Free Essay

Seminar

In: English and Literature

Submitted By Derikemmanuel
Words 1735
Pages 7
PSYCHOPATHS IN POWER: THE COLLAPSE OF THE AFRICAN
DREAM IN A PLAY OF GIANTS
Olusegun Adekoya
Department of English
Obafemi Awolowo University
Ile-Ife
Nigeria oadekoya2@yahoo.com AN ABSTRACT
A critical investigation of Wole Soyinka’s A Play of Giants, the paper discusses what the playwright himself calls the Aminian theme, that is, African leaders’ obsession with power, a seductive drive that breeds moral corruption, dictatorship, delusions, economic distortions and ruination, megalomania, perversion and desecration of all that is good in African traditions, and the evaporation of all the dreams of greatness, of nationalism, liberation from colonial thraldom, disease, ignorance and poverty, and of pan-Africanism nursed in the heady days of Independence celebrations. The four despots caricatured in the play are Field-Marshal Kamini (late Idi Amin, deposed president of
Uganda), Emperor Kasco (Jean-Bedel Bokassa, former Emperor of the Central African
Republic), Benefacio Gunema (late President Macias Nguema of Equatorial Guinea), and
General Barra Tuboum (late President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, now the Democratic
Republic of Congo).
They are in New York to attend the General Assembly of the United Nations. In response to the Secretary-General’s request for a work of art representative of each member nation’s culture, say, a miniaturized bust of the president, they sit for a life-size group sculpture on Kamini’s suggestion and in what appears to be a vivid demonstration of the old African spirit of communalism but which, as events later show, is its outright bastardization. While seated, they engage in grim banter on the nature and dynamics of power, its privileges and trappings which they want kept sacrosanct, its various characteristics, and its specific manifestations in the countries over which they rule with a rod of iron. There is a hidden struggle for power discernible in the tyrants’ long conversation. Using satirical devices of burlesque and the grotesque, Soyinka portrays the four despots, who ironically see themselves as geniuses and specialists on the deployment and management of power in the control of masses of people, as buffoons and psychopaths.
Their actions, thoughts and expressions in the play truly depict them as morons and madmen for whom human life means nothing other than material on which to practise endurance tests and experiment on power. The worst sadist of all is Kamini who proves in the end to be the most ruthless strategist, the cleverest manipulator of people and situations, and the indisputable winner of the muted contest, for he not only subjects the

2

other African heads of states to his control and commands as the drama draws to a close but also keeps two American Delegates and two Russian Delegates hostage in the
Bugaran Embassy which is only a stone’s throw from the United Nations Building, and launches a barrage of military attacks on the building in an attempt to raze it.
Although in real life the four giants have been removed from office and divested of power either forcibly and ignominiously by rebels or naturally by the inexorable force of senescence and death, the ravages of their misrule and profligacy are still felt by the beleaguered peoples of their respective countries, as the economies remain in the doldrums and ethnic conflicts generated by suspicion of political marginalization and military coups continue to cause confusion and social upheaval and destabilize the polity.
Thus A Play of Giants is still of immediate sociopolitical relevance to Black Africa.
Besides, some of the countries are still struggling to throw off the yoke of military dictatorship and establish democratic rule, while others already on the path of democracy are yet to assimilate its principles and live the culture.
In discussing the theme, the essay examines such elements of drama as setting, plot, action, character and language which are used by the author to elicit the sordid penetralia of despotism on the African political landscape. All the problems that afflict the modern-day African society are technically projected onto the life-size group sculpture, a symbolic icon that represents horror and obscenity. Replicated by Sculptor’s body swathed in bandages, the sculpture is interpreted as the play: an awe-inducing spectacle. Dramaturgic devices employed by the playwright to signify the horrors of despotism are discussed.
Even though power is represented in the play as monolithic and indivisible, a recondite force that brooks no opposition, it takes various forms and the essay identifies and comments on its diverse manifestations, such as economic power, language or rhetorical power, military power, political power, secret power (enjoyed by terrorists), sexual power, witchcraft or mystical power (voodoo), and technological power which is used by its proud possessors to tyrannize the powerless Third World countries. A negation of politics, real power in the play transcends the petty bickerings and schematic intrigues of politicians and puts its possessor in a special realm that beggars God’s own heavenly abode. Whereas God occasionally leaves His throne, comes down to earth, and condescends to reason with people, the giants never part from the ambience of grandeur and power. Rather, they banish thought altogether, a proscription that reduces all other creatures to obsequious subjects robbed of will and unthinking toads. Their love of grandiloquent titles and self-aggrandizement, alas, betrays their internal hollowness and weakness. They are all straw men: cretins! Soyinka cuts the megalomaniacs down to size. Far from being an abstraction, power is rendered visible in the drama, made visceral, savoured with relish, thoroughly digested and excreted with gusto. It reeks of cannibalism; and truly, the giants prey pitilessly on Black Africa and leave it empty of substance. Economic and human costs of power sadism are huge. Among its evil effects inscribed in the play and highlighted in the essay are cynicism, dehumanization of both

3

the practitioners and their victims, fear and abulia in both parties, death on a massive scale arising from bloody conflicts caused by divide-and-rule politics, increase in domestic and organized crimes, economic disasters, political disorder, social anomie, institutionalization of corruption, militarization of civilian population, vulgarization of traditional ethic, erosion of communal and family values, spiritual atrophy, despoliation of the environment, collapse of industries, capital flight, brain drain, and other syndromes of underdevelopment. The people’s collective psyche is wrenched, their labour is laid waste, and the nation increasingly sinks in the mire of economic dependence. The overall effect is despair, disgust and stupor bred by shock: the appalling state in which most
African countries currently find themselves.
Given the egregious damage done by European imperialists, slavers and colonialists and their African collaborators and successors to the polity, advocates of
African Renaissance still have a long time to wait for the mucky stable to be cleaned to pave the way for Black Africa to come into its own. The tragedy of the Dark Continent, as portrayed in the play, continues unabated as the productive energies of the land are organized toward meeting the needs of the centres of power in the world, while the suffering of its peoples remains unrelieved.
Soyinka represents the conspiracy and the despicable role played by super-powers in deepening the crises of Africa’s underdevelopment in the drama. They not only prop up unpopular regimes and use them to satisfy their own politicoeconomic interests, they stir up conflicts on the continent and sell arms to warring parties, thereby profiting from other nations’ misery and woes. Both the capitalist West and the socialist East engaged in Cold War politics are indicted by the playwright for their duplicity and brutal amoral conception of international relations and for using African leaders as mere pawns on the race-riddled chessboard of world economy and world politics. The language of diplomacy is exposed as replete with deceit and tergiversation.
Equally censured are the Black Caucuses in the United States (represented in the play by Mayor of Hyacombe and Professor Batey ) who were taken in by Idi Amin’s droll antics, symbolic gestures, and manic tantrums directed at the plague of white racism, saw him as a misunderstood heroic Black revolutionary who was out to talk back and take vengeance on Europe and America for the TransAtlantic Slave Trade and the colonial conquest, and so lauded his oppressive regime and gave it their unalloyed support. Their emotional attachment to Africa as the source of their cultural and racial identity prevents an objective assessment of the land and its people. It makes it difficult for them to see the blights of precolonial Africa and the atrocities being perpetrated by its present demented rulers. The part played by foreign propagandists in the emergence of the African dictators and their retention in power is highlighted. Kamini’s female
European adorers, pathetic victims of the myth of Black hypersexuality, who are fixated on his giant physique and celebrated sexual prowess, do not escape the playwright’s satirical barbs.
Awful and terrifying, the cataclysmic ending of the play is interpreted as an apocalyptic vision, specifically as the playwright’s prophetic reading of human history as

4

inexorably bound for a nuclear destruction, all because of the mad struggle for power and the desire to have control over other people’s lives, the resources of the world, and its markets. Soyinka proffers the solution of creativity, such as Sculptor engages in while the possessed maniac Kamini and his human engines of wrath and aggression destroy the fruit of long years of toil: culture.
A caustic satire on despotism and abuse of power and a lasting testament to the horror of the wound inflicted on Africa by foreign and local power psychopaths, A Play of Giants is a bold affirmation of the resilience of the human spirit, the undying will to freedom, and an expression of the unflagging commitment to beauty, criticism and truth.
Its humour is murky and morbid; the giants’ gestures are grand, grotesque and outlandish; their language is stilted and riddled with obscenities, and their manner is ludicrous and stiff. Everything about the monsters is unnatural. The play suggests that the traditional relatively harmonious world built by Black Africans has crashed and the new one that is being constructed to replace it is not only strange and incomprehensible but also has lost its moorings right from the foundation level. Soyinka perceives the lack of responsible leadership as the bane of politics in Black Africa. A variety of critical approaches –
Formalism, New Criticism, Marxism, Freudian Psychoanalysis, Feminism, Structuralism, and Deconstruction and a pot-pourri of Postcolonialist and Postmodernist literary theories
– is adopted in explicating the text.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Fall Evaluation for University

...reviewing my lecture notes along with studying for my exams. The first focus that is important for me to keep consistent is my time management skills. Before I did not have a set strategy for how I am going to execute this so I just went with the flow as the day passed. This was a not beneficial for me because for anything that happened unexpected, I was not prepared with a backup plan to get caught up. I would instead wait until later on during the week to catch up on what I missed so I decided to make an schedule/planner. In the morning I go to the gym before lectures that way I have energy to go about my day. In between lectures, I use to walk back to residence to take a nap, but now I stay on campus and spend time in open seminar rooms where I catch up on my readings. When the day finishes, I double check to make sure I have my readings finished before next day’s lecture and if I do, I allow myself to hang out with my friends by going to the gym at night or watching television. Overall, I think I’m doing a decent job of making this an everyday habit. The only criticism I have for myself in regards to time management is making sure I check my email everyday since I learned my lesson for missing assignments for the STEP program. Another focus I am keeping consistent is my attendance. Last term I use to miss some morning classes due to sleeping in, but with the planner I have made for myself that is no longer a problem since I’m a the gym every morning before...

Words: 585 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Porter Forces

...Student support: Teaching Staff: MODULE AIMS Carol Marshall, (3A40) carol.marshall@stir.ac.uk Lynne McCulloch (3B44) l.a.mcculloch@stir.ac.uk K Davies, J Joseph, C Marshall, S Mawson, C Taylor The first two foundation modules examined the firm and the external environment. The emphasis for the module is the management of organisations in the 21st century. As such, this module concentrates on the management of the functional areas of the business, namely operations management, human resource management and marketing within the broader context of the changing organisation and the global economy. MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this module, through completion of the assessment, attendance at lectures and participation in seminars you will have gained knowledge and understanding of:  the changing nature of the global economy and its impact on management,  operations management and organisational aspects of the business,  the future for managing human resources  the changing nature of the market place, marketing and consumer behaviour Also, you will have developed skills in being able to:  think critically, conceptually and contextually,  select and apply theoretical academic models,  search and select appropriate reading material,  use case studies to apply theoretical models to real life  present material in both written scholarly essays and oral presentations  understand the dynamics of group work  reflect upon the learning experience to further develop...

Words: 2031 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Personal Finance

...August 25, 2015 To: Kaci Bray From: Joseph Kolega Subject: Orientation – Freshman Point of view Hello, I am a freshman at KU this semester. Before this, however, I went through an admissions process along with my orientation to follow. For the most part my transition from high school student to college student was nearly seamless. Looking back at the entire process, there are a few air bubbles I think if smoothed out could benefit not only the incoming freshman, but the university as a whole. Seminars? I will admit I’m not fully adept in courses at KU just yet, nor will I ever be. One thing that irked me orientation day was the hour long lecture on how critical a seminar class will be to our KU core. Now I understand this is a huge thing in liberal education, but gearing everyone for an hour to take one course they will never use isn’t justified when there are 100 other courses I could choose that weren’t as heavily endorsed. The school biased common book seminars, and I almost felt as though they were sticking their hand in my education, to be dramatic. Account Issues Once it was time to log in and finally enroll into our courses, I hit a road block when I found out we were supposed to have our KU ID and password already memorized and ready to go. Being told to walk all the way up to a different hall to reset my account was troubling and ultimately put me behind in line to pick ideal class times. I take partial accountability for my lack of knowledge on my own account...

Words: 481 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Seminar

...SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING (CDSE), INDORE Topic name by Name of the student (RGTU Enrollment Number) Name of Guide (Designation) DEPARTMENT OF ________ ENGINEERING 2014 – 2015 November 2014. Certificate: CDGI’S CHAMELI DEVI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING (CDSE), INDORE DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE ENGINEERING 2015 – 2016 CERTIFICATE Certified that this is the bonafide record of the seminar report on ULTRABOOK Carried out by MAYANK YADUWANSHI(0832CS141084) of 3rd semester (Department of computer science Engineering) during the academic year 2014 – 15. He / She has satisfactorily completed the seminar report and presentation as prescribed by the Rajiv Gandhi Technical University, Bhopal, in partial fulfillment towards the award of B. Tech. Degree in computer science Engineering. Signature of Guide Signature of Seminar coordinator (Mr. DHARMENDRA GUPTA) (MUDIT CHATURVEDI) _________________________ ______________________ Signature of HOD (SURENDRA SHUKLA) DATE:...

Words: 653 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Seminar

...Darrellynn Tapp HS210-MOM Unit 9 Seminar option 2 K. Drennen Kaplan University What are some effective ways to improve employee morale? When improving employee morale it first starts with the employee. Recognizing the value of your employee is very important. You must know that they are just as important as you are. They can be replaced but then you are dealing with the cost of advertising and pulling in someone new. Letting the employee know that they are appreciated. Just a simple few words such as thanks or a job well done will help increase the morale among employees. Giving out perks, sponser social events, have special lunches as well as cash bonuses, even pinics for the employees and their families. Having a great work environment can improve employee morale. A dull office setting lacking light and color can cause depression and the lack of motivation. Putting some spark into the office can lighten up employees spirit. Make sure the values and ethics of the company are of those employees can take pride in. Most employees in the work force want to work for a company they can trust and believe in. Be loyal to your employees. If business starts to decline, find ways to keep employees without cut backs or lay offs. Be sure to offer promotions and pay raises to those who deserve it. What are five (5) examples of community involvement that may help a medical practice grow? Explain each. * Doctors volunteering at the health...

Words: 393 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Seminar

...Unit 3: Seminar Assignment MT480-01: Corporate Finance Alicia Turner Kaplan University Professor: S. Lacewell January 21, 2012 Seminar Assignment Unit 3 1.) What effects do changing interest rates have on bonds? The effects of changing interest rates on bonds would be the bond prices. If the interest rates tend to increase then the bond value will go lower and if the interest decreases then the bond value would be higher. In a case of purchasing a bond, the bond starts off with a fixed rate until it starts to mature. For example, if i were to purchase a bond at $5,000 with a 5% rate for 10 years, if the interest goes up to 6% then the value of the bond that I purchased would decrease and it would be beneficial for me to sell that bond at a discounted price. 2.) How are stocks prices related to expected dividends? Stock prices are related to expected dividends due the return that a person would receive on their stock. If the stock prices increase then your return would also increase. If the stock decreases then the expected dividend would remain the same as when the stock was purchased. 3.) How does the P/E ratio relate to the value of a stock? The P/E ratio is related to the value of stock due to the fact that it lets an investor/buyer know how much they are willing to pay per dollar of earnings. For instance, if a P/E ratio is 40 it would tell us that an investor is willing to pay $40 for every $1 of earnings that is generated by that company. References ...

Words: 340 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Seminar

...Seminar is a play by Theresa Rebeck that premiered on Broadway in 2011. It follows four aspiring writers who pay for a supposed great writer – Leonard – to come and critique their writing weekly. Each writer is their own personality. There is the rich, uppity, nerd-type (Kate), the quieter, reserved, and talented one (Martin), the ditzy, manipulative, and sexy one (Izzy), and the extravagant, smart, and connected one (Douglas). Leonard is depicted as brash, rude, cruel, and unpardonable. The story goes on to where Martin and Leonard connect and see their similarities and work together to better themselves. A theme that immediately jumps at you is conflict. Throughout the play, there is conflict every other conversation. High tension exists between most characters, especially between those of different sexes. Examples are Kate and Leonard throughout most of the play and Martin and Douglas (though one-sided) in scene one, two, and so on. Another theme that is prevalent is the idea that sex sells and that sex will get you everywhere you want to be. This is shown when Izzy writes a story that Leonard deems sexy, and they proceed to pursue a sexual relationship. It could also be interpreted that sexism could be a theme when sex is not available. When Kate submits a story, being defined as a “prude,” Leonard is bored before ending the first sentence, and is bored with her immediately every time following. That is, until she submits something under the guise of a transvestite...

Words: 726 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Seminar

...Sample Seminar Template I. Introduction A. Lead B. Thesis Statement (Includes Life of Pi and poem that you close read) C. Three Supporting Arguments (Your Blueprint) II. Body 1st Idea A. Topic sentence: Your topic sentence will consist of your Thesis and supporting argument. You must write out the entire topic sentence as it would appear in your actual essay. 1. POINT PROOF: Specific example, cite an example COMMENT: Explain how example is relevant to your argument 2. POINT PROOF: Specific example, cite an example COMMENT: Explain how example is relevant to your argument 3. Concluding Statement (try and link points made in paragraph back to thesis) 2nd Idea B. Topic sentence: Your topic sentence will consist of your Thesis and supporting argument. You must write out the entire topic sentence as it would appear in your actual essay. 1. POINT PROOF: Specific example, cite an example COMMENT: Explain how example is relevant to your argument 2. POINT PROOF: Specific example, cite an example COMMENT: Explain how example is relevant to your argument 3. Concluding Statement (try and link points made in paragraph back to thesis) 3rd Idea C. Topic sentence: Your topic sentence will consist of your Thesis and supporting argument. You must write out the entire topic sentence as it would appear in your actual essay. 1. POINT PROOF: Specific example, cite an example COMMENT: Explain how example is relevant to your argument 2. POINT PROOF: Specific...

Words: 309 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Seminar

...HW205: Vitamins, Herbs and Nutritional Supplements Seminar Option 2 1.) Define the differences between the following terms: a) Natural Medicine vs. Biomedicine Natural Medicine is considered alternative medicine, which is any medical therapy that is not a synthetic drug or surgery. Natural medicine is the science and art of preventing, curing, or alleviating ill health by using treatment modalities in harmony with the laws of nature. Natural medicine cares for and treats individuals not disease entities. Biomedicine refers to conventional medicine. Biomedicine is based on the biological understanding of the organism. There is emphasis on disease and high technology rather than on health and individualized care. b) Plant vs. Drugs Plant is something that is grown in nature that is natural. A drug is something that is chemically processed in order to create the substance that is wanted. c) Vitamins vs. Minerals Vitamins are organic compounds that release energy from food, develop red blood cells, help in blood clotting and help in maintaining healthy skin, eye, and hair. All vitamins are required by the human body for healthy nutrition. Minerals have a denfinite chemical composition, minerals are inorganic compounds, and they help in bone and tooth formation, blood coagulation and muscle contraction. Only some minerals are required by the human body for nutrition. d) Plant Constituents vs. Accessory Nutrients Accessory nutrients are beneficial...

Words: 292 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Seminar

...English Seminar Outline * There are a total of 11 letters in the novel that Oskar writes and receives * They are all written to celebrities and scientists (connect to Oskar being atheist) * At the beginning of the novel Oskar is reading Stephen Hawking’s book “A brief history in time” * He is reading a section how life is irrelevant and that gives Oskar heavy boots (pg 86) * Oskar’s father always made him feel special, in every way he could (Sahara Desert) (pg 86) * After Oskar’s father passed away he needed a new role model, he needed someone to look up to, he needed someone to answer his questions * The point of Oskar writing these letters is so that he can find meaning un his life and by writing these letters he believes he can find meaning to his life * He is trying to find a new father, he wants to fill a gap in his life * There is a book called “man’s search for meaning” and it is written by Viktor Frankl, the summary of this book is that the meaning of life can be discovered in 3 ways * 1) you can perform a deed * 2) one can experience or encounter someone * 3) one can demonstrate a certain attitude toward suffering * Relates back to Oskar because he has to find meaning in his life, he is at a point where he is very lost and confused. Also that he has to find the meaning to the key, how it connects back to his father * Viktor Frankl discovered this thing called logotherapy, what this means is you have to find all...

Words: 581 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Seminar

...In the selected article “The RSVP Cycles” written by Halprin (1969), the author introduces RSVP cycles, which is a system of creative methodology for collaboration. The selected article highlights the importance of “scores”, which are representations of the creative, design and decision making processes. Thus, “scores” are very indispensable in the entire RSVP circle. In these two selected articles, Halprin thinks scores are the key link in the entire RSVP circle. I believe this is correct because scores directly influence the final design and decisions and also encourage public participation before the performance is fixed. In the entire RSVP circle, the “score” is ideally a collective process of “doing”, which is also the design or decision making process. Scores describe the processes leading to performance, which is an instruction for the work, such as the master plan in landscape. Scores can be used as a means of communication tool, such as the words or plans. Scores can be the means of control, such as a set of construction documents. In the phase of the “score,” all of us can be involved in the decision making process. For example, there are typically public comments made during the development of landscape master plans. Landscape master plans can be considered as a “score” and are typically the outcome of a standardized “design process”. The standard rational design process is a step-by-step method that considers the environmental constrains, opportunities,...

Words: 362 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Seminar

...What is the American Dream? Rafael Cruz once said, “Only in America can someone start with nothing and achieve the American Dream. That’s the greatness of this country.” The American Dream depends on the person, many people have different views and what they believe in. When asking my mom, Sue Stoll what she believes the American Dream is; she stated “The American Dream in my eyes is being successful by yourself or with a significant other, overcoming obstacles, always trying to better yourself and society, and living with what you have.” Over the years, the America Dream has changed; it depends on where you were brought up, how you were brought up, and what you were taught as a young child and teen. The influence your parents had on you has a lot to do with how you want to be and how you see America. After hearing my mom’s view on the American Dream, I see where I get my idea of the American dream of. So what does the American Dream mean to me? In my eyes, the American dream is not being wealthy, living in a mansion in New York City, and having the newest and best things in the world. The American Dream in my eyes is, being happy whether you have it all or have nothing, being successful, and living the life you would be proud to look back on. From the day I could talk my parents always told me to be thankful for what I have. As I grew older I was taught they would provide my needs but my wants was all on me. Growing up we lived a simple life, we didn’t do things or have...

Words: 1279 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Seminar

...BI Implementation factors Faktor yang mempengaruhi proses membuat keputusan dengan implementasi BI: * Reporting and analysis tools * Features and functionality * Scalability and deployability * Usability and manageability * Database * Scalability and performance * Manageability and availability * Security and customization * Ability to write back * Extraction, transformation, and load (ETL) tools * Ability to read any source * Cross platform support * Efficiency and productivity * Cost involved * Hardware cost * Cost of software * Internal development cost * External development cost * Internal training * Ongoing maintenance * Benefits * Time savings and operational efficiency * Lower cost of operations * Improved customer service and satisfaction * Improved operational and strategic decision making * Improved employee communication and satisfaction * Improved knowledge sharing Faktor faktor tersebut perlu di analisis secara kuantitatif dan kualitatif. Critical success factors of BI Implementation * Business driven methodology and project management * Clear vision and planning * Committed management support and sponsorship * Data management and quality issues * Mapping the solutions to the user requirements * Performance considerations of the BI system * Robust...

Words: 1610 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Seminar

...Seminar Report Security Issues in MANETs Abhishek Seth 04329001 November12 ,2004 Abstract Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANET) has become an exciting and important technology in recent years because of the rapid proliferation of wireless devices. A mobile adhoc network consists of mobile nodes that can move freely in an open environment. Communicating nodes in a Mobile Adhoc Network usually seek the help of other intermediate nodes to establish communication channels. In such an environment, malicious intermediate nodes can be a threat to the security of conversation between mobile nodes. The security experience from the Wired Network world is of little use in Wireless Mobile Ad hoc networks, due to some basic differences between the two Networks. Therefore, some novel solutions are required to make Mobile Adhoc Network secure. problems of secuirity in MANETs. Further sections deals with some of the solutions to these problems. Finally Section 10 concludes this article. 2 2.1 Mobile Adhoc Networks Introduction 1 Introduction Mobile Adhoc Network (MANET) is a collection of independent mobile nodes that can communicate to each other via radio waves. The mobile nodes that are in radio range of each other can directly communicate, whereas others needs the aid of intermediate nodes to route their packets. These networks are fully distributed, and can work at any place without the help of any infrastructure. This property makes these networks highly flexible and robost...

Words: 7859 - Pages: 32

Free Essay

Jesus: Advocating Community

...Jesus: Advocating Community Some would say God, or the author of Genesis, got it right: "It is not good for man to be alone." For as long as there have been humans, there have been communities. We are communal beings. From the first small tribes to the modern day mega cities, communities have evolved just as much as the human species. There are many ways that one can identify with a community. Human beings as well as many other species, especially primates, need these groupings as much as most social animals. Watch as every Sunday thousands sit distant from their closest sports field, straining to see the players, although they can far more easily watch the game at home in the comfort of their living rooms. Yet, in modern times, the community seems to be falling apart. They are not as strong as they once were. It is time we look back to the social climate that forged one of the most influential revolutionaries of all time. The historical Jesus of Nazareth. As John Crossan said “If the supreme value for the twentieth-century American imagination is individualism , based on economics and property, that for the first-century Mediterranean imagination can be called, to the contrary, groupism.” Our society has experienced major social shifts that would be unimaginable to a small Jewish town in ancient Palestine. Individuals no longer realize they need to rely on others in the way they once did. Modern technology has pushed us farther and farther into our own homes and away...

Words: 804 - Pages: 4