E Waste Management Processes In Malaysia Environmental Sciences Essay

E Waste Management Processes In Malaysia Environmental Sciences Essay With rapid technological advancement, increasing demand of electrical and electronic as well as short lifespan of the products has lead to the increase in e-waste generation. Hence, E-waste generation has become a concern. E-waste management requires different approach compare to conventional management of traditional wastes. This is because of E-waste complex characteristic where its contain hazardous substances which pose risk to human health and environment. Understanding E-waste management and to determine the best approach is a difficult task due to lack of study in Malaysia and reliable data on management system. This paper aimed to assess the current practice of E-waste management in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. The data presented in this paper derived mostly from the secondary sources of various literatures and interview with main stakeholders in e-waste management were conducted in order to understand the current issue and problem in e-waste management. Managing E-waste in Malaysia is challenging due to its hazardous characteristic and the generation currently at an alarming rate where it is reported that E-waste will be expected to triple output in next five years. Therefore, the cooperation from all level of management from key stakeholders is needed in order to ensure the risk of E-waste can be control at the minimum level. Keywords: Electrical and electronic waste, E-waste, management Introduction In view of the vision 2020 aim for Malaysia, the countrys wish to become a fully develop nation in the year 2020 has meant that Malaysia is not only encourages economic and social growth, but also environmental issues are addressed (Pelle Getke, 2008). One of the major environmental problems in Malaysia is the production of new waste in the waste streams namely electrical and electronic waste. Electrical and electronic waste, also known as electronic waste or electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), or in short called e-waste is consist of electrical or electronic products that can be categorized into white goods or bulky waste such as refrigerators, washing machines and brown goods such as computers, televisions, mobile phones, etc when comes to its end of life for their current owner (D.S Khetriwal, 2007). It also can be define as waste types that consist of broken or unwanted electronic appliances. E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste issues in the world where it forms 1% of solid waste on an average in developed countries and is expected to grow to 2% by 2020 (UNEP, 2007). The quantities of e-waste are predicted to grow substantially in future both in industrialized countries and in developing countries, with the potential to triple their e-waste by 2010 (UNEP, 2008) which is no exemption for Malaysia. With manufacturers continue to update and invented new electrical and electronic equipments, this has caused the lifespan of old product tend to decrease and this also becoming one of the factor contributes to the rapid growing of waste in today world. Statistics on the total quantity of e-waste generated per year in Malaysia is indistinguishable. However, e-waste generation is directly related to number of appliances used in the country (IMPAK, 2006). Table 1 shows the amount in unit on electrical and electronic product in Malaysia for year 2003. Table 1: The amount of electrical and electronic product for year 2003 Product Amount (Unit) Computer 4, 183,684 Mobile Phones 11,124,000 Television 4.500,000 Radio 9,400,000 Refrigerator 3,500,000 Data source: Era Hijau, 2008, Department of Environment With the growth of electrical or electronic equipments consumed in this country, the management of waste will be a key issue that needs to be urgently addressed especially in e-waste management. The problems that can be identified are the absence of proper mechanism and standards of disposal where it often end up in the waste streams either through recycling or landfill (ToxicLink, 2003). It can be assumed that the disposal of obsolete electrical and electronic products is fundamentally driven by the production of new ones where it implies that the growth in global electronic production of 4.4% in 2002, 6.8% in 2003 will result in similar growth in e-waste management (William, 2005). Without proper management system especially in disposal processes, hazardous materials contained in e-waste can be release into the environment and this will potentially give adverse effect to human health (M. Macauley, 2003). Therefore, it is very important to have a better e-waste management in order t o reduce it effects to both human health and environmental ecosystem in the future. Current status of E-waste management in Malaysia Developing countries usually lack of proper storage spaces or disposal area for e-waste causing their e-waste mixed in domestic landfill, burned with household waste or stored in the attic for years. This problem also occur in Malaysia where most of e-waste end up in landfill as there is no mechanism of proper recycling or safe disposal. The disposal of e-waste in uncontrolled way can pose risk to environment and human health where there are growing of e-waste winding up unnoticed in landfill (NST, 2007). Besides that, many facilities are unable to process e-waste due to constraints in space and handling problem (EQR, 2006). The existing collection and disposal system is inadequate in handling such wastes. This is because the management of e-waste is different with management of solid waste. According to D.S Khetriwal (2007), conventional waste management policies suited to handle traditional waste types and cannot be applied in the case of e-waste due to its characteristic which con tains both highly toxic substances as well as valuable materials which can be recovered. Malaysia already has existing regulation on scheduled wastes where e-waste were categorized under SW110 in First Scheduled of Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulation 2005, but this regulation not directly dealing with e-waste from household. Currently, there is no mechanism of proper segregation or disposal system to encourage public recycle and discard e-waste. The continue generation of e-waste over time, together with lack of structured mechanism of institutional framework and inadequate infrastructure causing e-waste management not well set up. Even though at present electrical or electronic appliances are rarely disposed of inadequate manner, but with little regulation in place, this has created hazards to local populations, as well as to the environment. Study area and data collection The number of electrical or electronic industries in Malaysia is rising. Thus, increased in the consumption of electrical and electronic products is due to its utility in our everyday life. This indirectly explained why the numbers of electrical and electronic waste is increasing. As the urbanization continues to take place, the management of waste is a major public health and environment concern in urban areas of many developing countries. The concern is serious, particularly in the capital cities. Therefore Shah Alam, Selangor is chosen as the starting point for the research. Shah Alam is the capital city for the State of Selangor where it consists of well planned and modern town with the state administrative centre in a spacious and pleasant environment. Shah Alam is an urban city in Petaling and Klang District which is located about 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of the countrys capital, Kuala Lumpur. In 1978, it replaced Kuala Lumpur as the capital city of the State of Selangor due to Kuala Lumpurs incorporation into a Federal Territory in 1974. Shah Alam was the first planned city in Malaysia after independence in 1957. Shah Alam has a similar urban layout to Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya with housing areas occupying most of the city (55.2  km ²) and commercial centres scattered around the different seksyen (sections). There are about 56 sections in total within 24 zones. Shah Alam is the State of Selangor capital city, has experienced a rapid urbanization and industrialization in the last decade. Urban area where chosen because of the highest communication services are concentrated in urban areas compare to rural areas and most of the development still concentrated in urban areas. The production of E-waste in this area can be assumed as quite high and the management of E-waste by waste generators, recyclers and disposal are crucial. Figure 3.2 shows amount of E-waste generated in Shah Alam is the highest compare to others area in the State of Selangor. Figure 3.2 Amount of e-waste generated in Selangor Area in 2009 Source: DOE Shah Alam report, 2009 Personal interview were conducted with relevant stakeholder that consist of regulatory framework government officials responsible for E-waste management process, as well as senior managers within the E-waste recycling industries (SW. Chung, R.Murakami-Suzuki, 2008) in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. As this is exploratory research, many stakeholders have been approached and interviews were conducted to obtain the understanding on e-waste management issues and problem, opinions and their view. Before meeting the respondents, information has been searched for knowing the involvement of stakeholders in the e-waste management (M. Schluep et al., 2008). The interviews were conducted with stakeholders that were responsible with the management of e-waste in Shah Alam and also directly involved in e-waste management in Malaysia. On the other hand, the respondent were chosen based on convenience sampling where only person that willing to cooperate in this study will be interviewed. This type o f sampling technique was chosen due to limited time and finance. After the interview, the interviews are transcribed and the transcript of each interview was sent back to the interviewee (s) for comment and further questions (P. Manomaivibool, 2009). Secondary data was extracted from a collection of key documents. These documents were collected through library and document searches from many stakeholders including government agencies, industry and business. Collections of key documents consist of documents in the form of publications such as reports, journals, books, and internets. The data gathers are source from report of e-waste inventory project in Malaysia, annual publication of IMPAK magazine by Department of Environment (DOE), Malaysia and environmental quality report of DOE, Malaysia. The data presented in this paper derived mostly from the secondary sources of various literatures and interview with main stakeholders in e-waste management were conducted in order to understand the current issue and problem in e-waste management in Shah Alam, Selangor and Malaysia generally. Trend of e-waste generation Figure 1: Quantities of e-waste generated in Selangor, Malaysia Table 1: Number of e-waste contractors in Selangor, Malaysia. 2007 2008 2009 Number of contractor in Selangor 27 28 27 Data source: DOE, Selangor report, 2007, 2008, and 2009. In the e-waste inventory project of Malaysia report, e-waste is expected to increase in five year ahead and further. This is because at that time the level of public awareness regarding e-waste is increasing due to e-waste had become an important environment issues in 21st century. The other factor that may contribute to the increase of e-waste is due to technologies advancement where people lifestyle change where the replacement of old product with new ones that much better, affordable and easy to use in the future. Even nowadays people are depending on gadgets such as computers and mobile phones in communicating with people around the world. This data only reflects the e-waste that is collected as disassembled components from industries (Malaysia Inventory Report, Accessed on 11/10/2009). Data on quantities of e-waste generated in Shah Alam were gathered from inventory recorded by e-waste contractors for Department of Environment, Selangor using a consignment notes. The increase of e-waste quantities generated give impact to the management of e-waste. The main objective in e-waste management is to reduce the e-waste generated from ending up in landfill site and to reduce the cost of managing e-waste where it contain both highly toxic substances and valuable materials. In 2005, Malaysia has issue e-waste as an environmental concern and marked it as new category of scheduled wastes. Before Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulation 2005, there are no regulations for e-waste but in Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulation 1986, the discarded batteries containing lead, mercury, nickel or lithium from battery manufacturing plants are coded under scheduled waste S271. However, E-waste is defined as used electrical and electronic equipments categories as scheduled waste in First Schedule of Environment (Scheduled Wastes) Regulation 2005 and been coded as SW110 after takes effect on 15 August 2005. When e-waste become new category of scheduled waste in Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulation 2005, contractors in Selangor that involved in e-waste recycling and processing are bound to obtain license from Department of Environment, Selangor. With the enforcement of EQSWR 2005, the activity of e-waste inventory were carrying out by DOE, Selangor began in 2007. The number of e-waste contractors license under DOE is about 27 contractors in 2007 and 28 contractors in 2008 but reduce back to 27 contractors in 2009. There are two factors contribute to this reduction; firstly because of economy crisis in 2008 and effected e-waste generated in 2009. This has show in the graph where the amount of e-waste generated in 2008 decrease from 10916 MT/year to 10369 MT/year in 2009. From the literatures sources, when the economic crisis happens, firstly affected is the electronic industry. As a result, the production of electronic product decreasing as well as the quantities of e-waste generated. And secondly because of competition between these contractors result in some of them become passive and some are active. Moreover too many players but the volume e-waste collected is not enough and the high costs for e-waste become a burden to these e-waste contractors. Also according DOE Shah Alam officer, they do not have any data or quantity for each e-waste generated. For this time being, the only data exist is for the whole of SW110 wastes. Figure 1: Quantities of e-waste generated in Shah Alam, Selangor Table 2: Amount of e-waste (MT/year) generates and number of e-waste contractor in Shah Alam, Selangor. 2007 2008 2009 Number of contractor in Shah Alam 9 10 12 Data Data source: DOE, Selangor report, 2007, 2008, and 2009. E-waste generation is different with other hazardous household waste and scheduled waste generated by industries and business sources. The generation is not regular. Its depending on how the individual handle they product during the equipment working lifespan. There are no reports on types of e-waste generated from household as this waste end up mixed with other waste goes to landfill or informally handle by illegal collectors or scrap collectors. Malaysia has issue e-waste as an environmental concern and marked it as new category of scheduled wastes in 2005. Before Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulation 2005 takes effect, there are no regulations for e-waste. However in the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulation 1986, the discarded batteries containing lead, mercury, nickel or lithium from battery manufacturing plants are coded under scheduled waste S271 [12]. However, E-waste is defined as used electrical and electronic equipments categories as scheduled waste in First Schedule of Environment (Scheduled Wastes) Regulation 2005 and been coded as SW110 after takes effect on 15 August 2005. When e-waste become new category of scheduled waste in Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulation 2005, contractors in Selangor that wanted to involved in e-waste recycling and processing are bound to obtain license from Department of Environment, Selangor. With the enforcement of EQSWR 2005, the activity o f e-waste inventory were carrying out by DOE, Selangor began in 2007. Figure 1 show that the amount of e-waste generated in Shah Alam is increasing from 5331 MT/year in 2007 to 5388 MT/year in 2009. Amount of e-waste collected by e-waste contractors in Shah Alam is assumed to be all or major portion of e-waste generated in Shah Alam eventually goes to the nearby recyclers and or disposal facilities. However, the generation of e-waste depends on the consumption and production of electrical or electronic product in that year. Currently, the number of e-waste contractors in Shah Alam was increase from only 9 contractors in 2007 to 12 contractors in 2009 as showed in Table 2 where it consist of one full recovery facility and other is partial recovery facilities. However, there are still unknown and unlicensed contractors in Shah Alam operating e-waste collection, recycling and processing. One of the identify company is Scrap Computer Trading Sdn Bhd that located in Shah Alam area. The increase quantities of e-waste each years and without proper management system especially during disposal process, the hazardous materials contain can release into the environment will potentially give adverse effect to human health [15]. In the e-waste inventory project of Malaysia report, e-waste is expected to increase in five year ahead and further. This is because at that time the level of public awareness regarding e-waste is increasing due to e-waste had become an important environment issues in 21st century. The other factor that may contribute to the increase of e-waste is due to technologies advancement where people lifestyle change where the replacement of old product with new ones that much better, affordable and easy to use in the future. Even nowadays people are depending on gadgets such as computers and mobile phones in communicating with people around the world. This data only reflects the e-waste that is collected as disassembled components from industries (Malaysia Inventory Report, Accessed on 11/10/2009). Data on quantities of e-waste generated in Shah Alam were gathered through inventory recorded by e-waste contractors for Department of Environment, Selangor using a consignment notes. The increase of e-waste quantities generated give impact to the management of e-waste. The main objective in e-waste management is to reduce the e-waste generated from ending up in landfill site and to reduce the cost of managing e-waste where it contain both highly toxic substances and valuable materials. Current Status on E-waste management in Shah Alam, Selangor Shah Alam is one of well planned city; the residential areas were located on the site of federal highway and industrial zone on the other. Table 3 shows the e-waste generators, type of e-waste collected by e-waste collectors in Shah Alam, Selangor. Generators in Shah Alam consist of electrical and electronic manufacturers, assemblers, individual consumers, government organizations, corporate users such as banking sectors, etc. Table 3: E-waste generators, type of e-wastes and e-waste collectors in Shah Alam, Selangor. E-waste generators Type of E-waste E-waste collector Manufacturing Industries Disassemblies such as metal scrap, ICT board, rejected wires, etc License e-waste contractor under Department of Environment Government organization, institution Whole unit of e-wastes such as computers, telephone, printers, etc Alam Flora Sdn Bhd; License e-waste contractor under Department of Environment Individual households, publics Sub-unit of e-waste or whole unit of e-waste Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) Types of e-waste generated depend on type of generator and each quantity generated or collected are different from each other. E-waste generate from multinational electrical and electronic manufacturing industries such as Panasonic Sdn Bhd, JVC (M) Sdn Bhd and larger business such as banking sectors, ICT sectors, etc are well collected by licensed contractors. However e-waste generated by individual household uncommonly collected because of quantities of e-waste produce is in small amount. This is because individual households not are regular generator for e-waste compare to business. According to Macauley et al 2003, generally electronics wastes generated by businesses more homogeneous which are comprise of large quantities than electrical waste generated by households [13]. Consignment Notes (Inventory Track System) Sell to other recyclers or local/domestic market Partial Recovery Facilities Licence Collector Generator Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd Full recovery facilities Disposal of e-waste residue Treatment Alam Flora Sdn Bhd, Local Authority Collect from the public Recyclable materials such as metals scraps and plastic scraps Unlicensed collector Unknown 2nd raw materials Sell to the manufacturers Figure 2: E-waste management in Shah Alam, Selangor E-waste management practice in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia E-waste collection E-waste management in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia is summarized in Figure 2 above from the waste generation until the disposal of the waste. E-waste derived from manufacturers usually consists of disassembled components such as plastic scraps, metal parts and wires which are collected mostly by license e-waste contractors. E-waste generate from domestic area were collected by waste concessionaires such as Alam Flora Sdn Bhd, Solid Waste Management Sdn Bhd. According to Alam Flora officer, they have launched a campaign for collection of e-waste from the public started in year 2006 and focuses only to the unit of computer waste. However for e-wastes collected from the domestic areas will not undergo any separation process because absence of segregation facility and therefore e-wastes collected will be sent straight to landfill site. Alam Flora Sdn Bhd does not provide any facility related to collection of schedule wastes and metals because the value for recycling materials is low and the cost for it proper management is high compare to management of conventional wastes. For Shah Alam residents that wanted to discard their E-waste, Alam Flora also provided call and pick up services. Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) is a local authority in Shah Alam has involved in 3Rs campaign but they focus is not specifically on e-waste. MBSA do not send e-waste to the landfill but e-waste collected to recycling center for further disposal. MBSA indirectly involved in e-waste management for Shah Alam. MBSA has provided a recycling center for Shah Alam community to dispose their bulky wastes and recyclable wastes that include e-wastes. This recycling center known as Shah Alam Recycling Center located in Sekyen 17, Shah Alam, Selangor. With the initiatives located by MBSA to this community; it can be a starting point for e-waste from households to be managed properly. E-waste recycling At present, there are about 12 licensed e-waste contractors in Shah Alam which are responsible in collecting and recycling e-waste. According to DOE of Shah Alam, Shah Alam has 11 registered e-waste contractors with only one company having full recovery licenses. The listed e-waste contractor can be found at DOE website. The rest with partial recovery licenses only allowed carrying out collection, disassembly, segregation, and packing. However, only approved full recovery licenser is allowed to conduct precious metal recovery by utilizing chemicals and electrolysis processes. E-waste collected were dismantled and separated into various part or components which also consist of recyclable and non-recyclable items. The recyclable item usually after processing will be packed for resale locally or export to other countries. Sometimes the recyclable part or component will be distributed to other companies for reuse. E-waste collected by license contractor will be further send whether to partial recovery facilities or directly to full recovery facilities. Partial recovery e-waste contractor also act as a middleman in collecting e-waste from the generators. Usually they used their own transportation to collect e-waste from the waste generators according to tender sign. Recycling process that carry out in partial recovery facilities include manually dismantle into part or component and segregate them into recyclable or non recyclable components. Type of component that usually can be extracting from e-waste is metal scraps such as cooper, steel and aluminum. For plastic scrap usually this type of waste will be sold to other recyclers from domestic market or local market as secondary raw materials. However, for material that had been separate, sorted and crushed in partial recovery facility still considered as scheduled wastes where it need to further treated at prescribed premises. At full recovery facilities, they provide services where most of the item will be recovered for better end products. Beside physical treatment process, chemical treatment (stripping) will be used in order to minimize waste from ending up in landfill sites. The products from e-waste recovery become secondary raw materials for other uses in manufacturing sectors. Disposal of E-waste E-waste generate in electrical and electrical industry were mostly disposed in the provide bins as either provided by the waste generator or the waste contractor depend on types of E-waste disposed. With the structure mechanism of E-waste management by the industries, the waste disposed is recorded using consignment notes where the quantities of E-waste produced is inventory. Some of non recyclable part or component of E-waste will be treated either in full recovery facilities or disposed at Kualiti Alam facilities. DOE also has given license to Kualiti Alam in collecting e-waste as they are one of the responsible agencies in Malaysia that handle scheduled wastes. The final product of e-waste recovery is the e-waste residues. These residues will be sent to sanitary landfill in Bukit Nanas together with other wastes that are not recyclable and non hazardous for further disposal processes. Obstacles in e-waste management Data from the interview are analyzed. During the analysis, code were renames, clustered and group into four issues and problem discussed by the respondents about e-waste management. In the management aspect, e-waste is very complex because of it tendency to cause serious environmental problem in developing countries as in Malaysia. Obstacle identified is technical issues, lack of trained personal, legislation, financial, infrastructure and awareness. Technical Issues The waste generators were responsible with the management of their own scheduled waste include e-waste. Unlike solid waste management where theres by now have a structured mechanism. According to [name must not be reveal], the volume of the electrical and electronic waste is depends on the EE production and current economy status. Another problem is they cannot afford for the other technology or equipment to process electrical and electronic waste except man power. However, there also some manufacturers in Selangor still selling e-waste to unlicensed collector or recycler because the price offer is high. E-waste contractors in Selangor, mostly collect e-waste from EEE industry but not for household e-waste. Lack of improper e-waste disposal, this is because the waste generators do not have suitable places to dispose their waste. In Malaysia, there are still small number of facilities who involves with e-waste processing and recovery. Waste collected from manufacturers or large business were dismantle and separate into various parts and components for resale or recycle or recovery locally while household e-wastes were discarded in municipal bins and disposed off in landfill. Lacking of environmental standards and advanced recycling technologies where most of partial recoveries adopted very simple and uncultured methods in order to achieve higher return as much as possible. From the interview conducted with the partial recovery companies, there are two reasons the collectors cannot afford for a better recycling technologies; a) The equipment is too expensive and; b) The volume of e-waste is small while there are a numbers of collectors out there. If they bought the facilities, it will was te their time and money just like the incinerator case. Currently as in Selangor and Malaysia as general, e-waste were collected while only precious metals are extracted. The recycling processes usually have low recycling rates as for the informal sector where the major thrust for recycling is precious material extraction due to which the other hazardous components are usually dumped in landfill and fate sometimes unknown. However for the formal recycling units the efficiency is less as the collections targets are not met and lack of efficient technologies. According to Dato Nadzri Yahaya, theres an informal sector is going-on where they involved in collecting e-waste dumps with other household waste. The garbage contractors with they own initiative will informally sort out waste that can be recycle such as plastics, aluminum, e-waste, etc before other non-recyclables waste sent to the landfill sites. However, disposal of E-waste from household is an issue where these wastes dispose in the municipal bins together with other wastes as there is still no segregation unlicensed collector where they collect this waste and process only certain part or compo nent of E-waste and treatment for others is unknown. Even the television for example put together with other waste outside the resident premises, after couple of hours, the waste gone and the fate of the waste is unidentified. Financial Issue There is not much to discuss about financial issues because this paper focus more to management per se. In Malaysia, E-waste has been treated same as scheduled waste except it is not to dangerous and contaminated if directly contact with this wastes. Currently, there is no financial scheme or initiatives given to the e-waste recyclers by government. According to officer from Kualiti Kitar Alam, the recyclers especially scrap collector that not control or license under DOE buy e-waste from waste generators with high price and the treatment for the waste collected by this parties is unknown. Sometimes, most of the waste contractors consist of illegal contractors or recyclers. Legislation Issue Malaysia already has existing regulation on scheduled wastes where e-waste were categorized under SW110 in First Scheduled of Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulation 2005, but this regulation not directly dealing with e-waste from household. Currently, there is no mechanism of proper segregation or disposal system to encourage public recycle and discard e-waste. The continue generation of e-waste over time, together with lack of structured mechanism of institutional framework and inadequate infrastructure causing e-waste management not well set up. Even though at present electrical or electroni

Controversial novels Essay

Argued to be one of Hardy’s most controversial novels, published in 1891 during an era when the underprivileged classes of society, were submissive to superstitious beliefs in particular those such as luck spiritual beings and ultimately fate which were the foundations of lower class civilisation, Tess of the D’Urbervilles presents a story of Fate toying with the life of the Heroine Tess. Fate is an influential part of the plot because it is what dictates her life. Events in the beginning of the novel begin a domino effect that cannot be reverse, thus Her fate is already chosen and all she can do is live through the events that happen to her. Whilst Walkers Colour purple is written during an era of gender social and racial inequalities narrated through Celie whose life consisting of an abundance of obstacles refuses to give into the Fate which determined the lives of poor uneducated black females during the 1930s. What exactly is Fate, is it in our personalities, actions and character or are our lives controlled by a supposed force or power which predetermines events in our life’s, meaning regardless of what we do we are unable to change our destiny. This theme is explored thoroughly by Thomas Hardy through his heroine Tess who is portrayed as a victim of fate throughout the novel, chance and coincidence bring about disasters in the novel that we can claim occur due to fate, it appears the main characters are subject to forces beyond their control. The author employs a very fatalistic plot throughout the novel making Tess endure whatever is thrown at her . In the first chapter of the book the horse Prince dies, this is seen as Tess’ fault as she falls as sleep due to being exhausted, this happens at night when the weather is very depressed. Hardy uses pathetic fallacy by claiming the ‘atmosphere’ was pale, this makes the reader feel tension and also an expectation of tragedy . This scene is similar to that of the one at the chase when Alec finds Tess unconscious and may have raped her which is ultimately up to speculation. It is clear that Hardy uses the death of prince to create a sense of foreboding as this episode and the one at the chase are extremely similar, on both occasions Tess has fallen asleep due to tiredness and also the weather is used as an indication for what is to follow. From this we can question whether these events are down to fate and also ask if Hardy pre-determines Tess’ fate and future through her early actions thus her future is unalterable so there is nothing she can do to change. This has lead to the critic The Irvine Howe has writing: ‘May we see her purely as a victim, like the white horse, the pheasants, the animals who are killed at harvest time? Hers is a poor wounded name’ This supports The interpretation that Tess’ life was controlled by Fate the just like the events in the novel such as the horses death and the death of the pheasants which all acted as a sense of foreboding and events which pre determine Tess death. Towards the latter stages of the novel during chapter 46, Hardy again emphasises the significant role Fate has played in Tess’ life and misfortunes. Firstly at the bottom of page 320 Tess states†¦ â€Å"How can I pray for you?†¦ When I am forbidden to believe that the great power who moves the world would alter his plans on my account? † Tess is telling Alec that she has lost her belief in God as her prayers do not move him. Therefore she is indicating this is happening because God already has his plans made and what she wants makes no difference because she is not important enough for him to change them, thus empowering the element of Fate and it’s restrictions on her ability to change. Alice Walker, author of ‘The Colour Purple’ approaches the theme of Fate and destiny in a similar way to Hardy to a certain extent, in ‘The Colour Purple’ the character Celie goes through a series of events at the beginning of the novel, she is raped by her father on several occasions is forced to give away the children that she conceived through him then her sister Nettie is forced to leave the home in which Celie lives due to her Husband Mr†¦ , but later on in the novel we learn that Nettie is now living with the family that adopted her sister’s children. This shows that Alice Walker purposely portrayed Celie’s life as a victim of Fate, but gives her character an opportunity to resist this fate which results in a positive outcome for Celie. Its possible to say that Walker highlights the fact that although we may be victims of Fate we are able to control this Fate and our, she does this by showing that Celie is in fact not a victim of fate and unlike Tess her own actions are what allow her to change her destiny. We can say this because Celie confides in God through her letters, giving her hope and belief and she restrains herself from killing the man who has brought her pain and suffering, Mr†¦ , unlike Tess . Celies ability to change and prevent Fate from controlling her life is ultimately down to the letters she writes to God, she tells her sister Nettie†¦ â€Å"Long as I can spell G-o-d I got somebody along† She believes she is never alone or hopeless as long as she has God in her life, writing to God gives her hope, this hope is what helps her overcome the negative aspects of her Fatalistic path that seemed as though her life would be controlled by abusive males that would drive her to murder her husband just like Tess did. On the other hand Tess’ Fate is once again predetermined by Hardy in chapter 41 when she stumbles upon dying pheasents and puts them out of their misery by bringing their inevitable deaths to an end prematurely†¦ â€Å"Poor darlings-to suppose myself the most miserable being on earth in the sight o’ such misery as yours! † she exclaimed, her tears running down as she killed the birds tenderly. † This Fatalistic event represents Tess’ destiny as she to will die due to her neck breaking as she will later be hung, Hardy uses this sense of foreboding once again signifying the belief that her character is her Fate, she is unable to change this, nothing she does will alter it. Similarly but with a contrasting outcome, in Colour Purple Fate re-emerges as killin Mr†¦ begins to dawn on Celies mind. â€Å"How I’m gon keep from killing him†¦ Naw I think I feel better if I kill him, I say I feels sickish. Numb, now. † Mr†¦ has abused Celie to the extent that she contemplates killing him, at this stage of the book readers are likely to speculate whether Fate has chosen this path for Tess, is this her destiny? Will she have to emulate Tess’ action to end her misfortunes? Or will she be able to alter her Fate through her hope in God and rational actions? Although she doesn’t go on to murder Mr†¦ , through God and her companion Celie she finds the courage to speak up against Mr†¦ and leave him, ultimately changing her Fate which is something Tess was unable to do†¦ â€Å"You a low down dog is what’s wrong. It’s time to leave you and enter into the creation. And your dead body just the welcome mat I need. † Here Walker shows her strength and courage obtained through her hope in God. The authors use of foreboding throughout the novel can be seen as a representative of fate, Hardy believed that what happened to us was a product of our personality, class, status and the way in which we view life therefore Tess’ pride and her concern for Angels reputation after he leaves her prevents her from seeking help at an early stage of her troubles can be seen as her own actions but in Hardy’s view our own actions were down to fate , she ends up confiding in Alec which leads to disaster. From this we can question whether Tess’ actions lead to her downfall or was it Fate? This is demonstrated at the beginning of the final paragraph, hardy writes†¦ † ‘Justice’ was done, the president of immortals had ended his sport with Tess. † Hardy is telling us Fate has finished playing with its victim, Tess. He may have done this to further draw attention to his beliefs that we are subject to a immoral force beyond our control that we are forced to endure and that religion does not have bearing on any events in our life. This is a viewpoint that was developed by critic Irving Howe who too believed Tess’ fate had already been predetermined, Proposing this is why Hardy named the final phase of the novel ‘fulfilment’. Furthermore, another way Hardy depicts Tess as a victim of Fate is through the language he uses, particularly in the last phase of the novel as he named it ‘fulfilment’ thus this is a play on words as we are left to question what has been fulfilled. It is possible to say Hardy believed Fate had been fulfilled it had played it’s role in bringing Tess to her tragic downfall. Walker presents Celie as a victim of Fate like Hardy does Tess, however Walker stresses the point that we are able to change our Fate and destiny, this is significant as the colour purple which is the colour of the purple flowers represent spirituality & hope. She is almost trying to convey the message that, Fate can be overcome as long as hope is present, where as Hardy purposely doesn’t give Tess any chance of overcoming her Fate, he deliberately does this to assert his negative view on religion, Walker gives her character hope through God, this is what enables Celie to overcome her so called ‘Fate’ or ‘Destiny’ whilst Hardy’s pessimistic belief of religion deters him from doing this. Through his novels Hardy repeatedly articulated that chance and coincidence that bring about disaster are ultimately Fate, thus he empowers his belief through Tess that characters are subject to forces beyond their control. This is similar to another of his novels, ‘The Return of the Native. ‘ Throughout The Return of the Native bad things happen to good people, this is a depiction of his atheist perception that God does not exist and if there is a God it is lacking in morals, because good people, such as Tess are the victims of bad events and tragedy in life due to Fate. Like Hardy himself said†¦ ‘Once a victim, always a victim of fate. ‘

Energy and Society Essay

Energy is a vital aspect in human life. Ever since the dawn of human civilization, energy has also been there to support survival and foster development and progress. The human society’s survival is greatly dependent on the energy that is abundantly present in the environment and this is evidently supported by many historical events such as the discovery of fire and the discovery of fossil fuel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ever since humankind discovered the availability of energy learned ways of using it for their advantage, society’s development in every aspect never stopped. They continue to discover different forms of energy and harness its power and transform it to significant form to fuel their machineries and every activity. Thus, society has indeed becomes dependent with energy in every aspect making it an important component in life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is an evident fact that energy and its usage are present in all aspect of society’s life. Considering economic, energy is a moving factor in the international market making it a common good between the country’s trade relationships. This energy in economic is often manifest in the form of fossil fuels such as oil, gasoline and coal. In addition to those, electricity’s economic value and significance is also firmly accelerating because of the its vital usage in economic aspects such as manufacturing and production. Also, since the society’s trends at the present become electrical and computerized, electrical energy and its market are rapidly expanding thus increasing further its value.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Energy also plays an important part to the basic activities of the societies such as transportation, food production and even in leisure and entertainment. Common transportation modes at the present use fossil fuels and electricity for their energy source. These transportation modes are very vital to the society because human mobility, exploration, food distribution and others depend greatly on it. Food production also uses energy such to fuel the machineries that humanity uses to hasten their productivity thus increasing their food availability. Leisure and entertainment also at the present depends greatly on energy because it has developed to become electronic and computerized in nature as favored by the present trend in the society. Politics and warfare also in international and local grounds has been innovated to use energy in different forms such as electric, fossil, chemical and nuclear to become its main fuel source. All of these society’s activities involve the usage of energy thus the demand for it greatly increases in every moment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since the society’s demand for energy continues to increase, they have developed means to accelerate its production to satisfy their demand for it.   Humanity developed way to source out energy from various environmental means such as the thermal energy, solar energy, wind energy and nuclear energy. All of these major source and other minor ones with also valuable contributions continue to supply humanity’s needs for energy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, energy already became an important part of the society as their ally in their development and progress. However, energy also posts certain risks in the society like a double- edged blade. Energy can foster life and society’s growth but its improper usage and uncontrollably craving can also result to dire consequences posing harm and even death to the people who utilized and developed its potential.

Communism And Communism In Arthur Millers The Crucible

According to Mao Zedong , communism is not love. Communism is a hammer used to crush the enemy (â€Å"Communist†). Moreover, Communism is a political theory derived from the renowned philosopher Karl Marx. He believes that the government should divide the land equally, and pay people according to their abilities and needs (â€Å"Communism†). As the Cold War intensified in the 1950s, the hysteria of the perceived threat posed by communist became known as The Red Scare (â€Å"Red†). Similar to, in 1953, Arthur Miller an American playwright, scripted the play titled â€Å"The Crucible†. The McCarthy hearings of the 1950s inspired the notable play. Consequently, after the hearing, McCarthyism became a vociferous campaign carried out by Senator Joseph†¦show more content†¦To refine, Red comes from the prominent color of the Soviet Union flag, while Scare comes from the simple fact that Americans are fearful that the system of Communism would spre ad to the United States. If this was the situation put in the Americans lap, innocents would be accused by anti-Communist because of simple actions that reflected communist views. Surprisingly, The United States government significantly involved themselves in The Red Scare. In addition, The most important crusader against communism was the American politician, Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy sets the ejection of communist as his main priority. Inadequately, he used intimidating tactics and hearsays to get his information. Inconsistently, McCarthy often had scarce evidence when he accused people of working for the Soviet Union and partaking in communist activities. Evidently, he ruined many peoples careers and lives before other leaders in the Congress could end his unjustful ways (â€Å"The†). To note the similarity, â€Å"The Crucible† was an analogy for a contemporary witch hunt in the McCarthy era. Millers play, The Crucible, was a comparison between the Salem Witchcraft Trials and The Red Scare, yet the idea was never directly displayed in his work. To add on, the timeline of the 1680s and 1690s witchery accusations was very similar to those of the 1920s Red Scare, communist accusations (â€Å"The’). Within The Crucible, people are beingShow MoreRelatedThe Crucible By Arthur Miller Essay1646 Words   |  7 Pagesplays that came from the 1950s was Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. During a time when the U.S. was worried of communism taking over, Miller released The Crucible, which helped to capture the hysteria that was occurring. The play presents itself as a metaphor for the House of Un-American Activities Committee that was created during the Cold War when communism was spreading, but Miller never actually referenced it in the play. Although Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is set in the late 1600s, it offersRead MoreFear of Witchcraft as Metaphor in The Crucible by Arthur Miller1161 Words   |  5 PagesFear of Witch craft as Metaphor in The Crucible   Ã‚  Ã‚   The Crucible uses fear of witchcraft in the America of the 1600s as a metaphor for the fear of communism that was widespread in America in the 1950s. Arthur Miller wished to show that the attitudes and behaviour of the villagers of Salem were as irrational and ill-founded as the attitude and behaviour of the committee chaired by Senator McCarthy. Essentially Miller uses the 17th century setting to provide critical distance between theRead More McCarthyism versus The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay example1174 Words   |  5 Pagesby Senator Joseph McCarthy (McCarthyism). The United States pledged to contain the spread of communism globally, as well as locally, and did what it could to keep this promise. 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Throughout this play, the reader experiencesRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1355 Words   |  6 PagesProving a point was a necessity for Arthur Miller during the 1950’s, and he proves his point through The Crucible, a play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller attacks the red scare, which was a time of fear of communism growing in America, and proves the how similar the two events were, and h ow they are important. As a political allegory of the red scare, Miller’s relatively accurate comparison between the red scare and the Salem Witch Trials through The Crucible demonstrates the theme of subjectiveRead MoreThe Witch Hunt in The Crucible and During the Time of McCarthyism1356 Words   |  6 Pages In this essay, I intend to analyse the historical context of The Crucible and its relevance in today’s society. I believe that Arthur Miller’s life and his experience of McCarthyism strongly influenced the writing of The Crucible. McCarthyism, named after Joseph McCarthy was a period of intense anti-communism, which occurred in the United States from 1948 to about 1956. During this time the government of the United States persecuted the Communist party USA, its leadership, and many others suspectedRead MoreSimilarities Between The Crucible And Mccarthyism812 Words   |  4 PagesCommunism. Witchcraft. These two highly controversial topics are either feared or adored by people. There are numerous similarities and differences between both, yet one thing is prominent: they both incite hysteria. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegorical play mirroring 1950’s America during the Red Scare. â€Å"McCarthyism† is the act of accusing someone of an act of treason without substantial evidence. It relies on the uncertainty and the fear of the unknown among people, which in turn, incitesRead MoreThe Effectiveness of the Closing Scene of Arthur Millers The Crucible973 Words   |  4 PagesThe Effective ness of the Closing Scene of Arthur Millers The Crucible Arthur Miller was born in 1915 and was only fourteen years of age at the time of the Wall Street crash, this clearly affected his life. His plays often concentrated upon contemporary society and problems it may face. This is why at first sight The Crucible seems to break this mould, instead of a play showing contemporary society; it concerns a study in the mass hysteria which led to the 1692 Salem witchcraft Read MoreArthur Miller Criticism913 Words   |  4 Pages Arthur Miller is a highly distinguished author. He is considered by many to be one of Americas greatest writers. As distinguished a writer he is, Miller deserves to be selected for a spot in the prestigious American Author Hall of Fame. 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