, according to Daria Tunca, as connoting “a form of respect” (23), since “it is
typically used when speaking to adult males rather than young teenagers” (23). Hence,
this vocative “recognizes the existence of class boundaries even as it challenges
established social conventions” (23), linking again to my over-arching argument about
the ambivalent and paradoxical relationship of both connection and disconnection
between the two characters. This ambivalent attitude as far as class discrepancies are
concerned has already been indicated on the part of Ugwu, in the sense that his
intimidation sense of distance stemming from his impression of Odenigbo’s household
seems simultaneously peppered with awe, while it can also now be seen as standing more
to reason, in consideration to his motivated attraction to Odenigbo’s representation of a
middle-class, educated, adequately westernized yet nationalist Nigerian discussed above.
To make a link back to Odenigbo, on an intellectual plane, his obsessive and somewhat
comically portrayed preoccupation with Ugwu’s education and use of the English
language may be regarded as suggestive of his affinity for him, as again, he ostensibly
hails from a similarly humble background, thus creating a bond between them, as
opposed to marking an intellectual rupture, or even sense of superiority on Odenigbo’s
part. Also, his active interest in Ugwu’s western-oriented education can be accounted for
in consideration of it, paradoxically, as a means of aspiring to decolonization, as will be
subsequently indicated. In that light, it is possible that the fact that Odenigbo has Ugwu
memorize Robert Browning’s poem, and specifically “think” about what “it is really
saying” (106), can be interpreted as him being in fact aware of the poem’s sinister
undertones and its plausible parallelism to the wily advent of British education and
influence in colonial Nigeria and its long-term effects, thereby perhaps endeavoring to
make Ugwu memorize the verse for a reason, in order to arrive at some kind of
comprehension, and even take action, which, in fact, he does.
This rereading of my argument about the conjoining power of the English
language and its access to education in terms of Ugwu’s relationship with Odenigbo, but
also, the former’s connection to his Igbo culture, is perhaps best justified by looking at
Ugwu’s initiative to write a book to tell his own story, a fact which gives rise to an even
greater paradox. With Odenigbo’s tribalist and socialist ideology as well as his personal
sympathy and understanding having academically incentivized Ugwu, they have also
88
�evidently ultimately amounted to instilling a similarly anti-colonialist ideology in him.
Having come across Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,
an American Slave (360) while serving as a Biafran soldier, Ugwu feels “sad and angry
for the writer” (396), sympathetic towards the “black man’’s survival of the clutches of
colonialism, and about his right and power to tell his own story. He is thus instigated to
start writing his own narrative account of his experiences of the Biafran War. As Maik
Nwosu and Obiwu Iwuanyanwu observe, Douglass’s narrative “provides Ugwu with a
form and a language for claiming liberation and authorship for Biafra as well as himself”
(181). I would extend this argument into positing that indeed, the English language and
thus his entire indoctrination into western education, function as an invaluable tool for
Ugwu, enabling him to demythologize himself as much as others about, paradoxically
enough, his Igbo ethnic and even cultural identity. Moreover, on a less ideological, more
personal level, Ugwu’s act of crafting his own narrative further suggests that his
experience with Odenigbo has acted as an intellectual trigger for him as a personality,
allowing to ultimately realize his “own literary ambition”, as Nwosu and Iwuanyanwu
point out (181). His self-actualization and mental or ideological intersection with
Odenigbo are accomplished through his anglicization.
In conclusion, the English language’s paradoxical role in Half of a Yellow Sun
lies, on the one hand, in its creating class, intellectual, and even interpersonal barriers
between the characters, especially as exemplified through Ugwu and Odenigbo, as well
as inner conflict and anxiety, in addition to loss of identity, in the case of the former.
Moreover, it can ultimately lead the perpetuation of a type of intra-tribal conflicting
dynamic between colonizer and colonized. On the other hand, though, its knowledge and
resulting access to western education provides, on a practical level, middle-class,
relatively privileged Odenigbo with the ability to comprehend socialist ideology, which
he can communicate to Ugwu, thereby amounting to them not only, in fact, connecting to
one another, but also enabling the transcendence of those class boundaries that divide
them. On an intellectual level, Odenigbo’s somewhat forceful indoctrination of Ugwu
into British education not only arouses Ugwu’s intellectual curiosity, as well as increases
his sense of personal worth, but also, ultimately, enables him to both realize and utilize
his own potential, as well as to both mentally decolonize himself, and contribute toward
his culture’s own mental decolonization, through writing his own account of the Biafran
War. In that respect, he can also realize Odenigbo’s idealism and vision, thereby
indicating the bond Ugwu’s westernizing experience has effected between the two as
well. That route, therefore, that the now quite anglicized Ugwu ultimately follows
constitutes the greatest paradox delineated in the novel.
89
�Works Cited
Garba, Safiya J. “The Impact of Colonialism on Nigerian Education and the Need for ELearning Technique for Sustainable Development, Journal of Educational and Social
Research, vol. 2, no. 1, 2012, 53-61.
Gordon, April A. Nigeria’s Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook. ABC-CLIO,
2003.
Griswold, Wendy. Bearing Witness: Readers, Writers, and the Novel in Nigeria.
Princeton University Press, 2000.
Melber, Henning. The Rise of Africa’s Middle Class: Myths, Realities and Critical
Engagements. Zed Books Ltd., 2016.
Ngwira, Emmanuel Mzomera. ‘He Writes About the World that Remained Silent’:
Witnessing Authorship in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun”, English
Studies in Africa, vol. 55, no. 2, 2012, 43-53.
Nwosu, Obiwu, and Michael J.C. Echeruo. The Critical Imagination in African
Literature: Essays in Honor of Michael J.C. Echeruo. Syracuse University Press, 2014.
Sekhar, G. Raja. “Colonialism and Imperialism and its Impact on English Language”,
Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research, vol. 1, no. 4, 2012, 111-120.
Tunca, Daria. Stylistic Approaches to Nigerian Fiction. Springer, 2014.
90
�Genocide in Myanmar: The Plight of the Rohingya People
Ethan Meyer (History)1
During the closing weeks of the Second World War, Allied armies witnessed for
the first time Nazi Germany’s Final Solution. The reports made, and the pictures taken by
the Allied soldiers, clearly indicated that the Nazis had committed the largest genocide in
human history, killing up to 12 million people. In a letter to the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minster of the United Kingdom, had this to
say: “Free men and women denounce these vile crimes and when this world struggle ends
with the enthronement of human rights, racial persecution will be ended.”2 Despite Mr.
Churchill’s powerful words and even with the establishment of the United Nations (U.N.)
as a global peace keeping force, the world has seen three more genocides since the end of
World War Two. Despite well-documented proof of genocide in Cambodia (1976-1979),
Rwanda (1994) and Bosnia (1995), the U.N. has done little to nothing to stop this.
Shockingly, yet another genocide started in 2017, this time in the South East
Asian country of Myanmar. The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority has been under
attack by Myanmar’s Buddhist ethnic majority for the last year. The Buddhists have
brought forth legislation to remove the rights of Rohingya and committed acts of violence
such as destruction of property, rape, and mass murders against the Rohingya. Based on
the existence of anti- Muslim propaganda, legislation preventing citizenship, satellite
imagery showing the destruction of Rohingya villages and the large number of refugee
camps in Bangladesh, the atrocities committed against the Muslim- Rohingya in
Myanmar clearly represent the qualifications necessary for the United Nations to label the
persecution of the Rohingya as a genocide, thus warranting international intervention.
The United Nations defines genocide as
any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the
group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent
Written under the direction of Dr. Lori Weintrob for HI 334: Nazi Germany and the
Holocaust.
2 Sir Winston Churchill, Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury (The Sir Winston
Churchill Archive Trust, 1942), 1.
1
91
�births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to
another group.3
This paper will explain the historical implications that caused the genocide, the atrocities
suffered by the Rohingya, the perpetrators and their motives, and what the United
Nations and free people of the world should be doing to end the plight of the Rohingya
people.
Although the current genocide itself only started last year, the Rohingya have
been under attack in Myanmar for decades, with the roots of the genocide buried deep in
the age of European colonialism. During the 19th century, when Myanmar was known as
Burma, the British fought a series of wars to subjugate the country, incorporating it into
British India. After consolidating their power in the region, the British set to the task of
stripping the land of its resources, that being timber, rice, rubies and in true British
fashion, tea. But as all colonial empires do, the British wanted “MORE”. This meant they
needed more laborers and the source of this labor would come from the west coast of
Burma from predominantly Muslim people who traced their heritage back to the 13th
century Arakan Kingdom, known as the Rohingya people, meaning “People from
Arakan.”4 The British would bring more Rohingya to Burma from Eastern British India,
what is today Bangladesh, to meet their labor quotas. Although, many Rohingya had
lived in Burma for centuries at this point in history, the Rakhine, the local Buddhist
population on the Burmese west coast who also trace their ancestry back to the Arakan
Kingdom, came to associate the presence of the Muslim- Rohingya with oppressive
imperial rule since the British had brought more of them to Burma and till this very day
the Rakhine view all of the Rohingya as intruders, in what they consider to be their land.
The events of the Second World War would only exacerbate the Rakhine’s
hatred of the Rohingya. In December of 1941, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded
British Burma through the south of the country. Many native Burmese rose up in
rebellion against the British, treating the Japanese as liberators. The Rohingya however,
stayed loyal to the British, fighting alongside them against the Burmese.5 The Rakhine
and other Buddhist revolutionaries would consider the Rohingya traitors for this action
and this would directly lead to the start of state sponsored discrimination against the
Rohingya in the years following the end of World War II.
Office of the U.N Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, Legal Definition of
Genocide (The United Nations, 1948) 1.
4 Eleanor Albert, The Rohingya Crisis (Council on Foreign Relations, 2018) 1.
5 Agence France-Presse, Tracing history: Tension between Rohingya Muslims, Buddhists
date back to British Rule (Hindustan Times, 2017).
3
92
�The Post-War era in Burma would see the greatest increase in hatred toward the
Rohingya as The Union of Burma was declared an independent republic in 1948. During
this time Burma’s citizenship laws excluded the Rohingya from the 1950 list of selfidentifying people groups, leading to a vast majority of the Rohingya population lacking
legal documentation, thus they were locked from any social or political freedoms within
the new republic.6 As the 20th century carried on, things would only get worse for the
Rohingya, as in 1962, the republic was overthrown by the Military Junta, effectively
turning the country into a military dictatorship. This new autocratic government
dismantled the country’s constitution and barred the Rohingya of their citizenship in the
1982 Citizen Act, claiming that the Rohingya people were illegal immigrants from
Bangladesh. The Junta Government also used Buddhist Nationalist propaganda to help
assert their authority. This propaganda included changing the countries name back to its
pre-British title, Myanmar, and also troves of anti-Muslim rhetoric directed at the
Rohingya, using them as a scapegoat for the cause of the countries poverty. In reality, the
blame for Myanmar’s poverty is at the feet of the Junta themselves as 40% of the national
budget was spent on the military.
The first act of violence that was committed against the Rohingya was done by
the Military Junta in 1978 during “Operation Dragon King,” when the Junta used rape
and violence to try and drive the Rohingya out of Myanmar, but this attempt failed. In
1991 the Junta would launch a second campaign against the Rohingya with the stomach
curling title of “Operation Clean and Beautiful Nation,” causing 250,000 Rohingya to
flee to Bangladesh, however this operation was unsuccessful as well because many
Rohingya simply returned to Myanmar afterwards.7 This 50 year period of violence and
propaganda only further exacerbated the Rakhine’s previously aforementioned hatred
towards the Rohingya, as the Rakhine were now heavily influenced by both the Junta’s
anti- Muslim propaganda and ethnic cleansing campaigns, turning them into Buddhist
Nationalists.
In 2011, the Junta, under foreign pressure, allowed the return of a democratic
government in Myanmar. One would think the return of democracy to Myanmar would
end the oppression of the Rohingya, but in cruel twist of fate, it would only see the
persecution of the Rohingya continue. Any attempt by Myanmar’s government to liberate
the Rohingya was stopped by the manipulation of the democratic system by Buddhist
Nationalists. For example, Buddhist Nationalists out voted a bill that would issue ID
Albert, The Rohingya Crisis, 2.
Sam Ellis, The "Ethnic Cleansing" of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims Explained (Vox,
2017).
6
7
93
�cards to the Rohingya, which would have reversed the 1982 citizenship law. In the state
of Rakhine, (AKA the Arakan State), the disputed homeland of both the MuslimRohingya and Buddhist- Rakhine peoples, the Buddhist Nationalists won a majority in
the state assembly, giving them the power to keep in place the discriminatory laws of the
Junta era, meaning even in a democratic system, the Rohingya still had no rights.8
Violence broke out again in 2012 when three Muslim men were accused of
raping and then murdering a Buddhist woman in the State of Rakhine. These men were
then tortured and executed by Buddhist Nationalists. As if this was not enough, the
Nationalists then killed ten unarmed Rohingya men in cold blood, which caused the
Rohingya to riot in Buddhist neighborhoods. The Buddhists Nationalist launched a brutal
retaliation with the support of the government security forces and burnt down any
Muslim neighborhoods and villages, displacing a similar number of Rohingya to that of
“Operation Clean and Beautiful Nation.”9 These attacks only lasted for a couple of
months and after the violence had ended the Rohingya again returned to Rakhine State. It
was after this event, based on the “restrictions on marriage, family planning,
employment, education, religious choice, and freedom of movement” placed upon them
by the government and suffering from violent persecution from Buddhist Nationalists,
Human Rights Watch officially labeled the unfolding events in Myanmar as ethnic
cleansing, an action the United Nations considers to be just one step below genocide.10
The current conflict started on August 25th 2017, when The Arakan Rohingya
Salvation Army (ARSA), a Rohingya militant group - considered a terrorist organization
by Myanmar - attacked a border station, killing 15 Rakhine officers. In response, the
Myanmar security forces and Buddhists Nationalists retaliated against not just the ARSA
but all the Rohingya people. This started with the destruction of Muslim neighborhoods
and villages and soon escalated to rape, and mass murder like in 2012, but unlike the
2012 attacks that lasted from only June to August of that year, the August 2017 attacks
have carried on into April of 2018 with no end in sight. This has resulted in far more
destruction of Rohingya property with 288 villages being destroyed within the first month
alone. Evidence for this resides in the comparison satellite imagery of Rohingya villages
from June of 2017 to September of 2017, showing the burnt husks of hundreds of Muslim
houses. Since September the number of Muslim villages burned in the Rakhine State is
now at nearly half.11 Aung San Suu Kyi, who is basically Myanmar’s George
Albert, The Rohingya Crisis, 2.
Ellis, The "Ethnic Cleansing."
10 Albert, The Rohingya Crisis, 3.
11 BBC News, Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know about the crisis (British
8
9
94
�Washington, addressed these images in December of 2017. She said that more than 50%
of the villages were still intact and gave no comment on how the government would
respond to the attacks. This address was critiqued by the Deputy Director of the Human
Rights Watch Asia Division, Phil Robertson, who said “in any school I went to, 50% is a
failing grade.”12 The destruction of these villages since August of 2017, have caused the
deaths of around 7,000 Rohingya, with at least 730 of them being children. Additionally,
680,000 Rohingya have become displaced, almost three times as many that were
displaced in 2012. For perspective, there were only around one million Rohingya living
in the Rakhine State before the 2017 attacks, meaning around 68% of their population has
been forced to flee the country, with some going to Thailand and Malaysia, but the vast
majority fleeing to Bangladesh. Eight huge make shift refugee camps have sprung up in
southern Bangladesh, with the largest hosting over 240,000 people. Due to the strong
influence of Buddhist Nationalists within the government, Myanmar has thus far refused
to let United Nations human rights investigators to enter the country, making further
investigations extremely difficult.
These acts of violence are being committed by the Rakhine’s Buddhist
nationalist party, the Arakan National Party, who hold a majority in the Rakhine State
Assembly. The nationalists have a variety of excuses as to why they are committing
these atrocities against the Rohingya. The most common is the historic excuse that the
Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and that they don’t belong in the
country. The Rakhine also use the existence of Rohingya militia groups like the ARSA,
to give a reason why they are “defending themselves” from what they perceive to be an
internal threat. They believe that the problems caused by these groups serve as
justification for their actions and that the removal of the Rohingya is necessary for the
stability of the state. Furthermore, the Buddhist nationalist party and their former leader
Aye Maung argue that their violent actions against the Rohingya are in self-defense and
have little to do with the fact that the Rohingya are Muslim. This argument is
contradicted by other Buddhist nationalists like the head priest of the Abaya Yakheta
Monastery in the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe, U Nan Daw Ba Tha, who believes the
Rohingya Muslims present a threat to the Buddhist traditions and ideals of the country,
which he says must be preserved so Myanmar does not become Muslim country.13 This
claim is further supported by a quote from Dr. Aye Chan, a Rakhine historian and
democracy activist who says “Our land (Myanmar) is a strong land and we cannot share
Broadcasting Company, 2018) 4.
12 Ellis, The "Ethnic Cleansing."
13 Al Jazeera Investigates, The Hidden Genocide (Al Jazeera English, 2013).
95
�it with illegal Bengali aliens…both the country and state have a responsibility to protect
Buddhism and the welfare of the people.” Dr. Chan also co-authored a paper that dehumanizes the Rohingya titled Influx Viruses: The Illegal Muslims in Arakan which
argues the Rohingya are viruses infecting the Rakhine homeland.14 In addition, cartoons
of machete-wielding Rohingya babies have circulated on social media, further showing
how the nationalists have tried to de- humanize the Rohingya.15
If any of this sounds familiar, it is because the Nazis’ actions during the
Holocaust were very similar. They argued that the Jews were a threat to the German race,
believing that Jews and other “non- desirables” would bring about the destruction of the
German people, just as the Rakhine fear Islam for their Buddhist traditions. The
discriminatory laws introduced to remove the rights of the Rohingya are also eerily
similar to those that proceeded the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. In 1935, the Nazis
introduced the Nuremburg Laws, which stripped the Jews of their citizenship. There is no
doubt that the exclusion of the Rohingya from the 1950 list of self- identifying peoples
and the 1982 citizenship law is the Rohingyas version of the Nuremburg Laws as both
these pieces of legislation stripped the rights of their respective minority groups.
Not only does persecution of the Rohingya share similarities with the Holocaust,
but it also fits the definition of genocide perfectly. Dr. William Schabas, a member of the
International Association of Genocide Scholars, states that it is appropriate to call
persecution of the Rohingya a genocide because “the actions are carried out with the
intention to remove or destroy the group.”16 Dr. Schabas’ statement linking action to
definition, combined with the aforementioned evidence of anti- Muslim propaganda,
discriminatory laws, acts of violence and the existence of refugee camps, coupled with its
similarities to the events of the Holocaust, is irrefutable proof that the persecution of the
Rohingya MUST be considered a genocide by the United Nations. It is imperative that
the United Nations intervene in Myanmar in order to liberate the Rohingya people from
the Buddhist- Rakhine Nationalists, who must be arrested and tried in International Court,
so they can be held responsible for the crimes against humanity. It is also important to
remined the free people of this world that they have a responsibility to denounce these
vile crimes, so that the enthronement of human rights can finally end racial persecution,
as Sir Winston Churchill once boldly proclaimed. For if we do not denounce these vile
crimes and we do not hold those responsible for these vile crimes accountable, then
Al Jazeera Investigates, The Hidden Genocide.
Francis Wade, Myanmar: Marketing a Massacre (NYR Daily, 2017) 2.
16 Al Jazeera Investigates, The Hidden Genocide.
14
15
96
�humanity is doomed to repeat the mistake of Genocide over and over again. End the
Plight of the Rohingya NOW!
Bibliography
2013. The Hidden Genocide. Performed by Al Jazeera English .
Albert, Eleanor. 2018. "The Rohingya Crisis." Council on Foreign Relations. February 9.
Churchill, Sir Winston. 1942. "Could Britain have done more to help the Jews in the
Second World War?" Churchill Archives for Schools. October 29. Accessed May 1,
2018.
France-Presse, Agence. 2017. "Tracing history: Tension between Rohingya Muslims,
Buddhists date back to British rule." Hindustan Times. September 16. Accessed April 19,
2018.
2018. "Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know about the crisis." bbc.com. January16,
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41566561.
2018. "Myanmar: Accountability for Ethnic Cleansing Urgently Required." Human
Rights Watch. March 12. Accessed April 19, 2018.
Nations, The United. n.d. "The Offfice of the U.N Special Adviser on the Prevention of
Genocide." un.org.
News, UN. 2017. UN report details 'devastating cruelty' against Rohingya population in
Myanmar's Rakhine province. February 3.
2017. The "Ethnic Cleansing" of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims, explained. Directed by
Sam Ellis, Kimberly Mas, Carlos Waters and Valerie Lapinski. Performed by Vox.
Wade, Francis. 2017. "Myanmar: Marketing a Massacre." NYR Daily .
97
�“Nobody Returns:” Exploring the Limitations of Derrida’s
Hauntology in Edwidge Danticat’s Claire of the Sea Light
Glen MacDonald (English)1
On the day of her birth, Claire Limyè Lanmè lost her mother, altering her life
forever. Born into a community haunted by issues ranging from the personal to the
political, they label her as a revenan as a result of her tragic origins. Through an
exchange of life for death, Claire’s mother will forever haunt her daughter despite never
even knowing each other. Claire’s spectral struggle is merely the focal point in the novel
of multiple hauntings. Edwidge Danticat’s Claire of Sea Light explores the complexities
of hauntings, demonstrating the literal effects on both individuals and the community as a
whole. Danticat’s text engages with Jacques Derrida’s theory of hauntology.
In Specters of Marx, Derrida coined the term hauntology to describe a state of
simultaneously being and non-being. This perspective is seen as nostalgia through a
supernatural reverence for past or potential futures. The idea explains how contemporary
society recycles older tastes and cannot escape social traditions. Ideologies such as
Marxism would haunt the Western world, regardless if the ideas were successfully
implemented into society. Derrida explains this is done paradoxically through “ghosts”
and demonstrates what creates a ghost and defines their function.
Derrida provides a “spirited” definition of hauntology; “Repetition and first
time: this is perhaps the question of the event as question of the ghost. What is a ghost?
What is the effectivity or the presence of a specter, that is, of what seems to remain as
ineffective, virtual, insubstantial as a simulacrum? Is there a there, between the thing
itself and its simulacrum, an opposition that holds up? Repetition and first time, but also
repetition and last time, since the singularity of any first time makes it also a last time.
Each time it is the event itself, a first time is a last time. Altogether other. Staging for the
end of history. Let us call it hauntology” (Derrida 10). For Derrida, a ghost is a
personified event, feeling, or ideology, either from the past or future, which returns to
“haunt” individuals in the present. The notion of hauntology is present in all cultures,
especially those under colonial rule. Entire nations of people, including Danticat’s
homeland of Haiti, still struggle with hauntings of a tragic past and a grim possible
future.
1 Written under the direction of Drs. Alison Arant and Susan Bernardo for EN425: Senior
Seminar.
98
�Christian televangelist Pat Robertson also views Haiti from a hauntological
perspective, albeit entirely inappropriate. Commenting on the 2010 earthquake which
devastated the nation, Robertson claimed Haitians earned the tragedy through occult
dealings. On his television program the 700 Club, Robertson told his audience,
“..Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about
it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever. And
they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you will
get us free from the French.’ True story. And so, the devil said, ‘OK, it's a deal.’ And
they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But
ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other. Desperately poor…
Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, et cetera. Haiti is in desperate
poverty. Same island” (James). Robertson absurdly claims the spectres which haunt Haiti
stem the moral failings of the oppressed yet he does not acknowledge the original failings
of colonialism which continues to haunt the Haitian people in numerous ways. As
evidenced by Danticat’s novel, the specters of colonialism create even more spectres to
haunt the Haitians, both privately and publicly.
Edwidge Danticat’s hauntological perspective demonstrates how in postcolonial
systems, hauntings become a literal struggle for the former colonized. The community
featured in the novel is haunted by numerous elements from their past which delays their
appreciation for the present and they are thus unable to secure an improved future. The
most prevailing example is the community’s focus on death and ghosts. Hauntings affect
not only the greater political realm but also family life throughout the novel. These
political hauntings create a wide array of systemic issues, stemming from Haiti’s
historical colonial order. Meanwhile, the hauntings of family life deeply affect how a
family member views themselves within the community- such as a father, mother, or
child. While Derrida’s theory of hauntology is present both civic and intimate
relationships, this thinking leads to the misery of the individual. Many of the characters
wish to rectify their present situation yet remain focused solely on an imagined future
crafted by memories of the past.
In Claire’s town, death and corruption run rampant. The novel frequently
mentions horrific tragedies, often spurred by local corruption. The political world of
Claire of the Sea Light is unable to function as a fair democracy because the business
world haunts the community’s leaders and institutions. The prime example is Albert
Vincent, an undertaker and mayor. When Vincent is first introduced to the novel with a
humorous yet troubling observation- “He kept both positions, leading to all of jokes about
the town eventually becoming a cemetery so he could get more clients” (Danticat 4).
99
�Vincent simultaneously maintaining the roles of political leader and businessman is
problematic as it divides his interest between civic responsibility and personal profit.
While it is evident Vincent engages in crony capitalism, his breed of corruption stems
from darker periods of Haitian history.
The character of Albert Vincent is a haunting portrayal of Haitian dictator
François “Papa Doc” Duvalier whose corruption greatly influenced the nation, even years
after his death in 1971. Duvalier profited as leader while his citizens became further
impoverished, helping himself to the enormous sums of international relief (Abbott).
Likewise, Vincent, as undertaker, profits from the deaths of his citizens thereby providing
no incentive to improve the systemic problems. A death from police brutality, gang
violence, the crumbling infrastructure, or inadequate access to healthcare increases
Vincent’s personal wealth. This issue is made explicit in the text; when a fisherman goes
missing and a search party ensues, “one of the fishermen around the bonfire said loudly
enough for everyone to hear that the mayor part of him was investigating a disaster, but
the undertaker side was trolling for corpses. In fact, Albert Vincent was looking around
him, as if searching not just for a corpse, but a ghost” (Danticat 29). Vincent’s personal
business haunts his practices as a politician. His “search for ghosts” signifies his concern
with shallow ventures, such as his own personal profit or amassing power for the wealthy
elite. As Vincent/Duvalier exists in both the political and economical realm, the leaders
are unable to effectively provide for the Haitian people. However, while Duvalier’s rule
is strictly totalitarian, Vincent’s reign is more closely linked to the colonial masters who
previously presided over Haiti.
The remains of the colonial masters still haunt the community. For example, an
unfinished castle looms over the town; “The castle, one of the town’s most remarkable
relics, had been left unfinished in 1802, when Pauline Bonaparte’s husband died from
yellow fever and she sailed with his body back to France. Some of its stone walls
remained, although no one had seen fit to make any type of official monument out of
them” (Danticat 47). By leaving the castle unfinished, the French colonizers create a
haunting reminder of French rule over Haiti. Also, as one of the town’s “most remarkable
relics” the unfinished European castle overshadows the oppressed Haitian culture and
history. Obviously, the community struggles to accept this as a part of their shared story
because “no one had seen fit to make any type of official monument out of” the
colonizers. There is no reason for a monument because the spirit of the colonizing
Bonapartes never left the island, their exploitive values still an active force within the
community.
100
�In the 18th century, France colonized Haiti and profited of the island’s many
resources. Formerly known as the Pearl of the Antilles, Haiti became the richest islands
in the French empire. However, the massive sums of wealth resulted from exploiting
more than 800,000 enslaved Africans (Henley). While Vincent does not echo the horrors
of slavery, he does profit from a similar economic exploitation of Haitians. As slaves
were treated like cattle in order to produce profit for the French empire, Vincent is
incentivized to treat his citizens as “clients” for his undertaking business. The specters of
slavery, colonialism, and crony capitalism continue to haunt the politics affecting
townspeople in Danticat’s novel. These hauntings, reminiscent of Haiti’s darker periods,
limit the functions of government, causing the wealthy elite and impoverished public to
reenact a master-slave relationship.
The town’s haunted politics establishes a wealthy elite capitalizing off the
suffering of others. Louise, a radio DJ, reveals how the those with power and influence
exist beyond the reach of the law. After learning that Max Ardin Junior, a member of a
prominent family, raped Flore, his maid, Louise laments the futility of the town’s justice
system- “What good would it have been done to have filed a police complaint against
Max Senior’s son? A few dollars to some low- or high-level police official would get
Max Junior off. Case in point, one of Max Senior’s best friends was the current mayor”
(Danticat 174-175). The sexual exploitation of Max Junior’s servant is hauntingly
reminiscent of slave owners raping their female slaves with no repercussions. Despite
slavery being illegal in Haiti, Flore is subjected to the specter of the practice. Flore is at
first unable to stop working at her rapist’s house as she must work to pay her mother’s
rent. Through the crony capitalism, Flore finds herself “enslaved” to the Ardins. It is only
through Max Senior’s hush money that Flore is able to remove herself from the traumatic
situation. Essentially, Flore is only given her freedom via the willing participation of her
master. Under a political rule marred by business incentives, Flore receives limited rights
and legal protections from abuse such as rape or other forms of exploitation. The specters
of colonialism still haunt individuals via crony capitalism. Additionally, this haunting
negatively influence the legitimacy and efficiency of the town’s justice system.
As Louise previously revealed, the police force will not persecute members of
the town’s elite. However, as Vincent’s selfish choices haunts the town’s politics,
fundamental qualities such as justice become commodified. For example, Gaëlle
Lauvaud, a wealthy fabric vendor, wishes to bring her husband’s killers to justice but is
not ignorant of the town’s corruption, acknowledging, “Her husband’s murder was never
going to be solved. That she knew. There would never be a proper trial. Bribes and
corruption would keep anyone from being brought to justice” (Danticat 145). As a result,
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�Gaëlle must purchase, as she puts it, “another type of justice” by hiring two Special Force
policemen to track down and murder the men who killed her husbands. Gaëlle’s actions
are troubling for two reasons; firstly, this option is only available to people like Gaëlle,
whose inherited wealth and privilege allow her to take the law into her own hands.
Secondly, even blood split in avengence, the deaths did not bring any peace to Gaëlle.
Rather, the assassinated men only profit Albert Vincent, whose leadership, tainted by his
funeral business, only encourages civil unrest and division.
Another result of the hauntings of colonialism via crony capitalism is the vicious
gang, known as chimè, or ghosts. The novel describes the gang as “street children who
couldn’t remember ever having lived in a house, boys whose parents had been murdered
or had fallen to some deadly disease, leaving them alone in the world” (Danticat 65). The
novel’s use of ghostly imagery to name the gang hints at their hauntological inception.
The shortcomings of Haiti’s corrupt system by way of crony capitalism results in dozens
of vicious orphaned children inhabiting the streets. The sins of previous generations
negatively influence a portion of the children in the novel, introducing them to a life of
crime. Disturbingly, older people continue to take advantage of the “ghosts.” For
example, people like “ambitious business owners as well as politicians used them to swell
the ranks of political demonstrations, gave them guns to shoot when a crisis was needed,
and withdrew them when calm was required” (Danticat 65). Once again, the business
world bleeds into the political realm to exploit the disadvantage. However, these
individuals were already a result of the corruption through the conflicting marriage of
business and government. The town’s nefarious elite creates a disadvantaged, orphaned
class via corruption then proceeds to exploit them to complete their own goals of personal
wealth and authority. The name “ghosts” signifies how the children exist outside of time.
Without any parents or guardians, the children have no history to cling onto. Likewise,
with no civic programs to provide them with an adequate quality of life, the children are
rejected a promising future.
This injustice does not go unnoticed by other characters in the novel. For
example, Bernard, a radio DJ and activist, uses his radio program (also called Chimè) to
expand the definition of “ghosts” from not just the gang members but to everyone who
felt abused by the corrupt system. Bernard planned to open his show “with a discussion
of how many people in Cité Pendue had lost arms, legs, or hands. He would go from
limbs to souls- to the number of people who lost siblings, parents, children and friends.
These were the real ghosts, he would say, the phantom limbs, the phantom minds,
phantom loves that haunted them because they were used, then abandoned, because they
were out of choices, because they were poor” (Danticat 82). Bernard is arguing to shift
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�the focus of ghosts from a historical or fringe menace to an actual, current issue which
plagues the community as a whole. However, despite his advocacy for the improvement
for the community, Bernard is shot when caught in the crossfire of Gaëlle’s hitmen. Even
though the incidents where unrelated, the community’s vast corruption quickly disposed
of any attempt to rectify these issues. The general corruption which haunts the town is so
invasive it is able to almost immediately snuff out any individual who presents a
challenge to said corruption. This ensures corruption remains the order for the
community. Without awareness to the corruption, the specters of colonialism continue to
enslave the people.
The only people to benefit in the community is the elite. While wealthy
individuals Albert Vincent and Max Senior may yearn for a prosperous future, it comes at
the cost of the vastly corrupted present via harmful, historical practices such as slavery or
colonialism. Hauntology is also seen affecting those on a more intimate scale, concerning
family life.
In Danticat’s novel, even positive forces such as love possess the ability to
haunt. For example, family life depicted in the novel is haunted by the same love that
binds the characters together. Every member of a family is affected by love, whenever it
would be romantic or sexual or reciprocal or unrequited or ancestral or current. This love
then haunts an individual, shaping them throughout the course of their life. This haunting
between an historical self and present self creates tensions for the novel’s children.
Perhaps the most unfair notion of familial hauntology in the novel is the belief
of the revenan which describes the mother haunting the child. This notion is disturbing
because it upsets the sequence of time. The inherent hauntological perspective of
motherhood is that the child exists in an unlife status during the gestation period. While
the child is present in the moment it does not receive their autonomy under months later
and cannot fully exist without assistance from the mother. In many ways, the child haunts
the mother. However, the community insists the mother also haunts the child, as implied
by the term revenan. The term describes “a child who entered the world just as her
mother was leaving it. And if these types of children were not closely watched, they can
easily follow their mothers into the other world. The only way to save them is to
immediately sever them from the place they were born, even for a short while. Otherwise
they will spend too much time chasing a shadow they can never reach” (Danticat 16).
This superstition makes the community view the revenan not as an individual self but
rather as a self-entangled with the ghost of their mother. What is even more problematic
is the proposed remedy for a revenan- “to immediately sever them from the place they
were born.” As if punishment for killing their mother during birth, the child must be
103
�removed from present society to absurdly reconcile with a tragedy from the past. It is this
dissociation with the past which causes the children of Claire to be haunted.
As a revenan, the child cannot access the ancestral love which is frequently
referred to in her community. However, while ancestral love is noted, it is not revered.
The remains of the community’s ancestors rest on a location known as Mon Initil or
“Useless Mountain.” In the novel’s final chapter, it is revealed there is a possibility that
the community’s ancestral space will be plowed over, making room for luxury estates for
the wealthy elite. At one point in time, the community of Claire had reverence for their
ancestors, as evidence by the special burial place. While pre-colonized ancestors seem to
honor the dead, the specters of capitalism seem to have eradicated this tradition.
Currently, a death is not opportunity to honor an individual but an opportunity for the
wealthy, like Mayor/undertaker Albert Vincent, to enrich themselves. Without access to
ancestral love but forever being reminded by it via the community, the children in Claire
become haunted by the ghosts of the family they never met or had. The most prominent
example is Claire and how she views herself as a revenan.
What clouds Claire’s self-image is how she is struggling to see past the tragedy
in her past as she continues to go through life. While a healthy connection with her
ancestors could solve her issues with identity, Claire’s haunting by her mother keeps her
from receiving any resolution. Even though Claire’s mother is by all accounts a
compassionate woman, her love for Claire is used against her. Claire is unable to avoid
any comparison with her mother, as the town further the idea of the mother haunting the
daughter. For example, the vendors of the community remark how similar Claire is to her
mother, although this notion causes Claire some confusion- “Every now and again, one of
the vendors would shout, ‘Just like her mother!’ and she would ask herself what else she
might do to make them say even more often that she was just like her mother. Besides
dying, that is” (Danticat 213). The greatest tension for Claire is she is forever compared
to a dead woman who is still very much a present force in her life. Claire struggles to
emulate someone she can never forget, nor never met. The inability to satisfy this
perception causes Claire to be miserable.
In another example, Claire reveals she is hurt by her father’s recounts of her
mother’s last words were to her. Her mother says a single word, “vini” or “come,” to
welcome her to the world. While this is a tender, compassionate moment, the haunting of
her mother does not allow Claire to fondly reflect on this fact as it is tainted by her
father’s misery. The novel reveals “The way he told the story always made [Claire] feel
like someone who had shown up uninvited somewhere, as if she shouldn’t have come. As
if her mother’s death were her fault” (Danticat 218). The haunting of her mother bothers
104
�Claire because while her mother is no longer physically present, she will forever exist
through her daughter. Like her mother who carried her in the womb, Claire is forced to
carry the memory of her mother with her for the rest of her life. She must subject herself
to a spectral pregnancy, with the sequence in time forever reversed. Even Claire’s
immediate caregiver, her father Nozias, struggles to view her as Claire the child, not
Claire the mother. Nozias describes Claire as a “...loose-jointed and gangly,
heartbreakingly, a smaller version of her mother” (Danticat 25). The haunting of Claire’s
mother negatively affects the relationship between Nozias and his daughter. As Claire is
said to be haunted by her mother, Nozias is unable to reconcile with her death and
therefore unable to maintain a close relationship with his daughter, the cause of his wife’s
death.
Unsurprisingly, to escape her deeply haunted life, Claire hides in the mountain
in which the ancestors’ remains are buried. She treats the area as her sanctuary and
briefly decides to live there among the spirits. By doing so, Claire attempts to reconnect
with the ancestral connection she missed out in her previous years. Although this could
be viewed as a positive homecoming for Claire, this is also deeply troubling. Claire plans
to stay on the mountain and observe her father from afar- “He would be sad, but maybe
he wouldn’t leave the beach or (the town). Maybe he would stay, just as he had when she
was living with her mother’s family. He might stay close, waiting, hoping for her to
return” (Danticat 234). Essentially, Claire plans to haunt her father. As this is a result by
the haunting of Claire’s mother, this only leads to more familial haunting, affecting every
member of the family. The ghostly imagery concerning this scene continues- “She’s
heard some of the fishermen’s wives say that the spirits of those who’d been lost at sea
would sometimes come ashore to whisper in their loved ones’ ears. She would make sure
he felt her presence too… She would go away without really leaving, without losing
everything, without dying” (Danticat 234-235). The only way for Claire to find peace is
to actual replicate the haunting of her mother. By doing so, she feels a better connection
to not only her ancestors or mother but also her father. In this capacity, she is able to
engage in a meaningful relationship with Nozias who is no longer haunted by his wife via
his daughter. If both become ghosts, Nozias is no longer tormented and able to reconcile
with the tragedies of the past. However, the community’s encouragement of the revenan
concept limits the potential for individuals, particularly children, to live full, satisfactory
lives.
This type of haunting also affects the aforementioned gang of parentless
children, or the chimè. While the gang is also a result of greater political hauntings, the
immediate cause of their situation is a dissociation with an ancestral connection. Haunted
105
�by what they never had, the children must rely on themselves and their limited
opportunities, usually leading them to a life of crime. By addressing them as “ghosts” the
town is not inclined to acknowledge their actual suffering.
Like Claire with her revenan status, the perceived haunting associated with the
gang puts the responsibility on the children, not on the circumstances which created a
roving band of dangerous children. Even Max Senior, a member of the elite, is somewhat
aware of how his generation’s poor influence on the community’s children. When
concerned for his own son, Max Junior, he muses, “There was something tragic about a
generation whose hopes had been raised, then dashed over and over again. Had they been
poisoned by disappointment? Their leaders and elders- including himself- had made so
many promises that they’d been, for whatever reason, unable to keep… Maybe his
generation was the problem. They’d built a society which was useless to their children”
(Danticat 186-187). The self-investments of ambitious elite men like Max Senior and
Albert Vincent haunt the children of the community. The unholy marriage between
business and politics, creates a corrupt system which does not properly function and is
therefore “useless.” In a classist society, the poorer children suffer the most, through
political and familial neglect, thus imbuing them with ghostlike qualities. However, this
notion affects all of the children in Danticat’s novel, including children of the wealthy
elite.
An example of this is the character Max Junior. While both of his parents are
alive, Max feels a dissociation concerning his parents. Although Max Junior is able to
impress his father through his scholarship, he still recognizes a disconnect between them.
Max Senior routinely voices his personal criticism with anything unfamiliar, particularly
involving the feminine. Subjects like a woman’s piercing, a woman hosting her own
radio show, or a woman’s attempts to discipline disagree with Max Senior. Max Senior’s
sexist ideology haunts Max Junior, who is modeled after his father. However, the key
difference is the son does not share the same sexual appetite as his father. As a closeted
gay man, Max Junior is haunted by his father’s traditional, pro-male agenda.
The Ardin men share the same first name, similar to Claire and her mother. The
relationships haunt each other. Max Junior is haunted by Max Senior’s sexism. As
evidence by his distaste of independent women, Max Senior disagrees with any type
which challenges the capitalistic ideals which allowed him to thrive. Therefore, Max
Senior views outliers such as female independents as threats to his way of life. In the
community depicted in Claire, gay men are perceived as feminine, as exemplified by
community’s mocking nickname for Max Junior- “Madame.” As Max Junior becomes
associated with a subject which his father detestes, Max Junior rebels against this
106
�perspective. Haunted by his father’s sexism, Max Junior rapes Flore in a warped attempt
to gain his father’s respect. Danticat makes his motivations explicit- “He had foolishly
wanted to prove something to his father that night, that he could be with Flore. He wanted
his father to hear her screams” (196). Earlier in the novel, it is realized that Max Senior
has no issues with sleeping with an employee, as he does not develop any romantic
feelings with his partners. In fact, despite Max Senior participating in numerous affairs,
he never regards his lovers in any romantic sense. Max Senior’s methodical manipulation
of women is point in which Max Junior tries to emulate. This is why Max, who is usually
described as a thoughtful and gentle child, is able to commit such a horrid act on another
person. His actions towards women are the haunted reflection of the Max Senior’s history
of women.
Conversely, Max Senior is haunted by Max Junior. Multiple times in the text,
Max Senior declares how his son will ultimately return, imbuing his son with revenantlike imagery. The belief that Max Junior will “return” to his father demonstrates how
Max Senior’s son and his actions will be an extension of himself. Despite having no
control over another autonomous individual, Max Senior believes his role as father is to
defend the family’s legacy. When pondering about his grandson conceived by his son’s
rape, Max Senior projects his own parental hauntings onto his grandson and Flore- “Let
her school him on legacy, how one should defend it at all cost. Let her learn one day how
to forgive him and eventually to forgive himself” (Danticat 184). Here it is revealed that
Max Senior is also haunted by ancestral love. Unlike Claire who has no connection with
her ancestors, Max Senior is able to identify himself through his legacy. He understands
it is through his legacy which will maintain his comfortable lifestyle. The relationship
between the ancestral and the capitalistic becomes entwined. In this regard, Max Senior
allows for the colonial/capitalistic system to haunt his perception on family life. This is
the case for most of the men in the novel. As the various hauntings associated with
pregnancy and childbirth are optional to men, many opt to instead be haunted by the
spectres of colonial system. While this haunting is still troubling, it allows men like Max
Senior to gain personal wealth. Even men in lower economic classes, such as Nozias, are
not required to engage in the more intimate hauntings concerning motherhood. To escape
his heartache after his wife’s passing, Nozias throws himself into his work as a
fisherman, thereby providing for his family without having to explicitly deal with the
complexities of raising a daughter. As men are encouraged to participate in the colonial
system more than women, hauntings of family life mostly shape a family’s women and
children.
107
�These biased, patriarchal hauntings resulting in namely women to deal with the
complexities of familial hauntings. For the men in the novel, the family life is not as
much an intimate affair as it is for the women. Throughout the novel, the mother role is
closely associated with misery (such as the loss of the child, conceiving a child by rape,
or dying via childbirth). The society in Claire practice a solemn reverence towards
motherhood, yet the same definition greatly limits the lives and fates of the mothers in the
novel. For mothers, the role itself haunts them.
The troubling depiction of motherhood stems from the supernatural perception
of the role. The novel shares many superstitions involving childbearing- the most
prominent being that motherhood is the gateway between life and death. This perception
adds a cosmic amount of weight on the role of the mother regarding the outcome of a
child. However, as Danticat’s text demonstrates, the role of the mother is mostly arbitrary
in regards to the chaos of the world. While this perception treats mothers like goddesses,
it does not accept their mortal anxieties and situations. Danticat’s writing depicts the
actual version of the community’s mothers; scared, confused, and suffering from
pregnancy pains. Particularly for Gaëlle, pregnancy is not the cosmic journey involving
life and death but rather a tragic, nine-month slog in which a possible future growing in
their womb tantalizes the mother.
During Gaëlle’s pregnancy, she is told her child will not survive yet she decides
to carry the baby to term, “to see the whole thing through” (Danticat 50). For her entire
pregnancy, Gaëlle is haunted by the more than likely possibility of her child dying during
birth. This knowledge is stressful to Gaëlle who does not know how to respond to the
complicated hauntings of an unborn, dying child. Without the ability to properly identify
with the child growing inside of her, Gaëlle begins to hate herself and her baby. For
example, “Among the many dreadful, difficult things about her pregnancy after the
doctor’s dire verdict, was that she had grown to hate the smell of her own body. Most
days she smelled like a latrine. The very air that floated around her disgusted her. And
sometimes, even though she had decided to keep it, the child growing inside of her
repulsed her too” (Danticat 59). Like Claire, the hauntings create a negative self-image
for Gaëlle. Yet while Claire is haunted by the past, Gaëlle, as a mother, is haunted by the
future. Gaëlle possesses much love for her unborn child. Yet as the child exists in an even
more extreme definition of unlife, she struggles to successfully express this love for the
source of her hauntings.
The community’s encouragement of the hauntological aspects of motherhood
results in women no longer being autonomous with their bodies. Pregnant women are not
regarded as individuals but rather as passive vessels for spirits. This is furthered revealed
108
�when Gaëlle swallows the corpse of a dead frog. Once consumed, Gaëlle reflects how
“Two types of animals were now inside of her, in peril: her daughter, Rose, and now this
frog. Let them fight it out and see who will win” (Danticat 59). The ambivalence in this
passage reveals how Gaëlle is no longer invested in her present situation, as she is too
preoccupied with the future. Additionally, she names her daughter after one of her
ancestors. In this way, Gaëlle is also haunted by the past as well. Therefore, with no
actual connection to the present, Gaëlle begins to think less of herself as a person and
more as a bloated, organic receptacle for souls.
This is not the only time in the novel where a woman’s body is regarded in such
a manner. After Claire’s birth, the community finds it odd for Claire’s mother to perish in
childbirth despite being a healthy woman- “People assumed that a battle had taken place
and the one with the stronger will had won. Nozias like to think of it, though, as kind of
loving surrender. Only one of them was meant to survive and the mother had surrendered
her place” (Danticat 16-17). This perspective is not an honest account of what happened.
To infer the mother’s body as a spiritual battleground glorifies her agony and pain.
Nozias describing her death as a “loving surrender” unfairly renders his wife as passive
character. Too pure for this world, Claire’s mother must only exists as a ghost. By
imbuing mothers with passive, ghostlike qualities the community creates a entirely new
class of spectres, adding to the town’s growing population.
The greater colonial hauntings directly target the lives of women in Haiti.
Patriarchal traditions, implemented by colonialism, shape how men view the women of
the community. For example, Max Senior dislikes when younger women, such as his
son’s friend Jessamine, express their own individuality. Max Senior closely examines
Jessamine; “She was a stunning girl with an African mask of a face, all high forehead and
high cheekbones, giant loop earrings, and one gold stud on either side of her cheeks. She
was obviously one of those modern girls, the kind of girl from whom frankly he didn’t
think he would be able to welcome with open arms into this family, with her cheek studs
and hippie tunic and the word POP tattooed in red-link calligraphy across the insides of
both her wrists” (Danticat 182). Max Senior’s depiction of Jessamine is one of the few
explicit mentions of race throughout the novel. Immediately identifying her by her
African descent, Max Senior’s exclusive attitude is troubling. He struggles to welcome
her into his family, wishing to segregate himself and his legacy from the unfamiliar. He
dislikes independent females, or “modern girls,” because they pose a threat to the
traditions set in place by colonialism. In order to continue successfully exploiting women
within the colony, the elite must continue to depower women’s roles within society.
109
�This move only allows women to express themselves through certain roles
approved by the elite. As an American college student, Jessamine does not fit into an
exploitable category in agreement Max Senior’s haunted colonial perspective. With an
education and personal wealth, Jessamine is able to express herself through body
modifications and tattoos as she is not subjected to the same degree of colonial
oppression. The Haitian women of the community do not possess the same options as
Jessamine because they exist within a system which limits their access to education and
personal wealth.
Scholar Gayle Rubin identifies the complexities of this struggle in her essay
“The Traffic in Women.” She demonstrates how certain societal systems treat the
individual female as a commodity. Focusing on the practice of marriage, Rubin explains
how women often find themselves being used as an exchange. Rubin writes, “There are
systems in which there is not equivalent for a woman. To get a wife, a man must have a
daughter, a sister, or other female kinswoman in whom he has a right of bestowal. He
must have control over some female flesh” (Rubin 918). The Ardins engage in this
practice of controlling the female flesh. Max Senior frequently sleeps with his employee,
Louise. Through this relationship, intimacy occurs between the two of them. He exploits
this to his advantage by pressuring her to work certain jobs and to deal with the issues he
wishes to avoid. Through their intimate relationship, Max is able to get Louise to do
things she would not choose to do for herself, thus successfully stripping her away of her
autonomy. Similarly, Max Junior maintains control over Flore while under his father’s
employment. As mentioned previously, Flore must continue working for the Ardins
despite being raped by Max Junior because her family is in desperate need for money.
Thus, like any commodity, Flore is able to be exploited. The colonial hauntings allow for
men like the Ardins to take advantage of the women they employ, without immediate
legal consequences due to a corrupt justice system. Through these hauntings, the specters
of colonialism still commodifies women.
Derrida’s theory of hauntology employed by the community in Claire damages
both core political/familial relationships and the individual’s own self-image. Danticat’s
novel directly speaks against the misconceptions created by hauntology. Towards the end
of the novel, Gaëlle talks to Claire and attempts to dismantle the significance concerning
revenan, stating, “That revenan talk is superstition. Nobody returns. That is not real.
You’re gone. You’re gone. Back in God’s hands, and no one can pull you back. Not you.
Not you, Claire” (Danticat 162). Although not a entirely religious person, Gaëlle invokes
the figure of God to demonstrate issues concerning the sequence of time are beyond
individual’s control. The idea of haunting, although seemingly supernatural, is created by
110
�the human desire of immortality, by remaining simultaneously in the past, present, and
future. However, Gaëlle vehemently disagrees with this idea, declaring “Nobody
returns.” This idea is suppose to bring comfort to Claire and others who feel haunted. By
no longer concerning themselves with the past or future, these haunted individuals are
allowed to live entirely in the present.
However, while Danticat’s text provides an empowering message to citizens of
her homeland it does not remedy their situation. Supernatural folk tales such as the
revenan do not exist, yet the ghosts of Haiti’s colonized past continue to haunt the nation.
The phantoms of colonialism, capitalism, slavery, and patriarchy haunts individuals of
every class. However, the community instead chooses to respond dramatically to the
minor, personal haunting of Claire and her mother rather than their greater political
hauntings. Similarly, Pat Robertson would rather acknowledge Haiti’s superfluous
relationship with the occult than admit the nation’s continued problems stem from
colonial hauntings. While some choose to view Haiti as a “shithole” or a hive of doomed
devil worshippers, this perspective does not take into account the lingering corrosive
elements in Haitian history. Danticat’s engagement with Derrida theory of hauntology
demonstrates how those under a postcolonial system suffer through multiple hauntings,
all stemming from the original sin of colonialism, thereby affecting Haiti’s past, present
and future.
Works Cited
Abbott, Elizabeth. "The Ghosts of Duvalier." Foreign Policy. January 19, 2011.
Danticat, Edwidge. Claire of the Sea Light. Vintage Books, A Division of Random House
LLC, 2014.
Derrida, Jacques. Specters of Marx: The State of Debt, the Work of Mourning and the
New International. 1993. Print.
Henley, Jon. "Haiti: A Long Descent to Hell." The Guardian. January 14, 2010.
James, Frank. “Pat Robertson Blames Haitian Devil Pact For Earthquake.” NPR, NPR, 13
Jan. 2010
Rubin, Gayle. “The Traffic in Women.” ed. Rivkin, Julie, and Michael Ryan. Literary
Theory: An Anthology. Wiley Blackwell, 2017.
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Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference -- Abstracts -- 3 Effects of the Psychoactive Drug Caffeine on the Behavior of Zebrafish (Danio rerio) / Kevin Lipton and Dr. Brian Palestis -- 3 Epithelial Lining Turnover in the Rodent Small Intestine Based on Mitotic Indices in the Crypts of Lieberkühn / John Acquaviva -- 4 Arsenic and Selenium in Human Tissues: The Investigation of Arsenic Contamination in Human Food and Urine Samples / Lejla Bolevic and Dr. Mohammad Alauddin -- 4 Walking on Eggshells: The Effects of Theobromine on Tooth Remineralization / Anna Cios -- 5 The Effect of Peer-Comparison in Social Media on Food Selection / Lauren Taibi -- 5 Global CO2 Emissions: Sources, Historical Trends, and Links to Economic Growth / Samantha Susi and Jack Leighton -- 6 Analysis of Climate Change Data and Predicted Impact on Japan and Surrounding Areas / Mara Mineo, Tamar Amirov and Vinh Phuong -- 6 Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells / Kelsey Savje and Domenick Palmieri -- 7 Accessing Diynes Containing Thiocyanate and Thiophene End-Groups En Route towards Polydiacetylenes / Oskar Sundberg and Iireyel Gittens -- 7 Effects of Diethyl Phthalate on the Development of Drosophila melanogaster / Ellen Reidy -- 8 Global Sea Level Measurements: History, Current Status, and Future Impact / Derek Avery, Zachary Pandorf and Michelle Hernandez -- 8 Antibacterial Properties of Functionalized Melamine / Piper Skinner -- 9 Analysis of Hurricanes and Cyclones in North America and Asia / Matthew Barreto and Victor Ruan -- 9 The Effect of Semi-Precocial Development on Movement of Juvenile Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) from the Nest / Monica Valero -- 10 Chemistry in the Aerosol Interfacial Region: A Computational Study / Gent Prelvukaj -- Section II: The Natural Sciences & Quantitative Analysis -- Full Length Papers -- 13 Thermal Stresses and Resistive Heating: A Computational Analysis / Adam O’Brien -- Section III: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 39 The Role of Overprescription in Antibiotic Resistance among Adult Hospitalized Patients / Cathryn Cantyne, Claire Johnson, Jacqueline Otake -- Section IV: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 51 Beautiful Nude Girls: Art and Female Sexuality in Nazi Germany (Reprint from Spring 2018 issue with correction) / Jordan Gonzales -- 64 Eréndira and her Heartless Grandmother: Gabriel García Márquez’s Political and Social Allegory / Jacquelyn Thorsen -- 72 Nazi Cinema: Ideology and Politics in Romantic Melodrama / John Badagliacca -- 80 “A Luminous Language”: The Paradoxical Role of English as a Remnant of Colonialism in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun / Elena Rotzokou -- 91 Genocide in Myanmar: The Plight of the Rohingya People / Ethan Meyer -- 98 “Nobody Returns:” Exploring the Limitations of Derrida’s Hauntology in Edwidge Danticat’s Claire of the Sea Light / Glen MacDonald
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural Sciences and
Quantitative Analysis, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these
sections are limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific investigations
(experimental, theoretical and empirical) and complex mathematical/statistical modeling.
The third section is reserved for speculative papers based on the scholarly review and
critical examination of previous works. This issue sports an updated cover which has the
refreshed version of the President's seal in place of the older one.
Read on and enjoy!
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Annemarie Dowling-Castronovo, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Amy Eshleman, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I: The Natural Sciences & Quantitative
Analysis
Full Length Papers
3
Accessing Diynes Containing Thiocyanate End-Groups En Route
towards Polydiacetylenes
Oskar Erik Sundberg
13 Effects of the Psychoactive Drug Caffeine on the Behavior of
Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Kevin Lipton
Section II: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
31 Pink and Blue: How Stores are an Integral Part of Gender
Socialization
Victor Ruan
Section III: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
39 The Theme of the “Sleeper” in the Works of Paul Gauguin
Beatrice DeMarco
47 A Physician’s Right to Conscience
Maya Barr
����Accessing Diynes Containing Thiocyanate
End-Groups En Route towards Polydiacetylenes
Oskar Erik Sundberg (Chemistry)
This research explores the synthesis of diynes with sulfur-containing end groups en route
towards accessing novel polydiacetylenes (PDAs), a class of conjugated polymers with
conductive properties.1 Diynes containing thiophene and thiocyanate end-groups have
been targeted, with the latter being the focus of this project. Thiocyanate (SCN) endgroups are expected to impact the electronic properties of the polymerized system
because of the resonance-stabilization and electronic effects of these groups. Efforts to
synthesize 1,4-dithiocyanatobuta-1,3-diyne have yielded promising results, with 13C
NMR spectra containing peaks that correspond to predicted spectra. Additional
characterization is needed to confirm isolation of this novel diyne before polymerization
conditions can be fully explored. Removal of trace solvents such as triethylamine has
proven troublesome, thus complicating initial polymerization efforts. However, recent
spectroscopic data indicates successful isolation of the diyne from residual solvents that
would facilitate future polymerization attempts.
I. Introduction
Polydiacetylenes
Polydiacetylenes (PDAs) are an extensive family of conducting polymers
(Figure 1). This class of polymers has been of interest to organic chemists since the
1960s.1 In 1976, Wegner and colleagues demonstrated the ability to topochemically
polymerize diacetylenes or diynes into a conjugated system of tethered double and triple
bonds.2 Diacetylene monomers can be polymerized through various techniques to form a
useful polymerized system that gives rise to many unique properties. It was relatively
early established that PDAs absorb light in the visible spectral region and that the
particular wavelength that is absorbed can change due to a planar non-planar backbone
conformation transition.3 This chromatic property of PDAs was further explored during
the 1980s and resulted in research indications that PDAs possess the ability to exhibit two
distinctly different colorimetric phases, one blue phase and one red phase. Furthermore,
Research conducted under the supervision of Dr. Racquel DeCicco in partial fulfillment
of the Senior Program requirements.
3
�the research also indicated intriguing fluorescent properties of the red-phase.4 In most
cases PDAs exhibit a blue color but exposure to certain external stimuli causes this
drastic colorimetric change, which is visible to the naked eye (Figure 2).1
Figure 1. General structure of polydiacetylenes
Diacetylene monomers have also been shown to organize and form
configurations in a variety of ways, while still conserving their chromatic properties, thus
further expanding the possible application of PDAs as an integral component of sensory
detection assemblies. Among the diverse physical conformations that PDAs can organize
in are vesicles, Langmuir monolayers, self-assembled films and single crystals.1, 5, 6
Furthermore, PDAs have demonstrated the ability to integrate as a component of other
host matrices such as inorganic materials, other polymers, and living cells.1 Because of
these intriguing properties, PDAs have the potential to be useful in various sensory
assemblies. Incorporating various PDAs within a sensory platform allows for the
recognition of a diverse set of molecules. Since the PDA side-groups are intrinsically
negatively charged there is an innate ability to detect positively charged amphiphilic
molecules, however, modifications of side-groups has allowed for the detection of
negatively charged molecules as well.1, 7, 8 Further studies have shown observable
colorimetric transformations occur within PDAs through the exposure to viral particles
such as the H5N1 strain of influenza.9 This versatility in detection possibilities has
attracted the interest of various industries that have an incentive to detect certain particles
or molecules.1
The unique ability of PDAs to undergo a colorimetric transformation visible to
the naked eye through external stimuli such as temperature changes, pH changes, and the
presence of certain biological molecules has drawn interest from industries that can
benefit from such sensory abilities.10 The food industry, for example, suffers large
economic losses estimated to be between $2.9-6.7 billion annually.10 These economic
losses are primarily due to medical costs and decreased productivity caused by food
pathogen related diseases. Recalls of compromised products also contributes to this
economic loss.10 Furthermore, there is also a large interest in better pathogen detection
4
�technology because many foodborne illnesses occur each year.10 Current detection
technology only allows for pathogens to be discovered after the problem has arisen. Since
PDAs can be integrated into solid supports such as plastic, their use would enable real
time monitoring during all the major steps from production to meal preparation.10 The
possibility for biosensor technology to be utilized for this purpose was demonstrated by
Sezgintürk and Dinçkaya who detected thiourea, a carcinogenic compound, in fruit
juice.11
Of all the interesting properties pertaining to PDAs, the colorimetric
transformation has attracted the most attention. The transformation that occurs causes
PDAs to absorb a wavelength of 500 nm (red-phase) rather than of 640 nm (blue-phase).1
The mechanism responsible for the transformation has yet to be elucidated entirely but is
generally attributed to a disruption of the conjugated network resulting in shorter electron
delocalization lengths (Figure 2).12 Studies strongly suggest a correlation between
induced structural reformation and the colorimetric change.12, 13 Moreover, interactions
between the attached side-groups have shown to play a prominent role in the
transformation through crystallographic and theoretical studies.12 The interactions
between specific functional groups on the PDAs have a great impact on the planarity of
the PDA backbone and consequently on the overlap between adjacent π-orbitals.13 The
significant impact of attached side-chains has caused a surge in research efforts to modify
the diynes that comprises the polymerized system, as is the goal of this research.
Figure 2. Colorimetric change of PDAs1
Polydiacetylene Formation
For PDAs to obtain their useful properties successful polymerization of the
diacetylene monomer must occur. The so called 1,4-polymerization of diacetylenes and
triacetylenes was for a long time only attainable when allowing the monomers to selfassemble and polymerize through UV-irradiation exposure.14 The method was working in
5
�these cases because certain monomers take on a solid-state structure that is pre-organized
at the distances and orientations that the final polymer also contains.(Figure 3).14 In
efforts to expand the scope of which conjugated diynes and triynes are able to undergo
1,4-polymerization, guest-host strategies were pioneered by Fowler and Lauher.14 This
general strategy utilizes a host molecule to generate the specific parameters that the guest
monomer requires to be responsive to 1,4-polymerization. As various monomers require
various distances and orientations, host molecules must be developed to satisfy the
particular parameters that the guest molecule requires.14
Figure 3. Parameters for 1,4-polymerization of diynes, r = ~4.9 Å, θ = 45º, d = 3.5 Å15
Certain diyne monomers, such as those which contain carboxylic acids, have
been shown to be able to arrange themselves to satisfy these parameters, and through
subsequent UV-irradiation undergo polymerization.16 It was, however, in this study also
concluded that shorter diacetylenes proved unable to polymerize under these conditions,
suggesting that smaller diacetylenes require a cocrystallization agent.16, 17 The
cocrystallization agent, also known as the host, allows a bond formation to occur between
the C1 and C4 atoms of the diacetylene molecules. The bond formation between these
carbons is possible due to hydrogen or halogen interactions between the functional
groups of the host molecule and the end groups of the diacetylenes.14 This reaction is
typically initiated by irradiation or heating and results in a polymer backbone oriented
along a well-defined lattice direction with a repeat distance of ~4.9 Å (Figure 3).18
II. Materials and Methods
Materials
N-bromosuccinimide, trimethylsilyl-acetylene, acetone, triethylamine, silver
nitrate, copper (I) chloride, diethyl ether, sodium sulfate, copper (II) sulfate, hexanes, and
deuterated chloroform were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Ammonium thiocyanate was
purchased from Acros Organics. Reagents were not purified prior to use, with the
exception of copper (I) chloride, which was purified according to standard methods to
remove any oxidized copper species.19 NMR spectra were obtained using a Varian 400
MHz instrument and deuterated chloroform as the solvent.
6
�In the synthesis of 1,4-dithiocyanatobuta-1,3-diyne only the overall yield was
calculated in order to minimize loss of product and to avoid hazardous intermediates.
NMR spectra were obtained for the diyne and the peaks will be reported in Section II.4.
Synthesis of 3-bromo-1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne (Compound 2)
To 9 mL of acetone, 0.56 g (3.15 mmol) of N-bromosuccinimide and 0.6675 g
(1.053 mmol) of trimethylsilyl-acetylene 1 were added with 0.127 g (0.05 mmol, 5 mol
%) silver nitrate catalyst. The reaction was stirred at room temperature for 60 minutes to
yield 3-bromo-1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne 2. Solvent was removed in vacuo and the
residue was extracted with two 15 mL portions of hexanes and washed with 15 mL
deionized water. The organic extracts were washed with a saturated sodium thiosulfate
mixture in order to remove excess bromine. The combined ether extracts were dried over
sodium sulfate and filtered. Removal of solvent in vacuo afforded compound 2 as a
brown oil.
Synthesis of 3-thiocyano-1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne (Compound 3)
Ammonium thiocyanate 0.4941 g (6.3 mmol) was added via syringe to the a
round bottom flask containing compound 2 and 9 mL of acetone. The reaction mixture
was stirred for 60 minutes at room temperature. Solvent was removed in vacuo and the
residue was extracted with two 10 mL portions of ether and washed with 15 mL
deionized water. The combined ether extracts were dried over sodium sulfate and filtered.
Solvent was removed in vacuo to afford 3-thiocyano-1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne 3.
Synthesis of 1,4-dithiocyanatobuta-1,3-diyne (Compound 4)
Alkyne 3 was subjected to Glaser coupling conditions using 0.0244 g (0.15
mmol) of copper(I) chloride and 12 mL triethylamine as the solvent. The coupling
reaction was left to run for 24 hours, which yielded diyne 4. Triethylamine solvent was
removed in vacuo and the diacetylene product was extracted with one portion of 15 mL
of ether, and the organic extract was washed with three 20 mL portions of aqueous
copper(II) sulfate, which afforded 0.08824 g (91.9 % crude) of brownish oil. 13C NMR
was used to characterize the product of this reaction. 13C NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ
11.61, 46.25, 104.152, 107.021, 113.509. Many NMR spectra featured peaks at δ 11.61
and 46.25, which indicate presence of triethylamine traces.
7
�Figure 4. Synthesis of 1,4-dithiocyanatobuta-1,3-diyne
Polymerization attempts
Host-guest method:
Polymerization of diyne 4 was attempted using 5,5’-(oxalyldiimino)dipentanoic
acid (Compound 5, Figure 5) as the host molecule. 0.216 g (0.75255 mmol) of host
compound 5 and 0.0824 g (0.5017 mmol) of guest 4 were dissolved in 10 mL ethanol and
transferred to a crystallization dish. The dish was covered with perforated foil and solvent
was allowed to slowly evaporate over several days.
Figure 5: 5,5’-(oxalyldiimino)dipentanoic acid host (5)
Slow evaporation method:
Polymerization of diyne 4 was attempted using a solvent mixture of hexanes and
deuterated chloroform. The dissolved diyne was placed in a crystallization dish that was
covered in perforated foil. The solvent mixture was allowed to slowly evaporate over
several days.
III. Results and Discussion
Spectra
Throughout the course of this project, many variations of the general synthesis
procedures have been attempted and only the most successful efforts were described in
the previous section. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy was the primary
characterization method used to determine the identity of the product(s) obtained in each
reaction trial. The general procedure reported here has yielded diyne 4, which produced a
13C NMR spectrum that was compared with predicted spectrum obtained through
ChemDraw** (Figure 6 and Figure 7). The 13C NMR spectrum featured in Figure 6 is not
8
�reflective of the percent yield reported in the previous section Synthesis of 1,4dithiocyanatobuta-1,3-diyne. In order to obtain this spectrum multiple extractions and
washes had to be employed, which caused a significant loss of product. Therefore, the
percent yield would not be an accurate representation of the success of the synthesis and
was not reported. While there was significant variation in the chemical shifts for the
peaks in the alkynyl region, the peak corresponding to the nitrile functional group had
similar chemical shifts (~113 ppm) in both the experimental and predicted spectra. The
discrepancy between the chemical shifts for the sp-hybridized carbons serves as
motivation to pursue more advanced computational methods for generating NMR spectra
for compound 4 in the future. Over the time of this research many modifications such as
change of solvents, reaction times and work-up procedures have been made to the
procedure. These modifications will be discussed further in the next section.
Although 13C NMR alone cannot serve as sufficient evidence to guarantee
successful synthesis of 1,4-dithiocyanatobuta-1,3-diyne, further validation efforts will be
made in the next steps of this research. One possible route to further validate the
synthesis of the target product as mentioned previously is through the use of
computational chemistry. Through computational methods employing Gaussian***, NMR
spectra can be simulated and compared to those obtained in the synthetic route towards
1,4-dithiocyanatobuta-1,3-diyne. This computational approach will be explored in the
immediate future.
Experimental Modifications
Many modifications have been made to the general procedure in order to obtain
the target molecule. Initially acetonitrile was the solvent used throughout the synthesis.
However, overlapping peaks between the nitrile groups in the product and solvent
rendered this a less than optimal solvent. Since all reagents displayed a similar solubility
in acetone, this solvent was selected as the primary solvent for later trials as it was very
volatile and produced unique peaks in the NMR spectra that did not overlap with any of
the expected product peaks. Additional solvent issues were encountered during the Glaser
coupling reaction when NMR spectra revealed peaks corresponding to residual
triethylamine. The most efficient way in removing trace triethylamine proved to be
incorporation of a copper(II) sulfate wash during the extraction.
ChemDraw is a molecule editor software owned by PerkinElmer that offers a 1H and
NMR spectrum simulation feature
*** Gaussian is a general purpose computational chemistry package owned by Gaussian,
Inc.
**
13C
9
�*
*
Figure 6. Obtained 13C NMR spectra. * Indicate CDCl3 and TMS solvent reference peaks.
Figure 7. Predicted 13C NMR spectra for 1,4-dithiocyanatobuta-1,3-diyne
A crucial improvement to the general procedure was the change in order of
addition of reactants. Initial efforts were aimed toward replacing the bromine on Nbromosuccinimide with a thiocyanate group that could then be transferred to the
trimethylsilyl-acetylene, based on previous literature precedents.20 Many trials exploring
various reaction times, reaction temperatures, solvents and work-up procedures were
unable to produce the desired alkyne 3. Later trials attempted an addition of bromine to
trimethylsilyl-acetylene via N-bromosuccinimide, that could in a second step be replaced
with a thiocyanate group (Figure 4). This important modification in the general
procedure has allowed for a rather simple synthetic pathway to 1,4-dithiocyanatobuta1,3-diyne.
10
�Future Work
Percent yields for pure products and intermediates have yet to be determined due
to several factors. Initial trials typically yielded crude products that contained excess
starting material, solvents, and unwanted side-products as indicated by NMR spectra.
Since successful reaction conditions have finally been determined, all synthesis steps will
be repeated to obtain yields for each intermediate in the pathway towards diyne 4. This
will also allow for additional optimization of reaction conditions to be determined.
The presence of solvent together with the final product 4 also complicates
polymerization and characterization efforts because of the inability to crystallize in
solvent. However, promising NMR spectra do suggest more successful isolation of diyne
4, which would facilitate future efforts to both determine properties of this compound and
create polymers. Although the NMR spectra indicate efficient removal of trace solvents,
the high reported yield of 91.9 % corresponds to crude material that contained trace
amounts of solvents. This yield is rather high for a multi-step synthesis, thus further
efforts in solvent removal must be employed. Attempts towards forming polydiacetylenes
with thiophene side chains were inconclusive thus far, as there was no visible color
change and NMR spectra did not suggest any structural changes. The melting point and
solubility of the co-crystals will also be explored in future experiments.
IV. References
1. Jelinek, R.; Ritenberg, M. RSC Advances 2013, 3, 21192.
2. Tieke, B.; Wegner, G.; Naegele, D.; Ringsdorf, H. Angewandte Chemie International
Edition in English 1976, 15, 764–765.
3. Chance, R. R. Macromolecules 1980, 1, 396–398.
4. Olmsted, J.; Strand, M. The Journal of Physical Chemistry 1983, 87, 4790–4792.
5. Charych, D.; Nagy, J.; Spevak, W.; Bednarski, M. Science 1993, 261, 585–588.
6. Chakarborty, S.; Suklabaidya, S.; Bhattacharjee, D.; Hussain, S. A. Materials Today:
Proceedings 2018, 5, 2367–2372.
7. Charoenthai, N.; Pattanatornchai, T.; Wacharasindhu, S.; Sukwattanasinitt, M.;
Traiphol, R. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2011, 360, 565–573.
11
�8. Su, Y.-L.; Li, J.-R.; Jiang, L. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 2004, 39, 113118.
9. Jiang, L.; Dong; Luo; He. International Journal of Nanomedicine 2013, 221.
10.Pires, A. C. D. S.; Soares, N. D. F. F.; Silva, L. H. M. D.; Andrade, N. J. D.; Silveira,
M. F. A.; Carvalho, A. F. D. Food and Bioprocess Technology 2008, 3, 172–181.
11.113–118.Sezgintürk, M. K.; Dinçkaya, E. Food and Bioprocess Technology 2008, 3,
128–134.
12.Carpick, R. W.; Sasaki, D. Y.; Marcus, M. S.; Eriksson, M. A.; Burns, A. R. Journal
of Physics: Condensed Matter 2004, 16, 679-697.
13.Eckhardt, H.; Boudreaux, D. S.; Chance, R. R. The Journal of Chemical Physics
1986, 85, 4116–4119.
14.Lauher, J. W.; Fowler, F. W.; Goroff, N. S. ChemInform 2009, 40, 5167-5174
15.Baughman, R. H. Journal of Polymer Science: Polymer Physics Edition 1974, 12,
1511–1535.
16.Day, D.; Ringsdorf, H. Journal of Polymer Science: Polymer Letters Edition 1978,
16, 205–210.
17.Luo, L.; Wilhelm, C.; Sun, A.; Grey, C. P.; Lauher, J. W.; Goroff, N. S. Journal of the
American Chemical Society 2008, 130, 7702–7709.
18.Enkelmann, V. Polydiacetylenes Advances in Polymer Science 1984, 63, 91–136.
19.Tsopelas, C. Nuclear Medicine and Biology 1999, 26, 591–595.
20.Castanheiro, T.; Suffert T.; Suffert, J.; Donnard, M.; Gulea, M. ChemInform 2016, 47,
2588-2591.
12
�Effects of the Psychoactive Drug Caffeine
on the Behavior of Zebrafish (Danio rerio)1
Kevin Lipton (Biology)2
Caffeine, a psychoactive, plant-based alkaloid is found in a variety of food, which include
coffee and tea leaves. Caffeine acts as a stimulant that has the potential to cause
dependency if a large amount is ingested and is anxiogenic (anxiety causing). Zebrafish
(Danio rerio) is an ideal model organism for pharmacological studies and
neurobehavioral studies, due to the homology of their nervous system with that of the
human nervous system. This experiment was performed to gain a better understanding of
the behavior of zebrafish when exposed to caffeine. This study tested the behavior of
adult zebrafish with a concentration of 0.00625% caffeine. The behavior was quantified
by counting the number of lines each zebrafish crossed on a grid in 30 seconds, using
recorded videos. Out of all the fish that were tested, there was only one fish that was not
mobile and did not cross a single line, and this fish was in the experimental group. The
range of the number of lines crossed for both the control fish and the experimental fish
were similar, and the mean number of lines crossed between the two groups did not
significantly differ (control: 38.6; experimental: 36.0). The experimental fish mainly
swam at the edges of the bowl while the control fish were seen mostly swimming in the
center of the bowl, which may indicate increased anxiety in the fish exposed to caffeine.
I. Introduction
Caffeine (C8H10N4O2), also called 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, is a plant-based
alkaloid found in a wide variety of food, including coffee and tea leaves (Turnbull et al.,
2017). Caffeine has been reported to be the most frequently consumed behavior-altering
drug in the world, with 85% of the U.S. population consuming at least a single
caffeinated drink each day (Turnbull et al., 2017). Ingested at low to moderate levels
(approximately 50 mg to 400 mg), caffeine has some positive effects such as increasing
mental awareness and decreasing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. However,
This work was presented at the 2017 meeting of the Metropolitan Association of
College and University Biologists and the 2018 meeting of the Eastern Colleges Science
Conference.
2 Written under the direction of Dr. Brian Palestis in partial fulfillment of the Senior
Program requirements.
1
13
�too much caffeine exhibits detrimental effects, mainly on the cardiovascular system.
Some of these ailments include an increased heart rate and irregular pulse (Rodriguez et
al., 2014). Additionally, caffeine is a stimulant that can cause dependency if a large
quantity is consumed (Rodriguez et al., 2014). To get the most out of caffeine’s
therapeutic effects without experiencing any adverse side effects, it is suggested that
humans consume 300 mg each day, although it can be difficult to measure the exact
amount of caffeine ingested from food and beverages (Gracia-Lor et al., 2017).
Energy metabolism in the brain is elevated with the presence of caffeine, but
simultaneously the amount of blood flow to the brain is lowered, leading to
hypoperfusion (circulatory failure of the peripheral tissue) in the brain. These effects are
universal characteristics of caffeine, and are seen in many vertebrates (Nehlig et al.,
1992). The neurons that control noradrenaline are stimulated by caffeine, affecting the
release of the neurotransmitter dopamine (Nehlig et al., 1992). Caffeine also has
potential therapeutic effects on the central nervous system due to its ability to cross over
the blood brain barrier, and includes modulation of apoptosis and regulation of cell
metabolism (Khor et al., 2013). A vast majority of the noticeable caffeine effects come
from the role of methylxanthine on the neurons that control the neurotransmitter
serotonin. The behavioral processes of learning and memory are associated with the
effect of methylxanthine on arousal and fatigue (Nehlig et al., 1992).
Caffeine has also been reported to have anticancer benefits, and reduces the
likelihood of developing certain types of cancer, such as the highly lethal gastric cancer.
Gastric cancer accounts for approximately 60% of all cancer cases among the Asian
population, and caffeine decreases this form of cancer by nearly one-half (Liu et al.,
2017). Caffeine acts as an anticancer drug by its ability to suppress cell proliferation and
induce apoptosis in various organs, including the stomach, liver, and brain (Liu et al.,
2017).
This experiment was performed to investigate the following hypothesis:
Zebrafish exhibit increased movement when exposed to a specified concentration of
caffeine.
Zebrafish as a Model Organism
Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a small, tropical freshwater fish most active during
the day (Figure 1), and inhabits an area from the Western Ghats of India to the Western
Himalayas (Arunachalam et al., 2013). In these regions, zebrafish are found in sandy,
slow-moving rivers and streams (Arunachalam et al., 2013), where they can be seen
feeding on zooplankton and insects (Spence et al., 2007). These fish exhibit shoaling
14
�behavior (swimming in groups), as observed in the wild (Hutter et al., 2010). Zebrafish
is a preferred species in pharmacological studies, because of its brief generation time,
quick reproduction rate, possibility of genetic sequencing, intricate social behavior, and
greater similarities with the genetic structure and function of the human nervous system
compared to Drosophila (Ladu et al., 2015).
Figure 1: Zebrafish swimming in test bowl.
Furthermore, zebrafish were determined to be favorable in neurobehavioral
studies (Wong et al., 2009). Due to the neuronal similarities between zebrafish and
humans, zebrafish have been used to study certain conditions that affect the human
central nervous system (Khor et al., 2013). Zebrafish share with humans the adenosine
receptors A1 and A2A that are directly involved in the inhibition by caffeine (Ladu et al.,
2015). Adenosine receptors function as homeostatic regulators in the central nervous
system, governing neuron firing, and when disrupted, can cause behavioral and
physiological changes (Bortolotto et al., 2015). A1, when inhibited, decreases the overall
speed of zebrafish, whereas the inhibition of A2A causes an increase in speed (Ladu et al.,
2015). These G-protein coupled receptors also function in cell signaling mechanisms.
Adenosine receptors are regulated mainly by ectonucleotidases, which is a group of
enzymes that produces adenosine from the breakdown of ATP (Bortolotto et al., 2015).
Caffeine is a nonselective antagonist of adenosine receptors that can generate seizures at
great doses in a wide variety of animals, including zebrafish (Wong et al., 2010).
Previous Studies of Effects of Caffeine on Zebrafish
Among distinct psychoactive compounds, acute caffeine treatment has been
used to induce anxiogenic (anxiety-causing) behavioral reactions in the novel tank diving
test and the light/dark box (scototaxis) test (Ladu et al., 2015). Trials that were
15
�completed showed that exposure to caffeine evoked certain anxiogenic behaviors such as
diving behavior and erratic movement in adult zebrafish (Ladu et al., 2015). In the
scototaxis test, adult zebrafish are placed in a black and white tank to determine
preference for lightness or darkness. The administration of caffeine decreases the time
spent in the white compartment of the tank, therefore increasing the time spent in
darkness, which is a sign of anxiety (Maximino et al., 2011). Due to this increased stress
caused by caffeine, elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol were found (Ladu et al.,
2015).
In a study by Wong and colleagues (2010), adult zebrafish that were exposed to
caffeine experienced a decline in the number of shifts to the top of a novel tank and
exhibited a rise in their freezing behavior, but caffeine did not influence the time that was
spent at the top of the tank or their erratic locomotion. Additionally, caffeine decreased
the distance traveled and their speed but had no impact on their meandering and turn
angle. Contrary to the controls, zebrafish that were treated with caffeine experienced
intense seizure-like behavior, such as hyperactivity outbreaks, spasms, and circular
swimming. The observed behavior occurred after a caffeine administration of 250 mg/L,
equivalent to a 0.025% solution (Wong et al., 2010). Computerized software that traces
the zebrafish movement was also used to display the contrasting features between the
erratic swimming of the caffeine-treated groups and the control group. This experiment
was conducted by utilizing manual and video tracking modes of fish behavior (Wong et
al., 2010).
Emotional stress is portrayed in organisms that are affected by anxiogenic
disorders. Pharmacological analyses on adult zebrafish may help us to understand these
disorders (Ladu et al., 2015). Ladu et al. (2015) used the unification of robotics and
information theory to examine the impact of caffeine on the social behavior of adult
zebrafish. Varying caffeine doses were used on 40 wild-type zebrafish for 20 minutes.
Surprisingly, the average velocity of the focal subjects declined as caffeine administration
increased (Ladu et al., 2015). Comparisons show that fish treated with 25 mg/L and 50
mg/L swam at a reduced velocity compared to control individuals. Comparisons among
treatments also demonstrated that zebrafish that were administered the greatest
concentration of caffeine transitioned less often between the two halves of the tank (a
measure of locomotion) than individuals that were administered low and intermediate
doses (Ladu et al., 2015).
In a similar study, DeTomaso (2016) showed that caffeine-exposed adult
zebrafish swam at a decreased speed and exhibited more erratic movements when
compared to the control, which swam with almost no freezing time. Overall, zebrafish
16
�that were in the caffeine treatment group showed a decrease in the number of times they
crossed lines on grid, which also demonstrates the decreased locomotion of zebrafish that
were exposed to caffeine (DeTomaso, 2016).
Behavioral Responses to Caffeine Withdrawal
Behavioral reactions caused by abruptly stopping the consumption of caffeine,
like in humans, have also been observed in zebrafish. The possibility of adult zebrafish
becoming addicted to caffeine and the closeness of the genomes make it a particularly
good organism to study the effects of caffeine withdrawal in humans (Cachat et al.,
2010). The forebrain of zebrafish, which contain dopamine receptors, is very similar to
the mesolimbic system in mammals, which is involved in the addiction to drugs, such as
caffeine. Additionally, some regions of the zebrafish brain, such as the medial pallium,
correspond to the hippocampus in mammals (Karoglu et al., 2017). Some of the most
prevalent conditions that can occur in zebrafish due to the effects of caffeine withdrawal
include anxiety behavior and seizures (Cachat et al., 2010).
Significance of Research
These research projects are significant, because the data representing the effects
of caffeine on adult zebrafish could be used to predict and conclude how caffeine and
other drugs could also affect humans (Gupta et al., 2014). Furthermore, if future studies
are conducted, this research could potentially help develop treatments and therapies for
people that abuse substances, such as caffeine and other drugs, and also establish
strategies for dealing with withdrawal symptoms (Collier et al., 2014). Zebrafish offer
many practical advantages as a model organism in determining biological interactions
(Gupta et al., 2014). Current studies have shown the rise of adult zebrafish as a model for
neurobehavioral research since zebrafish exhibit learning, sleep, drug addiction,
locomotor behavior, and other neurobehavioral traits that are similar to those observed in
humans (Gupta et al., 2014). Also, the homology between zebrafish genes and human
genes make zebrafish a good organism to use to study these neurobehavioral traits (Tran
et al., 2015). Additionally, the organization of the zebrafish brain as a whole is
comparable to other vertebrates (Gupta et al., 2014).
Objectives
This experiment was performed to gain a better understanding of the behavior
and anxiety of zebrafish. The hypothesis that zebrafish exhibit increased movement
when exposed to caffeine was tested. Since the physiology of zebrafish and humans are
17
�similar, the effects of caffeine on zebrafish can increase knowledge and understanding of
human behavioral effects. The exposure of caffeine to zebrafish was expected to decrease
movement and increase erratic locomotion compared to the control. This experiment is
similar to the one conducted by DeTomaso (2016) in that most variables were kept the
same and only the concentration of caffeine and the amount of recording time differed.
DeTomaso (2016) exposed the zebrafish to 0.12% caffeine, equivalent to 1200 mg/L,
while this experiment used a much lower concentration at 0.00625%, equivalent to 62.5
mg/L. Since there were extreme deleterious effects found in other research using high
concentrations, this low concentration was chosen as a cautionary measure. Since
caffeine is a psychoactive drug, experiments like this one can also demonstrate the effects
of addiction and withdrawal symptoms of caffeine to zebrafish. Additionally, these
symptoms can be applied when studying human biology, due to the nervous system
similarities between zebrafish and humans. These trials utilize adult zebrafish, which
have not been experimented on as often as the embryos of zebrafish. Furthermore, the
results of this experiment can be used to compare the effects of caffeine on adult
zebrafish and zebrafish embryos. The results of this experiment can also be compared to
zebrafish exposure to other anxiety-causing substances. These experiments and similar
studies also provide a greater understanding of the effects of caffeine to the social
behavior of zebrafish, such as shoaling.
II. Materials and Methods
The zebrafish used in this study were purchased by the Wagner College
Department of Biological Sciences at Arcadia Pet Store in Staten Island, New York.
These fish were kept in three 10-gallon tanks of de-chlorinated water until they were used
in the experiment. The zebrafish were provided with daily feedings throughout the
duration of the experiment and kept in a temperature-controlled environment. The
experiments were conducted at the same time each day of the study.
This experiment was performed over a 10-week period. A large, circular bowl
with a diameter of 20 cm was obtained for use in this experiment. Dried anhydrous
caffeine powder from Sigma-Aldrich (model number: 27602-250G) was obtained each
week. Water from the fish tanks was used each day of the experiment. A Logitech video
camera attached to a desktop computer was used in this experiment to record the
zebrafish movement, as shown in Figure 2. Windows Video Maker was used to store and
edit the videos. A paper with 3cm x 3cm squares drawn as a grid was used.
18
�Procedure
Water was obtained from the fish tank, and a volume of 800 ml was measured.
The water was poured into a large, circular bowl. Dried anhydrous caffeine powder was
weighed, and 50 mg was dissolved in the water to reach the desired concentration of
Figure 2: The video camera that was used in this experiment. The camera was attached to
a wooden plank over a grid.
.00625% caffeine (same ratio used throughout experiment). One zebrafish was
transferred from the fish tank into the bowl with the solution, by using a net, and then the
bowl was placed on the grid. The zebrafish was left undisturbed in the bowl for three
minutes to limit any initial stresses that may have occurred due to the fish being placed in
a new environment. The fish was then recorded with a camera attached to a desktop
computer for 30 s. This process was repeated 63 additional times for a total of 64 fish
trials (experimental group). After all of these trials were completed, each line on the grid
that the zebrafish crossed were counted on the videos. When the caffeine treatment was
complete, the bowl was washed thoroughly and the 64 zebrafish without caffeine were
placed individually in the bowl and each was recorded for 30 s (control trial). Each line
that these control zebrafish crossed was also counted. The process for the experimental
and control zebrafish were repeated in the same manner each week until a total of 128
trials were completed (64 experimentals, 64 controls).
19
�Statistical Analysis
The mean, standard deviation and range were calculated using SPSS statistical
software on the computer. An independent samples t-test was used to test for a
significant difference in the number of lines crossed between the two groups at
significance level of α=0.05. A parametric test was used, because the distribution
approached a normal distribution.
III. Results
The 64 experimental fish and 64 control fish were all observed for the same
length of time. During this time, each fish was video recorded as well as observed to see
if any noticeable behavioral changes were seen. The number of lines crossed of each
experimental fish as well as the frequency of the lines crossed is represented as a
histogram and shown in Figure 3. The mean (± SD) of the experimental fish was 35.98
(± 12.90) lines crossed. Out of all the fish that were tested, there was only one fish that
was not mobile and did not cross a single line (the immobile fish was in the experimental
group).
Figure 3: Experimental group
20
�The number of lines crossed of each control fish and the frequency of lines
crossed is represented as a histogram and shown in Figure 4. The mean (± SD) of the
control fish was 38.63 (± 13.51) lines crossed. The range of the number of lines crossed
for both the control fish and the experimental fish were similar (Figure 3, 4).
Figure 4: Control Group
The groups were compared and an independent samples t-test was used to see if
the groups differed significantly. The number of lines crossed between the two groups
did not significantly differ (t = 1.13, df = 126, p = 0.26).
Each fish that was used in the experiment was also observed for behavioral
patterns that may have occurred. In the experimental fish trials, the overall pattern of
swimming was more erratic and less smooth compared with the control. The one fish
that did not swim that was in the experimental group was shaking vigorously throughout
the video recording, possibly exhibiting seizure-like behavior. Also observed was the
experimental fish mainly swimming at the edges of the bowl while the control fish were
seen mostly swimming in the center of the bowl.
IV. Discussion
Similar studies that have been conducted are essential to the understanding of
the behavioral and physiological effects of caffeine on zebrafish and other animals,
21
�including humans. The hypothesis that zebrafish exhibit increased movement when
exposed to an acute concentration of caffeine was explored. The experimental group was
predicted to have increased locomotion compared to the control. This prediction was
investigated due to the known hyperactivity effects caffeine has on humans (Merola et
al., 2017). The results were different from what was expected; the control group and
experimental group each crossed a similar number of lines, indicating similar locomotion
between the experimental and control (Figures 3, 4).
Methodological Aspects
This study, as well as others, usually have certain techniques that produce errors
that cannot be avoided. During the procedure, when counting the number of lines each
zebrafish crossed, there are some potential errors that can occur. Some zebrafish swim
fast and not in straight lines, and since the lines counted are done by the unaided eye and
not by an automatic device, there can be some issues that arise. There are many close
lines on the grid, and some fish change direction quickly, or stop half way between two
lines, which can present a problem when counting the lines on the recorded videos.
Other issues that can arise from using this method of data collection include the varying
interpretations of lines crossed by the zebrafish. Some people that use this method of
video recording count every line that the head of the zebrafish reaches, while others count
the lines once the whole zebrafish moves passed a line, including the tail. Since zebrafish
are social animals and prefer to be part of a shoal, studying the effects of caffeine on
individual zebrafish can alter their behavior, which may not be a direct effect of caffeine
(Maaswinkel et al., 2013).
Comparison with Results of Similar Studies
In a study conducted by Maximino et al. (2011), there were two caffeine
concentrations administered to zebrafish, 0 mg (control) and 100 mg. Similar to this
study, Maximino et al. (2011) handled the zebrafish during transportation from their
housing location to the study location and were given 3 min of acclimation time. The
trial was conducted for 900 s and the researchers found that the zebrafish exhibited
anxiogenic behavior but not a locomotor difference (Maximino et al., 2011). The effect
of no difference in locomotion can be due to the concentration of caffeine being too high,
which can cause detrimental effects, as noted earlier (Rodriguez et al., 2014).
There are other studies that have been conducted on the response of zebrafish to
habituation, a decreasing response to a constantly repeated stimulus, with 100 mg of
caffeine administered to them (Wong et al., 2010). The habituation trials lasted 6 min
22
�each and the researchers measured the number of transitions to the top of the tank, the
time spent at the top of the tank, the frequency of erratic movements, single-minute
habituation phenotype, and cumulative habituation (Wong et al., 2010). Consistent
through most studies involving caffeine, Wong et al. (2010) found a significant increase
in anxiety-like behavior, which was contrary to this study, and decreased movement
between the two halves of the tank. The study also found an increase in erratic
movements, consistent with this experiment, and decreased habituation behavior in the
caffeine group (Wong et al., 2010). Contrary to this study, Wong et al. (2010) used a 24hr light cycle, where the zebrafish tanks were under fluorescent light for 12 hours and in
the dark for 12 hrs. Light cycles can potentially influence the results of studies that
include them compared to other studies that do not use regulated light/dark cycles. Being
on a regular routine, like that seen with the light cycles and the consistent feeding times,
can possibly influence the behavior of zebrafish compared to not being on a regular
routine. Conducting experiments that involve inconsistent times, such as the times when
the animals are fed and the times when the study is being conducted, can potentially
impact the results of such studies.
In most studies involving zebrafish and caffeine, the caffeine concentration of
100 mg/L (0.01%) have been used. In a study by Egan et al. (2009), the researchers preexposed the zebrafish in a beaker filled with 100 mg/L of caffeine for 15 min. The
zebrafish was then transferred to a tank with the same caffeine concentration as the pretreated beaker, where the study was being conducted. A behavioral phenotype test that
measures anxiety in zebrafish, called the novel tank diving test, was performed. This test
by Egan et al. (2009), similar to the one by Wong et al. (2010), measured the latency to
the upper half of the tank, the total transitions to the upper half, the total time spent in the
upper half, and the erratic movements. Egan et al. (2009) found increased anxiety-related
behavior in the zebrafish, but did not find a significant change in their locomotion, a
possible effect of the pre-treatment with caffeine prior to the start of the study. Egan et
al. (2009) also examined the effects of caffeine on different strains of zebrafish. Wild
type (control), albino, leopard, and longfin strains were compared using the same
concentration of caffeine (100 mg/L). Latency to the upper half of the tank, total time
spent in the upper half, total distance traveled, and average velocity were examined (Egan
et al., 2009). The wild type strain was found to prefer the upper half of the tank, with
fewer transitions than the other strains. Preference for the upper half and transitions
between the two halves were the only statistically significant behavioral observations
seen, with the greatest difference between the wild type and leopard strains (Egan et al.,
2009). Among all four strains, the distance traveled and swimming velocity were similar,
23
�revealing no readily apparent motor or neurological differences between these strains
when exposed to caffeine. However, the baseline anxiety level is lower in wildtype
zebrafish than any other strain, which has to be considered when comparing the anxietyrelated behavior among the four strains (Egan et al., 2009).
Outlook of Future Studies
Caffeine is a popular drug that can be used in scientific studies to demonstrate
its effects on a wide variety of animals, including humans. This study can unlock many
key questions regarding the potential impacts caffeine has on zebrafish models, humans,
and other animals. Since this study failed to take into account the social behavior of
zebrafish, such as shoaling, other studies can be done to study the effects of caffeine on
shoaling behavior, with multiple zebrafish in the test tank, instead of observing one
zebrafish at a time. This study mainly observed the movement and locomotion of
zebrafish, mainly a neurological effect, but additional studies can examine cardiac and
developmental responses to caffeine. The majority of publications involving zebrafish
and caffeine have been done on embryos, not adults, which mainly study the growth and
teratogenicity of early exposure to caffeine (Rana et al., 2010). Further studies could be
conducted to compare differing caffeine concentrations and its effects on a single
organism and organisms of different species. Also, the effects of caffeine can be studied
over a range of exposure times or different concentrations, to determine if there are any
time-related effects or dosage effects on zebrafish behavior. These caffeine dosages for
zebrafish can be compared to a typical human’s caffeine intake to gain more of an
understanding about the quantity that zebrafish are exposed to. In a study conducted by
Silverman et al. (1992), humans consume an average of 227 mg of caffeine each day,
which is equivalent to approximately two and a half (8 oz) cups of coffee. Withdrawal
symptoms in humans are also well known and can be compared to zebrafish to see if any
consistencies occur (Silverman et al., 1992). In humans, symptoms have been observed
to occur in as little as a consumption of 100 mg each day for a month, and then abruptly
stopping, which is equivalent to one 8 oz cup of coffee. These symptoms are similar to
the symptoms exhibited by zebrafish, and include being over anxious, fatigued, mood
changes, lethargy, and, if an extremely high dose was given (greater than 600 mg) for a
month, seizures (Silverman et al., 1992). Since this study saw a decrease in movement
among the experimental zebrafish, it is essential for other studies to be conducted to test
the effects of caffeine using a full, comprehensive approach, to fully understand the role
of caffeine on the behavior of zebrafish.
24
�V. Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Dr. Brian Palestis, who served as the thesis advisor for this
research project and guided me along the way. I would also like to thank Prof. Linda
Raths, who served on my thesis committee and oversaw most aspects of the research.
This research project was funded by the Department of Biological Sciences at Wagner
College and the Biosocial Research Foundation, and I would like to send them my
deepest gratitude.
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Rese
27
����Pink and Blue: How Stores are an Integral
Part of Gender Socialization
Victor Ruan1
The project involved the analysis of merchandise sold in retail stores and how
these stores are catalysts to gender socialization and defining both masculinity and
femininity. Visits to three different stores (H&M, Bath & Body Works, and JCPenney)
clearly show the gendering of merchandise and the targeted audience. Gender
socialization is an integral part of society, which has created expectations on how
children should act in a certain manner to be considered a boy or a girl (and leaving little
room for those who do not identify on this binary). Just like parents are guilty of, stores
also cue consumers on how to properly “do gender” (West & Zimmerman, 1987). You
could argue that stores are striving towards more gender-neutral products and many may
advocate towards such, but these stores still participate in the social construction. There is
validity that stores (Target) have established a more gender-neutral product line, but at
the same time, the majority of retail stores conform to the social constructions of
hegemonic as well as normative masculinity and normative femininity that we as a
society have created. Perhaps more importantly, the majority of manufacturers or CEOs
do not realize they are even gender socializing since we have grown up with these ideals
since birth, which makes these restrictive ideas normative. This then emphasizes the ideal
image for boys and girls how to be a man/woman when growing up. The fact that the
connection between gender and sexual orientation is emphasized so much in males and
females, suggests how closely gender conformity and heterosexuality (heteronormativity)
are linked within hegemonic constructions of masculinity/femininity (Kane, 2006).
Data and Methods
In order to analyze how stores gender their merchandise, I decided to visit
H&M, Bath & Body Works, and JCPenney. I chose these stores for the differences in
their merchandise and their intended consumers. With H&M being a clothing store, Bath
& Body Works a health and beauty store, and JCPenny being focused on children toys, it
provides a diverse data sample. Thus, the different sources of data strengthen the
analysis. The stores were examined in a span of two days. Starting at 10/17/18, I went to
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Bernadette Ludwig for SO320: Sociology of Gender.
31
�H&M from 1:30-2:00 pm and recorded my observations. Immediately after, I went to
Bath & Body Works from 2:15-3:00 pm. On 10/19/18, I collected data at JCPenny
between 7:00 and 7:30 pm. In ordered fashion, data were recorded in specific categories
of landscape/environment, merchandise products, imagery/color association, quantity and
price of products, and any presence of neutrality, if any. Also, during the collection of
data, I took pictures of specific products that either showcased gendered merchandise for
children and consumers.
Findings
Data collected from these three retail stores show that merchandise is gendered.
H&M was the most apparent as the first floor was entirely for women and the second
floor was split in half where the left side was for men and the right for women. This was
clearly stated throughout the store as imagery and color association implied the idea that
“x” is for females and “y” is for males. This seems to relate to the XY sex-determination
system, which defines a sex of an individual is determined by a pair of chromosomes.
Males typically have a pair of (XY) chromosomes, while females have (XX); and of
course there are intersex people. It seems like these retail stores are placing restrictions
that define what people should or should not wear just based on their sex chromosomes
and traditional masculinity/femininity. The prevalent division of “men” and “women”
products also highlighted the lack of gender-neutral merchandise. While observing the
products, there are definitely trends as to what society expects men and women to wear,
which is projected by H&M in their clothing merchandise. For men, the types of
merchandise consist of button-down shirts, jeans/khakis, plain t-shirts, hats
(caps/beanies), and sneakers. Also most of these clothes were not very “expressive.” In
order to discuss this, the types of products for women should be detailed. The
merchandise were mainly skinny jeans, t-shirts with images, boots/heels, revealing
clothing, and things like leggings or scarfs. Now, when considering the differences
between the “male” and “female” products, it is important to note the imagery and color
association for each respectively. At H&M, the male products did not focus so much on
imagery, but actually on the usage of colors and the division of gendered merchandise to
define the male section of the store. The majority of the clothes were very dark, neutral
types of colors like black, white, gray, blue, and sometimes red or green. As expected, the
color options were fairly limited. In comparison, the female clothes were very expressive
as many were of on the spectrum of pinks, purples, light blues, and also neutral colors
such as white, gray, and black. It is interesting to see that the store reflects the idea that
men should not be emotionally expressive as the main colors being sold of their clothing
32
�are very neutral, monotone colors. In addition, t-shirts and almost all of the other clothing
advertised to men were plain, while a good portion of the female t-shirts had some sort of
image or quote linked to some sort of emotion. Yes, obviously there are some
males/female clothes that bleed into the other, but they were not significant in number.
When considering the ratio of “female” and “male” products it is clear that there are
significantly more options available to women
I found Bath & Body Works, a health and beauty store, to be the most gendered
of the three stores I visited. Almost all of the store products are geared towards women
and the only section for men was a small display with colognes and hand sanitizers.
“Female” products had a wide range of products of skin care; lotions, hand/body soap,
hand sanitizers, perfumes, and other things that I did not even know existed, prior to
conducting this study. Essentially, this store very much caters to women and it seemed
very apparent. That even translated to the imagery and descriptions of the products. For
example, consider the perfumes where some of the names include “Love and Sunshine,”
“Sweet Pea,” and “Rose Fine Fragrance,” while the male colognes were only one-word
names like “Leakwood,” “Noir,” or “Bourbon.” This was also the same with the hand
sanitizer collection that included names and fragrances such as “Vanilla Berry Sorbet”
and “Paris Amour” for women, while those marketed to men had exactly the same name
as the colognes in the men’s collection. Clearly, there is gendering in this store, as it does
not expect men to shop in this retail store for themselves, since our society reserves
“beauty” and “pampering” for women. Surprisingly, despite the gendering of the
products, the prices for “male” and “female” products were generally the same.
In the third store, JCPenney, I focused on the children’s toys section. Just like
the other two stores, there was gendering of how the merchandise was marketed. The
“boy” products are mainly about strength and heroism. Marvel characters like Ant Man
or Black Panther were displayed in this section. These superheroes were only prevalent
among the “boy” products reflecting traditional ideals that men are supposed to be
physically strong in order to prove their masculinity status. The “girl” products were
heavily focused on princesses (Ariel, Moana, Rapunzel). There was also a toy called
“Baby Alive.” As the name suggests, it is a doll that aims to inspire young girls to take
care of it like a baby, feed, change, and put it to sleep. This clearly is related to traditional
perspectives that women are expected to be mothers be the primary caretakers.
Most toys included pictures that showed a little boy or girl playing with the
product. With the superhero toys, it was a boy and vice versa with the girl products.
These toys demonstrate how gender socialization starts at an early age and contributes
33
�that those who do not fit into the idealistic characteristics of normative masculinity and
normative femininity often feel less of a man or woman.
Analysis
The gendering of children and adult merchandise clearly reflects how much
society is concerned with gender appropriate behavior, clothing, etc. Merchandise
reinforces ideas around hegemonic masculinity as well as femininity. In addition, these
products leave almost no room for intersex or non-binary children and adults. Not only
are the children influenced on how they “should” act, but parents are also enforcing
normative gender expectation based on merchandise they buy. Clearly, there are
significant implications of gendering merchandise, most importantly sending a message
that individuals who do not conform to the traditional ideas of what is considered a
“man” (physically strong, void of emotions) or a “woman” (nurturing, frilly clothing),
will be considered less masculine or feminine (hooks, 2014 [1989]).
In order to address the implications of gendered merchandise, consider the
example of H&M. The clearly defined division throughout the store creates borders and
restrictions that make people believe they cannot cross and make them normalize these
gendered ideals. For example, the colors associated with “male” are neutral and
monotone (black, gray, white, blue) whereas “female” products tend to be more vibrant
(pink, purple, red, yellow) implying that men are less emotionally not very expressive.
The much more vibrant and bright colors of the female clothing seems to support the idea
that women are more inclined to express their feelings and emotions. This is also
synonymous with the idea that there seems to be parallels between the social interactions
between men and the challenges of creating male friendships. Consider a man cited by
Brody (2016) who exclaims that maintaining friendships “doesn’t come so easily to men”
(para. 1) as he contrasts this to his wife’s extensive friendships with other women. This
shows that many men believe that talking about emotions and opening up is not manly,
which often makes is harder to sustain intimate, long-lasting relationships (Brody, 2016).
Rather, they feel that being a man means emphasizing (physical) strength and being
reserved.
The idea of physical strength and mental toughness as essential elements of
masculinity are conveyed starting at an early age. The toy selection at JCPenney makes
this evident. Toys marketed for boys include, but are not limited to, different merchandise
around superheroes and nerf guns. These products are sending messages that physical
strength is a necessity to be considered masculine. These superheroes were created that
have extreme powers like being able to survive supernovas or cast godly thunder, once
34
�again emphasizing physical strength. Not surprisingly then, men use fights to bolster their
masculinity and if they fall short, have to find other ways of asserting their dominance
(Melzer, 2013).
And while boys are told to not show emotions, most toys advertised for girls
emphasize emotions around caring. For example, the “Baby Alive” toy is a simulation of
taking care of a child. That is a prime example of traditional femininity that tells girls that
they are expected to have children and being childless makes one less of a woman
(Blackstone, 2014). Similarly, princess and Barbie highlight that being “girly” means
wearing vibrant dresses, jewelry, and elegant accessories. Subsequently, girls and women
who do not fit this archetype may end up feeling insecure and less of a person and even
be labeled as a lesbian or manly (Ezzel, 2009).
Parents often sanction gender nonconformity, especially for boys. Kane’s (2006)
research revealed that the majority of parents (74%) expressed negative feelings when
their sons played with “girly” toys, liked wearing frilly clothing, painted their nails, and
liked ballet and Barbie dolls. Some of the parents, especially fathers, resented boys’
gender nonconformity because they fear that their sons will be viewed as gay (Kane,
2006). The fact that the connection between gender and sexual orientation is emphasized
so much as it relates, shows how closely gender conformity, heteronormativity,
homophobia and hegemonic constructions of masculinity are linked (Kane, 2006). In
contrast, parents often supported that their daughters embraced more “masculine traits”
since they argued that this made them more assertive and confident which would help in
their future careers (Friedman, 2013). But recall, if girls and women are perceived as too
masculine this can also backfire, as they may be labeled “aggressive” and/or “lesbian”
(Friedman, 2013; Ezzel 2009).
Conclusion
Gendered merchandise has created messages towards children that have lead to
implications on gender conformity. Whether it be the divisive color palate of clothes sold
at H&M or Bath & Body Works’ marketing primarily to women with products that are
aligned with normative femininity (e.g. delicate, sweet), stores’ part in gender
socialization is indisputable. This reinforces messages and expectations on what a
boy/man or a girl/woman should wear or play with it. Not only are these ideas unrealistic
but they also limit how people are allowed to express themselves. I experienced this first
hand when I wore a dress for a few hours to see how people would react to others who
breach gender norms. Not surprisingly, given that most stores advertise dresses
exclusively to women, my peers were less than supportive exclaiming that “You can’t be
35
�wearing a dress to school my man” and “bro, I can’t look at you the same again,” all
accompanied by laughs and expressions of shock. Despite being a confident young adult
these comments made me feel extremely uncomfortable, so I cannot even imagine how a
young boy would feel. Society’s continuing pressure to conform is a major problem.
Hopefully stores eventually start to include more gender-neutral products and support the
idea that a toy, a dress, a fragrance should not determine one’s gender identity.
References
Blackstone, A. (2014). Childless… or Childfree?. Contexts, 13(4), 68-70.
Brody, J. (2016, June 27). The Challenges of Male Friendships. The New York Times, p.
D5
Ezzell, M. B. (2009). "Barbie Dolls" on the Pitch: Identity Work, Defensive Othering,
and Inequality in Women's Rugby. Social Problems, 56(1), 111-131.
Friedman, H. L. (2013). Tiger Girls on the Soccer Field. Contexts, 12(4), 30-35.
Hooks, B. (2014 [1989]). Feminism: A Transformational Politic. In Rothenberg, P. (Ed.),
Race, Class, and Gender in the United States (9th ed.)(657-664). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.
Kane, E. W. (2006). “No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That!” Gender & Society,
20(2), 149-176.
Melzer, S. (2013). Ritual Violence in a Two-Car Garage. Contexts, 12(3), 26-31.
Messner, M., & Oca, J. M. (2005). The Male Consumer as Loser: Beer and Liquor Ads in
Mega Sports Media Events. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 30(3),
1879-1909.
West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing gender. Gender & Society, 1(2), 125-151
36
���The Theme of the “Sleeper” in the Works of Paul Gauguin
Beatrice DeMarco (Microbiology)1
Paul Gauguin believed in an art form that was free of limitation and restriction.
Art is the expression of what one truly feels, sees, and believes. He did not believe in
painting only what was there, but what was not there. The “Sleepers” in his works are
those who seem be restricted in that they do not have motility or comprehension in sleep.
However, as Gauguin portrays it, the true liberation is in slumber as it allows one to
access their own personal dream worlds. The closed eyes of the subjects in sleep suggest
a world beyond closed doors open to all possibilities and opportunities. The theme of the
“Sleeper” in Gauguin’s creations illustrate two distinct worlds: one of fantasy and one of
reality.
In this early works, Gauguin used his family and those closest to him as
inspiration. In The Little One is Dreaming, 1881, the child sleeping is his daughter, Aline.
The major themes in this work are life, death, and dreaming. The palette is muted and
subtle with the exception of the clothing on Aline and the jester doll. This is
representative of light and vibrancy that is found in the innocent life of a child. However,
the jester evokes feelings of ambiguity and presents a sense of eeriness to the work as a
whole. The wallpaper of the background consists of birds flying to and from a nest. This
adds a feeling of movement and energy to the work. These birds are representative of the
child’s fleeting dreams and an artist’s racing thoughts. The jester, in addition, gives
insight into the dreams of a young child (Maleuvre 198). This work clearly represents
Gauguin’s central theme of finding liberation in fantasy by exiting reality through
dreams.
Similarly, this sharp divide between fantasy and reality can be seen in The
Sleeping Child, 1884. The subject of this work is Gauguin’s son, Clovis. The fresh, crisp
colors of the palette are used to express the view of dreamscape through color. Behind the
closed eyes of Clovis, a vivid dream world ignites. This dream world consists of flying,
whimsical beings in a sea of bright blue. Other interpretations of this work state that
amongst the otherworldly creatures there are flowers that hold significance in the
Tahitian culture (Cotter 45). These flowers are known as tupapa’u flowers. They are a
sign that a ghost is thinking of you as they gleam in night of Tahiti (47). The physical
Written under the direction of Dr. Laura Morowitz for AH 321: The Madman and the
Savage.
1
39
�resemblance to this plant and the flowers illustrated by Gauguin in this work prove that
he always had a sincere appreciation for primitive, ethnic cultures. Further, the scaling of
the objects in the work also illustrate a world free of worldly ties as the ceramic container
on the tabletop next to Clovis is significantly larger than the child himself. Again, these
figures provide a sense of energy and movement that portray fantasy as a constantly
changing landscape where there is an absence of concrete reality.
The Sleeping Child, 1884
Moreover, the Vision after the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel), 1888 is
one of Gauguin’s most celebrated works. The world of fantasy and religion are brought to
life in this work by artistic expression. The religious aspect is representative of a passage
from the Bible in which Jacob wrestled with God and was blessed with the new title of
“Israel” for having overcome the challenge (Buser 384). This work is vividly colored
with red being of the most distinct. Gauguin uses color in a completely abstract way. Red
is used as a symbolic color. It is used to illustrate violence, anger, danger and death
(Buser 385). Red defines the image as dreamlike and unreal. Color is stripped of its
original function of only being used in the natural world to one in which it is used
expressively to separate reality from fantasy. Gauguin gives a new meaning to color by
removing its restriction of only replicating reality.
In a letter to Van Gogh, Gauguin describes Vision after the Sermon (Jacob
Wrestling with the Angel), as “For me the landscape and the fight only exist in the
40
�imagination of the people praying after the sermon” (Herman III 415). The Breton
women in the work have their eyes closed in prayer portraying the dream world in which
the Biblical passage comes to life in the light of their imaginations. Japanese prints
served as a major influence to Gauguin in making of this work. The flatness of the
landscape is an aspect of Japanese art that he had come to attribute to his own paintings.
The lack of shadows provides the sense of illusion and fantasy. In addition, the branch
that separates the work horizontally, influenced by prints, serves as the physical
separation between reality and spiritual realm. However, this painting is not religious. It
provides more of a “spectator religious” experience in which the viewer is watching
others be religious; this was an extremely modern concept in the time this work was
created (420). Vision after the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel) gives rightful
appreciation to the stylistic characteristics and abstract subjects that encapsulate Gauguin
as a legendary artist.
Gauguin’s world of abstract vision is illustrated in The Yellow Christ, 1889. In
this work, he expresses dreams and visions in vibrant color, form and composition. The
central figure of this work is based on a seventh-century wooden crucifix that hung in a
chapel in Brittany (Jarnes 30). The Christ figure is made in the image and likeness of
Gauguin with similar facial features. This can be interpreted as portraying a connection to
him and faith or as a means to display a higher level of spirituality that can be reached
through prayer as displayed by the women. The color yellow is prominent in this work as
Gauguin used it to convey primitivism and religion in the life of the Breton women. He
chose to create a strong yellow presence against a background of autumn harvest. In
Brittany, the harvest had deep religious meaning. The grain harvest was compared to the
Christian cycle of life: birth, life, death, and rebirth (33). The use of yellow and the
bleeding Christ figure can also be attributed to the time Gauguin spent with Vincent van
Gogh in Arles. Van Gogh is known as the “great painter of yellow”. During their time
together, the two artists left lasting influences on each other as seen in many of their later
works. The incident involving Van Gogh cutting off his ear may have influenced
Gauguin in the creation of the Christ figure to symbolize the way he left Van Gogh
bleeding in Arles (Collins 88). The Yellow Christ portrays a complete dismissal of reality
as the Breton women did not actually gather around a crucified Christ. This work is yet
another by Gauguin that portrays the expanse of the imagination that lies beyond closed
eyes. However, the true expanse of Gauguin’s idealistic dreamworld stemmed from his
experiences in Tahiti.
At his arrival in Tahiti in 1891, Paul Gauguin formed an image that was rooted
in visions of tropical bounty and primitive ethnic peoples. He imagined the country as
41
�microcosm of the start of civilization that has not yet been touched by societies of
Westernization. Gauguin saw Tahiti as an escape from all that is conventional
(Danielsson 230). He wished to live a pleasure-filled life, living off the land and
indulging with the people in paradise where he could want for nothing. Depicted in this
way, Tahiti was Gauguin’s dream and fantasy world. This world of lush bounty and
beautiful, savage people encompassed his thoughts and impacted all aspects of his life
until he reached the land of his imagination. Although Gauguin was disappointed to find
that Tahiti was not the lush, primitive heaven of his dreams, he created works while he
was there that depicted his longing for fantasy land absent of reality.
In The Spirit of the Dead Watching, 1892, Gauguin portrays a dreamscape that
comprises several motifs that illustrate his view of the primary fantasy world of Tahiti.
The subject of this work is Gauguin’s native wife, fourteen-year old, Teha'amana.
Teha'amana is lying on a bed, completely nude. The bed is covered in a wraparound skirt
that is traditionally worn by the Tahitian people. The inclusion of this detail in the work
demonstrates Gauguin’s appreciation for the vibrant colors and prints of the Polynesian
culture. Behind the bed, in profile, an older woman, a ghost figure watches over her.
Gauguin gave life to a haunting, eerie, and supernatural setting through the use of color
(Cotter 42). The color palette of this work evoke strong emotions in each aspect of the
painting. For example, the browns, golds, and reds used to illustrate the color of
Teha'amana’s skin present with a sexual, erotic overtone. The vibrant contrast of the print
on the bed portrays the vibrancy of the tropical landscape of Tahiti. More, Gauguin states
his main use for the yellow bed sheets was to present the feeling of suspense to the
viewer (43). The background of the work, behind the ghost figure, is expressive with a
bright color palette depicting the limitless dreamscape. Additionally, the purples in the
background emote the darkness of a nightmare, a “background of terror” (44). The
tupapa’u flowers present in the dreamscape serve as a sign that the ghost figure is
watching over Teha'amana (47). This painting is a prime example of how Gauguin used
color to express feelings and emotions.
Further, Teha'amana’s face is depicted in a way that evokes a strong sense of
fear. In a letter to his wife Mette, Gauguin states, “I painted a nude of a young girl. In this
position she is on the verge of being indecent. But I want it that way: the lines and
movement are interesting to me. And so, I give her, in depicting the head, a bit of a
fright” (Fraenkel 688). Initially, Gauguin, in another letter to Mette, stated that the source
of the girl’s fear was the old woman, ghost figure behind the bed. However, in his
memoir, Noa Noa, he made himself the subject of her fear (689). All of Teha'amana’s
fear is not attributed to her fear of the dark or belief in spirits. Her fears can also be
42
�attributed to Gauguin’s sexual aggressiveness which deems the look in her eyes as a
fearful, submissive one. His willingness to illustrate her facial features and eyes in such a
way demonstrate that he saw her submissiveness as a reward (Rose 262).
The theme of the “Sleeper” in The Spirit of the Dead Watching presents two
types of fantasies conveyed by Gauguin. First, although the physical imagery of sleep is
not presented in this work, an obvious dreamscape is created in the background. The bed
serves as the physical divide between reality and dreams. The fantasy world consists of
the ghostly figure and the tupapa’u flowers which breathe a certain movement and
energy into the work. Second, the presentation of the subject and ideas in this piece evoke
sadism and racism (Gilbert 263). His overt use of sleep can be seen as a way to depict
vulnerability in women (Beall 38). Teha'amana’s look and position can be viewed as
submissive without the ability to resist the domineering and aggressive sexual predator,
the white, middle-aged colonist. Gauguin’s portfolio is full of naked, young Tahitian
women in a variety of differing positions in a multitude of settings. These works are
categorized under “eroticism”, however, this term could be masking Gauguin’s true
nature as a pedophile (Mathews 55). Gauguin’s portrayal of women in all of his works is
often challenged as differing interpretations suggest disrespect and belittlement to various
cultures. Specifically, his works of naked Tahitian women considers a sexual and racial
fantasy that emerges from Gauguin’s position as a male colonist (56). The fantasy world
of Gauguin is not strictly limited to the vivid dreams of children or expansive religious
visions. Gauguin’s depiction of women in his works evoked a racially “erotic” fantasy
world in which his legacy is questioned.
The Spirit of the Dead Watching, 1892
43
�Furthermore, The Day of the God, 1984, tells the story of the Tahiti Gauguin
dreamed of, not the Tahiti he had come to know. The work is set in a Tahitian landscape
by the water and is divided into three parts. The top portion consists of island women
conducting a ritual near a Buddhist-type sculpture. Buddhist figures are a common theme
found in the works Gauguin created in Tahiti. It is hypothesized that he connected to the
Buddhist religion because of the tradition of meditation (Leithauser 68). Meditation
grants vision without the use of sight. It involves searching inward to find truths and
different perspectives about oneself. Gauguin believed dreaming provided the same
revelation as behind closed eyes the expanse of honesty and imagination takes flight. In
the middle of the work, there are two sleeping women and one woman posed to formally
resembled the Buddhist sculpture behind her. This woman is similar to other Tahitian
women Gauguin depicts as she is representative of an Eve in the Garden of Eden (Teilhet
110). The lower portion of the work is comprised of vibrant, brillant contrasting colors
reflected in water. The varying shapes of the reflections can be seen as a dismissal of
reality into a land of imagination similar to the light of paradise. Gauguin dreamed of a
lush paradise of endless indulgence in Tahiti. As the work depicts, he expected lush,
tropical landscapes, beautiful ethnic women, spirituality in culture, and limitless
opportunities in a world where he could never want again. The woman sleeping with her
eyes closed is representative of this immense fantasy and dream world he created.
Moreover, the overt themes of birth, life, and death are expressed in this work. Birth is
seen by the women holding a child in the top portion of the work. The color white is used
for their clothing to represent new life. Life is seen throughout the vibrancy of the palette
used. The bright coloring of the landscape and figures emote a sense of aliveness and joy
(Lennon 61). Death is represented by the figure with her back turned to the sea of color in
the middle of work. The face of this figure is not shown as to represent the end of
dreaming as darkness is now what is seen beyond closed eyes. The expanse of the fantasy
world is non-existent without the ability to dream and imagine. This Tahitian landscape
tells of the depths of Gauguin’s own imagination and the stretch of his colored world
behind closed eyes.
Additionally, The Nativity, 1896 portrays a religious fantasy created in the
dreamworld of a sleeping Tahitian woman. A young Tahitian woman is in a deep sleep
on bright yellow sheets. She is mostly clothed in a deep blue Tahitian print cloth. It is
speculated that she is clothed because she is part of a religious scene. This distinction is
made as it is Gauguin’s commonplace to depict Tahitian women in the nude. In the
background, there are two women, one of whom is holding a child. The print on the cloth
is a yellow star representative of the North Star described in the biblical story of the birth
44
�of Jesus. Both women are subtle in a pose of reverence and humility (Gayford 92).
Moreover, the background illustrates a barn scene with a herd of resting farm animals.
This scene is Gauguin’s representation of the Tahitian Nativity (93).
The sleeping woman’s head is encompassed in a yellow halo. The child’s head
is also surrounded by darker green shades resembling a halo. The woman in the far back
of the work has wings colored in a mix of bright yellow and darker greens, resembling
the angel Gabriel. The halo around the sleeping woman portrays her role as the Virgin
Mary. She serves as Gauguin’s Tahitian Madonna. The child is the Christ figure born on
the Holy Night in a manger. The edge of the bright yellow cloth on the bed separates the
real world from that of fantasy.
Gauguin’s Tahitian Madonna demonstrates his unorthodox religious views and
how prominent spirituality was in his everyday life. The world’s religions, mythologies,
and spiritual constructs were all united according to Gauguin (Price 22). He had strong
beliefs in the mystic themes of religion and combined them with the subjects of his life to
create the masterpieces that comprise his artistic career. Religion served as a major theme
in the fantasy worlds curated by Gauguin.
Paul Gauguin was one of the greatest unconventional artists known to modern
history. His bohemian, anti-Western approach to life created art that was unique and
otherworldly. Gauguin’s need for primitivism combined with limitless fantasy gave his
works the ability to encompass universal topics that held timeless messages about
religion, dreams, sexuality, life, and death. Gauguin’s inability to accept reality as a
concrete principle allowed him to share his influence with a myriad of religions and
cultures. His passion for the Tahitian culture, during the 19th century, demonstrates how
he was an open-minded and futuristic dreamer. His urge to assimilate with the culture and
create a united society in religion and culture depicts his roots into a world of
imagination. Gauguin spent his life exploring the world with his eyes closed using his
dreams and fantastical thoughts to dismiss the rigidity of reality. The works he created
serve as a living legacy of Paul Gauguin and his profound belief in the endless
opportunities and inspiration found in the world of fantasy.
Works Cited
Beall, John. “Gauguin’s Uncanny Nude: ‘Manao Tupapau.’” Rutgers Art Review: The
Journal of Graduate Research in Art History, vol. 11, Jan. 1990, pp. 37–51.
Buser, Thomas Reverend. “Gauguin’s Religion.” Art Journal, no. 4, 1968, p. 375-402.
45
�Collins, Bradley I. Van Gogh and Gauguin : Electric Arguments and Utopian Dreams.
Boulder, Colorado : Westview Press, 2001, pg 87-96.
Cotter, Holland. “Gauguin’s Paradise: Only Part Tahitian And All a Fantasy.” The New
York Times, 2004, p. 31-45.
Danielsson, Bengt. “Gauguin's Tahitian Titles.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 109, no.
769, 1967, pp. 228–233.
Fraenkel, Michael. “Gauguin’s Letters to His Wife.” Nation, vol. 125, no. 3258, Dec.
1927, p. 688-690.
Gayford, Martin. (2015). Tahitian Madonna. Spectator, (9772), 92-103.
Herban III, Mathew. “The Origin of Paul Gauguin’s Vision After the Sermon: Jacob
Wrestling with the Angel (1888).” Art Bulletin, vol. 59, no. 3, Sept. 1977, p. 415-420.
Jarnes, Mark. “BRIEF: Van Gogh and Gauguin: Reality and Imagination.” Japan Times,
5 Oct. 2016, p. 28-35.
Leithauser, Brad. “Gone Native: Looking Back at the Reality behind Paul Gauguin’s
Luminous Dreams of Tropical Innocence.” Art & Antiques, May 1988, p. 66-78.
Lennon, Troy. “Bright Colours Masked Gauguin’s Dark Reality.” The Daily Telegraph,
(Sydney), 30 May 2018, p. 61.
Losch, Michael. “The Iconography of Sleep and the Life-Cycle: The Influence of
Theosophical Literature and the Art of Paul Gauguin on Georges Lacombe’s ‘Le Lit.’”
Nineteenth-Century French Studies, no. 3/4, 1996, p. 447-512.
Mathews, Nancy. “Paul Gauguin: An Erotic Life.” Virginia Quarterly Review, vol. 78,
no. 2, Spring 2002, pp. 55–56
Rose, Gilbert J. “Paul Gauguin: Art, Androgyny, and the Fantasy of Rebirth.” The
Homosexualities; Reality, Fantasy, and the Arts., edited by Charles W. Socarides and
Vamik D. Volkan, International Universities Press, Inc, 1990, pp. 259–270.
Price, Sally. “The Sleep of Reason: Primitivism in Modern European Art and Aesthetics,
1725-1907 Frances S. Connelly.” African Arts, no. 1, 1996, p. 18-24.
Teilhet, Jehanne H. “‘Te Tamari No Atua’: An Interpretation of Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian
Symbolism.” Arts Magazine (00044059), vol. 53, no. 5, Jan. 1999, p. 110.
46
�A Physician’s Right to Conscience
Maya Barr (Nursing)1
The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways that legal abortion affects the obligations
of providing doctors towards expectant mothers. Doctors that identify as religious tend to
present themselves as pro-life. A pro-life doctor, even if in the field of reproductive
health, may refuse to perform the abortion because they feel it is morally wrong. Prochoice advocates tend to believe that a pro-life doctor that wants to work in the field of
women’s health should not, because abortion is a procedure that may be involved in the
care of a patient. This is a topic of controversy because many doctors step into this field
with the idea of saving lives, not terminating lives. This paper will examine the ways that
president, Donald Trump, has addressed this concern, the effects on doctors, and the
patient, regarding maintaining a healthy conscience for doctors. If legal abortion causes
religious or moral controversy for providing physicians, then their right to refuse limits
access to an expectant mother wishing for an abortion. This paper adds a new dimension
about abortion in regards to the provider by exploring ways to protect the conscience of a
doctor while avoiding the possible limitation of access to healthcare or reproductive
services for the expectant mother.
I. Introduction
Abortion has been hotly debated in American politics in recent years. Most often
debated are the issues related to a woman’s reproductive rights, while the concerns
regarding a physician’s conscience rights are considered less often. But their protection is
equally as important. The settlement of Roe v. Wade supreme court case in 1973, sparked
the ongoing Pro-Life and Pro-Choice debate in America. In 1996, President George W.
Bush issued conscience protections for Pro-Life doctors that did not want to participate in
abortions. After President Barack Obama’s decision to revoke these protections, our
current President, Donald Trump, has further implemented these protections back through
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These rights are included in The
Church Amendment and the Public Health Service Act section 245. This paper will
examine the ways legal abortion affects the obligations of doctors towards expectant
mothers.
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Abraham Unger for GOV103: American Government
& Politics.
47
�II. Literature Review
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a health care
provider’s conscience rights are protected by federal statutes. Federal statutory health
care provider conscience protections include, but are not limited to, The Church
Amendments and The Public Health Service Act, section 245. The Church Amendments
which were enacted in the 1970s, were of purpose to “protect the conscience rights of
individuals and entities that object to performing or assisting in the performance of
abortion or sterilization procedures if doing so would be contrary to the provider’s
religious beliefs or moral convictions” (Office for Civil Rights, 2018). The Public Health
Service Act, section 245, was put into play in 1996. The act included the following
guidelines:
it prohibits the federal government and any state or local government receiving
federal financial assistance from discriminating against any health care entity on
the basis that the entity: 1) refuses to undergo training in the performance of
induced abortions, to require or provide such training, to perform such abortions,
or to provide referrals for such training or such abortions; 2) refuses to make
arrangements for such activities; or 3) attends (or attended) a post-graduate
physician training program, or any other program of training in the health
professions, that does not (or did not) perform induced abortions or require,
provide, or refer for training in the performance of induced abortions, or make
arrangements for the provision of such training. (Office for Civil Rights et al.,
2018)
Roger Severino, the Trump administration appointee who now leads the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services civil rights office, has repeatedly stressed that
strengthening conscience protections for health care workers is a top priority for his
office. Because of this, there is also a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Office in
hospitals for Pro-Life healthcare providers so they don’t feel pressure about abortions.
This research shows that there is an effort to protect the conscience of doctors and nurses
that consider themselves to be Pro-Life, which is important in maintaining a healthcare
system of passionate individuals; who work and provide under the circumstances in
which they are comfortable.
An editorial from The New York Times, titled, “Abortion: Where are the
Doctors?”, reports on the shortage of doctors willing to perform abortions. It reported two
different cases in which physicians were murdered by anti-abortion activists, one “on
March 10, 1993,” in which, “a physician named David Gunn was killed in Pensacola,
Fla., by an anti-abortion activist.” This editor wrote that, “Dr. Gunn had divided his time
48
�among six abortion clinics in Georgia, Florida and Alabama.” The second murder
reported in this editorial was, “on July 29, 1994”, in which, “Dr. John B. Britton was also
killed by an anti-abortion activist. Dr. Britton regularly flew from his home elsewhere in
Florida to work at Pensacola's only other abortion clinic.” (Abortion: Where are, 1994).
These murders show that even the doctors who will perform an abortion are at risk of
judgement from others. The editorial goes on to explain that women are struggling to find
providers that will provide the service, and “in 83 percent of counties in the United
States, not a single physician is willing to provide abortion services,” (Abortion: Where
are et al., 1994). It continues to say that “even if there were no violence, many women
would still face a long search for an abortion provider. Recent graduates of medical
schools know little about the procedure. Only 12 percent of residency programs in
obstetrics and gynecology offer training in first-trimester abortions; even fewer offer
second-trimester training,” and the proposed solution to this problem is to, “return
pregnancy termination to the curriculum”, of medical schools and residency programs.
This data does not include the issues regarding the protection of a doctor’s conscience.
Although, women are facing an issue that they cannot find a doctor to perform an
abortion, the doctor’s protection of conscience is significant too. This source portrays the
problems at hand.
Doctors do not want to be referred to as abortionists, according to the journal
article titled, “The Abortion Problem as Doctors See It”, reviewed by Barbara Katz
Rothman. Rothman teaches in the sociology department at Baruch College City
University of New York, and quotes a doctor that was interviewed, “I don’t want to be
known as an abortionist. I want to be known as a mother who loves mommies and their
babies.” It is true that a doctor’s moral conscience or religious affiliations may affect the
availability of services to a patient. Rothman’s solution is an “alternative to physician
control”, and to “move abortion outside the private practice of medicine, and into the
clinic,” but “abortion is a problem for physicians,” and “the clinic [is] an incomplete
solution”. This is not a complete solution because there will still be only a small number
of doctors at the clinic, and the access for an expectant mother is still scarce, being that
the goal is to protect physician’s conscience as well.
“The US Surgeon General on the Health Effects of Abortion”, by C. Everett
Koop, is a journal article regarding the US Surgeon General’s concerns addressed to
Ronald Reagan in a letter during the time of his presidency. This is a source to
demonstrate the progress of the abortion issue through different times. “The type of study
the Surgeon General would consider satisfactory would be very costly,” and, “apparently
such a study would focus on an initial sample of nonpregnant women and follow their
49
�reproductive histories over time, such as during a period of five years” (Koop,1989). This
review suggests that one of the worries of, “pro-lifers” during this time was regarding the
negative health effects that abortion may cause on a mother. If enough evidence was
found, pro-life supporters were in hopes that it would overwhelm the population of
women and, “force the reversal of Roe v. Wade”. (Koop et al., 1989) This brings new
insight regarding some of the guilt that may have been felt by physicians. They would not
only feel guilty for terminating a pregnancy. Yet, they could possibly feel guilty to bring
upon a negative health effect to a patient, such as a psychological burden. This could be
another reason that doctors do not want to provide this service.
The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade was intended to declare
a woman’s legal right to an abortion. It also caused some unintentional effects on the
lives of physicians. As reported by, “Unintended Consequences: Abortion Training in
The Years After Roe v. Wade”, this decision caused, “a shift in abortion provision from
hospital centers to nonhospital clinics,” which in turn, “produced a shift in the focus of
anti-abortion activists toward individual physicians and their clinics.” (Aksel & Fein &
Ketterer & Young & Backus, 2013). These authors stated that “anti-abortion activists
strove to intimidate and make pariahs of these health care professionals on a very
personal level.” In 1993, an anti-abortion group in Texas mailed a vulgar and menacing
pamphlet of jokes to thousands of medical students. One of the jokes was as follows, “Q:
What would you do if you found yourself in a room with Hitler, Mussolini, and an
abortionist, and you had a gun with only two bullets? A: Shoot the abortionist twice.”
(Aksel et al., 2013) Then later on that month, “David Gunn, an abortion provider in
Pensacola, Florida, was shot and killed in front of the clinic at which he worked.” (Aksel
et al., 2013) Due to this violence, many more medical students are becoming resistant to
performing, or to learning how to perform abortions. Since there are less providers
willing to follow through with the operation, there is a risk that women will look for, or
access, an unsafe method of abortion. That is not our goal.
Autonomy, meaning “self-rule”, raises ethical question concerning the
relationships between patients and their physicians. As stated in, “Patient and Physician
Autonomy: Conflicting Rights and Obligations in the Physician-Patient Relationship”,
moral conflicts emerge from maintaining a physician's claim to autonomy. Physician
autonomy is endangered in the realm of physician’s religious beliefs or moral values.
Although there is protection for nurses and doctors’ conscience, this only goes so far.
Edmund Pellegrino wrote, “applicants to medical schools are now frequently asked about
their views on abortion” and this, “question is asked so often that it seems unlikely to be
of only passing interest to interviewers”. (Pellegrino, 1994) This data does not show or
50
�confirm whether or not applicants are being denied due to their views on abortion.
Pellegrino then goes on to question, “does the autonomy of the institution or health policy
override the autonomy of either, or both, the patient and physician?” So, “which takes
precedence when conflict is unavoidable?” (Pellegrino et al., 1994). This source does not
answer this question but it can be further explored by questioning whether a physician
should risk his or her autonomy by aborting a fetus that was causing a situation that was
threatening the life of a mother. In other words, should a physician let the mother die,
because they will not abort the child in a dangerous situation? This data does not answer
these questions, although, these are deeper aspects of this ethical controversy regarding
physician’s rights.
For a long time, the provision of a referral fulfilled one’s professional
obligation. Due to this ongoing abortion debate, nurses, “have begun demanding not only
the same right of refusal [as doctors], but also - because even a referral, in their view,
makes one complicit in the objectionable act” (Charo, 2005). According to, “The
Celestial Fire of Conscience - Refusing to Deliver Medical Care,” the lines in which a
physician feels their conscience is morally protected is becoming blurrier. From this
journal review, it can be assumed that by this information, some doctors feel as though
making a referral to another doctor still goes against their moral conscience. This
provides more insight regarding how deep the issue is here. Some mothers cannot even
find a referral for an abortion, a direct effect of the doctor trying to protect his or her
moral conscience. With this comes the question regarding whether or not a professional is
obligated to give a referral, and what does it mean to be a professional in the United
States? Does professionalism include the rather old-fashioned notion of putting others
before oneself? Should professionals avoid exploiting their positions to pursue an agenda
separate from that of their profession? And perhaps, most crucial, to what extent do
professionals have a collective duty to ensure that their profession provides
nondiscriminatory access to all professional services? (Charo et al.,2005). With that in
mind, Charo answers these questions by saying that professional health care providers
will make this distinction between what is a medical service or nonmedical car. Binding
the wounds of a criminal before sending him back to the streets, is different then birth
control, abortion, etc. These professionals believe those are lifestyle choices, and not a
treatment for disease or illness. (Charo et al., 2005)
“Religion, Conscience, and Controversial Clinical Practices”, posted in The
New England Journal of Medicine, adds a new dimension about how physicians feel
about their ethical rights and obligations when such conflicts emerge in a clinical
practice. A cross-sectional study was performed and reviewed and “the primary criterion
51
�variables were physicians’ judgements about their ethical rights and obligations when
patients request a legal medical procedure to which the physician objects for religious or
moral reason.” (Curlin & Lawrence & Chin & Lantos, 2007). Sixty-three percent
responded to the survey. It was estimated that “most physicians believe that it is ethically
permissible for doctors to explain their moral objections to patients (63%). Most also
believe that physicians are obligated to present all options (86%) and to refer the patient
to another clinician who does not object to the requested procedure (71%)”. (Curlin et al.,
2007) This data suggests that many physicians feel that they are not personally obligated
to provide for “legal but morally controversial medical procedures”. (Curlin et al., 2007)
A patient that is looking to have such procedure done, will likely have to search
proactively for an accommodating physician.
Instead of a patient having to rely on a surgical abortion procedure, potentially
hard to receive care due to the fact that many doctors do not want to perform the abortion,
Paul Lombardo says in “How to Escape the Doctor’s Dilemma? De-Medicalize
Reproductive Technologies” that the solution is in pharmaceutical developments. These
developments continue to make the potential for de-medicalizing reproductive decisions
possible. In the early 1990s, mifepristone was determined to be safe and effective at
terminating a first trimester pregnancy. It showed to interrupt 50 to 85% of pregnancies
of less than 49 days. When combined with a follow-up prescription of prostaglandin, it is
almost 100% effective in terminating pregnancies. (Lombardo, 2015) The problem is that
these medications are tied to a professional licensure of a physician to prescribe the drug.
This could also harp at the moral conscience of a doctor, with the potential guilt that they
prescribed the means to a way of an abortion. With that being said, this data shows that in
order for a physician to be totally out of this dilemma, there must be a possible institution
of full and complete reproductive freedom, in which “women can access contraceptives,
abortion, and artificial reproductive technologies without the absolute need for a medical
gatekeeper” (Lombardo et al., 2015). This data does not address the details in which
would allow for this system to be possible in the United States, but it seems to portray a
possible solution.
This paper highlights the moral dilemma for physicians and nurses as they try to
honor the rights of their clients while honoring their own moral code. Identifying possible
solutions to this issue is important while respecting a woman’s right to choose and
maintaining a physician’s ability to adhere to their own moral code. Providing an option
for women to manage their own body and reproductive rights leaves the doctor out of the
process.
52
�III. Discussion
We discovered that prior to President Donald Trump and after President George
W. Bush, many doctors and nurses were at risk of feeling pressured to perform such
abortions. However, the doctors and nurses’ personal religious or moral values may have
been opposed to the medical procedure known as an abortion, which they were forced to
execute regardless of their beliefs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
has made it clear that Donald Trump and his administration are pushing for the protection
of doctors’ moral conscience.
Two professionals at a major Catholic hospital stated, “ a Catholic institution
that does not perform abortions”, first hand insight was provided on this topic. (M.
Purchacki, Personal Communication, 2018) Melissa Purchacki, a registered nurse and
clinical educator at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center, was asked the question,
“Do you feel as though if a doctor or nurse does not want to perform an operation, such
as an abortion, because they do not feel it is morally right, they have chosen the wrong
occupation? Why?” she responded with, “No, I do not believe they have chosen the
wrong occupation. I believe clinicians have a right to not offer services for procedures
that go against their moral compass.” This demonstrates that she believes it is not one’s
obligation to provide in a way that will affect them, for they will perform best under the
circumstances in which they are most comfortable. When asked, “What do you suggest is
the best solution to protect the conscience of doctors, nurses, and the reproductive rights
of women?” Beth Intonato, another registered nurse at the same facility, responded with,
I think doctors and nurses always have to keep up to date with trends and needs
of patients. I think each patient should have the right to what happens to their
body however I think the patients have to be educated better out in the
community. Sexual education has always been a very touchy topic. Whether it is
a young pregnant teen or older woman, you never know what is going on in their
lives and the best tool we have is education!(B. Intonato, Personal
Communication, 2018).
Melissa Purchacki was asked that same question and had a different response, she
suggested that, “if you do not believe in abortions do not work for a facility that performs
them. As a healthcare provider you do not have to agree with a woman’s choice but you
should respect their right to choose what is best for them.” (M. Purchacki, Personal
Communication, 2018).
With that being said, it is important to note that with the suggestion made by
Paul Lombardo, author of, “How to Escape the Doctor’s Dilemma? De-Medicalize
Reproductive Technologies”, a nurse or physician would not have to choose where they
53
�work based on whether or not they perform abortions at the facility. Although Melissa
Purchacki believes this could be the solution, if abortion were to be taken care of with a
drug, a person with a job in healthcare would not have to feel that they had limited
options in where they could work comfortably. This is important in the same way in
which an expectant mother should not have to feel that there are limited facilities
available for abortion procedures. The drug would protect the availability for both the
patient and the doctor. These pharmaceutical developments continue to make the
potential for de-medicalizing reproductive decisions possible.
In sum, we discovered that just because a doctor or nurse has chosen a path in
healthcare, does not mean they are required to perform all operations. If they feel
uncomfortable to do so based on their religious or moral affiliation, they are protected in
a way which allows them to decide not to do so.
IV. Conclusion
This paper concludes that it is beneficial for abortions to become a procedure
that is totally out of the doctors’ responsibility and only that of the patient. This means,
that the issue of abortion would benefit from becoming a procedure that is only involved
in pharmaceuticals. A drug that can effectively abort a fetus, would be only from the use
of the mother, not a procedure that the doctor would have to perform. The doctor would
not have to make the choice against his or her own moral code. Because of all of the
ethical controversy, making abortions become a primarily pharmaceutical issue, the
patient would not have to feel worried at the lack of providers, yet they would be able to
feel comfort from the readily available supply of pharmaceuticals. Although the patient
would be risking his or her conscience, that is her choice. In theory, we can protect the
conscience rights of doctors and reproductive rights of women, all at once.
V. References
Abortion: Where Are the Doctors? (1994, October 13). New York Times. Retrieved from
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A174479099/SPN.SP01?u=nysl_me_wagner&sid=SP
N.SP01&xid=cde05bfd
Aksel, S., Fein, L., Ketterer, E., Young, E., & Backus, L. (2013). Unintended
consequences: abortion training in the years after Roe v Wade. American journal of
public health, 103(3), 404-7.
Charo, R. A. (2005). The celestial fire of conscience - refusing to deliver medical care.
The New England Journal of Medicine, 352(24), 2471-3. Retrieved from
54
�https://ezproxy.wagner.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/223931986?a
ccountid=14865
Curlin, F. A., M.D., Lawrence, R. E., M.Div, Chin, Marshall H,M.D., M.P.H., & Lantos,
J. D., M.D. (2007). Religion, conscience, and controversial clinical practices. The New
England Journal of Medicine, 356(6), 593-600. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/
NEJMsa065316
Intonato, B., personal communication. November 29, 2018.
Koop, E. (1989). The US Surgeon General on the Health Effects of Abortion. Population
and Development Review, 15(1), 172-175. doi:10.2307/1973425
Lombardo, P. A. (2015, Summer). How to escape the doctor's dilemma? De-medicalize
reproductive technologies. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 43(2), 326+. Retrieved
from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A427718721/AONE?u=brooklaw_main&sid
=AONE&xid=e4b13cf6
Pellegrino, E. (1994). Patient and physician autonomy: conflicting rights and obligations
in the physician-patient relationship. Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy.
Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1447&
=&context=jchlp&=&seiredir=1&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fscholar.google.
com %252Fscholar%253Fhl%253Den%2526as_sdt%253D0%25252C33%2526
q%253Dphyscians%252Bconscience%252Brights%252Babortion%2526btnG%253
D#search=%22physcians%20conscience%20rights%20abortion%22
Purchacki, M. personal communication. November 29, 2018.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. (2018, March
22). Conscience protections for health care providers. Retrieved from:
https://www.hhs.gov/conscience/conscience-protections/index.html#
55
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural Sciences and
Quantitative Analysis, The Social Sciences and Critical Essays. The first two of these
sections are limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific research, clinical
investigations and complex mathematical/statistical modeling. The third section is
reserved for speculative papers based on the scholarly review and critical examination of
previous works. As has become a tradition, the fall edition commences with a reprint of
the abstracts of papers and posters presented at the Eastern Colleges Science Conference.
Read on and enjoy!
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Annemarie Dowling-Castronovo, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Amy Eshleman, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference1
Abstracts
3
The Use of Open Source Docking and Alignment Software to
Evaluate the Dangers of Phthalate Induced Endocrine Disruption
Briana Bettencourt and Dr. Jonathan Blaize
3
Effects of Electroconvulsive Seizures on GABA Concentrations in
Mouse Models of Autism
Nicholas Buhta
4
Microbial Diversity Along Climate Zones in the Atlantic Ocean
Alexis Costa
4
Transient Exposure to 450 nm Light alters Phagocytosis by Retinal
Pigment Epithelium Without Compromising Viability
Joseph Fabozzi and Dr. Jonathan Blaize
5
The Antimicrobial Effect of Clove Oil, Tea Tree Oil and Lemon
Grass Oil on Klebsiella Pneumoniae and Enterobacter Aerogenes
Sarah McGee and Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt
5
The Effects of Xanthine Derivatives on Tooth Remineralization
and its Ability to Defend Against and Remove Staphylococcus Mutans
Sarah McGee, Kayla Diggs, Dr. Christopher Corbo, and Dr. Racquel DeCicco
6
Microbial Diversity Off the Antarctic Peninsula
Elizabeth Patton
6
Employing Green Chemistry Methods Towards the Synthesis of High
Efficiency Organic Dyes
Kelsey Savje and Dr. Racquel DeCicco
7
Accessing Diynes Containing Thiocyanate End-Groups En Route
towards Polydiacetylenes
Oskar Sundberg
1
Papers and posters presented at the 73rd Annual Eastern Colleges Science Conference held in
Riverdale, NY on April 6, 2019.
�7
Inhibition of Serum Amine Oxidase Prevents Polyamine Induced
Autophagy: A Cautionary Tale
Kaela Teele
Section II: The Natural Sciences & Quantitative Analysis
Full Length Papers
11 Fur-babies vs. Babies: A Study on the Consumer Behavior of Dog
Owners
Maria Humphries
Section III: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
49 Improving Resources for Survivors of Sexual Assault on Staten Island
Kathleen Leavey and Angela Zagami
Section IV: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
61 Balancing Masculinity and Humanity in the Relationship Between
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
Lindy Pokorny
66 “Her Lover, Her Husband, Her Brother, Her Father, Her Child”: Queering
Ender Wiggin’s Multi-faceted Identities in Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for
the Dead
L. Elise Whisler
���The Use of Open Source Docking and Alignment Software to Evaluate
the Dangers of Phthalate Induced Endocrine Disruption
Briana Bettencourt (Biology) and Dr. Jonathan Blaize (Biological Sciences)
Many physiological abnormalities that manifest within the nervous, reproductive and
digestive systems can be attributed to endocrine disruption. Treatment of the adverse health
effects born of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC's) cost the United States
approximately 340 billion dollars annually. Plasticizers including phthalates have long been
associated with induction of the forenamed conditions and have thusly been categorized as
EDC's. Diethylphthalate (DEP), a well-studied plasticizer, is suspected of dysregulating
estrogen signaling; this is particularly heinous as consequences include developmental
delays and physical deformation. More than twenty-thousand studies involving DEP are
indexed in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI/Pubmed), yet only
seven clinical trials evaluating DEP are available at the time of this submission
(Clinicaltrials.org), with fewer having been completed. While there is an increased
emphasis on elimination or reduction of phthalate usage and exposure, little is known about
preventing phthalate damage caused by pharmacological competition. To more critically
elucidate phthalate interaction with suspected targets we have employed computational
tools that simulate docking to identify plasticizer binding locations, estimate the affinity to
which they are bound (compared to natural ligands) and evaluate whether viable
alternatives can be used to outcompete EDC's. Our data shows staggeringly high docking
affinity of several common plasticizers, including DEP, to suspected targets within the
endocrine system and unsuspected targets throughout the body.
Effects of Electroconvulsive Seizures on
GABA Concentrations in Mouse Models of Autism
Nicholas Buhta (Biology)
Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is displayed in approximately one quarter of individuals with
autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has proven to be an
extremely effective treatment for self-injurious behavior in individuals with ASD.
Previous research has shown that GABAergic dysfunctions are strongly associated with
ASD and SIB phenotypes. Therefore, we hypothesize that the electroconvulsive stimulus
(ECS) delivered in ECT may modulate GABAergic systems to suppress SIB in ASD
patients. To better understand the effective mechanism in which ECT operates, this study
analyzes GABA concentration variations and behavioral changes in response to ECS of
two transgenic autistic mouse models, Shank3B-/- and Viaat-Mecp2-/y conditional knockout
3
�variants, which express behavior analogous to SIB. This study is not yet complete,
however, the data show that Shank3B-/- mice display a significant increase in striatal
GABA concentrations in response to ECS.
Microbial Diversity Along Climate Zones in the Atlantic Ocean
Alexis Costa (Microbiology)
Microorganisms can be found in all environments on Earth, including the oceans. Bacterial
community composition can vary from place to place in the ocean. One hypothesis is that
bacterial communities in tropical climate zones are different from those in temperate
climate zones. For this research, microbiome and metadata were obtained from a database
called VAMPS. VAMPS is an abbreviation for The Visualization and Analysis of Microbial
Population Structures. These samples were collected at 16 different locations in the Atlantic
Ocean, ranging from different climate zones. The computer program R was used, along
with various statistical packages, to determine if microbial communities from these two
climate zones were different. Using multivariate statistics to analyze the microbiomes, I
showed that climate zones have little effect on bacterial composition. Instead, specific
environmental variables such as phosphates, temperature, and silicates were correlated to
variability in microbiome composition. This may be because, below certain depths,
temperatures from each climate zone are actually similar. Future research can focus on how
specific environmental variables impact ocean microorganisms.
Transient Exposure to 450 nm Light alters Phagocytosis by Retinal
Pigment Epithelium Without Compromising Viability
Joseph Fabozzi (Biology) and Dr. Jonathan Blaize (Biological Sciences)
Phagocytosis of outer segments (OS) and reisomerization of chromophores by the retinal
pigment epithelium (RPE) are critical for maintaining visual health. Diseases of the retina,
including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), manifest when the aforementioned
processes are perturbed or RPE viability is compromised. Numerous factors, hereditary or
otherwise, have been implicated as contributors to RPE failure though none are as
paradoxical as light exposure since it is required for normal vision. While melanosomes
within RPE offer protection from photo-oxidative stressors, chronic irradiation contributes
to toxic biretinoid production and accumulation. N-retinyl-N-retinylidene ethanolamine
(A2E), a lipophilic cytotoxin, has been shown to reduce cellular viability, slow
phagolysosomal digestion of OS and hinder phagocytosis under certain physiological
conditions where oxidative phosphorylation mechanisms are stressed. The retina is
4
�particularly vulnerable to short electromagnetic wavelengths (<500 nm) and recent studies
suggest that increased mobile electronic device usage contributes to disease phenotypes.
Several laboratories have demonstrated photo-toxicity of blue light on RPE, though little is
known about the consequences of short-term exposure on phagocytosis. Our preliminary
results support a hypothesis of phagocytosis perturbation when cells are exposed to blue
light, (0.027 micromole), and that the duration and intensity of this exposure does not alter
morphology, induce apoptosis or change mitochondrial output.
The Antimicrobial Effect of Clove Oil, Tea Tree Oil and Lemongrass
Oil on Klebsiella Pneumoniae and Enterobacter Aerogenes
Sarah McGee (Microbiology) and Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt (Biological Sciences)
Essential oils such as clove, lemongrass, and tea tree have been known and used for their
antimicrobial properties. In the series of experiments of agar well diffusion, molten agar
tests, and broth dilutions, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter aerogenes were used to
test these essential oils and the growth patterns were observed and recorded. The essential
oils had an effect in inhibiting the growth of both Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter
aerogenes, which was observed through zones of inhibition, as well as the lack of growth at
certain concentrations throughout different types of media. Clove oil was the most effective
in inhibiting bacterial growth as compared to lemongrass oil and tea tree oil.
The Effects of Xanthine Derivatives on Tooth Remineralization and
its Ability to Defend Against and Remove Staphylococcus Mutans
Sarah McGee (Microbiology), Kayla Diggs (Chemistry), Dr. Christopher Corbo (Biological
Sciences), and Dr. Racquel DeCicco (Physical Sciences)
Sodium fluoride (NaF) is a widely used remineralizing agent in dental care. Some
municipalities are going as far as incorporating NaF in water supplies, however there are
certain risks associated with the excess ingestion of NaF. In a series of experiments, we will
examine the remineralizing abilities of Xanthine derivatives including theobromine,
caffeine, and xanthine in comparison to NaF, particularly in the filling of scratches and
other surface deformities in eggshells. In parallel we will test the ability of the Xanthene
derivatives to defend against as well as remove Staphylococcus mutans, compared to NaF.
The porosity of the eggshells will be measured and examined using Scanning Electron
Microscopy. Previously reported work suggests that theobromine has equal if not more
potential in remineralizing enamel.
5
�Microbial Diversity Off the Antarctic Peninsula
Elizabeth Patton (Biology)
Microbial diversity in an ecosystem is important. In a marine environment, various factors
can have an impact on microbial diversity. Using a microbiome dataset downloaded from
VAMPS (Visualization and Analysis of Microbial Population Structures), this project
focused on both environmental data and microbiome data collected off the coast of the
western Antarctic Peninsula at four distinct locations. Through the use of RStudio, various
analyses were performed to determine if certain environmental factors significantly
influenced the diversity of microorganisms found in the samples. The factors that were
focused on in this project included the amount of chlorophyll, dissolved oxygen, dissolved
organic carbon, phosphate and total nitrogen, the depth of the sample, and whether the
sample was taken on or off the coastal shelf. Examination of correlation tests revealed that,
of the factors studied, only the depth category, chlorophyll, dissolved oxygen, phosphate
and total nitrogen were significant to the diversity of these microbiomes. Comparisons
between relative abundance charts and bar graphs quantifying the various significant
variables in each sample revealed correlations between similar samples in terms of the
diversity of microbes found.
Employing Green Chemistry Methods Towards
the Synthesis of High Efficiency Organic Dyes
Kelsey Savje (Chemistry) and Dr. Racquel DeCicco (Physical Sciences)
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been the subject of much research in recent years,
as the employment of solar energy as a means of generating electricity has drawn increasing
interest especially due to it being a renewable green. Organic dyes are particularly
attractive, as organic molecules are easier to modify and are derived from more renewable
sources compared to metal-based dyes. This project explores the synthesis of conjugated
organic molecules that contain similar structural motifs to dyes reported to have high
conversion efficiencies. The targets are based on data from Harvard Clean Energy Project,
which lists molecules that have demonstrated high energy conversion based on
computational analysis. Multiple steps were completed in the synthesis and additional
experiments are being pursued as alternative routes towards target molecules that can
potentially serve as highly efficient organic dyes.
6
�Accessing Diynes Containing Thiocyanate
End-Groups En Route towards Polydiacetylenes1
Oskar Sundberg (Chemistry)
This research explores the synthesis of diynes with sulfur-containing end groups en route
towards accessing novel polydiacetylenes (PDAs), a class of conjugated polymers with
conductive properties. Diynes containing thiophene and thiocyanate end-groups have been
targeted, with the latter being the focus of this project. Thiocyanate (SCN) end-groups are
expected to impact the electronic properties of the polymerized system because of the
resonance-stabilization and electronic effects of these groups. Efforts to synthesize 1,4dithiocyanatobuta-1,3-diyne have produced interesting results. While the synthetic protocol
is producing consistent 13C NMR data, these do not entirely correspond with predicted
NMR spectra generated computationally with Gaussian, however IR spectroscopy confirms
the presence of alkynes. To further elucidate the structure of the synthesized compound we
designed many NMR simulations of various potential products using the general purpose
computational software Gaussian. Computationally generating NMR spectra has proven a
useful tool in our attempts to determine our exact product. Once the target diyne is obtained
and successfully characterized, polymerization efforts will commence.
Inhibition of Serum Amine Oxidase Prevents Polyamine
Induced Autophagy: A Cautionary Tale
Kaela Teele (Biology)
Polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine are polycationic alkyl amines that are
multifunctional in eukaryotes, and one of their main functions is overall cell growth.
Therefore, polyamines can be used as a target for antineoplastic drug development. It has
recently been suggested that polyamines are critical players in the induction of autophagy.
However, all of the studies performed with mammalian cells occurred in the presence of
bovine serum, which contains serum amine oxidase. Serum amine oxidase oxidizes
polyamines into hydrogen peroxide, an aldehyde, ammonia and a simpler polyamine. The
peroxide and aldehydes cause cytotoxicity, thus subjecting cells to a toxic environment
when exogenous polyamines are added to media containing bovine serum. However, this
enzyme can be inhibited by aminoguanidine. Thus, to determine whether the toxicity was a
result of the stressful environment produced by the oxidation of exogenous polyamines, the
1 Received an award of excellence for outstanding presentation.
7
�effects of the addition of polyamines to media containing bovine serum +/- aminoguanidine
on markers of autophagy were examined in three cell types; WT HCTl16, p53-/-HCT116,
and A549. The concentrations examined were 0, 1, 5,10, 25, 50, 75, and 100 µM.
Significant toxicity was observed at 50 µM for both spermidine and spermine after 48-hour
exposure. However, when serum amine oxidase is inhibited by aminoguanidine cells were
resistant to polyamine addition. To determine whether inhibition of the serum amine
oxidase also reduced evidence of autophagy, the cell lines were treated with the polyamines
at concentrations of 0, 1, 25, and 50 µM over a 48-hour period and autophagy markers were
evaluated.
8
���Fur-babies vs. Babies: A Study on the
Consumer Behavior of Dog Owners
Maria Humphries (Business Administration)1,2
The pet industry has been on a continuously upward trend in the last two decades. There
is no clear-cut reasoning behind the growth of the industry. However, research shows
that the humanization of pets, especially that of dogs, has led owners to view them as
children. The intimate relationship between owner and dog is resulting in the purchasing
and creation of more dog-related products and services, which has aided in the growth of
the pet industry. This study will evaluate how the consumer behavior of dog owners is
related to an owner’s relationship with their pet. A literature review and an in-field study
of 100 dog owners between the ages of 19-65+ will assist in developing a thorough
understanding of how the humanization of dogs and viewing them as a child has allowed
for the pet industry to thrive. The understanding of the human-dog relationship will
prove to be important in assisting marketers to create stronger and more targeted
marketing campaigns to keep up with the growing industry.
I. Introduction
For approximately 10,000 years, dogs have been loyal companions to humans (Dotson
& Hyatt, 2008). Evidence from ancient tomb paintings, artifacts, and texts reveal that all
levels of society had dogs as loving pets and members of their family (Dotson & Hyatt,
2008). In present society, this trend continues to evolve at a more elevated level.
Research shows that over the last two decades, Americans have consistently spent more
than ever on their pets (American Pet Products Association, 2017). Bob Vetere of the
American Pet Products Association (2017) correlates this trend to the humanization of
pets. The humanization of pets, also known as anthropomorphizing, is the tendency of pet
owners to view their dog as a person and attribute human characteristics to them (Boya,
Dotson & Hyatt, 2015). This humanization has led dog owners to view their pet as a child
1
Honors thesis written under the direction of Dr. Mary Lo Re in partial fulfillment of the
Senior Program requirements.
2 Presented and received “Best Research Award” at the Staten Island Economic
Development Center's Annual Conference held on April 16th at the Hilton in Staten
Island, NY.
11
�which results in the purchasing of extravagant products such as human-grade dog food,
dog daycare, and more frequent veterinarian visits (Boya et al., 2015). To evaluate how
the consumer behavior of dog owners has changed over the years, an analysis of the
human-dog relationship is essential. This analysis can prove that owners, specifically
millennials and baby boomers, are substituting a child with a dog which results in an
increase in purchases in the pet industry. This analysis can also be beneficial to marketers
in the pet industry by assisting them in the prediction of future trends while helping them
to adjust their marketing strategies to reflect the changing demands.
Literature Review
Consumers are viewing their dog as an extension of themselves which is
resulting in a change in the consumption of pet-related products and services (Boya et al.,
2015). The notion of companionship, when associated with the human-dog relationship,
reveals a mutual sense of altruism suggesting that the dog and the owner are dependent
on each other (Ellson, 2008). Ellson (2008), conducted an observational study, utilizing a
storytelling approach, of dog ownership in order to understand the role consumer
behavior plays in the marketing of pet and pet-related products. Spending patterns on
healthier dog food, grooming, cremation services, and vacation services such as
kenneling, house sitting, and dog-friendly hotels, suggest that dog ownership is based on
the way owners wish to be viewed by others in society (Ellson, 2008). Ellson’s (2008)
results suggest that marketers must illuminate the personality influences of the devoted
dog-human relationship if they wish to have continued success within the industry.
Based on the devoted dog-human relationship the question of whether owners
“buy for their dogs the way they buy for themselves” arises (Tesform & Birch, 2010).
They targeted 1,300 dog owners with a questionnaire in regards to the owner’s personal
food behavior, dog’s food behavior, owner’s frequency of physician visits, and dog’s
veterinarian visits in order to understand why pet expenditure has increased over the
years. Their results found that dog owners view their dog as an extension of themselves
and, therefore, involve their dog in their consumption behaviors. It was identified that
the more committed an owner is to consuming healthy food for themselves, the more
likely they are to buy their dog healthy food. Additionally, they also found that a dog
owner who frequently visits the doctor is more likely to bring their dog for frequent
veterinarian visits.
This investment and expenditure on pets reflect the idea that owners and pets are
a unit that consumes together (Kylkilahti et al., 2016). They state that “consumers in
industrialized countries are investing more money in their pets and spending more time
12
�with them than ever before” (p. 125). In their study, an online survey of 2,500 dog
owners in addition to 40 fieldwork studies was used to identify how consumers interact
with their pets. The participant’s answers revealed that the existence of a pet creates an
area of consumption that would otherwise not be considered. Such areas include the
purchasing of dog food, dog treats, collars, and leashes. Otherwise known as coconsumption, pets are influencing their owners’ buying patterns because the pet’s
feelings, preferences, and needs are considered before making a purchase (Kylkilahti et
al., 2016). For example, finding the treats which a dog will consume can be a daunting
and expensive process for an owner, but it is performed out of love and care for the
animal. This finding further supports the identification that the relationship between a
dog and their owner is reciprocal.
The human-dog relationship of mutualism in which “the owner gives and
receives love and affection from their animal, and their pet serves as a confidant with no
risk of betrayal”, provides insight into the dog-related consumption experiences that arise
from this relationship (Dotson & Hyatt, 2008, p. 457). Dotson et al. (2008), surveyed
749 dog owners to classify seven dimensions that represent the various layers of dogcompanionship. They concluded that an owner’s perception of their dog is related to
their willingness to have a significant bond with their dog. They also discovered that
millennial women are the most likely to form a highly beneficial bond with their dog due
to their prolonging of having children and their commitment to displaying their innate
maternal instincts. Their results are consistent with the trends of delayed childbirth for
married couples, postponed marriages for singles, and an increase in empty nesters
having more dogs as being the driving force for the “dog craze”.
In Boya et al.’s 2012 interview and survey study on the relationship between
dog owners and their pets, various consumer behavior segments were identified. Based
on an in-depth series of questions, 75 dog owners described their daily interactions with
their dogs, their general lifestyle values and issues, and their spending patterns. Based on
the results, it was discovered that the more likely a dog owner is to anthropomorphize
their dog, the more likely they are to buy for their dog in a similar way to which they buy
for themselves. It was also observed that the way in which consumers are currently
bonding with their animals is the same way they would bond with their children. This is
attributed to the fact that “the average dog has the intelligence equivalent to a 2-year-old,
so having a dog in the home is like having an enduring bond with a young child” (p. 134).
Assigning a dog the role of a child results in owners increasing their spending on pet
products such as food, healthcare, pet insurance, and toys (Boya et al., 2012).
13
�Hill, Gaines, and Wilson (2008) reviewed various studies to uncover the
underlying meanings of the consumer behavior experiences of dog owners. The authors
identified that “Fido is no longer just an animal that sits by the kitchen table waiting for
scraps of food. Now, the household pet has worked its way up the family tree, in some
cases even winning a coveted seat at the dinner table” (Hill et al., 2008, p. 553). The
early domestication of dogs and selective breeding have allowed these animals to be
viewed as possessing childlike characteristics which emphasize the maternal and paternal
instincts of their owners (Hill et al., 2008). This bond results in the dog evolving into the
family’s routine and the family altering their routine to fit the needs of their pet. The
incorporation of a dog into the family characterizes the animal as a companion rather than
a possession (Tesform et al., 2010). A long-term commitment then grows into a loving
and intimate relationship which culminates in the pet being included in special events,
holidays, and activities (Hill et al., 2008). Food preparation, food consumption, gift
giving, and gift receiving are a few of the various activities a dog will become involved
in (Hill et al., 2008). Hill et al. (2008) found that this relationship is accountable for dog
owners purchasing products that are similar to those bought for a child. Such a
correlation leads to the development of a deeper understanding of the change in consumer
behavior of dog owners in recent years.
Understanding the Human-Dog Relationship
It has been observed that anything consumers would do for their child is being
done for their pets (Plenda, 2016). The humanization of animal companions has resulted
in the development of the term “fur-babies”. Otherwise noted as a pet acting as a
substitute or addition for a child. Due to the humanization of dogs, human-related
services and products such as grooming (haircuts), daycare, toys, snow boots in the
winter, raincoats in the fall, special soaps, fur and paw moisturizing cream, etc. are being
sought out by dog owners. Additionally, special accessories such as bandanas, leashes,
collars, and dog tags are being purchased, sometimes with the option of customization
(Plenda, 2016). The acquisition of such products and services reflects a similar
consumption pattern that is present when making purchasing decisions for a child.
The continuous growth of the pet industry is correlated with the changing
consumer behavior of pet owners and their relationship with their pets. As stated by
Ellson (2008), the dog-human relationship “reveals a biological sense of reciprocal
altruism between dog and dog owner” (p. 565). Dogs and their owners mutually offer
each other love, companionship, company, and affection (Lancendorfer, Atkin & Reece,
2008). However, humans have begun to internalize the values and expectations of their
14
�dog to reflect those of a young child. A dog’s personality and character are identified
when an owner speaks to each dog in an individualized way, utilizing baby talk (Ellson,
2008; Dotson & Hyatt, 2008). In fact, Dotson & Hyatt (2008) discovered that 99% of
their 749 survey participants believe that their dog comprehends what they are saying
when they are talking to them.
It is crucial to realize that a child can verbally express their desires while a pet
cannot (Chen et al., 2012). The inability to verbally communicate results in dog owners
often basing their pet’s consumption on their personal desires (Chen et al., 2012). It is
important to note that in comparison to a child, a dog will not grow up to be independent
and leave the home. This suggests that a dog can provide approximately 20 years of
companionship (Ellson, 2008).
The way an owner cares for their dog can be an expression of their ideas and a
perception of a lifestyle in which they want to be seen living (Ellson, 2008). Dogs are
viewed as an extension of their owner’s self, based on the formation of emotional, social,
and personal identities (Boya et al., 2015). The dog-human relationship can be viewed as
a biological, physical, imaginary, and human attachment. The various dimensions of the
dog-human relationship that were discovered by Boya et al. (2012) provide insight into
how a dog is an extension of their owner’s self. Based on the degree to which a dog is
humanized, a social hierarchy develops. A strongly attached dog owner will treat their
dog as if they are a child and themselves their pet’s parent (Boya et al., 2012). A strongly
attached dog owner will often spoil their dog, celebrate their birthday, seek out dogfriendly accommodations, and attribute various human characteristics to their dog. By
viewing their dog as a member of the family, dog owners tend to make purchases that
reflect this relationship, which can explain the growth of the pet industry over the years.
Dogs have been kept as members of human’s families for over 10,000 years
(Dotson & Hyatt, 2008). The strong attachment that humans have to dogs is often as
strong as the attachment that one would have to a best friend, spouse, or child. Such an
attachment greatly influences family dynamics. As a new member of the family, the dog
often becomes fully engulfed into the family routine allowing for family bonds to grow
around the daily needs of the pet (Hill et al., 2008). Responsibilities are distributed
amongst all members of the family in regards to taking the dog on walks, feeding them,
bathing them, and playing with them. In addition, children often view their dog as a
sibling, without rivalry (Ellson, 2008). The development of the dog into the family
dynamic becomes habitual and further promotes the desire for owners to care for them as
if they are a child.
15
�The responsibility of owning a dog results in various lifestyle considerations.
Owners tend to make sacrifices for their dog when it comes to finding a spouse, car,
profession, or dog-friendly living accommodation (Boya et al., 2012; Kylkilahti et al.,
2016). Most dog owners consider their pet in a majority of their lifestyle consideration
and are willing to make monetary sacrifices to include them (Kylkilahti et al., 2016).
Such monetary sacrifices include adjusting household accommodations such as updated
flooring, a fenced in backyard, landscaping, dog beds, and doggy doors. Such
expenditures are fulfilled because of the dog’s assumed need. Shared activities such as
jogging, watching TV, and sleeping on the same bed result in co-consumption
experiences which influence both the dog and the owner’s lifestyle. Additionally, pet
services such as doggy daycare, dog walking, pet-friendly hotels, pet-friendly airlines,
and travel accessories have allowed for dog owners to conveniently include their dog in
their mobile lifestyle (Dotson & Hyatt, 2008). The high involvement of a dog into the
family dynamic is allowing business owners to develop new product and service
offerings which contribute to the continuous growth of the pet industry.
Dog Owner Consumption Habits
It has been discovered that dog-related consumption is dependent on the
heightened involvement in the dog-human relationship (Boya et al., 2012). The
increased, time, money, energy, and effort people are spending on their dogs has led to a
growth in the pet industry (Dotson & Hyatt, 2008). Based on the mutual relationship
between owners and their dogs, it is important to understand what has caused consumers
to purchase additional and luxurious products for their animal companions.
Ellson (2008) stated that “human consumption becomes a metaphor for human
behavior” (p. 572). This statement is proven true when we examine the idea that dog
owners buy for their dogs in the same way they would buy for themselves, by having a
shared consumption experience (Tesform & Birch, 2010). Tesform and Birch (2010)
analyzed what 1,300 dog owners feed their dogs and how often they take their dog to the
veterinarian. They discovered that humans do in fact buy for their dogs in the same way
they buy for themselves. This is evident in the consumption of healthy food and medical
visits for owners and dogs alike. These findings are consistent with the fact that dog
owners view their pet as a member of the family. It is clear that if a dog owner views
their pet as a member of the family they are more likely to engage in behaviors that align
their dog with the family’s dynamic.
When a dog is considered a spoiled child and served through this metaphor, the
dog’s feelings, preferences, and needs are taken into consideration in the owner’s co16
�consumption experiences (Kylkilahti et al., 2016). The co-consumption experiences that
are encountered are oftentimes initiated by the dog’s willingness for adventure. Dogs
often motivate their owners to go jogging or watch TV together. These activities result in
manufacturers developing products that accommodate dogs and their humans on these
adventures. Portable dog bowls, sturdy leashes, and harnesses are a few of the
commodities that aid in dog owners bonding with their pets on a jog. Additionally, dog
owners who regularly watch TV with their dogs might consider buying a leather or
microfiber couch that accommodates their pet and reduces the accumulation of dog hair.
Clearly, the passionate relationship between dogs and their owners, due to an increase in
time, energy, and effort spent together, affects the purchasing behavior of consumers.
Second to food purchases, veterinary expenses are one of the largest purchases
made by pet owners (American Pet Products Association, 2017). Pet owners are spending
more on preventative care and are willing to acquire debt as a result of medical expenses to
save their beloved dog’s life (Hill et al., 2008). The American Pet Products Association
(2017) states that a dog will visit the veterinarian approximately twice a year. In fact, vet
care sales in 2017 exceeded $17 billion dollars (American Pet Products Association,
2017). The American Pet Products Association (2017) also states that 28% of dog owners
would buy an urn for their dog at death. The increase in veterinarian expenses, vaccines,
and the process of grief upon the death of a dog relate to similar practices that are
performed in human relationships. It is evident that a dog owner’s willingness to care for
their pet, as if they were a child, is reflected in the continuous growth of the pet industry.
Data from Sources
To truly understand how the consumer behavior of dog owners has changed, it is
important to analyze the various statistics of this demographic. The American Pet
Products Association (2017) conducts a yearly survey to compile data on pet owners.
The objective of the organization is to analyze changing consumer habits to assist in the
identification of short-term and long-term trends in the pet industry. As well as analyzing
pet ownership and the consumption of pet products and services. In 2017, they
conducted a screener and a detailed questionnaire of 22,202 pet owners. The results from
this survey are vital components of this research.
As of 2017, 68% of all United States households owned a pet, of which 48%
owned a dog (American Pet Products Association, 2017). This specifically means that
60.2 million United States households own a dog. The American Pet Products
Association (2017) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (2012) have stated
17
�that there has been a consistent upward trend in pet ownership over the last two decades,
as shown in figure 1.
From 1994 to 2017, the total expenditure in the pet industry has increased from
$17 billion to $69.51 billion. It is estimated that in 2018, spending will increase to
$72.13 billion (American Pet Products Association, 2017). In terms of demographics, the
largest generational makeup of pet owners has shifted from baby boomers (in 2014) to
millennials (in 2017). In addition, dog owners reported the highest level of marital status
(American Pet Products Association, 2017).
Figure 1:
Source: American Pet Products Association (2017).
Figure 2:
18
�Source: American Pet Products Association (2017).
In regards to pet-related expenses, dog owners report spending the most on
surgical veterinarian visits, emergency vet visits with boarding or kenneling, and
medications (American Pet Products Association, 2017). A graphical depiction of the
categories in which dog owners have the largest expenses is provided in Figure 3.
Figure 3:
Source: American Pet Products Association (2017).
19
�From the categories in which dog owners report spending the largest sum of money,
the American Pet Products Association (2017) classified the total sales in each of these
major categories. The categories are broken down into food (treats and food), supplies
(toys, beds, and blankets), veterinarian care (medications and all veterinarian visits), and
pet services (grooming and boarding). A graph of the above-mentioned sales is shown in
Figure 4.
Figure 4:
Source: American Pet Products Association (2017).
Despite the various pets that are owned, all pet owners, surveyed by the American
Pet Products Association, state that their pet provides them companionship, love,
company, and affection (American Pet Products Association, 2017). In addition, a
majority of pet owners state that their pets are a fun asset to their home, can help them
relieve stress, and are considered to be a member of the family (American Pet Products
Association, 2017). As a member of the family, dogs tend to receive the most gifts on
birthdays and Christmas, besides receiving a gift for no special occasion (American Pet
Products Association, 2017). The results on the percentage of pet owners who purchase
gifts for their pets is depicted in Figure 5.
20
�Figure 5:
Source: American Pet Products Association (2017).
On average, a dog owner will purchase five gifts a year at a cost of approximately $14
apiece (American Pet Products Association, 2017). In addition, 11% of dog owners
report that they will throw their pet a birthday or holiday party (American Pet Products
Association, 2017). On the contrary, dogs are less likely to receive gifts on Chanukah,
Easter, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day (American Pet Products Association, 2017).
The American Pet Products Association (2012) identified millennials as the
leaders in taking the pet industry to the next level. Millennials reported that they take
their pets to the veterinarian more often, provide their pets with flavored vitamins and
medications, pay for pet services such as daycare and boarding, take their dogs with them
on errands, buy their dogs gifts for special occasions and birthdays, own designer items
for their pets, and feed their dogs healthy, organic, and grain free food as they would
themselves (American Pet Products Association, 2017). The influx of millennial dog
owners (38%) compared to baby boomers (32%) leads researchers to uncover how the
consumer behavior of pet owners continues to evolve.
Various researchers have stated that many millennials are delaying having
children. Instead, some millennials are opting to get a dog to fill the parental void or
prepare for a child while still having the capability to act as a maternal or paternal figure
(Plenda, 2016; Ellson, 2008; Boya et al., 2012). In comparison, empty nesters, who no
21
�longer have their children living at home, are getting dogs as a replacement for their
grown children (Boya et al., 2012). A comparison of the average number of children per
family and the change in household size since the 1940s to the number of dogs per
household will assist in the analysis of the consumer behavior of dog owners. Two
graphs from the U.S Census Bureau, Figures 6 and 7, show the change in the number of
children per family and changes in household size negatively (U.S Census Bureau, 2018).
Figure 6:
Source: U.S Census Bureau (2017).
When the decrease in family households (Figure 7) and the number of children
per household (Figure 6) is compared to the increase in pet ownership (Figure 1) it can be
concluded that the decline in the number of children per household has been followed by
an increase in the number of pets per household.
22
�Figure 7:
Source: U.S Census Bureau (2017).
II. Methods
Participants
Participants in this study included 100 dog owners located in New York, New
Jersey, and Pennsylvania. There were 81 females and 19 males ranging from 19 years
old to over 65 years old. All participants in this study were voluntarily asked to fill out a
10-question survey for the purpose of analyzing the consumer behavior of dog owners
(questionnaire can be found in the appendix).
Materials
Fifty surveys were distributed to dog owners while at a dog park in New York
and Pennsylvania. The beginning of the survey explained the purpose of the research.
The researcher asked dog owners if they would be willing to fill out a quick 10-question
survey to analyze the consumer behavior of dog owners. The remaining fifty surveys
were distributed online, through Google Forms, to those in New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania who have a dog.
The survey identified dog owners based on the demographics of age and gender.
The survey asked an open-ended question to determine how many adults, children, and
23
�dogs live in the participant’s house. The remainder of the survey asked multiple choice
and checkbox questions to uncover how participants view and interact with their dog.
The multiple-choice questions asked participants how much they spend on their dog
annually, if their pet influences their personal purchase and/or lifestyle decisions, and
how often they take their pet to the vet. The checkbox questions asked participants if
they have ever celebrated their dog’s birthday, included them in a family card, purchased
them clothing or accessories, chosen a place for its dog friendly nature (ex: outdoor
seating restaurant, parks with pet accommodations), taken them to daycare, taken them to
a groomer, outlined in their will what will happen to their dog, left the TV on for their
entertainment when left alone in the house, or gave them healthy food (grain free, human
grade, gluten-free, etc.). Additional checkbox questions asked what the participants
motivation is for engaging in the activities previously mentioned, and how often they
engage in the activities of talking to their pet, purchasing non-essential items for their pet
(ex: toys, treats, gifts, etc.), calling themselves their pets’ mom, dad, sibling, etc., and
attributing human characteristics to their pet (ex: thinking their dog is smiling because
he/she is showing their teeth). The frequency in which dog owners engaged in the
activities previously mentioned was identified as daily, weekly, monthly, few times a
year, or never. A copy of the survey can be seen in the Appendix.
Procedure
Testing occurred both in person and online. It took on average, 3 minutes to
complete the survey. Participants were individually approached, in person and online,
and asked if they were willing to fill out a short 10-question survey which will be used
for an analyzation on the consumer behavior of dog owners. For the in-person surveys,
the researcher was present and available to answer any questions that might have arisen.
Surveys that were answered at the dog park took place over two, four-hour days. One
day was at a dog park in Allentown, Pennsylvania while the other was at a dog park in
Staten Island, New York. The online surveys were distributed throughout a week to
various dog owners in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Each participant that
was approached willingly and enthusiastically filled out the survey.
III. Survey
The survey sample size of 100 is an adequate representation of the general view
of dog ownership that correlates to the purpose of this study. The fifty dog owners that
were surveyed at dog parks demonstrate that they are owners who are willing to take their
dog’s out for play dates and exercise. It can be assumed that these owners care for their
24
�dog as if they are a child because of their active effort and involvement in taking their
dog out to play.
Each survey question was asked for the purpose of understanding the underlying
behavior of dog owners based on how they view their relationship with their pet and how
they consume for their pet. The question asking “do you consider your pet to be your
child” required a direct yes or no answer. Based on the participant’s age and answer to
this question an analysis on which generations view their pets as children will be
examined. In addition, the check mark questions which focused on what activities dog
owners have participated in for their pet provides insight into how the dog owner views
their relationship with their dog. Activities such as celebrating their birthday, including
them in a family holiday card, and purchasing them clothing or accessories, etc. are
activities that are frequently done by parents with their children. If a dog owner
participates in these same activities, it suggests that they view and treat their dog as a
child. Correspondingly, the check mark question which asks participants to rank how
often they participate in the activities of talking to their pet, purchasing non-essential
items for their pet, calling themselves their pets mom, dad, siblings, etc., and attributing
human characteristics to their pet provides further insight into how the humanization of
dogs leads to treating them as members of the family. Participants who ranked these
activities as daily, weekly, or monthly are more likely to purchase products and services
that serve their dog as if they are children that need to be looked after and cared for.
The question of “how much do you spend on your dog annually?” will be used
in connection to whether a participant views their dog as a child or not. If a participant
views their dog as a child it can be inferred that they will spend close to $1,000+ on their
pet annually. The same can hold true to the question of “how often do you take your pet
to the vet?”. The more likely a dog owner is to view their pet as a child, the more likely
they are to take their pet to the veterinarian more than once a year. Finally, by asking
whether dog owners consider their pet to influence their personal purchase and/or
lifestyle decisions provides insight into how owners view their relationship with their dog
and how they consume for and with them.
IV. Results
The last two decades have clearly shown an increasing trend of dog owners
spending more than ever on their pets (American Pet Products Association, 2017).
Researchers question, in what categories are dog owners spending more on their pets and
what is their reasoning behind it? The results from this questionnaire strive to uncover
25
�the reasoning behind why dog owners have increased their spending and if it can be
related to the perception of a dog as a child.
The 100 participants of this survey are broken down to 81 females and 19 males.
This makes the male to female ratio disproportionate. The largest age group surveyed
were millennials aged 20-36 (49%) followed by baby boomers (26%) and Generation X
(21%). The age groups that were least represented were those younger than 19 years old
in Generation Z (1%) and those older than 65 in the silent generation (3%). The
distribution of participants based on age and gender can be seen in Figure 8.
Figure 8:
Source: Humphries (2018).
One of the most crucial questions that participants were asked was if they
considered their pet to be a child. As predicted, a large percentage of participants
answered yes to considering their dog to be a child (86%) while only 14% denied this
statement. Based on gender, 90% of females consider their dog to be a child compared to
the 68% of men who said they view their dog as their child. When this data is broken
down to analyze the percentage of participants in each age group who view their dog as
their child, baby boomers agreed to this statement the most (92%), followed by
Generation X (90%), millennials (84%), and the silent generation (33%) (it should be
noted that Generation Z was not considered in this analysis because of the false
representation of only having one survey participant from this generation). If an owner
views their dog as a child it is then critical to analyze whether they have any children
living in their household.
26
�Understanding the household occupancy of each participant supports the
understanding of why an owner might view their dog as a child. The survey population
concluded that there was an average of 1.6 dogs, 2.71 adults, and 0.45 children per
household. Clearly, the dog owners that were surveyed had, on average, more dogs than
children living in their house. However, based on age, only Generation X came close to
having an equal proportion of children to dogs (1.4:1.5). On the other hand, millennials
and baby boomers had less than one child and more than one dog per household. A
graphical interpretation of these results is pictured below.
Figure 9:
Source: Humphries (2018).
It is predicted that the annual expenditure allocated for a dog can be related to
how an owner views their relationship with their pet. For this purpose, the question of
“how much do you spend on your dog annually” was asked with the choices of $0-$100,
$101-$500, $501-$1,000, and $1,001+. Almost half of the participants responded with
spending over $1,001 on their dog annually (48%). While only 16% reported spending
less than $500 on their dog annually. The results from all participants are shown in
Figure 10.
When these results are broken down by generation, baby boomers and
Generation X reported spending the most on their dogs, 54% of baby boomers and 52%
of Generation X spend over $1,001 on their dog annually. Less than 50% of millennials
stated that they spend over $1,001 on their dog annually (47%). Both Generation Z and
27
�the silent generation said that they spend between $501-$1,000 on their dog annually.
There were zero participants who reported spending less than $100 on their dog annually.
The annual expenditure per generation is pictured in Figure 11.
Figure 10:
Source: Humphries (2018).
Figure 11:
Source: Humphries (2018).
28
�When participants were asked if their pet influences their personal purchase
and/or lifestyle decisions 84% said yes, while 16% said no. Over 80% of participants
who stated that their pet influences their personal purchase and/or lifestyle decisions were
baby boomers, Generation X, millennials, and Generation Z. Of those in the silent
generation, 67% answered yes while 33% said no. As a general consensus, most
participants reported that their pet does, in fact, influence their personal purchase and/or
lifestyle decisions which can be related to their pets’ heavy involvement as a family
member. The data explained above is graphically depicted in Figure 12.
Figure 12:
Source: Humphries (2018).
Taking your dog to the veterinarian is an activity that is done by most dog
owners. The participants of this survey were asked the frequency of their dog’s
veterinarian visits for the purpose of understanding if taking a dog to the veterinarian
more often is related to how they are viewed within the family dynamic. A majority of
participants (40%) revealed that they only take their dog to the veterinarian once a year.
Generation X reported the highest frequency of taking their dog to the veterinarian more
than two times a year (38%) compared to 35% of both baby boomers and millennials.
Table 1 depicts the greatest frequency of veterinarian visits per generation in yellow.
The second to last question of the survey asked participants if they engage in a
series of activities with their dog. Of the nine activities that were questioned, over 80%
29
�of participants said that they have purchased clothing or accessories for their dog and
have given them healthy food. On the contrary, only 15% of participants said that they
have taken their dog to daycare and 17% of participants stated that they have outlined in
their will what will happen to them. As depicted in Figure 13, over 50% of participants
said that they have taken their dog to a groomer (71%), celebrated their dog’s birthday
(70%), left the TV on for their entertainment when left alone at home (65%), included
them in a family holiday card (63%), and chosen a place for is dog-friendly nature (61%).
Table 1: How Often Do You Take Your Dog to The Veterinarian?
Generation
Annually
Semi-annually
More than 2x a year
Generation Z
100%
0%
0%
Millennial
41%
24%
35%
Generation X
33%
29%
38%
Baby boomer
38%
27%
35%
Silent generation
67%
0%
33%
Source: Humphries (2018).
Figure 13:
Source: Humphries (2018).
30
�When the results to these questions are analyzed based on age, millennials had
the largest yes response rate to almost all questions. The only categories which
millennials did not have the largest yes response rate to were for leaving the TV on for
their entertainment and outlining what will happen to them in their will. Baby boomers
were more likely to leave the TV on for their dog’s entertainment and the silent
generation was more likely to have outlined in their will what will happen to their dog.
The results for those who responded yes to these activities is depicted in Table 2, in
which yellow highlights the generation with the largest yes response rate.
Table 2: Yes, I Have Participated in the Following Activities (based on age)
Millennials
Generation
X
Baby
boomers
Silent
generation
100%
73%
71%
65%
33%
100%
65%
2%
62%
33%
100%
88%
76%
88%
33%
100%
69%
57%
50%
33%
0%
22%
5%
12%
0%
Taken them to a groomer?
Outlined in your will what
will happen to them?
Left the TV on for their
entertainment?
100%
76%
57%
73%
67%
0%
20%
14%
12%
33%
100%
7%
57%
73%
0%
Gave your pet healthy food?
100%
92%
86%
77%
67%
Celebrated their birthday?
Included them in a family
holiday card?
Purchased them clothing or
accessories?
Chosen a place for its dogfriendly nature?
Taken them to daycare?
Generation
Z
Source: Humphries (2018).
The generation which answered no to a majority of these questions was the
silent generation. When asked if they have taken their dog to the groomer or outlined
what will happen to them in their will, the silent generation did not surpass the other
generations with the largest no response. Generation X responded the most to not taking
31
�their dog to the groomer (43%) while 100% of Generation Z responded to not outlining
what will happen to their dog in their will. The results for the percentage of participants
who answered no to these questions is given in Table 3. Yellow highlights the generation
with the largest no response rate.
When participants were asked what their motivation was for participating in the
above-mentioned activities, 88% said that they get joy out of providing for their pet.
Feeling guilty for leaving their dog alone all day was the motivation for 6% of
participants. Another 6% of participants stated that their motivation was due to keeping
up with what other pet owners are doing.
Table 3: I Have Not Participated in the Following Activities
Celebrated their birthday?
Included them in a family
holiday card?
Purchased them clothing
or accessories?
Chosen a place for its
dog-friendly nature?
Taken them to daycare?
Taken them to a groomer?
Outlined in your will what
will happen to them?
Left the TV on for their
entertainment?
Gave your pet healthy
food?
Generation
Z
Millennials
Generation
X
Baby
boomers
Silent
generation
0%
27%
29%
35%
67%
0%
35%
38%
38%
67%
0%
12%
24%
12%
67%
0%
31%
43%
50%
67%
100%
78%
95%
88%
100%
0%
24%
43%
27%
33%
100%
80%
86%
88%
67%
0%
33%
43%
27%
100%
0%
8%
14%
23%
33%
Source: Humphries (2018).
32
�The last question participants were asked was to rank the frequency of
how often they talk to their pet, purchase them non-essential items, call themselves their
pets’ mom, dad, etc., and attribute human characteristics to them. Participants ranked the
frequency as daily, weekly, monthly, a few times a year, or never. As shown in Figure
14, when asked how often they talk to their pet almost 100% of participants said daily.
Most participants reported purchasing non-essential items for their pet monthly
(43%). However, 48% of Generation X state that they purchase non-essential items for
their pet daily as compared to the 33% of millennials who have this same behavior. A
small percentage of participants’ report purchasing non-essential items for their pet only a
few times a year or daily.
Figure 14:
Source: Humphries (2018).
33
�Figure 15:
Source: Humphries (2018).
Figure 16:
Source: Humphries (2018).
The question of how often do you call yourself your pets’ mom, dad, sibling,
etc., resulted in an 80% engagement. The answers to this question were analyzed based
34
�on generation and found that a large majority of participants take part in this activity
daily, besides those in the silent generation.
Figure 17:
Source: Humphries (2018).
When asked how often participants attribute human characteristics to their pet, a
large majority of each generation said daily, as seen in the chart below.
Figure 18:
Source: Humphries (2018).
35
�The information gathered from this survey is useful in providing an explanation
for the growth of the pet industry. Analyzed in conjunction with the data from the
literature, these results will offer an understanding of the consumer behavior of dog
owners.
V. Discussion
The recent growth of the pet industry is said to be caused by the increased
humanization of pets (American Pet Products Association, 2017). The literature states
that the extent to which a dog is incorporated into the family dynamic impacts how
owners consume for their pet (Kylkilahti et al., 2016). The American Pet Products
Association (2017) found that the millennial generation owned the most dogs as
compared to baby boomers and Generation X. Based on this finding, as well as the
humanization of pets, millennials and baby boomers should be more likely to treat their
dog as a child and consume for them in a similar manner. This conclusion would help to
explain the consistent expenditure increase in the pet industry.
The results of this study show that millennials and baby boomers have a greater
number of dogs living in their house than children. Both millennials and baby boomers
have less than one child and more than one dog living with them. Additionally,
millennials reported participating in the greatest number of activities for their dog. Such
activities included celebrating their dog’s birthday, taking them to a groomer, buying
them clothes or accessories, including them in a family holiday card, and giving them
healthy food. Baby boomers reported purchasing non-essential items for their dogs such
as treats, toys, and gifts daily, as well as having the largest annual expenditure for their
dog. In addition, millennials and baby boomers stated that they call themselves their
dog’s mom or dad daily, 14% more frequently than Generation X.
On the contrary, Generation X lives with almost the same number of children
and dogs. Generation X reported taking their dog to the veterinarian more than two times
a year, more frequently than both millennials and baby boomers. Additionally,
Generation X reported the largest number of participants stating that they attribute human
characteristics to their dog and talk to them daily, 8% more than millennials and 25%
more than baby boomers. When asked how often they purchase non-essential items for
their dog, a large majority of Generation X reported that they engage in this activity
weekly. Millennials stated that they mostly engage in this activity monthly. Lastly,
36
�Generation X participants reported spending over $1,001 on their dog annually, 5% more
than millennials.
These findings are concurrent with the theory that baby boomers are more likely
to treat their dog as a child and consume for them in a similar manner. However, these
findings do not support the theory that millennials are more likely to treat their dog as a
child and consume for them in a similar manner. Instead, the results state that baby
boomers and Generation X are more likely than millennials to treat and consume for their
dog as if they are a child. This may be due to the fact that baby boomers and Generation
X are more likely to have already cared for a child, unlike most millennials, and have an
inclination to care for their dog in a similar way.
Research states that the millennial generation leads when celebrating their dog’s
birthday and buying them gifts (American Pet Products Association, 2017). The survey
conducted for this study reinforces how the celebration of dog birthday’s is done more
frequently by millennials, while the buying of gifts was seen to be done more frequently
by Generation X. Additionally, as a general consensus, the purchasing of non-essential
items such as toys, treats, and gifts were done on a monthly basis which is concurrent
with the fact that Hill et al. (2008) stated that gift giving and gift receiving are activities
that dogs are frequently involved in.
The literature also states that the humanization of dogs has led owners to treat
them as a child (Boya et al., 2012). The results from Dotson et al.’s (2008) survey
concluded that there is a consistent trend of delayed childbirth and an increase in empty
nesters having more dogs. Correspondingly, the results from this survey reinforce that
millennials and baby boomers do, in fact, have more dogs than children living in their
house. This can be due to millennials delaying having children and baby boomers
becoming empty nesters. This lifestyle change may result in their desire to maternally or
paternally care for a dog as they would a child. However, Generation X was seen to take
their dog to the veterinarian more frequently, talk to them daily, and purchase them nonessential items more so than any other generation. These findings suggest that consumers
are bonding with their dogs in the same way they bond with their children (Boya et al.,
2012). The fact that a dog has an equivalent intelligence level to a two-year-old can be
an explanation for why owners with children, especially in Generation X, treat their dogs
similarly by checking on their health, talking to them, and buying them products more
frequently (Boya et al., 2012).
Due to the fact that dogs are viewed as possessing childlike characteristics, an
owner tends to emphasize their maternal and paternal instincts (Hill et al., 2008). Owners
37
�call themselves their dog’s mom, dad, sibling, etc. almost daily which helps to expose
their parental instincts (Hill et al., 2008; Boya et al., 2012). It has been found that 90% of
dog owners who were surveyed talk to their pet daily. The literature states that dog
owners who talk to their pet do so by utilizing baby talk, which once again relates to
treating a dog like a child and exposing an owner’s parental instincts (Hyatt, 2008).
When comparing paternal instincts, women may be more likely to treat their pet as their
child due to their innate and strong maternal instincts. The results from this study show
that 90% of all surveyed women consider their pet to be their child, as compared to the
68% of all men. Strongly attached dog owners with innate paternal instincts will, in fact,
spoil their dog, include them in the family, celebrate their birthday, and seek out dogfriendly accommodations as seen in this survey and previous research.
The human-dog relationship is proven to be reciprocal (Boya et al., 2015;
Ellson, 2008). In fact, an owner’s relationship with their dog is due to their willingness
to have a significant bond with them (Dotson et al., 2008). This means that owners are
treating their dogs as if they are a child because they get joy out of providing for their pet
(Dotson et al., 2008). This study supports this finding because 88% of dog owners stated
that they engage in activities with and for their dog because they get joy out of providing
for them. However, the research also suggests that the extent to which an owner treats
and spoils their dog is related to how they want to be viewed by society (Ellson, 2008).
The findings from this study suggest that this is not a strong motivation for providing for
them. Only 6% of all participants stated that they provide for their dog in human-like
activities because they want to keep up with what other pet owners are doing. This
suggests that further research must be conducted to gain a greater understanding on this
topic.
Implications
Various limitations were addressed after the conclusion of this survey. Dog
owners mostly gave feedback on the question of how much they spend on their dog
annually. Participants stated that there could have been options for spending between
$1,000-$2,000 and $2,000+. This was stated because some dog owners felt that although
they spend over $1,000 on their dog annually, they do not view themselves as consuming
for their dog in the same way as someone who spends over $2,000 annually. This
statement raised the implication that owners may not be spending as much on their dog
due to their income. Those with a higher income may have the ability to spend more on
38
�their dog as compared to those whose income may not allow them to spend more than
$500 annually. This may apply to the millennial generation as they were seen to have the
largest percentage of participants spending $501-$1,000 on their dog annually, but yet
reported participating in the human-like activities of celebrating their dog’s birthday,
purchasing them clothing, taking them to the groomer, or leaving the TV on for them, etc.
To gain a better understanding as to why consumers consume the way they do for their
dog, the next study needs to calculate spending as a percentage of income.
The survey could have asked which specific areas, such as food, veterinarian
visits, gifts, grooming, etc., that dog owners have expenses. This would have provided an
opportunity for a deeper analysis of where dog owners spend their money, giving insight
into how their relationship with their dog affects their spending patterns. Additionally,
dogs of different breeds, ages, and sizes may require a larger annual expenditure. Older
dogs and puppies generally have more expenses than middle-aged dogs (Ellson, 2008).
Some breeds are naturally more high maintenance and require more expenses, such as a
cocker spaniel compared to a German shepherd (Ellson, 2008). If the survey asked
owners to specify their dog’s age, breed, and size, in addition to the areas in which they
spend money on their dog, the results could have allowed for a deeper understanding of
the various consumer behaviors of dog owners.
Understanding the process that an owner went through to obtain their dog can
potentially give further meaning to whether they view their dog as a child or pet. It can
be assumed that those who have gone through an arduous adoption process may be more
inclined to treat their dog as part of the family. On the contrary, owners who bought their
dog at a pet store may only view their dog as a pet. Additionally, analyzing the buying
behavior of those with children compared to those with only dogs, and those with dogs
and children, would have allowed for a deeper analysis of the similarities between buying
for children and buying for dogs.
It may be stated that the survey conducted contains some bias. This may be
stated because the survey was distributed to those who can be assumed to be strongly
attached dog owners. Owners who frequent the dog park and are known to be dog
owners may already have a strong desire to care for their dog and express to others how
important their dog is to them. Additionally, if there was an even number of participants
for each generation the analysis conducted might have been more accurate. Currently,
Generation Z is not a sufficient sample group because there was only one participant.
Similarly, the silent generation only had three participants as compared to almost half of
the participants being millennials. Despite the changes that could have been made, the
39
�survey provided valuable information that is beneficial in a thorough analysis of the
consumer behavior of dog owners.
Assisting Marketers in The Pet Industry
Based on the research in the literature and the results from this study, it is
important for marketers to understand the unique relationship that exists between owners
and their dogs (Boya et al., 2012; Ellson, 2008; Dotson et al., 2008). By understanding
the dynamics of this unique relationship, marketers have the potential to target their
customers more strategically, build relationships, and develop brand equity.
The largest specialty food manufacturer in the United States, Blue Buffalo
continues to be successful in creating marketing campaigns that emphasize the deep
attachment Americans feel for their dogs (Boya et al., 2012). Blue Buffalo continuously
runs campaigns that promote their mission of “when you love them like family, you treat
them like family” (Boya et al., 2012, p. 134). By striking an emotional chord with pet
owners who think of their dog in human terms, Blue Buffalo is among the successful pet
corporations that have a proven record of building customer relationships and developing
brand equity. The use of pervasive advertising has allowed Blue Buffalo to set
themselves apart from the competition and attract the most loyal millennial and
Generation X customers. (Boya et al., 2012).
Blue Buffalo has shown that developing a personality is vital in marketing petrelated products. Blue Buffalo is known for its commercials which show a dog happily
running through a field of grass towards their owner for a hug in glowing sunlight (Boya
et al., 2012). The utilization of attributing happy human characteristics to dogs allows
Blue Buffalo to make people yearn to be part of something bigger than themselves (Boya
et al., 2012). Another large pet corporation, Petco, introduced a canine CEO named
Buster in 2012. By utilizing an anthropomorphic theme which showed Buster’s
perspective on various products, the campaign communicated to dog owners that the
“healthy dogs” go to Petco (Boya et al., 2012). Through this campaign, Petco illuminated
the self-fulfillment that dogs bring to people and the internal focus that causes people to
seek out products to satisfy their dogs. The campaigns by Blue Buffalo and Petco prove
that marketers need to alter their marketing strategies to meet the emotional, social, and
psychological needs of dog owners (Boya et al., 2012; Lancendorfer et al., 2008).
By meeting the emotional, social, and psychological needs of dog owners,
marketers have come to identify that psychographic and lifestyle segmentation is more
beneficial than demographic segmentation (Boya et al., 2012). Traditional demographic
40
�segmentation, based on race, religion, ethnicity, etc., is no longer working in the dogrelated market because of the modern and heightened involvement between a dog owner
and their pet (Boya et al., 2012). Alternatively, by acknowledging the differences
between dog owners based on how strong their relational attachment is with their dog,
marketers can target their advertising campaigns towards their desired psychographic and
lifestyle segments. In addition, it has been stated that marketing strategies should focus
on persuading the moderately attached dog owner into becoming a strongly attached dog
owner. This can be done by utilizing social influence and highlighting the benefits of a
heightened human-dog relationship (Boya et al., 2012). Examples of the benefits of a
heightened human-dog relationship include caring for your dog as a child, spending more
time with them, seeing them become happier due to receiving new toys and treats, and
emphasizing the advantages of companionship, love, and affection.
By meeting the emotional needs of customers, corporations can develop a sense
of brand equity which can be highly beneficial for the creation of a lifetime customer and
growing sales for the company. Dog owners are not going to give their dog a treat or toy
they are not familiar with, they want to have trust in the product (Plenda, 2016).
Marketers must align with their customer’s lifestyle choices in order to succeed in the
ever-growing pet industry.
Additionally, the emphasis on the humanization of dogs and the continuous
growth in the pet industry allows small businesses that provide pet toys, food, boarding
and grooming, training, and health care for pampered pets a greater opportunity in the
market (Plenda, 2016). Dotson et al. (2008) address the fact that marketers once
discovered that if they did not make allowances for children, families went out and spent
less. The same can hold true for dog-owning households today. The development of
creative accommodations and a wider variety of activities has been proven to assist in the
development of a more highly attached dog owner who is treating their dog as a child
(Boya et al., 2012; Dotson et al., 2008; Ellson, 2008). In addition, by focusing their
efforts on the generations which spend the most on their dog, view their dog as a child,
and participate in human-like activities with their dog, marketers have vast opportunities
to emotionally connect with dog owners, develop brand equity, and make their companies
successful in the growing pet industry.
41
�VI. Conclusion
There is a clear indication that the intensity of an owner’s relationship with their
dog is a deciding factor when determining how they consume for their pet. Those who
are highly involved with their dog, and view them as a child, are more likely to make
extravagant and more frequent purchases. The recent view of a dog as a child, or
substituting a dog with a child, as seen by millennials and baby boomers, are responsible
factors for the continuous growth of the pet industry. The acquisition of more dogs and
the growing evolution of the intimate human-dog relationship will help the pet industry
continue to grow by allowing for the introduction of more products and services. With
the growth of the industry, marketers need to adjust their marketing strategies to reflect
the needs and desires of dog owners by segmenting them based on psychographic and
lifestyle behaviors.
VII. References
American Pet Products Association (2017). Pet Industry Market Size & Ownership.
Retrieved September 9, 2018, from https://www.americanpetproducts.org/
press_industrytrends.asp
APPA (2017). The 2017-2018 APPA National Pet Owners Survey. Retrieved Sept. 9, 2018,
from https://americanpetproducts.org/Uploads/MemServices/GPE2017_NPOS_Seminar.pdf
American Veterinary Medical Association. (2012). U.S Pet Ownership Statistics.
Retrieved October 3, 2018, from https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Statistics/Pages/
Market-research-statistics-US-pet-ownership.aspx
Boya, U. O., Dotson, M. J., & Hyatt, E. M. (2012). Dimensions of the dog-human
relationship: A segmentation approach. Journal of Targeting, Measurement & Analysis
for Marketing, 20(2), 133-143.
Boya, U. O., Dotson, M. J., & Hyatt, E. M. (2015). A comparison of dog food choice
criteria across dog owner segments: an exploratory study. International Journal of
Consumer Studies, 39(1), 74-82.
Chen, A., Hung, K., & Peng, N. (2012). A cluster analysis examination of pet owners'
consumption values and behavior - segmenting owners strategically. Journal of
Targeting, Measurement & Analysis for Marketing, 20(2), 117-132.
42
�Dotson, M. J., & Hyatt, E. M. (2008). Understanding dog–human
companionship. Journal of Business Research, 61 (Animal Companions, Consumption
Experiences, and the Marketing of Pets: Transcending Boundaries in the Animal-Human
Distinction), 457-466.
Ellson, T. (2008). Can we live without a dog? Consumption life cycles in dog–owner
relationships. Journal of Business Research, 61 (Animal Companions, Consumption
Experiences, and the Marketing of Pets: Transcending Boundaries in the Animal-Human
Distinction), 565-573.
Hill, R. P., Gaines, J., & Wilson, R. M. (2008). Consumer behavior, extended-self, and
sacred consumption: An alternative perspective from our animal companions. Journal Of
Business Research, 61 (Animal Companions, Consumption Experiences, and the
Marketing of Pets: Transcending Boundaries in the Animal-Human Distinction), 553562.
Humphries, M. (November, 2018). Fur Babies vs. Babies: A Study on the Consumer
Behavior of Dog Owners. Unpublished Manuscript, Wagner College.
Kylkilahti, E., Syrjälä, H., Autio, J., Kuismin, A., & Autio, M. (2016). Understanding coconsumption between consumers and their pets. International Journal Of Consumer
Studies, 40(1), 125-131.
Lancendorfer, K. M., Atkin, J. L., & Reece, B. B. (2008). Animals in advertising: Love
dogs? Love the ad!. Journal of Business Research, 61 (Animal Companions,
Consumption Experiences, and the Marketing of Pets: Transcending Boundaries in the
Animal-Human Distinction), 384-391.
Plenda, M. (2016). The Market Power of FUR BABIES. Business NH Magazine, 33(10),
22.
Tesfom, G., & Birch, N. (2010). Do they buy for their dogs the way they buy for
themselves? Psychology & Marketing, 27(9), 898-912.
U.S Census Bureau (2017). Average Number of Own Children per Family. Retrieved
September 9, 2018, from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/
families/families.html
43
�U.S Census Bureau (2017). Changes in Household Size. Retrieved September 9, 2018,
from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/families/households.html
Appendix A: Survey Utilized in the Study
The purpose of this 10-question survey is to analyze how dog owners view their
relationships with their pets. The results from this survey will be used in relation to the
researcher’s senior year honors thesis.
1.
What is your age?
o Younger than 19
o 20-36
o 37-48
o 49-64
o 65+
2.
What is your gender?
o Male
o Female
3.
How many people and dogs live in your house?
Adults (18+) ________
Children (under 18) _________
Dogs__________
4.
Do you consider your pet to be your child?
o Yes
o No
5.
How much do you spend on your dog annually?
o $0-100
o $101-$500
o $501-$1,000
o $1,001+
6.
Would you say your pet influences your personal purchase and/or lifestyle decisions?
o Yes
44
�7.
o No
How often do you take your pet to the vet?
o Annually
o Semi-annually
o More than 2x a year
8.
Please mark all that pertain to you and your pet
o Celebrated their birthday?
o Included them in a family holiday card?
o Purchased them clothing or accessories?
o Chosen a place for its dog-friendly nature? (Ex: outdoor seating restaurant, parks
with pet accommodations, etc.)
o Taken them to daycare
o Taken them to a groomer
o Outlined in your will what will happen to them
o Left the TV on for their entertainment when left alone in the house?
o Gave your pet healthy food (grain free, human grade, gluten-free, etc.)
9.
If you do participate in the activities in question #8, what is your primary motivation
for doing so?
o I get joy out of providing for my pet
o To keep up with what other pet owners are doing
o I feel guilty leaving my pet alone during the day and want to make it up to them
o Other _____________________________
10. How often do you do the following activities (daily, weekly, monthly, few times a
year, or never)?
o Talk to your pet ________
o Purchase non-essential items for your pet (Ex: toys, treats, gifts, etc.) ________
o Call yourself your pets’ mom, dad, sibling, etc. ________
o Attribute human characteristics to your pet (Ex: thinking your dog is smiling
because he/she is showing their teeth, thinking your dog felt guilty when they
did something bad because of their facial expression, etc.) ________
45
����Improving Resources for Survivors
of Sexual Assault on Staten Island
Kathleen Leavey (Nursing) and Angela Zagami (Nursing)1
The Center for Disease Control states that sexual violence is a significant problem in the
United States, and defines it as, “A sexual act committed against someone without that
person’s freely given consent.” Survivors of sexual assault face physical, emotional, and
psychological effects after the trauma inflicted upon them and include, but are not limited
to: Depression; post-traumatic stress disorder; substance abuse; and increased suicide
rates. As nurses and as leaders in our communities, we must ask: Are we doing enough to
support survivors of sexual assault? The answer remains clear: No, we are not. Resources
available for survivors of sexual assault on Staten Island remain disproportionate when
compared to those available in other areas of New York City. Not all healthcare providers
are specifically trained to provide care for these individuals; and, not all hospitals on
Staten Island are equipped with the personnel and tools to provide quality healthcare to
survivors. Nurses and healthcare providers must be educated and encouraged to pursue
the role of Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners, so that all hospitals may provide thorough
care to survivors. Additionally, education must be centered around the dynamics of
consent so that incidents may be prevented.
Improving Resources for Survivors of Sexual Assault on Staten Island
According to the Rape and Incest National Network (2018), a person in America
is sexually assaulted every 98 seconds — and every 5 minutes, that victim is a child.
Although the awareness surrounding sexual violence has risen over the years through
activism and movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp, the rate of occurrence has
remained stagnant and frightening (O’Neil, Sojo, Fileborn, Scovelle, & Milner, 2018). As
nurses and leaders in healthcare, and as committed members of our communities, we
must ask ourselves: Are we doing enough to support survivors of sexual assault?
The answer is clear: No, we are not. In Staten Island, survivors of sexual assault
lack the resources needed to cope from the trauma they have endured. More can and must
be done to support survivors of sexual assault, so that these individuals are able to cope
with the trauma inflicted on them. Nurses, and nursing students, must be educated on the
Written under the direction of Prof. Josephine Marcantonio in partial fulfillment of the
Senior Program requirements.
1
49
�role of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) so that hospitals can provide
thorough, accurate, and complete care to survivors. In turn, hospitals must strive to
achieve SAFE status to optimize care for survivors in all communities. Education must be
expanded on sexual health and the dynamics of consent to further enhance sexual assault
awareness and prevention. Through these strategies, sexual assault survivors will receive
the adequate care they need.
Community Assessment and Analysis
Throughout the world, sexual assault has been a centralized topic of ethical
debate for a number of years. In the United States, it has become one of the most
prevalent topics of conversation. In addition to climbing sexual assault statistics, New
York City communities have faced many challenges and changes over the past 30 years.
As one of the largest melting pots in the United States, New York City is home
to people of all races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, economic statuses, and
cultural backgrounds. Certain areas of New York City have experienced gentrification in
recent years. Indeed, a spectrum, some areas have experienced gentrification in extreme
cases – while other areas remain relatively unaffected by this process.
According to the NYU Furman Center as part of its State of New York City's
Housing & Neighborhoods 2015 Report, areas are qualified as gentrifying neighborhoods
if they were relatively low-income in the 1990s, but have seen a dramatic increase in
median rent in the last 20 years. From this report, the areas with a Percent Change in Rent
above 40% from 1990-2014 include: Williamsburg, Brooklyn (78.7% increase); Central
Harlem, Manhattan (53.2% Increase); Lower East Side, Manhattan (50.3% Increase);
Bushwick, Brooklyn (44.0% Increase); and East Harlem, Manhattan (40.3% Increase).
Although sub-communities of every other borough in New York City are mentioned in
the report as experiencing gentrification in some capacity over the past 28 years, notably
missing from this report are the sub-communities of Staten Island (NYU Furman Center,
2015).
It is important to note that, according to the Furman Center Report (2015), along
with gentrification in housing and median household income also includes urbanization
in other forms. These include, but are not limited to: Establishment of hospitals and
healthcare facilities; updates to pre-existing facilities; advancements in technology and
equipment; and, improvements in public transportation accessibility and functionality. As
Staten Island remains low on the gentrification spectrum, access to quality healthcare
remains limited due to setbacks in transportation accessibility, and lack of health
insurance coverage in low-income households. (NYU Furman Center, 2015).
50
�As gentrification is a spectrum, the current economic environment of the
community remains inconsistent. Although some areas have experienced gentrification,
the Furman Report notes that this does not indicate that all members of that community
meet the median household income (2015). Some individuals might rise above the
financial income spectrum, while other community members indeed fall below the
financial average.
Additionally, Staten Island is home to three major College Campuses: College
of Staten Island, St. John’s University, and Wagner College. Wagner College aims to
educate the community on the dynamics of consent, as well as advertise their available
resources, prior to any incidents of assault occurring. This is achieved through posting
fliers in bathrooms with the “Ten Rules of Consent,” as well as other prevention
strategies, such as: Dynamic consent workshops with leaders from Safe Horizon; studentorganized workshops involving the It’s On Us campus pledge campaign; and, handing
out informational pamphlets on Title IX. This has expanded the community’s awareness
and support surrounding sexual assault prevention; however, there is more that must be
done to support survivors. (Dr. Ruta Shah-Gordon, personal communication, October 31,
2018).
While Wagner offers supportive services for survivors of sexual assault,
including the right to a thorough investigation, there are currently no health care
professionals employed in the school’s Center for Health and Wellness who are
specifically trained in completing an initial assessment on a survivor post-trauma.
Additionally, there has been a significant delay in survivor reporting– on average, three
to six months from the time of the incident to the time when school officials are notified.
This was likely the case in the two reported instances of rape in 2017, as stated on
Wagner’s College’s 2017 Clery Report. The delay in survivor-reporting contributes to the
inadequate resources for survivors, which in turn negatively affects the ability for a
survivor to effectively cope— especially in the immediate aftermath of the trauma. (Dr.
Ruta Shah-Gordon, personal communication, October 31, 2018).
Problem in the Community
The CDC defines sexual violence as, “A sexual act committed against someone
without that person’s freely given consent.” This includes, but is not limited to,
“Completed or attempted forced penetration of a victim, or situations when there was an
attempt to make the victim sexually penetrate a perpetrator without the victim’s consent.”
According to the World Health Organization, these acts of violence may or may not be
facilitated by drugs or alcohol.
51
�Additionally, according to the World Health Organization (2002), a victim of
sexual violence may also experience: Rape within marriage, forced abortion, denial of the
right to use contraception, demanding sex in return for favors, or forced prostitution. As
previously stated, according to the Rape and Incest National Network (2018), a person in
America is sexually assaulted every 98 seconds– and every 5 minutes, that victim is a
child. Of course, these statistics only include reported acts of sexual violence. Excluded
from these percentages are the vast majority of cases which remain unreported to law
enforcement agencies, hospitals, university and campus officials, spouses, family
members, and friends of survivors.
According to the Rape and Incest National Network, sexual violence can have
psychological, emotional, and physical effects on a survivor. One of the most common of
these is depression; which occurs in 1 in 3 survivors (2018). In addition to coping with
depression, survivors often deal with effects such as: Flashbacks; post-traumatic stress
disorder; sexually transmitted infections; pregnancy; substance abuse; dissociation; eating
disorders; and, sleep disorders. While these effects certainly have lasting impressions on
survivors, they are often managed with thorough counseling and guidance from trained
professionals.
Perhaps most importantly is that, according to the National Sexual Violence
Resource Center, survivors of sexual assault have increased suicidal ideations (55% more
than non-survivors). Additionally, survivors commit suicide at a rate of 13% more than
others in the community; which raises the national suicide statistic from 14% in nonsurvivors to 27% in survivors (NSVRC, 2018). These statistics directly reflect the
ineffective coping strategies survivors possess, which is largely in part due to the lack of
adequate resources available post-trauma.
A report released by the Department of Justice in February 2018 stated that the
NYPD investigated 122 rape claims that year, which is 39% higher than the 88 rape
reports from one-year prior in February 2017. Out of the 39 rapes reported in February
2018 alone, 38% of them were domestic (15 cases), meaning that the rapist was a spouse
or a family member. Another 56% were acquaintance rapes (22 cases), meaning that the
perpetrator was someone who the survivor knew. Only the remaining 6% were stranger
rapes (2 cases) (Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2014).
However, according to the National Joint Council, most cases of rape and sexual
assault go largely underreported (NJC, 2014). On average, only 33.6% of rape and sexual
assaults are actually reported to the police. The vast majority of occurrences in the United
States, 66.4%, remain silenced. Worldwide, victims may be less inclined to report their
sexual assault due to their societal norms and culture. According to the World Health
52
�Organization, “In some societies, the cultural ‘solution’ to rape is that the woman should
marry the rapist, thereby preserving the integrity of the woman and her family by
legitimizing the union.” This is actually reflected in the law, and allows the perpetrator to
be excused of the crime if he marries the victim.
Additionally, according to the World Health Organization, “Apart from
marriage, families may put pressure on the woman not to report or pursue a case or else
to concentrate on obtaining financial ‘damages’ from the rapist’s family.” Women may
also be hesitant to report sexual assault, in fear of rejection from their spouse. In some
countries, men reject their wives if they have been raped; or in extreme cases, they can be
murdered (WHO, 2002). In some instances, sexual assault may be less explicit: for
example, according to the World Health Organization (2002), free trade has caused an
increase in the movement of people and goods around the world, specifically women and
girls. These women are often used for labor, including sex work.
Unfortunately, sexual assault statistics have been climbing in recent years.
According to an SI Live report in 2017, “Police have witnessed a 71-percent increase of
alleged rapes on Staten Island so far this year, compared to the same time last year. Of
the 12 incidents reported from January 1st through the middle of March, all of the female
victims knew their alleged attackers” (Lawson, 2017). Lawson goes on to report, “Of the
12 rapes or attempted rapes reported so far this year, six were reported in the North
Shore's 120th Precinct. Two were reported in the 121st Precinct, and two each were
reported in the 122nd and 123rd precincts. Seven third-degree rapes have been reported
so far this year: Three in the 120th Precinct, two in the 122nd Precinct and two in the
123rd Precinct” (Lawson, 2017). In contrast, Lawson states that, “Seven rapes had been
reported at this time last year, according to NYPD statistics” (Lawson, 2017). The
climbing rate of sexual assaults on Staten Island is incredibly disproportionate to the
resources available to the survivors of these Staten Island communities.
The initial treatment of a survivor includes a thorough assessment, and the
completion of a Sexual Assault Evidence Kit (commonly referred to as a “Rape Kit”).
However, this assessment and collection of data can only be administered by specially
trained healthcare professionals, such as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE’s) and
Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (SAFE’s), at certain hospitals (RAINN, 2018).
As with other certifications and hospital-wide recognitions, such as “Magnet
Status,” institutions often strive to achieve “SAFE Status,” an acronym for the
recognition of a Sexual Assault Forensic Examination facility (NYC Department of
Health, 2017). SAFE status is achieved through adherence to certain principles and
guidelines. In New York State, hospitals must apply for recognition by delineating their
53
�services and setting forth a commitment to continuous quality improvement. Once SAFE
status has been achieved, hospitals must uphold their recognition through audits (NYS
Department of Health, 2017).
According to the Rape and Incest National Network, the data collected in the
preliminary assessment of a SAEK kit is necessary forensic evidence to support a
criminal investigation (RAINN, 2018). According to RAINN, these examinations must
be completed within 72 hours of a trauma in order to be analyzed by a crime lab –
however, evidence may be preserved for longer periods of time, should a survivor decide
he or she does not wish to pursue law involvement at the time of completion.
Yet, not completing this examination kit removes the possibility of collecting
forensic evidence, which is absolutely necessary in a criminal investigation. As such, if a
survivor is treated at a non-SAFE designated hospital following their trauma, the option
of completing this kit is not possible. Therefore, the option of pursuing a criminal
investigation supported by viable forensic evidence is thus eliminated (RAINN, 2018).
According to RAINN, the materials in a SAEK kit include: Paper bags and
paper sheets, hair combs, paper envelopes, detailed instructions, materials for blood
samples, swabs, and documentation forms. These examinations may take up to a few
hours, and are rather invasive. Although most of the examination is comprised of a
physical evaluation, there is an extensive health history intake. RAINN states that these
questions include: Recent medications, pre-existing medical conditions, information
pertaining to recent consensual sexual activity, as well as, “The details of what has
happened to help identify all potential areas of injury, as well as places on your body or
clothes where evidence may be located.” Medical care may also be targeted towards
pregnancy prevention, treatment of injuries, and STI screening and treatment prophylaxis
(RAINN, 2018).
In Manhattan, survivors of sexual assault have the option of being treated at
several SAFE hospitals throughout the Borough, following their trauma. According to the
Department of Health, these hospitals include: Bellevue Hospital; Mt. Sinai Beth Israel;
Lenox Hill Greenwich Village; Mt. Sinai Hospital; Mt. Sinai St. Luke’s; Mt. Sinai West;
Harlem Hospital Center; Metropolitan Hospital Center; Columbia University Medical
Center; and, Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Yet, the only SAFE designated hospital equipped to treat survivors on Staten
Island is Richmond University Medical Center, which is located on Staten Island’s North
Shore. According to Richard Ortiz, the Forensic Director of the RUMC Emergency
Department and a SANE himself, 15 nurses in the Emergency Department are certified
SANEs. Additionally, at least one SANE is scheduled to work per 12-hour shift (Richard
54
�Ortiz, RN-SAFE, personal communication, November 12, 2018). Yet, the lack of
accessible healthcare for survivors in all Staten Island communities remains inconsistent
as Staten Island University Hospital North (located in Midland Beach, Staten Island) as
well as Staten Island University Hospital South (located on the Island’s South shore) are
not SAFE designated institutions. This impacts survivors, especially in lower income
households, as the accessibility to quality healthcare remains limited (NYC Department
of Health, 2017). The inconsistent resources available for survivors on Staten Island
minimizes the care these survivors are entitled to receive, thus impinging on their ability
to cope following their trauma (NYC Department of Health, 2017).
In recent years, sexual assault survivors have been given a platform to advocate
for their rights, and to put an end to violent sexual crimes through movements such as
#MeToo and #TimesUp (O’Neil et al., 2018). Survivors of sexual assault from all across
the globe have come forward with accounts of trauma, both past and present. The world
watched as survivors of all walks of life shared their most vulnerable accounts, in an
effort to make a difference. However, there are skeptics who discount the validity of the
#MeToo movement and the stories of those who have come forward (O’Neil et al, 2018).
According to research conducted by Courtney E. Ahrens, rape survivors who
speak out about their assault experiences are often punished for doing so when they are
subjected to negative reactions from support providers (Ahrens, 2006). Ahrens goes on to
conclude, “Unlike other crimes such as burglary and assault, rape survivors must prove
not only that the crime did in fact occur, but that they had no role in its occurrence
(Ahrens 2006). When ‘experts’ doubt survivors, hold them responsible for the assault, or
refuse to provide assistance, survivors may question both the effectiveness of such
services and the usefulness of reaching out for help to anyone at all (Ahrens, 2006). As
such, survivors often feel ashamed of their trauma and hold back in reporting the incident
in fear of being misunderstood, disbelieved, or worse: Seemingly disproven. As leaders
in healthcare and in our communities, we must do more to support survivors.
Proposed Solution
More can and must be done to support survivors of sexual assault, so that these
individuals may cope with the trauma inflicted on them. The proposed resolution has
been formed around Madeleine Leininger’s Cultural Care Theory, which emphasizes
individualized care on the principles of one’s cultural background and upbringing, rather
than solely on their medical diagnosis (Lancellotti, 2008).
This theory is important for survivors of sexual assault, as many survivors often
blame themselves for the trauma inflicted on them. In certain cultures, sexual assault is an
55
�accepted behavior. These solutions aim to not only expand the awareness of preventing
sexual assault from occurring by exploring the dynamics of consent, but also to improve
the resources available to survivors by making treatment accessible to all.
A specific goal for the community is for Staten Island University Hospital,
North and South Campuses, to achieve SAFE recognition; and, to provide funding for
their nurses to become SANE certified. Additionally, a goal for Wagner College is to
employ a SANE certified provider on an on-call basis to tend to survivors in the
immediate aftermath of the occurrence.
●
●
●
Objectives
To educate the community on SAFE hospital locations,
To educate nurses and nursing students on the role of the SANE provider,
To educate survivors on the resources available to them.
The community must be educated on the locations of their SAFE hospitals prior
to any incident occurring. This primary prevention strategy seeks to inform the
community members and equip them with the knowledge needed for safety planning.
This education can be achieved through marketing strategies such as displaying
informative posters and fliers in schools, supermarkets, and other public areas; as well as
engaging in social media outreach efforts.
Additionally, nurses and nursing students must be educated on the role of the
Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) so that they may pursue this valuable career
path. According to RAINN, these providers are not only specially trained to assess and
treat patients after sexual assault; but also to therapeutically interview the survivor to
facilitate coping and trusting relationships. According to RAINN, the responsibilities of a
SANE also include: Providing immediate medical care to the survivor; treating injuries;
completion of a SAEK kit; conduction of STD and pregnancy risk evaluations;
assessment of the patient’s emotional state to determine if additional evaluation or
treatment is necessary; and, to provide referrals to legal aid and advocacy groups.
In the event that a case involves criminal investigation, SANEs are also required
to testify in court. SANEs work as Registered Nurses in other areas of the hospital and
complete normal shifts; however, they are required to live within 45 minutes of the
facility and rotate through on-call shifts (RAINN, 2018). According to the International
Association of Forensic Nurses, “To become a SANE, registered nurses must take a
Sexual Assault Examiner Class comprised of 40 hours of classroom training, followed by
an average of 40 hours of clinical training” (IAFN, 2014). As more Registered Nurses
56
�and healthcare providers pursue this certification, care will be expanded for survivors of
sexual assault.
Additionally, hospitals and medical facilities will achieve SAFE status through
the expansion of the certifications of their personnel. As more hospitals strive to achieve
SAFE status, quality healthcare for survivors in all communities will be enhanced.
Further, there must be a continuity in care between members of a survivor’s healthcare
team to ensure that the survivor is equipped with the necessary coping skills after their
trauma (RAINN, 2018).
In combating sexual assault and violent crimes from occurring, more prevention
must take place. This can be achieved in many different ways, primarily through
educating our communities. Nurses and other trained professionals may hold workshops
on consent— not only to emphasize its importance, but to explore its dynamics. In doing
this, our community members will better understand all aspects of giving and receiving
permission. Additionally, bystander intervention training seminars may be held, in order
to increase our community members’ awareness on strategies to intervene in the case of a
sexual assault or violent crime taking place. These prevention measures may be
facilitated in conjunction with other community resource groups, such as Safe Horizon.
Through our research, we have confirmed that more resources must be available
for survivors of sexual assault. In advocating for the safety of our citizens, we ensure that
our communities, and all its members, thrive.
References
Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National
Crime Victimization Survey, 2012-2016 (2017).
International Association of Forensic Nursing. (2014). SANE Sustainability. Retrieved
from: https://www.nsvrc.org/sane-sustainability
Krug, E. G., Dahlberg, L. L., Mercry, J. A., Zwi, A. B., Lozano, R. (2002). World report
on violence and health. World Health Organization, 147-174. Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/full_en.pdf?u
a=1.
Lancellotti, K. (2008). Culture Care Theory: A Framework for Expanding Awareness of
Diversity and Racism in Nursing Education. Journal of Professional Nursing, 24, (3)
179-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2007.10.007
57
�Lawson, K. (2017, March 24). NYPD: Rapes increase more than 70 percent on Staten
Island. SI Live. Retrieved from https://www.silive.com/news/2017/03/post_1555.html.
New York State Department of Health. (2018) Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE)
Program. Retrieved from https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/safe/
NYU Furman Center. (2015) State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods in
2015. Retrieved from
http://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/Part_1_Gentrification_SOCin2015_9JUNE2016.pdf
O’Neil, A., Sojo, V., Fileborn, B., Scovelle, A. J., & Milner, A. (2018). The #MeToo
movement: An opportunity in public health? The Lancet, 391(10140), 2587-2589.
doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)30991-7
Dr. Ruta Shah-Gordon, Vice President of Internationalization & Title IX Coordinator,
Wagner College. (10/31/2018).
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau. (2018). Child
maltreatment 2016. Retrieved from: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/research-datatechnology/statistics-research/child-maltreatment.
Wagner College (2017, 2016, 2015). Clery Report. Retrieved from:
http://wagner.edu/public-safety/files/2018/09/Copy-of-Clery-All-in-one-2015-2017publish.pdf
58
���Balancing Masculinity and Humanity in the Relationship
Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
Lindy Pokorny (Theatre/Speech)1
Manhood is a central theme in Macbeth. Throughout the play, the concretization
of what makes a man is constantly scrutinized. The word “man” is used incessantly, both
to examine masculinity and mankind. This is most prevalent in the relationship between
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is easily defined as a
masculine figure– an honored war hero, there is no doubting his status as a man.
However, with the introduction of the prophecy, his fear and hesitance prompt Lady
Macbeth to assert her own masculinity, changing the dynamic of their relationship. She
compels him to reassert his masculinity, and in doing so eventually seals her own fate as
the subordinate feminine counterpart. In turn, Macbeth’s excessive masculinity ends up
costing him his humanity.
Man is situated between God and beast in the Great Chain of Being
(specifically, between angel and beast). He has, beyond the brute strength of the animal,
the ability to reason. He does not have, however, the intuition or divine powers of the
angel or God. By confusing these abilities (for instance, by assuming the power to
challenge fate or converse with the dead), man can jeopardize his humanity, which is the
trap that Macbeth eventually falls into. Masculinity cannot be used as a substitute for
manhood; that requires a more even balance of the masculine and feminine, as well as a
balance of the four humors, to ensure that the ability to reason (which defines mankind) is
kept intact.
Masculinity is not inherently bad– the proper Elizabethan man is expected to
display more masculinity than femininity (without tipping the scales too far). However, it
is frequently defined too narrowly and transforms into a stereotype that disallows the
balance that femininity can provide. “The male stereotype is associated with violence
made socially and ethically acceptable through the ritual of warfare” (Asp 154). In the
opening of the play, Macbeth has undisputedly achieved this– he is “noble Macbeth”
(I,ii,67) to King Duncan by virtue of his glory in battle. Despite this, with the
introduction of the prophecy, Macbeth is eventually compelled to fulfill the male
stereotype to a disorderly degree by exhibiting violence not only on the battlefield but in
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Ann Hurley for EN 330: Shakespeare Survey.
61
�his personal life, even against the very man that he won his honor by defending.
Ironically enough, this transformation is encouraged and facilitated by his wife, Lady
Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth is a woman, and therefore is man’s subordinate by all
Elizabethan accounts, and should be particularly subservient to her husband, whom God
created her as a companion for. Yet Lady Macbeth is not a character many would dare to
describe as “subservient.” While she is not the first female character to display such
traits– not even Shakespeare’s first– she is a particularly clear example of an imbalance
of masculinity and femininity, not entirely unlike Macbeth, but made entirely more
inappropriate by the fact that she is a woman. Since we hear little of her character before
her appearance, we have no true frame of reference as to the balance she possessed before
the inciting action. However, we do know how she responded to the situation and to her
husband’s failure to act, and these are the examples we will focus on to examine her
character.
Lady Macbeth is often perceived as villainous, and the driving force behind her
husband’s eventual ruin. Particularly in older examinations of the text, she is arguably
given more blame than Macbeth himself for the events that transpire. In an article written
in 1887, Munro asserted that “She knew his strength and weakness, his hopes and fears,
and with a skill that is almost demoniac, and too horrible to conceive as existing in
woman, the weaker vessel and ministering angel, she played upon his nature with as
much ease as if she were fingering the strings of her native harp” (31). On the other hand,
Macbeth is seen as a pure and innocent soul who is corrupted not by his own ambition
but by his wife’s evil. Munro writes that “He was a genuine Celt, to whom reputation for
bravery was dearer than conscience, dearer even than life itself; and so he was goaded
and lashed by the “valor” of his wife's tongue into the doing of an act from which his soul
otherwise utterly recoiled” (32). He fails to address the existence of Lady Macbeth’s own
conscience, or the fact that by the end of the play Macbeth needs no urging from his wife
and is perfectly capable of committing unspeakable crimes all by himself.
While Lady Macbeth is given total blame, she still isn’t afforded
acknowledgement of her ability. Even though Macbeth’s decisions and actions are
supposedly her responsibility, Munro hypocritically deems her “so constituted as to lack
the muscular and nerve power needed for being such a great and persistent criminal as
her brother man. Her intentions may be equally bad, perhaps even more subtle and
diabolic, still she cannot carry them through as he can” (32). Her failure to act herself–
perhaps he is thinking specifically of her refusal to kill Duncan as he slept on grounds
that he looked like her father– is seen not as evidence of a conscience but rather as a
62
�womanly weakness. However, we can assess Lady Macbeth instead as a character who
willfully chose to disrupt her own internal balance and eventually came to regret it. One
of the most famous passages in Macbeth is where Lady Macbeth declares:
Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here
And fill me from the crown to the toe topful
Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood,
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
Th’ effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,
And take my milk for gall” (I,v,40-48)
She asks that she be “unsexed” to aid her in helping her husband, which she can
do more readily with the masculine affinity for strength and violence at her disposal. “In
a society in which femininity is divorced from strength and womanliness is equated with
weakness, where the humane virtues are associated with womanliness, the strong woman
finds herself hemmed in psychologically, forced to reject her own womanliness, to some
extent, if she is to be true to her strength” (Asp 159).
Another early point of contention was her “demonaic” call to the spirits to alter
her God-given nature as a woman in favor of a man’s power. However, this was more of
an internal plea than one meant to conjure devilish spirits. Elizabethans believed that
melancholy was conducive to crime, aided by the presence of choler for courage (or
“gall,” in Lady Macbeth’s words) (Kocher 348). She asks that her blood be thickened, an
effect of melancholy, in order to “stop up the access and passage to remorse” (I,v,43-44)
to preemptively rid her of the torment that her conscience eventually wreaks upon her
anyway.
It is clear that she is not inherently evil and struggles with the morality of her
actions– if nowhere else, this is distinct in her eventual suicide. However, we see it earlier
in the play as well, particularly during her sleepwalking episode, where she famously
cried “Out, damned spot!” (V,i,35) She has an obvious reversal from her initial claim that
a “little water clears us of this deed” (II,ii,64) to her lament that “all the perfumes of
Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (V,i,50-51). She, like Macbeth, is unable to
prevent her conscience from calling into question her humanity.
Their relationship goes through a significant shift through the course of the play.
It is apparent in the first act that Macbeth considers Lady Macbeth not only his wife, but
his confidant and advisor. He writes to her “This have I thought good to deliver thee, my
63
�dearest partner of greatness, that thou mightest not lose the dues of rejoicing by being
ignorant of what greatness is promised thee” (I,v,10-14). He affords her here an
importance that is not given to her by any other man in the play (and that no men give to
their wives). Macduff is a prime example. When Lady Macduff asks “what’s the
business” (II,iii,81) he responds to her by saying “O gentle lady, ‘Tis not for you to hear
what I can speak: The repetition in a woman’s ear, Would murther as it fell” (II,iii,8486).
Conversely, Macbeth relies upon Lady Macbeth for not only advice, but
physical aid in the implementation of plans which she initially makes for him. Lady
Macbeth takes on a masculine form, actively participating in violence and taking up the
slack when his conscience prevents him from fulfilling his manly role as she prescribes it.
She taunts him by pointing out his femininity and weakness, saying things such as “From
this time/ Such I account thy love” (I,vii,38-39). He responds by saying “I dare do all that
may become a man,/ Who dares do more is none” (I,vii,46-47) and makes it clear the
effect that her words have had on him. Less obvious is the contradiction that in order to
encourage Macbeth’s masculinity, Lady Macbeth must sacrifice her own and use the
more effective tool of femininity.
She uses images that actively refer to her female form, such as “I would…
/Have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums” (I,vii,56-57). Macbeth’s response,
although seemingly affirming her masculinity, ironically affirms her feminine, maternal
instinct, saying “Bring forth men children only! For thy undaunted mettle should
compose nothing but males” (I,vii,72-74). Asp asserts that “her dream of being partner to
his greatness is doomed by the very means she has used to insure that greatness. By
making him “manly” she has guaranteed that he will think of her as subordinate and
unworthy of truly sharing power” (162).
In the second half of the play, it becomes apparent that Lady Macbeth is no
longer her husband’s advisor or confidant. When she asks him “what’s to be done?” he
responds “be ignorant of the knowledge… till thou applaud the deed” (III,ii,45-46).
Effectively, he treats her exactly as Macduff did earlier with his wife, with no regard for
his initial claim that she was his “partner in greatness” or the aid that she inarguably gave
him. Even then, she continues to support him and encourage the masculinity that he feels
the need to continually prove. When he sees the ghost of Banquo at their feast, she covers
for him to the other guests, saying “Think of this, good peers, But as a thing of custom.
‘Tis no other” (III,iv,95-96) and privately challenges him by asking “Are you a man?”
(III,iv,57). He replies “Aye, and a bold one, that dare look upon that which might appall
64
�the Devil” (III,iv,58-59) which although she does not readily believe, is evidence that this
is a continuous point of contention between them despite his earlier assumption that he no
longer needs her as a partner. I would assert that it’s entirely possible that his dismissal of
her significance is a contributing factor in her eventual suicide.
When Lady Macbeth dies, she is mourned by the cry of women. She is
completely removed from the masculine world she tried to infiltrate that, in the end,
succeeded in excluding her. “A victim of her “thick-coming fancies,” she, like her
husband, loses touch with her humanity except within the ambiance of a dream world”
(Asp 167). Macbeth, in turn, sacrifices his humanity by choosing to ignore the balance of
masculinity and femininity in trying to fulfill some sort of unnatural, godlike potential.
“The more Macbeth is driven to pursue what he and Lady Macbeth call manliness– the
more he perverts that code into a rationale for reflexive aggression– the less humane he
becomes, until at last he forfeits nearly all claims on the race itself, and his vaunted
manhood, as he finally realizes, becomes meaningless” (Ramsey 286-287).
Perhaps Lady Macbeth’s simple question is the most significant in Macbeth:
“Are you a man?” It asks us to define what exactly makes a man– is it the balance
between masculinity and femininity? Is it the balance between the humors? Is it the
balance in a marriage? Regardless of the right answer, it’s tragically clear that Macbeth
and his wife never found it.
Works Cited
Asp, Carolyn. “‘Be Bloody, Bold and Resolute’:Tragic Action and Sexual Stereotyping
in Macbeth.” Studies in Philology, vol. 78, no. 2, 1981, pp. 153–169.
Kocher, Paul H. “Lady Macbeth and the Doctor.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 4,
1954, pp. 341–349.
Munro, Robert. “Lady Macbeth: A Psychological Sketch.” The Journal of Speculative
Philosophy, vol. 21, no. 1, Jan. 1887, pp. 30–36.
Ramsey, Jarold. “The Perversion of Manliness in Macbeth.” Studies in English Literature,
1500-1900, vol. 13, no. 2, 1973, pp. 285–300.
Shakespeare, William, et al. The Riverside Shakespeare. Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
Williams, Edith Whitehurst. “In Defense of Lady Macbeth.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 24,
no. 2, 1973, pp. 221–223.
65
�“Her Lover, Her Husband, Her Brother, Her Father,
Her Child”: Queering Ender Wiggin’s Multi-faceted
Identities in Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead
L. Elise Whisler (Physics and English)1
Ender Wiggin plays a variety of roles in Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the
Dead. His multifaceted identity blends into one compassionate, powerful, and knowing
man, yet his relationships with others define him further as lover, husband, brother, father,
mother, and child. Kelley Eskridge1 writes “queer functions as a meta-descriptor for me,
the word itself implying relativity, fluidity, defiance of categories … part of queer is the
expansion and reconstruction of meaning, including the meaning of queer itself” (Griffith
and Eskridge 46). With this understanding of queer not as LGBTQIA+ but as
reconstructing and differing from the norm, Ender Wiggin is indeed a queer character. He
experiences an array of sexual, asexual, romantic, fatherly, and fraternal loves, especially
with his female counterparts, Valentine, Jane, and Novinha. Additionally, his layered
identity as Ender, Andrew, and Speaker harkens to the queer experience of being in the
closet, being outted or coming out, and reclaiming ownership of a vulgarized identity.
While Ender is not an explicitly homosexual or queer figure, his relationships with Jane,
Valentine, Novinha and her children, and the Hive Queen blur gender, familial, and sexual
roles; thus, Ender is simultaneously mother, father, brother, and husband.
Beginning with his biological family, Ender’s love for his sister Valentine is
asexual, but their love is a foil for a much needed romantic relationship. They rely on
each other emotionally, and as they say goodbye, Valentine says she will be lonely
without him to talk to. Ender replies, “Jakt is your husband, not me” (Card 79), implying
that they have spoken with each other about things a husband and wife would, filling
those roles for one another. Their relationship is deepened with the understanding that
they are two-of-a-kind. Valentine and Ender are 3000-year-old humans with memories
and roles in the histories which their modern peers misconstrue. Ender addresses his pain
at losing Valentine hurrying his goodbyes, saying it is, “because it hurts me every time I
see you and Jakt growing closer and you and me growing more distant, even though I
know it’s exactly as it should be” (79). This also implies his own hunger for the
Written under the direction of Dr. Susan Bernardo for EN 323: Aliens, Cyborgs and
Time Travel in Literature and Film.
1
66
�emotional intimacy he used to share with Valentine. Thus, Valentine has stood-in as a
wife for him, asexually sharing the emotional intimacy of marriage. However, since he
has slowly lost her to Jakt, he hurries to leave for Lusitania, though they will mutually
mourn each other’s loss.
On the other hand, Ender’s love for Jane is simultaneously asexual, romantic,
fraternal, and paternal. Their romance is implied in their mutual understanding of one
another. After Ender turns off the communication interface they share, Jane mourns the
loss of “her lover, her husband, her brother, her father, [and] her child” (178). He is her
lover and husband through their years together and their emotional intimacy. Yet, he is
also her brother because of their shared experience as one-of-a-kind, products of the
military which trained Ender and built the Fantasy Game Jane came from. He is her
father because of the malfunction of the Fantasy Game—it centered on his psychology,
his experience, and his training; thus, the game files are a product of Ender, the same files
Jane’s forming consciousness centered upon, giving rise to Jane. And vice versa, Ender
was trained by the game, which formed so much of Jane’s consciousness, making him
also her child. All of these relationships coexist in the Jewel he wore in his ear. Thus, his
relationship with Jane is queer in its blending of roles, its expansion and reconstruction of
relationships and roles, and its redefinition of family and the origin of self. Furthermore,
while Jane has a feminine name and Card uses feminine pronouns, Jane lacks the latent
characteristics that define the sex and often define the gender of human beings. Jane
instead transcends gender as humans know it, and, being one-of-a-kind, cannot be
defined in a gender binary because she has no opposite. Thus, Ender’s love of Jane is not
strictly heteroromantic nor even strictly romantic. Their love expands and thereby queers
the definitions of husband, brother, father, and child to encompass an interspecies
romantic and parental love.
These asexual, romantic, and parental relations fill Ender’s need for a family
beyond Jane and Valentine. The narrator best explains Ender’s emotional dependency in
saying, “Jane and Valentine had been constantly with him. Even though they could not
begin to meet all his needs; but they met enough of his needs that he never had to reach
out and accomplish more” (180). Ender has never needed someone to know him as a wife
because Jane and Valentine filled all the roles of his family, as sisters, wives, and—in
Jane’s case—mother and daughter. However, when he is without Jane or Valentine while
traveling to Lusitania, Ender is frustrated, bored, and lonely (86). Yet later, once the
Ribeiras replace Jane and Valentine’s roles as mother, sister, wife, and child, Ender is not
bored, lonely, or even jealous without Jane and Valentine (368). This shows not only his
67
�development through the story, but also Jane and Valentine’s paramount importance to
him as asexual but deeply emotionally dependent family.
In contrast, Ender’s love for Novinha is sexual and emotional by the end of the
novel. However, it does not start that way. This love sees evolution throughout Ender’s
time on Lusitania as Ender’s connection to Novinha shifts from a bond based on
similarity to one based on romantic and sexual love. By way of introduction, Jane recites
facts of Novinha’s childhood to Ender who “knew her, and loved her, and his eyes filled
with tears for her,” and “in her brilliance, her isolation, her pain, her guilt, he saw his
stolen childhood and the seeds of the pain that lived within him still” (65). Ender’s initial
love of Novinha is a kinship in recognizing their shared status as outsiders and a silent
shared guilt. Having only seen a picture of her as an adolescent and heard the facts of her
biography from Jane, Ender loves and knows Novinha. Yet, that love is almost fraternal,
based on a shared childhood experience, the lack of true parenting and the trauma of
guilt. The narrator states that, “he loved her, as you can only love someone who is an
echo of yourself at your time of deepest sorrow” (83). Thus, their love story is queered
from the start: love at first sight, but not the butterflies-inducing normative love of fairy
tales, the love of a traumatized and lonely child recognizing their equal and their shared
experience. This kinship is almost like the love an audience feels for a character who
represents them, a queer person loving a gay icon or a person of color identifying with a
celebrity of color based only on the shared trauma of their identity.
Much like a celebrity to their fans, that brotherly love or kinship is one sided.
Novinha initially sees Ender as a threat to her family and way of life in the colony. She is
enraged, wondering, “How dare this speaker invade her house and open all the curtains
she has closed” (131). Of course, there are metaphorical curtains, barriers she had built
between herself and the happiness she believed she did not deserve. Thus, while Ender
sees Novinha as a reflection of his own guilt and trauma, she sees the Speaker as an
invader of her home. In addition, he is a self-righteous stranger who believes he can, in
one hour, bond with her children as she had not over the course of their entire lives (128).
At the same time, Novinha is well aware of the Speaker’s intent to heal her family. She
distrusts this stranger but seems innately to know he wants to heal her family, “stringing
[them] together whole again” (133). And moreover, she fears he will find her secrets in
the process. Novinha does not hate him because he is a stranger or a threat to her family’s
safety. Rather, she hates the Speaker because he is threatening to heal them and
deconstruct the barriers Novinha has carefully placed, the web of self-punishment she
constructed as retribution for having killed Pipo.
68
�Regardless of her distrust, Ender works his way into her home and heart. He first
approaches Novinha through her family. In under an hour, Ender knows, “I’m in the
family now. Whether you like it or not. Whether I like it or not” (121). He knows with
certainty that his compassion and understanding have lent him unique access to the
family. Though, in biological terms, Ender is male and Novinha is female, both have
traits commonly associated with the other’s gender. At the beginning of the text, Novinha
is far from nurturing and motherly. Instead, she takes a traditionally masculine role as
breadwinner of the family and goes so far as avoiding coming home even though Marcão
is not there to abuse her (124). She is characterized as cold and scientific, quite the
opposite of the heteronormative role of the wife and mother. On the other hand, Ender is
nurturing and empathetic to the Ribeiras. Ender is understanding and gentle (129), soft
and warm (133). His motherly qualities enable Ender to serve as mother to the Ribeiras
while he also fills the role of authority and father which the youngest child, Grego, needs
in his mourning. Thus, upon meeting, while he loves Novinha through kinship, he loves
the Ribeira children as family. Ender queers the heteronormative role of father, blending
it with that of minister for a funeral, mother, and friend.
His parenting does not end with the Ribeiras though. Ender is the nurturing
caregiver to the hive queen for 3000 years (or just 25 or so as he experiences them)
carrying her fetus-like cocoon. He carried it with him for years and was the sole
companion to the Hive Queen, much like a mother serving as the carrier and companion
to a child. The Hive Queen telepathically tells Ender, “In all our life, you are the first
person we’ve known who wasn’t ourself” (70), harkening to the Lacanian idea of the
mirror stage in which a child recognizes itself in their caregiver and the following stages
in which the child understands itself in context of the other. Furthermore, before planting
the Hive Queen’s cocoon Ender asks Novinha to develop food for the Buggers which
would prevent them from catching the Descolada (368), providing an immune support
and food source for the buggers much like a mother’s breast milk provides for a child. By
finding a place for the cocoon on Lusitania, he becomes a mother to all Buggers, a
maternal man. As mother to the Buggers and father to the Ribeiras, Ender blends the lines
of gender and parental roles, queering not only his role as parent but also the definition of
family, adopting the Ribeiras who are millennia younger and the hive queen, who is
anciently older, as family.
Family itself is sometimes called the “f-word” in the queer community. As
Bruce Gillespie explains, family values and the heteronormative idea of family has been,
“used to bash queer people and illegitimatize their relationships as something unnatural
for a long time” (7). Thus, “reclaiming the concept of family is an act of empowerment
69
�that is at once personal and political . . . [in reclaiming family queer people] realize what
adoptive families have always known . . . there’s an important distinction between whom
you’re related to and whom you consider your family” (7). This is to say that, not only
does Ender’s relationship to the Ribeiras, Jane, and the Hive Queen defy the normalized
definition of family, but Ender’s expanded definition of family also queers the term,
resonating with the queer community’s strife about the word family and the
heteronormative institution of monogamous marriage which family is founded upon.
His legal family at the end of the text is the Ribeiras, with the now warmer and
more traditionally feminine Novinha as his partner regardless of her previous
transgressive sexuality. This, in and of itself, is not the homosexual conclusion to a queer
tale one might expect. However, in order to find happiness with the Ribeiras, Ender has
to come out, in much the same way a queer person must come out, taking ownership of
multiple layers of identity. I have elected to refer to him as Ender because it is the name
which captures most of his identities in one, yet, I refer to him as the Speaker when that is
how Novinha perceives him. Ender is the name his siblings gave him as a child, unable to
pronounce Andrew; thus, Ender captures his role in his family and specifically his love
for Valentine. It also captures his role as the one who ended the Buggers. Ender becomes
synonymous with the Xenocide, a vulgar word, much as the words of the queer
community have been twisted into slurs and insults (such as queer itself). Furthermore,
he must adopt a separate persona as Andrew, and yet another as the original Speaker for
the Dead. Thus, Ender is closeted, and Andrew is passing, much like many queer people
who hide their identities in order to pass in public.
Maintaining secrets and closeted identities can be hard, both for Ender and for
queer people. While sharing an identity or facet of oneself can be empowering, it can also
lead to vulnerability. This vulnerability comes to hurt and help Ender as his secrets are
outted to the Pequeninhos via the Hive Queen and Rooter, and then to Ouanda and Miro
when Human outs him as the original Speaker for the Dead (Card 235-236). Similarly,
Valentine outs him to Plikt when the latter researches too deeply into his past (80). These
points of vulnerability are also points of connection--people in his adopted and biological
family who know Ender rather than knowing only Andrew. Thus, Ender is a secret and a
forbidden word to anyone who is not in his close circle of trust, just as a queer person’s
closeted identity is a secret, and sometimes a slur, to those outside their circle of trust.
However, once one is outted, we see empowerment and ownership in the reclamation of
an identity and term. We also see Ender reclaimed, to some small degree, just as some
slurs have been by the queer community. After his departure, Valentine’s family knew of
“their long-lost Uncle Ender, who was thought in every world to be a monster, but in
70
�reality was something of a savior or a prophet, or at least a martyr” (82). Thus, Ender is a
child, a brother, a fighter, a killer, a slur, a reclaimed term of endearment and identity, a
hero, and a martyr.
Ender’s layered identities and many roles in the families around him culminate
in the boundary defying, brave, and kind man he is. In Card’s Speaker for the Dead, we
see Ender closeted, exposed, and reclaimed, just as many queer people experience the
coming out process. Additionally, Ender’s relationships with Jane, Valentine, the Hive
Queen, and the Ribeiras, including Novinha, redefine romantic and familial love,
reconstructing and queering family and emotional dependency.
Note
1. Though Nicola Griffiths and Kelley Eskridge co-wrote the piece, they clearly denote
who wrote each section as their article includes biographical context; thus, this quotation
is attributed to Eskridge.
Works Cited
Card, Orson Scott. Speaker for the Dead. Tor, 1991.
Gillespie, Bruce. “Introduction.” A Family by Any Other Name: Exploring Queer
Relationships, Edited by Bruce Gillespie. TouchWood Editions, 2014, pp. 1-6. ProQuest
Ebook Central.
Griffith, Nicola & Eskridge, Kelly. “War Machine, Time Machine.” Queer Universes :
Sexualities in Science Fiction, Edited by Wendy Gay Pearso, Veronica Hollinger, and
Joan Gordon. Liverpool University Press, 2008, pp. 39-51. ProQuest: Ebook Central.
71
��
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Section I: Eastern Colleges Science Conference -- Abstracts -- 3 The Use of Open Source Docking and Alignment Software to Evaluate the Dangers of Phthalate Induced Endocrine Disruption / Briana Bettencourt and Dr. Jonathan Blaize -- 3 Effects of Electroconvulsive Seizures on GABA Concentrations in Mouse Models of Autism / Nicholas Buhta -- 4 Microbial Diversity Along Climate Zones in the Atlantic Ocean / Alexis Costa -- 4 Transient Exposure to 450 nm Light alters Phagocytosis by Retinal Pigment Epithelium Without Compromising Viability / Joseph Fabozzi and Dr. Jonathan Blaize -- 5 The Antimicrobial Effect of Clove Oil, Tea Tree Oil and Lemon Grass Oil on Klebsiella Pneumoniae and Enterobacter Aerogenes / Sarah McGee and Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt -- 5 The Effects of Xanthine Derivatives on Tooth Remineralization and its Ability to Defend Against and Remove Staphylococcus Mutans / Sarah McGee, Kayla Diggs, Dr. Christopher Corbo, and Dr. Racquel DeCicco -- 6 Microbial Diversity Off the Antarctic Peninsula / Elizabeth Patton -- 6 Employing Green Chemistry Methods Towards the Synthesis of High Efficiency Organic Dyes / Kelsey Savje and Dr. Racquel DeCicco -- 7 Accessing Diynes Containing Thiocyanate End-Groups En Route towards Polydiacetylenes / Oskar Sundberg -- 7 Inhibition of Serum Amine Oxidase Prevents Polyamine Induced Autophagy: A Cautionary Tale / Kaela Teele -- Section II: The Natural Sciences & Quantitative Analysis -- Full Length Papers -- 11 Fur-babies vs. Babies: A Study on the Consumer Behavior of Dog Owners / Maria Humphries -- Section III: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 49 Improving Resources for Survivors of Sexual Assault on Staten Island / Kathleen Leavey and Angela Zagami -- Section IV: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 61 Balancing Masculinity and Humanity in the Relationship Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth / Lindy Pokorny -- 66 “Her Lover, Her Husband, Her Brother, Her Father, Her Child”: Queering Ender Wiggin’s Multi-faceted Identities in Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead / L. Elise Whisler
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��EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
The Wagner Forum for Undergraduate Research is an interdisciplinary journal which
provides an arena where students can publish their research. Papers are reviewed with
respect to their intellectual merit and scope of contribution to a given field. To enhance
readability the journal is subdivided into three sections entitled The Natural Sciences and
Quantitative Analysis, The Social Sciences, and Critical Essays. The first two of these
sections are limited to papers and abstracts dealing with scientific inquiries, business
research, clinical investigations and the use of mathematical/statistical modeling. The
third section is reserved for speculative papers based on the scholarly review and critical
examination of previous works.
Read on and enjoy!
Gregory J. Falabella, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Dr. Annemarie Dowling-Castronovo, Nursing
Dr. Donald E. Stearns, Biological Sciences
Dr. Amy Eshleman, Psychology
Prof. Andy Needle, Art
Dr. Lori Weintrob, History
��Section I:
The Natural Sciences &
Quantitative Analysis
Full Length Papers
3
The Antimicrobial Effects of Peppermint Oil, Cinnamon Oil, and
Chamomile Oil on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli
Alexandra Ruth Elder
33 The Effects of Corporate Sustainability on Corporate Financial
Performance
Graham Schmelzer
Section II: The Social Sciences
Full Length Papers
57 The Epidemic of Depression in National Collegiate Athletic
Association Student-Athletes
Maria D’Amico, Nicole Doherty and Iman Eulinberg
Section III: Critical Essays
Full Length Papers
69 The Structure of Repression and Trauma in Slow River
Gina LaRosa
75 Changes in Sino-British Relations from the Opium Wars to the
Taiping Rebellion
Jeanine Woody
112 How Misrepresentations of Transgender People in Film and TV
Affect Society
Paige Tolbard
����The Antimicrobial Effects of Peppermint Oil,
Cinnamon Oil, and Chamomile Oil on
Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli
Alexandra Ruth Elder (Microbiology)1
The use of essential oils as antimicrobial agents have increased in popularity for reasons
such as the rise in antibiotic resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria. The essential oils of
interest in this research project were chamomile oil, cinnamon oil, and peppermint oil.
All of which are known for their wide range of health benefits as well as their
antimicrobial effects. The antimicrobial ability of these essential oils were tested on
Escherichia coli, a known Gram-negative species, and Staphylococcus aureus, a known
Gram-positive species. Three different techniques such as agar-well diffusion, agar
dilution, and broth dilution, were used to determine the effectiveness of each oil at six
different concentrations. The minimum lethal concentration and the minimum inhibitory
concentration were established for each oil on each microbe. It was found that higher
concentrations of oil were more effective at inhibiting growth of both species of bacteria
than at lower concentrations across each method. It was also found that cinnamon oil had
the greatest inhibitory effects on E. coli while chamomile had the least inhibitory effects.
Furthermore, chamomile oil had the greatest inhibitory effects on S. aureus, while
peppermint oil had the least inhibitory effects. The results also suggest that overall,
Gram-negative species of bacteria are more resistant to the antimicrobial effects of
essential oils than Gram-positive species.
I. Introduction
Essential Oils
Essential oils have been used for centuries as a natural way to treat human
illness and disease. Essential oils are obtained through the distillation of plant materials
such as leaves or bark and were first used in Egypt, India, and Persia (Guenther, 1947). In
1660, essential oils became widely used in mainstream medicine and grew in popularity
(Buckle, 2014). It wasn’t until the 1800s that scientists began to look at the chemical
1
Research conducted under the supervision of Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt in partial fulfillment
of the Senior Program requirements.
3
�makeup of essential oils, and with this came the start of drug development. The naturally
occurring active compounds found in plants are known as phytochemicals.
Phytochemicals produced by plants play a role in plant growth and defense (Martinez et
al., 2017). These phytochemicals are also seen in essential oils and are attributed to their
bioactive properties. One of the pioneers of the use of essential oils in medicine was
Rene-Maurice Gattefore, who discovered aromatherapy in 1910. He used oils such as
clove, chamomile, lavender, and lemon oil to treat the wounds of soldiers injured in
World War I (Buckle, 2014). Gattefore used these oils to stop infections from progressing
and accelerating the healing process.
Less than two decades later, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928
(Buckle, 2014). This ground-breaking discovery paved the way for modern day drug
therapy and at the same time temporarily put a hold on further research of essential oils.
Today, however, the use of essential oils in the clinical setting are growing in popularity
because of the increase in antibacterial resistance. Essential oils in recent years have also
risen in interest because of negative consumer views of synthetic and artificial
preservatives used across several industries in America (Chouhan et al., 2017). It is also
important to note that in people in developing countries throughout the world do not
always have access to modern medicine and advances therefore, they rely heavily on
traditional methods such as essential oils. It was noted by the World Health Organization
that the majority of the world’s population depends on traditional medicine for primary
healthcare (Prabuseenivasan et al., 2006). The ideology that essential oils can not only be
used as a natural alternative to artificial preservatives but as an active member in the fight
against antibiotic resistance is a main focal point in the research being conducted on them
today.
Antibiotic Resistance
Antibiotic resistant pathogenic bacteria have made the treatment of bacterial
infections difficult and in some cases, impossible. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics
have created a global health crisis by causing a rise in antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic
resistance is the ability of a microorganism to grow in the presences of antibiotics that
would have once limited their growth or killed them (Tenover, 2006). Antibiotics have
different mechanisms in which they kill bacteria such as interference of the cell wall,
inhibition of protein synthesis, and inhibition of metabolic pathways (Tenover, 2006).
Some species of bacteria are naturally resistant to certain types of antibiotics and can
render them ineffective because they produce certain types of protein. However, some
species become resistant to antibiotics because of a random mutation that occurs in their
4
�DNA. These mutated genes increase the bacterial survival when in the presences of such
antibiotic and thus are passed on to their progeny. Antibiotic resistance genes can be
found on the bacterial chromosome or on a plasmid. A plasmid is a piece of selfreplicating extrachromosomal DNA that can be transferred to competent bacterial cells
via conjugation. Bacteria can also transfer genes from one another through a process
called horizontal gene transfer (Hoek et al., 2011). Bacteria have the ability to rapidly
mutate and change to fit their environment due to their high growth rate.
One of the biggest concerns when it comes to antibiotic resistance is multidrug
resistance strains of bacteria. Such bacteria have not only become resistance to a single
antibiotic that would have once killed them, but they have become resistant to several
types of antibiotics. While the degree of multidrug resistance can vary from a few
antibiotics to many antibiotics, these microorganisms pose a major threat to society. This
is because if a patient becomes infected with a multidrug resistant bacteria, such as
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, health care providers have a difficult time
treating the infection because it is resistant to several types of antibiotics commonly used
to treat it. Species such as Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus, Enterobacteriaceae,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter are of main concern because of their
prevalence in the hospital setting (Margiorakos et al., 2011). The number of antibiotic
resistant strains of bacteria are increasing, causing scientist to turn to alternative methods
to treat bacterial infections. Essential oils prove to be a promising candidate in the fight
against antibiotic resistance.
Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus is a round shaped, Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria
that belongs to the Staphylococcaceae family. Staphylococcus aureus is found in the
environment and is often part of human normal flora on the skin and mucosa membranes
(Taylor and Unakal, 2019). Staphylococcus aureus is known to cause bacteremia,
infective endocarditis, many skin and soft tissue infections (e.g., cellulitis, acne, boils,
scolded skin syndrome, and others), pulmonary infections, urinary tract infections, toxic
shock syndrome, gastroenteritis, meningitis, and osteomyelitis (Taylor and Unakal,
2019). Even though S. aureus is commonly seen as normal flora, it poses a major threat
in the hospital setting and treatment is often difficult. Staphylococcus aureus infections
have become difficult to treat because of multi-drug resistant strains such as MethicillinResistant Staphylococcus aureus (Taylor and Unakal, 2019). Typically, the drug of
choice to treat S. aureus is penicillin or vancomycin (Taylor and Unakal, 2019).
5
�However, many strains have become resistant to these drugs forcing health care providers
to turn to alternative methods.
Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative bacillus that belongs to the
Enterobacteriaceae family. Escherichia coli is found in the intestinal tract of animals and
humans as part of their normal flora (Gossman et al., 2019). E. coli is an important food
and waterborne pathogen that causes diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhagic colitis, and
hemolytic-uremic syndrome in humans (Gossman et al., 2019). Pathogenic strains of E.
coli have several virulence factors that can cause severe illness in the host. One of the
most virulent strains of Escherichia coli is E. coli 0157:H7, an enterohemorrhagic E. coli
that uses a toxin that attacks small blood cells. This enterohemorrhagic E. coli kills the
intestinal cells and causes diarrhea and severe abdominal cramps (Blount, 2015). Most
patients recover from E. coli 0157:H7 infections without antibiotic treatment in a week to
ten days, however antibiotics are given in persistent cases. Antibiotics may not be
effective in all cases due to the rise in antibiotic resistant strains of enterohemorrhagic E.
coli in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Iran, Singapore, and Brazil
(Croxen et al., 2013) The increase in these strains have led to the interest in essential oils
to treat E. coli without antibiotic use.
Peppermint oil
Peppermint oil or, Mentha piperita, is part of the mint family along with
spearmint, water mint, and forest mint and is obtained by steam distillation of the Mentha
piperita plant leaves (Chumpitazi et al., 2018). Peppermint oil has been used for centuries
in countries like Greece, Egypt, and Rome as a natural stomach soother by decreasing the
calcium influx in the smooth muscle cells (Chumpitazi et al., 2018). The main
phytochemicals of peppermint oil are menthol and menthone, two known antiviral,
antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory agents (Zaia et al., 2016). Peppermint oil
is also a common ingredient in household surface cleaners and is used to as a food
preservative.
Cinnamon Oil
Cinnamon oil is obtained from the bark of the Cinnamomum verum plant.
Cinnamon oil is commonly used in food flavoring, cosmetics, and in clinical settings.
Cinnamon oil has been used to treat medical issues such as gingivitis, acne,
gastrointestinal issues, and many others (Nabavi et al., 2015). In addition, cinnamon oil
6
�has been proven to have antibacterial, antifungal, and insecticidal properties (Nabavi et
al., 2015). The main components that are attributed to giving cinnamon oil its
antibacterial properties are the bioactive phytochemicals cinnamaldehyde and eugenol,
which have shown to prevent growth of both gram-negative and gram-positive species
(Baker and Grant, 2017).
Chamomile Oil
Chamomile or, Matricaria chamomilla, is a member of the Asteraceae family.
There are two main types of chamomile oil: German chamomile and Roman chamomile
(Srivastava et al., 2010). Chamomile oil has been used since ancient times and is known
for its therapeutic properties and wild range of health benefits (Srivastava, Shankar, and
Gupta, 2010). Chamomile oil has 120 chemical constituents that make it a versatile
compound. Components such as a-bisabolol and cyclic ethers are known antimicrobial
agents that are effective in killing both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria
(Srivastava et al., 2010).
Objectives
The purpose of this research project was to observe the inhibitory effects of
peppermint oil, cinnamon oil, and chamomile oil on a Gram-negative bacillus species,
such as Escherichia coli, and a Gram-positive coccus species, such as Staphylococcus
aureus using a number of biotechnical methods. Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia
coli are both pathogenic microbes that grow on selective and differential media such as
mannitol salt agar, and eosin methylene blue agar respectively. Different concentrations
of the oils were used in the agar-well diffusion, agar diffusion, and broth diffusion
methods to determine their antimicrobial effectiveness. Minimum inhibitory
concentrations as well as minimum lethal concentrations were determined for each oil for
each microorganism.
II. Materials and Methods
Biological Material
The two organisms used in this experiment were Escherichia coli (PI336),
which belongs in the Enterobacteriaceae family, and Staphylococcus aureus (PI4651),
which belongs in the Staphylococcaceae family. Escherichia coli, is a Gram-negative
bacillus species that appears as a pink rod shaped organism under a microscope when
gram stained. Escherichia coli can be identified by its green metallic sheen on Eosin
7
�Methylene Blue agar, as well being indole positive, methyl red positive, citrate negative,
and Voges-Proskauer negative in an IMViC test. Staphylococcus aureus is a Grampositive coccus species and will appear as round purple organisms under a microscope
when gram stained. S. aureus can be identified by its ability to ferment mannitol on a
mannitol salt agar, changing the color from red to yellow. S. aureus can also be identified
by its positive catalase test and is hemolytic on blood agar.
Preparation of Water Blanks
The water blanks were made by adding 9 ml of distilled water to 100 empty test
tubes using a sterile 10 mL pipette. The caps of the tubes were loosely placed on the
tubes and the tubes were then autoclaved for 15 minutes using the liquid cycle to ensure
they were sterile. These water blanks were used in the agar dilution method to make the
different oil dilutions.
Preparation of Nutrient Broth
The nutrient broth tubes were made by adding 1000 mL of distilled water to a
large Erlenmeyer flask using a graduated cylinder. Using a small scale, 25 grams of
nutrient broth, purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, powder was measured on a
weighing dish and was added to the 1000 mL of water. A stirring rod was added to the
flask and the mixture was put on a hot plate until the powder was completely dissolved,
this took about 10 minutes. Nine mL of nutrient broth was then added to 100 test tubes
using a sterile 10 mL pipette. Caps were placed loosely on the tubes and were then
autoclaved for 15 minutes using the liquid cycle to ensure they were sterile.
Preparation of Eosin Methylene Blue Agar
The Eosin Methylene Blue agar (Sigma-Aldrich Corporation), also called EMB
agar, was made by first adding 1000 mL of distilled water to a larger Erlenmeyer flask
using a graduated cylinder. Using a small scale, 37.5 grams of EMB powder was
measured on a weighing dish and added to the 1000 mL of water. A stirring rod was then
added to the flask and the mixture was put on a hot plate and brought to a boil. The top of
the flask was then covered with aluminum foil and was autoclaved for 15 minutes on the
liquid cycle. Once autoclaved the flask was then placed under the laminar flow hood to
cool slightly. An even amount of agar was then added to 100 sterile petri dishes. The petri
dishes were left to solidify and stored in the fridge until use.
8
�Preparation of Mannitol Salt Agar
The Mannitol Salt Agar (Sigma-Aldrich Corporation), also called MSA, was
made by adding 1000 mL of distilled water to a larger Erlenmeyer flask using at
graduated cylinder. 111 grams of MSA powder was then weighted out on a small scale
and added to the flask along with a stirring rod. The mixture was then placed on a hot
plate and was brought to a boil for 1 minute. The flask was covered with aluminum foil
and placed in the autoclave for 15 minutes on the liquid cycle. The flask was then placed
under the laminar flow hood to cool slightly. An even amount of agar was then added to
100 petri dishes. The petri dishes were left to solidify and were stored in the fridge until
use.
Agar-well Diffusion
The MSA and the EMB agar were both used for the agar-well diffusion test on
their corresponding microbe. First, six different 50 µl oil dilutions were made using the
three oils, 1 µl, 2µl, 4 µl, 8 µl, 16 µl, and 32 µl of peppermint, chamomile, and cinnamon
oil were used in this experiment. The plates were divided into two equal halves using a
marker and labeled following the different oil concentrations (i.e. each plate contained
two different oil concentrations). An aliquot of 0.1 mL of each microbe was added to its
corresponding plate using a sterile 1 mL pipette. The spread plate technique was used to
spread the microbe evenly throughout the plate. The end of a sterile 10 mL pipette was
used to make a small well in each half of the agar. Each well was then filled with 50 µl of
each oil concentration. One plate served as the control that contained water, which served
as the positive control, and alcohol, which served as the negative control, in the two
wells. The next plate contained 1 µl/ 2 µl in each well, the next plate contained 4 µl/ 8 µl,
and the last plate contained 16 µl/ 32µl. The plates were then incubated at 37 °C for 24
hours. After incubation, the zone of inhibition produced by each oil was measured using a
ruler in centimeters. This procedure was repeated in triplicate for each microbe.
Agar Dilution
Six ten-fold dilutions of each oil were made using water blanks. One mL of each
ten-fold dilution was added to sterile petri dishes. MSA and EMB agar were made using
the procedure described in the previous sections. Nine mL of each test agar was then
added to each plate using a sterile 10 mL pipette. The plates were then gently stirred to
allow the oil and agar to mix. The plates were left to solidify for 24 hours. 0.1 ml of each
microbe was added to each plate and was spread evenly using a sterile inoculating loop.
The plates were incubated at 37 °C for 24 hours and the CFU of each plate was
9
�determined by counting the number of colonies presence. Any colony count under 30
CFU was considered statistically insignificant. Any count above 300 CFU was
determined to be too numerous to count and were recorded as TNC. This procedure was
repeated in triplicate for each microbe.
Broth Dilution
The broth dilution method was performed using nutrient broth. Six ten-fold
dilutions were made of each oil using the nutrient broth. One mL of each microbe was
added to each dilution, as well as a water blank that served as a negative control, and
brain heart infusion broth, or BHI, that served as the positive control. The tubes were
incubated at 37 °C for 24 hours. After incubation, subculture inoculations were taken and
plated onto the test agars, MSA and EMB. The minimum inhibitory concentration, or
MIC, and minimum lethal concentration, or MLC, were determined by no growth after
the 24-hour incubation period and on the subculture inoculation plates. This procedure
was repeated in triplicate for each microbe in each oil dilution.
III. Results
Agar-well Diffusion
Results for agar-well diffusion test on Escherichia coli
The results of the agar-well diffusion test are below in tables 1-6. The zone of
inhibition around each well was measured in centimeters (cm) using a small ruler. The
mean and standard deviation of each concentration in all three trails are also shown.
Tables 1,2, and 3 show the results using Escherichia coli. Table 1 shows the zone of
inhibition around each well containing different concentrations of chamomile oil. The
zone of inhibition produced by chamomile oil was 0 cm across all trails. Table 2 shows
that cinnamon oil at concentrations 8 µl,16 µl, and 32 µl will create a zone of inhibition.
Table 3 shows that peppermint oil at 16 µl and 32 µl concentrations will create a zone of
inhibition. In any of the trials, concentrations of 1 µl, 2 µl, and 4 µl did not produce a
zone of inhibition.
10
�Table 1: The zone of inhibition created by chamomile oil on Escherichia coli on EMB
agar using the agar-well diffusion method.
Oil
Concentration
Trail 1
(cm)
Trail 2
(cm)
Trail 3
(cm)
Average
(cm)
Standard
Deviation
1 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
2 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
4 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
8 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
16 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
32 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
Water
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
Alcohol
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
0
Table 2: The zone of inhibition created by cinnamon oil on Escherichia coli on EMB
agar using the agar-well diffusion method
Oil
Trail 1
Trail 2
Trail 3
Average
Standard
Concentration
(cm)
(cm)
(cm)
(cm)
Deviation
1 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
2 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
4 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
8 µl
0 cm
1 cm
0 cm
.333 cm
0.577
16 µl
1.1 cm
1.4 cm
0 cm
.833 cm
0.737
32 µl
1.9 cm
1.7 cm
2.1 cm
1.9 cm
0.2
Water
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
Alcohol
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
0
11
�Table 3: The zone of inhibition created by peppermint oil on Escherichia coli on EMB
agar using the agar-well diffusion method
Oil
Concentration
Trail 1
(cm)
Trail 2
(cm)
Trail 3
(cm)
Average
(cm)
Standard
Deviation
1 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
2 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
4 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
8 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
16 µl
0 cm
1 cm
1.4 cm
0.8 cm
0.721
32 µl
1.5 cm
2.6 cm
0 cm
1.36 cm
1.305
Water
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
Alcohol
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
0
Results for agar-well diffusion test on Staphylococcus aureus
Tables 4, 5, and 6 below show the diameter in centimeters of the zone of
inhibition around each well using Staphylococcus aureus. Chamomile at concentrations
of 4 µl, 8 µl, 16 µl, and 32 µl produced a zone of inhibition on S. aureus in all trials and
did not at concentrations 1 µl and 2 µl as seen in Table 4. Cinnamon oil produced a zone
of inhibition at concentrations of 16 µl and 32 µl and did not at 1 µl, 2 µl, 4 µl, and 8 µl
as seen in Table 5. Peppermint oil produced a zone of inhibition on S. aureus at
concentrations of 16 µl and 32 µl and no growth was seen on the plate. This oil was
unable to inhibit growth at concentrations 1 µl, 2 µl, 4 µl, and 8 µl.
12
�Table 4: The zone of inhibition created by chamomile oil on Staphylococcus aureus on
MSA using agar-well diffusion method
Oil
Concentration
Trail 1
(cm)
Trail 2
(cm)
Trail 3
(cm)
Average
(cm)
Standard
Deviation
1 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
2 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
4 µl
0 cm
2.2 cm
2.7
1.63 cm
1.43
8 µl
0 cm
2.5 cm
1.5
1.3 cm
1.25
16 µl
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
5.43
32 µl
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
5.43
Water
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
Alcohol
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
0
Table 5: The zone of inhibition created by cinnamon oil at different concentrations on
Staphylococcus aureus using the agar-well diffusion method.
Oil
Concentration
Trail 1
(cm)
Trail 2
(cm)
Trail 3
(cm)
Average
(cm)
Standard
Deviation
1 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
2 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
4 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
8 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
16 µl
0 cm
1.7 cm
2.7 cm
1.46 cm
1.36
32 µl
2.4 cm
3.3 cm
3 cm
2.9 cm
0.45
Water
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
Alcohol
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
0
13
�Table 6: The zone of inhibition created by peppermint oil at different concentrations on
Staphylococcus aureus using the agar-well diffusion method.
Oil
Concentration
Trail 1
(cm)
Trail 2
(cm)
Trail 3
(cm)
Average
(cm)
Standard
Deviation
1 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
2 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
4 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
8 µl
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
16 µl
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
5.43
32 µl
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
3.8 cm
5.43
Water
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0 cm
0
Alcohol
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
0
Broth Dilution
Results of the Broth Dilution test on Escherichia coli
The results of the broth dilution test are recorded in tables 7-12. The
effectiveness of each oil was determined by the presences or absences of growth in each
broth dilution tube as well as the subculture inoculations. Brain heart infusion broth, or
BHI, was used as a positive control, and water was used as a negative control. In every
trial, there was growth in every BHI tube, and no growth in every water tube. Table 7
shows that cinnamon oil inhibited the growth of E. coli at 10-3 concentration. Chamomile
oil did not have any effect on E. coli at all concentrations except for in trial 3 where it
inhibited grow at the highest concentration as seen in Table 8. Peppermint oil did not
have any effect on E. coli at all concentrations across all three trials.
14
�Table 7: The growth and subculture inoculation count of Escherichia coli in different
concentrations of cinnamon oil using the broth dilution method.
Oil
Dilution
Trial 1
Subculture
inoculation
Trial 2
Subculture
inoculation
Trial 3
Subculture
inoculation
10-1
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-2
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-3
No
Growth
6 CFU
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
10-4
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-5
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-6
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
BHI
(positive
control)
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Water
(negative
control)
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
Table 8: The growth and subculture inoculation count of Escherichia coli in different
concentrations of chamomile oil using the broth dilution method.
Oil
Subculture
Subculture
Subculture
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Dilution
Inoculation
inoculation
inoculation
No
10-1
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
TNC
Growth
10-2
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-3
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-4
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-5
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-6
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
BHI
(positive
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
control)
Water
No
No
No
(negative
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
Growth
Growth
Growth
control)
15
�Table 9: The growth and subculture inoculation count of Escherichia coli in different
concentrations of peppermint oil using the broth dilution method.
Oil
Dilution
Trail 1
Subculture
inoculation
Trail 2
Subculture
inoculation
Trail 3
Subculture
inoculation
10-1
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-2
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-3
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-4
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-5
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-6
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
BHI
(positive
control)
Water
(negative
control)
Results of the Broth Dilution test on Staphylococcus aureus
Tables 10, 11, and 12 show the effects of the different oil concentrations on the
growth of Staphylococcus aureus. Chamomile oil inhibited the growth of S. aureus at
concentrations 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4 in all trails as seen in Table 10. Cinnamon oil inhibited
the growth of S. aureus at 10-3 concentration in all trails as seen in Table 11. Peppermint
oil inhibited the growth of S. aureus at concentrations 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4 as seen in
Table 12.
16
�Table 10: The growth and subculture inoculation count of Staphylococcus aureus in
different concentrations of chamomile oil using the broth dilution method.
Oil
Dilution
Trail 1
Subculture
inoculation
Trail 2
Subculture
inoculation
Trail 3
Subculture
inoculation
10-1
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
10-2
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
10-3
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
8 CFU
10-4
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
10-5
No
Growth
No Growth
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-6
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
BHI
(positive
control)
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Water
(negative
control)
No
Growth
TNC
No
Growth
TNC
No
Growth
TNC
17
�Table 11: The growth and subculture inoculation count of Staphylococcus aureus in
different concentrations of cinnamon oil using the broth dilution method.
Oil
Dilution
Trial 1
Subculture
inoculation
Trial 2
Subculture
inoculation
Trial 3
Subculture
inoculation
10-1
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-2
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-3
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
10-4
No
Growth
18 CFU
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-5
No
Growth
No Growth
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-6
No
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
BHI
(positive
control)
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Water
(negative
control)
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
18
�Table 12: The growth and subculture inoculation count of Staphylococcus aureus in
different concentrations of peppermint oil using the broth dilution method.
Oil
Dilution
10 -1
10-2
10-3
10-4
Trial 1
No
Growth
No
Growth
No
Growth
No
Growth
Subculture
inoculation
Trial 2
Subculture
inoculation
No Growth
Growth
TNC
No Growth
No
Growth
14 CFU
No Growth
Growth
TNC
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
Trial 3
No
Growth
No
Growth
No
Growth
No
Growth
No
Growth
Subculture
inoculation
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
28 CFU
10-5
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
10-6
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
Growth
TNC
TNC
Growth
TNC
No Growth
No
Growth
No Growth
No Growth
Growth
BHI
(positive
control)
Growth
TNC
Water
(negative
control)
No
Growth
No Growth
No
Growth
Minimum Inhibitory Concentration and Minimum Lethal Concentration
The minimum inhibitory concentration, or MIC, and the minimum lethal
concentration, or MLC, were established for each oil on both bacterial species. The MIC
and MLC were determined using the broth tubes and the subculture inoculation plates.
The lowest oil concentration that did not shown turbidity, or cloudiness, in the broth
tubes and showed no growth on the subculture inoculations was considered the MIC. The
MIC of cinnamon oil was 10-3 for both E. coli and S. aureus. The MIC of peppermint oil
for S. aureus was 10-4 and no MIC was found for E. coli as growth was seen at all
concentrations. The MIC of chamomile oil for E. coli was also not found because growth
was also seen at all concentrations. The MIC of chamomile for S. aureus was determined
to be 10-4. The MLC was established by the highest concentration of essential oil that did
not show growth in both the broth tubes and the subculture inoculations. The MLC of
19
�cinnamon oil for E. coli was 10-3. The MLC for both chamomile oil and peppermint oil
for E. coli were not established because growth as seen at all concentrations. The MLC of
chamomile oil and peppermint oil for S. aureus were both 10-1. The MLC of cinnamon
oil was 10-3.
Table 13: The MIC and MLC of chamomile oil, peppermint oil, and cinnamon oil for
Escherichia coli.
Essential oil
MIC
MLC
Chamomile oil
N/A
N/A
Cinnamon oil
10-3
10-3
Peppermint oil
N/A
N/A
Table 14: The MIC and MLC of chamomile oil, peppermint oil, and cinnamon oil for
Staphylococcus aureus.
Essential oil
MIC
MLC
Chamomile oil
10-4
10-1
Cinnamon oil
10-3
10-3
Peppermint oil
10-4
10-4
Agar Dilution
Results of the Agar Dilution test on Escherichia coli
The results of the agar dilution test are recorded in tables 15-20. The number of
colonies on each dilution plate was counted to determine the effectiveness of each oil at
different concentrations. A plate containing no oil served as the control in which growth
was seen in each trial. Tables 15, 16, and 17 show the number of colonies of Escherichia
coli present at each oil concentration. Chamomile oil inhibited the growth of E. coli at 103 and 10-4 in two of the three trials. It also at inhibited growth across all trials at 10-6 as
seen in Table 15. Cinnamon oil at the highest concentration inhibited the growth of E.
coli across all trails as seen in Table 14. It was unable to inhibit growth at all other
concentrations in two of the three trials. Peppermint oil showed to inhibit growth at 10-1
20
�and 10-6 concentrations. It did not inhibit growth at all other concentrations in two of the
three trials as seen in Table 17.
Table 15: The number of colonies of Escherichia coli in different concentrations of
chamomile oil using the agar dilution method.
Oil Dilution
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
10-1
No Growth
TNC
TNC
10-2
No Growth
TNC
TNC
10-3
No Growth
No Growth
TNC
10-4
No Growth
No Growth
TNC
10-5
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-6
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
No oil (control)
TNC
TNC
TNC
Table 16: The number of colonies of Escherichia coli in different concentration of
cinnamon oil using the agar dilution method.
Oil Dilution
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
10-1
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
10-2
No Growth
TNC
TNC
10-3
No Growth
TNC
TNC
10-4
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-5
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-6
TNC
TNC
TNC
No oil(control)
TNC
TNC
TNC
21
�Table 17: The number of colonies of Escherichia coli in different concentrations of
peppermint using the agar dilution method.
Oil Dilution
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
10-1
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
10-2
No Growth
TNC
TNC
10-3
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-4
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-5
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-6
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
No oil(control)
TNC
TNC
TNC
Results of the Agar Dilution test on Staphylococcus aureus
The tables below show the number of colonies of Staphylococcus aureus on MSA
agar with different oil concentrations of cinnamon oil, chamomile oil, and peppermint oil.
Chamomile oil inhibited the growth of S. aureus at concentrations of 10-1 and 10-2 as shown
in Table 18. Cinnamon oil inhibited the growth at concentration of 10-1, 10-2, and 10-3. The
plates containing peppermint oil show growth at all concentrations as seen in Table 20.
Table 18: The number of colonies of Staphylococcus aureus in different concentrations
of chamomile oil using the agar dilution method.
Oil Dilution
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
10-1
No Growth
No Growth
TNC
10-2
TNC
No Growth
TNC
10-3
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-4
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-5
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-6
TNC
TNC
TNC
No oil(control)
TNC
TNC
TNC
22
�Table 19: The number of colonies of Staphylococcus aureus in different concentrations
of cinnamon oil using the agar dilution method.
Oil Dilution
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
10-1
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
10-2
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
10-3
No Growth
No Growth
No Growth
10-4
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-5
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-6
TNC
TNC
TNC
No oil(control)
TNC
TNC
TNC
Table 20: The number of colonies of Staphylococcus aureus in different concentrations
of peppermint oil using the agar dilution method.
Oil Dilution
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
10-1
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-2
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-3
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-4
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-5
TNC
TNC
TNC
10-6
TNC
TNC
TNC
No oil(control)
TNC
TNC
TNC
IV. Discussion
The results obtained during this research showed that chamomile oil, cinnamon
oil, and peppermint oil had inhibitory effects on both a Gram-positive species
Staphylococcus aureus, and a Gram-negative species Escherichia coli. In all three of the
23
�methods preformed, it was shown that each of the oils were more effective at inhibiting
the growth of both species of bacteria at a higher concentration than at a lower
concentration overall. However, each oil had its own effect on each of the bacteria. In
some oils, a higher concentration permitted growth while some lower concentration
inhibited it. In other oils, an intermediate oil concentration inhibited growth while all
others did not. Both cases will be discussed in greater detail below. Overall, chamomile
oil had the lowest inhibiting ability on E. coli, while cinnamon oil had the greatest
inhibitory effects. Using S. aureus, chamomile had the greatest inhibitory effects while
peppermint oil was observed to have the lowest inhibitory effects. It was also shown that
overall, E. coli, a Gram-negative species, was less susceptible to the antimicrobial effects
of the essentials as compared to S. aureus, a Gram-positive species.
Phytochemicals and Antimicrobial Activity
Phytochemicals are known as the chemicals that are naturally produced by
plants. All essential oils are derived from plants via distillation of plant leaves, bark, or
other plant material. Plants produce these phytochemicals to protect themselves however,
many phytochemicals have been found to protect humans against diseases as well. The
phytochemicals produced by a plant can vary despite being the same species. This is
because of several factors such as harvest time, where the plant was grown, and
environmental factors. This variation can alter the antimicrobial effectiveness of an
essential oil. Cinnamaldehyde and eugenol, two phytochemicals of cinnamon oil are two
known antimicrobial agents. A study conducted by the Department of Biotechnology at
Alagappa University showed that eugenol increased the permeability of the membrane of
Salmonella typhi, a Gram-negative species. Cinnamaldehyde has also shown to act as a
membrane irritant by Nabavi et al. In chamomile oil, phytochemicals such as β-faresene
and a-bisabolol have been identified as antimicrobial agents. A study conducted by De
Lucca et al., showed that a-bisabolol was able to inhibit growth of S. aureus and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Peppermint oil is known to contain the phytochemicals
menthol and menthone. According to a study conducted by Reddy et al., these two
phytochemicals have antimicrobial effects on both Gram-negative and Gram-positive
species. The phytochemicals found in these oils are an important part of this experiment
because they allow us to analyze and compare how each of them effects Gram-negative
and Gram-positive species. The three oils effected the growth of S. aureus and E. coli
differently. For example, chamomile oil had the greatest inhibitory effects on S. aureus,
24
�while it had the least inhibitory effects on E. coli, which may be contributed to the
antimicrobial activity of the phytochemicals found in these oils.
Nazzaro et al., suggests several mechanisms of actions in which essential oils
can take against microbes. One of those mechanisms is that essential oils can affect both
the external envelope of the cell as well as the cytoplasm which disrupts bacterial
homeostasis. According to Nazzaro et al., essential oils are typically hydrophobic and
that this characteristic is responsible for the disruption of bacterial cell membrane
because of an increase of permeability of the cell membrane. The hydrophobicity of
essential oils resembles the hydrophobicity of the cell membrane therefore, there is an
inability to separate the essential oil from the bacterial membrane (Nazzaro et al., 2013 ).
This disruption in the cell membrane leads to a disruption to the cells metabolic processes
and overall homeostasis. According to Nazzaro et al., the hydrophobicity of essential oils
to penetrate the cell wall and disrupt cell function could be a contributing factor as to why
essential oils are generally more effective against Gram-positive bacteria as opposed to
Gram-negative bacteria. This concept of how Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria
are affected differently will be discussed in greater detail in a following subsection.
Several other ways in which essential oils can affect bacterial growth is that they can
affect the fatty acid profile of the cell membrane, proteins, ATP and ATPases, and cell
morphology (Nazzaro et al., 2013)
Agar Dilution
The agar dilution test was used to determine the effectiveness of each oil at six
different dilutions by counting the number of colonies on each plate after a 24-hour
incubation period. Mannitol salt agar and eosin methylene blue agar were the test media
of choice for all experiments in this project because they are both selective and
differential. Staphylococcus aureus changes the color of MSA from red to yellow due to
its ability to ferment mannitol, while E. coli produces colonies with a green metallic
sheen on EMB agar. These two agars made it easy to count the number of colonies
present on each plate as well as ensure that no other species of bacteria were present. A
plate with no oil was used in each trial as a control to compare to each dilution plate.
Growth was expected on these plates because there was nothing present to inhibit
bacterial growth. The effectiveness of each oil was determined by the number of colonies
present on each plate. A colony forming unit, or CFU, was used to determine the number
of viable cells in a given sample. Any number less than 30 CFU is considered
insignificant, and any number greater than 300 CFU is considered too numerous to count,
25
�or TNC. The fewer the colonies on the plate meant the oil used had a greater inhibiting
activity. Overall, higher concentrations of oil produced plates with fewer or no colonies.
Escherichia coli was inhibited at some concentration by each of the three oils
using this method. Chamomile oil had the highest inhibitory effects followed by
peppermint oil, and cinnamon oil had the least effect. While using this method, two of the
oils, peppermint and chamomile, allowed growth a higher concentration but, inhibited
growth at lower concentrations. Chamomile oil inhibited the growth of E. coli at
concentrations 10-3, 10-4, and 10-6, and allowed growth at concentrations 10-1, 10-2, and
10-5 as shown in Table 13. Peppermint oil inhibited growth at concentration 10-1 and 10-6
and allowed growth at all concentrations in between as seen in (Table 17). A possible
explanation for this is that at high concentration these oils promote growth while at lower
concentrations they can inhibit it. Another possible explanation for this could be
experimental error or design. Experimental error or design is more likely the cause since
this occurrence was not typically supported by other research.
Staphylococcus aureus was inhibited at some concentration by two of the three
essential oils, chamomile oil and cinnamon oil. Peppermint oil was unable to inhibit the
growth of S. aureus at any concentration. These findings are not supported by the data
collected in the other two methods in which peppermint oil was effective at inhibiting
growth of S. aureus at several concentrations. A causative factor of this could have been
because towards the end of this research project, the peppermint oil used in the previous
methods had run out. Peppermint oil capsules had been used in its place which could
have caused this inconsistency in results. Cinnamon oil had the highest inhibitory effects
as it was able to inhibit grow at concentrations 10-1, 10-2, and 10-3, while chamomile oil
was only able to inhibit grow at 10-1 concentration in two of the three trails. Using this
method, S. aureus was more resistant to the essential oils as compared to E. coli.
However, this was not seen in the other two methods in which E. coli proved to be more
resistant than S. aureus.
Agar-well Diffusion
The agar-well diffusion test was used to determine the susceptibility of S. aureus
and E. coli to each oil at different concentrations by measuring the zone of inhibition
around each well. In this experiment, a well with water served as a control in which a
zone of 0 cm was observed. This was expected because water has no known
antimicrobial components allowing the bacteria to grow. A well with alcohol served as a
negative control as it inhibited bacterial growth in all trials. This was expected because
26
�alcohol is known to inhibit bacterial growth. The essential oils that had antimicrobial
effects inhibited bacterial growth and showed a zone of inhibition around the well. In
addition, essential oils with a greater inhibiting ability produced a larger zone of
inhibition. This was demonstrated throughout the experiment and can be seen on Tables
1-6. Six different oil concentrations were used to determine at which concentrations each
oil would be able to inhibit the growth of both bacteria. Overall, it took concentrations
over 4 µl to effectively inhibit bacterial growth in all oils.
Tables 1, 2, and 3 shows the zone of inhibition of E. coli caused by the different
concentrations of each oil. It was shown throughout all three trails that chamomile oil did
not have any inhibitory effects on E. coli, while cinnamon oil and peppermint oil did.
Cinnamon oil was able to inhibit growth of E. coli at concentrations 8 µl, 16 µl, and 32
µl. While peppermint oil inhibited growth at 16 µl and 32 µl. For both cinnamon and
peppermint oil, it took concentrations over 8 µl for the oil to be able to inhibit growth. S.
aureus was inhibited by each oil at some concentration across all three trials. Chamomile
oil had the highest inhibitory effect on S. aureus using this method as it was able to
inhibit growth at 4 µl, 8 µl, 16 µl and 32 µl. Peppermint oil and cinnamon oil had the
same inhibitory effects at concentrations of 16 µl and 32 µl as shown in Tables 5 and 6.
Both oils completely inhibited the growth of S. aureus as no growth was seen on these
plates. At concentrations lower than 16 µl and 32 µl these oils were unable to inhibit
growth and did not produce any zone of inhibition. While E. coli was inhibited by
peppermint oil and cinnamon oil, the zone of inhibition around the wells in each trail
were small as compared to the zone of inhibition created by these oils on S. aureus. For
example, the average diameter of the zone of inhibition created by peppermint oil on E.
coli at the 32 µl concentration was 1.9 cm, while the average zone of inhibited created by
the same oil on S. aureus was 3.8 cm. This shows that while cinnamon oil and
peppermint oil did have inhibitory effects on E. coli, the effects were greater on S.
aureus. This also tells us that E. coli is slightly more resistant to these two essential oils
than S. aureus.
Chamomile was the only oil seen to be ineffective at inhibition E. coli at all
concentrations. Chamomile oil is known for its health benefits and therapeutic properties.
It is also known to have components such as a-bisabolol and cyclic ethers which are
known antimicrobial agents, according to Srivastava et al. Therefore, it was expected to
have inhibitory effects on both bacterial species using this method. In E.coli species,
chamomile oil showed to have no inhibitory effects at any concentration. A study
conducted by Sakkas et al., tested the antimicrobial effects of five different essential oils,
27
�one being chamomile, on four types of Gram-negative bacteria, including E. coli.
Similarly, they found in their study that chamomile oil did not have any inhibitory effects
on E. coli (Sakkas et al., 2016). This study supports the data recorded in this experiment.
Broth Dilution
The broth dilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibiting
concentration, or MIC, and minimum lethal concentration, or MLC, of each oil. The six
different oil concentrations were added to nutrient broth and inoculated with each
microbe. After a 24-hour incubation period, a subculture inoculation of each tube was
taken to determine the MLC and MIC of the oil. The MIC was established by
determining the lowest oil concentration that did not show any growth in the broth tubes
as well as on the subculture inoculation plates. While, MLC was established by
determining the highest oil concentration that did not show any growth in the broth tubes
and subculture inoculation plates. Again, MSA and EMB agar were used for the
subculture inoculations. Brain heart infusion broth or, BHI, without oil was used as the
positive control and a water blank was used as the negative control. In all trials, no
growth was seen in the water blank tubes and growth was seen in all tubes containing
BHI. In addition, no growth was seen on any of the subculture inoculation plates of the
water blanks. A colony count that was too numerous to count was seen on all the
subculture plates of the BHI tubes in all trials both of these outcomes were expected.
The MLC and MIC of cinnamon oil was only able to be established in E. coli as
the other two oils did not inhibit growth at any concentration. The MLC and MIC of
cinnamon oil were both established at a concentration of 10-3 as that was the only
concentration that inhibited growth of E. coli. On the other hand, the MLC and MIC were
both able to be established for each oil for S. aureus. Chamomile oil and peppermint oil
both had the same MLC and MIC of 10-1 and 10-4 respectively. Both oils were able to
inhibit the growth of S. aureus at concentrations 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4. Cinnamon oil
had the lowest inhibitory ability on S. aureus with its MLC and MIC both being 10-3.
This method showed that while peppermint oil and chamomile oil are effective at
inhibiting growth of S. aureus at four of the six concentration, these oils did not have the
same inhibitory effects on E. coli as they did not inhibit growth at any concentration. This
further shows that Gram-negative bacteria are more resistant to the antimicrobial abilities
of essential oils than Gram-positive species.
28
�Gram-Negative VS Gram-Positive
Throughout the course of this experiment, it was shown that overall Escherichia
coli, a Gram-negative species, was more resistant to the three essential oils than
Staphylococcus aureus, a Gram-positive species. Although, this did vary slightly in some
trials. In all three of the experiments performed, it was shown that it took a higher
concentration of oil to inhibit grow of E. coli as opposed to S. aureus. According to
Nazzaro et al., generally Gram-negative bacteria are more resistant to essential oils than
Gram-positive species. They attribute this to the different cellular makeup of the cell wall
of Gram-negative and Gram-positive species. Gram-positive bacteria have a thick cell
wall made of peptidoglycan and other molecules such as teichoic acid and lipoteichoic
acid in which hydrophobic molecules can easily penetrate (Nazzaro et al., 2013).
According to Nazzaro et al., phenolic compounds found in essential oils show high
antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and can interfere with enzymes as well as
denature proteins at a higher concentration. The Gram-negative cell wall is composed of
lipopolysaccharides, or LPS, a peptidoglycan layer, and a periplasmic space. The LPS is
composed of a Lipid A, oligosaccharide core, and the O-antigen which allows Gramnegative bacteria to be more resistant to essential oils. Porins allow small hydrophilic
molecules to pass through the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria but does not
allow hydrophobic molecules in, which Nazzaro et al., attribute to the greater resistibility
of Gram-negative bacteria. This could be a possible explanation as to why S. aureus was
more susceptible to the essential oils. A study conducted by Farag et al., also showed that
overall Gram-negative bacteria have a higher resistance to essential oils than Grampositive bacteria. This study also found that E. coli had a higher resistance compared to
the other Gram-negative species they tested. Furthermore, a study conducted by Govec et
al, showed that peppermint oil demonstrated a higher effect on Gram- positive species
than it did on Gram-negative species. This study was consistent with the finding of this
experiment.
Future Research
Multidrug resistant strains of bacteria are increasing and are causing a global
health crisis among health care providers. Multidrug resistant strains of bacteria are
resistant to a large amount of antibiotics making them extremely difficult to treat and, in
some cases, almost impossible. However, there is promising research that shows that
nanoparticles functionalized with essential oils have a significant antimicrobial potential
against these multi-drug resistant strains of bacteria (Chouhan et al., 2017). According to
29
�Chouhan et al., these functionalized nanoparticles decrease the possibility of rapid
evaporation of the essential oils and minimize the degradation of the active compounds in
the oils. Chouhan et al., suggests that nano-encapsulation of essential oils along with the
relationship between antibiotics, essential oils, and the active components of essential oils
are a promising solution in the fight against multidrug resistant strains of bacteria.
Essential oils are volatile substances that are sensitive to oxygen, light and heat which
decreases their effectiveness. Therefore, nano-encapsulation of these oils is believed to be
one of the most efficient methods of essential oil delivery because it decreases the
likelihood of diminishing the oil (Chouhan et al., 2017). A study showed that components
of essential oils such as thymol and carvacrol had a synergistic relationship with
penicillin against E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium. This study also showed that
eugenol, a component of cinnamon oil, showed synergism with ampicillin and
gentamicin against various types of bacteria (Chouhan et al., 2017). Synergistic
relationships seen between components of essential oils and commonly used antibiotics
have been demonstrated in multiple studies. These relationships can be the future in the
fight against multidrug resistant strains of bacteria.
Methodical Aspects
As with all research, there were a few errors that could have led to some
inconsistencies throughout the experiment. One of the major issues that occurred during
this research was that towards the end of the experiment, the peppermint oil used had ran
out. Because of this, peppermint oil capsules were used as a replacement in which they
had to be dissolved in sterile water. This could have effected the results because it was a
different brand and type used. As discussed above, even though it was still peppermint oil
being used, the levels of the phytochemicals in the two types may have been different,
possibly leading to different outcomes. This could be seen in the results recorded in Table
20. Peppermint oil was unable to inhibit the growth of S. aureus using the agar dilution
method in which the peppermint capsules were used. Using the other two methods,
peppermint oil had successfully inhibited the growth of S. aureus. In addition, it would
have been beneficial if the chemical composition of each oil was known. Knowing the
level of each phytochemical in the oils would have allowed further analysis into why and
how each oil effected the two bacteria in the way that they did. This would have also
allowed us to dive further into phytochemicals and how they are isolated and used
independently as an antibacterial agent.
30
�V. References
Srivastava, J., Shankar, E., Gupta, S. (2010). Chamomile: A Herbal Medicine of the
Past with Bright Future Molecular Medicine Reports 3, no. 6: 895–901.
Zaia, M., di Orlando Cagnazzo, T., Feitosa, K., Soares, E. Faccioli, L., Allegretti, M.,
Afonso, A., and de Freitas Anibal, F. (2016). Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Menthol
and Menthone in Schistosoma Mansoni Infection. Frontiers in Pharmacology.
Taylor, T., and Unakal, C. (2019). Staphylococcus Aureus. In: StatPearls. Treasure
Island: StatPearls Publishing.
Nabavi, S, Di Lorenzo, A., Izadi, M., Sobarzo-Sánchez, E., Daglia, M., and
Mohammad Nabavi, S. (2015). Antibacterial Effects of Cinnamon: From Farm to Food,
Cosmetic and Pharmaceutical Industries. In: Nutrients 7, no. 9
Gossman, W., Wasey, A., and Salen, P. (2019). Escherichia Coli (E Coli 0157H7). In:
StatPearls. Treasure Island: StatPearls Publishing.
Croxen, M., Law, R., Scholz, R., Keeney, K., Wlodarska, M., and Finlay, B. (2013).
Recent Advances in Understanding Enteric Pathogenic Escherichia Coli. Clinical
Microbiology Reviews 26, no. 4: 822–80.
Chumpitazi, Br., Kearns, G, and Shulman, R. (2018). Review Article: The
Physiologic Effects and Safety of Peppermint Oil and Its Efficacy in Irritable Bowel
Syndrome and Other Functional Disorders. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics
47, no. 6: 738–52.
Blount, Z. (2019). The Unexhausted Potential of E. Coli. ELife 4.
Baker, B. (2017). Cinnamon & Cinnamon Oil Profile.
Buckle, J. (2014). Clinical Aromatherapy: Essential Oils in Healthcare. Elsevier Health
Sciences
Guenther, E. (1947). The Essential Oils. Lancaster Press, INC.
31
�Farag, R. S., Z. Y. Daw, F. M. Hewedi, and G. S. A. El-Baroty. (1989) Antimicrobial
Activity of Some Egyptian Spice Essential Oils. Journal of Food Protection 52, no. 9:
665–67.
Nazzaro, Filomena, Fratianni, F., De Martino L., Coppola R., and De Feo A. (2013).
Effect of Essential Oils on Pathogenic Bacteria. Pharmaceuticals 6, no. 12: 1451–74.
De Lucca, A, Pauli A., Schilcher H., Sien T., Bhatnagar D., and Walsh T. (2011).
Fungicidal and Bactericidal Properties of Bisabolol and Dragosantol. Journal of Essential
Oil Research - J ESSENT OIL RES 23: 47–54.
Magiorakos, A.-P., A. Srinivasan, R. B. Carey, Y. Carmeli, M. E. Falagas, C. G.
Giske, S. Harbarth. (2012). Multidrug-Resistant, Extensively Drug-Resistant and
Pandrug-Resistant Bacteria: An International Expert Proposal for Interim Standard
Definitions for Acquired Resistance. Clinical Microbiology and Infection 18, no. 3: 268–
81.
Chouhan, S, Sharma, K., and Guleria, S. (2017). Antimicrobial Activity of Some
Essential Oils—Present Status and Future Perspectives. Medicines 4, no. 3: 58.
Prabuseenivasan, Jayakumar, and Ignacimuthu, In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of
Some Plant Essential Oils.
VI. Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge Dr. Kathleen Bobbitt, my thesis advisor, for
guiding me through this research project. I would also like to thank the graduate
assistants and the rest of the Wagner College Biological Science department for
providing me with the materials necessary for this project.
32
�The Effects of Corporate Sustainability
on Corporate Financial Performance
Graham Schmelzer (Business Administration)1
This paper reviews the financial effect of implementing sustainability practices into
corporate business models. The text examines a variety of sustainability practices, as well
as the multiple financial implications of their implementation. The results show
corporations which engage in sustainability practices can derive several benefits,
including: increased stock market performance, reduced downside risk in turbulent
financial markets, and increased customer satisfaction. This thesis shows the dynamic
between external pressure on corporations for sustainability, and the effect of the
implementation of sustainable practices on corporate financial performance. This
research can be supplemented by further research into what specific sustainability
practices are the most effective and garner the most returns for effort/cost.
I. Introduction
As consumers are becoming more vigilant of the world around them and
watching how corporations affect the planet and society, reporting and quantifying the
effect of sustainability practices on corporate financial performance is increasingly
necessary. World governments and global media are emphasizing the importance of
sustainability. Corporations are adopting sustainable practices in different ways,
depending on their industry and objectives. For example, Nike, Starbucks, and Intel are
all Fortune 500 companies in different industries, but all have exemplary sustainability
practices. There is debate on whether corporations which engage in sustainable practices
benefit financially. This thesis dissects the interaction between corporate sustainability
efforts and financial performance. The insights learned will be useful for corporate
executives and regulators; corporate sustainability is prevalent throughout today’s major
industries and will continue to grow in influence.
1
Written under the direction of Dr. Shani Carter in partial fulfillment of the Senior Program
requirements.
33
�II. Literature Review
Aspects of Corporate Sustainability
The research used for this paper defines sustainability as meeting society’s
needs today without compromising future generations ability to meet theirs (Alshehhi,
Nobanee, Khare, 2018). This definition comes from the 1987 Brundtland Report, entitled
“Our Common Future,” where the term “sustainability” was originally coined. For
corporations, sustainability encompasses the environment, social impact, and governance
practices. There are references to the “Triple Bottom Line” approach: people; planet;
profit (Charter et al., 2006). This approach is intended to be used when c-suite executives
make difficult business decisions or plan strategy.
There is a noticeable difference in how companies around the world utilize the
Triple Bottom Line approach. In the United States, a highly competitive, capitalistic
society, corporate management places an emphasis on maximizing shareholder wealth
(Lumpkin & Bacq, 2019). This is contrasted by traditional business practices in places
like Japan, which endorse the stakeholder wealth ideology (Stikeleather, 2017).
Companies which embrace the stakeholder wealth ideology ensure firm earnings benefit
all stakeholders, as opposed to just shareholders (Stikeleather, 2017). Shareholder theory,
as practiced in the United States, does not account for all parties involved. American
corporations are focused on share price and maximizing shareholder wealth, disregarding
significant stakeholders such as employees and customers. In the long-term, practicing
shareholder theory is potentially detrimental to society, and the firm itself (Stikeleather,
2017). In order to appease investors and attract business partners and customers,
American companies are now adopting or creating customized sustainability efforts. For
example, the coffee empire Starbucks continually anticipates market trends and adopts
more sustainable practices. In 1997, the company invented the “hot sleeve,” a
replacement to the excessive consumption of “double cupping” (Kay, 2015). The efforts
to be sustainable go by different names and acronyms: Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR); Corporate Sustainability (CS); Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG);
Corporate Governance (CG), and more.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
CSR is a company’s commitment to manage the social, environmental, and
economic effects of its operations responsibly and in line with public expectations
(Business Development Bank of Canada, 2019). CSR manifests itself in many different
ways depending on the company and the industry. Some organizations, such as Nike,
enact policies which insist on working with partners who follow ethical business
practices (Porter & Kramer; 2006). Other organizations, such as Johnson & Johnson,
34
�reinvest profits in health and safety or environmental programs (Kelly, 2019).
Corporations, such as Bank of America, often choose to support charitable organizations
in the communities where they operate (Feeding America, 2012). CSR also includes
promoting equal opportunities for men and women at the executive level, as seen in
companies such as McDonalds (McDonalds Staff, 2019). CSR is a broad collection of
strategies which companies can apply in their daily business operations to increase
efficiency while enhancing their public image.
Environment, Social and Governance (ESG)
Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) is the title which corporations and
investors have placed on corporation’s engagement with the broader term of
“sustainability” (MSCI, 2019). It is a measure of the integration, values, and impact of a
company’s sustainability efforts. ESG refers to a business’ impact on three specific areas:
the environment, society, and government mandated reporting (MSCI, 2019). In practice,
the term ESG is often used by the investment banks and financial firms of Wall Street
during discussions about the sustainability efforts of a company. It is important to
understand and recognize ESG as a technical term for a corporation’s engagement in
sustainable practices.
Corporate Governance (CG)
CG is a critical item on the agendas of investors, regulators, and policy makers
around the world. Because corporations have significant influence on a wide range of
socioeconomic activities, regulators and non-government organizations (NGOs) establish
best practices for corporations to follow (Business Roundtable, 2016). These regulations,
such as mandated quarterly financial reports, are required of publicly traded American
firms. These types of regulations add to the costs and complexity of overseeing and
managing a corporation’s business activity, bringing new challenges from operational,
regulatory and compliance perspectives. For example, the Securities and Exchange Act
governs corporate behavior; federal securities acts are carefully monitored and enforced
by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The regulations imposed by the SEC
are a framework of minimum requirements for publicly-traded companies; the regulations
give corporations the flexibility to implement customized practices that suit their needs
(SEC, 2019). In an attempt to be cognizant of changing market conditions and standards,
the SEC allows room for modification by trying to update regulations based on
corporations’ concerns/needs. However, some corporations find many of the regulations
restrictive and/or distracting (Business Roundtable, 2016). CG is often discussed
internally or from an investment perspective.
35
�Corporate Sustainability (CS)
CS is the all-encompassing term for ESG, CSR, CG, and more (Eccles, Ioannou,
Serafeim, 2014). Many modern corporations have a global profile; they interact with
investors, suppliers, customers, and governments around the world at different points
throughout the supply chain. The modern corporation’s global exposure is all done in an
era in which instant communication is the norm. Corporations are forced to be hyper
aware of their business activities and their potential impacts at all times. Corporations are
expected to deliver value to their customers, invest in their employees (as well as foster
diversity, inclusion, and respect), deal fairly and ethically with suppliers, support the
communities in which they work, generating long-term value for shareholders, and
commit to transparency and effective engagement (Porter & Kramer, 2015). Corporations
willingly engage in corporate sustainability practices to accrue various kinds of
competitive advantage (Porter & Kramer, 2015). CS as a term is used internally and
externally when comparing CS practices and financial performance (Eccles, Ioannou,
Serafeim, 2014).
Sustainability’s Relationship to Corporations
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 goals for
humanity set by the United Nations in 2015; the aim is to achieve these goals by 2030
(United Nations, 2015). The 17 goals include: No Poverty; Zero Hunger; Good Health
and Well-Being; Quality Education; Gender Equality; Clean Water and Sanitation;
Affordable Clean Energy; Decent Work and Economic Growth; Industry, Innovation, and
Infrastructure; Reduced Inequalities; Sustainable Cities and Communities; Responsible
Consumption and Production; Climate Action; Life Below Water; Life on Land, Peace;
Justice and Strong Institutions; Partnerships. These goals are widely held as the standard
for corporations and governments to adhere to (United Nations, 2015). In theory, all
corporations and governments should consider these goals when making decisions,
planning strategy, or reviewing business activity. The SDG’s are all-encompassing; they
are broad, yet detailed and based in science.
The publication of the 17 SDGs occurred the same year as the 2015 Paris
Agreement, otherwise known as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC’s central aim was to encourage a global response to
the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature increase below two
degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (United Nations, 2015). UNFCCC is an
actionable step to addressing goal number 13, Climate Action, from the United Nations’
17 SDGs; by bringing all nations from around the world together and getting
36
�commitments from world leaders and developing nations, it set a precedent for
corporations to follow in suit. In some cases, governments are partnering with
corporations to create lasting innovations. In other situations, governments are enacting
regulations, which come into effect along a specific timeline (U.S. Department of Energy,
2019). For example, the United States automotive industry is greatly impacted by State
and Federal government regulation. Automobile emission standards are reviewed and
updated annually; those car models which do not meet standards are forbidden to be sold
in specified regions (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018). The UNFCCC is
designed to be a motivator for governments and corporations alike, but it does not have
any enforcement protocols (United Nations, 2015).
The United Nations has done a comprehensive job of outlining areas of
improvement and has enabled many governments and institutions to take action. Business
Roundtable, the premier non-profit organization on corporate regulation and oversight,
hopes to expand upon the United Nation’s vision. Specifically, Business Roundtable has
been creating “Purpose of a Corporation” annual reports since 1997. These reports
outline principles of CG which aim to protect value for stakeholders. This non-profit
works to ensure more inclusive prosperity by committing to a free market economy and
setting a standard for business practices (Business Roundtable, 2012).
Sustainability Rankings
Corporate sustainability performance (CSP) measures the extent to which a firm
embraces the United Nations’ 17 SDGs. It attempts to quantify how corporation factor
CS into their operations as well as the ultimate impact a corporation exerts on the
environment and society (Endrikat, 2016). The financial industry is shifting corporations
towards corporate sustainability by placing and selling ratings of sustainability
engagement (Endrikat, 2016). This process of CSP being measured and displayed is
known as sustainability ratings.
Asset owners often rely on their consultants and managers to collect and analyze
ESG data publicly released by corporations (Endrikat, 2016). Recently, third-party
resources have emerged, which conduct their own sustainability investigations and
summarize their findings; these reports provide investors with unbiased data to make
better informed decisions about ESG investment (Lourenço, Branco, Curto, Eugénio,
2016). These third-party ESG research firms include MSCI ESG Research,
Sustainalytics, and Vigeo EIRIS. Their research covers all asset classes and provides indepth insight into multiple important ESG factors (MSCI, 2017). This easy access to data
informs investors and allows for convenient comparison between companies and
industries. More recently, some service providers are using big data, machine learning,
37
�and artificial intelligence to better analyze the ESG information of companies (MSCI,
2017). However, even with the leading ESG research firms such as MSCI, Sustainalytics,
and Vigeo EIRIS issuing quarterly reports, sustainability ratings are still in the early
stages of development. More transparency on behalf of corporations is necessary before
these ratings become truly reliable (Morgan Stanley, 2019). While investors currently use
SEC mandatory earnings reports to inform investment decisions, there is no comparable
required reporting for sustainability practices. Investors and clients still want portfolios
with ethical and responsible companies, leading to the rise of sustainability investing
(SEC, 2019).
Sustainability Investing
Sustainability investing is an investment discipline that considers environmental,
social, and corporate governance criteria to generate long-term competitive financial
returns and positive societal impact (Hoque, 2018). It entails evaluating an organization's
position concerning the environment, health and security, social matters, and governance
(Alpopi, Zaharia, Nicolescu; 2015). Sustainable investment strategies are being applied to
portfolios because investors are now including ESG issues as a part of their investment
analysis and selection process (Morgan Stanley, 2019). Sustainable investment practices
are relevant for individual investors and institutional fund managers for retirement plans,
corporations, educational institutions, philanthropic foundations, faith-based institutions,
family offices, labor funds, health care funds, and nonprofit organizations (Morgan
Stanley, 2019). Frequently, fund managers tailor portfolios for their clients who only
want to invest in sustainable companies (Morgan Stanley, 2019). This strategy was
confirmed in a study where 84% of global asset owners were pursuing or considering
pursuing ESG integration in their investment process, while 78% of global asset owners
sought to align their investment strategy with the United Nations SDGs (Morgan Stanley,
2019). Investors use multiple labels to refer to sustainable investing, such as: ESG
Investing; Impact Investing; mission-aligned investing; responsible investing; socially
responsible investing; values-based investing; among others (Morgan Stanley, 2019).
The key component of sustainability investing is the incorporation of ESG in
investment analysis and portfolio construction across a range of asset classes (Lourenço,
Branco, Curto, Eugénio, 2016). ESG incorporation can be done multiple ways: positive/
“best in class” screening involves selecting outstanding ESG performers relative to their
industry; or negative/ “exclusionary” screening uses certain criteria to remove poor
performers from ESG portfolios (Morgan Stanley, 2019). The variance in portfolio
selection comes from investor preference. Certain investors want their personal
philosophy to be reflected within their investment portfolio (Morgan Stanley, 2019).
38
�Common exclusionary screenings avoid investments which are exposed to climate
change, conflict risk (the risk of doing business in countries that have repressive regimes
or sponsor terrorism), tobacco, human rights, and board accountability issues. Disclosure
and management of corporate political spending and lobbying is also a major concern
(Hoque, 2018). Money managers seem to agree that climate change is the most pressing
ESG concern (Hoque, 2018). Nevertheless, sustainability investing is a growing financial
vehicle across all asset classes. There are sustainability centered mutual funds, indexes,
and ETFs. This recent trend has prompted corporations to be ever aware of their public
perception because of the consequences of stock price and market capitalization (Kumar
& Vinod, 2012).
Corporate Sustainability Marketing: Past, Present, and Future
There is an emerging trend of companies using corporate social responsibility
(CSR) communication in their marketing efforts to enhance their corporate image
(Parguel & Larceneux, 2011). Public relations and media campaigns inundate consumers
with ads and overwhelm their attention with self-proclaimed “sustainable” acts (Porter &
Kramer, 2006). This influx of “green marketing may be making publicized CSR
initiatives less effective (Parguel & Larceneux, 2011). Ethical corporate marketing is a
consumer concern, especially in the social media era, which allows for quick widespread
sharing of misinformation (Kumar & Vinod, 2012). Corporations are more concerned
with their reputation and satisfying external audiences than actual sustainability (Porter &
Kramer, 2006). The negative impact of this movement has been coined
“greenwashing”,which is the use of tactics to mislead consumers regarding the
environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or
service (Parguel & Larceneux, 2011). To combat greenwashing, independent third-party
sources have been developing sustainability ratings (MSCI, 2017). These ratings allow
consumers to see an objective verification of a companies’ sustainability efforts and act
as a way to ensure that companies are actually practicing their claims. Irresponsible acts,
which cause negative effects in ESG, are known to negatively impact company reputation
and valuation (Endrikat, 2016). This change in consumer sentiment toward companies
and brands can be long-lasting. Strong CSR performance is crucial; it positively
influences consumer’s attitude towards a firm, as well as their purchasing decisions.
Research has found that consumers perceive hidden ulterior motives of companies which
focus too intently on its CSR claims (Parguel & Larceneux, 2011). They also found
consumers have difficulty evaluating the real impact of environmental innovations
(Parguel & Larceneux, 2011). Customer confusion and corporate deceit are both reasons
why sustainability ratings are valuable (Parguel & Larceneux, 2011). Sustainability
39
�ratings inform consumers by providing summarized stakeholder’s evaluations of CSR
efforts.
Corporations research emerging social trends and understand the effect of their
actions on stock price and market capitalization; this information leads them to tailor
their practices to emphasize the more public aspects of their ESG initiatives (ICEE,
2012). In other words, companies have adopted different marketing strategies of their
ESG practices in an attempt to gain competitive advantage and/or market share. There are
different titles and strategies for the various methods of marketing: social/societal,
ecological, green, and sustainability (Kumar, Rahman, Kazmi, Goyal, 2012). Each of
these methods has its own unique emphasis, which makes them appealing to companies
with different agendas and product offerings (Kumar, Rahman, Kazmi, Goyal, 2012). The
goal of using sustainability marketing is to gain a position in the market which is
“desirable, different, and defensible” (Kumar, Rahman, Kazmi, Goyal, 2012, p. 483).
Society has already realized the importance and effect of corporations on sustainability
issues; it is only a matter of time before engagement becomes a moral obligation
(Endrikat, 2016). Companies have the ability to create a win-win approach by
incorporating sustainability into products, services, and their marketing mix; the ability to
increase profits even after reducing their negative impacts on the environment and society
is a long-term competitive advantage.
Common CSR Implementation (Examples)
Case Study #1: Nike
Nike, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the
design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear,
apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. In December 1998, Nike’s stock price was
around $6.50; this is a stark contrast when compared to Nike’s stock price in December
2019 that hovered around $91.00 (Yahoo Finance, 2019). Nike has grown significantly in
the past 21 years, as shown by its rising stock price. Nike’s rise to athletic apparel market
leader can be attributed to many factors, however, the core of Nike’s business model has
always centered around innovation and low-cost manufacturing (Paine, Hsieh,
Adamsons, 2016). In 2001, the company created a Corporate Responsibility committee
spearheaded by the new Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and backed by Nike’s
Chief Executive Officer (Paine, Hsieh, Adamsons, 2016). This committee focused on
analyzing Nike’s supply chain and found solutions for problems. In particular, the
committee mainly addressed problem areas, such as poor labor practices and negative
environmental impacts (Paine, Hsieh, Adamsons, 2016). Nike supported projects such as
Project Rewire, which revolutionized the processes by which Nike made its shoes: using
40
�sustainable, ethically sourced materials, and humane manufacturing models (Nike, 2019).
Innovative efforts like these made the company more effective and efficient. Nike was
able to optimize manufacturing processes, consolidate its supply chain, and reduce their
workforce by 5% (Paine, Hsieh, Adamsons, 2016). Simple business knowledge shows
this increased production and reduced material/labor costs had a positive result on Nike’s
bottom line. This is only one example of Nike’s sustainability efforts, however, it serves
as a model for the company’s continuous efforts over the past two decades. Nike’s
Corporate Responsibility committee shows that with executive support, win-win
solutions can be created which benefit both society and the planet, as well as the sponsor
company.
Case Study #2: Starbucks
The Starbucks Corporation is an American coffee company and coffeehouse
chain. As of early 2019, the company operates over 30,000 locations worldwide
(Starbucks, 2019). In July 2018, Starbucks announced it would begin phasing out plastic
straws from its stores worldwide. The coffee company estimates it will prevent “billions”
of single-use plastic straws from entering waste bins around the world (Starbucks, 2019).
To replace the unwanted straws, Starbucks inventors created the new cold drink “Nitro
Lid”, which uses 9% less plastic than its predecessor (Starbucks, 2019). Starbucks is an
example of how corporation-lead technological innovations can change consumer
behavior and the default way of doing things.
Case Study #3: Intel
The Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology
company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Intel supplies processors for computer
system manufacturers such as Apple, Lenovo, HP, and Dell (Intel, 2019). The Intel
Corporation employs over 100,000 employees in 46 countries; the company has a
significant impact on the environment and the communities it operates in because of the
chemical intensive processes of semiconductor fabrication (Intel, 2019). In terms of
corporate sustainability transparency, Intel is a leader in the semiconductor industry and
the group of Fortune 500 companies. Intel releases annual Corporate Responsibility
Reports which provide significant insight into its relevant sustainability efforts. In
particular, Intel highlights Environmental Sustainability, Supply Chain Responsibility,
Diversity/Inclusion, and Social Impact (Intel, 2019). Intel matches their reporting
schedule with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; these goals are based
in Science Based Targets (SBGs) (Intel, 2019). Intel’s goal to reduce water use on a per
unit basis to below 2010 levels by 2020 is currently on track: 2018 water withdrawals
41
�decreased by 23% from the baseline year 2010 (Intel, 2019). Intel exemplifies proper
sustainability reporting. Their above-board approach is beneficial to the company which
now has a deep understanding of their supply chain, and metrics to measure their impact
on the planet, and society.
III. Hypotheses
Corporations which engage in proper sustainability practices perform better
financially than companies that do not.
IV. Method
Measures
In order to prove that corporate engagement in sustainable practices can provide
increased financial outcomes, a clear definition of corporate sustainability and a proper
understanding of corporate financial performance (CFP) measures is necessary. This
paper analyzed multiple meta-analysis papers to summarize and conclude their findings;
the papers chosen for analysis use a variety of financial measures to understand
performance. For example, the stock price of publicly traded corporations is often used as
a measure of corporate financial performance (CFP) (Alshehhi, Nobanee, Khare, 2018).
Market capitalization (outstanding shares multiplied by stock price) is also commonly
used in the financial world to show overall firm size (Alshehhi, Nobanee, Khare, 2018).
Many studies use stock market sustainability indices (a segment of the stock market to
make performance comparison easier), such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
(DJSI), to measure the financial performance of sustainable corporations (Alshehhi,
Nobanee, Khare, 2018). Accounting based measures, such as return on assets (ROA),
return on sales (ROS), return on equity (ROE), return on investment (ROI), earnings per
share (EPS), and price to earnings (P/E) ratios are also used to compare financial
performance of sustainable versus unsustainable companies (Alshehhi, Nobanee, Khare,
2018). The peer-reviewed studies selected for this paper utilize all the mentioned
methods of measuring financial performance. The variety of methods allows for more
accurate results and conclusions.
Procedure
In order to find the optimal collection of data to study, research database tools
such as EBSCOHost, GoogleScholar, and OneSearch were used. To find relevant
sources, paired keywords such as “corporate social responsibility” with “corporate
financial performance” or “ESG practices” with “market value” were used as search
terms. These search terms garnered a collection of peer-reviewed research papers which
42
�presented results from meta-analysis studies on stock market performance. To gather
more sources about CFP’s relationship with sustainable practices, the term “sustainable
practices” was used loosely. The data used for this paper came from studies which used
terms such as “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)”; “Corporate Sustainability (CS)”;
“Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)”; “Corporate Governance (CG)”, and
more. This methodology of searching yielded positive results; this topic is currently a
popular subject in the financial realm. Many studies have been conducted by business
schools, research firms, and investment banks alike to understand more about
sustainability and its relationship with corporate financial performance. Due to the high
volume of peer-reviewed data, other researchers have created meta-analysis studies.
Meta-analysis papers summarize results from other peer-reviewed studies; researchers
create meta-analysis reports to highlight the majority opinion and glean recurring insights
which appear across studies. This paper uses these meta-analysis papers as the
groundwork and results for this thesis. The strategy to analyze meta-analysis papers
allows for exposure to the great variety of research results without exhaustive data
collection. By using a diverse group of sources through meta-analysis papers, there is
also a greater likelihood of finding accurate results. When choosing sources, only studies
which meta-analyzed the greatest number of papers were selected.
V. Results
CSR Positively Affects Stock Performance
Despite the differences in research methodologies and research subjects
(corporation size, industry, and market), 78% of 132 different peer-reviewed journal
publications (figure 1) report a positive relationship between corporate sustainability and
financial performance (Alshehhi, Nobanee, Khare, 2018). Although the studies each
measured the effect of sustainability on CFP in different ways, the results are
overwhelming: there is a positive relationship between sustainability practices and CFP.
Another study found sustainable funds at least match the returns of comparable
traditional funds (Morgan Stanley, 2019). This came from a performance analysis of over
10,723 mutual funds between 2004 and 2018. These results show there is no financial
trade off in the returns of sustainable funds compared to traditional funds (Morgan
Stanley, 2019). Morgan Stanley’s research also found differences in total returns between
sustainable and traditional funds are narrow and inconsistent (Morgan Stanley, 2019). In
Q4 2018, October 1st to December 31st, volatility in American markets rose
considerably; however, the median sustainable fund outperformed the median traditional
fund by 1.39% (Morgan Stanley, 2019). As the benefits of sustainable funds become
43
�more well known more investors are seeking to invest in ESG-focused funds, as shown in
Figure 2.
Figure 1: Impact of sustainability on corporate financial performace. Source: Alshehhi,
A., Nobanee, H., & Khare, N. (2018).
44
�Figure 2: The number of ESG-focused funds has grown 14.4% since 2004. Source:
Morgan Stanley. Sustainable Reality: Analyzing Risk and Returns of Sustainable Funds.
Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, 2019.
The results from another meta-analysis study indicate a positive relationship
across research in terms of positive market reactions to positive CSR-related events and
negative market reactions to negative CSR-related events (Endrikat, 2015). This research
paper included 32 studies which analyzed CSR-related events and stock performance
(Endrikat, 2015). The analysis concluded positive reactions to positive events and
negative reactions to negative events were both true (Endrikat, 2015). Interestingly,
reactions tend to be slightly stronger for non-US samples than for US samples (Endrikat,
2015). Evidence which align with Endrikat’s findings can be found in the stock market
reactions to a 2018 ESG-related event with the electric car company Tesla Motors figure
3). Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, sent a tweet which the SEC claimed “mislead” investors
(SEC, 2018). Upon the August 13th announcement of Musk’s charges, Tesla stock
dropped by 18.89% (Yahoo Finance, 2019). This is an example of a negative CSR-related
event and subsequent negative stock market performance.
45
�Figure 3: Tesla Interactive Stock Chart. Source: Yahoo Finance. (2019). TSLA
Interactive Stock Chart | Tesla, Inc. Stock. Retrieved 2019, from
https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/TSLA.
Of North American firms, research suggests negative CSP has significant
explanatory power for decreasing stock prices (Lourenço, Branco, Curto, Eugénio, 2016).
However, it is also shown that the market does not penalize all the corporations with low
levels of CSP. On the contrary, the market penalizes only those firms with incentives to
present a high level of CSP but do not actually engage in such a strategy (Lourenço,
Branco, Curto, Eugénio, 2016). The corporation’s size and profitability seem to matter in
market interpretation of CSP (Lourenço, Branco, Curto, Eugénio, 2016).
CSR Reduces Downside Risk in Volatile Markets
Findings suggest that investors penalize large profitable corporations with low
levels of CSP (Lourenço, Branco, Curto, Eugénio, 2016). Interestingly, an asymmetry in
the stock market reactions has been found; there are stronger reactions to negative CSPrelated events than to positive CSP-related events (Endrikat, 2015). Examples of negative
CSP-related events include negative environmental news, negative labor force news, and
violation of local or federal laws (Endrikat, 2015). The great negative reactions of the
46
�stock market expose non-sustainable companies to risk (Morgan Stanley, 2019). This is
why sustainable funds also reduce downside risk when compared to traditional funds in the
same industry (Morgan Stanley, 2019). In years of turbulent markets, such as 2008, 2009,
2015, and 2018, sustainable funds downside deviation (a measure of risk) was significantly
smaller than traditional funds (Morgan Stanley, 2019). As shown in Figure 4, sustainable
funds consistently show a significantly lower downside risk than that of the traditional
counterparts, regardless of the asset class held (Morgan Stanley, 2019). This result has
been quantified by a 20% reduction in downside deviation (Morgan Stanley, 2019).
How CSR Relates to Customer Satisfaction
Companies with good CS reputation are able to improve relations with external
actors such as customers, investors, bankers, suppliers, and competitors. (Lourenço,
Branco, Curto, Eugénio, 2016). They are also able to better attract prospective employees
and increase motivation for current employees. CSR can be much more than a cost, a
constraint, or a charitable deed - it can be a source of opportunity, innovation, and
competitive advantage (Porter & Kramer, 2006). The connection between good deeds and
consumer attitudes is so indirect it would be impossible to measure (Porter& Kramer,
2006). An organization's ethical climate (integrated sustainability practices) is positively
related to customer satisfaction and perceived organizational innovation (Moon & Choi,
2014). An organization's ethical business can provide a favorable image to customers and
develop a positive attitude toward the organization (Moon & Choi, 2014).
47
�Figure 4: Median Downside Deviation of Sustainable and Traditional Funds, 2004-2018.
Source: Morgan Stanley. Sustainable Reality: Analyzing Risk and Returns of Sustainable
Funds. Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, 2019.
VI. Discussion
This thesis is centered around understanding how corporations integrate
sustainable practices into their business models and the correlated effect on CFP.
Research suggests there is a positive relationship between corporate sustainability and
financial performance. Furthermore, the integration of sustainable practices reduces the
downside effects of turbulent markets. Since CFP can be defined and measured in many
different ways, it is surprising and reassuring that the results from the 20 plus sources
used all support the hypothesis. The various researchers who conducted studies on
sustainable practices and CFP seemed to agree that it is beneficial for corporations to
engage in sustainability efforts. Each individual study used as evidence is unique and
highlights different aspects of sustainability. The results of these studies also show
different sustainable practices benefitting a different measure of CFP.
48
�Investors look at CG as a measure of investment opportunity. Sustainability
ratings impact investor sentiment. Sustainability ratings are not perfect; they are often
created by different third party sources with limited amounts of data. The government
and the general public should place more pressure on corporations to publicize their
sustainability efforts. If corporations released their sustainability efforts publically, it
would allow for sustainable practices to be optimized. Public corporations sharing their
sustainable practices and implementation costs would allow companies to see which
processes are the most effective. The best approaches would be identified and eventually
adopted across industries. The mass adoption of sustainable practices by corporations
across industries would benefit society and the environment. Public disclosure of
sustainable practices would also allow for better informed investment decisions. More
knowledgeable investors make markets more efficient because the trading price is closer
to true value. Understanding how investors look at corporate sustainability is necessary to
predict how corporations will make strategic decisions moving forward.
Many corporations see the benefits of implementing sustainable practices into
their business model. Some companies, such as Nike, Starbucks, and Intel, have
implemented sustainable practices; others just claim to do so. Dishonest corporation’s
false advertising has led to distrust from customers and investors. In an age of instant
media, it is hard for consumers to tell which companies are honest, and which are not.
Dishonest corporations falsely advertise because they see the benefits of investor
perception of sustainable corporations. Corporate marketing strategies play to change
consumer perceptions.
CFP is largely dependent on how consumers and investors perceive the
sustainability of a corporation. This is why accurate marketing and full disclosure of
sustainable practices is necessary. Consumers which watch companies incorporate CG,
CS, ESG, and CSR into their business model are rewarded for their efforts. Corporations
which do not, suffer the short term and long-term consequences.
VII. Conclusions
Implications for Practice
The analysis of peer-reviewed studies examining CFP’s relationship with CS
practices have shown corporations who engage in sustainability practices gain multiple
benefits, including: increased stock market performance (Alshehhi, Nobanee, Khare,
2018) (Endrikat, 2015) (Lourenço, Branco, Curto, Eugénio, 2016), reduced downside
performance in turbulent markets (Morgan Stanley, 2019) (Lourenço, Branco, Curto,
49
�Eugénio, 2016) (Endrikat, 2015), and increased customer satisfaction (Lourenço, Branco,
Curto, Eugénio, 2016) (Porter & Kramer, 2006) (Moon & Choi, 2014).
Implications for Future Research
This research clearly shows the positive effects of sustainability practices on a
corporation. These findings can be supplemented by further research into what specific
sustainability practices are the most effective and garner the most returns for effort/cost.
There is a need to understand which specific sustainability practices garner the greatest
impact on the environment and society with the least financial impact on corporations.
An in-depth analysis of the overhead costs, maintenance costs, and operational costs for
sustainable practices will need to be conducted across corporations of all sizes, industries,
and markets. These metrics will create an accurate baseline. Corporations understand the
value of a good sustainability-related reputation; the benefits are overwhelming.
However, despite the unprecedented amount of evidence, corporations still knowingly
engage in negative sustainability practices. Corporate inaction is destructive to society
and the environment. More research is needed in how to reduce the costs of
implementing sustainability practices. If the entry threshold is lowered, more companies
will participate in sustainable practices. Research into sustainability and its effect on CFP
will always be valuable. New studies add to the large body of evidence which are used to
convince corporations to be more sustainable.
VIII. References
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Digital Age (Vol. First edition). Bingley, England: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
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984383&site=eds-live
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true&db=phl&AN=PHL2341879&site=eds-live
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bank-of-america-to-provide-a-2-1-charitable-match-to-feeding-americas-give-a-mealprogram.
Kay, M. J. (2015). Corporate sustainability programs and reporting: Responsibility
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Kumar, Vinod, et al., “Evolution of Sustainability as Marketing Strategy: Beginning of
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Lumpkin, G. T., & Bacq, S. (2019). Civic Wealth Creation: A New View of Stakeholder
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Moon, H. K., & Choi, B. K. (2014). How an organization’s ethical climate contributes to
customer satisfaction and financial performance Perceived organizational innovation
perspective. European Journal of Innovation Management, 17(1), 85. Retrieved from
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Morgan Stanley. Sustainable Reality: Analyzing Risk and Returns of Sustainable Funds.
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Risk and Returns of Sustainable Funds, www.morganstanley.com/content/dam/
msdotcom/ideas/sustainable-investing-offers-financial-performance-loweredrisk/Sustainable_Reality_Analyzing_Risk_and_Returns_of_Sustainable_Funds.pdf.
MSCI Inc. (2019). ESG 101: What is ESG? Retrieved from https://www.msci.com/whatis-esg.
McDonald’s Corporation. (2019). Global Diversity, Inclusion & Community
Engagement. Retrieved from https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/aboutus/diversity-and-inclusion.html.
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Porter, Michael E., and Mark R. Kramer. “Strategy and Society: The Link Between
Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility.” Harvard Business Review,
Harvard University, 25 Aug. 2015, hbr.org/2006/12/strategy-and-society-the-linkbetween-competitive-advantage-and-corporate-social-responsibility.
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2019, from https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/TSLA
53
����The Epidemic of Depression in National Collegiate
Athletic Association Student-Athletes
Maria D’Amico, Nicole Doherty and Iman Eulinberg1,2
Collegiate Sports in the United States is one of America’s favorite pastimes, not only for
the athletes participating but for spectators attending competitions, viewers tuning in on
national television and stakeholders in university programs. The National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) has developed a community of athletes and avid fans,
coining the term “student- athlete.” These elite athletes who have committed to compete
within the NCAA for their respective universities are contracted to abide by the laws of
their governing organization. Bylaws under the NCAA regulate academic integrity of
their athletes, and their athletic careers at a cost that could be detrimental to their health.
Unbeknownst to many, the “glamorous” life of the collegiate student-athlete, has taken a
darker turn for many who are unable to cope with stressors of their commitment. For
decades participation in athletics has given its members physiological and psychological
health benefits contributing to their overall well-being. In more recent years, this has
changed due to increased emphasis in athletics by the NCAA. Universities participating
in the NCAA must consider taking the time to protect the health of their student- athletes
to ensure a safe environment. Proposed solutions that athletic departments can choose to
implement to promote the health of the NCAA student-athletes include regulation of
physical and psychological screenings and therapy, as well as interdepartmental decrease
of practice times.
I. Introduction
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the largest amateur
sports organization in the world, having more than 460,000 athletes participating each
year (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2018). The participating athletes compete
across a variety of twenty-four sports under one of three divisions. The NCAA has coined
the term “student-athlete,” governing an association requiring full-time college students
Research presented at a Sigma Theta Tau sponsored research event on April 10th at
Wagner College.
2 Written under the direction of Prof. Tinamarie Petrizzo-Hughes in partial fulfillment of
the Senior Program requirements.
1
57
�to simultaneously practice and compete as athletes. Student-athletes are under binding
contracts with the institutions that regulate their lives on campus.
Athletes have been characterized as resilient, self-confident, driven, and high
performing people. The sustainability of the fixed and oversimplified image of a
“student-athlete” does not come without a cost, which oftentimes can lead to a strain on
the mental health of these young adults. Regulating the balance between education and
athletics was deemed necessary by the NCAA to help aid in the time management of their
student-athletes. The solution resulted in a weekly ratio of twelve classroom credit hours
to twenty athletic hours. The challenge of balancing and fulfilling highly demanding
academic and athletic requirements has contributed to an epidemic of depression in the
NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2018).
Depression places student-athletes at an increased safety risk for the use of
ineffective coping mechanisms, and even suicide, as an answer to their fight with this
mental illness (Mayo Clinic, 2018). The rising diagnosis of depression within the studentathlete population of the NCAA has led to the demand for an intervention. Policies
regarding mental health interventions in the NCAA need to be prioritized for the safety of
this potentially vulnerable population.
II. Community Assessment and Analysis
On college campuses a diverse population of students is represented. Whether it
is age, gender, race, academic major or extracurricular activities, subcultures and
communities are formed. The student-athletes competing in the NCAA are widely
diverse; however, they come together to form a small and highly specified community.
Student-athlete ages on average range between 18-25 years, and the group consists of
men and women from multiple ethnicities and races (Rao & Hong, 2015).
Lapchick, Augusta, Kinkopf, and McPhee (2013) provide information about
gender and racial distribution amongst these athlete participants. In the 2011-2012
season, male participation was 13.4% higher than female participation: recording 56.7%
of participants identifying as male and 43.3% as female. The two most represented races
in the NCAA are Caucasian and African-American. Respective statistics in the 20112012 season reveal that Caucasian males make up 69.4% of the NCAA male athlete
population with only 16.2% of African-American descent. Comparatively, of the women
who participated, 76.2% were Caucasian and 8.6% African-American. The diversity of
the community has positively increased since the 2007-2008 season where the racial
profile of the top two most represented groups by gender were Caucasian 74.5% male
athletes and 83.6% female, 16.1% African American males and 6.8% females.
58
�Unique factors that arise in the athletic departments of colleges have a positive
influence on many of the athletes and the general student population. Athletic revenue
produced is used to not only benefit teams and coaches, but also facilities that the general
student population may use to promote their own health. The most notable benefit which
only athletes are eligible for is athletic scholarships. This, however, comes with a price
tag that one must conform to the NCAA’s definition of a student-athlete. The bylaws
presented by the NCAA committee regulate the academic schedules of students and
athletic demands of their participants. Guidelines, instituted by the organization, may lead
to the high prevalence of depression found in student-athletes and it could be a critical
problem within the community. The prevalence of depression in college-aged students in
the U.S. ages 18-25 is 8.7% with studies showing significantly higher prevalence rates
among student-athletes resulting in 15.6% to 21% reporting depression (Rao & Hong,
2015).
Depression has been studied and the evolution of risk factors for the disease
have been derived from low self-esteem, self-criticism, stressful events, financial
problems, genetics, history of mental health disorders, abuse of alcohol and drugs, and
chronic illness and pain (Lennon, 2015; Mayo Clinic, 2018). Every day, student-athletes
struggle with these risk factors and, if uncontrolled, have more to lose than students who
do not participate on NCAA teams, proportionally increasing their risk for depression.
The term student-athlete is dissected into two parts; the NCAA regulates both
academics and athletics. NCAA guidelines state to be considered a student; a person must
take at minimum 12 credit hours per term (National Collegiate Athletic Association,
2018). A full-time students’ schedule does not leave an extensive amount of time for
extracurricular activities. The NCAA has allocated a maximum of 20 hours per week for
mandatory athletic participation (National Collegiate Athletic Associations, 2018). The
stress of juggling class and athletics is heightened under the 2.3 Grade Point Average
(GPA) requirement student-athletes must achieve to continue to secure their roster spot
and obtain their financial scholarship allotted from the Athletic Department. While this
appears to be a minimal goal, it does not come easily during a week, when averaging 3.3
hours of practice daily can cause sleep deprivation and fatigue (Trojian, 2015). The
athletic demands have been shown to lead to injury, exhaustion, and fatigue (Rao &
Hong, 2015). Student-athletes may seek “easy fixes” in the form of maladaptive coping
mechanisms to handle the pressure and loss of equilibrium between the mind and body.
Binge drinking is one such mechanism. Its prevalence can lead to high-risk activities such
as substance abuse and depressive behavior, with effects can be as severe as suicidal
59
�impulsivity. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in student-athletes (Rao & Hong,
2015).
Those at highest risk are males, African-Americans, freshmen, and football
players (Rao & Hong, 2015). The participation in football increasing one’s risk for
depression is explained by the theory that violent sports have higher rates of
inappropriate behavior (Rao & Hong, 2015). The epidemic of depression does not come
from football alone as Title IX, which was implemented in 1972, established the Equal
Opportunities Act for all genders participating in NCAA sports (National Collegiate
Athletic Association, 2018). Title IX mandates that the monetary worth of athletic
scholarships and resources for teams between men and women remain equal. Freshman
students entering their collegiate academic and athletic careers are at high risk for
depression as they are a vulnerable population. Maturational crises are experienced in
those whose coping mechanisms are no longer adequate because of new stressors they are
encountering in their life cycle. Feelings of social isolation and loss of social
connectedness when removed from one’s family during freshman year, the holidays, and
summer vacation or athletic penalties such as suspension from a team due to injury,
increase the likelihood of experiencing depressive symptoms in these young adults.
Injuries have been shown to be a risk factor in the community causing feelings of
interrupted social structure and lowered self-worth (Rao & Hong, 2015, see also Maron,
Haas, Murphy, Ahluwalia, & Rutten-Ramos, 2014).
Scholarships play an important role in the level of stress felt by student-athletes.
The NCAA is not only a governing body for athletic participation but also a business.
The rules created by the NCAA are to help them remain sustainable as an organization
and many times overshadow the mental health needs of its participants. Student-athletes
who are not living up to their contracts in regards to performance and physical abilities
which include avoiding injury are in danger of losing their scholarships (Trojian, 2015).
The NCAA must balance scholarships in accordance with money earned off their
athletics. The continuum of the organization can only succeed under the generosity of
outside funding produced by the entertainment the athletes provide their fan base. For
many, this state of financial insecurity places them under mental strain. The opportunity
of college for many student-athletes was given to them due to their athletic talent.
Athletes who perceive their injuries as their bodies failing them increase the risk
of this mental health disease. The financial state of these student-athletes can be altered
with the immediate revoking of their scholarships which can result in the inability to
afford their college education. This is a life-altering consequence.
60
�This epidemic is an alarming community disease and solutions must be
implemented to improve the health of this population. The NCAA has begun studying the
rise of mental illness within their community thus initiating ways the NCAA can
effectively work with their associated colleges to provide a mentally healthy and safe
community (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2018). The Mind, Body and Health
initiative created by the NCAA is designed to promote general well-being for their
athletes. Additionally, the NCAA has included community resources such as the student
health services under the care of nurses and psychiatrists, the team physician, an
orthopedic specialist, and physical trainers to evaluate student-athletes for depression
(Rao & Hong, 2015).
III. Problem in the Community
The prevalence of depression in the NCAA student-athlete community is
clinically relevant. Among non-athletic American adults aged 19 or older in 2016, it is
estimated that nearly 6.7% had symptoms of a depressive disorder or experienced
depressive episodes (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017). While comparing U.S.
adults to NCAA student-athletes, student-athletes show almost four times the number of
depressive symptoms than adults throughout the nation. In a survey-based study of 465
Division 1 athletes of all genders, races, and academic grade levels, “23.7% of athletes
scored a clinical level of depression with a CES-D >16 and 6.3% of athletes showed a
moderate to severe level of depression with a CES-D >27” (Wolanin, Hong, Marks,
Panchoo, & Gross, 2016) on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.
“There was a significant gender difference in prevalence of depressive symptoms with
female athletes exhibiting 1.844 times the risk of male athletes for endorsing clinically
relevant symptoms” (Wolanin et al., 2016).
Although scientific experiments supported exercise to be a preventative
treatment for managing depression, becoming a college athlete does not guarantee
psychological wholeness. Many athletes are exhibiting depressive symptoms from the
intense psychological pressure they are held accountable for throughout the course of
being a student-athlete. Some consider it a full-time job due to the athletic scholarships
applied towards tuition. Students worldwide move to the United States to participate in
the NCAA for a better opportunity. These athletes are able to pursue their athletic and
academic careers at a fraction of the cost of their home countries.
Depression amongst NCAA Division 1 athletes is a problem that if left untreated
can be detrimental to the athletic community. The symptoms of depression may include
hopelessness, despair, anxiety, worthlessness, guilt, helplessness, anger, loss of
61
�concentration, inability to solve problems, decreased clarity, delusions, slowing of
psychomotor reactions, and agitation. Additionally, student-athletes experiencing
depression may encounter issues regarding grooming and hygiene, change in sleep
patterns, change in bowel habits, decline in sex interest, and vegetative states (Halter,
2018).
Clinically depressed college athletes oftentimes turn to drugs and alcohol as a
coping mechanism to deal with their depression. Depression amongst student-athletes
often goes unnoticed and is thought to be a sign of weakness. Untreated depression can
significantly impact one’s professional aspirations, quality of life and may even result in
suicide. Studies show that suicide is the number one leading cause of preventable death in
NCAA student-athletes with the highest prevalence in football, track, cross country,
baseball and swimming. Caucasian males are the most likely to kill themselves by
gunshot or hanging. As a requirement of the NCAA and academic institutions, studentathletes are held to a higher standard, they cannot fall behind in the classroom while
participating in sports. College athletes are required to take the same number of courses
and credits as a typical college student and they are also required to maintain a certain
GPA, as per school requirements, in order to be academically eligible to participate in
intercollegiate sporting events.
Risk factors often associated with depression in college student-athletes differ
from ones in non-athletes. Some predictors of risk include being a freshman, injury,
substance abuse, and academic stressors (Armstrong & Oomen-Early, 2009). The
demand of sports has increased alarmingly as indicated in the aforementioned survey of
465 Division 1 athletes. Student athletes are held at a high standard to excel on the field
as well as in the classroom, putting them at a greater risk to develop a mental health
disorder such as depression.
IV. Proposed Solution
Mental health awareness is currently at the forefront of the medical community.
It is important to have the necessary tools to recognize early symptoms of depression.
The NCAA would benefit from screening tools for early recognition of depression. The
PHQ-9 is a nine-question survey with a cut-off score of five or more; it has “95%
sensitivity and 88.3% specificity when scored with a cut point of 11” (Trojian, 2016).
The PHQ-9 test could be given during pre-season for a baseline and then again midseason
and postseason. As an increased effort to ensure safety, any athlete that endures serious
injuries during a season will also be screened. The main point of giving the PHQ-9 is to
be proactive and to identify any changes between tests so that they could be addressed
62
�prior to harmful effects. If any student athlete receives a score of five or above, then they
could be evaluated with a second screening called the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).
“The BDI-II has good sensitivity and specificity and excellent reliability” (Trojian,
2016). It is desirable for the Athletic Department to be equipped and ready to properly
handle student-athletes who are showing signs of depression. Given the reluctance of
student-athletes to report challenges with mental well-being, coaches, team physicians,
and athletic trainers are a good potential line of defense in encouraging their athletes to
seek help when needed (Davoren & Hwang, 2014). If students fall under a depressive
category on the BDI, then a care plan should be implemented to help alleviate depressive
symptoms.
For years, athletes were expected to “rub some dirt on it and keep playing” and
their mental and physical health needs were ignored. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
supports the proposed solution by showing the necessary needs that must be met for a
student-athlete to be successful on and off the field. Physiological needs are at the bottom
or base of the pyramid. These needs include food, water, shelter, and rest. Studentathletes are not only expected to wake up early and perform on the field, but also
expected to perform in the classroom immediately following practice. On some days they
are lucky to grab food to eat while sitting in lecture. Following lecture, they are expected
to study for hours and do any homework before bedtime so they can hopefully get some
rest to do it all again the next day. This cycle goes on six days a week for in-season
athletes. Sleep deprivation has numerous consequences like a weakened immune system,
memory issues, lack of concentration, and mood changes. The next rung in the pyramid is
safety needs. Athletes are expected to push their bodies to their maximum limits with
every practice, weight lifting session, and game. The risk for injury is very high. The
following level on the pyramid is belongingness and love needs. Being on a team of
course has its benefits, but it also comes with negatives. Athletes are with their
teammates more than most others on campus, thus, there is social isolation from nonathletic students due to their rigorous schedules. Many athletes may try to “fit in” on the
team. If an individual is not getting along with their teammates, they are at risk for
loneliness and further isolation. Second from the top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs is
self-esteem. Many individuals who are recruited for college sports were highly successful
in high school. However, when they come to college, they are not guaranteed to be the
best anymore and for many that is an enormous adjustment. This may affect their selfesteem as they once started and played many minutes and now they are on the bench.
Many athletes associate sports as a large part of their identity, and without playing they
may feel lost or have an identity crisis which can lead to an increased loss of self-esteem.
63
�At the peak of the pyramid is self-actualization needs. Without achieving all of the
aforementioned needs listed, a human being will not effectively achieve selfactualization.
One innovative health program that all athletic departments should adopt is to
hire a sports psychologist. Although sports psychologists are relatively new in the world
of sports, they are an extremely beneficial addition to every athletic department. Another
health program schools should incorporate is mental health basic training. Athletic
departments should mandate that all coaches and sports staff attend training on how to
recognize and manage athletes who are showing signs of depression. Early recognition is
crucial. When coaches are able to recognize an issue, they can require screening and
appropriate interventions for these students, which will enable a healthy, happy, and
productive student-athlete.
Mandating screenings and staff training is cost effective, beneficial, and a
realistic solution to implement across the country. As part of their contract with the
NCAA institutions, sports staff would be required to utilize online modules before the
start of each season to recognize the early signs and symptoms of depression. The goal is
to detect the symptoms early. The PHQ-9 scale in addition to trained sports staff creates
two lines of defense to prevent the detrimental effects of depression. We all share a
common goal of maintaining a safe and productive environment with which our studentathletes can grow and thrive.
V. References
Armstrong, S., & Oomen-Early, J. (2009). Social connectedness, self-esteem, and
depression symptomatology among collegiate athletes versus nonathletes. Journal of
American College Health, 57, 521-526. doi:10.3200/jach.57.5.521-526.
Davoren, A. K., & Hwang, S. (2017, July 11). Mind, body and sport: Depression and
anxiety prevalence in student-athletes. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/sportscience-institute/mind-body-and-sport-depression-and-anxiety-prevalence-studentathletes
Depression (major depressive disorder). (2018, February 03). Retrieved November 19,
2018, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/symptomscauses/syc-20356007
64
�Flanagan, L. (2014, March 21). When college athletes face depression. Retrieved
November 19, 2018, from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/whencollege-athletes-face-depression/284484/
Halter, M. J. (2018). Varcarolis foundations of psychiatric-mental health nursing: A
clinical approach (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Lapchick, R., Augusta, R., Kinkopf, N., & McPhee, F. (2013, July 10). The 2012 racial
and gender report card: College sports. Retrieved November 19, 2018, from
https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/Final 2012 College RGRC.pdf
Lennon, M. (2015, June 03). Mental health in swimming: A silent struggle – One of
many. Retrieved November 19, 2018, from https://swimswam.com/mental-health-inswimming-a-silent-struggle-one-of-many/
Maron, B. J., Haas, T. S., Murphy, C. J., Ahluwalia, A., & Rutten-Ramos, S. (2014).
Incidence and causes of sudden death in U.S. college athletes. Journal of the American
College of Cardiology,63, 1636-1643. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2014.01.041
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2018). Current. Retrieved November 19, 2018,
from http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/current
National Institute of Mental Health. (2017, November). Major depression. Retrieved
November 19, 2018, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/majordepression.shtml
Rao, A. L., & Hong, E. S. (2015). Understanding depression and suicide in college
athletes: Emerging concepts and future directions. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50,
136-137. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2015-095658
Trojian, T. (2015). Depression is under-recognised in the sport setting: Time for primary
care sports medicine to be proactive and screen widely for depression symptoms. British
Journal of Sports Medicine, 50, 137-139. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2015-095582
Wolanin, A., Hong, E., Marks, D., Panchoo, K., & Gross, M. (2016). Prevalence of
clinically elevated depressive symptoms in college athletes and differences by gender
and sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50, 167-171. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2015095756
65
����The Structure of Repression and Trauma in Slow River
Gina LaRosa (Arts Administration)1
In Nicola Griffith’s Slow River, the dysfunctions in the van de Oest family force
each member to navigate deep psychological issues. The abuse and secrets in the family,
as well as the massive power of the family business, cause the three sisters Lore, Stella,
and Greta to suffer. Each of them withstands the family’s dysfunctions as well as abuse
from their mother, which ultimately cause them to lose a stable sense of themselves, and
for some, the ability to develop any mature adult relationships. These unresolved conflicts
in each of their lives cause them to behave in unhealthy ways. Lore is eventually able to
recover and develop a stable relationship with Cherry Magyar, but unfortunately Stella
and Greta do not reach such a moment. Lore, Stella, and Greta van de Oest develop
repressed trauma which reveals details about their lives, their sense of self, and their
anxieties.
After finally escaping her kidnappers and her dysfunctional family, Lore must
live with a slew of repressed wounds and fears which unconsciously motivate her to start
a life she knows she will hate. Lore repeatedly tells herself that her family has not paid
her ransom, as she has no way of knowing otherwise, and this hurts her. For Lore, this
means she can never return to them. Yet, Lore often catches herself thinking of her father
or her brother Tok, or talking wistfully of the family island estate, called Ratnapida,
unaware of her subconscious desire to resolve the conflict and reunite with them. On one
of her first nights at Spanner’s, she “tried to imagine she was at Ratnapida, lying on the
grass. The birdsong was all wrong” (Griffith 13). Because she believes the family will not
pay her ransom, and is freshly traumatized by strange kidnappers, Lore develops a fear of
emotional abandonment. This fear causes her to believe that her family does not care
about her and influences her to stay with Spanner for much longer than she might have if
she had felt the support of her family. Lore tries desperately to connect with Spanner, in
order to develop that same kind of supportive relationship she craves, but Spanner keeps
Lore at a strict distance and rejects almost every attempt Lore makes to learn more about
her. Without the same solid ground of support that she is used to, at least from her father
and brother specifically, Lore feels lost in her new path and stuck in a life of crime and
1 Written under the direction of Dr. Susan Bernardo for EN 212: Introduction to Literary
Analysis and Theory.
69
�degradation. As the novel progresses and Lore continues to stay with Spanner, she
becomes more and more disconnected from her former identity.
Lore also has a very unstable sense of self which stems from the juxtaposition of
her former life as a rich kid and her new life of struggle with Spanner. Lore feels ready to
forget her former identity and build a new one, but she struggles to create a sense of
herself while she is with Spanner. Lore believes that she must completely forget her
former self in order to create her new self, rather than accept all the different,
contradictory parts of herself, past and present, in order to create the truest version of
herself. Due to the unresolved conflict involving sexual abuse from her mother, ignorance
from her father, and the sudden death of her sister Stella and the questions surrounding it,
Lore unconsciously ignores these things so that she will not have to solve any of the
underlying issues. Therefore, Lore struggles with juggling different identities rather than
letting the past be a part of her current sense of self. She sees herself as having three
identities: the rich kid, the criminal, and the waste-water treatment worker. Lore views
these identities as completely separate from each other. She reflects, “I had an eerie sense
of multiplicity, of staring down at my reflection in the water and seeing three faces
instead of one” (282). Lore does not realize that, in order to accept herself and her past,
she must acknowledge that all three identities form one, true identity in which they are all
included. She does not realize this yet, and her identity therefore remains unstable.
Spanner too deals with repressed trauma which causes her to act in ways that are
not beneficial to herself. The suicide of Spanner’s mother, as well as Spanner coming to
the realization that her mother often lied to her, caused her to feel betrayed and
abandoned, leading to her becoming a lone wolf. Spanner only once speaks about this
childhood trauma to Lore, saying “it was then I realized that everyone lies. About
everything” (117). Spanner’s fear of intimacy as well as her low self-esteem cause her
relationship with Lore to be strained and distant. Spanner’s pain forces her to keep Lore
at an extreme distance, and because Lore is her only true companion, Spanner lashes out
at her whenever she is feeling sad or frustrated. Lore and Spanner are more similar than
Lore believes, especially in the way that they have both experienced the suicide of
someone close to them and their damaged relationships with their mothers. But, because
neither has confronted these issues, they are unable to connect through these similarities
or help each other heal. Lore also reflects on Spanner and Stella’s similarities, and their
“loneliness--no, their emptiness” which causes them to distance themselves from others
(94). Furthermore, Lore and Spanner both have unresolved conflicts as well as personal
issues, and this creates a toxic relationship. Each of these women creates a version of the
other they want her to live up to, one that would allow them to relive their repressed
70
�trauma while never actively dealing with it. Because of this dynamic, the relationship
does not work out, and Lore is able to face her issues only after she and Spanner separate.
Before she leaves, Lore tries to get Spanner to start this new life with her, and tries to
convince her that there is a better life to live. Spanner always refuses, and believes that
the low life she leads is what she deserves, and the only place she belongs (332).
Lore’s sister Stella also faces unresolved conflict, dealing with much of the
same abuse and dysfunction that Lore does. Stella, who faced much more frequent abuse
from Katerine than Lore, must deal with an ignorant and confused father in addition to
her abusive mother. Stella must remain extremely distant from the family in order to keep
herself safe and somewhat sane, which leaves her feeling lost and alone. In keeping this
distance from her family, Stella unconsciously keeps her trauma repressed. She
constantly travels, never remaining close to them for very long. Stella also develops a
seriously unstable sense of self, and because of the lack of relationship with her family, is
unable to form mature adult relationships. The constant changing of her hair color
represents the instability of her identity. Throughout the novel, Stella’s hair is an array of
colors (yellow, purple, black) and young Lore often wonders at this, asking herself how
Stella could ever know who she is, if she always looks different (52). Unconscious of
these conflicts, Stella travels from one country to the next, never giving herself enough
time to feel safe or secure. Her relationship with her friends is mostly superficial,
including a silly competition among the elite to see who can give away the most wealth.
The narrator never reveals who Stella’s friends are or even their names, showcasing her
emotional distance even from them. Even though Stella was constantly running, she
never could face her trauma and therefore could never escape it, and eventually she kills
herself. Lore reflects that she “escaped by dying,” never able to face her issues while
living (293).
Greta is the oldest, and therefore the sister who likely suffered the most abuse
from Katerine. Greta also has some of the core issues previously discussed, some which
remove her so distantly from the family that she feels no remorse in making Lore the
victim in order to get what she wants. Greta also suffers from an unstable sense of self, or
really, no true sense of self at all. Any sense of self she has is rooted in the company. In
order to keep her trauma repressed, Greta has created an image of herself that is
completely separate from the family, yet totally absorbed by the family company. This is
the only way young Greta could get away from Katerine in a major way. While Stella
keeps herself going by drinking and traveling, Greta makes herself numb. Lore notices
this about Greta from a young age, describing her as “gray,” with “a gray kind of attitude
to life” (67). Lore even admits that she thinks of Greta as more of an aunt than a sister,
71
�because “Greta, even when she’s around, seems so distant, withdrawn” (67). This
numbness and distance, gradually built up during several years of abuse from Katerine,
allows her to hurt Lore so deeply while feeling nothing. This is Greta’s way of dealing
with her trauma, and remaining numb allows her to keep the trauma unresolved and
repressed.
Greta acted in the name of the company, and was able to cause pain and commit
crimes because of her practiced numbness; but, Lore reasons, Greta, while still involved
in her mother’s company, also “would need to feel powerful” (317). Katerine made Greta
feel worthless and powerless, like an object. In order to run her abuser’s company, Greta
had to feel powerful in some way again. To do this, she reactivated Jerome’s Boys, taking
the future of the company and its affairs into her own hands. She committed crimes and
abused others; she ordered the kidnapping of Lore and kept the ransom, causing both
Lore and the rest of the family psychological pain. She did this in order to feel the power
that was stolen from her, and in this way repressed her trauma completely.
Katerine is ultimately the reason for these girls’ wounds, but, Lore and Magyar
conclude, the abuse they faced is no justifiable reason to continue to abuse others, as
Greta did. Katerine, like her daughters, has an unstable sense of self; her only identity is
her status as an executive in the company (she never speaks about motherhood and talks
to the girls only about business or water treatment systems), and her constant competition
with her husband, Oster. Katerine feels valid only when doing big business for the
company or making Oster feel inferior. This instability causes Katerine to be cold and
manipulative, keeping her daughters at a cruel distance, yet coming to invade their space
in the night when they are most vulnerable. Unstable on the inside, Katerine often focuses
on outer presentation, keeping up appearances of both herself and the family. Once, Oster
tells Lore, “She wanted you to have all the visible trappings of the rich and powerful”
(52). Although Katerine is often occupied with keeping up appearances, ironically, Lore
struggles to remember the color of her mother’s eyes. Because she is so invisible in
Lore’s life, Lore never puts it together that Katerine is the one coming into her room at
night. She much more readily believes that it is Oster, because he is more involved in
Lore’s life, even though she did not have any concrete evidence that he was the abuser.
In the end, Lore is the only one who is able to truly face her trauma and recover
from it. We see Lore, unlike the others, develop healthy habits and relationships toward
the end of the novel. Lore leaves her life with Spanner, gets an honest job, and begins to
pursue a romantic relationship with Magyar. This relationship, unlike the one with
Spanner, is full of beauty and deep connection, and Magyar even helps Lore face her
trauma (she is the one who points out that Katerine was the abuser) and regain a stable
72
�sense of identity. Near the end of the novel, as their relationship blossoms, Lore says her
own name aloud, and thinks “I knew who I was. Lore. And when I forgot or became
confused, Magyar would know” (320). Lore and Spanner never had such a connection,
and Spanner often made Lore feel ashamed or confused about her identity, rather than
more secure like Magyar. Pia Møller expands on this idea when she writes that “the fact
that Lore engages in a relationship with the sympathetic Magyar indicates her increasing
sexual and emotional agency” and notes the contrast between this relationship and the
one with Spanner, which was “characterized by exploitation and coercion” (Møller 147).
Lore’s ability to face her trauma and develop a mature sexual relationship are evidence of
her growth.
Finally, Lore is able to see her three separate identities converge into one
cohesive and inclusive sense of self. With Magyar’s help, she is finally able to process
her past, which helps her understand her present and prepare her for her future.
Unfortunately, the same is not true for Stella and Greta, or even Spanner. Each of these
characters’ conflicts remain unresolved and nothing changes for them, or they meet tragic
ends. The only escape Stella finds is in suicide. Greta remains a shell of a person and is
presumably forced to resign from her position in the company. The book ends with
Spanner still believing she deserves nothing more than the life she currently leads. Lore
reflects on the unresolved issues in the lives of these three toward the end of the novel:
“Stella had been a Van de Oest, and she had killed herself. Greta had been brought up as
one, and she had twisted and stayed twisted. You had to allow change, you had to want it.
You had to believe you deserved it. Spanner did not hate me; she hated herself” (Griffith
341). Lore recognizes that each of these characters were not as lucky as she and able to
work through their core issues, but she concludes that that was due to the choices each of
them made, and, ultimately, their attitudes towards themselves and their lives.
Overall, Lore, Stella, and Greta face deep personal issues which stem from their
lives, their sense of self, and their anxieties. Stella and Greta are never able to confront
their trauma, leading to Stella’s suicide and Greta’s complete disassociation from herself
and her family. Lore’s former lover, Spanner, is also unable to confront her conflict and
is never able to believe she deserves a good life. Lore’s mother, Katerine, is never able to
find an identity outside the family business and manipulates her loved ones because of it.
Lore, on the other hand, is eventually able to face her issues and resolve them. Lore
struggles with repressed trauma and unstable identity throughout the story, but with the
help of Magyar she is able to mentally sort everything out. Lore, unlike the others, is
willing to show someone else vulnerability, which ultimately helps her resolve her issues.
She is able to confront her trauma, her past, her family, and her anxieties. This allows
73
�Lore to meld all of her experiences into one truly fluid and all-encompassing identity that
she is proud of. Although Lore had been hurt in the past, she allowed herself to be open
to others, which ultimately set her apart from her sisters and allowed her to move on to a
better life.
Works Cited
Griffith, Nicole. Slow River. Ballantine, 1995.
Møller, Pia. “The Unsettled Undercurrents of Hedon Road: Power, Knowledge, and
Environmental Risk Management in Nicola Griffith’s Slow River.” Isle: Interdisciplinary
Studies in Literature and Environment, vol. 9, no. 2, 2002, pp. 133–153. MLA
International Bibliography.
74
�Changes in Sino-British Relations from the
Opium Wars to the Taiping Rebellion
Jeanine Woody (Mathematics and History)1
Britain and China differed culturally and ideologically in the mid-19th century.
The different perspectives on politics and trade caused tensions to rise between the two
nations. China was previously an isolated nation that used Confucius beliefs to create
their social and political structure. Britain wanted to interact with China to gain access to
certain goods, like silk, tea, and porcelain. To do so they initiated trade with China at,
Guangzhou, the Port of Canton. This was the only sanctioned trading port in China since
the Chinese were wary of foreigners. The differences between the two nations reached
its climax prior to The First Opium War, which began in 1839 and lasted until 1842.
Following this, China would become a weaker nation due to the “unequal treaties” placed
on them by Britain and America. One stipulation China had to follow in the “unequal
treaties” was to cede Hong Kong to the British. This led to Hong Kong becoming an
economic center vital to Eastern trade. Hong Kong also adopted certain principles from
the British, like capitalism, which changed their identity. The “unequal treaties,” an
agreement made between Western nations and China, would also play a role in starting
The Second Opium War, also known as the Arrow War of 1856-1860. The British
wanted to show their dominance in the region since they were an imperialist nation.
In terms of religion, British Protestant missionaries played a role in the
increasing tensions between the British and the Chinese, because when opium was
smuggled into China, British Protestant missionaries also smuggled in Bibles. This led aFa Liang to be exposed to the works of missionaries and later became the first Chinese
Protestant missionary.2 He wrote a manuscript of the teachings he learned; the first
version was destroyed by the Chinese government because China used Confucius beliefs
in their bureaucratic system. To become a member of the elite class one must take a civil
service examination, Jingshi, which was based on Confucian texts; the direct translation
of Jingshi is statecraft. Statecraft is the management of Chinese state affairs. The
Taiping Rebellion of 1850-1864 was founded on Christian beliefs because of the
Written under the direction of Dr. Alison Smith in partial fulfillment of the Senior and
Honors Program requirements.
2 In Chinese culture names are written as (last name, first) name so they have been
modified to reflect (first name, last name) for the purpose of this paper.
1
75
�dissatisfaction of the farmers, miners, and laborers with the social structure. One of the
goals of the rebellion was originally to educate others on the work of God, while another
goal was to break down the bureaucratic structure in place. This would lead to one of the
bloodiest civil wars in history, approximately 30 million would die by the end of the war.
The significance of this war stems from the earlier interactions between the British and
the Chinese which would also influence the current events in Hong Kong today.
In accordance to Chinese thought, societal unity can remain throughout times of
war with an importance placed on upholding tradition and respecting the past, which was
stronger than going to war. The influence of imperialism and capitalism from the British
would lead to a shift in Chinese culture through the Taiping Rebellion. These differences
are conveyed through the events of the First Opium War, the Arrow War, and the current
events in Hong Kong today. This is also observed through the introduction of Liang’s
notes on his conversion from Confucianism to Christianity, which influenced Xiuquan
Hong’s perception of Chinese society. 3 The introduction of missionaries emphasized the
cultural differences between the two nations which would ultimately create dissonance
once the war ended and Britain gained Hong Kong as a colony. The introduction of
Western and capitalist ideals combined with Protestant and Whig ethics culminated in the
Taiping Rebellion.
It was difficult to find primary sources discussing the Opium War and the
Taiping Rebellion since the Qing Dynasty destroyed a majority of the material. This is
partially because most materials written by the Taiping—people involved in the rebellion
against the Qing Dynasty—were destroyed following the rebellion. Some sources that
were discovered, have issues with their translations or the initial meanings were lost or
misunderstood. This occurred with the manuscript by a-Fa Liang—some sources say his
name is “Lin a-Fa” while others refer to him as Liang. This caused some confusion since
it led to discrepancies of whether this was the same person or if the translation was
reputable. This was found in different works especially when searching for verification of
the author’s names and checking for consistency in sources. The lack of original
documents made it difficult to search for and find primary sources. Another issue
encountered was that most of the documentation came from the British archives and
accounts so some of the material is biased.4
Throughout this paper I will refer to him as Xiuquan Hong because he is also referred to
as Hung Hsiu-chu’uan in other sources.
3
4 William Theodore De Bary et al., Sources of Chinese Tradition: From 1600 through the
Twentieth Century, 2nd ed., Introduction to Asian Civilization (Columbia University
Press, 1999), p. 170.
76
�To understand the differences between the East and West a close examination of
the early interactions between China and Britain is necessary. In the early 1800s, China
was an isolated nation that valued their economic and material self-sufficiency. A pivotal
moment in Chinese society took place during the Warring States period, in 475 BCE to
221 BCE, when the different Chinese provinces fought against each other for control of
the region. At this time, the feuding Chinese provinces were conquered to form one
Chinese Kingdom under the unification of one dynasty. Bureaucratic and philosophical
changes also occurred during this period based on input from philosophical thinkers. One
of the most prominent thinkers during the Warring States period was Confucius.
Confucius focused on intellectual cultivation in the lens of status, class, and hierarchy in
society. Once interactions with the British increased in the nineteenth century, Chinese
historians focused on following their traditional values including writing about the past as
dictating the events of the year instead of as a narrative, which was prominent in Western
society. One example used throughout Confucius’ work is the Chinese imperial system;
this system relied on Confucius concepts, which established the Tang Code between 618906 CE and implemented by the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty created a History
Bureau to record events that occurred during their time in power. Throughout this time,
history-writing dictated political functions. The use of Confucian concepts such as Yi, an
aspect of Confucianism that encompassed a sense of righteousness and justice, to justify
why certain dynasties lost favor with Tian, the God of Heaven is relevant to understand
their cultural identity in the new social order. This is observed in the traditional Chinese
judicial system and the regulation of domestic ideas and traditional values in the mid1800s.
The Chinese judicial system was best expressed through Confucius ideals and
beliefs, as well as a lack of the Western concept of nationalism since there was an
emphasis on familial ties rather than the individual. The concept of putting the individual
first was prominent in Western nations at this time. The Chinese judicial system was
implemented in the Tang Dynasty in 624 CE. The Tang code used “Confucianisation” to
represent societal views and law codes since the fundamental aspects of the religion were
deemed important by the dynasty. In turn, having a foundation in Confucian values led
to the lack of enforcement in the judicial system and reliance on law to maintain societal
structures.5 When the Manchus, a group of nomadic tribes from Manchuria who then
travelled towards China, conquered the Ming Dynasty in 1636; they established the Qing
Dynasty—the last dynasty of imperial China.6 The Qing government continued the
5
6
De Bary et al., Sources of Chinese Tradition, p. 170.
Francis K. Aldred, “China’s Struggle to Break with its Past the Adoption of Western
77
�practice of Yi and the Tang Code from the Ming Dynasty in the form of requiring
Confucian ideals. According to this belief, the state should not be involved in the lives of
commoners since they would carry out societal functions individually. This relates to the
implementation of Liji, the Confucian Code of Rites, which became the sole doctrine
dictating social order and action in 1644. This is important because there was an
increased focus on collectivism, doing one’s part to maintain the whole structure and
order. The magistrate could make decisions based on the situation by interviewing
commoners without a public hearing; this is an example of not disturbing the social order
throughout the Qing Dynasty.
According to the statute of Liji, the law can only be applied to those whose
actions go against social norms. The district magistrate of China would investigate the
crime by utilizing society to create acceptable boundaries.7 Magistrates during the Qing
Dynasty would also function as scholars by cultivating Confucian ideas in the form of
moral training and knowledge of Confucian literature, which influenced Chinese
historiography—studying the writings of history. In China, there was an emphasis on
morality and the importance of lessons. The bureaucratic officials of the Qing Dynasty
created a school of “evidential scholars”, which tended to be those who took the test to
become magistrates. “Evidential scholars” would analyze and evaluate historical sources
on the basis of tying them back to Confucian tradition.8 This led to the creation of NeoConfucianism, the philosophical application of the religious beliefs, which is referenced
in the fundamental aspects created in the Tang Code that were elaborated on when the
Qing Dynasty came to power.9
Yuan Wei was an “evidential scholar” loyal to the Qing Dynasty. He created
the concept of Jingshi and substantive learning to analyze the development of the Qing
Dynasty. Jingshi is based on Neo-Confucian beliefs like self-cultivation, governance,
human agency, practical affairs, and objectivity.10 The purpose of understanding the state
stems from knowledge about the self and human agency—a sociological principle
detailing engagement within a set social structure.11 According to Wei, “laws and
Ideas in the 19th and 20th Century,” The Journal of the West Virginia Historical
Association, vol 10, issue 1, (1986), p. 1-3.
7
De Bary et al., p. 172-173.
Jeremy Popkin, From Herodotus to H-Net: The Story of Historiography, (Oxford
University Press, 2016), p. 35
8
9
De Barry, et al., p. 176.
10De
11
Bary et al., p. 185.
De Bary et al., p. 202.
78
�systems are based on human agency” which are influenced by past historical events.12
An example of this is observed through the Qing Dynasty’s implementation of Jingshi
through a civil service examination to become a member of the upper class. Jobs became
available to scholars to dictate the importance of the Empire in relation to the West; since
this occurred scholars were part of the elites in Qing society. This is important to note
because it represented the rewriting of Chinese history in their favor. Wei attempted to
connect the Qing Dynasty to the bigger world context which was dominated by European
influences.
One of the fundamental principles of Neo-Confucianism focuses on selfactualization, Li, in relation to the God of Heaven, Tian; it is said to represent the
relationship between humanity and a greater being in hopes of becoming one with
Heaven. To encounter self-actualization, one must reflect on one’s role in the family and
one’s role in society. This relates to filial piety, a child’s relationship with their parents
and ancestors. The hierarchy created by filial piety led to a stronger connection to the
family and a lack of nationality. This virtue also placed an emphasis on embracing
Chinese culture by specifically focusing on opposing conflicts and war because there was
no sense of fighting for one’s country.13 This is because Neo-Confucianism focused on
ethics and morality in reference to social order and family responsibility.
Historians have called the period of Qing rule as the end of the Middle Kingdom
in Chinese Foreign relations, because China was the economic and cultural center of the
East at this time. By 1820, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) was roughly twenty
percent of the world market; in comparison to Britain’s GDP, which was fifty percent of
the world’s total economy.14 This is important because it represents how self-sufficient
the Chinese economy was since they did not need to rely on Britain for goods. The Qing
Dynasty implemented chaogong tizhi, the tribute system, because they believed they
were superior to the British in regard to their economic prosperity. The Chinese were
also wary of foreign traders since they tended to not partake in peaceful trade
negotiations. In turn, this would destabilize Chinese society and lead to political unrest
by promoting piracy and rebellion.15 This is also important to note because the British
12
De Bary et al., p. 185.
William Sin, “Confucianism, Rule-Consequentialism, and the Demands of Filial
Obligations,” Journal of Religious Ethics, vol 47, issue 2, p. 377-378.
13
“12 Facts on China’s Economic History,” The Globalist, November 10, 2014,
https://www.theglobalist.com/12-facts-on-chinas-economic-history/.
15 Wolfgang Keller, Ben Li, and Carol H. Shiue. “China’s Foreign Trade: Perspectives
from the Past 150 Years,” The World Economy, (2011), p. 858.
14
79
�considered the tribute system, a highly regulated trade system in China, to be archaic
even though China was self-sufficient, and their GDP was a substantial amount of the
world economy.
The Chinese implemented the tribute system to monitor interactions between the
East and the West in 1638 when the Manchus conquered the Ming. The system created a
sanctioned trading post at Canton, China, between Hong merchants and foreigners.16
Hong merchants were members of the trade monopoly in Canton during the Qing
Dynasty. This monopoly was the only exchange between the Chinese and the British;
trade was closely examined by the Qing government since they were wary of foreigners.
The Guild of Hong merchants was sanctioned to handle trade via an imperial edict
created by the Qianlong Emperor in 1760. This system was deeply rooted in NeoConfucian ideology since it follows the “Confucian World Order,” the idea that the
Chinese hierarchy is rooted in a Confucian social order portrayed by the belief that
humans are unequal in their moral standing.17 The tribute system is similar in principle to
that of the anthropological gift exchange, where goods are exchanged to reinforce social
and moral behaviors and social hierarchies. Those who participated in the tribute system
would have to pay respect to a superior by giving them material goods. In turn, the
superior would reward the giver with a higher status or backing in regard to familial
disagreements.18 This resembles the gift exchange since it is a form of status
reinforcement that is an endless cycle. This is significant because the Qing Dynasty
expected the British to pay tribute to them in the form of silver because the Qing believed
they were “superior” to the British.19
Britain had struggled to find which British goods would sell well in China
because of China’s background as an isolated and self-sustaining country that claimed
that they did not need outside goods. The British government under King George III
placed emphasis on the prosperity and security of trade with China and the effects of free
trade.20 Through this trade, Britain gained numerous goods like silk, porcelain, and tea.
16
See Appendix A, Figure 1.1
Hao Gao, “Going to War Against the Middle Kingdom? Continuity and Change in
British Attitudes towards Qing China (1793–1840)” The Journal of Imperial and
Commonwealth History, (2017), Vol 45, no 2, p. 210-212.
17
Paul Cohen, “Changes Over Time in Qing History: The Importance of Context,” Late
Imperial China, Vol. 37, No. 1 (June 2016): p. 10.
18
Cohen, p. 10.
Hao Gao, “Understanding the Chinese: British Merchants on the China Trade in the
Early 1830s,” Britain and the World, vol. 12.2 (2019), p. 160.
19
20
80
�British traders started to form relationships with unsanctioned Chinese merchants that
was later referred to as a form of “unauthorized trade.”21 This was established following
the Thirty Years War, which happened from 1618-1648. This system focused on
“sovereign equality and autonomy.”22 Originally, China demanded silver in exchange for
the goods provided but this was difficult for the British to obtain because they were
outsourcing the material from Africa and South America. Due to an increased demand
for Chinese silk, tea, and porcelain in the British market, the British attempted to find an
alternative good to replace silver to trade with China since trade between Britain and
China led to Britain incurring large amounts of debt.
In Britain, free trade was influenced by Christian reforms through the
Government of India Act in 1833, and the First Opium War from 1839 to 1842. The
Government of India Act extended the charter for the British-East India Company (BEIC)
for another twenty years; prior to this, the BEIC was a commercial body that was
considered a monopoly through the trade it had with China. After this act, the BEIC
became an administrative body. The abolition of the monopoly and regulations on opium
led to the smuggling of opium to increase by almost tenfold. The Whig Party, the leading
party in Britain, believed that a country like China who blocked free trade was not just
exercising sovereignty but was undermining modernization. This party thought that the
imposed regulations from the Qing Dynasty were taking away from British laborers
earning silver. The Whig Party also believed that Chinese traditions went against the
concept of free trade since Confucianism placed values on familial ties instead of on selfadvancement.23
To rectify this, a commodity grown in the British colony of India, known as
opium, would be a sufficient item to trade. The BEIC gained profits from growing
poppies and turning them into opium to sell. Opium was dried sap obtained from the
seeds of the opium poppy. It was used recreationally by mixing it with tobacco for
smoking or it was taken orally. The drug’s effects were stronger when smoked and it was
highly addictive. The British knew that the drug was addictive, so they banned the
smoking of opium in Britain under the rule of King George III in the 1600’s. The British
21
Gao, “Understanding the Chinese,” p. 160.
Yuan-kang Wang, “Explaining the Tribute System: Power, Confucianism, and War in
Medieval East Asia,” Journal of East Asian Studies, no 13 (2013), p. 207.
22
Colin Sargent. “The Big Loaf and the First Opium War: Capitalism and Domestic
Policies in the British Empire 1813-1846, Special Forum: Proceedings from North
Eastern University’s 2012 Graduate Student World History Conference on Empires and
Technologies in World History”, The Middle Ground Journal, no. 1, 2014, p. 5.
23
81
�then pushed for the trading of opium in lieu of silver because of its highly addictive
nature.24
Emperor Qianlong and King George III exchanged letters because of the
increased influx of opium imports in China. The letters show their respective biases
towards the tribute system. Emperor Qianlong’s letter to King George III is significant
since it represents the traditional mentality the Emperor had. In his letter, Emperor
Qianlong goes into detail discussing how Europeans who remained in China can do so
and they should adopt traditional Chinese customs and ideals. The Emperor shows his
dismay over the King’s belief that dynastic regulations would be modified to allow for
trade to continue in the East. Prior to this letter, King George III sent Emperor Qianlong
gifts to support their partnership since China was not accepting European trade. Emperor
Qianlong also mentions that there were a multitude of different countries in Europe so he
believes that submission to England would influence the peace and prosperity of China.
According to the Emperor, the demands presented by King George III “are not only a
contravention of dynastic tradition but would be utterly unproductive…”25 This quote is
significant since it represents the different cultural perspectives of China and Britain.
China embraced its more dynastic and traditional societal roles while Europeans viewed
China as a backward nation that was not modernizing. Historians view this as a cultural
difference that would eventually lead to increased tensions leading up to the First Opium
War.
Since the 1960s, historians have viewed the introduction of Western ideals in
China as an essential aspect of their historical identity. John K. Fairbank was one of the
first historians to examine the relationship between the Chinese and the British.26 He
based his analysis on Western and Chinese sources. A majority of his sources came from
the Washington Department of State archives, the customs archives from Shanghai, and
the British Consular archives.27 According to Fairbank, the First Opium War occurred
because of strong cultural differences between the East and the West. Fairbank’s
Alain Peyrefitte, The Immobile Empire—The first great collision of East and West—the
astonishing history of Britain’s grand, ill-fated expedition to open China to Western
Trade, 1792-1794, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992), p. 520-545.
24
E. Backhouse and J.P.P. Bland, “Emperor Qianlong’s ‘Mandates,’” Annals and
Memoirs of the Court of Peking, p. 323.
25
John K. Fairbank, Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: The Opening of the
Treaty Ports, 1842–1854. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press) 1953,
p. 1-3.
27 Gao, “Understanding the Chinese,” p. 163.
26
82
�research found China to be a conservative nation that was tentative to opening its borders
to foreign nations. In turn, the British were a progressive nation pushing for capitalism
based on Whig ideals, like supporting the merchant class.28 The British were concerned
with the rising tensions between Chinese Commissioners, who were opposed to, and
attempted to stop the opium trade and British traders. British traders began trading
opium with Hong merchants in 1757 undermining the regulations the Chinese put in
place.29
The system led to increased tensions within China since the government was
unable to regulate trade because it exceeded the use of the Hong merchants—merchants
sanctioned by the Qing governemnt to trade with foreigners at the port of Canton.30
Britain’s need to reform and end the tribute system and instill free trade was a driving
force for the First Opium War. The Whig Party in Britain focused on the concept of free
trade, international exchanges without tariffs and other economic sanctions. This idea
differed from the traditional Chinese view since the British believed they blocked free
trade as a means of exercising sovereignty, which undermined modernization and
expansionism.31 Therefore, the British thought that Chinese traditions and policies went
against the concept of free trade, which was another factor that ultimately led to the First
and Second Opium War between Britain and China.
The Whig Party in Britain began in 1680 and continued to be prominent until
1850. They were the dominant party until King George III’s reign in 1760 when the
Tories regained power. The Whigs then regained control during the reign of Queen
Victoria in 1837. Their focus lay in supporting aristocratic families as well as Protestants
since they had a similar goal in expanding industry to other countries. A major
component of Whig ideas was held in the push for industrial growth. This is because the
Whig party gained support from the mercantile class. Since a majority of Whig
supporters were traders, there was a push by the party to increase capitalist interactions
with other countries like China. This is relevant to understand the introduction of Whig
thought in China. The Whigs attempted to introduce the concept of personal freedom,
which is different from the Chinese value of the family and collectivism. Another
Capitalism was called free trade by the Whigs. For the sake of consistency, I will refer
to free trade as Capitalism throughout the paper.
28
29
Fairbank, p. 5-9.
Zexu Lin. “Commissioner Lin’s Letter,” International Relations of the Chinese
Empire, vol 1, (Shanghai 1910), p. 137.
30
Dilip K. Basu, “The Opium War and the Opening of China: A Historiographical Note,”
Ch’ing-shih wen-t’i, Volume 3, Supplement 1, (1997), p. 5.
31
83
�important component of Whig thought was the move towards progress for the
Enlightenment of others. This is significant because there was now a focus on human
reason influencing society regardless of past events.32 Chinese historiography tended to
document past events as a means of understanding and recording what occurred.33 It was
not recorded with an in-depth analysis of the events, instead, Chinese historiography was
a list of recorded events, like battles and trade routes, that referenced an important part of
their history.
Fairbank believed the British East India Company (BEIC) played an essential
role in trade issues between China and Britain. The BEIC was a monopoly that pushed
for expanded trade in China even though the Chinese government wanted to isolate trade
to one location in Canton. In the eighteenth century, Chinese commerce with the BEIC
for opium made up almost two-thirds of the trade with the West in Canton. Fairbank
states that the interactions between the two nations became tense following the Governor
of Hong Kong’s push to use force against China to show that Britain had more power.
Fairbank also analyzes class struggle in China as a means of the implementation of
Confucian ideology. He cites the Neo-Confucian political, social, and economic order as
a means of influencing the negative attitudes the Chinese had towards the British.
Chinese scholars during this dynasty began to argue and justify certain claims to analyze
past events in relation to recent complications. The imperial system was modified to
include the Foreign Inspectorate of Customs, a group of Chinese officials that oversaw
trade, which was established during the Qing Dynasty. By 1858, the Foreign Inspectorate
of Customs oversaw all treaty ports.34
Fairbank also states that the creation of the Foreign Inspectorate of Customs was
one of the essential points that led to the push of Western imperialism in China because it
was based on a hierarchical system. Hong merchants were at the bottom of the social
order and were considered to be of low rank compared to scholars and civil servants who
were members of Jingshi.35 Within the social class structure, the hierarchy created was
based on the need to become a gentry-scholar and become a civil servant. This is
significant because the civil service examination, Jingshi affected the social class
structure by pitting the gentry-scholars against the agricultural peasants. The differences
Geoffrey Holmes, and Szechi, D., The Age of Oligarchy: Pre-Industrial Britain 1722–
1783, (Routledge: 2014), p. xi.
32
33
Popkin, p. 35.
34
Fairbank, p. 12-13.
35
Fairbank, p. 16-17.
84
�between those who were members of Jingshi, civil servants, and those who were peasants
relied mostly on their exposure to Western concepts and ideals. Hongmou Chen, a
Chinese scholar and Qing official created the concept of Jingshi in regard to the idea of
substantive learning—the critical analysis of philosophical, historical, and literary texts in
regard to Confucian ideals. Chen’s analysis focused on political-economic problems
since the Qing Empire was rapidly growing in these areas. He wrote a series of letters to
other Chinese intellectuals, following the Warring States period, discussing the
importance of statecraft and the necessity of remaining an isolationist nation.36 Fairbank
states that peasant society centered heavily on filial piety and other Confucius values,
while Chinese scholars relied heavily on Confucian texts to justify the tribute system.37
Fairbank does not go into further detail of what effects trade had on the two nations since
he focused more on cultural interactions.
Fairbank’s explanation of the causes for the Opium War differed from Professor
Chung Tan, University of Delhi India. In the 1970s, Tan debates the significance of
Fairbank’s claim that the war was caused by differing cultural ideologies. He states that
Fairbank “provided the occasion rather than the sole cause of the war.”38 This means that
Fairbank is looking more at the conditions surrounding the war, while Tan is looking at
the root causes of the war. Tan’s main argument was that the clash of socio-economic
interests around the opium question was the primary cause of the First Anglo-Chinese
War. According to Tan, the Opium War was fought to restructure the Chinese economic
and social system so it would reflect the British systems that were in place. He critiqued
Fairbank’s argument about the tribute system as stereotyping the foreign merchants as
those who were against Chinese traditions in relation to economic gain. He claimed that
Fairbank uses “Sino-centrism,” which refers to the ideology that China is the cultural,
political or economic center of the world, to justify the start of the war by labelling this
period as China’s Middle Kingdom. His main argument revolves around George
Macartney’s, a British diplomat, visit to China to speak with the Emperor in 1794. Since
Macartney refused kowtow, paying respect by kneeling down on the floor and bowing by
touching your head to the floor three times, he never received an audience with the
Emperor. According to Fairbank, if Macartney had been able to meet with the Emperor
to discuss trade conditions and terms, the Opium War may not have occurred.39 Tan
36
De Bary et al., p. 184–86.
37
Fairbank, p. 16-17.
Tan Chung, China and The Brave New World: A Study of The Origins of The Opium
War (1840-42), (Carolina Academic Press) p. 5-9.
39 Chung, p. 52-63.
38
85
�believed that the Macartney Embassy was indeed a factor that contributed to the war, but
he insisted that it did not play a major role in the impeding conflict.
The causes of the Opium Wars were re-examined again in 2017 when Professor
Hao Gao, University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, reevaluated the subject.40 He
utilized many of the same sources Fairbank and Chung used since he also critiques their
arguments. Gao stated that the concepts introduced by Fairbank and Chung were only
surface-level understandings that did not go in-depth on the actual causes of the war. He
scrutinized British attitudes towards the Chinese based on Sino-British encounters before
and during the opium trade. He also looked at the differing cultural representations and
policies they provided in China throughout this time and how they related to the outbreak
of war.41 Gao argues that the political acceptance of China occurred because political
actors, like Commissioner Zexu Lin and Macartney, influenced a shift in attitudes the
British held towards the governmental institutions of the Qing Dynasty in China. He
further states that there is a lack of evidence as to the exact reasons why Britain decided
to engage in war against China. He states that this could be because of the shift from
amicable to tense relations. Gao states that to understand the causes of the war, it is
necessary to examine the period before it. Under these circumstances, he claims that the
Macartney Embassy from 1793-1794, the Amherst Embassy from 1816-1817, the Napier
incident of 1834, and the opium trade from 1839-1840, led to a shift in Chinese ideology.42
In 1794, the Macartney Embassy was the first British diplomatic mission to
China. The mission was meant to focus on opening new ports for trade between Britain
and China, to establish a permanent embassy in Beijing, and to reduce trade restrictions
between British and Hong merchants at Canton. Despite the push by the British to
increase trade negotiations, the mission is considered to have failed because they could
not come to an agreement. Even though this occurred, Macartney stated in his diary that:
“our present interests, our reason, and our humanity equally forbid the thoughts of any
offensive measures with regard to the Chinese, whilst a ray of hope remains for
succeeding by gentle ones.”43 This is significant to note because Macartney believed that
it was necessary to preserve the current state of economic trade in China if Britain wanted
I had email correspondence with Professor Gao discussing primary source material.
He also provided specific sections of his research I could look into for my
historiographical analysis. I would like to thank him for his input.
41 Gao, “Going to War Against the Middle Kingdom?” p. 210-212.
40
42
43
Gao, “Going to War Against the Middle Kingdom?” p. 213-218.
Gao, “Going to War Against the Middle Kingdom?” p. 219-223.
86
�to gain lucrative assets; it would be important to avoid war since China did not have the
necessary assets to hold their own against Britain.
Twenty-two years later, William Amherst was sent to China to establish a new
embassy. After the Macartney Embassy failed the hope was to establish a better, more
secure, and equal trade protection for the two countries. Amherst stated in a letter to the
King that the Qing Emperor was not agreeable in terms of his treatment and expectations
of the British. He did not participate in kowtow because he felt that the British had been
treated unfairly by the Emperor. This negative experience caused the travelers of the
Amherst mission to suggest that Britain should adopt a firm stance against the trade
regulations put in place by the Chinese. Gao claims that following the Amherst mission
there were increased tensions between Britain and China due to the uneasiness and lack
of trust, which was observed through the introduction of opium to China even though it
was banned by the Qing Emperor. These tensions increased in the 1830s and would lead
to a conflict between Britain and China.44
According to an anonymous British merchant’s experience with the opium trade
in China, the exchange of opium went against the laws of the Chinese empire. His
account was written in approximately 1830. Even though the British considered opium
poison, the Britsih merchant believed that the laws set forth by the empire contradicted
the need for international trade and reciprocity. The British merchant viewed the Chinese
government’s attempt to stop the opium trade as an injustice to the process of
international trade. He mentioned “the people in the Western world poison themselves
with wine…the Chinese should be poisoned with opium.” This is significant because the
British viewed the Chinese as a subservient community that was full of prejudice since
they denounced the wholesale trade of opium within their borders.45
This supports a firsthand account by an American merchant in Canton. The
American merchant explains that the opium trade was a moral issue. The American
merchant referenced the Chinese as “healthy, active, hard-working, and industrious
people.”46 This tends to contradict the personification of the Chinese since Europeans
believe they are addicted to opium. Those who smoke habitually do not share the traits
the American merchant used to describe the merchants in Canton. The American
merchant also states that he has lived in “Canton, Macao, and Hong Kong” for forty years
and the use of smoking opium was not present throughout these cities up to the end of the
first Opium War. 47
44
Gao, “Going to War Against the Middle Kingdom?” p. 223-225.
45
“A British Merchant’s Answer,” The Chinese Repository, Vol V, p. 407-412.
“A British Merchant’s Answer,” p 409.
46
87
�These two merchants differed in their understanding of Chinese culture based on
their own experiences with trade. The British merchant’s perspective stems from the
Whig concept of free trade and that the Chinese were going against this principle.
Through British and Chinese interactions, it can also be noted that the British looked
down on the Chinese because of the negative interactions they experienced. This differs
from the experience of the American merchant because America and China did not have
negative trade interactions prior to the First Opium War. The first interaction between
the Chinese and the Americans occurred in 1783, when American sailors came to China
to get access to tea. They arrived on the ship, The Empress of China. Originally the
Chinese traders at the Port of Canton were skeptical about the trade; later on, the Chinese
did not perceive the Americans as a threat since they were on more equal footing during
trade negotiations.48 The varying perception and difference in attitudes is portrayed
through the different accounts by the merchants.
In 1811, Zexu Lin, a scholar of Jingshi, was appointed to a post in fiscal matters
and public works in Canton, China.49 Because of his background in statecraft and a strong
desire to eradicate the opium trade, he was promoted to Commissioner in the 1830s when
opium smuggling was at its peak. His first actions were against the Hong merchants and
Western traders—all crates of opium at the Port of Canton were subsequently destroyed.
During this time, Commissioner Lin wrote a letter to Queen Victoria of England
discussing his concerns over the opium trade and the present urgency for it to cease.50
Written in 1838, the letter detailed the hardships the Chinese encountered from
trade with Britain. He called the British merchants “barbarians” and “hypocrites” since
smoking of opium was illegal in England yet when the Chinese wanted to ban opium it
became an ethical problem for the British.51 Commissioner Lin believed that Britain was
only doing this for their own economic gain. According to the Commissioner, the
smoking of opium was banned in Britain which went against the push for Opium
consumption in China. He believed that if China were to cut off trade with countries like
W.C. Hunter, The Fan Kwae at Canton Before Treaty Days: 1825-1844, Shanghai,
1911, p 79-80.
48 Robert G. Sutter, U.S.-Chinese Relations: Perilous Past, Pragmatic Present, (Lanham,
Maryland, Rowman and Littlefield Publications Inc.: 2010), p. 32.
49 See Appendix A, Figure 1.2
50 Lee, Ji-Young (2017), China's Hegemony: Four Hundred Years of East Asian
Domination, Columbia University Press, p. 187.
51 Zexu Lin, “Commissioner Lin’s Letter,” International Relations of the Chinese
Empire, vol 1, (Shanghai 1910), p. 139.
47
88
�Britain, China would not suffer because of their prior isolationist nature. Instead, Britain
would suffer since they would lose access to products like silk. He goes even further to
state that a triple profit can occur because Chinese products can be sold to Britain and
later sold to other countries for consumption and use so Britain’s economy would flourish
by trading opium with China. The rhetorical question, “if the barbarians do not bring
opium, then how can the Chinese people resell it, and how can they smoke it?”, sums up
the point Commissioner Lin is attempting to make because he believes the root of the
problem stems from the trade itself.52 The Qing attempted to stop the sale of opium, so it
was then smuggled in by the British and the Hong merchants to attempt to make a profit.
As Commissioner of the region, he states that those who did not follow the rules would
be sentenced to death. This is important since it would increase tensions between the two
nations because Commissioner Lin claimed that those who partake in the opium trade
would be penalized with death. Historians claim that this source was the catalyst for the
beginning of the First Opium War. Instead, the document provides support for the
implementation of the capitalist system and the push for Westernization since the British
disagreed with the traditional aspects and dynastic relations provided. In turn, they
viewed China as a weaker nation that should rely on international trade to survive.
Commissioner Lin’s policies were based on Neo-Confucius ideas like reciprocity that are
present in the tribute system.53 His actions and derogatory tone in the letter to Queen
Victoria negatively influenced the tensions between Britain and China which would
ultimately be the catalyst for the First Opium War.54
The British Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, sent a letter to Sir Henry
Pottinger, who was a member of the British envoy in China. Palmerston was a British
official who originally wanted to pacify China. Instead, the action of the destruction of
the crates of opium gave him the incentive to go to war against China. He states that the
Chinese government had banned the trade of opium and the punishment for trading the
product would be death. In this instance, Lord Palmerston believed that the Chinese
government was fully entitled to stop the trade but that the British should undermine the
government’s authority and continue to use the “unauthorized trade.” His letter was
shared with Baron Thomas Babington Macaulay, who served as the Secretary of War
from 1839 to 1841. Macaulay was an important Whig thinker and his writings
introduced Whig ideas to India. He discussed the push by the West to increase progress
52
“Commissioner Lin’s Letter,” p 139.
53
Lin, p. 138-144.
54
This is referenced in multiple sources I have examined for my argument.
89
�in the form of industry, and to have missionaries spread their beliefs so conversion could
occur. He believed that opium was an addictive substance that was damaging the
Chinese states. Despite this, he argued that Commissioner Lin’s letter was a form of
intimidation that backfired.55 Palmerston’s letter to Macaulay is said by some historians
to have influenced the decision to go to war against China.56
On August 29, 1842, Queen Victoria and Emperor Qianlong signed the Treaty of
Nanjing. Article III of the Treaty of Nanjing stated that the Island of Hong Kong was to
be ceded to the British. Another stipulation of the treaty was that China would have to
pay reparations and open up five treaty ports in addition to Canton.57 According to the
Treaty, the British would be able to reside in Hong Kong to continue their economic
pursuits.58 This treaty, among others, greatly weakened the Qing Dynasty’s dominance
in the East. America based The Treaty of Wang-hea on the Treaty of Nanjing in regard to
sanctions placed on China.59 The Treaty of Wang-hea was signed on July 3,1844. It was
negotiated by Caleb Cushing and Peter Parker from the United States, and also hindered
the existing tribute system in Canton since the United States would be of equal status
with Britain in terms of international trade. A clause of The Treaty of Wang-hea was that
Chinese subjects would be held accountable for their actions under Chinese law, while
American citizens would be held accountable by the American counsel in China. This
also applied to the British because Britain was listed as a most favored nation (MFN).
This meant that there would be equal trade advantages, such as lower tariffs and higher
import quotas that Britain would receive.60 These treaties became known as the “unequal
treaties” since the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign them and agree to the terms set forth
by Britain and America. The Qing Dynasty became weak and corrupt following China’s
Peter J. Kilson, “The Last War of the Romantics: De Quincey, Macaulay, the First
Chinese Opium War,” The Wordsworth Circle 49, no. 3 (Summer 2018), p. 148.
55
S. Couling, “Lord Palmerston’s Instructions to Sir Henry Pottinger respecting Opium,
May 1841,” Encyclopedia Sinica, London, 1917, p. 406.
56
57
See Appendix A, Figure 1.3
The Statistical Department of the Inspectorate General of Customs, “From the Treaty
of Wang-hea” China: Treaties, Conventions, Etc., Between China and Foreign States,
Vol 1 (2017), p. 351-356.
58
Some sources refer to the Treaty of Wang-hea as Wagnxia and Wanghia. Throughout
this paper I will be referring to the American Treaty as the Treaty of Wang-hea.
60 The Statistical Department of the Inspectorate General of Customs, “The Most-Favored
Nation Clause: Article VIII, Treaty of the Bogue,” China: Treaties, Conventions, Etc.,
Between China and Foreign States, Vol 2, (2017), p. 393.
59
90
�defeat at the hand of the British following the First Opium War. There was political
unrest since the elite members of the Qing government had begun to lose their position in
the social hierarchy. This was because domestic opposition to the old system emerged.
Western influence in Hong Kong increased during this period. Since Hong
Kong was now a British colony, there was more exposure to Western concepts like
capitalism. Hong Kong is approximately 6,000 miles from London; despite being a
British Crown Colony, ninety eight percent of the population were Chinese.61 The
presence of the British in Hong Kong influenced numerous factors of development. In
the colony’s early years there was a large influx of refugees who wanted to partake in the
financial success Hong Kong was incurring. In this sense, the drive to increase income
was similar to that of the West. This is because the focus lied in balancing life, making
money, and enjoying spending it, which were basic capitalist principles. Through these
principles Hong Kong became a world financial center.62 This is expressed through
statistics detailing the percentage of increase of trade in the region.
Following the First Opium War in 1842, Sir Henry Pottinger was promoted to
British Plenipotentiary. He was given jurisdiction over the colony of Hong Kong.
Pottinger used Hong Kong to expand trade networks in the East. He claimed that China
had the potential to increase stock prices for Britain because of its location and the
opportunity for an influx of goods to trade. The volume of goods traded in Hong Kong
increased drastically during this time since the colony was considered by historians to be
the bridge between the East and the West. This is important to understand the
relationship between Britain and Hong Kong based on the significance of trade relations.
Larger countries were less likely to trade with China through Hong Kong, instead the
region was favored by smaller countries that did not mind the exchange occurring
through an intermediary. Between 1865 to 1900, on average 41.36 percent of imports
and 26.94 percent of exports took place in Hong Kong. Compared to Great Britain, Hong
Kong experienced more imports and less exports.63 This is because the colony’s role was
to be an intermediary as part of the entrepot trade with China. Throughout this period,
trade between China and Britain increased greatly because of the use of Hong Kong as a
bridge between the two nations. From 1870 to 1950, Hong Kong was the entrepot for 50
percent of the trade of China’s exports. The opium trade with China gradually decreased
61
Jan Morris, Future Shock in Hong Kong. (New York: Random House, 1987), p. 3-5.
62
Morris, p. 4.
63
Wolfgang Keller, et al., “China’s Foreign Trade,” p. 870.
91
�and abruptly stopped in 1910. This is because other goods like cotton became a more
desirable commodity.64
The Second Opium War, also known as The Arrow War, began in October 1856
when Qing officials boarded the Chinese owned ship the Arrow, which was registered as
a British vessel. The ship was registered in Hong Kong with a British captain, so the
Qing were suspicious of the crew. Part of this is because of the “unequal treaties” signed
twelve years earlier. The American Treaty of Wang-hea contained a clause citing that it
would be renegotiated after being in effect for twelve years. Since America and Britain
were both of MFN status, Britain claimed that they should also have the opportunity to
renegotiate The Treaty of Nanjing. Based on the MFN status, Britain demanded that all
trading ports be opened to British merchant companies, that the opium trade is legalized,
and piracy is suppressed. Under this treaty, Chinese merchant ships were then registered
in Hong Kong as British merchant ships. In turn, Qing officials arrested most of the crew
of the Arrow because they thought that it was a pirate ship based on the conditions of the
Treaty of Nanjing. Since the ship was registered as a British ship, it was protected.
Negotiations regarding the release of the crew became heated and led to an eventual war
between China, Britain, France, Russia, and the United States. At this time the Qing
were fighting the Taiping and the Western powers, so they ceded to the West since they
did not have the resources to continue the battle.
Prior to interactions with the British and during the Opium Wars, Confucian and
Neo-Confucian thought was prominent in China. One well-known thinker from this
period is Xingyao Zhang. Zhang believed missionaries were harmless and should be
welcomed to China. He was a prominent scholar who published his book in Chinese
titled An Examination of the Similarities and Differences Between the Lord of Heaven
Teaching [Christianity] and the Teaching of Confucian Scholar’s from 1702 to 1715.
Zhang equates the Lord of Heaven (of Christianity) to the Lord-on-High (from
Confucianism). He states that the five teachings from Confucianism strongly influenced
Chinese culture, as well as the ideas that spread from Christianity. He claims that
Confucianism will lead to being saved even if other religions follow one main God
instead of separate deities or ancestral lines.65
According to Zhang, Western missionaries only came to China to educate and
save the world from sin. This aligned with the idea that all religions focus on Heaven and
Earth and will lead to an eternal life if one avoids sin. The focus on all forms of religion,
as a means of enlightenment and not as a threat to societal customs is referenced in
64
65
Wolfgang Keller, et al., “China’s Foreign Trade,” p. 874.
De Bary et al., p. 153–54.
92
�Zhang’s understanding of the foundational views of different religions. This is important
since prior accounts would show the superiority of Confucianism over Christianity.
Religion was perceived as a strong nationalistic and isolationist view for the Chinese
since it led to the creation of a collective culture. Zhang focuses on three major points to
show the similarity between the two different religions. The two religions support each
other in regard to basic premises. The points are that the harmonious ideas observed
through Confucius’ teachings, and the fact that Confucius would have wanted there to be
a relationship between the Lord’s teaching and the Lord’s scholars. In this case, the
Lord’s scholars also refer to Christian missionaries.66
The interaction between the Chinese and Jesuit missionaries in the 19th century
increased tensions between the East and the West, which is best expressed through the
1811 statute of the Great Qing Code, titled “Prohibitions Concerning Sorcerers and
Sorceresses.”67 The statute declared that Europeans who preached about the spread of
Catholicism would be sentenced to death in China. Following this, British Protestant
missionaries entered China in an attempt to convert them to Protestant Christianity and
introduce them to Western ideals. This occurred in approximately 1807 and coincided
with the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant
religious revival during the early 19th century. These missionaries hoped that a
distinction would be made between Jesuit Catholicism and Protestantism so the statute
would not apply to them since Jesuit Catholics were mentioned by name.68
In the 1980s, Peter Fay critiqued both Fairbank and Chung’s perspectives on the
opening of China for trade. He claimed that the determination of Protestant missionaries
to ‘open up’ China was crucial to the outbreak of the war. According to Fay, at the
beginning of the nineteenth century, China remained untouched and closed off to the rest
of the world. During this time there were limited sanctioned interactions between
merchants at Canton and the West, since the tribute system was in place. According to
Fay, the cause of the Opium Wars lay in the setup of the tribute system since the tensions
between Britain and China stem from differing concepts of trade. Fay examines the
Opium Wars without a focus on Western relations, but instead, he claims that the Chinese
were the ones who opened the country up to trade because of the influence of Western
Christian missionaries. Fay only used sources found in the British archives and his
66De
Bary et al., p. 153–54.
Will Slatyer, Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes – Debt Before Dishonour: Part
III Forecast Dominance (Partridge Publishing Singapore, 2014), p. 20.
67
68
Slayter, p. 23.
93
�stance favored the British imperial perspective—that it was their duty to spread their
beliefs. Since Fay only focused on sources from British missionaries, he is lacking in the
influence of Chinese Christian missionaries like a-Fa Liang. Without examining the
Chinese perspective, he was unable to identify the connection between missionaries and
the Taiping Rebellion.69
Following the First Opium War there was an influx of British Protestant
missionaries in China. This led to an increased presence of Christian beliefs in the five
treaty ports, which would later spread throughout other areas of China. Liang, a farmer
in China, converted to Christianity and became the first Chinese Christian missionary.
He wrote a tract titled Good News to Admonish the Ages. This would be destroyed by the
Qing dynasty so Liang would re-publish the tracts that he had memorized which would
then be circulated throughout China. A copy would fall into the hands of Xiuquan Hong,
a poor farmer from the Guangdong region. Hong attempted to become a member of
Jingshi but after failing three times he fell into a period of depression. Once he fell ill, he
began to experience hallucinations of a man who he would later claim was God telling
him to fight back against the oppressive Qing Dynasty. To better understand his vision
there needs to be a close examination of Jingshi and the influence of Christian beliefs on
the region.70
Liang was one of the first converts to Protestantism in China. He was raised on
a farm and left his family to become an apprentice for a block cutter in a printing
establishment near the foreign factories in Canton. While working as a block cutter he
came into contact with Christian texts—though he did not initially understand their
meaning, two British missionaries, Robert Morrison and William Milne, helped to
enlighten him about the texts. Liang was poorly educated so he was unable to read
English, because of this the missionaries would share their teachings with him, and he
would write them down in Chinese. In 1816, he was baptized by Morrison and Milne.
Liang was the first recognized Chinese Protestant minister who became an ordained
minister in 1827 and later worked under the London Missionary Society—the
missionaries recounted their experiences in China. In 1830, the London Missionary
Society published in London, Good News to Admonish the World, detailing the
missionaries’ time in China and discussing converts like Liang. The text spanned five
hundred pages of collections of writings and Chinese periodicals. During this time Liang
Peter Ward Fay, The Opium War, 1840-1842: Barbarians in the Celestial Empire in
the Early Part of the Nineteenth Century and the War by which They Forced Her Gates
Ajar, (The University of North Carolina Press), p. 1-6.
69
70
Yu-Wen Jen, The Taiping Revolutionary Movement, (Yale University Press, 1973), p. 12.
94
�wrote his own manuscript titled, Good Words to Admonish the Age, being Nine
Miscellaneous Christian Tracts based on the work of the London Missionary Society—
there are currently only four known copies of the manuscript. Liang wrote his
manuscripts in Chinese, which is important to note since those who were not educated in
English were able to read his writings. The manuscript was comprised of pamphlets and
quotes that Robert Morrison translated from the Bible. It also included sections of the
Scriptures, short sermons, and the importance of the Bible.71 Earlier versions of the
manuscript were destroyed by the Qing Dynasty since they viewed Christianity a threat
and associated it with defeat following the First Opium War.
Xiuquan Hong obtained a copy of Liang’s manuscript when he was going to
take the Jingshi examination for the third time.72 The examination was based on The
Four Books or Four Canonical Books that was written during the Song Dynasty, 9601279 CE, as a basic introduction to Confucianism. These books were collections of
Chinese scriptures based on Neo-Confucian beliefs. The civil service examinations were
based on these texts. Hong was originally a poor farmer from the Guangdong region in
China. This region is in close proximity to the British colony of Hong Kong. In 1837,
the Reverend Issachar Jacox Roberts met Hong, who was looking for a Christian
missionary to decipher the dreams he was having. Roberts wrote a journal about his
experience in China and he explicitly mentioned the teachings he used to educate Hong
on Christianity. His writings detail his experience on the inside of the Taiping Rebellion
and the steps Hong took to create the rebellion.73 Roberts began his career in Chinas as
part of the ministry in Hong Kong in 1842, following the events of the First Opium War.
Hong “had envisioned himself as the second son of God.”74 When Roberts met with
Hong, he recalled that he and his companions had copies of the Bible in Chinese and
English translations.75 This is important because Hong had a fundamental knowledge of
Christian beliefs before he implemented them in society.
Eugene Powers Boardman, Christian Influence Upon the Ideology of the Taiping
Rebellion, 1851-1864. (New York: Octagon Books, 1972) p. 3.
71
Walter T. Durham, “A Tennessee Baptist Missionary in China: Issachar Jacox Roberts
and the Taiping Rebellion, 1837-1866,” Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Vol 72, no 2, p.
95.
72
Durham, p. 100-101.
Jonathan A. Seitz, A Critical Introduction to Liang A-Fa China’s First Preacher, 17891855, (Pickwick Publications, Eugene, Oregon), p. xiv-xv.
75 Boardman, p. 117.
73
74
95
�After failing the provincial examination to become a member of the gentry
under the Qing Dynasty, Hong fell ill for roughly forty days. While he was ill, one of his
visions was of a respected man with a white beard and blonde hair who revealed to him
that the human race was filled with sinners who have strayed from the work of God.
According to Hong, the figure handed him a sword and a seal to fight against the demons
in the world, in this case, the Qing Dynasty.76 He would later claim that he was the
younger brother of Jesus Christ. Hong thought that these visions were God’s message to
him to stop idolatry. He came to this realization after reading Good Words to Admonish
the Age, being Nine Miscellaneous Christian Tracts by Liang.
Hong’s analysis of his visions culminated in the Taiping Rebellion in 1850. His
anger at Qing society stemmed from being blocked out of the social hierarchy created by
the Qing. The Taiping became militarized and took action to regain areas of China in
their name. Since they began to fight back against the Qing Dynasty, the Qing attempted
to squash the rebellion through whatever means necessary. This led to the Qing Dynasty
asking the British for help to stop the immediate threat. This rebellion is significant in
the grand scheme of Chinese history since approximately twenty to thirty million people
died. Some historians claim that this was one of the bloodiest civil wars in history, yet
there is a lack of available sources due to the fact that the Qing Dynasty destroyed a
majority of the materials relating to the Taiping.77
Taiping beliefs, a branch of Christianity using most of the same concepts, was
founded by Hong using Liang’s manuscript which is said to have been the theological
source of the rebellion. One of Hong’s cousins informed him that Liang’s manuscript
was worth reading because of its relation to the disarray in the current state of the Qing
Dynasty following the First Opium War. The religious and moral ideas presented in the
manuscript helped to inspire Hong to apply these concepts to the Taiping Movement.78
Good Words to Admonish the Age, being Nine Miscellaneous Christian Tracts used its
foundation in the Christian religion and the theological vision Liang proposed about the
mixing of Chinese culture. Liang believed Christianity would co-exist within a new form
of Chinese society. Hong believed this version of society would be open to potentially
radical ideas like those that would later be presented by the Taiping. The mixing of the
two religions would make China a stronger country that would not be under the
tyrannical Qing Dynasty. Hong used this to justify the creation of the Society of God
Boardman, p. 119.
Jen, The Taiping, p. 10.
78 Sukjoo Kim, “Liang Fa’s Quanshi liangyan and Its Impact on the Taiping Movement,”
(PhD Dissertation, Baylor University 2011), p. 4-6.
76
77
96
�Worshipers, which would later be known as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Hong
pulled aspects of Liang’s manuscript to justify his stance on why the Qing Dynasty
should fall. These aspects were Liang’s under Confucianism, his conversion to
Christianity by Morrison and Milne, the Ten Commandments, and the requirements of
being a Christian.
A companion of Hong, Yunshan Feng, created the Society of God Worshippers
in Guangxi region in 1844. Their original goal was to spread the ideas read about in
Liang’s manuscript. Feng was charged with treason in 1848 by a member of the local
gentry, Tsohsin Wang. The accusation was based on the scriptures of the Society of God
Worshippers; Wang claimed that “They have confused the people and have gathered
together several thousand men in order to follow the Old Testament of the barbarians,
rather than the law of the Qing Dynasty.”79 This quote is significant since it portrays the
division of loyalty between the elite and the poor. Since Wang was a member of the
elite, he claimed that the introduction of Christian values in relation to Chinese tradition
was blasphemous because they caused a disregard for the Qing Dynasty and their values.
In 1849, a majority of the members of the Society of God Worshippers were
“tenants, farmers, labors, and mine workers.”80 Of the several thousand members, most
came from the Guangdong province—this is noteworthy because there was animosity
between them and the Qing elites in the area. Frequent fights over money occurred
between the two groups. In 1850, the Qing Dynasty courts appointed Commissioner Lin
as the Imperial Commissioner to Guangxi. This was the beginning of Qing intervention
against the Taiping. The intervention by Commissioner Lin culminated in the peasant
uprising in Jintian Village on January 11, 1851, where the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
and the Taiping Dynasty were established.81 Hong and his followers prepared for
potential conflict against the Qing Dynasty—even though Qing law stated that it was
illegal for citizens to possess weapons, the Taiping armed themselves by secretly
constructing weapons at a factory owned by a member of the rebel group.82 Weapons
Ho Chen-ch‘uan, ―A Treatise on the Establishment of the Heavenly Capital in Chinling, in The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, vol. 2, Documents and
Comments, ed., Franz Michael and Chung-li Chang (Seattle, WA: University of
Washington, 1971), p. 253.
79
80
Sukjoo Kim, p. 12.
81
Sukjoo Kim, p. 15.
82
Jen Yu-wen Papers (MS 1924). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
This source was only accessible through a summary since I could not gain access to the
97
�were also smuggled in by the British to aid the rebels with their cause. Since the rebels
obtained weapons they were perceived as a threat to the status of the Qing Dynasty.83
Christianity was an important aspect of the Taiping Movement because their
initial beliefs about the formation of a new societal structure stemmed from missionaries.
Numerous missionaries like Marquis L. Wood, supported the rebel cause since they
believed their beliefs would help spread Christianity. Originally missionaries backed and
supported the Taiping Rebels. Wood, an American missionary documented his
experience in China throughout this period and the good he believed Hong was doing.
Hong founded the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in southern China on the basis that he was
the “Heavenly King” or Jesus’ brother. Wood’s perspective of the Taiping rebels was
influenced by his Protestant religion since he believed that opening up China to
Christianity was justifiable even though the rebels were killing those who went against
them. Wood believed that as long as the Taiping were fighting in the name of
Christianity, they could continue to fight for their cause.84 Despite this, he was
prejudiced against the Chinese, which is customary of someone who was raised to believe
that their view was the correct and only view. Wood’s diary lacks a timeline of what
occurred throughout the rebellion, it tends to focus on his feelings and beliefs. Even
though his diary is vague in regard to retelling the events it is significant since it shows
the support missionaries initially gave the Taiping.
Important aspects of the Taiping Movement were the Ten Commandments as
well as the concept of repentance, the elimination of "perverted spirits," baptism, and
praying to God and Jesus Christ.85 Since this movement occurred following the Opium
Wars, there was an anti-Christian bias present in China. Christianity was linked to
foreign aggression and extreme defeat. In turn, the educated classes and the gentry
viewed Christianity as sacrilege since it went against Confucian traditions and was
considered a threat to Chinese culture by the Qing. During this time the gentry was
considered the “guardians of Confucianism.”86 Familial ties and heritage in the form of
actual document. The citation is copied from the Yale University Website Library. MS
stands for Manuscript.
Cheryl M. Lawrence, “The Taiping Rebellion as Seen Through the Eyes of Marquis L.
Wood,” Methodist History, Vol 44, no. 4, p. 3-5.
83
84
Lawrence, p. 7.
King-To Yeung, “Suppressing Rebels, Managing Bureaucrats: State-building during
the Taiping Rebellion, 1850-1864,” p. 68.
86 Robert P. Weller, Resistance, Chaos and Control in China: Taiping Rebels,
85
Taiwanese Ghosts and Tiananmen, (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press,
98
�shrines and tablets were important in Chinese tradition because the concept of family and
worship went hand-in-hand in Confucian values. The Taiping rebels would vandalize
shrines and destroy ancestral tablets which greatly angered the gentry. The Taiping did
this in order to promote Christian monotheism.87 Without the events of the Opium Wars,
the hostility between the two groups would not have been as apparent. Even though the
Taiping did not claim that Confucianism should be eradicated, their actions against those
who followed Confucius beliefs drove a wedge in the social structure of society. This is
because Confucian officials lost the security previously held in their positions through the
Jingshi system. The Taiping removed Confucian officials and those with loyalty to the
Qing Dynasty from their positions.
As this was occurring, the Qing Dynasty fought against the Taiping army.
Ultimately, the Taiping ended up conquering the city of Nanjing, which would become
the capital of the Taiping Dynasty since they declared the region to be under their control.
The area they conquered was meant to be separate from the Qing Dynasty.88 A new
bureaucratic system was created under this new dynasty that was different from the social
structure in the Qing Dynasty. In turn, the Taiping believed Qing bureaucracy was in the
hands of those who monopolized money and power. There was a total of sixteen
commissioners in positions of power. One of these commissioners was Commissioner
Lin, even though his letter to Queen Victoria helped to initiate the First Opium War. The
commissioners served as commanders-in-chief for the Qing Dynasty to plan attacks
against the Taiping.89 These commissioners were part of the central control of the
dynasty since they played a key role in maintaining the Qing system of Jinghshi. From
1851-1856, 2.3 percent of those in bureaucratic positions in regions controlled by the
Taiping were dismissed or demoted. This differs from areas that were not under Taiping
control, which had a dismissal rate of approximately 0.5 percent. This reflects the need
for Taiping to construct a new social order that supports their agenda.90 The Taiping
Rebellion was not just a push for Christianity, it was also a push for a change to the
political and social structure of China.
1994), p. 39.
87
Weller, p. 43.
88
See Appendix A, Figure 1.4
King-to Yeuong. “Suppressing Rebels, Managing Bureaucrats: State-Building During
the Taiping Rebellion,1850-1864,” Dissertation, Rutgers, The State University of New
Jersey, 2007, p. 62-65.
89
90
King To-Yeung, Predicted Probability of Dismissal or Demotion in Rebellious Era:
Taiping vs. Non-Taiping Provinces, 2017. p. 117.
99
�Following this, missionaries began to denounce the Taiping Rebellion, which
stems from the signing of the Treaty of Tianjin between China, Britain, Russia, France,
and the United States. The treaty “assured the missionaries of a lawful status as long as
the Qing Dynasty remained in power.”91 This led to a shift in the relationship between
Christian missionaries and the Taiping since the missionaries stopped supporting the
efforts made by the rebels. The Taiping religion was not a branch of Protestantism, so it
was not considered a proper Christian religion.92
The emergence of the Hunan Army initially stemmed from the creation of
smaller armies in each province of China. Eventually, the Hunan Army would become a
united militia under Guofan Zeng, a retired Vice-President of the Board of Rites. Once
the provinces united to form one cohesive army, the breaking down of Confucian values
continued because this form of unity went against the initial Confucian views. Without
the combination of the different provinces into one army, the chances of defeating the
Taiping would have been slimmer. The emergence of a strong united militia in the form
of the Hunan Army helped to squash the Taiping Rebellion. In August 1860, the Taiping
decided they wanted to take over Shanghai which would expand their empire and region
of control. They were met with Qing troops commanded by Zeng, the leader of the
Hunan Army, and a British naval blockade. Zeng was also a Confucian scholar who was
a descendant of the philosopher Zengzi who was a student of Confucius. Through Zeng’s
experience learning about Confucianism, he applied it to his battle strategies.93
Zeng was appointed to the Qing Dynasty as Commissioner of the Militia of
Central China in 1852. He was tasked with arming approximately 17,000 men with
weapons and training. Under Neo-Confucian ideology the saying of the army during the
First Opium War was "Soldiers had no fixed commander, commander had no fixed
soldiers."94 This differed from the saying during the Taiping Rebellion, which was
“Soldiers followed the general, soldiers belonged to the general.”95 This shift shows the
Kenneth S. Latourette, The Chinese: Their History and Culture, 4th ed. (New York:
Macmillan Company, 1964), p. 280-81.
91
92
Latourette, The Chinese: Their History and Culture, p. 280-81.
93
Latourette, The Chinese: Their History and Culture, p. 280-81.
Jonathan Chappell, “The Limits of the Shanghai Bridgehead: Understanding British
Intervention in the Taiping Rebellion, 1860-62,” The Journal of Imperial and
Commonwealth History, vol. 44, no. 4, 2016, p. 539-541.
94
William T. Rowe, China's Last Empire: The Great Qing (History of Imperial China),
(America: 2009), p. 301.
95
100
�influence of the British in China because beforehand the Chinese saying reflected the
lack of unity in their militia; after the British got involved a uniform collective was
created. The prior saying also references the connection to familial ties and NeoConfucian values against war since there was no drive to fight for one cause. With
British intervention, the concept of a leader and personal gain was present in the set up of
the Chinese militia.
The battle for Shanghai continued through January 1862, when the Taiping were
ultimately defeated. This is because of resistance created by the Hunan Army supported
by troops commanded by Charles George Gordon, a British administrator and army
officer who was a member of the British Army. The army he commanded in China
became known as the “Ever Victorious Army” because it used British military tactics to
successfully destroy the Taiping rebels. The army was comprised of Chinese soldiers and
led by European officials. The “Ever Victorious Army” was only active from 1860 to
1864 during the Taiping Rebellion since the Qing Dynasty requested aide from Britain.
This is due to the fact that the Qing Dynasty did not have a structured militia and they
lacked aide since there was a lack of assets because of the reparations they were forced to
pay to Western nations. These reparations were placed on the Qing Dynasty from the
First and Second Opium War in the “unequal treaties.” Once the British sent aide to the
Qing Dynasty, their military leaders implemented European techniques, tactics, and
strategies to the training regimen. This played an important role in putting down the
rebellion because the Taiping were fighting using brutal tactics that were not uniformed,
it was similar to guerilla warfare. This is notable because the “Ever Victorious Army”
was the first Chinese army to utilize European techniques, tactics, and strategy.96 The
reconquest of areas under Taiping control slowly began with the command of Zeng and
by 1864, a majority of the areas were back under Qing control.
In May of 1862, the Hunan Army along with the “Ever Victorious Army” began
to surround Nanjing.97 Hong claimed that God would defend the capital, but the Hunan
Army cut off supply routes that led to the city, so the city was in turmoil. He died of food
poisoning directly following the low supply of food. Before his death, he was sick for
roughly twenty days and he continued to preach that God would protect his followers
despite the impending threat. Following Hong’s death, the Qing army overtook the city.
Four months before his death and the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong
handed the throne to his eldest son Tianguifu Hong at the age of fifteen. His
inexperience as a leader only hindered the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He was unable to
96
97
Bruce A. Elleman, Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795-1989. (Routledge: 2001), p. 52.
The Hunan army is also referred to as the Xiang Army in some sources.
101
�rectify street-fighting and other internal issues that helped lead to the fall of the empire.
Once the empire fell, Tianguifu and the other Taiping princes were executed to
extinguish the bloodline of the empire. Those who remained loyal to the Taiping kept
fighting until they were pushed to the “highlands of Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and finally
Guangdong.”98 Any Taiping supporters left were moved out of the prosperous areas of
the Qing Dynasty and back to the farmlands. Once defeated the Qing dynasty attempted
to erase the events of its history since it was one of the bloodiest civil wars. They
destroyed most firsthand accounts of the war. Roughly twenty to thirty million people
died during this rebellion.99 This is a historic number because the death toll because of
the influence it had on both sides. Approximately 100,000 people died in the last battle
that overthrew the Taiping Dynasty. In the end, the Qing victory led to the fall of the
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Despite this victory, the central government of Jingshi
weakened due to distrust of peasants and some officials based on the fact that the Taiping
were able to rise to power in the first place. This rebellion negatively affected the
perception the Chinese had of Christianity because of the radical views and actions of the
Taiping. Missionaries became unsure of their presence in China because Qing officials
no longer backed them.100
The relationship between the British colony of Hong Kong and China held fast
until Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997.101 The British Governor of Hong
Kong at the time was Sir David Wilson—he was the 27th person to hold that title. During
this time, he was preparing to return Hong Kong to the Chinese since the contract made
in the Treaty of Nanjing of being a colony expired. Even though it was decided that
Hong Kong would be returned to China in 1984, the actual act of ceding Hong Kong
back to China occurred in 1997. The Chinese government agreed to allow the colony’s
capitalist system to remain unchanged once it was back under their control.
Despite Western influences in regard to the economic foundation of Hong Kong,
it was by no means a democratic society. Ideas like “free speech, thought, and
opportunity” were also present among the Hong Kongese.102 A hybrid culture existed
Richard J. Smith, Mercenaries and Mandarins: The Ever-Victorious Army in
Nineteenth Century China (Millwood, N.Y.: KTO Press, 1978), p. 24-29.
98
Stephen R. Platt., Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic
Story of the Taiping Civil War. (New York: Knopf: 2012)
99
Thomas Reilly, “Sectarian Conspiracy in the Taiping Rebellion: The View from the
Chinese Elite,” Department of History, Pepperdine University, p. 24-26.
100
101
102
Wolfgang Keller, et al., “China’s Foreign Trade,” p. 864, 870, 874-875.
Morris, p. 4.
102
�which focused on globalization, “the convergence of economic and financial systems
world-wide.”103 Once combined with the People’s Republic of China, the former colony
could maintain its capitalist economic system. Deng Xiaoping, the leader of the People’s
Republic in China from 1978 to 1992, coined the term as “one country, two systems.”
The original agreement was that Hong Kong would be left alone by China until 2040.
Since Hong Kong was economically sufficient due to the trading infrastructure created by
the British during the Opium Trade the people were more susceptible to British thought.
This led to a decline in traditional religious beliefs, as well as reducing the role of the
family—this was previously important under Neo-Confucian thought because of the role
of filial piety. In 1970, Hong Kong was mostly an affluent capitalist colony that did not
follow traditional Confucian beliefs such as order, self-control, and discipline. These
values were prominent in Chinese culture even following the fall of the Qing Dynasty
and the rise of Communism. The differing values of family ties and individualism
created dissonance between Hong Kong and China. This would lead to a cultural identity
crisis for the Hong Kongese because there was uncertainty surrounding if they were
British, Chinese, or their own people.104
This is relevant to understand the issues occurring in present day Hong Kong
regarding the protests. Without the influence of the British during the period of the
Opium War and their treatment as a British Crown Colony, the Hong Kongese would
never have created their identity based on economic success and individualization while
rejecting traditional Confucian values. In February 2019, Hong Kong’s Security Bureau
submitted papers that proposed a new amendment to the existing legislature. This would
provide for a case-by-case examination of extraditions, where one jurisdiction delivers a
person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction. In this case
those who committed a crime in Hong Kong would be sent to China whose jails were
much harsher than Hong Kong’s.
In March 2019, protesters went to the streets because of the possible extradition
bill. The bill stated that transfers of fugitives for all of China would occur and legal
assistance would be made between Hong Kong and other nations to catch the criminal.
There were five demands in place—they were: to withdraw the extradition bill; to look
into alleged police brutality; that protesters should not be referred to as rioters; to pardon
Kam Yi-Mak and Larry Harrison, “Globalisation, Cultural Change, and the Modern
Drug Epidemics: The Case of Hong Kong,” Health, Risk, & Society, vol 3, no. 1, 2001, p.
40.
103
Yi-Mak and Harrison, “Globalisation, Cultural Change, and the Modern Drug
Epidemics,” p. 50-55.
104
103
�protesters who were arrested; and to introduce a direct election for the governor and
assembly instead of the current system where forty to sixty percent were elected based on
profession.105 These demands were not agreed upon so civil unrest continued. The
ongoing conflict will surely heighten tensions between China and Hong Kong. The
public memory of being a British colony with certain freedoms led the people of Hong
Kong to look towards Britain and America for assistance in maintaining their freedoms.
Currently, revolts are still happening and at least one person has died. The impact these
revolts will have on Hong Kong is uncertain but the remembrance of them will surely
influence relations between China and Hong Kong in the future.
The introduction of Western values like individualism, capitalism, and Christian
religion influenced the development of Hong Kong while also introducing concepts that
were applied to the Taiping Rebellion. The First Opium War left China in shambles due
to the reparations placed on the country from the treaties that opened up more ports for
trade. This made China more susceptible to Western values. The interactions between
Britain and China during the First Opium War became the catalyst for Xiuquan Hong to
analyze his visions and status in Qing Society. To deal with his failure to join Jingshi, he
used Protestant Christian beliefs and Liang’s manuscript to create the Taiping Rebellion.
The Taiping’s tactics against the bureaucracy of the Qing Dynasty led to one of the
bloodiest civil wars in history. Despite this, the Taiping rebels were crushed once the
British intervened on behalf of the Qing. This foreshadows the influence of Western
beliefs on Hong Kong when it was a British Crown Colony. The culmination of the
differing values between Hong Kong and China led to the protests currently happening.
The influence of public memory of the First Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion is
relevant to understanding the current political climate in Hong Kong.
Works Cited
Primary Sources
“12 Facts on China’s Economic History,” The Globalist, November 10, 2014,
https://www.theglobalist.com/12-facts-on-chinas-economic-history/.
“A British Merchant’s Answer,” The Chinese Repository, Vol V. Chen-ch‘uan, Ho. ―A
Treatise on the Establishment of the Heavenly Capital in Chin-ling, in The Taiping
Rebellion: History and Documents, vol. 2, Documents and Comments, ed., Franz
Michael and Chung-li Chang (Seattle, WA: University of Washington, 1971).
Timeline: Key dates in Hong Kong's protests, https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-chinaanniversary-timeline/timeline-key-dates-in-hong-kongs-protests-idUSKBN1WG3XK
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104
�Couling, S. “Lord Palmerston’s Instructions to Sir Henry Pottinger respecting Opium,
May 1841,” Encyclopedia Sinica, London, 1917.
Hunter, W.C. The Fan Kwae at Canton Before Treaty Days: 1825-1844, Shanghai, 1911.
Lawrence, Cheryl M. “The Taiping Rebellion as Seen Through the Eyes of Marquis L.
Wood,” Methodist History, Vol 44, no. 4.
Lin, Zexu. “Commissioner Lin’s Letter,” International Relations of the Chinese Empire,
vol 1, (Shanghai 1910).
The Statistical Department of the Inspectorate General of Customs, “From the Treaty of
Wang-hea” China: Treaties, Conventions, Etc., Between China and Foreign States, Vol 1
(2017).
The Statistical Department of the Inspectorate General of Customs, “The Most-Favored
Nation Clause: Article VIII, Treaty of the Bogue,” China: Treaties, Conventions, Etc.,
Between China and Foreign States, Vol 2, (2017).
William Theodore De Bary et al., Sources of Chinese Tradition: From 1600 through the
Twentieth Century, 2nd ed., Introduction to Asian Civilization (Columbia University
Press, 1999).
Secondary Sources
Aldred, Francis K. “China’s Struggle to Break with its Past the Adoption of Western
Ideas in the 19th and 20th Century,” The Journal of the West Virginia Historical
Association, vol 10, issue 1, (1986).
Basu, Dilip K. “The Opium War and the Opening of China: A Historiographical Note,”
Ch’ing-shih wen-t’i, Volume 3, Supplement 1, (1997).
Boardman, Eugene Powers. Christian Influence Upon the Ideology of the Taiping
Rebellion, 1851-1864. (New York: Octagon Books, 1972).
Chappell, Jonathan. “The Limits of the Shanghai Bridgehead: Understanding British
Intervention in the Taiping Rebellion, 1860-62,” The Journal of Imperial and
Commonwealth History, vol. 44, no. 4, 2016.
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�Chung, Tan. China and The Brave New World: A Study of The Origins of The Opium
War (1840-42), (Carolina Academic Press).
Cohen, Paul. “Changes Over Time in Qing History: The Importance of Context,” Late
Imperial China, Vol. 37, No. 1 (June 2016).
Durham, Walter T. “A Tennessee Baptist Missionary in China: Issachar Jacox Roberts
and the Taiping Rebellion, 1837-1866,” Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Vol 72, no 2.
E. Backhouse and J.P.P. Bland, “Emperor Qianlong’s ‘Mandates,’” Annals and Memoirs
of the Court of Peking.
Elleman, Bruce A. Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795-1989. (Routledge: 2001).
Fairbank, John K. Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: The Opening of the Treaty
Ports, 1842–1854. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1953).
Fay, Peter Ward. The Opium War, 1840-1842: Barbarians in the Celestial Empire in the
Early Part of the Nineteenth Century and the War by which They Forced Her Gates Ajar,
(The University of North Carolina Press).
Gao, Hao. “Going to War Against the Middle Kingdom? Continuity and Change in
British Attitudes towards Qing China (1793–1840)” The Journal of Imperial and
Commonwealth History, (2017).
Gao, Hao. “Understanding the Chinese: British Merchants on the China Trade in the
Early 1830s,” Britain and the World, vol. 12.2 (2019).
Holmes, Geoffrey and Szechi, D., The Age of Oligarchy: Pre-Industrial Britain 1722–
1783, (Routledge: 2014), p. xi.
Jen Yu-wen Papers (MS 1924). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
Jen, Yu-Wen. The Taiping Revolutionary Movement, (Yale University Press, 1973).
Keller, Wolfgang. Ben Li, and Carol H. Shiue. “China’s Foreign Trade: Perspectives
from the Past 150 Years,” The World Economy, (2011).
Kilson, Peter J. “The Last War of the Romantics: De Quincey, Macaulay, the First
Chinese Opium War,” The Wordsworth Circle 49, no. 3, (Summer 2018).
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�Kim, Sukjoo. “Liang Fa’s Quanshi liangyan and Its Impact on the Taiping Movement,”
(PhD Dissertation, Baylor University 2011).
Latourette, Kenneth S. The Chinese: Their History and Culture, 4th ed. (New York:
Macmillan Company, 1964).
Morris, Jan. Future Shock in Hong Kong. (New York: Random House, 1987).
Peyrefitte, Alain. The Immobile Empire—The first great collision of East and West—the
astonishing history of Britain’s grand, ill-fated expedition to open China to Western
Trade, 1792-1794, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992).
Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story
of the Taiping Civil War. (New York: Knopf: 2012).
Popkin, Jeremy. From Herodotus to H-Net: The Story of Historiography, (Oxford
University Press, 2016).
Reilly, Thomas. “Sectarian Conspiracy in the Taiping Rebellion: The View from the
Chinese Elite,” Department of History, Pepperdine University.
Rowe, William T. China's Last Empire: The Great Qing (History of Imperial China),
(America: 2009).
Sargent, Colin. “The Big Loaf and the First Opium War: Capitalism and Domestic
Policies in the British Empire 1813-1846, Special Forum: Proceedings from North
Eastern University’s 2012 Graduate Student World History Conference on Empires and
Technologies in World History,” The Middle Ground Journal, no. 1, 2014.
Seitz, Jonathan A. A Critical Introduction to A-Fa Liang China’s First Preacher, 17891855, (Pickwick Publications, Eugene, Oregon).
Sin, William “Confucianism, Rule-Consequentialism, and the Demands of Filial
Obligations,” Journal of Religious Ethics, vol 47, issue 2.
Slatyer, Will. Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes – Debt Before Dishonour: Part
III Forecast Dominance (Partridge Publishing Singapore, 2014).
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�Smith, Richard J. Mercenaries and Mandarins: The Ever-Victorious Army in Nineteenth
Century China (Millwood, N.Y.: KTO Press, 1978).
Sutter, Robert G. U.S.-Chinese Relations: Perilous Past, Pragmatic Present, (Lanham,
Maryland, Rowman and Littlefield Publications Inc.: 2010).
To-Yeung, King. Predicted Probability of Dismissal or Demotion in Rebellious Era:
Taiping vs. Non-Taiping Provinces, 2017.
Wang, Yuan-kang. “Explaining the Tribute System: Power, Confucianism, and War in
Medieval East Asia,” Journal of East Asian Studies, no 13, (2013).
Weller, Robert P. Resistance, Chaos and Control in China: Taiping Rebels, Taiwanese
Ghosts and Tiananmen, (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1994).
Yeuong, King-to. “Suppressing Rebels, Managing Bureaucrats: State-Building During
the Taiping Rebellion, 1850-1864,” Dissertation, Rutgers, The State University of New
Jersey, 2007.
Yi-Mak, Kam and Larry Harrison, “Globalisation, Cultural Change, and the Modern
Drug Epidemics: The Case of Hong Kong,” Health, Risk, & Society, vol 3, no. 1, 2001.
Appendix A
108
�(Figure 1.1)
(Figure 1.2)
109
�(Figure 1.3)
(Figure 1.4)
110
�How Misrepresentations of Transgender
People in Film and TV Affect Society
Paige Tolbard1
Most people will live their entire lives without ever questioning their gender
identity. For a lot of humans, the way they dress and act is socially acceptable because it
matches the assumed behavior of the gender assigned by their genitals. But what if
wearing dresses as a person with a penis could get you killed? For many Americans, that
is the case. By October of 2019, nineteen transgender people had been killed due to
transphobic violence, and eighteen of them were women of color.2 The real number of
trans people killed is most likely larger, as many trans victims of violence are
misgendered in police reports. While nineteen may not seem like a large number, it is
nineteen people who were killed for exercising their freedom of speech and expression.
Why do transgender people evoke so much hate and discomfort from cisgender people?
The main cause of violence against any marginalized group is ignorance. Most
cisgendered people have met very few or never met a transgender person, or have never
learned what it truly meant to be transgender. This can leave people with the wrong ideas
about how transgender people live. When movies like Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Ace
Ventura (1994), and Silence of the Lambs (1991) portray transgender people as liars, traps
for straight men, or killers, viewers of these films who know nothing about the real
transgender identity have nothing else to believe. Lack of accurate portrayal of
transgender people in film and TV contribute to the negative perceptions of transgender
people in society.
To be transgender means to have a different gender identity than the one you are
assigned at birth. Being transgender does not mean one is a pedophile, a psychopath,
deranged, nor does it mean one has a mental illness. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many
scientists declared that homosexuality and transsexualism meant the same thing. “Invert”
was the word they used to classify anyone with characteristics of the opposite gender.3
Written under the direction of Dr. Laura Morowitz for AH324-HO: Gender in the Visual
Arts.
1
2
Trudy Ring, “These Are the Trans People Killed in 2019” The Advocate Mag (OUT:
2019) https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2019/5/22/these-are-trans-people-killed2019#media-gallery-media-1.
112
�However, identifying as homosexual is classifying one’s sexual orientation, while being
transgender is classifying one’s gender identity. In the simplest of terms, being
homosexual refers to if someone is attracted to men or women, while being trans refers to
someone being a man or woman. The fact that it took so long for the two terms to be
distinguished from one another demonstrates the lack of understanding surrounding the
transgender experience. Even today, most people who are not transgender do not know
much about being transgender, or the process of transitioning.
Despite being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, transgender people
often face discrimination from gay and queer people as often as they face discrimination
from straight and cis gendered people. In the beginning of the movement for gay rights,
many gays felt that transgender individuals represented a part of the LGBT community
that was “too transgressive,” and did not want to be associated with transgender people4.
In addition to outside criticism, many transgender people experience feelings of
internalized transphobia, where they feel that their identity and their feelings are morally
wrong and unnatural. With all of these societal pressures telling transgender people that
they do not belong in society, films and TV that support the transphobic notions only
make existing more difficult for trans people.
Many movies that have received awards and praise from critics actually include
harmful portrayals of transgender people. For example, the movie Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
directed by Chris Columbus, casts Robin Williams as a father whose only way to interact
with his children is to dress up as a female housekeeper in his children’s home. Williams’
character was not even an identifying transgender woman, his character was simply
someone that used a costume to try and connect with his children. The scene where his
children found out about his actual identity is the controversial aspect about the film. One
of his sons sees him using the bathroom standing up while wearing a wig and a dress. To
the child, seeing a person who is feminine presenting stand up to use the bathroom is
unsettling. His son screams in fear of the person using the restroom, and refuses to talk to
Mrs. Doubtfire. The son calls Mrs. Doubtfire “he-she” to his sister, and proposes the idea
of attacking Mrs. Doubtfire in the scrotum.
While the son is only 10 or 11 years old, his first reaction to finding out
someone is transgender, is to attack them, despite never being harmed by the transgender
individual. Once the son finds out Mrs. Doubtfire is really his father, he asks his father,
3
Camden Goetz, “History of the Word: Transgender” (Point Foundation: 2019).
https://pointfoundation.org/history-word-transgender/
4
Ibid.
113
�“you don’t really enjoy doing this, right?”5 as a way to be reassured that his father is still
a “normal” person. William’s role and his son’s reaction perpetuate the idea that people
who are transgender are lying, hiding something, and are not to be trusted. It is marketed
as a family film, but includes scenes and dialogue that contribute to the
misrepresentations of transgender people.
Many lovers of the film Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) argue that the scene was simply a
part of a comedic film, and its meaning should not be exaggerated. The truth is that
scenes like this have the power to contribute to societal attitudes to the subjects they
portray. Take, for example, the issue regarding legislation on transgender people using
public restrooms. In 2016, the South Carolina legislature passed a bill that requires
individuals to use only the gendered bathroom that matched the gender one was assigned
at birth. The legislation was made right after President Obama’s term ended, and the
“Department of Education announced that under the Trump administration, the
department would no longer enforce Obama-era protections for transgender students to
use the restroom that aligns with their gender identities.”6 The change in legislation was
directly enacted to disenfranchise the transgender community of South Carolina.
Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire
Many supporters of the bill argued that having people who identify with a
gender different from the one they were assigned at birth was unsafe for cisgendered
5
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993; Hollywood: 20th Century Fox, 1993), Dir. Chris Columbus.
6
Spencer Leland G, “Bathroom Bills, Memes, and a Biopolitics of Trans Disposability”
(Western Journal of Communication, 2019), 83:5, 542-559.
114
�people, as the individual’s presence put people at risk for sexual assault and harassment.
Basically, cisgendered people were scared that men who “dressed up as women” would
rape the women in the restroom. Rather than attempting to tackle the issue of rape culture
and sexual assault against women, South Carolina’s legislature decided this would be the
best way to “protect” its citizens. This reasoning subliminally implies that the transgender
people of South Carolina are not citizens, as the legislation was meant to protect the
states’ cisgender population and directly discriminate against transgender people.
Furthermore, the state legislature failed to recognize the disparities between violence
committed by transgender individuals rather than the violence committed against
transgender individuals. A survey done by the University of Hawaii about violence
against transgender individuals determined that “the most common finding across the
surveys and needs assessments is that about 50% of transgendered persons report
unwanted sexual activity.”7 The basis of the law was to protect cisgendered people from
sexual violence from transgender people. In reality, trans people face more sexual
violence from cisgendered people than they commit the sexual violence towards
cisgendered people.
Another film is the classic film Ace Ventura (1994). Jim Carrey plays a
character who has a love interest with a transgender woman. Jim Carrey’s character, Ace
Ventura, has to track down the criminal that took the Miami Dolphins team mascot, and it
turns out to be the team’s former kicker, Ray Finkle. However, at the time of Ace’s
discovery, Finkle no longer identified as a man, and was living as a woman named Lois
Einhorn. The love connection is quite pure, up until the point Jim Carrey’s character finds
out that the woman was born as a man. Once he realizes the woman he has kissed is
transgender, he furiously brushes his teeth and rinses his mouth out, disgusted by the idea
that he could ever have contact with a transgender person. The title of the scene is “she’s
a man.” The film is labeled as a comedy, and while Jim Carrey is attempting to rid his
mouth of any remnants of the transgender woman the audience is receiving the scene as
comedic relief. The disgust of being with a transgender woman is supposed to be
perceived as funny to the audience. Again, this adds to the idea that transgender women
are out to trick straight men. While there are underlying homophobic themes of the scene,
the main argument is that the woman who used to be a man was somehow lying to Ace,
and that their love is considered disgusting. In Ace Ventura (1994), when Jim Carrey
7Rebecca
L Stotzer, “Violence against Transgender People: A Review of United States
Data” (Violence and Aggression, 2009), 170–79.
115
�screams “she’s a man!”8 after discovering that the woman he kissed was born a man, he
misgenders Lois and deliberately disrespects her identity.
This scene contributes to the infamous “misgendering” phenomenon almost
every transgender person has experienced in their life. To misgender a person is to use
the incorrect pronouns to describe them; as in, calling someone who identifies as a
woman, “he” or “him.” Misgendering is incredibly disrespectful and undermining to
transgender individuals, as it discounts their attempts to be recognized as the gender they
feel most comfortable expressing themselves as. The Department of Psychology at the
University of California conducted an experiment where transgender individuals
documented the times that they were misgendered to examine the psychological effects of
misgendering. “Participants who reported more frequent experiences with misgendering
reported more identity importance, but less identity strength and congruence, than
participants who reported less frequent experiences with misgendering.”9 When a
cisgendered person refuses to use a transgender person’s preferred pronouns, it is an
attempt to ostracize the individual, and makes the transgender individual feel stigmatized.
Both films Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Ace Ventura (1994) fall under the film
category of “comedies,” but many classic horror films also include astoundingly
transphobic messages. Take for example, the timeless horror film Silence of the Lambs
(1991). The plot centers around a female FBI agent tracking down a serial killer named
“Buffalo Bill” who skins women and kills them. Buffalo Bill’s character is sadistic,
creepy, and coincidentally, gender queer. While his name is Buffalo Bill, the film
includes a scene of the killer dressing up in makeup, feminine clothing, and styling his
hair to that of a woman’s.10 It is obvious that Buffalo Bill does not conform to the typical
gender norms of a man, and to include that as a main characteristic for the film’s
notorious serial killer was an interesting choice of the film maker.
Buffalo Bill express himself with excessively feminine mannerisms and clothing
right before attempting to kill his final victim. This aspect of his identity was used by the
filmmaker to add to his disturbing nature, as it attempted to make the viewer even more
uncomfortable with Buffalo Bill. While there is no denying Buffalo Bill is a sinister
human, his gender expression should not contribute to his identity as a killer. The film
was made in the 1990’s, at a time when little to no characters on TV were transgender or
8Ace
Ventura: Pet Detective (1994; Hollywood: Warner Bros, 1994) Dir. Tom Shadyac.
9
Kevin McLemore, “Experiences with Misgendering: Identity Misclassification of
Transgender Spectrum Individuals.” (Self and Identity, no. 14, 2015): 51–74.
10
Silence of the Lambs, (1991; Hollywood: Orion Pictures, 1991). Dir. Jonathan Demme.
116
�gender queer. Portraying a serial killer as a transgender person creates a negative and
false representation of transgender people that had not been widely refuted.
Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs
The same theme goes for Hitchcock’s famous horror film Psycho (1960)11. The
film revolves around a woman, Marion, on the run who stays at the character Norman
Bates’ motel. Bates’ and his mother have a complicated relationship throughout the film,
but the plot focuses on his relationship with Marion as he grows fond of her during her
stay in his motel. While showering in her room’s bathroom, Marion is killed by an
unknown figure. The scene of her death is incredibly jarring, and many critics have read
the scene as both a murder and a rape scene from the intentional camera angles used by
Hitchcock. As it turns out, Bates is actually the woman’s murderer. What was even
worse, was that he dressed as his mother while he killed the innocent woman. For this
reason, Psycho (1960) becomes yet another horror film portraying someone who dresses
as the opposite gender as a psycho and a killer.
Even though both films were created over 20 years ago, many of society’s
perceptions of transgender individuals have remained the same. In fact, many transgender
individuals avoid seeking help from healthcare professionals due to risk of being labeled
as a “freak” by the healthcare facility’s staff. A study done by the American College of
Emergency Physicians surveyed transgender and gender non-conforming individuals as
to what they believe would improve their experience as a gender queer patient in the
healthcare system. One of the participants stated that:
11
Psycho. (1960; Hollywood: Shamley Productions, 1960) Dir. Alfred Hitchcock.
117
�These types of experiences generated mistrust and lack of confidence in care
quality. Participant 22 (transwoman) asked, “Sort of makes you wonder, if they
can’t get your gender identity correct, what else along the way is being
misconstrued. What else are they screwing up behind the scenes that you don’t
know well? Or what other information isn’t getting passed along properly?”12
Negative stigmas surrounding transgender patients can affect not only the way they are
treated by the doctors, but also the quality of medical care they receive. With films like
Silence of the Lambs that represent transgender individuals as freaks, the stigmas become
even harder to debunk.
In conclusion, people who identify as transgender face prejudice from society
and transphobic people in their everyday lives. When films decide to cast cisgendered
individuals to portray the transgender experience or identity in a negative light, their role
reinforces the uneducated assumptions about transgender individuals. The assumptions
that people who are transgender are liars, freaks, or deceptive. Children who grow up on
movies such as Mrs. Doubtfire, that never meet a transgender person in real life, and are
never introduced to films representing transgender characters in a positive light, have no
reason to believe that transgender folks are not what Robin William’s played them as.
This ignorance is what keeps trans people from being able to use the restroom of their
choice, reach out to receive medical attention, or simply express themselves without
facing discrimination. To reduce the prejudice around transgender folks, the transgender
identity has to be normalized and destigmatized. To prove the negative stereotypes
wrong, more films that represent the concept of being transgender as normal and human
have to be produced. Recently, shows such as Orange is the New Black (2013) and Pose
(2018) have casted trans women to play the role of trans women, and highlighted their
experiences as trans individuals. Both shows include scenes about violence and
discrimination the women received for identifying as transgender, which give the viewers
who are not transgender, a chance to understand the difficulty of being transgender.
Unfortunately, both of those shows are relatively new to television screens, and have very
specific audiences viewing both shows. To reach out to viewers who would not be
inclined to watch shows centered around LGBT+ issues, positive portrayals of
transgender characters and experiences must be incorporated into mass media and
12
Elizabeth Samuels, Chantal Tape, Naomi Garber, Sarah Bowman, and Esther K.
Choo, “‘Sometimes You Feel Like the Freak Show’: A Qualitative Assessment of
Emergency Care Experiences Among Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming
Patients.” (Providence: Elsevier Inc, 2017)
118
�popular films and shows that a wide range of viewers watch. The task is not impossible to
complete, but it must include the work of cisgendered folks using their privilege to give
marginalized transgender people a platform. Society has to call out actors like Jim Carrey
who willingly play roles that are outwardly transphobic, and hold both the actors and
viewers to a higher standard.
Works Cited
Bao, Hongwei. “‘Shanghai Is Burning’: Extravaganza, Transgender Representation and
Transnational Cinema.” Global Media & China 3, no. 4 (December 2018): 233.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=133676515&site=edslive.
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Wagner College Forum for Undergraduate Research
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The <em>Wagner College Forum for Undergraduate Research</em> provides an arena where students can publish their research and have a wider audience that can see what types of areas of academic intellect and expertise are being explored at Wagner College. The journal is devoted to publishing empirical and theoretical papers by undergraduate students in all disciplines. Papers are reviewed with respect to their scholarly merit. Length and type of articles have been determined by the paper’s objectives and scope of contribution to its respective field. This collection houses all issues of the <em>Forum</em> from 2002 to the present.
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Wagner College, Staten Island, N.Y.
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2002 to present
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
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Forum for Undergraduate Research
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Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
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Spring 2020
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Volume 18, Number 2
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Section I: The Natural Sciences & Quantitative Analysis -- Full Length Papers -- 3 The Antimicrobial Effects of Peppermint Oil, Cinnamon Oil, and Chamomile Oil on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli / Alexandra Ruth Elder -- 33 The Effects of Corporate Sustainability on Corporate Financial Performance / Graham Schmelzer -- Section II: The Social Sciences -- Full Length Papers -- 57 The Epidemic of Depression in National Collegiate Athletic Association Student-Athletes / Maria D’Amico, Nicole Doherty and Iman Eulinberg -- Section III: Critical Essays -- Full Length Papers -- 69 The Structure of Repression and Trauma in Slow River / Gina LaRosa -- 75 Changes in Sino-British Relations from the Opium Wars to the Taiping Rebellion / Jeanine Woody -- 112 How Misrepresentations of Transgender People in Film and TV Affect Society / Paige Tolbard
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U.S. and international copyright laws may protect this work. It is provided by Wagner College for scholarly or research purposes only. Commercial use or distribution is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder.
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Wagner College Digital Collections
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126 pages
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eng
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Text