The Outsider

American Gothic is a mysterious genre, with a myriad shimmering facets that keep you constantly enthralled. I, personally, always enjoy finding myself in the midst of one of these stories: so full of dark and nightmarish visions. They keep you guessing while simultaneously keeping you terrified. H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Outsider” accomplishes exactly this. In this short story, a very lonely being is seemingly stuck in what is described as a castle. It’s desperate to see light, as it is constantly dark and dismal. Trees cover everything in darkness and the only tower that climbs above the trees is worn down, crumbling, and inaccessible. Unable to stand it anymore, the being finds its way inside the tower and makes its way to the top by climbing the unstable walls. Instead of finding itself above the trees, there is solid ground and a path. The path leads to a castle that looks mysteriously like the one it had just come from, but beautiful where the other was terrifying, with a great hall full of guests. Upon seeing this being clambering into the open window, the guests scattered in terrible fear, much to its dismay. It sees itself in a mirror and is horrified by its appearance, running from the castle to return to its own, only to find the door locked. Knowing now that it’s not meant to be in this world, it roams the night with other beings of its kind and settles down with its loneliness as its only real companion. From the decrepit landscape of the ruined castle, the haunting darkness that covers everything in the story, to the ominous being that is the protagonist, The Outsider is a near perfect example of American gothic fiction. The most obvious aspect of American gothic this short story displays is that of its undoubtedly untamed setting. It seems as though every other line is used to describe the deeply unsettling, uncivilized landscape.

A castle, the being says it is stuck in, is “infinitely old and infinitely horrible”, full of darkness even though the ceilings are quite high. There are cobwebs, bats, and spiders in nearly every room. Loose bones and skeletons even lay out in the open in the crypts close to the foundation. The interior of the castle paints a very dark, cringe-worthy image that is a staple of the gothic genre. The words used to describe the setting are flawless in this way, evoking feelings of unease and disgust, and there are many of them, leaving no doubt in your mind that this is not a place you’d want to find yourself in the real world. Of the inside of the castle, the narrator describes there are “vast and dismal chambers with brown hangings and maddening rows of antique books”. The use of these adjectives: vast, dismal, and maddening all in one sentence, cause the dismay this being feels for such chambers to become almost palpable. Even the books it reads itself to pass the time are still not seen in a good light. When describing the interior further, the story states, “there was an accursed smell everywhere, as of the piled-up corpses of dead generations”. This is an interesting line. Not only does it continue to set the scene in a disgusting fashion, it also serves as a bit of foreshadowing. It’s hinted at the end of the story that this being is dead itself, so perhaps there are other such beings in this same castle, or perhaps it is simply smelling itself, which would be awful and disgusting if true. The landscape outside of the castle is just as intense and depressing as the inside. An endless forest, full of “twilight groves of grotesque, gigantic, and vine-encumbered trees that silently wave twisted branches”. A forest is not generally a horrifying vision.

Perhaps getting lost in one can be quite fearful, but simply gazing at one can be glorious and beautiful. Yet here, it is painted as terrifying, dark, and full of horror. The time the narrator tries to escape by walking as far as it can, it describes having to turn back because “the shade grew denser and the air more filled with brooding fear”. This is a new type of forest from one I have ever encountered in the real world. Maybe the forest in this story is full of things to be afraid of, or perhaps the absence of any sun or moon or light at all is what causes it to be full of this fear; we do not know and that makes it all the more frightful. Just as it is overcome with too much fear in the forest to continue on, the emotions shown by the being in the story are deeply intense and overwhelming. Which, in turn, causes the reader to feel such emotions; another qualifier of the gothic genre. It has lived in this dark, dank castle for as long as it can remember; knowing no sunlight or company and not recalling a single instance in which it saw a person or even heard a voice spoken. “I would longingly picture myself amidst gay crowds in the sunny world beyond the endless forests”, it states. Even though it does not remember human contact, it still longs for it. Reading books of the outside world and walking the isolated grounds is not enough to satiate the loneliness it feels. Living life in darkness, it took comfort in what it could. It tells of how “I used sometimes to light candles and gaze steadily at them for relief” because the darkness became too much, the need for light so overpowering. It tries to compensate with the flame, as real as any light, but satisfying only for a small amount of time, as candles only light such a miniscule space compared to the light of the world, and for such a short time. Finally, “in the shadowy solitude my longing for light grew so frantic that I could rest no more”. Hoping to quell the unbearable need it feels, it forsakes its own safety, literally crawling up the walls on barely-there stones towards the hope of some unknown light.

It hopes to extinguish the darkness once and for all and glance even momentarily at the glory of the moonlight. It was not for nothing, either. Finding the other castle with its guests, seeing moonlight as though in the happiest of dreams, it thinks that it’s finally on the brink of everything it’s been hoping for: light and companionship. Only to have all hope and pretense shattered when the guests flee the scene, screaming in terror, some even fainting on the spot, too terrified to move or utter a step. The world shatters around it when “stepping as I did so from my single bright moment of hope to my blackest convulsion of despair and realization”. The momentary instance of hope made returning to that deep loneliness so much more unbearable. Though it had found its way into all the things it longed for, that still did not gain it access to be a part of those things. The moonlight, perhaps, but it was drastically and with finality cast out of the company of humans as soon as it entered. We never learn for sure what this being is, why it was stuck in the ruined castle, for how long, or where exactly it is. So many things are unknown, and draped in this supernatural, horrific quality. This is another aspect of the American gothic genre that this story illustrates so well. At first, this appears to come to a climax when the narrator climbs the tower and finds itself not in an elevated alcove, but on solid ground with a path laid out in front of it, leading away. The castle it finds there looks just like the castle it has been stuck in, but beautiful instead of morose, built-up where the other was decayed. This is a shocking revelation and holds many implications as to where it came from and where it is now, but no sure answers. The real climax, however, is when the being finds itself in front of what is, undoubtedly, a mirror and beholds its appearance for the first time.

It says, “I beheld in full, frightful vividness the inconceivable, indescribable, and unmentionable monstrosity.” The creature was “not of this world anymore”, consisting of ghoulish features, such as bones showing through skin that was barely there and a misshapen, discolored body. A monster. Upon seeing its reflection, memories rush back and it realizes that it is the monster it sees. “I am an outsider”, it says, “a stranger…among those who are still men”, implying that it was once a man, but is no longer. It realizes it is not meant to be a part of that world anymore. This indicates a supernatural being, though it is unclear what kind. Again, we can only guess. H.P. Lovecraft inserts you into this dark, horror-filled supernatural world that uses disquieting, shudder-inducing descriptions to envelope you with an overall sense of unease. It works magnificently and you leave full of questions and a little more afraid of the things you do not know. Is the narrator a zombie, or simply a ghastly ghost? Was it in hell and somehow climbed its way out into the real world? We shall never know, but always wonder. I know that I will think twice now before taking a long stroll through the woods, for the extreme sense of impending doom the narrator felt upon his own walk resounded so thoroughly through my own emotions that I will not be able to look upon a forest without thinking about it. The little things that are left unknown to the reader, along with the unfamiliar, terrifying setting and the intense emotional shock that the story leaves you with are the main reasons this story fits perfectly into the American gothic genre.

The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, has been rated number 43 on the American Library Association’s “Top 100 Most Challenged books of 1990-200! The Outsiders, should not be banned in schools because teenagers are already exposed to it’s “adult” content, it teaches strong life lessons, and schools would be restricting a potential learning experience for its students. Children are already exposed to the Outsiders “adult” content that parents and teachers are trying to shield them from. One example of this is the glorification of guns and gangs in many new box office movies targeted for a teen audience. Such movies include Gangster Squad, The Last Stand, and Broken City. Another example is video games, because they contain extremely graphic and violent content. Games including Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, and Halos’ objectives are to kill and not get caught. Yet another example is in young adult novels not restricted or promoted by schools contain things like death, alcohol, and drugs, that may teens enjoy to read. Books such as The Hunger Games and Gone have become extremely popular in the young adult community and are far more explicit than The Outsiders. The farthest THe Outsider goes in explicit content is “Everyone in our neighborhood, even the girls, smoked.” and “Johnny had been smoking since he was nine; Steve started at eleven” The Outsiders teaches strong life lessons that should not be concealed from children and teens. First it teaches that everyone has some good in them, no matter how tough they seem.

Dally was a “hardcore” Greaser who liked to cause a lot of trouble, but despite that he risked his life to save his friend Johnny from a burning church”First you and the black-haired kid climbing in that window, and the tough looking kid go back and save him”. Second, it teaches that the people you hang out with will affect your actions. Johnny was abused by his parents and started to hang out with the Greasers, because of this he was almost beaten to death by a gang of Socs. Third, The Outsiders teaches that no matter how uneducated a person may seem, they are not unintelligent. Johnny was not very educated school wise, but when him and Ponyboy were in the church reading and being read the book Gone With The Wind, Johnny had an extremely strong interest in the book and find a deeper meaning. Parents, teachers, and schools should not be restricting a potential learning experience from teenagers by not allowing them to read books like The Outsiders. The first example is that teenagers are not as easily influenced as some parents and adults may think. If a teen reads about a shooting or a person overdosing on heroin, that does not mean he or she will want to go commit a shooting of their own or take some heroin. The second example is that teenagers will not only take out the bad or explicit parts in a book, they will find a deeper meaning. For instance, although The Outsiders contains drugs and violence a teenages will not only take out the concept of drugs and violence, they will take out the lessons it teaches them, like overcoming economic differences. The third example it that by shielding teenagers from the dangers of the outside world, they will be unprepared for when mommy and daddy can to protect them anymore. By doing this children will be prone to make terrible choices because they will not understand the risk. Therefore, The Outsiders should not be banned in schools for many reasons. Parents need to stop overprotecting their children because by doing it they are limiting the knowledge of their children and leaving them waiting to be battered by the “real world”.

Many people believe that the 2016 election is to be called the “outsider” election. What makes 2016 a year of the “outsider”? Some may say that it is because the presidential candidates are appealing more to the publics anger than to the usual political policies. Others may say it is due to the fact that there is such a fresh twist on the candidates: their views and backgrounds. A 74- year- old democratic socialist that is adored by the younger generation, a 69- year- old billionaire who the underprivileged trust to represent them, and a 68-year- old former First Lady who cannot be trusted with the governments most deadly secrets. It’s both the unconventional political tactics and the candidates’ uniqueness that make the 2016 the year of the “outsider” election. In 2013 CNN conducted a poll that found that only 13 percent of Americans say they actually trust the U.S. government. It’s clear that the country’s view on politicians have drastically changed. Confidence in big corporations, news media, and the financial industry are at an all-time low. Leaving anger at the whole establishment to sky rocket, along with the openness for unconventional alternatives. Politicians, such as Donald Trump, have been using the country’s anger in order to fuel their political campaigns. The country’s anger, in large part, are because of the economic and cultural differences surrounding the country in todays world.

The Republican Party is being more comprised of middle-class voters, instead of the usual big business interest, drown to the GOP for their stance on cultural issues as abortion, gay marriage and Obama Care. The Democratic Party is being filled with younger voters, coming together through their political stances on environmental issues, such as global warming, hydraulic fracking, and off-shore oil drilling. In addition to the use of public anger, 2016 is a year of the “outsider” election because political policies seem not to matter as much as the candidate’s attitude toward the issues at hand. Having experience in politics actually seems to be a huge liability for the presidential candidates. The lack of political experience allows for a fresh take on politics, with-out worry of politicians just going through the motion of doing their jobs. Presidential candidate Donald Trump, with-out the background of politics, doesn’t care about political correctness. For some voters Trumps lack of political correctness and strive for perfection is a very appealing quality. In past elections, candidates have been known to sugar cote their ideas, which only lead to disappointment once it came time for those ideas to be put in play. So it’s both the unconventional political tactics and the candidates’ uniqueness that make the 2016 the year of the “outsider” election. The tactics of candidates using the American publics’ anger toward environmental and cultural issues to fuel their campaigns for presidency, in addition to, the uniqueness of past experience and attitude toward political policies both make for a great “outsider” election.

Search for Self Conflict arises between two incomparable social groups, resulting in tragic deaths. In the novel The Outsiders by S. E Hint, two separate gangs, the Soc and Greasers, are at constant contention. The Outsiders takes place In Oklahoma, the sass’s. Hint uses the character, Pony Curtis to explain why It doesn’t matter what social position you are In. The message she Is trying to get across to the readers Is you are your own person, and you don’t have to be classified as anyone else but yourself.

Throughout the novel Pony becomes more sophisticated, by learning to reaffirm is own values and sense of self. He progressively matures through the course of the novel in many different ways by experiencing things he would have never imagined going through. Pony never admired the girls that were Greasers but one night he found the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, she was a Soc and she had different standards for her romantic companion. Pony knows his position in society but that never held him back from falling for the delectable Cherry Valance.

Heartbreaking for him, she was more of the girl to fall for “bad-boys” unlike Pony. It wasn’t Johnny’s fault Bob was a booze-hound and Cherry went for boys bound for By the end of the novel, Pony finally comes to the realization of thinking of Cherry as more of a friend, rather than having romantic affections for her. He shows sensitivity and understanding by appreciating their differences and accepting her feelings towards him. A second way Pony has changed is by learning the consequences of his own mistakes and wrong doings.

After Running away was always Pony supreme speculation on finding a place he felt acknowledgment, “Come on, Johnny, we’re running )After coming home late, his older protective brother Dairy, who has taken over responsibility of Pony and Soda after their parents passed away, is very furious with him. As a result of his outrage, he ends up hitting Pony. Devastated, Pony runs away, and relies on one of the gang members to keep him up to date on what Is going on. He Is then stuck In an abandoned church starving for news to come from his confidant.

As a result of his actions, Pony learns how big of an Impact his family and friends have n him. The biggest impact that changed Pony throughout the novel was the realization of his brother’s feelings towards him. In the beginning of the novel, Pony is rebellious against his oldest brother Dairy, “Me and Dairy just didn’t dig each other. “(p. 13)He felt like Dairy was only out to get after him, and that Pony was never exceptional enough. Even though Dairy is stricter than their parents, he was only trying to make the best of Pony, which he came to realize at the end. Dairy did care about me, maybe as much as he cared about Soda, and because he eared he was trying too hard to make something of me. “(p. 98)After trying to block Dairy out, Pony finally figured it out for himself after seeing the agony he has put Dairy through.

The Outsiders Critical Lens Essay The quote in question is “All good is destined to be defeated. ” The quote means, for every good guy, there is a bad guy. For every hero, there is a villain. Everyone who has ever tried to do something good has been destined to be stopped. The quote not only speaks for literature, but for everything. If you look from now, all the way back to ancient times, you will see examples of this in many works of literature. The book The Outsiders is a good representation of the quote.

I agree with the quote “All good is destined to be defeated”. I can’t think of any good that hasn’t had an attempt to be stopped. In the story The Outsiders there are many examples of good being defeated. When Johnny went into a burning building to save kids, he ended up getting killed. When Darry was trying to give Ponyboy a better life, he ended up forcing him to run away. When Ponyboy attempted to make friends with Cherry and Marsha, he was jumped by their boyfriends.

These are just a few of examples from the story. I feel that the story The Outsiders really showcased the quote “All good is destined to be defeated. ” It was a story of how fun loving greasers turned to cold blooded killers after a gang of socs continue to attack them with violence. The story builds up to a climax, where there are many nail biting things are happening simultaneously. Johnny kills Cherry’s boyfriend Bob, The greasers are preparing for a big rumble with the socs, and Ponyboy and Johnny run away

The protagonists in the book are the Greasers and the antagonists are the Socs. The main characters are Darry, Soda, Dally, Bob, Ponyboy, and Johnny. Darry is tall, muscular, smart and very strict towards Ponyboy. Darry yells at Ponyboy and always seems to expect better from Ponyboy. For example, Darry yells at Ponyboy on page 49, “Where the heck have you been? Do you know what time it is? He was madder than I had seen him in along time. I shook my head wordlessly. ” Soda is always optimistic and lighthearted.

One of the only things that bring Soda down is the fact that he is a school dropout who works at a gas station. Soda tries to support Pony when Darry is mad at him but tries not to take sides. Soda explains how he doesn’t like when Darry and Pony fight when he says, “It’s just…I can’t stand to hear y’all fight. Sometimes I have to get out or…it’s like I’m the middleman in a tug o’ war and I’m being split in half . ” Dally’s actions, like robbing a store, makes him seem like he is mean and tough but actually he is a very caring person on the inside.

An example is when Dally enters the burning church to save Pony and says, “For Pete’s sake, get outa there! That roof is going to cave in any minute. ” Bob is rich and undisciplined by his parents who make him feel like he has the power to do anything he pleases. Bob is intimidating to the Greasers like Johnny and Pony because he has the ability to do almost anything he wants. An example of Bob picking on Pony and Johnny is when he orders a Soc to give Ponyboy a bath in the park fountain by drowning him as a sort of cruel joke . Ponyboy is more emotional than all of the Greasers and takes feelings in to deeper consideration.

Pony is not as violent as other Greasers and is very friendly. An example is when Pony went to the drive-in movie; he easily became friends with the popular Soc cheerleader, Cherry. This shows a lot about his personality because most Socs wouldn’t even want to talk to a Greaser. Johnny is shy, defenseless, and small for his age. He is harshly bullied by the Socs and by his parents. For instance on page 33, Pony describes how Johnny was mugged by the Socs, “They caught him and one of them had a lot of rings on his hand—that’s why they had cut Johnny up so adly. It wasn’t just that they had beaten him half to death he could take that. They had scared him. ” The setting takes place in a rough town somewhere in the U. S. around the 1960’s. The town is infested with crimes and delinquents. It’s socially divided into two parts, the east where the low-class Greasers live, and the west where the rich Socs live. The Greasers and the Socs are strong rivals who always take the opportunity to fight each other. Therefore, it makes walking down the street a dangerous task with the possibility of being mugged.

An example of the environment of this town is in the scene where Ponyboy is mugged by the Socs while he was walking himself home from the movie theater. It’s dangerous for people like Pony to even walk on the city streets without risking being cut up by a Soc. The story starts out with Pony being jumped by the Socs until Pony’s gang rescues him. The next night Pony, Dally, and Johnny go to a drive-in movie and meet two girl Socs, Cherry and Marcia. By the end of the night Pony and Cherry become good friends. Before returning home Pony and Johnny go to a vacant lot to talk.

They both fell asleep in the lot and woke up around 2 A. M. Pony goes back home only to find Darry as mad as ever. Darry lectures Pony about his curfew and ends up hitting him. Ponyboy becomes overwhelmed and decides to run away with Johnny. Pony and Johnny walk to the park until they notice the Socs approaching them. Bob is mad that the Cherry and Marcia were interacting with the Greasers; so he decides to mug both Johnny and Pony. The Socs begin to drown Ponyboy in the fountain until Johnny stabs Bob. The Socs then began to flee.

Ponyboy and Johnny need help from Dally to run away while avoiding being arrested for murder. Dally tells them how to escape to Windrixville and survive behind an old church. Dally checks up on them in a week and tells Johnny that Cherry had testified that the murder had just been an act of self-defense. Johnny decides to turn himself in; so Dally drives them back until they notice that the church was on fire. Pony and Johnny run inside and rescue the kids that are trapped. Pony barely escapes, but Johnny was more severely hurt and ends up dying in the hospital.

Dally becomes depressed because of all the misfortunes so, he commits an armed robbery at a grocery store. The police chase Dally to a lot where they kill him for armed robbery. Pony becomes traumatized because of all of the drastic events and deaths of his close friends. The main conflict in the story is when both Pony and Johnny are jumped at the park by the Socs. The Socs start to drown Pony in the fountain until Johnny stabs Bob. The Socs immediately fled to their cars and drove away. This conflict type person vs. person, in this case it would be the Socs (particularly Bob) vs. Johnny and Ponyboy. This conflict was external because it was made up actions. A minor conflict would be when Ponyboy is in great sorrow because of Johnny’s recent death. Pony can’t get over the fact that one of his closest friends, who actually deeply cared about him, died just overnight. This conflict type is a person vs. self; this is internal because it involves Pony’s feelings. An example of a is when the church burns down. Johnny and Pony frantically enter the burning church to save the children form the fire.

This is a person vs. nature conflict because the fire, which is part of nature, burns down the church which affects Ponyboy, Johnny, and the children who are trapped inside. The story is told for Ponyboy Curtis’s point of view. The author may have chosen this point of view because it would be easier to understand the story through a fourteen year old boy’s perspective and it may also make the book more appealing to teenagers. This point of view is critical to the story because it’s from the perspective of an outsider who thinks life isn’t fair to them.

This story would have been altered if it were from the point of view of a Soc because the Socs feel as if they can do what ever they want and get what ever they want. If that had happened then the story would have been talking about how bad the Greasers were and how fabulous the Socs were. The mood in this story is bitter and unruly, especially for the Greasers because of their low status in life. The atmosphere is violent because of gang fights and various crimes. The story’s mood and atmosphere change when Pony and Johnny go to the country. The mood changes from harsh to quiet and relaxed because of the smaller population in the country.

Here is an example of a mood and atmosphere change in the country , “We lay in the tall weeds and damp grass, breathing heavily. The dawn was coming. It was lightening the sky in the east and a ray of gold touched the hills. The clouds were pink and meadow larks were singing. ” The underlying message and theme of the story is the line, “Stay gold. ” Stay gold means that you should remain young and wondrous because nothing stays gold forever. Johnny’s letter to Ponyboy explains that you are gold when you are a kid. Johnny says that the way Pony like sunsets is gold and to remain gold forever.

Corporate governance is defined as the customs, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way in which companies are controlled or operated. The two archetypal governance systems are Market Outsider system usually associated with US and the UK, and Relational Insider system associated with Japan and Germany. The types of systems will impact the way the company is controlled and will hence automatically impact the way the factors of production are handled, one of the most important being labour.

These two differing types have different priorities, and so emphasis put on the employers will differ according to their characteristics- this consist of the balance of interests, time frames, business strategies and commitment. Market Outsider system sources its finance from external capital from debt and equity markets. Due to the dispersed nature of the ownership, shareholders can exercise voice through the threat of exit leading to equity markets having to be forever placated for fear of takeover or exit.

This implies that the relationship between investors and management will be prioritized over the relationship between management and labour, and capital being of the utmost importance for this type of system. Management’s effort would be channeled more into pleasing the shareholders through increased dividend payments to avoid the financiers from ‘exiting’ rather than distributing the firm’s profits to the workers. In times of low profits, workers would once more be ‘sacrificed’ by having lower wages in order to maintain the same amount of profit.

Workers who work under this type of system would have experience less security and stability because of the threat of redundancy of unstable wages compared to the Relational Insider system. The relational insider system, however, puts emphasis on labour. Due to their culture norms and institutions, they have limited market for corporate control and puts stakeholder instead of shareholder first. This includes labour whom they invest on through training and developments to achieve long-term returns for all stakeholders involved- management, labour and capital providers.

The time frames and business strategies of the two types of governance also impact the way employees are managed. The short-term nature of the market outsider system leads to more subcontracting, outsourcing, and less training for the workers, and emphasis on financial objectives translate into efforts in keeping labour costs low in order to achieve their profitability goals. Fast profits are important in this system due to the volatility of the equity markets.

Again, workers will have less job security since companies under this governance system applies ‘casino capitalism’, uncommitted to increase their agility in order to be able to quickly adjust to the demand and supply market. The relational insider system, on the other hand, favours long term objectives due to the ‘closer integration of financiers into the firm via long term debt or ownership’(Gospel and Pendleton). They would invest more in skills of workers and training to increase growth while on the other hand maintain steady returns for the investors.

Their longer payback periods for investments is much longer and this reduces the need for short-termism. This benefits workers as they are likely to have more stability and receive gains through the increased skill development that the firms under this system provide. For example, Germany’s strategy to maintain competitiveness is through incremental process innovation in production. Measures to secure commitment in the market outsider system are based on pay incentives. The management might be given stock options in order to align their objectives with the shareholders’.

In turn, labour is given pay incentives as a way to secure short-term commitment. This culture of opportunism leads to low trust in the employment relationship and is further compounded by the individuality promoted through individual pay incentives. The other system, on the other hand, relies on employee voice and including them in the company’s decision making process, for example Japan. Through Total Quality Circles, workers are given the opportunity to voice out their opinions and contribute to the growth of the company.

This way, the employees are enriched by this learning process and also develop a sense of loyalty to the entity that they contribute towards. Their seniority and merit pay systems also work well in securing employee commitment by preventing favoritism and rewarding loyalty. In conclusion, the two types of governance systems have very distinct employment relations. One giving more importance to shareholders and the other to stakeholders. The effectiveness of both system may vary based on the perspective that one is adapting. For example, capital, labour and shareholders as well as the economy’s perspective as a whole.