Emotions

Doodle and the narrator had grew closer through a disability that Doodle obtained, but this togetherness brought a series of emotions. A strong example of the narrators hatred is in the quotation, It was the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis lit in the bleeding tree. I feel that this quotation explains Doodles brother very elaborately. Doodles brother is a person of changes, or as the quotation explains it, he is a person of seasons.”

Therefore, his emotions too are oddly changing. His love for Doodle, according to the quotation is the season of summer. His feeling for Doodle was at sometimes very strong and I sometimes could see an image of Doodles face illuminate with happiness when summer was within his brother. Nevertheless, he also showed hatred

toward his brother, in turn forming autumn and killing his summer by replacing devotion with scorn.

Hurst also uses his creativity to create imagery when he states, Even death not mar its grace, for it lay in the earth like a broken vase of red flowers, and we stood around it awed by its beauty. When comparing the tow characters to this quotation I feel that the author explains that hatred, or death is sometimes hidden so humanity does not see its own hostility, as the narrator often does. The quotation explains that death does not mar its grace, the same way life does not.

For if it did death would be seen easily by man, and it would not be connected with the same stream, as explained in the thematic statement. The vase could be an image of Doodles heart breaking by the narrators hostility, while the flowers could be the love that he gave to his brother.

Correspondingly, the statement that also showed imagery to the feelings between the two was, The flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia pedals, and iron weeds grew rank amid the purple phlox. According to the quotation, I feel that the rotting pedals was Doodles brother trying to mar his garden or feelings. Doodle picked on his brother as iron weeds were cast surrounding and obliterating the wondrous flowers that grow so lovely.

The flowers would be the delicate heart that Doodle had within him, and the weeds would be the emotional pain that his brother inflicted on Doodle. This in turn, would kill the garden of flowers after so many weeds grew, as did Doodle after so much hurt was brought over him. The flowers also represented the relationship that was built between the two as Doodle was learning to walk. They shared so much laughter and joyfulness through this time as if their relationship as brothers were blossoming like flowers in the sun. A!

s his brother began to change it was as if the flowers gave up on themselves and began to wilt.

As we mature we seem to make this assumption more often. We see the world as a negative or troubled place. I believe if we seek to better ourselves we must strive not to become a person of seasons,” as Doodles brother but to become like doodle himself, a garden of wondrous flowers. Humanity should not perceive Doodles condition to be an obstacle, but as a way that brought him and his brother closer. To perceive a situation such as Doodles in that aspect would bring yourself closer to a stronger loving world.

A single moment of patience in a heedless act of anger could have saved me one hundred moments of regret. If I had known then what I know now, the way my actions would spiral into something completely unintentional then I would have done things so much differently. But then I would not have this story to tell. Mark Twain once said, “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” It all started with an outdated top loading dryer. The day had come where we were finally able to able to afford one of those magnificent front-loading dryers. My little brother, who had just recently left home, just so happened to be in the market for a used dryer.

The ancient clothes drying device was too remain in the corner of our garage until my brother was ready to come pick it up. Putting away clothes just so happens to be the bane of my existence. So being the procrastinator that I am, I made the well thought out decision that I could just leave the clothes that I had already dried in the old dryer and just get what I needed out of there as I needed it until my brother came to get it. Little did I know that his time would turn into weeks and then weeks would turn into months. My boyfriend, Jeremy, is not always as lenient on someone’s timeframe as I can be. He is also not the hoarder that he l claims I am.

If something is not of use to him the most value it can be in in the trash. He would ask me every so often when my brother was planning on picking the dryer up and I would always brush it off with I don’t know. I would get in touch with my brother for him to follow up with, “Whenever I have time,” and there was never any leading information to exactly when that was going to be. I thought it was over, Jeremy had not mentioned it again. I assumed he had decided to let it go and accept it for what it was, another place for me to store clothes that I did not want to fold. Finally the day came where he said to me, “Eli can either come get the dryer or I am setting it out for the next heavy trash pick-up,” to which I responded very matter of fact that it was not hurting him and that it would be just fine sitting in our garage until Eli was good and ready to come get it.

A few months later I came home from work exhausted and anticipating the time that I got to finally relax. The kids were already fast asleep within dreams. Working two jobs with three little kids there is not much room for downtime. I had become extremely negligent with laundry and by that, I mean I did not have any clean night clothes. I thought to myself, no worries let me go check the handy extra dryer that I have conveniently stored in the garage and I will just get something out of there. After walking into the garage, I stood there dumb-founded. The corner in which my storage device had been designated was empty. I stormed back through the garage door in a rage I am not sure Jeremy had seen before and demanded to know where the dryer was.

A little unnerved and with eyes as big as boulders Jeremy replied, “I put it out for trash pick-up, it has been in the garage for months just taking up space. Besides I told you that if he did not come get it, I was throwing it out and I have given you plenty of time to let him know.” As I kicked a plastic toy across the room I shouted, “There were clothes in there and now there is no way to get them back.” Jeremy completely baffled mumbled that he did not know there was anything in there because I had not told him. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. As my face burned with fury I marched to the closet and handful by handful I threw his clothes in the front yard. I was determined to get back at him and I did not care how unreasonable or ridiculous I was being. It is often when people become angry that their own bigotries come out. With the urge to win and make the other person feel small, and bad, comes the desire to make that person suffer the same way as you.

Not once did I acknowledge that he honestly did not know or take responsibility in the face that he had reminded me on numerous occasions that he was going to throw it away. Jeremy, in an attempt, to diffuse the situation left for the night. Meanwhile I laid in bed all night stewing. The next morning, I woke up feeling like Ursula when she had taken Ariel’s voice. I had really shown him, maybe next time he would listen when I told him not to throw something away. I continued my morning routine just like any other day. Running late as usual I had to practically push my kids out of the door to leave for work. When my four year old saw the explosion of clothes scattered across the front yard he stopped completely in his tracks. He turned around and looked straight at me with pure devastation. He broke down and sobbed, “Mommy why would you do this? This is so ugly.” He was heartbroken as he repeated, “This is so so ugly,” he proceeded to start picking up his Dads things with tears ushering down his cheeks.

There was a tightening in my chest and a lump in my throat as I stood there with no words to say. I felt immediate regret and wanted nothing more than to take it all back. It was in that moment that I realized I had not accomplished anything. By reacting on impulse and making a rash decision in efforts to hurt Jeremy, I ended up hurting someone I loved most. I had achieved my goal in making Jeremy feel small but hurt my son far worse in the process. In the heat of the moment you rarely realize that decisions you make then could inevitably hurt someone completely uninvolved. People will tell you that this little squabble will not matter in a year however the agony behind my fragile child’s tears was as loud and devastating as a broken heart that turned into a lesson that I will never forget.

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) was authored by Samuel M. Turner, Ph.D., Deborah C. Beidel, Ph.D., and Constance V. Dancu, Ph.D. and was originally published by Multi-Health Systems in 1989. Further editions of the SPAI include a version for children, (SPAI-C; Beidel, Turner, & Morris, 1995), and a version for parents (SPAI-PV; Beidel et al., 2004). In 2007 an abbreviated version, SPAI-23, was created in order to provide clinicians a quick measure and screen for social anxiety (Roberson-Nay et al., 2007). The cost for the complete SPAI test kit is $133, while the preview set is $82, the SPAI forms are $67, and the SPAI manual is $90 (MHS, n.d.). There is no online version of the SPAI.

The SPAI is an objective measure of social anxiety and fear for ages 14 and older. The first phase of development consisted of gather information and criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1980) and the measures and symptomatic complaints of individuals with social anxiety and phobia. In the second phase, anxiety disorder expert psychologists and psychiatrists rated the frequency of item occurrence with their socially anxious clients in order to develop a questionnaire.

The preliminary version of the test was taken by 34 socially anxious college students, 52 college students who were not socially anxious, and 21 patients with social phobia. The third phase of development reduced and removed items through on individual testing of items poor correlation and redundancy (Roberson-Nay et al., 2007). The normative group consisted of 306 college students who were socially anxious and non-socially anxious, as well as a clinical group population including 21 patients with social phobia, 45 patients with panic disorder or with agoraphobia, and 18 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. (Turner et al., 1989).

Test Description

• Test Content

The SPAI was designed to measure social anxiety and its severity in an individual. The key areas that the SPAI measures are Social Phobia and Agoraphobia. The SPAI assesses specific symptoms (somatic symptoms, cognitions and behaviors) across a wide range of social anxiety and fear inducing situations. (MHS, n.d.). While social anxiety and its severity are measured, there is an embedded subscale of agoraphobia in order to reduce the invariance in inflated social phobia results.

This was important in order to determine if fear of being trapped and fear of panic attacks added to the social distress instead of fear of negative evaluation (Roberson-Nay, 2007). The theoretical foundation of the SPAI was originally based on Goldfried and D’Zurilla’s (1969) behavior-analytic methodology. The specific dimensions of social phobia including cognitive, physiological and behavioral implications, were considered in the foundation of the test (Turner et al., 1989). This was achieved through the theoretical and empirical foundation previously described in the three phases of development.

• Test Purpose and Structure

The purpose of the SPAI is to assess cognitive, somatic, and behavioral dimensions of social fear. Particularly, the SPAI is helpful in identifying between Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, and Social Phobia. The test is designed for individuals aged 14 years and older, with a 6th grade reading level. (MHS, n.d.).

The length of the test is 45 items, with subscales Social Phobia (32 items) and Agoraphobia (13 items) (Turner et al., 1989). Furthermore, 21 items include multiple sub-items, resulting in a total of 109 items. Each item is rated on a 7-point Likert-scale, (1= never, 2 = very infrequent, 3 = infrequent, 4 = sometimes, 5 = frequent, 6 = very frequent, 7 = always), which helps determine the severity of the results (Roberson-Nay, 2007).

• Test Administration and Scoring

The SPAI is a self-report measure and administration time is approximately 20 to 30 minutes. The SPAI must be administered by a practitioner whose classification is B-level (MHS, n.d). These administrators usually have a graduate degree (psychology, counseling, education or similar disciplines) or are licensed or certified with which documents their assessment experience and training (Drummond et. al, 2016).

The SPAI is hand scored and can be calculated using MHS QuikScore™ Forms (MHS, n.d.). Results are based on separate scoring of the subscales Agoraphobia and Social Phobia. For Social Phobia there are multiple ratings; first the items that call for ratings based on four groups are scored, and for each item a mean rating is calculated. Then the mean scores are calculated for the physiological and cognitive items that require multiple ratings.

The total subscale score for the 32 items for Social Phobia is calculated by adding all the means and subtracting 32, which allows for a minimum subscale score of zero. The maximum score for Social Phobia is 192. Next, in the same manner the 13 Agoraphobia subscales are scored; all means are added and 13 is subtracted, with a minimum of zero and a maximum of 78. The total score is calculated by subtracting the Agoraphobia score from the Social Phobia score, which allows for differentiation between the two conditions (Turner et al., 1989).

Technical Evaluation

• Normative Sample

The SPAI was originally tested for a normative population of college students. The normative data included 306 college students. This sample consisted of a social phobic subgroup (n = 58), non-socially anxious students (n = 124) and a sample of students recruited from an introductory psychology class, chosen after scores from a screening battery resulted in the designated range (n = 182).

This battery included referral from American and Canadian psychologists and psychiatrists, diagnostic interviews and self-report tests including the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spiel-berger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970), the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (Watson & Friend, 1969), and the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (Watson & Friend, 1969), students who scored below the mean score from previous battery and clinical patients who had social phobia based on the DSM-III and chosen after a semi-structured interview (Turner et al., 1989). All students in the initial norm group completed the final version of the SPAI.

A second norm group was used in the initial study of the test and consisted of 84 clinical patients, including 21 patients with social phobia, 45 patients with panic disorder or panic disorder with agoraphobia, and 18 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. These patients had undergone clinical evaluation and were seeking treatment at the WPIC Anxiety Disorders Clinic. Individuals were chosen if they had a primary diagnosis of an anxiety disorder and excluded if they had two or more disorders or comorbidity with any other disorder (Turner et al., 1989).

The initial strategy for creating the SPAI and for the selection of the norm groups was to reflect social phobia, identify a significant percentage of social phobic and socially anxious individuals, to differentiate between social anxious and non-socially anxious individuals, and assess a single construct. Furthermore, after item examination and testing, an Agoraphobia subscale was added to determine and differentiate the source for social distress (Turner et al., 1989).

Based on this data-analytical foundation, the normative sample seems to be adequate based on the representation of socially anxious college students and individuals. However, more emphasis could have been highlighted in the distinction between Social Phobic and Agoraphobic individuals within the group of socially anxious individuals, as well as a larger sample including a wide range of ages.

Reliability

• Validity

The SPAI has been the subject of extensive psychometric testing including normative data (Gillis et al., 1995, Turner et al., 1989a), reliability (Turner, Beidel, et al., 1989), convergent validity (Herbert et al., 1991, Osman et al., 1995, Osman et al., 1996), construct validity (Turner, Stanley, Beidel, & Bond, 1989), discriminant validity (Beidel et al., 1989a, Peters, 2000, Osman et al., 1995, Osman et al., 1996, Rodebaugh et al., 2000, Turner et al., 1989a), and robust prediction of social phobia symptoms and diagnosis (Beidel et al., 1989a, Beidel et al., 1989b, Herbert et al., 1991, Rodebaugh et al., 2000).
Practical Evaluation

• Quality of Test Materials

The SPAI is a self-report inventory and is intended for ages 14 and older, with a 6th grade reading level (MHS, n.d.). Engelhard (2001) suggests that if there is an individual taking the SPAI with a reading level lower than 6th grade, it should be read aloud to them. While the examinee rates themselves based on a 7-point Likert scale, and questions are straightforward, an area of concern is repetitive nature of many of the items which could potentially lead to response sets variations (Engelhard, 2001).

Furthermore, if the examinee does not press hard enough, the response may not transfer to the QuikScore™ form, and if the top sheet is separate from the following sheets, it could be a major problem to re-order. This form may also have problems with font size, paper color and the limited space between words and lines, which could potentially present reading difficulties for visually challenged or impaired examinees (Walcott, 2001).

Ease of Administration, Scoring and Interpretation

The authors of the SPAI have done a thorough and excellent job in writing the technical manual and could be used as an example for other inventories (Enghelhard, 2001). The test manual impressively and completely provides the administrator with organized information based on Theoretical Rational, Administration and Scoring, Interpretation, Case Studies, Scale Development and Psychometric Properties, and Concluding Comment (Walcott, 2001).

The SPAI, administered by a B level practitioner, takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete and is hand-scored using the MHS QuikScore™ (MHS, n.d.). This form includes scoring aids and allows scoring time to be rapid and eliminates potential for key error (Walcott, 2001). While administration and scoring are straightforward, the rationale for some of the scoring steps is not clear, and no situation-specific score is given. Clinical interpretation is encouraged based on response patterns (Engelhard, 2001). Based on this interpretation made by individual clinicians/administrators, Engelhard (2001) suggests that an item response theory model be provided in order to encourage stimulating discussions with clinicians and clients/examinees.

References

• Beidel, D. C., Turner, S. M., & Morris, T. L. (1995). A new inventory to assess childhood social anxiety and phobia: The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children. Psychological Assessment, 7(1), 73-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.7.1.73
• Beidel, D. C., Turner, S. M., Morris, T. L., (2004). The social phobia and anxiety inventory for children—parent version. University of Maryland, unpublished manuscript.
• Roberson-Nay, R., Strong, D. R., Nay, W. T., Beidel, D. C., & Turner, S. M. (2007). Development of an abbreviated Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) using item response theory: The SPAI-23. Psychological Assessment, 19(1), 133-145.
  http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1037/1040-3590.19.1.133
• Goldfried, M. R., & D’Zurilla, T. J. (1969). A behavioral-analytic model for assessing competence. In C. D. Spielberger (Ed.), Current topics in clinical and community psychology (pp. 1951–1996). New York: Academic Press.
• Turner, S. M., Beidel, D. C., Dancu, C. V., & Stanley, M. A. (1989). An empirically derived inventory to measure social fears and anxiety: The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1(1), 35-40. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1037/1040-3590.1.1.35
• American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders(3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
• Drummond, R. J., Sheperis, C., & Jones, K. D. (2016). Assessment procedures for counselors and helping professionals (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
  Engelhard, G. (2001). Test Review Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory. In B. S. Plake & J. C. Impara (Eds.), The fourteenth mental measurements yearbook. 2001. Retrieved from Burros Institute’s Mental Measurements Yearbook online database.
• Walcott, D.D. (2001). Test Review Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory. In B. S. Plake & J. C. Impara (Eds.), The fourteenth mental measurements yearbook. 2001. Retrieved from Burros Institute’s Mental Measurements Yearbook online database.
• 49. Peters, L. and L. Peters, Discriminant validity of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI), the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS). Behaviour Research & Therapy, 2000. 38(9): pp. 943–50.
• 50. Rodebaugh, T.L., et al., Convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory. Depression & Anxiety, 2000. 11(1): pp. 10–4.
• 51. Beidel, D.C., et al., The social phobia and anxiety inventory: concurrent validity with a clinic sample. Behaviour Research & Therapy, 1989. 27(5): pp. 573–6. 52. Beidel, D.C., et al., Assessing reliable and clinically significant change in social phobia: validity of the social p

Have you ever been scared of the dark? Or maybe you still are! Many kids and adults are known to suffer from the fear of darkness or night phobia. Several non-clinical terminologies are used for describing this phobia, namely: Nyctophobia, Scotophobia, Lygophobia as well as Achluophobia.

The word Nyctophobia is derived from Greek ‘Nyctus ‘meaning night or darkness and Phobos which means deep fear or dread. Nyctophobia is a common phobia among children. In many cases, childhood Nyctophobia passes as the child matures. While adults with Nyctophobia realize that these fears are irrational, they often find that facing, or even thinking about, facing the darkness brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety.

It is common for children to be irrationally fearful of the dark; their brain perceives frightful images of ‘what would happen’ once the lights are turned off. However, it is also not uncommon to see adults suffering from Achluophobia. Adults having nyctophobia is because they are being evolved into something more serious or they got a traumatic experience that haunts them.

Perhaps the Nyctophobic person experienced some abuse as a child and has associated that with the darkness. Maybe this individual suffered from frequent, terrifying nightmares. Such a condition can greatly impact the sufferer’s day to day life mainly because the individual tends to be depressed, anxious or high strung all the time. Sufferers often refuse to step outside after dark or sleep alone. People are not really scared of the dark. They are scared of who or what lurks in it.

Causes of fear of darkness phobia

In children, having nyctophobia is because of an experience where there is not much safety and security when being in the dark. This is due to children are often used to watch horror movies or films which they always imagined whenever they in a darkened room or place. However, according to J. Adrian Williams’ article titled, Indirect Hypnotic Therapy of Nyctophobia: A Case Report, many clinics with pediatric patients has a great chance of having adults who have nyctophobia. Adults having nyctophobia is because they are being evolved into something more serious or they got a traumatic experience.

Perhaps the nyctophobic person experienced some abuse as a child and has associated that with darkness. Maybe this individual suffered from frequent, terrifying nightmares. Maybe the nyctophobic person heard or told too many frightening stories or urban myths and a phobia developed based upon those experiences. Experts believe that Nyctophobia generally originates from a traumatic experience in the past.

As a child, one might have been left in the dark as a punishment. Siblings and friends might also be responsible for instilling the fear of darkness. Movies, TV shows and literature depicting horror, blood, gore, ghosts and other paranormal activities that normally take place in absence of daylight are also often responsible for creating a deeply rooted fear of darkness in a child’s mind. Domestic violence, car accidents, and other devastating or traumatic events can also leave a child confused, scared and anxious. Teenagers and young children are known to react very differently to such events.

One of the responses to such incidents could be a persisting fear of night or darkness when the events might have occurred. Most childhood fears go away as one grows up and matures. However, in some cases, Achluophobia can continue well into adulthood. This is because many people have had tragic incidents in the past about the dark. Such people tend to keep recalling these past events which they associate with the dark.

Symptoms of Achluophobia/ Nyctophobia

Preschoolers might resort to thumb sucking, or bed-wetting owing to their fear of night or darkness phobia. She/he might become clingy and protest to sleep without a nightlight, or insist upon sleeping with an adult/companion. Often the sleeping and eating habits of children and adults alike might change owing to this fear of darkness phobia.

They might experience physical symptoms in the form of:

• Aches and pains
• Rapid shallow breathing
• Heart palpitations
• Shivering and trembling
• Chest pains or feeling like choking
• Nausea and other gastrointestinal distress
• Crying, screaming
• Reduced appetite or conversely overeating or binge eating
• Psychological symptoms of the fear of darkness include:
• Thoughts of death, dying-often associated with Thanatophobia
• Fear of being attacked by ‘boogeymen’, ghosts, and monsters; Checking and rechecking under the bed or in closets
• Refusing to sleep alone or refusing to step out of the house after sunset. Trying to stay up all night, waking up several times.
• Feeling dread, feeling like running away at the thought of facing darkness.

Emotional symptoms include:

• overwhelming feelings of anxiety or panic
• an intense need to escape the situation
• detachment from self or feeling “unreal”
• losing control or feeling crazy
• feeling like you may die or lose consciousness
• feeling powerless over your fear

The fear of darkness phobia can affect one’s sleep quality. This can lead to stress. Adults might start showing a lack of productivity at work. Hence, depression and other mental and physical disorders are common in Nyctophobic individuals. All of these can negatively impact one’s quality of life.

Overcoming Nyctophobia

Adults suffering from Achluophobia often realize that their fear is irrational. Yet they feel powerless to overcome it and dread the arrival of nighttime all through the day. Thankfully, there is hope, and many therapies can help overcome this phobia. Professional therapists can help get to the bottom of one’s fear of darkness and so can Hypnotherapy. Apart from this, one can also consider self-help techniques.

These include gradually exposing oneself to one’s object of fear and writing down irrational thoughts and changing them to rational ones. Meditation and positive visualization are other expert-recommended self-help methods to overcome Nyctophobia.

Neuro-linguistic programming or NLP, as well as behavior and cognitive behavior therapies, are other effective techniques used for overcoming Achluophobia/Nyctophobia. All of these help the individual manage his anxiety response when faced with the stimulus, in this case, darkness or night. Medicines and drugs can also be taken to calm anxiety and reduce depression. However, these are not long term solutions for Nyctophobia and one must be aware of their possible side effects.

The etymology of forgiveness comes from old English “for” meaning completely and “giefan” meaning to give or to receive. It is defined as to give up resentment against an offense. In psychology forgiveness is a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person who has harmed you. Forgiveness does not mean forgetting or denying the seriousness of an offense.

Forgiveness can help repair relationships and bring reconciliation. Forgiveness can bring the forgiver peace of mind, free the forgiver from destructive anger, and a desire for revenge that poisons the entire being. It can lead to feelings of understanding, empathy, and compassion for the one who caused the pain and hurt, enabling a way to go on with life. For the one receiving forgiveness the first step is to honestly assess and acknowledge the wrongs done in order to admit and correct mistakes that have been made.

Receiving forgiveness can give the forgiven the ability to stop continued self criticism and self judgment, offer healing, instill a sense of gratitude, relieve pain and suffering, and overcome one’s wrongdoings as long as they can also forgive themselves. Forgiveness can be given conditionally or unconditionally. It can be asked for one’s self, or in favor of someone. It can be given for wrongdoings without the offender asking. It can be a new start. However true forgiveness can’t be forced and others need to move to forgiveness in their own time. The books covered this semester are: The Iliad, Unbroken, The Old Man and the Sea, The Crucible, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. In each of these books forgiveness and the impact it has on pain and suffering is a main topic.

The Iliad is about revenge, pain, and forgiveness. It begins when Achilles is unable to forgive Agamemnon for taking away Briseis and quits fighting for the Greek in order to ease his pain and revenge this offense even though Agamemnon offers him many gifts and treasures. It seems as if Achilles never forgives Agamemnon but this resentment is overcome by a bigger pain and quest for revenge when Achilles’ beloved cousin Patroclus is killed by Hector.

Achilles fights and kills Hector but it does not bring him peace. He tries to make sacrifices to the gods, honors Patroclus with games, and even drags Hector’s dead body behind the chariot and leaves him without proper funeral rights, but nothing can take his pain away. Similarly King Priam is filled with pain and grief over the loss of his son Hector and Hector not being able to cross over to the next world without proper burial. He goes to Achilles at night and cries for Hector’s body, seeking forgiveness for  Hector’s slaying of Patroclus.

Priam says to Achilles “have pity on me, remembering your own father, yet I am more worthy of your pity, for I have endured to do what no other mortal on earth has done: to raise to my mouth the hand of the man that killed my son.”

Achilles pities King Priam gives King Priam twelve days of peace to prepare and bury Hector’s body. Giving this act of forgiveness finally brings Achilles peace and forgiveness given to Priam gives him peace. Also Priam forgives Achilles for killing his son, so in the end, after seeking revenge for most of the book Achilles himself finds forgiveness from his enemy.

Pain, forgiveness, and redemption are topics in Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Louis Zamperini endured immeasurable and nearly indescribable pains, sufferings, and humiliations in the Japanese prison camps and by his preeminent tourterer The Bird Watanabe. The bird never sought forgiveness for his wrongdoings. The post war nightmares caused Louie’s life to crumble, he fell into alcoholism and it nearly destroyed his marriage. He wrote a letter to the Bird:

“As a result of my prisoner of war experience under your unwarranted and unreasonable punishment, my post-war life became a nightmare. It was not so much do to the pain and suffering as it was the tension of stress and humiliation that cause me to hate with a vengeance.”

This strikes similarities with Achilles as for pain calling for vengeance. Eventually, Louie found God and committed his life to Christ and the message “Forgive your enemies and pray for them.”
Louie returns to Japan and forgives all the Japanese war criminals including Watanabe, who was not present. To recover from his trauma of war and rebuild his life he had to let go of the destructive anger that was poisoning his entire being. Forgiveness become the most powerful resource for achieving redemption. By forgiving Louie found the inner peace that he couldn’t find in the years after the war. The Bird however didn’t find the inner fulfillment and redemption of forgiveness for his wrongdoings.

Pride, pain, and forgiveness are topics in The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway. Santiago, an old fisherman, has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish so he sails out farther than ever before, far beyond the other fisherman, to the deep waters, where the biggest fish are to be found. It is not only a matter of survival but also of restoring his honor and pride and proving to himself that he can still do it.

When he hooks the largest marlin, a fight of life and death filled with pain and suffering between him and the fish follows. Both him and the majestic fish are equal rivals displaying qualities of pride, honor, courage, resourcefulness and endurance. It is an epic battle. Santiago fights aches and pains, cramps and cuts in his hands, hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, just as the fish strains against the line, fighting to shake loose, without food, and also battling exhaustion. Santiago says:
“You’re feeling it now fish, and so, God knows, am I

The old man compares his pain to the pain of the fish, and this is what allows him to see a brotherhood between them. When the old man finally kills the majestic marlin, who had roamed the deep seas free and without fear of predators, they start their way back home. On their way sharks repeatedly attacked them and devour the best meat of the fish. As the sharks shred the Marlin to pieces, Santiago feels remorse and regrets that he traveled so far out to bring in such a beautiful fish to such a pitiful ending.

He reminds himself that he didn’t kill the marlin simply for food, but that he killed it out of pride and love. He wonders if it is a sin to kill something you love. His pride took him so far out, but now he wishes that he hadn’t killed the marlin. He acknowledges the wrongs done in order to admit the mistakes he has made. He apologizes to the dead marlin for the mutilation it has suffered by the sharks and the pain he caused. He admits, “I shouldn’t have gone out so far fish. Neither for you nor for me. I am sorry fish”. He realizes it did neither of them any good. Ultimately he hopes for forgiveness for his misdoings.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, personal felt pain and forgiveness or unforgiveness are dealt with in the characters of John and Elizabeth Proctor. John has an affair with Abigail Williams and Elizabeth becomes suspicious. When he admits his wrongdoings to her, she must learn how to forgive him and overcome her hurt and resentment. But John blames her that she has not forgiven him and continues to blame him. John says:

“I confessed, some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But your not and let you remember it. Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me and judge me not.” She says: “ I don’t judge you, the magistrates sit in your heart that judges you.”

John think if God forgave us, we need to be able to forgive others, but Elizabeth thinks that only God who knows your heart can judge you. When one is hurt, one does not easily forgive, and it seems as if Elizabeth can’t forgive. John is pained by his mistake, feels guilty before God his wife and himself. He blames Elizabeth that she can’t forgive him but he also can’t forgive himself. When Elizabeth is accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams, he accuses Abigail in court of being a whore and admits his adultery before the court in an effort to save Elizabeth. She never did anything wrong but he has wronged her.

When the court asked Elizabeth about John’s affair, Elizabeth lies to cover him, which might show that she did forgive him and loves him still. John dreads admitting his adultery in court since he is already pained by guilt, but he sacrifices his name to protect her, and now his good name is also lost. In the end, the court offers him a conditional forgiveness if he would confess to witchcraft and accuse other citizens. He refuses and so has a possibility to redeem himself and protect the integrity of his name and honor. He could escape death, but it was not worth living the rest of his life on a lie. Elizabeth’s forgiveness and regaining his good name and self respect enables him to forgive himself and find peace even on the ways to the gallows.

In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, lies, loss of trust and forgiveness are central topics. When Chritsopher’s mom abandons him and his dad, his dad is devastated and tells Chris that she died. This might be because he was trying to protect Chris’s feelings from the pain of abandonment. Then In his frustration about Mrs. Shears leaving also him and Christopher, in a burst of emotions he kills Wellington.

He should have considered Chris’s obsession with the truth, so when Chris finds out that the mom is alive and that his dad killed Wellington, his dad’s lies are worse than his mom abandoning him. This almost breaks their relationship because for Chris these lies are nearly unforgivable and he doesn’t feel safe anymore in the presence of his dad. Chris and his dad need to work to restore their relationship. Honestly acknowledging his mistakes, his dad asks him for forgiveness as the first step to save their relationship.

His dad says:

“ Christopher, look, you have to learn to trust me, and I don’t care how long it takes because this is important, more important than anything.”

Chrisopher has to learn to forgive his dad, and to learn to trust him again. This forgiveness will take his and his dad’s pain away and bring reconciliation. Forgiveness will restore their relationship and rebuild trust.

In conclusion, demonstrated by the examples above, the quote holds true: “It takes a strong person to say I am sorry but an even stronger person to forgive.

The short story “Separation,” by John Updike, presents many unique and diverse character reactions. It is about the separation of a married couple breaking the news of their split to their children, and their children’s reactions to this news. The parents are very different from one another, as are the children. Many emotions are presented in this short story and it is certainly an insightful view into how this might play out in real life. The parents, Richard and Joan, are both worried to tell their children and are not quite sure how to go about telling them or even when they should do it. Once they do decide to provide their children with this news, they definitely could not have predicted the reactions that they would receive. The separation of parents takes a toll on each individual in a specifically different way. The different ways in which they approach how they deal with these emotions varies between each individual.

In “Separation,” the father, Richard, seems to be taking the decision of separation extremely hard. Richard is going through many emotions such as sadness, regret, guilt, and hesitation about the separation. He seems to be really sad about the whole situation, and it is presented that he is dreading having to tell his children about the decision. In the beginning of the story Joan, his wife, and Richard start to discuss when they are going to tell their children about the decision that has been made, and end up agreeing that they would wait until the four children were together. After deciding this the narrator says, “So he drudged away, in love, in dread, repairing screens, getting the mowers sharpened, rolling and patching their new tennis court” (Updike 800). This shows how Richard feels somewhat guilty about the decision to separate because he is using his ability to fix things around the house as a way to make up for the dreaded news he is about to break to his children. It also is a good representation of how Richard feels saddened by the whole situation.

When it is said that he “drudged away, in love, in dread” it shows his regret and sadness due to the fact that his marriage has come to a point where it may end and that he must now tell his children of this decision. Richard, throughout the story, does not want to admit that this was partly his decision, but that could be due to his regret of the decision. In the beginning of the story Richard is doing chores around the house, and Updike says of Richard, “In his sealed heart he hoped the day would never come” (Updike 800). Though this quote is about how he is worried to tell the children, it presents his worries as to what might become of the separation. This quote is also good at representing his hesitation about the whole situation. By telling the children that this separation is happening, it has become all the more real and final.

Richard tries to put it off for as long as possible because that way he will not have to face the reality of his decisions. Richard’s guilt is shown very well when Richard tells his son, John, “We’ll think about getting you transferred” (Updike 804). Richard has used this offer as a bribe in order to try and placate John and keep him from being too upset by the situation. By offering this, Richard hopes that it will help lessen the effects of the news and alleviate the drastic toll this news may have on his son. Richard has many emotions going through him, and these emotions cause him to react a certain way throughout this separation and what has been caused by it. Joan, the mother and wife in the short story “Separation,” takes a different approach to the emotions that she feels about the separation than her husband, or soon to be ex-husband, and children. Joan tends to put her children’s feelings and arrangements before her own. When she and Richard are debating about when to break the news to the children she makes the point that they should wait for the children to be finished with all exams and ceremonies, so that their summer would have officially started and they wouldn’t have this upsetting news on their brain.

She is the one her puts her children first. This shows when she tells Richard, “I think just making an announcement is a cop-out. They’ll start quarrelling and play to each other instead of focusing. They’re individuals, you know, not just some corporate obstacle to your freedom” (Updike 801). When she says this she is insinuating that Richard looks at the children in a less personal way than she does and puts the way he feels ahead of the way his children feel. Joan treats the each of the children as their own individual and respects each of them and their opinions. She wants to talk to the children in a way that they will be able to discuss the situation seriously rather than just make it into a joke and blow it off. Whereas, Richard wants it to be short and simple without any genuine feelings involved. Her approach is also different from Richard when she decides to take control of the situation and take responsibility for what is about to happen.

When Updike says, “meaning he had no better plan, and agreed to hers, though to him it showed an edge of false order, a hidden plea for control” (Updike 801) it shows how she takes control of the situation. Instead of allowing him to attempt to somehow get around telling the children, she told him how it was going to happen. She wanted everything to go smoothly for the children, and wasn’t so much concerned about how it went for her specifically. Unlike Richard, Joan is past the stage of being upset by the separation, she even says to Richard, “I couldn’t cry I guess because I cried so much all spring” (Updike 804). Joan admits that she has moved past being upset, and accepted the situation for what it was, and now it was time for her to worry about the children, and give Richard what he asked for, a separation. Joan takes the approach of the responsible one in the situation and puts the children first.

Two of the children, John and Judith, each have different approaches as to the news that their parents broke to them. John and Judith were the first two children to be told the news and had somewhat different reactions. Though neither John nor Judith were happy about the news of the separation, they approached how they handled it differently. For instance, when the news of the separation was told to Judith she responded by somewhat mocking her mother’s tone saying, “I think it’s silly. You should either live together or get divorced” (Updike 803). Judith seemed to be upset with the idea of it being just a separation rather than a full on divorce. She seems to think that a couple should either be together one hundred percent or not at all, to her there is no in between. Basically, to her way of thinking, you either love someone and you want to be with them, or you do not.

Rather than being upset by the actual separation, Judith is annoyed about how they are in between two decisions. Whereas John, Judith’s brother, takes the news in a different and more dramatic way. I think that this upsets her because she is a bit older than John, and has somewhat moved on with her life. She isn’t as upset by it because she seems to feel that it does not directly affect her and her everyday life. When the news was broken, John’s first reaction was to say, “What do you care about us” (Updike 803). This just goes to show how John took the news on a more personal level than Judith did. John took the news as meaning that his parents didn’t care about him, or his siblings. Not only did John take it personally, but he also took it so hard that he chose to act out because of it. He used it as a tool to put the attention on him.

For instance, when the narrator says, “Feeling bound to keep the center of the stage, John took a cigarette from Judith’s pack, poked it in his mouth, let it hang from his lower lip, and squinted like a gangster” (Updike 803), this shows how he acts out in order to put the attention on him, in hopes that it will keep his parents together. Many children try this approach because they think that if their parents see what it is doing to him or her that they will stay together in order to keep the family together because it is what is best for the child. John also uses the announcement of his parents’ separation as a tool to get what he wants from Richard. An example of this is when John said to Richard, “It’s not just the separation, it’s the whole crummy year, I hate school, you can’t make any friends, the history teacher’s a scud” (Updike 804), this shows how he uses the news to his advantage.

He uses his father’s guilt to get his father to agree to allow him to change schools, which he probably would not have been allowed to do otherwise, or it would have at the least been more difficult to get him to agree. The difference between John and Judith’s approach to the news of the separation is that John took it more personal than Judith. This illustrates just how differently two people in the same position can approach the same situation. Another approach that we can look at would be the differing points of view from Joan and Richard as a couple and how they deal with this decision within their relationship, rather than thinking about how it affects everyone else. By deciding to become separated and the upcoming announcement of their decision to their children, both Joan and Richard have realized the reality of their decision is quickly approaching. Richard slowly begins to realize that he is still in love with Joan, and the family life that he has.

He also admits that he still feels that he and Joan are completely together and does not feel that they are truly separated, he still feels emotionally connected to Joan. Richard’s feelings are brought to life when the narrator says, “Guiltily, he realized he did not feel separated” (Updike 805), about Richard. Richard clearly regrets his decision of wanting a separation, yet he has not said anything to change the course of what is about to happen. As a consequence of this whole situation: from Richard saying that he wants a separation to telling the children, and Richard making it seem as if Joan was the one to come to this decision; Joan has become somewhat ‘over’ the whole situation.

This is brought to light when she tells Richard, “You didn’t want to. You loved it. You were having your way, making a general announcement” (Updike 804). This passage shows how she is finished with the entire situation and the pain and frustration that it has caused her. She gives the impression that she would prefer to just move on with her life and the decision that she has come to be okay with, that Richard decided for them both. Joan makes it pretty obvious that she has passed the stage of being upset by the situation and has moved to the stage of being okay with the decision, and having Richard move out like he suggested. Although Joan and Richard are technically a couple, they have very different approaches towards the situation of the separation. Richard wishes that he had never said that he wanted to be separated, whereas Joan has become comfortable with the decision and wants to move forward.

Overall, each family member deals with the news differently from one another, but the one thing that they do have in common is that each of them are hurt. When it comes to a situation like a separation it takes a different toll on each individual, as well as each individual having a different approach to how to deal with the situation. Joan and Richard go through the process of deciding when to tell their children about the separation, and finally come to a mutual agreement. But when it comes to the process of actually telling their children about the separation, while Richard dreads it, Joan is prepared to deal with the situation responsibly. Joan and Richard are very different from one another, and the way they view and approach the situation varies from one another as well. “Separation” is a story with very diverse reactions about the separation of Joan and Richard, from the couples own reactions to how and when to share the news with their children, their children’s reactions to their parents separation, to Joan and Richard’s reactions within their relationship.

The greatest percentage of first time customers Is college students, Just Like he town of Blackburn, with a population of 40,000 people plus about 25,000 enrolled college students. Greensboro, North Carolina Is about 80 miles South of Janesville and most of the students don’t return for a second dive because of the cost. Only 3 percent of the skydivers return to stay In the sport. Since first time divers have the highest margin, ;RSI important to get these divers to stay In the sport.

There are two main competitors for AS in the same area about 120 miles Northeast of Janesville that must compete for the population in Ranked. These two companies are more advantaged because they offer more availability, larger and aster planes, and charger more in fees. They are both open year round on the weekends and are open at least 4 days during the high season. AS only has two competitors to beat, which is a plus, considering their strengths. But the scenery that AS has to offer is more beautiful than the scenery of the other two companies.

Internal factors that affect AS is employee schedules. Most of the employees for AS are part-time workers, including the owner, Bill Cockerel. Bill and is employees are only available to work the weekends they are scheduled to work during the open season. Bill works another Job and the earliest he can be at AS is at pm on Fridays. There is only one cameraman, which means only one person, per film, per flight. Videos are given only on Sundays, and with new student reservations on Mondays, those videos arena received until the following Sunday.

There are currently two Cessna 182 planes, which take longer to reach higher altitudes. The maximum height for AS is 10,000 feet. The Cessna planes hold up to four parachutists at one time. During the high season, this becomes a problem because AS only has four parachutes in its possession; two tandems and two accelerate free-fall parachutes. By analyzing this case, I found It necessary for AS to do two things. First they can keep the Cessna planes they already have and extend their work days to Fridays and Mondays to make more available times to customers.

Since this Is a second Job for most of the employees, Including the owner, more employees will be needed or longer shift hours for the employees that are already there. A new, larger plane wouldn’t be necessary In this action because there will be more time available to work the flights. The second option for AS would be to purchase a larger plan that revives a faster turnaround time, reach higher altitudes, and hold more passengers. In doing this, AS will need to be a full-time company, with extended weekends In the high season.

The profit margin and hourly rates will increase if this is implemented. IT one AT ten Cessna are solo , ten money can De uses to lighten ten cost AT ten new plane. AS will need to raise their prices and do heavy advertisement to fill passenger slots on the planes. Although the first option allows the company to grow at a slower pace, I think the second option is sounder for the company. AS should become full-time and add mom of the serious skydivers as employees.

With more employees and an extended weekend, an increase for fees is necessary. The demand for skydiving with the company is at good standing. AS needs to make it available to accommodate those potential customers. Adding at least one more camera would be a great step because the video helps with advertising the company’s services. Finding more first time jumpers and creating a program which allows them to return is the key to generating the income that is needed. Once they’ve Jumped two or three times, the chances of them returning are high.