Economic problems in the USSR after the Second World War Essay

â€Å"Neither Stalin, Khrushchev or Brezhnev successfully addressed fundamental economic problems which increasingly dogged the USSR after the Second World War† How far do you agree with this statement? After the war, the USSR was destroyed both physically and economically. The challenge for Stalin therefore was to attempt to rebuild the USSR, particularly focusing on industry and the economy in order to ensure that Russia would remain a world superpower. By the end of Brezhnev’s era however, the situation was very different. The country had undergone a period of stagnation whereby the economy had failed to improve and grow over his period in power. This was due to his lack of willingness to implement new policies in preference of a â€Å"period of stability†. I would suggest that although Brezhnev achieved very little, changes were implemented under both Stalin and Khrushchev. However, these changes were often not always overly successful. Stalin did attempt to address the economic damage that the war had caused and therefore try to rebuild the economy. One way in which he did this was to alter the systems in place already in order to tackle the new problems faced. For example, he addressed the growing complexity of the economy by creating more economic ministries. Further than this at the end of 1947, he adapted Gosplan in order to make it more focused on the economy and therefore limited the State Planning Commission to only planning (therefore transferring its previous responsibilities to arrange the necessary supplies elsewhere). He also adapted where investment was distributed to after the war such as early investment after the war went to regions which had been occupied by the Germans (for example, Donets Region). Stalin also created new policies in order to boost the economy and increase production, in the form of the fourth year plan. This was successful in the way that it effectively produced large amounts of raw materials such as coal (149 million tons in 1945 to 261 million tons in 1950) and oil (19 million tons in 1945 to 40 million tons in 1950). He used shorter term targets for individual enterprises to meet. P Kenez said â€Å"even if we take into consideration the exaggerations built into soviet statistics, it is still indisputable that the Stalinist methods worked, and that the speed of reconstruction was impressive†. Overall the USSR managed to produce a 75% increase on the production of 1940 which shows its extensive success and therefore disagrees with the statement that as a leader he failed to address the economic problems faced. Although it can be suggested that Khrushchev faced less of challenge than Stalin, he still introduced new economic policies which had wide spreading effects. An example of this is introducing the minimum wage in 1956 which guaranteed the workers an increased standard of living and prevented exploitation. Foreign trade hugely increased under Khrushchev due to his extended relationship with the west. Two thirds of the foreign trade was with Comecon countries in Eastern Europe which was also beneficial for communist relationships. Unlike under Stalin, Khrushchev successfully addressed the poor living standards and increased these considerably. Although they were still backwards in comparison to other western countries, for example in 1964, only 5 in 1,000 citizens owned a car; his policies combined with the recovery of the USSR since 1945 did mean improvements were made. Working conditions also improved with shorter working hours, more holidays, better pensions and other social benefits. Khrushchev is often blamed for his failings in agriculture (as addressed below) but John Keep suggests that he at least â€Å"kept peasant affairs at the centre of attention for an entire decade. No other ruler had ever done so, or would do so†. This is evidence that Khrushchev did address some of the problems that the USSR were facing at the time. Filtzer also stated that that these reforms were based on the assumption that agriculture would receive many more resources than he would obtain due to them being diverted to other sectors of the economy. Arguably then Khrushchev did attempt to address these issues. Brezhnev’s time in power is often described as an â€Å"economic stagnation† due to the failure in economic growth at this time. However, he did introduce a limited number of new policies which had equally limited successes. He successfully addressed that Khrushchev’s destructive agricultural policies should be reversed, for example in September 1965 Khrushchev’s sovnarkhoz reforms of 1957 were ended. He did successfully increase foreign trade though, for example exporting oil and gold natural resources from Siberia and the period of dà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½tente led to the high priority of western technologies being imported. Although the Stalinist economic reforms successfully improved output there are also criticisms that can be raised as evidence that Stalin failed to address the economic problems. The fourth year plan is accused to have been inflexible as it focused on heavy industry rather than light consumer goods. These items were what the country really needed after it had been damaged by the war but instead industry was based on government priorities. Further than this, the emphasis was put on quantity rather than quality and therefore many of the goods produced were not of the highest quality. For example, in order for factory workers to reach their targets, they would produce more pairs of shoes of small sizes as this was quicker and had smaller production costs. Stalin also introduced a currency reform which was generally unsuccessful. It made life difficult for the workers as it reduced how much money was in circulation and therefore consumer products such as clothes and shoes were even scarcer than during the war. Due to the reform the black market became more active which increased corruption and crime. It is also suggested that Stalin’s economic policy was less successful towards the end of his time in power. The fifth five year plan should have begun in 1951, yet it was not drafted and approved until October 1952. Perhaps Stalin’s significant failure within economic policy was in agriculture. Despite the huge interruption of the war in production, Stalin did not focus on this policy area. Instead the peasants were treated badly and the amount of state procured grain increased to 60-70% of the harvested grain produced. Investment into agriculture also failed to be addressed. These problems lead to food shortages which further increased the problems of the black markets. Alex Nove suggests that Stalin’s final years were â€Å"ill judged interventions of authority, excessive centralisation of decisions, insufficient investment and lack of adequate incentives†. Khrushchev introduced many new reforms to try to improve industry which were fairly unsuccessful. The Sovnarkhoz reforms ended up causing another layer of bureaucracy and just formed an alternative competition (between regions rather that industry). The black market also grew under Khrushchev as it intervened to satisfy repressed demand. Arguably Khrushchev’s biggest failures were within agriculture however. He insisted upon forming his own policies without any experts advice and then pushed them through bureaucracy rather than trialling them out to see if they would be successful. An obvious example of this is the Virgin Lands Campaign whereby land that was not suitable for crop growth was used for extra agricultural land. Although it did enjoy initial success the weather conditions soon destroyed any crops that had grown and the campaign had to be abandoned. Many of Khrushchev’s failures are attributed to him personally, especially the lack of effective planning of the reforms and the confusion which sometimes arose. Therefore he can be partly personally blamed for the failures to address the economic problems faced by the USSR. The failures seen within Brezhnev’s era are not so much destructive but rather a period of stagnation whereby the economy failed to improve. Evidence of this is found in the NMP (net material product) fell from 10.2% in 1950 to 3.6% in the 1980s. It has been suggested that the leadership didn’t have an accurate view of economic performance as they were not educated well in economics and GOSPLAN was inefficient at reporting findings. An example is one of the â€Å"top† producing factories did not in fact exist when GOSPLAN attempted to give them an award for production. In fact the â€Å"factory† was run on the black market. Brezhnev’s defence costs also affected the economy adversely. By 1980 the USSR was spending more on defence than the USA even though their economy was about one third of the size! Perhaps his largest failure was not to address the problems with the centralised planning system where many of the economic problems initially sprung from. Under Stalin this was successful but by this time the economy had become far too complex to be centralised. Industry also failed to modernise. For example, using the policy of â€Å"storming† was used whereby old equipment was run non-stop until the end of the plan which damaged equipment and wasted resources. Thompson suggests that â€Å"in structural terms, soviet planners by 1980 had arguably created the world’s largest and most advanced nineteenth-century economy†. In conclusion, the extent to the leaders successfully addressed the economic problems in Russia was variable under the different personalities. Stalin arguably faced the biggest challenge and due to the fact he did manage to increase production to such a large extent suggests he was the most successful. Although Khrushchev did not solve all of the problems faced, and his agricultural policies caused more harm than good, he did attempt to address the problems that the USSR were facing. On the other hand, Brezhnev’s rule did not show any improvement, and further than this he did not show any attempts to improve the problems. For this reason Brezhnev can be suggested to be the least successful.

Food Insecurity Essays

Food Insecurity Essays Food Insecurity Essay Food Insecurity Essay Food Insecurity Currently millions of people are suffering from the problem of hunger and under nutrition around the world. The main cause of the problem is food insecurity. Food insecurity is the condition where a group of people lacks a sustainable source or access to enough, hygienically safe and nutritious food that can sustain a healthy, good and productive life. Food insecurity can be termed as seasonal, temporary or chronic, depending on how serious it might be. It may occur in different levels including the national, regional or household levels. Its opposite, food security, is defined as the situation where all the people have both economic and physical access to basic food at all times. This security is not guaranteed for about two million people in the world today. : Food insecurity arises mostly from several reasons. These reasons include climatic changes. Climatic changes are unavoidable though they are predictable. The climatic changes can be caused by several reasons, which include natural calamities like tsunamis or earthquakes. These causes, without a proper economic base to support one, might be very hard to come up from and quite unavoidable. Urban development is another reason that causes food insecurity. Urban development causes food insecurity by the depletion of important lands used for agriculture and by raising the standards of living. The raising of standards of living leads to an increase in the prices of necessary and basic foodstuffs. This in turn leads to the creation of a group of people who cannot manage the life. This group becomes insecure in terms of food and other basic wants (Babu Sanyal, 2009). Population growth is also another cause of food insecurity especially in developing countries. This is the issue since the budgets of most developing countries are not fit enough to be able to support the rising populations that are mostly encountered in them. Population growth works hand-in-hand with the growth of urban centers and these lead to marginalization of other areas leading to creation of slums and these marginalized groups experience food insecurity. Oil price shifts can be said to be the most significant cause of food insecurity. Oil is used in almost all if not all industries. This makes it a very important commodity in the production of all necessary items and especially foodstuffs. Therefore, being a raw material in all crucial industries, the fluctuation in its prices has to be reflected in all products. The rise in the oil prices therefore is reflected in the basic food products in the market. The major problem here is the recent increase in the oil prices that has made the situation even worse. Another problem is that the oil prices are not necessarily confined by borders, thus the effect is felt worldwide. Other causes of food insecurity, especially in underdeveloped countries include war, poverty, civil unrest and conflicts, poor national policies and corruption. These reasons do not promote the equitable and fair distribution and access of food for all. Others include barriers to trade, environmental degradation, poor agricultural development, low educational levels, gender inequality, poor health and cultural insensitivity (Babu Sanyal, 2009). The United Nations has given an estimate of about 840 million people worldwide who are faced with food insecurity. Majority of this number resides in developing countries and most of these countries are in the continents of Africa and Asia. To solve the problem, governments should ensure that food is not only available but also accessible to all. The governments should also ensure that food prices are subsidized in order to cater for the poor and that food is equally distributed in all parts of their countries. Food should also be properly utilized. This means that food should be stored properly for it to be guarded against spoilage, proper handling to guard against diseases and proper preparation to ensure proper nutrition and balanced diets. The balanced meals include a variety of safe and quality foods the proper nourishment. It also includes the proper appropriation of different food groups. With these policies and recommendations followed, the problem of food insecurity shall be solved in time. References Babu, S.C. Sanyal, P. (2009). Food security, poverty, and nutrition policy analysis: statistical methods and policy applications. New York, NY: Academic Press.

Correlation Analysis in Sociological Research

Correlation Analysis in Sociological Research Correlation is a term that refers to the strength of a relationship between two variables where a strong, or high, correlation means that two or more variables have a strong relationship with each other while a weak or low correlation means that the variables are hardly related. Correlation analysis is the process of studying the strength of that relationship with available statistical data. Sociologists can use statistical software like SPSS to determine whether a relationship between two variables is present, and how strong it might be, and the statistical process will produce a correlation coefficient that tells you this information. The most widely used type of  correlation coefficient  is the Pearson r. This analysis assumes that the two variables being analyzed are measured on at least  interval scales, meaning they are measured on a range of increasing value. The coefficient is calculated by taking the  covariance  of the two variables and dividing it by the product of their  standard deviations. Understanding the Strength of Correlation Analysis Correlation coefficients can range from -1.00 to 1.00 where a value of -1.00 represents a perfect negative correlation, which means that as the value of one variable increases, the other decreases while a value of 1.00 represents a perfect positive relationship, meaning that as one variable increases in value, so does the other. Values like these signal a perfectly linear relationship between the two variables, so that if you plot the results on a graph it would make a straight line, but a value of 0.00 means that there is no relationship between the variables being tested and would be graphed as separate lines entirely. Take for example the case of the relationship between education and income, which is demonstrated in the accompanying image. This shows that the more education one has, the more money they will earn in their job. Put another way, these data show that education and income are correlated  and that there is a strong positive correlation between the two- as education rises, so too does income, and the same kind of correlation relationship is found between education and wealth as well. The Utility of Statistical Correlation Analyses Statistical analyses like these are useful because they can show us how different trends or patterns within society might be connected, like unemployment and crime, for example; and they can shed light on how experiences and social characteristics shape what happens in a persons life. Correlation analysis lets us say with confidence that a relationship does or does not exist between two different patterns or variables, which allows us to predict the probability of an outcome among the population studied. A recent study of marriage and education found a strong negative correlation between the level  of education and the divorce rate. Data from the National Survey of Family Growth show that  as education level increases among women, the divorce rate for first marriages decreases. Its important to keep in mind, though, that correlation is not the same as causation, so while there exists a strong correlation between education and divorce rate, that does not necessarily mean the decrease in divorce among women is caused by the amount of education received.

An Experiential Anthropology Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

An Experiential Anthropology - Dissertation Example Cultural anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology is the study of culture (Delaney, 2004). Cultural anthropology centers on ethnography, which refers to either the methodology or the product of research i.e. a book or monograph. Ethnography is largely inductive, relying on participant observation. Under cultural anthropology lies the ethnology technique that focuses on the systematic comparison of various cultures. Ethnography utilizes the process of participant-observation. Cultural anthropology focuses on the study of kinship and covers other areas such as political and economic organization, conflict resolution and law, consumption patterns, technology, material culture, infrastructure, ethnicity, gender relations, religion, myth, socialization, values, etiquette, language, festivals, recreation, and sports among others. Biological or physical anthropology, on the other hand, refers to anthropological research centered on the examination of human and non-human primates within t heir evolutionary, demographic, and biological dimensions. In essence, biological anthropology examines the social and biological influencers of the evolution of mankind and primates which create, sustain, or alter physiological and genetic variations. Biological anthropology involves the study of primatology, which involves the examination of non-humans within their geographical environments to learn about the abilities and behavioral patterns of primates (Delaney, 2004). Biological anthropology also involves the study of human biology, which involves examining human diversity, non-cultural adaptations with regard to environmental elements, and genetic inheritance patterns. Archaeological anthropology refers to the examination of human records by examining its artifacts. This study involves the examination of material remains of human beings to discover how people lived. For instance, pieces of artifacts like tools and pottery provide evidence of cultural and social lives of past s ocieties. Archaeological anthropologists are typically detectives who uncover evidence through excavating, dating and analyzing material remains of past societies. This means archaeologists have a deep comprehension of the expansion of human civilizations and societies by analyzing human ancestors. Linguistic anthropology or anthropological linguistics aims at understanding the development of human communication, language variations through space and time, verbal and non-verbal communication, social functions of language, and the link between culture and language. Linguistic anthropology links linguistic analysis and methods to the interpretation of sociocultural processes. In order to do this, linguistic anthropologists draw on fields such as cognitive linguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, semiotics, narrative analysis, and pragmatics.  

The effects to the white star line company because of the titanic Research Paper

The effects to the white star line company because of the titanic sinking - Research Paper Example The world has always fixed all attention on identifying the cause of the tragedy, while little effort has been shifted towards identifying the effect of the Titanic tragedy on the White Star Lines Company, the Liverpool-based company that owned the mega ship. The following report analyzes how the sinking of the Titanic impacted on the White Star Line company. The company prided itself with being the maker of the most luxurious ship at the time. The name of this wonder ship was Titanic. So much was the hype behind Titanic that it was commonly regarded as the unsinkable ship (Ziakas 109). By building the ship, the company had made set the benchmark for the trend in luxurious ships. The massive size of Titanic also increased the pride that came along with the ship since it was the biggest at the time. This intense over confidence in the success of the ship contributed majorly to the disaster, since adequate preventive measures were not put in place. The sinking of the ship had massive impact on the parent company, White Star Line, as illustrated in this report. The White Star Line refers to a ship building company which originally made traditional sailing ships that travelled from UK to Australia in the 1860s. The company majored on this route due to gold in Australia. This venture turned out to be very competitive hence it merged with other rival companies. The company merged with other companies such as The Black Ball and The Eagle Lines of ship (Butler 104). Under this partnership, the first White Star Line ship was launched in August 1870. The ship, known as Oceanic, was a break from the norm with its size, appearance and a host of other innovations. It was to be the world’s first true super liner and it gained popularity from all corners of the world. Later that year, the company launched three other identical ships, known as Atlantic, Republic and Baltic. In the following year, the company launched another ship, slightly larger than

EHarmony Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

EHarmony Case Study - Essay Example The advent of new technologies has facilitated this change in social media and has made it a common activity. By 2005, the number of subscribers and user of social media and internet personals websites had increased with eHarmony recording over 15 million subscribers. This growth was attributed to a change in online dating perception. Currently, the social media industry has become extremely competitive and lucrative with companies employing different strategies to capture the market and increase customer base. Organizations have realized that apprehending the competitive forces and their fundamental roots discloses the causes of the industry’s present productivity (Porter, 2008). By the time online dating was gaining popularity, there had been few internet personals websites. For this reason, there was less competition in the industry. In the contemporary, competitive business environment, publicity is a significant facet of any organization. This therefore poses a great thre at to the existing business as more and more new entries are aiming the market in order to gain a share of the profits. This is therefore threatening the dominance of companies such as eHarmony an aspect that might affect even the overall returns of the company. The marketing strategy in the social media industry determines the profit potentiality of the company. For instance, Piskorski et al (2008) asserts that eHarmony centered on creating publicity through the owners who appeared in TV and radio programs including home news programs. The company focused on selling its unique features which yielded increased number of subscribers. According to Walker et al (2005), this is a competitive advantage that the company used to acquire a greater market share. In addition, eHarmony heightened its advertising campaigns in the radios and TV to capture wide audience. The contemporary social media have been characterized by fraudsters who have made people lose hope in finding serious mates in the internet personals websites. Arguably, social media sites have tried to employ a personality profile based on many questions, which discourage the not serious users from joining the site (Alex, 2010). For instance, eHarmony personality profile contains 258 questions, which portray seriousness of the subscriber. One of the major threats that online dating poses is erosion of culture. Initially, people had the chance to select his/her mate physically. This gave the person a chance to analyze the mate’s behavior and attitudes. With the current technology, this aspect has eroded. In addition young people will be exposed to early relationships an aspect that could expose them to early sex and marriages. This market therefore will lead to increased divorces and abusive marriages due to poor decision making before choosing the partner (Alex, 2010).. Increase of companies such as eHarmony would therefore reduce the time that was previously used to know your partner which is a thr eat to the new families. The company faces a great threat from ghost companies which retrieve money from the customers only to for the client to realize that the site has very few members. This mistrust by people creates a great threat to expansion of the company an aspect that hinders it to reach global standards. Another major threat that if facing companies such as eHarmony is lack of adequate resources to keep up with the increasing technological competition which makes communication easier. This

Selfishness Victor Frankenstein

Selfishness Victor Frankenstein In Frankenstein, both the film and novel portray Victor as a selfish character who is only concerned about his own well-being. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor is completely focused on creating human life and does not care that he is hurting his family, Elizabeth and the monster. The same is true in the film, what looks like a self-less act on Victors end by creating a wife for the monster he really wants to keep Elizabeth for himself when he brings her back to life after the monster kills her. The film by Kenneth Branagh and the novel both accentuate how irresponsible Victors character as he withholds information from his family and does not tell the truth to prevent Justine from being executed for a murder she did not commit. Both texts juxtapose Victors character with his monsters character as he helps out a family as he teaches himself how to read. We see how unselfish the monster is compared to Victor. (Fix after and add a quote from source) First of all, Frankenstein created the monster so he could manipulate the power of life, not to learn from the experience. He started the experience out of his own self indulgence as ignores his family back in Geneva. He is so immersed in his studies fascinated by the creation of life as he studies what the human body is made up of and how it falls apart. At first it appears that he is just an enthusiastic scholar, but later we learn that Victor has been going to gravesites collecting corpses to bring life to human parts which were once deceased. Victor completely disengages from the world when away at school after his mother dies of scarlet fever which he did not take very well. It is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she, whom we saw everyday, and whose very existence appeared a part of our own, can have departed for everà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦why should I describe the sorrow which all have felt.(Shelley 43) He completely devotes himself to creating this masterpiece still in pain over the death of his mother becomes obsessed neglecting the loved ones who are still alive as he becomes pale and lonely obsessed completely with the task. It is not until he experiences the pain of death that he is driven to try and control it. He wants new knowledge so that he can prevent himself from dying, to discover how to be immortal as he spends many sleepless nights in order to bring life to his monster. In the novel, each time one of his teachers show Victor something new he works hard to master it which is why it appears that he is just an excited student, whereas in the film Victors professors forbid him to talk about reviving human life. In the film it is clear what Victor is after so we are not surprised when he creates the monster since his obsession is obvious. As Lunsford argues: Victor has no real friendships when he goes to university and begins his quest for enlightenment. Although Victor says he will have to form [his] own friends in Ingolstadt, he never does, at least not in the traditional sense. Instead, he latches onto the prospect of his reputation and resolves to enter the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ which of course leads him to literally form his own friend-the monster (Lunsford) Secondly, once he finally succeeds at creating the monster he immediately runs away, claiming that he was protecting his life which adds to his selfishness. In reality, he is disgusted by the sight of his creation so he abandons it leaving it all alone in the world without any guidance and runs away to the next room. So not only is Victor selfish but he is shallow as well: I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature openà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦[h]is limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the world of muscles and arteries beneathà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate bodyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but now that I had finished the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created.(Shelley 57). Instead of realizing that he achieved his goal of bringing life to an inanimate body he runs way because of how hideous it is. As Hatch points out, even Walton is repulsed by the monsters appearance Never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome, yet appalling hideousness. I shut my eyes involuntarily (Shelley 240). Fear and disgust are mixed in these reactions, but what is stressed is disgust. ( Hatch 35). Since the monster is so hideous Victor avoids any responsibility of caring or nurturing the (Hatch)monster like a father would have to, and he leaves his creation to fend for itself. He was so obsessed with creating life that he does not imagine what the final product will look like, he is blinded by his passion. Since the creature is reborn he is unable to care for himself similar to a young child and Victor disowning him forces him to figure out how to act on his own. As Lunsford points out, Upon discovering the secret to reanimating dead corpses, Victor endeavours to create a being like himself.( Lunsford) Victor is also very rude to his monster after the creature kills a few of his family member which I feel he deserved. He encounters his creature and instantly threats him calling him a [d]evil and vile insect(Shelley 99) that must stay away or be trampled to dust. Instead of apologizing for abandoning the creature he threatens him creating more anger. The monster replies explaining how he feels in a world that hates him: All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me(Shelley 99). A speech which would create some sympathy makes Victor even angrier which proves how selfish he really is. All he wants to do is kill the monster, forget he even exists, to rewrite his wrong. As Victor tries to erase his past he constantly withholds information or lies about his creation. This is shown in the film when he tells Elizabeth he must go away again to please the monster so he will leave Victor alone. Elizabeth objects wanting to marry Victor right away in the film, whereas in the novel throughout the text he continues to take Elizabeth for granted. Victor postpones the date of their union as he assumes she will comply. He uses Elizabeth whenever he feels like it expecting that she will marry him when he returns to Geneva which is emphasized in the film. Elizabeth suggests that Victor has changed and wants to know the secret he has been hiding which gives her character more depth in the film. In the novel she does not have much of a say for the decision must be approved by Victors father who insists he bring Henry along. He lies to his father requesting a trip to England before he marries Elizabeth. I expressed a wish to visit England; but, concealing the true r easons of this request, I clothed my desires under a guise which excited no suspicion (Shelley 152) Victor lies and also omits information that would explain the events which took since the monster was created. Withholding information occurs quite frequently especially concerning his family members deaths. When William is killed and he suspects the monster, he says nothing. Later when Justine is arrested, he once again keeps quiet about his creation. She is later found guilty and executed, he does nothing to stop the execution. What is more selfish then letting an innocent girl die for someone elses crime? In the film Victor does not speak up to save the life of Justine, the housekeeper, whereas in novel he tells his family that she is innocent but is too afraid to announce it publicly assuming evidence would surface that she has been wrongfully accused. My dear father, you are mistaken; Justine is innocentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I had no fear, therefore, that any circumstantial evidence co uld be brought forward strong enough to convict her. My tale was not one to announce publicly; its astounding horror would be looked upon as madness (Shelly 81). Victor first of all assumes that her name will be cleared, and he had many chances to speak up to save the life of Justine by telling the truth about the monster he created, instead he wallows in guilt. Instead of saving the life of the housekeeper who has already been through so much, he keeps his secret to maintain his good image. Not only does Victor keep the creature a secret, but destroys the female companion he creates preventing the monster from being happy like he is with Elizabeth. He destroys the monster because he realizes that creating a second monster may lead to further problems, or pain to him. Later in the text, Victor begins to be less selfish as he accepts the revenge of the monster, rather than finding someone else to blame he accepts responsibility for what has happened. Victor is very irresponsible which make it reasonable to label him as selfish in his motivations.   First of all, he uses the information he learns at the University of Ingolstadt  to create the monster, a forbidden experiment in the film because of the consequences which Victor does not consider. Even though he experiences tragic events he continues to pursue experiments and knowledge which have already been proven to be destructive. As well, when he succeeds at creating the monster he runs away abandoning his creation taking no responsibility for him at all. Lunsford argues another important point: [T]he novel reads as the story of a man who at every turn is given the opportunity to put the lives of others before himself. Immediately upon animating the monster, Victor becomes overwhelmed by the physical repulsiveness of the life he has created and flees from the very thing over which he has toiled for two years. This speaks to Victors unwillingness to deal with his creation as a living being. Perhaps if Victor had valued the life he created-and helped the monster at this critical moment-he would have prevented most of the devastation that follows. But he fears what people will think of him for creating a monstrosity and abandons his creation at the moment it enters the world, thus preserving his reputation but placing his family at risk. (Lunsford) As the monster begins to murder his family he continues ignore the evil he is responsible for. After Victor destroys the monsters chance of happiness, the creature threatens him vowing to be with him on his wedding day to seek his revenge. Even though he has been threatens and knows the monster is capable of killing, Victor still runs off to marry Elizabeth which is also selfish of him to do. Another example is when Victor is dying, he feels he is not at all responsible for any blameless of any bad behaviour on his part in creating the creature emphasizing how irresponsible he is throughout both novel and film. Lastly, after the monster threatens Victor he begins to be more concerned for his life now that he knows what his creation is capable of. He assumes that his creation will come after him in seeking his revenge. He narrates how he took precautions against the monster: [T]his night is dreadful, very dreadful. I passed the hour in this state of mind, when suddenly I reflected how fearful the combat which I momentarily expected would be to my wife, and I earnestly entreated her to retire, resolving not to join her until I obtained some knowledge as to the situation of my enemyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the scream was repeated, and I rushed into the roomà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦[s]he was there, lifeless and inanimate (Shelley 195) Victor is only concerned for his own life that he disregards the life of his recent wife, Elizabeth. He is surprised that the monster murders Elizabeth instead of him, even though that is exactly what Victor did as he destroyed the female creation which was supposed to be the monsters partner. As well, Victor continues to try and hide the creation away from Elizabeth as he convinces her to go to bed to prevent her from finding out about the monster he created, fearing that she will not love him as dearly. In contrast with the novel, the film emphasizes Victor Frankensteins selfishness as he brings Elizabeth back to life so that he can continue to be happy. as viewers we feel angry for making Elizabeth go through more than she deserves, proving that he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals no matter who it hurts. Overall, due to Victors selfishness we feel sorry for his creation. In both texts we see Victor Frankenstein as the monster not the creature.