The significance of cross-cultural negotiation skills for the success Essay

The significance of cross-cultural negotiation skills for the success of international mergers and alliances - Essay Example This is where the term ’cross-cultural’ acquires significance in discussing negotiating skills essential for the success of international mergers and more specifically for success in acquisitions and alliances. More often than not, mergers and acquisitions are types of corporate businesses which amalgamate to form one single legal entity. The word alliance may cover activities like joint ventures, technology sharing agreements, and (seemingly in danger of violating anti-trust laws by price fixing) cartels, but not necessarily forming a single legal entity. Mergers and acquisitions among business firms have occurred within state boundaries before they became an international phenomenon. It perhaps speaks volumes for the lack of negotiating skills by one party or the other, when it is reported that 60 - 70 percent of M&As failed to deliver on what had been expected financially, as the outcome of the liaison. Less than a fifth of international M&As are said to create added value to the resulting organization. At the least, domestic mergers and acquisitions can expect shared traditions, regulatory laws, and custom and practice, which presumably make it easier for two or more parties to agree on common business aims and work towards achieving them.

DEALING WITH THE GREAT DIGITAL DIVIDE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DEALING WITH THE GREAT DIGITAL DIVIDE - Essay Example Many Globals feel that gay marriages should not be approved. However, many feel that with society progressing, homosexual marriages should be upheld and should be treated as a typical marriage between a man and wife. The second reason why this statement is true is due to the fact that Global politics is because of the fact that America is a â€Å"melting pot.† The reason why Globals differ in these issues within is because of the wide array of backgrounds, cultures, and adversities that Globals have faced. Thus, diversity is the main factor that serves as a catalyst for this division. For instance, the clash between political groups is a consistent testament of this issue. Democrats and Republicans as fueled by Global opinions represent the two sides of how a government should operate. Politics in public Global policy represent the two egos of the Global public. The initiation of political parties can be traced be back during the 1824 era in which the Republican Party was formed. On one side, the Democrats, who are in the liberating front and continue to call for social progress and challenge the status quo through taxation and more government involvement. Consequently, the Republican Par ty tends to oppose reform by propagation for status quo. These two major parties have dominated the Global politics since many decades. Undoubtedly, the ideological polarization has increased throughout Global society not only amongst individuals, but also amongst government officials. Political parties are groups of individuals that collaborate for the purpose of choosing public candidate in public office. Although the constitution mentions nothing about parties, the Globals have solidified their difference through the channels of political parties. Moreover, the organization of the structure contains no specifications of party formations. As a matter of fact, George Washington, in

Malaysia Is A Multicultural Society Media Essay

Malaysia Is A Multicultural Society Media Essay Introduction Malaysia is a multicultural society of which the population is made up by different types of ethnic groups includes Malays, Chinese, Indian and the Native. In fact, different ethnic groups have their own history, culture, belief system, value and language, there is thus unity among different ethnics is important in Malaysia (Economic Planning Unit, 2011). However, Malaysia has faced racial and ethnic tension due to the socio-economic and cultural differences after the independence of Malaysia in 1957. This racial conflict has lead to the development of several government policies such as the New Economic Policy and National Development Policy. Having realised the importance to maintain and enhance the unity among people of different ethnics, the 1 Malaysian concept was introduced in 2009. Under the notion of 1 Malaysia concept of People First, Performance Now, the government is trying to promote unity in the society by considering fair distribution and access in economic in the country (1Malaysia, 2012). It is therefore very important to promote the 1 Malaysia Concept and encourage the acceptance of the citizens of Malaysia. One way promoting the concept to the public is by means of the mass media. In the past, mainstream media like television, newspaper and radio has played an important role in promoting governments ideology and policies (Hashim, 2011). This thus suggested that media is able to play an important role in promoting the 1 Malaysia concept. It has the capabilities to educate the public on the importance of unity by promoting the understanding and the acceptance of other ethnic culture. . Regardless, the mainstream media in Malaysia always been known as a great contribution on nation-building and social cohesion, rather than on freedom of information (Kenyon Marjoribanks, 2007). It focuses primarily on positive stories reporting that is biased to the political elite (Anuar, 2000). This because most of the mainstream media outlets are basically owned by the government of Malaysia or privately owned by the parties that have close relationship to the Prime Minister or the members of component parties of the Barisan Nasional coalition government (Hassan, 2012). Therefore, the aim of this study is to discuss about the ways of the mainstream media are used to encourage the acceptance of the 1 Malaysia Concept the citizens of Malaysia and whether this approaches will generate the desired outcome. Discussion The mainstream media in Malaysia plays a critical important role in realising 1 Malaysia Concept. The first approach of the mainstream media is used by government as the channel to educate the ideas of 1 Malaysia to the large public. The traditional media such as the television, radio and newspaper have always been the core media of information dissemination (Hashim, 2011). For instances, the largest conglomerate Media Prima as well as a number of television radio channels and Malay, Chinese, English-language newspapers such as Utusan Melayu, The Stars and Sinchew are owned and controlled by the government (Weiss, 2012). As such, the government policies are easily to get any publicity and free space in these mainstream media. The messages of 1 Malaysia Concept from these mainstream media often portrayed the desired images of 1 Malaysia, of which the people of different races live together in harmony (Hassan, 2008). Other than that, mainstream media always has been the supportive bac kbone to the 1 Malaysia Concept as the effort with the government to strengthen peace and harmony in the country. As a supportive argument to the previous discussion, the agenda setting theory explains the powerful influence in the media that able to create public awareness on important issues (Mccombs, 2002). The media cannot tell what the people to think but has the ability to inform the people what to think about (Cohen, 1963). In other words, mainstream media raise the importance of an issue such as 1 Malaysia through the repetition of news (Hashim, 2011). The racial riot that happened in the past has caused Malaysians sensitivity to the issue that is related to ethnicity and races. Thus, national unity has become the top agenda to the public and thus it has become a political discourse in Malaysia. By taking this opportunity, the Malaysia Government has utilised the mainstream media in disseminates the messages and information regarding the 1 Malaysia Concept. Likewise, the government are telling the public the ideas that they wish the public to accept and support. Eventually, 1 Malaysia Co ncept is aims to strengthen the unity and harmony of people from different ethnics. Therefore, the mainstream media has successfully created the perception of the public that unity among differences ethnics as the important agenda in Malaysia which then attract their attention toward the 1 Malaysia Concept. Example in each occasion of the important festival such as Merdeka Day celebration, Hari Raya Festivals, Chinese New Year celebrations and Deepavali, the Prime Minister would deliver the speech with the association with the spirit of 1Malaysia. By that time, every mainstream television channel in Malaysia such as TV1, TV2, TV3, NTV7, 8TV and TV9 will have to broadcast his speech. In another example, we always can see the mainstream newspaper published a full page of advertisement that is related to the 1 Malaysia policies along with the tagline people first, performance now. In addition, mainstream media is being used by government to remind or reinforce 1 Malaysia concept to the public. As we can see, everyday Malaysian citizen and also foreigner have been bombarded by with the messages of 1 Malaysian Concept by the mainstream media. The 1 Malaysia logo is ubiquitous due to mass advertising and commercials in mainstream media (Hashim, 2011). Along with the logo, the tagline people first, performance now has become the identification of 1 Malaysia Concept to the public through the repetition in mainstream media. In fact, mainstream media has help to promote 1 Malaysia by keep emphasise on the tagline since People First, Performance Now in 2009 and the only move on to Generating Transformation in 2010, Transformation Successful People Prosperous in 2010 and till the recent theme Promises Fulfilled in 2012 (1Malaysia, 2012). The purpose is to reinforce perception and behaviours of the public. The repetition of showing the logo and tagline of 1 Malaysia hav e indirectly effect on informing the public what the government is focusing on this concept. The same example can be seen when the public service announcements related to 1 Malaysia are often been aired and published on government and privately owned television, radio and newspaper. The PSA usually related to various ethnic festivals that celebrated in Malaysia and thus signify the meaning that freedom of festival celebration. Nevertheless, mainstream main media has portrayed these different ethnic celebrations the public by showing the Malaysian are celebrating with each other in the festival regardless of race and religion (Hashim, 2011). In addition, we often can see the ministries or any government agencies tied up 1 Malaysia tagline in every program such like 1 Belia, 1 Malaysia by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and other programs such Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia. Thus, the government programs usually connotes with the 1 Malaysia identity by mainstream media. The role of the mainstream media is not just to disseminate the 1 Malaysia Concept but also to advocate and shape the attitudes of the public. In fact, the mainstream media has effectively created bandwagon effect in mass business advertising by using 1 Malaysia Concept. 1 Malaysia has eventually received support from various organisation including profit and non-profit organisation. These organisations usually associate their brands product or service with 1 Malaysia Concept (Hashim, 2011). Television and radio commercials created by businesses organisation would likely to include the message of unity with the presence and the voice of different races and ethnics. The first example of organisation association with the promotion of 1 Malaysia is Petronas Corporation. In fact, Petronas has been famous with their social corporate advertisements with the purpose of promoting national unity. Since 1 Malaysia Concept has been introduced in 2009, Petronas has created the advertisements tha t associate with the 1 Malaysia Concept every year in the major Malaysias festival such as Merdeka Day celebration, Hari Raya Festivals, Chinese New Year celebrations and Deepavali. The messages in the advertisement usually consist of implied meaning and also able to arouse audiences emotion. Furthermore, large national corporations such as Media Prima, Astro, Tenaga Basional Berhad and Telco such as Telekom, Maxis and Celcom have also come up with the commercial that are related to 1 Malaysia Concept. The commercial often tied up with the concept of 1 Malaysia where the messages of unity has been delivered. The commercials are basically known as issue advocacy advertisement which the advertisement is not intended to sell the product or services, but rather to change the publics perception and behaviour through political branding (Barrons Dictionary, n,d). In fact, the commercial by in the mainstream media usually showing Malaysia different races particular Malay, Chinese and Indian interact or either get along with each other. Would it generate the desired outcome? In my opinion, the usage of mainstream media may not able to generate the desired outcome of the 1 Malaysia Concept. By highlighting the mainstream media are used by government to encourage the acceptance of 1 Malaysia Concept, several social science theories have been selected to support on my opinion. According to limited-effect theory, the media rarely have direct influence on the individuals. The theory also explains that an individuals behaviour and attitudes are not easily changed by their reception and people usually tend to ignore political media content. Although mainstream media are used by government to promote 1 Malaysia Concept, it is still not sufficient enough to encourage the acceptance of the citizen of Malaysia. The definition gives an insight that the people in nowadays is no longer passive and vulnerable only to media content. People are able judge the media content according to their own interpretation from what they have perceived. Individual may exposed themselves to mainstream media in their daily routine, but they might not been influence by the 1 Malaysia Concept by merely just looking at it. As indicated in the previous point, the limited-effect theory also explains two-step flow of media influence. Media does not have direct influences to the population which from the mainstream media, the 1 Malaysia Concept are usually affect to the mass population through the dissemination by the opinion leaders. The opinion leaders must be someone that is credible and usually an active media user. People constantly turn to opinion leader for advice particular when come to something that is new in the society like 1 Malaysia Concept instead of getting the source of information from the media. Therefore, mainstream media is less influential compare to the human communication. Moreover, human behaviour attitudes and belief is hard to predict and influences because it may change from time to time. The main factor that determines a person attitude is positive, negative or maybe neutral. A person attitude towards 1 Malaysia Concept might be changed based on the personal experiences, environment and etc. Therefore, the selective exposure explains that people tend to expose themselves to messages that are consistent with their pre-existing attitudes and belief. The mainstream media might be able to influence those who are supportive and have positive perception toward the government policies. However, for those people that tend to have negative attitudes and belief towards the government such as the citizen that support to the opposition political parties, the outcome may be different. If the opinion leader that has been encountered consists of positive or negative beliefs and value towards the government policies, the followers might been influenced by him. Besides, 1 Malaysia Concept has faced up with various challenges including the new media technologies. The uses and gratification theory argued that different people use the media for different purposes (Sheldon, 2007). One of the assumptions of this theory explains that the audiences have the choice to select different kind of media. Thus, the audiences use the media more own their own benefits than the media can manipulate them. The audiences have the right or control to received any information from the media rather than been influenced by it. In fact, people now have much choice of media compare to the past, Mainstream media such television, radio and newspaper has compete with the new media. The internet technologies allow freedom of expression where everyone can write, criticize and comment anything on the internet. The alternative online news organization like Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today who always stand to challenge of the governments effort, aims primarily to present new s, especially from the different perspectives that not already covered by mainstream media (George, 2006). Thus, it has become one of the challenges for 1 Malaysia Concept to be full accepted by public. This is due to the development of internet technologies allow the users closer to the reliable information compare to the other media (Hashim, 2011). Therefore, because of internet, human behaviours changed and mainstream media has been view as a medium to brainwash the audience for the government interest. When 1 Malaysia concept has been shown in the mainstream media, the audiences will tend to doubt about motives behind it. Therefore, the internet has affect the people perception and thus becoming active and sensible media users who do not simply accept and agree with government policies particular has been shown in mainstream media. In addition, most the younger generations are seldom exposed themselves to the mainstream media. On the other hand, mainstream media has become alternative medium for information to some group of people. Internet served as a new inspirational medium of information without barriers. According to Ramasubramaniam (2011) explained people that with minimal interracial direct contact or which their source for information is only the mainstream media are more easily been manipulated by the government policies. The audience that only exposed themselves to only one source of information which had been controlled by the government are more vulnerable to accepting the information from the mainstream media. Conclusion As a conclusion, mainstream media in Malaysia has perceived as an important role in the government policies like 1 Malaysia Concept. This is because most of the mainstream media ownerships are closely tied to the government and ruling political party. Therefore, 1 Malaysia Concept being one of the government policies has the advantage being spread through the mainstream media in the country. The three main approaches of the mainstream media in Malaysia are used by the government are to educate the meaning of 1 Malaysia Concept and thus to reinforce and advocate the acceptance of the concept by citizen of Malaysia. However, these approaches would not bring the desired outcome of 1 Malaysia Concept because only the mean of mainstream media is not sufficient enough to influences the attitudes and beliefs of an individual. Besides, human communication is more effective than mainstream media when particular related to something that is new. The emerging of the new media like internet technologies has also bring a significant impact to the mainstream media, thus it has become one of the greatest challenges for the 1 Malaysia Concept. Therefore, mainstream media is important to educate about 1 Malaysia concept but not to encourage the acceptance of the citizen of Malaysia.

Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman as Epic Tragedy Essay -- Death Sal

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman as Epic Tragedy   Ã‚  Ã‚   Aristotle's Poetics defines the making of a dramatic or epic tragedy and presents the general principles of the construction of this genre. Surprisingly, over the centuries authors have remained remarkably close to Aristotle's guidelines. Arthur Miller's twentieth century tragedy Death of a Salesman is an example of this adherence to Aristotle's prescription for tragedy. It is significant to test Aristotle's definition and requirements of tragedy by comparison and contrast, against a contemporary tragedy and to make observations with regard to what influence society and culture may have on the genre. This discussion however, will be confined to the realm of plot and the more notable aspects of the construction of the incidents in tragedy because of the complexity of this element. Aristotle's attention throughout much of Poetics is directed towards the requirements and expectations of plot.   Plot, 'the soul of tragedy', Aristotle says, must be an imitation of a noble and complete action. In Death of a Salesman, Miller does provide a complete action, that is it has what Aristotle identifies as a beginning, a middle, and an end. These divisible sections must, and do in the case of Death of a Salesman, meet the criterion of their respective placement. Whether Miller provides a nobel action, however, is an issue of culture. Willy Loman ultimately takes his own life so that his son Biff may benefit from the insurance money that he will receive. The question then, is according to our culture is his suicide noble? Since Willy's suicide is perpetrated for Biff's benefit, one could view this act as sacrifice. Sacrifice is in our culture, a pious and admirable quality, one of... ...ath of a Salesman' Twentieth Century Literature.   January, 1972. 19-24.   Rpt. in World Literary Criticism.   Ed. Frank Magill.   'Arthur Miller' Detroit: Gale Research, 1992.   2366-2368. Hayman, Ronald.   Arthur Miller.   New York: Frederick Ungar, 1972. Hoeveler, D. J.   'Ben's Influence.'   Arthur Miller?s Death of a Salesman: Modern Critical Interpretations.   Ed. Harold Blum.   Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1988. 72-81. Magill, Frank.   'Death of a Salesman.'   Master Plots.   Englewood Cliffs: Salem, 1976.   1365-1368. Miller, Arthur.   Death of a Salesman.   New York: Penguin, 1949. ---.   Conversations With Arthur Miller.   Jackson: Mississippi UP, 1987. Parker, Brian.   'Point of View in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.'   Arthur Miller: A Collection of Critical Essays.   Ed. Robert Corrigan.   Englewood Cliffs:   Prentice Hall, 1969.   98-107.

Black House Chapter Seven

7 GOD MAY KNOW where Henry Leyden found that astounding suit, but we certainly do not. A costume shop? No, it is too elegant to be a costume; this is the real thing, not an imitation. But what sort of real thing is it? The wide lapels sweep down to an inch below the waist, and the twin flaps of the swallowtail reach nearly to the ankles of the billowing, pleated trousers, which seem, beneath the snowfield expanse of the double-breasted waistcoat, to ride nearly at the level of the sternum. On Henry's feet, white, high-button spats adorn white patent-leather shoes; about his neck, a stiff, high collar turns its pointed peaks over a wide, flowing, white satin bow tie, perfectly knotted. The total effect is of old-fashioned diplomatic finery harmoniously wedded to a zoot suit: the raffishness of the ensemble outweighs its formality, but the dignity of the swallowtail and the waistcoat contribute to the whole a regal quality of a specific kind, the regality often seen in African American e ntertainers and musicians. Escorting Henry to the common room while surly Pete Wexler comes along behind, pushing a handcart loaded with boxes of records, Rebecca Vilas dimly remembers having seen Duke Ellington wearing a white cutaway like this in a clip from some old film . . . or was it Cab Calloway? She recalls an upraised eyebrow, a glittering smile, a seductive face, an upright figure posed before a band, but little more. (If alive, either Mr. Ellington or Mr. Calloway could have informed Rebecca that Henry's outfit, including the â€Å"high-drape† pants with a â€Å"reet pleat,† terms not in her vocabulary, had undoubtedly been handmade by one of four specific tailors located in the black neighborhoods of New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, or Los Angeles, masters of their trade during the thirties and forties, underground tailors, men now alas as dead as their celebrated clients. Henry Leyden knows exactly who tailored his outfit, where it came from, and how it fell into his hands, but when it comes to persons such as Rebecca Vilas, Henry imparts no more information than is already likely to be known.) In the corridor leading to the common room, the white cutaway appears to shine from within, an impression only increased by Henry's oversized, daddy-cool dark glasses with bamboo frames, in which what may be tiny sapphires wink at the corners of the bows. Is there maybe some shop that sells Spiffy Clothes of Great 1930s Bandleaders? Does some museum inherit this stuff and auction it off ? Rebecca cannot contain her curiosity a moment longer. â€Å"Mr. Leyden, where did you get that beautiful outfit?† From the rear and taking care to sound as though he is muttering to himself, Pete Wexler opines that obtaining an outfit like that probably requires chasing a person of an ethnicity beginning with the letter n for at least a couple of miles. Henry ignores Pete and smiles. â€Å"It's all a matter of knowing where to look.† â€Å"Guess you never heard of CDs,† Pete says. â€Å"They're like this big new breakthrough.† â€Å"Shut up and tote them bales, me bucko,† says Ms. Vilas. â€Å"We're almost there.† â€Å"Rebecca, my dear, if I may,† Henry says. â€Å"Mr. Wexler has every right to grouse. After all, there's no way he could know that I own about three thousand CDs, is there? And if the man who originally owned these clothes can be called a nigger, I'd be proud to call myself one, too. That would be an incredible honor. I wish I could claim it.† Henry has come to a halt. Each, in a different way, shocked by his use of the forbidden word, Pete and Rebecca have also stopped moving. â€Å"And,† Henry says, â€Å"we owe respect to those who assist us in the performance of our duties. I asked Mr. Wexler to shake out my suit when he hung it up, and he very kindly obliged me.† â€Å"Yeah,† Pete says. â€Å"Plus I also hung up your light and put your turntable and speakers and shit right where you want 'em.† â€Å"Thank you very much, Mr. Wexler,† Henry says. â€Å"I appreciate your efforts in my behalf.† â€Å"Well, shit,† Pete says, â€Å"I was only doing my job, you know? But anything you want after you're done, I'll give you a hand.† Without benefit of a flash of panties or a glimpse of ass, Pete Wexler has been completely disarmed. Rebecca finds this amazing. All in all, sightless or not, Henry Leyden, it comes to her, is far and away the coolest human being she has ever been privileged to encounter in her entire twenty-six years on the face of the earth. Never mind his clothes where did guys like this come from? â€Å"Do you really think some little boy vanished from the sidewalk out in front of here this afternoon?† Henry asks. â€Å"What?† Rebecca asks. â€Å"Seems like it to me,† Pete says. â€Å"What?† Rebecca asks again, this time to Pete Wexler, not Henry. â€Å"What are you saying?† â€Å"Well, he ast me, and I tol' him,† Pete says. â€Å"That's all.† Simmering dangerously, Rebecca takes a stride toward him. â€Å"This happened on our sidewalk? Another kid, in front of our building? And you didn't say anything to me or Mr. Maxton?† â€Å"There wasn't nothin' to say,† Pete offers in self-defense. â€Å"Maybe you could tell us what actually happened,† Henry says. â€Å"Sure. What happened was, I went outside for a smoke, see?† This is less than strictly truthful. Faced with the choice of walking ten yards to the Daisy corridor men's room to flush his cigarette down a toilet or walking ten feet to the entrance and pitching it into the parking lot, Pete had sensibly elected outdoor disposal. â€Å"So I get outside and that's when I saw it. This police car, parked right out there. So I walked up to the hedge, and there's this cop, a young guy, I think his name is Cheetah, or something like that, and he's loadin' this bike, like a kid's bike, into his trunk. And something else, too, only I couldn't see what it was except it was small. And after he did that, he got a piece a chalk outta his glove compartment and he came back and made like X marks on the sidewalk.† â€Å"Did you talk to him?† Rebecca asks. â€Å"Did you ask him what he was doing?† â€Å"Miz Vilas, I don't talk to cops unless it's like you got no other choice, know what I mean? Cheetah, he never even saw me. The guy wouldn't of said nothing anyhow. He had this expression on his face it was like, Jeez, I hope I get to the crapper before I drop a load in my pants, that kind of expression.† â€Å"Then he just drove away?† â€Å"Just like that. Twenty minutes later, two other cops showed up.† Rebecca raises both hands, closes her eyes, and presses her fingertips to her forehead, giving Pete Wexler an excellent opportunity, of which he does not fail to take full advantage, to admire the shape of her breasts underneath her blouse. It may not be as great as the view from the bottom of the ladder, but it'll do, all right, yes it will. As far as Ebbie's dad is concerned, a sight like Rebecca Vilas's Hottentots pushing out against her dress is like a good fire on a cold night. They are bigger than you'd expect on a slender little thing like her, and you know what? When the arms go up, the Hottentots go up, too! Hey, if he had known she was going to put on a show like this, he would have told her about Cheetah and the bicycle as soon as it happened. â€Å"All right, okay,† she says, still flattening the tips of her fingers against her head. She lifts her chin, raising her arms another few inches, and frowns in concentration, for a moment looking like a figure on a plinth. Hoo-ray and hallelujah, Pete thinks. There's a bright side to everything. If another little snotnose gets grabbed off the sidewalk tomorrow morning, it won't be soon enough for me. Rebecca says, â€Å"Okay, okay, okay,† opens her eyes, and lowers her arms. Pete Wexler is staring firmly at a point over her shoulder, his face blank with a false innocence she immediately comprehends. Good God, what a caveman. â€Å"It's not as bad as I thought. In the first place, all you saw was a policeman picking up a bike. Maybe it was stolen. Maybe some other kid borrowed the bike, dumped it, and ran away. The cop could have been looking for it. Or the kid who owned the bike could have been hit by a car or something. And even if the worst did happen, I don't see any way that it could hurt us. Maxton's isn't responsible for whatever goes on outside the grounds.† She turns to Henry, who looks as though he wishes he were a hundred miles away. â€Å"Sorry, I know that sounded awfully cold. I'm as distressed about this Fisherman business as everyone else, what with those two poor kids and the missing girl. We're all so upset we can hardly think straight. But I'd hate to see us dragged into the mess, don't you see?† â€Å"I see perfectly,† Henry says. â€Å"Being one of those blind men George Rathbun is always yelling about.† â€Å"Hah!† Pete Wexler barks. â€Å"And you agree with me, don't you?† â€Å"I'm a gentleman, I agree with everybody,† Henry says. â€Å"I agree with Pete that another child may well have been abducted by our local monster. Officer Cheetah, or whatever his name is, sounded too anxious to be just picking up a lost bicycle. And I agree with you that Maxton's cannot be blamed for anything that happened.† â€Å"Good,† Rebecca says. â€Å"Unless, of course, someone here is involved in the murders of these children.† â€Å"But that's impossible!† Rebecca says. â€Å"Most of our male clients can't even remember their own names.† â€Å"A ten-year-old girl could take most of these feebs,† Pete says. â€Å"Even the ones who don't have old-timer's disease walk around covered in their own . . . you know.† â€Å"You're forgetting about the staff,† Henry says. â€Å"Oh, now,† Rebecca says, momentarily rendered nearly wordless. â€Å"Come on. That's . . . that's a totally irresponsible thing to say.† â€Å"True. It is. But if this goes on, nobody will be above suspicion. That's my point.† Pete Wexler feels a sudden chill if the town clowns start grilling Maxton's residents, his private amusements might come to light, and wouldn't Wendell Green have a field day with that stuff ? A gleaming new idea comes to him, and he brings it forth, hoping to impress Miz Vilas. â€Å"You know what? The cops should talk to that California guy, the big-time detective who nailed that Kinderling asshole two-three years ago. He lives around here somewhere, don't he? Someone like that, he's the guy we need on this. The cops here, they're way outta their depth. That guy, he's like a whaddayacallit, a goddamn resource.† â€Å"Odd you should say that,† Henry says. â€Å"I couldn't agree with you more. It is about time Jack Sawyer did his thing. I'll work on him again.† â€Å"You know him?† Rebecca asks. â€Å"Oh, yes,† Henry says. â€Å"That I do. But isn't it about time for me to do my own thing?† â€Å"Soon. They're all still outside.† Rebecca leads him down the rest of the corridor and into the common room, where all three of them move across to the big platform. Henry's microphone stands beside a table mounted with his speakers and turntable. With unnerving accuracy, Henry says, â€Å"Lot of space in here.† â€Å"You can tell that?† she asks. â€Å"Piece of cake,† Henry says. â€Å"We must be getting close now.† â€Å"It's right in front of you. Do you need any help?† Henry extends one foot and taps the side of the flat. He glides a hand down the edge of the table, locates the mike stand, says, â€Å"Not at the moment, darlin',† and steps neatly up onto the platform. Guided by touch, he moves to the back of the table and locates the turntable. â€Å"All is co-pacetic,† he says. â€Å"Pete, would you please put the record boxes on the table? The one on top goes here, and the other one right next to it.† â€Å"What's he like, your friend Jack?† Rebecca asks. â€Å"An orphan of the storm. A pussycat, but an extremely difficult pussy-cat. I have to say, he can be a real pain in the bunghole.† Crowd noises, a buzz of conversation interlaced with children's voices and songs thumped out on an old upright piano, have been audible through the windows since they entered the room, and when Pete has placed the record boxes on the table, he says, â€Å"I better get out there, ‘cuz Chipper's probly lookin' for me. Gonna be a shitload of cleanup once they come inside.† Pete shambles out, rolling the handcart before him. Rebecca asks if there is anything more Henry would like her to do for him. â€Å"The overhead lights are on, aren't they? Please turn them off, and wait for the first wave to come in. Then switch on the pink spot, and prepare to jitterbug your heart out.† â€Å"You want me to turn off the lights?† â€Å"You'll see.† Rebecca moves back across to the door, turns off the overhead lights, and does see, just as Henry had promised. A soft, dim illumination from the rank of windows hovers in the air, replacing the former brightness and harshness with a vague mellow haze, as if the room lay behind a scrim. That pink spotlight is going to look pretty good in here, Rebecca thinks. Outside on the lawn, the predance wingding is winding down. Lots of old men and women are busily polishing off their strawberry shortcakes and soda pop at the picnic tables, and the piano-playing gent in the straw boater and red sleeve garters comes to the end of â€Å"Heart and Soul,† ba bump ba bump ba ba bump bump bump, no finesse but plenty of volume, closes the lid of the upright, and stands up to a scattering of applause. Grandchildren who had earlier complained about having to come to the great fest dodge through the tables and wheelchairs, evading their parents' glances and hoping to wheedle a last balloon from the balloon lady in the clown suit and frizzy red wig, oh joy unbounded. Alice Weathers applauds the piano player, as well she might: forty years ago, he reluctantly absorbed the rudiments of pianism at her hands just well enough to pick up a few bucks at occasions like this, when not obliged to perform his usual function, that of selling sweatshirts and baseball caps on Chase Street. Charles Burnside, who, having been scrubbed clean by good-hearted Butch Yerxa, decked himself out in an old white shirt and a pair of loose, filthy trousers, stands slightly apart from the throng in the shade of a large oak, not applauding but sneering. The unbuttoned collar of the shirt droops around his ropy neck. Now and then he wipes his mouth or picks his teeth with a ragged thumbnail, but mainly he does not move at all. He looks as though someone plunked him down by the side of a road and drove off. Whenever the careering grandkids swerve near Burny, they instantly veer away, as if repelled by a force field. Between Alice and Burny, three-fourths of the residents of Maxton's belly up to the tables, stump around on their walkers, sit beneath the trees, occupy their wheelchairs, hobble here and there yakking, dozing, chuckling, farting, dabbing at fresh strawberry-colored stains on their clothing, staring at their relatives, staring at their trembling hands, staring at nothing. Half a dozen of the most vacant among them wear conical party hats of hard, flat red and hard, flat blue, the shades of enforced gaiety. The women from the kitchen have begun to circulate through the tables with big black garbage bags, for soon they must retire to their domain to prepare the evening's great feast of potato salad, mashed potatoes, creamed potatoes, baked beans, Jell-O salad, marshmallow salad, and whipped-cream salad, plus of course more mighty strawberry shortcake! The undisputed and hereditary sovereign of this realm, Chipper Max-ton, whose disposition generally resembles that of a skunk trapped in a muddy hole, has spent the previous ninety minutes ambling about smiling and shaking hands, and he has had enough. â€Å"Pete,† he growls, â€Å"what the hell took you so long? Start racking up the folding chairs, okay? And help shift these people into the common room. Let's get a goddamn move on here. Wagons west.† Pete scurries off, and Chipper claps his hands twice, loudly, then raises his outstretched arms. â€Å"Hey, everybody,† he bellows, â€Å"can you truly believe what a gol-durn gorgeous day the good Lord gave us for this beautiful event? Isn't this something?† Half a dozen feeble voices rise in agreement. â€Å"Come on, people, you can do better than that! I want to hear it for this wonderful day, this wonderful time we're all having, and for all the wonderful help and assistance given us by our volunteers and staff!† A slightly more exuberant clamor rewards his efforts. â€Å"All right! Hey, you know what? As George Rathbun would say, even a blind man could see what a great time we're all having. I know I am, and we're not done yet! We got the greatest deejay you ever heard, a fellow called Symphonic Stan, the Big-Band Man, waiting to put on a great, great show in the common room, music and dancing right up to the big Strawberry Fest dinner, and we got him cheap, too but don't tell him I said that! So, friends and family, it's time to say your good-byes and let your loved ones cut a rug to the golden oldies, just like them, ha ha! Golden oldies one and all, that's all of us here at Maxton's. Even I'm not as young as I used to be, ha ha, so I might take a spin across the floor with some lucky lady. â€Å"Seriously, folks, it's time for us to put on our dancing shoes. Please kiss Dad or Mom, Granddad or Grandma good-bye, and on your way out, you may wish to leave a contribution toward our expenses in the basket on top of Ragtime Willie's piano right over here, ten dollars, five dollars, anything you can spare helps us cover the costs of giving your mom, your dad, a bright, bright day. We do it out of love, but half of that love is your love.† And in what may seem to us a surprisingly short amount of time, but does not to Chipper Maxton, who understands that very few people wish to linger in an elder-care facility any longer than they must, the relatives bestow their final hugs and kisses, round up the exhausted kiddies, and file down the paths and over the grass into the parking lot, along the way a good number depositing bills in the basket atop Ragtime Willie's upright piano. No sooner does this exodus begin than Pete Wexler and Chipper Maxton set about persuading, with all the art available to them, the oldsters back into the building. Chipper says things like, â€Å"Now don't you know how much we all want to see you trip the light fantastic, Mrs. Syverson?† while Pete takes the more direct approach of, â€Å"Move along, bud, time to stir your stumps,† but both men employ the techniques of subtle and not-so-subtle nudges, pushes, elbow grasping, and wheelchair rolling to get their doddering charges through the door. At her post, Rebecca Vilas watches the residents enter the hazy common room, some of them traveling at a rate a touch too brisk for their own good. Henry Leyden stands motionless behind his boxes of LPs. His suit shimmers; his head is merely a dark silhouette before the windows. For once too busy to ogle Rebecca's chest, Pete Wexler moves past with one hand on the elbow of Elmer Jesperson, deposits him eight feet inside the room, and whirls around to locate Thorvald Thorvaldson, Elmer's dearest enemy and fellow inhabitant of D12. Alice Weathers wafts in under her own guidance and folds her hands beneath her chin, waiting for the music to begin. Tall, scrawny, hollow-cheeked, at the center of an empty space that is his alone, Charles Burnside slides through the door and quickly moves a good distance off to the side. When his dead eyes indifferently meet hers, Rebecca shivers. The next pair of eyes to meet hers belong to Chipper, who pushes Flora Flostad's wheelchair as if it held a cr ate of oranges and gives her an impatient glare completely at odds with the easy smile on his face. Time is money, you bet, but money is money, too, let's get this show on the road, pronto. The first wave, Henry had told her is that what they have here, the first wave? She glances across the room, wondering how to ask, and sees that the question has already been answered, for as soon as she looks up, Henry flashes her the okay sign. Rebecca flips the switch for the pink spot, and nearly everybody in the room, including a number of old parties who had appeared well beyond response of any kind, utters a soft aaah. His suit, his shirt, his spats blazing in the cone of light, a transformed Henry Leyden glides and dips toward the microphone as a twelve-inch LP, seemingly magicked out of the air, twirls like a top on the palm of his right hand. His teeth shine; his sleek hair gleams; the sapphires wink from the bows of his enchanted sunglasses. Henry seems almost to be dancing himself, with his sweet, clever sidestepping glide . . . only he is no longer Henry Leyden; no way, Renee, as George Rathbun likes to roar. The suit, the spats, the slicked-back hair, the shades, even the wondrously effective pink spot are mere stage dressing. The real magic here is Henry, that uniquely malleable creature. When he is George Rathbun, he is all George. Ditto the Wisconsin Rat; ditto Henry Shake. It has been eighteen months since h e took Symphonic Stan from the closet and fit into him like a hand into a glove to dazzle the crowd at a Madison VFW record hop, but the clothes still fit, oh yes, they fit, and he fits within them, a hipster reborn whole into a past he never saw firsthand. On his extended palm, the spinning LP resembles a solid, unmoving, black beachball. Whenever Symphonic Stan puts on a hop, he always begins with â€Å"In the Mood.† Although he does not detest Glenn Miller as some jazz aficionados do, over the years he has grown tired of this number. But it always does the job. Even if the customers have no choice but to dance with one foot in the grave and the other on the proverbial banana peel, they do dance. Besides, he knows that after Miller was drafted he told the arranger Billy May of his plan to â€Å"come out of this war as some kind of hero,† and, hell, he was as good as his word, wasn't he? Henry reaches the mike and slips the revolving record onto the platter with a negligent gesture of his right hand. The crowd applauds him with an exhaled oooh. â€Å"Welcome, welcome, all you hepcats and hepkitties,† Henry says. The words emerge from the speakers wrapped in the smooth, slightly above-it-all voice of a true broadcaster in 1938 or 1939, one of the men who did live remotes from dance halls and nightclubs located from Boston to Catalina. Honey poured through their throats, these muses of the night, and they never missed a beat. â€Å"Say, tell me this, you gates and gators, can you think of a better way to kick off a swingin' soiree than with Glenn Miller? Come on, brothers and sisters, give me yeahhh.† From the residents of Maxton's some of whom are already out on the floor, others wheelchair-bound on its edges in various postures of confusion or vacuity comes a whispery response, less a party cry than the rustle of an autumn wind through bare branches. Symphonic Stan grins like a shark and holds up his hands as if to still a hopped-up multitude, then twirls and spins like a Savoy Ballroom dancer inspired by Chick Webb. His coattails spread like wings, his sparkling feet fly and land and fly again. The moment evaporates, and two black beachballs appear on the deejay's palms, one of them spinning back into its sleeve, the other down to meet the needle. â€Å"All-reety all-righty all-rooty, you hoppin' hens and boppin' bunnies, here comes the Sentimental Gentleman, Mr. Tommy Dorsey, so get off your money and grab your honey while vocalist Dick Haymes, the pride of Buenos Aires, Argentina, asks the musical question ‘How Am I to Know You?' Frank Sinatra hasn't entered the building yet, brethren and sistren, but life is still fine as mmm-mmm wine.† Rebecca Vilas cannot believe what she is seeing. This guy is getting just about everyone out onto the floor, even some of the wheelchair cases, who are dipping and swirling with the best of them. Dolled up in his exotic, astonishing outfit, Symphonic Stan Henry Leyden, she reminds herself is corny and breathtaking, absurd and convincing, all at once. He's like . . . some kind of time capsule, locked into both his role and what these old people want to hear. He has charmed them back into life, back into whatever youth they had left in them. Unbelievable! No other word will do. People she had written off as shuffling basket cases are blooming right in front of her. As for Symphonic Stan, he's carrying on like an elegant dervish, making her think of words like suave, polished, urbane, unhinged, sexy, graceful, words that do not connect except in him. And that thing he does with the records! How is that possible? She does not realize that she is tapping her foot and swaying in time to the music until Henry puts on Artie Shaw's â€Å"Begin the Beguine,† when she literally begins her own beguine by starting to dance by herself. Henry's hepcat jive-dance, the sight of so many white-haired, blue-haired, and bald-headed people gliding around the floor, Alice Weathers beaming happily in the arms of none other than gloomy Thorvald Thorvaldson, Ada Meyerhoff and â€Å"Tom Tom† Boettcher twirling around each other in their wheelchairs, the sweeping pulse of the music driving everything beneath the molten radiance of Artie Shaw's clarinet, all of these things abruptly, magically coalesce into a vision of earthly beauty that brings tears stinging to her eyes. Smiling, she raises her arms, spins, and finds herself expertly grasped by Tom Tom's twin brother, eighty-six-year-old Hermie Boettcher, the retired geography teacher in A17 formerly considered something of a stick, who without a word fox-trots her right out to the middle of the floor. â€Å"Shame to see a pretty girl dancing all on her lonesome,† Hermie says. â€Å"Hermie, I'd follow you anywhere,† she tells him. â€Å"Let's us get closer to the bandstand,† he says. â€Å"I want a better look at that hotshot in the fancy suit. They say he's blind as a bat, but I don't believe it.† His hand planted firmly at the base of her spine, his hips swerving in time to Artie Shaw, Hermie guides her to within a foot of the platform, where the Symphonic One is already doing his trick with a new record as he waits for the last bar of the present one. Rebecca could swear that Stan/Henry not only senses her presence before him but actually winks at her! But that is truly impossible . . . isn't it? The Symphonic One twirls the Shaw record into its sleeve, the new one onto the platter, and says, â€Å"Can you say ‘Vout'? Can you say ‘Solid'? Now that we're all limbered up, let's get jumpin' and jivin' with Woody Herman and ‘Wild Root.' This tune is dedicated to all you beautiful ladies, especially the lady wearing Calyx.† Rebecca laughs and says, â€Å"Oh, dear.† He could smell her perfume; he recognized it! Undaunted by the steamy tempo of â€Å"Wild Root,† Hermie Boettcher slides into a back step, extends his arm, and spins Rebecca around. On the first beat of the next bar, he catches her in his arms and reverses direction, spinning them both toward the far end of the platform, where Alice Weathers stands next to Mr. Thorvaldson, gazing up at Symphonic Stan. â€Å"The special lady must be you,† Hermie says. â€Å"Because that perfume of yours is worth a dedication.† Rebecca asks, â€Å"Where'd you learn to dance like this?† â€Å"My brother and I, we were town boys. Learned how to dance in front of the jukebox at Alouette's, over by Arden.† Rebecca knows Alouette's, on Arden's Main Street, but what was once a soda fountain is now a lunch counter, and the jukebox disappeared around the time Johnny Mathis dropped off the charts. â€Å"You want a good dancer, you find yourself a town boy. Tom Tom, now he was always the slickest dancer around, and you can plunk him in that chair, but you can't take away his rhythm.† â€Å"Mr. Stan, yoo-hoo, Mr. Stan?† Alice Weathers has tilted her head and cupped her hands around her mouth. â€Å"Do you take requests?† A voice as flat and hard as the sound of two stones grinding together says, â€Å"I was here first, old woman.† This implacable rudeness brings Rebecca to a halt. Hermie's right foot comes gently down atop her left, then swiftly moves off, doing her no more injury than a kiss. Towering over Alice, Charles Burnside glares at Thorvald Thorvaldson. Thorvaldson steps back and tugs at Alice's hand. â€Å"Certainly, my dear,† says Stan, bending down. â€Å"Tell me your name and what you'd like to hear.† â€Å"I am Alice Weathers, and â€Å" â€Å"I was here first,† Burny loudly repeats. Rebecca glances at Hermie, who shakes his head and makes a sour face. Town boy or not, he is as intimidated as Mr. Thorvaldson. † ‘Moonglow,' please. By Benny Goodman.† â€Å"It's my turn, you jackass. I want that Woody Herman number called ‘Lady Magowan's Nightmare.' That one's good.† Hermie leans toward Rebecca's ear. â€Å"Nobody likes that fella, but he gets his own way.† â€Å"Not this time,† Rebecca says. â€Å"Mr. Burnside, I want you to â€Å" Symphonic Stan silences her with a wave of his hand. He turns to face the owner of the remarkably unpleasant voice. â€Å"No can do, mister. The song is called ‘Lady Magowan's Dream,' and I didn't bring that snappy little item with me this afternoon, sorry.† â€Å"Okay, bud, how about ‘I Can't Get Started,' the one Bunny Berigan did?† â€Å"Oh, I love that,† Alice says. â€Å"Yes, play ‘I Can't Get Started.' â€Å" â€Å"Happy to oblige,† Stan says in Henry Leyden's normal voice. Without bothering to jive around or spin the records on his hands, he simply exchanges the LP on the turntable for one from the first box. He seems oddly wilted as he steps to the mike and says, â€Å"I've flown around the world on a plane, I settled revolutions in Spain. Can't get started. Dedicated to the lovely Alice Blue Gown and the One Who Walks by Night.† â€Å"You're no better'n a monkey on a stick,† says Burny. The music begins. Rebecca taps Hermie on the arm and moves up alongside Charles Burnside, for whom she has never felt anything but mild revulsion. Now that she has him in focus, her outrage and disgust cause her to say, â€Å"Mr. Burnside, you are going to apologize to Alice and to our guest here. You're a crude, obnoxious bully, and after you apologize, I want you to get back into your room, where you belong.† Her words have no effect. Burnside's shoulders have slumped. He has a wide, sloppy grin on his face, and he is staring empty-eyed at nothing in particular. He looks too far gone to remember his own name, much less Bunny Berigan's. In any case, Alice Weathers has danced away, and Symphonic Stan, back at the far end of the platform and out of the pink spot, appears to be deep in thought. The elderly couples sway back and forth on the dance floor. Off to the side, Hermie Boettcher pantomimes dancing and quizzes her with a look. â€Å"I'm sorry about that,† she says to Stan/Henry. â€Å"No need to apologize. ‘I Can't Get Started' was my wife's favorite record. I've been thinking about her a lot, the past few days. Sort of took me by surprise.† He runs a hand over his sleek hair and shakes out his arms, visibly getting back into his role. Rebecca decides to leave him alone. In fact, she wants to leave everyone alone for a little while. Signaling regret and the press of duty to Hermie, she makes her way through the crowd and exits the common room. Somehow, old Burny has beaten her to the corridor. He shuffles absently toward Daisy wing, head drooping, feet scuffing the floor. â€Å"Mr. Burnside,† she says, â€Å"your act may fool everyone else, but I want you to know that it doesn't fool me.† Moving by increments, the old man turns around. First one foot shifts, then a knee, the spavined waist, the second foot, finally the cadaverous trunk. The ugly bloom of Burny's head droops on its thin stalk, offering Rebecca a view of his mottled scalp. His long nose protrudes like a warped rudder. With the same dreadful slowness, his head lifts to reveal muddy eyes and a slack mouth. A flash of sheer vindictiveness rises into the dull eyes, and the dead lips writhe. Frightened, Rebecca takes an instinctive step backward. Burny's mouth has moved all the way into a horrible grin. Rebecca wants to escape, but anger at having been humiliated by this miserable jerk lets her hold her ground. â€Å"Lady Magowan had a bad, bad nightmare,† Burny informs her. He sounds drugged, or half asleep. â€Å"And Lady Sophie had a nightmare. Only hers was worse.† He giggles. â€Å"The king was in his countinghouse, counting out his honeys. That's what Sophie saw when she fell asleep.† His giggling rises in pitch, and he says something that might be â€Å"Mr. Munching.† His lips flap, revealing yellow, irregular teeth, and his sunken face undergoes a subtle change. A new kind of intelligence seems to sharpen his features. â€Å"Does you know Mr. Munshun? Mr. Munshun and his li'l friend Gorg? Does you know what happened in Chicago?† â€Å"Stop this right now, Mr. Burnside.† â€Å"Duz you know uff Fridz Haarman, him who wazz zo loff-ly? Dey called him, dey called him, dey called him ‘da Vamp, Vamp, Vamp of Hanover,' yez dey dud, dud, dud. Evveybuddy, evveybuddy, evvey-buddy haz godz nide-marez all da dime, dime, dime, ha ha ho ho.† â€Å"Stop talking like that!† Rebecca shouts.†You're not fooling me!† For a moment, the new intelligence flares within Burny's dim eyes. It almost instantly retreats. He licks his lips and says, â€Å"Way-gup, Burn-Burn.† â€Å"Whatever,† Rebecca says. â€Å"Dinner is downstairs at seven, if you want it. Go take a nap or something, will you?† Burny gives her a peeved, murky look and plops a foot down on the floor, beginning the tedious process that will turn him around again. â€Å"You could write it down. Fritz Haarman. In Hanover.† His mouth twists into a smile of unsettling slyness. â€Å"When the king comes here, maybe we can dance together.† â€Å"No, thanks.† Rebecca turns her back on the old horror and clacks down the hallway on her high heels, uncomfortably aware of his eyes following her. Rebecca's nice little Coach handbag lies flat on her desk in the windowless vestibule to Chipper's office. Before going in, she pauses to rip off a sheet of notepaper, write down Fritz Harmann(?), Hanover(?), and slip the paper into the bag's central compartment. It might be nothing it probably is but who knows? She is furious that she let Burnside frighten her, and if she can find a way to use his nonsense against him, she will do her best to expel him from Maxton's. â€Å"Kiddo, is that you?† Chipper calls out. â€Å"No, it's Lady Magowan and her freakin' nightmare.† She strides into Chipper's office and finds him behind his desk, happily counting out the bills contributed that afternoon by the sons and daughters of his clientele. â€Å"My li'l Becky looks all ticked off,† he says. â€Å"What happened, one of our zombies stomp on your foot?† â€Å"Don't call me Becky.† â€Å"Hey, hey, cheer up. You won't believe how much your silver-tongued boyfriend conned out of the relatives today. A hundred and twenty-six smackers! Free money! Okay, what went wrong, anyhow?† â€Å"Charles Burnside spooked me, that's what. He ought to be in a mental hospital.† â€Å"Are you kidding? That particular zombie is worth his weight in gold. As long as Charles Burnside can draw breath into his body, he will always have a place in my heart.† Grinning, he brandishes a handful of bills. â€Å"And if you have a place in my heart, honey-baby, you'll always have a place at Maxton's.† The memory of Burnside saying, The king was in his countinghouse, counting out his honeys makes her feel unclean. If Chipper were not grinning in that exultant, loose-lipped way, Rebecca supposes, he would not remind her so unpleasantly of his favorite resident. Evveybuddy haz godz nide-marez all da dime, dime, dime that wasn't a bad description of the Fisherman's French Landing. Funny, you wouldn't think Old Burny would take more notice of those murders than Chipper. Rebecca had never heard him mention the Fisherman's crimes, apart from the time he groused that he would not be able to tell anyone he was going fishing until Dale Gilbertson finally got off his big fat butt, and what kind of crappy deal was that?

Imaginative: Context Justice

Individuals will go to extraordinary lengths?even fight against an entire, community ?in order to seek Justice. Dearest Scout, I know that as I write this, you are much too young to understand the events that are happening around us which will affect you one day. I hope that as you read this five, ten, or even fifteen years in the future, you can understand my motives behind what I have done. Our family name has come under great scrutiny because I took on a case that I feel I was called to do by our Lord himself. I was approached to defend TomRobinson against claims that he had committed unlawful acts on a young girl he lived near. I knew from the moment I accept this case that I would not win. A colored man on trial for a crime such as rape Is never going to win. Just talking to someone of color Is considered a terrible act In today's society. You are Intelligent enough to realism how the Finch family Is considered now that I have fought long and hard for Tom. During the trial, I di d not want you or your brother In the town because I knew what the townsfolk would whisper or gossip about as you walked by In your own innocent, imaginative state in which I admire every day.They whisper terrible things about me, that I love Negroes and don't appreciate the responsibility and ‘privileged' life I have because of my skin color. Scout, you are the brightest young lady I will ever know, and I pray that you, too, realism that just because someone has dark colored skin, doesn't make them a terrible person. Everyone deserves the right for justice – regardless of their gender, age, status or skin color. The accepted notion of society in South Alabama is that blacks do not have the same rights as white, and hat a black man's testimony in court is not as credible as that of a white man.I attempted, in the courtroom, to go against the accepted views of society by putting Tom Robinson on the stand and offered his testimony in direct conflict with that of the white so-called victim. This was seen as a disgusting act against the American justice system. However, sometimes, all a case needs is one person to put their hand up for someone in order to turn their life around. That one person could, potentially, change the outcome of someone's life.You must be careful though, Scout, because if the wrong person is put in charge, he can take severe advantage of people and ruin society- Just like in that book you loved when I read to you, ‘Animal Farm'. When the animals put all of their trust and hope in the hands of Napoleon, he does them wrong and manipulates them to see the wrong In others so his wrongs are hidden. I hope, and I pray, that you will see that I am not a terrible person for doing what the community think is a wrong' against our family. Society Is very similar to Napoleon.It often highlights the flaws in others In order to hide and defend Itself. I have bought you up so you won't Just take on any pollen. You are highly opinionated and aren't easily pressured into thinking or doing something you do not agree with. May you always have this opinion, as I don't think that others will In times to come. Sometimes one has to go against the normality In society to unsure that Justice Is seen for everyone. I have had to do this, and I hope that you do too, as It Is one of the bravest acts one could do for another. I love you, Scout. CICS.