Hrafnkel: Guilty or not Guilty?

The main character, Hranfnkel, in the Scandinavian family story is vindicated for his killing actions. He slayed Einar, who was one of his workers. His vindictive deed was illegitimate, but, the verities that back his deed overshadow the conflicting facts. The Icelandic perception of civilization, rule, and the relevance of one’s word all provided an extremely sturdy backing for  Hrafnkel actions (Coles 1).

In line with the account, Hrafnkel was a respectful and caring man. He was gentle to every person who worked for him and those who complied with his orders. Nevertheless, he was quite strict and coldblooded to his enemies as well as individuals who opposed his directives (Hermann 37). It was due to his strict and pitiless personality that pushed him into slaying many people. The other quite imperative trait of Hrafnkel’s character is that he was so committed to his God Fray. He depicted his loyalty to Fray via pledging to him “Large temples and a half-share in all his best treasures” (Hermann 36). Freyfaxi, one of his many horses, is amongst the dearest resources that he dedicated to god Fray. Consequently, Hrafnkel took “a solemn oath to kill anyone who rode the stallion without his permission” (Hermann 38). Freyfaxi was a holy asset to Hrafnkel as he had dedicated it to a god that he cherished so much.

Einar, who was a victim of homicide, and had been a servant of Hrafnkel in his farm for many years. Nevertheless, he contemplated of looking for job in Hrafnkel’s settlements, when things were not in his favor. On agreeing to serve Hrafnkel, Einar settled never to ride on Freyfaxi; the sacred horse that he had warned him about (Coles 2). Einar promised “never to be so wicked to ride the one horse which was forbidden to him” (Hermann 40). He was as well sentimental of the penalties of disagreeing with Hrafnkel commands. The supreme directive being never to ride on the blessed horse without approval (Coles 2).

The indisputable verity in this entire account is that murder actually occurred, but, the most imperative question is whether Hrafnkel was responsible of taking life of another person or he was right to slay this individual as a form of sentence.  In relation to the saga, Einar, was a devoted worker for a short period that he “never lost a single sheep” (Hermann 40). Nevertheless, after being a servant for Hrafnkel for a number of months, things went astray, and he lost 30 of his employer’s sheep at last. He searched for the lost sheep everywhere without any trace. He panicked and so opted to take a horse in his endeavors. He could not ride any of the available horses, except for Freyfaxi the sacred horse. He had no other option that to contradict his employer’s directives. As a result, he opted to ride his boss’s horse without authorization, as he was determined to find the lost sheep (Coles 3).

Exploring this instance, it can be summed up that Hrafnkel’s life taking acts were vindicated in several means. When he employed Einar as his sheepherder, he cautioned him from riding his sacred horse, Freyfaxi. Einar could ride the rest of the horse except Freyfaxi. Hrafnkel had made it apparent that he would slay him if he rode his sacred horse. The core motive for Hrafnkel act was defending his horse that he had already presented to god Frey. He had made it clear to those around him that it was him or god Frey who had the right to ride Freyfaxi (Hermann 38). In the course of this old times account, a man’s expression was quite imperative. People who kept their talk were highly respected. Hrafnkel affirmed to Einar that “Warning wards off all blame”, which meant that “I will kill you if you ride Freyfaxi, and it will be your fault” (Hermann 40). It was apparent that he could ride Freyfaxi when permitted. The most vital question is why did Einar had to ride his boss’s horse without his approval?  The instance was not an emergency, because he had been looking for the lost sheep for a while, and the option to ride Freyfaxi was made beforehand. From the time when he started serving Hrafnkel, he was conscious that demise was the punishment for any person who rode the sanctified horse (Tracy 117).

The other motive that vindicates Hrafnkel murderous act is that his actions set an exceptional example to all surrounding people as well as the rest of his workers. It unmistakably depicted what would befall in case one went against his directives. For Einar, he had the choice of alerting him of the lost sheep and save his life instead of opting to go break his firm promise. Despite the fact that Hrafnkel had slayed a number of people, his deeds were defensible murder as not all wrongdoings avowed in his book carried a punishment of manslaughter. Even though homicide was illegal under the common law of the Vikings, it is likely that reasonable killing was pardonable (Yeo 262). Even states castigate wrongdoers by execution if found guilty of certain misconducts. The Scandinavian family story occurred when the federal states were not present. Therefore, Hrafnkel had no other option but to do it himself (Hermann 8).

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Works Cited

Hermann, Pálsson. Hrafnkel’s Saga and Other Icelandic Stories. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971. Print.

The Story of Hrafnkell, Frey’s Priest. [translated by J. Coles.] Eng. , 1882. Print.

Tracy, Larissa. Torture and Brutality in Medieval Literature: Negotiations of National Identity. Cambridge [England: D.S. Brewer, 2012. Print.

Yeo, Stanley M. H. Partial Excuses to Murder. Sydney: Federation Press, with the assistance of the Law Foundation of New South Wales, 1990. Print.

Days of Glory

The director and screenwriter of this film are Rachid Bouchareb and Oliver Morello respectively. They produced a film that showed the contribution the North American Soldiers made by fighting in France against the Nazis in the World War II. The Arabs fought for France, their native nation which set the emotionally-charging drama seen in the rest of the film. Starring in the movie are Jamel Debbouze, Bernard Blancan, Sami Bouajila and Samy Naceri. In the bid to break the powerful 1943 grip by Hitler that lasted three long years, France recruited African armies, comprised of 130,000 North Americans, who were committed to place their life at risk in order to because the downfall of the death machine that was Nazi into a bottomless pit.

However, regardless of their remarkable sacrifices, the French dubbed themselves contemptuously as natives. They dreamt that one day, they would visit their country which they had fought for from afar. However, in the end, their selfless efforts were transcended by their superior contemptuous disregard for the services offered by these soldiers. Their soldiers provided invaluable aid in the darkest hours of the world. The historical context of the movie dates back to 1944-45. During the liberation of the Alps, Italy, the Rhone Valley, the Vosges and the Province marked the deadliest stages in the allied triumph.

France was in the position to take allies following the Armistice. The first French Army they recruited from Africa executed the bloody and triumphant demonstration on the German Nazis and helped circumvent the German officials and occupiers of the Vichly regime. Approximately 130,000 African soldiers were part of the French troops with the remainder of the troops was made up of young French soldiers who fled from the profession. Often, this film reminds views of the story that is forgotten of “native” French soldiers. The North Africans, Arabs especially believed they were natives of France and they were fighting the Germans for France they believed to be fighting for their country. The French superiors however, betrayed them in their hour of need. This is the message passed all through the film (Jeffries 1).

The director of the film is Rachid Bouchareb. He was born in Paris, France to Algerian parents. He is well known for producing art that is thought provoking, by challenging multiculturalism and philosophies of immigration. The ways through which ethnic differences and culture play out in different societies in historical periods comes out clearly in his art pieces. For example, in the film, Days of Glory, he depicts the kind of discrimination that goes on in the Free French Forces to the North African Soldiers. The soldiers from North America received 2^nd class citizenship despite sacrifices they made in the fight for their “native” county. The film also fits the philosophy through the manner in which discrimination continues through the setting.

There is a distress portrayal of discriminations and injustices that were enforced against African soldiers from Tunisia and Algeria in one of their exploits. In one of these episodes, it is clear that the North African soldiers but nothing more than cannon fodders used by commanding officers to be on the battlefront. Rachid Bouchareb presents suffering of the soldiers go through an the kind of deep discriminatory military institution, which offers a prism through which we can look at discrimination immigrants in modern France have to go through. As such, his films, especially The Days of Glory, had public discourse in the French forums, which helped in bringing about changes to the manner the French natives looked upon the North African veterans (Jeffries 1).

Rachid Bouchareb uses cinematographic techniques in order to portray the message he wants viewers to perceive in the best manner possible. He uses powerful drama, which shines a light into the North African soldiers, fighting for the Free France after D-Day. The piece of art in itself is not a masterpiece, it entertains and the characters are well established from the start to the end of the film. Thought it can be predictable at times, the most important and notable thing about the film is ripples it creates as well as the impacted created in minds of French people who saw the film. It is worth noting that immediately after release of the film, the French government made an agreement for the first time to begin paying compensation to remnant widows that North African fighters left behind. Hollywood film style, though, is different in some aspects. For instance, it failed to merge French, English and Arabic at the same time and in the same film. However, the film shows Arabs speaking in Arabic while slapping or fighting someone (Todd 1).

African films do not follow similar formulas as those by Hollywood film maker style. They are stories telling of something valuable, informative and not products that are for selling only. They are part of informative entertainment teaching the society about their value. African directors produce films challenging conventional ideas of cinemas by drawing global themes, cosmopolitan scripts and local legends. Products of African films are issues affecting local and ordinary people on a daily basis. Rachid Bouchareb produced a similar theme regarding an issue affecting international and local immigrants to France on a daily basis. The film is about discrimination African soldier went through as they offer their services to the military France. He produced a film that was thoughtful that moved the France government to start paying compensation to remnant widows the African soldiers left behind.

The major question that made me interested in research of the movie is the relationship France had to Muslims. Majority of the Arabs in North African countries are Muslims an anytime Muslims are fighting, it is never a simple war. Possibly, this was part of the reason France recruited the Muslims so they could fight with all they had. What is more, the rest of the European countries did not have as many Muslims as France, yet they were closer to them. As a matter of fact, majority of Arabs in North African countries claimed they were French notices. Additionally, Muslims believed in Liberty, Equity and Fraternity which, are aspects lacking in the film. The question therefore remains on the kind of relationship French had with the Muslims from North Africa.

The film Days of Glory is a depiction of some realities that are happening to humanity throughout the globe which tend to be forgotten by people too soon. An example is the role played by African-Americans in the making of the nation that is now the United States of America. During Second World War, African-Americans were at the forefront of the military battle, an advantage they did not have initially, to the point they redeemed the nation. The country has been in a state where Whites do not favor the Black man as the president despite the role the Blacks made in making it the nation it currently is.

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Works Cited

Todd, Andrew. “Sotigui Koyaté Obituary.” The Guardian, 2 May 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2010.

Jeffries, Stuart. “Rachid Bouchareb: My Film about the 7/7 London Bombings.” The Guardian, 6 July 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2010.

Doing the best I can: Fatherhood in the Inner City

Synopsis of the Book

“Doing the Best I can” is a book that looks into the truth regarding inner-city fatherhood. There is no doubt that whenever one becomes a parent, so much is expected from them. Clearly, it is expected that they should provide clothing, food as well as other basic needs for the child, to make sure they have shelter, happy, comfortable and encouraged life. Additionally, the society expects when one becomes a parent, they should teach the child compassion, religion, good morals, respect and other moral living aspects like sending them to school. What is so amazing is that even the president of the state expects fathers to stick around the baby.

This poses a major question, which is, just how easy is parenting? What aspects make a good father? Such questions are answered in the book written by Kathryn Edin working with Timothy Nelson, Doing the best I Can.

Newscasts, commencement speeches as well as other kinds of speeches overflow with the recommendation: youthful Black men must make improved “choices”, specifically, they are expected to accept responsibilities as well as bring children they parent. Any reluctance to do so as stated by Timothy and Kathryn is “denounced as one of the leading social problems of our day”.

Nevertheless, the reality on inner-city fatherhood is a reality. Kathryn and timothy, in seeking the answer actually went to Camden, N.J in order to observe the behavior of one hundred and ten men in Philadelphia and Camden. Their main objective was to have an understanding of the experiences of White men, Latino and Black men, all of whom comprised unwed fathers. To the surprise of the authors, they made the discovery formation of a couple was, for majority of men, an informal incident, almost like an accident. Affairs “just happened” and so did pregnancies, which in majority of cases, “happened” comparatively at a similar speed. Despite the fact, authors also noted there were pregnancies that appeared to be “semi-planned”.

Experts could point to the opposite, though fathers indicated a “surprising desire to parent their kids”. For the largest part, individuals interviewed were happy regarding their “own” children. As a matter of fact, Kathryn and Timothy came to the establishment that, it was the child the father was actually attached to. The mother, was an afterthought. Yet, in the end, decisions that pertained to financial help, daily provision for the child and child bearing were responsibilities assumed by the mum, regardless the fact fathers did what they could by using their limited resources either financially or physically. Additionally, every man was quite precise regarding whom a “good father” is citing deeds and actions that were contradictory to that which they expected from their own dad…

Without doubt, doing the Best I Can is a captivating solitary book. From the start to the end of the research, Kathryn and Nelson wind up some readers while they bring others down. It is however evident that it has encouragement as well as a strong call to responsible fatherhood within pages that are contained in the book. The book, doing the Best I Can, does not in any way substantiate most of the aged beliefs; on the contrary, it turns them into the region of knowledge with compassionate and hopeful sympathy in opposition to “unintelligent” behavior. What is more, the book includes an advice and warning to inner-city white, black and Latino women which is quite a revelation.

The book’s main new contributions to the literature

Doing the Best I Can is a book that makes remarkable contribution to the existing research and literatures in the field of unwed fatherhood and parenting and single motherhood. More importantly, it addresses the concern of development and growth among children that is based on cultural, economic, environmental and social factors. The behavior of a child as well as his or her ability to navigate through different stages in life is viewed as one of the most crucial indicators for socioeconomic wellness, though factors influencing it still remain unresolved. There are suggestions that determine the behavior of a child and these are reliant on whether the parent is poor or rich. The impact on development of the child, in case of poor parents, could also be affected by economic and social challenges. Doing the Best I Can focuses on the manner in which social and economic factors influence the healthy development of a child. Using data from 110 men, who are White, Black and Latino, with income groups, the authors discerned financial constraints, unplanned pregnancies, unwed fatherhood and relationships that came to an end are the major child development contributors.

There are more studies that attribute child development to environmental influences and they take it to be responsive to socioeconomic factors (Fan & Chen, 2001). The negative relationship between infant development and economic development has been given a lot of weight in literature. Ford et al (2010) makes the argument that income inequality leads to health risks. This is contrary to absolute hypothesis, which postulates that income is the only thing that affects health and not how it is distributed. The study additionally provides analysis of various connections between health and income, in which case, the argument is that income has great impact on health, income affects health following epistemological transition.

The book also contributes to literature on motherhood and poverty. It is common to find poor women giving birth early in their lives when they are not financially prepared to offer support to their children (Edin & Nelson, 2013). Early motherhood, positively relates to the financial stability of females and labor participation rate, which means women with financial challenges and low labor participation give birth often to unplanned babies on the desire or promise to be married. However, coefficient for female labor participation is close to zero, with possible explanation that women who take part in labor are breadwinners and hence, they have enough income to spend in maintaining the health of the babies, though at the same time, they lack time to care for the babies hence have a net off-effect.

Based on findings in the book, social work professionals have an understanding of challenges faced by unwed fathers, single mothers and reasons contributing to unplanned pregnancies. Social workers entrusted with the mandate of helping people make decisions, understand life, and avoid future problems and other numerous responsibilities. As such, understanding the reason men or women participate in an affair they are not ready to face the consequences is crucial for them to be effective. Such knowledge is outlined in the book Doing the Best I Can and can be of great assistance to women in inner city.

How the premise presented in the book relates to life-course development

Drawing from the book, Doing the best I can indicates how cultural and economic challenges change the meaning of fatherhood for the urban poor people. Because of hardship, parents often leave responsibilities of child raising to mothers. This leads to hardships in the early years of a child’s development. Such issues relate to the growth and development of children since they are often affected by the social and economic state of their father.

Overall, the book exposes a notable trend in process of child developmental psychology. The author’s findings are linked with theories of human development and other theories explaining that unconscious happenings affect a child’s growth. Many psychonauts have worked as individuals helping others solve their behavior problems and well develop them. Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson are 2 scholars and psychonauts who have made some great impact in the field. Freud believed have to be caused (Mac Brayer, Milich, & Hundley, 2003).

Freud also believed a person goes through some psychosexual stages from childhood through to adulthood and whenever they miss one pint in these states, they can remain stuck for the remainder of their lives. They included 5 stages that include anal, phallic, oral, and genital and latency stages. The first stage is oral which is evidenced in the child’s first year. Everything in this stage is cantered in the mouth as that is where they put everything. The second is anal stage which covers the age bracket of one and 3 years, it focuses on the anus and its products. In this stage, children endeavor to gain control of their excretory functions. Phallic stage starts at the age of three to five years and focuses on sexual activity, as the boys desire to spend time with their mother while the girls with their fathers. This happens for boys to learn what it takes to be a father and the girls, a mother. Failure of this taken place results in individuals admiring men and women who are the replica of their parents (Georgiou, 1996).

The third stage is known as latency stage and covers the age bracket of 6 to 12 years, children in this stage are more social and they also develop the urge of making cross sex friendships. Genital stage occurs during adolescence and above and its where attraction between individuals of the opposite sex is clearly evident. At this stage, people have the urge of practicing sexuality; sexual libidinal, hedonistic desire is also part of the stage (Baumrind, 1996).

Erikson’s theory presents social development aspects that are different. His primary stages are the same to Freud’s, though the last ones talk more about development in adults. Each stage is characterized by the development of ego strength or virtue. The developed virtue is what forms part of the person’s or child’s ego skills. As such, a negative form of ego strength arises if it is developed poorly at any of the stages. Every stage has a crisis with conflict that is centered on a given issue. Conversely, the early development stages give way to later stages though rehabilitation occurs later in healthy relationships that one engages in life. Other relationships are vital in every stage; as such intergenerational interactions are very crucial in assisting children, young people as well as the elderly develop life skills that are important. The development, whether in an adult or child, can as well affect their cultural and social development.

From these developmental theories, it is evident that the findings in Doing the Best I Can indicate children of unwed fathers encounter numerous challenges in the course of infancy that affect their growth (Edin & Nelson, 2013). These include identity issues, anxieties, ego, failed dreams, unmet needs and poverty as well as other problems. Precisely because of this, they might not be in the position to develop desirable behavior when they are grown. For example, because of anxieties, ego creates a defense mechanism to avoid them; all the mechanisms may be unhealthy and immoral but still capable of helping one cope with harsh realities. Some of these mechanisms include; denial which is most common, people are afraid of admitting the obvious truth which appears to put them down before others, it endeavors to protect ego from aspects it cannot cope with though the process is energy consuming. The most common form of denial is addiction, which many people view as problematic and they fail to admit that they are under the influence of alcohol or substance. Repression is another defense mechanism, striving to maintain information from mindful consciousness. While the memories might be kept under cover, they might not disappear fully and in some cases, might influence future behaviors. Displacement is another defense mechanism people use in order to relieve their stresses on others. When people become frustrated by situations, they become harder on their family and friends and they are said to have displaced them (Baumrind, 1966).

Role of Social Work for Professionals in Human Development

Children who are fatherless or those from poor families always remain marginalized in society and they experience “considerably high rates of poverty than those who come from rich backgrounds in the UK” due to exploitation and discrimination by other groups that have vested interests (McCarthy, 2007). However, over the years, the need for a foundation that is strong to make their rights known and as such, find ways to improve their status in society has focused on the work of social activists and professionals (Fan & Chen, 2001). Additionally, other parties involved offer their support to the poor children come together and they decide to undertake initiatives that offer them equal opportunities as others within the society.

In the same manner, the UK government is focused on “greater emphasis on improving employment outcomes for the ethnic minorities” to enhance their economic status (McCarthy, 2007). Additionally, some of the organizations in the UK, like Oxfam, created events that involve policy makers, policy papers and published articles as well as linked with media in order to give the poor families a platform where they can articulate ideas in society. According to Robl et al. (2012), the concerted efforts made by the agencies as well as support of poor people has helped them to immensely improve and develop their economic position in order to enable political mobilization.

As children coming from poor families continue to fight for a place in the community, social work experts are managing their lives across the world. These professionals as well play a critical role in fighting for a society that is just and improving the status of marginalized people and enhancing services efficiency for all. In the UK, such experts fight for the minority rights and they make sure their suggestions and views reach policy-makers (McCarthy, 2007). They also work with ethnic minority women in order to provide a basis for them to air their views. The political mobilization, on the other hand of ethnic minority people has played a central role in making it possible for them to achieve their goals.

While doing an assessment of the financial needs of children coming from poor backgrounds, it is also critical to develop communication with not just family members and primary educators of these children but a need to communicate with the children. Communication is critical in the emergence of the need for both school and residential settings. It contributed to effective development of the child. Skills that are related to effective and clear communication plays a crucial role in helping the child since often, fatherless or children from poor background suffer the common inferiority problem, anxiety, aggression and others, as such, communicating with peers is difficult (Henderson, 2006). According to Santamaria (2005), even though they have socializing problems because of their deprivation state or poverty, they can still learn the skills and get along with others well. They might not complain but they can feel and this contributed to their intellectual, physical and emotional state.

Improving quality of life and evolution of attitudes to improve the social and economic well-being of the population, the major objective of social work professionals is developing an individual centered on development plan. Advice is offered to people so they can maintain respect, dignity, promote safety, health and comfort. The standard of services social workers provide is also maintained to satisfaction level of the individual and their primary caregivers (McCarthy, 2007). This is due to the fact people providing social workers services must be aware of their duties and responsibilities and they should also have good skills and knowledge that is needed to create services that are of high quality (Brooker, 2007). Social work professionals, in summary play a crucial role in development of human life through the provision of advisory services to policy makers, educators and the family members of children who come from poor or fatherless backgrounds. Also, there is need for social workers to carry on with learning more about social development of children in modern world with partial involved of the fathers.

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