Guilt and Redemption in Khaled Hosseinis The Kite Runner

Guilt and Redemption What is Guilt? Guilt is the overwhelming feeling of remorse that one experiences after committing a sin. What is Redemption? Redemption is compensating for one’s sins through actions that relieves one from guilt. Thesis When making choices that causes one to feel guilt, one tries to purge their guilt through the act of redemption. Hosseini exhibits this through the characters of Sanaubar, Baba and Amir. Sanaubar’s Guilt and Redemption Sanaubar elopes with a group of singers and dancers when Hassan was less than a week old. She also knew about the sin she committed when she slept with Baba and conceived Hassan. Eventually, Sanaubar returns to Kabul to seek forgiveness from Hassan. â€Å"I have†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"I lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it†¦ Then I knocked on Baba’s door and told him what I hoped would be the last in a long line of shameful lies.†(Hosseini,104)- The guilt building up in Amir is causing so much tension between him and Hassan that he just wants Hassan to leave. However it won’t be easy because his father will not fire his â€Å"family†. Theft is the only sin Baba cannot tolerate and Amir knows this. â€Å"They had been staring at my food†¦ I did something I had done 26 years earlier. I planted a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress.†(Hosseini, 242)- Now, 26 years later, the mature Amir is actually doing good deeds. Instead of him using money to get rid of someone, he is giving money to help a family in need. â€Å"I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into the alley, stand up Hassan- the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past- and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end I ran.†(Hosseini,77)- Amir shows that he cannot be as loyal as Hassan. Even if he was being a coward, he told no one. This decision he made him who he was 26 years from now. He was still running from his guilt. â€Å"My body wasShow MoreRelatedGuilt And Redemption In Khaled Hosseinis The Kite Runner1585 Words   |  7 Pagesthat some people feel guilt not in what they have done but in what they could have done. When faced with a difficult situation, a person has the choice to turn the other way or try and solve the issue. Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner explores the subject of guilt and redemption through the character Amir. When faced with the choice between helping a friend and running away, Amir chooses the latter. This decision plagues Amir throughout his entire life as he seeks redemption to ease his regretRead MoreSymbolism Of Kite Running By Khaled Hosseini1243 Words   |  5 PagesKali Denney Mr. Snyder AP Literature and Composition 11 December 2015 Symbolism of Kite Running In this essay the book being discussed is, Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Khaled Hosseini’s biography will be discussed as well as the historical influences upon him that affect the novel as a whole. The essay will contain a critical analysis as well as an analysis of the critical response to the work by others. In the novel and now a grown man, the main character Amir recalls events in his childhoodRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Kite Runner1090 Words   |  5 PagesOctober 2017 Consequences of War: A Critical Analysis of the Kite Runner On a day to day basis, an individual is faced with an obstacle they must overcome, ultimately defining their morals and values. In the literature perspective, the novel The Kite Runner delivers multiple thematic ideas that portray the struggles of characters in their ordinary lives. Khaled Hosseini, author and physician, released his debut novel The Kite Runner in the year of 2003. This novel is written in the first personRead More Khaled Hosseinis The Kite Runner Essay1008 Words   |  5 PagesKhaled Hosseinis The Kite Runner In the Kite Runner, the author explores the ties that bind sons to fathers and childhood friends to one another and of the forces that tear them apa rtRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Kite Runner 1685 Words   |  7 Pagescould be used in a story. However, the theme of redemption seems to be one of the most common. Redemption is when one commits a wrongdoing and in order to erase the constant feeling of guilt, one will atone, or make up, for their sins. Khaled Hosseini uses the theme redemption in the novel, The Kite Runner, as he portrays the main character struggling to find himself and make right his childhood wrongs. To write a story with the theme of redemption helps to give the readers hope for a happy endingRead MoreMark Solis. Mrs. Ham . English 12. 02 March 2017. Kite1099 Words   |  5 PagesMark Solis Mrs. Ham English 12 02 March 2017 Kite Runner Essay Can one bury their past, if one acts as if something hasn t happened will it leviate some of the guilt, is it wrong to run away from one’s mistakes? The answer to that question depends entirely on one’s morality so responses vary depending on the individual although the novel’s underlying tone implies that one must atone for past mistakes in order to develop new relationships, one must have the courage to face their demons and makeRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1394 Words   |  6 Pagesunderlying message of the novel The Kite Runner, as author Khaled Hosseini tells a heartbreaking tale of a lifetime spent in the search of redemption for a â€Å"past of unatoned sins† (Hosseini, 1). Very often people undergo numerous internal conflicts throughout their lives, and they find that some of their problems change who they are as a person. Most people will not have the courage or the motivation to deal with and fix their problems, however, Khaled Ho sseini’s novel inspires people to face and dealRead MoreThe True Value of Loyalty Essay794 Words   |  4 Pagestormented by Amirs meaningless â€Å"tests† to prove Hassans loyalty. Now, it is Amir who has to prove to the world, and also to himself that he is worthy of Hassans endless sincerity and devotion. Khaled Hosseini does an excellent job of portraying this transformation in his writing. Hosseinis novel, The Kite Runner, illustrates the value of loyalty in the relationships between Hassan and Amir, Sanaubar and Sohrab, and Amir and Baba. First is the relationship between Hassan and Amir. â€Å"Hassan never deniedRead MoreThe Kite Runner by by Khaled Hosseini: Blinded by Guilt795 Words   |  4 PagesThe Kite Runner: Blinded by Guilt A person’s childhood is the foundation that paves the way for the rest of one’s life. Memorable events can trigger certain emotions in a child and, as a result, change the nature of that person as an adult. Set in the 1970s in California, the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is told in flashbacks as the reader follows the main character through his resolutions to lifelong conflicts. The novel traces Amir’s mixed feelings of love and jealousy towardsRead MoreKhaled Hosseinis The Kite Runner Essay747 Words   |  3 Pages In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini tells a notable coming-of-age story portraying the actions and thoughts of Amir, a penitent adult living in the United States and his reminiscence of his affluent childhood in the unstable political environment of Afghanistan. Throughout the novel Khaled Hosseini uses character description to display his thoughts on sin and redemption. The main character described in the novel is Amir. Amir is the narrator and the protagonist in the story. Although

Revenge at its Sweetest Essay Example For Students

Revenge at its Sweetest Essay Only a few slow moving tumbleweeds occupied the desert terrain. The endless plain of dust and hot dry dirt seemed to have no occupants, it was as if the ground hadnt been walked over for years. Suddenly, the seemingly endless silence was broken by a gradual fade into a chaotic rumbling. The sound grew more ferocious and eventually became unbearably loud. Just then in the distance behind a cliff, a cloud of dust appeared and out of it raced seven cars racing at insane speeds. It looked as if the cars had been built from scraps of hard iron and metal for the sole purpose was to fight against other contenders in this barren wasteland. In front of the pack was a sleek fast car, being pursued by six other cars, but one could tell the leading car was an extremely experienced driver possessing total control of the vehicle. The dark and mysterious figure behind the wheel of the leading car was wearing a helmet with the name MAX on the side of it. Max reached across the seat and pulled out a shotgun, and after putting it out the window shot a round back at the following pack of cars. Immediately after one car at the back swerved dangerously and rolled several times before bursting into flames sending pieces of metal all the barren wasteland. A pack of cars was quickly approaching a deep canyon, they would have to break hard now to avoid hitting the edge of it. Max didnt slow down, Max pushed the accelerator with such an extreme force and determination that it seemed as if the car screamed in pain as it lurched forward, faster than ever. Then the car leapt off the canyons edge and became airborne. Gliding through the air without any control of the car didnt seem to faze Max at all. The car seemed to delicately touch down on the other side as if there was a bridge. The following pack ended up being obliterated against the other side of the canyons jaws. Max was finally alone, killing off the opposition had been easy, almost too easy! Searching for the final destination was difficult due to the similarity of the horizon in every direction. Yet eventually a dark mass loomed up, Looks like the bastards hideout, Max muttered. Taking care of them will accomplish my vendetta for what they did to my love. Five leather-clad warriors covered in spikes and armed to the teeth with blades and guns guarded the entrance. Max pulled a grenade off the seat and after skidding sideways threw it at the guards blowing them to pieces showing no sign of emotion. The grill on the front of the car, designed for ramming, sent the gates to the base flying in all directions. The car shuddered to a halt and Max kicked the door of car out and ran across and path, guns blazing and claiming the life of two enemies standing guard in a tower. Immediately after Max grabbed a grenade launcher and fired it towards another tower, demolishing it and causing yet another death due to the falling tower crushing another enemy. Max then walked up to the entrance of the tower. Inside the tower a massive spiked fisted gladiator greeted Max who reacted quickly with a fierce headbutt to the nose. The gladiator fell to the ground clenching his nose which had been broken like wet cardboard. Max, now heavily heard distress calls from up above. Max ran passed the gladiator, shooting him in the head and headed up the stairs into a room with glass everywhere, overlooking the whole camp. Sitting in the corner gagged and tied was a familiar figure. Darling, its you shouted Max in great relief. Max, I never thought you would make it replied the crying figure. Quickly, there is a bomb tied to me, HELP ME, HELP ME, PLEASE. Max ran over to the figure and with one quick daft movement of a knife, released the beloved and ran for the window realizing that only 15 seconds remained before the bomb detonated. With the figure in arms, Max broke through the window landing in a pool just as a massive explosion blanketed the whole t op floor. Max surfaced in the pool with beloved in arms. Max wiped a grimy hand across her battered yet tender face. I love you Edward I love you too, Maxine

Microsoft Monopoly Essays - Windows XP, Microsoft, Windows 10

Microsoft Monopoly By now everyone is familiar with the case U.S. vs. Microsoft. What is all this about? According to my two articles, Microsoft, the world's leading software company, is being sued by the Justice Department joined by 19 states. As we all know, Microsoft dominates the personal computer's operating system. Almost every computer in schools, libraries, offices, and home is equipped with either Windows 3.X, Windows 95, or 98. As far as browsing the web, there are three major browsers: AOL, Netscape and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. When Windows 98 came out, it already had Microsoft's Internet Explorer installed, compared to Netscape which users had to pay $50 for the program before being acquired by America Online. Basically Microsoft is being sued for having an illegal monopoly over personal computer's operating system and repeatedly quashed competition to preserve its market domination. After the findings, Government lawyers said they would consider proposals to break up the company. In Microsoft's defense, citing a 1990 ruling from the 4th circuit appeals court, Microsoft claims that "a desire to increase market share or even drive a competitor out of business through rigorous competition on the merits is not sufficient" to prove it intended to establish an illegal monopoly. An important point in Microsoft's argument is the copyright law. According to Microsoft, it has a right to "prohibit unauthorized modification" of Windows and bar computer markers from removing icons or Internet Explorer. Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle said in a statement, "Both consumers and the industry would benefit from a fair resolution of this case. The current mediation provides both parties a unique opportunity to resolve this dispute in a way that strikes a balance between the importance of our antitrust laws and innovation." Leading the lawmakers believes it would be best if both sides reach an out of court settlement. It's going to be interesting to see what will happen to this case. Will the U.S. break up the software giant or will Microsoft keep on dominating the operating system market. I would like to see both sides settle this case out of court. It would definitely benefit both parties. Since a majority of computers are using Windows 95 or 98, it makes the compatibility part easier for all consumers. Microsoft standardized the software's to be used on Windows and creates fewer conflicts with other operating systems such as Mac and Linux. It's better for users because we do not have to learn to operate more than one operating system. Imagine yourself typing up a project at work using Microsoft Word. There wasn't enough time to finish so you decide to bring it home. You put the disk in at your home computer only to find that it's not compatible with the Linux operating system. If that were the case today, we would have to own two or more computers with different operating systems. As far as the competition goes, I think Microsoft is doing an extremely good job to maximize profits. This market is very competitive and Microsoft knows there is a lot of money to be made. Microsoft developed a product that is in high demand. With the Internet getting so popular, everyone would like to own a PC. As an employee of an Internet Service Provider called Every Ones Internet, I get an up close and personal view of how fast the Internet is growing. Each day I would sell at least 20-25 Internet accounts. With the falling prices of computer chips, there's a high demand in computers. A PC is similar to a television; soon every home and office will have at least one computer. Microsoft is definitely not slowing down, with the introduction of Windows 2000, Microsoft claims this is their best product ever. They have spent one billion dollars for the production of Windows 2000 and by 2001, most computer users will upgrade to Windows 2000.

The Road to the American Revolution

The Road to the American Revolution In 1818, Founding Father John Adams famously recalled the American Revolution as having started as a belief â€Å"in the hearts and minds of the people† that eventually â€Å"burst out in open violence, hostility, and fury.† Since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the l6th century, England had been trying to establish a colony in the â€Å"New World† of North America. In 1607, the Virginia Company of London succeeded with the settling of Jamestown, Virginia. England’s King James I had decreed at the time that the Jamestown colonists would forever enjoy the same rights and freedoms as if they had been â€Å"abiding and born within England.† Future kings, however, would not be so accommodating. During the late 1760s, the once-strong bonds between the American colonies and Britain began to loosen. By 1775, ever-growing abuses of power exerted by British King George III would drive the American colonists to armed revolt against their native country. Indeed, the long road of America from its first exploration and settlement to organized revolt seeking independence from England was blocked by seemingly insurmountable obstacles and stained with the blood of citizen-patriots. This feature series, â€Å"The Road to the American Revolution,† traces the events, causes, and people of that unprecedented journey. A ‘New World’ Discovered America’s long, bumpy road to independence starts in August of 1492 when Queen Isabella I of Spain funded the first New World voyage of Christopher Columbus to discover a westward trading passage to the Indies. On October 12, 1492, Columbus stepped off the deck of his ship, the Pinta, onto the shores of the present-day Bahamas. On his second voyage in 1493, Columbus established the Spanish colony of La Navidad as the first European settlement in the Americas. While La Navidad was located on the Island of Hispaniola, and Columbus never actually explored North America, the period of exploration after Columbus would lead to the start of the second leg of America’s journey to independence. The Early Settlement of America To the mighty kingdoms of Europe, establishing colonies in the newly-discovered Americas seemed a natural way to grow their wealth and influence. With Spain having done so at La Navidad, its arch-rival England quickly followed suit. By 1650, England had established a growing presence along what would become the American Atlantic coast. The first English colony was founded in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. Hoping to escape religious persecution, the Pilgrims signed their Mayflower Compact in 1620 and proceeded to establish the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.   The Original 13 British Colonies With the invaluable assistance of local Native Americans, English colonists not only survived but thrived in both Massachusetts and Virginia. Having been taught to grow them by the Indians, uniquely New World grains like corn fed the colonists, while tobacco provided the Virginias with a valuable cash crop.   By 1770, more than 2 million people, including a growing number of enslaved Africans, lived and worked in the three early American British colonial regions. While each of the 13 colonies that were to become the original 13 U.S. States had individual governments, it was the New England colonies that would become the breeding ground for a growing dissatisfaction with the British government that would ultimately lead to revolution. Dissent Turns to Revolution While each of the 13 now thriving American colonies was allowed a limited degree of self-government, the individual colonists’ ties to Great Britain remained strong. Colonial businesses depended on British trading companies. Prominent young colonists attended British colleges and some future signers of the American Declaration of Independence served the British government as appointed colonial officials. However, by the middle 1700s, those ties to the Crown would be strained by tensions between the British government and its American colonists that would turn into the root causes of the American Revolution. In 1754, with the French and Indian War looming, Britain ordered its 13 American colonies to organize under a single, centralized government. While the resulting Albany Plan of Union was never implemented, it planted the first seeds of independence in the minds of Americans.   Seeking to pay for the costs of the French and Indian War, the British government began imposing several taxes, like the Currency Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 on the American colonists. Having never been allowed to elect their own representatives to the British Parliament, many colonists raised the call, â€Å"No taxation without representation.† Many colonists refused to buy the heavily-taxed British goods, like tea. On  December 16, 1773, a band of colonists dressed like Native Americans dumped several crates of tea from a British ship docked in Boston Harbor into the sea as a symbol of their unhappiness with the taxes. Pulled off by members of the secretive Sons of Liberty, the Boston Tea Party stirred the anger of the colonists with British rule. Hoping to teach the colonists a lesson, Britain enacted the Intolerable Acts of 1774 to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. The laws closed Boston Harbor, allowed British soldiers to be more physically â€Å"forceful† when dealing with dissenting colonists and outlawed town meetings in Massachusetts. For many colonists, it was the last straw. The American Revolution Begins In February 1775, Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams wrote to a friend: â€Å"The die is cast †¦ it seems to me the Sword is now our only, yet dreadful, alternative.† Abigail’s lament proved to be prophetic. In 1774, a number of colonies, operating under provisional governments, formed armed militias made up of â€Å"minutemen.† As British troops under General Thomas Gage seized the militia’s stores of munitions and gunpowder, Patriot spies, like Paul Revere, reported on British troop positions and movements. In December 1774, patriots seized British gunpowder and arms stored at Fort William and Mary at New Castle, New Hampshire. In February 1775, the British Parliament declared the Massachusetts colony to be in a state of rebellion and authorized General Gage to use force to restore order. On April 14, 1775, General Gage was ordered to disarm and arrest colonial rebel leaders. As British troops marched from Boston toward Concord on the night of April 18, 1775, a group of patriot spies including Paul Revere and William Dawes rode from Boston to Lexington alarming the Minutemen to assemble. The next day, the Battles of Lexington and Concord between British regulars and the New England minutemen in Lexington sparked the Revolutionary War. On April 19, 1775, thousands of American Minutemen continued to attack British troops who had retreated to Boston. Learning of this Siege of Boston, the second Continental Congress authorized the creation of the Continental Army, appointing General George Washington as its first commander. With the long-feared revolution a reality, America’s founding fathers, assembled at the American Continental Congress, drafted a formal statement of the colonists’ expectation and demands to be sent to King George III. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted those now-cherished demands as the Declaration of Independence. â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.†

Dicussion on movie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Dicussion on movie - Essay Example In this film, ultimate gender performance is apparent in the way each manages realize their respective motives whereby Toby becomes a distinguished porn actor and Bree waitress in a place where there earlier her role encompassed washing dishes. Both key character deem they represent the opposite of what they are based on gender. Toby while indulging oneself into the acts of gay appears to be the recipient who through his charm arouses those of the same orientation. This is also evident with Bree who through her conduct all males whom she encounters end up exhibiting interests in without suspecting anything except that kid in the hotel. The latter among all other scenes is the sole incident, which I can concretely contend Bree utterly failed but all others she managed to masquerade as a woman. Conversely, Toby is successful all through and no incident where he seems to contradict who he is evident in the easily prostates to supplement their budget and lie proceeds were from selling drugs. In the film, the essence of nudity encompasses unveiling controversial aspects used to develop varied scenes constituting the entire movie as well as satiating audiences’ curiosity. For instance, Toby through nudity manages to know exactly Bree’s condition, which from the onset of the film viewers could only hear through discussion. In addition, nudity serves the role of advancing plots such that the film continues to progress, which is evident with the case of Toby having known who exactly Bree is an incident of rift between them develops until reconciliation in the end of the film. The film though its scenes might seem different from that of â€Å"The Hitch-Hiker (1953)† there earlier I watched, their general basis encompasses how the involved and key characters manage to scrutinize the reality of each other . In both films, there are hitchhikers

A Critical Analysis of Article 5 of UCP 600 Essay

A Critical Analysis of Article 5 of UCP 600 - Essay Example More especially the fact that banks are not concerned with the terms of the contract to which it is attached, means that regardless of whether or not the goods are delivered or not or conform to the terms of the contract or not, the letter of credit must be honoured by the bank. This paper will analyse the consequences of Article 5 of UCP 600 and the potential for fraud and other forms of injustice to the parties impacted by a letter of credit. Letters of Credit In its simplest form, a letter of credit is a device by which a bank or other similar party agrees to provide credit to a specific party on behalf of another party upon receipt of the relevant supporting documents.4 A standard letter of credit is comprised of at least four parties: the vendor (exporter); the purchaser (importer) and each of their banks.5 The importer/purchaser’s bank typically issues the letter of credit which imposes a duty on the importer/purchaser’s bank to pay the specified sum to the vendor /exporter once the particularized documents are received.6 A key feature of the letter of credit is the fact that it is independent of the underlying contract to which it applies. In other words, the bank’s responsibilities under the letter of credit are segregated from any other contractual duties existing between the parties to the letter of credit. This would include contractual duties between the vendor and the purchaser or any duties on the part of â€Å"reimburse the bank for payments made† by virtue of the letter of credit.7 The banks involved in the letters of credit are typically referred to as the â€Å"issuing bank† and the â€Å"conforming bank†.8 The issuing bank is asked by the purchaser who is commonly referred to as the applicant to assume responsibility for paying the vendor who is commonly known as the beneficiary, a specified sum upon the presentation of specific documents. The conforming bank is the bank selected by the beneficiary tha t acts as a â€Å"correspondent of the issuing bank to advise the beneficiary on the terms of the credit† and usually assumes the â€Å"same liability towards the beneficiary as the issuing bank†.9 The autonomy of the letter of credit was fortified in the case of Gian Singh & Co. Ltd. v Banque de L’Indochine in which the court ruled that the autonomy doctrine obliges an insuring bank to make payment to the beneficiary even if the specified documents submitted by the beneficiary pursuant to the letter of credit were forged.10 It was also held in IE Contractors Limited v Lloyds Bank Plc that the duty of issue payment under a letter of credit is not conditional upon ascertaining whether or not the supporting documents presented by the beneficiary are correct.11 The autonomy of the letter of credit is justified in the grounds that contractual disputes occur quire frequently. It would therefore be obstructive to international trade to permit one party to use a contra ctual dispute to delay payment and thus the â€Å"assurance given to the beneficiary would be severely undermined† and thus â€Å"documentary guarantees would become unacceptable†.12 The autonomy principle of the letters of credit therefore illustrate that indeed, banks are only concerned with documents and not the underlying transaction to which it is attached. Although the rationale for the autonomy principle rests on limiting the risks of delaying or stopping payments in international trad

Summary of Marxism Essay Example for Free

Summary of Marxism Essay For the past few months I’ve been studying and reading Karl Marx’s most important work: Capital (Das Kapital). This thing is enormous. It’s three volumes, containing over 2000 pages. In it Marx attempted to figure out and explain how capitalism ‘works’†¦ What he came up with is fascinating. It is a very detailed and intricate analysis. While Marx is commonly known for being the â€Å"father of communism† the reality is that his major accomplishment is his examination of capitalism. In fact, this may surprise you, Marx never wrote about how communism ‘works,’ which is kind of strange for someone that is considered the father of it. Unfortunately, there is such a negative stigma attached to Marx that we, as a society, are missing out on a very interesting perspective for understanding capitalism. In this post, I will lay out the essence of what Marx was trying to tell us about capitalism. His book Capital is much, much, much more intricate and detailed. But the following is the big picture. Throughout all of human history there is something that happens, no matter what kind of society, no matter when in human history, that we as humans fail to appreciate, consider and integrate into how we understand the world we live in: some people use their brains and their body to transform nature in a useful way, i. e. they do work, and some people do not. The easiest and most simple example is babies. They are not doing work. Often elderly people do not work. Very sick people do not work. Sometimes people who can work, i. e. they are mentally and physically capable of doing work, also do not work. This raises a question: how is it possible for people who do not work to survive? In order for it to be possible for some people to not work and also survive, be it a baby or a capable adult, it must be true that those who do work, produce more stuff than they themselves consume. Otherwise, the people who do not work would die. For each person that works, the produce of their work that goes to maintaining themselves, Marx calls Necessary Labor, and the produce of their work that they do not consume themselves, Marx calls Surplus Labor. So, Marx asks: how does any given society decide 1) who will work, how will they work, and how much of what they produce will go to them†¦ 2) who will not work, but live off of the surplus labor of those who do work, and how much will they get? Marx says that how a society decides to deal with this issue shapes the society in various ways: culturally, politically, economically, etc†¦ and if we don’t recognize how this shapes society, we are missing a very important part of understanding how and why our society is the way it is. Again: who works, who doesn’t, how much of the produce does each group get, and how is that decided. Marx breaks the history of humans down into 5 types of arrangements based on how the Surplus is distributed to those who do not produce it. 1)) Communism – a community or a group of people work together, and they produce a surplus, maintain it, and themselves distribute it to those that do not work. For example, if a group of us grow some food, and we have more than we are going to consume, we decide how to distribute the extra. 2)) Ancient – the work is not done not by a group of people, but by individuals alone. This would be someone that is self-employed, and produces stuff on his or her own. For example, if I grow some food, and I have more than I am going to consume, I decide how to distribute the extra. At this point, Marx makes a distinction. The following three types of arrangement have something in common that is different than the first two, and it is this: the people who do the work that produces the surplus are not in control of the surplus that they produce, and therefore are not in control of distributing it. Marx calls these systems exploitative. The producers of the surplus are exploited, and all this means is that the producers of the surplus do not maintain and distribute the extra. )) Slave – if the work is done by a person or a group of people and none of what that person or the group produces belongs to them. What they produce is maintained and distributed by the slave owner. For example, if a slave produces some food, the slave owner decides how much the slave gets, how much the slave owner gets, and how to distribute the extra. 4)) Feudalism â⠂¬â€œ the work is done by a serfs, and some of the time is spent producing what is for them, and some other amount of time is spent producing what then belongs to the feudal lord. The lord maintains and distributes the surplus. For example, if a serf produces some food, some of the food belongs to the serf, and the rest belongs to the feudal lord, and the feudal lord decides how to maintain and distribute the extra. 5)) Capitalist – the work is done by wage or salary earners, and they do not control, maintain, or distribute the surplus that they produce. They receive a wage or salary, and all of what they produce belongs to the capitalist/owner. For example, if some workers grow some food, they are paid a wage or salary equivalent to some of that food, but importantly not all of it, and the capitalist maintains control of and distributes the surplus/extra. Marx claims, I think correctly, there is only one reason why a capitalist/owner/employer would pay a worker a wage or salary, and that is if he or she is going to get more out of the worker than the value of what worker contributes during his or her working hours. What’s interesting is this relationship, between the capitalist/employer and the worker/employee, is that it is closest to the slave/slave owner relationship. Hence why sometimes capitalism is referred to as wage-slavery. They are certainly not the same, but strangely they are more similar to each other than the capitalist and the ancient is. again, ancient refers to self-employed) Here’s an irony: in our modern day capitalist America, the American Dream for a lot of people is to be self-employed. According to Marx, self-employment is NOT capitalism. It is the â€Å"ancient† form of production. Capitalism, on the other hand, is a relationship where someone (a capitalist), pays someone else (a worker), to do work for them, and in this relationship the worker contributes MORE than they receive in the form of a wage or salary. It is precisely in paying workers less than they contribute that the capitalist/owner is able to make a profit. The common objection to this Marxist perspective is: â€Å"But the capitalist/owner is risking his or her own money in the business, so they have to receive a profit, or why else would they invest their money in starting a business. † Indeed, I don’t think Marx would disagree. Thats how capitalism works This is Marxs fundamental insight of capitalism: the profits of capitalists/owners come from the exploitation of workers, i. e. paying them less than the value they contribute to the business. This raises an nteresting question: is what’s best for our ‘Job-Creators’ in America (capitalists/owners) also what’s best for the majority of Americans who live on wages and salaries? Is it any wonder that Marxism is a taboo subject in America? What if Marxism becomes common knowledge, and workers start thinking to themselves: do we really need the capitalists/owners? Could we collectively run businesses and make decisions as groups, i. e. communally (co mmunist)? If so, wouldnt we then get the full value of what we contribute in our working hours?