The Great Gatsby Essays (2434 words) - The Great Gatsby,

The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby Dreams The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about the American Dream. In the Great Gatsby, the dream is that one can acquire happiness through wealth and power. To get his happiness Jay attempts to reacquire the love of his lost sweet heart, Daisy. The main problem with Jays dream is that Daisy is all ready married. Gatsby's personal dream symbolizes the larger American Dream The pursuit of happiness. Jay Gatsby longs for the past. Surprisingly he devotes his adult life trying to recapture it and dies in its pursuit. In the past, Jay had a love affair with a young rich girl, Daisy. Daisy and Jay had fallen in love with each other in spite of knowing that they could not marry because of the difference in their social status. For the first time in Jays life he was truly happy. During their courtship, Jay was sent off to war. Upon returning from the war, Jay found out that Daisy had married a wealthy man by the name of Tom Buchannon. Jay then spends his life acquiring wealth to reach her economic standards, in hope that he can marry her and rekindle the happiness that he once had. His love for Daisy was impossible in society because he was at present a penniless young man without a pasthe had no comfortable family standing behind him (156). Gatsby encounters his dream of love at this point of his life. He knew that at that time a relationship of love was impossible with Daisy due to his low social standing. Gatsby became determined to breach that gap between them in order to have a loving relationship with Daisy. He did reach the physical circumstances necessary to love her, but he had focused too much on money and power the previous five years of his life. He wanted his love with Daisy to flourish. Unfortunately, he had lost the ability to love. He no longer possessed moral integrity or the ability to handle a relationship. Society is often broken up into different social groups by their economic status. Those of lower classes believe that their problems will go away if they can gain enough wealth to reach the upper class. Many people believe that the American Dream is this joining of the upper class, and once reaching that point, not having to be concerned about money at all. The logic behind this is that being poor keeps people from being happy, and once you become rich, you do not have to struggle with the problems of life, and can therefore be happy. The Great Gatsby takes this belief, and shows its flaws through the lives of Jay, Tom and Daisy. In fact, all of the characters in the story are affected in some way by the lives of these three characters. Gatsby makes becoming an upper class citizen his priority. The life of the upper class in turn, makes the acquisition of wealth their priority. Wealth becomes Jays vehicle in his quest for his primary goal, Daisy. In Gatsby's rise to power morality is sacrificed in order to attain wealth. While the story does not go into great detail as to how Gatsbys wealth was accumulated, it can easily be seen that his business ventures were shady at best. Gatsby's dream was doomed to failure because of his lack of principles. This shows a major flaw of the American Dream philosophy, just like the get rich quick schemes of today, Jay is trying to buy Daisys love, not earn it. Nick attempts to tell Jay that his dream is pointless by saying that the past cannot be relived. Jay quickly told Nick, Yes you can, old sport. This shows the confidence that Jay has in fulfilling his American Dream, and his commitment to it. Tom Buchanan, Daisys husband, was a man from an enormously wealthy family. Nick, described Tom's physical attributes as having a hard mouth and a supercilious mannerarrogant eyes had established dominance over his facealways leaning aggressively forwarda cruel bodyhis speaking voiceadded to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed (11). The wealth Tom has inherited causes him to become arrogant and condescending to others. Tom believed that he

The role of conscience in moral decision-making Essays

The role of conscience in moral decision-making Essays The role of conscience in moral decision-making Paper The role of conscience in moral decision-making Paper Conscience can be defined as something within each of us that tells us what is right and what is wrong. In Latin ’Con’ means with and ’science’ means knowledge. Therefore we should surely use our conscience when we are making decisions as we should be being told what is the right thing to do and what is wrong. This however doesn’t always seem to be the case. The problem with using your conscience is that it is not consistent. We can see this when claims have been made after someone made the wrong choice. For example at the time he was Prime minister Tony Blair took the choice to go to war with Iraq. It is widely regarded as being the wrong choice to have made and Tony Blair said in response that he was following his conscience. There are religious and secular (non-religious) views on the conscience. The religious views have been developed from biblical teaching and the divine command theory. However there is more than one interpretation about the conscience. Thomas Aquinas for example believed that people should follow their conscience totally as long as your principles are right because it is the voice of reason. On the other hand Butler argued the conscience comes form intuition. Thomas Aquinas thought that synderesis is the means of distinguishing between right and wrong. Synderesis was first used by Aristotle and is the ability of the mind to understand the first principles of moral reasoning. He noticed that people do chose the wrong choice and said that this was ‘conscientia’ which is the actual ethical judgement or decision a person makes. Aquinas said that it is important to apply your moral principles to each situation but you can still be wrong if you follow your conscience because your principles can be wrong so your conscience will be too. Conscience is reasoning used correctly to find out what God sees is good. Joseph Butler similarly to Aquinas believed that conscience could determine and judge the rightness or wrongness of different actions or thoughts. However Butler saw the conscience as being more authoritative that â€Å"magisterially exerts itself. † in such a way that it had the last say when it comes to moral decision making. Butler described a hierarchy of human nature in which the desire for food and other animal instincts are at the bottom and the conscience at the top. Self love and benevolence was above the drives and the ability to reflect was above that. Mistakes made by conscience were not seen as particularly bad to Butler as he believed that we would intuitively know what the right action to take is. However convincing yourself that a wrong action is right is more evil than the action which results from it. John Henry Newman also took Conscience from a view point and took an intuitionists approach to conscience. This meant that the mind is able to percieve abstract concepts of truths normally thought to beyond empirical evidence. He believed that we when we followed our conscience we were following some kind of divine law like a messenger from God. He believed that he could prove this when â€Å"we feel responsibility, are ashamed, are frightened at transgressing the voice of conscience, this implies there is One to whom we are responsible. Newman also believed that the more relativist (atheist) a person is the less of a conscience they will have as they do not follow a God (an absolute unchanging moral authority). He therefore saw that our conscience will continuously change in different circumstances not making it a reliable source to make a decision on. Augustine too believed that we should take it seriously and listen to our conscience because we are hearing the word of God. Therefore Newman, Augustine and Butler take a much less rationalist view upon conscience compared to Aquinas but as all four believe that God is involved with our Conscience it is important to use it when making moral-decisions, especially if we believe in God. Due to there being Secular views on the conscience the debate over nurture or nature has risen. This is questioning whether we get our morals and our conscience before we are born or whether we develop morality as we get older. With this argument there is also the belief that we have both. For example a Secularist could hold that we are born with our natural instincts that encourage us to do good because it will encourage our survival. This would be a Darwinian approach. The same person could then argue that we also develop our morals during life that allow us to fit into society and the rules and regulations that surround it. A religious person could say the same except that we would have been given a conscience before we were born by God. Sigmund Freud was a psychiatrist that took a secular view on the conscience. He studied the human mind and its effects on the body. He also saw that human personality like Butler could be put into a hierarchy. Both Freud and Butler put drives such as sexual drives at the bottom of the triangle. However Freud then put the ‘Id’ in the space above this which represents the part of a human that is amoral (has no morality). The Id contains our wishes and instincts. Then at the top of the triangle was the ‘Ego’ which is the conscious part of a human that shows on the outside. A smaller space is taken up at the top by the ‘super-ego’ which is the set of moral controls that are given to us by outside influences. Freud explains that the super ego is often in conflict with the Id therefore our conscience, which is a construct of the mind, is shaped and influenced by our experiences. Jean Piaget a psychiatrist saw that a child’s moral development grows and the ability to reason morally depends on cognitive development. He suggested two stages which were later developed by Kohlberg. Heteronymous (other law) which a child is from the age of five to ten. The conscience is still immature and punishment is expected if a rule is broken. Autonomous (self law) is the next stage when a child reaches the age of 10 and over. At this age the child understands how rules operate in and help society, they are less dependent on moral authority Piaget down quite extensive research experiments on children by asking in which of two stories told to them the child was the naughtiest. His results showed that younger children evaluated the actions by the size of the outcome whereas the older children evaluated the stories through the intentions of the child. It is said that Piagets definition of morality is narrow. One of the reasons for this is that is becomes overly rational and disregards the function of morality in promoting human fulfilment. Kohlberg extended the stages to six and believed that the individual would have to follow them in sequence. The most important moral development occurs through social interactions. Fromm on the other hand had two approaches and didn’t think there was stages in moral development but saw that all humans are influenced by external authorities like parents, teachers and church leaders. He thought that a guilty conscience is a result of displeasing these authorities. The example of the Nazi government in Germany in the 1930’s was very successful about manipulating the conscience’s of its people to encourage them not to help the Jews. But that was his authoritarian approach and he had a humanistic approach. This was that our conscience is our real self and leads us to realise our full potential using our experiences not slavish obedience. It appears the conscience should take a large role in how we make moral decisions. However for both Secular and Religious views on the conscience we have seen that mistakes can be made. These mistakes are the products of wrong principles or bad nurturing as a child growing up or manipulations and bad influences. Therefore conscience should take a big role in making moral decisions but one should also consider the fact that they may be wrong and should compare the choice they want to make to another to see if one is greater.

Western vision and American values. Western notions of freedom and Essay

Western vision and American values. Western notions of freedom and democracy - Essay Example This question requires the discussion of the notion of the Rule of law and how it has developed within and through the Western Notions of freedom and democracy. My discussion explores the position vis a vis the two great democratic nations which have led the world in their quest for human rights and whose legal and political systems are deemed to be the envy of the world.It has often been said that the modern American Constitution along with the Declaration of Independence is a result of Lockean Ideals of Liberalism(that is John Locke’s Concepts based on liberty, freedom, instituting government, and the right to alter that government.).However proponents of the heavy influence of British/European ideals (Gary Wills for example) have argued that a much more important role in this regard has been played by Scottish philosophers ,the Dutch and more importantly Britain.(Kavka 1986:45).Thomas G. West (2003:95) has summarized the position with regards to John Locke’s ideals t hus by way of stating,According to Sheldon the Declaration of Rights reflects â€Å"three dominant ideologies present during the American revolution and the founding of the American republic. These political philosophies were British liberalism†¦Classical Republicanism†¦and Christianity,† It can be seen that the Western Ideals of Government and Democracy are directly a result of the way ancient Roman and European philosophers sought to understand the human nature by the concept of the â€Å"state of nature.† "state of nature." (Kavka 1986:87).This theory sought to look at human beings after stripping them of all their societal attributes, in the hope of uncovering their common characteristics.(Jean 1986:46) Through this theory they hoped to discover an effective theory of Government.For Hobbes man is purely motivated by self interest and in his notion of the state of nature all humans are competing with each other .(Jean 1986:58).For Locke of the state of nature reveals the obligations of humans to each other in terms of natural rights to life, liberty and property. In contrast for Rousseau in line with the tradition of the modern natural law there was a need to answer the "challenge of scepticism" and this would require a step by step approach to human nature based on self interest. (Jean 1986:69).For Hobbes men are politically obligated to each other based on their own selfish interests which is their state of nature. The notion of the state of nature assumes that it is each man for hi mself out there and every man is vulnerable. This he shows is not a desirable "state" to be in at all and therefore there is a need of an invisible assurance of security.For him this state of " perpetual and unavoidable war", will cause anarchy and will not benefit anyone.(Kavka 1986:87).Here he brings in his notions of the social contract which will help this society to restore stability and create a civil society. The first and most important law of nature commands that each man be willing to pursue peace when others are willing to do the same, all the while retaining the right to continue to pursue war when others do not pursue peace. The enforcement of the social contract thus involves the establishment of a society and the imbuement of one or many individuals with a sovereign status in order to "enforce and maintain" this contract. For Rousseau's the idea of the State of Nature takes a historic approach to this idea and mankind's progression into the civil society. He goes back to the historic state of nature for men and terms it as a peaceful time with a simple life for human kind. There was no competition as there was little population and plenty of resources. Armed conflict was barely there and people had little interaction with each other.For him human nature has corrupted into

Financial Analysis - Southwest Airlines case Essay - 1

Financial Analysis - Southwest Airlines case - Essay Example This attitude is also visible in the recruitment activities of the airlines. While hiring new people the airlines gives preference to candidates with a combative and hardworking spirit. Besides this in the hiring process the airline officials look for traits like dedication, sense of humor and extroverted people with an empathetic attitude in dealing with the peoples’ emotions. The airline gives special emphasis to learning and expects its employees to learn even from the day to day job experiences. Leadership courses designed for the airline managers emphasize on encouraging, empowering and coaching and are not limited to supervision or rule enforcement. Through regular courses the cultural themes like trust, teamwork, diversity and harmony are ingrained in the employees and supervisors. The supervisory positions in the airline are mainly filled internally as it is the belief of the management that the people who had been in the system are better equipped in handling and understanding the beliefs of the co-workers and find acceptance among the peer. This concept of internal job promotion motivates the employees to put in their best performance. The compensation offered by the airline is higher than the industry standards and it also consists of a plan for profit-sharing for the senior employees. The company has a non-adversarial and harmonious relationship with the employee unions. Airline’s contract with the employee union does not consist of any restrictive rules permitting even the pilots, gate-keepers and ticket agents to perform loading and unloading work. South-west airline has a â€Å"no-layoff policy†. This is because the company is of the belief that laying-off people is only a short term measure of increasing business profits. Instead the com pany seeks to build a sense of trust with the employees as this makes the employees more loyal towards the company. For this reason the company has been successful in building a good-will with

Dignity for the Working Person Essay Example for Free

Dignity for the Working Person Essay Even where abuse is common place and chaos and mismanagement make pride in accomplishment difficult, workers still find ways to create meaning in work and to work with dignity. Human dignity is necessary for a fully realized life. One might ask, but what is dignity? (Hodson 19) There are two different meanings to the idea of dignity, the first is that people have a certain inherent dignity as a consequence of being human, like a dying persons dignity may be reduced if their physical being is prolonged unnecessarily (Meyer and Parent 11). The second is that people earn dignity through their actions like the human dignity of a worker can be violated by mismanagement or dignity can be attained through noble action or enduring great suffering like valiant soldiers, moral leaders, victims of injustice and enduring workers (Castel 135). To defends ones dignity means to insist on being treated with respect, (Freeman and Rogers 1). A dying person may refuse life support or the worker may curse the abusive boss and walk off the job. Resisting abuse is an act by taking back ones dignity, (Vredenburgh and Brender 1337). The worker who works effectively inspite of all the obstacles achieves dignity through work. Working with dignity are ones inherent human rights and are worthy of respect by oneself and others (Hodson 20). In this next paragraph it will reflect the challenges of working with dignity and the joy that can be found when these challenges are met. At Electrical Components Limited, the assembly work is hard and unrelenting, giving rise to chronic overwork and exhaustion (Cavendish 1). At Electrical Components Limited which is in a foreign country the workforce is made up of mostly female workers on assembly lines that produce small electrical components. The work is physically challenging, the stress is considerable, there is no freedom of movement, no taking of short breaks or even a walk around. These stresses are increased by the workers need to keep up with completed task on a fast paced assembly line so that work does not pile up in front of her, (Cavandish 32). The speed of the line is constantly being pushed to the limits with increasing speed pushing the rejection rate up, but the company will toletrate this because it was cheaper to have rejects and two women to fix them than to have a slower line†¦ especially since the exhausting effect of the fast line would make their numbers go up, (Cavendish 111). In this setting the machine breakdowns on the line are a blessing for the women who are switched to packing or other lighter duties. After packing all day, many women have aching arms and legs but they were able to move around more and haven’t had to face eight hours of automated pressure to keep up a steady pace (Cavendish 39). The unpleasant work on the line is rigidly controlled by the time clock. There is only one clock for fifty women to clock in and clock out at exactly 4:15 or their pay will be docked (Cavendish 88). The supervisors post a supervisor at the clock to keep the women working until the last minute. Pregnant women were allowed to stand at the front so all the women would say they were all pregnant (Cavendish 89). The senior worker pays no attention to the concerns of the other workers on the line and upholds rules or breaks them in a self-serving fashion in order to reduce her work load because she has a second job as a janitor at a shopping mall and never chips in with the other workers by contributing for cakes or treats (Cavendish 26). Her inconsiderate actions are a threat to the other women on the assembly line because of the chronic pressures and overwork, these women are just trying to survive through solidarity and mutual support by shifting work to each other. The quality of work is tested by having two strong-willed workers sit opposite each other, one to check the electrical circuits and one to check the mechanical part. Faulty devices supposed to be pulled and checked by the checker with a circuit tester, but that is not done and it is put in the box and the problem is not fixed. These two women talk all day about their personal lives even though they despise each other (Cavendish 36). In this working situation there is no co-worker support, no resisting management emands, no improving output, no making life at work more bearable. Overwork has reduced work like to a dog-eat-dog shared fundamental traits. Bad supervisor practices are driven to maximize production at all cost (Cavendish 82). At Electrical Components Limited, chronic pressure and overwork significantly undercut both good supervisory behavior and supportive co-worker relations. How do workers respond to excessive and repetitive work that leaves them exhausted at the end of the day? The development of the assembly line at Ford Motors quickly led to the birth of the United Auto Workers as workers organized to seek alleviation from the distress and unrelenting strictness of the assembly line through collective bargaining action (Brecher 1). But for the many employees like the women of Electrical Components Limited, who do not have the benefit of a union, and even for many of those who do, the most common reaction may be it is their unavoidable fate. In many assembly jobs, workers are expected to have a closed mind when they enter the factory gate.

Assisted Suicides :: essays research papers

Assisted Suicides The Washington Post September 2-8, 1996 Picture yourself in this situation. You go to the doctor for a routine physical. You look fine. You feel good. All those exhausting workouts at the gym are finally starting to pay off and you actually stuck to that low fat, high vitamin diet you're doctor recommended. You have never felt better. You are essentially the epitome of a healthy, fit human being. Then, out of nowhere, you are diagnosed with a disorder of the nervous system accompanied by chronic fatigue syndrome. The illness is permanent and there is no cure. It will only progress and worsen with time, and all you can do is wait. What would you do? If you were 42-year-old Judith Curren, a nurse and mother of two small children, you'd be in close contact with the infamous suicide assessor, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a.k.a. "Doctor Death," discussing your "options." However, according to an editorial published in The Washington Post, entitled "38 Assisted Suicides," many people believe that when it comes to matters such as life and death, there are no options. The decision to live or die is made by God. Judith Curren didn't agree. With the assistance of Dr. Kevorkian, she died and the retired pathologist presided at his 38th assisted suicide, fairly confident that he will not be prosecuted or even suffer public disapproval. Many of the people who have sought out Dr. Kevorkian have been terribly ill and suffering, with no hope of long-term survival. Their stories offered examples that built public sympathy for this cause. But from the beginning, even among observers who believe that the desperately sick should be given help to die, there have been questionable cases. For example, a woman in her fifties allegedly suffering from early Alzheimer's disease was fit enough to play tennis with her adult son shortly before dying. Another-said to have had a painful, progressive illness-was found to be free of disease by the county medical examiner. The article argued this point, "Is it in any way merciful, compassionate, or 'healing' (a favorite word of Kevorkian fans) to assist in the suicide of a middle-aged woman who is tired and depressed and married to a man whom she recently accused of attacking her and who then delivers her to Dr. Kevorkian? Pain is controllable. Depression and fatigue can be ameliorated by drugs. Violent husbands can be prosecuted and divorced. Suicide in such a case is unreasonable. A doctor's help in that course is unconscionable." I had mixed feelings on this editorial because I take into consideration both sides of the argument.

Part Two Chapter II

II Edward Collins & Co., the Pagford solicitors, occupied the upper floor of a terraced brick house, with an optician's on the ground floor. Edward Collins was deceased and his firm comprised two men: Gavin Hughes who was the salaried partner, with one window in his office, and Miles Mollison, who was the equity partner, with two windows. They shared a secretary who was twenty-eight, single, plain but with a good figure. Shona laughed too long at all Miles' jokes, and treated Gavin with a patronage that was almost offensive. ‘Mary's called. There's a bit of a glitch with Barry's life insurance. She wants me to help her sort it.' ‘Right, well, you can handle that, can't you? I'll be back at two, anyway.' Miles slipped on his overcoat, jogged down the steep stairs and walked briskly up the rain-swept little street that led to the Square. A momentary break in the clouds caused sunlight to flood the glistening war memorial and the hanging baskets. Miles experienced a rush of atavistic pride as he hurried across the Square towards Mollison and Lowe, that Pagford institution, that classiest of emporia; a pride that familiarity had never blighted, but rather deepened and ripened. The bell tinkled at the door as Miles pushed it open. There was something of a lunchtime rush on: a queue of eight waited at the counter and Howard, in his mercantile regalia, fisherman's flies glinting in his deerstalker, was in full tongue. ‘†¦ and a quarter of black olives, Rosemary, to you. Nothing else, now? Nothing else for Rosemary †¦ that'll be eight pounds, sixty-two pence; we'll call it eight, my love, in light of our long and fruitful association †¦' Giggles and gratitude; the rattle and crash of the till. ‘And here's my lawyer, come to check up on me,' boomed Howard, winking and chuckling over the heads of the queue at Miles. ‘If you'll wait for me in the back, sir, I'll try not to say anything incriminating to Mrs Howson †¦' Miles smiled at the middle-aged ladies, who beamed back. Tall, with thick, close-cropped greying hair, big round blue eyes, his paunch disguised by his dark overcoat, Miles was a reasonably attractive addition to the hand-baked biscuits and local cheeses. He navigated his way carefully between the little tables piled high with delicacies and paused at the big arch hewn between delicatessen and the old shoe shop, which was denuded of its protective plastic curtain for the first time. Maureen (Miles recognized the handwriting) had put up a sign on a sandwich board in the middle of the arch: No Entry. Coming Soon †¦ The Copper Kettle. Miles peered through into the clean, spare space that would soon be Pagford's newest and best cafe; it was plastered and painted, with freshly varnished black boards underfoot. He sidled around the corner of the counter and edged past Maureen, who was operating the meat slicer, affording her the opportunity for a gruff and ribald laugh, then ducked through the door that led into the dingy little back room. Here was a Formica table, on which Maureen's Daily Mail lay folded; Howard and Maureen's coats hanging on hooks, and a door leading to the lavatory, which exuded a scent of artificial lavender. Miles hung up his overcoat and drew up an old chair to the table. Howard appeared a minute or two later, bearing two heaped plates of delicatessen fare. ‘Definitely decided on the â€Å"Copper Kettle† then?' asked Miles. ‘Well, Mo likes it,' said Howard, setting down a plate in front of his son. He lumbered out, returned with two bottles of ale, and closed the door with his foot so that the room was enveloped in a windowless gloom relieved only by the dim pendant light. Howard sat down with a deep grunt. He had been conspiratorial on the telephone mid-morning, and kept Miles waiting a few moments longer while he flipped off the lid of one bottle. ‘Wall's sent his forms in,' he said at last, handing over the beer. ‘Ah,' said Miles. ‘I'm going to set a deadline. Two weeks from today for everyone to declare.' ‘Fair enough,' said Miles. ‘Mum reckons this Price bloke is still interested. Have you asked Sam if she knows who he is yet?' ‘No,' said Miles. Howard scratched an underfold of the belly that rested close to his knees as he sat on the creaking chair. ‘Everything all right with you and Sam?' Miles admired, as always, his father's almost psychic intuition. ‘Not great.' He would not have confessed it to his mother, because he tried not to fuel the constant cold war between Shirley and Samantha, in which he was both hostage and prize. ‘She doesn't like the idea of me standing,' Miles elaborated. Howard raised his fair eyebrows, his jowls wobbling as he chewed. ‘I don't bloody know what's got into her. She's on one of her anti-Pagford kicks.' Howard took his time swallowing. He dabbed at his mouth with a paper napkin and burped. ‘She'll come round quickly enough once you're in,' he said. ‘The social side of it. Plenty for the wives. Functions at Sweetlove House. She'll be in her element.' He took another swig of ale and scratched his belly again. ‘I can't picture this Price,' said Miles, returning to the essential point, ‘but I've got a feeling he had a kid in Lexie's class at St Thomas's.' ‘Fields-born, though, that's the thing,' said Howard. ‘Fields-born, which could work to our advantage. Split the pro-Fields vote between him and Wall.' ‘Yeah,' said Miles. ‘Makes sense.' ‘I haven't heard of anyone else. It's possible, once details hit the website, someone else'll come forward. But I'm confident about our chances. I'm confident. Aubrey called,' Howard added. There was always a touch of additional portentousness in Howard's tone when he used Aubrey Fawley's Christian name. ‘Right behind you, goes without saying. He's back this evening. He's been in town.' Usually, when a Pagfordian said ‘in town', they meant ‘in Yarvil'. Howard and Shirley used the phrase, in imitation of Aubrey Fawley, to mean ‘in London'. ‘He mentioned something about us all getting together for a chat. Maybe tomorrow. Might even invite us over to the house. Sam'd like that.' Miles had just taken a large bite of soda bread and liver pate, but he conveyed his agreement with an emphatic nod. He liked the idea that Aubrey Fawley was ‘right behind' him. Samantha might jeer at his parents' thraldom to the Fawleys, but Miles noticed that on those rare occasions when Samantha came face to face with either Aubrey or Julia, her accent changed subtly and her demeanour became markedly more demure. ‘Something else,' said Howard, scratching his belly again. ‘Got an email from the Yarvil and District Gazette this morning. Asking for my views on the Fields. As chair of the Parish Council.' ‘You're kidding? I thought Fairbrother had stitched that one up – ‘ ‘Backfired, didn't it?' said Howard, with immense satisfaction. ‘They're going to run his article, and they want someone to argue against the following week. Give them the other side of the story. I'd appreciate a hand. Lawyer's turn of phrase, and all that.' ‘No problem,' said Miles. ‘We could talk about that bloody addiction clinic. That'd make the point.' ‘Yes – very good idea – excellent.' In his enthusiasm, he had swallowed too much at once and Miles had to bang him on the back until his coughing had subsided. At last, dabbing his watering eyes with a napkin, Howard said breathlessly, ‘Aubrey's recommending the District cuts funding from their end, and I'm going to put it to our lot that it's time to terminate the lease on the building. It wouldn't hurt to make the case in the press. How much time and money's gone into that bloody place with nothing to show for it. I've got the figures.' Howard burped sonorously. ‘Bloody disgraceful. Pardon me.'