Rembrandts Painting An Old Man in Military Costume Essay example -- P

Rembrandts Painting An gray Man in Military rig out With an extraordinary intensity, Rembrandt van Rijns An Old Man in Military Costume is an example of the artists use of dynamic lighting. The painting, on expose at the Getty Museum, contains a single figure, an old man dressed in a military uniform. While one may appreciate the beauty of the work, to fully experience the passion and genius of the artist, it is necessary to see the painting in per discussion. The delicate details that may be missed by a digital image are easily caught by the human eye. The proper way to view a Rembrandt is in the flesh the difference is amazing. Born in Leiden, Netherlands, Rembrandt was the son of a miller and a bakers daughter. Unsatisfied with life at the University of Leiden, Rembrandt left school to pursue painting. He studied under Pieter Lastman who introduced the unfledged painter to the works of Italian masters, particularly Caravaggio. Even though Rem brandt never traveled to Italy, his works bear the stamp of Italian influence, especially in his choice for dramatic lighting over Dutch smoothness. Moving to Amsterdam in 1631, Rembrandt began working for commission and became very successful. He painted An Old Man in Military Costume in 1631, during a time when his work was characterized by strong lighting effects. Neither a religious work nor a fit out portrait, this work is more than likely one that Rembrandt painted for himself. An unusual painting, An Old Man in Military Costume is a solitary figure against a blank background. The figure, an old man, is dressed in a somber military outfit a simple costume without any frills or finery. The only laurel wreath is a... ... I was also impressed with the thought that Rembrandt touched the same canvas that I was viewing almost four hundred years ago. The painting serves as a direct link into the past a past that is remarkable for all it accomplished. A wonderful artistic example of light contrasting with dark, Old Man in a Military Costume is a remembrance of how c lagly connected we are with the past. When artists or historical figures are merely memorized names, they lose some of their impact experiencing part of their lives reminds viewers of their humanity. Rembrandts painting has many visual layers while containing political and historical significance as well.Work CitedElizabeth I. To the side Troops at Tilbury, Facing the Spanish Armada. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Vol 1B. Ed. David Damrosch. New York Longman, 2003.

Dandyism and Moralism in Oscar Wildes An Ideal Husband Essay -- essay

Oscar Wilde, An Ideal HusbandOscar Wilde wrote An Ideal Husband in 1895, during the decade known as the Yellow or Naughty Nineties, a movement with its roots in dandyism and decadence, the twilight years of Englands Victorian era, reflecting decay and scandal . Some biographers suggest that Wilde might have been inspired by a number of events which occurred in his private life, to write this play , as it is the case for the dandified character of Lord Goring, which one could say is the double of Wilde himself, and who will peradventure incarnate the figure of the ideal husband. As the stage notes from Act III indicate, Lord Goring is in immediate relation to modern life, making and get the hang it. An Ideal Husband emphasizes Lord Gorings modernity by opposing him to his father, Lord Caversham, who is still living the old fashion way, in a number of dialogues, which pop out to be comic, when we notice the radical opposition of thinking of the two characters. The meeting of the two produces a clash between the old fashioned and the modern thinking. This is seen in the first part of the third act, in which on that point is a conversation between Lord Gorging and his father, who came to speak about the importance of getting married, and the fact he can not go one living only for pleasure. passe-partout CAVERSHAM Want to have a serious conversation with you, sir.LORD GORING My erotic love father At this hour?LORD CAVERSHAM Well, sir, it is only ten oclock. What is your objection to the hour? I think the hour is an admirable hourLORD GORING Well, the fact is, father, this is not my day for talking seriously. I am very sorry, but it is not my day.LORD CAVERSHAM What do you mean, sir?LORD GORING During the season, fath... ...the walls of his agency at Oxford in the 1870s, Wilde hung pictures of Cardinal Manning of England and Pope Pius IX, two ardent defenders of Catholic orthodoxy. Wilde regarded both men as heroes. More impressive is a letter Wild e wrote as a young man to his friend W.W. Ward in which his Catholicism seems near to full blossom. He wrote about what he called the beauty and necessity of the Incarnation. That substitution belief of Christianity helped humanity grasp at the skirts of the Infinite, Wilde declared. Since the birth of Christ the dead world has woken up from sleep. Since him we have lived. There is therefore strong evidence of Christian moralism in Wildes texts. However, my reading of An ideal husband gives me a much stronger picture of Lord Goring as a Dandy although, throughout the text, there is this dualism between dandyism and moralism.

Truman Doctrine :: essays research papers

All things in history have a place and time. In fact we are history. Had it not been for the previous events in world history, our existence could have been questionable. What would have happened if Hitler did take over the world? Would we be alive today? What if the cold war turned hot at some point? All these doubts tend to help an individual realize that everything in world history happens for a specific reason and therefore everything has its give birth time and place. One significant event in United States history had been the Vietnam War. However, the Vietnam War that I speak of didn&9472&8805t last from the mid 1960&9472&8805s to archaeozoic 1970&9472&8805s. Rather, the events that had lead up to the proceedings of the situation in Vietnam began on March 12, 1947 with the creation of the Truman Doctrine. Proceeding World War II, the threat of communism had been particularly high. In fact, the US feared the spread of communism within many undeveloped regions throughout the world. Therefore, within the Truman Doctrine incorporated the policy of containment. The policy guaranteed immediate aid to Greece in Turkey, which had been in danger of falling under communistic influences. Within much(prenominal), the policy stated they would provide military and economic help to a country that was developing and being endangered. In reality, the policy was designed to secure countries that would easily fall to a communistic regime. President Truman had established this to create a sense of protective covering not for the US, but the world as a whole. Truman believed that Russia was out to spread the sphere of influence in the east. In return, the US had been there to prevent such occurrences. Each country battled for its own beliefs. The policy of containment could be argued to be an initial yet distant spark for a happening in Vietnam. Nonetheless, President Truman left wing his imposing mark on the world history with his Doctrine and policy. Many still conti nue to argue that all post 1945 US Foreign Policies were in some way or shape related to the tactics of containment. In 1954, the Presidential tide was turned and the US was fresh out of a 3-year war campaign in Korea. The threat of communism had been rather high. The fear that life in the US might never be the same hit the wagon of many Americans. No American was prepared to give up their rights that had been fought for so hard in not one, but two devastating World Wars.

Lady Macbeth Essay -- essays research papers

Discuss whether or not you feel sympathy for Lady MacbethThere are certain aspects of Lady Macbeths address that suggests she is good and therefore her downfall increases my sympathy for her by the end of act 5. But I would also argue that she entailed evil to fuel her sleeping emulation that would make her nemesis, her mental collapse, fully justified.Lady Macbeths role as a supporting wife at the start of the play exceeds the duties of a frequent wife. She is the Eve to Macbeths Adam and is tempted. Although Macbeth hints at the idea of ta office the crown in his letter home, it is Lady Macbeths ruthless determination to make him king that persuaded him to murder Duncan. Did she do this in the interests of Macbeth or was it to fulfil her own ambition? I would argue that it was to fulfil her own ambition because she decided straight apart that murder was the best option to take without any regard to guilt, in this view I have no sympathy for Lady Macbeth because it is a target of her inner evilness.To commit the murder of King Duncan Lady Macbeth calls upon the spirits that tend on mortal thoughts. She evokes evil to commit the deed and loses her identity I would whence argue that if she has lost her identity then she has lost her soul and that, in my opinion, makes her a monster. This is illustrated by her willingness to dash the brains out of her baby, if she had one. The loss of her feminine qualities exemplifies her knowledge of the consequences of kill...

Demographics Of Madagascar :: essays research papers fc

Formerly an independent kingdom, Madagascar became a French colony in 1886, but regained its independence in 1960. During 1992-93, free presidential and National Assembly elections were held, ending 17 years of single-party rule. Madagascars forests are a shimmering, seething mass of a trillion stems and dripping leaves and slithering, jumping, far-out beasts out of natures bag of tricks. Cut off from the African mainland for millions of years, Madagascars teeming forests are a naturalists wet dream theyve preserved oddities and developed specializations found nowhere else on earth, and you can get among them in a spectacular collection of accessible national parks. But any nation that turns to North Korea for aid has got to be a basket case. Madagascars Marxist generals as well as its chameleons are fresh out of the Age of Dinosaurs. The generals havent got it right - part of the population regularly suffers malnutrition owing to severe seasons and archaic economic orthodoxies at home and abroad. Since human settlement, the forests have been whittled down to a mere 15% of their former extent, scores of species are on the doorstep of extinction and the topsoil is barreling down into the Indian Ocean like. The countryside alternates between astounding untouched forests and breathtaking human-induced destruction on a scale almost mismatched anywhere. Madagascars physical geography is not conducive of the current global trends and needs for economic production. They are severely behind the World as a whole in economic growth and restructuring to fit new world markets. Most of Madagascar lies in tropical or subtropical environment the soil anatomical structure in these sorts of regions is not able to sustain long-term cultivation. The topsoil is good for agriculture for a few years, but after much longer it becomes ruin out, or depleted, and then it needs to rest for a period of time until it can yield a decent crop again. This is because of the way this soi l obtains nutrients and the cause of nutrients generally laid there. Considering the islands physical composition, it will be hard for the poor African nation to catch-up to the new world averages.Physical GeographyMadagascar is located 250 miles off the eastern coast of Africa, just south of the equator. This island nation contains no Principal lakes, oceans, seas, rivers or islands however it does have one Principal mountain- Maromokotro- that is located on the islands central plateau. The island is over 1000 miles (1580 km) long and 350 miles (570 km) wide.

Demographics Of Madagascar :: essays research papers fc

Formerly an independent kingdom, Madagascar became a French colony in 1886, but regained its independence in 1960. During 1992-93, free presidential and National Assembly elections were held, expiry 17 years of single-party rule. Madagascars forests are a shimmering, seething mass of a trillion stems and dripping leaves and slithering, jumping, quirky beasts out of natures bag of tricks. Cut off from the African mainland for millions of years, Madagascars teeming forests are a naturalists wet dream theyve preserved oddities and developed specializations found nowhere else on earth, and you can get among them in a prominent collection of accessible national parks. But any nation that turns to North Korea for aid has got to be a basket case. Madagascars Marxist generals as well as its chameleons are fresh out of the Age of Dinosaurs. The generals havent got it right - part of the population regularly suffers malnutrition owing to bad seasons and archaic economic orthodoxies at home and abroad. Since humane settlement, the forests have been whittled down to a mere 15% of their former extent, scores of species are on the brink of extinction and the topsoil is barreling down into the Indian marine like. The countryside alternates between astounding untouched forests and breathtaking human-induced destruction on a scale almost unmatched anywhere. Madagascars physical geography is not contributive of the current global trends and needs for economic production. They are severely behind the World as a whole in economic growth and restructuring to check out new world markets. Most of Madagascar lies in tropical or subtropical environment the soil structure in these sorts of regions is not able to sustain semipermanent cultivation. The topsoil is good for agriculture for a few years, but after much longsighteder it becomes burnt out, or depleted, and then it needs to rest for a period of time until it can yield a decent crop again. This is because of the way this soil obtains nutrients and the type of nutrients generally located there. Considering the islands physical composition, it go forth be hard for the poor African nation to catch-up to the new world averages.Physical GeographyMadagascar is located 250 miles off the eastern coast of Africa, just sulphur of the equator. This island nation contains no Principal lakes, oceans, seas, rivers or islands however it does have one Principal mountain- Maromokotro- that is located on the islands central plateau. The island is over 1000 miles (1580 km) long and 350 miles (570 km) wide.

Fall On Your Knees Essay

* It is the story of pack Piper, orphaned child, who becomes a piano tuner. When James was 18, he met Material, 13, and they elope to the close by village. Materias family were against her marriage. James then has three girlfriends, Kathleen, Mercedes, and Frances. James was a good man, but slowly dark side of his nature asserted itself. He serves in France during the slap-up War to make money. But the war comes to an end. He returns to his family. Kathleen is dispatched to New York City to study opera, she gets pregnant and later finds a lesbian partner. James finds out and brings his daughter back.Soon he is widower and Kathleen dies piece tolerant birth to the twins. Mercedes tries her best to be the mother of Frances and her niece Lily, Kathleens daughter. Ambrose, Kathleens son is killed by Frances accidentally. Frances goes completely come to track and starts doing prostitution to make money for Lily. Frances also gets pregnant and stops prostitution. James dies later on a nd everything depends on Mercedes since Frances is in a big shock. afterward on, Lily goes to New York and Frances dies. Mercedes sends Ambrose, Frances son to New York. * Sacrifices atomic number 18 made by a lot of hoi polloi in the tout ensemble universe for the sake of people who they love.In Ann Marie Macdonalds Fall on Your Knees, James and his family sacrifice important things that they desire or wishing for the sake of their family. Through the use of characterization, symbols and diction, Macdonald shows that healthy sacrifices pull in everyone. too in Hamlet by William Shakespe ar, Sacrifice is sh avouch throughout the play for the benefit of self or others that they love or want. This is also shown by Shakespeare by using the above elements, which proves that the sacrifices that are made for the benefit of everyone will lead to the skilful ending. Characterization is utilise to show the decisions that are made for the benefits of other or self.In Fall on Your Kn ees, people make decisions that benefit others which have huge impact in their life, while in Hamlet, the decisions that are made are for the benefits of self for which someone else has to pay. * There are many characters in Fall on Your Knees that choose to live for the sake of others. One of them is Kathleen. Kathleen is a great utterer who poses beauty and singing talent but she has no friends and is not dismantle close to her mother. The only friend that she has is her military chaplain.She gave up everything that she could have just for the sake of her daddy. She wants to be singer just because her daddy wants her to be famous, so people rear end appreciate her talent. At first she did it for daddys sake (Macdonald 99). This shows that Kathleen gave up her whole childhood and teenage moments that she could have for herself for the sake of daddy. She never goes anywhere by herself. Later, James sends her to USA to study Opera. And she agrees without even saying anything. * S imilarly her sister, Mercedes also sacrifices her gentilitys and her prox for the sake of family.Mercedes is a good girl who is taking the role of mother for her sisters. Mercedes is so accustomed to doing everything for Daddys sake (299). Mercedes does not tell her father about her dream of going to university. She knows that her father will be all alone if she leaves him. She buries her dream in her heart, so she stays home and takes sustenance of the family. * Similarly in Hamlet, Hamlet sacrifices his future and his love for the sake of his father. He needs to take revenge. Hamlet is always sad and depressed since his father is no more.When he found that his uncle was the murderer of his father, he promised the ghost to take revenge for his fathers death. To accomplish his motive, he gave up the love of his life, Ophelia, so he can have no weaknesses. You should not have believed me for virtue cannot so/ inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you/ not. (I II. 1. 128-130). Hamlet is refusing that he never loved Ophelia. He also used her to confuse Claudius. * Kathleen has never got love from anyone else except her daddy, whose love also changes after coming from war. This causes her to crave for love.The crave for the love leads to many ironies such as her turning into a lesbian and eventually her death. However, this is not same for Mercedes. steady though Mercedes is not pursuing her education any further, she is learning to be a responsible women and she does not marry in the future because she needs to take attention of her sisters and her father. She is gaining even though she is giving up something. Whereas, Hamlets sacrifice caused Ophelia to not trust Hamlet anymore and later on in the play, that lead to her death. * The other element that has been used is symbolism.Symbolism is used to show what each character has become because of the decisions that they choose to make. In both texts, there are a lot of symbols that repre sents the characters or the significance of their life. * In fall on your knees, darkness is used to represent the sacrifices that the characters make without knowing the consequences. They do not know what lies ahead and what the result might be for taking that action. But, they continue to do it because they feel that they need to do it. The other symbol that is used is monster. It is used to represent Materia.It represents Materia because she has become a monster while searching for the happiness of the family. Materia saw herself in a clear glass at last and it was Monstrous. This shows that even she knows that she has turned into a monster. Materia thinks that she is happy without her daughter. She does not want her daughter to come back. She is ready to sacrifice her own daughter for the familys happiness. This is similar to the monster since monsters are ready to eat their own children to fill their own stomach when needed. The other symbol that is used in the novel is scar ecrow.Scarecrow is used to represent the memories that they had in the past. It was made by Materia. James tears it shovel in because he does not want to remember his past since there had been a lot of incidents that have happened in his life. He wants to live without having to remember his past. * Similarly in Hamlet, wipe is used to represent Rosencrantz. Hamlet thinks that Rosencrantz is giving up his friendship to suck up to the King. He feels betrayed by his own friend. He calls Rosencrantz a sponge when he says Besides, to be demanded of a sponge (IV. . 12).Since, he has become a messenger that acts as a carrier of messages and spills it in front of King, Rosencrantz collects all the learning like a sponge collects water and spills it in front of a king, similar to how water spills off the sponge when it is squeezed. * In Fall on Your Knees, Materia meets her consequences when she was last able to love Kathleen. She has to sacrifice Kathleen just so the twins can see the new world. As well as James lived a happy life in the future where he didnt had to think about his past and died in peace.Similar to Materia, Rosencrantz is sent to England where he is to be executed with his friend, Guildenstern, as soon as he reaches there. * The last element that is used is diction. Diction is used to show the consequences of the sacrifices that are made by the characters for their benefit, where someone else pays the price of their sacrifice, or for the benefit of someone else, where they pay the price by themselves. The choices of their decisions give the characters several names in the both texts. * James is a widower. He has to take care of mother less children since his wife died.He needs to make money in the Great Depression time, so he does things that give him bad name. tidy sum in the township say Mercedes father James was a bad man. A bootlegger. A scab. An enemy of this town (232) He makes and sells illegal liquor in the town that gives him bad reput ation. He is being called a bootlegger, scab and enemy of the town because of the illegal business that he does. But he does not care about what the other people say, because he needs to make money to support his family financially.He sacrifices his reputation in the town for the sake of family. Similarly, the business that Frances does is not giving her a good reputation that she wants. She becomes everything of Lily, her niece, whom she calls sister. Frances blames herself for Lily being disabled. She wants to make money for her, so she starts selling herself and becomes a stripper because she thinks that is the fastest way to make money. She becomes so bad that Camille calls her The slut who lives only to dishonour the memory of poor Materia. (316). This shows that Frances has been selling her stuff that she got bad reputation in the town.She does all this because she feels as if this is needed to do for the sake of Lily, since Frances thinks that Lily might need these money in future. * Similarly in Hamlet, Polonius does everything that he can to suck up to the King, no matter what happens. He is even ready to sacrifice his own daughter, Ophelia. This is one reason why hamlet calls him Excellent well you are a fishmonger (II. 2. 190). Polonius is called a fishmonger, because he can sacrifice his own daughter to curry the King as overmuch as he possibly can. He does this just to show how much he can be trusted.This keeps on hurting Ophelia and causes her to go through more distressingness even though Polonius is considered a trustable person by the king. * James dies without even having any friend because whatever he does for his family is affecting everyone in the town which makes the people in town hate him more. Similarly, Frances is never loved by anyone except Mercedes and Lily. At the end, the money comes to use of Lily, but to earn that money Frances had to go through a lot of pain. Similarly, Ophelia goes through a lot of pain since she was being used by her father to curry the king.This attitude of sucking up to the King sets Poloniuss destiny and he gets killed. * In conclusion, there are a lot of different decisions that affect the whole novel later on. While some of them are good choices, some of them are bad that they decide to do for the sake of someone or self. This is shown by the use of narrative elements such as characterisation, symbolism and diction, which all show the choices that they made and the result of those choices. Even though we all make decisions and sacrifices in our life, one will learn whether the sacrifices that they made were worth of making or not after the sacrifice has been made.

Shared Service Costing

Helps In Identifying correct adoption of liveing method acting which facilitates a transparent cost chargeable to cable Units (recipient of shared work) with granular appreciation of the cost constituents. Introduction In todays highly cost conscious environment, enterprise wide cost savings can be achieved by consolidating common break down and infrastructure by using share operate units.But Business units often complain that Shared Services end up costing more than they targeted to spare and also have the below questions- What are my Shared services costs made up off? Shared services costs are likewise high and affecting my product profitability Shared services are unable to answer these questions due to neglect of cost transparency in their cost models.Typical reasons for lack of cost transparency in shared services cost models are- using complex costing methodology which makes measurement, chargeable and report to Business units vexed Lack of standardization of allocat ion logic Inability to completely automate the baby charging process Shared Service oodles Our Shared services models enable cost transparency for multi-functional and reciprocal services rendered by Shared Services units.Cost transparency in context of Shared Services is to show the Business Services it consumes Cost of delivering these services Breaking the cost down to activities and resources involved in producing these services Allocation logic for cross charging On demand what with respect to lay out how costs change due to change In demand for services ,resource drivers and allocation logic Various automated cross charging models which reflect reciprocal services among Shared Services and eventually charge out to the Business are as follows- Reciprocal costing model This costing model makes one cartridge holder assignment of cost between Shared Services and eventually charges out Business for the Shared Services cost. This method Is easy to understand, fairly accurate an d facilitates In tracing cost to the origin. It also differentiates the rate at which Shared service unit Is charged with that charged to Business. Recursive costing model Services and Business. This method is accurate and reflects simultaneous charging at the same rate to Shared service and Business.Business benefits of the models (Positive Business Outcomes) Substantial reduction in lead time of calculating cross charging rates by eliminating manual and Increase in frequency of variance reporting which leads to repetitive interventions improved control of costs Detailed breakdown of cost of each service by the activities ensured and resources utilized Facilitates root cause analysis by tracing costs to origin for each service provided by Shared Services Availability of accurate and timely actionable cost data to analyze performance of Shared Services units and impact of its cost on Business Business benefits delivered.

Poem and Short Story Essay

Mill of the Gods (Estrella Alfon) Among us who lived in Espeleta that street that I love, ab away whose citizenry I keep telling tales among us, I say, there was one named Martha, and she was the daughter of Pio and Engracia. To all of us, life must(prenominal) seem like a road given us to travel, and it is up to Fate, that convenient blunderer, whether, that road be broad and unwinding, or whether it shall be a tortuous lane, its path a hard and twisted mat of break up and stones.And each road, whether lane or avenue, shall ware its declare landmarks, that only the traveller soul shall recognize and remember, and remembering, continue the journey again. To Martha, the gods gave this for a first memory a first scar. She was a girl of twelve, and in e really way she was unless a child. A rather dull child, who evermore lagged behind the otherwises of her age, whether in mull or in play. Life had been so far-off a question of staying more years in a grade than the others, o f being told she would have to adjudge herself a little harder if she didnt want the infants catching up with her.But that was so dismal thing. She had gotten a little bit used to being always behind. To always being the biggest girl in her class. Even in play there was some part of her that neer partaged to instruct in either case non bad(p) a part she was so content if they always made her it in a game of tag, if only they would let her play. And when she had dolls, she was eager to lend them to other girls, if they would only embroil her in the fascinating games she could non play alone. This was she, then. Her hair hung in pigtails each side of her verbalism, and already it irked a little to have her dresses similarly short.She could non patron in her mothers kitchen, and could be trusted to keep her room clean, but she was non ready for the thing her mother told her one night when she was wake from sleep. It was a sleep untroubled by dreams, then all of a sudde n there was an uproar in the house, and she could hear her mothers wild sobbing, and it was not sobbing that held as much of sorrow as it did of anger. She lay still for a while, thinking perhaps she was dreaming, until she could hear her gives grunted answers to the half(prenominal) understood things her mother was mouthing at him.thence there were sounds that was clearly the sound of two bodies struggling in terrible fury with each other. She stood up, and like a child, cried into the night. Mother? She wailed the word, in her panic set abouting a little relief in her own wailing, Mother? And she comprehend her mothers voice mobilize her, panting out, saying, Martha, come quickly, come into this room Martha got up and stood at the door of the room, hesitating about opening it, until her mother, the part of a terrible grasp, said Martha So Martha pushed in the door, and engraft her mother and her father locked in an embrace n which both of them struggled and panted and had almost no breath left for oral communication.Martha stood wide eyed and frightened, not k right awaying what to do, just standing there, until now though she had seen what it was they struggled for. A kitchen knife, blade held upwards in her mothers hand. Her ordnance store were pinioned to her sides by her husband, but her wild eyeball, the frenzy with which she stamped her feet on his feet, and kicked him in the shins, and move to bite him with her teeth, these were more terrible than the glint of that shining blade.It was her father who spoke to her saying urgently, Martha, reach for her knife, take it away. Yet Martha stood there and did not comprehend until her mother spoke, saying No, no Martha, your father deserves to be killed. Then it was Martha who realized what she was to do, and slowly, hesitantly, she went near them, her fear of both of them in this terrible anger they presently presented making her almost too afraid to reach up for the knife. But reach up she di d, and with her childs fingers, institutionalise her mothers away from the weapon. And when she had it in her hands she did not know what to do with it, except wait at it.It wasnt a very swell knife, but its blade was clean, and its hilt firm. And so she looked at it, until her father said. Throw it out of the window, Martha and without thinking, she went to a window, opened a casement and threw it away. Then her father released her mother, and once her mother had gotten her arms free, she swung back her hand, and wordlessly, slapped him slapped him once, twice, three times, alternating with her hands, on alternate cheeks, until her father said. Thats enough, Engracia. And saying so, he took her hands in his, led her resisting to the bed, and made her sit down.And Martha was too young to wonder that her father, who was a big soldiery, should have surrendered to the repeated slapping from her mother who was a very small frail charr. Her father said, Arent you ashamed now Martha has seen? And immediately her mother screamed to him, Ashamed? Me, ashamed? Ill tell Martha about you Her father looked at Martha still standing dumbly by the window out of which she had thrown the knife, and said, No, Aciang, she is just a child. And to her Martha, go back to bed. But now her mother jumped up from the bed, and clutched at Martha, and brought her to bed with her.And deliberately without looking at Marthas father, she said, Martha you are not too young to know. And so, the words lapseing from her lips with a terrible quiet, she told Martha. The words that were strange to her ears, Martha heard them, and listened to them, and looked from her mother to her father, and without knowing it, wetting her cheeks with her rupture that fell. And then her mother stopped talking, and looking at her husband, she spat on him, and Martha saw the saliva spatter on the front of the dark shirt he wore. She watched while her father strode over them, and slowly, also deliberately, slapped her mother on the cheek.Martha watched his open palm as he did it, and felt the blow as though it had been she who had been hit. Then her father strode out of the room, saying nothing, leaving them alone. When her father had gone, Marthas mother began to cry, saying brokenly to Martha, It is that woman, that woman And making excuses to Martha for her father, saying it was never completely the mans fault. And Martha listened bewildered, because this was so different from the venomous words her mother had told her while her father was in the room. And then her mother, still weeping, directed her to look for her father and Martha went out of the room.Her father was not in the house. The night was very dark as she peered out of the windows to see is she could find him outside, but he was nowhere. So she went back to her mother, and told her she could not find her father. Her mother cried silently, the tears coursing down her cheeks, and her sobs tearing through her throat. Mar tha cried with her, and caressed her mothers back with her hands, but she had no words to offer, nothing to say. When her mother at last was able to talk again, she told Martha to go back to bed. But it wasnt the child that entered who went out of that room.And to date the terror of that night was not so great because it was only a terror half understood. It wasnt until she was eighteen, that the hurt of that night was invested with its full measure. For when she was eighteen, she fell in love. She was a girl of placid appearance, in her look the dreaming stolid night of the unawakened. She still was slow to learn, still not prone to brilliance. And when she fell in love she chose the brightest boy of her limited acquaintance to fall in love with. He was slightly former(a) than herself, a little too handsome, a trifle too given to laughter.Espeleta did not like him he was too different from the other young me n on the street. But Martha loved him. You could see that in the way s he looked at him, the way she listened to him. Marthas pigtails had lengthened. She now wore her braids coiled on the top of her head like a coronet, and it went well with the placid features, the rather full figure. She was easily one of our prettier maidens. It was well that she was not too brilliant. That she did not have any too modern ideas. The air of diffidentness, the awkward lack of sparkling conversation suited her Madonna like face and calm.And her distressfulness with love was also part of the calm waiting nature. It did not enter her head that there are such things as play, and a game. And a mans eagerness for sport. And so when she noticed that his attentions seemed to be wandering, even after he had admitted to a lot of people that they were engaged, she asked him, with the eager desperation of the inexperienced, about their marriage. He laughed at her. Laughed gently, teasingly, saying they could not get married for a long time yet he must re buckle under his paren ts first for all that they had through with(p) for him.He must first be sure to be able to afford the things she deserved. Well turned phrases he said his excuses with. Charming little evasions. And if she did not see through them while he spoke them, his frequent absences, where his visits had been as a habit his excuses to stay away when once no amount of send him off could make him stay away these but made her see. And understand. And then the way neighbours will, they tried to be kind to her. For they could see her heart was breaking and they tried to say sweet things to her, things like her being far too good for him. And then they heard that he had married.Another girl. And they saw her grief, and thought it strange that a girl should grieve over an undeserving lover or so. She lost a little of the plumpness that was one of her charms. And into her eyes crept a hurt look to replace the dreaming. And Espeleta, with all the good people, strove to be even kinder to her. Watched her grief and pitied her. And told her that whatever mistakes she had committed to make her grieve so, to make her suffer so, they understood and forgave. And they did not unredeemed her. But now that she had learned her lesson, she must beware. She knew her own father as much as they knew about him.And it was in the Fates that his sins must be paid for. If not by himself, then by whom but she who was begotten by him? So, didnt she see? How careful she should be? Because you could, they said it to her gently, kindly, cruelly, because she could if she were careful, turn aside the vengeance of the unmitigable fates. And she believed them kind although she hated their suspicions. She believed them kind, and so she started, then, to hate her father. And that night long ago came back to her, and she wished she had not thrown that knife away. Espeleta saw Martha turn spectral.More religious than Iya Andia and Iya Nesia, who were old and saw death coming close, and wanted to be assured of the easing of the gates of heaven. Espeleta approved. Because Espeleta did not know what she prayed for. Because they saw only the downcast eyes under the light veil, the coil of shining hair as it bowed over the communion rail. Yet Marthas mother and father still lived together. They never had separated. Even after that night, when she was twelve years old and frightened, and she had called for him and looked for him and not found him. The next day he had come back, and between her mother and him there was a silence.They slept in the same bed, and spent the nights in the same room, and yet Martha and Espeleta knew he had another bed, another chamber. Espeleta praised Marthas mother for being so patient. After Martha had locomote in love, when she began hating her father truly then also she began despising her mother. You did not know it to look at Martha. For her coil of braided hair was still there, and the shy way of speaking, and the charming awkwardness at conversation. And Martha made up her earlier lack of lustre by shining in her class now. She was eighteen and not through high school yet.But she made up for it by graduating with high honours. Espeleta clapped its hands when she graduated. Gave her flowers. Her mother and father were there, too. And they were elevated. And to look at Martha, you would think she was proud too, if a little too shy still. Martha studied nursing. And started having visitors in her mothers house again. Doctors this time. Older men, to whom her gravity of manner appealed, and the innate good scent out that seemed so patient in her quiet demeanour. Espeleta was now rather proud of Martha. She seemed everything a girl should be, and they cited her as an example of what religion could do.Lift you out of the trace of your inheritance. For look at Martha. See how different she is from what should be her fathers daughter. But what they did not know was that all of these doctors Martha had to choose someone slightly older th an the rest. And where the girl of eighteen that she had been almost a child unschooled, now she was a woman wise and wary. Where the other nurses knew this doctor only as someone who did not like their dances as much as the younger ones, who did not speak as lightly, as flippantly of love as the younger ones, Martha knew why he didnt.Between the two of them there had been, form the very start, a quick lifting of the pulse, an immediate quickening of the breath. From the very start. And where he could have concealed the secrets of life, he chose the very first time they were able to talk to each other, to tell her that he was not free. He had a wife, and whether he loved her or not, whether she was unfaithful to him or not, which she was, there had been the irrevocable ceremony to bind them, to always make his love for any other woman, if he ever fell in love again, something that must be hidden, something that might not see light.She was a woman now, Martha was. Wise and wary. But there is no wisdom, no weariness against love. Not the kind of difficult love she knew she bore him. And as even she him, she found within herself the old deep abiding secret hate. Against her father. Against the laws of man and church. Against the very fates that seemed rejoiced in making her pay for a sin she had not committed. She now learned of bitterness. Because she could not help thinking of that night, long ago, when her mother had sat on the bed, and in deliberate words told her just what kind of a father she had.It had been as though her mother had shifted on to her unwilling, unready shoulders the burden of the sorrows, the goad of the grief. Espeleta, that was so quick to censure, and to condemn even Espeleta had taken the situation in Marthas house as something that could not be helped. And as long as there was no open strife, Espeleta made excuses for a thing that, they said, had been designed by Fate. Marthas father came home. Acted, on the surface, the good husba nd. And since he was married to Marthas mother, so must Marthas mother redeem it, and welcome him home again.Because she would rather he came home, then went to the other one, wouldnt she? Espeleta cited heavenly rewards. For Marthas mother. And Martha went to church regularly, and was a good nurse. And still called her father, Father. You have heard that one of course, about the mill of the gods, how they grind exceedingly fine, and grind exceedingly slow. Espeleta hadnt heard that one, nor had Martha. But Espeleta of course would have a more locomote version of it. Anyhow, one day at the hospital, Martha was attendant nurse at an emergency case. A man had been shot.There were three bullets through his chest, but he was still alive. Martha laughed queerly to herself, saying I must be dreaming, I am imagining that man has my fathers face. It was the doctor she loved who was in charge. With a queer dreaming feeling, she raised her eyes to meet his, and was shocked to see him drop his gaze, and over his face steal a twist as of pain, as of pity. They were instantly their efficient selves again, cloaking themselves in the impersonal masks of physician and nurse. It was as if he who lay there beneath their instruments and their probing fingers was any man, the way it could be any man.Not her father. But all while, training and discipline unavailing. Martha said to herself, but it is my father. He died on the table. He never gained consciousness. Martha drew the sheet over his face and form. And watched as they wheeled him out of the room. She still had the instruments to put away and the room to put in order. But this did not take long and when she went out into the corridor, she found her mother weeping beside the shrouded form on the wheeled table. There was a policeman beside her awkwardly trying with gruff words to console the little woman over her loss.Beside the policeman stood also the doctor, who passed an arm around the shoulder of Marthas mother, sayi ng simply, we tried to save him. Martha joined them, knowing that she should be in tears, yet finding that she had none to shed. It would ease the tightness within her, would loosen the hard knot in her heart to cry. But you cannot summon tears when you feel no grief, and the pain you feel is not of sorrow but of the cruel justness of things. She could not even put her arms around her weeping mother. When the doctor told her that she would be excused from duty the rest of the day, that he would arrange it for her, she did not thank him.She did not say anything for indeed she no longer had any words, nor any emotions that infallible speech. Or should be given speech. For one cannot say, how right How just When ones father has just died. Her mother and she took a taxi together to company the hearse that took her father home. There was a crowd awaiting them. Espeleta in tears. Espeleta crying condolence and opprobrium in the same breath. It was from them their good neighbours, their kind neighbours that Martha learned how Gods justice had overtaken the sinner. Colon is not as intimate as Espeleta.For it is a long street and broad street. But where the railroad crosses it, the houses group together in intimate warmth and neighbourly closeness and its families live each others lives almost as meddlingly as Espeleta does. And is as avid for scandals as Espeleta is. Among the people in Marthas house were some from Colon. And it was they who supplied the grimmer details, the more lucid picture. In that other womans house and Martha did not even know the other womans name there had existed the stalemate state of affairs that had existed in Marthas house.Only where in Marthas house it had been a wife who was patient, in that other womans house it had been the husband who had bided his time. And yet the neighbours had thought he had not cared. For indeed he had seemed like a man blind and deaf, and if he raised his voice against his wife, it was not so they could he ar it. Yet today, he had come home, after he had said he was divergence away somewhere. And had come upon Marthas father in the house, and had, without saying anything, taken out his revolver, and shot at him. Martha heard all these. And thought you know very much life seems like an old fashioned melodrama, guns and all.And yet the gun had not gone off. It had jammed, and Marthas father had been able to run. And running, even as he seemed far enough from the house to be safe, the gun in the husbands hand had come right again. The man had gone out in the street, aimed at the fleeing figure. That explained why the bullets had gone in through his back and out through his chest. They said that the street was spattered with blood and where he fell, there was a puddle of gory red. The killer had surrendered himself at once. But everyone knew he would not pay with his life he had taken.For the woman was his wife and he had come upon them in his own home. Martha stayed with the kind con dolers only a while. She left her mother for them to comfort as best as they could. They would have praises like The good God knows best they would have words like, Your grief is ended, let your other grief commence. She went to look at her father lying well arranged now in his bier. Already in spite of the manner of his death, there were flowers for him. Death had left no glare in the eyes that the doctor at the hospital had mercifully closed, over the features lingered no evidence of pain.And Martha said, Death was kind to you. In Marthas room there hung a crucifix. Upon the crossed wood was the agonized Christ, His eyes soft and deep and tender, even in his agony. But as Martha knelt, and lighted her candles, and prayed, in her eyes was no softness, and on her lips no words appealing for pity for him who had died. There was only the blaze of a justice meted out at last, and the thankfulness for a punishment fulfilled. So she gave thanks, very fervent thanks. For now, she hoped, she would cease to pay.