Concrete Island by J.G. Balllard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Concrete Island by J.G. Balllard - Essay Example This novel is followed by â€Å"High-Rise† and preceded by â€Å"Crash†. As the name implies, the book is about a Concrete island that is not a natural island but a manmade one formed by the intersection of three speeding motorways. This manmade island is a triangular section of land and is as isolated as a geographical island. The concrete island virtually traps the protagonist, the wealthy architect Maitland and stops every means of escape. The island is compared to a living thing that changes it form like a chameleon. It first gets hold of his car wrecking it up so that his one escape means gets destroyed and later grasps him, claws at him and forbids him to leave it until he himself have an upper hand on the island and thaw all its moves with the help of his intelligence and instinct. Maitland finds himself trapped in this triangular piece of land while life goes on as usual in that metro city. People even see him from their passing cars but mistake him for a bummer and refuses to stop. But, as the protagonist become more and more acquainted with the forgotten piece of landscape, he feels more comfortable living there, until he finds that the island is the mirror image of his self, â€Å"I am the island† (pg. ... He is a rich architect living a fast and furious life who has a wife along with a mistress, a high profile job and all the luxuries that life can give him but no time for himself. He is basically running off from one appointment to the other with little time for a break, speeding up his vehicle, until destiny puts a comma on his life and he gets a chance to evaluate his inner self and take destiny in his own hands by deciding to stay on in the void created by humans even when the chance to escape is presented to him. Thus, it could be fate itself that directed him to the island and urged him to stay on. Nobody to Miss Him Maitland crashes into the concrete island at a crucial time in his life when nobody was expecting him. Hence, this is the time when people would not miss him and his absence would not be questioned. Thus, Maitland has to restore to his resources to be able to stay alive. Maitland is a very impulse individual who rushes into things without waiting to think of their c onsequences. He is afraid of fate and of unknown and does all that he could to escape as fast as he could from the disaster that he finds himself surrounded in. But, however much he runs from the island, he finds himself back in it and worse for trying it out. It is like the island is surrounded by invisible Page 3 walls and he only hurts himself while trying an escape route. Like Robinson Crusoe he has to live on the meager ration of his car. Slowly, Maitland starts acquainting him in this new landscape and in the process discovers that he is not alone in this rough piece of land. He has two more neighbors in the form of Jane, a prostitute and Proctor, an acrobat. Thus, Maitland may decide to stay on for some more time until his appearance becomes necessary and people would start

Business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business plan - Essay Example Fakiri will manage day-to-day operations of the business. Both have strong management and administration skills. In addition, Ms. Fakiri has experience as she began working with children as baby sitter when she was at the University of Reading. Those skills support Master Minder’s goals. The UK’s changing demographics have led to families becoming more fragmented with parents of young children often finding they have little or no close family support when they start a family. But professional babysitting agencies are an emerging business trend as they provide a cheap form of childcare and represent an attractive option for busy mothers who need help not only with childcare but also with light house hold duties. Childcare provision is a clearly segmented market, as a result of legislation1 and constantly changing market needs. British parents pay high childcare bills and despite Government initiatives and tax changes, there is a growing need for the expansion of private sector services. Service, price and reputation are essential success factors in the childcare services industry. Master Minders will compete well in this industry by offering competitive prices, high-quality childcare services and by maintaining an excellent reputation with parents. Our target customers are dual-income, upper-middle-class families mainly managers and senior officers who value the quality of education for their children. We will start our business on the First January 2009, starting with an initial enrollment of 20 baby sitters. Our first office will be based in Reading. We project healthy revenues and a high net profit for the four first years. The long term vision includes a number of offices through out UK. The high profit will help the company to achieve its long-term goal which is to franchise and/or to become multi-location. Master Minder’s mission is to contribute to the community by filling a need for qualified baby sitters. Master Minders only works with