Bus Reservation System Essay Example for Free

Bus Reservation System Essay Traveling is a large growing business in Pakistan and other countries. Bus reservation system deals with maintenance of records of details of each passenger who had reserved a seat for a journey. It also includes maintenance of information like schedule and details of each bus. We observed the working of the Bus reservation system and after going through it, we get to know that there are many operations, which they have to do manually. It takes a lot of time and causes many errors. Due to this, sometimes a lot of problems occur and they were facing many disputes with customers. To solve the above problem, and further maintaining records of items, seat availability for customers, price of per seat, bill generation and other things, we are offering this proposal of reservation system. By using this software, we can reserve tickets from any part of the world, via internet. This project provides and checks all sorts of constraints so that user does give only useful data and thus validation is done in an effective way. 2. INTRODUCTION Our project is to computerize traveling company to manage data, so that all the transactions become fast and there should not be any error in transaction like calculation mistake, bill generation and other things. It replaces all the paper work. It keeps records of all bills also, giving to ensure 100% successful implementation of the computerized Bus reservation system. Our reservation system has three modules. First module helps the customer to enquire the availability of seats in a particular bus at particular date. Second module helps him to reserve a ticket. Using third module he can cancel a reserved ticket. 3. SYSTEM STUDY System study aims at establishing requests for the system to be acquired, development and installed. It involves studying and analyzing the ways of an organization currently processing the data to produce information. Analyzing the problem thoroughly forms the vital part of the system study. In system analysis, prevailing situation of problem is carefully examined by breaking them into sub problems. Problematic areas are identified and information is collected. Data gathering is essential to any analysis of requests. It is necessary that this analysis familiarizes the designer with objectives, activities and the function of the organization in which the system is to be implemented. 3.1. Study of existing system * Existing system is totally on book and thus a great amount of manual work has to be done. The amount of manual work increases exponentially with increase in bus services. * Needs a lot of working staff and extra attention on all the records. * In existing system, there are various problems like keeping records of items, seats available, prices of per/seat and fixing bill generation on each bill. * Finding out details regarding any information is very difficult, as the user has to go through all the books manually. * Major problem was the lack of security.

Realism and Idealism for the Godfather Essay -- essays research papers

Realism and Idealism for the Godfather I will never forget what I felt when I first seen my first mobster movie, I was about 12 years old, it was real late at night and I just could not fall asleep. I was flipping the channels looking for something to watch, and that is when I encountered my first mobster movie. I was intrigued from beginning to end; it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The way they talked so confident and cool to the way they looked so sharp and sophisticated. Although they were ruthless criminals, they had certain respectability towards them that no body could deny. Even though I was young and didn’t quite understand all of the scenes I became infatuated with the movie the Godfather and went on to seeing a couple of other popular films like Goodfellaz, Casino, and Once upon a time in America. It is almost unreal how one movie can have such a big influence on your life, but I truly believe that after that day, something inside of me changed, and I began to grow an overwhelming passion for t hese types of films. It was like discovering a completely new world you never knew existed. What draws people to mobster films like the Godfather? Hollywood’s gangster stereotype does what we would not dare, and acts like no body we know. They do not care about nobody but their selves and do anything they want, or at least think they can. That is what infatuates people with gangster and mafia films, because people secretly want to experience this lifestyle without being punish like the gangsters in the movies. The gangster film is particularly popular in America. Its popularity might be because of the history and actual real life stories of the mob. However, what Hollywood does is take the underworld culture and turn it into the stereotypical story. One stereotype is all mafias having to be Italian. Some people get the impression that all Italians are in the mafia. Movies can have an impact on society and culture, after the release of the Godfather, many Italian American criminals began to sound like the characters in the film, in taped recordings of their conversati ons. The film gangster’s stereotypical mold that they are usually materialistic, street smart, immoral, tough, and self-destructive. Their main goal in life is for power and money because they have an ambitious desire for success and recognition in life, but sometimes underneath all ... ...s, bank robbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life. The misunderstandings that lead to bloodbaths, the little arguments that start wars, the girlfriend who wants her man to go legit, all are given in some movies that often finds a great reason for us to want to see what happens next. What differentiates mobsters with every day criminals is the respectability they receive from society, and the associations they have with legitimate people in upper level authority. Mobsters usually have connections with mayors, senators, police officers, and any one in a higher level that they do business with to let them operate. So when you really think about it, which is worse, the mobsters or the legitimate people who secretly work with them? Mobster movies are unique unlike any other movie out there, mobster movies pull you in to them and make you feel what the person is feeling, it makes you live what the person is living and makes you see things through their eyes. That is the magic of making movies it is a way of connecting with the viewers in a special kind of way. That is what these types of films create.

Jane Austen’s View on Men: The Contrasts of the Gentlemen Essay

What Brabourne has astutely perceived is not only Austen’s ability to tell extraordinary stories about ordinary people, but also her penchant of revealing, through her works, the various aspects of the nature and behaviour of men and women. Jane Austen is regarded as one of the leading novelists of her era. Some of her most notable works include Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility. A common element that the reader will find in all these novels is the author’s attempt to explore the many facets of the human temperament. It is widely accepted that Austen’s novels delve into the consciousness of the female mind and the factors that govern their behaviour. Through her complex female characters, she expressed her own views and outlooks and displayed subtle hints of feminism. But what many readers fail to discern is her tendency to analyse the qualities of her male counterparts. The word â€Å"gentleman† has lost some of its profundity in the world as it exists today. But a gentleman in the pre-Victorian era was considered to be a man of principles and values. Not only did he conduct himself in a manner most chivalrous and civil but also possessed a polite and sophisticated demeanour, and more often than not, the luxury of wealth. One might have been a gentleman by birth, which would include a man born in a noble and respectable family, enjoying a higher status in society as compared to the commoners. Therefore, one might say that social position and family were major attributes considered while terming someone a gentleman. Such men seldom indulged in work or manual labour and lived mainly off of the property and wealth that was bequeathed to them. A man could also acquire the title of a gentleman by exhibiting the traits required to be possessed by one. Such men worked their way up the social ladder by attaining wealth and status, mingling with people of noble upbringing and developing a courteous and refined disposition. In order to fully comprehend as well as appreciate the implication and significance of Jane Austen’s works, it is highly imperative to consider her novels in the light of how they reflected upon her views regarding â€Å"gentlemen†, as well as men in general. Without analysing the role that men play in the novels of Jane Austen, it would not be feasible for the reader to recognise the complete magnitude of her works. By inspecting Austen’s point of view regarding men, the reader can gain an insight into the diverse qualities that men exhibit, in addition to the relationships and experiences in Austen’s own life that govern her characters. Further it also allows us to relate to the men in our own lives. The reader will find numerous instances wherein Austen has endeavoured to explicate upon her notions regarding men. She has examined many characters of diverse natures in order to establish the different types of gentlemen that existed in the society of her times. Austen frequently used comparison and contrast as a means of expressing her views lucidly. She brought into the picture two gentlemen of varying natures, and by weighing one against the other, ascertained the distinctive characteristics displayed by them. Jane Austen’s scrutiny of men is limited not only to their physical appearance, but extends to their emotional and mental conditions. She has examined and judged men based on their intelligence, their sense of morality, their aptitude and their financial situation. Conclusion: The society that existed during Jane Austen’s life and times was primarily a patriarchal one. Men wore the pants and controlled all the major affairs. Through her works, Austen has attempted to deconstruct this society and give her readers a glimpse into the circumstances of the time. Her works have also permitted us to identify with her own thoughts and notions regarding society, the role of women and also her views on men. She has employed characters of varying dispositions, in each of her works, to attain the said objective. Her works including Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility are all examples of such works. In Pride and Prejudice, the reader will find that the two focal characters that Austen has used to illustrate her approach are Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and George Wickham. The two men are largely represented through the eyes of Ms. Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the novel. While Mr. Darcy is at first portrayed as a prejudiced, condescending and supercilious individual, the latter is depicted as being more congenial and gracious. Both however, had grown up under the same roof. The disparity shown in the two gentlemen’s natures suggests that even though two persons may be brought up to imbibe the same sets of values and traditions, it is quite possible that they may turn out quite different from one another. The rearing of a person often has a less considerable impact upon him than his own innate character. But ultimately, what Elizabeth and the readers discover is that a man cannot be judged simply by his appearance. Wickham, who appears to be polite and quite the gentleman is revealed to be a treacherous and perfidious person on account of his deceitful actions. On the other hand, we realize that Mr. Darcy is the true gentleman, a man of honour, fidelity and sincerity. By contrasting the characters of Darcy and Wickham, time and again, Austen has shrewdly imparted knowledge as to the attributes of an honest man and a true gentleman. Emma is another one of Jane Austen’s works that provides us with an insight into the diverse natures displayed by men. Here the distinguishing factor lies in the way in which a man puts his mental and intellectual qualities to use. Further, it also elucidates the importance that a gentleman would ascribe to his social and moral responsibilities. While George Knightley uses his intellect for the purpose of doing good Frank Churchill uses his mental capabilities for selfish and unethical reasons. The former is driven by his sense of responsibility towards society as well as the cause of morality; the latter is driven by corrupt intentions that would benefit no one but himself. In Sense and Sensibility, Austen employs the characters of Colonel Brandon and John Willoughby to demonstrate the essence of gentlemanly behaviour. The conduct of a man, particularly towards women is a crucial feature in determining his potential for being called a gentleman. Willoughby, although suave, handsome and an epitome of the young, charming men that women covet, is far from being a gentleman. Brandon is the gentleman, having comported himself in that manner. They are both in love with the same woman and yet it is their behaviour towards her that causes to differentiate between them. An element of emotion has been brought into play here by the author, wherein she establishes the disparate nature of the two men by depicting one as kind and thoughtful, and the other as unsympathetic and callous. The above mentioned works reveal different facets of a man’s nature that would endow him with the privilege of being referred to as a gentleman. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen has proved that it is the conduct and behaviour of the men that distinguish them from one another. In Emma, she reveals her belief that it is the aspect of how one uses his mental faculties that brings out the true gentleman. Understanding one’s moral duties and ensuring that one is faithful to them is a sign of an absolute gentleman. And lastly, in Sense and Sensibility, emotional and behavioural traits define a gentleman. Austen here discloses her standpoint about the significance of a man’s conduct and the virtues of being considerate and sympathetic in establishing his being a gentleman. At the end of all three novels, it is the true gentleman that succeeds in winning over his love, confirming that Jane Austen was of the opinion that it is always the noble, well-mannered, kind and moral man that is ultimately victorious.

The Analysis of the Extract from the Novel “to Kill a...

The analysis of the extract from the novel â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† by Harper Lee. Ostrikova Veronika Nelle Harper Lee was born April 28, 1926. She is an American novelist, who has published only one novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Born in Monroeville, Alabama, she studied law at the University of Alabama, then spent a year in the United Kingdom, studying at Oxford. Living in New York City, she supported herself working as an airline reservation clerk, but was soon determined to pursue a career in writing. She left her job and put together a series of short stories about life in the South, which she first submitted for publication in 1957. Encouraged by her editor, she worked the stories into a novel, To Kill a Mockingbird which was a†¦show more content†¦The author represents the Atticus’s speech in direct form. If it was represented indirectly, the reader would not hear the lawyer’s voice. On the contrary, the author’s point of view would prevail and the reader could think the author foist his opinion. Atticus words in direct speech h ave more effect on the reader. It creates such atmosphere as if the reader is in the court himself. The general atmosphere of this abstract is rather tense. The author keeps the reader in suspense till the very end. The readers take their breath wishing to know that the Negro is innocent. But the author uses the effect of defeated expectancy. In my opinion, the climax in this text is the verdict of the jury. Every â€Å"guilty† destroys any reader’s hope for justice. And this is exactly what the author wished to convey. She claims all men are created equal. That means all men have equal rights no matter what colour skin he or she has. People think with stereotypes. All Negroes lie, all Negroes are basically immoral beings, all Negro men are not to be trusted around the woman. But the reality can be the exact opposite of it. There are good Negroes and bad Whites. The author used parallel constructions to emphasize how narrow-minded people could be when they generalize. The court is probably the only place where all generalizations should be avoided. It is a crime to find somebody guilty without worthy evidence and proofs. Scout analyses the speech itself. TheShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of to Kill a Mockingbird2365 Words   |  10 PagesI’d like to analyze the extract from a book which is entitled â€Å"To kill a mockingbird†. The author is Harper Lee, an American author known for her 1960-Pulitzer-Prize-winning and who is considered now by many to be a literary icon. Harper Lee was born in 1926 in the state of Alabama. In 1945-1949 she studied law at the University of Alabama. Her novel ‘To kill a mockingbird’ which deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown was awarded the Pulitzer PrizeRead MoreInterpretation of the Text13649 Words   |  55 Pagesan expression of beliefs and values of a particular class. We can also see a work of literature as a selfcontained structure o f words - as writing that calls attention to itself, to its own images and forms. Viewed in this light, literature differs from other kinds of writing - expressive, persuasive, and expository. Expressive writing aims to articulate the feelings of the writer; persuasive writing seeks co influence the reader; expository writing tries to explain the outer world. By contrast, a

Destruction by Manipulation in Shakespeare’s Othello Essay

William Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice is a play of great manipulation and jealousy. Iago is the antagonist character of the play Othello. Iago becomes irate and filled with jealousy when Othello names Michael Cassio as his lieutenant, because Iago believed he should have been the one promoted not Michael Cassio. By manipulating everyone around him, Iago portrays himself as an honest noble man whom can be trusted. Iago being known for the honest man he earns everyone’s trust and therefore learns their weakness for his ultimate plan of destruction. Iago’s greatest skill is disguising his manipulative schemes of destroying and betraying the ones around him with what he leads people to believe as honesty. Iago uses their†¦show more content†¦Roderigo taunts Michael Cassio into a drunken brawl. Montano and other men try to hold Cassio back; knowing Michael has no clue what he is doing due to be intoxicated. The fight quickly turns dangerous when M ichael Cassio turns against Montano and stabs him! Othello get word of the brawl outbreak and arrives with armed men to assess the situation. Iago is pleased with the brawl; he knows that the arrival of Othello will bring punishment to Michael Cassio. Othello demands to know what has happened to bring him away from his wife. Montano is in excruciating pain and unable to tell the whole story; Iago speaks for him. Telling Othello that he does not know how the fight had broken out. Michael Cassio, thinking Iago is being a friend and covering for him, goes along with Iago’s story. Othello immediately demotes Michael Cassio from his position as lieutenant. This is another achievement for Iago; he has gained trust from Michael Cassio and has the victory of Michael Cassio not being Othello’s lieutenant. Now that Michael Cassio is in distraught, he has no one to turn to, but Desdemona, Othello’s wife. Iago’s ultimate destruction is put into full motion. Mi chael Cassio and Desdemona spend a lot of secretive time together trying to figure out how to convince Othello to reinstate Cassio’s lieutenant position. The only person that knows their time together is Iago, since he is considered a trustworthy friend. This makes Iago’s planShow MoreRelatedThe Handkerchief Of Shakespeare s Othello1730 Words   |  7 PagesHandkerchief Destruction Destruction caused by a single piece of cloth seems like a very farfetched idea. In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, he shows how a single handkerchief can cause mass devastation, and he shows how it can ruin many lives. The background of the handkerchief is what makes the handkerchief so important to Othello. The handkerchief was a family heirloom, and was handed down to him by his mother. The handkerchief is passed around to majority of the characters, and those whoRead MoreDramatic Irony Used for Characterization in Othello by Shakespeare713 Words   |  3 Pagesfull of jealousy and betrayal, the plot of Othello is guided by this playwright’s usage of dramatic irony. Through the use of dramatic irony and characterization Shakespeare creates Iago, the most sinister character in all of literature. William Shakespeare, being born on April 23, 1563, was subject to an early renaissance education. With new ideals, such as humanism, spreading throughout Europe during this time it was inevitable that Shakespeare’s writings would be influenced by this. TheseRead MoreA Malevolent Villain Essay1086 Words   |  5 Pagesattack, trick, and persecute the main character or another central character within their story. They add to the plot and tension of the work. Another malicious character is Iago, the villain in one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, Othello. In this play Iago sets out to destroy Othello for multiple reasons, most of which are unsubstantiated imaginings. Iago’s role as a malicious villain is evidenced by his misogynist, racist, and manipulative behaviors. The first evidence of Iago’s maliciousRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare1599 Words   |  7 Pages William Shakespeare’s 16th century play Othello is a duplicitous and fraudulent tale set alternatingly between Venice in act 1, and the island of Cyprus thereafter. The play follows the scandalous marriage between protagonist Othello, a Christian moore and the general of the army of Venice, and Desdemona, a respected and intelligent woman who also happens to be the daughter of the Venetian Senator Brabantio. Shakespeare undoubtedly positions the marriage to be viewed as heroic and noble, despiteRead MoreExamples of Shakepearian Revenge Tragedey in Othello and tragic Comedy in The Tempest1681 Words   |  7 Pagesrevenge tragedies is Othello and tragic comedy is The Tempest. One of the most prominently occurring and important aspects of human nature that appears in Shakespeare’s work is the concept of revenge. In most of the tragic plays of Shakespeare, the avenger has his thoughts of committing revenge and towards the end causes his own downfall and also death and des truction of several other good and supporting characters. The main focus of this essay is to show how Revenge leads to Destruction in ShakespeareanRead MoreOthello: Good vs Evil1525 Words   |  7 PagesGood Or Evil: A Critical Analysis of Othello’s Main Characters William Shakespeare’s Othello is a classic depiction of a struggle between good and evil. In the play,, the characters are faced with the choice to either conquer or succumb to the overpowering force of evil. Shakespeare places his characters on a sort of spectrum in which a character’s amount of god or evil can be represented by a shade of color: black representing pure evil, white representing absolute goodness, and a shade of greyRead MoreEssay on Othello754 Words   |  4 Pagesquot;Othello,quot; by William Shakespeare, is quot;Honestquot; Iago. At first glance, Iago seems to be the essence of quot;motiveless malignity.quot; However, despite Iagos unquestionable malignancy, the motivation behind his actions lie more in Iagos quest for personal gain, as opposed to just being evil for evils sake. Iagos rapacity can be validated by examining his manipulation of Roderigo, Cassio and, most importantly, Othello. Iagos main interest is the destruction of Othello. TheRead MoreOthello (How Is He Lead to His Demise)1037 Words   |  5 Pagescan achieve in a full length novel. Shakespeare’s writing is complex and includes great measures of love, hatred, loyalty, deception and betrayal. These traits of his texts are all evident in Othello. In Act 1, Othello is perceived as a noble moor. With Shakespeare’s invention of the manipulating and cunning Iago, the multi-layered use of Othello’s mothers handkerchief, and Othello’s past military training being resurfaced due to Iago’s lies, all lead Othello to his demise. Deception and betrayalRead MoreA Play of Love Turned Bad: Shakespeares Othello Essay1524 Words   |  7 PagesShakespeare’s famous play Othello is a play of love that has turned bad by the unfounded jealousy of the protagonist character Othello. Arguably the contribution of Othello’s susceptibility to manipulation, his weaknesses and the manipulation of other characters tactics such as Iago each contribute to the downfall of Othello. However, to the extent of which each is more significant varies and this is what will be analysed in this essay. Like many of Shakespeare’s tragic plays each has to have aRead MoreTheme Of Manipulation In Othello806 Words   |  4 Pagesmorning fellow students, Shakespeare’s great tragedy ‘Othello’ sparks an interest in the audience as it represents the destructive nature that manipulation, deception and jealousy has on personal relationships. Focusing on Act 1 Scene 1 we will explore the catalytic natures of manipulation, deception jealousy, as well as the overall significance the scene harbours as the crux of the play, representing many ideas foreshadowing of what is to come throughout the rest of ‘Othello’. Shakespeare sets

Cosmetic Surgery Too Far, Caused Her Death - 1408 Words

How far is too far when it comes to cosmetic surgery? In Joan Rivers case her â€Å"too far† caused her death. Joan Rivers was known in the fashion world for her blunt looks, but to America, Rivers was easily identified because of her cosmetic surgeries. Rivers died on September 4, 2014. She was eighty one years old. She had cardiac and respiratory arrest on the operating table while undergoing a neck lift cosmetic surgery (Nathan). Rivers once said â€Å"I’ve had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body to Tupperware† (Leopold). Did Rivers ever come to think that her body would be turning into what seems like Tupperware? Was it worth her death? Rivers stated â€Å"People say that money is not the key to happiness, but I always†¦show more content†¦Despite wanting a new look, or a boost of self- confidence, cosmetic surgery has major side-affects, is expensive, and can cause death, so is it really worth it? Every surgery has side-affects, but most people lack to find out the side-affects of cosmetic surgeries. â€Å"Patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, lung disease, or obesity are at higher than average risk developing pneumonia or having a stroke, a heart attack, or blood clots in the legs or lungs after surgery† (â€Å"Cosmetic Surgery†).†Other risks include bleeding, infection, skin breakdown, or accumulation of clear fluid (seroma) or blood (hematoma) beneath the incision† (â€Å"Cosmetic Surgery†). Breast augmentation is one of the most common cosmetic surgery, there are many complications that can occur with a breast augmentation, such as â€Å"breast asymmetry, chest wall deformity, or loss of natural breast tissue† (â€Å"Cosmetic Surgery†). â€Å"The most common complication of breast implant surgery is capsular contracture† (â€Å"Cosmetic Surgery†). Along with the complications of cosmetic surgery ther e are also physiological complications. Patients may have to high of hopes when they go into surgery, and it may not turn out the way they wanted it too. â€Å"Research reported in 2007 showed that among women studied who had undergone breast augmentation surgery, there were higher than average rates of suicide and of deaths related to alcohol and substance abuse† (â€Å"Cosmetic Surgery†). Along with side-affects, money plays

Iran Awakening Free Essays

Jessica Muhr May 2nd, 2012 History of the Middle East â€Å"Iran Awakening† â€Å"One Woman’s Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country† This book, â€Å"Iran Awakening†, is a novel written by Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. Ebadi weaves the story of her life in a very personal and unique way, telling the account of the overthrow of the shah and the establishment of a new, religious fundamentalist regime in which opposition to the government are imprisoned, tortured, and murdered. By simply reading the Prologue, one can see the love Ebadi has for Iran and her people. We will write a custom essay sample on Iran Awakening or any similar topic only for you Order Now This love that Ebadi has for the oppressed of Iran is a theme that appears throughout the book and seems to be a large factor behind her drive to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. In the first chapter, Ebadi recounts her childhood from her birth on June 21st, 1947 in Hamedan, to her childhood in Tehran. Something that may come as a surprise to a reader was the equality between male and female in Ebadi’s home. This equality, however, was not common in most Iranian households, â€Å"Male children enjoyed an exalted status, spoiled and cosseted†¦ They often felt themselves the center of the family’s orbit†¦ Affection for a son was an investment†, says Ebadi. In Iranian culture, it was considered natural for a father to love his son more than his daughter. In Ebadi’s home, though, she describes her parent’s affections, attentions, and discipline as equally distributed. This equality in the home seems to play a large role in creating the strong, determined woman Ebadi would come to be, â€Å"My father’s championing of my independence, from the play yard to my later decision to become a judge, instilled a confidence in me that I never felt consciously, but came to regard as my most valued inheritance. † (Ebadi, 12). One may also find it interesting that as a child, Ebadi did not know anything of politics; until the coup d’etat of 1953. On August 19th, 1953, the beloved Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh was toppled in a coup d’etat. Ebadi says that, as children, this news meant nothing. But the adults could see what Ebadi, at the time, could not. The book makes it clear that, to those of Iran who were not paid to think otherwise, Mossadegh was revered as a nationalist hero and the father of Iranian independence for his bold move of nationalizing Iran’s oil industry which had been, until then, controlled by the West. Therefore, it was obvious that this was the beginning of a vast change for Iran. Before the coup, Ebadi’s father, a longtime supporter of the prime minister, had advanced to become minister of agriculture. In this new regime, Ebadi’s father was forced out of his job, fated to languish in lower posts for the rest of his career. This was what caused a silence of all things political in the Ebadi home. Entering law school in 1965 was a â€Å"turning point for me†, says Ebadi. The vast interest in Iran’s politics was shocking to her after coming from a home in which politics were never spoken of. After toying with the idea of studying political science, Ebadi decided on pursuing a judgeship; which is exactly what she did. In March of 1970, at the age of twenty-three, Ebadi became a judge. In 1975, after 6 months of getting to know each other Ebadi married Javad Tavassoni. Her husband, unlike many Iranian men, coped well with her professional ambitions. In the autumn of 1977, there was, what Ebadi describes as, a â€Å"shift in the streets of Tehran†. The shah’s regime was trying to reduce the power of the judiciary by setting up the ‘Mediating Council’, an extrajudicial outfit that would have allowed cases to be judged outside of the formal justice system. Some of the justices wrote a protest letter arguing against the council, demanding that all cases had to be tried before a court of law. This was the first collective action taken by the judges against the shah. Ebadi signed the letter. In January of 1978, President Jimmy Carter arrived in Tehran, Iran and described it as an â€Å"island of stability†, something he later came to regret. Not long after President Carter’s statement, a newspaper article aggressively attacking Khomeini inspired a revolt among the people of Iran, calling for his [Khomeini’s] return; the police shot into the crowd and killed many men. By the summer of 1978, protests had grown larger, making it impossible to avoid them. In early August, a crowded cinema in Abadan was burned to the round. This horrific event burned 400 people alive. The shah blamed this event on religious conservatives; Khomeini accused the SAVAK, the regime’s secret police, which was a force of legendary brutality against the government’s opponents. This tragedy pushed many Iranians against the shah. They now realized that the shah was not merely an American puppet. Ebadi herself says that she was ‘drawn’ to the opposition. She says that it did not seem a contradiction for her, an educated professional woman, to back it (Ebadi, 33). She had no idea that she was backing her own eventual defeat. Ebadi uses something close to irony as she describes a morning when she and several judges and officials stormed into the minister of justice’s office. The minister was not there, instead a startled elder judge sat behind the desk. â€Å"He looked up at us in amazement and his gaze halted when he saw my face. â€Å"You! You of all people, why are you here? † he asked, bewildered and stern. â€Å"Don’t you know that you’re supporting people who will take away your job if they come to power? † â€Å"I’d rather be a free Iranian than an enslaved attorney,† I retorted boldly, self-righteous to the core. (Ebadi, 34) On January 16th, 1979, the shah fled Iran, ending two millennia of rule by Persian kings. The streets were over-crowded with euphoric citizens, Ebadi herself being one of them. On February 1st, 1979, Khomeini returned to Iran. For about a month, the country of Iran hung in the balance. In most of the cities an emergency militar y had gone into immediate effect and Khomeini had ordered people to go back into their homes by nightfall with the instruction to go onto their roof at 9pm and scream, Allaho akbar, â€Å"God is greatest†. On February 11th, Khomeini exhorted people to defy the 4pm curfew the military had imposed by coming out into the streets. Ebadi remembers going into the streets, hearing sounds of the gunshots echoing, and taking in the frenzied scene of emotion. The next day, the 22nd of Bahman on the Iranian calendar, the military surrendered and the prime minister fled the country. The country rejoiced, including Ebadi herself. She says, looking back, she has to laugh at the feeling of pride that washed over her for it took scarcely a month for her to realize that she had willingly participated in her own defeat. Ebadi, 38) Merely days after the revolution’s victory, a man named Fathollah Bani-Sadr was appointed provisional overseer of the Ministry of Justice. Expecting praise from this man, Ebadi was shocked when he said, â€Å"Don’t you think that out of respect for our beloved Imam Khomeini, who has graced Iran with his return, it would be better if you covered your hair? † This headscarf â€Å"invitation† was the first in a long string of restraints on the women of Iran. After being away for less than a month, Ebadi could already see the changes that had taken place in Tehran. The streets were renamed after Shia imams, martyred clerics, and Third World heroics of an anti-imperial struggle. † (Ebadi, 41) Her fellow co-workers, male and female, were dirty and smelled. The bow tie had been banned, being â€Å"deemed a symbol of the West’s evils, smelling of cologne signaled counterrevolutionary tendencies, and riding to the ministry car to work was evidence of class privilege† (Ebadi 42). Rumors spread that Islam barred women from being judges. Ebadi was the most distinguished female judge in all of Tehran. So, upon hearing these rumors, she tried to counter her worries with her connections; but even this small comfort proved to be in vain. In the final days of 1979, Ebadi was effectively stripped of her judgeship. She stubbornly stood, though six months pregnant, as the committee flippantly tossed a sheet of paper at her and said, â€Å"Show up to the research office when you’re done with your vacation†, her ‘vacation’ being her maternity leave. The men then began to talk about her as though she was not there, saying things like, â€Å"Without even starting at the research office, she wants a vacation! † another said, â€Å"They’re disorganized! and another, â€Å"They’re so unmotivated; it’s clear they don’t want to be working! † †¦ The point Ebadi was trying to make is clear by the telling of these statements. Most men, especially those in the government, had lost what little respect they had previously held f or women prior to the Revolution. That much, at least, seemed very clear. The post-Revolution’s effect on women was a grim one. As Ebadi read in a newspaper piece titled â€Å"Islamic Revolution†, â€Å"the life of a woman’s was now half that of a man (for instance, if a car hit both on the street, the cash compensation due to the woman’s family was half of that due the man’s), a oman’s testimony in court as a witness now counted only half as much as that of a man’s; a woman had to ask her husband permission to divorce. The drafters of the penal code had apparently consulted the seventh century for legal advice. † (Ebadi, 51). Ebadi’s head pounded with rage as she read this news. â€Å"The grim statues that I would spend the rest of my life fighting stared back at me from the page†, she writes. One effect of the new Islamic penal code was the imbalance it caused within Ebadi’s marriage. â€Å"The day Javad and I married each other, we joined our lives together as two equals†, she writes. But under these laws, he stayed a person and I became a chattel. They permitted him to divorce me at will, take custody of our future children, and acquire three wives and stick them in the house with me. † (Ebadi, 53). Ebadi knew her husband had no intentions of putting this new law to use, but she still could not accept the distraction the imbalance between them was causing her. At length, Ebadi came up with a solution: within the course of the next morning, her and her husband drove to the local notary where her husband readily signed a postnuptual agreement. This granted Ebadi the right to divorce her husband without permission, as well as primary custody of their children in the event of a separation. â€Å"Why are you doing this? † the astonished notary asked [Javad]. â€Å"My decision is irrevocable, â€Å" Javad replied. â€Å"I want to save my life. † This eased Ebadi’s feeling of unrest greatly, her and her husband were equals again, but a small part of her was still at unease. â€Å"After all, I couldn’t drag all the men of Iran down to the notary, could I? † (Ebadi, 54). September 22nd, 1980 marked the day that Saddam Hussein launched a full-blown invasion on Iran. Though the popular discontent with the revolution had by no means abated: as Ebadi mentions, during the war, â€Å"the newspapers still had long lists of the executed, all the former regime’s officials and counterrevolutionaries who had been shot or hung, and sometimes pages filled with macabre photos of gallows and dead bodies. † Despite all of this, the people went on, just as they had through the upheaval after the revolution. In short, the decade after the revolution was one filled with much strife, war, and repression. This strife first became personal to Ebadi in the form of the political imprisonment and murder of her brother-in-law Fuad at the young age of 24. â€Å"Fuad’s death made me even more obstinate†, she writes. â€Å"We had been told not to discuss his death with anyone, so I talked about his execution night and day. In taxis, at the corner shop, in line for bread, I would approach perfect strangers and tell them about this sweet boy who was sentenced to twenty years in prison for selling newspapers, and then executed. † (Ebadi, 89) This tragic event in Ebadi’s life, the hot outrage that it made her feel, is remembered as the spark which would lead to her return to legal practice in the 1990’s. Things had, of course, continued to happen since Fuad’s death in the fall of 1988. In 1989, Khomeini had died, the komitehs harsh, unnecessary punishments grew more serious and frequent: Ebadi writes of one instance in which her friend’s fiance is whipped 80 times with no legal grounds whatsoever. The extreme laws against women grew more and more severe. When Ebadi was arrested for the first time (for a crime of wardrobe), she mentions an elderly woman who was arrested for the â€Å"crime† of wearing slippers. Yet over time, it again â€Å"became fashionable for the daughters of Traditional families to attend college†, Ebadi writes. â€Å"Throughout the nineties, the number of women with college degrees rose steadily, and eventually the women began to outnumber the men in universities by a small margin. † This new wave of educated women emerging from Iran created a people that was no longer content to slip back into their old, traditional roles in the home. This new attitude was often met by extreme clashes within the family. Ebadi writes of one such woman who, upon requesting a divorce from her husband, was refused by her father. Facing a lifetime of unhappiness, the woman doused herself in gasoline and set herself ablaze. In 1992, Ebadi again began practicing law, this time exclusively taking on pro bono cases. She pored over religious texts, attempting to gain sufficient knowledge to argue against particular interpretations that would claim that, within Islam, discriminatory interpretations were to be made. Ebadi began to take on only the cases of women and children, for these were the ones who were constantly at the mercy of a sick, twisted government. Ebadi took on many cases; one was that of the family of Zahra Kanzemi, an Iranian journalist who had been killed in police custody in 2003. Another was that of a student who was beaten to death by paramilitaries during a 1999 protest; Ebadi herself was imprisoned during the course of this case. While digging through the paperwork for a case representing the children of a couple who had been slain in their home, Ebadi stumbled across the official authorization of her own assassination. The response Ebadi has to this shocking information was one of the major instances that. I believe, greatly endears her to the reader as an extremely brace and powerful woman. â€Å"I wasn’t scared, really, nor was I angry†, she writes. Instead, Ebadi simply wanted to know why. One thing that is truly unique about Ebadi is the way in which she writes about her life choices. She writes about them as if they were natural, obvious, and just the thing anyone would have done in her place. In reality, this is not so. Many others around Ebadi had the education and ability to make the same choices that Ebadi had made, but they did not, some even emigrating during the Iran-Iraq war. For Ebadi, patriotic to the core, the only choice was to stay. She has a love for her country that defies the instability and repression the government tries to place upon her. Ebadi knows, deep within herself, that the government is not the country. The only moral choice she could live with was to fight injustice with law; the very law the injustices claimed themselves to be. Following the ‘Reform Era’, you can see Ebadi breathe a huge sigh of relief. The years of constant anxiousness over everything, even her girl’s birthday parties, were behind her. The days when young people would be whipped for venturing into the mountains together, women would be detained or lashed for simply wearing a smudge of makeup or nail-polish, or for wearing any color clothing besides navy or black tones, were happily retired. Moderate President Khatami sought to pull back the system’s interference in the people’s private lives, but as Ebadi states, â€Å"President Khatami deserves only a measure of credit for this shift. Really it was because my daughters’ uncowed generation started fighting back, and, through the force of their sheer numbers and boldness, made it unfeasible for the state to impose itself as before. † This book was, in my opinion, a fantastic portrait of a life lived in truth. It was a delight to see how Ebadi’s simple courage and outright stubbornness made a vast difference in the lives of many, even in the face of extreme adversity, like her own possible assassination. In conclusion, I will once again quote Ebadi, as she articulates the dignity of the reform movement within Iran. It so happened that I believed in the secular separation of religion and government because, fundamentally, Islam, like any religion, is subject to interpretation. It can be interpreted to oppress women or interpreted to liberate them†¦ I am a lawyer by training, and know only too well the permanent limitations of trying to enshrine inalienable rights in sources that lack fixed ter ms and definitions. But I am also a citizen of the Islamic Republic, and I know the futility of approaching the question any other way. My objective is not to vent my own political sensibilities but to push for a law that would save a family like Leila’s† — a child who was raped and murdered — â€Å"from becoming homeless in their quest to finance the executions of their daughter’s convicted murderers. If I’m forced to ferret through musty books of Islamic jurisprudence and rely on sources that stress the egalitarian ethics of Islam, then so be it. Is it harder this way? Of course it is. But is there an alternative battlefield? Desperate wishing aside, I cannot see one. † – Shirin Ebadi How to cite Iran Awakening, Essay examples