Melancholy Caused by Fasting An Artist in the Modernist Period

The role of an artist has always remained a discussed issue; whether his/her activity was considered prestigious or, backwards, aimed at entertaining the crowd, the personality of an artist has always been perceived as that contrasted with the rest of the society; as that being separated from the concerns of the everyday life and minor, insignificant issues.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Melancholy Caused by Fasting: An Artist in the Modernist Period specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Not accidentally, the question of an artist’s role has often become an object of attention of artists themselves, in particular, writers: the interaction of an artist and the world around him/her has become a topic for a series of works of literature. In this paper, we will discuss A Hunger Artist (Kafka), the work of Franz Kafka, an outstanding German-language writer, that in an allegoric way depicts the role of an artist du ring the modernist period. In the image of the protagonist of the story, Kafka depicts a modernist artist, misunderstood, marginalized, â€Å"infected† by a specific â€Å"melancholy† peculiar to the way modernist artists perceived life and the world around them, as well as observes how an artist interacts with the â€Å"addressees† of his/her artistic â€Å"message†, which is his/her works. A Hunger Artist tells a reader about a specific genre of â€Å"art†, which is â€Å"professional fasting†: an artist performed his long-term fasting to numerous observers. Artist’s fasting was his way to express his ideas and share it with the observers (204-205). During a certain period, â€Å"professional fasting† was of big popularity awakening strong interest of the society, says Kafka; however, the story describes the period of the decline of the â€Å"genre† and its graduate â€Å"collapse†. In the course of narration, n ot only does Kafka depict the act of fasting itself and observers’ reaction on it, but he also throws light upon the artist’s inner experience, which makes the story of particular value for a reader interested in history of art. In the personality of the hunger artist, we may notice the generalized character of a modernist artist, and in the actions of fasting, we may recognize the characteristics of modernism as an epoch in history of art. Let us now discuss the peculiarities of modernism in culture and art to better understand the allegory of Kafka’s work. For the period of modernist culture, it was characteristic for art to be alienated from the everyday life, as well as from the majority of the â€Å"ordinary audience†; it is possible to say that the art was created by the â€Å"select few† and for the â€Å"select few† (Storey 182). This was caused by certain academicism of modernist works of art, by complexity of ideas and the ways of expressing them with the means of art. If we try to create the generalized image of a modernist artist, we will imagine a misunderstood person whose ideas and concerns are far from those ordinary and everyday; a person whose feelings and thoughts are complicated and contradictory; thus, the inner world of an artist is the center of the modernist works.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It will be not an overstatement to call a modernist artist a â€Å"marginalized person†: on the one hand, he/she exists within a community and demonstrates his/her works to it; on the other hand, the actual distance between them is very big, and the artist does not â€Å"fit into† the community. Not accidentally, modernist works could be hardly appreciated by the majority of ordinary readers/viewers. Moreover, it is interesting that this misunderstanding was peculiar to different strata of the society: while poorer people became not interested in modernist art because of insufficient education and background, the â€Å"elite† was also indifferent to the essence of the modernist works focusing on the form instead of content: Meier-Graefe writes, â€Å"The incomprehensibility of painting and sculpture to the general public has been shrouded in a veil of pretentious exposition† (Meier-Graefe 205); thus, modernist art was really â€Å"marginalized†, not fitting into the interest of different social groups. These trends are allegorically depicted by Kafka in his work: we see a misunderstood hunger artist who has a complicated view on his calling and his â€Å"art†, which actually differs from that of the observers coming to see him; Kafka defines the artist’s state as â€Å"a condition hardly to be understood by well-fed people† (Kafka 208). This distance between the interests of a â€Å"fasting† artist and the â €Å"well-fed† people is in fact the main tragedy in modernist art: while an artist focuses on a high idea that he delivers to the audience, the audience themselves are interested in â€Å"manners† rather than â€Å"matters† and aspire for being entertained. The embodiment of the artist’s position in his environment is the cage where he is placed. On the one hand, his artistic will is â€Å"imprisoned† by the audience’s tastes and mood: the period of fasting lasts for forty days; then the â€Å"show† finishes, as the observers’ interest diminishes (206); on the other hand, the cage is a symbol of the artist’s marginalization and separateness from the rest of the society. However, when we have discussed a modernist artist’s position relative to his audience, the question may arise: what is the cause of this marginalization? What makes the artist be â€Å"misunderstood† and â€Å"separated†: inner confl icts, disagreement with the world around him, or maybe, specific pride of an artist who wants to perform himself as â€Å"outstanding†, not clear for the rest? No doubt, for Kafka this question is also of big significance; that is why, in his A Hunger Artist, he provides his own answer to it: being asked about the reason for his fasting, the artist says, â€Å"†¦Because I couldn’t find the food I liked. If I had found it, believe me, I should have made no fuss and stuffed myself like you or anyone else† (211).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Melancholy Caused by Fasting: An Artist in the Modernist Period specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thus, we may conclude that the separateness of a modernist artist is of the dual nature: on the one hand, it is his choice to express his complicated ideas and thus to be a â€Å"marginalized person†; on the other hand, his opposition to the world is sincere and not feigned: the modernist era was the period of doubts, challenges, and testing the boundaries of all existing notions. Thus, being in the constant condition of search, the artist was nevertheless not able to find the â€Å"food† he would really like. This circle gave birth to specific â€Å"melancholy† of a modernist artist; Kafka uses the allegory of the artists â€Å"melancholy†¦ caused by fasting† (207). Another interesting question is the destiny of the modernist art. In his work, Kafka touches upon this issue as well expressing his opinion in the allegorical end of the story: after trying himself as a fasting artist in a circus where people prefer to look at the animals rather than at him, the artist dies, and his cage is given to a young, strong panther (211). Unlike the fasting artist, the panther awakens joy and brings good mood to the visitors of the circus. The â€Å"work† of a fasting artist turns out to be not â€Å"com petitive† comparing to the animals kept in the circus. â€Å"Perhaps, said the hunger artist to himself, many a time, things would be a little better if his cage were set not quite so near the menagerie. That made it too easy for people to make their choice†, with this quotation, Kafka reflects the mood of the crowd coming to the circus, and their expectations about the show. In fact, the end of the story reminds us about a change that took place in the middle of the 20th century: the â€Å"elitist† modernist culture is replaced by popular culture, and then by postmodernist culture. As a result, the borders between commercial and not commercial, â€Å"high† and â€Å"low† culture are eliminated; culture is now neighboring to the everyday life and is thus accessible for ordinary people. The fusion of art and entertainment is not bad manners any more (Storey 183-185). The new, â€Å"popular culture† is similar to Kafka’s young panther; à ¢â‚¬Å"The panther was all right†, says Kafka in the final sentences of his work (Kafka 211). Understanding the real-life context of a work of literature always helps a reader better understand its idea; having touched upon the role of the artist in the modernist era, Kafka gives us opportunity to get the notion of the society of that period, and, what is the most interesting, of the inner experience of a modernist artist. Having chosen the allegorical way of expressing his ideas, Kafka nevertheless has depicted the characteristic features of modernist culture very precisely and eloquently.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Works Cited Kafka, Franz. â€Å"A Hunger Artist.† The Tyranny of the Normal: An Anthology. Eds. Donley, Carol, and Sheryl Buckley. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1996. 204-211. Print. Meier-Graefe, Julius. â€Å"The Development of Modern Art.† Modern Art and Modernism: A Critical Anthology. Eds. Frascina, Francis, and Charles Harrison. London: Paul Chapman, 1982. 205-209. Print. Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. 5th ed. New York, London: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print. This essay on Melancholy Caused by Fasting: An Artist in the Modernist Period was written and submitted by user AnneMar1eH0ag to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Authors Purpose Essays

Authors Purpose Essays Authors Purpose Paper Authors Purpose Paper Essay Topic: Literature Authors Purpose why an author writes something Persuade authors goal persuade the reader to agree with the authors opinion; if you changing the way you think of a topic as you read (does not mean that you necessarily agree with it!) Inform authors goal is to enlighten the reader with topics that are usually real or contain facts; facts are used to teach and not persuade Entertain authors goal is to provide enjoyment for the reader Describe / Explain use the senses to paint a picture; tell a story or describe real or imaginary characters, places, and events Examples of Authors Purpose: To Persuade advertisements, commercials, newspaper editorials Examples of Authors Purpose: To Inform textbooks, cookbooks, encyclopedias, newspapers Examples of Authors Purpose: To Entertain poems, stories, plays, comic strips, short story, novels, comedies, riddles, jokes, song lyrics Examples of Describe / Explain menus, catalogs, travel brochures, some poetry, technical manuals Authors Purpose Guiding Question Why was this piece written? Example of an Authors Purpose Question What is the most likely reason the author describes the storm in this way? Example of an Authors Purpose Question With which sentence below would the author of this passage most likely agree? Example of an Authors Purpose Question Which sentence from the brochure best indicates the authors bias in favor of Big Bend Landscape? Example of an Authors Purpose Question What is the authors attitude toward? Bias favoring one side, position, or belief being partial, prejudiced Audience Who the writer writes for (young adults, parents, children, policemen, voters, scientists, etc) Related Papers How Do Authors Persuade Their Readers? Assignment The primary purpose of the art Critical Reading Final 2 My Brother Sam Is Dead: Description of the Authors Victor E. Frankl Writes of the Meaning and Purpose of Life and Humanity Don Quixote Book Review: Custer the Great Controversy Explain the general purpose for measuring central tendency Purpose of College Education Friendship: Michel De Montaigne and Ralph Waldo Emerson A Mission Statement Describes an Organisations Basic Purpose Some nice quotes from unknown authors Purpose of Incarceration How to cite this page Choose cite format: Authors Purpose. (2018, Jan 22). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-on-authors-purpose/'>APA "Authors Purpose." PaperAp.com, 22 Jan 2018, https://paperap.com/paper-on-authors-purpose/'>MLA PaperAp.com. (2018). Authors Purpose. [Online]. Available at: https://paperap.com/paper-on-authors-purpose/[Accessed: 18 Sep. 2019]'>Harvard "Authors Purpose." PaperAp.com, Jan 22, 2018. Accessed September 18, 2019. https://paperap.com/paper-on-authors-purpose/'>Chicago "Authors Purpose." PaperAp.com, 22 Jan 2018, https://paperap.com/paper-on-authors-purpose/'>ASA "Authors Purpose," PaperAp.com, 22-Jan-2018. [Online]. Available: https://paperap.com/paper-on-authors-purpose/. [Accessed: 18-Sep-2019]'>IEEE PaperAp.com. (2018). Authors Purpose. [Online]. Available at: https://paperap.com/paper-on-authors-purpose/[Accessed: 18-Sep-2019]'>AMA Authors Purpose. (2018, Jan 22). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-on-authors-purpose/ Copy to clipboard B Pages:3 Words:809 This is just a sample.To get a unique paper Hire Writer Want to get a price estimate for your Essay? Deadline Paper type Essay (Any Type) Admission Essay Annotated Bibliography Argumentative Essay Article Review Book/Movie Review Business Plan Case Study Coursework Creative Writing Critical Thinking Presentation or Speech Research Paper Research Proposal Term Paper Thesis Other Article (Any Type) Content (Any Type) Q&A Capstone Project Dissertation Lab Report Scholarship Essay Math Problem Statistic Project Research Summary Assignment Dissertation chapter Speech Dissertation chapter: Abstract Dissertation chapter: Introduction Dissertation chapter: Hypothesis Dissertation chapter: Literature Review Dissertation chapter: Methodology Dissertation chapter: Analysis/Results Dissertation chapter: Discussion Dissertation chapter: Conclusion Dissertation Proposal Thesis Statement Thesis Proposal Application Essay Pages 550 words(double spaced) 126 writers online Check Price A limited time offer! Get custom paper sample written according to your requirements urgent 3h delivery guaranteed Order now Authors Purpose Paper Persuade The author wants to convince you to do, buy, or believe something Inform The author wants to give you information Entertain The author wants to amuse you or for you to enjoy the writing Explain The author wants to tell you how to do something or how something works Describe The author wants you to visualize or experience a person, place, or thing Entertain Entertainâ€Å"But please!† exclaimed Maddie. â€Å"I’ve been thinking about riding this all day!† â€Å"Fine,† said Maddie’s mother, â€Å"but only once and NO begging to ride again!† Maddie waited in line for the roller coaster, anxious and scared. As she climbed off after the ride, she spotted her mother, ran up to her, and asked, â€Å"Please, Mom, may I ride again?!† Explain Throwing snowballs is a fun and simple way to pass the time in the winter. First, find some soft but thick snow. The snow is no good for snowballs if it is too hard and icy or too soft and crumbly. You will know the snow is just right when it is easy to collect and pack together but isn’t too hard. Shape the snow into a firm, round ball by rolling it between your palms. Finally, spot your target, aim, and throw! Remember, it isn’t nice to throw snowballs at unsuspecting people. Now you know how to make a snowball. Persuade Attention Florida coast residents: EVACUATE NOW! Hurricane Amy is currently a category 5 storm and headed right for your area. You are not safe if you choose to stay in your home! The only way to be safe is to evacuate right away. If you choose to stay in your home and find yourself in an emergency, first responders will not be able to get out during the storm to help you. There is extreme danger of a storm surge and very high winds. Residents who choose to stay are likely to be injured or killed. NOW is the time to evacuate! Inform Frostbite is a medical condition in which localized damage has been caused to skin and other tissues due to extended exposure to freezing temperatures. Frostbite usually occurs in the extremities (hands or feet) because they are farthest away from the heart and often most likely to be exposed. Frostbite occurs when the body stops circulating blood in an area of the body that is too cold. The body does this in order to preserve body heat and fight hypothermia. In severe cases, frostbite can lead to amputation. Describe When entering the art studio, the sight of various colors fills your eyes. The bright colors startle you as you look around, breathing in the smells of paper, canvas, crayons, and paint. Huge, vast windows fill one wall, overlooking a beautiful cityscape. Soft classical music plays in the background, providing inspiration for artists and their teachers. As you approach a sculpture, you are surprised to find that it feels warm and soft, despite it’s shiny, hard appearance. Every footstep, whisper, and other sounds are amplified in the hard, bright room. Entertain As a lion slept, a tiny mouse began to run up and down him. As the lion woke, he trapped the mouse with his paw and prepared to swallow the mouse. â€Å"Excuse me,† cried the mouse, â€Å"but if you let me go this time, I will never forget it. One day, I will return the favor.† The lion was so amused at the idea of a mouse being able to help a mighty lion that he let the mouse go. Some time later, the lion was caught in a trap and the hunters went to search for a wagon to carry him. The tiny mouse saw him and began to gnaw on the ropes of the trap until the lion was freed. â€Å"Was I not right?† said the tiny mouse. Persuade A turtle makes the very best pet. There are numerous advantages to buying a turtle instead of an uninteresting, messy, stinky dog. First, your turtle will use the bathroom in his cage or aquarium, making clean-up easy. You won’t be cleaning up a huge mess that a big dog can make anywhere! Second, have you ever been awakened at night by a loud, obnoxious barking turtle? Of course not, because turtles don’t bark! And finally, you won’t waste your afternoon walking your turtle since turtles can get all the exercise they need in their cage or aquarium without your help. It is clear that turtles are the better choice for a pet! advertsiements Persuade textbooks Inform Opinions Persuade Expository Essays Inform Instruction Explain Product Descriptions Describe Newspaper Articles Inform Poems Entertain Imagery Describe Campaign Speeches Persuade Recipes Explain How-to-Guides Explain Stories Entertain Steps Explain Procedures Explain Plays Entertain Persuasive Letters Persuade Biographies Inform Songs Entertain Non-Fiction Books Inform Descriptive Essays Describe

Healthy Promotion Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Healthy Promotion Proposal - Essay Example on, the parents can also benefit from the project since the children will be educated on how to include the whole family while planning the healthy meals. The project will utilize the education strategies that are easily understandable by the target population. The scholars will be taught how to make healthy food choices, based on the available food items in their localities. Concepts of balanced diets and portion sizes will be explained to them in simple ways that are easy to understand. The educators will use models of the Plate method and Food pyramid to explain portion sizes and different colors to represent the various food groups. For instance, the educators will use white to represent starches and carbohydrates, green for vegetables and golden brown for proteins. The educators will also include activities that help in the attainment of the project goals. For instance, the students will be taught how to make diet plans that include the correct portions sizes for each food group. They will also be taught on the various food options that are healthy, for example whole grains instead of refined carbohydrates, unsaturated fats instead of trans-fats, etc. Exercises will be held after the teaching sessions to test their level of understanding and also to reinforce the knowledge acquired in the oral teaching sessions. Apart from designing meals, the students will be educated on the physiological consequences of taking certain foods. They will be taught on the roles of the different food groups in the body such as provision of energy, digestion and glycemic index, storage of excess energy and development of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and obesity. However, the educators will ensure that they are keen to avoid using technical terms to facilitate easier understanding of the concepts. The project is important to the target population in several ways. First, it provides basic knowledge on proper nutrition principles, thus facilitating

Integrated marketing communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Integrated marketing communication - Assignment Example She also needs to know whether the products and brand are too expensive or whether some are too cheap that they appear not to be of good quality. Such information can be used to increase stocking of the products and brands in various joints, improve pricing and the quality of the products and brands. The types of data the distributorship should collect about business customers include the information on how many business customers, for instance restaurants and drinking establishments, prominently display her products, whether the business customers give her products a good, fair or poor shelf space in off-sale outlets or whether they stock it at all. She can use this information to build a bond with the business customers to help increase the sales of Aheuser-Busch brands. This information can also be used to create a new link with business customers that do not stock Aheuser-Busch brands in their shelves to make them start selling the brand. It can also help her convince the business customers to give a good or fair shelf space in off-sale outlets by coming to an agreeable business terms with them (Clow & Baack, 2012). The distributorship can build frequency or loyalty program in the area. In this scenario, effective frequency will work rather than loyalty because there are many competitors and building loyalty would be difficult. A frequency will work in the sense that the distributorship will advertise the brand over a period of time in a platform of choice before a response is made. The distributorship can do this after collecting data on individual customers and business customers. The brand is not popular like other brands like Heineken and frequency will advertise the brand more. The sales approach that should be used for various businesses by the sales staff that sells Anheuser-Busch products is the networker approach. This approach is where the sales

Good fences make good neighbors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Good fences make good neighbors - Essay Example The neighbor believes that a healthy boundary between the two farms can make them better neighbors as he feels that the erection of good walls or barriers would prevent any of his things getting across to the speaker’s farm thus preventing any future argument, though this makes no sense to the speaker as he says that, â€Å"He is all pine and I am apple-orchard. My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.† (23-25). The speaker asks a question that he answers himself, â€Å"Where there are cows? But here there are no cows,† (30) The speaker believes that since the two of them do not rear cows that could eat up their pines or apples, there is no need for the erection of a wall. The neighbor still insists on his saying that, â€Å"Good fences make good neighbors.† (44) The neighbor believes so much in his father’s saying, while the speaker sees him as somebody with a dark-age mentality. To him, good neighbors are the ones that have good fences between them, a good neighbor would not have any of his/her things interfering with their neighbor’s and to the neighbor, and it is only the erection of good fences that would make this possible.

Welfare Needs Of The Elderly Social Work Essay

Welfare Needs Of The Elderly Social Work Essay As the population continues to age, it is becoming increasingly important to focus on policies and practices that support and enhance the wellbeing of the older population in later life. One sad reality for many seniors in later life and an increasing cause for concern is elder abuse. Elder abuse is one of the most disturbing and rapidly growing areas of crime throughout the global. It is extremely difficult to exactly quantify the extent of elder abuse because many such cases go undetected and under-reported. The World Health Organization reported that it is generally agreed that abuse of older people is either an act of commission or of omission or neglect, and it may either be intentional or unintentional (Krug et al., 2002). It results in unnecessary suffering, injury, the loss of violation of human rights, and a decreased quality of life for the older person. Like any other form of domestic violence, abuse of the elderly initially remained as a private matter hidden from public view. It was initially seen as a social welfare issue and latter on a problem of ageing, but now has developed into a significant public health and criminal justice concern. The value of loving family institution has been tarnished by greed, position-struggle and impatience. Despite elder abuse is not entirely a new issue; it is time to find out the prevention ways to be implemented and effective interventions to emerge. There are a few welfare needs that will be highlighted after so that the young generation have a strong sense of love and care towards the senior citizen. Elderly Nowadays, Malaysians are living longer; they are on an average of 74 years for men and 78 years for women. In others words, their life expectancy has increase. With the advances in medical care and better nutrition, older people are living longer, they are more visible, more active and more independent than ever before and they are in better health. Therefore there is a growing concern regarding the global phenomenon of aging. A decline in the birth as well as death rates has resulted in an increase in the elderly population. Given that the elderly population is on the rise, it is of paramount importance to examine the care of the older persons. 2005 (%) 2010 (%) Total Population 26.75 m 28.96 m 65 and above 1.15 m 4.3% 1.36 m 4.7 % This table shows that the total population and the aged of 65 years or above in Malaysia between the year of 2005 and 2010. In 2005, the total population of Malaysia was 26.75 million, and which 1.15 million or 4.3% was aged 65 years and above. Moreover, in 2010, Malaysia currently has a population of approximately 29 million, and aged 65 years and above has increased to 1.36 million or 4.7%. With the projected population growth of 2% annually, it expected that the total population in 2020 will rise to 34 million, of which 3.2 million or 9.5% will be the age of 65 years and above. In the year 2035, the country is expected to have a total population of about 46 million of which 6.9 million or 15% will be the aged 65 years and above. This is evident that Malaysias demographic ageing pattern is emerging. Based on the figure showed in this table, the real numbers of older person have increased lately, which also means that the number of elderly will continue to grow over the coming year. As the populations of older Malaysian grows, so there has a hidden problem of elder abuse. Further, the number of elderly with chronic illness is likely to increase. This can pose an increased burden on their caregivers such as family members, and it could lead to a higher risk of elderly abuse. Elder abuse Elder abuse is a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person (Action on Elder Abuse 1995). The wilful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation or cruel punishment with resulting physical harm or pain or mental anguish, or the wilful deprivation by a caretaker of goods or services which are necessary to avoid physical harm, mental anguish or mental illness (1985 Elder Abuse Prevention, Identification Treatment Act). According to the Swanson (1999), elder abuse refers to the mistreatment of older people by those in a position of trust, power or responsibility for their care. This is a global problem that is likely to intensify in view of the increasing number of older people and the changing socio-economic and environmental conditions worldwide (Randel et al. 1999). Further, Hazzard (1995) described elder abuse as cruel and inhumane tre atment of the elderly. Kapur (1997) defines it as a kind of harassment or an injustice done to the elderly by the family members themselves. In fact, there is too many definition of elder abuse but despite this, most would agree with this definition an action or inaction by someone in a position of trust; often a family member or unrelated caregiver. Normally, more than two-thirds of the abusers are their family members and are typically giving their basic needs or care support such as food, shelter, personal care or transportation. In others word, someone who commits elder abuse usually has control or influence over the older person. The older persons often know and trust the abusers. Some victims of elder abuse depend on the people who hurt them, sometimes for food, shelter, personal care, or transportation. Therefore, the abusers could be their family members, friend; someone the older people relies on for basic needs or staff in group residential settings such as care homes or i n long term health care facilities. The Prevalence of Elderly Abuse in Five Developed Countries Country Prevalence (%) USA 3.2 Canada 4.0 Finland 5.4 Netherlands 5.6 United Kingdom 5.0 The accepted prevalence rates of abuse of older people are drawn from five community surveys carried out in developed countries, which are USA, Canada, Finland, Netherlands and United Kingdom. The prevalence of the elderly abuse in USA with percentage is 3.2%, in Canada is 4.0%, in Finland is 5.4%, in Netherlands is 5.6% and United Kingdom is 5.0%. But in Malaysia, the information and data of elderly abuse is scarce. There are no reported cases of elder abuse to the Department of Social Welfare as well as no agency keeps proper records of the incidence of elder abuse in this country. Although this epidemic is virtually unheard of in Malaysia, we are challenged to be aware of the many faces of elder abuse in our own society and this issue is much more common than societies admit. Types of elder abuse Elder abuse referred to an inappropriate action that causes harms or distress to an elderly which the older person has expectation trust onto the person. Elder abuse can take in several forms. Elder abuse may take form in physical, psychological, financial, sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment that cause distress to a person who is past retirement age. Physical Abuse Physical elder abuse is non-accidental use of force against an elderly person that results in physical pain, injuries, or impairment (Ellen, Tina, Jeanne, 2008). This abuse includes not only physical assaults such as hitting or shoving but the inappropriate use of drugs, restraints, or confinement. The physical acts of violence commonly include slapping, hitting, and striking with objects. Indicators of potential physical abuse are broken bones, sprains, or dislocations, unexplained signs of injury such as bruises, welts, or scars, especially if they appear symmetrically on two side of the body, signs of being restrained, such as rope marks on wrists (Elder Abuse.com, 2009). Diagnosis may be difficult even at autopsy as findings may be subtle and invariably some chronic or debilitating disease would be present. The case of an elderly lady from a nursing home referred to the police for suspected physical abuse. Investigations showed that osteomalacia and spontaneous fractures could ha ve accounted for her injuries. However, recognition of physical abuse may not be straightforward, as injuries may be secondary to falls to which the frail elderly are more prone. Emotional abuse Emotional abuse is defined as the infliction of anguish, pain, or distress of elderly. Emotional abuse also referred as an act with the intention that causing emotional pain or injury which often accompanies physical abuse. This abuse may be happens in verbal or nonverbal acts. Verbal forms are included humiliation and ridicule, intimidation through yelling or threats and habitual blaming or scapegoating. Nonverbal emotional elder abuse can take the form of ignoring the elderly person, isolating an elder from friends or activities and terrorizing or menacing the elderly person (Ellen, Tina, Jeanne, 2008). Therefore, an elderly person who shows fear, passive, withdrawn, low self esteem, reluctance to talk openly, insomnia, fatigue and listlessness or behave mimics dementia, such as rocking, sucking, or mumbling to oneself may be abused in the form of emotional abuse. Financial Abuse Exploitation of the elderly is also considered as an abuse which includes acts of material or financial exploitation. Financial or material exploitation is defined as the illegal or improper use of an elders funds, property, or assets (Elder Abuse.com, 2009). Elder financial abuse is one of the most difficult types of elder abuse to recognize due to its lack of obvious symptoms. Some of these include misuse an elders personal checks, credit cards, or accounts, steal elders cash, income checks, or household goods. Most common example case is the announcements of a prize that the elderly person has won but they need to pay money to claim (Ellen, Tina, Jeanne, 2008). Besides that, theft of pension checks, threats to enforce the signing or changing of wills or other legal documents, and coercion involving any financial matters also consider as the example of the financial abuse. Indicators of potential financial abuse may include unusual bank account activity, sudden changes in the elder s financial condition, or worsening medical conditions due to lack of follow up or unfilled drug prescriptions. Exploitation may also occur in the form of fraud schemes; someone may persuade the elderly person to withdraw their life savings in a get rich quick scheme, or contractors convincing the elderly that the house needs repairs which in reality might be unnecessary. Financial abuse is one of the most difficult types of elder abuse to diagnose as the victim may not be aware of its occurrence or may not know how to seek help. Abandonment and Neglect Abandonment is defined as the desertion of an elderly person by an individual who had physical custody or otherwise had assumed responsibility for providing care for an elder. It also referred to the action of withdrawing a person or a thing entirely; putting aside all care for him or it. Neglect of the elderly is also a form of abuse and is often referred to the refusal or failure to fulfil any part of a persons obligations or duties to an elder. This may be intentional or unintentional neglect. Active neglect is the intentional withholding of basic necessities or care, while passive neglect is not providing basic necessities and care because of a lack of experience, information or ability. Another area to consider is self-neglect where older adults, by choice or ignorance, live in ways that disregard health or safety needs, sometimes to the extent that the disregard also poses a hazard to others. For example, the caregiver may be unable to perform care giving duties such as bathing or changing an incontinent elderly person. Therefore, an elderly person with unusual poor hygiene, loss in weight, poor nutrition, skin breakdown, unsuitable clothing, unsafe and unclean living conditions such as no heat or running water, faulty electrical wiring, other fire hazards and smelling of urine may be neglected either intentionally or unintentionally. Sexual Abuse Sexual abuse is defined as non-consensual and unwilling sexual contact of any kind. This includes all unwanted sexual activity, such as verbal or suggestive behaviour, fondling, sexual intercourse or a lack of personal privacy. Besides that, activities such as showing an elderly person pornographic material, forcing the person to watch sex acts, or forcing the elder to undress are also considered sexual elder abuse. Indicators of potential physical abuse are unexplained venereal disease or genital infections, bruises around breasts or genitals, unexplained vaginal or anal bleeding and torn, stained, or bloody underclothing (Ellen, Tina, Jeanne, 2008). Sexual abuse usually implies a physical sexual relationship with an elderly person without that persons informed consent, though this is not restricted to sexual intercourse but includes other forms of intimate sexual contact. It is often difficult to establish whether sexual abuse has occurred, unless the individual has cognitive impai rment. Signs and symptoms of elder abuse Signs and symptoms of elder abuse should be taken seriously. It is vital that we are alert to the possible indicators of abuse. In assessing any situation, it is important to realize that an indicator may be present for reasons other than abuse or neglect. However, if a combination of the following indicators is present there is a need to further explore why those indicators are present. Increase awareness of abuse signs and symptoms as well as monitor the progress in suspected cases of abuse. Home care community nurses can play a critical role in detecting suspected cases of elder abuse. However, in Malaysia, we do not as yet have a health care system in place for such purposes, although these types of services are only now slowly emerging. Hence the only opportunity for detecting abuse is when the older adult visits a primary care setting or an emergency department. Characteristics of the Abused Elder Most victims of elder abuse are mentally competent and able to make decisions for them. Most of them able to taking care of their own health needs and do not need constant care. Although some victims of elder abuse are generally dependent on their abuser in some way, their dependency is not necessarily because they are mentally incapable or physically frail (Al Loney, 2006). However, if the older people who having mental or physical disability, they may be more vulnerable to be abused. Those at risk are most likely to be female, widowed, frail, cognitively impaired, and chronically ill. The older adults who poor in physical health, highly dependence on the abuser, functional or cognitive impairment and a living arrangement shared with the abuser are consider as risk factors for elder abuse. Normally, older women are more vulnerable to abuse than older men and are burdened with a lifetime of experiences and beliefs that may increase their susceptibility. In most instances, violence an d abuse against older women can be sexual, physical or psychological and also can include material or financial abuse and neglect. It can occur in the home, in institutions or as a result of harmful cultural practices that specifically target older women (Breatheinspirit, 2006). There are various studies have looked at factors associated with elder abuse. In the NEAIS report, females and those aged 80 and above were more likely to suffer abuse, family members were the most likely perpetrators and victims of self-neglect were usually depressed, confused or extremely frail. Other studies have similarly reported vulnerable elderly as those with physical and mental weaknesses, advanced age, women, those with previous abusive relationships in the family, financial strain and caregiver stress and burnt out. Characteristics of the Abuser The abuser is most likely the person with whom the elderly person stays with. More often, the abuser is a close relative; 80% being spouses and children of the victims, or a close relative. In some cases, elder abuse may be caused to abusers over use of drug or alcohol, history of anti-social behaviour, or mental illness problems. Abuse is more likely to happen when the abuser is going through a period of high stress. It may be the stress of looking after the older person due to old age is a time of weak health, low income, meaningless role, or the death of loved ones (Al Loney, 2006). These problems may be creating great unhappiness for older people and then damage the relationships with their family. In extreme cases, this may lead to abuse. Elder abuse often happens because of the abusers power and fully control over an older person. Family members who depend on the elder for financial, housing, or other necessities have a higher risk of become an abuser. A caregivers inexperience, a history of family violence, economic dependence on the elder or a blaming personality and unrealistic expectations often contribute to elderly abuse. The abuser may be lack involved in community activities, social services, and even contact with other family members. Besides that, they may lack of family support, facing marital conflict, overcrowding and the high burden of care placed on the caregiver. In most of elder abuse cases, the abuser may not allow people to visit or talk to the older person alone. On the other hands, staff in long-term care homes, such as homes for the aged and charitable institutions, might involved in abuse the older people in physically or mentally. Abusers are more likely to be staff members who are not able to do their jobs properly (Al Loney, 2006). This may due to poor of training, low salary, over-work without pay, or under-staffing. Besides that, it also could be the staffs have personal problems that influence their services to older people which under their care. But, there is no excuse for abuse. The personal circumstances or problems of the caregiver cant be an excuse of elder abuse. These problems may be factors in the abuse, but they do not try to recognize it. It is unmoral because the older people are fully trusted and relies on the caregiver, but the caregiver misuse the trust of the older people to do something that threaten to the older people. Common Reasons Elder Abuse Is Not Reported The actual and prevalence of elder abuse is unknown and difficult to measure. Elderly abuse exists in our society but it is seldom reported, and perhaps even less so in an Asian society where filial piety and respect for the elderly is traditionally highly regarded. This problem often remains undetected because of poor public awareness and lack of knowledge among health care personnel. This is because it can cause some adverse effects on the health and quality of life of the elderly. Due to their mental capacity, they are unaware of the help available to them. Therefore, elder abuse is seldom reported. In most situations, elderly are unlikely to report that they are abused as they are fear of embarrassment and fear of losing care support. They are mostly completely under the control of the abuser and depend on the abusers for food, shelter, clothing and health care. Furthermore, they also fear of harm by the abuser. Some of them are lack of awareness; they are only suspect but uncert ain that is abuse, therefore, the cases of elder abuse is hardly to report and also seldom reported. Risk Factors for elder abuse Abuse of older adults is such a complex issue with no single explanation. However, there are many factors seem to contribute to these critical issues and each case has its own unique mix of factors. One of the most obvious factors is the family dynamics. The habits, values, emotional and coping skills are learned early in life and largely through family interaction. In other words, if unhealthy or violent behaviours go unchecked, abuse may continue when roles are reversed.   Therefore, if a child who was previously abused becomes a primary caregiver, there is a probability that the cycle of abuse will continue and be inflicted on a dependent parent. Besides that, inability to cope with stress especially for those non professional caregiver such as spouses, adult children, other relatives and friends find taking care of an elder would caused many responsibilities. This may be extremely stressful to cope with the demands of elder care giving. As a result, the stress of elder care can lead to mental and physical heaths problems that caused caregivers impatient, burned out, and sometimes are unable to keep from lashing out against elders in their care. Next, problem of elderly abuse may also happen in the nursing home when the staffs who worked are those lacks of experience and training. This is because even caregivers in institutional settings can experience stress at levels that can lead to elder abuse. The nursing home staff may be prone to elder abuse if they lack training, have too many responsibilities and are unsuited to care giving, or they are work under poor conditions. Social isolation can also conceal and perpetuate abuse or neglect. An older person may become isolated due to physical or mental illness, or through the loss of friends and family members. Therefore, isolation does not just conceal abuse and neglect; it perpetuates the problem.   The result of this isolation can make it easier for an abuser to exploit, neglect or abuse an older person.  There is a significantly higher risk for elder abuse if without a caring support network.   In addition, if a caregiver imposes isolation to avoid uncovering the abuse, this is also a form of abuse. In addition, sometimes caregivers who are unable to cope with the long term care giving may react to the stress of too many responsibilities in appropriate ways. These unusual releases way are such as abusing, neglecting the older adults in their care. Also, most of the caregivers perception is that taking care of the elder is burdensome and without psychological reward. Thus, many of them choose to neglect the older adults. The societys acceptance towards violence can also be a form of factors in contributing the elderly abuse. For example the Canadians see violence in the news, movie and television shows. This wide exposure often leads to a general acceptance or tolerance of violence as an acceptable way of venting frustration or anger. Thus, this tolerance creates an environment which can contribute to abuse and neglect of older adults. The welfare needs of elderly Welfare needs are necessary for elderly in order to stop the growing elder abuse issue. The government, law and legislation, mass media, school education, health care providers, family and also elderly have the responsibility to give support the rights of old persons. The government The National Service Program or Program Latihan Khidmat Negara (PLKN) was established since started in 2004 as a response to the Malaysian Governments desire to inculcate the spirit of patriotism in the hearts and minds of Malaysian youths. Besides to develop the spirit of patriotism, it instils a spirit of caring and volunteerism among members of society as well as to develop positive characteristics among younger generation through good values. The three-month program is aimed at shaping young people into disciplined, independent and resilient citizens capable of advancing the nation. From this programme, the young generations could learn how to respect the elderly. Welfare pension should be introduced in Malaysia. If elderly do not have the ability to claim maintenance from their financially-able children, they have the pension as a security. It is seen as a way to eradicate poverty. The senior citizens are still able to take care of themselves in spite of they are abandoned by their merciless children. Abuse prevention programme could be introduced by Malaysian government as well. Its purpose is to provide and arrange for services to protect adults who are unable to protect themselves from abuse and provide older adults with information about their rights. For example, Abuse Prevention Programme (APP) in Australia which supports older adults who are being abused, or who are at risk of being abused, by someone with whom they are in a relationship of trust, such as family and friends. APP advocates work in consultation with the older adult, either directly, or with someone else the older person has chosen (their representative). APP can assist them to identify and understand the issues related to abuse of their rights as well as discuss information about options which they can implement to assert their rights. Besides, it suggests action they can take to stop abuse of their rights and give them with appropriate advocacy support that enables them to have their rights met. In addition, the government can launch adult day care programme, which it enables the caregivers to get time off during the day. Adult day care is a planned program of activities designed to promote well-being though social and health related services. Adult day care centres operate during daytime hours, Monday through Friday, in a safe, supportive, cheerful environment. It not just provides older persons an opportunity to get out of the house and receive both mental and social stimulation but also gives caregivers a much-needed break in which to attend to personal needs, or simply rest and relax. Law and legislation Malaysia law and legislation also play a vital role in overcoming the elderly abuse problem. Malaysia law can establish a legislative Elder Protective Act which is warranted to protect our vulnerable elderly from untold suffering. They have the right to live with dignity and security. For example in all 50 US states have specific adult protection legislation within which issues related to elder abuse and/or neglect are addressed. This legislation is influenced by child welfare models, and is characterised by legal powers of investigation, intervention and mandatory reporting. In the absence of federal mandates, states have been developing their own responses to adult abuse, neglect and exploitation. Legislative Elder Protective Act should be implemented by the government to safeguard the rights of our vulnerable elderly. Suggestion has been made for the government of Malaysia to adopt a law which allowing the elderly parents to claim maintenance from their financially-able children. This can be learned from the country of Singapore where the Maintenance of Parents Act enables parents above 60 years old who cannot support themselves to seek legal action forcing their children to provide maintenance for them. The government of Malaysia should also tighten the law and can used country of India as an example. In India, children could be imprisoned or fined or be subjected to both if they abandon their elderly parents. The Tamil Nadu government is set to notify rules for the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, to help tribunals in each district decide on the order of maintenance for elderly citizens, who complain about being neglected by their children. Therefore, the government is committed to develop such services and formulate policies against elder abuse in Malaysia. Malaysia, being one of a few countries that uphold Syariah Law has Islamic Law that governs the welfare of family matters including the ageing parents, following the case in which a couple sued their daughter for not providing sufficient maintenance as what they have agreed. Elder abuse is a national problem with far reaching consequences for individuals, families, communities, and institutions. The state courts must play a critical role in addressing the needs of victims of elder abuse. The courts ability to assist older persons essentially determines whether individuals live their remaining years with respect and dignity, or are further alienated from the justice system with personal safety. Mass Media Mass media also plays a quite significant role in minimizing the problem of elderly abuse in Malaysia. The media was often blamed as one of the sources of the negative images of older adults in society. It was seen as important to work with the media to change these negative images, to raise awareness and to educate the population about elder abuse. They are able to inspire the public to be aware of this social issue by utilizing mass media such as televisions, radio networks, internet, newspaper, magazines, etc. Nevertheless the problem often remains undetected because of poor public awareness and lack of knowledge among healthcare personnel. Therefore, the print as well as electronic media are to play active roles to increase the societys awareness of the elderly. Media coverage of elder abuse cases can make the public knowledgeable about-and outraged against-abusive treatment in those settings. Due to most abuse occurs in the home by family members or caregivers, there needs to be a concerted effort to educate the public about the special needs and problems of the elderly and about the risk factors for abuse. Within mass media cultures, social issues such as elder abuse, have key reference points which can attract concentrated coverage of the topic and carry influential associations in public perceptions. For example, in USA, the Indochina Sino-American Community Centre  formed a coalition called Chinese Americans Restoring Elders, they used mass media to encourage the public to contact the Community Centre for matters related to elder abuse; provided some individual counselling sessions; and conducted a press conference and distributed brochures and flyers in Chinatown to commemorate World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The television networks always played the advertisements that have the influence on the public over the caring of the elderly. Like the PESTRONAS during religious or cultural holidays (namely Aidilfitri, Chinese New Year, Deepavali) are often accompanied by touching advertisement that convey the message to show love and care to our parents. School Education Education is the cornerstone of preventing elder abuse. This education needs to start very early, in primary school. The students need to be educated to perceive to older adults more favourably as positive contributors to society. The elderly do not necessary mean burden to the family or society. With their wealth of knowledge and experience, they can still contribute to economic development and wealth creation. They have contributed to the development of the nation in their earlier years and they can still continue to be productive in their golden years. The students should consider senior citizens are an important and integral part of our society. Students need to understand the interpersonal dynamic of care-giving. For example, they need to be award of the value placed on the dependency and inter-dependency in care-giving; role reversals in care-giving; and how unresolved emotions between the elderly and the care-giver influence the care-giving process. The school curriculum is to include education on the family to enable the younger generation to understand and appreciate the elderly. They need to be encouraged to form closer relationships with older adults. The general population also needs to be aware that elder abuse happens and is a problem. Students need to understand the subtle difference between abuse, neglect and abandonment theoretically as well as operationally. The moral education teachers not just teach theoretically but also operationally. What is more, the schools should organise a numbers of the activities like visiting old

Moxy Fruvous :: Music Musical Essays

Moxy Fruvous From their earliest gigs as buskers (street performers) in downtown Toronto, the Canadian pop band Moxy Fruvous has attracted attention with an energetic blend of tight harmonies and witty social commentary (Bush). The band’s first album, 1994’s Bargainville, highlights both these qualities, casting a skewed glance at topics ranging from video stores to the Gulf War. One of the disc’s highlights, â€Å"Darlington Darling,† examines blue-collar love and tells a tale of frustration, both economic and romantic. The first verse introduces the song’s speaker, who works on an assembly line in an auto plant, where he â€Å"slaps on† plugs and distributor caps for Mercuries (1-2). However, we quickly discover that the speaker is unable even to afford the cars he helps to build, noting that â€Å"I can drive. . . but this car’s made for you† (4). This point is underscored by the chorus. As the speaker says that he’d like to buy a car or cars for his love, his wishes are countered by the economic realities of his situation: I’d like to buy her one – (Where you gonna get the money, son?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An’ I’d like to buy her more Than this blue collar can afford (5-6, 11-12). In the second verse, the speaker’s situation is contrasted with the case of a co-worker who is doing a little better. â€Å"Chipper down the line† sycophantically plies his boss with egg nog at the company Christmas party (13-14). In return, Chipper gets a raise, which he uses to pay for a vacation cottage/â€Å"love nest† on Lake Scugog (a rather unprepossessing man-made lake near Toronto)(â€Å"Lake Scugog†). Although Chipper is willing to let his coworker use the cabin for a weekend, the speaker’s girlfriend is working for nearly the entire weekend (16). Once again, the economic realities of the working class (weekend shifts) interfere with dreams of leisure and love. Also worth noting here is that, during the solo that follows the second chorus, the listener can here a voice berating Chipper, telling him to â€Å"Get back to work, you greaseball!† Apparently, even toadying for the boss only goes so far, and even the better-paid workers are subject to verbal abuse. After the solo and another repeat of the chorus, a final half-verse focuses on the speaker’s love. We learn that she lives â€Å"half a mile from the cooling towers† of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, a nuclear power plant near Toronto (â€Å"Darlington†).

Prelude to Foundation Chapter 18 Overthrow

THALUS, EMMER-†¦ A sergeant in the armed security forces of the Wye Sector of ancient Trantor†¦ †¦ Aside from these totally unremarkable vital statistics, nothing is known of the man except that on one occasion he held the fate of the Galaxy in his fist. Encyclopedia Galactica 87. Breakfast the next morning was served in an alcove near the rooms of the captured three and it was luxurious indeed. There certainly was a considerable variety to the food and more than enough of everything. Seldon sat at the breakfast table with a mound of spicy sausages before him, totally ignoring Dors Venabili's gloomy predictions concerning stomachs and colic. Raych said, â€Å"The dame†¦ the Madam Mayor said when she came to see me last night-â€Å" â€Å"She came to see you?† said Seldon. â€Å"Yeah. She said she wanted to make sure I was comfortable. She said when she had a chance she would take me to a zoo.† â€Å"A zoo?† Seldon looked at Dors. â€Å"What kind of zoo can they have on Trantor? Cats and dogs?† â€Å"There are some aboriginal animals,† said Dors, â€Å"and I imagine they import some aboriginals from other worlds and there are also the shared animals that all the worlds have-other worlds having more than Trantor, of course. As a matter of fact, Wye has a famous zoo, probably the best on the planet after the Imperial Zoo itself.† Raych said, â€Å"She's a nice old lady.† â€Å"Not that old,† said Dors, â€Å"but she's certainly feeding us well.† â€Å"There's that,† admitted Seldon. When breakfast was over, Raych left to go exploring. Once they had retired to Dors's room, Seldon said with marked discontent, â€Å"I don't know how long we'll be left to ourselves. She's obviously plotted ways of preoccupying our time.† Dors said, â€Å"Actually, we have little to complain of at the moment. We're much more comfortable here than we were either in Mycogen or Dahl.† Seldon said, â€Å"Dors, you're not being won over by that woman, are you?† â€Å"Me? By Rashelle? Of course not. How can you possibly think so?† â€Å"Well, you're comfortable. You're well-fed. It would be natural to relax and accept what fortune brings.† â€Å"Yes, very natural. And why not do that?† â€Å"Look, you were telling me last night about what's going to happen if she wins out. I may not be much of a historian myself, but I am willing to take your word for it and, actually, it makes sense-even to a nonhistorian. The Empire will shatter and its shards will be fighting each other for†¦ for†¦ indefinitely. She must be stopped.† â€Å"I agree,† said Dors. â€Å"She must be. What I fail to see is how we can manage to do that little thing right at this moment.† She looked at Seldon narrowly. â€Å"Hari, you didn't sleep last night, did you?† â€Å"Did you?† It was apparent he had not. Dors stared at him, a troubled look clouding her face. â€Å"Have you lain awake thinking of Galactic destruction because of what I said?† â€Å"That and some other things. Is it possible to reach Chetter Hummin?† This last was said in a whisper. Dors said, â€Å"I tried to reach him when we first had to flee arrest in Dahl. He didn't come. I'm sure he received the message, but he didn't come. It may be that, for any of a number of reasons, he just couldn't come to us, but when he can he will.† â€Å"Do you suppose something has happened to him?† â€Å"No,† said Dors patiently. â€Å"I don't think so.† â€Å"How can you know?† â€Å"The word would somehow get to me. I'm sure of it. And the word hasn't gotten to me.† Seldon frowned and said, â€Å"I'm not as confident as you are about all this. In fact, I'm not confident at all. Even if Hummin came, what can he do in this case? He can't fight all of Wye. If they have, as Rashelle claims, the best-organized army on Trantor, what will he be able to do against it?† â€Å"There's no point in discussing that. Do you suppose you can convince Rashelle-bang it into her head somehow-that you don't have psychohistory?† â€Å"I'm sure she's aware that I don't have it and that I'm not going to get it for many years-if at all. But she'll say I have psychohistory and if she does that skillfully enough, people will believe her and eventually they will act on what she says my predictions and pronouncements are-even if I don't say a word.† â€Å"Surely, that will take time. She won't build you up overnight. Or in a week. To do it properly, it might take her a year.† Seldon was pacing the length of the room, turning sharply on his heel and striding back. â€Å"That might be so, but I don't know. There would be pressure on her to do things quickly. She doesn't strike me as the kind of woman who has cultivated the habit of patience. And her old father, Mannix IV, would be even more impatient. He must feel the nearness of death and if he's worked for this all his life, he would much prefer to see it done a week before his death rather than a week after. Besides-â€Å" Here he paused and looked around the empty room. â€Å"Besides what?† â€Å"Well, we must have our freedom. You see, I've solved the psychohistory problem.† Dors's eyes widened. â€Å"You have it! You've worked it out.† â€Å"Not worked it out in the full sense. That might take decades†¦ centuries, for all I know. But I now know it's practical, not just theoretical. I know it can be done so I must have the time, the peace, the facilities to work at it. The Empire must be held together till I-or possibly my successors-will learn how best to keep it so or how to minimize the disaster if it does split up despite us. It was the thought of having a beginning to my task and of not being able to work at it, that kept me up last night.† 88. It was their fifth day in Wye and in the morning Dors was helping Raych into a formal costume that neither was quite familiar with. Raych looked at himself dubiously in the holomirror and saw a reflected image that faced him with precision, imitating all his motions but without any inversion of left and right. Raych had never used a holomirror before and had been unable to keep from trying to feel it, then laughing, almost with embarrassment, when his hand passed through it while the image's hand poked ineffectually at his real body. He said at last, â€Å"I look funny.† He studied his tunic, which was made of a very pliant material, with a thin filigreed belt, then passed his hands up a stiff collar that rose like a cup past his ears on either side. â€Å"My head looks like a ball inside a bowl.† Dors said, â€Å"But this is the sort of thing rich children wear in Wye. Everyone who sees you will admire you and envy you.† â€Å"With my hair all stuck down?† â€Å"Certainly. You'll wear this round little hat.† â€Å"It'll make my head more like a ball.† â€Å"Then don't let anyone kick it. Now, remember what I told you. Keep your wits about you and don't act like a kid.† â€Å"But I am a kid,† he said, looking up at her with a wide-eyed innocent expression. â€Å"I'm surprised to hear you say that,† said Dors. â€Å"I'm sure you think of yourself as a twelve-year-old adult.† Raych grinned. â€Å"Okay. I'll be a good spy.† â€Å"That's not what I'm telling you to be. Don't take chances. Don't sneak behind doors to listen. If you get caught at it, you're no good to anyone-especially not to yourself.† â€Å"Aw, c'mon, Missus, what do ya think I am? A kid or somethin'?† â€Å"You just said you were, didn't you, Raych? You just listen to everything that's said without seeming to. And remember what you hear. And tell us. That's simple enough.† â€Å"Simple enough for you to say, Missus Venabili,† said Raych with a grin, â€Å"and simple enough for me to do.† â€Å"And be careful.† Raych winked. â€Å"You bet.† A flunky (as coolly impolite as only an arrogant flunky can be) came to take Raych to where Rashelle was awaiting him. Seldon looked after them and said thoughtfully, â€Å"He probably won't see the zoo, he'll be listening so carefully. I'm not sure it's right to thrust a boy into danger like that.† â€Å"Danger? I doubt it. Raych was brought up in the slums of Billibotton, remember. I suspect he has more alley smarts than you and I put together. Besides, Rashelle is fond of him and will interpret everything he does in his favor. Poor woman.† â€Å"Are you actually sorry for her, Dors?† â€Å"Do you mean that she's not worth sympathy because she's a Mayor's daughter and considers herself a Mayor in her own right-and because she's intent on destroying the Empire? Perhaps you're right, but even so there are some aspects of her for which one might show some sympathy. For instance, she's had an unhappy love affair. That's pretty evident. Undoubtedly, her heart was broken-for a time, at least.† Seldon said, â€Å"Have you ever had an unhappy love affair, Dors?† Dors considered for a moment or two, then said, â€Å"Not really. I'm too involved with my work to get a broken heart.† â€Å"I thought as much.† â€Å"Then why did you ask?† â€Å"I might have been wrong.† â€Å"How about you?† Seldon seemed uneasy. â€Å"As a matter of fact, yes. I have spared the time for a broken heart. Badly cracked, anyway.† â€Å"I thought as much.† â€Å"Then why did you ask?† â€Å"Not because I thought I might be wrong, I promise you. I just wanted to see if you would lie. You didn't and I'm glad.† There was a pause and then Seldon said, â€Å"Five days have passed and nothing has happened.† â€Å"Except that we are being treated well, Hari.† â€Å"If animals could think, they'd think they were being treated well when they were only being fattened for the slaughter.† â€Å"I admit she's fattening the Empire for the slaughter.† â€Å"But when?† â€Å"I presume when she's ready.† â€Å"She boasted she could complete the coup in a day and the impression I got was that she could do that on any day.† â€Å"Even if she could, she would want to make sure that she could cripple the Imperial reaction and that might take time.† â€Å"How much time? She plans to cripple the reaction by using me, but she is making no effort to do so. There is no sign that she's trying to build up my importance. Wherever I go in Wye I'm unrecognized. There are no Wyan crowds gathering to cheer me. There's nothing on the news holocasts.† Dors smiled. â€Å"One would almost suppose that your feelings are hurt at not being made famous. You're naive, Hari. Or not a historian, which is the same thing. I think you had better be more pleased that the study of psychohistory will be bound to make a historian of you than that it may save the Empire. If all human beings understood history, they might cease making the same stupid mistakes over and over.† â€Å"In what way am I naive?† asked Seldon lifting his head and staring down his nose at her. â€Å"Don't be offended, Hari. I think it's one of your attractive features, actually.† â€Å"I know. It arouses your maternal instincts and you have been asked to take care of me. But in what way am I naive?† â€Å"In thinking that Rashelle would try to propagandize the population of the Empire, generally, into accepting you as seer. She would accomplish nothing in that way. Quadrillions of people are hard to move quickly. There is social and psychological inertia, as well as physical inertia. And, by coming out into the open, she would simply alert Demerzel.† â€Å"Then what is she doing?† â€Å"My guess is that the information about you-suitably exaggerated and glorified-is going out to a crucial few. It is going to those Viceroys of sectors, those admirals of fleets, those people of influence she feels look kindly upon her-or grimly upon the Emperor. A hundred or so of those who might rally to her side will manage to confuse the Loyalists just long enough to allow Rashelle the First to set up her New Order firmly enough to beat off whatever resistance might develop. At least, I imagine that is how she reasons.† â€Å"And yet we haven't heard from Hummin.† â€Å"I'm sure he must be doing something just the same. This is too important to ignore.† â€Å"Has it occurred to you that he might be dead?† â€Å"That's a possibility, but I don't think so. If he was, the news would reach me.† â€Å"Here?† â€Å"Even here.† Seldon raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Raych came back in the late afternoon, happy and excited, with descriptions of monkeys and of Bakarian demoires and he dominated the conversation during dinner. It was not until after dinner when they were in their own quarters that Dors said, â€Å"Now, tell me what happened with Madam Mayor, Raych. Tell me anything she did or said that you think we ought to know.† â€Å"One thing,† said Raych, his face lighting up. â€Å"That's why she didn't show at dinner, I bet.† â€Å"What was it?† â€Å"The zoo was closed except for us, you know. There were lots of us-Rashelle and me and all sorts of guys in uniforms and dames in fancy clothes and like that. Then this guy in a uniform-a different guy, who wasn't there to begin with-came in toward the end and he said something in a low voice and Rashelle turned to all the people and made with her hand like they shouldn't move and they didn't. And she went a little ways away with this new guy, so she could talk to him and no one could hear her. Except I kept paying no attention and kept looking at the different cages and sort of moved near to Rashelle so I could hear her. â€Å"She said, ‘How dare they?' like she was real mad. And the guy in the uniform, he looked nervous-I just got quick looks because I was trying to make out like I was watching the animals-so mostly I just heard the words. He said somebody-I don't remember the name, but he was a general or somethin'. He said this general said the officers had sworn rel igious to Rashelle's old man-â€Å" â€Å"Sworn allegiance,† said Dors. â€Å"Somethin' like that and they was nervous about havin' to do what a dame says. He said they wanted the old man or else, if he was kind of sick, he should pick some guy to be Mayor, not a dame.† â€Å"Not a dame? Are you sure?† â€Å"That's what he said. He like whispered it. He was so nervous and Rashelle was so mad she could hardly speak. She said, ‘I'll have his head. They will all swear allegiance to me tomorrow and whoever refuses will lave cause to regret it before an hour has passed.' That's exactly what she said. She broke up the whole party and we all came back and she didn't say one word to me all the time. Just sat there, looking kinda mean and angry.† Dors said, â€Å"Good. Don't you mention this to anyone, Raych.† â€Å"Course not. Is it what you wanted?† â€Å"Very much what I wanted. You did well, Raych. Now, go to your room and forget the whole thing. Don't even think about it.† Once he was gone, Dors turned to Seldon and said, â€Å"This is very interesting. Daughters have succeeded fathers-or mothers, for that matter-and held Mayoralties or other high offices on any number of occasions. There have even been reigning Empresses, as you undoubtedly know, and I can't recall that there was ever in Imperial history any serious question of serving under one. It makes one wonder why such a thing should now, arise in Wye.† Seldon said, â€Å"Why not? We've only recently been in Mycogen, where women are held in a total lack of esteem and couldn't possibly hold positions of power, however minor.† â€Å"Yes, of course, but that's an exception. There are other places where women dominate. For the most part, though, government and power have been more or less equisexual. If more men tend to hold high positions, it is usually because women tend to be more bound-biologically-to children.† â€Å"But what is the situation in Wye?† â€Å"Equisexual, as far as I know. Rashelle didn't hesitate to assume Mayoral power and I imagine old Mannix didn't hesitate to grant it to her. And she was surprised and furious at encountering male dissent. She can't have expected it.† Seldon said, â€Å"You're clearly pleased at this. Why?† â€Å"Simply because it's so unnatural that it must be contrived and I imagine Hummin is doing the contriving.† Seldon said thoughtfully, â€Å"You think so?† â€Å"I do,† said Dors. â€Å"You know,† said Seldon, â€Å"so do I.† 89. It was their tenth day in Wye and in the morning Hari Seldon's door signal sounded and Raych's high-pitched voice outside was crying out, â€Å"Mister! Mister Seldon! It's war!† Seldon took a moment to swap from sleep to wakefulness and scrambled out of bed. He was shivering slightly (the Wyans liked their domiciles on the chilly side, he had discovered quite early in his stay there) when he threw the door open. Raych bounced in, excited and wide-eyed. â€Å"Mister Seldon, they have Mannix, the old Mayor'. They have-â€Å" â€Å"Who have, Raych?† â€Å"The Imperials, Their jets came in last night all over. The news holocasts are telling all about it. It's on in Missus's room. She said to let ya sleep, but I figured ya would wanner know.† â€Å"And you were quite right.† Seldon pausing only tong enough to throw on a bathrobe, burst into Dors's room. She was fully dressed and was watching the holo-set in the alcove. Behind the clear, small image of a desk sat a man, with the Spaceship-and-Sun sharply defined on the left-front of his tunic. On either side, two soldiers, also wearing the Spaceship-and-Sun, stood armed. The officer at the desk was saying, â€Å"-is under the peaceful control of his Imperial Majesty. Mayor Mannix is safe and well and is in full possession of his Mayoral powers under the guidance of friendly Imperial troops. He will be before you soon to urge calm on all Wyans and to ask any Wyan soldiers still in arms to lay them down.† There were other news holocasts by various newsmen with unemotional voices, all wearing Imperial armbands. The news was all the same: surrender by this or that unit of the Wyan security forces after firing a few shots for the record-and sometimes after no resistance at all. This town center and that town center were occupied-and there were repeated views of Wyan crowds somberly watching Imperial forces marching down the streets. Dors said, â€Å"It was perfectly executed, Hari. Surprise was complete. There was no chance of resistance and none of consequence was offered.† Then Mayor Mannix IV appeared, as had been promised. He was standing upright and, perhaps for the sake of appearances, there were no Imperials in sight, though Seldon was reasonably certain that an adequate number were present just out of camera range. Mannix was old, but his strength, though worn, was still apparent. His eyes did not meet the holo-camera and his words were spoken as though forced upon him-but, as had been promised, they counseled Wyans to remain calm, to offer no resistance, to keep Wye from harm, and to cooperate with the Emperor who, it was hoped, would survive long on the throne. â€Å"No mention of Rashelle,† said Seldon. â€Å"It's as though his daughter doesn't exist.† â€Å"No one has mentioned her,† said Dors, â€Å"and this place, which is, after all, her residence-or one of them-hasn't been attacked. Even if she manages to slip away and take refuge in some neighboring sector, I doubt she will be safe anywhere on Trantor for long.† â€Å"Perhaps not,† came a voice; â€Å"but I'll be safe here for a little while.† Rashelle entered. She was properly dressed, properly calm. She was even smiling, but it was no smile of joy; it was, rather, a cold baring of teeth. The three stared at her in surprise for a moment and Seldon wondered if she had any of her servants with her or if they had promptly deserted her at the first sign of adversity. Dors said a little coldly, â€Å"I see, Madam Mayor, that your hopes for a coup can not be maintained. Apparently, you have been forestalled.† â€Å"I have not been forestalled. I have been betrayed. My officers have been tampered with and-against all history and rationality-they have refused to fight for a woman but only for their old master. And, traitors that they are, they then let their old master be seized so that he cannot lead them in resistance.† She looked about for a chair and sat down. â€Å"And now the Empire must continue to decay and die when I was prepared to offer it new life.† â€Å"I think,† said Dors, â€Å"the Empire has avoided an indefinite period of useless fighting and destruction. Console yourself with that, Madam Mayor.† It was as though Rashelle did not hear her. â€Å"So many years of preparation destroyed in a night.† She sat there beaten, defeated, and seemed to have aged twenty years. Dors said, â€Å"It could scarcely have been done in a night. The suborning of your officers-if that took place-must have taken time.† â€Å"At that, Demerzel is a master and quite obviously I underestimated him. How he did it, I don't know-threats, bribes, smooth and specious argument. He is a master at the art of stealth and betrayal-I should have known.† She went on after a pause. â€Å"If this was outright force on his part, I would have had no trouble destroying anything he sent against us. Who would think that Wye would be betrayed, that an oath of allegiance would be so lightly thrown aside?† Seldon said with automatic rationality, â€Å"But I imagine the oath was made not to you, but to your father.† â€Å"Nonsense,† said Rashelle vigorously. â€Å"When my father gave me the Mayoral office, as he was legally entitled to do, he automatically passed on to me any oaths of allegiance made to him. There is ample precedence for this. It is customary to have the oath repeated to the new ruler, but that is a ceremony only and not a legal requirement. My officers know that, though they choose to forget. They use my womanhood as an excuse because they quake in fear of Imperial vengeance that would never have come had they been staunch or tremble with greed for promised rewards they will surely never get-if I know Demerzel.† She turned sharply toward Seldon. â€Å"He wants you, you know. Demerzel struck at us for you.† Seldon started. â€Å"Why me?† â€Å"Don't be a fool. For the same reason I wanted you†¦ to use you as a tool, of course.† She sighed. â€Å"At least I am not utterly betrayed. There are still loyal soldiers to be found.-Sergeant!† Sergeant Emmer Thalus entered with a soft cautious step that seemed incongruous, considering his size. His uniform was spruce, his long blond mustache fiercely curled. â€Å"Madam Mayor,† he said, drawing himself to attention with a snap. He was still, in appearance, the side of beef that Hari had named him-a man still following orders blindly, totally oblivious to the new and changed state of affairs. Rashelle smiled sadly at Raych. â€Å"And how are you, little Raych? I had meant to make something of you. It seems now I won't be able to.† â€Å"Hello, Missus†¦ Madam,† said Raych awkwardly. â€Å"And to have made something of you too, Dr. Seldon,† said Rashelle, â€Å"and there also I must crave pardon. I cannot.† â€Å"For me, Madam, you need have no regrets.† â€Å"But I do. I cannot very well let Demerzel have you. That would be one victory too many for him and at least I can stop that.† â€Å"I would not work for him, Madam, I assure you, any more than I would have worked for you.† â€Å"It is not a matter of work. It is a matter of being used. Farewell, Dr. Seldon. Sergeant, blast him.† The sergeant drew his blaster at once and Dors, with a loud cry, lunged forward-but Seldon reached out for her and caught her by the elbow. He hung on desperately. â€Å"Stay back, Dors,† he shouted, â€Å"or he'll kill you. He won't kill me. You too, Raych. Stand back. Don't move.† Seldon faced the sergeant. â€Å"You hesitate, Sergeant, because you know you cannot shoot. I might have killed you ten days ago, but I did not. And you gave me your word of honor at that time that you would protect me.† â€Å"What are you waiting for?† snapped Rashelle. â€Å"I said shoot him down, Sergeant.† Seldon said nothing more. He stood there while the sergeant, eyes bulging, held his blaster steady and pointed at Seldon's head. â€Å"You have your order!† shrieked Rashelle. â€Å"I have your word,† said Seldon quietly. And Sergeant Thalus said in a choked tone, â€Å"Dishonored either way.† His hand fell and his blaster clanged to the floor. Rashelle cried out, â€Å"Then you too betray me.† Before Seldon could move or Dors free herself from his grip, Rashelle seized the blaster, turned it on the sergeant, and closed contact. Seldon had never seen anyone blasted before. Somehow, from the name of the weapon perhaps, he had expected a loud noise, an explosion of flesh and blood. This Wyan blaster, at least, did nothing of the sort. What mangling it did to the organs inside the sergeant's chest Seldon could not tell but, without a change in expression, without a wince of pain, the sergeant crumbled and fell, dead beyond any doubt or any hope. And Rashelle turned the blaster on Seldon with a firmness that put to rest any hope for his own life beyond the next second. It was Raych, however, who jumped into action the moment the sergeant fell. Racing between Seldon and Rashelle, he waved his hands wildly. â€Å"Missus, Missus,† he called. â€Å"Don't shoot.† For a moment, Rashelle looked confused. â€Å"Out of the way, Raych. I don't want to hurt you.† That moment of hesitation was all Dors needed. Breaking loose violently, she plunged toward Rashelle with a long low dive. Rashelle went down with a cry and the blaster hit the ground a second time. Raych retrieved it. Seldon, with a deep and shuddering breath, said, â€Å"Raych, give that to me.† But Raych backed away. â€Å"Ya ain't gonna kill her, are ya, Mister Seldon? She was nice to me.† â€Å"I won't kill anyone, Raych,† said Seldon. â€Å"She killed the sergeant and would have killed me, but she didn't shoot rather than hurt you and we'll let her live for that.† It was Seldon, who now sat down, the blaster held loosely in his hand, while Dors removed the neuronic whip from the dead sergeant's other holster. A new voice rang out. â€Å"I'll take care of her now, Seldon.† Seldon looked up and in sudden joy said, â€Å"Hummin! Finally!† â€Å"I'm sorry it took so long, Seldon. I had a lot to do. How are you, Dr. Venabili? I take it this is Mannix's daughter, Rashelle. But who is the boy?† â€Å"Raych is a young Dahlite friend of ours,† said Seldon. Soldiers were entering and, at a small gesture from Hummin, they lifted Rashelle respectfully. Dors, able to suspend her intent surveillance of the other woman, brushed at her clothes with her hands and smoothed her blouse. Seldon suddenly realized that he was still in his bathrobe. Rashelle, shaking herself loose from the soldiers with contempt, pointed to Hummin and said to Seldon, â€Å"Who is this?† Seldon said, â€Å"It is Chetter Hummin, a friend of mine and my protector on this planet.† â€Å"Your protector.† Rashelle laughed madly. â€Å"You fool! You idiot! That man is Demerzel and if you look at your Venabili woman, you will see from her face that she is perfectly aware of that. You have been trapped all along, far worse than ever you were with me!† 90. Hummin and Seldon sat at lunch that day, quite alone, a pall of quiet between them for the most part. It was toward the end of the meal that Seldon stirred and said in a lively voice, â€Å"Well, sir, how do I address you? I think of you as ‘Chester Hummin' still, but even if I accept you in your other persona, I surely cannot address you as ‘Eto Demerzel.' In that capacity, you have a title and I don't know the proper usage. Instruct me.† The other said gravely, â€Å"Call me ‘Hummin'-if you don't mind. Or ‘Chetter.' Yes, I am Eto Demerzel, but with respect to you I am Hummin. As a matter of fact, the two are not distinct. I told you that the Empire is decaying and failing. I believe that to be true in both my capacities. I told you that I wanted psychohistory as a way of preventing that decay and failure or of bringing about a renewal and reinvigoration if the decay and failure must run its course. I believe that in both my capacities too.† â€Å"But you had me in your grip-I presume you were in the vicinity when I had my meeting with His Imperial Majesty.† â€Å"With Cleon. Yes, of course.† â€Å"And you might have spoken to me, then, exactly as you later did as Hummin.† â€Å"And accomplished what? As Demerzel, I have enormous tasks. I have to handle Cleon, a well-meaning but not very capable ruler, and prevent him, insofar as I can, from making mistakes. I have to do my bit in governing Trantor and the Empire too. And, as you see, I had to spend a great deal of time in preventing Wye from doing harm.† â€Å"Yes, I know,† murmured Seldon. â€Å"It wasn't easy and I nearly lost out. I have spent years sparring carefully with Mannix, learning to understand his thinking and planning a countermove to his every move. I did not think, at any time, that while he was still alive he would pass on his powers to his daughter. I had not studied her and I was not prepared for her utter lack of caution. Unlike her father, she has been brought up to take power for granted and had no clear idea of its limitations. So she got you and forced me to act before I was quite ready.† â€Å"You almost lost me as a result. I faced the muzzle of a blaster twice.† â€Å"I know,† said Hummin, nodding. â€Å"And we might have lost you Upperside too-another accident I could not foresee.† â€Å"But you haven't really answered my question. Why did you send me chasing all over the face of Trantor to escape from Demerzel when you yourself were Demerzel?† â€Å"You told Cleon that psychohistory was a purely theoretical concept, a kind of mathematical game that made no practical sense. That might indeed have been so, but if I approached you officially, I was sure you would merely have maintained your belief. Yet I was attracted to the notion of psychohistory. I wondered whether it might not be, after all, just a game. You must understand that I didn't want merely to use you, I wanted a real and practical psychohistory. â€Å"So I sent you, as you put it, chasing all over the face of Trantor with the dreaded Demerzel close on your heels at all times. That, I felt, would concentrate your mind powerfully. It would make psychohistory something exciting and much more than a mathematical game. You would try to work it out for the sincere idealist Hummin, where you would not for the Imperial flunky Demerzel. Also, you would get a glimpse of various sides of Trantor and that too would be helpful-certainly more helpful than living in an ivory tower on a far-off planet, surrounded entirely by fellow mathematicians. Was I right? Have you made progress?† Seldon said, â€Å"In psychohistory? Yes, I did, Hummin. I thought you knew.† â€Å"How should I know?† â€Å"I told Dors.† â€Å"But you hadn't told me. Nevertheless, you tell me so now. That is good news.† â€Å"Not entirely,† said Seldon. â€Å"I have made only the barest beginning. But it is a beginning.† â€Å"Is it the kind of beginning that can be explained to a nonmathematician?† â€Å"I think so. You see, Hummin, from the start I have seen psychohistory as a science that depends on the interaction of twenty-five million worlds, each with an average population of four thousand million. It's too much. There's no way of handling something that complex. If I was to succeed at all, if there was to be any way of finding a useful psychohistory, I would first have to find a simpler system. â€Å"So I thought I would go back in time and deal with a single world, a world that was the only one occupied by humanity in the dim age before the colonization of the Galaxy. In Mycogen they spoke of an original world of Aurora and in Dahl I heard word of an original world of Earth. I thought they might be the same world under different names, but they were sufficiently different in one key point, at least, to make that impossible. And it didn't matter. So little was known of either one, and that little so obscured by myth and legend, that there was no hope of making use of psychohistory in connection with them.† He paused to sip at his cold juice, keeping his eyes firmly on Hummin's face. Hummin said, â€Å"Well? What then?† â€Å"Meanwhile, Dors had told me something I call the hand-on-thigh story. It was of no innate significance, merely a humorous and entirely trivial tale. As a result, though, Dors mentioned the different sex mores on various worlds and in various sectors of Trantor. It occurred to me that she treated the different Trantorian sectors as though they were separate worlds. I thought, idly, that instead of twenty-five million different worlds, I had twenty-five million plus eight hundred to deal with. It seemed a trivial difference, so I forgot it and thought no more about it. â€Å"But as I traveled from the Imperial Sector to Streeling to Mycogen to Dahl to Wye, I observed for myself how different each was. The thought of Trantor-not as a world but as a complex of worlds-grew stronger, but still I didn't see the crucial point. â€Å"It was only when I listened to Rashelle-you see, it was good that I was finally captured by Wye and it was good that Rashelle's rashness drove her into the grandiose schemes that she imparted to me-When I listened to Rashelle, as I said, she told me that all she wanted was Trantor and some immediately adjacent worlds. It was an Empire in itself, she said, and dismissed the outer worlds as ‘distant nothings.' â€Å"It was then that, in a moment, I saw what I must have been harboring in my hidden thoughts for a considerable time. On the one hand, Trantor possessed an extraordinarily complex social system, being a populous world made up of eight hundred smaller worlds. It was in itself a system complex enough to make psychohistory meaningful and yet it was simple enough, compared to the Empire as a whole, to make psychohistory perhaps practical. â€Å"And the Outer Worlds, the twenty-five million of them? They were ‘distant nothings.' Of course, they affected Trantor and were affected by Trantor, but these were second-order effects. If I could make psychohistory work as a first approximation for Trantor alone, then the minor effects of the Outer Worlds could be added as later modifications. Do you see what I mean? I was searching for a single world on which to establish a practical science of psychohistory and I was searching for it in the far past, when all the time the single world I wanted was under my feet now.† Hummin said with obvious relief and pleasure, â€Å"Wonderful!† â€Å"But it's all left to do, Hummin. I must study Trantor in sufficient detail. I must devise the necessary mathematics to deal with it. If I am lucky and live out a full lifetime, I may have the answers before I die. If not, my successors will have to follow me. Conceivably, the Empire may have fallen and splintered before psychohistory becomes a useful technique.† â€Å"I will do everything I can to help you.† â€Å"I know it,† said Seldon. â€Å"You trust me, then, despite the fact I am Demerzel?† â€Å"Entirely. Absolutely. But I do so because you are not Demerzel.† â€Å"But I am,† insisted Hummin. â€Å"But you are not. Your persona as Demerzel is as far removed from the truth as is your persona as Hummin.† â€Å"What do you mean?† Hummin's eyes grew wide and he backed away slightly from Seldon. â€Å"I mean that you probably chose the name ‘Hummin' out of a wry sense of what was fitting. ‘Hummin' is a mispronunciation of ‘human,' isn't it?† Hummin made no response. He continued to stare at Seldon. And finally Seldon said, â€Å"Because you're not human, are you, ‘Hummin/Demerzel'? You're a robot.†