The Ocean at the end of the lane Research Paper

The Ocean at the end of the lane - Research Paper Example The book begins with a funeral taking place and ends with death. Neil Gaiman uses stories to keep the dark at bay. He also believes that the stories that are most effective are the ones with plenty of darkness within them. He effectively uses this throughout the novel. The narrator in this novel remains unnamed, he returns to Sussex to bury his relative, who is also unidentified. At one time while driving to visit the house he once lived in, he finds a lot of changes that one might only expect to occur after passage of many years. However, one thing that has not changed is a red-brick farmhouse that was once inhabited by Lettie Hempstock, his childhood friend. The book blends children’ and adults’ world and also blends reality and magic. The writer creates a dream universe which is made up of a ghost world characterized by lurking monsters and shadows. This world is seen through the eyes of a seven year old hero, Sussex and the afterlife, monstrous and magical, mundane and supernatural, a father-son conflict later and the clash of gods (Neil, 2013). He introduces another character who commits suicide in a car after been overcome by guilt of gambling away a lot of savings. The narrator then meets Lettie, a strange, self-confident country girl. The writer brings in a theme of association between money with death. Lettie and her family are creatures who only exist outside of time so as to prevent destruction caused by malevolence like the one of the suicide. This theme becomes clearer as Lettie introduces the narrator to duck pond, which she calls an ocean and in it floats a fish that has choked to death. Mystery starts to come in when the narrator one morning wakes up and mysteriously finds a shilling stuck in his throat. He immediately thinks the ghost of the opal miner has attacked him and he runs to the Hempstocks’ for help. Lettie then guides the narrator into another

Policy Alternatives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Policy Alternatives - Essay Example Due to the financial effects that are projected in the future, the current administration came up with a suggestion that the retirees of the defense department should cater for health care services instead of being provided for free. The government gave a proposal of the retirees paying about $200 per annum towards their health care. As per the calculation of the administration, the country will save approximately $6.7 billion. The other proposal that was also given said that soldiers are supposed to pay into a retirement plan instead of a pension plan (NPR.org, 2011). This shift of perspective will contribute in cutting down the expenses of the defense department. The impacts of this cut are, for instance, the impact of retirees paying $200 per year towards their medical care will save around $6.7 billion for the state. On the other hand, these proposals were not received with acceptance by the defense department. For instance, the protection of military benefits should not in any case undercut the military’s capability to fight and win the war. Despite the impacts, the cuts of the military benefits are seen to be very effective in achieving the goals of the administration. For example, the cutting of health care benefits seems to be effective in that the country will save around $6.7 billion per year (NPR.org, 2011). The paying of soldiers towards their retirement plan instead of the pension plan, will contribute a lot to the reduction of military benefits. The reduction of the military retirement benefits is very effective in the fact that it will assist the country to reduce the expenses towards the defense department (Washington Post, 2015). It will reduce the risk of the country becoming unable to pay the troops in the near future. From the text, it is evident that military retirement benefits cost the Pentagon around $50 billion per year. The expense is more than the