The Life of Jean-Paul Sartre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Life of Jean-Paul Sartre - Essay Example The years that followed marked the life of a man with great creativity, talent in writing, deep thinker and a man of strong political will and persuasion. All these characteristics coupled with his childhood experiences led to his astounding achievements through his plays, novels, books, essays and lectures. Sartre's childhood was filled with much bitterness and confusion. The first natural pain to deal with was having no father, after the first fifteen months of his life. Sartre was clearly hurt by the fact that he never had a chance to be acquainted with his father, and was never told anything significant about the relationship they had; whether his father had ever taken him "in his arms," or if he had even loved him (The Words 20). Sartre then grew up with his grandparents who were rather fond of him, or at least depicted that in their mannerisms (Experiential Influences, par. 5). However, he felt that it was just family "play-acting," and a "system" that "horrified" him. (The Words 84; 112; 222). Sartre also faced an identity crisis. Despite his family's claim of him being the "miracle child" and "wonder child," he saw himself as ugly. His peers had also given him that impression. He was short, small-built cross-eyed and awkward in stature. Added to this, his mother treated him like a girl, not allowing him to play the seemingly rough games that other males would play, and keeping his hair long. It was his belief that she had silently prayed for a girl (Experiential Experiences, par. 7). He also felt forced into a lifestyle of reading and writing, because that was what his grandfather Charles admired, having been a writer himself. It however became a pleasant escape for him from the unhappiness he experienced at home. In his autobiography The Words, he states that "By writing I was existing. I was escaping from the grown-ups." It also positively affected his intellectual development as he became familiar with famous authors of his time (qtd in Experiential Influences, par. 11). As if this was not enough for Sartre to deal with, he also suffered from ill health. He notes in his autobiography, The Words: Things would have been fine if my body and I had got on well together. But the fact is that we were an odd couple [] If he suffers bodily as a result of needs and sickness, his unjustifiable state justifies his existence. His right to live is based on hunger, on the constant danger of death. Breathing, digesting, defecating unconcernedly, I lived because I had begun to live. I was unaware of the violence and savage demands of that gorged companion, my body, which made itself known by a series of mild disturbances, much in demand among grown-ups [] I had almost died at birth (88). His father had actually been quite ill himself when he met Ann-Marie in 1904. At that time he was suffering from entercolitis, which he developed when he visited China. He however married her and soon after she became pregnant with his child, Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre feels that his father's illness had a major role to play in his own illness. He describes in The Words how his mother had stayed up many nights worrying and had stopped breastfeeding him very soon because "her milk dried" (16). He was thus sent away nearby to be nursed. He meanwhile was ailing from enteritis. His mother's re-marriage had a negative effect on him as well. He felt alienated and lonely. Moreover, he was unhappy about having had to

Compare Australia's and Hong Kong's financial system - types of Essay

Compare Australia's and Hong Kong's financial system - types of financial products & services, importance of banks vs stock exch - Essay Example To begin with, Barnett et al. (2013) stated that Hong Kong and Australia’s financial sector bears some form of great similarities and a few insignificant differences, this is affirmed by the fact that various international banks such as Citibank operates in both countries thereby alluding to similarity in business operations and environment in both countries. Financial products and services in both countries are classified into personal and business categories (Viney and Phillips, 2012). Under both the personal and business categories, banks in both Australia and Hong Kong offer the depository and custodial services, whereby they accept deposits from customers and even grant them safe custody keeping for their valuable items. Secondly, the banks in these two countries also specialize in providing financial advice to the individual and business customers on matters to do with the banking, other investments, as well as insurance. Thirdly, these banks offer insurance services to their customers but it is important to note that most banks in Hong Kong have a subsidiary that specialize in offering insurance services. Fourthly, these banks also offer the services of mobile banking, which enable customers to do transactions from their mobile phones. The common products offered by banks in both countries to individuals and business are the provision of lending or credit facilities to the customers. The other key common products offered by the banks in both countries are credit and debit cards that allow business as well as individual customers to make payments without using liquid cash. Other products are cheque books, and travelers’ cheque. Relative importance of banks versus stock exchange as the source of industrial financing According to Siciliano (2003), banks as well as the stock exchange provide a source for industrial financing. In particular, banks issue industrial financing in the form of loans or overdrafts while the stock exchange provide for industrial financing through the selling of a company’s shares, which in turn earns the company additional capital for investments. The financial sector, which encompass the banking sector and the stock exchange in both Australia and Hong Kong are vibrant but Kelley et al (2008) noted that Hong Kong’s banking sector could be considered more vibrant since because Hong Kong is renowned an international banking center. Moreover, it plays host to numerous financial international financial institutions such as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Additionally, Hong Kong has more than 156 licensed banks, 21 restricted banks, and 24 deposit-taking companies, and 61 representative offices of overseas banking institutions while Australia has only 56 banks, 103 credit unions, and 10 building societies (Australia Prudential Authority, 2011). This therefore means that the banks play a key role in the financial sector of Hong Kong and there is a relative importance of ba nks as the main source of industrial financing in the region as compared to Australia. Moreover, Genberg and Hui (2008) stated that Hong Kong has three different tiers of banking institutions that include licensed banks, restricted license bank, and deposit-taking companies, which means there is a wide variety of financing options from banks in Hong Kong that perhaps suit the needs of each kind