Managing Financial Resources and Decisions Essay

1. Equity capital (owners capital) for Blue Orange Solutions Equity is an external source of funds available to business and these are generated from the shareholders/investors. This is considered as the safest source of start-up funds. In case of a private limited company, the amounts are invested by the shareholders who are known to each other. But in case of a public limited company, the amounts can be invested by general public or institutional investors. – The funding is committed to business as the investors can only realise their investment if the business is doing well, e.g. through stock market flotation or a sale to new investors. – No financing costs involved as the business will not have to keep up with costs of servicing bank loans or debt finance, allowing to use the capital for business activities. – Outside investors can bring valuable skills, contacts and experience to your business. They can also assist with strategy and key decision making. â⠂¬â€œ Investors are often prepared to provide follow-up funding as the business grows. The principal disadvantages of equity finance are: – Raising equity finance is demanding, costly and time consuming, and may take management focus away from the core business activities. – Potential investors will seek comprehensive background information on the business. – Depending on the investor, original investors will lose a certain amount of power to make management decisions. – There can be legal and regulatory issues to comply with when raising finance, e.g. when promoting investments. 2. Bank loan for Blue Orange Solutions A debt financing obligation issued by a bank or similar financial institution to a company or individual that holds legal claim to the borrower’s assets above all other debt obligations. The loan is considered senior to all other claims against the borrower, which means that in the event of a bankruptcy the bank loan is the first to be repaid, before all other interested parties receive repayment. Bank loans are usually secured via a lien against the assets of the borrower. At the time the loan is made, there typically tend to be no other existing liens on the borrower’s assets, or at least not on any of the assets being secured by the bank loan. Advantages: – A bank loan can be used in a number of ways; money can be borrowed for many large-ticket items – A bank loan can be secured in a specific time frame Disadvantages: – Some loans carry a prepayment penalty, high penalty rates, other finance charges – There are a number of limitations on the transaction – Borrowing too much money can lead to decreased cash flow and payments can even overtake income in some cases. 3. Bank overdraft for Blue Orange Solutions An overdraft is a temporary facility added to business’s bank accounts which allows the account to be overdrawn by a certain amount. The business is charged interest based on the amount overdrawn and the length of time overdrawn, and are usually charged a regular fee for the use of the facility. An overdraft is particularly useful when business has regular sales and purchases and is to finance temporary cash shortages. They are a good backup to ensure business can pay its bills. An overdraft is not supposed to be a permanent source of finance. Advantages of Overdrafts Flexible – An overdraft is available when business needs it and costs very small amount of charges. It allows business to make essential payments in case of cash shortages. Quick – Overdrafts are easy and quick to arrange, providing a good cash flow backup with the minimum of fuss. Disadvantages of Overdrafts Cost – Overdrafts carry interest and fees; often at much higher rates than loans. The business face large charges if you go over the agreed overdraft limit. Recall – Unless specified in the terms and conditions, the bank can recall the entire overdraft at any time. Security – Overdrafts may need to be secured against business assets, which put them at risk if payments cannot be made. Business Angels for Blue Orange Solutions Business angels are wealthy individuals who invest in start-up and growth businesses in return for equity in the company, they are also called informal investors. The investment can involve both time and money, depending upon the investor. Business angels can operate independently, but many work as a syndicate (a group of individuals or organizations combined to promote some common interest). Business angels typically invest  £500,000 in a company. On average, business angels in the UK invest  £42,000, and each investor makes around six investments. Where larger amounts are invested in a business, this usually takes place through a syndicate of angels organised through the entrepreneur’s personal contacts or a business angel network. As well as cash, business angels can offer years of experience in the business world, not to mention useful contacts to help you grow your business, which can add real value to your company. Although some prefer to become a sleeping partner, others will get actively involved in business, offering help with anything from writing a marketing plan to taking the company through a flotation on the stock market. Indeed, the BBAA / NESTA report recommends that angels invest in their area of expertise and stay connected with the business, preferably at board level, as a way of improving the success rate of angel deals. Venture Capital for Blue Orange Solutions A venture capital firm is a group of investors who gain income from wealthy people who want to grow their wealth. They take this money and use it to invest in more risky businesses than a traditional bank is willing to take on. Because the investments are risky, the venture capital firm typically expects a higher return on the businesses it is investing in than other types of lenders would. The interest rate or higher cost of capital is worth it to the business, however, because the business would otherwise not receive the financing needed. Venture capital firms work under a specific investment profile. The investment profile is a document that outlines the types of businesses the firm is willing to invest in. By targeting their investments to certain types of businesses only, the venture capital firm can learn the ropes of a particular industry, and thus be better prepared to decide which new or expanding businesses are the best investments. And venture capital firms do not just provide start up financing. They can also provide expansion financing for promising businesses. When individual investors entrust their money to a venture capital firm, the firm puts the money in a fund. This fund is then invested in several companies, with the expectation that the companies will be able to repay the money in around three to seven years.

Three Day Road

Wandering Windigo of the Wemistikoshiw The novel Three Day Road can be viewed as an explicit indicator as to the importance of sustaining cultural identity, and the consequences associated with its absence from any aspect of human life. The tale provides a salient setting through which this spiritual malfeasance is brought about, with much of its content consisting of the supremacy of the wemistikoshiw, or white man, over the Aboriginals in World War 1. The novel’s European setting manifests the primary cause for the spiritual bankruptcy of Elijah Weesacheejak, one of the story’s central figures and the novel’s primary thematic microcosm. Influenced deeply by Western ideals, he is said to be a windigo which, as explained by the aboriginal bushmaster, Niska, is characterized by: â€Å"†¦sadness so pure that it [shrivels] the human heart and [lets] something else grow in its place† (Boyden 261). A polar opposite to Elijah, Niska recognizes the necessity of spirituality rooted in tradition, and is able to identify the Windigo as a logical product of wemistikoshiw influence. Her nephew, Xavier, is defiantly against European conformity in much the same way, sacrificing physical well-being for the sake of the Cree culture which he cherishes and to which he hopes to return in the wake of the war. It is clear that each of these three characters is negatively affected by the widespread influence of the whites, albeit to different degrees. Each character’s amount of exposure to wemistikoshiw culture corresponds proportionately to both their bodily state by the novel’s end, and their specific levels of windigo-ism. Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road illuminates the Windigo’s corruption of identity through the personalities of Xavier, Niska and Elijah via their cultural adherence, contrasting health, and dynamic relationships. Much like two sides of the same coin, Western and Aboriginal societies share a structural essence, but vary wildly in their fundamental ideals and respective emphases. Xavier is aware of this distinction between the two peoples, saying: â€Å"†¦I’m left wondering what connection there might be between their [the European] world and mine† (246), in a manner which would suggest that one must belong to one ‘world’ or another, but never both simultaneously. Xavier chooses to live by Aboriginal tradition, as exemplified through his frequent neglect of wemistikoshiw behaviours. A prevalent literary critic explains the significance of naming in this respect, exclaiming that the: â€Å"†¦various names ssumed by or assigned to Xavier and Elijah signify to what extent their identities are able to transcend or fall victim to [the influence of the West]†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å" (Gordon 7). The only Western name assigned to Xavier is ‘X’ in light of his extraordinary shooting precision (Boyden 109). Despite the name’s positive connotations, Bird discards it, keeping to his original alias, which is bestowed upon him by his cherished Aboriginal friends (360, 363). It is evident, then, that Xavier’s neglect of the wemistikoshiw ways runs deep, and even when facing external, culture-based adversity, becoming an outcast is always a preferable option to abandonment of his tradition. Unlike the other soldiers, Xavier never acquires even the slightest appetite for killing, believing it to be wasteful in the context of war, since there is nothing to be gained but fresh supplies of bloodshed (Bohr). Initially, Xavier is revolted by the sight of death soon after he witnesses it devastate a German, saying, â€Å"The image of the soldier’s head exploding makes may stomach churn† (Boyden 88). In order to remedy this spiritual deficit he associates with letting the lives of other be wasted, Bird turns to prayer, which keeps him centered and stable within the comfort of his cultural roots. Over the entire course of the novel, Xavier never once forgets the importance of his background in regards to his current situation, meaning that he remains metaphysically anchored in spite of his foreign surroundings. Supplementary to Xavier, in terms of spiritual independence, is Niska, whose understanding of the wemistikoshiw transcends that of every other character in the novel, and stems from both her experiential knowledge of Western culture and the windigo. An objectivist to the core, Niska represents an archetype of cultural wisdom, as described by Joseph Boyden: â€Å"I wanted her to be a strong woman who was doing this [being a woman of the bush] despite what everyone says about her and the toughness of her existence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wylie 229). Niska is exposed to the horrors of the world at an early age, witnessing events such as her father’s murder of one of her fellow Cree gone windigo (Boyden 45). This coupled with her being used sexually by the Frenchman, who claimed to have â€Å"†¦fucked ahcahk, [her] spirit† (174), out of lustful capitalism creates a perfect storm of familiarity with the human condition within her. Niska realizes that the man-made society of the whites further pronounces the flaws of the human spirit, thereby differentiating between her culture and that of the emistikoshiw. She explains this difference early on in the novel, by way of her epileptic visions: â€Å"No one is safe in such times, not even the Cree of the Mushkegowuk. War touches everyone, and windigos spring from the earth† (49). In order to prevent the mingling of Aboriginal and European lifestyles, she completely refuses to submit to the will of the wemistikoshiw, even when forced to live in one of their resi dential schools as a young girl. The bushmaster neglects even menial compulsories, such as hair-cutting, saying, â€Å"They were going to remove the black hair that reached my waist as a symbol of wemistikoshiw authority, of our [the Cree’s] defeat† (93). Coming from a long line of Cree chieftains, Niska not only seeks to avoid the company of windigos, but also is obligated to dispose of them in the best interest of her fellow aboriginals (48). Niska’s comprehension of selfishness’ presence in both the wemistikoshiw and the Windigo contribute to her consequent avoidance of the two, and in turn, her unwavering state of impeccable spiritual stagnancy throughout the novel. Contrarily, Elijah succumbs completely to the culture of the white man, becoming immersed in its ideals and pursuits to the point of morphing into a fully fledged windigo. The reason for Weesacheejak’s uprooted spiritual state can be traced back to his upbringing, which consisted of an intensely ambiguous cultural identity. Growing up in residential schools for much of his life, Elijah is brainwashed into thinking of the Aboriginals as a â€Å"†¦backwards people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (56) by the nuns who live with him. The seeds of European identity clash with those of the Aboriginal culture when he is adopted by Niska, and resultantly, a fragile concept of cultural integrity emerges within him. This identity crisis contributes significantly to his inevitable saturation into the violence of the West, as described by the author Vikki Visvis: â€Å"†¦ Elijah’s perverted determination is primarily the product of the wartime environment, which is an inherently Western endeavor† (273). Elijah learns, very much unhealthily, that identity is malleable, and depends entirely on circumstance rather than individual character. This lack of oneness can be examined easily through his acts in The Great War, which consist of both the impulsive murder and the desecration of his victims (Boyden 310). Elijah’s lack of cultural foundation is responsible for each of these atrocities, and he believes that by committing acts such as scalping those he kills, he is somehow able to absorb a portion of their spirit. Xavier describes Elijah’s carnage as a â€Å"†¦spark which fills his belly when it gnaws for food (200),† thereby pronouncing the young man’s profound emotional imbalances. Elijah’s reliance on the mastery he achieves by ‘owning’ the flesh of his victims is hauntingly reminiscent of the definition of the Windigo, and this is no accident made by Boyden. Despite his inferiority to Xavier in regards to his skills in marksmanship (78), it is he, not his Cree companion who yearns for the blood of his enemies. Such a skewed perspective which testifies to the irrelevant nature of morality can be attributed to the boy’s faithless and marred upbringing. Like a true Windigo, it is Elijah’s lack of cultural backbone which provokes the collapse of his soul, as he contains no trace of the fundamental axioms required in the construction of a spiritually healthy human being. Vividly reflecting the spiritual status of Xavier, Niska and Elijah, is their amount of mental and physical trauma, which is minimized when rooted in a fixed, adaptable personality. Xavier is the prime example of an individual whose disposition itself promotes a fragile psyche, which contains a dangerously low capacity for negative emotions. Caught in the thick of the Great War, there are many instances in the novel which expose Bird’s benevolent personality in order to provide a reason for the corporeal turmoil which he endures. Xavier’s forgiving soul is illustrated multitudinously throughout the novel, emerging most prominently in his taking of Elijah’s namesake after his death, despite the dark circumstances surrounding it (375). Not confined to sorrow based solely on human tragedy, Xavier takes pity on even the lesser forms of life, which are senselessly destroyed as a result of the war. This universal respect for entities is present when he refuses to sweep the swallow’s nest from his cabin window. This defiance initiates his explicit description of Elijah’s carrying out of the terrible deed: Two [birds] are lifeless, killed instantly by the fall. The third raises its featherless head, bewildered, its eyes large and round above its small yellow beak. Its tiny wings beat frantically on the floor, then more slowly. The mother bird cries out. The baby swallow’s lids sink and it ceases to move. I turn my head away from all of them. (Boyden 258) Inherently, Xavier is a character who easily becomes sick with depression due to his compassionate nature, hindering him in certain situations, yet proving to be essential to his maintained Aboriginal perspective as his time spent in the war increases. He deems the west to be a â€Å"strange place where the entire world’s trouble explodes† (22), and it is therefore inevitable that his extensive exposure to the war-torn battlefields of Europe instigates his severe mental strain. Discretely physical, alternatively, is his involuntary ingestion of morphine, which only serves to numb his senses into weakness, threatening his life when he enters withdrawal (289). Despite these eminent dangers to Xavier’s mental and physical state, however, it is his spiritual fortitude which enables both his mind and body to be salvaged by Niska via the matatosowin, or purification ceremony which customarily follows the three day voyage by which a Cree returns to his/her people after a long absence. As explained by Neta Gordon, the event marks a certain: â€Å"†¦constructive deconstruction, and a forward-looking inclination towards healing and hope† (2). Xavier’s symbolic journey represents not the death of his physical body, but the annihilation of the last wemistikoshiw remnant clouding his sanity – his addiction to morphine. In spite of the wide variety of factors hindering Xavier’s will to survive, he is able to outlive his anarchic environment by accessing his actively ethical and tempered personality. Niska is very similar to her nephew in this respect, withstanding an onslaught of traumatizing circumstances back in Canada which test her bodily and cranial stature. Unlike Xavier, however, she is adept in her esoteric self-sufficiency (35), being able to distract her corporeal self from pending danger by actualizing her love of anecdotes. The primary medium she accomplishes this through is her participation in speech craft, which she uses to listen to and project tribal stories as a means of satiating her spiritual hunger (Bohr). A consistent theme embedded within the novel is Niska’s own retelling of her life to Xavier, as embodied by a quote: â€Å"Words are all I have now. I’ve lived alone so long that I’m [Niska] starved to talk† (89). Even earlier in her life than Xavier, the Cree woman develops the aptitude for developing a thick skin via the harnessing emotions such as heartbreak for conversion to wisdom. Her exposure to the Frenchman is notable in this regard. It serves Niska as an impetus through which she begins to develop a mature, progressive outlook on life. Reminiscing about this boost to her spiritual immune system, she says, â€Å"I was young, and the emotions of the young are as strong a pull as the arctic tides that suck fishermen’s canoes out into the bay to be lost forever† (165). In this way, she is able to look back on the event of the European’s quick departure after their first sexual encounter, and understand its arrogant, chauvinistic connotations (135). Upon adaptation to her current situation, she achieves a level of spiritual purity mutual to that of Xavier. With this in mind, it is only through the undamaged will of both Niska and Xavier that he is cleansed of the complete collapse of self which foreruns death (379), and partakes in the â€Å"physical necessity† (Gordon 4) which allows him to survive the ordeal. Were it not for the complimentary moral steadfastness of these two characters, each would have been subjected to profound devastation, with one of them perishing, only to leave the other in a state of mourning over the severing of her last, greatest familial connection. Such an anchored identity is devoid in Elijah’s life, however, as exemplified through his deteriorating eupepsia, which reaches its apex at his demise. At the heart of Elijah’s ambiguous, conditional personality is his unending thirst for exhilaration as a form of immediate gratification. Saturated by the empiricism of the residential schools, which deny the existence of all aboriginal deities, Elijah thrives on the seemingly transcendent feeling of adrenaline coursing through his veins. When Xavier ponders the spreading of a forest fire into the town they reside in before the war, Elijah responds with: â€Å"Can you imagine anything more glorious? † (Boyden 142), thereby manifesting his twisted disposition towards fear, while also foreshadowing his eventual descent into lunacy. Lieutenant Breech’s evaluation of the aboriginal people finds a portion of truth in Elijah, since metaphorically, his blood really is, â€Å"†¦closer to that of an animal than that of a man,† (101). In order to subconsciously override this perverted perspective in favour of a religious outlook, he turns to the recreational use of morphine, which is present in high amounts amongst his brother in arms, Grey Eyes. When describing its effects, Elijah says: â€Å"It allowed me to leave my body and see what was around me. I see how it could be a very powerful tool in a place like this† (128). By no coincidence, this passage occurs at around the same point where Elijah loses his knowledge of the aboriginal tongue, and thus, becomes linguistically assimilated by his fellow soldiers. The morphine hollows Elijah’s soul and accelerates his acculturation, causing him to pursue pleasure and meaning from killing (283), through which he attains the spontaneous euphoria which he craves. Instead of discovering the spiritual intelligence and purpose of which his life is bankrupt, he loses grasp on the distinction of reality and fantasy, with Xavier exclaiming late in the novel that, â€Å"†¦he [Elijah] walks with one foot in this world, [and] one firmly planted in the other world† (334). Additionally, the morphine ingestion was meant to rid him of his inner demons, such as his previously stated animalistic tendencies. Instead, it only serves to sharpen these instincts, and feed them with a profound apathy that enables Elijah to live without fear of moral consequences (212). This quickly advances into an addiction which exceeds recreational foundations in favour of unbridled dependence, and is the primary reason for Elijah’s eventual metamorphosis into a walking anathema. As stated by the author, Vikki Visvis, â€Å"Elijah’s windigo state is part shell shock, part morphine emotional addiction induced by European contact, and part internalized racism learned at residential schools† (Visvis 223). Therefore, Elijah’s downward spiral into death was not based significantly on his overuse of morphine, but his spiritual surrender to the drug. Over time his relationship with Grey Eyes (Boyden 313) becomes one which is entirely centered on the drug, and is therefore, not a true relationship at all, but an uninvolved, symbiotic connection existing only to satiate dark indulgences of a stereotypical windigo. The notion of relationships present in the lives of Xavier, Niska, and Elijah reveals, through their level of social authenticity, how completely they have become absorbed into the world of the wemistikoshiw. Xavier’s relationship with the Ontario Rifles can be accurately described as precarious and fluctuant. He refuses to socialize with the vast majority of his wartime acquaintances met during the war, with the exception of war veterans Thompson and General McCann (317). Bird reveres the two, figuring that they have each tolerated war for many years without cracking under its sinister pressure. The fact that Bird respects their capacity for bodily toil without the use of morphine indicates an avid understanding of both the war’s potential dangers, and its ability to corrupt those not willing to remain immovably independent from its paradigms. When describing the nature of the Great War, Xavier personifies it as a monster which hungers for the bodies of soldiers (73), thus explaining the prayers he sends to Gitchi Manitou, requesting a safe return home to his aunt in Moose Factory (237). Consequently, Xavier’s seclusion from the vast majority of the Ontario Rifles flourishes, and is only ompounded by his unwillingness to learn English and loss of hearing (227). Bird, however, is dynamic in his relationships on occasion, as with the case of his pseudo-lover, Lisette. Initially, Xavier believes her to be an innocent soul who is untouched by the hedonism and selfishness of the West, swiftly proceeding into what he believes to be a loving relationship with her (159 ). He is overwhelmed with feelings of aching for her not long afterwards, deciding to disobey the orders of his superiors and return to the town where they met. He is unexpected met with animosity from the girl, who turns out to be not as authentic as she first appeared: â€Å"’You can’t stay, Indian boy,’ she whispers. My stomach feels as if it has been punched so hard that all the air has left it. ‘I am with another. He is upstairs’† (252). Crushed by the betrayal he feels upon discovering Lisette to be a prostitute, Xavier’s isolation reaches its all-time peak. Despite being left with only affection for his heritage and aunt, he remains religiously disciplined when continuing his participation in the war. By the end of the novel, Xavier completely comprehends the nature of the West’s cultural imperialism and individualistic ideals. He recognizes these traits in Elijah, causing their friendship to decay at a breakneck pace. With the established practice of Niska in mind, he carries on the legacy of the Windigo-killer, and murdering Elijah for the sake of the sane. As described by Neta Gordon: â€Å"The role of the windigo killer is taken on because it fulfills the community necessity, and, in the case of†¦Xavier, it is taken on rather inadvertently and somewhat reluctantly† (Gordon 11). Xavier’s most endearing attribute, therefore, is his independence, because it facilitates his ability glimpse at his communal surroundings objectively, and make correspondingly righteous decisions. The greatest example of an ethical figure present in the novel, however, is Niska, whose wild life alone in the bush proves to be the perfect setting for producing a terrene, detached shaman. In her epileptic visions, Niska establishes somewhat of a one-sided relationship with the conflict in Europe, which cultivates her interest of the Windigo psychosis scourging the continent. To this end, she ominously states: â€Å"The sickness of the windigo could spread as surely as the invisible sickness of the windigo† (Boyden 262). Like Xavier’s use of Thompson and McCann as moral benchmarks, Niska leans on her family for moral support throughout the novel: namely her father and sister, Rabbit. The salience of these two characters is the radically opposing symbolism which they maintain in their relationship with the bushmaster. While Rabbit teaches the Niska unconditional love through fond memories (34), her father, the late hookimaw, or village elder, instills in her a primitive sense of respect and tradition. It is from these two characters that Niska is able to educate the last of her kin, Xavier, in the ways of the Cree, and ultimately, provide him with the emotional stability necessary to survive the effects of war through what Neta Gordon calls a â€Å"detoxification† process (Gordon 4). Most prevalent and divulging of Niska’s connection with others is her role as a Windigo-killer, which implies an acute responsibility for making difficult choices which often contradict what is deemed to be ‘civilized’ (Boyden 169). Ironically, it is Niska’s solitude and right-judgment which give her the reputation as what Xavier, and undoubtedly many others call a â€Å"†¦ good and crazy woman† (221). In actuality, Niska’s actions exude wisdom, pragmatism, and an authentic desire to obliterate the radiating wreckage of the Windigo. The malfunctioned motivations of a windigo cannot warrant animosity on their own, and rely on the destructive actions of characters like Elijah to animate their nature. As described by Joseph Boyden: â€Å"He [Elijah] isn’t grounded in his place or culture, and this ends up being very damaging to him† (Wyile 230). Incessant boasting is what is most easily evident in his demeanor, with Xavier pointing out a multitude of situations in which Elijah can be found falsely glorifying himself due to his emotional insecurity (Boyden 77). At one point in the novel, Xavier declares: I look around and realize that I know very few men by name any more. So many have come and gone that I’ve lost track. Amazingly, Elijah seems to know all of them, acts as if he’s known them for years. 243) The white-washed Weesacheejak is only capable of establishing superficial relationships with the other soldiers by donning a â€Å"mask† (314) which, in reality, distances him further from his allies than even Xavier does. A will to dominate sprouts from his impersonal approach to friendship, resulting in the fiery approach to human interaction that is demonstrated in Weesacheejak’s relationship with Peggy. When scouting one day with Xavier, he says, quite irrelevantly, â€Å"I am better than Peggy. He cannot take a scalp. He cannot do what I do† (246). Elijah’s attitudes towards superseding others are crystallized in his love for flying, since it entails an elevated level of importance in comparison to civilization, which is largely terrestrial. Ironically, when he does experience flight for the first time in an aero plane, it brings him a great pain, (331) thus foreshadowing the untimely demise of which he experiences by the novel’s close, which is brought about by his greed for contention. Most detrimental to Elijah’s psyche, undoubtedly, is his swift acceptance of western customs and paradigms, which is demonstrated by his conformity to the warmongering attitudes of his colleagues. Elijah’s bloodlust steadily increases throughout the duration of the novel, earning him medals of honour for his â€Å"unmatched bravery† in the face of battle (254). What these medals symbolize is a complete forfeit of his kinship with the Cree, a culture which preaches the sanctity of every form of life. Additionally, the medals indicate the completeness of Elijah’s assimilation into Europe’s wartime effort, and the connotations of selfishness which fester in its nucleus. Deranged and unsatisfied with even this acknowledgement, however, Elijah’s desire for human flesh continues to define him to the point of unsuccessfully assaulting Xavier, and dying in the process. He is the epitome of a non-Aboriginal, having always having what Xavier calls a â€Å"†¦gift for the wemistikoshiw language† (59). Elijah does not discover other people, which soils the seed of a robust relationship, but uses them as devices for augmenting his ego in a fashion typical of both an avaricious European and the Windigo. The purpose of Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden is to introduce the Windigo’s infectious and corrosive potential for spiritual defilement through the personalities of Xavier, Niska and Elijah via their cultural adherence, contrasting health, and dynamic relationships. The degree to which these three protagonists repel or embrace attitudes characteristic of the Windigo determines their physical, mental, and spiritual condition by the end of the anecdote. The novel’s ‘Wandering Windigo,’ Elijah, is portrayed as an individual who can find neither a form of metaphysical shelter, nor a definite identity, resulting in his decline into nothingness. In his downfall however, Elijah destroys the lives of hundreds, highlighting the necessity for Xavier’s donning of the Windigo-killer from Niska. By way of extension, Boyden speaks, via the juxtaposition of Xavier and Niska in comparison to Elijah, of the importance of the righteous, and their responsibility to eradicate evil before it is able to worsen despite the contesting pressures of one’s affiliates. Most importantly, the novel is Boyden’s plea to immerse children in the indigenous dimensions of their ethnicity and nationality in order to construct a strong sense of identity. An Aboriginal himself, Boyden describes Three Day Road as a cautionary tale (393) in which the human person is presented as a feeble, vulnerable entity which can only be sustained when its body, mind, and spirit are in communion with one another. The novel seeks to be food for thought, asking its audience how they would respond to excruciating circumstances such as war – whether they would be able to stay anchored enough to survive it, or experience the downwards spiral of the Windigo. In the course of our lives, will we journey along the road most travelled, losing ourselves to the entropic tides of conformity, or pave our own path in order to live an independent, fruitful existence? Three Day Road Arthur Joseph Boyden represents Carl Jung’s idea that humans often create a persona in order to be perceived by society in a certain way through the journey of the main character in the novel ‘Three Day Road’. Joseph Boyden illustrates the idea that war may impact someone to become something they initially weren’t. That being said, World War I, Aboriginal sniper Elijah Weesageechak becomes mentally and physically corrupted by the war, which results to his inevitable death. Further more, the loss of identity, his desire to become a war hero, and the use of morphine to escape reality caused Elijah Weesageechak to become a motionless killer.Once Elijah joined the Canadian army, he immediately did what ever he could in order to blend in with the other soldiers. Elijah had initially been able to speak English so he could communicate with the white soldiers, for he was raised by nuns in a residential school. To hide that he was an Aboriginal man, Elijah chose to adopt a British accent and speaking style when among the other soldiers. â€Å"Dear Henry, would you be a kind chap and make me a cup of tea? † (144). Elijah’s decision to not speak Cree when around his peers was his attempt to blend in with the rest of his former soldiers.Ditching his original Cree accent and adopting a British one was Elijah first step to creating his new persona. After Elijah became more familiar with the other soldiers, Corporal Thompson had chosen Elijah to be apart of a night raid. During the raid, Elijah and his best friend Xavier threw mill bombs into a German trench, thus killing the people inside. When Elijah returned to the Canadian trench, Corporal Thompson asked him if he enjoyed the night raid. Elijah responded, â€Å"It’s in my blood† (75). By doing so, Elijah had gone against the traditional Cree ways he was taught by Xavier and Niska.Instead he had modified his persona to embrace war and killing, which contradicts his ini tial belief before entering the war. That being said, it is quite evident that Elijah had disregarded his Cree traditions so he could become someone who only cared about killing and to fulfil his desired reputation as a deadly sniper. In order for Elijah to prove his killing abilities as a soldier to his peers, he begins to collect the scalps of his killings as trophies. In the novel, Elijah asks, â€Å"And what will collecting these trophies do for me? † â€Å"They will buy you honour among us† Francis says. â€Å"And we are honourable men† (204).Elijah feels as though he has to prove his killing abilities by gathering scalps so he will be accepted and favoured by his fellow soldiers. During Elijah’s quest on becoming a war hero, Elijah begins to enjoy killing and the fame that he receives from it. Elijah feels he must rise at every opportunity in order to impress his peers. An occurrence where Elijah’s persona was shown was when the Germans were retreating from a battle, and Elijah picked a target far off in the distance and shot him. The Canadian soldiers around him cheered and said that they will never see anything like that again.Elijah arrogantly responded: â€Å"Until the next time you are with me in a similar situation† (243). Elijah was unable to stop killing for he had become addicted to the fame he was rewarded with. This is revealed in the novel when Elijah says, â€Å"I’d go mad in a hospital so far away from it all† (150). Elijah’s desire to become a war hero caused him to partake in countless murders in order to impress others. He was able to do so with no emotion through his frequent use of morphine. Elijah used morphine when he participated in raids in order to get a ‘sense’ of his surroundings.Xavier description of Elijah on morphine is explained as: â€Å"But when the golden liquid is in his veins! Even at night the world is bathed in a soft light†¦He can make himself float from his body at will and look down at the world below him† (212). Elijah’s natural talent for hunting combined with his unhealthy use of morphine made him twice as dangerous. Without the morphine in his veins, Elijah became scared of the worlds, which lead him to use it more frequently. As he abused morphine, the real world became distorted. Without fear and pain, war was a game to Elijah.A game he enjoyed and became good at. Through the use of morphine, Elijah lacked an anchor to reality and because of this, killing became mechanical. An example of this is when Elijah and Xavier are on a sniping mission, they mistake a woman for an enemy and Elijah shoots her. Xavier angrily questions Elijah’s reaction to kill the woman. Elijah defends himself by responding with â€Å"I am trained not to hesitate in situations of danger† (306). Elijah’s response was robotic and emotionless. Eventually, Elijah starts to kill Canadian soldiers who get in his way.Xavier realizes Elijah has been completely broken by the war and has to be put down. Xavier is forced to kill his best friend, for the war changed him into a man he no longer knew. World War I was evidently too much for Elijah to handle. In order to fit in with the rest of the soldiers he had to throw away his Aboriginal Cree identity and adopt a British one which eventually lead to Elijah performing actions that went against the Cree traditions. That being said, he began to embrace war and killing in order to impress his fellow soldiers, as his ultimate conquest was to become a war hero.Further more, Elijah’s conscious was too powerful and filled his heart with guilt, which resulted in his use of morphine to conceal his inner emotions. With the aid of drugs, Elijah had become a mechanical killing robot whose thirst for blood was immeasurable. Unfortunately his uncontrollable actions were beginning to cause harm to his fellow peers, which resulted in the decision t o kill Elijah to protect the safety of the Canadian soldiers. Finally, Joseph Boyden illustrates the idea that the destruction of war may have an impact on one’s inner self and that fame and acceptance is something one is willing to die for. Three Day Road Wandering Windigo of the Wemistikoshiw The novel Three Day Road can be viewed as an explicit indicator as to the importance of sustaining cultural identity, and the consequences associated with its absence from any aspect of human life. The tale provides a salient setting through which this spiritual malfeasance is brought about, with much of its content consisting of the supremacy of the wemistikoshiw, or white man, over the Aboriginals in World War 1. The novel’s European setting manifests the primary cause for the spiritual bankruptcy of Elijah Weesacheejak, one of the story’s central figures and the novel’s primary thematic microcosm. Influenced deeply by Western ideals, he is said to be a windigo which, as explained by the aboriginal bushmaster, Niska, is characterized by: â€Å"†¦sadness so pure that it [shrivels] the human heart and [lets] something else grow in its place† (Boyden 261). A polar opposite to Elijah, Niska recognizes the necessity of spirituality rooted in tradition, and is able to identify the Windigo as a logical product of wemistikoshiw influence. Her nephew, Xavier, is defiantly against European conformity in much the same way, sacrificing physical well-being for the sake of the Cree culture which he cherishes and to which he hopes to return in the wake of the war. It is clear that each of these three characters is negatively affected by the widespread influence of the whites, albeit to different degrees. Each character’s amount of exposure to wemistikoshiw culture corresponds proportionately to both their bodily state by the novel’s end, and their specific levels of windigo-ism. Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road illuminates the Windigo’s corruption of identity through the personalities of Xavier, Niska and Elijah via their cultural adherence, contrasting health, and dynamic relationships. Much like two sides of the same coin, Western and Aboriginal societies share a structural essence, but vary wildly in their fundamental ideals and respective emphases. Xavier is aware of this distinction between the two peoples, saying: â€Å"†¦I’m left wondering what connection there might be between their [the European] world and mine† (246), in a manner which would suggest that one must belong to one ‘world’ or another, but never both simultaneously. Xavier chooses to live by Aboriginal tradition, as exemplified through his frequent neglect of wemistikoshiw behaviours. A prevalent literary critic explains the significance of naming in this respect, exclaiming that the: â€Å"†¦various names ssumed by or assigned to Xavier and Elijah signify to what extent their identities are able to transcend or fall victim to [the influence of the West]†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å" (Gordon 7). The only Western name assigned to Xavier is ‘X’ in light of his extraordinary shooting precision (Boyden 109). Despite the name’s positive connotations, Bird discards it, keeping to his original alias, which is bestowed upon him by his cherished Aboriginal friends (360, 363). It is evident, then, that Xavier’s neglect of the wemistikoshiw ways runs deep, and even when facing external, culture-based adversity, becoming an outcast is always a preferable option to abandonment of his tradition. Unlike the other soldiers, Xavier never acquires even the slightest appetite for killing, believing it to be wasteful in the context of war, since there is nothing to be gained but fresh supplies of bloodshed (Bohr). Initially, Xavier is revolted by the sight of death soon after he witnesses it devastate a German, saying, â€Å"The image of the soldier’s head exploding makes may stomach churn† (Boyden 88). In order to remedy this spiritual deficit he associates with letting the lives of other be wasted, Bird turns to prayer, which keeps him centered and stable within the comfort of his cultural roots. Over the entire course of the novel, Xavier never once forgets the importance of his background in regards to his current situation, meaning that he remains metaphysically anchored in spite of his foreign surroundings. Supplementary to Xavier, in terms of spiritual independence, is Niska, whose understanding of the wemistikoshiw transcends that of every other character in the novel, and stems from both her experiential knowledge of Western culture and the windigo. An objectivist to the core, Niska represents an archetype of cultural wisdom, as described by Joseph Boyden: â€Å"I wanted her to be a strong woman who was doing this [being a woman of the bush] despite what everyone says about her and the toughness of her existence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wylie 229). Niska is exposed to the horrors of the world at an early age, witnessing events such as her father’s murder of one of her fellow Cree gone windigo (Boyden 45). This coupled with her being used sexually by the Frenchman, who claimed to have â€Å"†¦fucked ahcahk, [her] spirit† (174), out of lustful capitalism creates a perfect storm of familiarity with the human condition within her. Niska realizes that the man-made society of the whites further pronounces the flaws of the human spirit, thereby differentiating between her culture and that of the emistikoshiw. She explains this difference early on in the novel, by way of her epileptic visions: â€Å"No one is safe in such times, not even the Cree of the Mushkegowuk. War touches everyone, and windigos spring from the earth† (49). In order to prevent the mingling of Aboriginal and European lifestyles, she completely refuses to submit to the will of the wemistikoshiw, even when forced to live in one of their resi dential schools as a young girl. The bushmaster neglects even menial compulsories, such as hair-cutting, saying, â€Å"They were going to remove the black hair that reached my waist as a symbol of wemistikoshiw authority, of our [the Cree’s] defeat† (93). Coming from a long line of Cree chieftains, Niska not only seeks to avoid the company of windigos, but also is obligated to dispose of them in the best interest of her fellow aboriginals (48). Niska’s comprehension of selfishness’ presence in both the wemistikoshiw and the Windigo contribute to her consequent avoidance of the two, and in turn, her unwavering state of impeccable spiritual stagnancy throughout the novel. Contrarily, Elijah succumbs completely to the culture of the white man, becoming immersed in its ideals and pursuits to the point of morphing into a fully fledged windigo. The reason for Weesacheejak’s uprooted spiritual state can be traced back to his upbringing, which consisted of an intensely ambiguous cultural identity. Growing up in residential schools for much of his life, Elijah is brainwashed into thinking of the Aboriginals as a â€Å"†¦backwards people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (56) by the nuns who live with him. The seeds of European identity clash with those of the Aboriginal culture when he is adopted by Niska, and resultantly, a fragile concept of cultural integrity emerges within him. This identity crisis contributes significantly to his inevitable saturation into the violence of the West, as described by the author Vikki Visvis: â€Å"†¦ Elijah’s perverted determination is primarily the product of the wartime environment, which is an inherently Western endeavor† (273). Elijah learns, very much unhealthily, that identity is malleable, and depends entirely on circumstance rather than individual character. This lack of oneness can be examined easily through his acts in The Great War, which consist of both the impulsive murder and the desecration of his victims (Boyden 310). Elijah’s lack of cultural foundation is responsible for each of these atrocities, and he believes that by committing acts such as scalping those he kills, he is somehow able to absorb a portion of their spirit. Xavier describes Elijah’s carnage as a â€Å"†¦spark which fills his belly when it gnaws for food (200),† thereby pronouncing the young man’s profound emotional imbalances. Elijah’s reliance on the mastery he achieves by ‘owning’ the flesh of his victims is hauntingly reminiscent of the definition of the Windigo, and this is no accident made by Boyden. Despite his inferiority to Xavier in regards to his skills in marksmanship (78), it is he, not his Cree companion who yearns for the blood of his enemies. Such a skewed perspective which testifies to the irrelevant nature of morality can be attributed to the boy’s faithless and marred upbringing. Like a true Windigo, it is Elijah’s lack of cultural backbone which provokes the collapse of his soul, as he contains no trace of the fundamental axioms required in the construction of a spiritually healthy human being. Vividly reflecting the spiritual status of Xavier, Niska and Elijah, is their amount of mental and physical trauma, which is minimized when rooted in a fixed, adaptable personality. Xavier is the prime example of an individual whose disposition itself promotes a fragile psyche, which contains a dangerously low capacity for negative emotions. Caught in the thick of the Great War, there are many instances in the novel which expose Bird’s benevolent personality in order to provide a reason for the corporeal turmoil which he endures. Xavier’s forgiving soul is illustrated multitudinously throughout the novel, emerging most prominently in his taking of Elijah’s namesake after his death, despite the dark circumstances surrounding it (375). Not confined to sorrow based solely on human tragedy, Xavier takes pity on even the lesser forms of life, which are senselessly destroyed as a result of the war. This universal respect for entities is present when he refuses to sweep the swallow’s nest from his cabin window. This defiance initiates his explicit description of Elijah’s carrying out of the terrible deed: Two [birds] are lifeless, killed instantly by the fall. The third raises its featherless head, bewildered, its eyes large and round above its small yellow beak. Its tiny wings beat frantically on the floor, then more slowly. The mother bird cries out. The baby swallow’s lids sink and it ceases to move. I turn my head away from all of them. (Boyden 258) Inherently, Xavier is a character who easily becomes sick with depression due to his compassionate nature, hindering him in certain situations, yet proving to be essential to his maintained Aboriginal perspective as his time spent in the war increases. He deems the west to be a â€Å"strange place where the entire world’s trouble explodes† (22), and it is therefore inevitable that his extensive exposure to the war-torn battlefields of Europe instigates his severe mental strain. Discretely physical, alternatively, is his involuntary ingestion of morphine, which only serves to numb his senses into weakness, threatening his life when he enters withdrawal (289). Despite these eminent dangers to Xavier’s mental and physical state, however, it is his spiritual fortitude which enables both his mind and body to be salvaged by Niska via the matatosowin, or purification ceremony which customarily follows the three day voyage by which a Cree returns to his/her people after a long absence. As explained by Neta Gordon, the event marks a certain: â€Å"†¦constructive deconstruction, and a forward-looking inclination towards healing and hope† (2). Xavier’s symbolic journey represents not the death of his physical body, but the annihilation of the last wemistikoshiw remnant clouding his sanity – his addiction to morphine. In spite of the wide variety of factors hindering Xavier’s will to survive, he is able to outlive his anarchic environment by accessing his actively ethical and tempered personality. Niska is very similar to her nephew in this respect, withstanding an onslaught of traumatizing circumstances back in Canada which test her bodily and cranial stature. Unlike Xavier, however, she is adept in her esoteric self-sufficiency (35), being able to distract her corporeal self from pending danger by actualizing her love of anecdotes. The primary medium she accomplishes this through is her participation in speech craft, which she uses to listen to and project tribal stories as a means of satiating her spiritual hunger (Bohr). A consistent theme embedded within the novel is Niska’s own retelling of her life to Xavier, as embodied by a quote: â€Å"Words are all I have now. I’ve lived alone so long that I’m [Niska] starved to talk† (89). Even earlier in her life than Xavier, the Cree woman develops the aptitude for developing a thick skin via the harnessing emotions such as heartbreak for conversion to wisdom. Her exposure to the Frenchman is notable in this regard. It serves Niska as an impetus through which she begins to develop a mature, progressive outlook on life. Reminiscing about this boost to her spiritual immune system, she says, â€Å"I was young, and the emotions of the young are as strong a pull as the arctic tides that suck fishermen’s canoes out into the bay to be lost forever† (165). In this way, she is able to look back on the event of the European’s quick departure after their first sexual encounter, and understand its arrogant, chauvinistic connotations (135). Upon adaptation to her current situation, she achieves a level of spiritual purity mutual to that of Xavier. With this in mind, it is only through the undamaged will of both Niska and Xavier that he is cleansed of the complete collapse of self which foreruns death (379), and partakes in the â€Å"physical necessity† (Gordon 4) which allows him to survive the ordeal. Were it not for the complimentary moral steadfastness of these two characters, each would have been subjected to profound devastation, with one of them perishing, only to leave the other in a state of mourning over the severing of her last, greatest familial connection. Such an anchored identity is devoid in Elijah’s life, however, as exemplified through his deteriorating eupepsia, which reaches its apex at his demise. At the heart of Elijah’s ambiguous, conditional personality is his unending thirst for exhilaration as a form of immediate gratification. Saturated by the empiricism of the residential schools, which deny the existence of all aboriginal deities, Elijah thrives on the seemingly transcendent feeling of adrenaline coursing through his veins. When Xavier ponders the spreading of a forest fire into the town they reside in before the war, Elijah responds with: â€Å"Can you imagine anything more glorious? † (Boyden 142), thereby manifesting his twisted disposition towards fear, while also foreshadowing his eventual descent into lunacy. Lieutenant Breech’s evaluation of the aboriginal people finds a portion of truth in Elijah, since metaphorically, his blood really is, â€Å"†¦closer to that of an animal than that of a man,† (101). In order to subconsciously override this perverted perspective in favour of a religious outlook, he turns to the recreational use of morphine, which is present in high amounts amongst his brother in arms, Grey Eyes. When describing its effects, Elijah says: â€Å"It allowed me to leave my body and see what was around me. I see how it could be a very powerful tool in a place like this† (128). By no coincidence, this passage occurs at around the same point where Elijah loses his knowledge of the aboriginal tongue, and thus, becomes linguistically assimilated by his fellow soldiers. The morphine hollows Elijah’s soul and accelerates his acculturation, causing him to pursue pleasure and meaning from killing (283), through which he attains the spontaneous euphoria which he craves. Instead of discovering the spiritual intelligence and purpose of which his life is bankrupt, he loses grasp on the distinction of reality and fantasy, with Xavier exclaiming late in the novel that, â€Å"†¦he [Elijah] walks with one foot in this world, [and] one firmly planted in the other world† (334). Additionally, the morphine ingestion was meant to rid him of his inner demons, such as his previously stated animalistic tendencies. Instead, it only serves to sharpen these instincts, and feed them with a profound apathy that enables Elijah to live without fear of moral consequences (212). This quickly advances into an addiction which exceeds recreational foundations in favour of unbridled dependence, and is the primary reason for Elijah’s eventual metamorphosis into a walking anathema. As stated by the author, Vikki Visvis, â€Å"Elijah’s windigo state is part shell shock, part morphine emotional addiction induced by European contact, and part internalized racism learned at residential schools† (Visvis 223). Therefore, Elijah’s downward spiral into death was not based significantly on his overuse of morphine, but his spiritual surrender to the drug. Over time his relationship with Grey Eyes (Boyden 313) becomes one which is entirely centered on the drug, and is therefore, not a true relationship at all, but an uninvolved, symbiotic connection existing only to satiate dark indulgences of a stereotypical windigo. The notion of relationships present in the lives of Xavier, Niska, and Elijah reveals, through their level of social authenticity, how completely they have become absorbed into the world of the wemistikoshiw. Xavier’s relationship with the Ontario Rifles can be accurately described as precarious and fluctuant. He refuses to socialize with the vast majority of his wartime acquaintances met during the war, with the exception of war veterans Thompson and General McCann (317). Bird reveres the two, figuring that they have each tolerated war for many years without cracking under its sinister pressure. The fact that Bird respects their capacity for bodily toil without the use of morphine indicates an avid understanding of both the war’s potential dangers, and its ability to corrupt those not willing to remain immovably independent from its paradigms. When describing the nature of the Great War, Xavier personifies it as a monster which hungers for the bodies of soldiers (73), thus explaining the prayers he sends to Gitchi Manitou, requesting a safe return home to his aunt in Moose Factory (237). Consequently, Xavier’s seclusion from the vast majority of the Ontario Rifles flourishes, and is only ompounded by his unwillingness to learn English and loss of hearing (227). Bird, however, is dynamic in his relationships on occasion, as with the case of his pseudo-lover, Lisette. Initially, Xavier believes her to be an innocent soul who is untouched by the hedonism and selfishness of the West, swiftly proceeding into what he believes to be a loving relationship with her (159 ). He is overwhelmed with feelings of aching for her not long afterwards, deciding to disobey the orders of his superiors and return to the town where they met. He is unexpected met with animosity from the girl, who turns out to be not as authentic as she first appeared: â€Å"’You can’t stay, Indian boy,’ she whispers. My stomach feels as if it has been punched so hard that all the air has left it. ‘I am with another. He is upstairs’† (252). Crushed by the betrayal he feels upon discovering Lisette to be a prostitute, Xavier’s isolation reaches its all-time peak. Despite being left with only affection for his heritage and aunt, he remains religiously disciplined when continuing his participation in the war. By the end of the novel, Xavier completely comprehends the nature of the West’s cultural imperialism and individualistic ideals. He recognizes these traits in Elijah, causing their friendship to decay at a breakneck pace. With the established practice of Niska in mind, he carries on the legacy of the Windigo-killer, and murdering Elijah for the sake of the sane. As described by Neta Gordon: â€Å"The role of the windigo killer is taken on because it fulfills the community necessity, and, in the case of†¦Xavier, it is taken on rather inadvertently and somewhat reluctantly† (Gordon 11). Xavier’s most endearing attribute, therefore, is his independence, because it facilitates his ability glimpse at his communal surroundings objectively, and make correspondingly righteous decisions. The greatest example of an ethical figure present in the novel, however, is Niska, whose wild life alone in the bush proves to be the perfect setting for producing a terrene, detached shaman. In her epileptic visions, Niska establishes somewhat of a one-sided relationship with the conflict in Europe, which cultivates her interest of the Windigo psychosis scourging the continent. To this end, she ominously states: â€Å"The sickness of the windigo could spread as surely as the invisible sickness of the windigo† (Boyden 262). Like Xavier’s use of Thompson and McCann as moral benchmarks, Niska leans on her family for moral support throughout the novel: namely her father and sister, Rabbit. The salience of these two characters is the radically opposing symbolism which they maintain in their relationship with the bushmaster. While Rabbit teaches the Niska unconditional love through fond memories (34), her father, the late hookimaw, or village elder, instills in her a primitive sense of respect and tradition. It is from these two characters that Niska is able to educate the last of her kin, Xavier, in the ways of the Cree, and ultimately, provide him with the emotional stability necessary to survive the effects of war through what Neta Gordon calls a â€Å"detoxification† process (Gordon 4). Most prevalent and divulging of Niska’s connection with others is her role as a Windigo-killer, which implies an acute responsibility for making difficult choices which often contradict what is deemed to be ‘civilized’ (Boyden 169). Ironically, it is Niska’s solitude and right-judgment which give her the reputation as what Xavier, and undoubtedly many others call a â€Å"†¦ good and crazy woman† (221). In actuality, Niska’s actions exude wisdom, pragmatism, and an authentic desire to obliterate the radiating wreckage of the Windigo. The malfunctioned motivations of a windigo cannot warrant animosity on their own, and rely on the destructive actions of characters like Elijah to animate their nature. As described by Joseph Boyden: â€Å"He [Elijah] isn’t grounded in his place or culture, and this ends up being very damaging to him† (Wyile 230). Incessant boasting is what is most easily evident in his demeanor, with Xavier pointing out a multitude of situations in which Elijah can be found falsely glorifying himself due to his emotional insecurity (Boyden 77). At one point in the novel, Xavier declares: I look around and realize that I know very few men by name any more. So many have come and gone that I’ve lost track. Amazingly, Elijah seems to know all of them, acts as if he’s known them for years. 243) The white-washed Weesacheejak is only capable of establishing superficial relationships with the other soldiers by donning a â€Å"mask† (314) which, in reality, distances him further from his allies than even Xavier does. A will to dominate sprouts from his impersonal approach to friendship, resulting in the fiery approach to human interaction that is demonstrated in Weesacheejak’s relationship with Peggy. When scouting one day with Xavier, he says, quite irrelevantly, â€Å"I am better than Peggy. He cannot take a scalp. He cannot do what I do† (246). Elijah’s attitudes towards superseding others are crystallized in his love for flying, since it entails an elevated level of importance in comparison to civilization, which is largely terrestrial. Ironically, when he does experience flight for the first time in an aero plane, it brings him a great pain, (331) thus foreshadowing the untimely demise of which he experiences by the novel’s close, which is brought about by his greed for contention. Most detrimental to Elijah’s psyche, undoubtedly, is his swift acceptance of western customs and paradigms, which is demonstrated by his conformity to the warmongering attitudes of his colleagues. Elijah’s bloodlust steadily increases throughout the duration of the novel, earning him medals of honour for his â€Å"unmatched bravery† in the face of battle (254). What these medals symbolize is a complete forfeit of his kinship with the Cree, a culture which preaches the sanctity of every form of life. Additionally, the medals indicate the completeness of Elijah’s assimilation into Europe’s wartime effort, and the connotations of selfishness which fester in its nucleus. Deranged and unsatisfied with even this acknowledgement, however, Elijah’s desire for human flesh continues to define him to the point of unsuccessfully assaulting Xavier, and dying in the process. He is the epitome of a non-Aboriginal, having always having what Xavier calls a â€Å"†¦gift for the wemistikoshiw language† (59). Elijah does not discover other people, which soils the seed of a robust relationship, but uses them as devices for augmenting his ego in a fashion typical of both an avaricious European and the Windigo. The purpose of Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden is to introduce the Windigo’s infectious and corrosive potential for spiritual defilement through the personalities of Xavier, Niska and Elijah via their cultural adherence, contrasting health, and dynamic relationships. The degree to which these three protagonists repel or embrace attitudes characteristic of the Windigo determines their physical, mental, and spiritual condition by the end of the anecdote. The novel’s ‘Wandering Windigo,’ Elijah, is portrayed as an individual who can find neither a form of metaphysical shelter, nor a definite identity, resulting in his decline into nothingness. In his downfall however, Elijah destroys the lives of hundreds, highlighting the necessity for Xavier’s donning of the Windigo-killer from Niska. By way of extension, Boyden speaks, via the juxtaposition of Xavier and Niska in comparison to Elijah, of the importance of the righteous, and their responsibility to eradicate evil before it is able to worsen despite the contesting pressures of one’s affiliates. Most importantly, the novel is Boyden’s plea to immerse children in the indigenous dimensions of their ethnicity and nationality in order to construct a strong sense of identity. An Aboriginal himself, Boyden describes Three Day Road as a cautionary tale (393) in which the human person is presented as a feeble, vulnerable entity which can only be sustained when its body, mind, and spirit are in communion with one another. The novel seeks to be food for thought, asking its audience how they would respond to excruciating circumstances such as war – whether they would be able to stay anchored enough to survive it, or experience the downwards spiral of the Windigo. In the course of our lives, will we journey along the road most travelled, losing ourselves to the entropic tides of conformity, or pave our own path in order to live an independent, fruitful existence?

Managing cultural diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing cultural diversity - Essay Example nomic growth for any organisation and this in turn results to an organisation achieving its set targets and objectives (Leaderbrighton-hove.org, 2003). The result of socio-economic growth would be inadequate in terms of classifying people by their background, qualification and physical condition. This is not a right or a wrong subject, however, serious consideration is essential for internal strength and positive acceptance from all the parties concerned. Further detailed explanation will be shown using a case study of Park Plaza hotel. Diversity in the workplace is a people issue whereby the various differences that they have as well as similarities are taken into account. In this paper cultural diversity shall be looked into in relation to a service industry and in this case, the hotel industry. Cultural diversity in an organisation that wishes to emerge the top in its operations is taken to be multi-culturalism which is that aims at embracing and valuing the different cultures. Diversity has become a business necessity and not a legal or moral issue as the case was decades back. In this respect it has become a necessity that organisations take advantage of the diverse cultural backgrounds of its workforce in competing in the today’s rather global business arena. The hospitality industry has not been left behind in this aspect of managing cultural diversity in the workplace. (Devine 2006; Baum 2006) However, at the work place, women, older and less educated people are the ones that are most discriminated. The same case applies to those coming from developing countries by those from the first world. The disabled is the other group that is discriminated to the extent of their disabilities; an act that is not only wrong but inhumane (Deluca 1992). Therefore, organisations’ managements need to put these issues into consideration and come up with policies that are aimed at minimising these forms of discrimination at the very least so as to cater for the needs of

Adoption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Adoption - Essay Example This mode of production also introduced stratification in the work and labor relationship. This paper, therefore, shall analyze the ways that gender, sexuality, and race structure the capitalist mode of production in certain bodies and bodily capacities in the labor market. Discussion Chandra criticizes the feminist perspectives as held by some western feminists, who view women in the third world countries as ghetto and undeserving of the appropriate treatment as that accorded to the women in the western countries. This perspective classifies women in the third world countries as largely uneducated, undignified, and as intellectually lazy and unable to perform the functions that western women are able to. According to Chandra, these women are fall under the capitalist structure that commodifies particular bodies and or bodily capacities, thus making these women as commodities that can be sold and or bought for the gratification of those that are perceived to be civilized. The feminis t view as held by these biased western feminists, therefore, creates a binary manner of perception for the women, so that there are only the western civilized women and the third world primitive women, without bearing in mind that many of the women in the third world countries are now educated and civilized as their western counterparts (Mohanty, 2003: 210). Kempadoo (2004: 12), in his book on trading sex across the borders, looks at the manner that the capitalist structure has led to increased trade in sex and sexual activities in many countries and between countries. He focuses on the activities in Southeast Asia, which has become famous for its illegal trade activities. Prostitutes are traded across the border to neighboring states and even abroad so that they can sell their services for money. this, according to Kempadoo, is a as result of the capitalist structure and model of trade, which places too much emphasis on the profit aspect of business, and that legitimizes any form o f business as long as it earns the dealer returns and profits for the one in control. It is this urge and need for profits that has led to the creation of recruitment agencies that take advantage of un-sensing girls to recruit them into the agencies, only to be sold to prostitution. The capitalist mode of the economy makes the economy highly stratified and breaking through for one would be quite a challenging task. This makes it attractive and easy for persons to seek alternative means through which they can break into the economy to make it big. Wealthy owners of the means of production are tough on their choices and activities that seek to bar the lowly from achieving these means through poor pay and other forms of restrictions, all of which are acceptable in this mode of production. Lowe, in his article on globalization shares the same view as the other scholars above, who believe that the structure of capitalism is responsible for the skewed relations of labor that are witnessed in the globe today (Lowe, 2007: 131). According to Lowe, globalization, while a most desirable and fruitful event that has led to immense opportunities in the world today, has also been the source of many evils being witnessed in the global economy. Globalization has opened up borders and territorial boundaries, made non-sense of national laws and guidelines for various economic activities, and led to increased rates of interactions for people around the world. While some of these relationships are healthy, some of them are malicious and have been taken advantage of to advance the selfish

Gun Control in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Gun Control in the USA - Essay Example The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, â€Å"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed† (â€Å"The Constitution†, 2006). This, as were all of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, was added by the Founding Fathers so as to provide a more clear definition of the specific rights guaranteed to Americans. Gun control advocates consider the Second Amendment to be â€Å"obsolete; or is intended solely to guard against suppression of state militias by the central government and therefore restricted in scope by that intent; or does not guarantee a right that is absolute, but one that can be limited by reasonable requirements† (Krouse, 2002). However, they only question the need for people to own firearms that are not primarily designed for sporting purposes such as hunting. Obviously, the right to own arms was of supreme importance to the Founders given that it was listed second only after the freedom of religion and speech was documented in the First Amendment. The Founders knew that by ensuring the right to own arms, citizens would have the ability to protect themselves from that which might endanger their life, liberty or pursuit of happiness. This could include bodily protection from persons and animals or from an oppressive government that threatened the freedoms outlined in the Constitution. â€Å"The Second Amendment reflects the founders’ belief that an armed citizenry, called the ‘general militia’ was a necessary precaution against tyranny by our own government and its army. The idea that government has a constitutional right to disarm the general citizenry is totally foreign to the intent of the Constitution’s framers† (Reynolds & Caruth III, 1992).   

What are the main obstacles to womens leadership and what can be done Essay

What are the main obstacles to womens leadership and what can be done to address them - Essay Example Lets take the example of Fortune 500 companies, most of the people employed at the top positions such as Chairperson, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer are men. However, there were only 6% women employees on these top positions and 15% were also present in the Board of Directors of these companies (Wagadu, 2008). Such disparity in business world is evident in every country especially in the developed nations worldwide. In the European Union, out of fifty nations that are operating as the trading organisations, women were found 11% on senior positions and only 4% as Chief Executive Officers (Women’s Media, 2009). In 1986, two individuals from the Wall Street Journal suggested an anwer for such disparity for top position employees in organisations. They believed that women managed to get to the senior rankings with immense difficulty as there are various blockages in the paths destined for these positions. The exclusive group appeared within their hold, however they just couldn’t smash through the so called ‘glass ceiling’. This situation captured the association of aggravation among women and demonstrated reverberation regarding those high aims which are visible, but someway unachievable (Grogan, 2010). Â   There was a period in which there were many obstacles for women. For instance, in the 80s, it was difficult to assume a woman getting to the senior position. This viewpoint was further embedded by Richard Nixon, the President of USA, which was recorded in the White House and published in the form of Freedom of Information Act. He stated that no woman is suitable for managing the positions in government bodies; the main reason emphasised by him was that women lack consistency and they are highly emotional. Moreover, according to the President, women keep on changing their attitudes towards work and are simply unable to comprehend with responsibility and seriousness towards the job.

Buddhism and the Nara Aesthetic Values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Buddhism and the Nara Aesthetic Values - Essay Example One of the most significant of these foreign exports that have influenced the era’s aesthetic values is the Buddhist philosophy. The pre-Nara indigenous religions were markedly austere. But the imperial government was interested in staging elegant rituals for the protection and prosperity of the state and so this predilection was used by the Buddhists as the practical route to imperial patronage. (Reynolds & Tracy 1990, p. 134) Throughout the Nara period, Buddhism became the official state religion or philosophy and encroached every element of the Japanese society that at its height, Nara came to be known as the â€Å"Golden Age of Buddhism† in Japan as well. Nara itself has had six different sects of Buddhism and that their priests participated in a number of different fields of the Japanese society, from government administration to social work. The upshot was that Buddhism shaped many works of excellent craftsmanship and contributed and indispensable aesthetic value to the culture of the period. Buddhism, which originated in India in the sixth century B.C., was transmitted to China in at the time of the initial years of the European Christian era. Buddhism’s development was largely influenced by Taoism before its spread to Japan. The main feature of Buddhist thinking is expressed in what it calls the three characteristics of existence. Nancy Hume (1995) elaborates: Most forms of Buddhism view existence being characterized by dukkha, frustration or unsatisfactoriness, impermanence, and anatman, which refers to the idea that nothing possesses an intrinsic â€Å"selfless†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Buddhist thought is particularly opposed to the view that there are independently existing things, claiming that everything is â€Å"itself† only in relation to a set of conditions that make it what it is.  Ã‚  

Monopoly and Competitiveness Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Monopoly and Competitiveness - Research Paper Example 2. Competition- a perfectly competitive firm has no control on the competition as the entry and exit of new firms is not restricted. However a monopolist firm being dominant in its market can create entry barriers for new firms. 3. Supply and demand curves- a perfectly competitive firm faces a horizontal demand curve and an upward sloping supply cure. While in the case of monopoly firm it faces a downward sloping demand curve and its supply curve is dependent on the marginal cost and marginal revenue (as seen in the graph below). 4. Profit- maximizing output- a perfectly competitive firm maximizes its profit at the point where its marginal cost equals marginal revenue which in turn is equal to the equilibrium price. Whereas a monopoly firm maximizes its profit at the point where marginal revenue equals marginal cost and vertically locates the supply quantity on the demand curve (as seen in the graph below). A2. Schumpeter has tried to elaborate and improve the definition of monopoly. The term has been misinterpreted and misunderstood continually. It is regarded as a taboo which equals to oppression and savage exploitation of resources. But it is important to understand that monopoly evolves mainly due to the large-scale structure of a business. This in turn is achieved by hard work and outstanding performance. Though he does not deny that there have been instances when the production is not improved despite the large-scale domination of the monopoly but this is not enough for backing up the common generalization associated with the term. According to him a single-seller position gained by either patent or monopolistic strategy can not be termed as exploitation as in most cases they are innovators. They bring in the new commodities and build their markets. In the case of perfect competition, where the market forces in equilibrium are disturbed by some external factor, then under old views it is assumed that the market itself reaches the new equilibrium. But in reality it might take the market farther than the new equilibrium than stabilizing it. Another common notion about the perfectly competitive market is that, it is free of wastage of resources and inefficiencies. This in fact tumbles when considering the fact that a large-scale business can produce a similar product with the same resources but with improved technology, quality, usability etc. and these are the reasons for why it charges a

World Trade Organization. Origins And Characteristics Essay

World Trade Organization. Origins And Characteristics - Essay Example Simultaneously, 23 countries (11 of which were developing nations) decided to negotiate on tariff reductions and also to adapt some of the ITO rules, these agreements are called the GATT. The ITO remained subject to ratification to be accepted by national legislatures, but the USA denied due to Congress opposition, and thus GATT remained in effect just as the ‘provisional’ agreement. Seven trade rounds were completed under GATT, and trade agreements were initiated which benefited the developing countries without reciprocal offers. The GATT agreements were extended in the Uruguay Round in 1986, under which new areas were added to the services trade and intellectual property rights were included. Furthermore, a new dispute settlement system had to be redesigned and a new trade organization had to be established to replace the provisional GATT. In the year 1995, the ‘Marrakesh Agreement’ established the WTO, and the Uruguay Round agreements were implemented and by 1997 the additional agreements were also implemented which covered the financial services and the telecommunication services. Furthermore, the defining characteristics of the WTO are as follows (Ministry of Commerce and MPDF, 2005, 11-16): Transparency is the primary principle, since business people are most concerned with the environment they operate in. Thus, it is a requirement for the WTO member to publish all laws and regulations transparently which may affect domestic or international trade in any matter. Non-discrimination principle ensures that the goods of any country must not be differentiated against, and therefore no ‘most favored nation’ treatment shall not be provided, and neither the local goods should be discriminated. Progressive trade liberalization principle applies because WTO is not a free-trade organization, therefore a government can increasingly open its market to foreign competition to the extent it finds appropriate, independently of what i s prescribed by the WTO agreements. Special and Differential treatment principle ensures that developing nations receive easier terms and agreements, and thus they are allowed more time for implementation, and the stricter rules applied on the developed nations may be removed from the agreement of the poorer nations, in order to help them take benefit of being WTO members receiving special treatment. b) An imperfect World Trade Organization is better than no world trade organization.  Discuss with reference to ongoing protectionist policies and the impact of these in the relation of developed economies and lesser-developed economies (40 points). WTO is an organization that was formulated to help and benefit its members, its system of rules, principles and obligations are in place to protect its member nations, which also comprises of the economically less powerful nations, since WTO helps governments of such nations to devise programs which trigger economic reform. The multilatera l trade framework of the rules enacted also help nations in domestic policy making, they do not enforce trade policies but help governments in establishing developmental policies which are based on open and competitive markets. Regardless of the initial aim, WTO has been criticized for being unfair and hurting to

Catherine Parker Essay Example for Free

Catherine Parker Essay There are a variety of different types of narratives used in literary texts and films. In the adaptation process from novel to film, the visual narrative of the film also needs to be considered, whereas the novel is solely dependant on the written word and the reader’s imagination. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Lemony Snickett’s A Series of Unfortunate Events can be used to investigate the use of narrative in both text and film and the differences that occur in the adaptation process. When writing the novel, there is a greater opportunity to vary the style of narrative in order to provide the reader with as much information as possible, whereas in the film adaptation the addition of the visual narrative removes the opportunity to vary between different styles and it becomes much more definite. As a result of the visual information, the narrative is further affected by factors such as how something is said and the visual actions that accompany the words. ‘Film complicates literary narration by practicing two parallel and intersecting forms of narration: the verbal narration, whether through voice-over and/or the speech of characters, and the film’s capacity to show the world and its appearances apart from voice-over and character narration. † (Stam, 35) Lee’s novel employs the use of first person narrative through the female-child voice of Scout. However, in A Series of Unfortunate Events, the third person narrative used in the text has been maintained in the film via the use of voice-over, a technique often avoided by many directors and film producers. When adapting a novel, definite decisions have to be made, such as where and when the events are located and the exact time period in which events take place, and the narrative becomes a part of this. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel concerned with time and at certain points in the story, time is presented as moving fairly slowly, even suspended at times as the characters themselves watch the action, â€Å"the spectators were quiet† (Mockingbird, 185). There is also a cyclical notion of time present as the story moves through the seasons and events take place over a number of years, shown through Dill’s annual summer visits to his Aunt Rachel, and the development of the children, particularly Jem. â€Å"When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident† (Mockingbird, 9). Throughout both the novel and the adaptation, time is used as part of this narrative structure as there is a multi-layer of time as well as a multi-layer of narration. â€Å"in the motion-picture, a first-person angle of vision functions primarily to provide transitions and shifts in time and place† (Shackelford). The film becomes much more dependant on the narrative in order to portray this time span as the visual narrative will not show this development as effectively without using more than once actor to play the different ages of the children. The novel is written from the perspective of Scout, Jean Louise Finch, the youngest member of the Finch family. This use of the female child narrator may suggest that the narrative will be different to traditional, stereotypical novels of the time, due to the female-child narrator describing events involving rape and racial issues. However, what aids the text in being so successful is the fact that Scout doesn’t limit her narrative solely to events she has experienced herself, she also relays stories other people have told her and information she has overheard. â€Å"People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night† (Mockingbird, 15). Although it is through the voice of Scout that the story is being told, she does relay certain events as a watcher, giving the feeling of a third person narrative and enabling the audience to gain other people’s opinions and make their own judgements.

Diversity of Fungal Endophytes in Cymbopogon Caesius

Diversity of Fungal Endophytes in Cymbopogon Caesius Diversity of Fungal Endophytes in Cymbopogon caesius (Hook. Arn.) Stapf. of Kemmannugundi Regions of Karnataka, India Avinash K.S. and Y.L. Krishnamurthy* Abstract: Cymbopogon grass produces many bioactive compounds and used for many medicinal purposes. In this study healthy leaf, stem and root segments were cultured on media like Potato dextrose agar and Malt extract agar medium and pure cultured. Endophytic fungi were isolated from 1200 samples of Cymbopogon caesius grass collected from Kemmannugundi regions of Karnataka. Overall 56% of colonisation rate from surface sterilised tissues were recorded. About 30 different fungal species were isolated and 12 were identified and 18 were grouped as morph taxa. Less isolates were recovered from leaf segments and more isolates were recovered from root segments. Curvularia sp. and Fusarium sp. were frequently isolated endophytes with the high colonisation rate. Key Words: Endophytes, Cymbopogon caesius, Grass, Curvularia, Fusarium. 1. Introduction Endophytes are microorganisms which live inside the host without causing any negative effect by their presence. The plant and endophytic fungi show symbiotic association. Plant protects and feeds the endophyte which in return produces bioactive secondary metabolites to enhance the growth and competitiveness of the host in nature (Carrol, 1988 and Hong Lu et al., 2000). Endophytes are widely investigated for their bioactive metabolites and have proven to produce potential compounds which are applicable in medicine (Clovis and Ewald, 2012). The compounds usually isolated from medicinal plants may not be plant metabolites they may be from fungal endophytes which reside in the host plant. Endophytes of tropical plants are among the groups of fungi that have been studied to arrive at the predicted figure of 1.5 million (Hawksworth, 1991; Subramanian et al 2003) Cymbopogon species are traditional medicinal grasses well recognised for its aromatic oil. Cymbopogon caesius grass was wide spread in areas of Kemmannugundi of Chikmagalur Dist, Karnataka. Despite the wide distribution of Cymbopogon grass along the central Western Ghats of Karnataka only limited work has been done for their association with fungal endophytes. Even though the oil extracted from the grass has been used in medicine currently there is no enough information regarding the diversity of the fungal endophytes with the species. We have selected Cymbopogon caesius (Hook. Arn.) Stapf for the study of diversity of the fungal endophytes. Fungi were isolated from leaves, stem and root followed by the surface sterilisation process. The objectives of the study were to isolate and identify the fungal endophytes from different parts of Cymbopogon caeceous grass of Kemmannugundi regions of Karnataka. 2. Meterials and Methods 2.1 Sampling: C. caeseus (root, stem and leaf samples) was collected from Kemmannugundi (13 º2826 N 75 º4450 E 4275ft) Chikmagalur District. Roots were collected with a ball of soil so that to avoid damage to the roots. Twenty healthy looking culms of grass were collected and transported in a clean polythene bag in closed condition and processed within 24 hour of collection. 2.2 Isolation of fungi The collected samples were washed thoroughly by running tap water to clean soil from roots and were cut into small pieces. The cut segments were surface sterilised using 70% ethanol followed by immersion in 3% Sodium hypochlorite for 4 minutes and again washed twice with distilled water (Maheshwari and Rajagopal, 2013). The efficacy of the surface sterilisation was confirmed by pressing the sterilised segments onto the surface of the medium, the surface sterilised small pieces were cut into .03-.05cm segments (Chuyang et al., 2001). Four hundred segments were inoculated into potato dextrose agar medium which is supplemented with 100mg of Amoxillin to inhibit the growth of bacteria. The inoculated petri plates were wrapped with petriseal and incubated at 27  ±1 degree centigrade. The plates were observed daily after 3 days of inoculation up to one month the emerged fungal endophytes were transferred to new petri plates containing PDA Medium. 2.3 Identification of Endophytic fungi For the identification of endophytic fungi, slides were prepared from pure cultures and were stained with Lacto phenol cotton blue stain and observed under Karl Zeiss Primo star microscope. Morphological Characteristics such as growth pattern colour of colony, mycelium texture, spore production type and characters of the spore (Barnet Hunter, Ellis, Subramanian). 3. Statistical analysis The colonisation rate (CR) was determined by total number of segments yielding endophytes divided by the total number of segments inoculated (Petrini et al., 1982). Number of segments yielding endophytes Total number of segments inoculated 4. Results A total of 959 isolates of endophytes were recovered out of 1200 segments inoculated. Total 400 segments each of root, stem and leaf segments were inoculated for the isolation of endophytes. Most frequently found endophytes were Fusarium oxysporum (11.46%), Aspergillus clavatus (8.7%), and Curvularia spp. (7.78%) (Table 1). Table 1: Colonisation Frequency of fungal endophytes of C. caesius. Sl. No. Endophyte Name Colonisation frequency (%) Root Stem Leaf Total Alternaria alternata 4.1 1.09 1.73 Aspergillus clavatus 15.3 6.0 4.8 8.7 Bipolaris Sp. 2.00 0.66 Cephalosporium sp. 0.8 1.9 0.9 Cladosporium sp. 0.6 0.2 0.26 Curvularia andropogonis 16.0 5.2 1.7 7.63 Curvularia lunata 12.2 7.9 3.7 7.93 Fusarium oxysporum 16.1 11.9 6.4 11.46 Hansfordia ovalispora 0.9 0.3 Oidiodendron sp. 1.6 0.9 0.83 Trichoderma sp. 0.4 1.3 0.56 Wardomyces anomala 0.6 0.2 Unidentified Morphotypes 16.4 14.3 14.6 15.1 Table 2: Infection frequency and isolation rate of fungal endophytes of C. caesius. C. caesius plant tissues Leaves Stem Root Total Number of Samples 400 400 400 1200 Number of isolates recovered 126 198 348 672 Colonisation rate 31.5% 49.5% 87% 56% Number of Morph taxa 4 5 9 18 More isolates of endophytes (87%) were recovered from the root segments of the Cymbopogon grass compared to stem (49.49%) and leaf segments (56%). 18 unidentified fungi were numbered and stored as morph taxa. 5. Discussion The Cymbopogon grass is the very popular for its aromatic oil. The purpose of the study was to document endophytic diversity of Cymbopogon grass of the study area which was widely distributed in the area. The endophytic fungi were cultivated on artificial medium (PDA) as pure culture. Some of the fungi exhibited characteristic colony characters and microscopic characters which were helpful in identifying them whereas some of the fungus was produced good mycelia but did not show any sporulation were kept as morph types. All the isolated endophytes belonging to 11 different genera. The endophytes were more resided in root. The endophytes may not show any host specificity as they were recovered from different groups of plants (Petrini 1986). In the present investigation leaves, stems and roots of C. caesius were used for isolation of endophytic fungi. The fungal colonisation was higher in roots as compare to stem and leaves. Higher colonisation of endophytes in leaf and stem tissues, as compared to roots, was reported by Siegel and Latch (1991) and Clay and Schardle (2002) Ajay et al (2012) in grasses and in the study of medicinal plant species leaves colonised greater number of endophytes compared to stem and bark (Raviraja 2005). About 11 genera of fungal species were isolated which indicates the various fungal populations in the grass. The variation in the colonisation rate depends on the host habitat, Soil environment (Shankar Naik et al, 2014). In the study the CR is varied in different parts of the plant. The more number of fungal endophytes isolated from root which similar to the results of Sita et, al., 2011 where thy obtained almost three times more endophytes in roots compared to shoot tissues. Fungi have been widely investigated as a source of bioactive compounds. An excellent example of this is the anticancer drug, taxol, which had been previously supposed to occur only in the plants (Strobel Daisy, 2003) in this aspect present study is very relevant to explore more useful fungal endophytes. 6. Acknowledgement The authors are gratefully thankful to Kuvempu University Shankaraghatta Shimoga for constant support throughout the study and Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, New Delhi for Financial assistance. 7. References [1] Chunying Zhang, Lijuan Yin, Silan Dai, Diversity of root-associated fungal endophytes in Rhododendron fortune in subtropical forests of China, Mycorrhiza. 19(2009) 417-423. [2] Carroll, G. C, Fungal endophytes in stems and leaves: From latent pathogen to mutualistic symbiont, Ecology. 692 (1988) -9. [3] Hawksworth,D. L, The fungal dimension of biodiversity :magnitude, significance, and conservation, Mycol. Res. 95(1991) 641-655. [4] Petrini, 0. Stone, j. Carroll, F. Endophytic fungi in evergreen shrubs in western Oregon: a preliminary study, Canadian Journal of Botany. 60(1982) 789-796. [5] Petrini, O, Taxonomy of endophytic fungi of aerial plant tissues. In Microbiology of the Phyllosphere (ed. N. j. Fokkema ). van den Heuvel), 1986, pp. 175-187. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. [6] Pramuan Saithong, Wanchai Panthavee, Siriporn Stonsaovapak and Li Congfa, Isolation and primary identification of endophytic fungi from Cephalotaxus mannii trees, Maejo International journal of Science and Technology. 4(03) (2010) 446-453. [7] Raviraja N S, Fungal endophytes in five medicinal plant species from Kudremukh Range, Western Ghats of India, Journal of Basic Microbiology. 45(3) (2005) 230-235. [8] Shankar Naik B, Krishnappa M, Krishnamurthy Y L. Endophytic assemblage in Strychnous nuxvomica L. and antagonistic activities in vitro, Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection. 2014. [9] Sita R Ghimire, Nikki D Charlton, Jeremey D Bell, Yelugere L Krishnamurthy and Kelly D Craven, Biodiversity of fungal endophyte communities inhabiting switch grass (Panicum virgatum L.) growing in the native tall grass prairie of northern Oklahoma, Fungal Diversity. 47(2011)19-27. [10] Suryanarayanan T S and Kumaresan V, Endophytic fungi of some halophytes from an estuarine mangrove forest, Mycological Research. 104(12) (2000) 1465-1467. [11] Hong Lu, Wen Xin Zou, Jun Cai Meng, Jun Hu, Ren Xiang Tan, New bioactive metabolites produced by Colletotrichum sp., an endophytic fungus in Artemisia annua, Plant Science 151 (2000) 67–73. [12] Clovis Douanla-Meli,Ewald Langer, Diversity and molecular phylogeny of fungal endophytes associated with Diospyros crassiflora, Mycology 3(3) (2012):175-187. [13] Maheswari, S., and Rajagopal, K, Biodiversity of endophytic fungi in Kigelia pinnata during two different seasons, Curr. Sci. 104(2013): 515-518. [14] Barnett, H.L., and Hunter, B.B., 1972.Illustrated genera of imperfect fungi, 3rd ed. Burgess publishing company, USA.pp. 218. [15] Ellis M B, More Dematiaceous Hypomycetes, Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew, Suirrey, England, 1976. [16] Siegel MR, Latch GCM., Expression of antifungal activity in agar culture by isolates of grass endophytes, Mycologia, 83(1991) 529–537. [17] Clay K, Schardle CL., Evolutionary origin and ecological consequences of endophyte symbiosis with grasses, Am Nat, 160(2002) S99–S127. [18] Ajay Kumar Gautam , Mona Kant Yogita Thakur., Isolation of endophytic fungi from Cannabis sativa and study their antifungal potential, Archives Of Phytopathology And Plant Protection, Vol. 46 (2013), No. 6, 627–635. [19] Gary Strobel and  Bryn Daisy, Bioprospecting for Microbial Endophytes and Their Natural Products, Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 67(4)2003: 491–502.