Memorandum Introduction Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Memorandum Introduction - Assignment Example A perplexing matter that requires more analysis is why are these residents participating in risky illegal affairs that can result to drastic measures? The paucity of affordable housing in New York City has contributed to most individuals in the city residing, in makeshift apartments. The housing experts estimate that there are 100,000 illegal apartments in New York City. Last year, Buildings Department officials acknowledged 18,126 complaints concerning illegal units (Belsha, n.d.). Furthermore, the group of poor homeowners who pay more than half their income in mortgage are struggling to hold onto their homes, thus are renovating their basement and cellars for occupation. The DOB issues annually more than 4,440 violations for illegal conversion of basements, cellars, and attics: - which are not fit for human occupancy due to health and safety risks as specified by The New York City Building or Housing Maintenance code, Article 5- Occupancy of cellars and basements. Councilman Lander, you have asked me to explore the legalization of basement units, including through the new city council legislation based on the standardization of safety and health measures. In this memo, I will evaluate stakeholder interests, by restoring the preferences given to homeless families. This will be achieved by the creation of a new rent financial support program and reformation of DOB code, Article 5- Occupancy of cellars and basements; that will create a momentous dent in restructuring building codes outlawing basement

Multibacillary Leprosy (MB) Case Study

Multibacillary Leprosy (MB) Case Study 1.0 Summary of scenario and potential consequences This case is based on a 32 year old female with multibacillary leprosy(MB). Leprosy, also known as Hansens disease, is a chronic infective disease caused by acid-fast, gram-positive Mycobacterium leprae (M.leprae). Several modes of transmission have been suggested such as skin contact and sexual activities but the primary mechanism is via air by mouth and nasal discharge of untreated infected people. Leprosy can be considered in two parts in which the first milder form involves infection of superficial tissues such as skin. This indeterminate state is usually surmounted by human body eliciting sufficient immune response, with approximately 95% people being not susceptible. Nevertheless, if the body produces too high or too low a response, the second more severe form develops and progresses leaving deformities in areas such as skin, nervous system, mucosa, limbs and eyes. Thus, depending on the patients immune response, leprosy is classified by the World Health Organization(WHO) into MB in which the bodys defense system is ineffective, and paucibacillary leprosy(PB) which produces aggressive response.1 In terms of skin smear tests, MB which has large number of bacteria in skin lesion would produce positive results while PB produces negative results. Another type of classification known as Ridley-Jopling classification divides leprosy into 5 stages; tuberculoid(TT), borderline tuberculoid(BT), midborderline/borderline(BB), borderline lepromatous(BL) and lepromatous(LL) leprosy in which the latter three are the equivalent of MB. In 2009, leprosy cases were reported in 121 countries.3 Based on WHO figures, the number of new cases detected in 2008 was 249007 while the registered prevalence of leprosy worldwide at the beginning of 2009 was 213036. Although there has been a steady fall in the number of new cases detected annually, leprosy remains a global threat. In terms of signs and symptoms, those possibly encountered are numbness, nasal discharge and various kinds of lesions, macules, nodules and papules. More severe symptoms may be diffuse skin thickening, eye lesions leading to cataract, secondary infection and nerve lesions. Although leprosy can affect all people, various specific factors predispose to leprosy. Firstly, leprosy typically affects people living in tropical and subtropical climate such as Africa and South East Asia. People in endemic areas as well as the poor and marginalized community are at greater risk of contracting leprosy. In terms of age, leprosy demonstrates an age-related pattern with peak incidence in children below 10 years old and mid thirties while rarely acquired by infants.2 Besides that, men are generally more susceptible than women and genetic factors may play a role too. Despite years of incubation period, the differential diagnosis of leprosy is vital because the treatment duration is prolonged. Also, an accurate diagnosis helps in determining the appropriate and effective treatment. In vitro culture of M.leprae is not feasible given the extremely slow growth rate. Methods that can be used include skin lesion biopsy and nasal smears done using Fites acid fast tissue staining which stains the bacilli red in a blue background or using Hematoxylin and eosin stain (HE) for histological confirmation.2,4 The number of bacilli visible will denote the type of leprosy. Additionally, phenolic glycopilid-1(PGL-1) characteristic of M.leprae can be distinguished using serology techniques. Given its low mortality rate, leprosy confers debilitating repercussions nevertheless both physiologically and psychologically. Leprosy causes hypoesthesia due to impaired peripheral nerve function, muscle weakness as well as glaucoma, iridocyclitis and inflammation of the eye. As a result, patients are prone to injuries due to diminished vision, and inability to feel and control the body. The incidence of ocular problems is markedly elevated and treatment has proved to reduce prevalence of these complications as described by Gupta et al, whereby 66.3% active leprosy patients manifested ocular problems compared to cured patients at 14.3%.5 If blindness occurs, the relative death risk in blind patients compared to non-blind patients augments by 4.8fold.6 Additionally, leprosy causes clawed fingers and toes, hypopigmented skin lesions with severe ulcerations especially on feet and hands, and facial deformations. These disabilities occurs more frequently in MB patients than in PB patients,5,7 and it was suggested that MB patients have higher risk of death compared to PB patients; the average death age being 5 years younger.8 Contrasting prevalence of deformities was concluded in different studies which includes 56.97%,7 82.4%,9 84.4%,10 67%11 and these differences may be the result of improper examination technique or dissimilar grading criteria. However, the point to note here is that all studies acknowledge the severity of this disease. Apart from imposing restrictions on physical mobility, such immensely conspicuous debilities have led to a stigma linked to leprosy. Leprosy patients are often subjected to public prejudice and discrimination, leaving them significantly affected both socially and economically. Therefore, accurate diagnosis and aggressive commencement of leprosy treatment is essential to improve patients quality of life and to decrease mortality rate. 2.0 Treatment options 2.1 First line therapy The current first line therapy include dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine. Dapsone is a bacteriostatic antibacterial active against M.leprae. Its good oral bioavailability allows its administration in tablet form. However, dapsone monotherapy is no longer used as several studies have established profound drug resistance.12,13,14 Following this, WHO recommends the use of three drugs; dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine, administered as multiple drug therapy(MDT) for MB.1 Supporting this is a systemic evaluation by Kundu et al. which compared dapsone monotherapy to MDT and proved that MDT was significantly superior with capacity to prevent dapsone resistance.15 The current MDT dosing is dapsone 100mg and clofazimine 50mg daily self-administered, and rifampicin 600mg and clofazimine 300mg once monthly supervised. Several studies have shown that MDT is effective in eliminating leprosy with low relapse rates.16,17,18,19 For example, Georges et al. demonstrated that patients treated with MDT until bacterial clearance showed no validated relapses in the follow up period between 4 months to 5 years and 10 months.16 If adverse effects or contraindication occurs resulting in MDT termination, WHO recommends alternative regimen.20 However, it is vital to ascertain conclusively that the negative effects are due to MDT. Dapsone should be terminated immediately if patient develops adverse effects such as Dapsone Hypersensitivity Syndrome (DHS), with rifampicin and clofazimine continued at usual dosages. The use of only rifampicin and clofazimine was proven effective for dapsone intolerant patients as described by Sapkota et al.21 These patients treated for a mean duration of 15 months post-dapsone cessation showed steady decrease in mean bacteriological index(BI). Next, if rifampicin is ill-tolerated, alternative therapy comprises clofazimine 50mg, ofloxacin 400mg and minocycline 100mg daily for six months, followed by clofazimine 50mg combined with either ofloxacin 400mg or minocycline 100mg for at least 18 months; given under supervision. Ji et al showed that ofloxacin eliminated 99.99% rifampicin-resistant cells after 22 doses in two months.22 Finally if clofazimine has poor acceptability, MDT can be replaced with ROM comprising rifampicin 600mg, ofloxacin 400mg and minocycline 100mg given monthly for 24 months. In a field trial in Senegal, patients on ROM showed satisfactory progress with exceptional compliance(>99%) possibly attributed to the simpler monthly dosage.23 This combination was further advocated by S. Ura24 and Villahermosa et al25 which compared 2 years ROM treatment with MDT. The studies concluded that both therapy depicted similar advantages regarding their effect on BI, their safety and tolerability. The latter study also showed no relapse after follow ups 5 years later or more. 2.2 Second line therapy Ofloxacin and pefloxacin are broad-spectrum flouroquinolones used as second line therapy for MB. They are bactericidal acting via inhibiting enzyme DNA gyrase required in DNA replication. Patented in 1982, ofloxacin has been reported to have profound effects on leprosy. A clinical trial executed by Ji et al showed killing of more than 99.99% of viable M.leprae in skin smears inoculated into mouse foot pad, with significant clinical improvements by day 56 of therapy utilizing 400mg ofloxacin daily.26 Also, its effect was not enhanced when combined with clofazimine and dapsone. A similar study by Jianping et al which also utilized mice footpad inoculated with leprosy patients skin biopsies had analogous findings, with no M.leprae growth detected.27 These studies supports the notion that ofloxacin possesses strong bactericidal activity. Comparing pefloxacin to ofloxacin, it was found that pefloxacin was less active, requiring 150mg/kg to exert bactericidal effect compared to 50mg/kg fo r ofloxacin.22 Although minimal side effects were encountered in these studies, the short duration of therapy will not vouch for this as severe adverse reactions have been reported including tendon damage, peripheral neuropathy, cardiovascular toxicity and hepatotoxicity. Moving on, the broad spectrum minocycline is a tetracycline antibacterial which can be used in patients intolerant to dapsone or clofazimine.28 In a clinical trial by Fajardo et al, patients treated with 100mg daily minocycline for 6 months followed by WHO MDT manifested distinct clinical improvement within the first month with negative PGL-1 antigen at the end of 6 months treatment.29 However, it has been reported that minocycline induce hyperpigmentation which resulted in termination of therapy.30 This side effect ought to be considered particularly when minocycline is used to replace clofazimine. In terms of bactericidal activity, minocycline is considered more effective than clarithromycin, but significantly diminished activity compared to rifampicin. Next, clarithromycin is a bactericidal macrolide which suppresses bacterial growth by preventing its protein synthesis. A few clinical trials have shown the advantages of clarithromycin including its capability to kill M.leprae, considerable clinical improvement, patient acceptability and minor adverse effects.31,32 Daily dosage of 500mg revealed killing of 99% bacilli within 28 days and 99.9% by day 56.32 However, limited studies with clarithromycin for leprosy use have been done. Until further researches are carried out, clarithromycin remains the second line treatment for multibacillary leprosy. Since the past two decades, concerns over established dapsone resistance and increasingly emerging rifampicin resistance have set interest on use of either thioamide or clofazimine concurrently with rifampicin. However, clofazimine was chosen by WHO due to reports of hepatotoxicity when thioamides were used with rifampicin.33,34 Nevertheless, ethionamide and prothionamide are two thioamide drugs being investigated currently as monotherapy for leprosy treatment. Although mainly used for tuberculosis therapy, both drugs have been shown to exhibit significant anti-leprotic activity based on a clinical trial by Fajardo et al.35 Treatment was well tolerated for both drugs with a clinical progress of 74% and 83% respectively. Prothionamide was found to be superior to ethionamide and the overall efficacy of both drugs was similar to that of dapsone and clofazimine. However, they were less efficacious compared to rifampicin, ofloxacin, pefloxacin, minocycline and clarithromycin. They are al so more expensive than dapsone. Consequently, thioamides are generally not recommended. Finally, rifampicin and Isoprodian comprising dapsone, prothionamide and isoniazid were used in Malta Leprosy Eradication Project(MLEP).36 During the 30-year project, the leprosy prevalence steadily declined with exceptionally low degree of relapse and toxicity. It was suggested that treatment with two Isoprodian tablets daily and 600mg rifampicin tablet completely eradicated leprosy from Malta. This may well set the baseline for leprosy treatment. However, Isoprodian being not readily available became a drawback in proceeding with this therapy. Also, the MLEP posed several limitations including the confinement of the project to a relatively small area which hinders its feasibility in larger areas. Additionally, the fact that leprosy was already declining in Malta before the project commenced in 1971 raised questions over the true effect of the therapy on leprosy elimination. 3.0 Treatment recommendation and supporting evidence After discussing the treatment options available, 24 months MDT is recommended for the 32 year old female patient in this case. This decision is made based on the evidences presented previously on efficacy of MDT and also the fact that not many reliable studies have been conducted on other alternatives. The clinical pharmacological principles of each MDT drug and more evidences will be presented in this section to justify the recommendation. Firstly, dapsone is an established anti-leprotic agent acting via preventing dihyrofolic acid formation thus inhibiting nucleic acid synthesis crucial for M.leprae development. In terms of adverse effects, dapsone has been associated with side effects such as methaemoglobinamia, haemolysis, allergic rhinitis, neurophaty, aganulocytosis and DHS consisting Type 1 reversal reaction and Type 2 erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) reaction. However, at doses used for leprosy treatment, these side effects are uncommon.37 Besides, DHS can be ameliorated with corticosteroid therapy. In order to curb resistance against dapsone, it should be used concomitantly with rifampicin and clofazimine as MDT. Also, there has been evidence of significant decline in frequency and seriousness of Type 1 and 2 reactions in patients on MDT, possibly due to rapid arrest on leprosy progression and clofazimines anti-inflammatory action.20 Next, rifampicin is an antibacterial which plays a major role in inducing rapid M.leprae cell death by inhibiting RNA polymerase involved in protein synthesis. Rifampicin has good oral bioavailability as it is readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. A monthly 600mg dose is highly bactericidal and is almost as effective as rifampicin given daily as subsequent doses do not augment killing rate proportionately. Thus although rifampicin is expensive, a monthly dose contributes to its cost-effectiveness, feasibility and compliance.20 The downside of rifampicin is that adverse effects such as hepatotoxicity have been reported thus requiring frequent liver function tests and blood tests to detect liver impairment. Other common side effects include gastrointestinal disturbances, fever, headache and rashes. Also, being a liver enzyme inducer, rifampicin upregulates cytochrome P450 resulting in enhanced metabolism of many concomitantly administered hepatic cleared drugs. However, th is effect is relatively minimal due to its once monthly dosing. Furthermore, though rifampicin increases dapsone clearance rate, no changes in dose have been necessary as concluded by Pieters et al.38 Interaction with clofazimine is also not likely as rifampicin lack tendency to accumulate in tissues due to its relatively short half life (2-3 hours) compared to clofazimine (70 days). The third drug used in MDT is clofazimine which based on the MDT dosage is the most well-tolerated amongst the three drugs and is practically non-toxic.39 It is a bacteriostatic antibacterial which has predilection towards mycobacterial DNA and inhibits bacterial growth. A mere 300mg loading dose once monthly may well serve as a repository to maintain sufficient drug in the body.20 However, the downside to its use is that some 75-100% patients encounter pink colouration of the skin, but this side effect is reversible months after stopping therapy.40 Given its efficacy yet without serious adverse effects as proven by various studies and clinical trials, it would be obvious to use clofazimine as part of MDT.41,42,43 In terms of duration of MDT, the recommended duration of MDT has been constantly. WHOs previous recommendation of 24 months therapy showed high efficacy with very low relapse rate. However, in the Seventh Expert Committee(1997), the duration of MDT was shortened to 12 months.1 A study conducted by Sales et al. showed that the decline in bacillary index and occurrence of adverse reactions was analogous for both 12 and 24 months MDT.44 However, this was opposed by US National Hansen Disease Program (NHDP) which stands firm with 24 months MDT with the perspective that more vigorous and longer treatment duration generates higher efficacy with lower relapse rate.28 It also mentioned that the 12 months MDT recommended by WHO was due to cost consideration in developing countries. Besides that, based on the BNF, treatment for at least 2 years is necessary for MB.37 The fundamental objective of leprosy therapy is determined by the relapse rate and degree of disability. Having said so, many studies have showed that the relapse rate after completion of MDT for 2 years yielded either zero or very low relapse rate.45,46,47,48,49,50 These studies are parallel to a long term follow-up by Shaw et al45 which proved zero relapse using this regimen and also by a retrospective analysis conducted in China by Shen et al47 which showed that out of 2374 patients followed up for a mean of 8.27 years, five patients had relapse resulting in a relapse rate of 0.21/1000 person-years. Another basis for the 24 months MDT was the review by WHO which revealed a very low relapse rate of 0.9/10 000 person-years in analysis of more than 20,000 MB patients.49 Furthermore, Katoch et al reported that follow-up conducted between 12-44 months after MDT treatment revealed deterioration in patients who received only 12-18 months treatment and continuous improvement in those giv en 24 months therapy.51 Thus, a 24 months MDT treatment would be the wise choice for this patient. Bearing in mind that this patient is a 32 year old female who is at her child bearing age, it is paramount to ascertain if she is pregnant or lactating. Extreme caution should be undertaken if she is pregnant or lactating, taking into account risks-benefits of leprosy treatment. Several studies have demonstrated adverse effects encountered by pregnant and lactating females such as relapse, type 1 and 2 dapsone reactions and peripheral neuropathy following therapy and are thought to be due to suppression of immunity during pregnancy and breast-feeding.52,53,54However, some studies have showed that these drugs can be used safely during pregnancy.20,55 Thus, although MDT may incur risks to pregnancy and exacerbate leprosy, a well-organized health plan, frequent and regular supervision may well outweigh the risk with its potential benefits.4,54 Also, effects of MDT on lactating is very minor. Although significant amount of dapsone is found in breast milk, its risks to infants are very m inimal. In contrast, the quantity of rifampicin in milk is too small to be harmful to the baby. Likewise, only minute amounts of clofazimine are excreted through breast milk and thus far there have not been reports on severe negative effects on breast-feeding except minor skin discolouration of infant. All in all, treatment using 24 months MDT has proven highly successful with rapid conversion of disease state from infectious to being non-infectious even after the first dose. MDT remains the ultimate option due to its apparent benefits of curing and stopping transmission of leprosy, its virtually zero relapse rate, minimal side effects, ease of administration and storage, cost-effectiveness and vast clinical evidences. Additionally, patient and public education is vital to aid patient compliance and improve understanding on leprosy. In this context, health professionals carry tremendous responsibilities in giving social support and psychological rehabilitation to help patients cope with the physical and mental distress caused by the disease as well as curing the stigma of leprosy.

David Copperfield Essay -- English Literature

David Copperfield Choose an important passage or event from the first 14 chapters of David Copperfield. Analyse the significance of that moment to the novel as a whole. You should write about themes or ideas that are relevant to earlier or later passages in the novel, The way the novel was written, published and read, Any clues Dickens provides about the future of the novel. When Mr. Murdstone arrived, David was clueless at what this dark mysterious man would bring to his life. This person friendliness was pleasant and kind towards David and his mother to start with, but David’s seemed to sense something peculiar about his attitude which he shows us by using a naà ¯ve narrator. This lets us picture it through David’s childish recollection instead of someone recalling the incidence from the past. Hence the reason he does not understand why he has this feelings towards this man and can not see it through an adults perspective. David was sent away to live Peggoty and her family for a few weeks and he believed it was just for a nice holiday away from home, little did... David Copperfield Essay -- English Literature David Copperfield Choose an important passage or event from the first 14 chapters of David Copperfield. Analyse the significance of that moment to the novel as a whole. You should write about themes or ideas that are relevant to earlier or later passages in the novel, The way the novel was written, published and read, Any clues Dickens provides about the future of the novel. When Mr. Murdstone arrived, David was clueless at what this dark mysterious man would bring to his life. This person friendliness was pleasant and kind towards David and his mother to start with, but David’s seemed to sense something peculiar about his attitude which he shows us by using a naà ¯ve narrator. This lets us picture it through David’s childish recollection instead of someone recalling the incidence from the past. Hence the reason he does not understand why he has this feelings towards this man and can not see it through an adults perspective. David was sent away to live Peggoty and her family for a few weeks and he believed it was just for a nice holiday away from home, little did...

Criminal Liability Essay

In law there is a fundamental principle which is guaranteed by the constitution that every person is innocent until proven to be guilty by the courts of law, in criminal law there are two principles of criminal liability which have to be relied upon in order to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused person. Therefore the aim of this essay is to discuss the two principles of law for criminal liability with reference to the Penal Code Act, Chapter Eighty Seven (87) of the Laws of Zambia and Zambian decided cases. In order to effectively do this, the essay will begin by generally talking about the two principles of law for criminal liability which are the â€Å"Actus reus† and the â€Å"mens rea† and in order to critically discuss them, focus will be made on the Homicide offence of ‘murder’ with the use of relevant Zambian cases. The terms ‘Actus reus’ and ‘Mens rea’ are derived from the Latin Maxim; â€Å"Actus non facit re um mens sit rea† which mean that there cannot be such a thing as legal guilt where there is no moral guilt. The learned author Simon E Kulusika defines ‘Actus reus’ as â€Å"whatever act or omission or state of affairs as laid down in the definition of the particular crime charged in addition to any surrounding circumstances†¦and the ‘mens rea’ as the state of mind or fault which is required in the definition of the crime in question† In order for a person to be criminally liable it has to be proved by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt that such a person had committed the required guilty act or ‘actus reus’ which is the physical element and had the necessary mental state or ‘mens rea’ although this is not always the case as some criminal offences do not require the ‘mens rea’ for liability to be established. Some of the cases which do not require establishment of the ‘mens rea’ are offences referred to as â€Å"offences of strict liability†. In Patel’s Bazaar limited v The People4 it was stated that proof of the ‘mens rea’ is not necessary to establish a strict liability offence, this was a case in which the accused was convicted for the strict liability offence of selling unwholesome bread. Generally speaking in criminal law in order to establish criminal liability certain elements of the crime alleged to have been committed must be identified, the first being the conduct prohibited or ‘actus reus’, secondly the state of mind or fault element which is required when defining the crime in question also referred to as ‘mens rea’ and thirdly proof of lack of a defence which might vitiate any of the two  principles of criminal liability. As earlier alluded to, for the purposes of this assignment focus will be put on the homi cide offence of Murder in trying to discuss these two principles of law of criminal liability. To establish the ‘actus reus’ of murder it has to be proved that there is unlawful killing of a person, the death following within a day and a year of the infliction of the fatal injury,  this is evident in Section 200 of our Penal Code Act 6 which provides; Any person who of malice aforethought causes the death of another person by an unlawful act or omission is guilty of murder. In this section the ‘actus reus’ is identified as causing death of another person by an unlawful act or omission and the ‘mens rea’ is the malice aforethought. In Chitenge v The People it was held that the actus reus of murder is that there is a dead body, in this case the appellant having had fought with his friend went to the friend’s house and set it on fire burning a person that was inside leading to the death of that person. The dead burnt body sufficed as ‘actus reus’ despite the defendant not actually having had checked as to whether there was a person in the house or not. Coming to the ‘mens rea’, the requirement is that the accused person must have malice aforethought. The term malice aforethought is used to describe the mens rea of murder and it simply means that the mens rea must not come as an afterthought. In the case of Mbomena Moola v the people, the appellant was convicted of murder of his father after he poisoned his maheu drink. In his confession the appellant stated that he poisoned his father so that he could die because he believed that he was the one who bewitched his children. In this case the courts held that it was quiet clear that the accused had the necessary mens rea for murder as he expressly intended on causing death of his victim. Taking into consideration the facts given in the question where the accused is charged with murder in which the mens rea is that the accused must be malice aforethought and the actus reus being the death which is satisfactory in this case, it is worth noting that where offences complained of happened during participation in a sport, the accused cannot be held to be criminally liable as in law it is believed that when participants to a sporting game give consent they do so to all the risks of injury that may take place as a result of accidents that may take place during the sport including death. Therefore applying the two principles of law of criminal liability to the given facts it can be stated that though  the actus reus was present, that is the death of Mr Mudenda, Mr Chisolo lacked the necessary mens rea to be convicted for murder and can also not be convicted of manslaughter due to the fact that the death or actus reus was as a result of an accident in a sport of which consent by the participants vitiates criminal liability. In conclusion it can be stated that this essay has identified two principles of law of criminal liability which are the ‘actus reus’ and the ‘mens rea’. It has being discussed that the ‘actus reus’ refers to whatever act or omission or state of affairs as laid down in the definition of the particular crime charged in addition to any surrounding circumstances and an example was given in the offence of murder. The ‘mens rea’ with reference to murder was also discussed as the state of mind or fault which is required in the definition of the crime in question and that criminal liability cannot be inferred if the offence complained of took place during the occurrence of a sport as consent vitiates it. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Kulusika S. E, Criminal law in Zambia; text, cases and materials: UNZA press. Lusaka. 2006 Sir Smith J and Hogan B, Criminal law; Cases and materials, sixth edition: Dublin & Edinburgh. Butterworth. 1996 CASES Chitenge v the people (1996) ZR 37 Mbomena Moola v the people (2000) ZR 148 SC STATUTES The Penal Code Act, Chapter 87 of the laws of Zambia.

Macbeth essay conflicts Essay

The notorious Shakespearean play Macbeth illustrates a natural evil and greed for power present in the human race. Even in modern times, society relates to Macbeth as people are consistently striving for a higher rank and power. Sometimes, people are even prepared to get into difficult situations to achieve their goals, and this gives rise to conflicts. There are three main types of conflict present in the Macbeth play: man vs man, man vs nature, and man vs self. The most prominent form of conflict in Macbeth is man vs man. Throughout most scenes, there are several conflicts between multiple characters. After Macbeth takes the throne, there are many people who are suspicious of him and want to do him harm. In response to these conflicts, Macbeth plots murders to kill anyone who gets in his way or threatens his power. Macbeth exclaims; â€Å"The castle of Macduff I will surprise, / Seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword, / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / That trace him in his line† (Shakespeare IV, i, 171-174). Macbeth plans the murder of Macduff’s family purely because the Weird Sisters told him â€Å"Beware, Macduff!† (Shakespeare IV, i, 81). Macbeth’s logic in this plan is difficult to understand, but possibly by harming Macduff’s family, Macduff will be harmed through pain and despair. Macbeth also kills Banquo, who used to be a very good friend, just because he was worried that he might suspect something. â€Å"Safe in a ditch he bides, / With twenty trenches gashes on his head, / The least a death to nature† (Shakespeare III, iv, 28-30). The evil acts Macbeth commits causes several of the characters to become anxious and gain suspicion of Macbeth. Apart from struggles with other people, Macbeth also has a hard time figuring out what he wants to do with his multiple situations. The man vs self conflict is most notably seen with Macbeth. He is easily influenced by his wife Lady Macbeth, and it seems as thought his character transforms and becomes more evil as the murders continue. Macbeth is very frustrated on what to do, as he discusses; â€Å"First, as I am his kinsmen and his subject / Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, / Who should against his murder shut the door, / Not bear the knife myself† (Shakespeare I, vii, 13-16). Macbeth is confused as he is arguing with himself on what he should do. He states reasons not to kill Duncan, because Macbeth is his noble kinsmen and the act  would bring dishonor. However, he also states reason why he should kill him, because Macbeth will then become king and fulfill the witches’ fortune. Lady Macbeth, who appears in the beginning as the driving force for the murder of King Duncan, also develops internal conflict. At first, Lady Macbeth seems to be a woman of extreme confidence and will. But, as situations become more and more unstable in the play, guilt develops inside her. For instance, she exclaims; â€Å"Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. / Look not so pale. I tell you again, Banquo’s / Burried; he cannot come out on ‘s grave† (Shakespeare V, ii, 65-67). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and frets about her evil wrongdoings because she is extremely guilty of her influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth reacts emotionally and dwells on her actions as guilt eats at her soul. The final conflict seen in Macbeth is man vs nature. This conflict is not as well shown as the others but is still present. For example, when Macbeth commits his first unjustifiable murder of King Duncan, the land rebels. Huge storms arise, the grey clouds come out, and the animals even start eating each other. Traditionally, kings are directly related to their land and vice versa. When the king dies, the land gets upset and gloomy, as seen with the weather. The well known scandalous Shakespearean play Macbeth demonstrates an innate maliciousness and gluttony for authority existing in our human race. Even in present-day, the population connects with Macbeth as they are consistently working for a better position in society. Every now and then, individuals are even willing to put themselves into odd circumstances to reach their target, and this gives rise to disputes and conflict. Eventually, all is re solved with the death of Macbeth and the rise of Malcolm as King. The overall reason people study conflict is because conflict teaches everyone morals and life lessons. Through difficult and troublesome struggles, humans can learn and adapt to become more honorable and good people.