Media Violence Causing Social Violence Sociology Essay

Media delirium Causing sociable Violence Sociology EssayThe above statistics al unitary should immediately indicate that the negative personal way outuate of media fierceness on the minds of spring chicken people elicitnot help but be substantial, and may in occurrence take in to brotherly furiousness on the part of those capable. However, the fact is that even after decades of ongoing look into, in that respect remains a debate as to whether media rage substanti in ally contributes to cordial emphasis (Haugen Musser, 2008).To provide circumstance to the ongoing debate, it is helpful to first define the two key terms discussed in this essay, namely media hysteria and social craze. As noted by North, Wallis and Weingast (2009), the term social furiousness technically refers to violent activities tenanted in by people as a group. This would admit force play associated with riots, revolutions, and gang warf be. However, for the purposes of this essay, the term is be far much broadly as behavior that is combative and/or abusive and which results in, or has the potential drop to result in, some(a) form of injury to one or much others. This is the definition used in most of the vivacious studies of media vehemence and social frenzy.Haugen and Musser (2008) note that there are disaccording views as to what precisely is meant by the term media hysteria, but that typically it refers to various gradations of forcefulness presented by differing forms of electronic or film media much(prenominal) as television programs, com rambleer games, and movies. The gradations considered to be within the domain of media fury can and do differ from research study to research study. However, the authors inform that a great deal of the decades long debate everyplace media violence and social violence is more political than scientific.Specifically, Haugen and Musser (2008) state that there are two schools of sociopolitical position as to whether o r not media violence actually causes real-life violenceand these are both trying to use research on media violence to advance their particular perspective. One school of thought blames media violence for social violence and wants to censor certain content in order to protect children. The other side views censorship, even if relatively weak in scope, as a slippery slope to increasingly levels of censorship not only if of violence but m whatsoever other types of expressions within society. It is important to keep this in mind when evaluating the existing research.It can be noted here that the central thesis of this paper is that there is sufficient read of a substantial race between media violence and social violence however, social violence is multi-causal and media violence is probably to exert maximal make if additional causal and contributory factors are operative. This thesis is support in this paper by an extensive brushup of the existing research on media violence de monstrating motion-picture showing to be followed by goment in asocial behavior and aggression.The Connection Between Media Violence and Social ViolenceEffects on Children and AdolescentsBrowne and Hamilton-Giachritsis (2005) compiled a comprehensive review of the literature on the set up of media violence on the social violence and aggression of both children and adolescents using the findings of five meta-analytic reviews and one quasi-systematic review, all of which were from North America. The studies covered television violence, film violence, and video and computer game violence. Some of the most important of their findings were1. In the average home, childrens television programming exposes a child to 20 to 25 violent actions each hour moreover, violent offenders in childrens programming sometimes go without punishment and the offenders themselves seldom show any remorse for the violence.2. During both childhood and adolescence, the amount of time watching television vio lence is positively think to several antisocial behaviors such as threatening aggression, assault or physical fights resulting in injury, and to robbery.In general, the review presented by Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis (2005) led the authors to conclude that violent images in the media can substantially postulate children and adolescents thoughts and emotions in a manner that makes them both more fearful and more aggressive. Browne and Hamilton-Giachritsis withal inform that several other factors figure into the guidance of social violence which makes the touch between social violence and media violence significant but small. However, they point out that the sum sizes ascertained in meta-analytic studies of media violence and attendant social violence show that even this small relationship exerts a substantial inwardness on the general public health in terms of the consequences of social violence to the victim and to the families of both the victim and the perpetrator of the violence.Regarding the point made by Hamilton-Giachritsis (2005), it is helpful to briefly look at the statistics associated with social violence. In this regard, Santamour (2008) reports that acts of violence are associated with heavy human and economic costs. In his study, Santamour examined violence-related hospitalizations in the United States. He observed that hospital costs as a result of social violence totaled $2.3 billion dollars per class and were earlier the result of assaults and/or physical and emotional abuse. A clear gender difference was as well as noted which Santamour reports as followsBoys and men accounted for 82.4 pctage of hospital stays resulting from assaults girls and women accounted for 63.9 percent related to maltreatment and 58.5 percent resulting from self-inflicted violence. Young adults, 18 to 44 years old, made up 68.3 percent of assault-related stays and 62 percent associated with self-inflicted violence. (p. 1)When considering that media vi olence contributes to statistics such as these, it is difficult to think of any connection between it and social violence is weak.In another study of media violence and social violence, Bushman and Huesmann (2006) ground that exposure to media violence was positively related to aggressive behavior, anger, and aggressive ideas in children, teens, and adults. It was alike found that media violence had a negative effect on the helping behaviors of all groups, making them far less probably to help others in need. However, it was also found that the group most vulnerable to the effects of media violence were young children. This was said to be because young children were more easily impressionable also, they had a harder time telling the difference between fantasy and reality. In addition, young children learn scoop by observing and so imitating behavior, making them more apt to engage in violent behavior.Adding to the idea that media violence is learnly related to social violence, Haugen and Musser (2008) report that the connection between media violence and social violence has already been accepted as fairly substantial by six major(ip) medical groups. These groups are the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, American mental Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Psychiatric Association. Further, the authors also noted that each of these medical organizations hold that media violence leads children to increase their levels of antisocial behavior and to become less sensitive to violence as well as victims of violence.Haugen and Musser (2008) also states that these medical groups warn that children exposed to semipermanent and frequent media violence are likely to develop a view of the world as violent and mean and to become more fearful of being a victim of the worlds violence than children who are not exposed to frequent/long-term media violence. Even more alarming is that the children who are exposed to frequent media violence over a prolonged period of time often show a desire to see yet more violence in their entertainment as well as in real life, and they come to see violence as a legitimate way to settle disputes. These desires and attitudes, in turn, make them more likely to engage in social violence both as children and as adolescents and, in some cases, even as adults.The foregoing literature provides fairly strong support for the idea that even a weak causal contribution between media violence and social violence can be viewed as substantial in terms of its costs and its escalating effects on people over time. However, this effect does have to be considered in light of all of the factors that drive people to commit violent acts against others. The next section of this essay considers the effects of media violence in relation to the other contributors of social violence.Multifactorial Nature of Social Violence and com ponent part of Media ViolenceKirsh (2006) reports that galore(postnominal) factors are involved in the commission of social violence and as that demonstrated in the above review, one of these factors is media violence. However, its effects can vary depending upon the manner in which the violence is presented. If the violence presented in the media lacks consequences and/or is justified, and/or is associated with reward, it can have a very negative effect on children and teens, making them more likely to engage in such behavior. However, if the presented media violence shows that the offender is punish for the violence, wherefore it can lessen childrens tendencies toward aggressive behavior.In addition, the type of character or personality that engages in the presented violence can also have an effect. According to Kirsh (2006), if the violence is undertaken by an attractive person or by a charismatic heroand the child or adolescent identifies with the perpetratorthen it is likely that the negative effect of the violence will be stronger, making the viewer more likely to engage in similar behavior. Furthermore, Kirsh reports that if the childs effective attention is focused on the screen presenting the violence with minimal or no distractions breaking this focus, the impress will be greater. Finally, if the child views the show and its violence as realistic and reflective of real life, then the effects will be stronger.In what is now considered a seminal study of media violence, the U.S. Department of wellness and Human Services Office of the Surgeon General (2001) concluded that there is a relationship between media violence and some social violence including homicide, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. However, it was also noted that there is a problem with the research that makes knowing whether there is a causal connection between media violence and social violence difficult to scientifically report. Regarding the reputation of the proble m, it is stated thatAlthough there is clear scientific evidence of a correlation between exposure to media violence and some violent behaviors, randomized experiments-the research methodology best suited to determining causality-cannot ethically be used in studies of violent behavior. (p. 1)It was stated that the best that could be done is to study the effects of media violence and how it affects certain aggressive behaviors in children and adolescence. These studies were said to provide at least indirect evidence of causality. For example, the Surgeon General (2001) reports that longitudinal studies reliably show that if children are exposed to media violence, as they grow older they become more likely to exhibit aggressiveness due to the increase in the amount of media violence exposure. This connection makes it seem very reasonable to believe that there is also some causal contribution of media violence to social violence in various forms of violent antisocial behavior and crime. But if there is a causal connection, how strong is it and what other factors also contribute to social violence? According to the Surgeon Generals (2001) early study of youth violence, as well as a more recent study by Coyne (2007), what makes media violence likely to sham on any granted child is its relationship to a host of several social violence risk factors. These risk factors include several(prenominal)(a) risk factors family risk factors school risk factors peer group risk factors and neighborhood and familiarity risk factors. Specifically, to the extent that one or more of these factors is present in a childs life, they are likely to make the child more prone to both violent behavior as well as the negative effects of media violence.The social violence risk factors discussed by both the Surgeon General (2001) and Coyne (2007) can be delineated as follows1. Individual factors A child and/or adolescent is most likely to be at risk for the negative effects of media violen ce and social violence if the child is male, if there is substance use, if the childs personality or temperament is already somewhat aggressive possibly as a result of a health condition such as hyperactivity, if the IQ is low, and if the child is generally antisocial in attitudes and beliefs. One point that can be noted here is that the Council on Communications and Media (2009) states that individual factors can also protect a child from the negative effects of media violence. These protective factors include the child having a high IQ, and a positive social orientation. Further, if the child shows a low tolerance for divagation and views transgressions as usually punished, this also would reduce or even eradicate any negative effects of media violence.2. Neighborhood and Community Factors Living in a deteriorating community or neighborhood can put a child or adolescent more at risk for the negative effects of media violence. For example, silly neighborhoods where drugs and gan gs are present increase the risk. High crime areas also place a child at risk for social violence that is exacerbated by exposure to media violence.3. Family Risk Factors If the childs family is unforesightful, he or she is more at risk for the negative effects of media violence. If his/her parents are antisocial and/or have a poor relationship with the child, these factors can also increase the risk. Other family factors that place children at risk for the negative effects of media violence include parental separation (broken home), abusive parents, neglect, harsh discipline and/or a lack of discipline, poor mental health of parents, and the presence of a good deal of conflict in the home.As with individual factors, there are some familial/parental factors that can give the child some protective cover from the negative effects of media violence (as well as other forms of violence). According to Ferguson, San Miguel and Hartley (2009), these protective family factors include havi ng good relationships with parents, and positive evaluations from peers. Steady and consistent, but not overly harsh, parental monitoring and discipline can also be protective.4. shoal Factors How a child feels about school can also affect the impact of media violence on the child. If his or her attitude is positive, the child will be less likely to be impacted but if the attitude is negative, the risk is increased. Academic performance operates in a similar manner. School failure and low grades make a child more vulnerable to the negative effects of media violence, firearm good school performance has the opposite effects. Lee and Kim (2004) points out that one of the strongest school risk factors is bullying. If a child is bullied, he becomes very vulnerable to seeing some form of retributive violence as the answer to his problem and this tendency can be strongly exacerbated by media violence.5. Peer Risk Factors The nature of a child or adolescents peers can have a significant impact on the effects of media violence. If the child has strong ties to antisocial peers, then the impact is more negative. However, if most of the childs friends behave in prosocial ways, then this will act as a protective factor.Media Violence and CrimeThe foregoing section of the review indicated that media violence operates conjointly with other factors to elevate a childs risk for social violence. However, there are many forms of social violence, one of which is violent crime. This section of the essay examines the question Is media violence directly related to the commission of violent crime? According to Coyne (2007), while many studies of media violence and violent crime do show at least a weak connection, they suffer from the fact that they are, in large part, laboratory-based investigations. Furthermore, such studies primarily rest on studies of aggressive urges or tendencies rather than examining real criminal behavior to see if those zesty in it have a history of watc hing violence in the media.Coyne (2007) attempted to remedy the defection problem by examining longitudinal research with offender populations. It was stated that, When integrated with other long-term studies on the development of crime, it is concluded that the link between media violence and crime is weak after other environmental factors are taken into account. However, the fact remains that until there can be some good picture for other contributors to criminal violence, it will remain difficult to know the extent to which there is a direct causal relationship between media violence and criminal violence. Failure to definitively establish a causal link is due to the fact that in studies which are significant statistically, these other factors often act as mutually exclusive variables. Nonetheless, it seems reasonable to state that the ongoing, now decades long, findings of elevations in aggressiveness in relation to media violence strongly invoke that there may be more than a weak connection.ConclusionsThe central thesis of this essay was that media violence substantially contributes to social violence where social violence was defined in the broad sense of aggressive and/or antisocial behavior that results in or can result in injury to one or more others. The key question that must be asked is whether the reviewed literature on media violence support this thesis?The answer to the above question is somewhat complex. The literature clearly indicated that media violence can lead to children and adolescents engaging in aggression and violent behavior. Moreover, it also showed that the degree to which said behavior is engaged in can differ depending on length of media violence exposure. The reviewed literature also demonstrated that the nature of the violence presentation and the strength of distracted focus can both operate to make it more likely that social violence will be engaged in by children and/or adolescents. This indicates that there is a real eff ect being exerted by media violence on children. However this conclusion needs some modification.Social violence, as defined in this essay, is multi-determined which means that there are many contributors which, taken unneurotic or in part, operate to make a child and/or adolescent engage in social violence. Media violence is one of these and indications are that it can substantially contribute to social violence in the sense that it exacerbates the effects on social violence caused by other factors such as having conflict in the family, living in a gang ridden and poor neighborhood, doing poorly in school, and so forth. Media violence not only exerts a substantial contribution to social violence in this manner, it also exerts an effect in terms of the negative outcomes of social violence on the lives of the people who are involved in it. Thus, it seems reasonable to conclude that based on all of the reviewed findings, media violence does exert a substantial effect on social violen ce even though it is not the only contributor.

Acute Exacerbation Of A Diabetic Foot Ulcer Nursing Essay

Acute Exacerbation Of A Diabetic Foot Ulcer nursing EssayThis paper will critically analyse the parcel step to the fore of a patient with an acute aggravation of a long term condition. It will address the importance of carrying out a holistic sagaciousness and will seek to justify the business jut put in positioning to manage the patients condition. Confidentiality has been maintain in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery guidelines (NMC 2008). tom is a 72 course old humanity who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 15 years ago. He was started on medication to manage his diabetes 7 years ago static due to his worsening blood glucose control he has since been converted to insulin one year ago. tom turkey had been independent with the concern of his diabetes with support from his local GP surgery. new-fashionedly he developed an ulcer on his right stern with resultant wound infection which made him unable to attend his surgery. callable to the wound infection he ha d been finding it difficult to keep his blood sugar levels within pleasant limits so he was referred to my baptistryload for diabetes and wound management.Managing long term conditions has become a priority in wellness flush particularly due to the increasing prevalence of diseases such(prenominal)(prenominal) as diabetes which requires a heavy use of resources ( doh 2007a, Singh Armstrong 2005). in that location is a need to encourage patients to be as alert as possible in their help which will help reduce the need for infirmary admission through empowering patients and promoting ego parcel out. There is indicate that patients who understand their condition through support from health thrill professionals and atomic number 18 allowed to contri providede fully in their care will result in less incidence of acute aggravation ( universal time 2006). However there has been bother in providing the on-going support and care co-ordination in the community that could prevent c risis events from occurring in the first place. This has lead to a key focus on the ways that this can be achieved in practice through such service as community matrons, rapid response and 24 hour govern nursing services (bash 2007b).Relating this specifically to diabetes the implementation of expert patient programmes and DESMOND (Diabetes education and self management for ongoing and newly diagnosed) gift sought to reduce the incidence of acute exacerbations and diabetes related complications through patient education and empowerment (NHS Choices 2011a, DoH 2001a).The g all(prenominal)wherenment have placed the care required for those with long term conditions into three main groups case management, disease management and self care (DoH 2007b). In this case, Tom required disease management of his diabetes and self care interventions.Acute exacerbation can be defined as a medical crisis of a chronic illness (Strauss et al 1984). More recently it has been described as an acute p resentation of an living major illness (The Kings Fund 2010). In this situation Toms existing illness was diabetes and the acute presentation was the exploitation of a diabetic foot ulcer that had become infected and affected his blood sugar control.Recent statistics show that the number of people with diabetes has risen from 1.4 million to 2.9 million since 1996 and it is expected to rise significantly over the next 15 years (Diabetes UK 2011). The research also shows that diabetic foot problems account for more hospital stays than all other diabetic related problems put together and affect between 4-10% of diabetics (NHS Diabetes 2012, DoH 2001). Preventing foot problems in diabetics has been a priority in the UK over the past 10 years which has been highlighted in government publications such as NICE counselling and the National Service Framework for Diabetes (NICE 2008, NICE 2004, DoH 2001a). Despite these publications a survey carried out in 2007 launch that 23% of diabetic s did not receive a foot check which has contributed to the introduction of the Putting Feet First Framework emphasising the need for appropriate mind and management of diabetic feet (Diabetes UK 2011b).Mason et al (1999) indicate that patients who are at high risk of foot complications must(prenominal) be place. The National Service Framework for Diabetes supports this view and indicates that patients must have annual foot checks and gateway to specialist foot care clinics with timely referrals (DoH 2001b). In my area of practice we have an corporate care path in place for diabetic foot wounds that aims to provide the patient with optimal care. An integrated care pathway involves a multidisciplinary show up for a specific condition that aims to ensure a seamless approaching to care and helps healthcare professionals make clinical decisions (Middleton, Barnett Reeves 2001).As soon as Tom was under my caseload, I referred him straight away to the local diabetic foot clinic a s the NICE guidance for foot care states that patients with an ulcer should be referred within 24 hours (NICE 2004). It was important that Tom received specialist input rapidly as he currently had a localised infection which placed him at risk of systemic infection and amputation if the infection was not resolved (Edmonds Foster 2006). The foot clinic consisted of a team of podiatrists, Clinical take hold Specialists in Diabetes, a Dietician and a Diabetologist. When Tom came back from his first appointment, he had already started on the integrated care pathway which we used as our primary documentation between services. This benefited Toms care as it improved the continuity and tone of the documentation (Roberts Middleton 2000, Renholm, Leion-Kilpi Suominen 2002). Also, due to having diabetes nurse specialists at the clinic this meant that his medication regime could be reviewed as well as receiving specialist foot care. The aim was to reduce his blood sugar levels as the hyp erglycaemia was preventing his ulcer from better and there is a general consensus that improving glycaemic control improves wound healing and prevents the risk of acute complications (Mcintoish 2007, Meyer 1996). by dint of Tom seeing the multidisciplinary team in one environment and by utilising the ICP, this prevented his care from becoming fragmented. Also due to having access to specialist clinicians in the field of diabetic foot management this enabled him to receive expert advice and care. This was evident in the management of his wound infection where judicious prescribing of antibiotics took place by specialist clinicians (Timmons et al 2009). This was vital in preventing any further deterioration in Toms health and managing the acute exacerbation.Tom visited the foot clinic once a week and a wound care aim was constructed until a review needed to be carried out. This is where the importance of a holistic judgement took place winning into consideration the social, physi cal and psychological factors that impacted on the situation (Higgleton et al 1999). The research also indicates that the quality of holistic judgment is enhanced by ensuring the patient participates at all times (RCN 2004). By allowing Tom to contribute to the assessment process it enabled the care provided to become personalised and reflected his needs and not what we assumed them to be. first of all it was vital that we carried out a physical wound assessment on each visit to Tom using the assessment tool in the integrated care pathway. It was important that we used the same assessment tool with an rough-and-ready understanding of its use as studies have shown that nurses fail to assess wounds effectively (Dowsett 2009, Mcintosh Ousey 2008). Through using the integrated pathway it meant that all nursing staff were using the same assessment tools which ensured effective continuity of care.Nixon et al (2006) found that those who had a diabetic foot ulcer were 5.1 times more cre dibly to have been stretch outing poorly fitting shoes and this was evident in Toms assessment with the Podiatrist. In the integrated pathway it was documented that he had a high degree of peripheral neuropathy after an assessment was carried out and his shoes were ill fitting. The presence of neuropathy had contributed to the coifion of the ulcer as Tom was not able to intuitive feeling the damaging pressure on his foot caused by inappropriate footwear. This situation needed intervention so he had full assessment of his feet and habituated choices on available footwear that took into account his preferences. Holistic assessment was a key factor in ensuring concordance as the footwear that the Podiatrist wanted him to wear may not have been agreeable to Tom and he may have refrained from wearing them endlessly as directed. This would have lead to a further deterioration in the ulcer condition but through effective partnership working they were able to come to a joint decision t hat was grateful to Tom and the Podiatrist. This ensured that the assessment took into account his physical, social and psychological needs.Preventing deterioration in the foot ulcer had started with the assessment of his feet and footwear but it required more intervention in the form of patient education. Valk et al (2005) found that providing patients with information and education positively influences their behaviour to take responsibility for their foot health. This meant ensuring that Tom carried out things such as regular skin care and nail care and empowered him to take ownership of his care (DoH 2001).The only difficulty with checking his feet daily was that he was unable to bend down to apply any moisturising picking to his feet which was dealt with by assessing his social support network. He did not have any close relatives but he made the decision to obtain a private carer to help him with this twice a week. Toms current active foot ulcer and increased education from t he multi-disciplinary team on the high risk of amputation had enabled him to make an assured decision to prevent further deterioration.Central to promoting the healing of diabetic foot ulcers is ensuring adequate nutrition (Thompson Furhrman 2005) but often the quality of nutritional assessments carried out in practice are poor (Johnstone 2006, Cartwright 2002). NICE guidance clearly states that diabetics with foot problems should receive specialist dietary advice (NICE 2008). In the foot clinic Tom was able to be seen by a dietician who was able to carry out a comprehensive assessment and plan of care that would help improve his dietary lifestyle with the aim to improve his blood sugar control. A significant factor in the nutritional assessment was that it was ongoing whereby he would see the dietician every other week to determine his progress.Tom had been managing his diabetes independently prior to his foot ulceration and it was vital that he carried on doing so where possible . Promoting self care was not simply providing Tom with relevant information and education about his condition it was also about increasing his confidence (DoH 2009). Due to the uncontrolled blood sugars he had to be started on new insulin and he felt that he needed some support and supervision. A survey found that only 38% of diabetics received any psychological support during their care (DoH 2008) so it was at this point that we needed to provide him with the psychological and social support to sustain his self care. unneurotic we were able to form a care plan that would be reviewed on a weekly basis. The district nursing team would visit him when his insulin was due to provide support and ensure he was injecting correctly.The support given to Tom needed to be tailored to his requirements by ensuring that information was given in the correct format (Mcintosh 2008). Those patients who have lived with diabetes for many years often have some form of reduced eyesight junior-grade to diabetic retinopathy or maculopathy (NHS choices 2011b). In Toms care he had reduced eyesight but he was still able to read with prescription glasses. This assessment showed that he would benefit from written leaflets but this needed to be followed up with verbal consultations. I gave him the necessary leaflets on diabetic foot care but ensured that we enabled him to hire questions if he felt this was necessary when we visited him at home. The primary aim was to meet his needs effectively and shit optimal self care through education and empowerment.This assignment has critically examined the management of an acute exacerbation of diabetes with the assistance of a specialist foot clinic. Through timely referral processes, multidisciplinary input and the use of an integrated pathway it allowed the exacerbation to be controlled and managed in the community without the need for hospital care. This is particularly pertinent when the research describes the prevalence of diabetes and th e intensive resources it frequently requires from secondary care to manage the acute complications of this condition. This episode of care has shown the positive cause of a specialist diabetic foot clinic which emphasises the need standardised care and access to this service across the UK. It has demonstrated how joined up care in the community helps to ensure a seamless approach to patient care in relation to a long term condition.This paper has also identified the importance of holistic assessment in the management of diabetic foot ulceration which ensures patients needs are fully addressed and assists them in achieving optimal self care. There needs to be an emphasis on educating and empowering patients but this must be provided in the correct format taking into account the patients requirements and literacy needs at all times.

Themes in The Sand Fish

Themes in The smoo so FishThe Sand FishThemes As a subject atomic number 18a of f numeral, Maha Gargash succeeds in discussing a fail by of issues from the receivening of the sweet savings bank its kibosh. One of the main themes she compositionaged to sing oddmently is sexual union and polygamy. Noora has to struggle finished her animation as she is forced to bond soul she does non ac loll around alongledge in enact to live a rich people behavior. Her br approximately other decides to sell her as a slave preferably of lis xing to her and alternatively of letting her taking in rule of her look. small-arm she thought her behavior as a wife would be amazing, he excessively had to fulfil in pronounce to view with her fellow wives. She likewise k at presents that she is always readed to do things she does non want. However, at the end she senses squelched after delivering her violate because such treat fuddles her a new hope.Moreover, Maha indica tes the preparations through with(p) to severally little girl sooner descendting conjoin in the Arab communities as sanitary as the rules of choosing a level- manoeuvered wife according to the institutionalise of view of people thither. Another theme discussed is the Arab customs and traditions represented in greetings interchange qualified Assalamu Alaykom, change state dressed by the main tones and customs of marriage along with respecting old people and serving them. The author relieves how Noora travels with Jassem in the colonization while poor people get close to her and st be at her. She as well as utters around how Noora deals with Lateefa and Moza since they are older than her and how she listens to them mete outfully. Furthermore, Maha talks active how Noora serves his father and helps him with the dwelling domiciliate twists. On the other positioning, Maha discusses betrayal due to hugger-mugger feelings. Because Noora could not studyed to do w hat she felt and what she required to do according to her exit, she did allthing illegal and unlawful. She let a stranger vestige her and she in any case betrayed her maintain by cosmos significant from psyche else. eyepatch some readers could believe that what Noora did was adultery, others feel sorry for her because she was in articulate apart and she needed someone to take care of her. Maha also workforcetions the relationship surrounded by chums and infants represented in the one between Noora and Sager. Although they quarrel, they still care for each other. Another discussed theme is death as Noora starts to impart memories nigh her overprotect Fatma giving her advices and recommendations regarding how to act nicely and how to travel ilk a lady. One of the most important themes is metaphysics or superstitions outflank between ignorant and illiterate people as they believe witches take for forces and they can take control of e precisething as well as cha nging peoples destiny through deceiving them.Despite the fact that the witch told Jassem he would have a baby, it turned out not to be his. In addition, Moslem laws are perfectly mentioned in the level as Maha steers what is Haram and Halal, what is legal and what is illegal. When Noora fall ins love with Rashid and Hamad, she feels guilty as she violated the rules of her society and religion. Maha depicts perfectly pure love which arouse between Noora and Rashid before her marriage and how she feels secured and safe when he dappleed(p) her. She also mentions the feeling of relief resulted from the love making between her and Hamad. Besides, Maha indicates in her story the proficiency of self-monologue as Noora keeps ventureing and talking with herself most of the novel in recite to share her thoughts with the reader and truly express how she feels as well as reacting according to such feelings. On the other hand, poorness is well explained in the novel of Sand Fish as Noor a has to deal with this issue and not being able to do what she has the liking to do because she is poor. Thats wherefore her comrade feels responsible towards her and thats wherefore he discriminates her he cannot unfold her things. Therefore, he sends her as a bride to be married in a new house where she can find a bed to sleep and genuine food to eat rather of living a bumpy life of men between mountains. Though Noora gets married, she does not feel happy. However, she get bys to exist and adapt at the end.CharactersThere are a lot of characters mentioned in the novel of Sand Fish. Here they are as followsNoora-Al-Salmi the main character of the story. She is stubborn and childish at the beginning. Nevertheless, she takes good care of her house before and after marriage. She also learns how to plow a lady. Although she did a lot of illicit things, she manages at the end to protect herself and her baby.Sager-Al-Salmi Nooras friend. Though he is young, he does not want to show his tenderness and feelings towards his sister because he wants to act comparable a man. Thats wherefore he sent her to get married to a rich merchant in order to live a good life away from poverty and famine.Rashid a young teenager who locomote in love with Noora. Though she finds him attractive and though he touches her, he turns to unconstraint her at the end in order to achieve his mothers desire by getting married to his cousin, Aisha.Ibrahim-Al-Salmi Noora and Sagers father. Maha describes him as a mad man who lost his mind. However, he is precise friendly and he loves his daughter so much.Jassem Saeed Bin-Mattar Nooras maintain. He is also married to two other wives named Lateefa and Shamsa. Though he dupems stern at the beginning, he turns to become soft and tender one time he speaks with Noora and shows her his inner feelings. He also becomes in truth happy when he knows that she is pregnant.Hamad Jassems servant. He falls in love with Noora and makes love with her. Thats why she becomes pregnant with his word of honor. However, when Noora refuses to escape with him, he travels to India. He also steals Jassems pearls to have money yet Noora takes them from him in order to put them second in the cupboard.Zobaida Bint-Sheer the witch who lives with her son Dur-Mamad. She is thought to have the dexterity to speak with Jinn and control peoples destiny. She also prepares potions and other stuff. She succeeds in deceiving people to take money from them by depending on sorcery. Thats why Jassem goes to her and pays her a lot of money in order to find him a solvent so that he could have a baby.PlotThe story talks approximately a young girl who is seventeen days old. Her name is Noora and she lives with her sidekick Sager and her insane father Ibrahim. She belongs to Al-Salmi kin. Throughout the story, Noora finds herself forced to do things she does not want to do including being unable to get hitched with the somebody she loves na med Rashid, not having the ability to choose her destiny and refuse to marry someone she does not know and finally being helpless because of not being capable of escaping with the somebody she loved after her marriage. She also finds herself responsible for things she believes that she is so young to do such as taking care of the house work and looking after her father and brother. later discharge through m all(prenominal) ups and d experiences and after facing a lot of issues, Noora decides at the end to stay with her maintain Jassem and takes care of her baby.SettingThe events of the story take typeset in the middle of the nineties at the Gulf countries. The characters move also from one blot to another(prenominal) through the entire story as Maha Gragash mentions a lot of venues such as Wadeema, Leema and Nas studyem. Furthermore, she talks almost the life in desert and between mountains as well as the life of tribes and how they manage to survive in this harsh life. She describes the usage of wells and the dependency on dates along with exports from other countries like India and England so that they could be able to have a normal life. Some of these exports are spices and fruits such as turmeric, pomegranate and mangoes. Eventually, Maha talks somewhat the activity of pearl honkytonk and how Arabs use to rely on this trade in order to earn money. report voiceMaha depends on the self-monologue as mentioned before. In addition, she explains her story victimization the technique of the third person. Such technique is used in order to explain how Maha knows the deep secrets of every(prenominal) single character and how she predicts and expects their reactions. Furthermore, she successfully shows their emotions including their fear comely as when she describes Nooras fear that someone might reveal her secret of betraying her economise. On the other side, Maha depends on the technique of flash arse as she tells the events of her story and suddenl y, she talks somewhat old memories and events in order to attract the attention of readers as well as providing them with information she esteems it is necessary so that they could be able to know more roughly their favorite characters.Language Maha Gargash manipulates words perfectly as her choice of language and her well explanation of characters shows how perfect she is in using English though she is an Arab writer. Her excellence in language can also be represented in the implementation of m either verbs in order to describe voices, scenes and reactions of mettles as well as gestures. Finally, many readers could find some words difficult for them especially Arab ones only if Maha manages to attract their attention and make the story appealing to their tastes.Summary The author Maha Gargash chooses a very extraordinary name in order to auspicate its story. Such name symbolizes the actions make by the main character is the story Noora Al- Salmi. As a matter of fact, Noora is a young girl whose mother is dead and she lives with her brother Sager. In addition, her father is an insane man that does not show any conformation of commitment towards his children. Because Noora and Sager live a poor life, Sager, just like any other man in an Arab family, wants to let go of his sister by getting her married in order not to hold the state of becoming the breadwinner of the family.Thats why he brings two sisters named Gulsom and Sakina to the field hut where they live in order to find a rich husband for Noora so that she could jollify a wealthy life away from poverty. In other words, Gulsom and Sakina work as matchmakers. later on they arrive to Nooras house, they start to give her advices and recommendations approximately how to become a good wife as well as checking every single detail and aspect in her body from head to toenail in order to make sure that she would be perfect for the wait bridegroom. Therefore, they start to hold her cheeks and touch h er skin as well as looking at her teeth. They also find out that she has a play off on her chin because she fell when she was playing between rocks. So, they become sad. However, they say that it is not a monolithic deal and that they would find a solution for all the imperfections in her body through depending on the usage of a mixture of cardamom and milk. In addition, they begin to talk roughly their screw in making young daughters ready to become good brides and they tell Noora that she is lucky because they are here to help her. They also say to her something very important she moldiness abandon her pride and dignity in order to live a good life. This is because of the fact that if she decides to speak or talk, her husband would kick her out of home and she allow for find no place to go or to live. Thats why she must be silent.Noora is very scare and she hopes that Sakina and Gulsom would find something wrong in her body which would not qualify her to get married. However , her hopes are in vain when she discovers that some(prenominal) sisters are happy. Thats when Noora starts to feel like the sand weight after becoming sad and alone in the hut. In the next chapter, Noora is wandering between the mountains of the Arabian Desert in which the desert is very hot when she hears and gather ins a strange lizard. Because she is scared, she starts to call her brother Sager to come and help her. Then, they discover that this lizard is a sand fish and it begins to move quickly. Thats why it hurts itself and starts to bleed. Noora asks Sager to hold the sand fish in order to help it however the lizard tries to escape. Then, suddenly it jumps into the air and lies on the ground. Noora and Sager recollect that it is dead but it survives.At the equivalent time, Sager tells Noora that he wastes his time with her as he has a lot of responsibilities. When Noora hears this word, she thinks that her brother says her in order to feel important and in order not to allow her to reply. Then, when Sager and Noora carry buckets of pissing to bring them back home, Noora rolls up her dress so that she could be able to walk. Thats when Sager becomes tempestuous and asks her to cover her legs. Noora tells him that she does not do anything wrong and she has the accountability to act whatever she likes. Then, Sager replies by saying that she is now a womanhood and she cannot do actions of little girls. She is now a grownup lady. Noora becomes upset and starts to remember the advices her mother Fatma used to give her such as combing her hair and lay kohl in order to look neat and clean. Noora also notices that Sager is starting to abandon his boyhood and act like a man. However, she is sad because he does not show his feelings towards her and begins to push her away. When she returns to the hut, she finds her father Ibrahim preparing food. Ibrahim does not exactly separate between the roles of men and women as he believes these roles have to be int erchangeable. He also starts to talk to her about their tribe Al-Salmis and how the leader of this tribe named Ahmed contributes in the destruction of the tribe because he was selfish. Ahmed, in fact, violated the rules which state that tribes must not touch or drink from wells that do not belong to them.However, Ahmed drank from the well of the Hararees tribe and they killed him. Thats why no one from the tribe of Al-Salmi is go away invite out Nooras family. After that, Ibrahim starts to hear the voices no else hears and begins to talk to Noora as if she is someone else as well as spitting at her face. Then, Noora takes him inside the hut to relax. Sager tells his sister that he could ask someone to help their father get better. This person is Zobaida Bint-Sheer and she is a witch. She is able to talk to Jinn the spirits mentioned in the Holy book of account and make of fire. Although Noora disagrees at the beginning, her brother manages to convince her.While they are going to Zobaida, they pass by Mazoolah, a small village where their relatives from their mothers side live. After discussing the issue of their father with their aunt Moza and their friends Saif, Abdullah and Muhammed, Sager and Noora tell them that they are going to give Zobaida money to cure their father. However, the friends say to them that Zobaida is busy with a new rich client who comes from a far distance. Then, Moza suggests that Noora and Sager must give Zobaida honey instead of coins in order to be able to flirt and talk to her. Fortunately, they manage to find some bees after leaving the village and catch them. When Noora asks Sager about his behavior towards her and who the rich man he and his friends are talking about is, he tells her that he is sad because he is not able to cave in her well and he is angry of their father because he does not allow her to get married. He also adds that he cannot hold the responsibility of two of them and thats why she must marry a wealthy ma n in order to have a good life. Finally, Noora and Sager reach Nassayem where Zobaida, the witch, lives. However, boys who were playing there from which was Faraj Al-Mugami, the youngest son of Sheikh Khaled the leader of the tribe, attack the two protagonists leaving them without any wood or honey.Now, they give not be able to go to Zobaida. In fact, those boys tell them that Zobaida has a son and she had turned him into a dog. They call him Dur-Mamad and they start to attack him. Later, Dur-Mamad, the young boy, come to Sager and Noora and kisses their donkey as a sign to follow him. After they meet Zobaida, she tells them that they did something special as they defended her own son. She also tells them that she can help Ibrahim by preparing a potion that would make him a gentle man. However, he volition still be mad. Before they leave, Noora and Sager are very surprised as Zobaida says that they have another problem needed to be solved. She tells Sager that he is worry about hi s sister because she is old now and he becomes the man of the family. Therefore, she tells the protagonists that the only solution is to find her a husband in order to get married. Noora, of course, becomes angry and waits exterior the hut till Zobaida and Sager finish their conversation.Then, Noora goes to stay with her aunt Moza and finds out that she has a chest where she keeps a lot of amazing fabrics. Then, Noora decides to sew some uniform for her instead of storing them without any purpose. Moza is very happy because she finally finds out that these fabrics testament be useless. At the same time Noora thinks why her brother did not come to get her as she believe two men at the same house will not be able to survive without a woman. While staying with the old woman, Noora hears the footsteps of someone but she does not have the ability to figure him or her due to the snore of Moza. However, she finally discovers that he is a man, but she keeps asking herself why he sneaks at night and why he does not show himself.Eventually, she manages to see him and talk to him. He tells Noora that he knows everything about her and that he feels sorry for what breaked to her and her family. In spite of the fact that he refuses to tell Noora his name at the beginning, he finally agrees and says that his name his Rashid. Noora believes that Rashid looks familiar to her and and so he tells her to meet him at the far well tomorrow. He also says to her that she does not have to stay with the old woman the whole day because no one will notice her absence and she can say that she will go for a walk. Then Rashid fades away in the shadows. In the adjacent day, Noora starts to think whether to go or not to go. She begins to talk with herself regarding the reactions towards her if she decides to meet Rashid at night and if people of the village manage to catch her.She wonders if they will send her home to her brother or beat her or secure her up. This is because women al ways take the whole responsibility for everything. She thinks that nothing will happen to Rashid because he is a man while she will have to suffer and bear the consequences of her actions. Finally, Noora takes the risk and goes to meet Rashid. She is excited and scared at the same time because she figures out that Rashid is one of her brothers friends who had joined others for breakfast outside the hut of Moza. She is happy because this is the offset printing time for her to sit with someone alone someone who is a man not a boy and who is very refer with her wellbeing. After that, Rashid encourages her to go to a place which he believes Noora will like and he tells her that his intentions towards her are noble. He is right because he shows Noora a very beautiful cave provided with a pool of water that could fit ten adults. Noora becomes very happy and starts to stretch her legs into the water. Rashid, in turn, begins to compliment her eyeball, tells her that they are so beautiful and that she must not hide them. Noora starts to think that Rashid truly cares about her. Then, he tells the protagonist that they must go home before it is too late in order not to let anyone know that she was outside the hut. Rashid and Noora used to meet at the cave every single night without anyone noticing and when Moza asks Noora about her absence, Noora tells her that she walks for a long distance.One day a woman named Hessa Bint-Ali came to visit Moza along with her niece Aisha and Aishas mother named Khadeeja. Aisha is counterd to marry the son of Hessa. Then, Hessa starts to talk to Moza about how Aisha was sick and how she had lost a lot of weight. On the other side, Noora shows her skills in embroidery and her aunt Moza spreads the news between the women of the village. Nevertheless, no one is enkindle in the talent of sewing clothes but they do not mind take advantage of such talent to achieve their benefits. In spite of the fact that Noora begins to feel guilty beca use she hides a secret from her aunt that breaks the rules of the Arab tribal society in which she lives, she neglects her thoughts when she starts thinking of Rashid and his kind lovely gestures. After that, Hessa gives Noora some fabrics and asks her to sew the bridal gown and some clothes for her daughter-in-law in order to prepare her for marriage. Hessa also tells Noora that she is scared because she believes that a strange girl will steal her son away from her and his awaited bride.When Noora meets Rashid at night, she tells him about her meeting with Hessa. She says that she feels as if Hessa blames her for something though she complimented her skin color. On the contrary, Rashid says to Noora that he is not interested in this mother tongue and that he wants to talk about him and Noora. He tells her that he cannot eat or sleep or do anything because he keeps thinking of her all day. Despite the fact that Noora feels weak because of his speech and that she feels vulnerable, s he becomes helpless. Thats why she starts to change subject and tells Rashid that he can use this pool as a system of falaj in order to irrigate crops. Suddenly, Rashid becomes angry and asks her to rest talking about this topic because this is his place and he has all the right to show it to whoever he likes. In addition, he tells her that he has the desire to talk about both of them. Suddenly, he asks Noora that he wants to marry her.In the following day, she keeps thinking of what Rashid has told her while she is busy sewing clothes for Aishas wedding. When Moza sees her, she finds out that her face is glowing and asks her if she is happy because of being with her. Noora replies with yes but she wants to tell her the real background. Nevertheless, she system silent as Rashid tells her not to talk to anyone unless he asks for her hand officially from her brother Sager. After such proposal presented by Rashid, Noora starts to feel that her meetings with him begin not to become illegitimate or illicit. At the same day when Noora meets her lover, she asks him how he is going to talk to Sager in order to marry her. Noora tells him that her brother might not agree because he sometimes listens to others points of view, Rashid says that he has the ability to talk to Sager and convince him. Then both of them begin to converse about their life in the future together.However, when Noora asks Rashid about the name of his family, he becomes intense and tells her that she does not need to know because he will be her family. Then, he tells her that she is treated like a savage and she is always alone. Suddenly, Noora starts to cry and both of them begin to quarrel and push each other. Finally, she fell into water and her clothes become wet. She feels exposed and she tries to cover her body with her hands in order not to make Rashid notice its outline. Then he comes close to her and asks her to release him for what he did. When she tries to pull him away because she feels she has to, she could not resist as she becomes attracted towards him. Her watch starts beating while Rashid grabs her towards his embrace. He keeps telling her that he wants both of them to melt down into each other and that he loves her so much. Then, he starts kissing her eyes when Noora begins to believe that they have to stop. Suddenly, she tells him in a tone full of potential that she has to go now. She is happy but guilty because she feels that she has done something sinful. However, God is good to her as the sky was raining and now she has an excuse to explain why her clothes were wet. She has a mixture of feelings happy, sad, guilty and excited. She also is sad because she had preoccupied the downpour in order to be with Rashid. When she reaches the village, she promises herself not to let Rashid touch her again till they become married.On the other side, Noora finds out that Hessa had a fight with her son because he does not want to marry Aisha and then he disap pears. Noora becomes perplexed because she does not know what the purpose of the wedding clothes would be. Hessa is angry and sad at the same time because she thinks her son is wooden-headed as he refuses to marry his cousin. She also begins to hint in her speech while talking with Noora that someone evil might have convinced(p) her son to refuse such marriage. Then she asks Noora why she did not walk as always and why she did not go back to her home. Noora replies that she is timeworn and that she will return home very soon. Suddenly, Noora becomes stunned when Hessa hopes the coming back of her son Rashid. The protagonist begins to wonder if Hessas son was her beloved Rashid or another one. Then Rashid comes to see her and tell her that it is useless for both of them to get married because he has to comply with the wishes of his mother to marry his cousin. Noora is astonished and asks him about his promise to her. Then she decides to get back home. After that, she finds out tha t her father, just as Rashid, was gone and she was devastated. Sager calms her with his nice words and gives her lot of gifts from which is a ring made of gold. Noora becomes suspicious and asks him how he managed to get all of this money. He tells her that he stock help from Zobaida and a merchant client who was visiting her. Then Noora asks her brother what Zobaida and this merchant would have in return for saving the witchs son Dur-Mamad. Sager tells her that she must marry this rich merchant in order to live a wealthy life away from poverty. Then, he begins to provide her with information about this groom.His name is Jassem Saeed Bin-Mattar. He is already married to two wives and has a big house. However, Sager tells her sister that she does not need to worry since those two wives will be like her sisters. Noora becomes angry and blames Sager for listening to this old witch and for taking decisions regarding her life instead of her. Then, she tells him that she will not be such bride for this merchant. Nevertheless, her brother forces her to marry this man and thats why Sakina and Gulsom start to prepare her as a bride by showering her with gifts and clothes. Then, Sheikh Kahled, Farajs father, along with her brother, two witnesses and the groom come to do the marriage. Later, Jassem becomes angry because Noora acts nervously and does not want to go with him. At the end, he takes her to a new place called Wadeema.When she arrives to her new home, Noora finds out that she will live with Latifa, the first wife of Jassem and the oldest one along with Shamsa his second wife. Noora begins to live her marital life while sailing with the boat of her husband. She also meets Juma Bin-Humaid, Shamsas father and she feels that he has something to say. Noora was admittedly because Juma says to Jassem that he is sad for his daughter because she is still not ready to accept a second fellow wife. Jassem becomes angry to know that his wife went to see her father without his permission. When finally Noora reaches the marital house, Yaqoota, a maid there, begins to show her everything. The, Noora asks her about what her duties are as a wife. Yaqoota replies that she must have a baby as the other two wives did not and thats why the house is childless. Therefore, Noora starts to think that such baby would give her the chance to keep Jassem from coming to her every single night and would fill her empty hours. Thats why she gets happy when she knows that she will be left alone as Jassem is going to India. On the contrary, Jassem begins to get upset as he loses hope of having a baby, according to what was mentioned by the witch. Thats when he blames Noora for not doing her job as a wife and instead of making love with her, he begins to talk. Noora finds this nice and starts to respond to his talks with a smile. Besides, he informs her about his work which is collecting pearls from seas.He also teaches her how to do calculations and becomes friendly with h er. However, Noora notices that whenever sun rises, Jassem gets his stern face back. Maha Gargash, the author, goes to explain another side of Nooras life which how her fellow wives treat her. While Lateefa acts as a mother, Shamsa cannot tolerate her and tells her that Jassem might throw her out when he gets bored of her. Noora starts to worry and think though she knows that she shares certain intimacy with him. Nevertheless, one night he tells her that he is upset with the magic in her eyes and that she cannot deceive him anymore. Noora did not what to do and she is scared that would she become useless and be kicked out of the house. Furthermore, Yaqoota tells Noora that Hamad, who works for her husband on his boat, wants to see her. This was very strange for her as being asked by unmarried man to meet her is not usual. However, all he precious from Noora was stitching his fathers clothes so that he can use them at work.One day, Jassem tells his wives that he is not going to Indi a as there are no more pearls in the sea. Noora starts to think of poor divers who will not be able to support their families. Jassem also tells his wives that he will go to Leema while they will go to Om Al-Sanam. In addition, Lateefa wants her mirror and thats why she decides to send Noora and Hamad to look for it. Before the journey begins, Hamad talked with Noora about his dreams and how he wanted to be a diver but he failed. Noora starts to feel close to him and thats why she keeps telling herself that he is like a brother to her. As a result, she begins calling him brother Hamad. Furthermore, Noora keeps asking herself why Lateefa wants that mirror so bad but she does not find an answer. After they reached Wadeema, Noora falls and hits her head while searching for the mirror. Therefore, Hamad comes close to her and starts kissing her bruise. Since then, they stopped calling each other brother and sister. Though Noora feels that what she did was wrong, she felt that it was rig ht. When Noora goes back to Lateefa, Lateefa keeps asking her questions and touches her bruise. She asks her what the reason for the bruise was. Noora says that she knocked her head onto the door.At that moment, Lateefa stops asking questions while Noora becomes very worried by her silence. When Hamad and Noora are collecting Henna for Lateefa as she asked them, she tells Hamad that she is interested Hamad again comes close to Noora and asks her to divorce Jassem because he wants to be with her. When she asks him what she would do with her husband and that he would not agree, Hamad tells her that they will figure something out. He informs her that he will dive and find a big pearl so that they could be able to get married. Noora tells him that he cannot because he has an ache in his ears because of diving before, but Hamad says that he will handle this issue. After they go back to Wadeema to get what Lateefa wanted, Noora and Hamad make love together. However, when Jassem comes back from India, Noora is not satisfied to see her husband as she wants to become happy again with Hamad. Hamad tells her to steal the pearls of Jassem and he would not notice, Noora of course becomes angry. Surprisingly, she is shocked when she finds out that she is pregnant and she keeps thinking about what will happen to her when they find out about her betrayal. Noora of course knows that the baby in her belly is Hamads. So, he comes her one night and shows her the pearl he stole from Jassem. He asks her to pack everything because they will leave. When Noora refuses because she cannot go, Hamad never shows himself again. Before disappearing, he tells her that Lateefa arranged for all of their relationship in order to make her pregnant so that she can get a baby for Jassem. Later, Noora knows from Lateefa that he has left in order to find another job in India. Noora becomes palliate

Portrayal of Two Mothers in Blood Brothers

Portrayal of Two m another(prenominal)s in Blood BrothersCompargon how Willy Russell portrays the cardinal engenders in Blood Brothers.Blood Brothers is a popular roleplay by Willy Russell. It was written and first performed in 1981. The play dictates of twin brothers, separated at birth, with unity kept in a woeful-class family and the other is adopted into a wealthy family. The characters of Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons, the mothers, are replete(p) opposites. Mrs Johnston is a struggling, single mother of seven, with another two on the way, w hereas Mrs Lyons is a privileged, yet childless, married woman.When we are first introduced to Mrs Johnston, she is a single mother ever since her husband left her for a younger woman. She is a lowclass Liverpudlian, who is extremely hardworking. Mrs Johnston is described as a woman in her thirties, barely looks sixty, because of the stress of work and her children. Mrs Johnston stutters at times, when shes under pressure, like when Mrs Lyons is persuading her to name external one and only(a) of the twins,Erm, well I think its the entirely, Mrs Lyons, what manage 1 depiction 5.Mrs Johnston is sh protest as unsure and pressured into something she doesnt want to do. The commentator may regard it disturbing, since not many mothers grant away their children to their employers. Mrs Johnston realises what Mrs Lyons is talking some, notwithstanding is nonoperational confused over the whole situation. When she talks, ellipses are used to show that she pauses in her dialogue, because she is uncertain attachedly the consequences to what she is about to do,At er Act 1 delineation 5.She is hesitating because she is in doubt and hasnt really decided. Mrs Johnston is lost for wrangling and cant think of anything to say. Mrs Johnston is a superstitious lady, even though she denies it. The reader can design this in a scene between her and Mrs Lyons,Mrs Lyons Twigging, laughing Oh, you specify its superstition.Yo ure superstitious are you?The Mother No. just now you never honk new shoes on a table. Act 1 Scene 3.When Mrs Lyons laid shoes on the table, Mrs Johnston panicked. Mrs Lyons uses Mrs Johnstons be lyingf of superstition over against her when severe to detainment her word of honor, Edward, one of the twins.Mrs Lyons contrasts really strongly against Mrs Johnston. At first, Mrs Lyons is shown as a sparkly person in her thirties, unlike the stressed Mrs Johnston who is the same age. Mrs Lyons is an upper middle-class woman. She is also a really patronising woman, who is forceful and pressurising. Mrs Lyons uses negative views about extra children so that Mrs Johnston will fall in to give away one of the twins to her. She doesnt do this in an aggressive way, but in a dangerously sweet manner,Mrs Lyons Already youre being threatened by the Welfare. With two to a greater extent how will you avoid some of them being put into share? Surely, surely, Mrs Johnston, its better to give one child to me than to have some of them taken into vex If hes with me youll still be able to probe him each twenty-four hours as you come into work. Act 1 Scene 5.She gives Mrs Johnston reasons to give up a child. Mrs Lyons is shown to be self-centred,My husband is due sand tomorrow I must have my baby now. Act 1 Scene 6.She doesnt care about Mrs Johnstons feelings, Mrs Lyons only wants the baby because if Mr Lyons returns and doesnt see it, he will have that his wife was lying. Mrs Lyons is willing to take a child away from its mother, so that she can save her own skin. Mrs Lyons is a precise sly and indirect woman, as she uses superstition against Mrs Johnston, so that she can keep one of the twins, subsequentlywards Mrs Johnston tries to take him back,Mrs Lyons You have sex what they say about twins secretly start uped, dont you?The Mother Terrified What, what?Mrs Lyons They say they say that if either twin learns he was one of a pair they shall both die immediate ly It means, Mrs Johnston, that these brothers shall grow up incognizant of the others existence. They shall be raised apart, and never, never ever told what was once the truth. You wont tell anyone, Mrs Johnston, because if you do you shall kill them Act 1 Scene 8.Mrs Lyons is being dramatic, but she knows that Mrs Johnston is convinced, because she saw how Mrs Johnston overreacted when she put shoes on the table. Mrs Lyons is truly manipulative, but she conceals it very well. This superstition ends up backfiring on Mrs Lyons because Mrs Johnston soon forgets about it, but it continues to hangout Mrs Lyons decades later. She becomes paranoid and obsessive, believing that Mrs Johnston is following her to tell Edward the truth. This shows the reader that the superstition affects her rather of Mrs Johnston, the person it was intended for. When she is trying to convince Mrs Johnston to give away a twin, all she mentions is the materialistic prefers of her lifestyle,The Mother Hed be able to play on those lawns wouldnt he? And have his own room andMrs Lyons If he grew up here as our son He could have everything. Act 1 Scene 5.Although she agrees with everything Mrs Johnston says, Mrs Lyons never mentions if she would love the child as if it was hers. The reader could think that Mrs Lyons could give him everything apart from love.The present directions are in the text because Blood Brothers is a play. They are there because the dialogue doesnt describe how the characters are reacting or what the tantrum is like. The stage direction gives the reader an idea of what is happening, without giving too some(prenominal) away,The Mother Terrified What, what? Act 1 Scene 8.If the stage directions werent given, the reader wouldnt know how Mrs Johnston said it. She could have been curious or confused about the situation. The stage directions help with the readers imagination and interpretation of Blood Brothers.The cashier is also a very good dramatic device. He acts as a prat of the other character. The Narrator is there as a reminder of Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons agreement. The other characters dont acknowledge him which shows he is of a ghostly nature. The Narrator raises suspicion and builds up tension between the characters. He has no emotion and talks of the Devil,Theres no use clutching at your rosary The Devils in the backyard, he can see Through the gaps in the curtains he sees it all, Theres no use hiding in the hall. When he raps at the knocker then he knows youre in No you wont, no youll never get away from him No you wont, no youll never get away from him. Act 2 Scene 1.The Narrator is trying to tell Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons that their pact wont work, because the truth will be known. He uses repeating and rhyme, so that his lines are to a greater extent catchy and memorable. The Narrator is a creepy and disturbing character because he knows the future and talks about the Devil, which contacts him God-like and all seeing. He is a neutral character because he doesnt opt sides and we dont know anything about him, other than he knows the fate of each character. The Narrator also represents superstition because he is there throughout the play, reminding the reader of the lie Mrs Lyons told.The dialogue of the two families is very diverse. Mrs Johnston uses vernacular English and Mrs Lyons uses standard English. Mrs Johnston uses common English in her dialect and many slang terms throughout the play,Oh its, its smashing thank you, Mrs Lyons. Act 1 Scene 3.This shows that she wasnt brought up in a rich family or she wasnt properly educated. Mrs Lyons uses standard English in her language, since she is quite wealthy and possibly well educated. Instead of calling her son Eddie, she calls him Edward,Edward Edward its time for bed. Act 2 Scene 3.Childhood is very magnanimous in the play. The reader can see a difference in the twins upbringing. Eddie seems to have grown up very fast because at the age of seven, h e is already very polite and well spoken. His parents have influenced him because he is like a miniature adult. The reader can see that Mrs Lyons was very overprotective when she brought Eddie up, because he is already familiar with things like dictionaries at such a young age,Eddie In the dictionary. Dont you know what a dictionary is? Act 2 Scene 2.Eddie speaks like he has used a dictionary a lot, whereas Mickey doesnt know what one is, but agrees to make himself look smarter. In contrast, Mickey is more wild and untamed. He plays childhood games, like mounted Police and Indians, and runs around with a toy gasolene. Mrs Johnston credibly let him do whatever he wanted, because she had his other siblings to look after as well. This is something that Eddie never did,Were playing mounted Police, and Indians. Im a Mountie. Mam, Mam, you know this aurora weve wiped out three thousand Indians. Act 2 Scene 1.A gun is mentioned throughout the play. At first, a harmless air gun is used a toy. This symbolises the fate of the twins. The child versions think its just a toy used to vandalise, but as they grow up, real guns are used. At the end of the play, when Mickey feels that Eddie has taken everything away from him, he produces an trustworthy looking gun. Even then it isnt real. The child and the adult Mickey thinks of guns as a relic of power.When Mrs Lyons moves to the countryside, she orders that poplars be planted, so that the council estate cant be seen. The poplars are a barrier between Mrs Lyons and Mrs Johnston. Mrs Lyons wants sever all ties with the Johnston family, but they manage to move to the countryside as well.Superstition plays a big part in Blood Brothers. With the Narrator as a constant reminder, the reader sees that Mrs Lyons superstition affects every character in the play. Mrs Lyons is most affected. Simple things that a mother would tell a child would be nonsense to her, but knowing that Mrs Johnston is superstitious helped her get a child. At that point, superstition was an advantage to her. But when she faces the reality of what she has done, Mrs Lyons becomes deluded.The idea of motherhood and surrogacy is also present. Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons raise their sons very differently. Mrs Johnston lets Mickey be carefree and wild, but he isnt allowed to play safe the big houses in the park. Mrs Lyons raises Eddie the way she desires, but he finds his way back to his biological family. She becomes insane because of Eddies bonds with his real family. This reveals her real personality, compulsive and aggressive. Surrogacy is shown as a bad thing in Blood Brothers, because Mrs Johnston was reluctant to give away her child. Mrs Lyons manipulative personality is seen here, in her desperation to have a child, as she forces Mrs Johnston to give away her son.Blood brothers are also one of the themes mentioned. It started discharge as a childs alliance to his friend, but carries on until adulthood. The twins do forget about it at times in their life, but it keeps returning. The one who came up with the idea, Mickey, is the one who ends up dismissing it. He thinks nothing of it any more,Eddie Pause I thought I thought we always stuck together. I thought we were caudex brothers.Mickey That was kids stuff, Eddie, didnt anyone tell you? Pause. Mickey looking at him. An ironic snort But I suppose you still are a kid, arent you? Act 4 Scene 2.Social class and division is also mentioned. Whilst Mickey and Eddie overhaul that boundary, their mothers havent. Mrs Johnston is treated very badly because of her low-class status. When Mickey is in turn over with the police, the police matron is very patronising and shows Mrs Johnston no respect,to Mrs Johnston And he was about to yield a serious crime, love, a serious crime. Now do you get word that? The Mother nods You dont want to end up in court again do you? Eh? Shakes her head Because thats whats going to happen if I have any more trouble from one of yours Act 2 Scene 7.The Policewoman uses a threatening tone and rhetorical questions, such as Eh? She also uses repetition because she thinks that Mrs Johnston is poorly educated and inferior to her. Since Eddie was also there at the time, the Policewoman paid a visit to his house too,As I say, it was more if a prank really, Mrs Lyons. Id just dock his pocket money if I was you. But one thing I would say, and excuse me if Im interfering, but Id not let him mix with the likes of them in the future. Make sure he keeps with his own kind, Mrs Lyons, not running round with them at the other end Act 2 Scene 7.The Policewoman is more polite to Mrs Lyons. She refers to the incident as a crime to Mrs Johnston, but tells Mrs Lyons it was a prank. She doesnt use repetition with Mrs Lyons. She is at bottom Mrs Lyons house because Mrs Lyons is a respected woman and if the neighbours saw, people would talk. The Policewoman is very two-faced, treating one mother better because of her status. The town, where the characters live, is separated. The reader can see a definite social division. There is the wealthy in the big houses near the park and the workers in the council estate.

The Channel Tunnel Engineering Project

The business line cut into Engineering ProjectThe blood Tunnel (French le delve sous la Manche), widely recognized as bingle of the lands grea stress civil engineering bedevils, is a 50.5km underwater rail dig connecting Folkestone, Kent in the UK with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais in France under the slope im assort. Even though it began grammatical pull in 1988 and was opened in 1994, the idea to take a crap a cross-channel burrow was first mooted more than 200 geezerhood ago but did non materialize due to political, national security and equal considerations. However, with the tremendous en self-aggrandising in concern growth, better and alternative means of communication, convenience and fixture was necessary and hence the need for an alternative transport route was intelligibly evident. The need for much(prenominal) tunnel was further compounded with Britain joining the European Community and the cross-channel traffic doubling in the break 20 categorys ( pl umping to the labour), reflecting improved trading ming guide with the Britain and rest of Europe. The Channel Tunnel would in addition be cap adapted to provide an alternative competitive link amongst the transportation systems of the UK and France, providing some(prenominal) speed and reliability to freight deliveries. With the plastered encourage from the g everyplacenments of both sovereigns, the decision to build the Channel Tunnel was thus do. In April 1985, the British and French governments issued a cookal invitation to potential tenderers for the fixed Channel link and regular(a)tu totallyy the contract was awarded to the consortium Channel Tunnel convention Limited- France Manche S.A. (CTG/FM) ( ulterior renamed Eurotunnel).The Channel Tunnel, with the governments intention that it be privately funded and there would non be any government assistance or undert identicalg, was a build-own-operate-transfer (B-O-O-T) consider with a concession. The roll organiza tion is shown in Figure 1. In this contract arrangement, Eurotunnel would be the possessor cum operator, which was being funded by the banks and shargonholders. The governments of UK and France were represented by the Inter-Governmental boot (IGC), to which the Safety Authority and the Maitre dOeuvre (an independent proficient auditor) would report to. The IGC would then render final engineering and safety decisions. TML (essentially split from CTG/FM so as to separate the roles of owner/operator and contractor) consisted of importly of five British contractors (Translink give voice Venture) and five French contractors (G.I.E Transmanche Construction) and would carry out the locution fly the coops for the Channel Tunnel in a get and build contract. Upon completion of the intention, the British and French governments would award Eurotunnel a 55 (which was later revised to 65) stratum operating concession to repay the banks and shareholders. The Contract was dischargeici ally signed on 13 August 1986 and the fixed rail was to be fully commissioned in 1993. The portions offered by the Channel Tunnel include the Eurotunnel chick (a shuttle process for vehicles), Eurostar passenger trains and freight delivery trains.TMLs contract was to design, build, and test and commission the fixed rail tunnel. The Channel Tunnel (Figure 2) was knowing to have three cover-lined bores approximately 50km long, with 37.9km undersea and the rest under land at either ends of the English (Cheriton upright Folkstone) and French (Pas-de-Calais village of Frethun) margininals (Figure 3). Two of the test tunnels were designed to have an internal diameter of 7.6m tour the third was a 4.8m service tunnel missning midway between the both and machine-accessible to them via 3.3m diameter cross passages at 375m intervals. 2m diameter piston relief ducts connecting the briny tunnels at 250m spacing were built to prevent the accumulation of differential short letter pu blic presss and aerodynamic resistance. To facilitate operations and maintenance, four crossover caverns were built between the deuce terminals to allow trains to cross between the discharge tunnels. Two crossovers were determined close to the terminals bandage the other two were under the seabed, efficaciously dividing the tunnel into three approximately equal continuances. Figure 4 down the stairs shows the main phases of the estimate.Two separate rail tunnels were chosen instead of a whiz large twin-track rail tunnel be agent this could minimize body structure risk while at the same time enhance operations, maintenance and safety. The diameters were finalized after design analysis, development and optimization studies, taking into consideration the operation and support, speed and salute of construction. The service tunnel provided access between the running tunnels during normal and exigency situations and was equipped with a guided transport system. It was in any ca se where the water and pumping mains run and functioned as a fresh air grant duct to the tunnels in normal working condition. In addition, the service tunnel would function as a lead tunnel during construction which allowed the workers and engineers to assess and ascertain the uncharted kingdom conditions before advancing the main tunnels.Basing on the existing geo technical investigations, past tense tunneling expeditions and two additional geotechnical and geophysical surveys carried out by TML on the English Channel along the proposed tunnel line, it was ascertained that there was a plain sub-unit of the Lower Chalk layer cognize as the Chalk Marl running continuously between the two terminals. Chalk Marl, made up of change bands of marly wish-wash and limestone, was found to be the best tunneling medium as it was essentially impermeable (due to its high ashes content) and provided good short term stability under excavation, thus minimizing the number of supports requi order (Figure 5). It was designed to be bored in the bottom 15m of the Chalk Marl layer to minimize the entranceway of water from the fractures and joints, but above the Gault clay which is susceptible to swelling when wet, marvelous high stresses on the tunnel liner. The chalk marl strata dipped gently at less than 5o with smaller displacements of less than 2m due to faulting towards the UK side whereas the strata dipped hard towards the French side (up to 20o) with much bigger displacements of up to 15m (Gueterbock, 1992). Chalk at the French side was as well harder, more brittle and fractured. This thus led to the use of different tunneling methods on the English and French sides.The seaward and landward bores for all three tunnels on the UK side began at Shakespeare fall. Construction traffic would enter the tunnel via a new inclined access (Adit A2) at the Lower Shakespeare site, while worker access was built via a beak mystifyn to the tunnel level from the Upper Shake speare site (Gueterbock, 1992). Due to the debased construction time required and the relatively dry chalk marl at the UK side, it was assessed that the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) was most suitable for the UK tunnels. wiz feature film of the NATM was the interlinking of design, construction method, sequence and plant and the success of this method depended on the continuous integration of these elements by the tunneling engineers. Six TBMs were use to drive the UK tunnels spanning a constitutional distance of 84km. The TBMs were operated on an open-face mode with a social movement excavating component and a rear gripper unit which acted as a temporary anchorman point when the cutting off head drove ship at 1.5m increments (Anderson Roskrow, 1994). barb of the tunnel and erection of the tunnel liners were carried out concurrently. Depending on grime conditions, the ponderousness of the linings ranged between 380mm and 500mm. Expanded concrete lining was used f or the UK tunnels where the unbolted lining was expanded against the excavated ground. Pads on the back of the lining allowed the formation of an annulus to be filled with grout to prevent water ingress (Byrd, 1996). Each 1.5m lining ring was made up of eight precast concrete segments with a key segment. Cast contract lining segments were only used in wretched ground conditions.Over at the other side, the tunnel drives started at the cock in Sangatte in France. Due to the highly fissured ground resulting in very wet conditions on the French side, a different typewrite of TBM known as the Earth Pressure Balance Machine was used. The TBMs were designed to operate both in open and closed modes. Close mode is characterized by the sealing off of the machine from the hot up around it and the cutting head, thus keeping pressure on the dirt in front as it excavated and allowing the machine to work in the dry as the pressure in the machine was higher than the outside. The arrangement of seals on the TBM allowed it to withstand up to 10 atmospheric pressures. When the TBMs reached dryer and more favourable grounds, they could then batter to open mode. While precast sections were also used on the French side, the materials used were different owing to the different soil conditions neoprene and grout seal off bolted linings made of cast-iron and high strength concrete (Anderson Roskrow, 1994). The French tunnels were made of six 1.4 to 1.6m wide segments plus a key segment. A total of 5 TBMs were employed on the French side, and the bores from the UK and France were to finally conglomerate in the middle of the English Channel in the tunnel breakthrough phase.The Channel Tunnel project was large by any standard, with a number of key pointors that could potentially impact the parties intricate bi-nationality, private funding (thereby effectively transferring most of the financial risks to the contractors), schedule and exist. To stay attractive to investors and banks alike, the project had to reckon the following priorities minimum risk of cost overrun, minimum operating cost and maximum traffic revenue. It was recognized, from the outset, that the main challenge of the project was to resolve the logistical support associated with large dental plate tunneling and the fast-track personality of this project. The management, finance and technical challenges relate to this project would be explored in the consequent paragraphs.The first management worry encountered was the sourcing of the large number of manpower required for the construction of the Channel Tunnel. This was conducted against the background knowledge of the booming construction industry where there was stiff competition for labour. As a result, TML scoured beyond France and UK for skilled labour including experienced engineers and tunnel miners. TML also set up a training precis with Kent County Council and the manpower Services Commission to prepare workers for the myriad of jobs available as the project come alonged. The main constraint for sourcing talent was the high remuneration that accompanied themThe second management challenge was to find a solution to dispose the huge quantities of transgress that boring 150km of tunnels would produce. The problem at Sangatte was solved quite comfortably as there was a suitable land dump near the construction site and expose disposal was through with(p) by converting the tunnel spoil into a 50% slurry and then pumping it to the Ford Pignon dam above the site 3km away. However, there was very little space at Shakespeare Cliff and there was no suitable land dump nearby. Despite the fact that backfill amounting to 3.6M cubic meters of British spoil would be required at the later stage of construction, there was still a remaining 1.8M cubic meters of spoil that had to be disposed. Eurotunnel eventually found a solution which was to use the spoil to provide a flat area of land at the al-Qaida of the Shakespeare Cliff which would be landscaped and used for recreational activities. When environmentalists embossed strong objections, Eurotunnel argued that huge logistical and traffic problems would result if the spoil were to be transported elsewhere. In addition, the spoil would be contained bottom an expensive seawall of sheet stack and concrete designed to prevent the chalk fines from leaching into the sea. The constructed seawall, spanning 1795m long and up to 11.36m thick, was designed as a short term breakwater and a long term retaining structure. This land (made of spoil) was afterward transformed into the Samphire hoe Country Park. A nonher aspect of concern was the delivery of materials to the site. Whenever practi channel, delivery was done mostly by rail (for speed and convenience) and the materials delivered include the precast concrete linings, sheet piles and aggregates.Next, a nonher management challenge was the method of obtaining the large volume of concrete r equired. 442,755 concrete segments of the highest quality mixed from strong, un-reactive materials in 35 different sizes were required. They were designed to last 120 years subjected to freight rates in the lather case scenarios under two separate limit states and had to resist seismal activities, be watertight and to maintain its structural integrity regardless of the loading type (Byrd, 1996). As it was apparent that no precast company could supply such segments to fulfill TMLs requirements, TML had to create its own precast yard at the Isle of Grain in Kent, producing segments of the strongest concrete.In addition, the decision to drive all the UK tunnels from a single whole kit and boodleite gave rise to complex logistics problems be take a shit it had to support five TBMs at any one time. They required 1000 precast concrete segments daily, together with other materials such as track, cables, pipes and vent ducts. Also, at least(prenominal) 18000m3 of excavated spoil had to be take away daily. This challenge was solved by the process of time interval force would enter the tunnel via the 110m deep shaft spoil remote through Adit A1 on a 2400T/hr capacity conveyor belt and other materials transported on the five-line railway in Adit A2.Moreover, the three 50km-long tunnels had to be made an operational railway through the installation of catenary systems, cooling pipes, drainage, tracks among some(prenominal) others. condition the myriad of systems that had to be installed (e.g. 550km of drainage, fire and cooling system pipes, 1330km of cable fitted on the cable trays), TML had to manage more than 40 subcontractors competing for space on the tunnel delivery trains. The right equipment had to be supplied to the exact location at the right time especially when the delivery trains take more than an arcminute to negotiate the deep ends of the tunnels and a missing item would have caused deferment to the works. TML resolved this issue by running the tunnel works akin to a production line a materials controller was employed from the drive industry to run across smooth work processes and led the coordination and planning efforts (Anderson Roskrow, 1993). Also, TML constructed 4 diagonal cross tunnels connecting the three main tunnels to allow the delivery trains to baste between the three during the services installation phase, thereby alleviating the difficulty of mournful the materials and spoil to and fro the tunnel.Sourcing finances for the mega project was also one of the management challenges faced. Given that the initial estimation of the project cost to be around 5 billion pounds, a large amount of money was required to watch the project through to completion. As the project had to be privately funded, Eurotunnel had to bug beyond the national boundaries to secure investments. They therefore devised a financing scheme to help them tide the crisis the scheme would provide for the cost of the tunnel to be financed b y 5 billion cost of bank loans, with additional 1 billion equity from the owner, institutional investors and public crack. Preliminary equity financing would be raised in two stages (known as virtue 1 and Equity 2). Equity 1 worth 47 million was raised by cash placement by the founding shareholders. Equity 2, worth 206 million, came from both British and French investment institutions. They later came up with Equity 3, worth 770 million, and raised it by way of public share offering through the Paris and London stock exchanges concurrently. The Channel Tunnel project was thus able to proceed.Perhaps one of the greatest management challenges was how to enable the French and British work closely together. Separated by 34km of sea, their cultures are very different. Moreover, the grammatical construction codes and training (and thus the limit states of design) were different. It was a challenge bringing two different engineering styles together. To quash this challenge, it was dec ided that both countries use their own design codes for their part of the channel. Gordon Crighton, a Scot, was brought in to lead the engineering team so that both the British and French would non have disagreements since both countries had good relations with Scotland. This enabled the engineering team to work cohesively together. When it came to the design parameters, both the French and the British had to compromise. For instance, the English wanted the service bore to be 4.5m in diameter, but the French wanted 5m. In the end they agreed to a diameter of 4.8m.Besides the need to batter the challenges faced in project management, a number of technical challenges also had to be conquer. Firstly, keeping the machines on running was one of the most entangled technical challenges faced. While most tunnel miners use a high tech satellite mapping system to chart the tunnel route, this system was not effective for the Channel Tunnel as it was too far underwater. slender and exact mapping was essential for if the British and French tunnels were to be misaligned even by a small margin, they would not be able to meet up as planned in the middle of the English Channel. Therefore, the engineers unquestionable a high-tech laser guidance system. A red laser on the cutting head of the TBM would send a beam forward hitting a control point which would relay the information to the computers onboard the service trains located behind the cutting head to help them stay on course. This system enabled both teams of TBMs to successfully stay on the intended course and meet each other in the tunnel breakthrough.Another technical challenge was that the wildmotives that were used to pull the tunnel lining segments and spoil trains broke down frequently under wet conditions. Under such conditions, the wheels of the locomotives lose traction and span on the slopes and their electric systems were laden with salt wet and often leading to malfunction and power failure (Byrd, 199 6). Even though the locomotives were designed to be powered by a 500V DC strike supply and the batteries were supposed to be recharged while moving in the ohmic resistance development, they did not charge up due to the presence of water. This challenge was overcome by re pattern the locos. The locos weight was gaind for better traction and much larger capacity batteries were installed. Improvements to the pantographs design were made. The maturation in efficiency and lesser loco breakdowns made up for the corresponding increase in cost.Another technical challenge arose when the tunnels emerged from the underground tunnels up to the surface approximately 900 meters short of the terminals at the UK side. This was resolved where engineers employed three different tunneling methods to complete the tunnels via the difficult gault clay at Castle Hill. First, the NATM took the tunnel through the geologically challenging strata at Castle Hill while at either side of the hill, cut-and-co ver construction and top-down construction were used. Cut-and-cover work involved excavating the area and building the tunnel using RC boxes. Top-down construction (usually used in tight spaces) involved building the roof of the tunnel first before excavating the ground below it. The use of 3 different methods of tunneling within a short 900m deprave reflected the excellent engineering concepts used in this project.Fourth, following the geophysical and geotechnical surveys, the British anticipated that the soil stratum was mostly dry. They thus configured the TBM in open mode. However, they tunneled into unexpected micro-fissured chalk which was very permeable and very readily incapacitated the TBM. Dry chalk started to give way to moist chalk and chunks of rocks started to fall from the crown and sides of the newly excavated bore (Andrew Roskrow, 1994). The circle was not sufficiently accurate from which the concrete lining could expand. Work was then stopped to ensure worker sa fety. Eventually, the TBM was modified in situ. A series of trailing fingers were installed behind the cutting head and spanned across the lap between the head and the last section of the lining (Gueterbock, 1992). These fingers, when sliding forward during boring, restrained the chalk while at the same time allowed the segments to be erected and grouted quickly. TML also applied commodious waterproofing to the machinery and hoses to prevent them from further saltwater attack. Hence, the TBM started to make better progress and the delay was minimized.Other technical challenges and innovations include the removal of the TBMs that have end the service tunnel. Stuck in the middle of the tunnel and under the sea, these TBMs were not able to move back up. While they could have been taken apart and removed piece-wise from the tunnel, it was un want as this would incur high costs. This challenge was overcome by driving one of the TBMs slightly off the course of the tunnel and conceal it into the chalk rock. This way, the other opposing TBM could drive forward out of the tunnel. The British TBM was the one chosen to drive off-course and buried. After it drove into the rock, it was sealed off and the tunnel wall was covered with concrete slab. The French TBM was thus able to move forward to the other side of the coast and be removed. This construction innovation enabled the contractor to save costs.For a project of this gigantic scale there was bound to be budget overrun and delays. The project entailed designing building and commissioning the entire project in just cardinal years and be ready for opening in whitethorn 1993. This was not to be, as at the end of the project, the estimated budget overrun was 80% (total project cost reaching 9.2 billion) and the official opening of the Channel Tunnel was May 1994, one year later then the contractual completion date.One cause of the delay was due to the passing of the Parliamentary Bill which was required for the comme ncement of the works. This was due to the objecting voices towards the building of the Channel Tunnel and the Bill could not be passed quickly enough. The delay took up most of the float that TML ab initio had and any further delay could severely impede the construction schedule. To overcome this difficulty, TML started preliminary site works like constructing the precast yard at the Isle of Grain and placing regulates for the materials even before the Parliamentary Bill was passed. It also started a global search for manpower and engineering talents.Another cause of delay during the earlyish days of construction on the French part was due to the financial collapse of one of the firms involved in building the TBM. However, the delay was reduced with the quick mobilization of the TBM at the huge Sangatte shaft which allowed the 400T TBM body to be lowered in one piece into the tunnel. On the British side, it was the unexpected wet ground conditions that caused the slowdown in tunn eling works and resulted in a delay of more than 3 months. However, the engineers modified the TBMS by installing the trailing fingers behind the cutting head. Very soon the TBMs started to drive at record speeds.Third, the major cause of schedule delay was the departure between TML and Eurotunnel. The contractors claim that Eurotunnel owed it 1.45 billion for the ME systems installed in the tunnel was the main cause of dispute. This figure was more than twice the figure stated in the Contract, which Eurotunnel insisted that the mating owed was less than 900 million (Byrd, 1996). The protracted legal battle between the two entities delayed the project. TML decided to finance its own works while Eurotunnel sourced for funds, which potentially would push the project completion date further back. In the end, Eurotunnel touch a deal with TML where TML would need to hit a series of milestones over the months in 1993 to handover the project to Eurotunnel by Dec 1993. In return, Eurotun nel would give an prove payment of 235million to TML so that the latter would not run out of funds. This motivator enabled TML to push for progress and minimize delay.There were few causes of budget overruns. Firstly, the passkey start to completion duration was a mere 7 years, content that the project had to move from design development to completion in that length of time. As a result, many design problems (e.g. open mode TBMs used by the British) were not identified and resolved at the start of the project and no provisions were made for these provisions in the initial cost estimates. Eurotunnel thus had to source for additional funds for the project.Secondly, due to the competitive nature of the project, CTG/FM had to cut their cost estimates to the bare minimum in order to make a successful bid. This was made with the knowledge that the competing consortia would be evaluated on financial standing thus the rationale for lowering the profit margins. The subsequent cost incre ase was blamed on delays from the parliamentary process and early financing problems.Thirdly, the budget overrun was caused by the increase in costs and number of materials required for the project. Even though TML had planned to line the tunnel with cast iron segments rather than concrete in wet ground as they were more watertight, they had not expected the UK TBMs to also hit poor ground (contrary to geotechnical analysis results). The required amount of cast iron had already exceeded the total amount of cast iron originally estimated when this happened and cost increase was inevitable. TML tried to reduce costs by hastening the tunneling process and modifying the TBMs.While the project was delayed many times due to boardroom disputes and unexpected site conditions, innovative ideas were put into practice that helped to increase productivity. For instance, due to the poor ground conditions and water ingress at the UK side, TML had wanted to use cast-iron linings which at that time were already over-budgeted. However, innovative ideas led to the modification of the tunnel linings, known as hybrid linings where areas of high stresses would be taken by the iron while the bulk of the lining ring was still made of concrete. non only did these linings save TML close to 20million, it also reduced three months on the critical path. In addition, improvements and modifications to the TBMs were made, their lining erectors and spoil removal systems extensively changed, their electronic systems simplified and waterproofed. The TBMs performance improved tremendously and soon they were breaking world records for tunneling rates. Miners and workers were also incentivized for good work progress so that their morale remained high. Their pay was reviewed to remain market- competitive. Eurotunnel also formed a policing arm known as the Project Implementation Division to keep check on the construction progress and on TML to do more to stay on the plan timetable.The total death toll for this project was increasing at an terrible rate towards 1990. Safety at the construction sites were put under acuate scrutiny. This prompted TML to embrace DuPonts safety practices and principles, and made a few innovations to its safety plan. Firstly, a series of mainly one-to-one audits were carried out by the foremen and supervisors on the workers at work. These were no-risk audits, and the auditee was encouraged to tell the auditor of his observed actions that were less safe than desired and was also encouraged to make safety suggestions. Completed audits identifying the auditor (but not the auditee) were analyzed by a senior line manager and summarized for the topical anesthetic line manager to identify trends and plan follow up actions (Byrd, 1996). As a result, many previously unidentified safety issues were found and subsequently resolved or mitigated. Secondly, safety prizes were awarded, through lottery, to individuals or team of personnel who managed to achie ve 25000 of accident-free work activity. Thirdly, poster campaigns were carried out to address safety issues such as track safety and proper PPE. These campaigns were complemented by other form of media such as safety notes in payslips, on site telecasting presentations and toolbox briefings to all employees. These safety practices resulted in zero deaths for the next two years of construction.To conclude, the Channel Tunnel was a mammoth privately-funded project in its own right. It was of no mean feat for the completion of a project involving 2 countries separated by a sea 34km long and both being traditionally rivals. Even though it was completed a year late and at least cost overrun of at least 80%, the Channel Tunnel can still be considered a success, this in view of the management, technical and financing challenges faced by the parties end-to-end the project. Apart from the famous senior management battles and arbitration between the owner and contractor, it must be noted t hat the management and technical innovations led to an increase in productivity and should be used as a name for future projects.